Iran: Pakistan revise ties with U.S.

In a statement issued on Wednesday the Iranian parliament called on Pakistan to revise its relations with the United States.

The statement, signed by 224 MPs, condemned the recent attack on the Pakistan army by U.S. forces and called on Pakistani lawmakers to revise Islamabad’s ties with Washington.

The statement came after NATO helicopters and fighter jets attacked two military border posts in northwest Pakistan on Saturday in which 24 Pakistani troops were killed. It was the worst incident of its kind since Islamabad allied itself with Washington in 2001 in the war on al-Qaeda and Taliban.

U.S. forces have shed bloods of Pakistan’s sons another time and made Muslims upset, the statement said, adding it neither was the first violent act nor will be the last one.

It's the time that Pakistani lawmakers respond to people’s request and take an effective strategy to prevent the U.S. from committing further crimes and violating Pakistan’s territorial integrity.

"We, as representative of the Iranian Muslim people, would like to extend our condolences to… the great nation of Pakistan," part of the statement said.

A senior Pakistani army official has said the NATO cross-border air attack was a deliberate, blatant act of aggression.

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Effects of NATO attack on pakistani troops

Nato expressed regret on Sunday over air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers as the United States sought to repair relations with Islamabad, plunged into fresh crisis over the lethal attack. Pakistan reacted with fury over the killings of two dozen soldiers, widely interpreted in the local media as a "deliberate" assault by Nato helicopters and fighter jets on two military posts on the Afghan border early on Saturday.

Islamabad conveyed its anger to the United States, blocked Nato convoys from crossing into Afghanistan, ordered a review of its alliance with the US and mulled whether to boycott a key conference on Afghanistan next month. Hundreds of enraged Pakistanis took to the streets, burning an effigy of President Barack Obama and setting fire to US flags across the country of 167 million where opposition to the government's US alliance is rampant.

At the largest rally, attended by 700 people outside the US consulate in the port city of Karachi, protestors shouted "stay away Americans, Pakistan is ours, we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our army". The United States, which depends on Pakistan as a vital lifeline to supply 130 000 foreign troops fighting in landlocked Afghanistan, on Sunday scrambled to salvage the alliance, backing a full inquiry and expressing condolences.

Nato also sought to soothe Islamabad's rage, but stopped short of issuing a full apology to Pakistan for the "tragic, unintended" killings. A Western official said allies were trying to ascertain "exactly" what Pakistan's public position meant and to prevent lasting damage as a result of the suspended supply lines into Afghanistan. Investigators are to examine whether Afghan and American troops along the border may have been fired upon first - whether by insurgents or soldiers - and to what extent their operation was co-ordinated with Pakistan.

Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen issued a statement, saying he had written to Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. "I have written... to make it clear that the deaths of Pakistani personnel are as unacceptable and deplorable as the deaths of Afghan and international personnel," he said. "This was a tragic unintended incident."

Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar earlier telephoned US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to convey a "deep sense of rage" as a joint funeral was held for the dead soldiers, their coffins draped in the national flag.

Khar said attacks on military outposts were "totally unacceptable", contravened international law and violated Pakistani sovereignty.

She spoke to Clinton to inform her of Pakistan's response, formulated at an emergency meeting of cabinet ministers and military chiefs, saying that Pakistan was forced "to revisit the terms of engagement".

Pakistan said its attendance at a conference of more than 90 delegations due in Germany on December 5 was "being examined", although a boycott is considered unlikely given how much Pakistan stands to lose by not attending.

US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Clinton offered their "deepest condolences" and backed "Nato's intention to investigate immediately".
They stressed the importance of the US-Pakistani partnership and pledged to remain in close contact with Pakistan "through this challenging time".

Pakistan's army chief Ashfaq Kayani, who had hosted the US commander in Afghanistan for talks on co-ordination only one day before the attack, led the mourners in funeral prayers in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

In September 2010, Pakistan also shut the main land route for Nato supplies at Torkham for 11 days after accusing Nato of killing three Pakistani troops.

The border was reopened after the United States formally apologised and most commentators expect the latest crisis to be resolved similarly.

The fact that Pakistan also ordered the United States to leave the Shamsi air base, reportedly used as a hub for US drone strikes on militants, was also interpreted as a sign of Islamabad's relatively limited options.

Pakistan, which depends on billions of dollars in US aid, has made similar demands in the past and there have been reports that American personnel already left the secretive base, southwest of Islamabad, earlier this year.

Nato troops frequently carry out operations against Taliban insurgents close to the border with Pakistan, which in many places is unmarked, as Pakistani troops also wrestle with putting down a home grown Taliban insurgency.

Afghan and US officials have frequently accused Pakistani troops at worst of colluding with the Taliban or at best of standing by while insurgents fire across the border, often in clear sight of Pakistani border posts.

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Jihad Rallies in Pakistan against US

