The whole World Supports Iran

On Wednesday night, in a vote of 86 to 13, the U.S. Senate passed a
historic nuclear deal with that will allow the United States to trade
with India in nuclear equipment and technology, and to supply India
with nuclear fuel for its power reactors. The deal is considered
hugely consequential by its supporters and opponents alike -- and a
significant victory for the Bush administration.

Last month, Subrata Ghoshroy, a researcher in the Science, Technology
and Global Security Working Group at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, met with Noam Chomsky in his office at MIT, where he is
the institute professor of linguistics. "Before we started our
discussion," Ghoshroy writes, "Professor Chomsky asked me to give him
a little background information. I told him that I was researching
missile defense, space weapons and the U.S.-India nuclear deal."
Ghoshroy is a longtime critic of the U.S. missile defense program and
a former analyst at the Government Accountability Office who in 2006
blew the whistle on the failure -- and attempted cover-up -- of a key
component of the program: a $26 billion weapon system that was the
"centerpiece" of the Bush administration's antimissile plan.

Ghoshroy and Chomsky discussed the then-pending nuclear deal, which
would sanction trade hitherto prohibited by U.S. and international
laws because of India's refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty and the nuclear tests it conducted in 1998. Ghoshroy has
written several articles criticizing the U.S.-India deal as a triumph
of the business lobby -- an assessment Chomsky agreed with. He said
that Condoleezza Rice is actually on record admitting what is truly
behind this deal, which he characterized as a "non-proliferation
disaster."

Ghoshroy's subsequent conversation with Chomsky touched on a number of
interweaving topics, including: India and the importance of the
non-aligned movement; the myths of free trade and the so-called
"success" of neoliberalism; Washington's historic opposition to
promote new world economic and information orders; Latin America's
growing independence; the West's hypocrisy over Iran's nuclear program
-- and MIT's ironic role in it during the shah's regime; and, finally,
U.S. elections and the prospects for change.

The result is a two-part interview, the second of which will run on
AlterNet tomorrow. Part One begins with India, the Non-Aligned
Movement, and why a "majority of the world supports Iran." (The
Non-Aligned Movement, which consists of some 115 or more
representatives of "developing countries," originated at the
Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung, Indonesia, in 1955, which was
convened mainly by newly independent former colonies from Africa and
Asia to develop joint policies in international relations. Jawaharlal
Nehru, then India's prime minister, led the conference. There, "Third
World" leaders shared their similar problems of resisting the
pressures of the major powers, maintaining their independence and
opposing colonialism and neo-colonialism, especially Western
domination. India continued its vigorous participation and leadership
role in NAM until the end of the Cold War. For further reading, visit
the NAM Web site.)

5 Members of a Family killed in charsada pakistan

Five persons of a family have been killed by armed men in Ajara area
of Charsadda on Monday morning.

Unidentified armed men entered in a house in Sar Deri police station
jurisdiction and killed Amir Nawaz, son Imran Ahmed, wife, daughter
and daughter in law on the spot with indiscriminate firing.

"Early morning eight armed men in police uniform entered in the house
and opened indiscriminate fire", local people said.

The incident was the result of a marriage dispute, local people said.

Google has just launched the Urdu Transliteration Tool

Google has just launched the Urdu Transliteration Tool as a Google
Labs project. It is intended to help people unfamiliar with the Urdu
keyboards to phonetically generate content in Urdu script using
English/Roman script. You can find the tool here:

http://www.google. com/transliterat e/indic/Urdu

FAQ is located here:
http://www.google. com/transliterat e/indic/about_ ur.html

I am excited about this launch as I am very passionate about Urdu and
have always enjoyed reading Urdu poetry and prose. Unfortunately there
is limited content available in Urdu on the web. I hope this launch
will make generating Urdu content a bit easier and open it to a wider
audience. So please spread the word around. The rich text editing tool
and integration with GMail will be launched later this year.

Waziristan Offensive ‘Key’ for Pakistan

Pakistani forces bombarded suspected hideouts of the Tehreek-e Taliban
Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan today, killing at
least 20 militants and wounding 15 others. The militants retaliated by
ambushing an army convoy in North Waziristan, killing three.

The military's offensive into the tribal region is aimed at asserting
formal government control over tribes with a long history of
independence used to an indifferent government quietly ruling them
from afar. It also aims at knocking out Baitullah, who has taken a
large share of the Mehsud tribe into direct opposition to the
government's rule.

Top aides to President Barack Obama say that the battle in Waziristan
is going to be key as the Pakistani government tries to establish some
measure of credibility after years of humiliating defeats against the
militants. The Pakistani government sees it as a matter of survival.

Miss Out On Your Facebook Vanity URL? Here’s Your Consolation Prize.

When Facebook's Vanity URL landrush kicked off nearly two weeks ago,
over 500,000 people registered their new names in a matter of 15
minutes. Over the following weekend, nearly 6 million users staked
their claims. The most desirable names, like 'Jason' or 'Mike', were
snapped up in a matter of seconds (if they weren't already registered
by a Facebook employee before the landrush even began). Needless to
say, a lot of people were left in the dust, forced to settle for
something other than the vanity URL they'd been dreaming of for weeks.

Well, if you're a member of the unlucky masses, here's your chance to
get the name you've always wanted. Sort of.

