imran khan

I don’t have to do this,” Imran Khan tells me earnestly. “I could have a very easy existence. I could go on TV and make so much money, live like a king.” Instead the retired international cricketer, and former husband of Jemima Khan, has dedicated his life to politics back home in Pakistan. Jemima, the daughter of the late financier, Sir James Goldsmith, may just have bought a £15 million stately pile in Oxfordshire, but Imran lives hand-to-mouth on a farm outside Islamabad. He grows his own vegetables and tends cows on his land in the foothills of the Himalayas.

Since he founded his party, Tehreek-e-Insaf (the Movement for Justice), in 1996 on an anti-corruption platform, he has campaigned against the elite hogging all the resources. He personally sold all his cricketing memorabilia to fund a cancer hospital in memory of his mother, who died of the disease, and he has opened a vocational college in a poverty-stricken area of Pakistan.

Imran, 57, took nothing from Jemima’s fortune when they divorced, so when he runs out of money he does a brief stint as a TV pundit. But he is completely unmaterialistic. “You achieve inner peace when you give away what you have,” he says.

This week he is in London to talk about the crisis in Pakistan, but he has never liked city life. His parents used to take him up in the hills each summer as a boy, and now he takes his sons Sulaiman, 13, and Kasim, 10, hiking and shooting partridge when they visit his farm. He has built them a mini-cricket ground. “They are quite good,” he laughs.

Gone is the handsome playboy who spent his nights in Annabel’s and squired gorgeous women, including Susannah Constantine and painter Emma Sergeant, around town. He still has those patrician looks but these days Imran would rather stay up all night talking politics than nightclubbing.

Last week I watched him give a talk to students in London. Mostly bright, politicised young Pakistani-Muslims, they treated him like a rock star. His sense of urgency was palpable, as is his fear that Pakistan might implode at any minute.

Already, it is routinely described as a “failed state”. From day one he opposed the War on Terror and “the American puppet politicians in Pakistan”. The decision to send the army into the tribal areas of the North West Frontier, to flush out al Qaeda terrorists, simply fuelled extremism. “It’s civil war in the making,” he says shaking his head. “They were like a bull in a china shop, fighting one or two guerrillas with aerial bombing of villages. That turned people against the army and a new phenomenon was created: the Pakistan Taliban.” It’s made him believe even more passionately in socio-economic justice. “You will have no problem with extremists in Pakistan if you have democracy with a welfare state,” he tells the audience.

By the end of the evening he looked shattered. Half his life is spent in transit and his close friend tells me he is wearing jeans instead of the usual suit because he forgot to pack a belt. When I meet him two days later at Ormeley Lodge, near Richmond Park, he is still fielding calls about a wave of bombings in Pakistan, and trying to have high tea with his sons. The Georgian childhood home of his former wife is where Imran stays whenever he is in London, as a guest of her mother, Lady Annabel Goldsmith. The wing where we meet is modest: with a pool table and well-worn sofas.

He speaks cordially — if carefully —about his ex-wife. “It’s a very tricky thing, divorce, and toughest on the children. But as divorces go, ours has been the most amicable. The anger and bitterness comes when there is infidelity. But there was no infidelity,” he says firmly. “I realised her unhappiness in Pakistan and she, after trying her best, found she just couldn’t live there. So that’s why it ended, it was just a geographical problem, and we couldn’t sustain a marriage like that. If you care for someone you don’t want to see them unhappy. My connection with the Goldsmith household is just as it’s always been. They [Jemima's siblings, Zac and Ben] are like my younger brothers. And Annabel is as close to me.”

His marriage suffered because of his political zeal — he didn’t stand in the 2007 election, arguing that there could be no democracy while the judges were still controlled by the ruling party. But now politics is a mission for him, not a career. “If someone offered me a political career, I would shoot myself. Having to get votes through making compromises, no thank you. “The classic example in Englandis Tony Blair.

How did the people go wrong with him lying all the way? He sold the idea that there were weapons of mass destruction. If there had been conscientious politicians in your assembly who weren’t worried about their political careers, he would never have got away with it.” Many people think his involvement in politics is a way to keep alight the adulation he craved as a cricketer, but after leavingAitchison College in Lahore (the equivalent of Eton), he studied politics at Keble College, Oxford. Former cricketing colleagues — Imran played for Worcestershire and Sussex — recall an intense young man who hated pubs (as a Muslim he doesn’t drink) and public speaking. He returned to cricket once more at the World Cupin 1992, aged 39 when he captained Pakistan to victory.

But his spiritual awakening had come in his early thirties after witnessing his mother’s agonising death from cancer, without access to proper treatment and painkilling drugs. “She was in such agony that after she passed away I had to consciously discipline myself to shut out the memory of her pain.”

