Current Final

Author: News Desk

  • PM Imran expresses grief over killing of Muslim family in Canada in a suspected Islamophobic attack

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has expressed his grief over the killing of four members of a Muslim Pakistani-origin Canadian family in London, Ontario.

    “Saddened to learn of the killing of a Muslim Pakistani-origin Canadian family in London, Ontario,” wrote PM Imran.

    “This condemnable act of terrorism reveals the growing Islamophobia in Western countries. Islamophonia needs to be countered holistically by the international community,” he added.

    Police in London, Ontario, citing witnesses, said that 20-year-old Nathaniel Veltman jumped the curb in his vehicle on Sunday, struck five members of the same family ranging in age from 9 to 74, and then drove off at high speed, Reuters has reported.

    Police have not released the victims’ names, but the London Free Press said that among the dead were Syed Afzaal, 46, his wife, Madiha Salman, 44, and their 15-year-old daughter, Yumnah Afzaal. Syed Afzaal’s 74-year-old mother, whose name has not been confirmed, also died. Their 9-year-old son, Faez Afzaal, is in the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

    As per media reports, the family immigrated from Pakistan about 14 years ago.

    “We believe this was an intentional act and that the victims of this horrific incident were targeted,” Police Chief Steve Williams said. “We believe the victims were targeted because of their Islamic faith.”

    “I’m horrified by the news from London, Ontario. To the loved ones of those who were terrorised by yesterday’s act of hatred, we are here for you. We are also here for the child who remains in hospital – our hearts go out to you, and you will be in our thoughts as you recover,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote on Twitter.

    “To the Muslim community in London and to Muslims across the country, know that we stand with you. Islamophobia has no place in any of our communities. This hate is insidious and despicable – and it must stop.”

  • Fawad Khan bullied Sheheryar Munawar during ‘Zindagi Gulzar Hai’ shoot?

    Fawad Khan bullied Sheheryar Munawar during ‘Zindagi Gulzar Hai’ shoot?

    Sheheryar Munawar has opened up about his struggles and shared some shocking revelations about his first play’s shoot Zindagi Gulzar Hai in a recent interview.

    In conversation with Something Haute, Munawar said that his experience of working on the hit HUM TV drama was ‘terrible’. In fact, he thinks it’s his worst performance ever.

    When he was asked about his bitter experience, the Parey Hut Luv star revealed that it was due to the absence of a mentor despite him being Sultana Siddiqui’s nephew.

    Moreover, he also shared that there was nobody to teach him how to convey his lines or understand the character. Even his co-stars were of no help.

    Speaking of Fawad Khan, the main lead of the drama, Sheheryar said he was tough on him and that made his overall experience more bitter.

    “Fawad was straight out of Humsafar and I was just a newbie. The fact that I was the nephew of the director also contributed to it. He was tough on me. He wasn’t a bully like the ones we see on television, but he was hard on me.”

    “That was a very tough one and a half month,” he added.

    But they are on good terms now. He respects Fawad as a senior actor and he has also made his cameo in two of Sheheryar’s films.

    He further said that the actors weren’t helpful either. Sheheryar was only a student when he was offered the role of Osama in Zindagi Gulzar Hai and didn’t know anything about the reel life.

    Read more – Did you know Priyanka Chopra’s mother is a fan of Sheheryar Munawar?

  • Yasir Nawaz shared his worst working experience with Alizeh Shah, Feroze Khan jumps in to support the latter

    Yasir Nawaz and Nida Yasir recently appeared on Ahsan Khan’s show Time out with Ahsan Khan. During the interview, Nida revealed that Yasir had regrets about working with Alizeh Shah in the Drama serial Mera Dil Mera Dushman.

    On being asked by the host, Nida said that Yasir had some difficulty working with Alizeh Shah and building a chemistry with her since they played a married couple in the serial.

    Yasir Nawaz then added that he regrets working with Alizeh Shah and he wanted the show to be wrapped earlier than the makers because of this issue.

    Feroze Khan, who recently collaborated with the Ehad-e-Wafa actress for an endorsement jumped in to express his support for her on social media.

