Mangoes...

Although no definition of mango is necessary however here it is none the less. Mango is a tropical fruit widely known for its sweetness and juicy taste around the world. It is termed by many as the king of fruits. It is grown around the world in tropical regions but majority of its production occurs in the subcontinental region of south Asia and east Asia i.e. Philippines. A common belief is that this fruit is native to the Indian subcontinent.

The mention of mangoes here is because not only does Pakistan is the fifth largest mango producer in the world it also produces the tastiest as opinionated by many. Among the few reasons Pakistanis are jubilant on the arrival of summers is the availability of mangoes. Main source of mangoes in Pakistan are Sindh and Punjab with contribution from other two provinces as well. In sindh alone we have 125 types of mangoes. Fifty percent of mangoes come from Sindh which amounts up to more than 5 lac tons. Lower Punjab is also famous for its mango orchards which start from Multan. In Rahim Yar Khan, the fruit is cultivated on 26 thousand acres.

The reason I included mango here is because Pakistani mango is known around the world for its sweetness and taste. According to a blog this sweet and delicious fruit is being sold at $6 for a box of six pieces in America. One of my personal acquaintance who lives in UK told me that in his personal observation the most awaited mangoes in UK are from Pakistan. Still like everything else in Pakistan mango production and export is facing a lot of challenges. The factors are the same like everything else. No awareness of procedures and no maintenance of quality. Only from 2008 America started importing mangoes from Pakistan as it finally had some trust on pest control and quality maintenance procedures in Pakistan.

Reko Dik: Gold in Pakistan

Reko Diq is situated in Chagai district of Baluchistan along the border of Iran. It is home to an extreme weather: summers with 40-50 degrees while winters are around -10 degrees.

In 1978-79 geologists from the Gelogical Survey of Pakistan discovered here huge reservoirs of copper and gold. During the 80s proper consultants were hired to get an exact figure on these reservoirs. Reko Diq has 38 million ounces of gold which translates to 260 billion dollars (for both gold an copper). Kindly note that the total debt of Pakistan to IMF is 56 billion dollars. Currently a legal war is being fought between TCC (Tethyan Copper Company) and Baluchistan government.

TCC is the company which carried out exploration and feasibility study of Reko Diq. The deal with this company gave Baluchistan only 25% of the share out of Reko Diq which in simpler terms is peanuts.

Pakistan nearly lost the mine but the matter was brought public by Dr Samar Mubarakmand, a nuclear scientist and now due to his efforts the case is being handled by the supreme court of Pakistan. He revealed: “A small part of the Reko Diq gold and copper mines (EL-5) have deposits worth $273, while a similar kind of reserves have also been discovered in North Waziristan.” His constant reminders and warnings concerning the project through TV and other media are what saved us from this national theft. Someone surely tried real hard to sell our national assets like he was selling 'banyans' in a jumma bazaar. Many flaws and deceitful approaches have been noticed in the reports submitted by TCC which could have led the government into a bad deal. At latest Balochistan Chief Secretary Ahmed Baksh Lehri has said that they have placed a few demands before TCC and failure to compliance will aloow the government to say no to them. TCC's exploration license has alreayd expired. His demands include a complete and honest feasibility report, refining to be done in Pakistan so that a refinery can be setup and job opportunities arise and the agreement should consider welfare of local people.

Reko Diq has the potential to be the world's largest gold an copper mine but we Pakistanis, ever so courteous. We had to do something that plunge us deeper into the well of despair. Lets just hope for better outcome of the case.

Nanga Parbat - Deadly beauty

Nanga Parbat is a Sanskrit word meaning nude mountain (nude for its barren steep slopes) . It is the western pillar of the Himalayas and is located in Astore district of Gilgit - Baltistan, a little south of the Indus river. Physically it is one of the most dynamic mountains on earth and is still growing at 7mm per year, which is the fastest growing rate for a mountain. Upto 2010, 322 climbers have conquered it while it have claimed the lives of 68. It has never been climbed in winter.

It has three faces Rupal, Rakhiot and Diamir. Rupal also referred to as the highest mountain face and precipice in the world lies to the south. It is 4600 meters above its base with 4 kms in width.

