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.

  • Much-talked Harry Potter festival begins at Government College University in Lahore

    Much-talked Harry Potter festival begins at Government College University in Lahore

    The famous fantasy novel character Harry Potter festival has begun at the Government College University (GCU).

    The one-week festival kicked off yesterday (November 29) with the grand release and screening of Pakistan’s first Harry Potter fan movie titled ‘The Last Follower and the Resurrection of Voldemort’.

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    The university will hold the festival till December 5. The Vice-Chancellor (VC) Prof Dr Asghar Zaidi of the university has enthusiastically taken part in all the promotional videos. He said, “Our youth has immense potential and we just need to provide them opportunities, little guidance and support.”

    The movie is based on the years after Lord Voldemort’s death. Waleed Akram, who is a director, editor and cinematographer revealed that they started working on this project in 2018 but it got delayed due to Covid-19. He said they are premiering an updated version of the film after re-shooting.

    Other than the screening of movies, the festival includes Harry Potter experiential space, Harry Potter-themed food stalls, face paint and posters, photo booths and much more.

    The teaser of this non-commercial movie is making rounds on social media gaining attention from the youngsters.

  • Elon Musk praises Indian talent as Indian takes over Twitter

    Elon Musk praises Indian talent as Indian takes over Twitter

    Billionaire Elon Musk, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tesla Motors, took to Twitter to share his admiration for the Indian talent that contributed to America’s economy as Jack Dorsey (CEO) of Twitter stepped down and announced his successor, Indian Parag Agrawal.

    Last night, Dorsey announced his resignation on Twitter and confirmed that his replacement was Indian-born Parag Agrawal. Dorsey will remain a member of the board until his term expires in May 2022 and assist Parag with the transition.

    A 37-year-old immigrant from India, Agrawal joined Twitter in 2011 as a Software Engineer and was later promoted to Chief Technical Officer (CTO) in 2017. While working as CTO, he worked as in-charge of strategy involving Artificial Intelligence, reports CNBC.

    A colleague of Agrawal, Chklovski, who worked with him from 2012 to 2014 said, “Parag is phenomenal, understands the problems, stays up late to get it done, mentors others — he’s the whole package.”

    Yoel Roth who is Twitter’s head of site integrity, tweeted, “Parag was one of the first engineers I worked with when I started at Twitter (when we were first working on timeline ranking). The rigor he brings to every decision was clear then, and I’m delighted to see it recognized today.”

    https://twitter.com/yoyoel/status/1465360091348041731?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1465360091348041731%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2021%2F11%2F29%2Ftwitter-ceo-parag-agrawal-key-to-dorseys-plans-to-revamp-social-media.html

    Apart from Twitter, five giant companies Google, Microsoft, Adobe, IBM, Palo Alto Networks have been headed currently by Indian-origin immigrants.

  • New Zealand MP rides a bicycle to hospital to give birth

    New Zealand MP rides a bicycle to hospital to give birth

    A New Zealand lawmaker, MP Julie Anne Genter rode to the hospital while in labour last night to give birth, reports The Guardian.

    She wrote on her Facebook, “Big news! At 3.04 am this morning we welcomed the newest member of our family. I genuinely wasn’t planning to cycle in labour, but it did end up happening. My contractions weren’t that bad when we left at 2 am to go to the hospital – though they were 2-3 min apart and picking up in intensity by the time we arrived 10 minutes later.”

    Ms Genter, an advocate for cycling, was a minister three years ago when she took a similar trip to deliver her first child in 2018.

    Netizens have given mixed reactions on Twitter.

    In 2018, The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern also made history for the first time, bringing her infant to attend the United Nations General Assembly. She received appreciation from the world for setting an example for women’s empowerment.

  • Charsadda police station set on fire by 5,000 strong mob finding alleged blasphemy suspect

    Charsadda police station set on fire by 5,000 strong mob finding alleged blasphemy suspect

    In Charsadda, a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), a mob attacked and set Charsadda police station on fire on Sunday when an official refused to hand over an alleged blasphemy suspect who disrespected the sanctity of the Holy Quran, reports Dawn.

    KP Law Minister, Fazal Shakoor Khan told Dawn that the alleged suspect was arrested on Sunday and later transferred to the Mandani police station in Tangi Tehsil of Charsadda.

    A mob surrounded the police station and demanded to hand over the suspect to them. When the local police declined their demands, more people joined the mob and then attacked the police station. They also smashed police vehicles that were parked outside the station, according to the law minister.

    He added, “The government will not allow anyone to take the law into their own hands,” he said, “the suspect who has been arrested will be proceeded against in accordance with the law.”

    Read more- Mob attacks 100-year-old Hindu temple in Rawalpindi

    The causalities from the attack have not been confirmed by the police nor the details of the blasphemy suspect. However, the Peshawar Commissioner, Riaz Mehsud said the suspect is in safe custody. The commissioner while talking to Dawn said that around 4,000-5,000 people attacked the police station.

    Another police official confirmed that the police station is completely destroyed along with their important records. Police used aerial firing and tear gas to disperse the mob.

    After the attack, the mob also blocked the Harichand road by staging a sit-in protest but they were later dispersed after talks with local clerics accompanied by the district administration.

  • Examinations will be held on time despite new covid variant: Shafqat Mahmood

    Examinations will be held on time despite new covid variant: Shafqat Mahmood

    Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood said on Monday that the government has no plans to suspend educational activities. He said that examinations will be taken on time and the full curriculum will be covered in it, reports Geo.

