Author: newsdesk

  • Weekend events in your city

    Weekend events in your city

    Lahore:

    Soul Food Fest

    Date and Time: Dec 27 at 1 PM – Dec 29 at 11 PM

    Venue: Lake City Lahore13-KM, Main Raiwind Road, Lahore.

    The Rythm Circle

    Date: 28th Dec

    Time: 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM

    Venue: Faiz Ghar126-F, Model Town, Lahore.

    Islamabad:

    Winter Fest

    Date and Time: Dec 27 at 12 PM – Dec 29 at 11 PM

    Venue: Arts and Craft Village, ShakarparianLok Virsa, Garden Avenue, Shakar Parian National Park.

    Comedy Night

    Date: 28th Dec.

    Time: 6:30 PM – 9 PMTomorrow

    Venue: 33 – Buland Markaz, Jinnah Avenue, Blue Area, Islamabad

    Karachi

    Karachi Tum Say Hay

    Date: 28th Dec

    Time: 6 PM – 12 AM

    Venue: Sports Club – Moin Khan Cricket Academy, DHA Phase 8.

    Fries Festival

    Date: 27th Dec

    Time: 6 PM – 11:55 PM

    Venue: Koyla ChaiD2, Block 2, Clifton Next to Shell Pump, Bilawal Chowrangi.

  • Danish Kaneria faced ‘discrimination’ for being a Hindu: Akhtar

    Former cricketing star Shoaib Akhtar has claimed that his teammate Danish Kaneria faced discrimination at the hands of a few Pakistani cricketers, who were reluctant to even eat with him because he is a Hindu.

    According to The News, Kaneria, who is only the second Hindu to play for Pakistan after his maternal uncle Anil Dalpat, took 261 wickets in 61 Tests at an average of 34.79, and also played 18 ODIs.

    Akhtar made the revelation during a show ‘Game on Hai‘ aired on PTV Sports, foreign media reported on Thursday. “In my career I fought with two three (in the team) when they started talking on regionalism. Things like ‘who is from Karachi, Punjab or Peshawar’, that used to infuriate.

    “So what if someone is a Hindu, he is doing well for the team. They used to say ‘sir ye yaaha se khaana kaise le raha ha‘ (how is he taking food from this place)?’” said the 44-year-old, who played 46 Tests and 163 ODIs. “The same Hindu won the Test for us against England. If he is taking a bagful of wickets for Pakistan, he should play. We could not have won the series without Kaneria’s effort. But not many gave him credit for that,” said Akhtar.

    When contacted, Kaneria supported Akhtar’s claims.

    “Shoaib has been a legend of the game. His words are also as blunt as his bowling. When I was playing I did not have the courage to speak on these matters but after Shoaib bhai’s comments, I do. He has always supported me and also Inzy bhai (Inzaman-ul-Haq), Mohammad Yusuf and Younis bhai (Younish bhai),” Kaneria told a news agency over phone from Karachi.

    “Those who did not support me, I will make their names public soon. Having said that, I feel fortunate and honoured that I got to play for Pakistan,” added Kaneria.

    Kaneria, now 39, was found guilty of spot-fixing alongside Mervyn Westfield while playing for Essex against Durham in 2009.

    The leg-spinner was found to have convinced Westfield to concede 12 runs during the one-day game. Westfield was handed a four-month prison sentence and ECB banned him for five years.

    Kaneria admitted to spot-fixing in 2018 after six years of denial.

  • Can you go to Seaview this new year?

    The Sindh government has imposed a ban on aerial firing, fireworks, one-wheeling and riding motorcycles without silencers on the New Year’s eve.

    Each year, hundreds of thousands of rounds of bullets are shot up into the air by celebrators to celebrate the beginning of New Year, which has taken many lives in the past year. Many citizens have also been injured from stray bullets after aerial firing.

    Sea View and Five Star Chowrangi in North Nazimabad are the two popular spots for the youth to celebrate the new year in Karachi. Commissioner Karachi Iftikhar Shalwani appealed to the citizens to celebrate the occasion with decency and keeping in view their civic duties. K-Electric (KE) has also been advised to refrain from unnecessary power outages on the occasion.

