Shahid Afridi, who joined the Galle Gladiators squad after he missed his flight, has left the Lanka Premier League (LPL) midway due to a “personal emergency”.
In a tweet, the cricketer who his captaining his team Galle Gladiators, said that he has “a personal emergency to attend to back home”. He added that he will rejoin the team “immediately after the situation is handled”.
Unfortunately I have a personal emergency to attend to back home. I will return to join back my team at LPL immediately after the situation is handled. All the best.
The team management has said that owing to the quarantine rules, Afridi is unlikely to return. In his absence, Bhanuka Rajapaksa will lead the team, while Afridi’s replacement has not yet been decided.
Gladiators, who have lost all three of their matches will be playing tonight (Thursday) against the unbeaten Jaffna Stallions.
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan media have revealed that Afridi is going back to Karachi to tend to his nine-month-old daughter who is reportedly unwell and has been admitted to the hospital. They also said that Lala joined the squad late because of his daughter’s illness.
“The same daughter is not well again and he will be leaving the hotel in Hambantota at around 7 pm for Colombo, where he will catch a flight for Karachi at 1 am,” a team source told the media.
Former Cricketer Umar Gul also commented on Afridi’s tweet to inquire if all is well.
Former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general Lt Gen (r) Asad Durrani has said that the meddling of the military in the political affairs, though a reality, was “detrimental to the country”.
In an interview with BBC Urdu, the former general said whether the army should intervene in politics or not is a debate that has led us nowhere. “Our experience tells us that whenever the military intervened, the political parties ostracised staged a comeback,â Durrani said.
âGen Ayub Khan was supposed to keep Zulfikar Ali Bhutto out, but he staged a comeback and got elected. After Ziaul Haq, Benazir Bhutto came to power.â
The same thing happened during the regime of Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf. âThe two parties which he thought should be kept out â PPP and PML-N âwere elected to power. So, this political engineering is harmful,â he said.
âImran Khanâs biggest problem is the impression that he did not come to power by himself and that he came with a khaki burden. Some people donât learn from history because they say we will create our own history,â Durrani added.
The former general also talked about challenges faced by Pakistan on external and internal fronts.
“If you ask me challenges from outside, I would say Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey pose new challenges,” he said. The former ISI chief went on to say that “India has not always been the biggest threat to us”.
“The country is facing three types of challenges: economy, political instability, and social cohesion,” he said.
“There are some areas like Balochistan where there is unrest among people who feel politically alienated and deprived. The economy is in bad shapeâŠ. The government’s credibility is bad because people believe it has been brought into power by the military,” he said.
He also opposed the changing of status of Gilgit-Baltistan which, he said, will be a blow to the Kashmir cause.
“When I was looking after the affairs of Kashmir, a close friend of mine, Yusuf, explained to me that the day we made the mistake of changing GilgitBaltistan status, it would be a big blow to our Kashmir cause,” he said but did not explain who Yusuf was.
“You may give more rights to G-B, if you want to, but it should not be forcibly made a province of Pakistan,” said Durrani, while commenting on recent government promises of giving Kashmir the provincial status.
The films part of HOME1947 which won the Best Film [Short Documentary] award at SAFFM 2020 included, Ghosts of the Past, Midnight Fury, Khamosh Pani (Silent water), Weaving Memories, Zameen and Dark Secrets.
According to the makers, “HOME1947 is a deeply personal exploration of the lives and stories of the millions that were displaced in 1947 during the creation of two new independent states, India and Pakistan.”
“HOME1947 recreates the long-lost sights and sounds of what millions once called home and explores this world not through the words of historians and politicians, but through the eyes of those who lived through it,” adds the statement.
The HOME1947 Series was first premiered as part of the HOME1947 Exhibition at the Manchester International Festival in the UK followed by exhibitions in Mumbai [India], Lahore and Karachi.
Following are some snippets that stood out from Urdu newspapers on December 3, 2020, which The Current takes no responsibility for.
‘Nawaz Bais-e-Ibrat’
Daily Jang has quoted Prime Minister Imran Khan as saying: “Nawaz aur Zardari per Allah ka azaab aaty dekha, jo hamary lye nishan-e-ibrat ha. Apni zindagi mai dekha ky in ki halat kya hui. Kabhi jail ja rahy hain, kabhi bahir aa rahy hain.”
‘NAB Ko Maanty He Nahi’
JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has refused to appear before NAB, saying the notice sent by NAB has no legal standing. Daily Jang reported: “Jab hum NAB jesy idary ko he tasleem nahi karty tou us ky notice ki bhi koi qanooni heysiat nahi. Aesy nafsiati hathkandoon sy maroub hony wali nahi hum.”
