Offbeat

Lahore, January 26 (Express Tribune): Shah Rukh Khan’s Raees and Hritik Roshan’s Kaabil are to be released in Pakistan this week, breaking the four month ban on the screening of Bollywood films. Cinemas in Pakistan will again start screening Indian movies after imposing a ban on films from across the border over military tensions. The suspension of Indian screenings came...

By Frances Bulathsinghala Colombo, January 24 (Dawn): Muhammed Jahangir holds up bold, colored textiles with intricate traditional needlework. He explains them to the Sri Lankan customers at his trade stall — how the needlework is done and how painstaking it is. Entirely handmade in his all-women factory in south Punjab, some of these traditional forms of stitching date back to...

Colombo, January 23 (The New Indian Express):  Sri Lanka’s largest selling Tamil daily Virakesari has, in an editorial on Monday, called for a Jallikattu type non-partisan, peaceful, world-wide mass struggle in support of the Sri Lankan Tamil cause. Expressing amazement at the way Tamils in Tamil Nadu and abroad  spontaneously rose in defense of a cultural right shunning political parties...

Colombo, January 21 (The New Indian Express): An epitome of simplicity and piety, Mother Teresa went about barefoot even in the biting cold of Beijing, recalled A.Natarajan, India’s Consul General in Jaffna, while speaking at a talk given by the Mother’s biographer, Navin Chawla, in Jaffna on Friday. Reminiscing on his encounter with Mother Teresa in December 1995 at Beijing,...

Mathura, January 21 (NIA): Adorable elephants dressed in jumbo sized multi-colored sweaters and bright red pyjamas are now drawing crowds in the North Indian city of Mathura. Moved by the plight of elephants shivering in the North Indian cold, villagers of the Mathura area have knitted giant sweaters in flashy colors to make the pachyderms both warm and attractive. Giant...

Karachi, January 19 (Express Tribune): Atif Aslam, Abida Parveen and Asim Azhar performed here last weekend. But what was meant to be an enjoyable night turned out to be a horrifying experience for many. Things took a wrong turn due to mismanagement as many gate crashed the concert. The crowd was out of control and many women were harassed and...

New Delhi, January 14 (The Hindu): India’s national carrier Air India will now be reserving six seats in the front rows of domestic flights for women, The Hindu reported. In the past, buses, trains and even auto-rickshaws in India have reserved seats for women, but this is the first time an airline has implemented such a policy. “We will soon reserve...

Chakwal (Pakistani Punjab) January 11 (Dawn): Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said here on Wednesday , that the day is not far when Pakistan will be recognized as a "minorities-friendly country" and that his government is taking steps to improve the lives of under-represented religious groups. The Premier said his government, through its actions, promotes the belief that 'to each...

By Jon Boone/The Guardian In a country increasingly riven by extremism, Abdul Sattar Edhi, the founder of a vast public welfare organization that spans Pakistan, was a symbol of the country’s shriveled secular tradition. Edhi, who died in July last year aged 90, never turned anyone away from his hospitals, homeless shelters, rehab centers and orphanages. His determination to ignore considerations...

Islamabad ,December 25 (Dawn): Minister for Railways Khuwaja Saad Rafique last Thursday inaugurated a special purpose 'Xmas Peace Train' ahead of Christmas festivities in the country highlighting the multi-religious and multi-cultural character of the country. The minister, while addressing the inauguration ceremony, hailed the role of minority groups, especially Christians, in the development and prosperity of Pakistan. "The white color...