Jamaat-ud-Dawah student wing staged a demonstration in front of Lahore Press Club on Tuesday to condemn Nato attack on Pakistan Army checkpost and later took out a rally up to Nasir Bagh where charged activists chanted slogans against the Pakistan government and the US and demanded waging a jihad against the American forces inside Pakistan to drive them out.
Leaders of JD and other religious parties addressing the participants of the demonstration demanded permanently cutting off Nato supplies from Pakistan, dissociating from US war on terror and expelling all US military and other personnel from Pak soil besides closing down US embassy and consulates.
The leaders who addressed participants included JD foreign affairs head Hafiz Abdul Rehman Makki, Tehrik Hurmat Rasool convenor Maulana Ameer Hamza, Tehrik Azadi Jammu Kashmir chief Hafiz Saifullah Mansoor, Tehrik Faizan-e-Aulia chief Pir Akhtar Rasool Qadri, Maulana Naeem Badshah, JI Lahore leader Amirul Azeem, Abdullah Gull, JUP leader Bashir Nizami, Haris Dar, Ziaul Hasan Shah, Sh Mazhar Shafi, Maulana Hansain Siddiqi, Hafiz Khalid Waleed, Muzammil Iqbal, Idris Farooqi, Engr Osama, Rizwan Mahmood and others.
They demanded that the political and military leadership for taking revenge from US according to Quranic injuction of Qisas.
They further demanded that US should fight her so-called war on terror on her own, while all the agreements with them should be revoked at once and asked the rulers and military commanders not to show cowardice on this critical juncture.
They also demanded shooting down the US drones besides closing down all US bases in and covert CIA stations in country.
Later, the participants marched in shape of a rally via Abbot Road, Lakshmi Chowk, Nila Gumbad and Lower Mall up to Naisr Bagh raising anti-US and anti-India slogans. Meanwhile, PTI Women Wing of the Punjab held a protest demonstration in front of the US Consulate in the provincial capital on Tuesday against the Nato strike inside Pakistan, martyring Pak-Army soldiers.
PTI (women wing) president Punjab, Saloni Bokhari led the demonstration, while leaders including Talath Naqvi, Aneela Malik, Dr Nousheen Hamid Miraj, Shahnaz Perveen, Sadia Sohail, Ayesha Khalid, Yasmine Khan, Dr Seemi Bokhari, Neelam Ashraf and Sarwat Salim were also present on this occasion along with dozens of activists.

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BBC is blocked in Pakistan

Pakistan said Wednesday it was looking at summoning the BBC to demand an explanation over a documentary about the Taliban that has left the BBC World News channel blocked nationwide.

Cable operators pulled the channel late Tuesday amid anger over NATO air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

The move raises concerns about censorship in the conservative Muslim country of 167 million, where Facebook was briefly banned in 2010, just days after the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority sought to ban "obscene" text messages.

Khalid Arain, chairman of the Cable Operators Association of Pakistan, confirmed that BBC World News was off-air nationwide and that other Western news channels had been ordered "not to indulge in anti-Pakistan propaganda".

The row relates to a two-part BBC documentary, "Secret Pakistan," which questions Pakistan's commitment to tackling Taliban militancy.

The BBC said it was deeply concerned by the move, and called for its channel to be speedily reinstated.

Pakistan's media regulator, PEMRA, said: "Definitely, since an issue has been highlighted, the authorities will review the contents of the broadcast and their programmes."

"The authorities can summon BBC representatives and seek an explanation from them," PEMRA spokesman Tahir Izhar told AFP.

Arain said Pakistan was not legally bound to show any foreign channels and was also monitoring Britain's Sky News for "any objectionable content."

Pakistan has aroused increasing criticism overseas and from human rights campaigners within the country over censorship. The row over the BBC saw people post links to the documentary on their Facebook and Twitter accounts.

"It is clear violation of our basic right to information. I condemn it," said Shujauddin Qureshi, a human rights activist.

Saad Haroon wrote on Twitter, "They have taken BBC off the air in Pakistan, great, now we will be the LAST to know when they bomb us."

Last week, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority was forced to row back from banning text messages containing any of nearly 1,700 "obscene" words, many of which were seemingly innocuous, following outrage from users and campaigners.

Pakistan blocked Facebook for nearly two weeks in May 2010 in a storm of controversy.

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Comedian Patrice O'Neal dead at 41

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BY Bill Hutchinson & Cristina Everett Patrice O'Neal's last TV performance was at the 'Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen' in September. Comedian Patrice O'Neal, who made fans laugh with jokes about race and his jumbo size, died Tuesday. The booking agent for Patrice O'Neal has confirmed to CNN that the comedian and entertainer died Tuesday morning following an illness. He was 41. "Many of us have lost a close and loved friend; all of us have lost a true comic genius. Comedian Patrice O'Neal dies, had suffered stroke.

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Richest Pakistani Mian Muhammad Mansha

mian muhammad mansha mian muhammad mansha daughter mian muhammad mansha family mian muhammad mansha children mian muhammad mansha email mian muhammad mansha forbes mian muhammad mansha contact number mian muhammad mansha address mian muhammad mansha yaha mian muhammad mansha yaha wikipedia Mian Muhammad Mansha – a name signifying continuous struggle, hard work and a faith so very firm in his Allah that nothing on the face of this earth ever stopped him from attaining the goodies that life had in store for him and he did attain the giddy heights of glory, for sure.

Fortune: Inherited and Growing

Source: 62

Country Of Citizenship:Pakistan

Residence: Lahore

Education: NA

Marital Status: Married, 3 children

His Nishat Group is now Pakistan's largest exporter of cotton clothes (for brands like Gap) and nation's largest private employer; also invests in power projects, cement and insurance. Smart bet in banking: Won a controversial bid for Muslim Commercial Bank during the country's privatization push in 1991.

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Polio Virus in Pakistan

 Polio virus has been found in an eight-month old girl in Basti Bhattian village of Sadiqabad tehsil, 60km from here.

Rahim Yar Khan district had been polio free for the last seven years.

According to health officials, infant Sonia missed the vaccination. Initially, her family took her to Swaitra Chowk Basic Health Unit from where she was referred to polio surveillance team in-charge Dr Zaheer Sattar. She was admitted to Sadiqabad Tehsil Headquarters Hospital.

After Islamabad’s National Institute of Health diagnosed that Sonia had been suffering from acute flaccid paralysis, she was shifted to Shaikh Zayed Hospital in RY Khan.

District Health Officer Dr Ghulam Rabbani said Sonia missed the polio vaccination and added that show-cause notices had been issued to four health employees — union council vaccinator Murad, tehsil inspector (vaccination) Jahangir Khan, tehsil assistant superintendent (vaccination) Muhammad Farooq and district superintendent (vaccination) Faqeer Muhammad — for their negligence. He said Sonia was being treated at Shaikh Zayed Hospital and her condition was improving.

