Those Who Can't Do; Teach!

Education sector of the country has been one of the most corrupted divisions of government departments. It is noticeably as mediocre as it can get. The worst thing is that the ones sitting on top in giant cozy chairs don’t even realize how pivotal education is. 

Teaching is sacred

According to me, the basic yet most important factor that has been a major course of corruption is the recruitment of teachers. As much as it sounds normal, behind the scene it reflects the harsh reality. “You pay, you get” has been a general rule in education department. Most of the teachers are recruited regardless of their merit certificates or sanctions but either against money or some political or VIP source.

A teacher who has done Bachelor of Arts is teaching Science or Mathematic to secondary class students. Where is the concept of expertise in certain field or subject? How can we expect a person to teach something that is not even his/her education and practice? Are the authorities so numb to realize that they are not providing a proper basic education that will be the groundwork of today student’s future educational pursuits? Is it too hard to understand that you cannot build a tower over a weak foundation? And then we talk about our younger ones to be the pillars of tomorrow’s progress. Do we really expect today’s children to build a stronger nation tomorrow? Unfortunately, I don’t believe so!

These are some of the questions that rise in my mind when I look at our educational institutions. It is our responsibility to raise our voice in this issue. Standardized and comprehensive education should be made available at all levels. Only then we deserve to dream for a brighter future and a better nation.


- Aurangzeb "AGz" Durrani

Let's Blame Blame!

The situation of Karachi has been at its worse recently. We see every political party emphasizing on getting things under control yet nothing effective has been seen. All we see is a blame game going on right now. Who should be blamed for the current instability; government or any other political party or police?

I say let’s get a broader view. The causes of current violence and killing spree are way more than mentioned above. It’s the birth of blunders and mess that we carried on since a long time. I will state few points that I personally believe are the root cause of today’s chaos.

Blaming leads to no solution

Lack of focus on providing education to lower level mass didn’t give them a chance to develop a healthy mindset. Our education was not standardized, which worked as a right spice to create a dish of differences. We couldn’t plant the seed of equality in the minds of millions. Even the unity, faith and discipline are still at distance in today’s era.

Everyone thinks on personal and community grounds which sparked the creation of community based political parties. Why we don’t see a political party that is established on the basis of fundamentals and principles. We built a nation with discriminated mentality. Even when I see people around me talk at parties or while sitting outside their houses, I hear racist and categorizing views. The so called well educated class is also a slave to such frame of mind.

If the base is not strong then a tree is likely to fall and in case of Karachi, it did. We didn’t raise ourselves to stand up and take charge against the wrong. We built ourselves to follow and be used. A commodity is what we are and nothing else. So, instead of blaming, start building as a nation.

-       Aurangzeb "AGz" Durrani

eStar Seoul 2011: Frag eXecutors wins the title

Well I have never been more happier with any of my decisions lately except for the one of returning to gaming. This past week has been over the top for me with some serious Live action from overly exciting Gamescom 2011 and eStar Seoul 2011.

eStar Seoul 2011 Opening Ceremony

eStar Seoul 2011 Counter Strike 1.6 tournament took place from August 19-21 in the COEX D Hall. The tournament consisted of 16 teams and with total prize money of € 47,000.

o Frag eXecutors      o Spero Spera      o project_kr      o x6tence     

o ONEPIECE                 o mTw                 o fnatic             o UMX.us

o Natus Vincere        o mousesports     o WinFakt        o SiZ

o SK Gaming            o Lunatic-hai        o TyLoo            o UMX.tw

The tournament took place in a double elimination bracket with a Lower Bracket and Upper Bracket. The Upper Bracket final was played between FX and SK, which FX won after a brilliant game play. The Lower Bracket final was played between mTw and Na’Vi, this was one of the most exciting match of the tournament. Na’Vi won this match after a double over-time match on de_train. These results gave us the two teams for the Consolidation Final, SK vs Na’Vi. The Consolidation final was easily won by SK with some great clutch rounds.



SK Gaming winning the Consolidation Final

And now was the time of ever exciting Grand Final of eStar Seoul 2011. FX which was the defending champions now has to face SK to secure their title. The final started off on de_tuscan with FX as terrorists. The first half witnessed a close end as SK took a thin lead of 8-7 against FX. The winning continued and SK wrapped the first map with impressive 16-9, making the two teams leveled.



