Rescue Stick
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Labels: Life Saving Gadgets
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/30/2009 10:09:00 PM,
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Calling Malaysian Army Officer Ramli
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
I wish to locate Ramli and contact. Any one listening?
Update: Ramli meets Maj Gen Munawar Ahmed Solehria
Labels: 55 PMA, Malaysia, Men At Their Best, PMA, Ramli
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/29/2009 09:27:00 AM,
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My Expressions
Monday, 28 September 2009
I don’t know when Urdu became my identity. It is ascribed one and I love it; really. Born and raised speaking Punjabi, I also learnt foreign languages (like English and Russian) to move about in faster lanes of life but I always express my deeper emotions and inner feelings in Urdu. Two of my books {Izhar (Expressions), Ret Pe Tehreer {written on the Sand} are in Urdu. This (Urdu) sophisticated language facilitates you to do that. Anyone speaking Urdu in a crowd of people speaking alien languages is automatically a company.I realized my love for the language when I was learning Russian at National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad. When my Russian teacher Alica used to say, “I have learnt more Urdu than I have taught you Russian.” When Sakina Mirkhajevna used to ask us to sing her songs in Urdu; she could not understand the meanings but, “I enjoy the sweetness with which words flow,” she used to tell.
I learnt English the hard way. I was at a professional academy and order of the day was, “no vernaculars,” even in out private quarters. Knowing that we will be asked to leave food and have a round of the mess running if we spoke in Urdu made us speak English fast. The problem is that I think in Urdu, dream in Urdu and my expressions, oral as well as written in English, still are jerky.
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/28/2009 11:56:00 PM,
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Have a Look at Googlle Logo Today
Labels: Google
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/28/2009 10:42:00 PM,
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Google grows more social
Sunday, 27 September 2009
Labels: Google, Social Gadgets
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/27/2009 11:11:00 PM,
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Management of Pakistan Economy
Have a look at the new blog Corporate Finance and Accounting and see which side economy is turning to. This is particularly good resource for students of economy, Chartered Accountants, Cost and Management Accountants.
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/27/2009 08:30:00 PM,
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Pakistan Wins Over India
Labels: Champions Trophy, India, Pakistan, Sports
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/27/2009 03:39:00 PM,
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Blog Action Day 2009
Saturday, 26 September 2009
Related: Poverty - Blog Action Day 2008
Labels: Climate Change
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/26/2009 09:40:00 AM,
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Kerry Lugar Bill
Thursday, 24 September 2009
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/24/2009 11:12:00 PM,
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Are You A Punctuation Mark?
Today Americans are celebrating National Punctuation Day - a day to reflect on which punctuation mark truly represents a particular person. Interesting and useful learning excercise!
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/24/2009 11:59:00 AM,
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Everyone is a Style Star at DeSOM
Monday, 21 September 2009
Labels: Men At Their Best
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/21/2009 10:58:00 AM,
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Electronic Cigarette - Smoke Less
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Labels: Cigarette
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/20/2009 06:45:00 PM,
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A Better Pencil
Read at Salon
Labels: Books
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/20/2009 12:07:00 AM,
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Tu Aur Tu
Saturday, 19 September 2009
Labels: Books
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/19/2009 10:36:00 AM,
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You Know Who is This Caller?
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/19/2009 10:01:00 AM,
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Should marriages have timelines?
Friday, 18 September 2009
What do you think about this? I recently joined in a conversation by a group of men who were talking about marriage. The premise was this, marriage should have a timeline. One guy said it should be a law that marriages should be terminated on the 1oth year. He felt that this was the time that boredom set in and the roving eyes really started. The other men were in agreement.
What do you think? Should marriages have a timeline. If we had the choice to set timelines on our marriages, would you?
Where the society is moving to?
Labels: Marriages, Relationship, Weddings
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/18/2009 10:42:00 PM,
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Block Printing
Thursday, 17 September 2009
Young Aslam displays his art work (bedspreads sheets, table cloth, wall hangings, a melee of colour and an extravaganza of design) in Thatta Kedona show room at Lahore under the approving gaze of Dr. Senta Siller. Aslam needs no coaxing to display the finished pieces. As quickly as he spreads his art pieces, he rattles off the names. Persian 1, Persian 11, Masjid Wazir Khan, the palm tree, peacock palm, dancing parrots, the elephant tram and six peacocks, also naming the prestigious places where these designs are in use at the moment.
