80jili net Jimmy Carter, the 39th president and a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, has died at 100

Historiography and Poetry By Syed Afsar Sajid 1. ‘Taqweem’ — Afghan Jang Kay Bees Saal (Part I) by Atique Ahmad Siddiqi 2. ‘Nikalta Huwa Din’ by Farrukh Yar ‘Taqweem’ Atique Siddiqi is a Peshawar-born American intellectual, journalist, and column writer. His book ‘Taqweem’ is purportedly a calendar, as it were, of events that chronologically relate to the Afghan War (2002-2021). The present edition seeks to cover the period from 2002-2012 — circumscribed in columns numbering 100. The rest of the period covered in another fifty columns, shall be chronicled in a latter book, as claimed by the author. These columns were published serially though intermittently in the Urdu daily ‘Aaj’ from Peshawar. Eminent poet and educationist Mamun Aiman from New York terms this book as a history of yesterday, today, and tomorrow in the context of its subject, and in the scheme of Atique Siddiqi’s writings, he goes on to say, it is his ‘hirz-e-jaaN’ i.e., the most cherished publication. Dr. Ashraf Adeel from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania has contributed an exhaustive preamble to the book touching its theme, context and stylistics. Nasir Ali Syed rom Peshawar and Prof. Khalida Zahoor from New York have also commented on the merits of the work in their respective appraisals annexed to the work. Besides, noted literati Prof. Yunus Sharar, Wasif Hussain Wasif and Irshad Siddiqi have written complimentary flaps for the book. In author’s opinion, a column writer is neither a historian nor a researcher; he is at best an analyst of a situation or event without artfully painting its contours. He is not a harbinger of a happy news either because journalism has also been called the ‘first draft of history’ which cannot be completed because it relates to a world which itself is not fully comprehensible. The author explicates an adage that a journalist is bound to unfold the truth camouflaged in the kernel of a circumstance or happening. It is in this backdrop that Atique Siddiqi has dug out the relevant facts and figures from his columns published in Pakistan and in the US Urdu press during the past twenty-four years. Some of the personages, political and others, described in the columns of the book are Raymond Davis, Osama bin Laden, George W. Bush (former US President), Donald Rumsfield (former US Secretary of Defense), Colin Powell (former US Secretary of State), Condoleezza Rice (former US Secretary of State), Gen. David H. Petraeus (former Director of CIA), Barack Obama (former US President), Hillary Clinton (former US Secretary of State), Gen. Pervez Musharraf et al. Evils like genocide, persecution, mendaciousness, destruction of natural environment, flouting of democratic norms, suppression of citizens’ privacy, clash of civilizations, massacre of civilians, disregard of transparency, squeezing of journalists, and subverting freedom of nations are stated to be a direct offshoot of the American belligerency in Afghanistan, and earlier in Iraq. The book is an eye-opener on the politico-strategic chaos rampant in today’s world in general, and South Asia in particular. A thoughtful reader will surely feel more informed about the ticklish social cultural, political, and economic issues tarnishing the reigning global scenario, on both micro and macro levels. ‘Nikalta Huwa Din’ Farrukh Yar is a renowned poet of Urdu nazm with a distinctive tone, style, historic consciousness, and variegated subjects and themes. ‘Nikalta Huwa Din’ (The Rising Day) is his fifth collection of nazm in a succession after ‘Mitti Ka Mazmoon’, ‘Neend Jhooltay Logon Kay Liye Likhi Gai Nazmain’, ‘Yeh Mah-o-Saal Yeh Umrain’ (UBL Literary Award Winner) and ‘Karez’. He has also authored two other books titled ‘Dorahey’ and ‘Ishq Nama Shah Hussain’ (Oxford University KLF-Getz Pharma Book Award Winner 2023) bearing on history and research. The present work comprises some thirty-six poems with a mix of mundane, surrealistic and romantic topics. Farrukh is a modernistic poet endowed with a cosmic vision and a fine artistic elan that enable him to create poetry of a high order. Eminent critic Nasir Abbas Nayyar has ably discussed Farrukh’s poetics in the context of the latter’s diction and stylistics. Khurshid Husnain, Rana Mehboob Akhtar, Arif Waqar, Sultan Nasir, and Arshia Qasim Ahmad have also positively commented on the content and form of the book focusing on its thematic nuances embracing the metaphors of earth, time, mirror, culture, introspection, separation, barrenness, identity crisis, and lastly a univocal optimism about the future transcending the conundrum of time and space which is also strongly suggested by the title of the book itself viz. the rising day (symbolizing promise and hope). The opening poem, a lengthier one, titled ‘Zameen Har Jagah Bolti Hai’, deftly conceived and weaved on a postulational yet artistic plane, seems to be Farrukh’s poetic manifesto. The modern mind seems to operate on two levels. The poet perceives the beauty around him, in a moment of heightened mental acuteness, and reproduces his impressions in the best words; that is the lower intellectual level. Simultaneously he can also be raised above himself by a quasi-transcendental inspiration, and on this higher level, create what is beyond the range of human observation. Farrukh’s poems in the current volume do approximate to this hypothesis! Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );

Thousands of protesters marched through Barcelona on Saturday demanding lower rents in Spain's second city. Barcelona, which has already taken action to stop the spread of holiday rental apartments, is the latest Spanish city to see protests for cheaper housing. Backed by left-wing parties and unions, the demonstrators gathered in central Barcelona behind a giant banner declaring "Lower the rents". "Today a new political cycle starts concerning housing," Carme Arcarazo, spokesperson for the Catalan Tenants Union, the main organiser, told reporters. "Investors must not be allowed to come to our cities and play with the apartments like a game of Monopoly," she added. The union would target "profiteers" who are taking "half of our salaries", Arcarazo said. The demonstrators demanded a 50 percent cut in rents, leases with an unlimited term and a ban on "speculative" sales of buildings. They threatened to start a rent strike. An estimated 22,000 people took part in a similar demonstration in Madrid on October 13. Campaigns have been launched in other cities. According to the Idealista specialised website, rental prices per square metre have risen 82 percent across Spain over the past decade. The average salary has gone up by 17 percent in that time, according to the national statistics institute. Facing pressure over a housing crisis, the government in 2023 passed legislation calling for more social housing, greater restrictions on rents in high demand areas and penalties for owners who do not occupy properties. But rents have continued to rise while the government has battled city and regional authorities to get some parts of the law applied. vid-vab/tw/jm

My robot waiter reminds us what really mattersNone

Cowboys G Zack Martin, CB Trevon Diggs out vs. Commanders