Logic is Variable

Higher education from abroad

2012-06-02T09:38:00.000+05:00

Only a couple of decades ago, education abroad was still the preserve of small elite of potential superstars. Not anymore. The number of students going abroad for higher education has increased many folds. Given chance, students these days are found keen to go for the best.

What is driving this solid growth of students going abroad? Three things: Perception of informed parents and students that the quality of education abroad is a lot better and up-to-date than in Pakistan universities and higher educational institutions. Second, the "foreign-qualified" candidates see better response in not only local but global job market as compared to those with similar qualifications from local universities. And effective marketing of education services with the help of facilitations in immigration rules by their governments.

Two of the children of Ali Cheema are studying in different universities in United States of America. On the issue of study abroad he says, "My son Naveed Cheema graduated in computer science from reputed university here. He wanted to pursue the subject further but no local university was offering higher degree in the discipline of his interest so he had to go to America. On the other hand, my daughter Amina has been offered full scholarship by another American university that was difficult to decline." Ali's younger daughter Sadia who is doing her "A" level says, "My brother and sister have gone after post graduation whereas I am planning to go abroad after completing my "A" level.

Aiming at long term benefits, western universities are now helping Pakistan to reverse the so called 'brain drain.' "The scholarship offered to Amina has a condition that she will come back after completing her education and stay in Pakistan for at least two years," informed Ali Cheema.

In 1947, there was only one University of the Punjab. Today, we have almost 35 universities in the public sector, more than 100 in the private sector, and this number is growing with newer disciplines being added every year. After the new concept of private education has taken over, many private universities have shown their results whereas some of them have even left their mark on world map. Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore School of Economics, Institute of Business Administration and Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute are playing prominent role in promoting quality education in the country.

There is a marked difference between graduates from privet sector universities and public sector universities. This difference is more visible when it comes to getting a job. There is an even bigger difference when seen between local graduates and those who have graduated from abroad.

The competition between the world's top universities have speeded this growth even further. They are extensively marketing their education services. A growing number of rich countries are redefining both their education and their immigration policies in order to attract more students. "Another factor is the European Union's policy of sponsoring student mobility within the Union so as to create a European identity among the young people. Several countries - most notably Australia and New Zealand - are trying to turn education into an export industry. Foreign students are triply valuable. They pay fees to universities, spend money on things like food and lodging, and may even end up staying on permanently," reads a report.

America is dominating the education market for international students. "Not only are the foreign students contributing some $13 billion a year to America's GDP, they are also supplying brainpower for US research machine and energy for its entrepreneurial economy." The situation changed after September 11. The Institute of International Education reported that the number of foreign students on American campuses is on decline for the first time.

American leadership was alive to the situation and academics acted fast. Now the United States of America has streamlined its visa process for education purpose. Applicants earlier had to wait for 75 days for technical clearance, but the period has now been reduced to 13 days, and students can walk into the embassy without an appointment and apply for an interview at the visa desk. Similarly other western countries and their universities are also making changes to facilitate the students from third world.

It is not enough to have a foreign education from any universities. Given opportunity, students these days opt for the best. As per the findings of 1,300 academics in 88 countries, Oxford, Harvard and Cambridge are among the world's top universities. University of California also scores highly.

In this survey six Australian universities are among the top 50 in the World University Rankings. France, by contrast, manages just two universities in the top 50: École Polytechnique and École Normale Supérieure. Heidelburg University is Germany's single entry.

The only European university outside Britain in the top 20 is the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland . In Asia, Tokyo University is graded at No12 followed by Beijing University at No17.

Coming back, there are not enough openings in local job market. Ask any Seth (CEO) in national or international organizations about their hiring needs, given chance they will prefer graduates from foreign universities as compared to those passed out from local universities. "There is a better match between the modern organizational needs and the foreign education, particularly when the hiring concern has to operate globally," says Professor Dr. Tehseen Sulehrya.

Going gets difficult for brilliant students when it comes to the cost of study abroad. Foreign universities fall under two major categories: public (state supported), and private (independent) institutions. International students' tuition expenses at state schools are based on nonresident costs, which are still usually less expensive than those of private universities.

The tuition fees are different for different universities and vary from as low as 5000 dollars a year for state universities to as much as 30000 dollars per annum for some private universities in America for post graduation. The approximate annual living expenses are about 10,000, dollars which includes accommodation as well as other daily expenses (and this varies from person to person). Some students start working in addition to studying to meet the expanses depending upon the situation.

In UK cost ranges from 1500 to 1200 Pound Sterling. In Australia the range is from 1400 to 1200 dollars whereas medical school fee is around 2200 dollars per year.

Irony is that at government level, there are no proper channels to guide Pakistani students in this regard or institutionalize the process. Private consultants selling 'study abroad' can be found every where though. Stakeholders have been demanding the government to establish such resource centre in collaboration with foreign embassies and streamline the process till the time the needs of the students desirous of higher education can be met at home.

Sadly, that has not started happening yet.

Explore Pakistan

2012-06-01T09:34:00.000+05:00

Travel writing is a fine art; accepted literary genre that is read. Writers who are gifted with an ability to understand what they see can breathe life into a place when they narrate their travel experiences. The Internet that is wrongly considered a pedestal for instantaneous scribbles mixed with emoticons and indecipherable abbreviations has already become a place to find some good travel literature, travelogues and travel stories in addition to online trading of travel services. It can be one of the best display places for local writers to showcase what Pakistan has to offer; the local context.Travel is prosperity and leisure pursuit, which is a result of many things: history, heritage, culture, natural beauty and a quest to know what is unknown and meet wonderful people.

Pakistan is a land of geographical, geological, and natural contrasts and has every thing nature could bestow; from some of the places like Mehr Garh in Balochistan and Harappa in Punjab where some of the initial human activities began, Lots Valley (NWFP and people there) once home to Gandhara Civilization where Chinese Hiuen Tsiang who is regarded as an early trendsetter traveller treaded, or ancient city Multan that, as per the legend, is living since the time of Hazrat Noah (A.S.), Kalash community existing in an on the edge district Chitral still holding awaiting for anthropologists’ conclusive research about origin of their unique identity against all outside pressures for development and modernity, unsolved riddle where rivers were lost (River Hakra in Cholistan) to pristine locations in Northern Pakistan (tree line in Himalaya Range) where one can see two seasons at the same place — winter above and summer below, and thematic pilgrims for Sikh and Buddhist communities, to name just a few.

Now consider this: All major national publications have some portions designated for travel writing but it is a small and competitive market. For those who write in English — language that is understood on World Wide Web – the market is even smaller. Experienced travel writers are associated with newspapers and magazines and new ones get chance to appear in print only occasionally. The print publication should open more opportunities for travel writers.

There should be more travel journalism and industry news. Public should know if the Ministry of Tourism reduces royalty fee by 50 percent for climbing Pakistani mountains that are above 6000 meters.

Facts packed guidebooks with eye-catching, superb, clear and sharp images of people and places enlivening every page provide good background information into any country’s history, culture, attractions, and its people; information that are useful during journeys to new places. Guidebooks have their own style quite different that travelogues and travel stories. The guidebook publishing business is totally in the hands of famous foreign companies and it is hard for local publishers to compete with them. “Only foreign tourists need and buy guidebooks and they already have one when they arrive in Pakistan,” says a publisher Munir Ahmad. Still opportunities for travel writers do come up from time to time. Some guidebook companies also get updates and inputs from local writers and photographers that appear in their newer editions. Some time ago, for example, Insight Guides commissioned a local writer to revise their outdated edition. Tony Wheeler, British founder editor of Lonely Planet while marketing guidebooks on Pakistan prides in growing up in here for some years and has contact with many local travel writers for updates. But, Munir Ahmad says, “Publishing guidebooks is not a viable option here; it is difficult to sell books.” Same is the case with self publishing by writers.

Given the rate of travel industry growth and every one’s interest in knowing new places, people and cultures, so many Websites have come up that show travel contents all over the Internet. So far Pakistani destinations have very scanty presence on the Web. Print publications, particularly English, get the original work and pay to the writers whereas most Websites just recycle travel articles from print media.

This scarcity of places where to get published leaves the travel writers to turn to the Internet where they can pitch their ideas to many editors of travel Websites and or interested foreign publications who are always looking for new talent; eager and encouraging. Not only that, writers can read what has already been published there, find background material and facts. Quick search on the Internet reveal so many starting points, notwithstanding travel writing how-to services and premium travel writers’ marketers. BootsnAll.com, where I am published some time, is a Web service that post articles by writers from all over the world. I have found it writer friendly and receptive to new locations.

In Pakistan, so far much has not been documented systematically what to talk of presenting it on the Internet for others to find about with an aim to tempt them to come here and see (and spend their money in the process). Which is why Pakistani travel writers and photographers have a vast field of activity on hand right at home? In addition to glob trotters with a compass, a camera and itchy feet, historians, geographers, archaeologists, geologists, naturalists and birdwatchers also need to publish their work in order to generate wide ranging interests in off beat and mostly obscure destinations in Pakistan. I know an engineer Itehar Mahmud who works with oil exploration firm and writes about places where ever he goes in connection with his duty. Mobashir Ahmad has travelled all along the borders, “for recognisance purposes mostly on foot,” he says, during his long service. He also writes his memories from the Salt Range (and Katas Raj) to Jhang and more in the form of travelogues. It is in this context the Web can be viewed as the playing ground for local talent.

Travel calendar of Pakistan is quite impressive. Where else in the world other than in Pakistan polo – grandest of all the sports — is played at the high ground like Shandor Pass that is called the roof of the world, or moving international cultural festival are held along Kharakorum Highway. But all the events on the calendar go without any advance publicity or follow ups. One wonders how interested people come to know about these events. PTDC list of events and festivals need to be improved and lot more can be included in the list.

Somebody has to write the travel literature in order to keep fuelling the demand for airline seats, hotel rooms, tour operators, eateries, transport companies, porters and facilitators, guidebooks, atlases, picture postcards and posters publishers, and other affiliates of the travel industry besides those communities whose major source of income comes from tourism. Kim Rahan, a traveller from China who bought History of Rohtas Fort on location, told, “This buy is to promote interest of people in travel related vocations.”

Too often, deftly executed travelogues or a travel story can accomplish much more than any other promotional activity, particularly a story that combine passion, personality and perspective. Every place has a story (and a history), as they say. If you have a drive to write, there is a need of extensive travel writing showcasing Pakistan from Pakpattan to Pashin on the Web.

Related: Dood Patti - Pakistan travel blog

Braindump Blight

2012-05-31T09:57:00.000+05:00

This article appeared in Dawn

The changes in computers and related technologies, and a desire to reach the apex of excellence keeps IT professionals on the learning track. Few would argue that those who opt for IT profession need to follow the path of development and keep their knowledge and skill levels updated or they may not bag a job, let alone survive one. One way to stay ahead is through certifications. However, certification credit is being marred by plethora of ‘braindumps’ available on the internet.

Footpath culture

2012-05-30T08:26:00.001+05:00

This article first appeared in the daily Nation

There should be footpaths with environment that is conducive to walking in our towns and cities. Heavily trafficked streets are stripped of life by noise, congestion and fumes and it becomes difficult for pedestrians to walk along city roads. Sadly, footpaths are continuously diminishing every day making towns and cities all over the country more and more unlivable.

Footpaths (also called sidewalks or pavements) are paths designed for pedestrian traffic and often run alongside roads. Footpaths are more common in modern urban areas and are sometimes separated from the roads by tree lanes or flower beds (depending on available spaces and prior urban planning).

