Tag: Top News

  • Karachi University student creates edible shopping bags

    Karachi University student creates edible shopping bags

    A student from Karachi University has made environment-friendly plastic from a marine plant. But that is not even the most exciting thing about it.

    What’s interesting about this type of plastic is that it’s edible. You can mix it with water or any other hot fluid and drink it without any harmful effects.

    As per reports, the plastic can be
    used for making shopping bags. When it comes to its commercial aspects, the
    only disadvantage is that it cannot hold high-temperature liquids like tea,
    because it dissolves in hot fluids.

    However, cold liquids like milk can
    be carried in these bags for a short period.

    A recent clip that is being circulated on social media shows the host mixing the plastic in the water and then drinking it to show that it does not have any side effects and can solve the pollution problem that the country is facing from excessive use of non-biodegradable plastic.

  • Zardari sicker than Nawaz, but still serving prison like a common man: Sheikh Rasheed

    Zardari sicker than Nawaz, but still serving prison like a common man: Sheikh Rasheed

    Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed has said that former president Asif Ali Zardari was sicker than Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif but he was still serving time in prison, like the common man, Geo News reported.

    According to the details, the federal minister while addressing an event lashed out at the Sharif brothers and said that whenever former premier Nawaz Sharif fell ill, attempts were made to take him abroad.

    Rasheed said that Shehbaz was a bigger thief than Nawaz, adding that Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, “is not marching for Islam, he’s marching for Islamabad”.

    “If Imran gives NRO right now, all movements would die down”, Rasheed said.

    Nawaz was allowed bail in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case on Friday based on medical grounds. Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid had said that the government would obey the court’s orders if it allowed Sharif to fly abroad for medical treatment.

    She had also said that a plane was ready to fly in any doctor the Sharif family wanted from abroad to treat Nawaz.

  • ‘Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad’: What will Mahira & Fahad’s film be about?

    ‘Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad’: What will Mahira & Fahad’s film be about?

    The biggest ‘entertainment’ news of the week has to be Mahira Khan joining Nabeel Qureshi and Fizza Ali Meerza’s upcoming film Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad as the leading lady.

    Though the film had been announced earlier with Fahad Mustafa as the hero, the makers of the film had remained tight-lipped about the heroine and had said that the search for her was on. But that was until Tuesday evening when director Nabeel made the announcement.

    Speaking to The Current, Nabeel said that he was very excited to have Mahira onboard.

    “Both the actors fit in the characters perfectly,” Qureshi said.

    Sharing further details about the film, Nabeel said that the film will be a satirical action-comedy – something along the lines of their previous superhit film Actor in Law, which also had Fahad as the lead.

    The film will mostly be shot in Karachi and is expected to release in 2020 on Eid ul Azha.

    Fans had been eagerly anticipating Mahira and Fahad’s pairing on the big screen, particularly after Mahira came on Fahad’s Jeeto Pakistan in May. Looks like their wish has finally been heard.

    Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad will be Fahad, Nabeel and Fizza’s fifth project together – the trio has given us Na Maloom Afraad 1 & 2, Actor in Law and Load Wedding previously.

    Meanwhile, promotions for the film have already begun and the filmmakers have started teasing audiences with short videos like the one of Mahira asking Fahad why he used to say that she doesn’t want to work with her.

    “Bolo haan keh naa“, has been a tagline in most tweets.

    Mahira’s last film was Superstar which released this year while Fahad was last seen on the big screen last year in Load Wedding and Jawani Phir Nai Aani 2.

  • ‘Nawaz denied my father med treatment in jail,’ PPP leader hints at karma

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Sharmila Farooqi has recalled her own father’s ordeal during his incarceration by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif.

    Sharmila through her Twitter handle on Thursday sent PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz a message wishing former premier Nawaz Sharif “good health and long life”.

    She lamented that her father Usman Farooqi, the former chairman of the Pakistan Steel Mills, was denied medical treatment by the PML-N government adding that he was sent back to jail after three days of having open-heart surgery.

