London 2012 Olympics - Latest Medal Table

London 2012 Olympics - Latest Medal Table

London 2012 Olympics dubbed The Games are roaring on in full swing and with the zest and enthusiasm which is particular to athletes. Everybody is celebrating and having a whale of a time. It is good because there is so much hurt in the world. All of us are feeling the clinch be it financial or in some other ways. So if an opportunity comes along we all must do it some justice and enjoy. As for as feuding is concerned let's put it off to some other time. Still better not to feud at all!


Coming back to the games, after the amazing opening ceremony everybody is in the spirit of sports up to their neck (and enjoying).


At the end of this paragraph is the link to latest from the Olympic playing-fields where world's most amazing players are competing against one another to see who carries the day in the end. As far as medals are concerned until yesterday China was leading with USA following closely behind by a medal or two but now USA are at the top though if gold medals are counted China is still way ahead.


This table is good to be following games and who's won what so here is the link.


Medal Table

An Honest Person (Yes, In Today's Pakistan!)

I have been forced to return to writing after reading the news of an exemplary police man from Mengora, Sawat who has displayed astonishing example of honesty by returning a colossal amount of Rs 5.5 million. Such an honesty in this day and age and especially in Pakistan where our corrupt politicians have broken record after record of most debasing corruption playing around with the money that was not theirs.


Today in Pakistan there is a huge and blinding race of who earns more, without any thought of how he does. In today's Pakistani society we believe that the people who have not plundered or looted are actually those who, by a stroke of good luck, have not had a chance to do so. Everybody else has had their share of corrupt and dishonest earnings.


Ayaz Khan who is a police constable in Mingora found the huge amount lying by the road on his way home. He initially took the money home and began looking for the owner. In the meanwhile he heard the announcement on the loud speaker (of the local mosque, I believe) about someone saying that he had lost his money. After ensuring that the claimant was the rightful owner of his 'discovery' he returned home, brought the money back and handed over to whom it belonged. At this he was offered a prize money of Rs. 500,000 but he refused. Though I believe that taking the prize money would not hurt the standards of decency and morality yet his refusing has exalted  him above the rest of all of us.


We live in a society where looting and plundering is the way of life. People who do some mischief of a devilish standard gloat over their 'cleverness' and cunning. They recount their stories like they have done a marvellous deed and they deserve some Nobel prize for getting away with it.


But this man has upturned this notion and told the world and his own people that we can be as honest as our religion asks us to be and as our Islamic traditions demand. He has demonstrated the strength of character that is, for sure, hard to find these days among the people of his country. Ayaz Khan has proved that there are people of good character amongst us as well.


Ayaz Khan has not forgotten the lesson taught to him by his parents and his teachers. He, for certain, is held in high esteem by Allah and His beloved Prophet (sallallaah-o alaih-e wa aalihee wasahbihee wasallam). Salam to his parents who have raised such a human being with a heart of gold and the soul of a saint.


May Allah give us all 'hidaya' (wisdom to do good) and instead of boasting of our ingrained evils we feel proud in following him. He is indeed a great human being. May Allah bless him with the best of both the worlds.


Here is a post (Unique Pakistan) that will shed more light on our character as a nation and also highlight some of the acts performed by honest Pakistanis like Ayaz Khan.

Google trends

The topics that are trending on Google+ at the present are: True Blood, #Science Sunday, Rafael Nadal, Google Checkout, Israel, Madagascar, LeBron James, Steve Jobs, Britney Spears, #Euro2012.


Looking at these topics tells us something about human nature. All the topics are diverse and they are completely unrelated to each other. Though it is not remotely necessary that it should be so yet one  just argues that since we are connected to the same network or networks somehow the things that we are searching for from our table nudging this or that part of the 'webosphere' and trying to see what there is in the cyberspace that is helpful to us and a way out of our own troubles should be connected somehow at least by a some remote links. But it seems there is nothing like this.


We all homo sapiens are a lot different in our individual respective natures and since are in search of completely different things or at least different categories of things. We employ technology very differently.


So keep searching about  True Blood, #Science Sunday, Rafael Nadal, Google Checkout, Israel, Madagascar, LeBron James, Steve Jobs, Britney Spears, #Euro2012.


