Blog

  • US refuses to acknowledge claim that Pakistan involved in Taliban attack on Kabul

     The United States (US) State Department distances itself from former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s claim that 10-15,000 Pakistanis had joined the Taliban attack on Kabul, reported Dawn.

    US State Department spokesperson Ned Price, when asked to comment on Ghani’s claim, said, “I’m just not in a position to comment on that, to confirm those reports.”

    “If we have anything more, we’ll provide it,” said Price when asked if he would comment on another claim that the Taliban forces now in Kabul include foreign troops.

    “We’re enormously grateful to the huge network of countries that have provided critical assistance for our evacuation efforts,” said Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland.

    Praising the countries, she named Pakistan, Kuwait, Qatar, Turkey, and the UAE among the countries that supported the evacuation. She also named America’s key European allies – Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and others – “who have helped transit Americans and others to safety”.

    “Our close coordination with our allies and partners remains critical both on evacuation and relocation, but also as we begin to scope our ongoing relationship with the Afghan people and with the Taliban,” she said.

  • ‘It was stupid of me’: Feroze Khan opens up on the ‘Sheikh’ controversy, warns Tabish Hashmi

    ‘It was stupid of me’: Feroze Khan opens up on the ‘Sheikh’ controversy, warns Tabish Hashmi

    Pakistani actor Feroze Khan has finally addressed the social media speculations about his ‘Sheikh’ or spiritual scholar.

    The host, Tabish Hashmi jokingly said that he wants Feroze to be his Sheikh after knowing that he is such a nice person. The Chup Raho star was quick to stop him and warned the host to not joke about it.

    The Ishqiya star appeared on Tabish Hashmi’s show, To Be Honest and said, “Ye bhi Sheikh ne bola wo bhi Sheikh ne bola. This is not a joke. This is my personal thing and it was stupid of me to share it on media. You don’t direct someone like that. I respect that person.”

    “This is sensitive and very personal to me,” he added.

    Earlier, the Khaani actor in an interview with Something Haute, said, “My Sheikh ordered me not to quit showbiz.” Elaborating further, he explained how his mentor believed the industry was a medium to spread the message of religion.

    On the work front, Feroze can currently be seen in Geo TV’s Khuda Aur Mohabbat 3 opposite Iqra Aziz.

  • New Zealand: Multiple people injured in knife attack by an ISIS-inspired man

    New Zealand’s Prime Minister  Jacinda Ardern has said in an official statement that at least six people were hurt in a knife incident at a supermarket in Auckland, Al Jazeera has reported. The attacker was killed within 60 seconds after beginning the attack, she said. Ardern further added that the had been inspired by the ISIS group.

    “It was hateful, it was wrong. It was carried out by an individual, not a faith,” Ardern said. She described the attacker as a Sri Lankan national who arrived in New Zealand in 2011. “He alone carries the responsibility for these acts.”

    Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said the man was acting alone and police were confident there was no further threat to the public, Reuters has reported.

    “We were doing absolutely everything possible to monitor him and indeed the fact that we were able to intervene so quickly, in roughly 60 seconds, shows just how closely we were watching him,” Coster said.

    Videos of panicked people in the shopping mall after the attack has gone viral on social media.

  • Fawad Chaudhry faces backlash, NA members demand draft of proposed media authority

    Fawad Chaudhry faces backlash, NA members demand draft of proposed media authority

    Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry faced a hard time in the committee as members demanded to see the draft law of the Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA), reported Kalbe Ali for Dawn.

    Spokesperson of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Marriyum Aurangzeb, demanded that the draft of the law should be presented for the establishment of the authority instead of a verbal briefing by the minister.

    Adding to her point, Aurangzeb said, “The attitude of the information minister was dictatorial.”

    Fawad Chaudhry said that some people did not want to have any regulations in the media industry, adding that Pakistan cannot turn a blind eye to conspiracies being formulated against it.

    “It is important to regulate the media,” the minister said, adding: “We have studied the laws of the United Kingdom (UK), India, Australia, Singapore, and European nations before formulating the draft PMDA law.”

