A viral undated video, apparently recorded secretly, has shown Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan sitting in a lawn with a tasbeeh in his hand.
While Twitterati claim he is crying, what is that you think the video shows?
Here’s what Twitterati have to say:
Let us know what you have to say about the video by commenting below.
As the country, especially Punjab and Sindh, remains in the grip of the coronavirus pandemic, it has emerged that the number of deaths at Karachi hospitals has recorded a significant increase with a large number of patients being brought in dead or in a near-death condition.
According to The News, over 300 such patients were brought to both public and private sector hospitals within the past two weeks. All of them were either declared dead on arrival (DOA), or showed COVID-19 symptoms.
The report in the English daily quoted a doctor on emergency duty at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) as saying that a 35-year-old woman was brought in dead. An X-ray revealed that she was suffering from some respiratory disease as a large patch could be seen on her lungs.
He said the report was sent to a senior pulmonologist treating coronavirus patients, who said that it was most likely a case of COVID-19.
Doctors also told the media outlet that only a few such cases could be examined in this regard as a majority of deceased patients could not undergo any tests or an autopsy.
A critical care specialist at JPMC said that the number of patients, who either died on arrival or within a few hours, rose every day for the past few weeks. The patients were mostly 45 to 60 years old.
Within the past 15 days, 109 patients have been brought in dead and 90 others were brought in a very critical condition and died mysteriously in a very short time at JPMC.
While private hospitals are reluctant to share any details in this regard, they have confirmed that the number of pneumonia-like symptoms in patients has been climbing. Indus Hospital sources also admitted that the number of patients in critical condition had soared sharply.
Sindh Health Department officials, on the other hand, refused to comment on the report.
Mehwish Hayat has never held back from voicing her thoughts on matters of public interest. Recently, the actor took to Twitter to call out the latest wave of xenophobia in India against Muslims during coronavirus crisis.
The actor shared an article about coronavirus conspiracy theories spreading in India against Muslims. She highlighted how the world is uniting in its fight against the pandemic, while India is using the pandemic to fuel intolerance.
Other Twitter users also agreed with Mehwish.
In the past, Mehwish has spoken up against Indian atrocities in Indian-occupied Kashmir and has been a vocal critic of Muslim and Pakistani representation in Bollywood movies. She had even called out Shah Rukh Khan for fuelling propaganda after his series Bard of Blood was released on Netflix.
As ‘La Casa De Papel [The House of Paper]’ aka ‘Money Heist’ fever continues to grip the world and Pakistan ever since Netflix dropped its fourth season, a Pakistani Facebook page has given characters of the hit Spanish series their own computerised national identity cards (CNICs).
Shaikh Parwaiz Imtiyaz (The Professor), Raheela Shaukat (Lisbon aka Raquel), Nadia Akhtar (Nairobi), Bilal Abbasi (Berlin), Taniya Khattak (Tokyo), Raja Zeeshan Ali (Rio), Delawar Khan Masood (Denver), Haji Maqsood Khan (Moscow), Sardar Hari Singh (Helsinki) and Omer Daraz Orakzai (Oslo) are on the list of CNICs by Laari Adda, which is going viral over the internet.
While the fan art by the Pakistani Facebook page is breaking the internet, it isn’t the only thing that connects the country to Money Heist.
Ever since the third season of the show, Pakistan has been playing an important part in the successful execution of The Professor and his team’s heist at the Bank of Spain.
An Islamabad-based team of 65 members, including hackers and surgeons, is helping the gang do wonders.
“We can activate their microphones, cameras and GPS. It took less than an hour to take over the defense staff’s telecommunications. The work Rio used to do was now done by 65 Pakistanis. They are geniuses, thanks to them, we had access to everything,” Tokyo had said in season 3 about the team that has also played an important part in the latest series of episodes.
Traders across the country have said that they would resume operations from today (April 15), however, the business community in Punjab has urged the government to permit activities for a limited time.
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, in his address to the nation on Tuesday, extended the lockdown till April 30, saying that some industries such as construction would be allowed to operate from Wednesday.
The business community in Karachi said that they would resume operations from April 15 and that the traders would follow preventive measures. “We cannot afford the imposed restrictions anymore,” said a representative of Karachi’s trader community while addressing a press conference.
“The businessmen have paid their employees a month’s salary but we will be unable to do so if the lockdown extends,” he said, adding that they would hand over the keys to their shops to the officials at the Chief Minister (CM) House and protest outside the provincial chief executive’s office if they are kept from resuming business activities.
Voicing the traders in Sindh, Balochistan’s business community said that they would also resume operations from April 15. They said that the traders could no longer bear the lockdown restrictions, adding that activities would be conducted and precautionary measures would be followed. “The provincial government has been informed regarding the decision to resume operations.”
Furthermore, the traders in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) said that they could not afford the lockdown further and that they would open shops from April 15 as well.
