Rocket attacks rock Quetta; no causalities reported

QUETTA: Three consecutive rocket attacks on Saturday spread fear in Quetta a day after a car-bomb blast killed more than a dozen, DawnNews reported.

However, according to rescue resources, attacks did not cause any causality.

The first rocket, fired from an unknown location, dropped in a graveyard near Sabzal Road was followed by the second one which dropped in a crop field next to Spinney Road and the third one dropped in killi Deba near Spiny road.

Emergency was imposed in two hospitals of the city which was plunged with fear and chaos after the attacks.

Yesterday’s attack near a politician’s residence killed more than a dozen and injured around 30 in the violence-ridden city.

Powerful blast kills 12, injures 29 in Quetta

QUETTA: A powerful blast on Arbab Karam Khan Road near Raisani Chowk has killed twelve and injured 29 people including a children in Quetta, Geo News reported.

The blast ripped through a residential neighborhood at the house of former federal minister Naseer Mengal's son Shafiq Mengal.

Many houses caught fire after the blast. 

A senior police official, while talking to Geo News feared a sharp rise in the death toll. 

Police also suspect a 'Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device' planted in a car parked nearby was the cause of the blast.

Emergency was declared in the area in the wake of the blast, the bang of which was heard miles away. Such was the intensity of the explosion that most of the windowpanes in the nearby housing blocks and market place fell apart.

Ambulances are doing rounds between the hospitals and the blast site.

Firefighters also reached site of tragedy and were busy fighting flames. 

Many of the injured are in critical condition, rescue sources told Geo News.

A shootout between unknown gunmen and police was also reported after the blast. Eyewitnesses say the armed men opened fire at police and media who arrived on the scene after the blast. Gunmen also manhandled a private TV channel's (Samaa News) cameramen and broke his camera. Moreover a news agency photographer also received bullet wounds.

Without a home: Displaced people of Dera Bugti demand rehabilitation

By Z Ali

Published: December 26, 2011

Over a 100 people belonging to Dera Bugti, who were displaced during the military operation in 2005, gathered in front of the Hyderabad press club.

HYDERABAD: Over a 100 people belonging to Dera Bugti, who were displaced during the military operation in 2005, gathered in front of the Hyderabad press club on Saturday to appeal to the Supreme Court to take notice of the expenditure of Rs1 billion allocated for their rehabilitation.

The parliament approved the allocation of Rs1 billion under Aghaz-Huqooq-Balochistan Package, in 2009, for the rehabilitation of the people who were displaced during the army operation in Dera Bugti. A meeting of the federal cabinet in November this year was told that 85 per cent of the package had been implemented.

The protesters said that they migrated to the province with their families from Dera Bugti in 2005 and 2006. Haji Mir, from the Rana Zai Bugti sub-tribe, estimated that around 80,000 people emigrated from Dera Bugti and settled in Sindh. Others estimate the number to be around 120,000 people. A Behram Notkani Bugti claimed that Jamshoro alone hosted between 30,000 and 35,000 migrants, while the rest were scattered in Sanghar, Ghotki, Rohri and Karachi.

The people live in temporary shelters around the Kirthar mountain range in Jamshoro district where many live by crushing stone to make a living. All they demanded was to return to their homeland.

After Nawab Akbar Bugti was killed by the law enforcement agencies, his three grandsons fought among themselves for the chieftainship of the tribe. Aali Bugti held the reins from the end of 2009 till the beginning of 2011 when Ghulam Qadir Mesuri Bugti took over the leadership of tribe.

The protesters said that many of them returned to their homes in 2009 but could not stay there after Ghulam Qadir Masuri, became the chief of the tribe. They blame him for their current displacement because of tribal rivalry. Nawab Akbar Bugti was from Kalpar tribe while Ghulam Qadir is from the Mesuri tribe.

“The money is being given to those sardars who expelled us from our homes and snatched our livelihood in the thick of the military operation,” exclaimed Haji Mir.

