A Pakistani expat, who works as a salesman in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has won a 2020 model of the luxury Bentley Bentayga V8 worth millions of rupees in the Dubai Duty Free (DDF) raffle draw.
According to Gulf News, Anjum Ashraf of Karachi won the luxury vehicle worth millions (Dh1 million or Rs45 million) at the DDF draw held on Tuesday, February 18.
His winning ticket number 1676 was picked from the series 1747, announced DDF — the company responsible for the duty-free operations at Dubai International Airport and Al Maktoum International Airport.
Ashraf earns Dh7,000 (around Rs300,000) as a salesman. Needless to say that he is excited with the win. “I still cannot believe it,” he happily shared.
In a similar bid, an Indian man named Jagdish Ramnani, 42, became the latest million dollar winner at the DDF draw along with Nazeerunnisa Fazal Mohammad, 37, hailing from Hyderabad who won an Aprilla Dorsoduro 900 (motorbike).
Mohammad, who is currently working as a software engineer, has been regularly buying the DDF tickets and she bought her winning ticket on January 10 online.
“I have been trying my luck for the million dollar series, hopefully it will be soon,” she said.
Karachi Police have released a traffic plan for Pakistan Super League (PSL) cricket matches scheduled to be played at the National Stadium today.
For those heading to the National Stadium to watch their favourite players in the ground, they can park their vehicles at the parking spots after showing their tickets and CNIC.
Parking lots and routes
Those coming from central and west districts such as Liaquatabad No 10 can use Hassan Square, take a left at University Road and park their vehicles at Expo Centre. From there, audience will be taken to the stadium via a shuttle bus.
Those travelling from Malir and East districts can use Safoora and NIPA while those coming from Sohrab Goth via Gulshan Chowrangi can use Gulshan Chowrangi, take a left at University Road, AG Sindh U-Turn, then again University Road and park their vehicles. From there they will be shifted to the area adjacent to Expo Centre through a shuttle bus
Those travelling from East and Malir districts coming from Drigh Road via Shahrah-e-Faisal can use Drigh Road, take a right turn at Rashid Minhas Road, left turn to Millennium Mall and park their automobiles at the Gharib Nawaz Football Stadium near Millennium Mall. From there they will be shifted to Bahria University adjacent the National Stadium via shuttle bus.
People coming from South, City, West and Korangi/Defence districts and areas via Shahrah-e-Faisal can use Sharah-e-Faisal, Shahrah-e-Quaideen, Allah Wali Chowrangi, Society Light Signal, PP Chowrangi, University Road, Hassan Square, Baitul Mukaram U-turn, Expo Centre Gate 1 and then park their vehicles at Rana Liaquat Ali Khan Girls College from where they will go out from the Expo Centre Gate No 2 of the stadium or Shahrah-e-Faisal, Drigh Road, Rashid Minhas, NIPA, University Road to Expo Centre’s Gate No.1.
Those travelling from Central and West districts coming from Nazimabad and Liaquatabad No10 can use Hassan Square, take a left towards University Road, Baitul Mukaram U-turn, Expo Centre Gate 1 and park their vehicles at the Expo Centre, KDA Club and China Ground from where they will go out from Expo Centre’s Gate No 2 for the stadium.
Diversions
Karsaz: Traffic coming from Nursery shall not be allowed to proceed to Habib Ibrahim Rehmat ullah Road towards Stadium (Sir Shah Suleman Road). These vehicles will be diverted towards Drigh Road, Sharea Faisal, left turn Rashid Minhas Road, Millennium to NIPA.
Millennium: Traffic from Rashid Minhas Road shall not be permitted to proceed towards the stadium.
These vehicles will be diverted towards NIPA, Askari-IV (Millennium), Drigh Road to Shahrah-e-Faisal or Millennium, NIPA to Safoora Chowrangi or NIPA to Gulshan Chowrangi to Sohrab Goth.
New Town Chowrangi: From University Road, all kinds of traffic will not be allowed to proceed to Stadium Road from New Town Chowrangi turning. Traffic will be diverted towards Jail, Shaheed-e-Millat or straight towards PP Chowrangi. Public coming from Aga Khan Hospital and Liaquat National Hospital will be allowed from the New Town PS side.
University Road, Shaheed-e-Millat Road and Rashid Minhas Road will remain open for traffic. All commuters from Central, East, Malir, South and West can use the Lyari Expressway’s both sides from Mirza Adam Khan Chowk, Mauripur Road up to Sohrab Goth.
Heavy traffic
Heavy traffic will not be allowed from Sohrab Goth to Nipa, Liquatabad No 10 to Hassan Square, Peoples Chowrangi towards University road.
Traffic coming from Shahar-e-Faisal shall not be permitted to proceed towards Stadium.
