Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting, Firdous Ashiq Awan, may not be an official minister but her income is close to one’s.
According to Geo News, details of Firdous’ salary and benefits were disclosed in the parliament on Friday, after questions were raised about it.
The cabinet division revealed that Firdous receives a monthly salary of Rs406,000 along with an additional Rs93,700 as she has not been allotted a house from the government. This means that her total monthly income amounts to Rs499,700. Almost five lakh rupees!
Meanwhile, federal ministers and advisers are paid a monthly salary of Rs448,000. Those who are not allotted a house by the government are provided with an extra Rs100,003 per month.
Ministers and ministers of state are also provided cars and security guards for their use or for the use of their families.
The cabinet division also shared that Firdous is not the in-charge of the ministry of information and broadcasting but is appointed in accordance with the status of a minister of state.
Seven episodes later, in, we’re still waiting for Alif to pick up. The drama boasts a brilliant cast, direction and story but because of its slow pace, it is unable to captivate the audiences the way it should have given its unique storyline.
One of the lead characters of the show, played by Ahsan Khan, has finally made an appearance. But that too lasted for less than ten seconds. Till now the only thing we know about his character is that he is Momin’s (Hamza Ali Abbasi) father and left him and his mother for reasons unknown.
The seventh episode mostly explored the relationship between Momin and his grandfather. Their relationship has been wonderfully portrayed and Manzar Sehbai as Abdul Aalaa has given a phenomenal performance.
Meanwhile, Neha (Sadaf Kanwal) is out to get her revenge from Momin and is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that.
Momina is still coping with the death of her brother. However, she fulfils her commitements and returns to work even though her mother told her that she doesn’t really need to. Her former love interest Faisal (Osman Khalid Butt) has also returned from America and there is friction between the two characters. As always, Sajal’s expressions are on point – is there any character she can’t do flawlessly?
Towards the end of the episode, we’re shown that the drama is heading towards a twist. Hoping that this twist finally leads to Momin and Momina meeting again – the wait is getting a bit too long now. I probably sound like a broken record by now but I hope the drama starts moving a little faster. The pace kinda kills the buzz.
An air traffic controller from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in Pakistan on Thursday saved a plane flying from the Jaipur, India to Muscat in Oman by guiding it during an emergency.
According to the details, the air plane, carrying 150 passengers, was flying over the Karachi region when it was caught in the middle of a weather pattern with lots of lightning that could have resulted in a major tragedy.
Following the lightning strikes, the plane dropped down from
an altitude of 36,000 feet to 34,000 feet almost immediately and the pilot
initiated emergency protocol and broadcast ‘Mayday’ to nearby stations.
The air traffic controller from Pakistan responded to the
call of the captain of the Indian plane and directed it through the dense air
traffic in the vicinity for the remainder of the journey in Pakistani airspace.
Sources in the aviation authority have said that the
aircraft had encountered abnormal weather conditions near the Chor area of the
southern province of Sindh, Pakistan.
It is pertinent to mention that at least 18 people were
killed earlier in freak accidents as lightning struck various parts of Sindh.
Islamabad has, for more than a month, restricted access of Pakistani airspace to Indian planes as its protest to the curfew in held Kashmir. Recent requests by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to travel over Pakistani airspace have been rejected twice.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has decided to take a mini-break for the first time since he assumed office.
According to reports, the PM has suspended his official and party engagements for two days, (Saturday and Sunday) and will be spending the weekend with his family members at his Bani Gala residence in Islamabad.
The PM will take a break from his work and no government official or party members will meet the premier, neither will he chair any meeting this weekend. PM Imran often chairs Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) meetings at his Bani Gala residence on the weekends as well as receives the party leaders and government officials there.
Considering that PM Imran is taking the weekend off, here are five things The Current recommends he does to make the most of his time off:
Sleep – Is a weekend off really a weekend off unless you sleep at least 16 hours?
Skype with his sons who are in London
Catch up on Pakistani dramas – He must binge-watch Meray Paas Tum Ho and Alif, which starres his fav actor Hamza Ali Abbasi. After all they are creating quite a stir.
