In a surprise move, India has invited Pakistan’s Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to attend an upcoming meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) scheduled to be held in Goa in May, The Indian Express has reported.
The invitation to the meeting of SCO ministers has been sent by the office of S Jaishankar, the Minister for External Affairs and has been forwarded by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.
Were Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to accept the invitation, the visit would mark the first visit of a Foreign Minister to India in 12 years. The last minister to visit the neighbouring country was Hina Rabbani Khar who travelled to India in July 2011.
The unexpected development comes a few weeks after Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif expressed hope that relations between the two arch rivals will improve. In an interview with a UAE-based media outlet, the Pakistani Premier asked for “sincere and serious” talks with India.
The SCO moot in Goa will also be attended by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
A woman is suing Mike Tyson boxer for alleged violently raping her inside a limo after the two met at a popular Albany nightclub in the early 1990s.
The woman, who has asked courts to keep her name secret, filed the suit in early January under a temporary New York state law allowing victims of sexual assault to seek civil damages regardless of the statute of limitations.
She is seeking $5 million in damages, stating that she is suffering from physical, psychological and emotional injury since she was assaulted by the boxer. She said to the court that she ran into Tyson at a local hotspot then called “Septembers” and later got into his limo after he offered to pick up her friend and take the two of them to a party. She claimed that the boxer immediately started touching her and trying to kiss her.
“I told him no several times and asked him to stop, but he continued to attack me,” the woman said. “He then pulled my pants off and violently raped me.” Tyson spent three years in jail beginning in 1992 after being found guilty of raping model Desiree Washington, who was 18 at the time. Tyson, considered one of the greatest in the ring, has consistently ran into trouble during his career.
It is not clear in the affidavit at which date Tyson allegedly raped the woman, neither is it clear whether Tyson’s driver was inside the car or the car was parked. Meanwhile, the legendary boxer remains tight-lipped and has not commented publicly on the suit.
There are few performances on screen that remain etched in our minds even decades later, because of how well the actor was able to make the audience feel for the plight of his character. Fawad Khan has had limited roles in the entertainment industry, but with the few characters he has portrayed on screen like Maula Jatt from The Legend of Maula Jatt, Ashar from Humsafar, or even Rahul from Kapoor and Sons, his dedication and talent has always shined through. When this twitter user asked his followers to decide which performance by an actor is among the best, Fawad Khan was one of the few desi actors to be trending on the list. Users cited his performance in Kapoor and Sons to be one of the best one’s they’ve ever seen.
One user explained how well this single conversation captured the dynamics of a toxic family so well “The way this movie captures the dynamics of a dysfunctional family, relationships, impact of past events on the present and the different ways in which people cope with loss and grief. And this scene specifically hits home with an argument escalating so quickly.”
The way this movie captures the dynamics of a dysfunctional family, relationships, impact of past events on the present and the different ways in which people cope with loss and grief. And this scene specifically hits home with an argument escalating so quickly. https://t.co/XY7rJJXAUS
Another user cited this as their favorite scene because of how it demonstrated the way parents can bring up your past in any argument. “The way desi families can be so brutal bringing up your past at any given point and the way Kapoor & Sons displays it exactly how it is.”
the way desi families can be so brutal bringing up your past at any given point and the way Kapoor & Sons displays it exactly how it is https://t.co/dOFt5c3rcr
Kapoor and Sons released in 2016 to resounding reviews. The film is about a dysfunctional family where after the grandfather Amarjeet Kapoor (played by Rishi Kapoor) is admitted to hospital, his grandsons, the famous writer Rahul (played by Fawad Khan) and bartender Arjun (played by Sidharth Malhotra) decide to come back home to spend time with their parents. When the family is back home, old wounds and the appearance of a new girl threaten to rip the family apart.After Fawad Khan, the most popular male performer who was getting accolades on Twitter was Shah Rukh Khan for his performance in both “My name is Khan” and “Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Ghum”.
Rapper Doja Cat appeared at the Paris Fashion Week in an unusual outfit, covered head to toe in red paint and plastered with red swarovski crystals. Celebrity make up artist Pat Mcgrath, who had helped with Doja Cat’s makeup, shared the behind the scenes look on Instagram where she shared that the look took up 5 hours for hand-applied 30,000 swarovski crystals, and was inspired by Dante’s ‘Inferno”
The singer’s look sparked a meme fest on twitter, with users coming up with some amazing memes. Like this user was reminded of popular drink Rooh Afza waiting for Ramzam to begin.
A bride in India called off her wedding after her groom failed at a basic mathematics test. Rita Singh of Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh, called off her wedding after the groom failed to count a few Rs 10 rupee notes.