Aslam represents fourth generation of the family carrying forward the art of block printing that is at the verge on extinction. Block printing represents an age when mastery over art was the struggle of a life time of hard labour and Aslam does not seem to forget this philosophy even thought he has ambitious to innovate and diversify the art of his forefathers in a big way.
Jhando, the master craftsman exported hand painted and printed cottons and silks and velvets to agencies in London and New York. An international nomenclature some seventy years ago and now Calico Prints in Lahore is representing the family name and craft which once enjoyed international repute. Aslam is carrying the tradition further.
Indeed today Aslam with his skill of colour and stroke work, epitomizes an art technique which Jhando had carried to the pinnacle of perfection. Jhando -- the legendary great grandfather of Aslam -- was of course a figure of epic stature so to say. It was he who left to the family a collection of over twenty two thousand blocks drawn from diverse cultures like Muslim, Mughal and Punjabi cultures and Hindu mythology. The grandfather was illustrious too to be sure with his collection of awards and accolades kept zealously safe even today in velveteen cases.
Block printing is a very fine art that has matured over time. So intricate are the patterns that a single motif may need anything from two to twelve blocks to complete the details. Different block motifs cater to different colours in the same pattern. All this requires dexterity of hand to prevent them from running the other. The grand finale of course is the intricate brush work. Fashioned from local needs these indigenous brushes with all their quaintness high light of the motifs.
It goes without saying that Aslam’s exotic collection that I saw at Thatta Kedona is a treat for eye. Ironically, block printing is a cultural heritage reduced to penury under the influence of a mechanized industrial society and bulk production phenomenon. Yet one has to see it to believe the richness of this art from which even in its quaintness excels the grandeur of modern printing.
Preservation of the craft is a very noble passion but there is a difference in the preservation methodologies and objectives. “It is different to preserve the ancient cultural heritage for the sack of its perpetuation as an art and to do it for commercial purposes,” says Dr. Norbert Pintsch. Thatta Kedona is trying to patronize in order to preserve this (and many more) arts for the sack of those arts in their own original contexts.
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/17/2009 10:39:00 PM,
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no Food For Thoughts
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/17/2009 11:58:00 AM,
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Start of Pakistan Railways
The first railway line was laid in the in the areas that now comprise Pakistan in the year 1858 in Karachi. Following is the story of this historical event as well as the construction of first railway section of Pakistan which was opened between Karachi City and Kotri in 1861.
Following photo is kind of jumping the gun in our story but it is the earliest photo of railways that I could research for Karachi-Kotri section. The photo is circa 1900 and shows the 0530 a.m. passenger train reaching Frere Road Station (now called Karachi Cantt) from Kotri.
The origin of Railways in Pakistan is quite unusual. The railway here was not built for commercial passenger service but more for the reason of cutting transport time for cargo bound for East. The first line from Karachi to Kotri was constructed primarily to reduce the journey time on the final stage of long haul from Britain to Delhi and Calcutta. Many of the later lines were built for Military purposes.
The Early Planning:
The Railway planning in the areas that comprise Pakistan got an official status when Lord Dalhousie, Governer General of India, gave his approval for laying a 108 miles (173 km) long railway line between Karachi and Kotri in December, 1853 .
Scinde Railway (SR) Company:
The next significant event in the history of Karachi-Kotri section occured in 1855 when Scinde Railway Company was formed in London. In January 1856, a contract was signed between East India Company and Scinde Railway Company to build Karachi-Kotri Railway Line. In 1857, Scinde Railway Company’s scope was increased to laying a railway track between Karachi and Kotri and also between Multan and Amritsar via Lahore.
The Ground Breaking of the First Railway Project:
Sir Bartle Frere, who was the then Commissioner of Scinde (Sindh) did the ground breaking of the project on April 29, 1858. The ceremony included him pushing a wheel-barrow full of construction material at the site of a railway embankment in Karachi.
I can say for sure that first Railway Track in Pakistan was thus laid somewhere between April, 1858 and December, 1859. This is a 16 month long time period but I am unable to research the exact date or a time window any shorter than this.
In 1859, two small stretches of Railway Line were opened in Karachi. One of this track section still exists while the other one has been uprooted.
The First Operational Railway Track:
The First section, which exists to date, ran from the then Karachi port of Kimari to Railway Workshops which were located near the present day ‘kala pul’ just north of Karachi Cantt Station.
