Author: News Desk

  • Feroz Khan grills Bollywood amidst Kesariya-Laree Choote plagiarism row

    Feroz Khan grills Bollywood amidst Kesariya-Laree Choote plagiarism row

    Bollywood movie Brahmastra’s latest song, Kesariya has landed in hot waters for allegedly copying Pakistani music band Call’s hit song Laree Choote.

    The chorus of the song Kesariya from the upcoming Bollywood movie Brahmastra is similar to that of the Pakistani melody.

    It is pertinent to mention that Laree Choote was officially featured in Bollywood film Ek Chalis Ki Last Local starring Neha Dhupia and Abhay Deol feature in the music video.

    Now actor Feroze Khan has slammed Bollywood for again plagiarising Pakistani music after Abrar-ul-Haq’s Nach Punjaban.

    Recently Varun Dhawan’s JugJugg Jeeyo stirred controversy when singer Abrar-ul-Haq’s song Nach Punjaban was featured in its trailer.

    The singer had criticized Karan Johar after the trailer, which featured the song, made rounds on social media platforms.

    “I have not sold my song Nach Punjaban to any Indian movie and reserve the rights to go to court to claim damages,” he tweeted. “Producers like Karan Johar should not use copy songs. This is my sixth song being copied which will not be allowed at all.”

    The official music video saw Abrar-ul-Haq credited for his song. His name was added to the music composition and lyrics under the credits.

    He then announced to take legal action against Karan Johar and T-series for using his song in the upcoming movie JugJugg Jeeyo.

  • ‘My heart is broken’: Twitter reacts to news of South Asian woman murdered by ex-husband

    ‘My heart is broken’: Twitter reacts to news of South Asian woman murdered by ex-husband

    Sania Khan, a South-Asian woman from Chicago who used to document events reflecting her abusive marriage and talked about her experience of divorce, was murdered by her ex-husband.

    Her ex-husband, Raheel Ahmed, killed her and then committed suicide by shooting himself.

    The family of the man had reported him missing from the Atlanta suburb.

    According to two of Sania’s friends, the divorce was finalised in May. The police found a suicide note near Ahmed’s body.

    Who was Sania Khan?

    Sania Khan was a wedding photographer by profession. She also used to post her work on TikTok videos. “Ever since I can remember, photography has been a huge part of my identity. My life truly began the day I purchased my first DSLR. I wouldn’t know it at the time but it would forever change me,” she wrote on her website.

    However, her most recent uploads from June mainly concentrated on the situation with her divorce. She posted videos that talked about an abusive relationship with her ex-husband.

    The text of one of the videos Sania posted read, “Going through a divorce as a South Asian woman feels like you have failed at life sometimes.”

    People on Twitter are reacting to the news of Sania’s murder:

    https://twitter.com/Ashy2098/status/1549768924580954112
    https://twitter.com/ReemKhurshid/status/1549781180530180101

    https://twitter.com/sabzixo/status/1549568408915550209

    https://twitter.com/ZestyAhmed/status/1549597752878718976

  • Palmist told Khan that a big rock fell on Shehbaz instead of him

    Palmist told Khan that a big rock fell on Shehbaz instead of him

    Former Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed on Monday said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has been told by a palmist that there was a big rock that was going to fall on Khan but it fell on Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif instead.

    He made these revelations on ARY News in Waseem Badami’s programme 11th Hour.

    Rasheed said that everyone is with Imran Khan so it would be a waste for anyone who stands against him in the elections.

    Talking about his audio leak, Rasheed said since childhood, his [Sheikh] messages and tapes have been going viral.

    He said that after the PTI swept Punjab by-polls, he received messages from top bureaucrats for the first time addressing him as ‘respected sir’.

    During the show, he further revealed that Imran Khan has planned to do a tour of Sindh, especially the interior side of the province.

    Rasheed again stressed that he is of the view that they should be friends with the establishment. He said that Imran Khan has said that we will not talk against the establishment anymore and have to focus on the elections.

    Appearing on the same programme on Tuesday, former federal minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry agreed with Rasheed’s statement and said that they will not talk against the establishment. “We will try to normalise things in the future”, he added.

    Moreover, he said that PM Shehbaz Sharif should dissolve the National Assembly. According to him, election date will be announced within 45 days and the elections are likely to be held in October.

  • ‘Kisi aur ka gandd hum kyun saaf karein,’ asks SAPM Hafiz Karim

    ‘Kisi aur ka gandd hum kyun saaf karein,’ asks SAPM Hafiz Karim

    Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) Shehbaz Sharif with the status of Federal Minister, Senator Hafiz Abdul Karim said that it is better to leave the government.

