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Blog
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Restaurants to remain open in Karachi for takeaway & home delivery services
Restaurants, hotels and ‘nanbais’ in Karachi have been granted permission to operate from 8 am to 5 pm.
According to a notification issued by Commissioner Karachi, restaurants will be allowed to offer takeaway and home delivery services. However, dine-in is strictly prohibited.
The government has also issued a number of SOPs which need to be followed. This includes following the proper procedure to ensure everything is disinfected. Every worker should be checked before entering the workplace.
Commissioner Karachi has also made wearing face masks mandatory for those going outside their houses.
“Face masks are mandatory for all people who come out of the houses for a valid reason or are exempted during the lockdown. The mask shall cover the nose, mouth and chin.”
If symptoms of flu, cough or fever are found, he/she may be referred to the hospital immediately, the notification read.
Meanwhile some areas of Karachi, where a large number of COVID-19 cases have been reported have been completely sealed by the Sindh government.
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Shaan asks ‘born-again politician’ Jawad Ahmad to support PM Khan
Renowned actor Shaan and singer Jawad Ahmed got into a Twitter feud which started with Shaan asking Jawad to put aside his political differences and work with Prime Minister Imran Khan in these testing times; and ended with Shaan referring to Jawad as a ‘born-again politician’ and taking a jibe at the fact that his party won no seats in the 2018 General Elections.
It all started when Jawad criticised PM Imran Khan for playing politics with the Sindh Government and caring more about the Corona Tigers than his people. Shaan, who has always vocally supported PM Khan and his initiatives, responded, “Thank God he is not corrupt. Where were you when we had corrupt people in power?”
Shaan further said that the PM is struggling and that everyone should play their part in helping the country rise.
At that point, Jawad did not directly respond to the actor but instead shared an old tweet in which he had explained why he criticises PM Khan and not those before him.
While Jawad did not responds further, Shaan continued to defend PM Khan and his policies under Jawad’s tweet.
Later, Jawad decided to respond to Shaan’s questions in a video message.
“I usually don’t respond to such comments and I really respect everyone from the showbiz industry, but the questions he raised require me to answer him,” Jawad said in the video. “When he asked me where I was when there was corruption, so I was exactly where you were. I was singing, I was in the industry.”
He further said that he was offered a position in PTI in 2013 which he refused.
“In 2018, I contested in elections. I’m a part of the said politics, therefore I can critique. Imran Khan is the Prime Minister, I have a right to criticise him.”
In response to Jawad’s video, Shaan wrote, “Dear Jawad, it’s good to know that you are a born again politician but the 2018 elections show differently. Brother, you need to build more trust on people so they would listen, believe and vote for you. IK is PM try working with him to build Pakistan together.”
Shaan did not end his support there. He further tweeted:
But in the end he left his followers with some very profound words: “We have many leaders but only one hope. Pakistan – land of the pure.”
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On This Day: Javed Miandad breaks Indian hearts with last-ball sixer
It was on April 18, 1986, when former Pakistan batsman Javed Miandad struck a final-ball six to defeat India in the finals of the Austral-Asia Cup.
This match still sends shivers down the spine of ardent cricket fans in both Pakistan and India. Miandad had smashed a six off the final ball of the match bowled by Chetan Sharma, reports said.
The feat is remarkable as Pakistan needed four runs off the final ball to win the Austral-Asia Cup. Miandad did not succumb to pressure, giving the cricket fans a memory to cherish forever.
Pakistan needed 246 runs to win the match, and the side found itself at 61/3. It was then that Miandad walked out to the middle and played a match-winning knock of 116 runs.
WATCH VIDEO:
In his innings, Miandad struck three fours and as many sixes.
Batting first, India had got to a score of 245 as Kris Srikkanth made 75 runs while Sunil Gavaskar went on to register 94 runs from 134 balls.
For Pakistan, Wasim Akram scalped three wickets.
Miandad has often been involved in fierce battles with India. During the 1992 World Cup group stage game, Miandad ended up mocking the style of India’s wicket-keeper Kiran More.
