Womb cancer on the rise!

It has been recorded that a great number of women are being diagnosed with womb cancer because they are having fewer children or none at all and because of this their hormone is effected which puts them more at risk. The rates of womb cancer are on the rise and it is the fourth most common form of cancers in women. This is proved by the fact that rates of this disease have increased by almost 50 percent in the past 30 years. Having fewer children is not only the reason for womb cancer because doctors have credited the rise to increased obesity too. It can double the chances for tumor too.

The occurrence of this cancer is usually after menopause and between the age of 60 and 69. Though 50% of all womb cancers are caused due to obesity but doctors do not present any such figures for the number of tumors they believe are caused by having fewer children. Jessica Harris, health information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: "Women are more exposed to womb cancer when there are higher levels of the hormone oestrogen in their blood”. So because of this the menstrual cycle changes obviously and it will also decrease when women are pregnant. Nowadays women do not plan to have children or they avoid till the time they are 40 something and this has been proved by official statistics too. So there are smaller families, with one in ten women having more than four children, compared with one in five 20 years ago. So by all this I conclude by saying that women are doing wrong by not having children at an early age as it creates more than one problem. We might say that career women have a sensible explanation for it but you see the long term disastrous effects which ends your life soon.

Today's career women.

Arab business women and aspiring leaders attending the Women in Leadership forum stressed that the key challenge facing professional women is maintaining a balance between their personal and professional life. “Women globally face the problem of balancing their private and professional life, for this we need support from our families, our society and from support groups because we are not superwomen” said Fatima, who was voted by Forbes Arabia as the seventh most influential women in the Arab world in 2008.

Christine Legarde, the French minister of economy, industry and employment said that it was important that women that had climbed the corporate ladder should support the sisterhood in business because she believes that there is a special place in Hell for those women who do not help other women. Hence we must support each other. During the opening panel session it was discussed by the other experts that a lot more needs to be done in spite of the policy and regulatory changes have been made by the government to further increase the participation of women in leadership roles.

The women council in the UAE is constantly on the go for developing policies and procedures to help support women. In order to support women in the workplace the Dubai Women Establishment is formulating policies to handle the issue of nurseries. This is a great effort that is being made to maintain women equality. Women in Leadership forum was basically designed to encourage the next generation of influential women to succeed not only as individuals but also as team leaders and organizational visionaries so that it might help the future generation as well. Therefore, identifying and enhancing skills are essential in order to be successful at workplace.

Pakistan: Islamic banking robust.

The State Bank of Pakistan believes that Islamic banks are on the edge of combining their market position in the banking industry only if the key hurdles faced by these institutions are highlighted in a appropriate manner. The Islamic banks have shown flexibility in the middle of the global financial crisis which is surrounding the local banking industry and in addition to that the State Bank is confident of the share of the banks increasing up to 12% of the market in the coming 2 or 3 years.

Basically Islamic banking was introduced in this country in 2001 when the government decided to promote the Shariah system and the Islamic way has shown marvelous development by gaining more than 6% of the market share in June of this year. Plus the number of Islamic banks have increased to 19 in the country. The assets of SBP’s have grown by 31 percent along with the financing and investment portfolio showing that the performance have improved as compared to last year, though there have been some problems faced which could decrease their progress such as lack of awareness amongst the business community regarding the genuineness of Islamic banking. The biggest is the controversies among the religious scholars about the interpretation of Shariah banking practices. This further adds to the confusion of general public.

So SBP has started an awareness campaign to remove all misconceptions about Islamic banking and to start the promotion of the basics on which it operates. As part of the campaign, the field offices of SBP are now more accessible to the public and the business community as well which would in turn improve awareness about Islamic banking.

Teens: over-texting and over-networking!

Nowadays it’s very difficult to imagine a teenager without a cell phone and a laptop. Now researchers have found that poor health habits such as drinking and smoking are mostly caused by excessive text messaging and online networking. A study by the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine has given evidence that excessive texting and online networking have increased the unsuspected health risks for teenagers. Before this when United States surveyed students from public high schools in the state of Ohio highlighting their use of communication technologies and lifestyle.

They found that teens who send more than 120 texts in a day or spend 3 hours on social networking sites such as facebook in a day are on an increased risk of getting involoved in unhealthy behaviors; such as 40% are more likely to have tried cigarettes, 43% are more likely to be binge drinkers, 41% are more likely to have used illegal drugs and 55% are more likely to been engaged in a physical fight. They also reported that hyper-networking is associated with more stress, depression, sleep deprivation and poor academic performance.

