The lifestyle of millennials is underreported in our mainstream media. The Current’s lifestyle news covers social events and issues that are unique.
Pakistan has reported 1,792 COVID-19 cases for December 20. This is the lowest daily tally of cases since Nov 9 when the country reported 1,637 cases.
As per reports, 62 people lost their lives from the virus in the same time period, down from 80 a day earlier.
The positivity rate has also gone down to 5% for the first time since November 10.
All five babies born to women with COVID-19 infection during a study in Singapore have had antibodies against the virus, although the researchers said it is not yet clear what level of protection this may offer.
The findings from a study of 16 women released on Friday also found that most were mildy infected, while more severe reactions occurred in older women with a high body mass index – a trend that is mirrored in the general population.
Of the five who had delivered their babies by the time the study was published, all had antibodies, according to the Singapore Obstetrics and Gynaecology Research Network.
The number of antibodies in the babies varied, and was higher among those whose mothers’ had been infected nearer to the time of delivery, the researchers said. Further monitoring is required to see whether the antibodies will decline as the babies get older, they added.
Mohammad Naseem’s eyes shine while he shares the legend of a remote, alpine lake nestled among snow-capped Himalayan peaks as a rare crowd of onlookers hears one of Pakistan’s last ‘storytellers’.
The story of Saif-ul-Malook — the winding saga of a brave prince who falls in love with a fairy — is just one of the 50 tall tales passed down to Naseem by his father.
“Usually people tell me I’m crazy when I tell these stories,” says Naseem, whose long white beard and traditional cloak give him the timeless appearance of a storyteller of old.
The 65-year-old shopkeeper says it would take days to recite all the stories he learned by heart that are imbued with “the history, the culture” of the land.
But few are still listening.
Naseem says he hasn’t bothered sharing the stories with his six children, and friends are no longer interested in hearing them as social media, video games, and soap operas have all but eclipsed his ancient art.
Video platform TikTok is now a major source of entertainment for the country’s youth, wildly popular in part because it is accessible to illiterate users in rural areas — just as the legends of old once were.
“When I die, these stories will die with me,” sighs Naseem outside his shop in northern Pakistan’s Shogran, where winter snows have blanketed the mountains.
The city of Peshawar has long been the country’s stronghold of oral history, its Qissa Khawani or “storytellers bazaar” a Silk Road hub where travellers and locals alike congregated to hear a well-spun yarn.
The bustling frontier capital was once “the Times Square of the region” because of “the excellence of its storytellers,” explains Naeem Safi — a consultant at an Islamabad-based institute dedicated to Pakistani folk heritage, where cassettes of stories told at the bazaar have been archived.
“Writing was not very popular. The transfer of knowledge was verbal. Storytelling was fundamental — people considered themselves educated if they had heard enough stories,” says Safi.
Before tuk-tuks and buses clogged its narrow lanes the market was littered with Silk Road caravans of wandering traders who often stayed the night after the city’s sixteen gates were sealed at dusk.
In the evenings, the merchants would hear the city’s famed storytellers — who shared tales about the perils of the road, news of wars and local lore.
Bollywood legend Dilip Kumar, who grew up in the area recalled: “I have lovely memories of Qissa Khwani Bazaar, where I received my first lessons in storytelling, which later provided the impetus to choose meaty stories and scripts for my work. Every day as the trading closed in the market of Qissa Khwani Bazaar, a storyteller would sit in the centre of the square narrating stories of valour and victory, deceit and retribution which I would listen to with wide-eyed attention, seated next to my father and uncles.”
Kumar’s house has recently been acquired by the KP Government for restoration. Authorities say that the heritage sites will be converted into museums and tourist spots.
Similar, long-time Peshawar resident Khwaja Safar Ali, 75, remembers his youth in the city when the arrival of caravans was met with excitement.
During the day, “we used to run between the camels’ legs,” he recalls. And when evening came, “we would all sit together and listen to the storytellers”.
“They would tell us about Kabul, the USSR, Uzbekistan. We learned about these countries through them.”
Modern transportation eventually killed off the caravans, which even by the 1960s had become an increasingly rare sight in the area. While storytellers continued to perform for smaller circles, they were gradually replaced by radios and then televisions slowly fading away the art of storytelling.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which often shares pictures of the planet as seen from the space, has shared a picture of the snow-covered Himalayan ranges.
