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The price of excellence THE lone superpower has become the sole recipient of world criticism as well as praise and envy. According to a recent survey issued by the Pew Research Centre: Images of the United States have been tarnished in all types of nations...		Get smart with smart cards WHEN Napoleon and his “Grande Armee” were retreating from the Russian Campaign in 1822, his impotence in means of communication was no more different from that of Alexander the Great in 4th century B.C. After a lapse of over...
Leakage in the think-tank IT was rumoured around in Islamabad that the highly-valued think-tank had exploded. The rumour sent tremors through the corridors of power. Before the flags could be lowered at half-mast, the elite summoned a worthy team of hefty plumbers to examine the exploded think-tank. The burly plumbers turned up at the site in no time....		A season for charity WITH Ramazan not coming in the middle of the brief, cold weather, there has been a long string of merry charity balls to raise funds for helping the ailing poor. It all started with the mega Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre ball with a high ticket...
Comfort before dignity EDGAR Snow had been a ‘prophet without honour’ in his own country, the United States. His book, Red Star over China had either not been read or fully comprehended. He had...		Love your geography I HAVE a confession to make. As a child, I hated geography. But then my geography teacher was no Marco Polo. The only place she ever made me want to go...
Western disturbances THE middle of February was rain drenched, often wind swept, chilly. I talked to the Meteorological Office to obtain information on the weather. Its Director, Mohammad Riyaz, used the expression ‘western...		A different way AT about 10:30am on May Day, the bell rang. I opened the door and saw a young, good-looking woman of fair complexion with a one-year-old tucked under her arms, standing before...
From metropolis to necropolis THATTA, once the capital and metropolis of Sindh, is now famous for its Makli necropolis, the largest graveyard of the world, which is spread over an area of 15 square kilometres...		Okara, a neglected city LOCATED inside the ancient Gogera, Dipalpur and Pakpattan triangle, Okara is comparatively a newly-founded agricultural city. It derives its name from a tree known as ‘Okaan’. During the British period there...
Adversities may help fuel efforts BEFORE starting 11th grade, I had decided to go to Harvard University for my bachelors. By then, I had realised that I was an extraordinary student. Someone who can appreciate the...		Ordeals of a flat existence THE much-publicised flats are a feature of modern urban life. They are considered well-suited to satisfy needs of all those, who cannot afford a one unit house for themselves. The vertical...
Growing Karachi, shrinking amenities KARACHI is growing at an annual rate of over five per cent. Around 250,000 people or nearly 50,000 households are added to this metropolis every year. Facilities and civic infrastructures required...		A pioneering historiographer THE Arabs were a people who held their own through the violent changes brought about by the Seleucids, the Ptolemies of Egypt, Augustus in Rome, and Constantine at the Byzantium; up...
The hearing pleasure I READ about a school, located in England, the headmaster of which was the greatest athlete: Charles Fry — a cricketer, a soccer player, a rugby footballer, a champion sprinter on the track, the holder of the world record for the long jump for many years. The school was in the ship given to him by Winston Churchill, the stork....		Attaturk and Muslim resurgence SINCE the turn of the 20th century, the Muslim world has seen many an aspirant to political leadership. The leadership sought for was, in the first place, of this or that...
Ramay’s dilemma THANK God, Haneef Ramay failed in his efforts to get a ticket from his party for trying his luck in the coming elections of the Senate. Most of all, the revived...		Was Warne naive or guilty? THE greatest leggie of world cricket, Shane Warne, has finally been trapped leg before by the Australian Cricket Board after being tested positive for use of banned drug, hours before commencement...
Penalty-conversion picking up THERE is a common conception about our hockey that it has rarely produced penalty corner executors that have the ability to convert the chances into goals. And it is not wrong...		Minnows having a real good time THIS last week at the World Cup has truly been a week for the minnows to enjoy. It was a week that saw a memorable innings by Canada’s John Davison against...
International hockey is serious business THE whole nation is glued to television sets these days, and the situation is not going to change for a while. It is unfortunate that in their initial outings at the World Cup our cricketers have played at a level that has generally come to be associated with the country’s hockey players in the international...		Television addiction ADDICTION is a disorder characterized by criteria that include spending a great deal of time using the substance; using it more often than one intends; thinking about reducing use or making repeated unsuccessful efforts to reduce use; giving up important social...
A rueful ride WHEN I took the public bus at PIB colony of route 8-A — a ramshackle relic of the iron age every part of which rocked and rattled — I had no...		In a man’s world “I THOUGHT there would be a man!” The casual remark of a 14-year-old came not as a shock, but as a rude reminder of the fact that even in the 21st...
The canvas of life I WOULD like to give my comments on The canvas of life by Shabnum Gul published in the Dawn Magazine issue of February 16, 2003....		Newsmaker UNTIL the envelopes were opened on the night of the 45th annual Grammy awards, Bruce Springsteen’s The Rising looked like the sure thing to win. But the album-of-the-year honours were destined for Come Away With Me by the 23-year-old pianist and singer, Norah Jones, about 30 years...