Sufi odes of Iranian singer
Though the musicians are adept at their respective instruments and have all been performing for several years, the fact that they had never played together as a unit hardly showed when they treated citizens of Karachi to selections from Iranian classical music, heavily suffused with the fragrance of Sufism.
Motamedi, who also plays the 'nay’, a wind instrument common to Arabic, Iranian and Turkish traditional music, was accompanied by three other musicians on this, his and the group’s first sojourn in Karachi. They were Sina Jahanabadi on the kamanche, which means ‘little bow’ in Persian; Hossein Rezaeenia on the daf and Roza Yazdani, a petite female musician who plays the dhol.
Getting back to Motamedi’s internal state in relation to his external performance, he says that the poetry and tune is decided usually on the spot, as the singer first gauges the ability of the audience to digest the profound fare being offered. With one look at the audience, he claims, he is guided by his internal feelings, which steer him towards the poetry.
Motamadi’s favourite poets are the giants of Persian classical poetry: Khwaja Hafiz Shirazi, Shaikh Saadi and, of course, Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi. He says that he prefers the masters to modern poets, and usually, just before coming on stage, he glances over a few of Hafiz’s verses for inspiration. From then on he’s on auto-pilot, as the poetry guides him. The tunes, he says, are also often improvised.
The singer said that those who choose to learn classical music in Iran must also have a thorough knowledge of the poetry of the masters, or else the performance lacks sincerity, since the poetry is so central to the music.
About coming to Pakistan, group members said that they had a very negative image of the country. But when they arrived here, they were pleasantly surprised. In fact, the group, who had never performed together before their Karachi festival performance, have decided to tour together, and a performance in Europe is on the cards.
Getting more out of the electricity we already generate
THE photograph in Dawn, last Friday, showing the excessively-illuminated Parade Ground in front of Parliament House only demonstrates how sincere about energy conservation we really are.
The photograph is particularly galling for ordinary consumers who, already reeling under hours of daily power blackouts, are being exhorted to save energy.
It is thus not difficult to understand why most businesses in Islamabad, as well as in Rawalpindi and in other cities of the country, were irked by the order to close their shops by 8.00pm as part of the recently announced measures to conserve power.
There is more to a power conservation strategy than drastic measures like loadshedding and early shop closure, says one businessman in Supermarket.
Power shortages are also being faced in some places in the developed countries, eg, California in the US, continues this entrepreneur who has business links abroad. But over there consumers are never so hard hit because the power conservation strategy is mainly targeted at improving energy efficiency rather than at stopping consumers from using power wholesale, he opines.
Indeed our power conservation measures have always been tough on the general consumer, be it the domestic, business, industrial or agricultural consumer. And these measures seem to be getting tougher by the year.
On top of the scheduled loadshedding / load management and unscheduled power breakdowns, which often run into hours on end in some areas badly affecting not only domestic consumers but business, industrial and agricultural concerns as well, consumers are being asked this summer to sacrifice further by putting up with the early closure of businesses and shops.
On the other hand, we have done very little in the way of conserving energy by improving energy efficiency, i.e., getting more use out of the electricity we already generate.
Unlike Pakistan, many countries have already adopted a national energy efficiency programme or plan to reduce energy consumption through such energy efficiency initiatives like enhancing building codes to improve the design and insulation of buildings so that energy use is reduced; upgrading the technology used in air-conditioning, heating and ventilation systems so that less energy is used in cooling and heating of buildings; and promoting the use of energy-efficient products and appliances like energy efficient motors and transformers, energy-saving bulbs, etc.
Apart from the adoption of minor energy efficiency measures, like the use of energy-saving bulbs, most buildings constructed in Pakistan pay little attention to energy efficiency, says a foreign-qualified architect based in Islamabad. Whereas, he adds, the design of a building’s structure can be such that it can considerably help in saving on the energy used for cooling and heating systems.
Commercial and office buildings, and even our Parade Ground, he continues, generally waste a lot of power in lighting. We can greatly increase energy efficiency simply by more thoughtful design that eliminates over illumination, he suggests.
With such improved designing for buildings combined with other vigorous energy efficient construction measures like high levels of insulation, tight performance windows and doors, etc., as well as the use of other energy efficient systems, equipment and appliances in homes, offices and businesses, one can imagine how much power we can conserve, he contends.
In countries which are energy efficiency conscious, he goes on, most of the organizations, e.g., universities, schools, business corporations, hotels, etc., have an energy management systems group or department to monitor and control energy consumption via the design and implementation of an organisational-wide energy system to provide energy conservation measures to facilitate energy savings.
Drawing up a national energy efficiency plan will have to include the formulation, promulgation and implementation of incentive policies, laws and measures to regulate and encourage energy conservation, such as mandated energy performance codes and standards, and taxation and pricing mechanisms in favour of energy efficient practices and products/appliances.
Having energy efficiency standards for air conditioners is particularly important because it is air conditioning usage that stresses the grid most in summers. This having been cited as a reason for the unscheduled power breakdowns in major cities in Pakistan last summer as well as for a recent major power blackout in the US.
Equally important is improving public awareness and consciousness about energy efficiency. Our government as well as our town/city planners, developers, builders, contractors, architects, etc., and our product, equipment and appliance designers, manufacturers and retailers, etc., all have an important role to play in promoting energy efficiency practices and products.
Most important perhaps is that our power producers, suppliers and distributors including Wapda, all the Escos, KESC, etc., as well as our ministries and other government establishments must set the example for Pakistani consumers by adopting and implementing energy efficiency standards and practices in their own setups.
According to the 2005-2006 Economic Survey of Pakistan, our energy losses in the process of power generation, transmission and distribution during the past 10 years have been hovering between 24 and 28 per cent of the total electricity generated, with the figure being 23 per cent in July 2005-March 2006 (whereas power losses from the modern networks in most developed countries are well below 10 per cent).
