Pakistan breaks world record for largest human flag

LAHORE: Over 29,000 students braced the rain to break the largest human flag world record. The record breaking feat was held as part of the Punjab Youth Festival.

PML-N leader Hamza Shahbaz congratulated students who formed the Pakistani flag.

The record was previously held by Bangladesh when 27,170 people formed the national flag in Dhaka.

29,400 Pakistani students formed the national flag and reclaimed the record for Pakistan. The record was validated by a representative of the Guinness Book of World Records.

Mirza Ghalib’s death anniversary being observed today

ISLAMABAD: The great poet Mirza Ghalib is being remembered on his 145th death anniversary on Saturday (February 15).

Ghalib was born on December 27 1796 in the city of Akbarabad (present Agra). His full name was Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan and Ghalib was his pen name.

He wrote hundreds of ghazals during his life which have since been interpreted and sung in many different ways by different people. Ghalib today remains popular not only in India and Pakistan but also amongst diaspora communities around the world.

Mirza Ghalib is considered to be the most dominating poet of the Urdu language. He was one of the best of Urdu poets who led a drastic revolution in Urdu poetry with his words. Ghalib felt so much proud of his Persian poetry but his Urdu poetry like Ghazals are also much famous today.

Ghalib started composing poetry at the age of 11. His first language was Urdu but Persian and Turkish were also spoken at home. He got his education in Persian and Arabic at a young age.

Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan Ghalib died on February 15 1869.

Policy punch-up as brawls break outs in Turkey’s parliament over judicial reform

There was fighting on the floor of Turkey’s parliament after the passing of a bill giving the country’s justice minister more power. Local news reports say an MP for the main opposition party was taken to hospital with a broken nose and another politician suffered broken fingers. Debating on the proposed reforms lasted more than 20 hours. Those against the changes say they limit the judiciary’s independence. The plans drew criticism from the EU when Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Brussels last month. Erdogan argues the judiciary is under the influence US-based cleric Fethullah Gullen. The prime minister blames former ally Gullen for instigating the corruption investigation that has wreaked havoc on Erdogan’s administration. There have been resignations from his cabinet, a reshuffle and the arrests of three sons of ministers – two of whom have been charged. Protesters are angry that the inquiry appears to have uncovered graft in such close proximity to the prime minister. Erdogan has sacked or reassigned judges and top police officers who he accuses of acting politically.

Saudi Crown Prince Salman arrives in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud arrived here Saturday on a three-day visit to Pakistan to further cement brotherly ties between the two countries and discuss regional situation.

A red carpet was rolled out for the Saudi Crown Prince, also Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence of Saudi Arabia, as he alighted from the special aircraft at Nur Khan Airbase.

Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif received Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud as a 19-gun salute boomed to herald his arrival.

Federal Ministers, Ishaq Dar, Pervaiz Rashid, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Sardar Muhammad Yousaf, Zahid Hamid, Abdul Qadir Baloch, Ahsan Iqbal, Advisor to Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee, Gen. Rashad Mahmood, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen. Raheel Sharif, Chief of Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force (PAF), Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt and Chief of Naval Staff, Muhammad Asif Sandila were present.

7 men who will be single this Valentine’s Day

Here are a few Bollywood hotties who will be flying solo this year.

Single this Valentine’s Day? Are all the flowers, chocolates and teddies getting under your skin? Just because you don’t have a significant other on Valentine’s Day, it doesn’t mean that you are alone. Here are a few very eligible bachelors you can dream about, according to MTV India

Salman Khan

We haven’t heard much of Salman’s dating life lately, which makes us think that he is either hiding a special someone from us or he is playing the single card. Point being, this Bollywood virginal superstar is single this Valentine’s Day.

Arjun Kapoor

Be it an established actor or new crop, every celeb loves to live up to the ‘just friends’ tag. Latest to be bitten by this philosophy bug are Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt. However, Arjun seems to have no plans this Valentine’s Day!

Shahid Kapoor

Although he has been linked to actors like Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Anushka Sharma and many more in the past, this Bollywood heartthrob will be spending Valentine’s Day alone this year.

Siddharth Malhotra

There were rumours that Siddharth Malhotra and Parineeti Chopra were hit by cupid’s arrow, but now reports suggest that Siddharth got out of that one. We are all thinking it ladies, how on Earth is this guy single?