When this correspondent visited the hospital, doctors on duty were unaware of admission of any such child to the hospital. Medical Superintendent Dr Mushtaq Ahmed said no polio victim had been admitted to the hospital.

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Lahore High Court: Haqqani won't leave

The federal government on Monday assured the Lahore High Court that former Pakistani ambassador to US Husain Haqqani would not leave the country before the completion of inquiry about ‘Memogate scandal.
Two deputy attorney generals (DAGs) appeared before the court as Justice Umar Ata Bandial admitted for regular hearing the petition seeking for directions to federal government to place the name of Husain Haqqani on ECL (exit control list) and initiate high treason proceedings against him on charges of violating Constitution.
The law officers of the federal government also informed the court that the investigation about the ‘Memogate scandal’ would be carried out under the supervision of chairman of the parliamentary committee on national security (PCNS) Senator Raza Rabbani.
Justice Umar Ata Bandial directed the law officers to submit their written reply and adjourned the hearing till December 09.The judge ordered the petitioner, Barrister Javed Iqbal Jafree, to include the names of secretary interior and foreign affairs on request of DAGs that they might have more relevant information about the memo issue. A citizen Iftikhar Rajpoot, thorough his counsel Barrister Javed Iqbal Jafree, had filed the petition and made parties the Cabinet Secretary, Nargis Sethi, Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Ch Nisar Ali Khan, Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Attorney General of Pakistan Maulvi Anwarul Haq in the petition. He said Haqqani sent a derogatory letter to former US military chief Mike Mullen through a US-based Pakistani businessman Mansoor Ijaz against Pakistan Army and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
By doing this, he said, Haqqani tarnished the image of both Pakistan and its armed forces and made an attempt to pledge Pakistan’s sovereignty to America. He said Haqqani was holding dual nationality of Pakistan and US. He said in the past he was appointed Pakistani ambassador in Sri Lanka against merit during Nawaz Sharif stint as prime minister.
Later, (Haqqani) changed party and joined ‘Zardari Group’ and got lucrative post of Pakistani ambassador in US again in violation of merit. Barrister Jafree said Haqqani wasted and minted huge amount of public money (5 million dollars) in unsuccessful defence of Dr Aafia Siddiqui in US Courts that not only caused humiliation to Pakistan but Aafia was also sentenced for life term.
Petitioner said in order to reveal the truth the lie detecting machine be applied on Haqqani and other politicians. He requested the court to direct all the respondents to declare their all national and foreign assets along with affidavits.

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Memo and Pakistan nuclear installations

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that every Pakistani was shocked at the martyrdom of army personnel in the Nato attack and is rightly asking as to why boundaries and national sovereignty of Pakistan are being violated again and again.

He said that unless Pakistan decided to stand on its own feet and renounced the charity by foreigners, its sovereignty would continue to be jeopardised in the same manner. He said we would have to foil the conspiracies being hatched against the motherland and the Ulema and Mashaikh would have to play their key role in this regard.

The chief minister was addressing a meeting of Ittehad Bainul Muslimeen Committee held in connection with Muharramul Haram at the Chief Ministerís Secretariat here on Monday.

He said the entire Muslim world, including Pakistan, was passing through the most critical phase of its history and the motherland was facing an explosive situation and it was unfortunate that on the one hand, the nation was shocked at the Nato attack while on the other hand, its own persons were involved in hatching a conspiracy against the country in form of memo scandal which was aimed at nothing but to damage the interests of the country and to give the nuclear capability to foreigners. He said the leadership of the PML-N had filed a petition in the Supreme Court, believing that the court would certainly expose all unholy characters involved in that conspiracy.

Shahbaz said Ittehad Bainul Muslimeen Committee had always played a commendable role in the maintenance of sectarian harmony and law and order and sectarian hatred had considerably been decreased due to its efforts. He said that due to cooperation of the Ulema and administrative measures of the government, law and order situation in Punjab during the last Muharram remained exemplary and no untoward incident took place. He said the Punjab government had also constituted other committees at district, tehsil, village and union council level. He said the meeting had been held to seek invaluable proposals of Ulema, to benefit from their consultation and to review the measures taken by the government in connection with Muharram.

The CM said the sacrifice of Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA) and the sanctity of Muharram demanded that Muslims should virtually pay homage to Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA) by maintaining unity in their ranks. He urged the Ulema to play their role for promoting tolerance and brotherhood and maintaining peaceful atmosphere in the society and spread Islamic teachings like economic equality, justice, tolerance and just distribution of resources in their sermons.

Members of Ittehad Bainul Muslimeen Committee said that Ulema and Mashaikh would not hesitate from any sacrifice for safeguarding the country and foil the nefarious designs of such forces as were weakening the national security.

Senior Advisor Zulfiqar Khosa, Provincial Minister for Auqaf Haji Ehsaanuddin Qureshi, members assembly, chief secretary, inspector general of police, secretary Auqaf as well as commissioner and district coordination officer, Lahore and senior officers were present.

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Award winning building

A cob and bamboo building made in a village in Sheikhupura district has won the prestigious first award for Asia-Pacific that is aimed at promoting innovative architecture focused on sustainable infrastructure for communities.

Commissioned by a Germany-based Pakistani family from Sheikhupura’s Jher Moulvi area, the project has been designed by architect Eike Roswag and his German team. The award-winning project that upgrades a traditional building method with effective low-tech measures through engineering and design won the top prize of $100,000 in Asia-Pacific of the Holcim Foundation.

