A 128-year old Uzbekistan woman may be the oldest person on Earth

A 128-year old Uzbekistan woman may be the oldest person on Earth
Nigora Yadgarova
06/02/2009

UZBEKISTAN — Tuti Yusupova of the Turtkul region of the Karakalpakstan Autonomous Republic in Uzbekistan may be declared the world's oldest person. Journalists report that according to her passport Tuti Yusupova is more than 128 years old.

Born on July 1, 1880, in Karakalpakia, which at that time was a part of the Khiva Khanate vassal state of the Russian empire, she married at the age of 17, bore two children, was widowed 60 years ago and has more than 100 descendants. For a long time, Yusupova worked on the construction of the local Shakhtaarna and Bogen canals. Local residents respect her qualities of honesty and enthusiasm, and youth listen to her exhortations. The long-living woman notes that she is in good health with hearing loss as her only problem.


Her age became known when officials decided to count how many people in the country had passed the 100-year mark. Last year, Yusupova and Uzbekistan’s other centenarians were awarded the Shukrat (Glory) medal.

The main proof of the Uzbek woman's age is her passport. But because Yusupova has not undergone a gerontological examination, however, she has not yet been entered into the Guinness Book of Records. As of today the oldest person in the world according to Guiness is 116-year old Maria Luisa Febron-Mayler of Quebec, Canada,

Tashkent celebrates 2,200th anniversary

Tashkent celebrates 2,200th anniversary
Andrey Aleksandrov
05/09/2009

TASHKENT — Tashkent, Central Asia's largest city and Uzbekistan's capital, marked its 2,200th anniversary on Sept. 1. UNESCO's General Assembly passed a resolution recognising the holiday as one of worldwide significance. To mark the occasion, a gala concert was held at the city's International Convention Centre, built especially for the anniversary. Visitors from 60 countries attended the festivities.

"Anniversary celebrations of all sorts have been going on since July 15. Every part of the country, however remote, has been visited by performers and historians giving lectures on our past," said Farida Abdurakhimova, director of the anniversary preparations headquarters.

The history lectures are vital, as most Uzbeks have not yet forgotten the 1984 celebrations of Tashkent's 2,000th anniversary. Playing on the confusing dates, jokes have been circulating about how life in the country, as on the frontlines in wartime, makes each year feel like ten.

In Moscow, Uzbek Ambassador Ilkhom Nematov attempted to explain the 200-year discrepancy to journalists. Apparently, carbon-dated archaeological artefacts recovered from a dig in the ancient city of Shashtep outside of Tashkent were determined to be 2,200 years old. The diplomat did not mention, however, that carbon dating has a built-in margin of error of 70 years to 300 years.

Some suggest that such historical dates are dictated by modern necessity. With half the population living below the poverty line, entertaining displays of pomp have become absolutely essential to morale.

Oil prices up after Opec meeting

Oil prices up after Opec meeting


Oil prices have risen above $72 a barrel following the meeting of the producers' cartel Opec on Wednesday.

Opec decided not to change the amount of oil being produced by its members.

Its communique said "there are signs that economic recovery is underway", but added there was "great concern" about the pace of the recovery.

US light sweet crude rose 85 cents to $72.16 in Asian trading, as the euro continued to gain ground against the US dollar in currency markets.

'Fragile recovery'

Oil is priced in dollars, so if the US currency falls, it becomes cheaper to buyers using other currencies.

"Since the market remains oversupplied and given the downside risks associated with the extremely fragile recovery, [Opec] once again agreed to leave current production levels unchanged for the time being," Opec's statement said.

Oil prices have roughly doubled from their lows last December, but are half the levels reached earlier in 2008.

Opec countries supply about 35% of the world's crude oil.

The blind seek two percent job quota in Pakistan banking sector

The blind seek two percent job quota in Pakistan banking sector
Shahnaz Javed Mahmood
25/09/2009

KARACHI — Blind Pakistani citizens are seeking a two percent job quota in banks, said Amir Ashraf, president of the Pakistan Association of the Blind (PAB) on September 17.

“A few days ago, we met the chief of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Syed Salim Raza, in Karachi and requested he implement the government’s decision to grant a two percent job quota for blind Pakistanis in public sector organisations,” Ashraf said.

The SBP, National Bank of Pakistan, Zarai Taraqiati Bank Ltd., House Building Finance Corporation, Bank of Punjab and the Punjab Cooperatives Commercial Bank all operate under the government’s provision for the blind.

Only a few government organisations actually hire blind individuals, however, as most state-run entities ignore the quota altogether, Ashraf added.

“There are hundreds of blind citizens who can join banks after an initial training,” said PAB Finance Secretary Muhammad Hussain. “We have informed the SBP that if banks continue to ignore the quota, the PAB will take up this issue with the Prime Minister’s office and the Supreme Court.”

He also pointed out that the blind face problems in opening personal accounts in banks, as well as obtaining credit cards and loans in the wake of a recent directive of the SBP.

