Positive vibes Pakistan

[Al Bhatti]

July 8, 2014

Needy Pakistani families in Dubai given food packages

Coupons for food packages are being distributed to 750 poor families during Ramadan by the Pakistan Association Dubai (PAD).

The donations should met the month-long needs of an average family of four, said PAD general secretary Dr Faisel Ikram.

The packages will contain rice, cooking oil, flour, lentils, dates, sugar, ghee, tea and other items.

In a ceremony held at PAD premises in Oud Mehta on Monday, a group of families were given coupons that could be redeemed at the Lulu Hypermarket in Sharjah’s Al Wahda branch.

The coupons were presented by Javed Jalil Khattak, the Consul General of Pakistan and Bushra Al Rahoomi, the chief executive of the Al Jalila Culture Centre for Children in Dubai.

About 500 Ramadan food packages were distributed by the organisation last year.

“There are a lot of deserving families out there, some of them are shy to come forward and pick up the coupons, so PAD will be going to their places to hand over the coupons,” said Dr Ikram.

“The coupons are a good idea; they let people go to the store and collect the package. These packages have almost all the necessary food items for an average family for about a month. I’m very thankful to the community for their donations and their support.”

Those who wish to be part of the programme must first register for the coupons with PAD at its Oud Metha office, he said.

The organisation has also organised prison visits and launched a prisoner release programme in which fines for minor offenses will be paid.

During Ramadan a health awareness day will also be conducted at a labour camp to provide basic medical checks.

Mr Khattak said the consulate was keen to cooperate with PAD in the prisoner release programme and in educational activities.

“I would like to thank PAD, this reflects the spirit of Ramadan of giving and sharing with others,” said Ms Al Rahoomi.

“Pakistan and UAE have been brothers and sisters for ages. May God reward you for helping and supporting each other in Ramadan.”

PAD officials also spoke of plans to set up a medical centre that would charge minimal fees so needy patients of any nationality could receive medical attention.


Needy Pakistani families in Dubai given food packages | The National

 

[Al Bhatti]

July 8, 2014

Working in slums and rural communities in Pakistan gave Sadaffe Abid a great appreciation of how the majority of her compatriots live.

Pakistani businesswoman Sadaffe Abid makes it her mission to empower women

Sadaffe Abid is one of Pakistan’s most successful businesswomen. She was the chief executive of the Kashf Foundation, one of the largest microfinance institutions in Pakistan, growing it from a pilot project in two rooms, to serve 300,000 female clients with micro-loans. Ms Abid also co-founded the Buksh Foundation, a Pakistani start-up that enhances financial access to micro entrepreneurs. After 13 years in micro-financing, Ms Abid now splits her time between Dubai and Pakistan, conducting leadership training focused on developing high-potential female professionals and entrepreneurs and emerging talent.

What was your inspiration for wanting to help Pakistani women?

I’m from an educated family of men and women, and my father worked in the military so we had a tight budget. But I was able to get a scholarship to study at Mount Holyoke College in the US. That opened my mind to possibilities – I met people from different cultures, developed a love for learning and growth and wanted to go back to Pakistan to make a difference. I started out in development, doing two years of consulting work for the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. I went to slums and rural communities in Pakistan, which gave me a great appreciation of how the majority of Pakistan live. Their daily challenges were very different from mine. Over 5.1 million primary school-aged children are out of school in Pakistan – the third highest number of out-of-school children in the world – and 63 per cent of them are girls. However it’s a society that’s changing, and female role models are emerging.

What does the Kashf Foundation do for women?

I joined Kashf in 1997 when it was a two-room incubator in Lahore. At the beginning we didn’t know much about micro-financing, we were really working like a lab. I worked with the founders to turn Kashf into an organisation that employs 2000 staff and has disbursed US$200 million. Kashf micro-finances small businesses for women who are earning $2 to $3 a day. We help them open grocery stores, make bangles or shoes and buy goats by giving women micro-loans starting at US$100, and going up to $1,000.

Why did you turn your focus to helping other female business leaders?

I got another scholarship for a masters in entrepreneurship and leadership at Harvard Kennedy School in the US. I learnt the adaptive leadership model with professor Ron Heifetz, which really inspired me.

Two years ago I moved to Dubai and started running leadership programmes with women in the UAE and Pakistan. The idea was to enable them to become more effective at exercising leadership and to create a group of women who can engage, sponsor and mentor each other.

