Remittances to Pakistan by Pakistani Expats

Do you know what's the biggest export of Pakistan? It's still Textile, amounting to 1.1 billion USD in a single month (stats from Aug 2013). But you might be surprised to know that this export is now matched by the remittances sent in by Pakistanis from abroad to their families back home. The figure is more than a billion dollars in a single month!

Remittances from Pakistani Expats in Sep-2013

The data about remittances is publicly available from the State Bank of Pakistan. Below, we analyse some of the data from September 2013:

Source: State Bank of Pakistan (Home Remittances Sep-2013)

The above figures are in millions of dollars, remitted by Pakistanis in a single month, broken down by countries.

As you can see, the largest remittances come from four countries: Kingdom of Saudia Arabia, the UAE, the UK and the USA. Amount of money remitted from KSA to Pakistan in a single month is 373 million US dollars, followed by the UAE at 276 million USD. Being Pakistanis, we also know that besides Gulf countries, a large number of Pakistanis live in the UK and the US.

Year on year increase in remittances

The following graph shows yearly increase in the last 10 years. Mind that the figures are in USD, and hence, these remittances further strengthen the economy in the backdrop of Rupee losing against Dollar:

Source: World Bank Migration & Remittances Data

Why have the remittances gone up?

A working paper by IMF (International Monetary Fund), published in 2011 studies the factors behind this trend of remittances.

The hypothesis presented in the IMF paper are interesting, especially considering the fact that the world economy hasn't been doing really well in general during the last 10 years. The working paper from IMF narrows down everything to the number of migrants moving out of Pakistan and their general skill-level. 

And once again, being Pakistanis, we know that the large outflux of skilled migrants is actually due to the law and order situation in Pakistan. While these migrants are helping a lot to the economy, the "brain drain" impact can't be ignored.

What method do you use for remittance?

Are you a Pakistani living abroad? I am sure you send money back home. What's the method that you use? Do you think you are getting the best rates with minimal transaction fee?

Sending Money to Pakistan from the UK

If you regularly remit money from the UK to Pakistan, I highly recommend using HBL eRemit service. Below is a review of the options available to you; I recommend trying both HBL eRemit and United Bank UK. Please post your experiences here.

Pound Coins by Images_of_Money

HBL eRemit: This the best service, even better if you are an HBL UK customer; however, being HBL UK customer is not mandatory. You can register online. HBL will post you your password via mail. Once received, you can add any UK debit card and use that to send money to any bank account in Pakistan.


The charges are GBP 5 per transaction (it's free if you use HBL UK debit card). The time taken for the complete transfer is dependent on the location of the branch where you are sending the money---remote branches take time; branches in metropolitans get money faster.

United Bank UK: Formerly, known as United National Bank UK was a joint venture between UBL and National Bank of Pakistan. It seems that UBL has now completely taken over. Though their service is free of charge, I faced problems during sign up. It could have been great if there IT staff was able to assist. Do give it a try and let me know if it works for you.

Western Union: This should be your last preference, given the above two. Any ways, if time is of essence to you, Western Union is the best. Money transfer takes a day or two at maximum. However, please note that the money is received in cash. I, for one, dread this due to the law and order situation of Pakistan (and specially of Karachi). As of today, Western Union doesn't offer direct transfers to bank accounts in Pakistan.

Google's Chairman's Mystery Visit to Pakistan

Sans any media campaign, Google's Chairman (and former CEO), Eric Schmidt, visited Pakistan in mid June for a 2 day trip. He met now-ousted Prime Minister of Pakistan in Islamabad and a selected group of people from business and technology sectors. 


There is no official word from Google explaining the purpose of his visit but the Pakistani government did have an official word about the discussion that took place. It's said that the Prime Minister discussed Google's support in tracking cross-border movement between Afghanistan and Pakistan; 


Isn't that very different from Bill Gates visit to Bangladesh a few years ago?


