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.

  • ‘Aur Chaawal’ offers delightful homemade desi food

    ‘Aur Chaawal’ offers delightful homemade desi food

    While we do miss eating out, home deliveries have their own charm. Especially in these testing times when we all have to abide by our civic duties and stay home to flatten the curve. Ever since the Sindh Government allowed home deliveries, I have been trying different home-based businesses, the most recent being Aur Chaawal – a food startup offering homemade desi food with warmth and love.

    Aur Chaawal is the brainchild of Akhlaque Ahmed, a filmmaker who has a palate for good food. Six months ago, when he launched Aur Chaawal, the eatery started off by offering delicious homemade daal chaawal, kurkure bhindi, masala mirchi, shami kebabs and laal chutney as a package. Priced at Rs 350, this was a complete meal at a very reasonable price delivered right at your doorstep. All items in this package were delicious and one meal was enough for two people.

    Akhlaque Ahmed

    Slowly, yet steadily Ahmed expanded the menu to include dahi baingan, white chicken korma, machli korma and daal rogan. From there onwards was no looking back. Many like me were quickly hooked to his delicious homemade food which undoubtedly is one of Karachi’s best.

    Dahi baingan, White chicken korma

    Unfortunately, the pandemic lockdown and subsequent suspension of home deliveries took a toll on eatery too. But not one to be defeated, Akhlaque soon bounced right back once home deliveries were allowed. He came back with a new, appetizing weekly menu much to the delight of the Karachiites. Apart from the food, their service is also impeccable which is why Aur Chaawal has become my go-to eatery for home delivery, even though I have a brilliant cook at home.

    Read more – Zafraan – Iranian cuisine at its finest

    One of my favourite things from the menu has to be the beef nihari. It is soft, succulent and full of flavour and I can say without a doubt one of the best available in Karachi. Highly recommended!

    Beef nihari

    Machli korma with fish is another of my favourites, as is the prawn biryani.

    • Machli Korma
    • Prawn Biryani

    Aur Chaawal is among the best desi food outlets in the city and you have to try it at least once because I guarantee you, after that you’ll be hooked.

  • Madrassa students qualify for finals of Turkey’s biggest tech competition

    Madrassa students qualify for finals of Turkey’s biggest tech competition

    Students from Jamia Bait-ul-Salam, Talagang, have qualified for the final round of TEKNOFEST 2020 that will be held in Istanbul, Turkey from September 22 to 27.

    According to reports, Blatu, the Bait-ul-Salam team has topped the category of Technology for Humanity-Social Innovation with 87 points out 100.

    Earlier in 2019, Jamia Bait-ul-Salam has won robotics competition beating participants from 20 other universities that were held at HITEC University Taxila.

    Hamza Ali Abbasi also took to social media to applaud the students.

    https://www.facebook.com/hamzaaliabbasi/posts/3369483186448665

    Turkish Ministry of Industry and Technology and the Turkish Technology Team Foundation (T3) organize the TEKNOFEST Aerospace and Technology Festival every year in a bid to make Turkey a technology producing society.

    Many students from different institutions participate in TEKNOFEST to showcase their abilities in more than a dozen different categories.

  • 200-year-old Gurdwara reopens in Quetta after 73 years

    200-year-old Gurdwara reopens in Quetta after 73 years

    A 200-year-old Gurdwara in Quetta has been restored and handed over to the Sikh community by the Balochistan Government so they can continue their religious practices there.

    According to reports, the historical Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha on Masjid Road in central Quetta had been converted into a government school for girls after the Partition.

    Provincial Parliamentary Secretary for Minority Affairs Dhanesh Kumar said that the historic place of worship covers an area of 14,000 square feet and is worth billions of rupees because of its location. He lauded the government’s decision to “hand it over to Sikh brothers instead of using the building for any other purpose”.

    Chairman of the Sikh community in Balochistan Sardar Jasbeer Singh, expressed his happiness at the restoration and said that it was a “gift from the government to the Sikh community” living in the province.

    “Sikh community of the province is very pleased that our ancient Gurdwara has been handed over to the Sikh community by the Government of Pakistan and the Balochistan High Court after 73 years and now we are able to continue our religious practice,” said Singh. “The Sikh community from all over Pakistan and the rest of the world appreciated this initiative.”

    Jasbir added that there were 10-15 more historical gurdwaras in Balochistan which are still occupied.

    “We are hopeful that the government will focus on opening these closed shrines in shrines in Balochistan.”

    Other Sikhs present on the occasion of the reopening also expressed their happiness on this development. According to details, there are approximately 2,000 Sikh families living in Quetta, Dera Bugti, Osta Muhammad and Pashtun areas of the province.

    Meanwhile, the students of the school have been allowed to take admission in a nearby girls’ school so that their education is not affected by this.

    Earlier in February this year, the Balochistan government handed over a 200-year-old temple to the minority Hindu community in district Zhob.

  • Pakistani businessman fined eight buffaloes for insulting indigenous groups in Malaysia

    Pakistani businessman fined eight buffaloes for insulting indigenous groups in Malaysia

    A Pakistani man has been fined eight buffaloes and eight gongs by a court on the Malaysian part of Borneo for insulting indigenous groups, an official said on Wednesday.