He consulted a mystic who “made me realise I had a responsibility to society because I was given so much. It created selflessness”. Imran approached Pakistan’s richest men — many had been schoolfriends — for help in raising £25 million to build a cancer hospital, but quickly learned that wealth and generosity don’t always go hand in hand. Instead, he took to an open jeep and toured 29 cities in six weeks, asking ordinary people for help. “In those six weeks I changed. I realised the generosity of tea boys, taxi drivers, the poorest people bringing 10 rupee notes — and also their faith. I collected £14 million in those six weeks.” Today the hospital treats 70 per cent of patients for free.

Although the dictatorial president, Pervez Musharraf, resigned in 2008, Imran has no faith in the current “democratic” government, now headed by Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of Benazir Bhutto. Imran talks passionately about how the rich in Pakistan travel by jet and have tax-evading bank accounts in Switzerland.

He may insist that support for his Movement for Justice party is growing, but the truth is he is still perceived as a maverick outsider. And his romantic past hasn’t helped. Conservative voters bring up the love child with Sita White (Imran has never publicly acknowledged Tyrian, now 17, as his daughter; but since her mother died in 2004, he has been involved in her upbringing). And of course there’s his marriage to Jemima, a half-Jewish, half Catholic heiress.

Despite converting to Islam and learning Urdu, Jemima — 20 years Imran’s junior and still at university when they met — was accused (falsely) of trying to smuggle antique tiles out of Pakistan. The final straw, says Imran, was in 2002 when she was accused of studying under “the blasphemer Salman Rushdie” because his book, The Satanic Verses, had appeared on her university reading list. Protesters torched posters of Jemima. “She was really shaken up by that and moved to England, so that was a big crisis for me.”

Two years later the marriage ended. Jemima has continued to impress as Unicef special representative — and a passionate advocate for democracy in Pakistan. “Frankly I never understood the media image of her as a socialite,” Imran tells me. “I never thought she would fit into that role because she’s very bright, she’s very political.”

But then Imran is a mass of contradictions himself. In the past, he has argued that the pressure on women to work has contributed to the breakdown of society in the West: “My mother was the biggest influence on my life, a proper mother.” Yet he believes that “a woman should be able to reach her full potential”, and he set up his university in a remote, conservative part of Pakistan precisely so local women could get an education for the first time in the region’s history. And he reminds me his three sisters are high-powered career women with children.

Pakistan is Imran’s passion and he feels little nostalgia for London — except as the place where his sons live: “Fatherhood has given me the greatest pleasure in my life. And hence it was very painful, the divorce, because that [being separated from them] was the main aspect. But I am basically a goal-orientated person, it’s never been about making money or a job. My passion is there so I only come to England to see my children.”

Imran has a core group of friends he has known for 40 years here. Setting up this interview, I came across a devoted group of Londoners — from lecturers to hairdressers — who give up time and money to support his party. “They know I do not have to do this, that it’s a big personal sacrifice,” he says.

He finds it desperately sad that he has to defend being a Muslim. “The most important thing to understand is what’s happening in Pakistan, and this war on terror is not a religious issue, it’s a political issue.” No religion allows terrorism, Imran insists, but “people pushed into desperate situations will do desperate acts”.

It doesn’t make him popular. He’s been dubbed a Taliban supporter by the same enemies who once called him a Zionist sympathiser. Critics say his politics are idealistic and unworkable in a country bailed out of chaos periodically by military regimes, but Imran insists democracy can be a street movement: “Yes there’s a fear, will Pakistan survive? But in a way it’s very encouraging because you can see the politicisation of the youth. That’s how it starts, in the campuses. Sixty-five per cent of Pakistanis are below the age of 25.”

This probably explains why four days ago, with the help of Jemima, Imran set up his own Twitter page. Back home, he says current affairs programmes get higher ratings than Big Brother.

“Our Paxmans are the most watched in Pakistan today.” Is he handing over the baton? He smiles wearily. “Basically I want the young to come in and upset the whole equation.”

Technorati Tags: himalayas, imran khan, islamabad, jemima khan, london, london evening standard, oxfordshire, sir james goldsmith, tehreek-e-insaaf

Quaid-e-Azam University

The research work carried out by a young Pakistani particle physicist Jamil Aslam and two of his team members — Ahmed Ali and Christian Hambrock — received acclamation from the physics community as its results may lead to the discovery of a “new form of matter”.

Jamil Aslam is a faculty member of Physics Department at Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), while the other two physicists are working in Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron (DESY), the biggest German research centre for particle physics.

He and his team members analysed the data collected by the KEK particle collider in Japan during an experiment known as Belle and claimed the discovery of tetraquark particles that consist of four quarks instead of the usual two (quark-antiquark) and three quark ones. A quark is an elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter.

“Though it is not conclusive, however, the analysis made in paper supports the evidence of tetraquarks and if it is proved in Belle experiments, scheduled for later this year, it will introduce a new form of matter,” said a member of the team.
Both Dr. Jamil Aslam and Dr. Ahmed Ali are PhDs from the Physics Department of QAU and students of a prominent Pakistani theoretical physicist and eminent scientist Professor Dr. Riazuddin.

