It’s raining babies for our cricket stars this year. After Shahid Afridi, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Yasir Shah, Wahab Riaz has announced that he and his wife Zaynab have welcomed a baby girl, Hoorain Sikandar. This is the couple’s second child together.
My family n I just welcomed Hoorain Sikandar in to our world, my second daughter Alhumdulilah She’s in my arms as I write this tweet n my wife is smiling at me n well right next to me there is no joy comparable to blessing n mercy a beti Wish dad was around to hold her #happy🙏🏼☝🏼
Though the left-arm pacer missed out on Pakistan’s central contracts list for 2020-21 season, head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq has said that he will be on the radar for selection in the team in the future.
Yasir Hussain seems to have stirred up quite a storm with his comments on Turkish dramas and Diriliş: Ertuğrul. After Mansha Pasha and Anoushey Ashraf stepped in to defend him, more members of the entertainment industry are sharing their stance on the matter.
Osman Khalid Butt discussed how the drama series can benefit Pakistan
Without taking any names, Osman addressed Yasir’s concerns that foreign content spells death for the local industry.
“Sharing my response to a post that insinuated our jobs are under threat,” wrote Osman. “I don’t recall us actors finding ourselves jobless when Ishq-e-Mamnoon or Mera Sultan were all the rage in Pakistan.”
He further said that the series can help “create more job opportunities for local dubbing/VO artists” in Pakistan.
Osman also suggested that PTV can “use the revenue generated from this series to create our own original content”.
Sharing my response to a post that insinuated our jobs are under threat:
I don't recall us actors finding ourselves jobless when Ishq-e-Mamnoon or Mera Sultan were all the rage in Pakistan. Nor did Turkish actors 'infiltrate' the local industry & replace us. – contd.
— Osman Khalid Butt 🇵🇸 (@aClockworkObi) May 18, 2020
Of course, I'd love it if our national television uses the revenue generated from this series to create our own original content – shows that can rival Ertugrul in narrative if not in scale, and showcase our own historical events.
— Osman Khalid Butt 🇵🇸 (@aClockworkObi) May 18, 2020
Maya Ali agreed with Butt
“We need to have more faith in our content, writers and work as an artist,” wrote Maya on Instagram.
Ahmed Ali Butt said that though he respected Yasir’s opinion, he did not agree with it
“One should not be crucified for voicing their concerns,” said Ahmed.
He said that Ertuğrul is a great drama which promotes Islamic values.
Butt also added that he believes that the “Government of Pakistan should grant special budgets to Pakistani production houses with specific guidelines to produce historical dramas with local talent and artists also”.
While Munib Nawaz supported Yasir and called him a true artist, Ali Kazmi said that this should be a wake up call for the industry.
Gohar Rasheed also added his ‘two cents’ on the matter
He said that “if you want job security, take ownership, and create better content. Stop being petty.”
Neelum Munir says “we should look beyond and understand its Islamic content, which has so much wisdom and teaches us the history and the values of Muslims”.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAVJnJlliTB/
Armeena Khan said that if you want to watch good Pakistani content, watch Hamza Ali Abbasi, Kubra Khan and Sajal Aly’s Alif
Yasir had urged PTV to make a historic drama using artists and technicians who pay taxes to the country.
“Landy k kapray aur Turkey k dramay, dono hee local industry ko tabah kardein gay,” the actor had written.
Following his colleagues remarks, Yasir responded saying: “Yeh humara kaam nahi hai bhai idary ka hai.”
Set in 13th century Anatolia and based on the struggle of Ertuğrul Gazi, father of Osman I – the founder of the Ottoman dynasty, Diriliş: Ertuğrul has been trending in the country ever since its first episode aired on PTV Home. Pakistanis are loving the drama series and it has become a sensation in the country. According to PTV, 133.38 million people have watched the drama series from April 25- May 14. PTV’s YouTube channel has also registered an exponential rise in its viewership with 3.13 million subscribers and episodes trending every day on the social media platform.
In an exclusive interview with The Current, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Faisal Javed Khan revealed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had gifted the drama series to Pakistan as a goodwill gesture.
