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| Bring metal back to Pakistan |
How can anybody learn anything from an artwork when the piece of art only reflects the vanity of the artist and not reality?
-Lou Reed
Taking a look at our current music industry Lou Reed makes more sense than "enlightened moderation” and freedom of speech. Although nostalgia keeps a nation/person in the past, but past can be mirror to help us deiced for make over. Will you be listening to today’s heavier tunes after 5 years and still be banging your head to?
When will our art reflect our reality, not to mention our reality hasn’t been very reasonable?
In the midst of deteriorating state of affairs, arts can be a medium that can make things better for society, giving it an outlet to the artistic drives, to unleash the talent that can bring social change, since music like history and literature records and commentate on generations and times.
We speak of rock/metal genre because this form of music gives us anthems, gives revolution a yell, however, latest thundering clouds over Pakistani nation still fail to provoke our artists and musicians to emote through their work like our rock scene had back in the 1980’s and 90’s when Najam Shiraz’s “Rakh Aas” made more sense to the Kashmir crisis than empty sugary pop tunes of today’s so-called rock oriented acts do in the backdrop of constant bombing of different Pakistani cities. What are these artists reflecting really besides love odes?
It is a heartache to know that contrasting rock’n’roll movements of countries like Japan, Russia, Finland, Sweden and even Malaysia which gave us metal-heads like Children of Bodom, Catharsis to name a few, Pakistan’s rock movements have been benign and slow in terms of production in contrast to the talented endeavors of our underground artists or even geniuses like Aamir Zaki.
No doubt acts like Atif Aslam, Jal, Roxen and others are penetrating into the Mollywood, but where did our revolutionary tunes go?
They went to the forgotten good old, dusted cassettes and tapes.
Does any one remember “Final Cut” and “Barbarians”, our quintessential rock bands that pioneered metal in Pakistan? Does any one sing brilliant tunes of “Dhun” or “Ganda Banda?
I am sure most of you can only go as far as Junoon, Najam Shiraz and Vital Signs, Strings or hardly Rushk’s “Behti Naar”.
It is high time that Pakistani rock should deviate from the label of “Sufi Rock” as there has been more to Pakistani rock than this, because Final Cut, Ganda Banda, Barbarians had all that and more, their music was tricky, hard and hot, their music was metal.
But we gloom no more, as Faraz Anwar’s revival of heavy metal is a sign that there is more to Pakistani music.
The question remains, have we evolved?
Yes the emergence of underground bands like Soul Vomit, Burzakh, Lithium, Hassan Sheraz, Corpsepyre, Sifr, is a welcoming change.
Sadly, our very talented underground community is failing successively to surface as commercial successes. However, they deserve every bit of the popularity as good will always stay good, and a good piece of music should not be discriminated on being mainstream or unconventional.
Still if we step under the sun we might say that Pakistan desperately needs investment in record labels and production studios that can facilitate our emerging rock/metal artists, as they are always neglected ironically due to their form of music, but certainly popularity of western bands like Metallica, Linkin Park among others shows that it will not be a dud if record labels decide to invest and market underground rock/metal artists.
Bands like CoVen, Mauj and Overdrive have come to prominence from the underground scene into the mainstream; therefore we have a ray of light. |
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| Punjab at 5,903 tops the list of women rape cases |
Who could have imagined that in this land of the pure and the pious, not a few hundred but a staggering 7,546 women were raped in a mere 24-month span between 2007-2009, coming to a shocking rate of 314 rapes every month. Interior ministry documents placed before the National Assembly revealed this chilling statistic and also indicated the alarming trend of the number climbing in 2008.
Notwithstanding the dawn of historical political, judicial and religious revolutionary resurgence, the Punjab province topped the list of women rape cases as a total of 5,903 women were reportedly raped in Punjab. While giving details the relevant ministry did not tell the House about any action taken against those who had committed this crime against the women at such a large scale.
The figure placed before the house revealed a sad aspect of these criminal cases as in 2007, a total of 2,355 rape cases were registered in the country with Punjab at the top with 1,742, Sindh 197, NWFP 154, Balochistan 33, NAs 21, AJK 32, ICT 76.
In 2008, a total of 2,794 cases of rape were reported from all over the country. The cases of rape in Punjab saw a huge rise if compared to the previous year as in Punjab alone the figure went up to 2,202 in 2008 from 1,742 in 2007 - a raise of 460 new cases over the last year. So far in 2009, 1,959 rape cases have already been reported in Punjab.
In Sindh too the cases of rape went up to 255 in 2008 from 197 in 2007. In NWFP 255, Balochistan 19, NA 6, AJK 38, ICT 118 a rise of 42 cases over the previous year. The trend of rape cases continued to be on the higher side in 2009 as so far a total of 2,497 had been registered with Punjab 1,959 cases of rape, 221 in Sindh, NWFP 118, Balochistan 27, NAs 10, AJK 56 and ICT 106. The sources said the actual number of rape cases would be much higher as these figures were compiled a few months back.
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| Edhi receives global accolades, as UN rightly awards top prize for non-violence |
Abdul Sattar Edhi of Pakistan and a Belgian human rights defender were Tuesday awarded a prestigious United Nations prize for their work in promoting tolerance and non-violence.
Edhi, the philanthropist, and Franois Houtart of Belgium were awarded the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)-Madanjeet Singh Prize on the unanimous recommendation of an international jury to UNESCO Director-General Koochiro Matsuura, according to an announcement in Paris.
They will share the $100,000 prize money and receive the award on November 16, the International Day for Tolerance.
Dedicated to advancing tolerance in the arts, education, culture, science and communications, the prize was created in 1995 on the 125th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi, with the help of Indian writer and diplomat Madanjeet Singh, who is also a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. It is awarded every two years to individuals or institutions for outstanding contributions towards its goals.
Edhi, one of the most active philanthropists in Pakistan through his Edhi Foundation, a non-profit social welfare programme with over 300 centres, received the accolade for life-long efforts to improve the conditions of the most disadvantaged groups in Pakistan and South Asia, and promote human dignity, human rights, mutual respect and tolerance, according to UNESCO press release.
His foundation provides the needy with medical aid, family planning, emergency assistance and education, and sets up maternity homes, mental asylums, homes for the physically handicapped, blood banks and orphanages, among other services.
Houtart, an promoter of North-South cooperation and founder of the Tri-Continental Centre (CETRI), a non-governmental organization (NGO) renowned for its work on development issues, was honoured for his life-long devotion to world peace, intercultural dialogue, human rights and promotion of tolerance.
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| Is it desire for material goods increased in tandem with average income happiness suppressant? |
A survey conducted by an international network of social scientists showed that average happiness has remained virtually the same in industrialized countries since World War II, although incomes have risen.
The analysis of levels of happiness in more than 65 countries by the World Values survey shows Nigeria has the highest percentage of happy people followed by Mexico, Venezuela, El Salvador and Puerto Rico, while Russia, Armenia and Romania have the fewest.