    “I used to cry for his life and health…Never got any respite from Nawaz Sharif but I still wish him good health and long life…I feel for Maryam Nawaz too,” the PPP leader wrote.

    Sharmila’s tweet comes a day after news of Nawaz’s deteriorating health hit the media.

    Nawaz Sharif is suffering from idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) disease, called ITP for short, and doctors claim that it is treatable in Pakistan.

  • Pakistan’s senior-most bishop destroys Modi govt over minorities’ persecution

    Pakistan’s senior-most bishop destroys Modi govt over minorities’ persecution

    Rt Reverend Bishop Dr Azad Marshall of the Church of Pakistan has destroyed the Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi-led Indian government for actively promoting saffron terror as persecution and violence against all religious minorities reach a new high across India.

    “It’s high time the world takes notice of the brutal violence being perpetrated against the Kashmiris and other religious minorities in the name of Hindu nationalism,” Pakistan’s senior-most bishop said while addressing a presser in Lahore on Friday.

    After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rose to power, the attacks on India’s minority communities have risen significantly.

    “Over 1,400 incidents of persecution against Christians, that include rapes, communal violence, forced conversions, have been reported,” the bishop said, adding that such occurrences were becoming common day by day due to the ruling BJP’s hateful rhetoric.

    “No one but Hindus feel safe in India due to the intolerant Hindutva ideology and hijacking of Indian state by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS),” Dr Azad added.

    “Indians can only be Hindu, so goes this extreme form of nationalism.”

    He added that every month of 2019 saw more incidents of persecution against Christians in India than they did in 2018.

    “Pakistani Christians demand the international community to press India to immediately lift the curfew and lockdown in the occupied Jammu and Kashmir region and allow Kashmiris as well as other religious minorities living across the country to live in peace,” he said.

    Dr Azad further said that Pakistani Christians were standing firmly behind the armed forces of the country and fully supported the government’s efforts to highlight the Kashmir crisis on global forums.

    SUPPORT TO GOVT OVER AZADI MARCH:

    Extending his support to the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) over Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) forthcoming Azadi March, he said that the Church of Pakistan would “not support any effort to destabilise the government at this critical juncture in Pakistan’s history”.

    “I urge Maulana Fazlur Rehman and all other political leaders to resolve their issues through dialogue and desist from any sort of violence. Any political upheaval at this time will only damage the Kashmir cause and affect efforts to turnaround Pakistan’s economic situation,” he said.

    CHRISTIANS IN PAKISTAN:

    Speaking of the issues faced by the Christian community in Pakistan, Bishop Azad admitted that the church had not played its due role in effectively addressing the religious and social issues of their congregations.

    “Crucial issues such as proposed amendments to the Christian Marriage and Divorce Act and the recent ruling of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) allowing the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government to take over the church-owned historical Edwardes College, calls for unified and concerted efforts by the church, political leadership and the community at large,” he said.

    “In light of the recent issues, I have decided to reach out to all mainstream churches and masses to persuade them to sit together in the larger interest of the community.”

    Dr Azad said the Christian community in the country needed to put its own house in order to address the broader challenges it faces.

    “The first step towards reformation of the church is realising the internal problems we are facing. I’m confident that all church leaders will rise beyond our differences and work together for the uplift and empowerment of our people,” he added.

    Bishop Azad also hoped that coordinated efforts with the government could help in resolving other challenges facing Pakistani Christians, such as quality education, better healthcare facilities, unemployment, forced conversions and provision of fundamental rights guaranteed in the constitution.

  • Sharmila Faruqi trolled for taking a dig at Hamza & Naimal’s honeymoon

    Sharmila Faruqi trolled for taking a dig at Hamza & Naimal’s honeymoon

    Newlyweds Hamza Ali Abbasi and Naimal Khawar are currently celebrating their European honeymoon. Naimal regularly updates their fans about their whereabouts and post cutesy pictures of herself and her husband as they enjoy their holiday.

    The other day, Sharmila Faruqi threw shade at the couple for having a simple wedding but a lavish honeymoon.

    “Shaadi saadgi se par honeymoon Paris main,” the politician had written under the picture of Hamza and Naimal in front of Eiffel Tower.

