No more than 1 person can see off, receive passengers at airports

KARACHI: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has placed a restriction on more than one person seeing off or receiving travellers at airports across the country as part of security arrangements.

A spokesman for the CAA said the restriction will be applicable from July 6. The latest move follows a militant attack on Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport and later firing on a landing aircraft at Peshawar’s Bacha Khan Airport.

Following the attacks which saw many people killed Cathay Pacific suspended operations to Pakistan while Saudi Arabia Airlines, Emirates and Eithad Airways stopped flights to Peshawar.

Adding to the miseries of passengers the authority has also decided to wind up porter service.

Flu spray better than shots for young kids

ATLANTA: When it comes to flu vaccines, a federal panel says a squirt in the nose is better than a shot in the arm for young children.

The advisory panel voted Wednesday to advise doctors that FluMist nasal spray is a bit better at preventing flu in healthy young kids. The recommendation is specific to ages 2 through 8 only.

Some studies have found that kids within that age group are about half as likely to get the flu if they had the spray vaccine instead of a shot.

Federal health officials usually adopt the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. A flu vaccine is now recommended for virtually everyone over 6 months old.

AstraZeneca's FluMist is the only spray vaccine on the market. It was first licensed in 2003 and is approved for healthy people ages 2 to 49. Unlike flu shots made from a killed virus, it is made from a live but weakened flu virus.

Experts say the spray prompts a better immune response in children who may have never been infected with flu before, but there isn't a clear difference in adults.

The nation's largest pediatrician's group, however, objected to giving preference to the spray for kids. A representative of the American Academy of Pediatrics noted FluMist is more expensive, it can't be used for everyone and doctors have already ordered their vaccine doses for the fall flu season.

Dr. Michael Brady of Ohio State University also said the vote hinged on studies that were done before flu vaccine was encouraged for most children and vaccination rates were much lower. It's possible fresher data might not show such a difference, he said.

"We really feel you shouldn't place (doctors) and families in a situation where if they don't receive the live vaccine, they feel they're getting an inferior product. Because it may not be an inferior product," he said.

Health officials at Wednesday's meeting stressed that if doctors don't have FluMist in stock, flu shots are perfectly fine — both work. FluMist costs about $23; shots range from about $8 to $22.

Of children ages 2 to 17 who get a flu vaccine, 44 percent get FluMist, according to AstraZeneca. The company decided to make more for the coming flu season — 18 million doses, up from 13 million last year — partly in anticipation of the panel's vote, said Kathleen Coelingh, senior director of US medical affairs.

More than 400 US military drones lost in crashes: report

WASHINGTON: The United States has lost more than 400 military drones in major crashes worldwide since 2001, The Washington Post said Friday in a report questioning the safety and reliability of the unmanned aircraft.

Citing 50,000 pages of accident investigation reports, the Post said military drones have since the 9/11 attacks "malfunctioned in myriad ways," including mechanical breakdowns, human error and foul weather.

"Military drones have slammed into homes, farms, runways, highways, waterways and, in one case, an Air Force C-130 Hercules transport plane in midair," it said.

Of the 418 known crashes between September 11, 2001 and the end of 2013, the Post said it had identified 194 so-called Class A crashes that resulted in either the total loss of a drone or damages in excess of $2 million.

The total figure is almost equal to the number of major crashes involving US Air Force fighter jets and attack planes during the same period -- even though the drones flew far fewer missions and hours.

Sixty-seven drone crashes occurred in Afghanistan, and 41 in Iraq, but 47 occurred within the United States during test and training flights, the Post said on its website.

One army drone crashed near an elementary school playground in Pennsylvania in April, while a Reaper belonging to the air force disappeared into Lake Ontario in upstate New York in November.

The hefty Predator -- arguably the best-known American military drone -- was involved in 102 Class A crashes, followed by the smaller Hunter and larger Reaper models with 26 and 22 losses respectively.

The Post´s investigation comes as the Federal Aviation Administration drafts a set of regulations to govern an expected surge in the use of commercial drones in the coming years.

The United States owns about 10,000 drones, from the one-pound (0.5-kilogram) Wasp drone that combat troops can deploy in a firefight to the huge Global Hawk high-altitude reconnaissance platform.

KP to spend less on education, health than Punjab

 

ISLAMABAD: Comparison of provincial budgets for the next financial year 2014-15 shows that despite all its claims, the PTI’s government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has set aside a lower percentage for education and some other crucial sectors as compared to the Punjab government.
According to a study, a comparison of figures proposed for the budget of the next financial year for the KP and Punjab provincial governments show that PTI’s KP government plans to spend 21.49 percent of its total spending on education whereas the Punjab government will spend 27.3 percent.