Scott Frank, a leading researcher of the study said. “The startling results of this study suggest that when left unchecked, texting and other widely popular methods of staying connected can have dangerous health effects on teenagers”. Hence I believe that this should be a wake up call for the parents to help their children to stay safe by discouraging excessive use of the cell phone and social websites too because in my opinion it is the same thing as letting our children go out and socialize for long hours on a school night. If we are stopping our children from spending long hours outside then we should not let them use the cell phone in such an excess or social networking sites because both the situations have the same effect in the long run.

Eid al-Adha Tidbits.

Celebrated annually on the 10^th day of the month of Hajj, Eid-ul-Azha or the Festival of Sacrfice is an important religious holiday to commemorate the gesture of Hazrat Ibrahim sacrificing his son in submission to Gods will. Each Muslim family is intended to slaughter a slaughter a domestic animal and the meat is to be divided into 3 portions; the family itself, the relatives and the needy.

The true value behind celebrating this festival is to help the needy and brings the Muslim societies together. I believe that this year on this festival something different should be done. For example we should select a charitable institution and donate a certain portion of our money; it is a way to serve the humanity, secondly we should take out time to remember the people who have passed away in the flood disaster in Pakistan, the earthquakes in Indonesia and other disasters which have taken place in the world.

 We all should educate our children about the true sanctity and true essence of this festival, along with the celebrations and splendid gifts, try and understand the deeper reason behind this holy day. In Pakistan Eid-ul-Azha is celebrated the most basic traditional way as every year. Men of the house go for salat-al-Eid, slaughtering then distribution of meat, while women cook delicious foods and children enjoy the lovely gifts!.

World's first biodegradable paper watch.

Geneva’s  based watch maker Altanus came up with world’s first biodegradable paper watch after four years of widespread research. Patch watches are completely biodegradable and are created from a special paper that is resistant to wear and tear. The aim of such a thing is to prevent it from disintegrating on someone’s wrist while wearing it. Plus this watch is said to be water proof and the average life span of this delicate looking watch is between a few days to even a maximum of two weeks – depending solely on the type of usage. This watch has been named Patch by Altanus and it is said that this super idea for a watch was adopted in the annual Carnival festival in Viareggio, Tuscandy.

To tell you more about its features, this watch weighs a mere 11 grams and for some special occasions, it is available in ten bright hues as well as in a couple of seasonal prints which are said to be very attractive. Altanus has priced these Patch watches for a mere USD 33.52, which is more than 50% less compared to the price of average watches sold by this company although Altanus is known for creating expensive watches. And so I believe that this is one more striking element which is fixated to this unique invention.

Basically Altanus’s aim is to attract more and more common folks as their customers by keeping the prices so low. But only time will tell that when do people of the Middle East actually get their hands on this new amazing gizmo. Whenever this invention arrives, it is definitely  going to make Mother Nature proud with joy.

Kashmir for natural goods :)

Away from high rise buildings, dazzling city lights, speeding cars there are people who still depend on mother- nature for keeping their small businesses running. A small town called Shopian, forty miles away from Srinagar, produces world’s best known varieties of apple including Red Delicious and American Apirogue. On the other hand, people who trade in locally produced apples and cherries remain largely cut off from the real world. Surrounded by a huge mountain range; Pir Panjal these people live lethargic lives, totally different from the fast changing world around them.

People are still dependent on small and simple tools. Everything is done using conventional methods of farming as they do not use any machines at all in their day to day lives. They do not make themselves dependent on machines. It is good in a way because firstly machines are expensive and most importantly using a lot of machines creates unemployment as high skills are required and most of the workers do not possess those skills. “Nature has bestowed us immensely. We do not want to contaminate our lives with modern machines?” says Mr. Abdul Majid Wani, a third generation farmer who owns large apple orchids outside Shopian town.
Apart from delicious apples this town is also blessed with pears, almond trees and walnut. In addition this place is also famous for Bigarreau Napolean variety cherry which is mostly exported to America and Middle Eastern countries and hence these cherries are a great source of income for these people of Shopian. If one gets to know of the fact that this place is so bleesed with such natural bounties, they wil not believe that this place is so cut off from the rest of the world. But still people of Kashmir are happy with their lifestyle, a simple one and life moves at its own pace in Kashmir as the people enjoy the gifts of nature and they feel lucky to be living in such a blessed country.

Coffee Consumption on a High!

A sudden rise in the level of coffee consumption has been seen in UAE and South East Asian expatriate zone since the year 2009. Before this the expatriates who are generally tea lovers always chose tea over coffee because of its low price but now according to the Business Intelligence ME report, coffee is now scoring the highest level of consumption.

The reasons behind this are that people have recently recovered from recession and as now cafes have become a common stop over for working people offering many new coffee treats, consumer tastes are changing. The Café Culture is back into existence starting many international chains of coffee cafes and brand names with exceptional consumer loyalty. In UAE, Costa Coffee, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Starbucks and Café Nero are famous for their various coffee delights. Actually these cafes have converted many tea lovers into regular coffee drinkers. With time, coffee has been taken to a level which has created a flare and craving never known to mankind.

