A quiet Eid in Lyari(Express Tribune)

KARACHI:  As Eid arrives for the residents of Lyari, the smell of the explosives is still fresh in their minds. They have not yet washed off the bloodstains of their loved ones.

The recent bombing in Lyari that claimed at least 11 lives, including seven children outside the Bazinjo Chowk football ground on early Wednesday, is a wound still raw. The Baloch community in Lyari has appealed to its community to not celebrate Eid with zeal to express solidarity with the people who lost their loved ones.

“On Eid day, we have to visit our loved ones’ graves for Fateha and visit their bereaved families,” said outlawed Peoples Amn Committee leader Zafar Baloch, while talking to The Express Tribune.
Majority of the neutral residents of Lyari remain scared as they fear more violence during Eid and the days to follow. Most of the residents haven’t even bought new clothes.
A common grief
The two arch-rivals in the strife struck Lyari will share a commonality on Eid day by tying ‘black ribbons’ around their arms to express solidarity with the mourners who lost their loved ones in the recent spate of violence and in tit-for-tat killings since the elections in May.
Lyari’s cultural charm has been the multi-ethnicity, and it was once known for its sports, politics and the art.
The Kutchi factor
In the aftermath of the May 11 general elections, Lyari faced another ugly surge of violence as the Baloch community and the Kutchi community collided with each other. The friction claimed dozens of lives and displacement of thousands of people belonging to the Kutchi community to Badin and other parts of the province.
“Before this, 60 per cent of the population of the Kutchi community was in Lyari; now there are only 20 per cent left,” said Kutchi Rabta Committee leader Hussain Kutchi.
Members of the Kutchi community plan to visit the displaced families in parts of Sindh. “I will ask them to come back,” said Hussain Kutchi.
Those were the days
“Lyari’s young generation has not seen what Lyari was in the peaceful past when the whole city liked to celebrate Eid in Lyari,” said Abdul Hai Baloch, a resident of Lyari’s Chakiwara locality.
“Those were days when the last ‘ashra’ (ten days) of Ramazan would be the peak for Lyari’s youth for Eid preparation,” he reminisced.
According to him, it is only on Eid days that the people of Lyari hug each other. “We are divided. Hatred has ruined us,” he explained.
“On Eid, I request group leaders to curb differences,” said Saad Mohammad Yaqoob Lasi, a resident of Moosa Lane, adding he will pray and request all to offer special prayers on Eid for peace in Lyari.
Diehard optimists continue to hope for a better tomorrow. Hassan Kutchi, a resident of Jumma Baloch Road, said that Eid is the ideal time to show strength and unity. “I will celebrate it. Let’s give a message of happiness,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 9^th, 2013.

Shoab Akhtar Fomer Fast Bowler Eid Special

 

                   Eid Special with Fomer Pakistani Fast Bowler Shoab Akhtar.

            

            

         

Celebrating Eid (Source Express Tribune)

Eid is, perhaps, most important of all to children and young people. PHOTO: EXPRESS/FILE

The sickle-shaped sliver of the new moon has been spotted and Eidul Fitr is being celebrated across the country. The usual bangles have been bought, new shoes fitted to feet and henna patterns traced onto hands. For most of us, indeed almost all of us reading this newspaper, Eid will be a festive occasion, a time for celebration, perhaps consumerism and almost certainly also a time for families to come together and celebrate with one another as they offer prayers, watch a movie, eat or enjoy the end of Ramazan in other ways.