Developer Alex Gonzalez of Branch Interactive has put together an
application that will allow you to to generate a Facebook application
in your name, giving you the URL apps.facebook.com/NAME. So instead of
Facebook.com/jasonkincaid, I would be apps.Facebook.com/jasonkincaid.
Sure, it has the four extra letters designating it as a Facebook
application, but it's hardly an eyesore.

Google Dips Its Toe Into Travel Space With City Tours

Google has just debuted the latest entry to its fleet of Labs
products, introducing the search giant to the travel space. Dubbed
City Tours, the new site can build itineraries for brief trips to
locations around the globe in a matter of seconds. At this point
details on the new product are fairly sparse — it looks like Google
hasn't written its customary blog post yet, but given how basic the
product is it's pretty easy to figure out how it works.

Getting started is incredibly easy — just type in where you're
visiting (say, San Francisco or London), and Google will present a
suggested itinerary spanning a three day trip, with around a dozen
attractions per day depending on the city. From there you can change
the number of days you'll be staying (Google will show more
attractions the longer you stay), and you can also manually adjust the
list of places you'd like to visit. You can add a new attraction by
entering its name in a text field, and Google will try to find it in
its database. All attractions include a star rating, along with its
hours operation and location.

Yep, iPorn Is Here For The iPhone

Just as we were speculating a couple nights ago, Apple has apparently
decided that with the new parental controls now built into the iPhone
3.0 SDK, nudity is now okay in iPhone apps. The first such app,
Hottest Girls, has actually been around for a little while. But an
update today "upgraded" the pictures from girls in bikinis and
lingerie, to topless and completely naked girls.

"We uploaded nude topless pics today. This is the first app to have
nudity," Hottest Girls' developer Allen Leung tells Macenstein. Quite
an accomplishment.

While some will undoubtedly see this as a bad thing, I think this is
actually a good thing. First of all, allowing mature content like this
should free up the App Store screeners to be able to focused on
finding apps that are actually malicious or out of line, rather than
being prude-police.

Like TweetDeck? Like TechCrunch? Then You’ll Love This.

You might not think that we here at TechCrunch have a lot in common
with the band Blink 182. But actually, we do. We both now have our own
branded TweetDeck applications. You can find ours here.

TechCrunch TweetDeck users will get all the features of the normal
version of TweetDeck (Twitter, Facebook, 12seconds, etc, integration),
with the added bonus of the TechCrunch Column, as an option. This
column features tweets from TechCrunch's writing staff. It's seriously
riveting stuff. Why just last night, our own Robin Wauters tweeted
out, "Cleaning up disks, creating backups etc. Necessary evil."

Fincher Signs On for Facebook: The Movie

You know how everyone is always all "Dude, Hollywood has totally run
out of ideas. Pass the Doritos"? Now that "The Social Network," a
movie about Facebook, has attracted a totally legit director, David
Fincher, and a totally legit screenwriter, Aaron Sorkin, it seems
everyone is totally right. Of course, with Fincher and Sorkin on
board, maybe a movie about Facebook could be awesome. But probably
not.

outlook is broken,Microsoft, Outlook Is Broken, Says 6,000 Tweets,solve it,

While it is pretty much the standard email client, Microsoft Outlook has long had problems rendering HTML correctly in emails. And the latest version, Outlook 2010, due sometime in the next several months, not only isn't going to fix that — it's going to make it worse. And a lot of users aren't happy about it at all.

One such user has created a site called Outlook's broken — Let's fix it. The site is simple, it's a constantly updating stream of users tweeting out their desire for Microsoft to fix this problem with Outlook. Right now, it's just about 6,000 tweets, but it's growing about a tweet every second (even at this hour of the night here in the U.S.). When a new tweet comes in, that user's icon appears on the screen next to hundreds of other icons that had previously tweeted about it. And as the stream updates, random tweets about fixing Outlook are flashed on the screen.

Gmail Makes Its iPhone Web Version More App-Like With Swipe Gestures

A lot of people complain about Gmail not having a native application on the iPhone. While it's not clear if Apple will even allow that yet with the new iPhone 3.0 SDK, one thing that is becoming more clear: Soon it won't need one.

The reason is that its iPhone-optimized mobile version continues to get some killer features. The latest is the ability to use the swipe gesture to archive messages — yes, within the browser. Users of the iPhone's native mail app will recognize and appreciate this functionality (though in that app it's used to delete messages, not archive them)

R.I.P. Neda Agha-Soltan

The woman who has become a symbol of Iran's ongoing protests after her death was caught on video has been identified as Neda Agha-Soltan, 26, a student in Tehran. A tidbit from the compelling Los Angeles Times profile:

She took private classes to become a tour guide, including Turkish-language courses, friends said, hoping to someday lead groups of Iranians on trips abroad. Travel was her passion, and with her friends she saved up enough money for package tours to Dubai, Turkey and Thailand.

Vizio Releasing Twitter-, Flickr-, Netflix-enabled TV

Widgets and gadgets are the latest trend to hit HDTVs. Vizio is upping the game by equipping its soon-to-be-released HDTVs with an impressive suite of Internet applications and support for video streaming sites. So much so, that this portfolio will place them on top of many wish lists as these TVs will be better equipped than a TiVo or even Windows Media Server.

Forget about Vizio being a mid-tier, Wal-mart brand. These features might make some people question why they pay a monthly fee for a TiVo. Owners will be able to stream content from Revision3, Showtime and Pandora for free, while also able to subscribe to Vudu, Netflix, Blockbuster OnDemand, Amazon Video On Demand and Rhapsody. Plus, the sets are able to work with Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and the Yahoo Widgets Engine.

