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  • Man orders apples online, gets an iPhone

    Man orders apples online, gets an iPhone

    A man in the United Kingdom received an Apple iPhone when he bought groceries online including apples.

    According to details, Nick James, 50, was gifted a free iPhone SE as part of an online rewards scheme for shoppers of the UK-based supermarket chain Tesco.

    Staff at his local Tesco told James that there was a “surprise” in his click-and-collect order.

    “I was half expecting the surprise to be an Easter egg or something – [so] I was a little bit shocked, to say the least,” said James while talking about his unexpected gift.

    The UK resident, later, shared his excitement on social media writing: “A big thanks this week to Tesco. On Wednesday evening, we went to pick up our click and collect order and had a little surprise in there – an Apple iPhone SE.”

    “Apparently, we ordered apples and randomly got an Apple iPhone! Made my son’s week,” he added.

    The supermarket chain had randomly selected customers for promotional rewards that link with a product they had purchased from the supermarket’s online store.

    Read more – Lost glasses help 80-year-old win more than £100,000

    The marketing campaign is called the Super Substitute scheme and aims at replacing a particular item in a customer’s cart with a surprise gift. Customers are randomly selected while the original piece will be retained in the cart, the report said.

    Tesco has given up to 80 such gifts to its online shoppers across its outlets in the UK so far.

  • Lost glasses help 80-year-old win more than £100,000

    Lost glasses help 80-year-old win more than £100,000

    An 80-year-old man has won more than £100,000 in the EuroMillions after forgetting his glasses and being unable to choose his regular numbers.

    According to details, Denis Fawsitt would generally use family birthdays for his weekly ticket but as he could not see, went for a lucky dip instead.

    Expressing his joy over the win, Fawsitt said it “turned out to be one of my best decisions ever”. He shared that he and his wife Ann plan to give their Derbyshire home and garden a makeover with the £116,124 (Rs 24,543,009) winnings.

    Read more – Guinness World Record for longest hair gets first haircut

    Recalling how he ended up choosing different numbers, Fawsitt said: “I realised I had forgotten my glasses and tried to pick my numbers, but I just couldn’t. I went to pay for my papers and asked the lady behind the counter for a lucky dip.”

    He added: “After what happened in the newsagent, I had this funny feeling we were going to win. I said to my wife Ann that evening that I felt we were going to win big.”

    The next morning he was surprised to win the money and contacted the newsagents. They checked his ticket and confirmed his win.

    The couple matched the five main numbers and one Lucky Star number on March 16.

    Fawsitt who is a retired builder and coal miner said his aim was to use the winnings for a full garden makeover. He had suffered from a back injury a few years ago and had limited his ability to tend it himself.

    He said that the money would also allow them to buy a new TV.

    The couple has two daughters, two grandsons and a granddaughter and said that most of the money would go to their family.

    “We’ve had our time, it’s theirs now, this money will help them more than us.”

  • Man left with half a house after spending more than Rs10 crore on dream house

    Man left with half a house after spending more than Rs10 crore on dream house

    A man’s desire to own a dream home has turned into a nightmare after the finished building was just half a house due to a ‘mix up’ with the builder. 

    As per details, Bishnu Aryal who hails from Nepal had saved up enough money for his dream house in Sydney. He had shifted to Australia for a new life and spent years in saving cautiously.

    He signed an agreement for the building with Zac Homes for $322,400 (Rs49 million)land purchased land for $398,950 (Rs70 million) in the suburb of Edmondson Park in Sydney’s southwest.

    The man claims that miscommunication with the builder, Zac Homes, resulted his dream to turn into a tragedy.

    The father of two now only has ‘half the property’ he had been hoping for.

    Talking to the local media, Aryal said: “I called the supervisor and asked him what’s going on, why is the house like this? And he said, ‘It’s a duplex, semi duplex’, and I nearly fainted that day.”

    “Where’s my house? I want the rest of my house. It’s not a free-standing house, it’s not a duplex, it’s half a house. And it looks embarrassing,” he added.

    According to reports, the agreement was for a free-standing home but, three years later, Aryal was shocked when he checked the progress and realised that the contractors had built a duplex on half the block, with a huge windowless grey wall made down the middle.