Who are the women on your leadership programmes?

We’ve had 30 Emirati, Arab, South Asian and western high-potential women go through the programme here. These women were looking at accelerating their growth and also becoming effective and purposeful in their personal life. I also work with emerging female professionals, young women just starting their careers that are really interested in learning. Women in companies like PwC, Microsoft, Dell, MasterCard, Sharjah Business Women’s Council, Dubai Holding and DP World have participated in our programmes.

How does the programme work?

It’s about empowering women so they can tap into their unique strengths. We create a safe space for discussions on what’s working, what’s not, and where women can step up. For example, to exercise leadership you’ve got to have a stomach for conflict and difficult conversations. But women generally tend to be stabilisers. So they develop self-awareness about their defaults and blind spots. What’s different about us is that our leadership techniques are innovative – it’s not a lecture-based model, it’s very experiential. So we get women to practice new behaviours in the room. For example if you want to be a risk-taker, what would risk- taking look like during the programme? Because we’re all born with these qualities. It’s just that based on our culture, environment and family, some qualities get nurtured more than others. We practice using the muscles we’re not used to using.


How can workplaces evolve to better support women leaders?

Workspaces were built when men were in the majority, so they still reflect that. Having more women in positions of decision-making power will make a difference, as will having more candid conversations about balancing the needs of raising a family and work life, and engaging with men on these topics to understand their perspectives. There are many unconscious biases that we carry as women and men and these discussions help us peel the layers. There’s a lot of potential for society to be more holistic, to recognise the different roles women have. It would also be valuable to have men in senior positions mentor and sponsor women, it would lead to such a great exchange.


Pakistani businesswoman Sadaffe Abid makes it her mission to empower women | The National

 

[Al Bhatti]

Read the last sentence from The National

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[Al Bhatti]

July 10, 2014

Rock climber Nazia Parveen (R) jokes with her trainer Imran Junaidi during their practice in Islamabad

Aleena Raza stands behind her three-year-old son Ryan as he plays on a tablet computer in his room in Lahore. Raza manages textile retail brand So Kamal

Educationalist and model Fatima (R) uses her mobile phone while her Filipino domestic worker holds her glass of water at her house in Lahore.

Interior designer Zahra Afridi (L) talks to a carpenter at a workshop on the outskirts of Islamabad. Afridi runs her own interior design company. Her most recent project was the Classic Rock Coffee cafe in Islamabad.


Taliban and terror fail to chain these Pakistani women


There is a side to Pakistan that many are unaware of, with women at the front

One recently became the country’s first female fighter jet pilot. The other is CEO of a group of schools. Yet another left an engineering degree to become captain of the national cricket team.

Though terrorism has plagued Pakistan, women are bravely making inroads in different fields, defying all odds to represent the modern face of their country.


News and images of honour killings and acid attacks on women in the country often make headlines around the world, but the progress made by Pakistan’s women is hardly shown.


Women in Pakistan are building impressive careers, launching successful, independent ventures of their own and training young girls to follow in their footsteps.

With impressive resumes and university pedigrees that rival most male executives, these women are making waves.


“Most women in Pakistan are extremely progressive in their presence in every field whether it is politics, sports, entertainment, fashion, performing arts or business but all we need is to portray them positively,” said Ambreen K, who is pioneer member of the Pakistan Change Initiative (PCI) — a Dubai-based group working to highlight positive image of Pakistan. Ambreen said the PCI strives to present the positive side of the country through various events.

“We recently held an event in Dubai to showcase modern face of Pakistani women and their contribution to the society and it was a big hit,” she said.


Though traditional gender roles still exist for many women in Pakistan, some are making impressive gains.


They are part of a growing cadre of women who are determined to move forward despite threats from hardliners.


Women make up slightly more than half of Pakistan’s population of 180 million. Though only 17 per cent of them are considered “economically active”, given the chance they have proved their mettle in every field.


The women in Pakistan have never been so proud as when First Lt Ayesha Farooq became the first female fighter pilot in the Pakistan Air Force in 2013.


She had joined the Air Force at the age of 17 after battling to convince her mother to let her realise her dreams.


Cultural practices used to prevent many women from working outside their homes in Pakistan. Today, that is changing. More women are now leading a number of successful businesses in various industries while creating previously unheard of opportunities for other women.


One such woman is Fatima, an educationist and model in Lahore.


