Kolachi as the name holds a rich culture and heritage which is somewhere lost in the new image of a metro and cosmopolitan city will be highlighted in the photography exhibition themed “Don’t mess with Karachi”.

“PROLOGUE KARACHI”, a beginning of era which will bring forward the city’s better or worse side. The citizens of Karachi will see a new dimension through the camera lens of our young aspiring photographers who have shown and highlighted those areas which are ignored. It covers subjects like architecture, litter, traffic, scenery, society, people, etc.

This Photography exhibition is a part of “Don’t mess with Karachi” anti litter campaign will bring the citizens from all income class and groups under one roof which will flourish the feeling of unity and togetherness for the cause. The event will help in raising funds which will be utilized installing the dustbins in the city. Read more

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With stock exchanges tumbling like domino’s the world over all of us have lost not just a pile of our hard earned savings but a lot of our trust as well.  We as citizens of the world normally believe that

a) The financial system has backup plans and checks built inside to aide the economy and stop a complete meltdown

b) There is a bottom

c) It cannot happen to me

All three of the above have been literally blown to smithereens in the last month or so in Karachi. First the stock exchange went leading to a massive flight of capital, then it did not stop falling in fact it did not stop at all until an artificial freeze had to be put in place to save almost half the brokers of our KSE from completely defaulting and then the coup de grace our rumor mill went into overdrive.

Consider this I just returned from a trip to Dubai and in the first day I have heard that 10 banks in Karachi are going belly up including huge foreign banks in this list of names. That the government is thinking about whether to seize foreign currency accounts or seal and freeze lockers or stop honoring government issued bonds or some other hair brained cockamamie conspiracy that people are dreaming up while counting the pile of gold coins they just converted their life’s worth too because “they just cannot trust anyone anymore” Well HELLOOOOOOO here is a clue doofus, if you keep your entire lives worth in your house or garden or wherever you have it hoarded, in the most insecure city in the world you are basically lying naked and ready for ravishment in a sailors bar.

I wonder what makes sane minded clear headed people scream PANIC PANIC and run to their bank to stand in a queue of their fellow looneys who are withdrawing every penny like its gonna be really worth something in the local currency when & if (god forbid) the country defaults hahahaha!!!

Some are even advising  against sending texts to each other as the “Government” is monitoring all info  to see who makes the most fun out of Zardari so they can pick them up in the middle of the night. I want to know why we need to make fun of him at all? Is he not doing that job pretty darn well all by his lonesome?

Oh and here is a thought while you are busy digging a hole in your floor to hide your jewelry in, when the time comes…all you will need is a flight out of here to save your life. Nothing else will work. So if the mood strikes you I suggest a queue outside the main terminal, I hear planes landing make for peacefull sleep. Also keep a sack handy for your goblin gold as they will readily change that at the disembarkation lounge in london or dubai into the local currency for ya, while you are at it you might want to book a vault in gringotts as well I hear they never go belly up!!!

This city has seen the most horrible times in its existence and I assure everyone that this too shall pass. It may not be as easily navigated as we think it is but in the end Karachi will remain. I would like to appeal for calm and to stop indulging in hoarding as it is driving morals down and the dollar up.

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Faisal Qureshi the host of Ankahi talk show on Samaa TV has initiated a a day long cleanliness drive in Karachi on Sunday 12th October 2008 in collaboration with Loose Ends Pakistan, Ankahi, CDGK and Samaa TV

The objective of the day long campaign is to bring conscientious people together to take ownership of Karachi and play a part in letting it breath again. The project is to clean the clutter created by excessive advertising messages in the form of graffiti painted all over the city. We will begin this project by taking on a section of such an area and completely repainting it.

Loose Ends Pakistan would like to invite all citizens of this city to come together to take a stand and play a part in making Karachi a better place.

For details of the event, watch Samaa TV. For security reasons the venue will be announced through: facebook, Samaa TV, and Chopaal. Please register yourself with Chopaal and add tag “lepkarachi” for live broadcasts of the event.

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Burning of garbage along the Korangi Expressway continues despite repeated complaints by the residents of Qayyumabad and Akhtar Colony.

The citizens complained that Jamshed town officials burn solid waste and garbage at an open space adjacent to the Korangi Expressway, instead of shifting it to proper dumping sites.

“We face problems because of dense clouds of smoke and harmful gases emitting from the burning litter in front of our homes,” the citizens complained. Motorists and commuters traveling on Korangi Expressway also face difficulties, as a large portion of the road remains engulfed in thick smoke.
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I noticed this truck plying on Shahrai Faisal during peak rush hour which carried a MEDEQUIPS shipping label affixed to each wooden crate. I wonder if the rope is sturdy enough to prevent an accidental shift in the load and maybe avoid an accident. These irresponsible means of cargo transportation must be condemned and an attempt must also be made to monitor the huge 20 foot and 40 foot cargo containers that are shuttled around the city with only a flimsy rope to tie it down to the frame of the truck. All such hazards have contributed to some loss of life accident in the past and hence as concerned citizens must make a conscious effort to keep a check on this practice

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The City Government has today launched an initiative of enrolling volunteers to help manage the city’s affairs better.

