King’s Speech Wins best-picture & 3 other Oscars

LOS ANGELES: ”The King’s Speech” was crowned best picture at ceremony, with the monarchy drama leading as expected with four Oscars and predictable favorites claiming acting honors.

Colin Firth earned the best-actor prize, and same movie also won the directing prize for Tom Hooper and the original-screenplay Oscar for David Seidler, a boyhood stutterer himself.

Natalie Portman won best actress as a delusional ballerina in ”Black Swan.”

The boxing drama ”The Fighter” claimed both supporting-acting honors, for Christian Bale as a boxer-turned-drug-abuser and Melissa Leo as a boxing clan’s domineering matriarch.

”I have a feeling my career’s just peaked,” Firth said. ”I’m afraid I have to warn you that I’m experiencing stirrings somewhere in the upper abdominals which are threatening to form themselves into dance moves.”

Among those Portman beat was Annette Bening for ”The Kids Are All Right.” Bening now has lost all four times she’s been nominated.

”Thank you so much. This is insane, and I truly, sincerely wish that the prize tonight was to get to work with my fellow nominees. I’m so in awe of you,” Portman said.

Network censors bleeped Leo in the US for dropping the F-word during her speech. Backstage, she jokingly conceded it was ”probably a very inappropriate place to use that particular word.”

”Those words, I apologise to anyone that they offend. There is a great deal of the English language that is in my vernacular,” Leo said.

Bale joked that he was keeping his language clean. ”I’m not going to drop the F-bomb like she did,” he said. ”I’ve done that plenty of times before.”

But the Oscars, being a global affair, were telecast elsewhere in the world with Leo’s words uncensored. Viewers who watched the show on Star Movies, a major channel available throughout Asia, heard the F-word loud and clear.

British-born Hooper, a relative big-screen newcomer best known for classy TV drama, took the industry’s top filmmaking prize over Hollywood veteran David Fincher, who had been a strong prospect for his Facebook drama ”The Social Network.”

The prize was presented by last year’s winner, Kathryn Bigelow, the first woman to earn a directing Oscar.

”Thank you to my wonderful actors, the triangle of man love which is Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and me. I’m only here because of you guys,” Hooper said, referring to his film’s male stars.

Leo’s win capped an unusual career surge in middle age for the 50-year-old actress, who had moderate success on TV’s ”Homicide: Life on the Street” in her 30s but leaped to big-screen stardom in her late 40s, a time when most actresses find good roles hard to come by.

In disbelief when she took the stage, Leo said, ”Pinch me.” Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas, who presented her award, obliged with a little pinch on her arm.

Bale earned the same prize his Batman co-star, the late Heath Ledger, received posthumously two years ago for ”The Dark Knight.” At the time, Bale had fondly recalled a bit of professional envy as he watched Ledger perform on set like a whirlwind as the diabolical Joker while the film’s star had to remain clenched up as the stoic, tightly wound Batman.

”The Fighter” gave Bale his turn to unleash some demons as Dicky Eklund, a boxer whose career unraveled amid crime and drug abuse. Bale delivers a showy performance full of tics and tremors, bobbing and weaving around the movie’s star and producer, Mark Wahlberg, who plays Eklund’s stolid brother, boxer Micky Ward.

The screenplay win capped a lifelong dream for ”King’s Speech” writer Seidler, a boyhood stutterer born in London in 1937, a year after George took the throne. Seidler, who overcame his own stutter at age 16, had long vowed to one day write about the monarch whose fortitude set an example for him in childhood.

Seidler thanked Queen Elizabeth II, daughter of King George, ”For not putting me in the Tower of London for using the Melissa Leo F-word.” The film includes two scenes where the king spouts profanity in anger to help force out his syllables.

The Oscar for adapted screenplay went to Aaron Sorkin for "Social network" a chronicle of the birth of Facebook based on Ben Mezrich’s book ”The Accidental Billionaires.” ”The Social Network” also won for musical score for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and for film editing.

The sci-fi blockbuster ”Inception,” which came in with eight nominations, tied with ”The Kings Speech” with four Oscars, all in technical categories: visual effects, cinematography, sound editing and sound mixing.

”Inside Job,” an exploration of the 2008 economic meltdown, won for best documentary, which proved an uncommonly lively category this time.

The Oscar buildup featured speculation about whether Banksy, a mystery man of the street-art world, might show up for his awards entry, “Exit Through the Gift Shop.” If he was at the Oscars, he did not declare himself.

But it was the topic on most people’s minds the last two years, the economy, that resonated among Oscar voters. “Inside Job” director Charles Ferguson subjected Wall Street players, economists and bureaucrats to a fierce cross-examination to depict the economic crisis as a colossal crime perpetrated on the working-class masses by a greedy few.

“Forgive me, I must start by pointing out that three years after our horrific financial crisis caused by financial fraud, not a single financial executive has gone to jail, and that’s wrong,” Ferguson said.

“Toy Story 3,” last year’s top-grossing release and a contender for best picture, won the fourth-straight animated-feature Oscar for Disney’s Pixar Animation unit. Pixar has produced six of the 10 Oscar recipients for animation since the category was added, including “Finding Nemo,” ”WALL-E” and last year’s winner, “Up.”

It was an odd backdrop for a Pixar win, the Oscar ceremony using visual effects to present the award in front of a re-creation of Far Far Away, the fairy-tale realm of Disney rival DreamWorks Animation’s “Shrek” movies. The original “Shrek” won the first Oscar for feature animation, but unlike the durable “Toy Story” franchise, the “Shrek” series finished with a critical dud, last year’s “Shrek Forever After.”

Reuniting voice stars Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, “Toy Story 3″ was the latest follow-up to the 1995 film that launched today’s era of feature-length computer animation.

The Oscar for foreign-language film went to Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier’s “In a Better World,” a saga of two broken families that centers on two teenage boys struggling with violence at school and plotting revenge.

The Lewis Carroll update “Alice in Wonderland” won the first prize of the night, claiming the art direction Oscar. It also won for costume design.

The show opened with co-hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco inserted into a montage of scenes from best-picture nominees, built as a series of dream sequences reminiscent of “Inception.” The footage included such guests as Morgan Freeman and last year’s Oscar co-host Alec Baldwin.

Franco started off telling Hathaway how beautiful she looked. Hathaway shot back, “You look very appealing to a younger demographic, as well.”

Muddy island Appeared Offshore

The close view of newly appeared mud volcano near Hingol shows oozing of Methane gas.

Hingol, Balochistan: A soft muddy island appeared a few kilometers offshore in Hingol on the Makran coast, Balochistan on November 16, 2010. The Director General, Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP) dispatched a team of earth scientists to investigate the sudden appearance of this white mud dome, about three kilometres offshore near the Kund Malir beach.

The island is 90 metres high with a span of approximately three kilometers.

Before the upsurge of sludge, local fishermen reported high tides near the coast and several boats were trapped due to the emergence of this mud volcano from nowhere. Another island of similar nature was also reported to have appeared 12 years ago. That island disappeared into the sea after four months. It is inferred that this mud dome which is given the name of Khizr, will also disappear with passage of time when methane and other gases are released from this structure.

The image shows white hot muddy sludge on the top of the island.

