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.

  • Lahore kay naalay aur Maryam ka saaf suthra Punjab

    Lahore kay naalay aur Maryam ka saaf suthra Punjab

    As Chief Minister of Punjab Maryam Nawaz launched Saaf Suthra Punjab Campaign in Lahore, netizens all over the internet have started posting photos and information about the overflowing drains, sewage spillage, huge piles of garbage, and poor hygiene conditions in their cities.

    Newly elected Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif is on a mission to transform Punjab. The latest in the series is the ‘Saaf Suthra Punjab drive’. Netizens are quick to remind her of the poor condition of drains and garbage in Lahore and other cities of Punjab.

    In Lahore, citizens are struggling with the issues of overflowing drains, sewage water, and the stink emitting from them.

    Blogger and activist Riaz Ali Turi posted about the uncovered drains in Lahore causing health risks and nauseating smells in NA-127 of Lahore which include the prominent areas of the city like Township and Green Town.

    Another user with a pseudo name of I M Imran Khan shared the pictures of Shadman area in Lahore where overflowing drains are disturbing life. Adil posted about how the area around Urdu Bazaar is facing sewage issues to which Maryam Nawaz assured him of holistic action.
    Noman Waseem tagged CM Maryam that even though the initiative is great, nothing has been done in his city of Multan.

    Waseem Aslam posted a series of photos from Chichawatni where the roads are broken and littered.

    In response to Zeeshan Malik’s tweet about the Punjab government’s work in Bahawalpur, a netizen commented that Pindi needs the same attention, and, not just on the roads but in the walled city as well.

    A resident of Sheikhupura posted a series of littered streets that are disturbing the lives of citizens yet the commissioner was claiming to have started the project.

    Ramish Fatima posted a detailed video of Tehsil Headquarters Hospital where the corridor is severely fungus-ridden.

    Dawn’s Khalid Hasnain interviewed a resident of a locality of Pine Avenue near Valencia Town named Aziz who complained, “You see the Sattukatla drain full of waste, which is choking its sewage flow. The water level in the drain is also rising due to the choking caused by the waste piling in it.”

    “It is also surprising that though the WASA’s machine meant for desilting or cleaning the drain is parked here but no one has visited the site since long to operate it,” Aziz adds the Sattukatla drain overflows in the monsoon or the unexpected heavy rain while its choking is also spreading a very foul and unbearable smell everywhere.

    The Current went to ask the residents near drains at Upper Mall which are especially disturbed by the foul smell which gets unbearable during rains.

    Around Walton drains, a resident named Zahid Abbas complained that occasional breaking of the walls of the drain and overflowing of its contents causes many hindrances on daily basis. “When there is rain we become restricted to our homes and transportation via cars become increasingly difficult especially crossing the road,” says Zahid.

    Traditionally, the epicentre of PML-N’s politics, Lahore has always been flaunted as the most developed part of the province the drains and heaps of garbage are depicting an opposite story. The situation is no better in other cities where grave problems require immediate action across the Punjab.

  • The most nutritious things you can eat in Sehri

    The most nutritious things you can eat in Sehri

    Ramzan is about to begin and this month is very important from a health point of view. People usually consume two meals in the day. Therefore, the choice of foods during Sehri is very important as they act as fuel for the whole day.

    Luckily, the weather is not likely to be very hot this Ramzan, however, dehydration in the body during fasting is still a risk. So, the following nutritional tips can help maintain body energy throughout the day and also protect against dehydration.

    Choose a healthy and light diet

    Choose Sehri foods that are beneficial for health and do not burden the stomach. Bread, eggs, vegetables, pulses and chicken can be considered the best.

    Have dates regularly

    Apart from iftar, it is useful to eat one or two dates in sehri. Dates contain many nutrients including copper and magnesium, while the sweetness in them provides energy in the form of glucose in the body.

    Use yogurt

    Adding yogurt to sehri balances the diet and reduces the possibility of acidity. Yogurt is high in water content so it also reduces the chances of dehydration during fasting.

    Apples and bananas

    Adding these two fruits to breakfast provides the body with fiber, vitamin C and several antioxidants while reducing the risk of dehydration.

    Foods high in water content

    Eating foods high in water content like cucumbers, tomatoes, or watermelons can reduce the chance of dehydration throughout the day.

    Avoid foods high in chillies, salt and sugar

    Minimize the consumption of chillies, salt and sugar in Sehri as excessive consumption of these three will make you feel more thirsty throughout the day. Consuming too much salt in particular increases the risk of dehydration as it causes fluid to accumulate around it, increasing the feeling of thirst.