Dubai Py Hamla?
Dunya News has reported that Iran has warned the United Arab Emirates of retaliation if the US used its soil to attack Tehran. According to the newspaper: “Iran ny UAE ko dhamki di ha k Amreeki hamly ki soorat mai Dubai ko nishana bnaya jaye ga.”
A villager named Shahid was tricked into marrying a 70-year old woman by a matchmaker.
As per details, the groom did not get to see her bride until after the wedding. He claimed that the woman he got married to was not the one who the matchmaker had shown them, adding that his family had paid the matchmakerâs fee of Rs 20,000 and had also paid an additional Rs 60,000 to the brideâs family for dowry.
According to the bride Nusrat Bibi, she was dragged into the whole situation when the bride-to-be ran away. Nusrat actually worked as a domestic helper at the home of the girl the matchmaker had promised Shahid as wife.
The groom and his family have registered an FIR against the family of the bride and the matchmaker in order to recover their money. The matchmaker has fled the scene.
Former prime minister (PM) Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali passed away at the age of 76 on Wednesday.
The former premier was battling for life on Sunday after being placed on a ventilator following a heart attack and severe breathing problems.
The senior politician was under treatment at the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC) in Rawalpindi for the respiratory complications.
MNA Mir Khan Muhammad Jamali said that the former PM had suffered a heart attack on Friday.
He said that Mir Zafarullah Jamali was immediately shifted to a local hospital in Chak Shahzad and later moved to the AFIC in Rawalpindi, where he breathed his last on Monday.
PM JAMALI:
Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali served as the 15th PM of Pakistan from 2002 until his resignation in 2004.
Originally a supporter of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Jamali emerged from the politics of Balochistan under military governor Rahimuddin Khan during the 1970s.
He was also affiliated with the now ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Behroze Sabzwari is reportedly in the hospital after testing positive for COVID-19 last week.
According to reports, the veteran actor is currently under observation but is stable.
Speaking to a local media out, Sabzwari shared that he has been admitted in Ziauddin Hospital’s ICU, adding that he is doing fine.
Meanwhile, Behroze’s son Shahroz Sabzwari told media outlets that his father tested positive six days ago and has been at the hospital since.
Shahroze further added: “We are following the standard operating procedures and hoping things will get better soon. Weâre all glad he is out danger now. But the initial days were tough, and we were all really worried. Now itâs all better and we hope it stays that way.â
Behroze is the latest celebrity to test positive for the virus. Other celebrities, who had earlier tested positive for COVID-19, include Usman Mukhtar, Ameer Gilani, Rubina Ashraf, Nida Yasir, Yasir Nawaz, Naveed Raza, Noman Sami, Alizeh Shah, Alyzeh Gabol, Abrar ul Haq, Sakina Samo, Shehzad Roy and Bilal Maqsood. All of them have recovered now.
It is pertinent to add here that Federal Minister for Law and Justice Barrister Farogh Naseem, PPP leader Sharmila Faruqi and her husband Hashaam have also tested positive for the virus, while across the border Sunny Deol has contracted the infectious disease.
Pakistan has reported 75 deaths in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 403,311 . The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 8,166 on Wednesday.
Ahsan Mohsin Ikram, who has recently been criticised for his alleged relationship with Minal Khan and for posting loved-up pictures of the two, has reacted to the backlash by asking people to worry about “his/her own life instead of others”.
âOh you who believe! Let not some people among you laugh at others, perhaps they may be better than them,” said the actor in a story posted to his Instagram.
He then went onto say: âHuman beings tend to judge others. They describe differences and are quick look down and those who may be different from themselves. It is as though they think that they are so right and so special, that anyone who is not like them has something wrong with them. We may not admit this, even to ourselves judging others and mocking them, openly or covertly, that is probably the most behind our attitude.”
Ahsan then said that to “respect the differences is to respect the God who made us all so unique”.
“Each one of us is special the way we think, talk act or behave,” he asserted. “Diversity adds to the richness of the world.”
“Islam teaches us not to condemn others. Leave the judging to God. Worry about, and judge, only yourself,” he added.
He further explained his stance by quoting a Hadith.
âAccording to Hadith, fortunate is that person who is so busy with his own faults, that he has no time to think about the faults of others. Even if you see something we donât like in someone, you may be guilty of the same thing, but are less likely to see in yourself.â
Concluding his comments, Ahsan said: âAlso, there may be a lot good in the other person which you are not aware of. The fourth Imam (a) taught us to see every person we meet as better than ourselves.”
