The sale of expired and fake drugs in Sindh

Spurious and expired drugs
by Dr (Prof) Kazi Khadim Hussain, Qasimabad, Sindh
Courtesy and Thanks: Daily dawn, 8.1.2009
Your editorial “Spurious and expired drugs” (January 31) revealing that 15 out of every 100 drugs being sold and bought in Punjab are either fake or expired must have unnerved almost every citizen. Although this investigation is based on 3,000 drug samples out of a total of 20,101 collected by the Punjab government from across the province but the condition in other provinces wouldn’t definitely be no less awful.

An Arab & a Sindhi

One day an Arab came to Radio club and sat in a corner with a worried face.
One Sindhi saw him and asked ,’Why all this sorrow?’
The Arab replied,’ I am suffering from a rare disease and I need a particular type of blood which is available only in India.’
And he named the rare blood group.
The Sindhi jumped up and said, ‘ God be praised. What luck.! That is my blood group . I will gladly give my blood to you.’
The Arab was so pleased that on the next day , he presented a Mercedes car and Rs. 5OO, OOO to our Sindhi .
Afterwards they went together to the hospital.
The Doctors complimented the two on successful transfusion of blood.
After one year, the same Arab returned to India and contacted our Sindhi friend .
But this time the Arab gave nothing to the Sindhi.
The Sindhi was perplexed and said to the Arab,’ Why brother! You are angry with me!.You are offering me absolutely nothing this time.”
The Arab smiled and said ‘No brother. I cannot be angry with you. But please remember. I have now your blood in my veins.’
Now the same joke in Colloquial  phonetic Roman Sindhi script.

Be aware

Khalid Hashmani

Supporters of Dictatorship want to ban Elections and install a Military Constituted Decision Making Unit (DMU)
by Khalid Hashmani, McLean, Virginia, USA
Mr. Khalid Hashmani can be reached at khashmani@hotmail.com

Be aware and on lookout for supporters of dictatorship who want to ban elections and install a military imposed Decision Making Unit (DMU) in Pakistan. I am noticing increased activity by these enemies of people’s rights who have always supported dictators. The e-mails such as below are being sent to thousands of Pakistanis as an accessory to the plot to revert Pakistan to the dark days of military dictatorship. These people have been wedging vicious propaganda against PPP and ANP governments and calling on  Military to ” intervene in a “CLASSIC” manner”.

Fishing

Two men went fishing. One was an experienced fisherman, the other wasn’t. Every time the experienced fisherman caught a big fish, he put it in his ice chest to keep it fresh. Whenever the inexperienced fisherman caught a big fish, he threw it back.
The experienced fisherman watched this go on all day and finally got tired of seeing the man waste good fish. “Why do you keep throwing back all the big fish you catch?” he asked.
The inexperienced fisherman replied, “I only have a small frying pan.”

Sindh Produces 70% of oil/gas, yet locals around fields cut Trees for their kitchens

Forwarded by Khalid Hashmani (McLean, Virginia, USA)
Oil and gas exploration
Courtesy and Thanks: Daily Dawn
GIVEN the energy crunch facing Pakistan, it is heartening to note that exploration activities are picking up pace in the country.

Lifting the veil on the niqab

There is no requirement in Islam to cover one’s face — the niqab is the epitome of male control over Muslim women
By Tarek Fatah, Citizen SpecialFebruary 5, 2009
Barely a week goes by when my religion, Islam, does not face a fresh round of scrutiny. If it is not a suicide bomber blowing himself up in an Iraqi mosque screaming “Allah O Akbar,” it is news that an imam in Malaysia has declared the practice of Yoga sinful. If it is not a Toronto imam defending suicide bombing on TVO, a Muslim woman writes a column in a Canadian daily, advocating the introduction of Shariah law in Canada.

More ancient artifacts & objects excavated from Moen-jo-Daro

Courtesy and Thanks: Regional Times, Back Page, Wednesday, February 04, 2009.
RATODERO: A team of archaeologists, working on a rainwater drain near the explored DK-G area of Moen-jo-Daro, found more ancient artifacts and objects.

Opinion- Chaos and Collapse

by Mumtaz Ali Bhutto
Mind boggling bungling, among other more heinous faults, has come to be the identifying characteristic of the Zardari government. From the inept way administrative matters are handled to the fact that Zardari can not open his mouth without something startling pouring out of it, one gets an overwhelming sense of incompetence all around.

