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  • ‘Oscar jeet gaya magar izzat hargaya’: Transnational celebrities blast Will Smith for slapping colleague at Oscars

    ‘Oscar jeet gaya magar izzat hargaya’: Transnational celebrities blast Will Smith for slapping colleague at Oscars

    Transnational celebrities have reacted with a mixture of shock and anger after Hollywood actor Will Smith slapped comedian and host Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars.

    Comedian Rock, who was presenting an award, made an on-stage joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair loss, which is due to alopecia, saying “Jada, can’t wait for GI Jane 2.”

    Smith walked up on stage and struck Rock before returning to his seat and shouting: “Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth.”

    Smith later apologised in a tearful best actor acceptance speech, declaring: “Love will make you do crazy things”.

    https://twitter.com/Abhimanyu___/status/1508295459093487616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1508295459093487616%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.koimoi.com%2Fhollywood-news%2Foscars-2022-will-smith-slaps-chris-rock-over-a-joke-on-jada-pinkett-smith-netizens-react-with-hilarious-memes%2F

    The celebrities have mostly condemned this act of violence by the talented actor.

    “I’m being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people,” Smith said. “I know, to do what we do, we’ve gotta be able to take abuse.

    “You’ve gotta be able to have people talk crazy about you. In this business, you’ve gotta be able to have people disrespecting you. You’ve gotta smile and pretend that that’s okay.”

    But director Judd Apatow called the incident “pure out of control rage and violence” on Twitter.

    “He could have killed him. That’s pure out of control rage and violence. They’ve heard a million jokes about them in the last three decades. They are not freshman in the world of Hollywood and comedy. He lost his mind,” he wrote on Twitter.

    “Seems like Will Smith’s plan to get comedian and the world to not make jokes about him is not going to pan out. The Williams family must be furious. Pure narcissism,” he added.

    “Also — GI Jane was gorgeous. What exactly is insulting about being compared to a ripped, stunning Demi?’ he wrote, referencing the Ridley Scott–directed Demi Moore–starring film.

  • ‘Considered murdering my father’: Oscar winning actor Will Smith’s shocking revelations going viral

    ‘Considered murdering my father’: Oscar winning actor Will Smith’s shocking revelations going viral

    The award-winning Hollywood actor, Will Smith has revealed in his new memoir Will that his father, Willard Carroll though present throughout his childhood, was an alcoholic who would regularly beat his mother.

    My father was violent, but he was also at every game, play, and recital, wrote Will Smith

    “When I was nine years old, I watched my father punch my mother in the side of the head so hard that she collapsed,” Smith writes. “I saw her spit blood. That moment in that bedroom, probably more than any other moment in my life, has defined who I am.”

    The Men in Black star continues to say that the incident haunted him, making him feel like he failed to stand up for his mother.

    Nonetheless, he maintained a relationship with his father eventually caring for him when he was diagnosed with cancer. This, according to Smith, was when he considered killing him.

    “One night, as I delicately wheeled [my father] from his bedroom toward the bathroom, a darkness arose within me,” he writes.

    “The path between the two rooms goes past the top of the stairs. As a child I’d always told myself that I would one day avenge my mother. That when I was big enough, when I was strong enough, when I was no longer a coward, I would slay him.”

    “I paused at the top of the stairs. I could shove him down, and easily get away with it,” he writes. “I’m Will Smith. No one would ever believe I killed my father on purpose. I’m one of the best actors in the world. My 911 call would be Academy Award level.”

    “As the decades of pain, anger, and resentment coursed then receded, I shook my head and proceeded to wheel Daddio to the bathroom,” he adds.

    Will Smith Sr. succumbed to his cancer in 2016.

    “There is nothing that you can receive from the material world that will create inner peace or fulfillment,” Smith concludes. “In the end, it will not matter one single bit how well [people] loved you, you will only gain ‘the Smile’ based on how well you loved them,” he writes.

  • Can a jalsa turnout be determined through number of mobile phones?

