Spokesperson to Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Gill has announced a monthly stipend for girls and women who have survived an acid attack.
Gill made this announcement during while visiting an acid attack survivor in Gujrat. He also gave a cheque of Rs 500,000 to the victim’s family.
Speaking on the matter, the spokesperson said, “We’ve paid more attention to paying off the country’s debt. For one year, we applied the policy of human welfare and will focus on it more in the coming years.”
Along with announcing a monthly stipend for acid victims, Gill assured families that culprits will be punished for their crimes. He asserted that the government stands with the survivors, adding that the government has also legislated on the matter of abolishing the practice of acid attacks.
We are all obsessed with tea, coffee, soft drinks and juice. But which drink is good for your heart?
Coffee and Tea are good for you says Harvard University
The Harvard Medical School, in its Health Publishing article, says that tea and coffee are actually good for you. They contain healthy compounds which help with artery inflammation and some studies show that people who regularly drink either coffee or tea have lower rates of heart disease. Over time, caffeine also raises your resting metabolic rate which can help with weight control (if you don’t add cream or sugar).
Juices isn’t really the best for you. Better to eat fruit
Juices, even 100 percent juice boxes, are not good for you. They have lots of sugar which are easily broken down in your body and spikes your insulin. You’re better off eating whole fruits than having them in liquid form.
Soft drinks are terrible for you
Soft drinks are terrible for your diet (but you knew that already). The added sugars contribute to weight gain, heart disease and diabetes.
Popular Sport drinks aren’t the best for your body
Sport drinks also have added sugars and artificial flavors and even though the electrolytes are good for your body, you’re better off drinking water and getting electrolyte nutrients from food.
The Oxford dictionary describes a humanitarian as someone who “is concerned with or seeking to promote human welfare.”
Abdul Sattar Edhi, Lady Diana, Martin Luther King and Angelina Jolie, to name a few, are world-renowned humanitarians who have dedicated their lives for humanity.
On World Humanitarian Day, The Current brings to you three millennials who are working towards making the world a better place.
Rizq, a social enterprise, works towards preventing food wastage. Run by three LUMS graduates, Rizq collects food from hotels, restaurants and marriage halls, repackages it and then distributes it among the needy. Rizq also provides the poor with monthly rations.
Their #Ramazan Dastarkhwans across Pakistan are truly special and watch the video for a tour of one in Lahore.
Remember the boys who went viral after the India Pakistan Cricket Worldcup match for their antics? You’ll be surprised to know that one of them runs an NGO which is making water transportation easier through H2O wheels in one of Pakistan’s poorest areas – Tharparkar. The wheels enable women and children in Thar carry water easily and in a shorter period of time.
ACF (Ayesha Chundigar Foundation) is a non-profit organisation based in Karachi, which rescues and rehabilitates animals. The welfare also has the first-of-its-kind animal shelter in Pakistan for injured and unwell stray animals such as dogs, cats, donkeys, horses and camels. The foundation also has rescue service ambulances, which actively help injured animals.
The owner of ACF, Ayesha, with a donkey
ACF picks up strays, after which they undergo a spay/neuter/release program. When the animal becomes healthy, they are released back into the community in areas, identified as safe zones.
A foundation also holds unique donkey camps in different donkey/equine populated areas of the city including brick kilns and coal mines, through which they provide medical treatment, food and water to the donkeys educate the owners on the animal’s behaviour and handling.
Also, an animal rescue initiative, Todd’s Welfare Society is run by a group of young adults who help, save and rescue injured, sick, neglected and abused animals in Lahore.
Todd’s recently opened an animal shelter in the outskirts of Lahore where they provide animals with shelters and nurse them to health. Animal lovers can either adopt an animal and take them home or provide for their sustenance and other needs.
The Current on Saturday held an online photography competition. We received a lot of entries and some of them were really good, which made it hard for us to choose the winners.
Bananas are probably the most readily available fruit. They are easily available all year round and are a fruit basket staple. More than that, the banana is something that will taste good with anything – you can have it as it is or add it to your fruit salad or make a shake out of it – it’s that versatile. Plus it contains only 90 calories.
And the good news is that eating a banana every day is very good for your health.
