The Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Shabbar Zaidi has
announced to launch a mobile application to help people file their tax returns.
As per reports, the app “Income Tax Return App” will be
launched next week. The recently launched tax returns e-form for
businesses and salaried individuals will also be uploaded on FBR’s website. The
last date for filing returns is also extended. The new deadline is September 30.
The application would have online tutorials to guide the
filers. It will make tax filing easy and efficient. The app will be
available on Google Play Store by next week.
Breathtaking is what everyone is calling the new, open to the public, Samandar Lake. So when the Minai family decided to take a weekend trip from Islamabad to see the now-famous lake, they planned their day around it.
The Minai family at Gali’s End, Nathiagali
They stayed at Gali’s End, a renowned retreat at the end of Nathiagali. A trek up to the cottages, the view was the definition of breathtaking.
Enjoying a cup of tea on a perfect summer day
The rooms were decent, the view gorgeous. It was almost like living in a cottage in a European country and since it was a trek up, it is secluded from the rest of the small city. If anyone needs a break, its the place to go so you can get away from the world. The only con was that the bathrooms were older and had not been renovated.
View from a room in Gali’s End
A perfectly cloudy day, they took the 45 minute drive down to Barra Gali. Google Maps wasn’t as effective as expected, and they got lost, stumbling upon a beautiful stream to dip your feet in.
Beautiful stream near Nathiagali
Stand in the Stream
They asked the locals around, where is this Samundar Katha lake? Don’t go there, said the locals. Your car won’t be able to take the drive down and it’s seriously not worth it. Not worth it? PTI Official’s pictures say otherwise.
PTI Official images of the lake
PTI Official images of the lake
Ignoring their advice, they took their car down to the lake car park area where they were told they had to walk the rest of the way or take a Mehran to the lake. The locals were right. There wasn’t a set road so taking a normal Corolla would ruin the car. They paid a guy 1000 rupees to sit in the back of a Mehran and went to the lake that everyone was talking about and found:
View of the car park from the lake
Lake View
Lots of cars, a small lake with boats and zip-lining. The boats didn’t make any sense. The lake was so small, you could only go round and round the lake and get seriously dizzy in the process. The zip-lining looked like fun but was such a short line, it didn’t hold much appeal either.
Zip-lining at Samundar lake
And the view? The stream they had stumbled upon was more beautiful – and free. On the way back to their car, they got stuck in a traffic jam.
Not a great time.
Bummed, they went to Nathiagali bazaar to the famous Taj Mahal restaurant for Patakha chicken. The fried whole chicken, with its perfect masala made the trip up North worth it.
Patakha chicken at Taj Mahal restaurant
So, will they go back again? To Nathiagali, yes. To Samundar Lake? Definitely not. They might have if it wasn’t so difficult to get there. The views along the way are a lot more beautiful but getting to the lake is 100 percent not worth the hassle.
The Ministry of Science and Technology, under the patronage of Fawad Chaudhry, has launched its own mineral bottled water, Safe Drinking Water, for Rs 1/litre. However, this water is only available to government offices.
Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that the step has been taken keeping in mind the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf government’s austerity measures. This bottled water will provide a cheaper alternative to the mineral water that is currently available.
The minister also shared that the Pakistan Council of Research and Water Reserves has so far prepared 500 ml bottles of the water.
The water is expected to be served to officials at PM Office, President House, GHQ and Parliament House first, before being distributed to other ministries. After that, they will be available to the public. The minister aims to provide people with cheap and safe drinking water.
We’ve all grown up watching Hollywood movies in which Chinese takeouts are the thing. And let’s be honest, we’ve all secretly wanted that. Though most Chinese and Pan Asian restaurants in Lahore offer takeaways and deliveries, they rarely offer single servings which is why you usually have to think twice before placing an order.
Enter NOI-Stir Fry Kitchen – an Asian Stir Fry Kitchen which has been creating waves on social media and all the food groups. After reading some fabulous reviews on their dishes, I gave in to my temptation and placed an order. Considering their prices were also comparatively reasonable, I didn’t need any more convincing.
From the 16 gravy options they have, I tried their Crispy Honey Sirachi, Sweet and Sour Manchurian, Mixed Mushrooms Teriyaki and Hot BBQ Shashlik and am happy to report that not one of them let me down.
