Karachi Voice

Why We Love Karachi - Aansoon ko sharaab kehtay hein! :)

2011-04-08T23:24:00.003+05:00

Man vs. Market - By Kulsoom (extremely well written)

2010-01-09T22:46:00.000+05:00

“He is one of those people who would be enormously improved by death.”

The above has proven to be correct for Syed Muzzamil Hussain Shah, a young scout who embraced martyrdom on 28th December, 2009 in Ashur procession blast in Karachi.

But how many of us remember him? Or do we remember any of those who got killed that day? Off the record over 75 people got killed on that day while participating in the procession. We remember none but burned shops because that’s what being over-run on media.

Sometimes significance of material takes over the precious lives. I wonder why and who called lives precious since they are not anymore. We have better things to show and cry over, such as loss of Rs.30 billion, stolen arms, and arguing and blaming political parties.

Government of Pakistan announced Rs. 500,000 for the deceased and Rs.100,000 for injured but these funds will take time to arrive in the hand of families. With the increasing inflation, how long do we expect the families to survive on Rs.500, 000? Or in case of injured, I know many who are not capable of affording private hospitals for better treatment. But then why should we bother? Those people were not supporting national economy but just mere bread winners of their families.

We are more concerned towards the commercial hub of Karachi, Bolton Market, that has been hyped so much that we have almost forgotten the actual incident i.e. bomb blast. Not only Government but international Memon communities have come forward to help the businessmen. But which community will raise for people like Muzzamil, from whose house, five funerals came out at a time, including two earners of separate families.

This is not all.

With the start of New Year, when Karachi was not yet over with its grief, blast took place in Lakki Marwat leaving 105 dead and over 100 injured. Once again compensation was announced with condemnation from political figures and country runners. I never happen to see those who died, acknowledged or their families condoled when almost genocide took place.

Why? Because our media and other responsible were too busy with re-building of markets in Karachi. We are ignoring the long-term effect of our ignorance. The coming generation of terrorism stricken families is keeping nothing but hatred because there is nobody to take care of their future. Does government think that 0.5 million rupees are enough to take care of a family of 5 for the rest of their lives? No.

So, shall we consider lives precious?

No way!!

Markets are better than men.

Smoggy Weather in Karachi

2009-11-06T20:35:00.001+05:00

Owing to the prevalence of dry North-North Westerly winds, the atmosphere in the afternoons and evenings in the city have become dusty and haze-laden.

On Thursday, the Meteorological Department recorded minimum temperature 20.5 degree Centigrade and maximum mercury-level 36.5 degree Celsius with 35 per cent humidity.

The Met office said that dry weather with hazy conditions would prevail in the city for another day on Friday with minimum temperature expected to range between 18 degree Centigrade to 20 degree Centigrade and maximum mercury level would range from 34 degree Centigrade to 36 degree Centigrade.

An official of the Met office said that the prevailing haze and dust-laden weather conditions in the city would be cleared in a couple of days with resumption of normal pattern of South Westerly winds, which bring with them regular input of moisture.

Childhood Trauma as the Nation's Future?!

2009-10-28T18:23:00.000+06:00

They say that today's youngsters are the Nation's future... but what if these kids suffer from Childhood Trauma?

Yesterday I was sitting with a friend of mine, debating on our pathetic lives and how each day of our lives is composed of home to office and office to home routine. Then we shifted on the subject of who's getting married who's not getting married. Soon enough we were talking about the children around us.

During the discussion I realize that we - as single adults, worry about our own little lives and how tense our work environments are or how hectic is the nature of our job. We live our lives on a day to day basis complied up to a maximum of a 30 day cycle. By the end of each 30 days we worry about our paychecks, then we sometimes worry about the size of our paychecks. We are slightly happy in the first 15 days and tensions start to pile up as we move on to the second half of the month. Our entire lives are composed of these 30-day chunks. A few of these "chunk" later we find ourselves saying "A year passed by and we couldn't realize!". We sometimes look around us and say "Mr. X got married, or Miss Y became Mrs Z! how soon", then we find ourselves saying "Mrs X had a son, he's so cute!".

What we fail to realize is that what we are doing? These 30 day chunks gather up to make up our entire lives and we fail to realize what part we play for the nation. Lets forget about the Nation for a while, we don't even play our part in our own small collection of people we interact in our daily lives. Because two Hydrogen and one Oxygen, the bond of these three elements make up more than 70% of the entire planet.

We do not realize how simple, unthoughtful and isolated within our own personalities our decisions sometimes are. The reason for this post is that when we were talking about the specific situation these days, my friend happen to describe that his sister's son comes home from school and tells his mama that we are not allowed to go out in the break time and teachers lock the room when they teach in the classes. He said that we are not allowed to go out as soon as the bell rings, we are sent one by one.

I remember when I was a kid and whenever we were naughty we were not allowed to go out in lunch time. Sometimes we had to stay a few hours more than usual school timings because we didn't study well. Or when a teacher had a big lecture prepared or was about to scold at us they use to close the classroom door.