The pictures taken by GSP earth scientists during their field investigations shows the eruption of white hot muddy sludge on top of the island. The ejected material is a sludge of fine solids, hydrate-bearing sediments suspended in acidic water and hydrocarbon fluids.

This mud dome seems to be formed by geo-excreted liquids and methane gas when hot water mixes with mud and surface deposits. Mud volcanoes are associated with subduction zones and the Makran coastal area is in close vicinity of triple junction where three major tectonic plates – namely Eurasian, Arabian and Indian plates meet.

Mud volcanoes are not true magmatic volcanoes.They are like steam-vents erupting pressurised gases and the strength of their eruption is quite diverse. It may be a result of a cone-like structure created by pressurised mud diaper or salt dome, which breaches the earth’s surface or ocean bottom.

Mud volcanoes along tectonic subduction zone may be indicative of petroleum products. These mud domes tend to start out as small bulges in the earth which develop into cones.

The bulge is created by a build-up of pressure underneath relatively plastic rock. Areas of increased tectonic activity are frequent sites for mud volcanoes. More than 80 active mud volcanoes have been identified on the Makran coast; there are about 10 locations in Hingol and Hinglaj area having clusters of mud volcaones.

One of the highest and biggest mud volcanos in the world, Chandragup – means moon volcano – is located in close proximity. It is 125 metres high and more the 450 metres wide. Such type of mud volcanoes are associated with active subduction zones and tectonic forces and large sedimentary deposits create these geological formations.

Mud volcanoes sometimes temporarily emerge due to earthquakes but the mechanism by which earthquakes trigger changes in submarine mud extrusions are not completely understood.

An earthquake may have resulted in mud flow and release of methane and hydrogen sulfide gases which can cause the volcano to flare. On 28 November, 1945 during M8 great Makran Earthquake, which also generated a tsunami, a light was reportedly seen over the Chanay mountain in the direction of Hinglaj and fell on the sea, burning for about three days in two parts. Interestingly enough, an earthquake of 5.1 magnitude was recorded the in the area on the 16th November, 2010.

The geological field investigation for the emergence of Arabian Sea Sapt Island (ARSSI) revealed that the island is located 17 km from the Wad Bandar and 3.2 km from the Chadman coast. The island is spread over an area of 0.8 Sq. km and its height is 35 meters above sea level. There are five vents on the island which are still active and erupting mud with pressure. Methane gas emitted out from the vent-2 is highly flammable while vent-3 mostly reacts after four minutes with sound and pressure and mud is flown in the air up-to 15 meters.

Azerbaiijan and its Caspian coastline are home to nearly 400 mud volcanoes. While mud volcanoes found in Andaman Island, India; Taman Peninsula of Russia and Kerch Peninsula and Ukarine are sometimes used for recreation, this is not advisable with Makran coast mud volcanoes due to the unpredictability of ongoing seismic activity and sudden eruptions.

Pakistan among top 10 nations in human development improvement

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has been ranked 10th among the countries in term of human development improvement by the United Nations Development Programme’s 20th Human Development Report 2010.

Those among the 135 countries that improved most in Human Development Index (HDI) terms over the past 30 years were led by Oman, which invested energy earnings over the decades in education and public health.

The other nine “Top Movers” are China, Nepal, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Laos, Tunisia, South Korea, Algeria and Morocco. Remarkably, China was the only country that made the “Top 10” list due solely to income performance; the main drivers of HDI achievement were in health and education.

The UNDP report said that in Pakistan, between 1980 and 2010, the HDI value increased by 58 per cent (average annual increase of about 1.5 per cent).

“With such an increase Pakistan is ranked 10 in terms of HDI improvement, which measures progress in comparison to the average progress of countries with a similar initial HDI level”, it added.

Pakistan’s life expectancy at birth increased by more than nine years, mean years of schooling increased by about nine years and expected years of schooling increased by almost 4 years.

Pakistan’s Gross National Income (GNI) per capita increased by 92 per cent during the same period. The relative to other countries in the region, in 1980, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh had close HDI values for countries in South Asia.

However, during the period between 1980 and 2010 the three countries experienced different degrees of progress toward increasing their HDIs states the Report.

The Report introduces the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), which identifies multiple deprivations in the same households in education, health and standard of living.

The average percentage of deprivation experienced by people in multidimensional poverty is 54 per cent.

The MPI, which is the share of the population that is multi-dimensionally poor, adjusted by the intensity of the deprivations, is 0.275.Pakistan’s “HDI neighbors”, India and Bangladesh, have MPIs of 0.296 and 0.291, respectively.

Myths and mysteries: The 13 crystal skulls: Who made them & why?

Intriguing, mysterious and eerie, they are real works of art. The crystal skulls have been of great interest to archaeologists and anthropologists who are curious about their existence and purpose. Why would so much work and time be spent on perfecting a human skull made out of one of the hardest substances known to man after diamonds, rock crystal? The cutting of which requires great expertise and precision and the carving and polishing of which is equally time-consuming? In other words, why a skull?

It is not something that one finds in ancient paintings or carvings, which have all sorts of deities and exotic creatures of fantasy and folklore. Why would anyone want to carve a skull out of clear or milky quartz?

Anyhow, humans are a strange and complex species to say the least and have been around for thousands of centuries so one never knows what they might have been up to in the past. But what some scientists and sceptics say about these skulls is that they were probably made in the 1800s, as the tools used or required to do such work were not available to the civilisations of the past.

But then there are many that still claim these specimens to be the channels of ancient knowledge and were made for a very special reason. To delve a little into the mystery of the crystal skulls, let’s see how they were discovered and the legends attached to them.

Many perfect skulls were found in parts of central and South America and Mexico. Mainly believed to be of Mayan or Aztec origin, there are believed to be 13 of these skulls made and then later scattered all over the globe. They were part of rituals and ceremonies and are supposed to hold knowledge regarding the history of the human race and civilisation. The first and the most famous is the Mitchell Hedges skull discovered by the archaeologist in 1927 during an archaeological dig at an ancient Mayan site in the tropical jungle of Yucatan also known as Belize.

After burning 33 hectares of thick forestation, the area revealed a huge stone pyramid, walls of a city and an amphitheatre, which could seat thousands of spectators. The site was called ‘Lubaantun’ or ‘The Place of the Fallen Stones’. The story goes that when Mitchell Hedges returned to the site after three years, his daughter Anna Mitchell was with him and she discovered the skull under the ruins of an alter.

The story was later refuted as it came to light that Anna had not accompanied her father on that expedition but that Mitchell Hedges had bought the skull at an auction held by Sotheby’s in London. However, Anna stuck to her story till she died at the age of 100 in 2007. Anna claimed that she had several dreams regarding ceremonies and rituals performed by the ancient Mayans whenever the skull was in her bedroom at night.

She also gave the skull for scientific examination to Hewlett Packard. The findings were quite puzzling. The skull had been carved with diamonds and then smoothened with a solution made out of silicon sand and water. But the strangest part was that the entire workings were done against the “axis” of the crystal. This means that whenever a piece of crystal or quartz is cut, it has to be done according to the axis formed by the molecular structure of the rock. Going against it would shatter the entire piece. So how was this done in the first place?