    “But most of all, there will be no compromise over the rights of media workers and against floating of fake news and there was a severe pressure against the Authority regarding these two things,” said Fawad.

    After reflection on the proposed PMDA, the chairman of the committee PML-N’s Mian Javed Latif decided to form a subcommittee, which will be headed by Aurangzeb with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Kanwal Shauzab and Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) Nafisa Shah as its members.

  • ‘Prove that I called anyone,’ Saleem Safi shares his banned politician list

    ‘Prove that I called anyone,’ Saleem Safi shares his banned politician list

    Senior Journalist and Talk Show Host Saleem Safi, while speaking to The Current, revealed that he has a banned list for his show ‘Jirga’ on Geo News.

    “I have a ‘banned list’ on my show and I am very particular who I call on my show,” said Safi.

    The banned list includes Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) Dr Shahbaz Gill, Chairman Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir Shehryar Afridi,  Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan and Minister for Prisons, Punjab, as Official Spokesperson for the Government of Punjab, Fayaz-ul-Hassan Chohan. From Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, the list includes (PML-N) Talal Chaudhry and MNA Javed Latif.

    “I do not shake hands with SAPM Dr Shahbaz Gill and Minister of Science and Technology, Shibli Faraz,” added Safi.

    “Provide me with proof that my team or I contacted or called any of these people on my show, and I am ready to face the consequences,” said Safi.

    Clarifying his stance, Safi informed The Current, “I did not call Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on my show till he became a minister. It became a necessity to call him then.”

    Safi’s comments come after Fawad Chaudhry commented on the former’s program, saying that, “Meray elawa apka koi phone nahi uthata [No one attends your call except for me]”

    To which Safi replied, “Meiny kisi aur ko phone kiya hi nahi hai kabi [ I have not called any one before].”

  • Bahawal Victoria Hospital bans jeans, bangles, rings in hospital premises

     Newly hired medical superintendent of the Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH) Dr Muhammad Younus Warraich has banned jeans in the hospital and made dupatta or scarf mandatory for the women medical officers (WMOs) and paramedics, Majeed Gill reported for Dawn.

     The new dress code has been introduced reportedly by the new head of the hospital to ‘preach Islam and reform the society’.

    A notification signed by Mr Warraich, titled as, DRESS CODE RULES IN B.V. HOSPITAL BAHAWALPUR PREMISES consisted of two categories of ‘ALLOWED’ and ‘NOT ALLOWED’.

    The letter gives the list of the dresses, which are not permitted in the hospital. It includes “jeans/tights (but only with knee-length shirt), high-up trousers/capri above ankle, tight fitted clothes, see-through clothes, heavy/tacky bangles or rings, sleeveless/half sleeves clothes, heavy make-up (especially dark lipsticks), untied long hair, high heels (making loud sounds and turning heads of everyone), extreme hairstyles (especially high buns like the hump of camels), low neckline (front and back), nail paint on long nails, slippers and anklets (Pazaib)”.

    The “ALLOWED” category includes, “shalwar kameez or trousers with long shirts, dupatta/scarf, minimal jewelry like studs/tops, simple ring, or a chain with locket, sleeves below the elbow, lab coat (compulsory in hospital premises), maternity gowns/suitable dresses (during antenatal period) and scrubs with long sleeves that can be folded for females”.

    It is notable that the code looks to be mostly women-centric.

    Talking to Dawn, Mr Warraich confirmed that lab coats and maternity gowns during operations are now necessary on the hospital premises along with dupatta/scarf with minimum jewellery for women medical officers. Explaining the move, he said the step had been taken to preach Islam, promote religious values and reform society.

  • Minal Khan, Ahsan Mohsin spotted romancing in the mountains

    Minal Khan, Ahsan Mohsin spotted romancing in the mountains

    Fiancées Ahsan Mohsin Ikram and Minal Khan were spotted romancing on the streets of Northern Pakistan.

    The duo is set to get married on September 10 in Karachi.

