Blog

  • Hassan Ali equals Waqar Younis, Imran Khan’s record in Bangladesh Test

    Hassan Ali equals Waqar Younis, Imran Khan’s record in Bangladesh Test

    Pakistani speedster Hassan Ali has equalled former pacer Waqar Younis and former captain Imran Khan’s record for most five-wicket hauls in Test cricket by a Pakistani fast pitcher in a calendar year.

    The right-arm fast bowler was unable to impress his fans with his performance at the T20 World Cup but he bounced back at the T20I series against Bangladesh in the first T20I of the three-match series. Now, the pacer has proved himself once again with a 5-wicket haul against Bangladesh in the first innings of the first Test match at Chittagong.

    Hassan was the architect of Bangladesh’s lower-order batting collapse on Saturday as he took quick wickets to ensure a dangerous Bangladesh were restricted to 330 runs in their first innings.

    With figures of 5/51, Ali not only managed to be the pick of the Pakistani bowlers during Bangladesh’s first innings but also entered the record books alongside some of the greatest names of the game.

    Read More – Hassan Ali seals the deal for Pakistan

    With his latest five-fer, Ali has now equalled records for the most five-wicket hauls in Test cricket by a Pakistani fast bowler in a calendar year, set by legends Imran Khan and Waqar Younis.

    All three Imran Khan, Waqar Younis and Hassan Ali now have 5 five-fers in Test cricket to their name within a calendar year (1982, 1990 and 2021, respectively).

    Pakistan’s former fast bowler Younis holds the record for the most five-fers ever (across formats) in a calendar year by a Pakistani fast bowler, with 6 in 1993.

    Meanwhile, Pakistan scored 79 after 29 overs before tea on the second day. The national side is set for a big score with this partnership built by Asad Shafique and Abid Ali.

  • Malik Riaz and son’s 10 years UK visit visa revoked due to possible corruption

    Malik Riaz and son’s 10 years UK visit visa revoked due to possible corruption

    United Kingdom (UK) courts have decided to revoke a 10-year multi-entry visit visa to real estate tycoon Malik Riaz, and his son Ahmed Ali Riaz.

    Lady Justice Nicolas Davies, in her judgment against the appeal of Riaz and his son, wrote, “Whilst there has not been a criminal conviction against you I am satisfied on probabilities that you have been involved with corruption and financial/commercial misconduct.”

    “As a result, having regard to the UK’s commitment to combat corruption and financial crime, I believe that your exclusion from the UK is conducive to the public good due to your conduct, character, and associations,” wrote Justice Nicolas.

    The UK High court on Malik Riaz case cited, “The appellants [Malik Riaz and Ahmed Ali] have been involved with corruption and financial/commercial misconduct was founded on their involvement in the affairs of a company, Bahria Town. The company is wholly owned and run by the appellant’s family and is described as the largest property developer in Asia. At all relevant times, Mr Malik was the Chairman of Bahria Town, Mr Ali was the CEO.”

  • Bilal-Sajal’s ‘Khel Khel Mein’ brings back life to cinemas, mints 2.5 crores at the box-office

    Khel Khel Mein starring Bilal Abbas Khan and Sajal Aly became the first Pakistani film to release post the pandemic and it has brought the life back to cinemas which were witnessing a lull since the last two years.

    Based on the fall of Dhaka, the film has garnered good word of mouth from the public.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIprxEg5AQg

    The film has collected a total of 1.85 crores in its first week which considering the limited screens it got and being the first film to come out post the pandemic is a good enough result.

    Daily breakdown:

    Friday: 28lacs

    Saturday: 60lacs

    Sunday: 42lacs

    Monday: 14lacs

    Tuesday: 15lacs

    Wednesday: 14lacs

    Thursday: 12lacs

    Total:1.85 crore

    The numbers indicate two positive factors for the film, a massive jump on Saturday and it has maintained approximately 50% of Fridays collections on weekdays.

    The film opened in a few overseas markets and was able to collect a total of 65 lacs in the first week. With this the Nabeel Qureshi directorial currently stands at a total of 2.5 crores worldwide.

    With little competition in week two, the film is set to add more business in its Kitty. Even with moderate business, it will be remembered for starting the cinema going experience all over again.

    The leading lady of the film, Sajal exclusively told The Current about her experience of working in the film.

  • Malala’s husband, Asser Malik reveals where they first met

    Malala’s husband, Asser Malik reveals where they first met

    Nobel laureate and women’s education rights activist Malala Yousafzai’s husband Asser Malik revealed where the newlyweds first met. “The place we first met felt a little more special on Malala’s graduation day,” he wrote in an Instagram post while congratulating Malala on her graduation.

    Malala has graduated with degrees in philosophy, politics, and economics from the University of Oxford.

    Ziauddin Yousafzai also congratulated her daughter for “officially” graduating from the University of Oxford.

