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Author: News Desk

  • Child actor Emaan Khan opens up about ‘being dark’ in the entertainment industry

    Child actor Emaan Khan opens up about ‘being dark’ in the entertainment industry

    Emaan Khan is currently winning hearts across Pakistan with her moving perforomance as Neha in the drama ‘Kuch Ankahi’.
    She was recently a guest on Fuchsia Magazine’s talk show where she opened up about being shamed for her skin color when she was in the early stages of her career.
    Khan recalled an instance when a director commented about her dark skin to her mother while she was auditioning.
    “When I came here I had to listen to a lot of hurtful comments about my complexion. My color is a bit dull. When I was young I had gone somewhere for an audition, so they called me in and then ask ‘Is this Eman?’ And my mother said ‘Yes’.
    “‘She’s so dark!’ they said right away. And I remember at that point tears came to my eyes.”
    Khan recalled that the people told her mother that they were looking for fair skinned people for this project, and didn’t want people like her.
    Khan further mentioned how her mother stood up for her at that point:
    ‘I went outside and stood there. From inside, I could hear my mother saying ‘From now onwards, Emaan will never work with you’. And this has happened. Recently, they called me again and my mother refused to allow them to work with me again.”
    Khan said that she will never be ashamed of her own skin color because she likes it so much. She also revealed how makeup artists will try to encourage her to lighten her skin for shoots.
    “They would say to me ‘Tum na thori white base use kya karo’ And I would simply tell them that this is my complexion and this is the base I will keep using. I don’t need any suggestions from you. I know what exactly I have to do here.”
    Khan said directors still do taunt her about not having fair skin, but she refuses to work in the same project and leaves, and finds better opportunities because of these insults.

    Listen to the complete interview here:

  • Celebrities defend Sami Khan after misbehavior on ‘The Fourth Umpire Show’

    Celebrities defend Sami Khan after misbehavior on ‘The Fourth Umpire Show’

    Actor Sami Khan was trending on Twitter yesterday when a clip of his appearance at “The Fourth Umpire”.

    The hosts of the comedy show used inappropriate expressions about Khan’s career. In the clip shared by Galaxy Lollywood, the actor can be seen being asked about his film career, pay grade and other questions that are deemed insulting

    As this clip went viral, celebrities came to defend Khan and criticized the hosts of ‘The Fourth Umpire’ for their cruel behavior.


    Muneeb Butt defended Khan as an “amazing artist and phenomenal actor” and called out the host Sheikh Qasim for his misbehavior

    “Sami bhai is an amazing artist and a phenomenal actor no one has a right to insult him like this Strongly condemn this act of sheikh Qasim he should apologise!”

    Actresses Ayesha Omar and Armeena Khan also came to Khan’s defense, by pointing out that the clip was not funny at all and was infact, quite uncomfortable to watch.

    “This was so uncomfortable to watch. @sami_khan.official is a fabulous actor and one of the most respectful, committed, professional and joyful people to work with and bravo to him for handling this with so much grace. degradating your guests or anyone else is not funny at all. If he wasn’t successful, he wouldn’t be a guest in their show” wrote Ayesha Omar.

    Armeena Khan said “So rude and not funny at all. Sami is a phenomenal actor, incredibly popular within the fraternity, a true professional. A gentleman and one of my fav co-stars. He maintained his composure despite all the insults thrown at him here. You’re the best Sami!”

    Actor Ghana Ali shared that Khan had many succesful shows in the past, and because he wasn’t currently the most popular actor doesn’t mean he won’t ever be.

    “Is this man ok? there are so many hit projects of his , if Sami bhai dosent have successful career then who does he’s consistently on top from years hes an amazing actor! And extremely humble , how can they even allow him to talk to him like that … that’s a shame”

    Sami Khan addressed the controversy on his Instagram stories last night where he shared that success and failure was not in the hands of people, but rather in the hands of God.

