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Baluchistan is considered to be the “Kurdistan of central Asia”. Its financial and physical worth is of an attire importance for many and has always been the centre of attention for China, Iran, India and the United states. Being plunged with Gold and coal reserves along with natural gas reserves, Baluchistan is considered to be a patch of fortune on the surface of this earth.

Baluchistan has Gold reserves of more than a staggering $1000 billion in worth. Reko diq is a small town in the chagai district in Baluchistan which is situated in a desert area 70 kilometers north-west of naukundi near the Iran-Afghan border.  The sand is surely a camouflage and hiding underneath it is some 12.3 million tons of copper and 20.9 million ounces of gold which are believed to be even bigger than those of Sarcheshmeh in Iran and Escondido in Chile. Named after a famous ancient volcano, Reko diq is undoubtedly the centre of attention for many.

But the picture isn’t as vivid as it appears. There is a complete black out situation as far as news from the province is concerned as most of the Pakistanis are naive and unaware of the rising conflicts in Baluchistan. Gruesome developments taking place in Baluchistan are not known by many. Both the army and the government are playing two different roles in the region. There is an ongoing conflict between the Baloch nationalists and the government of Pakistan over Baluchistan. Moreover, the Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA) is an extremist wing based in Baluchistan which has been striving hard ever since the summers of 2000 to establish an independent state of Baluchistan free from Pakistani and Iranian rule. The group has claimed a long line of grievances which also includes the lack of economic development in the province despite the relative wealth of its gas fields and gold mines. The whining doesn’t end here, as they further accuse the government of not paying royalties up to the mark for the resources being utilized and a few other matters including the employment of non-balochis as opposed to the natives and formation of military training facilities which sabotages the normal freedom of living. Balochi nationalism is nothing new and can be traced back to 1973 where the independent Baluchistan movement was aimed at establishing an independent state gathering together all the balochi areas of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Following the trend of terrorist groups, the BLA has a structure comprising both of paramilitary and cellular components. Different units are assigned to a number of variable camps out of which a handful are assigned at planting explosives and assassinating targets. In terms of weaponry, there has never been a shortfall in the supply of ammunition in Baluchistan. Most of the arms are left over from the previous conflicts and it is therefore, assumed that an “external hand” is also involved actively in funding these terrorist groups although; conclusive determinations are difficult to come by. There are clans involved in recruitments and targets to be achieved and their main targets are natural resource which is harvested by the central government. Natural gas pipelines and oil fields are the major anticipated pinpoints which are randomly attacked by BLA. Analysts assume that plans were already there to support the insurgency in Baluchistan and planners were waiting for the right moment in time to set things to motion. There is a deadly game going on with a gloomy picture and no discrimination between the friend and the foe!

According to the wiki leaks network, India has been involved in the insurgency of Baluchistan and has been involved in training the members of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) in a number of camps along the afghan border. Israel has been accused on the same grounds for supporting and funding the insurgency in Baluchistan. According to the ex-president Mr. Musharraf, Pakistan had proof lines conforming that India and Afghanistan were recklessly involved in providing efforts in arranging weapons, training and funding for Baloch extremists through Brahamdagh Bugti and Baloch Marri, two Baloch nationalists, who were living in Kabul.

Although according to estimated figures, it is claimed that Baluchistan can generate $58 billion a year right after gaining independence, which by all means is enough to sustain a piece of land and a few million lives (3.25M), but it is argued that Baluchistan cannot sustain as an independent country.

What is spared from this is bestowed to the sardars and waderas who have been a major negative aspect of Baluchistan. At present the sardari system is the basic characteristic of Baluchistan in general and the specific baloch areas in particular. This has developed and has been a part of Baluchistan since centuries and will continue to remain the dark side of Baluchistan for the coming times to come. These specific tribes’ heads enjoy unlimited powers and a sense of superiority over the masses without the fear of any slightest fear of resistance from the weak. The picture portrays lifeless human beings like chess pieces found on a chess board waiting for others to command them. They command them to even breathe with their permission and compel others to avoid all sorts of basic commodities of life. Here the standard of living can be found at its lowest with lack of education at the maximum point and those who, somehow, manage to gain some knowledge through education are forced to leave the areas. Most sardars maintain their own jails and armed detachments that act as police and provoke the traditional “sacred right” so as to demand a share of the population’s income as their right. Efforts to dissolve this anti-humanity secular system have proved fruitless so far and no wonder will remain like this until a wave of change will rise and hit the deck of this patch of fortune.