The Earthen School Tipu Sultan Merkez in a small village near Lahore provides seven new classrooms in a school for underprivileged girls. The building is constructed from a locally-sourced cob (clay, sand, water and straw) lower-floor combined with an upper floor made of earth-filled bamboo walls. Intense research on cob construction resulted in a significant increase in strength and durability, and extended maintenance intervals compared to traditional approaches.

At the award ceremony in Singapore, Wowo Ding, head of jury and dean of architecture at Nanjing University, China, praised
the project for propagating the use of new construction methods by the agrarian population and improving the local economic situation. “The new construction approach shows the rural community an affordable, high quality and durable alternative compared to widely-used but higher cost and less environmentally-compatible construction materials,” she said.

Tipu Sultan Merkez, which had started the school project in this remote village in Sheikhupura, was founded by Asaf Jah, a Pakistani expatriate living in Germany. His social activity is supported by his family in Germany: his German wife and his three children. His two sons, Karim Jah and Akim Jah, who attended the award ceremony, said over the years they developed long bindings with Pakistan through extensive journeys and stays in the country. Knowing the difficult reality of the people in the rural areas of Pakistan, they have committed themselves to continuous support to the project in different ways. “We want to help develop the region, give people fair chances for access to education and empower women. Basic and
advanced school education and the possibility of learning a profession are essential for a self determined life. The Holcim Award will help us further develop the project and we feel encouraged to continue our efforts.”

On Wednesday the Jah brothers along with the award-winning architect will participate in a symposium in Lahore to present details of their concept of sustainable development in rural Pakistan.

The second award of the competition went to a Thai project team for the conversion of a former textile factory and adjacent land into a 1.4ha agricultural production site and retail outlet. The third prize was awarded to an ecologically-designed retail and commercial building in Malaysia.

Switzerland-based Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction conducts the Holcim Awards competition to promote sustainable responses to contemporary technological, environmental, socioeconomic and cultural issues affecting building and construction at national, regional and global levels. More than 6,000 submissions for projects located in 146 countries entered the competition with a total prize sum of $2 million per three-year cycle.

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Gingrich said US child labour laws truly stupid

US child labour statistics
Laws and regulations limiting the extent of work that children can perform have been in place for many years. However, within the limits of these laws, many youths are employed in seasonal or year-round jobs.
US child labour law
Child labor laws in the United States include numerous statutes and rules regulating the employment of minors. According to the United States Department of Labor, child labor laws affect those under the age of 18 in a variety of occupations.
US child labour claims threaten Kenya's exports
Kenya faces more hostile tea and coffee export markets following a US report that names it among 58 countries which use children in the production of goods meant for sale overseas.

The report says Kenya exploits children to produce its world-renowned tea and coffee in violation of international labour laws that prohibit use of child labour or forced manual work.

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has called US child labour laws "truly stupid".

Speaking at a school in New Hampshire, Gingrich said that children in the poorest neighborhoods are "trapped in child laws" that prevent them from earning money.

"Most of these schools ought to get rid of the unionized janitors, have one master janitor and pay local students to take care of the school," said Gingrich.

"The kids would actually do work, they would have cash, they'd have pride in the schools, they'd begin the process of rising. Get any job that teaches you to show up on Monday. Get any job that teaches you to stay all day, even if you're having a fight with your girlfriend."

Gingrich said he was "not suggesting they drop out of school and become janitors, I'm talking about working 20 hours a week and being empowered to succeed".

Although Gingrich said he was not advocating revamping child labor laws, he would propose extraordinarily radical changes that he believes would fundamentally transform the culture of poverty in the United States.

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NATO 'regrets' over attack rejected by Army

The Pakistan Army has rejected regrets from the U.S. and NATO over the killing of 24 soldiers in Friday's deadly and attack on two border posts in the country's tribal region.
"The NATO strike can have grave consequences," the army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said Monday.
NATO Secretary General Sunday expressed regret over the losses of Pakistani soldiers and supported investigation into the incident, which sparked angry reaction in Pakistan and the government closed supply line for foreign troops in Afghanistan.
"NATO regret over the killing of Pakistani soldier is not enough," military spokesman told the BBC Urdu language service.
"We think this is not enough and we do not accept it. Such raids have also been conducted in the past. Such attacks are unacceptable," General Abbas said.
He said Pakistani leadership will decide what more steps should be taken in reaction to the NATO strikes in Mohmand tribal region along the Afghan border.
The army says that NATO fighter planes and helicopters struck two border posts between the night of Friday and Saturday, killing 24 soldiers and injuring 13 others. Two officers were among those died.
NATO sources have claimed that its special mission had come under attack from Pakistani soil.
But the Director General Inter-Services Public Relations rejected the NATO claim and said NATO will have to tell if any NATO personnel died in Pakistani attack.
"It is ridicules to find out justification for NATO unprovoked attack through such notions," General Abbas said.
When his attention was drawn to the NATO chief statement that the strike was an accident, the spokesman said that it will prove after investigation is completed. He said the NATO representatives were informed when them started firing.
"The NATO representatives were told to immediately stop firing but the attacks continued".
"When our people were martyred and NATO continued more firing then Pakistani troops exercised its right of defence to respond to stop NATO attacks," the army spokesman said.
"Investigation will prove whether or not Pakistani fire hit them," General Abbas said.
The army spokesman that 72 Pakistani soldiers have been killed and nearly 250 injured in NATO strikes in three years.

