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  • Don’t compare me with Ahmed Shehzad: Umar Akmal

    Don’t compare me with Ahmed Shehzad: Umar Akmal

    Pakistan’s middle-order batsman Umar Akmal has said that it was not right to compare him with opener Ahmed Shehzad and asked to be assessed in an individual capacity, Cricket Pakistan reported.

    According to the details, Umar in a press conference at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Wednesday said, “I am usually associated and compared with Ahmed Shehzad, which is not right. We have different goals and identities”.

    He added that we have different roles and should be criticised or praised in our individual capacities.

    The 29-year-old batsman accepted the fact that his performance against Sri Lanka was below the required standard and vowed to make a comeback in the side.

    “It is not easy to make a comeback whatever team you play for. There is always pressure to solidify your place in the side. I can only say that I was unlucky to get out on the first ball against Sri Lanka. I could not perform well. I am working harder and I believe that the chief selector Misbahul Haq will give me another chance and I will not disappoint,” Umar said.

    Akmal praised the media for its role in the return of international cricket in Pakistan and expressed hope in the Pakistan Test side to deliver a good performance against Australia in their upcoming Test series Down Under.

  • Toxic smog: Punjab Govt bans outdoor activities in schools

    Toxic smog: Punjab Govt bans outdoor activities in schools

    With hazardous and toxic smog engulfing major cities of Punjab, the Government of Punjab has placed a ban on all outdoor activities in all public and private schools across the province.

    According to a notification issued by the provincial government “no outdoor sports and other activities [will take place] in schools up till December 20, due to smog.”

    The notification further said that all the students should wear air filter masks during school hours. Schools were also directed to create awareness among the students about air quality, prevention of smog and impact of the environment on the health of human beings.

    Read more: School children file petition in Lahore High Court against toxic smog

    Punjab Minister for School Education Dr Murad Raas also shared the notification on Twitter.

    Across the borders, in Delhi and Tehran, schools have been closed due to the worsening air quality.

    Smog reached very unhealthy levels in Lahore on Wednesday, making life difficult for the citizens of the city. In the morning, the Air Quality Index was recorded at 529 which is hazardous.

    According to the Met department website, different areas of the city had different AQIs. It AQI was 506 at the US Consulate, 498 in Gulberg, 491 at Punjab Assembly, 489 at Liberty Market, 453 at Upper Mall, 384 in Allama Iqbal Town’s Zeenat Block and 395 at Sundar Industrial Estate.

    The toxic smog is causing eye and throat irritation, skin rashes, besides generating or aggravating pulmonary diseases.

    Read more: Tips to beat the toxic smog this winter

    The Punjab environment department says the practice of paddy stubble burning, mainly by the Indian Punjab farmers, is the biggest reason behind the formation of smog during October and November.

    However, experts say that fuel emissions from vehicles on city roads, untreated emissions by industries and dirt also contribute to the increasing smog. That coupled with a fall in the temperature and wind speed at this time of the year worsens the overall situation.

  • FBR uncovers Rs100 billion in tax fraud within last four months of PTI govt

    FBR uncovers Rs100 billion in tax fraud within last four months of PTI govt

    Karachi’s Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU) — the biggest revenue collecting arm of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) — has unearthed Rs100 billion in tax evasion from July to October of the current fiscal year, The News International reported.

    According to the details, the senior officials of LTU Karachi have revealed that in the ongoing audit and examination, the unit detected Rs100 billion as tax avoidance/evasion by around 12 companies.

    Inland Revenue commissioners Zulfiqar Memon and Girdhari Mal announced these evasions while sharing information about the performance of the unit on the instructions of the FBR Chairman Shabbar Zaidi.

    The names of the tax-evading companies were, however, not disclosed.

    Reports quoted Girdhari as saying that one of the cases involved tax concealment of a whopping Rs23 billion and notices had been issued to the companies for recovering the taxes.

    “LTU posted a 16% growth in revenue collection during the first four months of (July – October) 2019-20,” he said and attributed the growth to reforms and initiatives taken by the government.

    LTU Karachi released Rs21 billion as sales tax refunds during the period under review after the change in sales tax regime effective July 1, 2019, stated the report.

    Meanwhile, Memon said that the law of information sharing from banks to tax authorities was introduced in 2013, however, the law had been given a stay order by the courts.

    He added that FBR was unable to receive information with the exception of specific/identified cases from banks. Recently a court has advised the bureau and Pakistan Banks’ Association to resolve the issue.

    LTU Karachi has also identified around 100,000 individuals who have commercial gas connections, but don’t have mandatory sales tax registration.

  • ‘Babar Azam is Jinnah’s grandson’ among other statements attributed to JUI-F leader

    Ever since Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) leader Mufti Kifayatullah has made a statement about Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s former wife, Jemima Goldsmith; that ‘Wiki of Wikileaks’ is her cousin, social media is flooded with funny quotes.

