BIONIC BOY - Patrick Kane

Things are picking up for the bionic boy

At 13, Patrick is the youngest patient in the world to be fitted with a pioneering prosthetic arm. His father, Frank Kane, describes how it has changed his life

By Frank Kane 
Published: 7:00AM BST 06 Sep 2010

On July 22 my 13-year-old son, Patrick, tied his shoelaces. It was a moving occasion. For the first time in his life he had performed this routine but intricate task, on his own and unaided.

He went on to cut up his own steak at dinner, lift a glass of orange juice to his lips, and pick up a grape between forefinger and thumb. Each new achievement was a cause for pride and satisfaction.

We had just spent five days with Touch Bionics, a medical technology company based in Livingstone in Scotland. The company had manufactured and fitted him with an ectro-mechanical hand that responds to muscle activity in the arm, transforming it into movement in the powered fingers and thumb.

Patrick had become the youngest of the small number of people round the world – some 1,400 or so – fitted with the Touch Bionic prosthetic. He was the "bionic boy".

When he was nine months old, my son fell victim to a vicious strain of meningitis. He also developed septicaemia (blood poisoning) and was on the edge of death for many days, unconscious in intensive care for three weeks, and spent three months in St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, London.

He beat the disease, thanks to his fighting spirit and the skill of the staff at St Mary's. But it took a terrible toll. His right leg was amputated below the knee, as was most of his left hand. His shortened left arm ended as a stump of scar tissue, with the growth plates between the bones of his arm permanently damaged.

Even allowing for the fact that he's my son, it's fair to say Patrick is a remarkably resilient, independent and resourceful boy. He learned to walk with a prosthesis, and goes to a "normal" school, where his lower limb disability has not prevented him taking part in all aspects of school life, both academic and sporting. His hard-wearing carbon fibre leg won him a reputation as a fearsome tackler on the football pitch.

But that left arm was increasingly problematic. It was visibly shorter than his right and almost useless. He could use it to hold objects against his body – to open a bottle top or a crisp packet with his right hand – but without a hand he had no grip, no functionality.

He, and others, were also becoming more conscious of it. People would stare in restaurants as he struggled to cut his food; trips to the beach or swimming pool were fraught with potential confrontation. It's surprising how ready you are to snap: "So what are you looking at?" at a startled youngster after you've spotted the 20th obtrusive stare of the day.

Last spring, Patrick's stepfather, Ian, saw a news item about Touch Bionics and the innovative work the company was doing in the field of bionic prosthetics. Potentially, it was a life-changer for Patrick, as it has been for the many (mainly American) servicemen who lost arms or fingers in Iraq and Afghanistan, and victims of industrial accidents, who form the majority of their patients.

But these were all adults who had once had full and active use of their limb. Would it be suitable for a young teenager who had never properly used his arm? An initial consultation in London suggested that it could be, and a week-long session of fitting, training and therapy was arranged in Scotland.

Touch Bionics evolved from the thalidomide scandal in the Sixties, which left hundreds of young children disabled at birth after their expectant mothers were prescribed an apparently harmless "cure" for morning sickness.

Princess Margaret Rose Hospital in Edinburgh led the way in research into the effects of long-term disability, and this programme formed the core of the Touch Bionics project. In 2003, with increasing pressure on Scottish NHS finances and an eye on the commercial potential, the unit was spun off into a separate company, backed by private investors.

Despite this Scots pedigree, Touch Bionics business comes overwhelmingly from America, from where 75 per cent of patients originate. Of the 1,400 fitted since 2007, only 15 have come from Britain, and just six have been fitted on the NHS. At £20,000 a time, the equipment has been considered beyond most NHS trust budgets.

In modest premises on the outskirts of Livingstone, Patrick had his first close-up encounter with the i-Limb Pulse prosthetic. A hard-cased sleeve was fitted over his stump, with two sensors inside touching his skin to detect muscular movement in the lower part of his arm. This was then transformed into electro-mechanical power for the fingers and thumb of the "bionic" hand. By flexing and relaxing the muscles in a set of co-ordinated movements, he could open and close the fist of the limb, and move the fingers in the fashion of a real hand. The proper term for the system is "myo-electric multi-articulating prosthesis".

But for a teenage boy hooked on the Terminator movies, it was science fiction become reality. With a little practice, he could work the limb effectively in a convincing imitation of Arnold Schwarzenegger's humanoid robot, with soft clicks and whirrs providing sound-effects. And there was no question for Patrick of a cosmetic replica skin hand (though this is available and convincing) – he wanted jet black, just like Arnie.

Power for the limb is provided by batteries inside the arm covering, recharged via a mobile-phone type socket plug. This turned into quite a challenge for the technicians in Livingstone. They had to provide Patrick with enough battery power to keep it functioning all day, but without making the arm too heavy or bulky for a young boy.

Over five days, the Touch Bionics team improvised and refined the limb, and Patrick worked hard learning how to use it. The degree of muscle control necessary to work the fingers and thumb, while maintaining control of his upper arm while lifting or manipulating, was demanding.

There were a few accidents while trying to pour fluids or raise a cup to his lips, but he picked it up surprisingly quickly. The prosthetic therapists, Alison and Rebecca, said he was the fastest learner they had dealt with.

The Pulse bionic prosthesis is not a perfect replica of a hand, and it will take a lot more research before it approaches that level of sophistication. But it can already significantly enhance the quality of life of anyone who has lost a hand. It can lift up to 90 kilos, perform intricate tasks (such as shoelace tying, holding spherical objects, using a keyboard), and provide a level of digital functionality previously impossible.