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Muharram: Banned Ulema in Sialkot

The district administration has banned the entry of as many as 22 Ulema into Sialkot district during the month of Muharram. These Ulema are belonged to different schools of thought.
Newly-appointed Sialkot DPO Syed Ali Mohsin Naqvi told the newsmen that the Ulema whose entry had been banned are: Qari Abdul Qadeer Khamosh (Lahore), Maulana Abdullah Nisar, Maulana Abdul Rasheed (Gujranwala), Maulana Irfan Haider Abid, Maulana Atta Ullah Bundiyalavi, Maulana Ziaul Haq (Sargodha), Maulana Muhammad Ahmed Ludhianvi (Toba Tek Singh-former president defunct Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan), Maulana Muhammad Yahiya Mohsin (Sankhatra-Narowal), Qari Kafayat Ullah (Dinga-Gujrat), Maulana Saeed Ahmed Multani, Maulana Ghulam Ahmed (Kabirwala-Khanewal), Maulana Abdul Sattar (Tuansa Sharif), Maulana Abdul Karim (Jhang), Maulana Abdul Hamid Nadeem (Multan), Taj Din Haidari (Rahwali-Gujranwala), Qari Manzoor Hussain (Sohdara), Riaz Hussain Haidari (Inspector police Gujranwala), Qazi Mazhar Hussain Hashmi (Chakwal), Maulana Gulfam Hussain Hashmi, Maulana Syed Muhammad Taqi (Multan), Prof Abdul Hakim (Hyderabad-Sindh) and Allama Sajid Ali Naqvi (President Millat Jaffariya Pakistan).
The DPO further said that gagging orders had also been issued for eight Ulema including Ehsan Ullah Farooqi, Hafiz Muhammad Saleh, Qari Muhammad Akram, Maulana Abu Khan Usmani, Maulana Muhammad Afzal, Ejaz Hussain, Zulfiqar Ali Gohar and Ali Nasirul Hussaini. He said these Ulema would be unable to deliver speeches in district during the month of Muharram.
He said that as many as 48 places had been declared sensitive in Sialkot district’s all four Sialkot, Daska, Sambrial and Pasrur tehsils.

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Khar on Memogate Scandel

The memogate scandal has provoked questions about the influence of the civilian government in Pakistan and created the impression that the army is pulling the levers of power, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said in an interview with the BBC.

However, Khar added, it was “ridiculous” to link President Asif Ali Zardari with the controversial note. “Sadly it does. I cannot deny that, and that’s an unfortunate part that something as ludicrous as this could raise more questions.

“It doesn’t take much to be able to raise those questions,” Khar said. Asked if President Zardari would survive if he was linked to the scandal, Khar said, “I cannot even answer that question because it is ridiculous … to associate him with this particular memo”.

The Pakistan government would conduct an inquiry “at the highest level” into the controversy to satisfy “all parties, all people, all constituencies who have raised concerns over this entire issue”, she said, adding, “We would hope that this is where it should and will stop.” It is “not yet clear” that Haqqani “had any role to play” in the matter. “He was asked to resign so the inquiry process could be transparent and that is something that should be appreciated,” Khar added.

In response to another question, Khar said Pakistan had not arranged any more meetings between the Haqqani network and US officials except one meeting that was held earlier this year. “Pakistan cannot guarantee anything [with regard to the Haqqani network]. We have said this very clearly. We can play a positive role but it has to be at the request of the Afghans,” she said.

Khar further said she was not worried about the risk of the US administration cutting off aid for Pakistan. “Let me just say clearly that we over project the dependency syndrome of Pakistan on US assistance. We could do without it. If the feeling in the US Congress is that we have done too much for Pakistan, the feeling in the Pakistani Parliament is that you’ve done too less.” "You cannot change things overnight. The army has had a larger-than-life role to play in Pakistan's history. However, you do have a democratic set up," she said.

Pakistan's envoy to the US, Husain Haqqani, was forced to resign after being linked to a secret memo that was delivered to the then American military chief Admiral Mike Mullen by controversial Pakistan-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz in May. Haqqani has denied that he played any role in drafting the memo.

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Pakistani got the MIT Technovator award in technology

Umar Saif received a very coveted award this week from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for his groundbreaking project to bring internet access to those who cannot otherwise afford it. Saif’s project is centered primarily around poor families in his home country of Pakistan where many people are struggling to afford food; let alone a computer and internet access. Saif says that he hopes his revolutionary project will unite the people with the one technology they all have; cell phones. Like so many revolutionary projects Saif says he got the idea following the earthquake disaster in Pakistan in 2005; ever since then he has been working on this internet style communication system for cell phones all around the world. The idea may not have brought full internet to the people of the region but he says it will likely be able to save thousands of lives by connecting everyone to a unified source of information.

The project is remarkably simple as well; which is part of why he received the away from MIT. Saif’s project is simply a computerized system that allows users to join the network using a cell phone number; should an emergency or other major issue break the computer will be able to easily and quickly communicate important information to anyone who has joined the cell phone social network. The best part is that the entire system works with even the oldest and most out of date phones so Saif hopes that everyone will eventually be able to benefit from this potentially life saving device.

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Video Gamers Solve the Bioinformatics Problem

For years, scientists have been dedicated to understanding and decoding a key to development in the HIV structural proteins, until recently, they have succeeded. Fortunately, just tons last week, he cracked the code under a new plan to use video games to help solve the problem. Online video game called FoldIt purpose is to help solve problems like this, and thank rapid solution to the problem of thousands of video game players spent hundreds of hours issue. The researchers said that this is absolutely amazing how fast the players can do this; from player to crack the code of less than three weeks, three years to complete the study of proteins is an absolute waste. This type of research is still very sophisticated, although previous beliefs, it will never be able to successfully prove that the work of the players, combined with the computer power of the human brain is an effective way to solve complex problems.

At this point, medical experts say, the information is simply amazing, and so many future projects is expected to be through games and other online project plan. What may be the future, but it looks like the future of medical and technological research does not seem the case may be based entirely on the power distribution through the brain and other online video game enthusiasts. Clearly, there is no computer on the Internet that everyone with brain power smart.

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How Father helped his son?

