Social Life
Anarkali Lounge of a local Club in Gulberg was the venue for a colourful grand reception which brought elite of the provincial metropolis together under one roof.
The reception was hosted by Mahmood Akbar and Mrs Nina Akbar, to mark and celebrate the launching of the state-of-the-art spa and royal beauty saloon at the Club which celebrates its third anniversary next month.
The well-known social couple is reputed for hosting and organising well-managed functions.
The reception started exactly at the scheduled time and continued for three hours. Guests, including Malik Ghulam Mustafa Khar, S.M. Zafar, Shehzada Alam Monno, Amna Kardar, artist Urooj, Mahmood Akbar’s elderly father Muhammad Akbar, daughter Nadia and her hubby Brayan Moskop, to name some, kept coming in till the last minute.
Demonstrations were given, by the experts, of the facilities available at the spa and beauty saloon. Guests as well as the print and electronic media showed great interest in the demonstrations in the four corners of the Lounge.
The couple had also arranged a
Quran Khwani at the same venue the previous evening. ……………………
Brush and Palette
An exhibition by Bashir Ahmad titled “Remains of the Ruins” was held at the Miniatures Department of the National College of Arts (NCA) recently.
The art work, including paintings and sculptures, was based on world peace and the main theme was anti-nuclear war and terrorism.
The exhibition, which coincided with the anniversary of US nuclear attack on Hiroshima in Japan during the Second World War, continued only for four days and was visited by art teachers, students and art lovers besides anti-nuclear war supporters.
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Speaking Literary
Shuja Nawaz’s English book “Crossed Swords:Pakistan, its Army, and the Wars Within” was launched recently in the presence of scholars and intellectuals. Former foreign and finance minister Sartaj Aziz and journalist/analyist Ejaz Haider shared their views on the book with the audience while the US-based author Shuja Nawaz, delivered the concluding remarks.
Since Managing Director OUP, Ameena Saiyid could not make it to the launch her welcome address was read out by Tariq Haq.
President Supreme Court Bar Association, Chaudhrey Aitzaz Ahsan, senior journalist and Director Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, I.A. Rahman, economist Dr Salman Shah and writer/journalist Afzal Tauseef were among those present.
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Efforts Appreciated
Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Lahore declared the results of Matric examinations a few days back, with the boys acquiring better results than the girls. A function was held in honour of the position holders. Chief Minister, Shahbaz Sharif gave away medals to the top three position holders.
Among these awardees was also a rickshaw driver Hafiz Shehzad, who obtained third position in the Arts Group. He came to the ceremony driving his rickshaw with his family members.
Chief Minister, Shahbaz Sharif announced a cash prize of Rs. 0.2 million for each position holder and Rs. 5 million for the rickshaw driver, Hafiz Shehzad for higher studies.
Other position holders included a special girl, Zahra Abbas, who proved to be a source of encouragement for other special children.
Chief Minister, Shahbaz Sharif on being told about her called Zahra Abbas, her parents and concerned officials to the Chief Minister’s Secretariat and gave her the medal and the certificate there. He also announced that the Provincial Government will bear all expenses of her further studies.
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Better Smiling
There are not many smiling faces around. Not even the politicians. This grim picture is due to the political, economic and judicial crisis mainly though there could be some other factors also for such faces.
In these not so happy and pleasant circumstances, it was surprising to see the Sharif Brothers, PML (N) leader Mian Nawaz Sharif and party President and Provincial Chief Minister, Shahbaz Sharif, with big smiles on their faces. This was an occasion worth capturing on cameras.
The occasion was the Sharif Brothers’ joint press conference at their Model Town residence after the meeting of the PML(N) Central Working Committee. They started off grimly, cooled down a bit and later had big smiles on their faces to the delight of all those present.
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Thinkers and Intellectuals
Another meeting in the city was attended by Engineer Salimullah Khan, Abid Hassan Minto, Bushra Rahman and Dr Rafique Ahmad among others who discussed the prevailing political, economic and judicial crisis-like situation and how 
these could be overcome to let the democratic process continue and gain strength with the passage of time.