"New Zealand ranked 15 for overall satisfaction, the U.S. 16th, Australia 20th and Britain 24th -- though Australia beats the other three for day-to-day happiness," said New Scientist magazine, which published the results in this week's issue. But different factors were said to make people happy for example, personal success, self-expression, pride, and a high sense of self-esteem are important in the United States. In Japan, on the other hand, it comes from fulfilling the expectations of your family, meeting your social responsibilities, self-discipline, cooperation and friendliness. The exception is Denmark, where people have become more satisfied with life over the last three decades.
Researchers believe the unchanging trend is linked to consumerism. Survey after survey has shown that the desire for material goods, which has increased hand in hand with average income, is a happiness suppressant.
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| How to stay fashionable, while keeping your budget |
Having a healthy lifestyle together with good fashion statement is what everyone wishes. However, it might not always be feasible because of budget issues. But worry no more; here are some tips that can get you the clothes you want and stay fashionable without spending much.
It’s best that you take care of the clothes and shoes you have now so that you can use them for a longer period of time. Hand-wash your favorite clothes if possible and dry clean which needed dry cleaning. Just a bit of a fashion tip, though used clothes might be considered out of fashion, you can mix them up with other accessories such as belt and necklaces to create a whole new style.
Do not give in to impulsive shopping. Yes, you might really like the dress you saw on the department store that is way too much for your budget. Learn to control yourself or else, you might get in trouble. If you can’t do this, stay away for some time from fashion stores or you can just leave your credit cards at home.
It always pays to smile and greet the people around you, especially the salesgirl. Befriend the girls at the counter and at the stalls. You don’t have to get their e-mail addresses or phone numbers. Just make an effort to talk to them and be jolly when you meet them. Who knows? They might give you tips on when the store would have a sale or when the prices go down.
Some of the opportunities that could really save us from spending much while shopping are buy-one-take-one or buy-two-get-one-free promos. This does not mean that whenever you see a sale like this, you would stop and buy them immediately. Rather, share this opportunity with a friend and when you both decided that you like it, buy it together. This way, you got what you wanted, made your friend happy and both of you saved money.
Be sharp in getting information about the stores, which are going on a sale. Before purchasing a product, think first. If you don’t need it immediately, ask if that product would be on sale soon. If yes, then just be patient and wait until the price goes down.
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| Malaysian state offers free honeymoons to warring couples |
A Malaysian state is offering free second honeymoons for couples on the brink of divorce, hoping that romantic getaways will help rekindle their marriages, an official said.
Under the ambitious plan, feuding couples will spend three days and two nights on one of the tropical islands off Terengganu state, said government official Ashaari Idris. “Newly-wed couples are facing numerous problems. Among them are financial issues and problems related to their in-laws,” said Ashaari, the state’s welfare, community development and women affairs committee chairman.
“Before marriage, all was good. But after marriage, some are unable to cope with the new challenges,” he told. “I want to strengthen family ties. If a marriage breaks down, it will hurt the children and it will have serious implications on society.” Couples will have to make an application and then undergo an interview before being accepted for the package, which is worth an estimated 1,500 Ringgit ($440).
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| Moral brigade ban ‘Kori-Munda’ dating in Lahore city garden |
A bizarre notice, worded in Urdu and installed at the Bagh-e-Jinnah in Lahore, warns students that they are not allowed to enter the public garden, unless they are on an educational trip. For this they must bring a letter from the head of their institution. It is assumed the purpose behind the directive is to prevent young men and women from meeting at the city's largest garden or taking a stroll beneath its leafy trees. The bar on students amounts to a restriction on their right, as equal citizens, to free movement. It also deprives them of space to enjoy a picnic or to study in a pleasant, relatively noise-free environment. Dozens of students can be seen in the park at exam time poring over their books on a bench or revising lessons as a group. No one should be deprived of these simple pleasures of life. It is also a fact that many students lack congenial study environment at home.
As for the idea of 'morality', the restriction simply means that couples seeking to spend time together will go elsewhere. If they do enter the sprawling gardens they presumably face harassment from police, often present there. We must also ask who has authorized the sign? No law exists to prevent students either skipping classes or from meeting those of the opposite gender. The kind of misguided morality we see behind this notice has already inflicted grave damage on our society. The Punjab government needs to take note of it, and adopt measures to ensure no one's rights are curtailed. Arbitrary measures such as those at the Bagh-e-Jinnah act to stifle life, add unnecessarily to the suffocating atmosphere we live in and encourage extremists who have in the past attempted to impose their own brand of morality on all of us, in some cases by using bombs and other means of violence.
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| ‘Salami’ on Salam Teachers’ Day: Punjab sacks 26 college principals; PPLA resists |
Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association (PPLA) on Monday expressed resentment at a Punjab government’s decision to sack 26 principals of educational institutions on Salam Teachers’ Day.
Addressing a session of college teachers at Government Gordon College on Liaquat Road, PPLA Rawalpindi President Prof Ilyas Qureshi said the provincial government had sacked 26 principals of different colleges without any reason. He termed it illegal and said this was how the Punjab government gave teachers ‘reward’ of their services. He said despite serving over 10 years, eight teachers and non-teaching staff of Girls Degree Colleges could not be regularized or their contracts extended by Punjab Education Department (PED). The college teachers have been serving in the same grade for last 20 years because their promotions had been stopped by the PED, he said, adding college teachers’ promotion cases were pending with PED since 2006. Prof Qureshi said notifications of promotion of college teachers in grade 19-20 had not been issued so far, which spoke volumes of negligence on part of Punjab Education Ministry.
He demanded of PED to reinstate the sacked college principals, regularise contractual lecturers and issue notification of promotions in grade 19-20 otherwise they would start a protest movement by October 10.
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| Pakistan ranked 141 on UN’s human development index |
Pakistan is ranked 141 among 182 countries on the UN’s ‘2009 Human Development Index (HDI)’, which measures achievements in terms of life expectancy, educational attainment and adjusted real income.
The HDI forms part of the ‘Human Development Report 2009’ – a flagship study produced annually by the UN Development Programme (UNDP). It was released in Bangkok and at the UN headquarters in New York on Sunday.
Pakistan was ranked 138 in 2008 and 136 in 2007. Meanwhile, India has been ranked at 134 on the HDI, six points down from last year’s 128.
Rankings of other South Asian countries are: Bangladesh 146 (140 in 2008), Sri Lanka 102 (99 in 2008), Maldives 95 (100 in 2008), Nepal 146 (142 in 2006) and Bhutan 132 (135 in 2008).
Norway has retained its status as the world's most desirable country in which to live, according to United Nations data released on Monday, which ranks sub-Saharan African states afflicted by war and HIV/Aids as the least attractive places.
