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.