Commenting on the work of his ex-students, Riazuddin remarked that the work is highly significant in its ability to explain certain anomalies in the experiments that could not be explained within the framework of the standard quark theories.

“The tetraquark model if confirmed would imply the existence of exotic states of fundamental particles,” he said. The research work done by the group was published in Physical Review Letters, a well-reputed physics journal, and has been selected for special mention in notable journals of science including Institute of Physics (IoP), Physics Today and New Scientist.

QAU Vice Chancellor Dr. Masoom Yasinzai visited the physics laboratory and appreciated the efforts and work of young physicists. Addressing the faculty members, he underlined on the need for promotion of need-based research with a specific relevance to the local problems. He said university-industry linkage is vital for socio-economic uplift of the country.

Courtesy:

http://thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=246438

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tahreer_qau/3768351590/

Technorati Tags: Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron (DESY), Dr. Ahmed Ali, Dr. Riazuddin, Jamil Aslam, particle physics, Physical Review Letters, Physics Department at Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), QAU Vice Chancellor Dr. Masoom Yasinzai

PIMS

I read about Haji Malik Mushtaq in todays “The news” and am impressed. We all live for ourselves but people who live to make life easier for others are great. This is the time when we all have to pay zakat and sadaqat, if you live in Islamabad go to PIMS and check for yourself. Then maybe instead of giving your money to professional beggers on the street you can give it to Mushtaq’s noble cause (its our noble cause too!)

Mushtaq’s noble cause needs help
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Noor Aftab

Islamabad

Hundreds of financially weaker people, attending their ailing relatives, daily gather at the lawn of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) after sunset where they are served with free food.

The act that may provide some kind of relief to them while going through difficult times at this medical facility.

Haji Malik Mushtaq, aged 58, tries his best to arrange food at least one time a day for these people, who are otherwise not able to meet growing food expenditures in the face of price-hike.

While talking to ‘The News’ Mushtaq said he did not think about it ever in his life but a road accident in 1982 that claimed lives of his son and daughter changed his whole life and he then thought to do something for common people.

“When I established my own welfare organisation afterwards I had no idea that some day I would turn much of my attention towards providing free food to needy persons. The rising hunger among downtrodden segments of the society forced me to do everything that I could within my financial resources,” said Malik Mushtaq who hails from a small village in Haripur and currently lives in Golra area.

Giving details about free food service he said only ‘daal’ and ‘roti’ is served to the people that is prepared by cooks in Sector G-11 under the supervision of a group of volunteers. He said some five to six hundred people daily turn up and they enjoy the meal, whatsoever it is, at properly placed mats and ‘dastarkhwans’, where they are also served with neatly washed crockery.

Free food is being served to deserving people on many places in twin cities other than Edhi Centres including Sector G-8/1, Peshawar Mor and Sector F-8 and the trend is gaining ground among philanthropists for serving their fellow beings, who are in dire need of helping hands.

Malik Mushtaq, who is a contractor working in the private sector, said he initially decided to spend 10% of his total income for the welfare of the people but now he is spending much more than it because it gives him pleasure and a lot of happiness.

The group of volunteers working under him provided 87 bottles of blood free of cost to patients who were under treatment in PIMS and now they have compiled a list of blood donors who are willing to donate blood in case of emergency.

“Some of my friends now also contribute with cash and material and it costs us around Rs0.4 million per month, but we are happy that we are able to do so without any help from any other organisation,” he said.

The idea of providing free food to needy people has led to establishment of Food Banks in many countries but it is yet to get attention in Pakistan where no serious effort both in public or private sector has so far been made to promote this trend.

He said, “We will also provide ‘sehri’ to the people during the holy month of Ramazan and will also try to improve menu for which we are mobilising our financial resources.”

He also has a plan to set up a ‘senior citizens home’ in Islamabad and after completion of its feasibility report the construction work would hopefully be started after Eidul Fitr but for this purpose he needs support both in financial and technical terms from other segments of the society. Haji Malik Mushtaq can be contacted on mobile phone number 0300-5178515.

Technorati Tags: feed poor, haji malik mushtaq, help poor, PIMS, welfare organisation

Edhi

We a nation of 160 million have only one Abdul Sattar Edhi. Why? Is it his duty alone to work for the society? or we think what he achieved is immpossible for others? I am yet to come across a a child who if asked “what do you what to be when you grow up? ” Answers “Abdul Sattar Edhi”.

Isn’t he an international celebrity? Isn’t he known and respected all over the world? Then why does our future generation wants to be a crickter, a footballer, a muscian, an actor or Bill Gates? I do not think there is anything wrong in being any of the above but why not someone like Edhi?

I wish we had a few more of him!!!