MySpace Loses Its CyberSecurity Superman. Who’s Left To Fight The Bad Guys?

MySpace had a serious secret weapon when it came to fighting the bad guys - Director of Security Enforcement E.J. Hilbert. Hilbert, a former Cyber and Counterterrorism Special Agent for the FBI, defended MySpace against spammers, scammers, hackers, virus spreaders and other lowlife from 2007 until earlier this month when he left the company.

He may have been part of the mass layoffs last week (trying to confirm this), but if he was it was a huge mistake to let him go. His name was brought up repeatedly by MySpace staffers over the years with a sort of awe - he was the defender of the castle, their FBI agent in the back room watching over everyone.

And right now, with Hilbert gone, the MySpace castle is in desperate need of a defender.

Perez Assaulted -- Claims Will.I.Am Is the Perp

Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton is accusing Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.I.Am of assault -- but we've learned cops have targeted someone else.

After last night's MuchMusic Video Awards in Toronto, Perez posted to his Twitter: "I was assaulted by Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas and his security guards. I am bleeding. Please, I need to file a police report. No joke."

But cops in Toronto tell us it was the general manager of the Black Eyed Peas -- Polo Molina -- who is under investigation and he turned himself in to police early this morning.

Here's the string of tweets Perez left on his Twitter page during the alleged beatdown early this morning:

-- I'm in shock. I need the police ASAP. Please come to the SoHo Metropolitan Hotel now. Please.about 5 hours ago from Sidekick

-- I was assaulted by Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas and his security guards. I am bleeding. Please, I need to file a police report. No joke. -- about 5 hours ago from Sidekick

-- Still waiting for the police. The bleeding has stopped. I need to document this. Please, can the police come to the SoHo Met Hotel. -- about 5 hours ago from Sidekick

-- I spoke to my lawyer. I really need to talk to the authorities. Please come to the SoHo Met Hotel. Have called the police. Need them here. -- about 5 hours ago from Sidekick

-- The Toronto police are here now. Thank you. Please stop calling them. -- about 5 hours ago from Sidekick

-- Thank u all from the bottom of my heart for ur concern. The police are investigating the assault now. I did the right thing by reporting it. -- about 3 hours ago from web

Fight Against Militancy need to Continue said President Zardari

President Asif Ali Zardari has reiterated that the government would
continue its fight against militancy and terrorism claiming that the
military enjoys heavy public mandate and endorsement of the
parliament.

He was addressing a public meeting here on the occasion of 56th Birth
anniversary of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Sunday being celebrated across
the country with zeal and fervour.

Earlier, Zardari, the husband of slain former prime minister donated
blood at a blood camp in Naudero on birth day of his wife.

The party workers and officials are donating blood across the country
at blood donation camps to express solidarity with their martyred
party leader.

Paying solemn tribute to the political struggle of his assassinated
wife, Zardari said "I solute the ideology of Benazir Bhutto today… she
taught us the lessons and principles of democracy and we will continue
to achieve BB's mission."

He said that the army was fighting against terrorism and militancy in
the northwest areas of Pakistan vowing that the army and government
would continue the battle.

"It's my promise to every child of the nation that we will save our
county battling against militancy and extremism within our territory."

Zardari remarked that after of Benazir Bhutto's assassination the
newly elected government faced severe problems, of them very first was
the election and its fairness was doubtful. "But we foiled the
conspiracy of the then dictator who delayed polls to create a vacuum
of leadership in the country," he said.

"We took onboard all the political parties and laid foundation of
political reconciliation in the country to successfully run the
democratic process."

The president claimed that Pak army enjoys full backup support of
parliament and entire nation in the operation against Taliban
militants.

"There is a public mandate to the army and a certificate of the
National Assembly and the people of Pakistan who are standing shoulder
by shoulder with the armed forces."

He said that the previous operations against militants proved
ineffective due to the lack of public support, affirming that the
ongoing operation would prove successful as the troops enjoying public
support and people from every walk of life.

The president slammed Taliban's stances and version of Islam, saying
"we don't believe in Taliban's version of Islam who are bent to impose
their own rigid thoughts and rule on the entire nation," he mentioned.

Pakistani team beat Sri Lanka by 8 wkts and win the ICC World T20 2009

Pakistan have become the Twenty20 champions defeating Sri Lanka by six
wickets in the hard-fought final of the World Cup 2009 here at Lord's
on Sunday.

Chasing 139, Pakistan achieved the target with four balls to spare
with Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik were at the crease.

Today Pakistani team going to win the final of World Cup 20-20 INSHALLAHA

Today Pakistani team going to win the final World Cup 20-20
You know that 21 June 1999 Pakistani team in final on the same ground
and 10 year after same date same place same ground again Pakistani
team in final.
Lest pray a lot for Pakistan's victory We have a hope and all the
nation together pray for Pakistani team.

