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Author: News Desk

  • Ayesha Omar shares advice for women who wish to enter the industry

    Actor and singer Ayesha Omar was a guest on UrduFlix’s “The Shoaib Akhtar Show” where she offered advice to young women who wanted to form a career in the entertainment industry.

    Omar stressed that the most essential tip for women to remember is that if they’ve shifted to a new city, it is safer to live in an apartment building rather than a house:
    “I was just giving this advice to a girl who had shifted to Karachi and was an actor. She was terrified because someone had smashed the windows of her car outside her house. I told her it’s essential that if she’s living alone, she lives in an apartment rather than a house. This is for all women who are divorced, or moving out of their parents homes and want to live independently, it’s the safest thing for them to live in apartment buildings. Given the realities of this country, we have to adjust to it. You can’t change them. You have to be careful, you can’t fight everything.”


    The second tip Omar revealed was to learn to be independent, and stop relying on other people to complete your tasks:


    “Take care of your health and your expenses on your own. You cannot expect that you’ll find help out there. It’s your body and your life so take care of it. I take care of my own food, clothes and makeup wherever I go, and there is a lot of joy in doing so. You’re less stressed out as well… I’ve learned that if there are 20 people whom you keep requesting to do your work, those 20 people won’t do it. So you must conserve your energy and do things on your own.”


    Sanam Jung was also a guest along side Omar, and she also told aspiring actors to remember not to reveal your personal struggles to people in the industry.


    “Never share your home issues or financial problems with anyone in the industry, because they take advantage and they will take you for granted.They will know how desperate you are for work, so they’ll call you at inappropriate hours,” she said.

    Watch the complete interview here:

  • Heartwarming video shows IBA students hosting farewell party for hostel cook

    Heartwarming video shows IBA students hosting farewell party for hostel cook

    A moving video of a hostel cook receiving a farewell party from students at IBA has been doing the rounds on social media.

    Zakir Lala, who was IBA’s oldest working employee, and had worked there for over 31 years, was given a farewell by students at the end of his tenure.

    https://twitter.com/idrikki541/status/1630915796766531584?s=20

    Speaking to BBC Urdu about why they chose to say goodbye with a grand gesture, one student revealed that Lala had taken care of them when they were alone in university.
    “Zakir Lala is one of the oldest employees of our hostel and this was the least that we could do for him,” he said.
    Lala revealed that he was moved and grateful for the love the students had showered on him.
    “I did not expect the amount of respect these children had shown me. I am very grateful to God that these students have sent their prayers,” he remarked.

    Twitter users have called this a “beautiful tribute” and a thoughtful way to celebrate Zakir Lala’s service.

    https://twitter.com/xtrracover/status/1631888669203222529?s=20

  • Pakistani rupee gains against US dollar amidst hopes for IMF deal

    Pakistani rupee gains against US dollar amidst hopes for IMF deal

    Pakistani rupee on Monday gained against the US dollar due to two key developments: the country secured $500 million from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and there was optimism around a potential deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

    During intraday trading, the local currency witnessed an increase of Rs3.46 against the greenback in the interbank market, with the exchange rate at around 11:45 pm being Rs275.

    However, last week the rupee made even greater gains against the US dollar. The State Bank of Pakistan reported a 2.38 per cent appreciation, equivalent to Rs6.63, in the interbank market, with the local unit closing at Rs278.46 on Friday.

    According to the General Secretary of the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP), Zafar Paracha, the hype around the earlier dollar appreciation was caused by the country’s financial institutions and international players manipulating rates.

    Paracha noted that the destabilized currency damages Pakistan’s image and discourages foreign direct investment and local investors. He anticipated that with the IMF agreement and inflows from friendly countries, the dollar should remain in the range of Rs260 to Rs265.

    He also highlighted that Pakistan’s political condition has been impacting the dollar rates, which is a new phenomenon. He mentioned that increasing Pakistan’s tax base, not tax rates, is crucial, and the government should reduce expenditures and subsidies given to elites.

