Current Final

Category: Lifestyle

  • Artificial rain planned in Lahore after November 19

    Artificial rain planned in Lahore after November 19

    An experiment of artificial rain to combat the smog will be carried out for the first time in the country’s history, under supervision of Punjab University’s (PU) Centre for Integrated Mountain Research, Express Tribune has reported.

    Professor Munawer Sabir who is heading the team has said that the experiment will be carried out in the Khanspur mountainous area. According to reports, the preparation to demonstrate the technology will happen in an area of one square kilometre.

    The team plans to test artificial rain in Lahore after November 19, to counter the smog in the city.

    Read more- Lahore tops the worst air quality list, again

    Lahore on Wednesday topped the list of the most polluted cities in the world with the worst air quality levels. The United States Environmental Protection Agency regards air quality as satisfactory if the AQI is under 50.

  • ‘I believe that I can enjoy friendship, love and equality in marriage’: Malala

    ‘I believe that I can enjoy friendship, love and equality in marriage’: Malala

    In a personal essay written for British Vogue Nobel Peace Prize Winner Malala Yousafzai talks about her marriage with Asser Malik, her comments about partnership vs. marriage and how she met the guy she married this week.

    “In the summer of 2018, Asser was visiting friends at Oxford and we crossed paths. He worked in cricket, so I immediately had a lot to discuss with him. He liked my sense of humour. We became best friends. We found we had common values and enjoyed each other’s company. We stood by each other in moments of happiness and disappointment. Through our individual ups and downs, we talked and listened to each other. And when words failed, I sent him a link to our horoscope compatibility, hoping the stars could help reinforce our connection,” Malala writes in the article.

    RELATED: Sign up for The Current’s daily newsletter to get your daily horoscope

    Addressing the controversy in an interview where Malala talks about a partnership instead of marriage, Malala says, “Knowing the dark reality many of my sisters face, I found it hard to think of the concept of marriage. I said what I had so often said before – that maybe it was possible that marriage was not for me.”

    Malala Yousafzai at her Nikkah. Image Courtesy: British Vogue

    Finding friendship and love in Asser, Malala, who says she did not expect to be married before she was 35-years-old, changed her mind. “With education, awareness and empowerment, we can start to redefine the concept of marriage and the structure of relationships, along with many other social norms and practices. Culture is made by people – and people can change it too. My conversations with my friends, mentors and my now partner Asser helped me consider how I could have a relationship – a marriage – and remain true to my values of equality, fairness and integrity.”

    Discussing how the Nikkah took place, Malala says it was a wholly family affair. “It was a small affair and group effort. My mother and her friend got my wedding clothes from Lahore, Pakistan. Asser’s mother and sister gave me the jewellery I wore. My father booked the food and decorations. My assistants organised photographers and a make-up artist. My three best girlfriends from school and Oxford took off work and travelled to be there. I put henna on my hands myself, after discovering I was the only one of my family and friends who had the talent! Asser spent several hours in the mall with me the day before the ceremony, buying his pink tie and pocket square and my sandals. My little brothers even wore suits.”

    Malala did her own mehndi for the event

    And how does she feel about her future? Malala writes that, “In Asser, I found a best friend and companion. I still don’t have all the answers for the challenges facing women – but I believe that I can enjoy friendship, love and equality in marriage. “

  • Woman commits suicide with lover after parents force her into arranged marriage

    Woman commits suicide with lover after parents force her into arranged marriage

    A man and a woman reportedly committed suicide by consuming poisonous pills after their families did not agree to their marriage, The Express Tribune reported.

    The lovers, Adnan and Muqaddas, wished to marry each other but the woman’s parents had arranged her marriage elsewhere.

    On the wedding day, the disappointed couple committed suicide by consuming poisonous pills.

    Read More: Two arrested after minor girl’s body found in Metro station washroom

    After the incident was reported to the police, the officials took the bodies into custody. The bodies were handed over to the families after the legal formalities.

    According to the police, the marriage ceremony was about to happen when the incident took place.

    The funerals of both the deceased were held amid a gloomy atmosphere in the village.

  • Lahore tops the worst air quality list, again

    Lahore tops the worst air quality list, again

    Lahore on Wednesday topped the list of the most polluted cities in the world with the worst air quality levels.

    India’s Delhi is second on the list, Poland’s Krakow and Kyrgyzstan’s Bishkek are placed in third and fourth spot respectively while Bangladesh’s Dhaka is on number five according to the air pollution data released by the US Air Quality Index (AQI).

    Screengrab of air quality and pollution city ranking

    Lahore recorded a particulate matter (PM) rating of 364 that classifies the city under the “hazardous” category of air quality.

    The United States Environmental Protection Agency regards air quality as satisfactory if the AQI is under 50.

  • Two escaped crocodiles found in Bahawalpur’s national park

    Bahawalpur National Park administration captured two crocodiles that escaped from the lake, Geo News reported.

    According to Deputy Director Wildlife Muhammad Zahid, crocodiles were experimentally transferred to the lake at Lal Sohanra National Park in Bahawalpur, out of which two crocodiles suddenly went missing.

    Read More: Seven rare deer die mysteriously at Bahawalpur Zoo

    According to Deputy Director Wildlife, 15 days later, the two crocodiles were found in an empty canal in the park premises.

  • WHO looking forward to oral, nasal Covid-19 vaccines

    The World Health Organization’s (WHO) chief scientist said Tuesday she was looking forward to the “second generation” of Covid-19 vaccines, which could comprise nasal sprays and oral versions, AFP reported.

    Soumya Swaminathan said such vaccines could have benefits over the current crop as they would be easier to deliver than injections and could even be self-administered.