Data collected prior to the global economic crisis showed people in Norway, Australia and Iceland had the best living standards, while Niger, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone scored worst in terms of human development.
Several Asian countries were ranked in the 'very high human development' category. Japan, staying in 10th, was the only Asian country in the top 10. Singapore ranked 23rd, swapping places with Hong Kong at 24th. South Korea and Brunei came in at 26th and 30th respectively, retaining their previous positions.
China made the biggest strides in improving the well-being of its citizens, moving up seven places on the list to rank as the 92nd most developed country. The United States dropped one spot to 13th.
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| Govt. committed to promote interfaith harmony, blasphemy laws won’t be misused: Pope assured |
Pope Benedict urged Pakistan on Thursday to guarantee protection of minority Christians, and President Asif Ali Zardari assured him that all stakeholders and political forces would be consulted to check and stop the misuse of blasphemy laws. Zardari met the Pope at his residence south of Rome at the end of a four-day trip to Italy aimed mainly at promoting trade.
A Vatican statement said Zardari’s talks with the Pope and Vatican officials centred on minority Christians in Pakistan following violence against their communities two months ago. “Emphasis was given to the need to overcome all forms of discrimination based on religious affiliation, with the aim of promoting respect for the rights of all citizens,” it said.
Seven people – including four women and a child – were killed in violence that broke out in Gojra in August. The Christians’ homes were burnt after unsubstantiated accusations that some of them had desecrated the holy Quran. Some 40 houses were burned down in the violence, which was condemned at the time by the Vatican, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the World Council of Churches.
The Vatican statement said the talks also focused on “elements that have favoured such incidents”, an apparent reference to groups that have exploited Pakistan’s blasphemy law, which allows the death penalty for blaspheming Islam. The Vatican said the talks with Zardari examined “the situation in Pakistan, with particular reference to terrorism and the commitment to create a society more tolerant and harmonious in all its aspects”.
The president said the government was committed to promoting interfaith harmony and tolerance, and that was why it had pioneered a resolution in the UN calling for interfaith harmony. Federal Minister for Minorities Shehbaz Bhatti – who also attended the meeting – said the pope had been told that the government also had plans to set up a federal interfaith complex, in addition to interfaith harmony committees in all districts of the country, which would have representation from members of all minorities. Non-Muslims make up less than 5 percent of Pakistan’s 175 million people.
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| Three women forced to walk naked in public; even ‘sharifs’ make no difference |
This shameful Punjab cultural phenomenon of forcing women to walk naked in public perhaps got in vogue during the tyrannical rule of Ranjeet Singh, which unfortunately continued unabated even after independence for years until the recent developments of a free media and lawyers’ movement backed by the civil society claimed to have ousted the Bonapartism for ever by restoring independent judiciary and strengthening a democratic dispensation in the country, the innocent people, who were promised heavens and ‘hoors’ and had pinned much hopes, today appear extremely frustrated and forlorn.
By the grace of God, it is more than a year, there is democracy in the country, media enjoying unfettered freedom, judicial activism bursting at the brim, the parliament gradually asserting itself, the prime minister and the chief ministers in the provinces are fully saddled at the helm of affairs in their regions, especially in Punjab, where a self-acclaimed Khadim-e-Aala, well known for his extra-judicial killings of the accused in mock police encounters, yet couldn’t make any difference to what had been happening for ages.
Such reported and unreported abhorring incidents are taking place almost everyday in the sprawling province of Punjab, which the society at large unfortunately taking it a regular feature doesn’t appear to be showing as forceful reactions as this heinous cancerous tradition demands. Sadly, neither our champion anchors, columnists, talk shows experts have any time focusing on such matters and arranging programs condemning and castigating this pernicious norm nor the Muftis, Molvies and innumerable brands of religio-political ‘Imams’ and leaders pay any heed to it, while these gruesome incidents taking place unchecked badly tarnishing our image in the comity of nations.
Coming back to the Monday published report, it is said that an angry mob tortured and forced three women---including Shahnaz to walk naked on Multan Road in Phoolnagar, Kasur on the accusation of prostitution. However, the victims said all the accusations against them were baseless and devoid of truth. The women said they had a property dispute with Union Council Nazim Ilyas Khanzada who wanted to occupy their home illegally. They accused him of planning and leading the criminal assault on their home.
The UC nazim confirmed that all three women were subjected to torture by the mob and were later forced to walk naked on the road. However, he denied plotting against the women. Police did not register a case or even questioned the mob that attacked the women and publicly humiliated them.
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| World Heart Day special: Follow the right lifestyle |
If you want to save your heart from getting damaged, better start eliminating the risk factors early. Ignoring them might convert into chronic heart disease (CHD) that may be difficult to treat in the latter part of your life. They may even paralyse your normal routine activities.
This statutory warning and precautionary note has come from senior cardiologists in the region on the eve of World Heart Day (falling on Sunday) this year.
While the health experts have advocated the need for better heart care starting from childhood, life style factors, including dietary habits, are emerging as serious factors affecting the functioning of the blood-pumping organ in the body.
According to the world-renowned cardiologists, the dietary habits are becoming important indicator for determining the functioning of one of the most important organs in the body. Apart from genetic factors (hereditary traits), the heart diseases are fast becoming life style diseases affecting people belonging to different age groups, researchers said.
The heart diseases with their manifestations are affecting people of all age groups, no matter what place they come from. It starts with rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in young children and adolescents (between 5-15 years) and may take the form of CHD, hypertension and cerebrovascular stroke (heart attack) in middle-aged people.
However, most of the health experts have given a strong call for change in life style and dietary habits that could minimise the risk factors to a great extent and save the heart.
Regular physical activity and judicious selection of diet can bring an amazing change in the normal functioning of the heart besides oiling it to prepare for future degeneration in later part of life. Inclusion of green vegetables and fruits and fibres in the diet can decrease the risk factors. Similarly, avoiding junk food, alcohol and tobacco consumption (cigarettes) also boosts the functioning of the heart, specialists said.
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| What a judicial independence---what a rule of law? |
Unruly lawyers seem to have gone beyond the control of their leaders or perhaps their leaders were hostage in their hands, when they had forced them to march in the front leading their so-called judicial movement and later called by some of the hypocrites as landmark of judicial revolution, which now appears to have turned into a judicial anarchy, throwing the masses in a state of total frustration and disappointment, who had innocently believed in the slogan that the reinstatement of the deposed judges would prove to be panacea for all evils in Pakistan.
In the latest of the series of earlier reported unruly incidents, Lahore Lytton Road police have registered a case against eight lawyers for allegedly torturing the owner of a travel agency on the District Consumer Court premises.
According to the FIR, Muhammad Irshad said he had appeared in the District Consumer Court on Tuesday. He stated that lawyer Chaudhry Rafiq, who was also the complainant against him, was also present with other lawyers, and continued to interfere in court proceedings. He said the judge had to adjourn the proceedings. At the end of proceedings, lawyers severely tortured him in the courtroom, when judge had left for the washroom, he said.
