Monday, July 27, 2015

David Guetta - Hey Mama (Official Video) ft Nicki Minaj, Bebe Rexha & Afrojack

Video - In Iowa, Hillary Clinton Defends Health Care Act

Video Report - Greece: Cutbacks in everyday life

Video - Kerry on Trafficking: A 'Battle Against Evil'

Video - Obama Chides GOP Candidates for 'Sad' Remarks

'پاکستان حکومت وعدې وکړي پوره کوي یې نه'

د شمالي وزیرستان د سپین وام خلک وايي چې په سیمه کې له پوځي عملیاتو ورسته د ستنېدو پر مهال ورسره حکومتي چارواکو د مرستو ډېرې ژمني کړي وي خو تر اوسه یې نه دي پوره کړي. د سپين وام یو اوسېدونکي منتظر وزیر نن مشال ریډیو ته وویل چې اوس هم په سیمه کې حالات پر ځای نه دي او دوی له یو شمیر مشکلاتو سره مخامخ دي.
د سپين وام یو بل تن فضل الله بیا وايي چې سپين وام ته راغلي اوو نیم سوه خلک د اې ټي ایم کارډونو په ذریعه د پیسو اخیستو نه هم بې برخه دي. بلخوا له شمالي وزیرستان د قامي اسمبلۍ غړي محمد نذیر وايي چې د سپین وام د خلکو به یوه جرګه کوي او امنیتي چارواکو سره به د دوې پر مشکلاتو خبري کوي.
http://www.mashaalradio.com/archive/news/20150727/3518/3518.html?id=27154683

Polio and Pakistan

ONLY two names now remain on the list: Afghanistan and Pakistan. Nigeria is the latest country to exit the ignominious company of countries where polio is considered endemic.
No new polio cases have been reported there for the last one year, and while it has some time to go before officially being declared polio-free, it should be really proud given the odds it once faced.
A decade or so ago, Muslim clerics in Nigeria declared war on the anti-polio campaigners. These clerics, quite like their counterparts in Pakistan, had decried the vaccination drive as an attempt to sterilise young Muslim girls.
In more recent times, the hardcore militant group Boko Haram went after polio workers in Nigeria earlier this year, killing nine of them. But the anti-polio battle had enough momentum to bring the global front against the crippling disease victory after years of committed, relentless effort.
Nigeria and the world must celebrate the moment. According to figures available in media reports, only 27 years ago – in 1988 – there were 128 countries staked by endemic polio.
This is what makes the indictment for the two countries that are still not clear of polio easier and stronger.
There has been a drop in the number of cases of late, but with 28 reported cases in Pakistan this year as against five in Afghanistan, Pakistan has to be the most serious challenge for the anti-polio coalition.
Nigeria’s example tells us that it has to be cohesive, efficient process involving everyone from the government health machinery to the NGOs to political parties and social motivators, including the clerics.
There is a general realisation here that the network is essential to the job and the application of the successful Nigerian formula in Pakistan could well be one of the major reasons behind the fall in polio cases in the country in 2015 over previous years. The need is to press on with single-minded urgency towards achieving a polio-free world.

Pakistan - Taboos on gender equality

BY SALMAN ALI.

Domestic violence is a result of the socio-economic, political and cultural trends and their influence on the daily life of rural women.

There is no doubt that women in Pakistan continue to be a marginalised part of society having been denied basic rights and opportunities to develop and contribute productively. Ranked 135 out of a total of 177 countries in the Human Development Index (HDI), Pakistan faces an uphill task to ameliorate its social indicators. The patriarchal setup in society projects itself as a major hurdle towards the empowerment of women. Societal notions of the role of women being limited to the home makes women lose out on acquiring education, which severely confines their mobility and decision-making capacity.

We also know that discrimination against women is one of the leading social problems all over the world. It manifests even at the time a baby is born. With regards to gender discrimination, some exceptions aside, men have imposed a subordinate status on women in societies both eastern and western. The condition of Pakistani women is almost the same as of her counterparts around the world. In rural Sindh, women are discriminated against in almost all walks of life.

Sindh, located in the western corner of South Asia, borders the Iranian plateau in the west. It has the Thar Desert to the East, the Kirthar Mountains to the west and Arabian Sea in the south. In the centre is a fertile plain around the Indus River. According to the 1998 census of Pakistan, Sindh’s population was 30.4 million out of which the urban population was 49.50 percent and rural population was 50.50 percent. The communities located in rural Sindh are: Muslims, Hindus, Christians and Zoroastrians.

