Islamabad is equally sad at the suicide bombings and turbulent unrest in Lahore today. Lahore is the heart of Pakistan and at its bleeding … I’ve no words to express my sorrow …!

May Allah bless the souls who had to leave the world this way … and the many (150+ today) be brave enough to cope with life from this day onwards.

At the same time when I’m beaten at this … least to mention the usual outcries.

Where’s the war on terror?

More on BBC.

Picture courtesy BBC.

In what we can call a who’s who of Islamabad Rawalpindi and Pakistan in general would be attending a one of it’s kind event being held for and by people in the local startup community.

It is a good opportunity for investors and prospective new comers in this field to familiarize themselves with the few names that are there in this field, and learn of ways and paths of making a their work a success.

You must be living under a rock or in a cave not to know that Pakistan today is a hotbed for foreign and local investment in IT and software development market. Projects like Brightspyre, Scybe, PakTranslations.com, and many other companies working in the development sector are poised and ready to receive investment through their projects.

The list of speakers for Islamabad is as follows:

• Ovais Ashraf, CEO, Trivor Software / Trango
• Faisal Chohan, CEO Cogilent Systems / Brightspyre ; possibly also Atif Mumtaz
• Faizan Buzdar - CEO, Scrybe Corp.
• Osama Hashmi, CEO, CDF Software - (Green & White)
• Zahid Mirza, Netsol Technologies
• Saeed Qadri, CEO, Voxel Communications
• Faisal Qureshi, CEO, Kolachi Advanced Technologies
• Jehan Ara, President, PASHA

It will be a 3 hour session, like the one held in Karachi with PixSense and the one planned for Lahore.

Date: Thursday, January 31.
Time: 6pm to 9pm.
Venue: LMK Resources, ETC beside Marriot Islamabad.
Organizers: LMK Resources, P@SHA, Green and White.
Courtesy: Green & White
Link: [Green & White Post]
Investor? Info for you.

With many foreign missions residing in Islamabad and diplomats roaming around, Christmas feels at home in here. Just give a visit to Kohsar in F-6/3 and you’ll find yourself surrounded by merry christmas signs, red-clad Santas and interesting christmas trees.

If you’ve to select some interesting jingle bells for your home or want to give a nice xmas presnt to a friend - Kohsar’s your destination.

I even found a Santa broom hanging around ;-)

Jump to the complete post for more pics :>
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The 1st. Women Rock Climbing Competition held on April 15-16′ 2007 proved to be a great success. The response from individuals and institutions was amazing and more than 200 girls were registered and finally 80 girls were selected for qualifying round. There were 12 position holders from 4 categories of competition. On the closing session, Ms. Nilofar Bakhtiar, the then Federal Minister for Tourism awarded shields to position holders while Mr. Bryan Hugill distributed certificates among all participants.

Considering the great response of participants and success of the event, the Club announced 2nd. Women Rock Climbing Competition on 8th. & 9th. March 2008. The dates have been selected exclusively considering the weather conditions, a weekend and International Women Day i.e. 8th. March.

It is expected that the climbers will participate not from the whole country but from SAARC countries as well. The club has plans to organize few training sessions supervised by the experienced and professional Rock Climbing Instructors from USA .

All female climbers, or women, who have an interest in the sport and are willing to give it a shot to participate are requested to send their confirmation to the Club at their earliest. I am not exactly sure about the age and categories, but you can get in touch with them to find out more. Rock climbing is a wonderful adventure sport which involves a lot of physical and mental endurance. However with proper equipment, practice and safety arrangements, it’s a game full of adrenaline pumping action, and you keep coming back for more.

For further details and participation, please feel free to send your queries at adventure@panoramic.com.pk or visit www.adventureclub. com.pk

The contact person is :

Tahir Imran Khan
The Adventure Club - Pakistan
Cellular No. : 0092-333-5128519 : 0092-321-5366570
Office No. 2, Hi-Tech Center,
Block 21, Street No. 39, G-10/4, I & T Center,Islamabad ( 44000 ) - Pakistan
Phone No. : 0092 - 51 - 2110479, 7104015
Fax No. : 0092 - 51 - 2110697
Email : adventure@panoramic.com. pk

Photo Credit : All Posters

‘The person who tries to live alone will not succeed as a human being. His heart withers if it does not answer another heart. His mind shrinks away if he hears only the echoes of his own thoughts and finds no other inspiration.’

The love story will be unveiled from 26th of October to 8th of November in Islamabad Club Auditorium. Tickets can be bought from Illusions or Islamabad Club.

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Did you know that a butterfly flapping its wings in Boston, can cause a storm in Bombay? Atleast that’s what the chaos theory suggests. Heck you can find more about the “Butterfly Effect” for your own interest if you want to.
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I was surprised this Sunday to find one of the best kept secrets of Islooite outback. I have never seen such rock formations and hills made of of huge sandstone boulders stretching for miles. And I named them the “Panjpeer Rockies”
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A few of us friends went to climb a small wall in Shadra. The breeze was fabulous and the rock was perfect. The wall is one of the most popular ones. However, when you go climbing in the Margallas you need to be very careful about the texture of the rocks. Over all rocks are quite weak here and might break off. In case you are scouting a new wall just be sure you don’t do it alone, or if you do have ample support through rope. For those reckless adventurers out there who don’t care, heck go out and have fun.

Excellent way to stretch yourself up on a windy Sunday afternoon.

Much much had been planned and thought upon for Fatima Jinnah or F-9 or even capital park. It stands as a major must-visit place, almost on daily basis, for the joggers and walkers, and a long tranquil and serene pathway for couples and friends and families who just want to talk their hearts out while enjoying the soothing Isloo air.

Well, the serenity’s just got affected a bit by the McDonald’s but still overall effect’s just not very bad. The grounds, tracks, benches, lamps, and even washrooms are slowly shaping good, rather attractive.

According to a news report, CDA authorities’ mentioned that in just 6 month’s time, the plan is to complete at least one portion of the park, complete with landscaping, flowers and pottery pools, to greet regular visitors.

It’s a 230 million plan chalked out for THE park - with this much amount no doubt it can stand as a model for the rest of the country’s parks.

(BTW I wonder if they had something like Lahore’s Race Course in mind??)
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West Indies have reportedly agreed to open a temporary visa centre in Islamabad to facilitate Pakistani cricket spectators, wanting to go to the Caribbean to witness the cricket World Cup. The intimation about opening up of the visa centre was delivered to the PCB.

Pakistani cricket spectators, who managed to get the tickets of the World Cup, complained of hardships in getting the West Indies visa as there is no Caribbean high commission and embassy in Pakistan.