Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) cybercrime circle has arrested Murtaza Khan and Ahmed Hassan over objectionable remarks against Chief Minister (CM) Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif, Samaa has reported.
The FIA spokesperson claimed that the two suspects were included in a team that edited and shared derogatory posts about Maryam Nawaz and other senior officials on social media.
The suspects have been charged under the Prevention of Electronic Crime Act (PECA). FIA stated that no one is beyond the law, and strict action will be taken against the suspects.
In 2016, the then PML-N led government introduced the PECA law to “check extremist content, prosecute hate speech and curb online harassment of women.”
The law has been criticised over the years as an instrument of stuffing free speech.
Taking a strong stance against social media trolls, actress Saheefa Jabbar Khattak has come out swinging to defend her colleague Amar Khan., whose looks turned into a debated topic on social media.
The controversy started when Amar Khan posted a video on her Instagram account with the caption, “My dear friend @ushnashah is the new stellar host in K-town, Catch us tonight for a sizzling chat pouring our hearts out at “After hour” on @365digitaltvofficial 11pm.. ⚡ Directed by @musaddiqmalek Makeup n hair @nabila_salon @goshi.makeupartist My suit by @munibnawaz”
A fan replied to her, “Hair line.. line sy zada pechay nh hogae.”
Replying to the comment, Amar good naturedly said, “@aroojsagheer35 arey jaanu hogaye honge agli bar nai kareinge.the gel back pony is done tightly.ab bachay ki jaan loge kya ”
Saheefa took to Instagram and condemned the focus on Amar Khan’s appearance: “It’s unbelievable that my friend’s and colleague’s appearance is making headlines, not her craft, not her impressive achievements, but her looks (forehead). What a nation we are, progressing so much, right? @amarkhanlove has dedicated years to studying her craft and has achieved everything through sheer hard work. She writes, directs, and acts, yet none of this is considered ‘news.’ But her forehead? That’s what they focus on.”
The Rafta Rafta actress criticized the media for spreading the controversy, “As much as the comment sections are filled with illiteracy and ignorance, publishing houses and media portals are no better. They should be more discerning about what they choose to report as news. There’s absolutely no need to add fuel to the fire”, Jabbar added.
In the response to the Saheefa Jabbar story, Amar simply responded, “Lol but honestly saheefa I have absolutely no counter argument or reaction to this. Well craft and achievements are also a news but not a spicier one. Its only my work that shall speak and that has been speaking in my favour always Alhamdulillah. We make blunders we learn and move on. but these comments needs anything but my reaction. Hope you are enjoying a fantastic wheather in lahore, let them enjoy my tight hairline! ✌
In yet another setback to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) member Zulfiqar Bhindar has been declared the winner on a National Assembly seat during recounting of Gujranwala constituency NA-79.
According to Returning Officer Shabbir Hussain Butt, Zulfiqar Bhindar secured 95,604 votes, while Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Ehsan Virk secured 92,581 votes.
In the general elections 2024, PTI-backed Ehsan Virk succeeded with 140,230 votes, while PML-N’s Zulfiqar Bhindar got 99,635 votes.
However, following the orders of the Supreme Court, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ordered a recount in NA-79, as the PML-N leader had requested a recount of votes, which was granted.
Torrential rains are wreaking havoc across Balochistan, with at least 29 people killed and 15 injured in the province, ARY News reported, quoting the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA).
The monsoon season, which started on July 1, has caused widespread damage to infrastructure and crops in Balochistan, says a PDMA report.
Rainfall has caused damage to several houses, with 858 completely destroyed and 13896 partially damaged.
In addition to the loss of life and property, the rains have also caused significant damage to 58799 acres of crops and 41 kilometres of roads.
The PDMA report also stated that seven bridges have been damaged, while 373 animals have died due to the heavy rains.
A gas pipeline also washed away due to flood in Mutch area of Balochistan after which gas supply was suspended in many areas including Quetta.
An 18-inch gas pipeline in Mach has been affected by the flood, informed the spokesperson of Sui Southern Gas.
The supply of gas to various areas including Quetta, Mastung, Kalat, Pishin and Ziarat has been suspended due to the gas pipeline being affected, reports Geo News.
The spokesman said that the repair of the affected gas pipeline will be started after security clearance.
