Karachi Blast in Karsaz area at Morning

KARACHI: At least three people were killed and eight others wounded on Thursday after a bomb hit a Pakistan Navy bus in the Karsaz area of the restive southern port city of Karachi, in the third such attack this week.

The blast took place near the Maritime Museum Karachi, which is located on Shahra-e-Faisal, one of the main transport thoroughfares of the city.

10:05 am

Express 24/7 correspondent Shaheryar Mirza reports that most of the injured are in stable condition.

Bomb attacks hit two buses carrying Pakistani navy officials in Karachi Tuesday, killing four people in the latest sign of rampant insecurity in a nation key to US hopes of winning its fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Nearly 60 people were wounded in Tuesday’s attack when remote-controlled bombs exploded beside the buses at rush hour in different parts of Pakistan’s politically tense economic capital, used by Nato to ship supplies to troops in Afghanistan.

Karachi is home to Pakistan’s stock exchange and a lifeline for a depressed economy wilting under inflation and stagnating foreign investment.

But the city of 16 million is plagued by ethnic and sectarian killings, crime and kidnappings.

It is scored with rivalries between the Urdu-speaking majority and an influx of Pashtuns from the northwest, and outbreaks of political violence in Karachi killed more than 150 people last year.

PTCL 50MB Broadband via VDSL2 Bonding technology

PTCL has become the first industry in the world who launches 50MB Broadband using VDSL2 Bonding technology. PTCL says that this high speed network in Pakistan will be first commercial use of VDSL2 technology in the telecom industry globally. PTCL said that it will be using VDSL2 Bonding technology to provide existing digital subscriber line (DSL) customers with speeds up to 50 Mbps.“PTCL is the first service provider worldwide to deploy a commercial VDSL2 Bonding solution that aims at doubling the bandwidths provided to its existing customers.
During the conference, while commenting on this achievement Walid Irshaid – President and CEO PTCL stated

“PTCL is the first service provider worldwide to deploy a commercial VDSL2 Bonding solution that aims at doubling the bandwidths provided to its existing customers.

We are thus setting the trend in international telecoms, and are taking the broadband experience in Pakistan to the next level. Alcatel-Lucent’s VDSL2 Bonding technology and comprehensive services and network integration expertise is helping us to keep pace with the increasing bandwidth requirements of our customers, while capitalizing on the existing copper infrastructure. This will enable us to quickly deliver high-quality, high-speed and high-availability business and residential services – even in areas where it was not possible before.”

Alcatel-Lucent is providing PTCL with its Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM) IP access platform – which is the first platform to commercially support VDSL2 Bonding. Alcatel-Lucent will also supply Bonding-ready customer premises equipment (CPE). VDSL2 Bonding is an ideal approach: service providers like PTCL can almost double the speeds supported by their DSL infrastructure or expand their network’s reach.

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The Iconic Pakistani comedian/actor Moin Akhtar passed away

He was unquestionably the most excellent comedian par brilliance, except his last precede left the whole nation in tears. Iconic comedian and truly an overwhelming performer “Moin Akhtar” died of a heart attack on Friday, 22nd of April, 2010.

This writer still remembers as a child listening to an audiocassette, which sold like hot cakes in the ’70s, in which Moin Akhtar presented a series of impersonations and sound-effects, along with a humorous sketch of a villager who tries to copy an urbanite and in the process behaves like a nincompoop.

The fame was soon followed by critical acclaim when Moin Akhtar joined hands with humourist Anwar Maqsood and did a host of shows with him.

Beginning with an episode of Angan Terha in which Moin Akhtar played the role of a poet looking for a place to live, the duo came up with one gem after another.

The combination resulted in classics like Studio 2½ and Studio Poney Teen in which Moin Akhtar did the part of one of the interviewees and Anwar Maqsood the interviewer.

Akhtar’s zany but meaningful answers to Anwar Maqsood’s ostensibly innocuous questions created a magic the kind of which was never witnessed on Pakistani television. Comedienne Bushra Ansari also became part of their group and they did some memorable shows together.

Moin Akhtar didn’t confine his talent to comedy acts. He proved his versatility by playing the protagonist in a long-play Rozy written by Imran Aslam and directed by Sahira Kazmi.

Moin Akhtar did the part of a man who assumes the garb of a woman in order to find employment. His performance was not only appreciated in Pakistan but even across the border it earned him a great many fans. Rozy was an adaptation of a successful Hollywood film Tootsie.

On his inevitable comparison with Tootsie’s star Dustin Hoffman, Moin Akhtar often claimed that he never saw the film until after he’d done the play.

The late actor’s another outstanding performance was witnessed in a play Half Plate, written by Anwar Maqsood and directed by Mohsin Ali.

He portrayed the personality of a self-obsessed poet who had a past (and a nagging wife) that he seldom liked to remember. The acting was right out of the top drawer and intelligently complemented the script.

Moin Akhtar and Anwar Maqsood’s duo had become so inseparable that even after the advent of satellite TV they were asked by different channels to work together.

