Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) on Thursday barred television channels from airing the speeches of the absconding accused and proclaimed offenders.
The regulatory body in a handout barred to broadcast the speeches and interviews of proclaimed offenders and absconders on national television. PEMRA also barred the broadcast of any sort of debate on the possible outcome of the undergoing trials.
The decision has come after the speeches of the absconding three-time prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader Nawaz Sharif were broadcast on the national television and the government demanded the authorities to take notice of it.
“A lot more might follow,” he said during an informal conversation with journalists in London.
In October 2019, PEMRA directed all satellite television channels licensees to form an in-house committee to ensure compliance with the Electronic Media Code of Conduct, 2015.
The directives issued by PEMRA said that TV channels should ensure deployment of effective time delay mechanism and an impartial and independent Monitoring Committee or Editorial Board be constituted, as required under clause 17 of Electronic Media (Programs and Advertisement) Code of Conduct 2015, Radio Pakistan reported.
The news channels’ owners have been asked not to allow their platform to be used by anyone to mislead the public through disinformation conjecturing and speculations.
PEMRA warned the media owners that licencees shall be held responsible for any biased, unfair analysis or propaganda against the judiciary and state institutions by their employees.
It also advised media channels to invite participants with due care, having credibility as fair and unbiased analysts with requisite knowledge and expertise on the subject matter.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government’s decision to buy and restore the house of Bollywood legend Dilip Kumar located in Peshawar’s historical Qissa Khwani Bazaar – or Street of Storytellers – has won the actor’s heart who took to social media to express his excitement. The legendary actor also requested his fans residing in Peshawar to share photos of his ancestral house on Twitter.
Later, Kumar’s manager Faisal Farooqui penned a thread on Kumar’s “sentiments on his ancestral home” which he had shared in a blog post in 2011.
“I am at once full of fond remembrances of my parents, grandparents and numerous uncles, aunts and cousins who filled the house with the sounds of their chatter and hearty laughter,” Kumar, 97, had written in his blog.
“I have memories of the sitting room where the family gathered for high tea in the evenings, the large room where the ladies prayed, the terrace, the bedrooms, everything. I can vividly recall the piggy rides on my grandfather’s back and the scary stories my grandmother cooked up to forbid me from wandering out of the house alone,” he wrote further.
Dilip Kumar’s home
He continued: “I have lovely memories of Qissa Khwani Bazaar, where I received my first lessons in storytelling, which later provided the impetus to choose meaty stories and scripts for my work. Every day as the trading closed in the market of Qissa Khwani Bazaar, a storyteller would sit in the centre of the square narrating stories of valour and victory, deceit and retribution which I would listen to with wide-eyed attention, seated next to my father and uncles.”
Restoration work underway
As per the latest reports, the Peshawar district administration visited Kumar’s house as well as the Kapoor Haveli on Wednesday for a survey and measurements. According to details, the deputy commissioner and revenue staff will determine the value of the land. Both buildings are in dilapidated conditions. While only the outer walls of Kumar’s house remain, the Kapoor Haveli is in a better condition. The owners of the houses had planned to demolish them and build plazas instead but the government has registered cases against the owners and prevented them from tearing them down. Reports have further suggested that the owner of the house has demanded Rs 2 billion for Kumar’s house.
Kapoor Haveli
The Archaeology Department has already allocated funds to buy the houses and plans to restore them and convert them into museums are already underway. According to details, the museums will feature biographies and photographs of the actors, their affiliation with Peshawar, along with other records of the two artists and their families.
Director of KP’s Archeology and Museums Department Dr Abdul Samad said that the plan to restore the Havelis is “part of the Peshawar revival plan.”
Earlier, Kumar’s wife Saira Banu had praised the government’s decision to restore her husband’s childhood home.
Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu
“I wish the provincial government success in its efforts and sincerely hope that this time the dream comes true. MashAllah,” the actor had said. “My heart fills up with joy each time I receive the same news about the ancestral home of Yousuf Saheb in Peshawar which the provincial government has been repeatedly trying to turn into a monument for posterity. It has come up so many times in the past and I have appreciated the tenacity with which the government is pursuing the mission of turning the house into a museum for the public to visit and feel the vintage charm of the house where Dilip Saheb grew up like any bright boy of the province.”
It is pertinent to mention here that Shah Rukh Khan’s ancestral home is also located in the old city of Peshawar. Khan is reported to have visited the city twice during his childhood.
Soon after deposed prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif claimed that he was told to resign by former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general (DG) Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam, PM Imran Khan has said he would take on anyone who dares to tell him to step down as a democratically-elected PM.
“He [Nawaz] claims he was told by the army… Gen Zaheerul Islam… to resign. You are the PM… how can he dare to demand so from you?” the premier said while speaking to senior journalist Nadeem Malik in an interview that will air tonight at 7:05 pm on SAMAA.