SK GeT_RiGhT during the Grand Final

Both the teams then played de_inferno to decide their fate as the Grand Final rolled to its climax. The first half was played with FX now playing the role of counter-terrorists. In the start SK did a few mistakes resulting FX winning a couple rounds. Even with errors SK managed to again maintain a slim lead of 8-7 at the end of first half. Despite being behind, Team FX bounced back to take the score to 14-9 in their favor. This got interesting when SK showed some aggressive response and leveled the scores at 14-14. The next round was won by FX convincing that they will win then and there but SK managed to win the final round and pushing the match into an over-time.

In an over-time match FX picked all three rounds in the first half as counter-terrorists. In the second half SK did showed some resistance but FX grabbed onto that one opening they were looking for. FX eventually winning the match and the tournament brought closure to the prestigious Korean competition.

Frag eXecutors winner of eStar Seoul 2011

Frag eXecutors won the title of eStar Seoul 2011 to make it the second in a row. They walked away with the prize money of € 13,800. Where SK Gaming stood second with the prize of € 11,000.

eStar Seoul 2011 Prize Ceremony

Aurangzeb “AGz” Durrani

PAKISTAN MADE HISTORY: World Record for the Independence Day

On August 14, 2011 early Sunday, Pakistan sets the new world record for most people singing a national anthem at the D.A. ZamZama Club Stadium, Khadda Market, Defence Phase V, Karachi.

Event banner at venue

The event started on the eve of Saturday with the arrival of the participants right after Isha prayers. At that time the city was just recovering from the strike called by a political party. As the crowd seemed to gather for the cause the city witnessed a storm. A storm of heavy wind rain struck the city with all its might. at around 10:30pm. The water flooded the streets and heavy winds started to tear off everything that stood in its way. Even the venue was badly hurt by the pour down. The rain lasted around 20 minutes in Defence. The atmosphere became delightful. Passion for the country and the blessings in the form of rain drops made everyone more enthusiastic despite the wear and tear of wind storm.

Storm aftermath

According to the plan the National Anthem was suppose to sung at midnight just when the date ticks down to 14th of August. But due to shortage of required number of people to break the record the program was extended to extra hour. The presence of famous host Faisal Qureshi from tv show Bang e Dara and his wife Reema Siddiqui and their effort to motivate the crowd and keep them engaged worth special appreciation. They were there before the event started and stayed till the end. Mani and Hira also made an appearance to the event along with former MNA Marvi Memon. A lot of different media channels covered the event including domestic and international channels. Special thanks to Waqt TV for covering the event live and bit by bit. The official photography was done by Frame Photography and believe me these guys are awesome. I am pleased to work with them.  

People carrying the largest flag

A special flag was also brought to the venue which was huge in size and covered the whole field. At around 12:00am, an announcement was made that we just have approx. over an hour left to make this event a success and real the record. The crowd was asked to call as friends and family to the venue to make history. The last half hour witnessed a large chunk of crowd reaching at venue after the announcement was made. And over 500 people made in for the count in the last 30 minutes. The lights were turned off and Faisal Qureshi asked the crowd to take out their cell phones and turn their screen lights on. After the countdown the music began to roll and the crowd sang to the anthem in voice waving their torched cell phones. It looked like a dark sky filled with thousands sparkling stars.

Stars on earth

After the anthem was finished it was sung again without music. And the history was made with a loud roar of crowd. The slogans of Pakistan Zindabad and Jeevay Jeevay Pakistan filled the air. Jubilations and congratulations surrounded the stadium. Hugs were all around , people dancing to national songs. Every person looked drenched with the unity, passion and love for this country. It was a heart touching moment.

People dancing and celebrating

The total count of people present at the time of anthem is said to be 5,885. Now Pakistan holds the new World Record for Most People Singing a National Anthem. The event was the effort of Abid Beli and Waqas Pai. These two brought up the idea and lead the whole team to make this a reality. A great round of applause to the Scouts and Rangers who made sure the event goes down smoothly. Hats off to the volunteers who did their part with great dedication and kept the waiting crowd engaged and motivated. They all did a wonderful job in maintaining the discipline. Special thanks to all the families and people who came to the event and made history. Above all many many thanks to Almighty Allah for bringing this pride to nation and uniting us.

