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  • Ever wondered where ‘Ramzan aya Roza Rakhoji’ kid is?

    Ever wondered where ‘Ramzan aya Roza Rakhoji’ kid is?

    Three years ago, a song on Ramazan ‘Ramazan Aaya Roza Rakho Ji’ went viral on social media. The kid behind the track became an overnight sensation as the song and its video went viral.

    The song, sung by Rais Anis Sabri, gained popularity for its distinctive beat, an iconic video, and the kid’s unbeatable expressions.

    The kid is once again doing rounds on social media but this time for a different reason. His fans found out where is he now and surely he is now all grown up and almost unrecognisable.

    Sabri has four thousand followers on Instagram and he keeps updating his fans about his activities. Hailing from, Jalalabad, Uttar Pradesh in India, the singer has met the likes of Bollywood music icons like AR Rahman and Kailash Kher.

    Rais Anis Sabri got fame with several of his qawwalis and the 26-year-old has also won several awards.

  • Three years ban for Umar Akmal for violating PCB’s anti-corruption code

    Three years ban for Umar Akmal for violating PCB’s anti-corruption code

    The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has banned Umar Akmal from all cricket for three years for violating the board’s anti-corruption code by not reporting a fixing offer before the start of the fifth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

    In a press release, the board stated: “The Chairman of the Disciplinary Panel, Mr Justice (retired) Fazal-e-Miran Chauhan, in short order on Monday, handed Umar Akmal a three-year ban from all cricket. The PCB will release reasons as soon as it receives them from Justice Chauhan.”

    The board said that a detailed hearing was held at the National Cricket Academy where the cricketer represented himself and was heard at length. Mr Taffazul Rizvi represented the PCB.

    Akmal was charged with two breaches of Article 2.4.4 of the PCB Anti-Corruption Code in two unrelated incidents on March 17. He had earlier on February 20 been suspended from playing and was also not allowed to participate in the fifth edition of the PSL in which he was playing for Quetta Gladiators.

    Article 2.4.4 of the PCB Anti-Corruption Code reads as: “Failing to disclose to the PCB Vigilance and Security Department (without unnecessary delay) full details of any approaches or invitations received by the Participant to engage in Corrupt Conduct under this Anti-Corruption Code.”

    On April 9, the PCB referred the matter to Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee after determining that the batsman had not requested for a hearing before the Anti-Corruption Tribunal.

    Read more – ‘Where’s the fat?’ Umar Akmal bares all in fitness test

    PCB Director – Anti-Corruption and Security, Lt Col Asif Mahmood, said: “The PCB doesn’t take any pleasure in seeing a promising international cricketer being declared ineligible for three years on corruption charges, but this is once again a timely reminder to all who think they can get away by breaching the anti-corruption code.”

    “I request all professional cricketers to stay away from the menace of corruption and immediately inform relevant authorities as soon as they are approached. This is in their as well as their teams’ and country’s best interest.”

    Meanwhile, here is what former cricketer Ramiz Raja has to say on the matter.

  • Ex-ISPR chief Asim Bajwa replaces Firdous as PM’s special assistant, new info minister also appointed

    Ex-ISPR chief Asim Bajwa replaces Firdous as PM’s special assistant, new info minister also appointed

    Former Inter-Services Public Relation (ISPR) director-general (DG) and military bigwig Lieutenant General (r) Asim Bajwa has replaced Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan as Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s special assistant on information and broadcasting, while Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Shibli Faraz has been handed reins of the Information Ministry.

    According to the details, while Firdous has been removed from her position, Faraz has been appointed as the federal information minister — a post that had lied vacant ever since the premier removed incumbent Federal Minister for Science & Technology Fawad Chaudhry last year.

    Faraz is an investment banker by profession and was a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) pilot and then a civil servant. He contested the election for the Kohat district mayor in 2002 and his uncle Barrister Syed Masood Kausar is a former governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). He is the son of the late poet Ahmad Faraz.

