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  • When Meera accused Alia Bhatt’s father Mahesh Bhatt of slapping her

    When Meera accused Alia Bhatt’s father Mahesh Bhatt of slapping her

    Actress Meera is known for her candour in interviews and press interactions, she always manages to land herself in a controversies. Now an old interview of Meera with Times of India is resurfacing on social media in which the Nazar actress made revelations about Bollywood director Mahesh Bhatt.

    The Main Sitara actor claimed that because of Mahesh Bhatt she had to leave Bollywood and when she tried to come back, he did not even allow her to return. She was quoted saying, “Working with Bollywood was a great experience. I got a lot of love from the Indian audience. But the journey of Bollywood was not easy for me. There were many difficulties but I did not give up. In the early days Bollywood was completely new to me. I didn’t know anyone in Mumbai except Mahesh Bhatt. It took a long time to get to know people. Mahesh Bhatt introduced me to the industry. I used to respect Mahesh ji a lot. He was my mentor and mentor. I will also give the credit of my success to him.”

    This actress revealed many deep secrets about Mahesh Bhatt that she told me…. - Focus News

    Further in the interview, Meera told that when she entered the cinema world with the film Nazar, I got offers from many famous directors like Ram Gopal Varma, Mani Ratnam, Subhash Ghai. They wanted to work with me but Mahesh Bhatt did not want it. Bhatt wanted me to work only with him. Further, Meera told that one night when she met Subhash Ghai and she told this to Mahesh, he got very angry, shouted at her, and slapped her 2-3 times.

    Talking about the time when Bhatt slapped her, she revealed “I got offers from many famous directors like Ram Gopal Varma, Mani Ratnam, Subhash Ghai who wanted to work with me. But Mahesh Bhatt did not want me to work with anyone other than him. One night I met Subhash Ghai. When I told this to Mahesh ji, he got very angry, shouted at me, and slapped me two-three times.”

    The Naagin star also alleged that Mahesh used to call her his ‘special one’ and told her she was like ‘worship’ to him. However, the filmmaker had denied all such allegations and called Meera ‘bizarre’. Mahesh Bhatt also opined that Meera was a vulnerable person who was going through a vulnerable phase back then. 

    This time the Baaji diva has been trending on social media for an Eid special interview, that she did in 2017 with famous media personality, Sohail Warraich. The Baaji actress confessed in the interview that when she went to India for her film Nazar’s shooting, she was proposed to by the Murder 2 actor, Emraan Hashmi, which she declined.

    Meera added that Mahesh Bhatt, her film’s producer also presented her with a marriage proposal by Ashmit Patel, who was her co-star in the film. She was quick to mention that her family had issues over their religious differences and she couldn’t go against the will of her parents.

    Earlier this year, Meera shared a picture with Indian actor Neha Dhupia from a shoot done over a decade ago. Several people liked the picture, while many trolled the Baaji actor.

    The Nazar diva can be seen in blue gown and the Indian star can be seen donning a light pastel coloured dress.

    Neha has done a Lollywood film Kabhi Pyar Na Karna directed by Javed Sheikh.

    Netizens called her out for her bold dress. Check out a few comments here:

  • Anurag Kashyap, Indian critic rave about ‘The Legend Of Maula Jatt’ trailer

    Anurag Kashyap, Indian critic rave about ‘The Legend Of Maula Jatt’ trailer

     Indian filmmaker and actor Anurag Kashyap took to his Twitter handle to laud Fawad Khan, Mahira Khan and Hamza Ali Abbasi starrer, The Legend of Maula Jatt‘s trailer. “Finally the film I’ve loved so much and the film you really want to see, the trailer is out!” the Gangs of Wasseypur director tweeted along with the link to the trailer on YouTube.

    Film critic Joginder Tuteja tweeted, “This is as huge as it gets! Imagine, the action drama was made before K.G.F! This can become one of the biggest blockbusters ever! Fawad Khan, Mahira Khan, Bilal Lashari, Ammara Hikmat – you have indeed made something spectacular!”

