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.

  • At least 50 minors killed in Iran over participating in protests

    At least 50 minors killed in Iran over participating in protests

    The Iranian government’s crackdown on demonstrators asking for social freedom and political change that has rocked the country for the past two months has had a severe impact on the country’s youth, reports The New York Times.

    Human rights advocates and lawyers familiar with the situation have talked about the affect on the country, where the average age of protestors is said to be just 15-years-old. In an effort to quell dissent, authorities have raided schools and carried out arrests, beatings in custody, shootings and killing of protestors on the streets. The lives of countless others have been disrupted in other ways.

    The authorities are targeting thousands of minors under the age of 18, for taking part in the protests. Human rights groups in Iran have said that at least 50 minors have been killed by government authorities since the protests started.

    Following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman, in the custody of the morality police in September, the country has witnessed daily rallies, primarily spearheaded by women, calling for an end to the rule of hard-line clerics.

  • Javed Hussain becomes first Pakistani to receive Gender Just Climate Solution Award’

    Javed Hussain becomes first Pakistani to receive Gender Just Climate Solution Award’

    The “Gender Just Climate Solution Award” was given to environmentalist Javed Hussain at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt, making him the first Pakistani recipient of the honour, Sameer Mandhro reports for Express Tribune.

    The title of Hussain’s project was, “Advancing the labor rights of women cotton pickers in Pakistan”.

    The Hala-born environmentalist has actively worked on the issue of how climate change affects women who harvest cotton in Mitiari and other areas of Sindh province, one of the most flood-prone districts in the province.

    Three awards were given out on Monday during an event that saw a total of 259 organisations from 119 nations, including Pakistan, submit their applications.

    According to a press release from the United Nations-affiliated group Women Engage for Common Future’s Women and Gender Constituency, SCF use a feminist participatory action research methodology to serve the needs of female agricultural workers.

  • No Pakistani Rooh Afza in India: Indian High Court bans the product permanently

    No Pakistani Rooh Afza in India: Indian High Court bans the product permanently

    Delhi High Court in India has permanently restricted the e-commerce platform Amazon from adding the Pakistan-manufactured Rooh Afza to its platform and has restricted them from selling any products under the name of ‘Rooh Afza’’.

    The high court in its Wednesday order said, “‘Rooh Afza’ is a product which has been consumed by the Indian public for more than a century now, and its quality standards have to comply with the applicable regulations prescribed by the Food Safety and Standards Act and Legal Metrology Act.” The court wondered how an imported product was being sold on Amazon without complete details about the manufacturer being disclosed.

    “The listings of infringing ‘ROOH AFZA’ products on the website not originating from the Plaintiffs (Hamdard National Foundation) shall be removed within 48 hours,” said the court in its order.

    The order dated September 5 also said that when one clicks on the link ‘Visit the Hamdard Store’, which is provided next to the product listing of Golden Leaf — the seller of imported Rooh Afza on Amazon – the consumer is taken to the webpage of Hamdard Laboratories India.

    “Thus, any consumer or user on the platform is likely to confuse the ‘ROOH AFZA’ product originating from Hamdard Laboratories (Waqf), Pakistan as being connected or originating from the Plaintiffs..,” said the court.

    The court instructed the e-commerce platform to submit an affidavit clarifying whether such details are mentioned on the Rooh Afza product listings, invoices, and product labels.

  • No space for dead in Karachi graveyards

    No space for dead in Karachi graveyards

    The graveyards maintained by Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) are completely full, KMC Senior Director Municipal Services Mazhar Khan revealed in a show on Samaa television.

    He further said that the administration has approached the Sindh government for acquiring land for new graveyards.

    He stated that on average, 15 to 20 bodies are brought to KMC cemeteries for interment each day, emphasizing that with such an inflow, shortage of graveyard space was a serious issue.

    The Senior Director further revealed that because of these dire circumstances, families were forced to bury their loved ones at cemeteries run by charitable organisations.

    The KMC had requested the purchase of at least 400 acres in each Karachi district, Mazhar Khan told Samaa.

    In response to a query, he stated that after purchasing the site, boundary walls would be built around the area right away.
    Several cemeteries in the megacity are being used to sell graves illegally, according to a KMC official. The undertakers are not employed by KMC, and some of them have already been busted.