There is hardly anyone optimistic for these issues to be resolved instantaneously but a first step is yet to be taken. Baluchistan is the one of the richest and tremendously blessed patch of land on the surface of this earth and obliged we should be  that this piece of land is a part of our country but our personal differences, lack of knowledge and the so called superior/inferior concept is taking us down at a voluptuous rate. Someone has to take the first step; may it be you or may it be me!

Not all blogs are created with the intention of making money. But blogging can be lucrative. If you want to make money from your blog, have you figured out a monetization strategy yet? Some bloggers worry that making money could drive away some readers or make people question their integrity. And if you go about it the wrong way, that can happen.

You don’t have to fall into that trap though. It’s about exercising restraint and conducting tests until you fine the best monetization strategies for your own blog and target audience. Sometimes people think of big banner ads and leave it at that. But there’s so much more worth considering. Just to give you some ideas to start with, here are five potential ways you can make money from your own blog or website.

Ad networks (like Google Adsense) allow you to place ads on your site or blog from a third party service. These ads are often contextual, which means the network places ads on your site based on the content of each individual page. That is designed to keep the ads relevant to your audience (and therefore make them seem a bit less spammy).

Of course sometimes ads you don’t want to support will slip through. The ad networks generally have a way for you to log into your account and ban specific advertisers. For example, you might do this if a competitor’s site is advertised.

Private sponsorships can be a good option for making money from your site or blog, but they can also be the most questionable if you aren’t careful. These types of ads take many forms. For example, a privately placed banner ad or text link is a private sponsorship. So is a paid review or paid “guest” article from the sponsor.

It’s always a good idea to disclose these paid relationships on the site or blog to minimize the impact they can have on visitors’ trust. Real problems mostly seem to crop up in cases where the sponsorships influence the editorial side of the blog — like a company paying for a review and requiring that the review be positive. That’s unethical, so you have to be prepared to deal with those requests or the consequences if you accept them.

Sometimes blogs and traditional website content are supported by additional features or premium content on the site. For example, you might run a paid niche Web directory and have a blog attached to it. Or you might have a paid classified section on your website.

The blog content or other content on the site is there as a free resource to attract relevant visitors and interest them in other features. Those other features in turn support the production of new content by serving as an income stream.

Affiliate programs are another popular option for monetizing blogs and websites. The idea is simple. You promote another person’s product on your site. And every time someone who is referred from your site makes a purchase, you get a cut of the purchase price.

This is another case where you have to be careful about crossing ethical bounds — such as giving positive reviews of bad products you’ve never really tried just to make sales and get income. I find honest (and balanced) reviews tend to interest readers more, and in turn lead to more sales anyway. That means I not only review the positive elements of a product, but I also offer a few suggestions for improvement if I have any.

It builds trust between you and your readers, so when you do recommend that they buy something, they know you really mean it. If you positively review bad products for the money, you might get away with it once or twice but eventually people will catch on and they’ll stop buying affiliate products you recommend.

Probably the most lucrative option for monetizing a website or blog is to sell your products. That doesn’t mean you have to get into retailing physical products. You can create “information products” instead.

For example, you can write and sell e-books. You can create informational “kits” to help people do something. You could sell forms and templates related to your niche, maybe in packages instead of individually. You might develop a piece of software or an app. Anything you can deliver digitally can be a good move with little overhead effort (like packing and shipping).

Better yet, create your own products and get others to help you sell them. While you can sell directly to your own site’s audience, other bloggers can join your affiliate program to help you make more sales. While you pay out a portion to your affiliates, you still earn a portion of the sale for yourself even without added effort.

