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Showing posts with label Articles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Articles. Show all posts
Sehar-o-Iftar Ki Nashriyat Aur Dilon K Haal(Zaheer Ahmad)
Written By Unknown on Monday 5 August 2013 | 00:43
New Government and Flop Policies
Written By Unknown on Sunday 16 June 2013 | 23:54
Columnist Shaheen Sehbai is pointing out the new government on their flop policies. Ishaq Dar is a secret man of Asif Ali Zardari and he is not able to perform well as he always gives lame excuses. Now its time to understand that PMLN is giving same policies as PPPP has given in the past.
Everything is a Joke! (By Rauf Klasra)
Written By Unknown on Saturday 1 June 2013 | 02:19
Everything is a Joke! (By Rauf Klasra)
Politics of Sindh By Talat Hussain (Zardari Role in Destroying PPP)
Written By Unknown on Thursday 30 May 2013 | 03:27
Zardari is no more capable of doing politics and he had played major role in destroying PPP.
Energy Crisis in Pakistan, Not a Joke
Written By Unknown on Saturday 2 March 2013 | 05:11
Pak-Iran gas pipeline project, once again openly opposed by America. In Pakistan, US Ambassador Richard Awlcen has said that US have concerns on Pak-Iran gas pipeline.
On the one hand, Prime Minister's Advisor on petroleum Dr. Asim Hussain says Pak-Iran gas pipeline was not under any presure and we are free to make our own decisions in front of America, On the other hand, Iran's Consul General, Muhammad Jaafar subhani says America is angry on Pak-Iran relations. America and Israel are the enemies of Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project, and these two countries do not want that Iran provide gas to Pakistan however, despite all the obstacles Iran will help Pakistan to overcome energy crisis.The US State Department says Pakistan’s should avoid any activity that can hit it with sanctions.America recognize that Pakistan has significant energy requirements and given help to overcome energy crisis.Pakistan should take advantage of the US support.
Although Pakistani officials promise the nation that Iran gas pipeline project will be completed soon, and there is no pressure from American side.But In-fact Reality is totally Against.Nobody knows Why does Pakistani leadership telling wrong to public.
This is reality that Pak-Iran gas pipeline project is crucial for the recovery of Pakistan's economy.Even Pakistani advisers say that the era of cheap gas is gone, and now the era of expensive gas due to shortage of gas.Few days before a news also came that Badin and Sui gas reserves will end from 2025 so plans to import gas from Iran is critical to Pakistan's people and economy.
Pakistan has rejected American pressure, demonstrating the courage and daring.Due to disputes on Iran's nuclear program the US and Western countries imposed sanctions on Iran, and it's not impossible that both parties impose restrictions heading towards Pakistan due to trade restrictions with Iran. It was as same that they wants to see Pakistan in the darkness and there is no compassion for the people of Pakistan.
On the other hand China supports and now refuse to oppose Iran gas pipeline project, and given a message to Pakistan's "so called friend" America that energy crisis in Pakistan, is not a joke.
The Reality of Missing Persons in Pakistan
Written By Unknown on Monday 25 February 2013 | 08:45
Lots has been published and even more could well be articulated within the concern later on also, denoting why the try to portion have been completed nonetheless, oahu is the actuality in which an incredible number of harmless men and women have been smashed and created throughout heading for their particular haven. Every aspect of times acquired strange background in which are not narrated inside text. Each photo acquired an exceptional narration but an incredible number of books could not release the particular level surrender made by the Muslims connected with Sub-continent.
How a article author might reveal one's heart of a fifty percent dressed up, uncovered footed, fatigued and injured migrant who eventually left his relations, pals, house, house and property where by they got labor and birth hastening towards location perceived as location? What sort of novels, how rich maybe it's may narrate the report connected with shedding his kids as a result of outdoors enemies, his useless moms and dads to become the dinner regarding vultures, the abuse connected with his children or maybe wife before his little brown eyes? The location had been Pakistan and most of us regret he has definitely not reached the location but.
We're able to very easily know that era roaming around however can not challenge asking their particular thoughts and opinions. In truth, we are offenders. Many of us can not increase your quick before all of them. Also every passing time will be pushing people under the planet.
Along as being a region, we are definitely going for you to break down due to your accomplishments and therefore can not help conference damage. Almost nothing much more could be accomplished about this and let us welcome annihilation banging at your doorways.