In addition to this the retail market has received an indirect benefit due to the increasing coffee consumption because brands such as Nescafe and Brooke Bru who were simple coffee bean brands have now introduced new varieties of coffee flavors. If we take future expansions into consideration, it has been noted that UAEs coffee market will experience an inflow for international coffee brands and some reports have even confirmed the enthusiasm of consumers in the UAE to take in whatever improvement the coffee market plans to bring in. This will obviously create a huge loss for the tea market as it has already been suffering a great loss.



Cricket to Cancer.- the great Imran Khan.

He started a hospital for cancer patients in Paksitan for those who could other wise not pay for their medical services, free of cost. In addition to this he won the Cricket World Cup trophy for Pakistan.

Who else could it be?

Its none other than Imran Khan.

Imran Khan said : Obviously aiming higher comes at a greater risk, but “never compromise on your goals, if anything always upgrade your mission. Never accept something less because it’s a downward spiral, once you go down there’s no coming back. During the bad times, there’s a lot of temptation to compromise.”

Imran Khan also set up a first private sector university in the rural areas of Pakistan which I believe is another jewel added to this country as this aims to increase education in the backward areas of the country. Its not only the first private sector university in rural areas, but it is now growing at a phenomenal pace being the only university that is helping the underprivileged children of this country. This shows that Imran Khan has a vision for the children of Pakistan-a dream for the future of Pakistan. This huge step was taken by Imran Khan as everyone knows that 50% of Pakistanis are below 20 and he believes that the real challenge ahead is educating Pakistan which is the engine for the growth of our society.

Imran Khan is a dreamer, not a believer of realism at all but an idealist. His best words according to me are, “what has not been done can be done!”. He is a man with a mission and is a man of optimism, perseverance. He is a man to be respected for what ever he has done and is doing up till now for the cause of humanity and I believe we should all support him because such people are difficult to find these days especially in a country like Pakistan.

Oman suffers inflation!!

A sharp increase in the rate of inflation has been noted in Oman in the month of September with high figures reaching up to 4.2 percent and this is very high as compared to the past years rate which was 1.3 percent. The Ministry of National Economy provided data which proved that prices of food, beverages and tobacco increased by 2.6 percent. Not only food prices increased, prices of furniture and household equipments also increased by 0.2 percent. The entertainment services increased by 0.7 percent which is also pretty much high.

Though there was a decline in the prices of some commodities but still we see a rise in the prices of food products in September which was surprising. People were surprised as the prices of marine products and fish decreased and then suddenly they saw prices of vegetables, fruits, meat, chicken, salt and spices rising. Poor people are at the biggest advantage as these are the most basic commodities which everyone needs for a living. The result will be that poverty will increase sharply day by day after this inflation as it is happening in Pakistan. Poor people are becoming poorer and rich people are becoming richer and richer. This way the gap between the rich and the poor keeps increasing leading to inequality in a country.

Consumer price index for essential groups declined for the month of September 2010 such as transportation, telecommunication and textiles. Some divisions remain unchanged as compared to the previous month such as electricity, water, educational and medical services. But still there is inflation which is something to worry about as inflation creates difficulty for businesses by creating uncertainty. I believe that the government of Oman should take steps to do something for this situation of inflation because if inflation rises quickly its going to be worse for Oman as then it can be difficult for companies to manage production, inventory, and distribution of goods they provide. In addition, to fight inflation from a macroeconomic level is to raise interest rates which will increase the cost of capital for businesses that are dependent on outside financing to grow. So lets hope for the best for Oman and the people living there as they are the one who have to face the consequences of inflation the most.

Wicket keeper; Zulqurnain Haider goes missing!!

Pakistani wicket keeper is missing, is nowhere to be seen. He is not even in his hotel room in Dubai nor has he accompanied the team in the 5^th ODI versus South Africa at the Dubai sports stadium today as reported by the Geo News. This player, Zulqurnain Haider is missing since the morning of 8^th November right after it was telecasted on the television that Zulqurnain had received death warnings to lose the 4^th ODI match. He showed great performance in the last match by scoring the winning runs and leveling the series to 2-2. Though he slackened a bit before the match was about to end but then he pulled up his socks, and Pakistan was able to gain victory because of the last runs made by Zulqurnain. That is why the player got warning probably the people who gave the warnings had been alarmed by his performance in the last match. It is reported that he updated his facebook status, “leaving Pakistan cricket because got bad message”

Director Media of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Nadeem Sarwar clearl said it to the media that Haider disappeared without any trace. The Pakistan Team Manager, Intikhab Alam refrained from saying anything about the whole situation. As reported by the Geo News that Haider will probably leave for UK but it is sure whether he has actually left as the passports of the players are held with the management officials.

