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  • Senate Committee approves Anti-Rape bill, abolish virginity test

    Senate Committee approves Anti-Rape bill, abolish virginity test

    The Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice, chaired by Senator Syed Ali Zafar, on Wednesday approved the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trail) Bill, 2021 stipulating the formation of special courts to hear rape cases.

    The National Assembly passed the bill on June 10 after that it was moved by Law Minister Dr Farogh Naseem on June 15. It will now be tabled in the Senate for approval, as per DAWN.

    The bill has the following clauses:

    The provision of the virginity test has been removed.

    If one is proven guilty, they could face a death sentence, life imprisonment, or undergo chemical castration.

    Investigation officials could also face a penalty if they tried to mislead case proceedings in any capacity.

    The suspects will be provided facilities to prove their innocence.

    Instead of retired ones, serving judges will be appointed to the special courts.

    Opposition reaction

    PPP’s Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar suggested that the parliament must monitor the performance of special courts means that the legislature could make changes to the law if issues continue to transpire.

    His party mate Raza Rabbani said he didn’t believe that constitution of special courts was required for hearing rape cases.

    Furthermore, Azam Nazeer Tarar of the PML-N said similar courts were also established in the past, but they didn’t very helpful.

    Prior to this last year after the motorway incident, President Arif Alvi approved the anti-rape ordinance and had said that special courts would be established throughout the country for speedy trials of sexual assault suspects. The courts would have to wrap up the cases within four months.

  • EXCLUSIVE: Junaid Safdar reveals Pakistan marriage timeline, reacts to Rohan memes

    PML-N Vice President, Maryam Nawaz and Captain (R) Muhammad Safdar’s son Junaid Safdar, in an exclusive conversation with The Current has revealed that his remaining marriage ceremonies will take place in Pakistan. The dates have not been finalised yet but it is expected that the wedding festivities will take place in December.

    “Rukhsati and Valima will be in Islamabad/Lahore once dates are finalised,” he said. Junaid did not reveal his honeymoon plans, saying, “I think we will decide post December once all other marriage ceremonies take place in Pakistan.”

    A meme has been doing the rounds on social media comparing Junaid Safdar’s transformation with Hrithik Roshan’s character Rohan, from Karan Johar’s Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham.

    The Current asked its followers whose transformation they like more, Hritikh’s or Safdar’s? 56 percent voted for Junaid.

    Read more-Junaid Safdar reveals if he planned to sing at his Nikkah

    The Current reached out to Junaid Safdar to find out how he feeling about all the memes comparing him to Hrithik, to which Junaid replied, ” I love it, gives us all of us something to celebrate…Ayesha and I had a good laugh Alhumdullilah”.

    Junaid further added that his favorite movie is Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and he enjoys Farhan Akhtar’s films.

  • Trending: Asim Azhar celebrates eight years in the music industry, Fahad and Sami cheer

    Trending: Asim Azhar celebrates eight years in the music industry, Fahad and Sami cheer

    Singer Asim Azhar is celebrating eight years in the music industry with a special montage video and the hashtag #8YearsOfAsimAzhar on social media.

    The Jo Tu Na Mila Muje singer took to Instagram late on Wednesday to share a montage with clips from his music videos and several other performances, saying “Wow. 8 years??? I swear it feels like yesterday.”

    He went on to pen a long, heartfelt note marking the feat, sharing that the passage of time and his fans’ love through the years has left him “speechless”.

    “Shukriya aap sab ka meri zindagi ka hissa banne ke liye (Thank you all for being a part of my life). I can’t thank my fans enough for doing all of this,” he added.

    Asim also thanked his fans for the trends on social media.

    Meanwhile, actors Fahad Mustafa and Sami Khan congratulated the Tum Tum singer for completing eight years.

  • Fawad Chaudhry condemned for saying Dawn is part of international conspiracy against Pak

    Fawad Chaudhry condemned for saying Dawn is part of international conspiracy against Pak

    Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry accused Dawn media group of being part of an international conspiracy against Pakistan.

    When anchorperson Absa Komal asked Fawad about media freedom in Pakistan and for an update on the investigation related to recent attacks on journalists in Islamabad, Fawad dodged the question and said, “Your institution [Dawn] is an active participant of an international conspiracy theory which works against Pakistan.” Fawad appeared on ‘News Eye with Absa Komal’ on Dawn News.

    “Your institution propagates an environment that works against the country, trying to take things out of context.”

    “Human Rights Watch (HRW) has written an entire article on PMDA and it says that there is five-year prosecution. When we inquired about it from HRW, they said it was entirely based on [Dawn’s] editorial,” said Fawad.

    Twitter reacted to the minister’s statement against Dawn.

    Journalist Benazir Shah tweeted, “The Info. Minister accuses Dawn of being part of an ‘international conspiracy’ to defame Pakistan, without presenting a shred of evidence to support his claim. On the other hand, there is enough evidence of increasing censorship against media.”

    Lawyer Aftab Alam questioned, “If govt is serious about media regulatory reforms, why is it keeping the process secret? Why not putting ‘Bill’ on the official page of @GovtofPakistan and sharing with stakeholders?”

    Another Twitter user wrote, “A journalist has a genuine concern? – Instead of addressing it just accuse them of being anti-state and dodge the question. This way you save yourself the embarrassment of giving a proper clarification which you clearly don’t have.”

  • Shireen Mazari calls for banning men in parks ‘to teach them a lesson’

    Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari, while presenting a report on the Minar-e-Pakistan incident to the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights, has said that there should be a specific time slot for women to visit parks and men should not be allowed in during that time.

    “Why are restrictions being imposed on women?” questioned Mazari.

