Former Prime Minister Imran Khan has praised the building speed of controversial land tycoon Malik Riaz, during a televised address to his followers.
Explaining the Al-Qadir university case to his followers on Wednesday, in which the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman and his wife Bushra Bibi have been accused of accepting land in return for giving Riaz £190 pounds of state money, Imran Khan called the property baron, “the biggest builder in Pakistan.”
Pointing out that Malik Riaz was already involved in Ravi City and a less-cost housing scheme, Imran Khan gave the reason for selecting the property tycoon for Al-Qadir university, a project for which Riaz gave them land and became a patron.
“I asked Malik Riaz to do this project only because he is speedy and is the biggest builder of Pakistan,” he stated.
“The work it took us 15 years to finish at NUML, Malik Riaz has finished at Al-Qadir in three years,” said Imran Khan, repeating once again that he is “the biggest builder”.
The former Premier also revealed that it was Malik Riaz who offered to “sponsor” the entire project.
Khan and his wife are both facing a probe at the National Accountability Bureau for giving Riaz £190 million, handed over by Riaz to British authorities after an investigation into “dirty money”, which were returned by United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency to Pakistan.
‘Tumhare Husn Kay Naam’, the new drama serial on Green TV is a timeless love-story woven in threads of melancholic romance, philosophy and nostalgia. Salma (played by Qamar) and Sikandar (played by Abbas), the main leads, epitomize true love as a condition that defies all man-made social divisions and differences. Gear up for a classic romance story bound to stir an ocean of emotions within you.
In the first episode we see that Salma’s mother doesn’t like her daughter’s avoid painting and singing but her father supports her.
Salma is hit by a ball by Sikander at her university, leading him to worry that he may be expelled. He is poor but he loves the arts and wants to become an architect.
He apologizes to Salma, and the two become closer.
The serial breaks the heart with an amazing story, that triumphs with the brilliant direction of Saqib Khan and spectacular performances by Saba Qamar and Imran Abbas.
The episode also got positive reviews from social media.
From the moment it graced our screens, ‘Kuch Ankahi’- with its story of three sisters dealing with marriage pressure, workplace harassment, taking on a challenging careers- seared itself on the Pakistani entertainment industry as a cultural milestone that told a gorgeous story about the bond of sisterhood.
Only 26 episodes long, ‘Kuch Ankahi’ won our hearts with its flawless story telling and brave portrayal of issues that today’s political climate would have prevented them from doing so.
With the final episode coming up on Saturday, our hearts are heavy as we will no longer have to look forward to Shamoo Begum and Agha Jaan kay jhagray, Alia and Salman’s cat and mouse chase and the wholesome love between the three sisters. Let’s look back at the five moments where ‘Kuch Ankahi’ truly proved that it was a masterclass in good story telling.
1 The men in the drama won our hearts.
At a time when dramas today think a hit series needs a man slapping a woman or a girl being forcibly married without her consent, ‘Kuch Ankahi’ set the bar higher by proving that what audiences want is not violence, but well-written characters that are supportive of the women around them. The bond that the father Agha Jaan had with his daughters, and how he kept taking their side regardless of what society told him, moved us to tears. His defence of youngest daughter Tanya and her passion to become a filmmaker, or backing Samiya if she wanted to back out of her marriage at the last minute.
kuch ankahi keeps on getting better, first showed men doing chores, now them knowing how to sew button?? like damn yess, these are basic life skills, and has nothing to w gender.#kuchankahipic.twitter.com/4vowCbv2VD
2. When the show made a breakthrough by supporting Joyland
In a scene in episode four that takes place in Tanya’s room, Aliya stands behind her wall of posters, among which is Saim Sadiq’s film ‘Joyland’, a love story between a transgender woman and a man. It was a small, but powerful display of support towards Pakistani filmmakers.
