Loud Thinking

Posts Tagged ‘My Views’

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”

— John Lubbock

Innovation is to create new ideas or new ways to apply an existing idea.

“Discovery consists of seeing what everyone has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.”

Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi (1893-1986);
Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine in 1937

How to save Pakistan?

Published BY PAKISTAN TODAY

JANUARY 18, 2014

After 66 years, Pakistan is a more fragmented society than our forefathers could have ever imagined. The schism is so intense that if immediate corrective steps are not taken, God forbid, this country may see even more turbulent times.

The writing on the wall is clear for all to read. The decadence of Pakistani society in every sphere of life, be it political, economic, educational, industrial, agricultural, religious, law and order or any other segment worth naming, is abysmal, to say the least.

Maybe we have one last chance to stem the rot, to unite the people and to give them a prescription, to rise again and rebuild the nation, because for the overwhelming majority a time is coming that the masses may well be forced to think that if there is no life there is no nation.

Pakistan needs a turnaround for which the basic need is our adaptation and readiness for the change, not in cosmetic but real sense. We need a complete change from one era to another, like the one witnessed by China under Mao Zedong.

Hence, for all Pakistanis failure is not an option but success is also not automatically guaranteed. In this regard, I would like to suggest that we formulate a new social contract, for the common people of Pakistan who always pay 100 percent bills and taxes and never default on their bank loans. Let us make a new Pakistan which is redesigned to practically cater to the needs of the exploited masses.

Changes must be made in the constitution to make it a presidential form of democratic setup. The election system should also be changed so that the whole country directly votes for the president. However, before voting the candidates of all political parties for presidential post must notify a list of their MPAs, MNAs and Senators who will be automatically considered elected according to the percentage of votes cast in favour of the main candidate for the top post of the country.

The decision for Pakistan’s charter of development for building dams and mega projects for the next 50 years should also be finalised on which later on no politics should be allowed. In other words, the representatives of the nation should decide now where they would like to see Pakistan in each and every field of life after 50 years. This plan should be further divided into ten five years plans.

In order to decentralise and empower the maximum number of people to enjoy the fruits of self-rule, we should convert every division of Pakistan into a province. This will also work as a panacea, for the eradication of linguistic and any other type of frictions and doubts about the hegemony of one class of the people over the other. In fact, it will work wonders in the speedy development and unity of Pakistan and kill instantly any secessionist or separatist activities currently prevailing in some parts of the country.

SYED NAYYAR UDDIN AHMAD

Lahore

World Twenty20: Hafeez, Pakistan team management at loggerheads?

KARACHI: Trouble seems to be brewing in the Pakistan cricket team in the ongoing World Twenty20 Championships in Bangladesh with speculation rife of differences between skipper Mohammed Hafeez and the team management.

There are reports that Hafeez is not seeing eye to eye with the team management which includes head coach Moin Khan, cricket consultant Zaheer Abbas and manager Zakir Khan on a number of issues within the team specially on selection matters.

“It is not a good sign for Pakistan cricket that such rumours are even circulating before the start of our campaign in a world event. I just hope they are not true but definitely I would like to see the Pakistan cricket Board step-in and talk to all the main stakeholders in the team so that the team can focus on winning the tournament,” former head coach and chief selector Mohsin Khan said.

Rumours started circulating after Hafeez made some caustic comments about the head coach and cricket consultant referring to their lack of experience in modern cricket and how the sport had changed in the last couple of years.

Similar rumours had also circulated when the team returned from the Asia Cup.

“Yes there are indications that Moin, Zaheer and the fielding coach Shoaib Muhammad in particular feel that Pakistan needs a new captain for future assignments and the names of Shahid Afridi and Younis Khan are being taken frequently now,” one source close to the team said.

There are question-marks over whether Hafeez will be able to sustain the pressure of playing India in Friday’s high-pressure tournament-opener.

Hafeez was captain when Pakistan lost to India in the last World T20 Cup in Sri Lanka in 2012.

“Definitely if you compare Hafeez with Mahendra Singh Dhoni than you can see a visible difference but the thing in his favour is that he is a senior player and an ideal all-rounder for T20 format,” former cricketer Basit Ali said.

Interestingly, neither Afridi nor Younis have made any attempts to reject talk about them being candidates for the captaincy and both have said if such a situation arises, they will give it a serious thought.

Pakistan won the 2009 World Twenty20 under Younis while Afridi led them to the semifinals of the event in 2010.

Today our team got all out at 71 and broke our own lowest score record in a T20 match (practice or international) of 74 runs created in 2012 vs Australia.

Let us see what is the threshold of the poor performance for the PCB, to sack the responsible tour management members and nincompoop coaches, because there is a definite decline in the team’s performance?

We will also see how much moral responsibility is shouldered by the honourable PCB top guns?

By scoring 71 runs in 17.3 overs Pakistan has created a new lowest T20 match score.

The details of previous lowest score details of Pakistan in a T20 match are as below:

Pakistan score 74 Overs19.1 Run Rate 3.88 in 2nd innings vs Australia at Dubai on 10 Sep 2012.

Note:- today’s match was not a recognised international match, it was just a practise match.

South Africa scored 72/2 in 14 overs. They won the match with 8 wickets and 36 balls remaining.

For Pakistan agony and party is over.

Pakistan all out for 71 runs in 17.3 overs.

India 174/3 in 20 overs.

“Any negativity that comes to you today should be returned to sender.”

— Thema Davis