Sunday, December 26, 2010

Lions Roar at Karachi Airport

Sorry, I could not resist the headline (do please suggest a better one). Actually, I do not know if the lions roared or not. But four lions did land at Karachi airport. They were, however, promptly ‘seized.’ The question, now, is to figure out what needs to be done with them, to them, and to those who brought them to Karachi.


Confused? So was I. Here are some details from Bhagwandas (one of Pakistan’s finest environmental reporters) at Dawn:


Four lions, a rare species, being “imported” on an expired permission were seized by the customs authorities at Karachi airport in the early hours of Wednesday (Dec. 22). Sources said that the lions were handed over to the Sindh Wildlife Department (SWD) late Wednesday night for safe keeping till the issue was sorted out. The sources added that the lions were shifted to the Karachi Zoological Gardens because the SWD did not have any such facility of its own where the carnivorous big cats could be housed.


Until some years back, big cats — mainly lions and tigers — were imported in large numbers by the private sector as some people kept the big cats in their private zoos as a status symbol. The National Council for Conservation of Wildlife (NCCW) banned the import of all big cats by private parties when the issue was highlighted in the media. Customs Deputy Collector Attaullah Shabbir earlier told Dawn that he had received a letter from NCCW official Umeed Khalid that the certificate being shown by the importer, which had been issued in January 2008, was not valid and no animals could be imported on that NOC. He said he was told that the consignment should not be released as there was a complete ban on the import of big cats by private parties.


… Responding to Dawn queries from Islamabad, NCCW`s Umeed Khalid said that no NOC had been issued to private parties to import lions or big cats over the past couple of years, as the government had imposed a ban on their import. “So if the importer was presenting any NOC issued by the NCCW it would not be valid for import,” he added. The sources said that the only NOC / permission the NCCW had issued for import of tigers after the ban was in place was in the name of Salman Shahbaz, the son of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. But when the media reported the matter on the imported Siberian tiger`s arrival, Mr Sharif immediately announced that the tiger would be donated to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government. However, the decision was changed before it could be handed over to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and now the Siberian tiger was being kept at a Punjab wildlife department`s facility located in the Murree Hills, the sources added.


… She said that she was requesting customs officials to detain these lions and these animals, most probably, would be kept at the Karachi Zoo, as the SWD does not have a facility of its own where such animals could be kept for safe keeping. Besides, the public could also see these lions at the zoo till the issue was sorted out after the legal proceedings. It is worth noting that Pakistan is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Fauna and Flora which monitors and controls the trans-boundary relocation of highly endangered and rare species. Its focal point in the country is the National Council for Conservation of Wildlife (NCCW) which, if satisfied with the intentions of the importers, can issue permits for the import of such species controlled under the CITES.


Some of the questions I had, especially who exactly was importing these lions and why, were not answered in the although some (only some) answers came in the next day’s report in Dawn, which also added more questions to this intriguing episode (seems, for example, that the lions had also had a brief stopover in Islamabad – not unlike myself!):


The Sindh Wildlife Department on Thursday registered a case against the “importer” of four lions (scientific name Panthera leo) on charges of bringing the animals into the country and the province without prescribed legal documents. However, the customs authorities, who seized these lions at Karachi airport on their arrival from Islamabad and later handed them over to the SWD for safe keeping on Wednesday night, claimed that nobody had produced the relevant documents so far to get the consignment cleared. The lions were, meanwhile, shifted to the Karachi Zoological Gardens, as neither the customs department nor the wildlife department had any such facility of their own where such carnivorous big cats could be housed. SWD Game Officer Nazar Hussain said that a first offence report (FOR No 42/289 of 2010) — equivalent to FIR — had been registered against Mr Irfan of Osaka Traders under Sections 12, 13, 17, 33(a) of the Sindh Wildlife Protection Ordinance, 1972. He said the “importer” had been charged with bringing the lions into the country without prescribed legal documents.