The protesters claimed that the henchmen of Ghulam Mesuri burnt their houses, occupied their lands and took away their livestock after he took over as the tribal chief.

“We have been living like aliens in the areas where we sought refuge,” said Peerak Nusani Bugti, referring to Sindh. “The people do not like our presence and often create problems.” Shahu Rana Zai Bugti said, “I used to grow maize in summer and wheat in winter on a small piece of land in my Maki Nala village. My only wish is to start my life again at my birthplace.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 26^th, 2011.

Supermassive black hole will 'eat' gas cloud

Researchers have spotted a giant gas cloud spiralling into the supermassive black hole at our galaxy's centre.

Though it is known that black holes draw in everything nearby, it will be the first chance to see one consume such a cloud.

As it is torn apart, the turbulent area around the black hole will become unusually bright, giving astronomers a chance to learn more about it.

The cloud, which is described in Nature, should meet its end in 2013.

Researchers using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope estimate that despite its size, the cloud has a total mass of only about three times that of Earth.

They have plotted the cloud's squashed, oval-shaped path and estimate it has doubled its speed in the last seven years - to 2,350km per second.

It should spiral in to within about 40 billion kilometres of the black hole in the middle of 2013.

Reviews of existing pictures from the VLT show the cloud speeding up in recent years

Our local supermassive black hole, dubbed Sagittarius A*, lies about 27,000 light-years away, and has a mass about four million times that of our Sun.

As the name implies, beyond a certain threshold point - the event horizon - nothing can escape its pull, not even light itself.

But outside that regime is a swirling mass of material, not unlike water circling a drain. In astronomical terms, is a relatively quiet zone about which little is known.

That looks set to change, though, as the gas cloud approaches.

Spaghetti tester

It does not comprise enough matter to hold itself together under its own gravity, as a star might, so the cloud will begin to elongate as it meets its doom.

"The idea of an astronaut close to a black hole being stretched out to resemble spaghetti is familiar from science fiction," said lead author of the study Stefan Gillessen, from Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany.

"But we can now see this happening for real to the newly discovered cloud. It is not going to survive the experience."

It is likely that about half of the cloud will be swallowed up, with the remainder flung back out into space.

But this violent process will literally shed light on the closest example we have of an enigmatic celestial object.

The acceleration of the cloud's constituent material will create a shower of X-rays that will help astronomers learn more about our local black hole.

As astronomer Mark Morris of the University of California Los Angeles put it in an accompanying article in Nature, "many telescopes are likely to be watching".

Supernova explosion gives a glimpse of how ingredients for life are created

• Ian Sample, science correspondent
• guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 14 December 2011 18.36 GMT
• Article history

The SN2011fe supernova explodes in the Pinwheel galaxy. Photograph: Bj Fulton/PA

The spectacular explosion of a star in a distant galaxy (left, above) has given astronomers a rare glimpse of how supernovae blast the basic ingredients for life into the cosmos.

Scientists captured images of the colossal detonation in the Pinwheel galaxy (right, above) 21m light years away within hours of the burst of light from the explosion reaching Earth.

The supernova, called SN2011fe, was the result of a thermonuclear explosion that tore the parent star apart, converting carbon and oxygen into heavier elements, such as nickel, in the process.

Nasa's Swift space telescope turned its sensors towards the exploding star moments after observations began at three powerful ground-based telescopes. "We caught the supernova just 11 hours after it exploded, so soon that we were later able to calculate the actual moment of the explosion to within 20 minutes," said Peter Nugent at the US department of energy's Berkeley Lab in California.

Watching the star explode gave scientists a unique insight into how elements created in the supernova spewed out into space in the expanding fireball. The telescopes recorded oxygen, magnesium, silicon, calcium and iron being flung out at 16,000 kilometres a second, around 5% of the speed of light.