Point is that all these things were done as "punishments" when "we" did something wrong. Psychologically speaking, our minds told us that if we do this, that will happen. Which is the whole point of school and education anyway! - to keep us from doing things that are not supposed to be done and to make us learn what is supposed to be learned. We had the fear in our minds that the result of doing wrong is bad. That fear becomes "knowledge" as we grow up, and this is what we commonly refer to as "difference between right and wrong". Differentiating between right and wrong is the only element that makes us better human beings. Our long-term success or failure depends on our ability to differentiate and decide.

Now my question is that if all those "punishments" are already happening with our kids EVEN THOUGH they haven't done anything bad then what and how are we teaching the kids? What psychological effect does it have on our youngsters? What will we do when they actually do something wrong? Would holding them after hours help when it has become a norm for them? That's one part of the story.

Second part of the story is that I was reading this article and thought that what are these parents doing? The title of that article is 'Ammi told me that the Taliban can bomb the school'. So is this ALL you have to teach your kids when they ask a question as to why they are being punished at schools when they didn't do anything wrong? If I am a kid, when I hear hear such a thing, a fear will arouse in my heart and mind which will definitely be as simple as "School = Maybe Death". I don't care about Asif Ali Zardari or the talibans, I only care about the biggest concern in my life... my homework. I do not have logical and extensive thoughts about political situations, I am a kid who do mistakes like 2+2=5 and I am happy to slide down the tunnel slide at the park or I feel extreme gratification when I jump on my bed!

Anyway, There are primarily three types of kids 1. Those who like to go to school. 2. Those who don't like to go to school and 3. Those who do what is being asked to them (neutral)... In each type of kids here is the thought they get in their minds respectively. 1. "What's the use of working hard when school = maybe death"... 2. "Oh thank god! Now I don't have to go to school because "School = Maybe Death" and 3. "My mama says stay home because "School = Maybe Death".

The whole point is that if we stop worrying about our own pathetic little lives... maybe we can think on how to and what to tell these innocent creatures when they present us with these questions and answer them in a way that won't make them suffer with something like childhood trauma. Maybe if we present them with a simple and effective answer like "bad guys don't want kids to get smart"... I don't know but maybe this is something that can put a thought in these tiny minds which is somewhat like "School = Smartness, Bad guys = bad and Bad Guys != Schools". Or something like that!

All we need to do is to stop worrying for ourselves and give a little thought on what we can teach the kids so when we die, they take control based on whatever we have taught them.

This verse was probably not said for this specific situation but it has a deep and wide meaningful nature.

Daagh-e-sajood agar teri paishani pe huwa to kya!
Koi aisa sajda bhi kar ke zameen pe nishan rahay...
- Allama Iqbal

Roughly translated to...

What if the mark of prostration (worship) be on your forehead...
Prostrate in a way that leaves a mark on the earth...
- Allama Iqbal

Rare Pictures of Karachi! Before Year 1900

2009-10-27T18:32:00.001+06:00

Sadar Empress Market

2009-10-27T17:47:00.000+06:00

The character of Saddar's Empress Market, the city's oldest and most prestigious marketplace, is being eroded with the passage each day. The hands of the clocks on each face of the clock tower, which once dominated the market, have disappeared, and the clocks themselves are in a state of total disrepair.

The paucity of funds for their maintenance had been going unnoticed and now nobody has a clue regarding the whereabouts of the precious hands of these 100-year-old clocks, a senior city government officer told The News on condition of anonymity. Shopkeepers also complained that they rarely hear about maintenance and cleaning of this market, despite the fact that they pay taxes regularly. One shopkeeper, Imran Guru said that they had lost customers; now, the value of the market was also declining and its paint fading.

Iftikhar, a visitor to the Empress Market, said that the City Nazim should maintain a separate department to secure these few heritage buildings to promote tourism. Four decades ago, Saddar's Empress Market was a relatively peaceful place, free of traffic bottlenecks, smog, and constant honking. Reminiscing about "those times", Anwar Dildar Qureshi, the owner of a restaurant in the market, said that few buses used to come to the area and traffic used to be minimal and orderly.

The market was frequented by tourists until 1980, but they are a rare sight now, Qureshi said, adding that at the time, there was no concept of theft or robbery in the area. He also said that the sewerage system used to be efficient, and even during shopping continued even during rainfall, while colourful umbrellas would add to the view.

There is no elaborate lighting system at the market, while in the past, it glistened owing to the cleanliness of the buildings.

This, Qureshi said, was no longer the case owing to the thick black plumes of smoke being emitted round-the-clock. The whole market is surrounded by heaps of garbage and is in dire need of dedicated sanitary staff. The market also lacks adequate security arrangements. Rangers who have been deployed in the area are also at a distance from the market itself.

Shahrah-e-Faisal Jammed!

2009-10-27T17:19:00.000+06:00

Shahra-e-Faisal seem to be jammed as far as the eye could see. Usually at this time of the day the other side of the road is jammed, but it looks like the sun came out the other side today :)

It is however still unknown as to why it is jammed, but those who take Sh. Faisal towards FTC should take some other way around.

A Big Load of Crap :)

2009-10-03T01:11:00.000+06:00

Photo Credits: Farheen Aqeel.