The little boy in Argentina have been told, there is absolutely no way, he will always walk in the past 7 years. He was born, makes it impossible to control and develop, we must take his own two feet in some of the muscles and brain injury. Clearly, the boy's father refused to give up hope though, because the news came out this week, the miraculous development of the work of the machine, which will help his son walking man. The machine built-in boy's father, even though almost no technical training, he had no problem to build a working prototype, wood and bicycle parts. The boy is he can take the help of multi-machine, although the success of the boy and his father did not do in their future development plans, regardless of any money or that they may receive contributions.

This incredibly moving story spread around the world, as news of the boy. Again, although there is no funding or formal construction training, the boy's father is now a new walking machine model, and multiple copies of the prototype to help poor children around the world. This is really amazing, so few people are able to do so much to so many people around the world want nothing more than something more, he used both hands.

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15 days for closing of US shamsi base

The Federal Cabinet's Defence Committee on Saturday ordered the United States to vacate the Shamsi airbase within 15 days and closed NATO supply lines into Afghanistan in response to a deadly cross-border NATO air strike.

The military's top brass including CJSC, COAS and the Naval and Air Force chiefs attended the meeting.

The meeting was also attended by the Interior, Defence, Foreign, Information and Finance Ministers while senior minister Pervaiz Elahi and the secretary defence were also in attendance.

The Defence Committee that met under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, hours after the Nato strike in Pakistan that killed 24 troops, categorically said that attacks on Pakistan check posts were unacceptable.

It was also decided that the Prime Minister would take the Parliament into confidence on Pak-US relations. Parliament will also be taken into confidence over the shape of Pakistan's future relations with Nato and ISAF.

Condemning the Nato attack, the committee said that the strike violated international laws.

The defence body said no compromise would be made on the sovereignty and protection of the country. "People and army will ensure Pakistan's sovereignty and integrity at any cost."

It termed the attacks on Pakistan check posts as completely unacceptable and rejected the labeling of today's event as accidental.
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Strange advice to Pakistan

The US Ambassador Cameron Munter has suggested that Pakistan should prefer TAPI pipeline over the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline. And although he admitted that the IP pipeline would benefit us in the short term, he followed it up by saying that the project was not in our interest, as Iran was an unreliable partner. With that Ambassador Munter also stated that this advice of the US should not be misconstrued as dictation.
As a friend of Pakistan, he knows well that our energy needs at this point in time are dire. Already the economy has been badly affected owing to the increasing demand and supply gap. If our energy demands are not met within time, our economy will further receive destructive blows. Yet his advice is that we should not go for the project. Also it would be in his knowledge that TAPI gas pipeline, while ideal on the map is totally fanciful when it comes to its construction. Big energy cartels have in the past expressed serious reservations against the project over reasons of civil strife and unrest in Afghanistan. On the other hand, IP pipeline is much better than TAPI. Indeed, it will provide us gas at cheaper rates and Iran’s energy rich reserves will ensure an uninterrupted supply for ages to come. Unlike TAPI, there is no area along its route where war is going on. Yet another point is that 90 percent work on the project inside Iran has already been completed and it is only in Pakistan where its construction remains to be taken up. Why should Pakistan abandon this project at this stage and instead go for TAPI that would take several years to complete and even then would be at the mercy of insurgents in Afghanistan. Also Ambassador Munter’s argument that Iran was not a reliable partner is not valid. The US has its own conflict with Iran and it doesn’t mean Iran would always act likewise with every other country. There is a flaw of logic in this argument.
The pity is that the US is discouraging us from a project that can quickly provide relief to the economy. The PPP government should disregard this piece of advice and must try to complete the construction work on this side of the border in quickest time possible. We should not ruin our relation with a brotherly Muslim country just because the US has differences with it.

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NATO helicopter attack on Salala checkpoint

Pakistani officials have responded with fury to an apparent attack by Nato helicopters on an Afghan border checkpoint they say killed 26 soldiers.

The "unprovoked and indiscriminate" attack took place in Mohmand tribal region, the Pakistani military said.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani called it "outrageous" and convened an emergency meeting of the cabinet.

Nato's force in Afghanistan is investigating and has offered condolences to the affected families.

The alleged attack took place at the Salala checkpoint, about 1.5 miles (2.5 km) from the Afghan border, at around 02:00 local time (21:00 GMT).

Two officers were among the dead, officials said, and 14 soldiers were reported wounded.

Prime Minister Gilani cut short a visit to his hometown to return to Islamabad, where he called an emergency meeting of the cabinet.

A foreign ministry statement said he was taking up the matter with Nato and the US "in the strongest terms".

Within hours of the alleged attack it was reported Pakistan had closed the border crossing for supplies bound for Nato forces in Afghanistan - a move which has been used in the past as a protest. The incident looks set to deal a fresh blow to US-Pakistan relations, which had only just begun to recover following a unilateral US raid that killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan in May. The checkpoint at the centre of this latest incident was set up to prevent insurgents crossing over the border into Afghanistan, our correspondent says.

He says the movement of insurgents from the area into Afghanistan has been a concern for the Nato-led Isaf and the US.

The US has been targeting militants in Pakistan's tribal areas near the Afghan border for several months, often using unmanned drone aircraft.

Last year, US helicopters accidentally killed two Pakistani soldiers near the border, also prompting Pakistan to temporarily close the border to Nato supplies.

In October, Pakistan's army chief Ashfaq Kayani warned the US against taking unilateral action in nearby North Waziristan.

He said that the US should focus on stabilising Afghanistan instead of pushing Pakistan to attack militant groups in the crucial border region.

Washington has for many years urged Islamabad to deal with militants in the area.

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Protest of nurses in Lahore

The nurses in the province are onto the streets for the last two days rather than in hospital wards to nurse the patients despite high-handed tactics being applied on them to call off their movement, including pelting of eggs and stones by PML-N-supported traders on Thursday and MSF goons on Friday, respectively.

