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  • ‘Bollywood films promote unhealthy behaviours’

    ‘Bollywood films promote unhealthy behaviours’

    Researchers from Vital Strategies and Imperial College, London have found that people, including children, are exposed to a high and frequent volume of tobacco, alcohol and branded fast-food product placement while watching Bollywood films.

    Read more – Trending on Netflix Pakistan: ‘Malang’, ‘The Lovebirds’

    According to reports, of the 300 films analysed from the time period 1994-2013, 93 per cent of the films had at least one occurrence of alcohol, 70 percent had at least one occurrence of tobacco, and 21 per cent films had at least one occurrence of branded fast food. Tobacco and alcohol occurrences were more common in films rated for older audiences (A-rated films) whereas fast-food depiction was prominent in movies targeted for all audiences (U and U/A rated films).

    On average, tobacco products or usage was depicted four times per film, alcohol was shown or used seven times per film, and branded fast food was shown or used 0.4 time per film. Although the depiction of tobacco in these films fell during the 20-year period of analysis, the placement of alcohol and branded fast food products significantly increased. Researchers assume that the downward trend in tobacco promotion from the year 2004 could be attributed to the regulations related to tobacco advertising, promotions and sponsorships under Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) and WHO Framework Convention of Tobacco Control (FCTC).

    Read more – ‘Extraction’ & ‘Love Aaj Kal’ are trending on Netflix Pakistan but not worth the watch

    “Our study suggests that Bollywood films are contributing to promoting unhealthy behaviours in their audience, particularly children,” said Dr Nandita Murukutla, Vice President, Global Policy and Research, Policy, Advocacy and Communication, Vital Strategies.

    “We hope that this study offers evidence and support to reduce the marketing of these products in films given the known health problems they cause, including obesity, heart disease and cancer.”

    While research in other parts of the world has shown an association with these products being used in films and audience members also initiating use, the extent of such imagery in Bollywood cinema has been less clear.

  • Daren Sammy recalls being called ‘kalu’ by Indian cricketers during IPL

    Daren Sammy recalls being called ‘kalu’ by Indian cricketers during IPL

    Former West Indies captain and honorary citizen of Pakistan Darren Sammy has revealed that he was subjected to racial abuse in the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) dressing room when he played for the franchise in the 2013-14 editions of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

    After watching Hasan Minhaj’s latest segment, in which the comedian talks about anti-blackness in South Asian, the cricketer expressed his anger upon realising the meaning of the word ‘kalu’ which he says was used to refer to him and Sri Lanka’s Thisara Perera when the pair played for SRH. However, he did not reveal who used to direct these slurs at him.

    Following that, on Tuesday, Sammy released an Instagram video, saying those slurs came from players within the SRH camp and that he will be messaging them all to provide clarification and issue an apology.

    “Knowledge is power. So recently I discovered a word that I was being called was not what it actually meant, I need some answers. So before I start calling out names I need these individuals to reach out and please tell me there’s another meaning to that word and when I was being called it, it was all in love,” read the post along with the video.

    “I have played all over the world and I have been loved by many people, I have embraced all the dressing rooms where I have played, so I was listening to Hasan Minhaj as to how some of the people in his culture describe black people,” Sammy said in the video.

    “This does not apply to everybody but I say this because of what I’ve experienced. After I found out a meaning of a certain word, I had said I was angry on finding out the meaning and it was degrading, instantly I remembered when I played for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2013-14, I was being called the exact the same word which is degrading to us black people,” he added.

    Sammy said that at the time when he was being called with the word, he didn’t know the meaning and he thought it was not degrading as his teammates used to laugh every time whenever he was called with that name.

    “I will be messaging those people, you guys know who you are. I must admit at that time when I was being called using that word, I thought the word meant strong stallion or whatever it is and I saw no problem. I did not know what it meant. Every time I was called with that word, there was laughter at the moment. Me being a team man, I thought hey teammates are happy, so it must be something funny,” Sammy said.

    “So now you can understand my frustration and my anger when it was pointed out to me that it wasn’t funny at all. It was degrading. I will be texting you guys and I will ask you as to when you called me with that name, did you all mean it in any bad way or in a degrading way? You repeatedly called me that word over and over again, to the point that I was even saying, that’s my name,” he continued.

    Sammy said he expects an apology from all those who called him that because he considered them his brothers and friends.

    “I have had great memories in all my dressing rooms, so all those who used to call me with that word, think about it, let’s have a conversation, if it was in a bad way then I would be really disappointed,” he added.

    “I have always been one to build up the relationship or build up a team, not bring it down,” he concluded.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CBL-fuglF6o/

    Meanwhile, an old social media post of India pacer Ishant Sharma has surfaced which has confirmed Sammy’s allegations.

    Ishant had shared a group picture also featuring Sammy, on May 14, 2014, and used the word ‘kalu‘ for him.

    https://twitter.com/DennisCricket_/status/1270297785917517824?s=20

    The reaction from the West Indies all-rounder has come following the death of George Floyd, an African-American who last month died in police custody in the United States. Floyd, aged 46, died on May 25 after a police officer, held him down with a knee on his neck though he repeatedly pleaded, “I can’t breathe,” and “please, I can’t breathe”.

