The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has granted post-arrest bail to activists who were detained for protesting against the arrest of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leader Manzoor Pashteen, Dawn reported Monday.
According to reports, IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Athar Minallah heard the plea and granted bail to 23 activists belonging to the PTM and Awami Workers Party (AWP).
During the course of proceedings, the IHC CJ expressed displeasure at the Islamabad police chief’s absence from the court. “We did not expect this of your government. You are the representative of the state here, it is the state’s job to protect its people,” he reportedly said to the deputy commissioner, adding that the government should admit if it was wrong.
“We will get to the bottom of this case. How could you question someone’s patriotism? Do you think constitutional courts will shut their eyes on a matter like this?” CJ Minallah remarked while giving the deputy commissioner a week’s time to consult the Islamabad police chief and come up with a report on the incident.
Pashteen, who is still in state custody, was arrested up from the Tahkal area of Peshawar last week. According to the FIR [First Information Report] filed against the PTM chief, he is accused of using threatening and derogatory language against the state during a gathering in Dera Ismail Khan on January 18.
Pashteen was last Monday presented before a court that handed him over to law enforcement authorities on a 14-day judicial remand.
Millions of Android and iPhone devices with an outdated operating system (Andriod or IOS) will no longer be able to run WhatsApp, the app owned by Facebook, BBC reportedon Saturday. WhatsApp as saying the move is important to protect the security of its users.
Smartphones with Andriod version 2.3.7 and older, and iPhone IOS 8 and older, would be affected by the update, said the report. Most users would be able to update their operating systems in order to continue using the services of WhatsApp.
“WhatsApp clearly had no option but to ensure its services remain secure; however it faces the difficult side-effect that the app is no longer compatible with older smartphones,” said CSS (tech research company) insight analyst Ben Wood.
A spokesperson for the messaging platform said: “This was a tough decision for us to make, but the right one in order to give people better ways to keep in touch with friends, family, and loved ones using WhatsApp.”
This is the latest in a series of moves after the app withdrew support for numerous devices in 2016, and then from all Windows phones on the last day of last year.
The Akmal brothers are not only notorious for their on-field shenanigans but their off-field actions often make it to the headlines as well.
And it appears that Umar Akmal has found himself in trouble once again after he reportedly misbehaved with staff during a fitness test at the National Cricket Academy (NCA).
According to reports, the 29-year-old batsman exposed himself amid a bout of anger during a fitness test.
“Where’s the fat?” questioned Akmal as he took off all his clothes after failing the skin-fold test. It is pertinent to mention here that while some reports say that Akmal completely removed his clothing, others say that he only took off his shirt.
Meanwhile, Kamran Akmal defended his brother’s actions saying that the entire episode was just a “misunderstanding”, and that Umar had done it in “mischief”.
Kamran also reportedly failed his fitness tests by substantial margins. He skipped two fitness tests, before finally making it to the third one only to fail in nearly all departments. And in an interactive session on Twitter later in the day, Kamran remarked that other than fitness, skills and performance are also important for selection.
now a days fitness has become a criteria for selection so everyone has to follow it…but i still believe in skills & performance which make a player match fit.
Everyone has heard. Karachiites find it difficult to settle in Lahore. 20 years, 10 years, five years, the hole in their heart is never filled. It’s not a superiority thing, which Lahoris believe it is. It’s because they don’t fit in even if they try to. Some succeed and become unrecognizable to their childhood friends. Most live their lives in Lahore, yearning for aloos in their biryani.
For Karachiites, biryani isn’t just about comfort food. It’s the smell of home on Sundays, it is the big silver daigs being brought into every mayyun, mehndi, and shaadi, the big plate with your favourite piece of meat, two aloos or more, rice with heaps of masala, raita, a good movie, eaten and watched in bed after a really long day. It’s home.
Food is synonymous with home. No matter where we live, when we are homesick we turn to food that makes us relive the place, and the memories we miss. If you live in hostels, or work abroad, you will ultimately call your mother to ask how to make daal chawal, and if you feel courageous enough to try, biryani. It won’t taste just like home but it might come close.
Five years on, I have yet to find the perfect biryani in Lahore. And I’ve tried almost all of them, in search for a piece of home. Two have come close, but perhaps it’s because I forced them to in my mind. But that was also more than enough for a few minutes.
