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Musharraf and the military, Part-I

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By Shahzad Chaudhry

When the Kerry-Lugar-Berman Bill was finally submitted in the US Congress in 2009 for approval, it contained two clauses that especially irked the Pakistani military. One dealt with the promotion to two-star rank and beyond within the military that the bill envisaged needed approval by Pakistan’s civilian government if American aid was to continue; and second, the Pakistani military was not ever to upstage the civilian political setup.

The first clause was misplaced because all promotions are always subject to approval of the Ministry of Defence; and all promotions to two-star and higher are gazette notified by the government and announced only with the express approval of the president. The second clause was judgemental and inappropriate as a comment or condition for an institution of another state.Read More »Musharraf and the military, Part-I

Samsung will add anti-theft features to smartphones

samsung-s5SAN FRANCISCO: Samsung Electronics will add two safeguards to its latest smartphone in an effort to deter rampant theft of the mobile devices nationwide, the company said Friday.

The world’s largest mobile-phone maker said users will be able to activate for free its “Find My Mobile” and “Reactivation Lock” anti-theft features to protect the soon-to-be-released Galaxy 5 S.

The features that will lock the phone if there’s an unauthorized attempt to reset it will be on models sold by wireless carriers Verizon and U.S. Cellular. The phones go on sale next week.Read More »Samsung will add anti-theft features to smartphones

Toyota prices decline by Rs75,000 in Pakistan

KARACHI: Indus Motor Company Limited (IMC) has brought down the prices of its cars and pickups by up to Rs75,000, said a press statement on Thursday.

IMC reduced the prices of Toyota Corolla Xli/Gli variants by Rs50,000, while the rates of Toyota Corolla Altis variants were decreased by Rs75,000. The prices of Hilux range of pickups came down by Rs10,000 to Rs30,000

The decision was the result of the appreciation of Pak rupee against US dollar, according to the press statement.Read More »Toyota prices decline by Rs75,000 in Pakistan

Punjab Vehicle token tax data computerised

The Excise and Taxation (E&T) Department, Punjab, has finally computerized the entire data of token tax after synchronizing data from 147 post offices of Punjab and linked it with an SMS service.

Now, citizens can check their outstanding token tax just by sending their vehicle’s registration number to 9966 through an SMS. Earlier, the citizens had to visit their post offices concerned every year to deposit token tax of their vehicles.Read More »Punjab Vehicle token tax data computerised

Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta among world’s Top 10 polluted cities

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AFP

Paris has leapt into the headlines over an alert for dangerous atmospheric particles, yet it does not ordinarily count among the world’s most polluted cities.
Here are the top 10 cities for which data is available, according to a 2011 World Health Organisation (WHO) report. The pollution is measured as the microgramme (mcg) concentration per cubic metre of air of particulate matter smaller than 10 micrometres (PM10) — about a seventh of the width of a human hair. The figures are the average for the year. Seasonal spikes can be many times higher. The WHO’s health guidelines Read More »Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta among world’s Top 10 polluted cities

Mobile verification system to curb car theft in Islamabad

Islamabad Police has introduced a mobile verification system to curb car theft as it has prepared a database where the information of stolen vehicles would be incorporated.
The police personnel deployed at various check-points are able to check details of any vehicle, through SMS, by entering its registration number. This has helped the police in nabbing vehicles with fake registration numbers, and it has already recovered 124 stolen vehicles. The information issued by the ministry of interior and narcotics control on Sunday said that the capital police had also recovered 111 cars out of the total 714 registered stolen cases from different public places and markets of Islamabad stolen during the last twelve months.
The comparative data of stolen cars since June 1 to December 31, 2012 and June 1 to December 31, 2013 revealed that 71 accused persons for stealing cars were also arrested.Read More »Mobile verification system to curb car theft in Islamabad

Honey is a new approach to fighting antibiotic resistance

Honey could be one sweet solution to the serious ever growing problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics, says a research.

Medical professionals sometimes use honey successfully as a topical dressing but it could play a larger role in fighting infections, reported health news.

The unique property of honey lies in its ability to fight infection on multiple levels making it more difficult for bacteria to develop resistance.

That is it uses a combination of weapons including hydrogen peroxide, acidity, osmotic effect, high sugar concentration – all of which actively kill bacterial cells.Read More »Honey is a new approach to fighting antibiotic resistance

Firefox aims to introduce $25 smartphone

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BARCELONA: Firefox OS, an upstart smartphone operating system aimed at challenging the Apple and Google duopoly, will power a new category of $25 smartphones for developing countries, the California-based nonprofit Mozilla Foundation said Sunday.

Mozilla sought to show off the success of its system, launched a year ago to prise open a market in which Google´s Android was at the heart of 78.4 percent of all smartphones sold last year and Apple´s iOS in another 15.6 percent, according to figures from technology research house Gartner Inc.Read More »Firefox aims to introduce $25 smartphone