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| Khori Garden tragedy speaks volume on our way of life that urgently need be mended |
Every year in the holy month of Ramazan truckloads of mostly professional beggars from upcountry pour in Karachi, where besides the affluent and NGOs, even the philanthropists with ordinary means distribute Zakat in cash and kind generously, but in a highly disorganized manner giving a very sorry picture of the alms giver and the receiver as well. The receivers, since they have come from far off places spending three/four hundred rupees as bus or truck fares, try to grab as much of the gifts as possible, the healthier ones pushing away the weak---old men, women and children, while the givers of the gifts mostly individually or in small groups make no proper arrangements for doing it in decent way, rather smacks of showing off, as it is in almost all spheres of our life.
Khori Garden tragedy is one such incident for which we seem all responsible for having failed in promoting qualities like tolerance, patience, mannerism, queuing up avoiding mob tendency besides the greed and avarice for grabbing more than the due share, no mater if most of the fellow travelers are deprived at all.
To the individual and small group philanthropists, would it not be better pooling their gifts to some charitable reputed organizations working in this field with their large number of trained volunteers handling such situations besides ensuring more far reaching results than doling out alms, which may not last more than one month or so.
Coming back to the details of the incident, in a desperate bid to get their hands on free ration, eighteen women, many of them teenagers, died in a stampede near Jodia Bazaar here on Monday afternoon. A large number of women had gathered outside a building, where ration was to be distributed free of cost by a private trader, Haji Chaudhry Iftikhar, in the Khori Garden area.
Reports suggest there were close to 700 women in the cramped building at the time of the incident. According to eyewitnesses, the jostling among the crowd of women started when some of them, desperate to get free ration, attempted to charge into the building from the exit point, leading to a stampede on the narrow staircase of the building. Caught under the stampede, many women suffocated to death in hot and humid conditions in the narrow staircase, compounded by the lack of electricity in the building.
“I was inside the building and saw women pushing each other, their bodies falling and getting crushed against one another,” Rashida Akhlaq, a resident of Saddar, who witnessed the incident, told. “I thought it was the end for me too, but thankfully, I was able to escape from the building.” Akhlaq blamed “intolerant, ill-mannered and impatient women” for the incident, which, she says, will remain etched in her memory for many days to come.
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| Will the new education policy be able to motivate rural society to allow girls education? |
Education Policy-2009 has finally been approved and unveiled. The plan envisages radical change in the education sector with public spending rising steeply to 7 percent of GDP by 2015. It says education will be free in state-owned schools up to matriculation, but high schools will be upgraded to include classes XI and XII. The literacy rate is forecast to go up from 55 percent, which makes Pakistan 160th in the global roll call of enlightenment, to 85 percent by 2015. Primary schools are to be upgraded from class V to middle level, usually meaning class VIII.
There will be a uniform curriculum for state-owned and private schools; and the madrassas will be persuaded to include “useful” subjects in their syllabi to enable madrassa graduates to get normal employment. Madrassa degrees, needless to say, will be “equalised”. Schoolteachers who have less than a graduate (education) degree will be phased out and only graduates will be allowed to teach. Teachers’ salaries will be enhanced to make the job attractive and not let the sector be a refuge of the bottom-quarter of the employable manpower in the country. Islamiat and Pakistan Studies — both heavily overlapping owing to “equation” of Pakistan with religion — have already been announced. No study has officially been done on the impact of these subjects on a society that is becoming more and more divided. But the subjects have been reinforced on the assumption that disunity is not because of crude indoctrination, but because there is not enough of it.
There is nothing wrong in announcing upbeat development plans. Taking the expenditure on education from the current 2 percent of GDP to over six times more not going to mean anything unless the provinces gear up for the job. As it is, even the 2 percent given to the provinces doesn’t get spent. Pakistan is notorious for “returning” education allocations or eating them up, especially when some provinces have to lean on overdrafts to run their budgets. Upgrading primary schools to middle level and transplanting classes XI and XII from colleges to high schools is going to entail a lot of spending and no one doubts that the increase of up to 7 percent of the GDP will take care of it. Yet it is difficult to ignore the status quo in the four provinces.
The biggest flaw in the primary education system is the unwillingness to allow girls to be educated. Female literacy in Pakistan is shocking and compares badly with that of Bangladesh. The outline plan revealed on Wednesday doesn’t talk of the problem, but the truth is that Pakistan will not reap the incalculable dividend of “civilisation” as long as it keeps its girls away from education and doesn’t thus raise the quality of the mother in the country.
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| Are CII’s objections to domestic violence bill unfair? |
Former federal minister for information and broadcasting Sherry Rehman has said that domestic violence is a reality for a large majority of women in Pakistan and legislation to protect them from this form of crime is a part of the responsibility of parliament to deliver on citizens’ rights.
Commenting on the reservations expressed by the Council of Islamic Ideology on the recent legislation on the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act 2009, Sherry Rehman, who had authored the original bill on Domestic Violence in 2004, said that unjust criticism of the law was a disservice to those who suffered abuse in their private relationships. “This bill has come about following extensive consensus-building exercises over the years, and it comprehensively lays down provisions to address all issues related to domestic violence. Targeting the bill for its context seeks to damage the cause of rights protection that we, as public representatives, are obliged to defend.”
The CII describes the law as “discriminatory,” and warns that it could provide police an opportunity to violate the “sanctity of home,” and encourage divorce rates. “The CII’s description of the law as ‘discriminatory’ is unfair. In its definition of ‘victim’, the law covers women, men, children and any vulnerable person who has been in a domestic relationship with the accused. This certainly offers protection to anybody involved in a domestic association with the accused. The Council’s objections that it offers no protection for old, weak and indisposed men are off the mark. Besides, it’s a reality that it is mainly women, who are subjected to domestic abuse in our country. According to a number of independent reports, 80 percent of women in Pakistan face some form of violence in their house.”
The PPP parliamentarian said that the CII’s objections regarding the possibility of violation of the sanctity of home ignored the fact that domestic violence took place within the confines of home. “It is the responsibility of the state to provide protection to its citizens in public and private space. There is no way the state could allow its citizens to be subjected to any kind of abuse just because it takes place in a private setting.”
Sherry Rehman also criticised the CII’s reference to increase in divorce rates as a result of this law. “Does this mean that we should let our citizens suffer in silence because taking a stand against rights abuse could lead to separation from the person who violates the sanctity of a relationship? Surely, no association could survive in any way if it is characterised by imbalances, abuse, and unfair domination of one person over the other. Most importantly, we have to arrive at a consensus on the point that it is not the party that takes a position on this crime, who brings shame to the family. It is the perpetrator of the crime who brings disgrace to the family, and causes fissures in a given relationship. Islam certainly does not condone abuse of women or any vulnerable member of society, either, and in fact valourises justice above all else.”
