In a crucial turn of events, the highly anticipated meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Raja Riaz, scheduled for today, to decide on a name for the caretaker prime minister, has been postponed.
The meeting has been rescheduled for tomorrow.
The opposition leader has denied rumours that the meeting had been postponed for nefarious reasons and expressed eagerness for the upcoming conversation with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
“The information circulating regarding the postponement of today’s meeting is not accurate,” declared Raja Riaz during a conversation with SAMAA TV.
“The discussions between the Prime Minister and me are expected to take place today,” said Raja Riaz, highlighting the ongoing nature of the dialogue.
In a poignant last speech on the floor of the National Assembly as Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif said that if the leader of a political party is jailed, “we are not happy about it”.
“If someone has been distributing sweets [to celebrate], it is not right. This is not a good tradition,” the Premier said, in a thinly veiled reference to political rival, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan.
Khan has been sentenced to three years imprisonment in the Tosha Khana case, and is currently at Attock jail.
Talking about the severe economic crisis in the country, Shehbaz said that his government faced severe difficulties in its 16-month long tenure.
He thanked legislators from all parties and both sides, including Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir, for showing confidence in him.
Calling the assembly a “bouquet”, the Prime Minister said that such a bunch of Pakistanis has never been put together before and will never be put together again.
In a lighter moment, he asked members to thump their desks with more force after he paid tribute to Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf.
He also singled out Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari for praise, thanking the outgoing Foreign Minister for keeping the coalition together and for his diplomatic prowess.
According to the sources of Geo News in Attock jail have said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has told his lawyers to get him out of jail, as he doesn’t want to remain in prison.
According to a report in geo.tv, Imran Khan was “unhappy and worried” that he was in jail. On the other hand, Imran Khan’s lawyer, Naeem Haider Panjutha, has said in a media talk on Tuesday that Imran Khan’s morale is high.
“Take me out of here; I don’t want to remain in jail,” the officials quoted Khan as saying during a meeting with his lawyer.
Following an altercation with the personnel of the Attock district jail, two of Imran Khan’s lawyers have been charged with ripping off a government official’s uniform.
According to Geo News, a “coded conversation” took place between a jail official and former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
However, the administration of Attock Jail has decided to investigate the matter of this coded conversation, in which some words were indecipherable.
Don ka intezar sirf gyaaran mulkon ki police nahi, balkay poori dunya kar rahi thi.
There was a lot of anticipation in the air when it was announced that the iconic thriller film ‘Don’ is going to be revamped for a third film. While rumors suggested that Bollywood Badshah Shah Rukh Khan will reprise his iconic performance in Don and Don 2, many were heart broken when SRK reportedly walked away from the project. At the time, sources revealed to media outlets that the superstar was not sure that this was the kind of cinema he wanted to support.
There was all kinds of suggestion about who would embrace the staple black jacket and say ‘Don ko pakarna mushkil nahi, namomkin hai” which had begun with the veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan.
But now, it has been revealed that the next Don is…Ranveer Singh.
A teaser released by Excel Movies yesterday has confirmed the casting.
Bollywood actor Aamir Khan’s daughter Ira spoke to ET Times about how she came to recognize her bad mental health, stating that it was her parents’ divorce that triggered the episode. The actor and his first wife, Reena Dutta, divorced amicably in 2002, however, Ira revealed that both Aamir and Reena made her feel that it “was not a big deal”.
The mental health activist went on to say that because of Aamir and Reena’s divorce, she had mental misunderstandings but never found the courage to discuss them with anyone. Hence, she “blames herself’ for suffering from depression, believing erroneously that one had to be sad to get love from others. On a positive note, she said that now she is working on making herself happy, and has a better relationship with her parents.
Ira revealed she is in a group chat with her parents and reaches out to them every time she is in need, while her fiance Nupur Shikhare is one of her strongest supporters.
