Adil Najam

As if life was not tough enough for the poor in Pakistan, a massive fire took hold of of of Karachi’s poorest slum localities and at least 40 people, including children, have already been reported dead. The cause of the catastrophe, which took place late night today, is still unknown. But the fire follows another inferno at Ghakkar Plaza in Rawalpindi less than a month ago.

According to The News:

At least forty people including many minor children and women were burnt to death as blazes completely engulfed many shelties in North Karachi sector five, Chiipa sources said. 12 fire tenders reached on the scene and started taming the fire meanwhile, many other people were seriously burnt who were shifted to hospital, sources added. No cause of fire eruption, in huts made of sticks, could be reported. Several people remained caught in the fire for long time.

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Owais Mughal

World traveler Rob Maciag toured Pakistan and took this photo on Nov 25, 2006 in a small hotel in Mingora, Swat valley. I have fallen in love with this photo. Besides the obvious artistry of still photography, I find this photo very funny, innocent and so very Pakistani.

Babar Bhatti

The huge influx of imported mobile phones in Pakistan has spawned a whole industry around mobile phone repair work. The trend of mobile repair as a small business in Pakistan has taken off rapidly in the last few years. One reason for this could be the increase in handset prices caused by higher duty on handsets and falling value of Rupee. Most of these ”repair technicians” lack formal training and have most likely picked up mobile repairing skills on the job.

The small mobile repair shops have opened up everywhere. In Lahore, markets like Hafeez centre and Hall road are among the most popular for mobile repair work. There are signs outside these shops which claim that they can repair and unlock phones from anywhere in the world. These shops charge around 300 to 500 Rs to unlock a phone, depending on the model and difficulty involved. These shops are equipped with tools, hardware and Internet access (for access to unlock codes I guess).