Current Final

Blog

  • Khadijah Shah | The Current Life

    Khadijah Shah | The Current Life

    Meet our Sunday guest, the owner of #Elan (clothing brand) #KhadijahShah, a successful #businesswoman and a #mother. Listen to her exciting story about her being contacted form #Buckinghampalace to design clothes for #KateWinslet‘s recent visit to #Pakistan. #TheCurrent

  • The Current Life | Caretaker Prime Minister | Anwar ul Haq Kakar

    The Current Life | Caretaker Prime Minister | Anwar ul Haq Kakar

    Caretaker Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq is making it clear: he’s not just here to fill in temporarily, no jee. He’s taking the short time he has to make a difference by being the one PM who is willing to engage with the youth of Pakistan. We met up with him in the so-cool PM house in Islamabad, and asked him about what happened at LUMs, his future plans and his favourite room in the PM house. Find out now. The Current life.

  • ‘You yourself are the judge’; Nawaz appeals to followers in address

    ‘You yourself are the judge’; Nawaz appeals to followers in address

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) head Nawaz Sharif has addressed the nation today for the first time after his victory in all the corruption cases against him.

    “My people, you don’t need to reach out to any court as you yourself are the judge,” the former premier said as he addressed his supporters for the first time since his legal victory in the form of exoneration from major corruption cases.

    The former prime minister also thanked the nation for standing by his side in difficult times.

    “I am hopeful that you [the people] will announce your judgements on February 8 [2024] and end the punishments meted out to you,” Nawaz said in a recorded message to the nation, aired live on television channels.

    Nawaz, who returned to Pakistan in October after a four-year self-exile in London, has consistently emphasised the need to hold accountable those involved in the removal of his government in 2017.

    The three-time former prime minister is hoping to come into power for the fourth time, as he has no corruption charges against him now.

    The lifetime ban on Nawaz Sharif as a parliamentarian is the only hurdle for him to contest election on February 8 next year.

  • Gold price in Pakistan experiences massive single-day gain of Rs5,700 per tola

    Gold price in Pakistan experiences massive single-day gain of Rs5,700 per tola

    In a significant development, gold staged a recovery from its recent five-session decline in Pakistan on Thursday, driven by a surge in the global market.

    The domestic market witnessed a notable upswing in gold prices today, surging to Rs218,300 per tola after a massive single-day gain of Rs5,700 per tola.

    According to data provided by the All Pakistan Gems and Jewellers Sarafa Association (APGJSA), the 10-gramme gold price in Pakistan experienced a surge, reaching Rs187,157 after a significant uptick of Rs4,887.

    This marks a considerable shift from Wednesday’s scenario, when gold prices in Pakistan witnessed a decline of Rs1,000 per tola.

    Internationally, the gold market reflected this positive momentum, setting the rate at $2,052 per ounce with a $20 premium on Thursday. This uptick translated into a $54 increase in the international market, as reported by APGJSA.

    Simultaneously, silver rates observed an upward trend, climbing by Rs70 and settling at Rs2,650 per tola.

    While these developments unfolded in the precious metal markets, the Pakistan Stock Exchange experienced a tumultuous Wednesday, initially plummeting by over 1,900 points.

    Despite the initial setback, the market rebounded, ultimately concluding the business day with a loss of over 1,100 points.

    The benchmark KSE-100 index kicked off Thursday’s session on a pessimistic note, extending its downward trajectory to revisit the previous day’s lows of approximately 64,400.

    However, buyers intervened, successfully defending this level once again.

    The index maintained a rangebound pattern for the remainder of the session, closing at 65,450.19, marking an increase of 170 points or 0.26 per cent day-over-day.

  • Interbank closing: Pakistani rupee gains 10 paisa against US dollar

    Interbank closing: Pakistani rupee gains 10 paisa against US dollar

    The Pakistani rupee (PKR) demonstrated resilience for the third consecutive session against the US dollar (USD), marking a 0.04 per cent appreciation in the interbank market on Thursday, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

    The PKR settled at Rs283.51 after an increase of Rs0.10. This positive trend follows Wednesday’s marginal gain, where the rupee settled at Rs283.61 against the USD.

    In contrast to major currencies, the local currency experienced a loss of Rs2.64 against the Euro, closing at Rs308.49 compared to the previous value of Rs305.85.