In his post titled "Pakistan and Its Image Problem", shared across Google+, Eric Schmidt writes

In meetings last week with the senior General, Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister, they made the case for a new and updated image of Pakistan: one of the largest democracies in the world, with a vibrant and open press, an upcoming demographic dividend of hardworking young people, and a highly educated elite leadership of the country.  Islamabad and Lahore, where we visited, were relatively safe and certainly safer than Afghanistan.  It was clear to us that Pakistan has an image problem.

He also met a selected group of technology and business related people over a dinner at an undisclosed location. This group also included Mian Mansha [1], officially the richest man in Pakistan as well as Hussain Dawood [2] (of Engro corporation) and Amin Hashwani [3]. 

Left to Right: Amin Hashwani, Muhammad Mansha and Hussain Dawood

This group of 20 or so professionals also included

• Lars Christian Iuel, CEO, Telenor
• Dr. Adil Najam, VC LUMS
• Dr. Umar Saif, Chairman Punjab, IT Board
• Mussarat Misbah
• Jehan Ara
• Badar Khushnood
• Haris Nadeem

As I said earlier, there is almost no apparent reason for Eric Shmidt's visit to Pakistan. He was certainly not here to set up a development centre or anything. The widely held opinion is that he was in Pakistan to get first hand experience of the country, its systems and its people. Perhaps, he is more knowledgeable about the country than any other billionaire CEO's in the US. In such a social gathering, he could boast that he has personally visited the country and his experience is a first-hand one, and thus, he would be more imposing and impressive in his talk!


The more I think about his visit, the less sense it seems to make.

But there is one thing in Eric's post on Google+ that hints me that he was there to see if Google could go beyond solutions for individual and corporate web users, and provide solutions at government level. The second paragraph of his post at Google+ says, 

Pakistan also has a power problem, as in electric power.  Power is now off two hours out of three all day and all night.  Estimates are that the country has enough generation capacity (hydro and oil based) to handle all the load, but corruption, power stealing, poor payment rates and the classic mistake of underpricing power compared to its real generation cost means that industrial production is threatened.  Everyone of means has a UPS, and the air-conditioning seldom works on a 45 Celcius day.   Our meetings often were literally in the dark, a common enough occurrence that people did not even remark about it.

He mentions power problem right after the opening paragraph! This could certainly be an area of interest to Google. Has anyone heard of Google Power Meter? It's now a retired project but certainly somebody in Google thought of it to be the next big thing: 

PowerMeter included key features like visualizations of your energy usage, the ability share information with others, and personalized recommendations to save energy. We partnered with device manufacturers and utilities around the world.

Google has invested almost a billion dollars in the renewable energy sector. Countries like Pakistan could certainly benefit from that!


Well, this is just one of the areas where Google might like to go beyond enterprise solutions for corporates towards enterprise solutions for Governments. Well, there is already a Google Federal and Google Apps for Government!

---

[1] Mian Muhammad Mansha
[2] Hussain Dawood
[3] Amin Hashwani

CNIC Marital Status, Watan Card and NADRA

Watan Card has hit me in the most unexpected way. While trying to get Form "Bay" for my child, I faced rejection from NADRA Islamabad. The reason quoted was that my wife's marital status is unmarried. This is absurd because of two reasons:

1. My status is married in NADRA's records, and my records have the CNIC of my wife, and yet her status is unmarried. In more logical terms, X is married to Y but Y is not married to X. What an intelligent way to design a database schema at the national level!


2. The other one is that the NADRA's Swift Registration center didn't know/ check the pre-requisites before taking my application. Now, if you have gone through the hassle of getting your application form attested by a government office, you know that this means taking time off from office for more than 2-3 days went in waste

Meeting this fate, I tried to get my wife's marital status updated in NADRA's records but I was told that my permanent address could "possibly be" in flood affected areas, and NADRA is not taking any address change requests for these regions. "Possibly be" because, firstly, though my district is in the flood affected area, my village isn't; secondly, what does getting marital status have to do with address change?

Not accepting that I had hit a brick wall, I tried to hack through NADRA's org-chart, processes and systems to find any possible way to submit my application. My findings are posted below. I did find a workaround and I'll post it some time later. As a side note, it's an extremely sad fact that nation of Pakistan is registering fake marriages just to get a Rs. 20,000/- Watan Card, and hence, the restriction from NADRA.

