After more than two months of protests triggered by the arrest of Mahsa Amini for allegedly violating the country’s strict female dress code, Iran’s local media said on Sunday that the country has suspended it’s morality police.
“Gasht-e-Ershad,” which translates as “guidance patrols,” and is widely known as the “morality police,” was a unit of Iran’s police force established under former hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
“Morality police have nothing to do with the judiciary,” and have been abolished, Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri said while answering a question from a participant at a religious conference.
The announcement to disband the “morality police” came just a day after Montazeri told local reporters that “Both parliament and the judiciary are working [on the issue],” on whether the law requiring women to cover their heads needs to be changed.
Following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police in September, the country has witnessed daily rallies, primarily spearheaded by women, calling for an end to the rule of hard-line clerics.
Bangladesh is on track to have a $1 trillion economy by 2040, owing to consumer confidence, innovation in growing economic sectors, and a young, energetic workforce.
According to a Boston Consulting Group (BCG) analysis released on Friday, the South Asian country has beaten rivals including India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, and Thailand with average annual growth of 6.4 per cent between 2016 and 2021.
The domestic consumer market in Bangladesh is expected to expand to be the ninth-largest in the world. The survey also noted that between 2020 and 2025, a quickly growing middle class and wealthy class are expected to increase significantly, with a thriving gig economy supporting a workforce where the average age is only 28, according to Bloomberg.
“The country could have easily been overshadowed by its neighbor to the northeast — China — or its continental cousin to the west — India — but in this region of economic powerhouses, Bangladesh stands tall,” BCG wrote.
In 2015, Bangladesh moved up the income scale from poor to lower-middle income. Bangladesh’s GDP per capita is already larger than its neighbour, even though it is five years later than India. By 2031, the country hopes to reach upper middle income status.
Some obstacles still exist. According to BCG, recent liquidity problems, as well as pressures from foreign exchange and inflation, could shorten growth. However, Bangladesh has made steps to prepare its $416 billion economy for a prosperous few decades, provided it keeps its average growth rate around 5 per cent.
According to a BCG survey study, 57 per cent of respondents “continue to feel that, especially as the nation shifts to a skill-based economy, the next generation would have better lifestyles than themselves.”
“Though the economy faces some near-term volatility, we are confident that this highly resilient economy will continue to demonstrate robust growth in the long term,” the report said.
Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan asked his party members to get ready for elections as Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) assemblies will be dissolved this month
In an address to the Parliamentary Party of KP, Imran asked party workers to prepare for elections and begin campaigning in their constituencies. “Whether they [the government] come towards elections or not, we will be dissolving the assemblies this month and moving towards elections.”
He reiterated that PTI is only ready to talk to the coalition leader on elections, warning that he will otherwise dissolve the assemblies in the provinces where his party was in power.
He also said that Chief Minister (CM) Punjab Pervaiz Elahi had given him the go-ahead to dissolve the assembly. “He has said he is standing with me and would dissolve assemblies on my call,” he emphasized.
Moreover, Imran warned that “if something happens to [PTI senator] Azam Swati, we will go after everyone responsible for arresting him”.
Imran further said that the people who took Swati to Quetta had turned Pakistan’s justice system into a “joke”.
“I am once again saying this with great respect to the judiciary, if you won’t protect the rights [of people] then who will,” he asked senior judges.
Imran then instructed all his party members and supporters to come out to protest against Swati’s arrest.
On Saturday, the government turned down Khan’s invitation to parleys for early elections, arguing threats and talks could not go together.
Oppo’s INNO Day 2022 event, which is expected to take place by the middle of this month, will serve as the official launch event for the Find N2 and Find N2 Flip, according to recent reports.
The Find N2 Flip will be Oppo’s first phone with a foldable screen. A leaked video of the Find N2 Flip is now doing the rounds on social media. It gives a good look at the design from the front and rear sides. It is likely to feature a Dimensity 9000 chipset and a 4,300mAh battery with 44W rapid charging support. It will come preinstalled with the Android 13 OS, which will be skinned with ColorOS 13.
According to reports, the upcoming smartphone will be equipped with a 50MP Sony IMX766 main camera and an 8MP Sony IMX355 ultrawide unit. Interestingly, it will be sold outside of China for the first time, giving tough competition to the popular Galaxy Z Flip series.