In case someone suspects they need to visit the courtyard connected with Presidency, Parliament and Primary Minister House often called “Parade Ground. ” This can be a location where by television troopers in the land used to walk about “Pakistan Day” observing the traditional time connected with 1 Drive 1940. On the other hand an instance has been authorized next to one of the wings in the same armed service simply by deprived groups of numerous missing individuals.
Subsequently Attend Ground has not yet seen almost any soldier walking in line and saluting for pretty much 10 years.
On the other hand, viewing the feeling hopeless families feelings of loss at disappearance connected with their loved ones it shows the degree of doubt in the united kingdom. Absolutely, they're definitely not feelings of loss for two sufferers nevertheless for nearly 630 men and women who had previously been picked up simply by a few nonresident person having these to a few black color divots previously mentioned the property.
Safeguard connected with Man Protection under the law Friday announced for you to remain in for a good anonymous time in advance of Presidency while using deprived families for you to shake the mind in the region. Everybody under the tent has a different report nonetheless; a couple of points are standard to any or all.
Firstly, they have been spending the price of their particular enjoy together with Islam and Pakistan and next they have been tossed away from the region. Hearing tend to be deaf, lips tend to be zipped, little brown eyes tend to be shades and doorways tend to be sealed for them. No-one around is getting ready to hear all of them, talk ones and look at all of them even though they have been feelings of loss for years. Learning the culprits, they will can't seem to discover all of them since not anyone thinks whenever they talk and ignores whenever they notify.
Nonetheless the disappearance connected with their loved ones keeps all of them living whenever they need to move under the planet. Allow us to hear few of the sounds but we have now neither which not to be able to converse or maybe read their particular place justly.
The wife of Major Osaid Zahidi says, “My man served for pretty much 18 years within Army as well as 9 year within Army Intelligence. This individual got pension within 2008 due to healthcare reasons. On 15 March 2010, they had been abducted and most of us nevertheless haven't discovered your pet. Via quite a few methods, most of us attempt to lookup your pet and gotten the data in which firms picked your pet way up. Many of us have no idea the reasons connected with his abduction. In case he has dedicated a few error, they needs to have delivered prior to a courtroom. They (agencies) neither produce your pet inside courtroom not tell people concerning your pet. They attempt to persuade people not to ever fret and tell us that he has been picked regarding everyday interrogation and self-satisfaction nonetheless typically recognize his custody”.
As soon as asked how performed your woman find out that he has been picked up from the firms your woman mentioned, “Actually the folk close friend (of the woman's husband) Muhammad Junaid Zahidi, who had been the close friend in-law connected with myself as we both equally sisters have been married for you to those two inlaws, right after trying to find 6-8 thirty days obtained confirmed that he (her husband) was a student in the custody of the children connected with firms. Subsequently they had been kidnapped also and most of us located your pet useless inside Maleer Cannot Police force Train station location (Karachi) the identical night time. The two of us the sisters have misplaced your husbands. Our sibling possesses 6-8 kids even though I've got all 5 and are all modest. Many of us do not have everyone for you to acquire for people like us therefore, your close friend will be attending to people simply by hook varieties or maybe simply by thieves. ”
Your lover furthermore mentioned, “I sent in the request within Dec and date was given within Economy is shown nonetheless “Memogate” made an appearance and we are eventually left with the returning. Wherever need to most of us move at this point? ”
“Having looking the mindset connected with Gigantic Judge connected with Pakistan, I will be quite confident through Main The legal Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry that he might take have within the concern, ” your woman mentioned.
As soon as asked no matter if a number of the govt or maybe politics celebrations reached the woman's, your woman mentioned, “Nobody reached myself. MQM had been lording it over Karachi but they would not arrived at myself also. My spouse and i myself personally composed quite a few text letters for you to DG ISI, DG MI and Corps Commander Karachi Make it possible for. Standard Zaheer-ul-Islam however not anyone answered. At some time they will deliver their particular messenger who goes to people a good requires myself stopping his (My husband) custody of the children to become satisfied”.
“Once any Colonel with respect to Corps Commander called myself and mentioned he is definitely not with us however My spouse and i told your pet, I know he is together with you, ” your woman mentioned. As soon as asked PPN whenever performed ough obtain contact your woman mentioned “In January” incorporating in which your woman herself called once again within March however haven't gotten reply but.