    The British Pound strengthened by Rs2.91, concluding at Rs357.96 in comparison to Rs355.05 from the preceding day.

    The Swiss franc also witnessed gain of Rs1.46, closing at 325.35 compared to Rs323.89 in the previous session.

    Against the Japanese yen, PKR lost 5.23 paisa, settling at Rs1.9972 versus Rs1.9449 a day ago.

    In the ongoing financial year, the PKR has appreciated against the dollar by Rs2.48, or 0.87 per cent.

    However, in the current calendar year, it has depreciated by Rs57.08, or 20.13 per cent.

    In a related development, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), in its latest report, Asian Development Outlook (ADO), highlighted that Pakistan’s overall recovery is still constrained by moderate confidence and high inflation eroding purchasing power.

    The ADB noted that Pakistan’s inflation rate averaged 28.5 per cent over July–October but is expected to ease amid fiscal consolidation, monetary tightening, and improved availability of food and key imported inputs.

  • Twitter in fits with reporting over jobless people’s attack on Indian parliament

    Twitter in fits with reporting over jobless people’s attack on Indian parliament

    Two unidentified persons were detained after they jumped into the lower house of Indian Parliament chamber, while the winter session of the Parliament was underway.


    The Delhi Police also arrested two other persons – a man and a woman from outside the Parliament, for protesting with coloured smoke.
    The incident took place as the country was commemorating the attack on Indian Parliament in 2001.


    As per Indian media reports, the culprits were seated in the visitors’ gallery and hiding the canisters in their shoes. Parliamentary members told journalists that the protestors raised slogans “Dictatorship will not be accepted”.


    Parliament security staff took the duo — identified as Sagar Sharma, 25, from Lucknow, and Manoranjan D, 35, from Mysore — into custody after they were beaten by MPs, reporters said.


    Two others — Neelam Singh, 42, from Hisar in Haryana and Amol Shinde, 25, from Latur in Maharashtra — were arrested from a spot near Parliament House where they too opened smoke canisters soon after the incident in Lok Sabha.


    The breach has shocked the lawmakers and nation alike.

    But the internet’s meme brigade made the most of it. One user posted the video of parliamentarians beating up the protestor and captioned it with a laughing emoji, “Who says India doesn’t have unity”.


    A user said, “Even my mobile pattern is more secure than the Indian Parliament.”


    Several others used clips from Bollywood and other movies to mock the security of the parliament.


    While Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not in the parliament, critics lambasted his government for the lapse in security of a high-profile place like Lok Sabha.

    Another trolled the BJP parliamentarians shouting space out amid the attack of the intruders saying were they waiting for a “chota bheem” to save their day.


    However, reporting by different media outlets outside the parliament has Twitter in fits.


    Two reporters were seen fighting over the smoke canister while the third one took the benefit and ran away from the spot.


    A user mockingly suggested that these courageous reporters should be deployed on borders and the army should be given the task of reporting.


    Journalist Anil Tiwari commented that “Media students should learn from this video that besides reporting skills, surviving in the media industry may require abilities like snatching, punching, running, etc”.

    Using a Bollywood movie reference a netizen trolled the journalists fighting for a smoke canister.

    Amidst this laughing riot over the reporting, the lady reporter Pallavi Ghosh famous for her swift and aggressive reporting defended herself on Twitter by posting, “End of the day – yes the video looks funny but as a reporter on the ground my Instinct not to let go”

  • Chief Traffic Officer Amara Athar has good news for women

    Chief Traffic Officer Amara Athar has good news for women

    Amara Athar, the first woman chief traffic officer of Lahore, has announced good news for women.

    After taking over the post, she has asserted that the department’s priority will be to get more girls to ride motorcycles and increase the capacity of women drivers.

    Pointing out that traffic jams are a major problem in the city, Athar said that her aim is to improve traffic flow within limited resources.

    Who is Amara Athar?

    Amara Athar was appointed as the Chief Traffic Officer (CTO) of Lahore by Punjab government on December 12.

    The BS-19 police officer is the first woman police officer on central traffic control assignment in the provincial capital and the fourth woman police officer posted in Lahore.

    Dawn reports that according to an official, under Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Usman Anwar’s policy, female officers have been prioritised for field assignments to counter the “decades-old tradition of ‘male dominant’ policing in the province”.