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s jalsa’ was held on March 27 at the Parade Ground in Islamabad as the opposition geared up to remove the PM from his office via a no-confidence motion. The very first thing that the media speculates is that how many people were present at the location of the rally.

    Several Pakistani digital news platforms have stated that “more than 0.6 million unique mobile devices were detected in Islamabad on Sunday, as per the data traffic analysis shared by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA)”, which means that they are suggesting that more than six lakh people were present at the PTI rally.

    It is pertinent to mention that PTA or any authentic personnel have not officially released any statement regarding this. In fact, a number of netizens have commented that the ones who are claiming the presence of 0.6 million people at the Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s march do not have the authentic source of information.

    The crowd was reportedly estimated by Islamabad police to be between 60,000 – 70,000 people, while the Intelligence Bureau (IB) said it was only 26,000 people.

    Independent sources claim that not more than 35,000 people attended the rally, and some suggest that the crowd was not even close to 100,000 people.

    But the question remains: Can you determine a jalsa turnout through the number of mobile phones in the area?

    Whenever a cell phone is used, it emits an electromagnetic radio wave, called a radio frequency, which is received by the nearest cell tower’s antenna. Once the cell tower receives this signal, it will transmit the signals to a switching center.

    Also, the cellular towers have limitations to accommodate a certain number of phones, this might allow the network provider to determine the devices connected to it.

  • ‘Larkiyan isko cherti hain, yeh nahi’: Samra Raza Mir gets candid on son Ahad in resurfaced clip

    ‘Larkiyan isko cherti hain, yeh nahi’: Samra Raza Mir gets candid on son Ahad in resurfaced clip

    Actor Ahad Raza Mir appeared on Nida Yasir’s morning show with his mother Samra Mir after the success of his romantic serial with Sajal Aly, Yaqeen Ka Safar. A few clips from this old interview are resurfacing on social media.

    On being asked by the host that how does she react when she gets complaints about him, Nida cites the example of teasing girls, to which the Sammi star quickly responds that it has never happened.

    Ahad Raza Mir's Mother Samra Raza Mir Is A Musician. - Showbiz Pakistan

    Then Samra adds that its the other way round, as girls tease him and not him. She even said that it has been happening since childhood.

    Ahad married his co-star Sajal in Abu March 2020 in Abu Dhabi.

    Sajal Aly and Ahad Raza Mir to Split Up? | DESIblitz

    Walking down the memory lane, the Mom star, Sajal recently spilled how Ahad had asked her hand in marriage on the sets of Aangan.

    “We had just got engaged when we started working in Aangan together. He had proposed to me and I had told him that he needed to reach out to my family. The very next day, I had fallen ill and Ahad’s mother had come to take care of me for three days. My father had been very surprised but my sister told him that Ahad’s family were thinking of marriage. Once I got better, Ahad’s parents came to Lahore, met my family and we got engaged.”

    Sajal Ali's mother-in-law Samra Raza Mir says she will be releasing a song soon

  • Harvard University congratulates Ayesha Malik for becoming first female Supreme Court judge

    Harvard University has congratulated its alumnus, Ayesha Malik who is the first woman appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 75 years of its history.

    She has studied law and earned a degree of LL.M ( Master of Laws) in 1999 from Harvard Law School where she was named a Landon H. Gammon Fellow for academic excellence. Harvard Alumni Association also published an article on her achievement on its website.

    “Congratulations to @Harvard_Law alum Ayesha Malik LLM’99, who was appointed to the Supreme Court of Pakistan! She is the first woman to serve as a justice of Pakistan’s Supreme Court in the country’s 75-year history,” Harvard Alumni Association tweeted on March 27.

    Justice Ayesha Malik took oath as the Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on January 24, 2022. Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed administered the oath.

  • ‘Letter I have is proof’: Khan says details of ‘foreign conspiracy’ will be brought forward ‘at the right time’

    ‘Letter I have is proof’: Khan says details of ‘foreign conspiracy’ will be brought forward ‘at the right time’

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has claimed that the Opposition’s no-trust move is part of an alleged “foreign-funded conspiracy” hatched against his government.