    Firdous’s successor, Bajwa, on the other hand, is currently also serving as the chairman of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority.

    During his military career, Bajwa has served on multiple instructional and command-level posts, such as leading the 111th Infantry Brigade. Besides serving as a brigade major at an infantry brigade and serving as the chief of staff at a strike corps, Bajwa has also instructed courses at the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) Kakul and the Command and Staff College in Quetta.

    He has also served as the deputy military secretary to the president of Pakistan.

    In December 2010, he was promoted to the rank of a major general and in June 2012, as the ISPR chief — preceding former military spokesperson Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor.

    In September 2015, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general, appointed inspector general (arms) at General Headquarters (GHQ) in December 2016 and later Southern Command commander.

  • Eight out of 20 test positive for coronavirus at ARY office

    The founder and CEO of ARY Digital Network, Salman Iqbal, has tweeted that eight out of 20 random test results at ARY’s Islamabad office came positive for coronavirus, following which the channel has closed the office and all of its staff will be tested.

    ARY anchor Sabir Shakir has tweeted that three staff members tested positive after they went to Faisal Edhi’s home and other three after going to a mosque that has been sealed. Most of the affectees were field reporters or staff.

    Related: ARY’s Kashif Abbasi’s interview with The Current in the Islamabad office

    Some of ARY’s most popular shows, including Off the Record with Kashif Abbasi is based in Islamabad as well as Arshad Sharif’s programme.

    Pakistan currently has almost 13,700 cases and more than 250 people have died. There has been a spike in cases this past week and 92 health professionals in Pakistan have tested positive for the virus.

    ARY’s head office is in Karachi.

  • South Korea says North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is ‘alive and well’

    South Korea says North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is ‘alive and well’

    Officials in South Korea are calling for caution amid reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has died after a botched heart surgery or may be severely ill, emphasising that they have detected no unusual movements across the border in the north.

    At a closed-door forum on Sunday, South Korea’s Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul, who oversees engagement with the North, said the government has the intelligence capabilities to say with confidence that there was nothing unusual happening, Al Jazeera reported.

    Rumours and speculation over the North Korean leader’s health began after he did not appear at a key state holiday on April 15. He has not been seen in public since.

    READ: North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un reportedly dead after botched heart surgery

    “Our government’s position is firm,” Moon Chung-in, a special adviser on national security to the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, said in an interview with CNN on Sunday. “Kim Jong-un is alive and well.”

    The adviser said that Kim had been staying in Wonsan – a resort town on the country’s east coast – since 13 April, adding, “No suspicious movements have so far been detected.”

    “We have nothing to confirm and no special movement has been detected inside North Korea as of now,” the South’s presidential office said in a statement last week.

    Speculation about Kim grew after Daily NK, a Seoul-based online media outlet that employs North Korean defectors, claimed he was recovering after undergoing a “cardiovascular procedure” earlier this month.

    Citing a single unidentified source inside the country, it said Kim, who is believed to be 36, had required urgent treatment due to heavy smoking, obesity and fatigue.

    Soon afterwards, CNN reported that Washington was “monitoring intelligence” that Kim was in “grave danger” after undergoing surgery, quoting what it said was an anonymous US official.

    Meanwhile, it has also been reported that Kim has sent a message of gratitude to workers building a tourist resort in Wonsan.

  • With no social gatherings, flower vendors suffer the brunt of lockdown

    The lockdown imposed by the Punjab government to control the spread of coronavirus has caused inconvenience to many citizens especially daily wage workers and vendors.

    Among those affected by the lockdown are flower vendors, who are facing the same problems as everything is shut down and no events are happening in the province. At this time, what we can do is order some flowers to help them earn their living. And they are selling these at cheaper rates.

    This guy Danish is in contact with three to four different vendors and is helping them to sell their flowers They do not deliver. They have roses, glass and statice.

    Florist Safder

    You can contact the florist at 0333-4120804.

