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  • Adnan Siddiqui says some dialogues of ‘Meray Paas Tum Ho’ were problematic

    Adnan Siddiqui says some dialogues of ‘Meray Paas Tum Ho’ were problematic

    Blockbuster Meray Paas Tum Ho has ended but the hype surrounding it certainly hasn’t. While at one point audiences are unable to get over Danish’s unexpected death, on the other end the debate surrounding problematic dialogues in the drama also continues.

    Adnan Siddiqui who played the suave Shehwar Ahmed in the drama serial, while thanking his fans for their response and appreciation, said that he understands that “the dialogues had some problematic leanings, and sometimes went a little far, sometimes quite far in painting women with a single brush stroke”, adding that he “wishes the drama had consciously added nuance to the storyline”.

    Adnan also said that he will focus on improving storylines which is why in his own production company, he will be “giving women writers the chance and space to create good content”.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B72Vy8iHwUi/?utm_source=ig_embed

    While the drama was a phenomenal success and went onto become television’s highest-rated drama, it did stir up controversy with its problematic dialogues and comments by the writer Khalil ur Rehman Qamar in his various interviews. The writer was accused of being misogynist and anti-women.

    A few days before the finale, upcoming actor, Rehmat Ajmal, who plays Danish (Humayun Saeed) and Mehwish’s (Ayeza Khan) friend Aisha in the drama, said that she is “not proud to be part of something that is so compromising and ill-informed”.

    Read more – Rehmat Ajmal says she is not proud to be acting in Meray Paas Tum Ho

    Taking to Instagram, she wrote that she watched Qamar’s interview and “got to know about his problematic views on very many things WAY after the project was completed” and that “I absolutely do not endorse the concepts and viewpoints of Mr Khalil Ul Rehman”.

  • Careem lays off over 150 employees

    Careem lays off over 150 employees

    Dubai-based Careem has laid off over 150 employees to cut down on costs due to financial constraints. The ride-hailing app’s co-founder and CEO Mudassir Sheikha in an interview confirmed the news and said “that cuts are being made to support its [the company’s] expansion strategy.”

    He further added, “The expansion will require cost-cutting that will involve the loss of five percent of existing roles and the reassigning of ten percent of staff to more critical technology development areas.”

    The layoffs come just three weeks after Uber completed $3.1 billion acquisition of Careem.

    An employee who was laid off spoke to MENAbytes, a leading tech news company in the Middle East, and shared, “Careem was a fantastic company but things started deteriorating after the deal with Uber was announced. The uncertainty hiked since the acquisition but I didn’t see this coming. We could have been informed earlier. It would have given us more time to look for an alternative but nevertheless it has been a good journey.”

    Another ex-employee remarked, “It is sad to see a company that used to have great culture and values, lose everything. It has become a highly political organisation where performance is not the criteria to progress anymore”.

    Uber, that now owns Careem, has also laid off over 1,000 people from its different teams across the world in a bid to cut down on costs. According to stats, it lost approximately $1.1 billion in the third quarter of 2019.

  • Groom’s father and bride’s mother, who ‘eloped’, appear before police

    Groom’s father and bride’s mother, who ‘eloped’, appear before police

    Days after an Indian textile businessman, whose son’s marriage was fixed on February 13, allegedly eloped with the bride’s mother, the couple has appeared before the police to clarify the situation.

    According to The Indian Express, husband of the woman didn’t allow her back at home, following which, she went to her parents’ house. The marriage of son and daughter of the eloped couple was cancelled.

    The report quoted the family of the couple as saying that the marriage of the groom from Surat city was fixed with a bride from Vejalpore village in Navsari district. Preparations were on in full swing when the groom’s father allegedly eloped with the bride’s mother.

    Over 20 years ago, the groom’s father, now 43, who was from a poor economic background, had an affair with a woman from a rich family. The woman’s family was against the relationship and she was married off to a youngster from Navsari. The man got married to a woman from Surat.

    The family said the man met the woman, now 41, again at a funeral almost a year ago. By then their children were grownups and the man sent a marriage proposal of his son to the daughter of the woman. The girl and boy met and got engaged around eight months ago, following which the families agreed to the marriage.

    Both the families used to visit each other’s house and the couple met regularly. They were also in touch on social media, the family said.