    In what was a marathon speech lasting almost two hours on Sunday night, Khan discussed his struggling time as a politician, the achievements of PTI, his political ideology, and criticism on the Opposition.

    PM Khan further added that attempts were being made to topple his government and said, “some of our own people” are being used in this regard. The premier’s remarks came during Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) power show titled Amr Bil Maroof (enjoin the good) at Parade Ground in Islamabad.

    We have been threatened in writing but we will not compromise on national interest

    “Attempts are being made through foreign money to change the government in Pakistan. Our people are being used. Mostly inadvertently, but some people are using money against us. We know from what places attempts are being to pressure us. We have been threatened in writing but we will not compromise on national interest,” said PM Khan.

    “This is the era of social media. Nothing can be hidden. We will not accept anyone’s dictation. We will have friendships with everyone but we will not submit ourselves to anyone,” said PM Khan, adding, “Attempts are being made to influence our foreign policy from abroad. We have been aware of this conspiracy for months. We also know about those who have assembled these people (the opposition parties) but the time has changed. This is not the era of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.”

    The PM told the crowd that when former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto tried giving Pakistan an “independent foreign policy to the country”, Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Nawaz Sharif launched a movement against him.

    “And situations like today’s were created due to those conditions Bhutto was hanged,” said PM Imran. He added that today’s Bhutto’s son in law, Asif Ali Zardari, and grandson, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, are sitting with his murderers in thirst of a chair.

    “They do not have any shame they do politics on their grandfather and for the sake of their seat they are with the people who got him hanged,” said PM Imran.

     “I am placing the case of Pakistan’s independence before you. The letter I have is proof and I want to dare anyone who is doubting this letter. I will invite them off the record. We have to decide for how long we will have to live like this. We are getting threats. There are many things about the foreign conspiracy which will be shared very soon.”

    “We know who is behind it,” the premier said, adding that “there are a lot of things that will be revealed before the nation but at the right time.”

    “The nation wants to know who the man sitting in London is meeting with and whose directions the characters based in Pakistan are following? I am revealing the proofs we have. I cannot talk more in detail because I have to protect the interest of my country. I cannot talk about anything that harms my country. I could have told you about it. I do not fear anyone but I care about Pakistan’s interest.

    ‘I want to speak my heart out and I want you to listen’

    At the beginning of his address, the premier thanked the attendees of the jalsa for responding to his call and gathered in Islamabad from every part of the country.  The premier also lauded his team for arranging the jalsa.

    “I pay tribute to my team and the nation [for making this jalsa possible]. Thank you for making me happy,” he said. “Today, I will have a heart-to-heart conversation with the nation.”

    Prime Minister Imran Khan while responding to the criticism about him using religious references during his political speeches, said that when he joined politics 25 years ago, it was for the sake of the ideology of Pakistan.

    “Nations are built on ideologies, and the ideology on the basis of which Pakistan came into being was Islam,” he said. The premier then added that he learned through his experience of living in the West that the true teachings of Islam were followed over there instead of Pakistan.

    “We are providing loans to families for housing, technical education, and small businesses. As soon as our tax was enhanced, I announced a subsidy and reduced rates of petrol and ‘Fazlur Rehman’,” he said. “I also offered a subsidy in power tariff. I promise I will spend more money on my people as our government collects more capital in taxes.”

    He said that Muslims ruled the world for a long time as they followed in the footsteps of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).

    “Based on those ideals, I envisioned a welfare state in Pakistan and Alhamdulillah, we have already started a journey on that path. I am proud of the fact that we have introduced a health system in the country based on the principles of welfare.”

    ‘I will not forgive them even if my government goes or even if I lose my life‘

    “Poor countries are backward because the law there fails to catch the rich who are involved in white-collar crimes. They transfer stolen and looted money to offshore accounts. Small thieves do not destroy a country like the way big thieves do.”

