Rain needed: Flu cases rising in the capital

Most patients caught the virus from family members. PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD: 

Everyone, it seems, is eagerly awaiting the first December rain as the usual coughing and sneezing associated with dry, cold weather is keeping people from enjoying the chilly evenings after an unusually hot summer.

The emergency and outpatient departments (OPDs) of public hospitals are overcrowded with patients suffering from the flu, cough, high fever, chest congestions, allergies and asthma. According to sources in Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) and Polyclinic Hospital, over 300 patients suffering from these ailments are visiting the hospitals on a daily basis.

Emergency ward in-charge and official spokesperson for Polyclinic Hospital Dr Tanvir Malik told The Express Tribune that 2013 has witnessed a 30 per cent increase in the number of patients suffering from seasonal flu and allergies as compared to last year.

Although the weather is the main reason for the illnesses, a majority of the patients at the hospital are those who caught the virus from other family members, according to a senior physician at Pims.

“There is a dire need to run an awareness campaign regarding the precautionary measures that can be adopted against seasonal flu,” he said.

Physicians also termed taking antibiotics against the seasonal ailments an unhealthy practice and said prescription medication, if taken at an earlier instance or given to another individual with a similar condition, can often ends with unwanted complications and side effects. Contrary to the global trend of asking an individual to take leave while suffering from the flu and protect coworkers from getting the virus, the illness is not taken as seriously in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Metrological Department Director Khalid Malik said the dry spell in Islamabad is likely to end on December 11 as light and scattered rain is expected that day. Another rainy spell is expected to start from December 21 and last for ten days, he added.

The temperature is also expected to drop to single figures in January

Tobacco cell: No regulatory body to implement tobacco laws

After devolution, fate of tobacco control cell hangs in the balance. ILLUSTRATION: JAMAL KHURSHID

ISLAMABAD: 

There is no regulatory body to implement anti-tobacco laws in Pakistan, a country where over 100,000 die of tobacco-related diseases every year.

After the devolution of the ministry of health under the 18th Amendment, the fate of the Tobacco Control Cell (TCC), established in 2007 to enhance tobacco control efforts in Pakistan, is also hanging in the balance.

In 2010, Pakistan earned the respect of the international community by introducing pictorial health warnings (PHWs) on cigarette packages, but just one year later, it earned the ignominy of being the only country in the world to have given up renewing PHWs on cigarette packs.

Sindh and Balochistan, however, introduced the new PHWs based on a draft SRO of the cabinet division, but later, the tobacco industry (TI) stopped renewing warning signs after the federal government stopped funding to the provinces, citing the ministry’s devolution.

Talking to The Express Tribune, an official in the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination (NHSRC) said that the lack of seriousness on the part of the government to control tobacco could be gauged from the fact that the TCC has been functioning without permanent staff for the last two years.

After the devolution of the ministry of health, the TCC came under the ministry of inter-provincial coordination (IPC) and later under the cabinet division. However, instead of appointing a full-time implementation director-general in the cell, administrative control of TCC was given to the NHSRC director-general on October 14 this year.

The official expressed concern over a recent initiative taken by the ministry of the NHSRC by constituting a committee to formulate guidelines for a comprehensive ban on tobacco advertisements.

“The startling thing about the committee is that it includes a member from the tobacco industry, which is clear violation of the international framework convention on tobacco control (FCTC), of which Pakistan is a signatory,” said the official.

“This is completely against FCTC Article 5, which prohibits any interaction with the tobacco industry on public health legislation. It is also in direct contravention of the explicitly-stated opinion of the ministry of law and justice that says that the tobacco industry could not be made a voting member,” said the official.

NHSRC DG Dr Jahanzeb Aurakzai said that after the devolution, all government seats in the cell were done away with and at present, the cell was not a separate department. He said that he has recently been given the additional task to represent the cell at international forums on tobacco-related issues.

Aarushi Talwar: Turning murder into entertainment?

Aarushi Talwar ended up as the worst casualty of an entertainment hungry society that is prepared to compromise every principle in favour of a good, spicy story. PHOTO: REUTERS

It took India’s top investigative agencies five years to figure out how 14-year-oldAarushi Talwar was murdered in 2008. Then, instead of giving the public all the evidence present, they shaped Aarushi’s killing according to their whim and fancy. Crucial findings were discarded while other evidence was tampered and moulded to tell the world that Aarushi was a victim of honour killing by her incensed parents, who clubbed her to death on seeing her in a compromising position with the male domestic help.

