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  • Man fined Rs 100,000 for demanding gifted property from wife after 16 years

    Man fined Rs 100,000 for demanding gifted property from wife after 16 years

    Lahore High Court (LHC) imposed a fine of Rs 100,000 on a man for demanding the land he had gifted to his second wife after 16 years.

    According to the details, LHC judge Shahid Waheed dismissed Muhammad Riaz’s petition, remarking that it was disgraceful to call the mother of his children and the sick wife in the court without any reason.

    While further condemning the bid to drag an ailing woman and a mother to the court, the LHC imposed Rs 100,000 as a fine on the complainant.

    A resident of Mandi Bahauddin, Riaz had married Fatima, a divorcee and mother of two daughters, after the death of his first wife. He had gifted 56-kanal land to her but approached the courts 16 years later to get the property back.

    After civil court dismissed his petition, he moved the LHC for civil revision against the trial court’s ruling and accused his wife of getting the property through fraud. He told the court that even if the gift proved to be valid in favour of his wife, he had withdrew it.

    Justice Waheed ruled that the complainant failed to prove the claims of fraud and conspiracy against the woman in the case, stating that the petitioner had voluntarily and consciously gifted the land to his wife.

  • Twitter slams Qasim Ali Shah over misogynist comments

    Twitter slams Qasim Ali Shah over misogynist comments

    Motivational speaker Qasim Ali Shah landed himself in controversy for making misogynist remarks during an interview, a clip of which went viral on social media.

    “Go to schools where our daughters are studying and till matric, they are not taught how to be good wives, even though in a woman’s life, the ultimate role of a women is to be a good wife and a good mother..,” he shared in the interview.

    The speaker’s recent remarks are being viewed as sexist by some. While others believe that his remarks were blown out of proportion.

    As the clip went viral, many are questioning him on why is he only concerned with the upbringing of daughters and not of sons.

    https://twitter.com/Shehzad89/status/1323299001177878530?s=20

    Others are criticising him over his anti-women feedback, saying that women’s goal in life shouldn’t just be limited to being good wives and mothers.

    https://twitter.com/iSadiaSheikh/status/1323711211867983889?s=20

    Comedian Ali Gul Pir trolled Qasim for being a misogynist.

    There have been multiple incidents when prominent personalities in Pakistan have made misogynist remarks in the past. Member of National Assembly Talal Chaudhary making lewd remarks about Firdous Ashiq Awan, and soap-opera writer Khalil-ur-Rehman using abusive and foul language with Marvi Sirmed, are two of the recent examples.

  • Medical board to ascertain age of teenage Christian bride

    Medical board to ascertain age of teenage Christian bride

    The Sindh High Court has ordered the formation of a medical board to determine the age of Arzoo Raja — a teenage Christian girl who was kidnapped, forced to marry a 44-year-old man in Karachi after conversion to Islam.

    The matter was brought to the court attention after her parents approached the high court, seeking custody of their daughter. They had said that the girl was underage and didn’t convert out of her own free will.

    The high court, however, had rejected the plea, allowing the girl to stay with her alleged husband, Ali Azhar. This prompted a strong response from the civil society and the government that filed another plea in the case.

    Subsequently, the court ordered police to recover the girl and sent her to a shelter home. The purported husband was also detained and sent on judicial remand.

    As a two-member bench comprising Justice KK Agha and Justice Amjad Ali Sahito took up the case today (Thursday), the counsel representing Azhar and Arzoo urged the court to quash the forced marriage case against him.

    The court, however, observed that the matter now was about the girl’s age. To this, the counsel said a separate law would be applied in that case. Arzoo also told the bench that she wanted to stay with her alleged husband, whom she married out of her own choice.

    When Arzoo informed the court that she was 18 years of age, the bench pointed out that the NADRA documents showed her a teenager.

    The counsel representing the state in the case asked the bench not to record the statement of Arzoo at this point.

    Observing that the case can only proceed once the girl’s age is determined, the bench directed authorities to submit a final report on her age in the next hearing on November 9.