    The Legend of Maula Jatt is the most expensive film to come out of Pakistan. This intense and epic hero origin story, with a screenplay by Bilal Lashari and dialogues by Nasir Adeeb, is a hard reboot of the 1979 cult classic Maula Jatt. The film is directed by Lashari as well, known for his directorial debut, the box office mega-hit Waar, and produced by Ammara Hikmat under the joint venture of Encyclomedia & Lashari films in association with AAA Motion Pictures.

    The film, which was initially announced in 2011, has seen many hurdles along the way. Be it the prolonged legal battle or a pandemic, The Legend of Maula Jatt kept getting delayed for one reason or the other. Now, fans and critics are hopeful that the film will finally see the light of the day and will release on the recently announced date, October 13 of this year.

    Pakistani stars Ushna Shah and Saba Faisal shot a commercial with Kashyap earlier this year in Belarus.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8ph1JpIiJw

    The Baaghi actor recently took to Instagram and shared a video from Minsk where the team filmed the commercial. 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhaORPAAiHc

    “Today is the first day of why I am currently in Belarus,” the Qayamat star shared in a video. “You will get to see our upcoming project with a great director.”

    Although the Balaa star mentioned in another story that she will announce herself when she will do a project with the Raman Raghav director.

    In 2018, Anurag spoke about the ban on art in both countries, given the current political standpoint. Discussing the possibility of filming in Pakistan, Kashyap said, “I would love to film in Pakistan. I have always wanted to visit and attend the literature festivals but it never worked out. I have friends who have visited Pakistan and they tell me how badly they want to go again.” 

  • STEP Schools by Punjab Group of Colleges – 21st-Century Learning and STEAM Education for All!

    STEP Schools by Punjab Group of Colleges – 21st-Century Learning and STEAM Education for All!

    McKinsey Global Institute has forecasted that demand for higher skills such as decision making, critical thinking, complex information process, and creativity will grow by 19% by 2030. If anything, this forecast translates into the fact that future careers will be way more challenging than the present ones. Why? Because the same will require cross-marketability skills and interdisciplinary knowledge. This is where STEP Schools steps in as it imparts 21st-century knowledge through the STEAM approach.

    STEP Schools is part of the Punjab Group of Colleges, a name synonymous with educational excellence in Pakistan. The brains behind STEP Schools realized that the traditional methods of teaching relying on rote memorization and repetitive classroom lectures do not cater to the needs of an increasingly complex and tech-driven world. So, they designed a 21st-century curriculum driven by 4Cs (critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity) and incorporated the STEAM approach into it.

    STEAM

    The 21st-century method deployed by STEP Schools opts for a multi-dimensional approach to the student’s learning experiences both in and out of the classrooms. STEP Schools’ 4C-driven curriculum shifts focus on developing and fostering analytical, decision-making, critical, and creativity skills in children from an early age. Likewise, project-based learning increases students’ engagement and offers special attention to each student in the class.

    The core of 21st-century learning is the notion that learning is a lifelong process.

    Broad & Flexible Teaching Strategies

    At STEP Schools, our teachers deploy a wide array of broad and flexible strategies vis-a-vis the needs of the students and the context of the situation. These strategies champion interdisciplinary & hands-on learning and student engagement over conferring information. At STEP Schools, teaching methodologies and approaches are based on inquiry, focused on conceptual understanding, and developed in local and global contexts; likewise, the same is informed by assessments and is designed to remove barriers to learning.

    In STEP Schools’ 21st-century classrooms, educators are not just teachers. They are relationship builders, innovators, leaders, storytellers, designers, and artists.

    Project-based Learning

    At STEP Schools, Project-Based Learning (PBL) forms the core of our philosophy that steers students’ learning in a meaningful manner that reflects their interests and the needs of modern times.

    PBL nurtures and fosters thinking, research, social, self-management, and communication skills – a holistic development that is imperative for the 21st-century workforce. PBL aims to empower learners to see learning as a dynamic and active process.

