ASP Shehar Bano has been appointed as the personal security officer of Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.
Naqvi will perform duties as PSO of Mohsin Naqvi, says the notification issued by the Ministry of Interior.
She was previously working as Assistant Director of the Intelligence Bureau.
In February 2024, Shahar Bano Naqvi came to the limelight by saving a woman from an angry mob in Lahore for which she garnered praise from public and governmental quarters.
Shehar Bano Naqvi joined the police service after clearing the CSS exam in 2019.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan distanced the party from former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s controversial social media post on the 1971 civil war and the Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report, saying the post should be seen in a “political context”.
“The context and comparison that we drew with 1971 was in a political context and not otherwise — nothing about the army,” said Barrister Gohar in an interview with digital news outlet Azaad Urdu.
On May 26, Imran Khan’s account on X shared a video about the separation of East Pakistan along with a quote attributed to him: “Every Pakistani should study the Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report and get to know who was the true traitor, General Yahya Khan or Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.”
PTI Chairman said Khan was in prison and “does not approve every video or context”.
In the video, it was argued that the people’s mandate was not respected and the former military dictator was the one responsible for the country’s breakup.
The footage also showed the atrocities committed by the Pakistani military during the civil war when it conducted Operation Searchlight in 1971.
The post garnered backlash from fellow political leaders. PPP Senator Sherry Rehman had said the post was “alarming” and the PTI was “continuously fueling the narrative of hatred and incitement” by comparing Imran to Sheikh Mujibur Rehman.
Netizens also discovered an old tweet in which Imran Khan had disparagingly compared Nawaz Sharif to Mujib, a complete contradiction of his latest tweet.
Pakistani dramas have a huge fanbase at home and abroad, but lately, there’s been debate about the scripts. TV dramas still attract massive viewership, however, the endings can make or break the whole experience. Unfortunately, many recent dramas have left viewers disappointed with their conclusions, tarnishing their otherwise strong narratives.
Here are some popular Pakistani dramas that aired recently but disappointed viewers with unsatisfying endings.
Ishq Murshid
‘Ishq Murshid,’ a hugely successful drama, faced a similar fate with its ending. The storyline, centered around Shibra and Shahmeer, started off promising but ended in confusion. The rushed wedding and the addition of another cultural ceremony felt unnecessary. Shahmeer’s character, portrayed as a killer in the end, lacked development and failed to contribute positively. Meanwhile, Shibra’s naivety, despite knowing she was marrying a politician, seemed unrealistic. The drama, which initially had a strong plot, concluded poorly, leaving viewers puzzled. Despite this, the makers profited from cinema screenings.
Mujhe Pyaar Hua Tha
‘Mujhe Pyaar Hua Tha’ starred Wahaj Ali from ‘Tere Bin’ and Hania Aamir from ‘Mere Humsafar.’ It aimed to be a love story featuring Kaifi Khalil’s famous song, ‘Kahani Suno.’ However, despite high hopes, the chemistry between the leads never clicked with the audience. The drama ended suddenly, with Hania accepting Wahaj’s love, while Zaviyar Nauman Ijaz found himself in another controversy caused by his cousin, leaving viewers puzzled.
Namak Haaram
The drama promised us a thrilling murder mystery and a tale of revenge, starring the popular duo Imran Ashraf and Sarah Khan. However, what unfolded was disappointing. By the fifth or sixth episode, the plot became predictable, with unnecessary characters hogging too much screen time. In the end, the hero was killed without achieving anything significant. The heroine, on the other hand, fell into a deep depression, living a life in servant quarters and raising her child alone. It was a letdown for the audience, wasting their time and energy.
Mein
‘Mein’ was a highly anticipated drama, boasting a big budget and starring Ayeza Khan and Wahaj Ali. However, the outcome was disappointing. Despite having Ayeza and Wahaj as leads, the focus shifted to Asif Uncle’s character, overshadowing the hero. The ending was unsatisfactory, with no character finding happiness. Wahaj Ali’s character was portrayed as foolish and lacking control over life’s circumstances. It was a letdown for viewers who expected more from the drama.