    The CASE:

    On Oct 27, a two-member bench of SHC had admitted a petition that claimed that she was 18 years old and had married Ali Azhar and converted to Islam with her free will. The petition also sought protection against alleged harassment of the girl’s family.

    Underage girls in such cases in Pakistan come under intense pressure, including threats to them and their families, to give false statements in court.

    Azhar allegedly abducted Arzoo in Karachi’s Muhalla Railway Colony West Camp Road locality on Oct. 13, according to the family, which registered a kidnapping case on the same day.

    On Oct. 15 police summoned them to the local station and showed them documents claiming that Arzoo was 18 years old and had willingly converted to Islam after marrying Azhar.

  • Pakistan exports record 5.7 million tons of cement

    Pakistan exports record 5.7 million tons of cement

    The cement sector in Pakistan has reported the highest ever monthly sales in October 2020.

    According to the data released by All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), 5.735 million tons of cement was exported in October.

    The domestic sales of cement in October 2020 increased by 15.83 per cent to 4.859 million tons from 4.195 million tons in October 2019, while exports registered an increase of 11.58 per cent, increasing to 875,266 tons from 784,433 tons in the same month last year.

    In the north region, domestic cement despatches increased by 15.53 per cent to 4.165 million tons during October 2020 from 3.605 million tons in October 2019. Exports from the north increased by 8.54 per cent to 0.283 million tons in October 2020 from 0.261 million tons in October 2019.

    There has been positive growth in the southern region as well where the domestic cement despatches increased by 17.70 per cent to 695,221 tons from 590,690 tons in October 2019. Exports from the South continued to grow and increased by 13.09 per cent to 591,877 tons in October this year from 523,353 tons in October 2019.

    In the first four months of this fiscal year, 19.321 million tons of cement was despatched, which is 19.89 per cent higher than the first four months of the last fiscal year.

    Total cement dispatches during the first four months of the current fiscal year increased by 19.89 per cent to 19.321 million tons from 16.116 million tons in July-Oct 2019. Domestic despatches registered a healthy increase of 17.94 per cent, increasing from 13.315 million tons to 15.704 million tons.

    Exports also showed encouraging growth increasing by 29.15 per cent from 2.8 million tons to 3.617 million tons.

    In the South (Sindh-Balochistan) the domestic growth remained healthy at 12.08 per cent as consumption in the first four months increased from 1.860 million tons to 2.085 million tons this year.

    The exports from the south posted a growth of 46.56 per cent in the first four months of this fiscal which increased to 2.712 million tons from 1.85 million tons during Jul-Oct 19.

  • National Bank manager killed by guard ‘for blasphemy’

    National Bank manager killed by guard ‘for blasphemy’

    A National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) manager has been shot by a security guard in Punjab’s Khushab district over blasphemy allegations, police reported.

    According to reports, the incident took place in in Quaidabad. The victim, Malik Imran Hanif, was first taken to a local hospital, however, the nature of his gunshot wounds was so severe, he was shifted to Services Hospital in Lahore, where he succumbed to his injuries.

    The guard who killed Hanif claims to have done so over blasphemy, but Khushab District Police Officer (r) Capt Tariq Wilayat said that it was too early to confirm this.

    According to initial reports, the two had been arguing for some time before the firing took place. Reportedly, the guard had been fired a few months back but had recently been rehired.

    The DPO felt sceptical of the guard’s blasphemy claims and said that it was likely the incident was due to personal grievances. However, a video of the incident emerged on social media, where the guard could be heard saying that the deceased manager had “insulted Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)”.

    Multiple videos of the occurrence emerged, in which the guard was seen being met with by a group of supporters, shouting slogans as they walked on the street, and then meeting the leaders of a religious group, all of whom raised slogans and addressed supporters from the rooftop of the Quaidabad Police Station.

    Another video showed the uncle of the deceased denying the guard’s claims, saying that they were Muslims, and had not insulted the Prophet (PBUH). The uncle asserted the killing was due to personal reasons.

