Plane crashes in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: Five people have been rescued from the wreckage of a private airliner crashed at Margalla Hills early on Wednesday.

One hundred and forty-six people including 139 adults, five kids and five crewmembers were onboard whereas 12 are those lucky people who missed the flight.

According to sources, an airbus 320 bound for Islamabad departed from Karachi at 7:50 am. The local residents said plane made low flight before the crash.

Rescue operation is underway despite difficulties because of hilly location of the incident site.

Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik said five wounded being shifted to hospital whereas rescue operation and search for black box is underway. The airport control tower had signaled landing approach to the plane when it was just eight kilometers away from the airport, reports said.

Pakistan: Plane Crash Crashes Near Islamabad With 152 On Board

ISLAMABAD — A passenger jet carrying 152 people crashed into the hills surrounding Pakistan's capital on a rainy Wednesday morning, officials said. At least five people were killed and three wounded, but many more were feared dead.

The cause of the Airblue crash was not immediately clear, said Pervez George, a civil aviation official. He said the plane was flying from Karachi to Islamabad and was trying to land during difficult weather. Airblue is private service based in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city.

"The plane was about to land at the Islamabad airport when it lost contact with the control tower, and later we learned that the plane had crashed," George said.

Guards with the forestry service said they had found some wreckage and seen at least five dead bodies, said Imtiaz Inayat Ali, an official with Islamabad's Capital Development Authority. Amir Ahmed, the city's deputy commissioner, told the ARY news channel that rescuers had found at least three people who were alive but wounded.

"This is a miracle as we had been briefed that there might not be any survivors," Ahmed said.

Pakistani news channels showed what appeared to be wreckage of the plane as a helicopter hovered above the heavily forested hills to assess the situation. Fire was visible and smoke was blowing up from the scene. The army said it was sending special troops to the area to help out along with helicopters.

Mohammed Usman, an official at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport said dozens of relatives of passengers gathered there were crying and desperate to get information about their loved ones.

Saqlain Altaf told Pakistan's ARY news channel that he was on a family outing in the hills when he saw the plane, looking unsteady in the air.

"The plane had lost balance, and then we saw it going down," he said, adding he heard the crash.

Airblue could not immediately be reached for comment.

Officials at first thought it was a small plane, but later revised that. George said 146 passengers were on the flight along with six crew members.

The only previous recorded accident for Airblue, a carrier founded in 2003, was a tailstrike in May 2008 at Quetta airport by one of the airline's Airbus 321 jets. There were no casualties and damage was minimal, according to the U.S.-based Aviation Safety Network.

Airblue flies within Pakistan as well as internationally to the United Arab Emirates, Oman and the United Kingdom.

Other Pakistani airlines have come under international scrutiny due to safety concerns.

In 2007, the European Union temporarily banned flights in its airspace of most of the aircraft operated by Pakistan's national carrier, Pakistan International Airlines, because of concerns over the age of the aircraft and poor maintenance. The bloc lifted the ban later that year after the airline took action to comply with safety standards.

The last major plane crash in Pakistan was in July 2006 when a Fokker F-27 twin-engine aircraft operated by Pakistan International Airlines slammed into a wheat field on the outskirts of the central Pakistani city of Multan, killing all 45 people on board.

In August 1989, another PIA Fokker, with 54 people onboard, went down in northern Pakistan on a domestic flight. The plane's wreckage was never found.

In September 1992, a PIA Airbus A300 crashed into a mountain in Nepal, killing all 167 people on board. Investigators found the plane was flying 1,500 feet lower than it reported as it approached the Katmandu airport.

Source: The Huffingtonpost

Genius Pakistani Student Developed Brain Countrol Robotic Arm

They think how can we use our God gifted talent to serve other humans, which bring true value to society as Einstein said “Try not to become a man of successful but rather a man of value”.

کوئی قابل ہو تو ہم اسے شان کہی دیتے ہیں
ڈھونڈنے والوں کو دنیا نئی دیتے ہیں

This is a verse by Allama Iqbal which conveys message from God to a common man that “If you’re talented and you work hard you’ll be rewarded”. It’s rightly said that “Human brains have powers beyond measures”. This statement has been proven by a group of Pakistani students from NUST University who recently invented Brain Controlled Artificial Robotic Hand.
This Robotic Hand is very simple to operate and it’s a blessing for handicapped people. Just connect some sensors with your arm, now whatever you think in your brain regarding the movement of your arm this robotic arm will follow your brain’s order.

These kinds of projects are very rare and expensive in the world but Pakistani students maashaaAllah with their talent and hard work proved again that when we work for what we desire we get what we need.

Ufone New Package "Ufone Uth Package"

Ufone launched
Ufone New Package "Ufone Uth Package". I must confess here that the name of the package is very innovative since it keep up with the famous “U” of Ufone and at the same time target Youth aka “Uth” as per Ufone. The package targets the Pakistani youth segment since it is one of the highest ARPU (average revenue per user) generating segment of the society.

Youth has been at the center of many products and services being introduced today and all cellular companies have created offers to cater to this huge segment in this country. Telenor djuice is the best example that comes to one mind when you think of a youth package. Recently Warid also came out with Glow to target the same segment.

This new package from Ufone has everything the youth could ask for – the lowest SMS package rates of 300 SMS/day in just Rs 1.99, the most valuable FnF rate of Rs 2.99/hour from 12am till 5pm and free call after 2 minutes from 12am till 9am to all Ufone numbers! That’s not all, Uth package offers free first month subscription to its early adopters for exciting youthful services like Background Music, Love and Humor service and Music Station. The attractive long calling rates are sure to benefit the working class as well who are working far away from home by giving them the opportunity to talk to their hearts content with their families at very low rates.

Ufone is also offering an amazing launch promotion where all those youth package lovers who come on Uth package by 30th June 2010 will have a chance to win amazing prizes such as sizzling hot ipads, handsets, Uth package T-shirts and many other exciting gifts along with a bumper prize of a return ticket to anywhere in the world.

Mr. Akbar Khan Chief Marketing Officer Ufone said that this is a no brain choice for Pakistani youth with all that our youth wants. Ufone’s launch of its Uth package is going to bring the Pakistani youth an amazing & unmatchable bouquet of offers and surprises which will delight our youth and offer them a cost effective package with excitement jo soch hai aap kee. The early birds will get to win ipads, handsets etc.

Daily Rate & Package Charges:

Ufone official website of Uth Package here