Category: Lifestyle

The lifestyle of millennials is underreported in our mainstream media. The Current’s lifestyle news covers social events and issues that are unique.

  • India removes chapters on evolution from textbooks of grades 9 and 10

    The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) of India has removed chapters and topics related to evolution from textbooks meant for students of grades nine and 10.

    According to Al Jazeera, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has eliminated Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution for the 2021-2 academic year. As per the report, all references to evolution have been removed from the textbooks, while students who want to learn about evolution must take biology in the 11th or 12th grade.

    Earlier this month, news reports in Indian media said that chapters and topics related to the Mughal empire were removed from India’s 12th-grade history syllabus. However, NCERT director Dinesh Prasad Saklani denied the news reports calling them a lie. “There was a rationalisation process last year. Due to Covid, there was pressure on students everywhere,” the NCERT director said, adding that the expert committee recommended dropping the chapters which won’t impact the knowledge of the students.

  • Qatar announces 11-day-long Eid holiday

    Qatar announces 11-day-long Eid holiday

    According to the Amiri Diwan, Qataris will have an 11-day long holiday to celebrate Eid ul Fitr.

    The holiday will last from April 19, 2023 to April 27, 2023. The first working day is set for April 30, 2023, Sunday.

    The holiday will be observed by all government agencies, public institutions, and ministries; however, the beginning and ending dates will be determined by the governor of the Qatar Central Bank (QCB), other banks, and financial institutions regulated by the QCB and the Qatar Financial Markets Authority (QFMA).

    The government of Pakistan has announced a five-day holiday for Eid.

  • Mother almost falls for $1 million kidnapping hoax after daughter’s voice is cloned by AI

    A mother from Arizona almost fell for a kidnapping hoax after the culprits used Artificial Intelligence (AI) to clone her daughter’s voice.

    According to People magazine, Jennifer DeStefano shared that her daughter, Briana, was on a ski vacation with her friends when the mother received a phone call from an anonymous number, where she heard her daughter crying and pleading for help.

    “I heard my daughter’s voice crying and sobbing, saying, ‘Mom.’ And I’m like, ‘OK, what happened?’ She’s like, ‘Mom, these bad men have me. Help me, help me.’ “

    A man then talked to her and demanded that she pay $1 million to free her daughter.

    “This man gets on the phone and he’s like, ‘Listen here. I’ve got your daughter. This is how it’s going to go down. You call the police, you call anybody, I’m going to pop her so full of drugs. I’m going to have my way with her and I’m going to drop her off in Mexico,’” she said. “And at that moment, I just started shaking. In the background, she’s going, ‘Help me, Mom. Please help me. Help me,’ and bawling.”

    DeStefano, who was at a dance studio when she received the call, negotiated with the man to take the ransom down to $500,000, while her acquaintance contacted the police and her husband contacted Briana, who revealed that she was safe and in her room.

    “She was upstairs in her room. Then I get angry, obviously, with these guys. This is not something you play around with.”

    DeStefano shared that she was truly shocked how similar her daughter’s voice sounded to the voice she had heard on the phone, which had been cloned by AI.

    “It was completely her voice. It was her inflection. It was the way she would have cried. I never doubted for one second it was her. That’s the freaky part that really got me to my core.”

    Briana also revealed how terrifying this situation could have gotten, had her mother not confirmed her whereabouts:

     “I started to wonder, like, if these people were asking to track my mom and pick her up, they could have obviously been putting some information together to try and track me or some of my siblings to actually make this a reality. So it definitely scared me.”

  • Daughter kills father for not letting her marry lover

    Daughter kills father for not letting her marry lover

    Trigger warning: Murder/Violence

    A 30 year-old-woman in Jhang conspired with her friend to murder her own father in order to clear the way for her to marry the person she had chosen, Samaa has reported.

    After killing her father, Sadia buried his body in their yard with the help of her friend Ashraf. The police in Jhang were able to locate the victim’s body and apprehend the perpetrators. The victim’s seven-year-old son Zulfiqar had reportedly begged the police to capture those responsible for the brutal murder.
    The police have revealed that Ashraf is a known criminal and has been involved in numerous previous cases. Jhang Police Spokesman, Muhammad Aun Raza, has stated that the police conducted an investigation and recovered the body from the yard of the house the daughter lived in, leading to the arrest of Sadia Bibi and her accomplice, Ashraf.

    The family of the deceased has demanded the toughest punishment for the killers.

  • Sri Lanka considering exporting 100,000 monkeys to China

    Sri Lanka considering exporting 100,000 monkeys to China

    Sri Lanka’s Agriculture Minister, Mahinda Amaraweera, has instructed officials to examine China’s proposal to import 100,000 toque macaque monkeys, which are native to Sri Lanka and classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

    The monkeys will be displayed in over 1,000 Chinese zoos with the minister suggesting that Sri Lanka might be able to meet the request due to the large macaque population in the country.