Then we have the other skulls found in other sources. There is the British skull and the Paris crystal skull. They are said to have been bought in the 1890s by mercenaries in Mexico. One is at the London’s

Museum of Mankind and the other is at the Trocadero Museum of Paris.

The Mayan and the Amethyst skull were bought to the United States by a Mayan priest. They were found in Guatemala and Mexico. They were both tested and were found to have also been cut against the axis of the rocks. Then we have MAX, the Texas skull, which was in the possession of a Tibetan healer, Norbu Chen, who gave it to Carl and Jo Parks against a debt.

It was only after Jo found out that the skull was of archaeological interest worldwide that she took it out of her closet and had it examined by an expert. It was indeed found to be ancient. Another crystal skull enthusiast Joke Van Dieten Maasland has a smoky quartz crystal skull, which was discovered in 1906 during the excavation of a Mayan temple in Guatemala. Joke states that the skull has healing powers and helped heal a brain tumour in a book she has written titled, Messengers of Ancient Wisdom.

The skull is named E.T. because it has a pointed head and an exaggerated jaw with an overbite, which makes it look like it an alien-shaped head.

The rose quartz crystal skull is very much like the Mitchell Hedges skull and was found near the border of Honduras and Guatemala. Its lower jaw is movable just like the above mentioned one.

The Aztec skull that is at the Museum of Man in London has been said to move on its own inside its glass case and museum staff seem uncomfortable around it. The Sha-Na-Ra, Jaguar Man and Rainbow skulls have all been unearthed at ancient sites according to researchers.

Are these skulls really the ancient showcases of human wisdom and hold powerful knowledge or as scientists say, just clever fakes? But the only thing is that a “fake” is a replica of the original. And whoever made these bafflingly mysterious crystal skulls and for whatever purpose, has left a big question, the answer to which is really not ‘crystal’ clear.

Pakistan National Monument: Reliving history

It is grand, it is huge and it is absolutely magnificent! Welcome to the Pakistan National Monument which is located at the west viewpoint of the Shakar Parian Hills in Islamabad. The monument is dedicated to martyrs who sacrificed their lives for our beloved country.

Once you enter the wrought iron gates, you come across a path that divides into two. The one that leads to the left takes you to the Pakistan Monument Museum. The museum is truly awe-inspiring and one must commend the efforts of the designers, artists and sculptors who have preserved our precious heritage and rich culture in such an extraordinary way.

The multi-dimensional, life-like exhibits in the museum display our journey from the advent of Islam in the subcontinent to the struggle for freedom and the desire of Muslims there to have a separate homeland of their own under the leadership of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

Once you enter the museum, you are asked to wear plastic covers on your shoes so as not to bring in dust and grime from outdoors. I cannot really do justice to the grandeur and magnificence of the displays which are very vivid in colour and rich in detail. The history of the Indus Valley Civilisation, the arrival of Islam in the subcontinent, the majestic Mughal era, the Freedom Movement of 1857, the poetry and dream of Allama Iqbal and Jinnah’s peerless leadership is brought all to life before our eyes.

There are realistic statues, wonderful paintings, pictures and colourful backgrounds to bring history alive to its modern viewers. We can easily spend hours here absorbing our wonderful historical heritage. The upper floor of the museum houses the Audio-Visual Centre which houses rare speeches, photos, videos, documentaries and national records. A special section for children offers video games, interactive quiz, music and movies related to our forefathers’ struggle and many sacrifices for the sake of our homeland. A section of the museum also depicts the country’s development and success in various fields.

The entry fee for the museum is just Rs20 for adults and Rs10 for children. Mobile phones have to be switched off and no eatables are allowed inside. The visitors are not allowed to touch the artefacts. It is important that we respect and follow the rules and not argue with the caretakers so that this museum remains in this pristine condition.

The Pakistan Monument is located across from the museum. The petal-shaped granite structure has been designed to reflect the history, culture and unity of the provinces of Pakistan. The inner walls of the petals are decorated with murals which show important landmarks of Pakistan like Lahore Fort, Badshahi Mosque, Khyber Pass, Minar-e-Pakistan, etc. There is also a metallic crescent that is inscribed with sayings of Quaid-e-Azam and poetry of Allama Iqbal. The monument is surrounded by green and well-groomed gardens that give a very serene impact.

There is a large circular terrace at one end of the monument from where one can have a terrific bird’s eye view of the capital city. This section is called the Islamabad View Point. A lift is also available for the physically handicapped to take them to the upper level to see the monument.

The Pakistan National Monument is a fantastic tribute to those who sacrificed their today for our better tomorrow. We can show our gratitude and appreciation only by working hard for the progress and development of this wonderful country of ours. Long live Pakistan!

Cockfighting: cruelty or culture?

The below images capture a typical aspect of the Haitian culture – Cockfighting – in the vicinity of Dezemitte in Petion Ville, Port-au-Prince. Despite its traditional value that has been passed down from generation to generation in Haiti, it has raised massive concerns of animal cruelty.

Participant’s bets starting from 100 to 1000 Gourdes, better known as Goud (the currency of Haiti, where one USD equals 40 Gourdes).

Are Blogs Dying?

This week, I read a terrifying article in the New York Times. WHAT?!?! NO WAY! Those were my first reactions. I mean I spent all this time into writing so people would read my stuff and possibly one day I could write a book and now they tell me that Blogs are Dying!!!

Then, I shook off my shock and actually read the article (Yeah, I know...How old-fashioned I am to actually read a newspaper.) I was happy to find out that blogging is only really dying amongst the teens (Like were teens ever really bloggers to begin with?) Anyway, the article states that “among children ages 12 to 17 fell by half; now 14 percent of children those ages who use the Internet have blogs” because they prefer sites like Twitter and Facebook.

Going back to the whole teens and blogging thing. What does a 12-17 year old have to blog about? I mean they do not have a ton of hilarious and world-changing life experiences to share (which I do, so keep reading my blog!) What do they blog about? Which acne medicine is the best? The latest prom dress styles? Failing the Spanish Test (luckily not relevant to most of my students since the little angels do pretty darn good in my Spanishi class...It must be the teacher!) Maybe they blog about their trips to the mall. Think about it...Teens do not have that much to blog about, so Twitter and Facebook make way more sense since they are designed to chronicle the simple lives of teens (Yes, I said simple...You do not know a hard life until you have a mortgage, a wife, two car payments and two mis-behaving kids!). Would people really read blog posts that were written like these: 'Went to the mall today. found a cool justin bieber shirt #Justinbieber' or 'Dude, I totally blew that test. Fell asleep in the middle of it. o well off to bball practice' These little nuggets of info are suited for Twitter and Facebook, not a blog.

Anyway, teens aren't ready to blog because they have not fully developed and perfected the fine art of satire. They cannot make fun of celebrities or politicians at their tender age. Add the fact that everything they blog would be visible to everyone, including their parents (at least they can not add their parents and set privacy settings, etc. on facebook), and teens should back off of blogging until they hit college. That is when the fun and the blogging should begin!

New Zealand QUAKE

Rubble and damaged buildings line a deserted Colombo street in Christchurch, following an earthquake. New Zealand declared a national state of emergency after one of its worst earthquake disasters left nearly 400 people dead or missing.

CHRISTCHURCH: New Zealand rescuers worked frantically through the night Wednesday to reach trapped survivors after a catastrophic earthquake left nearly 400 people dead or missing in Christchurch.