    21st-century Classrooms

    STEP Schools provide students with exposure to 21st-century classrooms. The classroom’s environment is designed to promote student-led and inquiry-based teaching and learning that ultimately leads to the wholesome development of students. Likewise, highly-experienced and qualified faculty creates an environment that sparks curiosity, encourages & empowers students’ communication, collaboration, and participation while supporting each student’s personal journey.

    Likewise, each campus has a ‘Resource Room’ equipped with LEDs, multimedia, interactive whiteboards, sound systems, and other pieces of equipment. These resource rooms provide the most up-to-date education to children.

    Technology-Enhanced Learning

    STEP Schools employs technology-enhanced learning (TEL) to meet four main concepts: citizen science, mobile learning, openness, and learning at scale. TEL fosters students’ ability to engage with multiple texts in multiple modes of literacy; the same helps educators replace old teaching habits while sustaining the contemporary ones. It also helps both students and teachers to enhance. By incorporating technology in learning practices, it is ensured at STEP Schools that existing processes are carried out in a more time-effective and sustainable manner. It also improves outcomes of existing processes while introducing new practices at the same time.

    Keeping aforesaid notions in mind, STEP Schools has developed platforms of:

    • STEP Portal
    • STEP E-learning program
    • STEP ICT curriculum

    The purpose of educational technology at STEP Schools is to groom the students as creators and makers of tomorrow’s technology and innovation.

    Admissions Open
    If you want to get your child exposure to 21st-century learning, register with our perspective school within your city to gain an advantage over your child’s future from an early age.

    STEP Schools offer admissions to the junior school classes and middle classes as of now. But, the student already on enrolment will have an opportunity to complete the school education from Step 1 to Step 10.

    STEP Schools offers:

    • 21st Century learning with standardized curriculum and booklist
    • Scholarships, financial aid, and Indemnity (Educational insurance)
    • Sibling discount
    • Inter-school student transfer facility
    • Interactive learning environment along with smart education tools in classrooms
    • Emphasis on life skills
    • The continuous assessment process to evaluate the performance of each student.
    • Well optimized web portal to provide complete performance evaluation of students through dedicated portal IDs for the parents
    • Ease of access for parents to their child’s record through STEP Schools Mobile App
    • Regular intimation of attendance and other important notifications through SMS
    • Regular co-curricular activities such as arts & crafts, physical education, games, inter-school competitions, educational trips, and sports events
  • ‘Fragile state of mental & physical health’: PTI reacts to Gill’s physical remand order

    ‘Fragile state of mental & physical health’: PTI reacts to Gill’s physical remand order

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership has strongly reacted to Islamabad district and sessions court’s decision of approving a two-day physical remand of PTI leader Dr Shahbaz Gill. The court was hearing a review plea seeking Gill’s remand in a sedition case.

    Fragile state of mental & physical health because of the torture: Imran Khan

    “He is in a fragile state of mental & physical health because of the torture inflicted on him when he was abducted & taken to undisclosed location & then again at the police station,” tweeted PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

    He said that Gill’s remand is a “part of the conspiracy to target me and PTI by forcibly getting false statements against us similar to what they have been doing against social media activists”.

    Handed to police for torture: Fawad

    PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry criticised the order and said that “judges sending political workers in remand for torture while knowing everything are criminals”.

    “Gill is being sent into police custody for torture instead of interrogation,” said Fawad.

    Fawad said that there is no parallel to the way human rights are being “utterly destroyed” in Pakistan.

    He refused to give a false statement against Imran Khan: Asad Umar

    PTI Secretary General Asad Umar said that the reason behind the insistence on the physical remand of Gill is “more torture”.

    “[I] met Shahbaz Gill in Adiala, [his] spirits are high. Despite the worst torture meted out to him in Islamabad, [Gill] refused to make a false statement against Imran Khan,” tweeted Umar.

    Addressing a press conference, Umar said, “They [coalition government] forcefully want to get a statement by torturing Gill and we want to bring it on the record.”

    “The government leaders should be investigated and questioned too,” he demanded.

