Facebook going to change its privacy policy

Facebook has agreed to make worldwide changes to its privacy policy as a result of negotiations with Canada's privacy commissioner.

Last month the social network was found to breach Canadian law by holding on to users' personal data indefinitely. 

Facebook has now agreed to make changes to the way it handles this information and be more transparent about what data it collects and why. 

It will also make it clear that users can deactivate or delete their account. 

"These changes mean that the privacy of 200 million Facebook users in Canada and around the world will be far better protected," said Canadian privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart. 

"We're very pleased Facebook has been responsive to our recommendations." 

The decision could also have implications for other social networking websites, she said. 

Elliot Schrage, vice president of global communications and public policy at Facebook, said he believed the new policies set "a new standard for the industry". 

'Unrestricted access'

As well as updating the privacy policy, Facebook has said it will make changes that will give users more control over the data they provide to third-party developers of applications, such as games and quizzes. 

There are around 950,000 developers in 180 countries who provide applications for the site. 

Specifically, the changes will require applications to state which information they wish to access and obtain consent from the user before it is used or shared. 

"Application developers have had virtually unrestricted access to Facebook users' personal information," said Ms Stoddart. 

"The changes Facebook plans to introduce will allow users to control the types of personal information that applications can access." 

The site will also encourage users to review their privacy settings and make it clear to users that they can delete or deactivate an account, and what the difference is between the two. 

Facebook's Michael Richter said if a user chose to deactivate their account, the site would still store their information "even if it is for 10 years". 

"We're committing to that user," he said. "We want them to know that if they change their mind they can always come back." 

The social network has said work on the changes will begin immediately but they would take around 12 months to implement. 

The regulator first started its investigation as a result of complaints by the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) at the University of Ottawa. 

The country is the first to complete a full investigation of Facebook's privacy practices. 

Canada has around 12 million Facebook users, more than one in three of the population.

Facebook Vs Google

The internet Experts are of the view after that taking over Friend Feed Facebook is in direct contest with Google.

Majority of the people from industry were expecting that either Google or Twitter will take over Friend Feed but Facebook took over it.

Friend Feed is praised for its real time search capability . According to people Google is the master of normal search while Friend feed is the master of real time search.

Facebook holding 250 million customers is of the view that in near future people will go for real time search rather ordinary search like Google does.

Google has accepted that services like Twitter gave a set back to it by capturing 45 million custmers in no time.

The people sitting in the silicon valley were shocked at Facebook taking over Friend Feed as Facebook was not succeeded in taking over twitter before. These people were of the view that Google will go for Friend feed not Facebook.

Apart from every thing it is obvous that contest between Facebook and Googke will be interesting as both will try to take lead in providing best services to its users.

Pakistan upgraded U.S.-made missiles, test-fired: NewYork Times

The Obama administration has accused Pakistan of illegally modifying U.S.-made missiles to expand its ability to hit land-based targets, which would constitute a threat to India, The New York Times reported in Sunday editions.

165 such missiles were sold to Pakistan during 1985-1988 Charles Taylor from Defense Security Agency told us.

Citing senior administration and Congressional officials, the Times said the charge came in late June through an unpublicized diplomatic protest to Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and other top Pakistani officials.

The accusation, made amid growing concerns about Pakistan's increasingly rapid conventional and nuclear weapons development, triggered a new round of U.S.-Pakistani tensions, the report added.

"There's a concerted effort to get these guys to slow down," the newspaper quoted a senior administration official as saying. "Their energies are misdirected," the official added.

A senior Pakistani official called the accusation "incorrect," saying that the missile tested was developed by Pakistan, just as it had modified North Korean designs to build a range of land-based missiles. He furthur added Pakistan had allowed US to take a look on Harpoon Missiles stored in Pakistan inorder to avoid any allegation.

The editor of Jane Air Launched Weapon argued that American claim is not very sound. he furthur argued thta the range of Harpoon missile is nor=t so much that it can be used for surface targets. He concludes that in this matter Pakistan's claim seems to be realistic. 

U.S. officials said the disputed weapon is a conventional one based on the Harpoon anti-ship missiles that were sold to Pakistan during the Reagan administration as a defensive weapon, the newspaper reported, but Pakistan has upgraded and modified it into surface to surface missile.

Due to this controversy, the proceedings of Kery Loger Bill may be delayed sources added. The final approval of bill from congress is expected in next month.

Pakistan’s Ambassador in U.S., Hussain Haqqani has termed a U.S newspaper report, alleging Pakistani engineers have upgraded the range of U.S.- made Harpoon missile earlier given to Pakistan and test fired, baseless and incorrect. 

Talking to media Hussain Haqqani said that such news reports were designed to target and scuttle the U.S. Congress lawmaking process underway for sanctioning aid to Pakistan. 

He urged upon the U.S. media to halt hurling blames on Pakistan and help it in war against terror. He said that the frequent campaign of labeling blames on Pakistan in U.S. media only meant for disgracing Pakistan, but despite all the conspiracies Pakistan would continue aligning with the U.S. in war against terrorism.