Funny Banner at Hill Park

2009-09-04T18:03:00.001+06:00

This is a good message in a good way :)

Finally some action against Electricity Theft!

2009-09-02T02:27:00.004+06:00

One day standing in my gallery, I saw a couple of guys (when I say guys I mean, two bearded men, wearing namaz cap and shalwar above their takhnay, in short "mullas") climbing a ladder up the electricity pole right in front of my house. I asked them what the hell they are doing... Yes I asked them "Abay OOOO kia kar raha hai" they looked at me as if I commuted a sin or something by asking that... they replied "masjid ke liyay hai bhai sahab". I told them that you are going to "steal" something and then provide it in the mosque!!??? They kept quiet. I told them that I'm going to complain at KESC they smiled and said namazio ke liyay kar rahay hein yea!... I thought to myself... only if anyone here had a little sense!

The Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) has recently launched a campaign, titled “name and shame” against electricity theft, KESC CEO Naveed Ismail revealed at a press briefing on Saturday.

He further said that the KESC had requested the federal government to make electricity theft a non-bailable offence, as is the case in other countries.

“Instead of being ‘gentle’ with thieves as we have been in the initial few months, we shall now be pursuing an aggressive fight against electricity theft, and not only register criminal cases but also announce the names of the culprits in the media through statements and advertisements,” Ismail said.

He also pointed out that after a survey of the whole scenario, the KESC had reached the conclusion that electricity thieves were mainly from the “upper class”.

“Raids will be conducted against each and every power thief, whether big or small, ‘common’ or influential, with the help of the KESC’s police as well as the regular police and Rangers personnel,” Ismail said. He also requested the federal authorities to introduce an amendment into the Electricity Act of 1910 in order to make electricity theft a non-bailable offence.

KESC Chief of Distribution Jan Abbas Zaidi said that a total of 37 cases were lodged against quarters involved in electricity theft in the city, while seven people were arrested. Charge-sheets (Challans) for 18 cases have already been prepared while work is in progress on the remaining 19 cases. Seven high-profile cases were also revealed, including City Hospital, DMCHS, which stole power worth Rs3,856,321; Le’Cole School, DHA, which stole power worth Rs6,090,067; Hilltop Hotel KECHS, stealing Rs4,340,313; Askari Park near Old Sabzi Mandi, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, with Rs1,700,000; a shoe factory in PIB Colony, with Rs1,000,000; a plastic factory in Gulistan-e-Jauhar Block No. 4 stealing Rs900,000 worth of power; and Abid Masood Ice Factory, Korangi, with a total of Rs2,000,000.

Zaidi further said that the utility had received lots of calls from the general public under its “Speak-up” campaign, of which 52 per cent have proved to be true. A total of 47 cases have been registered against people involved in wire theft and 54 people had been arrested so far, Zaidi said.
Source

Beauty of Karachi - Vol 2

2009-09-01T06:13:00.002+06:00

Beautiful Pictures of Karachi

2009-07-16T17:53:00.000+06:00

Help an Orphan Girl Get Married

2009-06-24T03:48:00.001+06:00

Hello All,

Here is the complete situation.

In my last email I explained the situation of an orphan girl getting married and Rs. 80,000 required for her marriage. I am very thankfull for the possitive replies I get from many of you.

In last Ramadan I told you all about a fruit seller that he is in a loan and with all your supprt 70% of his loan is now paid off. The remaining amount is Rs. 40,000.

So a total of Rs. 1,20,000 is required for both above mentioned things, and a good collection have been done too. Please help from even Rs. 100 in this good work as it will be repaid to us from Allah with a great deal of profit in this life and the next life.

Thanks for the support. Again I assure you all that I know these people personally and will handover the money to them with my own hands under full responsibility that your money will be used for the task I have mentioned. I know there are a lot of frauds but I have personally researched about these people. There a lot of people who are in need of money for grocery, rents and children every month. If you want to pay them some thing monthly you can contact me.

To pay you can use my account number and here are the deatils
Best regards,
Farrukh Malik

If you are planning to donate anything please reply back on the blog. I will contact you personally and will have you meet / Contact Directly with the person whose email this is. I know him personally.

Pizza Hut slicing the "pizza" from its name and will now be known as "The Hut"

2009-06-20T04:30:00.001+06:00

Blame recession cuts. Pizza Hut is reportedly slicing the "pizza" from its name. The fast food chain will now be known simply as "The Hut."
The chain, which has recently expanded its menu beyond pizza to include pasta, could not immediately be reached for comment Friday. Media and advertising trade publication MediaWeek characterized the name change as an attempt to transform its stores into hip hangouts. There are more than 10,000 Pizza Huts worldwide.
The new "hut" stores will be more than simply places to place a delivery order, according to MediaWeek. They will include televisions that broadcast CBS programs such as "Wheel of Fortune" and "Entertainment Tonight."