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    Feroze also raised the point of juniors being bullied by their seniors in the entertainment industry.

  • Award-winning Pakistani singer Farhad Humayun passes away

    Award-winning Pakistani singer Farhad Humayun passes away

    Face of the popular music band Overload, Farhad Huamayun, passed away Tuesday morning.

    The official page of the band posted on Facebook,” The magnificent Farhad Humayun left us for the stars this morning. Stoic in the face of challenges, uncompromising in his values, generous to a fault, witty as hell! Fadi was far too ahead of his time, both in spirit and art,”

    Farhad has won multiple awards in his eighteen year career, including Lux Style Award and HUM TV award for his music.

    Farhad has also collaborated with other music icons such as Atif Aslam and Meesha Shafi. He recently shared a video of his concert on Instagram.

  • ‘By the grace of Almighty Allah, this is the first train accident of 2021’: Firdous

    ‘By the grace of Almighty Allah, this is the first train accident of 2021’: Firdous

    Special Assistant to Chief Minister of Punjab, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan made a shocking statement on the Ghotki Incident. She said: “By the grace of Almighty Allah, ever since the government came into power, this is the first train accident that happened in this year 2021″.

    https://twitter.com/taimoorze/status/1401902200520118278?s=21

    Firdous faced backlash from the public calling her statement ‘unbelievable’.

    A woman reacted to the comments of Firdous, and wrote on Twitter, “What have we done to deserve this ?”

    Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan tweeted a clarification regarding her controversial statement. “This is the first major train accident in the last 15 months. One of my statements given in this regard is being taken out of context.”

    Two express trains collided on Monday in Sindh’s Ghotki and killed over 50 passengers, while more than 100 others have been injured, said police and rescue officials.

    In the midst of the tragic incident of Ghotki, Firdous’ statement was thought to be inept and lacked empathy.

  • ‘A man ejaculating on a woman’s picture is made viral content’: Hania Aamir on netizen’s hypocrisy

    ‘A man ejaculating on a woman’s picture is made viral content’: Hania Aamir on netizen’s hypocrisy

    Ever since Hania Aamir posted a video with the Wajahat brothers, she’s constantly been the talk of the town and trending on social media. After Asim Azhar’s tweet about Hania, the exes fiercely indulged in an online feud, after which several celebrities, from the Pakistani drama and film industry, started posting their views on the issue. After a lengthy online battle, Hania posted that men think it’s funny to demean women, “Where a woman showing affection to her loved ones is wrong but a man ejaculating on a woman’s picture on video on the internet is retweeted and made viral content.”

    The ‘ejaculation comment’ raised eyebrows and was apparently referring to an ‘incident’ during one of Hania’s live sessions. Recently, during an Instagram live hosted by Hania, a man joined in on the live session and started masturbating while looking at her picture. A visibly disturbed Aamir ended up going offline to process what had just happened. After the live session, some suggested the video had been doctored or edited.

    The Hania-Asim War

    The issue started when after Hania posted the controversial Wajahat brothers video. Asim Azhar, who allegedly dated Hania for a significant period of time, took to his Twitter account and posted a GIF that people assumed was directed towards Hania.

    The GIF posted by Asim said: “Bal Bal Bach Gaya.”

    After few hours Hania tweeted, “You can either be a celebrity or a bitter ex with no dignity.”

    Soon after the exchange of words between the two, Pakistani celebrities were quick to take sides.

    Fahad Mustafa, Mirza Gohar Rashid, Ali Zafar, Danyal Zafar, Ali Rehman Khan, Shahveer Jaffry and Dananeerr Mobeen are supporting Hania.

    “Disgusted with the way people are treating actresses of our industry if you don’t like what they do, you have a choice not to follow them but stop judging and trolling,” said Fahad Mustafa while addressing the issue on Twitter.

    Similarly, other celebs extended their support to the Ishqiya actress.

    https://twitter.com/shahveerjaay/status/1401544298190024704?s=20

    On the other hand, Sajal Aly, Asad Siddiqui, Saba Qamar, Zara Noor Abbas are supporting Asim.

    The whole fraternity is now questioning cyber bullying and private lives being discussed publicly and how such issues should be taken up on social media.