Their last show as the writer-actor combo was Loose Talk which ran for many years and Moin Akhtar assumed hundreds of characters in it.

These days a drama serial featuring Moin Akhtar as the main character is on air on a local private channel.

Apart from a worthy body of work on television, Moin Akhtar acted in a few films, including Tum Sa Nahin Dekha and Mr Tabedar. His theatre performances alongside Umar Sharif in stage dramas like Buddha Ghar Pe Hai were also a commercial success.

In recognition of his talent and work the government had bestowed on Moin Akhtar the Sitara-i-Imtiaz and Pride of Performance award.

The actor’s namaz-i-janaza will be held on Saturday after Zohr at Masjid-i-Toheed in DHA Phase II, Malir Cantt.

Identical quadruplets’ first day start at a school

Linking the names on the register with the new faces in class is a bit of a headache for any teacher. So imagine the problems of looking after this foursome. Ellie, Georgina, Jessica and Holly Carles are identical quadruplets, and they have just started school. From their height and weight through to their golden corkscrew curls,
the four-year-olds cannot be told apart. Which is why, as they entered the primary school reception class this week, their initials had been written on their shirt collars.
Their mother Julie, 42, was only the 27th woman in the world to conceive identical quads naturally, at odds of 64million to one.
Mrs Carles, a housing valuations manager who lives near Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, said her daughters were 'very excited' to be starting school and there were no tears at the gate. The girls all came from one embryo which split into four, and are monochorionic, which means they shared the same placenta.
Because of this, Holly and Jessica received less nutrition in the womb than Georgina and Ellie, meaning they had lower birth weights.
The girls' favourite games involve dressing up, computers and digging in the garden of their four-bedroomed home. They are also still at the stage where they insist on being dressed the same.
'If one tries to be different the others will follow so they will all end up the same again,' said Mrs Carles.
She herself has little problem telling her daughters apart. 'From very early on I started noticing small differences between them,' she said.
'They all have their own distinctive personalities too.' Husband Jose, 37, a landscaping products manager, said he was 'immensely proud' of his girls.
'It's amazing how fast the time has gone. I think when they turn 13 I'll either have to move home or build my own bathroom.'

Source: (wateen.net)

HSY at PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week

PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week finale show was by staged by Hassan Sheheryar Yasin (HSY) with his menswear and womenswear collection entitled "Voyage National" inspired by the beautiful face of Pakistan.
The showcase featured DJ Shahrukh with percussionist Sikander Mufti live on the ramp while models sashayed down accompanied by a video saluting Pakistan. Showcasing for the third time at the prestigious week and true to the label’s philosophy of timeless elegance, the collection celebrated the creativity and exceptional artistry embedded in our traditional crafts.

“Voyage National” was an aesthetic journey through the regions of Pakistan. Fabric from the World of HSY prints, the brands first premium prints line teamed with age-old embroidery techniques passed from one generation to the next were complimented with handbags designed exclusively for HSY by Krizmah from Chitral. The collection was a seamless synthesis between tradition and experimentation with bold cuts and contemporary silhouettes. In HSY’s first ever collaboration with the SAARC Business Association for Home-based Workers, better known as SABAH, the house took an initiative to promote economic and social empowerment of artisan women workers across Pakistan where each embroidered piece is indigenous to areas such as Manshera, Balakot, Haripur, Quetta, Tharparkar and Sukkhur. Describing his collection
Hassan Sheheryar Yasin (HSY) said “Each embroidered piece hailing from areas such as Manshera, Balakot, Haripur, Quetta, Tharparkar and Sukkhur tells a story, each embellishment has a history and each ensemble echoes the proud heritage of its creators. Bringing back pride to the term “Made in Pakistan”.
Established in the year 2000, HSY is best known for combining contemporary silhouettes with the traditional techniques of old. The brand’s inspiration is distinctly Pakistani and Middle Eastern peppered with Western influences. Easily recognized as one of the biggest names in fashion in the region, Hassan Sheheryar Yasin is the fashion force behind the label and has been referred to as the ‘New King of Couture’ by Harper’s Bazaar magazine. Hassan himself holds an honours degree in Couture from the Pakistan School of Fashion Design, an affiliate of La Chambre Syndicale De La Couture Parisienne, France. Currently serving as a member of the board of directors of the Pakistan Institute of Fashion andDesign , Hassan is also one of the founding members of the PFDC and the recipient of multiple ‘Designer of the Year’ awards, including the Ahlan Fashion and Lifestyle awards in 2009, the Lux Style Award in 2005 and in 2007, the Most Stylish Fashion Icon at the MTV Style Awards in 2008 and Style Guru of the Year by Indus Style Awards in 2007. One of the I.Q Magazine’s Top 20 Fashion Icons of the World in 2009 and amongst Ahlan’s Hot 100 people of 2009 and 2010, Hassan has been actively involved in the world of fashion for over 15 years.