In a leaked video, the OPPO Find N2 Flip can be seen sporting a foldable display with a centrally positioned punch-hole.
Tech news websites claim that the device is equipped with a 6.8-inch foldable E6 AMOLED panel that produces a Full HD+ resolution of 2520 x 1080 pixels and a 120Hz refresh rate.
The right side of the phone seems to feature a volume controller and a power key, which is integrated with a fingerprint scanner.
Polio virus has been discovered in sewage samples taken from Peshawar and Faisalabad, a source in the Ministry of Health Sciences has said, Express Tribune has reported.
WPV1 has been found in sewage samples collected from Peshawar and Faisalabad. The samples were taken on November 11. 65 polio sewage samples were discovered from around the country last year.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where polio has not yet been eradicated. To formally eradicate the disease, a nation must be polio-free for three consecutive years. Nigeria was declared free from wild polio in August 2020
Star-actor Shaan Shahid believes that box-office kings Fawad Khan and Hamza Ali Abbasi should have worked harder on their Punjabi diction in The Legend Of Maula Jatt.
The Waar hero was recently invited to the show Super Over, where the host of the show asked for his views on Bilal Lashari casting Khan for the role of “Maula Jatt” and not him.
Hosted by Ahmed Ali Butt, Shaan stated that casting depends on the director’s vision, however, Shaan said he feels that Hamza and Fawad didn’t do justice to the Punjabi language and accent. As actors, one must not give excuses that they don’t speak a particular language. If Pakistani actors are cast in an English movie, would they have the same issue? he asked.
In an exclusive interview with The Current, host Uzair Anwer asked him, if a biopic gets made on him, which young actor would he want to essay him in the film? The veteran artist was given four options (Hamza Ali Abbasi, Ahad Raza Mir, Bilal Abbas, and Imran Ashraf). The Majajan hero wasn’t too excited about these younger actors playing him in his biopic. He In fact hinted that it should be Shaan himself who should feature in a film based on him.
Shaan stated, “I think if they would have cast Sanjay Dutt in Sanju (2018), it would have been better.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlaPc83EuJ8&t=5s
The actor said that it was difficult for him too in his initial days in the industry as he had come to Pakistan from New York. He told that he had to watch many Punjabi movies to learn the trait.
Shaan, however commended Humaima Malick on her incredible acting in The Legend of Maula Jatt.
Former Speaker of the National Assembly, Asad Qaiser, has said that the then-Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s decision to extend the tenure of ex-chief of army staff (COAS) retired General Qamar Javed Bajwa in 2019 was “wrong”.
When asked about background discussions leading to the extension, Qaiser responded: “It was the wrong decision, no matter why or how it was taken.”
While making a candid admission that they [PTI] “regret the mistake”, Qaiser said, “Everyone [in the party ranks] is realising that it was a mistake to grant him (Bajwa) an extension.
Gen (r) Bajwa was appointed as the army chief by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in November 2016. In 2019, then-premier Imran Khan approved an extension in his tenure as COAS for another term — just three months before he was due to retire.
The United States (US) has placed Pakistan on a list of countries that are “engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom” during 2022.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced this on Friday and said, “Around the world, governments and non-state actors harass, threaten, jail, and even kill individuals on account of their beliefs.”
He noted that the US will not stand by in the face of these abuses.
Apart from Pakistan, the US has placed China, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and others. However, Algeria, the Central African Republic, Comoros, and Vietnam are on the Special Watch List for engaging in, or tolerating, severe violations of religious freedom.
This is not the first time that Pakistan is on the list of religious freedom violators.
The Trump administration first placed Pakistan on this list in December 2018 and retained it in 2020 as well. The Biden administration, which came to office in January last year, retained the old list with some changes, but kept Pakistan on it.
Karachi has been ranked as the sixth most affordable city in the world in the Worldwide Cost of Living (WCOL) index 2022 by a report published by Economic Intelligence.
The WCOL has ranked Damascus (Syria) as the most affordable city of the world followed by Tripoli (Libya), Tehran (Iran), Tunis (Tunisia), Tashkent (Uzbekistan) and Karachi (Pakistan).
The report lists Singapore as the most expensive along with New York City. Singapore, bagging the top position for the eighth time in ten years, remains the most expensive in the world, coupled with New York, followed by Tel Aviv (Israel), Hong Kong, Los Angeles and Zurich (Switzerland) in the list of top ten countries. The survey was conducted between August 16 and September 16, tracking the prices of 200 goods.
