Pakistani Wallpaper

Alamgir gate lahore	Arabian Sea	Ayubia Chair Lift

Badshai Mosque	Balakot	River Chanab

Faisal Mosque	Hiran Minar	Islamabad

Jhelum	K2 The Hamaliya	Kaghan Valley

Karachi Beach	Kashmir	Habib Bank Karachi

Lahore Museum	Lahore Fort	Little Girls Hunza Valley

Malam Jaba Snow Fall	Mangora The Switzerland Of The East	Minar-e- Pakistan

Muree	Muree	Muree

Patraita	Polo	Punjab Land Scape

Quaid Tomb	River Ravi	Rhotas Fort

Saiful Malok	Shalimar Bagh	Shangrilla

Shangrilla	Sakardu	Swat Valley

Toba Masjid Karachi	Mangla Dam	Wahga Border

General Information Of Pakistan

Official Name : Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Father of the Nation : Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Head of the State : Pervez Musharaf
Capital : Islamabad
Area : 796,095 Sq. km.
Punjab: 205,344
Sindh: 140,914
North West Frontier Province: 74,521
Balochistan: 347,190
Federally Administered Tribal Areas: 27,220
Islamabad(Capital): 906
Population : 135.28 million
Religious composition : 95% Muslims, 5% others
Per capita income : US$ 460
Currency : Pak Rupee
Exports : Cotton, textile goods, rice, leather items carpets, sports goods, fruits, handicrafts Sea Food (Fisheries)
Imports : Industrial equipment, vehicles, iron ore, petroleum, edible oil
Languages : Urdu (National language)English (Official)
Literacy rate : 38.9%
Pakistan National Flag : Dark green with a white vertical bar, a white crescent and a five-pointed star in the middle. The Flag symbolizes Pakistan's profound commitment to Islam and Islamic world.
National Anthem : Approved in June, 1954
Verses Composed by: Abul Asar , Hafeez Jullundhri
Tune Composed by: Ahmed G. Chagla
Duration: 80 seconds

State Emblem :
The State Emblem consists of:

The crescent and star which is symbol of Islam.
The shield in the centre shows four major crops.
Wreath surrounding the shield represents cultural heritage.
Scroll contains Quaid's motto: Unity Faith, Discipline.

National Flower : Jasmine
Flora : Pine, Oak, Poplar, Deodar, Maple, Mulberry
Fauna : The Pheasant, Leopard, Deer, Ibex, Chinkara, Black buk, Neelgai, Markhor, Marcopolo sheep, Green turtles, River & Sea fish, Crocodile, Water Fowls
Popular games : Cricket, Hockey, Football, Squash
Tourist's resorts : Murree, Quetta, Hunza, Ziarat, Swat, Kaghan, Chitral and Gilgit
Archaeological sites : Moenjo Daro, Harappa, Taxila, Kot Diji, Mehr Garh
Major Cities : Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, Rawalpindi, Hyderabad, Multan, Sialkot and Faisalabad
Agriculture : Major crops are cotton, wheat, rice and sugarcane
Total cropped area : 22.14 million hectares
Industry : Textiles, cement, fertiliser, steel, sugar, electric goods, shipbuilding

Energy :

Major sources:
Oil, Coal, Hydel, Thermal, Nuclear and Liquid Petroleum Gas ,WAPDA's total installed power generating capacity: 11,246 MW

Health :

Hospitals: 830
Beds: 86,921
Doctors(registered): 74,229
Dentists(registered): 2,938
Nurses(registered): 22,810

Education :

Primary schools: 150,963
Middle schools: 14,595
High schools: 9,808
Arts & science colleges: 798
Professional colleges: 161
Universities: 35 (10 in Private sector)

Transport & Communication :

Total length of roads: 228,206 km
Pakistan Railway network: 8,775 km
Railway stations: 781
Pakistan International Airlines: Covers 55 international and 38 domestic stations
Major Airports: 6 - Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar and Gwadar