    You can buy:

    Glads for Rs 25

    Statice Rs 100 per dozen

    Aster cluster for Rs 100

    Roses for Rs 100 per dozen

    They also deliver at home. Delivery charges vary according to the area.

  • Coursera to give 3,800 free courses to unemployed people

    Coursera to give 3,800 free courses to unemployed people

    Coursera — an online learning platform — will be making 3,800 courses free for people who have lost their jobs due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent global economic crisis, a private media outlet reported.

    “We are proud to announce Coursera Workforce Recovery Initiative to help governments worldwide provide unemployed workers with free access to 3,800 online courses,” a statement read.

    The objective of the initiative is to support affected workers in developing knowledge and skills to get employed again.

    These free courses are covering skills like business development, information technology (IT) and data science skills, and they are taught by the world’s leading universities, including the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Duke University, University of Michigan and Yale among others.

    Courses on professional certifications like Google IT support, IBM Data Science, or Date Engineering with Google Cloud are also available to train people for high-demand jobs.

    This step towards public and private sector partnerships is imperative, and various government leaders have made the initiative available to their respective states and countries.

    Earlier, Google and YouTube also launched new resource pages to help teachers and families continue to educate students under quarantine.

    Coursera works with universities and other organisations to offer online courses, specialisations and degrees in a variety of subjects, such as engineering, data science, machine learning, mathematics, business, computer science, digital marketing, humanities, medicine, biology, social sciences and others.

    Coursera was founded in 2012 by Stanford University computer science professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller.

    Princeton, Stanford, the University of Michigan and the University of Pennsylvania were the first ones to offer content on the platform.

    Offerings have since expanded to include specialisations — collections of courses that build skills in a specific subject — as well as degrees and a workforce development product for businesses and government organisations.

  • 21 cops on Sunday, 92 health professionals in two days test positive for coronavirus

    21 cops on Sunday, 92 health professionals in two days test positive for coronavirus

    At least 21 Punjab Police officials on Sunday and 92 health professionals within the last two days have tested positive for the new coronavirus. The sudden spike in the number of health professionals contracting the virus has increased the national tally of infected doctors, nurses, paramedics and support staff to 345.

    As per the details of the infected cops, additional inspector general (AIG) operations has said that over 60 police personnel were tested for the virus, out of which 21 tested positive. One of the cops was deployed at the Central Police Office (CPO) whereas the results of many others are awaited.

    While cops dealing with masses are at a greater risk to contract COVID-19 and incidents of them falling sick have been reported from various parts of the country, health professionals remain on the frontline in the battle against the global pandemic.

    According to a Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination official, the number of health professionals contracting the virus increased to 345 from 253 after new cases were detected among the medical community.

    The official said that doctors are the most-affected among healthcare professionals with over 165 of them now undergoing treatment across the country. As many as 131 members of paramedical and support staff, as well as 41 nurses, have also contracted the virus.

    Apart from the confirmed cases, more than 1,500 doctors, nurses, paramedics and those with whom they came into contact, are in quarantine. Many are waiting for their test results after coming into contact with health professionals who have already tested positive, the official said.

    They added that most of the cases of coronavirus among health professionals had been reported in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab, while a few cases had also been reported in Sindh and the federal capital.

  • Ayeza Khan makes a fashion statement with a face mask

    Ayeza Khan makes a fashion statement with a face mask

    Have to say, we saw this one coming. Given how important a mask is during the ongoing global pandemic, it was only a matter of time before designers started producing well, designer masks.

    And Ayeza Khan, for a Ramzan transmission appearance, decided to accessorize her look with a matching mask and said that every outfit should come with a matching mask now.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B_c1YeIAWef/
    https://www.instagram.com/p/B_c18eLgkUh/
    https://www.instagram.com/p/B_c2ISBATd6/

    What do you think of the trend?

    Following criticism on social media, Ayeza hit back saying that masks are an essential now and that designers were just trying to meet the growing demands.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B_dsijynxrG/

    Here is her complete look, minus the mask.

  • Quiz: Which Iftaari favourite are you?

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