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پاکستان ایک صدی بعد 3009میں

امریکہ میں ای۔بی۔ایم کے دو ذہین افراد کے درمیان چیٹ ۔

جوزف : ہیلو مارک ۔ کل تم آفس نہیں آئے تھے ؟ خیریت؟

مارک: ہاں یار۔ میں پاکستانی ایمبیسی گیا تھا۔ ویزہ لینے۔

جوزف : اچھا واقعی ؟ پھر کیا ہوا ؟ میں نے سنا ہے آجکل انہوں نے بہت
سختیاں کردی ہیں ۔
مارک : ہاں ۔ لیکن میں نے پھر بھی کسی نہ کسی طرح لے ہی لیا۔

جوزف: بہت اچھے یار۔ مبارک ہو۔ یہ بتاؤ کہ ویزہ پراسیس میں کتنا وقت لگا ؟

مارک : بس کچھ مت پوچھو یار۔ تقریباً مہینہ بھر لگ گیا۔ پہلی بار جب میں
پاکستان ایمبیسی گیا تھا تو صبح 4:30 پر وہاں پہنچا۔ پھر بھی مجھ سےپہلے
10 لوگ کھڑے تھے۔ لمبی قطار۔ اور ہاں مجھ سے کچھ آگے بل گیٹ بھی اپنا
پاسپورٹ اور بنک سٹیٹمنٹ ہاتھ میں لیا لائن میں کھڑا تھا۔

جوزف : اچھا۔ بل گیٹ کو ویزہ مل گیا ۔

مارک : نہیں۔ انہوں*نے خطرہ ظاہر کیا ہے کہ بل گیٹ پاکستان جانے کے بعد
وہاں سلپ ہوجائے گا اور امریکہ واپس نہیں آئے گا۔

جوزف : یار ۔ پاکستانی ایمبیسی کو ایسا نہیں کرنا چاہیئے۔ اسلام آباد میں
ہماری امریکن ایمبیسی تو پاکستانیوں کو ایک گھنٹے میں ویزہ دے دیتی ہے۔
پھر یہ کیوں*ایسا کرتے ہیں ؟

مارک : ارے یار ۔ تمھیں تو پتہ ہے پاکستان اس وقت دنیا کی سپر پاور ہے۔
اسکا ویزہ لینا گویا مریخ کا ویزہ لینے کے برابر ہے۔ اور پھر قصور ہمارا
امریکیوں کا بھی ہے۔ ہم بھی وہاں وزٹ ویزہ پر جاکر واپس نہیں آتے نا۔

جوزف : اچھا یہ بتاؤ ۔ تمھیں ویزہ کیسے مل گیا ؟

مارک : میں نے وہاں کی مشہور فرم 'پھالیہ شوگر ملز لمٹیڈ' سے بزنس وزٹ کا
انویٹیشن منگوایا تھا۔ بس اسی بنیاد پر کام بن گیا۔

جوزف : ایک بار پھر مبارک ہو۔ یہ بتاؤ کب جا رہے ہو پاکستان ؟

مارک : جیسے ہی ٹکٹ ملا۔ دراصل میں نے دنیا کی مشہور ترین اور اعلی کلاس
کی ائیر لائن میں* ٹکٹ کے لیے درخواست دی ہے۔ میرا بچپن سے خواب تھا کہ
کسی دن پاکستان انٹرنیشنل ایر لائنز PIA میں سفر کر سکوں۔ اگر ٹکٹ مل گیا
تو میرا دیرینہ خواب پورا ہوجائے گا۔
جوزف : پاکستان میں کتنا عرصہ رکو گے ؟

مارک : کتنا عرصہ ؟ کیا مطلب ؟ مجھے کسی پاگل کتے نے کاٹا ہے جو پاکستان
چھوڑ کر واپس امریکہ آنے کی سوچوں گا۔ حقیقت یہ ہے کہ میں نے انٹرنیٹ پر
چیٹ کے ذریعے پاکستان کے دوسرے بڑے شہر لاہور کے مضافات میں ایک صحت افزا
مقام 'کامونکی' کی ایک لڑکی سیٹ کر لی ہے۔ میں اس سے شادی کرکے گرین
پاسپورٹ اپلائی کردوں گا اور وہیں سیٹ ہوجاؤں گا۔

جوزف : یار تم بہت خوش قسمت ہو۔ لیکن تمھارے ماں باپ کا کیا ہوگا۔

مارک : پاکستانی گرین پاسپورٹ مل جانے کے بعد میں ماما-پاپا کو بھی وہیں
بلا لوں گا۔
جوزف : کس شہر میں رہنا پسند کرو گے ؟

مارک : کامونکی والی لڑکی نے مجھے کہا ہے کہ پنجاب سٹیٹ صحت و صفائی کے
اعلی معیار کی وجہ سے ویسے تو دنیا میں پہلے نمبر پر ہے۔ لیکن ہم کراچی
سیٹل ہوں*گے۔ وہاں آپرچیونٹیز بہت ہیں۔ پتہ ہے نا ؟ کراچی اس وقت دنیا
میں ٹریڈ اور ٹیکنالوجی کے لحاظ سے اول نمبر کا شہر ہے۔ اور وہاں کا 660
منزلہ حبیب بنک پلازہ دیکھنا بھی میری زندگی کی بہت بڑی خواہش ہے۔ سنا ہے
اسکی اوپرکی 200 منزلیں بادلوں*میں ڈھکی رہتی ہیں۔ واؤؤؤؤؤؤؤؤؤؤو واٹ آ
ڈریم یار۔

