Shahid Afridi, Humayun Saeed, Maya Ali, Hareem Farooq, Shehzad Roy, Faakhir and Javed Sheikh have landed in Muzaffarabad to participate in Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Kashmir Solidarity Rally.
PM Imran on Wednesday had announced that he will hold “a big jalsa in Muzzafarabad on Friday 13 Sept, to send a message to the world about the continuing siege” of Indian occupied Kashmir and “to show the Kashmiris that Pakistan stands resolutely with them.”
Bilal Ashraf and Mahira Khan’s latest release Superstar has been a stellar success both critically and commercially. And the one thing that everyone has agreed on is how lit Mahira and Bilal’s onscreen chemistry is and how well the two have acted in the film.
Now that the pre and post-release promotions for the film have wrapped up, Bilal has been sharing some fun BTS of the cast’s shenanigans from the sets of the film. We have to say, BTS is often more fun than the film itself.
Amid heightened tensions and Narendra Modi-led Indian government’s threats of “invading” Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) region of the country, Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat has said his “troops are ready to make the territory a part of India”.
“Indian troops are ready to retrieve Pakistan occupied Kashmir and make it a part of India, but it is the government which takes decisions in such matters,” Gen Rawat said while speaking to an Indian news agency.
He said that the institutions of the country will work as per the orders of the government, but the army is always ready.
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Earlier, a similar statement was made by Indian Union Minister Jitendra Singh, who had said that after the abrogation of Article 370 in India Held Kashmir (IHK), the next agenda of the government was to “retrieve Pakistan-administered Kashmir”.
Singh, however, was brutally trolled by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Major General Asif Ghafoor, who suggested him “to consult Indian Air Force (IAF) before taking any such steps”.
He had ridiculed the Indian minister while mentioning failed Indian airstrikes from February 2019, which resulted in two IAF jets being shot down by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and capture of pilot Abhinandan Varthaman.
Prospective students heads up! The Times Higher Education (THE) has released its annual World University Rankings after analysing more than 1,300 institutions across the world.
Considered the most comprehensive global ranking, it uses 13 “performance indicators” to judge institutions’ excellence in terms of teaching, research, job placement, income and international outlook.
This year’s ranking was along the same lines as last year – there was no change at the top this year – European and North American universities continue to dominate.
The University of Oxford took the top spot for the fourth year in a row, with its traditional rival the University of Cambridge dropping to third place behind the California Institute of Technology.
UK’s highest-ranked universities including Imperial College London, UCL, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and the University of Edinburgh have all dropped by one place.
Switzerland was the only country outside the United Kingdom and North America to break into the top 20, with the ETH Zurich coming in joint 13th place. Ellie Bothwell, THE’s rankings editor, said that while Europe continued to perform “extremely well” and attract academics from around the world, there could be challenges ahead.
Seven territories included in the analysis for the first time were Bangladesh, Brunei, Cuba, Malta, Montenegro, Puerto Rico and Vietnam. Iran was one of the biggest overall climbers, overtaking France and Australia with 40 universities included.
Asia is the only region posing a serious threat to Anglo-American dominance in the rankings, now in their 16th year. China has grown to be the fourth-most-represented country in the world, while Japan has strengthened its position as the second, though it lags behind countries such as Denmark and Belgium in terms of top-200 representation.
Meanwhile, in Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam University (401-500) was the highest-ranked in the country followed by COMSATS University (601-800), Islamabad and University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Lahore University of Management Sciences, National University of Sciences and Technology and the University of Punjab in the 801-1000 bracket.
The last episode of Hum TV’s hit drama serial Anaa aired Sunday and it finally saw Izzah and Altamash get married.
But what caught our attention in the final scene was the fact that both the actors – Naimal Khawar Khan and Usman Mukhtar – were wearing the same clothes they wore to Naimal’s actual wedding. Naimal got married to Hamza Ali Abbasi on August 26 in a small, intimate nikkah.
Here’s a side by side look:
The dupatta is definitely the same. As is the string of pearls.
Even the shirt looks the same and it appears that the net dupatta which Naimal used for her wedding entry was used as an accompanying dupatta for her drama’s wedding look. Her hairstyle and makeup are also strikingly similar.
Here’s a side by side look of Usman as well.
People are convinced that the two wore the same outfits, but we’ll have to wait for an official word from the two before drawing any solid conclusions. But hey, we’re all here for it.
Meanwhile, Usman bid a fitting goodbye to Izza and Naimal with an emotional Instagram post.
“Altamash was no one without Izza,” he wrote before going onto praise Naimal for executing the character with “such flawless grace and acting.”
Karachi has emerged as the second-highest consumer of cannabis in the world, according to ABCD2018 Cannabis Price Index, despite the fact that it is illegal in the country.
According to the index, Karachi comes just second after New York (77.44 metric tonnes) in terms of consuming cannabis — including hashish — at 41.95 metric tonnes, or 41,950 kgs.
New Delhi is right behind Karachi at 38.26 metric tonnes. Mumbai is also in the top ten. Interestingly, Amsterdam did not make it to the top 10 considering how popular the drug is in the city.
People have been smoking hash on the subcontinent for centuries. It predates the arrival of Islam in the region, with reference to cannabis appearing in the sacred Hindu Atharva Veda text describing its medicinal and ritual uses.