    According to Geo, there is hope for a deal with the IMF, with a government official expressing optimism about striking a deal, and another official expecting to reach a staff-level agreement with the IMF in the coming days, although the Fund has not provided a timeframe for finalizing the agreement.

  • Constabulary personnel martyred in Balochistan attack

    Constabulary personnel martyred in Balochistan attack

    A bombing has left at least nine personnel of the Balochistan Constabulary (BC) martyred and 13 people wounded in Bolan, Balochistan on Monday morning.

    According to media reports, preliminary evidence suggests that the blast was a suicide attack. However, the exact nature will be disclosed after a thorough investigation.

    So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

    BC is a department of the provincial police force that provides security at important events and in sensitive areas, including jails.

    Pakistan is dealing with a rapid rise in terror attacks since talks with the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) broke down in November last year.

    Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo has condemned the attack on Balochistan Constabulary and expressed grief.

    This is a developing story.

  • ‘Wazaarat rakhna mushkil hoga’: Bilawal warns of leaving PDM

    ‘Wazaarat rakhna mushkil hoga’: Bilawal warns of leaving PDM

    Pakistan People Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said on Sunday that it will be difficult for his party to remain part of the federal government if the center does not fulfil its promises of giving relief to flood victims of Sindh.

    Addressing a ceremony at the inauguration of Seed Subsidy programme for flood-affected farmers in Karachi on Sunday, Bilawal said, “Prime Minister [Shehbaz Sharif] and the federal government made promises for the flood victims and those promises and announcements need to be fulfilled. I will be talking to the premier; we [will] take up this issue in the National Assembly.”

    “Wherever these promises were made need to fulfilled, otherwise it will be very difficult for us [PPP] to continue working in the ministry,” added Bilawal.

    However, PPP Co-Chairperson Asif Ali-Zardari has said that they stand with the Shehbaz-led government.

    It is pertinent to mention here that PPP is part of the federal coalition government with Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari holding the Foreign Minister slot while among other portfolios, that of the State Ministry for the same also being held by the party’s Hina Rabbani Khar.

  • Basic necessity becomes luxury in Quetta: Flour shortage drives prices up to Rs2,800 per 20kg bag

    Basic necessity becomes luxury in Quetta: Flour shortage drives prices up to Rs2,800 per 20kg bag

    In Balochistan’s capital of Quetta, a shortage of flour has led to skyrocketing prices for 20kg bags of the commodity. According to reports, profiteers are taking advantage of the situation and selling flour bags for between Rs2,640 to Rs2,800 in Quetta and surrounding areas.

    The residents of Quetta are frustrated that they are unable to obtain flour at the government’s fixed rate and are instead forced to pay an excessive price. They are calling on the provincial government to take action against the profiteers and ensure the availability of flour.

    According to ARY News, the President of Flour Mills Association Balochistan, Nasir Agha, has also weighed in on the crisis. He stated that the supply of wheat to the mills has been suspended for the last ten days, and he blamed the incompetence of the Balochistan food department for the current situation.

    With prices for flour continuing to rise, it remains to be seen how the provincial government will respond to the demands of the residents and the Flour Mills Association.

  • Tributes pour in for screen legend Qavi Khan

    Tributes pour in for screen legend Qavi Khan

    On Sunday night, Qavi Khan breathed his last, bringing an end to a long and celebrated career in film and television. The veteran actor who had been regarded as one of the most celebrated performers in the Pakistani entertainment industry, had acted in more than 200 films and dozens of drama serials. He was a fan favourite, gracing screens across the country for many decades in iconic dramas like ‘Aangan’ and ‘Ishq Jalebli’.
    Tributes are pouring in from celebrities and fans alike. Actors who had worked with Khan shared their grief on social media and also shed light on the experience they had while performing with him.

    Actor Nadia Jamil shared a video clip of Khan and a picture of them together, remembering Khan for “his words, his kindness, his work, his talent and his heart.”

