The first men on the moon land in Pakistan. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin (the first men to land on the moon), arrived in Karachi in early 1970 during their tour of South Asia. Here they are seen being greeted by an enthusiastic crowd just outside the Karachi Airport. –Picture courtesy LIFE.
RIP Neil Armstrong (via haceeb)
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Indians and Pakistanis celebrate their respective countries’ Independence Days together at the India-Pakistan border in Wagah, holding up candles and joint-national flags, at midnight on August 14, 2012. Pakistan celebrated Independence Day on August 14 and India on the 15th. Photos: Getty Images (via thebengalcat)
On this 65th Independence day for both Pakistan and India, prayers of mutual respect and coexistence for another 65 years to come! amen.
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(Source: ejakeldoor)
Moon walkers in Karachi (1973). When there was still love between Pakistan and USA, Apollo 17 Astronauts made it to Pakistan on an official state visit and were paraded through streets of Karachi.
At expense of sounding cheesy it actually does remind of a vintage Pakistani song, “wo jo hum main tum main qarar tha, tumhay yaad ho kay na yaad ho” (the special connection which was there once between us, you might not remember it anymore).
(photo via desvas, post via umalik)
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(Source: toobusyprocrastinating)
"President Asif Ali Zardari has donated $1 million for Dargah Sharif"
— according to a custodian of the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti. I just hope Mr President that it wasn’t from the tax I pay! (via umalik)
"
The Conversation about women’s bodies exists largely outside of us, while it is also directed at (and marketed to) us, and used to define and control us. The Conversation about women happens everywhere, publicly and privately. We are described and detailed, our faces and bodies analyzed and picked apart, our worth ascertained and ascribed based on the reduction of personhood to simple physical objectification. Our voices, our personhood, our potential, and our accomplishments are regularly minimized and muted…
I do not want to give my power, my self-esteem, or my autonomy, to any person, place, or thing outside myself. I thus abstain from all media about myself. The only thing that matters is how I feel about myself, my personal integrity, and my relationship with my Creator. Of course, it’s wonderful to be held in esteem and fond regard by family, friends, and community, but a central part of my spiritual practice is letting go of otheration. And casting one’s lot with the public is dangerous and self-destructive, and I value myself too much to do that.
"—
Ashley Judd, Ashley Judd Slaps Media in the Face for Speculation Over Her Puffy Appearance.
If the title of the article hasn’t enticed you, this is well worth indulging the next 5 minutes to read the entire article!
(via insaniyat)The National ICT Research and Development Fund, under the aegis of the Ministry of Information Technology, recently advertised a public tender for the development of an Internet filtering and blocking system. The move indicates how completely out of touch the powers that be are with contemporary Pakistan, the 21st century and democratic values on the whole.
Internet service providers (ISPs), who finance the fund, have defended the filter, arguing that it is not a censorship tool, but a means by which to make existing efforts to block online content more time- and cost-efficient. This is utter nonsense. The power to efficiently and effectively block up to 50 million websites, as per the tender’s demands, is an incentive for widespread online censorship.
Many indications that the government will take improper advantage of a censoring mechanism already exist. Pakistan currently ranks 151st out of a list of 179 countries on a 2011 media freedom ranking by Reporters Without Borders. This is hardly the environment in which to introduce an Internet filtering system with the hope that it will be judiciously deployed.
contd…
A woman bike rider get’s about to get a ticket in Lahore
What is wrong with this picture? Well check the facial expressions of the young boy on back of the other bike - he is CONFUSED!
That girl however might just be the new Pakistani super heroine!
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An Australian’s REBUTTAL to TIME Magazine’s story on Karachi.
The Editor, Time Magazine
Dear Editor,
I recently returned from a charitable trip to Pakistan, whereby I visited both Karachi and Islamabad. I spoke with several universities, key businesses, prominent business leaders and several religious people from all generations….
On the day I returned to the office, someone had placed your magazine (January 16, 2012), on my desk. I read with interest your article on Karachi and the city in doom. For a person to have just returned from the very same place that your magazine described was somewhat bizarre, so I read with great detail your writer (Andrew Marshall’s) account.
Let me begin by saying that I often flick through your magazine and find the articles of great interest, but on this particular day and this particular article, I found certain comments to be both one sided and indeed very negative. I say that because I saw a different Pakistan to what was portrayed in your article. I do not and will not comment on the political or religious problems that the country faces, but I will go so far as to say that not everything is as bad as the image that your magazine paints.
Sure there are deaths in the cities. Please show me a city in the world that is free from political fighting and unrest.
Sure there are differences in the political party opinions. Please show me a country in the world where the political parties agree.
