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  • Did you know Ali Abbas and Ramsha Khan are cousins?

    Did you know Ali Abbas and Ramsha Khan are cousins?

    Ali Abbas and Ramsha Khan, who are currently sharing the screen opposite each other in Ghissi Piti Mohabbat, are cousins in real-life.

    In a recent interview, Ali revealed that Ramsha is his first cousin.

    “I don’t think a lot of people know this but Ramsha is my first cousin. She is my aunt’s daughter,” shared Ali. “Since childhood, we hung out – all the cousins – and she used to call me Ali Bhai.”

    “Now there we were holding hands and we had to look into each other’s eyes and deliver all these lines [in Ghissi Piti Mohabbat],” he added.

    Abbas further shared that he had to tell director Ahmad Bhatti that they had this problem.

    “Then the ice broke, we sat down because we were destroying the scenes and we decided to put the cousinship aside and to focus on work,” he said further.

    Read more – You will never believe who Imran Ashraf’s brother is

    Both the actors are impressing audiences with their acting. In the recent plot development, Ramsha and Ali’s characters in the drama have gotten married.

  • ‘Sh Rasheed is like a brother to me,’ says Hareem Shah, advises him to get married soon

    TikTok star Hareem Shah on Monday termed recently-appointed Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed as “her brother” and even advised him to tie the knot soon.

    Harim Shah has 4.9 million followers on the video-streaming platform TikTok.

    Addressing a press conference in Karachi, Hareem said that it is in Sheikh Rasheed’s best interest to get married now.

    “Sheikh Rasheed Sahib should tie the knot, otherwise who knows how many more videos will emerge,” she said in reference to a recent controversy surrounding the minister.

    The TikTok celebrity announced she is not going to marry right now, saying, “My dream boy has not yet landed on planet earth. When I see him, I will marry him.”

    Last year, several videos of Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed on live calls with TikTok stars Hareem and Sundal Khatak had gone viral on social media.

  • Joe Biden receives COVID-19 vaccine on live television

    Joe Biden receives COVID-19 vaccine on live television

    US President-elect Joe Biden received a COVID-19 vaccine live on television to enhance Americans’ confidence in the jabs.

    The 78-year-old incoming president got the Pfizer vaccine at the Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware. His wife Jill got the shot earlier, the presidential transition team said.

    Biden told Americans “there s nothing to worry about” when they get vaccinated and that in the meantime, they should follow all the SOPs  and “listen to the experts.”

    https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1341120867938545665?s=20

    He and the future first lady were the latest high-profile political figures who publicly joined the first wave of vaccinations that is expected to stop the current pandemic.

    Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband will be vaccinated next week.

    Previously Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) also shared her experience of getting vaccinated on social media.

    Meanwhile, the serving vice president, Mike Pence, and his wife got vaccinations last week. Trump, however, has yet to take part in the drive.

  • Pakistan suspends flights from UK amid new coronavirus strain

    Pakistan suspends flights from UK amid new coronavirus strain

    Pakistan has decided to suspend all flights from the UK until December 29 after a new strain of the coronavirus emerged in the United Kingdom.

    The restriction will be on all direct and indirect flights from the UK, effective December 23 at 12:00am, and will be applicable to all persons who are travelling from the UK and are in or have been in the UK for 10 days.

    On the other hand some passengers will be exempted from these restrictions. Transit passengers who do not leave airside in the UK and who were travelling from areas other than the UK will be allowed to travel to Pakistan. Similarly, Pakistani passport holders who travelled to the UK on visitor visas will be allowed to return with the following arrangements:

    1. A negative PCR test within 72 hours before the flight
    2. They will stay in the airport or in a government facility until the PCR test is taken.
    3. Mandatory enforced home quarantine for 7 days
    4. Trace and Test all passengers who arrived from the UK over the past 7 days as per TTQ protocol, including passengers arriving on 22 December.

    The Pass Tack App, introduced by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), is mandatory for all travellers arriving in Pakistan. Those who do not have it will need to fill out the web form of the Pass Track App.

    The passengers who do not have the Pass Track App will need to fill out the web form of the application.

    “NCOC will review the above-mentioned decisions on December 28, 2020, and any change will be communicated to CAA for further necessary instructions,” the notification from the  Aviation Division said.

