Salford Top 10 University in UK

Salford has been rated one of the top ten universities in the country – and top in the North West – for the quality of its teaching. In a paper published in the Quality in Higher Education journal and reported in the Times Higher Education Supplement, Salford ranks ninth in the country alongside universities such as

Oxford and Leeds.The table’s findings – which measure Quality Assurance Agency teaching quality inspections – cover more than 1,000 inspections results published between 1995 and 2001.

“Professor Michael Harloe, Vice-Chancellor, said: “Salford greatly welcomes the results of this research. We are delighted that our experience of delivering high-quality, real-world teaching to students from diverse backgrounds has been validated.”

And, according to The Independent newspaper, the University of Salford is one of the top ten coolest places to live and study in the UK.

Andrew Snowden, President of Salford University Students’ Union said: “Salford has created a unique student experience. With £130m being spent on facilities and accommodation, combined with ever-rising academic standards, students are guaranteed a dynamic education. But it’s at the Students’ Union where

the out-of-hours life takes off – with the best bars around, our very own leisure centre and swimming pool, groundbreaking entertainment and pioneering activities. There’s never a dull moment at Salford.”

These quotes are not that original ,some of them have been copied , while some of them are a result of some inspiration. They are my favourite quotes and I would like to share them now.

• The difference between unachievable and achievable ; failure and success ;impossible and possible is time.There is a time and place for everything.
• Don't envy others, because you never know they might be in lot more mess than you.
• Happiest of the people may not get the best things in their lives ; they just make the best out of whatever comes in their way.
• Rusted ,plain,over said and ancient fact of life is : one who lives in the present ,spends a healthier and happier life.
• Hard work never goes in vain.

and ,

• Waqt bera kutta hai ; yeh wedday weddon ko wudd leta hai

We need to explore different areas to answer this question.We know, for example, that eventually our star, the Sun, will die and in doing so will destroy the Earth. The very distant future, then means the end of the Earth, but this will not occur for many millions of year and need not concern us here. It has also been suggested that our climate is changing and that we are at the beginning of another Ice Age, but opinion is divided. It is enough to say that large scale changes to the planet as a whole take place so slowly when compared to our short life span that they may go unnoticed, disguised by the much more rapid changes which man is causing to his own life and that of all other living creatures on Earth.

The usual way of attempting to ‘see’ into the future is to look at the way changes have occurred in the past up to the present day and then try to project into the future, but this is not easy because it is not always possible to anticipate the effects of a particular set of circumstances. Try a simple experiment. Draw two lines on a piece of paper at right angles to one another to form the axes of graph. The graph could represent, say, the rate at which a hot water bottle cooled after it was placed in your bed. Suppose one axis represented temperature and the other time. Suppose also that you had measured the temperature on two occasions so that you could plot two points on your graph. These could be joined by a straight line, and if you wanted to know the temperature of the bottle sometime later, you would simply project that straight line to the required point in time. But, if, in the meantime, someone removed the blankets from the bed, the bottle would cool much more quickly and your prediction would be wrong.

The subject of many science fiction stories deals with ideas of what conditions might be like in years to come. Some suggestions seem to be widely far fetched, but a hundred years ago who would have believed in the possibility of supersonic flight or submarines that can stay under the Arctic ice for two years without surfacing, or even in satellites circling Venus? On the other hand in the heyday of the motor car a few years ago, most of us would have laughed at the idea of fuel shortage. How do we know what the world’s population might be in a hundred or even twenty years time? Can we predict whether science and technology will be able to find solutions to the problems of overcrowding, food shortage, and pollution choking our rivers and seas, or the ever-decreasing numbers of wild animals and plants with the accompanying dangers to our own species. Will be able to able to take a rocket to a distant planet as easily as we can now take a bus to the next town, or will we return to more rural living, each community growing its own food and making clothes by hand? Then there are the danger of nuclear war. If man is to survive in peace and plenty, the watchword seems to be to try to foresee the consequence of any action rather than wait and see, by which time it may be too late.

Author : Some anonymous post on web

Lack of proper transport system is the only disappointment for me so far. I always like to see and explore parts of town rather than sitting home all the time after work. Luckily a house-mate has offered that he can take drive me to some areas in free time. Great ! A sigh of relief for me as acquiring a license and purchasing car seem like a distant dream for me, at least for this year.

A small yet convenient market is around 5 minutes walk from our house.Shopping for food reminded me of my student life in UK where I used to do mu shopping myself too. Good Old days ! Later , my parents called ,it was their 27th marriage anniversary. 1st May , what a good day to get married.

