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Category: Lifestyle

  • Shaniera Akram loves being Pakistan’s bhabi

    Shaniera Akram, who has made quite a mark in Pakistan with her warm nature and social activism, recently took to Instagram to thank her fans for all the love they shower on her.

    Sharing a video of herself attending a recent match of the Karachi Kings’ at the National Stadium in Karachi in which some of the spectators were calling her ‘bhabhi‘, Akram wrote, “Love hearing you call my name and love being your bhabhi”.

    Shaniera also wrote that she felt blessed to be in Pakistan and thanked the crowd for the love.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B9qwSOvg8A9/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

    “During PSL, it’s the crowd that really makes these games so fun that’s why it’s so sad to hear we can only watch from our TVs and phones but at times like this, it’s better to be safe than sorry,” she wrote. The Pakistan Cricket Board has announced that all remaining matches will take place behind closed doors due to the coronavirus outbreak.

    “PSL really rocked this year and will continue too even if we are not watching all together from the ground we will still be together in spirit!! Let the games continue, stay safe, keep clean and healthy, and hope we all still have heaps of fun supporting our teams,” she added.

    Even her personalized t-shirt had ‘bhabi‘ written on it.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B88RJcOAr-B/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
  • Royals find unique ways to greet people amid coronavirus outbreak

    Royals find unique ways to greet people amid coronavirus outbreak

    After the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the coronavirus to be a pandemic, medical experts have advised people not to greet each other with a handshake. Hugs, high fives and side kisses are also to be avoided.

    In the light of this, people are adopting unique ways to greet each other. The Indian namaste or ‘the Wuhan Shake’ has become the go-to way to greet each other now so much so that even the royals have now adopted it.

    A video of Prince Charles which has gone viral on social media, shows him finding it difficult to avoid shaking hands when greeting people.

    The Prince of Wales arrived at the Prince’s Trust Awards, held at the London Palladium, where he attempted to shake the hand of Sir Kenneth Olisa, the Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London. After extending his hand, the 71-year-old remembered the precautions and he placed his palms together for a ‘Namaste‘ instead.

       Prince Harry was also spotted giving singer Craig David an anti-coronavirus “elbow bump” greeting at the Commonwealth Day service in London.

    Meanwhile, check out how other world leaders are greeting each other amidst the pandemic.

    IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and World Bank Group President David Malpass bump elbows at the end of a joint press briefing on COVID-19 in Washington, DC.
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi being welcomed by BJP president JP Nadda as he arrives to attend the BJP Board meeting at BJP HQ in New Delhi
    U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who heads the government’s coronavirus task force, greets a woman at the Washington State Emergency Operations Center during a tour at Camp Murray near Tacoma, Washington.

  • Mount Everest closed for climbers amid coronavirus outbreak

    Nepal has shut down its Himalayan peaks, including Mount Everest, for climbers this climbing season from March to May amid coronavirus spread. 

    The country has also stopped its visa-on-arrival scheme that most climbers used while coming to Nepal. Authorities have announced that all of the Himalayan peaks will remain closed until the situation comes under control.

    More than 30,000 Australian mountaineers travel to Nepal each year during the spring season that starts in March and peaks in April and May.

    As per reports, the country makes more than $5 million a year just from the permit fee it charges from climbers and the country will bear a huge loss after this shutdown.

    The country has reported one case of coronavirus. It was a student from China on his way back to Nepal. The country has tested 450 people so far.

  • Mohammed Hanif’s controversial novel’s Urdu publisher shortlisted for the prestigious Prix Voltaire award

    Mohammed Hanif’s controversial novel’s Urdu publisher shortlisted for the prestigious Prix Voltaire award

    Pakistani publishing house Maktaba-e-Daniyal, which published a translated Urdu version of Mohammed Hanif’s controversial novel, A Case of Exploding Mangoes, has been shortlisted for the prestigious International Publishers Association’s (IPA) Prix Voltaire honour.