I googled "Science Sunday" and this is what I got:

Source: http://thetechinformation.com

Apology, Physical Abuse And Rehab

The news making rounds today include the news of a German minister who is being criticized for avoiding to pay customs duty on a carpet bought in Afghanistan. He bought the carpet while in Afghanistan on an official tour and could not manage to get it on flight back. Afterwards he got the head of German spy agency to bring it with him. The minister -Dirk Niebel who heads the Ministry of Economic Cooperation And Development- even sent his driver to airport to pick up the carpet.


Now this is amazing and funny especially when looked at from the point of view of a Pakistani. Corruption is rife in our politics. So much so that we use the idiom he is the 'proper / real politician' in our daily life of someone who somehow manages to have his way and and gets what he wants with the mix of diplomacy and bribery.  I came across an article about Pakistani (yes we have made it our own by the mastery we have acquired in it) corruption: Pakistan's Culture Of Honourable Corruption.


Coming back to the original news; the latest to be heard is that the minister in question has offered an apology. There we go again! I know perfectly well what you are thinking: that no apology is offered in Pakistan. Well! This is how we are - I mean this is how we Pakistani public are: We just let things go and then we criticize them when they get out of hand.


As far as apology is concerned the US Commander has apologized for the deaths of 18 Afghans. But nothing seems to be forth-coming in Pakistan's case though Zee News says that both countries are working on a possible apology wording.


Now come towards the most serious news of today! And that is that the security personnel accused in alleged rape case in DG Khan is yet at large.


Five women went on a recreation trip to DG Khan at one of their relation's house and then they went to Fort Monroe where the security personnel, on the pretext of checking, took them to the police station and allegedly abused them physically. A team ordered by Chief Minister Punjab is probing the matter. These men are likely to hand themselves in today.


The last one which I find important is the news that Pakistan Cricket Board has employed the services of a psychologist for help in the rehabilitation of Muhammad Aamir - the fast bowler.


Muhammad Aamer who got embroiled in the spot-fixing scandal of making deliberate no-balls along with the then captain Salman Butt and fast bowler Muhammad Asif was released from jail in February this year. The psychologist Maqsood Babri has been hired to make Aamir's return to international cricket as easy as possible in a way that will not cause him psychological problems in the future.

Friendship

Friendship is a universal concept. All the human beings from a child when he starts understanding things to the elderly who have lived a long life speak of it and no one even the person who has a lot of pain at the hands of friends speak against the idea. There are people who do speak against their friends or the troubles that they have had in their life resulting from being really close to someone but there are few people who are against the  very idea of friendship.


What is friendship? This is a question that pops in our minds at various stages in life. If looked at carefully we find that most of the life we spend searching the meaning of a myriad of things - friendship is one of them. We are in our native country or somewhere abroad we start looking for friends. It is natural. Since man is a social animal it is quite natural to look for someone with whom we can associate, entertain, share and become a part of.


Well! A friend is someone who cares; someone who worries about what we are doing to our life and to ourselves for that matter; maybe someone who loses sleep when he hears you are in trouble; someone who stands by us when others depart; someone who we can share everything with and someone "thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked (Bernard Meltzer)".


I have a video that will help understand the main concepts involved in friendship.










Click Here To Watch This Video On YouTube!

Protests, Strikes And Death

Look at the newspapers today and what meets the eye is same old themes of pain, gain, insensitivity, death, hunger, strikes and drones. These days all the news revolve around these painful but powerfully throbbing with life motif- though ironic that most of them are directly or indirectly related to death - the grim reaper that is the harbinger of lethal sadness.


The saddest is the death of several Afghan civilians at the hands of NATO. This war on terror has claimed so many innocent lives that it has turned out to terrorise a huge population both in Afghanistan and Pakistan. We very dearly and sincerely condole our Afghan brothers and sisters and pray for the bereaved families who have tonnes of heartache to go through to be able to live it out.


Then comes the sad fact that the hunger-protest of the Teachers's Association of Balochistan has entred into its seventeenth day with a few of them had to be taken to hospital since their conditioned worsened. But what is glaringly shameful is that the government has neither shown any remorse nor offered any words of kindness. 

