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Sunday, November 30, 2003
One in seven arranged marriage victims is male - Independent
"Scores of young British men are being forced into marriage against their will every year, a specialist Foreign Office unit has discovered... Victims have been taken by their families to Pakistan or Bangladesh for a 'holiday' and found themselves attending their own weddings."Related posts:
- Murder feared in arranged marriage - Guardian
- Europe Grapples with 'Honor Killings' - Deutsche Welle
- Online network connects like-minded Muslims - Oakland Tribune
Pakistanis promote boycott of US products - Aljazeera
"While many Pakistanis are embracing the 'war on US products', others believe the movement has a long way to go... 'Though symbolic in nature, our campaign against the US policy of unilateralism turned out to be quite successful,' Sameena Imtiaz said. 'We managed to send at least 50% of people away from these fast food chains when we told them of the US policies in Palestine and Iraq,' she added."
Consumerism plus Islam equals a boomtown - New Zealand Herald
"Dubai is a boomtown. It is Singapore with sand and sheikhs, a 21st-century gold rush... It is one of the most interesting places in the world to be when the President of the United States calls for a democratic Middle East. How far would Dubai have come if it had been democratic? The sheikhs do not rely on the whims of the people. None of this could have happened with bickering political parties, a three-year electoral cycle and special-interest groups."
Imran Khan-Jemima marriage in trouble? - Hindustan Times
"The eight-year-old marriage of Jemima and Imran has run into serious difficulties, The Mail on Sunday said. The paper quoted their friends as saying that Jemima, 29, has moved back to Britain where she is studying for M.A. while Imran is pursuing his political career in Islamabad. The separation is said to have been caused by Jemima's desire to spend more time with her own family in London, where she has bought a £1.5 million house in fashionable Fulham."
[June 22, 2004, Reuters] Imran Khan divorces Jemima.
"Pakistan's celebrity marriage is over -- Imran Khan, cricketing legend and international playboy-turned-political crusader says he has divorced socialite Jemima, ending months of speculation among the chattering classes of London and Lahore."
[June 22, 2004, BBC] A parting of the ways.
"Imran Khan's biographer reflects on the break-up of his marriage to Jemima Goldsmith. From the outset it was a marriage that would face the severest of tests. Their contrasting background, age and upbringing meant that it would always be under pressure." [Good backgrounder, recommended reading]
Two Sentenced for Trying to Join Taliban - Guardian
"Two American Muslims who tried to join the Taliban were sentenced to 18 years in prison Monday during a hearing in which they denounced the Bush administration and pleaded in song for freedom. Patrice Lumumba Ford, 32, and Jeffrey Leon Battle, 33, had pleaded guilty in October to conspiracy to levy war against the United States. Both said that in trying to reach Afghanistan, they were fulfilling their Islamic duty to defend fellow Muslims."
Across the Atlantic in Britain, young Sajid Badat's arrest for alleged links to al-Qaida is raising a lot of eyebrows. Guardian reports: Disbelief and anger greet arrest of devout Muslim.
"Next to the alternatives, Camp Four is paradise. Real, colored prayer rugs, thicker mattresses, pillows even, and soccer shoes. Pure-white clothes instead of glaring catch-me-you-if-you-can orange. A librarian comes around with books, and lunch is on picnic tables, family style. This is where the prisoners get to come if they are good, meaning well behaved and fruitful in their interrogations. 'We try to sell this place,' says an Army Colonel."
Back on mainland, an Algerian air force lieutenant (Benamar Benatta) with an expired visa was held in primarily solitary confinement for 26 months in the aftermath of post-9/11 panic in the US. Washington Post reports on the lieutenant's shattering experience: A Prisoner Of Panic After 9/11.
Friedman: The Chant Not Heard - New York Times
"Nowhere could I find a single sign in London reading, 'Osama, How Many Innocents Did You Kill Today?' or 'Baathists — Hands Off the U.N. and the Red Cross in Iraq.' Hey, I would have settled for 'Bush and Blair Equal Bin Laden and Saddam' — something, anything, that acknowledged that the threats to global peace today weren't just coming from the White House and Downing Street."
Why didn't the Scientific Revolution happen in Islam? - Chowk
"Every great civilization writes its own history, selectively extracts data from the past, and then proves to its satisfaction that its greatness has no peer or rival. The dominant civilization of our times, the West, has also defined a vision of cultural and intellectual history wherein the development of science is presented as the unilinear and inexorable march of Greco-Roman ideas into the European Renaissance period. It is only over the last few decades that there has been some widening of perspective, and beginnings of a realization that the roots of science are to be found in highly diverse cultural and temporal origins."
A classic Hoodbhoy piece. I read it a third time today to reactivate some brain cells.
As Google grows, critics emerge - Boston Globe
"Do you hate Google yet? At first glance, the question seems absurd. What's to hate about an Internet site where you can go and find out about practically anything, free of charge? ... 'Google is about to join, I think, that rarified level enjoyed by Microsoft, the New York Yankees, the United States of America,' said Hayson. 'Too big, too powerful, too successful, too rich. And you're starting to see the rumblings right now.' "
Saturday, November 29, 2003
Matches, hatches and dispatches are made in heaven - Guardian
"The idea of India may be secular, but astrology played a role in the country's birth. The transfer of power from Britain took place in New Delhi in the early hours of August 15 1947, after an inauspicious period had passed. Pakistan took no such precaution and became independent a day earlier. Indian astrologers say it is paying the price. It split into two in 1971, with the creation of Bangladesh, and is destined for further division."
Pakistan: Corruption, United Nations-style - Daily Mirror
"In 2002, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) set up a mission in Karachi to encourage Afghan citizens to return home after the Taliban fell and the Hamid Karzai government took over. But investigations have revealed that due to the large-scale corruption of the NGOs hired to help in the repatriation process and irregularities by senior mission staff, several Afghan citizens were not able to reach home or were cheated on way."
Doctors' sons who became rapists - Sydney Herald
"They are the sons of a medical doctor and they are rapists. Lee Glendinning reports on two of four brothers found guilty of gang rape in attacks that upended the NSW legal system."
The case has received a great deal of publicity in the Australian and Indian press. Bravo - the brothers have brought much-needed glory to Pakistan and must have greatly helped the cause of Australian immigration. Here's a report in the Hindustan Times: Pakistanis brothers raped girls for 'fun'.
Army accelerates border fencing after ceasefire : Hindustan Times
"With the border remaining calm in the wake of the Indo-Pak ceasefire, security forces have intensified border fencing work along the Line of Control and International Border in Jammu and Kashmir... Working without any fear of Pakistani firing for the first time since the start of fencing two years ago, the jawans engaged in the fencing say that their output has increased three to four times now."
In Kabul, Giving Thanks for Small Mercies - Washington Post
"As I shopped and planned for the holiday, I marveled anew at the changes that had transformed the Afghan capital since the collapse of Islamic Taliban rule in late 2001. Store shelves, once half-empty and dust-coated, now brimmed with imported specialty goods, from canned pumpkin to corkscrews. Foreigners, once a rarity on city streets, now chatted in line at crowded Internet cafes."
Friday, November 28, 2003
Cold war at 21,000ft is the ultimate exercise in futility - FT
"More than 95 per cent of troop casualties in Siachen - thought to be in the hundreds, although the number is classified - are caused by the climate rather than enemy fire, according to the Indian army... The financial cost is prohibitive. India spends an estimated $1m-$2m a day maintaining its presence in Siachen. Pakistan spends a bit less. Since 1984, India has spent an estimated $10bn on its Siachen operations. Its annual budget is almost $100bn."
Art, Music Provoke Islamists on Pakistan Campuses - Washington Post
"Pursuing arts at the University of Karachi, the country's largest cosmopolitan city, is a risky business... Murtaza Khaliq, a film student at Pakistan's biggest university in Karachi, produced a music video for his final-year project. But right-wing Islamic students opposed to holding art shows on campus attacked the graduating student's year-end exhibition and smashed the computer he had planned to use to screen it."
Ask President Musharraf in Urdu and Hindi - BBC
"Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf will answer your questions on the current state of politics in Pakistan, the country's relations with India and the Kashmir problem, among other issues, in a live phone-in programme with the BBC's Urdu and Hindi services."
Fill in a short online form with a comment and hopefully your comments will be aired on the December 1 Talking-Point program.
HIV Indian man almost buried live - BBC
"An Indian family attempted to bury a relative who was suffering from Aids just hours before he died. Jaffer Dhari Sadiq, a 32-year old van driver, had slipped into a coma while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Madurai city in Tamilnadu state. As neighbours of the rented house where he lived objected to his return his relatives took him to a graveyard. But a grave digger finding signs of life in him demanded a doctor's certificate and refused to bury him."
Sinha raps up scribes for obsession with Pak : Hindustan Times
"External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha on Friday refused to answer questions by reporters on Pakistan, saying it was 'not proper' to always talk about that country. 'I prefer to talk about anything other than Pakistan,' Sinha told a battery of television cameramen and reporters."
DVD pirates 'fund terror groups' - Femail
"People who buy pirated DVDs of films such as Love Actually could be helping fund terror groups including al Qaeda, the police warned today... A detective warned: 'There's a lot of members of the public out there who don't understand what they may be funding and that's a message that's very important to get across.' "
Smart ploy to piggy-back the piracy cause on the war against terror.
U.N. probes Iran-Pakistan nuclear link - SF Chronicle
"The United Nations' nuclear agency is investigating potential links between the atomic programs of Iran and Pakistan after discovering that Iran's secret uranium-enrichment program used technology identical to Pakistani plans. The most recent IAEA report on Iran's nuclear program said Tehran had started research in 1985 and had gotten the centrifuge designs 'from a foreign intermediary in 1987.' Iran has told the agency that they came from a middleman whose identity remains a mystery."
Plastic promises dense data store - BBC
"A common plastic used to keep monitor screens clear of fluff could soon be used as a high-density computer memory. In the journal Nature, the US researchers say it could let them pack a gigabyte of data into a sugar cube-sized device. The material is also very cheap to manufacture and data can be written down and read back from it quickly. The researchers predict that it could take only a few years to turn their discovery into working devices."
Thursday, November 27, 2003
US Observes Thanksgiving Holiday - Voice of America
"People across the United States are observing the Thanksgiving holiday Thursday, a time for family and friends to reunite and reflect... Thanksgiving is celebrated annually on the last Thursday in November. It dates back to 1621 when European settlers and native American Indians held a feast to celebrate a bountiful harvest."
Happy Thanksgiving to all readers in the US.
India's turn-round queen - Economist
"Ranjana Kumar shows that you can succeed in India even if you are not in information technology. Her remarkable success in bringing Indian Bank back into profit has turned her into an award-winning celebrity of the Indian finance scene, feted for her turn-round expertise. Among her many good qualities are limitless energy, great persuasive power and, above all, common sense."
Corporate history is replete with examples where a single change in leadership has turned large organizations around (Apple, Volkswagen, etc.). With some skill, one human can boil the ocean - he who cries at the debility of an individual is simply ignorant.
Minister barred Muslim juror - Guardian
"France's justice minister said yesterday that he personally had decided to replace a woman juror who wore her Islamic headscarf in court, saying he wanted to ensure a fair trial. The justice minister, Dominique Perben, said on Europe-1 radio: 'When in a court, someone outwardly shows a religious, philosophical or political conviction, that can be a sign that his decision as a juror will be influenced.' "
Putting Polygamy to the Test - Washington Post
"Erlangga said he had never expected to have more than one wife, even though his father had three and his grandfather two. And he truly loved Titin, whom he had met in college and wed in 1983. But 13 years and two children later, he fell in love with Mardiana, now 37, who was a widow. 'It was a mix of passion, love and social responsibility,' he explained. 'She is the type of person who needs protection.' He feels that he is a better Muslim for helping a widow without financial means."
On Kashmir Border, Soldiers Trade Gifts, Not Shots - New York Times
"Children laughed as they played cricket. Men and women worked peacefully in rice fields. Indian and Pakistani border guards exchanged festive gifts and friendly chats instead of gunfire. Two days after India and Pakistan agreed to their first cease-fire in 14 years, the guns remained silent along the 700 miles of volatile border here."