    It is important to mention that flights from the UK are being suspended to 40 countries across the world including, Spain, India and Hong Kong.

    Other countries to impose a ban on UK arrivals include Belgium, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Russia, and Switzerland. Some of the bans are already in force while others are to begin on Tuesday.

    The World Health Organisation (WHO) tweeted late on Saturday that it was “in close contact with UK officials on the new #COVID19 virus variant” and promised to update governments and the public as more is learned.

    The new strain was identified in southeastern England in September and has been spreading in the area ever since, a WHO official told the BBC on Sunday.

    A WHO spokeswoman told AFP that “across Europe, where transmission is intense and widespread, countries need to redouble their control and prevention approaches.”

    It is important to note that while increased transmission is proportional to the chances of further mutation, the EU experts do not believe that the mutation should hinder the effectiveness of the vaccines.

  • Mahira Khan thanks fans, friends for wishes, prayers on birthday

    Mahira Khan thanks fans, friends for wishes, prayers on birthday

    Mahira Khan, who is celebrating her birthday in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19, has thanked her fans, friends and family for their good wishes and prayers.

    In an Instagram story, the actor wrote: “I’m going to try and reply to all the love and messages I have received in this time. And all the wonderful birthday messages, letters and videos too.”

    Mahira shared that is better and on her way to recovery.

    “Have no doubt in my heart that all of your prayers worked their magic. I felt the love, I felt it all. I love love you all,” added the actor.

    Mahira had revealed that she had tested positive for COVID-19 on December 13, days after wrapping up the shoot for her upcoming film Neelofar.

  • Senior journalist says PPP ‘creating problems’ for PDM, may quit Opp alliance

    Senior journalist says PPP ‘creating problems’ for PDM, may quit Opp alliance

    It seems the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is in two minds about staying in the Pakistan Democratic Movement because the party is allegedly responsible for holding the anti-government movement back over its key demands, claims senior journalist Saleem Safi.

    Speaking in Geo TV’s Shahzeb Khanzada show, Safi said the PPP was “creating problems” for the PDM by not agreeing to mass resignations and the long march towards Islamabad. Instead, it wanted to hold small rallies in different cities of Pakistan to “buy more time”, he claimed.

    He said that both Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) believe that the PPP was in contact with the powers-that-be to reach a deal. “Both parties are not reacting to this development because of the alliance, but the PPP has been told that if it wants to gain results via backdoor talks, it can go ahead,” he claimed, adding that PML-N and JUI-F are not happy with the PPP.

    According to Safi, the PPP was at the forefront when the PDM was formed, but the party has been gradually moving away from the 11-party alliance. He said the statement by PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari –in response to PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif taking names of the army chief and intelligence chief in a jalsa — wherein he expressed shock was a part of a well-thought strategy. “Bilawal gave this statement to appease the establishment and distance the PPP from the PML-N,” he claimed.

    The senior journalist further claimed that the opposition parties wanted to resign in December and hold a sit-in in Islamabad, but this idea, too, was opposed by the PPP.

    He said the PPP’s decision to participate in the by-polls has also damaged the cause of the PDM and the Election Commission of Pakistan decided to hold bypolls on the vacant seats following the insistence of the PPP.

    Safi further said that the PDM leadership knows that if the PPP ditches the PDM after signing the resignation letters then the party will be reduced to just one province, Sindh.

    “Maulana Fazl thinks that PPP will not give up its status as a national party to save its skin and will remain a part of the PDM,” he added.

  • ‘Whatever’: Meesha Shafi hits back at trolls

    ‘Whatever’: Meesha Shafi hits back at trolls

    Meesha Shafi has hit back at trolls in the classiest possible manner.

    Sharing a picture of herself, in which she is tossing her head back, Shafi wrote: “Whatever.”

    When a Twitter user left a bitter comment under the picture, Meesha hit back with a sassy reply.

    Meesha also posted a photo from last year when she went to Lahore Session Court to record her statement regarding her harassment case against Ali Zafar.

    Highlighting the stares of people in the picture Meesha posted, a Twitter user recalled the time when middle-aged lawyers passed comments on them. Agreeing with the user, Meesha replied “Yup. That’s where women have to go. To explain being harassed while being harassed.”