Hacking Through NADRA's System

Here are some interesting findings (more helpful for Karachites):

1. NADRA's Regional Deputty Manager's name is Fahad and his office is in Awami Markaz. At NADRA's registration center, his number is available as 021-99240548 but this number is never picked up. If you are meeting some resistance by the registration center, do ask to meet this guy in Awami Markaz; there are good chances that he'd be more reasonable than the lower staff; of course, there is a limit to how reasonable a Pakistani government official can possibly be---he doesn't pick up his phone.


2. NADRA's provincial head quarter (PHQ) for Sindh is on Amir Khusro Road; it's very close to Pagara house near Karsaz. Ask for the map in comments if you can't locate it otherwise.


3. There is NADRA's facilitation center (NFC) which is responsible for taking complaints and resolving issues; it is located inside the PHQ. NADRA's official call center number is 051-111-786-100 but alas, that number is also not attended most of the time. So, if the call center is not accessible, it might make sense to go to NFC in person.


4. NADRA has a published list of flood affected areas (please see the reference section below).


5. Tariq Malik, the Deputty Chairman of NADRA, has an MS degree in Computer Science from Germany. NADRA's top management is either ex-Army or ex-CIO's of various organizations (meaning thereby that they have a background in IT). In accordance with the social norms in Pakistan, it could be very helpful to find a CIO or ex-Army Colonel or above reference if you are facing some issue with NADRA.

---

References:
[1] NADRA's list of flood affected areas eligible for Watan Card
[2] Eligibility Citeria for Getting a Watan Card
[3] NADRA's Top Management
[4] NADRA's Organizational Chart

Getting NADRA B Form in Pakistan

This is one of the series where a location and a process are explained for the common good. The post uses the term "Bay Form" or "NADRA B From", instead of NADRA's Child Registration Certificate, just because people still refer to this document with its old name.

If you want to register your child on B Form, the first and foremost is to get a birth certificate from your respective Union council. B Form is a pre-requisite to so many things that you should get it done as early as possible.

Documents Required for NADRA B Form

1. NIC of both parents
2. Original Union Council Birth Certificate; read this if you haven't got it up till now

You are not required to bring your child to NADRA's office.

Step 0: Locating NADRA

If you are in Karachi, one of the executive registration center of NADRA is located in KDA Scheme #1, at Tipu Sultan Road. Since it's an executive center, the fee is higher than other NADRA centers but you get fast delivery and comparatively lot less number of people in the queue ahead of you.

The best time to visit it is either 8am to 8:30am or 3:15pm to 3:30pm. There is negligible queue at these mentioned times. The working hours are 8am to 4pm, except Friday when they take prayer's break for around 2 hours in between.

Step 1: Getting Listed as Married

If you already have yourself mentioned as married in NADRA's records, you can skip this step. Otherwise, you must first get your NIC record updated. The fee at the Executive/ Fast Track center is Rs. 1000/- as of today. They will require your current NIC as well as the NIC of your wife (surprisingly, no other proof of marriage is required). A picture of yours will be taken, followed by scanning of all fingers as well as gathering of some demographic information which is perhaps considered important by the government. The process is exactly similar to applying for a renewal of an expired National ID card.

At the end, you will be given a printout of the information, and now you have to get it attested. You'll have to seek a gazetted government officer to attest the form; he/she should sign the form, put in his/ her stamp, and write down his own NIC number. Unfortuantely, you can't go to notary public for this attestation; it has to be a government officer. Once you have that, submit the form back at NADRA's office, and visit them after a week to collect your new NIC.

Step 2: Applying for NADRA B Form

It's better to have both parents to go through step 1. However, it's only mandatory for father to have the marital status changed in government's records. The process for applying for B Form is exactly the same as that of renewal of your National ID Card. The fast track fee is Rs. 500. Surprisingly, you have to get your picture taken and fingers scanned for B Form; surprising because NADRA already has that data with it. The only "new" information gathered by NADRA is the child's name and his/ her date and place of birth.