    “It has been observed that most of the problems are caused by the youth. Curbs should be imposed on them to teach the youth a lesson,” she added.

    In an update on the case, three suspects have confessed to assaulting Ayesha Akram at Minar-e-Pakistan. In addition, a total of five suspects have been identified by Ayesha Akram, Geo News has reported.

    Read more- Suspect in Minar-e-Pakistan incident gets pre-arrest bail

    Ayesha Akram was attacked by 400 men on August 14 when she was trying to record a video with four friends to celebrate Independence Day.

  • Paris Hilton, Akcent extend support to Ayesha Omar after her heartfelt confessions

    Paris Hilton, Akcent extend support to Ayesha Omar after her heartfelt confessions

    Actor Ayesha Omar has posted a lengthy note on Instagram, shedding light on a throwback moment from her 2020’s Dubai trip.

    “My heart was heavy and my mind was a mess, while posing for these. Instagram is never a reflection of reality. You can never tell what’s actually going on in someone’s head or life by what you see in a photo. Sanya and I both were going through terrible times, but we made it through, and came out stronger and softer,” wrote the Zindagi Gulzar Hai star.

    “Today, I’m grateful for so much. The list is endless. But especially for all the love and support I get from all of you.. through my good times and bad, through my highs and lows… thank you, all of you. I’m just so grateful. Everyday,” Ayesha concluded.

    Paris Hilton was quick to extend her support to Ayesha.

    The lead vocalist of Romanian popstar band Akcent Adrian Claudiu Sînă also left a heart emoji under the Bulbulay diva’s post.

  • Twitter’s new Safety Mode will automatically block harassers

    Twitter has rolled out Safety Mode feature for a limited number of users.

    “Safety Mode is a feature that temporarily blocks accounts for seven days for using potentially harmful language — such as insults or hateful remarks — or sending repetitive and uninvited replies or mentions.”

    “When the feature is turned on in your settings, our systems will assess the likelihood of a negative engagement by considering both the tweet’s content and the relationship between the tweet author and replier. Our technology takes existing relationships into account, so accounts you follow or frequently interact with will not be autoblocked.”

    Authors of the tweets found by Twitter to be harmful or uninvited will be autoblocked, meaning they will temporarily be unable to follow your account, see your tweets, or send you direct messages.

    This feature has been rolled out to a small feedback group on iOS, Android, and Twitter.com, beginning with accounts that have English-language settings enabled.

  • India snatched Syed Ali Geelani’s body early morning ahead of his funeral

    India snatched Syed Ali Geelani’s body early morning ahead of his funeral

     Pakistan on Thursday condemned India’s act of snatching Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani’s body ahead of his funeral.

    According to Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Asim Iftikhar, “The Indian government is fearful of Syed Ali Geelani even after his demise.”

    “It is reflective of the rage, tyranny, and barbarianism of the Indian occupation forces,” he remarked.

    Iftikhar in a statement said that as the family was preparing for the last rites of Syed Geelani, a group of the occupation forces raided his residence in Srinagar, harassed family members, and snatched Syed Geelani’s body.

    “When the family members told the raiding party that Syed Geelani’s will was to be buried in the ‘Cemetery of Martyrs’ in Srinagar, they were reportedly told that India would not allow Syed Geelani’s burial at the place of his choosing,” he said.

    “India has been violating all civil and human rights norms in the occupied valley,” maintained Iftikhar.

    Indian media subsequently reported the burial of the Hurriyat leader. A curfew has been imposed in the valley and all internet services have been suspended.

    Syed Ali Geelani’s son told AP that the family had planned the burial at the main Martyrs’ Graveyard in Srinagar as per his will but were disallowed by the police.

    “They snatched his body and forcibly buried him. Nobody from the family was present for his burial. We tried to resist but they overpowered us and even scuffled with women,” said his son Naseem Geelani.

    Geelani was the former head of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) but quit politics last year in June. Geelani passed away at his home in Srinagar after a prolonged illness.

  • Twitter reacts to ‘happy birthday’ billboard for Korean band member in Gujranwala

     Gujranwala fans of a Korean pop band, BTS, wished a happy birthday to the band’s youngest member JungKook by installing a billboard. The singer recently turned 24.

    https://twitter.com/rreeshake/status/1432960659050876929?s=20

    Twitterati were quick to react to the billboard.

    https://twitter.com/colossalkajal/status/1433098895182139397?s=20

    https://twitter.com/koalaabearrrr/status/1433083450093936647?s=20

  • Wahaj-Zara, Zahid-Sarwat pair up to headline forthcoming web series

    Wahaj-Zara, Zahid-Sarwat pair up to headline forthcoming web series

    Actors Zara Noor Abbas and Wahaj Ali will be seen together in an upcoming web series written by Umera Ahmed.

    Directed and produced by Haseeb Hassan, the ensemble star cast also includes Hina Bayat, Javed Sheikh, Yasra Rizvi and Dur e Fishan in pivotal roles.

    While talking to a local news outlet, the Fitoor star confirmed the web series and said, “You are going to see me romancing Zara Noor Abbas in this one and it’s something really nice.” Moreover, Wahaj expressed his gratitude for the chance to work with the acclaimed writer Umera Ahmad and famed director Haseeb Hassan.

    Another promising digital project is currently in the making.

    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Mehreen-jabbar-208x300-1.jpg

    Ace director Mehreen Jabbar is back with an exciting new project headlined by Zahid Ahmed and Sarwat Gilani as the leads for her new web series.

    Sarwat and Mehreen took to Instagram to share few BTS shots from the shoot where we can spot the actors.

    The script has been penned by Rida Bilal of Khudgarz fame.