In developed world, some paths are shared by pedestrians and cyclists. This can be expressed by saying that bicycle travel is allowed on the sidewalk, or that pedestrians use the bicycle path, since there is no sidewalk. In the areas in which car traffic is intense, a growing trend is to create dedicated bicycle paths for cyclists, either as a lane on a sidewalk, a lane on the road itself, or another separate path, in order to let them have a safer, distinguished space. In some countries, sidewalks are often the responsibility of the adjacent property owners. In our towns and cities, however, there is only one path and bicyclists usually have to use the road. At most places even that does not exist or if there, it may be being used for purposes other than walking.

Now imagine this: The road network in a majority of our towns and cities is characterized by narrow carriageways, poor surface quality and absence or inadequacy of footpaths. Most of the network has also not been provided with footpaths in the first place. Even the limited road capacity is further reduced by way of on street parking, encroachments by hawkers and shopkeepers on carriageways and footpaths, lack of parking or terminal facilities and existence of mixed slow moving traffic comprising motorbikes, animal-driven vehicles, rickshaws and hand carts. Unless remedial measures are taken this situation is expected to worsen in the years to come.

"There are powerful forces creating vehicular dependency," says a sociologist Dr. Muhammad Anwar Khan, "considering the attitude of the people, particularly effluent class, towards ownership and use of vehicles, it is highly unlikely that provision of safe footpaths can stop this dependency but walking friendly routs along roads and streets can slow down the trend and allow health conscious residents to take a chance by foot."

In cities and towns that are distinguished by fast pace of life, walking is a socially beneficial activity because it is cheap; it allows people to appreciate their local environment; it promotes social contacts; it is non polluting and environmentally sustainable and it is healthy, and most of all it can contribute to the Urban Renaissance. Footpaths (also open spaces) are a good proxy measure for urban health. Ideally, each road must have a safe, convenient and comfortable footpath for pedestrians. But trip hazards on footpaths are a key concern at all times.

Who is responsible for this neglect? "Municipalities have the main responsibility for land-use planning and for developing and managing the physical environment of urban areas. But city and town development is a complicated process where a number of stakeholders often have contradictory interests. The municipalities are dependent on close co-operation with the private sector, public and private developers and national authorities of various sectors in order to create a comprehensive approach, co-ordinate efforts and balance out different interests," says Abbas Kazimi, a Civil Engineer engaged in town planning. This vital cooperation seems to be lacking at all levels.

Most challenges related to land use and town planning in urban agglomerations stretch across several city development authorities with no central agency to overlook and coordinate. Land use and town planning is of great importance for choosing health-enhancing lifestyles in town and cities. More concentrated city-structures and better conditions for walking and biking will increase the levels of physical activity and general health of the residents.

In the short term, cities and town should be made walking friendly by measures such as prohibition of parking on footpaths, removal of encroachments, segregation of fast and slow moving traffic on roads, promotion of priority to public transport modes like buses over private modes through physical, fiscal and other measures, traffic inter-section improvements and lane disciplining. In the long term, every new road should necessarily have safe footpaths all the way. Besides highway department and municipalities, the private sector that has contributed to urban sprawl, through rapid developments of new localities, should be bound to do this.

Existing footpath maintenance should be carried out in response to problems faced by footpath users. Where a footpath is hazardous to users (potholes, blockades) emergency measures may be taken to provide a safer surface. Temporary repairs and damaged sections of footpath may e replaced with new material during the routine maintenance. New footpaths should be built where possible.

Brick lining of the footpaths have been replaced by asphalt and tough tiles but attitude of commuters towards pedestrians have not changed a bit. Sajida Javed, a housewife living in Defense Housing Society says, "It is a free for all society when one hits the road in any of the cities in the country. In the absence of safe footpaths, people driving in our crowded habitats should be more courteous towards those walking on roads. Otherwise women and senior citizens will always be afraid to come out of homes on foot." That too makes a difference.

"The decline of safe walking facilities along the roads in cities has severely disadvantaged those without cars. Improved public transport is not the whole solution. Opportunities for increased walking and cycling (such as footpaths and cycle lanes) are essential. It is vital that the need to travel is reduced," says Professor Dr. Norbert Pintsch, a German volunteer living and working in Pakistan. The quality of life in urban areas is closely bound up with the way they are managed and maintained. Everybody should feel safe and at ease, both in the streets and in public places. Who is to ensure that?

Housing - extreme environmental and climate conditions

2012-05-29T08:12:00.001+05:00

Dr. Norbert Pintech

This article appeared in monthly Techno Biz Magazine Sep-Oct 2010 issue

Underwater laboratories and Space Stations

Challenge for Planners and Scientists

Affects on materialistic thinking and the architecture

Changes in the technical centralized Infrastructure

Influences on social life

not:Either-Or, rather:Both-And....

It is probably due to upcoming jubilees, that the interest of the media is most visible on certain days of the year. The 50th anniversary of the manned space flight will be celebrated soon. Russian as well as US-american companies offer, at appropriate price, hotel stays in the space. The fantasy appears to move again in the direction of the moon occupancy. Also the research project Mars 500 in Moscow suggests a somewhat longer tour, and then again everything would be as usual, like Pool, Sun, Feasts, etc.

Events in the research project On the Earth take place outside of the earth. But this is of course theory, but the fact is, that future movements away from earth will nonetheless influence life on earth.

Our previous articles about housing were based upon a Cultural-Model, which would have seemed strange to engineers and technicians, but at the same time it must have made clear, how important it is to think and work in entirety (holistically), in order to achieve positive results in the long run. as cultural differences therefore play an important role in this regard in the form of philosophical and religious differences. The differences are quite open in the macro-area, in the micro-area they are obvious through disturbances in relationships, e.g. toilet usage, eating habits, work culture, food preferences etc.

Underwater Laboratories and Space Stations

The construction of Off-Shore Platforms has been an important development on earth. The relevant teams are required here to work and live effectively and optimally.

Sanitary problems had to be solved in military operations in the air, from which the Civil Aviation ultimately profited.

In life under water, for example in submarines, the crew sometimes spent months under water and daily life routines (sleeping, eating, cleaning etc.) were organized in a manner, that everything went smoothly. One was supposed to be autonomous.

This is also valid for Aircraft Carriers, where the crews are provided recreation possibilities along with their military tasks. The autonomy was only a lesser problem, as one could and can rely on regular supplies.

According to brochures of hotels in space (better said in space nearer to earth), it should definitely be more comfortable as compared to research stations established under water or in space (Spacelab).

This is an analogue to the above mentioned military solutions, which have comparable solutions in civil domain: Cruise ship cabins, Camping mobiles, Rolling Hotels, Capsule hotels in Tokyo, etc. Recalling these examples, on can probably realize, that there exist a number of permanent solutions in stark contrast to the wasteful solutions of city villas.

The possibilities discussed by NASA in the time of the boom, illustrated by the scientist, engineer and artist EHRICKE, further established visions of a biosphere near to the earth. This as a basic vision led to experiments in simulations on the earth, which however did not run successfully. In 1991 Biosphere 2 (1991-1993) was established with 8 participants on an area of over 10000 square metres and 200000 cubic metres in Arizona, in order to win experiences of a closed economic system. The steel concrete used in construction was not successful at all because it absorbed oxygen unexpectedly. In a second attempt, the six participants managed successfully to live autonomously, i.e. without the supply of help from outside.

In the area of research, we collected experiences on the south pole, -though with regular supplies from outside, but still one lived autonomously most of the time (e.g Research Laboratory Neumeier2).

The Mars500-Project ignores the eco-system and puts the emphasis on the social aspect (Work with the same colleagues on limited space, dealing with delayed news, which can be up to 20 minutes late due to the distance of 400 million km). This means in the practice, that in case of danger, one has to live and survive without outside help. A special problem of communication and information here is the time delay in the receipt of signals.

Problems arise in the general cultural area and are visible in the daily routine of city life, where people cannot get along with each other automatically (e.g. vegetarians and meat eaters, pork eaters and beef eaters, religious-cultural rites, which even on earth are sometimes difficult to manage, e.g fasting period in june or December in the higher north or south.

Challenge for Planners and Scientists

We have pointed out the problem area of construction materials, which hinder an exchange between the inner and the outer spheres. On earth, mud is more energy efficient and therefore healthier and cheaper from macro-economic point of view, because it is usable without any additional energy source. Unluckily steel concrete construction and burned bricks construction has taken place and is still taking place on a massive scale. In other words construction ruins of the time to come. The energy consumption in introduction of new construction materials may look large in the beginning, but is justified in efforts aimed at achieving Zero-energy-Houses.

It is a century-long task for planners and scientists to arrive at a value, which -based upon the population per square kilometer- relates to a degree value of extent of burden possible in connection with climate, vegetation and general cultural factors. If this hypthetical value is crossed, the urban picture of today becomes obsolete and without future.

The real productivity of the individual work place in the tax system must also be taken into consideration here. Services, including education and health services although income generating measures for the relevant group, are but unproductive and serve only the spreading of the taxation network.

Affects on materialistic thinking and architecture

The survival rate of a system is best shown in extreme situations. The economic system successful in limited sphere and taken over from the west has helped to promote globalization, which automatically also means its end as well as its unrepairability. That this fact is still not recognized does not change anything. The Europeans obtained stretches of land in Africa during the colonization period. The local rulers must have been pleased at the development. Appropriate drawings of the obtained land were not made by the foreigners because they did not understand the local way of thinking. They purchased, what was not salable in the traditional sense. In spite of that, the same principle is still applied worldwide, which shows -also here- an outdated concept is in use, which has long lost its limit of usefulness.

As a transition, the good old industrial production of goods, well based upon a piece of land, will take place more and more in integrated factories. This functions through the exchange of unusable products of one producer to value addition on the same product through another producer.

The architecture, let us call it for simplicity sake Dubai-Design, has not shown any real innovation up till now., whereas innovation does not mean that a building boasts of a helicopter landing place or a seawater-swimming pool or a luxurious entrance hall as big as a football-field or a heap of childish gold and marble items, an express transport system or a mega-skyscraper. These are all mixtures of technically possible and a need for admiration. They are based upon so called successful economic system, which had already reached its climax at the end of the 20th century.

Changes in the technical central infra-structure

If we consider supply systems developed for buildings and cities in the light technology development, we are bound to realize, that these systems are based upon economic considerations. The main purpose appears to be to earn: from lighting , from water supply, from waste disposal etc.Earning here is possible only if the number of customers is large. For this reason large units are created.This leads to two recognizable tendencies. The one is the enormous dependency, coupled with susceptibility. The other is the trend towards autonomous enterprise. Relevant to our topic of Housing, we already mentioned solutions in the High-Tech, as well as in the Low-Tech area. Autonomous systems already exist in the HighTech area, which make the need for a central technical infra-structure pointless. In the Low-Tech area, we may point out the experiences of the Sulabh-Academy in Delhi, which has delivered an interesting example waste disposal methods.

Influences in the social life

Six billion people on earth need space. Space, which is only usable with considerable input of energy., should be used carefully and cleverly. The expansion of the cities into the soft picture of the surrounding areas is an erroneous development, which creates new problems or only defers existing problems. Long distances and travel times, from home to the work place, point to the unsolvable problems in urban areas. The urban region is an organism, which needs time to develop. The factor time has long been forgotten. The different national technical solutions are just short-term concepts. Although sea water desalination plants make possible irrigation and provide water to households, but truly said, they belong to the general public at large. Indication of the problem between national interest and international considerations. Time is still not ripe, it appears, to point out the absurdity of intensive colonization of arid regions !

not:Either-Or, rather:Both-And....

Utopia is dedicated to the far away and unreachable. Should it suddenly be there, the supposed utopia, a society can sbe overwhelmed. The foot taken away from the brake, thanks to the power of Information Technology, the information is quickly distributed over the whole surface and it is absorbed without asking any questions. The danger of the global world lies actually in quick and extensive acceptance of Information and its spreading. An Either-Or situation is directed against the evolution process. The model of multiplicity has proved itself to be most efficient in the nature. Manipulations in available systems due to misunderstood scientific knowledge and not looking at things in totality is bound to have extreme and incomprehensible long -term consequences.