The company has tried to become more hip and youth friendly in recent months. In April, it introduced the Pizza Hut "Twintern," an employee who uses the online service Twitter to update customers about store events and pop culture news.
This isn't the first time for Pizza Hut-parent Yum Brands to change the name of one of their iconic restautant chains, which include KFC and Taco Bell restaurants. In 1991, the company rebranded Kentucky Fried Chicken as KFC. Recently, to highlight the company's healthier grilled chicken offerings, the company has referred to the KFC brand as KGC.
In other news related to YUM, two California residents are reportedly suing the company's KFC chain for failing to give them a free grilled chicken sandwich. The customers are claiming that a sandwich giveaway promoted by Oprah was a "bait and switch" scheme aimed at getting folks in the door to buy other menu items, according to the Associated Press. KFC's were overwhelmed by demand for the sandwiches with lines often stretching out the door of shops.

Source

I wonder when this is going to happen in Karachi!

CAUTION!

2009-06-04T20:09:00.001+06:00

CAUTION!

DRIVER ASLEEP!

Interesting note on the back of a car :)

Karachi: Lots of Problems - Just One Solution. Train The Masses on the road!

2009-05-07T04:14:00.001+06:00

I've been noticing traffic in Karachi for a long time now, and I think there is one solution "proper traffic laws" that can improve the situation of almost all over Karachi by training its people collectively.

My though is that by implementing the law on the road, masses can be trained and when masses are trained the whole society improves. So here is my theory... I'm sharing these thoughts with you so that we can somehow make it work.

OBSERVATIONS:
A couple of my observations about Karachi Traffic are

There are lanes, but no concept of lanes.
There are speed limits, but there is never any limit to speed.
There are three lights of signals, but only recognizable signal is the beamer from the on coming vehicle.
There are left turns and there right turns, but most preferred are the "inappropriate turns".
Going "wrong way" is the right way of driving.
Use the indicators when done switching lanes or turning
Honking is just like warm greetings, the more you honk the pleasant it will be considered.
Any empty space is called "parking", and "No Parking" means "You can park here for just five minutes"
Those dudes in white uniforms are the most expensive "beggars" in town.
Ignore the in-laws as much possible, but ignore the "law" - that's a must.

The above problems are not just on the roads, it stems from the common psychology. It starts from the brain and come out as decisions which later becomes a norm when it is collectively executed. Following are my observations on what in-the-head factors lead to the above mentioned "decisions".

Lanes: Ignorance and lack of realization for why these cat-eyes are installed. They are taken as just bright shiny things on the roads which looks so cool!! People tend not to accept that the lanes are supposed to keep the driver inside his boundaries of appropriate road decorum. Let me tell you a funny story, I asked a friend of mine while sitting in his car that why are you driving ON the lane and the cat-eyes are in the center of your car. He said, it feels good, its almost as if playing Pacman! I mean that's ridicules!
Speed: They seem to not realize that the faster you drive the quicker you reach death! Accidents at the high speeds can squish your body like a cockroach under your boots. Not just yourself, but someone else on the road as well. Hence it can be titled as no respect for human life or humanity.
Signals: This is called the educated illiteracy! Red is to stop, yellow is for caution and green is to go! But no, lets just look if there is someone ahead then we'll stop if not then just keep going. They fail to realize that at the speed of 60-80 km/h it will take milliseconds for the other object to appear in front of your car and in a fraction of seconds, even before your head sends the signals to your legs to apply breaks, you're either gotten killed or have killed.
Turns: When I am driving at a speed of 120 km/h in the right-most lane and I know I want to take a left turn just ahead, I will wait for the last minute to make my turn without using indicators and make an abrupt turn cutting the path of all the two lanes on my left. Because I don't care about anyone else! So what if the person next in lane had to suddenly apply breaks and so what if the 5 or 10 cars bump into each other, one after the other. Who cares I got my way! This is called total disregard for other people and surroundings.
Wrong Way: Narrow mindedness! Why in the world would the government seal this turn so that I have to go all the way through there to get here!. I will not realize that it is for the benefit of all of us on the road and going a few meters ahead won't bankrupt me for fuel usage! and I might just end up on an open road. But no! I'm going to go the wrong way, my headlights won't work, I am on a two-wheeler with my wife and 5 kids. The hell with them! I'm saving time and money!
No indicators: Clumsiness and laziness! I'll just turn and if the person whose path I'm intersecting, is bothered, he'll just honk, if he honks then I'll think about using the indicators if not then ... aaanh!
Honking: Misbehaving, self importance and impatience! I will shout on the person who is in front of me because that's just who I am. I'm walking and if someone is already walking in front of me then I'll just yell at him till he moves his butt out of my way. Because I am special and I am the king of the world - rest of them are just tiny stinky rats.
Parking: No sense at all- Nonsense people! Hey! I see an empty space by the footpath, lets park here. 3 hours later: a very angry man is waiting, frustrated about the fact that he couldn't get his car out on the road because someone parked behind his car... Then I'll go like: Oh sorry I didn't notice your car. Or may be I find myself with shattered windows of my car and a nice big dent on the side. Because I did not look around before I decided to park. OR I may not find my car there at all because I parked in a NO PARKING spot. I'll go to the station, I won't pay and I will argue that I parked there just for 2 minutes. Then I'll try to bribe the cop by taking him in the corner or offer him some "chai pani"
Traffic Police: Corruption! This is the fault of all, the traffic agents, the drivers and the traffic police department. They don't pay enough and expect a man to stand and implement "law and order" on the road all day and all night... He in turns need a break and the money... So when he pulls someone over and he is offered something that goes directly in his own pocket...why would he refuse to take it!? Because who knows who he stops next, shows him a card of some DSP, ISP, any Goddamn major, general... and he will have to say "sorry sir, app ko paraishan kiya"
Law: I am above the law! This is the mentality that has been prevailing here since a long time. Having the ability to change or alter or differ from anything that the law has set, is actually considered as "powerful" and is a sign of "status". Having a custom-made number plate no number plate at all, is "cool".