On the night of May 15, 2008 Aarushi and her household’s domestic help, Hemraj were violently murdered. Aarushi was discovered dead in her bed by her parents the next morning.

The ensuing investigation saw the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) disregard the testimony of three men who confessed to being inside Aarushi’s house on the eve of her death. Krishna and his two accomplices agreed under a narco analysis test that they had gone to the Talwar residence to meet Hemraj, downed one too many alcoholic drinks, talked about Aarushi and then entered her room to abuse her. When a scuffle followed, Aarushi was killed. Moments later, in a drunken fight outside on the terrace, Hemraj was murdered as well.

To confirm their testimony, Krishna’s house yielded a possible murder weapon, the sharp, blood stained khukri that he acknowledged as the murder weapon. Additionally, authorities also discovered a pillowcase in his house streaked with Hemraj’s blood.

Yet, Krishna and his two fellow murderers walk free today. Aarushi’s grieving parents on the other hand must spend the rest of their lives behind bars, after losing their only offspring.

If you’re wondering how India’s authorities managed to overlook every piece of crucial evidence to confirm Aarushi’s parents as her murderers, you are one of many incensed, helpless on-lookers. The CBI found the testimony of Krishna and his friends to be inadequate, citing brain-mapping and narco tests inadmissible as evidence. Instead, they kept on harping about Aarushi’s immoral sexual relations with Hemraj as the reason why her parents killed the two. Protests by Aarushi’s friends and family against the breach on Aarushi’s honour and character fell on deaf ears.

To dispel any trust the Talwar family had left for them, the CBI acknowledged that they had tried to influence the part-time household help, Bharti into supporting their case against Aarushi’s parents. Bharti started off saying that the Talwar residence was locked from the outside, confirming that the murders were done by someone from outside the household. During the trial, Bharti changed her testimony midway to say that the door was locked from inside and Aarushi’s mother had opened it to allow her in. On cross-examination, Bharti admitted that the CBI had asked her to change her story.

Ironically, Aarushi’s death was only a fraction of the loss her parents were forced to endure. Their grief is split into two parts: sorrow for their daughter’s murder, and sorrow for the betrayal of their own Indian community.

As the Talwars desperately sought justice, the Indian media decided to turn the killing of their child into the country’s prime source of entertainment. According to Aarushi’s mother,

“The people want a soap opera situation.”

Indeed, in a society famed for its film and drama, there seems to be a great deal of confusion between real life and stories on television. A prime-time television drama inserted a twist in their story, showing a rebellious 16-year-old girl murdered by her father. In the meanwhile, the rest of the media craved police leaks, turning a tragic murder into fodder for stories about extra-marital affairs, incest, wife swapping and honour killing. Aarushi ended up as the worst casualty of an entertainment hungry society that is prepared to compromise every principle in favour of a good, spicy story.

Even before the CBI slammed the case shut out of frustration with their own inefficiency, putting the blame on Aarushi’s parents, the Talwar family was disappointed in their society, their country. A member of Aarushi’s family confessed,

“Before Aarushi’s murder, India was a magical place for me, despite its flaws. Since then, it has become intimidating. I once cherished my pride in the country. I now grieve the loss of that pride.”

Our law agencies have a long way to go before they can promise any kind of justice. In the absence of any formal institution we can trust, we will spend our lives fighting our battles by ourselves, without any government to rely on.

Most heart breaking, however, is the fact that the very community we live in can betray us. People we consider our own because they look like us or talk like us or identify with the same nationality or religion as us can turn their backs. They can turn our grief into their entertainment. They can use it as convenient material for gossip and ridicule.

Aarushi Talwar will live in India’s memory as an instance of magnanimous failure for the investigative agencies. More than that, she is a symbol of a society that is so disillusioned and frustrated that it may have lost its most important values.

Pakistan Film Magazine: Inside the largest online database of Pakistani films

LAHORE: 

Mahzar Iqbal is not one to talk about himself, but his personal endeavour has turned into the most thorough archive of Pakistan’s cinematic history. Iqbal’s website, the Pakistan Film Magazine, is the largest online database for Pakistani films to date.

“When I began to surf the internet in the late 90s, my searches on Pakistani movies, actors and music failed to provide any results. Even searching for Heer Ranja gave results of Indians movies only,” says Iqbal, who has lived in Denmark for most of his life.

“I’ve seen movies from around the globe. No doubt they are both technically advanced and professionally made, but our movies are the best entertainment for any average Pakistani like myself.”

