In view of the growing militant attacks, the United Nations has ordered children of its international staff to leave Pakistan. According to The Independent, the alert came as a suicide bomber killed himself and three others in north-west Pakistan in an attack aimed at a prominent politician. “Asfandyar Wali Khan, leader of the Awami National Party (ANP) which is part of the coalition government, was not hurt in the blast in the north-western town of Charsadda, police said. Wali’s ANP...

Even with the global financial crisis looming large on the horizon, and its consequent crippling effects becoming clearer, the US media’s/blogs’ continued obsession with “what Obama/McCain/Palin/Biden said”, and then “what Obama/McCain/Palin/Biden replied” would appear myopic and tragic. The media/blogs have seemingly abdicated their traditional responsibility of explaining/warning about major/critical issues. In this theatre of the absurd, Playboy magazine...

I agree with the The Economist that in this global crisis the governments must work together. But no one talks of the world’s ordinary people who have to bear the additional burden in the wake of this and other crisis, which in the first place can be attributed to the callousness and greed of the governments/leaders and financial institutions themselves (especially the bankers). First the world leaders blow up trillions of dollars on unending “wars”, and then fail in their duty...

Today (October 2) is Mohandas K. Gandhi’s birth anniversary. While the votaries of non-violence in the violence-ridden world pay tributes to Mahatma Gandhi’s memory, in this post I would like to recall Gandhi’s abiding friendship with a Pashtun leader, better known as “Frontier Gandhi”, and who belonged to the so-called ‘badlands’ in Pakistan on the border of Afghanistan. (Photo of the two leaders above.) Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1890–1988), a Sunni Muslim...

The Gurkhas, who originally hail from Nepal, enjoy a pride of place in the pantheon of the British and the Indian armed forces. They still serve with dedication and loyalty the army regiments in these two countries. So it was a well-deserved victory in a British court for these Gurkhas who earned the right to settle in Britain after their retirement. “For generations, they have shown great courage and loyalty, fighting for Britain in countless wars. Last night, the Gurkhas were celebrating...

After his fairly good performance in Iraq, General David Petraeus takes charge of his new post as the overall head of the U.S. forces in the Middle East (including Afghanistan) on October 31. But now General Petraeus needs to acquaint himself better with the history and ground realities in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and the Central Asia. History tells us that even the best foreign soldiers, and great conquerors and diplomats, in the world have met their nemesis in Afghanistan. So it would do...

With plans for the biggest rescue of Wall Street since the Great Depression in tatters, the Dow Jones industrial average of shares dived almost 800 points, losing 7 per cent of its value, reports The Times. “It was the worst one-day points fall and the worst percentage fall since Black Monday in 1987. “American taxpayers, who will elect a new president in five weeks’ time, have hated the bailout from the beginning. Already struggling with rising unemployment, collapsing property prices...

Nalaka Gunawardene, the well-known Sri Lankan journalist, makes an interesting point as to why every banker should see Mary Poppins, the famous 1964 Walt Disney movie. As he says: “For it holds a very important and fundamental lesson for their profession: the need to win every customer’s trust and confidence… “The movie has many interesting scenes, but one that is directly relevant to bankers is when Mr Banks takes his daughter Jane and son Michael to his work place, the Dawes...

The US presidential elections have this time evoked great public interest worldwide. The Economist has invited the public to vote online for their favourite candidate. The voting has already begun. It is interesting to see the voting trend from Bangladesh to Australia…More here…

In the midst of the fear psychosis and frenzy created by the US/global economic meltdown, a grave and dramatic encounter between the US and the Pakistani troops went almost unnoticed. The Economist reports that although both the US and Pakistan deny it; “but it appears that on September 15th they fought a short war. “America started it. Local reports suggest that, under cover of darkness, two helicopter-loads of its soldiers crossed on foot from Afghanistan into the Pakistani tribal...

Although US President George Bush and Henry Paulson, the US Treasury Secretary have stated that “Washington was committed to minimising the impact of the painful economic shifts of the present crisis”, the shock resulting from the abrupt demise of the Lehman Brothers investment bank sent the world share market into a nasty downward spin. A recent report says that “Asian stock markets tumbled Tuesday amid growing fears of a global financial crisis as investors reacted to the demise...

Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd recently unveiled his vision for making Australia the most “Asia-literate country” in the West. In continuation of this theme Rudd would be the keynote speaker at the fortnight-long OzAsia cultural festival at Adelaide that showcases arts, music and dances of Asia-Pacific region. A special symposium would be held on the occasion “to explore the challenges and opportunities for closer cultural engagement with Asia in the 21st Century.” According...