Finally, you would be given a print out, which have you to get attested and submit back at NADRA.

Once again, if you are in the fast track office, visit them after a week to collect B Form.

Getting Birth Certificate in Pakistan

This is one of the series where a location and a process are explained for the common good.

If your child is born in Liaquat National Hospital or Agha Khan University Hospital (AKUH), following is the precise detail you need to follow to get a birth certificate from your local city district government. If you had commissioned a different hospital then the general outline is still applicable.

This birth certificate is pre-requisite to several things (such as Form-B) and should be applied as early as possible.

Step 1: Get Hospital Birth Certificate

This must have already been given to you by the hospital before your wife get discharged. It's a pre-requisite to many things. So make sure you have it. Get it photocopied as the original would later be kept by the Unison Council.

Step 2: Locate and Visit your Local Town Office

Before you apply, you must be having a valid hospital birth certificate as well as original CNIC's of both parents. If your child is born in Liaquat National Hospital or Agha Khan University Hospital (AKUH), then you should visit Gulshan-e-Iqbal Union Council.


View Larger Map

Directions to reach this town office are as follows: While going from National Stadium to Civic Center, take a left turn at Civic Center, and come to University Road. Now cross first petrol pump (fuel station) on your left, and take a left turn afterwards. After around 100/ 200 meters, you'll see a park (it's known as Khawateen Park) and adjacent to it is the Gulshan Town Office where you have to apply for the Birth Certificate.

Step 3: Fill the form and Pay the Fee

A form will have to be filled in both English and Urdu. You'll have to submit copies of both parents' id cards (CNIC's) and the original birth certificate from the hospital. It's handy if you know the CNIC number of child's grandparents (i.e., your parents) as well.

The fee in case of usual registration is perhaps Rs. 100 and for late registration (>6 months after child's birth) is Rs. 300. Please update me in the comments section if the fee is any different.

Step 4: Wait for the Birth Certificate to be Ready

In this highly sophisticated and increasingly fast world, your town office will take 3 months to prepare your child's birth certificate. It will come in the form of paper with both English and Urdu names of parents as well as the child and other important information.

Step 5: Thank God.

TB Test for UK Visa: Finding IOM

TB Test for UK Visa in Pakistan

Since March 2007, an additional requirement for Pakistani applicants of UK visas (6 months or more duration) is to have a tuberculosis (TB) certificate. The certificate is issued by International Organization for Migration (IOM). Except for a phone number (which is 051-111 466 472) nothing is listed anywhere on the Internet.

Below is an attempt to show you the location and tell you the process for Karachi residents (something similar would be applicable to Islamabad, Lahore and other cities). IOM Addresses for major cities can be found at the bottom of this post.

The process itself is as follows:

Step 1: Get Appointment from IOM

Keep your passport number handy, and call IOM call center on Islamabad. As with any kind of visa related issues, be very patient but consistent.

They will ask you for (a) the visa category you are applying, (b) your full name, (c) your date of birth, (d) and your passport number. The person attending the call will tell you a reference number and ask you to deposit TB test fee in the designated bank; he'll also tell you the address of (and time for your appointment with) the Karachi office of IOM. Usually the time given is day after the following day. For your appointment at IOM, you will also be told to carry the following with you (a) your original passport, (b) a copy of your passport, (c) two passport sized photographs (d) and bank deposit slips

Step 2: Deposit Test Fee

Go to Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) Gulshan-e-Iqbal branch. It's located on University Road, almost opposite to Masjid Bait-ul-Mukaram. They have special deposit slips for IOM. The fee is Rs. 3500/- (again as of now). You'll need to write down your passport number on the deposit slip---so keep that handy once again.

Step 3: Visit IOM

Now, wait for your appointment day at IOM. The location where you have to go is shown on the map below.