The Austral-Asia Cup has been played thrice, with Pakistan winning the tournament on all three occasions.
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VIDEO: PTI, PML-N lawmakers join hands to flout social distancing at funeral of colleagues’ mother
In a rather shocking development, lawmakers from both Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) among other political parties have come together to attend the funeral of two of their colleagues’ mother, flouting social distancing as well as the ban on public gatherings to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country.
As per the details, the mother of PTI MPA from Gojra Bilal Asghar Warraich and PML-N MNA Khalid Javed Warraich passed away on Friday. With her funeral prayers being held on Saturday morning, scenes from the venue in Gojra city of Toba Tek Singh district showed violation of the government-ordered ban on public gatherings to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak that has so far claimed 144 lives with 7,654 infections across the country.
WATCH VIDEO:
Hundreds of participants at the funeral also included prominent personalities such as senior PTI leader and lawmaker Riaz Fatyana.
A day earlier, a lack of consensus between religious leaders and the government saw congregational prayers still being held at some mosques across the country, in defiance of government guidelines on social distancing.
In the federal capital, hundreds gathered at the Red Mosque, led by hardline religious leader Abdul Aziz, to offer prayers, standing shoulder-to-shoulder and filling the mosque’s main hall to capacity.
Reports indicated that congregational prayers were also held at major mosques in other cities, with varying levels of social distancing.
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Wearing face masks declared mandatory in Balochistan
The Balochistan government has declared wearing a mask mandatory for the citizens to control the spread of coronavirus.
According to the Balochistan government’s spokesperson, Liaquat Shahwani, the citizens have been advised to wear mask or to cover their faces with any cloth in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak.
“This will help the government in controlling over the pandemic”, Shahwani said and added that strict action would be taken against the violators of the government orders.
The the latest tally of coronavirus cases of the province up to 351.
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‘Ishqiya’ makes no sense
Pakistani dramas generally are far from reality – even though they do pretend to be realistic. But more often than not you come across dramas that are so far-fetched from reality that they begin to test your patience. And Hania Aamir, Feroze Khan, Gohar Rasheed and Ramsha Khan’s Ishqiya is one of those.
To begin with, the plot doesn’t make any sense. Hamna (Ramsha Khan) and Romaisa (Rumi) are two sisters who have typical Pakistani drama parents: old-school and simple. While Hamna is the sober and serious one, Rumi (Hania Aamir) is the lively and playful one. Hania in this drama is no different than Daneen, her character in Anaa and from the first 10 episodes, I think it is fair to say that her fate will somewhat be the same. Rumi’s over-the-top energy is a bit annoying and her dialogues are borderline cringe.
On the other hand, Hamna is in a relationship with her class fellow Hamza (Feroze Khan). The two love each other passionately to the point that Hamza is a bit obsessive about Hamna. In the first few episodes, Hamza gives major Kabir Singh vibes: the public possessiveness, the self-destructive nature etc. In a typical twist of fate, the girls’ father Siddiqui Sahab (as Rumi calls him) has ill health and wants to get his daughters settled (in other words married) as soon as possible. When his colleague approaches them with a rishta of his son Azeem (Gohar Rasheed) for Hamna, Siddiqui Sahab does not hesitate to say yes and Hamna is soon married to Azeem. When Hamza finds out, he throws a major tantrum and in the process ends up getting involved in a car accident. After he recovers, Hamza decides that the best way to get back at Hamna is by marrying her sister Rumi and soon the two also end up getting married with the reception of both the sisters scheduled on the same day.
I’m pretty sure by now, after reading the plot of the drama, you must also be thinking keh yaar yeh kya drama hai? My sentiments exactly. The plot makes zero sense to me – how can a someone not tell their sister that ‘Dude the boy who is approaching you for a rishta is my ex-boyfriend and that he is only doing this to get back at me?’
Not only that, ever since Hamna got married to Azeem, she has a long face, barely eats and is always teary-eyed. That is literally visible to everyone except her own family who are oblivious to her tears.
