Tag: trending

  • ‘Saudi crown prince desperate for patchup with Pakistan while Imran, Gen Bajwa may have moved on,’ claims journalist

    ‘Saudi crown prince desperate for patchup with Pakistan while Imran, Gen Bajwa may have moved on,’ claims journalist

    Anchor Usama Ghazi, among other journalists with a presence on YouTube, has claimed that Saudi Arabia is desperate to improve ties with Pakistan as it needs to get closer to the new Biden administration in the United States (US); however, it seems that the civil and military leadership in Pakistan may have moved on.

    Islamabad recently returned $1 billion to Riyadh as the second instalment of a $3 billion soft loan, as the country reached out to Beijing for a commercial loan to help it offset pressure to repay the last $1 billion in January.

    “Now that Pakistan will no longer be under Saudi pressure but the Kingdom will be fearing missing out on a lot under a new US government; it is trying to improve relations with Pakistan that have suffered blows over the past few months,” Ghazi said in a YouTube video, citing Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s closeness with former US president Donald Trump as a major reason.

    He went on to claim that a new world was being formed with Pakistan, China, Russia, Turkey and even Iran if Biden’s US removes Trump-imposed sanctions on the country.

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    “Saudi Arabia is regretting not outrightly supporting Pakistan on the Kashmir issue against India and seeking back the loan […] but now the ball is in Pakistan’s court,” he said and added that leadership in Pakistan was no longer under any burden. “They have appointed Bilal Akbar as the new envoy [to Saudi Arabia] and Gen (r) Raheel Sharif is already there.”

    While the journalist also mentioned the under-construction Iran–Pakistan gas pipeline and what impact would it have in the new world, it is relevant to note that Ghazi is not the only one to have come forward with such claims regarding alleged Saudi desperation for better ties with Pakistan.

    Senior journalist Irshad Bhatti had earlier claimed that the Saudi government has refused to let former convicted PM Nawaz Sharif, leading to speculations if it was an attempt to appease the Pakistani government.

  • ‘Chinese govt has given proof of Shehbaz Sharif’s innocence’

    ‘Chinese govt has given proof of Shehbaz Sharif’s innocence’

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Deputy Secretary General Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday said that the Chinese government has given proof of innocence of party chief and former Punjab chief minister (CM) Shehbaz Sharif, who is currently in jail over money laundering charges.

    “This letter from the Chinese Embassy to Shehbaz Sharif goes on to prove our innocence,” the party leader was heard as saying in the video of a media talk.

    Earlier in the day, the incarcerated PML-N chief, during an accountability court hearing of the Ramazan Sugar Mills case of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against him, presented a letter from the Chinese Consul General in Lahore appreciating him for his efforts into the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects in Punjab.

    According to a report in Daily Jang, the judge asked whether Shehbaz had something to say after the anti-graft watchdog’s arguments.

    “I have brought a letter sent to me by the Chinese Consul General in Lahore,” said the PML-N president as he started reading the letter before the court. “I have been facing a barrage of accusations for two years, yet the Chinese Consul General is praising my work as the CM. He is appreciating a prisoner – it is no doubt an honour for me.”

    NAB prosecutor objected to Shehbaz Sharif reading the contents of the letter during the hearing, stressing that it was irrelevant to the ongoing case and a waste of the court’s time.

    To this, the judge said he had already directed Shehbaz to stay on topic.

  • Sharmeen Obaid defends stance on Turkish actors

    Sharmeen Obaid defends stance on Turkish actors

    Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy continues to defend her stance on Turkish actor despite receiving immense backlash and criticism.

    In a series of stories on Instagram, Chinoy backed her opinion questioning her followers and presenting facts.

    “Let’s play a game,” wrote the award-winning director before questioning how many Pakistani films were made in 2020 and how many brands slashed their budgets last year.

    Chinoy then went onto say that “every industry that the government want to see grow has protections” because of which imports are taxed and/or discouraged.

    “When you have budgets and work for Pakistani actors, then begin to import foreign ones,” continued the filmmaker. “Bollywood and Hollywood can afford to do that – we cannot.”

    She then urged her followers to invest in “your own people and industry first”.

    “I welcome the day when our industry will thrive and we will afford to welcome talent from overseas but not when I see our own struggling without work,” she added.

    “Too bad the truth isn’t always pretty,” concluded Chinoy.

    Sharmeen’s comments come after she was trolled for disapproving Peshawar Zalmi’s decision to appoint Esra Bilgiç as the face of the team.