A turning point

WASHINGTON DIARY: A turning point
by Dr Manzur Ejaz, USA
February 3rd, 2009
The writer can be reached at manzurejaz@yahoo.com
Courtesy and Thanks: Wichaar.com
This is a very dangerous situation that may change the course of history. Poorer countries will be affected more than anyone is anticipating: there may be new bloody revolutions in many parts of the world

As the possibility of worldwide depression threatens to become reality, leftists are hoping that the capitalist system is coming to its logical end. Participants in recent demonstrations in France and elsewhere have been expressing such hopes. They feel that now the socialist dream has become more realisable than ever before.

Upper Sindh- The No Go Area of Sindh

by Naseer Memon
The writer can be reached at nmemon2004@yahoo.com
We all feel the pain of what you have mentioned. Almost whole of the province but mainly the Upper Sindh districts are facing unprecedented rise of kidnapping and tribal clashes. I have noticed a sudden surge in kidnappings during recent months and surprisingly our CM says that the law and order situation is satisfactory. One wonders that more than a dozen people are under dacoits custody on any given day and tribal clashes coupled with police excesses are order of the day, what gives satisfaction to our rulers. We are now convinced that hidden hands in conivance with the tribal lords are responsbile for the state of law and order in the area.

Campaign for Sindhi TV channel on Doordarshan India

- Asha Chand

We all agree that Sindhi language can be best promoted today through Television. We need DD Sindhi Channel.[why? See the reasons given below] The great news is that Dada Ram Jethmalani, our Sindhu Ratna and the Leader of our Sindhi community has taken up this issue with the Government of India and has agreed to lead actively. He along with Asha Chand had a detailed meeting with the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Mr. Anand Sharma, who has responded positively.

Who Rules Sindh?

Report by Zulfiqar Halepoto, Secretary SDF

After the general elections of January 2008 there was a glimmer of hope in the hearts of the people of Sindh that despite the great tragedy and pain of the loss of Muhtarma Benazir Bhutto, things would now start getting better and that the long and dark night of general Musharraf and his urban collaborators’ rule was finally over. People of Sindh voted for Pakistan Peoples’ party to ensure and protect their right to rule.

But the increasing failure of institutional delivery and governance, the appalling conditions of education, health and other basic services, the terrible situation of law and order, the unending outrages of electricity and the crippling poverty and collapse of rural economy, point to the other direction.

If to all this the total absences of the writ of the government, and the drift and directionless of the province is added, a serious question arises: After all Who Rules Sindh?

The uncontrolled influx of migration from outside the province creating a dangerous demographic imbalance, shadowy moves of selling precious lands and islands and the ever increasing hold on the resources of the province to other than Sindh government’s control, gives a very serious twist to the question of Who Rules Sindh? and what is going to be its future.

US Lawmaker Wants Mumbai Attackers Brought Before International court

Washington: Casting doubts over whether Pakistan will be sincere in holding the trial of its nationals suspected to involved in the Mumbai terror attack, an influential they should be tried before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague. This is first time that a call has been made to make terrorist acts’ planners and those who carry out the attacks to be brought before an international tribunal on the ground that the Mumbai carnage was a “crime against humanity.” There is no reason for us to be secure in the belief that these planners would face justice (in Pakistan), said Ed Royee from California, a member of the House of sub-committee on Terrorism and Non-proliferation complaining that terrorists who planned attacks on Indian Parliament in December 2001 had been  let off after initial arrest. Sothe said all those involved in planning these attacks should be transferred to face trial before the international community in The Hague in Netherlands.

‘Hindu Taliban’ Strikes Terror In Mangalore!

Mangalore: A fanatical Hindu right-wing group notorious for creating communa tensions and indulging in moral policing a la Taliban, has struck again in Karnataka, this time assaulting women at a bar in Mangallore. The activists of Sri Rama Sena entered the Amnesia Bar an Restaurant on Dr. Shivaram Karanth Road on Saturday evening and threatened the women sitting inside. The men, who took objection to women pushed them outside, many women falling to the ground while they were being driven out. .. The incident is an attempt to Talibanise India. There is no place for these kinds of acts in India as it is a  democracy, India’s Women and Child minister Renuka Chowdhury said, adding the BJP leaders should condemn the incident. The minister also said it was time for chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa to the culprits.

Post Mumbai: Conclusions

- Gen. Jahangir Karamat ex COAS
February 1st, 2009
Conclusions
By now so much has been said and written and has happened that there is a dire need to draw conclusions. Not just draw conclusions but to evaluate them, prioritize them and act on them.

The general consensus is that India and Pakistan need to talk. This is a decision that the political leadership on both sides needs to take. The how, when, where and what can be sorted out once this political decision has been made.

