Tag: life-stories

  • UN Secretary-General appreciates Pakistan’s peace efforts

    UN Secretary-General António Guterres visited Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur and the Kartarpur Corridor on Tuesday during his four-day visit to Pakistan. Minister of Religious Affairs Pir Noorul Haq Qadri accompanied the him on the Kartarpur visit.

    Mr. Guterres took to twitter to appreciate Pakistan’s efforts for peace and inter-faith harmony.

    UN Secretary-General António Guterres at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur

    “This is the best symbol that we can give for a world in peace and for a world in which there is mutual respect and there is the acceptance of what is different. Recognising diversity is a blessing, is a richness…not a threat. When we see in so many parts of the world fighting in the name of religion, it is necessary to say that religions unite us for peace and the best symbol is this [Kartarpur] shrine,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

    Earlier, the UN Secretary-General visited Lahore and administered polio drops to children in a local school.

  • Animal cruelty at Karachi Zoo sparks outrage

    Animal cruelty at Karachi Zoo sparks outrage

    A picture of two crocodiles covered in paan and gutka published in The News serves as a reminder how poorly we treat animals in Pakistan.

    Journalist Zia Ur Rehman tweeted the picture published in the paper with the caption: “A sorry sight: crocodiles soak up the sun at the Karachi Zoo after paan and gutka-using visitors spat on them, leaving their bodies with blood-red spots.”

    Senator and PPP leader Sherry Rehman also commented that she was “shamed to see this.”

    Journalists Sanam Maher and Amber Shamsi also expressed their outrage on Twitter.

    Read more – Mashal Khan slams couple for using a lion cub as a prop for their wedding shoot

    Animal cruelty is not new in Pakistan. Torturing animals in zoos and otherwise under the disguise of fun is unfortunately also a common practise in the country.

    Last year, activist and lawyer Jibran Nasir tweeted pictures of a boy who used to post videos on social media while torturing kittens.

  • How to avoid dry skin in this cold weather

    How to avoid dry skin in this cold weather

    It’s
    winter and your skin needs all the extra care you can give. cold weather can
    result in dry air that can make your skin dry. Dry hands,tight skin and chapped
    lips. These are some of the significant signs that indicate that your skin
    needs to be moisturized. 

    Make sure that your skin is hydrated throughout the
    winters. Hot showers may be tempting, but washing the face with lukewarm water
    helps avoid stripping oils from the skin. And apply moisturizer after the wash. 

    Don’t forget to drink water

    In winter we usually forget to drink forget because we do
    not feel thirsty. Set alarms just to remind yourself that you have to grab a
    glass of water. 

    Use a gentle cleanser

    Try to use for a gentle cleanser to retain the skin’s
    natural moisture. If your skin feels tight after you’ve cleansed, you may be
    stripping your skin. Your skin should feel both hydrated and free from
    irritation after cleansing. And don’t forget to drink lots and lots of water.

     Protect
    your lips

    Normally we do not pay much attention to our lips but the
    skin on your lips can also get dry and cracked during winter months. Try a lip
    balm for added daily protection, and if you plan to be in the sun, use the
    proper SPF to protect your lips from the sun’s potential damage.

     Body
    bonuses

    It’s the season for creamy body lotions, foot balms and
    moisturizing masks. Treat yourself to regular at-home spa moments to rejuvenate
    and replenish dry and flakey skin.

     At
    home

    The weather may be chilly outside, but inside, the
    conditions could be affecting your skin. Use a humidifier and if you are using
    a gas or electric heater, try to put a pot full of water in front of your
    heater so that your skin does not become dry. Preferably maintain a neutral
    temperature at home that will maintain the skin’s moisture and balance.

  • Second marriage? Avail a discount

    Second marriage? Avail a discount

    If you want to get a discount at a wedding hall in Bahawalpur, you have to get married again! On your second, third or fourth marriage, a wedding hall in Bahawalpur offers special packages to men. The only caveat is that the first wife has to make the booking.

