Islamic Banking in Pakistan

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Beijing Olympics 2008.

Should You Boycott Repressive Countries?

This August, about 10,000 athletes, 20,000 journalists and more than a million spectators from 200 countries are expected to descend on Beijing for the Olympic Games.

When the International Olympic Committee awarded the games to China back in 2001, many hoped that putting Beijing on the international stage would persuade the Chinese government to improve its record on human rights. Since then, China has been booming with construction as it races to complete stadiums, hotels and highways in time for the games. But as the recent unrest in Tibet has highlighted, the government is falling far short on human rights. And the finish line is fast approaching.

The situation in China has led some to consider a boycott of the Olympics, an idea that has proved both unpopular and ineffective in the past. Previous Olympic boycotts — by the U.S. in 1980 and by the Soviet Union in retaliation four years later — achieved little more than political posturing. The protests punished athletes who were forbidden from participating, and cheapened the accomplishments of those who weren’t allowed to compete against the world’s best.

A recent MSN-Zogby poll found only tepid support among Americans for a boycott: 31 percent favored it, while 47 percent opposed such a move. Even the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader, has said he opposes a boycott. Meanwhile, Reporters Without Borders, which criticizes China for its “glaring lack of freedom,” has advocated a novel solution: a boycott of the opening ceremony. On March 18, it asked heads of state, royal families and other political leaders to put pressure on China’s government by staying away from the games’ ceremonial inauguration.

England’s Prince Charles has already announced he will not go to the opening ceremony, and director Steven Spielberg has withdrawn from his role as an artistic consultant to protest China’s support for the Sudanese government and its stance toward the conflict in Darfur. “China has not kept any of the promises it made in 2001 when it was chosen to host these Olympics,” Reporters Without Borders said in a release. “Instead, the government is crushing the Tibetan protests and is imposing a news blackout.”

Iraq today: Fears & tears

Iraq: Children ensnared into drugs and prostitution

Violence in Iraq has turned into an obvious nightmare for the native children. Majority of them have lost their parents and shelter. They have no place to go and so have taken refuge in the streets where, they can easily gall prey to gangs involved in drugs, violence and prostitution.
As the children are unable to cope up with the situation and majority of them plunges into the phase of depression consequent upon which, they turn to drugs, including sniffing glue or vapors from liquids such as paint, which have large amounts of intoxicants.
And when these children are not able to obtain money for their addiction, they tend to join some criminal gangs because the money they get from begging is not enough for them to eat and consume their drugs.
In addition, there are some gangs, which offer them drugs in lieu of sexual favors.
Several NGOs are working to support street children psychologically. There are also projects to return street children to their families. However, lack of funds and the increasing insecurity aid workers face have left many of these projects unimplemented.

Face among the faces

Young TCF Supporter ‘draws’ for the cause
(April 03, 2008)

TCF takes great pride in those spirited youngsters of Pakistan who stand up for the cause of education, who work diligently towards progression and who are committed to bringing about positive changes in our society.

Young TCF Supporter Yousuf Ibrahim Khan is one such individual.A 19-year-old student of BBA in Karachi, Yousuf Khan has recently raised donation for TCF by ‘drawing caricatures’!

He has been sketching since he was very young but was unable to continue further because he had to concentrate on his studies. Since the past two months he has taken up sketching again especially drawing caricatures.Recently, a carnival was organized in Karachi by Khadim Ali Shah Bukhari Institute of Technology (KASBIT).

Yousuf is studying from this institute and he took up a stall at the carnival for drawing caricatures. He didn’t put a price tag to his drawings – all he requested from his visitors were donation of any amount for TCF. During the carnival, word soon spread around about the way Yousuf was sketching ‘free’ for a cause.

That day, Yousuf drew 17 sketches for 7 hours!Motivated supporters like Yousuf are an inspiration for all youngsters. TCF is fortunate to have onboard such committed individuals who volunteer their time, talent and energy to work in their own way for the cause of education for the less privileged and deserving children of Pakistan.

Warm Regards,

Fatima Zehra
http://www.thecitizensfoundation.org/

Fatal bird flu cases in Pakistan

The first case of human-to-human transmission of avian flu in Pakistan has been confirmed.

Tests carried out by the World Health Organisation (WHO) show that bird flu killed some members of a family in north-west Pakistan late last year.
The WHO says steps were taken to prevent future fatalities in the area.
Pakistan's north-west and southern regions were hit by bird flu last year. Thousands of birds were culled to control the spread of the disease.
Brothers
The confirmation of people dying from bird flu came on Thursday 3rd April 2008, after samples collected from a family in the north-western city of Peshawar tested positive.
Dr Mukhtiar Zaman Afridi, head of the isolation ward for avian flu patients at Khyber Teaching Hospital in Peshawar, told that a poultry worker in Peshawar apparently passed the disease on to members of his family.
The worker, whose name is being withheld on the request of the WHO, was brought to the hospital with avian flu symptoms on 29 October 2007, he says.
He has fully recovered since then.
But on 12 November, the elder brother of the poultry worker was brought in with similar symptoms. He died a week later.

