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On the back seat for long FOLLOWING the media coverage of the 12th Saarc Heads of State Summit in Islamabad, one could be forgiven for thinking it was an Indo-Pak — and not a regional — summit. Such was the extent to which bilateral issues dominated the event....		Let’s give Saarc a decent burial DR C. Raja Mohan, a professor of South Asian Studies at the famed Jawaharlal Nehru University, is a staunch critic of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. He firmly believes that bilateral trade between Pakistan and India is the panacea for the tricky situation in the region....
He spoke to Quaid-i-Azam I SPENT the thrilling New Year night with my friends in an unusually elaborate bungalow situated in the heart of Phase V of Defence Housing Authority, Karachi. It was after innumerable years that we celebrated the arrival of a New Year with crazy...		Resolutions that are hardly kept EACH New Year brings with it introspection. Millions make resolutions, looking back over the past year at accomplishments, and at what still needs to be done. New Year resolutions, though great...
A war victim’s cry for peace THE other day I had a phone call from the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir. I was pleased to know that after Pakistan’s announcement of ceasefire and an equal response from India, there is now peace on both sides of the LoC....		Good ol’ age! SENIOR citizens constitute a major part of our population. Subsequently, one’s attitude about aging and life in general is critical to happiness and adaptation to circumstances. There are many myths about...
By Divine invitation only IT is indeed the most blessed place on Earth, as somebody replied when I told him that I was going to Makkah and Madina to perform Umra. Of course, this is not because it is located in an oil-rich affluent kingdom....		Four days in the land of Sundarban AN e-mail containing an invitation from the Bangladesh Institute for International and Strategic Studies for participation in a regional workshop on the role of small states in regional stability...
A high-risk ailment THE elderly population is arbitrarily defined as individuals aged 65 years or above. The incidence of high blood pressure and its complications increase dramatically with age. Human prospective research indicates that high blood pressure and aging, both cause similar patterns of altered cardiovascular structure...		Crumbling heritage WHILE travelling in the western plains of Shahdadkot taluka in Larkana, one comes across many tombs that belong to the Jamali tribe. The Jamalis are one of the sub-clans of Rind...
A glowing tribute MANY years ago, when I first heard the name of Indian filmstar Amitabh Bachchan and learnt that he came from Allahabad, I surmised he ought be the son of Bachchanji. When I read about his (Bachchanji’s) death in the papers...		The ‘red traveller’ of Urdu criticism “WE regarded the past as the Dark Ages and imagined ourselves living in an enlightened atmosphere. This kind of thinking led to extremism. I myself committed the mistake of saying things...
Day of infamy WITHIN 50 years of the awakening of Japan from its isolation under the shadows of US Navy Commodore Perry’s guns, it became a technically advanced and industrially strong nation, thanks to...		Hot Seat ABID Hasan Minto is a big name in the legal community. He is one of the founding members of the Pakistan Bar Council to which he was elected when this statutory...
Lessons from the legacy of Tauqir CHANGES in top management are always interesting for a variety of reasons, not least of them the element of curiosity. The change at the top in PCB brings in an extra dimension of suspense, for the policies of a long-time soldier are about...		Fighting till the very end AND so the curtain finally fell over what truly was a distinguished career. Steven Waugh has marched his way into history and has reserved a place alongside the alltime greats who...
Tennis needs focussed efforts THE standard of Pakistan tennis seems to be on the decline. And one gets this peculiar feeling after Pakistan avoided relegation fro groups two to three fo the Asia Oceania Zone tennis, and in doing so was quite satisfied with its performance! There, it seems, is absolutely no effort on Pakistan’s part to earn a place in the World Groups of the Davis Cup....		Visit from the afterlife? SYLVIA Browne, the best-selling psychic, says she’s on a mission from God to prove us mortals that the soul survives death. Saucer-eyed with nails like red claws and lips like crimson slivers, she is a progeny of a family of psychics dating back to 300 years....
When I became the head examiner TEACHING has been my passion for the last 29 years. During the course of my profession, I have come across thousands of students. But it was during my first and only...		The lost Jinnah WITH reference to the article The lost Jinnah (December 21, 2003) I agree with the author who is right and has relevant reasons for the collapse of this nation....
MOSAIC: Greenhouse gas trading WORLDWIDE trading of greenhouse gas emissions more than doubled over the last year to about 71 million tonnes, with governments and multilateral agencies accounting for more than half of the purchases,...		Newsmaker BRITNEY Spears commit her biggest ‘Oops’ last weekend. And she regretted it in no time. Wearing a baseball cap rather than a veil, on the arm of a hotel bellman rather than her father, Britney...