Prime Minister John Key, declaring a national emergency, said the region around the country’s second-largest city had suffered “death and destruction on a dreadful scale”.

Rescuers had to amputate limbs from survivors to free them from smouldering ruins of buildings reduced to debris in minutes, while dazed survivors were plucked from the rubble in a desperate overnight rescue mission.

Christchurch resident Tom Brittenden said he saw a woman die with her baby in her arms when she was hit by falling debris in the city’s Cashel St Mall.

Her baby survived but she was killed instantly.

“We tried to pull these big bricks off her but she was gone,” he told the Christchurch Press.

Rescuers had recovered 75 bodies since the 6.3-magnitude quake struck at lunchtime Tuesday, and about 300 people were still missing, officials said.

The quake was the deadliest to hit New Zealand since 256 people died in a 1931 tremor, and it came six months after a 7.0-magnitude quake weakened buildings in Christchurch but miraculously resulted in no deaths.

The latest tremor toppled many buildings and left central Christchurch strewn with debris. The city’s landmark cathedral lost its spire. Dozens of aftershocks rocked the city Tuesday and overnight, hampering rescue efforts.

Police Superintendent Russell Gibson warned that the toll was certain to rise as more than 500 emergency workers combed through shattered buildings, listening out for any signs of life.

“There is incredible carnage right throughout the city,” he told Radio New Zealand.

“There are bodies littering the streets, they are trapped in cars and crushed under rubble.”

Most of the city remained without power and Gibson said rescue crews working through the night had freed 20-30 people, some at desperate cost.

“It’s quite amazing, we have some people we’ve pulled out and they haven’t got so much as a scratch on them, we’ve had other people where we’ve had to amputate limbs to get them out,” he said.

Gibson said rescuers were going door to door through the city centre, with efforts concentrating on two city centre office buildings where survivors had managed to communicate with them.

“We are getting texts and tapping sounds from some of these buildings and that’s where the focus is at the moment,” he said.

However, fire service national commander Mike Hall said his officers had incorrectly reported that 15 people had been pulled alive from a collapsed six-storey office block.

“I have since been advised that it was a false report and that it is not true,” he told TVNZ, while police confirmed that no survivors had yet been recovered from the collapsed Canterbury TV building.

Prime Minister Key, who has described the disaster as possibly “New Zealand’s darkest day”, said: “No words that can spare our pain. We are witnessing the havoc caused by a violent and ruthless act of nature.”

Twenty-four Japanese citizens were among the missing, including 11 foreign-language students, Japanese reports said.

Japan, Australia and the United States were among countries sending rescuers to help.

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, who is New Zealand’s head of state, said she was “utterly shocked” while US President Barack Obama offered his “deepest condolences”, as expressions of sympathy poured in from around the globe.

Seismologists said that despite being smaller, the latest tremor was more destructive than the September quake because it was nearer to Christchurch’s centre and much closer to the earth’s surface.

New Zealand sits on the “Pacific Ring of Fire”, a vast zone of seismic and volcanic activity stretching from Chile on one side to Japan and Indonesia on the other.

The never ending oil dilemma

Sources have said that this time, there is a likelihood, that fuel prices could surge, as the never ending uncertainty emerging out of the Middle-East due to the so-called revolution of our time, can disrupt fuel supply, and oil prices are likely to gain even more.

International oil prices have been ever escalating, and they now trade over $91 a barrel in New York, where as in London, Brent Crude oil has crossed the $103 a barrel mark. What this means is that Pakistan is importing oil at a higher price, which is piling up the burden, on the country’s oil import bill.

The government has tried to increase oil prices in line with the international trend, but thanks to the coalition government’s pressure, and finger-pointing by the opposition bench, oil prices have been kept unchanged for the last three months.

The government is in tantrums. If they decide to increase oil prices, the people of Pakistan along with the coalition government, will cry foul. On the other hand, if they do not, then the IMF will complain, once again.

The international monetary fund always wanted Pakistan to cut out on the fuel and power subsidies, and to increase the power tariff along with oil prices. We all know what keeping the IMF unhappy means, not getting the rest of the loan arrangements, which is more than three billion dollars, which the government, is in dire need of.

So as always, by the end of the month, or namely, February 28, sources close to DawnNews have said that the government will sit down and decide fuel prices for the month of March.

Sources have said that this time, there is a likelihood, that fuel prices could surge, as the never ending uncertainty emerging out of the Middle-East due to the so-called revolution of our time, can disrupt fuel supply, and oil prices are likely to gain even more.

So will the government go for the price increase by the end of the month, to keep the IMF happy, or will they keep the people happy, by keeping them unchanged, for the fourth month in a row.

World economies

Turkey

WHILE Europe was beleaguered by the debt crisis, Turkey’s economy has flourished in 2010. The country saw increases in exports and tourist revenues while attracted $22 billion of foreign direct investment during that year. Debt owed to the International Monetary Fund dropped from $23.5 billion in 2002 to $6 billion last year, reducing the country’s external debt pressure. GDP grew by an estimated 6.8 per cent which is significantly better than 2009 when it contracted by five per cent. Though inflation and unemployment rates remained high, they retreated from the preceding year to around eight and ten per cent in 2010.

Domestic consumption is still going to be very strong, and this will give Turkish manufacturers leverage for growth. Construction and international contracting are going to be strong in the 2011. There is room for growth in this area, and it is increasing its share in the Turkish economy. The economy is expected to slowdown in 2011. The Turkish government has targeted an economic growth of 4.5 for this year, five in 2012 and 5.5 per cent in 2013. With a GDP of $730 billion, Turkey is the 16th largest economy in the world and 6th largest economy compared to the EU area in 2009 also 15th most attractive destination for foreign direct investment.

The year 2011 will be the key for new investments to overcome the structural problems of the economy. International economic circles expected a major inflow of foreign direct investments into Turkey. The main challenges remain the sticky inflation, which is expected to end the year at seven per cent, and the deteriorating external balances. Turkish export markets are not expected to show a very strong recovery in 2011. New markets that Turkey has been targeting over the course of last decade are going to be critical for Turkish exporters. However, Turkey will be the second-largest economy in Europe by 2050.

The Turkish authorities have announced that both fiscal and monetary policy will be tightened gradually. Turkey’s public debt is expected to moderate as a share of GDP. According to the IMF, Turkey’s external debt is expected to rise to 52.4 per cent of GDP by 2015. This will be on account of a moderate widening of the current account deficit, somewhat slower average GDP growth than prior to the crisis, and a gradual increase in debt-creating inflows, although partly offset by increasing FDI and equity inflows. For 2011, Turkey’s GDP growth is likely to be underpinned by private consumption-on account of low real interest rates, restocking, and, to a lesser extent, exports.

Spain

SPAIN will experience slow economic growth in 2011 but the pace should pick up in 2012. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), Spain’s 2nd largest bank, predicts that the economy would expand by 0.9 this year and grow by 1.9 per cent in 2012. The bank expected the economic recovery would have a positive effect on Spain’s 4.2 million jobless people and the country’s unemployment rate would drop to 20.6 this year and 20.1 per cent by the end of 2012. The forecast is more optimistic than the bank’s previous predictions, but still lower than the 1.3 per cent predicted by the government for this year. The IMF expected Spain’s GNP to rise by 0.6 per cent in 2011.