In August, the SBP wrote a letter directing Pakistan’s banks not to open any new personal accounts for the blind, and to convert existing single accounts into joint accounts, a decision that has been called discriminatory by the PAB.

“The SBP chief has promised to solve the banking problems of the blind, and in October we can expect some breakthrough in this regard,” said Imran Maqbool, external affairs manager of the SBP. He added that the SBP has issued a directive to reduce the chance of fraud in the bank accounts of blind customers.

Info Of Karachi

Karachi is the capital of Sindh province situated on the coast of the Arabian Sea, north-west of the Indus River Delta. Known as the financial and commercial centre, it is also the most populated and largest city of Pakistan.

Home to the main port of the country, the city accommodates some of the largest corporations of Pakistan that are associated with the sectors of entertainment, arts, fashion, advertising, publishing, software development and medical research. Karachi is one of the most important educational centres in the expanse of the Islamic world, along with South Asia.

The Karachi metro covers an area around 3,527 km². The mixed populations of economic and political migrants and refugees from different national, provincial, linguistic and religious origins, play a vital role in the economical growth of the city.

Karachi is locally known as the City of Lights. It is also called the City of The Quaid because after independence in 1947, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, who was born in Karachi breathed his last breath in the same city.

• Country = Pakistan
  
• State / Province = Sindh
  
• City = Karachi
  
• No. of towns = 18
  
• Area = 3,527 km²
  
• Population = 18, 000,000 (2007)
  
• Density = 4,115 persons/km²
  
• Time zone = PST (UTC+5)

History Of Karachi

Karachi originally was a small fisherman village settled by the Baloch tribes from Balochistan and Makran. Their first settlement was near the delta of the Indus River which they named as 'Kolachi’ village. The people of the original community yet inhabit the area on small island of Abdullah Goth situated near Karachi Port. The well-known neighbourhood ‘Mai Kolachi’ of Karachi still reminds the original name of the city.

At the end of 1700 century, the settlers of Kolachi village started trading across the sea with Muscat and the Persian Gulf region. Later, the village started to grow as the commercial hub and a port for trade. For the protection of this developing area, a small fort was constructed. This fort was handed over to the rulers of Sindh by the Khan of Kalat in 1795.

The British recognized the importance of the city as the trade post. So they captured the city and Sindh province in February 1843 under the command of Sir Charles Napier and the city was annexed as a district of the British Indian Empire. In 1846, it was home to around 9000 citizens. The city experienced a cholera epidemic in the same year and a Conservancy Board was established in the city to protect the people from this disease. This Conservancy Board was converted into a Municipal Commission in 1852 and it was again upgraded as Municipal Committee in 1853. This natural harbour started to flourish as bustling port under the British rule. On September 10, 1857, the 21st Native Infantry stationed in Karachi revolted against the British in its First Indian War for Independence, but the plan was busted by the British who regained the control over the city very quickly.

In 1864, the first telegraphic message was sent by a direct telegraph connection between Karachi and London. In 1878, the city was connected by a railway line to the rest of India and consequently public building projects like Frere Hall (1865) and the Empress Market (1890) were started in the city. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan was born in the city in 1876 in a famous Ismaili Khoja family.

The Bombay District Municipal Act 1837 was extended to Sindh in 1878 and the urban area of Karachi was included in the city. The Municipality started to collect House Tax on Property owners, being first municipality to collect the tax in the sub-continent. By the end of 19th century, the city was home to around 105,000 people and it was a cosmopolitan city of Hindus and Muslims communities as well as Jews, Parsis, Iranians, Lebanese and Goan merchants. In 1900, due to the street congestion, India’s first tramway system was constructed in this bustling city. That time Karachi was famous for its railway-tram network, churches, mosques, court-houses, markets, paved streets and a magnificent harbour.

Karachi City Municipal Act was propagated in 1933 and the Municipality of Karachi was given the status of Municipal Corporation. At the same time, the status of President and Vice President were replaced by Mayor and Dy. Mayor respectively. It consisted by 57 Councilors residing in Karachi, and who were from different communities of Muslims, Hindus and Parsis. In 1933, Mr. Jamshed Naserwanji was elected as the first Mayor of the city who had earlier served as elected President for about 20 years. The city was declared as the capital of the newly formed Sindh province in 1936.

When Pakistan was declared as a separate country in 1947, Karachi was chosen as the Capital of Pakistan. During this period, the city offered shelter to a huge influx of migrants and refugees that came from the Indian province. In 1960, the capital of Pakistan was first moved to Rawalpindi and then to Islamabad. Still Karachi never lost its importance as the economic centre of Pakistan. The Municipal Corporation of Karachi was upgraded to Metropolitan Corporation in 1976. Again on 14th August 2001, City District Government of Karachi was reorganized in 18 Town Administrations and 178 Union Councils.

Still, Karachi is the role model city for Pakistan and it continues to grow with the current economic boom.