Pakistan Qualifed for Golf Worlcup:Another History

Muhammad Shabbir and Muhammad Munir etched their names in the history books as they guided Pakistan to their first Omega Mission Hills World Cup on Saturday.

The unheralded Pakistani duo shot a superb three-under-par 68 in the final round foursomes at Seri Selangor Golf Club to finish third at the Asian qualifier, which was won by pre-tournament favourites Singapore.

Represented by Lam Chih Bing and Mardan Mamat, Singapore carded a closing 72 for a four-day total of 15-under-par 269 to finish one shot ahead of Philippines pair Mars Pucay and Angelo Que.

The top three qualify for the World Cup, which takes place in China in November.

A World Cup appearance continues to elude the Malaysian pair of Iain Steel and Danny Chia as they ended fourth after a battling 71 while Myanmar finished a further three strokes behind following a 74.

"Pakistan have played in the cricket World Cup, hockey World Cup and squash World Cup but never before in our history that we've been in golf's World Cup," said a delighted Munir.

"I don't know how to describe how we feel right now. I'm sure everyone in Pakistan will be very happy," he added.

Pakistan mixed their scorecard with four birdies against two bogeys before nailing a crucial final birdie on the 18th hole to seal a historic debut against the world's best.

Apple Snow Leapord- New OS by Apple

Apple has released the latest version of its operating system, dubbed Snow Leopard.
The release is more a series of subtle refinements than a full-on overhaul, according to the firm.
Below is a brief list of the changes and additional features that users will notice, as well as tweaks to system performance.

NEED FOR SPEED

The Snow Leopard release concentrates on simply speeding up and streamlining the whole Mac environment. Apple even says that the installation of the software itself is up to 50% faster than its most recent predecessor.

Starting up and shutting down are both about twice as fast, and the back-up service Time Machine is as much as 80% faster.
Apple's latest browser Safari 4 (available since June but comes as standard in Snow Leopard) offers faster web browsing. Apple claims that the new version will load HTML pages about three times faster than Firefox 3.5 or Internet Explorer 8.
One feature that has been completely overhauled is the Finder, Mac's file management system. Although users will be hard pressed to see the difference, Apple says the revamped Finder is far more responsive.

PROGRAM AND INTERFACE TWEAKS

The most visually noticeable changes in Snow Leopard come from tweaks to core OS interface features like Expose (which tiles all open windows on the screen, allowing a choice of which to maximise) and the Dock (the array of icons for launching programs or windows).

Expose now fits the open windows to a grid, making it easier to scan through them. By hovering the mouse over an icon on the Dock, Expose will launch, showing all the windows open within that application.
Within the Finder, quick previews of PDF and movie files can be viewed just by hovering over their icons.
Safari's history can be fully searched, and will now have the "smart" address and search fields that make more sensible suggestions when the start of a web address or search term is entered.
The improvements to the QuickTime video application include features once found only in the professional version QuickTime Pro. It can capture video stills and audio clips, and includes buttons to trim video down straight from the viewer.
The Mac's chat program iChat has addressed the connection problems that hampered chatting because of router incompatibilities. It also only uses a third of the bandwidth during a chat, and the iChat Theater application - in which users can both view slides or photos during a chat - now has full, 640 x 480 pixel resolution.

STREAMLINING

A number of the refinements have been undertaken to make certain tasks easier or completely automatic.
For example, Snow Leopard will automatically determine your location based on a database of known wi-fi hotspots, so as soon as you are in range of one of them, it will update your location and time settings.
It automatically searches for printer drivers when a new printer is installed, making printers a plug-and-play peripheral.
Selecting text in PDF files can sometimes be difficult when the text is laid out across columns or graphics, and Snow Leopard applies what Apple calls "artificial intelligence" to analyse the layout and determine the text users are likely to be selecting.
Users can apply a system-wide "substitution" feature that could, for instance, correct common typos across all applications.
For those who have had problems ejecting external media like USB drives, the Ejecting feature should work more smoothly in Snow Leopard.

UNDER THE BONNET

Stripping down the operating system throughout has allowed a lot of excess fat to be trimmed off in terms of the space it occupies. Apple claims that installing Snow Leopard will free up 7GB of disk space, though the actual amount gained seems to differ for each system.

One of the invisible but significant changes going on within Snow Leopard is that it is designed specifically for 64-bit hardware, rather than the 32-bit used by many older systems.
This change allows programs to communicate and use with the computer's memory more quickly, allowing them to be much more nimble.
Depending on how Mac-centric its user is, the biggest new feature in Snow Leopard might be the fact that it's compatible out of the box with Microsoft Exchange, meaning that it can sync easily with Windows networked systems for things like calendars, mail, and contacts.
The degree of virus protection in Snow Leopard is as yet unclear; something of an anti-virus program proper would be a first for Apple. In addition to asking if users want to install downloaded programs, it appears to check them for malware against a stored database of known threats.