When asked what would Imran Khan do if he is asked to resign, the premier said he, being the PM, would immediately ask for that person’s resignation. “I am the country’s PM,” he said, to which Malik asked him if he would sack that person.
“Who can dare to ask me to step down? I am a democratically-elected PM,” Imran replied.
To a question regarding ailing former PM Nawaz’s return to the country, the premier said a convict had left the country after lying about his health and was now “conspiring against Pakistan”.
“We will bring him back,” he added.
A day earlier, Nawaz, who is seeking medical treatment abroad, had said the entire country knows what the former ISI chief had done. He claimed that Zaheerul Islam had at midnight sent him a message seeking his resignation.
“He threatened to impose martial law if I didn’t step down but I refused to resign at all costs,” Nawaz had added.
Pakistani-Candian YouTuber Sham Idrees in a recent video introduced his daughter from his previous marriage.
The vlogger made a video and revealed that back in 2010, before he started making vlogs, he was married for a short while.
“I’m gonna take you back to 2010,” said the vlogger in the video. “I was 19 or 20 years of age – fairly young. I didn’t know what I was doing but I decided to get married. Of course, it didn’t work out. Within a few months, we decided to end it and go our separate ways. However, a few months after that, I found out I was having a baby. On September 10th, 2010 I had a baby girl,” he said.
Explaining why he introduced her to his fans after so many years, he said, “When I started vlogging my daughter was six years old and I had to make a decision if I keep her on social media or take her completely off. Now we celebrated her 10th birthday. I know 10 is still fairly young but I gave her the option and asked her if she wants to be a part of this industry and she is very excited.”
Dua Idrees has also made her own YouTube channel. She released a Vlog about her 10th birthday titled, Meet My Dad. We can also see her in Idrees’s vlogs with both Froggy and Sierra.
Sham Idrees is a Youtuber with over 2 million subscribers. Sham got married to Saher popularly known as Froggy in 2019. The couple welcomed a baby girl, Sierra Idrees earlier this year.
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has collected more than Rs1,000 billion in revenue during the first quarter (July-Sept) of the current fiscal year (FY2020-21).
According to media reports, the tax department has collected Rs1,002 billion during the period under review, against the target of Rs970 billion.
The tax department had collected Rs593bn during the first two months of FY21, while collection in September stood at Rs408bn, as against the target of Rs418 billion.
The revenue collection during the quarter increased due to the resumption of economic activities post-COVID lockdowns. The department has also increased its crackdown on defaulters and tax evaders.
On Wednesday, the FBR’s Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation-Inland Revenue (Lahore) raided the business premises of a shoe manufacturing unit under Section 38 and 40 of the Sales Tax Act, 1990.
The unit was engaged in manufacturing activities, making taxable supplies of footwear etc while consuming huge amounts of raw materials and electricity. However, the unit had been deliberately filed “nil” sales tax returns since July 2015 to avoid payment of due sales tax.
During the search, important records were impounded which is under scrutiny while further investigation in this regard is underway. The directorate intends to intensify such operations to detect tax fraud and stop huge revenue leakage being caused to the national exchequer.
A woman was shocked after finding a rare two-headed snake in her house in North Carolina, America.
According to the details, Jeane Wilson spotted the rare snake in the sun room of her house.
She shared the video on Facebook and wrote: “Ok Facebook…anybody out there knows of a place that would take Double Trouble here and care for him/her or should I turn it loose? It’s not poisonous.”
Wilson said she found the reptile close to a table in her sun room, and immediately contacted a relative to describe the reptile’s appearance.
https://youtu.be/eZ2VCCgSSds
She later put it inside a jar with the help of her friends because she did not want it to get hurt.
“We were having game night and the door was left open for some air. After everybody left, I was in there cleaning up and saw it lying on the floor beside the table. I saw its heads first and couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to kill it so we put it in a jar. Everybody was amazed, ‘Wow, a two-headed snake at Nana’s house,’” said Wilson.
After the one-foot long snake was handed over to the Catawba Science Center, it was identified as a Black Rat Snake. Interestingly, only one in 1,00,000 has two heads.
Deposed prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif has reiterated his trust in Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari after stalwart Khawaja Asif attacked the former president saying he could not be trusted.
“I have a lot of respect for Asif Zardari in my heart. Zardari is part of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and I absolutely respect him in my heart and I don’t know if Khawaja Asif made a statement against Zardari or not,” the PML-N supreme leader told The News.
When told that Khawaja Asif had actually said that he doesn’t trust Asif Ali Zardari, Nawaz said that his party leader’s remarks about the former president were not PML-N’s party policy. “I have expressed to you the sentiments I have in my heart.”
Nawaz Sharif disagrees with statement by @KhawajaMAsif about Asif Ali Zardar and says he has a lot of respect for AAZ and fully trusts Zardari and has faith in him, he’s part of PDM and valuable @BBhuttoZardaripic.twitter.com/YdQPapF1TN
In yet another provoking, strong-worded address, deposed prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif has said that the people of Pakistan have been “enslaved by their own”.