    The publishing house had come under fire in January 2020 for publishing the Urdu translation of the novel, which presents a satirical take on the plane crash that killed former military dictator, General Ziaul Haq. The book won the Best First Book Award in the year 2009 in the Commonwealth Book Prize.

    Hanif took to social media to share the news and express his excitement.

    The prize honours those publishers who have presented courage and have exercised their right to freedom of expression. It also carries a cash prize of $9,000.

    According to IPA, “Freedom of expression and freedom to publish are human rights under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yet the freedom to publish is under continuous, sustained daily attack, with writers and publishers vilified, jailed, tortured and killed merely for doing their jobs. In 2005, the IPA created the Freedom to Publish Prize to honour a person or organisation adjudged to have made a significant contribution to the defence and promotion of freedom to publish in the world. In 2016, the prize was renamed the IPA Prix Voltaire, in tribute to the French philosopher and writer François-Marie Arouet (pen name Voltaire), who propounded a doctrine of tolerance and free expression before the terms were in general use. Moreover, between 1755 and 1759 Voltaire lived in Geneva, Switzerland, where the IPA is based, before moving to the nearby French border town of Ferney, which was renamed Ferney-Voltaire in his honour after the French Revolution.”

    Other publishing houses that have been short-listed include Turkish publishing house Avesta Yayinlari, which has faced several lawsuits, investigations and attacks; Gerakbudaya Publishing House in Malaysia which has published a number of books on controversial topics; and Liberal Publishing House in Vietnam which presented a “direct challenge” to the government which attempted to control the publishing industry in Vietnam.

    The winner of this years’ award will be announced at the 33rd International Publishers Congress in Norway scheduled to take place in May.

  • Sindh Health Department issues coronavirus advisory for schools

    Sindh Health Department issues coronavirus advisory for schools

    After Gilgit-Baltistan reported its third patient, the number of confirmed cases of novel coronavirus ‘COVID-19’ infections in Pakistan rose to 21 on Wednesday. Karachi has been the worst affected city so far, with 15 of the total confirmed cases. Of the remaining, three cases have been reported in Gilgit-Baltistan and one case has been reported each in Islamabad, Hyderabad and Quetta.

    In the wake of these developments, the Sindh Health Department has said that any student or employee, who returned to the country within the last fifteen days from abroad will not be allowed to attend school, college or university till they complete their 14-day quarantine at home.

    Here is the Health Department’s advisory:

    1. Any student or employee of all public and private school, college or university who has arrived in Pakistan from abroad or has a family member who has arrived from abroad within last fifteen days, he/she shall not be allowed to send their children to schools, colleges and universities till they complete 14 days stay in their home after coming to Pakistan as a measure of quarantine. All parents must inform the concerned institutes if there is a history of travel of a family member.

    2. Any student, family or employee of all public and private schools, colleges and universities of Sindh province having cough or body ache or fever or shortness of breath or flu shall not be allowed to enter school premises. Moreover, any employee of public and private schools, colleges and universities having Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or Asthma must avoid attending school, college or university. They should remain at their home.

    3. All students and employees of public and private schools. colleges and universities must avoid gatherings and crowded spaces. There should be minimum space of 1 metre (about 3 feet) between seating at all the institutes.

    4. All must perform hand hygiene frequently with soap and water or a hand sanitizer.

    5. Cover your nose and mouth while sneezing or coughing with your flexed elbow or use a tissue. Dispose of the tissue immediately after use. Please avoid spitting and avoid touching your face.

    6. There should be a health desk for health education, screening and awareness regarding COVID-19 to be set by students and employees of public and private schools, colleges and universities.

    7. The Deputy Commissioner concerned, as per provisions under Sindh Epidemic Diseases Act 2014, may exercise his authority to ensure all these preventive measures for prevention of COVID-19 spread.

    A COVID-19 Control Room has also been established at the Commissioner Office Karachi.

    This 24/7 operational facility can be reached at 021-99204452, 021-99206565 and 0316-0111712. 