Actions matter more than PR for U.S. army: Mike Mullen

The U.S. military can't win credibility in the Muslim world through new public relations strategies and instead must pursue actions that build trust, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

Admiral Mike Mullen, the top U.S. military officer, took aim at burgeoning "strategic communication" efforts inside the armed forces in which officials plan how to present their operations and ideas to the public.

"We need to worry a lot less about how to communicate our actions and much more about what our actions communicate," Mullen said in an article for Joint Force Quarterly, a U.S. military journal, released by his office on Friday.

As they fight insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. military officers have attached increasing importance to communications efforts.

Top officials including Defense Secretary Robert Gates have lamented that a country which, leads the world in marketing and media has been out-communicated by al Qaeda leaders in caves.

But, in a blunt assessment, Mullen argued this was not America's main problem in the Muslim world.

"Our biggest problem isn't caves; it's credibility. Our messages lack credibility because we haven't invested enough in building trust and relationships, and we haven't always delivered on promises," he wrote.

He said the United States was not even at "Year Zero" yet when it came to establishing real trust in places such as Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"There's a very long way to go," he wrote. "The Muslim community is a subtle world we don't fully -- and don't always attempt to -- understand."

He said the Taliban's "utter brutality" and disregard for human life had not waned but the movement had achieved some success in Afghanistan because it offered concrete solutions to problems, not just rhetoric.

"Got a governance problem? The Taliban is getting pretty effective at it. They've set up functional courts in some locations, assess and collect taxes, and even allow people to file complaints against local Talib leaders."

America's enemies were always looking to exploit gaps between U.S. rhetoric and reality, such as the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq, Mullen said.

"Most strategic communication problems are not communication problems at all," he said. "They are policy and execution problems."

Sunspots linked to Pacific rain

 
  A study has shown how sunspots could affect climate in the Pacific.
Writing in the journal Science, the international team detailed how the 11-year sunspot cycle might influence the amount of rain falling on the ocean.
It is hoped the findings will lead to better models for regional climate predictions.
The authors emphasised the findings "cannot be used to explain recent global warming because of the trend over the past 30 years".
Sunspots are cooler areas on the Sun's surface that are marked by intense magnetic activity.
Although dimmer than their surroundings, their presence is usually accompanied by bright spots, or faculae, which result in a slight general overall brightening of our star when it is most active.

Sunspots and rain

The new study suggests that relatively small variations in sunspot activity might result in changes in climate.
Two mechanisms are involved.
The first is "top-down" where changes in the upper layers of the atmosphere contribute to wetter conditions below.
The second is "bottom-up" where the ocean evaporates and more clouds are produced.
The study used models to show how these two mechanisms might act together to produce rainfall similar to that observed in the tropics.

In addition, the models predict a cooling effect of the surface of the ocean in equatorial regions.

A step forward

Brad Carter, from the University of Southern Queensland, Australia, said: "This paper represents a useful step forward."
Others, however, were not so convinced.
In an interview with the journal Science, Joanna Haigh from Imperial College London, UK, said: "It is not nearly as conclusive as they would have it."
In the same interview, David Rind of the US space agency (Nasa) added that "even if the amplifier exists, its climate leverage is still relatively puny".
In response Dr Meehl, one of the authors of the study, told BBC News: "There could be other mechanisms in the system that also connect solar variability to climate.
"But the new result here is that we have identified these two (mechanisms) that can produce signals of the size we expect to see in the observations.
"And we've reproduced them in a climate model simulation for the first time."

US envoy,Karzai exchange hot words during talks

 Afghan President Hamid Karzai had a testy exchange with the US envoy to the region, Richard Holbrooke, who pressed him after widespread allegations of vote rigging, an official said Thursday.

"It was a difficult meeting and there were some sharp exchanges in it," a US official with knowledge of the meeting told foreign news agency in Washington.

Holbrooke, a veteran US diplomat, met with all of the candidates in Afghanistan's second-ever presidential election and shared a meal with Karzai on August 21, the day after the vote.

"The thrust of the meeting was to respect the electoral process, let it take its course and be patient and to respect the results, whatever they are," the US official said.

The official said Holbrooke reiterated to each candidate the public US line that Washington was neutral in the race and steered clear of recommending any new vote while waiting for complete results.

Members of the Obama team have alleged a lack of action against corruption and were taken aback that Karzai picked as his running mate Mohammed Qasim Fahim, who is accused of grave human rights abuses during Afghanistan's nearly three decades of war.

Zooming in on the nanoscale

Researchers have created the highest resolution optical image ever, revealing structures as small as just tens of billionths of a metre across.

Carbon filaments: The technique can resolve detail down to about 25 billionths of a metre

Enlarge image

"This is the highest resolution optical spectroscopic measurement ever made," said Lukas Novotny, professor of optics at Rochester University, US.

The novel technique should allow a new insight into the world of the small, for example examining the proteins embedded in a cell's membrane.

"There are other methods that can see smaller structures, but none use light, which is rich in information," said Professor Novotny.