    Dr Farhan Virk, a social worker from Pakistan Tehreeke Insaf (PTI) had recently started a Twitter trend called “KifayatQuote” after Wiki-Jamima blunder and asked its followers to come up with funny quotes that they can attribute to JUI-F leader.

    Soon after Dr Farhan began the trend by sharing a meme on his Twitter handle which said, “Kartarpur is the cousin of Faryal Talpur” and wrote, “Guys, Grab your keyboards and start trending KifayatQuotes as it is now time to pay a tribute to this great legend of social media and Azadi March”.

    Since then the Twitter users across Pakistan are sharing funny quotes and attributing all of them to Mufti Kifayat.

    One of the users wrote that Pakistan Cricket team’s skipper and batsman Babar Azam is the grandson of Quaide Azam.

    https://twitter.com/Shaziaa24/status/1193963917141262336

    Another wrote that “Babar Azam and PM Imran are cousins”.

    https://twitter.com/saadiraja183/status/1193963531957362691?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1193963531957362691&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Ftwitter.com%252Fsaadiraja183%252Fstatus%252F1193963531957362691%26widget%3DTweet

    While the rest of the users are making all kinds of random hilarious quotes and they are funny.

    https://twitter.com/umama86/status/1193965849750777856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1193965849750777856&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Ftwitter.com%252Fumama86%252Fstatus%252F1193965849750777856%26widget%3DTweet
    https://twitter.com/qijalali/status/1193963853782102017
    https://twitter.com/Arman2k3/status/1193963690703433729
  • Ahad Raza Mir praises Kartarpur driver for being ‘a real hero’

    Ahad Raza Mir praises Kartarpur driver for being ‘a real hero’

    The heartwarming exchange between Indian journalist Ravinder Singh Robin and Saddam Hussain, the driver escorting the worshippers going to Kartarpur has caught the attention of heartthrob Ahad Raza Mir who lauded Hussain for being a real hero.

    Sharing the friendly video on his Instagram, Ahad wrote, “This is what every Pakistani feels and stands for: compassion, humanity and peace.”

    “Saddam Hassan really sums up the fact that Pakistan welcomes everyone. You are a real hero!” he added.

    The actor then requested his fans and followers to help him connect to the driver so he can “meet and thank him for being such a good ambassador of our country.”

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B4y9sROpERn/?utm_source=ig_embed

    Read more: Sunny Deol praises Pakistan, says he received a lot of love

    The video which has been shared by Ravinder Singh himself shows him asking Hussain what he feels about the gesture by the Pakistani government for Sikhs across the border.

    “I don’t think you are as happy as me,” Hussain said smiling. “The way my eyes have welled up with tears. I am very happy.”

    He continued, “Seeing you all, I have that feeling that one has when one goes for Hajj. This is the same experience for you.”

    The video of this exchange went viral on social media and won everyone’s hearts. In case you missed it, watch it here:

    Read more: Celebs praise PM Khan for Kartapur opening

    Ahad had previously also lauded the Pakistani government for taking this initiative and praised Prime Minister Imran Khan for being “a true leader.”

  • Koyi Shak, asks D.G. ISPR after report uncovers fake media outlets run by India

    EU Disinfo Lab, an independent non-governmental organization, has found that there are at least 265 “coordinated fake local media outlets” that were “designed to influence the EU (European Union) and the UN (United Nations) by repeatedly criticising Pakistan”.

    The report shows how the NGO investigated and found that Indian stakeholders are deliberately trying to influence countries against Pakistan by getting stories posted on sites like eptoday.com, which is “the website of a self-proclaimed magazine for the European Parliament in Brussels”. After investigating the site and the increasing anti Pakistan articles and op-eds, the Disinfo Lab found a pattern that matched 265 fake local media outlets, including timesofgeneva.com, “an online “newspaper” that is “approaching 35 years in business”. Strangely enough, Times of Geneva publishes the same type of content as EP Today and produces videos covering events and demonstrations criticising Pakistan’s role in the Kashmir conflict.”

    After the report was published, D.G. ISPR tweeted that koyi shak (any doubt), hinting that there was zero doubt that India is trying to influence the world against Pakistan by publishing fake news.

    RELATED: DG ISPR defends Neelum Muneer’s item song in ‘Kaaf Kangana’

    Other findings from the report include that most of the fake outlets are named after an outdated newspaper or are fake versions of real media outlets. They also republish content from agencies and have little original content. It also showed that the coverage was mostly of the same Indian-related demonstrations and events and also republications of the same anti-Pakistan content.

  • What’s so special about Disney Plus?

    What’s so special about Disney Plus?

    Two weeks after Apple rolled out its own streaming service Apple TV+, Disney launched its own streaming service Disney Plus.

    While Netflix, Amazon Prime and Apple Plus are spending money on original content featuring big celebs, Disney Plus offers you something different: ALL Disney content. From Disney animated classics to Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars and even 20th Century Fox content, everything under the Disney banner and more is included in Disney Plus.