Star journalist embraces the hijab - BBC
"Khadija Ben Ganna said she managed to 'defeat the devil' after three years of mulling over the idea of wearing the veil, adding that she came under no pressure from the channel's management... Ben Ganna said the decisive moment for her came after a one-on-one with Egyptian Islamic preacher Omar Abdul Kafi, who appeared on an al-Jazeera programme called Sharia (Islamic law) and Life."
A related story linked from the above page: Why I decided to wear the veil.
Wednesday, November 26, 2003
Permanent membership not for India - Business Standard
"India's aspiration to join the privileged elite in the Security Council is consistent with its conduct as an independent country. Its ruling classes did not demolish the colonial apparatus when the British left, but simply took it over. It condemned the nuclear weapons of bigger powers but strove to acquire them too. So it is but 'natural' that instead of seeking the abolition of permanent membership of the Security Council as a matter of principle, what India really wants is to join privileged few and feel it has 'arrived'."
Murky divorce details put Bush's brother in spotlight - Guardian
"While United States president George Bush and his brother Jeb, the Florida governor, have made it through some tough questioning, the president's younger brother, Neil, may not be so lucky. In a court deposition, taken in March and released this week, Neil claims that attractive women came to his hotel door looking for sex while he was on business trips in Hong Kong in Thailand. And as a big-hearted Texan Neil, the third of five Bush children, merely did as he was asked."
How Asian doctors saved the NHS - BBC
"When Health Minister Enoch Powell, appealed for help to staff his massively expanding health service 40 years ago, more than 18,000 doctors from the Indian Sub Continent answered his call. Today, as the 1960s generation collectively approach retirement, the NHS is facing a crisis once again - and this time the health service may not be so lucky."
Focus on new HIV/AIDS prevention programme - OCHA IRIN
" 'Pakistan is a low-prevalence, high-risk country for HIV infections,' a report, compiled by a special World Bank mission in the spring of 2001 said, adding that the most significant mode of transmission was sexual, identified in about 42 percent of the roughly 1,549 HIV cases and 202 AIDS cases reported by then. 'High priority should be given to interventions that seek to slow the transmission among high-risk groups, especially commercial sex workers and their clients,' it stressed."
Militants say not bound by Kashmir ceasefire - Reuters
"One of the main Islamic separatist groups fighting in Kashmir dismissed a ceasefire between India and Pakistan that began on Wednesday and said it would continue attacks in India's part of the territory.... 'The ceasefire is meaningless unless the Kashmir issue is addressed in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiris,' a spokesman for the pro-Pakistan Hezb-ul Mujahideen said."
The Three-State Solution - New York Times
"President Bush's new strategy of transferring power quickly to Iraqis, and his critics' alternatives, share a fundamental flaw: all commit the United States to a unified Iraq, artificially and fatefully made whole from three distinct ethnic and sectarian communities. That has been possible in the past only by the application of overwhelming and brutal force."
Kashmiri family reunited after decades apart - Reuters
"At the time of partition, Harbans Kore was separated from her husband, who, as a Sikh, was forced to flee from Muslim insurgents in Kashmir. Assuming him lost, she married a Muslim, converted to Islam, and bore two children. But then in the mid-1950s, she had to leave Kashmir and her new family after an agreement between India and Pakistan required women to return to their original husbands. In India, she returned to her Sikh faith and her first husband, with whom she had two daughters and a son."
Tuesday, November 25, 2003
How do we get out of Iraq? - Guardian
"One wishes that the term 'exit strategy' was not bandied about at all. Although the conservatives deny the comparison, it has deep echoes of Vietnam. Exit strategies from a conflict, such as Napoleon's retreat from Moscow or the British army heading towards Dunkirk, are often desperate, hand-to-mouth affairs, and full of Clausewitzian frictions. They smell of defeat, and defeatism. Most importantly, the open discussion by one side of various ways of making an exit gives a tremendous morale and propaganda boost to the opposition."
A historical comparative in Asia Times: Iraq, George Bush and Queen Victoria.
On the job with a Taliban recruiter - Asia Times
"Abdul Zahir is unflagging in his rounds because he has an almost missionary zeal: to find recruits for jihad - or holy war - waged by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Himself blinded in one eye from action in Afghanistan, Abdul tells prospective recruits: 'You might fight at the front line, or you might stand guard at night. You can cook for other Islamic warriors, or you can be a male nurse. Or you can give the fighters money or grain - everything is welcome because the jihad has started.' "
World hunger on the increase - Financial Times
"World hunger is back on the increase, the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation has warned, threatening to torpedo international efforts to halve the number of undernourished people by 2015. During the early 1990s, the number of hungry people worldwide fell by 37m. But according to the FAO's annual hunger report, released on Tuesday the second half of the decade saw an increase of 18m."
Christian Science Monitor digs deeper into the numbers in Hunger on the rise, but not everywhere.
The US's new man with a mission in India - Asia Times
"According to analysts in India, Mulford, as chairman of Credit Suisse First Boston International and a former under secretary of Treasury in the first Bush administration, is expected to leverage the political-strategic relationship in key economic terms. They further add that Mulford belongs to Washington's power elite that includes men like Henry Kissinger, James Baker and Frank Carlucci, with his appointment proof that Bush retains a "personal, direct" interest in the US's relationship with India."
Kashmir ceasefire - will it last? - BBC
"The announcement by India on Monday that it too will sign up to a Kashmir ceasefire - and make Pakistan's unilateral offer bilateral - will be greeted with enthusiastic applause by the international community... Despite a change in mood music, though, the ceasefire is still a long way from a real breakthrough. Many analysts question how much of a concession each side is making."
Pakistan's wheat economics - Asia Times
"If there was ever a textbook example on how not to intervene in markets, the Pakistan wheat situation would serve admirably. Although Pakistan is a wheat-growing nation and wheat is a widely used staple, with chapatis turning up on the table three times a day, speculators often manage to tie up the market, drive prices to stratospheric levels and reap huge profits."
Meagre Software Industry yet to take off - PakTribune
"I discovered this myself, at considerable personal financial loss, when, even at the height of the dot com boom in the US, the company that I set up in Karachi to tap the software export potential of the country had to be closed down for lack of business."
Can some 'nation-marketing' help? New York Times on the subject: When Nations Need a Little Marketing. Thanks to Farzal Dojki for the links and for establishing the connection.
The Wal-Mart Effect - Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times' series of 9 articles on Wal-Mart and its impact on the world at large... "Wal-Mart is so powerful that it moves the economies of entire countries, bringing profit and pain. The prices can't be beat, but the wages can... Wal-Mart is growing fast in China, where its stores are local attractions. The firm's overseas empire is changing buying habits in 10 nations."
Monday, November 24, 2003
Eid al-Fitr arrives as Ramadan ends - Aljazeera
"The crescent moon has been sighted across most of the Gulf region, marking the end to Ramadan, the month of fasting and the start of the celebration of the festival of Eid al-Fitr."
Happy Eid Mubarak to all readers from pakistani perspective.
Scouring the Globe for an $8.63 Polo Shirt - LA Times
"Wal-Mart, once a believer in buying American, extracts ever lower prices from 10,000 suppliers worldwide. Workers struggle to keep pace. When Wal-Mart Stores Inc. demands a lower price for the shirts and shorts it sells by the millions, the consequences are felt in a remote Chinese industrial town, at a port in Bangladesh and here in Honduras, under the corrugated metal roof of the Cosmos clothing factory."
Dell closes overseas call centers - Boston Globe
"After an onslaught of complaints, direct sales computer king Dell Inc. has stopped routing corporate customers to a technical support call center in Bangalore, India.... "They're extremely polite, but I call it sponge listening -- they just soak it in and say 'I can understand why you're angry' but nothing happens," an unsatisfied customer said."
Silence on sex selection - Washington Times
"Sex selection is simply choosing a child based upon its sex. It can be done through several different techniques. On average, Mother Nature provides for 105 boys to be born for every 100 girls. However, with those human interventions, that ratio has become skewed in some societies, particularly those in the developing world. The ratio is 108.7 to 100 in Egypt, it is 110.9 in Pakistan and it is 117 to 100 in China. Some nations in the Caucasus region have seen ratios as high as 120 to 100."
"Corruption scandals in India carry the same capacity to shock as revelations of a Mafia presence in Sicily. So when a videotape surfaced last week allegedly showing a government minister holding a fistful of cash to his forehead, uttering "money isn't God, but by God, it's no less than God" and promising his benefactor mining concessions, it created a stir in the press—but nowhere else."
Bollywood's Newest Star - Fortune
"In January 2002 an ethnic Pakistani named Sheeraz Hasan flew from London to the U.S. with no money, no contacts, and no filmmaking experience. Today he is the host of Tinseltown TV, a talk show that broadcasts to 500 million people in India, Iran, and elsewhere in the Middle East. And he has become a Hollywood institution, showing up at virtually every film premiere, chatting regularly with the likes of Tom Cruise, Jennifer Lopez, Meryl Streep, and Steven Spielberg."
India gains new respect in Muslim world - Asia Times
"Muslim diplomatic circles in Delhi are abuzz with new excitement. While breaking their day-long fast at numerous Iftar parties in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Muslim, and particularly Arab diplomats, are privately musing with some surprise that contrary to apprehensions from a Hindu fundamentalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government, India's relationship with the Muslim world has not only not worsened, it has actually improved."
Housing Squeeze Gets Worse in Pakistan - OneWorld
"The housing problem in Pakistan - the winner of a global award for consistently abusing and defying housing rights laws in 2002 - has further worsened, with the authorities pushing through massive development projects that will leave thousands homeless....Two of the worst cases are the Lyari Expressway project in the southern port city of Karachi and the 160-mile US $55-million Chashma Right Bank Canal in the eastern province of Punjab."
Pakistan leader orders probe of 'honour killing' - Reuters
"Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has ordered police to investigate accusations of the 'honour killing' of a woman...Every year hundreds of women are killed in Pakistan by relatives for offences deemed to have offended the family's honour, including adultery, marrying without family consent and failing to offer an adequate dowry."
Details of the case brought to Musharraf's attention: Afsheen's body may be exhumed today. Electrocution is speculated to be the cause of death in BBC's report Pakistan 'honour killing' probe.
We need to laugh: Cowasjee - Dawn
"We must somehow learn to laugh at ourselves, at our petty foibles, our comic weaknesses, habits and errors. To be able to do so, to shrug off complexes that make us take every single thing so seriously, is one of the first signs of maturity and self-confidence." Cowasjee on how the idiosyncrasies of our ruling generals have evolved with the passage of time.
Sunday, November 23, 2003
China's 'Far West' faces up to Aids - BBC
"One of the fastest growing Aids problems in China is hidden from view in the far north-western province of Xinjiang. Xinjiang sits at the crossroads of ancient trade routes like the old silk road which bore caravans of silk and spices to central Asia. Now juggernauts shuttle across from Pakistan and Afghanistan, and north from the Golden Triangle bearing a modern commodity - heroin, and with it deadly disease - Aids."
Bush's Remark About God Assailed - Washington Post
"Evangelical Christian leaders expressed dismay yesterday over President Bush's statement that Christians and Muslims worship the same god, saying it had caused discomfort within his conservative religious base. But most predicted that the political impact would be short-lived....'We should always remember that he is commander in chief, not theologian in chief,' a church leader said in a telephone interview yesterday."
Sleeping with the Devil - Israel Insider
"France has witnessed the biggest wave of anti-Semitism since the 1930s. Since September 2001, over 1,300 anti-Semitic acts have been accounted for by the Wiesenthal Center: almost two a day. The anti-Semitic wave is very worrisome because France is host to about 8 million Muslims in a country of only 60 million people. Furthermore, with the current demographic trends, the majority of the French population will be Muslim within forty years."
Bank Data For Saudi Embassy Subpoenaed - Washington Post
"The FBI, in an unprecedented move that has strained relations with a close ally in the war on terrorism, has subpoenaed records for dozens of bank accounts belonging to the Saudi Embassy, part of an investigation into whether any of the hundreds of millions of dollars Riyadh spends in the United States each year end up in the hands of Muslim extremists, U.S. and Saudi officials said."
