There is a massive traffic jam from Baloch colony to Nursary. Avoid this route if you are traveling on share-e-faisal.
One of KMB author MB is stuck in this traffic jam and updating us. Does any one know the reason of this traffic jam!!?? or is it the usual, a VIP movement?

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As an urban location Karachi has always been slightly expensive to live in. Recently though the cost of living in this great city of ours has risen by astronomical amounts, with the cost of every day usage products going up by 30 - 40% in the last few months. If we study this increase in costs over the last 2 years we will see a difference of almost double in prices.

In Jan 2006, a five-litre tin of Dalda cooking oil was for Rs395, which has now increased to Rs750. Ghee saw a similar increase, with the five-litre tin going from Rs395 to Rs730. Similarly, Basmati rice went from Rs36 per kg to Rs85-90 during the same period, while kernel rice went from Rs50 per kg to Rs105. Basmati tota has gone from Rs22 per kg to Rs54-60, while Irri 9 is tagged at Rs65 as opposed to Rs16 per kg in Jan 2006.

Obviously nobodies income has doubled in the last two years, specially the salaried class. Therefore everyone is feeling the pinch of these rising costs. People are using less fuel, eating out less and buying only essentials to make their days go by.

The point is though, as an agri based nation how can we allow our prices to go up by so much? Most of this is a result of bad policing i.e the current export of rice from our nation, when there is a shortage of it locally.

I appeal to our new city government to please provide a subsidy in essential food products rather than spending it on meaningless flyovers. I know traffic has to be distributed as well, but the rate of suicides in this city is going up day by day, i would rather be stuck in a jam then see my fellow karachites stand in long lines for flour. I also appeal that immediate bans be placed on the export of all essential food groups from our city and nation.

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Are we surprised? Definitely not, and one needs to be too naive to know who could do it. And rest assure, this will be JUST-ANOTHER scandal going down the drain. So well, ladies and gentlemen just like it happens in every fairy (devil) tale of this city once again an accident, fire, or some similar drama had to happen to save the MAN from being humiliated. This is what THE NEWS came up with few days back and this is now where the script is heading :- ( What’s interesting (or may be not interesting) is none of the local channels are reporting this. Probably the 90-factor is too difficult to ignore. )

Related: PkPolitics

The master file containing the secret official record and copies of 3,128 eligibility certificates of government properties sold in Karachi in open market and the official correspondence of former housing minister Safwanullah, has been stolen from the housing ministry.

The file contained the relevant information and the hand written decisions of the former minister. The official order of inquiry into the stealing of the master file reads that “the master file was submitted to the minister housing Safwanullah and since then it was missing”.
read FULL STORY

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Later today evening the police in Karachi did a massive crackdown on gangsters located within the densely populated area of Lyari which then erupted in a gun battle, reports came in that a few people have been killed and a number injured. It seems that IG Karachi Shoaib Suddle in getting into action

Police in Karachi were embroiled in a deadly gunbattle with gangsters Wednesday in Lyari, a rundown town of the country’s biggest city. Police sent 100 officers and four armoured vehicles into Lyari on Wednesday in a bid to arrest underworld kingpins fighting a bloody turf war, Lyari police chief Imran Shaukat said. However, the officers met stiff resistance from gang members armed with automatic weapons and hand grenades. Shaukat said there were “a few casualties, some fatal.” He said at least one gangster was killed and police also suffered casualties. DAWN Latest News

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When I first saw Zong’s ad, I was really fascinated with the brand and liked their campaign style and execution. I even went to the extent of finding out which company made this for China Mobile; its Adetude. However, a friend of mine pointed out a video which opened my eyes. Their TVC is a total rip-off of Dolphin Telecommunication Provider–an old UK-based company–which initiated with specific Services to Corporate Sector. See for yourself:

So, are we that dry in coming up with creative ideas that sell?

Hint by Farnaz Shama

Previous links: Zara hat ke, Cellular Appetite

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Lets step aside for a moment and take a look at our city Karachi.

I think of sharing my views with you guys, actually I have just been on a trip to Islamabad and Muree, although I went there primarily for some personal business and not on a vacation to enjoy. I did try take that opportunity and visited the well-known tourist points in Islamabad and Muree. Undoubtedly the places in Muree such as Neelam Point, Bhurband - Pearl Continental, Kashmir Point, the chair lifts and cable cars in Patriata are superbly beautiful. The cleanliness and strict laws of Islamabad and a few worth visiting places are simply awesome. Most importantly the road-trip from Islamabad to Muree is the most enjoyable because of the stunning natural beauty and the curvy dangerous narrow two-way roads cut between the green mountains. Multiple routes connecting Islamabad and Muree are simply unexplainable. Some of you might have been there, but for those who haven’t, let me tell you - I enjoyed the places in the off season, you can imagine what it would be like in the “on” seasons. You have got to be there, take a break from our busy and fast lives and give yourself some good time.