Captions:

International Space Lab
Astronaut-suit
View from Space-Hotel
BiosphaereII, Arizona
Research-Lab NeumeierIII, Antartica
Sample for Integrated Production, Hanover, Shanghai
Mobile Homes, England
Zero-Energy-Plus-House, Germany
WC-set from aircraft
Pantry from cruiser
Area 51, sample for subterranean settlement, Nevada
Off-Shore-Platform, Mexico-Gulf
Kapusem Hoteru, Japan
Cruiser, Karibic Sea
Sea-Lab, North Sea
Diver-suit
View from Underwater-Hotel, Florida

Poor layout and unreadable design of Urdu newspapers

2012-05-28T08:22:00.000+05:00

Overwhelming majority of newspaper readers in our country reads Urdu newspapers. Which is why there are so many Urdu newspapers are printed and circulated. Some of Pakistani newspapers have largest circulation around the world.

Why are Urdu newspapers poorly designed, have messy layout and lack quality reading material? Pick up a leading Urdu newspaper on Sunday and what you will find is advertisement, that too poorly laid out and nothing else. So much so, I have seen just a headline on the front page and rest of the space taken up by ads. The inner pages are so cluttered and jam packed with uncategorized ads that it becomes difficult to fine where is your favorite column by Munnu Bahi or where is an opinion piece by Dr. Irfan Siddiquie. Even the Sunday magazines that accompany the newspapers are full of unrelated crap, unattractive imagery and lack of design element. It seems that Urdu newspapers have not changed with time. I know that all publishing houses are using computers but they are not utilizing them as computers are being utilized in English newspapers.

I know that no newspapers can survive without advertisements. What I am surprised about is that don’t the editors and graphic designers arrange then aesthetically so that readers can actually red the newspapers as well.

I am an Urdu newspaper reader. Almost all Urdu papers are still part of a pile that sits on my side table on each Sunday. I wish, one day, I can pick up a paper and read through conveniently. May be the readers have to play the role to bring the change.

Fine Art of Bloggging

2012-05-27T14:30:00.002+05:00

This article appeared in in Sci-Tech World daily Dawn

Blogs have redefined the Web in many ways. The Web has always been interactive and blogs help interactivity. And then there are new software and blog tools, making it easier and attractive for everyone to start a blog.

Let us assume that you have a blog on a platform (software) of your choice. You define your goals; your target is audience and the content you will be writing. Your next aim is to pick the right blogging tools that work for you.

In addition to the integration of blogging tools, and free and premium blogging software, new blogging tools and services are being released every day to help blog masters add new features to their blog. This becomes quite overwhelming to choose from and to choose the best from among a number of blog promotion tools and add-ons. It all depends on your goals, your expertise, and the time you are consuming for it. Here are a few common solutions for different situations.

Any serious blogger needs to read a lot of other blogs to know what is going on in the ever expanding blogsphere. Technorati alone in its October 2006 report claims to track 57 million blogs. One of the marvels of technology is that you can have new post from every blog. It is delivered directly to you via Really Simple Syndication (RSS). Bloglines is a good online choice to start feed reading. And there are so many others.

Similarly, you can make it easier for your readers to subscribe to your blog's RSS feed. RSS is a protocol, an application of XML (Extensible Mark-up Language) that provides an open method of syndicating and aggregating Web content. By using RSS files, you can create a data feed that supplies headlines, links, and article summaries from your Website. Users can have a constant updated content from websites delivered to them via a news aggregator, a piece of software specifically tailored to receive these types of feeds, reads a Web definition. One of the ways to do this is to go to Feed Burner and burn your own RSS feed there and use the tools they provide to set up to automatic subscriber links so that even people who want to use Bloglines, Google Reader, My Yahoo or Pluck can subscribe to it. And it also can be figured out without the buttons but why not have a prominently visible button? It creates an option for people to subscribe by giving an email address so that they can receive your blog posts like an email message. Feed Burner offers this service for free.

Feed Burner also offers automatic pinging but in case you want to use a separate service for pinging, try Ping Goat and Ping O Matic. Most blog software these days ping each post automatically.

As readers search from blog to blog, they may find interesting sites that they want to point out to their readers. Online bookmark managers allow readers to collect bookmark and categorise blog pages and all other interesting stuff found on the Web. I use del.icio.us but Blink List does a fine job as well.

Then there are statistics produced by analysing the access logs for a blog which are very useful for the success of blogs, while boosting the webmaster. The number of hits also determines a click-through rate for those who have subscribed to Google AdSense or other similar affiliate programs. There are countless technologies, making it possible to track statistics in real-time to show what other web users may be visiting or still linking to you or posting about your blog.

In almost all blog software, you must go online and can post using a set of tools provided. Many bloggers like to use a desktop application like w.blogger, Performancing and Qumana to create and publish their posts as it gives them some extra help and allows them to integrate content and files more easily on their computer. Maybe it looks like they are far more tech-savvy folks but there is no harm in trying and learning in the process.

There is also a blog display, automatically changing daily quotes or cartoons on the sidebar of their blog for their own interest or for their readers. I am not counting different revenue-generating blog affiliates (Google AdSense, Amazon) that turn in content-related ads on any blog.

The choice is endless and users can have anything on their blogs from blogchat to blogmap; time, temperature and weather display of any area or a nifty new blogbar (blogbar.com) that allows them to search from 12 search engines from single search box. On one blog, I clicked on an array of symmetrically stacked colourful buttons and found email icon generator, official seal generator. The good thing about the blogger community is that they share anything new that is announced. Thus, it gets moving fast in the blogsphere.

Since 2003 when I started blogging, I have been using many blog tools. The fact is that whenever any new blog tool was announced, I would try it. But over time, I have settled for site metre (statcounter.com), analytical tools (Google Analytics), news aggregators, news sourcing tools (Technorati and Blogpulse), polls (blogpolls.com), email subscription and newsletter service (feedblitz.com). And there are some others like Pingoat, Audiobloger, Blogrolling and Flickr.

When my daily blogging time starts, I first go to my invisible site metre to find out who has been reading my blogs. Then I read my feeds and know what has been happening on blogs of my interest since I last went offline, bookmarking items. In the meantime, I plan to write and post entries and start pinging. In the end, I read the feedback and read comments left by readers. In fact, it is the comments part that keeps me going.

New approach to overcome energy crises

2012-05-25T09:24:00.001+05:00

Mohammad Rafiq Khan

In past few decades, a number of genuine concepts have emerged and been displayed on the international screen to address the problems of destabilization of economies, food and energy, and poverty and unemployment. Two examples worth quoting in this context are “Appropriate Technology” and “Sustainable Development”.

Former has been let aside and thus has almost disappeared from the scene and the latter is being pursued contemporarily and has been accepted almost globally as a tool to protect future generations from the shocks of poverty, unemployment, lack of energy and environmental damages. The keynote being presented here is designed to address the current energy crises with special reference to sustainable development to point out how to make the best use of available resources and assign economic value to the wastes via resource recovery, production of thermoelectric power and so on. The major focus of discussion will be on techno-economic disposal of solid waste and rationalization of approach to adapt alternative energy resources.

Techno-economic disposal of solid waste can effectively address the problem of electrical shortage. This is because the techno-economic disposal of waste is based on the hypothesis, that the total amount of resources in the universe remains constant although they may change from one form to another. This hypothesis may in future have the status of a law to be known as ‘Law of Conservation of Resources’ just like ‘Law of Conservation of Mass’ and ‘Law of Conservation of Energy.’ This law provides a firm basis for sustainable development; the concept floated as a cure of all economic ills to stabilize the shaky economies. According to this law, a waste is no more a waste as every waste can be assigned an economic value. Thus, the exploitation of the solid waste that includes municipal waste, agricultural waste, industrial waste, hospital waste and so on forms an adequate and logical option for enquiry in context of the current energy crises. It will not only translate into production and supply of electricity but also into cleanliness of our environment from the solid waste which is otherwise a big environmental nuisance.

This does not mean that we should stop at the said point. We must explore and utilize other alternatives but not blindly as some other countries are doing but wisely. The primary criterion to qualify any other resource is the economics of exploration and processing to get energy. For example, trapping of solar energy using the solar penal is not a suitable option because the prices of imported solar penal are very high which render their use highly uneconomic. Of course, substitution of gas geysers by solar geysers forms a better option because latter returns the investment in less than a year and its technical soundness has been checked by COMSTECH. Similarly we yet have no experience of wind turbines. If imported, these will also be very expensive and will render the projections non-feasible. To sum up whatever may be the alternative; it must be backed by a systematic and authentic feasibility study for its adoption preferably conducted by the local experts trained on interdisciplinary basis.

This is an abstract of keynote speech delivered in International Conference on Energy systems Engineering ICESE - 2010 organized by the National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Islamabad by Dr. Mohammad Rafiq Khan. Mohammad Rafiq Khan is a professor of Environmental Science at Lahore School of Economics.

Malka Hans - where Heer Ranjha was written

2012-05-23T21:40:00.002+05:00

When one has seen one Punjabi Town, one has seen them all, except Malka Hans. Now long forgotten by most people, a historic little town - serene, tranquil, pollution free - was once an abode of Waris Shah, who stayed here and composed universal romance Heer Ranjha. Legend has it that Malik Muhammad (alia Malka) - a member of Hans tribe founded the town some 700 years ago. Hans became powerful when Mughal King Alamgir conferred a vast land around Malka Hans on Sheikh Qutab Hans. In 1764, Muhammad Azam who was the descendants of Qutab Hans became head of the clan and made himself independent.

Ran Singh Nakka later treacherously took Muhammad Azam prisoner where he died in confinement. A great Punjabi poet, Waris Shah was born in Jandiala Sher Khan (district Shekhupura) in 1719. After completing his education in Kasur (district Lahore), he shifted his residence to village Malka Hans. Here he resided in a small hujra (living room) adjacent to the historic mosque that was constructed by Hans in 1340. Hafiz Ghulam Murtaza commonly known as Mian Wadda was the trustee of the mosque and used to lead the prayer when Waris Shah came here. In the absence of Mian Wadda, Waris Shah performed the duty of leading the prayer congregations.

It is this 'Hujra Waris Shah Da' that I had come to see in Malka Hans. Waris Shah had composed an illustrious Punjabi folk romance sitting in this hujra. The underground 8 x 6 feet hujra where the poet lived is still there though devoid of any furniture or things that could be related to Waris Shah to bring back the memory of the poet. Only sign showing that Waris Shah had been living here is a crudely written plaque with sketchy details about the poet. The classic work of Waris Shah - Shakespeare of Punjabi language - echoes in the countryside and youth and elders sing with joy. One can find a number of folk vocalists singing Heer Waris Shah around the vast expanses of Punjab and other parts of the Subcontinent where Punjabi language is used. Many people remember major portions of his work by heart. Poetry of Waris Shah is written in easy language and can be understood by anyone with average language skills. The couplets are used as idioms and phrases in day-to-day life. The ancient mosque, now known as Mosque Waris Shah, with three green color domes and a hujra are venerated by literary figures, curiously conscious and devoted faithful.

I could not see the book (Heer Waris Shah) written in longhand by the poet himself despite the best effort. There is another small room in the mosque premises with nameplate that reads, "Library Waris Shah" but that too was closed and the key could not be procured because "it had been misplaced". The monument is in the care and custody of Anjuman-e- Warisia (Registered). It is not being given the attention it deserves. The residents of this town celebrate Annual Jashne Waris when romantic and mystic poetry of Waris Shah is sung by folk singers. I was thinking as to how the plight of this priceless heritage could be brought to the echelons of power. The town is located 30 minutes drive away from Sahiwal and has a Town Committee, which has not been able to do any thing other than brick lining in some of the dusty and dark streets in town. Conservation of legendary national heritage we are poised to loose forever is a difficult task for the civic body with little resources.