    Aryal admitted that his English isn’t perfect, but asserted that he did not sign up for half a house

  • Japan ambassador visits 2,400-year-old Buddhist caves in Pakistan

    Japan ambassador visits 2,400-year-old Buddhist caves in Pakistan

    Japanese Ambassador to Pakistan Matsuda Kuninori on Wednesday visited a Buddhist historical site, known as Shah Allah Ditta Caves, in the outskirts of Islamabad. Internationally known as Buddhist caves in the Margalla Hills, the historical site is preserving around 2,400-year-old Buddhist era murals.

    As per reports, the ambassador along with his wife and staff of the embassy praised the grandeur of the antique caves which date back to the times when young Buddhists covered long distances to reach this region that expands from the Margalla Hills to Taxila, Swat and beyond.

    The Buddhist monks spent time here in meditation and spread the message of Buddha on to the followers.

    Read more – Pakistan’s first tourism TV channel goes live

    Former Deputy Mayor of Islamabad and a representative of the Shah Allah Ditta community, Syed Zeshan Naqvi, welcomed the ambassador and told him that the caves date back to the times of Alexander the Great. He also pointed out issues faced by the local government of Islamabad (that completed its term earlier in February this year) in the preservation of the site.

    The caves had different engravings of Buddha on its walls that are of great historical importance.

    The ambassador was also of the opinion that the caves have a huge tourism potential and can be used to showcase the footprints of the Buddhist civilisation in Pakistan.

    Ambassador Kuninori also spent a few moments in meditation under the old Banyan tree at the site.

    Sharing his thoughts during the visit, Ambassador Kuninori said Pakistan was a safe country and appreciated the way the government had fought the COVID-19 pandemic by implementing a smart lockdown. Japan, he said, had already eased travel restrictions on Pakistan.

  • Mattress factory sealed for stuffing used face masks instead of cotton

    Mattress factory sealed for stuffing used face masks instead of cotton

    The police in India have sealed a mattress-making factory in Maharashtra for using discarded masks instead of cotton or other material to stuff its products.

    As per reports, a case has been registered against the owner of the unit with the police starting an investigation into the matter. Piles of face masks were also recovered from the premises of the mattress factory.

    The seized masks pile was burnt as per the prescribed norms.

    The illegal activity at the Maharashtra Mattress Centre was reported to the officials at a police station at the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), Jalgaon.

    Read more – Man digs tunnel to capture ‘jinns, churails’

    Additional Superintendent of Police Chandrakant Gawali said: “When officials visited the premises of the factory in Kusumba village of MIDC, they found a mattress being stuffed with used masks.”

    The production of face masks in India has increased significantly from March of last year when the country was producing 1.5 crore units each day.

  • Woman panics after washing machine explodes mid-cycle

    Woman panics after washing machine explodes mid-cycle

    A Scottish woman was shocked when her washing machine exploded mid-cycle, damaging her kitchen.

    The woman, Laura Birrell shared pictures of her destroyed kitchen on Facebook to serve as a warning to others. The businesswoman from Glasgow said her washing machine “literally exploded” mid-cycle, filling her kitchen with smoke. 

    Photos shared by Ms Birrell showed that the kitchen top above the machine was apparently blown apart by the force of the explosion. The machine was also badly damaged.

    “I have often heard don’t leave your washing machine on when you leave the house,” she wrote. “Well, today I am glad that I did not go out anywhere as my machine literally exploded.”

    “With a glass sink drainer unit I thought I bomb had gone off, glass everywhere,” she added.

    She further wrote, “Fortunately I was in as smoke started to appear so I quickly switched it off. I will never leave washing in again when I am out.”

    A spokesman of Whirlpool was quoted as saying by Metro: “Our thoughts are with the residents affected by this incident, and we are investigating the situation.

  • Doughnut company offers free doughnut every day if you’ve been vaccinated

    Doughnut company offers free doughnut every day if you’ve been vaccinated

    Krispy Kreme, an American doughnut company and coffeehouse is offering a free doughnut to customers who present their COVID-19 vaccine cards.

    According to details, the deal started Monday and will last through the rest of 2021. Customers can bring their valid vaccination cards to any Krispy Kreme shop in the United States every day for the rest of the year to get a free Original Glazed doughnut – one per day.

    Krispy Kreme’s marketing promotion is one of the first of its kind among retailers as states have broadened access to coronavirus vaccinations to meet President Joe Biden’s May 1 deadline.