The drive is aimed at creating a culture of caring for the city amongst its citizens as against the current trend of complaints and lack of ownership to the city’s issues. Issues like olunteering for traffic management, identifying and managing cleanliness issues, helping keeping the city green etc are on top of the list.

Enrollments will commence from tomorrow morning at Civic Centre. All people who enroll for this will be given a “city owner” badge and will become part of its coordnated database.

Come people! wake up! the city needs you. This is your chance to help make things better!

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Not being satisfied by keeping birds and goldfish in their houses anymore Karachi wallas have now resorted to the import and illegal keeping of pets like Lions, Panthers etc to show off their newly acquired wealth and status.

These animals are mostly smuggled in through our grand airport at Karachi, remember how the deportees broke loose there? and are then delivered to their owners home. Two companies are operating in this regard one with offices in Defense and the second with offices in F.B area

Conservation has no place in our society and thus we are along with the SWD (Sindh Wildlife Department) happily looking the other way as these maginificent beasts are being escorted to their cages in posh gardens to be shown off at high teas and such. This is also a dangerous activity as recently PESCHS was in uproar over two lions which escaped from their cages and were seen roaming the streets.

So before we convert our gardens into minizoos and play havoc with the life of fellow citizens by keeping such dangerous carnivorous pets can we stop and think a little? Can the SWD please also do something in this regard as some of the species being smuggled in are endangered.

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Protest against Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s Inhuman & Illegal Detention By US Military

Karachi Press Club - SATURDAY, 9th August 2008 at 6:00 pm
RSVP Facebook Event

Karachiites have jointly decided to condemn the illegal detention and inhuman treatment given to Dr. Afia Siddiqui in Afghanistan since 2003.

Dr Aafia Siddiqui, a highly qualified scientist was kidnapped along with her three children from Karachi in 2003. Since then she has been missing while the Government of Pakistan and US military authorities have refused to acknowledge her existence for the past five years. Recently the human rights activist Yvonne Ridley highlighted the presence of a certain prisoner held captive in US Military jail in Afghanistan called Prisoner 650 who had much resemblance to the Pakistani doctor missing since 2003.

Since then the US Government has tried to launch a massive cover while ’suddenly finding her’ in July 2008 after which she has been charged with assaulting a US officer and is under prosecution in a New York Magistrate court on these counts.
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14th August is just round the corner and we’ve decided to have some of the wonderful memories of partition related here by the authors and commentators. Stories which you have been fed by your grandparents or your parents, who migrated from across the border to begin a new life here in the country made for democracy and equal rights for ALL citizens. Stories my grandparents tell me often, follow:

My grandparents (father side) lived in Bahunagar and then Bombay. My grandfather used to have a tea stall which he used to run along with his elder brother, Ahmed. British army was their regular customer and when they came they came in droves and all the war chat would take place there, albeit in English, a language my grandfather never really understood except for the morsels. He also tells me, whenever in good mood, that Hindu banyas were also his prized customers and they would be very rich and very tidy in their manners and style.

Then they came to Karachi, Pakistan.

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Since a few days I have been hearing about the recent deployment of CCTV cameras throughout the city by the city mayor Mustafa Kamal. The deployment of CCTV cameras at select traffic corridors of Karachi (and soon throughout the city) is to serve multiple purposes ranging from traffic monitoring to policing the area while it may also help catch any corrupt officials who may want siphon off innocent citizens. The whole project took only 6 months to complete and hopefully if used consistently will definitely help improve the security situation in Karachi.

The system is also said to have face recognition software, RFID software, and is connected to the NADRA database. What caught my attention was this booth recently (?) erected in front of Metropole boating a banner afixed to the top, which on afterthought might not be linked together, it generally read “Future Eye Inc. You are being watched CCTV & Network …..” I honestly have no idea what this booth has to do with CCTV deployment (?), is it to create awareness or does this booth have another purpose.

CNN:Airspan Networks a leading provider of WiMAX broadband wireless access networks, announced that City District Government Karachi (CDGK) in Pakistan has successfully deployed Airspan’s 4.9 GHz WiMAX solutions for its IP Closed Circuit Television Video surveillance project in Karachi. CDGK is committed to video surveillance of all major city roads. Airspan is partnering with GCS a U.S. based telecommunications integrator that provides wireless video solutions in Pakistan

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