Owais Mughal

This news is a day old but important enough that we don’t want to ignore it. Maulana Abdus Sattar Edhi has won the UN award for his work in promoting tolerance and non-violence. He shares the award with a Belgian human rights activist Franois Houtart.

We are happy to see Pakistanis being recognized for non-violence and tolerance.

The recognition that Edhi has got is called the ‘UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)-Madanjeet Singh Prize’. This prize was created in 1995 to advance the concept of tolerance in arts, education, culture, science and communications. It is awarded every two years.

Owais Mughal

A monkey is seen fiddling with a Mountain Dew bottle in the suburbs of Islamabad. I am not sure if this monkey is thirsty or curious about the optical illusions seen through the bottle.

Photo Credits: Shigri at APP

Aziz Akhmad

This was the question a 9-year-old fourth-grader asked President Obama at a town hall meeting, last week, in New Orleans.

Obviously the boy must have been exposed to the right wing propaganda and mounting criticism of Obama these days, on TV, by Republicans and other quarters, not happy with his proposed health care plan, the unemployment and recession that doesn’t seem to be going away, and his handling of the Afghanistan war.

The question the boy asked temporarily silenced the crowd, an awkward silence, but Obama, the wordsmith that he is, flashed a broad smile at the audience, gave a little hug to the boy and skillfully turned the question into a teaching moment, not only for the young student but also for the audience, both inside and outside the town hall.