  • Egg-standing test goes viral as eclipse crosses Asia

    Egg-standing test goes viral as eclipse crosses Asia

    According to a popular scientific theory, an egg will support itself that way when the moon obscures the sun and during the spring equinox, due to increased gravity.

    While the theory has been debunked, Reuters reported that this did not stop Malaysian and Indonesian social media users from putting it to the test on Thursday, as thousands of sky watchers gathered across parts of Asia to witness a rare annular solar eclipse.

    Videos shared online showed dozens of users succeeding in getting eggs to balance on different surfaces including on gravel, a window pane, and a plate during the ‘ring-of-fire’ eclipse.

    IN PICTURES: ‘Ring of Fire’ eclipse enthralls observers in Asia

    However, Dr Chong Hon Yew, a retired physicist from the Malaysian Science University, said there was no evidence to back up the theory.

    “You can do the same experiment tomorrow, before or after eclipse – it’s easy to do it,” Chong said. “But it’s a fun trick to do (during an eclipse) to get young kids interested in science and astronomy.”

    Thursday’s annular eclipse – which occurs when the moon covers the sun’s center but leaves its outer edges visible to form a ring – was also visible in Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

    In most years, two solar eclipses are visible from somewhere on Earth. The maximum number per year is five.

  • Is marriage easier or running the government? Here’s what Asad Umar has to say

    Is marriage easier or running the government? Here’s what Asad Umar has to say

    Minister for Planning and Development and PTI stalwart Asad Umar recently set the dance floor on his son’s wedding and internet on fire with his bhangra on Abrarul Haq’s Billo. The clip of him dancing was widely shared and people absolutely loved his swag.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B6fUzrxh72z/

    In a recent interview, when the minister was asked if compromising in marriage was easier or when in government with “razor-thin” majority, Asad said, “There is a actually strong analogous behaviour in both.”

    “Just like in a marriage, if you’ve married the person for who he or she is and what they stand for, then you’ll go through the highs and lows, the ups and downs, the difficulties which will come – you’ll make compromises because you’re clear of why you are with that particular person in this big wide universe and not with somebody else.”

    He continued, “The same is true with being in government. If you have clarity, if you have conviction of what you want, what you stand for, what you want to achieve, then you know where you want to compromise and where compromise is actually taking you away from what you stand for and why you’re in that government. It also helps you give clarity of when you should stay to continue to be in government and when you should say there are options which are better.”

  • Minister announces uniform curriculum for schools across country

    Minister announces uniform curriculum for schools across country

    Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mehmood has said that the federal government would soon announce a uniform curriculum for the entire country to end disparity between different educational systems in the country.

    “We are in the process of making curriculum for all children across Pakistan, and kids enrolled with government-run or private schools or even madrassas will be taught only one curriculum,” the federal minister was quoted as saying by The Nation at the concluding session of the three-day celebrations in connection with Quaid Day on Wednesday.

    Addressing the event organised by Sindh Madrassatul Islam University, Mehmood said the country was riddled with different systems of education, therefore, the government wanted to introduce a uniform curriculum.

    “These different systems of education have divided the country’s philosophy, and a uniform syllabus will help put an end to this condition,” he said, adding that Tanzeemul Madaris had also accepted his ministry’s suggestion, according to which children in madrassas would be required to appear in matriculation and intermediate examinations.

    Earlier this year, the Punjab government had also promised a uniform curriculum at least for primary schools in the province from 2020.

    “A uniform curriculum for primary schools in the province will be introduced by March 2020,” Schools Education Minister Murad Raas had told the Punjab Assembly in January. Responding to a written question in the provincial house, he had said the curriculum would also include a certain portion of religious teachings and that uniform syllabus for higher levels would be introduced in due course.

    Replying to a query about existence of both English and Urdu mediums in state-run schools, he had chided former chief minister Shehbaz Sharif for it saying the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader introduced English medium without making available teachers for the purpose.

