Tag: trending

  • 1000-year old Hindu Mandir to reopen in Sialkot after 72 years

    1000-year old Hindu Mandir to reopen in Sialkot after 72 years

    An ancient Hindu temple, closed since Partition will once again be opened for worshippers after a long hiatus of 72 years.

    As per details, the Shawala Teeja Singh Temple, located on Circular Road in Sialkot, is more than a 1,000 years old. Prime Minister Imran Khan directed Evacuee Trust Property Board (EPTB) Chairman Dr Amir Ahmed to facilitate its reopening. Members of the Hindu community had long been demanding for the temple to be opened. Pakistani Hindu community leader Surinder Kumar welcomed the decision and thanked the government for supporting the Hindu community.

    Made of granite and sandstone, the temple sits high on a sand dune in a congested, residential neighborhood. Over the years, the temple has fallen prey to neglect as a result of which the intricate carvings on the thick outside pillars have long faded or been scrubbed off by drug addicts. The sacred idols of Lord Shiva in the building have also been stolen or destroyed.

    According to Arab News, basic repair work on the temple is underway and a boundary wall has been constructed to mark the perimeters of the building. Doors have also been refitted near the prayer room. Officials said that complete restoration would take up to five years, for which UNESCO and the Karachi-based Aga Khan Foundation have been taken on board.

    On August 5, a formal opening ceremony would be held to mark the day Hindus celebrate the snake festival of Nag Panchami. Idols of Hindu deities will be transported to the temple from other temples in Pakistan and India for the ceremony.

    Earlier in July, an inauguration ceremony was carried out with several Hindu leaders present.

    Punjab is full of religious sites for both Hindus and Sikhs. Earlier, a gurdwara dating back 500 years in Sialkot was opened for Sikh pilgrims.

  • Firdous Jamal’s son Hamza Firdous defends father’s comments on Mahira Khan

    Firdous Jamal’s son Hamza Firdous defends father’s comments on Mahira Khan

    Recent comments by veteran actor Firdous Jamal on Mahira Khan have set social media ablaze and everyone, including members of the film fraternity, have something to say on the matter.

    In case you missed it, Jamal sb while appearing on Faysal Qureshi’s morning show Salaam Zindagi had remarked that Mahira is not “heroine stuff,” before proceeding to say that she is “a mediocre sort of a model, she’s not a good actress and not a heroine.”

    He didn’t end there. The 65-year-old continued, “She’s quite aged as well and we don’t have heroines at this age, they only play the characters of mothers.”

    Firdous’ outdated comments on one of Pakistan’s most successful actors sparked enrage on social media and many actors also called him out for belittling Mahira like this.

    Late Sunday night, Firdous Jamal’s son, Hamza Firdous, who is also an actor, took to Twitter to defend his father.

    Some of you might remember Hamza from O Rangreza. He played Tipu.

    He said that his father is a very successful man on his own and does not need to hold any grudges. He commented that people should not shove everything “under the rug of chauvinism and misogyny.” He concluded his statements saying that he has immense respect for Mahira and hopes that her film is a superhit.

    https://twitter.com/hamza_firdous/status/1155570641904525314?s=20
    https://twitter.com/hamza_firdous/status/1155571052183019520?s=20
    https://twitter.com/hamza_firdous/status/1155571984698413061?s=20
    https://twitter.com/hamza_firdous/status/1155572250843725824?s=20

    Following Hamza’s defense, Mahira’s makeup artist Babar Zaheer attacked Hamza and commented that the industry doesn’t need him.

    https://twitter.com/hamza_firdous/status/1155753313712914432?s=20
  • Mehwish Hayat pledges to promote hockey in Pakistan

    Mehwish Hayat pledges to promote hockey in Pakistan

    Award-winning actress Mehwish Hayat has vowed that she will work towards promoting Pakistan’s national sport, hockey.

    After a video of thirsty hockey players searching for water outside the stadium during the ongoing National Hockey Championship went viral, Mehwish took to Twitter to express her shock at the conditions of the players and called for the revival of the sport in Pakistan.

    The following day, she visited the Abdul Sattar Hockey Stadium in Karachi to promote the ongoing championship. Mehwish even tried her hand at the sport with the players.

    At the stadium, while speaking to the media, Mehwish expressed her disappointment on the conditions of the players and stadium in general. Mehwish said that more attention needs to paid to the sport and requested the government and Prime Minister Imran Khan to help the sport. She even urged the authorities to integrate sports into the school curriculum.

    Mehwish later shared her thoughts on Twitter as well and encouraged others to also support the game.

