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Author: News Desk

  • ‘Koh-i-Noor’ goes on display at Pakistan museum

    A replica of Koh-i-Noor, one of the largest cut diamonds in the world, has gone on display at the Pakistan Museum of Natural History (PMNH) in Islamabad.

    The disputed original diamond, which weighs 105.6 carats (21.12g), and is believed to have been mined from the Kollur mine, Golconda, India and was acquired by Alauddin Khalji, Sultan of Delhi, is part of the British Crown Jewels.

    The legendary diamond had also been part of the Mughal Peacock Throne (Takhat-e-Taoos) where it was lodged at the very top of the throne, in the head of a glistening gemstone peacock.

    Persian ruler Nadar Shah invaded Delhi in 1739 and took the Peacock Throne along with other treasures but removed the Tamur Ruby and the Koh-i-Noor to wear it on his armband.

    The diamond remained in Afghanistan for almost 70 years after which, in 1813, Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh won back all the Indian land and brought back the Koh-i-Noor to India.

    Today, the diamond is on public display in the Jewel House at the Tower of London, where it is seen by millions of visitors each year.

    The governments of Pakistan, India, Iran and Afghanistan have all claimed rightful ownership of the Koh-i-Noor and demanded its return ever since India gained independence from the United Kingdom (UK) in 1947. The British government insists the gem was obtained legally under the terms of the Last Treaty of Lahore and has rejected the claims.

  • Danish Taimoor cannot ‘imagine a single second without’ Ayeza

    Danish Taimoor cannot ‘imagine a single second without’ Ayeza

    Danish Taimoor has penned a heartfelt note for Ayeza Khan on her 30th birthday.

    Sharing a picture of the two from Ayeza’s birthday celebrations, Danish wrote: “I cannot imagine a single second of my life without this woman, and the beautiful family she has provided me with.”

    “I can’t thank you enough for the amount of peace and love you have brought to my world,” he continued. “I hope we continue to grow like this and be with each other till the very last breath of our lives.”

    Ayeza, who celebrates her birthday on December 16, had a small and intimate party with her family.

    IN PICTURES: Ayeza Khan, Danish Taimoor’s family vacay

    The actor also thanked her fans and friends for their sweet wishes.

    “You guys brought me so much joy on my special day,” said Ayeza in a social media post. “The amount of love I received last night is inexpressible for me.”

    Ayeza and Danish tied the knot in 2014 and have two children together.

  • Khan Academy receives $5 million from Elon Musk

    Tesla CEO Elon Musk has donated $5 million to online learning organisation Khan Academy.

    In a YouTube video posted Monday, Khan Academy founder Salman Khan thanked Musk for the donation, which the Tesla CEO made through his Musk Foundation.

    “Elon, I hope you really feel good about this,” said Khan in the video. “This is going to allow us to accelerate all sorts of content. Our aspirations are all subjects — from kids to the early stages of college. This will accelerate our science content, allow us to do more early learning, allow us to make the software and the practice that much more engaging.”

    Founded in 2002, the Musk Foundation supports research in renewable energy, human space exploration, pediatrics and science and engineering.

    Read more – ‘Bijli aati hai?’: Twitter reacts to Fawad Chaudhry’s invitation to Tesla’s Elon Musk

    Khan Academy is a nonprofit that aims to “provide free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.” Students worldwide can utilize Khan Academy videos, which are translated into more than 36 languages, and learn at their own pace. The resources — videos, practice exercises, and personalized learning dashboards — are also used by parents and teachers.

    As the coronavirus pandemic forced schools to turn to distance learning, many students and parents who struggled with the transition turned to Khan Academy for help, the organisation says.

    While many students may not recognise Khan by his face, millions of them know him by his voice, because of his video tutorials on subjects ranging from photosynthesis and calculus to the American Revolution.

    Khan Academy has over 120 million registered users, with up to 30 million students using the platform every month.

    “I view this type of investment in what we’re doing as really foundational for us to be able to build a multi-generational institution so that future Elon Musks of the world are also able to tap into their potential and help all of us up-level who we are as a civilization,” said Khan.

  • Nawaz’s election campaign was funded by Gulf country, claims Sheikh Rasheed

    Nawaz’s election campaign was funded by Gulf country, claims Sheikh Rasheed

    Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed has claimed that a Gulf country funded former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s election campaign in the 1990s.

    In an interview with Samaa, the minister said that he was a minister in the cabinet of Nawaz Sharif at the time. Rasheed said he was accompanying Nawaz Sharif when it was revealed that the country, that is rich in oil and gas and also has an LNG deal with Pakistan, funded the former PM’s party as a “token of love”.

    According to the minister, the Arab country leader asked Nawaz: “Mr Prime Minister, we have given you a token of love on your election expenditure. Did you receive it?”

    At this, Nawaz responded that yes, he had received the money, said Rasheed, adding that he asked Nawaz to send them a ‘thank you note’ at least.