See the map of Karachi from 1893. Find Kimari here which was an island in 1893. From Kimari follow the solid black line towards the ‘green rectangle’ (now Karachi Cantt Station) and onwards to violet rectangle (which was once the Railway Workshop). The precise location of this Railway Workshop, which is not present today is unknown to me. There are two routes shown between Kimari and Karachi cantt. I will request you to consider the lower one, the one which bypasses the blue rectangle. This was the first ever piece of railway track built in Karachi (and Pakistan) I will also request you to click on the following map to open a much larger and better readable map image.
The Second Operational Railway Track:
The Second Track which became operational in Karachi started from the Railways Workshop near present-day ‘kala pul’ and went east-wards to Gizri bandar (harbor) located in Gizri Creek. This track and the Railway Workshop is not present anymore but my strong guess is the track ran parallel to present-day Korangi Road until it reached Gizri Creek (near Present Day Marina Club in Defense Housing Society). Any confirmation here from our learned readers will be highly appreciated.
This following map shows the location of these very first stretches of Railway Lines which were built in Pakistan. Note the location of present day Kimari, Karachi City Station, Karachi Cantt Station and Ghizree (Gizri) Creek marked on the map. Also note how the English spellings of these places have evolved over time.
Following is the satellite image of present day Karachi with superimposed colored lines to show the two sections which became operational in 1859. While the ‘green’ track is still operational, the history that I have researched so far is silent on when was the ‘yellow’ track uprooted and what was its exact route.
When Karachiites saw the First Railway Locomotive:
Among whole of Pakistan, people of Karachi were the first to see a steam locomotive in action and many could not believe what were they seeing.
The locomotive shown above is a 0-6-0 Scindhia Class which was among the first few used on railways in present day Pakistan
As an inaugural run of Railways in Karachi, John Brunton the Chief Engineer of Karachi-Kotri Railway Project, drove in a steam locomotive with Sir Bartle Frere, the Commissioner of Sindh to Kiamari in a railway train. Once again I don’t have the exact date of this travel but it was most likely between 1859 and 1861.
John Brunton wrote following anecdote on this occasion and it sounds so strange today:
The natives of Scinde had never seen a locomotive engine, they had heard of them as dragging great loads on the lines by some hidden power they could not understand, therefore they feared them, supposing that they moved by some diabolical agency, they called them shaitan. When I got out my locomotive for trial the Karachi natives were astounded. I drove the engine myself of course at a slow speed - the natives thronging all round, I was fearful of some accident. At last I thought I should frighten them away, so I blew the engine steam whistle loudly. Instantly they all rushed back from the “Demon” falling over one another much to our amusement.
This completes our capturing of the history of first railway tracks in the city limits of Karachi (and Pakistan). Now let us review the history of Railways North-eastwards of Karachi to Kotri.
Indus Flotilla Company
We promise a detailed post on Indus Flotilla Company only (which I’ve already formatted and we’ll share at ATP soon). Today we’ll just give a brief introduction about it.
Before the advent of Railways, cargo from Karachi harbor was shipped to rest of India via steamers of ‘Indus Flotilla Company’. The steamers took Cargo upto Multan via river Indus and Chenab. This river journey between Karachi and Multan used to take up to 40 days.
Therefore one of the purposes of building Karachi-Kotri railways was to reduce travel times of Indus Flotilla Company. Once Karachi-Kotri railway was completed, Indus Flotilla Company steamers could take cargo from Kotri instead of Karachi and it saved them approx 250 km of circuitous journey through Indus River delta.
Look at the map below. It is from 1865 when Karachi-Kotri and Multan-Lahore-Amritsar Railway line was already built. The reason I want to share this map here is to show how the cargo was moved from Karachi to Delhi via rail and river.
Gauge Selection for Karachi-Kotri Railway Line
The guage (width) of the railway line was selected as 5′ 6″. It however, narrowly escaped conversion to meter gauge due to high cost of the project.
The reason why the decision was finally made in favor of wider gauge for Karachi-Kotri section was the fact that strong sea breeze blows in this area during monsoon. As there is no natural hindrance, the winds blow with such speed that they pose immense resistance to smaller vehicles. One needs to travel on this route during monsoon to actually feel how strong the winds can be. It has been recorded that strong sea breeze blows on this section on 330 days out of 365 days of a year.