"With this technique, we have a detailed spectrum for every point on a surface."

Gold point
Other ultra-high resolution imaging techniques, such as atomic force microscopes, only detect the presence of objects. But they don't actually see them.

The laws of physics make very high magnifications extremely difficult because the wavelength of light is a limitation in itself.

To tackle this problem, Professor Novotny's team sharpened a gold wire to a point that was just a few tens of nanometres across.

A laser was then shone against the side of the gold tip, inciting electrons inside it to oscillate.

These oscillations created a tiny bubble of electromagnetic energy at the tip, which interacts with the vibrations of the atoms in the sample.

Designer medicines

This interaction, called Raman scattering, releases packets of light from the sample at specific frequencies that can be detected and used to identify the chemical composition of the material.

The first images taken with the new technique are of so-called carbon nanotubes, filaments of carbon atoms strung together.

One prospect for this technique is determining exactly how cell membranes work, opening the door to designer medicines that could kill harmful cells or repair damaged ones.

Currently, Professor Novotny and colleagues can achieve a resolution of about 25 nanometres. In a few years, they expect to be capable of seeing proteins, which are little more than five nanometres wide.

To do this, they will have to get the point of the gold tip sharper still.

Single molecule's stunning image

Even the bonds to the hydrogen atoms at the pentacene's periphery can be seen

The detailed chemical structure of a single molecule has been imaged for the first time, say researchers.

The physical shape of single carbon nanotubes has been outlined before, using similar techniques - but the new method even shows up chemical bonds.

Understanding structure on this scale could help in the design of many things on the molecular scale, particularly electronics or even drugs.

The IBM researchers report their findings in the journal Science.

It is the same group that in July reported the feat of measuring the charge on a single atom.

Fine tuning

In both cases, a team from IBM Research Zurich used what is known as an atomic force microscope or AFM.

Their version of the device acts like a tiny tuning fork, with one of the prongs of the fork passing incredibly close to the sample and the other farther away.

When the fork is set vibrating, the prong nearest the sample will experience a minuscule shift in the frequency of its vibration, simply because it is getting close to the molecule.

Comparing the frequencies of the two prongs gives a measure of just how close the nearer prong is, effectively mapping out the molecule's structure.

The microscope must be kept under high vacuum and exceptionally cold

The measurement requires extremes of precision. In order to avoid the effects of stray gas molecules bounding around, or the general atomic-scale jiggling that room-temperature objects experience, the whole setup has to be kept under high vacuum and at blisteringly cold temperatures.

However, the tip of the AFM's prong is not well-defined and isn't necessarily sharp on the scale of single atoms. The effect of this bluntness is to blur the instrument's images.

The researchers have now hit on the idea of deliberately picking up just one small molecule - made of one atom of carbon and one of oxygen - with the AFM tip, forming the sharpest, most well-defined tip possible.

Their measurement of a pentacene molecule using this carbon monoxide tip shows the bonds between the carbon atoms in five linked rings, and even suggests the bonds to the hydrogen atoms at the molecule's periphery.

Tip of the iceberg

Lead author of the research Leo Gross told BBC News that the group is aiming to combine their ability to measure individual charges with the new technique, characterising molecules at a truly unprecedented level of detail.

That will help in particular in the field of "molecular electronics", a potential future for electronics in which individual molecules serve as switches and transistors.

Although the approach can trace out the ethereal bonds that connect atoms, it cannot distinguish between atoms of different types.

The team aims to use the new technique in tandem with a similar one known as scanning tunnelling microscopy - in which a tiny voltage is applied accross the sample - to determine if the two methods in combination can deduce the nature of each atom in the AFM images.

That would help the entire field of chemistry, in particular the synthetic chemistry used for drug design.

The results are of wide interest to others who study the nano-world with similar instruments. For them, implementing the same approach is as simple as picking up one of these carbon monoxide molecules with their AFM before taking a measurement.

Apple denies 'exploding' iPhones

A number of iPhones that reportedly "exploded" in France were not due to the battery overheating as had been suggested, Apple has said.

The firm said that all of the handsets they had seen with broken screens were caused by an "external force".

Watchdogs had launched investigations after reports of iPhones that had exploded or cracked spontaneously.

France's top trade official is meeting with the financial director of

Herve Novelli, secretary of state for trade and consumer affairs, said he would question Apple's Michel Coulomb about the "causes of the implosion of these devices and eventual measures they could take," according to AP.

Consumers in the UK, Holland and Sweden had reported similar problems.

"To date, there are no confirmed battery overheating incidents for iPhone 3GS and the number of reports we are investigating is in the single digits," Apple said in a statement.

Apple has sold 26 million iPhones and 200 million iPods to date.

"The iPhones with broken glass that we have analysed to date show that in all cases the glass cracked due to an external force that was applied to the iPhone."

But Frank Benoiton, of Acheres-la-Foret in France, said his wife's iPhone had cracked without warning last week and denied he or his wife were to blame.

