Experience with Google Drive and Dropbox. Why you should junk all of them

I had several terabytes of data in several external drives, now.  

This relates to my research, my research papers, research data, students' reports and data, their thesis and other proposals, analysis, and surveys that I have conducted during my consultancy assignments and other assignments. These contain my personal insights and conclusions about various issues. It is invaluable primary data for my autobiographical notes in my blogpost Learning and Life. Some relate to data from my 5 years at IBA, some data is about my 12 years at KIET, some data is about my 8 years at IoBM, and some data is about my 6 years of ePatterns company, some data is about my experience and operations of L2L. There are my memos, notes, pics, and other reports. There are also my family photos of the last 30 years, over 5000 family documents and letters; there are scans and files containing their transcription. These documents date over a hundred years to mid 19th century. 

Who Owns Your Data?

Change Management and Change Agents

There are two types of turnaround/change leadership. First is the one in which you are a chief executive and you simply have to bring about the change down the hierarchy. The second type of turnaround/change management is the one in which you are not the chief executive and you need to bring the change/turnaround down the hierarchy as well as up the hierarchy. I have been involved in both the capacities. In the second type of turnaround/change management it takes at least two to three years to bring about a cultural change. Change is not only about hiring or firing,  which has its own side effects and repercussions, if not handled delicately. The real change is brought about your carefully chosen change agents and enabling them to post "small wins"  (low hanging fruits) for which all credit is given to them. You may lose unintended more valuable change agents by crude hirings and firings. The more difficult change is overhauling  processes and business process re-engineering. This requires attention to detail and ability to drill down and peep into the future realization of processes. Cultural change requires developing and empowering "change agents". The change is  communicated by your personal example and more potently through the example and communications of the change agents......

Generation Inspired by Khairis and Aligarh: Ahsan Hyder and his German and French Teacher Abdul Sattar Khairi

Abdus Sattar Kheiri was my father's teacher at Aligarh during 1934-35. Khairi along with his brother in 1917 had proposed the idea of Muslim state in British India. Attached is the recommendation that A. Sattar Kheiri wrote for my father Ahsan Hyder in 1939. During its transcription, I discovered several interesting links. My father had a deep respect for his teacher from whom he studied German (and French) at Aligarh University during 1934-35. He had preserved the book from which he studied German at that time, which appears to be supplemental text. It is still with me. Abdul Sattar Kheiri must have acquired his German and French language skills during his stay in Europe. He had a German wife, Mrs. Fatima Kheiri. He died in 1944. However, when my father after retirement returned back to Karachi in 1980, he found that Kheiri's German wife was old and living in PECHS. He would sometime visit Mrs. Fatima Kheiri for some verification of facts of the history of pre-partition times. She died in the late 1990s.

From 1913 to June 1917 five proposals came out about India's constitutional and administrative future but in September 1917 the two Kheiri Brothers, Abdul Jabbar Kheiri and Abdul Sattar Kheiri, played a prominent role in advancing the idea of a Muslim state in India.

[Some descendants of Khairis need to write detailed biographies. Pity I couldn't find an article on him on Wikipedia. Can someone put his picture in the comments below? I will copy and paste it here in this post]

Abdul Sattar Kheiri's Recommendation for Ahsan Hyder

MQM and Political engineering. Timeline

MQM served Establishment interests since 1980s through
(1) sustained Karachi violence: bhatta,  parchi, street crimes, gang wars, target killings,...
(2) creating political instability by becoming part of political engineering at the federal level
(3) creating conditions for flight of Karachi's capital to upcountry,
(4) encouraging flight of intelligentia and brain drain from Karachi,
(5) making Karachites notorious for their violence n crimes. Throwing fame of Karachites as studious intellectuals in the dustbin of history through cheating mafias.
(6) Pushing Karachi behind Lahore by 20 years by destroying the infrastructure for trade, schools, markets,...
Establishment created and promoted AH as counter weight to MRD n JI in 1980s, created haqiqi in 1990s, gang wars of lyari in 2000s, breakup in 2010s by minus AH,  created PSP,  MQM-P,  MQM-PIB,  MQM-Bahadurabad....

