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Blog
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Newsletter – 30th November 2020, Monday
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PDM rally: People see ‘young Benazir’ in Aseefa
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari is all-set to address a political gathering in Multan, prompting people to draw comparisons between the young PPP leader and her mother former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
The gathering organised by PPP to mark its foundation day has been attended by political bigwigs, including PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz. Aseefa, who is going to address a political rally for the first time, is attending the rally instead of her brother and PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who tested positive for COVID-19 recently.
According to The News, the participation didn’t amount to Aseefa’s formal launch in politics. “She has already been taking part in various political activities. Since she is the daughter of Benazir Bhutto, she has to be a Benazir,” the newspaper quoted a PPP senator as saying.
People on social media shared photos of Aseefa, saying she reminded them of BB.
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Rubya Chaudhry opens up about her divorce
“Divorce doesn’t always mean sadness,” says Rubya Chaudhary, who recently opened up about her own experience.
In an Instagram post, the model-turned-actor said: “I always knew people can be crass and ill-mannered, but there isn’t anything like experiencing it first-hand. I don’t even so much as humour these types usually, but in some situations one just HAS to put their foot down.”
“I got married a few years ago, and then got divorced super quickly after,” she shared. “And that’s that really. Never really put my private life up for people to speculate about in the first place, but I don’t blame them for being curious about such matters. Well now you know.”
“I’d also like to add that divorce doesn’t always mean sadness and death and hayay hayay yeh kya hogya! Hayayyy bachi ki zindagi tabaaah ho gai! It could also mean bachi ki zindagi tabaah honay say BACH gayee,” she remarked.
“It also means a second chance at love, at life, at all the wonderfully amazing chapters that may have never actualized had you chosen the dead-end as your destiny. Choose to thrive. Choose divorce if it ain’t your scene and stop worrying about all the ill-mannered and crass people around,” she wrote.
Concluding her post, Chaudhry shared that she didn’t have to share this but she chose to for “hundreds of thousands of women who are made to feel like they should be ashamed if their marriages didn’t work out, who are told time and again by their own husbands and in-laws that there’s something wrong with them, that they need to change themselves to fit into some mould of the perfect wife (whatever that is), who’re gaslighted continuously and stripped of their vibrant personalities.”
Rubya tied the knot with an acclaimed musician Meekal Hasan in 2016.
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Cher welcomes Kaavan as he arrives in Cambodia
Popularly referred to as the world’s loneliest elephant, Islamabad Zoo’s Kavaan arrived in Cambodia by cargo plane on Monday to start a new life with fellow pachyderms at a local sanctuary, the culmination of years of campaigning for his transfer by American singer Cher.
Kaavan’s enclosure in Cambodia According to details, Cher was on the tarmac at the airport of Cambodia’s second-biggest city Siem Reap to greet Kaavan and was photographed in sunglasses, black face mask and white jacket meeting the vets who accompanied the elephant, who made the long journey in a custom-made crate.
Animal rescue organisation Four Paws said Kaavan had another 90-minute drive ahead and would likely arrive at the sanctuary after nightfall, so he would be released in daylight on Tuesday.
“Kaavan was eating, was not stressed, he was even a little bit sleeping, standing leaning at the crate wall. He behaves like a frequent flyer,” said Kavaan’s best friend vet Dr Amir Khalil.
“The flight was uneventful, which is all you can ask for when you transfer an elephant,” he added.
The organisation also shared a video of Kaavan “up in the air”.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam also shared pictures of Kaavan’s arrival on social media.
Cher, who has long campaigned for Kaavan’s release, had spent the last few days with him in Pakistan. The multi-award-winning singer has been with a film crew documenting Kaavan’s story and said she was proud to be part of an effort to free an elephant she said had been shackled to a shed for 17 years.
Dozens of wildlife workers and experts led by Four Paws used a winch and rope to pull the sedated elephant into the crate before he was loaded onto the Russian-built cargo plane. A 10-member medical team also accompanied the 36-year-old elephant on his journey.
Cargo plane that carried Kaavan Kaavan’s handlers took more than 200 kg of food including bananas and melons to keep him busy on his journey.
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Blue plaque unveiled at London home of Abdus Salam
A blue plaque has been unveiled by English Heritage to mark the home of Professor Abdus Salam in Putney, London, where he used to live from 1957 to 1996, until his death.