    Don’t forget to drink adequate amounts of water

    A simple and good way to avoid dehydration is to drink adequate amounts of water during Sehri. You have to decide it for yourself, as to how much the amount of water should it be but not too much or too little.

    Note: This article is based on details published in medical journals, readers must consult their physician in this regard.

  • Has Kate left Prince William? Rumours take spotlight post edited photo controversy

    Has Kate left Prince William? Rumours take spotlight post edited photo controversy

    Twitter is having a riot with the recent controversy of Kate Middleton’s recent photo released by the Daily Mail.

    It all started with Kate Middleton’s abdominal surgery after which she was not seen in the public eye. In the absence of more details, speculation grew and to put it to rest, the royal couple’s official X handle released a picture of the princess with her children.

    Major news agencies like AP, AFP, and Reuters pulled the image from their official sources because it was manipulated.

    A day later, an official apology was released through the same account in Kate Middleton’s name, apologizing for “any confusion” caused by the edited family picture. Hours after that, Daily Mail published a picture of Kate leaving Windsor Castle alongside her husband Prince William on March 11.

    The photos, published by the Daily Mail, showed the couple sitting next to each other in the backseat of a car as Kate looked out of her window. The prince was heading to the Commonwealth Day services while his wife, Kate, the princess of Wales, was heading to a ‘private’ appointment, the publication said.

    However, netizens on social media are coming up with diferent theories and rumors with the most prominent being the one that Kate has actually left the castle for good because her husband, Prince William is cheating on her. The rumored girlfriend of Princess William is Lady Rose Hanbury, 39, a former model and currently Marchioness of Cholmondeley, wife of David Rocksavage, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley and mother of three.

    In a detailed feature, The Independent shared that Rose is a close friend of Kate Middleton and upon her insistence, Kate attended a music festival at her husband’s estate, Houghtan Hall. The festival was a disco music event in which Kate was labelled Duchess of Disco. After making headlines, Lady Rose was interviewed by various publications including The English Home.

    Known for her elite fashion sense, Lady Rose was said to be one of the best-dressed at Kate and William’s wedding.

    The same was suggested by British journalist and author Omid Scobie, considered very close to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. He released a new book titled ‘Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survival’ in which he claimed that Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton distanced themselves from former friend Rose Hanbury since the rumours of an affair between her and the prince surfaced in 2019, as reported by Hindustan Times.

    Lady Rose was mentioned in several posts on X as social media was busy dissecting Kate’s photoshopped image with her three children.

    A user posted a thread about how the British publications are not protecting Kate but the prince himself because he has never been held accountable for anything in his life.

    Another pointed out how the image released by Daily Mail also seems manipulated because the colour of the wall behind them is not matching even in the same image.

    With a tinge of dark humour, a user posted a video of a man digging something with the caption, “William frantically digging Kate back up cause the photoshopped photo didn’t pass the sniff test”.

    A Twitter user posted, “what’s going with #KateMidelton face- did she have surgery of abdominals, or plastic surgery of face to look better?”
    People have been posting clips from the past where the two have been distanced, implying that there was trouble in paradise.

    Internet has been churning out memes about how first it was said that Prince clicked the photo with children and when the media protested, he put all the blame on Kate.

  • Export of onions and bananas banned in first meeting of cabinet

    Export of onions and bananas banned in first meeting of cabinet

    The federal cabinet has approved a ban on the export of bananas and onion till April 15, 2024, a step taken to bring down rates during Ramzan, reporting Geo News.

    The first meeting of the newly elected federal cabinet was held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in which the economic situation of the country was deliberated upon and important decisions were taken including the ban on exporting bananas and onions.
    The ban was imposed to ensure ample availability in the market.

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed officials to immediately form a committee to control the prices of food items. The cabinet says that the committee will closely monitor the prices of food items in collaboration with the provincial governments.

    The Prime Minister also issued orders to take strict action against unnecessary increase in prices of essential commodities and illegal profiteering.
    Shahbaz Sharif said that no negligence will be tolerated in taking strict action against profiteering.

    With the beginning of Ramzan, onion prices have reached 300 rupees per kg, while the prices of other food items are also very high.

  • Women lawyers file plea against Aurat March

    Women lawyers file plea against Aurat March

    Notices have been issued to the provincial government and other concerned parties by Sindh High Court (SHC) in the light of a petition filed against this year’s Aurat March.

    Aurat March was held on March 8 on International Women’s Day. The petition was filed by women lawyers who deemed the movement damaging to society, adding that the “dance and nudity were being promoted in the name of women’s freedom, and organisations such as the Arts Council were allowing it to happen”.

    A two-judge bench headed by Chief Justice SHC Justice Aqeel Ahmad Abbasi heard the case, filed before March 8.

