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Malignant malady PUT yourself in the shoes of an average Pakistani citizen in search of good healthcare. Private doctors and hospitals cost more than you can afford, so you would have to contend with government facilities....		Lack of commitment is behind the mess IF you look at the statistics given by various international agencies, it makes for very glum reading with Pakistan’s major health indicators clearly demonstrating a large unmet need. Estimated infant mortality...
Fundamentalism in media THEY (the politicians) should not presume to decide what is good music, or good biology, or good philosophy. I should not wish such matters to be decided in this country by the personal taste of any Prime Minister, past, present or future, even if, by good luck, his taste were impeccable....		Sharif Park is in a shambles THE Nawaz Sharif Park (now Public Park) was built and inaugurated by Mian Nawaz Sharif on May 20, 1990 when he was Punjab’s chief minister. A park in Rawalpindi’s heart was...
Matters of the heart HEART Disease is rampant in Pakistan. The entire South Asia has been labelled as a high prevalence region for Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), Hypertension and Diabetes Mellitus....		All work and no play SAFDAR is 25 and works in Gujrat. His work, however, is not your every day office job or business, nor is Safdar your every day, normal working man. Natives refer to him as a “chooha” or “rat child,” from the shrine....
Towards better environment MAN is himself responsible for the damage done to his environment. His impact on the surroundings has been to his own disadvantage....		Mother par excellence KHADIJAH Marsiena Ebrahim was born on July, 1928, in Cape Town, South Africa. She was the fifth daughter of Haji Omarji Ebrahim and his wife Ayesha. That the much desired son...
Amidst the karigars of the North IT is an unsolved mystery; no one knows how gold came from these heights, no one could scale these heights except by the crane.” There are many myths among the gold pickers of the Indus. They believe that the crane....		Oil slick: Impact and control A GREEK oil tanker Tasman Spirit which ran aground in Clifton area, carrying 50,000 tons of crude oil, is reported to be in the process of breaking-up, releasing much of its cargo in the sea. Police has closed 14 km Clifton coastline...
A flood of happiness MISTAKENLY, in cities or paka areas, people consider flood a catastrophic entity. But there is another side of it: floods for kacha residents (those who live along the river belt) is...		Reconstructing scientific thought THE MID-nineteenth century witnessed a series of discoveries in mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry and biology. New facts and natural laws were established, and new branches of science brought into being....
A novelist’s source of inspiration I FEEL tempted again to refer to the latest issue of Duniyazad of Karachi, in which an Arab novelist’s significant statement in relation to his sources of inspiration has been...		The abolition of Khilafat THE political rehabilitation of Turkey at Lausanne (1923) had pleased the Indian Muslims . But they had become increasingly worried about the rehabilitation of the Khilafat to its former glory, for which the Khilafat Conference on November 23, 1919 was held....
Hot Seat WHATEVER your profession, whatever your inclinations, rare is a soul who does not watch movies, listen to music and browse through a book every now and then, if not as a...		Will there be good results now? THE recently held election for office bearers of Pakistan Football Federation may have reflected an unopposed stamp of authority. But promises of future programmes and plans started on a lop sided note as President elect Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat...
Making history in pairs SHEHRYAR Arshad and Riaz Mohammad have become one of the top sailing pairs, not only in Pakistan, but also in the world. This pair has managed to win a silver medal...		Setting new standards GOING by the criterion that we had set last week, Pakistan did well to finish it on the fourth day. But the way things proceeded on the first three days, specially...
Crime against the people THE first and foremost need of the people is security of life and property. It is the foremost responsibility of the State to provide a secure environment to its people. Our judicial system often seems...		Lovingly yours! JUST as spring cannot be far behind when winter comes, so one trend gives way to another. This is how nature works. It changes colour, shape, aroma and becomes transformed. It changes itself into something...
Back in business THE intensity of humidity in the Capital can be best measured on the evening walk, when one does not see too many familiar faces as on any regular and pleasant day....		Point of View WITH reference to Intizar Hussain’s column on Halqa-e-Arbab-e-Zauq transported me back to 1942 when I was enrolled as a member of the Halqa by Tabish Siddiqui. Through the years 1942-44, I...
MOSAIC: World Parks Congress TWELVE per cent of the Earth’s surface will come under debate in the global forum to tackle the future of protected areas. The V World Congress on Protected Areas, or World...		Newsmaker HE was a coalminer and a WWII veteran before he was lured towards acting and became famous for his tough guy roles. Charles Bronson, the rugged-faced actor who worked in more than 60 films and became a star after the...