Author: News Desk
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Bloomberg ‘confuses’ arrested Abraaj CEO with President Dr Arif Alvi
United States (US)-based financial news outlet, Bloomberg, has confused former Abraaj chief executive officer (CEO) Arif Naqvi with President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi, Twitterati suggested on Saturday.
It was reported by Bloomberg that Naqvi, founder of Abraaj Group, was denied bail by a London judge Friday after prosecutors said he may flee to Pakistan rather than face US fraud charges.
However, while reporting the development in Naqvi’s case, Bloomberg used an image of President Alvi in what Twitterati termed as a “big blunder”.
Some believed the image was justified as the story claimed Naqvi had in his possession Alvi’s contact details.
But the popular opinion remained that Bloomberg had confused the two Arifs.
Arif Naqvi was arrested from the United Kingdom (UK) over “alleged fraud”, earlier this month.
He is the founder of defunct buyout fund, Abraaj Group — a private equity fund that used to take money from investors and buy other companies with it to improve their operations and cut costs.
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An American vlogger Jordan Taylor is in Pakistan and has released her first video trailer
Popular travel vlogger Jordan Taylor is all set to explore Pakistan and has released a video trailer of her journey through Pakistan.
The video trailer shows Taylor experiencing rich culture and heritage of Pakistan and enjoying the famous desi food. She can be seen wearing a traditional shalwar kameez and a dupatta.
Taylor will release a full video of her journey very soon. She is currently traveling the Southern Areas of Pakistan with an intent to visit the Northern Areas very soon.
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The Current’s Summer Styles
Summer is here and so is our lookbook.
The BIG Takeaway: Pastels, Pastels and more Pastels. Take a look:
Here are the tips to buy best kapra for summer pants:
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Met Office predicts Ramzan moon sighting in Pakistan
Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has predicted that the Ramzan moon will be sighted in Pakistan on the evening of May 6.
“The new moon of Ramzan, 1440 AH, will be born at 3:45 Pakistan Standard Time (PST) on May 5,” a statement issued by the Met Office said, adding that the holy month is expected to begin on May 7.
According to the astronomical parameters, there is no chance of sighting of the new moon on the evening of May 5 as “it will be 15 hours and 18 minutes old by sunset and only seven degrees above the horizon”.
Saudi Arabia and Middle Eastern countries, however, will be able to see the moon on May 5 and observe the first of the holy month on May 6.
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Pakistan’s Aleem Dar to officiate CWC’19 matches: ICC
Pakistan’s Aleem Dar will be a part of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) World Cup 2019 team of officials, as announced by the cricket governing body on Friday.
According to the ICC, 16 umpires and six match referees are part of the official panel appointed to officiate 48 matches of the tournament to be held between May 30 and July 14.
It would be the fifth World Cup in which Dar will participate as an umpire.
Among other umpires are Kumar Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford, Sundaram Ravi, Paul Reiffel, Rod Tucker, Joel Wilson, Michael Gough, Ruchira Palliyaguruge and Paul Wilson.
“The umpires will officiate the matches in the first phase of league matches and names of those for semi-finals and final would be announced subsequently,” ICC said in a statement.
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Critics say ‘Avengers: Endgame’ is the ‘perfect finale’
The highly anticipated final installment of Marvel Studios superhero story, Avengers: Endgame, has received positive reviews from critics all around.
As of Tuesday afternoon, all but one of 56 Endgame reviews collected by the Rotten Tomatoes website were rated as positive.
CNN said the film delivered a worthy finale.
“The film-makers have sought to reward movie-goers with a spectacle that’s epic in every way,” they wrote.
USA Today said that the film is a hugely satisfying tale that begins with a brutal, emotional gut punch and takes you on quite the trip with the original Avengers crew.
The New York Times said the movie provided the “sense of an ending.”
“We’ve lived with these characters and the actors playing them for more than a decade,” NYT wrote. “For the most part, it’s nice to see them again, and a little sad to say goodbye.”
Endgame concludes a story that has unfolded over 21 previous films since 2007. It picks up where last year’s Avengers: Infinity War left fans hanging when several beloved heroes appeared to turn to dust.