    Disney Plus released a 3-hour trailer last month to showcase all its programs.

    By comparison, Apple had a relatively subdued launch earlier this month. At $6.99 per month, Disney Plus debuted with 10 original movies, specials and series. It is also expected to release more than 45 original programmes within a year of its launch. 

    A recent study said that 40 percent of consumers would sign up for Disney Plus just because the content reminded them of their childhood.

    In fact, on the first day of its launch, Disney Plus was hit by technical issues. There were many reports on social media platforms about problems accessing the service. Many users shared screenshots of error messages.

    Disney
    Plus launched in the US, Canada and the Netherlands on Tuesday. Disney Plus
    will arrive in Australia and New Zealand on November 19.

    Globally,
    Disney plans a progressive rollout worldwide over the next two years. The
    company provided a generalised timeline for when it will expand the service to
    the world’s major regions.

    Disney
    Plus is slated to roll out in:

    • Eastern Europe over the course of a year starting as early as October 2020.
    • Latin America over the course of three months starting as early as October 2020.
    • Asia Pacific over the course of two years starting anytime.

    Pakistan comes in the Asia Pacific region which means we’ll have to wait a little longer than others.

  • Karachi among ‘worst cities for drivers’

    Karachi among ‘worst cities for drivers’

    Not that we didn’t know that already, but a new report has confirmed that Karachi is one of the worst cities to drive in.

    According to a French-based survey, which ranked 100 global cities to determine which were the best, and worst, destinations for drivers, Karachi was at number five. Mumbai topped the list while Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia came second and Kolkata, India third.

    On the other hand, Calgary, Canada was the best city in the world for driving followed by Dubai (2) and Ottawa (3).

    Read more: Karachi declared world’s 57th safest city

    Meanwhile, the same study ranked Karachi number three on the list of cities with the most incidents of road rage. Road rage is defined as aggressive or angry behaviour exhibited by a driver of a road vehicle. Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia topped the list while Moscow, Russia came second.

    Read more: Karachi second in chars consumption worldwide

    The study took three factors into consideration – infrastructure, safety and costs – when drawing up comparisons and deciding which city made a good location to drive.

    To determine a city’s infrastructure, a number of factors were examined, such as the number of cars per capita, traffic congestion, road and public transport quality, among others. Air quality levels were also investigated in order to determine the city’s commitment to providing fresh air and good visibility for its drivers and citizens alike.

    The costs associated with driving in each city were also evaluated, including not only the price of combustibles and annual road tax paid in each location but also the purchase parity of each country to determine how affordable it was to drive in that particular city.

  • WhatsApp introduces new privacy controls for users

    WhatsApp introduces new privacy controls for users

    WhatsApp has introduced a new privacy setting and invite system that will help users to decide who can add them to groups, Dawn reported.

    According to the details, the tech giant Facebook in a statement said, “WhatsApp groups continue to connect family, friends, coworkers, classmates and more. As people turn to groups for important conversations, users have asked for more control over their experience. Today, we’re introducing a new privacy setting and invite system to help you decide who can add you to groups”.

    With the new control features, users will have more control over the group messages they receive. The press release also said that these new privacy settings will begin rolling out to some users starting today and will be available worldwide in the coming days to those using the latest version of WhatsApp”.

    How to enable new settings:

    To enable them,

    • Go to settings in the app.
    • Tap account > privacy > groups
    • Select one of three options: ‘everyone’, ‘my contacts’, or ‘my contacts except’.

    “The users will have three days to accept the invite before it expires,” the statement said.

    Media Matters for Democracy Director Sadaf Khan welcomed the decision, saying: “Developing new ways to increase consumers’ control is a positive step.”

    She also expressed the hope that WhatsApp will continue to empower consumers with tools that help them define their own information experience in “an active and informed manner”.

  • Shaikh Rasheed wanted Nawaz’s name off the no fly list

    Shaikh Rasheed wanted Nawaz’s name off the no fly list

    Even though Nawaz Sharif has rejected the conditional leave offer made by the government, prior to the offer and during a federal cabinet meeting on Tuesday, many ministers were against letting Nawaz go.

    RELATED: Govt allows Nawaz to travel abroad, for four weeks only

    The meeting was headed by Prime Minister Khan and lasted for four hours. According to GEO News, several ministers opposed letting Nawaz leave the country. They included Fawad Chaudhry and Faisal Vawda, who have publicly spoken against the move as well. They were joined by Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs Ali Amin Gandapur and Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari.

    But some ministers said that Nawaz’s name should be pulled off the no fly list, including Railways Minister Shaikh Rasheed.

    In an interview to ARY News Shaikh Rasheed said that Nawaz should take the deal and leave the country and if he doesn’t, he is just playing politics.

    Shaikh Rasheed’s comments on ARY News