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.

  • PIMS Hospital lays off more than 100 nursing staff on verbal order

    PIMS Hospital lays off more than 100 nursing staff on verbal order

    More than 100 nursing staff recruited under the Federal Medical Teaching Institutes (FMTI) Act from Islamabad’s largest hospital, PIMS, were dismissed and ordered to leave the hostel on verbal orders.

    The nursing staff protested against the dismissal, saying they are being fired on just a single day’s notice in an unprofessional manner. They have been working without pay for four months on the oral promises of the hospital management to extend their contracts. Now, preparations are being made to recruit untrained individuals in their place.

    PIMS Executive Director Rana Imran Sikander says that the contracts have expired and now the matter is between the Establishment Division and the Health Department.

    During the PTI regime, nursing staff was recruited on a two-year contract. Under the PDM regime, the tenure of the nursing staff was further extended, which expired in December 2023.

  • National Highway Authority increases toll tax

    The National Highway Authority (NHA) has issued a notification on increase in toll tax.

    According to the notification, toll tax for cars has been increased from Rs 30 to Rs 40, for wagons from Rs 50 to Rs 70, and for buses from Rs 100 to Rs 130.

    The toll tax for articulated trucks has been increased from Rs 250 to Rs 350, an increase of Rs 100.

    The toll tax on the Lahore to Abdul Hakeem Motorway (M3) has been increased to Rs 500 for cars, Rs 750 for wagons, and Rs 2,500 for trucks.

    On the Faisalabad to Multan Motorway (M4), the toll tax for cars has been increased to Rs 650, for wagons to Rs 1,000, and for trucks to Rs 3,200.

    The toll tax on the M5 motorway has been fixed at Rs 900 for cars, Rs 1,300 for wagons, and Rs 4,500 for trucks.

  • No foul play in Raisi chopper crash: Iran

    No foul play in Raisi chopper crash: Iran

    Iran’s army has so far found no evidence of suspicious activity in a helicopter crash that killed the country’s president Ebrahim Raisi and seven others, state media reported.

    President Raisi, 63, along with his entourage died on Sunday after his helicopter went down in the country’s mountainous northwest while returning from a dam inauguration on the border with Azerbaijan.

    “No bullet holes or similar impacts were observed on the helicopter wreckage,” said a preliminary report by the general staff of the armed forces published by the official IRNA news agency late on Thursday evening.

    “The helicopter caught fire after hitting an elevated area,” it said, adding that “no suspicious content was observed during the communications between the watch tower and the flight crew”.

    Raisi’s helicopter had been flying on a “pre-planned route and did not leave the designated flight path” before the crash.

    The report said the wreckage of the helicopter had been found by Iranian drones early on Monday but the “complexity of the area, fog and low temperature” hindered the work of search and rescue teams.

    The army said “more time is needed” to investigate the crash and that it would announce more details later.

    Raisi was laid to rest in his hometown of Mashhad on Thursday, concluding days of funeral ceremonies in major cities of Iran, including the capital, attended by throngs of mourners.

    Among the people killed in the incident was Foreign Min­ister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian who was also buried on Thursday, in the town of Shahre Ray, south of Tehran.

  • South Koreans contest to find out who is best at doing nothing

    South Koreans contest to find out who is best at doing nothing

    South Korea held one of the strangest competition in the world where contestants are judged for being best at doing absolutely nothing.

    In Seoul, more than 100 people gathered over the weekend to do nothing. Officially, the event is called Space-Out competition which was started by a visual artist, Woopsyang, as a protest against the country’s hyper-competitive society almost 10 years ago in 2014.

    The Space-out competition was founded by a visual artist who goes by the pseudonym Woopsyang, after she suffered severe burnout. 
    CNN

    She suffered severe burnout and this event provided her along with others a respite.

    Spectators vote for the participant who’s best at zoning out for 90 minutes without falling asleep, checking their phone or talking.

    Participants’ heart rates are monitored, while onlookers vote for their 10 favorite contestants. Whoever has the most stable heart rate among the 10 takes home the trophy.

    More than 4,000 people applied to participate in the competition while the 117 contestants ranged from a child in second grade to people in their 60s.
    This year’s competition was won by freelance announcer Kwon So-a, who took home a trophy shaped like the sculpture of “The Thinker.”

    Freelance announcer Kwon So-a won this year’s competition in Seoul and took home a trophy shaped like Auguste Rodin’s sculpture “The Thinker.” 
    Charlie Miller/CNN

    Doing nothing is “good for your mental health as well as your physical health because your body has to relax, but your body can only relax when your brain relaxes,” she said while talking to CNN.

  • Further reduction in naan prices by Punjab government

    Further reduction in naan prices by Punjab government

    The Punjab government has set the new price of plain bread in the province at Rs 14, effective from tomorrow.

    Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz issued a statement on the reduction in the price of naan, stating that while the price of plain bread is fixed at 14 rupees in Lahore, prices in other cities is fixed at 12 to 14 rupees.

