Falak Shabir has shared an exclusive video of his wife Sarah Khan holding their daughter Alyana for the first time.
He added an emotional caption, “I’m convinced that mothers are superheroes, because they can handle anything the universe has to throw at them! Sarah, you’re not just a mother of my child but also the beat of my heart. I promise to love you and protect you and our daughter till the day I die.”
The Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority (SBTA) has revealed that a total of 1,357 people were diagnosed with HIV in Sindh during the first eight months of 2021 after their blood samples were tested at the blood banks in 24 districts of the province, Waqar Bhatti reported for Geo News.
“During the first eight months of this year, around 455,742 donors donated their blood at 166 blood banks in the 24 districts of Sindh, of which 1,357 donors were found to be infected with HIV, which amounts to 0.29% of the samples,” Dr Durre Naz Jamal, the SBTA director, revealed in a meeting of the provincial health department.
“Of the 455,742 blood samples tested in the province, around 24,088 were found reactive or infected with either of five different diseases,” Dr Durre Naz said as she explained that 5.28% (24,088) of the donors were diagnosed with one or more infectious diseases and could not donate blood.
Blood samples in Pakistan are screened for five infectious diseases — HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, syphilis, and malaria — to prevent recipients from having these diseases through blood transfusion but sometimes, unscreened blood is transfused to people as most of the blood banks lack the facility of nucleic acid testing (NAT), a molecular technique for screening the donated blood.
The SBTA data presented to the provincial health minister revealed that 8,155 or 1.79% of blood donors in Sindh were infected with hepatitis B while 7,995 or 1.75% were infected with hepatitis C.
In addition to that, as many as 6,142 blood donors were found to be infected with syphilis, a sexually transmitted infection. The percentage of the donors infected with syphilis was 1.34, Dr Durre Naz said, adding that 448 blood donors had also been found to be infected with malaria.
According to the data presented to the health department, the highest number of blood donors infected with HIV were found in Karachi’s District East where 653 persons were found to have HIV in their blood, followed by District South of Karachi, where 431 blood donors were found to be infected with HIV.
Similarly, Karachi’s District South had the highest number of blood donors infected with hepatitis B and C, where 2,603 donors were found to be infected with HBV and 2,923 blood donors with HCV.
Directing the SBTA to strictly implement the screening system for safe blood transfusion across the province, Dr Pechuho said a dashboard of blood screening results should be immediately established to prevent the spread of diseases caused by blood transfusions.
Pakistani actor Sarah Khan shared a delightful video on Friday in which her husband Falak Shabir can be seen reciting the Azaan in his newborn daughter’s ear. It is a ritual practiced by Muslims around the globe when their children are born.
Taking to Instagram, the Sabaat star shared the video with a Quranic verse.
Earlier on Friday, the Zindagi singer had announced the birth of their daughter Alyana Falak.
On the work front, Falak and Sarah were last seen together in music video Lagay Pyaari.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ramiz Raja has disclosed that 50 per cent of the board’s budget is based around the funds it gets from the International Cricket Council (ICC) whose “revenues are generated mainly from India”.
Appearing before the Senate Standing Committee on Inter-Provincial affairs on Thursday in Islamabad, Ramiz said it was time for PCB to reduce its dependence on funding from the ICC and start tapping the local market.
“ICC is a politicised body divided between the Asian and Western blocs and 90 per cent of its revenues are generated from India,” the PCB Chairman said.
Ramiz said the ICC had become more of an event management company and PCB would have to make its voice heard if it does not want a repeat of the cancellation of confirmed series by New Zealand and England.
What New Zealand did was unacceptable because till now they have not shared any information with us on what led them to abandon the series in Pakistan. But they are now trying to reschedule the series, he said.
Ramiz hinted of some good news regarding the postponed New Zealand series in a week’s time.
He indicated that the New Zealand cricket board was working on a new schedule to tour Pakistan.
Read More – Ramiz Raja ‘erroneously’ tweets about ECB chairman’s resignation, deletes later
Senator Raza Rabbani suggested that Pakistan should now not play against New Zealand and refuse any series but Ramiz pointed out that this would not be possible as Pakistan was part of the international cricket community.
The good thing is that they are working on something, which means they want to amend things with us, he said.
The New Zealand cricket team had arrived in Pakistan on September 11 for the first time in 18 years to play three ODIs and five Twenty20 Internationals but left on September 19 without playing any match after their government and security agencies advised them to return home citing “security concerns”.
Ramiz, in a candid briefing to the senators, also made it clear that he would unveil his plans for Pakistan cricket and the board in a week or 10-days’ time while in four weeks’ time he would have his team ready.
Read More – New Zealand cricket chief open to rescheduling of abandoned Pakistan series
“To me, it is simple if the national team cannot do well and win matches, it means that everyone in the board from the tea man to the top official have failed in their duties,” he said.
At least one million children in Afghanistan will suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year and could die without proper treatment, warned United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund’s (UNICEF) Executive Director Henrietta Fore. “Please help us,” she said.
According to a report by CNBC, Fore implored the international community and wealthy nations to help avert further suffering after the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.
“Nearly 10 million girls and boys depend on humanitarian assistance just to survive,” she said at a UN ministerial-level meeting on the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Afghanistan.
Fore also emphasised UNICEF’s ability to operate in Afghanistan. She said, “UNICEF has been on the ground in Afghanistan for more than 70 years. We know what needs to be done for children. And we can get it done.”
According to Fore, during the last week of August, UNICEF provided 4,000 severely malnourished children under five with life-saving therapeutic treatment.