Organizing team Pakistan National Anthem World Record

We all have shown the world that no matter what you can never break us. We all have shown the world that no storm can stop us. We have shown the world that amidst the violence and terrorism, we are alive with great pride in this country. We made history to show our next generation that we owned this country and now it’s their turn. We showed the world that Green is the color of Unity, Faith and Discipline. I'm proud of every soul who was a part of this significant moment in any way. I’m proud of Pakistan.

People united under one flag

PAKISTAN ZINDABAD!

Aurangzeb "AGz" Durrani

Source Pictures: Facebook Event Page

Alienware BackPack Challenge 2011: Week 2 Results

Backpack Challenge - London

Finally, the results for 2nd week's Alienware Challenge are out. And to make me much happy, my friend Petya Jeleva (FoXaya) won this week's challenge.

Her hard work, dedication and creativity paid off this time. Last week she came second as much shock to us with Miguel Alonso taking the lead and winning 1st week's challenge. This time we made sure that her passion and sheer hard work pays off. Petya won this week by taking most number of votes and winning an extra €150 as bonus. This week's runner up is John Reilly taking up an extra prize of €100.

Many congratulations to Petya! May her winning streak continues and she pawn this year's edition of Alienware Backpack Challenge. Lot's of love and best wishes! xoxo

Aurangzeb "AGz" Durrani

One Nation! Still A Dream ..

Recently when I posted a picture on my facebook account, I got some negative critiques and obsessed comments. The picture contained the slogan "No Punjabi, No Sindhi, No Balochi, No Pathan - Only Pakistani".

*Picture in subject

People commented on this picture why "No Mohajir (Immigrants/Refugees)" isn't mentioned in the picture, this is unfair to them. I mean, come on! For God's sake. People are still stuck over this?

If even after almost 64 years you want to be called as Mohajir, I believe you should be ashamed. Why not to be called Pakistani instead? You couldn't own this country even after decades? Why are they so much obsessed with it? Why they get mad when they are not called Mohajir? They should get mad when they are not called or recognized as Pakistani.

I believe it's been long since they migrated, now this country is also your own. I believe every Mohajir living in Punjab is Punjabi, every Mohajir living in Sindh is Sindhi, every Mohajir living in Balochistan is Balouchi and every Mohajir in Frontier is Pakhtoon or Pathan. And above of all we are Pakistani.

Why this one nation dream is still a dream? Will this generation be able to get the privilege to see a united country? Or are we gonna die just like our grand fathers did, with the desire to be called as Pakistani and call others the same?

Let's unite now, it's never too late to get on path. Unity was the dream of the founder of this country. Unity was the dream of every sacrifice laid for this country. Unity was the hope of our forefathers. And unity is the wish of ours.

Be One! Be Green! Be Pakistani!

 

 

Aurangzeb "AGz" Durrani

PUBMASTERS RETURN: New Movie Released

Pubmasters has released new movie for Quake. The movie just got released a few hours earlier, after the official announcement by Squ1rrelly on ESR website.

The movie was uploaded a while ago and was welcomed and cheered by the community with laughs and weirdest funny comments. This release contains director's commentary with bonus clips. In words of Squ1rrelly, "Just something extra for those who really enjoyed the movie, or want to get into movie making". The previous version of this movie was also shared and enjoyed at QuakeCon this year".

According to Squ1rrelly, "Its been a very long and time consuming process, involving lots of different people, ideas, organizing, and editing, but it was well worth the wait". "The movie is fun, fast paced, off the wall, goofy, light hearted and definitely not your typical Quake frag movie. Something different, and funny and entertaining for the Quake community", he added. He specially thanked Fatal1ty for helping with the movie and promoting it.

We all know Pubmasters from their hilarious movies for Counter Strike. Human boosting with bullets, players stacking, freakiest bombing and frag collection with every sort of gun available, is there speciality. They are hilarious, creative and over the edge. They are the best movie makers taking a game to the new heights. I have been a fan of them and I'm dying to watch this movie.

I'm gonna go and watch it. You guys better hurry too!

Movie Download Links:

MegaUpload: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=W2VKJ2JW

Own-Age: http://own-age.com/vids/15319/

 

Online Stream:

Own3d: http://www.own3d.tv/video/167380/PUBMASTERS_RETURN__EPIC_QUAKE_MOVIE

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CrIx5YacIA&hd=1

 

Aurangzeb "AGz" Durrani