Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal has demanded the inclusion of Dera Ghazi (DG) Khan and Rajanpur into Balochistan, The Express Tribune reported.
According to the details, BNP-M chief while addressing a gathering held at Kalama Chowk of Taunsa tehsil in honour of the martyrs of Koh-e-Sulaiman said that Balochistan had the lowest population in Pakistan despite having an area of 43% of the country.
“Both these regions should be included in Balochistan to balance the population,” Mengal said, adding that they were part of the province at the time of partition.
While criticising the the government for launching mega projects such as metro trains under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in other cities of the country, he said that no welfare projects were being introduced in Balochistan.
Akhtar Mengal also accused the government of “selling” the entire country, including Balochistan province under CPEC.
Akhtar said that he is only supporting the government for the implementation of his six-point agenda.
“I am not supporting them in greed for any post,” he added, saying that he was striving for the rights of his people within the framework of the Constitution.
He further demanded of the Punjab chief minister to conduct an inquiry into the killing of two persons in DG Khan two months back in police encounter.
Not like we didn’t see this coming, but award-winning filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Bushan Kumar have announced a film on the Balakot ‘airstrike’.
According to details, the film will be written and directed by Abhishek Kapoor. The cast has not yet been announced.
DG ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor had a few thoughts on the matter which he voiced on Twitter.
With due respect to WC Abhinandan as a soldier, yes the dream could only be fulfilled through Bollywood. Denial of sham strike on 26 Feb and wreckage of 2 IAF jets shot by PAF on 27 Feb will haunt you despite that.
Previously, Vivek Oberoi had also announced a film on IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman.
“As a proud Indian, a patriot, and a member of the film fraternity, it’s my duty to highlight what our Armed Forces are truly capable of. In the form of a trilingual, this film is a powerful tool to underline the achievements of brave officers like Wing Commander Abhinandan, who went behind the enemy lines and did what makes every Indian proud of them,” Vivek had said while announcing the film, which is expected to release in 2020. It will be shot in the backdrop of Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Agra.
BALAKOT INCIDENT
Following the Pulwama incident in which 44 Indian paramilitary soldiers lost their lives, two Indian aircraft entered Pakistani air space on February 27, 2019 for the second time in two days, engaged with Pakistan Air Force (PAF), and as a result, were shot down.
The wreckage of one of the planes landed in Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK), and the wreckage of the other plane landed in the Indian-occupied Kasmir (IoK), Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) had confirmed at the time.
Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was held captive following the aerial dogfight, was handed over to India on March 1 in a peace gesture after PM Imran had announced to release him in an attempt to “de-escalate tensions” between the two countries.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad gifted a luxury car to Prime Minister Imran Khan. The car has arrived in Pakistan and will be handed over to the government in a ceremony at the Malaysian High Commission in Islamabad on Monday.
Adviser to Prime Minister of Pakistan for Commerce, Textile, Industry & Production and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood will receive the car on behalf of PM Khan, who will be in Bahrain on Monday. A symbolic car key was already presented to PM Imran when the Malaysian PM visited Islamabad.
According to Arab News, Mohamad gifted PM Khan a Malaysian manufactured X-70 Proton during his three-day official visit to Pakistan earlier this year in March.
2019 Proton X70 SUV
It is pertinent to mention here that a Proton joint venture between Pakistan and Malaysia was first agreed on last year and was part of the agreements signed during Mohamad’s visit. Manufacturing and assembly of the Malaysian Proton cars has already begun in Pakistan with a local partner, Al Hajj Automotive.
At Bangkok’s Reclining Buddha temple, Krairath Chantrasri says he is a proud custodian of an ancient skill — the body-folding, sharp-elbowed techniques of Thai massage, which was added Thursday to UNESCO’s prestigious heritage list.
Originating in India and practiced in Thailand for centuries, the massage was popularized when a specialty school opened in the 1960s to train massage therapists from around the world.
