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  • Pakistan Cricket Team turns to food for entertainment

    Pakistan Cricket Team turns to food for entertainment

    Pretty much like the rest of us, the Pakistan Cricket Team also turns to food for entertainment. And after last night’s loss, we’re sure they will be seeking solace in food too. Yeh bhi humari tarah.

    A report in the local media, quoting a team official, shared this news bite (pun intended) adding that this team is one of the easiest to manage. The official revealed that members of the team avoid partying and breaking curfews and instead turn to food, takeaways to be specific, for entertainment. This is in stark contrast to players of the previous World Cups who were very fond of indulging in the vibrant nightlife, occasionally causing a stir.

    The team official said that this good behaviour from the boys is attributed to Captain Sarfaraz Ahmed who himself is a very religious man along with being very disciplined. Though Sarfaraz doesn’t force anyone to follow him, the official believes that it is natural that the boys will follow suit. He added that all the boys are regular with their prayers but “neither of them is over-zealous.”

  • At the end of the day, ‘Suno Chanda 2’ failed to meet expectations

    At the end of the day, ‘Suno Chanda 2’ failed to meet expectations

    Ever since the second season of Suno Chanda was announced, fans, including myself, had been waiting with bated breaths for the return of their favourite characters. Expectations were naturally high but unfortunately, the show fell a little short of them and left us wanting a lot more.

    The season started the day after Arsal and Jiya’s wedding and ended with the season’s new characters Mithu and Maina getting married. As a result, the new season saw the focus shift from Arsal, Jiya and the rest of the family to the new characters of Mithu, Maina and Bebe. But that is not what the fans had been anticipating. They were more interested in seeing how Arjiya’s married life progressed and how they, and their family members, dealt with the changes.

    Unfortunately, Arsal and Jiya pretty much spent the entire season fighting with one another only to reconcile in a rushed final episode. Shahana’s scenes were limited and scattered. We barely saw Sherry and Kinza who were reduced to just advertising the sponsors of the show. Bi Jaan, Agha Jee, Nazakat, DJ, Naeema, Masooma and Jamshed were also seen more in the first half of the season. The punch lines which became so popular in the first season were limited in this one and the season jumped from being a light-hearted comedy to more of a family drama.

    I simply failed to understand why Jalal Phuppa was given so much screentime considering his character was hardly likable. Throughout the season, he was either throwing his weight around because he’s the “ghar ka aklota damaad” or he’s out hitting on various women in the family. I was also not a big fan of Pino, Mithu and Maina but considering a lot of people liked their characters, I will reserve my thoughts on them.

    My biggest disappointment from this season was Arsal and Jiya’s characters. Arsal’s character was nothing more than a man-child who sulked every time things did not go this way, while Jiya was like dynamite, ready to blow up any minute. Instead of showing them bickering and ignoring one another, the writers could have shown their struggle as a young, married couple learning to live with one another.

    On the contrary, one of the highlights of the season was Shahana as the mother-in-law. She was supportive of her daughter-in-law and did not hesitate to call out her son every time she felt he was getting out of line. She was without a doubt the one person who pulled together the show and I can confidently say that she was the one who brought in the viewers each night. That along with the chemistry of the cast with one another.

    Despite all the shortcomings, the serial pulled in viewers each night because there is a dearth of such shows on our television screens. Most TV serials either focus on unrequited love or saas-bahu tensions which have now been done to death. Apart from that, a lot of drama nowadays focus on society’s ills and while those are amazing for spreading awareness, they also dampen our already depressed moods.

    Suno Chanda provided a light-hearted, mindless watch even though it became boring to some extent. Aehsun Talish is a brilliant director who really knows how to bring out the best in his actors while Saima Akram Chaudhry deserves a round of applause for her writing. The cast’s performances were also brilliant apart from a few opening episodes in which Iqra Aziz and Farhan Saeed went overboard with their acting.

    If Hum TV is planning on bringing back a third season, I hope they will focus more on Arsal and Jiya instead of bringing in other characters. Oh and the OST was lovely. Kudos to Farhan for writing such beautiful lyrics.

    At the end of the day, the numbers were not because of content, but because of a lack of other content.

  • New study claims sleeping with light on can cause weight gain in women

    New study claims sleeping with light on can cause weight gain in women

    Women who sleep with the television or a light on in the bedroom may be more likely to gain weight, a new study has claimed.

    The research conducted a survey of almost 44,000 US women, with a follow-up five years later. The women in the study were classified according to their level of exposure to artificial light at night (ALAN) which came from a variety of sources, from small nightlights or clock radios to light shining in from the street to televisions or room lights.

