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  • For a spooky Halloween, watch these five Pakistani films 


For a spooky Halloween, watch these five Pakistani films 

Updated 29 October 2019
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For a spooky Halloween, watch these five Pakistani films 

  • If you want to truly make Halloween the scariest night of the year, watch these screamers
  • From cult classic Zinda Laash to recent release Maya, here are some Pakistani horror titles to watch this Halloween
Updated 29 October 2019
Sabah Bano Malik

ISLAMABAD: Hoping for a spooky Halloween this year? Want to truly make it the scariest night of the year? These screamers are bound to get your blood curdling.

ZINDA LAASH

If you’re looking for a place to start exploring the genre of Pakistani horror films, Zinda Laash (Living Corpse) is what you need to watch. The 1967 film is directed by Khawja Sarfraz and co-written by Naseem Rizwani and tells the story of a professor who believes he has found the elixir to beat death but things don’t go exactly as planned, and in fact get pretty freaky, when he tries the potion on himself. The film is the first from Pakistan to get an X rating and was slapped with censors repeatedly and banned for vulgarity when it was originally released.

SHANEE

Toeing the line between horror and science fiction, Saeed Rizvi’s 1989 film Shanee starring the legendary Babra Sharif, Ghulam Mohiuddin, and Mohammad Ali. Shanee tells the story of an alien who arrives on earth and takes the place of a missing villager. At the time of its release, it was considered pathbreaking for its special effects and bagged four Nigar Awards.

ZIBAHKHANA

English-Urdu slasher film Zibahkhana, which translates to “slaughterhouse,” tells the story of young teens unsuspectedly picked off by a mysterious killer and the rest as they say is horror history. Released in 2007 by director Omer Khan, the film has made the rounds at many international film festivals from Puerto Rico to Stockholm and is still considered a favorite among horror fans.

SARKATA INSAAN

This 1994 horror-cum-science fiction film, whose title translates as “a headless person,” was directed by Saeed Rizvi and stars the iconic Babra Sharif and Ghulam Mohiuddin. The film follows the story of an evil scientist who attaches a police officer’s head to a fallen gangster’s body and creates a monster. It was a genre-defining film for employing special effects only newly available in the cinema world at the time.

MAYA

A contemporary film, Maya was released in 2015 by Jawad Bashir and stars Ahmed Abdul Rehman, Hina Jawad, Zain Afzal, Sheikh Mohammad Ahmed and Anam Malik. It is apparently based on true events and tells the story of young friends who meet at a farmhouse where a murder takes place and exorcisms follow.

Topics: halloween Pakistani Movies Films entertainment

Saudi business delegates to soon visit Pakistan, help expedite economic cooperation — PM Sharif

Updated 13 sec ago
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Saudi business delegates to soon visit Pakistan, help expedite economic cooperation — PM Sharif

  • Pakistan is currently making rigorous efforts to attract investment from Saudi Arabia, other Gulf nations to support dwindling economy
  • PM Shehbaz Sharif expresses resolve to work hard to implement consensus achieved in meetings with Saudi leadership on WEF sidelines
Updated 13 sec ago
KASHIF IMRAN

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday that a delegation of Saudi businessmen would soon visit Pakistan, which would help expedite economic cooperation between the two brotherly countries.

The statement came at the end of PM Sharif’s visit to Riyadh, where he attended a two-day World Economic Forum (WEF) summit on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development on April 28-29.

On the sidelines of the summit, the prime minister held meetings with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as well as Saudi ministers of energy, economy and planning, and environment, water, and agriculture.

Sharif, upon the completion of his visit, said bilateral relations and economic partnership between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan were getting “stronger and stronger.”

“A delegation of businessmen from Saudi Arabia is visiting Pakistan in the next few days,” he was quoted as saying in a statement issued from his office.

“The speed of economic partnership between the two countries will be accelerated by the visit of the Saudi Arabian businessmen.”

He expressed his resolve to work hard to implement the consensus achieved at the leadership level between the two countries, saying that a record number of delegations had been exchanged between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia during the past two months.

“His Excellency Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman issued special instructions to Saudi ministers regarding Pakistan, for which we are extremely grateful,” Sharif said.

“I also pay tribute to Saudi ministers, who made full preparations for the implementation of the consensus between the leadership [of the two countries].”

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy strong trade, defense and cultural ties. The Kingdom is home to over 2.7 million Pakistani expatriates and serves as the top source of remittances to the cash-strapped South Asian country.