    As per a Sri Lankan news portal, a meeting was held on Tuesday to discuss the possibility of sending monkeys to China under the first phase of the programme. Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera led the meeting, which was attended by officials from the Agriculture Ministry, Department of National Zoological Gardens, and Department of Wildlife Conservation.

    During the meeting, it was revealed that the current monkey population in Sri Lanka has grown to almost 3 million and that the monkeys were causing significant damage to local crops.

    Despite Sri Lanka’s ban on almost all live animal exports, the country is currently considering fulfilling China’s request for macaque monkeys, as the country grapples with its worst economic crisis.
    Sri Lanka is also looking to fulfill China’s request due to the fact that Beijing is one of Sri Lanka’s major bilateral lenders.

  • Karachi citizen allegedly shoots two robbers, killing them

    Karachi citizen allegedly shoots two robbers, killing them

    Two suspected robbers were reportedly shot to death on Saturday in the Azizabad Block 8 area of Karachi after a citizen allegedly fired at them while they were attempting to rob him near Moore Park, as per eyewitnesses, Samaa has reported.

    The police arrived at the scene and took possession of the bodies, which were then transferred to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. The suspected robbers were pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.

    Authorities have stated that they are working to establish the identity of the alleged thieves. It remains unclear whether the citizen who fired the shots acted in self-defense or if there are other factors at play.

  • South Korea to pay $500 to lonely young people

    South Korea plans to provide approximately $500 every month as a cash giveaway to encourage young individuals, who are mostly underprivileged and reclusive, to come out of their isolation.

    In an effort to assist young people affected by hikikomori, a term used to describe severe social withdrawal, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family in South Korea has initiated the funding program. The Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs estimates that approximately 3% or 350,000 individuals aged between 19 and 39 in South Korea experience loneliness or isolation.

    As per the reports from the Ministry, citing the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, roughly 3.1 per cent of South Koreans aged between 19 and 39 are classified as “reclusive lonely young people.” This term is defined as individuals living in a restricted space, disconnected from the outside world for an extended period, and struggling to lead a regular life.

    The Ministry’s report stated that around 338,000 individuals in the country fit the category of “reclusive lonely young people,” with 40% of them starting to withdraw during their adolescence. The reasons behind their isolation are diverse and may include financial difficulties, mental health issues, family conflicts or health problems

  • Sorry, there will be no new currency notes for you this Eid

    Sorry, there will be no new currency notes for you this Eid

    We will sadly have to spend our Eid this year without getting any crispy brand-new rupee note as Eidi.

    The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday decided against issuing fresh currency notes on the eve of Eid-ul-Fitr.

    SBP spokesperson has confirmed that the bank will not issue new notes as the supply-demand gap was on the rise fueled by people’s possession of the notes. 

    Eid-ul-Fitr is expected to fall on April 22 this year. The federal government has announced that Eid holidays which will run from April 21 to April 25, thus making Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday gazetted holidays.

  • Rare type of bird flu causes first death in China

    Rare type of bird flu causes first death in China

    According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), a woman in China has died after contracting a rare type of bird flu, making the death the first known human fatality from the strain.

    However, the H3N8 subtype of avian influenza does not seem to spread from person to person.

    The woman, aged 56, was from the southern province of Guangdong and is the third person to have contracted this subtype, with the previous two cases also reported in China last year. Although the Guangdong Provincial Centre for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the third infection in the woman last month, no further information has been provided regarding her death.

    The World Health Organisation (WHO) stated that the person who died from the rare H3N8 subtype of avian influenza had various pre-existing health conditions and had been in contact with live birds.

    In China, sporadic cases of bird flu among humans are frequent as avian flu viruses are prevalent among the large populations of domesticated and wild birds. The WHO mentioned that samples taken from a wet market that the woman visited before falling ill tested positive for influenza A(H3), indicating that this might have been where she contracted the infection.

    Although the H3N8 subtype of avian influenza is uncommon in humans, it is prevalent among birds and typically does not cause any noticeable symptoms in them. It has been known to also infect various other animals. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that no other individuals who were in close proximity to the woman were found to have been infected.

  • Video: Police in Rajanpur kill, eat snake, say it tastes like fish

    Video: Police in Rajanpur kill, eat snake, say it tastes like fish

    A video of policemen in Rajanpur eating a snake after grilling it is going viral on social media. As per details, the cops seen in the video belong to the Rapid Response Force.

    The video shows several police officers in Ghotki using their survival skills to catch a regular cobra. The snake was subsequently stripped of its skin and cooked on coals, using the metal rod from an AK-47 assault rifle as a skewer.

    “It tastes like fish,” said one of the cops.

    “We have been trained to eat snakes to fulfil our protein needs as snakes are a very good source of protein,” said another cop.

    The police officers are involved in a mission to drive out criminal gangs who are taking refuge in the lush vegetation that thrives along the rivers in Sindh. These areas are used as hiding places criminals including those involved in abduction for ransom, murder and armed robbery.