  • Govt to spend Rs40 billion to uplift 20 backward districts

    Govt to spend Rs40 billion to uplift 20 backward districts

    In order to initiate rehabilitation projects across 20 backward and underprivileged districts over the course of 60 months in four provinces, the Ministry of Planning has announced a special development project worth Rs40 billion.

    The federal and provincial governments are expected to split the project’s estimated cost 50:50. The project has received approval from the Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal-led Central Development Working Party (CDWP).

    According to DAWN, the project has already been given a budget of Rs18 billion for PSDP 2022–23. Eleven districts from Balochistan, five from Sindh, three from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one from Punjab are among the 20 districts that were chosen based on Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) ratings. The recent flood calamity, notably in Balochistan and Sindh, has severely damaged many of these districts.

    Sherani, Kohlu, Jhal Magsi, Barkhan, Killa Abdullah, Zhob, Musakhel, Dera Bugti, Jaffarabad, Ziarat, and Killa Saifullah are among the 11 districts in Balochistan. Sujawal, Thatta, Tharparkar, Kashmore, and Badin are five in Sindh; Torghar, Shangla, and North Waziristan are three in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; and Rajanpur is one district in Punjab.

    The tentative interventions in these districts will be in the areas of connectivity via roads, access to broadband services and the internet, solarization of off-grid areas, establishment of LPG terminals, development of the agri-livestock and mineral value-chain, tunnel framing, dairy farming, fish farming, etc., establishment of common border markets, investments in skill development, and student scholarships.

    Additionally, the provincial and federal governments will choose sub-projects based on a thorough analysis of the requirements of the marginalised population in their respective regions. These initiatives will be approved by the relevant federal and provincial forums. Steering committees at the federal and provincial levels will oversee the sub-projects.

    “This is the first of its kind project in the economic history of Pakistan where the federal government is undertaking a national intervention to uplift the poorest districts and address the disparity in economic development,” said the planning minister in a statement released on Saturday.

    With the assistance of the UNDP, the MPI survey was finished in 2017–18, allowing for the first time ever to map poverty at the district level nationwide.

    Through targeted investments in infrastructure and the development of human capital in the nation’s poorest regions, the project’s principal goal is to promote inclusive growth and equitable development. One of the main cornerstones of the proposal is investments in human capital development, especially for young people and women.

    According to Pakistan’s MPI estimation for 2017–18, 38.3 percent of Pakistan’s population (87,089,000 people in 2020) will be multidimensionally poor, and a further 12.9 percent will be vulnerable to multidimensional poverty (29,353,000 people in 2020).

    The initiative seeks to significantly contribute to eliminating regional inequality and enhancing national integration and peace in the nation in line with Pakistan Vision 2025 and the Global Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals 2030.

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Youth Development Program, which the project is a part of, was introduced last month.

  • T20 World Cup Final: How much money will Pakistan get if it wins tomorrow?

    T20 World Cup Final: How much money will Pakistan get if it wins tomorrow?

    The T20 World Cup final between Pakistan and England is set to be played at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Australia on November 13 (Sunday).

    The winners of ICC T20 World Cup 2022 will get a whopping amount of $ 1.6 million. In Pakistani rupees , the amount stands around 354,410,596.32. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has also revealed that the runners-up will get prize money equivalent to half the amount the winners’ get Hence, the runners-up team will get $ 0.8 million.

    The teams that lost the semi-finals, India and New Zealand, will also earn $ 0.4 million each.

    For the first time since 1992, Pakistan and England will play each other in an ICC World Cup match. In the 1992 ICC World Cup final between the two sides, Pakistan won the cup.

  • Punjab Health Department announces 4,600 new positions

    Punjab Health Department announces 4,600 new positions

    Dr Yasmin Rashid, the provincial health minister, has announced the creation of 4,600 new positions in the Punjab Health Department. On Monday, she made this declaration while serving as the meeting’s chair in the Department of Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education.

    Participating in the meeting were Chief Planning Officer Abdul Haq Bhatti, the newly appointed Secretary of Health Dr Ahmad Javaid Qazi, Special Secretary M. Usman, Additional Secretaries Zahida Azhar, Shahida Farrukh, Dr Hafiz Shahid Latif, Quratul Ain, and Agha Nabil, as well as the respective Deputy Secretaries.