At the clinic we met Donald McKillop, a former panel-beater who lost his right hand in an industrial accident 30 years ago. He has had a Touch Bionics prosthetic hand since 2006 and uses it like a normal limb in all everyday domestic activities, as well as for work and handicrafts. "I couldn't be without it now," said McKillop, as he casually scratched his nose with a prosthetic finger.

For Patrick, the benefits are two-fold: he now has a functioning limb where before there was a pretty useless stump; and when people stare now, they are simply being curious about a state-of-the-art piece of equipment that he is proud to own. He is at the cutting edge of medical technology, and cannot wait for the beginning of the school term.

Source : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/7980092/Things-are-picking-up-for-the-bionic-boy.html

SPACE SETTLEMENT DESIGN COMPETITION

Pakistani girls win NASA Competition

 

Posted: 05/08/2010 
News submitted by: Admin


A team from the Lahore Grammar School (LGS) 55-Main Gulberg, popularly known as LGS Kabana, won the NASA-affiliated Space Settlement Design Competition held in the US.

The LGS students were part of a bigger team and worked with members from Britain and the US. A statement released on Tuesday on behalf of the school administrations read, “This year we are happy to announce the team representing LGS 55 Main, and Pakistan, was the strongest and along with their team mates from Britain and the US were adjudged the winners… The success marks a triumph for Pakistan, and particularly for women who rarely get an opportunity to excel in spheres involving science and advanced technology. It also demonstrates the potential of Pakistani youth, and offers hope at a time when the nation faces many crises.”


This is the first time a team from Pakistan has won the competition even though students from LGS and Aitchison College have participated in the contest before. The finals were held on August 2 at the Johnson Space Centre, Texas.

The members of the team included Fatima Jamal Khan, Mahsheed Aamer Iqbal, Minahil Raza, Rabeea Rathore, Saba Farooq, Sanniah Jabeen, Sanaa Nusrat, Maliha Faisal, Maryam Ali Khan, Rawail Naeem, Sara Afzal, Tehniyat Azam and Zahra Batool.


LGS has been winning the Asian region leg of the competition, held in India, for the past three years. During the regional leg for this year’s finals, contestants had to design ‘a safe and pleasant settlement’ providing for 2,500 people and 6,300 transits between Earth and Mars. Models were exhibited at the Asian Regional Space Settlement Design Competition held at Gurgaun, India, in January 2010. Out of 15 school teams from India and Pakistan, LGS Kabana and Amity International School, Saket, New Delhi India, comprising 24 students, were adjudged the best.


The project was set in 2055. Members in each team were assigned specific tasks related to structural engineering, operations and infrastructure. The settlement simulated conditions on earth, in terms of atmospheric composition, wind velocity, and precipitation patterns. They developed safety equipment for humans in low and zero-gravity areas and proposed training of future residents of Mars.


Twelve finalist teams from around the world were selected to compete with a new scenario in a live competition at NASA Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas, with real engineers sharing their knowledge and experience in both engineering and management.


The event at Houston pitches schools from around the world against each other and puts high school students in the shoes of the aerospace industry professionals.


This year Anita Gale, a very senior engineer from the Boeing’s Space Shuttle Division working in Houston and Jim Christensen from NASA REC were among the panel who judged the designs.


Each year the competition organisers from NASA and Boeing develop a new design concept with its own special requirements. Contesting teams work together to create a 40-page report that addresses the issues and communicates their ideas and designs. Student engineers demonstrate creativity, technical competence, management skills, environmental knowledge, space teamwork, and presentation techniques to solve the problems inherent in designing a colony in space.

Source : http://www.ilmkidunya.com/edunews/pakistani-girls-win-nasa-competition-4649.aspx

AISAM-UL-HAQ QURESHI

In appreciation of Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi

BY HAFSA ON 09 6TH, 2010

Spot-fixers, cheats, runners up, dopers – the list will go on except for one Pakistani sportsman, who continues to make the right kind sports news year after year. It seems like Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi has taken over the responsibility of lifting the nation’s sporting image. 

The fact that less people know about his feat of becoming the first Pakistani (among several other firsts) to enter the men’s and mixed doubles quarterfinals at a grand slam tennis tournament, than three Pakistani’s facing the possibility of life bans from cricket is unfortunate, to say the least. Or that the world media is not flashing images of him and Rohan Bopanna – his doubles partner from India – as they continue blasting away the big names of men’s doubles tennis as often as those of the accused cricketers on ill-fated tabloid covers, is also a shame. But then again, it always seems as if success stories here don’t sell as much as controversy does.

When I interviewed him five months back, Aisam proudly told me about his best-ever ATP doubles ranking of 51. He has come a long way since then. Not only has he leapt his way to number 34 in men’s doubles rankings, Aisam and his partner Rohan are the world’s 15th best pair. Add to that their Wimbledon quarterfinal finish, their win over world number one pair of Bob and Mike Bryan and most recently, their comprehensive shock win over number two seeds Nenand Nimonjic and Daniel Nestor at the US Open. The fact that Pakistani masses do not follow tennis is understandable, but for the media to put this lone warrior’s march right at the end of news bulletins, is regretful. This, despite him pairing up with an ‘arch-rival’ Indian player, and making ripples, if not waves, in respected sports magazines.

Being in the top 50 has also enabled Aisam to play mixed doubles on the ATP Tour for the first time in his career. Having paired up with Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic, Aisam has landed himself in two back-to-back grand-slam quarterfinals for the first time in his career.