“Please help us. There has never been a more urgent time to stand with the children of Afghanistan and the people who serve them,” she said.
A meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) discussed matters of national security, the situation in Afghanistan, and other important issues on Friday, reports Dawn.
The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and attended by senior cabinet members, Pakistan’s national security adviser, and the services and intelligence chiefs. However, the new director-general of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) Nadeem Anjum was not there, as the official take-over takes a few days.
PM Imran was given a detailed briefing on the evolving regional security situation, “particularly the recent developments in Afghanistan and their possible impact on Pakistan”, according to the statement issued by the Prime Minister Office (PMO).
“The participants noted, with concern, the dire humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and emphasised the urgent need for the international community to provide assistance to avert a humanitarian crisis,” the press release said.
Committee members stressed that the evolving situation in the region was “extremely complex”, and that any instability in Afghanistan could have severe implications for Pakistan.
“Agreeing with this view, the prime minister stressed the need for a coordinated policy effort,” the PMO said. It added that the premier issued directions for the establishment of a dedicated cell to synergise various streams of efforts on Afghanistan across the government, including international coordination for humanitarian assistance and effective border management to prevent “any negative spillover” into Pakistan.
A newly-wed bride has sued one of the top marriage venues in the United Kingdom (UK) for £150,000 (approximately Rs 34,935,942) after she slipped on a spilt drink on a dancefloor and broke her elbow.
As per reports, bride Cara Donovan — who is a teacher by profession — has sued the company after she slipped on the ‘highly slippery’ laminated plastic floor, lit by underfloor LED lights.
Donovan alleged that she slipped on spilled drinks after the staff failed to stop guests from taking their drinks onto the floor. She added that the tables were positioned by the edge of the floor, allowing guests to dance and drink. Even after people spilled drinks on the floor, no one came to mop it up.
Read More: Photographer deletes all wedding pictures after being denied food
The incident happened in September 2018 but left the bride with a badly broken elbow. Despite three operations, the woman says she has been suffering from permanent arm pain.
Since then, she hasn’t been able to get back to work as a special-needs teacher. Blaming the company for what happened to her, she has now sued Country House Weddings Ltd, which was once voted the Best UK Wedding Venue by magazine readers.
The majority of government institutions and departments have declined to respond to hundreds of queries by Geo News, which were sent to them under the Right To Information (RTI) laws, Investigative Reporter Zahid Gishkori reports for The News.
According to the Punjab Information Commission, RTI is the right that you have, as a citizen, to access information from your government and private bodies that receive public funds. It is based on the principle that information belongs to the people. Under Article 19-A of the Constitution, RTI is a fundamental right in Pakistan.
The media outlet reportedly sent approximately 400 different queries to 36 key institutions in the last nine months but 90 per cent of them didn’t respond or simply declined. Only 10 per cent of queries were partially responded to by the institutions, providing either very little or patchy information.
According to the report, a few of the institutions provided factually incorrect and cooked-up information.
Over 100 queries were sent to the governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Punjab, both have not responded. Similarly, Sindh and Balochistan did not receive the correspondent’s queries.
The departments that simply refused to share any information includes the offices of the Prime Minister, President, Chief Ministers, Cabinet Members, Supreme and High Courts, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority, National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Assets Recovery Unit (ARU), Parliament, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the report states.
The Cabinet Division (CD) refused to share any information regarding gifts and the use of helicopters by PM Khan. The ARU and NAB refused to share information on the Broadsheet scandal, as per the report.
Furthermore, it says that the Ministry of Interior even shared false information by saying no official is facing inquiry in issuing bogus visas to Chinese nationals. despite the fact that the interior ministry itself referred an inquiry against its own officials allegedly involved in a visa scam to the FIA for probe.
During the process, Gishkori was approached by four cabinet members and half a dozen senior civil servants to withdraw the requests.
Pakistani director Wajahat Rauf has reacted on a netizen’s pun that if Korean web series Squid Game is to be remade in Pakistan, he will cast Humayun Saeed in it.
A netizen said: “To everyone who’s tweeting stuff like ‘if Squid Game was made in Pakistan.’ Bro stop giving them ideas, next thing you know Wajahat Rauf will cast Humayun Saeed as player 456 in Pakistani Squid Game.”
The Karachi Se Lahore director simply laughed at it with the smiling emoticons.
Earlier, Ahmed Ali Butt had slammed big international productions for not casting Pakistani actors to play the character of a Pakistani in international series and films.
The Punjab Nahi Jaungi actor also criticised the production houses for casting Indian actors instead.
Wajahat is currently directing Farhan Saeed and Hania Aamir for a web series produced by an Indian production house.
Mera Dil Mera Dushman fame actor Laiba Khan has criticised a private awards show’s jury for awarding TikTokers, primarily Rabeeca Khan.
Laiba in an Instagram story said, “Mein ye nahi keh rae kay TikTok bnana ghalat hai, Lekin TikTok pe acting karny wala har TikToker talented nahi hai.”
She continued by saying, “TikTokers, actors, bloggers yeh award deserve kartay hain.”
“Agr tuntun kuchikoo or laddu jaesi harketin krna talent hai, tw Allah pak har insan ko aise talent say mehfooz rakhein.”
TikToker Rebeeca Khan won best emerging talent award at a private award ceremony.
On the work front, Laiba played Yasir Nawaz’s daughter in ARY’s Mera Dil Mera Dushman co-starring Alizeh Shah and Noaman Sami.