The Pakistan Film Magazine is part of Mahzar.dk, which Iqbal launched in 1999 as a hobby to document Pakistan’s history and culture. His own interest in cinema has been inherent since he was a child. The website, which has been functioning for over a decade, has information on more than 4,000 movies, 4,500 artistes and 6,500 songs, with complete movies for online viewing as well.

“I still remember many songs from Radio Pakistan Lahore’s very popular programme Aap Ki Farmaish, with additional information such as film, singers, poets and music director’s names. I also remember many movies, trailers and songs on black & white TV. I will never forget my first cinema experience at the age of just seven, in 1969,” says Iqbal.

A young film enthusiast, his grandfather would give him pocket money to buy film editions ofJang, Mashriq, Imrooz, Musawwat and collect weekly film magazines such as Musawar,Tasawur, Tasvir, Mumtaz, Screen Light and later, Nigar. By the time he migrated to Denmark in the 1980s, he had a vast collection of Pakistani films and had collected a large amount of information on local cinema.

His passion for cinema inspired a larger endeavour; to make a publicly accessible online archive for Pakistani film. After the relative success of his news-portal Mahzar.dk, he made a separate website for Pakistan Film Magazine in May 2000. The first content was a review of iconic Punjabi film Heer Ranja, with complete film details such as cast credit, music information and unique images from the film which he took from his digital camera.

“I have a very strong point-of-view on movie making in Pakistan. I believe that we should make more local movies with small budgets; it will increase the interest in local cinema. We should also change the main theme of our movies, since the most popular subject is our social and cultural problems,” says Iqbal.

“Personally, I hate actions movies, but I know that these movies are more appealing to the public. Female cinema-goers prefer romantic and musical movies, and the golden era of the 1950s-70s, consisted widely of these types of movies.”

After taking initial steps to increase on his website, Iqbal published a complete chronicle of film history dating back to 1948. His source of information was the Urdu film directories, compiled by renowned film journalist Yasin Gojra. Famous journalist and writer Aqeel Abbas Jafri helped him make corrections of dates related to artistes and films.

As the site expanded, Iqbal was faced with an issue of technical expertise, in which he had to publish information page by page, making it necessary to develop web design skills. He had heard about online database technology and soon enrolled at Copenhagen University in 2011, where he obtained degrees in both web development and design.

He used this newfound expertise to develop a complete database which streamlined his archiving process. This year, the reworked website was completed and uploaded a database of 3000 films from the pre-partition era, marking the celebration of 100 years of cinema.

The Sartorial Word: Where no ‘coffee table’ has gone before

YOC’A and HSY are all set for their exhibition called ‘Unity Faith Discipline — A Retrospect’. PHOTO: PUBLICITY

Fashion meets home décor in Hassan Sheheryar Yasin (HSY) and YOC’A’s upcoming collaborative collection of classic, timeless furniture that is reminiscent of Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s glorious life.

The limited edition collection comprises of 48 pieces, each of which stands on its own. From a magnificent leather work desk to a cushion, every design reflects YOC’A’s individualistic, and HSY’s artistic, styles of work. It makes one wish to see more of such collaborations.

YOC’A’s solo work has garnered recognition for the creative, one-of-a-kind options it offers. The trio behind the brand — Sarah Najmi Bilgrami, Zayd Bilgrami and Ahsan Najmi, who hail from an architectural background, have put their collective experience and studies in Design to good use. Catering to a niche market, the brand focuses on avant-garde designs.

YOC’A sticks out a mile with its collections that showcase an architecture-fashion nexus. The brand furnished the L’Oréal Pars lounge at the PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week last year. This year, YOC’A decorated Sania Maskatiya’s new store at Karachi’s Dolmen City mall with eye-catching bucket chairs depicting the designer’s ‘Uraan’ collection, among other pieces.

YOC’A and HSY are all set for their exhibition called ‘Unity Faith Discipline — A Retrospect’ (December 15 till 17). Sarah says, “All designers, no matter what they create, thrive on design. It’s what excites us. HSY’s unique perspective paired with our sense of aesthetics has resulted in diverse and innovative pieces.” She shared that YOC’A members weren’t personally acquainted with HSY from before, but his name immediately sprang to their minds because he has such a distinctive style.

The exhibition, which will take place in HSY’s studio, will transform the space into an urbane, upscale world of our founding father. The collection constitutes pieces for the bedroom, study room, dining hall and lounge that qualify to become family heirlooms. The pieces that instantly catch the eye include a work desk with a glass top beneath which is a map of the early railroad tracks that are carved in leather, and the coffee tables with circular glass bases. In addition, the collection also includes a quirky gramophone with space to insert a USB device. HSY’s signature style is evident in the intricately embroidered patterns on the furniture fabric and ombre shades on the leather cushion covers.

