Antoine Pagis: Around the world in search of an ‘ideal match’

Antoine Pagis, a 30-year-old Frenchman, is visiting Pakistan in his VW van fuelled by two desires: to explore the world and to find ‘Miss Right’.

Pagis has been on the road for two months, having decided on a world tour after waking up one morning fed-up with the drudgery of his daily life. He quit his job at a software company in his hometown of Montbrun les Bain, southeast France, and embarked on his dream trip. “I felt the need to feel alive,” he explained.

He also felt the nagging need to find his perfect match. Marriage and children are on his mind, and Pagis told The Express Tribune he seeks the one true love of his life — something to alert all single Francophile women in Pakistan.

What qualities is he looking for? “I’m a young man. Of course I want her to be beautiful, but it’s very important that she’s also smart,” he said.

Arriving in Karachi, he was pleased with what he saw. He said he was glad to discover that young and ‘modern-looking women’ exist in this part of the world. In Quetta, by contrast, he said he rarely saw women, except for elderly ones or children. (Complete news article)

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Freestyle motorcycling show kicks off in Karachi

She was selected for the UNESCO-L’Oreal Fellowship This is highly prestigious award which is designed to identify and reward fifteen committed and talented young scientists, from all over the world and allowed her to work in University of Cambridge, UK. She has been selected for this award from around the world.

She attended the 60^thNoble Laureates Meeting Lindau, Germany, June 2010.

Each of the selected candidates belongs to the budding scientific elite of their respective countries, and has passed a multi-stage international selection procedure.

The Council workgroup then makes its final selection from this pool of Best Talents, examining 1,500 profiles for every Meeting before finally choosing the top applicants to receive an invitation to Lindau. The Lindau Meetings contribute to the establishment of international networks of scientific excellence.

She was selected for the Robert Bosch Stiftung Fellow, Germany, 16 July,

2010. Knowledge dissemination, targeted youth training and support for international

networking in science gathering for excellent young scientists from around the world.

IGNITE entrepreneurship Programme, Judge Buisness School, University of Cambridge, UK, June 2011. She has selected for the EPSRC, UK from a pool of 15 thousands candidates IGNITE fellowship.

Einstein Young Scholar Award, Germany, 8 Nov, 2010. She was chosen by the

Einstein Foundation Berlin as one of the young scientists from the UK to participate

as an ‘Einstein Young Scholar’ in the 2010 Falling Walls Science Conference on Future Breakthroughs in Science and Society.

Some of her links are as follows,

http://www.hec.gov.pk/InsideHEC/Divisions/HRD/Scholarships/Stories/Pages/IshratBano.aspx

http://www.unesco.org.uk/four_of_the_2009_unesco-l’oreal_international_fellowships_winners_to_study_at_uk_institutions

http://www.diversitycareers.com/articles/pro/09-junjul/newsviews.htm#and

http://www.loreal.com/_en/_ww/index.aspx?direct1=00008&direct2=00008/00003&direct3=00008/00003/00002&direct4=00008/00003/00002/00011&direct5=00008/00003/00002/00011/00003/00003

http://portal.unesco.org/science/en/ev.php-URL_ID=7455&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

http://www.msm.cam.ac.uk/djf/people/ishrat%20bano.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ0-ckvA_5M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQg8pPDm29s

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cfel/5956864107/in/set-72157627238538514

—-

Thank you for the submission Xinnia Ali.

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Hanif Kureishi on “The most fascinating place in the world”

Award-winning author Hanif Kureishi gives his insight on modern Pakistani literature and on turning ideas into best sellers. (via umalik)

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Pakistan Army tattoo performs in Moscow, Russia

Pakistan has a rich history of Military Band performance, and is in fact one of the biggest Scottish bag pipe manufacturer. Every year Pakistani bands perform the world over and bring praise for their land.

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BARCELONA: El Raval is in el centro of town but it’s the one area avoided by tourists in Barcelona. What a timid creature is the modern sightseer, for El Raval is a fascination, packed as it is with pimps, prostitutes, peddlers of drugs and doner kebabs, and Pakistanis.

Of this last sector, official statistics put the number between 15,000 and 35,000. Either way, this gives Barcelona the largest Pakistani population in any city in Europe outside the UK. Most of them live or work (or both) in El Raval and their main businesses are barbershops, fast food, mobile phones, net cafes and minimarts.

The pimping and peddling of less halal services is done by everyone else: the Morrocans, East Europeans, Romanians and others of seemingly untraceable origin. Not everyone is an immigrant; on the pavement outside a Pakistani butcher stood a Spanish woman. She was also in the meat business, advertising her goods to all male passersby with a word and a wink. (Complete article)

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The Pakistani city of Mirpur is known as “Little England” due to its large British Pakistani community. So what is life like for the city’s many expats?