  • ’25 LUMS students being tested for coronavirus’? Here’s what you need to know

    ’25 LUMS students being tested for coronavirus’? Here’s what you need to know

    With 20 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in Pakistan, the panic surrounding the pandemic has increased with people urging the government to take strict and timely actions to contain the virus. While all that is happening, fake news and misinformation regarding the spread of the virus is also circulating on social media, in particular, on Whatsapp.

    Below is a screenshot of a message that is widely being shared on social media.

    However, according to The Current’s sources, the information in the message is incorrect. To begin with, there were less than 25 students who went on the trip to Turkey. The students were individually screened and cleared by officials present at the airport when they returned to Pakistan. As a precautionary measure, all the students underwent further tests at the hospital to ensure that they don’t have the disease. According to the LUMS official Twitter account, all the results received so far are negative.

    While the rest of the results are yet to come, the students and administration is requesting the public to not spread misinformation and panic.

    It is also being reported that the university has extended its mid-semester break till April 7. The break will begin on March 16, as scheduled.

    COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a new virus that had not been previously identified in humans. The virus causes respiratory illness (like the flu) with symptoms such as a cough, fever and in more severe cases, pneumonia. You can protect yourself by washing your hands frequently and avoiding touching your face.

    It was discovered in mainland China in mid-December and has since spread globally despite efforts to contain it.

  • Dua Mangi reveals the story behind her abduction

    Dua Mangi reveals the story behind her abduction

    Dua Mangi was kidnapped on November 30th, 2019. Though she was set free by her kidnappers after a few days, a lot of misinformation and conspiracy theories had spread on social media about the incident.

    Mangi recently took to social media to clear all assumptions that the media had spread.

    In a detailed post on Facebook she wrote, “I’m so tired of all the misinformation and conspiracy theories revolving around my case. I will address these questions once and for all and then I’d appreciate it if you all stop talking crap because all this emotionally and mentally drains me.”

    She answered all the questions everyone has been asking her.

    Why haven’t you been helping with the case?

    This is a high profile case and I’m not allowed to disclose any information. but I have been doing everything I can to make sure the perpetrators get caught.

    How were you able to come back home safe and unharmed?

    I was kidnapped for ransom. They let me go after the ransom exchange. This is literally what kidnapping for ransom is like.

    Why didn’t your family cooperate with the forces?

    My family did cooperate with them and is still cooperating. Please stop assuming and believing everything that’s said on sensationalist social media pages.

    Were you kidnapped for personal reasons?

    No, it was a random pick up. it could’ve happened to anyone.

    Here is the post:

  • Saudi oil giant slammed for dressing migrant worker as a sanitiser

    Oil giant Saudi Aramco has come under fire after photos, showing one of its migrant workers wearing a surgical mask and a large hand-sanitiser dispenser, went viral on social media.

    Twitter users labelled the act by the oil company as “racist” and “classist” as the worker appeared to be walking around distributing sanitiser to staff members inside and outside one of its buildings in wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

    https://twitter.com/LayaBehbahani/status/1237600704656625670?s=20

    Following the backlash, the company released an official statement in which it expressed its “strong dissatisfaction with this abusive behaviour that was used to emphasise the importance of sanitization, without the approval of the company’s concerned party,” Al Jazeera reported.

    “The company immediately stopped this act and took strict measures to prevent it from happening again,” the statement said.

    However, Twitter users did not buy the company’s apology and demanded them to apologise to the “person himself” and not to the public.

  • Mansoor Ali Khan opens up about being trolled over attending the Aurat March

    Mansoor Ali Khan opens up about being trolled over attending the Aurat March

    Senior anchorperson Mansoor Ali Khan, known for his hard-hitting shows, is no stranger to online trolling.

    When Marvi Sirmed was abused on live television recently by writer Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar, Mansoor hosted a program with Qamar along with Resham and Dr Aamir Liaquat. Mr Khan then went on to demolish Qamar’s misogyny through logic. This show and his support for Aurat March led to some more trolling.