Rupal Face

To the north the Rakhiot face rises 7000 meters from the Indus valley to the summit in just 27 kms. This is one of the 10 greatest elevations on earth in such a short distances. Its the face as seen from the famous fairy meadows.

Rakhiot Face

Diamir is its gentle face and is the most attempted one among mountaineers.

Diamir Face

This mountain also contains the world's longest ridge, the Mazeno ridge which gives this giant the appearance of a wall. It contains eight 7000m peaks.

Mazeno Ridge

The first men to die on Nanga Parbat was Alfred Mummery, Ragobir Singh and Goman Singh in 1895 while trying to be the first to climb it. In subsequent years different expeditions were sent from around the world but remained in vain as it claimed more lives and gained notoriety. Upto 1950 it claimed 31 precious lives and in 1958 an Austrian climber Hermann Buhl finally made it. Here is just a glimpse of the perilous journey in Buhl's own words: "I now left the ski-sticks behind and - I could do it in no other way - scrambled up on all fours, suddenly I realized that I could go no higher. I was on the summit. I was not, I confess, at the time fully conscious of the significance of that moment, nor did I have any feeling of elation at my victory." Many people ascended Nanga Parbat after that but none has the story like that of the Messner brothers.

Two Italian brothers, Reinhold and Gunther tried to climb it in 1970, only one i.e. Reinhold returned. He staggered into the camp while every one was thinking he is dead with toes and fingers turned black with frost bite. He kept saying that his brother has also completed the ascent but was lost in a avalanche on the way down. Very few people believed him. Then in 2005 his brothers remain were found on the other side of the mountain indicating that Reinhold was indeed telling the truth.

Reinhold Messner's second ascent of Nanga Parbat which he achieved alone in 1978

The curse of Nanga Parbat still haunts the climbers. It once took lives of 16 climbers at once. In 2009, the best female climber of Asia Go - Mi Young lost her life on Nanga Parbat as she was planning to be the first woman to do all 8000ers. After Nanga Parbat only G-1, G-2 and Anapurna were left for her.

The Nanga Parbat is beautiful yet an unforgiving natural beast. Its beauty is unmatched, an impenetrable wall of ice and rock formed when the Indian subcontinental plate collided with Asian continent 400,000 years back. It takes one back to nature, to one's primal instincts of survival and fight for life. As in Messner words: "On Nanga Parbat I understood the reality of my own death."

The Nanga Parbat from an air plane to Skardu. The sunny face on the left is Rakhiot, under the shade of the mountain on the right is Diamir. The long ridge in the right sarting from the summit is the Mazeno Wall.

First Pakistani winter olympian

Meet Muhammad Abbas, 25 years of age, serving in Pakistan Air Force, native of Naltar village, Gilgit - Baltistan and the first Pakistani to qualify and take part in World Winter Olympics. He took part in the Alpine Skiing - Men's Giant Slalom category of the 2010 Winter Olympics, Vancouver, Canada. In this event one has to ski between sets of 56-70 poles spaced at a distance from each other. Abbas finished 79 out of a 103 contestants out of which only 81 were able to finish the course. His time was 3 minutes 20 secs. Gold was taken by a Swiss skier Carlo Janka who finished in 2 minutes 37 secs. His story is one of sheer passion to play the game and not caring about winning or loosing. He was just happy to be the first Pakistani to participate in winter Olympics and knew it would take a lot to be in the league for a medal but he is ready for the hard work required none the less in days to come. You would not believe that this young man started skiing in his village by tying wooden planks to his rubber boots.

He first started skiing in 1995 in his village, Naltar which is the top ski resort of Pakistan. The local slope was only 500 meters. He skied on it over and over again as he became proficient in skiing on the skis made by his dad out of pine wood. He was extra ordinarily lucky as his talent was recognized by Mr. Zahid Farooq who was serving in PAF and worked with Pakistan ski federation. He was then picked up by the ski federation to be trained. At 17 he was sent of to Japan for a 15 day training of slalom from a specialist. Abbas only attended a handful of small events each year. He attended events like military and police giant slalom race , Switzerland and entry-league FIS competition, Iran. More funds were needed to give him proper chance to hone his skills and prove himself.

Mr. Farooq rounded up some more money which proved enough to send Abbas and seven other to Austria in 2009 for an intensive 6 week crash course in slalom. Abbas showed real promise here. He improved himself by leaps and bounds and managed to finish 8th in a race in Lebanon in March 2009 which enabled him to accumulate enough points to qualify for winter olympics, only one in the group to do so.

He now has two sets of atomic skis, one for training and one for competition. He maintains, waxes and tune his equipment himself as he cannot hire a technician to do so as most other professional skiers. All that drives him is his passion for the sport and the love for his country and in 2014, maybe he will give us all something to be proud of.

Christopher Lee's favorite role

Any one who watches movies can tell you who Christopher Lee is? This man has a lot of good movies to his name like lord of the rings, sleepy hollow, star wars; just to name a few. He is also the actor which most accurately portrayed Dracula, according to many.

Guess what he said when asked about his own favorite performance. Instantly he replies that its easy to decide for me, its in a movie no one has ever seen. He then recalls the year 1997 when he had to got to this small country in Asia called Pakistan for ten weeks and worked with a couple of Indian and Pakistani actors. Yes my dear fellow Pakistanis, he is talking about his portrayal of Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the movie Jinnah. Its not just the acting he himself he did in the movie that he likes, its the character of Mr. Jinnah that he admires. He says that Jinnah was a brilliant man, incorruptible, great integrity, friend of Gandhi and he fathered Pakistan. He says: "I know its the best thing I have ever done by a long long way". He claims that its a truthful and historically correct movie. Then he describes the reason this movie was not very well received in many parts of the world.

He says that distributors will not show the movie because its a part of the Muslim world. But they got to understand that Jinnah was not a fundamentalist or sent to kill someone nor was he Al Qaeda or Osama bin Laden. What amazes me is his thoughts on the matter. He says that what is happening now in the world, these terrorists and terrorism, this is not true Islam or true Muslims and its a tragedy that the world will not learn about a great Muslim leader. These are just a bunch of extremists.

Well, hats off to Sir Christopher Lee for those kind words. I hope rest of the world can have the same understanding and clarity of mind as him.

He is an inventor

Today I am going to tell you about Mr. Waqar Qureshi, a student of University of central Punjab. He is currently doing Bachelors in Computer Sciences from UCP. But what sets him apart from the herd is his ability to turn dreams into reality.

When he was nineteen he thought that I should make a computer 3d game in Urdu because it will be fun to play a game in Urdu. Just like that he made up his mind and started to work on the game and after five months of working in his attic he made his dream a reality in the form of Wakt - Time to escape.

His next dream was to be able to use a computer without touching it. So he invented NTI, the Non-Touch Interface. It is actually a glove and a pen and he can control a computer with it. He just moves the pen in the air and the computer responds to that. If the images of Tom Cruise controlling his computer system in minority report with his hand are running through your mind then you are right on track. He claims that with his device once can easily control a computer. All he needs is a hologram projector for the floating screens and his bed room can resemble a scene from minority report.

The extension of this project came in the form of a head gear with which one can move the cursor on the screen. He says that if he had the money he will setup his device with a video goggle so that one can feel that he is inside a computer. This guy wants a share of the matrix too.

Currently he is working on a brain computer interface system. This will enable him to control a computer with his brain.

He is also doing some work on visual cognitive theory. According to that one can record dreams and play them back at one's pleasure, he claims. Remember that he is just above 20 and already he is on a roll, inventing stuff one can only dream about and setting a new level of determination and commitment.

He recalls that one of his university teacher said to him: "Waqar Qureshi, one day you will set on fire all of your projects and degrees in front of me". That was the frustration thrown at him along the way but he fought through it and now he explains the journey below. Hit play.

An adventurer from Pakistan

Meet Hassan Sadpara, from Sadpara valley which is seven kilometers from Skardu. Now doesn't he looks like the simplest village folk. Wait till you read to the last. This man is forty above and has climbed six eight thousand height peeks. Note that there are only fourteen eight thousand peeks in total in the world, all located in the north of Nepal and Pakistan. He is planning to complete all fourteen in next 2-4 years. He started his climbing career as a porter and accompanied foreign expeditions (carrying bags and other equipment). He started the eight thousand adventure by taking on the toughest mountain on this planet, the German killer, Nanga Parbat (2nd July 1999). Then on 27th July, 2004 he took on the Killer mountain K-2. Then Gasherbrum II (22nd July 2006), Gasherbrum I (29th July 2006) and then Broad Peak (31

July 2007). The he took on the highest peek of the world Mt Everest. Standing on its top on 12 May 2011, he knew his goal is still not complete. He has yet to climb another eight peaks.

He climbed all six without supplemental oxygen(reserve bottled oxygen to make up for low oxygen pressure at high altitudes) and was the first Pakistani to do so. Medical practitioners call this madness but these mountain lovers have their own way. It is believed that at such heights the body starts to break down and feeds on the muscle reserves of a person. The oxygen pressure is only enough to support a resting human. The temperature can be upto -70 degrees Celsius on the peak of Mt. Everest with only a third of oxygen as at sea level.

Hassan recalls that at the end of their struggle, due to bad weather, forty five other people from different expeditions lost hope and turned back to the base camp. He had only one thought in his mind that this is his only chance. Keep in mind that climbing Everest amounted up to a whooping 60+ lac Rs for Sadpara which was sponsored by government of Pakistan in result of an appeal to the president Asif Ali Zardari in 2009. So at that time he thought that he might not be able to afford another trip to Everest and then he prayed to Allah to strengthen his will so that he can bring glory and pride to his nation. He pleaded Allah to take him to the peak or take his life because he will not turn back and with Allah's name in his mind he moved forward, six other mountaineers followed him and they made it to the top.

Hassan has been awarded the President's Pride of Performance medal. He has also been recommended for Sitara e Imtiaz by the alpine club to the government of Pakistan. He is now waiting for some sponsors so that he can make an attempt at the remaining eight peaks of which seven are in Nepal. He has a very humble nature and runs a mountaineering gear shop in Skardu city. He plans to start a proper mountaineering school in Skardu to train young mountaineers in Pakistan on modern lines. Although reaching fifty he says that he is as fit as he was fifteen years ago.

Hit play for a very insightful interview of this brave soul of the land with Talat Hussein:

Youngest Microsoft Certified Professionals: Pakistan has two of them

For my first post I wanted some news related to IT in Pakistan...

Yes, it's true... Pakistan has three very talented people who have three things in common.

1. They have a fascination with computer development.

2. They have worked rigorously on Microsoft technologies.

3. They have passed the Microsoft Professional Certification with flying colors at a very young age and when I say young I mean like pre-teen.

First Up: Arfah Karim Randhawa (Faislabad, Pakistan)

She went into development at a very tender age and cleared her certification when she was just 9 years 9 month and 11 days old. She was the youngest MCP at the time. She was invited to Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, USA and met Bill Gates.

Here is the link to her very interesting interviews which give an insight into the intellectually developed mind. You will be astonished as to the way of her talking and understanding. She acts so maturely that its freakish at times:

Interview on PTV

Interview with Microsoft team

Second: Babar Iqbal (D. I. Khan, Pakistan)

This dude has got so much done. Here is the list.

1. World's youngest Microsoft Certified Professional (age 9 years 27 days).

2. World's youngest Certified Internet Web Professional Associate

3. World's youngest Certified Wireless Network Administrator

4. World's youngest Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist

He is now in the gulf working with Microsoft research. He has worked on Microsoft Surface, XNA studio. Been to Redmond, USA... yes the Microsoft headquarters to meet with people who have worked on XBox, Kinect.

Geo Tv Report

Third: Umema Adil

She is the youngest MCP in ASP .net and she has recently cleared MCTS, Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist for windows application development. She says that with all that is going on in Pakistan, harvesting in the field of technology can bear wonders in days to come. She keeps quoting this peculiar line "technology is the best revenge." Here is her interview.

24 7 onlive TV interview

So here they are, three gems who I would like every Pakistani to know about. They are right in the middle of it all, going head on head with the world. Not just thinking and trying to make their lives meaningful but actually doing something real and showing the world (and us) the meaning of determination.