Having not slept for more than 24 hours ,my head started to spin and I crashed on my be at around 10 PM.Next day was Friday. The "off" day in Mid East. NAeem Sb, is my immediate boss and he will train me for the job. He is a decent ,married  guy from Karachi.He had brought loads of frozen food from home. I will learn some more new recipes as eating same kind of dull food everyday makes things boring. On Lunch Shakeel Sahib, our manage came to have lunch with us. An Indian mid aged guy , Vasu who lives with us had made 4 dishes. All tasted great.

Anyway, It has been 5 days since I have landed here, I am feeling like I have accepted the changes and left that culture shock thing behind. I got company mobile number, signed contract and  had a comprehensive medical exam.Tomorrow is another working day and I am hoping to get my computer and desk installed. I am very happy that Umer Somro , my classmate from Islamic University, Islamabad is returning back from home tomorrow. He went on his 3/1 rotation. At least I will have someone to practice my Punjabi stage drama dialogues .

I played badminton and from tomorrow I'll be starting swimming too.

"Oh Thank God! " ,  That was the first phrase I uttered when I walked out of the Qatar Airways plane and that was not for a safe journey. I thanked Allah already for a safe journey when I was still inside. Actually ,there was a lady smartly dressed in blouse and skirt,holding a name card of someone. Sight of that modernised ,rather westernised Arab woman shaken my opinion that Qatar is strictly an Islamic state, where everything is done according to Islamic laws from dress code to celebrations ,from laws to banking system. I don't like that law in some Arab states , forcing dress codes on people.

A guy from my company came to pick me up.Doha seemed like a quiet,clean and peaceful city.Traffic was not too much like Dubai or Lahore.Every third vehicle was a luxury one. I dropped my luggage at home and right away wen to the workplace. Even after having not slept at all the whole night, I was still motivated and excited to go there. On the way to work , there were scenes of construction sites,desert soil and industrial zones.Nothing flamboyant or attractive came into sight at that time.

Arriving "Weatherford" my company and having greeted by people with welcoming smiles was a good experience. I was shown my and other departments. It might not be an ideal workplace for me ,but it was good enough for an excellent entry-level start. I have forgotten the fact that I have three degrees , as I believe education is a lifelong kind of thing and "real" education starts in practical life.One must not give up learning at any stage. An American multinational which is 3rd largest of the world in Oil field services, what else do I want? There are definitely great benefits working in a big and rich organisation.Specially , after a humbling job search experience in UK and in Pakistan. ALHAMDULILLAH , I started my professional life in a good way.

I was taken to our staff house, a big villa in a posh area , having facilities like badminton court,swimming pool,cable ,broadband and paid bills. Great ! At the same time my dream of hanging around in malls, watching movies in multiplexes and sipping coffee in branded outlets shattered when I knew that no taxi , nor bus comes here. Bus comes after 3-4 hours and waiting for it is not definitely a good option. The only option for "CAR-LESS" people is to request some housemates who drives to take you somewhere OR rent a car (after going through a rigorous driving test).

 There are preconditions for successful democratic governments.

• There must be a solid and established middle class ;
• there must be a rule of freedom of speech ;
• a tendency of active public engagement , unlike passivity in Former USSR  ,China and in most Muslim states.
• rule and respect of law and a sense of equality should be prevailing in every aspect of life ; influence of power must be minimum ; whether it is a Government institution ,service centre or a jurist’s office.

If a state does not have above mentioned conditions then, it might need a some time, possibly couple of decades to set themselves for democracy. Democracy requires that people should take charge of their own lives , gather information and make informed decisions. It is only possible when they are not financially dependant on others. They must not get influenced from different prevailing factors like powerful feudal lords, thriving caste and ethnic systems and from groups using religion as their major tool for political success. Unfortunately, in many Muslim states, such factors play an important role in influencing a voter.

For instance a place like Baluchistan, a province of Pakistan, cannot have a true form of democracy ,where a Sardar (Tribal Lord) is considered the ultimate decision maker .He is also responsible for feeding its hundreds of villagers ,mostly employed by him on his land. Empowering and letting these poor people go independent economically is always against the interest of sardar. If people become independent then influence and importance of sardar’s family can face a downward trend. The Sardar tells his helpless and poor tribesmen what to do, which occupation to adopt and in elections , whom to vote for , as these poor ,financially dependent and largely illiterate people cannot make informed choices. It is rather imprudent to think about imposing democracy in this scenario , without achieving (above mentioned) pre-conditions of democracy first.

We cannot just give people the sudden 'gift' of democracy .The 'gift' which  George Bush wants to give every nation of the third world. It takes decades to prepare mindset of people making them ready for true democracy. Nonetheless, their thinking patterns  needs time to accept changes ,when they have been living under dictatorship or monarchy for decades or even centuries. It requires a comprehensive nation building process instead of just doing elections and letting people choose someone. People living in tyranny or dictatorship for such long times cannot take advantage of this sudden freedom of expression and end up in choosing someone worse than the earlier one.

