Honda Atlas Cars Limited (HACL) has not sold a single Civic in the last three months, Autojournal.pk has reported.
It is proving to be a difficult year for HACL in production and sales. Due to supply network issues, the company’s productivity had wanted, with increased prices making the car untenable for consumers.
Honda, one of the biggest car companies of Pakistan, sold just 87 cars last month.
According to a recent notification, Honda will restart production very soon despite the fact that there are no dates mentioned related to production resumption.
The government has drafted a bill to increase the travel allowance of parliamentarians from Rs10 per kilometer to Rs30 per kilometer.
The bill has been drafted on the request of parliamentarians who requested to increase travel allowance which has not been increased since 1980. Based on their request, if the parliamentarian owns a civic or corolla or a smaller car, their petrol will be free.
Here is how:
Lets see how much it would cost if a Parliamentarian is traveling from Lahore to Islamabad.
How much is the distance between Lahore to Islamabad?
The distance from Lahore to Islamabad is approximately 380 kilometers.
If we go by previous allowance the parliamentarians would get Rs. 3,800 to travel between Lahore and Islamabad.
If the allowance is increased to Rs30 per kilometer they will get Rs. 11,400 for the same route.
If a person is using a civic, corolla or a smaller car to travel from Lahore to Islamabad they will consume around 47 liters of petrol which will cost around Rs. 12,000.
British newspaper Guardian released an article on some of the best films of 2023 so far, ranging from horror to thrillers and animated comedy films like ‘Marcel the Shell with Shoes On”.
On the 15th place is Pakistani writer and director Saim Sadiq’s debut film ‘Joyland’ which starred Ali Juenjo and transgender model Alina Khan.
Discussion the significance of the film, the article described it as “a movie about people who find their inner lives and sense of themselves don’t match up to what is expected of them. Their feeling of wrongness is part of what they have to suppress, from day to day.”
The film, which was banned in Punjab last year just 24 hours after it got a certificate of approval from CBFC, had aired in India in March, receiving positive remarks from watchers who described their experience as ‘magical’:
One user wrote:
“Still can’t get over the experience of watching Joyland on big screen. I’ve never seen the crowd get this hyped, laugh and cry together for a movie before, magical experience.”
still can’t get over the experience of watching Joyland on big screen. I’ve never seen the crowd get this hyped, laugh and cry together for a movie before, magical experience pic.twitter.com/rEnltdZca1
“Joyland is fantastic, heartbreaking and beautifully made – the experience of watching it amongst an engaged enthusiastic audience last night at the Habitat center film festival was exhilarating. Also what about this poster by Salman toor!”
Joyland is fantastic, heartbreaking and beautifully made – the experience of watching it amongst an engaged enthusiastic audience last night at the Habitat center film festival was exhilarating. Also what about this poster by Salman toor! pic.twitter.com/l2lCRz7o7L
Last night’s screening of Joyland in Delhi was magical. People waiting in lines for a Pakistani film that so lyrically talks about patriarchy and the loneliness it breeds. People sitting on floors in awe, clapping and crying in unison. Through grief and borders, art finds a way. pic.twitter.com/pLfTuLOHnO
Was it a charming male lead Choi Chi Yeol (played by Jung Kyung-ho) who falls for a single mom, that drove people to watch ‘Crash Course in Romance’? Or the fact that a show went into minute details about the pressures of high school, the cut-throat competition surrounding college applications and how it damages the mental health of students? Whatever it was, the Korean rom-com ‘Crash Course In Romance’ had aired only two episodes when it lead the polls in the list of dramas that are generating the most buzz.
Aside from this show, and the critically acclaimed thriller ‘The Glory’ that was among the top ten most watched dramas around the world, this is the perfect time to get into Korean dramas, especially if you’re from Pakistan and dying to watch something other than a toxic romance going round and round like a jalebi. From the list of K-dramas set to arrive on Netflix, the shows range from a wholesome office romances to an unlikely encounter between a vampire and a human and a bored housewife taking charge of her fate and deciding to become a doctor.
2023 has only reached its middle and this lineup of dramas has us excited. Check out some amazing options.
1 See you in my 19th life
Time travelling lovers who recognise each other in their next lives? Sign us up immediately. Ban Ji Eum has an extraordinary trait: she can remember everything from her 18 past lives. But when her life is cut short tragically and Ji Eum is reborn in her 19th life, she is determined to reconnect with all the people she lost, and in the process she comes across Mono Seo Ha, a man whom she met in her previous life.
2 My Heart Is Beating
Missing your Vampire Diaries, Twilight era? K-dramas have got you covered. Remember the heartthrob villain Jang Jun-Woo from Vincenzo? The actor who played him, Ok Taec-Yeon, is now the lead in this drama, as a vampire who desperately wants to become a human being, but he misses his chance because of one day out of a 100 years. He starts living in a guest house run by Joo In-Hae (Won Ji-An), a cold-hearted nurse who does several jobs. As the two get closer, both start getting feelings for each other.