"It was not dropped and experienced no unusual shock," he told AP.

On Tuesday, a 26-year-old security guard has claimed that he was hit in the eye with a glass shard when his iPhone screen cracked up.

The recent cases prompted French watchdog DGCCRF to investigate the complaints.

The European Commission also used its Rapex system to issue an alert to its 27 member states about the problem.

Rapex is the EU rapid alert system for dangerous consumer products.

The system issue alerts for multiple products every week, sometimes leading to mass product recalls, but often with no consequence.

More Indian nuclear tests

US nuclear pundits feel the Indian establishment -- political, scientific, or both in concert – may be lining up to conduct more nuclear tests to validate and improve the country’s arsenal before the Obama administration shuts the door on nuclear explosions.

''You bet he wants to test again,'' said Henry Sokolski, Executive Director of the Washington DC-based Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, when asked about the remarks from a key Indian nuclear scientist suggesting India’s thermonuclear test was not up to mark. ''Imagine you are a nuclear weapons designer who has corrected the mistakes and ironed out the wrinkles. You would be crazy not to want to test again.''

''You have to look at the DNA of a weapons designer. They always want to make the weapons smaller, lighter, more powerful,'' Sokolski added. ''If you blindfold them, tie their hands and leave them in the middle of a forest, they will still make their way to a test site.''

While Sokolski addressed the Indian motivations largely from the technology validation standpoint, Washington has long believed that geo-political objectives rather than scientific or technical metrics drives New Delhi’s nuclear weapons quest. The argument has gotten another boost following the remarks by a key Indian scientist, K.Santhanam, questioning the potency of India’s thermonuclear bomb.

While ''We told you so,'' was pretty much the reaction in the US scientific and strategic community on the renewed controversy over the yield of the thermo-nuclear device in Shakti series of nuclear test arising from remarks by Santhanam, there is lingering suspicion here that the disclosure in politically driven. It’s rare for Indian scientists to break ranks on a sensitive national security issue.

Why would Santhanam go public, with such deliberation, on something that was commonly discussed and widely acknowledged in scientific circles, a decade after the questions first surfaced?

The answer, according to some nuclear pundits mulling on the issue on blogs: To ward off growing American pressure on India to sign various nuclear containment treaties and perhaps enable India to conduct one last series of tests to validate and improve its nuclear arsenal.

In scores of research papers and studies in the immediate weeks and months of the 1998 nuclear tests in Pokhran, US scientists repeatedly questioned the reported yield of the thermo-nuclear device, saying it was well below India’s claim of 43-45 kilotons. In fact, some scientists, notably Terry Wallace, then with the University of Arizona and now attached to the Los Alamos National Laboratory, put the combined yield of the three May 11 tests at as low as 10 to 15 kilotons.

Two other tests on May 13 involved sub-kiloton devices for tactical weapons, which US scientists doubted even took place. Even the six nuclear tests claimed by Pakistan were treated with derision, with US scientists saying only two of them involved nuclear devices.

''This is quite clearly a case where governments tested for a political reason rather than scientific reasons, so we have to be suspicious of what they say,'' Wallace, the country’s top nuclear seismology expert, had said about the reported yields.

On Thursday, suspicion lingered in strategic circles that even Santhanam’s ''admission'' was cloaked in politics, aimed primarily at warding off US pressure on New Delhi to sign CTBT, the long-sought treaty to ban nuclear tests, and making ground for a further series of tests. There is renewed energy in Washington under the Democratic dispensation to push forward with such nuclear containment treaties after the previous Bush administration put them on the backburner.

Some US nuclear gurus also believe any break-out test at this point will be detrimental to India, even if it is aimed at validating its thermo-nuclear device, or the so-called Hydrogen Bomb.

"An Indian test would be very toxic to cooperation it has just gained under the nuclear deal. It’s hard to see what India would gain," said Gary Milholin Director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control.

Ensuring a reliable thermonuclear bomb? Milholin scoffed at the idea. "There are people who say American nuclear bombs won’t work because we have not tested for so long," he laughed. "I don’t think anyone would want to test that assumption."

Similarly, he said, it would be risky for any country to count on India’s thermonuclear weapon to have a low yield.

"There are now ways other than testing to increase confidence," Milholin added. "And I think India has enough computing power to do that."

Khan warns to unveil sensitive issues if maltreatment continues

Atomic scientist Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan said if mischievous attitude continued with him in the name of security protocol, he will unveil sensitive issues.

In an exclusive interview to Geo News after Lahore High Court’s verdict, Dr. Qadeer said the elements he served most treated him maliciously. He said he never talked with anyone during five-year home confinement.

Dr. Khan expressed sorrow over the maltreatment and said in reply of accusations, I am leaving this issue on God.

Replying to a question, Dr. Khan said he will go to Supreme Court if Lahore High Court decision could not implemented. He praised the judiciary and said present judiciary comprised of brave judges. Dr. Khan said he wants freedom of movement like any other free citizen of the country.