Closing of MQM chapter in Pakistan’s politics

• The MQM had been the flagbearer of Mohajir nationalism in Pakistan since the party’s founding in 1984 until 2016.

Scam of New Startups- Burn Investor Funds to Artificially Inflate Subscriptions, Valuation for the Sake of Selling-off

 #Airlift

Only an entrepreneur can understand entrepreneurship. Books, videos, and theories by those who survive on monthly salaries can not help in making a productive entrepreneur. An entrepreneurial startup is always about the cash flow risk of not making the next month's payroll. Having negotiated and having lived through this risk-prone existence is the essence of entrepreneurial spirit.

SC Bench Fixing results about role of Party Head decisions that use Doctrine of Necessity

 Implications of Supreme Court Judgement

Behind frigidity there once was a clingy child? When a Child Becomes an Adult

The child has now grown up, isn't it? The grown-up is now Aaqil and Baligh, and responsible for his/her behaviors. An adult must be accountable for his/her actions. Stop blaming your parents or environment for your actions. This Freudian psychology thought is against Islamic teachings. Freud does not believe in human will or predestination.

Some DMRs developed during childhood gets stuck in our subconscious which affects our behavior and mental capacities. Often we are not trained in our modern education to process these DMRs so even an adult cannot do much about them. Extended families and elders used to provide a crying shoulder to release our emotional energy, the educated parents and nuclear families do not offer such a facility to the child. When this child grows up s/he has forgotten the source of his fears, apprehensions, and internal conflicts, which bury at the back of his mind ... neither s/he has any training regarding how to process these memories effectively. Jung (an opponent of Freud) also acknowledges the role of religion for its ability to better process the stuff in our subconscious.

Indeed individual is responsible for his change but how will s/he know that its coming from the past when we don't even acknowledge it? Also, Freud is just one psychologist among so many others who believe in 'change' and 'will' and 'hope' . PSYCHOTHERAPY is all about 'how to help humans so s/he can change. When discussing cause & effect, we don't discuss the 'cause' to BLAME but only to understand. Thanks, Sir for your input but remember, Jung is talking about that in a therapeutic setting or at least in therapy

The extreme form of blaming the environment, and not taking responsibility of actions is the tendency to even ban death sentences

Quest for Truth: Need for External vs Internal Persuasion

A post on FB quoting Joseph Royce:
"If you cannot convince me that there is some kind of knowable ultimate reality, or if you cannot convince me that there are certain absolute values by which I can live my life, I shall commit psychological suicide. That is, either convince me that there is “one truth” or one right way of doing things, or I shall conclude that everything is meaningless and I will not try any more."

My reply:
Why should someone else convince you of the "truth"! It is your life, you need to live it, you need to search for your meaning of your life! It is a very personal question! Whether you commit a psychological suicide, or a physical suicide, or live like a zombie, or live a life of tyrant or live a life of saint or die a martyr for a false cause or die  for true cause are your own personal decisions! What you make of your life, or do not make anything of your life are your individual and personal decisions. You are responsible for your actions and the consequences of your actions. And you need to be accountable.

May be trying to answer this question is a quest for which you feel this restlessness and may be that is the purpose of your life or the purpose of human existence. May be the greater the intellect, greater the turmoil, greater the conflicts, and greater the difficulty for greater clarity! May be solving this problem, answeing this question, deciphering this restlessness,  satisfying your urge to find the answer is why you are here. Welcome to the thinkers club!

