Muhammad Asif victorious in World Snooker Championship final

Published: December 2, 2012

Muhammad Asif holds his Trophy after winning the IBSF World Snooker Championship in Sofia, Bulgaria. PHOTO: IBSF

BULGARIA: “I have been dethroned,” were the first words that came out of former world snooker champion Mohammad Yousaf over Muhammad Asif’s victory at the IBSF World Championship, when he became the first Pakistani after 1994 to win the title after defeating England’s Gary Wilson 10-8 in Sofia, Bulgaria on Sunday.

Asif is the third Pakistani to reach the final of the amateur World Championship; earlier Yousaf won the title in 1994, whereas Mohammad Saleh lost to India’s Pankaj Advani in 2004.

This was Asif’s fourth appearance in the World Championships, and his best run at the event has been reaching among the top 32 players last year.

However, he began his campaign in Bulgaria with confidence defeating Australia’s Vinnie Calabrese 5-0 in the first round. He overcame Egypt’s Wael Talaat 5-2 in the pre-quarterfinal, crushed Syria’s Mer Alkojah 6-2 in the quarterfinal and outclassed Malta’s Alex Borg 7-1 in the semifinal to make his way to the trophy.

Asif began the match with confidence and took the lead 6-3 at the end of the first session in the best of 19-frame final.

The 30-year-old continued to lead the match 7-5 despite Wilson’s break of 111 in the 12th frame.

However, Wilson regained his focus in the following two frames and equalised the score 7-7. The two battled in the 14th frame as Asif took it only to lose the next one when Wilson forced the break of 59 in the 16th frame.

Asif, however, bounced back into the match leading 9-8 and sealed the victory in the 17th frame 64-0 to clinch the trophy.

“It’s unbelievable, I’m just counting my breath, its I have been chasing for the past 10 year,” Asif told The Express Tribune. “I can’t believe that I have achieved what Yousaf bhai achieved so many years ago.”

Meanwhile, according to the 60-year-old former world champion Yousaf, who was following Asif’s match online back at his home in Rawalpindi, said that he feels he has been dethroned by Asif.

“Now I can’t say that I am the only Snooker World Champion from Pakistan, I feel a little jealous now,” said Yousaf.

“But I am happy, Asif’s win is more than that, it is good news for Pakistanis in the middle of so much bad that is going on in the country. Asif has just opened the door for other players in Pakistan.”

Asif is the third Pakistani to reach final of the world event. Before him, Mohammad Yousuf had won it in 1994 while, in 2003, Saleh Mohammad was defeated by Pankaj Advani of India.

Courtesy:Tribune

CJP Iftikhar – International Jurist 2012

The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has been awarded with the prestigious International Jurist Award 2012. The CJP Iftikhar was awarded the international award in recognition to his unmatched role towards dispensation of justice.

Sitara Akber – A Pakistani Girl sets New World record in G.C.E O’levels

Eleven years old Sitara Akbar set new world record in O levels and also holds the title of the youngest Pakistani candidate in IELTS.

A Pakistani girl has become the youngest student in the world to have passed the British Ordinary Level (O’Level) examination. Sitara Brooj Akbar, at the age of 11, passed six O’level subjects including Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology.

In addition to this honour, Sitara also holds the title of being the youngest Pakistani candidate of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and successfully attained seven bands out of nine, scoring 7.5 in the testing system. The little genius from Chiniot (Punjab) has been making headlines across local media but is yet to receive any recognition from the Government of Pakistan.

“We don’t need any sort of monetary aid from the government, we just want the government to recognise that Sitara has made a shining example for Pakistan on the international stage and she is the daughter of Pakistan,” Sitara’s father Ali Akbar told Dawn.com. Ali Akbar added that the British Council has declared and recognised Sitara’s feat as the world’s youngest student to have passed O’level exams. However, she has only been declared the youngest IELTS candidate in Pakistan, and not across the world, as the British Council is yet to confirm her feat globally.

Speaking to Dawn.com, Sitara’s mother mentioned that her daughter is a great fan of Dr Abdus Salam, Pakistan’s sole Nobel laurete and aims to become a top researcher in the field of biochemistry.

by Ahmad Ladhani (courtesy)

Care Foundation – 150,000 students educated for free!,

Established in 1988, CARE Foundation is dedicated to providing 
a better future to the children of Pakistan by empowering them 
through education. CARE started with just one school with 250 
students. Through the support and dedication of our donors and supporters, we are currently running 225 schools nation-wide, 
providing free quality education to more than 150,000 students.
Not only that, CARE continues to expand to cater to all the needs
of our students, providing them with guidance for higher 
education, technical training, job placements and entrepreneur 
programs.

Every single paisa sent our way is important to us since we 
want to be able to reach the maximum number of children. Thus
 CARE aims to keep infrastructure costs at a minimum without compromising on quality. On average, building costs for a 
well-equipped CARE school, providing primary and secondary 
education, are nearly half that of other organizations. The 
demand for the schools is so high that some schools have to run
 double shifts to accommodate all the students wishing to enroll.
 This practice also maximizes the utility of the school buildings.

CARE, the pioneer of public-private partnership, further 
minimizes expenses by adopting public schools. The buildings
 are refurbished and the facilities are brought up to CARE 
standards. CARE then proceeds to provide the schools with 
trained teachers and conducts trainings for the existing teachers.
 Since CARE started adopting public schools, enrollment in these 
schools have seen a rise of 500% and there has been a marked improvement in grades by all children. 

We at CARE value each paisa sent our way and try our best to 
maximize the efficiency of our system. CARE reaches 5 times 
more children per donor amount than any other recognized 
charity in Pakistan. The results of CARE Foundation over the 
past 20 years speak for themselves. 