“How sole person might take care of the woman's kids particularly when they have got killed your just male member that has been was once your guardian also inside lack of my husband, ” Your lover inquired.
Ultimately, your woman had been quite positive regarding the Gigantic Judge and mentioned, “After Allah Almighty, my personal past desire will be through Gigantic Judge and I will be confident in which rights could well be accomplished. ”
Within the get away, there's pure forty-five days and nights previous Barerah also who had been relaxing inside clapboard connected with the woman's freshly wedded mum. Your lover had been struggle to converse therefore beyond the woman's mum and grandmother’s tongue; your woman had been asking where by his father has been considered before the woman's labor and birth perhaps.
The woman's mum got the woman's along all the way up through Sakkhar (Sindh) to Islamabad where by jane is getting started with demonstration. The woman's nanna hurried for yelled, “My child has brought the woman's baby-girl for you to Islamabad ordinary severe climate and could well be the following until the woman's boy in-law was launched. Your lover (her daughter) announced to go to Islamabad and depart the woman's (her modest granddaughter) before parliament home. In case one thing undesirable transpires for you to minor ‘Barerah’ people (the media) plus the region might result in that”.
Your lover told this kind of correspondent the woman's boy in-law Azhar Iqbal have been picked up through Gulzar Hijri (Karachi) about 7 May well 2011from his property. “Why he has already been kidnapped and where by he has already been arrive at whenever they performed n't have any connections together with some of the strict or maybe politics faction in the united kingdom, ” your woman bluntly asked. “Is it human race in which my personal daughter’s man have been picked up pure right after 7 a few months connected with his union and therefore they would not discover his child but who found the planet within his lack, ” the previous person asked.
Whilst your woman had been narrating the report connected with the woman's abducted boy in-law, a little daughter girl arrived within and cried, “My father will be disappeared regarding past three years. ” This individual utilised to go to operate inside City Medical Karachi. This individual used to selling juices and cheese burgers about handcart inside City Medical. ”
“Muhammad Ismail had been his identify, ” the woman told. Asking to own mercy with them, your woman mentioned, “Why they will (agencies) happen to be torturing people. Would you acquire loaves of bread and butter for people like us whenever regarding three years they have got kidnapped my dad, ” your woman designated.
Your lover informed also that they have been several sisters and a couple of inlaws even though one particular close friend and a couple of sisters have been married.
“We are living about book and your close friend who herself does not have a suitable employment had been attending to people since your father disappeared during the past year. Many of us have no idea where by they had been with out FIR possesses much already been authorized from the law enforcement officials. Sher Baloch had been the MNA connected with the woman's constituency who frequented the woman's and certain encouraging, ” your woman told.
As soon as asked through to whom does your woman assume aid your woman mentioned, “From government entities and in the President”. Giving answers to no matter if your woman believed Chief executive connected with Pakistan might help the woman's your woman bluntly mentioned, “He would…. The reason why he would definitely not accomplish? Would you accomplish if they would not? Because they requires the votes he has that can help people. ”
In relation to past elections, your woman shared with her family voted regarding Pakistan Individuals Get together however this time we might definitely not. “We wouldn't normally supply election until many missing individuals aren't released and might forged votes for you to individuals just who does arrive and uphold people, ” your woman explicitly mentioned.
Chairperson Safeguard connected with Man Protection under the law Amna Masood Jinjua the brave girl who misplaced the woman's man around 10 years previously and chose to appear and preventing regarding various other deprived families also as opposed to locking herself inside the confinement connected with the woman's home for you to mourn at the woman's husband’s sad disappearance.
Talking with Pakistan Heart beat News within the occasion, your woman informed in which 1030 cases happen to be authorized together with the woman's. Outside of all of them around 300 happen to be released even though absolutely no essential data had been available for yet another 300, according to the woman's.
“I need to help make a good interest the chief The legal connected with Pakistan for you to concern creation requests regarding other missing individuals while they made 7 individuals a week previously, ” your woman mentioned.
“We involve some indications concerning rest of the missing individuals because the individuals who have already been released notify that they have been within and so and so camps, ” your woman mentioned.
As soon as asked which kind of men and women happen to be kidnapped Microsof company Jinjua told PPN that each have been Islamic oriented, loyal, powerfully assuming within Pakistan ideology and don't recognize any type of international treatment, dictation or maybe concept.