    Malala tied the knot with Asser Malik in a small intimate nikkah ceremony in Birmingham on November 9.

    Read more- ‘Precious day in my life’: Malala Yousafzai ties the knot

    Earlier Malala also opened up about how she met Malik. ““In the summer of 2018, Asser was visiting friends at Oxford and we crossed paths. He worked in cricket, so I immediately had a lot to discuss with him. He liked my sense of humour. We became best friends. We found we had common values and enjoyed each other’s company. We stood by each other in moments of happiness and disappointment. Through our individual ups and downs, we talked and listened to each other. And when words failed, I sent him a link to our horoscope compatibility, hoping the stars could help reinforce our connection,” Malala writes in the article.

    Read more- ‘I believe that I can enjoy friendship, love and equality in marriage’: Malala

    The couple made their second public appearance earlier this month on November 23, at the opening of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s stage musical, Cinderella.

  • West Indies announces squads for Pakistan, to play three ODIs, T20Is each

    West Indies announces squads for Pakistan, to play three ODIs, T20Is each

    The Cricket West Indies (CWI) has announced the squads for the Windies tour of Pakistan.

    The side will play three T20Is and the same number of ODIs at the National Stadium Karachi from December 13 to 22.

    Four uncapped players – Justin Greaves, Shamarh Brooks, left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie and fast-bowling all-rounder Odean Smith – are included in both squads.

    Smith and Motie are also selected in the T20I squad for the first time, along with left-arm fast-bowling all-rounder Dominic Drakes.

    The ODI series will be West Indies’ fourth series of 12 in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League

    Squads

    ODIs

    Kieron Pollard (Captain), Shai Hope (Vice-Captain), Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, Roston Chase, Justin Greaves, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Anderson Phillip, Nicholas Pooran, Raymon Reifer, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Hayden Walsh Jr.

    T20Is

    Kieron Pollard (Captain), Nicholas Pooran (Vice Captain), Darren Bravo, Roston Chase, Sheldon Cottrell, Dominic Drakes, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Gudakesh Motie, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jr.

  • ‘Utterly misogynistic’: Anger at Abrar ul Haq for posting video of minor girl getting ‘roti training’

    ‘Utterly misogynistic’: Anger at Abrar ul Haq for posting video of minor girl getting ‘roti training’

    Twitter users are angry at Abrar Ul Haq for posting a video of a girl making a roti. The singer turned politician posted a video of the girl on Twitter and wrote, “Right age for the training.”

    Twitter users have expressed their displeasure over the video. Some people are criticising it saying that the video is reinforcing patriarchal gender roles while others are criticising it for letting the girl go near a lit stove.

    Here is how people on Twitter are reacting :

    https://twitter.com/Stephanie_Waal/status/1464273846958182407

    Earlier, Abrar ul Haq faced backlash over his is song ‘Begum Shak Karti Ha’, which featured actor Saba Qamar. The song received criticism, with people calling it the copy of the children’s song ‘Baby Baby Shark’, which the singer earlier criticised.

    Read more- ‘Regressive, copied’: Abrar-ul-Haq criticised for song with Saba Qamar

    Abrar in August this year criticised young mothers for giving gadgets to children and sang Baby Shark at a convention to mark Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) three years performance.

    He said that when he was a child, mothers used to recite Kalima and nowadays, young mothers give mobile phones to their children, which play Baby Shark.

    Read more- Abrar-ul-Haq sings ‘Baby Shark’, critcises young mothers for giving gadgets in children’s hands

  • What we know about the upcoming Katrina-Vicky wedding

    What we know about the upcoming Katrina-Vicky wedding

    Rumours of Bollywood’s Sheela, Katrina Kaif and budding actor Vicky Kaushal getting married are abuzz on social media. According to reports, the couple will say their vows in front of close friends and family in the first week of December at Six Senses Fort Barwara Resort, Rajasthan.

    Now, if this Pinkvilla report is to be believed, the much-loved celeb couple, VicKat, is all set to exchange wedding vows on December 9.

    As the report further suggests, it will apparently be an evening Hindu wedding and the pre-wedding festivities like Sangeet and Mehndi will take place on December 7 and 8, respectively in Rajasthan.

    Reportedly, approximately 200 guests are expected to attend this big-fat Bollywood wedding. With a few days left for the highly-anticipated wedding, Vicky & Katrina’s teams have already started wedding preparations.

    According to the Pinkvilla report, both Vicky and Katrina will be wearing Sabyasachi outfits for their big day. To-be-bride, Katrina, has supposedly opted for an Abu Jani outfit for Mehendi, Manish Malhotra for her Sangeet and Gucci for the reception.

    It was recently reported, Sojat mehendi (henna) from Pali district of Jodhpur, Rajasthan, will be sent to Katrina for her Mehendi ceremony. The mehendi preparation for her wedding is expected to cost around Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh.

