Author: News Desk

  • ‘Our industry is very hypocritical,’ says Yasir Hussain

    ‘Our industry is very hypocritical,’ says Yasir Hussain

    Yasir Hussain has addressed all controversies surrounding him and has opened up on why he feels he ends up in one.

    Speaking to BBC Urdu, Yasir said: “Our industry is very hypocritical – it has always been. The actors in our industry are hypocrites. Whenever I get into a controversy, they call me. Why do they call me? Who are they to talk to me about the controversy if I have done something right or wrong? They talk to me for like 15 minutes over a phone call and then just hang up.”

    “Why don’t they speak about it on social media and say they support me?,” questioned Yasir, adding: “They will not because they know if they will support me or say that they support my point of view, they will get bashed as well. I don’t care about the backlash, but they do.”

    Talking about his “controversial” comments, Yasir asked why don’t people question the talk show hosts or the channels for asking silly questions.

    “I went on a show and was asked some controversial questions. They told me that if I will not answer the questions then I have to drink some spicy drinks. I had no other option but to answer those questions – it was either that or I give myself a stomach ulcer. I even took my name or their name to play safe but they told me saying that taking our or your name is not allowed. So I had to take some names.”

    The actor further said: “I took Azfar Rehman’s name because I knew he won’t mind as he is one of my closest friends in the industry. Even he said in an interview that I am overrated. This is because we know each other and we won’t mind passing such comments on each other.”

    “Why am I always wrong? Why aren’t the hosts, the producers or makers of those shows are not wrong?,” asked Yasir.

    “People say that I am controversial and share only controversial stuff. I also share good things but no one shares that,” said Yasir. “No one talks about my good things, they only share my controversies because they know that no one will read anything which is not masalaydaar.”

    Meanwhile, talking about his comments on Diriliş: Ertuğrul being aired on Pakistan Television, Yasir said that he was not against the series being aired but was pushing for a joint production venture between the two countries.

    Hussain is well known for speaking his mind and passing statements which often evolve into controversies. Recently, his comments on a television show erupted a clash between him and Shahroz Sabzwari. When Yasir was asked to name an actor who should have stayed on television instead of doing films, the actor had named Shahroz.

  • VIDEO: Model, baffled federal minister in hot water over out-of-turn vaccine allegations

    VIDEO: Model, baffled federal minister in hot water over out-of-turn vaccine allegations

    The Natio­nal Com­mand and Operation Centre (NCOC) has decided to conduct a probe to reveal facts regarding the video clip wherein family members of Federal Minister for Hou­sing Tariq Bashir Cheema were seen allegedly getting vaccinated out of turn.

    Model Iffat Omar could also be seen in the video.

    Cheema belongs to the Pakis­tan Mus­lim League-Quaid (PML-Q) that is an ally of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

    “We have learnt that a number of seg­ments of society are involved in such practice. People are vaccinated and they are included in the list of hea­lthcare workers. Du­­r­ing a meeting of the NCOC it was decided to first inqu­ire that whether the family members of the minister were vaccinated in Islam­a­bad or Punjab,” federal Mi­n­i­s­ter for Planning and Deve­l­o­p­ment Asad Umar said while talking to a news channel.

    On Tuesday, Cheema came under fire after video clips surfaced on social media showing him and some people of less than 60 years of age being vaccinated.

    He maintained that a team of the University of Health Sciences (UHS) had visited them to administer vaccine during a clinical trial, however, he seemed rather baffled while speaking to a private media outlet on Tuesday night.

    https://twitter.com/zarahatkay_dawn/status/1376980858364657667?s=21

    According to Umar, unfortunately it is the psyche of the people that they try to grab things by violating the law. “However on the other hand we have examples that President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi waited for his turn and got the jab when it was due,” he said.

    Dawn quoted Umar as saying during the NCOC meeting that it was decided that the Punjab government, in case the people were vaccinated in Punjab, would take action and if they were vaccinated in Islamabad, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan and Secretary Health Aamer Ashraf Khuwaja would take action.

    Meanwhile, an official of the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) said that unfortunately a large number of people were being vaccinated without being in the queue.

    They maintained that Cheema had dragged UHS in to diffuse the situation.

  • Pakistani-American likely to become first Muslim federal district judge

    Pakistani-American likely to become first Muslim federal district judge

    A Pakistani-American has been nominated by President Joe Biden for the position of a federal judge on the United States (US) District Court for New Jersey.

    If confirmed, Zahid Quraishi will be the first Muslim American to serve as a federal district judge.

