ye mahaloN ye taKhtoN ye taajoN ki duniya

Going over the list of posted songs and nazms, I was surprised to see I hadn’t posted this song yet on this site.  This happens to be one of my favourite songs from one of my favourite movies ever, Pyaasa (Guru Dutt).  The song is simply amazing!  I think it fits in nicely with my recent posts regarding patriotic/nationalist songs by Sahir.

Enjoy the song, a video, courtesy the amazing posters at youtube, is posted below as well.

ye mahloN, ye taKhtoN, ye taajoN ki duniya
ye insaaN ke dushman, samaajoN ki duniya
ye daulat ke bhuukhe, rivaajoN ki duniyaa
ye duniyaa agar mil bhi jaaye to kyaa hai
ye duniyaa agar mil bhi jaaye to kyaa hai

har ik jism ghaayal, har ik ruuh pyaasii
nigaahoN me uljhan, diloN meiN udaasi
ye duniyaa hai yaa aalam-e-badhavaasii
ye duniyaa agar mil bhi jaaye to kyaa hai

jahaaN ik khilona hai insaaN ki hastii
ye bastii hai murda-parastoN ki bastii
yahaaN par to jeevan se hai maut sastii
ye duniyaa agar mil bhi jaaye to kyaa hai

javaani bhaTaktii hai bezaar bankar
javaaN jism sajate haiN baazaar bankar
jahaaN pyaar hota hai vyopaar bankar
ye duniyaa agar mil bhi jaaye to kyaa hai

ye duniyaa jahaaN aadmi kuchh nahiiN hai
vafaa kuchh nahiiN, dostii kuchh nahiiN hai
jahaaN pyaar ki qadr hi kuchh nahiiN hai
ye duniyaa agar mil bhi jaaye to kyaa hai

jalaa do ise  phuuNk DaaloN ye duniyaa
jalaa do jalaa do
jalaa do ise phuuNk DaaloN ye duniyaa
mere saamne se haTaa lo ye duniyaa
tumhaari hai tum hi sambhaalo ye duniyaa
ye duniyaa agar mil bhi jaaye to kyaa hai

Smoking ban to be enforced inside Saudi airports

A ban on smoking inside Saudi airports will be enforced from Sunday, starting with King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah.

Riyadh: A ban on smoking inside Saudi airports will be enforced from Sunday, starting with King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah.

The ban will be enforced at other airports in the kingdom gradually, where offenders will pay a 200-Saudi riyal fine (around $53).

Special rooms for smoking will be set up at airports.

Earlier this year, an advertisement campaign was launched on local TV about the harms of smoking targeting Saudi youth.

Saudi smokers spend eight billion riyals on cigarettes every year, according to local statistics.

 

Germany!

German Muslims must obey law, not Sharia - Merkel

German Christian Democrats often cite shared Judeo-Christian values rooted in the early history of Christianity because of sensitivities about the Holocaust, when the Nazis murdered six million Jews during World War Two.

Berlin: Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday Muslims must obey the constitution and not Sharia if they want to live in Germany, which is debating the integration of its 4 million-strong Muslim population.

In the furore following a German central banker's blunt comments about Muslims failing to integrate, moderate leaders including President Christian Wulff have urged Germans to accept that "Islam also belongs in Germany".

The debate comes against a backdrop of US and British concerns over the threat of terrorist attacks by militant Islamists living in Germany, with Berlin toning down such fears.

Merkel faces corresponding discussions inside her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) about whether she is conservative enough, and the centre-right leader's latest comments seemed directed at those who think Wulff went too far in appeasing the Muslims.

Wulff, who has a largely ceremonial role, used a speech on Sunday celebrating two decades of German reunification to urge harmonious integration of immigrants who until a decade ago were considered "guest workers" who would eventually return home.

But whereas the media stressed Wulff's comments about Islam, Merkel - the daughter of a Protestant pastor brought up in East Germany, who leads a predominantly Catholic party - said Wulff had emphasised Germany's "Christian roots and its Jewish roots".

German Christian Democrats often cite shared Judeo-Christian values rooted in the early history of Christianity because of sensitivities about the Holocaust, when the Nazis murdered six million Jews during World War Two.

