Get the look: Beautiful in Black

Actor Kareena Kapoor looked stunning at the first look launch of her upcoming movieGori Tere Pyaar Mein.

The 33-year-old wowed fans in a flattering black dress. Here’s how to get her look:

Hair

The beautiful actor went for a no-fuss, sleek ponytail. All you need to do is apply a bit of no-frizz serum, straighten your hair and tie it up in a high ponytail. For finishing touches, use one strand of her to tie around the rubber band to give a neat look.

Outfit

Bebo looked like a complete babe in this Ports 1961 black form-fitting dress. The cut flatters her curves and with minimal accessories, Kareena maintains the class of the outfit. For a similar dress, check out Debenhams (Rs8,000) or Mango (Rs6,500).

Make-up

Kareena’s skin looks as fresh as ever. Those beautiful kohl-rimmed eyes look super sexy with her overall look. Apply a tinted moisturiser or BB cream to cover your spots. Now dab some of Mac’s Mineralize Skin Finish in Lust shade (Rs1,500) onto your cheeks. Line your eyes with Maybelline’s Colossal Kajal (Rs800) and enhance those lashes with Maybelline’s Colossal Mascara (Rs1,000). Try out Maybelline’s Colour Sensational Pearls lip colour in Coral Gleam shade (Rs1,600).

Accessories and Shoes

Kareena is barely flaunting any bling. She keeps it simple and elegant by sporting a two-toned gold and silver watch and her wedding ring. Her Tom Ford heels are simply adorable and funky at the same time. Check out Nine West (Rs5,500) or Charles and Keith (Rs5,000) for a similar pair.

Supernatural stars believes in the ‘supernatural’

The show, which debuted in 2005, has made it to its ninth season. PHOTO: FILE

Be it demons, angels, hell or heaven, thriller TV series Supernatural, as the name suggests, has shown it all. While some watch this show for the eerie and spooky aspect, others watch it for the rather good-looking spirit hunters — Sam and Dean Winchester (played by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles). In reality, the two believe in the supernatural and admit that nothing is a coincidence.

“I firmly believe things happen for a reason. That may sound melodramatic but I don’t believe in coincidences,” Padalecki told IANS. “I also believe we’re not the only living creatures in this universe.” It seems what started off as a mere script, has slithered into the actors’ lives for real.

The series — which debuted in 2005 and is now on its ninth season — revolves around the lives of two brothers who follow their father’s footsteps and become hunters fighting supernatural forces. They embark on a new journey of defeating demons and evil spirits in every episode.

Ackles admits that he hasn’t experienced anything eerie yet but he is open to experiences. “I wouldn’t call myself superstitious, but I do suspect there’s more between heaven and earth, even hell,” he said. “I’m open to spiritual experiences, although I didn’t need any salt yet to ward off evil spirits from my home,” he laughed. He also revealed that the tools they’ve used on the show are not made-up.

“I’ve been told that the majority of the stuff we do on the show — the tools of trade, wordings, spells, hexes and exorcism — are all actual things taken from research,” Ackles said. “So I’m going to go on that and hope that if I ever do run into something supernatural in real life, I’ve had eight years of experience to combat it.”

Padalecki added that the show’s ninth season will be one of the best ones so far. “What the writers have chosen to do for the ninth season is so awesome. I’m not allowed to say anything more at this stage. My hands are tied,” he said.

Did You Know? : Canadian street named after AR Rahman!

We have seen Hollywood celebs get a star on the Walk of Fame. We have also seen wax statues created after Bollywood actors at Madame Tussauds. However, Oscar-winning music composer AR Rahman beats all measures of popularity. According to the Times of India, Rahman has a street named after him in Markham. The town is located in the state of Ontario, Canada. The board reads his full name — Allah-Rakha Rahman St.

Clearly, the 47-year-old was touched by this gesture as he posted his picture holding the board on Twitter, saying, “Welcome to my street!” The renowned musician never fails to surprise us with his achievements. So far, he has won to Academy awards, two Grammy awards and one Golden Globe award amongst many other international and local honours. Congratulations Rahman for adding another feather in your cap!

Waar's Indian release hangs in the balance

Bilal Lashari says there is nothing wrong with people enjoying Waar as a rebuttal to Bollywood films about Pakistan. PHOTO: PUBLICITY

KARACHI: In India, curiosity about Waar has doubled since Ram Gopal Varma’s adulatory tweets. If it wasn’t enough that the film’s bad guys are RAW agents unleashing terror attacks on Pakistan, RGV’s public admiration – “Indian film-makers should get off our assumed high horses and look at Pakistani films seriously” – definitely got our friends across the border intrigued.

“I have not approached anyone specifically for distribution in India, but I cannot give any more details on that for now,” Lashari tells The Express Tribune. Given the theme of the film and the perception that ‘Waar shows India as cause of nation’s problems’, the director says, “I have no idea how people will react, but it would be great if it ends up being screened. A lot of people are saying it’s never going to happen.”