Challenges Faced During the Construction:
As the construction on Karachi - Kotri section began, the engineers had to face extreme problems which do not exist today. There were no motor trucks, cars or trolleys in those days. Boats abd bullock carts had to be used for the transport of rails.
Whenever the chief engineer wanted to go on inspections, a whole congregation had to go with him including men, tents and camels. The average distance they could cover was no more than 15 km a day. Little confidence was reposed in the local people and the British officers moved about armed. The chief engineer John Brunton always carried a brace of loaded revolvers in his belt and a sword by his side.
The contractor, by the name of Brav, got a lot of trouble. He ran away after 12 months leaving 12000 workmen unpaid.
Climatic Challenges:
The Karachi-Kotri line had to cross numerous water courses which were normally dry, but became raging torrents in the rainy season. Malir river is a good example that floods and cause havocs every few years to this date. To cut the cost, the engineers did not bridge these water courses and instead laid the railway line on stone filling across the bed of streams. They thought that embankments could be flooded without permanent damage. But the water flow was rapid and the stone dressing was washed away and had to be replaced by bridges.
The climatic features here are quite unique. The average rainfall in this area is approximately 180 mm per year but 90mm of it can fall within a day, therefore flash floods are very common here.
Bridges on Karachi-Kotri Section:
Thirty two bridges were built on this section to cope with the high rate of flash floods. 25 of these bridges are masonry arched bridges with spans of between 20 feet and 45 feet.
The longest bridge on Karachi-Kotri section is a viaduct of thirty two 45-ft arches across the Bahrun River. Construction on this bridge was started on 5 March 1859 and completed on 26 January 1861.
Another major bridge on this section is the bridge over Malir River which connects Malir and Landhi localities of Karachi.
Locally quarried limestone is used in the masonry of bridges and station buildings on this section.
Cost of Karachi Kotri Railway Section in 1861
All the problems listed above kept rising the cost of Karachi - Kotri railway line and when the project was complete the cost of this railway line came out to Rupees 250,000 per mile. Imagine this cost 148 years ago!
The Inauguration Date:
The project was finally completed in 3 years and the 173 km long Karachi-Kotri section was opened for public traffic on May 13, 1861
Salient Features:
Today, the Karachi-Kotri portion of railway line is still one of the fastest speed track in Pakistan with passenger train speeds reaching 120 kmph. This portion of railway line also holds the distinction of having the biggest railway yard in Pakistan with 80 railway tracks running parallel to each other near Pakistan Steel Mills. The gradient on some portion of the Karachi-Kotri track is 1 in 200 feet. The curves are no sharper than 43 chains radius.
The Original Fencing of Track - It still exists after 148 Years!
The Railway track for its entire length was fenced or walled on both sides and the locomotives were not equipped with cow-catchers. The amazing thing is the portions of this wall built 148 years ago can still be seen on both sides of the track between Karachi and Kotri. Ofcourse at many places it is completely gone but at several places it is pretty intact in the form of limestone wall which is now just couple of feet or less high from the ground.
First Locomotives Used on Karachi-Kotri Section:
The first locomotives to be used in and around Karachi and on Karachi-Kotri route were four 2-4-0 tender engines made by Kitson and Co of Leeds in 1858. They had inside cylinders of dimensions 16″ x 24″ and coupled wheels of 5′ 1 1/2″.
Seven locomotives which were 2-2-2 ’singles’ with cylinder dimensions of 15″ x 22″ and 6 ft driving wheels were supplied by Sharp Stewart & Co in 1859
In the same year (1859) Sharp Stewart & Co also supplied thirteen more locomotives which were 0-6-0 Goods engines with cylinder dimensions of 16″ x 24″ and 5-ft coupled wheels.
These engines burned coal. In addition to Karachi and Kotri, water was taken by these engines at Jungshahi (km 91) and Jhimpir (km 124).
Karachi - Kotri Railway Map - 1861
Following is the map of Karachi-Kotri track as it opened for rail traffic in 1861. This is a very interesting map. Please take a moment to appreciate the details on this map. Note the ‘dotted’ hill road shown between Karachi and Kotri is the same alignment as used by the Karachi-Kotri Super Highway and future’s Motorway M9.
The ‘dotted’ roan shown as lower road to Jeeruk (now called Jhirk) is present day alignment of Karachi-Torkham N5 highway. Also note the location of present day Manghopir given as Mugger Pir.