    Meesha also gave a fitting response to a troll who write that he is trying to find the beauty and princess in a picture of the singer’s.

    Meanwhile, Meesha also lauded her lawyer Nighat Dad, who was recently the subject of online hate and trolling. Dad is representing Meesha in court.

    “Out of so many brave lawyers on my legal team who are fighting this long, hard battle, only the woman gets singled out, the woman gets smeared & maligned, the woman is attacked, the woman is snubbed during court proceedings. Says a lot about the attackers!,” Meesha wrote, adding that Dad is a queen.

  • Facts that you did not know about Pakistan’s digital scene

    Moiz Sayed, who is Google’s Industry Head for Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka has shed light on what brands in Pakistan can achieve if marketers adopt a shift in mindset and break away from traditional forms of marketing and advertising in the digital era.

    Compared to the 90s, the way Pakistanis communicate and connect has changed drastically. “Pakistan now has 169 million cellular subscribers, 85 million 3G+ subscribers, and 87 million broadband, subscribers.”

    In the digital era, advertisement budgets appear to follow a traditional model, based on strategies that have succeeded in the past. “I’ve realised our industry believes Pakistan has limited internet penetration and poor access to smartphones, thus thinking digital won’t have sufficient reach.”

    Here are some of the facts presented in the article regarding Pakistan’s digital scene that you did not know :

    Fact 1 : Despite being in the digital era 65-70% of current ad spend being allocated to TV by default in Pakistan.

    Fact 2 : Most brands only leverage 20%-30% of the available reach on YouTube among their target audience.

    Fact 3 : Over 90% of the campaigns don’t capture their full target audience because of low funding. 

    Fact 4 : YouTube brand campaigns Drove an 89% increase in awareness and consideration of brands.

    Fact 5 :95% brands saw a significant offline sales lift after a YouTube campaign.

    Fact 6 : YouTube has a reach of over 36 million people

    Fact 7 : Watch time for YouTube has grown to 45% from 2019 to 2020

    How Nestlé Pakistan challenged traditional thinking

    The company focused on their Cerelac brand.They did a two-years of brand activity, which included studying media investments, impressions, sales volume, and revenue across TV and YouTube.

    This is what they found out :

     67% incremental increase in sales per dollar on YouTube than TV.

    The study revealed that even without increasing the overall media budget, they could improve the incremental sales per dollar by 21% by simply reducing the dark periods of online video.

    Constant coverage on YouTube could generate 40% more impressions per week than the 2019 average.

    A similar study from Nestle Australia revealed that in more than 93% cases, YouTube had greater incremental sales per impressions than TV.

    After the analysis, Nestle has since taken a more data-centric approach, rather than only relying on their past experience to guide their media strategy. Moiz suggests that experiment with new channels to keep up with ever-changing consumer behaviors.

    This article was originally published on Think with Google.

  • CM Buzdar tests positive for COVID-19 two days after attending high profile wedding

    Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar on Monday tested positive for COVID-19, sources in the CM House confirmed to The Current two days after the provincial chief executive attended a high profile wedding in Lahore.

    “The CM was tested for coronavirus after after he complained of symptoms,” a CM House official said.

    “The chief minister had quarantined himself after feeling sick on Sunday,” the official version maintained.

    Over the weekend, Buzdar was spotted at a high profile event held to mark the baraat of former Punjab governor Muhammad Latif Khosa’s daughter Sehr Khosa.

    Among other guests at the two-day wedding ceremony were Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed, Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, former CJP Asif Saeed Khosa and ex-prime minister (PM) Yousaf Raza Gillani.

    Ex-CJP Saqib Nisar also reportedly attended the event.

  • Boy reportedly dies after losing a PUBG game

    Boy reportedly dies after losing a PUBG game

    A young man from Faisalabad reportedly lost his life on Monday after he “failed to win” a game of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) online.

    According to reports, the man was taken to the hospital yesterday while he was unconscious.

    The family said that the boy had been playing the online game for the last six months. He lost the last stage of the game last night that had a deep effect on his mind. The exact cause of death has not yet been ascertained.

    PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds popularly known as PUBG was temporarily banned in Pakistan after reports appeared that it had negative effects on the minds of the youth.