    The Provincial Health Minister received a briefing from Special Secretary M. Usman and associated supplementary secretaries. During the meeting, Dr Yasmin Rashid went over in detail the initiatives for the regional blood centre, mother and child hospitals, midwifery colleges, new doctor hires in the health department, and the sehat sahulat card.

    She stated that the Punjab Public Service Commission has received a request to fill 4600 new positions from the Department of Specialized Health and Medical Education. Punjabi mother and child hospitals are making rapid progress. The Punjab Health Department has seen a record amount of medical personnel hired by our government.

    According to the provincial health minister, we are making every effort to address the shortfall of physicians, nurses, and paramedics in Punjab’s government teaching hospitals. Through the sehat sahulat card, free medical facilities worth billions of rupees are offered.

    The health department has been given instructions to follow the procedure for hiring new medical personnel every day. According to her, preparations are being made for the local blood centre. The procedure for developing medical officers is being finished by the department, including the working papers.

    Dr Yasmin Rashid stated that Dr Ahmed Javed Qazi’s posting is a positive development. He is among the most diligent and trustworthy officers. She stated that Dr Qazi would endeavour to advance medical education.

  • ‘A choice of soul, heart, and reason’: French model accepts Islam

    ‘A choice of soul, heart, and reason’: French model accepts Islam

    French model and reality TV star Marine El Himer has converted to Islam. She made the announcement on her official Instagram handle to her millions of followers, calling it the “happiest day” of her life.

    “There are no words strong enough to express the intensity of happiness and emotions experienced at this very moment. A spiritual journey that I hope will continue to uplift and guide me Inshaallah,” she wrote on Instagram, terming the conversion, “a choice of soul, heart, and reason.”

    The well-known influencer also thanked her fans for their generosity and support.

    According to French media, Himer spent her childhood with her stepfather, spending a considerable amount of time learning about her real father and their history, and during this time she also got to know about Islam.

  • Video: Taliban govt reveals final resting place of founder Mullah Omar

    Video: Taliban govt reveals final resting place of founder Mullah Omar

    The Taliban government in Afghanistan has disclosed the location of Mullah Omar’s grave, after his passing and burial were concealed for many years. Mullah Omar was the founding leader of the Taliban.

    According to Taliban’s spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, who spoke to Agence France-Presse on Sunday, senior officials of the movement attended a ceremony at Omar’s tomb on Sunday close to Omarzo, in the Suri area of Zabul province.

    The Taliban once again came into power in August 2021 after defeating after defeating government forces as the American troops withdrew after 20 years in the country.

    Earlier this year in June, the Taliban discovered a white Toyota jeep belonging to Omar, which was buried 21 years ago. When the US forces invaded Afghanistan in 2001 as a response to the 9/11 attacks, Mullah Omar hid his personal vehicle by burying it.

    The car was discovered mostly unharmed and wrapped in plastic. However, the front mirror of the car was broken.

    Omar reportedly died in 2013. However, the news of his death was not revealed by the Afghan Taliban until July 2015.

    In the video, his grave can be seen covered by a green metal barrier inside a walled enclave.

  • The new prices of Paracetamol won’t really give you a headache

    The new prices of Paracetamol won’t really give you a headache

    The federal Ministry of Health has issued a notification about the new prices of paracetamol. Under the new pricing, which all concerned parties agreed upon, the new price of paracetamol 500mg tablet will be Rs. 2.35, the price of paracetamol extra 500 mg will be Rs2.75 and the price of the Syrup will be Rs117.6.

    After the increase in the prices, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer Healthcare Pakistan’s (GSK) Pakistan unit is scaling back production of the painkiller Panadol.

    “We appreciate the efforts of the federal government to revise the prices of Panadol Tablets, Panadol Extra Tablets and Children’s Panadol Liquid Range, which will help the company to continue to produce everyday healthcare products without gross losses,” said GSKCH on Friday.

    Panadol is among the highest selling medicine brands in the country, with demand for the drug being the highest in Punjab. The medicine comes in formulations meant for infants, children and adults. A sister brand named Panadol Extend is also part of the company’s products.

    Paracetamol is an OTC medicine used to treat minor or mild pains such as a headache. It is also used to bring down mild or moderate fevers.