"Understanding how these giant explosions create and mix materials is important because supernovae are where we get most of the elements that make up the Earth and even our own bodies. For instance, these supernovae are a major source of iron in the universe. So we are all made of bits of exploding stars," said Mark Sullivan at Oxford University.

The observations gave scientists fresh details of what triggers this class of stellar explosion, known as a type 1a supernova. This kind of supernova is important because it always produces the same amount of light. Monitoring their brightness has allowed astronomers to calculate the rate of expansion of the universe.From the results they gathered, the scientists worked out that the explosion began with a white dwarf star made of carbon and oxygen. This kind of star can grow to around 1.4 times the mass of the sun before gravity causes it to collapse in on itself.

"What caused these explosions has divided the astronomical community deeply. SN2011fe is like the Rosetta Stone of Type 1a supernovae," saidShri Kulkarni, a co-author on the study at the California Institute of Technology. The research is published in the journal Nature. Photographs: Press AssociationThe first observations of the supernova were made by the Liverpool Telescope at La Palma in the Canary islands and followed within hours by the Shane Telescope at Lick Observatory in California and the Keck I Telescope on Mauna Kea

Second storm to hit the UK tonight

9:19AM GMT 12 Dec 2011

A weather warning for strong winds and heavy rain has been issued for most parts of England, with the south-east expected to be most affected.

The Met Office said the winds were unlikely to be as extreme as last week where gusts approaching the highest wind speed on record forced planes to be grounded, schools to close and warnings not to travel in Scotland.

But gales of up to 60mph are expected across the country.

Parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England saw an icy start to the day while windy weather is likely to continue tomorrow along with heavy showers and some flooding.

Helen Chivers, Met Office forecaster, said the new weather front was moving in from the west.

HP will still be using Palm's webOS in tablets - confirms CEO

Hewlett-Packard's CEO Meg Whitman has confirmed in an interview on Friday that the webOS, which is now going open source, will still be used by the company and in the larger touch screen tablet devices.

Technology news website The Verge has published an interview with the CEO of HP, after the future of the operating system moving to an open source model was made public at the very end of last week.

The website asked Meg Whitman ‘Will HP be creating any new webOS hardware?', where the answer came back 'yes but what I can't tell you is whether that will be in 2012 or not. But we will use webOS in new hardware', whilst going on to elaborate, ‘I would think tablets, I do not believe we will be in the smartphone business again'.

Read more: http://www.itproportal.com/2011/12/12/hp-will-still-be-using-palms-webos-tablets-confirms-ceo/#ixzz1gK1rr26k

Pakistani Gunmen Torch NATO Cargo Again

December 12, 2011

Local police said gunmen in southwestern Pakistan attacked a NATO supply convoy, killing one truck driver.

A senior police official, Inayat Bugti, said about eight gunmen approached the convoy on motorcycles in the Bolan district of Baluchistan Province late on December 11, ordering it to stop and then firing on the tankers.

The convoy was attacked while returning to the port city of Karachi from the Afghan border, which Pakistan has closed to NATO supplies after NATO air strikes on November 26 killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

The closing of NATO's supply routes through Pakistan has left hundreds of NATO oil tankers and trucks stranded and exposed to militant attacks.

The incident in Bolan follows an attack by gunmen on December 8, when 34 trucks were destroyed in Quetta.

compiled from agency reports

Shaukat Aziz denies association with Akbar Bugti killing

QUETTA: Former premier Shaukat Aziz has denied any association with the killing of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, DawnNews reported.

Sources told DawnNews that Aziz sent a letter to the Balochistan government from Dubai.

A copy of the letter was also received by an investigation team of the police crime branch.

In his letter, Aziz said that constitutionally, the army could only act under the orders of the provincial government.

The letter moreover said that it was likely that the provincial government of the time was in contact with the then president Pervez Musharraf over the issue.

Musharraf was president and Aziz prime minister when Bugti died in a cave hideout during an army raid in August 2006.