Ranbir Kapoor

We hear Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif have called off their relationship. The young Kapoor scion is hot on the market and he surprisingly doesn’t have a date on Valentine’s Day. What is this world coming to?

Hrithik Roshan

Freshly divorced, this Bollywood superhero is a newly initiated member of the single club, and up grabs this Valentine’s Day. Since he has pulled out of Shuddhi, he might just need some company.

Hrithik Roshan opts out of KJo’s Shuddhi

A lot has been said about Bebo and Duggu being in the lead for KJo’s next, but looks like the project won’t go on the floors with the original star cast. PHOTO:FILE

Recently, actor Kareena Kapoor Khan confessed in an interview that she is unsure about acting in Shuddhi as the film had been continuously postponed. The film hasn’t gone on the floors yet because the onscreen superhero, Hrithik Roshan has undergone several surgeries, post his head injury. He does not wish to be a hindrance in way of the project any further and has opted out of the film.

“Karan Malhotra (director) and I have decided to unite in the most ambitious way, postShuddhi. For now, I cannot allow a vision like Shuddhi to stagnate any further,” Hrithik said in a statement.

The actor-director duo, earlier worked together on Agneepath. “I had the finest experience an actor can have working with Karan Malhotra in Agneepath and I’m sure both my dear Karans (director Malhotra and producer Johar) are going to go beyond with this one. Shuddhiremains a part of me in spirit and I am sure it will be a landmark in our cinema. I wish them all the best,” said Hrithik.

Plans for the film were first announced almost two years ago, with shooting scheduled to begin this year and a release slated for 2015. Now, despite Hrithik’s exit, sources have insisted that the film is very much on. An insider remarked: “There is no question of shelving it. The project is very close to both the Karans’ hearts.” Recently, Johar said in an interview that the film may take six months to a year to go on the floors, reported bollywood.com.

After speculation that Kareena may not continue to be a part of the film due to date issues and Hrithik’s decision to back out, the buzz now suggests that actors Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone might replace the two.

Not lip job, make-up and temporary lip enhancing: Anushka Sharma

We finally get to hear from the horse’s mouth what went behind the enhanced pout. PHOTO: FILE

Actor Anushka Sharma has been making headlines ever since her appearance on an episode of Koffee with Karan (KWK) season six. Her look on the show earned her the sobriquet of ‘joker lips’. Tweeters wondered if her changed appearance was due to lip enhancers or something more intrusive. The speculation began after the teasers for Karan Johar’s show appeared on TV and has not ended even after the show went on air.

On Monday, Anushka took to Twitter to clear things out, reported Hindustan Times. She went on to saying:

“Hello everyone, today I am here to talk about my lips! Yes, there, I said it, my lips!

As a person I find it difficult to talk about my personal life, hence, I have always maintained a low profile. I choose to interact with you all on Twitter with my random, mostly illogical thoughts — that’s just who I am. In today’s time, where PR stories are constantly feeding people with information, people like me get lost. Lately, there has been a lot of talk about me after my appearance on Koffee with Karan and it’s mainly regarding my lips. I am here to address the same concern. I am talking about it only because this story has taken a scary direction and things have been blown out of proportion (pun intended ;))…

For a short while now, I have been using a temporary lip enhancing tool and that along with make-up techniques (I have learnt over the years) is the reason why there might be a change in the appearance of my lips. Having stated this fact, let me very vehemently assure everyone that I have by no means, gone under the knife, gotten done any kind of plastic surgery or undergone any intrusive procedure. This was my decision and was done for the sake of my look in my upcoming film Bombay Velvet, a period drama, where I play a jazz singer in the 1960s-70s.

The drastic change in my appearance on KWK is due to lot of factors put together and not just my lips. Everyone goes through good and bad days. Do I think I looked good on the KWK episode? No! I do feel I could have done things differently.

To put the current conjectures and reportage straight once and for all from my end — I have said this before and I am saying it again: I do not believe in plastic surgery or any other means of unnatural permanent changes to the body. I do not support it, stand for it or recommend it.

Now, if on some day, my legs appear different and sexy to you, please don’t say I’ve done something…

Oh and also, some of the joker jokes/memes doing the rounds, though a bit mean, did bring a smile to my lips ;)

Goodnight to all,

Love and Light,

Anushka”

Soon after Anushka’s tweet, actors Sonam Kapoor and Alia Bhatt applauded her courage and stated that they now have newfound respect for the person that she is. She also received support from Karan Johar, the host of the show