Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed Anjum appointed as DG ISI

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Lieutenant general Nadeem Anjum, an erstwhile Karachi Corps Commander, has on Wednesday been posted as 25th Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief after his predecessor Lt Gen Faiz Hameed was posted Peshawar Corps Commander,

Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed has now been appointed as the new Corps Commander Peshawar, the Inter-Services Public Relations (SIPR) announced Wednesday. 

The ISPR also confirmed the following appointments:

Lt Gen Muhammad Amir — Commander Gujranwala Corps 

Lt Gen Asim Munir  — Quartermaster General

Lt Gen Muhammad Saeed — Commander Karachi Corps

Lt Gen Nauman Mahmood — President Defence University

Major Gen Asim Malik has been promoted to the rank of Lt Gen. He has also been appointed the army’s adjutant general.

The newly posted ISI chief has also served as Balochistan IG and originally belongs to the Punjab Regiment of Pakistan Army.

The public relations wing of the armed forces has announced earlier today more postings and transfers wherein Lt. Gen. Muhammad Amir has been posted as the Commander Gujranwala Corps and Lt Gen Asim Munir has been posted as the Quartermaster General.

These appointments and transfers have taken place today and reportedly there will be more in the days to come as some of the top generals reach their end of term shortly.

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Govt to launch STEM pilot project today

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

The government is all set to launch the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) programme today (Wednesday) which will be inaugurated by President Arif Alvi.

Confirming the news, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz took to his official handle to say: “Excited to be leading the STEM pilot project by @MinistryofST.”

He added that the step is being taken to enhance problem-based learning along with self-directed learning in schools. In a short video message, the minister said: “Four subjects — Science, Technology, Engineering and Math — have gained importance worldwide.”

Sharing the details of the project, Faraz said that under this it — which was initiated in 2020 on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s directions — the project will be implemented in 50 schools during the first phase.  The minister clarified that the selection of these schools was based on merit and not on political basis. “Special laboratories will be established in these schools and teachers will be provided trainings,” he added.

Regarding the expectations from this project, Faraz said: “We hope that because of these STEM schools, we will move towards a new phase of development through which we can produce internationally-competitive youngsters.”

The programme is based on three parts including fab labs, teacher trainings and STEM modules.Meanwhile, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhary  wrote on Twitter: “Pakistan Science Foundation is going to launch a programme today which will be a game-changer.”

In a series of tweets, the minister said he had designed the project to convert 450 government schools into STEM schools because “the country cannot change unless government schools are modernised.”

He added that after the first phase — which includes 450 schools — more schools will follow this model.
Chaudhry said universities have been asked to take schools under their wing and improve the quality of science education at the school level.

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Usman Buzdar removes spokesperson Fayyaz ul Hassan Chohan

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar has removed Fayyaz ul Hassan Chohan from the post of Punjab government spokesperson. The Punjab government has appointed Hasaan Khawar as the spokesperson in place of Chohan.

Khawar will now hold the position of official spokesperson of the Punjab government along with managing the post of the Special Assistant to the Chief Minister on Information and Special Initiatives.

Chohan had been appointed as the spokesperson of the Punjab government in August.

Chohan was previously serving as Minister of Prisons for Punjab since August 2018. He had also served as the provincial minister for information.

The Punjab government has appointed spokespersons to help streamline the information dissemination process, defend its stance, and notify the public of its policies. 

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Yashma Gill celebrated one million Instagram followers in style.

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

TV actor Yashma Gill is the latest celeb to reach a million followers on Instagram, joining the million-club with the likes of Ayeza Khan, Mahira Khan and Saba Qamar.

“I’m one to believe in celebrating your own achievements,” the Gustakh actor wrote on Instagram, marking the occasion with a celebratory cake and balloons. “On that note, I recently hit a milestone and I’m so incredibly grateful.”

“This journey started with me, my dreams, and my passion alone and it’s surreal to see that 1 million of you (that’s a LOT of people) are now with me on this journey,” she added

“I’ve come incredibly far and that is thanks to you guys — the people who have supported me, believed in me, and have taught me so much.”

It’s been a busy year for Gill, who appeared in Phaans and had a leading role in Mujhe Khuda Pay Yaqeen Hai earlier this year, as well as Aazmaish, which just wrapped up last month.

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Air Link announced wholly-owned subsidiary for mobile device manufacturing

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Newly-listed smartphone assembler and distributor Air Link Communication Limited announced that it will incorporate a wholly-owned subsidiary ‘Select Technologies (Pvt) Limited that would manufacture mobile devices of ‘selected brands.’

Air Link Communication Limited, in its filing to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday, informed that its “board of directors has decided to incorporate a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air Link Communication Limited in the name and style, ‘Select Technologies (Pvt) Limited”.

The company added that it would be making an investment of Rs500 million at Rs10 per share for the purpose.

“The primary objective of this wholly-owned subsidiary would be to take on additional mobile device manufacturing of certain selected brand(s),” read the statement.

“The authorized share capital of the company be and is hereby increased from Rs4,000,000,000 divided into 400,000,000 shares of Rs10 each to Rs6,000,000,000 divided into 600,000,000 shares of Rs10 each ranking pari passu in every respect with the existing ordinary shares of the Company,” it added.

Back in August, Air Link launched its Initial Public Offer (IPO) that was oversubscribed by 1.6 times. Book-building resulted in a strike price of Rs71.5 at the end of the two-day process.

The company is one of the largest mobile phone distributors of Pakistan with a market share of around 20% within imported mobile phones, said Ismail Iqbal Securities at the time of the IPO.

The company also started to manufacture mobile phones locally in Pakistan since April with a monthly capacity of 400,000 units per month, which is expected to reach up to 550,000 units per month by FY23.