… Sources said that these lions had started their journey from the South African city of Johannesburg and travelled by Lufthansa to Czech Republic in November. They added that Zoological Live Animal Supplier of Bapsfontein Republic of South Africa had sent four lions in four packages to Animal Source Czechia of Bustehrad, Czech Republic, on Nov 3, 2010. The lions were later taken to Frankfurt, Germany, from where the Animal Park of Bustehrad, Czech Republic, sent these lions through Douglas Borer Air Cargo to Islamabad for Mr Irfan of Osaka Traders. Around 7,440 Euros were paid as air freight for the lions, which were booked through airway bill No: 214-7575-6590 on a Pakistan International Airlines flight (PK 301/788), with certain directions to the airlines that lions should not be fed during transportation and they be kept in temperature ranging between 10 and 20 degrees centigrade.


The four lions eat approximately 40 kilograms of meat a day that costs around Rs7,000, which is reportedly causing problems for the zoo, wildlife department and customs. The zoo authorities wanted that either the SWD or someone else paid the food bill of these lions though the zoo income was said to have increased on Thursday as many visitors thronged the place where the newcomers had been housed. The “importer” of these lions, Mr Irfan, was in the zoo for most part of the day looking after the lions and he had also provided food for them, according to Zoo Director Mansoor Kazi. The sources said that if the zoo did not provide the food to these lions, there were chances that these could be relocated to some other government facility where the lions could be fed properly.


More and more questions, it seems. In comes a report in The News which read as if it had some answers, but actually did not even add to the questions:


It’s not just the Sharif brothers who are fond of big cats; The News has learnt from reliable sources that it is a Karachi-based politician who has allegedly imported the four lions seized by Customs authorities at the Karachi airport on Wednesday…. According to the sources, the known politician, who is currently in Saudi Arabia, has a passion for wildlife…. Some experts, when contacted by The News, wondered why the lions were not handed over to the Islamabad zoo where they had first landed…. They said that nobody had known about the lions if the politician belonging to a major political party of the country had not gone abroad.


A later report in The News had this to add:


The importer of four lions that were seized by the customs authorities on the basis of expired No Objection Certificate has moved Sindh High Court for securing immediate custody of the lions that he had imported for a private zoo from South Africa. M/s Osaka traders that used to deal in import of animals from different countries challenged the seizure of lions by customs authorities, submitting that the import was made through valid NOC by the National Council for Conservation of Wildlife as it was informed to the petitioner by the Sindh Wildlife Department that NCCW had no objection if CITES (Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species) permit is issued in favour of the petitioner for the import of lions.


The petitioner through its representative Irfan Ahmed submitted in the petition that as per the bye-laws of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Fauna and Flora no import permit is required for the signatories and in January 2008 the NCCW issued NOC for the import of 10 lions from South Africa…. The petitioner submitted that customs authorities refused to release the lions on the directives of NCCW and the same were later shifted to Sindh Wildlife Department. The lions are presently kept at Karachi Zoological Garden due to lack of facility at the Wildlife Department.


So, plenty of drama – more, probably, than necessary. But what of the poor lions?Who speaks for them?


At one level, this is mere trivia. An interesting headline. Something to smile about and let go. But, at another level so much of what is wrong with society at large seems on display here: a disregard for animal welfare or nature as a whole, silly, even obnoxious, displays of wealth and power, disregard for law, a tendency to turn everything into a complex legal matter, a litigativeness that can become stifling for the law and nauseating for everyone else.


Source: All Things Pakistan Blog

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Delhi Deploys 'Super Monkey' Security Guards For Commonwealth Games

Delhi authorities were set to deploy a contingent of langurs -- a large breed of monkey -- at Commonwealth Games venues to help chase away smaller simians from the sporting extravaganza.