Recently, I had a chance to visit Sindh for a week and it was seriously a heartbreaking week in terms of many things. The most important thing I noticed was that most of the men pressurise and oppress their women: they do not give rights to their girls to go to school or to get any education. From birth to death, a girl is not allowed to make any decision for herself. Domestic violence in Sindh is increasing. The main reasons behind this are lack of knowledge, education and awareness about women’s rights. Child labour and child abuse can also be seen in these rural families.

Domestic violence is a result of the socio-economic, political and cultural trends and their influence on the daily life of rural women. Domestic violence keeps rising due to a woman’s subordinate position, illiteracy, low wages at work, low skills level and level of participation. Domestic violence can be seen in the form of honour killings, suicides, jirga decisions, abduction and kidnapping, injuries, gang rape, rape, sexual assault, torture and other crimes.

While talking with Sughra Solangi, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Marvi Rural Development Organisation and a renowned women’s rights activist based in rural Sindh, I found out that the fastest way to change a society is to mobilise the women of the world. Though there is no difference between males and females and all rights are equal, but lack of awareness and proper education are reasons behind the increasing violence against women. She said that the solution lies in empowering women with artesian work. In this way, we can reduce poverty and improve the intelligence of individuals; IQ levels have been known to increase when a person indulges in the creative process — making intricate floral and geometric designs. If we empower rural women we also bring socio-economic change, which helps improvement in income and building on community development. We need to boost their skills and provide micro-credit to establish industry in the rural areas of Sindh.

Furthermore, she said that we have to improve the status of rural women by improving education, social status and workload at home and at the farm, size of the family and freedom of expression on economic and socio-cultural issues. By making her strong socially, politically and economically, we bring positive change to the rural environment. She said she was also enabling young girls to go to school and become educated and empowered by addressing the economic barriers faced most starkly by their mothers towards their education.

I have a firm belief that the current atmosphere is extremely hostile for women in Pakistan, especially in rural Sindh. Much needed will is required to root out the problems of women so that they can play a progressive role in their own development. There is no denying the reality that female empowerment is a key phenomenon in bringing about the sustainable socio-economic progress of every nation. This forward-looking approach helps such societies benefit from the active participation of women from every walk of life.

It is not as if nothing is being done in Pakistan with regards to women's empowerment but whatever is being done is clearly not enough. Most women in the country, especially in the rural areas, are being deprived of basic human rights. I would suggest the Sindh government provide education facilities in tribal districts of the province to enable a change of mindset towards gender equality. I also demand that the government ensure laws against domestic violence, rape, sexual harassment and other gender-based violence. The government must give adequate protection to all women, respect their integrity and dignity, and appropriate protective support services to the victims of domestic abuse.

Pakistan - Controlling of Load shedding of electricity is not govt priority

https://ppppunjab.wordpress.com



The Punjab Chief Minister had only prepared the feasibility reports for the power projects after two and a quarter of years adding their installation and power generation would never take place and he knew it very well, said Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo, President Punjab PPP, in a statement issued from here today. The deliberate tricking of the masses is distasteful act by any measure, he observed
The PML (N) leadership earlier lied to the people in order to get their votes with the undertaking to control load shedding of electricity in months and now they are lying again on purpose only to complete its tenure by saying that there will be no load shedding in 2018, he added.
He claimed that it was not the priority of this government to end load shedding in the country because they did not want to improve quality of life of the people by providing relief. They are only interested in mega projects in urban centers to serve their vested interests, he maintained.
The feasibility reports of the dreamy power projects of the Punjab government are in sharp contrast to the Chief Minister’s claim to control load shedding of electricity in months failing which he would change his name. He added that the Punjab Chief Minister should be remorseful for his failure to deliver adding his unabated and highly misplaced boasting was beyond comprehension.
He further said that the load shedding in the country had sadly aggravated and the people had been agitating against the government but the government was continuing to play to the gallery as no visible improvement, whatsoever, had been experienced by the people during the era of this government.
He pointed out that the people were getting the inflated bills regularly of most expensive electricity without its supply. The farmers’ community has been hit the worst because they cannot not afford to run their tube wells resulting in affecting their agricultural produces.
He stated that the devastation wrought on the rural economy due to the anti-farmers’ policies of this government had led to the massive unemployment in urban areas in general and in the rural areas in particular.
He demanded that the government must give priority to the agriculture sector which was the backbone of the country’s economy because the country would only be prosperous when farmers would get handsome dividends of their produces.
He pointed out that Pakistan’s industrial sector would grow with the growth of the agriculture sector because its industrial sector was agro-based. It does not need rocket science to understand the linkage between the agriculture and industry because their development is fundamentally intertwined, he argued.