Pokhran II not fully successful: Indian scientist

NEW DELHI: The 1998 Pokhran II nuclear tests might have been far from the success they have been claimed to be. The yield of the thermonuclear explosions was actually much below expectations and the tests were perhaps more a fizzle rather than a big bang.

The controversy over the yield of the tests, previously questioned by foreign agencies, has been given a fresh lease of life with K Santhanam, senior scientist and DRDO representative at Pokhran II, admitting for the first time that the only thermonuclear device tested was a "fizzle". In nuclear parlance, a test is described as a fizzle when it fails to meet the desired yield.

Santhanam, who was director for 1998 test site preparations, said that the yield for the thermonuclear test, or hydrogen bomb in popular usage, was much lower than what was claimed. Santhanam, who was DRDO's chief advisor, could well have opened up the debate on whether or not India should sign CTBT as claims that India has all the data required and can manage with simulations is bound to be called into question.

``Based upon the seismic measurements and expert opinion from world over, it is clear that the yield in the thermonuclear device test was much lower than what was claimed. I think it is well documented and that is why I assert that India should not rush into signing the CTBT,'' said Santhanam.

He emphasized the need for India to conduct more tests to improve its nuclear weapon programme.

The test was said to have yielded 45 kilotons (KT) but was challenged by western experts who said it was not more than 20 KT.

The exact yield of the thermonuclear explosion is important as during the heated debate on the India.

Opeartion Agianst MQM 1992

What you people think that operation was justified or not?????

Experts Unveil Inventions that Will Be Used in Everyday Life by 2039

Recently the New Scientist magazine predicted that by 2039 the X-Ray vision and invisibility cloak could be used in everyday life. The magazine listed a number of latest scientific and technological inventions that in the near future could be used by people.

Researches that are currently performed on ultrasound will make the X-Ray vision in humans possible, giving the possibility to virtually see through walls. As for the invisible cloaks then, experts believe these will be available in the shops by 2039. The technology used in the invisibility cloaks, which are currently tested by scientists, tricks the human eye by altering the light waves. Read more here: Invisibility is now one step closer.

The list also includes a replication of a gecko's foot, which scientist will create for gloves and boots, making it possible for people to easily climb walls by sticking to them just like the Spiderman.

The magazine's representatives interviewed scientists to discover that within 30 years the world will observe world's first handheld language-translating device that will instantly convert foreign words that are heard by its user. The invention will resemble the "Babel Fish" in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

It is worth mentioning that New Scientist magazine collected information about the latest inventions in science to mark the 30th anniversary of the first cellular network that was launched in Japan back in 1979.

Experts also included in their list an invention called "handheld healing machine", which can identify and instantly heal internal injuries in a human body.

In 2039 scientists also predict that people will use readily-available jet pack which will help users fly short distances avoiding being stuck in traffic jam.

Experts also predict that humans will use a device able to gather human energy and utilize it to charge cell phones and iPods.

The authors of the article in the scientific magazine mention that in 30 years time the upper mentioned scientific and technological inventions might have a great influence on our life and their impact could be even bigger than mobile phones, the Internet and the iPods.

The full list features the following inventions:

• X-Ray vision
• Invisibility cloak
• Hand-held healing machine
• Spiderman-like materials for gloves and boots
• Human energy phone charger
• Jet pack
• Personal spaceship
• Artificial diving gills
• Translating machine

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Video ad on magazine page in US

LOS ANGELES: An upcoming issue of Entertainment Weekly will include what's being billed as the first video advertisements ever in a print magazine.

According to a local news agency, a video player with a 2-inch screen will be embedded on heavy-stock paper -- similar to what's used by greeting cards that play bits of music -- and inserted into the magazine.

And as in those cards, the video will start up as soon as the insert is opened.

The first ads will be for CBS and Pepsi -- they'll appear in the magazine's mid-September TV preview issue -- but not in all copies. The magazine, which would not disclose the cost of the ads, said the insert will only be distributed in the Los Angeles and New York areas.

The video player, made by the L.A. company Americhip, also includes a little speaker. The ads will open with the cast of the show "The Big Bang Theory" joking about the video and explaining how the reader can bring up clips from the network's fall lineup. The soft drink ads are for Pepsi Max diet soda.

1967 Arab-Israeli 'Six-Day' War

After the 1965 India-Pakistan War, some Arab countries requested Pakistan to depute some its pilots to their air forces. Consequently, a small batch of PAF pilots were deputed to the air forces of Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Egypt. When the Arab-Israeli 'Six-Day' War broke out in 1967, these PAF pilots on deputation were requested by their host countries to participate in defensive combat operations.