Source: myfoxdc

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

The human magnet

The human magnet: "

Human magnetLooking on the bright side, she should never lose her keys. But for mother-of-one Brenda Allison, her mysterious ‘power’ that means metallic objects stick to her body has long since lost its attraction. Dubbed ‘the human magnet’, Miss Allison says she is often embarrassed by the effect, which she has been told is down to a heightened electromagnetic current running through her body. The accounts manager says coins, safety pins, magnets, spanners and even a metal lid from a Vaseline pot can stay on her body for up to 45 minutes without falling off. When the pulse is at its strongest, she says she can even dance in her living room without them coming off. For as long as she can remember, she explains, her body has set off car alarms, interrupted the TV signal and blown out light bulbs. When she was a child, she said, her parents stopped buying her watches because her magnetic field kept interfering with the timing mechanism.

Every person has a subtle electromagnetic field flowing through their bodies – but most of us are unaware of its presence. However, Miss Allison, 50, says she first noticed the effects of her magnetism when she was in a nursery school.

The rest of the story

via

"

Thursday, May 13, 2010

UAE unveils world's first gold bar vending machine

First they put gold dust on coffee, then gold paper on dates; the logical next step was a gold dispensing ATM :)

The Gold To Go machine, itself covered in 24-carat gold, dispenses one, five and 10 gram bars as well as one ounce bars of gold, the National reported on Thursday.
Six gold coins of varied weights and engraved with symbols of gold-producing nations Canada, Australia and South Africa, are also dispensed by the machine.

Source: Arabian Business

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Sumo Wrestler Steals Cash Machine From Moscow Shop

Sumo Wrestler Steals Cash Machine From Moscow Shop: "timothy writes 'Anyone skeevy and devious enough can buy online an ATM skimmer from some underhanded maker of same, but why not cut out the middleman, and just take the cash directly? (Also, if you're going to attempt to stop him, can I have your watch when you are dead?)'

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Burger King's 6,880 calorie burger - Boing Boing

Burger King's 6,880 calorie burger - Boing Boing

Contemplate the sheer awesomeness of a 6,880 calorie burger that has almost half a pound (197 grams) of saturated fat, over 1 lb of total fat, and 18 times the USRDA of sodium (8,990 mg).

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Y'Know the Flying Dragons in Avatar? Tiny Real-Life Version Discovered in Indonesia

Y'Know the Flying Dragons in Avatar? Tiny Real-Life Version Discovered in Indonesia: "tiny-dragon-lizard-indonesia-photo1.jpg
Photo: Reddit user Biophilia_curiosus

Can't Wait Until They Find the Full-Sized Species...
A Reddit.com user by the name of Biophilia_curiosus posted a few photos that he took in Indonesia. They show an amazing species of gliding lizard which basically looks like a miniature dragon. Fans of the film Read the full story on TreeHugger"

Friday, February 5, 2010

Pakistani ambassador rejected because his name is NSFW in Arabic | FP Passport

Despite having served for years as a distinguished Pakistani diplomat, Akbar Zeb reportedly cannot receive accreditation as Pakistan's ambassador to Saudi Arabia. The reason, apparently, has nothing to do with his credentials, and everything to do with his name -- which, in Arabic, translates to "biggest dick":

In Saudi Arabia, size does count.

A high level Pakistani diplomat has been rejected as Ambassador of Saudi Arabia because his name, Akbar Zib, equates to "Biggest Dick" in Arabic. Saudi officials, apparently overwhelmed by the idea of the name, put their foot down and gave the idea of his being posted there, the kibosh.

According to this Arabic-language article in the Arab Times, Pakistan had previously floated Zeb's name as ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, only to have him rejected for the same reason. One can only assume that submitting Zeb's name to a number of Arabic-speaking countries is some unique form of punishment designed by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry -- or the result of a particularly egregious cockup

Source: Foreign Policy Blog

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Pedal Powered Laptops in Afghanistan

Pedal Powered Laptops in Afghanistan
While there are solar powered laptops that will allow a computer to be powered without an energy source, not everyone may be able to afford them. There was always the hope that there would be an affordable way for people in poorer and very remote areas to be able to benefit from the [...]
Posted in: Economy, Human Power, Pedal Power

