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  • Yasir Hussain’s Controversies

    Yasir Hussain’s Controversies

  • Spinning the #BottleCapChallenge

    Spinning the #BottleCapChallenge

    The #BottleCapChallenge has taken over the internet by storm. Celebrities across the world are taking the challenge hence making the trend viral. But what exactly is the #BottleCapChallenge?

    Though the exact origin of the challenge is not known, The New York Times reports that videos of the challenge first circulated widely in mixed martial arts circles and the trend may have been started with Farabi Davletchin, a Kazakh Taekwondo champion. But the challenge gained momentum after Jason Statham, the action-movie star known for his martial arts prowess, posted a video of himself kicking a bottle. His 23-second Instagram post has garnered more than 17.3 million views.

    The challenge involves unscrewing the cap of a bottle with a roundhouse kick without knocking the bottle over. The trick is to loosen the cap beforehand and have someone off-camera hold the bottle steady.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BzYT3WpBDfe/

    The challenge came into the spotlight in Pakistan after Mehwish Hayat posted a video of herself spinning the bottle cap with utmost precision.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BzgE9CfFZD4/

    Here are other celebrity challenges we enjoyed.

    Akshay Kumar

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

    Tiger Shroff

    https://www.instagram.com/p/Bze3q9InaIN/?utm_source=ig_embed

    Ryan Reynolds

    Trust Ryan to do something like this.

    https://twitter.com/VancityReynolds/status/1146480180946452480

    Sidharth Malhotra

    Ellie Goulding

    Who else feels this chappal?

  • Govt officials ditch Asad Umar at NA finance body meeting

    Govt officials ditch Asad Umar at NA finance body meeting

    Government officials have ditched former finance minister Asad Umar at a session of the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs, a private media outlet reported.

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA was appointed chairman of the NA finance body after he was sacked by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan as the country’s finance minister earlier this year.

    According to reports, Umar on Thursday expressed displeasure over the absence of government officials during a meeting of the parliamentary committee convened by him.

    The committee, in protest, has postponed its approval for the passage of government bills, including the Foreign Exchange Regulation Amendment Bill 2019, Anti-Money Laundering Amendment Bill 2019 and Asset Declaration Ordinance 2019.

    “We are postponing the passage of all government bills,” Umar was quoted as saying. “If the government is not serious about these bills, then they should at least take us [committee members] seriously,” he said.

  • Organised groups controlling social media in Pakistan: report

    Organised groups controlling social media in Pakistan: report

    A hashtag calling for the arrest of journalists briefly became the top Twitter trend in Pakistan on Thursday, deepening concern over a shrinking space for dissent in the country.

    The hashtag #ArrestAntiPakjournalists had dropped to second place by evening, but not before it had been used or forwarded more than 28,000 times.

    Many users accompanied it with a composite photograph of prominent journalists and TV anchors, some of whom regularly criticise the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of Prime Minister Imran Khan and the powerful military establishment.

    “These are the people who are responsible for chaos, anarchy, manipulation. They are the real enemy of the states,” said one tweet.

    “Hang them all #ArrestAntiPakJournalists,” said another.

    Last year, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a report that the military has “quietly, but effectively, set restrictions on reporting”, although it denies doing so.

    Shahzad Ahmed, of digital rights group Bytes for All, said the hashtag appeared to have been “planted” by pro-PTI accounts and was not “genuine public opinion”.

    “There are organised groups who start such trends… which is a very dangerous phenomenon in our country, regarding freedom of expression and personal freedom,” he told AFP.

    “Responsible use of social media is now becoming impossible in our country. Now we use social media, only to abuse others and to promote fake news and to disrespect each other, which is completely wrong.”

    An image of Hamid Mir, one of Pakistan’s most high-profile TV anchors, was prominent among the photographs of journalists being shared.

    Mir made international headlines in 2014 after surviving multiple gunshot wounds in an attack he blamed on Pakistan’s top spy organisation.

    Two days ago he launched a Twitter tirade against increasing censorship after his interview with former president Asif Ali Zardari, now an opposition leader, was abruptly taken off the air shortly after it began.

    “We are not living in a free country,” he wrote.

  • Govt goes after parents paying Rs200,000 or more as kids’ annual school fee

    Govt goes after parents paying Rs200,000 or more as kids’ annual school fee

    Continuing to desperately look for potential taxpayers, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has dispatched letters to parents paying Rs200,000 or more as their children’s annual school fee, The Express Tribune reported.

    Aggressively digging the records of citizens who, at some stage, have come under prominent sections of the Income Tax Ordinance, the FBR has asked the parents to declare their hidden assets and become tax return filers.

