Iqra Aziz is not shying away from expressing her love for husband Yasir Hussain.
Sharing an unseen picture of herself and Yasir from their wedding shoot, Iqra penned a sweet note in which she called her husband “her blessing”.
Yasir also had an adorable response for his wife.
The couple also shared some more sweet moments from their wedding shoot. Iqra looked lovely in a bright, red outfit by Nomi Ansari.
British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Dr Christian Turner has shared that he is a huge fan of Karachi Biryani and Lahori food. He expressed his love for Pakistan’s foods and cities in Urdu that is quite impressive and interesting.
In an interview with Hamid Mir, Dr Turner said, “Well, I should say, first of all, Pakistan bohat khoobsurat hai, Meri Urdu kharab hai. Thodi jaanta hun.”
Turner agreed with the old saying “Lahore Lahore Hai (Lahore is Lahore)” and said that all he had done for three days in Lahore was eat. The representative revealed he was fond of Karachi’s biryani. He said it was “Bohat mazedaar (very delicious)”.
Watch the video here:
Dr Turner has also documented, in detail, his experiences in Pakistan on his social media.
The Sindh High Court (SHC) has summoned Humayun Saeed to appear “in person” and explain the offensive dialogues in Meray Paas Tum Ho.
According to a report in Samaa News, a petition was filed in the SHC against the drama in which the petitioner Sana Saleem alleged that the script, penned by the controversial Khalil ur Rehman Qamar, contained derogatory language when talking about women. Saleem wanted the writer, actor and producer to apologise for this.
Saleem’s lawyer, Munir Gulal, argued that a line from the show had become quite popular, hurting the reputation of women in the process.
In addition, the petitioner also objected to the fact that “a divorced couple were living together” and “a six-year-old was playing matchmaker between his father and a school teacher”.
Read more – Mansha Pasha defends ‘Meray Paas Tum Ho’
SHC’s Justice Yousuf Ali Sayeed and Justice Muhammad Ali Azhar, who heard the petition on Wednesday, directed all respondents including the federal government, PEMRA and the drama’s makers to submit their replies by February 13.
Though ARY and PEMRA’s lawyers were present in court, Justice Azhar questioned why Humayun did not appear before the court. The hearing was adjourned till February 13 after ARY’s lawyer ensured that the actor would appear before the court.
Despite becoming TV’s highest-rated drama of all time, Meray Paas Tum Ho, starring Humayun Saeed, Ayeza Khan, Hira Mani and Adnan Siddiqui, drew the irk of some viewers who criticised the drama for promoting misogyny and sexism.
Earlier, a petition was filed in Lahore’s civil court to stop the last episode of the drama from being aired. The petitioner, Maham, had filed a plea to stop the release of the last episode because it has had a “negative impact and continues to degrade the status of women in our society”.
Read more – Court dismisses petition against ‘Meray Paas Tum Ho’
However, after examining statements and documents from representatives of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) and ARY Digital, Civil Judge Naila Ayub dismissed the petition and said that show had received clearance from the censor board of Punjab to screen in cinemas so there was nothing inappropriate in it.
Support has started pouring in for rights activist and Awami Workers’ Party (AWP) Punjab President Ammar Rashid, who along with dozens of others, was arrested by Islamabad police for staging a protest outside the National Press Club in Islamabad against the arrest of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leader Manzoor Pashteen.
Lawmakers, including PTM’s Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir; AWP Vice President Ismat Raza Shahjahan, rights activists and students among 30 protesters were rounded up by the police on Tuesday. After being detained for four hours, the arrestees were finally transferred to the Kohistan Police Station, where a case was registered against them.
With the detainees being presented before a court on Wednesday, 23 of them were sent to jail on a 14-day judicial remand, journalist Rabia Mehmood tweeted.
It wasn’t later that support from netizens started pouring in for those “exercising their right to protest”.
“Esa’s father is in chains for demanding his right to speak, life, fair trial and justice. State declared him a traitor, a rebel,” journalist and rights activist Shabnam Buneri wrote in a Facebook post.
Here’s what Twitterati have to say about the arrests:
Earlier in the day, Mohsin Dawar was released by Islamabad police. The lawmaker confirmed the development on Twitter.
