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  • ‘No NRO for corrupt,’ Imran tells Rehmatullil Alameen Conference as Nawaz packs bags

    ‘No NRO for corrupt,’ Imran tells Rehmatullil Alameen Conference as Nawaz packs bags

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said that those who looted the nation deserved no leniency, and no National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) or other relaxations could be given to the corrupt.

    “People have said that I should forgive those who have looted the country, but it is not my money that they have looted,” the premier said as he addressed the International Rehmatullil Alameen Conference in Islamabad while his political nemesis and convicted former PM Nawaz Sharif packed bags for London.

    Imran added that people donated to charities, but did not pay taxes. “If they don’t give taxes, how will the country move forward? Those who plundered the wealth of the nation deserve no right to be spared.”

    The statements came soon after reports claiming that the Imran-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had allowed Nawaz to travel abroad for medical treatment after his health deteriorated in jail.

    The convicted former premier was earlier granted bail during his stay at Lahore’s Services Hospital following a critical decline in his platelet count.

    NAWAZ’S TICKET CANCELLED:

    Nawaz, accompanied by his brother Shehbaz Sharif and family physician Dr Adnan, was scheduled to leave for London on Monday via Qatar Airways’ commercial flight QR-629 from Lahore.

    His ticket, however, was canceled as his name remains on the Exit Control List (ECL) despite Shehbaz’s request seeking its removal for medical treatment abroad.

    Soon after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief’s request, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had opposed the removal of ailing Nawaz’s name from the no-fly list whereas government sources had hinted at possible foreign travel permission to the ex-PM.

    While Imran’s government had also allowed the premier to travel abroad for medical treatment, the premier had reportedly said that Nawaz’s removal from the ECL was subject to NAB’s approval.

    The statements had come despite Federal Interior Minister Brig (r) Ijaz Shah on October 31 saying that Nawaz’s name was not on the list in the first place.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “I checked the record and we did not put him [Nawaz Sharif] on ECL,” he had said while addressing a joint press conference with Special Assistant to the PM on Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan.

    What do you think of the entire episode? Let us know in the comments

  • Blacklisted American woman lies on floor in Islamabad Airport to protest deportation

    An 80-year-old woman, Murray Maude, flew in from Manchester via Pakistan International Airlines to Islamabad on Sunday and was intercepted by the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) immigration officers.

    She was told that she was on the blacklist and had to be deported back to the United States. After being told of her deportation she refused to fly back and started screaming. Lying down on the floor of the airport, she insisted that she be allowed to remain in Pakistan.

    Reported by ARY News

    US Embassy officials were called and they tried to convince Murray to go back but she refused to listen.

    ARY News reports that their sources say she she had visited in Pakistan in 2001 on a six month visa but remained in the country after her visa expired. She lived in Pakistan for 12 years, till 2013, after which she was put on the blacklist by the FIA.

    PIA Spokesperson said that Murray will be sent back on Monday. Until then she’s being taken care of by airport officials.

  • VIDEO: Sunny Deol praises Pakistan, says he received a lot of love

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

    Bollywood actor turned politician Sunny Deol, who was present at the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor expressed happiness at the historical event and hoped it will help in bringing peace between India and Pakistan.

    Deol, upon his arrival back in India, spoke to a local channel and remarked, “It was a great occasion. I received a lot of love.”

    “This is just the beginning. I hope things remain the same and we all live in love. This is the beginning of peace.”

    Read more: Aneel Mussarat didn’t get a selfie with Manmohan but guess who all he did get one with

    When probed further, Deol said, “Log bohat pyaar kartay hain. This is a great initiative. And I hope things will continue like this.”

    He concluded, “What’s the point of fighting, there should be love only.”

    Watch video:

    Previously, while speaking to ANI, Deol had said, “It was a really nice visit. I hope that the corridor further helps in maintaining peace (between India and Pakistan). This was ours beginning towards it.”

    Read more: Celebs praise PM Khan for Kartapur opening

    The BJP MP was a part of the first official ‘jatha’ which attended the inauguration ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor in Pakistan. Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu also attended the event on the invitation of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

    Kartarpur Sahib Corridor links Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan, the final resting place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Indian Punjab’s Gurdaspur district.

  • Nawaz to fly to London today if name taken out from ECL

    Nawaz to fly to London today if name taken out from ECL

    Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has been granted bail on health grounds in the multiple cases against him, is scheduled to fly out to London for treatment Monday morning.

    According to the tickets booked in his name, Sharif will be flying out from Lahore on a commercial flight of Qatar Airways and 09:05 am in the morning. He will be accompanied by his brother Shehbaz Sharif and his personal doctor Dr Adnan Khan.

    Nawaz’s daughter Maryam Nawaz will not be able to accompany her father abroad as she had to surrender her passport in order to secure her release on bail in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.