    “Data available with the FBR reveals that advance tax under Section 2361 of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 has been collected from you and deposited in the government treasury, meaning thereby that you are paying an annual fee exceeding Rs200,000 per child (student) to educational institutions,” said the letter sent by the FBR’s Corporate Regional Tax Office (RTO) in Lahore.

    According to Section 2361, every educational institution is required to collect advance income tax at the rate of 5% on the fee paid. The person responsible for preparing monthly, bimonthly or quarterly fee vouchers shall also charge withholding tax in case the fee exceeds Rs200,000 annually.

    “Please note that the FBR intends to register all those persons who are earning taxable income and are liable to file returns under the Income Tax Ordinance 2001, but have failed to do so,” it stated, adding the registration drive also included the persons who were liable to be registered under the Sales Tax Act 1990 or Federal Excise Act 2005.

  • Why do people say “larki bhaag gai”?

  • PAKvBAN: How can Pakistan still qualify for the World Cup semi-finals?

    New Zealand’s defeat against England has put a heavy dent to Pakistan’s chances of qualifying for the 2019 World Cup semi-finals, but some fans are still hopeful to see Green Shirts end up among the top four teams.

    Pakistan will get through if any of the following scenarios take place in their match against Bangladesh today.

    FIRST SCENARIO:

    If Pakistan win the toss and opt to bat first; they will have to score 400 runs and dismiss Bangladesh for just 84 runs.

    SECOND SCENARIO:

    The Green Shirts can also qualify by putting 350 runs on the scoreboard and dismissing all Bangladeshi batsmen for just 38 runs; however, if Bangladesh bat first, we stand no chance of qualifying.

    These two scenarios would guarantee that Pakistan overtake New Zealand on net run-rate (NRR) as both teams are still running for the final spot in the semi-finals race.

    New Zealand’s defeat to England has ended their campaign at 11 points on the World Cup points table. Pakistan is currently on nine points.

    Teams receive two points for a win and one point for a tie or no-result washout.

    If two sides are level on points at the end of the group stage, the one that has won more games goes through. Since they remain level, the side with the superior NRR — which in this case is New Zealand — advances.

  • Lahore firefighter loses life during rescue operation

    Lahore firefighter loses life during rescue operation

    You sometimes come across people who restore your faith in humanity. Firefighter Waseem Abbas is one of those dedicated workers who lost his life in the line of duty while saving lives.

    According to details, Waseem Abbas was part of a rescue team which was undertaking an operation to douse fire in an old house in the inner city of Lahore. The fire damaged the roof of the house due to which it collapsed. Waseem came under the wreckage and died on spot. His dead body was found after two hours.

    District Rescue Office Shahid Waheed said that Abbas was a dedicated and hard-working official. The entire rescue team expressed grief over his demise.

  • KP launches mobile app for tourists

    KP launches mobile app for tourists

    The tourism department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has launched Pakistan’s first mobile app and web portal called KPtourism with the aim to promote tourism in the country.

    Senior provincial minister of Tourism, Culture, and Youth Affairs Atif Khan inaugurated the mobile app on Wednesday.

    Through the app, you can search for more than 100 destinations, find nearby attractions on the go, and interact with other travellers. Both the app and the website have the images and videos of all scenic destination along with relevant data.

    Android users can download the app from:

    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kptourism.kptourism

    For Apple users this is the link to download the app

    https://apps.apple.com/pk/app/kptourism/id1470219062

    You can also find packages and updates on events. However, the itineraries and blog section have not yet been updated.

    The app also allows people to share their experiences, videos, pictures and give suggestions, and plans using the “Contribute” section.

  • ‘Thai Airways never stopped operating from Pakistan’, Sherry Rehman ridicules Fawad

    ‘Thai Airways never stopped operating from Pakistan’, Sherry Rehman ridicules Fawad

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Sherry Rehman has ridiculed Federal Minister for Science & Technology Fawad Chaudhry over his claim regarding Thai Airways’ operations in Pakistan.

    “Thai Airways to start operation from Lahore to Bangkok and beyond with four flights a week starting July 16, 2019,” the minister had tweeted Tuesday.

    While a lot of people praised the “restoration” of Thai Airways’ operations after British Airways, that operated its first flight to the country in eleven years on June 2; some users, including Sherry, pointed out what was wrong with the claim.

    “Err, Thai Airways has been flying from Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi several times a week for over ten years. The Islamabad and Lahore flights were suspended due to [the] closure of air space recently. Islamabad flights have still not resumed,” she tweeted.

    Pakistan closed its airspace following an aerial engagement with the Indian Air Force (IAF) along the Line of Control (LoC) on February 27. On June 28, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced that the closure for overflight and transit flights will continue till July 12.