    While the court affirmed that under Islamic Law, women have freedom, it nonetheless stated that certain negative acts can be detrimental to society.

    The petitioners highlighted that Aurat March is held at cultural centres and parks and similar events should be stopped.

    The SHC then issued notices to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), the federal and provincial governments, the Arts Council and other organisations linked to Aurat March. The concerned parties have been asked to submit their response by March 19.

  • School timings in Ramazan

    School timings in Ramazan

    As the holy month of Ramazan begins, educational institutions across Pakistan have adjusted their schedules to accommodate fasting. Here’s a roundup of the revised timings issued by various provincial education departments:

    Sindh:

    In Sindh, schools operating in the morning shift will open from 7:30 am to 11:30 am, with the afternoon shift running from 11:45 am to 2:45 pm. On Fridays, the morning shift will end at 10:30 am and 1:15 pm, respectively. Colleges will have morning shift classes from 8:30 am to 12 pm, and evening shift classes from 2:30 pm to 5 pm.

    Punjab:

    The Punjab School Education Department announced that single-shift schools will operate from 8:30 am to 1 pm, except on Fridays when they will close at 12:30 pm. Second-shift schools will run from 1 pm to 4 pm throughout the week. Primary schools will start at 7:30 am and end at 11:10 am (10:05 am on Fridays), while middle, secondary, and higher secondary schools will run from 7:30 am to 12:15 pm (10:25 am on Fridays).

    KP:

    The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Education Department announced that primary schools in the province will start classes at 7:30 am and finish at 11:10 am, except on Fridays when they will end at 10:05 am. For middle, secondary, and higher secondary schools, the timings during Ramazan will be from 7:30 am to 12:15 pm, with a conclusion at 10:25 am on Fridays.

    Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT):

    In Islamabad, educational institutions regulated by PEIRA will open at 8:30 am and close at 1 pm from Monday to Thursday. On Fridays, they will close at 12:30 pm. Meanwhile, the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) announced similar timings for single-shift institutions, with a slight variation for double-shift institutions where the morning shift ends at 12:30 pm and the evening shift starts at 1 pm (1:30 pm on Fridays).

  • Kate and William spotted leaving Windsor Castle after apologising for photo manipulation

    Kate and William spotted leaving Windsor Castle after apologising for photo manipulation

    Hours after Kate Middleton apologized for “any confusion” caused by an edited family picture, she was photographed leaving Windsor Castle alongside husband Prince William on March 11.

    The photos, published by the Daily Mail, showed the couple sitting next to each other in the backseat of a car as Kate—who is reportedly recovering from abdominal surgery—looked out of her window. The prince was heading to the Commonwealth Day services while his wife, Kate, the princess of Wales, was heading to a ‘private’ appointment, the publication said.

    Earlier, Kate issued an apology over an altered official photo that saw news agencies, including AP and AFP pull the image from their systems.

    “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused,” Kate wrote in a statement.

    Background

    A recently released image of Kate Middleton, issued by Kensington Palace to put all rumors about her health to rest, has ended up creating new controversies.

    Various news agencies have issued notices not to use the image of Kate and her three children, including the Associated Press (AP), Reuters, Getty Images, and Agence France-Presse (AFP). All three on Sunday night withdrew it and told media outlets to “kill” the photo from their systems and archives because they believe that it has been manipulated.

    The AP said the photo had been withdrawn because upon “closer inspection, it appears that the source had manipulated the image” and the photo showed an “inconsistency in the alignment” of the left hand of Kate’s daughter, Princess Charlotte.

  • Youths having to grow up ‘too quickly’ amid climate fears, says Greta Thunberg

    Youths having to grow up ‘too quickly’ amid climate fears, says Greta Thunberg

    Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg said Monday that young people like her have had to grow up “too quickly” to resolve a climate crisis caused by previous generations.

    Denouncing inaction by politicians on climate change, Thunberg made her remarks just days ahead of the fifth anniversary of a global youth climate protest that drew over a million participants.

    On Monday, she sat on the steps of Sweden’s parliament, blocking the main entrance in a protest with around 10 other youth activists, holding a banner reading “Climate Justice Now”.

    “We are way too many young people who have had to grow up in the climate movement and who have had to grow up way too quickly, to take the responsibility to try to clean up after the older generations,” Thunberg told AFP.

    “The Swedish government as well as all other governments in the world are not treating the climate crisis like a crisis at all.”

    “They are still letting short-term economic profits be prioritised over human lives and the planet,” she said, adding that she and her fellow activists “feel a bit like broken records, we have been repeating the same message over and over again”.

