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  • India: Govt meeting disrupted after porn video plays on big screen

    India: Govt meeting disrupted after porn video plays on big screen

    A meeting of top Indian government officials was disrupted after a pornographic video clip played for at least two minutes at the Rajasthan State Secretariat, Independent reported.

    As per the details, the meeting, which took place last week, was being chaired by Food Department Secretary Mugdha Singh at a room in the state government headquarters in Jaipur.

    “In the middle of the video conference, an obscene clip started playing on the big screen. I immediately called the director and asked him to probe the matter and give a report on this,” Singh told the Press Trust of India (PTI).

    She said that 10 people, including department officials and representatives from the National Information Centre (NIC) of India, were present in the room while some 33 other officers were participating in the meeting through a video-link.

    “We were reviewing different schemes when out of nowhere lewd sounds and images popped up on one of the laptops hooked up to the video call,” Singh said.

    As the IT team rushed to the meeting room, officials sat red-faced. The initial inquiry revealed that some “privately owned laptops were used for the conference”, PTI reported.

    One of the laptops accidentally started playing the clip and the footage was projected on the giant screen until the technical team managed to stop it.

    “We’ve launched an investigation into the incident. Whoever is responsible will be found and taken to task,” NIC senior technical director has been quoted as saying.

  • CWC’2019: Full schedule, venues and match timings

    CWC’2019: Full schedule, venues and match timings

    The 2019 edition of the ICC World Cup is being held in the United Kingdom (UK), as part of which 48 games are being played across 46 days at 11 venues.

    Ten teams are playing against each other in the round-robin stage for the first time since the 1992 edition and the top four sides will qualify for the semi-finals which will be held in Manchester and Birmingham.

    Here’s the complete schedule to save you from the trouble of searching for one with Pakistan Standard Time (PST).

