TWOSOME

Aerial view of the Attabad Lake in Hunza

1. May 28 is the latest date given by National Disaster Managment Authority Chairman when the Attabad Lake in Hunza will be full to the brim and the water might begin discharging into the spillway that has been built with the help of Chinese Engineers. It could just splash on to the areas around it in a very cruel manner since no expert has been able to assess the force with which it will overflow.

The big question here is why has there been no sense of urgency or concern shown by the Government in two things:

• Preventing loss of acres of farmland, orchards and so many households
• Having had immediate feasibility studies and technical evaluations conducted to determine if this huge water reservoir could actually be used to generate electricity.

Natural disasters will continue to strike but will we ever be able to set up effective early warning mechanisms instead of setting up authorities that just sit and watch.

2.Police raided , what they call was a Walima party, in Peshawar and arrested Rani a teenaged eunich and 42 year old fertiliser dealer Iqbal for trying to get married. Both deny the charges and say that Iqbal was there to attend the birthday party of Rani. The pair have been remanded for 15 days in Peshawar's central jail. If found guilty, the pair could face life behind bars.

Rani and Iqbal with Police in Peshawar

I just wanted to share with you how one journalist has put the story into context while filing it to a foreign news agency-take a read:

Peshawar, a city of 2.5 million and the gateway to Pakistan's lawless tribal belt, has been hard hit by bomb attacks blamed on Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants in recent years.

Pakistan is a deeply conservative Muslim country where relations outside marriage is taboo and homosexuality illegal.The eunuch community, which includes hermaphrodites, transsexuals, transvestites and homosexuals, is mocked, pitied and shunned by society. They frequently beg on the streets and many end up as prostitutes.

In a move toward granting the country's estimated 500,000 eunuchs rights, Pakistan's top judge has ordered the government to recognise them as a distinct gender -- although how it will be implemented remains to be seen.