Fox cancels X Factor as Simon Cowell returns to UK version

Alex Kinsey and Sierra Deaton with their mentor and judge Simon Cowell as he speaks during an interview, after the folk duo won The X Factor last year. PHOTO: FILE

LOS ANGELES: US television singing contest The X Factor was unable to replicate the ratings success of fellow Fox singing contest American Idol, and was only able to muster 6.2 million viewers for its season three finale last December, about half of its first season finale audience.

Cowell, 54, whose acerbic on-screen personality helped transform American Idol into one of the top shows on U.S. television, will return to the UK version of the show in an effort to help declining ratings there.

“I’ve had a fantastic time over the last 12 years, both on The X Factor and American Idol, Cowell said in a statement. “Apart from being lucky enough to find some amazing talent on the shows, I have always had an incredible welcome from the American public (most of the time!)”

The X Factor was seen as a way for Cowell to put his own stamp on US reality television, as it was a show he created, produced and helped lead to popularity in Britain.

The US version of the show struggled to find the right mix on the judging panel, running through nine different personalities in its three seasons on the air.

In 2012, Fox spent a reported $15 million to hire pop singer Britney Spears as a judge on the show in a bid to boost ratings, but she was unable to turn her star power into larger audiences for Fox.

Last year, viewership fell to about 6 million per episode from 9 million in 2012. Its main rival, Comcast Corp-owned NBC’s The Voice, drew about 12 million viewers per episode.

Cowell, a British media and music mogul best known for the biting criticism of contestants that helped draw viewers to American Idol, will be without a show on US television for the first time since American Idol began in 2002.

Arjun to be seen as a kabaddi player in Tevar

Arjun said it is unfortunate that kabaddi is not given the importance it deserves in the country. PHOTO: FILE

Bollywood’s rising star Arjun Kapoor, who made our hearts skip a beat (read:pareshan) with his rugged bad-boy looks in Ishaqzaade, will now put a smile on our faces with his role as a fun loving, kabaddi (wrestling) player in his forthcoming film Tevar.

“My character is that of a college student who is also a kabaddi player. He is passionate about the sport,” Arjun said. The young hunk said that it is unfortunate that kabaddi is not given the importance it deserves in the country, according to the Indian Express.

“We have made certain alterations to the original film because we have to play to a bigger spectrum of audience,” shared Arjun.

Speaking about his character, he further said, “Circumstances lead [my character] to go on the run with a girl. He is mad and eccentric.”

“It is completely different from the angry image people seem to have about me. It is an action film, but I am [portrayed as] a fun-loving boy. It is about an ordinary boy and an extraordinary situation. It is too early to speak [more] about it.”

The actor, whose upcoming film Gunday has everyone talking, learnt kabaddi to get the feel of his character. “I had a bad injury and I was resting a lot in December, but I did a bit of preparation and met a few kabaddi players. They have taught me the basics of the sport,” he said.

Although kabaddi is not the running theme of the film, it has been incorporated into Arjun’s character to make it unique.

He also gave a scoop on his look in the film. “I have coloured my hair [for the look]. My stubble is heavier in the film as well,” he said, adding that he would also be seen wearing an earring.

Produced by Arjun’s father, Boney Kapoor, Tevar is a remake of Telegu action film Okkadu. The film will also star Sonakshi Sinha and will be directed by debutante Amit Sharma.

The actor shared that he is happy to work with his father. “This is a lifelong dream of mine. He is not making a film for me, but a film [of the kind that] he loves making. This is his kind of cinema,” he said.

All we can say is, Fubu, you are fabulous!

Noor Bukhari is positively set for a comeback

Even though the film Ishq Positive has been set up to be a commercial one, it has many characteristics of independent filmmaking. PHOTO: PUBLICITY

LAHORE: 

It’s been several years since we last saw Noor Bukhari on the set of a film. This week, however, has been abuzz with a rush of excitement as we heard the news of her making a comeback to the silver screen with film Ishq Positive. The film, directed by Phida Hussain and Mazhar Abbas, is about drug addiction in the localized environment of Mianwali.

“When we started our careers, Shaan, the others and  I in the industry wished to bring about changes, however, at that time there was still a demand for gandasa (a wooden poleaxe that is often used to torture criminals by the cops in Asia) in films,” says Bukhari. Even though the film Ishq Positive has been set up to be a commercial one, it has many characteristics of independent filmmaking.

The film came about by chance, when Noor decided to appear in a music video titled Channafor Raga Boyz, shot by Adeel Pervaiz Kaleem. The screen chemistry inspired Adeel to write a rough screenplay keeping in mind Noor Bukhari and Wali Hamid Ali Khan, the band’s lead vocalist and aspiring actor. Noor is certain that 2014 will be her comeback year with this film and then another one, Saya e Khuda e Zuljalal. Ishq Positive is a romantic-comedy that also stars Javed Sheikh, Shafqat Cheema and Irfan Khoosat. Interestingly, the film is being produced by the US-based producer Shazia Hussain.

