Maya Ali, in a note posted to social media, talked about how difficult 2020 was and what she is looking forward to in 2021.
The actor started by recounting her blessing, saying: “Dear Allah, thank you for letting us survive 2020. You have given us the biggest blessing yet, to survive another year, another opportunity to change ourselves for the better and to become better people, better Muslims and to worship you better.”
“Oh Allah, it’s been such a tough year and a lot of us have lost loved ones, we have felt pain like no other, but being here today is a blessing indeed,” she continued. “Lucky are those who are given a second chance to change for the better, a chance to grow as people and broaden our horizons.”
Maya further thanked Allah for giving her the opportunity to evolve.
“Every new day is an opportunity for change, love and kindness,” she concluded.
Ali is currently shooting for her upcoming film with Shoaib Mansoor ABGin which she will be sharing the screen with Emmad Irfani.
Sonya Hussyn, in a recent Instagram post, expressed immense love for her newborn niece Minsa, referring to her as the “best thing that has ever happened” to her.
“Although the year has been very very tough, but thank you, Allah, for giving me another reason to live, to be kind, to be grateful,” wrote Sonya alongside a picture of herself and her niece.
“Minsu…you are the best thing that has ever happened to me,” she added. “I love you, indeed daughters are a blessing and I am super blessed to have you in my life.”
The actor has announced the news on social media saying: “So overwhelmed and excited to announce the birth of this bundle of joy, khuda ki rehmat, my baby niece!”
“What a miraculous event, words can’t describe how I feel right now! Welcome home my baby girl, my beti,” she added.
The coming week will usher us to a new year and the entire world is hoping that it would be better than 2020. This year was certainly one that we will remember for a long, long time.
Concepts like social distancing, wearing face masks and sanitising your hands regularly, ‘work from home’ and lockdowns have become a norm. Many regular travellers have not travelled in almost a year. A lot of people have lost their loved ones due to this novel coronavirus.
The coronavirus pandemic has changed the world in many ways. From exposing how the healthcare system was unable to deal with a global pandemic in most countries, to an economic crisis that many poor countries would take years to recover from, it affected all and sundry.
According to a blog published by the World Bank, “the pandemic has harmed the poor and vulnerable the most, and it is threatening to push millions more into poverty. This year, after decades of steady progress in reducing the number of people living on less than $1.90/day, COVID-19 will usher in the first reversal in the fight against extreme poverty in a generation.”
COVID-19 should also make the world think of how much damage we have done to our globe and environment. Climate change is a harsh reality that one can only ignore at their own peril. When lockdowns around the world started and travel restrictions were imposed, the level of air pollution compared to last year went down during that same period.
People were fascinated by the clear blue skies in their cities. According to researchers at Future Earth’s Global Carbon Project, the global COVID-19 lockdowns caused fossil carbon dioxide emissions to decline by an estimated 2.4 billion tonnes in 2020, which was a record drop.
This pandemic was also one of the main reasons why Donald Trump lost the US elections. The way Trump mishandled the pandemic and denied how serious it was, it led to more than 300,000 deaths till date. On the other hand, Pakistan was relatively successful in dealing with the pandemic after the first wave. Now that the second wave is here, we hope that people will take it more seriously and not be careless.
Hopefully, the next year will bring some semblance of normalcy once the vaccine is administered in all countries. Unfortunately, it seems that poor countries will get the vaccine much later than rich countries. Let’s hope that the world community will help each other in this hour of need.
2020 has been a year like no other and with the end of the year approaching, we list you down the pictures that trended this year in Pakistan.
Here we go…
1. When Faisal Vawda brought an army boot with him to a talk show
The PTI federal minister brought an army boot to a live TV programme to troll the Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz of the opposition for voting in favour of the Army Act in parliament amid their tirades against security forces.
2. Faisal Eidhi making donation to Prime Minister Imran Khan
Faisal Edhi, son of world-famous philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi and chairman of the Edhi Foundation, met Prime Minister Imran Khan and handed over a Rs10 million cheque for the premier’s coronavirus relief fund.
Days later, he tested positive for the virus, leading to speculations if the premier had also been infected.
3. Memes from the Last episode of ‘Mere Pass Tum Ho’
Remember, when MPTH lead character Danish was talking even after the heart rate monitor showed a straight line. From the “straight line” to “Mehwish slap” and ‘do takkay ki aurat’, all the memes were quite lit. Memes then light up the audience after a dull finale.
4. When Maria B landed into hot water
How could we forget Maria B’s fancy chandelier and the memes that broke the internet following the designer’s video with her husband telling the whole story behind the Punjab Police fiasco.
5. ‘I WILL SACRIFICE MY WHOLE LIFE FOR PAKISTAN’
Former Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) senator Sehar Kamran made the headlines for celebrating independence day with great enthusiasm at a Pakistani school in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Sehar was seen encouraging the students all in the spirit of patriotism.
6. Syra and Sheheryar turned up the heat with their photoshoot
Syra Yousuf and Sheheryar Munawar’s photoshoot for a local magazine became the talk of the town with people discussing how hot they look together.
7. When Ishaq Dar had a hard time in HardTalk
The former finance minister, who is residing in London while corruption cases against him worsen back home, recently appeared on the BBC talk show, videos of which went viral over what was claimed to be his “discomfort” on the hot seat.
The host, Stephen Sackur, however, says Dar wanted to be on that show and seemed to enjoy it.