On 5 June 1967, PAF pilot Flt. Lt. Saiful Azam, on deputation to the joint command of the Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF) and the Iraqi Air Force, was flying a defensive combat air patrol (CAP) over Jordan in an RJAF Hawker Hunter from Mafrak Air Base in Jordan. He was accompanied by 3 other RJAF Hunters. Their formation was informed by the ground controller of the presence of 6 Israeli Air Force IDF/AF Super Mysteres B-2s, which had crossed into Jordanian airspace. The 4 RJAF Hunters engaged the 6 IDF/AF Super Mysteres and Flt. Lt. Saiful Azam shot down an IDF/AF Super Mystere using the Hunter's 30 mm guns. With this kill, PAF pilots drew first blood against the IDF/AF. In this engagement, the Jordanians suffered no losses.

Two days later, in the morning of 7 June 1967, Flt. Lt. Saiful Azam. this time on deputation to the Iraqi Air Force (IrAF) was flying a defensive CAP in an IrAF Hawker Hunter (S. No. 702) over western Iraq from H3 Air Base in a formation of 4 IrAF Hunters. Ground controllers notified their formation of a formation of 8 Israeli aircraft - 4 IDF/AF Mirage IIICJs and IDF/AF 4 Vatour IIN Bombers - that had crossed into Iraqi airspace. The IrAF formation immediately engaged the Israeli aircraft and in the ensuing dogfight Flt. Lt. Saiful Azam shot down one IDF/AF Mirage IIICJ (Serial No. 6660) and one IDF/AF Vatour IIN Bomber with his Hunter's 30 mm guns. The M.IIICJ pilot was Gideon Dror, IAF, who ejected and was taken POW, while Vatour IIN bomber was the IDF/AF Vatour flight leader. In this engagement, the Iraqi Air Force suffered no loss.

RJAF and IrAF were flying under a joint command. Flt. Lt. S. Azam became the only pilot from the Arab side to have shot down 3 IDF/IAF aircraft within 72 hours and also the only pilot to have shot down 3 different aircraft types of the IDF/IAF. He was, subsequently, decorated by Jordan, Iraq, Syria and Pakistan.

1973 Arab-Israeli War and PAF Pilots

During the war 16 PAF pilots volunteered to go to the Middle East in order to support Egypt and Syria but by the time they arrived, Egypt had already been pushed into a ceasefire. Syria remained in a state of war against Israel.

On 23 October 1973, PAF pilot Flt. Lt. M. Hatif on deputation to Egyptian Air Force (EAF) was flying a EAF MiG-21 in a defensive combat air patrol (CAP) over Egypt when he was vectored towards an intruding Israeli Air Force (IDF/AF) F-4 Phantom. In the ensuing dogfight, Flt. Lt. M. Hatif shot down the Israeli Phantom.

Eight (8) PAF pilots started flying out of Syrian Airbases; they formed the A-flight of 67 Squadron at Dumayr Airbase. The Pakistani pilots flewSyrian MiG-21 aircraft conducting CAP missions for the Syrians.

On 26 April 1974, PAF pilot Flt. Lt. Sattar Alvi on deputation to No. 67 Squadron, Syrian Air Force (SAF) was flying a SAF MiG-21FL Fishbed (Serial No. 1863) out of Dumayr Air Base, Syria in a two-ship formation with a fellow PAF pilot and the Flight Leader, Sqn. Ldr. Arif Manzoor. The Ground Controller, also a PAF officer, Sqn. Ldr. Salim Metla, vectored the two PAF pilots to a formation of 2 Israeli Air Force Mirage IIICJs and 2 F-4 Phantoms that had intruded into Syrian airspace over the Golan Heights. In the engagement that took place at 1532 hours, Flt. Lt. Sattar Alvi shot down an Israeli Mirage IIICJ using his MiG-21's R(K)-13 Air-to-Air Missile. The pilot of the downed Israeli Mirage was Capt. M. Lutz of No. 5 Air Wing, who ejected. The remaining Israeli fighters aborted the mission. The 2 IAF Mirage IIICJs were from Hatzor AFB and the 2 IAF F-4 Phantoms were from No. 1 Air Wing, Ramat David AFB, Israel.

Flt. Lt. A. Sattar Alvi became the first Pakistani pilot, during the Yom Kippur War, to shoot down an Israeli Mirage in air combat.He was honored by the Syrian government. Other aerial encounters involved Israeli F-4 Phantoms; Pakistan Air Force did not lose a single pilot or aircraft during this war. The Pakistani pilots stayed on in Syria until 1976, training Syrian pilots in the art of air warfare.