Seaports :

International : 2 - Karachi and Bin Qasim
Domestic: 3 - Minora, Gwadar and Pasni

Communications :

Post Offices: 13,419
Telephone connections: 2.47 million
Public Call Offices: 10,000
Telegraph offices: 427

Employment :

Total Labour force: 37.15 million
Agriculture sector: 47%
Manufacturing & Mining sector: 10.50%
Others: 42.50%

Media :

Print Media
Dailies: 424
Weeklies: 718
Fortnightlies: 107
Monthlies: 553
News Agencies
APP (official)
PPI & NNI (Pvt)
Electronic Media
Pakistan Television: Five TV centres at Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta and Karachi covering 87% population
Registered TV sets: 2,823,800
Viewership: 115 million
Radio stations: Total 23, Home services in 20 languages, External services cover 70 countries in 15 languages
Private TV/Radio: Radio stations 3, TV transmitter channels 2, Private News Agencies 2
Indus Vision
Stn
ARZ

Banks :

Central Bank: State Bank of Pakistan

Other Banks: National Bank of Pakistan, Habib Bank Ltd., Muslim Commercial Bank Ltd., Allied Bank of Pakistan Ltd., First Woman Bank, Mehran Bank and the Bank of Punjab

Specialised Banks: Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan, Federal Bank for Co-operatives, Industrial Development Bank of Pakistan, The Punjab Provincial Co-operative Bank, Banker's Equity and National Development Finance Corporation

Famous Mountain Peaks :

K-2 (Mt. Godwin Austin): 28,250 ft./8611 m (2nd in World)

Nanga Parbat : 26,660 ft./8126 m (8th in World)

Gasherbrum-I: 26,470 ft./8068 m (11th in World)

Famous Mountain Passes : The Khyber Pass, The Kurram Pass, The Tochi Pass, The Gomal Pass, The Bolan Pass, The Lowari Pass, & The Khunjrab Pass

Rivers :

The Indus: 2896 km
Jhelum: 825 km
Chenab: 1242 km
Ravi: 901 km
Sutlej: 1551 km
Beas (tributary of Sutlej): 398 km

Famous Glaciers :

Siachin: 75 km
Batura: 55 km
Baltoro: 62 km

Deserts :

Thar: Sindh
Cholistan: Punjab
Thal: Punjab

Lakes :

Manchar(Sindh), Keenjar(Sindh), Hanna(Balochistan), Saif-ul-Maluk(NWFP), Satpara(Northern Areas), & Kachura(Northern Areas)

Major Dams :

Mangla Dam(Punjab), Tarbela Dam(North West Frontier Province), & Warsak Dam(North West Frontier Province)

Women’s reservation

It is now clear that the Congress will not be able to push through the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha as the Yadav Trinity (Mulayam Singh, Laloo and Sharad) has whipped out the Muslim card (Women’s bill comes up against the Purdah, March 12). The Congress cannot afford to lose the Muslim vote in Bihar or Uttar Pradesh and hence the bill is truly stuck.

There is a way, though, that it can salvage the bill – and create a better piece of legislation than the one that was passed in the Rajya Sabha. And that is to make it legally binding on political parties to ensure that one-third of their candidates are women. This suggestion has been made by various academics earlier, but as it stands, it is not fool-proof. For a political party can get around it by simply inflating the number of seats it contests and then allotting unwinnable seats to women.

NewsMonk is happy to suggest a solution to this problem: Not only do political parties have to ensure that one-third of their candidates are women, they also have to ensure that one-third of the constituencies that they represent today are allocated to women.

There are many reasons why this is a better option than the current bill. For example, the biggest problem with the current bill is the principle of rotation – in every election, one-third of the seats selected through a lottery system are reserved for women. These seats become unreserved in the next election, when another set of one-third seats are again selected through a lottery system and reserved for women.