Sherry also dismissed the CII’s criticism on the authority of the National Commission on Status of Women to review laws contrary to women’s rights. “Review of laws related to women is a part of the mandate of the NCSW, which was constituted by Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto for the very purpose of protection of women’s rights. There is a general agreement on the gaps present in our laws addressing crimes against women. Our social system too deprives women access to fundamental freedoms and protection. Any step to mend the situation should only be seen as a positive development for gender justice in our society.”
Sherry Rehman said that the adoption of the bill in parliament was the first step towards institutionally addressing a heinous crime that unfortunately, characterised the domestic relationships of large majority of women in Pakistan. “We, as public representatives, public institutions and parliamentarians are obliged to deliver on citizen’s rights. This law has already travelled a long journey since the first draft that I prepared was sent to the Senate Standing Committee for review in year 2004. It took the law five years to reach parliament and become a part of our legislation. We ought to move towards implementation now, and support from institutions such as the CII and law enforcement agencies is critical for the purpose. There is always space for improvement in areas where the law is inadequate in addressing domestic abuse, but dismissing it as an unnecessary piece of legislation is a let down for millions of our citizens who have no recourse to justice when their rights are compromised in their own homes.”
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| IJT goons let loose reign of terror in PU Campus |
Gone are the days, when the academic institutions and academicians were held in high esteem in the society, which since nearly a decade struck by a wave of so-called Islamic radicalism indoctrinating hate and terror, especially among the youths, and goading them to wage a war (jehad) against all those who do not subscribe to their views, has gradually drifted the society to a state where all of our traditional values have been thrown into the dust, while the beast and bestial tendency reign supreme these days.
There are many such incidents taking place almost everyday all across the country, while of late, Punjab University teachers reportedly have condemned the Islami Jammiat Talaba’s hooliganism on the campus and urged the chief minister to help the university administration establish peaceful academic atmosphere in the PU.
The report further said that a special meeting of the Punjab University Dean Committee, held under the chairmanship of Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran at the New Campus on Wednesday, strongly condemned the incident of firing and torture of students and guards by some IJT activists. The senior teachers expressed their anger that a few activists of the IJT, with the help of some external elements and expelled students, had misbehaved with teachers and tortured students and security guards.
The meeting also passed a two-point resolution, which appealed to the Punjab chief minister to help the university administration in curbing illegal activities of the IJT at the university. The CM was also urged to give time to the PU senior teachers to discuss the issue as this issue was of much importance and demanded his immediate attention. It was also noticed in the meeting that the incidents of illegal activities and violation of rules by the IJT on the campus had increased during the last one and a half months.
Some teachers showed their anger, saying either they could teach the students or physically face activists of the IJT because police were not ready to enter the campus to establish the writ of the varsity administration.
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[3] Comments Post Your Commets |
| Don’t we need to look into ourselves and change our way of life? |
We very often keep blaming, our relatives, our neighbours, our District, Provincial and Federal governments for our woes, to some extent may be rightly, but at times, willfully or ignorantly disregard the fact that it may be because of our own modes and behaviour, tradition and culture and callous way of life. Is it not a fact that when it comes to demanding, we are not willing to accept anything less than what the citizens in civilized societies are enjoying, but would pay no heed to the duties and responsibilities that a civilized society citizens voluntarily discharge? It is rightly said that first deserve and then demand. Let us not forget that good governance that we all keep yearning would only come through, if the different tiers of the government as well as the people at large discharge their duties and responsibilities to the society honestly.
Aerial firing in celebrations, may it be on the eve of wedding, the birth of a son, the sighting of the moon falling different festivals, New Year festivity and hailing the Independence Day etc. is one of such tribal tradition that we have not been able to give up even after our nation grew up recently celebrating 62 Independence Day of Pakistan, when it was observed that despite high security alert, miscreants were able to resort to aerial firing unhindered from August 13 night onwards, which left at least 30 people injured, including women and children.
Despite the huge presence of police and Rangers in the city, no arrests were made. Miscreants also openly violated the ban on pillion riding while carrying flags of various political parties, and blocked many arteries of the city. Their “celebration” caused traffic jams at various points, causing immense miseries to other citizens - particularly to aerial firing victims, who had to be rushed to hospitals in critical condition.
Sadly, it was not only the illiterates, but even the educated persons also were seen indulging in all these unruly activities, making this precept of the wise men wrong that education is the panacea for all social evils, as for us even this seems to be an utter failure because it has thus far made no difference here.
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[15] Comments Post Your Commets |
| Average gamer is 35, often overweight and sad: study |
Video games might be regarded as an obsession for youngsters, but in fact the average player is aged 35, often overweight, introverted and may be depressed, according to study.
The researchers found that the men who played video games weighed more and used the Internet more than other men, British TV reported. Women who played video games reported greater levels of depression and poorer overall health than non-gamers with researcher James Weaver and his colleagues suggesting video gaming for adults may be a form of "digital self-medication."
Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked at the behavior of 552 adults aged 19 to 90 from the Seattle-Tacoma area. They found 249 of these, or around 45 percent, were video-game players, with men accounting for 56 percent of these.They said women in particular might immerse themselves in brain-engaging digital environments as a means of self-distraction. "In short, they literally 'take their minds off' their worries, while playing a video game," the researchers said in a statement.
Adult video gamers also seemed less outgoing, or extroverted, and less social and assertive than non-gamers. This was consistent with prior research in adolescent video game enthusiasts that tied video game playing to sedentary habits, weight issues and mental health concerns. Adult video gamers of both sexes relied more on the Internet for social support than non-gamers, which supports prior research suggesting that adult video game players may "sacrifice real-world social activities to play video games." A higher body weight and a greater number of "poor mental health days" differentiated adult video gamers from non-gamers.
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[2] Comments Post Your Commets |
| Is Islamic culture threatened by Indian movies? |
Even the poets could be fanatic, never believed it, until recently going through the media reports stating the PML-Q MNA and the Poet Ms. Bushra Rahman in the national Assembly went hysterical in attacking the projection of Indian movies by cable TV in Pakistan. Three other party members joined her in describing these films as “an assault on Pakistani culture and Islamic religious values”. She also exploited Pakistani textbook nationalism to the hilt as she described the movies as a projection of “alien” Indian culture. Nothing gives the National Assembly jitters like an appeal to “Islamic culture and Pakistani identity”. The members remained impassive though uneasy, but it gave Maulana Fazlur Rehman of the JUI a chance to ask the government not only to ban Indian movies, but also all other movies “to save the country”.
But the apparent move to dictate morality hardly reflected the public sentiment in view of the popularity of some Indian entertainment channels in Pakistani homes and a dominant view in the country, at least among educated people, against any curbs by Pakistan or India on each other’s television channels.