Also note the spellings of names of various places which are now pronounced a bit differently.
Please click on the map below and see a larger and better readable image.
The Building of Karachi Cantt Station
Karachi cantonment station was then called Frere Road Station and served the elite’ residential areas of Karachi. Frere road that used to connect Cantonment Station to saddar is nowadays called ‘Dr Daud Pota’ road. The present building of Karachi Cantt station
was completed in 1898 and currently it has been declared a ‘Protected Heritage’ by the Government of Sindh.
Following are 3 photos of Karachi Cantt station from 1900 to 1930.
Karachi Cantt Station in 1900
Karachi Cantt Station in 1910
Karachi Cantt Station in 1930
The Railway Station List on Karachi-Kotri Route
Kimari: 0 km point on Pakistan’s Main Line that runs from Karachi to Peshawar.
Karachi City: 5 km
D.C.O.S (Halt): 7 km
Karachi Cantt: 9 km
Chanesar Goth (Halt): xx
Departure Yard: xx
Karsaz (Halt): xx - station now closed
Air Force (Halt): xx - station now closed
Drigh Road Jn: 19 km - Junction for Karachi Circular Railway loop
Drigh Colony Jn: 21 km - Junction for Karachi Circular Railway Loop
Malir Colony Jn: 24 km - Junction for Malir Cantt via Matapan & Model Colony
Airport (Halt): 25 km
Malir: 26 km
Landhi Jn: 29 km - junction for Karachi Circular Railway line to Korangi
Jumma Goth: 35 km
Bin Qasim: 43 km (previously called Pipri)
Badal Nala: xx
Marshalling Yard Pipri: xx
Gaddar: xx
Dabheji: 61 km (Last Station of Karachi City Limits)
Ran Pethani: 79 km
Jung Shahi: 91 km
Braudabad: 108 km
Jhimpir: 124 km
Meting: 143 km
Bholari: 164 km
Kotri Jn: 174 km
Karachi Railway Map 2009
The following map only shows mainline track and does not cover the Karachi Circular Railway Track. Clicking on the map below will take you to a larger and better readable image of this map. I will alos point our readers to note the land reclamation differences between the 2009 Karachi map below and the 1893 Karachi map shown above in the post. Note how Kimari has been converted from an island to an integral part of Karachi mainland now by choking the fresh water inlet of Chinna Creek. The whole present day Clifton beach is actually built on reclaimed earth.
Chronology of Karachi Kotri Railway:
Following satellite image of Karachi with superimposed colored lines show the years when different sections of railway tracks were inaugurated.
December 1853: Lord Dalhousie, the then Governer General of India, gives his approval for the Karachi - Kotri Railway Line Project.
1855: Scinde Railway Company was formed in London to build Karachi - Kotri Railway Line.
1856: The charter of Scinde Railway Company was increased to build Karachi-Kotri as well as Multan-Lahore-Amritsar line too.
April 29, 1858: Sir Bartle Frere, the then Commissioner of Sindh inaugurates the first ever Railway Project (Karachi-Kotri) line in the territories which later became Pakistan.
1859: Two small stretches of Railway line become functional in Karachi City limits. One is from Kimari to Railway Workshops near present day Karachi Cantt station and other from Railway Workshops to Gizree Harbor.
March 5, 1859: Work starts on the construction of bridge over Bahrun River. This bridge is the longest on this section of Railway.
January 26, 1861: Work on Bahrun River bridge is completed.
May 13, 1861: 104.9 miles (169.93 km) long Karachi City to Kotri track is inaugurateed.
May 15, 1861: 2.3 miles (3.73 km) long double track is inaugurated between Karachi City and Karachi Cantt stations.
1863: Charter of Scinde Railway was increased up to Delhi by adding the Amritsar-Delhi part of track to the project and the company was renamed as Scinde, Punjab and Delhi Railway (SPDR). Photo to the right shows the crest of SPDR.
June 16, 1889: 3.06 miles (4.96 km) long track is opened between Karachi City and Kimari via Native Jetty Railway Bridge on China Creek (near present day PNSC building). This bridge connects Karachi mainland to Kimari island.
June 20, 1897: 20.78 miles (33.67 km) long double track between Karachi Cantt and Pipri (now called Bin Qasim) is opened.
June 30, 1897: 3.06 miles (4.96 km) long double track is opened between Karachi City and Kimari via a parallel railway bridge to famous Native Jetty road bridge on Chinna Creek.