What this means is that in every election, one-third of the seats will be newly reserved and another one-third seats will be newly de-reserved, leading to a situation where a majority of existing representatives know for sure that they will not be re-elected in the next election. This cuts at at the root of representative democracy by taking away any incentive for a majority of representatives to serve their constituency well. It also introduces a high-degree of uncertainty and volatility into the system, through the lottery process.

The new mechanism depends on no lottery and involves no rotation. Therefore, it takes away the arbitrariness and preserves the representative character of the system, while ensuring that women get a fair representation.

The Yadav Trinity has already said that they are open to reservations for women that are implemented through parties, so that is a commitment that can be built upon.

The trouble is, even though this solution will achieve the objective of women’s representation, it will lessen its political attractiveness to the Congress. Leaving the selection of constituencies from where women are fielded open to the political parties will allow them more elbow room. This would make it easier for those parties who are in a strong position to protect their turf, while making it more difficult for weaker parties such as the Congress (in Bihar and UP) to make gains. But what option does the Congress have, other than putting the bill in cold storage?

Women’s rights

t is now clear that the Congress will not be able to push through the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha as the Yadav Trinity (Mulayam Singh, Laloo and Sharad) has whipped out the Muslim card (Women’s bill comes up against the Purdah, March 12). The Congress cannot afford to lose the Muslim vote in Bihar or Uttar Pradesh and hence the bill is truly stuck.

There is a way, though, that it can salvage the bill – and create a better piece of legislation than the one that was passed in the Rajya Sabha. And that is to make it legally binding on political parties to ensure that one-third of their candidates are women. This suggestion has been made by various academics earlier, but as it stands, it is not fool-proof. For a political party can get around it by simply inflating the number of seats it contests and then allotting unwinnable seats to women.

NewsMonk is happy to suggest a solution to this problem: Not only do political parties have to ensure that one-third of their candidates are women, they also have to ensure that one-third of the constituencies that they represent today are allocated to women.

There are many reasons why this is a better option than the current bill. For example, the biggest problem with the current bill is the principle of rotation – in every election, one-third of the seats selected through a lottery system are reserved for women. These seats become unreserved in the next election, when another set of one-third seats are again selected through a lottery system and reserved for women.

What this means is that in every election, one-third of the seats will be newly reserved and another one-third seats will be newly de-reserved, leading to a situation where a majority of existing representatives know for sure that they will not be re-elected in the next election. This cuts at at the root of representative democracy by taking away any incentive for a majority of representatives to serve their constituency well. It also introduces a high-degree of uncertainty and volatility into the system, through the lottery process.

The new mechanism depends on no lottery and involves no rotation. Therefore, it takes away the arbitrariness and preserves the representative character of the system, while ensuring that women get a fair representation.

The Yadav Trinity has already said that they are open to reservations for women that are implemented through parties, so that is a commitment that can be built upon.

The trouble is, even though this solution will achieve the objective of women’s representation, it will lessen its political attractiveness to the Congress. Leaving the selection of constituencies from where women are fielded open to the political parties will allow them more elbow room. This would make it easier for those parties who are in a strong position to protect their turf, while making it more difficult for weaker parties such as the Congress (in Bihar and UP) to make gains. But what option does the Congress have, other than putting the bill in cold storage?

How to graduate in terror from PakistanHow to graduate in terror from Pakistan

How much time does it take for the Pakistani army and Lashkar-e-Taiba to turn an ordinary drug dealer into a terrorist? Because of the confession of Daood Sayed Gilani, aka David Coleman Headley, to planning the Mumbai attacks, we can answer that question with some degree of certainty. Gilani’s confession was recorded at the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois this month.

(BTW, could somebody please enlighten me why Indian media insists on referring to this despicable Jihadist as Headley, which is a fake name he assumed with the specific intention of hiding his Pakistani parenthood and deceiving the Indians? Is it that the Indian media takes particular pleasure in being deceived?)