But we should also remember that Eid in many ways does not unify; it separates and draws apart. It is very important that we should also think of those — as we read these words — who do not have access to the luxury of a newspaper, to the luxury of literacy in any language or the other good things in life that will be enjoyed in some homes on this day. In other homes, Eid is a time for sorrow; a time when impoverished fathers are unable to purchase gifts for their children; a time when not enough food exists for everyone in the family to eat. And this year, too, Eid has coincided with rains and the consequent flooding that has forced hundreds of people in Balochistan, Sindh and Southern Punjab to leave their homes or else gaze on helplessly at badly damaged property and shelters as they face the prospect of yet more rain in the days ahead.
As a nation, we will have true reason to celebrate when we are able to narrow down these gaps, which divide us in so many ways and create a more just, a more equitable society for everyone in the country. The way things stand now, this will take a lot of time. It is not a task that can be achieved overnight. But certainly, on the occasion of Eid, it is something to think about and something to hope for at a time when Muslims across the world are linked through a festival, which is marked in different ways, but carries largely the same message. We must consider precisely how we interpret this message. It is true that through Ramazan and on Eid, a great many of us attempt to help those in need in one way or the other. But philanthropy should, of course, not be limited to any given time of the year or any one day, and should also evolve into more lasting ways to ensure all citizens receive, at least, their basic rights. At the moment, too many are deprived of these, which is highly disturbing
But, despite the hardships they live with, the resilience of our people is such that they have found ways to work around all the difficulties. Eid is being marked in public parks and along the seaside, on hilltops and other places open to all, as well as in restaurants and plush shopping malls. It is this fact which, of course, makes it such an important occasion for all of us.
Of course, Eid is, perhaps, most important of all to children and young people, who mark it with most fervour and joy. The rest of us should, at this time, be considering also their collective futures in a country that faces a great many problems and challenges but which, without doubt, has the capability and wherewithal to overcome them all, provided that we stand together and act as one under all circumstances.
This is the mission that we should set out on, on this Eid day, so that next year, when this time comes around again, we can look back on the 12 months that have passed, during which there has been less violence and a genuine attempt to improve the plight of the people that live in our country. Let us all hope that the miseries of our people will have been alleviated to a large extent by this time next year. This would be a true gift to be cherished for a very long time, indeed. It can only be given if we all work together to create it rather than merely thinking of how we can enjoy Eid for ourselves.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 9^th, 2013.

PTI’s rate of inflation By Dr Pervez Tahir (Express Tribune)

      Party leaders in Pakistan rarely hold a press conference devoted exclusively to economic issues. On August 4, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan addressed his first such press conference. Except for the notice to be served on his favourite maulana, Imran said he would focus on prices and inflation. In full view of the media and the viewing public, he began with the fantastic claim that the rate of inflation in July — the first month of the current fiscal year 2013-14 — was as high as 24 per cent. He attributed the figure to the official sources. The press was informed that this rate of inflation was the highest in the past three years. Experts sitting on his left seemed unperturbed. The media persons present were unshaken. Despite Imran’s reminder that the press conference was on inflation, there were questions on the Maulana, the contempt notice, the jailbreak and drones, but none on inflation and prices.

Thinking that I might have watched casually or heard incorrectly, I looked up the papers the next morning. There was very little reporting of what Imran said on inflation. One leading paper mentioned the figure without questioning it. There was, of course, no clarification issued by the PTI, either. To doubly ensure that I heard what I heard, I watched the full press conference again on the PTIOfficialVideos website. There it was again, loud and clear, a rate of inflation of 24 per cent in the month gone by. Wonder of wonders! The over-vigilant PML-N’s propaganda machine and the cool but canny government spokesperson missed this godsend opportunity to sell another instance of the PTI displaying its inexperience.
Political leaders are not expected to know exact figures. They must, however, be familiar with the broad orders of magnitude, especially when they call a press conference with the express purpose of dilating on economic matters. A margin of error of one to two percentage points on either side need not raise any eyebrows. But to claim that inflation is 24 per cent in July when it is actually 8.3 per cent shows how far removed one is from the facts of a matter that seriously affects the daily life of the mass of the people.
Rather than being the highest in the past three years, 8.3 per cent is the lowest rate of inflation for July in the past three years. It has come down from 9.6 per cent in 2012-13 and 12.4 in 2011-12. This was the Consumer Price Index or the CPI, the standard measure of inflation. What has increased is the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), a subset of 53 sensitive items in the CPI. In July 2013, the SPI increased to 9.8 per cent from 7.7 per cent in July 2012. It has, however, sharply declined from 13.1 per cent in July 2011.
Even here, the 24 per cent increase is nowhere to be seen. Only the Wholesale Price Index was high at 20.3 per cent, but that was in July 2011. In July 2012, it sharply fell to 7.2 per cent and further down to 6.6 per cent in July 2013.
There is only one item — 10kg bag of wheat flour — the price of which increased by 24.4 per cent in July 2013. Of course, this is the most important item of common man’s consumption with a weight of 17.5 per cent. But a course in Econ 101 will tell you that an inflation index does not consist of only one item!
Published in The Express Tribune, August 9^th, 2013.