Similarly, the KP government has fixed 6.17 percent for the health sector whereas Punjab has planned to spend 12.1 percent on this sector which directly benefits poor citizens.In the same way, KP will spend 0.39 percent on agriculture while Punjab will spend 1.49 percent.

KP has fixed 9.8 percent of total spending as its development budget whereas Punjab has fixed a massive 34.5 percent for the same. KP will spend 3.01 percent on transport and communication whereas Punjab plans to spend 11.09 percent on transport.

PTI has been claiming since long to improve its education sector by spending large shares of the budget but its figures are still on the lower side if compared to Punjab in this important sector.The party chief has been shown sitting on school desks monitoring the educational system in newspaper pictures but the same intention is not reflected in the budget figures. Apparently, the photo-shoots of the PTI chairman seem to give an impression as if he is working hard to improve different sectors of the provincial government but in fact, it is a classic case of ‘looking-busy-doing-nothing’.

Afghanistan flash floods kill more than 70

KUNDUZ: Flash floods have killed more than 70 people in northern Afghanistan, washing away hundreds of homes and forcing thousands to flee, officials said Saturday warning that the death toll was expected to rise.

The floods in a remote mountainous district of Baghlan province come a month after a landslide triggered by heavy rains buried a village and killed 300 people in a nearby region.

The twin disasters highlight the challenges facing underdeveloped Afghanistan´s next leader as the country heads into the second round of the presidential election on June 14.

"People have lost everything they had -- houses, property, villages, agricultural fields, cattle," Baghlan police spokesman Jawed Basharat said about the floods.

"There´s nothing left for them to survive. People don´t even having drinking water," he added.

"They urgently need water, food items, blankets and tents."Afghan disaster management officials said they were scrambling to get food and medical aid to the area after torrential rains unleashed the floods, which forced thousands of people to flee their houses.

The governor of the province, Sultan Mohammad Ebadi, said the death toll stood at 74, warning that the extent of the disaster was "massive" and that the toll was expected to rise further.

Bodies of women and children were among those recovered from the inundated areas, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said, adding that scores of people were missing.

"There is a lot of stagnant water, and there are more bodies under the rubble and mud," Mohammad Nasim Kohzad, head of NDMA in Baghlan, told AFP. "We are still looking for other victims of this flood."

Afghanistan flash floods kill more than 70

KUNDUZ: Flash floods have killed more than 70 people in northern Afghanistan, washing away hundreds of homes and forcing thousands to flee, officials said Saturday warning that the death toll was expected to rise.

The floods in a remote mountainous district of Baghlan province come a month after a landslide triggered by heavy rains buried a village and killed 300 people in a nearby region.

The twin disasters highlight the challenges facing underdeveloped Afghanistan´s next leader as the country heads into the second round of the presidential election on June 14.

"People have lost everything they had -- houses, property, villages, agricultural fields, cattle," Baghlan police spokesman Jawed Basharat said about the floods.

"There´s nothing left for them to survive. People don´t even having drinking water," he added.

"They urgently need water, food items, blankets and tents."Afghan disaster management officials said they were scrambling to get food and medical aid to the area after torrential rains unleashed the floods, which forced thousands of people to flee their houses.

The governor of the province, Sultan Mohammad Ebadi, said the death toll stood at 74, warning that the extent of the disaster was "massive" and that the toll was expected to rise further.

Bodies of women and children were among those recovered from the inundated areas, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said, adding that scores of people were missing.

"There is a lot of stagnant water, and there are more bodies under the rubble and mud," Mohammad Nasim Kohzad, head of NDMA in Baghlan, told AFP. "We are still looking for other victims of this flood."

More than 100 youths charged in NY gang wars

NEW YORK: More than 100 members of three New York City street gangs who waged years of deadly turf wars have been charged.

The three gangs operating in west Harlem were accused of two homicides, 19 non-fatal shootings and 50 incidents in which firearms were used, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said Wednesday.

The 103 indictments capped a 4.5-year investigation.

Many of those charged were taken into custody Wednesday.

"The deadly and dangerous feud between the Manhattanville and Grant Houses dates back decades," Vance said. "In the last four years, it has escalated into a bloody turf war marked by violence for the sake of violence.

"He said prosecutors and investigators analyzed more than 40,000 prison calls, screened hundreds of hours of surveillance video and reviewed more than a million pages of social media exchanges.

The gangs in some cases recruited members as young as 10 and 14 to carry out violent crimes, authorities said.

COAS speech far better than expectations

ISLAMABAD: The army chief, General Raheel Sharif, made an excellent speech, far better than expectations, and much to the satisfaction of the nation. We hope he will stick to his words for the better future of Pakistan.