“I was told by the police that they were setting me free,” he wrote on the micro-blogging website. “I told them that I will not go until all the others are set free as well. Then they came back again, telling me that they will set all free, so I decided to leave.”
Pashteen, who is still in state custody, was arrested up from the Tahkal area of Peshawar in the early hours of Monday. According to the FIR filed against the PTM chief, he is accused of using threatening and derogatory language against the state during a gathering in Dera Ismail Khan on January 18.
Pashteen was on Monday presented before a court that handed him over to law enforcement authorities on a 14-day judicial remand.
Pakistan Railways (PR) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Muhammad Leghari has differed on Federal Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad’s claim and said that the deadly Tezgam Express fire from last year broke due to a short circuit and the gas cylinder only exploded later on.
As many as 73 passengers were killed, with 90 per cent of them burnt alive, and over 40 others injured when three coaches of the Rawalpindi-bound train caught fire near Liaquatpur in October 2019. The incident was called one of the most horrifying tragedies in PR’s history.
According to the ministry, the fire was caused by a cylinder blast that occurred when passengers were preparing breakfast for themselves in a moving train, a claim heavily disputed by eye-witnesses. People had widely demanded Rasheed’s resignation while the minister himself had suspended a couple of officers on account of criminal negligence and letting passengers carry gas cylinders on the ill-fated train.
With Rasheed making headlines as Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed observed that the minister should have resigned after the tragedy, and said that shutting down PR would be better than keeping it running under Rasheed, PR CEO Leghari’s claims have raised eyebrows over the government’s side of the story.
Speaking to a private media outlet, Leghari said that the fire broke out when an electric kettle in a dining car of the train, malfunctioned. “It was an illegal power connection from another coach,” he said, adding that the fire engulfed the entire coach, which led to the cylinder explosion.
Former Pakistan Cricket Team captain Sarfaraz Ahmed and his wife have welcomed their second child: a baby girl.
The cricketer made the announcement on social media by sharing a picture of his son with the newborn.
Following Sarfaraz’s announcement, friends and colleagues congratulated the cricketer on his bundle of joy.
Among those who sent their good wishes was Ahmad Shehzad, who not only congratulated Sarfaraz but also told him to “keep going”.
Other cricketers who sent their congratulations included Umar Gul, Hassan Ali and Shadab Khan.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Zafar Mirza has confirmed that at least four Pakistani students in China have tested positive for coronavirus as the outbreak claims at least 132 lives, leaving thousands of others affected.
According to Dawn, Dr Mirza, while addressing a press conference on Wednesday, said that a large proportion of Pakistanis living in China were students, of which over 500 are based in the central city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the new virus.
The premier’s special assistant said that four Pakistani students had tested positive for coronavirus with links to Wuhan. On PM Imran Khan’s behalf, Mirza assured the families of the children of the government’s support. He said that they will take on the responsibility of these children and all Pakistanis in China.
“We will take care of them the same way we would care for our own children,” he said. However, he added, that no case of the coronavirus has been confirmed in Pakistan yet.
The report comes days after Pakistani students studying at the Engineering and Science University of Wuhan requested help from the Pakistani and Chinese governments amid the alarming outbreak of the virus. A video message that was sent by the students stated that due to the virus, no communication between Wuhan and China was possible and more than 2,000 Pakistani students were facing food shortage.
The students had requested the premier and foreign minister to send help and facilitate their evacuation from the province.
On Monday, the PM Office had also convened a meeting in light of 2,000 coronavirus cases being confirmed across the globe amid the presence of a large number of Chinese nationals in Pakistan, and frequent travel between the two countries.
CORONAVIRUS:
In mid-December, some people in the central Chinese city of Wuhan began complaining of flu and pneumonia-like symptoms. Some had a high fever. Doctors were perplexed. To find out what might be causing their illness, geneticists analysed the DNA of the virus that had infected them.
At once, the scientists realised the virus was new to science.
As of January 23, experts at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Switzerland estimated that at least 557 people have contracted the rapidly spreading disease.
Terming his participation in the recently concluded World Economic Forum (WEF) as the “cheapest” official visit, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said that his trip was sponsored by two of his friends and renowned businessmen Ikram Sehgal and Imran Chaudhry.