Nuad Thai’s addition to UNESCO’s list of “Intangible Cultural Heritage” practices “is historic,” said the Thai delegate at the United Nations Economic, Scientific and Cultural Organisation meeting in Bogota, Colombia.
“It helps promote the practice of Nuad Thai locally and internationally,” he said.
From upscale Bangkok spas and Phuket beach fronts to modest street-side shophouses, “nuad Thai” is ubiquitous across the kingdom, where an hour of the back-straightening discipline can cost as little as $5.
Krairath, who teaches at the Reclining Buddha School inside the famed Wat Pho temple, helps thousands of Thai and foreign students who flock to the centre each year.
The son of a masseuse, he takes great pride in his role sharing the ancient discipline at a temple whose certification is a proud banner for any massage shop.
“I’m a continuation of our collective knowledge,” the 40-year-old told AFP.
At Wat Pho’s complex, trainees run through a catalogue of moves targeting the body’s acupressure points with thumbs, elbows, knees and feet while also incorporating deep stretches and contortions.
Doctors and monks were said to have brought these methods 2,500 years ago to Thailand, passing its secrets from master to disciple in temples and later within families.
Under Thailand’s King Rama III in the nineteenth century, scholars engraved their knowledge of the field onto the stones of Wat Pho.
The nuad Thai school, which has trained more than 200,000 massage therapists who practice in 145 countries, first opened in 1962.
Turning the tables –
Massage employs tens of thousands of Thais.
The school’s director Preeda Tangtrongchitr says they usually see an uptick in interest from Thais when the economy is bad.
“For many people who are disabled or in debt, this job is an opportunity because it requires no material — only their hands and knowledge,” he said.
Today, a therapist at a top-end spa can charge around $100 an hour in Thailand, and two or three times more in London, New York or Hong Kong where the Thai massage brand is booming.
But the training is “demanding”, says Chilean Sari, a professional masseuse who travelled to Bangkok to learn the discipline.
“The technique is very precise; there are so many things to be aware of,” the 34-year-old told AFP, as she made rotations with her palm on a fellow student’s skull.
The teachings focus on directing blood circulation around problem areas to solve muscle aches — sometimes drawing winces from clients unaccustomed to the force applied.
Studies have shown it can help relieve back pain, headaches, insomnia and even anxiety.
For Matthieu Rochefolle, a nurse from Lyon, France, adding Thai massage techniques to his repertoire of skills could help his elderly patients aching for relief.
“It could also allow me to earn a little more,” he said.
There’s a door, like Narnia and it’s so exciting to get to where it is. It’s an experience you could never get in any other city of Pakistan because it requires, no, demands the warmth of Lahori Punjabis. The owners of the restaurant with the blue door have tapped into exactly that; the fact that Lahoris will always be ready for an open and warm conversation.
It’s not easy to get a seat at the restaurant, ‘The Blue Door Super Club’. I came across them on Instagram and after inquiring about it from a friend who had recently gone, messaged the owner, Unum. She replied to my inquiry about a reservation with a hint of energy and bubble.
I got a reservation for four, paid half in advance, and we took the long trek out to the restaurant. The boonies of Lahore always has an air of mystery and with Google Maps having a tough time finding the restaurant, the whole experience became even more intruiging.
I was apprehensive though – so much mystery could be the gimmick that made up for the lack of good food.
I saw the menu beforehand and was bemused. So Punjabi to do a menu that was Mexican but also Korean but this one had a flair and the sound of actual, honest fusion. It looked and sounded comforting, not pretentious, and I wondered how well it would do in Lahore, where one would only pay 5000 rupees for a plate of overrated sushi.
Waiting for dinner service to begin
We got to the restaurant and expected to be seated at our table of four. Except it was a long, singular table of 12. Oh great, I thought. There’s a single table, people I don’t know, and they’ve already chosen our spots for us. This is going to be an experience I might not want to have.