The US federal government’s takeover of mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac not only “exposes the worst possible face of capitalism, one where a taxpayer guarantee is substituted for the old adage of buyer beware”, but also indicates the tough financial challenges ahead for the new president of America. Whether it is Obama or McCain, whoever makes it to the White House at the end of this year would have to find ways to extricate the USA from the fiascoes that Iraq...

When Indira Gandhi (photo above) was a candidate for the post of prime minister in India she was harshly described as a “dumb doll’ by even the strong men in her powerful party. Later, when Gandhi ruled with an iron hand she was described by her detractors and admirers as the “only man in her Cabinet of Ministers”! The Times takes a look at the top women leaders with reputations for raising hackles. “It’s disgraceful what passes for controversy these days. From...

After three days of acrimonious debate, the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting at Vienna lifted the 34-year-old embargo on nuclear trade with India. “An India-specific exemption from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) was won only after a flurry of phone calls from President George W. Bush and secretary of state Condoleezza Rice to leaders of a handful of countries opposed to the deal, reports The Tribune. “Given the time and energy it has invested into the civilian nuclear agreement,...

Asif Ali Zardari’s decisive victory in the Pakistan’s presidential election, despite media allegations about corruption and the state of his mental health, proves that the political leadership in Pakistan has clearly opted to hand over the reigns of power to the late Benazir Bhutto’s husband. Zardari won by a convincing 481 out of a possible 702 votes in the electoral college made up of members of the national and provincial parliaments. The Australian notes that “only Punjab,...

Cartoon by Bill Leak in The Australian

First, who are Australian ‘Diggers’? Briefly, the words ‘mateship’ and ‘diggers’ are interchangeable in Australia. See here… To his delight the US army chief in Iraq, General David Petraeus, found them to be different and has a special word of praise for them. The Australian has a story under the heading ‘Give me more Aussies, pleads general’. The report says: “David Petraeus would like more Australians to work alongside him as he assumes...

Well, the media has begun to scream about the mental health of the would-be president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari. We are told that he is not only corrupt but is “mad” too. Pray tell us which leader in the world is sane and not corrupt??? Maybe the “corrupt” and the “mad” are better equipped to rule us all in the present times!!! Here is a sample of the hysteria in The Newsweek…please click here.

I recommend a recent write-up on Barack Obama by Greg Sheridan, foreign editor of The Australian. Sheridan writes: “He (Obama) is technically a member of generation X, born just too late to be a baby boomer. Yet his consciousness is quintessentially that of the baby boomer. “The best guide to who Obama is politically comes not from the millions of hagiographic and densely uncritical words penned by adoring media across the world but from Obama’s autobiographies and his legislative...

Nalaka Gunawardene, Sri Lanka’s leading journalist, asks an interesting question: “From Chris Rock to Barack Obama: Will electoral life imitate Hollywood art?” Gunawardene recalls that “while the Democratic Party convention was underway on the other side of the planet, I re-watched the 2003 Chris Rock movie Head of State – and realized how prescient it has been in some respects. “But where life does imitate art is in how the Washington establishment conspires...

Sri Lanka is today known more for the performance of its fine cricket team and the conflict between the government and the LTTE. The passing away of its highly talented and sensitive journalist Mallika Wanigasundra went almost unnoticed. I came to know of her passing away while going through the website of another dedicated and respected Sri Lankan journalist Nalaka Gunawardene. I met Gunawardene in the late 1980s at Vestras, Sweden, where we had gone to attend an international semniar on “Media...

The Economist pays a tribute to Denver’s Jack A. Weil who died on August 13th, aged 107. “Until he created his shirts, there was no distinctively western look in American couture.” “His shirts, sold after 1946 through his company, Rockmount Ranch Wear, became extremely famous. The Premium Blue Flannel Plaid was worn by Ronald Reagan, and the Pink Gabardine by Bob Dylan. “Eric Clapton liked the diamond-snap number; Robert Redford in ‘The Horse Whisperer’...

For the past two or three years that I have been blogging, I had been under the impression that one contributes to the blogs only out of conviction or for personal satisfaction, thrills, kicks, barking or whatever…because there isn’t any money in blogging. There maybe some exceptions…but I would presume that more than 90 per cent bloggers don’t find it monetarily rewarding. However, an NYT story tells us about people who made blogging a financial success…See here.

While it is curtains for the great world event the Beijing Olympics, the sports lovers all over the globe are today celebrating the 100th birth anniversary of the Australian cricketing legend, Sir Donald Bradman (1908-2001). As the ABC News says: “Bradman will always be remembered for his cricket, but as Richie Benaud (another cricket star) said when delivering the eulogy at Bradman’s funeral, he was also a sportsman.” More here… The former Australian prime minister John...