View Larger Map

This is easily reachable if you take a left turn at Karsaz from Shahra-e-Faisal while going towards the airport---cross the first signal and then take another turn left; this is one end of the the Tipu Sultan Road. Another useful hint: you can go there earlier than your appointment time. After taking your passport copy, photographs and a part of the deposit slip, they will give you a sealed envelope which you have to take to main Agha Khan University Hospital.

Step 4: Visit AKUH, and Get Tested

Go to AKHU, Radiology section; there is a dedicated counter for IOM there. Give them your passport and the sealed envelope; wait for your turn and get X-rayed. AKUH will give you back your passport but not any results.

Step 5: Collect the Results

Your TB certificate will have to be collected in person once again from IOM office. The collection timings are 4:30 pm to 5:00 pm (Monday to Thursday), and 12:30pm to 1:00pm on Friday.

---

Below are addresses for IOM in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Mirpur (aka Meerpur):

IOM Karachi

IOM Karachi Sub-office
F-8/1 KDA Scheme #1
Tipu Sultan Road (adjacent to Karsaz Road)
Karachi

IOM Lahore

IOM Lahore Sub-office

1 Ali Block,

New Garden Town (near Kalma Chowk, behind Zainab Hospital)

Lahore

IOM Islamabad

IOM Islambad Sub-office

House 14, Street 84,

G-6/4,

Islamabad

IOM Mirpur

International Organisation For Migration (Iom) Sub Office
House # 6, Sector D/4, F2 Road, Block West,
Mirpur, Azad Kashmir.

---

Phew!

Going to Sweden for Studies?

If you are a Pakistani, going for higher studies to Sweden below are some indispensable links from Pak Sir Zameen:

• Swedish Visa Application


• Mailing list of Pakistani's in Sweden


• Life in Sweden as a Pakistani Student in General


• Odd Jobs


• Travel to Sweden


• Things to Bring to Sweden


• Ranking of Swedish Universities

Courtesy: Saad Rahman, owner PakSirZameen.net

Reverse PIN on ATM's

Recently there has been surge on cash snatching on ATMs at gun point. Various videos have been circulating around in Karachi---most of the time the event happens when the ATM is placed inside an enclosure.

Concerned people have also started forwarding emails which say that you can save yourself in such a situation by entering your ATM PIN in reverse order; further claiming that doing so will alert the police before giving you the cash. If you discuss this with any IT person working in a local bank, he/she will definitely tell you that it's not true. There is no such thing as reverse PIN checking on bank's ATM controllers. Nor there is any built-in mechanism to alert the police.

A letter to the editor in Dawn surprised me that there is a patent on this idea! This is known as ATM Safety PIN!

I Don't Trust Shell

In fact, I dread Shell. I would never goto a Shell station, had it not been due to the Shell fuel card lock-in, thanks to my employer. I have had countless fraudulent attempts on me by Shell Pump at Askari 4 (Rashid Minhas Road), and other Shell pumps haven't been better either.

A typical fuel filling session goes as follows: The pump attendant first ensures that your car is parked such that you can't see the meter. The next thing you have to do is to get out of the car to see the meter (failure to do so means you get duped because the meter is not reset). The next thing is to make sure that the filling is not stopped in the middle. The most common fraud is to stop it, and then restart to fill to your demand; the pump attendant then claims that he had reset before starting off again---sometimes filling more than 45 liters in a 30 liter tank!

Finally, when you have rightfully defended against all frauds, the final phase is to make sure that when you give the fuel card, Shell guys do not overcharge. For this, you have to go to the card machine and supervise machine operations; otherwise, if you detect it later, the person manning the machine will put the blame on you that you had asked him to overcharge!

A simple petrol filling session can be so adventurous in this country!

I have made limited attempts to contact someone from Shell but couldn't find any useful contact with authority there. I also tried sending the same to Letters to the Editor section of dawn.com but to no avail. If someone can take this to the right person, I shall be obliged.

Foreign Universities in Pakistan

One of the good acts put together by Musharraf government is the initiation of the collaboration between some Pakistani and foreign universities. Several universities were planned to be established as a result of this collaboration; land was acquired for one such university in Sialkot. The plan was for Royal Institute of Stockholm (KTH, Sweden) to provide curriculum while most of the faculty would remain Pakistani. The graduates of the university would have the opportunity to find jobs in Sweden.