    Swaminathan said there were 129 different candidate vaccines that have got as far as clinical trials and are being tested on humans — while a further 194 are not yet in the phase in their development and are still being worked on in laboratories.

    “This covers the entire range of technologies,” she told a live interaction on WHO social media channels.

    “They’re still in development. I’m sure some of them will prove to be very safe and efficacious and others may not.”

    “There could be advantages to some of the second-generation vaccines… clearly if you have an oral vaccine or an intra-nasal vaccine this is easier to deliver than an injectable.”

    Soumya Swaminathan added, “Ultimately we’ll be able to choose the ones that are most appropriate. If not for Covid-19, we’re going to use these platforms for other infections in the future.”

    “If there’s a local immune response then it will take care of the virus before it even goes and establishes itself in the lungs and starts causing a problem,” she said.

    WHO has only given emergency use authorisation to seven Covid-19 vaccines: those created by Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Sinopharm, Sinovac and last week Bharat Biotech.

    “None of the vaccines are 100%. Nobody has ever claimed that the vaccines are going to be 100% protective. But 90% is a wonderful amount of protection to have, compared to zero,” Swaminathan said.

    “Till now, with the vaccines that we have approved, there has not been any signal which has been so worrying that we need to say, well, we need to re-think this vaccine.”

    More than 7.25 billion vaccine doses have been administered around the world, according to an AFP count

  • Noor tried to escape Zahir’s house twice, was stopped by his helpers

    Noor tried to escape Zahir’s house twice, was stopped by his helpers

    Noor Mukadam tried to run away from Zahir Jaffer’s house twice before she was murdered, the transcript of the CCTV footage has revealed. The prosecution in the Noor Mukadam murder case submitted the transcript of the CCTV footage of Zahir’s house in the court of Additional Sessions Judge Ata Rabbani, which shows the events that led to Noor’s brutal murder.

    As per the footage, Noor entered Zahir’s house at 10:18pm on July 18, Shehzad Malik reports for BBC Urdu. At 02:39am on July 19, the two could be seen coming out of the house with bags, which they placed in a taxi but they both went back inside the house at 02:40am.

    The very next minute at 02:41am, Noor can be seen running barefoot towards the gate trying to run away, but the watchman Iftikhar closes the gate, later Zahir drags her back inside the house. The transcript further reveals that Noor begged Zahir to let her go.

    At 2:46am, they cab both be seen coming out of the house again and sitting in a taxi. A few minutes later at 2:52am, they both went back into the house.

    Read more- ‘I am giving you an opportunity to hang me’: Zahir Jaffer calls the judicial system ‘incompetent’

    Noor made her second attempt to escape on July 20 at 7:12pm when she jumped from the first floor of the house with a cell phone in her hand, but in the CCTV footage, Iftikhar — the watchman — and the gardener could be seen closing the door to stop her. Zahir again took her back inside the house.

    Read more- ‘It is very hard to imagine a life without her’, Noor Mukadam’s sister demands justice

    At 8:06 pm, Therapyworks’ employees could be seen entering through the main gate and trying to enter the house at 8:42 pm. Later at 8:55 pm, the employees could be seen bringing out an injured person and taking them towards the gate.

    Noor was found murdered at a residence in Islamabad’s upscale Sector F-7/4 on July 20. Her death sparked national outrage, including protests and candlelight vigils across the country.

  • Pakistan Covid positivity rate drops to 0.94%, lowest since March 2020

    Pakistan Covid positivity rate drops to 0.94%, lowest since March 2020

    Pakistan’s Covid-19 positivity rate on Tuesday dropped to 0.94 per cent, according to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC). The recorded positivity rate is the lowest since March 2020, Geo News has reported. During the last 24 hours, 42,373 tests were conducted across the country of which 400 returned positive.

    The country has administered at least 113,188,078 doses of COVID vaccines so far.

  • Two arrested after minor girl’s body found in Metro station washroom

    Two arrested after minor girl’s body found in Metro station washroom

    Police have started an investigation in the case of a young girl whose body was found dumped in a washroom of a metro bus station in Islamabad’s G-11, ARY News reported.

    The girl whose body was found on Monday has not yet been identified. She was aged between 11 and 12 years.

    The police suspect that the marks on her neck indicate that the girl was subjected to sexual abuse before she was strangled. Police will tell the actual cause of the death after the autopsy report.

    The police have detained two security guards of the metro bus station for an inquiry. A team has been constituted to probe her death.

    The body was shifted to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) where a medical board conducted an autopsy on the deceased. Samples were taken from the body and given to the police for chemical examination.

  • ‘I want to gift portrait of Holy Kaaba to PM Imran,’ physically challenged painter’s wish

    ‘I want to gift portrait of Holy Kaaba to PM Imran,’ physically challenged painter’s wish

    A physically challenged artist, Umar Jarral, from Lahore who suffers from cerebral palsy has made very beautiful portraits of the Holy Kaaba and Prime Minster (PM) Imran Khan, which he wants to gift to the PM. He also wants to meet PM Khan one day.

    Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of disorders that affect a person’s ability to move and maintain balance and posture.

    Talking to The Current, Umar’s brother, Muhammad Ahmed, said that Umar is trying for four years to meet the premier. He met a few ministers but was not able to meet the PM.

    “We are a total of seven siblings. Five of them have suffered from CP. Our parents are very old. My sister and I take care of the other siblings,” Umar’s brother added.

    “Umar used to speak when he was seven years old but now he has lost his speech ability. He communicates with us by writing messages to us. All of us want to meet PM Imran and request him to arrange an exhibition for Umar’s art,” he said.

    Umar also runs a Facebook page where he posts his artwork. Here are a few more portraits made by Umar.