Rawalpindi Chapter Get Together

Col (Retd) Muhammad Asif

Rawalpindi Chapter accompanied get together will be held at Islamabad Club on Sunday, November22, 2009 (Sunday night) at 1945 hrs. What is more, course mates (55 PMA Long Course) from other cities visiting Islamabad, Rawalpindi also have a standing invitation to join.

Wish to join them?

Richest Man of Pakistan

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is suspected of having received millions of dollars in kickbacks from the 1994 sale of three French submarines to the Pakistani Navy, a French daily reported, reports Geo TV.

In addition, investigators believe that the non-payment of the full amount of the agreed kickbacks may have led to the deaths of 11 French nationals in a 2002 terror attack in the city of Karachi.

The report says the French daily acquired documents that allegedly show that Zardari received 4.3 million dollars in kickbacks from the sale of three Agosta 90 submarines for 825 million euros (currently 1.237 billion dollars).

The documents were sent to the Pakistani National Accountability Bureau (NAB) by British authorities in April 2001 and indicate that Zardari received several large payments into his Swiss bank accounts from a Lebanese businessman, Abdulrahman el-Assir, in 1994 and 1995.

According to a former executive of the French naval defence company DCN, French authorities chose el-Assir to act as intermediary in the deal. He allegedly deposited a total of 1.3 million dollars in Zardari’s bank accounts between August 15 and 30, 1994, one month before the submarine contract was signed, and then 1.2 million dollars and 1.8 million dollars one year later.

According to DCN employees who testified in the terror attack investigation, the kickbacks to Pakistan in the deal totalled 10 per cent of the purchase amount, with 6 per cent, or 49.5 million dollars, going to the military and 4 per cent, or 33 million euros, being funneled to political circles.

Watcha Doin' Today

Thanks to Pervaiz Alvi

Don’t Poke Your Fork There

The land of cultural diversity I come from is full of beautiful and happy ways to live. Only most of the things have been relegated during our race of modernity.

Lately, my friend Muhammad Yaqoob had to go to his home town Lakki Mawat to attend a family event (it was sad occasion though). The lunch had to be served to all those who were attending. Yaqoob shot this interesting video while Bhatyaares from Bannu were backing huge Postees (breads) for the guests.

I could not eat that Postee but given my interest, I asked him the detail. Yaqoob explained that Rotti (bread) is called Postee in some areas of the NWFP. Bhatyaree (bakers) from Banuu are famous for baking Postees; hence like most people, they were called from Bannu to bake at the eve.

Postees are baked and then broken into small pieces and put into a big sized coldrum filled with a special currey (shorba) and chicken which is called Painda (panda) that is cooked separately and served to groups to eat together. Painda is a thin gravy of chicken or beef prepared with a lot of spices and butter oil (Desi Ghee, everyone is so fond of). This reminds me of Arab dish called Sobat-e-Sareed only their bread is smaller in size.

A word of caution, eat it with hands because poking fork (or spoon) in it is considered bad; culturally. Wish to eat that! {ALso here}

Advertise on Blogs

Blog advertising has become main stream medium across the marketing world in last ten years or so. Savvy marketers advertise on blogs and reach out to their desired niche in the way the need and want to. On the other hand, bloggers are writing their own blogs and the rest of the online population is reading blogs and interacting in meaningful ways giving useful and instant feedback. The exponential growth of blogging phenomenon has made blogging more attractive for advertisers as an effective way to reach out and deliver their message.

Imagine the growing readership and influence of the Internet articles and the buzz those blog posts can create particularly as a process of Search Engine Marketing. Try searching at Dmoz and you will know what I mean. Thanks that advertisers and marketers have already realized this and are harnessing the power of blogs in their marketing effort. It is in this milieu that no forward looking advertiser and marketer can afford to ignore blog advertising. I would suggest uses to read the blog article titled Blog advertising: nothing dumb about it and it will give you deeper insight about blog advertising and its benefits. I picked up some great ideas reading this and other articles on PayingPost’s Blog. I have also bookmarked this useful blog for my future read.

PayingPost’s Blog lead me to Blogadvertisingstore.com - one of the most efficient platforms that caters the needs of both advertisers and blogger by connecting them to work together. Explore the store and see what they are offering to advertisers to reach out and bloggers to crate fresh content while reviewing, giving opinion and or sharing their personal knowledge, expertise, experiences and turn their “blogging for leisure to blogging for profit and get paid?

I suggest that advertisers should test the strength of blog by advertising on blogs and ask army of bloggers to work for them and see tangible results.

Ranikot

Sindh has been cradle of ancient civilization. The explored archaeological sites are testimony to this fact. But much is still in the store to be explored and investigated in the field of archaeology and antiquity.

Moenjodaro is described as the most valuable site in the world being one of the oldest as its scripts have not been deciphered so far. Experts are of the view that a more serious exploration and excavation in various areas will unravel many mysteries of the ancient and glorious past of Sindh.

Sindh is full of old, historic and ancient sites which also include remains of ancient cities, forts, graveyards, mausoleums, monuments and more. One such mysterious site is Ranikot, in district Jamshoro about 90 km north of Hyderabad, which has been a riddle for historians, research, scholars and archaeologists.

It is said to be one of the largest forts of the world. The pre historic site of Amri is also near the fort. On a clear day one can even see Indus River 37 kilometers away to the east.The fort occupies an area of about 29 square km, with approximately 9 km diameters and wall averagely 10 meters high. It has four gates on its four sides and is nearly square shape. One that is always kept open is Sunn Gate. A perennial old Mohan River passes through its eastern and western gates with three natural springs inside.There are three fortresses inside Ranikot: Mirikot, Shergarh and Mohat Kot. Mirikot is located at a very safe place in the very heart of Ranikot. Some historians attribute Mirikot to Mirs of Sindh. There are ruins of the court harem, guest rooms and soldier quarters.

A spring emerging from an underground source near the Mohan Gate is named as parryen jo taro ( the spring of fairies). The local inhabitants tell that fairies come from far and wide on full moon nights to take bath.

There are different versions about its antiquity. This talismanic wonder is attributed by some historians to Arabs, by some to Sassanians, some connect it to Greeks, and some others to the Romans, Scythians and Parthians, who ruled the sub continent from 350 BC to 120 BC.

The variety of the estimates can be gauged from the fact that at one end of the possible builders are Scythians and Parthians or Nawab Wali Muhammad Leghari, Prime Minister under the Talpur ruling dynasty. There is another reference that some Rajasthani queen built the fort. Despite many testimonies, the antiquity of the fort is still not established. The fort has not been included in the world heritage list yet.At present activities of animal husbandry, wildlife and some cultivation of crops can be seen in the fort. Some Khoso tribe people inhabit there.

Why this fort was built and who actually and originally built it is mystery and riddles which historians and archaeologists have to find out.