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  • T-Series removes Atif Aslam’s ‘Kinna Sona’ from YouTube, issues apology

    T-Series removes Atif Aslam’s ‘Kinna Sona’ from YouTube, issues apology

    Two days after releasing Atif Aslam’s rendition of Kinna Sona, T-Series removed the video and song from their YouTube channel and apologised to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray for releasing it in the first place. The Federation of Western India Cine Employees’ (FWICE) has strictly forbidden Bollywood from featuring Pakistani artists.

    Read more- Indian media mistakenly names Atif Aslam’s son as ‘Alhumdulilah’, apologises later

    According to a report in The Indian Express, #TakeDownAtifAslamSong started trending on Twitter soon after the music label released Atif’s version of the song.

    The issue also caught the attention of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and MNS Cinema Wing president Ameya Khopkar issued a warning to T-Series and ordered them to take down the song immediately.

    Following the warning and backlash, T-Series removed the song and issued an apology.

    “It has been brought to our notice that the said song has been sung by Atif Aslam and this song was put up on the YouTube channel of T-Series by one of our employees from the promotion team. He was unaware of his action and erred while putting up the song,” stated the apology letter.

    It added, “We condemn our mistake and apologise for the same. We assure you that henceforth we will neither release, nor promote the song on any platform of T-Series. Meanwhile, we are removing the said song from our YouTube channel.”

    “We also assure you that henceforth we will not be releasing or promoting work by any Pakistani artistes,” the letter concluded.

    Kinna Sona first featured in 2019 film Marjaavaan, starring Sidharth Malhotra and Tara Sutaria.

  • ‘Meri Double Chin’: Faakhir drops new lockdown music video

    ‘Meri Double Chin’: Faakhir drops new lockdown music video

    While we all are staying at home amid lockdown, most of us are spending this quarantine cooking, eating and gaining weight. Pakistani singer Faakhir has put it in the words correctly. Faakhir with his kids and a few other celebrities made a music video ‘Meri double chin’ that will surely lift our spirits and make us laugh.

    The video features Faakhir’s kids Simone and Naael and other celebrities including Adnan Siddiqui and his son, Hamid Mir, Javed Sheikh, Ayesha Omar, Aijaz Aslam, Shehzad Roy and Momina Mustehsan.

    The song has a catchy chorus and a few rap lines by Simone and Naael.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa7QGLxYzjg
  • Justice Qazi Faez Isa receiving death threats, wife tells police; CJP takes notice

    Justice Qazi Faez Isa receiving death threats, wife tells police; CJP takes notice

    The wife of Supreme Court’s (SC) Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Sarina Isa, has informed the police that her husband has received a death threat via a video, prompting Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed to take suo motu notice.

    In an application seeking the registration of an FIR [First Information Report] at Islamabad’s Secretariat Police Station, Sarina claimed that the person threatening Justice Isa said whoever was caught involved in embezzlement, whether it be Faez Isa or anyone else, should be executed through a firing squad.

    “Those who indulge in such activities must be hanged and the entire city should be invited to watch it,” the person in the video said, according to Justice Isa’s wife.

    Sarina said that many powerful people were not happy with her husband and she suspected the death threat was in continuation of what they have been facing.

    She said that a complaint against her husband was also submitted by a person named Abdul Waheed Dogar.

    “My husband asked who Abdul Waheed Dogar is but no one in the government disclosed that for whom Dogar worked,” she said, claiming that Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Accountability Shahzad Akbar had met Dogar, urging the police officials to investigate the whereabouts of Dogar, who, according to her, was being used by “some very powerful people”.

    She urged the police officials to arrest those “powerful people” who wanted to get rid of Justice Isa, calling it the “worst kind of terrorism”.

    SUO MOTU NOTICE:

    Meanwhile, the top judge has taken suo motu notice of the video containing derogatory and scandalous remarks about members of the judiciary.

    According to a notification, a copy of which is available with The Current, the CJP will be taking up the case for hearing tomorrow at the SC.

    The CJP has taken notice of the viral video containing derogatory, contemptuous and scandalous language against the institution of judiciary and judges, read the notification, adding that the case will be heard by a bench of the apex court on June 26 (tomorrow).

    REFERENCE AGAINST JUSTICE ISA QUASHED:

    The threats come days after the top court on Friday quashed the presidential reference filed against Justice Isa as well as the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) proceedings that were started on the basis of the reference.

    A 10-judge full court had issued the verdict after hearing for over six months multiple petitions filed against the reference that claimed that Justice Isa had committed misconduct by not disclosing his family members properties in the United Kingdom (UK) in his wealth statement.

    “Reference No 1 of 2019 is declared to be of no legal effect whatsoever and stands quashed, and in consequence, thereof the proceedings pending in the SJC against the petitioner [Justice Isa] including the show-cause notice dated 17.07.2019 issued to him stand abated,” said a short order.