Earlier, on November 1, the Balochistan High Court ordered the execution of arrest warrants issued by a judicial magistrate for Musharraf and Aziz in the Bugti murder case.

Sky gazers treated to total lunar eclipse

Posted December 11, 2011 00:58:32

PHOTO: A partial lunar eclipse is seen near the Tokyo Tower on December 10, 2011. (AFP: Yoshikazu Tsuno)

Sky gazers across Australia and parts of Asia have been treated to a rare lunar eclipse - that is if bad weather did not block the view.

The total eclipse caused the moon to turn blood red overnight, but heavy clouds blanketing the sky across much of Australia meant some moon watchers were set to miss out on the show.

Astronomers said the eclipse, which started just before midnight (AEDT), would last for up to three hours as the Earth's shadow moved across the moon.

"When the shadow first starts to move across the moon it's quite dark, but by the time you go into totality you're getting scattered light through the atmosphere that will brighten up the Moon and make it appear reddish," astronomer Dr Tanya Hill from the Melbourne Planetarium said.

But a monsoonal trough across the north of Australia and a trough of low pressure sitting off Western Australia meant the view would be hampered for most of the country.

And it could be a long wait until Australians can see another total lunar eclipse.

There will be a partial eclipse visible across Australia in June next year but there will not be another total lunar eclipse until April 2014.

"Generally there are two or three eclipses each year, so somewhere on the planet you can see it, but we've got a bit of a wait before we see our next total lunar eclipse," Dr Hill said.

Brahumdagh Bugti Swiss Tv Interview

Terrorist or freedom fighter?

Brahumdagh Bugti is in his native Pakistan as the most sought-after man throws him against the government terrorist activities. Bugti sees himself as a politician who fights for the independence of the province of Baluchistan. For a year of very rich 30-year-old clan leader lives in Geneva and has applied for asylum in Switzerland. A tricky case for Switzerland. His first TV interview in the Times.

 07 December 2011

Terrorist or freedom fighter?

07 December 2011

Brahumdagh Bugti is in his native Pakistan as the most sought-after man throws him against the government terrorist activities. Bugti sees himself as a politician who fights for the independence of the province of Baluchistan. For a year of very rich 30-year-old clan leader lives in Geneva and has applied for asylum in Switzerland. A tricky case for Switzerland. His first TV interview in the Times.

Brahumdagh Bugti lived for a year as a refugee with his family in Geneva. For the Pakistani government, he is a terrorist - he sees himself as a politician who fights for the independence of the province of Baluchistan, as he explains in the "Rundschau".

The Swiss authorities are faced with a difficult decision. You do not want to comment on the case Bugti.

In his first TV interview in exile, presents the 30-year-old Bugti Brahumdagh the "Rundschau" as a smart man in Western dress. The clan leader has a political mission: He wants to put grievances in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan in the pillory.

Baluchistan is the largest and poorest region of Pakistan at the same time - despite its rich oil and gas reserves. "We are fighting for our resources, the land and our property," says Bugti. "But when we talk about it, we are abducted and tortured by the government." Even human rights organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch denounced the persecution of dissidents.

From politicians to insurgents hunted

The abuses in his country he was fighting with the weapons of politics, says Bugti in "Rundschau" interview. For this purpose he had founded the Baloch Republican Party.

Already Brahumdaghs grandfather was a charismatic politician Akbar Bugti once sat several times in the central government in Islamabad and there represented the interests of Baluchistan. Then he fell into disgrace and was chased by the army as insurgents.


Several times he and his grandson were the target of attacks. "Once they were poorly informed and blew up the wrong house in the air," says Brahumdagh Bugti. "Someone said, that is Bugtis house, but I moved recently."

Delicate case for Swiss authorities

Brahumdaghs grandfather was killed in 2006 on the run from army units. The grandson fled to Afghanistan and went into hiding for four years. Finally, he fled to Switzerland with false papers.

In Geneva requested the scion of the immensely rich Bugti clans for himself and his family asylum.