Edhi Foundation:
Edhi established his first welfare centre and then the Bilqis Edhi Trust with a mere Rs. 5000. What started as a one-man show operating from a single room in Karachi is now the Edhi Foundation, the largest welfare organization in Pakistan. The foundation has over 300 centers across the country, in big cities, small towns and remote rural areas, providing medical aid, family planning and emergency assistance. They own air ambulances, providing quick access to far-flung areas.

In Karachi alone, the Edhi Foundation runs 8 hospitals providing free medical care, eye hospitals, diabetic centers, surgical units, a 4- bed cancer hospital and mobile dispensaries. In addition to these the Foundation also manages two blood banks in Karachi.

20,000 abandoned babies have been saved
40,000 qualified nurses have been trained
50,000 orphans are housed in Edhi Homes
1 million babies have been delivered in Edhi Maternity Centers

Edhi’s Profile:
Born in 1928 in Bantwa , Gujarat, India , Edhi’s family belonged to the industrious Memon community. From a young age his mother taught Edhi to be kind towards others and to help the poor. In 1947 the family migrated to Pakistan and settled in Karachi. That was a time of great emotional trauma and social and political upheaval. Edhi became involved in social work and began working with welfare organisations and soon started his own dispensary, providing medical aid to the poor. He bought his first ambulance, an old van which he called the “poor man’s van” and went around the city providing medical help and burying unclaimed bodies. His van became his advertisement and soon he came to be known for his work with the poor. As a consequence, donations started pouring in and his operations expanded, employing additional nurses and staff. It was here that Edhi met his wife Bilquees who was a trainee nurse at the dispensary. They were married in 1966. Bilquees became the ideal wife for Edhi, totally committed to welfare work. Read more.

Despite his enormous fame and the vast sums of money that passes through his hands, Edhi adheres to a very modest lifestyle. He and his family live in a two room apartment adjacent to the premises of Foundation’s headquarter. Neither Edhi nor Bilquis receives any salary, The live on the income from government securities that Edhi bought many years ago to take care of their personal needs for the rest of their lives, thereby freeing them to devote single mindedly to their missionary work.

Contact Edhi Foundation

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An Outstanding Pakistani Neurosurgeon

Technorati Tags: Abdul sattar edhi, celebrity pakistan, edhi foundation, edhi profile

Prof. Dr. Aurangzeb Hafi is the first South Asian, whose name has been inscribed in the Roll of Honor in The Sovereign Royal Order of The Knights of Peace and Justice, and has been honored and knighted in the category of ‘de jure’.[3] His contribution in Tsunami relief work….Read.

In 2004 Dr Aurangzeb hafi was contesting or the prestigious international title “Man of the Year 2003 in Interdisciplinary Sciences” has rejected the “unofficial” offer that he accept British citizenship to be a winner. He also turned down the offer of two million pounds sterling (or Rs210 million) for providing the original manuscript of his magnetosectorial model, on the basis of which he has joined the race, saying the invention was a trust of his country which he would not like to barter for personal gains. Read More.

Dr Aurangzeb Hafi is one of the six scientists shortlisted out of 1,376 from 900 universities in 60 countries by the International Scientific Council, headquartered in Britain. The shortlisted contestants in addition to Prof Dr Hafi are; Prof Dr J.A. Walker, Dr I.J. Richards (UK), Prof Dr Okada (Japan), Dr J.F. Larson (Denmark) and Dr S. Nevelli (India).

And he went on to win the contest. Principal Assessor Dr Walter Bodmer said in a statement. “Scientific Honours Scrutiny Committee has reached the conclusion that after a careful assessment and review with the best possible competency and intellectual honesty it was found that, out of the major unusual works in interdisciplinary sciences, Aurangzeb Hafi’s Magnetic Sectoral Model was found to be of the widest multidisciplinary research and development implementation capacity and having multifaceted impact on interdisciplinary scientific research”.

These comments may shud some light on Dr Aurangzeb Hafi’s work and personality :

“Through his research papers, Prof. Hafi has made immense contributions to both, Humanitarianism and Scientific Research. His distinguished career, academic excellence and outstanding achievements are well documented. They have been recognized by a plethora of learned societies within our discipline.”
(Carlos A. Perez. Ph.D.,
Director: International Advisory Committee for the Advancement of Scientific Research————–Washington)

“Prof. Dr. Aurangzeb Hafi is a man of impeccable intellectual and philosophical integrity who commands universal admiration and respect.”
Prof. Dr. Henri Maisin L.L.D., D.Litt.————–Belgium)

“Prof. Hafi’s contributions to Biomagnetics have proved to be the foundations on which scores of other scientists would build their innovations.”
(Castilla EE Ph.D., D.Sc.———–United Kingdom)

“Prof. Hafi’s work is the magnum opus of Biomagnetism.”
(Dr. Walter Grey——–Ph.D. D.Sc.)

