QUETTA: In a quaint rug shop located in the basement of a commercial building in the provincial capital of Balochistan, Haji Abdullah and his son, Abdul Ghafoor, engage in the timeless ritual of meticulously calculating the monthly income and expenses of their inherited business.
Instead of picking up a scientific or modern calculator, however, 56-year-old Abdullah upholds tradition by using an abacus — a foot-long wooden board embellished with carefully aligned beads of brown and black colors.
With great finesse, his experienced hand sequentially moves these beads as his son transcribes calculations into his notebook, paying an unwavering tribute to their family’s heritage.
Abdullah’s family migrated from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan in 1930, decades after Russia occupied the Central Asian state. Later, his elders decided to move to Pakistan after the Soviet Union decided to spread its tentacles by sending its army to Afghanistan in December 1979.
“During the migration from Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, our family carried many of our cultural treasures, from rugs to the abacus calculator,” Ghafoor, Abdullah’s 25-year-old son, told Arab News. “For the last four generations, we have been connected with the hand-made rug business and using this ancient calculator.”
The use of abacuses dates back to 2700 BCE and was embraced by Greek, Roman, Chinese, and Egyptian civilizations, as they aided merchants in tallying their inventories accurately.
In their hand-made rug shop, Abdullah and Ghafoor use a 78-bead calculator, with wooden beads in nine rows. The first seven rows represent values from one rupee to one million, while the remaining two rows store calculations for a fresh count.
Abdullah said he had seen his grandfather using the abacus in his rug shop located in the northern Mazar-e-Sharif city of Afghanistan, employing it to keep track of business inventory by counting trade transactions.
“I learned how to use this calculator from him,” he recalled.
He added that despite the availability of various types of calculators today, even one installed on his cellphone, he felt far more comfortable using the abacus for his business activities.
Muhammad Abbas, a 24-year-old resident of Quetta who was browsing the rug market to purchase an antique hand-knotted piece for home, told Arab News he had seen an abacus for the first time at Abdullah’s shop in his life.
“We used to read about abacus calculators in books and on the internet,” he said. “So, I was astonished after seeing this carpet seller use the centuries-old calculator in the modern era of scientific calculators.”
Abbas said it was difficult for him to figure out how complex calculations were done on the ancient counting board, though people well-acquainted with bead numbering could utilize it effectively.
“I bought some small wall-rugs that cost me Rs 15,000 [$49], which they calculated on the abacus calculator,” he said, adding that he double-checked the amount using his phone to ensure accuracy and it matched perfectly.
Assisting his father in the carpet shop, Ghafoor mentioned that many of their customers inquire about the wooden computing device and often find it hard to believe that they use it as a calculator.
“Many customers take pictures of this ancient calculator while visiting our shop,” he said. “We have been striving to preserve our cultural artifacts, including this calculator, as our migration from Turkmenistan and Afghanistan already forced us to leave behind a wealth of traditional items.”
In southwest Pakistan, father-son duo preserves generational calculating method with ancient abacus
https://arab.news/p8eun
In southwest Pakistan, father-son duo preserves generational calculating method with ancient abacus
- Inherited from forefathers, a Turkmen and his son tally business transactions using wooden beads on the ancient computing device
- The use of abacuses dates back to 2700 BCE when these devices aided merchants in tallying their inventories accurately
Pakistani province vows to enforce writ in Karachi after police’s clash with sit-in protesters
- Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen party is leading sit-in protests in Karachi to protest violence in northwestern Kurram district
- Karachi police say eight cops wounded during Tuesday’s clashes, out of which three were injured due to protesters’ firing
KARACHI: The home minister of Pakistan’s southern Sindh province on Wednesday warned members of a religio-political party of stern action if they did not move their sit-in protests from Karachi’s busy locations to designated spots, a day after law enforcers clashed with the demonstrators in the port city.
Karachi police and the paramilitary Rangers force cracked down on protesters belonging to the Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) party on Tuesday morning, using tear gas to disperse them from the city’s busy Numaish Chowrangi, Malir and other locations. Demonstrators pelted the law enforcers with stones in response and chanted slogans against them.
The MWM has been leading sit-in protests at over 10 locations in Karachi since last week to protest violence in the northwestern Kurram district. With a population of around 600,000, Kurram has been plagued by tribal and sectarian violence for decades. A devastating ambush on a convoy of Shias on Nov. 21 in which gunmen killed 52 people, gave rise to sectarian clashes in the area that have since then claimed the lives of at least 136 people.
Karachi police has charged protesters under the country’s anti-terror law, saying that over 150 protesters fired directly at police officers with the intention to kill during Tuesday’s clashes in the city’s Malir district. Two police constables, Zaeem Abbas and Ayaz Gul, were injured in the gunfire, as per the police complaint. All in all, police said eight cops were injured during the clashes out of which three were injured due to firing by protesters.