Store owner indicted in sham marriages - Courier
"According to the recently filed charges, Anwar approached six American women and offered to pay them to marry men, including relatives from Pakistan. This scheme ran from 1993 until earlier this year, the government alleges. The marriages, which prosecutors contend were bogus, were meant ot establish residency in the United States and to bypass immigration laws."
China virgin bride ad sparks row - BBC
"There has been a storm of controversy in China over a series of prominent newspaper advertisements for a young virgin bride. The notices were carried by papers in several major cities. The big newspaper advertisements placed by a self-described millionaire sought a woman aged 20-25 without sexual experience."
Slightly dated news, but interesting nevertheless.
Pakistanis dissatisfied with Musharraf: Survey - Sify
"Around 75 per cent of Pakistani people have expressed 'utter dissatisfaction' with the Pervez Musharraf regime, with a major chunk of them saying they would call Allah instead of the police in case they had a problem with their personal safety, according to a survey published in a leading Pakistani daily. The survey covered over 57,000 households spread over 97 districts."
Pak to get $2.4 M from Benazir's Swiss account - Hindustan Times
"Pakistan is to get back $2.4 million that former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto allegedly received in kickbacks for purchasing tractors from Poland and deposited in a Swiss bank account. The money was seized from the account of Dargal Associated SA, a shell company floated by Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari. The kickbacks had been deposited in Cantrade Ormond Burrus Banque Privee SA (now Ferrier Lullin et Cie SA) in Geneva."
Saturday, November 22, 2003
One martyr doesn't make a jihad - Economist
"In comparison to earlier jihads, the British deployment to Iraq has been a bit of a let-down. The growing zeal of the British security forces and waning enthusiasm from British Muslims could be to blame. But jihadis say there is a more important factor: the supply of bombers exceeds demand, and British bombers are too expensive. 'For the cost of equipping and transporting a British fighter into Iraq—about $2,000—we can shift 20 guerrillas into Iraq from neighbouring Arab states and Chechnya,' says a retired jihadi field officer."
A wounded nation asks why - The Age
"The bombers may also end up learning the same lesson that the Bush Administration is being taught in Iraq: the law of unintended consequences. In the West, Thursday's bomb helped to distract attention away from anti-war protesters who were demonstrating in London. And by murdering civilians in Istanbul, the terrorists risk stirring up a new wave of old-fashioned Turkish nationalism - to the detriment of the slowly rising power of Islam."
The loss of human life and mayhem aside, one has to question the intelligence of these bombings. As Telepraph reports, Suicide bombers may be turning Muslim opinion against them.
Muslim rioters burn 13 churches in north Nigeria - Reuters
"Islamic militants burned to the ground thirteen churches and several houses in a remote northern Nigerian town after a Christian student was accused of blasphemy, police said on Thursday....More than 5,000 people have been killed in religious violence in northern Nigeria in the past four years since the introduction of Islamic sharia law in 12 states."
In a related report, Christians rethink stay in Nigerian town after riot.
Muslim SUNY Student's Expulsion Is Protested - New York Times
"The student, Sulaiman Oladokun, 28, has been in a New Jersey jail since March, when agents from the Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested him in the college library. About two weeks after his arrest, the college expelled him. It was two months before he was scheduled to graduate. He is being held by immigration authorities on charges that he falsified his Nigerian college records, a charge he denies."
"As American jobs go to India, the Indians are hiring in America. This month, two Indian conglomerates, the Godrej Group and the Essar Group, each said they were to buy a struggling American call-centre firm. Wipro, an Indian IT services firm, has announced the purchase of two small American consultancies. Scandent, another Indian group with interests in the IT industry, has bought a minority stake in North American Benefits Network, which administers company health and benefits plans. Other firms flush with cash, such as Infosys, a big rival to Wipro, are said to be seeking deals."
Seeking an Alternative to a Jewish State - New York Times
"When the distinguished historian Tony Judt declared recently that 'the time has come to think the unthinkable,' he must have expected a shocked reaction. The unthinkable was that Israel should be replaced by a binational country in which Jews and Palestinians would live together in democratic harmony. There is, Mr. Judt suggested, 'no place in the world today for a 'Jewish state.' '...Mr. Judt's conclusions are no different from some offered by Israel's most accomplished intellectuals and no more caustic."
Friday, November 21, 2003
War on Terror's Collateral Damage - YaleGlobal
"Despite President Bush's clarion call for democratizing the Islamic world, military rulers can have a free hand at home as long as they remain partners in the War on Terror. In the long run, this policy may undermine the very attempt to uproot terrorism. The year-long tension between the army and opposition politicians has paralyzed Pakistan's tentative return to democracy and allowed the military to continue its domination of the country's political system and foreign policy."
Bill Gates phones Musharraf - Daily Times
"Bill Gates, Chairman software giants, Microsoft Corporation, telephoned President General Pervez Musharraf and discussed with him prospects of investment in the field of information technology in Pakistan. Mr Gates, one of the world’s leading IT tycoons, informed the President during the telephonic conversation that Microsoft Corp is examining prospects of investment in Pakistan."
Let's hope this was the real Gates and not some joke like the following: Gates duped by Canadian radio hosts.
'Have 10 kids, get Rs 100,000' : Hindustan Times
" 'Have 10 children and get a reward of Rs 100,000'. That is the latest slogan of the radical Hindu organisation Shiv Sena in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state....According to Uttar Pradesh Shiv Sena chief Vijay Tiwari: 'We wish to propagate this message amongst Hindus -- if they follow the Government's family planning programme that stresses on smaller family size, the day is not far when Muslims will outnumber them.' "
U.S. Set to Revise How It Tracks Some Visitors - Washington Post
"The Department of Homeland Security is preparing to abandon a visitor-registration program that primarily affects Muslim men and caused widespread confusion and protests earlier this year after thousands of people who complied were arrested or ordered deported, according to several government officials."
Thanks to Danish Lakhani for the pointer.
The purpose and commitment - PakTribune
"In a normal country the politicians are the final authority. They are responsible for whatever happens through out the length and breadth of a country. That is why masses in millions gather behind them. That is why they become the symbols of a nation. That is why they are loved so much: and that is why they are hated so much, if they prove unworthy. Corruption, inefficiency, and incompetence of an engineer or a bureaucrat or a general or a judge may go unnoticed; of politicians it cannot, because it puts to question the very wisdom of a nation. "
Terrorism Inc. - Washington Post
"Leaders of the al Qaeda terrorist network have franchised their organization's brand of synchronized, devastating violence to homegrown terrorist groups across the world, posing a formidable new challenge to counterterrorism forces, according to intelligence analysts and experts in the United States, Europe and the Arab world....One senior U.S. official said al Qaeda's children were 'growing up and moving out into the world, loyal to their parents but no longer reliant on them.' "
India revels in new diplomatic offensive - Asia Times
"The significance of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's trip last week to Russia, Tajikistan and Syria lies as much in the signing of important bilateral agreements as in the message it has sent out to the international community. The visits are a signal that India might be moving closer to the United States and Israel, but it is not about to abandon its old friends."
Item girl Yana wants Guinness title : Hindustan Times
"Yana Synkova Gupta is on a roll. The Czech-born supermodel who made audiences grasp for breath with her hot Bijli number in 'Dum', now wants to dance her way into the record books. While others use bump-n-grind routines as a stepping-stone to meatier roles, the 5'8' of pure oomph intends sticking to what she does best - turn men hot under the collars."
Thursday, November 20, 2003
Turkey Attacks Show Even Muslims Not Safe - Guardian
"While U.S.-led military action in Afghanistan helped disrupt al-Qaida, it also sent hundreds of its well-trained and deeply indoctrinated fighters fleeing back home to places from the Middle East and Asia. Now those bent on holy war have found their own followers, fresh targets and new victims in a part of the world where no one was expecting them."
Balancing act as Pakistan plans return to int’l bond market - Daily Times
"There are some trade-offs the government of Pakistan will have to weigh as it huddles with lead managers over the coming weeks to discuss its plan to return to the international bond market for the first time in four years. The bond issue will likely prove a balancing act for Islamabad, which is keen to establish a debt-market benchmark but may have to pay investors more than it’s hoping for, analysts say."
Slain Frenchwoman Buried in Afghanistan - New York Times
"After a brief ceremony conducted by Italian and French priests, the woman, Bettina Goislard, was borne to her grave by six young Afghan United Nations workers and laid to final rest alongside British soldiers who fought in Afghanistan in the 19th century and other assorted foreigners, including French, Czechs and Chinese, who have perished while traveling in this bedazzling land....Javed Ahmad, a Ghazni resident, said she was known across the city for her ability to 'speak Persian,' a local language, and for 'helping the poor.' "
The Bikini That Got the World Talking Equality - Los Angeles Times
"Miss Afghanistan knew she was taking a risk when she strutted across a Manila catwalk in a bright red bikini. 'I did understand,' said Vida Samadzai, a 25-year-old student, 'that it would probably not be acceptable in my society.'...The Afghan Embassy in Washington fielded so many calls that it was forced to issue a statement that her appearance was not endorsed by the government. The minister of women's affairs denounced Samadzai for participating in a "lascivious" entertainment for men."
CNN reports Beauty prize for Miss Afghanistan.
Sleepy City Has High Hopes, Dreaming of High Tech - NY Times
"Thirty years after a 'green revolution' turned the plains around this small city into India's breadbasket, a cadre of ambitious government officials, pricey consultants and local high technology entrepreneurs is trying to accomplish something almost as ambitious — transforming this sleepy farm state capital into the 'technology hub of northern India.' 'Chandigarh,' glossy brochures declare to prospective investors, 'the city with brains.' "
Textile Towns Appeal for Help, but Tariffs May Not Suffice - NY Times
"Here in the heart of North Carolina's textile country, China has become a fear, and an obsession. When the Bush administration moved on Tuesday to impose import quotas on certain Chinese textiles and clothing, it was responding to a furious outcry from North Carolina businesses, workers and elected officials."
Murder fear in arranged marriage - Guardian
"Police have launched a hunt for the body of a teenage Asian girl more than two months after she went missing following a failed attempt at an arranged marriage. They fear she may have been murdered. Shafilea Ahmed, 17, from Warrington, Cheshire, was introduced to a potential suitor when she visited Pakistan in February for a family wedding. But she turned him down. She suffered serious injuries while she was there after she swallowed bleach or toilet cleaner in mysterious circumstances."
Pakistan plans IPO programme - Financial Times
"The Pakistani government plans to step up the pace of its privatisation programme in the next few months, with plans to launch initial public offerings of some of the country's largest state-owned companies, a government minister has said. According to analysts, the Pakistani government is viewing the success of the OGDC issue as a signal the time is right to expand the size of the Karachi stock market, the world's best performer last year."
A related report from the same daily: Privatisation could lead overhaul of energy sector.
Pakistan wants broad education in Islamic schools - Reuters
"Pakistan's military ruler will meet Islamic scholars next month to urge them to broaden education in madrassahs, or Islamic mosque schools, often criticised by the West for churning out extremists. "Madrassahs are doing a very good job, providing food, board and lodging to poor children, which the government cannot do, but they only give Islamic education," Musharraf said."
Wednesday, November 19, 2003
A new push to clean up the world's slums - Christian Science Monitor
"Growing numbers of rural poor are migrating to cities around the developing world, giving aid experts a new cause for anxiety - beyond just the deplorable conditions of the burgeoning slums. The concern goes like this: living in such close quarters with the urban rich exacerbates the disparities between the "haves" and the "have-nots," fueling a global explosion in crime, street violence, and extremism. The urbanization of poverty, say development experts, could become a world-security issue."
A hard look at the future of Islam - Stanford Report
"Muslims must decide how to and who will interpret their faith in a post-Sept. 11 world, said John Esposito, a scholar of Islam at Georgetown University....According to Esposito, Muslims are struggling with a period of history in which they are trying to define what it means to be a Muslim in modern society. 'They won the wars of independence, but it's only in the last few years that they are fighting the culture wars -- the wars of identity.' "
Men, women perceive Muslim world differently - Innovations Report
"For centuries, Islamic culture has been both vilified and romanticized by westerners, says University of Toronto professor Ivan Kalmar of anthropology....Women and men consumed Islamic cultural images differently, with women often viewing this world as sexy and sensual while men often considered it as uncivilized and looked down on it."