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Lahore court to indict Saba Qamar, Bilal Saeed for Dance Sequence in Wazir Khan Mosque

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

A district court in Lahore has summoned Saba Qamar and singer Bilal Saeed on October 14 for indictment in a case relating to the video shoot of Bilal’s song Qabool at the Wazir Khan mosque. Both Saba and Bilal appeared in court and marked their attendance.  

The court provided Saba and Bilal a copy of the challan each and directed them to appear at the next hearing.

The case was filed against the two by Akbari Gate police in 2020 on the complaint of lawyer Farhat Manzoor. They are facing charges of violating the sanctity of the Wazir Khan mosque by dancing during the shoot of Qabool’s music video.

The FIR was registered under Section 295 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to insult religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

On September 8, the court issued bailable arrest warrants against Saba and Bilal after they failed to appear in court. They were granted bail against surety bonds worth Rs30,000 each. 

Both of them had posted apologies following the controversy. Bilal assured that he would remove the nikkah sequence shot at the mosque.

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Ayesha Sana declared proclaimed offender in cybercrime case.

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

A sessions court in Lahore has declared actor and host Ayesha Sana a proclaimed offender and issued perpetual warrants against her.

The written order was released by Additional Sessions Judge Syed Ali Abbas. It states that the proceedings against Ayesha were made after she failed to appear in court even after 30 days and that she deliberately absented herself despite being directed to show up at hearings. 

 Last month, the court had issued non-bailable arrest warrants for the arrest of Ayesha for the same reason. 

Ayesha has been accused of defamation. The challan was filed by the FIA cybercrime circle on the complaint of a man named Yousuf Baig Mirza. He accused Ayesha of posting inappropriate photos of his daughter and wife online.

Ayesha uploaded their private media on a website as well that “brought disgrace” upon his family, Yousuf added.

In July 2020, Ayesha was booked for fraud and raids were conducted in Lahore and Islamabad to arrest her. The case was filed by Ali Moin, who claimed that Ayesha borrowed Rs2 million from him but later gave him a cheque that bounced.

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Umer Sharif’s body shifted to Karachi, Funeral at 3 PM and burail at Abdullah Shah Ghazi Graveyard.

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Legendary comedian Umer Sharif’s body arrived from Turkey early Wednesday’s morning.

According to the aviation sources, Turkish Airlines flight TK-708 took off from Istanbul at 12:53 am. The scheduled flight landed at the Jinnah International Airport at around 5:33 am. Umer Sharif’s body was flown to Munich from Nuremberg, Germany, before being flown to Istanbul aboard Turkish Air flight TK-1634.

The deceased’s wife Zareen Ghazal also returned to Pakistan on the same plane. His sons and other relatives received his body at the airport. Among others, PPP leader and Sindh minister Saeed Ghani, MQM’s Kishwar Zahra also arrived at the airport’s cargo terminal.

The PPP leader paid tribute to the comic genius. “I call upon the people to attend Umer Sharif’s funeral in large numbers as a message to the entire world that Pakistanis remember their legends even after they had passed away,” Ghani said while talking to media. 

Later, his body wrapped in the national flag was shifted to the Edhi morgue at Sohrab Goth. Fans of the comedian showered the vehicle carrying his body with rose petals in tribute to him.  

Umer Sharif’s sons – Jawad Umer and Fawad Umer – have said that their father’s funeral prayers will be offered at 3pm at the Umer Sharif Park opposite the Ziauddin Hospital in Clifton. 

He will be buried in the cemetery adjacent to the Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine in the area, as per his wishes. People are showing up in large numbers outside the comedian’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal residence to pay tribute to him. 

Sharif was born on April 19, 1955, to an Urdu speaking family in Liaquatabad, Karachi. The star was well-acclaimed as one of the biggest comedians in Asia. 

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Mark Zuckerberg apologises for WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram outage

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

As the social media websites and platforms started coming back to life, social media giant Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg apologised for the worldwide outage of the popular media of communication.

Zuckerberg took to Facebook to offer an apology and announced that the Facebook-owned Instagram and WhatsApp and Facebook itself “are coming back online”.

“Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger are coming back online now. Sorry for the disruption today —  I know how much you rely on our services to stay connected with the people you care about,” Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook.

Facebook blamed a “faulty configuration change” for the nearly six-hour outage on Monday that prevented the company’s 3.5 billion users from accessing its social media and messaging services WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger.

The company, in a late Monday blog post, did not specify who executed the configuration change and whether it was planned.

Several Facebook employees who declined to be named had told Reuters earlier that they believed that the outage was caused by an internal mistake in how internet traffic is routed to its systems.

“We want to make clear at this time we believe the root cause of this outage was a faulty configuration change,” Facebook said in the blog. The Facebook outage is the largest ever tracked by web monitoring group Downdetector.

The outage was the second blow to the social media giant in as many days after a whistleblower on Sunday accused the company of repeatedly prioritising profit over clamping down on hate speech and misinformation.

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Mehar Bano recreates iconic looks from two decades of Lux Style Awards

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Actress Mehar Bano recreated iconic looks of Aaminah Haq, Mushk Kaleem and Ayesha Omar from two decades of the Lux Style Awards.

Taking to Instagram, she posted her video and wrote, “Totally fan girling over these incredible style divas.”

Geo Entertainment is dominating the Lux Style Awards nominations this year, bagging a total of 25 nods in television categories for its top-notch productions.

Geo Entertainment’s drama serials Alif, Raaz-e-Ulftat, Deewangi, Meherposh, Muqaddar, Kahin Deep Jaley, Fitrat were one of the leading hits in the list of nominations for this year’s award show.

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