Blog

  • Handicapped, old persons to be facilitated in Naya Pakistan

    Handicapped, old persons to be facilitated in Naya Pakistan

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed all ministries to finalise special arrangements to facilitate handicapped and old persons.

    According to media reports, the Ministry of Communications has already begun complying with PM’s instructions and has sent letters to National Highways Authority (NHA) officials, transport companies and IG motorways to start executing the PM orders.

    Under the directives, pertaining authorities are to provide special ease to all handicapped and aged passengers at rest houses situated on all highways and motorways across Pakistan. Construction of ramps in all washrooms and resting areas is mandatory along with the provision of wheelchairs at specific locations.

    Special seats are also to be reserved for them in transport vehicles.

    People with physical impairments and the elderly have often suffered at public places due to lack of such facilities. It is warming to see the government cater to their needs and facilitate them.

  • Pakpattan’s woman SHO solves 200 rape cases in two months

    Pakpattan’s woman SHO solves 200 rape cases in two months

    Pakpattan district’s first woman Station House Officer (SHO), Kulsoom Fatima, has solved 200 rape and sexual abuse cases within just two months of her appointment, BBC Urdu reported.

    In an interview to BBC, she said that the incidents of sexual abuse of minor girls made her angry, but she was not able to do anything at that time.

    “I got the opportunity. I was appointed as a sub-inspector in Punjab Police after passing the competitive exams,” Fatima said, adding that she had earlier hoped to be in the position one day so she could do something for the little survivours.

    The cop said that she was handed over cases related to women and minor girls — a task she always wanted.

    Pakpattan District Police Officer (DPO) Ibadat Nisar had appointed Fatima as SHO at Model Police Station Daloryam. He said that the appointment of women officers in Pakpattan has helped in dispensing justice to people.

  • Loafology: Divine Breads

    Loafology: Divine Breads

    There was a time, not very long ago when the only bread we found in our cities was Dawn ki white wali bread. Foreign sounding breads weren’t available in Pakistan until they came with a big bang.

    Loafology in Islamabad took the lead when it comes to producing the best bread in Pakistan. And as an avid bread finder and baker, I say that with full authority. There is no better multigrain bread in the country than the one at this bakery-cafe.

    The Walnut Raisin

    Making bread is a real art. After spending a week of learning how to make bread in a bakery in small-town France, I quickly realised that it isn’t an art. Its downright precision. The ingredients, the temperature, humidity, space where it’s kept varies from bread to bread. Writing on a small note pad as a young Frenchman explained with gestures and broken English on what temperature to keep for which bread, I felt small in the even smaller white space.

    Inside the Restaurant

    I am not a fan of their popular brioche and sourdough bread but their raisin and walnut bread and the eight-grain bread will take your breath away. So much so that you’ll be sure to buy the bread in bulk and lug it back to your city, freezing it for a month, cutting a piece every day and hoping it lasts forever.

    Its not always the bread that makes the sandwich. It might be the core of a good breakfast or sandwich but if the other ingredients don’t hold up, it can’t be the only saviour. Sadly, Loafology’s breakfast and sandwiches have never done their bread justice.

    Desi Omelette

    The interior is quaint, a guaranteed hit with foreigners and aunties out for a lunch. Bright and happy, it reflects the openness of Islamabad and the joy of the abroad. But the food stops short of being good. The Loafology Omelette walks the bland line and bite after bite, falls into the land of no salt and the slow-cooked shredded beef needed more BBQ sauce. While the food has all the elements needed, it just doesn’t match up to the mark – not once but a few times.

    Regardless, we will all keep going back. For the bread, for the happy ambiance and the joy of knowing you can freeze the bread and let it linger for a month or more.

  • Sri Lankan cricket team likely to visit Pakistan for test series in October

    The Sri Lankan circket team is likely to visit Pakistan in October to play a two-match test series, Cricket Pakistan has reported.

    According to reports, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has confirmed the dates of their security delegation’s arrival in Pakistan on a three-day visit. The delegation will begin its evaluation with a trip to Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad on August 7, 8 and 9, respectively.

    It will assess the security situation in the country ahead of providing its recommendations to the SLC.

    They will visit the stadiums and hotels in the three major cities and will be briefed by local security officials as well. SLC, on the basis of those recommendations, will decide whether to tour Pakistan or not.

    “I’m confident that the delegation will be satisfied with the security arrangements in Pakistan and hopefully we will soon see red-ball cricket on home soil,” reports quoted Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ehsan Mani as saying.

    Pakistan, since the unfortunate attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in March 2009, has not hosted any test series.

  • Celebrities pledge to support PTI’s Ali Haider Zaidi’s #LetsCleanKHI campaign

    Celebrities pledge to support PTI’s Ali Haider Zaidi’s #LetsCleanKHI campaign

    Heavy monsoon rains across Pakistan have caused flash floods in different parts of the country. One of the cities worst affected by the continuous downpour is the port city of Karachi. The provincial capital is facing terrible challenges with submerged roads, water inside houses, no electricity and overflow of sewage. It is pertinent to mention that Karachi is one of the most polluted cities in the country.