The Spanish economy, the European Union’s fifth biggest, slumped into recession during the second half of 2008 as the global financial meltdown compounded the collapse of a labour-intensive construction boom. It emerged with tepid growth of just 0.1 in the first quarter of 2010 and 0.2 in the second but then stalled with zero growth in the third. Madrid estimates 70 per cent of the two million jobs which were lost in Spain since the start of the economic downturn were directly or indirectly related to the construction sector.

Spain’s annual inflation rate hit a two-year high of three per cent in January. Higher food, soft drink and electricity prices pushed up the cost of living, driving inflation up from a 2.9 rate in December. It was the highest inflation rate since October 2008 when prices climbed 3.6 per cent annually. The jobless rate had surged to a 13-year record above 20% at the end of 2010, the highest in the industrialized world. It exceeded the government’s target of 19.4 for the year. After posting a jobless rate of 18.8 in 2009 and 20.33 per cent in 2010, the government is forecasting 19.3 for 2011 and 17.5 per cent in 2012. Spain appears to be stuck in a rut of staggeringly high levels of unemployment.

BBVA believed the government would succeed with its policy of fiscal consolidation, bringing the country’s fiscal deficit to six per cent this year and to 4.5 next year. Some 100,000 net new jobs will be created in Spain in the second half of 2011 but the unemployment rate will remain above 20 per cent at least until 2013. Wages in Spain will rise this year at levels below the current rate of inflation. The average pay rise in January 2011 was 2.98 per cent. That was slightly below the rate of inflation of 3.3 per cent predicted for the first month of the year.

Spain’s Treasury had managed to cut borrowing from markets in 2010 and would do so again in 2011 because of austerity measures adopted by the government. For the year ahead, the Treasury estimated net financing needs of €47.2 billion – a decline of 24% from 2010. But the figure was slightly higher than previously announced because of the country’s €3.588 billion contribution to a European financial rescue for Greece. Net bond issues in 2010 amounted to €62.1 billion, compared to the €76.8m forecast at the start of the year. It was a sharp decline from the €116.7 billion in net bond issues for 2009.

Spain’s public debt rose to a 10-year record while bad debt at its banks struck a 14-year high. The public debt rose 16.3% to €611 billion in the third quarter (equivalent to 57.7 per cent of GDP), its highest proportion since 2000. The figure is still below the limit of 60 per cent of GDP imposed on European Union members but it is up from the 53.2 posted at the end of 2009. Adding to concerns over the country’s finances was the Spanish lenders’ non-performing loans ratio which rose to 5.66% in October 2010, its highest level since January 1996. Total bad debt held by Spanish banks rose to €103.7 billion in October as property-related losses mounted.

Greece

GREECE aims to cut its budget deficit to about three billion euros in 2015 from nearly 17 billion this year. The plan is more ambitious than past projections. The IMF forecast that the deficit would amount to about 2 percent of gross domestic product in 2015. That would mean above four billion euros if calculated based on forecasts for 2011 GDP, or more if the economy returns to growth as planned in 2012. The deficit will be reduced by two-thirds from spending cuts. The programme does not include additional cuts in salaries and pensions and no tax hikes. To achieve the plan target, Greece is eyeing revenues from real estate assets and by closing some public organisations.

The government has already cut public sector wages, frozen pensions, raised taxes and started reforms to open up its economy to more competition, as agreed with the EU and the IMF last year in return for the bailout. If the Greek economy stayed at current levels of about 230 billion euros, the government’s new target would mean that the deficit would stand at 1.3 per cent of GDP in 2015.Greece’s recession began in the last quarter of 2008. It exacerbated last year by austerity moves implemented in exchange for a 110 billion-euro ($150 billion) bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. The economy contracted by an estimated 4.2 per cent in 2010 and is forecast to shrink three per cent in 2011.

Greece’s housing industry suffered one of its worst years since the Second World War in 2010, contributing to the economic recession. The residential property market has been one of the major pillars of Greek GDP growth for decades, surpassing in importance other euro-zone countries with the exception of Ireland and Spain in some aspects in the last few years. The sector has contributed more than 0.5 of a percentage point annually to GDP from 1998 through 2007 and even approached 0.9 of a point if one takes into effect positive spillover effects to other sectors and the positive wealth effects from rising prices.Unfortunately, the outlook is not good this year, raising concerns about the length and the depth of the adjustment in the industry and its impact on the economy. It is hard to see how private residential activity will rebound this year and house prices will stop declining with the supply overhang and economic and financing conditions becoming even more restrictive. This means one of the main pillars of past Greek GDP growth will continue to be a drag on the economy in 2011, hurting consumer and business confidence. 2011 looks set to be another dismal year for the local residential property market and this should be a concern to planners given its importance to the economy.

Greece’s economic and fiscal performance under the EU-IMF program has in many respects exceeded expectations, its heavy public debt burden renders fiscal solvency highly vulnerable to adverse shocks. A swift resolution of the debt crisis would bring great relief. If bond spreads were immediately to revert to historical norms, rather than in 2015 and beyond, the Greek budget deficit would improve by 10 per cent of GDP by 2014. The cost to the Greek taxpayer of the loss of confidence in government debt is estimated to be about 10 cents on the euro.

This week in history

FEBRUARY 19
1473: Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus is born
1878: American inventor Thomas Edison patents the gramophone
1855: The first weather map is presented at the French Academy of Sciences
1969: First test flight of Boeing 747 jumbo jet
1980: English all-rounder Ian Botham scores a century and takes 13 wickets in a Test match against India

FEBRUARY 20
1547: Nine-year-old Edward VI crowned King of England and Ireland
1835: Nearly 5,000 people die in an earthquake that destroys Concepcion, Chile
1872: New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art opens
1921: Reza Khan Pehalvi leads a bloodless coup to take control of Iranian Army. He would later become Shah of Iran
1944: Batman and Robin comic strip premieres in newspapers
1947: Lord Mountbatten appointed as last viceroy of India
1976: Muhammad Ali knocks out Jan Pierre Coopman to win the heavyweight boxing title
1986: U.S.S.R. (Soviet Union) launches Mir space station into Earth orbit

FEBRUARY 21
1707: Mughal emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir dies after a 49-year reign
1922: Great Britain grants independence to Egypt
1970: Jackson 5, featuring 12-year old Michael Jackson, makes TV debut on American Bandstand
1997: Star Wars movie Empire Strikes Back, special edition, premieres

FEBRUARY 22
1732: First American President George Washington is born
1956: Elvis Presley hits Billboard’s Top 10 for the first time with Heartbreak Hotel
1958: Australian swimmer Jon Konrads sets six world records in two days
1971: Lieutenant General Hafiz al-Assad becomes President of Syria
1980: Underdog USA hockey team shocks defending champion U.S.S.R. 4-3 in Winter Olympics en route to a gold medal
1991: Sri Lankan all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya makes Test debut against New Zealand at Hamilton