We keep saying that our cricketers let us down when the nation was in need of some solace from the devastating last few weeks (months, even). Well, here’s a guy who has given us something to cheer about. How about giving him some long overdue appreciation? He may hold a racquet in his hand instead of a bat, but hey, at least he is making all the right moves. He is a man who is doing Pakistan proud so let’s just stop pelting the poor donkeys and put our hands together for the man who is already Pakistan’s most successful tennis player in history. Thank you, Aisam, for giving us a reason to read ‘real’ sports news for a change.

Hafsa Adil is a sports editor at Dawn.com.

Source : http://blog.dawn.com/2010/09/06/in-appreciation-of-aisam-ul-haq-qureshi/

INDIAN OCEAN

Indian Ocean Rising Faster Than Others

Sep 05th, 2010 - Rashme Sehgal

Newly detected rising sea levels in parts of the Indian Ocean have led Indian scientists to conclude that the Indian Ocean is rising faster than other oceans.

Dr Satheesh C. Shenoi, director, Indian National Centre for Ocean Infor-mation Services, speaking at a workshop on “Coasts, Coastal Populations and their Concerns” organised by the Centre for Science and Environment, warned that sea surface measurements and satellite observations confirm that an anthropogenic climate warming is amplifying regional sea rise changes in the Indian Ocean .

This would have far-reaching impacts on the climate of vulnerable nations, including the coastlines on the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea, Sri Lanka and parts of Indonesia as a result of human-induced increases in atmospheric greenhouse gases.

Data collated by the National Institute of Oceanography provide city-wise statistics of sea-level rise.
In Mumbai, from 1878- 2005, sea levels have risen by 0.77 millimetres while in Diamond Harbour, West Bengal, levels had risen by 5.16 mm.

“Data from the Jason satellite, which measured ocean levels, has shown that global sea levels had been rising steadily till 2003 but then the rise became slower. In the case of the Indian Ocean, the sea level has, however, continued to rise between 2004 and 2009. While in the Indian Ocean thermal expansion is 40 per cent, the global average is 20 per cent,” Dr Shenoi pointed out.

The scientist’s concerns were shared by A.S. Unnikrishnan, a scientist with the National Institute of Oceanography. “The sea-level rise could aggravate flooding In India and Bangladesh and could have a far-reaching impact on regional and global climate,” Dr Unnikrishnan said.

Both these scientists warned that the sea-level rise would adversely impact 35 per cent of the world’s human population as they live in coastal regions.

India has 3,325 coastal villages with a population of 3.5 million engaged in fishing and rising sea levels would make fishing communities immediately vulnerable.

Tapas Paul, who heads the World Bank’s Integrated Coastal Zone Management Programme, warned that “a sea-level rise by one metre would affect 37.2 million people from East Asia and the Pacific zone. “South Asia’s current resistance to variability is low with a lot of people here dying and suffering because of floods,” said Mr Paul. Quoting from a survey conducted by the World Bank, he pointed out that “almost 5.9 million people from South Asia would be affected and Bangladesh would be the worst affected country.”

Goa’s minister of environment, Aleixo Sequeira, pointed out that coastal areas were being targeted to promote tourism in a completely unregulated manner. “The entire coastal ecosystem is vulnerable and the Centre and states must work together to prepare a proper plan to promote tourism, waste and sewage disposal and prevent unregulated tourism,” he said.

Source : http://www.asianage.com/india/indian-ocean-rising-faster-others-394

INDO-CHINA RELATIONS

Ready For Chinese Checkers?

Sep 04th, 2010 - K.C. Singh

Sino-Indian relations are back in public debate after the New York Times report on Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers in Gilgit-Baltistan, visa denial to Lt. Gen. B.S. Jaswal, General Officer Commanding in Chief (GOC-in-C), Northern Command, and on top of earlier Chinese transgressions like separate paper visas for Jammu and Kashmir residents. Were not the bilateral relations on the upswing since the handshake between Rajiv Gandhi and Deng Xiaoping in 1988?’

Three successive foreign secretaries have been China experts, S.S. Menon also being the curre nt national security adviser. Ad d r essing the Heads of Indian Missions, Mr Menon felt that despite the pinpricks the Chinese will not opt for confrontation as they are focused on economic gr o wth. Anticipating human or na t ional behaviour is tricky busin e ss. On December 19, 1979, the Ce ntral Intelligence Agency (CIA) adv ised the US President th at “the pace of Soviet deployments does not suggest an urgent contingency”. A week later the So viets invaded Afghanistan. Tim Weiner, in his masterly book on CIA Legacy of Ashes, comm e nts that it was not a lack of in t e l ligence; it was a lack of imagination.

China, since Mao Zedong’s demise in 1976, has been in a pragmatic and regenerative phase axiomatically prescribed by Deng Xiaoping for China to “disguise its ambition and hide its claws”. In 1978 China’s per capita was on par with India; by 1999 it was double. Therefore while the rise of China has been anticipated, its sudden prominence is due to the US and its European allies being militarily exhausted and financially challenged. The Chinese panda is now overnight a bear; Deng’s advice supplanted by Middle Kingdom syndrome.

The rise of China poses questions for Asia. The Economist ran a cover dubbing Sino-Indian relations as “the contest of the century”. They noted that recent Chinese behaviour has left the Sino-Indian relationship “bruised”. Martin Jacques in his book When China Rules the World, surmises that it is inevitable that China as it rises will revert to behaviour that its history and culture dictates, i.e. treating countries on its periphery in terms of a tributary-state. The countries bordering the South China Sea are already experiencing this. India, he feels, is a case apart as it too is rising. India could either concede China a permanent role in South Asia or assert itself as a regional hegemony. This is the challenge confronting India today, as China is well entrenched in Pakistan and an emerging player in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.

