On Thursday, the Pakistani rupee (PKR) strengthened by Rs2 or 0.90 per cent against the dollar to close at Rs221.94.
According to the Forex Association of Pakistan (FPA), the local currency was trading at Rs221.75 per $1 at 9:46 am, up 0.98 per cent from yesterday’s close of Rs223.94.
The rupee has been strengthening since September 22, when it nearly hit an all-time low of Rs239.71. In the last nine sessions, it has increased by Rs15.77 or 6.58 per cent.
The State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) and finance ministry’s joint investigation into banks making obscene profits from their dollar sales, according to Mettis Global Director Saad bin Naseer, has calmed the interbank market.
SBP On Tuesday, Governor Jameel Ahmad told a National Assembly committee that eight banks were under investigation for the initial round of currency rate manipulation. In the following stage, the other banks would be looked into.
He said that a smaller trade deficit in September and the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) pledge of approximately $2.3–2.5 billion in aid were the key reasons for the rupee’s recovery on the open market.
FAP Chairman Malik Bostan listed the ADB announcement and hopes of a sustained drop in imports as the factors that contributed to the rupee’s rise.
A sessions court in Islamabad has approved till October 13 the interim bail plea of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in a case pertaining to his controversial remarks against a female judge during a rally in Islamabad.
Sessions court judge Kamran Basharat Mufti approved Khan’s interim bail plea, filed by Babar Awan, after a short hearing. Khan has been asked to pay surety bonds of Rs50,000.
Awan, while speaking to media after the hearing, said that all the cases against Khan are false.
“PTI is returning [to power] with two-third majority. If there is anyone who can bring change, it is Imran Khan,” he said. The lawyer said that the PTI chair has never ever given the excuse of being ill.
Awan went on to say that the infamous cypher that Imran Khan blames for the toppling if his government, was an “interference and conspiracy.”
“We don’t accept anyone who talks against Pakistan,” he said.
Earlier, on September 19, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) cancelled the terror charges against the former Prime Minister and ordered that the case be transferred to a relevant court under the remaining sections in the FIR.
Following the order the anti-terrorism court, on September 20, transferred the case to a sessions court and removed the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) section from the case.
On September 22, during a hearing of a contempt case in IHC, Imran Khan also requested the court to allow him to apologise to Additional District and Session Judge Zeba Chaudhry in person.
Co-founders of Indian fact-checking website Alt News, Pratik Sinha and Mohammed Zubair have been listed as an unofficial favourite for the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, ahead of the announcement of the winner on October 7.
TIME magazine, in a report, compiled a list of “some of the favourites to win, based on nominations that were made public via Norwegian lawmakers, predictions from bookmakers, and picks from the Peace Research Institute Oslo.”
The list includes journalists Mr. Sinha and Mr. Zubair, who “have relentlessly been battling misinformation in India.” The Time report said that the duo has “methodologically debunked rumors and fake news circulating on social media and called out hate speech.
Mohammed Zubair is a co-founder of fact-checking website Alt News. He is a critic of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, and regularly tracks and highlights anti-Muslim hate speech by Hindu right-wing activists and politicians.
He was detained earlier this year because of a tweet from 2018 that included a screenshot from a well-known Hindi film, which authorities claim was insulting to Hindu religious beliefs.
Indian actor and model Uorfi Javed has slammed contemporaries Shehnaaz Gill and Kashmera Shah for supporting the alleged sexual harasser Sajid Khan, post his entry in Bigg Boss 16.
The makers of the show are receiving a lot of backlash over the presence of Sajid. Many are even calling for a boycott on the show. Recently, Kashmera Shah landed her support for Khan on her Twitter handle.
Sajid’s next film’s heroine, Shehnaaz Gill also sent a video message for the director, while wishing him well for his stint on the show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydOM3yuctos
Reacting to all of it, Javed took to her Instagram story and wrote, “Big boss why would you do that? When you support sexual predators, you’re actually telling them that it’s ok what we they’ve done. These men need to know this behaviour is not okay and they cannot get away with it!”