FEBRUARY 23
1633: Samuel Pepys, English politician and diarist, is born
1821: English poet John Keats dies of tuberculosis at age 25
1861: US President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrives secretly for his inauguration, thwarting an alleged assassination plot in Baltimore
1940: Walt Disney’s animated movie Pinocchio is released
1965: English comedian Stan Laurel of Laurel & Hardy fame dies at age 74
1974: South African cricketer Herschelle Gibbs is born
1978: Kiran Baloch, Pakistan’s women cricketer, is born
2003: Canada’s John Davison scores the fastest World Cup century off 67 balls against the West Indies

FEBRUARY 24
1836: American inventor Samuel Colt receives a patent for a ‘revolving gun’, later known as a revolver
1974: Pakistan officially recognises Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan
1981: Pakistani pacer Mohammad Sami is born
1981: Britain’s Prince Charles engaged to Lady Diana Spencer
1987: Sri Lankan cricketer Chamara Kapugedera born
2003: Kenya beats Lanka by five wickets in World Cup match in Nairobi
2010: By scoring 200 not out against South Africa in Gwalior, India’s Sachin Tendulkar became the first batsman to score a double century in One-Day internationals

FEBRUARY 25
1815: Napoleon Bonaparte leaves the island of Elba, to return to France
1862: Paper currency introduced in U.S. by President Abraham Lincoln
1945: World War II: Turkey declares war on Germany.
1947: State of Prussia ceases to exist.
1964: Cassius Clay (later Mohammad Ali) defeats Sonny Liston for the heavyweight boxing title
1989: Mike Tyson technically knocks out Frank Bruno to win the heavyweight boxing title
1989: Pakistan’s Javed Miandad scores 271 against New Zealand at Eden Park
1993: World champions Pakistan dismissed for 43 runs against the West Indies, then the lowest score in One-Day cricket
2009: By scoring 313 against Sri Lanka during the Karachi Test, Younis Khan (313) became the third Pakistani and the first captain to score a triple century in Tests

Egypt allows Iran warships to transit Suez: Mena

CAIRO: Egypt gave permission on Friday for Iranian warships to transit the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean, state media reported, after Israel described move as a “provocation.”

Egypt agreed to allow two Iranian warships to transit the Suez Canal, the official MENA news agency reported.

Canal officials say it would be the first time Iranian warships have transited the passage since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

MENA reported that the request for the ship to pass said they were not carrying weapons or nuclear and chemical materials.

A foreign ministry official said earlier on Friday that the Iranian request was passed on to the defence ministry, which has to approve the passage of any warship through the canal.

His comments came a day after an official in the canal and a shipping agent said the request had been cancelled, on the prompting of the Egyptian government.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has said that any attempt by Iranian warships to sail so close to the Jewish state’s waters now would be a dangerous “provocation” that would demand a response.

Asked by AFP in Jerusalem to comment on the latest development, Israeli Foreign Ministry recalled Lieberman’s comments on Wednesday.

“We have nothing to add to the minister’s statement,” Palmor said Friday. “It’s still valid.”

How West helps dictators to steal

I LIVED for the sake of this country, Hosni Mubarak told Egyptians as he desperately clung to power last week. But in truth his country lived for the sake of its leader: he, his family and his friends fleeced the nation, diverting billions into secret bank accounts and properties in the most exclusive areas of London and Los Angeles.

One estimate in the Guardian — reflected back to the world in banners in Tahrir Square — put the scale of his family’s theft at an astonishing GBP43.5bn. So while a quarter of Egyptians are brought up in poverty, the president’s son has amassed assets worth an estimated GBP10.5bn, including a five-storey house in London’s Knightsbridge. Little wonder there was such anger on the streets.

Now it has emerged that Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is looking into any assets Mubarak and his family may have stashed in this country. Better late than never, I guess, but this is far from an isolated case.

After Ben Ali was chased out of Tunisia, it turned out he had plundered an estimated GBP3bn from his country’s coffers. One of the first WikiLeaks cables alleged the president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, siphoned off $9bn from his country’s oil boom, much of it hidden by helpful British banks. In France, three African leaders and their families face accusations of embezzling state funds and buying trophies such as penthouses and Ferraris valued at GBP137m.

Our standard response to these tales of grand larceny is to shrug our shoulders and deplore corruption in the developing world. Corruption is corrosive, eating away at countries from within. It is thought to cost African states one-quarter of their GDP each year and to push up the price of goods by one-fifth. In Kenya, nearly one-third of people’s wages is estimated to disappear into the pockets of corrupt officials.

But as the big men steal and their people suffer, we are aiding and abetting their crimes. So instead of just applauding Egypt’s protesters, we should take responsibility for our own contribution to their poverty and unemployment. This would do far more to help the developing world than our obsession with aid. So let’s end the hypocrisy.

First, we need to crack down on companies that bribe their way to deals and contracts around the world. Britain lags behind other developed countries to such an extent that the OECD is threatening to blacklist UK exporters. Sadly, the government has just delayed a new anti-bribery law for the second time, giving in to the business lobby’s squeals.

This proposed legislation marked the first major reform in this area for more than a century and was the result of detailed cross-party work over years. It would go some way to restoring Britain’s reputation after the scandalous decision of the Blair government to allow the abandonment of an investigation into BAE’s arms deals. The delay harms the interests and image of our country.

But it should be only the first move. All these hideous rulers ripping off their people need help to hide their plunder. In Britain, as elsewhere in the West, bankers, lawyers and accountants are living off immoral earnings by laundering this money.

Supermum Clijsters regains world top spot

Clijsters has now reached the top spot for the fourth time in her career. -Reuters Photo

PARIS: Kim Clijsters became the first mother to be crowned world number one on Friday when she battled back from 3-0 down to defeat Australia’s Jelena Dokic 6-3, 6-0 in the Paris Open quarter-finals.

The 27-year-old reigning US and Australian Open champion has now reached the top spot for the fourth time in her career.

The Belgian first hit the heights in 2003, when she was number one for 12 weeks over two separate spells, and then again in 2006, spending seven weeks at the head of the rankings.

Clijsters, who was also US Open champion in 2005 and 2009, will officially knock Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki, who has yet to win a Grand Slam title, from the number one slot when the new WTA rankings are released on Monday.

“It’s incredible to have been successful so quickly after my comeback,”said Clijsters, who had retired in 2007 to start a family before returning to the tour in 2009 after giving birth to daughter Jada.

“I have been playing really well for some months now. I am happy to regain the number one here in Paris as I feel like it’s close to home in Belgium – the last time, it was in Los Angeles.

“I’m proud that I have achieved this in my second career and as a mother. I hope that I can now go on and win the tournament.”

Clijsters’s return to the top will bring a little respect back to the position which has lost some of its lustre in recent years.

The retirements of Grand Slam winners Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Amelie Mauresmo and Justine Henin have damaged the top ranking’s credibility while Serena and Venus Williams are playing less and less.

Clijsters has enjoyed a memorable last six months, winning all three of the last major tournaments, the US Open, Masters and Australian Open.

She also led Belgium to victory over the United States in the opening round of the Fed Cup World Group last weekend before arriving in Paris where she was champion on her last and only previous visit in 2004.

On Friday, she lost the opening three games against qualifier Dokic before reeling off the next 12.

Clijsters will face Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi, who defeated Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-2, 2-6, 6-2, in Saturday’s semi-finals.

The other last four clash will see Czech fourth seed Petra Kvitova taking on Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States.