    When he was asked about the policy of the education department regarding precautionary measures against the Omicron variant, the federal minister said, “I don’t know about the new variant of coronavirus in detail, but the government wants to continue educational activities.”

    The new variant named Omicron, which was first discovered in South Africa is spreading drastically into various parts of Europe including Canada and Australia. On Saturday, Pakistan imposed a complete ban on direct/indirect inbound flights from six African countries and Hong Kong.

    Moreover, while talking about the smog situation in Lahore, Shafqat Mahmood said it will decrease by the closure of private and government schools thrice a week.

  • ’Squid Game Smuggler’ sentenced to death in North Korea

    ’Squid Game Smuggler’ sentenced to death in North Korea

    North Korea announced a death sentence to a man who smuggled and sold copies of the popular South Korean Netflix web series, ‘Squid Game’ which is banned in North Korea.

    The authorities caught seven high school students watching the worldwide hit Korean show, reports the RFA.

    A copy of Squid Game was smuggled from China into North Korea and was sold through the USB flash drives containing the Korean show.

    One of the students who bought the banned show was sentenced to life imprisonment whereas other students, who watched the pirated show received five years of hard labour.

    In schools, administration including teachers were also fired and exiled to isolate parts of the country to work in mines.

    According to analysts, there is a hard censorship policy in North Korea under the Supreme Leader, Kim Jong Un to ‘prevent the influence of capitalist countries.’

    A new law which is officially named “Law on the Elimination of Reactionary Thought and Culture,” was passed in North Korea last year to curb the impact of the outer world. It carries a maximum penalty of death for viewing, possessing, or delivering ‘capitalist content’, especially from South Korea and the United States of America (USA).

  • Risk of New Variant Omicron, Pakistan imposes travel ban

    Risk of New Variant Omicron, Pakistan imposes travel ban

    The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) has imposed a complete travel ban from red zone African countries and Hong Kong on Saturday evening after the emergence of a new Covid variant, Omicron.

    NCOC tweeted the notification in which six South African countries and Hong Kong are included in category C due to Omicron.

    A complete ban has been imposed on every direct and indirect flight with immediate effect.

    Earlier, the United Kingdom (UK) already imposed the travel ban from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, and Eswatini unless travellers are the UK or Irish nationals.

    Head of NCOC, Asad Umar took to Twitter to urge the people of Pakistan how important it is to get vaccinated.

     

  • Deadly Omicron-new variant of Covid, raises alarm

    The new variant of the coronavirus was reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) from South Africa on November 24. It was declared a new variant “of concern” and named it Omicron, reports the BBC.

    On Friday, this variant was identified as the B.1.1.529 infection which was collected from a specimen on November 9. The cases in the majority of the provinces of South Africa were found to be increasing drastically. Only 24 per cent of the population of South Africa received the vaccination. The situation in the southern Africa region is alarming as the new variant, Omicron also emerged in Botswana, Belgium, Hong Kong, and Israel.
    “This variant has been detected at faster rates than previous surges in infection, suggesting that this variant may have a growth advantage,” the WHO said in a statement.

    Several countries banned or restricted travel to and from southern Africa including Australia, Japan, India, Iran, and Brazil. United Kingdom (UK) also restricted travelers from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, and Eswatini unless they are UK or Irish nationals.

    Experts also claimed that it is too early to confirm the impact of the variant on vaccinated people and the rate of transmission.

    United States of America (USA) Infectious Disease Chief Dr Anthony Fauci said, “Until it’s properly tested. We don’t know whether or not it evades the antibodies that protect you against the virus.”

  • PTI’s Ali Zaidi criticises Sindh govt, offers to take over Karachi Zoo

    PTI’s Ali Zaidi criticises Sindh govt, offers to take over Karachi Zoo

    Minister for Maritime Affairs, Ali Haider Zaidi, took to Twitter to express his frustration with the Sindh government over the tragic death of a rare white lion at the Karachi Zoo.

    Karachi Zoo is pathetic. Sindh government has destroyed it as their whole system is marred by corruption,” tweeted Zaidi.

    He further expressed that if the local government is incompetent to administrate the zoo, then the Maritime Affairs Ministry can take over it under one of its port foundations and turn it into top habitat for wildlife.

    Earlier the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) dismissed Khalid Hashmi, the senior director of the Karachi Zoological Garden, from his position. He was replaced by Mansoor Qazi on Thursday, reports Samaa News.

    The proclamation was issued by the Metropolitan Commissioner, Afzal Zaidi. It is reported that Qazi holds the position for the second time.

  • Hafizabad Court sentenced a father for raping her daughter

    Hafizabad Court sentenced a father for raping her daughter

    The district and sessions court in Hafizabad, Punjab, announced the death penalty to a father for raping his daughter, along with a fine of 0.5 million,, reports Daily Pakistan.

    According to details, the man was proven guilty on Wednesday by the court, after the paternal grandfather of the victim approached law enforcement personnel and registered the heinous crime against his own son for raping his granddaughter in April.

    Meanwhile, the culprit Nasir Ali denied all the accusations and alleged that his father was framing him to get his cattle in possession.

    However, during the trial, the prosecution argued that the grandfather was informed by his granddaughter about the sexual assault subjected on her by her father multiple times. Furthermore, the medical reports prove the sexual abuse of the daughter.

    The judge also stated in his written verdict that the perpetrator does not deserve any leniency for this horrible crime.