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  • You can now get Kate Middleton’s Élan look

    You can now get Kate Middleton’s Élan look

    Remember the pristine white and black Élan kurta Kate Middleton wore on her last day in Pakistan? It will soon be available for a whopping Rs 29,500.

    The kurta is part of Élan’s Eid Collection, launching on May 10. According to the brand, the monochrome outfit has been titled ‘Royal Garden’ and is made of traditional handspun 100% pure grip silk. It features “beautifully delicate floral and tribal embroideries in ebony silk thread on a pristine ivory base.”

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B_u76hXgMaa/

    The Duchess of Cambridge had worn the outfit on a private visit she and her husband had undertaken to the SOS Village in Lahore. She had paired the kurta with straight white pants and nude heels. Kate’s team had reportedly discovered Elan’s outfits on Instagram.

    Meanwhile in an interview with The Current, Élan’s founder and creative head Khadija Shah had talked about dressing up the Duchess and how she felt when she received a thank you note from her.

    “I thought somebody was playing a prank,” said Khadija recalling the time when she was approached to make a dress for Kate. “So when we were contacted and the message came through, I told my social media manager to go and check-up the person and see if it was really somebody from the Palace.”

    “And we discovered, it really was someone from the Palace,” continued the designer. “It was really overwhelming and very exciting.”

    Khadija further shared that she never expected a letter of thanks from the Duchess but when was overjoyed when she received the letter and immediately took a picture of it.

    Read more – Khadija Shah receives a signed ‘Thank you note’ from Kate Middleton

    Watch the full interview here:

  • France accuses Apple of not helping it with COVID-19 app

    France accuses Apple of not helping it with COVID-19 app

    Tech giant Apple Inc. allegedly refused to help France in its efforts to fight the new coronavirus — COVID-19 — by refusing to make iPhones compatible with a contact-tracing app called “StopCovid”.

    Countries are increasingly developing smartphone apps and taking technical measures to keep the global pandemic in check while reopening the hard-hit economy.

    These dedicated apps use Bluetooth to allow phones to interact with nearby devices and detect when users, who are potential carriers of the deadly virus, come into contact.

    Usually, Apple’s iPhone blocks access to Bluetooth in background running apps, unless the users allow it themselves.

    According to reports, French officials want Apple to change the settings to let their app access Bluetooth in the background, however, the company refused to make the said modifications.

    “Apple could have helped us make the application work even better on the iPhone. They have not wished to do so. I regret this, given that we are in a period where everyone is mobilised to fight against the epidemic, and given that a large company that is doing so well economically is not helping out the government in crisis,” said French minister for digital technology in an official statement.

    A spokesperson for Apple in France, on the other hand, declined to comment on the matter.

    Certain speculations are, however, being made.

    Companies like Apple and Google — who are responsible for managing the data of almost all smartphones — want the data of phones to stay in the device, rather placing it in central databases that are managed by governments around the world.

    However, France and other countries want to keep contact data in the central database, which can trigger security breaches and pose threats to users.

    The French minister thinks that “oversight of the healthcare system, fighting the coronavirus, is a matter for governments and not necessarily for big American companies.”

    “The app should be ready to be deployed by June 2 regardless of Apple’s stance, and would enter a testing phase by May 11, when the country starts to unwind its lockdown,” he reportedly said.

    It merits a mention that In France, Apple’s mobile operating system accounted for 21.1 per cent of the market in the first quarter, while Google’s Android accounted for 78.8%. Britain, which is using the same centralised approach as France to store data, will start testing its COVID-19 tracing app on the Isle of Wight from Tuesday (today).

  • PM Imran approves special CSS exam to fill 188 vacancies

    PM Imran approves special CSS exam to fill 188 vacancies

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has approved the special Central Superior Service (CSS) exam to fill 188 vacancies.

    “Balochistan 49, Rural Sind 41, Urban Sind 19, KP 22, ex Fata/GB 16 & AJK 2. We truly believe in giving equal opportunities to all federating units [sic],” tweeted Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Establishment Shehzad Arbab.

    Speaking to a private media outlet, Arbab said the exam is likely to be conducted by year-end.

    Annual CSS examinations are held to recruit candidates to the permanent elite bureaucratic authority, and the civil service that is responsible for running the civilian bureaucratic operations and government secretariats and directorates of the Cabinet of Pakistan. The premier is the final authority on all matters regarding the civil service.

  • LUMS breaks silence on fee hike amid coronavirus outbreak

    LUMS breaks silence on fee hike amid coronavirus outbreak

    Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) clarified on Monday that the hike was decided before the Covid-19 outbreak in the country. This official statement came when people were protesting on Twitter against 41 per cent tuition fee increase.

    The statement was issued by the office of Vice-Chancellor Dr Arshad Ahmed which states that the increment was “entirely consistent with prior years and took into account extraordinary increases in inflation, energy costs and currency devaluation.”

    According to reports, per credit hour fee has been increased by 13 per cent. On average, students opt for 16 credit hours per semester, this adds up to 41 per cent overall increase in tuition fees.