Eat – We’ve heard that the PM is quite fond of haleem. The cooks in Banigala should get going on making his fav dish.
Reading – What better way to spend the weekend morning soaking up the winter sun and reading That Will Never Work by Marc Randolph.
Just a month after Prince William and Kate Middleton’s tour of Pakistan, the country is all set for another royal visit.
Queen Máxima of the Netherlands will be coming to Pakistan on November 25 for a three-day visit as the special advocate to the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development.
According to a statement issued by the Pakistan Embassy of the Netherlands, the Dutch royal will discuss the progress of financial services to improve the economic situation of Pakistan.
During her visit, the queen will hold talks with international development partners, representatives of the fintech sector, State Bank Governor Reza Baqir, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and NADRA Chairman Usman Mubin.
The Dutch queen is also expected to meet President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Queen Máxima will also be present at the launch of the Micropayments Gateway, a central bank initiative to reduce the cost of small payments in order to stimulate digital payments, in particular for people in poverty situations.
In Lahore, Queen Máxima will visit a number of projects that focus on digital financial services that, among other things, contribute to the development of entrepreneurs.
“Since 2009, Queen Máxima, as a UN special advocate, has been committed to making financial services accessible to all, including low-income groups and small and medium-sized businesses, and thus increasing their chances of economic and social development,” the statement said.
Who is Queen Máxima of the Netherlands?
Queen Maxima of the Netherlands is the wife of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands. An Argentinian born, the Queen attained a degree in Economics from the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina followed by a master’s degree in the US. She has worked in the finance industry for over a decade including her position as the vice president of institutional sales in Latin America for HSBC and Deutsche Bank’s Brussels branch.
King Willem-Alexander & Queen Maxima with Prince Charles, Prince William and Kate Middleton at the Royal Ascot
On April 30, 2013, Maxima became the first queen consort of the Netherlands since Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont in the late 1800s.
According to The Sun, Maxima met Willem-Alexander during a spring fair in Spain in April 1999. In later interviews, the pair explained that at first the prince simply introduced himself as Alexander, so she didn’t know he was a prince until later.
After the fair, they agreed to meet again in New York where Maxima was working, which is when their relationship began. The couple tied the knot in February 2002 in a civil ceremony.
The couple have three daughters. The Queen is well-known for her fashion statements.
The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed all educational boards of Sindh to design a mechanism to control cheating during examinations.
As perreports, a single bench comprising Justice Salahuddin Panhwar directed the boards to take into account the suggestions made by experts while hearing the case pertaining to cheating during examinations.
Institute of Business
Administration’s (IBA) registrar said that they have a standard mechanism for
making the question paper for exams in Sindh, suggesting that the papers should
be audited and monitored by a third party while checking and marking should be
made foolproof by surveillance through CCTV cameras.
While experts have advised that exam
centres should be monitored through CCTV cameras and Rangers officials should
also be placed there.
Justice Panhwar while giving his
remarks said, “It is the fundamental right of every citizen to gain quality
education under Article 25 of the constitution. It has become difficult to survive
without higher education”.
The court has now summoned the
chairpersons of the educational boards, Sindh Text Book Board chairperson, the
managing director of the Sindh education foundation and the boards and
universities secretary in a personal capacity, seeking a report from the
parties and other relevant institutions by December 11.
Are you an online shopping addict? Well, it has now been recognised as a mental health condition. Psychotherapists say it is an actual mental disorder, called the ‘Buying-Shopping Disorder’ (BSD).
“It really is time to recognise BSD as separate mental health condition and to accumulate further knowledge about BSD on the Internet,” says Dr Astrid Müller, a psychotherapist at Hannover Medical School in Germany. Her colleagues say the condition had gone unrecognised for too long.
In a study they looked at evidence from 122 patients seeking help for their online shopping addictions and found they had higher than usual rates of depression and anxiety. They argue the rise of online stores, apps and home delivery have added an entirely new dimension to the concept of a shopaholic. The research was published in the journal Comprehensive Psychiatry.