    The island is home to a kaleidoscope of tribes and, in the Malaysian part, special courts deal with indigenous laws and customs.

    According to reports, Amir Ali Khan Nawatay was ordered to pay the unusual fine by a native court in Sabah state after he pleaded guilty to making insulting comments about indigenous groups in May and June.

    Kota Marudu district chief Baintin Adun, who presided over Tuesday’s case, said recordings of the 50-year-old businessman’s comments had spread on social media, sparking a lot of rage.

    “We want to make this an example so other people don’t do the same thing again,” he said. “I want to appeal to the society that if there are misunderstandings or arguments, don’t mention another person’s race.”

    He did not reveal exactly what the Pakistani said. The businessman is a permanent resident of Malaysia, official news agency Bernama reported.

    Baintin said Amir had one month to pay the fine, or risked incurring a 4,000 ringgit ($940) fine or 16 months in jail, or both.

    Buffaloes and gongs are traditionally viewed as valuable items in indigenous communities in Sabah, and so can be used as a form of payment to settle grievances or even wedding dowries.

    Gong

    Race is a sensitive issue in multi-ethnic Malaysia, and Sabah is one of its most diverse states, with numerous indigenous groups.

    Borneo, shared between Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, is home to vast swathes of jungle and numerous exotic species.

  • LGS Harassment: Senate Committee takes notice, invites parents to attend meeting

    Senate Human Rights Committee has taken the notice of sexual harassment incidents at the Lahore Grammar School and will hold a meeting in this regard on July 22.

    Senate Human Rights Committee Chairperson and PPP Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar shared details of the meeting and said that “parents of the students who were concerned with the way investigations have progressed so far” can also attend the meeting.

    The agenda of the meeting will be to brief the Senate body on the incidents and the actions taken after the allegations by the Punjab Education secretary, LGS principal, and Lahore DPO.

    Speaking to The Current about the matter Senator Khokhar said, “[These incidents are] deeply disturbing. One wonders where we are headed as a society with crimes of sexual assault and harassment on the rise.”

    He added: “[We are] waiting to hear from the authorities and the outcome of their investigations so far, whether cases have been registered against offenders and whether any action has been taken by the education ministry or school for incidents like this not to happen again.”

    Read More – Meesha Shafi extends support to victims of harassment at Lahore school

    On June 28, dozens of girls came forward with accounts of harassment and inappropriate behaviour by teachers at LGS 1A1 Ghalib Market Branch. The management of the school, including female teachers, also came under fire for brushing the matter under the carpet for years. It is pertinent to mention here that most of the girls studying at the school were minors at the time.

    Such incidents had reportedly been going on for the past four or five years and the victims had been reporting the matter to the admin and their teachers. However, they took no action and resorted to victim-blaming. Strict action was only taken after the girls shared their ordeal on social media and the matter became public.

    According to details, students have come forward and shared their experiences of being harassed by three teachers namely Aitezaz Rehman Sheikh, Umer Shareef and Zahid Iqbal Warraich. All three teachers were fired soon after the allegations surfaced.

    Following the uproar on social media, Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari had said that she has taken serious notice of the allegations. The Punjab government had also said that they will hand exemplary punishments to the perpetrators and make an example of them.

  • Final warning to TikTok as PTA plans to ban it over vulgar content

    Final warning to TikTok as PTA plans to ban it over vulgar content

    The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has issued a final warning to popular Chinese social networking app TikTok over obscene and immoral content as it banned live streaming application Bigo over similar concerns raised by the general public.

    TikTok allows users to make video clips, lip sync to songs and create short videos, and has time and again been criticised over the quality of content amid unparallel popularity among Pakistanis.

    Last week, a civil miscellaneous application was filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) demanding an immediate ban on TikTok, Dawn reported.

    The petitioner said the app was a “great mischief of modern times” and had become a source of spreading pornography for the sake of fame and ratings on social media.

    According to a statement released by the PTA late on Monday night, complaints were received from different segments of society against immoral, obscene and vulgar content on social media applications particularly TikTok and Bigo.

    “PTA had issued necessary notices to the aforementioned social media companies under law to moderate the socialisation and content within legal and moral limits, in accordance with the laws of the country,” the statement said.

    The PTA said the response of these companies was “not satisfactory”.

    “Therefore, in exercise of its powers under PECA, the PTA has decided to immediately block Bigo and issue a final warning to TikTok to put in place a comprehensive mechanism to control obscenity, vulgarity and immorality through its social media application,” the statement said.

  • Pakistani carpenter becomes model in Saudi Arabia after pictures go viral

    Pakistani carpenter becomes model in Saudi Arabia after pictures go viral

    Pictures of a 24-year-old Pakistani carpenter living in Saudi Arabia went viral on social media making his dream of becoming a model come true.

    According to media reports, Muhammad Waqas who went to Saudi Arabia four years ago always wanted to become a model. But, he did not expect to succeed.