In his latest political U-turn, the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, has forbidden undercover PTI leaders from coming out and getting arrested, after he told them to “stop fearing” and get arrested just two days earlier.
“The undercover leaders should come out and make arrests, face whatever charges are against them, get bails from courts,” he had said earlier in the week.
However, the former Prime Minister has now told journalists in Adiala Jail, “If they come out now, they will be picked up, so they shouldn’t come out yet.”
He criticised the government for accusing PTI of bringing Taliban back from Afghanistan to Pakistan, saying, “Is PTI responsible for the terrorism in Balochistan too?”
Imran Khan further asked, “Whose responsibility is to stop terrorism in Kacha?”
He stated that PTI condemns all kinds of terrorism and confirmed that the party will hold a rally on September 8 in Islamabad.
Two women dominated Bangladeshi politics for decades. One was chased into exile. The other is newly free from custody and too sick to rule, but her heir looks set to take power.
Autocratic ex-premier Sheikh Hasina, 76, fled the country by helicopter for neighbouring India this month as huge crowds demanding an end to her rule marched towards her palace.
Hours after the student-led uprising sparked the sudden collapse of her government, her lifelong rival and two-time prime minister Khaleda Zia, 79, was released from house arrest for the first time in years.
Members of Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) endured crackdowns and mass arrests under Hasina, who pointed to her opposition’s cosy relations with Islamists as justification.
A caretaker government has run the country since Hasina’s ouster — but it has to hold new elections eventually, and now that the BNP has emerged from the underground, its members are confident of their prospects.
“People who supported us from behind for a very long time, they are now coming to the front,” Mollik Wasi Tami, a leader of the party’s student wing, told AFP.
Interim leader and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, 84, has said he has no plans to continue in politics after his current role is finished.
The students who led Hasina’s overthrow have no fondness for Zia either, and it remains unclear whether they would support a future BNP government or seek to form their own party.
But whatever they decide, analysts say that when polls are held, the BNP is the force with the cross-country network, the political experience and the drive to win.
“In the next election, whenever it takes place, the BNP has more appeal,” Bangladeshi politics expert and Illinois State University professor Ali Riaz told AFP.
Zia herself is too ill to assume the prime ministership a third time.
She has suffered from numerous chronic health complaints since she was jailed in 2018 after a graft conviction widely seen as politically motivated, whatever the charge’s true merits.
Zia has only appeared in public once since her release, in a pre-recorded video statement to a BNP rally in Dhaka from a hospital bed, during which she appeared sick and frail.
“We need love and peace to rebuild our country,” she told thousands of party faithful at the rally, held two days after Hasina left Bangladesh.
Her supporters are planning to take her abroad for urgent medical care, clearing the way for her eldest son and heir apparent Tarique Rahman to take the reins.
‘He will come back’
Tarique has led the BNP since his mother’s conviction while in exile in London, where he fled to avoid his own set of graft charges — which his party is now working to quash.
“When the legal problems are solved, he will come back,” Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, the BNP’s secretary-general, told AFP.
Tarique’s visage already appears alongside that of his mother on the party’s banners and campaign materials, including at the rally held two days after Hasina’s toppling.
The fact that rally happened at all was a remarkable departure from Hasina’s rule.
The BNP’s senior leaders and thousands of activists were jailed late last year ahead of January elections that — absent any genuine political opposition — returned Hasina to power.
Dynasties forged in blood
The decades-old contest between Zia and Hasina is a dynastic battle that predates the political career of both women.
Hasina’s father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Zia’s husband Ziaur Rahman both led the country in the early years after its 1971 liberation war against Pakistan. Both were assassinated.
Both women joined forces in protests that ousted a military dictator in 1990 and then contested elections against each other the following year.
They have alternated in power ever since, with their parties serving as vehicles for their fierce rivalry.
Zia’s first administration in 1991 was hailed for liberalising Bangladesh’s economy, sparking decades of growth.
But her second term from 2001 saw several graft scandals — some implicating Tarique — and Islamist attacks, including one that almost killed Hasina.
‘Politics based on religion’
Zia was also accused of steering Muslim-majority Bangladesh, and her nominally big tent BNP, away from their secular roots by allying with the Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami.
The partnership gave Hasina cover to persecute both parties by claiming she was fighting extremism — an excuse bolstered by several terror attacks during her time in office.