According to a 2013 UN survey, cannabis was the most widely consumed drug in Pakistan with around four million users, representing almost 3.6 percent of the population.
Most people who smoke up regularly remark that cannabis helps them destress and cope with the anxieties of life. Meanwhile, others comment that it helps increase their concentration and focus.
With the increase in the number of police brutality cases in Pakistan, yet another statement from the past has come back to haunt the Prime Minister (PM), Imran Khan.
Last year during his speech at Bahawalpur city, Imran Khan vowed that his first act after assuming power as PM will be to “bring reforms in Punjab police”. He said that he will make Punjab Police exactly like the one in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa free from political influence.
But with the recent appearance of two torture and murder cases of Punjab police in Lahore, it seems that Pakistan Tehreeke Insaf (PTI) government has failed to complete another promise it made to its supporters.
Last month in August, officials from the anti-corruption department unearthed a private torture cell in a forest near Karol village, set up by the station house officer (SHO) and constables of Gojjar Pura police to torture people illegally.
Similarly, a few days ago the ATM robber identified as Salahuddin Ayubi who went viral for making faces on the CCTV camera while robbing an ATM passed away in police custody.
The police claimed that Ayubi was behaving like a “mad man” in lockup when he suddenly became unwell. They added that the deceased was reportedly suffering from a health condition.
Both these cases have sparked outrage on social media and people are demanding justice from the Punjab Government.
This is not the first time police has been accused of brutally torturing or murdering people.
Previously, on January 19, four people were killed in an alleged shootout in Sahiwal, with the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) personnel claiming they had killed a local commander of militant organisation Daesh and three others in the operation.
However, the eyewitnesses had claimed that the police recovered no explosives from the alleged militant’s vehicle. The case is still pending in the court.
We knew that Meera Jee is a Priyanka Chopra fan but at a time when everyone is calling Priyanka out for being a warmonger, we did not expect Meera Jee to come in and fangirl over Priyanka.
Priyanka’s latest shoot for Vogue India with renowned designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee has been dominating our Instagram feeds for the past couple of days. However, most comments under the pictures call out Priyanka for promoting war with a lot of comments referring to her infamous conversation with Ayesha Malik e.g. “Are you done venting?”, “Girl don’t embarrass yourself.”
In midst of all this, our very own Meera Jee comes in and tell Priyanka she looks beautiful while also telling her that she’s in New York. Talk about being subtle.
Meera Jee does live in her own world. What do you have to say about this?
Following a string of custodial deaths due to alleged torture in just the past week, the Punjab police has banned the use of cellphones by officers while on duty and barred them from capturing videos of other police personnel as well. Videos of the incidences of torture had been widely circulated on social media raising outrage.
However, citizens and media personnel will not be banned from taking them inside.
A notification sent by the additional inspector general on behalf of the Punjab Inspector General of Police Arif Nawaz to all Punjab police officers stated that it had been observed that police officials were using mobile phones while on duty even though “clear directions in this regard have already been conveyed to all field formations”. It added that it was the responsibility of the field formations “to get these instructions/directions/SOPs implemented in letter and spirit.”
The notification further read: “Frequent violations of these directions/SOPs reflect badly on the performance of supervising officers. In future, no officer below the rank of SHO (Station House Officer) or in-charge of a deployed duty will use [a] cellphone while on duty.”
Lower-ranking officers will instead be allowed to use ordinary phones that do not have the video recording feature.
The letter asserted that it was “strictly forbidden” to make a video of police officers on duty or upload a video of police officers performing their duty and any violation will result in “severe departmental action” against the police personnel involved as well as their supervisory officer.
At least three cases of police torture had surfaced last week including that of the infamous ATM robber Salahuddin Ayubi. Punjab IG expressed extreme displeasure over these deaths in police custody and said that the recent deaths and maltreatment in police custody indicated the irresponsible behaviour of field and senior police officials. The police chief warned that DPOs, SPs, SDPOs and supervisory officers would be held responsible if any such case surfaced again in the future.
Police brutality is a topic which has long been debated. In this regard, Spokesperson to Punjab Chief Minister Dr Shahbaz Gill on Sunday had said that the provincial government would soon introduce reforms in the police force and that a summary in this regard has been sent to Prime Minister Imran Khan for final review.
Criticising the previous governments, Gill said that police were used as a tool for political victimisation in the past but now things would change. He asserted that the present government is striving hard to make things better, adding that a positive change would be visible within six months.
Prime Minister Imran Khan on several occasions has iterated the government’s commitment to bring reforms in the police force to so as to improve its performance. PM Imran had said that he wanted to see independent police in the country.
Meanwhile, this development created outrage on social media.
University of Engineering and Technology Lahore on Sunday reportedly banned mixed gatherings and disallowed students from sitting together in the canteen.
According to a notification which surfaced on social media, the university canteens and cafeterias were instructed to make “separate sitting arrangements with suitable partition” for male and female students. The notification ordered immediate action and stated that failure to comply with it will lead to the canteen/cafeteria being sealed. It also said that the vice-chancellor or resident officer can make surprise visits to ensure that the rules are being strictly followed.
However, a few hours later, it was reported that UET retracted the notification and said that the notification was issued without the vice chancellor’s approval.