جوزف : اچھا یہ بتاؤ اپنے ساتھ کتنے ڈالرز لے کر جاؤ گے ؟

مارک : ڈالرز ؟ وہاں کون پوچھتا ہے۔ تمھیں پتہ ہے ایک پاک-روپے کے مقابلے
میں آجکل 210 ڈالرز بنتے ہیں۔ یعنی میری اگر وہاں 10 ہزار پاکستانی بھی
تنخواہ نکل آئی تو امریکہ میں چند مہینوں میں لاکھوں پتی بن جاؤں گا۔

جوزف : میں نے سنا ہے پاکستان کا لائف سٹینڈرڈ بہت اعلی ہے۔

مارک : ہاں۔ ایسے ہی ہے۔ وہاں پر BMW لکژری کار 25 ہزار پاک روپے میں ،
جبکہ مرسٹڈیز 32 ہزار میں مل جاتی ہے۔ لیکن مین تو سوزوکی یا چنگچی لوں
گا۔ خالصتاً پاکستانی میڈ آٹوز ہیں۔ کچھ مہنگی ہیں لیکن بہت اعلی کلاس کی
ہیں۔
البتہ کراچی میں فلیٹ بہت مہنگے ہیں۔ اور کوئی بھی بلڈنگ 100 فلور سے کم
تو ہے ہی نہیں۔ انسان ہر وقت خود کو فضاؤں میں اڑتا محسوس کرتا ہے۔

جوزف : اچھا یہ بتاؤ کہ وہاں کام کیا کرو گے۔

مارک : میں نے معلومات کی ہیں۔ وہاں پر آئی-ٹی میں بہت سکوپ ہے۔ لیکن تم
تو جانتے ہو وہ ہمارے ملک کے تعلیمی معیار کو اپنے برابر نہیں سمجھتے اس
لیے مجھے شروع میں وہاں کسی کسان کے ' گدھے' وغیرہ نہلانے پڑیں گے۔ یا
پھر ہوسکتا ہے کسی مشہور پارک کے دروازے پر 'جوتے پالش ' کا کھوکھا ہی
کھول لوں۔ کچھ نہ ہوا تو ٹیکسی کا لائسنس کرلوں گا۔ امریکہ سے تو پھر بھی
کئی گنا بہتر کما لوں گا۔ اورہاں اگر میں وہاں کا گرین پاسپورٹ ہولڈر
ہوگیا تو پھر ساری زندگی حکومت مجھے بےروزگاری الاؤنس اور میڈیکل سہولیات
فری فراہم کرے گی۔ اور گرین پاسپورٹ کی بنا پر مجھے دنیا کے 80 فیصد
ممالک میں بغیر ویزے کے وزٹ کرنے کی سہولت مل جائے گی۔

جوزف : بہت خوب ۔ یہ بتاؤ ۔ تمھیں انکی زبان کیسے آئے گی ؟

مارک : اوہ بھائی ۔ میں پچھلے 10 سال سے اردو لینگوئج سیکھ رہا ہوں۔ کالج
میں آپشنل سبجیکٹ بھی اردو ہی لیا تھا۔ اور ہاں میں نے TOUFL بھی A گریڈ
میں پاس کیا ہے۔

جوزف : یہ TOUFL کیا ہے ؟

مارک : Test Of Urdu as a Foreign Language

جوزف : تم بہت خوش قسمت ہو یار۔ کاش میں تمھاری جگہ ہوتا۔
سنا ہے وہاں پر ٹرین سسٹم بہت اچھا ہے۔

مارک : ہاں ۔ کراچی سے لاہور اور وہاں سے پشاور اور کوئٹہ کے لیے دنیا کی
تیز ترین اور آرام دہ ترین ٹرین 'تیز گام' چلتی ہے۔ اس میں سفر کا بھی
اپنا ہی مزہ ہے۔ اور لاہور میں ہی دنیا کا مشہور فلم سٹوڈیو لالی وڈ بھی
ہے۔ جہاں پر میں دنیا کے عظیم اداکاروں سلطان راہی ، شفقت چیمہ اور ریما
کے مجسمے دیکھوں گا۔ سنا ہے آجکل انکے بچے بھی فلم انڈسٹری میں ہیں۔
اور راولپنڈی میں دنیا کی سب سے بڑی اور گہری جھیل 'راول ڈیم' بھی ہے۔ اس
میں بوٹنگ کرنا بھی مجھے ہمیشہ سے ہی خواب لگتا ہے۔ لیکن اب یہ خواب بھی
حقیقت بن جائے گا۔
جوزف : سنا ہے ہمارا صدر اگلے مہینہ امداد لینے پاکستان بھی جائے گا ؟

مارک : ہاں۔ ایسا ہی ہے۔ اور قرضے بھی ری-شیڈول کروانے ہیں۔ پچھلے دنوں
پاکستان کے محکمہ نسواریات کا منسٹر پختون خان ، وہائٹ ہاؤس آیا تھا تو
10 لاکھ روپے کا ڈونیشن تو صرف یہاں چلنے والے ایک منشیات کے ادارے کو دے
گیا تھا۔ تاکہ ہماری نوجوان نسل کو زیادہ سے زیادہ منشیات باآسانی مہیا
ہوسکیں۔

جوزف : اچھا تمھیں یاد ہے ہمارا پرائمری سکول کا کلاس فیلو 'پیٹر' ۔ وہ
بھی تو کہیں پاکستان میں سیٹ ہے۔