Pak. film 'Khuda Ke Liye' released in India

'Khuda Ke Liye' set to wow Indian cine lovers

Ending a gap of more than four decades since a Pakistani film was projected in Indian theatres, "Khuda Ke Liye", a box-office hit from across the border, was on Friday Aril 4th 2008 released all over India.
Pakistani director Shoaib Mansoor's debut venture, the film has been released in more than a hundred cinemas in 20 cities across the country.
The film stars Pakistani actor Shan and model Imam Ali along with a special appearance by Indian actor Naseeruddin Shah who has played the role of a Muslim cleric.
"The film got a huge welcome from the Indian audiences at its Red Carpet premiere in Mumbai yesterday. And we hope it will do good business here," said Ashok Ahuja of Percept Picture Company, the distributor of the film in India.
"The film is an attempt to project the tragedy of a liberal Muslim, who internally is not considered a good Muslim because of his modernity and outside his religion, he is labelled a fundamentalist just for having a Muslim name," director Shoaib Mansoor told PTI in an e-mail interview.
The internationally-acclaimed film deals with the story of two pop musician brothers in Lahore. One comes under the influence of fundamentalists, while the other brother goes to the US, where he is held by the police due to his Muslim name.
Following the 1965 war, Pakistan outlawed all Indian films from being screened there and that was followed by a similar ban in India.
Trade analyst Amod Mehra described the "Khuda Ke Liye" to be a well-made and hard-hitting one. But at the same time he was sceptical about its box office success in India.
"The movie will be liked by lovers of good cinema. I wonder whether the college-going crowd that frequents multiplexes will enjoy a serious film like this," he said.
Film critics were also divided over the fate of the film at the box office given the fact that cinema here is entertainment-driven.
They felt that a theme like the one depicted in 'Khuda...' is more for the thinking viewer, who loves to ponder over the movie after watching it.
This is a film that sparks off debates and discussions, they said.
Filmmaker Ashok Pandit lauded the finesse with which director Shoaib Mansoor has handled a sensitive subject.
"The fact that this film makes a bold statement against fundamentalism and comes from Pakistan is a very good achievement. It is well-directed and takes a balanced view.
The look of the film is also mind blowing, he added.
Recently, two Indian blockbusters -- Aamir Khan's "Tare Zameen Par" and Akshay Kumar-Katrina Kaif starrer "Welcome" -- were released in Pakistan.
Film-maker Mukesh Bhatt termed the release of "Khuda Ke Liye" in India as a "historic occasion".
"It is a historic day as a Pakistani film is being released in our theatres after a gap of decades," Bhatt said.
Mansoor's film was recently honoured with Pakistan's highest civilian award -- 'Sitar-i-Imtiaz', and also won the special jury award at the 31st Cairo International Film Festival in December last year.

A Photo Essay on Women in Afghanistan

Afghanistan: The Hidden Half

The plight of women under the Taliban regime provided the United States with a tidy moral justification for its invasion of Afghanistan—a talking point that Laura Bush took the lead in driving home.

"The fight against terrorism is also a fight for the rights and dignity of women," Bush said after the 2001 invasion, adding that thanks to America, women were "no longer imprisoned in their homes."

Six years later, the burka is more common than before, an "overwhelming majority" of Afghan women suffer domestic violence, according to aid group Womankind, and honor killings are on the rise. Health care is so threadbare that every 28 minutes a mother dies in childbirth—the secondhighest maternal mortality rate in the world. Girls attend school at half the rate boys do, and in 2006 at least 40 teachers were killed by the Taliban. For two years, Canadian photojournalist Lana Šlezić crisscrossed Afghanistan—from Mazar-e-Sharif in the north to Kandahar in the south—to document these largely hidden realities.

Star Pakistan: Tamgha-e-Imtiaz

Pop star Atif Aslam becomes youngest Pak civilian awardee

Islamabad (PTI): Pop sensation Atif Aslam of "Woh Lamhe" and "Tere Bin" fame has become the youngest Pakistani to receive the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, a civilian award given for doing the country proud globally.

The musician, who has been a huge hit in India since he sang "Woh Lahme" which was picturised on Bollywood's Emran Hashmi, showed up in a black sherwani to receive the award from the Punjab Governor on Pakistan Day on March 23 ,2008.

Aslam, who has performed in about 25 countries last year, said, "I think (I got the award) because I represented Pakistan internationally a lot this year. That's what the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz stands for. It's awarded to people who make Pakistan proud globally."

Shoaib Mansoor whose critically acclaimed film "Khuda Kay Liye" on the life of Muslims in the post-9/11 era will be in India on April 4 was given Pakistan's highest civilian award, the Sitara-i-Imtaiz.

Other personalities, including Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan, Zulfiqar Ali, Reshma and Ustad Hamid Ali Khan also given civilian awards.

The Endorsement: Self-Delusion

Whoever said honesty is the best policy needed a reality check. Why you should lie to yourself.


My love of delusion crystallized when I learned about a psychological theory called depressive realism. This holds that the people with the most accurate view of the world are the clinically depressed. Studies show they have a correct perception of how much they control the outcome of events — namely, very little. (Not all scientists buy this theory; but they're probably just deluded.)

More recently, I read the article in a magazine about Dennis Kucinich. The man actually believes he's going to be president someday. Which is an astounding feat of self-delusion — and, I'm convinced, the only thing that keeps him going.

Self-delusion is not a defense mechanism or coping technique. It's the most human thing we have. It's faith, existential courage, essential to mixing a decent drink, loving our spouse, writing a sentence. It's what separates us from the animals and the boring.

I'm not just advocating positive thinking; I'm advocating a willing suspension of reality. Irrational exuberance. It's not a matter of seeing the glass as half full or half empty. In reality, the glass is usually 5 percent full and 95 percent empty. But you have to force yourself to believe that it's half full so that you can engage and try to solve problems and bring the real percentage up to 10. Because otherwise it'd drop down to zero.