First Aerial Victory of PAF over Indian Airforce

On 10 April 1959, on the occasion of the Islamic Eid festival holiday in Pakistan, an Indian Air Force (IAF) English Electric Canberra B(I)58 intruded into Pakistani airspace on a photo reconnaissance mission. Two PAF F-86F Sabres from No. 15 Squadron on Air Defence Alert (ADA) were scrambled from Peshawar Air Base to intercept the IAF intruder. The Sabre pilots were Flt. Lt. M. N. Butt (leader) and Flt. Lt. M. Yunus (wingman) whereas Pilot Officer Rab Nawaz was the on-duty Air Defence Controller for this mission. Nawaz successfully vectored both Sabres to the location of the high-flying Canberra. Butt attempted to bring down the Canberra by firing his Sabre's machine guns but the Canberra was flying at an altitude of more than 50,000 feet - beyond the operational ceiling of the F-86F. When Yunus took over from his leader, the Canberra suddenly lost height while executing a turn over Rawalpindi. Yunus grabbed this opportunity and fired a burst from his 12.7 mm guns that struck the Canberra at an altitude of 47,500 feet and brought it down over Rawat, near Rawalpindi. Thus, PAF drew 'first blood' against the IAF. '55-5005' was the serial number of the F-86F Sabre that was flown by Flt. Lt. Yunus that day. Both the occupants of the IAF Canberra, namely Sqn. Ldr. J.C. Sen Gupta (pilot) and Flt. Lt. S.N. Rampal (navigator) from the IAF's No. 106 Sqn., ejected and were taken prisoner by Pakistani authorities and were subsequently released after remaining in detention for some time.

Map of Karachi

Map of Islamabad

Karachi Map

Millenium Mall, former Drive-in Cinema.	Empress Market	Korangi Road	Chaukundi Tombs
Karachi Beach	Elphinstone Street c. 1930	I. I. Chundrigar Road	Mohatta Palace
Saint Patrick's Cathedral	Kemari Boat Basin	Fishing boats at the Port of Karachi.	CNBC Pakistan's H.Q. at Techno City.

Nobody can forgive constitution-violators: Nisar

ISLAMABAD: Opposition leader in National Assembly (NA), Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan Thursday said the Punjab government was not taken into confidence over sugar price adding the sugar crisis emerged owing to hoarding and black-marketing.

Addressing the National Assembly, he said forgiving the violators of the constitution is tantamount to the betrayal of the country.

Ch. Nisar said the government is not prepared to take any action against Pervez Musharraf; this is regrettable, adding, ‘We walk out over disappointing speech of Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani yesterday.’

Chaudhry Nisar said, ‘We do not accept the announcement of the PM Gilani regarding forgiveness to Musharraf,’ adding no one including Zardari, Bilawal, Nawaz Sharif, Asfandyar Wali and Fazlur Rehman can forgive the violators of law and constitution.

He added his party will keep on raising the issue of Musharraf’s trial.

The sugar price has been increased in the interest of sugar-hoarders not the people, Nisar said, adding it has been decided in Punjab to set ex-mill price of sugar at Rs45/kg and the efforts would be made to enforce the same sugar price in other provinces.

Chaudhry Nisar said if the government withdraws Rs5 of excise duty, then sugar price would further be taken down to Rs40/kg.

‘We turn up to parliament not to safeguard our sugar mills; instead, we have come to the House to protect the rights and interests of the common man.’

On this occasion, he said he was made the chairman of Public Accounts Committee not because of President, adding, ‘I have been made PAC chairman under Charter of Democracy.’

He added, ‘If this office is a favour by President Asif Ali Zardari, then I am prepared to resign tomorrow.’

Later on, the PML-N staged a token walkout from the house over PPP’s indisposition to take any action against Pervez Musharraf.

Later, Minister for parliamentary affairs Babar Awan, addressing the House, said the PM Gilani wants to build up a bridge ahead not the walls, adding he reitereated the resolve to frustrate everyone who wants to create rifts in the party.

Awan said there is nothing like minus-one and if there is no democracy, then everything will go minus.

SC wants explanation over POL taxes

Supreme Court elicited explanation for the taxes imposed on petroleum products, Geo News reported Thursday. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry heard the case regarding prices of petrol and gas. The petitions of Rukhsana Zuberi of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Iqbal Zafar Jhagra of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) challenged the imposition of tax on prices of petroleum and gas. Both the parties filed their statements on the Bhagwandas Commission. Attorney General Sardar Lateef Khosa told the court that government is hammering out long-term and short-term policies in the light of this commission report, adding Rs134 billion in subsidy is being given despite hardships. Counsel of petroleum companies Khalid Anwar said in his arguments that government should curtail its expenditures and deliver benefits to the people by putting an end to the irregularities. The CJ said in his remarks no explanation was provided regarding the taxes imposed on the petroleum products; the ex-refinery price has been silently increased. He added the levying GST along with all the taxes including PDL, dealers’ commission is quite unwarranted; an explanation of it is vital, accordingly. The case hearing was adjourned till September 28.

PAF starting producing Drones

KAMRA: Pak Air Force has formally started the production of pilotless drone planes in collaboration with an Italian company, Geo News reported Thursday.

According to details issued by the PAF, the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex Kamra has commenced producing the pilotless planes Falco UAV in collaboration with Selex Galileo of Italy.

Aeronautical Complex chief Air Marshal Farhat Hussain said pilotless Falco UAV highly important for the country’s defence, adding the production of the planes will greatly add to the professional capabilities of PAF.

Farhat said Pakistan is now a member of the club of countries manufacturing drone planes.

The system will be used mainly for aerial reconnaissance and information gathering, although the PAF will later also induct UAVs equipped with weapon systems to carry out offensive operations.