Ira recently made national headlines when she revealed to a publication that mental health disorders run in her family:
“Every 8-10 months I will have a big crash. It’s partly genetic, partly psychological, and partly social. It took me a while to figure it out. But I have mental health disorders in my family. I also did not make healthy choices and I systematically walked into depression.”
The current government has announced a 50% increase in the daily travel and mileage allowances for all on-duty government employees. A notification to the same was issued by the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday.
According to the notification, different calculations will be used for different grades of employees. There is an increase of Rs 7,200 per day for employees in Grade 22 and Rs 6,000 for Grade 21 employees. On the other hand, the employees in Grades 12 to 16 can get an increase of Rs 1320 and Rs 1200 per day for the employees in Grades 5 to 11.
Additionally, the cost of transportation has increased by 50% to Rs7.5 per kilometer for vehicles and Rs3.75 per kilometre for motorcycles. For personal vehicles or taxis, the per-kilometre mileage allowance has increased by 50% to Rs15, Rs6 for motorcycles, Rs3 for bicycles, and Rs3.75 for public transport.
The aforementioned daily allowance prices are applicable to certain stations for special rates as announced, including Hyderabad, Karachi, Sukkur, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Multan, Quetta, Sargodha, Sialkot, Lahore, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Peshawar, Gwadar, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Muzaffarabad and Mirpur in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Government employees in grades 1–19 can stay in hotels (not five-star ones), motels, public sector corporations, rest houses, and guest houses.
Veteran actress Juveria Abbasi’s daughter Anzela Abbasi recently got married in a lavish ceremony to Tashfeen Ansari, however many were quick to point out that her father, Shamoon Abbasi, was not present during the ceremony.
Abbasi posted a cryptic note on his Instagram stories during the wedding, writing about wanting to remove “shameless people” from his life:
“I never wanted to be attached or known to have anything with impudent and immodest, shameless people in my life and never I will… no matter what my relationship with them I prefer to stay away from them no matter what!”
The couple divorced after ten years together, after which the actress has been vocal about how she loves being single during an interview with Fuchsia Magazine:
“Our society loves telling women that they cannot survive in this world if they don’t have a husband to take care of them. But I don’t encourage this kind of thought process because it was not difficult for me at all. I have a good job from where I earn a good amount which allows me to have a comfortable lifestyle and also take care of my daughter. I’m proud of the person she has become since she’s well educated, well groomed and now is also working as an actress.”
Many users expressed anger at how publicly Shamoon was disowning his daughter and creating controversy on a special day. However, celebrities like Shahood Alvi, Ushna Shah came forward to publicly praise Juvaria for raising her daughter to become an accomplished, beautiful woman. Alvi praised Abbasi for going through all the tough times and coming out to be an even stronger, confident woman in spite of all that she has undergone:
“I’ve always witnessed you being a great single parent, the amount of love and support you’ve shown her throughout life even after undergoing all the pain and challenges. Now that you’ve wedded her off in a great family. I’m so proud of you because I saw you struggle everyday and in your worst times, which is why i’m extremely thrilled for you! You’ve done a great job dost!”
Actress Ushna Shah praised Juvaria for raising Anzeela all on her own as a single mother, and making her into a strong, king and well-rounded person:
“I know what it means for a single mother to wed her daughter to the best of her ability, I saw how happy it made my mother and I saw how happy it had made you.”
Social media users also praised Juvaria’s grace and strong-spirit to refuse to let her bitter ex-husband’s resentment destroy such an important day for her daughter, as one user lamented how society doesn’t acknowledge the strengths of single mothers
my hearttt. she’s so blessed to have a friend like him. meanwhile her asshole ex-husband tried his best to ruin her daughter’s wedding day. we as a society just don’t praise and acknowledge the struggles and ability of single mothers who raise their children on their own. pic.twitter.com/QQqO85e5Sw
Other’s came forward to defend Anzala’s choice of wedding outfits, pointing out that this was her special day and its about time people stopped telling brides how they should dress up on their big day!