It’s been 256 weeks since her last stay at the top of the rankings.

Her first 10 weeks at number one came between August 11 and October 19, 2003 with her next two weeks coming between October 27 and November 9 in the same year.

On both occasions she was displaced by Henin.

In 2006, Clijsters spent seven more weeks at number one between January 30 and March 19, before being replaced by Mauresmo, who is now the co-tournament director in Paris.

Mauresmo presented Clijsters with a giant bouquet to mark her latest achievement on Friday.

“It’s difficult to compare with 2006. I remember I was proud and emotional,” said Clijsters.

“But the circumstances are not the same. Then I had just won the tournament while here we are still in the middle of a tournament. It was a little strange getting flowers and a trophy.

“I am older now and more experienced. I can savour these things in a different way. This is what pleases me more in my “second career”.

Eye diseases increasing in Pakistan

More than three million of people are suffering from different eye diseases in the country. – Reuters Photo

KARACHI: More than three million of people are suffering from different eye diseases in the country. The main reasons of eye diseases in Pakistan include use of contaminated water, dust, smoke and different allergies. The patients should visit eye specialists immediately, if they feel any change in their eyesight.

These views expressed by experts at a three-day, 33rd Annual Pathology Conference, organized by Eye Society of Pakistan on Saturday evening at local hotel. Secretary organizing committee and secretary general of Ophthalmology Society Dr. Mohammad Qazi Wasiq said that the conference was a mega event of Eye Society of Pakistan.
As a part of the even eye surgeries were conducted in four hospitals of Karachi including Shezad Eye Hospital, Patel Hospital, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC) hospital and Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK).

Dr Wasiq said that at 30 stalls were set up in the conference by surgical instrument manufactures belonging to whole world. He said that the conference was greatly beneficial for young doctors. Prof. Idress Adhi, in-charge eye ward at the Civil Hospital Karachi said that his hospital is also focusing on treatment of childrens eye diseases and providing free of cost medical facilities to them.

He said eye diseases are increasing in the world including Pakistan. He said fortunately, modern equipment and surgical techniques are greatly helpful in treating eye ailments. Dr. M.H Shezad, Prof. Shahid Wahab and other experts also spoke.

Faiz Ahmad Faiz (His Family)

To know the man Faiz Ahmed Faiz, and, therefore, the poet, it is critical to have some understanding of his immediate family, his father, his mother, his brothers and his sisters. They make an amazing story, probably rivalling the poet and what he stood for.

Approximately eight miles from Narowal, in the then Sialkot district, is the village of Kala Kader. It was, and remains, a very simple, small village. Here lived a small land-owning class of Jat farmers, by caste known as Tataley. They addressed themselves as Chaudhry, from which we know that the given name of the poet was Chaudhry Faiz Ahmed. His father was Chaudhry Sultan Ahmed, one of several brothers. But Sultan was different from his brothers for he would set off every day on foot for Narowal to attend school. He worked at the district courts there and passed his high school examinations. In those days he was known as the ‘educated’ son of the village Chaudhry.

By that time the brothers had some difference over land ownership, which is the norm among all land-owning families once the sons grow up. The squabbling irritated Sultan Ahmed and one day he disappeared. The police and the villagers set off to find him, but not a trace was found. Where had this bright son of the Chaudhry of Kala Kader disappeared? The story makes the stuff of high drama.

We learn that Sultan Ahmed had gone to Afghanistan, where he found service in the court of the newly-installed Amir of Afghanistan, Amir Abdur Rahman, the ruler recognised by the British (and a very modern ruler he was). With time we see Sultan Ahmed rise in the ranks and became the Mir Munshi – or Chief Secretary – of Afghanistan. As was befitting of the post; he was married to a number of beautiful Afghan women, from whom he had a number of daughters, but no son. He also built a beautiful house in a posh Kabul locality. Then one day rumour had it that Chaudhry Sultan Ahmed, the Mir Munshi, was really a British spy. This he denied, but the Amir’s suspicions grew.

Before the Amir could act, Chaudhry Sultan Ahmed disappeared, and disguised as a maulvi, he rode across the Durand Line, which he had assisted the Amir to negotiate with the British. It was probably this event that led to such suspicions. Sultan Ahmed, instead of going to his village, headed straight for Bombay, from where he caught a ship to England. There he was welcomed, and soon was friendly with British royalty. He excelled in Urdu, Punjabi, Persian, Arabic, English, Pashto and Russian. In England he joined Cambridge University and passed his MA in English Literature. This he followed by passing his examination in law and was called to the Bar.

Thus we see Chaudhry Sultan Ahmed of Kala Kader moving among the British aristocracy. His family still has numerous pictures of him being decorated and honoured by British royalty. He was made a Khan Bahadur, for which he was allocated many squares of land in Sargodha. He set up a legal practice in Sialkot and made many influential friends, including Allama Iqbal. In this time period he wrote a biography of Amir Abdur Rahman of Afghanistan, which to date remains a classic. A copy can perhaps still be found in a good bookshop anywhere.

Sultan Ahmed’s mother then asked him to marry a Punjabi girl, which he did, and from Fatima Sultan, he had four sons and no daughters. The eldest was Chaudhry Tufail Ahmed, who did his MSc in Physics from Aligarh, the second son was Chaudhry Faiz Ahmed, the third was Chaudhry Inayat Ahmed, a barrister, and the youngest was Chaudhry Bashir Ahmed.

By this time the Amir of Afghanistan had realised that he had wronged his Mir Munshi Sultan Ahmed, who by then had become Khan Bahadur Chaudhry Sultan Ahmed. He decided to send his wives and daughters to him in Lahore. Thus the entire family landed at their Ferozepur Road house. It goes to the immense credit of his wife Fatima Sultan, known by his sons as ‘Bebe Ji’, who looked after the family of her husband.

After Khan Bahadur Sultan Ahmed’s death, Faiz’s mother became the nominal head of the family. She was an extraordinary woman; she educated the Persian-speaking daughters of her husband’s Afghan wives. She kept selling off the lands in Sargodha and kept the family intact. In the process we see Faiz Ahmed learning Arabic, Persian, Urdu and English. He did his Master’s in English Literature, another Master’s in Arabic, and was going for a third Master’s in Philosophy when he was given a job as a lecturer in Arabic at the MAO College in Amritsar by the principal, M.D. Taseer.

In the house where Faiz grew up his half-sisters spoke in chaste Persian. He spoke Arabic, English, Urdu, Punjabi and Persian. It might come as a surprise to many, that in the village Kala Kader, his father built a small, but very beautiful, mosque. While Faiz was in exile in Beirut, he sent over a ‘Naat’ in praise of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) in classical Persian, which many consider his finest poem. That poem is engraved in marble and placed at the doorway of the mosque.

Before he died, he went to his native village Kala Kader and walked about the fields, meeting all the old people of the village. He sat for a long time in front of the mosque and watched the plaque, shaking his head in disbelief. He had come a long way in life, and yet his roots were firmly in the soil from where they had sprung. It was probably a mystical moment for him. All his life he had been a very quiet man. Now he was quieter. He returned to Lahore and two days later his silence was to last forever.