Was shocked at first. Turned out this is #kuchankahi by @nadeembaigg starring Sajal, Mira Sethi &many more amazing people so it all made sense then.This is the sweetest and smartest way to show support to your fellow artists. Thank you team ! ✨ @KashfFoundation#joylandpic.twitter.com/w0h53BQL1G
3 The nikkah scene that defended the right to divorce clause and urged for women to be aware of their rights in the marriage contract
The nikkah scene from episode 11 received praise on Twitter when Sofia phupoo (played by actress Vaneeza Ahmed) passionately urged the molvi sahab to not cut out the clauses from the nikkah where the woman writes down her demands, highlighting that these are essential for a woman’s safety in marriage, as Islam has rightfully granted them.
Kudos to team Kuch Ankahi for such an excellent drama & raising awareness for this issue in particular. The right of divorce is a clause in Nikah form that everyone including girl’s family are are upon ignoring. It protects a woman in marriage,specially in our patriarchal culture pic.twitter.com/bi0qRrwhuS
With the story of Deepak, the son of the family’s Hindu house helper, the drama dwelled into the growing issue of child abuse, as he is raped by the tailor he works with. Later, when Sofia phupho and the family learn about the crime, they take in Deepak as a family member and enroll him in a good school so that he regains his confidence in a safe environment.
5 Neha and her dream to become a tiktok star
Any woman on screen who isn’t a gharelo good girl married off at the age of 20, is either an awaragard or too bold for society or someone who meets a tragic end. Especially so for women who are obsessed with using social media apps like TikTok . But ‘Kuch Ankahi’ debunks this mindset with the wholesome story of Neha, the daughter of a Hindu working class family, who loves using TikTok. However , she fears her father will beat her if her videos are found. But as the story progresses, Neha finds new-found courage with the support of Taniya to keep making videos, and soon she gets a job as an actress, with her father completely supporting her choice.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) forward bloc leader Gul Bar Khan has been elected as the new Chief Minister of Giglit-Baltistan (GB) on Thrusday.
Gul Bar received 19 votes out of 20 members present in the assembly. He got elected unopposed after the other three opponents withdrew their nomination papers.
Haji Gul Bar Khan had the support of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
It should be noted that former Chief Minister Khalid Khursheed of the PTI got unqualified in a fake degree case. After his disqualification, the number of members of the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly has reduced to 32.
A parliamentary committee has sped up work on election reforms by examining 73 rectification proposals presented before it, The News has reported.
The parliamentary panel has decided to finalise the suggestions by next week and will get the reforms to the election act approved by both houses of parliament before the National Assembly’s tenure ends in August.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also said that the tenure of the National Assembly will end in August this year.
An in-camera meeting of the Parliamentary Committee headed by its chairman and the Economic Affairs Minister, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, was held to finalize recommendations.
Law Minister Azam Tarar, Dr. Fehmida Mirza, Commerce Minister Naveed Qamar, Senator Taj Haider, MNA Afzal Dhandla, Senator Manzoor Ahmed, Senator Kamran Murtaza, and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) secretary attended the meeting.
Ayyaz Sadiq said, while talking to the media, that there is no proposal to ban any political party, and the parliamentary committee’s job is to make electoral reforms.
“We will review the contentious issues on Thursday besides drafting the agreed-upon proposals. The controversial issues that need further discussion will be examined on Monday,” he said.
Sadiq also mentioned that effective proposals will be taken into consideration for transparent elections.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued a warning stating that the Ganda Singhwala area along the Sutlej River may experience a medium to high level of flooding within the next 24 to 48 hours, Dawn has reported.
The NDMA advised the administration of flood-prone areas, particularly in the Trimmu area of the river Chenab and Jassar area of the river Ravi, to remain vigilant until July 20.
In a weather advisory released on Wednesday, it is predicted that scattered thunderstorms and light to moderate rainfall may occur in Islamabad and Punjab, including the upper catchments of the major rivers in the Indus River System. These weather conditions could potentially lead to medium to high-level flooding in the Sutlej River at Ganda Singhwala.
The period from July 14 to 16 is expected to bring scattered to widespread thunderstorms and heavy rainfall in isolated areas within the upper catchments of the major rivers in the Indus River System, added the report.
Bollywood superstar Sanjay Dutt has sent the cutest message in reply to Pakistani great Javed Miandad who is the mentor of his Lanka Premier League (LPL) team, B-Love Kandy.