The game is not new. China was determined to reclaim its historical position and thus set out from 1949 to contain rivals in Asia. The focus on India increased 1959 onwards, when India gave refuge to the Dalai Lama. A rising Japan spurned, in November 1924, the advice of provisional Chinese President Sun Yat-Sen, imparted in a speech at Kobe, that pan-Asian relations must be governed by the “rule of Right” and not by the European “rule of Might”. In November 1962, while the two superpowers were distracted by their face-off over the Cuban missile crisis, China too decided to ignore Sun Yat-Sen’s vision and attack India. It broke Jawaharlal Nehru, demoralised India and sucked the US into the South Asian affairs. President John F. Kennedy rushed military assistance to India. The price was talks with Pakistan to settle the Kashmir issue.

However when Swaran Singh, minister for railways, landed in Rawalpindi for the inaugural round on December 29, 1962, he heard over the radio that China had settled its boundary in the Pakistan-occupied northern areas of Kashmir, with Pakistan. A shocked US berated President Ayub Khan. While the talks had five more rounds, they basically were dead on arrival, thanks to China.

Chinese skulduggery has been a constant refrain since then, whether the clandestine assistance to Pakistan for their nuclear weaponisation or their delivery systems, or to develop the Gwadar port as a long-term asset. The second phase of the port will have 10 berths, three for special cargo and two for 200,000 tonne oil tankers. Chinese have a major interest in restoring the Karakoram highway, destroyed by landslides and perhaps upgrade it to create an integrated transport and energy corridor. Chinese foreign ministry while denying the presence of PLA in Gilgit and Baltistan refer to it as Northern Pakistan. This is an endorsement of the Pakistani construct that their Northern areas were never a part of Jammu and Kashmir. These are Shia-dominated regions, ethnically and culturally akin to Ladakh. It is regrettable that India has allowed Pakistan’s myth to go uncontested, as indeed never made an issue of the human rights abuses there. The Chinese endorsement may be a good point to commence a debate on this, as they are in breach of United Nations Security Council resolutions despite being a permanent member.

The Indian response has to be firm and multi-pronged, while recognising that for the first time China has two competing power centres, one the Populist faction led by President Hu Jintao and the other an Elitist faction led by vice-president Xi Jinping, who is to be President in 2012. How much of the hardline posturing is due to this jostling is difficult to say. India needs to fortify its defences, use the trade leverage (largely in China’s favour), reach out with calibrated deliberation to Vietnam and other association of Southeast Asian Nations members who are objects of Chinese assertiveness around the South China Sea and blacklist all Chinese companies doing business in Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The author is a former secretary in the external affairs ministry

Source : http://www.asianage.com/columnists/ready-chinese-checkers-304

INDO-AMERICA RELATIONS

India Must Watch Obama’s SME Plan

Sep 06th, 2010

All eyes will be on US President Barack Obama this week as he promised to unfold a stimulus package that would give a fillip to employment after the US labour department released figures that showed that 54,000 people lost their jobs in August. The unemployment figures for August were 14.9 million jobless compared to 14.6 million in July. There was some comfort that the figures of those who lost their jobs was less than what was predicted by Wall Street (1,20,000), and that the private sector had created 67,000 jobs. The small and medium industries, it is reported, could? be the focus of Mr Obama’s new package. 

There is some scepticism about whether Mr Obama can really print more money to help the economy or the banks to support the SMEs that can create the jobs. He is also planning to do it through tax breaks and has pleaded with the Republicans not to block tax cuts for this sector. However, the bottom line is that the swathe of economic data emanating from the US and across the Western world shows that their economies are decisively weak.

The implications are not good news for India. The effect on India usually comes with a lag of a couple of months so by September-October inflows from foreign institutional investors (FIIs) could slow down and negatively impact the stock markets. This means it could be a dicey time for initial public offers waiting to come to the capital market. Many of them are public sector companies. Exporters, too, will struggle, at least till Christmas, as Indian exporters are still heavily dependent on the US and the West for their export markets. The other way of interpreting the economic data coming out of the US, which still remains the largest consumer market in the world, and the most dynamic as Mr Obama says, is that fear of double-digit recession has been overdone and that this fear is receding. So, while the road to recovery could be long and painful, the positive is that there will be no further decline.

In the context of President Obama’s move, it is a coincidence that in India the Union labour ministry has circulated a paper, according to our sister publication? Financial Chronicle, proposing that the government link bank credit to employment creation. It has proposed the creation of 58 million jobs in two years to meet the aspirations of 10 million educated youth that hit the employment market annually. Among the measures suggested are linking tax holidays, exemptions and duty rates to jobs, easy credit for job-intensive sectors with interest subvention, and facilitating finance to small and medium enterprises. This is a heartening development. But we have heard many of these suggestions routinely, particularly regarding finance for small and medium enterprises.

Seminar after seminar is held to discuss how funds can be transferred from banks to the SMEs, but till date it remains a Herculean task for SMEs to get funds from the banks. The ones who need it most are considered high risk. Bank credit to SMEs has come down to eight per cent from 12 per cent.

Interest subvention seems to be the only concrete suggestion that can be implemented. The government has tried it with the farmers and it has worked. If banks that give credit to SMEs can be given an interest subsidy, they can pass on some benefits to the sector and for the demographic dividend that everyone loves to talk about. To that extent it will be interesting to see what stimulus package President Obama provides for American SMEs because the governments of both countries are facing tremendous resistance to government subsidy for SMEs. While the US faces resistance from the Republicans, in India it is the banks that are resisting assistance to the SMEs, who are the backbone of exports and employment creation.