    “The police were provided Gill’s physical remand so they could get a statement from him. They are abusing him,” Umar reiterated.

    ‘Laws should be equal for everyone’: Faisal Javed

    Senator Faisal Javed Khan said that the authorities may take action against Gill as he “made a huge mistake”.

    However, he further said that the laws “should be equal for everyone”.

    “We condemn the treatment meted out to Gill and this House should also condemn it,” Javed said in a speech in the Senate.

    Shahbaz Gill was taken into custody on August 9 from Bani Gala Chowk for inciting the public against state institutions.

    Read more: Shahbaz Gill behind bars: Islamabad court approves two-day physical remand, again

    Last Friday (August 12), a district and sessions court in Islamabad hearing a sedition case against Shahbaz Gill rejected the prosecution’s request to extend Gill’s physical remand. Instead, the court had sent him to jail on judicial remand. A plea was then filed by Islamabad Advocate General Jahangir Khan Jadoon in the Islamabad High Court on August 13 challenging the order.

  • ‘Censored for being trans’: Transgender rights activist barred from speaking at an event

    ‘Censored for being trans’: Transgender rights activist barred from speaking at an event

    Transgender rights activist Mehrub Moiz Awan was barred from speaking at TEDx International School Lahore (ISL) after some parents of students at the school came forward to complain about a transgender rights activist being included in the panel.

    In a Twitter thread, Moiz wrote how the TEDx ISL admin informed her that she was being removed from the speaker’s panel because certain parents have stated that transgender individuals cannot speak to their children.

    “I was informed that I am being removed from the speaker’s panel because some parents have stated that they can’t allow transgender people to speak to their kids. This is the International School Lahore btw. No objections to the talk, no additional censorship, just flat-out refusal because ‘parents ko aitraaz hai k koi transgender talk day’ were their exact words. Verbatim. Is this even legal? And if it is, is this censorship?” wrote Moiz.

    Designer Maria B is also among those parents who complained about the activist being on the speaker’s panel.

    Twitter is condemning the removal of Mehrub Moiz from the speaker’s panel. In solidarity, some other panelists have also decided to boycott the event.

    Have a look at some of the reactions:

  • Pakistani rupee loses ground against dollar after 11 days of appreciation

    Pakistani rupee loses ground against dollar after 11 days of appreciation

    The Pakistani rupee (PKR) finally lost for the first time since July 28, falling by 0.46 per cent to close at Rs214.88 against the US dollar.

    The PKR was down by Rs1.01 or 0.46 per cent versus the US dollar at around 1:00pm, when it was quoted at Rs214.91.

    In the interbank market on Tuesday, the local currency edged up slightly versus the US dollar, ending the day at Rs213.90, an increase of 0.04 per cent or Rs0.08. The rupee managed to increase for the eleventh session in a row, despite the smaller volume of the advance.

    Remittances to Pakistan totaled $2.52 billion on Tuesday, with a small month-over-month dip reported.

    It is worth noting that PKR has increased by 11 per cent this month, making it the world’s top gainer against the greenback. On the other hand, the stock index climbed by 9 per cent, making it Asia’s second-best performer behind Sri Lanka.

    In order to get the IMF’s approval to resume its stalled bailout programme, Pakistan enacted austerity measures. This comes as frontier countries from Egypt to El Salvador struggle with the possibility of default.

  • PAK vs NED: Babar Azam breaks world record

    PAK vs NED: Babar Azam breaks world record

    Pakistan cricket team all-format captain Babar Azam has made another record. In the first One-Day International (ODI) against the Netherlands on Tuesday, Babar Azam broke South Africa’s great Hashim Amla’s record for the most runs in ODIs after 88 innings.

    Though he managed to score only 74 runs during Tuesday’s match, they were enough to shatter record books.

    In that innings, he crossed the 4,500-run mark in the ODIs and broke Amla’s record. Babar now has 4,516 runs to his name at an average of 59.42 in 88 innings. On the contrary, Amla had scored 4,473 runs after batting in the exact number of innings.

