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Posted on Monday, September 12, 2011 6:33:48 PM by marshmallow

Märcani Mosque


Tatar mosque — is the typical mosque architecture in Tatarstan and other Volga Tatar-populated areas of Russia. Occasionally found in other regions of Russia, modern Tatar religious architecture was developed in the late 18th century and gained popularity in the 19th century Idel-Ural.

History


The earliest examples of Islamic Tatar architecture are located in Bolghar; none of them are in use today. They reflect strong similarities to Central Asian Islamic architecture from which the designs were derived. However, it is believed that design of rural mosques, opposing to Central Asian-like mosques of capital cities, evolve from their ability to withstand the harsh local climate. Many mosques, both stone and wooden were built, according to this style. The oldest of the still active modern Tatar mosques is the Märcani mosque in the Tatar capital of Kazan. Dating from the reign of Catherine the Great, the mosque's minaret is placed in the center of a gabled roof. It is believed that the concept was adopted from traditional rurual Tatar mosques. The Märcani mosque is an example of revival Tatar religious architecture as most mosques were destroyed due to the Christianization edict of 1742.

Unification.

The edict on unification of church buildings of 1817 was expanded to the mosques in 1831, when the exemplary project was developed and circulated to governorate architectural offices of Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Perm and Simbirsk Governorates. Tatar mosques, such as Märcani and Apanay were built in baroque style. İske Taş and Pink Mosques were contributed to classicism style.

Among the architects, contributed to the mosques building in the 19th century the most notable were Pyatnitsky, Korinfsky, Schmidt, Peske, Romanov, Yermolayev, Pavlov, Parensov, Petondi, Tekhomirov, as well as non-professional architects Mansurov, Foshderebryuggen, Jakobson.

In 1844 anther exemplary mosque project was introduced, which was used mostly for urban mosques. The minaret was placed at the northern part of the building, under the door. However, mosques with minarets in the roof are constructed till today.

On 9/11 Moscow Grand Mosque Demolished

Moscow, September 12, Interfax - The historical building of the Moscow Grand Mosque was demolished in Moscow last week.
"Workers used special equipment to demolish the building of the historical mosque to the foundation," Albir Krganov, first deputy chairman of the Central Spiritual Directorate of Muslims and mufti of Moscow and the Central Region of Russia told Interfax-Religion.
Krganov said he was surprised that the day selected for the demolition of the mosque was September 11.
"A tragedy occurred in Moscow on the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in the U.S." he said.

Earlier, some leaders of Islamic organizations in Russia criticized the plans of demolishing the Moscow Grand Mosque.
"The issue of demolishing the historical place of worship in Moscow has been stirring the minds of Muslims for several years. It is regrettable that the demolition is initiated not by some descendant of theomachists, who blasted churches of traditional religions or prayer towers of Tatar mosques in the expanses of Russia in the 1930s, but a person who bears the highest spiritual title of mufti," a joint statement of Islamic leaders obtained by Interfax-Religion on Monday says.
Ahead of the Eid ul-Fitr, the news came that the demolition of the historical building of the mosque in Moscow would begin after the end of the fast, and "this was confirmed during the festive sermon" in which head of the Council of Muftis of Russia Ravil Gainutdin "announced the pending demolition of the mosque," the statement says.
For several years, mufti Gainutdin has kept the Tatar community in Moscow "nervous by loudly declaring that the historical building of the Moscow Grand Mosque is not properly oriented toward Mecca and therefore poses no historic value," the statement says.
"Furthermore, he points out the similarity of the architecture of the mosque with the appearance of the Moscow grand synagogue. But that is no reason to demolish the mosque," the statement says.
Muslim leaders urged the federal authorities, the leadership of Moscow and Tatarstan, the World Congress of Tatars, local Tatar communities, public and religious figures in Russia" to raise their voices in defense of Tatar and consequently Russian Islamic heritage, noting that the authorities "have the right to demand that Ravil Gainutdin give up his insane idea of demolishing the historical building of the Moscow Grand Mosque," the statement says.
The statement was signed by head of the Central Muslim Board of Russia Talgat Tajuddin, mufti of Moscow and Central Russia Albir Krganov, the leaders of the All-Russian Muslim Board, head of the Muslim Board of St. Petersburg and Northwest Russia Jafar Ponchayev, the muftis of Rostov, Chelyabinsk, Kurgan and Astrakhan Regions and the Khanty-Mansiisk Autonomous Districts, the leaders of the Russian Islamic Heritage movement and others.