National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) chief Lieutenant General Muhammad Afzal has said that the army, amid doctors’ complaints regarding the nonavailability of personal protective equipment (PPE), has taken over the distribution of the same and the equipment is now being provided to hospitals with the help of respective corps headquarters.
“As we had received complaints from some doctors that they were not getting PPE, I requested COAS [Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa] after which it was decided that PPEs will directly be sent to the corps headquarters concerned rather than sharing them with the provincial governments,” Lt Gen Afzal said while addressing a press conference.
According to Dawn, he added that the information regarding the dispatching of PPEs was, however, duly shared with the provincial governments. “Now the army is distributing the protective gear in the hospitals, and since then we have not received any complain.”
The NDMA chairperson said the authority had adequate stocks of protective equipment which could cater to the needs of doctors and patients for the next month.
He said initially Pakistan was dependent on foreign-made equipment but now except ventilators, everything else was being manufactured by local companies. “As a result of the local production of equipment, the cost of normal mask has dropped from Rs50 to Rs10 and N-95 mask is now available for Rs300 against its previous price of Rs2,000.”
Lt Gen Afzal said so far five tranches of equipment had been sent to provinces and a universal helpline 111-157-157 set up to receive complaints regarding unavailability of PPE and other material being used against the virus.
He said a quarantine centre established at Haji Camp in the capital was not being utilised as people of the area had demanded that such a centre should be away from populated areas.
Former cricket team captain Shahid Khan Afridi has said that he would address the issues of unemployment and education if he became the prime minister of Pakistan.
During an interaction with journalists, undated footage and pictures of which are doing rounds on social media, Afridi was asked about his plans if handed reins of the country for 10 days.
The video being recorded during a ceremony held as part of Afridi’s nationwide campaign titled “Taleem Ho Gi Aam, Her Beti Key Naam”, suggests it is from later last year.
Addressing the ceremony, Afridi said that women were giving birth to children on streets in Sindh, adding that it was 21st century Pakistan where humans and animals were being forced to drink water from the same place.
Seeking support from the youth, the former captain went on to say that Pakistan was stuck in a swamp of problems and we have to unite and make it an ideal country.
“More than 20 million children are missing out on education and the goal is to bring them to school,” Afridi said.
“Our culture and religion are very beautiful,” he said and added that loving humanity was the need of the hour.
The former cricketer also reportedly highlighted the plight of Muslims in occupied Kashmir.
A petition was filed on Monday in the Lahore High Court to ban video game PUBG (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds) following which the court ordered the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to decide on the matter within six weeks.
The petitioner’s lawyer Bilal Riaz Sheikh moved the court after finding some features of PUBG “problematic”.
“The game has a negative impact on children. They are becoming more ruthless and violent,” he said.
He asked the court to order the removal of PUBG from the Google Play Store. The court said it has forwarded petition over the game to the PTA several times, but the authority never responds.
As per reports, the court, earlier, disposed of a similar petition that asked for a ban on the game.
PUBG is an online multiplayer In the game, up to one hundred players parachute onto an island and scavenge for weapons and equipment to kill others while avoiding getting killed themselves.
Seven soldiers have been martyred in two separate terror incidents in Balochistan, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Tuesday.
According to the ISPR statement, terrorists targeted a vehicle of the Frontier Corps (FC) in Mach using improvised explosive devices (IEDs), claiming the lives of six Pakistan Army soldiers.
The martyred soldiers were identified as Naib Subedar Ihsan Ullah Khan, Naik Zubair Khan, Naik Ijaz Ahmed, Naik Maula Bux, Naik Noor Muhammad and Abdul Jabbar.
In a separate incident at Kech, another soldier, Sipahi Imdad Ali was martyred in an exchange of fire with militants.
Just a day ago, another soldier was martyred and three others wounded when an explosive device ripped through a crowded bazaar near Mirali in North Waziristan tribal district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
On May 9, at least six soldiers, including an Army major, were martyred after a roadside bomb struck a vehicle of the FC in Balochistan, close to the border with Iran. The attack was later claimed by the Balochistan Liberation Army, a Baloch separatist group.
Balochistan, which shares its border with neighbouring Afghanistan and Iran, is the largest of the country’s four provinces with a population of roughly seven million.