8. Bakhtwar Bhutto Zardari’s Engagment
PPP’s Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari got engaged this year and all eyes were on her corona-exclusive wedding. Her engagement card became controversial when it required guests to provide a coronavirus test result before coming to the engagement but the talk of the town was her shawl. The shawl was embroidered with memories of her family, her favourite things and also her love for food.
9. Nawaz Sharif eating pizza in London
Former PM Nawaz, despite conviction in corruption cases, was allowed to travel abroad for medical treatment.
Currently in London, he has time and again been spotted taking a stroll in the park, dining at a roadside cafe, and most recently, enjoying pizza.
While criticism continues to pour in amid government’s efforts to bring him back, his daughter Maryam Nawaz seems to believe none of the stuff he has been seen doing is bad for his health.
10. Photoshoped picture of Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s hand
PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz was recently trolled by social media users after she shared a supposedly edited picture of the much-awaited Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) rally of the joint opposition in Lahore.
While the opposition claimed it was attended by hundreds of thousands of people, the government and social media users disagreed, advising the opposition leader to “fire her graphic designer”.
The Mohammad bin Rashid Centre for Islamic Culture has recently revealed that 3,184 people converted to Islam this year. All the requests for conversion to Islam were received online during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the details. Hind Mohammed Lootah, the Director of the center, said the institution would keep on delivering the right message about Islam and spread its lofty principles among people of different faiths and communities living in Dubai.
The center is in contact with new converts to Islam and provides them with numerous services such as religious, social, cultural and educational. The center receives online requests for conversion on its website www.iacad.gov.ae, or through the free-toll number 800600.
Music streaming platform Patari has revealed the top songs and artists for the year 2020, among other stats.
According to their lists, Ali Sethi, Shamoon Ismail and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan are among the most streamed artists in Pakistan.
Shamoon Ismail’s song Rung was the most streamed song followed by Bilal Saeed and Momina Mustehsan’s Baari.
Meanwhile, Strings was the most-streamed band in 2020, while Teri Tasveer by Bayaan was the most streamed album this year. Hadiqa Kianai was the most streamed female artist in 2020.
2020 has been quite the year, for all of us and none of us would like to relive it. But Adnan Siddiqui, who had a great year as far as his acting projects are concerned (Meray Paas Tum Ho, Ye Dil Mera) says that he admires 2020, calling it ‘A Year To Remember’.
“In three weeks from now, 2020 will be behind us,” wrote the actor on Instagram. “A most extraordinary year. When we rang it in, I don’t think anyone had even a vague idea that three months into it and our lives, as we knew it, would come to a halt. A thriving world came to an abrupt standstill and we are still waiting for normalcy to return. No wonder, our most common refrain since March 2020 is, ‘when will life be back to old normal’.”
He then went on to share why he admires 2020 so much.
“I often get asked why I admire 2020 so much when it caused a life-altering crisis across the globe. I have always felt that in every adversity lies an opportunity. We only need to discover that. The amount of free time I had on my hands, thanks to the lockdown, was God sent. I loved the languid pace at which life was moving all those months. And as Mac Davis crooned, I stopped and smelled the roses,” the actor added.
Sharing about time spent with his kids, Adnan wrote: “My kids were the happiest to have me around 24 hours and I would like to imagine myself as a more patient and wiser parent while dealing with the millennials. I finished a book that was mocking me for years for having left it in between. Caught up on sleep, wrote poetry.”
“But most of all, 2020 enlightened me to a new perspective of life–to accept it in a larger scheme of things. I learnt that man, even if he fancies himself as omnipotent, can never conquer nature.”
“2020 also taught me to slow down a bit, to hold my loved ones closer, to pray a little longer, and never to take life for granted,” concluded Adnan.
Looks like the Pakistani film scene is heating up with Filmwala Pictures dropping the teaser of Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad and the announcement of a new film titled 50 crores.
While the makers of the film have not revealed any details, Faysal Quraishi, who is one of the leads has told audiences to wait until October 28. Other actors who are part of the film include Aijaz Aslam, Faryal Mehmood, Anoushey Abbasi, Naveed Raza, Omer Shehzad, Mehmood Aslam, Noman Habib, Saboor Ali, Zalay Sarhadi and Asad Siddiqui.
Check out pictures and teasers from the film below.
Child protection NGO Sahil, in a reportCruel Number released on Thursday, revealed that at least 173 children were gang-raped in Pakistan in the first six months of 2020, whereas there were 227 reports of attempted sexual assault.
According to the report, 38 children were killed after they were sexually abused. More than eight children were subjected to sexual abuse on average every day in the first six months of 2020 in Pakistan.
Sahil reported that as of June this year, 497 children were sexually abused. 57% of cases were reported in Punjab, 32% were reported in Sindh and 6% in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The report further said that more than 35 cases were reported in Islamabad, 22 in Balochistan, 10 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and one in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Out of the total reported cases, 62% were from rural areas and 38% reported from urban areas. Of the total children who were victims of sexual abuse, 53% were girls and 47% boys.
Sahil also highlighted that 51 cases of underage marriage were reported.
The results were taken from 84 newspapers and cases reported in all four provinces, the capital city, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan.
A chocolate lovers’ dream came true for residents of a small Swiss town when “chocolate snow” started falling from the sky after a ventilation fault at a Lindt factory.
According to details, the ventilation system of the Lindt and Spruengli company factory broke down and a light dust of cocoa powder spread in the nearby areas due to the winds.
The company made it known that the particles will not damage people or the environment. The company also confirmed that they will bear all cleaning costs as a car was covered in chocolate powder.
The problem was quickly addressed by the company and work resumed in the factory.
People kind of enjoyed the sweet disaster in the year 2020.