Exploring this sleepy little agricultural town, you can also see the dilapidated relics of Parnami temple that used to be one of the central ashram of Parnami faction of Hindus. Mahant Darbara Singh had constructed palace like five-story majestic building of the temple over 200 year ago. Dust of ages has settled in deep layers on the pedestal where Smadhi of Dya Ram - the founder of Parnami sect used to rest in the main chamber of the temple. "Large number of Hindus had been visiting here before partition and there use to be a big annual mela in the month of Chetar," informed a villager who is using this place as a house. "I am paying rent to Auqaf for living in this Khandar," he complained a little wistfully.

This grand monument of the past with sold masonry and ornate designs wrought by artisans and artists centuries ago was one of the fine specimens of Hindu architecture. Termite is eating Wood but exquisite quality of woodwork on windows, doors and murals on the battered walls can still be seen. The think red bricks excavated from this monument have been used in houses in the town. And, sadly, the temple cannot be defined in the images. Auqaf does not appear to have any idea about what to do with these splendid remains of the Hindu architectural legacy, except perhaps recovering the rent from the tenants. "Last time Auqaf got the place cleaned was when Indian Minister Hari Karishan Bhagat and Ambassador De Sharma visited the temple", informed the present occupant of the edifice. Legend has it that there was a tunnel from this temple to Pakpattan, though I could not locate the opening of the tunnel because huge quantity of rubble lying everywhere in the courtyard.

On the way back, I along with my friends had dinner break at a roadside-eating joint known as 'Pak Afghan Rohani Baba Hotel' near Yousaf Wala (Sahiwal). Sitting on ground, we had their famous mutton dish specially made in lamb fat. That reminded me of a small but famous eating joint in Saranan near Quetta.

Sikh Gurdwara Panja Sahib

2012-05-22T08:58:00.002+05:00

The claim of Hasan Abdal to international fame is Sikh Gurdwara (temple) known as Panja Sahib having a rock with the hand print of their religious leader Baba Guru Nanak. Twice a year, Sikh pilgrims visit this Gurdwara from all over the world. The legend has it that in 1521 AD, while passing through then deserted area on a very hot day, Guru Nanak's companion Bhai Mardana got very thirsty. The Guru suggested that he go to the Saint Baba Wali Qandhari who lived in a hut atop a nearby hill and ask for water. The Saint refused to give water from his well. Desperate with thirst, Mardana repeated his plea three times. Finally the saint reprimanded Mardana who returned to his guru and collapsed at his feet.

The Guru asked him to pick up a stone. The disciple did as he was told, and water flowed from under the stone, while the Saint's well dried up. The Saint then pushed a large boulder from hilltop and sent it rolling towards the Guru and Mardana. But when the boulder reached them, the Guru stretched out his hand and stopped it with his palm.

During Sikh rule, Hari Sing Nalva got the edifice of temple made at the place. Later, the temple was extended and a sarai (inn) was added for accommodation. The temple is typical of the rather florid Sikh style with gilded domes and cupolas and stands in the middle of a large water tank. Built with grey sandstone, its exterior is spotted with protruding domed bay windows. The central fluted dome is encircled by several symmetrically placed big and small domed kiosks. The cemented water tank derives its supply from a fresh water spring that emerges from underneath a huge rock. Now this huge rock has that famous hand print on it for which the site is known as 'Panja Sahib'. On the nearby hill, at an altitude of 714 meters, lies a meditation chamber of Saint Baba Wali Qandhari, popularly known as Baba Hasan Abdal. The saint stayed in Hasan Abdal from 1406-1416 AD but died and is buried in village Baba Wali near Qandhar (Afghanistan). The devotees and visitors climb over the steps leading to the hill, for offerings and to have a panoramic view of Hasan Abdal. Two other historical buildings of Mughal era (Muqbara Hakeeman and so-called tomb of Lala Rukh) are located just opposite the temple. Hasan Abdal is an interesting small town.

Who Owns Harand Fort

2012-05-21T11:56:00.000+05:00

Perched in between legendary Suleman Range on one side and mighty River Indus on the other, ruins of original Harand Fort are situated in the area commonly known as Pachaddh. The Fort has seen a lot in the past and looks as if hiding thousands of secrets besides its historical and archaeological importance.

The Fort was originally built opposite historic Chachar Pass in Suleman Range to guard against the invaders. The fading signs of the edifice are still there in the forms of derbies and bricks scattered around the old site. Sikh Governor Sawan Mall used the material of the old fort rebuilt the Fort on a new location in 1831. Present structure of the Fort - a valuable part of our heritage - is situated about 25 kilometres west of sleepy and rustic town Dajal in district Rajan Pur. The Fort is spread over an area of 50 acres. The outer wall of whatever is left of it is one kilometre long and was made of thin red bricks. There are 16 pillars. Main entrance is in the west and another one is in the east. What ever is left of the fort is a clear evidence of its past, solidity of masonry and quality of construction.

Over 200 rodkohis (seasonal hill torrents) come out of this mineral rich Suleman Range, and if properly managed, could irrigate more than two hundred thousand acres of agricultural land, most of the Pachaddh area, but the scheme for flood distribution, canalization and construction of spill ways is yet to be approved. The water of these torrents causes colossal damage to life, crops and property in every monsoon season and flows unutilized.

Lined up with Pillu trees, Dajil-Harand Road is broken-down and boulder like stones are spread around. It takes painfully long to cover the distance of just 25 kilometres. Ex-President Farooq Ahmed Khan Laghari who has his roots in the area, during his tenure managed electricity and telephone in the area but could not get the roads built that are necessary for the development of this historic belt.

History has it that Harand Fort was originally built by Hindu Raja Harnakish in the name of his son Hari Nand. The fort had seen three different periods: Hindu, Macedonian and Muslim.

As per the local lore, when young Alexander the Great, on his way home after conquering most of the known world, came in the area, Harand was under the rule of Hindu king who had beautiful daughter. Her name is quoted as Nowshaba. She was talented, brave and daring princess. The princess was fond of hunting besides being strong and efficient administrator of her father’s state. Alexander heard about the princess and wanted to see the beauty queen personally. Alexander himself approached the fort in the guise of a ‘messenger of Alexander.’ He was taken to the court of Hindu Raja where Princess Nowshaba saw the ‘messenger of Alexander’. She ordered that the messenger be immediately taken to royal guesthouse. In the guesthouse when Alexander introduced himself as a messenger, the princess smiled and pointed towards the wall where images of all contemporary kings including Alexander were hanging. Iranian poet Nizami has written this incidence in Sikandar Nama adding that both got married. The veracity of the marriage or this incident is yet to be proved by historical evidence though. (Another tale says that Alexander also married the wife of defeated General in his war near Saga.)

The third period of this historical monument starts with the arrival of Muslims in the area in early eighth century. The palm trees found in the region are indicated as an evidence of the arrival of Arabs’ Army. Subsequently, all the adventurers who came this way - from Changez Khan to Muhammad Chori - visited the fort and used it for their convenience, contemplating their next moves.

During Sikh rule, the fort was rebuilt on the present location for strategic reasons. This fort garrisoned the Sikh army to control the Baloch tribes. Later, the famous battle between British troops and Marri-Bugti tribes was fought here in 1867. After annexation of South Asia, the British used the fort as a cantonment. The British carried out limited excavation and historic artefacts recovered from the site were sent to British Museum in London. Presently, there is a small Lewis post in the fort.

All said and done, off the beaten track, ruins of Harand Fort still continue to mystify those who take their chance to go there. First of all it gives an emotional look, as a symbol of our evolution and continuity. No matter what your pursuits and interests, you will fancy finding out so many things about the important monument of the past. And, every time you leave Harand and look back to watch the fort receding in the distance, your mind is flooded with thoughts of its architects and inmates over a long period of time as it stands there lonely and mysteriously on the Suleman mountain, its importance lost in the hazy vistas of time.

As I drove back on a pebbled road, plied mainly by animal transports and occasional automobiles, I could not help thinking: Can the plight of the priceless site be brought to the echelons of power? Can some national or international agency be moved to act and save the place for coming generations before disappears totally? The remains of the monument have to be preserved and saved from total ruination, a danger they are facing at present.

Honorable guests

2012-05-19T18:35:00.001+05:00

Pakistan gets a large number of guest birds from Europe, Central Asian States and India every year. The birds from North spend winters in different wetlands and deserts of Pakistan, which are distributed almost throughout the country, from the high Himalayas to coastal mangroves and mud flats in the Indus delta. And, after winters they go back to their native habitats.

This famous route from Siberia to various destinations in Pakistan over Karakorum, Hindu Kush, and Suleiman Ranges along Indus River down to the delta is known as International Migratory Bird Route Number 4. It is also called as the Green Route or more commonly Indus Flyway.

Endowed with a remarkable geology, Pakistan spans several of the world’s ecological regions and is spread over broad latitude. The rich Indus delta and the highlands in Pakistan are a great attraction for the guest birds. Which is why the Indus Flyway is one of the busiest in the world.

The birds start on this route in November. February is the peak time and by March they start flying back home. These periods may vary depending upon weather conditions in Siberia and or Pakistan. There are a total of seven identified flyways in the world: from Northern Europe to Scandinavian countries, Central Europe to Mediterranean Sea, Western Siberia to Red Sea, Green Route from Siberia to Pakistan, Ganga Flyway from Eastern Siberia to India, Manchuria to Korea and one from Chakotaka to California. Besides these there are many regionaland smaller routs all over the world.

The Indus Flyway is important due to the diverse species and large number of birds that take this itinerary: different species of water fowls, cranes, teals, pintail, mallard and gadwall, the list goes on. Some extinguishing species like white-headed duck, houbara bustard and Siberian crane also travel on this route.

As per an estimate based on regular counts at different Pakistani wetlands, between 700,000 and 1,200,000 birds arrive in Pakistan through Indus Flyway every year. Out of which over 70 per cent of the admirable visitors stay in Thanedar Wala Game Reserve (International Ramsar site number (IRS) 97 where Crane Refuge has also been constructed), Tenda Dam (IRS98), Kinjhar Lakes (IRS 99), Drigh (IRS 100). Haleji Lake (IRS 101) where in the past, over 100,000 migratory birds of more than 222 species had been reported, and which was once called the Bird Watchers’ Paradise by the then president of the World Wide Fund for Nature, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh), Ucchali Complex (IRS818), Taunsa (IRS 817), Chishma (IRS 816), Rasul, Qadar Abad Barrages, and Lal Sohanra. There are 45 sanctuaries and reserves spread over anarea of about 0.90 million hectares in Sindh alone. Some of the birds that come to our country from northern latitudes arrive at coastal creeks. The remaining birds land up in lakes, which are fondly and proudly maintained by landowners. Only a few places in the world have such plentiful variety of winged life as the wetlands of Pakistan.

The bird watching has become an increasingly popular pursuit in Pakistan, more and more people have started taking break and are seen on rendezvous with birds. I have seen bird houses at homes of some bird enthusiasts. But the most exciting are usually the least expected encounters in the wilderness. That makes the Indus Delta and Coastal Mangrove forests breathtaking experience for bird watchers. Each winter, the stage is set there for migration thrills coupled with local avian population. Other locations that have started to attract global and foreign bird watchers to Pakistan are narrow belts in Northern Areas when trees sprout, floral buds open, honey sucking nectars and other tiny insects swarm the air there and a range of avifauna concentrates in foothills on the onset of summers. The Margalla Hills in Islamabad are also bird rich area.