    Singer and actor Farhan Saeed termed the actor as an irreplaceable part of the television industry

    Actor Sophia Mirza shared a clip of her first drama serial with Khan, and praised him for being an “academy for actors.”

    Actor Sami Khan sent a tribute to Khan as a ‘great human being’

    Actor Adnan Siddiqui remembered Khan as someone whose ‘stature in the industry will remain unmatched’.

  • Aurat March not allowed to take place at same venue as Haya March, security to be withdrawn if location not changed, warns administration

    Aurat March not allowed to take place at same venue as Haya March, security to be withdrawn if location not changed, warns administration

    Aurat March, scheduled to take place on March 8 to protest injustices against women and minorities has been denied permission to hold a public rally by Deputy Commissioner (DC) Rafia Haider.

    While talking exclusively to The Current, activist and one of the volunteers of Aurat March, Leena Ghani, said that they had applied for a Non-Objection Certificate (NOC) on February 13 for the march to be held on the decided date. However, the administration backed out at the last moment.

    “At the time, in a meeting with deputy commissioner Rafia, she assured us. However, later she sent a rejection letter,” Ghani revealed.

    She said that in the letter, the administration has also banned them from gathering at Lahore Press Club, from where the march typically starts every year.

    About the meeting they had with Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Operations on Friday, she mentioned that they kept on insisting on changing Aurat March venue. “It seems like they have promised Nasir Bagh to Haya March organisers for a gathering, that’s why they want us to pressurise now.”

    She also added that police have said that security won’t be provided if they don’t change the venue. However, the organisers remained adamant that security should be provided regardless of the fact that where they want to protest.

    Moreover, she mentioned that NOC is just a formality, and in the past, a verbal agreement used to take place.

    “NOC is not needed in order to exercise your constitutional right to march,” said Ghani.

    Now, she said that they are going to move Lahore High Court (LHC) to challenge the decision.

    Sabahat Rizvi challenges denial of NOC to Aurat March

    Earlier, the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) Secretary Sabahat Rizvi challenged the decision of DC Haider.

    The development took place after DC’s decision was condemned and criticised by organisations including the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).

    Many people have argued that it is an attempt to suppress women’s voices and prevent them from exercising their constitutional rights.

    ‘We will march’: Aurat March determined despite NOC denial

    NOC was denied on the grounds of “security concerns, controversial banners and posters, strong reservations by the general public and religious organisations and the likelihood of clashes with members of Jamaat-i-Islami’s Haya March.”

    Reacting to the denial of the NOC, organisers have remained adamant that they will march on the decided date as they don’t require a NOC to exercise their constitutional rights.

    “Women, khawaja sara community, transgender persons, gender non-conforming people, and allies of the Aurat March have the right to assembly under Article 16 of the Constitution of Pakistan,” they said.

    They highlighted that “large crowds are allowed to gather for PSL, but a peaceful gathering of women and gender minorities is being silenced and denied their constitutional right to assembly.”

    They added the administration has forgotten that the courts have already upheld their right to hold Aurat March in 2020. 

    It is not the first time that the city’s authorities have imposed such a restriction. Last year, the organisers in Lahore had been urged to cancel the rally over safety concerns. The march was also arbitrarily cut short by the district administration despite being given permission.

  • In Bannistan, slaps get more praises than hugs

    Bannistan: the name that keeps circulating every now and then on social media, because it defines what it means to be a resident of Pakistan.


    In an era of inflation, robberies, the never ending rise of lynch mobs and rape cases, rather than looking for ways to encourage joy and laughter, we’ve pointed our pitchforks towards anything and anyone celebrating to their own beat. Whether it is women dancing in the streets, a bride dancing the night away on her wedding, the most simplest forms of affection and love will irk and anger us because after all, the most important rule in the land of Bannistan is to never let joy prevail.