The actor can be seen in a video posted on Wednesday by Miandad, addressing him and stating that it “felt really good” to see him “after a long time”.
“Javed Bhai Salam. I saw your video. I really enjoyed it. It felt really good to see you after so long. Looking forward to meeting you in Kandy,” he said in the video while sitting in what appears to be a restaurant.
Miandad replied in the tweet, “Thank you Dear @duttsanjay and @OmarKhanOK2 for all the love, anxiously waiting to join @BLoveKandy in August 2023 in #LPL2023.”
Former Pakistani left-arm bowling wizard Wasim Akram has also been appointed as a mentor of B-Love Kandy, a team Sunjay Dutt acquired in June this year along with his partners Omar Khan and Sheikh Marwan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Muhammad Azharuddin, former Indian captain has also backed the team, while Mushtaq Ahmed, former Pakistani spinner, will be the head coach.
The team also has Pakistani cricketers Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hasnain, Asif Ali, Mohammad Haris and Aamer Jamal.
A Pakistani man and four of his family members in Britain have been sentenced to years in prison after forcing his wife to become a house slave, subjecting her to cruelty and torture from October 2017 to April 2019.
The husband, Mohammed-Shuaib Arshid, brought his wife from Pakistan to the UK, after an arranged marriage, to their house in Hillingdon, West London, where he lived with his mother Nabila Shaheen, father Arshid Sadiq, brother Aqeel Arshid, and sister Zaib Arshid.
According to court details, the woman was forbidden from leaving the house or attending college, and could not contact her family members back in Pakistan. Her personal identity documents were taken from her, leading her to begging her husband for purchasing basic toileteries as she had no cash of her own.
The woman was subjected to torturous behavior by being forced to cook and clean around the house all day, and on one occasion was even forced to drink engine oil by the family. She was threatened with death by family members.
The court said that during these two years, the woman was subjected to both mental and physical abuse at the hands of the five family members, leaving her with long term psychological trauma.
According to Paul Jenkins, a senior district crown prosecutor for the CPS: “The victim believed that they were moving into a safe family home with a loving husband, but the subsequent actions of [the family] proved that this was not the case.
“The victim was subject to regular abuse whilst under their care, resulting in serious physical and psychological harm.”
A CPS spokesman spoke of the survivor’s plight: “Being the victim of violence or sexual assault is undoubtedly a harrowing experience – but when this abuse is ‘honour-based’, the challenges can often feel impossible to overcome.
“If someone is seen to have dishonoured or brought shame on a family or community, they can be ‘punished’ through threatening behaviour, rape, kidnap, false imprisonment, female genital mutilation, forced marriage and even murder – also known as honour killings.”
The husband Mohammed-Shuaib Arshid was jailed for 11 years; father Arshid Sadiq to seven years; mother Nabila Shaheen to four years; the siblings Aqeel and Zaib to 21 months each.
Once one of the most important members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pervez Khattak has on Wednesday been thrown out of the party for failing to respond to a show-cause notice issued on June 21.
Khattak, who became a powerful Chief Minister and the President of the party in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), had been asked in the show cause notice to explain why he was asking workers to quit the party.
A termination letter was sent to Khattak by PTI General Secretary Omar Ayub Khan while a copy of the same was also posted on the party’s social media handles.
“Your membership from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has been terminated with immediate effect,” said the letter.
Khattak himself had resigned from the post of KP party president after May 9 riots.
Shanaas is a new drama serial on the recently launched Green Entertainment TV. The drama centers on a young girl named Aneesa, who is striving to find her biological parents.
In the first episode we see that Aneesa and Ramees’ family are very happy about their children’s engagement. But suddenly happiness changes into shock when the groom’s family finds out that Aneesa was adopted. Despite Ramees’ love for Aneesa, his parents do not agree to the marriage.
The serial has a heartbreaking story that triumphs with the brilliant direction of Yasra Rizvi.
In an appearance on Geo’s ‘Hasna Mana Hai’, Rizvi was asked about whether she liked acting more or directing, and she said acting takes less stress and is a more rewarding experience