MoorishGirl on a somewhat related theme: Why Hollywood Owes Me Money.
Pakistani woman jailed for lying - Philadelphia Daily News
"A Pakistani woman who had lived, until recently, in Upper Darby, was sentenced yesterday to 16 months in prison for lying to federal agents who were looking for her ex-husband, a suspected terrorist. Humaira Jawed, 27, daughter of a wealthy Pakistani businessman, admittedly misled agents by claiming that her ex-husband was in Pakistan when she knew he was driving a cab in Philadelphia."
Pakistanis eye Indian McBurgers - Times of India
"Most fast-food loving Pakistanis feel that multinational fast-food chains like McDonalds are fleecing them. For instance, they claim that McDonalds charges Rs 100 for a burger here, while India, the same item can be purchased for as little as Rs 10. According to the company, however, the sharp differences in prices has been attributed and linked to the huge sales volumes in India. A similar situation does not prevail in Pakistan, they claimed."
The story in Hi Pakistan: McDonald’s charges Indians Rs10 a burger, Pakistanis Rs100.
Massacre survivor's marriage hopes - BBC
"The state of Tripura is surrounded on three sides by the eastern border of Bangladesh, and 70% of the population comprises Bengali-speaking settlers. The ATTF and the NLFT are made up of indigenous people - referred to by the government as 'tribals' - who say that they are being discriminated against by the majority community. Almost every week there are reports of Bengali speaking people being attacked and killed by the two groups."
"The Indian board (BCCI) is considering a request from captain Sourav Ganguly and coach John Wright to hire Wasim. "Why Wasim? Simply because he is the greatest fast bowler of the modern era," Ganguly said after India were beaten by Australia in the final of the one-day TVS Cup tournament."
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
An opportunity and challenge for India - Business Standard
"A torrent of new business is coming to India in a way which could not have been conceived of earlier. These are in three fields — software which is old hat, BPO which is much newer but no longer a new story and thirdly R&D, in which the new elements are the volume and complexity of work envisaged...The wave of R&D outsourcing to India will create an overall technological competency and have a tremendous impact on Indian manufacturing."
"Man-made islands, waterhomes on stilts and pleasure parks to rival Vegas. The latest developments in Dubai are a fantasist's dream. And the British are buying into it in droves....It is increasingly difficult to fathom the true identity of this state. I am here during Ramadan and have been told not to be seen eating or drinking during the daylight fasting hours. In downtown hotels, restaurants are open, but screened off. Yet, on Jumeirah beach, Russian tourists sunbathe in G-string bikinis (topless is unacceptable, so they go bottomless) and lunch under parasols, served by Muslim waiters."
Israel plans to bypass Suez - Hi Pakistan
"Israeli finance minister Benyamin Netanyahu has come to Paris to present his project for a railway network through Israel that would allow the Red Sea to be linked to the Mediterranean...'I want to compete with the Suez canal,' he affirmed to his interviewer, and says that he would do this by constructing a rail link between the Mediterranean Port of Ashdod, to the west of Al Quds, and Eilat situated in the south on the Gulf of Aqaba."
A related report in the Guardian on the use of an Israeli oil pipeline: Israeli Pipeline to Move Russian Oil.
Pakistan launches Aids programme - BBC
"Pakistan has launched a big programme to tackle Aids after denying that the country has a problem. Until recently many government and religious leaders argued that was because of the moral and ethical values enshrined in the Muslim way of life. According to the latest statistics, the prevalence of HIV infection in Pakistan is small - 70,000-80,000 people, of whom just over 2,000 officially have Aids."
Soaps save lives in Third World, producers say - Reuters
"If you thought soaps were just about sultry sex and incredible plot twists, then think again. In parts of the Third World, television soap operas are saving lives, promoting social change and leading the fight against AIDS -- and mostly without even peeping into the bedroom."
Special report: Tossed out of America - Chicago Tribune
The multi-part series ends today. It documents the sorry tale of a few muslim families at the mercy of American immigration. In a quoted statistic, only 2% of unauthorized immigrants are from 24 predominantly Muslim nations. The group saw an increase of 31.4% in deportation orders after Sept. 11 as opposed to an increase of 3.4% in the remaining 98% of unauthorized immigrants. Their mass exodus has severely impacted the neighborhoods and the lives they touched in this land of opportunity. None of the deported have been publicly charged with terrorism, most were law-abiding individuals living the American dream.
Pakistan Seeks Global Investors - Wall Street Journal (sub required)
"The sudden turnaround, Pakistani officials contend, vindicates Mr. Musharraf's alliance with the U.S. after 9/11 terrorist attacks, a move that won Pakistan favorable U.S. trade quotas, debt relief and billions of dollars in aid. Indeed, U.S. officials identify economic development as one of Washington's key tools in fighting terrorism, and hope Pakistan will be a symbol of its success. Still, some financial analysts question whether investors are ready to assume the risk of doing business in Pakistan, where concerns about terrorism and political instability still run high."
Arafat invested $8 mil. in Israeli venture - Haaretz
"An investigation by the American CBS network's '60 Minutes,' broadcast last Sunday, revealed Arafat to be worth anywhere between $1 billion and $3 billion. Most of the huge fortune stems from taxes collected by the PA from Palestinians and transferred to Arafat's accounts, as well as tens of millions of dollars in personal donations from world leaders and contributors, including Saddam Hussein and Saudi princes."
The original story Arafat's Billions on CBS News.
Blooper proves bum deal for Sharwoods - Guardian
"So confident was Sharwoods that its new Bundh sauces would be a hit that it backed the launch with a huge £6m television advertising campaign created by Labour's advertising agency, TBWA. What it failed to foresee was that "bundh" in Punjabi has an altogether less savoury meaning - the nearest English translation being, to put it bluntly, 'arse'."
Thanks to Asim Hayat for the pointer.
Monday, November 17, 2003
Building a Web Media Empire on a Daily Dose of Fresh Links - NY Times
"Mr. Nick Denton, a British entrepreneur and self-styled "play magazine editor," is trying to turn blogging - once only the province of hobbyists - into a profitable, ad-supported business. But Gawker Media is not exactly gushing cash just yet. Mr. Denton says his blogs, which also include a gadget site called Gizmodo, "are businesses with, at least for the moment, the turnover of a lemonade stand." He says each site brings in several thousand dollars a month in revenue."
Washington Post on the role of blogs in election campaigns: Add 'Blog' To the Campaign Lexicon
U.S. venture capitalists on the hunt in India - Reuters
"A high-profile team of U.S.-based venture capitalists is scouring India for opportunities, attracted by its growth as a hub for low-cost software and potential for chip design....Funding by venture capital companies, including private equity firms, topped $500 million in India by the end of September, nearly matching last year's total investment, and is expected to rise to about $700 million by the end of the year."
A related report in the Business Standard (India): India second most active VC mart in 2002
Asian women seek white donor eggs for light-skin babies - Times
"British fertility clinics are providing infertile Asian women with donor eggs from white women to produce white and mixed-race babies. Couples from Asian ethnic groups in Britain and countries such as India, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are requesting white donor eggs from doctors for "designer" babies. Some cannot find Asian egg donors, or perceive lighter skin as more attractive."
Indian-born British MP calls Maleeha 'star' for Pakistan - Hi Pakistan
"An Indian-born British MP Keith Vaz has described Pakistan's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Dr. Maleeha Lodhi as a "star", owing to a strong vision of her country she is representing here so ably. In his column in Asian Voice British MP Keith said "A Star is born" and added the British MPs were "stunned by her eloquence and her vision" during her first address to them soon after her assumption of duties."
Afghan Soldiers Surrender Their Weapons - Guardian
"The $41 million initiative, mostly funded by Japan, is meant to help restore stability in Afghanistan two years after the U.S.-led coalition ousted the hardline Taliban regime....Soldiers who give up their weapons receive a voucher for $100, clothes, 285 pounds of food and special identification. The former soldiers also receive advice about job prospects - doing manual labor, training for agricultural or demining work, or becoming police officers."
Pakistani bangles, women shine at trade fair - Rediff
"Glittering lustrous bangles from Pakistan and a special women's team are attracting the maximum crowd at the on-going international trade fair in New Delhi....Men, women and children are thronging in large numbers at the Saba Traders from Karachi to buy bangles available in a wide range of designs and colours. Though Pakistani bangles were costlier than those available in India, it did not deter people from buying it."
Sunday, November 16, 2003
FBI monitoring Pak agencies instead of Al-Qaeda - PakTribune
"Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), US based intelligence agency present in country to hunt down the remnants of Taliban and Al-Qaeda especially in the tribal areas, was clandestinely keeping a close eye on the operations conducted by the local law enforcement agencies."
Swedish Imam Says Islam Forbids Female Circumcision - Reuters
"Two million girls are circumcised each year, 130 million women in 30 countries have already been mutilated in this way, and campaigners said they hoped the cleric's comments would help stop the practice by making clear it had no basis in religion....For communities which practice female circumcision it is a rite of passage to womanhood which, by reducing sex drive, also limits promiscuity. It is sometimes carried out by a doctor but more often by a relative or local "healer" using a razor blade."
I read the following disturbing article on the topic a few months ago: Islam’s Hatred of the Clitoris.
A Muslim Scholar Raises Hackles in France - New York Times
"Of all the Muslim leaders in Europe, perhaps none has more visibility — and more faces — than Tariq Ramadan. To many experts on Islam, Mr. Ramadan is a respectable scholar who promotes a moderate, tolerant version of Islam. To his Muslim followers, he is a spiritual guide whose passionate speeches and cassette tapes inspire them to throw themselves and their beliefs into Western society like a "bomb," and become model, law-abiding citizens. To a number of French intellectuals, he is a dangerous demagogue whose words have multiple meanings and are laced with anger and anti-Semitism."
How safe is the House of Saud? - Economist
"A year ago, Saudi Arabia's interior minister, Prince Nayef, scorned the idea that militant Islamists posed a threat to the kingdom. They were mere chatterers and fabricators of nonsense, too lazy to get off their backsides, he said in an interview. The suicide bombing, on November 9th, of a palm-shaded housing compound in the suburbs of Riyadh, the capital, which killed at least 18 people and hurt 120 more, has buried such cosy notions."
They say we're getting a democracy - Economist
"Mr Bush faces, in Iraq, a far more urgent test of his belief in the possibility of Arab democracy. This is not a place Mr Bush invaded for democracy's sake (though some American "neoconservatives" argued that this should have been a central aim). The main reason he gave, and what made the invasion right, was the threat of a Saddam armed with weapons of mass destruction. But now that it is in Iraq, interest and obligation alike require America to make sure that it transfers power to some form of Arab democracy."
Stronger and more deadly, the terror of the Taliban is back - Guardian
"Close to Kandahar is a little village they call the cradle of the Taliban. Now, two years after the collapse of Mullah Omar's feared regime, the fundamentalist movement is once again on the march. In this disturbing report, Jason Burke in Sangesar tracks a resurgent menace....Pashtun says the Taliban are only '50 per cent to blame' for the problems: 'We must take half the blame. We have done nothing to deal with the root causes of the Taliban movement. It should be no surprise that they are back.' "
A similar report in the New York Times: High Risks in Afghanistan
Turkey's Jews: a history - Hi Pakistan
"Most of Turkey's Jews are descendents of those who came here after fleeing the Spanish Inquisition in the 15th century. Many still speak the kind of old Spanish written by the classic writer Cervantes. During the centuries of the Ottoman empire, of which Istanbul was the centre, they generally prospered in their financial and commerical activities."
How clean was Karachi, LK Advani laments - Hindustan Times
" 'Karachi and Bangalore were considered two of the neatest Indian cities before Independence. Later in 1959-60, I read a press report about a UN survey which identified Karachi as one of the 10 dirtiest cities of the world', Advani said in New Delhi and added that none of the Indian cities was there in the list."
