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The moon of contention OVER the years moon-sighting has become a sort of routine controversy that visits the country often, but is almost a guarantee on the eve of Ramazan and Shawwal. The blame is...		A scientific point of view WHILE the authenticity of witnesses remain a crucial factor in the overall Ruet-i-Hilal exercise, it is deplorable that men of science, who are capable of providing practical — and perhaps valid...
Sighting is a prerequisite ALTHOUGH there is no indication in the holy Quran about any moon-sighting exercise for the months of Ramazan and Shawwal, the sayings of the holy Prophet (Ahadith) in the matter are...		Mental health of Diya Ahmed Many years ago, before entering into intermittent periods of silence and seclusion, Diya Ahmed had said, “A sufi or dervish doesn’t impose himself on others. Like a mullah, he doesn’t confuse...
Rich man, poor man I was sitting quietly, having lunch one day. Across the table sat two “educated” gentlemen having a casual conversation. One said he had no cook because the last one had suddenly...		A son-less existence The first words of Arabic that I learned when I came to Saudi Arabia were “Maafi walad?” (No sons). My landlady (in Jeddah) plus the wife of the district umda, as...
NET-CLIP: Mubarak @ Eid For many of us, wishing our near and dear ones, who live abroad, Eid Mubarak, is an important part of Eid celebrations. One can do it by calling your brother up...		Green touch no more LACK of continuity and consistency in government’s policies and functioning is a very serious flaw that adversely affects society, directly and indirectly. Kamran Lashari’s abrupt transfer as head, Lahore’s Parks and...
When 45 is too old HOW should the Supreme Court’s verdict be defined when it decrees the retirement of the PIA’s female flight attendants after they have reached the age-mark of 45 years? Discriminatory? Biased? Retrogressive?...		Tales from the Roof of the World WASHING down Yak soup with some sprightly drink at the Roof of the World, barely miles from a barbed-wire Chinese border, after just having retraced the steps of Marco Polo. If...
DIARY OF A VAGABOND: Ballet in the mountains The Siral Lake surrounded us, dumbfounded us with its awesome out-of-this-world captivating beauty. We were indeed captives as the lake is guarded with high passes all around. We could not take...		Too loud? NOISE is the wrong sound in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, no matter how much we try, it has always been there and is for sure going to...
HOT SEAT ANWAR MAQSOOD’s taste concerning movies, music and books is as varied and diverse as his own personality and professional commitments. The playwright par excellence says that he has a long list...		The enigma that was Sahir After the death of Allama Iqbal, the greatest Urdu poet of the 20th century by consensus amongst the literati, many eminent poets emerged on the horizon of Urdu poetry. Amongst them...
CHAPTER FROM HISTORY: The battle of River Plate Sea warfare in World War II between adversaries in Europe did not develop into a clash of battleships and battle cruisers, like the naval campaigns of WW-I....		POINT OF VIEW: ‘Tilism-i-Hoshruba’ BEGUM Shahnaz Aijazuddin appears to be a strange bird. She is an Anglicized lady with no taste for Urdu. She has been writing in English, never caring to read or write...
In the heat of the night THE last ashra of Ramazan means so much to so many. The religious fervour remains high and so does the shopping mania. But what are the young ones to do? Well...		THROUGH THE COVERS: Behave, or go home ... Wow! THE recent statement issued by the Pakistan Cricket Board chief, Tauqir Zia, said the attitude adopted by the chief selector and the team management had brought a bad image to Pakistan...
Mirza Ghalib in Yale It’s an elegy, this time for her beloved Pip — “patriotic and preposterous” — the father Sara Suleri never let the reader of Meatless Days forget: his pedestrian English accent; his...		Who wants to be a millionaire? A couple of years ago, I was chased by people through post and fax from as far as Nigeria, Abidjan and Ivory Coast. They wanted my Forex account number so they...
NEWSMAKER He is Walt Disney’s most famous round-eared creation and he is now 75. Mickey Mouse, the rodent whose face and silhouette are familiar to generations of children globally, was born in Walt Disney’s imagination early in 1928....		Great Mosque of Xi’an With reference to The Great Mosque of Xi’an (November 9), I would like to set the record straight....