    Hamza’s close friends Vasay Chaudhry and Ammara Hikmat stepped in to defend the actor and his wife and trolled Sharmila for owning assets beyond her means.

  • Abrar Ul Haq serves major nostalgia with ‘Billo’ for Coke Studio 12

    Our favourite Punjabi singer of all times Abrar ul Haq has served a major dose of nostalgia with the remake of his iconic Billo for Coke Studio Season 12.

    The six-minute song is a fun and quirky rendition of the original and we are glad to say that the producers of the song did not ruin it. Instead, the background singers were a nice touch and the song transported us straight back to the 90s.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBxrpNO3EV0

    Billo has become such a hit that it was trending on Twitter and has received more than 200K hits in just five hours. The rap in the song has also been appreciated by audiences.

    https://twitter.com/Zi99Ham/status/1187688554832551936?s=20

    https://twitter.com/abubakar2496/status/1187708765224816641?s=20

    Coke Studio 12 with Rohail Hyatt as the producer is flying high. The opening song of the season, Wohi Khuda Hai, by Atif Aslam was a smashing success.

  • What is Halloween & how it is trending in Pakistan?

    What is Halloween & how it is trending in Pakistan?

    Halloween parties are a big thing in schools, universities as well as at private events. They are no doubt a lot of fun and the spooky decor and trick or treating make it even more entertaining. However, many people do not know what Halloween is.

    For starters, Halloween is celebrated every year on 31st October and this year Halloween falls on Thursday, October 31. The evening before was known as All Hallows Eve, and later Halloween.

    According to tradition, the concept of Halloween was introduced by the Celts, a collection of tribes with origins in central Europe. The Celts lived 2,000 years ago and celebrated their new year on November 1.

    Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the living and the dead became blurred. Hence, on the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.

    How is Halloween relevant to Pakistan?

    Google trends show that Halloween was one of the highest searches in Pakistan in the past day. It was majorly searched in Islamabad, Punjab, and Sindh. 

    Meanwhile, when we observe other searches relevant to Halloween, Google Trends shows that Halloween celebration, costume and Halloween costumes were searched by most people in Pakistan.  

  • The curious case of three Khans of Bollywood

    The curious case of three Khans of Bollywood

    I can’t help worrying about Shah Rukh’s health. Can a damaged spine send wrong signals to the brain?

    Ever since I suffered a back injury a few years ago, I have been deeply interested in the functioning of the spinal cord. Especially, of celebrities I admire.

    Shah Rukh Khan, the Badshah of Bollywood, headlines my list. For years, I have been closely following details of his knee, shoulder and back injuries and his pain management technique(s). I admire his ability to endure excruciating pain with a chuckle.

    I have seen pictures of him walking away wearing his characteristic dimpled smile after surgical procedures as I sat around worried about being rendered spineless, at least literally if not metaphorically.

    My hero, going strong on the other side of 50, has continued to stun me with real-life lessons on how to survive successfully with pain in the spine. Just a few years ago, he won a million more fans, and me all over, when he articulated his angst against the growing intolerance in India. “…religious intolerance and not being secular… is the worst kind of crime that you can do as a patriot,” he was quoted as saying by the media back then.

    This Shashi Tharoor of Bollywood has cast a spell on almost everyone with his insights on such soul-stirring issues and more. However, his latest lesson – batting for a totally spine-free existence – has left me stumped.

    Earlier this week, a much haggard version of Shah Rukh was seen taking a selfie with the prime minister (PM) of India, Narendra Modi, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, at an event called #ChangeWithin.

    The resultant candid shot, Shah Rukh smiling ear-to-ear, along with another famous Khan of Bollywood, Aamir Khan, was telling of the early onset of degenerative and, perhaps, irreversible changes in Shah Rukh’s spine.

    Eloquence has been Khan’s constant companion right from the days when he had an impeccable spine. “Thank u @narendramodi for hosting us & having such an open discussion on #ChangeWithin & the role artistes can play in spreading awareness of the msgs of The Mahatma. Also, the idea of a University of Cinema is extremely opportune!” he later tweeted.