The long exposure shot sees not just the expanse of bright white mountain ranges but also captures the city lights of New Delhi and Lahore to the south and the arid Tibetan plateau, the “Roof of the world,” to the north.
Among these details is also a faint, orange airglow of atmospheric particles reacting to solar radiation. The horizon of the Earth adds the element of the beauty of this universe.
Following months of coronavirus lockdown, people were lucky to see the mighty Himalayan mountains from their cities due to reduced pollution.
The Himalayas are the highest mountain range in the world and are a sight to behold even on Earth. But the shot NASA shared from space is absolutely breathtaking. The picture has gone viral on social media with over a million likes and comments.
Stressed spelt backwards is desserts and nothing better than something sweet and delicious to make your day. Being a hard-core foodie with a very intense sweet-tooth, I love my desserts and pretty much spend all my money trying out new things. All through the year (and the pandemic), I have tried a vast variety of meetha from different home-based businesses and here are the ones I keep going back to.
Without a doubt the best chocolate chip cookies I have had in Lahore. They are crispy on the outside but gooey on the inside and melt the moment they hit your mouth. The light dusting of sea salt adds to the flavour and I guarantee you that you will not stop at one. Priced at Rs 180 (without tax), they are a steal given that they are pretty big in size too.
Look at that chocolate!
There are often times when you feel like having something cool and sweet which is not ice-cream. Something that you can eat while watching your favourite season. Something that feeds the soul. In those situations, the Chocolate Brownie Box by Deliciuex is ideal for you. The dessert box, which includes layers of brownies, fudge and mousse topped with a layer of crunchy biscoff, is the stuff of dreams. You will not regret trying this.
P.s. Deliciuex does amazing Lotus Milk Cake also.
There is something very enjoyable about having cold ice-cream in the chilly weather. Frosti has one of the best gelatos the city has to offer and that too in a variety of flavours. Creamy, smooth and oh-so-delectable, Frosti is a must-try for those who love to spend their winters curled up in front of the television watching their favourite show.
Our picks – Salted Caramel, Oreo Crunch and Belgian Chocolate
I was not a big fan of cheesecakes till I tried the New York Cheesecake by The Sweet Rack. While the cream is rich and absolutely delicious, it was the base that set it apart from other cheesecakes. It does not have your usual biscuit base – it has hints of walnuts and cinnamon which add so much flavour to the overall experience. Highly recommended. The Sweet Rack Lotus Cheesecake is also great and I am sure Lotus lovers will thoroughly enjoy it.
P.s. Their brownies are also divine.
Honestly speaking, I am a Dunkin Donuts loyalist. I have tried multiple donuts from multiple places at multiple food festivals but nothing came close to Dunkin for me…till I discovered Big Fat Rolls. Their donuts are ah-mazing: airy, soft and melt-in-your-mouth kind. My picks from their collection have to be Cherub Classic and Cupid Chocolate.
Note – Before someone attacks me for not including Layers, please note that these picks are from home-based businesses only.
The Punjab House in Murree has been handed over to the Higher Education Department (HEC) for the establishment of Kohsar University, as per a notification issued by Punjab Board of Revenue. The secretary of the Colonies Department has forwarded the notification to the Deputy Development Commissioner of Rawalpindi.
As per details, the Punjab House in Murree is a mansion built over 96 kanal. It comes under the provincial government and is used for different purposes.
Read more – Inside pictures of Murree’s Government House Murree are royal
PTI MNA Sadaqat Ali Abbasi, in a statement, said that along with theory, students will also be given practical education in tourism at the university.
He further added that in one block of the Punjab House, classrooms will be built and to generate extra income other blocks will be made available to tourists under the supervision of the university. The plan is likely to materialize within the next three years.
The decision to establish Koshar University in Punjab House was taken two years ago and is in the accordance with the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan to use government buildings for the interest of the general public.
Earlier in 2018 and 2019 Punjab’s and Murree’s Governor’s House opened its doors for public respectively. In November 2020, Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar inaugurated the Governor House Café that is set up in a double-decker bus inside the Governor House in Lahore for the general public.