Bananas are good for the heart
Bananas are loaded with potassium which is an important electrolyte that helps in regulating heart function. According to a study done by the University of Leeds, increasing the consumption of fiber-rich foods such as bananas can lower the risk of both cardiovascular disease (CVD) and coronary heart disease (CHD).
Maintain gut health
Bananas are full of soluble fiber which slows down digestion and keeps you feeling full for a longer time. Which is why bananas are the perfect breakfast meal.
Perfect pre-workout meal
Bananas are rich in carbohydrates that keep you full throughout your workout sessions which is why they are considered to be the best energy-boosting pre-workout meal.
Boosts mood
Bananas contain amino acid and antioxidants, like dopamine, which play a vital role in boosting one’s mood.
Assists in treating anemia
If you have a low blood count, then it important for you to include bananas in your diet as they have a high iron content, which is essential for the development of red blood cells. Anemia leads to fatigue, shortness of breath, and paleness.
In an extremely bizarre turn of events, more and more wives in Lahore are murdering their husbands, either with their own hands or through hired killers.
According to reports, eight of such instances occurred in the last year alone. The reasons behind the murders are often stated to be domestic disputes or marital misunderstandings.
According to Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) Operations Ismail Kharak marital disputes are the main cause behind such incidents. He elaborated that abusive husbands compel women to commit such crimes.
“The story usually revolves around the husband being unjust and abusive to his wife. In some cases, the woman’s marriage takes place against her wish due to factors such as poverty,” he said.
He added that in some instances, cheating or second marriage is the reason behind the murders, while substance abuse and addiction is also a cause.
A lawyer pointed out that women get frustrated when the law doesn’t protect them and their husbands are not punished for their actions which is why they decide to take the law in their hands.
Meanwhile, a religious scholar said that one of the reasons for a rise in such incidents is a lack of moral values. He added that parents should take the wishes of their children into account at the time of marriage.
DISCLAIMER: This review is not sponsored. The Current has done its own independent research for this review.
After Pakistanis became candle crazy, different local companies started introducing their own scented candle lines as an alternative for people who were used to lugging candles from abroad to fulfill their candle needs. We tried four scented candles from different Pakistani brands to find which one has the most long-lasting smell.
Not taking how long the candle lasts or the type of smell into account, our only focus was, can you actually smell the candle for a long period of time. They rank as follows:
4. AURA
Aura, a natural, toxin-free skincare brand branched out into candles and we tried out their scented candle called Eden. Sadly, it didn’t smell of anything, despite being lit for a few hours. Sticking your nose close to the candle won’t help much either. It emits a faint scent of flowers (or are we imagining that?)
Price – Rs 700
3. BATH AND BODY WORKS
YES, believe it or not, two local candle brands outranked the foreign candle giant, Bath and Body Works. We tried out their Fresh (spring blue skies) scent and although you can smell it (and it smells a lot like the men’s cologne Aqua Di Gio and should be a huge hit with the boys) it doesn’t beat the top two.
Rs 3900 (but if you get it from abroad, its usually on sale for half price)
2. Karachi Candle Company
We are very sure you thought the Karachi candles would win. We were surprised by the results too. As loyal Karachi candle company followers, we love their Motia Noir scent which took Karachi (and then other cities) by storm. It smells exactly of Karachi Jasmine nights and lingers and lasts for a long time.
Price – Rs 2000
1. Meem
A young company, we bought the candle on a whim, after hearing murmurs of how good their Mulberry scent was. It smells exactly like bubble gum and can fill an entire office space with its scent. Strong and powerful, Meem is not one for the weak and lives up to its promise. We can’t wait to try other scents from them.
DISCLAIMER: This review is not sponsored. The Current has done its own independent research for this review.
Looking to buy a fridge? Which one is the most popular in Pakistan? We compare two – Dawlance and Kenwood – that are the most popular in your city. According to our research, Orient, PEL and Haier are also very popular but salespeople at local stores claim that these two are the ones which are most commonly bought.
The table below gives a brief outline of the two fridges.