    A few days before their elopement, the woman’s husband learnt about their relationship and had warned her, said Navsari police. Seeing no way out, the businessman, father of two sons, eloped with the woman on January 10, police said. The woman’s husband filed a missing complaint with Vejalpore police station, while another missing complaint was filed by family members of the businessman with Katargam police station and later with Kadodara police station in Surat.

    Before leaving Surat, the businessman called up his friend Raju and informed him about the same and requested him to take his bike home from Kadodadara. Raju reached Kadodara and informed the police. However, police failed to trace the couple.

    On Sunday night, the couple appeared before the police and clarified how they had left willingly.

  • Woman dies during cake-eating contest

    Woman dies during cake-eating contest

    A woman died while taking part in a cake-eating competition to celebrate Australia Day.

    Paramedics were called to a pub in the state of Queensland on Sunday afternoon after a woman was involved in a “medical incident”.

    Public broadcaster ABC reported the 60-year-old had a seizure after she “shovelled a lamington into her mouth”.

    Lamingtons, a traditional Australian dessert, are cube-shaped sponge cakes dipped in chocolate and covered in grated coconut.

    The woman was rushed to hospital in the coastal town of Hervey Bay but couldn’t survive.

    She was a contestant in the Beach House Hotel’s annual Australia Day lamington and meat pie eating contest.

    In a post on Facebook, management and staff offered their “deepest condolences” to the woman’s friends and family.

    “We acknowledge and thank our supportive patrons, staff, and the Queensland Ambulance Service for their prompt and professional response while this tragic incident was unfolding,” the post said.

    “The hotel staff have been offered professional support while our thoughts firmly remain with the family at this challenging time.”

    Police said the death was not suspicious and a report would be prepared for the coroner.

  • Bye Bye Buzdar? ‘Chaudhrys mulling no-confidence motion against Punjab CM’

    Bye Bye Buzdar? ‘Chaudhrys mulling no-confidence motion against Punjab CM’

    While rumour has it that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in Punjab “is about to collapse”, Chaudhry brothers’ Pakistan Muslim League (PML) – a much-needed ally of the PTI on both provincial and federal levels – is mulling to get done with Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s blue-eyed Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar, The Current has learnt.

    According to sources, the PML had taken after the 2018 general election a principled stance to not join hands with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) so as to not get itself labeled as blackmailers of the country’s political quarters, and had helped the PTI form its government instead.

    “Moonis Elahi had decided that the party would support the PTI in both Punjab and centre, where we are an important ally of Imran [Khan] considering how his party cannot do much with its strength in the hung houses of parliament,” party sources said.

    They added that Moonis had been commended by both his father and uncle, as well as other veteran politicians of the PML, since it was a principled stance. “But it wasn’t later that we realised we had shot ourselves in the foot.”

    “We could’ve joined hands with the PML-N and easily been handed the Punjab CM slot, but we decided to form the coalition with PTI in good faith and support Buzdar. [Punjab Assembly Speaker] Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi supported him [Buzdar] like he would support any person from his own family, but what we got in return was the fear of drowning,” they said.

    Sources added that the party was mulling to get rid of Buzdar because they were being compelled by no delivery of works in their constituencies in particular and in Punjab in general. “We don’t want to be among those lawmakers in Punjab who are drowning under Buzdar’s leadership. We do not want to lose our constituents’ support only because we contested elections with the PTI and can’t do anything for our people after coming to power.”

    When asked about how the PML was planning to remove Buzdar as the provincial chief executive of Punjab, they said, “We have the support of around 20 to 25 lawmakers from the PML-N and PTI each. A majority among the group is that of women lawmakers of the PML-N on reserved seats.”

    “We gave Buzdar multiple chances but he doesn’t care about all what we have done. He knows he doesn’t have to cave since he enjoys the support of PM Imran,” sources said, adding that the party leadership was discussing if a no-confidence motion should be tabled against him.

    “Both Buzdar and the premier know we can gather the support needed to get the Punjab CM changed, and that is why Imran has now hit at us by indirectly calling us ‘conspirators’. Although it’s not like how the PM thinks that someone in our party wants the CM slot for himself, but enough is enough.”

    ‘DO WE?’:

    Speaking to The Current, Moonis Elahi neither confirmed nor denied the claims made by his colleague on the condition of anonymity. “Do we?” he said with a winking emoji when asked about the support of around 60 lawmakers his party allegedly enjoys in Punjab.