How to Design LMS Based Online Examinations in Asynchronous Mode

In medical universities and engineering universities during the 1980s-90s when cheating and copying culture was rampant, faculty members primarily used to rely on viva examinations for awarding final grades. Vivas and presentations even today during on-site classes are preferred for MS thesis, PhD Thesis, capstone projects, final year projects, clinical, lab practicals, and senior design projects at all the universities. For these assessments, viva/presentations are considered to be more effective for grading the students' learning. Students typically submit written reports or progress. For assessors and evaluators, it is more important to understand the extent to which students have digested the contents of the report or their practical experience. The content of assignments and online submissions is only an indicator from which the teacher needs to ascertain what the student actually knows and understands. Vivas and project displays during exhibitions are more effective in determining their depth of understanding. Even in our interviews for admission and employment, we find people with impressive testimonials and CVs. However, their worth and depth is easily revealed in a few minutes of questioning through viva-like interviews.

This post focuses on self-paced, deep learning experience 

Why children can not appreciate the value of how they are better off than their parents

When I see my fridge filled with ice cream for a couple of days and children not touching it saying that they don't like the flavor, I recall my childhood when I used to yearn for ice cream for months and sometimes even years before getting to taste even a small serving. We did not even try to ask because we knew the tight position they were in. Can they appreciate the longings of their parents? 

When I see from my air-conditioned Corolla a crowded minibus passing by with people stooping and standing in sweltering heat and I recall myself (aged 18yrs) and my father (aged 64 years) standing there in a minibus 40 years ago, and suffering the heat, waiting for some passenger to vacate his seat, and then look at my children who have never suffered like that, and wonder whether they can appreciate the effort I had to make, the sacrifices I made for decades, to reach to a position where I could afford a car like this?

Work in Process

Naatia Kalam and Family Culture of Recitations- Anwar Fatima Diary

My dadi Anwar Fatima's diary/copy that she used from 1930s till 1960s. It contains naatiya kalam that used to be recited in mehfil e milad. Besides that it also contains poetic verses of several other relatives. Such "Mehafil" gave elders and children an appreciation of poetry and also a love for poetry. I remember being a participant in two such "Mehafil" in 1967 held at Luqman Hyder's residence in North Nazimabad Karachi. I was around 5-6 years of age, then, and I recited verses from Mussadas e Hali. Around 7-8 verses starting from 

وہ نبیوں میں رحمت لقب پانے والا....

I was specially prepared for this recital and was given a white pajama and kurta for the occasion. I had earlier prepared these verses for a recital in my nursery class at Viqar-un-Nisa School in Rawalpindi. I had spent less than a few months in nursery class there in around 1966. I would go with my sisters from Chaklala Wavell Lines to the school in a Tanga (Horse Driven Carriage). I recited the verses from Musadas e Hali in the school auditorium, where I distinctly remember seeing Khushbakht Aalia (later on Khusbakht Shujaat) who recited and spoke [was it this or some other event].  My shirt got tucked in to my pajama and my sisters or their friends made fun of it. This I did not like and still remember the embarrassment to this day. 

My grandmother encouraged and prepared me for this recital. She used to call me with her gentle and old voice as "Madineh ki Fiza". I thought that it was after this recitation that she started calling me with this phrase. However, I recently discovered a few letters from her to my parents of around 1964-65  where she had used this phrase for me. 

Policy Rate and Inflation Control Fee Theory for Pakistan

Atiq Rehman:

Despite the fact that State Bank has fixed policy rate at 13.25, the trading in long term debt market is happening even at less than 10.5%. This means, if there was no indication by SBP, the equilibrium interest rate should be much lower.

Playing with Fire: Confidence Building

Lighting up the fire for making tea during tracking and picnicking in the wilderness.
Food cooking in scouting.

We used to burn the bushes around our house in the wilderness when they have dried up in the autumn. They would grow during the summer monsoon to several feet high. Then they would dry up in the autumn around October - November. Especially during windy days. Just one matchstick would be enough to clear vast areas with these dried-up bushes. Once we were identified during such an arson adventure and abba (Ahsan Hyder) was informed that we were jumping over the fire. (Why would we, did they think we were stupid?) Anyhow, we persisted in this for several winters but were careful to do this when no one was watching. Imagine the crackling and swishing sound accompanied by swirling flames gobbling up vast swathes of dried bushes in a beautifully exhilarating scene with sights and sounds of jungle on fire. What an experience

