Blog

  • Bushra Ansari’s daughter Meera ties the knot in New York

    Bushra Ansari’s daughter Meera ties the knot in New York

    Bushra Ansari’s daughter Meera Ansari tied the knot in New York. It is unclear whether the senior actor attended the wedding.

    Meera took social media to announce her wedding and shared a picture with the caption “Surely, with hardship comes ease.”

    Read more – Bushra Ansari opens up about her divorce

    The wedding was an intimate affair with only close friends and family of the couple present. Meera also shared a lovely picture of herself with her children on her big day.

    The bride glowed in a peach outfit by Vera Wang.

  • Gen (r) Raheel Sharif says he never wanted an extension

    Gen (r) Raheel Sharif says he never wanted an extension

    Former chief of army staff (COAS) General (r) Raheel Sharif has rubbished reports regarding him seeking an extension in his tenure as the top military commander, denying the claim by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) that the party was being victimised for refusing him the same.

    According to The News, the issue of the very popular former military bigwig recently cropped up again after former PML-N leader Lt Gen (r) Abdul Qadir Baloch said that he was told by then prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif that Gen (r) Sharif had repeatedly approached him to get an extension but to no avail.

    Baloch, who was a SAFRON [ministry of states and frontier regions] minister during the PML-N’s tenure, recently parted ways with the party over its supreme leader Nawaz’s aggressive stance towards the military establishment, especially the incumbent army chief.

    “It was a great disappointment for me as I had expected Raheel Sharif to retire gracefully like a true soldier,” he had said as several PML-N leaders also drew links between the reported civil-military tussle from ex-PM Nawaz’s government as well as Dawn Leaks and Panama Papers scandals.

    According to reports, General (r) Sharif was contacted through Lt Gen (r) Amjad Shuaib, who quoted the former as saying that following a meeting with the then premier and other key PML-N leaders, when he was leaving the meeting room of the PM’s Office, he was approached by Shehbaz Sharif and Chaudhry Nisar.

    Gen (r) Sharif told Lt Gen (r) Shuaib that Shehbaz and Nisar had said that they wanted to give him an extension. According to Lt Gen (r) Shoaib, the former army chief replied that he did not want an extension because he had already announced several months ago that he would not continue to stay in office after his three-year term.

    According to Gen (r) Sharif, as narrated by Lt Gen (r) Shuaib, the PML-N leaders insisted that since he had performed well as the COAS, the country was still engaged in its fight against terrorism and there was a need to bring peace to Karachi, the government, therefore, wanted him to continue.

    Lt Gen (r) Shuaib said that according to Gen (r) Sharif, when the army chief again showed his reluctance, he was offered the slot of field marshal, which he again declined as he was not interested in getting a post where he would become a mere figurehead with nothing to do. It is claimed that the PML-N leaders then told Gen (r) Sharif that the government would consider empowering the post of field marshal.

    He told Gen (r) Shuaib that he had never on his own discussed any such issue with anyone.

    The report quoted an informed PML-N leader as saying that Shehbaz and Nisar had even visited Nawaz in London, where he had gone for his open-heart surgery, to press for an extension fearing that otherwise martial law could be imposed. Even then, Nawaz is believed to have refused to give an extension.

  • Street kids inaugurate a restaurant in Karachi

    Street kids inaugurate a restaurant in Karachi

    A local fast-food restaurant in Bahadurabad Karachi was inaugurated by a group of street kids, who were later invited inside to eat free food.

    Krispy2Go restaurant collaborated with Inheritors in Karachi, a social welfare organization, to introduce a different way of opening their new branch. About thirty-five street kids were invited on the day of the opening, to cut the ceremonial ribbon after which the restaurant workers served them food.

    Taking to social media, CEO Muhammad Azeem said “We don’t do this for publicity; it’s an honest approach to give a moment of happiness to underprivileged children. We have done similar drives in the past as well. We have invited such kids to our other restaurants and we also did many visits to centres where special kids are living their lives.”

    “Yes, this is our first attempt to do the opening with street kids but we have many such initiatives in the development phase in which we will collaborate more in such activities. This is to create awareness of such actions in society as we believe that every little step is important in its own space,” he added.

    Many people appreciated the restaurant for inviting poor kids for the inauguration, instead of inviting notable personalities, as other restaurants normally do.

  • Syra Yousuf, Sheheryar Munawar turn up the heat with their latest photoshoot

    Syra Yousuf, Sheheryar Munawar turn up the heat with their latest photoshoot

    The mercury may be going down but things are heating up. Syra Yousuf and Sheheryar Munawar’s latest photoshoot for a local magazine has become the talk of the town with people discussing how hot they look together.