All dishes are single servings and come with a side of plain steamed Asian rice packaged in a paper carton. The food was delivered piping hot in small black plastic containers and it was good to see that their serving size was pretty good – it was more than enough for a person. The quantity of vegetables in each dish was also impressive and they were well-cooked.
My favourite from the options has to be the Mixed Mushrooms Teriyaki and Sweet and Sour Manchurian. Most of us Pakistanis are used to eating saucy Manchurian which tastes like ketchup mixed with chicken. But Noi’s Manchurian was neither saucy nor ketchupy – it was just like the name suggested – perfectly balanced between sweet and sour. The Mixed Mushroom Teriyaki also had a similar flavour but with a stronger Ginger flavour. The mushrooms in this dish were delicious – they were better than anything else and I would order this dish for the mushroom alone next time.
Meanwhile, the Crispy Honey Siracha was extremely spicy and literally puts your mouth on fire. What I didn’t like about it was how it was barely crispy and the taste of honey was hardly detectable.
Mixed Mushroom Teriyaki, Sweet and Sour Manchurian
Nonetheless, given the quantity, taste and price, Noi is highly recommended. Their kitchen is open 5:30 pm onwards till late night but they are usually sold out long before closing time. Best is to place your order ahead of time so that you don’t end up disappointed.
Your friend’s wedding is coming up or you are going to attend some official dinner or meeting, most of the men would choose to wear a smart classy suit. You may think you look like a Hollywood star in your suit, but chances are you’ve made one of these four common mistakes.
Off-the-rack suits
Suits are meant to be custom-made. They should never be purchased off the rack. No matter how perfectly an off-the-rack suit fits you, it will still have its flaws. Attention to detail is very important. If you are getting a suit tailor-stitched, make sure that you ask him to keep the following just right:
Sleeves: When it comes to sleeves, you should be able to see anything from a quarter to an inch of your shirtsleeve under the jacket.
Pants: It is very important to get your trousers altered just right to hit your ankles to flatter the sockless look.
Wearing belts with suits
Belts were never meant to be worn with a suit. Belt hoops were later added on when off-the-rack suits started to hit it off. Your pants are meant to be stitched and tailored according to your measurements. If you still need help holding them up, then you can go for side tab adjusters or suspender buttons on the inside.
The second button should be undone
The second button on your suit should always remain undone. Only the top button in your suit is fastened while standing, it cuts a smoother shape and shows that you pay attention to detail. Not only that, fastening the bottom button will add an extra five kilograms to your hips as an illusion.
Avoid too many accessories
The idea of getting dressed up is to look as elegant without adding anything extra like tie pins, broaches, bracelets or even rings. They completely depreciate the focus from the suit itself. Hence, keep accessories minimum. You can wear a tie and pocket square, which complements the suit and enhances your overall look.
The financial and industrial capital of the country, Karachi, has scored 39 points out of 100 to secure the 57th position among 60 cities ranked by the recently published Safe Cities Index.
The report, issued by the Economist Intelligence Unit, has ranked 60 metropolises around the world based on over 50 indicators covering their digital, health and personal security, infrastructure, and lifestyle.
Japan’s capital city Tokyo stands at the top of the list with a score of 92 points, Singapore at second with 91.5 and another Japanese metropolis, Osaka, stands third with 90.9 points.
United States (US) capital Washington DC — ranked seventh — is the only American city to make it to the top ten, Chicago has grabbed the eleventh place whereas Australia’s Melbourne has secured the 10th spot.
Other than these, only two European cities, Amsterdam and Copenhagen, could make it to the top ten, at the fourth and eighth positions, respectively.
The five lowest-ranking cities include Caracas (Venezuela), Yangon (Myanmar), Karachi (Pakistan) and Dhaka (Bangladesh).
A Pakistani e-commerce brand and one of the trailblazers in the world of footwear, Atoms, has raised $8.1 million from a list of illustrious backers to bring its concept to the masses, TechCrunch has reported.
The company since its beginning has been selling directly to consumers in the United States via its website — which at one point had a waiting list of nearly 40,000 people — and the idea will be to fold in other experiences, including selling from physical spaces in the future.
The company plans to use the funding to invest in further development of its shoes and to expand its retail and marketing presence.
The list of investors is being led by Initialized Capital, the investment firm started by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and Garry Tan.
They had first encountered Atoms and its co-founders, Sidra Qasim and CEO Waqas Ali, as mentors when the husband-wife duo was going through Y Combinator with their previous high-end shoe startup, Markhor.