    Human rights groups say blasphemy laws are often misused to persecute minorities or even against Muslims to settle personal rivalries. Such accusations can end up in lynchings or street vigilantism.

  • COVID-19: Karachi authorities seal several eateries for SOPs violation

    COVID-19: Karachi authorities seal several eateries for SOPs violation

    Authorities have sealed at least 14 restaurants and two gaming zones in the port city for violating the government’s COVID-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs).

    As per reports, Deputy Commissioner South Irshad Ali Sodhar said his team checked 41 restaurants, of which 17 were warned to follow the SOPs, while 11 were instantly sealed for not following the government’s directives at all. Three more eateries and two gaming zones were also shut down.

    “We inspected six shops and warned three of them to comply with the SOPs. That apart, we checked four wedding venues, issued warnings, and fined them with Rs185,000,” Sodhar told The News.

    Read more – Pakistan’s COVID-19 positivity nears 5%. What does that mean?

    Meanwhile, the Serena Mobile Market in North Nazimabad, that was sealed earlier on Monday for three days, has been reopened.

    Not only in Karachi, most restaurants in Lahore were also sealed at Mall1 which is located in Gulberg III.

    As Pakistan experiences the second wave of coronavirus, the country has reported 338,875 cases so far.

    Wearing a mask in confined indoor places, crowded spaces, bus stands, and inside public vehicles was declared mandatory for everyone and all commercial activities are allowed till 10 pm.

  • ‘Relax, it happens,’ former senator of ‘grape’ fame tells Donald Trump

    ‘Relax, it happens,’ former senator of ‘grape’ fame tells Donald Trump

    Former Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) senator Sehar Kamran of “grape” meme videos fame has made headlines for telling United States (US) President Donald Trump to relax as the latter raises concerns over his looming loss in the race to White House.

    By the time this report was filed, Democratic challenger Joe Biden, according to Associated Press’ (AP) data, had secured 264 electoral votes against Trump’s 214. For a majority, 270 electoral votes are needed.

    With Trump taking to Twitter to launch a tirade against his opponent and cast doubts over the electoral process while adding to his laid groundwork for refusing to concede a loss now expected, the former parliamentarian from Pakistan has told him to relax.

    “Relax, it happens,” she wrote in response to a tweet by the incumbent American president.

    The former senator from Pakistan had earlier also tweeted to wish Trump’s rival Biden good luck.

    ‘GRAPE’:

    In September, Sehar responded to the viral clips doing the rounds on social media where some schoolchildren were seen telling what they would do for their country at an Independence Day event.

    The clips had gone viral on TikTok and not just in Pakistan. Sehar was seen encouraging the children in the clips and adding clarity to their statements — all in the spirit of patriotism.

    Speaking to NayaDaur, Sehar had said that the clips are from Pakistan International School in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia of which she was the principal ten years ago.

    “Everyone has the right to express their affection for the country and this is what my students at Pakistan International School Jeddah and I were doing in the video clip,” she said.

    One particular clip in which a child says that he would get into the army and “destroy India” had turned into memes and Sehar’s reaction to the student’s comment, “strong army, wow!”, had also taken the internet by storm.

    While a lot of people had also criticised her for “teaching the kids to promote hate”, another reaction of hers, “great”, had broken the internet as “grape”.

  • You will never believe who Imran Ashraf’s brother is

    You will never believe who Imran Ashraf’s brother is

    Remember the meesna Atif Mian from Sabaat? Turns out the actor who played the character is none other than Imran Ashraf’s brother Abbas Ashraf Awan. This one celebrity sibling pair we did not see coming.

    Now that the secret is out, one has to say that on a closer look, the two do look similar.

    It is interesting to note that the two brothers have barely shared any pictures of each other on their social media handles, unlike other celebrity siblings who go all out. While Imran is an established actor and is set to make his film debut very soon, Abbas has gained acclaim for his role in Sabaat.