    Mehwish’s initiative gathered a lot of appreciation on social media and several other renowned personalities also spoke on the matter.

  • NAB deputy director, who arrested Zardari and Abbasi, ‘followed by suspicious car’

    NAB deputy director, who arrested Zardari and Abbasi, ‘followed by suspicious car’

    The vehicle of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Rawalpindi Deputy Director Asad Mehmood Janjua, who arrested former president Asif Ali Zardari and former prime minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, has been “chased by a suspicious car”.

    As per the details available with The Current, Islamabad police, in this regard, have lodged a First Information Report (FIR) against unknown people.

    According to the complaint lodged with the inspector general (IG) of the capital police by NAB officer Muhammad Saleem Khan, Janjua was driving back home after his official duty via Margalla Road when he noticed a suspicious car following him.

    “As he reached near F-9 Park at about 5:30 pm, he noticed a Toyota Vitz bearing registration number AAG-712 with tinted glasses following him. Feeling the situation, the NAB officer slowed down his car but the chaser kept on following. When he turned towards Marquees of E-11 on Margalla Road, the chaser also turned his vehicle and kept on following till he parked his car in front of a shop. The chaser hesitantly turned his car to a street, next to the shop,” the FIR read.

    The officer could not observe who was in the suspicious vehicle because of the tinted glasses. Suddenly, the suspicious vehicle disappeared from the scene, the complainant added, with the request to provide security to the NAB officer.

    The case has been filed at Islamabad’s Golra Shareef police station over the anti-corruption watchdog’s complaint against unidentified persons under sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

    Other than Zardari and Abbasi, investigators said, Janjua had also arrested the former president’s sister and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Faryal Talpur.

    Meanwhile, police have said that many activists of political parties could be rounded up with their top slot leadership, to hunt the chasers.

  • PML-N leaders misread WB report criticising their economic policies, attack PTI govt instead

    PML-N leaders misread WB report criticising their economic policies, attack PTI govt instead

    In a rather hilarious development, leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have misread a World Bank (WB) report criticising their government’s economic policies and have attacked the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) instead.

    According to a draft report by the WB, Pakistan’s budget has lost its credibility and the public finance management has further weakened.

    The Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) report, the final draft of which was shared with the Finance Ministry in June, contains findings that reflect the poor performance of the Finance Ministry and how it failed to uphold fiscal rules.

    The report was widely shared by PML-N leaders and supporters, who held the incumbent PTI government responsible for the mismanagement of the country’s economic affairs.

    The catch, however, is that the report assesses Pakistan’s public finance management system and an analysis of its annual budgets from 2015 to 2018 — a time period when the PML-N was in power.

    Twitterati were quick to point out the blunder following which PML-N leaders, including Vice President Maryam Nawaz, deleted their tweets.

    According to The Express Tribune, when compared with a similar assessment that the WB carried out in 2012, the country fared poorer on almost all indicators and seven key pillars.

    There were hardly two indicators where the score improved while on the other two the score remained unchanged. In 2012, the country had secured five A grades – the highest score – but in the 2019 assessment, there was not even a single indicator where it got an A.

    Pakistan lost the highest score on critical indicators like the classification of budget, comprehensiveness of budget information, transparency in inter-governmental fiscal operations, participation in budget process and predictability of direct budget support.

    The lowest score is D plus and D. In 2012, the country got only six Ds and D plus but the lowest score reached a staggering 13 in 2019, reflecting the extremely poor performance of the Finance Ministry from 2015 to 2018.

  • Pakistani film ‘Darling’ to screen at the prestigious Venice Film Festival

    Pakistani film ‘Darling’ to screen at the prestigious Venice Film Festival

    The Pakistani film industry may appear to be just about fun Eid releases but young, independent filmmakers are working hard to expand the industry and take it up a notch.

    Pakistani filmmaker Saim Sadiq’s Darling is on its’ way to becoming the first Pakistani film to be screened at the 76th edition of the prestigious Venice Film Festival. The oldest film festival, the Venice Film Festival is part of the ‘Big Three’ a term used for the three most prestigious film festivals in the world namely Cannes, Berlin and Venice.

    Set in a dance theatre in Lahore, Darling revolves around a young boy and a trans girl. Speaking exclusively to The Current, the film’s director said, “Darling is loosely based on my feature film in-development ‘Gulaab’ – both being an exploration of masculinity and femininity set in a highly sexualized erotic dance subculture that exists like an open secret in an otherwise repressive Pakistani society. It’s in equal parts a coming-of-age story, a queer celebration, and a love letter to the Bollywood dream.”

    The main cast of the film includes Abdullah Malik who plays Shani and Alina, a trans girl from Lahore who makes her acting debut with this film.