Because of Zulqurnanins sudden disappearance the team had to make changes for todays match by replacing Haider with Umar Akmal, hope the replacement works out. But the point is why did Zulqurnanin actually disappear, was the threat so severe that he wasn’t able to tell anyone except for just updating his status, or there was some other reason for leaving so suddenly. These questions are yet to be answered.

Razzak is our superman! :)

Abdul Razzak made us proud on 31^st October as he was declared man of the match for his outstanding performance at the pitch. He gave us reasons to say that Pakistan cricket is special. For the Pakistan cricket team we have always heard that Wasim Akram, Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Saeed Anwar or Shahid Afridi who have gained victories for the team. But now for a change it was Abdur Razzak who brought victory for the Pakistanis.

The evidence of Razzaks super duper performance is proved by the fact that he scored 10 sixes and seven fours. He individually handled the harsh bowling attack by the South Africa team. He earned the victory for the Pakistan team by just one wicket and one ball was left. That was too amazing when the match was nearing its end, Razzak out of 29 balls faced all of them but 8 of them. This was the time when Pakistan needed 54 runs to win the match and it seemed quite impossible to win with such a situation in front of the team.

It is pretty sure a thing that majority of the people would have lost complete hope when Afridi fell in the 30^th over thinking that the Pakistan team is useless. But the team proved it to be wrong in fact Razzak did it. South Africa is still confused what actually happened at the end of the match seing Razzaks performance.

These kind of victories were seen a long time ago but now we saw it last night and it felt really good. This match actually proved that the Pakistan cricket team has the potential to win when the situation is extremely tense for the team. And that’s why Pakistan cricket is so special.

Be social, live longer!

A research study conducted at Brigham Young University and University of North Carolina stated that people with more social relationships are likely to live longer and healthier lives. In other words we can say that people who are happy enjoying closer family bonds and bonds with their friends are half as likely to die early than those who don’t. These people are believed to live an average of 3.7 years longer. This research study was not an ordinary study but instead the study was based on data which was collected over a period of three decades. The study included 300,000 subjects and 143 studies. People who lead lonely lives have mortality even as high as alcoholics and people suffering from obesity. Basically loneliness makes u unhealthy. The reason behind this is that the network of friends and family provide moral support which in turn helps to handle any type of stress you’re going through.

If a person has a large social circle, more friends to talk to, hang out with and to laugh with then the person’s confidence level increases and he feels that his life is worth living for himself and for others too. The presence of a social circle decreases the perception of a situations complexity; the person would know that he can get help in times of difficulty from his friends and from his loved ones. As a result the person thinks more creatively by getting himself busy in healthy practices within his social circle. He thinks of more significant solutions to his problems, on the other hand the person who does not have a social life might remain stuck in his problems. I totally believe with this as I have seen it myself that people around me in university who have a huge social circle they are always busy with something or the other and this is good in a way as all of these activities keeps them away from being sad or thinking too much about something. There might be a possibility that some people prefer to living a lonely life as they have a belief of their own that they can live their life better when alone. But overall the research study provides us with more good reasons to engage ourselves in social activities to have a support system enabling us to enjoy our lives and hence make it more meaningful.

Does beauty really mean being pencil thin?

People today are just on their way to keep themselves as thin as possible no matter what happens. Of course its great to be thin because it adds attraction to your personality. But the rage to be a size zero is not good. Most of the models who work hard to be size zero suffer from Anorexia nervosa. It is an eating disorder in which people do not maintain a healthy body weight as they have a fear of gaining weight due to a distorted self image. This fear forces the individual to evaluate himself in a negative way and changes how he thinks about body, food and eating. Due to social and media influences it is not only physical but also a mental state of mind. No doubt becoming thin brings with it a sense of youth but women who try hard to be like these models they are not always successful. That’s a different thing if we are god gifted to be thin as there are some girls who eat a lot and remain thin. But if we are not amongst them then we should not kill our self in the process of trying to achieve it.

Being size zero is unhealthy and many do not know of what size zero actually implies. We are always hearing that models in between their shoots faint due to extreme dieting. This has even resulted in banning of super thin models from the ramp. The findings from a research done in a foreign university were that those girls who diet to become size zero they are actually risking their bones to long term problems such as osteoporosis. Hence the point is to explain that we should have a healthy diet always because health is the most important thing before anything else because if we are not healthy then we will be prone to more and more diseases day by day enabling us to do nothing in life and disabling us to full fill our dreams as moderate eating nature is the key of success in all respect and to all directions.