مارک : ہاں۔ وہ کوئٹہ کے قریب ایک وادی ' پوستان' میں سیٹ ہے۔ سنا ہے
پوسٹ کے کھیت سے پوست اکٹھی کرنے کا کام ہے اسکا۔ ایک ہی سیزن میں اتنا
کما لیتا ہے کہ باقی 6 ماہ بیٹھ کر کھاتا رہتا ہے۔ عیش ہے اسکی تو۔

جوزف : یار میں بھی پاکستانی ویزہ کے لیے اپلائی کرنا چاہتا ہوں۔ مجھے
کچھ انسٹرکشن تو دو ؟
مارک : پاکستانی ایمبیسی میں ہمیشہ شلوار قمیض پہن کر جانا۔ وہ لوگ اپنے
قومی لباس کو بہت اہمیت دیتے ہیں۔ اور کوشش کرنا کہ ویزہ کی درخواست
انگریزی کی بجائے اردو میں پُر کرنا۔ اس سے بھی اچھا تاثر ملے گا۔
اور ایمبیسی میں داخل ہوتے ہی 'السلام علیکم ۔ جناب کیا حال ہے ؟' کہنا مت بھولنا۔
اس سے پتہ چلے گا کہ آپ کتنے مہذب ہو۔

جوزف : تھینک یو یار۔
مارک : تھینک یو نہیں شکریہ ۔ اب میں پاکستانی ویزہ ہولڈر ہوں۔ مجھے
شکریہ کہنے میں فخر ہے ۔ خدا حافظ
۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔

کہیے دوستو ! کیسا لگا 3009 کا پاکستان ؟

Gen Kayani Takes Part in Air Operation Against Militants

SWAT: Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervaz Kayani made a historic
flight in Pakistan Air Force F-16 jet to symbolically take part in
operation Rah-e- Rast.

A wing commander was flying the F-16 carrying army chief. Air Chief
Marshall Rao Qamar Suleman see off General Ashfaq Kayani at an
operational base of PAF.

General Kayani is the first Army chief of Pakistan who made F-16 flight.

President Zardari, PM Manmohan to Meet in Russia

Pakistan Monday said the meeting of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and
President Asif Ali Zardari in Russia — the first top-level contact
after 26/11 — will "have a salutary impact" on bilateral ties.

It is for the first time that Pakistan has confirmed the meeting,
which will be held on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organisation (SCO) summit here.

"It is a welcome development and will have a salutary impact,"
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was quoted as saying.

"The two leaders will have a one-on-one meeting," he said without
divulging more details. "Let the meeting take place and then we can
talk after it is over," he said.

Asked about the agenda, Qureshi said, "We can't prejudge the outcome
of the meeting," and added that it was an "important meeting" between
two important leaders.

On how long the meeting was expected to last, he said, "When two
national leaders meet, time is of no significance."

The two leaders last met in September 2008 on the sidelines of UN
General Assembly in New York.

This will be the first highest-level contact between the two countries
since the Mumbai attacks last year as India has suspended dialogue
till Pakistan takes "concrete" action against those behind the strikes
and dismantles the terror infrastructure.

Hazrat Yunis's Dua

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Two matches of 20-20 world cup will be played two day

Image by Craig Jewell via Flickr

Two matches will be played in Twenty20 World Cup cricket tournament today.

In the first match of the day, Bangladesh meet Ireland at 6:30 pm PST
whereas Australia will take on Sri Lanka at 10:30 PST.

This is a must-win match for both sides. A loss to India at Trent
Bridge has left Bangladesh needing to beat Ireland in order to move to
the Super Eights. Ireland play their first match of the tournament and
for them this is essentially a knock-out game, as they will play India
next.

Sri Lanka's first match of the tournament is the most crucial one for
Australia, who must win to stay alive in an event, which has barely
started. Even then a victory might not be enough after their heavy
seven-wicket loss to West Indies, which puts them well behind on net
run-rate.

Oil prices were lower at 68 per barrel in Asian trade

Image via Wikipedia

Oil prices were lower in Asian trade Monday as investors took profit
after New York crude breached 70 dollars a barrel for the first time
in seven months late last week.

In morning trade, New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude
for delivery in July, was down 47 cents at 67.97 dollars a barrel. The
contract touched 70.32 dollars in intraday trade Friday, its highest
since November 4, before easing.

Brent North Sea crude for July delivery fell 45 cents to 67.89
dollars, after reaching as high as 69.91 dollars in intraday trade
Friday.

15000 affectees arrive in Sindh

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minster Syed Qaim Ali shah said that at least
15000 affected people of Swat Operation have come into Sindh, sources
said Sunday.

Those political parties, who are opposing the arrival of affected
people in Sindh, enjoy no political significance, he said.

The CM urged the people to support the military, as the country is hit
by terrorism.

Terrorist attack on the 15 office in Islamabad near PIMIS Hospital.

Terrorist attack on the 15 office in Islamabad near PIMIS Hospital.
The terrorist inter in to the 15 building and he blast him self.
savrial police men are enjuired and one policed constable has bee
martied .lastest updates are coming

troops to be appointed in affected areas: Kaira

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Cabinet has decided to start disbursement of
cash to the affectees of Malakand division from coming Tuesday,
Federal Minister for Information Qamar-uz-Zaman Kaira said this on
Wednesday.

Briefing the media after the meeting of the Federal Cabinet, the
Minister said NADRA has declared the data against 229,000 affected
families as correct and that the process of issuing ATM cards to them
from UBL will begin from Monday. Disbursement of cash will start from
Tuesday, he added.