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3/09/11 KARACHI: Heavy monsoon rain continues lashing Karachi and various parts of lower Sindh this day.

The latest spell of monsoon rain began on Saturday; after break on same night and next day it resumed on yesterday’s noon and since then it continues without any break.

Owing to non-stop rain since last night, all public and private schools of Karachi have been kept closed today.

The ongoing rain has turned most parts of the city into pools and people faced great difficulties to travel and reach offices and other places.

Most of the roads are inundated that’s why very thin traffic can be seen on the roads while people are stuck on stops.

Many casualties have been also reported from various areas of the city while long power breaks have been also reported from different parts of the metropolis.

After Private Schools Management Association’s announcement, the Sindh Education Department also announced to keep all educational institutes closed today.

Most of the people could not reach offices this day and a very thin attendance was reported in private and government offices today.

No part of the city is safe from the rain and ongoing rain has inundated many lower areas in water and people are facing great difficulties to continue their every day’s routine.

The Meteorological Department has predicted that this ongoing rain will continue to pour during next 24 hours.

The heaviest rain, 118 millimeter, was recorded at Shahra-e-Faisal in Karachi.

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Under the presidency of Vladimir Putin Russia's economy saw the nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) double, climbing from 22nd to 11th largest in the world. The economy made real gains of an average 7% per year ( 1999: 6.5%, 2000: 10%, 2001: 5.7%, 2002: 4.9%, 2003: 7.3%, 2004: 7.2%, 2005: 6.4%, 2006: 8,2%, 2007: 8.5%, 2008: 5.2% ), making it the 6th largest economy in the world in GDP(PPP). In 2007, Russia's GDP exceeded that of 1990, meaning it has overcome the devastating consequences of the recession in the 1990s.[18] On a per capita basis, Russian GDP was US$14,919 per individual in 2009, making Russians 38th richest on both a purchasing power and nominal basis.[citation needed]

During Putin's eight years in office, industry grew by 75%, investments increased by 125%,[18] and agricultural production and construction increased as well. Real incomes more than doubled and the average salary increased eightfold from $80 to $640.[19][20][21] The volume of consumer credit between 2000–2006 increased 45 times,[22][23] and during that same time period, the middle class grew from 8 million to 55 million, an increase of 7 times. The number of people living below the poverty line also decreased from 30% in 2000 to 14% in 2008.[18][24][25]

Inflation remained a problem however, as the government failed to contain the growth of prices. Between 1999–2007 inflation was kept at the forecast ceiling only twice, and in 2007 the inflation exceeded that of 2006, continuing an upward trend at the beginning of 2008.[18]

The Russian economy is still commodity-driven despite its growth. Payments from the fuel and energy sector in the form of customs duties and taxes accounted for nearly half of the federal budget's revenues. The large majority of Russia's exports are made up by raw materials and fertilizers,[18] although exports as a whole accounted for only 8.7% of the GDP in 2007, compared to 20% in 2000.[26]


There is also a growing gap between rich and poor in Russia. Between 2000–2007 the incomes of the rich grew from approximately 14 times to 17 times larger than the incomes of the poor. The income differentiation ratio shows that the 10% of Russia's rich live increasingly better than the 10% of the poor, amongst whom are mostly pensio

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The Russian Revolution was the most important revolution of the 20th century, and was one of the most important revolutions in the history of the world. I would place it as the third most important revolution after the American and French Revolutions. Like the American Revolution, and most other revolutions, the Russian Revolution was a revolution against economic oppression. In addition to this, the Russian Revolution started out as a revolution for democracy.

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So, if the Russian Revolution started out being for democracy then what happened?

Basically Russia came into the 20th century as an extremely oppressed country that was ruled by the Czars. Russia was a feudal dictatorship. The people of Russia were horribly oppressed, poor, starving, cold, and without any real direction or hope. Essentially, Russia had never undergone the liberal revolutions that took place in Europe (starting with the French Revolution), which had established liberal democracy and capitalism there. Russia remained as one of the last vestiges of Medieval European society.

Through acts of “terrorism” and rebellion a small group of revolutionaries overthrew the Czars. Then Russia went into a stage of anarchy and turmoil, out of which the Bolshevik Party of Lenin emerged as the dominant political force.

Lenin and many of the Bolsheviks were not in Russia at the time of the Revolution. Some of them were from Russia originally but had left, while some were not from Russia at all. They were all Marxists and socialist revolutionaries that had been living in Europe studying science, economics, sociology, history, etc. from a Marxist perspective. The Bolsheviks did not cause the overthrow of the Russian government; they came in after the overthrow with the plan of putting Marxist revolutionary theory to practice. Their plan from the beginning was to develop Russia in such a way as to spread social revolution throughout Europe and eventually the world. The biggest political opponents of the Bolsheviks in Russia, aside from the Czars, were the Mensheviks and Social Democrats, both Marxist groups who also supported Socialism, but were less militant. What is important to understand about the Russian Revolution is that some of the biggest opponents to the Bolsheviks were other Communists. The "brand" of Communism that was promoted by the Bolsheviks was by no means representative of all Communist ideology. Bolshevik ideology was the least tolerant and most revolutionary form of Marxist ideology.


he Bolsheviks overthrew the remaining powers of the dictatorship in the October Revolution and began reforms by creating “Soviets”. Soviets were legislative assemblies of publicly elected officials that were to administer the activities of Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers.

The Constitution of the U.S.S.R.:

http://www. marxists. org/history/ussr/government/constitution/1918/index.htm

In addition to launching an attack on private property they did something else that upset countries around the world, and that was to make public all of the secret information that was contained in the Russian government files. They exposed all of the secret treaties that the Russian Czars had made with various countries as well as other information that the Russian government had acquired through its own intelligence operations. They did this because they felt that humanity should progress through honesty and they wanted to expose the corruption of other capitalists countries as well as of the old Russian regime.

These actions only added to the international opposition to the situation in Russia. After World War I was over 21 countries from all over the world, including America, began supporting a counter-revolution in Russia in an attempt to stop the Bolshevik revolution. At this time Russia entered a stage of Civil War between the Reds and the Whites.


Economy of Russia

The economy of Russia is the eleventh largest economy in the world by nominal value and the sixth largest by purchasing power parity (PPP).[1] Russia has an abundance of natural gas, oil, coal, and precious metals. It is also rich in agriculture. Russia has undergone significant changes since the collapse of the Soviet Union, moving from a centrally planned economy to a more market-based and globally integrated economy. Economic reforms in the 1990s privatized most industry, with notable exceptions in the energy and defense-related sectors. Nonetheless, the rapid privatization process, including a much criticized "loans-for-shares" scheme that turned over major state-owned firms to politically connected "oligarchs", has left equity ownership highly concentrated. As of 2011, Russia's capital, Moscow, now has the highest billionaire population of any city in the world.[citation needed]

In late 2008 and early 2009, Russia experienced the first recession after 10 years of rising economy, until the stable growth resumed in late 2009 and 2010. Despite the deep but brief recession, the economy has not been as seriously affected by the global financial crisis compared to much of Europe, largely because of the integration of short-term macroeconomic policies that helped the economy survive.[citation needed]

Rank 11th (nominal) / 6th (PPP)
Currency Russian ruble (RUB)
Fiscal year calendar year
Trade organizations CIS, APEC, EURASEC, G-20, G8 and others
Statistics
GDP

$1.465 trillion (2010) (nominal; 10th)[1]
$2.222 trillion (2010) (PPP; 6th)[2]
GDP growth 4.9% (2011 est.) [3]
GDP per capita

$10,521 (2010) (nominal; 54th)[1]
$15,807 (2010) (PPP; 51st)[1]
GDP by sector agriculture: (4.2%), industry (33.8%), services (62%) (2010 est.)
Inflation (CPI) 6.7% (2010 est.)[4]
Population
below poverty line 13 % (2010 est.)
Labour force 75.55 million (2010 est.)
Labour force
by occupation agriculture (10%), industry (31.9%), services (58.1%) (2008)
Unemployment 6.7% (November 2010 est.)[5]
Average net salary 700 $, monthly (2010)[6]
Main industries complete range of mining and extractive industries producing coal, oil, gas, chemicals, and metals; all forms of machine building from rolling mills to high-performance aircraft and space vehicles; defense industries including radar, missile production, and advanced electronic components, shipbuilding; road and rail transportation equipment; communications equipment; agricultural machinery, tractors, and construction equipment; electric power generating and transmitting equipment; medical and scientific instruments; consumer durables, textiles, foodstuffs, handicrafts
Ease of Doing Business Rank 123rd[7]
External
Exports $376.7 billion (2010 est.)
Export goods petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, metals, wood and wood products, chemicals, and a wide variety of civilian and military manufactures
Main export partners Netherlands 10.62%, Italy 6.46%, Germany 6.24%, China 5.69%, Turkey 4.3%, Ukraine 4.01% (2009)
Imports $237.3 billion (2010 est.)
Import goods machinery, vehicles, pharmaceutical products, plastic, semi-finished metal products, meat, fruits and nuts, optical and medical instruments, iron, steel
Main import partners Germany 14.39%, China 13.98%, Ukraine 5.48%, Italy 4.84%, US 4.46% (2009)
Gross external debt $471.6 billion (2010 est.)
Public finances
Public debt 9.5% of GDP (2010 est.)
Revenues $202.7 billion (2009 est.)
Expenses $301.4 billion (2009 est.)
Credit rating