The property was large, the restaurant small and cosy. The kitchen was small and the chefs, Unum and her husband Ali, came out to greet us. It quite literally felt like we had walked into someone’s home for Thanksgiving dinner and there were a lot of ‘relatives’ coming.
But like a cold winter night, when its time to get warm, there is a soft and tender warmth that starts to surround you. It started from the warm way Ali and Unum greeted us, and extended to the true Punjabi warmth of everyone getting together to sit at the table. A girl, who later became the life of the party, came and hugged us, exclaiming about how it was so lovely to meet new people. It was warmth, connection and conversation. Everything you expect from a dinner you will never forget.
Camerones al Mojo de Ajo served on a darling little plate
We were seated and the five course menu began with a prawn and garlic appetizer served on a homemade corn tostada. Giant prawns, seared to perfection, perfectly seasoned, it crunched with freshness , with hints of citrus. But what made it explode with flavour was the lemon chilli salt and the green chilli sauce. My God, what a sauce.
The kitchen was her grandmother’s room, explains Unum as she comes to chat between courses. Her nani was the one who taught her to cook, and as Unum spoke, her voice was full of memories of flavour. Which is what usually happens when one loves food and remembers who taught them their passion. Unum learnt hers and it is most likely what’s driving her to follow her memories.
By the time the chicken soup came along, the conversation was in full swing. A couple married for eleven years, one about to get married, everyone started exchanging stories. It was so swinging that we forgot to take pictures of it. There’s nothing better than a homemade bone broth, crispy tortillas floating in a soup with heart. The soup was finished in what felt like seconds as the conversation with strangers warmed into being a conversation with friends.
The fancy samosa that Mexicans call Empanadas was served next with a rocket and cucumber salad. The empanada was basic, which is something I didn’t expect. It lacked flavour but it was bound to, since it required heavy seasoning for the organic chicken and potato to surrender their blandness. A good dose of the saviour chilli sauce elevated it, but here began the downfall.
The conversation never wavered, and sometimes all twelve people listened to one person talk about a life story. Bursts of laughter, waves of silent listening, the conversation was the star. From chefs, to businesspersons, bureaucrats, homemakers and journalists, it was as if Unum and Ali had a secret sauce of mixing the right people. The food didn’t have to be good anymore. No music was needed. The hum of different life stories took over and never stopped.
Yang Nyeom Tong Dak Tacos
I ordered the Korean Chicken Taco, my partner, the Slow Cooked Beef. Having tried to perfect Korean Chicken, I was looking forward to this main course since it is not as easy as it looks. The handmade tortilla was perfection, the Korean Chicken left me wanting. The chicken pieces were crispy – a bit too crispy. They needed more meat and a lot more zing. The Pakistani palette loves spices, mixes of flavor which is why when a dish requires a tablespoon of sauce, add another two and you’ve got the Pakistani feel down. The chilli sauce. Yes. It came back on my plate and added another dimension.
Beef Birria de Res
The Slow Cooked Beef was having an off day as well. I had heard smashing reviews of the beef, with its chipotle aioli and roasted tomato salsa. It was meant to be slow cooked taco heaven. But again, lacked in flavor.
They started as chefs when they missed home living in England. Just like every nostalgic Pakistani, who goes abroad, braves the cold, carries their groceries and walks home to a place that doesn’t smell like ami kay haath ka khaana, they started making desi food for their friends and their friends for them. It happens to most of us.
Ali and Unum cooking for friends when living abroad
When we make our first daal with our mothers on the phone giving directions on how to do it and then slowly progress to biryani with masala mixes, or from scratch. It’s almost a right of passage, and Unum and Ali had the courage to take it forward and do what they love.
Unum and Ali at their graduation
Its apparent in the way they talk about their food. It sings in their dessert, a caramel flan with a chocolate cake base.