  • Wildlife dept recovers two lions from bathroom in a residential area in Multan

    Wildlife dept recovers two lions from bathroom in a residential area in Multan

    The Punjab Wildlife Department recovered a pair of lions from the custody of a Multan resident and fined him Rs130,000 for the crime.

    Read more – Rare striped hyena rescued in DI Khan

    Wildlife Department Deputy Director Hassan Ali Sukhera while talking to APP said that a team of the department recovered the lions from a house in Khushhal Colony on May 30 in a raid that was conducted after obtaining search warrants.

    The lions were found kept in a bathroom after which the owner was punished with a fine worth Rs130,000 for violating the breeding farm rules and guidelines under Punjab Wildlife Act.

  • VIDEO: PEMRA bans energy drink ad for being ‘vulgar, un-Islamic, against ethics of Pakistani society’

    VIDEO: PEMRA bans energy drink ad for being ‘vulgar, un-Islamic, against ethics of Pakistani society’

    Continuing to keep an eye out for content that “does not go in line with social norms of Pakistani society”, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has banned an energy drink commercial for being “vulgar, un-Islamic and unethical”.

    “It [PEMRA] has monitored that most satellite television channels are airing a TVC [television commercial] of Power Full (energy drink). The content of the advertisement is considered to be indecent, vulgar and against Islamic values, social norms and ethics of Pakistani society,” read a notification by the media watchdog, a copy of which was also released by PEMRA on Twitter.

    It added that they had been receiving complaints by the general public against the advert for being unethical and vulgar, and went on to direct satellite TV channels to conform to the Electronic Media (Programmes and Advertisements) Code of Conduct, 2015.

    The commercial was prohibited under Section 27 of PEMRA (Amendment) Act, 2007, the notification said, warning of legal action in case of non-compliance.

    While it has been taken off the air, the advert is still doing rounds over the internet.

    Here is a censored version of the commercial.

    What do you think of the advert and the action against it? Let The Current know in the comments.

  • VIDEO: Peshawar doctor celebrates 71-year-old coronavirus patient’s birthday

    VIDEO: Peshawar doctor celebrates 71-year-old coronavirus patient’s birthday

    A doctor working at the coronavirus ward brought a cake to celebrate the birthday of a 71-year-old patient to fulfill his wish as he is away from his family.

    A video, doing rounds on social media, shows a patient in Abbottabad Medical Complex, clapping and cutting his birthday cake with the health professional standing by his side.

    Finance and Health Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Taimur Jhagra also shared the video with a caption: “Something to make everyone smile.”

    Doctors and other healthcare professionals have been praised across Pakistan and all over the world for the sacrifice and commitment they have shown by treating the virus patients while putting their lives at risk.

    Pakistan has reported 108,317 cases of COVID-19 so far.

  • Sony PS5 to be launched Thursday

    Sony PS5 to be launched Thursday

    Sony has announced that the launch event for its upcoming PlayStation (PS) 5 will be held on Thursday (June 11) at 8 pm, GMT+5.

    The event was originally scheduled for June 4 but it was postponed due to the death of George Floyd and subsequent protests against police brutality and racism around the world.

    Sony also plans to show PS5 games during the event, and it will run for “a bit more than an hour,” Sony Interactive Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jim Ryan had said while announcing the original event.

    The event will be broadcasted at 1080p and 30 fps because it will be easier to produce while several Sony staffers work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Sid Shuman, senior director for Sony Interactive’s Content Communication.

    Sony has revealed the name, logo, specs and its news DualSense controller, but hasn’t revealed the design of the console.

    The PS5 will have a custom eight-core AMD Zen 2 CPU, a custom AMD RDNA 2-based GPU, 16GB of GDDR6 RAM, and a proprietary SSD with 825GB of storage and 5.5GB/s of performance.

    The DualSense controller will have haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, an integrated microphone, and a USB-C port. The controller’s share button has also been renamed to the “create” button, but Sony hasn’t shared much about what it will let players do just yet.

  • PIA incurring Rs6 billion loss per month, Air Marshal Arshad Malik tells PM Imran

    PIA incurring Rs6 billion loss per month, Air Marshal Arshad Malik tells PM Imran

    Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Air Marshal Arshad Malik has told Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan that in the prevailing situation, the national flag carrier is running into a loss of around Rs6 billion on a monthly basis.

    A sum of Rs24 billion was being spent yearly on the payment of salaries to its 14,500 employees alone, the PIA CEO briefed the premier, who was chairing a meeting on the reforms and restructuring of the national airline.

    The CEO also apprised the PM about the progress on the investigation into the Karachi plane crash, handing over of bodies to their bereaved families and payment of compensation amount to the heirs of plane crash victims, the PM Office Media Wing in a press release said.