    Pakistan will play the second ODI on August 18 in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

    Earlier this month, the International Cricket Council (ICC) released the T20I rankings in which Azam was at the top of the rankings with 818 points.

  • Women outperform men but 13% less likely to be promoted: Study

    Women outperform men but 13% less likely to be promoted: Study

    A study from MIT Sloan Associate Professor Danielle Li finds that female employees are less likely to be promoted than their male counterparts, despite outperforming them and being less likely to quit.

    In the paper, ’Potential’ and the Gender Promotion Gap, Li found that even though female employees received higher performance ratings than male employees, they still received 8.3 per cent lower ratings for potential than men. Results showed that women were 14 per cent less likely to be promoted than their male counterparts. The annual promotion rate is 1.64 percentage points lower for women, corresponding to a 13 per cent lower likelihood.

    Management-track of 30,000 employees at a large North American retail chain between February 2009 and October 2015 was studied. Women made up about 56 per cent of entry-level workers. Rising through the ranks, women made up 48 per cent of department managers, 35 per cent of store managers, and 14 per cent of district managers.

    The research found out that relative to men with the same scores for potential, women outperformed their previous year’s score. Yet they were still given lower potential ratings heading into the next year.

    “The result I found most depressing in the paper is the result in which women outperform their stated potential,” said Professor Danielle Li in an interview. “Women have to hit a higher threshold of future performance in order to justify the same potential score.”

  • Nawaz Sharif will lead the campaign for the next general elections: Rana Sanaullah

    Nawaz Sharif will lead the campaign for the next general elections: Rana Sanaullah

    Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has revealed that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif will lead the electoral campaign for the next general elections, reports Geo News.

    Addressing a reception ceremony of overseas Pakistanis living in Jeddah, Rana Sanaullah said that the next general elections will be held on time and Nawaz Sharif will be leading the electoral campaign.

    Rana stressed that the government will complete its constitutional term and said that the country cannot afford “Imrani trouble”, corruption and political chaos.

    Rana Sanaullah is currently in Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah along with his family.

    Nawaz will return in September

    Federal Minister Javed Latif on August 15 said that the people of Pakistan are wishing for the return of Nawaz Sharif.

    Referring to Nawaz’s supporters as “doctors”, Latif said that “the people are his doctors and doctors change their opinion with time”.

  • Faisalabad torture case: Khadija denies reports of reconciliation

    Faisalabad torture case: Khadija denies reports of reconciliation

    Trigger warning: Violence

    Khadija, a female medical student who was subjected to torture in a viral video in Faisalabad, has denied reports of reconciliation with the main suspect, Sheikh Danish, and said she is still fighting the case against him and his family.

    “It is an old video,” she said while referring to a video in which she is apologising to Danish. She said that she was asked to make the video for some campaign.

    In addition, Khadija said that she needs support to fight her case against Danish.

    A video of a woman being subjected to torture in Faisalabad went viral on social media. A woman’s voice can be heard in the background as the girl is being tortured.

    As per the details, the girl being tortured in the video is a final-year BDS student. In her complaint, she alleged that Ana Ali, the daughter of the accused Danish Ali, had been a friend of hers since their school days and that she (the complainant) frequently visited her house

    The complainant claimed that during these visits, the accused Danish Ali became interested in her and even wrote her a formal proposal, which she declined.

    The complainant said that after she rejected the proposal, the accused began to put pressure on her through his daughter Ana Ali to change her mind and accept his proposal.

    The complainant claimed that the accused started sending her death threats. The complainant alleged that the accused Sheikh Danish Ali, his daughter and Faizan, Shoaib and Khan Muhammad barged into their house and then kidnapped her along with her brother and took them to their residence.

    “The accused tortured me and my brother and abused me in different ways and compelled me to lick their shoes. Later, accused Ana Ali and Maham made a video of me while cutting my hair with scissors on the instruction of accused Sheikh Danish and made the video viral on social media,” she added.

    Sheikh Danish Ali was also accused of attempting to rape her.
    Faisalabad Police have arrested six accused.