A former army officer, Sehgal is the chairperson of Pathfinder Group Pakistan that includes two of the country’s largest private security companies. Chaudhry, on the other hand, is a decades-old close friend of the premier. He is a Dubai-based businessman and philanthropist, having investments in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
According to reports, the two friends of PM Imran bore the expenses for his trip to Davos, and the same was also confirmed by the premier himself. Addressing the ‘Breakfast at Davos’, an event jointly organised by Pathfinder Group and Martin Dow Group last week, Imran said his trip cost 10 times less than those of the previous leaders.
He recalled that his trip to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) last November, which cost $160,000, was cheaper than the visits of former president Asif Ali Zardari ($1.4 million), and former PMs Nawaz Sharif ($1.3 million) and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi ($800,000).
Thanking Sehgal, Imran added, “He is instrumental in getting me here. Otherwise, I would not have burdened my government to pay a sum of $450,000 for two nights.”
Reiterating that this was an “austerity programme”, he maintained the government should rely on the over nine million Pakistanis residing overseas. “The GDP of those nine million overseas Pakistanis, in my opinion, is almost 50 per cent of Pakistan’s (overall) GDP of 200 million people. So we can use this resource and they can sponsor these things,” he said.
To be able to attend the WEF annual meeting, a person has to be invited — in which case the event is free — or has to be a member of the forum. Membership of the WEF costs about $60,000 to $600,000 plus an additional fee needed to acquire an attendance badge, which runs about $27,000 per person to get into the conference.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) stalwart Jahangir Tareen’s sugar mills have reportedly posted a profit after tax of Rs138.92 million — a 170% increase in gross profits in three months — as compared to a loss of Rs353 million recorded in the same period last year.
According to media reports, JDW Sugar Mills Limited has announced its financial results for the first quarter that ended on December 31, 2019, which show that the revenue of the largest white sugar producer in the country went up by 61.45% to Rs13.19 billion during the first quarter as compared to Rs8.17 billion recorded in the same period last year.
The sales have increased mainly due to an increase in average selling prices of sugar, molasses and carryover sugar stocks.
The sugar division comprises three sugar mills units, JDW Unit-I, JDW Unit-II and JDW Unit-III in Rahim Yar Khan and Ghotki districts. It is one of the largest groups in the sugar sector and contributes approximately 15-17% of the country’s sugar production. It is also managing Sugarcane Corporate Farms over an area of 24,000 acres in Punjab and Sindh.
While people allege that the government had a role to play in scoring Tareen these profits, it is pertinent to note that as of last week, a serious case of sugar shortage had emerged as the country already stumbled amid a wheat crisis.
During the PTI government’s 15 months, sugar prices have shot up to as high as Rs64 a kilogram (kg). However, over the past week, the wholesale rate rose from Rs64 to Rs74 per kg and an acute shortage surfaced in the country. Last year, Pakistan produced 600,000 tonnes of sugar. Now, however, the wholesale rate of sugar is expected to reach Rs80 per kg, The News reported.
Further, if the government does with sugar what it did with wheat-flour and does not halt exporting it, prices could reach up to Rs100 per kg in Pakistan.
With less than a month remaining to the ultimate sports festival of the year, the Pakistan Super League, excitement levels are high. What makes this PSL even more special is the fact that all the matches will be played in Pakistan and fans will be able to witness the match live in the stadiums.
The PSL team officially kickstarted the event by releasing the anthem for this year’s edition. This year’s PSL track has been sung by Ali Azmat, Haroon and Asim Azhar with a special appearance by Arif Lohar. The track has been composed by Xulfi. The tune is catchy and full of energy but the highlight of the video has to be Asim and Haroon dancing. They seem to light up the mood even more with their moves.
Laal Kabootar director Kamal Khan has directed the music video which also features star cricketers including Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Rumman Raees, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood.
According to the press release, “A total of 22 instruments have been used in creating Tayyar Hain, including indigenous instruments such as tumba, chimta, rubab and harmonium“.
Listen to the song here:
Meanwhile, the track received a mix response from the audiences. While some loved it, others didn’t like it at all.