Houstonian (V9-I25)

Houston Police Dept. Releases the “Top Ten Stolen Vehicles” List

The following is a rundown of the “Top 10” makes of vehicles that were stolen during the month of May 2007. The models stolen most often are listed in parenthesis:

1. Ford Trucks = 248; 2. Chevrolet Trucks = 163; 3. Honda Cars = 136 (Civic = 60.29%, Accord = 32.35%); 4. Dodge Trucks = 131; 5. Dodge Cars = 75 (Intrepid = 48.00%, Neon, 13.33%); 6. Ford Cars = 74 (Taurus = 56.76%, Mustang 16.22%); 7. Chevrolet Cars = 52 (Impala = 30.77%, Caprice = 13.46%); 8. GMC = 47; 9. Toyota Cars = 41 (Camry = 60.98%, Corolla, 21.95%); 10. Nissan Cars = 40 (Sentra = 40.00%, Altima = 30.00%).

For more information, contact Officer Betty Doss of the HPD Auto Theft Division at 713-308-3500.

Smaller Cities Are Competing As Well: PCC-USA / TTC Seminar in Houston

Honorary Advisor on Investment to the Government of Pakistan Faisal Amin ably administered a seminar this past weekend. It was attended by Houston dignitaries, university and college professors, entrepreneurs and investors. It was the “Seminar on IT Industry in Pakistan.”

This program was organized at Shahnai Restaurant by Pakistan Chambers of Commerce–USA (PCC-USA) and Texas Trade Council (TTC). The program was generously under-written by AT&T, Sterling Bank, Oil Products Distribution and PCC-USA. Officials attended from companies including the South Asian Chambers of Commerce, Asian Chambers of Commerce, Houston West Chambers of Commerce, Houston Minority Business Council, Houston Community College, Houston Independent School District, State of Texas, University of Houston, Rice University, Asian Pacific American Heritage Association and Asia Society.

The keynote speaker was Mr. Farrakh Qayyum, Federal Secretary of Pakistan in the Ministry of Information, Technology and Tele-Communications.

Also present were Mr. Yusuf Hussain, Managing Director of Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB); Dr. Zia Ahmed, Commercial Counselor at the Houston Pakistani Consulate and Mr. Ghulam Rasul Baluch, Counsel General of Pakistan in Houston.

All those Executive Members of PCC-USA and PCC-USA Young Entrepreneurs who could attend did–like Asad Abbasi, Tarek Waleed, Amir Khan, Pervez Iqbal, Tariq Zaka, Mumtaz Khan were present: President Elect Saeed Sheikh in the absence of President Gul Faraz Khan (who is in Pakistan) and founding president Ashraf Abbasi welcomed all the guests, while the most recent president Haroon Sheikh gave the Vote of Thanks.

Houston Councilperson M.J. Khan presented the Secretary Mr. Farrakh Qayyum with a Proclamation Certificate of Honorary Citizenship of Houston and Goodwill Ambassador of Houston.

Hon. M. J. Khan, G. R. Baluch and Faisal Amin all reiterated the fact that as the fourth largest metropolis of the USA, Houston is one of the most diversified cities of the world–and in the next few decades, the USA will become exactly like Houston is today.

The main points that came out of the Seminar were that the government of Pakistan has developed special E-Theft-&-Piracy Laws, which are being enforced with international consultancy.

Intellectual property is most secured in present Pakistan. Several IT Parks have been established in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi-Islamabad. Also smaller places like Gujranwala, Bahawalpur, Faisalabad, Multan and Hyderabad are producing very well-educated youths every year in the thousands who are competing very well in the ever developing IT Industry in Pakistan. Due to lower fees of leasing office space in smaller cities, these above mentioned cities are also ideal for investing. Proper infrastructure has reached these smaller cities as well, he said, and the time has come when several Indian companies are outsourcing work to Pakistan.

Nano Technology, Bio-Chemical Industry, Renewable Energy Sources, Clean Energies plus Oil & Gas Fields are all booming and more information can be received from Dr. Zia Ahmed, Commercial Counselor at the Houston Pakistani Consulate 281-894-6605.

Pakistan is ready for all kinds of investments: Added Mr. Qayyum. Some websites to check before embarking upon investment in Pakistan are: www.pseb.org.pk / www.infopak.gov.pk

Religion Vs Public Policy

AP–The research results are in from Texas Lyceum, the public policy group doing their inaugural study, where they talked with more than 1,000 Texans between April 26 and May 7. It was found that as most of the Americans, the Texans are religious and according to the University of Texas pollster Daron Shaw: “It is not surprising – While close to a majority say they have personally had a born-again experience, there is considerable diversity on a range of religious and values issues.”

By and large, the research shows Texans support stem cell research and a woman’s right to seek an abortion– at least under certain circumstances. On the other side of the coin, the same polling data also shows strong support among Texans for the death penalty, school vouchers, faith-based initiatives and public displays of the Ten Commandments.

“What this poll shows is that Texans are independent thinkers, and context matters. The particulars of this context are something that public policy makers and political strategists should care about,” Shaw said.

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