He said 2500 retired military troops will be inducted in the police of
the areas of conflict.

US to give extra $200 mln for Malakand affectees

ISLAMABAD: The United States Wednesday announced an additional amount
of 200 million dollars in aid for the affectees of the ongoing
operation in Malakand division.

US special envoy to Pakistan Richard Holbrooke announced this while
talking to media along with President Asif Ali Zardari and Foreign
Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi here in the Presidency.

On the occasion Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi thanked the US
for providing 110 million dollars in aid to Pakistan, saying Pakistan
was appreciative of this US gesture.

The FM said the present democratic government made sincere efforts to
build national consensus and a way forward to fight against militancy.

President Asif Ali Zardari said that Pakistan is committed to defend
its territory from the militants.

"We are committed to defend and wherever there is threat we will
follow it," President said in response to a question about military
action in Waziristan and other areas.

Replying to a question about winning the war against militants,
President Zardari said anything to say in this regard is too soon.

"We have war of ideology to fight. We have a war where we have hearts
and minds to win. Once we have won hearts and minds of the people of
the region, then I will say that we have progressed," he added.

Richard Holbrooke assured that US will provide additional assistance
to the government of Pakistan in its moments of need.

He said 10 days ago the US secretary of state Hillary Clinton had
announced 110 million aid for Pakistan and now US president Barack
Obama has sought an extra aid of 200 million dollars from the
Congress. Hopefully the Congress will accede to it, he added.

Ambassador Holbrooke said that reconstruction phase will be very
important and very critical and assured full American help and support
in this phase.

"I hope people of Pakistan will understand our country's leading role
in responding quickly in this need of hour. President Obama is
personally involved in it as US really cares about Pakistan," he
added.

High value terrorist Fidaullah arrested in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad police has arrested a terrorist Fidaullah who had
been involved in attacking Police Special Branch and FC Check Post.

SSP Islamabad Tahir Alam told a news conference that Fidaullah hailed
from Buner and that he was a student of a local Madressa.

Police went after Fidaullah after getting a lead from Khairullah and
Khurram Shahzad who were arrested in the case of attacks on FC Check
Post and Special Branch.

The SSP said that the accused had been targeting security forces
besides he also beheaded 3 persons in Buner and Swat on charges of
spying.

He said Fidaullah established a new network with the name of Ghazi
Force and set up its center in Guljo near Hangu. The accused had also
been taking youngsters from Islamabad to make turn them into suicide
bombers in the name of Jihad

The SSP said that Fidaullah was planning a kidnap of a foreign personality.

Militants kidnap cadets, staffers of Razmak College

NORTH WAZIRISTAN: Militants have kidnapped cadets and staffers of
Razmak College who were heading to Bannu from the College.

The cadets and staffers of the college, situated in North Waziristan,
were on their way to Bannu when they were kidnapped by militants who
came in 20 vehicles. However, 17 cadets traveling in a vehicle
successfully escaped from there.

Cadet College Razmak was suddenly closed and the cadets and staff were
sent to Bannu.

Advisor to Prime Minister on Tribal Affairs Mirza Muhammad Jihadi has
confirmed the happening of the incident.

Strongly condemning the kidnapping, he pledged that the government
will ensure safe release of the hostages.

World Twenty20 World Twenty20 represents a return to normality for Pakistan and Sri Lanka

Kumar Sangakkara admited he was nervous getting on a bus at Heathrow,
the first time the Sri Lanka team had since the terrorist attack in
Lahore. Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

For the two countries caught up in the Lahore terrorist attack the
World Twenty20 is much more than just another cricket tournament. It
is an attempt to recover a sense of normality.

Pakistan have arrived here as cricketing refugees, universally
regarded as unsafe for international cricket, and hanging on the
prospect that England could provide a temporary spiritual home,
beginning with the staging of their Test series against Australia next
summer.

For Sri Lanka the trauma runs just as deeply. The emotional fall-out
following the attack on their team coach has been followed by
worldwide scrutiny of the ­circumstances surrounding the end of their
own civil war.

Amnesty International has become the latest human rights body to press
the United Nations to state publicly its estimates of civilian deaths
in the final throes of the Sri Lankan conflict in which government
troops overcame Tamil Tiger rebel forces. Some estimates have put the
number as high as 20,000.

Kumar Sangakkara is just the Sri Lankan captain to steer a course
through such challenging political times: intelligent, shrewd and
idealistic. When Sri Lanka arrived at Heathrow, they had to contend
with the micro-emotions of getting onto a coach for the first time
since Lahore, Sangakkara looking at his close friend and former
captain, Mahela Jayawardene, in his familiar seat on the back row and
experiencing a fleeting sense of vulnerability as well as a pleasure
that normality was returning.

"It was funny getting back on a bus going from the airport to the
hotel when we got to England," he said. "We have gone through a
terrible time but life goes on. Cricket for us means ­normalcy. We
still have memories, all of them not very good, but we have the
fortitude to move ­forward. Getting on a bus was the first step to
doing that."

Then there were the macro-emotions: the recognition of the depth of
Western feeling about the end of their war; the cancellation by some
players, Sangakkara among them, of an address to the Oxford Union,
because their advisers had not gained satisfactory information about
security arrangements; and, unheard of for an ever-popular touring
side, uncertainty about how warmly England will receive them.