Care Story

History - 20 Years of Care

CARE Foundation came into being in 1988 following the 
devastating floods in the Sheikhupura district of Punjab. A group
 of concerned citizens came together to help rebuild homes for 
these flood victims. While helping to rebuild, they would always 
have children following them and realized that there were no 
schools in the area. It was shocking to realize that at the very 
doorstep of the cultural and education centre of the nation, there
were children who were deprived of even primary education. 
Thus, the first CARE school was established through generous 
donations from our supporters. 250 children registered on the 
very first day and since then CARE has evolved to provide free 
quality education to over 150,000 students in 225 schools across 
the nation. CARE has been able to make this astounding leap with overwhelming support of the community, private individuals, 
corporations and government organizations striving to eliminate 
illiteracy and poverty in Pakistan.

Adopting Government Schools

CARE Foundation has pioneered a unique private public sector 
concept for providing free quality education to the masses. In 
1998 stemming from the success achieved by CARE private 
schools, the city-district government of Lahore offered CARE 
to adopt 10 of it's failed government run schools. This pilot 
project was a huge undertaking for CARE's limited resources. 
The condition of these schools was shocking to say the least. 
However, CARE accepted this monumental challenge and 
decided to adopt these schools by providing a two stage 
approach; first refurbishing and renovating existing buildings 
that included science laboratories, libraries, computer rooms, 
desks, blackboards, clean drinking water supply as well as 
construction of additional classrooms. In the second stage 
CARE provided these schools with trained teachers 
supplementing existing government teachers. Most 
importantly CARE brought about a cultural change in both 
methodology and academics and the enrollment rate in these
 schools increased by 500%. This increase is testament to the improvement brought about by the CARE administration. CARE
 also took-on the task of training existing government teachers
 in order to improve their skills and overall capabilities with 
modern teaching methods. These measures resulted in the 
matriculation pass percentage to increase from 15% to 85% 
within a year. 

The CARE model of adopting government schools has proven 
that a cost effective sustainable model can be put in place for 
rapidly improving quality of education amongst a greater 
number of students. During the past ten years these students 
have proven to be a beacon of hope for our society, many of 
them graduating with honors in the board matriculation 
examinations.

Please join hands with CARE to alleviate illiteracy and realize 
the dream of an educated and prosperous Pakistan.

All CARE Graduates are a pride and joy of a successful program run with your help for the children of Pakistan. Without your help
these children may never have had the opportunity of a better future. 

courtesy : carepakistan.org

Did you know that?

Footballs to be used in London Olympics 2012 are proudly made in Pakistan.

Throughout the history of football world cups and other major FIFA events, the world has seen one brand deliver the most astounding soccer balls, carved to perfection and tested in adverse conditions to exceed all FIFA standards for an ‘Official Match Ball’.
Yes, we’re talking about the German brand, Adidas.

But what lies behind the Adidas logo on these soccer gems is the sweat and blood of hard-working rural women, belonging to the city of Sialkot, Pakistan – an effort concealed in disguise, under a dangerous quilt of consumerism.

Courtesy : pakistanheroes.pk

Researcher of the Year 2012 by ICAC

ICAC Cotton Researcher of the Year 2012
Dr. Yusuf Zafar

A Pakistan-based scientist has been honoured by the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), the body said in a statement released recently. Dr Yusuf Zafar, who is the director general agriculture and biotechnology at the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission was declared ‘Scientist of the Year-2012’ for his pioneering work in the cotton biotechnology sector. Zafar has over 110 scientific papers (published in national and international journals) to his name.

According to ICAC, “in cotton virology his group covers nearly 90 per cent of the global published literature.”The Faisalabad-based scientist played a key role in bringing together the world’s major cotton groups, including Australia, China, UK and USA, for the purpose of conducting joint research. Heading the National Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering in Faisalabad, Zafar and his team have contributed helped produce nearly 100 M. Phil and 30 Ph. D Pakistan-based students, focussing on various aspects of research and development in cotton. He has, meanwhile, remained in the front line to establish Biosafety Protocols, Plant Breeder Rights, Intellectual Property Rights/Patents and ISO certification in Pakistan.

In 2001, the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission awarded him Best Scientist of the Year Award. The President of Pakistan awarded him ‘Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (Medal of Distinction) in 2004, the highest recognition for a researcher. In other honours, Zafar has also won the Rockefeller Foundation and UNESCO Research Awards on Agri-Biotechnology, and is member of the USDA Cochran Fellow on Agriculture Biotechnology.

Apart from leading the Faisalabad institute, he is on the Board of Governors of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology-ICGEB (Italy), FAO country focal person on agriculture biotechnology and member of the Cotton Policy Committee of the government.

ICAC is an intergovernmental body with 54 members and provides services to Common Funds for Commodity (CFC), an organisation of UNCTAD-UN family. Applications for the award are invited each year by the Washington DC-based institute and the selection committee comprises five anonymous judges outside the ICAC Secretariat.

Courtesy : pakistanheroes.pk

Pakistan – UN Peace Missions

Pakistan is largest contributor to UN Peace Missions. Pakistan is contributing to UN peacekeeping since 1960 and is the single largest contributor of UN peacekeeping forces, with more than 11,000 Pakistani military personnel serving in UN peacekeeping operations worldwide.
The Pakistan contingent for the UN Assistance Mission in Sierra Leone in 1999-2005 has been cited by the UN Peacekeeping Headquarters as a “Role Model for all UN Missions.”

Courtesy : pakistanheroes.pk