    The return ticket has been booked for November 27.

    Despite the booking of tickets, media reports suggest that Nawaz’s name is still on the Exit Control List (ECL) and both the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Ministry of Interior couldn’t arrive at a decision regarding the removal of the name of the PML-N supremo from the ECL for one reason or another.

    Chairman PML-N Raja Zafarul Haq speaking to a private media outlet said, “All the arrangements for his [Nawaz Sharif’s] treatment abroad have been finalized, and we are now just waiting for the government to remove his name from the ECL [Exit Control List.”

    However, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi denied these allegations and said that the government had not created any hurdles to prevent Nawaz from travelling, adding that Sharif was allowed to go anywhere for his medical treatment.

    PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb asserted that Sharif’s condition was critical and it was pertinent that he be sent abroad for treatment. She revealed that a high dose of steroids had been administered to Nawaz in preparation for his expected departure on Monday.

    “Doctors have warned against giving him such high doses of steroids repeatedly,” she said. “They cannot risk any further damage in trying to get his platelet levels to rise.”

    Aurangzeb said that the drop in the former premier’s platelet levels continues to worry doctors and that if Nawaz’s health worsens any further, it will be “almost impossible to take him abroad”.

    Nawaz — who was previously hesitant to go abroad for treatment — is reportedly only going on the insistence of his ageing mother. As far as him flying out Monday morning is concerned, we’ll have to wait and watch.

  • The Current Life with Shahid Afridi

    The Current Life with Shahid Afridi

  • Aamir Liaquat proposed to Fiza Ali in front of his first and second wife

    Aamir Liaquat proposed to Fiza Ali in front of his first and second wife

    Actor Fiza Ali has claimed that religious scholar/Ramzan show host/talk show host/PTI member of Parliament, Aamir Liaquat proposed to her in front of his first and second wife on different occasions.

    Actor Fiza Ali is a model and a talk show host

    In a recent podcast with Entertainment Pakistan, Fiza claims that she had called Aamir and Tuba, his second wife, on her program and when they walked on the stage, she asked Tuba to stand next to her husband. Aamir then joked that Fiza could have been the one who was called on stage with him but now it was too late.

    Aamir and his second wife Tuba

    The first time he proposed to her was after she got divorced. He asked her to marry him in front of his first wife, Bushra and proposed in a “very nice manner…he wanted to get married to me in front of the world,” Fiza claims. Fiza was depressed during that time and ignored the proposal and then found out that he got married to Tuba.

    Aamir and his first wife Bushra

    When he asked her again in front of Tuba, he also “joked about it again and said it’s not too late to get married…Tuba has no problem with it”.

  • Moocs doesn’t have anything new to offer

    Moocs doesn’t have anything new to offer

    Located behind Khaadi on MM Alam Road, Moocs is the latest addition to the Lahore food scene but not exactly a promising one, given that there was only one other party along with me, that too on a Saturday night.

    Rewind a few weeks and Moocs was all over our Instagram after it had a grand opening with Lahore’s socialites in attendance. A couple of weeks later, the hype seemed to have completely died down.

    Nonetheless given how much I like to try out new places, I decided to check out Moocs. After all, the name was kinda catchy.

    Read more: NOI-Stir Fry Kitchen – The takeout Lahoris have been waiting for

    Moocs has a standard menu: pizza, burgers, Chicken Parmesan, Polo Chicken, Stuffed Chicken, etc – you know pretty much the same things you’ve tried a million times before.

    We decided to start our dinner with Pizza Fries from their ‘Starters Menu.’ The fries came in a skillet topped with cheese, sauce and jalapenos. The overall taste of the dish was pretty decent while the fries themselves were nice and crispy. But to be very honest, I’ve had better. Like for example, have you tried the Alfredo Fries at Urban Kitchen? Now those are divine.

    From the main course, we tried their Chef’s Special Stuffed Chicken and Muslo De Pavo Burger. Both the items were very typical. The Chef’s Special Stuffed Chicken was not all that special – the flavour wasn’t strong enough and fettuccini pasta was on the bland side. The sauce, meanwhile, was tasty but given the extravagant price, I’m not sure if it was worth it.

    Meanwhile, the Muslo De Pavo Burger tasted just like Jalal Son’s Crispy Chicken Burger but at double the price. Plus the bun wasn’t good because it was so crumbly. The thigh fillet had a thick layer of batter which though made it very crunchy, made it impossible to taste the chicken within.

    The dessert was probably the best thing we ate that night. We ordered their Cookie Pudding on our waiter’s recommendation and it was differently delicious. Loved the mix of pudding, cookie dough and ice-cream.

    While the food was somewhat passable, and ambiance on the cosy side (great for winters) the bill certainly wasn’t. For one starter, two main dishes and one dessert, our total bill amounted to a little more than Rs 5000/- which is definitely a hefty amount to pay, especially in such trying financial times.