The general sounded like a true professional soldier, showed complete faith in democracy, talked about upholding the Constitution and the rule of law, appreciated the role of civil society and the media, and paid rich tributes to the role of the Pakistan Army, intelligence agencies and police, etc.

To the discomfort of India and the likes of Narendra Modi, General Sharif referred to Kashmir as the “jugular vein” of Pakistan and sent a clear message to India that though Pakistan does pursue the objective of peace, it could neither forget Kashmir nor put this major irritant between the two countries on the backburner. The only missing point, an important one, in the army chief’s speech was Islam and the Islamic ideology.During the recent weeks, there have been ups and downs in the civil-military relationship, which led to a lot of gossiping about the “anger” and “uneasiness” in the military circles. But hearing the army chief in this fashion was like music to one’s ears.

General Raheel showed his complete faith in democracy, the upholding of the Constitution and rule of law and insisted that this was the only way forward and the real path to the country’s progress. Raheel insisted that all institutions of the state have to play their role in strengthening the system.

Such commitment to democracy, Constitution and the rule of law from the army chief would serve as a real shut up call to some of those retired generals/air marshals, etc, and some “informed” defence correspondents who, while quoting their sources hurl subtle threats on the behalf of army and create misunderstandings between the civilian and military leaderships. General Raheel’s speech has proved one point that such retired generals/air marshals and journalists are not trustworthy. They are perhaps pursuing someone else’s agenda to create rifts and invite troubles for Pakistan.

In the midst of the ongoing Geo-ISI controversy, General Raheel Sharif also chose to appreciate the role of civil society and the media. I had my fears that he might give a passing remark on the Geo-ISI controversy but he did not mention it at all. General Sharif was instead all praise for the role of the media. He also voiced his complete support to the freedom of press and responsible media. With such a man being the army chief, I do expect better handling of the situation arising out of the post-Hamid Mir attack Geo-ISI controversy.

As the anti-Pakistan and anti-Muslim BJP’s extremist Narendra Modi, who is generally expected to be the next prime minister of India, recently talked of a possible May 2 Abbottabad like strike in Pakistan to target Dawood Ibrahim, the army chief, General Raheel, sent a clear message to India that no nonsense would be accepted by the Pakistan Army.

He instead made India feel uneasy by referring to Kashmir as the jugular vein of Pakistan. Raheel appreciated the sacrifices made by the people of held Kashmir and urged upon the need for resolving the issue in line with the UN resolutions and the desire of the Kashmiri people.

Raheel Sharif’s speech, on the one hand, has won the acclaim of those struggling for the rule of law and upholding of the Constitution and, on the other hand, his words would give sleepless nights to Narendra Modi in India and those here trying to create a rift between the civilian and military leaderships.

Modi says Rahul Gandhi's gaffes funnier than Kapil Sharma show

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rahul Gandhi's gaffes should be telecast on TV instead of comedian Kapil Sharma's show, Narendra Modi, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, said on Sunday, mocking the Congress vice-president's elections speeches, which, he said, were full of gaffes.    

"I feel the TV serial of Kapil Sharma [Comedy Nights With Kapil] will shut down in a few days. TV people should gather these Rahul Gandhi [YouTube] videos and show them and the entire tiredness of the elections will go away. You won't have to do anything [else] for entertainment," Modi said at a rally in support of party candidate Uma Bharti in Jhansi in UP.

Modi, the Gujarat Chief Minister, recalled Rahul Gandhi's three speeches, saying they had glaring gaffes.

"This morning I saw my friend, Rahul Gandhi's statement, and I laughed so much that my stomach hurt. What are they saying? Will such people run the Congress, leave the nation aside?" Modi said.

"He [Rahul Gandhi] was in Gujarat yesterday and these days, mother-son have developed a lot of love for Gujarat. They praise Gujarat day and night. Mother speaks somewhere, son speaks somewhere else. Mother speaks one lie and son speaks two lies," he said.

"He [Rahul Gandhi] said: 'Tell me Modi-ji, there is no lokayukta in Gujarat and the day lokayukta comes, this chowkidar [security guard] will go to jail'," Modi said, referring to the Congress vice-president's speech in Bhavnagar on Saturday.

Rahul bhaiya, slow down. Why are you spreading such lies? I will tell you. Rahul bhaiya, those who are writing your speeches, they are bent on destroying you, it seems. And your mother's adviser, with whom you do not get along, may be he is providing you with such false speeches," Modi said, amid cheering from the crowd.

"You should know. There is a lokayukta is Gujarat. Not only this, the same lokayukta has given a probe report which was tabled in the last Assembly session. In that report, a minister at the Centre, whose father was once the chief minister of Gujarat and who stole from the forests, ate up forest wood, the current lokayukta has held that Mr Amarsinh Chaudhary guilty. Amarsinh-ji has passed away and that is why we did not want to do politics and that is why we were silent. We never mentioned it. We respect departed souls. And you lie like this?" he said.  