میاں منظور احمد وٹو، صدر پیپلز پارٹی پنجاب نے آج یہاں سے جاری ایک بیان میں کہا ہے کہ بجلی کی لوڈشیڈنگ ختم کرنا اس حکومت کی ترجیحات میں شامل نہیں ہے اور وہ صرف شہروں کے بڑے بڑے منصوبے اپنے مفادات کی خاطر مکمل کرنے میں دلچسپی رکھتی ہے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ پنجاب کے وزیراعلیٰ نے سوا دو سال کے بعد تقریباً 3 ہزار میگا واٹ بجلی پیدا کرنے کی اب صرف فزیبلیٹی(Physibility) رپورٹ تیار کی ہے جبکہ وہ مہینوں میں بجلی کی لوڈشیڈنگ کو ختم کرنے کا دعویٰ کرتے رہے تھے۔انہوں نے کہا کہ پی ایم ایل (این) کی لیڈرشپ نے پہلے بجلی کی لوڈشیڈنگ کو کنٹرول کرنے کے نام پر جھوٹ بول کر ووٹ لئے اور اب پھر وہ 2018 میں بجلی کی لوڈشیڈنگ کے خاتمے کا جھوٹ اس لیے بول رہے ہیں تاکہ وہ اپنی اقتدار کی مدت پوری کرسکیں۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ لوڈشیڈنگ کا خاتمہ موجودہ حکومت کے بس کی بات نہیں ہے۔ انہوں نے افسوس کا اظہار کیا کہ پنجاب کے وزیراعلیٰ کو لوڈشیڈنگ کو ختم نہ کرنے کی ناکامی پر نادم ہونے کی بجائے وہ خوامخواہ گڈگورننس کی تشہیر کرتے نظر آتے ہیں۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ ستم ظریفی دیکھئے کہ لوڈشیڈنگ ختم ہونے کی بجائے اور بڑھ گئی ہے کیونکہ اس حکومت کے نزدیک لوگوں کو ریلیف دینے کی کوئی اہمیت نہیں ہے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ مہنگی بجلی کے بل تو صارفین کو باقاعدگی سے دےئے جاتے ہیں لیکن بجلی کبھی کبھار ملتی ہے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ کاشتکار بجلی کے بحران سے بری طرح متاثر ہوا ہے کیونکہ لوڈشیڈنگ کی وجہ سے ان کے ٹیوب ویل نہیں چلتے جسکی وجہ سے انکی کھیتی باڑی تباہ ہو گئی ہے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ موجودہ حکومت کی کسان دشمن پالیسیوں کی وجہ سے شہری علاقوں میں بالعموم اور دیہاتی علاقوں میں بالخصوص بیروزگاری اور غربت میں بے پناہ اضافہ ہوا ہے۔ انہوں نے حکومت سے پرزور مطالبہ کیا کہ زراعت کو قومی ترقیاتی حکمت عملی میں ترجیح دی جائے کیونکہ زراعت ملکی معیشت کی ریڑھ کی ہڈی ہے۔ اگر ریڑھ کی ہڈی مضبوط ہوگی تو ملکی معیشت بھی مضبوط ہو گی۔ انہوں نے مزید کہا کہ اگر کسان خوشحال ہو گا تو پاکستان خوشحال ہو گا۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ زراعت اور صنعتی ترقی کا آپس میں گہرا تعلق ہے جسکو سمجھنے کے 

لیے کسی راکٹ سائنس کی ضرورت نہیں

Nuclear-Armed India, Pakistan on Edge After 12-Hour Gunbattle

A 12-hour gunbattle involving heavily-armed men dressed in military fatigues who seized a police station near the border with Pakistan ended Monday, Indian police said.
Three assailants were among nine people killed during the incident in the frontier state of Punjab.
The gunmen had pulled up at the police complex in a stolen car with automatic weapons blazing at about 5 a.m. (7:30 p.m. ET Sunday).
Any proof of links between Pakistan and the attackers would be sure to increase tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors. India and Pakistan have fought three wars since both nations gained independence in 1947.
The gunmen shot dead a barber and tried to hijack a bus before rushing the police station, witnesses said.
Throughout the day, regular bouts of small arms fire echoed across the town of Dinanagar and the fields surrounding it, some 10 miles from the international border, Reuters witnesses said.
Three policemen and three civilians were killed, according to the home ministry.
Pakistan has denied any involvement in insurgencies in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, and Islamabad's foreign office said it was not aware of any reports that the people involved in Monday's attack were Pakistani.