Fans, followers and social media users have criticised the alleged couple for sharing pictures of themselves in which they can be seen hugging one another. Netizens believe that the actors are giving out wrong message thorough their actions.
Former actor Noor Bukhari was among those who expressed her reservations over the alleged couple’s public display of affection.
In a post featuring the two, Bukhari commented: “I really [like] both the sisters. But if they are married, then being close and posting these pictures is fine.”
“But if not, they are misleading the youth by making it alright to post intimate pictures before marriage,” stated the actor, adding, “Or maybe they are nikaofied (married). Aur unke parents khush hain (And their parents are happy).”
Though Ahsan has turned off the comments on his post, the picture of the purported duo has gone viral on social media with people leaving hateful comments.
Prime Minister’s aide on Commerce Razzak Dawood has said that Pakistan’s exports for month of November have passed the $2 billion mark amid a resurgence of economic activity after the coronavirus lockdown.Â
Dawood said exports increased 7.2 per cent year-on-year in November âin these difficult times with resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Pakistan and globallyâ. However, Pakistan has “once again crossed the $2bn mark per monthâ, Dawood wrote in a Twitter message.
In October, Dawood had said that Pakistan’s exports had crossed $2bn mark despite the contraction in our major markets due to COVID-19 and the uncertainty created by recent resurgence of the pandemic.
Last month, Bloomberg reported that Pakistanâs decision to loosen pandemic restrictions early helped the countryâs exports emerge stronger than its South Asian peers.
The newspaper had reported that outbound shipments had grown at a faster pace than Bangladesh and India as textiles, which account for half of the total export, led the recovery. The country had seen total shipments grow 7 per cent in September, compared with New Delhiâs 6pc and Dhakaâs 3.5pc.
According to the report, Prime Minister Imran Khanâs administration was the first in the region to ease pandemic restrictions, allowing export units to reopen in April, a month after locking them down to stem the spread of COVID-19. This helped draw companies from the South Asian nation.
Shaan Shahid, known for his hard-hitting statements, called former finance minister Ishaq Dar “shameless to the core” after the latter’s interview with BBC HARDTalk went viral on social media.
The actor, in a social media post, wished that “Pakistani authorities were strong on accountability as these people are bad image for Pakistan”.
He also tagged Prime Minister Imran Khan in his tweet, requesting him to take action against the corrupt.
“Corrupt should be made an example of by putting them behind bars and strip them of all the assets they sold their soul to make,” wrote the actor further. “Let there be a wall of shame built and let their names be written there forever so the nation could see that lies never win no matter how rich they are.”
“Let it be known that honesty and truth will always remain our core values. Let the truth win for once. Pakistan Zindabad”, he concluded.
Later, when a Twitter asked Shaan: “Are you [an] actor or politician? Or [a] puppet like Shahbaz Gill?,” Shaan responded: “Iâm a Pakistani first, who is hurt by the words and the actions of the corrupt. In cleaning themselves, they are dirtying the name of Pakistan.”
Iâm a Pakistani first who is hurt by the words and the actions of the corrupt .. in cleaning themselves they are dirtying the name of Pakistan
Dar, who is in a self-imposed exile after corruption cases were filed against him, appeared on BBC News to talk about corruption charges, PML-N fight against the government, and NAB.
When the host asked Dar about the number of properties owned by his family. The PML-N leader responded, âItâs all in my tax returns.â
Upon the insistence of the host, he said: âI have my main residence in Pakistan which has been taken over by this regime⊠I havenât got too many properties.â
âHow many properties do you and your family own,â the host asked him again. At this, Dar said: âOne.â At this, the show host asked him about the news reports in the Pakistan press that claim that the former PML-N minister owned multiple properties in and outside Pakistan. âYou are sitting in London and you donât own anything here,â the host asked Dar.
Dar responded that he doesnât own any property in London or anywhere else as claimed by the media reports.
However, he went on to admit that his sons recently acquired a villa in Dubai. âThey are adult and are in the business for the past 17 years,â he clarified.
Dar, 69, is currently in London, âundergoing medical treatmentâ. He is absconding from several cases in Pakistan since 2017 and has been declared a proclaimed offender by the courts. He is facing charges of accumulating assets beyond known sources of income.
Meanwhile, Shaan has often voiced his support for PM Khan and spoken against PML-N, Nawaz Sharif and his aides.
In a recent interview, Shaan had said that though he is not from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) or any other political party, he believes that Pakistan needs to give the PTI government, which came to power in 2018, more time to govern.
âThe race is not yet finished,â said the actor. âGive him [PM Imran] enough time to prove himself. As a Pakistani, I feel that this [PTI government] is the last hope for democracy in the country.â