Sure the innocent are suffering. Please show me a country in the world where wealth and power is equal and the innocent don’t suffer.
Sure corruption is in Pakistan. Please show me a country in the world that is corruption free.
My list could go on, but my point is that Pakistan does have problems…but so does every other country in the world in some way or another. However, in the case of ALL other nations, there are often good things to report and the media goes out of its way to promote these good things across the globe, whenever possible. The ridiculous amount of shootings in the USA is balanced off by the success of Google, Microsoft and Apple. The financial dilemmas of Greece are lost in the marketing of the Greek Islands as a holiday destination of choice. The child slave industry of India, is brushed under the carpet in favour of the nation’s growth in the global software boom. What I am trying to say, is that someone needs to look further into Pakistan and see that there are millions of great stories to write about, which would portray the country in a different light, to that what is being portrayed by your article.
When I was in Pakistan, I visited a towel manufacturing company (Alkaram Towels). They produced some $60million in export in 2011 and are aiming at $85million in 2012. A substantial increase in sales…in a recession I would remind you. The company was started by the current Chairman, Mr. Mehtab Chawla, at the tender age of nine, after his father passed away. Today the very man employs 3000 staff. Now that’s a story.
I visited universities of NED, Hamdard, Karachi, Szabist and NUST. The students are unbelievably intelligent. They spend their spare time developing APPS for android and apple. They are involved in cutting edge technology and no one in the world knows this. Why not send a reporter to Pakistan to look into this. Why not research good things in this nation, rather than just the bad things. At NUST (National Institution for Science and Technology – Islamabad)) there were 38,000 applications for medicine. There are only 83 seats for the medicine course on offer. The competition is unbelievable. In short it pushes the best to be even better. But the world doesn’t know this. Why? Because no one wants to report on it, or no one knows about it…or both!!
Please do not get me wrong. I understand that news is news, but it is high time that the western world stopped promoting these terrorists and political wars in Pakistan and started to write something that would help the nation. Something positive. If we really care about global partnerships and economic growth, then I suggest we try and give Pakistan a helping hand. There are 180 million people in Pakistan, 65% are under the age of 25. The youth of Pakistan is its strength.. it is like a sleeping giant. If you think that India is a booming nation. I suggest you stop a second and look at Pakistan. Given a little help from the western world, Pakistan can become a dominant economy. She doesn’t want aid and she doesn’t need money… she just wants the chance to be seen in a different light. I believe we have a fundamental obligation to assist. The only question is, who will reach out first.
Warmest regards,
Tony Lazaro
Managing Director
Rising Stars Management Group
Tel: 02 8824 7000
Fax: 02 8824 7766
www.risingstars.com.au(via zushan)
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Pakistan Votes: Kuch samajh mey aaya? (trans. Understood anything?)
From the video: Pakistan Votes is an apolitical campaign asking Pakistanis to either cast one’s vote or to void one’s vote. The underlying philosophy of the campaign generates from the fact that the 2008 electoral list hosted 40 million ghost voters (multiple entries, voters registered without authentic identification). Bogus votes get casted under the pretext of unverified voters and also under the names of those who fail to show up.
In 2008, roughly 35 million votes were casted. The voter population of Pakistan is ~ 80 million. Some quick math, if we remove the 40 million bogus voters from the 2008 electoral list, we’re left with 40 million ‘genuine’ voters. Now out of those 40 million, 35 million casted their votes. A 90% voter turnout? Really? Here’s the real question, how many rigged votes were casted using ghost votes or even under our names because we were no-shows? 10 million? 20 million? 30 million?
Do you like being taken advantage of? Haven’t you had enough? Come election time, if there’s no candidate you’d like to vote for, then go to the polling booth regardless and make your vote void (how do you void a vote — simple — select multiple candidates on your ballot! Did you seriously need to be told how it’s done?). Pakistan Votes is not in for the “video hits/likes” — all the campaign seeks is that you act responsibly by protecting your vote. And this isn’t a one time effort, Pakistanis have to vote every time there are elections, every single time. We must stop rigging, we must stop our votes from being misused. The system has to be detoxed, there’s no quick fix, let’s begin cleaning our mess.
The initiative is not backed by any sponsorships, or any political agenda. It is purely youth driven. A grand total of PKR 5,000 was utilised on this effort.
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My add: Though audio could’ve been better, this is a message which needs to be amplified. If nothing else, reblog it for the Aunty at 1:13!
Pakistan must end its policy of killings and kidnappings of Baloch people and recognise the importance of the region.
by Akbar Ahmed (Ambassador Akbar Ahmed is currently the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University in Washington).
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My comments to…
The early life of several, disruptive, market leaders (via Mashable).
J N O M I C S