Source : http://www.asianage.com/editorial/india-must-watch-obama’s-sme-plan-577

Sayeeda Warsi - An Interview

Q&A with Baroness Warsi

BY ARSHAD SHARIF

In an interview with Arshad Sharif of “Reporter” on DawnNews, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi spoke on numerous topics including the floods, the war in Afghanistan, trust deficit of the Pakistani government and her stance on the veil for Muslim women. Following is an English transcript of an Urdu interview with Baroness Warsi on “Reporter” in August 2010.

Q: You have come to Pakistan at a time when the floods have ravaged the country, and have visited some of the areas. What is the situation onground?

A: I think I could never have been prepared to witness what I saw yesterday. I had come here after the 2005 earthquake and visited Muzzafarabad. In many ways, that was the first disaster that I had seen. But the scenes that I witnessed yesterday, it seemed as if someone had bombed the place or flattened the entire villages and towns using a bulldozer. Some exterior walls were still standing, but once you saw beyond those walls, you could see that entire neighborhoods had been destroyed. And it was very disturbing and very emotional talking to people over there. It was very difficult for me because on the one hand I had gone there to learn, to listen to their stories, to see their situation and to share their grief, but on the other hand the British government has given a commitment of over $50 million and the British public has also given over  £15 million …

Q: Baroness, now that you have witnessed the situation firsthand, will you raise a voice for Pakistan at the international level? It is being said that the international community is not responding according to the scale of this catastrophe.

A: I was here yesterday with Andrew Mitchell, who is the international secretary of state for the Department for International Development (DFID) in the UK, and he has already left for New York this morning to attend the UN conference where he is going to ask the world to do more. Along with this when I go back to the UK, I’ll be asking the public, the diaspora community, the business community to do more. Do we have to do more because you are a frontline state? I don’t think that’s the key reason. We must do more because there is a need, there is a humanitarian need here, and I think that’s the first and foremost thing we must bear in mind. You know I talked to a woman over there and she was standing there telling me that she has lost everything and all that she has are these clothes over her body. And I think our first response is due to humanitarian reasons, after that we look at the reasons for all other responses.

Q: There is talk of a trust deficit that maybe the Pakistan government is not trusted enough and even the British government is giving most of the money through NGOs. In case of United States we are also seeing the same thing, the European Commission has also said yesterday that they’ll give most of their money through NGO’s or through the United Nations. Do you think there is a trust deficit?

Q: I think getting the NGOs involved is not necessarily due to trust deficit. I think the reason for using the NGOs is because they are more flexible, they are on the ground and are already working there. The smaller charities, the different organisations which are currently involved there, they can move very quickly. And if you look at organisations like the Islamic Relief, within hours and days they were there, and they were setting up and [were] able to operate. I think the issue of trust deficit is there, there’s no doubt about that, it’s not as if we can deny that. Even your own politicians are not denying it and I think that’s a good thing that you can only deal with a problem if you acknowledge that there is a problem in the first place.

Is that the reason the world isn’t responding? Maybe, but it could also be that the flood disaster is not an issue where thousands or millions of people have lost their lives in an instant. Thankfully, it’s not one of those disasters where a lot of lives are lost. [That being said] it’s one of those disasters which unfolds. It first started in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, then came down to Punjab and then Sindh, the disaster is unfolding day-by-day and its consequences are also unfolding day-by-day. So because of that it is much difficult to sell to the world, to say this is a huge disaster and you need to respond, which is why it was necessary that I and Andrew come here and look at things ourselves.

But I think the issue of trust deficit is also being discussed, is also being dealt with. I spoke to Mian Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister Gilani, General Nadeem, had a meeting with the finance minister, and all of them are pulling in the right direction. One of the things I suggested was that the overseas Pakistanis who are involved in their country’s society and institutions, you should call upon them as well. I was speaking yesterday to the Norwegian ambassador who told me  about a politician of Pakistani origin who is very successful. Such people in the diasporic community [are vital] who know that they don’t just only give money but are also involved in the transparency and delivery process.

Q: Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, you are the most powerful woman in Britain and are also a Muslim woman. In it there are some identity issues which might haunt you especially when people like Anjem Chaudhry of Al-Muhajiroun say that people like you are like coconuts, brown on the outside and white on the inside. How do you deal with the identity crisis? When you come to Pakistan expectations from you are different, while when you are in Britain the expectations are different, at the same time being of Pakistani descent and having a Muslim identity. How do you balance all of this?

A: I think the accolade I got of being the most powerful Muslim woman [in Britain] is very flattering. But my daughter said to me, yes mother you are the most powerful Muslim woman but it is still you who makes daal paratha in the house at sehri time, not anyone else. So I think that there are roles that women still have to adopt and I think that I’m very comfortable with those very different roles. I think the Pakistani origin identity I have, I’m proud of it. Being a Muslim, I’m proud of it. Being born in Britain, being raised there, being a cabinet minister in that society I’m very privileged and I’m proud of it. And I don’t feel that in all those there should be inconsistencies. It is not necessary that if you’re a Muslim you can’t be a British, or if you’re a British you can’t be a Muslim or from a Pakistani origin. I think it’s about how comfortable you are in your identity and how openly and with pride you can say that’s fine this is what I am. And I think saying in front of the Downing Street, I’m proud to be a cabinet Minister and wearing shalwar kameez saying I’m also proud to be a Pakistani and openly saying I’m of the Muslim faith and proud to do that, I don’t think that that’s an identity crisis. Yeah there are idiots in Britain, you’ve named some of them, who have an issue of identity crisis themselves, who think that they are the only ones who can raise the voice of Islam or it is only they who can promote their culture, but in reality those people are a blotch on the name of Islam. They bring to my religion, to my beautiful religion, a bad name and bring a bad name to my culture and they represent all those characteristics which I think are not part of our religion or our culture.

Q: How would you define Britishness? What is Britishness?

A: Britishness is a feeling of tolerance, it is a feeling of allowing people to live their lives the way they wish to live their lives. It’s about fairness, it’s about meritocracy, it’s about a dream where somebody like me a laborer’s daughter can be born in that country whose parents went there with 200 rupees in their pockets and they set up multi million businesses there. It’s people like me whose families have no political history, no political background.

Q: Equal opportunity, merit, tolerance, you mentioned all these things. But in Europe and also Britain there is currently a move going on about burqa, that it should be banned and the all-encompassing face niqab should also be banned. What are your views on this? Do you think this should take place? Do you feel it is restrictive, and all the things you mentioned about Britishness, do you think this merges with those things or not?

A: My statements about burqa have been very very clear right from the outset that no country has the right to tell a woman what she should wear and what she should not wear. This is a woman’s choice that what dress she adopts for herself. If she wants to wear shalwar kameez or she wants to wear trouser suit or she wants to wear a burqa this is her individual choice and that’s Britishness, about allowing people to choose what they want to wear. I think, and I also said this before, that it is not the right of some middle-aged British man to stand up and tell a Muslim woman, or any woman, that your skirt is too short, your kameez is too tight, your dupatta is too long or your niqab is too dark. That is none of their business, that is a choice for women to make and it is an instinctively British right that women have these rights to make these choices and it is an instinctively Islamic choice that women make choices in their life.

Q: America has announced a time frame for the war in Afghanistan. Would there be talk on the withdrawal of British troops also? What is the thinking of the Conservative Party in this regard as you are also the Chairperson of the Conservative Party.

A: I think our Prime Minister has said very clearly that there has to be an exit strategy with regards to Afghanistan. He has already given some indication time lines like 2015. And I think there is an acceptance that Britain and other foreign powers are not there to stay permanently in Afghanistan and I’m very delighted that there’s a very clear indication that slowly the military operation there would cease.

Q: And can there be talks with the Taliban also as part of an exit strategy?

A: I think we’ve always said that there are some sections of Taliban with whom discussions can be held.

Q: Do you think that if Tony Blair had not supported America in Iraq and Afghanistan, than the situation which we face today, the threat that Britain, Europe and Pakistan are facing, things would have been different.

A: I don’t know whether I can predict that, but what I can say for sure is that, that war was wrong. I was against the war in Iraq. I, like millions of other people, demonstrated in the streets that we should not go to this war. By profession I’m a lawyer and I had real concerns regarding the legality of the basis of this war according to international law. I was against the war then, and I still feel that we shouldn’t have gone to Iraq at that time.

Q: Do you think with the coming of Conservative Party with people like you part of it, the image of Britain as a lackey of the Americans in the war on terror would change in the Muslim countries? Do you think with these policies of Conservative Party, as you mentioned that you were against the war and being the Chairperson that’s a very strong message, the image of Britain among Muslim countries and especially Pakistan would improve?

A: I think that … I can only comment on my government and my coalition government and our approach to international relations. I can say this for sure that the role that I have is that if there’s a misunderstanding between Pakistan and Britain then that misunderstanding should be removed and the understanding should be improved, and the many years of friendship we have should be made more entrenched.

Q: How can that friendship be made more entrenched when David Cameron goes to India and gives a statement that Pakistan is pursuing a double policy on the war on terror?

A: I think if you’re good friends with a country, then I think and even you would know that, that good friends sometimes tell each other things which they don’t like. But the real test of friendship is that when you are undergoing the most difficult times, who stands shoulder to shoulder with you. And I think when sadly recently Pakistan faced this difficult time of floods, Britain was the first one to respond. We were the first ones to give a response and also the ones to give the biggest response. Not only have we responded ourselves but have also asked the world to stand by Pakistan. And I think if someone has any doubt in his mind about the friendship between Pakistan and Britain, he should look at our response and have confidence that this friendship is strong, it is much stronger than any individual statement.

ON 08 26TH, 2010
Arshad Sharif is the Islamabad Bureau Chief of DawnNews. He tweets at http://twitter.com/dawntvreporter and can be found on Facebook.

Source : http://blog.dawn.com/2010/08/26/qa-with-baroness-warsi/

Islamophobia in Europe

BY TALHA ZAHEER 

A few months ago, I came across a (now infamous) YouTube video about changing demographics of the Muslim population in Europe. The tone was ominous as it warned of the dawning of an Islamicised Europe. In 39 years, the video claimed, France will be an Islamic republic. In 15 years, half the population of the Netherlands will be Muslim. In 2050, Germany, too, will be a Muslim state.

Although I was a bit skeptical about the authenticity of the statistics presented, I basically bought into the video’s premise – that a higher birth rate among Muslim immigrants would cause a marked shift in Europe’s demographics, making it predominantly Muslim. I’ll even admit a part of me swelled with pride at the prospect.

Even though I was aware that a Christian group had produced the video, I do not recall being offended by that initial viewing. But then the rebuttals and clarifications began. A new YouTube video put out by BBC’s Radio 4 titled ‘Muslim Demographics: The Truth’ exposed the alarmist agenda of the first clip by pointing out its liberal use of inaccurate data. And when the BBC news service evaluated the inauthenticity of the statistics, my eyes were fully opened to the strong Islamophobic message of the original video.

The growing problem of Islamophobia in the West is being increasingly documented. The trend is more pronounced in Europe than across the Atlantic, where it is thought that Muslims assimilate more readily. The demographics video may have been an amateur venture, it has coincided with the release of several bestselling books that implore Europeans to wake up and do something to save their culture and their continent. Interestingly, these pseudo-academic attempts have mostly emanated from American authors, apparently discontent with their own incursions into Muslim territories in Iraq and Afghanistan.

One such attempt by Christopher Caldwell titled Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Immigration, Islam, and the West has received considerable attention in both the American and British media. It is startling to see how reviews of the book from across the pond could be so divergent. While The New York Times claims it is a balanced, thoughtful effort, the Guardian lambasts its unambiguous racial bias.

The contrast between North American and European perceptions of Islam has several explanations. The Europeans are a lot more sensitive and fidgety about the subject, with sentiments in Britain being especially volatile.  The British National Party (BNP), for example, advocates for a return to the good old pre-1948 whites-only days and only falls short of calling whites a superior race. The party actively promotes alarmist views about the spread of Islam in Europe and calls for the deportation of Muslim subjects to their homelands, regardless of whether those subjects – many of whom have been born in Europe – had ever set foot outside the continent.

Parties like the BNP have started gaining impetus throughout Europe with their lightly veiled hatred towards the ‘other’ seeping into passive locals and manifesting itself towards Muslims, effectively making Muslims the Jews of this century. Antediluvian theories advocating social homogeneity have resurfaced as insecure Europeans are manipulated into thinking they must cling on to the last remnants of their dying culture through propagandist videos and literature that wouldn’t be out of place in Nazi Germany.

BNP-type, far-right groups are openly asking to repeal laws that make equal opportunity mandatory, effectively promoting discrimination. Even more alarming is their popularity. In recent elections, the BNP won three seats for the first time.  With such open hostility towards Muslims, albeit in small segments of the population, what measures are European governments taking to allay fears within the Muslim community? The concept of second-rate citizens, after all, runs counter to fundamental western values of equality.

And while the debate within white-Europe rages, what of Muslim European sentiments? What of those who are being forced to decide between a religious and national identity in secular countries such as France? Nikolas Sarkozy, who claims to be a ‘demanding friend of Muslims,’ has proven to have littley sympathy with the concept of pardah. His latest battle is against body- and head-covering swimming attire for women – God forbid a woman should go for a swim in anything other than a bikini.

These strange reactions to Muslims in Europe make me reminisce about my days in primary school in Wales. Once a girl named Catherine called me a ‘Brownie’ in a conversation to a third person that I wasn’t even privy to. Within minutes, I had my whole class rally around me, giving me their support and completely shunning the girl for being racist. At the time, I myself never realised what the big deal was. But my 12-year-old friends were incensed. And if that’s how youngsters from a remote area where a non-white was an anomaly used to react a decade ago, how has the European landscape come to face such a regressive crisis?

On my recent visit to Manchester, I saw mosques with windows smashed in. Previous riots in Bradford, now popularly called ‘Bradistan’ for its large proportion of desis, may not have merely been racial in nature and may also have been fueled by Islamophobia. If Europe does not address these issues quickly and sensitively, this may well be the beginning of a slippery slope. With persecution, discrimination and racism to deal with, just how long will Muslims remain tolerant? How long before they start to flee? And who’s really to blame if they opt for the radical alternative?

Going over the evidence in search of a holistic perspective, I still fail to see how three per cent of the populace could threaten a whole people by their mere existence in the same geographical space. Let’s not forget, it’s not like Muslims forced their entry into mainland Europe. They came as legal immigrants because Europe needed their labor. Through citizenship, they have earned the right to better treatment.

Toronto-based Talha Zaheer blogs about diaspora-related issues for Dawn.com.
He is also the Toronto FC correspondent for Goal.com.

ON 08 18TH, 2009

Source : http://blog.dawn.com/2009/08/18/islamophobia-in-europe/

Pakistan - Diplomatic Corruption

Official given £6,000 to join golf club

By Khawar Ghumman 
Wednesday, 01 Sep, 2010

ISLAMABAD: The Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly was informed on Tuesday that a bureaucrat posted at the country’s consulate general in Manchester had used official funds to secure the membership of a local golf club in 2007. 

The membership cost the public exchequer 6,000 pounds. 

Mr Hamid (his full name was not mentioned at the meeting) not only managed to win the post of commercial secretary, but also got approval for his club membership from then commerce minister Humayun Akhtar Khan whom he had earlier served as staff officer. 

Documentary evidence placed before the PAC by the audit department revealed that the club membership fee had been paid out of the Export Market Development Fund (EMDF) primarily meant to finance projects and activities aimed at promotion of exports. 

Commerce Secretary Zafar Mahmood opposed recovery of the amount from the official, although he conceded that using government funds to secure membership of a golf club was unprecedented. “He is a good officer and I don’t think he would be able to pay this amount,” he said. 

The secretary’s statement appeared to be in contradiction of the stance he had taken at a departmental accounts committee meeting in May when he said the amount should be recovered. 

Mr Hamid is about to complete his three-year term in Manchester. 

MNA Yasmin Rehman, who was presiding over the meeting in the absence of PAC chairman Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, asked the secretary to make the recovery as soon as possible. 

Khwaja Asif of the PML-N said: “The money should be recovered from the minister who endorsed the expenditure.” 

Members of the committee unanimously called for recovering the amount. 

During scrutiny of the accounts of the commerce ministry of 2008-9, audit officials also discussed wasteful expenditures of around Rs50 million by the finance ministry in 2007-8 on conducting several studies for promoting exports. They said the studies had been conducted in a highly suspicious manner; open bidding had not been held for selecting consultant firms and the then commerce secretary had made payments in contravention of his financial powers. 

Mr Zafar Mahmood said the expenditures had been approved by the then commerce secretary, Tanvir Ali Agha, who is currently the Auditor General of Pakistan. 

The PAC said the ministry should hold another meeting of the departmental accounts committee to determine whether the objectives of the studies had been achieved. 

Another case of waste discussed at the meeting was an unauthorised expenditure of Rs2.406 million on mobile phones calls. The chief executive of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan exceeded his approved ceiling. Most of the calls took place during foreign visits by the official. The committee ordered recovery of the amount. 

When contacted, Mr Humayun Khan confirmed Mr Hamid’s foreign posting during his stint as commerce minister. “Yes, I also approved payment of 6,000 pounds for his golf club membership fee and that was absolutely within my purview,” Mr Khan said in reply to a question. 

Source : http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/official-given-6,000-to-join-golf-club-190

The worst of times

BY SAIMA SHAKIL HUSSAIN ON 08 30TH, 2010

To paraphrase Charles Dickens’ opening line in A Tale of Two Cities quite heavily, this is the absolute worst of times –  full stop. There is no qualifying ‘best of times,’ no ‘age of wisdom,’ no ‘epoch of belief,’ ‘season of Light or ‘spring of hope.’ In fact, this is the ultimate pits of times. There is no other way to say it. It’s quite simply a very, very bad time all around.

Apart from causing millions to become internally displaced, the flood water has exposed the gaping trust deficit that exists both within the country and outside of it. International donors are hesitant, not sure if the funds and goods that they do contribute will end up with those who deserve them. It is difficult to blame them when Pakistanis themselves, rather than depending on the federal or provincial governments to do anything, seem to have devised a sort of ad-hoc adopt-a-village programme whereby private citizens and student groups are gathering goods and delivering them to the victims themselves. Or least to the ones they are able to reach.

And while all this is going on in the homeland, in a far away land, New York City to be precise, the ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ controversy is in full swing. The fact that the proposed project is not a mosque but rather a cultural centre, and is to be built on private property a few blocks away from that hallowed ground is being ignored. Indeed, the term ‘Islam Free Zone’ is being used in association with lower Manhattan.

Choosing to downplay the facts that an estimated 60 Muslims also died in the attacks and that there had existed a Muslim prayer hall inside the fallen World Trade Centre, rabid right-wingers have whipped up anti-Muslim sentiment to the extent that even President Obama felt pressured to temper the supporting comments he had made at the annual White House iftaar a day earlier.

The demonisation of Islam has reached such a feverish pitch that American Muslim leaders have become markedly anxious that this year Eid ul-Fitr will fall around September 11. They are concerned that those Americans who are ignorant about Islam – sadly they number very many – will choose to interpret it as a celebration of the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Finding the right balance between showing respect for the victims and not giving into fear is the very tough task ahead for America’s Muslim communities.

While contemplating these turbulent times, I could not help but think of the trials faced by the first Muslim community in Madinah. I was especially reminded of the following passage from Martin Lings’ monumental workMuhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources (1983) which gives a detailed account of the incredible odds that faced the small and impoverished band of believers who struggled to build a new life while also defending themselves against their many enemies:

“Before the Prophet (peace be upon him) set out [for the Battle of Khaybar], one of the men of Awas known as Abu Abs came to him with a problem. He had a camel to ride, but his clothes were in rags and he had no means for procuring any provisions to take on the march and nothing to leave for the upkeep of his family, let alone buying himself a new garment. There were many others in similar circumstances, though this was an extreme case. But much had been spent on the Pilgrimage, and everything that had been gained so far in the way of spoil was outweighed by the increasing number of poverty-stricken converts who came to Madinah from every direction.

The Prophet gave Abu Abs a fine long cloak, all that was available for the moment; but on the march, a day or two later, he noticed that he had on a much poorer cloak and he asked him: ‘Where is the cloak I gave thee?’ ‘I sold it for eight dirhams said Abu Abs. ‘Then I bought two dirhams worth of dates as provision for myself, ad I left two dirhams from my family to live on, and bought a cloak for four dirhams.’ The Prophet laughed and said: ‘O father of Abs, thou and thy companions are poor indeed. But by Him in whose hand is my soul, if ye keep safe and live yet a little while, ye shall have abundance of provisions and leave abundantly for your families. Ye shall abound in dirhams and in slaves; and it will not be good for you!’”

Dr Martin Lings (1909-2005), or Abu Bakr Siraj Uddin as he was also known, earned acclaim throughout the Muslim world for his book which was proclaimed to be the ‘best biography of the prophet in English’ at the National Seerat Conference in Islamabad.

Combining simplicity with grandeur, he has narrated events from the Prophet’s life that are familiar to many, but what make his telling of them stand apart are the Arabic sources of the eighth and ninth centuries – Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa’ad and Al-Waqidi – whom he has quoted extensively.

Thus from the men and women who heard the Prophet speak and witnessed for themselves the events of his life the reader learns of the monumental challenges he and his followers faced time and again. In a society that was staunchly tribal and allegiance to lineage was deeply entrenched, they emigrated from their ancestral homeland – something had never been imagined before – and laid the foundations of an egalitarian society in a peaceful oasis.

That our society today is neither peaceful nor egalitarian while a sizable number ‘abound in dirhams’ bears witness to the prophecy which was made so long ago.

Saima Shakil Hussain is the editor of Dawn’s ‘Books & Authors’ magazine.

Source : http://blog.dawn.com/2010/08/30/the-worst-of-times/