“Dr. Hafi is to be acknowledged as a pioneer in Magnetohydrodynamics. His contributions for the advancement of Biomagnetism speak for themselves. Little wonder that we would regard Pakistan as the center of excellence in Biomagnetics Congratulations for being so far sighted for the advancement of Biomagnetism.”
(M.F. Barnothy ——–Chief: Biomagnetic Research Center. Director: World Biomagnetics Association, University of Illinois————-New York)

“Most senior scholars I have met usually specialize in one particular area. Sir Aurangzeb Hafi, however, has developed expertise in almost every area.”
(H.M Khurshid———-Ph.D., Ex. Senior Research Methodologist: The United Nations University)

“I have no word to admire Prof. Hafi’s great contributions for Humanitarianism and Scientific Research, whenever and wherever he has done generously so far. Only one word I’d like to express, is that, I am proud of having his research papers in my library.”
(B.S.Lipman———-Ph.D., D.Litt.————–Chicago, USA)

“Sir Aurangzeb Hafi is really a great person whom I deeply admire. I salute him as an outstanding example of Humanitarianism. His achievements are unequaled.”
(Sheldon C. Sommers——- Ph.D., D.Litt.
Member International Council for Research Analysis,
Ex. Research Analyst: Oxford University London, Toronto University Canada)

“Prof. Hafi is the most dedicated researcher, one who would hammer at a point and make you accept it.”
(Richard F. Bakemeier ——- Ph.D., D. Psych———-USA)

“I admire Prof. Aurangzeb Hafi for his broad vision, realistic approach and vast knowledge in Research Methodology.”
(Fraumeni J.F.—-Associate Professor of Psychology
United Nations University)

“Sir Hafi would be remembered as an original thinker and a great Research Methodologist.”
(E.M. Scolnick————–Ph.D.,
President: Oxford Steering Committee on Research Methodology)

“Prof. A.Z. Hafi is undoubtedly an outstanding Research Methodologist. His wide expertise in Research Methodology, Biomagnetism, Magneto-hydro-dynamics, Alternative Medicines, Orthomecular Medicine and Magneto-chemistry is without parallel and as I foresee, would remain so, in the next century.”
(Prof. Robert Becher—–D.Sc.,
Chairman: Section of Research Analysis, Int’l Advisory
Committee for the Advancement of Scientific Research)

“Through his work, Prof. Hafi has raised the standards of research. I admire his originality of thought.”
(Dr. Johnston S.J.——– D.Litt.
Senior External Assessor: Cambridge University—————United Kingdom)

“Among those men and women who have been estimated as leaders in Research Methodology. Sir Hafi’s name is ranking high. He stays not for excellence in research but for the highest merits as a Modest Servant of Mankind.”
(Dr. Knight G.E. Beawmont———–Ph.D., D.Litt.,
Executive Member: Board of Directors United Nation University)

“Dr. Hafi is unquestionably the leading Research Methodologist today.”
(Pior Elna T. Phelan——–Ph.D., DRC., FFO.————-Georgia)

“Prof. Hafi is an authority in his lines of expertise. The impact he has had through his involvement with a variety of subjects is quite exemplary.”
(Prof. Dr. V McGufee Ph.D., D.Sc.—————-Switzerland)

“Sir Hafi has made a tremendous contribution to Research Methodology. During the study of his research papers I had an opportunity to get a clearer glimpse of a man behind the reputation.”
(Prof. Dr. Robert J Goldberg-Ph.D.——–Maryland)

It is a supreme pleasure, a singular honour and a rare privilege for me to write some words about Prof. Dr. Sir. Aurangzeb Hafi Naqashbandi. Prof. Hafi has an exceptional personality with extremely unusual combinations, as many of his teachers, students, patients and friends can testify. Totally dedicated to promote his chosen subjects (i.e. Humanitarianism, Research Methodology, Bromagnetics, Magnetohydrodynamics and Alternative Medicines), Dr. Hafi has led his name to the heights of achievements and won “International Accolade” for the scholars of Pakistan.

Pakistan is proud to have such an eminent scholar and thinker who has contributed enormously to Pakistan through his work which is recognized worldwide. His monumental achievements are unparalleled.

As Loa-Tzu said:
A leader among men holds fast three precious things:
i) Gentleness but Bold
ii) Frugality yet Liberal
iii) Humility as Selfless

These are what made Sir Aurangzeb Hafi special as high profile academician in Research Methodology.Dr. Hafi has always been directed towards the pursuit of excellence, but he has worked, usually, not in air-conditioned and well-equipped labs.

His meticulously composed contributions in the field of sciences, his polished and refined reflections on Research Methodology and his sartorial elegance are indelible impressions I carry of a most distinguished man of aour times.

Sir Hafi has an observant eye with analytical mind, indomitable will with unwavering belief and uncontrollable courage with a hope, which he has dexterously used to immaculately attire and his zealous pursuit of excellence in research is unequaled.

