Pakistani News for the Rest of Us

Adams, who performed most of his hits and moved the audience with “Summer of 69″, said he was glad to discover new fans in Pakistan. Canadian rocker Bryan Adams thrilled 10,000 fans at a concert in Karachi on Sunday, the first big show by a Western singer in Pakistan in decades, to help students affected …

Efforts like these eventually paid off. Days before the race, Lahore city officials said the mixed race would go on. Hundreds of women, including Rafique, turned out for the shorter “family” runs, dashing and walking alongside their husbands and children. For Nabila Rafique, the race wasn’t about finishing first. She ran and walked the course …

Flight PK-623 created a unique aviation record for the national air carrier as both the pilot and co-pilot were women. In the past, flights have either had a male pilot or co-pilot. The passengers aboard the plane did not know about all-female crew flight until it had made a landing. It was a surprise for …

This technician is the BDS’ only regular employee for two 12 hours shifts, to respond to all Lahore’s calls. One Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) technician responds to up to 35 bomb threats every month, including hoaxes, and deactivates bombs to save 7.5 million lives in the 1772 square kilometre area of Lahore, and only has …

A visiting scientist of Pakistani origin, US-based Dr Hameedullah, from the National Institute of Health, Maryland, USA, presented his paper, “Genome to life project: the impact of the genetic revolution on our lives during the 21st century and beyond”, in the auditorium of DUHS organised by the Department of Community Medicine on Wednesday. The Dow …

Young, old, ladies and gentlemen all remained mesmerized under the spell of the melodies of the musicians and songsters, who kept them enthralled in pin drop silence listening to the heart penetrating ‘Raags’ and warming up ‘Ghazals’ in the chill winter night till wee hours. The rich milieu of artists drawn from all over Pakistan …

Hundreds of Pakistani Britons are booking cheap plastic surgery in their ancestral homeland, three times the number just four years ago. Nose jobs, tummy tucks, liposuction and breast enlargements are the favoured treatments for many who feel “pressure to have Western features” but who want to pay only a fraction of what they would be …

The objective of the initiative is to catch up the progress made in India, China, Thailand, South Korea, in Europe and North America on innovation and competitiveness to boost the economic growth and create better employment. Furthermore, the initiative will contribute to improving the competitiveness index of the Pakistani economy which is ranked by the …

The move is seen as a significant step in the warming of relations between the countries after decades of hostility. It also opens up a lucrative new market to Bollywood which, in terms of overall viewers and numbers of features produced, is already the world’s biggest film industry. The ban, introduced after the 1965 Kashmir …

Lahore, the cultural, intellectual and artistic capital of Pakistan, enjoys two very special distinctions. It is reputed to be home to the best-looking women in the subcontinent and the other is its gourmet hub, albeit for carnivores in the main. There is a wide array of non-vegetarian dishes to sample — kadais, sajjis, botis, biryanis, …

According to an elderly citizen, there used to be dozens of water troughs in Karachi but she has witnessed their steady destruction. Few people know who Shrimati Aplibai was. But perhaps some people do know what she did for Karachi. At a time before the creation of Pakistan, she had a water trough constructed …

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) came up with a novel idea to provide extra support for quake survivors during the inclement weather. The organisation has enlisted 100 volunteers to staff rapid response teams in Muzaffarabad to answer calls for urgent assistance. For example, through round-the-clock announcements on Power99 FM and Azad Kashmir Radio, IOM …

The day kicks off in the afternoon at the shrine of Data Ganj Baksh Hajveri (Bestower of Treasures), a 11th century Sufi mystic renowned for his concern for the poor, outside the old city. Some of the best quawwali singers from far and near, including the legendary Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, turned up to …

With the help of the Canadian High Commission in Islamabad, the KaraFilm Society and a major national newspaper, Mehta’s film Water, the last of the trilogy that started with Fire and Earth, was shown at a private screening at the city’s new Arts Council auditorium. Diplomatic victories between India and Pakistan are few and far …