  • Speedy Afridi aims to become leading wicket-taker in PSL again

    Speedy Afridi aims to become leading wicket-taker in PSL again

    Pakistani speedster Shaheen Shah Afridi has set his eyes on becoming the leading wicket-taker of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) once again.

    The 21-year old pace bowler from Lahore Qalandars finished the previous PSL edition as the leading-wicket-taker with 17 wickets to his credit. This year, he has taken 9 wickets from 4 matches, three less than Saqib Mehmood. However, Saqib is now not available to his franchise Peshawar Zalmi for the remaining matches of PSL due to his commitment to the English season.

    In coversation with Geo TV, Shaheen said that he is aiming to give his best for his side Qalandars.

    “My aim is to give my best and do well for my franchise. The team also have expectation from me and wants me to do well. I will try to finish this season as the top wicket-taker as well,” said Afridi.

    “My goal is to give my 100% whenever the captain asks me to bowl. How many wickets I take, that’s not in my hands but how much effort I put in is certainly in my hands and I will try to be best.”

    He insisted that Lahore Qalandars has the right combination and the team is ready for the remaining matches.

    Read more – PSL set to resume on June 9, final on June 24

    But the young pacer added that the first two matches of the Abu Dhabi-leg of the tournament will be important for the side.

    “We have a good side. The return of Rashid Khan has strengthened our bowling attack. Tim is a good batsman and he would surely bring value to our side,” he said.

    “We are playing Islamabad United in the first match and then the next day we will be playing against Peshawar Zalmi, these two matches are important for us, we need a flying start to get the momentum and first two games will be important. We are in the top four right now and the first target is to be among the top two sides on the points table,” he said.

    Shaheen praised his teammate Haris Rauf, saying that the fast bowler from the players’ development program (PDP) has improved a lot and he enjoys bowling alongside him.

    He also spoke highly of Lahore Qalandars’ PDP, adding that the team is now receiving fruits of what it invested in the programme.

    “Lahore Qalandars remained focused on the process to find and develop new talent for the country despite not too good results in the tournament. They prepared the players and now they’ve developed into performers for the side,” he said.

    Shaheen Afridi said that Qalandars will try to produce better results than the previous edition by winning the trophy.

    “We will not let down our fans,” he assured.

  • ‘Get your money out from under the mattress,’ KTrade to be the next big thing in business

    ‘Get your money out from under the mattress,’ KTrade to be the next big thing in business

    Could Pakistan be the latest world stock market to see a blow-up of interest from retail investors? Ali Farid, the cofounder of KTrade , thinks that KTrade is the next big thing.

    As reported in Forbes, the brokerage firm will be announcing a $4.5m funding round that Farid believes will position KTrade perfectly as a new generation of Pakistanis embracing the stock market. “It is time for people to get their money out from under their mattresses and get a better return from more formal types of savings,” Farid insists.

    KTrade is the fintech retail trading app created by Khalid Ali Shah Bukhari (KASB) securities, the leading stock brokerage in Pakistan. KTrade provides easy access to financial markets for retail investors much like its global peers such as XP in Brazil, Zerodha and Groww in India, Tiger in China, Flatex in Germany, and Robinhood in the US.

    Ali Farid led the creation of KTrade. He was previously the CFO of UK listed fintech company SafeCharge (acquired by Nuvei) and a Partner at Autonomous Research (acquired by Alliance Bernstein) in London. Ali is a Rhodes Scholar and has been a top ranked Technology Analyst in Europe since 2013. 

    Ali Farid, the cofounder of KTrade

     “KTrade will enable this mobile-first population to participate in the investment opportunity. By connecting these people to companies we can drive capital trapped in unproductive assets into the formal economy which would eventually drive a virtuous cycle of economic growth and higher investments”, says Farid.

    KASB’s aim is to provide retail savers access to financial education, information and financial products and to help them make better decisions in the field of finance.

    “We aim to regularise access to the capital markets and enable them to make stock market investments. The strong demand for KTrade shows that the market is ready for this transformation. Other regional and emerging markets have seen similar evolution led by successful fintech companies” added Farid. 