Javed continued, “Stop working with sexual predators !!! It’s not controversial , it’s just disgraceful! Sajid khan never apologised for what he did! Imagine what the girls he harassed must be feeling ? So you don’t really have to worry cause even if you harass multiple women you will still get to be on the biggest show on India !! Controversy k Iiye aap har cheez thode support karenge ! #colors stop supporting sexual predators !!!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIc-ifh0z1I
In another story, Uorfi also declared that she would have not been a part of Bigg Boss 16 even if she was invited because of Sajid Khan.
She goes on to write, “If women like Shehnaaz Gill, Kashmera Shah are free to support a s*xual predator, I am free to criticize him and both of them too.”
We live in a country where the concept of dating is a highly social taboo. The conservative mentality is so deeply embedded in our society’s mindsets that it becomes nearly an impossible task for people to seek marriage outside their caste or community. An Arranged marriage peppered with horrors of the lethal rishta culture is probably the main option left for people to seek a perfect match. Adding more to the horror are the rules and regulations set by the matchmakers to look and behave a certain way. And, due to the misogyny prevalent in society, the girls majorly face the repercussions of the rishta culture.
The wind of change is blowing
Slow and steading, things have changed. The boundaries are breaking, traditions are changing, the youth of Pakistan is moving ahead, parent thinking is changing and more is happening. In Pakistan’s secretive societies where dating wasn’t a thing people do openly and people hide their emotions and never talk about them, global dating and marriage apps arrived like a domain to a new world. A world that had existed already, has now opened its doors in the form of dating apps accessible to everyone with a smartphone.
While in the past, there were very limited options to choose from – friends, colleagues, family connections – now the options are virtually unlimited. However, it’s worthwhile to understand that online dating isn’t foolproof in finding a potential match. It may be good for some but not for everyone. It is not as safe as it seems, anyone can make a profile under a false identity, upload fake photos, fake biographies to catfish another user and solicit personal information and commit fraud.
Dil Ka Rishta is here to provide VERIFIED RISHTAS
In this scenario, Khudi Ventures has recently launched Pakistan’s first premium matrimonial mobile application ‘Dil Ka Rishta’. The app is founded by a Pakistan-based venture studio working on consumer and business tech startups. It provides excellent matching services to those seeking a long-term relationship. The mandate of the app is to eliminate the stigma and doubts that hamper dating apps. It focuses on creating genuine matches and meaningful connections in line with Pakistan’s social and cultural nuances. Based on equality, ‘Dil Ka Rishta’ has emerged as the only Pakistani platform with thousands of 100% verified profiles that cater to all your ‘rishta’ requirements.
Dil Ka Rishta is SAFE FOR WOMEN
Safety is key when it comes to dating apps, therefore one of the major highlights of ‘Dil Ka Rishta’ is its safety insurance. The app claims to be the first matrimonial app that verifies its users through its two-step verification process ensuring 100% verification of the profiles. At first, the user gets a welcoming call, once they register their profile. The team members then verify the profile details over the phone. ‘Dil Ka Rishta’ adds the second layer of safety with ground verification. The team pays to visit the user and crosscheck the information submitted on their profile. Another robust feature includes its privacy setting and no screenshot policy to seek secure matches.
So, if you looking for the best online option to find true love, Dil Ka Rishta has got you covered.
Elon Musk is taking WeChat as inspiration as he designs Twitter’s future. The tech mogul has only provided a few details about his goal of creating an app for everything, experts warn it won’t be simple to accomplish.
After purchasing Twitter, Tesla CEO stated late Tuesday that he intended to develop a new app dubbed “X”.
“Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app,” he tweeted.
Musk’s statement followed reports that he had once again changed his mind and chosen to proceed with his offer to purchase Twitter for $44 billion, which was the sum originally agreed upon back in April.
After months of conflict and sour U-turns, the acquisition would give the world’s richest man control over one of the most important social networks.
Now, analogies to “super-apps” in Asia, which are effectively one-stop shops that do it all for customers, have been made between Musk’s ambition to build out what is thought to be a versatile platform.
More than a billion users, mostly in mainland China, rely on the social network to perform almost all of their daily tasks without ever leaving the app, including ordering groceries, scheduling yoga classes, and paying bills.
People have also flocked to apps like Grab (GRAB) in Singapore and Malaysia and Line in Japan in other parts of Asia. While Line became well-known as a chat app, Grab was first best recognised as a ride-hailing service provider. Both have now greatly expanded to include additional functions.