They even have a short video:



Source of this ajeeb story: alternative-energy-news.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Nine Workspaces Where Famous Folks Get Stuff Done [Workspaces]

Al Gore

If nothing else, former Vice President Al Gore's office helps anyone who needs that extra little push to convince themselves that, yeah, having three monitors is necessary for important work. Why noted environmental speaker Gore would go for a paper sketch pad over whiteboards, we can't quite say. (Original post) [via TIME]

David Allen

As Jason put it in his original post, Getting Things Done originator David Allen is a man who practices what he preaches, especially when it comes to capturing his thoughts and 'Oh yeah' moments. Two of the unique but fitting items on his desk are a label maker and a sand timer. The producers of the clip note that this was shot hastily, at the end of Allen's time commitment for an interview, but the essence of his David Allen Co. office comes through. [YouTube]

Bill Gates

He's since left this space, and his title of chairman and chief software architect at Microsoft, but Gates apparently had a mind for working clean while on the Redmond campus. These days, Gates is rocking three monitors and OneNote for his work needs, and we'd love to see that home office setup as well. [via CNN]

Steve Ballmer

When the Microsoft CEO looks straight ahead, there's a single monitor, a (Microsoft) mouse and keyboard, a phone, and a little space to eat lunch. When he looks to the side or reaches for files, it's a whole shelf and wall full of family and friend pics, along with his children's creative endeavors. Easy to forget these folks are human, no? [via The New York Times]

Steve Jobs

Apple's head honcho had only just begun working on the Macintosh computer and was living the single life when Diana Walker snapped this picture at his apartment. Easy to see where the focus on minimalist functionality comes from. The cutline: 'I was single. All you needed was a cup of tea, a light, and your stereo, you know, and that's what I had.' [via Diana Walker/The Bigger Picture Gallery]

37 Signals

Another team of minimalist-minded tech thinkers, the team behind Basecamp, Campfire, and web coding language Ruby on Rails doesn't work in empty white rooms, but keeps the decoration lean and the spaces open. [via Signal vs. Noise]

Martin Amis

The British author shares a picture of his rather stunning outpost office, in a small building off his garden. He also explains why every worker needs a 'shed' of some sort: 'I used to have the attic in the house and Isabel, my wife, was meant to have this office, but I didn't think she used it enough so I reclaimed it. It's ideal - you can't hear the children and you can smoke.' [via Guardian UK]

'Dilbert's Ultimate Cubicle'

Dilbert creator Scott Adams knows about repressive, uncomfortable working conditions, so he set out with the design firm Ideo to try and change things, if only by example. Garnering feedback from thousands of Dilbert fans, Adams and Ideo designed 'Dilbert's Ultimate Cubicle,' a modular framework that changes the orientation of a light source to match the time of day, allows for snap-in hammocks and adjustable seat/computer/desk configurations, and even offers up hamster wheels and aquarium modules, if one wants to commune with similarly trapped creatures. Dilbert doesn't actually work here, but if he could let his mind go free, he probably would. [via Ideo]

Tina Fey

It was shot for an American Express ad, so the seriously cluttered look ('Too busy to use any other card!', the thinking might have went) might be a bit exaggerated. But we tend to believe that the 30 Rock writer/producer does organize her days and ideas with Post-It Notes—check out the oddly organized grid on her corkboard, and semi-organized notes on the wall further back. A messy mind, perhaps, but then again, she writes a show with about a half-dozen plot lines going at once. (Original post)

Pixar

If it wasn't rewarding enough to work at what most critics would say is the most dependably creative and rewarding film studio operating today, the Pixar team gets some serious free reign in how they work. Past project memorabilia is ever-present, creative lighting is the norm, dorms have been turned into tiny 1950's-style houses, and there's lots and lots of wide-open space around the campus. In case they get too distanced from what really earns their paychecks, though, the server racks are right around the corner for a quick reminder. [via Office Snapshots]

Thanks to LifeHacker for this post!