    Hailing from New Jersey, Quraishi was ppointed in 2019 to be a magistrate judge in the District of New Jersey by the judges he now seeks to join on the bench.

    He is of Pakistani descent and got his law degree from Rutgers Law School, where he currently serves as an adjunct professor.

    An army veteran, Quraishi was a military prosecutor with the JAG Corps and did deployments in Iraq in 2004 and 2006, according to his Rutgers bio page.

    He later worked with the Department of Homeland Security then served as a federal prosecutor in the District of New Jersey.

  • ‘Desire peaceful relations’ – Khan replies to Modi’s letter

    ‘Desire peaceful relations’ – Khan replies to Modi’s letter

    Prime Minister Khan has responded to the letter written by his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Pakistan Day, telling Modi that the Pakistani people “also desire peaceful, cooperative relations with all neighbours, including India”. The letter is dated March 29, a week after PM Khan received the letter from Modi.

    PM Khan started the letter by saying, “I thank you for your letter conveying greetings on Pakistan Day. The people of Pakistan commemorate this Day by paying tribute to the wisdom and foresight of our founding fathers in envisioning an independent, sovereign state where they could live in freedom and realise their full potential,” clearly stating that Pakistan is a place where people live in freedom.

    Letter written by Imran Khan to Narendra Modi

    PM Khan said Pakistan was convinced that “durable peace and stability in South Asia is contingent upon resolving all outstanding issues between India and Pakistan, in particular the Jammu & Kashmir dispute” . He also added that the “creation of an enabling environment is imperative for a constructive and result-oriented dialogue.”

    “Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration,” PM Khan concluded, after conveying his best wishes to the Indian people in the fight against coronavirus.

    It should be noted that in Modi’s letter to Khan, the same phrase was used to end the letter.

    In the letter that Modi wrote to Khan, Modi stated that, “an environment of trust, devoid of terror and hostility” was necessary if both countries were to move forward.

    Social media was abuzz after the news of the letter broke, with details emerging that Pakistan and India were going to resume trade.

    Others were hopeful that maybe this time Pakistan and India might commit to a new peace.

    While some are apprehensive.

    A separate message was also sent by President Ram Nath Kovind to his Pakistani counterpart Arif Alvi. Indian government officials have told the Indian press that it is a routine letter sent every year.

  • CanSino vaccine: Three million doses to be ‘packed in Pakistan’

    Minister for Planning and Development and head of the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) Asad Umar has announced that Pakistan will be getting bulk vaccine by mid-April from Cansino from which three million vaccine doses can be made.

    Read more – Govt launches COVID-19 immunization certificate portal

    Umar said the bulk vaccine received “will be formulated, sterilised and packed in Pakistan” and for this purpose special equipment has been procured and manpower is being trained.

    The Minister also said that the “first batch of Cansino vaccine procured [is] being received today (Tuesday).”

    “This is the vaccine in which Pakistan participated in Phase 3 trials, which was the first time ever that Pakistan had done so for any vaccine,” he added.

    Vaccination of people 60 and above commenced on March 10, while registrations for people above 50 started from today (March 30).

    Pakistan is currently battling with its third wave of COVID-19. According to the NCOC, Pakistan has recorded 4084 cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours and 100 people have lost their lives to the deadly virus.

  • Indian soap trolled for showing men trying to break a piece of moon for bride

    Indian soap trolled for showing men trying to break a piece of moon for bride

    A clip from Indian soap, showing a bride demanding that whoever will bring her a piece of the moon first will get to marry her, has gone viral on social media. One of the contenders for the groom uses a long rope to pull a piece out of the moon.

    https://twitter.com/Jinnah_Club/status/1376454542917840896?s=20

    Another clip shows a man flying his car to the moon and casting a spell with his magic wand.

    Twitterati were surprised to see the level of creativity of the directors of the soap opera and could not stop cracking jokes on the scene.

    https://twitter.com/Alisha___4/status/1376509595171053568?s=20
    https://twitter.com/Tahsia12/status/1376510198207111173?s=20
    https://twitter.com/Hope999HHH/status/1376804601152819200?s=20
  • Asim Azhar urges ‘mainstream artists’ to invest in the music industry

    Asim Azhar urges ‘mainstream artists’ to invest in the music industry

    Asim Azhar has urged Pakistani ‘mainstream artists’ to invest in the music industry.

    Read more – Asim Azhar reportedly dropped from music show for being too young

    Talking about the success of his latest song Yaad, the 24-year-old singer said: “It makes me happy to see fans giving value to the craft we make.”