“We have camped under the air and a 45-day previous newborn woman is by using people also, consequently Gigantic Judge ought to realize the degree of desolation we have now bogged in to beyond economical hardships while earning arms happen to be curtailed. Our kids have gotten internal affected individuals even though we've been experiencing large depressive disorders also. Many of us can not snooze without having tranquilizers, ” your woman added.
About the politics control, Microsof company Jinjua told this kind of correspondent in which Jamat-e-Islami and Tehreek-e-Insaf produced responsibilities with us even though your woman have asked Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan and Syed Munawwar Hassan to support what causes it.
“It could well be considerably productive whenever they frequented people and recognized your activity, ” your woman added.
Applauding the recommended legislation relocated simply by JI senators inside Chair for economic council suggesting to change regulations connected with “Preventive Detention” in the united kingdom, Amna Jinjua observed so it might help reducing the abuse connected with legislation simply by strong express firms.
Giving answers to whether the ice had been reduction after having a genuine posture from the Gigantic Judge woman mentioned, “Yes this indicates for you to. ” As soon as asked together with to whom you've past desire, woman mentioned “Supreme Court of Pakistan. ”.
We The Fools
Written By Unknown on Sunday 17 February 2013 | 10:26
Before coming to the main point i would like to Quote a summary of a Hadiths(حدیث) of our Beloved Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him):-
"Do Research Before Spreading Any News"
Now Come to the main point I Am an social media activist A Picture with title (#Quetta: an injured #child with foot broken after today,s bom blast. #shia #pakistan---)is rounding all over facebook. The Picture is Given Below:
As it is clear from the picture title that an injured child with foot broken after a blast.Actually some body tries to relate that picture with last day blast in quetta but is not the actual picture from quetta. This Picture is actually stolen from Yaffa News(A Site From Syria).And we poor Pakistani's shares this pictures rapidly on social media specially on Facebook.In Front of me more then 300 peoples share this picture without any kind of investigation.This is just because lack of knowledge.My Purpose here not to criticize anyone.My Purpose is just to share an easy way to investigate anything before it going to be shared.
Watch the Video Below:
Note:This video is not against any group or person, its just to aware people that how can we verify any news before we spread to others.
Hazara,s Crime (A Deadly Story)
Last Night (Dated: 16-February-2013)There was a huge Bomb blast in Quetta(Capital City of Province Baluchistan,Pakistan)This was actually the biggest bomb blast in the history of Pakistan.According to different News Channels of Pakistan,The death toll in a devastating bomb attack that targeted Shia Hazaras in Quetta city on Sunday rose to 93 as several persons died in hospital and bodies were pulled out of the rubble of collapsed buildings.
According to Media Reports hundreds of kilograms of explosives hidden in a water tank loaded on a tractor-trolley were detonated in a busy market at Kirani Road in Hazara Town, a suburb of Quetta.Due to that massive explosion more then 90 peoples killed and nearly 200 hundred Innocent peoples got injured.Some of them are in very critical situation.
Some reports said about 800-1000 kg of explosives were used in the attack, for which the banned Lashkar-e- Jhangvi claimed responsibility.This massive explosion created a crater six feet deep and nearly 20 feet long.
Lashkar-e- Jhangvi spokesman Abubakar Siddique told reporters by phone:
"Our suicide bomber carried out the blast and the Shia community in Hazara Town was the target."
There is no official word on whether a suicide bomber was involved in the incident or not.The deadly attack dominated the front pages of all Pakistani Newspapers with different titles as given below.
Dawn Headlined: "Terror comes back to haunt Hazaras"
The News Headlined: "Hazaras face yet another pogrom"
This is reality that Hazara Community in Pakistan specially in Quetta City have been increasingly attacked by militant groups like the Lashkar-e- Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba that describe them as heretics and non-Muslims.
My Question from these militant groups is: According to Islamic Education"Muslims are not allowed to kill any animals without any reason" But Hazara,s are Human,So Why They are Killing Them...!!?
In The Holy Quran This is Stated that:
Translation:
"On that account We ordained for the Children of Israeel that if any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole humanity: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the whole humanity. Then although there came to them Our messengers with clear (guidance), yet, even after that, many of them continued to commit excesses in the land. (5:32)"
In Simple Words:
“if any one slew a person … it would be as if he slew the whole humanity: and if any one saved a person, it would be as if he saved the whole humanity”
So the conclusion is that the militant Groups like Lashkar-e- Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba etc... are actually not Muslim because they are totally doing against the Islamic Educations.They are not representing our beloved religion Islam.
