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Pakistan

Steppe Eagle: Endangered Bird

Steppe Eagle is also known as Aquila nipalensis in the scientific language is a scavenger. This species breeds in Eastern European Russia from across Kazakhstan into Kyrgyzstan, China and Mongolia. Birds spend winter mainly in south and south-east Asia. The bird is placed in the Red List by IUCN in the endangered category. There are many reasons attributed to the decline in population to such an extent. Some are like loss of habitat and exposure to radioactive radiations in its basic habitat. Bird winters in South and South East Asia. It has suffered in Pakistan and India due to the presence… Read More »Steppe Eagle: Endangered Bird

Pusa 1121: The longest single grain rice

Pusa 1121 is an evolved variety of Pusa Basmati rice developed by Indian scientists at PUSA. This variety of rice is known for its extraordinary length, which can be as much as 9.5 mm for a single grain which is world record length. It is in high demand among the rice loving Middle East. Punjab and Haryana produce maximum rice of this variety. At 5 lakh tonnes annually, Ferozepur in Punjab tops the production. India and Pakistan both produce the rice in large quantities and export. Earlier the rice to Middle East was exported from Pakistan but India seemed to… Read More »Pusa 1121: The longest single grain rice

Dulla Bhatti: More than a Robinhood

Dulla Bhatti is a famous folklore hero of Punjab. Punjab means here the erstwhile Punjab of undivided India. His ballad called Dulle Di Vaar (Ballad of Dulla) is very popular in the rural area of Punjab. It extols the deeds of his extraordinary bravery in the form of songs. I still remember in our younger days, the ballad sung by folk singer Kuldeep Manak was a craze in whole of Punjab. He is seen like Robinhood, who was savior of the poor and helpless, rescuer of the young girls abducted by Mogul soldiers during their raids. Dulla was a contemporary… Read More »Dulla Bhatti: More than a Robinhood

Dr.Salam and Heer: Jhang Connection

Doctor Abdus Salam was awarded Nobel prize in physics in 1979 jointly with Glashow and Steven Weinberg. After Einstein, theoretical physicists all over the world are trying to unify all the physical forces like electricity, magnetism and forces residing inside a nucleus and gravity. They have succeeded in unifying all except gravity which is defying all the efforts. Just as in Hinduism we believe that God is one but it’s manifestation are many. They also got the Nobel in this area of research. He was born on 29 January 1926 in Santok Das in the Sahiwal District but grew up… Read More »Dr.Salam and Heer: Jhang Connection

Henna

It is a natural dye derived from green henna leaves and is used to decorate the body with intricate designs in India and Pakistan. The hands and legs of the brides and her friends are adorned with intricate designs using a paste made from ground henna and juice of lemon. Motifs include birds, animals and geometrical patterns. Application of henna causes a cooling effect. It is also a fact that longer this stays on the hands more is the color darker. So after application to prevent the paste from flaking off, small amounts of lemon juice and sugar are applied.… Read More »Henna

3 Cups of tea

I was following the route of the Indus river on the Google Earth upwards from its delta in the Arabian sea towards it source. As I was going along through the Karakorum range of mountains, I began reading about Karakorum. It has the most number of high peaks in the world but K2 takes the place of pride among all of them. Mountaineering is the most taxing of all the sports. It takes the toughness not only of physique but mind also to excel and survive in this sport. Amount of available oxygen goes down causing difficult in breathing. As… Read More »3 Cups of tea

Quissa Puran Bhagat

History of the undivided Punjab and adjoining areas on its western front is replete with stories of valour and love. This area acted like a conduit for those from the west who wanted to enter India. From the times immemorial, streams of people crossed into India in search of its rich resources. Some solely entered through this corridor for the purpose of looting and taking with the exploits back. Others like Aryans and Mughals came here and settled here permanently. Aryans are said to be the cattle raring people who were constantly on the move in search of green pastures… Read More »Quissa Puran Bhagat

Hinglaj

North West of Indian subcontinent has been the cradle of one of the great civilizations that flourished in the world once upon a time. The great Indus Valley Civilization existed here. Although the name suggests that it might have been situated along the coast of Indus valley because two sites namely Harrapa in Punjab and Mohenjo Daro have been found along the great river. And why on the river? Because river nourishes life. Early civilizations when population pressure was not much tended to settle down near the rivers. It has been now established that the civilization was not confined to… Read More »Hinglaj

A tale of two movies

Booker award winning books: Salman Rushdie’s Booker of the Booker novel “Midnight’s Children” & Yann Martel’s  book “Life of PI” were turned into Hollywood movies. Life of Pi was made in 2012 and directed by Ang Lee. Midnight’s Children was made by Deepa Mehta in 2012. There is no need to emphasize the caliber of the books. Midnight’s Children is a book written by Rushdie at his creative best. It draws inspiration from his own family life. The main protagonist of Midnight’s Children is born on the night when India becomes an independent nation once again notwithstanding some pieces being… Read More »A tale of two movies

The Movie Paa and Real Life Similarities

Movie Paa in which Amitabh Bachchan played the character of a person who is suffering from the disease progeria in which the brain of a person develops normally but the body refuses to grow. The diseases can attack a person in the childhood itself. Because of this, a seventy year person looks like a child. The movie itself was inspired from the Hollywood flick “The curious case of Benjamin Button” in which the role was played brilliantly by Brad Pitt. The went on to win Oscar in 2008 for art direction, makeup and visual effects. Pitt played a 50 years… Read More »The Movie Paa and Real Life Similarities

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