You can see the photos here. I tried to write about the trip while I was there and I did make some posts on my blog, but I lost track in all the traveling and stuff. I was seriously thinking of extending my visit and and spending some more time in Muree, but I had to cut short my tour and get back, my leave was expiring and I didn’t have much cash in hand.

The point in making this post is not to just share my trip details with you, but to actually share what I learned / realized from the trip besides everything. It was a four-day trip from Wednesday till Sunday, on Saturday night I was in the hotel room in Islamabad, I was on the flight to Karachi the next morning.

On Saturday night something came up and I thought I should go out and buy what I need. My hotel was near Aabpara Market (its a busy market). Its 10:30 in the night and what I see amazed me. Every shop was closed, there were just a few people on the street, SATURDAY NIGHT and no cars! I found only a bakery, a medical store and few other shops left open. It was like a day of strike in Karachi! Anyway, I kept walking until I reached the medical store, I just had my dinner so I thought of trying out a meetha pan of Islamabad, and guess what! They don’t have khokas! On the whole road, I walked about 20 minutes, there was no sign of a khoka or any shop from where I could find a pan. May be there was such a shop but got closed as it was “too late”. I don’t mean to portray Islamabad as the “city that always sleeps”, but for me (being a karachitte) it was unusual.

As for the food, the well-known food-street (a.k.a food-court) in Islamabad, for crying out loud! I can’t find a single place where I could get Chicken Biryani. I ate every thing from Pulao to stuff like yellow rice with boiled chicken in the name of my dear Chicken Biryani! The spicy chicken ginger! oh so sweet! and the mini buns by the names zinger burger. I couldn’t find KFC, McDonals, Pizza Huts so common as they are in Karachi, in fact, I never saw one in my whole trip! I realized it when I reached Karachi Airport and saw a big yellow ‘M’ just in front of it along the parking area! :)

All night I was just thinking and comparing the three cities. Besides the natural beauty in Muree and it being an official tourist place, I was just left comparing Islamabad with Karachi.

I came to realize that Islamabad is as good as nothing in terms of Implementation of Law and cleanliness in Pakistan, the underpasses seems to be just a regular natural inclining and declining road due to the mountainous area -unlike Karachi’s underpasses when you bounce off 3 feet in the air while entering one and the drainage cover moves and sounds like its broken into 5 pieces and you just made the 5 pieces 8 with your car, they sometimes also fills up with water too :) .

There is no signal violation, no car on or ahead the zebra crossing on the signal, even the police or government cars being fined for breaking the signal or any road law. There are no coaches or mini buses, “khaan-taiyaara” or “sarko ki malka” -type vehicles on the roads, only 14-seater vans for public transportation. Very few bikes, very very wide roads, proper road signs, minimum chaos on the roads. In short everything is so damn perfect as compared to Karachi and its core and most talked-about problems.

I took my expensive phone with me and I was literally roaming around and showing off :) in the streets in ISB and muree taking pictures and messaging never fearing that a 125 bike will be coming from behind and I’ll be greeted with a shining metal of a gun as a reward to my showoff. Its a lot better in terms of street crimes.

But there is nothing like the life in Karachi! I always thought of myself as a boring person, but I realized that I’m much more fun being in Karachi than anywhere around the country (as far as I have been). You can never have a life that you have in Karachi anywhere else.

Keeping aside the crimes, traffic problems, political uncertainty and every small and major issue, I can bet that once you get a break from Karachi you will realize that we curse the city way too much and how much we are dependent on the life of Karachi. Its not like “aankh aujhal Pahar Aujghal” its like once you get on a “pahar” you will have a much better, clear and true realization of what you have been into and what you have been missing all the way.

I hope that every Karachitte feels and realize what the city Karachi really is and how we are connected to it in every aspect of our lives. Being bloggers, writers readers or any one from Karachi who thinks about Karachi, needs to get a different perspective every once in a while to change our thoughts and views, and probably alter our attitude towards our City.

Its us that is Karachi and its Karachi that is us, a codependent association that needs a little tough outside the box.

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Let’s see how many of you can guess this, answers at 9 o clock. As a hint, here’s a translation of the poetry on the wall:

This thing is for looking, look at it again & again
Talk to it, Look at it closer
The head of a human, the body of an animal
This is not real but an illusion.

Image credit: To be revealed with the answer!

Update at 11:58 PM : Sorry about the delay, but as most of you have figured out, the correct answer is of course, Karachi Zoo. Thanks to Umair Mohsin for the image who uploaded it on Flickr yesterday. Read more

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The purpose of city nazim Mustafa Kamal’s on-going trip to the United States has been the subject of much discussion lately. All three major English dailies, Dawn, The News and Daily Times have carried stories on it recently.