Referring to another Rahul Gandhi speech, Modi said: "Gujarat's population is six crore, but Rahul baba said there are 27,000 crore jobs lying vacant in Gujarat! ... You have exceeded world's population!"

"The other thing he said, I can't repeat. Okay, I will tell half of it. It's on YouTube. I have said that there has been a White Revolution in Gujarat and the state now provides milk to other states. On this, he [Rahul Gandhi] said something on which I laughed as well as felt ashamed. Can there be leaders like this?" Modi said.

"He said a third thing. This is also on YouTube. He is the Congress' PM candidate and look at his intelligence: He said in Gujarat, two in one children are malnourished. Did you understand?" Modi said.

"I don't know what kind of fate I have that I have to face such people. If there was someone wise, we could have had a conversation," he said.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/modi-says-rahuls-gaffes-funnier-than-kapil-sharma-show/1/357837.html

More than 1,000 satellites are flying overhead

NEW YORK: The spotting of ocean debris by satellites during the search for the lost Malaysian airliner has drawn attention to those orbiting platforms. A primer on what's in orbit, with help from Nicholas Johnson, who retired Thursday as NASA's chief scientist for orbital debris:

HOW MANY SATELLITES ARE UP THERE?

About 1,100 active satellites, both government and private. Plus there are about 2,600 ones that no longer work. Russia launched the first satellite, Sputnik 1, in 1957. The oldest one still in orbit, which is no longer functioning, was launched in 1958.

HOW BIG ARE THEY?

Size varies. Communication satellites can be as big as a small school bus and weigh up to 6 tons, the Federal Communications Commission says. Most weigh a few tons or less. Some that are used briefly are 4 inch cubes and weigh about 2 pounds.

WHAT EXACTLY DO THEY DO?

They have a wide variety of roles: GPS satellites aid navigation, others relay telephone or television signals, others aid in weather forecasting, national defense, science, and agriculture, as in monitoring crops and areas of drought. The Union of Concerned Scientists, a private organization that maintains a database of satellites, says about 60 percent are used for communications.

WHERE ARE THEY?

It depends on their use. Communications satellites relay signals from a fixed spot on the equator, about 22,000 miles up. GPS satellites are at 12,400 miles, high enough to be accessible to large swaths of the Earth. Others that need a closer look at Earth are lower. For comparison, the International Space Station is only about 260 miles high, and very few satellites are lower than that. While some satellites remain over fixed spots on Earth, others fly over both poles or can move from place to place as needed.

HOW HAVE THEY HELPED IN THE SEARCH?

A British communications satellite picked up signals from the plane; analysis of them led authorities to conclude that the airliner crashed in a remote area of the southern Indian Ocean. This week, Thai authorities said one of their satellites spotted 300 objects that might be from the airliner. Some satellites were moved into place to look for debris.

WHO OWNS THEM?

Governments large and small, and private companies. More than 50 countries own a satellite or a significant share in one, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. There are 502 active satellites with a US tie; 118 for Russia and 116 for China. Thailand has four satellites and shares in another, the scientist group says.

WHAT IF THEY STOP WORKING?

Old satellites can pose a risk for collisions with active ones, so there are rules and recommendations to avoid a buildup of junk in space. Satellites that fly below a certain height are supposed to be put in an orbit that will make them fall to Earth and burn up within 25 years. At high altitudes, they are to be boosted up to still higher orbits to get them out of the way.

 

Kareena Kapoor Khan: Karisma looks younger than any Bollywood actress

 

 Kareena, 33, feels Karisma is lucky to have a toned body.

Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor Khan feels her elder sister Karisma looks younger than any contemporary female stars today.

“She (Karisma) has two kids, but she doesn’t look like a mother of two. She looks younger than any Bollywood actress even today. She is the most beautiful girl as her heart is of gold. When you see her she looks radiant as ever,” Kareena told PTI.
Kareena, 33, feels Karisma is lucky to have a toned body.

“She has very toned body and she is genetically blessed. I am more of a Kapoor, but she is more like my mother,” Kareena said.

The ‘Jab We Met’ star said she might also open her own fashion label after being the face of many fashion labels.

“It is not a plan or thought in my mind as of now. May be yes, sometime later,” she added.

Anushka Makes Virat More Popular Than Dhoni?

Anushka Sharma and cricketer Virat Kohli are allegedly in a relationship. This seems to have made him rise in popularity especially on search engines. "A celebrity love-story-in-the-making linking actor Anushka Sharma's alleged visit to New Zealand last month (in February) to be with Virat Kohli sparked huge speculation about their alleged relationship which has also fuelled search spikes on Google," Google said in a statement.