    Fixtures Date and Time (PST) Venue
    England vs South Africa 30 May, Thursday at 2:30 PM Kennington Oval, London
    West Indies vs Pakistan  31 May, Friday at 2:30 PM Trent Bridge, Nottingham
    New Zealand vs Sri Lanka 1 June, Saturday at 2:30 PM Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
    Afghanistan vs Australia 1 June, Saturday at 5:30 PM County Ground, Bristol
    South Africa vs Bangladesh 2 June, Sunday at 2:30 PM Kennington Oval, London
    England vs Pakistan 3 June, Monday at 2:30 PM Trent Bridge, Nottingham
    Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka 4 June, Tuesday at 2:30 PM  Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
    South Africa vs India 5 June, Wednesday at 2:30 PM The Rose Bowl, Southampton
    Bangladesh vs New Zealand 5 June, Wednesday at 5:30 PM Kennington Oval, London
    Australia vs West Indies 6 June, Thursday at 2:30 PM Trent Bridge, Nottingham
    Pakistan vs Sri Lanka 7 June, Friday at 2:30 PM County Ground, Bristol
    England vs Bangladesh 8 June, Saturday at 2:30 PM Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
    Afghanistan vs New Zealand 8 June, Saturday at 5:30 PM The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton
    India vs Australia 9 June, Sunday at 2:30 PM Kennington Oval, London
    South Africa vs West Indies  10 June, Monday at 2:30 PM The Rose Bowl, Southampton
    Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka 11 June, Tuesday at 2:30 PM  County Ground, Bristol
    Australia vs Pakistan 12 June, Wednesday at 2:30 PM The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton
    India vs New Zealand 13 June, Thursday at 2:30 PM Trent Bridge, Nottingham
    England vs West Indies 14 June, Friday at 2:30 PM The Rose Bowl, Southampton
    Sri Lanka vs Australia 15 June, Saturday at 2:30 PM Kennington Oval, London
    South Africa vs Afghanistan 15 June, Saturday at 5:30 PM Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
    India vs Pakistan 16 June, Sunday at 2:30 PM  Old Trafford, Manchester
    West Indies vs Bangladesh 17 June, Monday at 2:30 PM The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton
    England vs Afghanistan 18 June, Tuesday at 2:30 PM Old Trafford, Manchester
    New Zealand vs South Africa  19 June, Wednesday at 2:30 PM Edgbaston, Birmingham
    Australia vs Bangladesh 20 June, Thursday at 2:30 PM  Trent Bridge, Nottingham
    England vs Sri Lanka  21 June, Friday at 2:30 PM Headingley, Leeds
    India vs Afghanistan 22 June, Saturday at 2:30 PM The Rose Bowl, Southampton
    West Indies vs New Zealand 22 June, Saturday at 5:30 PM Old Trafford, Manchester
    Pakistan vs South Africa  23 June, Sunday at 2:30 PM Lord’s, London
    Bangladesh vs Afghanistan 24 June, Monday at 2:30 PM The Rose Bowl, Southampton
    England vs Australia 25 June, Tuesday at 2:30 PM  Lord’s, London
    New Zealand vs Pakistan   26 June, Wednesday at 2:30 PM Edgbaston, Birmingham
    West Indies vs India  27 June, Thursday at 2:30 PM Old Trafford, Manchester
    Sri Lanka vs South Africa  28 June, Friday at 2:30 PM Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street
    Pakistan vs Afghanistan  29 June, Saturday at 2:30 PM Headingley, Leeds
    New Zealand vs Australia 29 June, Saturday at 5:30 PM Lord’s, London
    England vs India 30 June, Sunday at 2:30 PM  Edgbaston, Birmingham
    Sri Lanka vs West Indies 1 July, Monday at 2:30 PM Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street
    India vs Bangladesh  2 July, Tuesday at 5:30 PM Edgbaston, Birmingham
    England vs New Zealand 3 July, Wednesday at 2:30 PM Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street
    Afghanistan vs West Indies 4 July, Thursday at 2:30 PM Headingley, Leeds
    Pakistan vs Bangladesh  5 July, Friday at 2:30 PM Lord’s, London
    Sri Lanka vs India  6 July, Saturday at – 5:30 PM Headingley, Leeds
    Australia vs South Africa 6 July, Saturday at 5:30 PM Old Trafford, Manchester
    TBC vs TBC 1st Semifinal  9 July, Tuesday at 2:30 PM Old Trafford, Manchester
    TBC vs TBC 2nd Semifinal 11 July, Thursday at 2:30 PM  Edgbaston, Birmingham
    TBC vs TBC Final 14 July, Sunday at 2:30 PM Lord’s, London

  • CWC’19: Soil from Virat Kohli’s school taken to England ‘for blessings’

    Soil from Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli’s school has been taken to England “to bless him” as he leads his side in the 2019 version of the ICC World Cup.

    According to Star Sports, the soil has been collected from Kohli’s school, where the world’s best batsman first learnt to play cricket.

    “The soil from @imVkohli’s school, where he learnt to play cricket, is going to London to bless him. Reply with your blessings and wishes and share this post with five other Virat fans as #KingKohli hunts for the #CricketKaCrown,” Star Sports tweeted.

    While the rationale behind the bizarre move is “to help India reclaim the coveted trophy” it last won in 2011, it has left Twitter in disbelief as people criticise the country for validating itself as the “land of superstitions”.

    https://twitter.com/ashoswai/status/1137121368187723776
    https://twitter.com/_Khader_/status/1137040597871517696
    https://twitter.com/SavageRaptor7/status/1137040961534480384

    India have already won their opening match against South Africa. Their next match is scheduled for June 9 against Australia at The Oval in London. Kohli’s Blues will also be facing their arch-rivals, Pakistan, on June 16.

  • VIDEO: ‘Hand govt over to Popalzai so Peshawar metro can be completed’, KP minister roasted

    VIDEO: ‘Hand govt over to Popalzai so Peshawar metro can be completed’, KP minister roasted

    Ruete Hilal Committee chief Mufti Muneebur Rehman has roasted the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government for seeking Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai’s appointment in his place so as to “end the moon-sighting controversy”.

    Popalzai is an Islamic cleric and head of the private moon-sighting committee at the historic Qasim Ali Khan Mosque in Peshawar.

