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Top five deadliest attacks on commercial airliners

Reuters

A Malaysian airliner was brought down over eastern Ukraine on Thursday, killing all 295 people aboard and sharply raising the stakes in a conflict between Kiev and pro-Moscow rebels in which Russia and the West back opposing sides.

If confirmed as having been downed by missile fire, the attack will be the deadliest incident of a commercial passenger plane being shot down since the 1960s.

Since 1967 more than 700 people have been killed in 19 separate incidents involving live-fire attacks, according to UK-based aviation consultancy Flightglobal Ascend which keeps a detailed database of aircraft accidents.

The most recent attack was in January 1999 when a Lockheed Hercules plane operated by TransAfrik was reportedly shot down near Bailundo in Angola, killing all nine passengers and crew on board.

Following is a list of the five deadliest incidents:Read More »Top five deadliest attacks on commercial airliners

North Waziristan operation spoils fourth wife dream of father of 36

AFP

Internally-displaced Pakistani resident Haji Gulzar Khan Wazir (6L), who fled with his family following a military operation against militants in the North Waziristan tribal agency, poses for a photograph with some his children in Bannu. — Photo by AFP
Internally-displaced Pakistani resident Haji Gulzar Khan Wazir (6L), who fled with his family following a military operation against militants in the North Waziristan tribal agency, poses for a photograph with some his children in Bannu. — Photo by AFP

BANNU: The ongoing military operation may be making headway in clearing militant hideouts, but it has shattered the dream of one father of 36 children — to take a fourth wife.

Gulzar Khan is one of hundreds of thousands of people who have fled the North Waziristan tribal area since the army moved in to clear longstanding bases of Taliban and other militants.

Escaping the military advance meant leaving the 35-room house he shares in the North Waziristan village of Shawa with around 100 family members, including wives, children and grandchildren.

The 54-year-old grumbled that paying to transport his brood used up the cash he had set aside for his fourth marriage.

“The money I had saved was consumed in relocating my family from Shawa to Bannu and now I have again started saving and waiting for the operation to conclude,” he told AFP.

After giving birth to a dozen children each, Khan said, his wives had told him enough was enough.Read More »North Waziristan operation spoils fourth wife dream of father of 36

Wounded Tiger: A history of Cricket in Pakistan.

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wounded-tigerSupremely talented teenagers, Javed Miandad’s unappreciated role as a leader and the revolutionary impact of reverse swing on cricket are some of the striking themes of British author Peter Oborne’s insightful new book Wounded Tiger: A history of Cricket in Pakistan.

Wounded Tiger, a play on Imran Khan’s almost mythical ‘cornered Tiger’ speech before the 1992 World Cup final in Melbourne, aims to set things straight and go deeper into a world where cricket has “been entwined with national identity” ever since the days of the Raj. The current era of Pakistan cricket, the book highlights, also serves as metaphor for the situation the country currently finds itself in. But throughout the journey, Wounded Tiger also reminds its readers that the magic these men have been able to conjure up on the field, and are still capable of, can ultimately lead to national recovery.Read More »Wounded Tiger: A history of Cricket in Pakistan.

QADRI’s SHARP OBSERVATION

Muhammad Javed

Talking with Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri in his residence on 24 June 2014, Mubashar Luqman the popular Anchor mentioned the general surprise of the masses that while Qadri was very critical of the present rulers during the most critical moments of his confinement in the Emirates plane at Lahore Airport, Qadri accepted the “hand” of Mohammad Sarwar Chaudhary the Punjab Governor a diehard supporter of Nawaz Sharif.  Dr. Qadri while denying it and explaining his side of position added that he was surprised how “belittle” the official protocol, Nawaz Government had provided to Governor.

Read More »QADRI’s SHARP OBSERVATION

Poor performance of transport sector costing Pakistan 5% of GDP

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*Railway enduring worst crisis mainly due to locomotive shortages

The World Bank estimates that poor performance of the transport sector is costing Pakistan about five percent of its GDP. Furthermore thirty percent of agriculture output is currently wasted due to its inefficient farm to market channels, lack of cold storage facilities and an obsolete underpowered trucking fleet, says Pakistan Economic Survey 2013-14. According to the survey, Pakistan Railway is enduring the worst crisis mainly due to locomotive shortages. Passenger and freight services substantially declined during last five years. This is evident from above table that gross earning of Pakistan Railway has declined during last five years. Due to over aged infrastructure and rolling stock, increase in Read More »Poor performance of transport sector costing Pakistan 5% of GDP

Google Android software spreading to cars, watches, TV

technology-googleSAN FRANCISCO: Google set out Wednesday to expand its Android empire beyond smart phones to cars, watches and televisions.

 

The technology titan laid out a sweeping Android vision at the opening of a sold-out developers conference in a keynote presentation streamed online to millions of people across the world.

 

“We are beginning to evolve our platforms beyond mobile,” Android and Chrome teams chief Sundar Pichai said of how Google´s twin operating systems are being adapted to work with one another and with new types of computing hardware.

 

Google´s goal, according to Pichai, is to have its software serve be a foundation for applications, services or digital content delivered seamlessly across the increasingly diverse array of Internet-linked screens in people´s lives.Read More »Google Android software spreading to cars, watches, TV

Three UK varsities, 57 colleges banned from sponsoring international students

Three universities and 57 private colleges have been told they cannot sponsor any new international students in a major crackdown on suspect English language qualifications.

In a statement to the House of Commons on June 24, immigration minister James Brokenshire said he was taking the action in the light of “detailed and wide-ranging investigation into actions by organized criminals to falsify English language tests for student visa applicants”.

It follows a BBC Panorama exposed in February, which revealed systematic cheating in tests from an organization called the Educational Testing Service (ETS). More than 29,000 invalid results and 19,000 questionable results had been identified so far, though “it is likely that the true totals will be higher,” said Brokenshire, who condemned the organized criminality behind the fraud.Read More »Three UK varsities, 57 colleges banned from sponsoring international students

Rich growing richer at the cost of poor

Pakistan’s economy has not done badly in the last two decades and per capita income in the country rose from $612 in 2003 to $1,295 in 2013 despite deteriorated internal security and frequent natural disasters, according to the International Monetary Fund. But participants in a discussion on inequality, arranged by SDPI and Oxfam here on Wednesday, learnt that the doubling of national income benefited the poor of the country the least.

“In urban areas, the top 20 per cent of the population take 61 per cent of the monthly income in comparison to 3.45 per cent of the bottom 20 per cent,” informed Babar Jamal of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute.Read More »Rich growing richer at the cost of poor

Highlights of Punjab Budget 2014-15

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Broadening  the tax net instead of burdening the existing taxpayers and setting up of coal and solar power plants from own resources are the highlight of Punjab government’s over Rs1 trillion budget for the next fiscal year

Following in the footsteps of the federal government, the provincial administration would also propose a 10 per cent increase in the salaries and pensions of its serving and retired employees.Read More »Highlights of Punjab Budget 2014-15