The egg-pelting incident took place on The Mall in front of the Punjab Assembly, which is sitting on the bill meant for revision of pay for the protesters for years, while The Mall and Hall Road traders took the law in their hands to implement the Lahore High Court decision imposing a ban on holding protest rallies on the road of bustling business centres.

The LHC decision was in fact passed after the Punjab government, in violation of its own decision, held a protest rally against the federal government of the Pakistan People’s Party about a month ago from Nasir Bagh, the starting point of The Mall.

It was the same road from where the traders bodies of The Mall, Hall Road and adjacent roads brought out rallies to join the main rally at Nasir Bagh and no one including the commuters on these roads protested against them since they were already off the roads leading to Nasir Bagh knowing well that they would find no way to go if they got stuck in the procession.

According to some sources in The Mall and Hall Road Traders’ Association, the decision to pelt the protesting nurses with rotten eggs had in fact been taken after the leadership disapproved various other suggestions including beating the protesters with batons and throwing water with the help of fire brigade tankers.
The Young Nurses Association continued protest on the second consecutive day on Saturday to press for the demand of special pay package, revised service structure and regularisation of ad-hoc nurses.
Ignoring threats of show-cause notices, the nurses managed to come out of hospitals even after closure of main gates and staged a sit in outside the Chief Minister’s camp office in Model Town and outside Lahore Press Club, causing massive traffic jams on Ferozepur Road and on the arteries in the close vicinity of LPC.
Taking notice of hours long protest, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif constituted a committee to negotiate with the protesters and submit proposal for fulfilling their legitimate demands. The committee comprising Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, Parliamentary Secretary Health Dr Saeed Elahi, Advisor to Chief Minister Begum Zakiya Shahnawaz and other parliamentarians will meet a delegation of nurses on Saturday (today) and submit report for resolving the issue.
Dr Saeed Elahi held two-hour long meeting with the protesting nurses on Friday and informed them about the development that resulted in postponement of ongoing protest. He said that the protesters have nominated 14 nurses as their representatives. He told that three important demands of nurses have come to fore in the meeting which would be presented before the committee on Saturday (today). He said that the demands included provision of special pay package, regular and timely promotion and quashing of FIR registered against nurses during the protest.
Prior to the meeting with Dr Saeed Elahi, parliamentarians from the PPP and PML-Q, Young Doctors Association, Pakistan Medical Association and various human rights organisations joined the protest to express solidarity and support demands of nurses.
Ironically, no action has so far been taken against the traders association and their activists who in their quest to implement the LHC order of a ban on protest rallies on The Mall, violated the law for the sake of their business against the hapless nurses who chose to come on streets as a last resort to secure a respectable living for them and their families.

If the nurses have pelted stones on the traders and their shops, the law would have swiftly come into action, sending many of the protesters behind the bars.

There is a complete silence over the incident as nothing has happened since the victims in the case are hapless nurses. The custodian of ‘Takht-e-Lahore’ (Rulers of Punjab) has yet to issue a condemnation statement while the superior judiciary, famous for taking suo motu notice on as small a case as of Attiqa Odho’s alleged possession of bottles of liquor, has yet to take note of the matter which finds a space in headlines of all news channels and newspapers.

Talks between the Punjab government and nurses remained inconclusive as they continued their strike on the second day in public sector hospitals on Friday and held protest demonstrations, rallies and sit-ins in the City against the governmentís apathy to resolve genuine issues of a special pay package and time-scale promotions of the community.

Under the banner of the Young Nurses Association (YNA), nurses from all public sector hospitals, including DHQ and THQ hospitals of Lahore, organised demonstrations outside their hospitals and gathered to join the central sit-in at the Lahore Press Club.

Earlier, nurses from Lahore General Hospital and Childrenís Hospital gathered outside the Model Town residence of Sharifs’ family and blocked Ferozepur Road from 10am to 12noon, which badly affected the traffic flow on the busiest road of the City. Later, they marched for the main sit-in, which continued till the evening. The protesting nurses were holding banners and placards, inscribed with slogans and demands. They were also raising slogans to give loud and clear message to the government to accept their genuine demands.

The nurses in other districts of Punjab also observed a complete strike in their hospitals and showed complete solidarity with the nurse community for fulfilment of their demands. The Young Doctors Association (YDA), Rawalpindi, also supported nurses and joined their strike in hospitals. The nurses said that the government had completely ignored a vital component of healthcare as nurses were supporting the health system in hospitals in the province.

The rallies and day-long sit-in at Lahore Press Club badly disrupted traffic and massive traffic jams were witnessed on all adjacent roads and arteries causing great inconvenience to pedestrians, commuters and motorists.

Besides, the healthcare system was also badly affected in hospitals as patients could not get required treatment services in outdoor, indoor and operation theatres in the absence of nurses. “All kinds of elective surgeries were postponed in all hospitals,” hospital sources said.

The nurses asked the government to immediately announce a special pay package and time-scale promotion for senior nurses and withdrawal of an FIR against them, which was registered after Thursdayís sit-in at Faisal Chowk in front of the Punjab Assembly. They said that salary packages of doctors and nurses were not compatible even in the same grades and demanded salaries equal to doctors in the same scales.

Meanwhile, no Punjab government representative reached the spot to hold negotiations with the nurses, however, PPP Punjab President Imtiaz Safdar Warraich, Samiullah Khan, PML-Q MPA Seemal Kamran, Ayesha Ahad and civil society representatives also joined them to express solidarity with their just demands of service structure and special pay packages.

The Health Department officials held negotiations with the nursing representatives but remained inconclusive, as nurses announced their protest for the third consecutive day on Saturday (today). The nurses made it clear that the strike in hospitals, protest demonstrations, rallies and sit-ins would continue till fulfilment of their demands not just in letter but in spirit too. nurses protest
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Google and Samsung confirm Galaxy Nexus volume bugs

Google and Samsung have confirmed that there are volume issues with their flagship mobile phone the Galaxy Nexus.
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It follows complaints on net forums about unexplained changes in volume.