    That’s the #ChangeWithin, if you like.

    And, now I can’t help worrying about Shah Rukh’s health. Who would have thought that the many expensive surgical interventions would not have helped his nerves behave better? I know that messages are sent from the brain through the spinal cord to the different parts of the body, but I am left wondering if the reverse is true too? Can a damaged spine send wrong signals to the brain? Or do brain cells, at the tail end of their life, only send signals to parts of the body that are able to decode words that are spelling variants of the word money?  

    Which brings me to the curious case of the other Khan of Bollywood I admire – Aamir. The man who has long exemplified Mahatma Gandhi’s three monkeys – hear no evil, speak no evil and see no evil. His larger-than-life image, thanks to his choice of films and his association with social issues (spoke out against the Gujarat genocide of 2002), was bolstered by his flagship television show a few years ago “Satyameva Jayate” (Truth Shall Prevail).

    Aamir raised issues that are usually brushed under the carpet and exposed India’s hypocrisy. He talked about LGBT rights and honour killings, and there was an hour-long episode on elections and corruption. That Aamir posed with the PM barely hours before Maharashtra state was to go to polls may be a coincidence, but what wasn’t was that he was also smiling through an increasingly intolerant India he expressed shock at a few years ago. An India where lynching of minorities is no longer news.

    In a film called “Ghajini”, Aamir plays a tycoon suffering from acute short-term memory loss and he does everything possible to preserve that memory. In real-life, Aamir, the tycoon, seems to be suffering from long-term memory loss. A messed up nervous system?

    This brings me to the third Khan of Bollywood – who rules hearts, owns roads and also a clothing line called Being Human. I was never a fan of Salman. I always dismissed him as an overgrown kid whose nervous system liked sending wrong messages to his body all the time — kill wildlife, run over pedestrians, punch women.

    However, in this vicious circle of pain called Khans, I would vote for a familiar pain near the spine. Let’s call it Salmanitis.

  • Bail granted to ailing ex-PM Nawaz

    Bail granted to ailing ex-PM Nawaz

    The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday granted bail on medical grounds to former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif, who has been admitted to the hospital ever since a precarious decrease in his platelet count.

    According to reports, ailing Nawaz’s bail in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case came after the prosecution and defence concluded their arguments and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) did not challenge the plea.

    A two-member bench, headed by Justice Baqar Najafi, had heard the petition. The anti-corruption watchdog’s prosecutor told the court that “every life, including that of Nawaz Sharif, is precious”, adding that the former premier’s condition was treatable.

    After a struggle of three days, a six-member medical board, headed by Services Hospital Principal Ayaz Mahmood, had on Thursday diagnosed the reason for Nawaz’s declining health.

    “It is acute immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), a bleeding disorder, in which the immune system destroys platelets,” a board member had told Dawn. “We are hopeful that his condition will improve in a few days.”

    Doctors have said that the disease is treatable.

    On Friday, Dr Ayaz submitted a detailed medical report of the former premier. He told the court that a medical board, which also includes Nawaz’s personal physician, meets twice every day to discuss the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo’s condition.

    Earlier in the day, Nawaz’s lawyer Ashtar Ausaf told the court that the former premier’s condition was “extremely serious”.

    Dr Ayaz told the court that Nawaz’s platelet count was constantly reducing, adding that the hospital had conducted tests to see if Nawaz was suffering from dengue.

    “We inject platelets every day but they destruct every day,” Dr Ayaz said and added that something or the other was destroying the ex-PM’s platelets.

    He said that steroids will have to be injected in order to treat Nawaz.

    “We have to conduct a bone marrow test but we cannot inject a needle in Nawaz Sharif’s bone.”

    Dr Ayaz informed the court that Nawaz is a diabetes patient and is suffering from several other ailments as well.

    The bench told the doctor to apprise the court about Nawaz’s recent condition by 12 pm and adjourned the hearing until later in the day.

    An accountability court had earlier this month granted NAB a 14-day physical remand of Nawaz in connection with the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case. The remand expired today.