For the Swiss authorities is likely to be a tricky case. But they give to the individual asylum procedure no information.Migration expert Alberto Achermann is convinced that the case is not treated simply as an ordinary asylum. "This is probably a case which is treated in the Federal Office for Migration on a higher level and to which one obtains the opinion of the FDFA and the Federal Office of Police and the Federal Intelligence Service," says the Professor of Migration Law, University of Bern.

Terrorist or political rebel?

Bugti's political terrorist or rebel? Research by the "Rundschau" Brahumdagh Bugti to give a mixed picture: So Bugti shows on the Internet as an armed resistance fighters.Or is he posing amid rocket-propelled grenades. "He's not really a political leader," said Saifullah Mahsud, political observers in Islamabad, in the "Rundschau". "It was only during the attack on his famous grandfather. At that time he led the military wing of the separatists. "

In contrast to the Baloch Republican Party, the Baloch Republican Army is regarded as militant secession. Bugti explains: "These two organizations have nothing to do with each other. Coincidentally, the names are very similar. I was never involved in violent actions. "

Doubts about this statement can pay an interview that Bugti was in 2005 a local TV station. Yahya Bajwa, a Swiss of Pakistani descent and a member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, presents this interview in the "Rundschau": "Bugti said that the liberation struggle must be waged by all means. If the government does not otherwise hear, even with rocket launchers. "

Moral argument for asylum refusal

Whether Pakistan has issued a request for extradition, the Swiss Justice Department wants to "neither confirm nor deny." An extradition would be possible only after Switzerland had finally decided on the asylum application. If Bugti war crimes or serious crimes committed common law would probably denied him asylum, says migration expert at the University of Bern, Alberto Achermann.

"But if it is dealing with political crimes, then such a person would need to be recognized as a refugee in Switzerland."

Switzerland has also a special feature: If someone committed morally reprehensible acts, it can be regarded as unworthy of asylum. Nevertheless, he would not be deported. "The consequence would be a provisional, temporary admission to Switzerland," says Achermann.

Brahumdagh Bugti hopes for a swift decision. "I just want my life and my family is protected, that's the important thing."

Windows Store for Windows 8 detailed...

It’s not just the Windows 8 Developer Preview coming in February 2012; Microsoft will also launch the Windows Store, its download center for Windows 8-based PCs, notebooks and tablets. The Windows 8 app store will include in-app purchasing and trials, along with support for subscriptions, while Microsoft’s revenue split with developers is set up to particularly reward those with top tier software. Those looking to get in through the door early can take part in Microsoft’s new First Apps Contest.

Developers will be able to release free apps, trials (either based on a limited period of use, or with the trial offering only select features) and paid apps, including support for in-app purchase. Sales up to $25,000 in revenue will follow the by-now usual 70/30 split, with developers taking the lion’s share. However, anything beyond $25,000 will be paid out at 80/20, as Microsoft attempts to woo high-profile devs to focus on the Windows 8 platform. It’s worth noting that, during the Windows Store beta period – i.e. the time between February and Windows 8′s full release – only free apps will be offered.

Bestseller! Steve Jobs tops Amazon 2011 list

Bestseller! Steve Jobs tops Amazon 2011 list

It turns out Steve Jobs is more popular in print than on a screen.

Walter Isaacson’s biography of the late Apple co-founder came in at No. 1 on Amazon’s list of the bestselling books of 2011, and clocked in at No. 3 on the Kindle charts.

Not that No. 3 is anything to frown about. The book came out in late October, so it took less than two months for the print copy to outsell every other book this year on Amazon.

Amazon did predict this would happen, and the earlier sales figures — it sold 379,000 copies in its first week — were significant. That was the biggest weekly total for any book since the debut of George W. Bush’s “Decision Points” and Jeff Kinney’s “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth.”

What beat Jobs in the Kindle market? Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games,” which has been adapted into a film that opens March 23.