“It is not possible for us to let the city fall victim to violence,” Sindh Home Minister Zia Ul Hassan Lanjar told reporters at a news conference. “It’s not possible for us to not protect the lives and property of citizens while sitting idle,” he added.
He said the government was ready for talks with protesters but also warned that it would enforce its writ in the city.
“Against any illegal actions, the government will stand firm, the police will do its job, the Rangers will do their job and law enforcement agencies will carry out their responsibilities,” the minister said.
He said the Sindh government had extended protesters the offer to move their protests to designated spots across the city.
“We will stand with you, but this is not the way for our main Saddar area to be closed, for Shahra-e-Faisal to be closed, for the Ancholi area to be closed, for the Malir area to be closed, and to turn the city into a battlefield,” he said, referring to Karachi’s areas where the MWM is holding protests.
“You cannot do this. We will not compromise on this under any circumstances.”
Reiterating his offer of negotiations, Lanjar said Karachi’s additional Inspector-general of police and the city’s commissioner will hold talks with MWM since Sindh’s senior ministers had already met representatives of the party.
Meanwhile, senior MWM leader Allama Baqir Hussain Zaidi announced that the party’s protests in Karachi will continue.
“The ongoing sit-ins will continue wherever they are being held and alternative routes will remain open,” Zaidi said in a video message. “The community is urged to participate in the sit-ins in an organized manner and to consider it both a personal and religious obligation to join tomorrow evening’s protest gathering.”
He announced that the group will hold a protest rally on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. at Numaish Chowrangi, stressing that it will be a peaceful one.
A grand jirga — a traditional council of political and tribal elders — has been attempting to mediate between the rival factions in Kurram to enforce peace.
Pakistan, India exchange list of nuclear installations and facilities
- India and Pakistan are signatories to an agreement that bars them from attacking each other’s nuclear facilities
- Pakistan hands over list of nuclear facilities to Indian High Commission representative in Islamabad, says state media
ISLAMABAD: India and Pakistan exchanged lists of their nuclear assets on Wednesday as part of a bilateral pact that prohibits them from attacking each other’s nuclear facilities, state-run media reported.
The ‘Agreement on Prohibition of Attacks against Nuclear Installations and Facilities’ between the two countries was signed in December 1988. It requires that both sides inform each other of their nuclear installations and facilities on Jan. 1 each year. The two countries have been exchanging the lists since 1992.
“Accordingly, the list of nuclear installations and facilities in Pakistan was officially handed over to a representative of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
Accordingly, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs handed over the list of India’s nuclear installations and facilities to a representative of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.
Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have fought two of three wars after independence from British rule in 1947 over the disputed former princely state of Kashmir. The first war was fought in 1947, the second in 1965, and a third, largely over what became Bangladesh, in 1971.
Both countries claim the disputed territory in full but control only parts of it. Tensions between the two countries escalated last month when India’s top court upheld a 2019 decision by New Delhi to scrap Indian-administered Kashmir’s special status.
India conducted its first nuclear test in 1974, with Pakistan carrying out its first test in 1988.
Pakistan’s annual inflation slowed to 4.1% in December
- Annual inflation already slowed to 4.9% in November, largely due to high base a year earlier
- Inflation slowed due to stable currency, lower global commodity prices, says financial analyst
KARACHI: Pakistan’s consumer inflation rate slowed to 4.1% year on year in December, the statistics bureau said on Wednesday, the lowest in more than 6-1/2 years.
The South Asian country is navigating a challenging economic recovery path buttressed by a $7 billion facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) granted in September.
Consumer prices in December rose 0.1% from the month before, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
In its monthly report released last week, the finance ministry said that the annual inflation rate was expected to hold in the range of 4-5% in the final month of the year.
Annual inflation had already slowed to 4.9% in November, largely due to a high base a year earlier, coming in below the government’s forecast and significantly lower than a multi-decade high of around 40 percent in May 2023.
“Inflation has come down on the back of stable currency, lower global commodity prices and improved supply chain,” said Samiullah Tariq, head of research and development at Pak Kuwait Investment Company.
Pakistan’s central bank previously targeted 5-7% inflation in the medium term but its head has said the level is now in sight within the next 12 months.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) cut its key policy rate by 200 basis points to 13% in December, the fifth straight reduction since June, to bring cumulative rate cuts for 2024 to 900 basis points and making it one of the most aggressive emerging market central banks in the current easing cycle.
Inflation during the first half of the current fiscal year to end-June 2025 has averaged 7.22% compared to 28.79% in the year-earlier period.