Tere Bin
‘Tere Bin’ was a huge hit among Pakistani dramas, thanks to the amazing chemistry between Yumna Zaidi and Wahaj Ali. However, the ending left much to be desired. The original story involved Meerab experiencing marital rape and leaving her husband, Murtasim, eventually giving birth to their daughter. However, due to public pressure, the makers changed this plot. Unfortunately, this decision left the story feeling disjointed, with Meerab’s actions seeming illogical. Despite its success, many viewers were unhappy with how the drama ended, feeling that the sensitive issue of marital rape was mishandled.
After Iran mourned President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a recent helicopter crash, the nation’s focus turns to an election next month for his successor, with the conservative camp seeking support from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The lead-up to the early vote on June 28 has opened up the field to a broad range of hopefuls from all political parties. The big question for them is how many candidacies will survive the vetting process in the Islamic republic.
President Raisi, who had more than a year left of his first term, died on May 19 alongside his foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and six others when their helicopter crashed into a fog-shrouded mountainside.
They were laid to rest in multi-day funeral rites drawing mass crowds of mourners.
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf (R) greets lawmakers during the inauguration session for the new Parliament in Tehran on May 27, 2024. — AFP
The June vote will be held during a turbulent time, as the Gaza war rages between Israel and Hamas, and amid continued diplomatic tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme.
Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters of state, has assigned Raisi’s vice president, Mohammad Mokhber, 68, to assume interim duties for the next few weeks and organise the June election.
Among other hopefuls, former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili was one of the first to announce his candidacy.
Other contenders include moderate former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, and centrist Ali Larijani, who served as the speaker in parliament.
Ex-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has so far kept voters guessing and said he is “checking the conditions to decide whether to register”.
Under Iran’s election process, candidates will have several days to formally register, starting on May 30.
The final list, however, will depend on the outcome of the validation process by the conservative-dominated Guardian Council following a June 3 registration deadline.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced a public holiday today to celebrate Youm-e-Takbeer. Everything in the country is at a standstill, and the annual exams in schools have been delayed.
Shehbaz Sharif announced the holiday to commemorate the day when Pakistan conducted a successful nuclear test in Chaghai in 1998.
Provincial authorities postponed matriculation exams scheduled for today due to the public holiday.
All government departments, educational institutions, the Stock Exchange, and courts are closed across the country due to the holiday.
Pakistan, which is already suffering from inflation and has a stable economy, gets 120 public holidays annually. Due to a single day off, the national GDP faces a 1-2% loss, which equals more than Rs 100 billion. Economic analyst Khuram Shehzad said that a public holiday affects the national exchequer between $1.1 and $1.3 billion. He also added that the impact could be bigger if the holiday is “sudden.”
The federal government is currently considering salary increases for government employees in the range of 10 percent to 15 percent in the upcoming budget for 2024-2025, Geo News reported.
The government intends to increase revenue generation to strike a successful deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under Extended Fund Facility (EFF) at a range of $6 billion.
The Ministry of Finance wants to raise the salary by just 10 percent and there is another consideration to increase the monetization of cars by 20 percent to 25 percent for higher grade officers like grades 20, 21, and 22.
The monetary policy was introduced in 2012 for the basic purpose of reducing the burden on government expenditure, which was “in line with the observance of austerity measures and to eliminate misuse of official vehicles.”
The government is also considering pension reforms in the next budget including putting tax on pensioners who withdraw over Rs 100,000 per month.
Israel’s bombing of refugee tents in Rafah on Sunday night left the world horrified. As videos and images of decapitated children, Palestinians burning alive and bodies reduced to char appeared on social media, a wave of outrage spread across the globe.
Among those who publicly spoke up were many supporters of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, including British television presenter Piers Morgan, who became a caricature of himself by continuously asking his pro- Palestinian panelists to “condemn Hamas”.
On Sunday night, he tweeted, “The scenes from Rafah overnight are horrific. I’ve defended Israel’s right to defend itself after Oct7, but slaughtering so many innocent people as they cower in a refugee camp is indefensible. Stop this now @netanyahu”.
Over in America, ‘free-speech activist’ Brianna Wu stopped her non-stop support of Israel to quote tweet Morgan’s tweet: “I agree with this.