Out of the many guest birds two are especially important: houbara bustard and Siberian crane. Houbara breeds mainly in the Kizil Kum Desert region southeast of Aral Sea in Central Asia and migrates in the winter months, and large number settle down for the season in Cholistan and Thar deserts. It also over-winters in part of Iran, Afghanistan, India and Arabian Desert. There are two biologically separate populations of Houbara found in Pakistan. Chlamydotisundulata is described as the North African race and is smaller and darker in plumage than the Asian sub specie Chlamydotis undulatamacqueenii. Both races are migratory, but there is substantial evidence that a small breeding population of Chlamydotis undulataexists in Balochistan. Whether these are totally resident birds or young birds, which miss out on the first migration back north is unclear. As per the National Avian Research Centre China, “Houbara’s recorded average flying speed is 30 kilometres per hour with up to 1268 kilometres covered between stop overs and 700 kilometres flown in24 hours.”

The Siberian crane (Grus leucogeranus), also known as Asiatic Crane and sometimes called as Sibes, is one of the most rare birds of the world. It is snow white overall, with red skin covering front of head,face and around the eyes. Crane’s bill is thick and legs are pinkish red. Wing tips are black which are only visible when the bird is airborne. Both sexes are alike but immature birds have brownish yellow plumage. The Siberian crane’s distinctive morphology, vocalizations,feeding and courtship behaviour distinguish it from the other Grus species. Eggs are generally laid from late May to June, with peak production occurring in the first week of June.

In most cases two eggs are laid, with only one chick surviving to fledging. The incubation period is about 29 days, and chicks fledge at 70-75 days. Siberian cranes, start from Ob River basin in Siberia and prefer to spend winters at the Yakutiya River or the Poyang Lake in China, but some of them head for Pakistan, Iran and India. Wetlands and shallow areas in Sindh create excellent feeding habitat for Sibes. This is one bird that deserves compassion and special care the world over. Another of the winged creature Great egrets (Casmerodius albus) can also be sighted in many areas in Pakistan.

In different Pakistani habitats the guest birds live like “Pairs of Saras” — using the metaphor from romantic literature. As a host it is our responsibility to provide them comfortable and peaceful environment, which can be done by efficiently managing the wetlands particularly those listed as International Ramsar sites — natural resource reservoirs. All wetlands are active agents for recharging water tables and aquifers besides being home to birds. Human activities around the birds’ dwellings, wars, deforestation, water pollution, hunting, introduction of exotic fish species and developing the wetlands for fisheries’ production on commercial scale are some ofthe common disturbance that cause irritation to birds anywhere.

Bird migration superbly demonstrates the complexity and the wonder ofthe web of life. The evolution of individual migratory strategies of different bird species over the past tens of thousands of years represents a delicate balance of nature, making it very sensitive tothe impacts of human activity. One such human influence, global warming (caused mainly by the burning of coal and oil since the Industrial Revolution), is poised to cause catastrophic alteration tothis delicate balance.

Pakistan is an important and active contracting member to Ramsar Convention for the conservation of wetlands and Bonn Convention for protection of migratory animals and birds. Indus Flyway Committee was established in early 70s to collect more information and improve the protection of the birds while they are in Pakistan. Zoology, Wildlife, and Forest Departments as well a few non-governmental organizations are actively working in the field. Regular mid winter bird counts arecarried out and useful database of relevant information has been gathered. The data is likely to produce important results. The experts have already concluded that the migratory birds have ecological benefits as they prey on insects and weeds thus contributing towards the betterment of agriculture. Similarly, the faecal material of the birds consists of organic matter that contributes towards the fertility of the soil.

Count them when the birds are on their way back home. How many camein. And how many are going back.
Related: Come November - The guest’s season starts

Khate-e-Ra’ana - calligraphy script invented by Ibn-e-Kaleem

2012-05-19T16:20:00.000+05:00

This article appeared in weekly Friday Times

In the past few decades, perhaps no calligrapher has created more waves in the field of calligraphy than Ibn-e-Kaleem – the inventor of new script Khate-e-Ra’ana, which literally means beautiful. Ibn-e-Kaleem already stands above the streams of calligraphers who have come before him.

Today he works in his father’s studio where he grew up. Experimenting with the styles of Nastaleeq, Kufi, Riqa, Diwani and Naqash, he is churning out master pieces and achieving greater recognition by the day.

While to the layman, all calligraphy may look alike, it is a fine and highly developed art with its own rules and manners. The trained eye can pick up detectable differences between the work of a professional and an armature. But the difference is more than merely the shapes of letters even though some are obviously round while others oval, some upright and some slanted, some bold and yet some light.

To come up with a whole new script is a giant task. It involves designing the form of each letter and laying it down in exact proportions and measurements in terms of qat – the square dot of the pen. That is exactly what Ibn-e-Kaleem has done. Khate-e-Ra’ana is distinct and like no other script in existence.

To understand the magnitude of this discovery, it is important to remember that after creation of ‘Nastaleeq’ by Mir Ali Sultan Tabreezi around 1400 in Persia, no script of Urdu, Persian or Arabic, has ever been invented, with the exception of Mirza Muhammad Hussain who developed the running the running hand version of Nastaleeq called Shakistan in 1616 and Mirza Sultan in Heart who came up with a similar style called Shaffiah in the middle of the seventeenth century. Ibn-e-Kaleem stands alone in the feat.

Throughout Islamic history, calligraphy has been most cherished of the fine arts. It forms the basis of our cultural heritage. It is such a deep source of aesthetic pleasure that it has been used on every occasion and on every artifact; coins and swords, guns and cannons, buildings and graveyards headstones, royal ordinances and even on bed spreads. Muslim rulers have been great admirers and patrons of the ancient art.

Pakistan has produced great calligraphers such as Taj Zareen Raqam, Hafiz Sadeedi, Syed Anwar Hussain Nafees Raqam, Sadeqain, and Ahsan Kamal. Now the work of Ibn-e-Kaleem – Khataat-e-Haft Qalam (master of the seven pens) – has earned him a place in the history of penmanship.

How did he find his métier? Ibn-e-Kaleem, whose real name is Hafiz Mohammad Iqbal Ahsan, was born with a pen in his hand in 1946 in Langha family of Multan. His father Muhammad Khan Kaleem Raqam was an accomplished calligrapher and a founder of a Calligraphy School in Multan while his great grandfather Mulana Qaimuddin Khan Langha was also a renowned master of the art, one of whose master pieces is the Holy Quran on display in the National Museum of Karachi. His son Hamid Iqbal too is a celebrated calligrapher.

Given the linage, iIt is not surprising to see why Ibn-e-Kaleem it is not surprising to see why Ibn-e-Kaleem felt the urge to create a new style of calligraphy, one that reflects his modern mind and sensibilities. And so he came up with a vigorous, jerky, angular, coiling, wriggling and harshly curveting script far removed from the mellifluous and sweetly flowing Nastaleeq we are so familiar with.

Ibn-e-Kalem has held exhibitions of his work in Multan, Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi and Delhi where his work has been loudly acclaimed. He has won the King Khalid Medal for calligraphy the International Commission for the Preservation of Islamic Heritage in Turkey has conferred upon him the title of Nadir ul Qalam.

Today, Ibn-e-Kaleem is not only practicing artist but a devoted promoter of the art. He is also actively promoting the understanding of calligraphy among the masses. He has trained thousands of youth including foreign students. He has written three books on the history of the art and many takhtais (tablets) on the mechanics of calligraphy. His book Murraaqa-e-Ra’anae is a huge album in which he has printed variety of his writings showing endless possibilities of his new script. It is the most sumptuous book of the kind published in Pakistan.

Besides reproducing Quranic verses, Ibn-e-Kaleem has also designed beautiful compositions in the form of in the form of circular, oval and oblong panels. His circular signs are specially striking and the 99 names of Allah Karim written in the form of large modulations with intricate borders are a great achievement. One of his famous canvases displays verses of Sura Al Rehman. But perhaps his most awesome work is in the mosque of Multan Cantonment Railways Station where he has filled the walls with the 99 names of Allah Almighty as well as verses from holy Quran.

Related: Art for Allah, Muraqa-e-Ra'anaee

Ibn-e-Kaleem
Hassan Parwana Road, Multan
Tel: 061 4510545
Cell: 0321 7322630

Population Census and Pakistan`s Development

2012-05-18T22:01:00.001+05:00

Reliable data can make a difference, and the key is to collect, analyze and disseminate data in a way that drives good decision making. The numbers that emerge from data collection can illuminate important trends. It is the censuses, surveys and vital statistics initiatives which provide critical data to guide plans, policies and programmes to meet people’s needs and improve their lives”. UNFPA will continue its efforts to support the Government of Pakistan in raising awareness about the importance of the forthcoming population and housing census in Pakistan, said Mr Rabbi Royan, Senior Technical Adviser, UNFPA while concluding a provincial-level seminar on “Population Census and Pakistan’s Development” organized jointly the UNFPA and The University of Gujrat in a local hotel at Lahore.

While opening the seminar proceedings the Vice Chancellor University of Gujrat Prof Dr Muhammad Nizamuddin remarked that there is a strong need to advocate for integration of population issues into provincial development planning processes, policies and programs. Others challenges faced by the provinces include understanding of why reliable data is so crucial to human development including humanitarian initiatives. The seminars at the three other provincial capitals will help highlight need to conduct the sixth Population Census as early as possible and therefore the need to solicit support of provincial authorities”.

Dr Nizam further said that there is a dire need to undertake advocacy and sensitization activities for policymakers and planners to ensure that there is a sustained understanding.

What happens in the net Cafes

2012-05-18T19:04:00.001+05:00

Internet cafes have played a visible role in promoting internet usage. It is a public place where people can use a computer with internet access for an affordable fee. Café may or may not serve as a conventional café. Besides internet connection, a number of cafes also provide other services such as printing, scanning, CD viewing and burning. Some even conduct internet training classes for beginners. The word is that some of the cafes around the world are being used for activities much beyond their scope.

Eva Pascoe, a PhD student while sitting in the coffee shop of London City University conceived and decided "to put a permanent PC connection in a coffee shop and link it to internet."

Cyberia, the world's first internet cafe, was opened in London's Whit field Street in Sept, 1994. Earlier in 1991, SFNet, the prototype of the present internet cafe, has started in the US. After only a decade, cyber or net cafes found places world wide. Most people use them to access their email accounts, chat, play games, search, and surf or do other things online. In this day and age, in more connected countries, there are also Wi-fi cafes, or in other words hotspots, where users can connect their laptops, notebooks or PDAs using the cafe's wireless access to internet.

Justly or unjustly, the freewheeling internet access in cyber cafes embodies both hopes and fears at a time: internet connectivity and usage is anticipated as central to long-term economic interests and development by every one and is encouraged. Fears are that unsupervised or unguided children can browse pornographic, violence, and other perniciousinfo sites, or they can become centres of some other nefarious activities and places where youngsters hang around and spend time in unproductive activities. Besides, terrorists and cyber criminals can take advantage of these cafes as they provide multiple layers of protection like public call offices.

In a latest study of "terrorism and the internet", United States' counter terrorism analyst Gabriel Weimann noted "that cyberspace has advantages for terrorist groups. First is easy access from anywhere to a very large audience around the world. The report says, "You don't even need a computer; you can just go to a public library . . . or, you can go to an internet café. There is no control, no regulation, and no laws. Nobody is censoring the messages."

Cafes provide complete anonymity. "You can sit in a coffee shop, an internet café in London, use a server in South Africa and send a message to North America, without anybody being able to trace it," he adds.

With increase in criminal activities online, discipline of cyber laws emerged some four years ago. By now more than 30 nations including the Central Asian States, China, Cuba, France, India, Japan, Malaysia, North Korea, Singapore and United States have cyber laws in place, though all may be having different inten t. Some other countries - Australia, Burma, Saudi Arabia, and Syria - have blocked pornographic sites. Gambling sites are outlawed in South Korea.