May 3, 1898: 81.82 miles (132.55 km) long double track between Pipri (now Bin Qasim) and Kotri is ianugurated.
1898: Present building of Karachi Cantt station (then called Frere Road Station) is completed.
Accidents on Karachi-Kotri Section:
1) In 1957, 29 tankers of an oil train derailed between Meting and Bholari Stations. The fire caused by burning oil remained lit for three days.
2) August 21, 2005: The upcountry Super Parcels Express jumped the rails while crossing the Malir Bridge near Landhi in the Karachi Division. Eight bogies were substantially damaged when an axle broke due to over loading .
3) The Washout of 2006
Below is the damage that happened to a Railway Bridge on Karachi-Kotri route near Ran Pethani in August 2006. The bridge got washed away in the flash flood of monsoon season. This bridge collapse kept Karachi cut off from rest of the country by railways for more than 2 weeks.
The above list is not exhaustive. I’ll update it with more accidents that happend in the past and with sincere hopes of none in the future.
References and Credits
1. Hundred Years of Pakistan Railway by M.B.K Malik
2. Couplings to the Khyber by P.S.A. Berridge
3. Kurrachee: Past, Present and Future by Alexander F. Baillie
4. Nelles Map of Pakistan, 2007.
5. Google Earth for Satellite images of Karachi
6. pakistanrail.com
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/17/2009 08:33:00 AM,
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Planet Earth
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
Earth is the only planet known to shelter life. Earth’s surface is surrounded by a layer of gases known as the atmosphere, which extends upward from the surface, slowly thinning out into space. Below the surface is a hot interior of rocky material and two core layers composed of the metals nickel and iron in solid and liquid form. Unlike the other planets, Earth has a unique set of characteristics suited to support life. It is neither too hot, like Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun, nor too cold, like distant Mars and the even more distant outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and tiny Pluto. Earth’s atmosphere distinguishes it from the planet Venus, which is otherwise much like Earth. Venus is about the same size and mass as Earth and is also neither too near nor too far from the Sun. But because Venus has too much heat trapping carbon dioxide in its atmosphere, therefore its surface is extremely hot for life to exist.
Life itself contributes to changes on Earth, especially living things can alter Earth’s atmosphere. For example, Earth at one time had the same amount of carbon dioxide in its atmosphere as Venus now has, but early forms of life helped remove this carbon dioxide over millions of years. These life forms also added oxygen to Earth’s atmosphere and made it possible for life to evolve on land. And now the gases produced by human activities are making changes.
As per the Earth science, our planet is one of the most active of all the planets in the solar system. Earth is constantly changing. Most of these changes have been gradual, taking place over millions of years. Nevertheless, these gradual changes have resulted in radical modifications, involving the formation, erosion, and re-formation of mountain ranges and the movement of continents.
The weathering and erosion that result from the water cycle are among the principal factors responsible for changes to Earth’s surface. Another principal factor is the movement of Earth’s continents and seafloors and the buildup of mountain ranges due to a phenomenon known as plate tectonics. Heat is the basis for all of these changes. Heat in Earth’s interior is believed to be responsible for continental movement, mountain building, and the creation of new seafloor in ocean basins. Heat from the Sun is responsible for the evaporation of ocean water and the resulting precipitation that causes weathering and erosion. In effect, heat in Earth’s interior helps build up Earth’s surface while heat from the Sun helps wear down the surface.
Knowing our mother planet better can make a difference.
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/16/2009 10:20:00 PM,
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Microsoft MCITP Boot Camp Classes
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/16/2009 09:06:00 AM,
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Eid Greetings to 55th PMA Long Course Family
Next Get Together Lahore Chapter
Labels: Men At Their Best
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/16/2009 08:06:00 AM,
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Cost of Free Flour
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
Humiliation to humanity came at its best in KHI when ” Eighteen women and children died due to stampede and suffocation during free distribution of ration in Khori Garden area,“ reads BBC Urdu Section.