Oh no another happy bride? That is definitely heartbreaking in a country where women are killed for saying no to proposals, burned to death for dowry, or divorced for having a daughter. Plus it's been a while since we bullied Ushna Shah at her wedding so time for a new target! https://t.co/ljXO2sa7gY
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is preparing to advice President Arif Alvi to dissolve the National Assembly (NA) today, bringing an end to tumultuous five-year term for the Lower House. Today (Wednesday) might be the last day of the coalition government.
In order to extend the interim period, which is legally within 90 days if an assembly is dissolved prematurely, the government will dissolve the Lower House of parliament earlier than its legal term, which expires on August 12.
If the National Assembly gets dissolved prematurely, a caretaker government will be responsible for conducting elections in 90 days.
According to Article 58 of the constitution, the prime minister can advise the president on the dissolution of the National Assembly, however, if the president doesn’t approve, the assembly is still dissolved within 48 hours.
“The president shall dissolve the National Assembly if so advised by the prime minister; and the National Assembly shall, unless sooner dissolved, stand dissolved at the expiration of forty-eight hours after the prime minister has so advised,” the article reads.
PM Shehbaz Sharif, after a joint session of Parliament today at 5:30 p.m., will request President Alvi to dissolve the Parliament. Shehbaz Sharif’s meeting with opposition leader Raja Riaz is scheduled for 4 p.m. today.
The University of Hull in Manchester has offered a clarification on the participation of Judge Humayun Dilawar in a training programme at their campus, after supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protested against the university.
PTI activists have been tagging university to record their objection against the inclusion of Judge Dilawar, who convicted Imran Khan in the Tosha Khana case on August 5, sentencing him to three years imprisonment and disqualification.
PTI supporters demanded that the judge be expelled from the training session.
However, Judge Dilawar did not, in fact, fly to the UK out of the blue, as revealed by a statement issued by the university in response to the controversy. The statement says that his participation was a result of being chosen by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for the training.
Stressing that the university has been organising training sessions on human rights and the rule of law for Pakistani Judges Since 2014, the university said that it has no role in selecting judges for the training.
“The current cohort has been selected by the Islamabad High Court, the Peshawar High Court, and the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The University has no role in the selection of judges”.
The country’s media has decided that the average citizen is not raging inflation but whether a fully grown woman has decided to convert from Christianity to Islam or not.
In an interview with Youtuber and journalist Maliha Rehman, actor Hassan Ahmed, Sunita Marshall’s husband, was asked about how he deals with the negative comments, especially regarding his marriage to the ‘Sar-e-rah’ actress. The actor responded that it is his deepest desire that his wife converts to Islam, but understands that these things do take time. He further went on to say that Sunita will only come towards Islam when she notices the positive inside him.
But newsflash for the two of you, Sunita isn’t special just because she ‘could’ convert to Islam. She’s a fully grown human being who can dress how she wants and follow what religion she chooses. It is shameful how this is a topic that needs a 10 minute long discussion.
The discussion arose just a few weeks after Sunita was questioned by controversial Youtuber Nadir Ali about her religious beliefs. She calmly handled the situation saying that it was her choice whether she chooses to remain a Christian or convert to Islam. But the fact remains, Sunita’s religion is not something to debate, and it’s shameful that her husband is commenting on personal matters in the public sphere.
What's wrong with Nadir Ali? Didn't know he'll become so immature and problematic after becoming famous. pic.twitter.com/TxhNKdwy1z
We were incredibly happy to witness how a flood of celebrities and social media users applauded the ‘Khuda Aur Mohabbat’ actress for bravely handling Ali’s misogynist remarks, but it doesn’t mean she needs to be subjected to this kind of questioning time and time again. This is the Islamic Republic Of Pakistan, where under the law, people from all kinds of faiths are allowed to practice their religion without any fear.
It’s the year 2023, you have people leaving the country because they’re unable to make a decent living, so obsessing over whether Sunita Marshall will become a Muslim or not is irrelevant. Celebrity tabloids, please do better and let her live without feeling like her religion is in the spotlight all the time.