PEEPLI LIVE; ANOTHER GREAT AAMIR KHAN PRODUCTION.

Peepli Live, a film produced by Aamir khan, starring no big names but wonderfully directed which has a strong content and multi layered satire. This film takes you straight into the heart of the real India. It basically explains the problems of the BPL (below poverty line) people. The script while focusing on the predicament of the farmers also manages to bring in the role of the media and the politicians. Hence it is probably one of the better rounded scripts in Hindi cinema in recent times.

The plot centers around a poor farmer named Natha from Peepli village in the heart of rural India is about to lose his plot of land due to an unpaid government loan. A quick fix to the problem is the very same government’s program that aids the families of indebted farmers who have committed suicide. As a means of survival farmer Natha can choose to die!!. Though he himself is reluctant to do so, his brother is happy to push him towards this unique “honor”. Local elections are around the corner and what might have been another unnoticed event turns into a “cause célèbre” with everyone wanting a piece of the action. Everybody wants to stake their claim such as high ranking bureaucrats, politicians and ever fanatical media and so they descend upon the sleepy Peepli. The biggest question for everyone that arises is “will he or wont he?” As the mania escalates what will be the fate of farmer Natha; nobody seems to care how he really feels.

The film has its moments of quick, unintended laughs. The turn of events in Peepli Live provides full entertainment during the films running time. Basically Aamir Khan brings out the plight of poor farmers in India and how their devastated conditions force them to take such steps as ending their own lives. As for the intrusive habits of the media and the government’s apathy towards the farm sector, we have all been reading about them for a long time now. So there is nothing strikingly new that the filmmakers are dealing with. This might be counted in the negative points of the film and so the film succeeds only to an extent. But by and large, Peepli live is a lively and living document that lives beyond the same ideas of Hindi movies of love and romance. While on the periphery the film might appear to be a take-off on the farmer suicides, it ends up conveying much more and presents some shocking facts.

Sunflower production to blossom in Pakistan.:)

Pakistan is most likely to enjoy higher sunflower production. This is due to the heavy floods that have actually increased soil fertility in the main cotton growing regions of the country. This would increase the agricultural incomes of the farmers which is an advantage to them as due to the floods they were already losing out on their incomes. The land in the belt of upper Sindh now has increased fertility though the current floods had particularly caused heavy destruction in the agricultural sector of the country and much other damage as well. An area of 400,000 acres of land in lower Sindh is being used to sow the sunflower crop. This will result in 1.5 million acres of cotton being produced, yielding Rs.60 billion for poor farmers.

The floods have reduced salinity and due to silt the growing conditions have improved plus the Rabi crops don’t need that much water this season. The area which was being used for wheat production will be used for sunflower production as the wheat is likely to suffer a great setback. In this way Pakistan is making a profitable opportunity for farmers as it is currently producing 360kg. I believe that this way a chance is being provided to save precious foreign exchange n edible oil imports and this is the best way to do so at the moment. Farmers had demanded from the government to provide subsidies which would encourage them to grow more oilseed. This demand of theirs would cover the costs of drilling, fertilizers and seeds. Pakistan is already going through a very crucial moment so a great chance like this to boost up salaries is not to be missed, this increased production of sunflower should be greatly considered as it might solve many other problems too created by the destructive floods. At least from somewhere there is hope coming in Pakistan otherwise conditions keep deteriorating day by day in this country and this might improve Pakistan’s image too worldwide by improving its beauty as well but this is only possible if this thing is taken seriously in the coming days.

"Niqab" is officially banned in France!..

This Tuesday the French senate passed a bill banning the burqa-style Islamic veil in public. The senate voted 246 to 1 in favor of the bill in the final phase before the ban turns into a law. This move affects less than 2000 women however possible implications are many. This law would stigmatize the French Muslim population which at an estimated 5 million is the largest in western Europe though Muslim leaders have agreed that Islam does not require a women to hide her face. After this law has been passed numerous Muslim women who veil their face have said that they are now being continuously harassed in the streets.

In addition to this many Muslim women believe the legislation might act as a catalyst in raising the level of Islamophobia in the country. But on the other side people who support this law say that such a step will preserve the nations value, worldly and fraternal foundations as well which they believe are not possible when people are hiding their faces. They even believe that is aimed at increasing the strength of gender equality, womens self-esteem and security. Most importantly they think that it is upholding the countrys secular values. All this is the opinion of people who are not Muslims but the views of Muslim should also be given consideration its their religion they should be given freedom to practice their religion their own ways but in France this law is forbidding Muslim women to veil their face this might hold importance for them in their own way.

