1) Expected growth this year gdp : 3%
2) Oil was approx. 145$ barrel.
3) Pak inflation: 20.8%
4) Last year: 2.4 % growth trend is approx. 6%
5) Developed countries : approx 2-3% GDP
6) Developing countries: 8-9% GDP
7) 2008 – 2009 net exports were high
8) IMF forecasted 1.3 % of decline in world economy in 2009.
9) Pakistan GDP growth rate 2008-2009 = 2.4
10) India GDP growth rate 2008-2009 = 4.5
11) Highest GDP of Pakistan in 2004-2005= 9
12) GNP AGRICULTURE MAJOR CROPS TOP THE LIST: 7.7
13) MANUFACTURING: 7.5
14) NEGATIVE: forestry, manufacturing, construction, finance and insurance,
15) Agriculture sector: provide 44% labor force, 21.8% gdp in 2009 -2009
16) Major crops: wheat, rive , cotton, sugarcane
17) Minor crops: chilies, potatoes, onions, garlic. The crop sector has potential to
influence the overall agriculture sector. Share crops in agriculture declined to 45.4
but share livestock’s increased (cattle’s, buffaloes, assess, mules) due to demand. It
is highly job oriented. Its accounts for 11.3% in GDP.
18) Agriculture sector had growth of 4.7 % mainly due to wheat, rice, maize, cotton and
gram. Sugar cane had below par performance.
19) Forestry: decline. This year 0.2% GDP.
20) Manufacturing: 18% which is lowest in last 5 years. Services sector increased.
21) Due to global financial crises banking system came under stress. Real gdp growth is now
estimated 2% and in the previous year it was 4.1 %
22) Gross fixed investment declined from 20.4 to 18.1
23) Pakistan’s export receipts have begun to plummet since November 2008, with23.9 percent
in April 2009
BUDGET:
Cabinet approves budget of over 2.9 trillion.
Defence budget: 343 billion,
BISP: 70 Million,
Rehabilitation: 25 billion,
Federal Minister Hina rabani Khar,Rs 264.9 bn foreign aid
Expected Allocation for agri sector to be 18 bn,
Education to get 31 bn
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
A MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION: will the boys in green bring the trophy home again?
I still remember the mass jubilation in the streets when Pakistan won the last edition of ICC 20 world cup in England 2009. It was something that the people of Pakistan needed desperately. Caught in the vices of a recession, state of civil war and an overall sense of listlessness’, every Pakistani was praying for it, especially considering the form our team was during the earlier stages of the tournament.
The celebration was at par, and reminded many of the cricket fans of the time when Imran khan, the legendary Pakistani captain lead a team of misfits and out of form of players to the win the ultimate prize of ODI cricket. It was another khan at the helm, this time and Younis khan dint let anybody miss that fact. But sadly this time around, there is no one like the great Saeed Anwar, Inzimam ul Haq or Waqr Younis. Rocked by the allegation of match fixing, ball- tempering, on the off field politicking and over all lack of discipline, Pakistan team is stripped bare of the stalwarts which brought the twenty 20 world cup home to the Pakistan people in 2009. The squad selected for the tournament does not lack experience in any discipline but there is bubbling tension between the players which could possibly cause the team to implode when it matters most. Nine members of the Younis world champions have been retained. Abdul Razzaq and Shahid Afridi ar reportedly leading the boys in green into the field in the West Indies when the tournament begins on may 1st.
Top seeds, Pakistan are grouped in pool A with fearsome Australians and Bangladesh. Along with Pakistan, Srilanka and India are hot favorites. …
Now let’s see that whether the answer of a million dollar question turns out to be “YES” OR “NO”
The celebration was at par, and reminded many of the cricket fans of the time when Imran khan, the legendary Pakistani captain lead a team of misfits and out of form of players to the win the ultimate prize of ODI cricket. It was another khan at the helm, this time and Younis khan dint let anybody miss that fact. But sadly this time around, there is no one like the great Saeed Anwar, Inzimam ul Haq or Waqr Younis. Rocked by the allegation of match fixing, ball- tempering, on the off field politicking and over all lack of discipline, Pakistan team is stripped bare of the stalwarts which brought the twenty 20 world cup home to the Pakistan people in 2009. The squad selected for the tournament does not lack experience in any discipline but there is bubbling tension between the players which could possibly cause the team to implode when it matters most. Nine members of the Younis world champions have been retained. Abdul Razzaq and Shahid Afridi ar reportedly leading the boys in green into the field in the West Indies when the tournament begins on may 1st.
Top seeds, Pakistan are grouped in pool A with fearsome Australians and Bangladesh. Along with Pakistan, Srilanka and India are hot favorites. …
Now let’s see that whether the answer of a million dollar question turns out to be “YES” OR “NO”
Monday, April 26, 2010
AN OTHER EARTH QUAKE :(
A week after 6.9 magnitude earth quake struck in Qinghai province of China which killed more than 2000 people, injured 12,000 others and left 10 of thousands homeless. China observed a national day of mourning. On April 21, flags flew, entertainment activities were shut down and citizens across the country bowed heads.
report on Bhutto's death
a UN panel has concluded that the December 2007, assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was preventable. this panel's report blames the government, local police and intelligence agencies for lack of proper investigation of threats against Bhutto. after the report's release, 8 senior officials were removed from their posts.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
COMMUNISM
Communism (from Latin communis = "common") is a socioeconomic structure and political ideology that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless society based on common ownership and control of the means of production and property in general. In political science, the term "communism" is sometimes used to refer to communist states, a form of government in which the state operates under a one-party system and declares allegiance to Marxism-Leninism or a derivative thereof, even if the party does not actually claim that it has already developed communism.
Forerunners of communist ideas existed already since antiquity and then in particular in the 18th and early 19th century France, with thinkers like Jean-Jacques Rousseau and even more radical Gracchus Babeuf. The egalitarianism then emerged as a significant political power in the first half of 19th century in Western Europe. In the world shaped by the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution, the newly established political left included many various political and intellectual movements, which are the direct ancestors of today's communism and socialism – these two then newly minted words were almost interchangeable in the time – and of anarchism or anarcho-communism. The two by far most influential theoreticians of communism of the 19th century were Germans Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, authors of The Communist Manifesto (1848), who also helped to form the first openly communist political organizations and firmly tied communism with the idea of revolution conducted by the exploited working class.
Karl Marx posited that communism would be the final stage in human society, which would be achieved after an intermediate stage called the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat. Communism in the Marxian sense refers to a classless, stateless and oppression-free society where decisions on what to produce and what policies to pursue are made democratically, allowing every member of society to participate in the decision-making process in both the political and economic spheres of life. Some "revisionist" Marxists of the following generations, henceforth known as socialists or social democrats, slowly drifted away from the radical views of Marx after his death in 1883; other communists, like Vladimir Lenin, continued to prepare world revolution.
The communist left, led by Vladimir Lenin, successfully came to power in Russia (1917), disrupted by the World War I. After years of civil war (1917–1921), international isolation and internal struggle in the Communist party, the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin emerged as a new global superpower on the victorious side of the World War II. In the five years after the World War, communist regimes were established in many states of Central and Eastern Europe and in China. Communism began to spread its influence in the Third World while continuing to be a significant political force in many Western countries. International relations between Soviets and the West, led by USA, quickly worsened after the end of the war and there began the Cold war, a continuing state of conflict, tension and competition between the United States and the Soviet Union and those countries' respective allies. The "Iron curtain" between West and East then divided Europe and world from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s. Despite many communist successes like the victorious Vietnam War (1959-1975) or the first human spaceflight (1961), the communist regimes were in long term unable to keep up with the West.
People under communist regimes showed their discontent in events like the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Prague Spring of 1968 or Polish Solidarity movement in early 1980s. Since 1985, the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev tried to implement market and democratic reforms under devices like perestroika ("restructuring") and glasnost ("transparency"). His reforms sharpened internal conflicts in the communist regimes and quickly led to Revolutions of 1989, a total collapse of European communist regimes outside of Soviet Union, which dissolved itself two years later, in 1991. Some communist regimes outside of Europe survive till now, the most important of them is People's Republic of China, trying to introduce market reforms without rapid democratization.
