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.

  • Boycott movement for Palestine loses steam in Pakistan; majority still supports, survey reveals

    Boycott movement for Palestine loses steam in Pakistan; majority still supports, survey reveals

    The latest survey by Pulse Consultants shows that the perception of boycotting products or companies supporting Israel has decreased in Pakistan.

    Three surveys conducted from November 5 to December 14 revealed that Pakistani consumers’ opinion of boycotting Israeli products dropped significantly from 83 percent in November to 60 percent in December.

    A Pulse Consultants survey found that 83 percent of a total of 1,224 sampled on November 5 supported the idea of a boycott, while the latest poll conducted on December 14 showed that only 60 percent of a total of 1,206 sampled supported a boycott of the products.

    According to the survey, boycott sentiments are relatively high in females who are decision-makers for domestic brands as compared to the males of Pakistan.

    The upper class and upper middle class are more in favor of boycotting than the middle class and lower class of Pakistan. The survey revealed that the most boycotted products are carbonated soft drinks, followed by fast food chains, chips and snack brands, juices, soaps, toothpaste, etc.

    A recent poll conducted from December 8 to 14 found that 60 percent of people supported the idea of boycotting products that support Israel.

    It is important to note that the boycott is part of an international campaign known as the BDS movement. It is to boycott, divest from, and sanction Israel, called BDS for short.

  • JN.1: World Health Organization warns about fastest growing variant of Covid-19

    JN.1: World Health Organization warns about fastest growing variant of Covid-19

    A new sub-variant of the Omicron strain of coronavirus named JN.1 has alerted experts across the global health industry, as it has been classified as a “variant of interest” by the World Health Organisation (WHO) due to its fast-growing spread.

    COVID-19 cases involving the JN.1 variant have been found in many countries across the world, including India, China, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

    Although WHO has stated that the risk to the public is currently low, it warns that COVID-19 and other infections could rise this winter.

    The virus behind COVID-19 is constantly evolving, with new variants arising, Omicron being the globally dominant one.

    Meanwhile, WHO is closely monitoring several variants linked to Omicron, including JN.1, but none are considered concerning at the moment.
    However, JN.1 is the fastest-growing variant of COVID-19, accounting for 15-29 percent of infections in the US, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

    It is also the fastest-growing in the UK, accounting for around 7 percent of positive coronavirus tests, according to the UK Health Security Agency.
    Therefore, it is important to continue monitoring all available data on this and other variants to ensure that appropriate measures are taken to control the spread of the virus.

    “It is anticipated that this variant may cause an increase in Sars-Cov-2 [coronavirus] cases amid a surge of infections of other viral and bacterial infections, especially in countries entering the winter season,” the WHO’s risk assessment says.

    There is still limited evidence on how capable JN.1 is of getting around the immunity offered by vaccines, the WHO says.

    WHO reports no increased illness rates with this variant compared to previous ones, but more studies are needed to understand its health impact due to a decrease in countries reporting COVID-19 data.

    Meanwhile, WHO has advised people to take precautionary measures to prevent infections and severe disease by wearing a mask in crowded areas, covering up coughs and sneezes, cleaning their hands regularly, and staying up to date with coronavirus and flu vaccinations, especially if vulnerable.
    Additionally, WHO advises people to stay home if they are ill and get tested if they have symptoms.

  • Marriage and employment scam: 500 girls from Lahore sold in Sindh after kidnapping

    Marriage and employment scam: 500 girls from Lahore sold in Sindh after kidnapping

    The recovery of a 15-year-old Sheikhupura girl from Sindh has unearthed a gang that has sold 500 young women by scamming and kidnapping them. Seven arrests have been made so far from Lahore and Jacobabad.

    As per the police report, an abduction case was registered with the Factory Area Police Station in Sheikhupura on June 2 following the disappearance of a teenage girl. An investigation was initiated upon their failure to recover the girl, reported Dunya News on December 12.

    Urdu News has reported the incident in greater detail, including listing the motives of the girl who eloped, and how she got recovered.

    Alisha reached Lahore on the morning of June 2. She got out of the car near a petrol pump near Data Darbar in Lahore. She didn’t have her phone with her which she deliberately left at home, as she looked for someone in the crowd. Alisha got in touch with a man named Nadeem through Facebook. After being in contact online for a long time, she fell in love with him.

    Nadeem promised Alisha that if she came to Lahore, they will marry each other.

    On the morning of June 2, when her mother went to work, Alisha ran away from home to find her unknown love.