1. A short, three-week, introductory course on the merits of waging Jihad. Gilani underwent this course around February 2002. I assume he passed with flying colours.

2. Another short, three-week introductory course on the key skills required to wage Jihad, including the use of weapons and grenades. Gilani took this in August 2002.

3. A three-month course in, among other things, close combat tactics, use of weapons and grenades and survival skills. Gilani passed this in or around April 2003.

4. A three-week course in counter-surveillance. Gilani did this in August 2003.

5. Another three-month course in combat and tactical training, to complete the education. Gilani passed the course with distinction, I assume, around December 2003.

In all, therefore, it took the Pakistani army and Lashkar-e-Taiba eight months and one week to turn an ordinary drug dealer with a Pakistani parent and familiarity with Pakistani culture into a competent terrorist who can do scouting work, identify and map terror destinations and so on. Not bad!

According to the confession, “Beginning no later than in or about late 2005 and through on or about October 3,2009, at Chicago and elsewhere within and witout the jurisdiction of the United States, the defendant conspired with Lashkar members A, B, C and D, and others, to commit acts outside the United States that would constitute the offense of murder and maiming…. in connection with attacks carried out by Laskhar in India.” The “others” that Gilani conspired with includes a serving officer of the Pakistani army according to records already available.

Now who was heading the Pakistani intelligence service, ISI (and by extension, its poodle, the Lashkar-e-Taiba), and the Pakistani army during much of this period while this terror attack was being put in place? Who but Pervez Kayani, the current chief of the Pakistani army.

And where is Kayani this week?

He is currently in the US, for a “strategic dialogue” with the United States that would include US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US, Admiral Mike Mullen. In the words of Richard Holbrooke, US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, this will mark “a major intensification” of US partnership with Pakistan.

Kayani and his compatriots are seeking $35 billion in assistance from the US during this strategic dialogue. NewsMonk recommends that they add another billion or two for expanding its “education infrastructure” as well. With Obama as the US president, they might just get it.

Police Torture Culture

Although the police battering are not an uncommon arcane in Pakistan, yet the shocking telecast of flout police torture of some hapless accused, in the presence of flabbergasted on-lookers, in a remote Punjab locality by the acerbic media, has unnerved the whole nation. Its subsequent admonish of the antiquated police system shows that much debated change in ‘Thana-culture’ is still a far cry; rather it has become a hopeless cliché for the ordinary public who have lost every hope of any meaningful social change in their lives.

This battering fiasco has happened at a critical time as the police order-2002 is about to be replaced by a ‘balanced’ police act-2010 and the Punjab government is already working to slot in necessary legal changes to make the police system more functional and people-friendly by removing its extraneous portions.

Use of torture by the police for gleaning facts or to contrive the otherwise innocent accused to confess is constitutionally disallowed everywhere in the modern-day world as it’s an affront to human dignity. Torture contravenes the inherent dignity of a person. By torturing the accused, police violates the fundamental rights enshrined in Article 4, 9 and 14 of the Constitution. Pakistan has already signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR) and the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) on April 17, 2008 and also pledged before the UN Human Rights Council to stop the menace of torture in Pakistan and rectify its laws according to the CAT.

While the use of torture, in any form has been prohibited under Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), but the police in South Asia are notorious for their brutal tactics of using torture as a practical method for forcing the criminals and the accused to admit their crimes. Police torture is a colonial legacy, and red chili spray was one of the favorite tools by the police then, which used to extract confessions from the accused by applying this method. In fact, it’s a ready technique, still popular
in Indo-Pak sub-continent, as the norms of human rights and rule of law have failed to break in this archaic police culture. The main problem is that the police are not familiar with the latest methodical techniques of interrogation nor they have any scientific tools to solve complicated crime mysteries.
The police order-2002 has failed to improve this situation.

According to a research conducted by a Ph.D. scholar for gauging the total number of police tortures during the last five years in Lahore alone, 16.42 percent of youth aged between 15 to 19, 25.38 percent adults aged between 20 to 24 and 18.9 percent of adults aged between 25 to 29 years, were tortured by the police, during the period of research. Similarly, 18.62 percent of detainees were subjected to some sort of mechanical torture, including all forms of violence, besides domestic violence and blunt-tools were most commonly used. A similar study on prisons has further noted with concern that 91.54 percent of detained men and 8.46 percent detained women were victims of physical torture by the police therein. Moreover, 12.14 percent of detained women were
subjected to psychological torture by the police. Because of their socio-economical helplessness, labor community, followed by the business community, was an easy prey of the police. It was also pointed out that body parts most frequently targeted for battering included buttocks, foot soles, back, front and back of thighs, palms and wrists. The most common tool used to inflict severe pain is the cane-stick and a broad flat leather slipper (dipped in mustard oil to
inflict maximum pain) more commonly known as Chhithar.

This full-sized fury is a big symbol of fear for the many. Actually, the post-9/11 scenario is embroiled with a situation marred with violence & torture and the violation of public rights in war against terror is not an uncommon phenomenon. The developed nations of the world have incorporated various institutional methods for safeguarding public rights and their media is also playing an important role in upholding this check. Western media gives importance to societal issues like public rights and no government agency can dare to flout it. However unlike them, protection of public rights was
not given any priority by the past governments in Pakistan. And, it’s a welcome step that Shahbaz Sharif government is going to introduce sufficient checks to remove public complaints against the gubernatorial police. Actually, lawyers’ movement has given impetus to the issue of rule of law and now the democratic regime should develop necessary paraphernalia to implement this manifest desire of the nation. This situation requires immediate steps-both administrative as well as political, to put some institutional check and balance in it.

The government should take concrete steps to introduce credible checks on police excesses and that can only be done by introducing vibrant institutionalized mechanism. Media will a handy tool to support this cause. It is a universally held acclaim that true democratic system cannot be build-up without first strengthening the Police system, which could effectively maintain law and order as effective administration is worthless without it. The ruling clique should strive to make police system professional, service-oriented and accountable to the people, having inbuilt mechanisms to curb illegitimate political interference; while enhancing police accountability through civilian oversight. There is a dire need to make torture a heinous crime now. Until and unless the use of torture is not criminalized through law, there are fewer chances to stop this grave violation in the future.

Name of Museum

1. Quetta Museum, Quetta
2. Peshawar Museum,
3. University Museum-Peshawar,
4. Chakdara Museum,
5. Archaeological Museum, Saidu Sharif, Swat.
6. Archaeological Museum Taxila, Distt. Rawalpindi
7. Armoury Museum, old Fort, Lahore
8. Mughal and Sikh Galleries in Lahore-Fort.
9. Archaeological Museum, Harappa, Distt: Sahiwal
10. Allama Iqbal Museum, Javed Manzil, Lahore.
11. Museum-cum-Library at Iqbal Manzil, Sialkot.
12. Bahawalpur Museum, Bahawalpur
13. Faqirkhana Museum, Lahore, (Private)
14. Chughatai Museum, Lahore, (Private)
15. Shakir Ali Museum, Lahore, (Private)
16. Arts & Craft Museum Lahore, (Punjab govt.)
17. Science Museum-Lahore,
18. Lokvirsa Museum- Islamabad
19. Natural History Museum- Islamabad
20. National Museum of Pakistan of Pakistan, Karachi
21. Museum at Quaid-I-Azam Birth Place Karachi (Flag Staff House Museum)
22. Archaeological Museum, Moenjodaro Distt. Larkana
23. Archaeological Museum, Banbhore, Distt. Thatta.
24. Archaeological Museum, Omerkot, Distt: Tharparkar
25. Archaeological Museum, Hyderabad Fort, Hyderabad.
26. Moenjodaro Museum-Moenjodaro
27. University Museum-Hyderabad