Forerunners of communist ideas existed already since antiquity and then in particular in the 18th and early 19th century France, with thinkers like Jean-Jacques Rousseau and even more radical Gracchus Babeuf. The egalitarianism then emerged as a significant political power in the first half of 19th century in Western Europe. In the world shaped by the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution, the newly established political left included many various political and intellectual movements, which are the direct ancestors of today's communism and socialism – these two then newly minted words were almost interchangeable in the time – and of anarchism or anarcho-communism. The two by far most influential theoreticians of communism of the 19th century were Germans Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, authors of The Communist Manifesto (1848), who also helped to form the first openly communist political organizations and firmly tied communism with the idea of revolution conducted by the exploited working class.
Karl Marx posited that communism would be the final stage in human society, which would be achieved after an intermediate stage called the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat. Communism in the Marxian sense refers to a classless, stateless and oppression-free society where decisions on what to produce and what policies to pursue are made democratically, allowing every member of society to participate in the decision-making process in both the political and economic spheres of life. Some "revisionist" Marxists of the following generations, henceforth known as socialists or social democrats, slowly drifted away from the radical views of Marx after his death in 1883; other communists, like Vladimir Lenin, continued to prepare world revolution.
The communist left, led by Vladimir Lenin, successfully came to power in Russia (1917), disrupted by the World War I. After years of civil war (1917–1921), international isolation and internal struggle in the Communist party, the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin emerged as a new global superpower on the victorious side of the World War II. In the five years after the World War, communist regimes were established in many states of Central and Eastern Europe and in China. Communism began to spread its influence in the Third World while continuing to be a significant political force in many Western countries. International relations between Soviets and the West, led by USA, quickly worsened after the end of the war and there began the Cold war, a continuing state of conflict, tension and competition between the United States and the Soviet Union and those countries' respective allies. The "Iron curtain" between West and East then divided Europe and world from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s. Despite many communist successes like the victorious Vietnam War (1959-1975) or the first human spaceflight (1961), the communist regimes were in long term unable to keep up with the West.
People under communist regimes showed their discontent in events like the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Prague Spring of 1968 or Polish Solidarity movement in early 1980s. Since 1985, the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev tried to implement market and democratic reforms under devices like perestroika ("restructuring") and glasnost ("transparency"). His reforms sharpened internal conflicts in the communist regimes and quickly led to Revolutions of 1989, a total collapse of European communist regimes outside of Soviet Union, which dissolved itself two years later, in 1991. Some communist regimes outside of Europe survive till now, the most important of them is People's Republic of China, trying to introduce market reforms without rapid democratization.
SOCIALISM & CAPITALISM
Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating collective ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterized by equality for all individuals, with an egalitarian method of compensation. Modern socialism originated in the late 19th-century intellectual and working class political movement that criticized the effects of industrialization and private ownership on society. Karl Marx posited that socialism (the disappearance of class and therefore state) would be achieved via class struggle and a proletarian revolution after a transitional stage from capitalism called the Dictatorship of the proletariat.
The utopian socialists, including Robert Owen, tried to found socialist factories and other structures within a capitalist society. Henri de Saint Simon, the first individual to coin the term socialism, was the originator of technocracy and industrial planning. The first socialists predicted a world improved by harnessing technology and combining it with better social organization, and many contemporary socialists share this belief. Early socialist thinkers tended to favor more authentic meritocracy, while many modern socialists have a more egalitarian approach.
Socialists mainly share the belief that capitalism unfairly concentrates power and wealth among a small segment of society that controls capital, creates an unequal society, and does not provide equal opportunities for everyone in society. Therefore socialists advocate the creation of a society in which wealth and power are distributed more evenly based on the amount of work expended in production, although there is considerable disagreement among socialists over how and to what extent this could be achieved.
Socialism is not a concrete philosophy of fixed doctrine and program; its branches advocate a degree of social interventionism and economic rationalization, sometimes opposing each other. Another dividing feature of the socialist movement is the split between reformists and the revolutionaries on how a socialist economy should be established. Some socialists advocate complete nationalization of the means of production, distribution, and exchange; others advocate state control of capital within the framework of a market economy. Socialists inspired by the Soviet model of economic development have advocated the creation of centrally planned economies directed by a state that owns all the means of production. Others, including Yugoslavian, Hungarian, German and Chinese Communists in the 1970s and 1980s, instituted various forms of market socialism, combining co-operative and state ownership models with the free market exchange and free price system (but not prices for the means of production).
Social democrats propose selective nationalization of key national industries in mixed economies, with private ownership of property and of profit-making small business. Social Democrats also promote tax-funded welfare programs and the regulation of markets. Libertarian socialism (including social anarchism and libertarian Marxism) rejects state control and ownership of the economy altogether and advocates direct collective ownership of the means of production via co-operative workers' councils and workplace democracy.
Capitalism is an economic system in which wealth, and the means of producing wealth, are privately owned. Through capitalism, the land, labor, and capital are owned, operated, and traded for the purpose of generating profits, without force or fraud, by private individuals either singly or jointly, and investments, distribution, income, production, pricing and supply of goods, commodities and services are determined by voluntary private decision in a market economy. A distinguishing feature of capitalism is that each person owns his or her own labor and therefore is allowed to sell the use of it to employers. In a "capitalist state", private rights and property relations are protected by the rule of law of a limited regulatory framework. In the modern capitalist state, legislative action is confined to defining and enforcing the basic rules of the market, though the state may provide some public goods and infrastructure.
Some consider laissez-faire to be "pure capitalism“ Laissez-faire (French, "leave to do (by itself)"), signifies minimizing or eliminating state interference in economic affairs and the competitive process, allowing the free play of "supply and demand." Laissez-faire capitalism has never existed in practice. Because all large economies today have a mixture of private and public ownership and control, some feel that the term "mixed economies" more precisely describes most contemporary economies. In the "capitalist mixed economy", the state intervenes in market activity and provides many services.
During the last century, capitalism has often been contrasted with centrally planned economies. The central axiom of capitalism is that the best allocation of resources is achieved through consumers having free choice, and producers responding accordingly to meet aggregate and individual consumer demand. This contrasts with planned economies in which the state directs what shall be produced. A consequence is the belief that privatization of previously state-provided services will tend to achieve a more efficient delivery thereof. Further implications are usually in favor of free trade, and abolition of subsidies. Although individuals and groups must act rationally in any society for their own good, the consequences of both rational and irrational actions are said to be more readily apparent in a capitalist society.
Capitalistic economic practices incrementally became institutionalized in England between the 16th and 19th centuries, although some features of capitalist organization existed in the ancient world, and early aspects of merchant capitalism flourished during the Late Middle Ages. Capitalism has been dominant in the Western world since the end of feudalism. From Britain, it gradually spread throughout Europe, across political and cultural frontiers. In the 19th and 20th centuries, capitalism provided the main, but not exclusive, means of industrialization throughout much of the world.
The utopian socialists, including Robert Owen, tried to found socialist factories and other structures within a capitalist society. Henri de Saint Simon, the first individual to coin the term socialism, was the originator of technocracy and industrial planning. The first socialists predicted a world improved by harnessing technology and combining it with better social organization, and many contemporary socialists share this belief. Early socialist thinkers tended to favor more authentic meritocracy, while many modern socialists have a more egalitarian approach.
Socialists mainly share the belief that capitalism unfairly concentrates power and wealth among a small segment of society that controls capital, creates an unequal society, and does not provide equal opportunities for everyone in society. Therefore socialists advocate the creation of a society in which wealth and power are distributed more evenly based on the amount of work expended in production, although there is considerable disagreement among socialists over how and to what extent this could be achieved.