Bollywood films depicting military or intelligence agents from Pakistan – such as Ek Tha Tiger and Agent Vinod – have traditionally not passed the local censor board filters. Lashari feels Waar could meet a similar fate. “I would love to show the film as it is,” he says. “I think it would get a very interesting reaction. I am curious to know how people will react to it – I don’t think they should react badly.”

The director remains adamant in his refusal to remove scenes. “I won’t be cutting out any scenes because I can’t think of a way around it,” he says. “I think we have been very subtle,” he says, referring to the portrayal of RAW agents Ramal and Laxmi, who mastermind major terror plots in Waar. “We will probably take out some words. The censor board is yet to see the film. They will watch the unedited version and propose edits. We will amend it accordingly as there is no harm in toning it down for that one market.”

Seriously, though – why Indian agents?

Lashari hints that the inclusion of Indian agents in the storyline made the story more “interesting”. “It could have been any other [villain]. But the specific Indian element made it more interesting,” he admits. “I knew people would be intrigued but never thought it would be taken as seriously as it has.”

While he is aware that it has irked those across the border, he relates an incident at a bookstore, where a group of people approached him with compliments. “They were really happy. One of them said ‘Finally humari taraf se bhi jawab gaya’,” he said, referring to Bollywood’s negative portrayal of Pakistan’s institutions.

“It’s not the reaction I was expecting, but at the same time a part of me thinks there is no harm. They make films like these too, so here is the first from our end. If people are enjoyingWaar as a rebuttal, then that’s okay too.

Given the tense relations between India and Pakistan and recent skirmishes on the LoC, the director is aware that the message of Waar may not be warmly welcomed by Indian audiences. “The question is whether they will take it as being just a film. People need to realise this is entertainment – not a documentary. The film is not against the people of India,” he says.

“The tricky part is the notion of so-called ISPR involvement in the film. If that’s the perception India wants to maintain, then it can be taken as more than just a film,” he continues, adding, “I’ve given up trying to convince people that there is no ISPR involvement in the script or characters. But that would make things boring wouldn’t it?”

When asked how he feels about Varma watching a pirated DVD of Waar, Lashari laughs. “I don’t feel so great about it. We are working on an international release so pirated DVDs obviously don’t help. But I did ask him if it was a good pirated version,” he laughs. “I don’t want people watching a sh***y version.”

He adds that he called RGV himself. “I was sick of people telling me about the tweets so I thought I would get in touch and make sure it is him,” he shares. “Turns out it was. We had a really good conversation for 15 to 20 minutes. I wanted to accuse him of hijacking my life!”

As unlikely as it may seem, Lashari hopes to see his film release in India. “If it does get screened, the release in India will be limited. It will not be a mainstream release.”

Relief in sight: Fertiliser plants may get much-needed gas from OGDC field

According to estimates of the fertiliser industry, dearth of gas has caused an annual production loss of around 2.7 million tons to the four plants and forced the government to import urea. CREATIVE COMMONS

ISLAMABAD: 

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet is likely to give the go-ahead to a plan that will allocate 130 million cubic feet of gas per day (mmcfd) to fertiliser plants from Oil and Gas Development Company’s Kunnar Pasakhi Deep field in an effort to enhance production of urea in the country.

As domestic production of urea has come down because of shortage of gas, Pakistan is banking on imports to meet the needs of farmers.

The ECC, which is slated to meet today (Wednesday), will take up a summary, recommending supply of 130 mmcfd of gas to the fertiliser industry to make the country self-sufficient in urea production and to cater for the demand from the agriculture sector, sources say.

The previous government had approved allocation of 202 mmcfd of gas directly from some fields including 130 mmcfd from the Kunnar Pasakhi Deep field. However, according to sources, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), one of the two transmission and distribution companies in the country, wants to get the decision about Kunnar Pasakhi Deep field approved from the present ECC as well.

Under the plan, the fertiliser plants will be directly supplied a total of 202 mmcfd from selected fields. Apart from 130 mmcfd from the Kunnar Pasakhi Deep field, they will receive 15 mmcfd from OGDC’s new Bahu field, 10 mmcfd from OGDC’s new Reti Maru field, 22 mmcfd from Mari Gas Company and 25 mmcfd from MOL’s Makori East Tal block.

However, sources believe that the Ministry of Water and Power may oppose the plan as it wants more gas to run power plants in order to cut outages and reduce the cost of power.

The ministry may cite government’s priority order for gas allocation in which power plants stand at second place after domestic consumers and may demand gas for those power plants which have been shut down due to gas shortage.

The previous government had provided gas directly to four fertiliser plants – Engro, Dawood Hercules, Pakarab Fertilisers and Agritech – to enable them to put to use their idle capacity.