Islam is the religion of Peace and Prosperity not the religion of Killing and Bombing.In Islam everyone have equal rights even they are non Muslims.
May Allah Save Us From The Fitnah.
Reality of Valentine Day: Say No To Valentine Day
Written By Unknown on Wednesday 13 February 2013 | 22:51
“Some people set up equals to God, loving them as they should love God. But those who believe have greater love for God. If only you could see those who do wrong at the time when they see the punishment,and that truly all strength belongs to God, and that God is severe in punishment.” (Qur’an, 2:165)
What commercial and cultural propaganda presents as beautiful is rooted in ugly paganism but most blind followers do not know.
There is a group of practices that we can consider as the twin sister of bid’ah. Like bid’ah they flourish on the twin foundations of ignorance and outside influence. Like bid’ah they entail rituals. But unlike bid’ah the rituals have not been given an Islamic face. They are followed because they are considered an acceptable cultural practice or the hottest imported “in” thing.
Most of those who indulge in them do not know what they are doing. They are just blind followers of their equally blind cultural leaders. Little do they realize that what they consider as innocent fun may in fact be rooted in paganism. That the symbols they embrace may be symbols of unbelief. That the ideas they borrow may be products of superstition. That all of these may be a negation of what Islam stands for.
Consider Valentine’s Day, a day that after dying out a well deserved death in most of Europe (but surviving in Britain and United States) has suddenly started to emerge across a good swath of Muslim countries. Who was Valentine? Why is this day observed? Legends abound, as they do in all such cases, but this much is clear: Valentine’s Day began as a pagan ritual started by Romans in the 4th century BCE to honor the god Lupercus. The main attraction of this ritual was a lottery held to distribute young women to young men for “entertainment and pleasure”–until the next year’s lottery. Among other equally despicable practices associated with this day was the lashing of young women by two young men, clad only in a bit of goatskin and wielding goatskin thongs, who had been smeared with blood of sacrificial goats and dogs. A lash of the “sacred” thongs by these “holy men” was believed to make them better able to bear children.
As usual, Christianity tried, without success, to stop the evil celebration of Lupercalia. It first replaced the lottery of the names of women with a lottery of the names of the saints. The idea was that during the following year the young men would emulate the life of the saint whose name they had drawn. (The idea that you can preserve the appearance of a popular evil and yet somehow turn it to serve the purpose of virtue, has survived. Look at all those people who are still trying, helplessly, to use the formats of popular television entertainments to promote good. They might learn something from this bit of history. It failed miserably) Christianity ended up doing in Rome, and elsewhere, as the Romans did.
The only success it had was in changing the name from Lupercalia to St. Valentine’s Day. It was done in CE 496 by Pope Gelasius, in honor of some Saint Valentine. There are as many as 50 different Valentines in Christian legends. Two of them are more famous, although their lives and characters are also shrouded in mystery. According to one legend, and the one more in line with the true nature of this celebration, St. Valentine was a “lovers’” saint, who had himself fallen in love with his jailer’s daughter.
Due to serious troubles that accompanied such lottery, French government banned the practice in 1776. In Italy, Austria, Hungry, and Germany also the ritual vanished over the years. Earlier, it had been banned in England during the 17th century when the Puritans were strong. However in 1660 Charles II revived it. From there it also reached the New World, where enterprising Yankees spotted a good means of making money. Esther A. Howland, who produced one of the first commercial American Valentine’s Day cards called what else valentines, in the 1840s, sold $5,000 worth–when $5,000 was a lot of money–the first year. The valentine industry has been booming ever since.
How can anyone in his right mind think that Islam would be indifferent to practices seeped in anti-Islamic ideas and beliefs? Islam came to destroy paganism in all its forms and it cannot tolerate any trace of it in the lives of its followers.