Retired Dhaka University professor Abul Kashem Fazlul Haq told AFP that any collaboration between both forces risked antagonising the avowedly secular students who toppled Hasina.
“They are aware that they will be hurt if they do politics based on religion,” he said.
But Alamgir, the BNP’s secretary-general, said the party was open to renewing the alliance if it boosted their chances of forming the next government.
“BNP will definitely look for victory,” he said. “If Jamaat helps, then definitely.”
Renowned classical singer Ustad Hamid Ali Khan has revealed that former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee offered him the opportunity to move to India.
Hamid Ali Khan recently participated in a show where he discussed various topics, including his professional life.
During the show, Khan said, “In 1979, the government of Pakistan sent me, Asad Amanat Ali Khan, along with Ustad Mehdi Hasan, for a big music program at the Indian Darul Hukot in New Delhi. The event was attended by many notable personalities, including Indira Gandhi, Dilip Kumar, and Manoj Kumar.”
According to Khan, when Asad and he took the stage, there was a stir in the audience because of their young age. People were surprised that such young singers were sent from Pakistan for such a competitive program, but their performance impressed everyone.
“After this program, the then-Indian Foreign Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee invited us to his house for dinner. When we arrived, he told us he was very impressed by us and offered us the opportunity to leave Pakistan and move to India,” he recalled.
“At that time, Vajpayee said he would provide whatever we needed if we agreed to move to India, with the condition that we would become Indian nationals. We responded, ‘Sir, our entire family is in Pakistan; we cannot move to India. Thank you very much, but we will continue travelling to and from India,” he had responded to Indian PM.
Bollywood’s iconic movie “Baadshah” celebrated its 25th anniversary on August 27, 2024, celebrating the turning point in Shah Rukh Khan’s career. Recently, Ratan Jain from Venus Records gave an interview to Bollywood Hugama, during which he expressed a strong interest in making sequels, starting with Baazigar 2, followed by Baadshah 2.
Ratan Jain said, “I keep talking to Shah Rukh and we discuss what should we do next. But the first sequel I’d like to make with Shah Rukh is ‘Baazigar 2’ followed by ‘Baadshah 2.”
When asked if the producers of Baazigar have a script ready for its sequel, he replied “No, but we keep discussing it. The day we get the right subject and director, we’ll make the sequel. Obviously, it will be made only with Shah Rukh he has supported the idea behind the concept. But again, we have to get the right idea. The times are such that agar film karein, toh bahut acchi karein. Nahin toh na karein,” Ratan Jain added.
Social media platform X (formerly Twitter) will launch a new video calling feature, providing Zoom-like functionality within the app.
X has created a working version of its video conferencing platform, which owner Elon Musk claims he is already using for internal meetings at the company.
The new option will be added as a separate functionality along the right-hand function bar (as “Conferences”), and once enabled, it will include full video streaming functionality for participants.
Presumably, X’s conference calls will be limited to four participants on the screen, although they want to improve to better match Zoom and other conference chat apps.
This update is another step towards Elon Musk’s vision of making the platform an “everything app” that facilitates all your interactive and transactional needs in one place.
Renowned actress Saman Ansari discussed her marriage proposal, divorce, and how she handled it.
She opened up about her life on Ahmad Ali Butt’s podcast and revealed that her first marriage was at a young age.
Saman Ansari recalled, “I went to Canada from America to get higher education, and then my maternal grandparents said they were getting her married. An announcement was made in the mosque that a girl studying is available for marriage and that people interested can reach out.”
She said that such announcements were common at the time since there was no social media and she did not have a mobile phone.
“The first time my husband saw me was on the day we got engaged. During my marriage, because of my education and my husband’s job, I constantly moved back and forth between America and Canada,” she said.
“I had a son but then got divorced at the time he was son six years old,” she recalled.
After the divorce, Ansari moved to the United Arab Emirates, leaving behind her child as per divorce law, which states that the child must stay in the environment they are used to. There, she worked as a freelancer, which she claims was not an easy route to survive in Dubai.
“I also decided not to come to Pakistan because my parents would have been subjected to taunts concerning me, as a mother, leaving behind my child and getting a divorce.
I didn’t want to put my parents through that, so I got their permission and moved to Dubai,” she added.
