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Wishing
Hillary Clinton
in the White House
Columnist
Dr S M RAHMAN makes a case for Hillary Clinton to
be in the
While House and gives his reasons.
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It is a great paradox of the US electoral
system that despite very expensive and long drawn
system of canvassing by the two rival parties –
the Republicans and the Democrats – often an
odd independent candidate also runs in the Presidential
race, the final contenders emerge through a very complex
process of primaries, besides series of debates on
electronic media, the ones who gets into the White
House are not often the good choices made by the US
citizens. Sometimes home issues like inflation and
economics assume relatively greater salience over
security or otherwise. Bill Clinton won a decisive
victory over his rival by his powerful verbal punch:
“It’s the economy stupid”. He promised
and delivered and never did his credibility diminish,
despite the conspiracy to tarnish his personal image
during his second tenure through the planting of a
young female internee in the White House.......more
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 Predestination:
The Misperceived Doctrine
Columnist
Brig (Retd) AFTAB AHMAD KHAN says that the world works
on the principle of 'cause and effect' - no one knows
his own destiny. Complete knowledge is with Allah
alone.
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“It is not possible for anyone to believe
except by the permission of Allah, and He lays the
loathsome evil (of disbelief) upon those who will
not use their reason.”
(Qura’n 10:100)
INTRODUCTION
Predestination is the most misconstrued doctrine of
theology; the misunderstanding has been catastrophic
for people and even nations: “That is because
Allah has never changed the grace which He has bestowed
on any people until they themselves first changed
the condition of their inner selves; verily Allah
is Hearer, Knower” (Qur’an 8:53). Predestination
has been defined in different ways, according to the
Oxford Dictionary, “‘Predestination’,
is a doctrine teaching, the action by which God is
held to have immutably determined all (or some particular)
events by an eternal decree or purpose, specially
the preordained salvation of God’s elect. The
Destiny is the predetermined course of events; that
which is destined to happen; the fate of a particular
person, country, etc the ultimate condition; a person’s
lot in life........more
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Freedoms just another word
for nothing left to lose
Columnist FAZAL HABIB
CURMALLY dwells on the politics of Dynasties, Sardars
and Nawabs, and hopes that a new group of thinking
Pakistani politicians will emerge to serve this country,
instead of themselves.
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“Freedoms
just another word for nothing left to lose, nothings
good if it ain’t free
– Lines from “Me and Bobby McGee.”
This month, I want to continue
where I left off last month and this article is
meant to serve as a mirror for all the things we
Pakistanis are in the main and there are exceptions.
I sincerely hope the National Elections bring about
a generational change as far as our political leaders
and members to the assemblies go. We need a new
way of thinking. My generation has been the bridge
for my children and grandchildren. I want them to
love this country. I don’t want them to cultivate
our bad habits, especially the one of bad mouthing
Pakistan. And this will be the subject I am writing
on........more
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Supporting
the World's
Largest Democracy
Dr QADAR BAKHSH BALOCH and
M. ZULFIQAR KHAN NIAZI analyze India's Space and Missile
technology and conclude that it is not an indigenous
effort but the outcome of a number of helpers.
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Abstract
US-India bilateral cooperation in the areas in
the areas of civilian space activities, civilian nuclear
programs, and high-technology trade and to expand
discussions on missile defense is the corner stone
of the New Step in Strategic Partnership (NSSP) launched
in January 2004. Indian quest to acquire ICBM capability
is spanned over more than four decades and is largely
based on space launched technology acquired through
foreign sources. Though the United States has taken
different steps over the last several decades to restrict
missile proliferation, but in case of India, the sincerity
and inconsistent application of nonproliferation policies
have always been criticized at all levels. The ongoing
US-Israel space cooperation with India indirectly
aims to strengthen and improve its ICBM capabilities-a
step necessary for transforming India a global power
and tilt the balance of nuclear power in the region.........more
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The
other side of Benazir Bhutto
Columnist
ADNAN ADIL analyzes the politics of Benazir Bhutto
and contends that as a politician, she showed little
regard for principles.
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We have
a culture of mourning; and we are very good
at it. When someone dies, we dry-clean the person
and start showering praise on him ignoring his
flip side. So is happening with Ms Benazir Bhutto.
It reminds one of a death in a family where
all the near and far relatives flock to the
funeral and start wailing.