Socialism is not a concrete philosophy of fixed doctrine and program; its branches advocate a degree of social interventionism and economic rationalization, sometimes opposing each other. Another dividing feature of the socialist movement is the split between reformists and the revolutionaries on how a socialist economy should be established. Some socialists advocate complete nationalization of the means of production, distribution, and exchange; others advocate state control of capital within the framework of a market economy. Socialists inspired by the Soviet model of economic development have advocated the creation of centrally planned economies directed by a state that owns all the means of production. Others, including Yugoslavian, Hungarian, German and Chinese Communists in the 1970s and 1980s, instituted various forms of market socialism, combining co-operative and state ownership models with the free market exchange and free price system (but not prices for the means of production).
Social democrats propose selective nationalization of key national industries in mixed economies, with private ownership of property and of profit-making small business. Social Democrats also promote tax-funded welfare programs and the regulation of markets. Libertarian socialism (including social anarchism and libertarian Marxism) rejects state control and ownership of the economy altogether and advocates direct collective ownership of the means of production via co-operative workers' councils and workplace democracy.
Capitalism is an economic system in which wealth, and the means of producing wealth, are privately owned. Through capitalism, the land, labor, and capital are owned, operated, and traded for the purpose of generating profits, without force or fraud, by private individuals either singly or jointly, and investments, distribution, income, production, pricing and supply of goods, commodities and services are determined by voluntary private decision in a market economy. A distinguishing feature of capitalism is that each person owns his or her own labor and therefore is allowed to sell the use of it to employers. In a "capitalist state", private rights and property relations are protected by the rule of law of a limited regulatory framework. In the modern capitalist state, legislative action is confined to defining and enforcing the basic rules of the market, though the state may provide some public goods and infrastructure.
Some consider laissez-faire to be "pure capitalism“ Laissez-faire (French, "leave to do (by itself)"), signifies minimizing or eliminating state interference in economic affairs and the competitive process, allowing the free play of "supply and demand." Laissez-faire capitalism has never existed in practice. Because all large economies today have a mixture of private and public ownership and control, some feel that the term "mixed economies" more precisely describes most contemporary economies. In the "capitalist mixed economy", the state intervenes in market activity and provides many services.
During the last century, capitalism has often been contrasted with centrally planned economies. The central axiom of capitalism is that the best allocation of resources is achieved through consumers having free choice, and producers responding accordingly to meet aggregate and individual consumer demand. This contrasts with planned economies in which the state directs what shall be produced. A consequence is the belief that privatization of previously state-provided services will tend to achieve a more efficient delivery thereof. Further implications are usually in favor of free trade, and abolition of subsidies. Although individuals and groups must act rationally in any society for their own good, the consequences of both rational and irrational actions are said to be more readily apparent in a capitalist society.
Capitalistic economic practices incrementally became institutionalized in England between the 16th and 19th centuries, although some features of capitalist organization existed in the ancient world, and early aspects of merchant capitalism flourished during the Late Middle Ages. Capitalism has been dominant in the Western world since the end of feudalism. From Britain, it gradually spread throughout Europe, across political and cultural frontiers. In the 19th and 20th centuries, capitalism provided the main, but not exclusive, means of industrialization throughout much of the world.
prostitution in different approaches
my view towards prostitution is not judgmental therefore readers might take my thoughts critically. Like many social scientists, i don’t find ingenious to make fix boundaries of rights and wrongs in culture.
With respect to post modern approach, i believe that prostitution is not a wrong profession in society especially for those who want to pursue with their own wish.
Since it’s a fact that all human beings have sexual desires and many of them are not able to control or fulfil it via proper channels therefore, from social point of view and excluding religions, our view is:
First such desires should be controlled because according to Malthusian over population will further lead to other social problems. Even if sexual desires aren’t controlled, such people should visit to prostitutes who are willing to give sexual pleasures rather raping innocent women who feel pride in covering and hiding their bodies. Men who are not ready to control their sexual desires should contact prostitutes so that the modesty and pious ness of the innocent females is saved.
Agreeing with the post modern and descriptive approach, there are no rights and wrongs in the society because causes and effects of behaviors can not be known if all the culture would be studied in the same way especially the culture of prostitution. More over, seeing this with functionalist approach:
‘Prostitution satisfies needs of patrons that may not be readily met through more socially acceptable form such as marriage or courtship. The ‘buyer’ receives sex without any responsibly for procreation or sentimental attachment at the same time the seller makes a living through this exchange. ‘
To conclude, prostitution does perform certain functions that society needs.
With respect to post modern approach, i believe that prostitution is not a wrong profession in society especially for those who want to pursue with their own wish.
Since it’s a fact that all human beings have sexual desires and many of them are not able to control or fulfil it via proper channels therefore, from social point of view and excluding religions, our view is:
First such desires should be controlled because according to Malthusian over population will further lead to other social problems. Even if sexual desires aren’t controlled, such people should visit to prostitutes who are willing to give sexual pleasures rather raping innocent women who feel pride in covering and hiding their bodies. Men who are not ready to control their sexual desires should contact prostitutes so that the modesty and pious ness of the innocent females is saved.
Agreeing with the post modern and descriptive approach, there are no rights and wrongs in the society because causes and effects of behaviors can not be known if all the culture would be studied in the same way especially the culture of prostitution. More over, seeing this with functionalist approach:
‘Prostitution satisfies needs of patrons that may not be readily met through more socially acceptable form such as marriage or courtship. The ‘buyer’ receives sex without any responsibly for procreation or sentimental attachment at the same time the seller makes a living through this exchange. ‘
To conclude, prostitution does perform certain functions that society needs.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
what does a journalist do?
The term journalist can be applied to writers, photographers, sub editors and editors, news presenters and news readers, researchers, copy writers and copy editors, designers and typographers. Each category has been sub divided for example, the writers on a medium size provincial daily newspaper may commonly have included reporters, staff correspondents, feature writers and leader writers mainly responsible for daily editorial. Many journalists have done little writting such as subeditors in both print and broadcasting have been mainly concerend with presentation, with checking, correcting and putting into the appropraite form the work of reporters. Television reporters have had to know something about film direction and need to be liaise with camera crews, journalists in PR have usually been expeceted to learn about marketting
Friday, April 23, 2010
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE:
“The good news is we know what to do. The good news is we have everything we need now to respond to the challenge of global warming. We have all the technologies we need, more are being developed, and as they become available and become more affordable when produced in scale, they will make it easier to respond. But we should not wait, we cannot wait, we must not wait.” (Al Gore Sept 9, 2005)
“There is a window of opportunity of avoiding the most damaging climate change impacts, but that window is closing: the world has less than a decade to change course. Actions taken or not taken in the years ahead will have a profound bearing on the future course of human development. The world lacks neither the financial resources nor the technological capabilities to act. What is missing is a sense of urgency, collective interest and above all human solidarity”
(UNDP Report on Human Development, 2008)
Causes of climate change:
• Solar output
• Orbital variations
• Volcanism
• Ocean variability
GREEN HOUSE GASES:
• Major ones are:
• Carbon dioxide
• Nitrogen oxide
• Methane
• Water vapour
Copenhagen climate change summit 2009:
•From 7 December environment ministers and officials will meet in Copenhagen for the United Nations climate conference to decide on a successor to the Kyoto protocol
•How much are industrialized countries willing to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases?
•How much are major developing countries such as China and India willing to do to limit the growth of their emissions?
•How is the help needed by developing countries to engage in reducing their emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change going to be financed?
•How is that money going to be managed?
OZONE LAYER AND CLIMATE CHANGE:
•According to modern scientific theories, carbon dioxide is driving global climate change.
•Ozone depletion, on the other hand, is not a major force behind global warming.
•However they are connected in some ways.
•Ozone gas in the troposphere (below the ozone layer) and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which have helped cause the ozone hole, are greenhouse gases
“There is a window of opportunity of avoiding the most damaging climate change impacts, but that window is closing: the world has less than a decade to change course. Actions taken or not taken in the years ahead will have a profound bearing on the future course of human development. The world lacks neither the financial resources nor the technological capabilities to act. What is missing is a sense of urgency, collective interest and above all human solidarity”
(UNDP Report on Human Development, 2008)
Causes of climate change:
• Solar output
• Orbital variations
• Volcanism
• Ocean variability
GREEN HOUSE GASES:
• Major ones are:
• Carbon dioxide
• Nitrogen oxide
• Methane
• Water vapour
Copenhagen climate change summit 2009:
•From 7 December environment ministers and officials will meet in Copenhagen for the United Nations climate conference to decide on a successor to the Kyoto protocol
•How much are industrialized countries willing to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases?
•How much are major developing countries such as China and India willing to do to limit the growth of their emissions?
•How is the help needed by developing countries to engage in reducing their emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change going to be financed?
•How is that money going to be managed?
OZONE LAYER AND CLIMATE CHANGE:
•According to modern scientific theories, carbon dioxide is driving global climate change.
•Ozone depletion, on the other hand, is not a major force behind global warming.
•However they are connected in some ways.
•Ozone gas in the troposphere (below the ozone layer) and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which have helped cause the ozone hole, are greenhouse gases
"When I was treated as a spy “
( my narration)
I am Julia Fernandina. America is my identity. I am a journalist, masters in French and Urdu language and also doing PH.D in leadership from Harvard. From my study, people will have a perception that politics and diplomacy are my area of interest. However, I have another interest as well and that is tourism.
After a long dedicated time to my job and my studies, I finally planned to take a break and visit a place for a month that is famous and where I could find an entirely different culture from where I have been living since ages.
I started to search for places with different culture than what I am aware of. My areas of interests were South Asian countries and amongst South Asian countries I chose Pakistan to spend a month as a tourist. After having some info about Pakistan; I started with the procedures to visit and when I was done with all my procedures and preparation, I finally landed to Pakistan in fourteen hours via PIA.
When I landed in Islamabad, I was surprised to see a well maintained city, a city which had a quiet environment though it was the centre of attention of the country. The people of Pakistan were amazing. I enjoyed seeing all the political institutions together such as the parliament, the prime minister’s house, Supreme Court etc. Everything was peaceful unlike what media represent Pakistan. I got a chance to see lawyers’ agitation outside the Supreme Court. Although the lawyers were not as sophisticated as the lawyers of the west are, but I dint find them intensely wild what Pakistan media represents.
Then I went to Lahore, I was amazed to see that in an under developed country; historical things are still preserved. This was something beyond my expectation. I enjoyed seeing the red fort, Minar e Pakistan, the tomb of Iqbal and several other places. The best thing I liked about the two cities was their transport. The three wheel vehicle; known as ‘rickshaw’ and the vibrant ‘colorful buses’. They looked like any video game feature. Sitting in the so called video game feature made me amused. I liked the noise of rickshaw; I think it was better than sharing seats with all sorts of people travelling in the underground trains. But yes, the biggest advantage of it is that less time is consumed in travelling and less traffic is seen on the roads.
Since I was alone, I had a guide map in my hand but I did not have much use of it because the people were helpful but had an inquired faces. I went to ‘Anar kali’ market; the shopkeepers did not leave any opportunity to attract me with their stiff and no doubt their mission was accomplished. I went crazy after the colorful funky buttons, hand embroidery, the mirror work on caps, the thread work on shoes etc. I had a good budget for shopping but I couldn’t buy as much as I wanted because I had a long way to go but yes I bought few things. While leaving Lahore and going to northern areas of Pakistan, I had a thought in my mind that I perceived Pakistan as a country made up of small villages. I never expected developed cities. I don’t know why I had a perception that this developing country has a non mechanical life.
While travelling towards north, I planned to take a sleep but the beauty of the Pakistani land didn’t let me to take a nap. Listening to Pakistani music, seeing farms and hills, domestic animals, working of villagers compelled me to think that why am I stuck in politics. Why don’t I come here and live a simple life but any how it was just an idealistic thought.
During the eight hours of the journey, the bus stopped at several terminals. Few People used to rush to perform their prayers and rest to grab some food. However, I used to spend those fifteen minutes in selecting food for myself.
When I reached the northern parts such as Waziristan, abbot bad etc. the beauty of those places made me intrigued. Another thing I remember, I used to be in veil because I found people narrow minded. They passed weird gestures towards me, when I used to walk in western attire as if I was an alien for them. Therefore, in order to get acceptable in their culture; I wore veil but still I wonder many of the residencies caught me that I don’t belong to their land. Perhaps this was because of my walk.
The days when I was in the north of Pakistan, I guess I was considered as a spy. Many times I felt that people believed that I am a raw agent of west. Perhaps they must be assuming because I visited Pakistan in January 2002, soon after the event of 9/11 and also because since I am a journalist I have a habit of inquiring people mostly political inquires because this is my interest. I was strictly checked at different check posts in northern areas. It sounded as if nobody wanted to believe that I was only a tourist, rather any spy and I did not had any intentions to take revenge of 9/11.
I remember once I was sitting in a motel were I shared room with three Pakistani women who were also tourist belonged to different ethnicity. They were discussing the global political affairs. I could not understand most of the conversation despite of being masters in Urdu language maybe because they were code switching. But the crux of their conversation was that they were happy what happened with my country. They were also skeptical like every one else was, that who were the culprits behind 9/11. After their long discussion they came to a conclusion; that the culprits are the Americans themselves, who attacked twin towers and planned everything so that they could get a chance to claim Muslims as reprehensible and could attack Afghanistan.
They were also against of the decision that Pakistani government supported America in their research to find the culprits. They did not like that Pakistani government provided her port to America to attack Afghanistan where she could spread her army and nuclear power. There thought was, that Pakistani government should not have provided a platform to America to target Afghanistan and take the revenge of 9/11 because it was perceived that Taliban had done the attacked on twin tower and they exist in Afghanistan. There thought was that a Muslim country should have refused to give a platform to non Muslims to target a Muslim state. They called Americans as terrorism lovers though they scream for anti terrorism. They discussed all this with an obvious thought that since I am from west I have not understood any of their discussion.
Well at that time I was agreeing with them, but did not participated in the discussion at all. I thought that they might be right because Muslims do not have so much of power to take such an intense action in America.
The next morning, on my journey, I observed that the women of northern parts were suppressed as compared to the women urban areas of Pakistan. The population of women seen on the roads was quite less. I wonder they only come with their men when it is most essential.
The thing that gave me shock when I noticed, that men of those areas avoid taking the names of their women. After inquiring I came to know, that the reason behind hiding their names is that, no other man listens and could say her name in front of others or else people perceive that particular woman is having an illegitimate relationship with that man. I could not believe that how come any one could think this way. Apart from being narrow minded, men of the northern areas were very respectable towards women. They did not misbehave seeing a foreign woman alone and that is something to be appreciated and different from the western culture.
I wanted to explore the south west part of Pakistan but I did not go because it is closer to Afghanistan. The discussion against Americans and peoples belief that I am a spy curtailed me from going there. I did not want to be treated brutally. I did want to spend the rest of my life in prison. Therefore, I came to Islamabad and went back to United States so that I could have good memories of my tour that made me to enjoy a lot.
I am Julia Fernandina. America is my identity. I am a journalist, masters in French and Urdu language and also doing PH.D in leadership from Harvard. From my study, people will have a perception that politics and diplomacy are my area of interest. However, I have another interest as well and that is tourism.
After a long dedicated time to my job and my studies, I finally planned to take a break and visit a place for a month that is famous and where I could find an entirely different culture from where I have been living since ages.
I started to search for places with different culture than what I am aware of. My areas of interests were South Asian countries and amongst South Asian countries I chose Pakistan to spend a month as a tourist. After having some info about Pakistan; I started with the procedures to visit and when I was done with all my procedures and preparation, I finally landed to Pakistan in fourteen hours via PIA.
When I landed in Islamabad, I was surprised to see a well maintained city, a city which had a quiet environment though it was the centre of attention of the country. The people of Pakistan were amazing. I enjoyed seeing all the political institutions together such as the parliament, the prime minister’s house, Supreme Court etc. Everything was peaceful unlike what media represent Pakistan. I got a chance to see lawyers’ agitation outside the Supreme Court. Although the lawyers were not as sophisticated as the lawyers of the west are, but I dint find them intensely wild what Pakistan media represents.
Then I went to Lahore, I was amazed to see that in an under developed country; historical things are still preserved. This was something beyond my expectation. I enjoyed seeing the red fort, Minar e Pakistan, the tomb of Iqbal and several other places. The best thing I liked about the two cities was their transport. The three wheel vehicle; known as ‘rickshaw’ and the vibrant ‘colorful buses’. They looked like any video game feature. Sitting in the so called video game feature made me amused. I liked the noise of rickshaw; I think it was better than sharing seats with all sorts of people travelling in the underground trains. But yes, the biggest advantage of it is that less time is consumed in travelling and less traffic is seen on the roads.
Since I was alone, I had a guide map in my hand but I did not have much use of it because the people were helpful but had an inquired faces. I went to ‘Anar kali’ market; the shopkeepers did not leave any opportunity to attract me with their stiff and no doubt their mission was accomplished. I went crazy after the colorful funky buttons, hand embroidery, the mirror work on caps, the thread work on shoes etc. I had a good budget for shopping but I couldn’t buy as much as I wanted because I had a long way to go but yes I bought few things. While leaving Lahore and going to northern areas of Pakistan, I had a thought in my mind that I perceived Pakistan as a country made up of small villages. I never expected developed cities. I don’t know why I had a perception that this developing country has a non mechanical life.
While travelling towards north, I planned to take a sleep but the beauty of the Pakistani land didn’t let me to take a nap. Listening to Pakistani music, seeing farms and hills, domestic animals, working of villagers compelled me to think that why am I stuck in politics. Why don’t I come here and live a simple life but any how it was just an idealistic thought.
During the eight hours of the journey, the bus stopped at several terminals. Few People used to rush to perform their prayers and rest to grab some food. However, I used to spend those fifteen minutes in selecting food for myself.
When I reached the northern parts such as Waziristan, abbot bad etc. the beauty of those places made me intrigued. Another thing I remember, I used to be in veil because I found people narrow minded. They passed weird gestures towards me, when I used to walk in western attire as if I was an alien for them. Therefore, in order to get acceptable in their culture; I wore veil but still I wonder many of the residencies caught me that I don’t belong to their land. Perhaps this was because of my walk.
The days when I was in the north of Pakistan, I guess I was considered as a spy. Many times I felt that people believed that I am a raw agent of west. Perhaps they must be assuming because I visited Pakistan in January 2002, soon after the event of 9/11 and also because since I am a journalist I have a habit of inquiring people mostly political inquires because this is my interest. I was strictly checked at different check posts in northern areas. It sounded as if nobody wanted to believe that I was only a tourist, rather any spy and I did not had any intentions to take revenge of 9/11.
I remember once I was sitting in a motel were I shared room with three Pakistani women who were also tourist belonged to different ethnicity. They were discussing the global political affairs. I could not understand most of the conversation despite of being masters in Urdu language maybe because they were code switching. But the crux of their conversation was that they were happy what happened with my country. They were also skeptical like every one else was, that who were the culprits behind 9/11. After their long discussion they came to a conclusion; that the culprits are the Americans themselves, who attacked twin towers and planned everything so that they could get a chance to claim Muslims as reprehensible and could attack Afghanistan.
They were also against of the decision that Pakistani government supported America in their research to find the culprits. They did not like that Pakistani government provided her port to America to attack Afghanistan where she could spread her army and nuclear power. There thought was, that Pakistani government should not have provided a platform to America to target Afghanistan and take the revenge of 9/11 because it was perceived that Taliban had done the attacked on twin tower and they exist in Afghanistan. There thought was that a Muslim country should have refused to give a platform to non Muslims to target a Muslim state. They called Americans as terrorism lovers though they scream for anti terrorism. They discussed all this with an obvious thought that since I am from west I have not understood any of their discussion.
Well at that time I was agreeing with them, but did not participated in the discussion at all. I thought that they might be right because Muslims do not have so much of power to take such an intense action in America.
The next morning, on my journey, I observed that the women of northern parts were suppressed as compared to the women urban areas of Pakistan. The population of women seen on the roads was quite less. I wonder they only come with their men when it is most essential.
The thing that gave me shock when I noticed, that men of those areas avoid taking the names of their women. After inquiring I came to know, that the reason behind hiding their names is that, no other man listens and could say her name in front of others or else people perceive that particular woman is having an illegitimate relationship with that man. I could not believe that how come any one could think this way. Apart from being narrow minded, men of the northern areas were very respectable towards women. They did not misbehave seeing a foreign woman alone and that is something to be appreciated and different from the western culture.
I wanted to explore the south west part of Pakistan but I did not go because it is closer to Afghanistan. The discussion against Americans and peoples belief that I am a spy curtailed me from going there. I did not want to be treated brutally. I did want to spend the rest of my life in prison. Therefore, I came to Islamabad and went back to United States so that I could have good memories of my tour that made me to enjoy a lot.
TONGUE TWISTER
A tongue twister s a phrase sentence or rhyme that presents difficulties when spoken because it contains similar sounds. whistle for the thistle sifter, for example. to get the full effect of a tongue twister one should try to repeat it several times as quickly as possible, without stumbling or mispronouncing.
tongue twisters have long been a popular form of word play, particularly for school children, but they also have a more serious side - being used in elocution teaching and in the treatment of some speech defects.
some of the interesting tongue twisters are :
1) are our oars oak?
2) a big black bug bit a big black bear, made the big black bear bleed blood.
3) crisp crusts crackle crunchy
4) Fed Fed Ted bread, and Ted Fed Fred bread.
5) give MR. Snipe's wife's knife a swipe.
tongue twisters have long been a popular form of word play, particularly for school children, but they also have a more serious side - being used in elocution teaching and in the treatment of some speech defects.
some of the interesting tongue twisters are :
1) are our oars oak?
2) a big black bug bit a big black bear, made the big black bear bleed blood.
3) crisp crusts crackle crunchy
4) Fed Fed Ted bread, and Ted Fed Fred bread.
5) give MR. Snipe's wife's knife a swipe.
SMOKING ---its not as cool as one thinks
so you think you are really cool huh, mr. smoker- cum- wannabe- cool- stud?
well, i have got news for you buddy- you are not any of these, any guy ( or girl for that matter) having full knowledge of the hazards of smoking ( and who doesn't in today's age of awareness) and yet continues to smoke, in my opinion is down right stupid. o cant really blame the people of my fathers and grand father age for smoking because at that time nobody was really conscious about the harmful affects of cigarettes. my generation, on the other hand, has no excuse what so ever for indulging in this utterly futile pastime.
did you know in the past couple of years it has been discovered that it is not only cancer, that smoking can lead to, bu a number of other things too. for instance :
it is harmful to your looks
it may lead to blindness
second hand smokers could be affected in nearly the same manner as first hand smokers.
it may lead to early death.
it causes bad breath
it spoils your teeth
it may lead to lung cancer
you can get ' smokers cough' which is really hard to get rid of.
i know that the majority of people start smoking in their teen age, mostly due to peer pressure. yes, i know, at that teen age people wish to be a part of the ' in' crowd , one want to look ' hot' and one want to do anything to get accepted. but honestly.....does not this betray a hint of cowardice? is it really good to follow others blindly? are you that weak? aren't you a separate individual?
let me clear one thing, majority of the girls:
do not like guys who smoke, in fact we think its really impolite when a guy smokes in front of a girl or otherwise too. the yellow teeth and nicotine filled nails, not to mention bad breath, are a real turn down.
so there you have it. do you really still want to smoke? do you want to look old and haggard at a young age, when others your age are still looking fresh?
as they say, " its never to late", so if you are a smoker and you are reading this, please have some sense and give it up now. after all, you are not stupid----are you?
well, i have got news for you buddy- you are not any of these, any guy ( or girl for that matter) having full knowledge of the hazards of smoking ( and who doesn't in today's age of awareness) and yet continues to smoke, in my opinion is down right stupid. o cant really blame the people of my fathers and grand father age for smoking because at that time nobody was really conscious about the harmful affects of cigarettes. my generation, on the other hand, has no excuse what so ever for indulging in this utterly futile pastime.
did you know in the past couple of years it has been discovered that it is not only cancer, that smoking can lead to, bu a number of other things too. for instance :
it is harmful to your looks
it may lead to blindness
second hand smokers could be affected in nearly the same manner as first hand smokers.
it may lead to early death.
it causes bad breath
it spoils your teeth
it may lead to lung cancer
you can get ' smokers cough' which is really hard to get rid of.
i know that the majority of people start smoking in their teen age, mostly due to peer pressure. yes, i know, at that teen age people wish to be a part of the ' in' crowd , one want to look ' hot' and one want to do anything to get accepted. but honestly.....does not this betray a hint of cowardice? is it really good to follow others blindly? are you that weak? aren't you a separate individual?
let me clear one thing, majority of the girls:
do not like guys who smoke, in fact we think its really impolite when a guy smokes in front of a girl or otherwise too. the yellow teeth and nicotine filled nails, not to mention bad breath, are a real turn down.
so there you have it. do you really still want to smoke? do you want to look old and haggard at a young age, when others your age are still looking fresh?
as they say, " its never to late", so if you are a smoker and you are reading this, please have some sense and give it up now. after all, you are not stupid----are you?
Computer: a he or a she?
A retired sailor purchased a computer began to learn all about computing. Being a sailor he was used to addressing his ships as “she” or “her”, but was unsure what was proper for computers. To solve this dilemma he set up two groups of computer experts.
One group was male and the other was female
The group of women reported that computer should be referred to as “he “because……
In order to get their attention you have to turn them on
They have a lot of data but are still clueless.
They are supposed to help you solve problems but half if the time they are the problem.
As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you waited a little longer, you could
have had a newer and better model.
The group of men reported that computers should be referred to as “she” because…….
No one but the creator understands their logic.
The native language they use to talk to other computers is incomprehensible to anyone
else.
Even your smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for later retrieval.
As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find your self spending half of your pay
checks on accessories for it.
After considering these points, the sailor still remained, confused and so eventually he started addressing his computer as “ it” !
One group was male and the other was female
The group of women reported that computer should be referred to as “he “because……
In order to get their attention you have to turn them on
They have a lot of data but are still clueless.
They are supposed to help you solve problems but half if the time they are the problem.
As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you waited a little longer, you could
have had a newer and better model.
The group of men reported that computers should be referred to as “she” because…….
No one but the creator understands their logic.
The native language they use to talk to other computers is incomprehensible to anyone
else.
Even your smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for later retrieval.
As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find your self spending half of your pay
checks on accessories for it.
After considering these points, the sailor still remained, confused and so eventually he started addressing his computer as “ it” !
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
plead for care
Media leaves no opportunity to highlight all the issues that add stars and increase these numbers of audience of their channel. They don’t bother about the fact, that description over several issues can give psychological and physical impacts on the people. Therefore, media has been urged to demonstrate responsibility while covering and highlighting sensitive issues. They need to show some kind of responsibility towards the citizens.
In this matter, a call was made on 22 April 24, 2010 for a dialogue session organized by SACH-“struggle for change “s. In the first day of the session, brief description was given that how individual get effected through the torture of media. In the 2nd session, role and responsibility of media was addressed followed by the discussion on the effective ways of applying investigative journalism and how to report facts in a way that it does not create a feeling of terror in the people.
In this matter, a call was made on 22 April 24, 2010 for a dialogue session organized by SACH-“struggle for change “s. In the first day of the session, brief description was given that how individual get effected through the torture of media. In the 2nd session, role and responsibility of media was addressed followed by the discussion on the effective ways of applying investigative journalism and how to report facts in a way that it does not create a feeling of terror in the people.
Monday, April 19, 2010
backbone of australia: its robust economy
Australia's economy is dominated by its services sector, yet it is the agricultural and mining sectors that account for the bulk of Australia's exports. Australia's comparative advantage in the export of primary products is a reflection of the natural wealth of the Australian continent and its small domestic market; 21 million people occupy a continent the size of the contiguous United States. The relative size of the manufacturing sector has been declining for several decades, but has now steadied at around 10% of GDP. Australia currently enjoys a record high terms-of-trade well above its long-run average, reflecting the rise in global commodity prices created by booming demand in China and the drop in prices for imports for manufactured goods, mainly from China.
Since the 1980s, Australia has undertaken significant structural reform of its economy and has transformed itself from an inward-looking, highly protected, and regulated marketplace to an open, internationally competitive, export-oriented economy. Key economic reforms included unilaterally reducing high tariffs and other protective barriers to free trade, floating the Australian dollar, deregulating the financial services sector, including liberalizing access for foreign banks, increasing flexibility in the labor market, reducing duplication and increasing efficiency between the federal and state branches of government, privatizing many government-owned monopolies, and reforming the taxation system, including introducing a broad-based Goods and Services Tax (GST) and large reductions in income tax rates.
Australia enjoys a higher standard of living than any G7 country other than the United States. Australia's economic standing in the world is a result of a commitment to best-practice macroeconomic policy settings, including the delegation of the conduct of monetary policy to the independent Reserve Bank of Australia, and a broad acceptance of prudent fiscal policy where the government aims for fiscal balance over the economic cycle. Largely due to the fall in revenue as a result of the global economic downturn, net government debt is projected to reach about A$188 billion (U.S. $150.4 billion) in four years. The previous government, drawing from budget surpluses, created the “Future Fund” to provide for future liabilities resulting from the retirement of civil servants. The The Government of Australia is predicting negative 0.5% growth in the 2009-2010 fiscal year; the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted growth to be negative 1.4% for 2009.
Over the last year, unemployment has risen to around 5.5% from 4.2%, and the labor market participation has remained at around 65%. Both the federal and state governments have recognized the need to invest heavily in water, transport, ports, telecommunications, and education infrastructure to expand Australia's supply capacity. The largest river system in Australia, the Murray-Darling, and related coastal lakes and wetlands in South Australia are critically threatened and the government has developed a plan to improve irrigation infrastructure and efficiency and buy back unused water allocations along the river.
A second significant issue is climate change. A report commissioned by then-Prime Minister John Howard recommended a domestic carbon emissions trading scheme and that Australia take an active role in developing a future global carbon emissions trading system. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd plans to introduce a domestic carbon trading system by 2011. It aims to reduce emissions by 5% from 2000 levels by 2020; the paper includes the possibility of increasing cuts to 15% should an international commitment to cut emissions be reached.
The Australia-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA) entered into force on January 1, 2005. The AUSFTA was the first FTA the United States concluded with a developed economy since the U.S.-Canada FTA in 1988. Australia also has FTAs with New Zealand-ASEAN, Singapore, Thailand, and Chile, and is pursuing other FTAs, including with China, Japan, Malaysia, and South Korea. A burgeoning trade relationship marked by ongoing, multi-billion dollar resource export contracts and rising manufactured imports has driven FTA negotiations with China.
Since the 1980s, Australia has undertaken significant structural reform of its economy and has transformed itself from an inward-looking, highly protected, and regulated marketplace to an open, internationally competitive, export-oriented economy. Key economic reforms included unilaterally reducing high tariffs and other protective barriers to free trade, floating the Australian dollar, deregulating the financial services sector, including liberalizing access for foreign banks, increasing flexibility in the labor market, reducing duplication and increasing efficiency between the federal and state branches of government, privatizing many government-owned monopolies, and reforming the taxation system, including introducing a broad-based Goods and Services Tax (GST) and large reductions in income tax rates.
Australia enjoys a higher standard of living than any G7 country other than the United States. Australia's economic standing in the world is a result of a commitment to best-practice macroeconomic policy settings, including the delegation of the conduct of monetary policy to the independent Reserve Bank of Australia, and a broad acceptance of prudent fiscal policy where the government aims for fiscal balance over the economic cycle. Largely due to the fall in revenue as a result of the global economic downturn, net government debt is projected to reach about A$188 billion (U.S. $150.4 billion) in four years. The previous government, drawing from budget surpluses, created the “Future Fund” to provide for future liabilities resulting from the retirement of civil servants. The The Government of Australia is predicting negative 0.5% growth in the 2009-2010 fiscal year; the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted growth to be negative 1.4% for 2009.
Over the last year, unemployment has risen to around 5.5% from 4.2%, and the labor market participation has remained at around 65%. Both the federal and state governments have recognized the need to invest heavily in water, transport, ports, telecommunications, and education infrastructure to expand Australia's supply capacity. The largest river system in Australia, the Murray-Darling, and related coastal lakes and wetlands in South Australia are critically threatened and the government has developed a plan to improve irrigation infrastructure and efficiency and buy back unused water allocations along the river.
A second significant issue is climate change. A report commissioned by then-Prime Minister John Howard recommended a domestic carbon emissions trading scheme and that Australia take an active role in developing a future global carbon emissions trading system. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd plans to introduce a domestic carbon trading system by 2011. It aims to reduce emissions by 5% from 2000 levels by 2020; the paper includes the possibility of increasing cuts to 15% should an international commitment to cut emissions be reached.
The Australia-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA) entered into force on January 1, 2005. The AUSFTA was the first FTA the United States concluded with a developed economy since the U.S.-Canada FTA in 1988. Australia also has FTAs with New Zealand-ASEAN, Singapore, Thailand, and Chile, and is pursuing other FTAs, including with China, Japan, Malaysia, and South Korea. A burgeoning trade relationship marked by ongoing, multi-billion dollar resource export contracts and rising manufactured imports has driven FTA negotiations with China.
Friday, April 16, 2010
marriage of a super star and female icon
It is still a mystery that from where a spark of love came, where they met and how they indulged in one an other but what so ever , Pakistani super star, Shoaib Malik and female icon Sania Mirza are together as a married couple.
six months of intimacy, developed on phone, was so strong that for one an other, sania left her fiance Sohrab Mirza and Shoaib left his 'so called wife' Ayesha Siddiqi.
This square reminds me of film , " kabhe alveda na kehna" ....what if Ayesha and Sohrab tie a nod after being dumped by the super stars? if this happens, then then one can say, that they are ardent fans of karan johar's blog buster.
six months of intimacy, developed on phone, was so strong that for one an other, sania left her fiance Sohrab Mirza and Shoaib left his 'so called wife' Ayesha Siddiqi.
This square reminds me of film , " kabhe alveda na kehna" ....what if Ayesha and Sohrab tie a nod after being dumped by the super stars? if this happens, then then one can say, that they are ardent fans of karan johar's blog buster.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
family transition : an issue faced by many adolescents
Family transition is basically family instability. This can be due to divorce, remarriage of the same spouse with one and other or bringing a new member in the house.
It is well said that a house is made up of blocks but a home is made up of love and the major contribution of love is from the parents or the elders of the house. They are the ones who built an environment in a home whether of love, affection and bond relationships or an environment of execration.
The build environment in the house affects every member of the family. It mostly affects the youngsters of the house. The impact of family transition or severe family problems existing in homes affects the child not only the pre natively as well as post natively.
During pregnancy if a woman goes through severe problems, family instability which would naturally make her frustrated and depressed and this will give a negative impact on the child. It is research that personality as well as the health of the child affects. Because nine months till the age of five are crucial age for personality development.
A child is developed whatever he sees and perceives form the environment and especially from family.Parents are the ones who are the building blocks of children. Due to family instability and transition parents would not be able to nurture their children with proper concentration and attention. Constant fights between spouses will create a frustrated personality in a child. The personality of the child will be shattered, lack of confidence, obstinate personality and apathy towards life are common attributes are found in a child who survives in a family which is instable.
Once a personality is made a human is developed. And moreover it also affects the associated lives. Once a child personality is fostered it becomes strong and intense at the age of adolescence. Adolescence is the process and the period of growth between childhood and maturity. It is basically a teenage life when a child starts thinking like an adult but at the same time one’s mind is immature.
Some people perceive a teenager as an adult but at the same time some perceive a child. This is the time when a child start taking decisions and during this period the decisions are mostly highly shrugged. In this age, whatever the situation is most of the adolescents have their nerves chronically on a hair trigged. At the same time teen age is the most crucial and important part of one’s life. Whatever one is through out the life is mostly due to the impacts of adolescent age. In this age children need maximum support of their parents. If they don’t get support from their parents they go here and there. This is the first stage of life when a child starts taking decisions as an adult and because of this inception a child faces many problems. This is the time when a child receives hormonal changes. A turning point goes through emotional, physical and mental changes. And due to these changes a child is confuse all himself.
It is well said that a house is made up of blocks but a home is made up of love and the major contribution of love is from the parents or the elders of the house. They are the ones who built an environment in a home whether of love, affection and bond relationships or an environment of execration.
The build environment in the house affects every member of the family. It mostly affects the youngsters of the house. The impact of family transition or severe family problems existing in homes affects the child not only the pre natively as well as post natively.
During pregnancy if a woman goes through severe problems, family instability which would naturally make her frustrated and depressed and this will give a negative impact on the child. It is research that personality as well as the health of the child affects. Because nine months till the age of five are crucial age for personality development.
A child is developed whatever he sees and perceives form the environment and especially from family.Parents are the ones who are the building blocks of children. Due to family instability and transition parents would not be able to nurture their children with proper concentration and attention. Constant fights between spouses will create a frustrated personality in a child. The personality of the child will be shattered, lack of confidence, obstinate personality and apathy towards life are common attributes are found in a child who survives in a family which is instable.
Once a personality is made a human is developed. And moreover it also affects the associated lives. Once a child personality is fostered it becomes strong and intense at the age of adolescence. Adolescence is the process and the period of growth between childhood and maturity. It is basically a teenage life when a child starts thinking like an adult but at the same time one’s mind is immature.
Some people perceive a teenager as an adult but at the same time some perceive a child. This is the time when a child start taking decisions and during this period the decisions are mostly highly shrugged. In this age, whatever the situation is most of the adolescents have their nerves chronically on a hair trigged. At the same time teen age is the most crucial and important part of one’s life. Whatever one is through out the life is mostly due to the impacts of adolescent age. In this age children need maximum support of their parents. If they don’t get support from their parents they go here and there. This is the first stage of life when a child starts taking decisions as an adult and because of this inception a child faces many problems. This is the time when a child receives hormonal changes. A turning point goes through emotional, physical and mental changes. And due to these changes a child is confuse all himself.
Friday, April 9, 2010
LANGUAGE OF THOUGHT
Language of thought theories fall primarily into two views. The first view sees the language of thought as an innate language known as mentalese, which is hypothesized to operate at a level below conscious awareness while at the same time operating at a higher level than the neural events in the brain. The second view supposes that the language of thought is not innate. Rather, the language of thought is natural language. So, if a person is an English speaker, the language of thought would be English.