Both countries have been closely working to increase bilateral trade and investment deals, and the Kingdom recently reaffirmed its commitment to expedite an investment package worth $5 billion.

Topics: Pakistan Saudi Ties Pakistan Saudi Arabia trade

Czechoslovakian software company to invest $1 million in Pakistan data center

Updated 20 min 17 sec ago
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Czechoslovakian software company to invest $1 million in Pakistan data center

  • IceWarp officials says the company plans to open subsidiary in Saudi Arabia after establishing presence in Pakistan
  • The Czech company offers cost-effective services, including hosted email, TeamChat and ChatGPT integration
Updated 20 min 17 sec ago
KHURSHID AHMED   

KARACHI: A Czechoslovakia-based software company is all set to invest about $1 million in Pakistan to set up a data center, said one of the top organization officials on Tuesday while also highlighting plans to launch a subsidiary in Saudi Arabia.
Established in 1998, IceWarp has presence in more than 100 countries and provides specialized and highly cost-effective services, such as hosted email, TeamChat, ChatGPT integration and online conferences etc.
“Pakistan is a high potential land where digital transformation can be seen from public sector entities to private businesses,” Jan Urbik, IceWarp’s global chief sales officer, told a news conference in Karachi. “We will support Pakistan in its mission to adopt digitalization through affordable solutions.”
Urbik said his company would set up a data center in Pakistan in compliance with the local regulations requiring companies to keep the data and privacy of Pakistani citizens within the country’s borders.
“IceWarp will offer solutions that are 60 percent more cost-effective than other software companies, along with enhanced applications and cybersecurity features that will attract a number of industries, financial institutions, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and startups to use our services,” he added.
He mentioned the launch of the data center and full fledge operations with an investment of about $1 million in the country to set up a local subsidiary in collaboration with Hexalyze, a Pakistani company.
IceWarp, which has presence in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is also planning to set up a subsidiary in Saudi Arabia.
“During the summer time, we visited Saudi Arabia and we have been to [the] LEAP [technology conference] and we have been talking with multiple partners,” Urbik said, adding that local entities told him that his company was welcome in the kingdom.
“So, Saudi Arabia is in our head as the future possibility to open the subsidiary there as well,” he continued.
Syed Saad Shah, CEO of Hexalyze, informed that IceWarp was planning to set up its regional office in Pakistan in collaboration with his company.
“The Czechoslovakia-based software company will expand its operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with separate data centers in these countries while the Pakistan office will serve as the back-up support station for marketing and sales,” Shah said.
The cost-effective corporate email solutions will enable hundreds of companies in Pakistan to adopt this tech-based solution in their businesses for the first time, he continued.
“On the other hand, corporate customers will not only save money from the expenses of enterprise services, but these companies will also save precious foreign exchange for the country by paying less to the service provider,” he added.
Present in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Pakistan with global alliance partners, Pakistan’s IT company Hexalyze has been providing integration of tech solutions to SMEs as well as large enterprises since 2014.

Topics: IceWarp

Pakistan receives final tranche of $1.1 billion as part IMF loan program — central bank

Updated 45 min 37 sec ago
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Pakistan receives final tranche of $1.1 billion as part IMF loan program — central bank

  • The IMF executive board completed the second review of the $3 billion loan program in its meeting on Monday
  • The approval came a day after PM Sharif’s meeting with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in Riyadh
Updated 45 min 37 sec ago
KHURSHID AHMED   

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has received a final tranche of $1.1 billion as part of a $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan program it entered last summer, the central bank said on Tuesday.

The IMF executive board completed the second review of the Stand-by Arrangement (SBA) in its meeting on Monday and approved the disbursement of SDR 828 million ($1.1 billion) for Pakistan, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

The approval came a day after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif discussed a new loan program with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

“SBP has received SDR 828 million (around $ 1.1 billion) in value 29 Apr 2024 in its account from IMF,” the central bank said in a statement. “The amount shall be reflected in SBP’s foreign exchange reserves for the week ending on 3rd May 2024.”

Pakistan secured the $3 billion IMF program in June last year, which helped it avert a sovereign default. Islamabad says it is seeking a new loan over at least three years to help achieve macroeconomic stability and execute long-overdue reforms.

Finance Minister Aurangzeb has said Islamabad could secure a staff-level agreement on the new program by early July, though he has declined to detail what size of the program it seeks. If secured, it would be Pakistan’s 24th IMF bailout.