    One of the key findings was that women who slept with a television or a light on in the room were 17 percent more likely to have gained five kilograms (11 pounds) or more during the study period.

    Authors suggested that the light may be suppressing the production of melatonin, thereby disruption circadian rhythm and eating patterns.

    Other possibilities were that light acts as a “chronic stressor” disrupting the release of stress hormones such as glucocorticoids that play a part in regulating food intake, or that there may be another mechanism at work that affects metabolism directly.

    The authors acknowledged several limitations including that the data was self-reported and they did not know how intense various light sources were.

    High light exposure may also “reflect a constellation of measures of socioeconomic disadvantage and unhealthy lifestyle behaviours, all of which could contribute to weight gain and obesity.”

    A professor of Chronobiology at the University of Surrey in Britain agreed with the finding saying, “To maintain good sleep hygiene, avoid light and electronic distractions in the bedroom.”

  • Win for parents as private schools restricted from increasing fees

    Win for parents as private schools restricted from increasing fees

    After months of struggle, parents have secured a win over private schools with their owners being barred from increasing fees by more than 5 per cent a year, a private media outlet reported.

    According to reports, the Supreme Court (SC) delivered the verdict on Wednesday while hearing a case filed by owners of private schools. They had sought legal approval to increase fees by 15 per cent to 20 per cent every year.

    Justice Ijazul Ahsan read out the reserved verdict.

    The top court upheld the verdict of the Sindh High Court (SHC) and overturned the Lahore High Court (LHC) decision in favour of the private schools.

    The schools have been ordered to return or adjust the extra amount they charged parents since the first ruling in the case.

  • Zartaj Gul and Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari fight it out on Twitter

    Zartaj Gul and Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari fight it out on Twitter

    The week has been pretty lit as far as Pakistani politics is concerned with three high-profile arrests, including those of former President Asif Ali Zardari, Altaf Hussain and Hamza Shehbaz, and the 2019-20 budget being presented.

    Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari, who often expresses her political thoughts on Twitter, took to the social media to defend her father and in the process, got into a Twitter feud with State Minister for Climate Change Zartaj Gul, who is also no stranger to controversy.

    It all started when Gul tweeted a picture of the arrested politicians crying, referring to Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, who in his election campaign, had vowed to “make his opponents cry”.

    Bakhtawar responded to Gul in a tweet she later deleted. But, Zartaj had already taken a screenshot. She shared the tweet, calling Bakhtawar “disoriented”, “timid” and a “coward” and referred to Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari as her “sister”.

    Bakhtawar was not to back down and mocked Gul for her accent at the recent speech at the UN-Habitat Assembly.

    Zartaj then decided to have the final word.

    Later, Zartaj even took a dig at Bilawal when he called the budget “economic suicide.”

  • VIDEO: ‘PTI govt paying media houses to like them?’, Hamid Mir trolls Faisal Vawda

    VIDEO: ‘PTI govt paying media houses to like them?’, Hamid Mir trolls Faisal Vawda

    Senior journalist Hamid Mir has trolled Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda for claiming that “anti-Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)” media houses had started liking the government after financial benefits.

    Speaking on Mir’s show, Vawda on Tuesday said that media outlets, known for their alleged affiliation with opposition parties, were now highlighting achievements of the PTI government as they had been “provided with ease of doing business”.

    “It wasn’t our job, but we fought against lay-offs in the media industry. We made doing businesses easy by giving them [media houses] budgets,” he said.

    When Mir asked if he meant the government had paid media houses any money, Vawda agreed, saying the PTI had “paid them against government advertisements”.

    It wasn’t later that both Mir and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khurram Dastgir Khan broke into laughter.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Senior journalists have time and again expressed concerns over the state of Pakistani media ever since the PTI government took reins of the country.

    With cuts in government advertisements, a shakeout has been triggered and hundreds of thousands of media workers have gone jobless. Some journalists have also accused the PTI of using “stoppage of government ads to media as a weapon”.

  • VIDEO: PM Imran spotted dancing ‘to mock opposition’ during budget session

    VIDEO: PM Imran spotted dancing ‘to mock opposition’ during budget session

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has been spotted dancing on the floor of the National Assembly, in what appears to be an attempt to mock the opposition.

    As per the details, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government on Tuesday presented its first federal budget while members of opposition parties recorded a strong protest against PM Imran.

    They raised slogans, held placards and wore black armbands during Revenue Minister Hammad Azhar’s budget speech.

    As the minister concluded presenting the budget, the premier was seen being escorted out of the house, waving his hands in the air — suggesting he was least bothered about the ruckus.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Earlier, a Rs7 trillion austerity budget for the fiscal year 2019-20 was presented by the PTI government. It received severe criticism from opposition parties who termed the budget “anti-people”.