THE IDEOLOGY:
By implementing the proper law on the roads just doesn't make the traffic better, it also train the human brain to not make a decision to do all the 10 things mentioned above. So my point is, what is a better way to train the masses to not be narrow minded - for example? What is a better way to train the masses to be more considerate about others, their lives and the lives of others? Is there any better way to teach the common person that he is not above the law?

I do not know the exact number of people who come on the road every day, but my guess would be at least 80-90 percent. There is no age limit to this, every one from ~13 years till 90 years is on the road one way or the other. There is no better way to train all of them at the same time in a better way than to teach them on the roads.

Just by implementing the law and order on the road you can...

eliminate ignorance and lack of realization
bring respect for human life or humanity
cure the educated-illiteracy factor
reduce the disregard for other people and surroundings
broaden narrow-mindedness
rectify clumsiness and laziness
treat misbehavior, self importance and impatience
promote common sense
fight corruption
erase "I am above the Law" psychology

THE SOLUTION
The solution is very very simple. We have to see who implements the law and order, those are the white cops. So what can make the white cops be honest? Apart from the change in upper management, there is something that can be done in the way these people are paid. For that, the government has to play its part. I can tell what the government has to do, which, in my opinion is not that hard to do and that "could" be a win win situation.

The solution lies in regular salary + commission. Just like our sales people, they get commission on a specific number of customers. The same way, if the cops are given commission on how many "valid tickets" he generates then it will solve all the problems.

So if anyone does anything from the list above, the cops will pull him over, the cop could not be bribed because he needs his commission. The law-breaker will have to go and submit the ticket at the station, which will create realization in him to not repeat this mistake again. In short the money goes out of the drivers pocket and goes into the Sargent's pocket BUT through a legal channel. In the meantime the public learns to behave and gets trained. When they are trained they will not just behave on the roads but in their homes, offices, in families, in public places and in any other social gathering.

THE RESULTS
The chain of favoring outcomes go long way into the lives of everyone. Just to state one, Patience - Lets just say, a man wakes up an hour late in the morning for office, first of all, he won't yell at his wife and kids because of his mental pressures of getting late, then he won't drive fast on roads and won't put his or other's lives in danger, then when he reaches office, his boss might not yell at him, if he does, he has the brains and the energy to handle the situation calmly. When he is calmed out the situation and himself, he will perform better at work, when he perform better at work he may be able to put an extra hour to cover up the morning tasks. And when he gets home late, his wife won't yell at him because he didn't yell at her in the morning while leaving and she understands why he is late. So she gives him a nice dinner and they live happily ever after :)

-----

Does all this make sense? I know it is a big theory and might seem impossible or maybe ridiculous to be done. But I think that it could be a long-term solution. Please mention any points that are illogical or something that I have missed. I'd love to discuss more on this so tell me your thoughts on this. I hope we can make a difference.

A Generous Advice or A Freakish Warning?

2009-05-07T01:56:00.001+06:00

Train mein safar ke doran Durood-Shareef Parhtay raha karein

So apparently the minister of state as "advised" the fellow countrymen to keep praying during commute via Pakistani trains. He says the railway tracks are quite old and the trains are totally inadequate. This guy says that he is a helpless minister and won't quit, although he will be playing his part at the level best to "inform" the nation about the corruption. He continues to mention that fact that the last incident in Hyderabad was due to negligence of the railway staff and that he has asked the Deputy DS to start investigation.

I usually and never post about this types of news, but this one was such a disastrous, funny, yet scary and somewhat paradoxical item that I had to post it. Because in the final sentence the man goes on to say ... "there should be no minister for the railway, instead an honest man should be appointed to run the department"!

I'm sorry to say, but these are the bugs in our system.

"MUST...... De...bug"... "MUST...... De...bug" :-)

KESC [(18+4+400+234 megawatts) - (Rs. 31 Bn + 5 Bn) + ($361 million) = Some Hope ]

2009-04-27T01:43:00.008+06:00

The title is scary, I know. It is true that it seems more complicated than it really is. A few days back, I came across some of the news items in my RSS reader. Three of those are listed below.

KESC Initiates Captive Power Policy
The first company to join this programme is Engro Polymer & Chemical Ltd (EPCL), which signed an agreement with KESC recently to supply 18 Megawatts power supply to the KESC by mid-year 2009. This was yet another breakthrough that was carried forward by a second agreement signing between International Industries Limited (IIL) and the KESC. According to this contract, IIL will supply 4 MWs to KESC within the next two weeks.
Islamabad pays Rs 31 bn KESC debt
Pepco spokesmen Tahir Basharat Cheema confirmed that the government had adjusted Rs 31 billion against the main portion of loans that the Pepco had gotten from the federal government at interest rate of 18 per cent. “Due to this very step, not only the KESC has been given relief but the loans the Pepco has gotten from the federal government have also been reduced.
Karachi to get 234-megawatt electricity from November
The government signed on Thursday an agreement with a Turkish company to hire a 234-megawatt power plant to address the electricity crisis in Karachi.