None of the country which has given the so called 'gift' of democracy has emerged as a stable state. Countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine have become even more fragile and volatile after elections. Religious extremists as well as sectarian groups have risen into power, either directly or indirectly as a result of elections. Existing problems have been multiplied instead of getting resolved. Such weak governments have created a sense of uncertainty and unpredictability in respective countries ,halting any social or economic progress.

Probably the level of sincerity of Western forces towards these countries is very low. Every country has its own unique set of political and geographic requirements. They should have rather provided them mechanism for upheaval of society; so that it can work towards achieving “pre-conditions” of democracy first. It is not without any suspicion that why U.S is putting pressure for democracy in the third world? There must be some vested interest for them, as their tenacious support for brutal and illegitimate dictatorships in the past is not hidden from anyone.

A pessimistic yet sound school of thought argues that there will be a war between China and India on issue of Tibet. India can claim Tibet its own territory while China has already occupied Tibet. Presenters of this opinion also believe that Pakistan will be forced to take side of China because of its own strategic interests .In return India will block all those rivers to Pakistan , resulting in halt of agricultural and industrial activities.If such thing happens then warfare between four provinces can start if demands of water will not be properly met. Role of U.S will be big in that scene and it is possible that they can supply a rebel province of Pakistan with enough weaponry to declare independence. This will enable U.S to make full use of the newly found state and establish its bases there. The region will suffer badly because of the war leaving millions of people homeless and starving. At the same time , U.S will support India while China will fight for its dominance and influence. There is a possibility that China can go to any extreme to devastate its enemy and U.S presence in area , for the sake of its survival. No matter , what will the result be , humanity will face another great war and loss of millions of innocent people.This doomsday scenario can be hard to avoid , according to that group of analysts.

While at the same time, there is a popular opinion that , survival of this region lies in co-existence. Attempts of foreign forces to create turmoil and take total advantage of the situation can be thwarted easily; only if these neighbouring states forget their past and learn to co-exist peacefully. My humble opinion also seconds this school of thought. I can understand that things have been changed and these countries have already learnt to stay peaceful and united for the sake of their own economic and strategic advantage. They know that is the only way they can face challenges created by foreign conspirators. Long term friendship and economic reliance between China and Pakistan is no secret from anyone. Fortunately, with the ever changing geopolitical scenario , India and Pakistan have also signed treaties of peace, trade as well as cultural ties. In last 5-6 years relations between India and Pakistan have become warmer. That is indeed an encouraging sign for investors,businesses and common citizens of both countries. Pakistan has ended proxy war in Kashmir while India has forgotten the past too.At the same time, we that Indian PM in 2002 told China that India has nothing to do with Tibet and can accept that it is part of China. This sounds like an ideal situation and will boost this region as the most powerful and influential region on Earth. Success lies in peace only , it must prevail because this world is not in a position to see yet another mark of war in its history.

Part - I

Times are changing ! rapidly.

Our Neighbours

We are facing India at one side of the border , a country with whom we had fought more than 3 full-scale wars. These days we are hearing slogans of Pak-India friendship ,cultural exchange programs and educational and excursion tours between both countries. That sounds great ! the two nuclear armed arch-rivals are becoming friends and want to continue peace and progress.

We are also neighbour of China, an economic and military giant of Asia who has emerged as a challenger of U.S interests in the world. China and Pakistan have common strategic and economic interests and have proven to be great neighbours. Strategic alliance with China is extremely important for Pakistan for its existence and safety.

At another side , we have Afghanistan bordering a porous terrain. We are well aware of the threats and problems we have been facing from Afghanistan's side. The way we had lost strategic depth and influence in Afghanistan after 9/11 is not hidden from anyone.Amidst huge involvement of India in Afghan affairs and presence of International forces there and presence of terrorist elements at Pak-Afghan border; Afghani and Pakistani governments have vowed to fight against terrorism together.

Then comes Iran , a country that was declared part of axis of evil by U.S and a country that gained most out of Iraq war by exerting its influence and becoming a major problem for the West. Relations between Iran and Pakistan are good .We are planning to build a gas pipeline that will pass through Pakistan and will reach India to fulfil needs of its energy hungry industry.

According to one perspective, this is a very good situation as all our neighbours are opting  policy of co-existence and have become our friends for mutual economic and strategic gains. But my heart fears for something else !

Then what is the problem ?

Gas pipeline will start from Iran  , pass through Pakistani terrain and will reach India.  This will create inter-dependency among these nations , that will become yet another factor of avoidance of conflict and wars. India is not very sure about the future of pipeline because of Pakistan. Indians know that Pak-India relations have a bloody past and they had fought several wars with each other. If some conflict arises in future than Pakistan can cut that pipeline ,leaving Indian industry relying on this gas crippled. In these times when India is still have to decide about fate of this pipeline , China app