    “I find this hilarious!,” Sharmeen had said. “A Turkish actress whose country doesn’t even play the sport will now be a mascot for cricket.”

    “What happened to Pakistani actresses by the way?” she said further. “Did they all disappear that we have to get foreign ones? Whatever is left of our industry will die if you keep paying Turkish actors for jobs Pakistani actors can do!”

    Diriliş: Ertuğrul has been trending in Pakistan ever since its first episode aired on PTV Home in Ramzan 2020. Pakistanis are loving the drama series and it has become a sensation in the country. According to some estimates, millions of people have tuned in to watch the show on PTV and YouTube.

    Recently, several Turkish actors from the super hit series Diriliş: Ertuğrul have visited Pakistan for different purposes. From Engin Altan Düzyatan (Ertuğrul Bey) to Cavit Çetin Güner (Dogan Alp) and Celal AL (Abdur Rehman Alp), almost every prominent actor from the drama series has visited different cities of the country.

  • ‘Nand’ hits 100 episodes

    ‘Nand’ hits 100 episodes

    Pakistani dramas are often criticised for unnecessarily dragging the story. Those which usually start off at a good pace eventually get stuck in a rut and lose audiences’ interest. Ongoing drama serial Nand has gone too far in following this trend, crossing 100 episodes.

    The drama has taken a complete turn from when it began and we now have new characters and situations driving the plot. The titular character, Gohar aka the Nand, has gotten a face transformation and Faiza Hasan, who initially played the role and was a major attraction, has been replaced by Javeria Saud. The Nand is not the only one who has undergone a change but another female protagonist Rabi (played by Minal Khan) died in Episode 95 that aired on January 13. Rabi and her daughter Dua died in a car accident in Germany, where they had gone to visit Rabi’s sister-in-law.

    While most viewers thought that when Gohar lost her mind after she was exposed for ruining her brothers’ marriage and creating a ruckus in the family, the drama would end, they were in for a surprise when it continued with multiple twists and turns before returning to square one. After Gohar was admitted to a hospital and treated for her mental condition, she regained her memory and got a brand new face. She returned to a completely different household and began to create havoc again.

    On the other hand, Gohar’s brother Saqib[Shahroz Sabzwari] and Hassan[Ayaz Samoo] remarried after getting divorced from their first wives. While Saqib’s wife is a mild-natured girl, Hassan’s new wife, Gul Rukh[Amna Malick] is evil and greedy. She even killed her mother-in-law with her mother Naeema’s help.

    Meanwhile, another mother-daughter duo – Sundus and Amna – have entered the storyline. The two have come to Pakistan from Germany with Rabi’s things to give to Jahangir [Aijaz Aslam].

    With multiple new faces taking the story forward, Gohar is now plotting to get rid of Gul Rukh and Naeema.

    Produced by Fahad Mustafa’s Big Bang Entertainment, Nand is written by Sameena Aijaz and directed by Zeeshan Ali Zaidi.

    Read more – Highest-viewed Pakistani drama episodes in 2020

    As absurd as the drama is, Nand has proven to be a commercial success, trending on television as well as on YouTube. According to some estimates, it was also one of the top TV plays with the highest ratings in November 2020.

  • ‘Please Abu ko kahen schools band kardein’: Students request Tara Mahmood to convince Shafqat Mahmood

    ‘Please Abu ko kahen schools band kardein’: Students request Tara Mahmood to convince Shafqat Mahmood

    Ever since students discovered that Suno Chanda’s Masooma aka Tara Mahmood is Minister of Education Shafqat Mahmood’s daughter, her social media has been flooded with requests and appeals from students who are asking the actor to convince her father to close schools. The government had announced that schools and universities will reopen in three phases from January 18.

    Read more – Memes break the internet after Shafqat Mahmood announces reopening of schools

    “Ma’am please apnay Baba say kahen keh humaray papers online kar dein,” “Please colleges aur schools band karwa dein Abba ko keh kar” are just some of the messages the actor has been receiving on social media. Some have even commented that they are sure Shafqat will listen to her because “betiyon ki baat baap nahi taaltay”.

    While Tara has not yet responded to the comments, earlier while responding to a social media user, she had said: “Schools shut for long will harm many students who don’t have access to online education.”

    “As a minister, he has to think about everyone in this country. And there are people out there dying for educational institutes to open. Hang in there and protect yourself by wearing a mask. Trust me, nothing will happen,” she added.