Beyond many qualities A.Z. Hafi Naqashbandi is a fighter for justice, honesty and morality. He is a real friend for poor and neglected people. It was his noble mind that brought him on the international top of Research.

Prof. Hafi is neither just a research methodologist, nor a scientist, but a MAN, for recapitulating Rudyard Kipling, he can talk with crowds and keep his virtue or walk with Kings not losing the common touch.

I could not, but be impressed by his excellent ethical standards and diverse commitments.

I hope that as a gifted motivator and superb organizer, he would play a leading role in fostering and strengthening ties and collaborations among scientific and sociomoral scholar nationally and internationally. I believe that he would hold back the tidal waves of dishonesty with the dukes of truth, motality and courage. He is the brilliant scientist at the forefront of Scientific Research & Humanitarianism.

I do hope that more and more people would join him to work for the betterment of mankind.
(H.M Khurshid———-Ph.D., Ex. Senior Research Methodologist: The United Nations University)

He is known to most people as Sir Aurangzeb Hafi Naqashbandi, the great Scientist and Research Methodologist. But few have known him as an individual as a human being. Very few indeed are aware that he is also a highly spiritual being, immersed deeply in Humanitarianism. In keeping with this spiritual side of Sir Auraugzeb Hafi, this man of Science has also a highly sensitive and compassionable heart, whose care of and concern for poor and neglected people are worthy for emulation it is not difficult to see why he is held in such high esteem. He is model to emulate.
(Jalil Khurshid———– M.Phil.,Ph.D.
Member: MAVSO Intl., Fellow:World Research Organization.)

Technorati Tags: bio megnetics, Sir Dr Aurangzeb Hafi

Babar Iqbal

Another STAR Pakistani, Another proud moment for the nation….

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: A 12-year old student Babar Iqbal hailing from Dera Ismail Kahn made a fourth world record in field of computer, Geo News reported Friday.

Earlier, Babar, generally known as genius cyber kid, had set up three world records including Youngest Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) at the age 9 years, Youngest Certified Wireless Network Administrator (CWNA) at the age 9 years and Youngest Certified Web Professional Associate (CIWA) at age 10 years.

While, the recent fourth record he made as Youngest Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) at the age 12 in Dubai.

The participants of this competition were aged from 20 to 35 years. By making this record, young Babar surprised the IT experts from all over the world. He also surpassed his compatriot Irfa Kareem Randhawa, who made this record at the age of 9 years and seven months.

Babar was born in surrounding overwhelmed with computers and monitors on March 2, 1997.

His two brothers and sisters (four in all) are Microsoft Certified Professional.

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday invited Babar Iqbal, the youngest IT professional of the world, to the Presidency and awarded him a cheque of Rs 5 million for his achievement in establishing four world records in the field of computer and information technology.

Genius cyber kid’ attends NA session, lauded by MNAs

Technorati Tags: babar iqbal, cyber kid

Engineers

Pakistanis who excelled in their professions are making it very difficult for me to pick and choose a few out of them  but I really wish to show off how talented my countrymen are. I am writing about three of these successful engineers. If  you know of someone who has done something outstanding and is a pakistani please inform me. I would love to write about him/her.

Tahir Ghani – Senior Principal Engineer in Intel

Tahir Ghani is currently Senior Principal Engineer in Logic Technology Development Group at Intel Corporation where he leads process integration team responsible for developing Intel’s next generation 90nm logic process technology. Since joining Intel in 1994 he has worked on transistor design and front end process integration on Intel’s 250, 180 and 90nm process technology nodes. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 1994 from Stanford University under Prof. James. F. Gibbons, conducting research in the area of SiGe HBT Device Physics & Technology. Tahir has received two Intel Achievement awards for his work on transistor design.

Pakistani engineer gets award in USA

The St. Louis Chapter of the Missouri Society of Professional Engineers has given the “2004 Outstanding Engineer in Private Practice” to a Pakistani. He is Mir Hadi Ali, a graduate of NED Engineering University, Karachi, who is serving as a Structural Engineer for a national company in St. Louis. The award was given to Mr Ali on February 27, 2004, at the Sheraton Westport Chalet Matterhorn Ballroom. The awards ceremony is part of the annual engineers’ week celebrations.

The award citation says: Mir has more than 25 years experience in the consulting engineering industry. He received his Bachelor of Engineering in civil engineering from Karachi University, Pakistan, Master of Science in concrete structures from London University, UK and Post Graduate Diploma of Imperial College (DIC) in concrete materials and structures from Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, UK.

Mir holds the professional engineering licenses in 12 states including Missouri. Mir moved to Saint Louis in 2000 from Boston where he was responsible for managing the design of various parts of the Central Artery and Tunnel project.