Pakistan hikes petrol and diesel prices by up to Rs2.96 per liter
- Government fixes fuel prices every fortnight to account for market fluctuations, dollar-rupee parity
- After the latest revision, petrol will now sell for Rs252.66 while diesel will cost Rs258.34 per liter
ISLAMABAD: The government has increased the price of petrol and high-speed diesel by Rs0.56 and Rs2.96 per liter, respectively, according to the finance ministry on Tuesday.
Fuel prices are fixed on a fortnightly basis by in Pakistan, which adjusts them after evaluating changes in the global energy market and considering rupee-dollar parity. This allows the government to pass on the net effect to consumers to finance the country’s fuel imports.
“The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority has worked out the consumer prices of petroleum products in view of the fluctuations in the international market in the last fortnight,” the finance ministry said in a notification.
“It has accordingly revised the prices of the petroleum products for the next fortnight starting from Jan. 1, 2025,” it added.
After the latest revision, a liter of petrol will cost Rs252.66, while high-speed diesel will sell for Rs258.34 per liter.
Petrol is mostly used in Pakistan for private transport, small vehicles, rickshaws and two-wheelers. At the same time, any increase in the price of diesel is considered highly inflationary, as it is mostly used to power heavy transport vehicles and particularly increases the prices of vegetables and other eatables.
On Dec. 15, Pakistan reduced the price of high-speed diesel by Rs3 per liter but kept the price of petrol unchanged.
Earlier, on Dec. 1, the price of petrol was increased by Rs3.72 per liter due to varying petroleum product prices in the international market.
Fuel prices in energy-starved Pakistan are instrumental in contributing to inflation. The South Asian country saw inflation hit a record high of 38 percent in May 2023.
Pakistan’s annual consumer inflation slowed to 4.9 percent in November, cooling from 7.2 percent in October.
Pakistani village, birthplace of late Indian PM Manmohan Singh, mourns his death
- Singh, who passed away on December 26, was born in the village of Gah in 1932
- Villagers invite Singh’s family to visit, saying they will find ‘a home away for home’
ISLAMABAD: A village in Pakistan’s populous Punjab province, the birthplace of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, mourned his passing during a vigil held on Tuesday, according to Reuters, following his death last week.
Gah village, located about 100 kilometers southwest of Islamabad in Pakistan’s Chakwal district, was Singh’s hometown, where he was born on Sept. 26, 1932.
Singh, an economist and the first Sikh to serve as India’s prime minister, passed away on Dec. 26 at the age of 92. His family migrated to India after the partition in 1947. The late Indian prime minister’s father, Gurmukh Singh, was a cloth merchant, and his mother, Amrat Kaur, a homemaker.
Despite his humble beginnings, Singh studied at Oxford and Cambridge, earning recognition as a scholar before spearheading economic reforms that lifted India out of a financial crisis in the early 1990s.
“When he [Manmohan Singh] became [India's] prime minister, the whole village erupted with joy and celebrated,” said Malik Haq Nawaz Awan, a resident of Gah, speaking in Punjabi. “In the same way, there was an environment of sorrow [over his passing]. Everyone was sad.”
The local school, where Singh received his early education, holds a special place in the village. The late Indian premier’s roll number was 187, and his admission date, April 17, 1937, is still recorded in the school register.
Villagers credit the school’s renovation and the development of their settlement to Singh’s success. His rise to prominence in the neighboring country made the people of Gah proud, and his death has left a profound void.
“I belong to this village as well, and the proudest thing for me is that Singh was my father’s classmate,” said Altaf Hussain, head of the Government Primary School in Gah. “When I went to school, I’d see his name in the records. Every time I saw ‘Manmohan Singh’ in our school records, I felt happy and proud knowing that a child from our small village, who studied on the ground, became India’s prime minister and managed its economy.”
Another villager, 65-year-old Raja Abdul Khaliq, recalled inviting Singh to visit the village, though the Indian premier could not make the trip.
“His family remains, and we invite them to visit us,” he said. “Whenever they come, they’ll find in this village a home away from home. We’ll welcome them with open arms, and our hospitality will be etched in history all thanks to him because of the debt of gratitude our village owes him.”
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has faced criticism in Indian media for not condoling Singh’s death. However, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar expressed grief over Singh’s passing, praising his leadership for prioritizing dialogue and mutual understanding to address regional issues, which improved ties between the two nuclear-armed rivals.
In 2019, Pakistan’s former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi invited Singh to attend the opening ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor, but he was unable to join. In 2012, President Asif Ali Zardari and Singh met in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, describing their meeting as friendly and constructive.
Relations between the two countries have been fraught for years, with visits by senior officials to each other’s nations remaining rare. The two neighbors have fought three wars, two of them over the Muslim-majority Himalayan region of Kashmir, which they both claim in full but rule in part.
