According to this news report gov. has approved 51 projects including the KCR. This project is pending for last 30+ years now and before we see it on ground GOD knows how many more years the public in karachi will suffer. “The KCR project is expected to be executed in three years at a cost of Rs52.372 billion with a foreign component of Rs39.257 billion. The 50 km railway project will have 21 underpasses and overhead bridges and 23 stations in the city. The Circular Railway would carry 700,000 passengers daily through 246 trains.”

Other : urbanpk

Image : Adnan Zafar

NAPA [Wikipedia] was slowly becoming a good center for performing arts and this latest development will surely hurt this vibrant industry.

The Sindh government has directed the National Academy of Performing Arts to vacate the Hindu Gymkhana within three months. According to sources, in its notice to Napa chief Zia Mohyeddin, Sindh culture secretary Shams Jafrani has accused the institution of violating the agreement signed between the arts body and the government under which the gymkhana was rented out to the academy.

Source Dawn

(more…)

Few days back, our current President of Pakistan visited the last resting place of Quaid-e-Azam in Karachi. On the Tomb’s diary, he left the above message. What spelling, what verve. Do I have to say more?

A very worrisome news report appeared on the front page of Daily Times yesterday, which was again highlighted on ATP as well

On average, 100 women are raped every 24 hours in Karachi city alone, and a majority of them are working women, said Additional Police Surgeon (APS). Dr Zulfiqar Siyal told Daily Times “…. very few rape survivors have the courage to come forward in search of justice.”

They do not come forward because of the lengthy medical process and delayed justice system in Pakistan. Only 0.5 percent of cases are reported and the majority (99.5 percent) of survivors prefers to stay silent. Part of the problem is that there are 11 medico-legal sections in three major public sector hospitals but there are only six women medico-legal officers (WMLOs) for the 18 million population of Karachi. “I am sure that there are more than 100 rape cases every day … but you can gauge how many are reported from the official data which says that during the last eight months (between January to August 2008) a total of 197 cases were reported,”

I am aware there are some brilliant initiatives already afloat on this issue, so I open the debate allowing people to highlight this problem, offer solutions [existing and planned] which we as the ‘educated section of society‘ can hopefully help to improve.

I happened to observe this motorbike cruising down Shahrah-e-Fasial a few days back, somehow the two additional wheels on the side did catch my attention. Observing the motorbike make its way down the road it was interesting to observe him casually shifting his weight from one wheel to the other with such ease that at first it seemed uncomfortable for me [simply observing him] as I felt he might just tip over and crash, but as I continued following I realized it was quite a fun ride. Literally no issues of balance to worry about granted it might increase the drag but it must be a god-send for handicapped individuals.

For those who have driven / ridden a motorbike might be able to relate the awkward sensation of ‘not’ balancing yourself, the two additional wheels on the side slightly elevated off the ground does only engage when the balance shifts to the other side. Best off all, I somehow enjoyed watching the passenger perched on the back enjoying the ride.

Considering the mess KESC is already in, the Al Abraj group is set to take over the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) on Tuesday.

After the privatisation, Aljomaih had taken over the utility on Nov 29, 2005, but the KESC management passed on to new owners who had 50 per cent right shares.

Dawn

(more…)