Presently, Mir is a Senior Principal Engineer with MACTEC Engineering and Consulting, Inc. and manages the company wide bridge design groups. Mir is also responsible to arrange the PE refresher Courses for the St. Louis Chapter of MSPE.

Pervaiz Lodhie (Founder of LEDtronics)
LEDtronics has grown from a two-person operation in 1983 to more than 140 employees at its Torrance headquarters. Projects range from lighting on local bridges to walkway illumination on the next-generation space station. “The variety of markets for which we design is mind-boggling,” Lodhie says.Considered a global pioneer of the LED light bulb, Lodhie has also put this innovative technology to great use in Pakistan.

Mr. Lodhie was past Chairman and now serves on the Industry Advisory Board for the College of Engineering, Computer Science and Technology at California State University, Los Angeles. He was also a recipient of the United States Small Business Administration’s Award for Excellence. Mr. Lodhie received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from California State University.

Company Information

Established in Torrance, California in 1983, LEDtronics is one of the world’s leaders in designing, manufacturing and packaging of energy efficient environmentally friendly Light Emitting Diode (LED) lamps to some of the world’s larges Fortune 500 companies.

LEDtronics helped establish a very successful labor-intensive assembly ISO9000-2000 facility in KEPZ, Karachi Pakistan since 1998. This facility does parallel manufacturing and supports in 70-80% of LEDtronics, USA requirements. LEDtronics also has successfully set up a Back-Office & Call Center, NBA Computers Karachi that now supports LEDtronics USA Sales & Marketing front office efforts by doing real time daily data entry and sales follow-up calls.

Read his blog.

Technorati Tags: Mir Hadi Ali, Pakistani engineers, pervaiz Lodhie, tahir ghani

Jinnah

My first memory of Quaid-e-Azam goes back to the days when my teacher told me “Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam ne banaya”. Growing up changed this first encounter into an admiration beyond expression in words. He had a personality and character suitable to be an ideal for the whole nation. For first fifty years we didn’t need any other hero as a nation. Starting from our currency notes, road names to monuments everything had his images. But unfortunately we loved him blindly; no one bothered to read about him or tried to be like him. He was a man of integrity,  principle and unmatched strength of character.

“Pakistan” was carved on the map of the world and there were efforts and sacrifices of millions behind this. One name which overshadows the rest is Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Here is a  part from “Hurrying Midnight” which proves me right.

“Jinnah was the one unyielding obstacle in Mountbatten’s desperate efforts to keep India united.There was o ne vital piece of information, however, that was denied to Mountbatten; the x-ray of Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s lungs. This secret document revealed that the future leader of Pakistan was dying of tuberculosis. We met the doctors who had told Jinnah he had less than six months to live. Mountbatten acknowledged to us that had he known the Muslim leader was dying, he would have been strongly tempted to delay independence to await his death. Then, perhaps, an independent Pakistan would never have come into being.”

Beverly Nichols who wrote book ‘Verdict on India & met Quaid-e-Azam’, described, “the difference between Jinnah and the typical Hindu politician, as the difference between a surgeon and a witch doctor . . . a surgeon you could trust, even though his verdict was harsh”.Some random words…

One day Gandhi said to Jinnah, “You have mesmerized the Muslims.” Jinnah answered, “You have hypnotized the Hindus,” Another day, when they appeared together before an attack of reporters and press photographers, Gandhi said to Jinnah, “You like this, don’t you?” Jinnah answered, “Not as much as you do.”

Jinnah moved so vitally, and his eyes kept their fire, those who were near him saw his will, not his physical strength. Whenever Fatima Jinnah said to her brother, “You must see a doctor,” he would answer, “No. I’ve got too much to do. I can’t waste my time.”

Jinnah’s view about women participation in growth of Pakistan. “I have always maintained that no nation can ever be worthy of its existence that cannot take its women along with the men. No struggle can ever succeed without women participating side by side with men. There are two powers in the world; one is the sword and the other is the pen. There is a great competition and rivalry between the two. There is a third power stronger than both, that of the women.” (March 25, 1940)

There was once a disagreement between the Quaid and Military Secretary: He had asked for authority to build a high wall that would shut off the part of Government House in which the Quaid lived, due to security. Jinnah had answered, “It is very nice of you to take precautions, but I am not the sort of Governor-General you have been used to. I am one of the people. No harm will come to me.” Can any of our present leaders match this?

Technorati Tags: Jinnah my hero, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Quaid e azam

Dr A K Ommaya

Pakistan has produced countless outstanding individuals in various fields of life. Dr Ayub Khan Ommaya was one of the best neurosurgeons in the world.

Dr. Ayub Khan Ommaya, 78, a neurosurgeon, an internationally known expert on brain injuries and the inventor of a device that facilitates treatment of brain tumors, died July 10 at his home in Islamabad, Pakistan, of complications from Alzheimer’s disease.

The longtime Bethesda resident was a retired chief of neurosurgery at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and professor of neurosurgery at George Washington University.

Before Dr. Ommaya’s work in the 1960s, there was no effective way to deliver chemotherapy treatments for brain tumors. His invention of the Ommaya reservoir, a plastic dome-shaped device with a catheter attached to the underside, made possible the delivery of chemotherapy to the brain and spinal cord. In addition, the device served as a prototype for all medical ports now in use. Washington Post

Dr. Ommaya also developed the centripetal theory of traumatic brain injury, which allowed scientists to understand and model how brains are affected by blunt force. As chief medical adviser to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and director of NHTSA’s head injury prevention program, he created a model for brain injuries that led to design changes and the development of safety devices in motor vehicles worldwide.

Known as the “singing neurosurgeon,” Dr. Ommaya was a trained opera tenor who often sang before and after surgery, to the delight of patients and their families and his hospital colleagues.

Born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, he was a national champion swimmer. He received his medical degree from King Edward Medical College in Pakistan in 1953 and, as a Rhodes Scholar, received his master’s degree from Balliol College, Oxford University, in 1956. During medical school, he trained as an amateur boxer and was a member of the crew team at Balliol.

Outstanding Career
He came to the United States in 1961 as a visiting scientist at the National Institutes of Health and later became an associate neurosurgeon. He was chief of neurosurgery from 1974 to 1979 and began teaching at George Washington University in 1970. In 1977, Dr. Ommaya was part of a team of GWU surgeons that saved the life of a Rochester, N.Y., teacher by removing a snake-like tangle of blood vessels at the base of his brain, a rare abnormal growth that had paralyzed both his arms and legs and was threatening to cut off his breathing. In a history-making operation that lasted 19 hours, the man was chilled for a time to 65 degrees, his heart and lung were stilled and his brain activity was halted.
Dr. Ommaya, who told The Washington Post that he got through the surgery on just a couple of candy bars, said that it was “like dissecting out hundreds of tiny snakes — you have to dissect them out individually without cutting them or damaging the nerves and the spinal cord.”
As a transportation safety expert, he commissioned “Injury in America” (1985), a report that led to the creation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. The center provides synthesis, direction and funding for the field. He also invented an inflatable collar, similar to an airbag, that attaches to motorcycle helmets as a protection against spinal injury.
In 1997, Dr. Ommaya was called as a defense expert witness in the highly publicized trial of Louise Woodward, a British au pair accused of killing an 8-month-old baby in her care. He maintained that the child, Matthew Eappen, could not have been killed by violent shaking, as prosecutors claimed.
Sitting in the witness stand of a Cambridge, Mass., courtroom, he bounced a wad of Silly Putty on the floor to illustrate the damage that could be caused by impact. “The demonstration elicited a burst of laughter from jurors and observers — a rarity in a trial that has featured emotionally wrenching testimony from the baby’s parents and others,” the Patriot Ledger (Quincy, Mass.) reported at the time. Dr. Ommaya retired in 2001.

His death was loss for the whole humanity, Khalid Hasan writes a very impressive insight about his life  in Friday Times when he passed away…
“Utterly unmarked in Pakistan was the recent death of Dr Ayub Ommaya, which is ironic because with him is gone from the scene one of the world’s greatest neurosurgeons, who pioneered several life-saving procedures, and who is remembered here to this day as having performed a legendary 18 hour operation on a 36-year-old man came as close to doing the impossible.” Read more.

Technorati Tags: Ar Ayub Khan Ommaya, George Washington University, Pakistani neurosurgeon, singing neurosurgeon, transportantion safety expert

Teeth Maestro

Dr Awab Alvi is one of the most popular bloggers among Pakistanis. He was the winner of the “Best South Asian Blog Award”. His blog definately stands out in content as well as pratical efforts like they did for the IDP’s of the recent Swat crisis. Teeth Maestro is an inspiration for many people who have just started blogging like me.

I decided to write about the prominent, successful and “star” Pakistanis in different fields. Dr Awab is one of them and his work speaks louder!

But their recent plan ” GO GREEN: Sab Green Kar Do” is very exciting. He writes,

“GO GREEN & Twitter Hashtag#Pakistan on 14th August

Its exciting to see a very vibrant and motivated community of Pakistanis online, spreading from twitter to facebook and even the age old community on Orkut. Young energetic Pakistanis are doing their best to be the new face of Pakistan on the digital sphere. This comes more as a counter to the depressing situation that we see daily in Pakistan where our elected leaders are generally embroiled in taking this country down into the doldrums.

People have ever so slowly have lost their patriotic spirit and careless about their nationality, its a sad site and a situation that continues to get worse day-by-day. The upcoming 62nd Independence Day is definitely an event to evoke that national spirit and the online community has already started gearing to literally shake the world.”  Read more on www.teeth.com.pk

Technorati Tags: 14th August, Dr Awab Alvi, Independence Celebrations 2009, Star Pakistanis, teeth maestro