Atlantis of the East? No, it’s a theme park When the remains of an ancient underwater city were photographed off the coast of Bali, the Indonesian government hailed it as a potentially “phenomenal” discovery. By Barney Henderson, Kuala Lumpur dawn.com Mystical statues of the gods, their faces covered in gorgonian fans, stood rooted to the ocean floor behind an ornate temple gateway 100 feet below sea level. Photo: PAUL TURLEY The city turns out to be an underwater theme park built by a British diver to entertain his customers. Photo: PAUL TURLEY Mystical statues of the gods, their faces covered … Continue reading Atlantis of the East?

A woman carries a small bicycle outside her shack submerged by heavy flood. Both mainstream and online media have ignored her story and thousands of others who are stranded without food or shelter. As I write these lines, the latest reports put the death toll from floods at some 1,100 with 1.5 million affectees and some 100,000 plagued by diseases like cholera. Most of those affected are stranded at remote areas, away from safety, with no food or shelter or clean water and with no access to medical facilities. The waters still rage on and more villages are vulnerable to … Continue reading Floods and selective silence in the blogosphere

Wherever you go, there will be Muslims who believes in hijab, burqa or niqab and there will be others who do not First it was Egypt to take action against the veil, after a top cleric announced that the face veil was to be banned in certain educational institutions in Egypt; then France followed suit, down-right banning the face veil for security reasons; and then Syria in toe, banned the face veil in universities and educational facilities because parents of university students do not want their children to be educated in an ‘environment of extremism’. And to add to the … Continue reading To veil or not to veil

This is the business of relationships and you are not a leader if you are unable to maintain relations The biggest problems exists in leadership and people rather than any other aspect of a business enterprise. for more articles and quotes please connect with: http://www.bizomer.com/aboutbizomer.html Continue reading To be a leader worth following

The writer is executive director news and current affairs at Aaj TV syed.talat@tribune.com.pk On the face of it, the furore in Pakistan seems pointless. British Prime Minister David Cameron has not said anything new. All he has done is to repeat the standard script that the Washington-London-Delhi-Kabul Quartet has been releasing in fragments for a long time. The alleged duality of Islamabad in tackling internal sources of global terrorism has been a refrain with every single important dignitary who has spoken on the subject anywhere in the world. But what makes Mr Cameron’s utterances particularly galling is the choice of … Continue reading Islamabad’s weakest link

Gul looks on as Hafiz Saeed addresses a rally in Lahore in June. PHOTO: EPA KARACHI: General (retd) Hamid Gul, a former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief, has been named in the reports released by WikiLeaks as a vital cog in the planning of attacks by the Afghan Taliban and al Qaeda against Nato forces in Afghanistan. Gul is notorious for his pro-Taliban and anti-American views but the reports accuse him of playing a far more insidious role. The role of Hamid Gul ‘Make the snow warm in Kabul’ The information contained in the WikiLeaks reports is, if true, damning. An entry … Continue reading Hamid Gul’s spy games

The writer is a former morning show host naveen.naqvi@tribune.com.pk As Fatima Bhutto or @fbhutto said on Twitter on August 2: “And the president… off to Europe on a five-star jaunt. Typical. Violence hits Karachi this evening too.” I would not put it in exactly the same words, and I am not a great fan of the author/aspiring Daughter of the East, but it must be said that she has a point. President Asif Ali Zardari’s trip to Europe is exactly the sort of thing that makes Pakistanis wary of their political leaders. That, and a massive unrelenting propaganda campaign vilifying … Continue reading Karachi — and Normandy

The writer is a columnist, and TV and radio anchor When the offensive Danish cartoons were first published, very few took notice. In fact, not much happened until two Danish imams toured the Middle East to strum up awareness and support. What followed was an estimated 100 people who died in the protests, mostly poor Muslims. The protests didn’t really hurt those who they were intended against. Because of Facebook and several other controversies, it is easy to see the beginnings of the wellspring of Muslim anger. It’s obvious the cartoons and Draw Muhammad (pbuh) Day were initiatives rooted in … Continue reading In defence of Salman Ahmed

The writer is Professor Emeritus at the University of Louisville, US There has been much discussion on what ‘khimar’, mentioned in Surah 24: An-Nur: 31, denotes. Having enjoined believing women to lower their gaze and to be mindful of their chastity, the Quran commands them “not to display their charms (in public) beyond what may (decently) be apparent thereof: hence, let them draw their head-coverings, ‘khimar’, over their bosoms”. With reference to the first part of the last injunction, Dr Fathi Osman states: “Women are required not to display the charms of their bodies in public beyond what decently be … Continue reading The Quran on women’s public conduct

Kama Sutra shortcomings solved by publication as an audiobook Press play for readings from sex manual by actor Tanya Franks, who says only the cigarette afterwards was missing Helen Pidd guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 4 August 2010 18.19 BST Article history Actor Tanya Franks is the voice of the Kama Sutra, now published as an audiobook. Photograph: Tristram KentonIt is the world’s most famous sex manual, but the Kama Sutra has always had a flaw: it is impossible to follow the instructions while keeping the book propped open. Now an enterprising British publisher has solved the problem by releasing a new version … Continue reading Kama Sutra MP3