Saturday, November 15, 2003
Pak cellphones active in Jammu - The Tribune
"Two cellular service providers of Pakistan are now beaming their signals right into the heart of the city here from across the international border. Anyone having a SIM card of these Pakistan cellular services can talk directly to his contacts there without being monitored anywhere in the telephone exchange here by Intelligence men. The mobile companies are learnt to have installed their towers in Sialkot town of Pakistan."
India Grapples With Changes in the Kashmir Insurgency - New York Times
"More young Kashmiri men appear to be joining a guerrilla campaign for independence in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir, according to Kashmiri political leaders and human rights groups. A year after a new state government was elected with a "healing touch" policy, Kashmiris say that human rights abuses by Indian security forces have continued, fueling a rise in young Kashmiris joining the insurgency, which has killed 40,000 to 80,000 people."
Power of beauty in Pakistan - Eastday
"In a society where more and more urban Yuppy husbands are dying to copy the luxurious lifestyle from the pirated western DVDs they see daily, women are seemingly demanded to look as if they are ready to go to a wedding every day. The parlor of Aslam claims that it opens early every morning for a particular client, who gets her make-up done before her husband wakes up, boasting that she has to look her best for him like a Nichle Kidman (a Hollywood hot star) at all times."
Same Tactics, New Target - New York Times
"With the terrorist attack on Riyadh last week, which killed at least 17 people, the Saudis are finally experiencing the nightmare many other Arab and Muslim regimes have already lived through: the Islamist monster they created has turned against them. What is surprising in the case of the Saudis is that it has taken so long. And what is unknown is whether they will succeed in slaying the monster they helped to create."
China's Improving Image Challenges U.S. in Asia - Washington Post
"China is building a new reputation among its neighbors as a responsible regional power and an essential engine of Asian economic growth. China has gone out of its way to ease fears among its neighbors and won points by emphasizing a multilateral approach to solving problems. On orders from the government, Chinese investment in Asia is growing, too, by more than 20 percent annually and by more than 40 percent in some countries. In some cases, Chinese companies are buying assets from U.S. and European investors who are pulling out. The biggest investments have been in minerals, oil and other raw materials needed to fuel the Chinese economy."
217,025 sent abroad for jobs in one-year - Hi Pakistan
"Federal Minister for Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis, Mian Abdus Sattar Laleka, Friday said there was 69 per cent increase in Pakistan’s workforce export to Middle East and other countries during the last one year.In an interview with 'The News', Laleka said that a total of 217,025 persons proceeded abroad for employment during November 2002 to October 2003, while 128,818 workers went abroad during the corresponding period in the previous year."
'Terror in the Name of God' - New York Times
"Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, I was invited to dinner by a middle-class professional family in Islamabad. It was an educated household and I was warmly entertained. It was the kind of home in which I expected to encounter a shared perspective, but I was wrong: my host was convinced that 9/11 was a conspiracy between the Jews and the Pentagon to give a pretext for attacking the Muslim world, and shared at length his suspicion that Freemasons had pulled the West's strings for a millennium."
Pakistan Enlists Scientist To Help Mark Eid Advent - IslamOnline
"The Pakistani government has decided to enlist a representative from the metrological department to join the moon sighting committee to determine the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. This is the first time since the inception of the committee more than thirty years ago that a scientist has been invited to attend a meeting of the moon sighting committee."
Friday, November 14, 2003
Kashmiris Say War Still Overshadows Life - Guardian
"Here in a cluster of neat houses on a steep mountainside, the mother of a 12-year-old boy killed last month by Indian shelling says she cares nothing what the politicians in New Delhi and Islamabad say about ending their 56-year standoff. Zeenat Bibi's faith in either of the nuclear-armed rivals died along with her son...."These two countries are fighting with each other, but it is us poor people who are being killed,'' she said. "Our youngsters are lying here in the graves.'' "
Where East Meets West Warily, She Makes Them Laugh - NY Times
"She (Shabana Rehman) is both Muslim and Norwegian — an unsettling combination to many people in this Nordic kingdom, which, like the rest of Europe, is struggling to absorb an immigrant community imported during a labor shortage decades ago. Her ribald and impolitic act skewers prejudices on both sides of the divide between traditional Norwegians and the country's newer Muslim citizens."
India extends strategic reach with Tajikistan base : Hindustan Times
"The bilateral agreement about the base, first reported by the IANS news agency last year, stipulates the presence of both the Indian Army and Air Force personnel who will also assist in warding off any threat to Tajikistan....Pakistani press reports have indicated that President Pervez Musharraf has taken up the issue of the Indian base with Tajikistan, particularly mentioning that aircraft taking off from Farkhor could be over the Pakistani skies within minutes."
A related report in Telepraph India: Tajik Silk Route to bypass Pakistan
India's IIP grows at 6.5% in Sept, but Pak tops growth chart - Economic Times
"Is India really shining as the government ad campaign goes? Or has it been outshone by, among others, Pakistan in the growth sweepstakes? Recently released numbers on industrial growth show India ’s industrial production grew a smart 6.5% in September. Leading the growth list is Pakistan , whose industry grew over 18% in September. China is close behind with 16%, Thailand and Malaysia are racing at 10%. Out of 10 Asian economies, India leads on Indonesia and Singapore in industry-growth rankings."
AIDS in India may be serious - Hindustan Times
"With four million suffering from HIV/AIDS India has reached a point where the disease can become a pandemic, World Bank experts have warned but said it still has time to prevent such a disaster by taking prompt measures. India, said Hnin Pyne, a senior public health specialist on South Asia Human Development at the World Bank, is today where Sub-Sahara Africa was 10 years ago."
Religious intolerance rising in Pakistan - Aljazeera
"Students of Karachi University stood by terrified when bearded Islamist youths stormed a campus exhibition recently, ransacking sculptures and musical instruments and declaring them 'Satanic'. 'They were shouting: 'We will not allow any un-Islamic practice',' recalled one of the students. 'Girls hid behind cement pillars in terror as they fled chanting 'Revolution, revolution, Islamic revolution',' he said of the event that took place last week."
Pakistan Journalists Demand a Living Wage - OneWorld
"Ironically, Pakistan's fourth estate which exposes injustices and atrocities, is itself a victim of the worst kind of human rights violations at the hands of newspaper owners and the government. Newspaper proprietors here are compared to robber barons....The salary structure of journalists in the country makes for dismal reading. They are not even issued appointment letters and can be summarily dismissed by owners at any time without reason."
It is no wonder then that our journalists are considered one of the most bribery-prone in the world. Check out the earlier post on the topic: Reporters on the Job - Chrisitian Science Monitor.
Thursday, November 13, 2003
The Afghan economy: It's hard going straight - Economist
"How can Afghanistan ditch opium and make an honest living? Opium prices, though falling, are still high, and the margins more than compensate for the risks incurred by the crop's nominal illegality. Changing the calculation of risk and reward will involve punishing poppy growers and opium distillers more consistently, and making trafficking harder and riskier. Most important, poor Afghans need other ways to make ends meet. Their country does not have Iraq's oil wealth, but there are possibilities."
The good news on population - Daily Times
"The long-awaited slowdown in population growth is now occurring with an unprecedented decline in fertility. The population pressure will gradually ease up allowing more space to focus on the quality of workers and improving living standards...Our current annual population growth rate of 2 percent should fall to around 1 percent in the next ten years. By 2050, our projected population will reach 270 million — 80 million less than previously estimated — and will soon thereafter stabilise."
Chinese entrepreneurs: On their way back - Economist
"The overseas Chinese are returning to become entrepreneurs in the motherland. Today's rapidly growing China is drawing on the talents of its foreign-educated and western-trained elite more than ever to 'realise the great rejuvenation of our nation'....China's leaders have been astute at harnessing such boundless optimism. Government officials wine and dine potential returners, and more than 70 business parks have been set up exclusively for their use. Those who return can receive tax breaks, cheap office space, start-up loans and advice on how to navigate the local bureaucracy."
Serial bride had 27 fake weddings - BBC
"An American woman described as New York's most persistent serial bride has pleaded guilty to lying about her marital status as part of a scam. Prosecutors say Dezerrie Cortes, 40, was paid thousands of dollars for marrying 27 men between 1984 and 2002. The men were illegal immigrants who needed Green Cards and work permits."
Arms Race Leaves Medicine Behind - Los Angeles Times
"When India signed a contract to buy a $1-billion military radar system last month, foreign aid agencies were still searching for $50 million in donations to defeat the country's polio scourge. Across the border, Pakistan's armed forces were updating their multibillion-dollar shopping list, including a request for U.S.-made F-16 jets, while aid groups fighting a tuberculosis epidemic struggled against a lethal funding gap."
Islamic law is not a code - Malaysia Kini
"In the Quran, of the 6,000 verses only around 80 are concerned with legal matters and most of these concern marriage, inheritance and punishment. The term shariah, literally ‘path’ or ‘way’, did not initially denote a legal code at all. The interpretation of this ‘divinely sanctioned’ material is known as ‘fiq’ (literally ‘understanding’, hence jurisprudence) and it is this humanly evolved and variously codified body of legal material that has come to prevail under the misapplied term shariah."
Yes, India is a friend of Iran, so what? - Rediff
"Do the world's official nuclear powers have the right to prevent others from building nuclear weapons? Yes, India is a friend of Iran. Yes, India has been helping Iran develop nuclear technology. So too has Russia, France, Germany. China, Kazakshtan, the Ukraine. North Korea. And Pakistan. What possible motive could India have? Money? Oil? Political goodwill? Give me a break."
Pakistan presses India on peace in charm offensive - Reuters
"Waging a charm offensive on Indian soil, Pakistan on Wednesday offered to take two steps forward for every one step by India to advance peace between the nuclear-armed rivals....Saying he came with a message of peace, Ahmed told reporters Musharraf and Pakistani Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali saw no one in New Delhi but Vajpayee who could take the courageous steps needed."
Wednesday, November 12, 2003
Did Vanity spoil the Agra summit? - Hindustan Times
"Had not Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf went in for change of clothes at Agra, the joint declaration between the two countries would have been signed, Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid said on Wednesday. "Mein jhoot nahi bol raha hun aur na hi President Musharraf ko jhoot bolne ki adat hai," Rashid said. "Musharraf had gone to change so that he looked good in the photographs," Rashid said and added, "But next time, I think no Pakistani ruler will dare to change his clothes when such an important issue is taking place."
BPO likely to affect Indo-US relations, says expert - Business Standard
"An expert on Indo-US relations has warned that continued outsourcing of jobs from the US to India could become a major political element in President Bush’s election...Cohen said he saw the domestic ramifications of US outsourcing as “analogous to the Indian dilemma of privatising public sector undertakings”. Both moves, he said, were faithful to the principle of economic reform and made economic sense, but both led to job losses with all the concomitant political problems."
And now a State Minister - Hi Pakistan
"There are parallels between the two incidents. In both cases, a low level state functionary refuses to accord special treatment to the scions of high and mighty and insists on them to respect the law as ordinary citizens. The reaction in both the cases was similar and the high and mighty appear to be saying; “Laws are meant to be respected by ordinary folks. I am above the law. How dare you challenge me or my family to respect the law”?"
Pakistan women's rights take centre stage - BBC
"Mullahs deface posters depicting women; zealots burn videotapes; female students are ordered to wear shawls and women prisoners suffer discrimination under medieval laws in the name of religion. These were the themes of a 20-minute play staged recently in Lahore by a group of amateur artists. The play focuses on several of the provincial government's policy goals."
When a fish stopped play and 11 Dutchmen didn't - Reuters
"Domestic pets, rodents of various hues and sizes, even the odd buffalo have prompted cricketing interruptions, as have swarms of bees -- as occurred in Madras in a Ranji Trophy match between Tamil Nadu and Punjab just over three years ago -- and birds. The most famous case cost the perpetrator its life. A sparrow was hit in mid-flight and killed by a delivery from Jehangir Khan at Lord's and the unfortunate bird ended up stuffed, mounted and on display in the pavilion."