These vehicles will be diverted towards NIPA, Askari-IV (Millennium), Drigh Road to Shara-e-Faisal or Millennium, NIPA to Safora Chowrangi or NIPA to Gulshan Chowrangi to Sohrab Goth.
Vehicles entering from University Road shall not be permitted to proceed towards Stadium Road from New Town Chowrangi turning and it will be diverted towards Jail Road, Shaheed-e-Millat or straight to Peoples Chowrangi.
Traffic coming to Aga Khan Hospital, Liaquat National Hospital will be allowed from New Town PS.
Pakistan has been declared the world’s most affordable country to live in, while Bangladesh is the most expensive country in South Asia and Switzerland the most expensive in the world.
CEOWORLD — one of the world’s leading business magazines for high-level executive professionals and business leaders — has declared Pakistan the world’s most affordable country to live in, followed by Afghanistan, India, Syria, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tunisia, Dhaka Tribune reported.
Source: CEOWORLD
Meanwhile, European countries were prominent on the list of most expensive ones. Of the top 20 nations, nine were in Europe, five in Asia, one in North America and Africa each, two in the Caribbean and two in Oceania.
Norway ranks second in the list of the world’s most expensive countries to live in, followed by Iceland, Japan, Denmark, Bahamas, Luxembourg, Israel, Singapore and South Korea.
A little further down in the list, there is the United States (US) at the 20th position, the United Kingdom (UK) at 27th, Saudi Arabia at 57th and Russia at 82nd.
The rankings are based on five major metrics — cost of living, rent, groceries, eating out and purchasing power. To identify the world’s most and least expensive countries to live in, the magazine collected and reviewed data from dozens of studies, numbers of consumer price index, cost of living index and numerous national and international media reports.
The data was then compiled into an index, using the notoriously expensive city of New York City (NYC) as a benchmark. New York was given an index score of 100. So a country with a score higher than 100 is more expensive than New York, while below signals less expensive.
Islamabad United have released their anthem for the fifth edition of Pakistan Super League PSL. SochTheBand has sung the song ‘Rang Jeet Ka Laal’. The song features all the players of the team. Pakistan Super League is scheduled to begin today (Thursday) at the National Stadium of Karachi.
Earlier, Peshawar Zalmi released its star-studded anthem featuring Mehwish Hayat and Hania Amir for PSL 5. The vocals behind the Pashto track is by a three-member rock band named Fortitude.
Quetta also released its official anthem sung by Harris Jalil Mir & Hasan Bin Hisam.
Organisers of the Lahore Literary Festival (LLF) — an international literary festival held annually in Lahore — have responded to claims of blocking over Twitter the academics and journalists who “criticised” or “contradicted” the event due Friday (February 21).
“No amount of education [or] money can evolve these illiberal liberals, so rich and entitled that they cannot stand the idea of anyone contradicting them. Kingmakers basically because they have money and clout (and enough alcohol to ply all of Lahore’s elite),” wrote journalist Sabahat Zakariya after being blocked by the LLF over the social network.
No amount of education money can buy can evolve these illiberal liberals, so rich and entitled that they cannot stand the idea of anyone contradicting them. Kingmakers basically because they have money and clout (and enough alcohol to ply all of Lahore’s elite). pic.twitter.com/KdXqq3sTMO
She, however, wasn’t the only person to be blocked by the LLF on Twitter.
Sad that the organisers of #LLF are so averse to any criticism even when it comes from academics in their own city. Little hope for constructive engagement with these folks. pic.twitter.com/rKJRZbL5Ng
“Constructive criticism is always great and we greatly welcome it,” read a statement issued by the LLF to The Current.
“Anybody who may have in the past made unreasonable or inappropriate remarks may possibly have been blocked to help the organisers steer clear of digression and focus on our passion for literature,” the statement read further, adding it was also possible that the blocks were from last year.
LLF:
The eighth edition of the annual LLF is set to commence on February 21, 2020, at the Alhamra Arts Center, Mall Road.
The three-day event, culminating on February 23, 2020, will continue its tradition of hosting eminent writers, historians, artists and opinion makers from Pakistan and abroad with over a hundred speakers and 63 sessions.
Free and open-to-the-public, this year’s event will feature, among others, Oyinkan Braithwaite, who was long-listed for the Man Booker 2019; author Musharraf Ali Farooqi, who will launch his latest book, The Merman and the Book of Power; novelist and poet Nitasha Kaul, who has written on the plight of Kashmir in Modi’s India; and Adrian Hayes, who will launch One Man’s Climb, a book about his journey to reach the summit of K2.
The full slate of panels and participants for the three-day event is available here in PDF format
The opening ceremony of the fifth edition of the Habib Bank Limited (HBL) Pakistan Super League (PSL) will cost around Rs210 million, as the cricketing tournament, unlike its previous editions, is held entirely in Pakistan.
