Thursday, September 08, 2011

Myth of Population of Pakistan

We are often told by our rulers that all of our problems are due to a huge population. And the worse
thing is that many of us believe them, and thus their own corruption goes in the background. In fact it is their corruption that is the main problem. Let's analyze statistically what is our population situation.

Wikipedia: List of countries by population density

Pakistan has 55th largest population density in the world. There are many countries which are richer and yet have more population density. These include  UK (53), Japan (41), Belgium (37), India (33), Israel (34), Netherlands(31), South Korea (23), Taiwan (16), Hong Kong (4), Singapore (3). Even Germany(62), Italy (73) and Switzerland (71) are not too far behind. So it is a myth that we are poor because we have too many people.

Lately, countries with huge populations are becoming stronger. For example, China and India are the new booming economies because of making good use of their population. US also has a big population. Brazil is also getting stronger and opting for a permanent seat in UN SC.

Lastly, advanced economies of Europe are facing an acute shortage of young workers. Because of their decreasing population and better health system, their populations are getting old and they have to import workers. Similarly, China is also going down this path and is about to face this problem. We should use our population effectively before we also face this problem.

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

International Conference on "Home-grown Terrorism Threat" in Germany

I was forwarded a link to the mentioned conference to be held in my city. It was a pleasant surprise that the conference was taking place here and that the entrance was free. So I booked a place in it and waited for it. Sadly, the conference coincided with Eid-ul-Fitr festival and so I couldn't attend all of the sessions, but those I did attend were very interesting and informative. Conference was in English and attracted speakers from all of Europe, USA and Australia. There were some lectures, debates, panel discussions and workshops.

Monday, February 28, 2011

Travelling business class with Qatar Air

I took membership of the Qatar Air Frequent Flyer program. I flew with Qatar last time. So I had gathered points. This time when I flew to Lahore, I had gathered the required 10,000 points to upgrade half of my return flight to business class (from Lahore to Doha), although this cost an extra 25 Euros. Well, the upgrade was worth it. First up, I was spared the check-in queues at Lahore airport and was checked-in at business counter. Then I was given a voucher, with which I discovered that there is a VIP Lounge at Lahore airport with free snacks, drinks and tea. There were PCs with Internet and a large TV. They informed the guests when their boarding started. I was also boarded prior to the queue. The seat in the plane was very large and had a multi-function remote control which provided a massage and could be fully to a bed. The meal was served in clay crockery and there was a large variety of drinks. The personal TV screen was also big. The blankets were thicker and they also provided eye-cover etc. There were disposable tooth-brushes and tooth-pastes in the washroom, though the wash-room size was same as Economy :)

Towards the end of flight, the head-hostess went to all the guests individually and asked about the journey. Then the pilot went to each passenger and chatted about their destination and invited to travel with them again. To me he informed of the Berlin Film Festival. From Doha to Munich, I traveled in the usual Economy class. However, only this time, the Economy cabin seemed too small and the meal too less presentable :)

I then realized, how just a few hours of travel in a different class made me very uncomfortable in the regular class people; what kind of mind-set would it be producing in the people who regularly enjoy that upper-class facilities, and some of them claim to represent us.