Pastel Imposible
The flan was creamy and joyous, the chocolate cake a tad dry. The two fought each other, the chocolate and the caramel vanilla flan, refusing to marry but forced on top of the other. I enjoyed every single bite of the flan, small savoring bites that didn’t last long enough.
The Blue Door to the restaurant
The Blue Door is starting brunch soon and is already booked out from what I hear. Not surprised. As we left, spending more than three hours at the restaurant, we exchanged numbers, promising to meet again and following each other on Instagram. It was the beginning of new friendships and as the tinkling and clatter of plates and cutlery being collected faded, it felt like the end of a meal we would all remember. It’s a magical place, The Blue Door, its fairy dust being the coming together of people being served food that’s grown and cooked with love.
The Kasur DPO wants to educate children about the difference between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ touches to curb rising cases of child abuse.
The police is holding lectures at schools to educate children about their rights. The police have also recovered 80 missing children. Community Liaison officers have appointed to arrange lectures on child rights.
A sermon has been shared with all mosques so that they can share it with people on Friday prayer. Moreover, cases are being heard at an open court at the DPO office every day. A tent has been set up for the purpose too.
The police have started profiling the entire district. A list of all sexual offenders has been prepared and the police have even identified places where bodies were dumped. Efforts are being made to ensure regular inspections of police stations and their performance. According to the police, the percentage of complaint redressal has risen to 78% from 19% since the new DPO took charge.
The Pakistan Post has suffered a loss of Rs61 billion in the last 10 years.
According to reports, the Ministry of Postal Services, while presenting statistics regarding organisation’s performance, told the Senate Standing Committee that the institute faced a loss of Rs140 million in year 2008-2009 and this loss swelled to Rs10 billion in 2018-2019.
The ministry while explaining the causes of this huge loss
said that the increase in pay, allowances and pension benefits was a major
contributor to widening gap between expenditure and revenue.
They said that the Finance Division had decreased the rate
of post office commission in Savings Bank Scheme from 1.56% to 0.50% in
October, 2010 which reduced the receipts of the institute.
The panel’s chairman Senator Mian Ateeq observed that the situation of the postal service was no different from the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) – the national flag carrier –facing huge losses since over a decade.
The chairman also suggested that the operating expenditure
against income must be added as well. While reviewing recruitment discrepancies
during previous regimes, the panel recommended that Pakistan Post must focus on
figures.
Well, obviously, with the entry of Shahwar’s (Adnan Siddiqui) wife, Maham (Savera Nadeem) Shahwar and Mehwish (Ayeza Khan) were not going to get married. Maham enters the scene, sends the moulvi sahib packing, Shahwar to jail and kicks Mehwish out of the house. Her role is complete. She has taken back her money, dismissed her dirtbag husband and gotten rid of the woman he was having an affair with.
Maham takes control
All in one episode.
Oh, and Danish (Humayun Saeed) tells Hania (Hira Mani) that his son Roomi, wants him to marry her. So that’s out in the open now too.
Hania finds out that Roomi wants her to marry his father
Mehwish after getting thrown out of Maham’s house, goes back to her old home, realizing what she has lost. She wanders around, homeless and unsure about what to do. She goes to see her son at school, who meets her nicely, but tells her that he can’t tell his friends she’s his mother.
She meets her son in school who tells her that he doesn’t want her coming around. He’ll talk to her on the phone
She goes to meet Shahwar in jail who tells her to leave, because Maham would have a fit if she found out. All those promises, gone. He says to her that they had a good time when they were together. Mehwish can’t believe it. Her life as she knows it, is over.
Shahwar, yelling for the guards to take away this woman he doesn’t know
Adnan Siddiqui does a brilliant job in this episode of being the totally disengaged, uninterested, in-it-for-the-good-times guy we all knew he was. He looks through Mehwish like she is nothing – at one point screaming for the police to take her away. He says he doesn’t know who she is – and for a minute you might think, has he gone mad? No, he is just making sure he gets out of jail and Mehwish, means absolutely nothing to him anymore.