    In the split verdict, announced by the presiding judge Umar Ata Bandial, seven out of the 10 judges referred the matter to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for initiating tax proceedings against Justice Isa’s spouse and children for not disclosing their UK properties to the tax authorities while filing their returns.

  • Punjab Police wants to ban PUBG after 2 suicides

    Punjab Police wants to ban PUBG after 2 suicides

    Punjab Police wants to ban the popular video game ‘Players Unknown’s Battlegrounds’ (PUBG) after two young people in Lahore committed suicide over the game.

    According to reports, a 16-year-old boy took his own life on Tuesday when his parents stopped him from playing PUBG. His parents called the Hanjarwal police in Gulshan-e-Abbas’s Phase 2 when they found his body.

    The parents refused to allow a post-mortem autopsy. Police have registered this as a case of suicide and further investigation is in process.

    In a similar incident, another 20-year-old boy also committed suicide in Saddar Bazaar in North Cantonment when his parents told him to stop playing the online game.

    As per reports, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police (Operations Wing) Lahore, Ashfaq Khan has decided to write a letter to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to ban PUBG.

    PUBG is a battle royale game developed by a South Korean company. The game involves multiple players that are connected online as they face off and kill each other to become the last survivor.

  • Hafeez, who tested positive for coronavirus at PCB, tests negative at private lab a day later

    A day after testing positive for coronavirus at Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Mohammad Hafeez says he has tested negative at a private facility.

    On Tuesday, Hafeez was announced as one of ten Pakistani national cricket team players who tested positive for the virus as the entire 29-man squad due to fly out to England on June 28 underwent COVID-19 testing.

    Hafeez, however, got himself tested from a different lab in Lahore for a “second opinion” for him and his family. That result, he said in a tweet, was negative.

    https://twitter.com/MHafeez22/status/1275689746765840395

    All of PCB’s tests were conducted by Shaukat Khanum Laboratory.

    Other players who tested positive for the virus include Fakhar Zaman, Imran Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan, and Wahab Riaz.

    Apart from the seven players, one support personnel — the masseur — also contracted the illness after the cricket body had 35 tests carried out for COVID-19 in Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar.

    Pakistan’s Test and limited-overs squads will tour England for three Tests and three T20 internationals.

    England director of cricket Ashley Giles has said that the tour is expected to go ahead.

  • Groundbreaking: Islamabad to get its first Hindu temple

    In a first, a ceremony was held to start construction of a Hindu temple in the federal capital, Dawn reported.

    According to reports, a crematorium will also be built in Islamabad for the Hindu community, members of which earlier had to travel out of the city to perform religious rituals.

    The Krishna temple will be constructed on a 20,000 sq ft plot in the H-9 sector, and has been named Shri Krishna Mandir by the Islamabad Hindu Panchayat.

    According to Religious Affairs Minister Pir Noorul Haq Qadri, the government will bear the construction cost, presently estimated to be Rs100,000,000.

    Parliamentary Secretary on Human Rights Lal Chand Malhi had on Tuesday performed the groundbreaking ceremony for the temple.

    While addressing the gathering at the ceremony, Malhi mentioned the presence of pre-1947 era temple structures in the capital and its adjoining areas, including one in Saidpur Village and at the hill point overlooking the Korang River near Rawal Lake. However, they have been abandoned and not used.

    “Besides, there is no crematorium in Islamabad,” he said, adding the Hindu population in Islamabad had increased significantly in two decades, therefore, the temple was necessary.

    “The Hindu community in Islamabad has been demanding a temple for a long time now. The population has also increased while many Hindu temple structures in the capital have been abandoned,” he said. “Besides, there is no crematorium in Islamabad.”

    The plot on which the temple is being built was allotted to the Hindu Panchayat by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in 2017. However, the construction work could not begin on time because of some formalities, like the site map’s approval by the CDA and other authorities.

  • PTI’s Fatyana thinks eating locusts can eradicate coronavirus

    PTI’s Fatyana thinks eating locusts can eradicate coronavirus

    Amid statements from other government members regarding coronavirus cracking netizens up, it has emerged that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker Riaz Fatyana thinks eating locusts, an infestation of which is threatening food security in Pakistan among other South Asian nations as well as in Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and South America, could end the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “It is said that eating locusts can lead to the eradication of coronavirus,” reports quoted the senior PTI MNA as saying.

    He went on to say that the government should look into the claims and if verified, people themselves would deal with the locust infestation.

    LOCUST INFESTATION:

    The 2019-20 locust infestation is an outbreak of desert locusts which is the worst in 70 years in Kenya and the worst in 25 years in Pakistan, India, Ethiopia and Somalia.

    The outbreak began with heavy rains in 2018 in the Arabian Peninsula in spring 2019, swarms spread from these areas, and by June 2019, the locusts spread north to Pakistan, India, Iran and south to East Africa, particularly the Horn of Africa. By the end of 2019, there were swarms also in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt and Oman.