    With his announcement on Monday that the moon of Shawwal had been sighted in KP and Eidul Fitr will be celebrated on June 4, Provincial Information Minister Shaukat Yousafzai suggested Popalzai’s appointment as the moon-sighting committee chairman, replacing Muneeb “to end the controversy”.

    “Eid is celebrated on one day all over Pakistan except a certain area of KP. We should stop this from happening. Mufti Popalzai has claimed to have sighted the moon and his claims have proven to be true a few times,” Yousafzai said.

    He added that Mufti Muneeb “should be rested for a while and Mufti Popalzai should be made the head of the moon-sighting committee”.

    Reacting to the statements, Mufti Muneeb said that Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai can’t be enrolled in the government, but the “government can be given under his control”.

    “Then everything that faces delay can be done beforehand. 24 hours before the deadline,” he said.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “The Peshawar metro project undertaken by the KP government should be given under Poplazai’s supervision so that it can meet timely success,” he said with implied sarcasm.

    The federal government has already announced that according to the Met Office, the moon will be sighted in the country on Tuesday and eid will be celebrated on Wednesday (June 5).

  • ‘PM Imran leaves Shah Mahmood Qureshi behind on Saudi Arabia trip’

    ‘PM Imran leaves Shah Mahmood Qureshi behind on Saudi Arabia trip’

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, who reached Saudi Arabia to attend the 14th Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Summit in Makkah last week, reportedly left his foreign minister (FM), Shah Mahmood Qureshi, behind.

    According to journalist Azaz Syed, FM Qureshi was left behind after “he was barred from boarding PM Imran’s special flight due to lack of space”.

    “The FM had to make alternate arrangements,” the journalist claimed in a tweet which has not yet received an official reaction.

    While sources have also confirmed the episode to The Current, they clarified that the FM wasn’t offloaded, but told beforehand to arrange his own trip since there wasn’t enough space in the premier’s aircraft.

    Earlier, a meeting of the OIC countries’ foreign ministers preceded the heads of states session to finalise the draft for ‘Makkah Memo’ that was presented and approved at the conference.

    FM Qureshi represented Pakistan at the meeting after managing to reach the Kingdom on time.

    The summit convenes every three years to make decisions about how to confront and contain conflicts and crises in Muslim-majority countries. This year, the conference focused on challenges faced by the Muslim community as it enters a new era with the aim to reach a unified stance.

    ‘WIDENING RIFT IN PTI’:

    The journalist’s claim regarding the FM being left behind comes two days after Federal Minister for Science & Technology Fawad Chaudhry hinted at a “cold war going on within the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)”.

    In an interview to a private media outlet, Fawad had mentioned interference of non-elected people in the affairs of the government. “At times, some important decisions are taken and we don’t even know. I still believe that we have some political weaknesses in decision-making,” he had said.

    FM Qureshi had earlier made headlines after an exchange of heated arguments with PM Imran’s close aide and former PTI secretary general, disqualified Jahangir Khan Tareen.

  • ‘Important decisions are made without us knowing’, Fawad loses it during TV interview

    Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry, who was sacked by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan as the information minister in April, has broken silence on the alleged rift widening within the government.

    “At times, some important decisions are taken and we don’t even know. I still believe that we have some political weaknesses in decision-making,” he said during an interview to a private media outlet.

    Earlier, sources had informed The Current that tensions are about to reach the boiling point within the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as a cold war continues between elected and non-elected people in the government.

    Fawad too was replaced by non-elected Firdous Ashiq Awan, who was handed the reins of the Information Ministry in the capacity of special assistant to the PM (SAPM) on information and broadcasting.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    The former information minister, however, wasn’t the only one to be sacked as part of the major cabinet reshuffle. The then finance minister Asad Umar was also replaced by another non-elected member, SAPM for Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.

    Hinting at the war going on within the ruling party, Fawad said that “non-elected people had the power to change portfolios of ministers”.

    “As I have maintained before, there were too many people trying to manage it [Information Ministry],” he said and added that one can’t do much when so many people are involved.

    “Your real strength is the parliament and the elected people, and you cannot leave them,” Fawad said. “You’re not going to redo the party and hand it over to those who have not even been a councillor.”