    When Alisha did not find Nadeem in Lahore, she broke down. She reached the Data Darbar premises exhausted and sat in the courtyard. A woman came to her and comforted her and said that she would get her a job in a good place or get her married somewhere. Alisha had no choice but to believe this unknown woman and thus they became friends.

    On the other hand, Alisha’s mother registered an FIR of her abduction in Sheikhupura Police Station Factory Area.

    Sheikhupura Police Spokesperson Wajid Abbas told Urdu News that Alisha’s mother received a phone call telling her that her daughter was in Sindh and she had to pay a ransom of Rs 25 lakh to get her daughter back. Alisha’s mother filed a case of kidnapping on June 6.

    Meanwhile, two local politicians in the area advised the woman to file a writ in the High Court, that her daughter was missing.

    Wajid Abbas said that the court reprimanded the SHO of the local police station and said that if the girl is not recovered, he will be suspended.

    He said that DPO Sheikhpura Zahid Marwat took a personal interest in the case and tried his best to solve the case. The police also found a trace of a gang.

    Sheikhupura police reached Lahore in search of Alisha and started searching for her with the help of Safe City Authority cameras, when the police saw some people talking to Alisha in the Data Darbar area.

    According to the police, after making inquiries about the wanted persons, they arrested one. When the police interrogated the man, he confessed to his gang kidnapping the girls.

    On investigation, the police found that the main character of this gang is a woman named Latifan Bibi living in Karachi, while her husband Khan Muhammad is also involved in criminal activities.

    The suspect told the police about the modus operandi of his gang. Latifan Bibi is in touch with six people from Karachi to Lahore. Three women and three men operate in Lahore, these six people approach different girls and convince them that they will get them married or get them a good job.

    They then transfer all of them from Lahore to the rural areas of Sindh.

    The spokesperson of Sheikhupura Police said, “When Alisha was seduced by an unknown woman in the Data Darbar area of Lahore, she informed Latifan Bibi in Karachi about it, after which the unknown woman sold Alisha to Latifan Bibi for 20,000. This group commits crimes systematically, two people from Lahore went to leave Alisha to Karachi.”

    He said that Latifan Bibi gave these people 20,000 rupees for traveling expenses. The police soon came to know that these two men also raped fifteen-year-old Alisha on the way.

    According to him, as long as Alisha stayed with Latifan, her husband Khan Muhammad also kept raping her. Then Latifan Bibi sold Alisha in the city of Qamber in Sindh for two lakh rupees, after which she was sold eight times in Sindh.

    The police traced Alisha and had information about the alleged gang, but the police now had the task of catching the entire gang. The police prepared a plan to nab the accused.

    According to the Sheikhupura Police Spokesperson, “We prepared one of our lady constables and told the arrested accused to call Latifan Bibi and tell her that they are bringing another girl to Sindh.” Latifan Bibi did not know anything about this.

    “When our officials reached the Kacha area of Sindh with the accused and the lady constable, Latifan Bibi and later her husband were also arrested from there.”

    Latifan Bibi and other suspects revealed disturbing details during the investigation.

    Latifan Bibi told the police “So far they have abducted around 500 girls from Lahore and sold them in the Kacha area of Sindh and got a huge price for them.”

    “Girls who come to courts or run away from home, we would trap them and kidnap them.”

    According to the Sheikhupura police, this gang has remained safe from being caught by the police until now because whenever the police went to catch them or found a trace of a missing girl, Latifan Bibi would arrange the marriages of these girls, after which these girls would be found by the police. She used to state that she was married, due to which the police action could not be successful.

    When the Sheikhupura police recovered Alisha on the identification of the arrested accused, there were many revelations.

    According to Sheikhupura police, Latifan Bibi revealed that she sold Alisha at nine different places, but finally, police found Alisha from an area called Mehr on the border of Sindh and Balochistan and brought her to Punjab. She is now in police custody.

    Sheikhupura Police Spokesperson Wajid Abbas further said that the police have detained eight accused in this case, including four men and their wives. Alisha and her mother also tried to change their statement, but now we have kept Alisha in safe custody so that this gang can be severely punished.

    The police led by DPO Zahid Marwat produced Alisha in the court and informed her about the entire incident.

    The court, while dealing with Alisha’s recovery request, issued an order that, “This matter should be investigated more deeply and all possible measures should be taken for the recovery of the kidnapped girls.”

  • X restored after being globally down for more than an hour

    X restored after being globally down for more than an hour

    Various complaints of social networking website X (formerly Twitter) being down around the world have been reported in the past hour but it is now restored.