By now it is clear to all except the ostriches that Pakistan faces a serious internal crisis. This crisis is multifaceted and has many interconnected dimensions. It cannot be addressed unless there is an in-depth understanding of its reality. To do this it is necessary to develop a comprehensive picture of the scale and magnitude of the internal threat.

Recent writings, discussions and decisions have made it abundantly clear that Pakistan lacks a national intelligence coordination mechanism and a policy planning and decision making structure. This gap leads to reliance on intelligence agencies for not just intelligence but also the response options. This must change. Coordinated intelligence will produce the threat picture and the policy planning process will develop response options. From these options the decision maker will choose the course of action. This process will also respond to the criticism of intelligence agencies.

Political stability will be one facet of the response to the internal threat but the general conclusion being reached by most Pakistanis is that has to be the first step and it can be a comparatively easy step if personal ambitions and vendettas are shelved and simple decisions taken on restoring the parliamentary system, empowering the judiciary and election commission and removing controversial appointees.

There is a dawning realization that Pakistan should not seek an identity beyond our region in Arab lands. Our identity is in the greater South Asian sub-continent that includes Afghanistan. If we come to terms with this reality our bilateral relations with our neighbors will take on a whole new significance and urgency. For this a process of re-education has to start. Muslim countries and particularly Arab countries will remain our close allies and friends.

Finally it is clear that in a globalized world Pakistan’s foreign policy has to be on a global scale and Pakistan should never be seen as a threat to global peace. To climb out of the economic quagmire Pakistan has to forge relationships on the basis of trade, economic activity, technology transfers, investment, education, health care and support at the international level. This should help in prioritizing relationships and developing public opinion that supports foreign policy rather than opposing it. This is what will redefine and drive our relationship with the West.
Courtesy and Thanks: Wichaar.com

http://www.wichaar.com/news/294/ARTICLE/11905/2009-02-01.html

Why Bill Gates might Sell OFF Microsoft!

I had recently purchased a new computer with Microsoft Windows as the Operating system (O/S) and was unhappy with the same and writes a letter to Bill Gates, regarding the same.
Dear Mr. Bill Gates,
We have bought a computer for our home and we have found some problems, which I want to bring to your notice.
1. There is a button ‘start’ but there is no ‘stop’ button. We request you to check this.
2. One doubt is whether any ‘re-scooter’ is available in system? I find only ‘re-cycle’, but I own a scooter at my home.
3. There is ‘Find’ button but it is not working properly. My wife lost the door key and we tried a lot trace the key with this ‘find’ button, but was unable to trace. Please rectify this problem.
4. My child has learnt ‘Microsoft word’ now he wants to learn ‘Microsoft sentence’, so when you will provide that?
5. I bought computer, CPU, mouse and keyboard, but there is only one icon which shows ‘My Computer’ when you will provide the remaining items?
6. It is surprising that windows says ‘MY Pictures’ but there is not even a single photo of mine. So when will you keep my photo in that
7. There is ‘MICROSOFT OFFICE’ what about ‘MICROSOFT HOME’ since I use the PC at home only.
8. You provided ‘My Recent Documents’. When you will provide ‘My Past Documents’?
9. You provide ‘My Network Places’. For God sake please do not provide ‘My Secret Places’. I do not want to let my wife know where I go after my office hours.
Last one to Mr. Bill Gates: Sir, how is it that your name is Gates but you are selling WINDOWS?

A beautiful idea

We all agree that forgiveness is a beautiful idea until we have to practice it. – C.S. Lawis (1898-1963)

U.S. needs Iran’s help to fight Afghan war

by Golnar Motevalli
KABUL (Reuters) – As Afghanistan moves centre-stage in U.S. foreign policy, the new administration will need more than a troop surge to defeat the Taliban and bring peace: it will also have to engage Iran, its long-time foe sitting in the wings.

Empower provinces and eliminate the menace of over-centralization in Pakistan

Ownership of Oil and Gas Resources of Sindh
by Khalid Hashmani, McLean, Virginia, USA
I support any and all initiatives and actions that empower provinces and eliminate the menace of over-centralization in Pakistan. The current constitution gives too much power to one province to control the other three smaller provinces.
In addition to what is being proposed, it will be great if the Pakistani constitution is amended to make the Pakistani Senate a truly empowered institution in the same way as the US Senate. This would entail equal representation to four provinces and elimination of special representation from Islamabad and FATA areas. The Pakistani Senate should be empowered to initiate monetary bills that it cannot currently do.