    “It is better to leave the government. We should not have taken the government,” said Karim.

    “Kisi aur ka gandd hum kyun saaf karein? Jo gandd laaye hain, wohi saaf karein.” [Why should we clean up someone else’s mess? They should clean up the mess that they created.]

    “If you want to govern, do not impose conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that burden the people. Believe me, if there is no relief, leave the government and do politics,” said SAPM Karim while speaking with journalist Naeem Ashraf.

    On the other hand, despite the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) disastrous performance in Punjab, the federal government has decided to complete its constitutional tenure till August 2023.

  • Netflix subscriber count drops by 1 million

    Netflix subscriber count drops by 1 million

    As the streaming giant battles fierce competition and viewers tightening their purse strings, Netflix on Tuesday reported losing subscribers for the second consecutive quarter. However, the company reassured investors that better days were ahead.

    Netflix had just under 221 million subscribers after the most recent quarter, which was less than anticipated given the loss of 970,000 paying customers.

    The number of subscribers worldwide fell by 1 million, with a drop of 1.28 million in the US and Canada alone between the end of March and the end of June, according to Netflix’s Q2 earnings report, which came after the company reported losing subscribers for the first time in more than a decade last quarter.

    “Tough in some ways, losing a million and calling it success, but really we are set up very well for the next year,” the company´s co-chief and founder Reed Hastings said in an earnings presentation.

    In its earnings report, the company stated that it had forecast a million new paid subscribers for the current quarter. In after-hours trading, Netflix stock was slightly up, indicating that investors were still sticking with the company.

    Analysts noted that the results were troubling even though they were not as bad as anticipated.

    “Netflix´s subscriber loss was expected but it remains a sore point for a company that is wholly dependent on subscription revenue from consumers,” said analyst Ross Benes.

    “Unless it finds more franchises that resonate widely, it will eventually struggle to stay ahead of competitors that are after its crown,” Benes added.

  • Classic Nokia game ‘Snake’ turns 25 this month

    Classic Nokia game ‘Snake’ turns 25 this month

    This month marks the 25th anniversary of the classic Snake game, which debuted in July 1997 on the Nokia 6110. Despite the fact that mobile games have evolved, sporting cutting-edge graphics, fans of Nokia still recall Snake.

    Before games like Candy Crush and Subway Surfers, this was the game that kept players glued to their phones for hours. Since many millennials played it as one of their very first games, it brings back memories for them. The game’s ease of play and the anger at defeat made it extremely addictive.

    A snake that grew as it consumed food was under the player’s control. To get a high score, the snake had to keep picking food while avoiding contact with its own body or any other obstacles.

    “You’d always want to come back for more with Snake — it’s simple and it frustrates you in a carefully balanced way, so you’re willing to start again from scratch each time,” said game developer William Cox.

    “It is iconic and part of the history of the games industry,” he added.

    Snake was a single-player arcade game that was designed after the two-player arcade game Blockade.

  • Abdullah Shafique shines as Pakistan completes record run-chase, beating Sri Lanka in 1st Test

    Abdullah Shafique shines as Pakistan completes record run-chase, beating Sri Lanka in 1st Test

    Abdullah Shafique scored an unbeaten 160 as Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by four wickets in the first Test on Wednesday in Galle, chasing down a record mark of 342.

    To take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series, the visitors won the game in the final session on the fifth day of competition.

    The most successful fourth-innings chase at Galle previously occurred in 2019 when Sri Lanka defeated New Zealand by a score of 268.

    For the hosts, left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya got four wickets and is on the verge of a record-breaking four consecutive five-wicket hauls in his first two Tests.

    In a series-leveling Test victory against Australia last week at the same location, he grabbed 12 wickets on his debut, six in each innings.

    As soon as Sri Lanka used up their final two umpire reviews, which both featured Jayasuriya, Pakistan started the day on 222-3.

    Mohammad Rizwan began the day with a boundary off Ramesh Mendis and maintained his optimism by taking singles and twos before being bowled out for 40 by Jayasuriya.

    Rizwan, a wicketkeeper-batsman who entered the two-match series following a successful stay with English county Sussex, was not saved by a review.

    Shafique has so far maintained his composure and performed the anchor job flawlessly, scoring his second Test century on day four to put the pursuit in front.

  • BTS members’ Instagram earnings: From Jin charging PKR 13.6 crore to RM charging PKR 33 lacs per post

    BTS members’ Instagram earnings: From Jin charging PKR 13.6 crore to RM charging PKR 33 lacs per post

    The South Korean boy band BTS enjoys a massive fan following around the globe. It’s the ARMY (their fandom) that helped the septet rise to immense fame. Well, apart from their concerts, shows, and other endorsements, the boys are very much capable of minting quite some huge amount of money from social media too.

