RECENTLY a bike competition for children was held at the Karachi Parsi Institute. Children from the ages of nine to fourteen years, participate in the day long event. The whole outing not only allowed the children the opportunity to show off their skills in a competitive environment, but also let them admire their achievements.

The competition was divided into three categories, 7 to 8 years, 9 to 11 years ad 12 to 14 years. Besides the contest, children and parents enjoyed a variety of other activities like food stalls, souvenir shops, jumping castle, face painting and a photo shop which made the whole event a pleasurable experience for the whole family. On the whole it was a good family day out.

 

Trusting the youth

AN UNEMPLOYED man who had always dreamed about running his own specialist mountain-bike shop has won first prize at The Prince’s Trust and the Royal Bank of Scotland Group Business Awards. Four thousands pounds sterling was awarded to Jamie Rowland who was just 22 when he received a grant from the Trust to setup his Bicycle Doctor business 15 months ago.

But within six months of opening his shop (January 2001) he faced a crisis that threatened to shut him down. Animal foot and mouth disease hit the farming community in the area and meant that the demand for touring with mountain bikes disappeared almost overnight.

Jamie Rowland said: “Several competitors folded last year because of foot and mouth, so I decided to diversify into road and children’s bikes and accessories which were relatively unaffected by the outbreak. I wouldn’t do it unless I really enjoyed being my own master.” He then set up incentive schemes for customers to build loyalty, offered repairs and servicing as well as free safety checks and anti-theft bike post coding. His turnover in the first year was 100,000 pounds against his forecast of 15,000 pounds.

The Prince’s Trust is the UK’s leading youth charity offering people aged 14 to 30 years the chance to develop confidence, learn new skills, get into work and start businesses. It was started in 1983 by the Prince of Wales. The Business Awards, sponsored by the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, recognize successful entrepreneurs who have started businesses over the past three years with Prince’s Trust support. This is the first year that the Royal Bank of Scotland Group has sponsored the Business Awards, providing a 10 million pounds support package to the trust over three years.

Since 1983, The Prince’s Trust Business Programme has helped more than 50,000 people aged 18 to 30 years who are unemployed or under-employed and of limited means to start their own businesses, by offering low-interest loans of up to 5,000 pounds as well as grants.—LPS



A PAKISTANI living in a posh locality started the day early, having set his alarm clock (MADE IN JAPAN) for 6 am ...

While his coffeepot (MADE IN CHINA) was perking, he shaved his electric razor (MADE IN HONG KONG).

He put on a dress shirt (MADE IN SRI LANKA), designer jeans (MADE IN SINGAPORE), and tennis shoes (MADE IN KOREA).

After cooking breakfast in his new electric skillet (MADE IN THAILAND), he sat down with his calculator (MADE IN MEXICO), to see how much he could spend today.

After setting his watch (MADE IN SWITERLAND), to the radio (MADE IN JAPAN), he got in his car (MADE IN GERMANY), and continued his search for a good paying PAKISTANI JOB!!!

At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day, he decided to relax for a while. He put on his sandals (MADE IN BRAZIL), and turned on his TV (MADE IN INDONESIA), and wondered why he can’t find a good paying job (in PAKISTAN)!!!