    According to stylist Rao Ali Khan, who was the Creative Editor of the shoot, the theme of the shoot was ‘Boni and Clyde – a tale of love’.

    Read more – EXCLUSIVE: Sneak peek into Sheheryar Munawar’s diary

    Pakistanis, meanwhile, have a lot to say on the photoshoot. Check out their reactions below:

    Syra and Sheheryar have shared the screen in multiple projects together, including Project Ghazi and drama serial Tanhaiyan Naye Silsilay.

  • Bilawal announces protest against ‘stolen’ GB polls

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has alleged irregularities in the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly elections, saying the results were manipulated to favour the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) — leading on 12 seats as per the initial results.

    In a tweet, the PPP chairperson announced to join a demonstration in the region against the “stealing of elections”.

    “My election has been stolen. I will be joining the people of Gilgit-Baltistan in their protest shortly,” said the opposition leader in a tweet.

    The statement followed a series of tweets by PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, who claimed the PTI was able to bag more seats because of alleged pre-poll rigging. She claimed the PTI has no support in GB and its electoral victories would be a result of alleged rigging done by “selectors”.

    The PML-N candidates were forced to switch their loyalties and join the PTI, she said, adding despite the support of the state machinery, the party failed to gain a simple majority.

    PTI AHEAD OF PPP, PML-N:

    According to the initial results, the PTI and its allies are set to form a new government for the next five years in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region. Unofficial results showed the PTI and its allies were leading, clinching half [12] of the contested seats.

    Official results are expected to be announced today as election authorities said they were facing difficulties in collecting results from several far-flung mountainous areas due to heavy snow and rain.

    The PTI and its allies, according to the initial results, are in the lead with at least 12 of the 24 seats being contested in the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly.

    At least four independent candidates projected to win are most likely to join the PTI to form the government.

    The two other main contenders — the centre-left PPP and centre-right PML-N, which won the 2015 elections in the region — have cried foul, accusing the election authorities of “rigging”.

    The chief election commissioner, however, denied the charge, advising the opposition parties to contact the commission if there are any irregularities.

  • ‘Sorry Lala’: Haris Rauf apologises to Afridi for dismissing him

    ‘Sorry Lala’: Haris Rauf apologises to Afridi for dismissing him

    Power hitter, Shahid Khan Afridi got clean-bowled on a duck by Haris Rauf’s yorker in a Pakistan Super League (PSL) match between Lahore Qalandars and Multan Sultans. After dismissing the legend, Haris apologised to the senior player, the video of which went viral on social media.

    https://twitter.com/thePSLt20/status/1328038153790304256?s=20

    Afridi is nowhere close to the explosive big hitter he once was. There’s little need to get excited by him walking out to bat; he might once have been a trailblazer, but several around the world have mastered and bettered, the art. At 40, any exploits off Afridi’s bat are very much dying embers of a flame that once burned brightly, but Haris may just have snuffed them out in the eliminator match.

    In the 14th over when Afridi walked out to bat, Rauf bowled a yorker first up tailing into middle stump. Few might have kept it out, but Afridi was notably slow in getting his bat down, the ball, whistling through his legs and onto the base of middle stump.

    As Afridi began to walk off, Rauf clasped his hands together by way of apology. It was Rauf’s 50th T20 wicket this year and the 27-year-old is now the leading wicket-taker in T20 cricket this year (50 wickets from 31 games).

    Later, in field when asked by the commentator via spider cam that why did he do that, on which he said: “He is a senior player and I came to play with this intention that if I’ll take Shahid bhai’s wicket, I will do this style.”

    VIDEO: ‘Family Guy’ features Lahore Qalandars vs Karachi Kings joke in new episode

    Meanwhile, the biggest rivalry in PSL’s history is about to go down on Tuesday’s (November 17) match as both the teams [KK & LQ] will now get their first chance to snatch the trophy.

  • Control room established in Lahore to monitor smog

    Control room established in Lahore to monitor smog

    The Ministry of Climate Change has set up a smog control room in Lahore to regularly monitor smog that causes health problems to people in different areas of the province during the winters.

    The other objective of the Control Room was to have a constant check on smog Air Quality Index (AQI) in the province during coming days.

    Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam said the process to fight smog has begun.

    He said there would be a regular check on crop burning, transport and industrial emissions, brick kilns and cross-border emissions which are the main sources of smog production.

    Malik Amin said that farmers have been provided with much-needed technology to help them avoid burning of crop residue and instead convert the residue into organic fertilizer to enhance the fertility of their farmlands.

    He said technology is also being introduced across the country under the government’s project for Mechanized Management of Rice Crop Residue for which thirty billion rupees are being spent for payment of 50,000 units of rice straw shredder.