  • VIDEO: Shoaib Akhtar slams ‘fat and unfit’ Sarfaraz after defeat to Windies

    A day after Pakistan faced a humiliating seven-wicket defeat to West Indies in their opening fixture of the 2019 ICC World Cup, Shoaib Akhtar has gone on to slam skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed for being “fat and unfit”.

    Pakistan were left red-faced on Friday when their batting order collapsed and the entire team went back to pavilion for just 105 runs. Windies, on the other hand, chased the target at the loss of three wickets.

    With the cricket team being severely criticised after the match, former cricketer Akhtar, who is no new to controversies, roasted Sarfaraz for his “lack of fitness” as the captain.

    “When Sarfaraz Ahmed came for the toss, his stomach was sticking out and his face was so fat,” he said.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “He’s the first captain I’ve seen who is so unfit. He’s not able to move across and he’s struggling with wicket-keeping,” he added.

    “Speechless” was Akhtar’s first reaction as the result of the match came out.

    “Okay, the match is over. Recollecting my thoughts and emotions. We have to back these boys, they are representing our nation. They need our support throughout the World Cup,” he said in a subsequent tweet.

    Sarfaraz, during the post-match press conference, said he has full faith in the team and believes that the players will come back stronger after the disappointing result.

    The Greens will next take on hosts and hot favourites England on Monday.

  • Malaysian PM proposes freeing East Asia of US dollar for trade

    Malaysian PM proposes freeing East Asia of US dollar for trade

    Malaysian prime minister (PM) has said that East Asia should consider a common regional trading currency to promote commerce and free the region from relying on dollar transactions, a private media outlet reported Thursday.

    According to reports, Mahathir Bin Mohamad said the proposed currency could be used for regional trade, but would not replace national currencies for use at the domestic level.

    “In the Far East if you want to come together, we should start with a common trading currency, not to be used locally, but for the purpose of settling of trade,” he was quoted as saying.

    “At the moment, we have to depend upon the United States (US) dollar but it is also not stable. So the currency that we propose should be based on gold as it is much more stable.”

    Mahathir, who is serving his second term in office, has a reputation of being a financial maverick.

  • VIDEO: Malala trolls India at World Cup 2019 opening ceremony

    VIDEO: Malala trolls India at World Cup 2019 opening ceremony

    Taking a hilarious dig at Pakistan’s arch-rivals, world’s youngest Noble Peace Laureate Malala Yousafzai has trolled India at the star-studded opening ceremony of World Cup 2019 in London.

    During the ceremony held at Buckingham Palace, a short competition called the 60-second challenge was held. One cricket legend and a celebrity represented each team that had to score as many runs as possible in the given sixty seconds.

    For India, former skipper Anil Kumble and Bollywood actor Farhan Akhtar took part in the game. They, however, managed to score only 19 runs, while Pakistan scored exactly the double.

    Sharing her thoughts over Pakistan maintaining the seventh place with 38 runs, Malala trolled the Indian team saying that in comparison, they came in last with only 19 points.

    “Pakistan, we were okay, not too bad, came number seven, but India came last,” she said, after which the audience broke into laughter.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “They tried their best and we appreciate their hard work,” Malala added.

    Cricketing legends like Viv Richards, Jacques Kallis, Brett Lee and Kevin Pietersen were among other notable participants.

  • Fayyazul Hassan Chohan appointed Punjab govt’s spokesperson

    Fayyazul Hassan Chohan appointed Punjab govt’s spokesperson

    In a rather shocking development, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA and former Punjab information minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan has been appointed as the provincial government’s mouthpiece.

    Chohan was removed as the provincial information minister following his derogatory remarks against Hindus in March this year.

    Taking notice, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan had said, “There is no place for such derogatory remarks against minorities in Islam.”

    However, according to a notification dated May 28, 2019, a copy of which is available with The Current, Chohan has now been appointed as one of the 38 spokespersons of the Usman Buzdar-led Punjab government.

    Punjab Information Minister Sumsam Ali Shah, PM’s Special Assistant Usman Dar, PTI Information Secretary Omer Sarfraz Cheema, Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat among others have also been notified as the provincial government’s spokespersons.