    “The increase was 13 per cent which we will monitor in determining the next fee card. Previously, a blanket fee was being charged for students registering between 12 to 20 credit hours. This fee is now [being] calculated on per credit hour basis which will increase the semester fees for some and decrease it for others [depending on the number of registered credit hours],” the statement said.

    Furthermore, one of the reasons behind increasing the fee is to “discourage students from taking course overloads which negatively impacts their learning.”
    “LUMS fees cover a fraction of the total costs. As a not-for-profit university, gifts from donors, trustees, etc. helps to subsidize one out of three students.”

    Yesterday, ‘#LUMSFeeHike’ was trending on twitter after the Lahore University of Management and Sciences (LUMS) confirmed its students through email that they would increase tuition fee by 40 per cent for the upcoming semesters.

  • Israel makes ‘significant breakthrough’ as it develops protein that can overcome coronavirus

    Israel makes ‘significant breakthrough’ as it develops protein that can overcome coronavirus

    Israel has isolated a key coronavirus antibody at its main biological research laboratory, the Israeli defence minister said on Monday, calling the step a “significant breakthrough” toward a possible treatment for the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The “monoclonal neutralising antibody” developed at the Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) “can neutralise the disease-causing coronavirus inside carriers’ bodies,” Defence Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement.

    The statement added that Bennett visited the IIBR on Monday where he was briefed “on a significant breakthrough in finding an antidote for the coronavirus”.

    It quoted IIBR Director Shmuel Shapira as saying that the antibody formula was being patented, after which an international manufacturer would be sought to mass-produce it.

    The IIBR has been leading Israeli efforts to develop a treatment and vaccine for the coronavirus, including the testing of blood from those who recovered from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus.

    Antibodies in such samples — immune-system proteins that are residues of successfully overcoming the coronavirus — are widely seen as a key to developing a possible cure.

    The antibody reported as having been isolated at the IIBR is monoclonal, meaning it was derived from a single recovered cell and is thus potentially of more potent value in yielding a treatment.

    Elsewhere, there have been coronavirus treatments developed from antibodies that are polyclonal, or derived from two or more cells of different ancestry, the magazine Science Direct reported in its May issue.

    Israel was one of the first countries to close its borders and impose increasingly stringent restrictions on movement to hamper the domestic coronavirus outbreak. It has reported 16,246 cases and 235 deaths from the illness.

  • Bilawal seeks Imran’s voluntary resignation over ‘coronavirus failures’

    Bilawal seeks Imran’s voluntary resignation over ‘coronavirus failures’

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan should voluntarily resign and appoint someone else in his stead, as tensions between the Centre and Sindh government continue to rise as COVID-19 cases continue to spike across the country.

    Talking to Sindhi language news channels, Bilawal slammed the premier for a lack of consensus in the country on how to tackle the persisting coronavirus situation.

    “We [PPP] have been demanding the prime minister to step down since day one,” said the PPP chief. “Keeping in mind the coronavirus situation, I am not asking for his resignation. But Imran Khan should start working as a prime minister. He should play his role in uniting provinces in this crisis.”

    Bilawal urged PM Imran to voluntarily resign under these difficult circumstances and appoint someone else in his stead. The PPP chairman said that a national consensus was necessary to win the fight against the coronavirus. “The whole state should be on the same page against the coronavirus,” he said, adding that the prime minister was responsible for the absence of it. “The federal government is responsible for ensuring a consensus is reached.”

    Bilawal praised the Sindh government for providing relief to the masses as cases in the province continue to surge. “Sindh government is taking brilliant steps to provide relief to people,” he said. “CM Sindh has also joined hands with welfare organisations. People are being provided relief today due to the initiatives taken by the PPP,” he added.

    He said that Sindh government was about to kick off “phase two” of its plan to ward off the coronavirus. “We are providing relief to the people despite facing a shortage of resources,” he said.

    Referring to criticism over his statement on Karachi and Sindh a few days ago, Bilawal said that some people were presenting his remarks in a negative light and taking them out of context. “I consider it an insult to answer these [accusations],” he said, adding that those who were criticising him were working on their agenda to break up Sindh.

    The remarks came a few days after the PPP chairman hit out at the federal government in a fiery presser, slamming it for neglecting doctors and medical officers throughout the country.

    “Can you imagine Pakistan declaring war and sending its army without guns, bullets, and a uniform?” he had said.

    The PPP chairman had lamented that the doctors were only demanding two things — protective gear and a reduced burden on hospitals so that they may carry out their jobs more effectively.

    “The prime minister has failed to deliver […] He mentioned daily wagers in all of his addresses, but sadly none of them has received a single dime yet,” he had regretted.

    It is our responsibility to provide for them like we would provide for our armed forces, he said, adding: “We are trying to provide for our doctors who are in contact with COVID-19 patients, I know that all provincial governments are playing their due role as well.”

    “But the Centre should also play its role in supporting the provinces in the war against coronavirus,” he had said.