    According to Samaa News, the owner of Al-Farooq Marriage Hall said that they offer 50 percent discount to men getting married for the second time, 75 percent to men getting married the third time and if men get married for the fourth time, they can get the hall for free at their valima. Talk about incentives!

    “Many
    people have told them that they can’t afford second weddings, so I thought of
    giving them an offer and making their lives a little simpler,” he told SAMAA
    TV. “We are in the business of bringing people together, we don’t want
    relationships to fall apart.”

  • Parents forgive daughter for murdering younger sister

    Parents forgive daughter for murdering younger sister

    A teenage girl charged with killing her own sister was acquitted by a model court in Karachi after her parents pardoned her and her three accomplices, one of which was her fiancé at the time.

    According to reports, eighteen-year-old Alveena along with her fiancé Mazhar Mehfooz had murdered her 16-year-old sister Aleena in December 2017 in what police claimed was a staged robbery.

    According to the prosecution, the female accused and her fiancé had confessed to slitting the throat of the victim since she shared a friendship with one of the two accused brothers and allegedly helped both visit her home in the absence of her parents and to blackmail the female accused after getting her intimate pictures in their mobile phones.

    According to the FIR registered at the time of the incident, two men broke into the house for robbery and stabbed the 16-year-old to death for putting up resistance. They also took away cash, jewellery and other valuables.

    The two co-accused brothers Ahsan and Abbas were charged with blackmailing the female accused and forcing her to kill her own sister.

    After recording evidence and hearing final arguments from both sides, an additional district and sessions judge acquitted the accused.

    The judge also accepted the compromise applications moved by the accused persons and the parents of the victim. In their application and affidavits, the parents of the victim said that they had pardoned all four accused, including their daughter Alveena and her husband Mazhar, in the name of the Almighty, without any duress and pressure and waived off their right to claim compensation as well.

  • ‘I already love her,’ say Twitterati about former Google exec leading ‘Digital Pakistan’ campaign

    ‘I already love her,’ say Twitterati about former Google exec leading ‘Digital Pakistan’ campaign

    A senior Pakistani executive of Google, Tania Aidrus quit her position at the tech giant to lead Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ‘Digital Pakistan’ initiative. Her decision to serve the country has won the hearts of Pakistanis who took to Twitter to thank her for her efforts.

    https://twitter.com/NeelumMunirKhan/status/1202569193964654592?s=20

    According to reports, Tania arrived in Pakistan from Singapore to offer her services to the country’s digitalisation programme.

    Tania was the Chief of Staff and Head of Strategic Initiatives on the Next Billion Users (NBU) team at Google which is focused on building new products and services that are aimed at addressing the emerging trends and needs of users in growth markets.

    Prior to this, Tania was a leader in the Global Business Organisation at Google in the US and then in Singapore where she was the Country Manager for South Asia Frontier Markets at Google focused on expanding the Internet ecosystem, increasing product adoption amongst consumers and businesses and accelerating innovation.

    Before being part of Google, Tania co-founded a mobile health diagnosis company called ClickDiagnostics which was focused on connecting rural patients in emerging markets to doctors globally. She also spent a portion of her career consulting for Fortune 500 companies and the US Government at Booz Allen Hamilton.

    Tania holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a BSc from Brandeis University.

    PM Imran Khan inaugurated the ‘Digital Pakistan’ campaign on Thursday. The campaign was executed by the Ministry of Information Technology (MoIT), who were tasked with digitising all correspondence between the government offices. They were given only three months to complete the task.

    According to a statement, Digital Pakistan is a comprehensive plan which will help the country in competing in the digital market globally and will also create jobs and ease for the people of Pakistan.

    Earlier in September, senior PTI leader Jahangir Tareen had announced the government had engaged a senior former Google executive to help revamp its payment system and set into motion the digitisation initiative.