  • Customers express frustration over inability to pay for Netflix with Islamic Cards while being charged Sood for late payments

    Customers express frustration over inability to pay for Netflix with Islamic Cards while being charged Sood for late payments

    A Faysal Bank customer expressed his discontent with the bank on Facebook after his credit card was converted into a shariah-compliant card called “Noor Islamic Card”. The customer complained that he is unable to make transactions with Netflix or use the card for any “unislamic” purposes.

    He posted on Facebook, saying, “Just converted my Faysal Bank Credit into Noor Islamic Card. Now I can’t use the card on Netflix, bcoz they have become Islamic, and they cannot allow their customers to use their card on any unislamic things.”

    Other users also commented on the post, with one user pointing out that the bank still charges interest, which they refer to as Musawah payment, if a bill is not paid on time. Another user claimed that their conventional credit card was converted into a Noor Islamic Card without their consent and the bank’s response to their complaint was unsatisfactory.

    Many users expressed their frustration with the bank’s service, with some even stating that they would be closing their Faysal Islamic Card account due to the Netflix payment issue. One user also pointed out that Meezan Bank has the same policy regarding Netflix transactions.

    Another user shared their experience, stating that their Faysal Bank card did not work when they tried to buy movie tickets and food at the bank’s food court on the same day that their card was converted from a conventional card to an Islamic one. It was only then that they realized that their card had been converted.

    The conversion of conventional credit cards into shariah-compliant cards is a growing trend in Pakistan’s banking sector. While this is seen as a positive move by some customers, others are skeptical of the benefits and limitations of shariah compliant cards.

  • ‘Kapray istari karne ke liye frying pan bhi nahin deeya,’ Asad Umar jokes after being released from jail

    ‘Kapray istari karne ke liye frying pan bhi nahin deeya,’ Asad Umar jokes after being released from jail

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Asad Umar has been released from Rajanpur District Jail after he voluntarily got arrested as part of his party’s Jail Bharo Tehreek (voluntary arrest movement).

    After the release, Umar praised party workers for participating in the movement.

    In another tweet, he took a jibe at Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senior Vice-President Maryam Nawaz, joking that jail officials did not provide him with a frying pan to iron his clothes.

    Several other prominent leaders also got released from jail including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Senator Azam Swati and Zulfi Bukhari.

    Swati, after being released from Raheem Yar Khan district jail, said that “political engineering should stop now”. 

    PTI’s Zulfi Bukhari and Fayyaz ul Hassan Chauhan were released from Sargodha jail, while former Punjab Governor Umar Sarfaraz Cheema, Azam Khan Niazi, Sadaqat Abbasi, Ejaz Khan and others were also among the released PTI workers.

    The movement had been announced by PTI Chairman Imran Khan in the wake of the coalition government’s spree of arrests of key PTI leaders. However, after the Supreme Court’s verdict about the elections, the PTI chief called off the movement.

    LHC orders release of arrested PTI leaders during Jail Bharo Tehreek

    Earlier, Lahore High Court (LHC) ordered the release of the arrested leaders of PTI during Jail Bharo Tehreek.

    Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh issued the order on the application of Fawad Chaudhry. The court suspended the detention orders of Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Asad Umar and other party leaders..

    The court also asked the parties, including the Punjab government, to respond on March 7.

    It is pertinent to mention here, that PTI leaders Shah Mahmood, Asad Umar and other leaders and activists were arrested from Lahore and transferred to other jails in the province.

  • City in Sindh goes viral for being ‘super-clean’, where Muslim, Hindu residents clean up together

    A few days ago, Mithi, a city in Sindh, went viral on Twitter for its clean roads and responsible citizens who have kept their surroundings neat.

    “Zero litter or garbage This is one of the streets within Mithi City. The picture is captured at 4:00 PM, after the rush hours. The usual cleaning happens once a day, early in the morning. Now compare it to urban cities Diff in civic sense between Jahil log & parhe likhe log”

    Soon, other residents of the city spoke up and confirmed that the people of this area ensure that Mithi remains clean.

    https://twitter.com/Smahaseghani/status/1631571150458216449?s=20

    Activist and painter Zulkfiqar Bhutto commented that he had also visited Mithi and regarded it as ‘the cleanest city I’ve ever seen in Pakistan’.