Musk hasn’t held back when it comes to his goal to duplicate WeChat’s success. He compared Twitter’s potential to that of Tencent’s pervasive service in China in a town hall with Twitter staff in June.
“I think an important goal for Twitter would be to try to include as much of the country, as much of the world, as possible,” said Musk. “You basically live on WeChat in China because it’s so usable and helpful to daily life, and I think if we can achieve that, or even get close to that at Twitter, it would be an immense success.”
Several well-known US tech leaders have followed China’s approach, including Elon Musk: Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook (FB), had previously said that his business could use WeChat as a case study.
At least 47 people were arrested in an operation to “deter further disorder” in Leicester, England, as the city dealt with unrest amid tensions involving mainly young men of Muslim and Hindu communities.
It was reported that the unrest started after a Pakistan vs India cricket match after which news reports of kidnapping of a Muslim girl by Hindu groups emerged online.
The unrest continued for weeks. Most of the fake tweets fueling the violence came from India, reports Reuters.
“It is a powerful illustration of how hashtag dynamics on Twitter can use dubious inflammatory claims to … escalate tensions on the ground,” said a spokesperson at fact-checking site Logically, which analysed the posts’ veracity.
Experts say most of the incendiary tweets, rumours and lies came from India, showing the power of unchecked social media to spread disinformation and stir unrest a full continent away.
“I’ve seen quite a selection of the social media stuff which is very, very, very distorting now and some of it just completely lying about what had been happening between different communities,” Peter Soulsby, Leicester’s mayor, told BBC radio.
Rob Nixon, who runs Leicestershire Police, concurred, telling the BBC that misinformation on social media had played a “huge role” in last month’s unrest. To counter some of these claims, police took to social media themselves, saying they had fully investigated reports of three men approaching a teenaged girl in an attempted kidnapping, and found no truth whatsoever to the online story.
“We urge you to only share information on social media you know to be true,” they said.
Many of the misleading posts alleging that Hindus and Hindu sites were being attacked came from India, analysis showed. Some 80% of tweets with geographic coordinates, or geo-tagged information, were connected to India, Logically said.
“The ratio of tweets geo-tagged to the UK versus those geo-tagged to India was remarkably high for what, ostensibly, was a domestic incident,” a spokesperson told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
“The involvement of high-profile figures in India setting the discourse was a key element.”
“The events in Leicester did not happen out of the blue,” said Keval Bharadia at the South Asia Solidarity Group, a British community non-profit.
Bollywood actors Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh have shut down speculation regarding their alleged split with affectionate comments on Instagram.
Laying all separation rumours to rest for good, DeepVeer decided to engage in a bit of online flirting. Deepika commented “edible” under Ranveer’s latest Instagram picture.
The Befikre star replied with a kiss emoji.
Following this, Celebrity astrologer, Pandit Jagannath Guruji addressed the controversy with his authentic astrological readings.
Pandit Jagannath Guruji says, “Some news leave you astonished and Ranveer-Deepika’s rumoured separation tale was indeed one of them. Even when I scrolled down the internet, I could see hundreds of people awestruck, eagerly waiting for official information on the couple’s viral news. But let me tell you, the rumour is completely baseless, very far from being true. The couple is not going to get separated. Rather, they’re meant to last forever, uplifting each other on every path they travel together.”
He adds, “They have worked upon their relationship, turning it into concrete as cement. The sense of understanding and empathy both contain for each other ensures positivity and happiness around, eliminating the chance of anything coming between them and hampering their relationship. Rather, this news can turn out to be a PR or publicity stunt that we might get to know in near future”.
“Witnessing as the things are going, you might have to wait a bit to hear Ranveer-Deepika announcing their pregnancy. The couple has been planning and talking about the kids for a long time now, but one might have to wait till 2024 to hear news on the same.
Furthermore, he highlighted, “Both Ranveer and Deepika are workaholic souls who even believe in providing space to each other in their personal life. That could be one major mantra of this powerful duo to outshine and influence other couples to date, even after being married together for four years now”.