I tried Karachi Naseeb Biryani at least 10-15 times. They have aloo, I was proudly told. The name suits the biryani. It is in your naseeb if you will find biryani that comes close to Karachi’s. And also one branch.
I’m told the oldest branch of Karachi Naseeb Biryani is the one that between McDonalds and Main Market in Gulberg. And that’s the one to try. The first few times I had the biryani from other branches and it was mostly the happy color yellow, mixed with white rice, aloo and chicken. The biryani looked glum, painted happy, depressed inside, lonely pieces floating around and never coming together. Then came the night when the right box arrived from the right branch. Yellow mixed with masala, aloo bukharas two aloos and masala stuck in between the nooks and crannies of the seena piece. Yes, please. It wasn’t Karachi but it was so painfully close. Eaten too fast, the moment was over too soon.
Karachi Kanteen came to Lahore with a bang. We were all talking about it. Anda Shami, chicken rolls and what, Sindhi biryani? Life was going to be complete, I just knew it.
The first time I had Karachi Kanteen, I went to heaven. I was home, I was at a wedding, I was at a friend’s house, I was everywhere I yearned to be. The biryani was perfect. The masala, the sticky aloo bokharas, those elaichis that add so much flavour but are quickly caught and pushed aside, it tasted like the heart of Sindh. It was one of my happiest nights in Lahore because life was about to change.
It didn’t really change though. The biryani was ordered four, five times, eaten at food festivals, tried over and over again. It was never the same. It was almost as if it had given up and blended into the Lahori palao biryani. Or it liked to fit in and decided it had taken a different route in life. Whatever the reason, it was never the same again. It made me angry, I’ll admit. It wasn’t supposed to do that.
There were many that came and went. Happy spoons going in, leaving dejected and hopeless. Some came with kababs, put on top of the rice like a pity crown, as if the kababs were a consolation prize for something that just wasn’t going to do it.
A worthy mention is a home-based company whose owner I met at a restaurant as I told my tale of sorrow for the umpteenth time. He said his family made biryani for delivery and he would send me some. I accepted his offer, not thinking that he would. He did and it came in a big container with green chutney. Rakh Rakhao’s biryani came on a day I needed it the most. I opened the box which revealed biryani that wasn’t just coloured yellow but had streaks of orange as well. I examined the rice and found it to be full of masala. The aloos seemed perfectly cooked, the chicken, glad to be stuck to the rice. My interest was further piqued by the presence of lemon slices, which very few people do. I dove in and it was good. I nimbled it with my fork, broke away the chicken pieces and mixed it with green raita, when my heart really wanted the white wala. The biryani was good but tasted mostly of lemon and the masala wasn’t perfect. But there was masala, which made it more biryani than others.
I came home, with my biryani box in tow forvsome time alone. I was hungry, I opened the box and took out the biryani, heated it up and made some white raita. Discarding the spoon, I started eating it with my hands, watching a movie on Netflix. And for a few moments, the biryani raised the bar and started to come home. It wasn’t perfect but then life for a Karachiite in Lahore hardly is. But it came close and that, is good enough.
A three-year-old young Astore Markhor, who fell from a cliff, was released into its habitat three days after it was rescued and after receiving full treatment for the injuries.
According to the Gilgit-Baltistan wildlife department, the markhor had fallen from a cliff in Jutial Nullah area three days ago. Locals had discovered the markhor and handed it over to the wildlife department, who shifted it to the veterinary hospital in Gilgit for treatment.
Doctors at the hospital said that the injured markhor received minor injuries in its legs and was suffering from fever. It received treatment for three days after which the doctors felt that it was well enough to be released into the wild.
However, the wildlife staff will keep an eye on the young goat till it rejoins its herd.
Pakistan’s national animal, markhor, is a large Capra species native to Central Asia, Karakoram and the Himalayas. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List, it is listed as a near-threatened species since 2015.
Its horns are a highly sought after trophy. On December 12, an Italian citizen hunted the first Markhor of the season. According to the Gilgit – Baltistan wildlife department, Carlo Pasco successfully hunted a markhor from the conservation area.
The hunter paid $85,000 as permit fee for hunting the rare wildlife species. The Wildlife department claims that 80% of the amount paid by hunters is given to the local community to invest in themselves and the conversation of these animals.
Members of the first-ever Pakistani Female Engagement Team (FET), which is deployed with the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), were recently awarded the UN Medal at a ceremony in Adikivu in South Kivu, one of the provinces of the central African country.