Here I must link to the other view point, which is from Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy, famous for his disliking to the policies/ action of the then HEC chairman, Dr. Atta ur Rehman.

As a major milestone in this direction in April 2005, a travel report was submitted by KTH professors who had visited some prominent Pakistani universities, including GIKI, UET, and many others.

With worsening law and order condition in Pakistan over the following years, all foriegn universities gradually pulled out of these projects, including KTH from the university in Sialkot. However, the same project has now been taken over by Jönköping University. The man behind this continued support is Dr. Ramon Wyss, new Vice-president for International Affairs at JIBS (Jönköping Institute of Business Studies).

We have to keep our fingers crossed to see if sanity will ever prevail in this country! What's so wrong with us?

We continue to make World Records

Despite all odds, we continue to exceed everyone's expectations in this dry and troubled country. Ali Moeen, a student of Roots (Rawalpindi) has made his name to Guinness Book of World Records by securing 22 A's in his GCE exam.

I heard in the news that after being interviewed several times abroad, our government woke up out of its coma and awarded him some Presidential Medal. Who needs recognition when even your survival is at stake?

Distance Learning/ Swedish Universities

I recently saw an email from a Pakistani pursuing "Internet MBA" degree from BTH. A bit surprised, because BTH is a regular university in Sweden and also because education is still free in the country, I googled and found a few interesting facts about Distance Learning.

The cost of Internet MBA is 0 just like other programs offered by most of the Swedish universities. Moreover, you save on the living expenses of the country as well!

Admissions to the program is like regular admissions; you have to have a bachelor's degree, and show English language proficiency, etc. The university is selective in whom to give admission and whom to reject. For example, for Internet MBA, BTH gets 800 applications out of which it short lists around 70. Attendance is must and there are quite a few rules which make it challenging.

Not only that, I found quite a few programs taught using the Internet:

• Masters in Geographical Inforamtion Systems (GIS) from Lund University


• Master Program in Information Security from Lulea University of Technology


• BTH also offers a Masters of Science in Informatics


• A number of courses at Karlstad Unviersity; specially IT, Project Management and Enterprise Systems

Considering the fact that Swedish universities offer world class education (not to forget a "recognized" degree), it's nice even if you complete only a few credit hours worth of courses from these universities.

Pakistan: Making the News

So, India has launched its moon mission. Will Pakistan follow suit? Like it did for the nuclear race? Most of the people will say no.

"Nuclear race was different!" would come the reply. Pakistan was fortunate enough to get hold of AQ Khan at that time. Leaving the current political turmoil aside, even the country's financial crisis do not allow us to spend on space programs!

India's moon mission's cost was $86 million! Can Pakistan afford that? Does Pakistan have the technical ability to do something that complex? Not only that, even the topic discussed here would be sneered by most of the Indians: "India competes with China. Pakistan is way far behind."

"Huh?" is my reply. Not that I see it happening in near future---I don't live in a fairy land. It's just that there is nothing fundamentally different between the "abilities" of India and Pakistan. You say "$86 million?" That's just one year's package of one of the techies from Pakistan! The government may be weak but Pakistan has always been a nation of individuals. Which country could have the "World's Nicest Man" as its citizen? Pakistan, of course.

It's not just people, Pakistan is rich on minerals. We have world's 5th largest copper and gold mine, world's second largest salt mine, huge coal reserves (sufficient to provide energy for 500 years), etc. Why else is the US so much insisting on conducting a "free of cost" geological survey of Pakistan?


So, is it the technology which we lack? You dare say not. Did you hear about the Big Bang Experiment being conducted in Switzerland by CERN? Do you know 27 Pakistanis are working there? Do you know some of the equipment has been prepared at a very low cost in Pakistan.