    By June 2020, another swam appeared in South America, affecting Paraguay and Argentina while as of April 2020, efforts to control the locusts were being hampered by ongoing restrictions in travel and shipping due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    According to reports, around 37 per cent area of Pakistan is more vulnerable to the attack. This includes 60 per cent area of Balochistan, 25 per cent area of Sindh and 15 per cent area of Punjab.

    “If the desert locust is not contained, Punjab and Sindh may become summer breeding zone of the pest,” said a report submitted to the Supreme Court (SC) by Punjab government through Additional Advocate General Chaudhry Faisal Hussain earlier this month.

    It said desert locust appeared in Punjab’s Cholistan area in July last year. In November last year, locust swarms started migration toward Balochistan and South Punjab.

  • ‘Hold your tongues’: Imran tells cabinet members to not say things that affect PTI, govt

    ‘Hold your tongues’: Imran tells cabinet members to not say things that affect PTI, govt

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has told his cabinet members to maintain unity within the party, a day after Federal Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry said in an interview that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was failing to bring promised change due to a lack of political leadership amid rifts among leaders such as Jahangir Khan Tareen, Planning Minister Asad Umar and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

    Addressing a presser after a meeting of the federal cabinet chaired by PM Imran, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz said that Fawad’s interview with the Voice of America came under discussion during the cabinet meeting.

    “Fawad Chaudhry’s interview was discussed in the cabinet [meeting] and the prime minister said we should maintain unity within the party,” Faraz said.

    In the interview, Fawad had said there were rifts among Tareen, Umar and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, which hurt the party and forced the PTI’s “political class” to part ways.

    “As soon as the PTI government was formed, quarrels among Qureshi, Umar and Tareen began. Tareen used his influence to get Umar removed from the cabinet and later Umar got Tareen out,” Fawad had said.

    During the cabinet meeting, the information minister said that the premier has instructed the ministers and party leaders not to talk about things that “affect” the party or the government.

    Faraz also spoke about a recent interview of Climate Change Minister Zartaj Gul in which she said that Covid-19 means that the virus has 19 points that can be applied to any country based on its respective immunity levels.

    Her remarks were widely shared on social media and she was criticised for not knowing that Covid-19 is actually an acronym for the coronavirus.

    “It was a slip of the tongue and people make mistakes,” the information minister said, referring to Gul’s remarks. “It should not have happened and I completely agree with you.”

    The information minister said that Gul is an “outstanding” minister “who is doing great work”.

    “We should ignore the mistakes because people make mistakes,” Faraz added.

  • VIDEO: 9-year-old boy steals car, gets away with police warning

    VIDEO: 9-year-old boy steals car, gets away with police warning

    A 9-year-old boy stole a car from the Karachi’s Sea View area and drove it until it ran out of fuel. The Darakhshan police caught the boy but later released him with a warning and allowed him to go with his parents.

    As per reports, the child had stolen the car from Khayaban-e-Mujahid. His act was caught on the closed-circuit television (CCTV) and footage of the incident went viral on social media.

    The boy is the resident of Machar Colony. Police officials said that the minor boy liked driving and had stolen a few motorcycles in the past. They added that he would drive vehicles until the fuel ran out after which he leaves them where they stop.

    According to police, the little boy’s father is a drug addict. Police noted that they have warned the boy and let him go.

  • PM Khan’s recommended book is being made into a movie

    PM Khan’s recommended book is being made into a movie

    William Dalrymple’s The Anarchy, which Prime Minister Imran Khan was spotted reading on his way back to Pakistan from the United Nations General Assembly, is being made into a movie.

    According to a report in Hollywood publication Variety Magazine, award-winning producer Siddharth Roy Kapur has acquired the rights of the book, whose complete title is The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company. Roy Kapur, unarguably one of Bollywood’s biggest producers, has a plethora of hits under his belt including Dangal, The Sky is Pink, Khoobsurat and Kai Po Che!.

    Siddharth Roy Kapur

    Set between 1599 and 1802, The Anarchy traces the rise of The East India Company against the decline and fall of the Mughal Empire. It provides an account of how a provincial trading start-up, run by thirty people from an office in a nondescript London building, became rulers of an entire sub-continent.

    While further details on the film are still under wraps, Roy Kapur Films is reportedly planning a big-budget, grand-scale series adaptation of the book with yet unnamed international co-production partners.

    Dalrymple, who is also on board as a consultant for the project, while speaking about the adaption said: “I’m very excited looking at the initial treatment note, talking about the various ways to bring this book alive and to bring the characters I’ve been living with over the last 6 years onto the screen, so that everyone else can see them in flesh and blood.”

    Apart from PM Khan The Anarchy was also recommended by former US President Barack Obama, who listed it among his top 10 recommended books of 2019.