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اسلام آباد (قدرت روزنامہ28مارچ2017)ایک تعمیراتی کمپنی نے نیویارک میں 4000 فٹ کی خم دار عمارت بنانے کی تجویز دی ہے۔امریکی تعمیراتی سٹوڈیو اویو(Oiio) نے یو شیپ ٹاور جسے Big Bend کا نام دیا ہے، بنانے کی تجویز دی ہے۔اگر یہ عمارت بن گئی تو 2722 فٹ بلند برج خلیفہ کا ریکارڈ توڑ دے گی۔ رپورٹس کے مطابق یہ عمارت مین ہیٹن کے سب سے پر تعیش علاقے میں تعمیر کی جائے گی۔ اس علاقے میں پہلے سے ہی الٹرا لگژری رہائشی بلڈنگز موجود ہیں۔ نیویارک کے سخت تعمیراتی قوانین کے باعث کمپنی کا کہنا ہے کہ اس طرح کی خم دار عمارت کو بنا کرہی عمارت کی بلندی کو بڑھایا جا سکتا ہے۔ اس عمارت کے لیے کمپنی نے کافی اچھوتا لفٹ کا نظام ڈیزائن کیا ہے۔ اس میں سیڑھیاں یا لفٹ خم دار ، سیدھی ا ور مسلسل لوپ میں سفر کریں گے۔ ابھی تک تو Big Bend صرف ایک تجویز ہے۔ کمپنی نے اس تجویز کو مختلف کمپنیوں کو بھیج دیا ہے تاکہ اس کی تعمیر کے لیے سرمایہ حاصل کیا جا سکے۔

The recently-held local bodies elections have shattered many myths/expectations. As expected, the PML-N was victorious in Punjab. Independent candidates did a wonderful job, winning a large number of seats. The PPP was almost routed out (but came second) and the PTI came third. The independent candidates will probably join the ruling party since they will be needing development funds. First, a few remarks about Imran Khan’s visit to India where he disclosed that more than 50 percent of our people are living below the poverty line. That may be so, but why did he not take the trouble to inform us how many Indians are living below the same poverty line? Did he bother to go and see the masses sleeping on the footpaths and answering the call of nature on railway tracks, etc. Khan also magnanimously declared that he was not interested in becoming the PM while many of us have heard him say, on a number of occasions: “When I become PM, I will...”. While in India, he even raised accusati...

The city of  Bhong  is 20 minutes away from  Rahimyar Khan . We were a few hundred feet above the land and the noise from the helicopter engines was very loud. Chief Minister  Shahbaz Sharif  looked out and with great sorrow and a deep sigh said, “Look at the devastation. It’s simply mindboggling. How many years will you need to rehabilitate these fields, farm houses, villages and houses?” He was here the very next day after the flood came. “By then the town of Bhong was under water, people had taken refuge on trees, mounds and roofs of houses. Land links, power supply and telephones were suspended; even the famous Bhong Mosque was inundated.” He and his team started the supply of food, clothes, water and tents to people by helicopters and boats. “I haven’t seen destruction on such a large scale in my life… these are the most horrifying days I have ever had. If I had to go to Lahore for an official engagement that could not be avoided, I would but then I would r...

Every event that happens in our lives has various aspects to it. One aspect of the invasion of  Muhammad Bin Qasim  at Deebal (near present-day Bhambore) is that Hajjaz bin Yusuf had sent an army, under Qasim’s command, to help and free Muslim pilgrims captured in territory under Raja Dahir’s control. But there is another important aspect to all of this as well. Muslims were a rising power in those days and were trying to spread their influence to Asia, Africa and even Europe. However, in this they couldn’t afford to let even a small ruler like Raja Dahir plunder Muslim ships and enslave Muslim women and children because that would put the writ of the whole Muslim state at peril. States rarely get the chance to fight big adversaries like Alexander the Great but small rulers like  Raja Dahir  provide them an easy opportunity to establish their writ. With this in mind, one should look at present day Pakistan and, in particular, the unfolding sugar crisis. Some years a...

“Why should we keep America happy?” This was a simple question, and the man who asked it had an innocent face. He was an ordinary person, a person like the hundreds and thousands of people who are all around us, and we do not even pay any attention to them, nor do we ever think about them. These people are born without fanfare, and they have to struggle to get an education. Then they spend 10-15 grueling years in search of a job, and when they get disappointed they take up a job as a sales clerk at a store or set up a small street vending business or get work as a servant somewhere. They get married, and then they pass away after bringing up four or five more ordinary children just like themselves into the world. After this, new ordinary people try to make a life for themselves just like their parents did. These people are like water bubbles. When they are born no one sees them; when they vanish, no one remembers them. They are so ordinary that even their own younger generations d...

In my previous column I discussed some important aspects of the topic and expressed my surprise that so little was discussed or published on October 20 – World Menopause Day. Hormones were discussed – what they are and what role they play – especially in the lives of women between the ages of 35 to 60, varying from one individual to another and often depending on race and location.  The two hormones that play a crucial role in pre-menstrual, menstrual and post-menstrual phases in a woman’s life – oestrogen and progesterone – were mentioned; the first stimulating the release of eggs, the second in preparing a woman’s womb for impregnation and to help protect the lining of the uterus. “As you age, significant internal changes take place that affect your production of the two female hormones, viz oestrogen and progesterone. The hormones which are important in the menstrual cycle and in having a successful pregnancy, are produced by the ovaries, two small, oval-shaped organs found on ...

Menopause and its implications Part - I Pakistan, together with the rest of the world, held World Menopause Day on October 20. Menopause is a very important period in a woman’s life. I was surprised that not much attention was paid to it here, excepting for two useful articles.  The article in The News of October 20 by Ms Shahina Maqbool was an interview with Pro Dr Syeda Batool Mazher, head of MCH, PIMS Islamabad under the title: ‘First decade after menopause most crucial for prevention of chronic diseases’. The second was by Ms Fareeha Fazal in the August edition of ‘Shifa News’, a publication of Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad, under the title: ‘Hormones do big jobs’.  Unfortunately, these useful articles only reached a limited number of ladies. I am not a medical doctor, but I feel that many women can be helped by more information on this important topic. When I discussed the matter with my dear friend, renowned neurosurgeon Prof Dr Khaliquz Zaman, head of...

On December 2 I went to attend ‘Martyr’s Day’ at Al-Azeem Public School Systems in Village Behaud, Tehsil Kahuta, District Rawalpindi. I was invited by Brig Javed Ahmed Sathi, a fine soldier and thorough gentleman committed to providing quality education to the deprived children of this rather underdeveloped area. I usually try to avoid travelling long distances by car due to the back surgery I had a few years ago, but for his noble cause I acceded to the request of my long-time friend, Raja Arshad Mahmood, who did excellent construction work for our plant at Kahuta. The journey from Islamabad lasted almost two hours and became rather tortuous after we had passed Kahuta. The journey raised nostalgic memories about the time I used to travel to Kahuta every day. When I reached, the children and their parents accorded me a memorable, heart-warming reception and it was gratifying to see that, despite those who tried to tarnish my name, I was still a beloved son of the soil. The school...

December 25 is a time of great activity every year – in Pakistan to celebrate the birth of our dear leader, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and for Christians all over the world, to celebrate the birth of Hazrat Esa (AS), one of our most revered prophets. We Muslims consider him to be a Messenger of Allah, a prophet like the prophets who were sent earlier and like the last of the prophets, Mohammed (pbuh). In the Holy Quran, Hazrat Esa (AS) has been mentioned 93 times, Hazrat Musa (AS) 136 times and Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) 69 times. Our Holy Prophet (pbuh) has been mentioned by name only four times (A’le Imran, Ahzab, Muhammed, Al-Fatah and, once, as Ahmad (pbuh) in Surah Saff. However, the Quran has many indirect references to our Holy Prophet (pbuh). The life of Hazrat Esa (AS) was full of miracles, viz his birth from a virgin mother – Hazrat Maryam (AS) – speaking to the people from the cradle to prove the innocence of his mother, making a bird of clay and turning it into a real,...

Lately a large number of educational institutions have been established in the private sector, a blessing to the many students who are thus being provided with a good quality education. I was recently invited as chief guest to two such institutions – Aligarh Public School, Manga Mandi, Lahore and Greenwich University, Karachi. Aligarh Public School is located at Manga Mandi, Multan Road, Lahore. I had been invited by an old friend, G A Sabri, former federal secretary petroleum. I have a special connection with Sabri as he is a close relative of the late Jamiluddin Hassan, a former very able and efficient diplomat. My wife and I were married on March 9, 1964 at the Pakistan Embassy in The Hague, Holland where Mr Hassan was first secretary and the late Qudratullah Shahab, a very literary person, was the ambassador. Mr Hassan performed our nikkah ceremony while Shahab acted as my witness. After the ceremony, the ambassador hosted a reception for us – a very memorable occasion. J U H...

Some important events have taken place over the past few days on which I would like to comment. Some of these have direct relevance to our lives and some are just to please those concerned. We all read in the papers that North Korea detonated a hydrogen (thermo-nuclear) bomb. Just in order to please our ‘masters’, we also recorded our protest and concern, totally ignoring the fact that, for almost 50 years, they have been our reliable friend and have always stood by us during difficult times. They supplied us conventional weapons of very good quality and they were extremely helpful to us in the development of our missile programme. Most of their scientist and engineers have received their higher education in Russia and are very intelligent and competent. Unfortunately, financial constraints (lack of usable land and unjust sanctions by the West) have hurt her economy. An approach based on the Chinese model (a more liberal policy) would have been, and would still be, beneficial to t...

A long time ago, when I was still leading our enrichment and weapons programme at Kahuta, I frequently met Ghulam Ishaq Khan, one of the greatest and most competent Pakistanis the country has ever produced. Because of the nature of the programme and its importance for the survival of the country, he took a keen interest in our work. I had the privilege of meeting with him directly without any bureaucratic hurdles and we had mutual respect for each other. During one of those meetings he expressed his frustration at the government having formed yet another committee to decide a matter by saying that a committee should be set up to find what utility and results the committees formed so far had achieved. I agreed with him that the sole purpose (and result) of such committees was to delay or scuttle a programme. Bhutto did not consult any committee for our nuclear programme. He simply constituted a Board of Coordination consisting of A G N Kazi, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, Munir Ahmed Khan and ...

Pakistan has produced some excellent writers, poets, intellectuals, etc. Today I would like to introduce one of them – Mukhtar Ali Khan alias Parto Rohilla, a competent civil servant and a par excellence writer and poet and unmistakably a Pathan, tall, well-built, handsome and well mannered. He is a Rohilla Pathan belonging to Rohilkhand, UP, Northern India. Many brave warrior Pathans settled there during the Moghul period and Daud Khan and his son, Ali Mohammad Khan, established a state there. When the Marathas started bullying the Muslims, Shah Waliullah, a religious scholar, sent a message to Ahmed Shah Abdali, king of Afghanistan, for help. The latter immediately responded and marched with an army towards Delhi. The Rohillas provided him with 40,000 troops and 27 guns and also convinced the Nawab of Awadh, Shujaud Dola, to join them. Together they had 90,000 soldiers while the Marathas had almost 300,000 men. On January 14, 1761 the Muslim forces crushed the Marathas. After A...