So this implies that if everything goes according to the plans, by the end of this year, Karachi would be in good electrical hands :)

Lets hope for the best and lets do what we can do about it.

PUBLIC MESSAGE:

SAVE (Bachat / cutback)
Switch off the lights when you don't need them.
SAVE (Bachaoo / Rescue)
Keep an eye on the "Kundas" (electricity theft) near your home and take some actions to prevent the illegal usage of electricity.
Make point 1 and 2 your habit :)

Things are starting to "heat up"

2009-04-26T17:12:00.007+06:00

Here is a post I thought I'd never make, Global Warming! Yes, an issue well heard of.

It all started last night, when the lights go out around 2.30 in the morning so I couldn't sleep and when I woke up I realized that today was Sunday so I can lay like a cow on the bed for as long as I could :) So, I finally left the bed around 3 in the afternoon and opened the door to my balcony and suddenly I felt like I opened an oven. I closed the door and went downstairs, had a good brunch and checked my email on my cell phone during brunch while also thought to give a peak at today's weather. Turned out it was 42 Degrees Centigrade outside, I clicked "update weather" and I was down to 41 Degree Centigrade. It was bit of a shock for me to see such a temperature before even the month of May, so I started worrying about what it is going to be in the summer - typically known as "JunJulai" :)

Anyway, I start Googling, came up with some good material on global warming (on Wikipedia of course). In a nutshell... Global Warming Phenomena is the entrapment of "greenhouse gases" inside the Earths atmosphere. Apparently, the homosapiens (People) are producing all these gases with their industries, cars and all the machinery etc, and all that is getting trapped between the Ozone Layer and the surface of the earth. Which is increasing the temperature of our planet, resulting in melting of both the poles, rising the sea-levels and ultimately inviting the biggest and the most deadliest natural disasters on the planet. Which in theory considers as "the end of the world". :)

Here is more to read on Global Warming...

However, it is not possible that a theory remains unchallenged any longer than a certain period of time. So, People gathered up and brought together some "arguments" to challenge the global warming theory. Some of those arguments include that there are no evidence that the actions of little creatures like us can effect the temperature of a planet. They say our equipment is "incompetent" or "inadequate" to record or forecast future climate conditions, the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) did not approve of it and some others.

Here is something to read about the arguments against Global Warming...

In fact, they also have come up with a "petition project" for rejecting the Global Warming theory as well... so if you feel like signing up for yourself... be their guest, they'll be lucky to have ya! :)

So, what we get by all this is just that the "outside" is becoming more like the "inside" of an oven and we are fighting over whether we will be the dinosaurs for the next life on the planet or not!

But, for those who believe, knows what's happening...

Greatest Karachi!

2009-03-28T04:44:00.003+05:00

Here is a video which beautifully highlights the essence of Karachi, the Bus Art, Rickshaws, Pan, the Graffiti everything! For everyone who love Karachi and every bit about it. Amazing video Enjoy :)

Lovely Weather Today!

2009-03-27T01:38:00.002+05:00

It has been a lovely weather in Karachi today, cloudy skies with
relatively pleasant temperature and a nice breeze. One of those days
when you can really enjoying just being in Karachi, we should cherish
these days, as a large part of the year in Karachi is either clear sky
with sun shining on our heads or once in a blue moon, it rains! cats
and dogs! (Yea I know, there can't be a blue moon when its raining
cats and dogs and the phrase "cats and dogs" was last used in the 18th
Century) :-)

Enjoy!

PS: I found this weather widget on the BBC website, shows the latest
weather observations of Karachi.

You&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;must have a browser that supports iframes to view the BBC weather&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;observations

Irony! A devotee of Prophet (saw) claims it on his car sub-woofer.

2009-03-20T03:08:00.001+05:00

I saw this car at bahadurabad today, very interestingly what it says is "Mairay Maan Baap ap per qurban, Ya Rasul Allah SAW". (sorry for the poor quality picture, it was dark at night) :)

This seems to mean that the person is willing to sacrifice his / her parents in the name of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw), unless it means that "Only my parents are a big fan / devotee of Your's (saw) and not me", it is quite an irony to see the big sub-woofer stuffed at the back of the car with some very good quality speaker system. I'm pretty sure that none of the Tilawat-e-Quran needs a big sub-woofer system to be played on. As we know that a sub woofer is used to produce bass, which is a low frequency below 150 hz down to 20hz or low, while the vocals are best when the ranges b/w 500Hz and 2 Khz are high (arrange your media player equalizer to see the results)

Although, I did not hear it playing music so I can not blame the person for being a lier or a show off maybe, but I can still ask you people to be careful. I am not asking you to quit listening music neither am I saying you should not talk about how much the religion means to you... but all I'm saying is that please do not do both at the same time.