    Reports emerged that complaints of the service being down of both the social media micro-blogging website and mobile application surfaced around 11 am.

    According to X-monitoring website Downdetector, about 70,000 complaints were received from around the world about X’s service being affected.

    Earlier, in March and July of this year, there were complaints about X’s services being affected.

    According to media reports, users visiting X saw ‘WELCOME TO YOUR TIMELINE’ written instead of regular tweets, indicating that there was a major problem on the social networking site.

  • Mjhe kiyon nikala now in USA: Court declares Donald Trump ineligible to contest elections

    Mjhe kiyon nikala now in USA: Court declares Donald Trump ineligible to contest elections

    Colorado’s Supreme Court has issued a verdict so sting that former United States President Donald Trump is ineligible to run for the White House because of his role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by his supporters, and should be removed from the state’s primary ballot.

    While the ruling only applies to Colorado, it is the first time in US history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bars from public office anyone who “engaged in insurrection”, has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate. It comes as courts in other states consider similar legal actions.

    “A majority of the court holds that President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United State’s Constitution,” the Colorado high court wrote in its four-three majority decision.

    “Because he is disqualified, it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Colorado Secretary of State to list him as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot.

    “We do not reach these conclusions lightly,” they added.

    Trump has claimed he is the victim of political persecution.

    “We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us,” the Colorado justices said. “We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach.”

    A lower court earlier found that while Trump incited an insurrection, he could not be barred from the ballot because it was unclear that the 14th Amendment was intended to cover the presidency.

  • Teenager murders cousin after she refuses to marry him; later commits suicide

    Teenager murders cousin after she refuses to marry him; later commits suicide

    A young man in Islamabad shot his female cousin dead before taking his own life in the Soan area of Khanna police station on Monday.

    The girl, a first-year student in college, had refused the boy’s marriage proposal multiple times, stating that her focus was on her studies. The family also had categorically refused to give her hand in marriage to her cousin.

    As per police reports, upon rejection, Akash barged into the house of the girl and opened fire at his cousin who was studying in her room, killing her on the spot.

    Later, he turned the gun on himself and ended his life with a bullet to the head.

    A report by Iftikhar Chaudhry published in the Express Tribune states that police handed the bodies over to relatives after examination while a report of the incident was registered and further investigation was underway.

  • Sarah Inam murder: Shahnawaz challenges death sentence in Islamabad High Court

    Sarah Inam murder: Shahnawaz challenges death sentence in Islamabad High Court

    Shahnawaz Amir, son of political analyst Ayyaz Amir, has challenged his sessions court December 14 conviction and death sentence for murdering his wife Sarah Inam in the Islamabad High Court.

    The appellant’s lawyer Nisar Asghar has adopted the stance that the trial court has acquitted Shahnawaz’s mother Sameena Shah but sentenced him to death which is against the law, asking that the trial court’s sentencing be declared null and void.

    It has also been stated by the lawyer that Sarah’s legal team has not been able to prove the allegations in court.

    Shahnawaz was arrested in September last year from his farmhouse in Islamabad. Sarah was reportedly murdered just a day after she arrived in the country from Dubai where she had been working. Her husband was initially remanded to police custody a day after his arrest and the period of his physical remand was extended several times.

    Shahnawaz’s father, Ayyaz Amir, was discharged from the case and his mother Samina Shah, nominated as co-accused in the case, was granted post-arrest bail in November last year.

    The postmortem revealed that Sarah had suffered multiple skull fractures leading to her death, after having been hit on the head with a dumbbell.

  • Who owns Tehzeeb Bakers? Baking giant lands in legal battle

    Who owns Tehzeeb Bakers? Baking giant lands in legal battle

    The Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) issued a significant ruling on Tuesday, redefining certain elements of partnership in a family business.

    The decision came in response to a petition filed by two brothers, Shaukat Ali Noon and Arshad Ali Noon, against the control and ownership of a business outlet managed by their three siblings.

    The petitioners approached the LHC, seeking either the liquidation of the family business or a court decree granting them an equal share in it.

    The case involved the family’s business journey, starting with a bakery in Rawalpindi in 1947 and evolving into Rahat Bakers, later renamed Tehzeeb Bakers due to legal disputes among the family members.

    As per the petition, the deceased father of the petitioners and respondents initiated the business, and after his demise, joint business efforts commenced.

    The dispute arose when the petitioners claimed that they were entitled to a 20 per cent share in the business based on partnership deeds dating October 29, 1994, October 28, 2002, and December 2, 2011.