The reigning king of Pakistani cinema, Humayun Saeed is currently basking in the glory of his last blockbuster film London Nahi Jaunga and season 5 of Netflix’s globally successful web series, The Crown.
For his part in Season 5 of The Crown, Humayun Saeed recently disclosed on Mazaaq Raat that he had to go through several auditions. When he submitted his initial audition, he was shortlisted. When he was eventually chosen for the series, he then re-auditioned with a romance scene.
An extremely emotional moment that was left out of the series, according to Humayun Saeed, was also disclosed. They had to remove the sequence because they were unable to make the episodes of the television series longer than an hour. Diana informs Dr. Hasnat that she would be willing to convert to Islam for him at the moment. Although Humayun claimed to have appreciated the moment, it was ultimately removed.
Prior to the series’ release, Humayun chatted with Dawn’s Maliha Rehman and talked about Netflix’s award-winning juggernaut.
On being asked about the casting process, Humayun said, “It started with a call from Hamid Hussain, who is now my talent agent. He used to manage Bollywood star Nargis Fakhri, and I was in touch with him earlier to cast Nargis in my film. We had remained in touch since then.”
He added: “One evening, I got a call from him, and he informed me that there was a really important international project that he had in mind for me, but I would need to send an audition for it. I only remember auditioning for the first few projects at the start of my career, but I know this is a norm in the West and agreed to it.”
So, he sent the audition in, and soon after he was asked to do an online reading with Elizabeth Debicki, who jas essayed Princess Diana in the latest season. After ten days of waiting, he was told that he has bagged the role of Dr. Hasnat Khan.
‘The Crown’ follows the lives of the British Royal Family and Season 5 sees us in the 1990s nearing the end of Prince Charles and Lady Diana’s marriage. Enter Dr. Hasnat Ahmad Khan, played by Saeed, a British-Pakistani lung and heart surgeon who is most well-known for his romantic relationship with Princess Diana from 1995 to 1997, referred by her as “Mr. Wonderful”.
We just got a first glimpse of his character where he looks barely recognizable. Attention to detail in a show like ‘The Crown’ of course is incredible and it’s the same for Humayun’s look.
When asked about his research and prep work before stepping into the role, he had this to say:
“Before filming began, I got to do a workshop with a real surgeon in the UK to understand how a surgeon would behave and react on the job. Of course, I knew about Dr Hasnat Khan even before I got this role. After my casting was confirmed, the team shared research material with me on the doctor. It included a few interviews, as well as, some images.
“Dr Hasnat Khan is a very private person, which was why he and Princess Diana broke up — he couldn’t handle being in the limelight. Due to this, there is very limited material on him available in the public domain. So, I had to study whatever was shared with me in detail.”
Humayun, for most of his career, is seen playing the hero, so when asked about his transformation into a down-to-earth not very fashionable doctor, he had this to say:
“I would sometimes try to push up my hair right before a scene,” he laughs, “but the stylists on set would immediately notice and they would put my hair back in place. When I saw myself on screen for the first time, I was completely taken aback! I didn’t look like Humayun Saeed at all but like the doctor.
“On a serious note, the makers of ‘The Crown’ are extremely particular about details, and the look that they had created for the doctor had to be followed to the tee. It was very impressive seeing firsthand how they looked into every tiny nuance.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEa7cv11Fb0&t=4s
Humayun also talked about how he could let his diet go for a change, seeing as how he’s often playing the hero which requires strict regimental diets.
“More than being intimidated, I feel that this show puts extra responsibility on anyone who is part of it,” he mused. “People naturally have strong feelings about characters in the show, and memories of the events that we are depicting. Also, some of the people we are representing are alive or have family members who are still alive and that means all of us who are part of this show has to take the responsibility of our roles seriously.”
He also lauded the screenwriter Peter Morgan for handling each character’s portrayal sensitively, calling it the show’s biggest highlight.
Speaking about the energy on set, Humayun revealed that most of his scenes were opposite Elizabeth Debicki, and that he was in awe of her commitment to her craft. Elizabeth of course, is best known for her work in ‘The Great Gatsby,’ ‘Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2’ and ‘Tenet.’
The artist doesn’t think that the series will give him a boost as an actor, rather he hopes to apply all his learnings from this experience to his future projects.