    News agency TT reported that politicians were still able to enter parliament through side entrances.

    When Thunberg started sitting outside the Swedish parliament in August 2018 with her “School Strike for the Climate” sign, she was an anonymous teenager in a world she saw as dying in silence.

    Five years later, Thunberg’s “Fridays for Future” movement and its subsequent global marches had had a global impact, political science researcher Joost de Moor told AFP in October.

    “It has raised awareness for the issue,” he said.

    It has also “contributed to the increased legitimacy of pro-climate policy-making, which has in turn made it easier for willing politicians to act on the issue”, he said, citing as an example Frans Timmermans, the former EU climate commissioner responsible for the Green Deal currently being debated in the bloc.

    Despite this, and “as Greta Thunberg has said herself many times… climate policy-making continues to fall far behind what climate scientists say is necessary”, de Moor said.

    A report by the European Environment Agency (EEA) on Monday warned of “catastrophic” consequences if Europe failed to take urgent action to adapt to risks posed by climate change.

  • White chiffon dupatta, backcombed hair and green silk Shalwar Kameez; where have we seen this before?

    White chiffon dupatta, backcombed hair and green silk Shalwar Kameez; where have we seen this before?

    White chiffon dupatta, backcombed hair, and a green silk Shalwar Kameez; where have we seen this before? We saw it once when the late Benazir Bhutto took oath as the first female Prime Minister of the country and the world. And we saw the same image again when her husband Asif Ali Zardari took oath as President. The former Prime Minister’s youngest daughter Aseefa Bhutto Zardari who seems to have morphed into a doppelganger of her beloved mother.

    The resemblance was so stark that renowned journalist Hamid Mir tweeted the picture with the caption, “A picture is worth of thousand words.”

    The pictures went viral as netizens start pointing out that Benazir Bhutto’s youngest resembles her.

    Ramsha Quttab Uddin Khan posted about the “uncanny resemblance” of mother and daughter.

    Another user commented, “Daughter as first lady and then her enormous resemblance with Shaheed BB is indeed heartening!”

    A user posted that the resemblance is beautiful and lamented that Pakistan really lost a gem when she was assasinated.

    President Asif Ali Zardari, elected President for the second time, has taken the decision to make his daughter Aseefa Bhutto Zardari the first lady.
    The declaration was made through the party’s official Twitter handle.

    Aseefa will be given First Lady protocol and she will be the first First Lady who is the daughter of the President. Usually, the status goes to the wife but here the decision was made because Aseefa Bhutto Zardari campaigned for her party in general elections and supported her brother Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, reports Geo.

    Born on February 3, 1993, Aseefa Bhutto Zardari is part of a traditional political family of Pakistan. She is the youngest daughter of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto Shaheed and former President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari. Aseefa is also the younger sister of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari and granddaughter of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the former Prime Minister of the country and the founder of Pakistan Peoples Party.

    She was seen walking beside her father during the oath-taking ceremony in the President’s House with her arm in his arm.

  • Media agencies claim Kate Middleton’s recent image was manipulated

    Media agencies claim Kate Middleton’s recent image was manipulated

    A recently released image of Kate Middleton, issued by Kensington Palace to put all rumors about her health to rest, has ended up creating new controversies.

    Various news agencies have issued notices not to use the image of Kate and her three children, including the Associated Press (AP), Reuters, Getty Images, and Agence France-Presse (AFP). All three on Sunday night withdrew it and told media outlets to “kill” the photo from their systems and archives because they believe that it has been manipulated.

    The AP said the photo had been withdrawn because upon “closer inspection, it appears that the source had manipulated the image” and the photo showed an “inconsistency in the alignment” of the left hand of Kate’s daughter, Princess Charlotte.

    The AFP said the image could not be used as it had been “altered” without elaborating.

    Reuters said it had deleted the image “following a post-publication review”.

    Kensington Palace did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    The photo was posted on the royal couple’s official X account on Sunday accompanied by a caption thanking the public for their “kind wishes and continued support over the last two months” and wishing the public a Happy Mother’s Day.

    The image was reportedly taken by Kate’s husband, Prince William, during the past week on the grounds of Windsor Castle just outside of London.

    Background

    The release of the image, which remained online on Sunday night despite the withdrawal notices, came after Kensington Palace announced in January that Kate, 42, had been hospitalised for surgery and would take a break from official royal duties until after Easter.

    The lack of details about the reasons for her surgery and her prolonged absence from the public has prompted a plethora of speculation and conspiracy theories about her condition.

    Kate last appeared in public on Christmas Day while attending a church service at the royal family’s Sandringham estate.

    Read more: Kate Middleton appears in public, putting coma rumors to rest