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that the US will not be "gouged" by Pakistan on the price it says it will charge for overland deliveries. In connection to this whatever has happened during the last two weeks is weird to many. Looking from that side the Pakistan government appeared very week and ready to give in to the pressure from the NATO. President Zardari was expected to announce the opening of NATO supply routes while in Chicago. Everybody was incensed back in Pakistan and huge protests had been planned especially by the Defense Of Pakistan Council which had to be cancelled when the President did not go forth with the announcement. Why he did this is something that only he can tell. But one thing is for sure that not making this announcement has brought a hiatus in all the angry voices that have been raging on against The People's Party.


The break that came between 'alliance' of Pakistan and USA has deepened with the sentencing of the doctor who helped capture Usama Bin Ladin. The court that issued the sentence obviously saw it is as a treachery to Pakistan and the Constitution. But all this has not in the least been able to heal the wounds caused by the killing of the twenty-four soldiers at the hands of NATO Forces that was the second incident owing to which the relations of the two countries plunged to the lowest.


Now the news that both the Tehreek-e Insaf and the Muslim League (N) plan to go to the Supreme Court against the ruling out of the PM's disqualification by the Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza.


There are so many wars going on in Pakistan - war between the Pakistan and the USA governments on the price of NATO supply routes, war between the Pakistan government and the Teachers' Association in Balochistan, war between the Pakistan government and the judiciary, war between the Pakistan government and the masses about power shortage in the country and huge scale of unannounced 'load-shedding' and last but not the least war between the Pakistan government and the different political parties especially the Tehreek-e Insaf and the PML(N).


And the most shocking thing midst all this chaos is that neither the President nor the Prime Minister is seen utter a word of consolation to the people of Pakistan about the poverty, power shortage and the other injustices going on around the country. On the contrary Mr Gilani is seen speaking most of the time 'about' constitution. He has been reduced to defending his own position regardless of whatever happens in the country.

Another achievement by Pakistani Students

Another achievement by Pakistani Students

I happened upon this image on facebook. It has been taken from a newspaper - there is no indication as to from which paper. This piece of news states that a group of Pakistani students has prepared bio-diesel. All the ingredients are easily available in Pakistan videlicet: methanol, used and unused cooking oil (I bet: You are smiling! ) .


Here it is!

In order to take a look at the 'original' please click here.


Most of the comments seemed to celebrate it as an evidence of the Pakistani students' intelligence. Some thought that it was a fake news and they also said that the image was fake. One joked asking when they were going to the USA - hinting towards the brain drain that is happening in Pakistan.


The problem with Pakistan is that its citizens do not bring themselves up to practise the best ideas.


We all know the best of all the best ideas - submit yourself completely to Allah and He will overturn everything for you but we do not. We have the Quran, we have the Hadeeth but we are still 'down-trodden' in the World. Simply because we do not act out this best of the best ideas.


Pakistan has second largest salt mine, fifth largest gold mine, fifth largest coal reserves, seventh largest copper mine. Besides Pakistan is fifth largest milk producer, eleventh largest wheat producer and twelfth largest rice producer. Despite all these treasures we are a pauper in the world and our leaders go begging regularly.


In such a situation when Prime Mininter Gilani is asked by the CNN that one third Pakistanis want to leave Pakistan, the reply that our brilliant Prime Miniter has is, "And why don't they leave then? Who's stopping them?"


Watch for yourself! (It is a just-over 4 min long video clip. If you want to go exactly at the point I just mentioned please go at 1:26. Otherwise watch the whole clip and the second half of it shows Imran Khan in an interview on BBC in the program "Hard Talk". And you will see the difference between the two leaders.)


Please note carefully that after Mr Gilani said "Who's stopping them" there was pin-drop silence in the studio and our birdbrain and dimwit of the Prime Minister kept grinning from ear to ear, maybe thinking that he had turned the tables on the interviewer whereas he was making a mockery of himself and Pakistan.














So in a situation like this which idea this Prime Minister or his boss will help to materialise. All the world is laughing at us.


Please keep in mind that the disappointing interview of our Prime Minister should not keep our students from carrying on working hard and trying their best to achieve the best for this country.


The wealthy, in this case, should come forward and help these budding Pakistani engineers and the likes of them. As a nation we have to make it a do-it-yourself job. Our government will not help us!




Source:   The source of my statistics is an article from the homepage of the website: Potential Of Pakistan