Blue plaque – a symbol of English Heritage pride – is placed outside the historically significant building to honour the people and organizations who have lived or worked there. Salam joins Charles Darwin, Rosalind Franklin and Alan Turing among the scientists with blue plaques.
Salam was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1979, alongside Sheldon Glashow and Steven Weinberg, for his contribution to the electroweak unification theory. Additionally, he founded the Theoretical Physics Department at Imperial College London, with the late Professor Paul T Matthews.
“A blue plaque on the house in Putney where he lived for 40 years is a fitting tribute to Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam, who was not only one of the finest scientists of the twentieth century, having unified two of the four fundamental forces of nature, but who also dedicated his life to the betterment of science and education in the developing world,” said a professor at the Physics Department of Imperial College, Michael Duff, who completed his Ph.D. under the supervision of Salam in 1972.
When he won the Nobel prize in 1979, Salam became the very first Pakistani to achieve this distinction and only the fourth from the subcontinent. His contributions to science are undeniable and they have been recognised and hailed by the world and especially the state of Pakistan.
However, he is criticised back home because of his faith. Two months ago, a group of youngsters smeared his portrait, outside Gujranwala’s National Science College.
The viral video showed the group, allegedly consisting of State Youth Parliament Pakistan members, painting Salam’s portrait black while raising slogans against the minority Ahmadiyya community, of which Salam was a member.
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‘Disgraceful & insulting’: PTV sends cheque worth Rs 1400 to Simi Raheal
Simi Raheal is furious with the management of Pakistan Television Corporation(PTV) for sending her a cheque of worth Rs 1400 only.
Sharing a picture of it on social media, the actor said: “This is how artists are honoured by the state! This is the acknowledgement of Pakistan Television. After four decades, this was truly appalling!”
While fellow actors, fans and members of the media industry extended their support to Simi and criticised PTV for their act, others told the veteran actor to not make a big deal out of it.
Later, in a social media post, Simi, thanked those who supported her and explained that her reason for voicing her concern was not about money but was “about social attitudes concerning art and artists”.
“It’s quite visible what people think of artists,” she said. “This dialogue this debate was essential. It does not matter what the actual amount is or should have been it’s about the respect regard of an artist.”
She also explained her stance while replying to multiple users who left comments on her post.
It is pertinent to add here that Raheal is not the only actor who accused PTV of mistreating artists. Earlier this year, senior actor Rashid Mahmood bashed PTV for sending him a cheque of Rs 620 of which Rs 500 is the Pride of Performance fees, leaving him with only Rs 120.
The baffled actor has voiced his confusion and distaste on social media, saying “What are the criteria of paying a Pride of Performance winner in this country and who spent 50 years of [his] life in PTV.”
Later, in a video message, he shared how he was invited to recite a marsiya two years ago in Muharram.
“I hadn’t really received any work opportunities from PTV in the past two years. During Muharram, Pakistan Television Lahore had commissioned me to recite Mir Anees’s marsiya. I recorded it and it aired on the 9th and 10th Muharram multiple times. After two years, I received a cheque of only Rs 620,” he said, referring to the compensation as an ‘insult’.
“In this Naya Pakistan, will my mother institute insult me and give me this sort of attitude? People whose worth in the showbiz industry is questionable take Rs 1.5 to 2.5 million. Today I announce that I will never work for PTV,” he lamented.
PTV management later apologised to Mahmood and clarified that the cheque was “mistakenly issued in his name”.
However, PTV then issued a new cheque to the veteran actor which was worth Rs 9600 only. Posting a picture of the new cheque, Mahmood said that he will not work with PTV in the future and will not be cashing the cheques either.
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AirSial to start flights by mid-December
After a months-long delay due to the coronavirus pandemic, AirSial is finally here. The private airline owned by the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry will start its operations from next month, and its first Airbus A320-200 plane has already arrived in Sialkot this Sunday.
AirSial was among six new airlines that had applied to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for regular public transport (RPT) licences in 2018. However, following the issuance of the permit, it had faced an uncertain future after its launch scheduled for May 2020 was indefinitely postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic among other reasons.