    He said the government had persuaded the Google executive, who was in Singapore, to lead the project from Pakistan, after a lot of effort and headhunting.

    “She is leaving Google. In fact, she has left it and she is moving to Pakistan and will lead the digitisation initiative,” Tareen had said.

  • Danish woman comes to Pakistan to marry her love after his visa gets rejected

    Danish woman comes to Pakistan to marry her love after his visa gets rejected

    Who says true love does not exist? This love story of a Danish woman and a Pakistani man will be the sweetest thing you will see today on the internet. 

    A woman from Denmark, traveled all the way to Pakistan to marry her love who was denied a Danish visa.

    Greta and her parents came to Pakistan where she married Shahzeb. “I saw him for the first time at a coffee shop in Malaysia,” she said and thought that he was very handsome”.

    “Pakistan gave us such a warm welcome. Shahzeb’s family members welcomed us with rose petals when we arrived and it was so beautiful. Nothing like that ever happens in Denmark. Pakistan’s culture is very beautiful, but people don’t really know anything about Pakistan and only read negative things about it. People must visit this beautiful country,” she urged.

    Later, her parents shared the couple’s struggle with a radio station, who then released a song, titled Blacklisted Love, to tell the people their love story.

  • US Embassy introduces home delivery service for visa

    Good news for all those applying for their US visa.

    The United States Embassy in Pakistan has announced the introduction of a new optional visa delivery service.

    According to a tweet from the official account of the US Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistanis can avail the facility of having their US visa delivered to them on their doorstep. The service is optional and comes with a delivery charge of Rs 700.

    To avail this service, select the “premium delivery” option during the application process and you’re good to go.

  • Rs 1 lakh worth shoes stolen from outside mosque

    Rs 1 lakh worth shoes stolen from outside mosque

    We have all heard of shoes being stolen outside of mosques while people offer their prayers but a new shoe theft has set a new record of sorts.

    According to ARY News, a pair of shoes worth Rs 100,000 were stolen from outside a mosque in Lahore during prayers.

    Police say that Sheeraz Bashir went to offer prayers in the mosque situated near Ganga Ram Hospital. When he came back from prayers, he found his expensive shoes had gone missing.

    Bashir, a resident of the Defence area of Lahore, came to Ganga Ram Hospital to visit an ailing relative.

    Sheeraz Bashir has asked the police to catch the thief with the help of CCTV footage and recover his shoes.

    Police say they are doing everything possible to recover the expensive shoes.

  • And the word of the year is…

    And the word of the year is…

    Climate change, gun violence, the very nature of democracy and an angsty little movie star called Forky helped propel existential to Dictionary.com’s word of the year.

    The choice reflects months of high-stakes threats and crises, real and pondered, across the news, the world and throughout 2019.

    “In our data, it speaks to this sense of grappling with our survival, both literally and figuratively, that defined so much of the discourse,” said John Kelly, senior research editor for the site, ahead of the announcement.

    The word earned “top of mind awareness” in sustained searches at Dictionary.com in the aftermath of wildfires and Hurricane Dorian, and mass shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, and El Paso, Texas. It also reared itself in presidential politics and pop culture.

    Oxford Dictionaries picked climate emergency as its word of the year, noting usage evidence that reflects the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of the passing year, the company said in a statement.

    Dictionary.com crunches lookup and other data to decide which word to anoint each year. The site has been picking a word of the year since 2010.

    The word ‘existential’ dates to 1685, deriving from Late Latin’s existentialis. Dictionary.com defines existential as of or relating to existence and of, relating to, or characteristic of philosophical existentialism; concerned with the nature of human existence as determined by the individuals freely made choices.

    Meanwhile, last year, Merriam-Webster had chosen “justice” as its 2018 word of the year while Oxford Dictionaries chose “toxic.” “Misinformation” was Dictonary.com’s word of the year in 2018.