Today, in Swat, all the CD shops are back on line and people are enjoying Indian movies without becoming anti-Pakistan or anti-Islam. Ms Bushra Rehman is being hypocritical. She didn’t question her leader General Pervez Musharraf, when he allowed Indian movies to be shown in Pakistani cinemas.
Once you start on the theme of “Islamic culture” you are sure to land in the inquisition of the Pakistani clergy, the generally rich-feudal parliamentarians creeping back into their bedrooms to watch films on CDs, and the rest asking no questions about what alternative entertainment can be given to the common man. If you go on with the debate, then music is banned and uncovered women on TV are banned too.
Should the state start doing to cable TV what the Taliban did to the music shops in the Tribal Areas?
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[21] Comments Post Your Commets |
| 4 healthy choices to change your life |
If people would just do four things -- engage in regular physical activity, eat a healthy diet, not smoke and avoid becoming obese -- they could slash their risk of diabetes, heart attack, stroke or cancer by 80%, a new report has found.
But less than 10% of the 23,153 people in the multiyear study -- published in Monday’s Archives of Internal Medicine -- actually lived their lives this way. "The study has such a simple straightforward focus on making the point that prevention works in preventing serious disease," said Dr. J. Leonard Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society.
"What really has been difficult is trying to figure out how to get people to take notice of the message and engage in healthy behaviors."
Healthy factors included never smoking; engaging in physical activity for at least 3 1/2 hours each week; eating a diet low in red meat and high in fruits and vegetables; and having a body mass index (BMI) lower than 30. (A person with a BMI of 30 or above is classed as obese.). Only about 9% of participants practiced all four healthy lifestyle choices, four percent practiced none and roughly 35% followed two of the healthy practices.
Researchers reviewed participants' medical records about eight years later, on average, looking for diabetes, heart attacks, strokes or cancer. People who followed all four healthy practices were at far lower risk compared with people who followed none: 93% lower risk for diabetes, 81% for a heart attack, 50% for a stroke and 36% for cancer.
The scientists also found that each healthy factor reduced chronic disease risk.
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[7] Comments Post Your Commets |
| A crossword a day keeps memory loss at bay |
Doing crossword puzzles, reading, and playing cards daily may delay the rapid memory decline that occurs if people develop dementia, according to study.
Researchers from New York's Albert Einstein College of Medicine spent five years following 488 people aged 75 to 85 who did not have dementia at the start of the study said a report. During the study period, 101 of these people developed dementia. At the start of the study the participants reported how often they participated in six leisure mind activities reading, writing, doing crossword puzzles, playing board or card games, having group discussions, and playing music. For each activity, daily participation was rated at seven points, several days a week was rated at four points, and weekly participation was rated at one point. The average score for those who later developed dementia was seven points, meaning they took part in one of the six activities each day on average. Ten people reported no activities, and 11 reported only one activity per week.
The researchers then looked at the point when memory loss started accelerating rapidly and found that for every additional activity a person participated in, the onset of rapid memory loss was delayed by 0.18 years. "The point of accelerated decline was delayed by 1.29 years for the person who participated in 11 activities per week compared to the person who participated in only four activities per week," said researcher Charles Hall in a statement. He said that the results remained valid after researchers factored in the education level of the participants. "These activities might help maintain brain vitality. Further studies are needed to determine if increasing participation in these activities could prevent or delay dementia," said Hall.
How do you agree or disagree with the findings of the study?
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[3] Comments Post Your Commets |
| Pakistan faces population time bomb, whom to blame? |
Pakistan’s population is growing so fast despite decades of family planning efforts that in 40 years it will be the fourth largest country in the world.
The United Nations Population Division projects that Pakistan would overtake Brazil and Indonesia by 2050 to rank fourth in the world population, almost doubling to 335 million from its current 180 million, a private news channel reported. “For a country with the resources of Pakistan that is enormous.
How can Pakistan support a population of that size with jobs, education and health care? It cannot do so right now with the population it has,” said Daniel Baker, who heads the UN Family Planning Association in Pakistan.
Pakistan currently ranks sixth behind China, India, the United States, Indonesia and Brazil. On its creation in 1947, the subcontinent’s new Islamic republic had 37 million people and was ranked 15th in the world. In 60 years it has multiplied nearly five times, and now Pakistan has a population growth rate of 2.2 per cent per year, and surpassed in South Asia only by Afghanistan, according to UN population data.
The rapid population growth poses potentially disastrous consequences. “If the growth rate continues the way it is, it is totally unacceptable. We do not have the resources. We are already overstretched,” Dr Qazi said.
A youth bulge in the current population, also known as a “demographic dividend”, provides the potential to ramp up economic productivity and prosperity generation. Fifty-seven per cent of Pakistan’s population is between 15 and 64, and 41 per cent are under 15. Only four per cent are over 65.
“Pakistan is now experiencing its largest ever youth bulge. It could be a huge capital asset if it could be taken into account; or it could be taken the other way around if you do not take it into account,” Dr Qazi said. “When you do not make positive capital investments in this youth bulge, then it is taken away by the other side and you see violence and all that coming in. It is a very scary picture.”
Who’s to be blamed for such reckless way of life—culture and traditions---religious taboos—illiteracy--climatic conditions, poverty and frustrations or Indo-US-Israel conspiracy?
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[9] Comments Post Your Commets |
| Govt. imposes complete ban on smoking in public places |
The government, by withdrawing the Statutory Rules and Orders (SRO) on designated smoking areas has completely banned smoking at all public places to protect non-smokers from the hazards of passive smoking. After the withdrawal of the SRO, smokers would not be allowed to use tobacco in any form at any public or work place.
Earlier, all public and private offices were allowed to designate a separate place within office premises for people to smoke, with adequate arrangements to protect non-smokers from the hazards of passive smoking. However, such authorisation was being misused, as it had become common practice for people in work places to smoke outside the designated areas, while many offices had failed to allocate designated areas for smoking altogether.
Mere announcement of the ban is not enough. It actually needs a sustained concerted effort to make people aware of the danger of smoking, especially among the youngsters at the school, college and university levels for creating an environment, which would discourage/restraint new entrants to the smokers club besides making foolproof arrangements for ensuring strict adherence of the law.
Shouldn’t the general public also owe a responsibility in this context for voluntarily observing the law, which is very much in their own interests as well as for the protection of non-smokers from the hazards of passive smoking?
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[9] Comments Post Your Commets |
| Lion ruling herd of sheep to give way to Cheetah |
The fast depleting Siberian Cheetah, imported by Suleman Shahbaz Sharif, son of the Punjab Chief Minister, Mian Shahbaz Sharif, arrived Lahore in the evening of July 22 by PIA Flight #790, which was on priority rushed to the Jati Umra palace at Raiwind, said an exclusive report published in the largest circulated newspaper Daily Jang.