“The film was always in my blood, it’s hard to explain in words what it means to me. I just love to act, the issue, however, was that, when I first started my career, I did not like the film culture that we had. This film however, is very different and interesting. We found a good team. We wanted to make a new kind of a film, that is not intense but something that people can enjoy,” says Noor.

Wali Hamid Ali Khan says that the project has generated a lot of excitement because it has been a labor of love. “I belonged to the patiala gharana and was the lead singer of the Raga Boyz who had been looking to act, I think it will be a great opportunity to act in Ishq Positive,” says Khan.

Adeel explained that unlike many of the old actors from the industry, Noor is still a young, fresh face and also a promising actor, which has helped her greatly in making a comeback.

“This will be a different role for her, I observed her and wrote it; I tried to search for the characters she is already a part of in real life,” says Adeel.

Noor, however, is not the only one who has made a comeback after seven years; Resham is making a comeback in the yet to be released independent film, Swaarangi, in which she will be seen in a completely different avatar compared to the commercial work that she has done in the past. The reinvention seems logical as even Meera, in one of her mellower interviews, said that she had not received much interest from both the television and new-cinema circuits.

The crew of Ishq Positive will be going to Azad Kashmir to shoot a song, in the coming week. The soundtrack will include songs by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, and several other well-known singers.

GSP Plus status: Provinces asked to implement UN conventions

Ministry asks them to form law cells, mandated to prepare required reports for the federation. PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD: 

As implementation of 27 UN conventions on fundamental human and labour rights depends on the will of the provinces, the federal government’s role has been reduced at best to a mere coordinator in making duty free access to Europe successful.

In view of that, the government has written to the provinces for implementation of the subject conventions, the Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights told the lower house in reply to a question.

“The provincial governments have been requested to establish legal cells in the respective provinces mandated to prepare required reports for the federation,” the ministry said in its reply, adding that such a cell had been established by the government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Both the 21st and 22nd periodic reports have been overdue since January 2012.

After 18th Amendment in the Constitution and under the Rule 49 (3) of the Rules of Business 1973, the implementation of international agreements is the responsibility of the provincial governments.

The European Union (EU) granted the GSP Plus status to Pakistan on December 13 last year. The benefit of zero rate duty will be applicable to Pakistani products entering in the EU on or after January 1, 2014. The increase in textiles and clothing exports can be expected to be around 38%.

As per the foreign office, the conditionality for the GSP Plus status related to human rights conventions under which a country must commit to ratify and effectively implement 27 international conventions. Broadly, these conventions are related to the governance, human rights, labour standards, sustainable development and climate change. Pakistan has ratified all these mandatory conventions.

As per the requirement of the duty free access status, Pakistan has also accepted the monitoring and conventions reporting requirements without reservations.

Out of these 27, seven conventions are related to human rights. These include Convention on Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (ICRD) — rectified on September 21, 1966.

While six conventions have been assigned to the ministry’s human rights wing. The human rights ministry was devolved to the provinces after the 18th Amendment.

The six conventions that come under law ministry’s human rights wing are Convention on the Rights of Child (CRC), The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), The International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), The International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and Convention Against Torture and other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment of Punishment.

SC verdict against PM’s discretionary fund challenged

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. PHOTO: REUTERS

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has challenged a Supreme Court judgment that bars the prime minister from exercising his discretionary powers in the matter of supplementary and excess grants.  

Through the finance secretary, the government filed a review petition in the top court this week against its December 5, 2013 judgment, requesting that its plea be allowed in the interest of justice.

The petition requests that the court enable the government to continue to work on the basis of a system of fiscal management that has been practiced since the creation of Pakistan and argues that it is not only consistent with constitutional provisions but that it has proven its utility and worth.

Additional Attorney General Shah Khawar has drafted the review petition. It is learnt that the government will also submit another application tomorrow (Monday) for the early hearing of the review petition.

Former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had authored the 38-page judgment in the suo motu case regarding the doling out of billions of rupees in the form of development funds by former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf during the last 10 days of his tenure.

The government expressed apprehensions in the review petition that if the top court judgment is implemented then it would cause serious governance problems.

The review petition questioned whether the court misinterprets Article 84 read with Article 90 of the Constitution to hold that the prime minister cannot authorise expenditure on account of supplementary grants from the Federal Consolidated Fund.

The government also contended that though no provisions are made explicitly mandating the use or allocation of elected representatives and notables, some development schemes identified and recommended by the parliamentarians are funded through the budget after completing all procedural and financial formalities by the competent authority.

“The prime minister is the chief executive of the federation and the chief minister is the chief executive of the province. As such, the federal government and provincial governments act through respectively their prime ministers and chief ministers,” it read.

Raising objections over paragraph 32 of the judgment, the petition contended that the federal government acts through the prime minister and the actions of the prime minister in performance of functions under the Constitution shall be considered as actions of the federal government.

“Even the rules of business 1973 of the federal government empower the PM to dispose of matters of business as he may consider appropriate without reference to the cabinet. The prime minister is also empowered to permit relaxation of the rules of business he considers appropriate,” it said.