Inefficiency in our power production is also evident in the fact that “many” thermal plants are not functioning due to “technical problems,” according to a recent Dawn report quoting the federal secretary for water and power.
Building more power plants —the federal minister for water and power told the National Assembly last Friday that 32 new power plants would be commissioned during the next three years— is not necessarily the complete answer, particularly if these too were to become non-functional in no time due to technical and efficiency problems.
According to studies on energy efficiency by international institutions like the World Bank and western governments, reducing the energy losses incurred by inefficient older power plants and inefficient power transmission and distribution transformers can help developing and even developed countries save billions of dollars provided they invest in upgrading the efficiency of their systems.
Thus, to battle the energy crunch effectively, we need to do more than merely expanding our power supply capacity through more power plants or power imports. While ordinary consumers ought to do their part in saving energy by turning off unnecessary lights, fans and air-conditioners, and businesses could do their bit by closing shops at the generally agreed time of 9.00pm or even 9.30pm, it is high time we invest in a more sustainable strategy in energy conservation by adopting vigorous energy efficiency initiatives and by promoting renewable sources of power generation like wind and solar power and renewable energy products like solar fans and geysers.
If we fail do this, the result can only be even more load shedding and power breakdowns for consumers in the future, whereas our consumers have every right to an uninterrupted supply of power throughout the year.
EU peace plan challenged by Russia, allies
EUROPEAN Union hopes of ensuring peace and stability on its borders are being challenged by an increasingly combative and self-confident Russia and the EU’s own members from central and Eastern Europe which are demanding a tougher line against their former Soviet patron. With an array of acrimonious rows between the 27-nation bloc and Moscow casting a shadow over an EU-Russia to be held in the Volga River city of Samara on May 17-18, EU policymakers are braced for a stormy encounter with President Vladimir Putin.
The meeting looks set to be especially difficult given deep differences within the EU over how best to deal with Russia. The bloc is divided between the eight former Soviet-bloc states who want the EU to stand up to Moscow over issues like energy, democracy and human rights and EU heavyweights France, Germany and Italy which — with an eye on Russia’s vast energy resources - are striving to forge a “strategic partnership” with the country.
So far, EU policymakers have not only been unable to forge a united front on Russia, they are also bickering loudly and very publicly about how best to deal with Moscow. If experience is any guide, President Putin should be able to use the EU split to his advantage not only at the summit in Samara but in the months leading up to Russian presidential elections in 2008.
Although EU policymakers are trying desperately to play down current frictions with Russia, there is no denying that Moscow’s current anti-Western rhetoric on issues like US missile defence plans in Europe and other security issues, is a throwback to the Cold War. Urging EU states to speak with one voice to Moscow, the bloc’s trade chief Peter Mandelson warned recently that relations between Europe and Russia had Trade Commissioner had reached an all-time low.
With mistrust between the EU and Moscow running high, Mandelson warned that the “incoherence” of European policy towards Russia over much of the past decade had been “frankly alarming.” Added Mandelson: “No other country reveals our differences as does Russia.”
EU contradictions on Russia are especially visible in the run-up to the Samara summit. Estonia and Moscow are at loggerheads over Tallinn’s decision to remove a Soviet-era war memorial from the centre of the capital. Meanwhile Lithuania has said it may block negotiations on a new Russia-EU partnership agreement because of Moscow’s failure to resume crude deliveries to the Mazeikiu refinery through the Druzhba pipeline. Similarly, Poland is refusing to give its green light to the new treaty, saying Russia must first lift its ban on imports of Polish meat.
Hanging over the meeting is also growing Western criticism of President Putin’s handling of political freedoms and human rights — a sensitive issue thrown into relief by plans for an opposition rally in Samara on the day of the EU summit. After police violently broke up several earlier protest marches by “The Other Russia” coalition, a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who currently holds the rotating EU presidency, urged Russia to authorize the Samara protest, saying: “We start from the principle that critical voices should be able to be expressed.”
Seeking to cool down tempers in both the EU and Russia, EU officials preparing the Samara summit insist that both sides should move beyond current “irritants” to focus on common long-term strategic interests.
“We do not want to make mountains out of molehills,” says a senior EU diplomat, adding that while the list of issues on which Russia and the
EU currently disagreed was long, the two sides must be prepared to cooperate. “It is in everybody’s interest not to lose sight of the long-term objectives,” he said, adding: “We must have a strategic partnership in all areas.”
Tensions between the EU and Russia came to the boil last year when Moscow briefly cut off gas supplies to Ukraine, triggering energy shortages in many parts of Europe. Angry EU policymakers loudly denounced the unilateral move as a sign that a more assertive Russia was using its vast energy resources — Moscow supplies 25 per cent of the EU’s consumption of natural gas — as a political tool.
Relations became even more strained after Russia refused to sign an international energy charter which the EU says is vital to ensure western access to Moscow’s vast energy market. Adding to the current gloom, Russia’s opposition to recent United Nations proposals for internationally-supervised independence for Kosovo means that a final decision on the status of the breakaway Serb province could be delayed indefinitely.
Most significantly, Russia is outraged at US plans to deploy part of its anti-missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic, former satellites of Russia that are now members of the EU and of Nato. For their part, European governments — acting within Nato — have warned Russia not to suspend its implementation of the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, which is designed to reduce the number of troops, tanks, aircraft and artillery pieces in what were Warsaw Pact and Nato countries.
With emotions running high, EU diplomats have cautioned against a “dramatisation” of current tensions. But at the moment, getting EU states to reconcile their different approaches towards Russia is even more of a challenge for EU policymakers than dealing with President Putin.