    “We all want to get COVID-19 behind us as fast as possible and we want to support everyone doing their part to make the country safe by getting vaccinated as soon as the vaccine is available to them,” Krispy Kreme chief marketing officer Dave Skena said in a statement.

    Krispy Kreme said it will also offer up to four hours of paid time off for its employees to get vaccinated and for delivering free doughnuts to some vaccination centres in the next few weeks for health-care workers and volunteers.

  • VIDEO: Six passengers arrested for smuggling 5.5kg gold in their wigs

    Six passengers have been arrested at Chennai airport in India for smuggling gold and foreign currency in their wigs. Customs officials found gold paste and cash packed into parcels and hidden in the wigs of the passengers.

    According to details, the gold was valued at around $344,000 (Rs 53,616,734) and $33,000  (Rs 5,143,465) was recovered in cash. The passengers had arrived from an unrevealed location in the Gulf.

    The gold and cash were concealed in wigs, socks, underwear and inside the passengers’ bodies.

    Airport officials found the passengers with suspicious looking hairstyles and took them into custody for an inquiry.

    Chennai customs department also posted a video on social media that shows how the men had glued the packages under their fake hair.

  • ‘India has to take the first step’: PM Imran at Islamabad Security Dialogue

    ‘India has to take the first step’: PM Imran at Islamabad Security Dialogue

    Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday launched the first Policy Advisory Portal at the inaugural session of the Islamabad Security Dialogue. The portal has been developed by the National Security Division (NSD) to engage over hundred think tanks and academia in policy making, said the Prime Minister’s Office.

    PM Khan said that when his government came to power, he tried to resolve issues with India.

    “We just have one issue, which is Kashmir,” said the premier, adding that August 5 happened, which “led to a total breakdown between both countries.”

    PM Khan said he hopes that the right of self-determination given to the Kashmiris as per UN Security Council resolution would be given to the Kashmiris.

    “It would benefit India if there is a resolution on the Kashmir issue. If we achieve peace through dialogue, it will change the entire landscape of the region. There is a lot of poverty in India. Our trading and economic ties should be strong, which will increase regional connectivity. It will help India that it can have regional connectivity up to Central Asia. India has to take the first step after August 5, otherwise, we cannot move forward.”

    While inaugurating the Advisory Portal, Prime Imran Khan appreciated the initiative and said that Pakistan has immense young talent in this country.  “This is a step in the right direction”, he said.

    The advisory portal will be a dedicated and integrated platform through which major think tanks and universities working on the subject of comprehensive national security will be able to share policy recommendations directly with the national leadership.

    “The aim of the portal is to bridge the gap between intellectuals and policymakers,” said SAPM on National Security Division and Strategic Policy Planning Dr Moeed Yusuf who conceived the portal. 

    Islamabad Security Dialogue is a two-day international conference. Two sessions of the Islamabad Security Dialogue were held on Wednesday, while three sessions will take place on Thursday. Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa will inaugurate the second day. 

    Being held mostly in a virtual format, the Dialogue is being attended by officials, global and regional experts and media. The main theme of the Islamabad Security Dialogue is Comprehensive Security Framework that will enable the country to unfold its untapped potential in becoming a hub of global and regional development.

    The NSD plans to make the Islamabad Security Dialogue an annual event to parallel the world’s leading security dialogues.

  • World’s only man-made, heart-shaped lake is a new romantic destination in Dubai

    World’s only man-made, heart-shaped lake is a new romantic destination in Dubai

    The world’s only man-made and heart-shaped ‘Love Lake’ in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has become a new tourist spot for lovebirds to spend some quality time away from the city’s chaos. The lake has been built in the middle of the Dubai desert and spreads over an area of ​​550,000 square metres.

    Considered a symbol of love at Al-Qudra Oasis, the two gigantic interconnected heart-shaped lakes has grabbed the attention of everyone around the world.

    The lake has been built away from the urban area and has many species of plants, more than 16,000 trees and hundreds of thousands of colourful flowers.

    The lake’s surroundings are also exceptional with the word “Love” attracting tourists from around the globe.

    A heart-shaped gate welcomes the tourists and there is also a place “Hadirah” for picnics and barbecue.

    Entry to the lake is free and it remains open 24 hours. It is also equipped with basic facilities such as clean water and washrooms.