Dawlance
Kenwood
Rs 33,000 – 55,000
Rs 45,000 – 65,000
Service Centres: 4 in Karachi, 2 in Lahore
Service Centres: 4 in Karachi, 3 in Lahore
3-way cooling
Unbreakable models
Works on low voltage
Best in load shedding
Warranty – 12 years
Warranty – 3 years
Because of its services, price and warranty time period, Dawlance emerges as a winner.
Police have arrested a couple allegedly involved in kidnapping, sexually abusing, blackmailing and also recording inappropriate videos of 45 girls in Rawalpindi. The accused identified as Qasim Jahangir and Kiran Mehmood confessed to the crime.
As per reports, the action was taken after a complaint was filed by a victim, a student of Allama Iqbal Open University. The student said that she was kidnapped from outside Gordon College by a woman who pretended to be a fellow student. She said that her brother was coming to pick her up. After a few minutes, when her “brother” arrived in a grey car, the woman pushed the victim inside the car and threatened her with a knife. The student was then taken to a house in Gulistan Colony where Qasim, the husband, allegedly raped her while the wife recorded a video of the crime. They blackmailed the girl by showing her video. Later at night, she was released on Tipu Road.
Police officials said that the couple had sold the videos and photos to an international porn website. The wife has been sent to Adiala jail on judicial remand while the husband is in police custody on physical remand.
The police have also involved the FIA as they do not have modern technology to examine laptops and other devices used by the accused.
It’s a trend now. To talk about the non-conformists, the ones who don’t fit in and the ones who don’t want to.
In her 10th novel, Japanese fiction author Sayaka Murata doesn’t make up a story. She calmly and incredibly coolly takes us into the world of the straight face life of a “convenience store woman” in her internationally best-selling book of the same name.
Stores of Convenience
It’s a weird book and it’s so much fun. We enter the world of a convenience store worker, Keiko, who is 36 years old and single, has never dated anyone and has worked part-time at the same store for the past 18 years.
No one seems to understand why she has worked in the Smile Mart for so long, why she yearns to be there and how it literally becomes her day and her night. But then she isn’t one to do things normally.
The first blow that Keiko gives us is a memory of her childhood, when, to break up a fight, she hits one of the boys on the head with a spade and doesn’t understand when everyone is shocked by what she does. They did say they wanted the fight to stop.
Deadpan and almost robotic, Keiko is the person we would tend to avoid — lacks emotion, copies emotion, and doesn’t get angry. You can’t trust Keiko but you can’t help but like her. Murata has so beautifully carved out Keiko’s character that you somehow don’t feel bad for her at all. Perhaps because you know that she already has everything; a job she lives for, a convenience store she loves and that’s enough for her.
Murata, through Keiko, takes us through the experience of milestones that are part of every single society in the world. Work, life-partner, marriage, children and how we tend to isolate and judge people who don’t fit in society’s norms.
Keiko’s counter, the young, lanky, and smelly Shiraha, is full of disdain. He joins the store and soon gets fired from the Smile Mart for not doing his duties. Figures that his only reason for taking the job was to find a woman, stalk her and marry her.
The utter stench his words produce when we meet him is more effective than repellent. He is a loathsome character and as we move through the book, and discover that he might be important, we try to like him when there is nothing at all to like.
But to be fair, Murata rushes through the existence of Shiraha. Maybe because she doesn’t want to marry the crazy beauty she has created with Keiko and perhaps she realises that the reader might relate more to Shiraha; whether they like him or not.
It’s a short read, ends in 162 pages, bound to finish in a few hours because of how perfectly normal it is. It’s not at all a judgey book but it takes us into such a quirky and strange journey through Keiko that we can’t help but reflect on how judgemental we can be. How she, without question, anger, regret, tries to adapt to her society, where she doesn’t fit in. She cleverly and poignantly highlights what we all do: mirror others, judge others for not fitting in molds and feel happy for them when they do.
At one point of the book, Keiko is told off by Shiraha who says, “You’re not human” to which Keiko thinks, “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!” a thought which will leave you with a smile and simple reflection on life’s ambitious rat race and the simplicity of the convenience store worker. For a moment you’ll want her contentment, her creepy thoughts (inertly thinking that you might have had one or two of those yourself) until you conveniently forget and go back to ignoring the simple, convenient things.