Standard & Poor's:[8]
BBB+ (Domestic)
BBB (Foreign)
BBB (T&C Assessment)
Outlook: Stable[9]
Moody's:[9]
Baa1
Outlook: Stable
Fitch:[9]
BBB
Outlook: Positive

Foreign reserves US$502.496 billion (April 2011)[10]
Main data source: CIA World Fact Book
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars

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Win a pair of L’Oreal Paris New White Perfect - Transparent Rosy Whitening

Competition Starts on May 23rd, 2011 Ends on Jun 8th, 2011

Congratulations to Syeda Sara from Karachi on winning the "Win a pair of L’Oreal Paris New White Perfect - Transparent Rosy Whitening"
http://www.fashioncentral.pk/pakistani/competitions/contest-24-win-pair-of-loreal-paris-new-white-perfect-transparent-rosy-whitening/

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Karachi: Heavy rains and its aftermath claimed 10 lives in Pakistan's biggest city on Saturday and disrupted normal life, leaving thousands stranded on water-clogged roads and arteries for hours.

The local administration confirmed that 10 people, including three women and two children of one family, had died in Ranchor Lines area.

"All the deaths have occurred due to electrocution and in Chuna Bhatt lane in Ranchore Lines three women and two children died after touching a live wire," one official said.

He said the women had died while trying to save the children.

In another tragic incident a swimming instructor, Saleem was electrocuted while wrapping up a training session in the pool in which a live wire fell unexpectedly.

The downpour that started in the afternoon and lasted for more than an hour left the civic life in total disarray as gutters and sewerage lines overflowed on the roads and the main arteries for traffic were completely choked.

The traffic police advised people to avoid unnecessary travelling as heavy traffic jams were witnessed in many areas.

Chief Meteorologist Naeem Shah said more rains are expected over the next 24 hours and a new system of rain is expected to start from September 13.

He said that 70 millimetres of rain had been recorded in the Karachi Airport area.

As usual the downpour also led to the tripping of feeders in many areas leaving them without power for hours.

The heavy rains and flash floods have already caused widespread misery and destruction in the interior areas of the Sindh province with millions left homeless and thousands of acres of crops destroyed as the government struggles to cope with the natural disaster.

The ongoing rains have left a trail of destruction, particularly in rural Sindh due to a breakdown of basic infrastructure and flooding.

PTI

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KARACHI: Sporadic rains in different areas of the province of Sindh continued unabated, while fifty villages in the district of Khairpur were washed away in the onrush of flooding rain water last night.


Torrential rains continued lashing Khairpur overnight inundating the low lying vast areas in the district, while in the hilly areas the gushing rain water down the hill entered into the Chawandko town and the adjoining villages that wreaked havoc

Khairpur DCO, Muhammad Abbas Baloch said that the gushing rain water has inundated fifty villages.

Dadu district was also hit by intermittent heavy rains over the night that further aggravated the situation as the district has been in the spell of heavy monsoon rain for the last four days destroying standing crops on hundreds of acres of land.

Gaj River in the hilly areas of Kirthar went flooded, under construction Drighbala Johi Bridge has been washed away by the flooding water, disconnecting land communication of hundreds of villages of Kachoo from Tehsil Johi.

In Hyderabad Wednesday evening several feet of water accumulated in low lying areas of the city. The sewage system and electricity supply to the city was severely affected and the administration was nowhere to be seen. Several feet of water was seen standing due to choked sewerage system at Haider Chowk, Latifabad No.6, Liaquat Colony, Station Road, and Railway Colony besides roads and streets in most parts of the city.

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