Edit Karachi Map Here

This will naturally be a work in progress and soon we might have a very good database of Karachi, but in the mean time I thought it may be interesting to hear from the community the present status of development of the local GPS maps in continuation to our numerous posts before (2005 Maps, Google Earth Karachi, 2006 Karachi Maps?, 2007 Map it with Naqsha & in 2008 ApnaKarachi).

My own fascination with GPS maps stems from my recent activities with the OffRoadPakistan group which often heads off into the uncharted wilderness of Baluchistan and Sindh almost 5-6 times a year literally breaking away from the hectic Karachi life for a few days of hardcore adventure. Despite having some expert navigators within the group, I pitched in to buy Garmin Nuvi 660 (it was more to satisfy my gadget-fanaticism, I have since then, uploaded it with the Mapsource WorldMap data but found it to be practically useless for street navigation in Pakistan. I’m just sharing a few pictures from our Goran Gatti trip in Jan 2008

In search of a better map I also came across the brilliant effort on Naqsha.net, Islamabad is decently well mapped but the Naqsha maps of Karachi leaves a lot to be desired for. Extending my hunt I also stumbled across a retailer who claimed to have Garmin maps for Karachi (!!) willing to sell it to me for Rs.6500. So the big question here…. Is there any decent maps on Karachi & Pakistan which can be used or do we have to wait up until progress is made on the Google Maps?

_{Credits: Adnan Siddiqi & Noman}

Yesterday this image caught my attention when rounding the Hotel Metropole. It seems that quite a few travel agents are very serious about sending a strong statement to AirBlue over their tussle regarding the way AirBlue ticket pricing

The News, 24th June 2008: Travel Agents Association of Pakistan (TAAP) on Monday vowed to maintain the embargo on the sale of Airblue tickets fearing that any relaxation will encourage other carriers to reduce their commissions as well. In a general body meeting held here, members of the association said the private airline since June 3, 2008, increased fuel surcharge but decreased travelling fare, which is used to calculate fixed margin of agents who in reprisal stopped selling its tickets. “An airline calculates its fare structure on basis of total expenditure including fuel surcharge and travel agents earn commission on that fare value,” said Tahir Sheikh, Regional Chairman TAAP. “And on this commission we pay withholding tax to government.” He said change in mechanism to calculate commission has not only reduced profitability of travel agents but decision will cost government taxes. TAAP claimed that its members paid Rs240 million to government in taxes on sale of Air Blue tickets.

The first time I saw this pattern being made on a billboard near Marriott (on the Emirates-wala Billboard) I wondered what new marketing campaign was being planned for Karachi, but it wasn’t long when we started seeing the same pattern being cut away on a large number of billboards across the city. It must be an attempt to make these billboards lighter, while at the same time be better designed to withstand the gale force winds that Karachi saw a year back. Good move, though I would still have preferred a billboard-free Karachi

Today at the stroke of midnight there was a short announcement on almost all media outlets, but even then I heard some confusion, as to which way the clocks must be adjusted, so for those who might still find it difficult to remember the system, learn a simple cheat code Spring Forward - Fall Back. In April which is around the spring season you adjust your clocks one hour forward, while in October which is the fall season you adjust your clocks one hour backward. Hence Spring Forward & Fall Back

Do yourself and your family a favor, take round of your entire house and tweak all the clocks that you see, cell phones and also adjusting computer clocks, in the process ask others to also comply taking special care to assist any household help to comply with the new regulations, lets help conserve energy, its a start

To read more on the advantages & disadvantages of DST- check out the clouds / nodes explanation on Daylight Savings Time, or read up more on the Wikipedia article

Approximately 10 percent of the population has some form of disability and more than 14,000,000 people of the country sleep with some disability. Keeping this in mind, a philosophy was stimulated for people with disability to discover and utilize their unquestionable ability to elevate their lives. ExtraCorp, (a project of School of Leadership Foundation) creates opportunities of entrepreneurship for people with mental and physical disabilities. The School of Leadership Foundation is a non-profit organization. It is the goal of SOLF to economically enable persons with disability to lead independent, entrepreneur ventures by providing attitudinal, vocational and managerial training and long term interest free funds.

Taare Zameen Par was previously discussed on KMB by Afreen here

Seaview Karachi by Abro on Flikr

Best viewed in Original size

This specific picture is off the sign located on Fatima Jinnah road at the MAHS & Sh-Faisal intersection (Awami Markaz), but I also witnessed another similar signboard being welded specfically jsut before this same Awami Markaz signal on main Shahrai Fasial (traffic heading towards saddar) which also read the similar rules, preventing the right turn and a much used U-turn at the same signal.

I personally think this is a good move and will lighten the traffic congestion drastically on the main artery, I have yet to see if the Tipu Sultan signal has been handled in this similar manner as that too is a sore spot for many rush hour traffic commuters. Just a warning out to those who might get caught confused in this sudden new development, don’t say we didn’t warn you, as I dread the first few days we are bound to see a major confusion until people realize the changes

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