    Mithi is a small town located near Tharparker, Sindh, and is also known as the only place where 80% of the population comprises of Hindus.

    The area is known for the strong interfaith harmony between Muslims and Hindus, as Dawn writer Hassan Raza noted that in this town, Muslims will not slaughter cows out of respect for Hindus, and Hindus will not hold any marriage ceremonies or celebrations during the month of Muharram.


    “In our village, Hindus and Muslims have been living together for decades and there has not been a single day, when I have seen a religious conflict. No loud speaker is used for Azaan at the time when Hindus are worshiping in their temple, and no bells are rung when it is time for namaz. Nobody eats in public when it is Ramazan and Holi is played by every member of the village.”


    BBC Urdu also ran a story in 2021 about how in Mithi, both Hindus and Muslims come together to celebrate the Holi festival.

  • Pakistan receives $500m in first installment of $1.3 billion Chinese loan

    Pakistan receives $500m in first installment of $1.3 billion Chinese loan

    On Friday, Pakistan’s Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced that the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has approved a facility of $1.3 billion, of which the first installment of $500 million has been received by the State Bank of Pakistan. The facility is expected to be disbursed in three installments and will help increase Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves.

    The country has been facing economic challenges due to high inflation, a widening current account deficit, depreciating currency, and sliding forex reserves. As of February 24, foreign exchange reserves were at $3.8 billion, which is just enough for less than a month of imports.

    The finance minister also announced that China has renewed a facility under which Pakistan expects an additional inflow of $500 million in the next few days. The government returned $6.5 billion of foreign debt during the current fiscal year, and formalities with ICBC were completed to renew the facility.

  • Weekly inflation in Pakistan jumps to 41.07% due to edible oil, sugar prices

    Weekly inflation in Pakistan jumps to 41.07% due to edible oil, sugar prices

    According to data provided by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday, edible oil, sugar, and vegetables helped drive the weekly inflation up to 41.07 percent on an annual basis.

    Sensitive Price Index (SPI) measurements of short-term inflation were still on the high side and would go up much more once customers start to feel the full effects of increased electricity tariffs.

    The cost of bananas, chicken, sugar, cooking oil, gas, and cigarettes increased for the week ending March 2, despite a 0.30 percent weekly decline in inflation.

    Of the 51 items, 32 saw price increases, nine saw price decreases, and 10 witnessed no change in price.

    The items whose prices rose the greatest during the reviewed week in comparison to the same week last year were: onions (311.17 per cent), cigarettes (165.86 per cent), gas charges for Q1 (108.38 per cent), diesel (93.82 per cent), petrol (77.89 per cent), eggs (77.83 per cent), rice irri-6/9 (76.96 per cent), rice basmati broken (75.55 per cent), pulse moong (73.30 per cent), bananas (72.66 per cent), chicken (64.70 per cent) and tea Lipton (64.53 per cent).

    Moreover, the highest year-on-year fall was recorded in the prices of tomatoes (56.29 per cent), chillies powdered (7.42 per cent).

    The prices of bananas (7.34 per cent), long cloth (3.44 per cent), energy saver (3.33 per cent), 1Kg vegetable ghee (2.48 per cent), gur (2.03 per cent), cooked daal (1.87 per cent), Lipton tea (1.79 per cent), match box (1.66 per cent), lawn printed (1.52 per cent), 5-litre cooking oil (1.45 per cent), and sugar (1.07 per cent) experienced the biggest week-on-week increase.

    On the other hand, the prices of onions (13.24 per cent), eggs (6.11 per cent), garlic (4.24 per cent), chicken (2.00 per cent), tomatoes (0.59 per cent), gram pulse (0.38 per cent), and potatoes (0.33 per cent) decreased compared to the previous week. However, LPG (1.84 per cent) and petrol (1.80 per cent) saw an increase in prices.