    He said English would be taught in primary schools as a language and other subjects would be taught in Urdu.

  • Saif Ali Khan mocked for being ‘ignorant’ about India’s citizenship bill crisis

    Bollywood bigwigs including the Khans and Kapoors have been a real disappointment as far as raising their voice against India’s controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is concerned. The act has sparked nationwide protests resulting in police crackdown and more than a dozen people have lost their lives in the process.

    According to the Act, people from Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come to India till December 31, 2014, from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan due to religious persecution there will be given Indian citizenship. The protesters say the legislation was unconstitutional and divisive as it excludes Muslims.

    When Saif Ali Khan was asked about his thoughts on the matter, the actor said that as a citizen he is concerned about the current situation in the country.

    “There are many things that give us a cause for concern, watching and wondering how where it will all end up,” Saif said.

    “It is everybody’s right to protest peacefully and everybody’s right not to,” he continued.

    “I would like the protest to be associated with exactly what I am protesting against. There might be a possibility that I will end up representing a different kind of protest. So I am not sure yet. Until I am sure what I am protesting against and whether it is going to be taken that way, I need to think more,” he added.

    The Nawab of Pataudi further said he trying to understand the situation better and will make up his mind after he is well-informed.

    “There is so much being written in the press, there are so many things that give us concern about what we are reading,” he concluded.

    Unsurprisingly, Twitter had a lot to say on the matter and people mocked Saif for being a confident person on screen and the complete opposite in real life.

    https://twitter.com/frcl99/status/1209971870386266117?s=20

    Even Saif’s Sacred Games co-star Aamir Bashir expressed his frustration and ace director Anurag Kashyap retweeted his tweet.

    While Shaan threw subtle shade by sharing a poster of the movie The Silence of the Lambs.

    On the other hand, several Bollywood celebrities such as Farhan Akhtar, Parineeti Chopra, Anurag Kashyap, Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar, Hrithik Roshan and Swara Bhasker among others have voiced their disappointment over the amended Citizenship Act.

  • 5 products of this decade that transformed the tech world

    5 products of this decade that transformed the tech world

    The year 2020 is almost here, marking the end of this dacade, but it surely brought a lot of new technology and gadgets which range from latest mobile applications to mobile phones, computers to smart devices, and much more in the internet of things.

    But not every product that is created in the past ten years has the same impact on the society. It takes some serious innovation and cultural adoption to really change the tech world.

    We have listed here a few tech innovations that truly changed tech and were hailed as the most revolutionary products this in this decade.

    WhatsApp:

    Launched in November 2009, WhatsApp is a social media messaging platform that is owned by Facebook and its impact on society was significant enough to be mentioned here.

    WhatsApp specializes in cross-platform messaging, it is a free service that lets users message one another seamlessly between mobile and desktop devices. It is known for its enhanced privacy features, like end-to-end encryption, and its free audio and video international calling services.

    Apple iPad:

    When Steve Jobs first revealed the iPad in early 2010, many wondered whether there was a room for a product that was bigger than a smartphone, but lighter than (and more limited in features than) a laptop.

    Apple originally designed this new device to occupy a new product category between the iPod touch/iPhone and the Mac and by late 2012, over 100 million iPad devices had been sold worldwide and around 71 million iPads were sold in 2013 alone.

    It runs the same version of operating system as the iPod touch and iPhone. Similarly, the iPad devices are compatible with the vast majority of mobile applications written for the iPhone and iPod touch as well.

    Uber:

    Launched in 2012, ther ride-hailing service Uber has become the most recognized alternative to the traditional taxi services around the world. The service is available in over 700 cities including around the world including Pakistan, and this number is set to increase even more.

    This service allows its users to order a cab from a mobile application by just mentioning the pickup and drop-off locations.

    However, with expansion the problems in the service also increased. Wired has reported that the company’s relationship with its drivers is fraught and the company also refuses to classify its drivers as employees. Moreover, it is has also been criticized for skimping on driver background checks.