    Just last year in December the septet – RM, Jin, Suga, Jimin, Jungkook, V and J-Hope made their Instagram debut leaving the entire ARMY super elated. Just in a day, the boy band welcomed millions of followers on the social media handle. Talking about their social media handle, take a look at the earnings the boys can make once they start dropping sponsored posts. We are sure the numbers will leave you baffled.

    BTS 7 Fates Chakho: Bangtan Boys' Webtoon Takes On Monster In MCU-like  World, Members In Awe; Watch

    RM (Kim Namjoon): The leader of BTS RM enjoys a massive fan following of 36M followers on Instagram. The posts on his account are all about museum outings, concert pictures and many other interesting updates on his daily life. As per the report by Koreaboo, the price of a sponsored post on the leader’s account would be a whopping cost of $16K which is around PKR Rs 33 lacs.

    Jin (Kim Seokjin): Jin who is the eldest member of the boy band enjoys a fan following of 37M followers on Instagram. Apart from his cute snaps and thriving stories, according to the same reports, he can earn up to $614K (PKR- 13.6 crore).

    V (Kim Taehyung): Everyone’s beloved member V has a huge number of followers of 47M and growing followers. Every minute his followers are just growing in real-time, all thanks to his high engagement posts and stories. Even though V has claimed that he does not understand the algorithm of IG, according to the reports, can get about $68K USD-$810K.

    Jungkook (Jeon Jungkook): aka The Golden Maknae of BTS who enjoys 43M plus Instagram followers can earn around USD 33K to $395K.

    Jimin (Park Jimin): The heartthrob of BTS has 39M plus followers on Instagram and can reportedly earn about USD 63K to USD 756K. The bar has been set super high for other artists for sure.

    Suga (Min Yoongi): Yoongi has a humongous following of 36M plus followers on Instagram and can make up to USD 54K to $645K.

    J-Hope (Jung Hoseok): Lastly, everyone’s J-Hope Oppa who has a following of 37M plus can earn about USD 37K to $449K.

  • Govt to distribute 100,000 laptops under Prime Minister’s Laptop Scheme

    Govt to distribute 100,000 laptops under Prime Minister’s Laptop Scheme

    About 100,000 students enrolled in government universities and colleges will soon receive free laptops as part of the Prime Minister’s Laptop Scheme, according to the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) for Youth Affairs, Shaza Fatima Khawaja.

    She said in a Monday interview with APP that the programme will only award young people with high-quality laptops based on their merit.

    “These laptops will be provided to all Ph.D. and postgraduate students, while the top performers in undergraduate programmes will also be included in the scheme,” she said.

    The SAPM claimed that the laptop program’s allotted quota for Balochistan students has been doubled, along with quotas for students who are disabled and 50 per cent of the program’s allotted quota for women. Prime Minister Skilled Programme will provide skills and information technology training to up to 100,000 youth.

    She claimed that the Pakistan Muslim League (N) government launched the Prime Minister Youth Program in 2013, which had six steps for empowering youth.

    Khawaja rejected the impression of closing the Prime Minister Youth Loan Scheme terming it wrong, and added, the restructuring of this program has been done under which the loan limit has been revised.

    “Now the youth will be provided interest-free loans up to Rs500,000, while loans from Rs500,000 to Rs7,500,000 will be provided on easy terms,” she told APP.

    She emphasised the urgent need to provide these youth with skills education in line with market needs by stating that 20 lakh graduates enter the market each year after completing their education.

  • Google to launch its Android Earthquake Alerts System in Pakistan

    Google to launch its Android Earthquake Alerts System in Pakistan

    Google has announced the launch of its “Android Earthquake Alerts System” in Pakistan, which will send automatic early warning alerts that help people be prepared for an emergency.

    “Android Earthquake Alerts System is a no-cost, helpful android feature that detects earthquakes around the world and alerts people. It uses sensors in Android smartphones,” said Google in a statement.

    “When people look up ‘earthquake’ or ‘earthquake near me’, they will find relevant results, along with helpful resources on what to do after an earthquake,” the statement further added.

    “Pakistan has experienced several earthquakes in the past, especially in the northern and western parts of the country. With the expansion of this earthquake alerts system, android users in Pakistan may receive automatic early warning alerts that help them be prepared for an emergency.”

    “One feature titled ‘Be Aware’ alerts people when earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.5 occur, or an intensity level of 3 or 4 on the MMI scale. The notification is sent along with the distance of the earthquake’s epicentre. The alert uses the phone’s current volume, vibration, and Do Not Disturb settings.”

    The Android Earthquake Alerts System was initially launched in New Zealand and Greece.