Internet café business has remained a flourishing cottage industry that requires relatively little investment. So far they have not been regulated and it is unlikely to change anytime soon,specially in the developed world. Recently, there has been a strident crackdown on net cafes in China which resulted in shutting down thousands of unlicenced cafes across the country to restrict "juveniles to enter or allowing unhealthy information to spread through internet followed by Indian government's crackdown on net café where the owners were asked "to ensure that the net cafes are not used for viewing pornography. The law is enshrined in the Information Technology Act, 2000, emailed Lubna, a journalist from India.

Vietnam government has also issues a decree (number 55) ordering net cafes to register with the Internet Services Providers. A foreign news agency has recently reported (and the story was run by many international publications) that "cyber cafes in Pakistan will soon be made accountable as the government is all set to draft a law to regulate their activities."

Consider this in order to see the relevance of any regulation for net cafes in the context of Pakistan?

Comparatively, few users can afford computers and telephone line at home in the country and an overwhelming majority go online in the net cafes where they can enjoy inexpensive services incognito. Not only that, some of those who have a net connection at home also visit the cafes.

The IT-hype created public demand that helped net café to come up in every nook and corner of towns and cities, wherever net access is available. They are of different types; high-end and cool places with comfortable working environment in posh localities or noisy and smoke chocked cubby-holes in back alleys. Those with work stations in cabins with chains, behind partition walls, monitors screens facing walls where others cannot see or in open where every one can see whatever is on others' monitors.

So far there are no comprehensive cyber laws to deal with the issues and the legal consequences on internet, the World Wide Web and cyberspace in Pakistan. Given the nature of internet, execution of any cyber law anywhere in the world is a big question mark.

Earlier, government's abortive effort to ban pornography sites in Pakistan is one case in point. But if the situation demands, making the cyber cafes accountable for the collective good of our society should not be impossible. That said; let us see what major concerns are when it comes to regulating local net cafes? What do café owners and users think about any regulation? And who will implement the law if and when it is made?

Privacy and civil liberties are generally mirrored in all discussions when it comes to controlling any aspect of internet. How privacy, civil rights and personal freedom is threatened if net cafes are run under some standard rules? Does viewing what is on others' screen endanger the basic civil liberties of others and who wants to do that? Does showing personal ID before using net facilities at public computers is a breach of privacy? Or is anonymity - using a public facility without leaving any traces to be tracked back - being categorized as privacy?

In the context of net cafés, privacy can be defined as "the state or quality of being secluded from the view and or presence of others," reads RSA Laboratories site.

Amjad Iqbal Sindhu, an advocate Lahore High Court says, "Individuals are entitled to keep to themselves what they do online or offline unless some special situation like public interest in general demands otherwise. In a civilized society, no body has the right whatsoever to snoop over others." He quoted English philosopher John Stuart Mill as saying that "the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others."

Public places are not the best spots for privacy. "Imagine what ordinary users do when they log on; they check email and fire off replies, chat, surf some sites, brows or play games. What is there to be secretive or cautious about? However, cafes may be registered with some central authority. Seating arrangements in them should be open - screen facing outwards. This alone will clear so many doubts about the policy of any café and will define the kind of crowd that gathers there," adds Sindhu.

Café owners and proprietors think that any kind of restriction in usage or asking patrons to show and record their identities will adversely affect their business.

"This is not the best way to track back miscreants. Any one up to some thing bad can sure outmanoeuvre such barriers. Big worry is that will any rule shift the onus of customers' actions on café owners or will we be made accomplice if and when something wrong happens," says Tanvir Ahmad, a manager of "open policy" cafe in Gulgasht Colony Multan.

Imran Nazir is able to make his living through net café, despite "open policy" with all work stations in semi circle facing outwards plus cold drinks and tea, because "I am located near the University of the Punjab hostels and my clients are mostly serious student who come here for preparing their assignments. I try to provide them with an academic atmosphere in the cafe. They search, brows, download documents and get required material printed or save it on their floppy disks for later use. Or they sit her and compose their assignments," he says. On the other hand, some customers go to the cafés only for viewing porno sites or to have long sessions of chats; every one knows that.

A proprietor of the café in Lahore confessed, "I have some regular clients who can hardly read or write English but they have learnt to operate computers and internet. What do you think they do online? Stop them and they will go find another cafe. If the government has to ban pornographic sites, ISPs should be regulated and not the net cafes."

Qamar uz Zaman Khan, an owner of a cafe in Multan told, "The scene in net cafes in Multan is no different than any other city in the country. Some 70 to 80 per cent of the visitors come for entertainment whereas only 20 per cent visit for educational pursuits. Most of the visitors are male; young boys. In posh areas, however, female students are also seen visiting."

After the Rawalpindi scandal (I still get maxium search queries leading to this page about Rawalpindi Internet Scandal), the city administration here is already asking the café owners to adopt open policy and remove all partitions. Qamar suggests that separate "female only cafes" should be opened instead of removing the partitions.

Users' response to any kind of restriction in net use is mixed one. When asked some say there is no harm while some other say they will not go to the cafes if every time they have to enter identification particulars and sign a register of attendance. Given the lax law enforcement in the country, any rule is likely to be neglected both by the cyber cafe walas as well as the users," comments Tanvir Ahmad.

"I travel to different places all over the country in connection with my work and have to use net cafes to stay in constant touch with my company. I use the nearest cyber café where ever I happen to be. I will revert back to telephone if some legal procedures are introduced to use the cafes," says Fazal Qureshi, a sale representative of greeting cards publishing house. He starts from Lahore and tours the country with card albums, takes the orders from books and card sellers and sends them back to the company. He adds, "I do not want to get into legalities later on."

One more concern that was voiced during scouting is the authority that will regulate the net cafes and how. Any agency which is entrusted with the responsibility to oversee that PCs and internet are not misused at public places have to be tech savvy and should be able to stay current on technologies that are changing every day. The civil police force is not organized for such technical jobs. "Police certainly cannot do that," thinks Iqbal Sindhu.

Cyber cafés have contributed great value to spread net usage in Pakistan. If they have to be standardized, serious issues like privacy and human rights should be given due considerations when suggesting any ways internet cafés should be run and managed across the country. The matter should be discussed thoroughly between café owners and the government at an appropriate level. There should be an open and extensive public debate on the subject. The consensus should be build before any regulation is enforced. Or else we may be poised to lose a budding business and reduced Internet users' base in the country. The choice is ours.

On the sidelines at Lahore School Annual Conference

2012-05-18T17:28:00.001+05:00

Say it with stamps

2012-05-18T12:50:00.000+05:00

I am neither a collector nor a philatelic but I can sure appreciate when I see collection of a larger life span. Jalal HB stated collecting stamps when he was a ‘little boy.’ His father was then the head of Interpol in Pakistan and had his mail coming from all over the world and kept feeding Jalal’s passion. Seeing his craze, Jalal’s elder, who himself was an avid stamp lover, gifted his collection to him. And that was only a start.

Now a big boy, Jalal has documented history in a sizeable collection he has and is proud of. What is more, he has started My Philatelic World where he is transferring his treasure online. I suggest all stamps’ lovers see what he has on his blog. It is treat even for a non collector like me.

Calligrapgy

2012-05-17T14:14:00.000+05:00

Preservation of cultural heritage

2012-05-17T09:22:00.001+05:00

The Mud Housing Project is being currently implemented by SPARC in Lahore.

SPARC had taken up the initiative years ago in order to remind of the importance of mud as construction material and to sensitize the general public in this respect.

Mud is not a construction material of the past; that steel concrete and bricks have pushed back such good construction material is a story in itself. Considering the enormous costs of cooling and heating the current form of buildings, it becomes quite clear that mud is environmentally friendly, energy efficient and biologically far superior.

In order to realize the initiative, SPARC was successful in arranging foreign support as well as a local architect, who is working since the year 2000 in south western Punjab, and together with DGFK, it has been giving prizes under the Preservation of Cultural Heritage program: for the best maintained Mud House, Brick House and the most interesting Design.

Now in the realization phase of the initiative, it was important to gather financial and organizational support as well as participants open to new ideas, which was made easier through the provision of land by the Peerzada Group on their Cultural Complex. The planned rooms are to be used by the handicraft workers as sleeping quarters in the night while they work in Workshops during the day.

Example of appropriate technology (solar cooker i.e.) will also be available for demonstration purpose and in order to be independent of the public technical infrastructure.

This combination was also greeted by the universities PU, COMSATS, BNU, who find it useful for involvement of students in practical projects: construction physical measurements are part of the MHP as also experiments with materials.

Generally speaking, the MHP comes at a time of extreme flooding misery around the river Indus and therefore unintended becomes current in its own right. There are however no demonstrated examples of the concept, which can contribute to experience and which can be adjusted for example for usage in the crisis regions.

The initiative described above is small, but it has a large potential: Help at the Indus is of course a priority, but the construction methods in the urban areas are to be examined closely in terms of energy consumption. Mud housing is normally ground floor construction, but there are also interesting mud house examples in double storey construction.

A project of experimental construction is therefore required for a more exact evaluation and experimentation of this and other aspects of mud housing.

Ucchali Lakes

2012-05-16T14:01:00.003+05:00

This article appeared in daily the Nation

People try to hunt out the most alluring and the most fascinating places that they can find to visit. The thrill or idea of a place is what inspires curious and quirky travels further and deeper. Locale of twin villages Ucchali and Dhadhar is one such place for anyone who can be happy just being closer to the raw nature and it is off the beaten track.

To travel as a person interested in nature (as if there were other ways to travel) is to have regrets these days. Inevitably, most is already gone. But there are, of course, many such places out there. Only one has to find them. Three lakes near quaint villages Ucchali and Dhadhar are good examples. Complex of three lakes is recognised as International Ramsar Site (number 818). Hills in the background, grass and walking trails make the place attractive.

The lakes are picturesque with the foliage of different kinds of towering grasses, their meadows of floating lotus leaves, their myriads of waterfowl of diverse species. In seasons when lotus and grass come to bud, the lakes present an exquisite appearance, as the water surface along the shore and marshy patches are covered with an unbroken succession of flowers and leaves. I have travelled to, and through, many places but Ucchali Complex, as the three lakes are called, have something for, or do something to, me every time I am there. Everyone who visits this place can have the pleasure.

Tucked in the southern periphery of the Salt Range and hemmed in by its higher cliffs, cluster of natural lakes ? Ucchali, Khabbeki and Jhallar ? are situated in district Khushab. Biologists say that the lakes have been here for at least 400 years, maybe more. But the complex of lakes first came to prominence in 1966 when it was declared a protected sanctuary for the native and migratory avifauna on the appeal of World Wildlife Fund. Later, Ucchali Complex was designated for the list of wetlands of international importance in the Iranian port city Ramsar (from where the convention draws its name) when Pakistan became a contracting member to the convention held there in July 1976. Some other recognized Ramsar sites in Pakistan are Tenda Dam, Taunsa and Chishma Barages on Indus River, Drigh, Haleji, Kinjhar lakes and Thanedar Wala Game Reserve. All wetlands are active agents for recharging water tables and aquifers, besides being home to diverse bird populations.

Ucchali Lake Complex in the central Punjab is unique in many ways. Nestled at about 800 meters above the sea, lakes have some marsh vegetation and are mostly surrounded by cultivated land, which is picturesquely intersected by hillocks. The lakes are fed by the spring, seepage from adjacent areas, and run off from the neighbouring hills of the historic Salt Range. The water level and salinity fluctuate according to rainfall in the area and it varies at different times of the year, and year to year. The depth in the lakes also keeps changing and the water is usually saline. The number of birds present in Ucchali Complex also rises and falls widely from time to time, depending upon the water level and salinity. The lakes are one of the most important wintering areas for the rare white-headed ducks (Oxyura leucocephala) in Pakistan that comes here from Central Asia.