Mehwish ends up in a park, crying on a bench. In a very strange scene, a little girl tells her mother that look, that lady (Mehwish) is crying just like you. Who this lady is and why she’s crying, no one knows.
Girl watches Mehwish cry in the park
The only plausible reason to keep this scene in the episode is to show that Mehwish, the once rich and almost married beauty is now worse off than someone sitting in a bench on a park, crying. So realistic is the scene, that one realizes that Mehwish, who always had perfectly manicured nails in the series, now has broken, dirty ones. The attention to detail in this drama is intensely perfect.
Danish goes on to partner with his friend in his stock market firm and obviously is going to end up making a lot of money, that also because he bought shares in Shahwar’s company (oh the irony).
Mehwish is going to want Danish back. The teaser for episode 19 proves as much. And in a deep twist, the roles of Shahwar and Maham come to an end. Now comes the face off between Mehwish and Hania for Danish.
Danish’s face in the teaser when he realizes that Mehwish has called him, crying
Hania will most likely not back down, and Mehwish will want the love that she lost. But who will Danish choose? The women he loved with all his heart, who broke it but is still the mother of his child? Or the girl who would most likely never do him wrong, will cherish him, but is in fact, terribly boring? In this delicious episode the series takes a twist. And it will now all be about who is team Mehwish and who is team Hania.
Fashion brand Generation is typically known to be progressive – their campaigns are usually centred on creating awareness on social issues and are focused on inclusivity. Be it breast cancer awareness, hiring plus sized, dark-skinned or older women as models, Generation has usually been lauded for its initiatives.
However, the brand landed in a social media controversy after some users called them out for using “underprivileged girls as photo props” for a recent shoot.
What next level idiocracy is this? I mean what would the brand, agency and creative team thinking while shooting this? Is it what they call some sort of Art? Thought provoking visual or anything else?#Pakistan#Fashion#GenerationPkpic.twitter.com/KDC1i2nVdc
As these tweets began to gain traction lawyer Waqqas Mir clarified that the photos were not from Generation’s shoot but were actually from a shoot of a separate magazine.
Later, Generation themselves took to social media to clarify that the shoot was done by magazine Libas Now “merely to promote Alif Laila, a colourful bus turned into a children’s library.”
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has said that the Supreme Court (SC) “does not have the authority to dictate the parliament on what matters to legislate on and how”.
The apex court, in its November 28 verdict, had allowed the federal government to grant a six-month extension to Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, directing the government to legislate on the army chief’s tenure and extension during the said time.
Speaking to Voice of America (VOA), Fawad questioned the judiciary’s “authority to direct the parliament on legislative matters”. “The SC’s orders have a lot of legal defects and shortcomings. It almost eliminates Article 243.”
Article 243 of the constitution pertains to the command of armed forces — that the federal government should have their control.
“The SC cannot tell the parliament that ‘you can legislate on this but cannot legislate on that’ or ‘you can or cannot extend the duration’,” Fawad said, adding that in the constitutions of 1956 and 1962, the duration of the army chief’s tenure was ascertained.
“But after many debates and arguments, it was taken out of the constitution of 1973, and there was a reason for that because the parliament wanted the prime minister (PM) to be empowered.”
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“If you assign a specific amount of term to the army chief then how would you remove him before the expiration of his term, if need be. Therefore, the SC’s verdict has a lot of flaws and it needs to be corrected.”
The minister maintained that the federal cabinet was awaiting the release of the detailed verdict of the apex court, after which the government would decide how to proceed forward. “The decision to file a review petition still has to be finalised,” he clarified.
When asked about the differences between the government and the opposition, and how they could hinder efforts aimed at the smooth passage of any legislation in the parliament, the Fawad said “all political players in the country were on the same page on the matter since the army chief was apolitical”.