It isn’t as difficult to make money blogging or by developing websites as many people think. The main problem is jumping into a monetization strategy that isn’t right for your site (like assuming ad networks will work for everyone). You need to get to know your audience. Would they have a problem with a bunch of ads on your site? Then consider selling your own products instead. Do they tend to trust you a lot? Then why not make some honest affiliate product recommendations? The key is to always put the audience first. It’s only when you become “all about the money” that you risk ruining your reputation in the process. And that’s an easy mistake to avoid.

How do you make money online? What kinds of products do you sell? How do you disclose affiliate and sponsor relationships on your website? Leave a comment below to share your stories and tips.

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.
~Lao Tzu

When you think of ‘leadership,’ what comes to mind is probably managers working in companies, politicians or other people with a high public profile. There are many roles where leadership is overtly part of the job, but the qualities of leadership are needed in all kinds of different situations. If you’re a parent, then you need the skills of a leader. If you’re married, you’re a leader. If you have to teach a class or manage a family budget, you’re a leader. There’s really no getting away from it. Unless you live in a cave, it’s hard to live a happy and productive life without developing and using leadership skills.

So what are the essential traits of good leadership?

Great leaders are role models. They are examples of the kinds of behavior they want to see in other people – risk taking, proactivity, self-reflection, honesty.

A good leader is able to empathize, to put himself in the shoes of another person, to recognize that other perspectives are valid and useful.

Good leaders never stop learning. They do not arrogantly believe that they know best in every situation, but are always on the lookout for new ways of doing things. They will seek the views of others and change their own ideas and ways of doing things accordingly.

Great leaders encourage open communication. They develop a culture where peolpe feel able to speak freely. She will spend time and energy trying to communicate in a genuine way. Meetings and conversations will be interactive and not just on person lecturing another. She will genuinely be open to what is said and will look under the surface to see what other people are really trying to say.

They encourage and support risk taking, encourage new kinds of thinking, originality and fresh perspectives. New ideas often fail when first implemented, and many innovations will lead nowhere. But without a culture which supports people in trying new things and seeing failure as useful feedback about what does and doesn’t work, great ideas will never see the light of day.

A great leader will give people freedom. She will empower people to take ownership of their own situation, to find their own solutions. They recognize that there are usually many different ways to get a job done well, and will give people the freedom to do so, not artificially imposing rules or restrictions.

A great leader never tries to force change. Situations can never be changed sustainably through force. Real, lasting change comes about when leaders carefully observe situations and follow their natural structure. They have a light touch – holding on too tight and being inflexible are sure ways to failure. A poor leader will try to control everything, but a great leader will know when to act and whan to leave well alone (which is very often). Lao Tzu wrote, ‘Governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish – too much handling will spoil it.’

Above all, great leaders make people feel good. There are always good things happening, and a good leader will always focus on success, good qualities, the things going right. He is positive and knows that the future is bright.

Think about areas in your life where leadership matters. Paying more attention to your leadership skills could make a huge difference to your work, your family or your business. Read more about organizational leadership degrees.

Do you run one or more blogs? Are you planning on launching one? You’ve probably come across some different hosting options to consider including free blog hosts (such as with WordPress.com) and self-hosted blogs (what you get at WordPress.org for example). Which should you use?

First let’s take a quick look at what each of these options are to help clarify them for new or soon-to-be bloggers. Then we’ll look at some factors to consider when making a blog hosting decision for your own situation.

A free blog host is a company / website that hosts your blog for you at no cost. Usually your blog will be located on their domain name rather than your own. For example, one popular option is Blogspot.com(tied to Google’s Blogger platform). Instead of your blog being located at www.YourBlog.com, it would be located at http://yourblog.blogspot.com.

I’ve had new bloggers approach me with questions about self-hosted blogs, because they assume the term means you host the blog on your own home or business computer, using your private ISP. That’s not the case. Self-hosted means you’ll sign up for a hosting account with a Web hosting company (which you pay for) and you register your own domain (which you can pay to register in yearly increments). You then connect that domain to your hosting account and use the server resources available to you to host your blog.