The report said that this Cheetah has been imported on personal expense. It is rare specie, which could survive only in chill weather. Some special arrangements were made at the Toronto Airport for loading the Cheetah aboard the plane besides the doctors and wildlife staff made a last minute medical checkup and dispensed expensive medicines for making its 14/15 hours of journey comfortable.
No sooner the plane landed at Lahore airport, Punjab CM Political Secretary, Sikandar Pasha with his paraphernalia and a team of doctors rushed to give a warm welcome and due protocol to the Cheetah, which appeared tired of long journey, but the doctors declared it fit. PIA record said that this brown with black and white lining Cheetah was booked in the name of Suleman Shahbaz Sharif, Sharif Wildlife Breeding Farm, Jati Umra, Raiwind, Lahore.
The report further said that special arrangements have been made at the Sharif Wildlife breeding farm for the Cheetah, particularly in respect of providing it a Siberian climate, notwithstanding the riots raging throughout the province against the worst ever power crisis.
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[4] Comments Post Your Commets |
| Cell phones more distractive than music listening, while driving |
Simply listening to someone over a mobile phone, without dialing and holding it, while driving may distract the brain enough to cause an accident.
Previous studies have suggested that drivers who use cell phones run a greater risk of accidents, and that hands-free phones do not appreciably lower the odds, report.
The new findings cast further doubt on the idea that hands- free cell phones are safe for drivers. Just the act of listening appears to divert much of the brain resources that would normally go toward navigating the road.
American researchers studied 29 volunteers who used a driving simulator while inside an MRI brain scanner. Participants steered along a winding virtual road, once with no distractions and once while listening to various sentences and trying to decide whether they were true or false.
It was found that in the second scenario, the drivers' brain activity changed including a 37 percent drop in activity in the parietal lobe, a brain area involved in spatial sense and navigation.
Moreover, this shift in brain activity was accompanied by an increase in driving errors; drivers tended to drift more in their simulated lanes and were more likely to hit the virtual guardrail. Drivers need to keep not only their hands on the wheel; they also have to keep their brains on the road.
According to the researchers conversing on a cell phone may well be more distracting than listening to music or to someone in the passenger seat.
Listening to music does not require the cognitive processing necessary for having a conversation and can be more readily tuned out.
Because driving and listening rely on different brain networks, some scientists had speculated that the brain could handle both tasks at the same time.
But the above findings suggest that there is only so much the brain can accomplish simultaneously.
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[7] Comments Post Your Commets |
| Feudal culture breeds plague PML-N |
Thugs, extortionists, drug lords, warmongers, terrorists, profiteers, molesters, defaulters, and imbeciles can be found pretty much in the rank and file of any Pakistan political entity, but the PML-N seems brimming at the seam, as the female MPA Shumaila Rana episode unfolded in a series of heinous crimes involving the party elected representatives recently.
‘The incident (of using stolen credit cards) is very unfortunate and legal action will certainly be taken on the issue,’ Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif later told reporters at a function.
Sardar Zulfikar Khosa, who is Punjab chapter president of the party and senior adviser to the chief minister, said what the CCTV had shown and verification of the credit cards had confirmed that these were used without lawful authority.
According to him, Miss Rana will be made to resign. The decision could be different if it was found that the incident was an outcome of some money dispute, etc. He would not explain the ‘different’ decision.
Previously, MNA Haji Pervaiz Khan from Rawalpindi and Minister Prisons Ch Abdul Ghafoor of the N-League, who indulged in impersonation and acted highhandedly at the Lahore Airport respectively. Interestingly, the MNA lost his seat after a committee found him guilty, and the Minister was given honourable exit from the charges by the PML-N leadership despite the fact that the committee had found him guilty on more than two counts. This later emboldened him physically attacking a woman opposition member in the Punjab assembly.
Prior to Shumaila Rana’s case, another N-League’s MPA Munawar Gill was indicted in a rape case and the office of political adviser to the chief minister was withdrawn.
The first timer to the Punjab Assembly Shumaila Rana, reportedly found guilty of stealing credit card from another female’s bag, and indulging in ‘illegal’ shopping, is member of the Standing Committee on Religious Affairs and Auqaf. Moreover, she is also member of Chief Minister’s Coordination Committee for IDPs, which is an offshoot of Punjab Chief Minister’s Fund for the IDPs of NWFP.
Miss Rana in her mid-20s had never been a party activist, said another PML-N leader, adding she was given party ticket in recognition of the services rendered for the party by her mother, Anjum Rana, who was not a graduate.
Does anyone have any idea about how to stem the rot in parliament, other than 'set a thief to catch a thief'?
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[23] Comments Post Your Commets |
| Milk more filling than juice |
Having a glass of skimmed milk instead of fruit juice at breakfast may help people feel more full all the way up to lunch. People often avoid dairy products when they are trying to cut calories and lose weight. Some previous studies have suggested that proteins in general are more satisfying and act as stronger appetite suppressants than carbohydrates, Health News reported.
To investigate the effects of drinking skimmed milk in comparison with a fruit juice at breakfast post-meal satiety and energy intake at lunch, researchers identified 34 overweight adults (21 women and 13 men). The participants attended two sessions one week apart and at each session, they consumed toast and jam with 600 ml skimmed milk or 600 ml fruit juice as breakfast. On both days, participants were later given lunch and asked to eat until they felt comfortably full. They also rated their hunger before breakfast, at several points throughout the morning, and again after lunch.
It was found that the participants tended to feel more satisfied after their milk breakfast. What's more, they ate an average of 8.5 percent fewer calories at lunch. The calories consumed at lunch were higher among the fruit juice drinkers than in the milk drinkers, and the difference was statistically significant.
Though reasons for the findings are not completely clear, one possibility is that the proteins in milk are more effective in satisfying people's appetites than are the sugars in fruit juice. The above findings indicate that a low-fat dairy product like skim milk may help keep a person's appetite under better control, when used in place of a more sugary item with similar calories.
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[2] Comments Post Your Commets |
| Listening right kind of music lowers blood pressure? |
Listening to the right kind of music can slow the heart and lower blood pressure, a study has revealed.
Rousing operatic music full of crescendos and decrescendos is best and could help stroke rehabilitation, say the authors.
Music is already used holistically at the bedside in many hospitals.
Not only is it cheap and easy to administer, music has discernable physical effects on the body as well as mood, journal reports.
Music with faster tempos increases breathing, heart rate and blood pressure, while slower-pace music does the reverse.
Music induces a continuous, dynamic - and to some extent predictable - change in the cardiovascular system.
What is your experience and observation?
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[2] Comments Post Your Commets |
| Even democracy seems to have made no impact on Indians’ way of life |
Two frogs have been "married" in a ceremony in the western Indian state of Maharashtra to usher in the delayed monsoon rains, a report said recently.
