Pakistan wins its first Oscar for ‘Saving Face’

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rvRi6skW-M

 

Pakistan wins its first Oscar ‘Saving Face’

 

‘Saving Face’ produced by Sharmeen Obaid won the Oscar for feature documentary

Published Monday, February 27, 2012

Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy accept the Oscar for the Best Documentary Short Subject for their film "Saving Face" at the 84th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, February 26, 2012. (REUTERS)

The Pakistani documentary ‘Saving Face’ produced by Sharmeen Obaid won the Oscar for feature documentary at the 84th Academy Awards on Sunday.

In the history of Oscars, it was the first time ever that a Pakistani documentary was nominated and won award in 84 years.

Directed by Daniel Junge and produced by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, the film follows British plastic surgeon Dr. Mohammad Jawad, who returns to his homeland to help victims of acid burns. The film follows one woman as she fights to see that the perpetrators of the crime are imprisoned for life.

The documentary competed against “God Is the Bigger Elvis,” a Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson film about a mid-century starlet who chose the church over Hollywood; “The Barber of Birmingham,” a Gail Dolgin and Robin Fryday film that follows the life of 85-year-old barber James Armstrong and the legacy of the civil rights movement; James Spione’s war film “Incident in New Baghdad”; and “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom,” a film by Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen that follows survivors of Japan's 2011 earthquake and their struggle to recover from the wave that crushed their homes and lives

http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-37201-Sharmeens-Saving-Face-wins-first-Oscar-for-Pakistan

 

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/320268

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/celebritology/post/oscars-2012-academy-awards-live-blog-5-pm-est/2012/02/24/gIQAETJ9bR_blog.html?tid=pm_entertainment_pop

Pakistan Wins International Cyber Drill

Pakistan Wins International Cyber Drill

February 15, 2012

Pakistan has marked victory in International Cyber Drill Competition, the competition was based on tricks and techniques regarding ” Cyber Security and how to secure systems from hackers and hack attacks”.  Pakistan took part in the drill for the first time and beaten experts from 28 other countries.

Ammar Jaffri, President at Pakistan Information Security Association ” Pakistan took part in this cyber drill for the first time and won”

Pakistan Information Security Association was founded in 2005 to educate people on immediate response on hacking attacks. Four members from Pakistan Information Security Association and four students from National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST) took part in the drill and successfully blocked hacking attacks from different hackers.

http://hackread.com/read/hackread/1342

(With thanks to Mr. Intesab Hussain for sharing the post.)

India Could Use Pakistan’s Infrastructure – The Wall Street Journal

(a bit older article, but nice to read)


India Could Use Pakistan’s Infrastructure – The Wall Street Journal

By Tom Wright

 

A major conundrum to those who visit both India and Pakistan is why the roads are so much better in the latter. For all its problems, Pakistan’s 367-kilometer-long M2 motorway between Lahore and Islamabad strikes a visitor as being streets ahead of India’s decrepit inter-state roads even if roads minister Kamal Nath is on a binge of fund-raising to try to improve India’s highways. For one, there’s a disciplined motorway police that patrol Pakistan’s highways and don’t take bribes. If you go above 120 kilometers an hour, and are caught on camera, a fine awaits you at the toll gate. Nonpayment means you can’t get out. The M2 motorway passes through the densely populated Punjab countryside but there are no cows, rickshaws or motorbikes coming at traffic on the wrong side of the road which is a common experience in India.

 

The M2 road was built in the late 1990s by South Korean firm Daewoo, whose name is still emblazoned on the modern service stations that line the route. Sunita Kohli, a New Delhi-based interior designer who recently did work on a boutique hotel in Lahore, says she was impressed with the road compared to similar developments in India. “We really lag behind on infrastructure,” she said. “Now we’re trying to make up for lost time.” That’s not to say Pakistan doesn’t face its own infrastructure challenges. Its most pressing need is to build more power plants and stop people from stealing electricity to avoid hours of blackouts across the country.

 

And Pakistan’s motorways — at just over 600 kilometers in combine length — are only a small fraction of the total road network, much of which is old. Ms. Kohli says she sees the M2 as a “showcase.” India still slightly edges out Pakistan in the United Nations’ Human Development Index, which measures per capita GDP, literacy, life expectancy and other development criteria.

 

Until a couple of years ago, Pakistan’s economy was booming and there was plenty of public and private money for infrastructure spending. Now, foreign direct investment has dried up and the government, running a large deficit, has had to turn to the IMF for more than $11 billion in loans. But first-time visitors to Pakistan, many expecting a failed state, are surprised by some of the modern infrastructure. Apart from the roads, Pakistan’s broadband and wireless roaming speeds also compare favorably with India. Doing business in Pakistan is easier than in India and China, according to the World Bank. With regular Taliban suicide bombings, though, Pakistan is unable to capitalize on these positives and continues to generate only negative headlines.

 

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2010/07/20/india-could-use-pakistans-infrastructure/

Zoha Abdullah Malik. Who Topped O Level Examination in Biology All Over World... A New World Record

Zoha Abdullah Malik. Who Topped O Level Examination in Biology All Over World... A New World Record 

Pakistan Student Zoha Abdullah Malik. Who Topped O Level Examination in Biology All Over World.. New World Record.

No doubt its a great news for all Pakistanis that Pakistan is making new education records every day. Its quite interesting news that Zoha Abdullah of Beacon House School System has just made her record in Biology O Level exams all over the world by getting highest marks. Zoha lives in Islamabad and has been a student of Beaconhouse Wah Cantt from Nursery till O Level. She has always been a bright student, who excelled in curricular and co-curricular activities. She is a source of inspiration for many of her fellow students. While talking to media, Zoha’s mother said that Zoha wants to become a doctor, she has the qualities to understand the principles of life and achieve her target.

http://www.pakstop.com/pmforums/f79/zoha-abdullah-malik-whotopped-o-level-examination-biology-all-over-world-new-world-record-120193/

India, Most Dangerous Place For Girl Child

Bangalore: India is the most dangerous place in the world for a baby girl. As per the newly released data of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA), an Indian girl child aged 1-5 years is 75 percent more likely to die than an Indian boy child, making it the worst gender differential in child mortality for any country in the world.

As per the data, infant (0-1 years) and child (1-5 years) mortality is declining in India and across the globe, although not at a fast pace as was hoped in India. At the same time, the rest of the world is experiencing a faster fall in female infant and child mortality in comparison to male child mortality. This is on account of well established biological factors which make girls better survivors of early infancy given equal access to resources. But, sadly world's two most populous countries, China and India resist this trend.

The survey conducted in 150 countries over 40 years shows that India and China are the only two countries in the world where female infant mortality is higher than male infant mortality in the 2000s. While India shows better infant mortality sex ratio than China with 97 male infant deaths for every 100 female. China shows 76 male infant deaths for every 100 female infant deaths. The number is 122 male infant deaths for every 100 female infant deaths in the developing world as a whole. In the neighboring countries like Sri Lanka the number is 125 and 120 in Pakistan.

The child mortality sex ratio in India is however the world's worst. In the 2000s, there were 56 male child deaths for every 100 female, in comparison with 111 in the developing world. This ratio has gone worse since the 1970s in India, where as Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Egypt and Iraq have improved.

The UN report clearly suggests that high girl child mortality is explained by socio-cultural values. It is noted that higher mortality among girls should be seen as "a powerful warning that differential treatment or access to resources is putting girls at a disadvantage", the report suggested.

P Arokiasamy, professor of development studies at Mumbai's International Institute for Population Studies who has studied gender differentials in child mortality in India says "Higher female mortality from age 1 onwards clearly indicated sustained discrimination,” reported TOI. "Such neglect and discrimination can be in three areas: food and nutrition, healthcare and emotional wellbeing. Of these, neglect of the healthcare of the girl child is the most direct determinant of mortality," he added. Studies have revealed that health-related neglect may involve waiting longer before taking a sick girl child to a doctor than a sick boy child, and it is also indicated in lower rates of immunization for girls than boys.

Also, since the rage over India's poor child sex ratio came out of census data for children aged 0-6 years, it is to be noted that campaign against female foeticide alone is not a complete solution."Pre-natal and post-natal discrimination are complementarily contributing to gender imbalance," said Arokiasamy. He also added that even as pre-natal discrimination in the form of sex-selective abortions is more common among better educated upper income households, post-natal discrimination or neglect is more common among poorer, less educated rural households.

SOURCE: http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/India_Most_Dangerous_Place_For_Girl_Child-nid-104559-cid-1.html?utm_source=clicktrack&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=TopNewsDontMiss

Sheltering the marginalised: The Pakistani Mother Teresa

Sheltering the marginalised: The Pakistani Mother Teresa

 

Josephine offers shelter to the children of slave-labourers.

 

LAHORE: Meet Josephine, a 34-year-old divorced mother of two. She runs an orphanage outside Lahore, where she gives shelter to children and has become a saviour to those bonded by labour.

 

“I visit brick kiln factories, where single parents and the elders of orphans make these little ones work to pay the debt they have taken,” says Josephine

Her task is not an easy one, as she has to convince the guardians that they are better off with her. “I am currently pursuing a mother of five to give her children to me because her husband died and now she has to work day and night along with her children to pay his debt.”

 

Brick kiln owners are the main hurdle and have threatened her. “They say if I can pay their loan, I can take the children, otherwise they will work till the loan is paid.”

 

In Pakistan, although illegal, slavery in brick kiln factories is common knowledge and it originates from a vicious circle of debt which sucks in labourers. Josephine has surveyed these factories for a year and has been able to convince almost 20 families to give their children to her.

 

She only helps the Christian minority currently because she feels they are more marginalised. “Most of the workers at these places are of Christian faith, and that is why I contact the local pastor of the area and take him along too, to get easy access.”

 

Trained to be a nun but not allowed by her parents to leave the country, Josephine now uses what she has learnt to mother the orphans.

 

She has rented an upper portion of a house, 20 kilometers outside Lahore, for Rs5,000 per month, where she lives with her own two offspring plus another 10 boys and 7 girls.

 

“I do not have any funding source. I teach at a local private school, and with whatever money I get, I try to give these children their lives back.” Along with this, she receives help from her brothers and the school principal where she is employed, but things are still hard. “Thankfully the principal has acknowledged my efforts, and has waived off fee for these children.”

 

Surprisingly, ever since she started the orphanage, she has been asked by a number of parents to take their children away. “People are so poor in these villages that they want to get rid of the children even they are not in debt.”

 

But she rejects them saying that she doesn’t want those who are orphans to feel different while living with such children who have parents.

 

The children in Josephine’s care were not allowed to go to school due to their slavery status, now they have learnt how to read and write.

 

http://tribune.com.pk/story/325758/sheltering-the-marginalised-the-pakistani-mother-teresa/

Pakistani Hero wins Highest Saudi Award

Highest Saudi Award for a Pakistani Hero

    

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has honored a Pakistani who had laid his life to save 14 others from drowning during torrential rains/flooding in Jeddah back in 2009, Geo News reported.

Saudi government has, posthumously, not only bestowed the highest civil award on Farman Ali but also named a highway after him.

This valorous countryman who has now come under a heroic spotlight forever is a martyr as he during those drastic floods gave life to as many as 14 of his fellow countryman but lost his own in the end.

Farman comes from Swat and has left behind a widow and three daughters.

 

http://www.thenews.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=25347&title=Highest-Saudi-award-for-a-Pakistani-hero

Farman Ali Khan, a Pakistani martial arts champion who drowned while saving people during the Jeddah floods of November 2009, will be posthumously awarded the King Abdul Aziz Medal of the First Order in appreciation of his heroic humanitarian act, an official statement said Tuesday.

“Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has approved the honor for Farman Ali Khan for saving 14 people during the Jeddah floods,” said the statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency.

Last March, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari conferred a gallantry medal posthumously on Khan and his wife received the award during a ceremony at the president's house in Islamabad on the occasion of the Pakistan National Day.

The World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) had announced that it would sponsor the Pakistani youth's widow and three daughters.

http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article524270.ece

Innovative Neurology Method - Pakistan Experts

Pakistani expert develops innovative neurology method

KARACHI: A Pakistani scholar has devised a non-invasive way to sense brain pressure which could significantly change the current paradigm of neurological care of those suffering from brain injury or disease.


Monitoring intracranial pressure (ICP) is the most important thing to assess brain injury, hemorrhage (internal blood flow), tumors and other neurological problems. But current methods to measure this pressure are highly invasive – requiring a neurosurgeon to drill a hole in the skull to place a pressure sensor or catheter inside the brain – and are thus restricted to the very severe cases.


Pakistani scientist, Faisal Kashif has devised a non-invasive technology for ICP monitoring in his PhD thesis at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US. The method is based on processing available clinical signals using a mathematical model of relevant physiology. It provides real time estimates of ICP and cerebrovascular impedance, the latter is an indicator of brain’s ability to maintain its blood supply.


“ICP is a key neurological vital sign and is affected in several brain pathologies – even in concussions and migranes – and this non-invasive method could help in monitoring a vastly larger pool of patients,” said Kashif. He further added that unlike the invasive approaches which require a neurosurgical facility, the non-invasive method can also be applied in emergency-care settings where most trauma patients are first brought. Having access to ICP in a timely manner can guide doctors to provide life-saving interventions.


The initial validation studies show that the new method is equally precise as compared to other painful surgery based procedures. Now Kashif and his colleagues are setting up their prototype device for real time monitoring by the doctors, and to run relevant clinical trials. He is also hopeful that the device could be easily developed in Pakistan as well.


The Helen Carr Peake research prize
In April this year, Dr. Faisal Kashif won MIT’s Helen Carr Peake research prize for his doctoral thesis contributions to the field of bioengineering. He has also presented his findings at two major international conferences, American Heart Association’s Stroke 2010 in US, and ICP 2010 in Germany.


His research work was also declared as “Most Innovative Research” at the Innovation Congress 2009, Boston, US. In 2000, he was awarded two Gold Medals at Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Technology (GIKI) and won four years HEC’s overseas scholarships as he was accepted for the doctorate program at MIT, though he only partially used these funds as support became available from MIT’s research, teaching and a medical engineering fellowship, which he was awarded for his proposed research.


A Thesis dedicated to Pakistan
His doctoral thesis entitled “Modeling and estimation for non-invasive monitoring of intracranial pressure and cerebrovascular autoregulation” was a milestone in Kashif’s career. Four years ago, in his Masters thesis, he developed a method for efficient communication through a nonlinear channel, such as the one encountered in satellite and optical fiber links. He dedicated this thesis to his parents and to all the martyrs of independence, which shows his dedication to Pakistan.


“I am proud to be a Pakistani because I know the reasons for its creation. I am very happy to associate my honours to the ideology behind it. I want to do a lot more Insha-Allah, and contribute in all ways I can,” he told to Dawn.com.


http://www.dawn.com/2011/10/21/innovative-neurology-method-developed-by-pakistani-expert.html