    Read more: DOCK 27 has a secret saviour

    My overall experience at Moocs was average so I don’t think I’ll be venturing there again.

    DISCLAIMER: The Current’s food reviews are unpaid and are not sponsored.

  • Celebs praise PM Khan for Kartapur opening

    Celebs praise PM Khan for Kartapur opening

    It was a historic day for Pakistan, India and their relations as the world witnessed the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor – an initiative that will allow 5,000 Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit the second holiest place for their community on a daily basis without a visa.

    The opening ceremony was performed on both sides of the border by Prime Minister Imran Khan on the Pakistan side and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Indian side.

    Like the rest of the country, Pakistani celebs including Mehwish Hayat, Wasim Akram, Mahira Khan and Humayun Saeed, took to social media to express their joy on this ‘corridor of peace’ and praised PM Khan and his government for taking this step and seeing this through.

    PM Khan’s cricket buddies Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar applauded him for this efforts.

    Read more: Aneel Mussarat didn’t get a selfie with Manmohan but guess who all he did get one with

    Armeena Khan and Mehwish also took this moment to compare the Kartarpur Corridor Project to the Ayodha Judgement that was announced earlier in the day.

    https://twitter.com/ArmeenaRK/status/1193062120067420160?s=20
  • Is ‘Alif’ trending for the right reasons?

    Is ‘Alif’ trending for the right reasons?

    Every Saturday night, the hashtag Alif – a nod to Hamza Ali Abbasi and Sajal Aly’s drama – begins to trend on Twitter, intriguing everyone. But that probably has more to do with Hamza Ali Abbasi’s star power on Twitter because if you look at the views and compare them to the views of rival drama, Meray Paas Tum Ho, you get a completely different picture.

    While Alif in its essence is thought-provoking, layered and intense, the pace of the drama is killing interest and ultimately making it tiresome to watch.

    Read More: Meray Pass Tum Ho EP 13: Predictable or more to it?

    The sixth episode shows Momin get rid of his ladylove Neha, played by Sadaf Kanwal after she continuously pushes him to cast her ‘friend’ in his next film. The breakup isn’t very pleasant and the two vow to get their revenge from each other. While I do commend Sadaf for doing an above-average job as far as her acting is concerned, her performance doesn’t match that of Hamza, who is giving this character all of him. Sadaf’s dialogue delivery is monotonous and sounds as if uss nay ratta maara hai – it is completely devoid of emotion.

    Other than that, we are given another flashback to Momin’s childhood, when someone mentions Husn-e-Jahaan. To be very frank, I’m sick of watching these flashbacks because all Kubra does in them is cry, while the child Momin is borderline annoying.

    On the other hand, Momina (Sajal Aly) is struggling with the death of her brother Jahangir. The entire family is broken after his death and the emotions shown by the actors are brilliantly raw and invoke sympathy in you.

    While the rest of the episode was slow, it picked up in the last ten minutes with the interactions between Momin and Neha and Momina and her master (Saifee Hassan).

    Oh and one thing: a message for the producers/director – that cut jump in one of the scenes was abrupt and highlighted lazy production. Not cool guys, we expect better.

    Read More: ‘Alif’ is slow-paced but intense

    The teaser for the next episode is catchy with the return of a previous character and Momin heading to Turkey to visit his grandfather.

    Everyone on Twitter keeps praising Alif for its “great acting, storyline and powerful dialogues.” I do agree with the great acting and [somewhat] powerful dialogues bit, but I’m still waiting for a proper storyline to develop and become more engaging. Six episodes should be more than enough to get the ball rolling. No?

  • Aneel Mussarat didn’t get a selfie with Manmohan but guess who all he did get one with

    Aneel Mussarat didn’t get a selfie with Manmohan but guess who all he did get one with

    One of PM Khan’s best friends, UK millionaire Aneel Mussarat is incredibly fond of taking selfies – whether the person with him knows or not. Aneel was also present at the Kartarpur Inauguration and in a widely circulated video of Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Aneel is seen trying to take a selfie with Manmohan and is pushed aside by Manmohan’s guards.

    WATCH: Imran’s aide ridiculed by Manmohan’s guards

    If Aneel couldn’t get Manmohan he did find others.

    CM Punjab Usman Buzdar is all smiles (as smiley as he can get) for a picture with Aneel.

    Doesn’t qualify as a selfie but he got a money shot

    The picture with Indian Actor Sunny Deol isn’t a selfie but at least he got one big shot Indian in his stash of selfies on this trip

    The Bus Selfie with the PM and the foreign minister and is that Navjot Sidhu behind Imran Khan?

    Standing on the bus

    A smiling foreign minister on the side and the PM on the left, Aneel covered all the stars in this trip.