  • Atif Aslam makes rare appearance with wife at big fat Lahori wedding

    Atif Aslam makes rare appearance with wife at big fat Lahori wedding

    Atif Aslam made a rare appearance with his wife Sara at a big-fat Lahori wedding, which took place Wednesday night. Pictures and videos from the wedding, which also included a qawwali night with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, went viral on social media.

    While Atif looked dashing in a black sherwani by Mohsin Naveed Ranjha, Sara looked gorgeous in a green and gold outfit by the same designer. She also made sure to wear her mask, considering that social distancing was not possible at all. In the videos, one can see that people swarmed towards the singer, hoping for a selfie with him.

    View this post on Instagram

    Look who is here ???? Rockstar @atifaslam #wedding #weddingphotography #portraitphotography #weddingphotographer #bridesmaid #weddingflowers #weddinginspiration #weddingdecor #weddingseason #weddingphotos #fineartwedding #fineartphotography #bride #brideandgroom #groom #weddingideas #luxurywedding #weddingreception #weddingceremony #destinationweddings #weddingrings #weddingdress #portraitsbyzamal #zamalsamanphotography❤️ @sundaytimes @gt_magazine @nichelifestyle @meandmyweddingmagazine @sayhellolifestyle @style_first.pk @stylemania.pk @lahoretimespk @lahoretimespk @zjmagazinepakistan @mediaspringpk @mediaa360 @glamblogger_ @weddings_n_brides @dulhadulhandairy @shaadinaama @shaadibarbaadi @shadi_vibes_by_maryam @mshahroz.tariq @ebuzztoday @daily___updates @gt_magazine

    A post shared by Zamal Saman Photography (@zamalsamanphotography) on

    Abrar ul Haq was also spotted at the same wedding.

    RFAK mesmerised the crowds with his famous qawwalis and songs including Halka Halka Suroor, Zaroori Tha, and Akhiyan Udeekdiyan.

    Meanwhile, the decor of the grand wedding was handled by Qasim Yar Tiwana of QYTEvents and Whimsical parties. Malik Riaz’s wife Bina Malik was also spotted in the crowds.

    Qasim Yar with Mrs. Malik Riaz
    Qasim Yar with Natty

    A splendid display of fireworks at the wedding also captivated guests.

  • Brother of Pakistani-Australian cricketer jailed over fake terror plot

    Brother of Pakistani-Australian cricketer jailed over fake terror plot

    The brother of Pakistani-Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja has been jailed for at least two years and six months for causing a co-worker to be locked up in a maximum-security jail by framing him with fake terrorism claims.

    Arsalan Tariq Khawaja admitted forging entries in the notebook of his UNSW colleague Kamer Nizamdeen in August 2018 after being jealous of his contact with a mutual woman friend, reported an Australian news agency.

    The entries included death threats against then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and the governor-general, as well as lists to attack police stations, an Anzac Day ceremony, the Boxing Day Test match and landmarks including St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney.

    In the NSW District Court on Thursday, Judge Robert Weber jailed the 40-year-old for four years and six months with a non-parole period of two years and six months.

    The term was backdated to when he first went into custody, meaning he will be eligible for release on parole in June 2021.

    Khawaja pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice and dishonestly influencing a public official.

    He also asked the judge to take into account further matters of forging a document for a public official to accept it as genuine and inducing a witness to give false testimony.

    After Khawaja presented the authorities with the notebook, Nizamdeen was arrested and held in a high-security jail for one month until the truth was discovered.

    Describing his victim impact statement as “compelling evidence of the trauma and emotional harm” suffered by Nizamdeen, the judge noted he was unable to go back to his job and has returned to Sri Lanka.

    His report of having serious flashbacks to his time in prison was hardly surprising, given the innocent man spent part of his time in an isolation cell in a maximum security prison, the judge said.

    Khawaja also admitted that in 2017 he phoned authorities about another innocent man of whom he was jealous and made visa and terrorism accusations, including that the man had trained overseas.

    In the call he named his famous brother as a possible target of the man.

    The judge accepted psychiatric evidence that Khawaja had a borderline personality disorder which provided some explanation as to why such an intelligent man resorted to such “unforgivable” behaviour.