France became the first European country to pass such a law. This law has gone to such a extreme that if any women is caught covering her face they would have to give a fine of euro 150 and plus there are strict penalties for anyone, such as husbands and brothers convicted of imposing the veil. This way Muslims would not at all feel comfortable living in such a country where they are being under pressured with such laws. And I strongly believe that every country should give equal freedom to all its citizens regardless of any religion they belong to. This is totally wrong as it seems that Muslims are being targeted purposely everywhere in the world!!

PTCL employees on strike!!

Pakistan Telecom Company Limited (PTCL) employees have been on strike since the last month as their demand for a salary rise has not been met. Its one of the biggest news these days as the recent floods have damaged the communications network in Khyber Pakhtoonwala province and because of this telephone lines have submerged in water and infrastructure have been affected badly. This has resulted in a breakdown in of services in some areas such as Makland, Swat etc.

 Although the Prime Minister announced a 50% increase in the salary of the government employees but the management of PTCL refuses to give the increase in salary due to which there is a countrywide strike of the employees of this organization. The employees are not even willing to carry out any repair works till they get their salary increase. So the cable faults remain unrepaired leading to a switch over by business men, industrialists to wireless, mobile services and other modes as they cannot afford to lose their buyers. This switch over is leading to a great revenue loss for PTCL. People are now using other internet services in order to stay n touch with their local and foreign buyers.

On the other hand the PTCL management says that the strike is illegal because it has already raised the salaries of the employees by 50% in addition to many other incentives that have been offered. They believe that the employees are staging protests for their own vested interests and ignoring the larger interest of all employees.

PTCL remains one of the few profit making institutions in the country and the strikes are badly affecting its services to customers. I myself use PTCL internet connection because I had heard that its one of the best company but now I am facing connection problems as well forcing me to change my connection. Customers are looking towards private mobile phone companies to remain in touch with the outside world. PTCL hence should solve this problem as soon as possible otherwise the whole company would go down the drain completely.

Eid ul Fitr-the true essence of the festival.

As the month of Ramadan comes to an end Muslims all around the world prepare themselves for eid ul fitr. We see shopping malls flooded with people and special offers for eid at different shops. Eid means “festivity” and “fitr” means purity; it is a symbolic representation marking the end of the holy month of fasts, sacrifice and patience. Celebrated on the first of Shawwal, eid is a special occasion for Muslims around the world. What does eid mean to you? Eid ul Fitr is celebrated in different ways across different countries and communities; hence eid in its communal sense holds distinctive meaning for all Muslims. Some Muslims were interviewed to see their opinion of what eid means to them.

Mostly Pakistani expatriates and homemakers insisted that eid celebrations were far more joyous back home. They basically focused on the importance of teaching our children about the value and sanctity. This is actually true because we are engrossed in the preparations of eid that we so often forget to educate our children regarding the importance of eid. Every religious festival should be celebrated with zeal so that our children take the tradition forward. Zehra Sayed, an Indian however held a more meaningful stance because for her eid is a way forward to continue with the personal traits we so gracefully adopt in the month of Ramadan. However an Indian homemaker; Syeda Gohar insisted on helping the underprivileged to celebrate the festival in its true spirit. By making a conscious effort to go to NGOs or orphanages on eid and spending time with the less unfortunates we realize how blessed we are and children even learn the concept of sharing and charity.

But one thing that binds Muslims is unison; the one ideology that glues them together is the belief in the sanctity of the festival. Muslims hold this day in high regard and celebrate it to mark the gratitude for being blessed with life, health and opportunities.

"INCEPTION"; a brilliant American Thriller!

Christopher Nolan’s intellectual, exhilarating, mind twisting sci fi extravaganza, starring the great actor Leonardo DiCaprio presents the best mix of modern and traditional film making. Inception premiered in London on July 8th 2010 and was released in theatres on July 16th 2010. The trailer was great which made the movie worth watching.

What would it be like if someone could enter the dream of another without them having the slightest clue? Time passes by too quickly in the dream and there is a possibility that while in the dream one could steal the secrets of others from the sub conscious and reveal those secrets. In the movie this idea becomes a reality.

Leonardo is the leading character who plays “Dom Cobb”. When it comes to stealing information from unsuspected sleepers he is considered to be the best thief in the movie. Cobb works under Saito (Ken Watanabe). Cobb’s boss offers him a job which if he successfully completes he will be reunited with his children again. Cobb realizes that this is a big challenge for him and so he has to build up an idea in the mind of his boss’ rival instead of stealing information from the dream. This type of dream planting is called inception. Isn’t the whole idea of dream planting simply amazing?telling us that "your mind is the scene of the crime". Ellen Page as Ariadne is hired on Cobb’s team as an architect. He creates the scene of the dream making sure that the dreamer does not realize that it is a tactic. But the problem which arises here is that if one finds himself in an alternative world created by his own mind then there is a possibility that the laws of physics might be observed.