Work in Process

Booby Traps Installed by IMF Reps in Pakistan Economy

ڈاکٹر رضا باقر، SBP گورنر کے IMF کے mandated بوبی ٹریپس جن کو پلاننگ کے زریعے مختلف اوقات میں نسب کیا گیا اور جس وقت وہ اچانک پھٹنے شروع ہوئے تو اکنامک ہٹ مینز خاموش رہ کر نظارہ کرتے رہے, کوئی خطرے کی گھنٹیاں نہیں بجائیں- ان بوبی ٹریپس کی وجہ سے ملک دیوالیہ ہونے کے قریب پہنچ گیا ہے-  جن کی implications کے بارے میں اکانومک ہٹ مینز نے آسان الفاظ میں کبھی سمجھانے کی کوشش نہیں کی، نہ تو وزیراعظم کو، نہ ان کی معاشی ٹیم کو اور نہ ان پر اثرز انداز ہونے والے انٹیلکچوئلز اور بزنس لابیز کو- ان! traps کے پیچھے آئی ایم ایف کی پٹی پڑھائی ہوئی یہ اسٹیٹ بینک کی آزادی کا مفروضہ ہے، جس کے مطابق فائنانس منسٹری  اور اسٹیٹ بینک دو مطلق العنان آزاد حکومتیں ہیں جن کا آپس میں کوئی لینا دینا نہیں ہے- ماشاءاللہ اس ٹرک کی بتی کے پیچھے اکثر لوگ لگے اندھا دھند تقلید کرتے نظر آئیں گے-

 

10 Billion Tree Tsunami and its Reality: Unravelling the complexity of Mega Projects

10 Billion Tree Tsunami ki Haqeeqat kya hai?

• Reality of 10 Billion Tree Tsunami Mega Project? | Dr Irfan Hyder
• How leaders can fool educated people about the billions and millions. How complexity increases when you go from millions to billions. We need mega management, not mega projects as Parveen Rahman used to say. 

خدارا خوشنما نعروں کی تہہ تک پہنچنے کی کوشش کریں_

10بلین درختوں کو لگانے اور ان کو پال پوس کے بڑا کرنے کی complexity اور اس پراجیکٹ کے زمینی حقائق پر ایک critical analysis جس کو سمجھنے کیلئے صرف آٹھویں کلاس کی میتھس چاہیے- کاش کہ تمام پڑھے لکھے عقلمند آٹھویں جماعت کی میتھس استعمال کرنا شروع کر سکیں:

Imran Khan and Essential Leadership Requirements of a Leader

اقبال کے مطابق  کسی لیڈر یعنی "میر کارواں" کے رخت سفر کے لئے صرف تین ضروری خصوصیات ہیں: نگاہ بلند سخن دلنواز و جاں پرسوز، جن کے زریعے ایک راہنما اپنے پیچھے چلنے والوں کو جوڑ کر رکھتا ہے، ان کو منتشر نہیں ہونے دیتا:

نگاہ بلند سخن، سخن دلنواز، جاں پرسوز

یہی ہے رخت سفر میر کارواں کیلئے - اقبال

مگر بدقسمتی سے حقیقت سے کوسوں دور جزبات برانگیختہ کر کے ہیرو بنانے والی سوشل میڈیا کے زریعے ایک ایسے شخص کو راہنمائی مل گئی جو ببانگ دہن اپنے کو "یوٹرن لیڈر" کہتا ہے- جس نے پچھلے چار سال میں اپنے کردار سے یہ واضح کر دیا کہ وہ اقبال کے بتائے ہوئے رخت سفر میں سے ہر ایک خصوصیت کا متضاد ہے:

Prof A. G. Saeed of IBA, a role model of God fearing forth rightness

Prof. A.G. Saeed left for the hereafter on the 9th of May, 2022. May Allah give him the best of abodes in the hereafter. Aameen.