    The meeting was attended by Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Information and Broadcasting Minister Senator Shibli Faraz, Advisor to PM on Reforms Dr Ishrat Hussain, Special Assistant Lt Gen (r) Asim Salim Bajwa and other senior officials.

    During the meeting, a timeline for the restructuring of the PIA and a comprehensive roadmap over reforms and implementation was also submitted before the prime minister.

    Addressing the meeting, the PM said due to the coronavirus pandemic, the country’s economy was facing difficulties, adding that people had to bear the burden of billions of rupees losses on a monthly basis suffered by the state-owned entities.

    He said under the current situation, it was imperative to expedite restructuring and reforms process in the PIA, which had been running into billions of rupees loss owing to Covid-19.

    PM Imran stressed upon bringing down expenditures of the organisation, focusing on increase in its income and financial resources and upgradation of its fleet.

    He also directed that special attention should be paid so that the PIA-owned domestic and foreign assets, which could be utilised through a completely transparent and clear manner. The assets should create financial resources for the organisation instead of becoming a burden on the general public, he observed.

    Arshad Malik on the occasion also gave a detailed briefing on the restructuring, improvement in the financial discipline, better and effective utilisation of the PIA’s assets, and strategy over other related issues.

    He said due to the prevailing situation, the airlines industry throughout the world had been affected and reforms in that regard, were carried out in the organisation.

  • Amid shortage, govt likely to allow petrol stations to set their own prices

    Amid shortage, govt likely to allow petrol stations to set their own prices

    As consumers across the country face difficulties due to petrol shortage, the government is currently contemplating completely deregulating pricing and marketing of petrol. 

    According to a report published in Dawn,  the government is considering doing away with uniform pricing of petrol and deregulating it in line with other petroleum products like hi-octane blending component (HOBC) which are already deregulated. 

    Recently oil marketing companies (OMCs) have come under severe criticism for their alleged collusive behavior that has seen the price of HOBC, to increase to Rs148-160 per litre. 

    While the government slashed petrol prices to Rs74 per litre in line with the decrease in international oil prices, no such reduction was seen in the price of HOBC. 

    According to the report, the government has also decided to deregulate the Inland Freight Equalisation Margin (IFEM) that currently ensures uniform prices throughout the country. As a result, consumers that are close to ports and refineries will be able to buy petroleum products at a cheaper price that may differ anywhere from Rs1 to Rs5 depending on the transportation cost.

    Earlier, on June 4, the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) had taken notice of public concerns and complaints about the shortage of petroleum products in the country and had initiated an inquiry to see whether such a shortage is the result of any anti-competitive activity.

    The CCP’s inquiry will determine the possibility of the existence of any anti-competitive practices causing the shortage of fuel in the country and the undertakings involved in it.

    The inquiry will further examine why the impact of the reduction in the prices of oil have not resulted in the corresponding reduction in the prices of the lubricants and other oil-based products, including the prices of hi-octane, which are primarily deregulated products.

    Similarly, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) had also expressed its reservations last week regarding high prices of HOBC and had asked OMC’s to set prices at reasonable levels keeping in view the interests of the consumers. 

  • Aima Baig says it is impossible to ‘satisfy our society’

    Aima Baig says it is impossible to ‘satisfy our society’

    Fresh off the success of her new song Te Quiero with Haadi Uppal, Aima Baig, in a recent social media, commented that in the last three to four years of her career the one thing she learned is that the “most difficult thing to pull off in this industry is to satisfy our society. According to how they want us to look like or what they want us to wear, what they want us to sing or what they want us to say.”

    Pretty sure, all female actors will be agreeing with Aima on this.

    “Whereas I thought it is a free country, where men and women both have been given the right to follow their heart and live their own life,” she added.

    Read more – It’s official: Aima Baig is Shahbaz Shigri’s ‘better half’

    Aima then went to recall when she started her career as part of Mazaaq Raat’s team, before adding how blessed she feels to have achieved the success she has.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CBImAXXBrBc/
  • Shaniera Akram hits back at troll who told her that Pakistan is not for ‘whites’

    Shaniera Akram hits back at troll who told her that Pakistan is not for ‘whites’

    Shaniera Akram has never been one to shy away from hitting back at trolls.

    Read more – Shaniera Akram loves being Pakistan’s bhabi

    In a recent incident, Akram slammed a troll, who told her that Pakistan is “not for whites like her”. Syed Sharjeel Ahmad Qureshi, who identifies himself as a political analyst and blogger, replying to Akram’s tweet about the coronavirus pandemic said that in the eight years Akram has been in Pakistan, she has “not been able to read the word and become a Muslim and name a Muslim”.

    In response to his remarks, Shaniera said that he has two pandemics to worry about: coronavirus and racism.

    Following this, several people apologised to the nation’s ‘bhabhi‘ for Qureshi’s comments.

    https://twitter.com/HaseebAhmaddd/status/1269552135190065152?s=20

    Following the backlash, Qureshi deleted the tweet.

    Meanwhile, it is pertinent to mention here that this is what Shaniera’s pinned tweet is: