Capital Hospital's Dr. Naeem Taj Brings Guinness World Record Honour to Pakistan

Dr. Naeem Taj Brings Guinness World Record Honour to Pakistan

Surgeon Doctor Naeem Taj, the head of Surgical Department at the Capital Development Authority (CDA) Hospital, has brought another honor to Pakistan as he removed the world’s largest gall bladder through laparoscopic surgery.

According to details; Dr Naeem Taj operated the 70-year-old Rasheeda Bibi in CDA Hospital to remove 25.5 cm long gall bladder through as small as one cm slit.

The Guinness Book of World Records has already issued a certificate for the Dr Taj recognizing his recent professional excellence and achievement. The previous record was held by an Indian doctor, who had removed a 24 cm gallbladder through open surgery.

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'Lok Mela' Oepns Today (June 4, 2011) in Islamabad - - Cultural Entertainment with an Opportunity to Buy Handcrafts from All of Four Provinces

Lok Mela 2011 Opens June 4, 2011 in Islamabad

The artisans-at-work festival popularly known as ‘Lok Mela’ will formally open today (Saturday, June 4) in a prestigious ceremony to be held at Garden Avenue, Shakarparian. 

Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan will inaugurate the festival at Lok Virsa Open Air Theatre.

According to Lok Virsa traditions, the festival will open with a ‘Dastarbandi/Chadarposhi’ of an established master artisan.

Hundreds of craftsmen, folk artists, rural musicians and dance groups have already arrived in Islamabad from all the provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir to demonstrate their skills for 10 days.

From Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa, a contingent of over 60 people is participating in the festival. They include Khattak dance group, master artisans in specialised craft fields such as embroidery, metal work, wax printing, Shawl weaving, Khes weaving and wood works and a number of folk artists. KPK musical night will be held at Lok Virsa open air theatre on June 10. Leading folk singers and musicians such as Gulraiz Khan, Bakhtiar Khattak, Salma Naz, Ahmed Gul, Rafia Bano, Israr Khan, comedian Saeed Rehman Sheno, Khalida Yasmin, Shazma Haleem, Sher Muhammad (rubab nawaz), Khan Muhammad (tabla nawaz) and Ali (harmonium player) would perform during the Lok Mela.

Besides Khattak dancers from KPK, other folk dance groups who would entertainment visitors during the festival are Multani raqs party ‘Gatta Ghora’, Leva dance group from Balochistan and Sheedi dancers from Sindh.

The festival would provide an opportunity to the diplomatic community and residents of the twin cities to have cultural entertainment and to buy handcrafts at reasonable prices.

The craftsmen would also get a chance to sell their products.

Source: Dawn

Eid ul Azha (Eid al-Adha) 2010 - - Recent Review of Prices of Sacrificial Animals in The Cattle Markets of Islamabad/Rawalpindi and Lahore

"It is not their meat nor their blood that reaches Allah; it is your piety that reaches Him." (Qur'an 22:37)

Eid ul Azha (Eid al-Adha) is coming and coming with a bang. Common man is already licking the wounds of soaring prices of petrol, utilities bills and kitchen items ranging from vegetables to sugar and spices. In the present scenario; it’s quite difficult for people to welcome the big event of Eid ul Azha (Eid al-Adha) with the religious zeal and fervour. People all around the country are complaining about the sky-high prices of sacrificial animals in the urban areas, as well as, in rural areas. 

There are two factors contributing towards the low interest of purchasing animals for sacrifice on Eid ul Azha (Eid al-Adha):

• The increasing prices of animals, as every body knows, and
• The decreasing purchasing power of a common man, as 90% of people are suffering due to high and ever increasing inflation in the economy.

These two factors are equally contributing to the lack of will to purchase a sacrificial animal for Eid ul Azha (Eid al-Adha).

Analysis of the prices, in the current cattle markets in the different cities of Pakistan, clearly depicts an increase of prices of animals from 40-50% as compared to the last year. Some buyers are complaining of even 60% hike in prices. Most of the buyers are going back from cattle markets without purchasing of animals due to the high and unaffordable prices. Many buyers are even reluctant to bargain with the traders because of too high prices demanded by traders.     

In the cattle market of Rawalpindi, the price of an average size goat starts from Rs. 18,000 and that of a cow or bull from Rs. 40,000. Twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad are also facing shortage of animals. That factor is also encouraging traders to demand and charge their own prices in the absence of any price control mechanism. People are tending towards the rural areas in search of sacrificial animals which might be compatible with their budgets. One of them, Malik Safdar, a resident of Chaklala Scheme-III, bought two goats for Rs 28,000 from Taxila. He suggested that people should visit rural markets to avoid overcharging. He said he was planning to buy a cow but there was shortage of big animals.

The situation evenly prevails in the cattle markets in Lahore. Unaffordable prices of sacrificial animals are not only spoiling the business of animal trading but also disappointing the people of Lahore in order to follow their religious rights.

The traders are selling goats at Rs. 15000 to Rs. 25,000 while cows are available for the prices raging from Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 200,000 depending upon the weight and breed. This situation is forcing people of Lahore to follow the policy of wait and see until the prices will come down due to lack of business. While, the traders are of the view that rates of the sacrificial animals would further increase with each passing day due to the expenses for keeping them in the City till Eid ul Azha (Eid al-Adha).

After checking the different cattle market; people are also going to the option of collective sacrifices rather than an individual sacrifice. Facility of collective sacrifice is provided by Islam and it will help people to follow their religious rights in an affordable prices. We just have to remember the words of Holy Qur’an:

"It is not their meat nor their blood that reaches Allah; it is your piety that reaches Him." (Qur'an 22:37)

Faisal Mosque (Shah Faisal Masjid) - - National Mosque of Pakistan: A Masterpiece Designed By Turkish Architect Vedat Dalokay

General Information: Faisal Mosque (Shah Faisal Masjid)

The Faisal Mosque (also known as Shah Faisal Masjid) in Islamabad is the biggest mosque in Pakistan and South Asia and the sixth biggest mosque in the world. It was the largest mosque in the world from 1986 to 1993 when overtaken in size by the completion of the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco. Subsequent expansions of the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) of Makkah and the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque) in Madinah Munawwara, Saudi Arabia during the 1990s relegated Faisal Mosque to fourth place in terms of size.



Faisal Mosque is conceived as the National Mosque of Pakistan. It has a covered area of 5,000 m2 (54,000 sq ft) and has a capacity to accommodate approximately 300,000 worshippers (100,000 in its main prayer hall, courtyard and porticoes and another 200,000 in its adjoining grounds). Although its covered main prayer hall is smaller than that of the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca (the world's third largest mosque), Faisal Mosque has the third largest capacity of accommodating worshippers in its adjoining grounds after the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) of Makkah, the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque) in Madinah Munawwara. Each of the Mosque's four minarets are 80 m (260 ft) high (the tallest minarets in South Asia) and measure 10 x 10 m in circumference.



History: Faisal Mosque (Shah Faisal Masjid)

The Faisal Mosque is named after the late King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia, who supported and financed the project.

The impetus for the mosque began in 1966 when the late King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia supported the initiative of the Pakistani Government to build a national mosque in Islamabad during an official visit to Pakistan. In 1969, an international competition was held in which architects from 17 countries submitted 43 proposals. After four days of deliberation, Turkish architect Vedat Dalokay's design was chosen. Construction of the mosque began in 1976 by National Construction of Pakistan, led by Azim Borujerdi, and was funded by the government of Saudi Arabia, at a cost of over 130 million Saudi Riyals (approximately 120 million USD today). King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz was instrumental in the funding, and both the mosque and the road leading to it were named after him after his assassination in 1975. The mosque was completed in 1986, and used to house the International Islamic University. Many conservative Muslims criticised the design at first for its non-conventional design and lack of the traditional dome structure, but virtually all criticism was eventually silenced by the mosque's scale, form, and setting against the Margalla Hills upon completion.



Location: Faisal Mosque (Shah Faisal Masjid)

The mosque is situated at the end of Shaharah-e-Islamabad, against the backdrop of the scenic Margalla Hills. This placement defines its importance, positioning it on elevated terraced land ensures its visibility during day and night for miles around. The mosque is dedicated to the memory of the late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia who graciously defrayed the cost of the project as a gift to the people of Pakistan.


Design: Faisal Mosque (Shah Faisal Masjid)

The Faisal Mosque is the work of famous Turkish architect, Vedat Dalokay who won the Agha Khan Architectural Award with this project. The mosque's relatively unusual design fuses contemporary lines with the more traditional look of an Arab Bedouin's tent, with its large triangular prayer hall and four minarets. However, unlike traditional masjid design, it lacks a dome. The minarets borrow their design from Turkish tradition and are thin and pencil like. The interior of this prayer hall holds a very large chandelier and its walls are decorated with mosaics and calligraphy by the famous Pakistani artist Sadequain. The mosaic pattern adorns the west wall, and has the Kalimah writtern in early Kufic script, repeated in mirror image pattern.



The mosque's architecture is a departure from the long history of South Asian Islamic architecture. It is one of the most outstanding and modern Islamic architecture examples in the world.

General Zia's Mausoleum

The small mausoleum of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, whose 1988 funeral at the site was the largest in the history of Pakistan, is located in the grounds of the Mosque.

ISLAMABAD - - BRIEF HISTORY

The city of Islamabad, though relatively young, has thousands of years of pre-construction history. Islamabad Capital Territory, located in the Potohar Plateau, is regarded to be one of the earliest sites of human settlement in Asia. Situated at one end of the Indus Valley Civilization, this area was the first habitation of the Aryan community from Central Asia. Islamabad was one of the routes though which the armies from North and North West passed to invade Indian Subcontinent. Many great armies such as those of Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Timur and King Abdali have used this route on their way to Indian Subcontinent. Relics and human skulls have been found dating back to 5000 B.C. that show this region was home to Stone Age man who used the banks of Swaan River as their settlement. Modern Islamabad is based on the old settlement known as Saidpur.

ISLAMABAD - - CAPITAL OF PAKISTAN

It is the purpose-built capital of Pakistan. It lies against the surroundings of the Margalla Hills at the northern end of Pothowar Plateau. The city was built intentionally to serve as the capital city of Pakistan in 1960 by the orders of then President General Ayub Khan. The capital is full of natural terraces and meadows and the southern plain drained by the Kurang River with the Margalla Hills in the north east. Area and Population The city is divided into eight basic zones: Administrative Diplomatic Enclave Residential Areas Educational Sectors Industrial Sectors Commercial Areas Rural Areas and Green Areas

Each sector has its own shopping area and public park. The population of the city is around 9,50,000 people with an area of about 910 square kilometers. The city lies at latitudes 33° 49' north and longitudes 72° 24' east with altitudes ranging from 457 to 610 meters.