Marsh vegetation is confined to small patches along the lake shores. There is a very rich growth of grass (called plankton) in the marsh. The natural vegetation of the region is a mixture of subtropical semi evergreen forest and tropical thorn forest. Even the grass looks magical when it comes into flowers. The golden colour Salt Range in the backdrop also wears a greener look in the spring and rainy seasons. On the southern side, vast stretches of vegetation in the plains are lined everywhere with avenues of trees. The lakes provide good opportunities for scientific research, nature oriented travel, walking and bird watching.

Walking the area is very refreshing. The only company you might have en route is squirrels, rabbits or butterflies. The public sector orchard near the complex is another restful spot where one can sample off-season fruits of several varieties. The area also makes one of the finest rendezvous for watching birds. The most prominent presence is diving birds that hover over the lakes ready to dive the moment they spot the catch in water. Winged creatures that have arresting tonal contrasts also catch the eye and attention.

On one visit to the Ucchali Complex, I was accompanying a high profile group of wetland experts. They talked in jargon-loaded language ? even the name of local birds and trees did not seem familiar to me.

Experiencing ennui in their company, I took a chance to talk to the locals and picked up ideas in the process instead. I learnt many interesting stories: In 1982, a strange phenomenon was observed in the villages Ucchali and Dhadhar. A very broad and distinct rainbow appeared over the horizon of Ucchali Lakes Complex that was seen continuously for 15 days. No scientific explanation of this has been given so far, but the locals think that the rainbow appeared because of a volcano hidden under the three lakes located near the villages. I kept looking at the sky and it looked clearer and cleaner. They also tell that the water of these lakes keeps changing colours due to the volcano. Also, the lakes? water is considered as a cure for gout and skin diseases. People have been taking the water from the lakes as far as Lahore and Karachi. People think that a pure white winged creature called Great egret, from Grus family, found in the area is a symbol of longevity.

The ancestors of Qutab Shahi Awans, who migrated from Afghanistan many centuries ago, inhabited Ucchali and Dhadhar villages among many others in the Soan Valley where they live in peace using old agricultural methods. The hospitable folks of the area can be recognized by their long shirts and sandals they wear and the loving dialect they speak. There are no facilities in the area, but of course you can rely on Awans? hospitality.

So far, only geologists or NGOs interested in ecology venture on the Ucchali Complex. The main reason why not many people know of the place or have traveled to the Ucchali Complex is lack of information. And the public sector tourism departments do not seem keen to help even in providing information about the serene place that?s particularly interesting for nature lovers or bird enthusiasts. I have not seen the mention of this location in any touristy literature. Residents of the area do not seem interested in research-oriented activities because it does not involve them or have any return for them. They wish that the lakes should be developed as a recreation spot like Kallar Kahar, as it was before the completion of the motorway. It is wise now that the Kallar Kahar Lake is turning into a typical buss adda (stop) due to the proximity of the interchange on the motorway near the Lake.

Indigenous Construction Material

2012-05-16T09:13:00.000+05:00

Article lined below appeared in monthly Techno Biz Magazine

Related: Straw and Mud construction materials.

The Quran: the book free of doubt

2012-05-16T08:01:00.000+05:00

Need an answer to "How shall I behave in order to achieve the good life in this world and happiness in the life to come?" Read the Quran: the book free of doubt.

Fine art of Calligraphy

2012-05-14T22:20:00.002+05:00

Atiq Ahmed Arshad

In the end of 20th centaury, cultural arts are recognizing on the scientific bases, and the Muslim scholars also take over the scientific achievements in the world of art. In the Islamic cultural history many branched of arts are developed on scientific techniques.

Calligraphic history is too old as Islamic history and Muslim artists are researching on Calligraphy from “Khat-e-Koofi” which is the developed form of “Khat-e-Moakli” and after short period, in the start of fourth (4th) centaury of Hijria. Imam e fun “Ibn-e-Maqla” has worked over the Islamic ways of waiting, so by his personnel and deep concepts of training made up the six writing styles known as:

1. “Khatt-e-Suls”

2. “Khatt-e-Muhaqqer”

3. “Khatt-e-Toqufe”

4. “Khatt-e-Naskh”

5. “Khatt-e-Rihan”

6. “Khatt-e-Riquaa”

In these six styles after hundreds year of historical period, the two methods “Suls” and “Naskh” were introduced commonly for general use because of their tight principles values. After some time by the cooperation of “Khatt-e-Riquaa” & “Khatt-e-Toquee” a new one style being being established named “Khatt-e-Taaliq”, which was further developed in the form of “Khatt-e-Nasta’aliq”. This is the historical style which is known the result, all the conclusion of Islamic calligraphy. According to historical study Mir Ali Tabrazy was inventor of this style. The characteristic of this writing style was sweetness & the lucid charm, that it forgets all the previous styles of history.

After a long time Moghal Emperor Babar contribute a new style “Khatt-e-Babri”, but it could not popular. In the time of Akbar-e-Azam (The Great) also be invented a style known as “Deewani”. Many princes leave this writing style with interest.

In past, maximum of the Calligraphic production was made in “Khatt-e-Nasta’aliq”. Mir Punja Delhvi also worked on “Nasta’ali”. In past indefinite, the two Muslim Calligraphers Abdul Majeed Raqm & Tajud-Din Zareen-Raqm also prepared the arts in the style and they recognized The Principles of “Khatt-e-Nasta’aliq”.

At the present time all the artists of Calligraphy using the explanations of these Muslims calligraphers. Historical background of the calligraphy tells us that calligraphy is not a limited art it has very much vast field to work & research.

Today, in the modern world, Islamic art of calligraphy also being introduced as a scientific art. Calligraphy of the present time gave us a valuable contribution in traditional calligraphy & abstract calligraphy. Its abstractive beauty and traditional principles covered the world of fine arts.

In the mean time, many calligraphers worked over in traditional way and on the modern calligraphic art. In the pictorial calligraphy, a well known artist “Sadiqeen” worked on canvas by color and brush.

In this time of modern techniques & world of abstraction art, a young artist from Multan served the Islamic and Quranic Calligraphy by his personnel efforts. He accepted the challenge of the time.

“IBN-E-KALEEM” hardly worked on the six traditional styles of calligraphy & researched on contributions of calligraphy to still. After a very short time, Ibn-e-Kaleem invented a new style named “KHATT-E-RA’ANA”. The main properties of his style are that he justified all of the old styles, prepared rules & principles of style. The “Ra’ana” style has a little of the bitterness and sharpness, the tang and dryness, of the modern taste. This style has beautiful curves & attractive form of drawing.

Ibn-e-Kaleem took also interest in publication of calligraphy. He published the first book on calligraphy named “TAREEKH FAN-E-KHATTATI” in 1977. Secondly, published “NOQUSH-E-RA’ANA” in 1978. In this book, six traditional styles of calligraphy explained simply with diagrammatic analysis of each letter, and also given the introduction of “KHAT-E-RA’ANA”. People can learn calligraphic principles by studying this book.

Now, third book named “Jalwat-e-Ra’anaie” is published this year. It contains new materials of research in calligraphic world & informatory articles on the subject.

Ibn-e-Kaleem’s calligraphic exhibitions have been held at National & International level many times, particularly Peshawer, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Multan, Hyderabad & Karachi. In India Ibn-e-Kaleem’s calligraphy introduced in Ghalib Academy New Delhi in December, 1979 and the other one exhibition held in Arab Cultural Centre New Delhi. Thousands of Indian people, Calligraphic Artists, Professors, & Writers welcomed Ibn-e-Kaleem with great respect and appreciated his newly invented style “Ra’ana”.

Now-a-days Ibn-e-Kaleem is working on abstraction calligraphy of Khatt-e-Ra’ana. He prepared some arts in this manner which shows complete abstract painting in the form of Khatt-e-Ra’ana.

Ibn-e-Kaleem is a gift of nature for us. May he serve the Islamic art forever. Multan and Pakistan can also proud on the service of Ibn-e-Kaleem.

Update: Latest book by Ibne-e-Kalem is a سفرۃٌ طیبۃٌ" (سفرنامۂ حجاز - Travelogue to Saudi Arabia) is being launched in Multan Arts Council, Multan on May 17, 2012.

Indigenous Construction Material

2012-05-14T10:20:00.001+05:00

We are very familiar with straw and mud. Explore the countryside and you will see dried stalks of threshed grains, especially wheat and rice everywhere. Straw is used as a fodder, for covering floors, and thatching roofs, and in weaving mats, screens, baskets, ornaments, hats, fans and more. You can also see mud houses dotting the countryside landscape.

Building homes and other living structures with straw is also tradition dating as back as to the start of civilization. Since prehistory, human beings are using straw as a construction material. The incorporation of machine compressed bales seems to have started in early last century though. Compressed straw bales are being used like bricks in the buildings.

Having grown up in the rural Punjab myself (I come from a rustic village situated on the bank of River Jhelum where it passes along the foot of the Salt Range), straw and mud have a special place rooted deep in to my cultural perceptions and this personal bond encourages a more intimate relationship between the straw and me.

Earlier we have discussed how mud engineering is reviving in Pakistan. Thanks to Dr. Norbert Pintsch and his mud architecture projects that focus on architecture constructed of mud brick, rammed earth, compressed earth block and other methods of earthen construction. The proliferation of concept to use mud and improved techniques in order to raise the level of living in the population was discussed here on these pages some time ago. Now we have a look at straw as indigenous construction material.

Straw engineering has been introduced (I say re-introduced) in Pakistan after the devastating earthquake of 2005. Remember MW 7.6 quake that killed an estimated 100,000 people, razed over 780,000 buildings and rendered more than 3.5 million homeless mainly due to poorly constructed buildings in the area. Some 11 straw bale houses have been built in earthquake hit areas of Pakistan. A project to compress straw into bales is also working in village Jabbori – a heaven like village on the bank of River Siran in district Mansehra that suffered severe damage and loss of life in the 2005 earthquake. The awareness about the straw engineering and appropriate technology is growing fast.

What is more, Builders Without Borders (BWB) - an international network of ecological builders who form partnerships with communities and organizations around the world to create affordable housing from local materials and to work together for a sustainable future - believe the solution to homelessness is not merely housing, but training of local population to make houses for them. With the help of non-profit groups, BWB is offering help in the form of educational materials and has donated books and training materials for use at local level.

Renowned engineer Darcey Donovan is the spirit behind the concept of promoting straw engineering in Pakistan. Donovan has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, an M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Nevada, Reno, and is a licensed Professional Civil Engineer practicing since 1986. She is very keenly working to see straw engineering takes off in the earthquake affected areas in northern Pakistan.

There are many reasons to use straw as a building material. Close examination of eco-architect Laurie Baker’s straw buildings reveals that “using natural materials and showing them off will lead to a greener building. Such strategies reduce the use of energy-guzzling materials such as cement, steel, aluminum and glass.” Straw engineering is earthquake resistant, consumes less energy and produces lesser emission. Straw (wheat, rice) is locally available in abundance.

Straw is economical, practical, functional and attractive alternative. It is easy to work with. Straw is especially useful in hot climates like we have in Pakistan and in earthquake prone areas. Straw is a natural material that is found everywhere, especially where other building materials such as bricks, stone or wood are scarce due to affordability and or availability.

Straw engineering is a construction method that uses compressed straw bales as structural elements, building insulation, or both. There are two major types of construction with compressed straw bales: load bearing and non load bearing. A pillar and beam framework that supports the basic structure of the building, with the compressed bales of straw used like normal bricks, is the most common non-load bearing method. On the other hand there are many load- bearing compressed straw bale buildings that are standing just fine. It is estimated that “the method and materials (mud, straw) can produce buildings at half the cost of conventional earthquake-resistant buildings in Pakistan.

Some unfounded myths say that that straw building have a greater risk for fire, can be easily infested by pests and straw gets wet and ultimately decompose? Empirical observations and laboratory tests show that this is not true. Canadian and American materials laboratories have found that “the straw bale structure wall has proven to be exceptionally resistant to fire.” What is more, walls can be mud plastered as early as possible to increase their fire resistance. Similarly, pests are more of an imagined concern than a real threat. Once the walls are properly mud plastered or sided, there is no way for bugs or rodents to get into the bales.