    Earlier, in an exclusive interview with The Current, Shafqat had said that closing schools and universities late last year was a “difficult decision”.

    “I think children don’t want to go to school,” the minister had said. “But seriously it was a difficult decision to close schools, colleges and universities. InshAllah as soon as the situation gets better, we will open them again.”

    Shafqat Mahmood has three daughters, two of who are twins. The actor has often shared pictures of her family on social media.

  • ‘Humble Gen Bajwa waits in line for omelette brunch at Islamabad Club’, meets PML-N’s Zubair again

    Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa had Sunday brunch with his family at Islamabad Club and freely mingled up with other guests present there, The News has reported.

    According to the report as well as a letter to a local English daily by an eyewitness, the army chief of the world’s tenth strongest military seemed to direct the staff to remove all special arrangements that had been put up for him and his family ahead of their arrival.

    “At the omelette station, the waiting line was rather long. It was so heartening to see that Gen Bajwa stood in the queue (me and my family noticed with surprise and delight) for about 18 minutes before he was served with his omelette (no one wanted to give him his slot nor did the general ask for [it], he was totally comfortable),” read the letter.

    The letter went on to claim that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Muhammad Zubair, who had in the recent past made headlines for meeting military leadership despite his party’s strained relations with the establishment, and his family “were the only people who were not allowed to meet the general”.

    However, the PML-N leader rubbished the claim in conversation with The Current. “I met him with his family. We exchanged pleasantries for about 10 minutes. And that’s it. More than 150 people present there watched it all,” he said.

    “Why wouldn’t he meet me?” he went on to ask.

  • Rs93bn on education, Rs25bn on health, Rs1,289bn on defence: How govt is spending in ‘Naya Pakistan’

    Rs93bn on education, Rs25bn on health, Rs1,289bn on defence: How govt is spending in ‘Naya Pakistan’

    Public sector universities are facing a financial crunch due to budget cuts and the coronavirus pandemic. Despite tall claims, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government didn’t allocate much for the higher education and the budget for the Higher Education Commission (HEC) remains nominal.

    Pakistan has at least 135 public-sector higher education institutions that cater to at least 1.8 million students, says a report in The News. But how much the country spends on its education? Not a lot when compared to other expenditures, such as defence and development.

    Education:

    The government had allocated Rs93 billion — Rs29.4bn is development budget — for the HEC for 2020-21 for development and non-development expenditures in the education sector. The HEC, however, had asked the government for a budget of Rs104bn, reported Dawn at the time.

    The decision to keep the education budget static amid a pandemic has proved expensive, as a number of universities are struggling to make ends meet. According to The News, the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Lahore, the University of Peshawar, Shah Abdul Latif University Khairpur, Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) Islamabad and others are facing issues regarding finances.

    Health:

    Pakistan is one of the countries that do not spend a lot on health. In 2019-20, the federal government had budgeted Rs11 billion for the current expenditure on health, reported Express Tribune. However, the government funneled Rs1bn more into the budget to counter the coronavirus threat. In the current financial year, Pakistan more than doubled the health budget to Rs25.5 billion due to COVID-19.

    However, the decision was still criticised as the country’s healthcare needed more than that to battle the deadly pandemic.

    Defence:

    The government spends a major chunk of its money on defence-related expenditures. In financial year 20-21, the allocations to the defence sector saw an 11 per cent increase from the previous year. Rs1,289 billion was allocated to the military.

    According to Ayesha Siddiqa, the author of Military Inc., “major acquisitions by the armed forces, spending on the public sector development programme (PSDP), expenditure on the nuclear programme and para-military forces, payments for military pensions, a newly set-up national security division and a few other military expenditures are not reflected in the budget. If these were to be added to it, Pakistan’s defence spending would be even higher — at around $11bn”.

     Development budget:

    Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a lull in economic activity, the government could increase its public-sector development spending. It had been budgeted at Rs1,324bn, 18pc below than last year’s budget.

    Of this, federal PSDP had been allocated Rs650 billion, while Rs676 billion had been allocated to provinces, as per Dawn.

  • Has State Bank really restricted ATM withdrawal limit to Rs1,000?

    Has State Bank really restricted ATM withdrawal limit to Rs1,000?

    People are receiving an alleged message from the State Bank of Pakistan about restrictions on ATM cash withdrawals till the end of the month.