Further, Islam is very sensitive about maintaining its purity and the unique identity of its followers. Islamic laws and teachings go to extra lengths to ensure it. Salat is forbidden at the precise times of sunrise, transition, and sunset to eliminate the possibility of confusion with the practice of sun worship. To the voluntary recommended fast on the tenth of Muharram, Muslims are required to add another day (9th or 11th) to differentiate it from the then prevalent Jewish practice. Muslims are forbidden to emulate the appearance of non-Muslims.
narrated by Abdullah Ibn Abbas RA that Allah HATES three people the most;
- Evil doers
- Who wants Jahalih (paganism) in Islam
- Kill with out right
A Muslim is a Muslim for life. During joys and sorrows, during celebrations and sufferings, we must follow the one straight path not many divergent paths. It is a great tragedy that under the constant barrage of commercial and cultural propaganda from the forces of globalization and the relentless media machine, Muslims have begun to embrace the Valentines and other days. Given our terrible and increasing surrender to paganism the only day we should be observing is a day of mourning. Better yet it should be a day of repentance that could liberate us from all these days.
“To mankind the love of worldly appetites is painted in glowing colours: women and children, and heaped-up mounds of gold and silver, and horses with fine markings, and livestock and fertile farmland. All that is merely the enjoyment of the life of the world. The best homecoming is in the presence of God.” (Qur’an, 3:14)
Antibiotics Boost Power of Malnutrition Cure
Written By Unknown on Sunday 3 February 2013 | 07:53
WASHINGTON: Adding a low-cost antibiotic to dietary treatments could help save many children with acute malnutrition, according to new research out Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Researchers from the Washington University in Saint Louis medical school followed the treatment of more than 2,700 Malawian children, six months to five years old, all diagnosed with severe malnutrition.
The children were all given a regimen of a peanut-based nutrient-dense food supplement, standard procedure in impoverished countries like Malawi.
But the children were also randomly assigned to receive a seven-day course of one of two antibiotics -- amoxicillin or cefdinir -- or just a placebo. Neither the researchers nor the families knew which pills the child was taking.
The treatment was effective for most of the children, regardless of whether an antibiotic was given -- more than 85 percent of the children recovered, in all three groups.
But among the children treated with either antibiotic, the success rate was noticeably higher.
Put another way, the rate of treatment failure fell by nearly a quarter with amoxicillin and by nearly 40 percent with cefdinir, compared to the group that took the placebo.
The mortality rate also dropped in the group that received antibiotics: by more than a third with amoxicillin, and by nearly 45 percent with cefdinir.
The results of this clinical trial could change the way doctors treat malnutrition, the researchers told The New York Times.
Because of the study, the World Health Organization plans to recommend a broader use of antibiotics in its outpatient malnutrition treatment guidelines planned for release next month, they added.
Another study, published Wednesday in the US journal Science, showed that insufficient -- or insufficiently nutritious -- diets may not be the only reason some children develop severe malnutrition.
This study, also by Washington University researchers in Malawi, suggested that differences in the microbes found in the intestines contribute to why some children suffer more acutely from hunger than others.
The researchers came to this conclusion by observing nearly 400 sets of twins over their first three years of life, focusing especially on cases where one twin -- but not the other -- developed a form of malnutrition called kwashiorkor, associated with swollen bellies, liver damage, skin ulcerations and loss of appetite, in addition to wasting.
According to UNICEF, a person dies of starvation every 3.6 seconds, and most of the deaths are among children under five.
"Some 300 million children go to bed hungry every day. Of these only eight percent are victims of famine or other emergency situations. More than 90 per cent are suffering long-term malnourishment and micronutrient deficiency," the UN agency says on its website.
Warmer Earth Will Have Less Rain
Written By Unknown on Thursday 31 January 2013 | 23:44
PARIS: Climate scientists said Wednesday they found evidence to back predictions for a future with lower average rainfall, even though Earth's past warming episodes had led to more precipitation, not less.
Writing in the journal Nature, researchers said they had found proof that global warming caused by Man's greenhouse-gas emissions has a different effect on rainfall than warming caused by increased solar radiation.
Warming induced by carbon emissions is expected to accompany a rise in droughts in the future, they said.
This runs contrary to experience during the so-called Medieval Warm Period, from 1000 to 1250 AD, when Earth was hotter than today as a result of solar heating -- but also wetter.
Scientists have long battled to understand the apparent contradiction.
Now they have shown that the two causes induce warming in different regions of the atmosphere, with different outcomes for rainfall formation.
The introduction of heat-absorbing greenhouse gases leads to a narrowing of the usual temperature difference between different layers of the atmosphere -- thus a more stable atmosphere that is less conducive to rain, said the report.