“The thing that I love about Atoms is that it isn’t just a different look, it’s a different feel,” said Ohanian adding that when he put on a pair for the first time, it was a “totally unique experience”.
Even before the recent achievement of closing a Series A, the startup has come a long way on a relative shoestring with just around $560,000 in seed funding and some of the founders’ own savings.
Atoms built a supply chain of companies that would make the materials and shoes that it wanted and developed a gradual but strong marketing pipeline with influential people in tech, fashion and design.
Currently the shoes sell for $179 a pair, which is not cheap and puts them at the high end of the market, so it will be interesting to see how and if price points evolve as it matures as a business, and competitors big and small begin to catch onto the idea of selling their own footwear at a wider range of sizes.
In what is being termed as a blatant breach of citizens’ privacy, a cinema in Lahore has released explicit footage of couples putting on public display of affection at the movies.
The videos showing couples holding hands, making out and being involved in sexual activities, started doing rounds on Friday evening, sparking outrage over social media.
While some called out the cinema for “blatant violation” of the couples’ privacy, others stepped in to train guns at the couples for publically being involved in the activities.
Apparently there’s videos circulating from an emporium cinema of couples making out in the cinema hall. The videos are from infrared security cameras mounted inside the hall facing the crowd.
Why are there cameras facing the crowd watching the screen in the first place?
No official statement over the episode has yet been released, however, former Punjab’s Strategic Reforms Unit director general (DG) Salman Sufi has announced filing a lawsuit against the cinema.
Important thread: Just found that video recordings of citizens from cinema halls in #Pakistan have been shared around.This is NOT acceptable and is a violation of law. We demand that all theaters/Public places delete ALL video recordings that have no recorded safety threat ASAP pic.twitter.com/ZeeKpjhTSn
— Salman Sufi (Get New Covid Booster Today) (@SalmanSufi7) August 30, 2019
“Just found that video recordings of citizens from cinema halls in #Pakistan have been shared around. This is NOT acceptable and is a violation of law. We demand that all theaters/Public places delete ALL video recordings that have no recorded safety threat ASAP [sic],” Sufi tweeted.
The account of Twitter Chief Executive Jack Dorsey was hacked,
sending public tweets and retweets including racial slurs and curse words to 4
million followers before Twitter secured the account.
The offensive tweets and
retweets were deleted less than an hour after the incident. The social media
company said the phone number associated with his account was compromised due
to a security oversight by the mobile provider.
“This allowed an unauthorized person to compose and send tweets via text message from the phone number. That issue is now resolved.” the company said. There was no indication that Twitter’s systems had been compromised, it added.
One of the tweets from the hacked account said Nazi leader Adolf
Hitler was innocent, while others contained derogatory comments about black
people and Jews. There was also a tweet suggesting there was a bomb at
Twitter’s headquarters.
This was not the first time that Dorsey’s Twitter account has been hacked. His account was compromised in 2016 by a group that also hacked the Twitter accounts of Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Twitter shares were down less than 1% in after-hours trade
following the hack.
Upon Prime Minister Imran Khan’s call to the nation to show solidarity with Kashmiris by observing the weekly Kashmir Hour, Pakistani across the country responded and gathered across the country in silent protest.
After the Kashmir Hour, PM Khan also took to Twitter to thank those who spoke up.
The Pakistani nation has also let the world know about the Nazi-style takeover of India by the RSS-BJP’s Hindu Supremacist ideology & the danger it poses not only to the region but the world.
Prominent media personalities and celebrities were also part of the monumental gatherings and even addressed those present to continue to raise their voice against Indian atrocities in Indian occupied Kashmir.
Here’s everyone who showed up.
Hamza Ali Abbasi
Hamza Ali Abbasi was present at the Prime Minister Secretariat with PM Khan himself.
Shahid Afridi
The former captain of the Pakistan Cricket Team was present at Mazar-e-Quaid along with Governor Sindh Imran Ismail and PTI Minister Faisal Vawda. He also addressed those gathered and criticised Modi for his actions.
Adnan Siddiqui & Bilal Ashraf
The two along with Superstar director Ehteshamuddin waved Kashmir’s flag at Jehangir Kothari Parade in Karachi.
Shehzad Roy
The singer made a human chain with 2500 girls of Zindagi Trust’s adopted SMB Fatima Jinnah Government School.