    The government, under the IMF’s conditions, has been implementing strict measures to cool the economy and curb inflation. The policy rate increase and the general sales tax increase from 17 per cent to 18 per cent are expected to further increase the retail price of consumer goods.

    To generate revenue and bridge the fiscal deficit, the government has already taken several measures, including adopting a market-based exchange rate, increasing fuel and power tariffs, withdrawing subsidies, and imposing more taxes.

    As a result of these measures, the government has revised its annual inflation rate projection from 26 per cent to 31 per cent.

  • Ali Haider Zaidi says will leave PTI if it allies with Zardari

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Sindh President Ali Haider Zaidi said that he will leave his party and politics altogether if Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman and former President Asif Ali Zardari allies with the party.

    In a wide-ranging podcast with Shehzad Ghias Shaikh, the former minister said, “Mei chordoga PTI, mei polticis bhi chordoga“(I will leave PTI, I will even leave politics).

    Zaidi said that saying Karachi is being ruled by Zardari’s “mafia”.

    When asked why PTI did not deliver on its promises to Karachi when Imran Khan was in power, the PTI leader was of the view that circumstances were different at the time, however, he admitted that the party could’ve done more.

    He also added that “Imran Khan is a figure whom everybody wants to be close with.”

    Answering Shehzad’s question about why Imran Khan didn’t visit the victims’ families of the 2020 PIA plane crash in Karachi, Zaidi said that he was overburned at the time.

    It is pertinent to mention that very few visits have been made by the-then prime minister Imran Khan to Karachi.

    Earlier this year, PTI suffered a major setback in Sindh local body elections when PTI Karachi Chapter President and Sindh Assembly lawmaker Khurram Sher Zaman suffered defeat in UC XI of Sadar Town for his nomination for Karachi mayor slot to the PPP candidate.

  • Millions at risk of starvation in Pakistan due to economic crisis and floods: WFP

    Millions at risk of starvation in Pakistan due to economic crisis and floods: WFP

    Pakistan is currently facing an alarming economic crisis that poses a risk of defaulting on its debt. The country has also been hit hard by catastrophic floods in 2022 that have affected nearly a third of the country, causing a significant increase in food and fuel prices, which many people cannot afford.

    The situation is expected to worsen, with estimates from the World Food Programme indicating that over 5 million people will be at risk of famine-level hunger by the end of March, as per NPR’s official reports.

    Chris Kaye, the Pakistan country director, describes the situation as frightening, especially when compared to what’s happening next door in Afghanistan. According to NPR’s Diaa Hadid, the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan has escalated out of control since the Taliban took over, with over 6 million people on the brink of famine.

    Kaye believes that the food crisis in Pakistan is not far off from what is happening in Afghanistan in terms of the absolute number of people affected. The hunger crisis has even reached prosperous areas where the poor have typically sought work.

    The situation demands immediate action to prevent a large-scale famine in the region, and the international community must come together to support Pakistan and alleviate the suffering of millions of people facing hunger and malnutrition.

  • FIR filed against Gauri Khan over purchase of Lucknow property

    FIR filed against Gauri Khan over purchase of Lucknow property

    An FIR has been filed against Gauri Khan, wife of Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan, in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow.
    Khan is a well-known interior designer who has worked with prominent celebrities like Farah Khan, Ranbir Kapoor and Siddharth Malhotra.


    The FIR was filed under Section 409 of the Indian penal Code which pertains to breach of trust, and was registered with the Sushant Golf City police in Lucknow.
    The complaint was filed by Kirat Jaswant Shah, a resident of Mumbai, who said that he had paid the entire amount for a flat, which was approximately Rs86 lakhs, but had not recieved it. The flat in question is located in the Tulsiani Golf View project in the Sushant Golf City area of Lucknow.
    Along with Khan, who is the brand ambassador for the housing project, other people named in the FIR include Managing Director of Tulsiyani Construction and Development Limited, Anil Kumar Tulsiyana and the director Mahesh Tulsiyana.