    “I hope its an eye opener for A LOT of the artists (mainstream too) to start making original content and music videos,” he continued, adding: “Sirf brands ka wait karte reh jaoge tou hogaya kaam. Thora jaib mai haath daalo aur saath do.”

    Azhar further said: “I can literally count on one hand keh sirf kitne (established) artists hain that are investing in their craft and the music industry constantly.”

    Baaki sab? Bas koi brand ajaye, koi drama karlain, koi controversy ajaye. Aise nahi hota dost. Kuch dogay tou kuch milega,” he concluded.

    Responding to Asim’s tweet, fellow singer from the Young Stunners Talha Anjum said: “Hard work and consistency beats talent and controversies. Let that sink.”

    To which Asim added: “When talent doesn’t work hard, hard work beats talent.”

    Read more – Asim Azhar’s ‘Ghalat Fehmi’ trends in India

    Meanwhile, Asim also thanked his fans for “all the love” and for helping Yaad trend in Pakistan.

    He also shared a behind the scenes (BTS) video from the sets of Yaad when it became the number one trending song on YouTube.

  • Polish blogger Aleks Mroz busts Katherine George’s charade

    If you’ve recently been active on social media, chances are you might have come across two pictures of a white woman standing with a group of men and claiming that Pakistan “is a country that loves and respects women”.

    The pictures were tweeted from an account by the name of Katherine George, which has now been deleted. Katherine’s tweets were widely shared by social media users, with some endorsing her statement and others sceptical with her comments and identity.

    Turns out that Katherine George does not exist and her Twitter account was fake. Because pictures shared from that account were actually of Polish travel blogger Aleks Mroz, who took to her Instagaram account to clear the air and set the facts right.

    “I can personally talk about my own experience and the hospitality and kindness I received and it’s true,” said Alex while talking about her experience in Pakistan. “But I can never speak for the Pakistani women and I will never do.”

    “As any other foreigner here, I am the guest in Pakistan and and I can not speak out for local people,” she said further. “The amount of hate spread by one FAKE Twitter post influenced many people’s opinions causing huge harm not only to me (as my face was used in the highly-biased post), to other foreigners who are fully aware of the difference between the perception of a tourist and a local, but also to Pakistani people facing a FAKE white tourist who undermines their voice.”

    “Spreading hatred, ignorance and colour-oriented posts is the LAST thing I would like to do,” she added.

    Mroz also busted Katherine’s pretence, shared her own experience of being a tourist in Pakistan and what she thinks about the safety of local women in Pakistan.

  • Fahad Mustafa, Humayun Saeed pray for President Alvi’s swift recovery from COVID-19

    Humayun Saeed and Fahad Mustafa have sent their best wishes to President Dr Arif Alvi after he tested positive for COVID-19.

    “May Allah bless him with good health,” wrote Humayun on Twitter.

    “Get well soon Sir President,” said Mustafa.

    On Monday, President Alvi announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19. He clarified that though he had received the first shot of the vaccine, “antibodies start developing after [the] second dose that was due in a week”.

    “Please continue to be careful,” he urged.

    First Lady Samina Alvi later shared that the President had mild symptoms “but is in good spirits”. She added that she had tested negative for the virus.

    President Alvi also thanked everyone for their good wishes and prayers, sharing that he felt much better today (Tuesday).

    “PM [Imran Khan] called sharing his experience. Advised rest, sleep and soups,” added the President.

    Wishing President Alvi a speedy recovery.

  • NA-249 by-poll: Candyland owner candidate of PML-N introduces new candy

    With crucial NA-249 by-poll in Karachi on April 29 just around the corner, candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), who is the owner of Ismail Industries — parent company of Candyland and Bisconni — has a surprise for constituents.

    Ismail, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Amjad Afridi and Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) chief Mustafa Kamal among others are the candidates for the lower house seat that fell vacant after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Faisal Vawda resigned from the same.

    Amid intense electioneering, Ismail, who believes that former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif is the most popular leader in the constituency, has introduced his favourite product in limited-time packaging for locals and colleagues.

    The pictures of a white wrapper bearing Ismail, his constituency and party’s name went viral on social media on Monday.

    But what candy is it?

    Amid mixed reactions by netizens, sources told this scribe that the candy inside the wrapper was none other than Ismail’s personal favourite.

    Speaking to The Current last week, the PML-N leader had mentioned the very popular and old Fanty as his favourite product produced by his company.

    He had gone on to explain how the product had beaten the lifecycle of any other and retained its position as a widely-loved candy through decades.

    WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW: