Load-shedding !

Finally after three years or so this is the first Saturday that i got off.Thanks to some really indigenous policy makers who decided that giving a long weekend break will save electricity.

I wonder how can we overcome this shortage of electricity just by saving energy ? What most people are not paying attention to is adding new mega-watts to the national grid.With growth in population this increase in demand of electricity will grow exponentially.We need new power plants and soon.

We cannot rely on thermal power plants only.They are way too expensive to operate.Its high time our country invests in renewable energy sources such as wind,solar,bio-gas,hydro-electricity.

To top it all, now we will have gas load shedding too.Amazing.We being an agricultural country are surrounded by livestock manure which can easily be utilized to make bio-gas.Why not go for the alternatives ? If we can spend billions on oil import we can definitely spare some money for these renewable energy projects.

Sunday !!

Finally its Sunday again...what a relief ! In today's fast paced world people like me get only one day to live their lives. A day when i don't have to worry about work,stress and deadlines.A day i can enjoy with whomever i want to. A day when i actually feel that I'm a living person and not a machine who goes through the same routine everyday.
No matter how close the deadline is i never work on Sundays(although sometimes i have to face the consequences).But come on, a weekend is time to relax not to complete your work.
I would like to give the same suggestion to my readers,enjoy your weekends,spend some quality time with your family and friends,go out get some fresh air,in short get a life guys...

Ups and Downs...

First of all i apologize to anyone who had been waiting to hear from me.I could not write sooner...Or maybe i didn't want to.
Recently my life has been like a roller coaster ride with lots of ups and downs,bumps and potholes.I've been bombarded with tests and assignments which are taking up most of my time.Even when I'm not studying I'm just lying down there thinking about my tests.And yes i admit I'm a procrastinator...can't help it.
I guess the same old boring routine is taking its tall on me.I need a vacation please get me outta here !!!
Well I'll be writing again once i get a bit free.So till then take care !

Hungry and Homeless

Today i went shopping for some groceries.It would've been just another usual trip had it not been for that incident.While i was shopping a boy came up to me.He was about 8 or 9 years old,wearing a torn blue shirt,dirty black shorts and was bare footed.He asked me to buy bread for him.As a natural response i hushed him away at first.But when i turned to face him something just made me freeze.
Maybe it was his face,maybe it was his innocence or maybe it was his eyes.Deep hollow eyes that had no sparkle of life in them.It was as if i could see his hunger and helplessness through his eyes.His eyes were full of sorrow and fear.I felt sad for the poor boy and bought him some bread.
On my way back i could not concentrate.My mind was full of thoughts about the boy.Where did he live ? Who are his parents ? Why did his parents leave such a cute little child alone ? When will the boy have his next meal ? Will someone feed him ? Where will the poor fellow sleep at night ?
I don't know how many such hungry,homeless children are there in Pakistan but i know one thing,there are many.
Why is our society so ignorant of such poor innocent children ? Don't they deserve to live a normal happy life ? Don't they deserve three meals a day,a shelter and an education ? Why not-only because they were born poor ?
Our social security net will have to be strengthened to help these innocent souls. Their future is Pakistan's future.If the government is not willing to help them then we should help them on our own.They're our responsibility.They're our children...

Can we do it ??

For many years now Pakistan has been trying to come up with an internationally recognized research based university. The neighboring India and other regional countries like Malaysia,Singapore,China have become much more academically advanced and that has further increased the urgency to create new universities of international standards or improve the existing ones.
In 2009 Pakistan tried to setup an engineering university with French assistance but the attempt failed due to the law and order situation as probably French professors feared for their lives to teach in a country like Pakistan.
Plagiarism is one of the most important factor leading to declining standards in our universities.Copying others' work and using illegal methods to pass exams is making our educational system inefficient.
Also at many institutes appointed teachers are not up to the mark.A teacher is the primary source of knowledge to students.If the teacher is not competent enough how can students be good ?
Lack of proper equipment in laboratories, lack of funds,corruption in educational institutes are all major contributors that have led our educational system into this mess.
Of course there are certain institutions that are providing quality education such as Lahore University of Management Sciences,Ghulam Ishaq Khan Insitute of Engineering and Technology,IBA etc. But,it must be noted that these institutes are not affordable to all and the number of scholarships are extremely limited.
The country needs at least five to six universities of global recognition within the next 15 years to remain competitive in the academic field,but the question is can we do it ??

Of An Irresponsible Nation

Four to eight hours of daily load-shedding,a total shortage of 4500 MW of electricity,worst power shortage in the history of the country.Yet,when you go out in the mornings you can see street lights on.
Hundreds of small and big parks in the country where lights are on until midnight but in residential areas we have to live without electricity for hours at times.Why not close down all parks as soon as it gets dark and channel that electricity to hospitals,residential and industrial areas ? But no,people need relaxation,they need parks to enjoy...
Nobody cares about babies crying all night because of the heat,no one cares about students not being able to study for their exams.Why should anyone care for patients being operated in darkness with the help of torch light because there's no electricity?

And then we say why are we called the third world ? If in 63 years we can't light a bulb what else do we deserve ?

Why go far ?

I have never understood the nature of Pak-China relationship. Although we claim we are two countries that share same interests in the South-Asian region but we lack bilateral partnerships.
China is one of the strongest economy today.It is much more technologically advanced than Pakistan yet when Pakistan needs any expertise it looks towards Europe or America,why not look towards your neighbor for support?
The current crisis in the energy sector can be easily overcome by China's help.China produces a huge share of its electricity from coal.It is not a hidden fact that Pakistan too has large reserves of coal,so why not involve China and benefit from their experience?
When it comes to universities China produces a huge number of PhD's every year.But when Pakistan wants to build an international university we look towards the French. Why not build a university with Chinese partnership ?
International collaboration is necessary to survive in this global world,but why do we need to go far for everything when we have a supportive neighbor.
Pakistan should learn from the cooperation amongst the member countries of European Union and try to initiate new partnership programs with China.