I have seen a thousand cars who have the word "Allah" or Safar ki dua or Ayat-ul-Kursi etc hanging on their rear view mirrors, and they are listening to music or radio or have a nice girl on date in their cars and what not. It is like mixing the two opposites! And that's the ultimate sin. I've heard people say the words InshaAllah and MashaAllah on such sick occasions and they don't even know what they are saying. For example, people say on TV all the time "MashaAllah se buhut hit film hai", "inshaAllah mairi next music album 2 months mein ajai gi", I've even heard guys saying when they see a very beautiful girl on the street... "uff MashaAllah kia bandi hai!" . Do they even realize what they are saying? They are asking for the will of Allah for the launch of their next music album! They are praising Allah for the success of their obscene movie! and they are praising Allah for creating a beautiful girl who is walking in skin tight dress, without hijab or proper parda, (a sin in itself) and the one watching her (another sin in itself)!? (naozubillah to all)

and don't even get me started on the Music these Indian industry is making, songs like "Allah Mairi Tauba", "Subhan Allah", "Assalaam Walaikum", "Allah Hafiz", we all are not just listening to these songs, but are also selling and sharing it bluntly.

All I'm asking you people is PLEASE DO NOT MIX THE TWO THINGS. If you want to listen to music, listen, but don't disgust your own religion in it. If you are not a pious person, don't be, I don't have the right to force it on you, but I can ask you gently to be careful with the two, is it that hard to do? I hope not, just think for a second before you do or say.

May Allah for give us for all the sins we have done in ignorance and in consciousness (Ameen). Please notify me if I have sounded unreasonable any where in this post.

Information:
Wikipedia says about sub woofer...

A subwoofer is a woofer, or a complete loudspeaker dedicated to the reproduction of bass audio frequencies, from perhaps 150 Hz down as far as 20 Hz, or in rare cases lower.

In humans a good quality voice ranges b/w 500hz and above to a reasonable 1KHz. The maximum frequency produced was by a 12 year old singer who sung at 2,800 Hz and the lowest frequency world record holder is Tim Storms who produced an impossible 8Hz using his vocal cord.

Yellow and Blue is coming!

2009-03-20T00:18:00.001+05:00

You might have seen this hoarding all over Karachi by now. Today I thought I should blog about it and see what people think about what it could be.

At the top of my head, it stuck me as www.bestbuy.com, some of the teasers do say best buy as well. But some say great vale and some say things about experience. I think the chances for it to be bestbuy.com is pretty great, most of the signs leads us to think that. Specially the color scheme is exactly the same. If not then it will most probably be something digital or onlinr, I suppose.

To save me from embarrassment I'd like to hear what you people think of it. :)

The False Truth about Pakistani Blogsphere!

2009-03-14T21:52:00.006+05:00

In reference to my previous post, I would like to add yet another point. It is not just the media who is stupid enough to not highlight the good points of the country and city, it is everything everywhere from internet, blogs groups and what not. We are so stupid that we don't even realize that we ourselves tell the world that we are (a). stupid, (b). Illiterate (c). at fault, and living in a (d). politically and economically unstable country which is supposedly (e). hub for terrorsim!?. What is up with you people!

I will try to make my point clear by using a very recent example from the website Karachi Metblogs (KMB).

I, myself was once an author on KMB, but before I tell you what I am about to say, I should tell you why I joined the blog. I found so many good posts, open-minded people posting everything about Karachi, posting about events, places, and restaurant reviews etc (which were sometimes very useful too). But the reason for me to quit was that "some" of the new individuals were (and still are) openly making personal opinions, critics and unbiased accusations about the politicians of Pakistan, others actively and passionately post about every bomb that goes off, every person getting killed, the next minute of happening. The rest of them try to "be the first" to write about when every politician even sneezes!

I don't know why it was so, but it was clearly killing the better usage of metroblogging and promoting the blog as a political blog and not just that, it was highlighting ONLY the issues of the country and not the good points that could make the world could see how wonderful our country really is. So I quit writing, as I did not and do not want to be recognized as someone who drills holes in what they eat in.
Please note that I am in no way trying to pinpoint any single individual or a website for criticism, I’m speaking collectively, while realizing that not everyone is good and not everyone is a culprit in a blogsphere.

A few days back there was a post made on Karachi Metblogs about an event organized by CIO Pakistan and Badar Khushnood where a discussion was carried out about blogging and bloggers of Pakistan, how it has been going on and what it should be. A few lines from the post...

In the end came the resolutions and everyone committed to contribute in one way or another to build a brighter and more positive image Pakistan and bring about a change through blogging. People agreed among other things, to blog more positive things about Pakistan, photoblogging more of Pakistan’s art and cultural events and tagging every blog post or picture they upload properly.

Just today (2 days after the above post was made) another post was made on the same website. Here are some lines from the post...

In this country innocents get murdered every day, may they be the victims of a bomb blast, a pedestrian trying to cross a road, a collage student waiting for a bus, a person resisting a robbery bid, or pet dog sitting calmly outside his house.