The $350 billion South Asian economy faces a chronic balance of payments crisis, with nearly $24 billion to repay in debt and interest over the next fiscal year — three-time more than its central bank’s foreign currency reserves.

Pakistan’s finance ministry expects the economy to grow by 2.6 percent in the fiscal year ending in June, while average inflation for the year is projected to stand at 24 percent, down from 29.2 percent the previous fiscal year.

Topics: International Monetary Fund

Gunmen kill a police officer assigned to protect polio workers in northwest Pakistan

Updated 30 April 2024
AP
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Gunmen kill a police officer assigned to protect polio workers in northwest Pakistan

  • At least 10 police have died this year while on security duty for vaccination campaigns in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province
  • Anti-polio campaigns in Pakistan are regularly marred by violence, with militants claiming campaigns sterilize children
Updated 30 April 2024
AP

PESHAWAR: Gunmen fatally shot a police officer assigned to protect polio workers in Pakistan’s northwest, an official said Tuesday.
At least 10 police have died this year while on security duty for vaccination campaigns in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The gunmen fired at a team working in Bajaur district, killing the officer on the spot, police officer Dilawar Khan said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the assault.
Anti-polio campaigns in Pakistan are regularly marred by violence. Militants target vaccination teams and police assigned to protect them, falsely claiming that the campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.
A five-day anti-polio campaign started Monday in 13 high-risk districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. More than 21,000 teams are tasked with administering vaccines to 4,423,000 children under age 5. More than 32,000 police are protecting the teams.
Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the only countries where the spread of polio has never been stopped.
The potentially fatal, paralyzing disease mostly strikes children under age 5 and typically spreads through contaminated water.

Topics: Police officer Polio workers

Occupiers using ‘fake news’ against freedom struggles in Kashmir, Palestine — Pakistan’s UN envoy 

Updated 30 April 2024
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Occupiers using ‘fake news’ against freedom struggles in Kashmir, Palestine — Pakistan’s UN envoy 

  • Conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine have become key battlegrounds in an information war
  • Online propaganda fighting to make people around the world take sides, harden positions
Updated 30 April 2024
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Munir Akram, has said occupying powers were increasingly using fake news and disinformation campaigns to subdue freedom struggles in Kashmir and Palestine, state-run APP said on Tuesday. 

The conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine have become key battlegrounds in an information war that goes far wider than their tightly drawn physical borders. Carefully crafted social media posts and other online propaganda are fighting to make people around the world take sides, harden their positions and even move broader public opinion.

While plenty of real imagery and accounts of the ensuing carnage have emerged, they have been intermingled with users pushing false claims and misrepresenting videos from other events.

“We are witnessing this today in the Gaza war and have witnessed this consistently in the case of occupied Jammu and Kashmir,” Akram told the UN Committee on Information on Monday, referring to online disinformation campaigns.

Akram voiced regret that the use of digital media was “turbocharging” the spread of disinformation “to promote Islamophobia to justify foreign occupation and aggression to turn victims of aggression into the culprits.”

This had led Pakistan to initiate a resolution on disinformation which was unanimously adopted last year, the Pakistani envoy said, adding that consultations would soon take place to advance its objectives. 

“Pakistan would welcome the development of an inter-governmentally formulated code of conduct for information integrity on digital platforms,” Akram said, adding that the increasing use of AI tools to spread false information and conduct digital surveillance needed to be addressed. 

“At the core of information manipulation, Internet blackouts, censorship and the use of special media laws by the occupation authorities is a sinister design to de-legitimize freedom struggles and perpetuate a climate of fear, intimidation and violence,” Akram added.

In some instances with regards to the Gaza war, online propaganda simply involves the framing of real events, violent images and videos, and hate speech to emphasize the guilt of one side and vindicate the other.

But much of the material relies on the creation of what’s commonly referred to as fake news, in the form of fabricated stories published on social media that repurpose or mislabel real photos or videos.

For example, one post on X (formerly Twitter) that was viewed 300,000 times used a photo of an accidental fire at a McDonald’s restaurant in New Zealand to falsely claim the company had been attacked by pro-Palestinian protesters for its perceived support of Israel. Despite being debunked, the story was still the focus of heated discussions on social media channels.

There are also reports of excerpts from video games and old TikToks being shared with claims they are from real current events in Gaza, and fake government agency social media accounts posting disinformation.

Topics: Ambassador Munir Akram Munir Akram

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