    It may be noted here that PM Imran Khan had alleged that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) received funds from foreign countries. The comments by the PM came in the wake of the hearings of a foreign funding case against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

    Last week, the PTI had said that its agents managing two limited liability companies (LLCs) in the US could be responsible for any illegal funding and PTI Chairman Imran Khan had nothing to do with it.

    In a response to the petition in the foreign funding case, the PTI, that had denied any links to the foreign funding, said that if the two LLC registered after the written instructions of party chief Imran Khan were involved in the illegal act, it would be due to its agents who were managing them in the US.

    The case was filed by PTI founding member Akbar S Babar in 2014. The Election Commission of Pakistan had started fresh scrutiny of the PTI accounts — a process going on since March 2018.

  • Ice cream tests positive for COVID-19

    Ice cream has been found to have been contaminated with COVID-19 in China after three samples of the dessert tested positive for the virus.

    As per details, authorities in China are tracing people who may have come into contact with the contaminated batches, which were produced by the Chinese food company.

    All products made by the firm have been sealed after the samples it sent to the municipal centre for disease control this week tested positive for coronavirus.

    Initial epidemiological investigations show the ice cream batch has used raw materials that include milk powder imported from New Zealand and whey powder imported from Ukraine.

    Authorities said the company produced 4,836 boxes of the contaminated ice cream of which 2,089 had been sealed away in storage.

    A total of 935 boxes of the ice cream, out of 2,747 boxes that entered the market, were in Tianjin and only 65 were sold to markets.

    Authorities said citizens who may have bought the product must report their health and physical movements to those in their communities.

    The city has also informed the market regulation authorities in other provinces where the ice cream was sent so it can be traced.

    Meanwhile, 1,662 employees of the company have gone into isolation.

  • Pakistan ranks 2nd in South Asia in terms of ease of starting a business: World Bank

    Pakistan has improved its position in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index for the second year in a row.

    According to the latest rankings released by the global organization, Pakistan has improved its position by an impressive total of 28 points, surging from 136th place to 108th on the rankings. The World Bank report calls this an “unprecedented improvement”, and it is highly indicative of the country managing to exceed even its own expectations yet again.

    Out of the six reform areas highlighted in the 2020 edition of the report, Pakistan made the highest improvement in the “Starting a Business” indicator, which is an area largely being revolutionized by the Securities and Exchange Commission Pakistan (SECP).

    Pakistan’s ranking in this indicator has improved from 130 to 72 and is placed at second position in South Asian countries in terms of ease of starting a business.

    The improvement, according to the SECP, is primarily due to the integration of e-services with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the Employees Old Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) at the federal level and with business registration portals of Punjab and Sindh at the provincial level.

    After this integration, SECP’s e-services offer a one-window facility for company registration with FBR, EOBI, provincial employees social security institutions, the labour department and excise and taxation departments of Punjab and Sindh.

    As a result of this reform, the number of procedures to start a business, as recorded in the Doing Business Report 2020, have been reduced from ten to five and Pakistan has managed to rank “among the top ten reformers globally”.

    Pakistan emerging as an increasingly business-friendly nation is massively good news for the local hustle culture and the entrepreneurship environment that has rapidly been garnering interest over the past few years.

  • ‘Sky is your limit’: ‘Proud sister’ Saboor Aly tells Sajal

    ‘Sky is your limit’: ‘Proud sister’ Saboor Aly tells Sajal

    Saboor Aly has expressed that she is a “proud sister” after Sajal Aly bagged a role in Jemima Goldsmith’s upcoming production What Love Got to do with It?. Sajal will be sharing the screen with Emma Thompson, Lily James, Shabana Azmi, and Shazad Latif in the upcoming film directed by Shekhar Kapur.

    Sharing the news on Instagram, Saboor congratulated her sister, writing: “Proud sister. Your hard work paid off. We believe that sky is your limit, so go out and spread your wings and soar high.”

    Meanwhile, Sajal’s colleagues and other Pakistani celebrities including Humayun Saeed, Mahira Khan, Bilal Abbas Khan, Ali Rehman Khan, Zara Noor Abbas and Yasir Hussain celebrated Sajal’s big achievement and congratulated the actor on achieving the milestone.

    Humayun and Mahira said that this was a very proud moment for them.

    Ali Rehman said that this was the “best news” he has heard all year.

    Yasir predicted that Shabana [Azmi] jee will soon also agree that Sajal is one of Pakistan’s finest actors.

    Mira Sethi said she was thrilled with the news. The two worked together in Ye Dil Mera.

    Bilal Abbas, Gohar Rasheed, Saadia Ghaffar and Hassan Hayat Khan wished Sajal all the best for her upcoming project.

    As per details, Sajal will essay a groundbreaking role in the film. She is currently shooting for the film in London.

    Meanwhile, even producer Jemima was excited with the development.