    “These ‘three stooges’ are looting the country for years and all this drama is being done to have Imran Khan surrender like former President General Pervez Musharraf. They are trying to blackmail the government. General Musharraf tried to save his government and gave these thieves NRO and it resulted in the destruction of Pakistan.” The PM uses the term “stooges” in reference to Asif Ali Zardari, Shehbaz Sharif and Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

    “Come what may, I will not forgive them even if my government goes or even if I lose my life,” he added.

    PTI government’s achievements 

    The premier recapped the achievements of his government, including how the country steered itself out of the coronavirus pandemic and how its economy remained stable while the whole world was struggling.

    “Today, I assure you that as I will continue to collect money through taxes, I will utilise that money for the betterment of the country.”

    “InshaAllah, once we complete our five-year term, history will show that no other government worked as much as the PTI government did [for the development of the country].

    The premier said, “Our exports reached a historic high. We collected unprecedented tax. We gave incentives to overseas Pakistanis and received record remittances. We formed an ease-of-business model for the construction sector that led to the growth of 30 other allied industries.”

    “Covid erupted that led to closure of the world but I did not shut my country and faced criticism. I can proudly say that Pakistan’s steps were acknowledged by the world as they helped save the economy,” he said.

    “We saw record crops. It happened because we facilitated our farmers. We protected them. Now Pakistan’s industries are growing rapidly. Textile industries are struggling to find labour because all industries are working at their full capacity. This is the first time government is supporting its industries.”

    He urged TV anchors to invite economic experts on their shows and conduct a comparison of his government’s performance with the previous ones.

    The premier had said that he would “surprise” the Opposition a day before the no-confidence motion session, adding that he is yet to lay his cards on the table. 

    It is pertiennt to mention here that on March 8, the Opposition submitted a no-trust motion against Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan in National Assembly (NA), which is likely to be tabled on Monday in a crucial NA session.

  • Oscars 2022 Winners: Deaf actor Troy marks a historic win at Academy Awards

    Oscars 2022 Winners: Deaf actor Troy marks a historic win at Academy Awards

    94th Academy Awards kick started in Los Angeles, United States (US) on March 27, 2022. This time, the prestigious award ceremony also celebrated a win for a differently-abled actor however it also witnessed violence on the stage of Academy Awards 2022.

    American actor, Troy Kotsur has made history for the first time as a deaf male actor to win Academy Awards 2022 for Best Male Actor in Supporting Role in ‘CODA'(Child of Deaf Adults).

    Oscar-winning Korean actress, Youn Yuh Jung, presented the award to Troy Kotsur. He received heartfelt support from Yuh Jung who used sign language to announce his name as the winner. He got a standing ovation and applause in sign language from the audience.

    Troy Kotsur made an emotional speech and dedicate the award to his father.

    The actor said, “My dad, he was the best signer in our family, but he was in a car accident and he became paralyzed from the neck down and he no longer was able to sing. Dad, I learned so much from you. I’ll always love you. You are my hero.”

    CODA also took the award for Best Picture in Oscars 2022 which is a historic win for the deaf community.

    American actor, Will Smith also sparked a controversy when he slapped comedian Chris Rock on the stage because the comedian made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jade Pinkett Smith.

    Rock made a joke about Jade Pinkett Smith starring in “G.I. Jane 2” because of her baldness while announcing the best Documentary Feature. He was referencing the 1997 movie, G.I Jane in which Demi Moore portrayed a character with a shaved head. Pinkett Smith has a medical condition, alopecia which causes hair loss.

    British-Pakistani, Riz Ahmed also bagged the first oscar award along with director/writer Aneil Karia for the Best Live-Action Short Film, The Long Goodbye. Riz Ahmed is the co-writer and also starred in the short film.

    Here is the full list of winners of the Academy Awards 2022:

    BEST PICTURE
    CODA 

    BEST DIRECTOR
    Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog) 

    BEST ACTRESS
    Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye)

    BEST ACTOR
    Will Smith (King Richard)

    BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
    Ariana DeBose (West Side Story)

    BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
    Troy Kotsur (CODA)

    BEST COSTUME DESIGN
    Cruella (Jenny Beavan)

    BEST SOUND
    Dune

    BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
    Dune

    BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
    CODA

    BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
    Belfast

    BEST ANIMATED SHORT
    The Windshield Wiper

    BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT
    The Long Goodbye

    BEST FILM EDITING
    Dune

    BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
    The Eyes of Tammy Faye

    BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
    Encanto

    BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
    Summer of Soul

    BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
    The Queen of Basketball 

    BEST ORIGINAL SONG
    No Time to Die

    BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
    Dune

    BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
    Drive My Car (Japan) 

    BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
    Dune

    BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
    Dune

    .

  • Australian players appreciate Pakistan’s ‘brilliant hospitality’

    Australian players appreciate Pakistan’s ‘brilliant hospitality’

    Australian players have appreciated the hospitality of Pakistan during their recent visit.

    Pat Cummins took to Twitter to praise Pakistanis for their hospitality. “Special, special series. Immensely satisfied for this group to win the series in the last session of 15 tough days of Test Cricket. Huge thanks to PCB and all over here in Pakistan for the brilliant hospitality,” he wrote on Twitter.

    “Huge thanks to PCB and all over here in Pakistan for the brilliant hospitality.”

    Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne also expressed his satisfaction over winning the series.

    “A great, hard-fought series that went down to the last session. So happy to get the win!! Thanks to @babarazam258 and @TheRealPCB for a great series,” he wrote on his official Twitter handle.

    Aussies are visiting Pakistan for the first time in 24 years. Australia won the Third test to claim historic series win against Pakistan.

  • Amitabh pays 2.61 crore PKR as GST after selling his NFT collection for 17 crore PKR

    Amitabh pays 2.61 crore PKR as GST after selling his NFT collection for 17 crore PKR

    The Bollywood superstar, Amitabh Bachchan has finally paid 2.61 crore PKR in GST for the sale of his non-fungible token (NFT) collection, which was auctioned for 17.16 crore PKR in the first week of November 2021.

    Some of the netizens may remember that Bachchan had received a warning from the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGI) to pay the imposed GST.

    Despite Bachchan’s deposit, the DGGI is expected to continue its probe into tax avoidance.

    An NFT venture stated in August 2021 that Bachchan’s NFT collection would be available on its platform. Bachchan had signed an agreement with ‘Rhiti Entertainment’ to convert some of his pictures or illustrations into digital assets.

    Interestingly, this also made Bachchan one of the first Indian actors to support digital art and NFTs.

    Apart from the photos and posters, a famous collection of poems written by Bachchan’s father and recorded in his own voice, ‘Madhushala’ was the most successful auction.

    The NFT auction had garnered 17.16 crore PKR and attracted 18 percent GST. Big B was bound to pay taxes worth 12.61 crore PKR from the sale, which has been now deposited by the actor.

    Read More: Crypto companies at risk of closure in the United Kingdom

    For those who do not know much about NFTs, it is a type of digital asset that represents real-world or sometimes abstract elements. This can be art, photography, meme, music, game characters or any graphic one can think of. This data unit is kept on a blockchain, a digital ledger that makes it non-transferable and unique.

  • Taliban ban Afghan women from flying without male relative

    Taliban ban Afghan women from flying without male relative

    The Taliban has informed Afghan airlines that women will not be allowed to board domestic or international flights unless accompanied by a male chaperone, Reuters has reported.

    Sources told Reuters that the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice sent a letter to airlines on Saturday informing them of the new restrictions.

    They also stated that unaccompanied women who had already purchased tickets would be permitted to travel on Sunday and Monday. According to them, some women with tickets were turned away at Kabul’s airport on Saturday.

    Previously, a Taliban administration spokesman stated that women travelling abroad to study should be accompanied by a male relative.

    Read more- ‘Taliban didn’t keep their promise’: Malala reacts to closing of girls’ high schools in Afghanistan

    Earlier, the Taliban administration ruled that no female child above the sixth grade will be allowed to attend school. The announcement came only a few hours after they reopened for the first time in nearly seven months.