YouTube ban: Inter Ministerial Committee to decide fate of ban(Express Tribune)

ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Information Technology Anusha Rahman has called for a meeting with the Inter-Ministerial Web Evaluation Committee after Eidul Fitr to deliberate over blocking blasphemous content and to review the ban on video sharing site YouTube.
According to a release from the ministry, the Ministry of IT and stakeholders had been tasked to research how to block offending content appearing on both hyper text transfer protocols (HTTP) and secure HTTP.
In the meeting scheduled after Eid, the committee will deliberate on the findings following which the Inter-Ministerial Committee, headed by the Secretary IT, will present its recommendations on reviewing the ban to the Prime Minister.
Committee had recommended blocking of YouTube, Facebook
When protests erupted across the Muslim world in September, 2012 after the sacrilegious video clip gained prominence, the Inter-Ministerial Committee evaluated the circumstances in Pakistan and concluded that Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) should block YouTube and Facebook in the country till further orders. YouTube was subsequently blocked in Pakistan.
The Ministry of IT had subsequently taken up the matter with the management of YouTube and Facebook for blocking the blasphemous content.
In response, Facebook restricted the access and upload of the video. However, Google Inc., management of YouTube, did not remove the content stating that the content complied with its community guidelines. It also resisted multiple requests from the White House to remove the content.
YouTube, however, had blocked content in Indonesia after request from the government. The content was blocked in Saudi Arabia after the government there threatened to block the site. It took a court order in Brazil to block the site.
PTA yet to block content
Following the IMC’s evaluation and directive to block blasphemous content in addition to a policy directive in May, 2012 to deploy state of the art technical solution to “proactively and independently” block pornographic sites and other objectionable content.
The ministry said that PTA, which falls under the Cabinet Division and not under the administrative control of Ministry of Information Technology, has been unable to comply with those directives.

Eid ul Fitr 2013 apps: review of some interesting apps

Google and Android are introducing some interesting Apps emphasizing upcoming Muslim's biggest religious festival of Edi ul Fitr

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Eid ul Fitr 2013 apps: review of some interesting apps

Balochi Poetry Very Beautiful

Obama cancels meeting with Russia's Putin over Snowden decision(Soucrce Express Tribune)

PHOTO: AFP/FILE

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama has cancelled a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin scheduled for next month in Moscow, the White House said on Wednesday.
The Obama administration has repeatedly expressed disappointment after Moscow granted temporary asylum to former US spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, rejecting US pleas to hand him over to face criminal charges including espionage.
The White House, in a statement, said it valued ”achievements made” between Russia and the United States, but cited a “lack of progress” on a host of other issues “such as missile defense and arms control, trade and commercial relations, global security issues, and human rights and civil society.”
“Russia’s disappointing decision to grant Edward Snowden temporary asylum was also a factor that we considered in assessing the current state of our bilateral relationship,” the statements said.
Obama plans to add a stop in Sweden as part of this travels to the G20 summit in early September, a White House official said.
On Tuesday, Obama confirmed that he would go to Russia this
fall for a G20 summit in St Petersburg, Russia, but said he was
“disappointed” with Moscow’s decision on Snowden.
In a talk show on television late Tuesday night, Obama accused Russians of occasionally displaying a “Cold War mentality”.
Senator Charles Schumer praised Obama’s decision to cancel
the bilateral summit with Putin.
“The President clearly made the right decision. President Putin is acting like a school-yard bully and doesn’t deserve the respect a bilateral summit would have accorded him,” the New York Democrat said in a statement.

Watch Dis -Telanted Blind Man -

      

Sharmnaak (شرمناک) By Javed Chahudary..Express News