"Cricket in Sri Lanka has been the one unifying force, a passion of
the whole country," Sangakkara said. "It transcends religion, caste,
race and politics. That is the greatest thing that we as a team
represent. We have been representative of all the ethnicities and
allthe religions.

"We can only tell when we get on the field and the reception we get.
But we just feel very positive that our country is on the mend again.
If you look at our team it is a prime example of the harmony and unity
that Sri Lanka should represent and I think the country will represent
that very soon in the future.

"The end of the war is a weight on the shoulders of all of Sri Lanka.
Twenty-six years is a long time. I have grown up with it. It is high
time in this modern world that people realise that we do have the
capacity to move on and live as equals.

"The war has touched every single person in Sri Lanka. They have lost
friends, relatives, loved ones. I don't think there is any family in
Sri Lanka who has been able to wake up and not think about the war. It
has touched us all at times."

For Pakistan and their captain, Younis Khan, internal conflict goes
on. "We are suffering, we are not playing regularlyand nobody is
coming to Pakistan. It is important that we play well in Twenty20.
Every single person in Pakistan follows T20 and we have lots of
passionate Pakistani followers in England. To play well in England
will lift the depression of our nation."

Sindh cotton cultivation hit by acute water shortage

MIRPURKHAS: Cotton cultivation like other parts of the country is
being badly hit by the acute shortage of irrigation water, while
cultivators continued agitating against the dearth of water.

Most of the districts in the province including Mirpurkhas, Jhaddu,
Naukot and Digri are facing water famine, while the standing crops at
the tail end of the canal are getting damaged due to water pressure
not being enough for reaching over there for the last several months
besides cultivation of cotton is also being severely hampered.

Cotton cultivation season is about to end, while the cultivators for
lack of water agitating and staging protests, but to no avails.

Electricity, Petrol gas subsidy has to bee end: Shaukat Tarin

KARACHI: Finance Advisor, Shaukat Tarin has said that a decision for
putting an end to the subsidy on petrol, gas and electricity has been
taken.

Addressing a seminar on 'IMF role in Pakistan economy' under the aegis
of Institute of Business Administration (IBA), the finance advisor
said that the government was facing economic challenges. He said that
the current fiscal year revenue recoveries would amount to Rs1180
billion, but yet the recoveries have been crucial problem for the
government and this was the reason that the prices of petroleum
products were not reduced.

Shaukat Tarin said that serious notice has been taken of the FBR
harassing consumers. He said that the focus for the next year would be
to revive the economy after stabilization. He pointed out that
attention would also be paid towards the revenue generation. He
explained that the tax would not be increased and instead efforts
would be made to expand the tax net. This would be carried out
administratively and also on the policy basis

Finance advisor said that Pakistan's three national
enterprise—Pakistan Steel, Railway and PIA were cumulatively incurring
losses of over Rs200 billion annually.

He said that relief would be given to the middle class in the upcoming
budget, while the new National Financial Award (NFC) would be
presented with the consensus of the four provinces.

Girls Who Plucked Eyebrow Are Not True Sikh: High Court Posted: 31 May 2009 11:03 AM PDT CHANDIGARH: Endorsing a hardline stand by high priests of S

CHANDIGARH: Endorsing a hardline stand by high priests of Sikhism who barred a young girl admission in a minority institution on grounds that she violated a fundamental tenet of the religion by plucking her eyebrows, the Punjab and Haryana high court on Saturday ruled that the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee was fully justified in doing so.

Leaning on the side of a text-based, more conservative definition of who is a true Sikh and the importance of hair in Sikhism, the full bench of justices JS Khehar, Jasbir Singh and Ajay Kumar Mittal in a 152-page order said keeping unshorn hair was an essential and most fundamental component of the religion.

The order came on a plea by Gurleen Kaur and others who had challenged denial of admission into an MBBS course at the Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Amritsar, a Sikh minority institution, on grounds that they plucked their eyebrows and trimmed their hair.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandak Committee (SGPC) had also ruled that she was not a “true Sikh as she was plucking her eyebrows.” The court said the requisite of maintaining Sikh `swarup’ (appearance) was a permissible precondition for admitting students under the Sikh minority community quota.

The SGPC runs two medical colleges, two engineering institutes, one polytechnic, 40 degree colleges and 150 schools, most of them in Punjab.

Saturday’s order, replete with references to Sikh history and Sikh model code of conduct, also noted that the Guru Granth Sahib is for guidance of Sikhs in their pursuit towards spiritual salvation. It does not deal with the code of conduct prescribed for Sikhs. It was the Sikh rehat-maryada (code of conduct) that dealt with issues like importance of unshorn hair.

It added that the Guru Granth Sahib made no reference to the terms amritdhari (Sikhs who wear the five Ks - kesh, kacchha, kanga, kara, kirpan - and who have partaken amrit), sehajdhari (who are learning to be Amritdhari Sikhs) and patit (who were born Sikhs but violated one of the tenets).

Reflecting on contours of Sikh identity, the bench held the cardinal principle of retaining unshorn hair was not only for adults but also for minors, as it was the adults who were required to maintain the hair of their children.

Although the bench took the view that unshorn hair was an inalienable part of Sikh swarup, it observed that keeping the kirpan was not as important.

The SGPC burst out in celebration moments after the verdict and its chief Avtar Singh Makkar said, “We are happy with the judgment. Our stand that unshorn hair is of paramount importance for Sikhs has been vindicated.”