According to APP, this team of 15 female Majors and Captains was the first ever Pakistani Female Engagement team in any UN peacekeeping mission around the world.
Officers in the team include psychologists, stress counsellors, vocational training officers, gender advisers, doctors, nurses, operations officers, information officers and logistics officers, according to a message received at UN Headquarters in New York.
17 more female officers will be joining the team in early February.
UN Peacekeepers rely heavily on engaging with the local community — which feels more comfortable liaising and sharing information with military troops that include women alongside men.
“Throughout their deployment the Pakistani female officers worked hard to win the trust of the community,” the message added.
The Pakistani FET, according to the mission, has implemented many successful projects including vocational training, medical outreach, regular sessions of support for students, local women and teachers exposed to trauma; and psychological workshops for Congolese police personnel.
“This team’s extraordinary endeavours to serve the UN is worthy of praise”, the press release concluded.
A teacher and his young student expelled from a college for allegedly posting an indecent video clip of themselves on TikTok have contracted court marriage, earlier this week.
According to reports, Rafaqat Hussain, a 38-year-old English teacher at the Government Postgraduate College Haripur and his 24-year-old student Zainab Ali tied the knot at a local court in Abbottabad. Zainab’s mother and Rafaqat’s cousins and friends were present in the courtroom.
Speaking about the marriage, the groom expressed that he was very happy adding, “We were in a relationship and were waiting for our families’ permission to get married.”
Rafaqat is already married and has three children with his first wife.
According to the couple, the 20-second clip that shows Rafaqat and Zainab together at a local fish-point was shared on the popular video-sharing social networking application TikTok by someone with ill-intent.
“Today, it has been established that we were in a serious relationship,” said the professor.
Rafaqat said the clip wasn’t meant to be shared on TikTok, but someone hacked into Zainab’s cellphone, stole the clip and shared it on social networking platforms. The college suspended Rafaqat and Zainab after the clip went viral for violating the college discipline, Principal Dr Muhammad Ishfaq said.
Apple is no longer closing just one store in China over coronavirus worries — Apple is closing them all. The company is shutting down all its corporate offices, stores, and contact centres in mainland China through February 9, according to a statement provided to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
Apple is closing most of its stores in mainland China through Feb. 9 on coronavirus https://t.co/B3Kp7yeWiu
The deadly coronavirus outbreak that has killed over 200 people in China and infected nearly 10,000 worldwide, has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO). It has triggered the first mandatory CDC quarantine in the United States in 50 years and prompted a ban on foreign nationals returning from China. In addition, airlines have been forced to temporarily suspend all flights to the country. In these circumstances, it makes sense for Apple to shut down its stores and offices in China.
However, Apple says its online store will remain open.
Meanwhile, it’s not clear if Apple’s Chinese factories, run by Foxconn, will also be shutting down and more factory workers dismissed. Foxconn, on Tuesday, had said that it would be “operating on a holiday schedule and didn’t anticipate any impact in production”.
Nintendo, which manufactures its consoles in China, has said that the coronavirus is already impacting the production of the Nintendo Switch game console.
Coronavirus outbreak in China could start to disrupt India’s production of smartphones. This spread can delay component shipments that are important for the production of smartphones, reports have said.
India is the world’s biggest smartphone maker after China but is still largely dependent on China for supplies of parts such as cells, displays panels, camera modules and printed circuit boards.
“Those disruptions were already planned but if it gets prolonged, for March and April, production will have serious trouble,” said S N Rai, the co-founder of homegrown smartphone maker Lava.
China’s OnePlus said its Indian operations could manage, in the short term at least.
“We are well covered because we have the entire production in India, we already have enough stock, and even going forward many of the components will anyway be coming directly from other markets,” said Vikas Agarwal, the India head of OnePlus.
However, Beijing has expressed confidence in uprooting the “devil” virus that has been declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Giants like Alphabet Inc’s Google and Sweden’s IKEA have closed operations in China.
India’s Tata Motors, which counts China as a major market for its luxury Jaguar Land Rover cars, said on Thursday it was worried about the coronavirus and warned that the outbreak could impact productions and profits.
For now, the industry just hopes the outbreak can be contained within the next two weeks. “If the problem persists beyond February 10, we have a real problem at hand,” said Pankaj Mohindroo, head of the India Cellular & Electronics Association, an industry lobby group.