With a collection as unique as this, the exhibit will be a sure-fire way of reviving the richness of post-colonial Pakistan. Following this collaboration, YOC’A plans to partner with a number of designers within the next two years including Bunto Kazmi, Maheen Khan, Khadijah Shah of Élan, Sania Maskatiya, and Menahel and Mehreen.

“We talked to each of these designers and fortunately, we’re all on the same wavelength,” says Sarah. “Synergy and combining ideas are extremely important. For instance, Bunto Kazmi’s work as a couturier is iconic, yet, she’s extremely straightforward and open to suggestions,” she adds. Sarah, who says that she was a “Bunto Kazmi bride” herself, is well-acquainted with Kazmi’s exquisite tapestries. “For her to extend her aesthetic sense to furnishings will be superb.”

The brand has opted for collaborating with Maheen Khan because of her classy take on design and Sania for her playful use of colour and the youthfulness inherent in her work. “Khadijah Shah is a very close friend of mine and we asked her to be part of our collaboration simply because we love her innate elegance,” says Sarah. As for Menahel and Mehreen, Sarah says that “Aside from being good friends, they are fabulous designers. They just had to be part of this project. We didn’t choose designers based on their repute. Rather, we’ve opted for the ones that we admire the most.”

YOC’A plans on collaborating with some of the country’s most illustrious designers and it’ll be interesting to see how their work translates into YOC’A’s canvas of polished wood and brass. “Let’s see how the first exhibition goes,” says Sarah.

It’s pleasant to see that furniture is venturing into new territories in Pakistan. We commend YOC’A and HSY to boldly go, as Star Trek would put, where no ‘coffee table’ has gone before!

Paul Walker's crashed car part stolen, thieves caught

File photo of actor Paul Walker. PHOTO: FILE

LOS ANGELES: Two men have been accused of reportedly stealing a part off the Porche GT car in which actor Paul Walker died.

The thieves allegedly made off with a T-top from the roof of the Porsche Carrera GT while it was being towed from the accident site to an impound yard.

According to the LA County Sheriff’s Department, the two men snatched the part when the tow truck stopped at a red light.

However, the truck driver saw them drive off, and helped detectives identify them, reportstmz.com.

One of them has been identified as 18-year-old Jameson Witty and his partner-in-crime, who is out of state, has been contacted and will surrender soon.

The T-top was recovered in Witty’s home.

Walker and his friend Roger Rodas lost their lives in the car accident Nov 30 in Santa Clarita, California

Katrina Kaif crowned hottest Asian woman... again

Katrina Kaif reigns supreme on a poll that ranks Asia’s sexiest woman despite low key appearances this year. PHOTO: FILE

B-town bombshell Katrina Kaif has been named the world’s sexiest Asian woman for the fourth consecutive year by a weekly publication. The actor defeated both Priyanka Chopra (by a whisker) and box office’s reining diva Deepika Padukone, according to theHindustan Times.

Kaif topped the ‘50 Sexiest Asian Women List 2013’ in the tenth edition of the UK-based publication Eastern Eye. Chopra scored the second position, while Indian television star Drashti Dhami and Padukone came third and fourth respectively. Pleased to know about her record-making win, Katrina said, “I didn’t know it was a record! That’s a nice surprise and a lot of fun to hear.” She further said, “Obviously if everyone were to see me when I wake up in the morning or in my track pants and then vote for me, maybe I would believe it a little more myself. But of course, it’s very flattering.”

Comparing herself with the Lebanese women at the launch of Katrina’s Lucky 6 Nakshatra jewellery in Dubai, Kaif said, “There were such stylish Lebanese women everywhere and I felt so insecure that I got into my cab and went back to the hotel. They were drop dead gorgeous,” reported Oneindia.

Although Kaif has not made any notable appearance in Bollywood films this year, her win certainly proves that the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ notion is an erroneous one. The list was published just a few weeks before Katrina will make a grand comeback with the much-awaited Bollywood release Dhoom 3.

The magazine’s showbiz editor, Asjad Nazir, who puts the list together every year, said that the competition was close. India’s female television actors dominated the list and Dhami became the first Indian small-screen star to be part of the list’s top three. Bollywood newcomer Shraddha Kapoor ranked 12, while Pakistani actor Humaima Malick took the 15th spot. Other notable stars that made it to the list include Sonam Kapoor (5), Mehreen Syed (22) and Madhuri Dixit (23).