Fatima is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Beaconhouse School System, a network of private schools founded by her mother-in-law. Another example is Sana Mir, captain of Pakistan’s women’s cricket team, who has become a great inspiration for girls to join sports. Mir was enrolled in an engineering degree at a national university, but left to pursue her passion for cricket.


Pilates instructor Zainab Abbas was determined to be different when she opened her fitness studio, Route2Pilates, in Lahore after receiving training in Bangkok, Thailand. She carries out rehabilitation workouts for people with joint problems as well as specialised workouts for pregnant women.


Zahra Afridi chose to be an interior designer and runs her own interior design company. Her most recent project was the Classic Rock Coffee café in Islamabad. She is also an avid kick-boxer and regularly trains to stay fit.


Taliban and terror fail to chain these Pakistani women

 

[dexter]

WAY TO BETTER BALOCHISTAN:
Shahid Afridi during closing ceremony of All Pakistan T-20 Cricket Cup Quetta 2014

 

[Men in Green]

National anthem played in Bugti Stadium Balochistan

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=354762671337687

Documentary : Badal Raha Hai Balochistan

indians must watch this xD

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=778524548837507

 

[Dubious]

PESHAWAR: Mardan’s 18-year-old Shahzad has developed a social networking portal that does not require an internet connection – “Smile SMS”. The SMS-based social networking service enables users to gather local and international information on their phones, free of cost, without using the internet.

IT-savvy Shahzad has been into developing programmes and websites ever since he was in grade six. This hobby transformed into passion and helped him achieve a lot at a very young age.

Sajjad Khan, one of the users of the service said that in his village, hundreds of students don’t have internet access to use this service. “This is the first time that such a service has been launched in K-P. It is benefitting a lot of people, said Khan.

Social networking redefined: Mardan boy develops SMS-based portal – The Express Tribune

How come this wasnt furthered?

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

View attachment 40102


Pakistani swimmer Lianna Swan is aiming to set new national records when she competes at the 2014 Commonwealth Games which get underway in Glasgow, Scotland today.

The Dubai-based Lianna qualified for the Commonwealth Games after a string of record-breaking performances in the Pakistan National Championship in June where she won nine gold and three silver medals.

The 17-year-old already holds seven national records, but she is now aiming to go even faster in Glasgow, where she will compete in the 50 and 100-metre breaststroke, 50 and 100-metre freestyle and the 200-metre individual medley.

“Medalling at the Commonwealth Games may be a little unrealistic, I’m going more for the experience,” Lianna told Gulf News in an interview. ahead of what will be her seventh national team appearance.

Lianna who was born in Bahrain to a British father and a Pakistani mother said her main targets were personal bests in both the 50-metre breaststroke and freestyle.

For the teenager who began taking swimming seriously when she moved to Dubai six years ago and started training with Hamilton Aquatics, representing Pakistan was going to be an honour regardless of how she fares at the Games.

“Whatever happens, I’m extremely proud to be representing my country. I’ve waited a long time to hear if I had made the team after the nationals but now I know I’m going, I’m just really looking forward to it. Compared to my previous events, this is so much bigger in scale, so it should be an amazing experience.”

Her first race is the 50-metre breaststroke this Thursday, followed by the 50-metre freestyle on Friday and then the 100-metre breaststroke, 100-metre freestyle and the 200-metre individual medley are all on Sunday. This will be Lianna’s seventh national team appearance.

Pakistani Swan targets glory at Commonwealth Games - Sport - DAWN.COM


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Mullahs are gonna get heart burns over a Christian representing Islamic Republic of Pakistan..

God bless & prayers for her..

 

[Lone Shooter]

On the 60-year summit anniversary, first Pakistani team scales K-2

GILGIT: Almost 60 years ago, when Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli became the first to ever summit K2, their team included a Pakistani member Muhammad Ata Ullah. But on Saturday, just five days shy of that anniversary, six mountaineers from Gilgit-Baltistan became the first ever Pakistani team to reach K-2′s summit (8,611m). The day, though, saw nearly 20 climbers reach the summit.

The six Pakistanis including Hassan Jan, Ali Durani, Rahmat Ullah Baig, Ghulam Mehdi, Rozi Ali and Muhammad Sadiq managed to reach summit from the Abruzzi Spur shortly after lunch on Saturday, four of them without supplemental oxygen.

They are part of a Pakistan-Italian K2 60 years later team that was attempting to mark 60 year anniversary of Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli maiden summit of the ‘savage mountain’ with a group summit by the first ever Pakistani team.

On the 60-year summit anniversary, first Pakistani team scales K-2 – The Express Tribune

 

[Al Bhatti]

August 14, 2014

Pakistanis in the UAE lend a hand
Expatriates get involved in charity to uplift the country

Children are often unjustly affected by conflict, and for this very reason UAE resident Kabul Wazir travels to northern Pakistan regularly to give them assistance under the Children of War initiative he established in 2009.

His family originates from this region, so he has an affinity with the people here. Greater Manchester–born Wazir, says, “Children hold a special place in my heart. [They] are the future and it is important that they are looked after.”

The charity provides relief to homeless, orphaned and impoverished children in whatever capacity is most needed — water, food, clothing, education or shelter.

He says that many UAE residents are helping this initiative and can follow its events via its Facebook page.

Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees put the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Pakistan at around 747,498 in January. The recently formed arts and photography wing of Pakistan Association Dubai (PAD) is raising funds to assist IDPs through an exhibition of work by expatriate Pakistanis.

Nazar Haidri and Irfan Mirza are the first to feature in a series of UAE-based events that will focus on the creative talents of Pakistanis abroad. Karachi-born Mirza experiments with abstract, conceptual, figurative and calligraphy art forms, using oil paint and acrylic. Inspired by nature and spirituality, natural global disasters and wars influence him to create imageries that reflect the brutal conditions of humankind — yet there is a thread of hope woven into 
his artwork.

For Haidri, retirement led to rekindling an old passion. One of the first graduates of the Arts Council of Pakistan in the 1960s, he combines music and painting in his work, many which feature dancing and musical instruments including sitar, tabla, shahnai, tanpura and sarangi.

He counts Picasso’s cubist paintings among his inspirations. “Even though I use cubism techniques in my paintings, I still manage to maintain the form,” says Haidri.

Today is the last day for viewing. Visit Pakistan Association Dubai

Pakistanis in the UAE lend a hand | GulfNews.com

 

[Sulman Badshah]

 

[dil_dil]

National anthem played in Bugti Stadium Balochistan

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=354762671337687

Documentary : Badal Raha Hai Balochistan

indians must watch this xD

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=778524548837507

can't see anything.

 

[Lone Shooter]

SI returned Rs6.5m found by him

PESHAWAR: Sub-Inspector Umar Khan, who returned the bag containing Rs6.5 million found by him after it fell from the security vehicle of a bank, said he was a contented man as his salary was enough to feed his family
comprising his wife and four children.
“The only thing that came to my mind was how the security guards of the bank would suffer in case the bag was misplaced. I returned it immediately to the bank to save them from botheration,” said Umar Khan when asked whether he had thought to keep the bag instead of returning it to the bank.
Sub-Inspector Umar Khan, a ticketing officer of the Peshawar Traffic Police, was performing duty at the Rampura Gate in Peshawar city when the bank’s security vehicle drove past the Chowk Yadgar and a beg fell from it.
Umar Khan and some other people shouted to the driver, but he and others onboard the security vehicle couldn’t hear them. “I rushed forward and picked up the bag. At first I thought that it could be a bomb, but I dispelled the thought soon as it had fallen from a bank’s security vehicle,” he recalled.
Umar Khan called Sub-Inspector Tilawat Shah for help and both found out that the bag contained Rs6.5 million. They went to the bank and handed over the bag to the manager. They collected a receipt from the bank manager and informed their bosses in the police about the incident.
Both the Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Ijaz Ahmad and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Traffic Faisal Shehzad rewarded Umar Khan with Rs2,000 cash and also gave him commendation certificates. The traders at the Rampura Gate gave him Rs5,000 as reward for his honesty. “The CCPO and I rewarded Umar Khan. I also rewarded SI Tilawat Shah who was called by Umar Khan for help after he found the bag,” SSP Traffic Faisal Shehzad said.
Rampura Gate is a busy trade centre where thousands of people are usually present. Anyone could have taken away the bag had Umar Khan not picked it up. It was learnt that an internal inquiry had been ordered to ascertain as to how the bag full of cash dropped from a protected vehicle that transfers huge amount of cash from one bank to another on a daily basis.

 

[dexter]

Tum sahi ho jao Mulk apnay aap theek ho jae ga.

 

[dexter]

Memories of 89
PIA Airhostess wins Miss World Airline Tittle 89