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/15/2009 12:57:00 PM,
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Never Judge a Custard by its Cover
Monday, 14 September 2009
Labels: Food
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/14/2009 08:20:00 AM,
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Click the Logo to Explore
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/14/2009 08:10:00 AM,
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Thumbnail flash memory card for Netbooks
Thursday, 10 September 2009
SanDisk Corporation has recently announced the introduction of San Disk Netbook SDHC removable flash memory card. This will nable the netbook users an easy and affordable way to increase the storage capacity of their netbooks. One has to imply insert the card into a slot in the netbook and the capacity gets increased instantly. The storage capacity can be increased by 8 or 16 GB. The cards are available for $ 40 and $80 respectively.With the introduction of this thumbnail size flash memory card one of the major limitations of the users of netbooks has been overcome. Netbooks are cheaper than the normal laptops but have less storage capacity. Netbooks are lighter in weight than the laptops. Thus, in certain cases buying a netbook will become a better option than buying a laptop. The former with enhancable storage capacity is cheaper and lighter than the laptop.
source
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/10/2009 05:13:00 PM,
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Embrace the Suck
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/09/2009 02:01:00 PM,
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The 9th Day of the 9th Month (September) of the 9th Year (2009) Millennium
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/09/2009 11:02:00 AM,
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Farewell to Brig Zahir Khan and Nadir Mir
Labels: 55 PMA, Men At Their Best
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/09/2009 10:29:00 AM,
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On Culture
Analysis of the society by political and economic thinkers led to development theories, which could not foresee the effects of these policies as evidenced today. The cardinal error by these theorists was the euro-centristic model — nobody took what was happening in other cultures into consideration.
In Smith’s economic system, the free market functioned globally, as long as global meant regional and maximum on a national level. In Marx’s political system the democracy functioned internationally, as long as the power base was centrally located. Similar concept is also found in ancient Greek city state models on a local basis. In all the cases, there appears to be consensus on one point that multiple behavioral models (Artenvielfalt) are not acceptable in these theories. But this is precisely the decisive error.
It is in this context that the present development situation can be analyzed. Today, the market factors are democratically functioning in society, which determines the general welfare of the people. Paradoxically, the market – in the traditional sense — neither takes into consideration the environment nor the traditional cultures that are present in rural areas. Production of goods leads to a certain uniformity because of cost reduction methods. Every effort must be undertaken, so that the production does not fall short of targets under any circumstances. The multi-national concerns attempt by adding more products to their production programs to offer a variety of models: since all parties participating in the market work in similar way, but the demand in the market is relatively fixed and not able to be increased arbitrarily, it is clear where the wastage of resources is taking place.
The winner is the one, who has the largest potential of human resources as long as these can be controlled politically. The intentions and the wishes of so-called democratic countries are understandable, if they exert all possible pressure on others to accept their form of governance. If this effort does not succeed, their system – let us call it western system — would collapse together with all parties involved in it.
There are incredible factors, which remain unconsidered by the members of the urban culture, they being the innovators and carriers of the enormous misunderstandings and the cardinal errors. These cultures have developed over a long period of time in inter-action with the climate and the environment. Each culture has its own set of rights and should be the subject of research to shed light on this enormous richness. Of course much of the matter has been lost due to the way of thinking and the actions undertaken up till now, but exactly this is the task before us; to track down these materials.
Misuse of environment and resources are hardly a subject of discussion in economic appraisals. Similarly, the richness of traditional cultures, which still exist at least in part in the rural areas, which are typically described as “under-developed” is not mentioned in these appraisals. There is no code or value allocated to them. The damages become visible only when the values are already destroyed. The extent of destroyed traditional cultures is quite evident in the number of museums, i.e. as soon as the traditional cultures began to be considered as moneymaking measures for the institutions, they received recognition as a valid market factor, but in effect became still unstable.
As the international flow of money is not directed towards local industry and national states, there is a trend towards uniformity through optimization and standardization. This uniformity can be concealed through various designs and requires increased consumption of goods. In order to increase the consumption, the consumers (all consumers of the world united!!) require financial means, which are actually not available to the majority of population.
A special sort of market is created at the place where traditional cultures are promoted. Members of the community have a chance to participate, if they consider it a possibility to maintain their basic requirements, i.e. a form of satisfaction of most basic material needs must remain intact.