    WATCH: Resham tells Khalil ur Rehman Qamar that he is not even worth one ‘taka’

    On March 8, Khan went to the Aurat March in Lahore with his wife and his five-year-old son. Journalist Mehmal Sarfraz took their photograph and posted it online along with a few other photographs from the Aurat March.

    The Original Picture

    Trolls photoshopped the blank piece of paper that Khan’s wife was holding.

    Following this, Mansoor posted the original photo along with three photoshopped pictures:

    Talking to The Current, Mansoor said, “I am always ready to get trolled or get targeted on social media by different political trolls or trolls belonging to various groups but this was the first time that the attack was on my family — which had my wife and five-year-old child in the picture.”

    “Obviously I was disappointed and I was angry but my wife is the one who came up and stood next to me and said there is no reason to lose heart. She said: ‘When I decided to go to the Aurat March with you, I knew these things could happen and I was mentally prepared for that. I knew you were standing on the right path and I will wholeheartedly support you. Next year we are not just going to go with our 5-year-old but we will go with all our 3 sons to the Aurat March.’” he shared.

    “Hats off to my wife. If she doesn’t have a problem with all these things, then why should I? Obviously we in Pakistan need a better mechanism to control such things, which unfortunately is lacking. The authorities need to step up a bit to check such things,” he concluded.

    Meanwhile, AFP also ran a fact-check on the photos and confirmed that the words written on the placards were indeed doctored.

    https://twitter.com/AFPAfPak/status/1237293432055398401?s=20

    Earlier in an exclusive interview with The Current, when Mansoor was asked if he ever thought of leaving this profession because his family is targeted, Mansoor said, “Whatever I am today is because of my family. Whenever I am trolled, my family supports me a lot; they tell me to hold my ground no matter what happens and not deter. My family is my source of strength so I give them all the credit.”

    Watch the full interview here:

  • Govt clarifies report on Sindh CM’s brother-in-law ‘contracting coronavirus’

    Govt clarifies report on Sindh CM’s brother-in-law ‘contracting coronavirus’

    A Sindh government spokesperson, in an exclusive conversation with The Current, has rubbished reports claiming that Chief Minister (CM) Murad Ali Shah’s brother-in-law has contracted coronavirus as the pandemic spreads across Karachi.

    With nine new cases in Sindh, the total number of cases of the new coronavirus — COVID-19 — in Pakistan on Monday rose to 16, out of which two patients are undergoing treatment in Islamabad while one female patient is undergoing treatment at a health facility in Gilgit-Baltistan.

    The development was followed by a private media outlet’s report that one of the persons who had tested positive for coronavirus in Karachi had reached the port city from Syria via Doha on Sunday, and was the brother-in-law of Sindh CM.

    “Asif Hyder Shah is a federal secretary and is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Karachi after testing positive for COVID-19,” the report had claimed.

    The claim, however, was rejected by a spokesperson of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government in Sindh. “Asif Hyder Shah is a federal secretary and brother-in-law of Murad Ali Shah, but he hasn’t tested positive for the virus,” the spokesperson told The Current.

    While it was confirmed that seven persons who reached Karachi from Syria via Doha had tested positive for the coronavirus in the last two days, CM Murad’s brother-in-law wasn’t among them.

    Meanwhile, strict measures have been taken by the government, including extending border closure with Afghanistan for seven more days and installing screening machines at all major airports in the country.

    According to reports, the Sindh government is considering a proposal to issue an advisory requesting a ban on public events, including the Pakistan Super League (PSL), and it is likely that the remaining matches of the PSL to be held in Karachi will be shifted to Lahore.

    A meeting of the provincial authorities has also recommended setting up a health desk at the Karachi airport.

    With the help of the desk, all those entering Karachi through the airport will be screened for the coronavirus. A spokesperson for the health department said health desks will also be established at hospitals, Geo reported.

    The desks at hospitals, named front-line desks, will provide up-to-date information about the spread of the virus in the city. 

    A recommendation to shut schools in the province for a longer period will also be sent to the Sindh CM; exams would, however, be held as per schedule, the Sindh Information Minister Nasir Hussain Shah has said.