The home department of Sindh government has released new COVID-related instructions allowing take-aways and deliveries of restaurants till 1 am.
The notification reads that the restaurants can provide dine out service until 10 pm while they can facilitate customers for take-away services for up to an hour into the midnight.
Previously, the restaurants were only allowed to operate till 10 pm for dine-out, take-aways and deliveries.
The notification is valid until January 31.
Accha, probably one of the most commonly used words in the country, has been recognised as a real word and added in the Cambridge Dictionary.
The Cambridge Dictionary, produced by Cambridge University Press, is one of the world’s most well-known, trusted and credible English dictionary sources and they have added word Accha also Achha as an expression which, according to it, means “That’s good. Go ahead.”
The word in it is used for showing surprise or happiness. “I managed to buy it for half the price. Accha!“
Meanwhile, the Cambridge Dictionary has also declared Quarantine as its word of the year. According to the dictionary, quarantine was the third most-searched for word during the year, with maximum searches between March 18 and 24, when restrictions began to be imposed due to the pandemic.
Alongside quarantine, other coronavirus-related words, including pandemic and lockdown, ranked highly on Cambridge Dictionary’s most popular list for 2020.
A blue plaque has been unveiled by English Heritage to mark the home of Professor Abdus Salam in Putney, London, where he used to live from 1957 to 1996, until his death.
Blue plaque – a symbol of English Heritage pride – is placed outside the historically significant building to honour the people and organizations who have lived or worked there. Salam joins Charles Darwin, Rosalind Franklin and Alan Turing among the scientists with blue plaques.
Salam was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1979, alongside Sheldon Glashow and Steven Weinberg, for his contribution to the electroweak unification theory. Additionally, he founded the Theoretical Physics Department at Imperial College London, with the late Professor Paul T Matthews.
“A blue plaque on the house in Putney where he lived for 40 years is a fitting tribute to Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam, who was not only one of the finest scientists of the twentieth century, having unified two of the four fundamental forces of nature, but who also dedicated his life to the betterment of science and education in the developing world,” said a professor at the Physics Department of Imperial College, Michael Duff, who completed his Ph.D. under the supervision of Salam in 1972.
When he won the Nobel prize in 1979, Salam became the very first Pakistani to achieve this distinction and only the fourth from the subcontinent. His contributions to science are undeniable and they have been recognised and hailed by the world and especially the state of Pakistan.
However, he is criticised back home because of his faith. Two months ago, a group of youngsters smeared his portrait, outside Gujranwala’s National Science College.
The viral video showed the group, allegedly consisting of State Youth Parliament Pakistan members, painting Salam’s portrait black while raising slogans against the minority Ahmadiyya community, of which Salam was a member.
Scotland has become the first country in the world to offer free and universal access to menstrual products, including tampons and pads.
According to reports, the Scottish Parliament voted unanimously in favour of the Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act, under which the Scottish government will introduce a nationwide program that will place a legal duty on all local authorities to make feminine hygiene products like tampons and pads freely available for those who need them.
It means period products will be available to access in public buildings including schools and universities across Scotland. According to the new rules, it will be up to local authorities and education providers to ensure the products are available free of charge.
Read more – Condoms in gutters blamed for Karachi’s sewerage problems
The campaign for free menstrual products was spearheaded by Scottish Labour’s health spokeswoman, Monica Lennon, who told media outlets that it was “a proud day for Scotland”.
“This will make a massive difference to the lives of women and girls and everyone who menstruates,” said Lennon. “There has already been great progress at a community level and through local authorities in giving everyone the chance of period dignity.”
She added: “Periods don’t stop for pandemics and the work to improve access to essential tampons, pads and reusables has never been more important.”
Period poverty – the struggle to pay for basic sanitary products on a monthly basis – reportedly surged during the coronavirus pandemic. Research has revealed that period poverty has a significant impact on women’s hygiene, health and wellbeing.
The new law was praised by a number of equality and women’s rights groups as well as politicians from across the parties represented in the Scottish Parliament.
“It’s an important message in the middle of a global pandemic that we can still put the rights of women and girls high up the political agenda,” remarked Lennon.