Verizon Galaxy Nexus Coming Friday?

We are expecting the Verizon Samsung Galaxy Nexus to finally go on sale in the US some time this week, and now it would appear that Friday may be the possible launch date for the Galaxy Nexus.

According to an email and a PDF which has been posted on RootzWiki, Friday December the 9th will be the official launch date for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus on Verizon.

[Continue reading...]

Android Powered i’m Watch Features Unveiled

If you are looking forward to the launch of the world first true smart watch you will be pleased to know its creators have now released a quick demonstration video revealing a few more of the watches features and functions.

The has been designed to connect to iPhone, Android and all possible future smartphones allowing you to touch, drag, swipe or pinch its touchscreen to navigate and use the applications. It can also be used as a  powerful speakerphone, leaving the hands free for more important or amusing tasks. Watch the video after the jump to see it in more detail.

The i’m watch will be powered by a a Freescale IMX233 application processor and equipped with a 1.54 inch TFT touchscreen display with a resolution of 200 x 200 pixels and fitted with 4GB of built in storage, 64MB of RAM.  Its internal battery 450mAh Li-Po battery will provide about three hours on speakerphone use or up two days in standby.

Why Do People Keep Using Windows?

November 28, 2011
Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone for another year here in the U.S., and that means the holiday season is thick upon us once again. We *could* buckle down and get working on all those holiday shopping lists, but it's not difficult to think of countless ideas that would be a whole lot more fun. Take a good, old-fashioned debate, for example -- about operating systems, no less! [More...]

Siri's Mysterious Brain Fog

Friday - December 2, 2011

The performance of Apple's iPhone voice-activated "personal assistant" when asked for information about abortion information has created a tempest of controversy for the Cupertino, Calif. company, though the problem is likely a technological one, rather than part of some hidden political agenda. However, the gaffe could create potential trust problems for Apple in the future. [More...]

Tinkerer, Carrier, Rootkit, Spy

Saturday - December 3, 2011

The company Carrier IQ became an overnight pariah this week after a security researcher published information suggesting that software it makes could potentially be used to significantly violate the privacy of millions of smartphone users. The researcher is Trevor Eckhart, and he said that the way Carrier IQ's application is used could allow it to tell your cellphone carrier all sorts of things about when and how you use your phone -- info like what applications you use, geographic location, what buttons are being pressed and usage history -- all without you knowing. [More...]

Polish Euro MP slams Pakistan's kill & dump policy of journalists, other civilians in Balochistan

on 2011/12/3 0:00:00

Brussels, Dec.3 (ANI): A Polish Euro MP has condemned Pakistan's kill and dump policy of journalists and other civilians in Balochistan. yszard Czarnecki, Member of the European Parliament and the Chairman of the Friends of Balochistan in the European Parliament said the Pakistani Government claims that the number of missing persons in Balochistan has declined; it is only because many of them have lately been found dead. Since June 2010, more than 230 bodies of the previously missing persons have been dumped at abandoned places in the largest but the least populated province. According to the Balochistan Union of Journalists (BUJ), 10 journalists have been killed so far this year. The missing persons' issue and the policy of Pakistani Government's kill-and-dump spree in the province are as disturbing as the fact that Balochistan's problem is almost altogether missing from the mainstream discourse. Czarnecki, mentioned one special case of Javed Naseer Rind, whose name was added to the list of more than 10 journalists whose bodies have been found tortured and dumped in Balochistan. Said to be in his mid-twenties, Rind's bullet-riddled body was found dumped in Khuzdar, about 300 kilometers south of Quetta, on Saturday morning. He was a senior sub-editor at a local daily Tawar, a pro-nationalist newspaper. Czarnecki asked the government to carry out investigations regarding these killings and urged the European Parliament to have a fact finding mission delegated for an EU investigation into large scale disappearances of civilians by government agencies in Balochistan. (ANI) http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/252969

Suroz by Sachu Bugti (Balochi Folk Music)