Makro, a thorn in supermarkets’ side, a nightmare for commerciual ussers, an onslaught against the oh-so-ever-increasing prices, now has a rival. With the opening of a new wholesale center METRO cash & carry Pakistan on Multan Road, Lahore near Thokar Niaz Beg, today.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the location took place on April 4th 2007 in presence of the Chief Minister of the Punjab, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and Lahore City District Nazim, Mian Amer Mahmood. With an investment of €15 million, the company plans to open wholesale centers in all major cities of the country. These cities include Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Hyderabad. Offering a wholesale price that leaves the customer room for healthy margins and provide a one-stop-shop for the customer, hopefully.

The presence of both Makro and now METRO, the global rivals, might strongly urge the supermarkets to reconsider their prices.

Arz hai
Phatphatee Ho, Ya Peejaro
Ke faraq painda ay yaaaro! ;)
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Lahore has won the 70th Punjab Games yesterday. Runners up were Faisalabad and Gujranwala achieved third position. Point’s tables were as follows:

Lahore: 27 Gold, 34 Silver, 70 Bronze
Faisalabad: 18 Gold, 19 Silver, 42 Bronze
Gujranwala: 19 Gold, 18 Silver, 19 Bronze

Closing ceremony was held in Punjab Stadium, in which Governor – Mr. Khalid Maqbool closed the games with the promise to get together once again to maintain the harmony & peaceful environment between all districts.

Kudos to all the players who participated in it from all over the Punjab and won different prizes;

Picture Credit: Daily Jang

In efforts to make Pakistan a Polio Free Country – City District Government Lahore along with federal & aid agencies are running the campaign in the city. Mobile teams will go from door to door to make sure they vaccinate each kid in town. Please make sure all kids you know are availing this opportunity even if they had their personal vaccination in past month or so.

Incase mobile team doesn’t show up in your area, feel free to call toll free number i.e. 0800 12012 and report your area – a team would be dispatched immediately.

Blame it to the negligence of the residents/administration or the low quality electric-wiring, short-circuit fires are on the attack-front in full swing.

Not too long ago, Lahore was hit by a wave of fire-related accidents, one of which destroyed the famous Rahat Bakery under-renovation.

‘History’ repeated itslef on Sunday when three more fires were reported causing loss of precious property and materials. The first one happened in the morning at Punjab Civil Secretariat building where a A/C plant was destroyed; College Road, Township was scene of the second incident where Variety Doors furniture shop was burnt while gas leakage at a house in Sodiwal was responsible for the third emergency. Rescue 1122 arrived in time to prevent any further damage at all three places and helped rescue the remaining goods inside.

Looks like Lahore was not the only victim as a fire accident at the landmark Radio Pakistan building in Karachi caused serious damage to a number of studios as a children’s programme was being recorded live.

Hi fellows :)…I was reading Best and Worst Cities for Job Growth and thought to have a poll for our cities to see what LMB readers think of Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad in that regard generally and specifically, you can give your own list of most popular jobs and average salary of your city.

BBC Weather forecasts a mild, sunny week ahead of us as we, in Lahore, say bye-bye to October and brace welcome to the real ‘winter’ months…

More at BBC Weather

Yes, start thinking. Because with the end of this year just around the corner, the general elections for both the national Parliament and provincial assemblies are being planned. According to Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani, general elections would be held in January 2008 and predicted the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and its allies would emerge victorious.

So, you plan to vote this time, right? You do realize the importance of voting? Did you check or recheck if you are even registered to vote or not? And now Whom would you vote for and why? Did you give it a little thinking, invest some of your precious time, discussed it with friends and family before coming to a conclusion or choose randomly.

These questions go to the very legitimacy of our democratic procedures and the answers could lead to profound but eminently achievable reforms.

So, do vote because, every vote counts, hopefully.

The title is confusing. Frankly, it does not add up and does not make sense. But then perhaps it does; it sounds like it does, but does it?

An inconvenient truth, the documentary by Al Gore on global warming makes me feel this way; confused to the point of denial, but skeptical to the point of proactive inspiration.

We live in a fragile world. The city of Lahore itself has so much diversity in terms of the environment and only recently we have caught up with how the simple act of importing one tree into an eco system can change the eco system itself. One tree. The Eucalyptus tree that has been planted all across Pakistan has been covered in the media recently; it shows you how this albeit beautiful tree, when planted out of moderation context, can wreak havoc on the environment. One mature Eucalyptus tree sucks up 80 to 100 litres of water from the soil PER DAY!

That’s just one tree! What about conservation? Who will switch off that light when you know you can afford to foot the bill? Will you do it for ‘conservation’? Is it hip and cool enough yet to conserve and protect your extremely finite resources?

You have to start somewhere, you have to start some how
What better place than here, what better time than now

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Partly produced by Participate Films; now this is the kind of production house that one should have here. Not only will it be economically viable to run as a business, but will also be hugely beneficial to the society at large.

I got this in an email from a good friend.

I found it interesting to say the very least. Written by our very own Imran Khan’s ex-wife Jemima Khan.

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Benazir Bhutto, a kleptocrat in a Hermes scarf

By Jemima Khan

She’s back. Hurrah! She’s a woman. She’s brave. She’s a moderate. She speaks good English. She’s Oxford-educated, no less. And she’s not bad looking either.

I admit I’m biased. I don’t like Benazir Bhutto. She called me names during her election campaign in 1996 and it left a bitter taste. Petty personal grievances aside, I still find jubilant reports of her return to Pakistan depressing. Let’s be clear about this before she’s turned into a martyr.
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