On Monday, Daily Times reported he was getting “special treatment” from the State Department because they viewed him as a potential future leader of the country. The report in Monday’s The News was also on similar lines, it quoted CNN’s State Department Correspondent Zain Virje as saying that the mayor of Karachi was a “guest with a mission”. Daily Times also published the full transcript of the interview Kamal gave to Virje, and even though Kamal played down speculation about the purpose of his visit, telling Dawn’s Anwer Iqbal that he had come to the United States to urge American businessmen to invest in his city, speculation is still rife. Read more

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Few days back speaking to general workers convention at 90, Altaf Hussain said MQM doesn’t take a second to kick workers out on corruption charges. Indeed it was a good show for the cameras but the harsh reality on the ground is quite contrary. Many of you have seen these clips on TV recently but such stories are just formalities. Since poor chaps like WK cannot go beyond or take on BIG GUNS but at his place its a drop in ocean. THE NEWS makes a stunning disclosure yesterday about the biggest scam in the real estate history of Pakistan and which should have been all over NEWS papers today but since the GUN rules in KHI, publishing this story itself was a big deal for THE NEWS. Rauf Klasra has done a stunning job indeed.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has canceled with immediate effect 3,281 eligibility certificates issued by outgoing MQM housing minister Syed Safwanullah for government properties and accommodations in Karachi estimated to be worth Rs 450 billion.

Bulk of these properties was quietly sold in the private market by those who had received these illegal certificates. The prime minister who may face political pressure from his party’s new coalition partner in Sindh after this decision, has also ordered the immediate ejection of all those now illegally occupying these government properties and houses. The buyers of most of these government properties were given eligibility certificates by the housing minister during 2005-2008 but they sold them in the open market and disappeared. Read COMPLETE story

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Despite repeated rhetoric by the authorities (March 31, 2007: No leniency in plastic bag ban says Sindh Minister for Environment and Alternative Energy, Dr Saghir Ahmed, April 30, 2007: Drive against plastic bags intensified, city district government claims, March 17, 2007:Plastic bag transportation in and out of the city to be checked says city nazim Mustafa Kamal), it has become increasingly apparent that the environment is the last thing on their agenda. Since the ban against plastic bags below the 30 micron weight limit was put into place last year, both the local city district and provincial governments have come out several times with tall claims about strict enforcement of the ban. Yet we see in practice that their claims couldn’t be further from the truth. Read more

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Khuda ke Liye broke the boundaries and became the first Pakistani movie to be shown in Indian cinemas in many years. After the ban on Indian movies was lifted in Feb 2008, there’s been a slow but steady trickle of releases, the first of which was “Welcome”.

However, none of the releases as yet boasted outdoor advertising of their own:

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Karachi firefighters remain busy putting off fire at towel factory near gabol town on Internatinal firefighters day.

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So on my way around Itwaar Bazaar earlier today, as I was busy taking footage for a documentary I’m working on, I came across a really sad looking “stall” in my camera. To my horror, it was a Warid umbrella, trying to sell phone connections. The additional attraction was that “Golden numbers were availale”. (No.. the spelling IS correct! the guy told me!! Please see their magnificent attempt on the signage” (please read on for the video) Read more

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The fact that ‘Shoaib Akhtar’s ban has been postponed for a month” seems to have made the top headlines on every television channel, and will, no doubt, lead many newspapers tomorrow. The fact that the price of milk has gone up by 6 rupees, of course, is a mention as the 4th news item. It’s obviously not REALLY important. Read more

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Founded in 2004 the “Karachi Vocal Ensemble” has appeared regularly at various events, including at the Alliance française. Its repertoire varies from madrigal to musical. They are accompanied at the piano by Ayesha Tariq and Hiroko Yasunori.

Program:

1)Waltz in F major (F. Chopin)
2) Sonata no. 17, 2nd and 3rd movement (W.A. Mozart)
3) Se lontan ben mio tu sei (W.A. Mozart)
4) Plaisir d’amour (J. Martini)
5) Consolation (F. Liszt)
6) Habanera (from ‘Carmen’ by G. Bizet)
Short Interval
7) None but the lonely heart (P.I. Tchaikovsky)
8) Etude no. 4 (F. Chopin)
9) Scherzo no. 1 (F. Chopin)
10) Veris leta facies (from ‘Carmina Burana’ by C. Orff)
11) Tourdion (P. Attaingnant)
12) Gnomenreigen or Dance of the Gnomes (F. Liszt)

Participant list:

Piano: Ayesha Tariq, Hiroko Yasunori
Conductor: Ayesha Fiaz Uddin
Sopranos: Iris Yang, Kazuyo Arae, Maartje Fiaz Uddin, Magdalena Khan, Sanam Saeed,
Altos: Ayesha Tariq, Hiroko Yasunori, Mrs. Lee, Ruth Bavington, Saman Shamsie
Tenors: Michael Menezes, Momin Zafar, Omer Jamil
Basses: Austen Freitas, Dr. Graham Platts, Arthur Rodrigues

On: Saturday 03 May, 2008
Time: 8:30pm
Location: Karim Administrator Alliance Française de Karachi Plot, St. 1, Block 8, Kehkashan, Clifton, Karachi.
Admission: Free passes available at the reception prior to the concert.
For more call on 5873402, 5862864.

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