3 King The Land
If you missed witty office romances like Ankahi, or quite recently ‘Fairytale’ and need something to fill the hole in your heart left by Farjaad as you wait for Season 2, check out this one. Gu Won is the son of a chaebol family, who is caught in an inheritance war with the rest of his siblings over the control of his company. Although he is successful in his business, his work-a-holic attitude makes him bad at dating, until he meets Cheong Sa-Ra, an employee at his hotel, and immediately falls for her.
4 Doctor Cha
Cha Jeung-Suk graduated medical school with aspirations to become a doctor, but resigns to becoming a housewife to the Chief Surgeon at a university hospital. Twenty years later, Jeong-Suk decides to start her medical career despite resistance from her husband.
Prime Minister (PM) Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif met with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev on Thursday during a two-day official visit. During the meeting, he had an informal conversation with the president in Russian language, which left many shocked.
Earlier, when the Premier’s videos of conversing in other languages went viral, The Current reached out to Prime Minister (PM) Focal Person on Digital Media, Muhammad Abubakar Umer, to confirm exactly how many languages the premier can speak.
He said that the premier is fluent in German, Arabic and English along with Punjabi and Urdu. According to him, PM Shehbaz can speak basic level Turkish, Chinese, Russian, Pashtu and Sindhi.
The focal person revealed that PM Shehbaz learned Arabic formally while in exile during former President General Pervez Musharraf’s era. To our surprise, we also got to know that the premier holds a diploma in Arabic.
According to Abubakar, PM Shehbaz knows a total of ten languages.
“He learned Chinese and Turkish during his tenure as Chief Minister (CM) Punjab from 2013 to 2018 as at the time he had to engage with Chinese and Turkish officials for China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC),” said Abubakar.
He learned German and Russian during the 1970s and 80s for his business dealings. “At the time, he was not in government”, said Abubakar. Abubakar also revealed that before going to any foreign country, PM Shehbaz hires an instructor who informs him about the cultural aspects of the country, how people greet each other and what social norms are appreciated there.
Yes, you’ve heard of ‘Tere Bin’. Your momma has too, as has the paros walli aunty. Even bechara Irffan Khan ka beta apnay aap ko iss say bacha nahi saka.
‘Tere Bin’ has us all in a trance, but perhaps we don’t want to remain in it. Yet there we are, every Wednesday and Thursday, hooked to our screens. These two days could be now renamed ‘Tere Bin days’ and we’re honestly thinking this drama should be studied by psychologists because no matter what absurd plot twist is thrown in, the fanbase remains dedicated as ever. Is it because of the appeal of the main leads, Wahaj Ali and Yumna Zaidi? Or is it because as a post-colonial nation, we’re addicted to hate watching? Does any scientist out there care to explain how we’ve gone from this couple fighting to falling back in love to faking a pregnancy to then back to shouting and crying and going all over again back to lovers? We’re 53 episodes in, give us a break!
But we did as a nation get some hilarious plot twists and pearl clutching moments that even got PEMRA looped in. So let’s break down some of the ways Tere Bin decided to throw logic out of the window
1 Starting with the more recent: Meerab’s pregnancy announcement.
Episode 53 opens with a mind blowing twist: that apparently doing it only once in your marriage with your frenemy husband gets you immediately pregnant. Fans first got to watch their favorite couple in torment because they broke their rules and decided to have sex, and then mope around when Meerab decides to run away, and now the cherry on top is her realising that the same husband she ran away from is the one who got her pregnant?
2 Abba saying shaba khair
There is a hilarious trope in Pakistani dramas that every time a daughter decides to rebel by divorcing the man she’s been forced to marry, the dad immediately becomes an obstacle in her path by dying from a heart attack. Ye abba je ko convenient waqt nahi milta apni manmani karwanay kay liye? And why play up the daughter’s guilt when she is escaping an unhappy marriage? We saw this with ‘Mujhay Pyaar Hua Tha’, that the father immediately passes away, guilt shaming Maheer further for not wanting to remain married to her cousin, Saad.
In episode 50, after finding out that his daughter Meerab has run away from her home and left her belongings behind, her father searches for her and then passes away outside her friend’s house.
3 Haya dancing at Murtasim’s wedding
If a villain goes down in history for messing with the nation’s mind so much that even the actress performing this role was sent hate mail, it would be Haya, palyed by Sabeen Farooq. We have to give credit to Farooq’s brilliant acting that makes Haya such a hateful character, and yet someone whom the audience can’t turn away from despite how cringey she looks trying to trap Murtasim. Perhaps the most Haya she has ever been was in episode 8, when she dances in a seductive manner at Meerab and Murtasim’s mehendi, something we’d not even do even if a gun was put to our head.