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/09/2009 09:40:00 AM,
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Self-heating food cans
Monday, 7 September 2009
Going out for a picnic or a long drive is always a pleasure. Once you are away from town out in the wilderness, having hot meals was nothing but a dream that's no longer the case. Now, you can have hot meals of your choice in tinned cans. All you need to do is to remove the rubber cap from the can, pierce some holes with the key which is included in the packing and place the perforated can over the rubber cap for twelve minutes and your hot food is ready to be consumed. The food in tinned cans weighs 400g per tin. You don't have to arrange for camp fire to heat your meals. The meals offered in the tinned cans are not only delicious but are also nutritionally balanced.These meals are not very costly either.each tin costs around US $ 5 which certainly is not a bad bargain. The variety offered is also good;Beef Casserole, Sausage and Beans, and Vegetable Chilli.source
Labels: Travel Gadgets
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/07/2009 12:54:00 PM,
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When are women most fertile?
Sunday, 6 September 2009
Every couple wishes to become parents after marriage or in other words every woman wishes to conceive after marriage. There are some women who unfortunately are not able to conceive for a large variety of known and unknown reasons. One of the known reasons is not knowing when they are most fertile. The time of being most fertile is when the temperature of a woman increases by half a degree due to ovulation and a few days preceding it. A fertility company has introduced a device which can tell women with 99% accuracy as to when they are going to be most fertile. The company also offers the couples, as part of the package, unlimited support and advice from the company's fertility experts. The DuoFertility ovulation detector introduced by Cambridge Temperature Concepts Ltd (CTC) costs around £ 500 and the company offers money back guarantee if the woman does not get pregnant within one year. CTC was set up by Cambridge University PhD students in 2008.
Introduction of this new device is a good step forward as compared to the IVF and other treatments. Dr Oriane Chausiaux, CTC's chief scientific officer, said round-the-clock readings were a innovative way of detecting ovulation. She said: 'Other ways of detecting ovulation require women to test a daily urine sample to identify hormonal changes, or to wake up very early every morning and measure and manually record their body temperature. 'That gives only one data point for each day.' DuoFertility, the device is a tiny thermometer of the size of a £1 coin. It's in the form of a patch which can be worn under the arm. The detector can take 20,000 readings at night. There is a small wireless hand-held reader which processes data from the patch and tells the wearer if she has ovulated in the last two days and if she is likely to ovulate in the next six days. Certainly the detector is far more accurate than other existing methods.
source
Labels: Gadgets for Women
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/06/2009 10:54:00 AM,
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From Ghadames Desert, Libya
Saturday, 5 September 2009
Labels: News and Media
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/05/2009 11:58:00 AM,
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On Twitter
Friday, 4 September 2009
This is a permanent tweet of one of my friends: Rising prices put potatoes out of commoner’s reach. And it is thought provoking! No!
Follow me here or read Hire Tweeters!
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/04/2009 11:00:00 PM,
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Out From Under
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/04/2009 10:00:00 PM,
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Need Job in This Slow Economy?
Thursday, 3 September 2009
With today's slow economy, the Pakistan job market is tough. It is tough alll ove the world. Students graduating every year with little or no work experience find it especially difficult to land that first professional job. It is even harder for those experienced professionals who retire, are fired from one job or come back home after serving abroad but still need to find another one.
Attain higher education, engage in deliberate self-assessment to understand the types of industries and jobs that would be the best fit for your skills, write good resume research specific companies and organizations, use a three-pronged approach to identifying viable jobs in that field — reviewing job listings, networking and prospecting - but you still may not find a job. The openings may not be there or if they are, they may be filled up using non standard recruitment practices characterized by safarash, rishwat and or both. Lack of opening is not only typical of Pakistan but economic employment growth has always been a lagging indicator anywhere in the world. Even globalization and Internet are doing little in this case of employable and well conversant with English language workforce available in Pakistan. What to do?
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/03/2009 04:05:00 PM,
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Wire-free charging of portable devices
The number of gadgets necessary to carry is on the increase and one has to carry a charger for each one of these portable gadgets. These battery chargers add up to the weight of the luggage to be carried. This load of chargers has been reduced by introduction of a multipurpose wire free charger by WildCharge Inc. This wireless charger is in the form of a disc named as WildCharge PowerDisc. It is certainly a very versatile and cost effective solution. It has a pad on which you can put more than one of your gadgets and charge them at ease. The disc and the pad are compatible with the cell phones, Bluetooth headsets, e-book readers and GPS units.The wire free charger is cheap varying from US $ 20 to 65 depending upon the varying options. The power links provided make the charger compatible with almost all the gadgets produced by major manufacturers like Nokia, Sony Erricson, LG, Samsung and others.
source
Labels: Gadget Charger
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9/03/2009 02:39:00 PM,
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