"For the same increase in temperature, solar heating will induce an overall higher level of rainfall than greenhouse gases," said a Nature press statement.
"Less rainfall (under the greenhouse-gas warming scenario) means on average increasing chances for droughts," said co-author Bin Wang of the University of Hawaii's International Pacific Research Center.
Solar radiation can be affected by factors like volcanic activity, the level of aerosols in the atmosphere and changes in the Earth's orbit around the Sun.
The study says the estimates for future rainfall are a global average, and do not apply to what is expected to happen locally.
Previous research has pointed to risks of regional flooding or water stress as climate change alters traditional winds and the amount of moisture they pick up at sea.
Need To Change The Mind Set
True, we are all well-informed about the dangers of smoking — the warning on cigarette packs are a constant reminder of the hazards for smokers. But the play goes beyond that. It stirs one’s emotions. Who will not share the grief of the mother mourning her deceased daughter who fell victim to tobacco? That is what all of Sheema’s presentations set out to do to make a powerful impact on the audience when it identifies itself with the characters in the play and internalises its message.That is how Tehrik-i-Niswan, the group she founded in 1979, has brought many feminist issues to the fore and empowered women. Sheema has effectively used the medium of theatre and dance to change the popular perspective on sensitive questions such as violence against women, gender discrimination and the low status of women. Thus for the first time the performing the arts began to be used as a catalyst for social reform.
Has this strategy made an impact? Sheema takes a positive view. She says she did three performances for the All Pakistan Women’s Association’s anti-smoking drive and later she met women who told her they were so impressed with the play that they’d quit tobacco altogether.
When you see the wider picture, these small success stories are like a drop in the ocean. In the case of tobacco, it has proved to be an uphill task to persuade people to relinquish the pleasures of smoking. The consumption of cigarettes has been shooting up worldwide, though now the nexus between cigarettes and cancer has been quite convincingly established.In Pakistan, health campaigners have to contend additionally with betel nuts and sheesha that have made the situation even more dismal.In 2011, according to the State Bank of Pakistan’s report, 65.4 billion cigarettes were produced in the country and approximately Rs195bn went up in smoke. This does not take account of the low-grade, unbranded cigarettes produced in unregistered factories all over the country.Smoking is a worldwide scourge. Mankind discovered its hedonistic pleasures before medical science learnt about its risks to human health. There is, however, a difference in how the advanced countries and Third World states address the problem. In the West, smoking is seen as an individual’s personal choice. But as the rights of non-smokers have to be respected, strict laws have been introduced to ban smoking in public places. In Third World countries the laws, even if adopted, tend to be lax.
That is what we see in Pakistan today. We are quick to adopt laws without really seeing to their implementation.
The country has a variety of laws supposedly designed to check the use of tobacco. The Cigarettes (Printing of Warning) Ordinance, 1979 (later revised several times) makes it mandatory to print pictorial warnings on the packs.
The Prohibition of Smoking in Enclosed Places and Protection of Non-smokers Health Ordinance, 2002 prohibits the use of tobacco in any place of public work or use and in public service vehicles and prohibits advertisement of tobacco products, sale to minors and sale or distribution of cigarettes near educational institutions. A large number of rules elaborate these laws.And yet the charm of tobacco defies all restrictions. A survey by some doctors of the Dow Medical University in Karachi found blatant violation of these laws with smokers lighting up cigarettes freely in banks and other offices of public dealings, shopkeepers selling cigarettes to children under 18 and the ban on cigarettes not being observed in buses.
The fact is that the tobacco industry enjoys a paradoxically privileged position in the economy. On the one hand it is taxed heavily as it has no one to publicly champion its cause. But on the other hand, given the huge turnover of the tobacco industry, cigarettes have emerged as a major source of revenue for the treasury.
Hence one suspects that officially there is no serious interest in implementing the laws. Would any government want to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs?Take Pakistan Tobacco Limited, Pakistan’s largest tobacco company. In its financial statement for the January-September 2011 period it says that the company contributed to the national exchequer federal excise duty, sales tax, custom duty and income tax worth Rs37.6bn (for nine months). The country’s public sector spending on health for 2010-11 was Rs42bn.With economics working in the direction of a smoking culture one wonders if Sheema’s brave efforts will succeed. Nevertheless I consider her approach very important.Any change in human behaviour has to begin with a change in perception. The Tehrik-i-Niswan attempts to make a beginning by changing mindsets. Its next presentation on Feb 14 based on Fehmida Riaz’s poem is a dance-drama Aao Raqs Karo (come let us dance) which addresses the issue of violence against women. If we go by experience, this may be an even bigger challenge.