Here are a few things to consider when deciding whether you should use a free blog host or self-hosted blog installation:

Clearly I recommend self-hosted blogs for most bloggers. The level of control and flexibility you’ll get make it more than worthwhile. And coming from a marketing and PR background I can tell you it’s much easier to promote your own domain than a subdomain on someone else’s site (where you’re really promoting them as much as yourself).

Some people disagree, especially in the last couple of years. That’s because some free blog hosts have started allowing users to get some of the benefits of self-hosting, such as letting you use your own domain name. Let’s talk about why that isn’t necessarily the best option still.

Here’s the thing. Either you use a free blog host or you pay for hosting. Once you start upgrading features with a “free” blog host, it’s not free anymore. These hosts charge for access to individual features you would normally have included with your own hosting account — like the ability to make it a commercial blog or the ability to add non-standard themes or designs.

My philosophy is this — if you’re going to pay to host your blog and get the features you want anyway, pay for a real Web hosting account. You’ll get full control and your blog will never become stranded if you want to move the site later. Permanently redirecting old files to new ones is easy when you own the original hosting account and have registered the domain in your own name.

It’s not quite as easy when a third party still owns your old blog domain because it’s a subdomain of their own site (and even if you have a domain attached to the account, your posts are still technically tied to that subdomain). The risk of losing links and traffic if you move your site later is too big if you’re a serious blogger and blogs are related to your business.

If you want a simple personal blog, free blog hosts might be a good option for you. But if you plan to blog for your business, it’s strongly suggested that you consider self-hosting your own blog. You can always switch from self-hosting to a free host later if you want to and you won’t have to worry about redirect issues like you would if you moved things the other way around.

What kind of hosting do you use for your blogs and how did you choose that option? Are you happy with it? Leave a comment below to tell us about it.

You’ve probably heard that social media tools can be great for promoting your website or blog. Maybe you’ve even jumped in and tried a few. Now it’s time to take social media more seriously — to build a social media marketing plan that incorporates some of the right tools for promoting your unique website or blog to your unique audience.

In order to come up with the right social media mix for your website or blog, you have to know your options. Here are three of the biggest to consider.

Chances are good that if you’re not already involved with social networks, you at least know some of the big ones (like Facebook and LinkedIn). Social networks differ from some other social media options in that you can combine both short and long messages when you network (as opposed to something like microblogging).

Generally to promote your site or blog through social networks, you’ll use a combination of message broadcasting, content marketing strategies, and personal interactions with your online connections or “friends.”

Microblogging services such as Twitter give you another way to promote your website or blog. You post short updates (in this case no more than 140 characters each). You might update your general status during the day, post blurbs about site news or your progress on a new site feature, or you could use it to share links to your latest blog posts.

Just remember that social media is largely about two-way communication. So don’t leave it at broadcasting link after link. Share other interesting links from people you follow. Listen to what they have to say to you (it’s a great way to get quick visitor feedback). And interact with people on a one-on-one basis if you want to make your social networking more meaningful.

Remember, when people genuinely like you and what you have to offer (as opposed to feeling like you’re just around to spam your links), they’re more likely to spread the word for you.

Social bookmarking and content aggregation services (such as Digg and StumbleUpon) are other ways to share your blog post links or links on any website. The idea isn’t just to share them yourself though.

The idea is to create content so riveting that visitors just can’t help but bookmark your links, add them to aggregators, and share them with their own audiences. Using these services helps you keep your focus on creating a high quality website.

No matter what social media marketing tools you choose to use personally, it’s equally important to let your visitors choose which social media tools they want to use if or when they promote your website or blog. And you have to make it easy on them if you want them to make the effort to share your links, comment on your content, or interact with you through social networks and microblogging services.

How can you do that? Try adding social media buttons to your website’s pages (or blog posts). For example, you’ve likely seen “Digg this” or “Retweet” buttons on blogs that let you click a link and quickly share an interesting article you’ve read. But go beyond just one or two tools. Give your visitors easy access to the most commonly used social media tools in your niche or industry.

How do you use social media to promote your website or blog? How have you sorted through the mess of social media tools to find the right ones to help you reach your specific audience? Share your stories or tips in the comments below.