The handset, the first to feature Google's operating system Android Ice Cream Sandwich, is currently available in the UK and is due to go on sale in the US in December.
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Samsung said that it is aware of the problem and will offer a repair but did not say when.

google and samsung delay
"Regarding the Galaxy Nexus, we are aware of the volume issue and have developed a fix," Samsung said in a statement. "We will update devices as soon as possible."

Google issued an almost identical statement. Damian M summed up the problem many seem to be experiencing: "Volume drops to nothing seemingly at random, volume rocker becomes unresponsive for a few seconds," he said.


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Some users reported that the issues became worse when using the 2G network. Others complained that they were unable to rely on the device.
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"Had this problem since buying the phone on the 17 Nov. Happened so far on 3G, wifi and using the sat nav. It also happened this morning again when my alarm went off," wrote one user nicknamed Stuartea.

"I was already awake and had not touched the phone yet, the alarm sounded for a second and then went silent. Thought that was weird so checked the phone and the volume was down. I can't trust the alarm to wake me up now for work!"

It is unclear at this stage whether the issues are caused by hardware or software faults. The problem comes as Apple rushes to fix a bug in its new operating system iOS 5.

Users complain that iPhone batteries are running down too quickly.

An initial software patch issued by Apple to solve the problem has not appeared to have helped.

Apple and Samsung are engaged in a fierce rivalry for market share.

Research from Strategy Analytics suggested that Samsung had overtaken Apple to become the world's biggest shipper of smartphones between July and September.

The study said that the South Korean firm had shipped 27.8 million smartphones in the three-month period, compared with 17.1 million from Apple and 16.8 million from Nokia.

Meanwhile, Samsung and Apple remain locked in intellectual property disputes around the world. Both are trying to ban sales of each other's products.

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Eighty children incarcerated parents of living in Punjab prisons

At least 80 children of incarcerated parents in Punjab are currently living in prisons, while the figure is close to 180 for prisons across the country. This was revealed by Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) National Program Manager Abdullah Khoso at a consultative meeting on the issues of children of incarcerated parents in Lahore on Thursday.

Khoso revealed that around 234 children of incarcerated parents were living in prisons in 2010.

The program manager, who recently participated in a consultation by the Commission on the Rights of Child in Geneva, said that Rule 326 of Pakistan Prison Rules stated that a woman offender in Sindh, Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa can keep her child till the age of six years, while in Balochistan the provision was for up to three years.

SP Shahida, from the Police Department, said that the police should trained to ensure that no parent is arrested in front of their child and that the officials should make a personal effort in trying to ascertain whether there are any children in the house when an arrest in being made.

“What is unfortunate in police stations is the fact that entire families of the accused are brought in for questioning including children,” she said. She added that if an investigation required questioning a child, it should be conducted in the presence of social welfare officers.

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) General Secretary IA Rehman said it was in the best interest of the child that he or she are not kept in the prison along with their parents.

Rehman added that bail should be mandatory for women who are pregnant or are mothering an infant. He stressed on the need for incorporating non-custodial methods in the judicial system, to ensure that the rights of children whose parents are imprisoned are not violated.

Punjab Law Department Deputy Secretary Abid Reza said the core issue was the violation of the rights of the child.

Reza said the Home Department and the Social Welfare Department should send their recommendations to the Law Department for policy making.

Rao Khalil from the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau said the willingness of the imprisoned mother to give up her child to alternate care was a matter of great concern which required both counseling for mothers and suitable alternate child care. He said pre-arrest and post-arrest data should also be collected.

Arshad Mehmood, Executive Director at SPARC, said despite Pakistan being the first Islamic country and the sixth in the world to have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, children were highly neglected in the country. Mehmood said currently there were almost 1,200 to 1,300 women in prisons across Pakistan, out of which almost 850 were Punjab. He added that considering the statistics in Punjab, it was unfortunate that only four female probation officers were present for women offenders.

Members of the Punjab Assembly, including Arifa Khalid and Deeba Mirza, were also present at the meeting. Khalid, while addressing the gathering, said there was a need to train politicians in order to consider the technical details of issues pertaining to children of incarcerated parents.

The participants recommended the use of the probation system for women with young children, along with bail and parole provisions, and those who are solely responsible for taking care of their children.

Other participants at the meeting included representatives from the Ministry of Human Right and various NGOs including SAHIL, Sanjog, and SOS Villages.

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Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif ordered to reopen the pti office

Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif took notice of the excise department sealing the main secretariat of Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) located here at Jail Road and ordered to reopen the office.

According to excise department sources, the step was taken due to non-payment of Rs350,000 property tax amount despite multiple reminders issued to the party office. Therefore, the authorities resorted to seal the main secretariat of PTI at Jail Road.

Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif took notice of the excise department sealing the main secretariat of Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) located here at Jail Road and ordered to reopen the office Tuesday, Geo News reported.

According to excise department sources, the step was taken due to non-payment of Rs350,000 property tax amount despite multiple reminders issued to the party office. Therefore, the authorities resorted to seal the main secretariat of PTI at Jail Road.

The CM Punjab took notice of the step taken by the excise authorities and passed orders to reopen the office.

The team reached the location to implement the orders, however, the party workers did not allow the excise officers to open the office before the arrival of party leaders.
Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif ordered to reopen the pti office.
PTI Chairman Imran Khan reiterated that President Asif Ali Zardari and the Sharif brothers will never reveal their true assets as they would then be “compelled to face charges of corruption on declaration.” The Punjab Government clarified that the action against PTI was taken by the Excise Department on its own, without asking from the political leadership. The department was directed to solve the issue through negotiations with the PTI officials.

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