Man sentenced to death for blasphemy - Reuters
"A judge in Pakistan has sentenced a Muslim man to death for insulting Islam's Prophet Mohammad. The man was charged under a blasphemy law denounced by rights groups and minorities....Most convictions are thrown out on appeal to higher courts, but several Christians and Muslims accused of blasphemy have been killed by religious fanatics inside prisons or police stations."
'Mobile-Aid' launched in the UAE - AME Info
"Every mobile phone user in the UAE can now take part in the charity drive by simply sending an SMS message to 4324, the designated number for Dubai charities, or 4326 for Sharjah Charity International. The mobile phone user will then automatically receive an acknowledgement message and the Dhs10 will be charged to their mobile phone account or deducted from their pre-paid card."
Priyanka Gandhi: A matrix untold - Asia Times
"The continuing political emergence of Priyanka Gandhi is the talk of India....Rahul, who is older, and who comes from exactly the same lineage, is rarely talked about in political terms, and this in a society where sons are generally preferred to daughters. To some, Priyanka's predicament is a question of ordained gender rotation. First there was Nehru, then Indira, then Rajiv. Priyanka logically follows next as per a matrix (maya in Indian terms) that we humans cannot decipher."Related post:
- Gandhi dynasty thrives in India's election campaign - Reuters
Pakistan closes the catwalks - News24
"Pakistani Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali has ordered authorities to crack down on fashion shows because they are un-Islamic and give Pakistan a bad image, a local newspaper reported on Wednesday...."such events militate against our national culture and Islamic values," the order said."
A response to the order in Hi Pakistan: Fashion fiasco!
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
Soros's Deep Pockets vs. Bush - Washington Post
"George Soros, one of the world's richest men, has given away nearly $5 billion to promote democracy in the former Soviet bloc, Africa and Asia. Now he has a new project: defeating President Bush. 'It is the central focus of my life,' Soros said, his blue eyes settled on an unseen target. The 2004 presidential race, he said in an interview, is 'a matter of life and death'....'Bush feels that on September 11th he was anointed by God,' Soros said."
Pointing the Car Toward Mecca - New York Times
"Mr. Frank Deworetzki of Mannesmann in Frankfurt has patented a navigational system for automobiles that shows the direction of Mecca at all times. The system can be programmed to play prayer calls at the appropriate times....From the 9th century to the 14th century, Islamic mathematicians were obsessed with figuring out how to calculate the position of Mecca from different locations. In the course of this quest, they proposed a variety of novel trigonometric solutions."
BAE System's Dirty Dealings - CorpWatch
"It sounds like the stuff of pulp fiction: The UK's largest armaments producer running a £20 million ($33.4 million) slush fund to finance prostitutes, gambling trips, yachts, sports cars, and more for its most important clients the Saudi royal family and their intermediaries, greasing the wheels of the largest business deal in UK history."
The IMF and Pakistan - Asia Times
"The Pakistan political leadership is divided on the roles of the IMF and other donor agencies. Opposition members always criticize their policies, the government playing a defensive role. When the government changes, attitudes change, with the top seat favoring the IMF no matter which political faction. Not a single person could be held accountable for the implementation of the oft-criticized policies of the donor agencies. The trap in which the nation is held is set by no one but their own leadership."
Dreamers and idiots - Guardian
"Those who would take us to war must first shut down the public imagination. They must convince us that there is no other means of preventing invasion, or conquering terrorism, or even defending human rights. When information is scarce, imagination is easy to control. As intelligence gathering and diplomacy are conducted in secret, we seldom discover - until it is too late - how plausible the alternatives may be." The writer argues that both Saddam Hussein and Taliban offered reasonable concessions before wars were imposed upon them. Their offers, as we now know, were kept secret and conveniently ignored by Bush and Blair.
Forbidden Frontier - San Francisco Chronicle
"The tribal zones along the Pakistani-Afghan border are inhabited by fiercely independent peoples who are devoutly religious, hostile to foreigners and ready to fight. Chronicle Foreign Service correspondent Juliette Terzieff visited this remote region, where Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terror network is believed to be regrouping."
[The title link may not work properly]
Juliette's series 'Forbidden Frontier' that ran in the Chronicle this week comprised of the following articles (in the given order):
(1) The Pashtun revere tribal honor
(2) Pakistan's tribal lands a haven for al Qaeda, hurdle for U.S. forces
(3) A rare glimpse of the army of Mohammed
(4) The kind of ally Pakistan, U.S. need more of
(5) Inside a Taliban village
(6) Poor villagers thrive on illicit trade
New Delhi's hot favourite is a woman who knows her onions - FT
"For Sheila Dikshit, the city's chief minister, who represents India's main opposition Congress party, it is the trivia, such as the price of vegetables, that keep her awake at night. At the last election in 1998, the soaring price of onions helped bring about the defeat of her BJP predecessor. 'We are bringing 85 extra trucks of onions into New Delhi every day," Ms Dikshit told the Financial Times in an interview. "I have party workers in every single market checking daily on the price of vegetables and milk.' "
Monday, November 10, 2003
Computer viruses now 20 years old - BBC
"This week computer viruses celebrate 20 years of causing trouble and strife to all types of computer users. US student Fred Cohen was behind the first documented virus that was created as an experiment in computer security. Now there are almost 60,000 viruses in existence and they have gone from being a nuisance to a permanent menace."
Supreme Court Takes First Case on Guantanamo Detainees - New York Times
"The Supreme Court entered a fundamental debate between individual liberty and national security today by agreeing to consider whether prisoners held by the United States since the war in Afghanistan can challenge their imprisonment in American courts. The justices agreed to hear appeals filed on behalf of two groups of detainees at the United States naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The cases have been brought on behalf of 12 Kuwaitis, 2 British citizens and 2 Australians."
India's tour of Pakistan could be worth $20 million - PakTribune
"India's tour in February-March is expected to rake in huge financial gains for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), with one expert putting the figure at around $20 million, reports IANS. The official said some 65 million homes in India, or an estimated 260 million people, would watch the series if Doordarshan gets the right to televise the matches. PCB will benefit through in-stadia advertisements and ticket sales."
India is the new flavour for Western media - Business Line
"The `India Shining' campaign may have run into rough weather, but for the Western media, India is certainly shining bright. From MSNBC to Time Asia to ESPN magazine, India is the big story these days. Reporters have been flying in with amazing regularity in the last couple of months to report on everything from our growing appetite for wine, to Bollywood's new icons to our sporting heroes....With more than one billion people and a middle class larger than the population of the United States, India is a market no global company can ignore."
Alliances, loyalties rule in Pakistan border area - San Francisco Chronicle
" 'Some other tribes have complained about this, but our jirga (council) decided to cooperate, and we've got three new roads, 300 new jobs for tribal policemen, and are awaiting water pumps and schools,' said Khandan, a 66-year old landowner from the Bakkakhel tribe. 'All we have to do is keep our eyes open for al Qaeda and throw them out if they come.' "
Pakistan squarely behind US shield - Asia Times
"On every question about Pakistan's failure to honor its pledges to stop cross-border infiltration into India, or to arrest Taliban leaders moving about in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border areas, administration officials walked a fine line, declining to even admit the premise of the questions that terrorists were walking across from one country to the other. Efforts by Democrats to cajole the Bush administration to put conditions on US aid to Pakistan met with opposition, and suggestions for closer scrutiny were ignored."
Musharraf seems to have done a remarkable job articulating his position to the US administration. Does the above narrative give us enough reason to sing the Republican anthem?
Paper success of Pakistan's economy doesn't fill bellies - Taipei Times
"Sitting outside a government-administered zakat (charity) office, Parveen Naz waits her turn to cajole a desk worker for the paltry grant to feed her four children and ailing husband....Some 50 million Pakistanis or 33 percent of the population are living in poverty, according to the State Bank of Pakistan's annual report released last week. The Pakistani economy has performed robustly since 2000 with most major economic indicators beating all-time records. But appears to be strong economic growth has had little impact on the lives of tens of millions of Pakistanis."
On a related note, PakTribune reports that Finance ministry rejects SBP report on poverty.
Afghan Poppies Sprout Again - Washington Post
"Growing wheat on a half-acre of land could bring the equivalent of $70 a season, Gul explained. "That's not even enough to pay for fertilizer," he said. "If I grow poppy, I can earn about $1,230. That's enough to buy fertilizer, feed my children for the year and maybe even buy a refrigerator."...This year the country is expected to produce 3,600 metric tons of opium worth about $2.3 billion, which is equal to half of Afghanistan's gross domestic product."
At Long Last, Public Toilets That Work - IPS
"Karachi - They are forced to relieve themselves along roads and railway tracks, behind bus stops and in empty plots piled high with dirt, or beside festering drains. Men, women and children have no option but to perform a private act in full public view. The need for well-maintained, clean public toilets which have an adequate supply of water is dire. Yet where there is an attended public toilet, the pattern of use indicates a continuing apathy towards such a facility."
Sunday, November 09, 2003
US needs Arab help to beat al-Qaeda - Financial Times
"The Bush administration has failed to differentiate between tactics and objectives. The recent attacks in Baghdad and the downing of an American helicopter show the price that the US is paying for having expanded the scope of the global war on terror. Just because most Islamic terrorists use similar methods to al-Qaeda's does not mean they share its goals. Having realised that only al-Qaeda was the enemy, Washington should have maximised the number of American allies."
Air India to revive ageing fleet - Financial Times
"Air India has cleared the way for its biggest fleet expansion after the state-owned airline approved plans to acquire 28 new aircraft at a cost of $2bn. After 18 months of debate, Air India's board approved plans at the weekend to buy 10 Airbus 340 long-range aircraft and 18 Boeing 737-800s short-range aircraft....Air India believes the expansion will help the carrier benefit from several positive underlying trends."
"Islamic preachers with poster boy looks and pop star styles are winning legions of fans in Indonesia. They share the stage with rock bands and use TV, radio and even SMS to spread their message. They move grown men to tears. Women mob them. Even the MTV generation is listening. Their message: a diverse mix of Quranic teachings mixed with pop psychology as well as more conservative views on the syariah, no different from traditional clerics'."
Time's 2002 report on Abdullah Gymnastiar aka Aa Gym ("elder brother" Gym): Holy Man.
A dilemma for Moroccan Jews - San Francisco Chronicle
"This kingdom on Africa's northwestern shoulder was long held up as an example of Jewish-Muslim coexistence, a sign of hope that peace was possible between Israelis and Palestinians. But Morocco's ancient Jewish community -- the largest in the Arab world -- has become a target....The first Jews settled in Morocco 2,000 years ago, about six centuries before the Arabs brought Islam to North Africa....After decades of emigration, there are only 3,000 to 5,000 Jews living in Morocco, down from 280,000 in 1948."
The Pashtun revere tribal honor and back it up with rifles - San Francisco Chronicle
"Facing intense pressure from Washington to closely monitor the border with Afghanistan, the government of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf reached an agreement with tribal leaders 10 months ago to allow army checkpoints and patrols in their territory -- the first time in centuries that outside police or soldiers have been permitted to operate here. More than 40,000 Pakistani troops are now deployed along the border."
New plan to protect India's oil reserves - NDTV
"To minimise the impact of global fluctuations, India is building a strategic crude oil reserve facility on its southern and eastern coasts. The government has decided to place India's oil reserves beyond the reach of Pakistan's Air Force. This line was adopted after the Defence Ministry raised its eyebrows at the concentration of oil installations on the west coast."
The todays they gave have been forgotten - Telegraph
"In all the acts of remembrance today, who will remember the greatest volunteer army for freedom the world has ever seen? Even in their own countries, their memory is barely honoured, never mind in Britain, where almost all sense of their achievements has vanished. But what has not vanished is the freedom their service and their sacrifice made possible. More than two and half million men from what are now India, Pakistan and Nepal served in the Second World War."
Saturday, November 08, 2003
One Imam Traces the Path Of Islam in Black America - Wall Street Journal (sub required)
"Baptist to Nationalist in '60s, Siraj Wahhaj Now Preaches Self-Help and Militancy. Few religious leaders of any faith could rival Imam Wahhaj's combination of militant notoriety and mainstream honors -- a mix that says much about the complexity of Islam in the U.S. today. Over the past few decades, two powerful currents have come together in America: the black-separatist movement of the 1960s and 1970s and the training of Muslims, including Imam Wahhaj, in programs financed by Saudi Arabia. Today African-Americans are thought to make up about 30% of the fast-growing Muslim population of six to seven million in the U.S."