    They alleged that the respondents changed the business name and registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) without providing them their due share.

    During the court proceedings, Saqib Shafique, advocate for the petitioners, argued that the business, generating daily sales revenue exceeding Rs40 million, was not honoring the agreed-upon shares.

    On the other side, Advocate Kashif Ali Malik, representing Khalil, countered that the petitioners were never legitimate members or shareholders and presented allegedly forged documents.

    The court, in its observation, highlighted the requirements for intervention under Section 286 of the Companies Act, emphasizing the need for a member with at least 10 per cent of the issued share capital and a demonstration that the company’s affairs are being conducted unlawfully.

    Moreover, the next requirement is that such a member or creditor has to satisfy the court by making an application that the affairs of the company are being conducted unlawfully.

    The court pointed out that the law defines the modes of becoming a member of a company, firstly by subscribing to a memorandum; secondly by allotment of shares, and thirdly by entering their name in the register of members of a company in terms of Section 119 of the Companies Act.

    It pointed out that the documents provided did not establish unlawful conduct, and thus, the petitioners couldn’t be declared partners due to a lack of compliance with the legal prerequisites.

    The court’s ruling sets a precedent in defining the criteria for partnership claims in family businesses and emphasizes adherence to legal requirements in such disputes.

    Companies Act 2017

    Section 119 – Register of members.—(1) Every company shall keep a register of its members and any contravention or default in complying with requirement of this section shall be an offence punishable under this Act.
    (2) There must be entered in the register such particulars of each member as may be specified.
    (3) In the case of joint holders of shares or stock in a company, the company’s register of members shall state the names of each joint holder. In other respects joint holders shall be regarded for the purposes of this Part as a single member and the address of the person named first shall be entered in the register;
    (4) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable to a penalty of level 1 on the standard scale.

    Section 286 – Application to Court.—(1) If any member or members holding not less than ten percent of the issued share capital of a company, or a creditor or creditors having interest equivalent in amount to not less than ten percent of the paid up capital of the company, complains, or complain, or the Commission or registrar is of the opinion, that the affairs of the company are being conducted, or are likely to be conducted, in an unlawful or fraudulent manner, or in a manner not provided for in its memorandum, or in a manner oppressive to the members or any of the members or the creditors or any of the creditors or are being conducted in a manner that is unfairly prejudicial to the public interest, such member or members or, the creditor or creditors, as the case may be, the Commission or registrar may make an application to the Court by petition for an order under this section.

  • Landlord’s son kills renter couple, baby survives shooting after father comes between her and bullets

    Landlord’s son kills renter couple, baby survives shooting after father comes between her and bullets

    Islamabad Police has reported that the son of a house owner killed the couple who had rented his house in Barakahu after an argument. The couple’s 18-month-old daughter miraculously survived the attack. ⁠
    ⁠
    Twitter account Islamabadies posted details about the victims: “The 23-year-old Rida Noor, along with her husband Asim, was shot dead in their car by unknown Shooters. The only witness to this horrific incident, their 18-month-old daughter Sabrina, was also injured in the attack. They were shot down on their way to her mother’s place in Islamabad on Monday night,” the account posted.⁠

    The account also urged the authorities to take action and provide justice to the little girl Sabrina.⁠
    ⁠
    It was claimed that the attack was targeted, and aimed at murdering the entire family.⁠
    ⁠
    Islamabad police has said that the police is in search of the suspects.⁠

    According to media reports, two men gunned down the couple in the limits of BharaKahu police station on the night of December 4.⁠
    ⁠
    The killers were identified as Shareefullah and Ismail, the couple’s neighbours who had a heated argument with them and opened fire at them when the victims’ vehicle blocked their passage. ⁠
    ⁠
    A brief altercation over the use of the path led to the double murder. On the day of the incident, the two groups once again had a dispute on the use of the passage, reports Dunya News. ⁠
    ⁠
    The police has confirmed that the culprits were Afghan nationals who managed to escape after committing the crime, reports Express Tribune.⁠
    ⁠

  • Khyber Pakhtunkhwa schools in plains get short winter holidays

    Khyber Pakhtunkhwa schools in plains get short winter holidays

    Winter vacations have been announced for all the educational institutions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in a notification released by the provincial Education Department.

    Holidays in all the plain areas, typically the summer zone, will span from December 23 to December 31. However in the winter zone, including the mountainous region, winter vacations will be for an extensive time, from December 23 to February 29.

    The long break in the mountainous regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan is due to the severe winter conditions in the region which brings all the activities to a halt.