According to estimates of the fertiliser industry, dearth of gas has caused an annual production loss of around 2.7 million tons to the four plants and forced the government to import urea.

Pakistan is an agriculture-based country that requires sustainable supply of fertiliser and cannot afford heavy imports. Owing to the closure of fertiliser plants, the cost of urea has gone up, forcing farmers to use the commodity in lesser quantities.

“The closure of fertiliser plants will result in a loss of 15,000 direct and 50,000 indirect jobs and will shave Rs100 billion off the gross domestic product,” a senior government official said.

Telecom: PTA’s new system to curb grey traffic up and running

The new system is working efficiently and has the ability to even remotely block illegal gateways. If that doesn’t work, the authority then files a complaint with the FIA that conducts the raid. PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI: 

In what may be seen as a positive step towards controlling the grey traffic, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has equipped itself with a more efficient system to identify international calls illegally terminated by the country’s gateway exchanges.

A recent raid on the office of Wisecom, one of Pakistan’s 14 long distance international (LDI) operators based in Islamabad, demonstrates that the newly acquired technology has already started to pay off.

PTA and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) raided Wiscom’s office in the federal capital on Monday. The telecom sector’s regulatory body found that the company was illegally terminating international telephony traffic in Pakistan – a practice commonly known as grey traffic – thus evading government taxes in excess of $11 million a year or $31,000 a day.

The company, according to a PTA official, was found terminating approximately 360,000 illegal international minutes on a daily basis, which were shown as local traffic thus evading government levies on international calls landing in Pakistan.

This was possible with the help of a new technology – grey traffic monitoring equipment – that PTA installed early this October. The system is capable of identifying international minutes that are shown as local minutes by the gateway exchanges involved in grey trafficking.

Using the newly installed system, PTA analysed Wisecom’s traffic patterns and found anomalies, thus filing a complaint with FIA. Later on, the two regulators conducted a joint raid on the company’s head office.

The acquisition of this new technology by the telecom regulator, which has failed to control grey traffic so far, may help the government increase its revenues.

According to industry estimates reported by The News in its April 7th edition, grey market for telephony – which is about 400 million minutes per month or more than 50% of the overall monthly international traffic coming to Pakistan – causes over Rs3.5 billion or $35 million in losses a year to the national exchequer.

This loss is caused by illegal gateway exchanges that bypass legal gateways to terminate or originate international telephony traffic by using voice-over-internet protocol (VoIP) gateways, wireless local loop (WLL) phones and mobile phone SIMs.

The old systems were obsolete, making it easy for telecom gateways to bypass the system without coming onto the regulator’s radar, the PTA official said.

PTA had installed and tested the new grey traffic monitoring equipment one month ago, the official said. Although it identified several illegal gateways this was the first case, since the installation of the new system that a licensed LDI operator was found involved in grey telephony traffic.

Explaining, the official said there are two types of gateways that terminate international calls in the country. The first type is licensed LDI operators who have legal mandate to terminate international calls in Pakistan while the other type is the illegal exchanges or gateways without a government license.

Although Wisecom had a license to terminate international calls, it was under-declaring its traffic by showing international minutes as local traffic, the official said, which leads to tax evasion.

The new system is working efficiently and has the ability to even remotely block illegal gateways, however if that doesn’t work, the authority then files complaint with FIA that conducts the raid on the offender’s offices, he said.

Earlier in October, Minister of State for Information and Technology Anusha Rehman directed PTA to block all illegitimate IPs being used for grey trafficking with the help of the new equipment

After remaining stable, rupee starts losing value again

Dealers say the government needs to reassure investors and take initiatives to stabilise the currency. PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI: Pakistani rupee weakened against the dollar in interbank dealings on Tuesday and closed at 107.35, a fall of 35 paisa compared to Monday’s close of 107/107.10.

According to currency dealers, the rupee is declining continuously against the greenback and on an average it has dropped 10 to 15 paisa daily in the last few days.

Similarly, in the open market, the rupee fell to 107.70/80 against 107.30/40 a day earlier.

After remaining relatively stable in October, the rupee has started shedding value again. It stood relatively firm last month when the United States released the Coalition Support Fund (CSF), dealers say.

Continuous improvement in remittances from overseas Pakistanis has also provided significant support to the currency in previous months.

“The rupee will weaken further in coming weeks and may come down to 110 to a dollar as almost all economic indicators have shown downward trend in the last few months,” a leading currency dealer said.

Dealers say the government needs to reassure investors and take initiatives to stabilise the currency because no good news is coming from the current economic situation of the country.

Pakistan’s foreign currency reserves have been persistently under pressure primarily because of continuous repayment of loans to the International Monetary Fund. Consequently, the rupee dropped about 5% in the last fiscal year.