African-American Islam Timeline from the article (PDF File).
Muslim version of Barbie doll all about substance, not flash - KnoxNews
"At first glance, this new girl on the block doesn't give Barbie much of a run for her money. After all, Barbie is everything Razanne is not - curvaceous, flashy and loaded with sex appeal....In the United States, Mattel, which makes Barbie, markets a Moroccan Barbie and sells a collector's doll named Leyla. Leyla's elaborate costume and tale of being taken as a slave in the court of a Turkish sultan are intended to convey the tribulations of one Muslim girl in the 1720s. "It's no surprise that they'd try to portray a Middle Eastern Barbie either as a belly dancer or a concubine," said Saadeh, adding that countering such stereotypes was one of his main aims in developing Razanne."
America: Greatest danger, or greatest hope? - Economist
"Yes, America is different. But it always has been. Mostly, the difference is good for the world, not bad. The fashionable source of anxiety in both Europe and Asia is whether America is becoming so different from everywhere else that it is becoming a problem for the world, not a solution. It is not just a reckless Bush administration leading America astray, in other words. On this view, the United States is now inherently assertive and unilateralist, and so can no longer be trusted to lead the world. Instead, it should be feared."
Seeing opportunity, Hallmark targets Muslim market - Alameda Times
"For the first time in its history, Hallmark Cards is offering a greeting card commemorating a Muslim holiday. Single cards and a multi-pack have been issued this fall to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, a day of rejoicing among Muslims to mark the end of the month-long fast of Ramadan....A marketing savvy is growing both within the Muslim community and - perhaps more significant - outside it for products that are respectful of Islamic culture and customs....It is estimated that 1.2 billion people worldwide adhere to the Islamic faith, with as many as 10 million within the United States."
A Global Democracy Policy - New York Times
"Addressing a gathering on Thursday, President Bush sought to look beyond the current bloody chaos in Iraq. Successfully implanting a democratic government in Iraq, he predicted, would energize a democratic revolution that would sweep away tyrannies from Cuba to North Korea. Specifically, Mr. Bush proclaimed a new "forward strategy" for advancing freedom in the Middle East, rightly declaring that 60 years of excusing and accommodating dictatorships there "did nothing to make us safe" because stability cannot be purchased at liberty's expense."
Reaction to the speech:
(1) Arabs Bristle At Bush's Speech on Democracy - Washington Post
(2) Indignant Arabs say Bush democracy speech a sham - Dawn
Israeli Abuses the Worst in 35 Years - Common Dreams
"After 35 years of investigations, a UN committee monitoring human rights abuses of Palestinians has concluded that the situation in the Israeli-occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank was the worst ever last year....The Palestinians did not only see their freedom of movement and residence severely restricted through curfews, road closures and checkpoints, but also their economic, social and cultural rights were harshly violated and undermined."
Friday, November 07, 2003
If Bush is Serious About Arab Democracy... - TIME
"Democracy requires that the results of a properly certified vote be accepted, no matter how unpalatable the outcome. So, if President Bush's promise to make democracy the guiding principle in U.S. dealings with the Middle East signals an intention to press regimes to subject themselves to the popular will, and also a readiness in Washington to respect the resulting political choices of Arab citizens, that would indeed mark a revolutionary break with the past. But the skepticism with which the President's comments were greeted among the freedom-starved peoples of the Arab world is not without foundation."
New York Time reports on a similar beat: Betting on Democracy In the Muslim World.
Pakistan 'will match India's arms purchases' - Financial Times
"A new threat of a regional arms race in south Asia emerged on Friday when President Pervez Musharraf warned that Pakistan would match purchases of weapons by India, its traditional rival....Mr Musharraf's comments appeared to deviate from Pakistan's standard policy line. In the past officials have said they would maintain a minimum deterrence rather than match India."
Bollywood takes on Pakistan! - Rediff
"If all goes well, Bollywood will soon play a cricket match with Pakistani actors. The match is likely to be held in December or January if cleared by the government of India. Speaking to rediff.com, actor Suniel Shetty said, "Representatives of the Imran Khan hospital approached us to play a cricket match to raise funds. We agreed. The only condition we put was that 50 per cent of the revenue generated should go to the IIFA. Now, we are waiting for clearance from the government."
Thursday, November 06, 2003
Boost for Pakistani school reform - Financial Times
"The two Pakistani provincial governments led by Islamist politicians have agreed to support a plan to reform up to 9,000 madrassahs, or religious schools, across the country....Pakistan has been urged by the US to reform madrassahs because of their close links to militant groups....The plan, to be launched next month, would offer madrassahs financial incentives in return for their agreement to introduce a new syllabus that taught mainstream as well as religious subjects."
US 'rejected Iraqi concessions' - BBC
"A Lebanese-American businessman has said he conveyed a last-ditch Iraqi plea to the US administration to avoid war but the approach was rebuffed. He said the Iraqi intelligence chief told him in Beirut that Baghdad did not want a confrontation. The Iraqis also insisted they had no weapons of mass destruction (WMD)."
In this last overture, Iraqis offered inspections, oil deals, help with middle-east peace process, free elections and an al-Qaeda suspect.
Move Over Beauty Queens, Italy Seeks Miss Digital - Yahoo
"The movie star Sophia Loren may have been the icon of 20th-century Italian beauty but times have changed and now she's being challenged for her crown by virtual divas in the first "Miss Digital World" competition. A new beauty contest kicking off in Italy next week will give pixel-perfect pin-ups the chance to steal sultry Sophia's sex-symbol status....Digital artists, advertising agencies and videogame programmers from around the world have been asked to send a computer design of their perfect woman."
Aging air hostesses grounded in Pakistan - IOL
"Pakistan's top court has overturned the decision of a lower court allowing air hostesses to work with state carrier Pakistan International Airline (PIA) beyond the age of 45. Nine air hostesses had challenged their retirement by PIA in the high court of southern Sindh as discriminatory, pointing out that their male colleagues can serve 15 years longer....PIA spokesperson said passengers did not approve of 'aging air hostesses.' "
They're reluctantly shifting their ground - Economist
"SHORTLY before the war in Iraq, al-Azhar University, Cairo's 1,000-year-old citadel of Sunni Muslim orthodoxy, issued a fatwa declaring jihad against the invaders. Senior clerics from as far away as India and Russia endorsed the call. Six months later, most Muslims still bitterly resent America's armed intrusion into the heartland of Islam. Yet, while some go so far as to applaud attacks on the occupying force, more have quietly begun to accommodate themselves to the new reality."
Pakistan women socialites embrace Islam - BBC
"A new breed of scholar is inspiring Islamic study among Pakistan's last bastion of sceptics - the educated female elite. Women like Dr Farhat Hashmi are bringing a contemporary perspective to the teaching of the Koran. It appeals to followers like Naila Shahid, who always wanted to study Islam in greater depth but balked when hearing the mullahs talk of heaven and hell and the purdah (veil)....Dr Hashmi, a product of a Western religious education, has founded a chain of institutes offering Islamic education to women. "
Muslim sought 'honour killing' - BBC
"A devout Muslim who tried to hire a hitman after his daughter married in secret has been convicted of incitement to murder....He put a price of £1,000 on the head of Abdullah Yasin, 26, whom he wanted "removed from this earth" after discovering he had married his daughter in September 2001. The High Court in Edinburgh heard that Mr Yasin was from a different caste and in a culture of arranged marriages, the rules had been broken by marrying a younger daughter before her older sister had settled with a husband."
Bhutto wins Swiss appeal - Financial Times
"A Geneva court has upheld an appeal by Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister of Pakistan, against a magistrate's order last summer that she return $11m (£6.6m) allegedly obtained through kickbacks from two Swiss companies nine years ago. However, the court's decision, which also quashed her six-month suspended prison sentence, does not end Ms Bhutto's legal travails in Switzerland. The dossier will now go to Geneva's chief prosecutor for a decision on whether to refer the case to a higher court."
Girls miss out on going to school - BBC
"Girls still face "sharp discrimination" in getting access to schooling in most developing countries, according to a global survey of education trends....Various factors are identified as working against girls' greater participation. The need to help provide for the family was a key factor - with many more girls than boys being involved in domestic labour. In many countries cost is a factor. Also, in some places girls marry young - 40% by the age of 15 in Nepal, for example. Infection with HIV/Aids is much higher among girls than boys in Southern Africa and the Caribbean."
Microsoft Offers Reward to Catch Writers of Computer Viruses - New York Times
"Microsoft said yesterday that it was putting a bounty on the heads of virus writers. At a news conference in Washington including national and international law enforcement officials, Microsoft announced a $5 million antivirus reward program to encourage tipsters, with initial rewards of $250,000 for evidence leading to the capture and conviction of the original authors of the MSBlast and SoBig programs, which plagued Internet users this year."
CNET reports: Microsoft bounty to disrupt virus writers?.
Wednesday, November 05, 2003
Islamic finance: West meets East - Economist
"There was a time when religious restrictions meant that Islamic finance was a limited affair. Recently, however, all sorts of sophisticated financial products have sprung up that conform to at least some interpretations of sharia (Islamic law)....Perhaps surprisingly, much of this innovation has been driven by non-Muslim, western financiers....Western institutions' keenness is easily understood: although the size of the market is hard to assess, most estimates say that the assets of those who might invest in Islamic financial products amount to around $250 billion."
China’s move to divert Tibetan rivers upsets India’s plan - Daily Times
"China’s move to divert Tibetan rivers has upset India’s grandiose plans of interlinking its rivers. Experts now believe that China’s not raking up its claims on eastern states of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh during Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s recent Bejing visit could be a diplomatic diversion to hide a far more serious matter for India. India has planned to link 30 rivers at a cost of Rs 5,600 billion by 2012....The Tibetan plateau is the principal watershed in Asia and the source of its 10 major rivers."
America's economy roars ahead - Economist
"America’s economy, fuelled by strong investment, easy credit and heavy tax cuts, is growing faster than anyone expected, and faster than many can remember. On Thursday October 30th the Department of Commerce announced that the country’s GDP grew at the astonishing pace of 7.2% in the third quarter (at an annualised rate). This is faster than at any time in the noughties or nineties. Indeed, it is the fastest quarter’s growth since 1984. The roar, it seems, is back."
International students to pay fee for new database - Stanford Daily
"The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is set to release draft regulations this week that would require each international student to pay a one-time $100 fee to cover the costs of the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, or Sevis — the database that the department uses to track students. The fee would raise more than $30 million for Sevis. College officials responded to the news with both support and skepticism."
Runaway Marriages in Pakistan Come under Legal Scanner - OneWorld
"As hundreds of women reportedly languish in jail for marrying without the consent of their guardians, in a major ruling this week, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has decided to examine the constitutional and religious validity of such marriages. The court reserved judgment in an appeal by Muhammad Iqbal challenging an earlier decision of the Lahore High Court declaring void his marriage with Shabina Zafar. Iqbal and Shabina got married of their own free will on June 25, 1996."
American Muslims Told to Leave Major U.S. Cities - Fox News
"An Al Qaeda Web site is running a warning issued to Muslims to leave Washington D.C., New York City and Los Angeles because of implied imminent terrorist attacks, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). Titled "A Warning to Muslims in America," the directive was issued by the previously unknown "Islamic Bayan Movement" and first ran on the Global Islamic Media Web site on Monday.
The original article on MEMRI's website.
Former Guantanamo inmate sues US - BBC
"A man who was imprisoned by the US military at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is suing the Pakistani and US governments for damages worth over $10m. Pakistani cleric Mohammed Sagheer was seized by US troops fighting in Afghanistan in 2001. He spent roughly a year with other suspected al-Qaeda and Taleban operatives in the US military prison. His lawyers say he is suing for the mental and physical torture he endured at Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay."
