Chinese PM awarded Nishan-e-Pakistan on arrival in Islamabad
ISLAMABAD: Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang was awarded the Nishan-e-Pakistan by President Asif Ali Zardari on his arrival in Islamabad for a two-day trip, reported Express News on Wednesday.
It is Keqiang’s first visit to Pakistan since taking office in March.
The award has been given to other foreign diplomats in the past such as the Prime Minister of Turkey in 2010 and the president of China then, Hu Jintao in 2006.
The JF-17s — a symbol of deep Sino-Pakistan friendship – guided the special Air China Boeing 747 aircraft of the Chinese dignitary to the Nur Khan Air Base.
President Asif Ali Zardari, caretaker prime minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, chief of naval staff, chief of air staff and other cabinet members were present at the airport to welcome the Chinese PM.
The Chinese PM was given a guard of honour on his arrival. (Complete news)
Visitors look at a latex russet-coloured sack designed to feel like human skin at an exhibition in Islamabad. While Pakistani artists have traditionally focused on tumultuous political and social changes they are now also engaged in self-examination, say art professors and gallery workers. (source)
It has touched me in recent years how often I have witnessed the exploitation of farming communities by wealthy land owners as we have traveled the world. It is truly a universal norm to economically enslave share croppers by creating debt structures in the wake of drought or natural disaster, which in turn bind whole families to a land owner.
This man lives and works as a share cropper along the Indus River in Pakistan. I can still remember the hopelessness in his eyes as he explained how the land owner whose fields he tended had not changed his expected quota of grain following the massive floods of last summer, which has forced his children to quit school and work the fields themselves. Even with the extra hands they still can’t make the quota and are now bound to their master by debt.
FACT: This is a totally legal and recognized practice of slavery all across the world. (via aphotographicprotest)
To the most stylish man and founder of Pakistan, happy birthday!
He was a visionary and at that one who had the best taste in suits and shoes. I hope we Pakistanis can remain true to his words:
“You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed - that has nothing to do with the business of the State…We are starting with this fundamental principle that we are all citizens and equal citizens of one State…I think we should keep that in front of us as our ideal and you will find that in due course Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State.” (August 11, 1947 address of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, to the members of the Pakistan Constituent Assembly)
Working to change the image of Islamabad and spreading a message of hope
It was the “dead city” image associated with Islamabad that Syed Muzamil Hasan Zaidi wanted to change when he started the “A Day in Islamabad” project.
When Zaidi, 22, looked up “Islamabad” on YouTube, the search results were mostly videos of politicians fighting on political talk shows. He decided to change that.
Over a period of three weeks, him and his friends took around 15,000 photos of Islamabad and edited them to create a time-lapse video that covered life in the federal capital over 24 hours. (Complete article)
There is no need to lose heart. Those who believe Pakistan brims with talent may have a point, at least in the field of fine art. It’s such a heartening experience to witness an exhibition of artworks of the graduating class of 2012 of the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture that opened in different sections of the institution on Monday.
The marked feature of the students’ effort, as one would expect, is the diversity of ideas and techniques. The good thing about the ‘diversity’ element is that it seems to be dictated by the heart. There are very few signs of building on pre-determined thoughts. Some students astound the viewer with their concepts and others use techniques that are quite difficult to get a grip on. (complete article)
Students stand up for better wages of janitorial staff (In LUMS, a battle over fired janitorial staff brews)
A group of students from the Lahore University of Management and Sciences, with help from a few instructors, have been campaigning for the re-hiring of 16 members of the janitorial staff relieved of their duties on October 23, 2012.
The incident unfolded when the entire janitorial staff comprising of 101 people protested outside the campus demanding an increase in their minimum wages, as announced by the government in July 2012. Eventually students joined in support and began campaigning on campus. (complete news)
This blog aims at telling you the "truth" about Pakistan. Unfortunately, today the news emerging from Pakistan on the Western media are so much polarized that it gives a very unreal image of Pakistan.
At "What no one told you about Pakistan", we aim at telling you the real stories about Pakistan.