There is a barrage of essays in newspapers shedding
tears on her assassination and projecting a
larger than life image of her. In a display
of hypocrisy, as the commodity abounds in this
land of pure, even those journalists who were
instrumental in bringing down her two governments
and maligning her as an extremely corrupt ruler
are now admiring her.......more
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Anatomy
of the energy
crisis in Pakistan
Columnist
Muhammad Asif looks into the energy crisis in Pakistan
that, he says, has not appeared overnight but has
developed gradually over the years.
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The New Year,
2008, dawns upon Pakistan as it embraces the worst
energy crisis of its history.
It happens at a time when energy is considered to
be the backbone of human activities and also a vital
commodity for the survival of modern economies. The
crisis is at its early stages yet it has come down
very hard. There is a gap of nearly 4500MW of electricity
in the demand and supply equation. Considering the
size of the national electricity market, it is a massive
shortfall. Typical figures during the first week of
January (as declared by Pakistan WAPDA in its daily
report) indicate a supply of 7,237MW against a demand
of 11,509MW. It indicates a shortage of 40%. The situation
with gas supply is not enviable either. The highlights
of the underperformance on part of the two sources
are load shedding, brown shedding, and lengthy and
frequent disruption in their supply. Severity of power
shortage can be understood from the fact that even
the provincial capitals and major cities are facing
power disruption of up to 10 hours. In many cases
there is 1-2 hour of power disruption after every
30 minutes. While this is the treatment with cities,
the miserable state of the remote areas and smaller
towns and villages can well be imagined.
The energy crisis has driven the whole country in
a chaotic situation. Any sector in the country one
can think about; household, industry, health, agriculture,
education, transportation, business, trade and commerce,
none is able to get along with routine functions.......more
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Iran
Crisis and the
Ummatic Paradigms
Columnist
HUMAIRA MASIHUDDIN believes that the Muslim world
now has
no choice but to get up and revitalize the Ummatic
Paradigm.
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About two years
ago some lawyers of the Islamabad Bar Association
requisitioned a general body meeting to discuss
the undue pressure exerted by the IAEA on Iran regarding
its nuclear programme. At the end of the debate
a resolution was adopted unanimously by the Islamabad
Bar declaring that “An attack on Iran will
be considered by us to be an attack on Pakistan”.
Contrast that with the way the Middle Eastern leaders
received the diatribe that Bush launched against
Iran, recently.
At the time of the Islamabad Bar resolution Iran
was facing a threat which had yet to take shape
and direction. That threat has now taken a serious
turn. The same rhetorical nonsense that preceded
the attack on Iraq has now started poring out of
Washington, the capital which has sponsored a record
number of terrorist attacks across the globe. Watching
Bush’s tour of the Middle East and his engagement
with the Arab leaders, it seemed that the concept
of the Muslim World had never existed but had been
a figment of our collective imagination.........more
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Myth
of the Loose Nukes
Columnist
SALMA MALIK calls upon NCA/SPD for more engagement
with opinion makers/audiences to dispel misconceptions
about Pakistan's nuclear programme.
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It was pretty heartening
to watch on the television screen, one of the top
men of our national command authority sitting across
the table chatting about the Pakistani nukes very
nonchalantly, for not only was this the first time
ever that an official from this very important institution
made a public appearance, but also that hopefully
now onwards the work function of NCA or its secretariat
- the SPD will no longer remain a sacred cow i.e.
by way of providing more transparency. This recent
TV appearance was necessitated in response to the
many questions and speculations circulating in the
foreign press about the security of the Pakistani
nuclear assets, which invariably get duplicated
by our own media. As the discussion went ahead,
various speculative scenarios were brought up, amongst
them as to who has the ultimate finger on the button
of the Pakistani nukes. One couldn’t help
but recall television coverage several years back
of the Russian President Yelstin attending Jordanian
King Hussain’s funeral with his close aide
holding a brief case “chained” to the
wrist. For a good five to ten minutes, the entire
course of international media coverage was focused
on that factor, as Alexander Lebed’s famous
briefcase nukes were the most talked about issue
at that time........more
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India
terminates IGMDP
Columnist
Gp Capt (Retd) SM HALI gives an insight into India's
Integrated Guided Missile Development Program.
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“Dreams
float on an
impatient wind,
A wind that wants to create
a new order,
An order of strength and
thundering of fire.”
The lines above
are from a poem penned by former Indian President
(Dr.) Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, and father
of India’s Integrated Guided Missile Development
Program. According to Bharat-Rakshak.com, the consortium
of Indian Military and Defense websites, “It
was the brilliant Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam who breathed
life into ballistic missiles like the Agni and Prithvi,
which put China and Pakistan well under India’s
missile range.” Before dwelling upon Dr. Kalam,
a brief introduction of IGMDP is in order......more
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