After mentally torturing Hamna through four episodes and making her uncomfortable at every opportunity, the latest episode saw Hamza finally take his new bride, Roomi home. Hamna also moved to her husband Azeem’s house. It appears that now that the basic matters have been settled and the two former lovers have married other people, we’re in for a major plot twist and a whole lot of drama, which I’m thinking I will skip given how the plot of Ishqiya isn’t the most original. The Pakistani drama scene has seen plenty of such dramas before: one I can remember on top of my head is Yaariyan featuring Ayeza Khan, Moomal Sheikh, Junaid Khan and Muneeb Butt. It also had a similar premise involving two sisters.
Written by Mohsin Ali Shah and directed by Badar Mehmood (Cheekh, Balaa), Ishqiya airs every Monday at 8pm on ARY Digital.
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Lions nap on the road during coronavirus lockdown in South Africa
Pictures of a pride of lions taking a nap in the middle of a road in a national park in South Africa have gone viral on social media. South Africa has been under lockdown since March 25.
Kruger National Park, one of the largest game reserves in Africa, shared photos and videos of animals roaming the park without the intrusion of tourists.
Park ranger Richard Sowry was out on patrol when he took the pictures of a pride sleeping on a road. Mr Sowry performs an essential service and continues to work during the lockdown, checking on the wildlife and guarding against poachers.
He took photos with his mobile phone.
Speaking to a news outlet, he said, “Lions are used to people in vehicles. All animals have much more of an instinctive fear of people on foot, so if I had walked up they would never have allowed me to get so close.”
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Mahira Khan opens up about her love life
Mahira Khan, who has always been tight-lipped about her love life – even when social media married her off several times – has shared a sneak peek into her love life.
Speaking to Samina Peerzada on her show Rewind at Home with Samina Peerzada, when Peerzada asked Mahira if she is in love with someone special, Mahira replied: “I think I am in love.”
When Peerzada expressed her joy on this, Mahira said, “I don’t know. I’m so shy about this.”
Mahira also shared that her love interest is not from the industry and that she doesn’t want to share any details about it.
“This is the one thing I want to protect with my life,” said the actor, adding “I want to protect my child. Initially, I was always finding opportunities to show off my son but now I want to keep things private.”
Mahira explained that the reason for doing this was because she doesn’t want any nazr.
However, Mahira clarified that she is not getting married. Though she did say that her grandmother has asked her to think about it.
This the first time Mahira has publicly spoken about having a special someone in her life. Last year, India media had reported that Mahira had gotten engaged in Turkey to a Karachi-based entrepreneur Salim Karim. However, sources close to Mahira had shut down the rumours, saying that she had gone there to attend her friend’s wedding.
Apart from this, Mahira also talked about how she is spending her time at home. She shared that she was spending time with her family, watching the sun rise with her son and catching up on reading. Mahira also remarked that she missed being on set and that she is looking forward to going back to work.
Watch the full interview here:
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Smokers 14 times more likely to contract coronavirus
Smokers are 14 times more vulnerable to contraction of coronavirus as compared with those who do not smoke, Al-Jazeera reported.
It quoted the president of Turkish Green Crescent, Professor Mucahit Ozturk, as urging smokers to quit for protecting themselves from the contagion.
“Using tobacco and tobacco products increases the risk of catching the coronavirus, therefore, avoiding all addictive substances plays an important role in protecting ourselves against the virus,” Ozturk said.
Prof Ozturk emphasised that smoking weakened the immune system and had a dire impact on coronavirus treatment as well.
“A weak immune system poses a threat to your health since it delays the treatment process and makes treatment difficult during the epidemic, even if you occasionally use addictive substances,” he said.
“Smoking can cause damage to the lungs and block the cough reflex so viruses and bacteria could stick to the airways and lungs, which could lead to serious infections.”
Earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) also said smokers are likely to be more vulnerable to the virus as fingers are in contact with the lips, which increases the possibility of hand-to-mouth transmission.
European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention cited a research by Chinese doctors as per which “acute smokers are at a higher risk of dying than the elderly”.
Smokers should quit because “the human body is programmed to recover from the moment you stop smoking,” Ozturk said.