    Apple iPhone 4S:

    The original iPhone was launched in 2007 and it was one of the most influential events of our modern era. But the launch of the iPhone 4S in October 2011, was the big game-changer for Apple company’s business.

    Its new design and being the first iPhone mobile device to boast a front-facing selfie camera with the launch of FaceTime and Apple’s video chat service, the device captured the market in an instance.

    Oculus Rift:

    Oculus Rift is a virtual reality headset, designed to connect to a high-powered PC to enable advanced computations and graphics rendering. The original prototype of this device was created in 2011 by the (then) 18-year-old Palmer Luckey in his parents’ garage in Long Beach, California.

    But what captured the comsumers’ interest was the launch of an HD (high-definition) version of the device in 2012. Later, in the fall of 2012, the company raised over two million dollars through its kickstarter crowdfunding campaign which is significantly higher that the $250,000 the startup sough.

    Oculus Rift’s constellation positioning technology uses gaze tracking and IR LED sensors to identify the user’s position while interacting with the virtual environment. It allows users to move freely within their physical environment, where they can sit, stand, walk, turn, duck and dodge as they desire.

  • Rana Sanaullah case: ‘Political victimisation an open secret,’ court says

    Rana Sanaullah case: ‘Political victimisation an open secret,’ court says

    The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday issued its detailed verdict on the bail granted to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Rana Sanaullah in the drug trafficking case against him, saying that “political victimisation in the country is an open secret”.

    Opposition parties have been accusing the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of cracking down on opposition leaders in what they call is “selective accountability”, alleging that members of the PML-N and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) are arrested “only because the government cannot tolerate dissent”.

    Among other opposition leaders’ arrests, Sanaullah’s detention in the case against him was also termed as “political victimisation” by opposition parties as they accused the government of being unable to take criticism.

    The nine-page judgement issued Thursday was authored by Justice Chaudhry Mushtaq Ahmad of the LHC, and gave some weight to the “political victimsation” argument made by the petitioner.

    “In the context of the petitioner being a vocal political leader of [the main] opposition party, this aspect of the case could not be ignored as political victimisation in our country is an open secret,” the court said.

    It questioned in its judgement as to why the former provincial minister’s physical remand had not been sought by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) to investigate the allegations against him, and why were the formal documentary proceedings of the seizure of narcotics not conducted at the time of arrest.

    “Why a sample of only 20 grams of the heroin recovered was sent for testing when the seized quantity was as high as 15 kilogrammes,” the court questioned.

    In the judgement, it was reasoned that from the facts of the case, there needed to be further investigation of the charges against Sanaullah. However, since “the co-accused in the case were granted bail by a trial court, and their bail was not challenged by the prosecution in the high court”, it would be unfair to not allow Sanaullah the same recourse.

  • IN PICTURES: ‘Ring of Fire’ eclipse enthralls observers in Asia

    IN PICTURES: ‘Ring of Fire’ eclipse enthralls observers in Asia

    Skywatchers from Saudi Arabia and Oman to Pakistan and Singapore were treated to a rare “ring of fire” solar eclipse on Thursday.

    Annular eclipses occur when the Moon is not close enough to the Earth to completely obscure the Sun, leaving a thin ring of the solar disc visible.

    While these types of eclipses occur every year or two, they are only visible from a narrow band of Earth each time and it can be decades before the same pattern is repeated.

    Depending on weather conditions, this year’s astronomical phenomenon was set to be visible from the Middle East across southern India and Southeast Asia before ending over the northern Pacific.

    Hundreds of amateur astronomers, photographers and set up by Singapore’s harbour for what some described as a “once in a lifetime” event.

    Bahrain
    Dindigul in Tamil Nadu, India
    Singapore
    Bangkok, Thailand
    Sanaa, Yemen
    Bangkok, Thailand

    Meanwhile, in Pakistan due to the dense fog, smog and cloudy skies, the eclipse wasn’t very visible.

    The next annual eclipse in June 2020 will be visible to a narrow band from Africa to northern Asia.

    The following one in June 2021 will only be seen in the Arctic and parts of Canada, Greenland and the remote Russian far east.