Objecting to paragraph 39 of the judgment, in which prior approval of the National Assembly will be required before the supplementary expenditure, the government submitted that there is no requirement in Article 84 that the supplementary or excess budget statement be placed before the NA in the same or next financial year.

Raising questions over para 52 (4) of the judgment, the government submitted that the constitution does not provide any specific provision to regulate the re-appropriation of funds and that this part of the judgment is liable to be reviewed.

“Budgetary allocations for the next fiscal year are prepared largely on the basis of previous expenditure trends and are only estimates,” it further said.

“Therefore, it is almost impossible to forecast needs/exact requirements of funds under numerous heads of accounts for the forthcoming financial year. Therefore, funds are re-appropriated within the same demand of ministries/divisions/ departments organisations in order to meet shortfall  under certain heads from the savings from other heads of same demand with the approval of principal accounting officers and finance division for the efficient and effective functioning of the government,” it added.

Donor claims PTI has been hijacked

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan. PHOTO: REUTERS

Pakistani-American donor Mehboob Aslam claimed on Saturday that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf cannot ensure provision of justice to the common people when it cannot provide justice to its own worker.

Addressing a press conference at the residence of a PTI’s founder member Akbar Babar, Aslam said Imran Khan was surrounded by opportunists and land grabbers, who were being consulted to run the party affairs while ideological workers had been sidelined.

He said he had worked for the party in the US and had raised funds worth $3 million for the 2008 general elections.

“However, when I visited Pakistan, reviewed the causes of the party’s defeat in the polls and talked with ideological workers, I found that the party had been hijacked by corrupt and bankrupt people, who had been assigned important responsibilities in the party,” he claimed.

He said the money he sent had been used in the intra party elections, while the party tickets were even sold.

He said Imran mistreated him when he went to him to complain against the alleged misappropriation and his minions kicked him out.

The PTI spokesperson rejected the allegations. “The PTI chief met with Aslam Mehboob and his six-member-delegation in spite of the fact that he had been dismissed from the party,” he said. “The party accounts have even undergone a forensic audit but no irregularity was found.”

Under the microscope: NAB approves references against Steel Mills, Railways

Its ex-officials may have may have given illegal benefits to private firms. PHOTO: FILE

LAHORE: 

The executive board of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has approved references in the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) scandal and the Pakistan Railways case. The references were approved at a meeting of the executive board, presided over by NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry.

According to NAB officials, two references regarding the sale of PSM products at cheaper rates will be filed against former PSM chairman Moen Aftab Sheikh, ex-director commercial Sameen Asghar and others. They are alleged to have given illegal benefits to private firms amounting to Rs506.67 million and Rs311.378 million respectively, causing a huge loss to the PSM and national exchequer.

In the third reference, Asghar and others are alleged to have extended a free credit scheme to private firms, causing losses worth Rs13.66 million.

In another reference in the Pakistan Railways case against Saeed Akhtar, the former GM operations and former director of planning Ahsan Mahmood are accused of causing a loss of $3.78 million to Pakistan Railways and the state treasury through acts of corruption and misuse of authority.

The board also authorised an investigation into the K-P police’s weapon purchase case where the accused, including ex-IGP, members of the purchase committee, officials of the police department and others were accused of embezzlement in the procurement of equipment, weapons and vehicles.

The enquiry report revealed the misappropriation of Rs1.82 billion in the procurement of weapons and other equipment for the K-P police during the tenure of chief minister Ameer Haider Hoti.

Hoti’s former adviser, Niaz Ali Shah, has agreed to return the kickback amount of Rs20 million to the public exchequer on account of voluntary return. The former IG of K-P police, Malik Naveed Khan, is already in the NAB custody for receiving kickbacks in the weapons procurement scandal.

Raza Ali Khan, the brother-in-law of Hoti’s brother Mir Ghazan, was also arrested by the anti-graft body in this case.

According to NAB investigation officer Enayat Khan and special prosecutor Lajbar Khan, Raza was accused of receiving Rs198 million from Arshad Majeed, a private contractor to whom most of the contracts of procurement were awarded, out of which he kept Rs3 million for himself whereas the remainder was handed over to Ghazan.

They further alleged that Niaz was adviser to then chief minister Hoti on law and order and he was accused of receiving Rs20 million from Majeed. They added that he had directed Majeed to provide Rs1 million in US dollars and the rest of the money in Pakistani currency.

Majeed, along with the budget officer of K-P police Javed Khan, were initially arrested on February 21, 2013, but the former was released on bail by the high court after he turned approver and agreed to voluntarily return the Rs102 million.

Earlier in May 25, 2013, Majeed recorded his statement under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), wherein he alleged that he made payments of over Rs1 billion to several people, including Malik Naveed, as kickbacks for getting lucrative contracts and also to cover up the issue.

In his statement, Majeed also alleged that he had made payments to Ghazan through Raza and Niaz.