    The pair made sure that they capture all the moments.

    The groom to be is on a shopping spree.

    On the work front, Minal is currently featuring in Ishq Hai opposite Danish Taimoor.

  • ‘Usne mere haathon mein dum toda’: Shehnaaz Gill breaks down, Asim Riaz rushes to Cooper Hospital

    Ator Sidharth Shukla passed away on Thursday, an official at the Cooper Hospital revealed that he suffered a massive heart attack early in the morning. He is survived by his mother and two sisters.

    As per Pinkvilla, Shehnaaz Gill’s father Santokh Singh told the media, “Shehnaaz ka ro rokar bura haal hai, usne mujhse kaha “usne mere haathon mein dum toda hai. Mere haathon mein woh is duniya ko chhodkar gaya. Ab main kya karungi kaise jeeyungi?”

    As per other media reports her father said, “I spoke to her. She is not fine. My son Shehbaaz has left for Mumbai to be with her and I will be going later.” Shehbaaz was later seen visiting Sidharth’s home to meet his family.

    “I am not in the condition to talk right now. I cannot believe whatever has happened,” Santokh added.

    Last month, Sidharth Shukla and Shehnaaz Gill made back-to-back appearances on TV reality shows Dance Deewane 3 and Bigg Boss OTT. They performed together on the dance reality show judged by Madhuri Dixit.

    Asim Riaz, co-contestant of Sidharth in Bigg Boss visited Mumbai’s Cooper Hospital before others while the post-mortem of the Broken But Beautiful star’s body was being done.

  • Haider Ali bags first-ever Paralympics gold for Pakistan

    Haider Ali bags first-ever Paralympics gold for Pakistan

    Paralympian Haider Ali made the country proud by winning the first-ever gold medal for Pakistan in Paralympics discus throw competition, with a top podium finish in the discus throw event at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics on Friday.

    Haider threw a 55.26 metres throw in his fifth attempt out of the total six he made to score the best distance.

    The silver medal was bagged by Ukraine’s Zhabnyak with a 52.43 metres throw, while Brazilian Teixeira de Souza won bronze with a 51.86 throw.

    Earlier, Haider had won two medals, a silver in Beijing and a Bronze in Rio in the long jump event for Pakistan.

    While talking to a local news publication, Ali said that having the uncertainty in training was tough, but then the second set of problems arose with having no support from the government of Pakistan in helping the para-athletes’ travel to Tokyo.

    Earlier the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) Media Director Huma Beg had shared that the tickets for the athletes were also bought just a few days before their scheduled arrival in Tokyo. The committee did not have any backing from the government in sending the athletes to the Games, but then the Government of Punjab helped in the end in facilitating the tickets, and most of the preparation was done on self-help basis.

    Ali is acutely aware of the fact that Pakistan Government has not played the part that it should have.

    Along with Government of Pakistan and Paralympic Pakistan, many congratulated the athlete for his accomplishment.

    Soon after his win, Congratulations Pakistan started trending on Twitter and thousands of fans started congratulating him on Pakistani Twitter. Paralympics Pakistan shared a video of Pakistani Hero Ali thanking the people for their wishes.

  • ‘I am shocked’: Pakistani actresses mourn the untimely demise of Bollywood’s Sidharth Shukla

    ‘I am shocked’: Pakistani actresses mourn the untimely demise of Bollywood’s Sidharth Shukla

    Actor Sidharth Shukla passed away on Thursday, an official at the Cooper Hospital revealed that he suffered a massive heart attack early in the morning. He is survived by his mother and two sisters.

    He was 41, and recently won the thirteen season of Bigg Boss. Hospital Authorities said that he took some medicine before sleeping and didn’t wake up. Later, the hospital confirmed that he passed away due to a heart attack. According to the sources, he was brought dead to the hospital.

    He began his career in showbiz as a model and made his acting debut with a lead role in the television show Babul Ka Aangann Chootey Na.

    Pakistani actresses took to their Instagram handles to mourn the untimely death of the Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya star.