Residents in a suburb of Nagpur, 860 kilometres (530 miles) east of the state capital Mumbai, looked on as the groom, Raja, and bride, Rani, were joined in union in a solemn ritual at the weekend, the Times of India said.
Tradition dictates that if frogs are married off with full Vedic or Hindu rituals, the rain god is pleased and the heavens will open within days. Similar ceremonies have been held across the country.
Indians have been watching the skies anxiously after the monsoon failed to appear two weeks ago, prompting concerns about the impact on agriculture and water supplies as lakes run dry after a long, hot summer.
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[7] Comments Post Your Commets |
| Let there be unity in diversity of lifestyles |
Pakistan will only survive if it recognises and respects those different lifestyles and value systems and refrains from trying to impose one lifestyle on all the others either under the headline of “modernisation” or in the name of “Islamisation.”
Urban westernised lifestyle and values are confined to a small percentage of urban upper-class population. What they think is “progress” may not be acceptable to the large majority of Pakistanis. And on the other end of the spectrum, Pashtun “Shariah” understanding is more tribal code than Islam and should be confined to those tribals who think that this was “progress.” There are many more varieties in between these two extremes, which all should be given the right to be different and to live according to their codes and lifestyles.
If democracy is to do what the majority wants, then neither urban western ideas nor tribal Shariah will be valid for the whole of Pakistan. This can only be corrected by a genuine majority vote in a “run-off election” if nobody gets 50 percent and with proportional representation.
The Quaid-e-Azam wanted Pakistan to be a home to all people, Muslims and non-Muslims, living on its territory. He understood that this couldn’t mean the streamlining of religion or lifestyles. Our present formula of democracy is badly flawed.
The Objectives Resolution in our Constitution provides a broad and acceptable frame for such a tolerant and broad-based unity in diversity. The ability of the Pakistani state to incorporate diversity and still work under the Objectives Resolution of the Constitution will be the touchstone of our future existence. It’s high time all Pakistanis understand this.
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[4] Comments Post Your Commets |
| What a horrifying lifestyle, no sign of change-- will it ever? |
Out of a total of 35,000 policemen in Karachi, 5000 cops are deployed for VVIP/VIP duties, which implies that there are only one cop for 571 people in the city of 16 million.
That, 496 cops have been sanctioned for provincial ministers, 210 cops for political personalities, 61 for chief minister’s advisors and 88 cops for federal ministers and senators.
That, Home Minister, Dr. Zulfiqar Ali Mirza has been provided with 40 cops for security duty, while other ministers namely Adil Siddiqi got 30 cops, Pir Mazhar, 18; Mohammed Ali Shah, 17; Agha Siraj Durrani, 16; Ayaz Soomro, 15; Abdul Haseeb, 11; Abdul Jalil Memon, 11; Daya Ram, 13; Dr. Sagheer Ahmed, 10; Manzoor Wasan, 11; Raza Haroon, 11; Nargis N.D. Khan, 12; Khalid bin Wilayat, 12; Shazia Marri, 11; Nisar Khuhro (Speaker), 15; and Shehla Raza (Deputy Speaker), 14 cops.
Though no major incident of terrorism occurred in the province, incidents of kidnapping for ransom have increased manifold, kidnappings have now become a lucrative business.
That, honest police officers are not being given free hand, partly because of such ‘demand’ by politicians and legislators. It was unfortunate that honour-killings continued and women, some of them even pregnant, were being killed, though they had solemnized Nikha (marriage contract) with their consent.
These facts were revealed in the Sindh Assembly during a debate on the Sindh Budget 2009-10, when a sane voice from a treasury member appealed to legislators and ministers to adopt simple lifestyle as it would send a good message to the masses as well as prevent wastage of police force performing VIP duties instead of protecting life and property of the people.
Contrary to this, Sindh Home Minster, Dr. Mirza, referring to the recent wave of Karachi target killings, holds the view that it was impossible to depute a police official at every door in Karachi, adding that even US police would also have excused to stop target killing in Karachi.
Is it really so? The viewers are invited to take up this debate to a conclusion, mail your observations.
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[5] Comments Post Your Commets |
| Time to Relax |
Nowadays, more and more sports and fitness buffs are taking massage seriously as a part of their conditioning programs. But, many of us are of the opinion that it's meant for just the professional athletes. That is so not true. Massage is for everyone, even for you. It has a greater number of benefits which we fail to see otherwise, considering it as a luxury.
Benefits of massage can be acquired by anyone. Commonly massage can help you by providing you with include relaxation, improved blood circulation and relief of muscle tension.
As for fitness athletes, massage can greatly help in improving their flexibility and reduces the angst of athletic competition. Massage helps get better performance, boost endurance, and help lower fatigue levels.
There is a variety of massage you can choose from. A good massage therapist may use many different styles and help in providing you with a good sense of relief and relaxation.
How many of you think a good massage can have a positive impact on your overall performance? Is it a luxury or need after working at stretch for 8 hours for six/seven days a week? |
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[1] Comments Post Your Commets |
| Kites in the sky? |
The remarks by the Punjab governor, at a book-launching ceremony, that he will indeed celebrate Basant, is certain to add to the debate currently raging in Lahore. Salmaan Taseer stressed that it was the fundamentalist lobby that had campaigned against Basant and that it was 'time to decide' what kind of society we wanted. The remarks will encourage those who hold that the event is an integral part of Punjab's culture. Among these are the traders who sell kites and the thousands involved in manufacturing them.
The issue of whether or not the colourful festival of Basant was to be marked this spring cropped up again recently in the Punjab Assembly. Responding to remarks that the event was 'un-Islamic' the law minister had given an assurance that the kite-flying fiesta would not go ahead. He had cited the incidents of injuries and deaths caused by sharp twine as the reason for this. The gory incidents we saw regularly, resulting in a ban being slapped on Basant some two years ago with a provision that the government could lift this for two weeks each spring, were undoubtedly distressing. The tragedies caused by razor-sharp twine have left dozens of families devastated. But one must ask if a ban is the right answer to the problem. Kite-flying has been a part of Lahore's cultural tradition for centuries; the pastime is one of the few shared by the rich and poor alike; it offered joy and a source of entertainment opening up a window of light in an often claustrophobic environment and it presented to the world, quite literally, a brighter side of Pakistan as kites in all hues flickered across skies, swooping and diving gracefully.
In our present situation, any event that can bring in tourists or enliven lives surely needs to be encouraged. The focus should be on making kite-flying safe, by banning metallic twine or string coated with chemicals that can cut instantly through flesh. It may be possible to establish kite-flying zones in open spaces or restrict it in the most congested areas. The fact is that kite flying continues in Indian cities like Ahmedabad, where Basant remains a huge event. We need to examine how this is possible, why there is no controversy there over deaths caused by the sport and to make every possible effort to keep alive a tradition that brought joy to the lives of millions.
We welcome your comments! |
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[11] Comments Post Your Commets |
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