By:Zubeida Mustafa(ppn)
Volunteers Hold Untapped Potential
Written By Unknown on Sunday 27 January 2013 | 22:20
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| Volunteers Hold Untapped Potential |
On a dry Karachi winter morning, Mahgul Fatima, a mother of three, drops her children to school.
Then, instead of driving back home to watch television in her leisure time, she wraps a shawl tightly around herself, and drives down to the Raast Welfare Society School in a rundown part of Qayyumabad.
Fatima teaches two classes of spoken English a week as a volunteer.
“The women of Pakistan from affluent backgrounds are an incredibly productive workforce who can contribute so much to the community by taking out a little from their ‘me time’. Giving back to our community is not a favour, it’s a duty,” says Fatima, a home-based caterer and painter who also informally goes to homes of her maids and teaches small groups of women.
“As we celebrate the impact of volunteers on our world, let us remember the many places they are needed: in war zones and classrooms, in hospitals and homes – wherever struggling people seek a helping hand,” said the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in a message to mark the International Volunteer Day, celebrated every year on December 5th.
Volunteers, however, come in all ages. There is a growing awareness in Pakistan amongst the better off youth that giving back to the country is an answer to some of its chronic issues.
“When you live in a society as unequal as ours, it becomes a moral responsibility to contribute, voluntarily, to its well-being. We have to pay back,” says Ali Khan who, while he was doing his A levels, put in 40 hours of community service at Darul Sukoon, home for the physically and mentally handicapped.
“It’s a brilliant idea to put the youth to volunteer work. Once people are older and caught up in work and family responsibility, they cannot volunteer as much,” says 17 year old A Level student Iqra Moazzam, who volunteered at Tabeer School in Shirin Jinnah Colony.
The experience with underprivileged children made Moazzam “realise how different their and my lives are. It has taught me to be thankful and develop friendships across the board. I am no longer in my cocoon.”
The same sentiment resonates in the words of Dr Manzoor Hussain, Assistant Professor of Urology who works at Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplant (SIUT). SIUT’s volunteer program engages students from affluent backgrounds.
“Children from affluent backgrounds often don’t know real life. Our program helps them understand the problems of the less fortunate,” says Dr Hussain.
Published in The Express Tribune
Epilepsy Drug Has Long-Term Effect on Child IQ
Written By Unknown on Saturday 26 January 2013 | 01:54
Researchers in the United States carried out follow-up tests among the same group of children whose investigation in 2009 led to warning by the US health watchdog about the potential risks of the drug valproate in pregnancy.
The children -- examined at the age of three -- had below-par cognitive skills, which prompted the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue a warning about its use in pregnancy.
The new research, published in the journal The Lancet Neurology, examined the same children at the age of six.
Children born to mothers who had used valproate in pregnancy had an IQ that was seven to 10 points lower than children whose mothers had used one of three other epilepsy drugs, it found.
The higher the dose of valproate the mother took in pregnancy, the greater the IQ discrepancy. Verbal skills and memory were also affected.
The study, conducted between October 1999 and February 2004, by Kimford Meador at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, covered 305 pregnant women who had been using either valproate, carbamazepine, lamotrigine, or phenytoin.
The first analysis looked at 311 children in the United States and Britain; in the followup at the age of six, it covered 224 of them.
However, the study also suggested that IQ may improve with age for infants exposed to any of these drugs.
And by taking folic acid supplements, expectant mothers may improve IQ scores. This is the first time a boost has been shown in a study of pregnant women with epilepsy.
Valproate is, for some people, the only drug that can control their
epilepsy, so the findings on dosage and the beneficial effects of folic acid could be useful.
"Valproate usage during pregnancy has a significant negative effect on
children's IQ, which lasts beyond their earliest years. IQ at age six is
strongly predictive of adult IQ and school performance, so our research suggests that valproate use during pregnancy is likely to have long-term negative effects on a child's IQ and other cognitive abilities," Meador said.
"For many antiepileptic drugs, there is simply no research available on
their effects on women and their children during pregnancy, and given that many women do not have the option of stopping medication during pregnancy, more research in this area is urgently needed."
AFP