Earlier this year, Padukone responded to a fan’s questions in an interview while promoting her film Gehraiyaan. The film’s trailer featured Deepika and her co-actors in a few intimate scenes that led many trolls to ask if she had sought husband Ranveer Singh’s permission. Deepika was asked for her reaction to the query.
Deepika shared that it was “stupid” that they were even reacting to it. “It’s stupid that we are even reacting to it. I don’t read comments. I’m pretty certain he doesn’t,” she said. The actor added, “I think yuck, it’s so stupid.” Deepika shared that Ranveer recently watched the film and he was “extremely proud of my performance.”
Ranveer and Deepika dated for more than six years before getting married in 2018. They have worked together in various films and were last seen in Kabir Khan’s 83.
Amidst the Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt controversy, alleged photos of Jolie’s bruises surfaced on the net. Now Angelina has filed court papers accusing Pitt of drunkenly attacking her and their children during a private plane flight, prompting her to file for divorce.
In a lawsuit over a French winery that the stars bought, The Salt star mentioned that grabbed her by the head and attacked two of their children on the 2016 trip.
Pitt also verbally abused and poured alcohol on his family during the flight from France to Los Angeles, she said.
Brad denied these allegations. Jolie’s claim of abusive behaviour by Pitt on the 14 September 2016 flight has emerged in previous court papers, including the Oscar-winning former couple’s divorce settlement.
The incident was investigated by the FBI in 2016. Authorities decided not to press charges.
But new details were alleged in Tuesday’s filing in Los Angeles by Jolie’s legal team. It is part of an ongoing lawsuit over Chateau Miraval SA, a home and vineyard in the south of France that the former Hollywood couple acquired together.
Pitt argues that he and his former wife had agreed not to sell their stakes in the venue without the permission of the other.
Jolie disputes this and blames Pitt for ending negotiations over purchasing her shares of the property.
Her cross-complaint on Tuesday says the actor was physically and emotionally abusive towards her and their six children – aged 8 to 15 at the time – during the private plane flight.
Her lawyers allege the Fight Club star began shouting, accusing her of being “too deferential to the children”.
Shortly into the flight, Pitt “pulled her into the bathroom” in the back of the plane, says the lawsuit.
“Pitt grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her, and then grabbed her shoulders and shook her again before pushing her into the bathroom wall,” the filing adds.
“Pitt then punched the ceiling of the plane numerous times, prompting Jolie to leave the bathroom.”
After one child verbally intervened, Pitt “lunged at his own child”, says the filing.
Jolie then “grabbed him from behind to stop him”, according to the court papers.
“To get Jolie off his back, Pitt threw himself backward into the airplane’s seats injuring Jolie’s back and elbow,” the legal filing continues.
“The children rushed in and all bravely tried to protect each other. Before it was over, Pitt choked one of the children and struck another in the face.”
Jolie’s lawyers say she and her children “sat still and silent under blankets” for the remainder of the flight.
“Pitt periodically emerged from the back of the plane to yell and swear at them. At one point, he poured beer on Jolie; at another, he poured beer and red wine on the children,” says the filing.
A source close to the actor told the BBC that Jolie’s claims were false.
“She continues to rehash, revise and reimagine her description of an event that happened six years ago by adding completely untrue information each time she fails to get what she wants,” said the source. “Her story is constantly evolving.”
Last year, a judge awarded joint custody of the children to both parents.
The Miraval estate is located in the village of Correns in south-eastern France, and was bought by the couple for around €25m (£21.3m; $25m) in 2008.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has formed a team to investigate the matter of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and his aides’ audio leaks related to the infamous cipher that the former Prime Minister blames for his government’s downfall.
A notification has also been issued which states that the investigation team will include five members from FIA and one member each from Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Military Intelligence (MI) and Intelligence Bureau (IB).
On October 1, the federal cabinet announced the formation of a committee to probe the diplomatic cipher that it was said had been ‘stolen’ from the records of the Prime Minister’s House.
Last week, two audio leaks of Khan and his party members surfaced on the internet. In the first audio leak, Khan told his then-principal secretary Azam Khan that, “We have to play with it [cipher]”.
In the second audio leak, the PTI chief is directing his close aides not to take America’s name while talking about the US cipher in public. He also told his party members to use the word “letter” instead of “cipher” when they talk about cipher in public rallies.