He left IBA much before I joined as MBA student in 1985. However, heard a lot about him and other stalwarts in the group photo below. In my association with him in late 1990s and later, when he was with Jaffer Brothers training department, or during his establishment of his training center near the Clifton Bridge, and at several other places, I found him to be committed, righteous, principled, simple, knowledgeable and intellectual but unpretentious, خدا ترس، and a great human being. Willing to help everyone and anyone with sincerity and dedication. A great teacher and engaging conductor of workshops. Learned a great deal in his company. I had a telephonic conversation with him a year ago, where we discussed to meet on some projects. 

حق مغفرت کرے عجب آزاد مرد تھا

Why you want to be a Religious Scholar or Aalim? Purpose of Education by Mufti Taqi Usmani, Ashraf Ali Thanvi

شیخ الاسلام حضرت مولانا مفتی تقی عثمانی صاحب نے بیت السلام تلہ گنگ میں بیان کے دوران ایک طالب علم سے سوال فرمایا وہ سوال و جواب پیش خدمت ہے۔

سوال: بتاؤ  بھائی !آپ علم کس لیے حاصل کرنا چاہتے ہیں کیا مقصد ہے علم حاصل کرنے کا؟ 

جواب: طالب علم نے جواب دیا کہ دین کی خدمت کرنے کے لیے۔

اس پر حضرت مولانا مفتی تقی عثمانی صاحب 

نے فرمایا کہ یہ بھی شیطان کی طرف سے ایک مغالطہ ہے۔ خوب سمجھ لیجیے کہ علم حاصل کرنے کا مقصد اصلاح نفس ہونا چاہیے۔ دوسروں کی اصلاح تب کرسکیں گے جب خود اپنی اصلاح ہوگی۔ اگر اصلاح نفس کی نیت کے بغیر علم حاصل کیا تو اس میں برکت نہیں ہوگی وہ علم بے نور ہوگا۔ اس لیے امام بخاری رحمۃ اللہ علیہ نے ابتداء میں اصلاح نیت والی حدیث لائی کہ سب سے پہلے اپنی نیت درست کر لو، ورنہ پڑھنے پڑھانے کا کوئی فائدہ نہیں۔

A more stronger edict is by Hakim Ul Ummat    Maulana Ashraf Ali thanvi

As reported by Dr Abdul Hai in "Ma'sar e Hakeem Ul ummat".

To become a buzurg or Saint is not fard. To become an insaan is fard. 

Dr Irfan Hyder Youtube Channel Videos Topics and Links

I have come to the conclusion that social media especially youtube, Facebook, Instagram, and now even Google does not want people to remember chronologically and category-wise information that they have seen or even generated themselves. I am no longer able to see a list of all the videos that I have uploaded. It is only available on my account but not to the viewers. Similarly, my Blogspot articles can not be searched on google chrome. It would never show me the information that I want to see. It would only show me the information that Google wants me to see. This is information control. 

Hence I have made a list of all the videos here so that I have a structured view of all of my videos. 

Out of the Box Solutions for Pakistan Economic Problems

 Major Issues: 

1. 80-20 Rule: Our 80% problems are because of 20% components of the budgets. Which are those?
2. What are the major inflexible components of our expenditure?

ZU Dialogs: Out of the Box Solutions for Economic Problems of Pakistan

https://www.facebook.com/zuedu/videos/1167116573847788/    

War on terror cost Pakistan $123 billion: DGMO

War on terror cost Pakistan $123 billion: DGMO

goog_924736457 APR 4TH, 2018

https://fp.brecorder.com/2018/04/20180404357430/ 

In a first ever public appearance, Director General Military Operations (DGMO) Major General Sahir Shamshad Mirza said on Tuesday that Pakistan turned the tide against terrorism at a monumental human and socio-economic cost of over $123 billion and over 76,000 casualties. Speaking at a conference tiled "1st Islamabad International Counter Terrorism Forum (1ICTF-2018)," organized by National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), the general said: "More than financial or material assistance, Pakistan seeks continued understanding, support and acknowledgement for its efforts and sacrifices."