The internet has made shopping more available, anonymous, accessible and affordable. You can purchase things through Facebook or Instagram pages or websites. Cash on Delivery (CoD) option or online bank deposits has also made online shopping quite easy without stepping out of the comfort of your house.
Currently, BSD is not classified as a disorder on its own but is part of a category named ‘other specified impulse control disorder’. Online shopping can cause a loop of extreme cravings for buying things and satisfaction when spending money. This can then lead to a breakdown in self-control, ‘extreme distress’, other psychiatric problems, relationship difficulties and physical clutter and debt.
Are you addicted to shopping? Buying-Shopping Disorder (BSD) often happens alongside other mood, anxiety or eating disorders. It often appears in the late teens or early 20s, and usually gets worse over time.
Symptoms may include:
Accumulating debt
Hiding purchases from loved ones
Tensions or breakdowns in relationships between friends and family
Compensating for negative feelings by buying things
The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) leader Rashid Mehmood Soomro has claimed that Israel has said that JUI-F’s Azadi March has ruined their 40 years investment in Pakistan.
Rashid Somroo made these claims in a talk show with journalist Hamid Mir when the Azadi March protest was still active, the video of which has now gone viral over the internet.
JUI-F leader said, “The Israeli newspapers have reported this that Azadi March has managed to ruin their 40 years investment in Pakistan”, adding that the protest also suppressed the talks about Pakistan accepting Israel as a state.
Hamir Mir on this claim made by Rashid remarked that no government official had made any statement regarding the acceptance of Israel.
To which JUI-F leader claimed that “top government officials were engaged in backdoor talks with Israel and were ready to accept it, but JUI-F successfully managed to stop these talks”.
Watch Video:
The protests, led by JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, began with the ‘Azadi March’ on October 27 from Karachi. Thousands of supporters reached Islamabad on October 31, holding a two-week sit-in on the city’s main highway.
On November 13, Fazl ordered his supporters to disperse across the country to block roads, in what he termed as ‘Plan B’ to topple Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan.
On Thursday protesters blocked the Grand Trunk Road between Islamabad and Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, causing lengthy delays. Similar disruptions were reported in Jacobabad — a city in Sindh linking the province with Balochistan and Punjab.
Shoaib Mansoor’s Verna didn’t do too well at the box office, but the movie is an important step towards discussing issues that plague our society. Pakistan’s superstar Mahira Khan takes the lead in the film, Hamza Ali Abbasi’s wife and a great actor in her own right, Naimal Khawar is also in the film, as well as Haroon Shahid and Zarrar Khan.
Mahira Khan plays a rape survivor
The film revolves around a couple Aami (Haroon) and Sara (Mahira) and how their lives change after Sara is raped by a governor’s son (Zarrar Khan). After she is raped, she vows to fight for justice.
Aami and Sara are a happy couple before their lives are ruined
The film was directed by Shoaib Mansoor, who had two super hits before, Khuda Kay Liye and Bol but Verna didn’t receive a similar response. Criticism revolved around a disjointed script, bad audio and weak storytelling.
The film was made in 2017 but will air tonight, Saturday November 16th, on HUM T.V. at 9:10PM.
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said that he holds no grudge against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and that the ailing former premier’s health is more important than politics.
According to The Express Tribune, presiding over a meeting of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) core committee on Friday, PM Imran said his government had facilitated the Sharif family patriarch at every forum on humanitarian grounds and had also come up with a legal option to strike his name off the Exit Control List (ECL).
The statement came a day after PML-N chief Shehbaz Sharif warned that he would hold Imran responsible if anything happened to his brother as his administration was “dilly-dallying on the removal of Nawaz’s name from the no-fly list”.
The premier has now said the government had no issues if the Sharif family opted to approach the court instead of furnishing an indemnity bond for the removal of Nawaz’s name from the ECL. However, he regretted that the Sharif family was “playing politics” on the 69-year-old politician’s health.
He noted that Nawaz’s health was deteriorating and his family’s first priority should be to take him abroad for treatment instead of wrangling over the issue of the indemnity bond.
Participants of the PTI’s core committee meeting also decided to take legal action against Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman for criticising state institutions during his 14-day-long sit-in in the federal capital.