Mecca Cola launched in Pakistan - PakTribune
"Chairman of International drinks company Mecca Cola Taufiq Matluqi on Tuesday said that 20 per cent income of the company would be spent on the welfare of Kashmiris, Palestinians, Afghans as well as on the other welfare projects in the Muslim world....The Chairman resolved that the ongoing oppression of Muslims at the hands of anti-Islam forces would be paid in the same coin, saying that the Muslims should never forget that Bait-ul-Maqdis was in possession of Jews."
Uniformed politicians by Hussain Haqqani - Hi Pakistan
"Support for army usually stems from the feeling of gratitude of civilians whom the army normally defends against external aggression. When an army becomes involved in domestic politics, it forfeits that special status as the nation’s defender and is reduced to the position of just another contender of power....Repeated military interventions in Pakistani politics, coupled with the insistence of generals to give themselves privileges unavailable to the rest of society have eroded the standing of the Pakistan army."
Tuesday, November 04, 2003
Pakistan's economy: Feeling undervalued - Economist (sub required)
"THE world's best-performing stockmarket in 2002 is about to put on weight. The sale to the public, from November 10th, of up to 5% of the shares in the state-owned Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) will lift the total capitalisation of the Karachi Stock Exchange by about 10%, to about $20 billion. This highlights three truths about Pakistan's economy: there has been a stockmarket boom; there is a government committed to liberalising reform, including privatisation; but the market and the economy remain too small for anybody outside Pakistan to care very much."
Thanks to Farzal Dojki for the referral.
U.S. Subsidizes Companies to Buy Subsidized Cotton - New York Times
"Hidden in plain sight, a federal farm subsidy program is paying nearly $1.7 billion to American agribusiness and manufacturers to buy American cotton that is already one of the most highly subsidized crops in the world. The plan, known as the upland cotton marketing certificate program, was started in 1990 when American cotton was selling at a much higher price than foreign cotton....The program is drawing increased criticism from foreign cotton producers."
Pak economy steady; poverty up 33% - Rediff
"Ringing alarm bells over increasing numbers of poor and unemployed in Pakistan, the country's state bank said the level of poverty rose to 33 per cent from 20 per cent in the last 15 years, even though the economy looked up with a growth rate of 5.1 per cent....Urging the government to make pro-poor policies to reverse the trend, it said, "The biggest challenge facing the economic managers in the short term is to create as many jobs as possible.""
China keeps Pakistan guessing - BBC
" 'As close as lips and teeth' is how China always described its ties with its oldest friends. Apart from North Korea, the most frequently quoted example was Pakistan. But during a visit to Beijing, President Pervez Musharraf has found that Pakistan may no longer be quite such a special friend of its major arms supplier after all. Like North Korea, it looks like being a victim of China's newfound desire to be friends with almost everyone."
Man who passed on HIV jailed for 8 years - Guardian
"A "despicable" predator who infected two women with HIV was yesterday jailed for eight years, a landmark sentence which critics warned could encourage more dangerous sexual behaviour. Mohammed Dica, 38, persuaded his partners to engage in unprotected sex even he knew he had HIV and was liable to transmit the virus....Terrence Higgins Trust, which works with people with HIV, said yesterday that such convictions might deter people from taking an Aids test."
Monday, November 03, 2003
Economic performance of India and Pakistan - DAWN
The article compares the Pakistani and the Indian economies on various economic indicators. It downplays India's economic progress in the 1990s and compares it to the fiscally-straining Pakistani growth of the 80s. The piece ends with a table of 11 economic indicators, and in 9 out of 11 of them, Pakistan appears to be doing better.
Knowing that this cannot be the complete picture, I started searching for an Indian perspective on the topic. Here is what I found:
(1) Pakistan vs India: The economic factor - Hindu Business Line
(2) Putting Pakistan first? - The Hindu
MI5 tried to bug Pakistan mission - Rediff
"The foreign mission where the United Kingdom's security services tried to plant listening devices is believed to have belonged to Pakistan. The attempt was exposed by the Sunday Times newspaper, which quoted the codename of an English agent who was asked to facilitate access to the telephone system, visa room and cipher room of the high commission. Although the front-page report refused to name the mission, it dropped a number of clues."
'Sex is part of our culture now' - Guardian
"How has life changed for Asian girls in Britain in the last 20 years? Yasmin Hai spent a night out with a group of teenagers from her old neighbourhood in an attempt to find out...The problem for Asian girls was that tradition dictated we remain untainted - for in us, our whole family's honour resided. If you were even caught looking at a boy, immediate shame would befall the family. Growing up in an Asian area didn't help. There was always an "auntie" on the lookout to inform your parents if you were caught upsetting the status quo. Not so for today's hip young things. They seem totally liberated from the old traditions, a different tribe altogether."
Message to India: Globalize Or Be Left Behind - Technology Review
"MIT economist Lester Thurow is unimpressed with India's attempts to globalize its economy, warning that India may never be able to compete with other nations such as China that are making a greater effort to open themselves to foreign investors. Thurow describes the steps important in any globalization strategy (e.g. a well-educated workforce, foreign direct investment), analyzes the critical differences between China and India, and predicts that the 22nd century (not the 21st century) will belong to China. What is most surprising is that Thurow discounts India's "much vaunted success in the IT industry," predicting that India may not be able to "succeed in the knowledge economy.""
Credits to Corante for the above summary.
Feeling under attack, Arabs turn to Islam for answers - Christian Science Monitor
"At the Al Kaluti Mosque in a middle-class neighborhood of the Jordanian capital, hundreds more worshipers than the building can hold spill into the streets, a testament to the rallying capacity of Islam in troubled times. The crush of mostly young men at Friday's prayers could be explained by the fact that this is Muslim holy month of Ramadan. But in Jordan, as across the region, the Iraq war is the latest of many factors that have Muslims turning to their faith for solace and answers."
Bahrain firm to launch first Islamic retail bank in Britain - Gulf Daily News
"A company established in Bahrain last year expects to launch the UK's first Islamic retail bank by the end of next March. The Islamic House of Britain has already submitted a licence request to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the UK....The bank will have an initial capital of £14 million (BD9.044m), but this is due to be increased to £50m (BD32.3m) after the first three to six months, at the suggestion of the FSA."
British consider Israel is 'biggest threat to world peace' - Ananova
"Researchers have found nearly two-thirds of Britons believe Israel poses the biggest threat to world peace. North Korea is considered the second biggest threat - and America the third. The European Commission survey asked the public in all 15 member states to looked at a list of countries and say which they considered potential threats to peace."
Financial Times on the poll: Israeli-EU relations hurt by opinion poll (Thanks to Sharmeen Obaid for spotting it).
I am the fall guy: Shoaib Akhtar - Rediff
"On October 14, Shoaib Akhtar was named vice-captain of the Pakistan team to play South Africa in the first Test at Lahore. Five days later he was banned for one Test and two one-day internationals for abusing tail-ender Paul Adams during the Test. It was Akhtar's second ban this year following his suspension in May for two one-dayers during the triangular tournament in Sri Lanka for ball tampering...."I am the fall guy. I am always pulled up. I don't know why," he says."
Sunday, November 02, 2003
Foreign Enrollment Levels Off at U.S. Schools - Washington Post
"Enrollments by foreign students at American universities have leveled off after a period of heady expansion and may be headed downward because of visa restrictions introduced after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to a report released today....Education represents a huge source of invisible exports for the United States, with economists estimating that the country earned nearly $13 billion last year from tuition fees, room and board, and other goods and services purchased by foreign students."
Afghanistan police, army fight each other - The Olympian
"Fighting between Afghan soldiers and police in southern Afghanistan left 10 soldiers and police dead before U.S. troops intervened. Afghan insurgents also abducted a Turkish highway engineer and demanded the release six Taliban prisoners, officials said Saturday. Both sides in the fierce, five-hour battle are loyal, in name at least, to President Hamid Karzai's U.S.-backed government. But clashes between police and the army have broken out in many parts of Afghanistan where they fall under rival warlords and control by Karzai's government is limited."
Pak Raises Objection Over Indian Firm's Afghan Road Project - PakTribune
"Pakistan has raised objections to an Indian company executing a Rs 100-crore highway project in Afghanistan and said that New Delhi is using the opportunity to deploy agents for espionage as well as carrying out acts of terror. The project is funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and involves construction of a road from the Pakistani border to the Afghan city of Kandhar."
South Africa - "The injustice all non-white people felt under apartheid led many Muslims to examine inequalities within their own culture. This led to the creation of a liberal form of Islam where gender equality became a corner stone of their beliefs....These liberal Islamic customs took root from the 1970s onward after black and coloured people were moved to the townships. It was then people flocked to Muslim sermons to hear Islamic leaders denounce the emerging apartheid ideology, saying it violated Islamic teachings of racial equality and social justice."
In the Calculus of Fear, Terrorists Have an Edge - Los Angeles Times
"Terrorists' fundamental metric of success is their ability to attack and terrorize, and that the media can bring news of a terrorist attack to billions of people within a few hours. Terrorists crave the regenerative power of a single, new, dramatic attack that can put them in the spotlight. In this respect, governments are inevitably only as good as their last failure. No matter how many attacks they prevent, no matter how many people are not killed daily by terrorists, what's remembered is the relatively small number of terrorist attacks that succeed."
Pakistani film shot in India premieres in UK - Rediff
"A Pakistani film shot in India and Pakistan has premiered in Bradford, Britain. Most Lollywood films, the name for the Lahore-based Pakistani film industry, have their premieres in Pakistan, but the production company's marketing manager Raja Tariq Mehmood comes from Bradford and made sure it was screened in his home city first. Because of difficulties in getting visas for the cast, most of the shooting for Larki Punjaban was done in India and Pakistan instead of at locations around Bradford."
Saturday, November 01, 2003
The flight to India - Guardian
"The jobs Britain stole from the Asian subcontinent 200 years ago are now being returned. If you live in a rich nation in the English-speaking world, and most of your work involves a computer or a telephone, don't expect to have a job in five years' time. Almost every large company which relies upon remote transactions is starting to dump its workers and hire a cheaper labour force overseas. All those concerned about economic justice and the distribution of wealth at home should despair. All those concerned about global justice and the distribution of wealth around the world should rejoice."
Thanks to Farzal Dojki for this referral.
Pakistan and South Asian Muslims - Daily Times
"The Muslims of South Asia do not have any automatic right to enter Pakistan as the Jews have to enter Israel under the so-called Law of Return. Is this consistent with the founding ideology of Pakistan, the two-nation theory?"
Indian doctor to treat Pak PM - The Tribune
"Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan have one problem in common. Both find it difficult to bend their knees. The Indian premier got it corrected by Dr Chitranjan Ranawat, a US-based doctor of Indian origin. The Pakistan Prime Minister, Mr Zaffarulah Khan Jamali, flew to Lahore on Thursday to show his aching knee to Dr Deepak Bhatia, Sharjah-based pioneer of full flex implant surgery."
Saudi Arabia denies bugging of Abdullah's suite - PakTribune
"An official Saudi source denied here on Saturday that the Pakistani intelligence body had bugged the suite of Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz. The official source said that what had been published by The Times of India last Wednesday and South Asia Tribune that the Pakistani intelligence body had bugged the suite of the Crown Prince during his last visit to Pakistan and that the Saudi security service had discovered the bugging and deactivated it, "has no basis what-so-ever.""
Dreaming with BRICs: The Path to 2050 - Goldman Sachs
"Over the next 50 years, Brazil, Russia, India and China-the BRICs economies-could become a much larger force in the world economy....If things go right, in less than 40 years, the BRICs economies together could be larger than the G6 in US dollar terms. By 2025 they could account for over half the size of the G6. Of the current G6, only the US and Japan may be among the six largest economies in US dollar terms in 2050."
Thanks to KO for spotting it.
Calls to Jihad Are Said to Lure Hundreds of Militants Into Iraq - New York Times
"Across Europe and the Middle East, young militant Muslim men are answering a call issued by Osama bin Laden and other extremists, and leaving home to join the fight against the American-led occupation in Iraq, according to senior counterterrorism officials based in six countries. The intelligence officials say that since late summer they have detected a growing stream of itinerant Muslim militants headed for Iraq."
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