    Ali Haider Zaidi

    Keeping this in mind, Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi announced that the government is planning to launch a campaign, Let’s Clean Karachi to rid the city of its garbage in the next two weeks.

    Zaidi’s decision gave some much-needed relief to the residents who had been continuously voicing their concerns and appealing to the government to help them. Following this, several notable personalities took to social media to pledge their support for Zaidi’s initiative.

    The entire team of Peshawar Zalmi including some foreign players shared the same message on Twitter to support Zaidi.

    The business community of the city also sent letters of support to the minister and vowed to help him.

    Speaking to the media, the minister remarked that Karachi was badly ignored by the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) government. He assured that the cleanliness drive would be completed before August 14 with the joint efforts of its citizens. The drive will begin on Sunday. Zaidi also directed municipal representatives and other relevant departments to speed up their work.

  • Prime Minister Imran Khan: the leader we deserve

    Prime Minister Imran Khan: the leader we deserve

    PM Imran’s efforts are opening doors to the world – be it in terms of image-building or investment; with his farsightedness and consistent efforts, Khan is marking a time in history.

    From the chants of Capital One Arena to the high-end meetings with the United States (US) president, members of the US congress, business tycoons and investors, it goes without saying that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s US visit was a resounding success.

    His achievements
    resonated across the globe with worldwide Twitter trends, which astounded the
    international audience for a good three days. On the one hand, the Pakistani
    nation lauded his assertive meeting with President Trump, highlighting
    sensitive issues like Kashmir and the Afghan war.

    He was also admired
    for his honest and charismatic personality, which conveniently attracted overseas
    Pakistanis as well as the US business community.

    For decades, investors
    avoided Pakistan due to lack of trust in its leadership. However, Khan’s one
    visit has altered that perception.

    One can see that in the confidence reflected by US Senator Lindsay Graham’s tweet, which said: “Khan and his government represents the best opportunity in decades to have a beneficial strategic relationship with US.”

    In his next tweet, he said: “Tremendous business opportunities exist between Pakistan and the US through a free trade agreement tied to our mutual security interests.”

    In addition to
    government level summits, meeting with senior American business executives from
    Bower Group and US-Pakistan Business Council also took place. Discussions on business
    plans and investment opportunities in Pakistan were carried out, which further
    assured investor’s faith in Khan’s leadership.

    Businessmen, who
    previously never considered investing in Pakistan, expressed their inclination
    towards the very same country. For example, business tycoon Shahid Khan, who is
    the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL),
    Fulham F.C. of the English Football League Championship, and runs Flex-N-Gate
    (an automobile parts manufacturer company), had a meeting with the premier.

    Bearing in mind that Shahid Khan had been frequently approached by Pakistan’s former leadership, both Nawaz and Zardari, for talks but were denied attention, this very well-known and well-respected businessman not only exchanged his suggestions with PM Imran, but on his way out, shared his pleasure and belief in Khan’s honest efforts for the country in the following words:

    “I have hope, I think
    the future of Pakistan is going to be fabulous with Imran Khan. It is proud to
    be Pakistani again. Imran Khan is greater than life and the best thing that
    happened to Pakistan, at least in my lifetime.”

    PM Imran’s efforts are opening doors to the world – be it in terms of image-building or investment; with his farsightedness and consistent efforts, Khan is marking a time in history.

    Uniting the Muslim nations, showing solidarity with Kashmiris, instigating social justice and ensuring people’s prosperity, these are only a few accomplishments that are painting an image of Pakistan which will benefit generations to come.

    Any author’s views do not reflect that of The Current

  • Foreign cricketers refuse to play entire PSL in Pakistan

    Foreign cricketers refuse to play entire PSL in Pakistan

    Foreign cricketers have refused to play the fifth season of the Habib Bank Limited (HBL) Pakistan Super League (PSL) scheduled to be entirely held in Pakistan next year, Cricket Pakistan reported Friday.

    Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had earlier said that the fifth edition of the PSL will entirely be played in the country and is expected to take place from February 20 to March 22.

    Speaking to a private media outlet, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ehsan Mani insisted that there are no concerns regarding hosting the entire HBL PSL in Pakistan.

    “I took the approval of PCB’s patron-in-chief regarding holding the tournament in Pakistan, after consulting all franchise owners,” Mani said, adding that he had invited team owners for a meeting next week on Monday in Lahore, where the matter would be discussed again.

    “Till now, no franchise has shown any reservations, so there is no possibility of shifting the matches anywhere else,” he added.

    However, according to reports, franchises want to hold at least half of the PSL 5 matches in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as they feel it is currently not viable to play the entire season in the country.

    They are of the view that it will be difficult to convince foreign players to stay in Pakistan for a longer period of time.