Moisture threats can be handled easily with proper design and construction methods. So long as the dry compressed bales are installed and are properly sealed with the plaster and protected from water infiltration, they will perform well. With proper construction techniques, water will not enter the building thus making decomposition impossible. Rice straw, in particular, has a high silica content which increases its resistance to decay.

Focus of straw engineering is on architecture with the help of compressed straw bales, rammed earth, compressed mud blocks and other earthen construction materials. The proliferation of concept to use straw and appropriate technology in order to improve the quality of life is a very welcome idea and we in Pakistan need that. This can go a long way not only in the form of changing the look of population centers, rural as well as urban, but also in solving environmental problems related to use of energy and other finite resources. We already have convincing engineering evidence that straw buildings are safe and sound to start.

Towards Accelerated Economic Growth in Pakistan

2012-05-13T22:45:00.005+05:00

Lahore School of Economics

The Eighth Annual Conference on

Management of the Pakistan Economy

16-17 May 2012

Towards Accelerated Economic Growth in Pakistan:

Its Need and Feasibility

Pakistan has been in "stabilisation" mode for two decades, off and on with the support of an IMF programme. During this period, there has not been much of either stabilisation or economic growth, and this state of affairs might continue unless there is a redirection of the country’s economic policies and development programmes. In the meantime, other neighbouring economies – India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka – are galloping or proceeding on a pretty decent clip.

Domestic politics, poor law and order situation and a state of general insecurity obviously deter private investment and growth, but accelerated economic activity and rising living standards could conceivably help to abate some of the causes of the unrest in Pakistan. Certainly, reduction of fiscal deficit and bringing down inflation may be more feasible in a growth setting, as the experience of some countries shows. Perennial stabilisation programmes lose their credibility over time as general public ceases to take official policy pronouncements seriously and as resentment mounts against policies that spell hardship for general public.

Experience shows that in some cases social tensions indeed eased with rapid economic expansion, while, in other situations, civil unrest and violence do not appear to impede economic progress. Malaysia and Mauritius, for example, went through serious ethnic/religious unrest during the 1960s, which abated as these countries embarked on a path of rapid industrialisation and economic growth. On the other hand, the experience of Brazil and Mexico suggests that economic growth can be maintained despite rampant gang killings and drug wars. Some 35,000 persons are believed to have been killed in Mexico’s drug wars during the last four years; Brazil's record of casualties from the endemic gang wars is no better.

These examples are not meant to make light of Pakistan's own troubles, which are serious and pose grave existential threat to the country. Nevertheless, the experience suggests that it might be possible for the Pak economy, despite its many problems, to grow faster; and if that happens, the country’s social and political problems – rooted as they are in poverty, unemployment and inequity – might also ease.

The next Lahore School Conference on the Management of the Pakistan Economy – to be held 16-17 May 2012 – will be devoted to exploring whether and how the performance of Pakistan economy might be improved. Specifically, discussions will focus on examining the likelihood and feasibility of achieving a significantly higher growth rate for the economy, approaching perhaps 8 per cent a year within the next three to five years.

That there is a general recognition that “business-as-usual” approach to economic management cannot continue and that the country’s economic performance must improve is evident from the spate of recent policy discussions, academic research, and government pronouncements. The Planning Commission’s report – Pakistan: Framework for Economic Growth (May 2011) – is especially noteworthy, both because it was the product of extensive deliberations among the country’s leading experts and because it represents an important official call for a new policy direction. The Lahore School conference aims to take this discussion forward by bringing in other perspectives and points of views on how our country might emerge out of its current economic and financial difficulties and join the league of other rapidly growing Asian economies, where it was once a leader.

Topics for discussion

The question of the need and feasibility of accelerating Pakistan’s economic growth rate covers immediate barriers to be overcome before an improvement in economic performance can materialise as well as the longer term structural issues that must be addressed to sustain economic growth. The conference programme is structured to allow discussion on both these sets of concerns. The selected topics encompass what may be described as the immediate challenges and constraints that must be faced or overcome if the Pakistan economy is to grow more rapidly. These include addressing the issue of macroeconomic imbalances (the fiscal and trade deficits) as well as relieving other constraints on investment and economic growth, notably, the acute power shortage. In this context, the issue of unemployment and poverty will also be addressed, as it provides both the reason and imperative of why a redirection in policies and investments is needed.

The discussion on “means and channels” through which accelerated growth could be sustained will include international competitiveness, regional trade relations as stimulus to economic growth, and promotion of investment activity and enterprise development. Please see the Conference Calendar for details of the programme. In what follows, salient issues under each of the six sessions at the Conference are discussed. The issue of provincial devolution will also be addressed since it involves both policy and its implementation.

(1) Towards a Heterodox Strategy for Stabilisation and Economic Growth for Pakistan

Conventional approach to stabilisation consists of fiscal retrenchment and tightening of monetary policy. This is intended to compress domestic demand, which unavoidably adversely impacts on economic growth. Demand compression policies work reasonably well when an economy is overheated, i.e., when the economy has come to face physical capacity constraints. Otherwise, economies tend to get trapped in stagflation, which appears to be the current situation in Pakistan.

A paper presented at last year’s Lahore School conference initiated a discussion on policies that might allow the Pakistan economy to break out of this trap. At the next conference, this discussion will be revisited and an attempt made to arrive at a consensus among experts on the redesign of the country’s macroeconomic policy. The first session will therefore be devoted to a discussion of the so-called “heterodox policies”. The papers for this session should seek to: (i) clarify the meaning and implications of heterodox policies; (ii) establish that heterodox policies will be appropriate for Pakistan; (iii) bring out the trade-offs between inflation and economic growth; and (iv) discuss the risks the country might face in adopting a heterodox approach. Of particular importance will be a discussion of the experience of other developing economies (notably, Turkey, Malaysia, and Indonesia) that brought inflation under control while pursuing growth-enhancing policies.

(2) Economic Growth-Employment-Poverty Nexus

Alleviating poverty and unemployment are a major impulse behind a search for policies to accelerate economic growth, but how economic growth, employment generation, and poverty reduction impact on each other is not a straightforward process. In the second session of the conference the links and relationships between the three policy goals will be elaborated. The papers for this session should examine the experience of Pakistan and other countries and explore the neoliberal hypothesis of “trickle-down”, i.e., increased income inequality in a high growth setting could be tolerated as rising incomes of the upper-income groups would tend to pull up the incomes of the lower-income groups through demand and supply channels. The papers should also examine the possible trade-offs as well as synergies between employment generation policies and the country’s international competitiveness, a subject to be discussed on the next day.

(3) International Competitiveness for Sustainable Growth

Mounting balance of payments difficulties have tended to thwart economic growth in Pakistan and have necessitated recourse to the IMF for help. The question arises how and whether this might be avoided in the future. Could an exchange rate policy be devised towards this end, as many economists argue? Should Pakistan close its capital account and re-impose controls on capital movements? Is this feasible? Would that be desirable or effective?

While exchange rate depreciation might temporarily give a country a competitive advantage in foreign markets, international competitiveness depends essentially on the speed of productivity improvements through adoption of new technologies and moving up the value chain. For a country to remain competitive is a continuous struggle, since producers in other countries do not sit still but continue to seek ways to make technological improvements in products and production processes. However, while it has become somewhat of a fad subject, countries have found it difficult to go beyond the rhetoric. Competitiveness calls for a major shift in the business culture and reorientation of business and government efforts towards innovation, product quality, improving business practices and, not least, enhancing worker skills. The papers for this session should aim at: (i) assessing the “competitiveness gap” that Pakistan needs to overcome; (ii) reviewing current efforts at strengthening competitiveness and suggesting improvements; (iii) identifying notable dynamic Pakistani businesses/industries to illustrate feasibility of improvements elsewhere; and (iv) proposing areas where the government and business might collaborate towards making domestic industry internationally competitive.

(4) Pakistan’s Strategic Importance and its Trade Relations

Pakistan is in an economically dynamic region with good prospects of sustained economic expansion in the future. It entered into a bilateral trade agreement with China some years ago, and is moving to improve trade relations with India. It has also been seeking to reach a trade agreement with the Gulf States. At the same time, Pakistan’s geographical location makes it a conduit for the foreign trade of landlocked Afghanistan and offers the prospect of giving warm water access to the Central Asian republics. The issues to discuss in this session are: (i) How improved trade relations with the two most dynamic economies – China and India – could be made to help Pakistan move towards a period of accelerated growth? (ii) What measures the country might take to ensure that domestic industry gains in competitiveness rather than weakens, and ultimately collapses, in the face of increased competition, as has happened already in some domestic industries? (iii) How Pakistan might position itself to take advantage of trade links with Central Asia, even as the Afghanistan war and the troubles within Pakistan persist?

(5) Immediate Constraints and Longer-Term Triggers for Economic Growth

The power crisis is the single most important factor hampering domestic production and investment. Unless this constraint is removed, it is unrealistic to expect the Pak growth rate to accelerate or, if somehow achieved, for it to be sustained. Physical capacity in the power sector has obviously not been kept up with the rising demand, but the current crisis is exacerbated by financing and payments difficulties, i.e., the problem of the so-called “circular debt”. The latter in turn is a direct consequence of the state of public finances as well as questionable contractual arrangements with the private sector power suppliers. The power issue has been debated for several years in Pakistan but the problem remains unresolved. Apart from elucidating the relevant issues, the paper on this issue should aim to develop fresh ideas on the way out of the current impasse.

Economic growth ultimately depends on the growth in private investment and the success of domestic enterprises in competing in the world market. In fact, economic success seems to be synonymous with the emergence of successful domestic firms, whether it is Samsung or LG in Korea, Hutchinson Whampoa or Sinochem in China, and Tata or Reliance Industries in India. The striking feature of the era of rapid economic growth in Pakistan – the 1960s – was the emergence of large firms in industry, banking and insurance within a rather short span of time.

What makes firms to thrive, grow, and compete is therefore central to an understanding of the process of catch up of the poor with the rich countries. A firm’s performance depends primarily on the drive and entrepreneurship of its managers and owners, whose decisions with respect to investment in plant capacity, worker training, marketing, R&D, etc., determine the pace of technological improvements. While there is no satisfactory explanation for the factors determining the supply of entrepreneurial talent, it is evident that some national environments are more congenial to the rise of dynamic entrepreneurship and successful firms.

Some of the underlying issues in the subject matter of this session will have been discussed in the earlier session on international competitiveness. This session will focus essentially on steps needed to achieve a quantum leap in private investment activity (domestic as well as foreign) and promote domestic entrepreneurship in Pakistan. The papers for this session should aim to draw lessons from the experience of domestic firms that have grown to emerge as big players in the domestic economy.

(6) Making Provincial Devolution Work

The organization of the public services has remained largely unchanged since independence with local administrative services the weakest both in terms of organisation and capacity. Adapting to the new configuration of responsibilities and workload at the local level presents not only a major organizational challenge to the civil service; it also calls for the translation of organizational changes into viable administrative practices. An integral part of the process would be the accountability of civil servants to local elected bodies.

The devolution of subjects to the federating units, earlier in the federal and concurrent lists, poses a major challenge to the provinces in terms of their readiness, resolve and ability to effectively undertake the devolved responsibilities. The quality of policy making and governance at the provincial level will largely determine the degree to which the benefits of devolution reach the citizen. There are legal, administrative, financial and capacity issues to be addressed in making the 18^th amendment work as well as considerations of collaboration and coordination with the federal government in many areas of national concern. Papers on the subject will address the imperatives of translating the devolution initiative to improved policy outcomes. Experiences of federations in the region would offer a useful comparative perspective

Papers will discuss administrative models for effective administrative support to devolved local government.