United Business Group President Ilyas Bilour said that small scale traders were forced into starvation due to the lockdown, and lamented that labourers were severely affected due to the closure of business centres.
The federal government is working on a new rule to discourage hoarding and make the actions against profiteering more strict.
According to details, Prime Minister Imran Khan had directed Minister for Law and Justice Farogh Naseem to draft an ordinance on the matter and that an ordinance has been sent to the PM for approval.
The ordinance has suggested maximum sentence of three years in jail for the violators. They will also be fined 50% of the cost of the items they were stocking.
According to the ordinance, all hoarded items would be seized and then auctioned off at different markets.
The PM will present the ordinance in the Cabinet and after its approval, it will be sent to the President.
Sadaf Kanwal seems to have ruffled some feathers once again. The model, who is rumoured to be in a relationship with Shahroze Sabzwari, recently raised eyebrows after she left a questionable comment on her rumoured beau’s photo.
According to details, Sadaf had commented ‘Happy Birthday Mama’ under Shahroze’s post in which he was wishing his mother Safina Behroze on her birthday.
Though Sadaf later deleted her comment, it was not before many followers took screenshots and soon it went viral on social media.
While Shahroze and Sadaf have kept silent, Zara Noor Abbas took to social media to express her displeasure on the matter.
Shahroze and Sadaf reportedly became friends late last year met while rehearsing for their performance at the third IPPA Awards held in Oslo, Norway. The two have maintained that they are just friends. Zara had also performed on the same awards.
Read more – Syra, Shahroz end their marriage
Meanwhile, Shahroze recently split from Syra Yousuf after eight years of marriage. The couple in their official statement said that ended their marriage due to “irreconcilable differences”.
Claim: Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed has contracted COVID-19
Fact: CJP Gulzar Ahmed has not tested positive for COVID-19
Authorities have rubbished claims regarding Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed contracting coronavirus, which had surfaced after an employee reportedly from the top judge’s chamber at the Supreme Court (SC) tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday.
According to Dawn, the apex court, in a statement, has said that the CJP, his family and his secretary have all tested negative for the coronavirus.
The statement added that the top judge’s tests were conducted after an employee of the court developed symptoms of Covid-19, following which he was put under quarantine as a suspected coronavirus patient.
The employee, a Naib Qasid at the apex court, had first tested negative for the virus, but the result was “doubtful” and another test was conducted which turned out to be positive, the statement read.
The employee has now been isolated at a polyclinic in Islamabad.
Earlier in the day, reports circulated on local media that an employee in the CJP’s chamber had tested positive. However, the statement did not clarify whether the coronavirus-positive employee worked in the chief justice’s chamber but merely referred to him as an “employee of the Supreme Court”.
The reports had led to claims that the top judge had also tested positive for COVID-19.
VERDICT: FALSE
Adnan Jaffar, who is currently essaying the role of Dr Feroz in the blockbuster drama Ruswai, has silently made his Hollywood debut with Homeland. The actor appeared in the ninth episode of the eighth season titled In Full Flight and essayed the role of a Pakistani General named Aziz who has a brief but heated exchange with Bunny Latif, played by the enigmatic Art Malik.
In a recent interview, Jaffar, who started his career as a broadcast journalist, shared how he ended up getting the role in the final season of the award-winning series. He revealed that the team of Homeland was looking for an “English-speaking actor with a South Eastern face” and since a few of his films are available on Netflix, they ended up discovering him.
“I was approached through a casting person who sent me an audition script, which I promptly recorded and sent back. They took a few weeks and luckily, the production team cast me in the character. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting it, being a ‘nobody’ on the international scene. So many people audition without success, plus it was such a high profile series. Any Indian actor could easily have done it, but I guess me (a Pakistani actor) being in it brought more authenticity,” Jaffar has said.
Adnan further shared that the scenes were shot in Casablanca, Morocco and that his whole experience was very professional. He added that “playing a Pakistani Army officer was a proud moment” for him.
Adnan began his career as a broadcast journalist for Dawn News. He made his film debut in 2015 in Jalaibee followed by Manto (2015), Moor (2015) and Jeewan Hathi (2016). He has also been part of many successful dramas, the most recent being Daasi and Ruswai.
Meanwhile, Homeland in the past has often come in the line of fire for hurting Muslim and Middle Eastern sentiment. The show has also been criticised for showing Pakistan in a negative light within its storyline.
While the coronavirus has made the whole world to go under lock-down but it has not stopped Pakistani singer Sajjad Ali from creating music. The singer recently released a new song Dost on April 10 for his fans across the world.
Sajjad Ali not only wrote the song but recorded it while practicing social distancing. He released the song on various social media platforms.
Ali took to social media and wrote, “This video has been made during the ongoing two-week, 24-hour complete lock-down.”
The song is melodious with beautiful lyrics. The video of the song only featured Ali, keeping in view the rules of isolation.
Listen to the song here: