Today many among us witnessed the longest solar eclipse of the 21st century in Pakistan along with other countries of the world. According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department the eclipse was supposed to start at 5:58 a.m. and end at 11:12 am. Earlier the MET department had also declared that a total solar eclipse would be visible from India, China, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Japanese Islands and South Pacific Ocean [Source: The News http://thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=83400].

We did miss the “total” eclipse by ‘a country’ but whatever we got was worth having. The sun shadowed by the moon looked absolutely magnificent. It resembled a large cookie out of which somebody had neatly taken a large bite. For those of you who missed out on this event, here is a snap so that they may share in the experience as well. :-)

Solar Eclipse/Sooraj Grehan

I hope all among us who witnessed this cosmic phenomenon protected their eyes as well and saw the eclipse through thick protective screens. I am not sure if it was protection enough but i used an x-ray to view the glorious sun. It was a sight worth seeing. :-)

It should be an interesting session. The following text has been copied from the facebook group without permission!

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REGISTRATION OPEN
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We have limited seats so please register here:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=cjVXOXI2bU9hWVJ5eGNPVF96anUwdGc6MA..

About the Startup Insider Session:
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The purpose of this session is to provide a platform to motivated and brilliant people, who are thinking of launching a startup ,get a handle on really what they’ve got and way to make it a success- an idea, a feature, a product, or a business and what not. Past events have attracted sizable crowds of over 150 people per session.

This session will feature a panel of successful serial entrepreneurs with remarkable business experience. They will lead the audience through a series of evaluations critical in implementing the ideas into successful ventures.

Agenda:
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Sheheryar Hydri, CEO, Trango Interactive
Faizan Buzdar, CEO, Scrybe
Owais Anjum, CEO, Numetrics
Syed Ahmad, CEO, Digital Prodigy
Atif Mumtaz, co-Founder, Brightspyre
Jehan Ara, President, P@SHA
Aamir Jahangir, SAMAA

Theme:
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“Developing Ideas for Startup”

Date/Time:
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Friday, May 08, 2009 (6~9pm)

Host/Venue:
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Organized by: NSEC Club @ NUST SEECS [ http://www.nseecs.edu.pk/ ]
Venue: SEECS Fountain Area [ http://tinyurl.com/nust-seecs-map ; Login with ur Gmail to see the street map ]

Registration (Mandatory):
================
We have limited seats so please register here:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=cjVXOXI2bU9hWVJ5eGNPVF96anUwdGc6MA..

Supporting Bodies:
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1- P@SHA [ http://pasha.org.pk/ ]
2- Brightspyre [ http://brightspyre.com/ ]

Punctuality is a virtue !

To mark the International Fire-Fighters day, the fire-fighters in the capital city, hand in hand with the 1122 ambulances, will stage a flag march. The march will start at 5:00 p.m. from Convention Center and end at the Fire Headquarters in Sector G-7 after taking a round of the city.

Flag March

Apart from commemorating the International Fire-Fighters day, this march will also pay tribute to the fire-fighters of Pakistan who have laid down their lives in several recent events in the line of duty.

Read more here, at the “The News” web site.

16th March’09

The day thousands of people were expected to storm the Federal Capital City in order to lodge protests in front of the Presidency to pave way for the Restoration of the deposed Judges. People had already seen chaos in the city of Lahore when the PML-N started it’s journey and in the early hours, we saw our Prime Minister address the nation. He told the nation that the orders for the restoration of the judges had been sent, the anti-protest Section-144 was taken back and that the disqualification of the Sharif brothers would be formally sent into an appeal by the Government itself.

One could see thousands of people out on the streets rejoicing their victory. The lawyers movement that started two years ago had transformed into the movement of the people and one could easily tell how frustrated the nation was the past two years. The power of the people paid off.

17th’March’09

In order to celebrate the restoration of the judiciary, Geo Television network took the initiative and organized an ‘open for public” concert by “Laal”. (A band that has been in the limelight mainly due to them being workers of the movement against the Governments wrong doings and the fact that their music is based on the revolutionary writings of Habib Jalib and Faiz Ahmed Faiz which are applicable even today).

The proceedings of the concert finally started at 10 when Hamid “Capital talk” Mir introduced the band and welcomed the audience which mainly constituted people from all ages and walks of life. Aunties, Kids, Uncles, young people with flags etc. They started with the title track of their album “umeed-e-sehar”. Brilliantly executed, absolute class. The notes ringing on the guitars, the dholak and drum beat at the back and the flute man airing away on his flute. The song was immaculate. The vocalist delivered it perfectly and extended the song, asking the crowd to participate which they did. Umeed-e-Sehar is the 2nd single by them which is on air these days on various music channels. The video itself is very touching and does justice to the song but I could see people smile, rejoice, even shed tears when he sang ” umeed-e-sehar ke baat sunno”.

Next they did the Habib Jalib classic “Musheer”.. Meinay us say yeh kaahaaaaa yeh do dus karoorrr hein, jehal ka nechorrr hein. People shouted “Rehman Malik” out loud and the vocalist carried on their chants by saying ” this is what Rehman Malik tells Zardari behind closed doors”… It was a lovely number with the Guitar player, Taimoor messing around with the voice box and catching the attention of the audience.

The last song that I heard, was the song penned down by Aitzaz Ahsan which became the anthem of the Lawyers movement called “Kal aaj aur kal”… Jeet humara mustakbil hei :)

Very well rounded performance, extremely neat aura and rejoice all around. Laal, gel together as a band and I suppose it was their first performance in Islamabad, and quite a memorable one it will turn out to be..

Umeed-e-Sehar ke baat sunno =)

VIVA LA REVOLUCION!!!

A large number of civil society members protested peacefully bit firmly in Markaz F-7 Jinnah Super Market Islamabad in the afternoon of 27th February 2009.

The protest was against multiple things , primarily the following:

- Lack of Independence of Judiciary and holding back from the promise of reinstsatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar choudhry
- NRO beneficiaries in the current administration
- The way Sharif brothers were disqualified for political objectives , using a pliable judiciary
- The lack of accountability of ex-dictators like Musharraf , and the current political leaders of Pakistan, specially President Zardari
-The way our leaders bow before American agenda and orders.

It was also aimed :

-To gather support from people and civil society for the upcoming long march
- To increase awareness amongst the masses that people of Pakistan need to assert their will to set and keep Pakistan on the right track.

People from all walks of life participated in the gathering , holding placards and protesting in black flags. There were ladies : housewifes , young girls , children , students , local businessmen and traders of Jinnah Super, old retired bureaucrats , young men , people from rich and humble backgrounds. Amongst those whom I could recognize were Mr.Roedad Khan and Mrs.Ghazala Minallah ( wife of Mr.Ather Minallah ) – as they were amongst the leaders . Some people gave brief speeches explaining the viewpoints . The gathering then made a round trip of entire Jinah Super Market , whereby many others joined them and others cheered and supported the cause as well.

Everyone was united in the demand for the restoration of an independent , fair judiciary of Pakistan under the leadership of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.

There were policemen and officers vieweing and observing the situation , but all was very peaceful and ended gracefully while giving a firm strong message . Very well done indeed.

So – three cheers for the citizens of our beloved Islamabad.

Dawn life-style is happening again on 14th and 15th February @ Convention Center.

Be there…

About the Presentation/Talk:
==================
NUST SEECS Social Entrepreneurship club (NSEC) is arranging Intro to Google Business Solutions a talk by Badar Khushnood, Google Pakistan Country Consultant and a local Google evangelist.
Although Google is generally known as a web search engine, it has many business products in various categories including internet advertising, communication & publishing, development, geo, search, statistics, etc. The idea behind this talk is to introduce these products to SMEs, corporate & professionals so that they can make the most out of Google business solutions and increase their efficiency & productivity with these cutting edge tools.

Agenda:
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5:30 ~ 6:00pm : Registration
6:00 ~ 6:15pm : Prayer Break
6:15 ~ 7:35pm : Presentation / Talk by Badar Khushnood [ http://tinyurl.com/badar-khushnood ]
7:40 ~ 8:00pm : Q&A Session
8:00 ~ 8:30pm : Refreshments

Date/Time:
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Monday, Feb 09, 2009 (6~8pm)

Host/Venue:
========
Organized by: NUST SEECS [ http://www.nseecs.edu.pk/ ]
Venue: SEECS Seminar Hall [ http://tinyurl.com/nust-seecs-map ; Login with ur Gmail to see the street map ]

Registration (Mandatory):
================
We have limited seats so please register here:
http://tinyurl.com/google-biz-sol-nust OR
https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=cHczM0FDb0plVGFWMkV2TWU2dE13QXc6MA..

Event Page:
=========
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=64845731412

NOTE:
1- Registration will close on Friday, Feb 06 at 3pm
2- Only pre-registered participants will be allowed to enter NUST-SEECS campus
–> (as per university security protocol)
3- Please DO NOT forget to bring your ID card with you

Supporting Bodies:
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1- CIO Pakistan [ http://ciopakistan.com/ ]
2- Cogilent Solutions [ http://cogilent.com/ ]
3- Brightspyre [ http://brightspyre.com/ ]

Today the “Kashmir Solidarity Day” is being observed throughout Pakistan (yet again). There is news that rallies will be held in different cities of Pakistan as well as Azad Jammu & Kashmir. The day will also be marked with relevant TV programs and human chain events.

One such human chain event is taking place right now on Jinnah Avenue. The human chain created looks long. Some people are delivering speeches with zeal and fervor in favor of the struggle of Kashmiris against Indian brutalities. Others are chanting songs to display their solidarity with Kashmir.

Another important activity that is marking the day is a nation-wide holiday.

My Thoughts & Rants:
It is good that we observe this day. It at least keeps reminding us that Kashmir needs our attention. But is it enough to mark just one day on the calendar for this? Is holding rallies and other similar events going to help the Kashmiris facing Indian brutalities in Kashmir? Are we doing enough to justify our participation in this cause? Do we still believe in this cause or has this died out in our hearts? I fear I am not doing enough and I am ashamed.

Note to self:
Do “more actions” and write “less words”.

Iqbal said:

May Almighty Allah help us – Humanity – learn the value of truth, salvation, sacrifice and prosperity.

Update: I learned from RR’s blog that the piece of poetry that I associated with Iqbal was not his, but Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar. I apologize for the mistake!

Happy New Year

Islamabad Metblogs wishes everyone a very HAPPY NEW YEAR.

This year may bring Peace, Harmony, Tolerance & Love for Pakistan and also globally. 2008 brought tragedy after tragedy … let’s pray for happiness for our generations to come.

And not just pray but execute…. the picture below shows the side of tale we all see around almost daily and then move on. May be caring for one soul lits our way towards our destiny. Take your time  to think but Act Fast.

The other side of society

Keep Smiling my Pakistan!

ps: have a read at this post too .. Muskurahaton Kay Naam. Summed up what I want to say  too ;)