4 Malik Zubair aka Anas
Sirf Meerab, Murtasim aur Haya kaafi nahi thay, that even Mariam bechari had to be dragged into such a messed up love affair with the man who attempted to harm her brother? We discover in episode 40, that Anas is actually Malik Zubair, Murtasim’s biggest enemy. The episode also drew a lot of backlash from audiences for portraying the female characters of the show as helpless and clueless about the person whom Murtasim repeatedly refers to throughout the show as his biggest enemy.
5 The pregnancy confusion
‘Tere Bin’ did everything in its power to win the ‘most brainless show’ competition and they led the polls with episode 24. Murtasim promising his wife that he doesn’t think of Haya as anything but a sister, and then deciding to go to the village with her? Maa Begum becoming gynecologist and deciding Meerab is pregnant, without our headstrong lead even bothering to correct this assumption? Allah madad kar.
Murtaza Wahab of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has been elected as Mayor Karachi, defeating Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) candidate Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman.
He won by securing 173 votes, whereas the JI candidate secured 160 votes.
The electoral process for Karachi Mayor and Deputy Mayor was held at Karachi Arts Council (KAC). The election was held on show of hand basis. The voting started at 11:00 am. As pet the orders of ECP live cameras were not allowed during the voting.
He is PPP’s first leader to get elected as Karachi’s mayor.
On the other hand, Salman Abdullah Murad of PPP and Saifuddin Advocate of JI are also contesting today for the post of deputy mayor.
Cyclone Biporjoy is expected to make landfall on the Arabian Sea coastal belt today (Thursday). Authorities in both Pakistan and India are on high alert to avoid any disaster.
The name of the cyclone has left many curious. The name ‘Biparjoy’ was coined by Bangladesh. It means disaster or calamity in Bengali.
Why is it important to name cyclones?
The reasoning behind naming cyclones is pretty simple. The storm is either given a code or a name, and it’s simpler to remember a name than a string of letters, numbers, or technical terminology.
Who decides the name of the cyclones?
The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) maintains rotating lists of names, which are appropriate for each tropical cyclone basin. As a common rule, cyclones formed in different ocean basins across the world are named by those areas, regional specialised meteorological centres (RSMCs) and Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWCs).
The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) took the united decision on Wednesday of elevating Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice Mussarat Hilali to the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The decision was taken in the Council’s meeting in Islamabad, chaired by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Atta Bandial.
Earlier, the next Chief Justice, Qazi Faez Isa, suggested her name for elevation and afterwards, Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandial also agreed to the nomination of Justice Hilali. She will be the second woman judge of the Supreme Court after Justice Ayesha Malik who was appointed in January 2022 to the apex court. Mussarat Hilali is the first female Chief Justice of PHC. She is the only woman on the bench since 2013. Justice Hilali also holds the honour of getting elected as the first woman executive member of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) from 2007-2009.
Hrithik Roshan became the subcontinent’s heartthrob when he made his debute at the age of 26 in ‘Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai’. The film, directed, written and produced by Hrithik’s father Rakesh Roshan, went on to become a box office hit.
But in an interview, the ‘Dhoom’ actor revealed that he was incredibly nervous about his first appearance on film, doing everything he could to look good on screen including meditating, singing and acting classes, and even seeking Salman Khan’s advice on body building.
“I knew the physicality was very important, especially for this film where I was doing a double role, Rohit in the first part and Raj in the second half. I thought it would be nice if I could, even physically show the difference between the two characters. So, I was training myself for a year but I was not seeing the kind of results I wanted to see.”
Roshan recalled speaking to the ‘Dabangg’ star, despite not knowing him at all:
“I did everything that I could, including calling the biggest star Salman Khan, who did not know me at all. I just asked myself who is the best in the business, it is Salman and I said, ‘I have to try this. I have to try asking him what you do,” he confessed.
Roshan also revealed his initial dislike of the script, finding it to be centered too much around the female perspective, and recalled complaining to his father about it. “On the script level, I thought it was a girl film and kept complaining to dad, ‘You know papa, I have got nothing to do. All I am doing is laughing or looking good, or dancing. How do I show people that I can do things,” re-called Hrithik.
The ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ actor confessed that after telling his complaint about the film to his dad, he remembered Rakesh shutting him down, by reminding him that he has no role in deciding the plot but is only acting in the film:
“He said, ‘I am making a movie, you want to act in it, do. But don’t tell me how to make the movie. I am not making the movie to launch you, I am making it because I have an idea, you are acting in it since you suit the part. You are a newcomer who just happens to be my son.’”
