روز و شب

Chatterbox is the restaurant of Pie in the Sky. 3rd Street, Zamzama.

The restaurant has a very interesting decor that gives a lot of privacy to the happy eaters. I prefer the corner location, which has a chest as a table. A novel and very interesting idea. Of course this table (sic) is right next to the book shelf for a quick flip through a magazine, kids story book or treatise on islamic architecture. The decor is very friendly and snug, the perfect place to go with a small group of family or friends.

The noise level in the restaurant is medium. If someone likes a loud or quiet restaurant, this is not it.

In addition to the absolutely amazing decor the restaurant tops it all up with good hearty food presented reasonably well and adorned with good service by the staff. I will definitely be going back for more.

The bakery within the premises is a low calorie cherry on the top of the cake. Extremely good to look at, enchanting as a notion, but not as useful because you are already full by the time you are done eating.

Oh, and yes, dont go alone. Good food should always be tried in company.

Rating - 8/10

It is one thing having tea. It is another to OD on it. I feel as if I have ODed on tea today.

Supercaffeinefragpelisticexpealadotious.

The decision of the KSE and the SECP to keep the Stock Exchange open is a welcome gesture. The closure of the bourse would have eroded investor confidence to new lows. Keeping in view the law and order situation the government can not afford to scare away any more investors. The positive news from across the world due to the European bailout package will also have some side effects in Pakistan. If the economy can weather the next month the government will be able to control militancy and the economy will restart the process of self reconstruction.

The floor limit on the KSE 100 index is a continuing cause for concern and irritation for consumers who are unable to liquidate their investments in the market which they believe will slide further. Of course the removal of the floor will immediately bankrupt some of the largest businessmen and market investors in Pakistan and cause a severe economic blow to the already fragile economy. Many major asset management companies and brokerage houses are already in a very precarious condition and the removal of the floor could cause a lot of harm to these institutions.

Despite the problems and possible effects highlighted above, the floor must be removed. The value of stocks is artificial, it does not represent their buying power. The inability of investors to liquidate their funds. The non representative nature of the stock exchange. All of these items are causing a major erosion of investor confidence in Pakistan and hence the floor needs to be re evaluated.

After all, we must remember that the easier it is for a foreign or domestic investor to get his or her money out of the stock market, the higher is the likelihood of someone actually investing in the market.

The slow and steady breakdown of law and order in Pakistan due to the erosion of the rule of law and writ of the state has reached an alarming stage. The recent explosion of terrorism and the side effects of political uncertainty have further added to criminal activities. The economic slowdown, increase of joblessness and sudden astronomic increase in inflation has also added fuel to the fire.

Under these circumstances I am going to keep a couple of guns in the house, read the side table. And this time I will learn to use them as well. Beliefs of non violence included, one must learn to protect oneself in every manner possible.

Finally finished my blog today. You are reading it.

I have spend two full days finalizing all the details of the blog so it is more of a big project than a small one.

I am finally webalized.

The news that the HEC (Higher Education Commission) is facing a severe lack of funds due to the ongoing financial crises in the country is disturbing as well as unfortunate. The HEC is running multiple projects that focus on the development of Pakistani manpower through training and education in domestic and foreign universities.

The education sector has always been a very neglected sector in Pakistan. There is an example of a situation where politicians squabbled over ministerial portfolios for weeks only to find that during the oath taking ceremony the seat of the minister of education is empty because no one fought for the portfolio and no one found it important enough to merit a ten second thought. There is also an example of a minister of education who could not write his own name. The level of neglect that has be showered on education in Pakistan is shamefully the inheritance of us all.

The government needs to revisit the decision to cut the budget for the HEC. Education has taken a back seat in Pakistan for a reasonably long time and it is imperative that that time end now. Now that Pakistani agricultural, manufacturing and service products have to compete in a global arena that is much more competitive we need to provide support to our products. The only means of doing that is by ensuring better education of our people. This does include mass education at primary and secondary levels, but varsity level education must also be promoted by the government as a long term strategy.

The government would be well advised to review the reduction in the budgetary cut for the HEC. Upon further review of the situation the government would, I am sure, come up with some other cost centre that can bear the brunt of the cost cut without the nation bearing the heavy burden in the future.

Very good movie. Must be viewed in a cinema.

The character of the Joker bears to be given special importance. The character has been built up independent of popular psychological ideals. Rather than playing to the audience and giving them a psychotic profile that they can understand the lack of understanding of the Joker’s psychological profile makes the character all the more intriguing.

The incident with the ferries was a very puerile attempt at forcing a happy ending. In any kind of a real life situation on this planet with this species inhabiting it, the button would have been pressed within one minute. Unfortunate but true.

My favourite scene in the movie was when Batman flipped and turned around on the Batpad in mid air just as he was about to hit the wall. Absolutely amazing and a completely new and novel idea. Kudos to the action director.

Rating - 9/10

Watching the movie got me to thinking. One has to make oneself incorruptible. That is honourable. No matter what happens, one has to know that what is wrong, what has been considered wrong in good times is still wrong in bad ones. The changing of times and conditions in the life of a person should not result in changes of conceptions and notions of right and wrong.

One has to be incorruptible.

We were going to the IBA City campus and due to a mis calculation of streets, my fault completely, had to go through some back alleys and roads. I would suggest to everyone who enjoys architecture and the city of Karachi to go to this area and savour the architecture and beauty of this area.

If a small project for the urban re generation of this area is launched then the depth in this area due to the age of the locality will make it a great neighbourhood and a reason for pride in how we have been able to change this portion of our city into something much better.

The world of the day, and of the week, for me has been default. Be it sovereign, or corporate, or personal.

The global financial crises continues to wreak havoc across the world with plummeting stock exchange indices, reductions in commodity prices, soaring gold prices, rising unemployment ratios and a mass scale lack of confidence. What has been described as the collapse of the Anglo Saxon financial system and is seen as a major global event that might cause the shifting of the global balance of economic power to the east.

Another local financial crises is underway in Pakistan. Over the past one year the economy has taken a very strong battering due to multiple issues. The crises can be stated to be the result of political instability and lack of popular belief in the abilities of the current government. As the war on terror continues in the tribal areas, the law and order situation deteriorates, and investor (foreign and domestic) confidence erodes daily
the economy is going into a slow slide.

There is talk of the possibility of sovereign default if the government is unable to gather a couple of billion dollars from the friends of Pakistan and other friendly nations. The euro bond payment early next year is the event that everyone is looking at right now. Of course Pakistan being a central pillar in the war on terror will need to be bailed out if world peace is to be maintained.

The lack of customer, investor and depositor confidence in Pakistani banks this week was a reflection of the uncertainty and underlying panic in the country. But, during this week all banks have shown strength is their liquidity situation, foreign currency accounts have not been frozen and lockers are still free and fair for all Pakistanis. The end may be nigh, but it is not here yet. Sit tight and do not jump in panic over non issues.

For all that it is worth, we might actually get some good out of the global financial crises. Our banks and financial institutions are not strongly linked to the outside world and will weather the storm. Commodity prices are falling across the globe, this includes oil. With investments unsafe across the planet why would anyone take their money out of Pakistan. The tribal lashkars and the army have reduced the area under Taliban control. The security situation should start improving within a couple of months.

For once, the night is darkest now, and things will improve.