Christophe Nolan has also been the director of The Dark Knight and Insomnia and Nolan’s accomplishment with The Dark Knight helped secure the film $100 million in advertising expenditure. Inception is a fascinating movie because Nolan is an expert in creating the effects and stunts out of the ordinary elements but with the whole idea of inception the movie might appear to be difficult to comprehend as DiCaprio himself did not understand the whole script when he first read it. The idea of the whole movie is magnificent no doubt with incredible effects but some of you wont get the real gist of the movie by just watching it once. So no worries you might want to watch the movie again any ways because of the dramatic ending which holds your breath.

Facebook breeds NARCISSISM!!..

Nowadays facebook has become a total addict for people of every age especially teenagers. It seems as if it is their part of life which they cannot live without. Of course such an addiction is not good and the most important reason for this which is up on the news is that “facebook breeds narcissism”. Narcissism is defined as a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, exaggerated sense of self importance and a need for admiration leading to the person being selfish in a way.

A survey was carried out in the department of psychology in York University in Canada with 50 male and 50 female students which showed a positive correlation between narcissism and self esteem. The survey showed that when the online activity is more self-promotional individuals show even higher levels of narcissism and on the other hand lower self-esteem. People refer to their own intellectual abilities on facebook and have photos which display their physical attractiveness. This denotes that facebook allows its users to have a control of how they present themselves and how they are perceived by people they know. Does this not give birth to fakeness? Because when one communicates in reality the person’s identity is constructed under certain limitations such as social background, ethnicity affecting the way they are perceived by others and when people communicate online ideal traits are conveyed easily through photos on facebook. These photos increase their self promotional behavior and their about me sections show their high intellectual behavior. Hence the identity is controlled by the individual. Even the Hollywood actress; Kristin Stewart refuses to use a networking site because she thinks it shows narcissism, she says “there is never a point of satisfaction that you can accomplish, so why start.” The study in York University showed that narcissism was correlated with extraverted acts, being especially predictive of being in a group, talking about friends and socializing.

Hence there should be limits on such social networking sites where the possibility of increasing your own self promotional behavior should be minimum because narcissism is such a great problem that even psychologists have difficulty in studying narcissists because they are likely to present themselves in the best possible light in simple words they love themselves. Hence they become oblivious to their own true selves. So does this prove that your facebook page is more than just telling of what you are doing? Of course yes. Its a telling of your personality too!. And not to forget that such a site as facebook offers a gateway for many shallow relationships and emotionally detached communication.

Junk foods in schools coming to an end

Health authorities in Abu Dhabi are combating the ever growing obesity epidemic in the United Arab Emirates by regulating food choices in schools. It was reported in Khaleej Times that the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority and the Abu Dhabi Education Council joined forces to implement new food guidelines in schools at the start of September. In their view this would tackle unhealthy dietary in school canteens. 20 percent of children between the age of 8 and 12 are overweight because of bad food provided in schools.


This is a positive move towards a healthy lifestyle. Eating junk foods is the addiction, which is affecting many people across the world especially teenagers and children because in today’s competitive world people want everything to happen fast. People prefer fast food more as these junk foods can be bought within a short time. Children nowadays don’t eat vegetables at all they just have junk food which have loads of disadvantages for the children because these foods are rich in harmful substances such as salt, fat and sugar. Plus these are high in calories and low in nutrition. These calories and harmful substances cause many different complications in the human body including heart diseases, cancer, diabetes and not the least; obesity. Too much saturated fat in junk food causes obesity. Pizza, chips, burgers cause people to put on weight leading to many health complications as a result. Chocolates and soft drinks are obviously high in sugar causing diabetes and heart attack as well. Hence this great step towards reducing junk food is better because 60 percent of school children eat chocolates and chips daily, while only 23.3 percent consume vegetables and fruits.

Strict guidelines have been imposed by Mohammad Jalal, director of public relations and it has been stressed that these should be followed by all school canteens. Fizzy drinks, hotdogs and fried foods will no longer be included in school menus and for this purpose food inspections will be held. This is such a great step towards a healthy life so the government of other countries should also take this step even Pakistan where many diseases are spreading day by day. This step would solve all of the problems provided people adhere to the rules properly.

Champions or losers?!!

Pakistan cricket team is supposed to make the country proud of itself. But here we say the opposite happening. When it comes to Pakistan why every important thing does has to happen the other way around?? Why doesn’t it happen the correct way?. Pakistan cricket team has actually sold itself for money not at all keeping in mind that what will actually happen to Pakistan’s image in world media after all this.