Here is just another one of the heartbreaking narrative: http://d*****ing.org/murder-****/ (note: I have removed the links)

Now my point is, this is the exact same website on which both the two contrary posts were made, the irony here is that it is made by the same author, one post consequent to the other by the gap of just two days.

Wasn't it enough to let the world know more and more about killings, crimes, rapes, robberies, bombs, economic issues, "pathetic" services offered by government and almost every company, telco, cellcos, electricity corporation, municipal corporation, WIND, WATER, EARTH, FIRE in Pakistan, that it was felt extremely necessary to write about animals killings? Not just animals but pet cats and dogs too. Yea, so the world could also know how sick, weird and psychologically ill we all are!

My question is, if the media is free, does it mean it should loose its mind and show anything and everything? From live coverage of shootouts to blown up bodies of bombers, gore and blood, from obscene movies to drams made on subjects of illegitimate physical relations between friends, from road shows where the host “dares” teenagers to do “daring things” and gets kissed by young girls in front of the camera as this is what they think is “daring” or being told on TV that the girl slapped her mother on the face just to prove that she was daring! Where have all the sanity gone? What are you educating people, what are you telling the world?

On the other hand, if you have internet (which you are never happy to have, as it is “slow”) does it mean you should write anything and everything? If the technology has made the world just a click away, does it mean you should let others look into your toilets!?

Just think for a minute when you say something, this internet and media are NOT a channel for finding solution, publicity will NOT solve any problem in the country, it will ONLY let the world know, so they could point fingers at you while you yourself strip-naked down to humility.

Pakistan and all of its cities are a wonderful place to live, besides every problem it is still our home and it will be for the rest of our lives. Writing about the country’s problems is like writing about your own homes. Would you be willing to blog on a global scale about the arguments you went through with your wife or husband, what your kids are doing and how they are not listening or getting complaints or bad results back from school, or how you might be worried about your teenage son or daughter or how the grandpa’s health is declining every day? Would you write about it? Or would you like it if your neighbor writes about it? You wouldn’t write it yourself neither you would like anyone else to write about it. So my question is that this country is just a collection of a million such homes…

why are you giving the world the wrong impression?

We Have To Survive as "Us" not "Them"

2009-03-13T20:19:00.003+05:00

I have recently received an email about someone who went out of country for a while and have experienced how the world is portraying Pakistan.

I agree to all the concerns, thoughts and the proposed plan of action, highlighted by my brother. I am reproducing this email on my blog so every one can read and understand it.

I do feel guilty of not highlighting these issues while they were in my head for a long time. A few points are how the mega-media of India and around the world is portraying Pakistan as center of terrorism, while we prove them to be right via our "miniature" media. We have more than 80% international channels on our cable TV and the ones which are supposedly ours, feels / sounds no different than Indian media. On the other hand, just a few years back people of Pakistan were making an issue if a woman appears on television with dupatta on her head, today if you see how the cloths have shrunk up to a considerable minimum you would be amazed to see that there is absolutely NO difference in women of Pakistani channels and the women of Indian channels, the irony is that they belong to TOTALLY opposite religions.

Today, we appear, sound and even think like the ones who were the worst enemies of this country and the basis on which it was formed i.e. Islam. This is indeed something that SHOULD NOT be taken lightly.

Here is the email.

Before reading this email see the main news on this link,
http://news.yahoo.com/i/703;_ylt=AhQdEoIjb86D3728H_2WRWtvaA8F

I went to Dubai for some work and there in the hotel they had the channel Star News (India) which I guess is not on cable TV in Karachi. You know what they show most of the times .......... "Pakistan is a country full of terrorists" and they show videos of fake TALIBANS and KASHMIRI mujahideens and just say bad and only bad for Pakistan and take advantage of any news that is hot in Pakistan and convert it or relate it to terrorism and show it and our good old news channels PTV and all others show the war between Zardari and Nawaz all the time giving proof to the world that what they see on CNN, BCC and Star news is 100% correct and Pakistan is unstable in law, politics and government and the TALIBANS are taking advantage of it and making Pakistan a terrorist home.

My request to all of you is that please please please stop favoring the politicians and idiotic marches and idiotic ban or marches as this is all making us more and more unstable and you all know very well that if Pakistan is attacked by NATO or US for war against terror its we who will die and suffer not over politicians and leaders because weather they are out of country or they have good relations in middle east and Europe so they can run and hide.

Please try to think that its we who have to stand up and see the truth and have to spread it and the only way and the quickest way to start it is simply following the Holy Quran and Islam.

India has banned every thing of Pakistan there but over dear Pakistani people do not boycott anything, our cinema is showing their movies our heroes are Shahrukh Khan and Aamir Khan and our hair styles are like them we talk like them …..etc

Please think and see that we are becoming the best friends of our enemies as we are allowing them to spread their culture in our homes. I don't remember the name of the politician but there was one form India who clearly and openly said that they can defeat Pakistan easily just by culture war and they are doing it.

Please start boycott of every Indian movie, drama and their stuff and tell all you meet that our existence is only possible is Pakistan exists and the only way to survive is to become a good Muslim and remember that a person can never become a good Muslim if he/she is not a good person.

I hope I made my point clear if not please tell me and I will try to explain more.

Best regards,
Farrukh Malik