"Now we obviously also have Muslims in Germany. But it's important in regard to Islam that the values represented by Islam must correspond with our constitution," said Merkel.

"What applies here is the constitution, not Sharia."

Merkel said Germany needed imams "educated in Germany and who have their social roots here" and concluded: "Our culture is based on Christian and Jewish values and has been for hundreds of years, not to say thousands."

Opinion polls suggest many Germans sympathise with the views of an outspoken member of Germany's Bundesbank who, in speeches and a book, accused Muslims of sponging off welfare, refusing to integrate and achieving poor levels of education.

Thilo Sarrazin, who also offended Jews with comments about genetics, was forced to quit the central bank. Merkel has tried to accommodate both sides of the debate, saying police should not be afraid of entering immigrant neighbourhoods but also that Germans must accept mosques becoming part of their landscape.

if they still prefer to live there, they should change there religion.

Responding to the floods in Pakistan

Pakistan has been struck by the worst flooding in its recorded history. The latest estimate of the number of people affected by the flood exceeds 14 million—more than the combined total of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Critical infrastructure has been damaged over the last two weeks and clean water is in short supply. As monsoons approach, flooding is expected to worsen.

Our Crisis Response team has been working to use existing tools and build new ones to help the relief efforts. We just launched a page in Urdu and English where you can find information, resources and donation opportunities to help the victims of the floods. We’re also donating $250,000 to international and local NGOs to immediately aid in relief efforts. Although we’ve been able to provide satellite imagery for disasters in the past, cloud cover in Pakistan has prevented us from compiling useful imagery so far. We hope to share imagery as soon as possible.

We’ve already learned a lot about building useful tools from our previous efforts to help with disaster relief. Following the earthquake in Haiti, a small team of Googlers visited relief aid workers in Haiti to understand how we could further help. In observing and speaking with the relief aid workers, we learned that they needed up-to-date information about available resources (such as which field hospitals have X-ray machines or orthopedic surgeons), their location and contact information. Coordination between various health and relief facilities that spring up in a disaster zone can be challenging.

Based on what we learned in Haiti, we’ve been working to develop Resource Finder, a new tool to help disseminate updated information about which services various health facilities offer. It provides a map with editable records to help relief workers maintain up-to-date information on the services, doctors, equipment and beds available at neighboring health facilities so that they can efficiently arrange patient transfers. We normally wouldn’t release the tool so quickly, but decided to make an early release version of Resource Finder available for supporting relief efforts in Pakistan. This is the first time the tool is being launched during a disaster situation so we’ll be working closely with NGOs to understand its usefulness and will iterate accordingly.


We’ve also launched Person Finder in both Urdu and English for this disaster. This application allows individuals to check and post on the status of relatives or friends affected by a disaster. Fortunately, we’ve heard that missing persons has not been as concerning an issue as it was during the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, but we’ll leave the application up regardless.

Responding to a disaster of this scale is a daunting task, but we can all do something to help. We will try to do our part and continue working with the many incredible NGOs to develop tools that help them work more effectively.

YA ALLAH PAKISTAN PAR REHEM KAR> AMEEN

sailab

bara dukh hua jo sailab sa itna tabahi hue. pakistan k kae shehro me. ab recovery to najany kitny mah me ho ge. ALLAH kary un logo ki zindagi mamol par jald he a jaeye.

ALLAH ALLAH kar k to taliban sa jan chuti thi k ye qudarati afat a gae. ALLAH KHER KARY.

Creativity at it's best

A music video from the premiere mini album "Water Flavor EP", from the Japanese band "Sour", for the song "Hibi no Neiro" (Tone of everyday). The video was shot with webcams only, and the main protagonists are Sour fans from around the world.

The enemy is at home

The enemy is at home. we have to open our eyes day and night to see that enemy.

World's tallest tower closed a month after opening

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The world's tallest skyscraper has unexpectedly closed to the public a month after its lavish opening, disappointing tourists headed for the observation deck and casting doubt over plans to welcome its first permanent occupants in the coming weeks.

Electrical problems are at least partly to blame for the closure of the Burj Khalifa's viewing platform — the only part of the half-mile high tower open yet. But a lack of information from the spire's owner left it unclear whether the rest of the largely empty building — including dozens of elevators meant to whisk visitors to the tower's more than 160 floors — was affected by the shutdown.