According to Cricket Pakistan, the colorful and extravagant opening ceremony will be held at National Stadium in Karachi, following which Quetta Gladiators and Islamabad United will play the first match of the tournament.
The two are also the only teams guaranteed to be at the event as according to Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials, the teams that are scheduled to compete the following day will not be able to take part in the opening ceremony where popular local singers, including Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Abrarul Haq, Sajad Ali, Sanam Maarwi, Aima Baig, Abu Mohammad, Fareed Ayaz and Soch band are expected to perform.
Contrary to PCB officials’ statement, Peshawar Zalmi management has said that the team would also be present at the stadium.
QUETTA VS ISLAMABAD:
Led by former Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed, Gladiators will look to kick off the fifth edition of the tournament with a bang.
Despite the fact that the new of teenage pace sensation, Naseem Shah, is out of at least two matches of the tournament, the Gladiators, with a host of international and local players, will be a force to be reckoned with this season.
With top run-scorer Shane Watson and his Australian counterpart Ben Cutting, along with England’s Jason Roy and fast bowlers Tymal Mills and Windies Keemo Paul, the Quetta-based franchise will want to start the tournament with a win.
Among the national players are batsmen Ahmed Shehzad, Khurram Manzoor and Sarfaraz, and bowlers Sohail Khan, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz.
They will be without the services of middle-order batsman Umar Akmal who was banned by Pakistan Cricket Board from participating in domestic tournaments on Thursday.
Taking on the Gladiators will be two-time champions Islamabad United, led by leg-spinner Shadab Khan. Adding to the mix is South African pacer Dale Steyn who joins his Proteas team-mate Colin Ingram. Luke Ronchi, Colin Munro, Phil Salt and Dawid Malan make up the remaining international players for United.
Not to be left behind are the national superstars Asif Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Muhammad Musa, Rumman Raees and Hussain Talat, who just might give United the edge to lift up a third PSL title this year.
The match between Quetta Gladiators and Islamabad United starts at 7 pm.
Daren Sammy, one of the first cricketers who agreed to play the PSL 2 final in Pakistan in 2017, might just get honorary Pakistani citizenship. The owner of the PSL team Peshawar Zalmi, Javed Afridi, requested the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board to help get his team captain a green passport.
Sammy, who is active on Twitter, tweeted about how great it was to be back in Pakistan
“We requested honorary citizenship for Daren Sammy and it is almost on the table of president,” Afridi said during the unveiling of PSL 2020 trophy in Karachi. Afridi also said that the request might be approved if the PCB Chairman pushes for it or ‘makes a phone call’.
Afridi also said that he has Sammy’s voice notes that are, ‘too emotional for Pakistan”. A formal request has been made to the President and a decision is pending.
Sammy is often referred to as ‘Daren Sammy Khan’ because of his loyalty to the team from Peshawar.
Recently he tweeted in Urdu using google translate which got him into some fun trouble.
پاکستان میں پی پی ایس 5 کا مطلب پاکستان کے عوام کے لئے بہت معنی ہو گا اور میں اپنے پشاور زالما خاندان میں شامل ہونے کا انتظار نہیں کر سکتا اور اس کے ساتھ ساتھ اپنے آپ کو جوش و جذبہ کی وجہ سے ہجوم کے سامنے کھیل رہا ہوں ۔ یہ صرف کرکٹ نہیں ہے @JAfridi10
Sammy has played international cricket for the West Indies and is a two time T20 World Cup winning captain. He plays as a right-handed batsman and a fast-medium bowler.
We knew that the Pakistan Women’s Cricket Team were talented sportswomen but who knew they were undercover rockstars as well.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) shared a video of four Pakistani players, including captain Bismah Maroof, beatboxing. Iram Javed holds the bat as a mic.
The women’s cricket team is currently in Australia for the seventh ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, scheduled to take place between February 21 and March 8, 2020. The final will take place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on International Women’s Day.
A patient at King’s College Hospital in London has played the violin while having brain surgery.
The medical team asked Dagmar Turner, 53, to play the violin to ensure parts of the brain that control hand movements and coordination were not damaged during the surgery.
Ms. Turner was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2013.
The committed violinist, who plays in Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra, was worried the surgery would result in the loss of her ability to play. Her tumour was located in the right frontal lobe of her brain, close to an area that controls the fine movement of her left hand.
Professor Keyoumars Ashkan, the consultant neurosurgeon at King’s College Hospital, came up with an idea to operate and reduce the risk.
The brain tumour specialist holds a degree in music and is an accomplished pianist and shared Ms. Turner’s desire to save her musical skills.
Before the surgery, doctors spent two hours carefully plotting her brain to identify areas that were active when she played the violin and those responsible for controlling language and movement.
Ms. Turner played the violin while her tumour was removed, while closely monitored by the anesthetists and a therapist.