  • Momina Duraid cancels Firdous Jamal from Hum TV for his comments on Mahira Khan

    Momina Duraid cancels Firdous Jamal from Hum TV for his comments on Mahira Khan

    Veteran actor Firdous Jamal’s comments on Mahira Khan have frankly been blown quite out of proportion.

    After the clip in which Firdous said Mahira that she is too old to be a heroine went viral, Mahira’s fans and colleagues went into overdrive to defend the actor and call out Firdous Sahab for his outdated and sexist comments. The matter became so controversial that Mahira had to step in and settle the issue. In a note shared on her Instagram, Mahira had said that she is grateful to all her seniors and that “in a world full of hate, let’s choose to love. Let’s be tolerant of other people’s opinions.”

    While Mahira continued to share her feelings on the issue, in various interviews that followed, the matter appeared to have more or less settled down. But, kyunkay Pakistan hai, twist toh aana hota hai.

    Yesterday, the CEO of MD Productions which comes under the HUM Films umbrella, Momina Duraid, took to social media to share her thoughts on the matter. It is pertinent to mention here that Momina is producing Mahira’s upcoming film Superstar and the two have worked on several projects in the past including Bin Roye.

    Momina began her note by praising Mahira for being “a woman with immense integrity, self-control, and solid principles.” She then went on to say that she is ashamed that Firdous Sahab is part of “our fraternity” and that his comments were “disrespectful and regressive” before announcing that her company “would not work with him again in any capacity.”

    Momina’s comments blew up a whole new controversy with some members of the film fraternity coming defending Jamal Sahab and calling out Momina for being extreme. The hashtag #SupportFirdousJamal also began to trend on Twitter soon after.

    Hamza Ali Abbasi asked everyone to be responsible.

    Firdous’ son Hamza Firdous who was part of a few Hum TV productions, most notably O Rangreza, also shared a video of himself in which said that he is ashamed that he was part of their dramas. He said that Firdous is a self-made man and he doesn’t need to stoop down to gain some fame.

    https://twitter.com/hamza_firdous/status/1156695645333458946?s=20
  • India divided after Hindu man refuses to accept food from Muslim rider

    India divided after Hindu man refuses to accept food from Muslim rider

    Neighbouring India has been left divided ever since a Hindu man refused to accept his order from a Muslim food delivery guy.

    “Just cancelled an order on @ZomatoIN. They allocated a non-Hindu rider for my food they said they can’t change rider and can’t refund on cancellation [sic],” Amit Shukla of Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur city tweeted Tuesday.

    Zomato is an Indian restaurant search and discovery service that operates in 24 countries. It provides information and reviews of restaurants as well as images of menus where the restaurant does not have its own website and also online delivery.

    Shukla, through the app’s customer support, requested another rider and when asked what was wrong, he replied, “We have Shravan [month of fasting] and I don’t need a delivery from a Muslim fellow.”

    The company refused to change the rider on the basis of religion and the customer care executive’s response was widely shared over social media.

    “Food doesn’t have a religion. It is a religion,” Zomato tweeted.

    https://twitter.com/ZomatoIN/status/1156429449258250240

    The company’s founder, Deepinder Goyal, also tweeted:

    “We are proud of the idea of India — and the diversity of our esteemed customers and partners. We aren’t sorry to lose any business that comes in the way of our values,” he wrote.

    While Zomato’s stand against religious intolerance won many hearts, some stood up in Shukla’s support.

    https://twitter.com/ubereats_ind/status/1156552511509024768?s=21

    https://twitter.com/dnaasingh29/status/1156496007674208257?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1156496007674208257&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fgulfnews.com%2Fworld%2Fasia%2Findia%2Findia-man-cancels-order-over-non-hindu-rider-zomatos-response-wins-the-internet-1.65549839

  • Senator vs ISPR: Army rejects claims that Senate vote was ‘hijacked by ISI’

    Senator vs ISPR: Army rejects claims that Senate vote was ‘hijacked by ISI’

    Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Asif Ghafoor has rubbished Senator Mir Hasil Bizenjo’s remarks that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief was “involved in manipulating the results” of the no-confidence motion against the Senate chairman.

    The National Party president and losing candidate for Senate chairman slot had on Thursday accused the country’s premier spy agency of hijacking the Senate vote by indulging in horse-trading.

    “Remarks by Senator Mir Hasil Bizenjo implicating head of national premier institution are unfounded,” the military spokesperson tweeted Thursday night.

    “The tendency to bring [the] entire democratic process into disrepute for petty political gains doesn’t serve democracy,” he added.

    The response came as Bizenjo’s reply to a journalist’s query, following his shocking defeat in the upper house, started doing rounds over the internet.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “[ISI DG] General Faiz’s people are behind this,” he was heard as saying when asked to name those responsible for the defeat.

    Earlier in the day, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani survived a no-confidence resolution tabled against him by the joint opposition.

    The opposition’s no-trust motion against Sanjrani failed to receive the 53 votes required for his removal even though at the start of the session, 64 senators had stood up in support of the motion.

    Following the secret balloting, it was revealed that the motion received only 50 votes in its favour.