The incident happened after the girl’s family was informed about the groom’s behaviour by the officiating priest. The moment the family became aware of the groom’s peculiar behaviour, they decided to test him.
He was given 30 notes of Rs. 10 and told to count them. However, he failed to complete the task.
For the bride, that was the deciding factor. The 21-year-old walked out of the ceremony, calling off the marriage.
The exchange companies have decided to stop artificially keeping Pakistani rupee (PKR) overvalued against US dollar in the open market and let the rupee-dollar exchange rate depreciate to its actual value.
Pakistani rupee may steadily lose value until it reaches the level of the grey market in a few days, according to reports.
The black market price of local currency is currently between Rs250 and Rs260 per US dollar, although traders had artificially kept the rate at Rs238 till Tuesday.
“The association has decided to remove cap on rupee-dollar exchange rate,” Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP) President Malik Bostan said in audio and video messages after chairing a zoom meeting on Tuesday.
“The move would help eliminate black currency markets, increase flow of foreign currencies to the dealers and available to public (for international travelling, education and hospital fees and etc.”
He said that in the interest of the country, traders voluntarily opted to restrict the exchange rate. But the choice led to an underground market for cash that seemed to be more detrimental to the country.
“People were buying dollars from open market (at Rs238) and selling in black market (at Rs250-260), making it a business to mint profit,” he said, adding no one was coming to the dealers’ counters to sell foreign currency which resulted into drying up supplies on the other hand.
According to ECAP General Secretary Zafar Paracha, the decision to abolish the exchange rate ceiling will aid in the eradication of the black market and restore the inflow of foreign money from the illicit system into the legitimate one.
Additionally, the government has been urged by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to relinquish control over the rupee-dollar exchange rate in the interbank market and allow market forces to decide the rate while taking the demand and supply of US dollars into account.
Accordingly, it is anticipated that the local currency would also reach Rs250-260 in the interbank market as compared to the US dollar.
Pakistan technically has three currency markets, including the interbank, open, and black markets. As a result, each of the three markets is providing a different rate.
The black currency market was formed after Finance Minister Ishaq Dar tried to keep the currency artificially overvalued at Rs180–200 to the US dollar after returning to the ministry in late September 2022.
The currency, therefore, appreciated to Rs218 in the early days of October from its all-time low of Rs240 the first time in late July 2022 and the last time in September 2022.
Dar opened an investigation against the commercial banks, blaming them for market forces that had artificially devalued the currency to Rs240 per dollar.
Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Jameel Ahmed said that the central bank has completed the investigation against 13 commercial banks allegedly involved in rupee-dollar parity manipulation.
“The central bank is all set to take action against them in days (instead weeks and months). The action could be fiscal or regulatory one,” he added.
Pakistani film Joyland failed to bag its first Oscar nomination in the International Feature Film Category. Joyland, which became Pakistan’s first ever film to have been shortlisted for the Academy Awards, didn’t get a nomination.
Hollywood’s Multiverse sci-fi smash Everything Everywhere All At Once on Tuesday topped the Oscar nominations with 11, as Hollywood formally kicked off the race to the Academy Awards on March 12.
Irish dark comedy The Banshees of Inisherin and World War I film All Quiet on the Western Front tied for second place with nine nominations, followed by rock biopic Elvis at eight and Steven Spielberg’s quasi-memoir The Fabelmans at seven.
The nominations were announced by British Pakistani Oscar-winning actor, Riz Ahmed and Hollywood star Allison Williams. Saim Sadiq’s directorial became the first Pakistani film to have been shortlisted for Oscars. India grabs one nomination in the Original Song category for RRR‘s Naatu Naatu.
Here’s the complete list of Oscar nominations:
Best Picture
All Quiet on the Western Front Avatar: The Way of Water The Banshees of Inisherin Elvis Everything Everywhere All at Once The Fabelmans Tar Top Gun: Maverick Triangle of Sadness Women Talking
Actor in a Leading Role
Austin Butler Colin Farrell Brendan Fraser Paul Mescal Bill Nye
Actress in a Leading Role
Cate Blanchett Ana de Armas Andrea Riseborough Michelle Williams Michelle Yeoh
Directing
Martin McDonagh Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert Steven Spielberg Todd Field Ruben Ostlund
Actor in a Supporting Role
Brendan Gleeson Brian Tyree Henry Judd Hirsch Barry Keoghan Ke Huy Quan
Actress in a Supporting Role
Angela Bassett Hong Chau Kerry Condon Jamie Lee Curtis Stephanie Hsu
Animated Feature Film
Pinocchio Marcel Puss In Boots
Documentary Feature Film
All That Breathes All The Beauty and the Bloodshed Fire of Love A House Made of Splinters Navalny
International Feature Film
All Quiet on the Western Front Argentina Close EO The Quiet One
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
All Quiet on the Western Front Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Living Top Gun: Maverick Women Talking
Writing (Original Screenplay)
The Banshees of Inisherin Everything Everywhere All at Once The Fabelmans Tar Triangle of Sadness
Cinematography
All Quiet on the Western Front Bardo Elvis Empire of Light Tar
Film Editing
The Banshees of Inisherin Elvis Everything Everywhere All at Once Tar Top Gun: Maverick
Best Original Song
Applause from Tell It Like a Woman Hold My Hand from Top Gun: Maverick Lift Me Up from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Naatu Naatu from RRR This Is a Life from Everything Everywhere All at Once
Music (Original Score)
All Quiet on the Western Front Babylon The Banshees of Inisherin Everything Everywhere All at Once The Fabelmans
Production Design
All Quiet on the Western Front Avatar: The Way of Water Babylon Elvis The Fabelmans
Costume Design
Babylon Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Elvis Everything Everywhere All at Once Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris
Makeup and Hairstyling
All Quiet on the Western Front The Batman Black Panther Elvis The Whale
Live Action Short Film
An Irish Goodbye Ivalu Le Pupille Night Ride The Red Suitcase
Documentary Short Film
The Elephant Whisperers Haulout How Do You Measure a Year Stranger at the Gate
Animated Short Film
The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse The Flying Sailor Ice Merchants My Year of Dicks An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe It
Sound
All Quiet on the Western Front Avatar: The Way of Water The Batman Elvis Top Gun: Maverick
Visual Effects
All Quiet on the Western Front Avatar: The Way of Water The Batman Black Panther Top Gun: Maverick
Bollywood actor Kareena Kapoor Khan recently responded to the Twitter trend #BoycottBollywood in which netizens are urging to boycott Bollywood movies. The Jab We Met star questioned how people will be entertained in the absence of movies during a function in Kolkata on Sunday for the Indian Chamber of Commerce-Young Leaders Forum event.
The “#Boycott Bollywood” campaign began last year, before a number of movies, including Laal Singh Chadha, Liger, Brahmastra, and Raksha Bandhan, were released. The tendency had an impact on some of the movies’ box office performances.
Kareena said, “I don’t agree with it at all. If that happens, how will we entertain, how will you have joy and happiness in your life, which, I think everybody needs And which cinema and films are promising, which we have always done, films have always done? Agar films nahi hogi toh entertainment kaisa hoga (If films aren’t there how will the people be entertained).”
Before Laal Singh Chaddha was released, a group of Twitter users urged people not to see the film by trending the hashtag #BoycottLaalSinghChaddha. Many urged for boycotting movies like Liger, starring Vijay Deverakonda and Ananya Panday, and Brahmastra, featuring Ranbir Kapoor. But Brahmastra was one of the highest-grossing movies of 2022 because of its strong box office performance. Prior to the release of Pathaan, starring Deepika Padukone and Shah Rukh Khan, the trend once more gained momentum.
On the work front, Kareena will be seen next in Netflix’s The Devotion of Suspect X, directed by Sujoy Ghosh.
Coke Studio’s season 14 smash hit Pasoori has crossed 500 million views on YouTube, making it the first ever song from the music juggernaut to reach this milestone.
Taking to Instagram, lead singer Ali Sethi shared the news of the record with his followers alongside a few pictures and videos from a close-knit party commemorating the achievement. In the clips, Sethi can be seen happily celebrating with many others including Shae Gill, Abdullah Siddiqui and Zulfiqar Jabbar Khan.
The official YouTube channel of Coke Studio also shared a heartwarming video to hail their latest accomplishment. The description of the video included a touching note to their supporters.
“Celebrating your ever-growing love for Pasoori, helping us transcend borders and boundaries and making it a global phenomenon. Congratulations to all of you on helping Pasoori achieve more than 500 Million views across YouTube,” said the statement.
The federal government has decided to publicly disclose the details and records of gifts received and deposited in the Toshakhana over the past two decades.
The decision was taken in a cabinet meeting after the government faced backlash for it’s reluctance to disclose the list of gifts.
The Toshakhana was established in 1978. All public officeholders, including parliamentarians and bureaucrats, are bound to report the gifts they have received from foreign dignitaries to the Cabinet Division, whereafter they are to be deposited at the Toshakhana.
Earlier, the incumbent government told Lahore High Court (LHC) that public disclosure of Toshakhana details could cause unnecessary media hype and could be potentially damaging to Pakistan’s foreign relations.
Former Prime Minister (PM) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has been accused of not sharing details of the state gifts which he received during his tenure as the head of government.
Last year, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) also disqualified the PTI chief as Member of the National Assembly (MNA) in the Toshkhana case.