    The couple is rumoured to have a court marriage next week in Mumbai before they jet off to Rajasthan for their wedding. Reportedly, Vicky and Katrina will apparently have a no-phone policy at their wedding.

  • Maya Ali, Ayesha Omar lash out at lawyers for beating a woman in court

    Maya Ali, Ayesha Omar lash out at lawyers for beating a woman in court

    Pakistani celebrities, Maya Ali and Ayesha Omar come out in support of Laila Parveen, an activist of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) who was beaten up by lawyers in the premises of Malir courts. They expressed their anger on their Instagram handles over the unlawful act of the lawyers.

    Actress Maya Ali took to Instagram to share her anguish and requested the government and Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan to take strict action against the violators.

    Ayesha Omar also showed her annoyance over the incident by sharing a similar article that focused on the problems faced by women and wrote, “These are our courts. These are our lawyers.”

    Earlier a viral video involving a physical assault on Parveen in court angered the whole nation.

    According to Parveen, she was given a bounced cheque of Rs6.5 million by her ex-husband, Advocate Hasnain.

    She, along with her brother, appeared before the court for proceedings of the case she filed against her ex-husband. Her husband allegedly verbally and physically assaulted them along with his colleagues Advocate Shahzad Saeed and Advocate Jalbani at the court.

    On the other hand, the general secretary of the Malir district bar association, Riaz Bhatti, revealed that some lawyers allegedly tried to settle the dispute between Advocate Hasnain and Parveen but some people who were with Parveen became harsh, which resulted in a fistfight.

  • Nadra denies FIA’s claim that national database has been hacked

    Nadra denies FIA’s claim that national database has been hacked

    A meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information Technology on Thursday witnessed a curious discussion on the security of important data as an official of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) claimed that the system of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) had been hacked. He later changed his statement when pressed to elaborate upon his remarks.

    “We have discovered that Nadra’s data has been compromised, it has been hacked,” Tariq Pervez, additional director of FIA’s Cybercrime Wing, told the meeting chaired by Ali Khan Jadoon. The FIA had seized around 13,000 illegal SIMs during a crackdown in Faisalabad, he said.

    Pervez said that 89,000 complaints have been received by his wing, but they did not have enough staff to address the complaints reported on a daily basis.

    “The FIA’s cybercrime wing has only 162 investigation officers,” he added.

    Pervez’s statement caught the attention of the committee members who put various questions to him regarding the theft of Nadra data. After this accusation, the FIA’s additional director altered his statement and said that Nadra’s data had not been hacked, but its biometric system had been compromised and used during the SIM verification process.

    He further informed the committee that whenever they traced a suspect involved in financial frauds, the suspect mostly turned out to be an elderly man or a woman, whose data was being used by someone else.

    Nadra, refuting the claim of the FIA official in a statement, said, “The FIA statement regarding hacking of biometric data is based on misunderstanding,” adding that Nadra would seek clarification from the FIA over the “unnecessary statement and misrepresentation of the issue”.

    Responding to concerns of the committee members, Pakistan Telecommuni­ca­tion Authority (PTA) chairman retired Maj Gen Amir Azeem Bajwa said that complaints could be lodged against those involved in sending messages related to financial fraud at the PTA website.

    Jadoon of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the chairman of the committee, stressed that it was essential to keep national interest and national perspective into consideration while formulating laws.

  • Hassan Ali’s hairdo is the center of attention for cricket fans

    Hassan Ali’s hairdo is the center of attention for cricket fans

    Pakistan’s pacer Hassan Ali recently got a haircut after carrying long locks in the T20 World Cup 2021.

    Read More – Hassan Ali charged for breaching ICC Code of Conduct in first T20I

    The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) posted two photos of him in which his transformation can be seen. “T20Is to Tests,” PCB wrote as caption.

    Hassan Ali received criticism in the T20 World Cup as he was unable to perform well in the mega event. The pacer, with a comeback performance in the first T20I match against Bangladesh, took three wickets while giving just 22 runs in his four overs and bagged Player of the Match award.

    He dedicated his Player of the Match award to the fans who supported him through thick and thin.

    “I admit that fans were expecting top-notch performance from me in the World Cup T20,” he said. “Despite my efforts, I failed to put up a decent show. Sometimes in cricket, you cannot showcase your best efforts. I was struggling a bit with no balls and that was the reason I conceded too many runs and was not taking wickets,” adding that his hard work is paying off. “I dedicate this award to the fans who stayed behind me during tough times.”

    Meanwhile, during the ongoing Test match against Bangladesh, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Ali, Sajid Khan and Faheem Ashraf took a wicket each.

    Bangladesh scored 253 for four after they had been reduced to 49 for four on day one of the first Test against Pakistan at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. The play was suspended in the latter half of the evening session because of fading light as 85 overs were bowled and the second days play will begin 11 minutes before the scheduled start to make up for the lost time.