The indefinite closure, which began Sunday, comes as Dubai struggles to revive its international image as a cutting-edge Arab metropolis amid nagging questions about its financial health.

The Persian Gulf city-state had hoped the 2,717-foot (828-meter) Burj Khalifa would be a major tourist draw. Dubai has promoted itself by wowing visitors with over-the-top attractions such as the Burj, which juts like a silvery needle out of the desert and can be seen from miles around.

In recent weeks, thousands of tourists have lined up for the chance to buy tickets for viewing times often days in advance that cost more than $27 apiece. Now many of those would-be visitors, such as Wayne Boyes, a tourist from near Manchester, England, must get back in line for refunds.

"It's just very disappointing," said Boyes, 40, who showed up at the Burj's entrance Monday with a ticket for an afternoon time slot only to be told the viewing platform was closed. "The tower was one of my main reasons for coming here," he said.

The precise cause of the $1.5 billion Dubai skyscraper's temporary shutdown remained unclear.

In a brief statement responding to questions, building owner Emaar Properties blamed the closure on "unexpected high traffic," but then suggested that electrical problems were also at fault.

"Technical issues with the power supply are being worked on by the main and subcontractors and the public will be informed upon completion," the company said, adding that it is "committed to the highest quality standards at Burj Khalifa."

Despite repeated requests, a spokeswoman for Emaar was unable to provide further details or rule out the possibility of foul play. Greg Sang, Emaar's director of projects and the man charged with coordinating the tower's construction, could not be reached. Construction workers at the base of the tower said they were unaware of any problems.

Power was reaching some parts of the building. Strobe lights warning aircraft flashed and a handful of floors were illuminated after nightfall.

Emaar did not say when the observation deck would reopen. Ticket sales agents were accepting bookings starting on Valentine's Day this Sunday, though one reached by The Associated Press could not confirm the building would reopen then.

Tourists affected by the closure are being offered the chance to rebook or receive refunds.

The shutdown comes at a sensitive time for Dubai. The city-state is facing a slump in tourism — which accounts for nearly a fifth of the local economy — while fending off negative publicity caused by more than $80 billion in debt it is struggling to repay.

Ervin Hladnik-Milharcic, 55, a Slovenian writer planning to visit the city for the first time this month, said he hoped the Burj would reopen soon.

"It was the one thing I really wanted to see," he said. "The tower was projected as a metaphor for Dubai. So the metaphor should work. There are no excuses."

Dubai opened the skyscraper on Jan. 4 in a blaze of fireworks televised around the world. The building had been known as the Burj Dubai during more than half a decade of construction, but the name was suddenly changed on opening night to honor the ruler of neighboring Abu Dhabi.

Dubai and Abu Dhabi are two of seven small sheikdoms that comprise the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi hosts the federation's capital and holds most of the country's vast oil reserves. It has provided Dubai with $20 billion in emergency cash to help cover its debts.

Questions were raised about the building's readiness in the months leading up to the January opening.

The opening date had originally been expected in September, but was then pushed back until sometime before the end of 2009. The eventual opening date just after New Year's was meant to coincide with the anniversary of the Dubai ruler's ascent to power.

There were signs even that target was ambitious. The final metal and glass panels cladding the building's exterior were installed only in late September. Early visitors to the observation deck had to peer through floor-to-ceiling windows caked with dust — a sign that cleaning crews had not yet had a chance to scrub them clean.

Work is still ongoing on many of the building's other floors, including those that will house the first hotel designed by Giorgio Armani that is due to open in March. The building's base remains largely a construction zone, with entrance restricted to the viewing platform lobby in an adjacent shopping mall.

The first of some 12,000 residential tenants and office workers are supposed to move in to the building this month.

The Burj Khalifa boasts more than 160 stories. The exact number is not known.

The observation deck, which is mostly enclosed but includes an outdoor terrace bordered by guard rails, is located about two-thirds of the way up on the 124th floor. Adult tickets bought in advance cost 100 dirhams, or about $27. Visitors wanting to enter immediately can jump to the front of the line by paying 400 dirhams — about $110 apiece.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_dubai_tallest_building

Time Lapse of Vancouver