  • Maulana Tariq Jamil breaks silence on what he took to officiate ‘Pakistan’s most expensive wedding’

    Maulana Tariq Jamil breaks silence on what he took to officiate ‘Pakistan’s most expensive wedding’

    Renowned preacher Maulana Tariq Jamil has rubbished claims that he received a hefty amount to officiate what is being dubbed as “Pakistan’s most expensive wedding ceremony”.

    The Master Tiles-Jalal Sons wedding from earlier this month has been making headlines for its extravagant style and featuring several Pakistani celebrities in addition to a troupe of foreign gymnasts.

    “By the tawfīq of Allah, I have traveled around 6 continents to preach the message of Allah and I have been preaching the life of our Prophet ﷺ to the Ummah for a very long time. The hurdle in our advancement is our moral decline,” Jamil said in a Facebook post.

    “My message for those who accused me of taking money for performing Nikāh is that in the journey of preaching the message of Allah I have performed Nikāh of thousands of boys and girls for the sake of Allah,” he added.

    Jamil went on to say that Sheikh Mahmood of Master Tiles was an old friend of his. “How can I take money for performing Nikāh of his daughter on his invitation? May Allah protect us all from distrust and false accusations.”

    Earlier, it was reported that the preacher was paid Rs1 million rupees (Rs10 lacs) for his services.

    The claim had come as owner of Master Tiles landed on the Federal Board Revenue (FBR) radar for spending Rs2 billion on the wedding ceremony.

    A probe was conducted by the FBR into the “service providers involved in the lavish arrangements” to detect possible tax evasion. The document shared by the FBR said that Rosa Blanca Country Club, the venue of baraat located on Raiwind Road in Lahore, was paid Rs150 million for the premises.

    It, however, was just the tip of the iceberg.

  • Is Spotify coming to Pakistan?

    Music lovers rejoice. On November 15 Swedish-based audio streaming and media services provider Spotify created a verified Instagram account for Pakistan which has gained 14.6 thousand followers already.

    The appearance of a verified Instagram account suggests that the world’s biggest music streaming service might soon be launching in Pakistan. However, no official statement has been made yet.

    On the possibility of Spotify coming to Pakistan, many users took Twitter to express their joy.

    https://twitter.com/alina_grisha13/status/1327652183685419009

    Read more – Rs 10 million prize announced for PUBG Mobile Pakistan Challenge 2020

    Spotify is the world’s biggest music streaming platform by the number of subscribers. Users of the service simply need to register to have access to one of the biggest-ever collections of music in history, plus podcasts, and other audio content.

    Spotify, launched in 2008 grown to be one of the biggest streaming platforms in the world. There were 286 million monthly active users of Spotify according to the company’s 2020 report.

  • Karachi wedding hall owners reject new COVID-19 SOPs

    Karachi wedding hall owners reject new COVID-19 SOPs

    Karachi’s wedding, banquet and lawn owners have rejected the new COVID-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) rolled out by the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) after a sharp surge in cases.

    The Karachi Marriage Hall, Lawn, Banquet Owners Association held a press conference at the press club on Saturday to denounce the government’s decision to ban indoor weddings.  

    The association said thousands of employees and other businesses linked with weddings will be affected due to more restrictions and bans. 

    The president of the association said that wedding hall owners and their thousands of employees had already faced severe financial problems when all the halls were closed between March 13 and September 15 during the lockdown period.

    The association members said that when halls reopened after September 15, they did not get business as most people prefer not to get married during Muharram and Safar, which took place after the halls were reopened. 

    The association said that there are around 800 wedding halls only in Karachi and that the living of 50,000 people and their families are linked to these halls. 

    “Around 70 to 80% of our employees work on daily wages,” he said, adding that the earning of such employees depended on daily wedding events.

    The association pointed out that there are roughly 13,000 wedding halls in the entire country, with which 650,000 labourers’ livelihoods are directly linked. Fifty percent of the city’s industries, the association highlighted, were directly and the rest of the 50% were indirectly linked to wedding halls. 

    “With the closure of the wedding halls due the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of labourers will be directly or indirectly affected,” said the association’s president. 

    The government had itself failed to limit the number of people attending its political gatherings and implement the SOPs, stated the association.

    “We want to bring this into your knowledge that wedding halls is the only industry which didn’t get any relief from the government since the lockdown of March 13,” said Raees. 

    He requested Prime Minister Imran Khan, the chief justice of Pakistan and army chief to look into the miseries of the wedding hall owners and their employees.

    “We demand SOPs be drafted for wedding ceremonies after taking us on board,” he said.