    An official claims that while there were a number of male contenders for the top position of the Lahore traffic police, the IGP preferred a woman officer, especially after the outstanding performance of another female officer, Aysha Butt, who was posted as Gujranwala CTO who has reportedly bring about significant reforms in a short period since her appointment.

    Butt has built Pakistan’s first traffic theme park at Gujranwala with a long walking track that has traffic signs on both sides to create public awareness about traffic rules.

  • Former child artist Zuhab Khan is all grown up and getting married

    Former child artist Zuhab Khan is all grown up and getting married

    Zuhab Khan, the famous child artist, is all grown up and getting married! He recently announced his plans to marry fellow actress Wania Nadeem. Khan, the grandson of the late legendary artist Moin Akhtar, acted in many popular dramas as a child star, including ‘Ummeed-e-Sehar’, ‘Main, Maa, Aur Woh’ and ‘Kash Mein Teri Beti Na Hoti.’

    Responding to a question in an interview about getting married at the age of 22, Zuhab Khan said, “I can get married in the next three months or within a month, but I personally want to get married after three years.”
    He stated, “I want to achieve some goals, and even if I achieve those goals within the next four months, I can still get married.”
    He announced that he is getting married to actress Wania Nadeem. “The girl is ready to get married, she is saying lets get married tomorrow, but I have advised her not to. First, build your career, and then we will get married. Nowadays, she is also working in dramas.”


    Wania Nadeem recently entered the entertainment industry after being a TikToker. Her drama ‘Khushboo Mein Base Khat’ is set to be aired on Hum TV soon.

  • Pakistan Super League season 9 schedule has been changed

    Pakistan Super League season 9 schedule has been changed

    The schedule of Pakistan Super League (PSL) season nine has been changed due to the general elections of 2024.

    The opening ceremony of PSL season nine will take place in Lahore on February 13, while the final will be played in Karachi on March 19, 2024. Earlier, the starting date of PSL nine was fixed on February 8, but general elections have also been fixed for the same day by the Election Commission of Pakistan, leading to the administration changing the schedule of the domestic league.

  • Greta Gerwig, director of ‘Barbie,’ to lead jury at 77th Cannes Film Festival

    Greta Gerwig, director of ‘Barbie,’ to lead jury at 77th Cannes Film Festival

    The Cannes Film Festival announced Thursday that Greta Gerwig, director of summer blockbuster “Barbie”, will preside over the jury at its 77th edition in May.

    The 40-year-old Gerwig, also an actor and screenwriter, takes the baton from Sweden’s Ruben Ostlund, whose jury awarded the 2023 Palme d’Or to courtroom drama “Anatomy of a Fall”.

    She is the first American woman filmmaker to take on the role, the festival said in a statement.

    Gerwig’s presence will provide a youthful flair to Cannes, which has not had such a young president since 1966, when it was led by then-31-year-old Sophia Loren.

    She is also the first woman since actor Cate Blanchett in 2018 to assume the prestigious position, where men remain over-represented.

    “I love films — I love making them, I love going to them, I love talking about them,” Gerwig said in a statement.

    “As a cinephile, Cannes has always been the pinnacle of what the universal language of movies can be”.

    Aside from “Barbie”, a vivid feminist satire about the all-conquering line of plastic dolls, Gerwig has also directed “Lady Bird” (2017) and “Dr March’s Daughters” (2020).

    She is currently working on an adaptation of “The Chronicles of Narnia” for Netflix.

    The festival described Gerwig, who has starred in more than two dozen films, as a heroine for modern times who has rattled the status quo.

    “This is an obvious choice, since Greta Gerwig so audaciously embodies the renewal of world cinema,” said Cannes boss Iris Knobloch and festival delegate Thierry Fremaux

    “Beyond the seventh art, she is also the representative of an era that is breaking down barriers and mixing genres, and thereby elevating the values of intelligence and humanism,” they added.

    In announcing a high-profile woman director, the world’s largest film festival stole back the spotlight from its younger competitor, February’s Berlinale.

    The festival in the German capital on Monday announced its own jury president, 40-year-old Mexican-Kenyan actor Lupita Nyong’o, the first black person named to the role.

    In choosing Gerwig, Cannes is also highlighting its continued ties with the powerful American film industry.

    The Cannes Film Festival has yet to unveil the rest of the jury or the films in the official selection.