  • Two frogs married in India to bring rains

    Two frogs married in India to bring rains

    India and Pakistan have been hit by a terrible heatwave which is making life very difficult for those living in these areas.

    While the rest of us wait for the monsoon rains to come, citizens from the Indian state of Karnataka decided to take matters into their own hands. They got together and arranged a marriage between two frogs to appease the Hindu rain god.

    According to reports, four frogs were taken by the organisers to the department of Zoology in Manipal, where the zoologists identified the male and female frogs. Following the identification, one male and one female were singled out.

    The two frogs were then dressed up in specially made outfits and taken to the wedding venue in a decorated cycle auto.

    Several guests participated in the frogs wedding ceremony and celebrated the occasion. A feast followed the wedding ceremony.

    Interestingly, the frog couple will be sent on a honeymoon to Manna Palla near Manipal in Udupi. The main intention in arranging this frog wedding was to appease the rain Gods who seem to have deserted the coastal district over the past few months, and the people have been struggling to get water for drinking and other basic purposes.

    frogs-marriage1
  • Budget 2019: Things you need to stock up on before they get too expensive

    Budget 2019: Things you need to stock up on before they get too expensive

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government on Tuesday announced its first federal budget for the fiscal year 2019-20, which received mixed reactions from people.

    It was presented by Federal Minister for Revenue Hammad Azhar, who delivered his speech while opposition members protested against Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and his government.

    Amid all the confusion over the increase in prices of different products, which may follow the budget, here is a list of stuff The Current suggests you stock up on before an inflation bomb is dropped.

    Rooh Afza

    That was exactly our reaction. But, a new health tax has been proposed on sugary drinks, which will make it costlier to buy sharbat. It’s not just that though…

    Soft Drinks

    You heard that right. Those little soft drink breaks during summers will be costing you more now as the health tax will also be jacking up soda prices. The excise tax on soft drinks has been increased from 11.25 per cent to 13 per cent, which is not too much, but will ultimately affect you.

    The good part? The money will reportedly be used to provide free medical treatment to people using Sehat Cards that offer treatment up to Rs720,000 from a private or government hospital.

    Cooking Oil/Ghee

    Branded cooking oil and ghee prices will also be rising as a 17 per cent sales tax will be imposed. You must be thinking that it doesn’t really affect you much, but you never know how it may or may not affect food prices.

    The good news, however, remains no increase in General Sales Tax (GST) in case you’re planning to dine out.

    Sugar

    The price of sugar is expected to increase by Rs3.60/kg since the government is unhappy with the tax collection from the sector. The new budget recommends increasing sales tax on sugar from 8 per cent to 17 per cent. 

    We don’t endorse the next thing you need to stock up on, but let’s be honest, we know a lot of people who smoke.

    Cigarettes

    The budget has also recommended a federal excise duty of Rs5,200 on every 10,000 cigarettes be imposed, which means every pack of 20 cigarettes you buy will cost you at least Rs10 more.

    Just so you know, tobacco consumption kills nearly 160,000 Pakistanis every year, and a lot of people are supporting the move.

  • ‘Love Pakistan,’ says Adnan Sami’s Twitter bio

    ‘Love Pakistan,’ says Adnan Sami’s Twitter bio

    Just a few hours after Turkish hackers took over Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan’s Twitter, they have now hacked into Adnan Sami’s account.

    The hackers have not only uploaded a series of pro-Pakistan tweets, but they have also change the singer’s username and bio, as a result of which the blue verification tick has disappeared. The account’s profile picture has been replaced by a picture of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the same one which was used on Amitabh’s Twitter. Though the tweets have now been deleted, screenshots are forever.

    The hackers also shared screenshots of Adnan Sami’s DM on their own Instagram page.

    It is interesting to note that a few hours before the incident, the hackers hinted that they will troll Adnan Sami. Sharing a photo of Adnan’s anti-Pakistan tweet, the hackers asked their followers, “What shall we do about this man?” While a lot of social media users asked the Ayyildiz Tim to change Adnan’s name to Major Adnan Sami, they decided to take over his account and post pro-Pakistan stuff.

    Late last night, the Ayyildiz Tim hacked in Amitabh Bachchan’s Twitter account and also posted a series of pro-Pakistan tweets while also changing the profile picture to that of Prime Minister Imran Khan. The tweets were later deleted and Bachchan is said to have taken the case to the Mumbai police who are investigating the matter. Funnily, a lot of Twitter users suggested that Adnan Sami was behind the hacking Big B’s account.