But, the arrival of its fleet from the US means the private airline is all-set to launch its flights operations. Meanwhile,
reports also claim that PM Imran Khan will inaugurate the private airline on Dec 9, but the operations would be started much later. It will operate flights between Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Sialkot and Peshawar before expanding operations to the other cities.
Initially, the airline’s operations will rely on three Airbus A320-200s, which have been leased from AerCap, the world’s largest independent aircraft leasing company, based in Dublin, Ireland.
According to an AirSial official quoted by Dawn, two more aircraft would arrive soon in Sialkot, one of them on Dec 3, to join the new airline’s fleet.
Reacting to the development, cricketer Shoaib Malik, who hails from Sialkot, said it was a “proud moment for everyone in Sialkot, who has been a part of the process”.
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Robbers loot social media influencer who flaunted wealth in posts
Muggers looted over Rs 84.8 million from a Hong Kong social media influencer after she flaunted her wealth online.
According to details, 25-year-old So Mei-yan, who has 86,000 followers on Instagram, became famous for showing off her luxury lifestyle. Sharing details of the incident, Mei-yan said that three men burst into her home in Hong Kong with knives while she and her son were sleeping. They tied her, her six-month-old baby boy and his 45-year-old nanny up and then robbed her blind.
Following the incident, she appealed to thousands of her followers for help and to bring the robbers to justice, offering £194,000 as an incentive.
In a statement, police said: “As the doorbell rang, the maid opened the door and three men rushed into the unit.”
As per reports, Mei-yan was sleeping in the master bedroom of her flat while her baby was in the sitting room with the helper at the time of the incident.
The police spokesman then said that two of the robbers were either carrying a ‘fruit knife or a wooden rod.’
The robbers then tied her and the child’s helper up with the tape and pushed them into the babies room, where one stood guard and the other two searched the flat.
But the robbers became increasingly frustrated when they couldn’t find any cash and returned to Mei-yan, punching her in the face and repeating their demands.
Mei-yan went on to explain, “One of them returned and pulled my hair asking where I put my money.”
It is thought that the robbers could have gained all the information about her wealth via her social media account where she is famous for flaunting her goods.
Eventually the displeased thieves settled for her luxury items which she says were worth hundreds of thousands.
After the thieves had left, she managed to wriggle out of her restraints and call the police.
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IN PICTURES: Fawad Khan’s intimate birthday bash
Fawad Khan, who rarely makes an appearance on social media and in the public, recently celebrated his 39th birthday with close friends and wife Sadaf Fawad in an intimate birthday bash.
Pictures of the celebrations were shared by those in attendance on social media. Among those present included Fawad’s long-time co-star Mahira Khan, The Legend of Maula Jatt’s director Bilal Lashari and producer Ammara Hikmat. Fashion designer Rana Noman, hair stylist Shammal Qureshi and Redah Misbah were also present at the party.
The birthday boy cut a beautiful yellow, fondant cake decorated with flowers.
Meanwhile, Fawad also gave his guests a sneak peak into his new studio.
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Mehwish Hayat is done with people setting her up
“Who I choose to marry is my personal decision and people will know when it happens,” said an exasperated Mehwish Hayat in a recent tweet.
“Take a chill pill guys and stop matchmaking,” she added.
The actor also requested people to stop taking “a throwaway line in a 2-year-old interview out of context” and making “unnecessarily juicy headlines”.
Mehwish’s tweet comes after multiple media outlets reported that the actor ‘desires’ to marry Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. The reports were in reference to an interview of her’s in which host Begum Nawazish Ali had asked her what physical attributes her ideal man should have.
In response, Mehwish had said that her ideal man should be tall and should have “swag”.
“I think a man should look like a man,” she had said.
Read more – Mehwish Hayat’s crush has been updated after watching ‘Diriliş: Ertuğrul’
Begum Nawazish then told Mehwish that she had the perfect man in mind – one who was tall, important, influential and had a political legacy.
Mehwish, in response, laughed and said: “Bilawal?” to which Begum Nawazish said: “I didn’t say it. But now that you’ve said Bilawal, what is wrong with him?”
“There is nothing wrong with him. I think he is very good-looking,” Mehwish had replied.
When Begum Nawazish asked her if she should discuss this with Bilawal, Mehwish said: “Mujhe kya aitraaz ho sakta hai? As long as we click.”