The Current reached out to a representative of Hum TV, who confirmed this and said that the first season of the drama was aired in 2015 in Pakistan. He stated that Hum TV bought the rights of the show and dubbed it in Urdu. However, the show failed to catch the attention of the audiences because of which it was dropped after the first season. He further said that while the show was very popular in Turkey, when it was released in December 2014, it was not until it was released on Netflix in April 2017 that it gained international acclaim.
As for Pakistan, the show was thrust into the spotlight after Prime Minister Imran Khan recommended it and advised the youth to watch it.
Set in 13th century Anatolia and based on the struggle of Ertuğrul Gazi, father of Osman I – the founder of the Ottoman dynasty, Diriliş: Ertuğrul has been trending ever since its first episode aired on PTV Home. Pakistanis are loving the drama series and it has become a sensation in the country. According to PTV, 133.38 million people have watched the drama series from April 25- May 14. PTV’s YouTube channel has also registered an exponential rise in its viewership with 3 million subscribers and episodes trending every day on the social media platform.
In an exclusive interview with The Current, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Faisal Javed Khan revealed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had gifted the drama series to Pakistan as a goodwill gesture.
Saba Qamar just dropped another video on her YouTube channel and people cannot get enough of her unfiltered sass. Titled The Chay Show featuring Saba Qamar, the episode shows Saba being interviewed by makeup artist Shoaib Khan, dressed up as Suhail Warraich.
During the episode, Saba answers some of the most asked questions from female celebrities. She is witty and unfiltered with her responses which is why the episode has been much appreciated on social media.
For example, when the host asks Saba if she has done a lot of romance in real life like on-screen, Saba replies, “Kaisi baat kar rahe hain. Islamic Republic of Pakistan main aurat romance nahi karti, bachay aasmano say girtay hain (Women don’t romance in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Children fall from the skies).”
Later when he asks how many people Saba has dated, Saba said, “Aap hee bata dein. Aap behatar jaante honge.” When the host insists she answer, Saba launched a tirade saying: “Since a young age, girls are taught that it is better to die than to leave the first man in your life. This one sentence also ruined eight years of my life! He used to lie, misbehave, assault, and later apologise. Because commitment and marriage were the same for me, I kept going on for eight years thinking ‘it’ll get better’ but he didn’t get better, in fact, he ruined my mind!”
She further said that he later went and got married to someone in his family.
This answer, in particular, was lauded by Twitter users.
Two teenage girls were killed in the name of ‘honour’ allegedly by a family member in a village located on the border of Pakistan’s North and South Waziristan tribal districts after a short mobile video of them with a young man circulated on social media.
The North Waziristan police on Sunday arrested two men for their alleged involvement in the murder.
An FIR was filed at the Razmak police station in North Waziristan, where the murders were reported. According to the FIR, the incident took place on May 14 at the border village of Shaam Plain Garyom.
“A confirmed report was received that two girls aged 16 and 18 were killed in the name of honour by their paternal cousin, whose name and address is not known, in Shaam Plain Garyom,” the FIR said.
It said the reason behind the killings was believed to be a video that shows a young man recording himself with three young girls in a secluded area outdoors.
A senior police officer in Waziristan told a news outlet that two of the three girls seen in the 52-second mobile clip have been killed. He said police were collecting information about the third girl and the man seen in the video.
Meanwhile, another police official said that it appears the video in question was shot nearly a year ago and probably went viral on social media only a few weeks ago.
“At the moment, our topmost priority is to secure the life of the third girl and the man before taking any action,” stated the official.
While the rest of the industry argues over the impact of airing Turkish dramas on the local industry, Mehwish Hayat has shared that her crush has been updated after watching Diriliş: Ertuğrul.
In a social media post, Mehwish said that she doesn’t understand what the fuss is about before adding that she thinks Engin Altan Düzyatan is “pretty hot” and a bit like Leonardo DiCaprio.
I don’t know what the fuss is all abt? At the end of the day lets accept Dirilis #Ertugrul for wht it is; an educational drama series which has historical significance & gr8 moral lessons.I think Engin Altan Düzyatan is pretty hot. A bit like Leonardo Di Caprio no?#crushupdated♥