    Previously, the Punjab government had reduced naan price to Rs 16.

  • Prisoner allegedly raped by jail inmates in Adiala

    Prisoner allegedly raped by jail inmates in Adiala

    A prisoner in Adiala jail has allegedly been gang-raped by fellow inmates, Geo’s Shabbir Ahmad Dar has reported.

    The victim told the police that he was gang raped on May 18 at 11 o’clock in the night when two inmates forced themselves upon him together.

    The police says a case has been registered at the Sadar Baruni police station on the complaint of the victim.

  • New schedule announced for Matric and Inter Exams in Karachi

    New schedule announced for Matric and Inter Exams in Karachi

    The Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) on Wednesday announced the new schedule for the matric and inter exams, previously postponed due to the ongoing heatwave.

    Today, the examination board released a notification including the revised exam schedule.

    The remaining exams of Class 10 will resume on May 28 as per the schedule.

    BIEK’s Chairman Professor Nasim Ahmed Memon on Wednesday said that the exams of inter classes are scheduled to take place from June 1.

    “Intermediate exams will be held from June 1 as it is not possible to conduct them from May 28,” said the chairman.

    Memon said that the Board has sought permission from the education minister to extend the exams for four days. He added that 21 higher secondary schools were set up as a centre for the exams.

    The chairman said that the Inter exams were to be held in the centres in the morning while matric exams were scheduled for the evening.
    Speaking about the matric exams, the chairman said that they were postponed due to hot weather. “Postponed papers will be taken from May 28 in the same centres,” he added.

    The BIEK chairman said that it was not possible to hold matric and intermediate exams in the same centres at the same time.

    The BSEK had postponed the remaining papers of the secondary classes which were supposed to be held between May 21-27, in light of heatwave in Sindh.

  • Fears of possible Congo fever spread before Eid ul Azha

    Fears of possible Congo fever spread before Eid ul Azha

    The National Institute of Health (NIH) has issued an alert about the possible spread of the Congo virus ahead of Eid ul Azha, in part due to the close proximity of sacrificial animals on Eid.

    101 cases of the Congo virus were reported across the country in the past year, reports Samaa News.

    NIH has alerted concerned departments to be on high alert and take necessary precautions.

    The advisory states that increased contact between people and sacrificial animals may facilitate the spread of the Congo virus.

    “People should wear light-colored clothes so that ticks on clothes can be easily detected,” the advisory stresses.

  • Temperature to reach 50 degrees, glaciers start melting

    Temperature to reach 50 degrees, glaciers start melting

    Pakistan is on high alert after the Meteorological Department predicted an intense ongoing heatwave in the country, possibly causing glaciers to melt.

    Samaa’s Omar Asif has reported that Mahr Sahibzad Khan, the director of the Meteorological Department, has predicted that temperature is likely to rise further in Sindh, Punjab, and Islamabad. In specific regions, such as Mohenjodaro, Jacobabad, Thatta, Benazirabad, and Nawabshah, the mercury level could soar to an unprecedented 50 degrees Celsius.

    Similarly, areas in Punjab currently experiencing 46-degree temperatures may see an increase to 48-49 degrees. Islamabad, which is presently at 41 degrees, may climb to 43-44 degrees.

    Heatwave in Karachi, Sindh could extend till June.

    An increased rate of glacier melting is observed in the northern areas of the country, as per the Indus River System Authority (IRSA).

    The melting of the glaciers has significantly boosted water flow in the country’s rivers, with the current total flow reaching 284,000 cusecs. Meanwhile, the country’s dam reservoirs are holding a combined water storage of 4.9 million acre-feet, Express Tribune quoted IRSA.

    A day ago, residents of Gilgit-Baltistan were warned about potential Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF) and flash floods this week.

  • Kidnapped girl found from sister’s home in Kotri

    Kidnapped girl found from sister’s home in Kotri

    Local police have resolved the mysterious disappearance of an 8th grade student from Kotri area. The missing girl, Karishma Magsi, was recovered from her sister’s house.

    News of the girl’s disappearance went viral on social media.

    Express Tribune reported that Karishma’s father Himmat Ali Magsi initially lodged a case of Karishma’s abduction against his three nephews including Naik Mohammad Magsi, Amir Magsi, and Munir Ahmed Soomro in Kotri police station.

    The police reported that Karishma was recovered from her elder sister’s house living in Daur. The raid happened 12 days after the incident. Later, she was produced in the court.

    The police revealed that the girl’s father created the hoax of her kidnapping and registered a case against the nephews because of his personal enmity with them over property and other domestic issues.

    SHO Khair Muhammad Mallah said that action would be taken against Himmat Ali Magsi for lodging a false case.

    However, Karishma’s parents along with their relatives, protested in front of Kotri Press Club.

    They alleged that the abductors left the child at her elder sister’s house as soon as the case was registered. They also accused the police of pressurising and harassing them.

    They demanded that the Chief Minister and IG Sindh take notice of the unfair attitude of the police and provide justice.