NO , “they are just interested in women, food and money!” this was Mazhar Majeeds words at an interview. Mazhar Majeed is the man who has actually been bribing the Pakistan cricket team. He says that Salman Butt is the person who should be the captain of the team. Does any one know why he says that? He says that Salman Butt is easy to bribe not Shahid Afridi. For him Salman Butt is an advantage. This is not the first time that this is happening this whole bribing thing has been happening for years and we all Pakistanis were so proud of the team that they actually beat Australia in the test match after so many years and were being called the champions. Now I realize that they were actually the so called “champions”. It also denotes that the players in the team have no interest in cricket at all there might be few who have an interest in cricket. But the team as a whole is greedy. In my view they should be actually banned for life although they are soon going to be banned from ICC. Imagine if it does get banned from ICC who will actually feel proud to be a Pakistani?? NO ONE!! England cricketer Steward was feeling very proud when he made a century as he fulfilled his fathers dream, must have been an amazing feeling for him at that time. But now he would be ashamed of himself as he might be thinking that the match would have been fixed and hence his efforts do not count, poor him.

Keeping this entire thing in mind and after knowing the truth about the team I believe that the team should be punished real bad. If such people are representing Pakistan then we do not want such people, they should be removed because there are many other youngsters in Pakistan who actually have an interest in cricket and are waiting for their chance to represent the Pakistan cricket team worldwide. At least they wont sell themselves for money and then be called the “real champions”.

Will Pakistan ever get rid of the fakeness and the corruption?

Pakistan is experiencing the worst calamity it has ever faced. This flood is even worse than Katrina of United States. For this purpose the relief camps for collecting donations have been setup at various places of the country which is totally amazing. But are these efforts truly worth appreciating?? There are a number of NGOs working for this but there are apprehensions that most of the money collected can be eaten by some fake organizations.


The main reason behind this is the government of the country who does not monitor the collection of donations by such private organizations. Some of these NGOs have been using the names of leaders of Pakistan Peoples Party to avoid any serious action from the police. Such camps have been setup in Islamabad. This is such a crucial time for Pakistan so such fakeness and eating up of donation money should be avoided. Is it that people running these NGOs don’t have any emotions or are they completely feeling less?? Can’t they feel the pain and the difficulties the victims are going through??. In my view this is the biggest crime at the moment one could ever think of. It is actually very common in a country like Pakistan where the government has no stability and improper structural development.

As said by Lt-Gen Nadeem that relief operations are so hurriedly conducted that no one can impose a check on them and that no one could persuade people to give donations to a specific organization. It is heard that people are not willing to donate but I believe that a strong reason for this is that most of the people are confused whether their donations would reach the victims or be eaten up by these organizations. Hence some people are reluctant to give their donations. Local administration should check who is collecting donations and for which purpose. Pakistan at this time needs help and people should realize that its time to actually get rid of all the fakeness and the corruption and if still people don’t realize this then the question; “WILL PAKISTAN EVER GET RID OF THE FAKENESS AND CORRUPTION?” can never be answered!!.

Brutal incident of vigilante justice.

It came as a shock to me when i saw this beating up of two brothers in Sialkot. I am sure everybody would have been horrified when they saw this beating and so was i. Dozens of people beat to death two young brothers; Hafiz Mughees, 15, and Hafiz Muneeb, 19 publicly in front of the Sialkot District Police on August 15 2010. It is totally shameful to hear that this brutal incident took place in the presence of the police who are supposed to be the "PEACE MAKERS" of the country. Is this the only thing left behind to expect from our country's police?? or should we call it a so called "police"??, a difficult question to answer.
The two brothers were suspected of robbery and so were beaten up and the bodies were later hanged upside down. Who has given the public to take such decisions? NO ONE. It is the job of the police and the court to take such decisions and act upon it. But here is the opposite case the public beating up and the police acting as silent spectators. The gruesome video footage was too much to bear for the grandfather and the father of the deceased. The Supreme Court took a hard decision on the officers who stood by and watched this incident as the negligence shown by police could not be ignored. This decision by the Supreme Court is absolutely perfect because otherwise this kind of act by the police would continue. The country is already facing disasters and crisis in the form of floods, people are becoming homeless and dying of hunger and the police is getting involved in extra judicial killings. This does not for sure reflect a civilized society. It was the duty of the police and the public as well to have the moral courage to stop the beating.
We surely do not feel the way the mother and the father of the deceased are feeling right now but we know for sure that this was something totally unfair. Even if they had stolen something they should'nt have been beaten up like this. Dont know yet whether they actually stole something but whatever even if they had this was surely not the punishment they deserved because they did not commit a murder for gods sake. This incident forces us to think and come to the conclusion that the main reason behind this incident is corruption and most importantly ILLITERACY, the people are so illitrate that they cant think of anything else besides creating such violence and brutality. Everybody involved should be punished equally.