Box office experts say Endgame may break the opening weekend record for ticket sales in the United States and Canada, which now stands at $257.7 million for Infinity War. It is also the highest-grossing franchise of all time.
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Salman Ahmad defends PM Imran, says ‘calling someone sahiba is a sign of respect’
Amid all the backlash that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan continues to face after referring to Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari as “sahiba”, musician Salman Ahmed has stepped up to defend him.
In a tweet on Wednesday evening, Salman, who is well-known for his undeterred support for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief, said that “calling someone sahiba is a sign of respect”.
His statement, however, wasn’t very well received by Twitterati, who had termed PM Imran’s remarks as “disgustingly sexist” a day earlier.
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LSA issues statement amidst controversy
The Lux Style Awards have been embroiled in controversy from the minute the nominations were announced. In the beginning, most people had issues over the fact that a lot of deserving people were not included in the nominations. For example, Hamza Ali Abbasi for Parwaaz Hai Junoon and Mohsin Abbas Haider for Meri Guriya.
Fast forward a few weeks the LSAs further landed in hot waters for nominating an alleged harasser.
Model Eman Suleman was the first to withdraw her name from the nominations. Eman, who was nominated for the Best Emerging Talent in the Fashion category, in a short video posted to Instagram, said that though she felt honoured to be nominated, she did “not wish to be part of an accolade that is shared with an alleged harasser.”
Following Eman Suleman, Generation (Achievement in Fashion Design – Pret) and Saima Bargefrede (Best Hair and Makeup Artist) rejected their nominations.
An official statement read, “The two entities have decided to follow Eman Suleman’s footsteps and not attend this year’s ceremony,” adding, “The two brands stand with women who face and fight toxic misogyny, sexism, and sexual harassment in multiple ways in pursuance of their dreams and indeed in their daily lives.”
A few hours later, Meesha Shafi thanked Eman, Generation and Saima for standing up for her and requested for her name and work be removed from the list of nominees. Her song Mein was nominated for the Best Song.
The Sketches, Fatima Nasir and Rubab Ali followed the same path and withdrew their nominations.
The Sufi folk rock band which was nominated in four categories (Best Song, Best Playback Singer, Best Original Soundtrack and Singer Of The Year) said that their reason was based on their values and principles which they will not bend for any award.
Meanwhile, Fatima Nasir nominated for Best Hair and Makeup, also rejected her nomination saying that she stands in solidarity with those who have withdrawn from the awards and that “we need to keep raising our voice against sexual harassment until the industry, and the world, is a safe place for women to work.”
Model Rubbab Ali, nominated for the Best Female Model of the Year, said that she’s sick of casual harassment against women which is why she is supporting those who are raising their voice.
Last but not the least, director Jami threw out the three LSA Awards he’s won on the street outside his house and said that “We stand by our women.”
Following this wave of rejections, Lux issued an official statement saying that “the decisions of the Film Jury were based on an assessment of the merits of the cinematic work,” adding “We do not consider any other extraneous issues related to the personal characters or actions of people associated with that work.”
The statement further said, “The Film Jury of the Lux Style Awards appreciates the sensitivity of the subject and recognises the intensity of public sentiment. Nevertheless, it is also important to respect that the case is being decided by Pakistan’s judicial system. We have complete faith in the law of the land and believe that justice will prevail.”
While most people have been calling out the LSAs for their neutral stance, some members of the fraternity came forward and defended the awards.
Ahmed Ali Butt, who has been nominated for the Best Actor for his role in Jawani Phir Nahi Ani 2, said that an award is a token of appreciation from your fellow peers.
“To degrade an award and treat it like a piece of garbage is truly sad and uncivilized. This means you have no regard for the art and your fellow peers who gave you the title,” he further said, adding that there are better ways to protest.
Model Iman Aly said that the protest was a childish step.
“Fame and respect should be earned with hard work in time. Not by childish walkouts and social media posts playing judge, jury and executioner,” she wrote on her Instagram.
Shamoon Abbasi also took a dig at Jami for throwing out his award saying, “You don’t disrespect your awards for public attention for a matter that has been resolved.”