    The supporting cast of the film includes Nadia Afgan of Suno Chanda fame and Mehar Bano. Nadia will also be producing the film along with Mahak Jiwani. The film has been directed by Saim Sadiq, who is currently a student of Film Directing at Columbia University in New York. Mo Azmi, of Cake, was the Director of Photography.

    The world premiere of Darling will take place in Venice in September 2019.

  • 19th century abandoned Sikh temple to be reopened

    19th century abandoned Sikh temple to be reopened

    Following the Kartarpur Corridor initiative, the Pakistani government is playing an active role to restore abandoned religious sites in the country. Only recently, a Hindu Mandir was reopened in Sialkot after 72 years.

    Recent reports have revealed that The Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) is planning to restore and reopen the historical 19th century abandoned Gurdwara Chowa Sahib in Jhelum and has also unveiled a plan for it.

    The gurdwara, which is one of the most sacred Sikh temples, is situated at the northern edge of the majestic Rohtas Fort’s Talaqi gate near Punjab’s Jhelum city and dates back to 1834. Gurdwara Chowa Sahib means “Gurudwara of the exalted spring”, and it commemorates the site where Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikh religion, was popularly believed to have created a water spring.

    According to a Sikh legend, Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana were travelling in the region and had arrived at the site during hot summer in 1521. When Bhai Mardana told Guru Nanak that water was scarce in the area, Guru Nanak is said to have then struck the earth with his cane and moved a stone thereby revealing a natural spring. The water of the spring was considered to be so holy that Ranjit Singh would reportedly have it specially transported to him in Lahore. Singh had also commissioned the present-day structure of the Gurdwara in 1834.

    ETPB Secretary Shrines Imran Gondal said that the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee and Sikh leaders would perform the inauguration of the multi-million restoration project. However, did not specify a date.

  • Humaima Malick recounts being abused domestically

    Humaima Malick recounts being abused domestically

    Fatema Sohail’s account of being domestically abused by her husband actor-singer Mohsin Abbas Haider has sparked a much-needed debate on the practise which is so prevalent in Pakistan behind closed doors. Fatema, while speaking to the media, had shared that many women had come forward and recounted their ordeal of being domestically abused.

    One such person who has also opened up about being a victim of domestic violence is actor Humaima Malick. Humaima revealed that she was beaten almost to death multiple times and she feels ashamed that she did not stand up for herself earlier. The actor, however, did not name or shame anyone.

    Humaima was married to actor-director Shamoon Abbasi for a brief period before the couple parted ways.

    Previously Humaima’s sister, Dua Malik had come forward to support Fatema’s claims and said that she herself has witnessed Mohsin’s cruel behaviour towards his wife.

  • Till death do us part: Lahore woman kills boyfriend for marrying someone else

    Till death do us part: Lahore woman kills boyfriend for marrying someone else

    A young woman allegedly shot dead her boyfriend for marrying someone else in Lahore’s Raiwind area.

    As per details, the women, identified as Fiza, killed the deceased Muddasar in the street after chasing him on a motorcycle through the market area.

    The police, who have arrested the suspect, said that initial investigation revealed that Mudassar had promised to marry Fiza. Fiza, a divorcee, had convinced her parents for her second marriage. Meanwhile, Mudassar cheated on Fiza and married someone else which irked Fiza who then hatched a plan to kill him with the help of two other friends.

    On Tuesday, when Mudassar was going to market with his brother on a motorbike, an armed Fiza started chasing them with her accomplices. As Mudassar and his brother approached their home, Fiza opened fire on them. A bullet hit Mudasar in the chest killing him on the spot.

    The police have lodged a murder case against Fiza, who surrendered herself to the police along with the murder weapon.

  • VIDEO: Pakistani-American billionaire says Imran Khan ‘best thing to happen to Pakistan’

    VIDEO: Pakistani-American billionaire says Imran Khan ‘best thing to happen to Pakistan’

    Pakistani-American billionaire businessman Shahid Khan has said that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan is “the best thing to happen to Pakistan”.

    “I think he is greater than life and the best thing that has happened to Pakistan in at least my lifetime,” he said in a video doing rounds over the internet.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Earlier, Khan called on PM Imran at Pakistan House in Washington.

    According to reports, expressing pleasure to have met the premier, he said that the future of the country seemed bright and in safe hands under PM Imran’s leadership.

    Owner of Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL) and Fulham FC, Khan, as of May 2019, has a net worth of $6.8 billion. He is ranked 65th in the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans, and is overall the 224th wealthiest person in the world.

    He is also the richest person of Pakistani origin.