    Jemima also shared that her and Prime Minister Imran Khan’s sons Qasim and Suleman are ecstatic that musician Asim C has agreed to be part of the film.

    Written and produced under Goldsmith’s production house, Instinct Productions, What’s Love got to do with It? is set between London and South Asia and will explore cross-cultural conflicts of love and marriage.

    A release date for the film has not yet been announced.

  • Govt officials get secretly vaccinated amid delay in mass vaccination, claims journalist

    Govt officials get secretly vaccinated amid delay in mass vaccination, claims journalist

    Amid reports of a delay in the procurement of vaccine, senior journalist Sohail Warraich has claimed that the government is in no hurry to order the coronavirus vaccine as most of the senior government members have already been vaccinated against the deadly disease.

    In an article published in Jang, Warraich implied the bigwigs of this country are in no hurry to inoculate the masses as they now consider themselves safe following the administration of the vaccine. His article was shared by former Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) minister Miftah Ismail, who retweeted the column on his Twitter handle.

    A similar claim was made by journalist Saleem Safi as well. He tweeted that the senior government officials and aides of the prime minister have already been vaccinated. “These people are now distributing the vaccine to their near and dear ones,” he alleged.

    Federal Minister for Information Shibli Faraz rejected these claims. Talking to The Current, Faraz said he hasn’t heard anything like this to the best of his knowledge.

    Asad Umar, who heads the National Command Operations Centre to fight the virus, also denied these reports while talking to a media outlet.

    He said a proposal for the earliest vaccination of strategic leadership was presented earlier, but it was rejected by the government. “I, however, do not know if someone got themselves vaccinated in secret,” he added.

    As the pharmaceutical companies, such as Pfizer, started to roll out vaccines, the government announced that Pakistan will have the vaccine by March 2020. However, a recent report revealed that the government has not even placed the final order for the procurement nor has any manufacturer agreed to sell it to Pakistan as of yet.

    PM’s aide on health Dr Faisal Sultan was quoted by The News saying that Pakistan has yet to place a final order and strike a deal with a manufacturer.

    On Dec 31, it was reported that the government had decided to purchase 1.2million doses of a Chinese vaccine, Sinopharm, amid a worsening coronavirus outbreak across the world.

    Pakistan had planned to vaccinate its population in three phases: In the first phase, frontline health workers will be inoculated; the second phase will be focused on the elderly; the third phase will be for the general populace.

  • Asim Azhar asks PCB to stop ignoring him

    Asim Azhar asks PCB to stop ignoring him

    Asim Azhar has shared that if he wasn’t a singer, he would have been a cricketer.

    Sharing a video of himself while batting, Asim said:“Agar mai singer nahi hota tou…shayad cricketer hota.”

    Later, sharing the post on his Instagram stories, Asim wrote: “PCB stop ignoring this young, deserving talent.”

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

    Meanwhile, Shadab Khan and Azam Khan were concerned about Asim’s revelation, with Shadab asking if “this batsman is available for PSL” and Khan asking Azhar to stop stealing his job.

    However, Azhar Ali gave Asim’s batting a thumbs up.

    Given his batting technique, we have to admit that Asim ain’t lying – the Tum Tum star does have the right moves for the field.

  • Archaeologists find evidence of third-century settlement in Sindh

    Researchers from Shah Abdul Latif University’s Department of Archeology have found traces of a third-century settlement in Brahmanabad, Sindh. Brahmanabad is believed to have been set up in the eighth-century by Muhammad Bin Qasim. The area was the historical capital of the Muslim Caliphate in Sindh during the eighth century, under the Umayyad Caliphate and then under the Abbasid Caliphate from the year 750 AD to 1006 AD.

    According to a report in Arab News, a team of around 20 archaeologists started excavation on the site in December as part of a joint project of the Sindh culture department and Shah Abdul Latif University in Khairpur. The supervision was led by Dr Ghulam Muhiuddin Veesar.

    Speaking to the publication, Veesar said: “Through [the] material we got, we can say that this settlement of Brahmanabad also existed in the third century AD and people lived here, proving that the settlement is of a pre-Islamic era.”

    “We have done both vertical and horizontal excavations so that we may know its cultural phases to determine when the settlement started, how long people were living there,” said Dr Veesar, adding: “Another important feature we found is that the whole settlement is established on a riverbed. They formed the settlement on mounds of natural silt sand dunes of river bed.”

    Sindh Minister for Culture, Syed Sardar Ali Shah referred to the findings as of “high importance”.

    “It is a great achievement,” he said. “The detailed report is awaited, but in the future, these findings can be helpful in connecting the linkage with other archaeological sites like Mohenjo Daro.”

    Read more – 1,300-year-old Hindu temple discovered in KP

    This is the third such excavation on the archaeological site in the last 180 years. The first one took place in 1854 during British rule and the second one was in 1962 by a government of Pakistan team.