In his second virtual address in less than two weeks, Nawaz said he has been informed that “someone else” was running the parliament houses, in lieu of its members.
“People tell me that someone else is running the parliament. Other people come and give directions about the day’s agenda and voting on bills etc,” he said while addressing the central executive committee of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) almost two weeks after marking his return to the political ring with a fiery speech to a gathering of the opposition parties, taking the military establishment head-on.
Nawaz has been residing in London since November last year on the pretext of medical treatment.
In another video shared by PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, the former premier said that a colonel could be seen hiding his face during the hearing of a case against him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
میرے نیب کے مقدمات کی سماعت کے دوران ایک کرنل منہ چھپاتا ہوا باہر نکل رہا تھا، اگر اتنا اچھا کام کر کہ نکلا تھا تو منہ چھپا کر کیوں جارہا تھا؟ pic.twitter.com/CCPCgpvRXT
“What was the reason behind hiding his face? You were being insincere that is why you hid your face,” he said.
The speech comes days after Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed rocked the domestic political landscape by revealing the closet meetings between the military leadership and the opposition parties.
Shortly after, chief military spokesperson Major General Babar Iftikhar further jolted the anti-establishment image of the PML-N as he disclosed former Sindh governor Muhammad Zubair, a close aide to Nawaz, twice reached out to Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa to discuss the political and legal woes of the Sharif family.
Nawaz, in a separate statement released by the party, also said he was saddened by the arrest of his brother and National Assembly Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif.
پاکستان مسلم لیگ (ن) کے قائد سابق وزیر محمد نوازشریف کا پارٹی کی ’سی۔ای۔سی‘ سے خطاب
“However, our spirits will not be dampened by what is happening,” he said, adding that the party would double its efforts. “We are proud that our party workers are facing the current situation with courage. There is no example in the history of the treatment meted out to our children,” he said.
He added that Shehbaz has shown unparalleled strength and courage during these times and paid tribute to his brother for serving the nation with honesty. “He worked day and night to set up power plants in Punjab.”
Nawaz also paid tribute to the efforts of government officers who played a role in addressing the energy shortage. Commending his brother on his resilience, he said Shehbaz never bowed down in the face of difficulty.
“Shehbaz has played a role in strengthening our narrative. I am proud of my brother who has sent an example of being loyal and committed to one’s ideology,” he said.
The city administration sealed several hotels, restaurants in various areas of Karachi over violation of COVID-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs).
As perreports, 10 restaurants were sealed in District Central, two in Clifton, three at Boat Basin food street, and two in the Saddar area of District South, Karachi.
The management of the restaurants were violating SOPs for running the business during the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the Sindh government on Wednesday imposed a “micro smart lockdown” in several areas to control the spread of coronavirus.
According to a notification, the government has imposed micro smart lockdown in different localities of District West, Karachi. The district West areas that have been put under micro smart lockdown include Manghopir Union Council 8 and Gadap Town.
The move came after more than 20 cases were reported from Manghopir Union Council.
Police officials have been positioned in these areas to impose the lockdown restrictions. The provincial government has asked the deputy commissioner and senior police officials in Karachi to ensure micro smart lockdowns and implementation of SOPs at designated sites.
In what appears to be an attempt to malign Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, a decades-old picture of him with American financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s frontwoman Ghislaine Maxwell, has resurfaced over the internet.
Maxwell, a British socialite, worked for her father, publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell, until his death in 1991 when she moved to the United States (US) and became a close associate of Epstein.
While the picture doing the rounds on social media seems to be from some social event that then cricketer and British film producer Jemima Goldsmith’s husband, Imran, was usually spotted at, netizens are sharing the same seeking the context.
During his cricketing career, the now premier acquainted several international celebrities. He also counted no less than Princess Diana as a friend.
According to the details unearthed by The Current, his picture with Maxwell is from a party at Savoy — a luxury hotel in London — to mark the fall of communism in 1990, which was a year before she even moved to the US.
Greek journalist Taki Theodoracopulos can also be seen in the background.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MAXWELL & EPSTEIN:
Maxwell is the alleged recruiter of Epstein’s sex ring of underage girls and awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. She reportedly met the late financier through her father Robert and he might have been one early source of Epstein’s wealth that catapulted him into the upper echelon of society.
Epstein began his professional life as a teacher but then switched to the banking and finance sector, working at Bear Stearns before forming his own firm. He developed an elite social circle and procured many women, including underage girls, who were then sexually abused by Epstein and some of his contacts.
He was arrested in July 2019 on federal charges for the sex trafficking of minors and died in his jail cell less than a month later.The medical examiner ruled the death a suicide, however, Epstein’s lawyers disputed the ruling, and there has been significant public skepticism about the true cause of his death.
Many believe that he was murdered because of his knowledge of compromising information about famous individuals.