Arnold Schwarzenegger returns to movies

Schwarzenegger originated the ominous line “I'll be back” in the first “Terminator” film in 1984, and it has become his trademark phrase for all occasions.

LOS ANGELES: Arnold Schwarzenegger is changing his famous catch-phrase to “I’m back” from “I’ll be back.”

The former governor of California said that he was returning to his former role as a Hollywood action hero.

“Exciting news,” he wrote on Twitter. “My friends at CAA (Creative Artists Agency, his talent firm) have been asking me for 7 years when they can take offers seriously. Gave them the green light today.”

The 63-year-old actor’s two terms as governor of America’s most populous state ended last month, leading to much speculation as to whether he would upgrade to national political office or return to the silver screen.

In between failed efforts to plug a state deficit now pegged at about $25 billion, Schwarzenegger took time to make a few movie cameos, most recently as a mercenary leader in pal Sylvester Stallone’s hit action thriller “The Expendables.”

His movie career had been on the wane before he announced a surprise bid for the governorship in 2003, running as a moderate Republican.

Movies such as “End of Days” (1999), “The 6th Day” (2000) and “Collateral Damage” (2002) each failed to hit $100 million at the North American box office. Only when he reprised his title role in the third “Terminator” movie, in 2003, did he pull in blockbuster numbers.

Schwarzenegger originated the ominous line “I’ll be back” in the first “Terminator” film in 1984, and it has become his trademark phrase for all occasions.

He returns to film as Hollywood suffers from a lack of brawny, laconic action men. The new breed of action hero is perhaps typified by Matt Damon, the mild-mannered headliner of the “Bourne” franchise.

Twenty dead of swine flu in China in 2011

At least 800 people died in China of swine flu as of April 2010, according to the health ministry.

BEIJING: At least 20 people have died of swine flu in China this year, the health ministry said Friday, but officials said there was no reason to panic even as the flu season reaches its peak.

The fatalities from A (H1N1) influenza have been recorded in at least nine locations since mid-January, the ministry said.

The official Xinhua news agency reported another death in Guangdong province in the south, citing local officials, but an official at the ministry said he could not confirm that the toll had risen to 21.

Swine flu has killed more than 18,400 people and affected practically all parts of the world since it was uncovered in Mexico and the United States in April 2009, according to the World Health Organization.

At least 800 people died in China of swine flu as of April 2010, according to the health ministry.

In August last year, the agency said swine flu had “largely run its course”, declaring an end to the pandemic but warning that “localised outbreaks of various magnitudes” were likely to continue.

Several countries have recently reported deaths from A (H1N1) influenza as the flu season peaks but not on the scale seen when the outbreak first emerged, due in part to mass vaccination campaigns.

Shu Yuelong, director of China’s National Influenza Centre, said while the number of serious cases and deaths could increase, the outbreak was not as bad as that seen in 2009, according to the government-run Health News.

Wang Yu, spokesman for the Beijing Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said the threat posed by A (H1N1) should not be overestimated.

“Now we know it as a new, but common kind of flu,” Wang was quoted saying by the Global Times on Friday.

“There’s no need to panic.”

Today's Cartoon

CARTOON

by DAWN

Bookstores feeling pain from digital technologies

A woman walks past a poster offering discount at a book store in Los Angeles, California in this October 2, 2008 file photo. Pundits might put a different spin on how and when it will happen but all see a struggle for survival by traditional booksellers thanks to a growing shift to electronic books and Internet sales. And eyes are on the current woes of large US book retailers for how best to face the challenge.

WASHINGTON: Pundits might put a different spin on how and when it will happen but all see a struggle for survival by traditional booksellers thanks to a growing shift to electronic books and Internet sales.

And eyes are on the current woes of large US book retailers for how best to face the challenge.

Borders Group, which operates some 500 US stores, said in late January it would delay payments to vendors, landlords and others as it seeks to restructure its debt, but many analysts see bankruptcy or a sale looming for the second-largest US bookseller.

Last year, the money-losing number one US bookstore group, Barnes & Noble, indicated it was in discussions on a sale or other strategic options.

“Disruptive change is coming to the book businesses of the world and they’re looking to the US experience to understand the nature of that change and what to do to prepare for it,” said Mike Shatzkin, head of the consultancy Idea Logical Company and organizer of the Digital Book World conference held recently in New York.

The Internet not only offers lower prices for many products but now can deliver books digitally to devices like Amazon’s Kindle, the Apple iPad and others.

E-book sales, meanwhile, have more than doubled in each of the last three years, according to Shatzkin.

In the coming years, he sees the market for traditional booksellers tumbling from 72 percent of the sales to about 25 percent of the sales, a reduction of two-thirds.

This would mean a loss of 90 percent of bookstore shelf space over the next 10 years, and a drop from over 1,200 large bookstores in the United States to “maybe 150 decent-sized stores”, he told AFP in an email exchange.

Amazon.com said last month it is now selling more Kindle books than paperback books — 115 ebooks for every 100 paperbacks, in the US market.

“Bookstores lose customers two ways: to e-book sales and to print (books) sold online,” Shatzkin said. “Print online is now about 25 percent of print sales and e-book sales are about 10 percent of print sales.”

A Pew Research Center report showed five percent of Americans owned an e-book reader last year, but that may underestimate the trend because other devices including smartphones can be used for the same purpose.

According to Forrester Research, Americans spent an estimated $1 billion on e-book downloads in 2010 and the market is surging.

Forrester’s James McQuivey said an estimated seven percent of Americans read e-books and that “this small, energetic group will grow so rapidly that it will easily spend nearly $3 billion on e-books in 2015.”

Analysts said the lower cost and convenience of getting electronic books instantly has also put the squeeze on the big book chains, after punishing the small, independent booksellers in recent years.

“The traditional bookstore is doomed by e-readers and online sales of hard copy books,” Nobel laureate economist Gary Becker said in a blog post, describing a type of shift economists call “creative destruction”, like replacing horse-drawn wagons with automobiles.

Becker said he still sees bookstores, but mainly to serve particular market niches — like university bookstores that sell school merchandise, and other specialized stores that serve a small group.

Billy Hulkower, senior technology analyst at the research firm Mintel, said bookstores face a “trilogy of threats,” — online competition, e-books, and public libraries offering free books and digital content.

“Retailers need to focus on creating compelling reasons for patrons to visit bookstores, like concierge or recommendation services,” he said.

Laurie Brock, president of the consultancy Brock Associates, said a recent survey by her firm shows consumers increasingly like their reading devices, especially those that have multiples uses.

In many cases, e-books are sold to “avid readers” who want more to read, Brock said.

For now, e-books are less expensive than printed books — in many cases half the cost of a new hardcover, but the lower cost shakes up the economics of the entire industry.

“If people are only going to be reading ebooks, are publishers going to be able to keep them at the lower price point?” Brock asked. “Probably not, but Amazon has set the price low, and that’s where the big debate is going now.”

Shatkzin said the economics of the industry are being turned upside down by the digital revolution.

“Yes, it will be harder to make money,” he said. “The prices of books will continue to fall. It will be easier to get published — anybody will be able to do it — but it will be damn tough to make much money at it.”

And he said book merchants around the world will begin to feel the same impact soon.

“The rest of the world isn’t so noticeable yet, but we all expect they will begin to very soon,” Shatkzin said.