I said at the beginning that invading Rafah would be a mistake of historic proportions and would make it difficult for people to stand with Israel.
None of this is going to make anyone safer.”
As other Israel supporters scrambled to condemn the incident in Rafah, the internet was having none of it. Many reminded Piers of his complicity in the genocide.
This is all happening because you pushed atrocity propaganda and said Israel has a right to defend itself when interactional law says that it does not !
A woman from Sambariyal in Sialkot district allegedly left her four children in the Greater Iqbal Park in Lahore after becoming fed up with the domestic abuse carried out by husband.
The children were taken into protective custody by the Child Protection Bureau.
The mother left her four young children homeless in Greater Iqbal Park, reports Geo News.
One of the children, seven-year-old child Zain, told the police that he was a resident of Sambaryal and his father used to beat his mother daily. Police started the search for his parents on Zain’s information and handed over the children to the Child Protection Bureau team.
Zain informed the police that their mother and father’s names are Urooj and Bilal respectively.
Among the children found in Greater Iqbal Park, three girls and one boy are aged between 8 months and 7 years, as per the Child Protection Bureau.
Chairperson Child Protection Bureau Sarah Ahmed informed Geo News that the children will be well taken care of in the Child Protection Bureau.
Get the scoop on Fawad Khan’s upcoming Indian series as journalist Amna Isani shared exclusive details about the actor’s new venture on her show ‘Haute Review’ hosted by Hassan Choudhry and herself.
“Fawad Khan is doing a big-budget series where he plays a polo players’ trainer. The series is written by Umera Ahmed and directed by Asim Raza. The production is led by Misbah Shafique, who has worked with Zee 5. It will be released on Sony Life. The cast includes Sanam Saeed, Mikaal Zulfiqar, and Hira Khan. The series was shot in London, Islamabad, and Chitral. Fawad Khan plays a Chitrali Nawab who trains polo players, and Sanam Saeed probably plays a British girl.”
Earlier in the week, a Christian man was injured in Sargodha by a violent mob, while his house and factory were set on fire on allegations of blasphemy. While police were able to control the situation before it spiralled out of control, the situation was reminiscent of Jaranwala riots for many people.
Miss Universe Pakistan 2023 Erica Robin and Pakistani actor Mashal Khan have talked about the attempted lynching, asking authorities to protect minority rights.
Robin posted a powerful message on her Instagram about how minorities in Pakistan face difficulties and why things must change. She said, “It’s sad that minorities in Pakistan aren’t treated the same as the majority. If it wasn’t for the votes of minorities in 1947, Pakistan wouldn’t be here today.
Even Quaid-e-Azam recognized that minorities played a big part in making Pakistan. But what’s happening in Pakistan now is terrible and has been happening for a long time.”
Robin spoke up after the terrible attack in Sargodha, saying that this isn’t just one incident. She said, “The recent sad event in Sargodha, where an innocent person was killed, shows how minorities are treated badly. This isn’t the only time it’s happened; there have been other incidents like the Gojra riots, where Ahmadis were targeted, and attacks on Hindu and Christian communities for many years.”
She also talked about how Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are sometimes used unfairly against minorities. She said, “The blasphemy law in Pakistan has been used unfairly against minorities many times. Most Pakistanis need to speak up and say we should get rid of this law. Minorities are a big part of our country and deserve to be treated fairly and protected.” Robin also shared her love for Pakistan and her hope for things to get better. “We care about our country and are an important part of it. It’s time for things to change.”
Mashal also used Instagram to speak out against the attacks and highlight the important role minorities played in Pakistan’s history. “I keep having to say the same thing over and over. Minorities helped build Pakistan, and it was meant to protect them too. Muslims were a minority before Pakistan was made and faced hate because of their religion. We can’t let this keep happening in our own country,” Mashal said. The Suno Chanda actor added, “If we let these terrible people get away with this, they’ll feel more powerful. We need to stand up for minorities.”
The victim, Nazir Gill, was critically injured despite police saving his life. He’s being treated at a hospital. When the angry mob attacked, they wrecked Nazir Gill’s house and factory. Scared, many Christian people ran away from their homes, some taking shelter in churches nearby.