Mirpur’s connection with Britain has made it a place quite unlike anywhere else in Pakistan. You can see it in the huge villas.

“Where could I get a place like this in the UK?” says Zahoor from Ilford, as we crane our necks to get a full view of his dazzling palatial creation, complete with terraces and towers.

But even that is nothing compared to his most recent foray into development Mirpuri-style. He has now finished building an entire “British street”. (complete article)

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The Duckworth Lewis Method - Meeting Mr Miandad

From video: Neil Hannon (The Divine Comedy) and Thomas Walsh (Pugwash) are - The Duckworth Lewis Method!

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KARACHI: Consistent taste and “word of mouth” is what has taken Student Biryani, a brand of Café Student, from a small roadside vendor to one of Pakistan’s fastest growing franchise networks. The Karachi-based food outlet – after attracting notable traffic in Dubai – now wants to test North American and European markets; extend its Gulf network through global franchising.

Established by Haji Muhammad Ali in 1969, the eatery – a favourite biryani restaurant for most, if not all, Karachiites – with a 15% return rate, continues to expand disregarding investors concerns about energy crises and poor law and order.

Student Biryani’s network is spread over 26 outlets (12 branches and 14 franchise restaurants) in Karachi, Hyderabad, Lahore and Dubai. It is adding one more outlet – a takeaway restaurant – in Boat Basin, Karachi this December while also finalising the launch of its first restaurant in Islamabad, to be operational early next year.

There is no better market for the business than Pakistan, Ali’s son and company director, Muhammad Arif believes. “There are more opportunities than difficulties. Pakistan is an agriculture-based economy,” he added, “ the ingredients are a lot cheaper here.”

There are days when sales are affected due to violence in the city, Arif said, but added that the business normally does great, especially on public holidays.

Arif’s father started the business – selling homemade biryani and a few other dishes – in Saddar, Karachi. He named it Cafe Student to attract students from a host of schools and colleges that were located in the area.

This worked well for him as his first customers were students and teachers who particularly liked his biryani, which dominated the business so much that it overshadowed Café’ Student, the official name.

Ali’s recipe for biryani is still the business secret for Café Student that associates its popularity partly to “the word of mouth” – publicity, as Arif puts it. The business has turned Ali’s recipe into a formula that’s centrally dispatched – mostly in the form of premixes– to all outlets to ensure that each place has the same taste, Arif said.

“We have a centrally-controlled supply chain,” Arif said, “we buy the same quality of rice to make sure the taste doesn’t change,” he added.

The love for biryani coupled with consistent taste helped the business grow significantly over the last decade. It converted its head office in Saddar to a multi-storey restaurant serving 2,500 to 3,000 customers every day – the number includes takeaway, dining-in and home deliveries.

With a continuous expansion plan, the company is now considering franchise option to meet the increasing demand for the brand.

“Franchising is the easiest and fastest way to grow your business,” Arif said. “You don’t have to invest and yet your brand name and consumer-base grows while you get royalty,” he added.

Responding to a question Arif said, one needs to invest about Rs8 million to develop a 3,000-sqaure-feet restaurant – a standard size for the business – in Pakistan. There is tremendous opportunity for this business in Pakistan; one has to be patient because it grows slowly, he added.

The company has a 15 to 1 return rate, he said, but it can vary for branches depending upon the size of the unit. The return ratio for a takeaway unit, he explained, will be different from a dining-in restaurant.

The company already has 14 franchise restaurants in the country and more are in the pipeline. The story doesn’t end here; Student Biryani is also extending its customer-base in the Middle East.

“We are almost ready to open our first branch in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia,” Arif said, adding, “We have another branch in the pipeline for Sharjah; we will launch it soon.”

The majority of customers in Dubai are Indians, Arif said, he is, therefore, personally interested in entering the Indian market as well.

The company is in the final stages to give the go-ahead for three franchisees one each in the US, UK and Dubai. They are expected to launch their operations very soon, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 28th, 2011. (via pakistank2)

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“Coalition” de Khalil Chishtee

(sacs poubelles et colle) 2006

Khalil Chishtee partage sont temps entre la Californie et le Pakistan, il est principalement connu pour sa série de sculptures à l’aide de sacs poubelles, et sa relation au corps très kafkaesque.

“Le plastique reste du plastique, quelque soit sa couleur, c’est l’impression qu’il laisse sur le visiteur qui m’importe”

Site de l’artiste : http://www.khalilchishtee.com/

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