    In the darkest times of humanity, it is our films and dramas that have sustained us and provided us with a glimmer of joy. Like when the Covid-19 pandemic shut down our lifestyles, we turned to films and movies to cope with the fear of surviving this deadly disease. Another poignant example is shown in the documentary ‘The Romantics’ when Aditya Chopra recalls how when there were a few weeks left before the release of his rom-com ‘Rab Nay Banadi Jodi’, the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai took place which wrecked destruction and fear across India. Terrified of the anticipated backlash, Chopra narrated how despite many of his colleagues insisting him to push the film’s release forward, he refused. Because as he declared: this was a more critical time than ever that people had a reason to find joy.


    Films aren’t just a form of entertainment, but a powerful medium to give solace to those struggling to find joy. It is also a powerful tool that can reach across masses beyond than politicians to spread messages about social issues. In this time more than ever, we need our films to teach empathy and love to their audiences, but the rules are completely opposite in the land of Bannistan. Because here, what gets the most ratings is divorces, crying bahus, slaps, incest and anything that involves fear and oppression.


    A scene from a Pakistani drama ‘Tere Bin’ has been going viral since yesterday because it featured a couple sleeping in the same bed together, along with the caption “Censor board is sleeping?” Because in the land of Bannistan, nothing makes us clutch our pearls more than a man and a woman being happy with each other.


    Mind you, this is the first time this drama began circulating widely among national discourse for literally a five minute scene where the two are soundly sleeping next to each other, but several other instances of violence depicted in the same drama had not received the same amount of rage. In the last 30 episodes of the same show, we watch a woman being forcibly married to her cousin, placed under house arrest and barred from meeting her foster parents, slapped by her fiance, slapped by her mother in law, tried to commit suicide. Did you ever hear about such scenes? Nope, because this consistent oppression and cruel manner of stamping out joy is what keeps Pakistanis happy. We hate joy. We hate watching women in consensual, happy relationships.
    What is a tragedy in this mess is this limited, but moving scene from Tere Bin is just a drop in the thousands of dramas Pakistanis celebrate and champion to promote family values everyday, which are littered with misogynist messages and scenes depicting violence and abuse.


    Our censor board sent several notices to ‘Dil Na Umeed Tou Nahi’ because apparently, it is a sin to depict how vulnerable children from lower class families are easy targets for sex trafficking, but a drama like ‘Mere Pass Tum Ho’ get’s a theatrical screening across Pakistan because it shows us for who we really are, a women-hating nation whose biggest nightmare is a woman getting financially independent and wanting a comfortable lifestyle. Any time there has been an attempt to tell moving stories that championed voices of the oppressed, or tried to encourage dialogues about empathy or love, we stamp it out because it’s alien to us. Label them as ‘un-islamic’ and vulgar because we’re a nation of soul suckers, who can’t thrive properly unless we’re watching the misery of others before us.


    It’s imperative now more than ever that we re-think the success formulae of our dramas and movies, especially the kind of messages they are sending to their audiences. Because if a five minute scene featuring a brief intimate moment between a couple is enough to create a national storm, what does it reveal about the way men and women view each other in Pakistan. Pakistani women deserve better stories than what Pakistani audiences are providing them. Our younger generation doesn’t deserve to grow up knowing that a happy couple is a sinful couple, but should remember that like Chopra said, it’s essential that in times of tragedy we try to look for ways to uplift each other.

  • ‘Dekha mein kitna smile karti hoon’: Jaya Bachchan’s interaction with the press goes viral

    ‘Dekha mein kitna smile karti hoon’: Jaya Bachchan’s interaction with the press goes viral

    Veteran actress and politician Jaya Bachchan wouldn’t consider celebrity photographers to be her best friends, as in the past few years she has had a few altercations with them when they tried to approach her at events.
    However, lag raha tha bahaar agayi when Bachchan pleasantly posed for photos with two other women and cheekily remarked, “dekha mein kitna smile karti hoon.”

    Since yesterday, this clip has gone viral on Twitter with users calling Bachchan an icon for her hilarious interaction with a photographer.


    Same with us

    Perhaps the most iconic moment of this entire interaction

    Truly the GOAT