    The peculiar message that you may receive from ‘8182’ or ‘8832’ will read: “Dear Customer, as per State Bank of Pakistan directions, ATM cash withdrawal limit is restricted to 1000 PKR ” till Jan 31.

    However, the central bank has distanced itself from these messages. It said the decision to set withdrawal limit is taken by the banks, not the SBP.

    Meanwhile, the SBP also sent a message to the banks, asking them to “send appropriately worded messages” to their consumers to curb the flow of misinformation.

    In a the message to the banks, the SBP said that it has received “multiple reports…that customers are receiving messages with the context that SBP has put some kind of restrictions on ATM cash withdrawals”.

    “The SBP has not given any such instructions to the financial institutions,” the statement clarified.

    “In this regard, kindly make sure to send appropriately worded messages to your customers on urgent basis, reassuring them regarding this false spread of messages,” the SBP clarification read.

  • 10-year-old girl dies trying TikTok’s ‘blackout challenge’

    A 10-year-old girl has reportedly died after allegedly trying TikTok’s viral ‘Blackout Challenge” on TikTok. As per details, the girl was found dead in her washroom by her younger sister.

    Initial investigation has suggested that the girl named Antonella had placed a belt around her neck to prevent herself from breathing to try the challenge. However, she ended up killing herself. When she was later taken to a hospital in Palermo, Italy, the doctors declared her brain dead.

    “Blackout challenge” is also known as “pass out challenge” and “the fainting game”. In this challenge, individuals try to temporarily suffocate themselves in order to get a feeling of euphoria.

    The girl’s parents said that they had no idea Antonella was participating in this game.

    “We knew our daughter went on TikTok for dances and to look at videos, but could we imagine this atrocity?,” they said.

    Speaking to an international publican, a TikTok spokesperson said: “The safety of the TikTok community is our absolute priority, for this motive we do not allow any content that encourages, promotes or glorifies behavior that could be dangerous.”

    Italian authorities have also ordered the social media platform to block all accounts where the user’s age could not be verified.

    Meanwhile, a boy in Rawalpindi also lost his life trying to shoot a stunt in front of a train for a TikTok video.

    Actor, Adnan Siddiqui took to Twitter to express his sorrow over the incident.

    “No number of likes or social media followers is greater than your life. Entertainment doesn’t mean putting yourself in harms way,” he wrote.

    Adnan added, “Sad a young life was lost to foolishness. Others should heed this as a lesson and act wisely.”

  • Qavi stripped of ‘mufti’ title, isolated by family after getting slapped

    Qavi stripped of ‘mufti’ title, isolated by family after getting slapped

    Abdul Qavi, who has remained in the limelight for his controversial actions and alleged involvement in the Qandeel Baloch murder case, has been stripped of his ‘mufti’ title by the family that says Qavi is being hospitalised in a “mental institution because his thoughts are not in control”.

    In a press conference, Qavi’s uncle Wahid Nadeem announced that the cleric has been isolated in his house. “Abdul Qavi has been used by different people over the years for media attention,” the uncle said, referring to the recent controversies that the cleric had embroiled himself in.

    Nadeem said that Qavi shouldn’t be addressed as a ‘mufti’ because he brought shame to the family. “We have seized his mobile phones and now he is under treatment for mental illness he is suffering from,” he added.

    Dr Hafiz Abdul Kadir, personal physician of the scholar, reportedly said that Qavi will be kept away from the public eye.

    Recently, Qavi was reportedly slapped by TikTok star Hareem Shah after he passed “inappropriate comments and was rude” to her. The video of the incident was also shared by Hareem on her Instagram.

    In May 2020, Qavi had said that drinks with less than 40% alcohol by volume were halal. “Whichever drink contains alcohol below 40 per cent… that drink is halal. It means we can drink it. In my opinion, even the drinks that contain 100 per cent alcohol but are extracted from minerals… are also halal,” he had said during an interview.

    Earlier in 2018, the mufti was among five suspects, who were indicted in the case pertaining to the murder of social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch.

    The murdered social media star had posted selfies and a video with Qavi on social media weeks before her death.

    It was alleged that he had incited Waseem Baloch, brother of Qandeel, to get rid of his sister in the name of honour after he received flack for his pictures with the girl. Qavi was also removed from the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee after his pictures with Qandeel went viral.

    Some of his endeavours include, brazenly flirting with transgender Almas Bobby during a television show in 2015, and being accused of sexual harassment by a female reporter in 2017. He has also time and again been spotted in several videos on social media featuring various showbiz stars and internet celebrities.