So, what is it that holds Pakistan back? A lot of things but the most important is the political system. First of all, there are several countries with vested interests in Pakistan. These include the US, Russia, India, Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, etc. Except for China, all these countries directly interfere with the political system of Pakistan. Since the day Pakistan came into being, these external forces have exploited the internal weaknesses of the people of Pakistan, and we haven't been able to stand on our feet; to the extent that today, the country is facing the threat of bankruptcy.

The US is bent upon dragging Pakistan (with no inclination towards the stability of the country) into its own interests, and so are a few other countries.

The good things is, as the script of Matrix puts it, "One way or another, Neo, this war is going to end." Nobody is sure when this is going to happen. Perhaps, we are all waiting for a big disaster to happen! We know the "recovery" hasn't yet begun but as a nation Pakistanis are very clear about the destiny.

Like Son, Like Father

"If he's insisting, I might hug her." said the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on meeting the Vice President Candidate, whom he considered to be "gorgeous."

While the media in Pakistan is at rage, I am surprised that nobody has commented about the son, whose security will cost 1 million pounds annually. I think, instead of saying bad things about others, I should just finish off by linking to a news report on the son.

Worst Nation?

Only if you know Urdu.

Reinvesting the "Earned" Money

Now that Zardari's $60 million have been released by Swiss authorities as Pakistan withdraws its case against the wanna-be-president, what should he do with this money? Considering that Pakistan now has a weaker economy and looking for any possible means to sustain (deferred oil payments, for example), shouldn't this money be reinvested in Pakistan? After all, the "people's party" has given "supreme sacrifices" for its dear homeland; and we are not requesting even a monetary sacrifice here: just reinvest, please!

Comparing Wedding Cermonies

A colleague forwarded me an email showing comparison between the weddings of the son of Pakistani PM (Yousuf Raza Gillani) and the same of Iranian President (Ahmadinejad). The comparison was done in terms of photographs taken of the event.





The second picture shows the son of Pakistani PM marrying the grand daughter of Pir Pagaro (another of famous politicians/ land lords of Pakistan). While the one at the top shows the marriage ceremony of the son of the Irani President with the daughter of Deputy Chairman of Tourism and Historical Works.

There were no conclusions drawn in the email but apparently the author of the email wanted to compare the two weddings in terms of Islamic values, perhaps simplicity. You can get another sense of "Islamic touch" to the event in the images below.





While, I can fully understand the difference depicted in the two sets of pictures, I see no variation in the wedding of Yousuf Raza Gillani's son when compared to a typical Pakistani one. Again, the ideal from Islamic point of view could be how Ahmedinijad orchestrated the event but I would be extremely surprised if my dear colleague/ readers could follow the same on his own wedding.

Like people, like leaders!

World's 5th largest gold, copper reserves found in Baluchistan (Pakistan)

I received this in an email from a colleague; my first impression was, "We, Pakistanis, never try to authenticate a news before forwarding despite this being attributed akin to lying in Islam." So, I did a quick search and found a 2006 news item on a Chinese site. Apparently, the news seems to be true. What's surprising is that the license to Canadian and Chilean firms were awarded 10 years ago, and most of the Pakistanis remain unaware.

However, there are some contradictions and some more affirmations here. Another report confirming the news and putting the worth at 65 billion dollars is posted here.

Now, this clearly tells me why corrupt politicians---Nawaz and Zardari---were so eager to come back to this dry and troubled country, where you don't even have water and electricity as a commoner, and you don't even have any assurance why you wouldn't be blown up while offering prayers today.

Karachi!

Somebody has coined the term "City of Emergency Lights" for Karachi.

The situation in Karachi is bad, as you can see here as well.

Almost every institution of Pakistan is a "mini-Pakistan." Take any organization (be it a software house) and you'll identify that the problems at the micro level are same as those on the national level: tolerance, truth, accountability, etc. are missing.

We have had a false sense of security and prosperity---just like what's happening in Dubai cannot be described as "development and progress." The folks in Dubai are just making concrete structures for the rich by the richer. Till you address the core issues and help to improve your neighborhood as well, you are not safe.

Like the 2005 earthquake, we seem to be waiting for some more catastrophes. We discuss; we read; we write and then we forget.