  • VIDEO: Hamza Ali Abbasi covers ‘Diriliş: Ertuğrul’ theme song on guitar

    VIDEO: Hamza Ali Abbasi covers ‘Diriliş: Ertuğrul’ theme song on guitar

    Turkish television show Diriliş: Ertuğrul is very popular among the Pakistani audiences and had a huge fan following even before an Urdu dubbed version of it started airing on PTV. With even Prime Minister Imran Khan recommending the show, Ertugrul has become the talk of the town amongst our celebrities also.

     Actor Hamza Ali Abbasi appears to be the fan of the show too. In a recent video, shared by wife Naimal Khawar, Abbasi can be seen playing the theme song of the show on a guitar. 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb8OT5GsC_Y

    The show is being aired on the request of PM Imran Khan. According to the PM, it is a must-watch show for the youth of the country.

    Read More: After ‘Ertugal’, PM Imran Khan wants Pakistanis to watch ‘Yunus Emre: Aşkin Yolculuğu’

    “We’ve always had content from Hollywood and Bollywood which was then being showcased here. A third end culture was being promoted. That’s why I want our youth to know the difference between our values and theirs,” the premier had said while discussing why he requested for the show to be aired in the country.

  • VIDEO: ‘Ch Nisar secretly facilitated Imran, Qadri’s 2014 Islamabad sit-ins against PML-N govt’

    VIDEO: ‘Ch Nisar secretly facilitated Imran, Qadri’s 2014 Islamabad sit-ins against PML-N govt’

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Javed Latif has claimed that former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar secretly facilitated the 124-day-long demonstration jointly organised by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) in 2014 against the PML-N government.

    Latif, who was part of a three-guest panel at anchorperson Hamid Mir’s show on Monday, said that Nisar released the “violent protesters” who attacked the parliament and state-owned broadcaster Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV).

    According to him, Nisar facilitated the entrance of protesters in the heavily guarded Red Zone that houses the president and prime minister houses in addition to several other highly-sensitive secretariats.

    “Nisar’s disagreement with Nawaz Sharif’s GT Road rally was also part of his plan. He continuously opposed the party policy on certain important matters and today we all know about his current political standing and reputation,” Latif said.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    It merits a mention here that since his association with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the mid-80s, Nisar was Sharif’s go-to man in matters involving the country’s powerful establishment — until he fell out of favor as a result of his advocacy of a non-confrontational policy with the military following Sharif’s judicial ouster in 2017. 

    Hailing from a respected military family himself, Nisar had allegedly played a key role in the appointment of retired General Pervez Musharraf as the Chief of the Army Staff in 1998. 

  • New documentary claiming Princess Diana tried to commit suicide ‘upsets’ William & Harry

    New documentary claiming Princess Diana tried to commit suicide ‘upsets’ William & Harry

    Several members of the royal family are reportedly “upset and angry” about a controversial new documentary about Princess Diana which claims that the late princess tried to commit suicide four times.

    Prince William and Prince Harry are said to be especially upset about the four-part docuseries, tentatively titled Being Me: Diana, which will cover Diana’s “mental health battles, eating disorders, unhappy marriage to Prince Charles and painful childhood” and put forth claims that the late royal “tried to kill herself four times.”

    According to reports, Prince Harry is said to find the situation “particularly distressing” because the documentary is expected to air on Netflix—a company he’s said to have been working with following his royal exit.

    A source is reported to have said: “The royals will refuse to take part as will the Spencer family. William and Harry will be very upset and angry. It’s particularly distressing for Harry because he’s been working with Netflix. At a time when the royals have been dealt a blow with Harry and Meghan leaving, the timing is not good.”

    DSP, the TV company working on the project, says that it is still in the early phases and has not yet been commissioned by Netflix. It remains to be seen if the streaming giant—or any other major distributors—will pick up the series.

    “This is a not a commissioned show and everything within the treatment is already in the public domain,” a spokeswoman for Endemol Shine, DSP’s parent company, said.

  • Asim Azhar’s ‘Jo Tu Na Mila’ enters the ‘100 million club’

    Asim Azhar’s ‘Jo Tu Na Mila’ enters the ‘100 million club’

    Asim Azhar has become the youngest and the fourth Pakistani artist after Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Atif Aslam and Momina Mustehsan to enter the ‘100 million club’ after his single Jo Tu Na Mila crossed more than 100 million views on YouTube. His other song which achieved this milestone was his duet with Momina Mustehsan for Coke Studio 9: Tera Woh Pyaar.

    The singer shared the news in a social media update and thanked his fans for their support.

    In another update, the singer remarked that it was impossible for him to put his feelings into words.

    Jo Tu Na Mila is a love ballad which talks about unrequited love. The song, which features Iqra Aziz, has been composed and sung by Asim while the lyrics have been penned by Kunaal Vermaa.

    Back when it was released, the song was even loved by none other than Bollywood bigwig Karan Johar.

    https://twitter.com/karanjohar/status/1065526135629520896?s=20

    Read more – ‘I’m sorry’: Asim Azhar responds to backlash on PSL anthem

    Watch the song here: