World City "LAHORE" Events & Rapid Development News

[Asian.Century]

Mega Pakistan Auto Show 2011 begins in Lahore

By Mirza Hassan - Oct 24th, 2011 (No Comment)

Lahore: The three-day Pakistan Auto Show 2011 has been started on Monday at the Expo Centre with international and national manufacturers and part-makers taking part in the ceremony.

Opening ceremony held at the Convention Centre, where Engineering Development Board (EDB) Chief Executive Officer Aitzaz Niazi, Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts and Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM) Chairman Syed Nabeel Hashmi and Vice Chairman Munir K Bana addressed the gathering.

Addressing as the chief guest, Mr Aitzaz Niazi congratulated PAAPAM management for holding such a wonderful display of products and capabilities to the world. He said that the auto vendor industry is continuously embrassing the latest technologies to meet requirements and ever increasing global challenges. He pointed out that a lot has to be done on quality and standardization front.

The EDB chief executive officer advised the auto industry to vigorously explore global markets not only to enhance businesses but also to meet challenges at domestic level. In 2005, the EDB launched an ambitious market expansion programme for the engineering sector and achieved remarkable success in terms of export development and exposure of over 150 companies to the global sourcing chain, he informed the gathering.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Syed Nabeel Hashmi said that Pakistan has a vibrant auto industry that plays host to major global original equipment manufacturers like Toyota, Honda, Suzuki and Massey Ferguson who have made Pakistan their home.

Today, Pakistan manufactures tractors, cars, motorcycles and heavy vehicles that were playing a vital role in the economic development of the country.

He said that PAAPAM members have made to achieve local manufacturing content of 70 percent in case of passenger and light commercial vehicles, 90 percent of motorcycles and tractors and 45 percent of heavy commercial vehicles.

Nabeel Hashmi informed the gathering that Pakistan is one of the most competitive global manufacturers of tractors and 2-wheelers that have now geared up into the export markets. In case of passenger vehicles, domestic products are highly competitive in comparison with neighbours.

About 128 exhibitors have covered 88000 square feet of exhibiting space at the two major halls of the Expo Centre. Participants and representatives from Japan, Germany, UAE, Italy, Holland, Sri Lanka, China and Australia are here to attend the auto show. While the product range includes completely built up vehicles including cars, trucks, buses, tractors, motorcycles and auto components range in thousands.

During the auto show, there will have seven seminar sessions with subjects including the automotive industry, management and export promotions. Nabeel Hashmi also said that the mega auto show will have a positive impact on the industry, which is growing day by day. He said that foreign and domestic manufacturers and part makers of cars, motorcycles and tractors are exhibiting their products in the Pakistan Auto Show which will continue till Wednesday at the Expo Centre.

Mega Pakistan Auto Show 2011 begins in Lahore | The News Tribe

 

[Asian.Century]

Political battle in Lahore

By Azam Khalil | Published: October 28, 2011

"Popular applause veers with the wind."
– John Bright

The coming week will see two political parties trying to prove their popular standing with the people of Lahore. While Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) led by Imran Khan may be a minnow as compared with the established political party, Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N), headed by Mian Nawaz Sharif, it will try to win the battle in Lahore. Both the parties have announced an identical programme to attract people’s attention. According to some analysts, the PML-N may have climbed down from a higher pedestal by announcing to hold a rally on October 28 to pre-empt the impact of public gathering proclaimed by Imran.

There is no doubt that issues like loadshedding, unemployment, and rising prices, have affected a majority of the people in Pakistan; the time is ripe to elicit their response on these issues. However, the PML-N will definitely have an edge over PTI not only because of its vast experience, but also as it has a formidable political machine that is working in Lahore.

This does not mean that the two political events will have no bearing on the political scenario in future. In case Imran wins the battle of numbers, many politicians may join his party that, in turn, could create a snowball effect. And if this happens, then PTI’s chances of emerging as a political force cannot be ruled out. Therefore, by calling a rally two days before its public gathering, the PML-N may have taken an unnecessary political risk for which it may regret later on.

Nevertheless, those who are predicting Imran’s rise in politics like Zulfikar Ali Bhutto are, perhaps, jumping to conclusions; this being mainly due to the vast difference between Bhutto’s charismatic appeal and the rest of the political leadership of the country. So, I believe that the PML-N has prematurely reacted to Imran’s rising popularity.

On the other hand, the alliance between the PPP, PML-Q, MQM, and ANP creates an image of a divided opposition that may not be able to mount a serious challenge to the PPP whose performance has, unfortunately, been sketchy throughout he past three years. But this does not mean that Nawaz or Imran are not aware of it; and may ultimately end up joining hands, along with other parties, to mount a formidable challenge to the ruling coalition in the next elections. At present, all the parties would try to carve out maximum place for themselves by bringing the winning candidates into their fold and exploiting the government’s weaknesses so that they are able to win concessions for themselves.

Side by side, PML-Q’s like-minded group that has till now supported PML-N’s political moves is also divided with some of its members leaning towards PTI. So, if Imran is able to prove that his public meeting is a success in Lahore, on October 30, he stands to gain and may hit a political jackpot sooner than expected. However, some of PTI’s critics are rightly saying that it does not have support in the rural areas of Punjab and even if it succeeds in a few constituencies, it will not be of any significant political consequence for the PML-N. Others believe that PTI will have an impact on the voting patterns in the urban areas as well as some rural constituencies. It seems that PTI will not only play a spoiler’s role for the PML-N, but also pull out voters who have up till now voted for the PPP and other groups.

Anyway, the two events to be held in Lahore are bound to affect the PPP at the federal and provincial levels. The party cadres have already been instructed to organise themselves and start preparing for the 2013 elections. Against this backdrop, the PPP will try to resolve the issues that are faced by the people and some significant progress is expected not only in the management of loadshedding, but also streamlining of other vital State organisations like the Railways, PIA, Pakistan Steel, etc.
The question is: Whether the people opt for political stability or go for the other options, which is to vote into power those elements who have not been tested before. Most political observers would place their bets on another coalition setup keeping in view the present status of various political parties in the country. This would mean another weak government. However, if social unrest increases before the elections, the danger of anti-democratic forces creeping back into power cannot be ruled out. This is a situation that the politicians must avoid and to do that they will have to devote their energies to strengthen democracy because that remains the best bet for the people, economy, and Pakistan.

The writer has been associated with various newspapers as editor and columnist. At present, he hosts a political programme on Pakistan Television.

Email: zarnatta@hotmail.com

http://nation.com.pk/Pakistan-news-newspap...attle-in-Lahore

 

[niaz]

I came across this article written by Ayaz Amir published in the Daily News on Friday 28 Oct, 2011. It brought back memories when I was a student of the Gov't College and stayed at the New Hostel. I used to walk down the Mall with friends, spend some time in the Pak Tea House and occasionally buying things from the beautiful 'Tolintan Market'; even stroll down to Regal Cinema Chowk and enjoy 'Dahi Bhalle'. However this was in the bygone days of the late 50's and early sixties.

My visit to Lahore 6 years ago was most disappointing if anything. As if soul of the city had gone and what is left is nothing but a skeleton of the once great and beautiful Mughal, Sikh and city of the Raj.

This article brought back fond memories of my youth. I am an old man who has seen the decline of law and order in the society since Pakistan’s birth. And the bigotry that the religious parties have spread across the whole of Pakistan with the help of most bigot of the all bigots Zia ul Haq; may he rot in hell for his part in turning Pakistan into a Kalashnikov culture state and allowing the spread of the various Sipahs, Lashkars and ethnic political parties.

Quote


Heck, this too will pass

Ayaz Amir
Friday, October 28, 2011


Back in the old days when Zia was around and opposition parties, gathered under the tattered umbrella of the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy, used to hold small protest meetings in Lahore, I would think nothing of rushing at breakneck speed to the Islamabad airport (it was then possible to make it in 15-20 minutes flat), buy a ticket there, make it to Lahore, hear the speeches, repair to Salmaan Taseer’s house in Cavalry Ground for a restorative drink (or two) before rushing to catch the last flight to Islamabad.

I still remember that rush of adrenaline, buoyed by the thought that we were doing wonderful things. Such was our enthusiasm that we were convinced that from the womb of the anti-Zia movement would emerge the Pakistan of our dreams – Zia only having to depart (we were not quite sure how, but that was a matter of detail) for the promised kingdom to be realised. Experience may not make us wiser all the time but it makes us more sceptical and doubtful. Because we have seen too many things come and go and we realise that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

I suppose it was a sign of my years that political theatre fascinated me. Now, alas, it moves me less and less. What is this a sign of? A greyer head (to the unkind a white head) or the quality of the dramatis personae of today?

I go to Lahore still and will be going this weekend too, to take in the PML-N rally starting from Nasir Bagh on Friday (that’s today, isn’t it?) and, who knows, even the Great Khan’s show in Minto Park in the shadow of that sad copy of the Eiffel Tower, the Minar-e-Pakistan...as an observer let me hasten to add, probably to see what impact the Khan is having on the politics of Lahore.

(Who’s the genius who advised the PML-N to hold a rally two days before Khan’s event? If there is a medal for idiocy he gets it. The N-League’s best bet is to treat Khan with the waters of indifference. And here it is going out of its way to pump up his importance. Verily, whom the gods would destroy they first make ridiculous.)

But not for political theatre or paying court at any office do I make the journey to Lahore these days but rather, to echo that prince of knights Sir John Falstaff, “to take mine ease at mine inn”. Cynics may say what they like but even the ideology of Pakistan – Lahore being the un-proclaimed capital of this stirring philosophy – hasn’t quite destroyed the spirit of Lahore.

There are more crooked doctors of the faith and downright dangerous-looking pulpit orators in this city than is perhaps good for its spiritual health, but for a well-rewarded weekend there is still no place like Lahore – provided of course, this proviso holding true for every place under the sun, that you have the right numbers and the right contacts.

If we hadn’t gone about despoiling our great cities, the Mall would not only have remained the Mall without undergoing an unnecessary name-change, it would also have been the city’s entertainment district, full of taverns and saloons, and tea houses, instead of becoming a showcase of horrid shopping malls. We want to fix Pakistan. This will take some doing, not least some elements of good taste. There’s nothing to match the Lahore Mall throughout North India, from here to Calcutta, nothing in Delhi coming close to it. Obviously, we don’t know a good thing when we have it.

It should have been an entertainment district and a college district, students walking up and down, all the way from Lower Mall where so many colleges stand, all set up during the Raj, to Charing Cross and from there down Queen’s Road past Ganga Ram Hospital and Fatima Jinnah College to Mozang.

What a mania of name-changing afflicts us? Why must everything in Pakistan be Jinnah this or Iqbal that? Have we become more patriotic as a result? Have we become more efficient? Is Lahore a better run city now than it was in the past? Bogus patriotism has been the death of this country. The demise of good taste, the death of culture, have gone hand in hand with the rise of this fake commodity.

When a Gibbon comes to lament Lahore’s decline and fall – although we can rest safe in the knowledge that there is little danger of anything like Gibbon emerging on Pakistan’s skyline – looming large in his account will be the role of that quintessential party of enlightenment, the Jamaat-e-Islami, and its student wing, the Islami Jamiat-e-Tulaba. Both have done more to destroy Pakistani education and the atmosphere of our colleges than any other agency, mortal or divine. And all governments have been helpless before their combined depredations. Or they just have not cared.

Public education, destroyed by the Jamaat and its minions, is for the masses. There is a separate track of education for the children of the governing classes, and the twain do not meet. This is a trouble-free arrangement.

Along with Lahore’s decline and fall another potential masterpiece waiting to be written is a history of Pakistani ignorance, how we came to be what we are. Mansoora, the Jamaat headquarters, would have a lot to do with this as well.

But strange the march of events in our blessed land. Once the leading engine of hate and intolerance, the Jamaat has been left far behind by such latter mutations as the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. The Jamiat was the exemplar of only danda-bardar (stick-carrying) Islam, a relatively benign thing compared to what we have now. Kalashnikov Islam came with the Afghan jihad and the Taliban. There is also drill-machine vengeance in Karachi, introduced and perfected by that other paragon of clean and peaceful politics, the MQM. At least in some respects we have shown progress, lighting the path for others.

I keep telling myself not to write save-the-nation’s-soul kind of nonsense. Pakistan has become too set in its ways. No one sitting atop the commanding heights of privilege is interested in changing this state of affairs. As a general rule people seek comfort, not discomfort. Those having the best of everything are not going to give up their advantages. Why should they? Things change all the time, one of nature’s iron laws...but that things will change inevitably for the better is one of humanity’s fondest illusions.

Very soon the lights will go out for my generation. After that, as Zouq so poignantly puts it, “apni bala se bad-e-saba abh kabhi chale” – when from this garden we are gone, what matters if the morning breeze blows or not. Every time I hear Saigal – immortal Saigal, chosen of the gods – sing this ghazal, written when all that remained of the Mughal empire was Shahjehan’s fort in Delhi, something tugs at my heart.

“We have heard the chimes at midnight,” says Falstaff to Master Shallow, this with all the sadness in the world, because it is the past, the never-to-return past, that he is reminiscing about. Are the chimes of midnight to be heard in Lahore? I keep promising myself that once done with our cups we would repair to the singing and dancing quarter, next to Aurangzeb’s majestic Badshahi Mosque (one can’t accuse the Mughals of not having good taste). But this is always in the mind, nothing coming of it, probably because I and my companions – one in size and girth a veritable Falstaff – linger for too long over our cups. For other adventures then the mood is lost.

Throughout history conquerors from afar, the depths of Central Asia or the mountains of Afghanistan, looked with longing at the fertile plains, the lands constituting Pakistan and beyond. What fell to our portion we could have turned into something fabulous, crossroads of east and west, past and present coming together. But what a mess we have made. History set us a task and we were found wanting.

If only we could change our ways...first of all giving up that most fatal of temptations, that of bogus ideology.



Email: winlust@yahoo.com

Heck, this too will pass - Ayaz Amir

Unquote

 

[Don Jaguar]

I came across this article written by Ayaz Amir published in the Daily News on Friday 28 Nov, 2011.

You are one month ahead than us.

 

[niaz]

You are one month ahead than us.

Sorry, a stupid mistake by me.

 

[VCheng]

^^^ What a great article about Lahore, no matter the date!

 

[iioal malik]

What a wonderful thread thank you so much..very nice informative facts n developments.Plz keep putting more about on this.

 

[Asian.Century]

New Fort Food Street For Lahoris:

Fort Road Food Street or Badshahi Majid Food Street...!!!

The street will be powered by solar panels, and is a private initiative.

 

[Asian.Century]

NEW MUSLIM TOWN FLY OVER (ICHARA FLYOVER):

 

[Asian.Century]

NEW MUSLIM TOWN FLY OVER (ICHARA FLYOVER):

WOW!

Lahore could be the next best tourist destination in world. Its a multi-cultural city anyways!!

 

[Asian.Century]

Lahore Gets the new Lahore Metro Bus System: video


[video]Lahore Gets the new Lahore Metro Bus System: kt - 31st jan 2013 FULL - Video Dailymotion[/video]

 

[Asian.Century]

'Lahore Metro Bus (LMB) Service' Inauguration Ceremony: First ever in Pakistan and Subcontinent, Central asia:

MetroBusStartingCrmony | Tune.pk

Video of Mega Project, Lahore Metro Bus(LMB) Plan: Lahore Bus Rapid Transit plan By Govt of Punjab 2012 - YouTube

https://www.facebook.com/pages/LAHORE-METRO/136281786384697

Image of crowds in festive: http://dawncompk.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/metrobuslaunch-670.jpg?w=670

Lahore turns festive as Metro Bus service opens

From the Newspaper | Khalid Hasnain

LAHORE: The Metro Bus System (MBS), arguably the country’s first rapid mass transit bus project, was launched here on Monday.

It was inaugurated by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif at a ceremony attended by Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and ambassadors of a number of countries.

About 45 modern buses started plying a 27km dedicated corridor from Gajjumata to Shahdra. The service is free for one month.

Construction work on the project planned by the Punjab government in the last quarter of 2011 was undertaken in March last year. The MBS route covers dozens of residential and commercial localities along the city’s main artery — Ferozepur road linking Lytton road, Jain Mandar, MAO College, Lower Mall, Civil Secretariat, Aiwan-i-Adal, Chowk Katchehry (District Courts), Shrine of Hazrat Data Ganj Bakhsh, Ravi Road and Shahdra town.

The route has 27 bus stations, nine of them built on the 8.6km long overhead bridge from Ferozepur Road/ Canal Intersection to Texali.

The Traffic Engineering and Planning Agency (TEPA), a subsidiary of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA), was entrusted with the task of constructing the MBS, a copy of the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) of Istanbul, in collaboration with Turkish and local experts.

Since Turkey was actively facilitating the MBS, it also ensured investment from a leading Turkish firm in providing and operating 45 18-metre long articulated buses (Volvo China) the 27km pathway covered with fences. Platform, a Turkish firm, has been entrusted with the task of running the operational activities.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, the chief minister said people criticising the spending of “Rs70 to 80 billion” actually didn’t want to see the project which would be of great value to people who have been waiting for hours and travelling in old buses for decades. “As I have already said many a time I tell you again that we have spent only Rs29.8bn on the project which has made the people’s dream of travelling in state-of-the-art buses that never happened in the history of Pakistan,” Mr Sharif said.

The government and the Lahorites took the MBS inauguration like a festive event and a large number of people thronged the route to welcome the inaugural operations right from Gajjumata to Shahdra. The people, including government officials and PML-N workers, showered rose petals on the buses carrying distinguished guests.

The chief minister also announced Rs30 million cash rewards for all construction workers and special prizes for best workers.
He gave away appreciation certificates to senior officials, including the LDA director general, PML-N leaders, Turkish experts and local firms for timely completing the project.

Speaking on the occasion, the Turkish deputy prime minister said his country would continue to support Punjab and other provinces for launching such major innovative projects. “Turkey and Pakistan enjoy cordial relations and trust each other. The countries have helped each other on various occasions and we will continue to do so in future too,” he said.

Mr Bozdag said that although Pakistan and Turkey couldn’t promote bilateral business relations in the past, the MBS would help in promoting investment by the business community in the two countries. He called for more and more business relations among Muslim countries.

Earlier, LDA Director General Ahad Khan Cheema and Punjab Metro Bus Authority’s Managing Director Sabtain Fazal Haleem briefed the guests on salient features, cost, construction work and other matters relating to the project.

Lahore turns festive as Metro Bus service opens | Pakistan | DAWN.COM

Lahore Launches Pakistani First With New 'Metro Bus' System
10 Feburary

Pakistani authorities have launched a new "Metro Bus" system in the city of Lahore -- the first major urban public transportation scheme in the country.

The $300 million project was completed in collaboration with the Turkish company Al-Buraq.

It is meant to transport up to 12,000 passengers an hour along a 29-kilometer route that links Lahore's suburbs to the city center.

Thousands of people lined the road on February 10 as Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag traveled the entire the 27-station route, which was decorated with Turkish and Pakistani flags.

Commuters in Pakistan's other major cities who don't have their own cars rely on an ad hoc network of privately-run buses, minibuses, taxis, and motorized rickshaws to get around.

Lahore metro bus system: A major step in Pakistan’s public transport

Lahore metro bus system: A major step in Pakistan’s public transport – The Express Tribune Blog

 

[Leader]

Some World cities:

new york

Tokyo

london

Shanghi

lahore

 

[Asian.Century]

https://www.facebook.com/Lahorelitfest

 

[Asian.Century]

Lahore International Book Fair:

https://www.facebook.com/LahoreInternationalBookFair