    “I came to Saudi Arabia four years ago to work as a carpenter. And, I never thought of becoming a model in advertising,” said Waqas.

    However, a social media post by his friend changed his life.

    “One day I saw my friend [Faisal] editing the photos of a photo session. I told him that since childhood I have wanted to work in this field but in Pakistan, I did not get the chance, so my friend suggested and took a picture of me and sent it to the relevant person,” he added.

    A screenshot of Waqas’s friend asking to get the youngster a chance in the modeling industry went viral on social media.

    https://twitter.com/tamimi1_1/status/1278368438747095041?s=20

    A Twitter user took the screenshot and posted it on social media. In the tweet, which has gotten over 33,000 likes so far, user @tamimi1_1 asked agencies looking for models to get in contact with him.

    “Brands who want this handsome man to model for them, contact me,” @tamimi1_1 wrote.

    And soon Waqas was offered modeling opportunities. Waqas also posted his pictures, modelling for a waist-coat making company on Twitter.

    Here are a few pictures of Waqas.

  • VIDEO: News anchor stays calm as she loses a tooth live on TV

    VIDEO: News anchor stays calm as she loses a tooth live on TV

    Ukrainian news anchor Marichka Padalko was in the middle of a live news bulletin when her tooth fell out. However, she kept her calm and did not stop the broadcast. 

     In a video which is being circulated on social media, Marichka quickly put her hand to her mouth to catch the loose front tooth and continued with the bulletin.

    “Yes, I lost part of my front tooth today during the live broadcast of TSN at 9:00,” Padalko wrote on Instagram, according to a translation. “This is probably my most curious experience in twenty years as a presenter. Live broadcasting is wonderful because it is always unpredictable.”

    The newscaster said her dental problem happened about a decade ago when her young daughter knocked her in the mouth with a metal alarm clock.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CCqr6gsJ-1_/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

    Padalko said that her news program “deliberately” did not post her recent disaster to YouTube, for the sake of discretion.

    “Honestly, I thought the incident would go unnoticed…. But we underestimated the attention of our viewers,” the anchor explained.

    Padalko thanked fans for their support.

    “We keep calm in any situation,” the journalist concluded. “See you tomorrow morning.”

  • KP Police arrest offenders involved in vandalising ancient Buddha statue

    KP Police arrest offenders involved in vandalising ancient Buddha statue

    The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police have arrested offenders involved in smashing an antique Gandharan Buddha statue in Mardan, Adviser to KP Chief Minister on Information and Public Relations Kamran Khan Bangash has said.

    In a Twitter update, the CM’s aide also said that an FIR has been lodged against the culprits under the Antiquities Act. Under the Act, demolition of archaeological sites is illegal.

    The ruling party’s official Twitter handle also shared the update and said that the remaining parts of the Buddha have been recovered by the Mardan Police.

    Read more – After Kartarpur, Pakistan is ready to welcome Buddhist pilgrims

    According to reports, the statue was discovered by locals while construction work was being done in a village near Takht-i-Bahi Tehsil in Mardan District. Situated 80km from the provincial capital Peshawar, Takht-i-Bahi is an important site for Buddhist archaeological remains dating back nearly 2,000 years.

    In a video, which is being widely circulated on social media, several men are seen smashing the Buddha with a sledgehammer and congratulating each other for doing so.

    Preliminary reports suggested that the locals smashed the Buddha at the behest of a local maulvi sahab who advised them to smash the statue or else they would lose their imaan (faith) and their nikkah would become invalid. However, Director Archeology Dr Abdul Samad Khan has said that the Buddha was broken due to lack of knowledge.

    Dr Samad added that the statue belonged to the Gandhara civilisation and was approximately 1,700 years old.

    Meanwhile, Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry condemned the act.

    Actor Ali Rehman Khan also expressed his outrage at the incident.

  • PML-N lawmaker in Punjab seeks action against men with fashionable beards, their barbers

    PML-N lawmaker in Punjab seeks action against men with fashionable beards, their barbers

    Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) MPA Rukhsana Kausar has tabled a resolution in the provincial house of Punjab seeking a ban on beard styling and action against men with fashionable beards as well as their barbers.

    According to Kausar’s resolution, beard is the sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and legislation to decide strict action against those who shape beards in fashionable styles is needed.

    The resolution contends that any kind of styling of the beard is a “grave sin”, and it is an “insult to the beard”. The resolution calls for strict action against those “who make fun of beard”.

    “When I see youngsters on the streets and in the markets with different designs of beard in the name of fashion, I feel hurt, because that is against the teachings of Islam,” she told a private media outlet.

    Federal Minister for Science & Technology Fawad Chaudhry has also reacted to the resolution in the Punjab Assembly.

    This is not the first time that beard designing has been a priority of the ruling elite as barbers have time and again been “strictly barred” from styling customers’ beards in different shapes or clipping them into designs in areas of rural Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan.

    KP police in Shabqadar tehsil of Charsadda had in 2019 detained at least four barbers for styling customers’ beards during an unofficial ban imposed by a local traders’ union that had termed such beards “un-Islamic”.