    Responding to other queries, the lawmaker said the PML had undoubtedly formed the coalition in good faith and the party were sure about it back then, however, he did not comment over if they regretted it now.

    “We don’t want to topple Buzdar government. On the contrary, we are seriously contemplating not to support any other candidate from [the] PTI,” he said further, adding that the PML was satisfied with Buzdar.

    Moonis maintained that Imran should clearly name the ‘conspirators’, and distanced himself from any of the claims made by his colleague. “The pressure group has nothing to do with the PML. It is, in fact, supporting Buzdar.”

    The PML leader, however, said that they did not want to be among Punjabis drowning because of the PTI government. “We are an independent party that is accountable to its constituents and will keep their interest above all,” he said.

  • Mahira Khan, Humayun Saeed’s Twitter exchange is adorable

    Mahira Khan, Humayun Saeed’s Twitter exchange is adorable

    Humayun Saeed is the man of the hour. He has won hearts with his exceptional performance as Danish in Meray Paas Tum Ho and everyone, including members of the entertainment industry, have nothing but praises for him.

    Among those who loved Humayun’s performance was Mahira Khan, who has worked with the actor in multiple projects including drama serial Neeyat and superhit film Bin Roye.

    Mahira’s tweet sparked a Twitter conversation between the two and in the words of Vasay Chaudhry, it was ‘Awww’.

    In the end, Vasay summed up the whole exchange for us.

    Apart from Mahira, many of Humayun’s collegues also praised the actor for his performance.

  • How to track the spread of coronavirus in real-time

    How to track the spread of coronavirus in real-time

    The deadly coronavirus is spreading like a wildfire across the world. There is an online dashboard that can give you real-time news in the form of data. The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkinas has built a tool, integrating data from the World Health Organisation, as well as centres for disease control from across the world.

    The death toll has reached at least 81, and the virus has infected more than 2,800 people worldwide. As reports come in, the map keeps track of the total confirmed cases, total deaths, and total recoveries. Each red dot represents an outbreak, with the size corresponding to the relative size of the outbreak. 

    Source – John Hopkins

    Read more – Can you get coronavirus through your AliExpress order?

    So far, the virus has spread to 13 other countries, including the US, France, Australia, and Japan. Experts fear that the true number of people infected is much higher than the official total.

    Source – John Hopkins

    While Wuhan has been quarantined, at least 12 other cities have imposed travel restrictions, affecting an estimated 33 million people.

  • Sakoon sirf qabar mein?

    Sakoon sirf qabar mein?

    Dying has now become more expensive in Faisalabad.

    According to a report in Samaa News, digging a grave used to cost anything between Rs 4,000-5,000 but now costs at least Rs 10,000 and in some cases, prices have gone up to Rs 12,000.

    A resident of Faisalabad told the media outlet that while Prime Minister Imran Khan says peace is in the grave, “we can’t even get that because dying too costs so much now”.

    The price of getting a permanent grave (pakki qabar) made now costs something between Rs 25,000 and Rs 30,000.

    Recent rise in prices of essential items has already cost the public a lot; now you can’t even die in peace due to the rising costs of digging graves and getting a permanent grave.

  • ‘Hello Pakistan’ says Karan Johar as he runs into Sarwat and Fahad

    ‘Hello Pakistan’ says Karan Johar as he runs into Sarwat and Fahad

    Power couple Fahad Mirza and Sarwat Gilani, who have quite literally stirred up a storm as they vacationed in Italy, ran into Bollywood powerhouse Karan Johar at Doha International Airport on their way back to Pakistan.

    That of course, called for a selfie moment.

    Just wondering, who has the best pout out of the three? We can safely say that Fahad is definitely giving Karan a run for his money.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B7yI3p0DukQ/

    Interestingly, Sarwat has turned the comments on this post off.

    Fahad even recorded a video of himself and Sarwat with Karan in which the filmmaker says “Hello to everyone in Pakistan.”

    Watch video:

    Meanwhile, Sarwat and Fahad’s PDA in Rome set the internet on fire. The two shared a picture of themselves kissing in front of the Fontana Di Trevi-Roma.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B7oVMMAJKdB/
  • Quiz – Which Danish Are You?

    Quiz – Which Danish Are You?

    [forminator_quiz id=”42797″]