The language of thought hypothesis claims that when a person has a thought such as the thought `grass is green', the content of that thought is represented in that person's mind by a sentence. However, according to Jerry Fodor, this sentence is not a natural language sentence like English or Japanese. It is a sentence of an entirely different language - the innate language of thought. The name often given to this language of thought is mentalese. An important feature of mentalese is that it is not a language that we have to learn through experience -- rather, we are born with it. Furthermore, even though we are not directly aware of the language, it underlies all of our thought processes and has a similar structure to that of any of the natural languages. This is to say that mentalese, like English or French, is structured according to certain rules of syntax, which determine how sentences are to be formed in order to give them a semantic (or meaningful) content.
The language of thought hypothesis draws an analogy between thought and computation. Mentalese is equivalent to the computational language of a digital computer, while higher level cognitive functions are achieved through the construction and manipulation of mentalese sentences. Within a digital computer, input received from the outside world (from a video camera say) is converted into strings of symbols, which represents the input data. These symbols constitute the computer's internal language and carry meaning when structured in certain ways.
According to Fodor's language of thought hypothesis, the same is true of the mind. Input from the environment is converted into strings of mentalese symbols, which can then be operated upon by processes in the brain. An innate set of rules determines how sentences are to be structured, and how they are to be manipulated. So, the content of my thought `grass is green' is written in my brain as a string of mentalese symbols -- or in other words, a mentalese sentence. Furthermore, the basic symbols that make up the mentalese sentence `grass is green’ are like the words of a natural language in that their meanings remain constant. The mentalese symbol that stands for `grass' will always stand for `grass', while the mentalese symbol that stands for `green' will always stand for `green'.
The language of thought hypothesis claims that when a person has a thought such as the thought `grass is green', the content of that thought is represented in that person's mind by a sentence. However, according to Jerry Fodor, this sentence is not a natural language sentence like English or Japanese. It is a sentence of an entirely different language - the innate language of thought. The name often given to this language of thought is mentalese. An important feature of mentalese is that it is not a language that we have to learn through experience -- rather, we are born with it. Furthermore, even though we are not directly aware of the language, it underlies all of our thought processes and has a similar structure to that of any of the natural languages. This is to say that mentalese, like English or French, is structured according to certain rules of syntax, which determine how sentences are to be formed in order to give them a semantic (or meaningful) content.
The language of thought hypothesis draws an analogy between thought and computation. Mentalese is equivalent to the computational language of a digital computer, while higher level cognitive functions are achieved through the construction and manipulation of mentalese sentences. Within a digital computer, input received from the outside world (from a video camera say) is converted into strings of symbols, which represents the input data. These symbols constitute the computer's internal language and carry meaning when structured in certain ways.
According to Fodor's language of thought hypothesis, the same is true of the mind. Input from the environment is converted into strings of mentalese symbols, which can then be operated upon by processes in the brain. An innate set of rules determines how sentences are to be structured, and how they are to be manipulated. So, the content of my thought `grass is green' is written in my brain as a string of mentalese symbols -- or in other words, a mentalese sentence. Furthermore, the basic symbols that make up the mentalese sentence `grass is green’ are like the words of a natural language in that their meanings remain constant. The mentalese symbol that stands for `grass' will always stand for `grass', while the mentalese symbol that stands for `green' will always stand for `green'.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
ZOROASTRIAN RITUALS:
Ceremonies and rituals-Kriyakam-constitute an important component of the Zoroastrian Religion,as observed by the Parsis of India.We have amongst us quite a number of religious ceremonies ordained for the good of the living as well as the dead.
Philosophy without religion becomes meaningless. Religion without rituals becomes bland. The rituals of a religion for instance; the husk of a seed, preserves its life and make it germinate. It is only when the rituals are separated from the faith and it is assumed an independent existence that they become mechanical and lifeless. Human beings have not yet reached the altitudes from where they can allot with all sorts of symbols and rituals and devotes themselves to purely abstract ideology. Rituals give a tangible shape to the nonfigurative spiritual ideals and add color and zest to life. Worship of God through images, pictures and symbols, offering oblations into specially consecrated sacrificial fires, the practice of meditation at sunrise, noon and sunset; - these were some of the rituals obligatory on almost all the Hindus during the ancient days. Even to this day, these have been kept up, though in a modified form, and with lesser intensity.
A wisely planned and solemnly conducted ritual prepares the ground, creates the atmosphere, suggests the mood and predisposes the mind so that the spiritual aspirant may easily detach himself from the world and feel the mysterious presence of the Supreme power called God.
Goodness and pureness are strongly linked in Zoroastrianism (as they are in many other religions), and pureness features prominently in Zoroastrian ritual. There is a selection of symbols through which the message of purity is communicated.
Following rituals are carried out at the birth of a person:
• Navjote ceremony
• 'Navjote' means a new initiate who offers Zoroastrian prayers
• ‘Sudreh’
• 'Kusti’
These are the rituals carried out at marriage ceremonies:
• The Curtain of Separation and Its removal.
• Marriage Knot
• Hand-fastening.
• Encircling with the Twist.
• Throwing the Rice
Death is unanticipated yet inevitable. Funeral ceremonies continue for four consecutive days. On the tenth day after death, certain prayers are recited both in the home and in the Fire Temple.
Philosophy without religion becomes meaningless. Religion without rituals becomes bland. The rituals of a religion for instance; the husk of a seed, preserves its life and make it germinate. It is only when the rituals are separated from the faith and it is assumed an independent existence that they become mechanical and lifeless. Human beings have not yet reached the altitudes from where they can allot with all sorts of symbols and rituals and devotes themselves to purely abstract ideology. Rituals give a tangible shape to the nonfigurative spiritual ideals and add color and zest to life. Worship of God through images, pictures and symbols, offering oblations into specially consecrated sacrificial fires, the practice of meditation at sunrise, noon and sunset; - these were some of the rituals obligatory on almost all the Hindus during the ancient days. Even to this day, these have been kept up, though in a modified form, and with lesser intensity.
A wisely planned and solemnly conducted ritual prepares the ground, creates the atmosphere, suggests the mood and predisposes the mind so that the spiritual aspirant may easily detach himself from the world and feel the mysterious presence of the Supreme power called God.
Goodness and pureness are strongly linked in Zoroastrianism (as they are in many other religions), and pureness features prominently in Zoroastrian ritual. There is a selection of symbols through which the message of purity is communicated.
Following rituals are carried out at the birth of a person:
• Navjote ceremony
• 'Navjote' means a new initiate who offers Zoroastrian prayers
• ‘Sudreh’
• 'Kusti’
These are the rituals carried out at marriage ceremonies:
• The Curtain of Separation and Its removal.
• Marriage Knot
• Hand-fastening.
• Encircling with the Twist.
• Throwing the Rice
Death is unanticipated yet inevitable. Funeral ceremonies continue for four consecutive days. On the tenth day after death, certain prayers are recited both in the home and in the Fire Temple.
Friday, April 2, 2010
STRATEGIES TO COPE UP WITH DISASTERS IN PAKISTAN....
Disaster management plans are the strategies that are used to cope up with different types of catastrophes. The ninth five year plan (1998 – 2003), for disaster management in Pakistan are:
1. To make best use of surface and ground water
ii. To attain reasonable and assured allotment of water
Iii. To hoard and use river water flood surpluses through storage dams
iv. To reduce the extent of soaked lands
V. To do profound water related studies
vi. To utilize flood flows including harnessing of hill torrents for augmenting water
availability for irrigation.
vii. To increase the investment rate in the supervision and controlling of flood, including
flood warning and forecasting system.
There are so many plans we have read and heard about but unfortunately all those plans worked only up to extend and the victims face similar problems every time.
1. To make best use of surface and ground water
ii. To attain reasonable and assured allotment of water
Iii. To hoard and use river water flood surpluses through storage dams
iv. To reduce the extent of soaked lands
V. To do profound water related studies
vi. To utilize flood flows including harnessing of hill torrents for augmenting water
availability for irrigation.
vii. To increase the investment rate in the supervision and controlling of flood, including
flood warning and forecasting system.
There are so many plans we have read and heard about but unfortunately all those plans worked only up to extend and the victims face similar problems every time.
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