  • Nestlé Pakistan switches to paper straws for the environment

    Nestlé Pakistan switches to paper straws for the environment

    Nestlé Pakistan has introduced paper straws across its entire ready-to-drink (RTD) product range, making it the first food and beverage company in Pakistan to do so. The initiative will eliminate over 400 million plastic straws, marking a breakthrough in its sustainable packaging transformation journey.

    This is in line with the company’s global pledge to make its packaging 100% recyclable and reusable by 2025. Nestlé Pakistan’s brands – NESVITA, MILO®, FRUITAVITALS, NESFRUTA and NESCAFÉ’s RTD products – are now in the market with paper straws that are made from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper.

    All paper straws across RTD products have been sourced responsibly, meet stringent quality requirements and are safe to drink from.

    Highlighting Nestlé’s global sustainable packaging transformation journey, Chedid stressed, “Our vision is that none of our packaging, including plastics, ends up in landfill nor in oceans, lakes and rivers. To achieve this, we have set ourselves the commitment of ensuring 100% of our packaging is reusable and recyclable by 2025, and the switch to paper straws is a major step towards this.”

    Chedid also added that while many people are used to plastic straws, making the switch to paper straws will bring a slightly different consumer experience. “We encourage millions of trusted Nestlé consumers in Pakistan to embrace this change and join us in our journey towards a more sustainable future,” he said.

    Cognizant of the challenges and the importance of plastic packaging, Chedid pointed out, “Plastic packaging plays an important role in safely delivering high-quality food and drinks to consumers and reducing food loss and waste.”

    “We believe that with the right approach, collection and recycling of plastic is possible without causing a detrimental effect on the environment,” he added.

    The entire RTD pack is recyclable after you finish drinking it. All you need to do is push the paper straw into the RTD pack. When you’re done, do these 3 simple steps:

    Step 1 – Flip the sides of the pack up

    Step 2 – Flap the bottom of the pack

    Step 3 – Flatten the pack

    And put it into the nearest paper recycling bin!

    In 2020, Nestlé Pakistan operationalised the Clean Hunza Project, with the support of District Council Hunza and Gilgit Baltistan Waste Management Company. The project focuses on managing 200 tons of packaging waste in 2021, eventually leading up to 1000 tons by 2025 to make Hunza waste-free.

    Similarly, Nestlé Pakistan also partnered with World Bank and the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under the TREK initiative to make northern areas waste-free and promote responsible tourism in the region.

    Nestlé Pakistan is also one of the founding members of CoRe (Collect & Recycle), the first ever packaging alliance in Pakistan formed with the mission to eliminate packaging waste by enabling formal collection and recycling, while also raising awareness at a mass level.

    These efforts to reduce the environmental impact of packaging waste by improving its management and recycling are in line with UN Sustainable Development Goals 12 and 17 – Responsible Consumption & Production and Partnership for Goals.

    https://youtu.be/G0O4TcKohqQ
  • Farmers take cow to police station as a ‘witness’

    Farmers take cow to police station as a ‘witness’

    The farmers in India took a cow as a ‘witness’ during a farmers’ protest in Haryana demanding the release of their two arrested fellow-farmers on Sunday.

    As per reports, the farmers at the protest brought the cow inside the premises of the police station in Tohana claiming that it was the 41st witness of the incident.

    The present government considers itself as a government of cow worshippers, or cow lovers. We have brought the sacred animal as a symbol because it is considered pure and pious and its presence might help put some sense into the government,” one of the protestors said.

    Also Read: Farmer buys helicopter to sell milk

    The cow was tied to a small pole inside the police station with water and some grass kept for it. A farmer said that the police officials will be responsible for providing it with food and water.

    Later, the two arrested farmers were released on bail. Vikas Sisar and Ravi Azad, two farmer leaders were arrested for surrounding Haryana MLA Devendra Singh Babli’s home last Wednesday.

    Earlier, these farmers had registered a case against Babli for allegedly abusing them verbally while protesting against the center’s farm laws. Later, the BJP-leader expressed regret for his words. Many farmer groups across Haryana have been opposing the functioning of BJP-JJP leaders.