Ahmed Quraishi: India’s Covert War In Afghanistan

Ahmed Quraishi got the last word on Aljazeera’s Inside Story to calmly mention some facts about what the ‘other India’ is doing in Afghanistan, in a show where a former director of Indian Military Intelligence and an American think-tank type from Washington spent time demonizing Pakistan. Aljazeera’s anchor Imran Jardah was neutral. He admitted the discussion was ‘lopsided’ because AQ couldnt join in the show earlier because of technical reasons.

Dr. Afia Update: Yet mainstream media continues its misinformation camapign

TIME magazine does a decent job of pointing out that no Pakistani reporters are being allowed in the courtroom, even though she is not charged with terrorism. However, they also continue to misinform the public as shown in the first line of their article:

“Aafia Siddiqui may be a minor light in the constellation of alleged al-Qaeda operatives, but her New York City trial may be a test case for the way justice is meted out to one of the major figures accused of running the terror organization. “

Judge Rules Not to Link Aafia to Qaeda, as She Announces Boycott

A US judge Wednesday barred prosecutors from linking Dr Aafia Siddiqui, the Pakistani neuroscientist, to al-Qaeda or any other terrorist organization during her trial scheduled to begin January 19.

The ruling came as the jury selection process began in the US. District Court in Manhattan. On Monday, the prosecution had informed the court that it will not contest any ruling which absolves Dr. Siddique, charged with shooting at her US interrogators in Afghanistan, of any terrorist links.

However, Judge Richard Berman ruled Wednesday that any hand written material seized from her possession will be admitted as evidence, but the printed material will not be entertained. The defence lawyers had sought the exclusion of any material founded on her, and to focus on the shooting incident.
A Pakistani on Trial- With no Pakistani Reporters

Aafia Siddiqui may be a minor light in the constellation of alleged al-Qaeda operatives, but her New York City trial may be a test case for the way justice is meted out to one of the major figures accused of running the terror organization. Siddiqui is a U.S.-trained, Pakistani neuroscientist charged with attempted murder for allegedly firing an M-4 automatic rifle at a group of U.S. soldiers and FBI agents in Afghanistan. Her case has been major news in much of the Muslim world – and a crush of journalists from Pakistan have been struggling to gain access to a trial hemmed in by security-conscious New York City officials. How the foreign press is able to follow the court proceedings – and thus perceive the fairness of the trial – will have an impact on upcoming high-profile terrorism trials like that of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other suspected 9/11 plotters, likely to be held in the same courthouse as the Siddiqui case.

“If we were able to file a transcript of the proceedings they’d probably print it,” Iftikhar Ali, a reporter with the Associated Press of Pakistan, said of the Siddiqui trial. “That’s how much interest there is in this case.” But Ali, like many other reporters from overseas, has been hampered in gaining access to the live proceedings. Journalists from Pakistan on assigment in New York have been largely excluded from the courtroom. Because of tight restrictions observed by the presiding Judge Richard Berman, not a single Pakistani reporter had been granted a press credential when opening statements began on Tuesday. They were instead sent to an overflow courtroom to watch the proceedings via video link. Read more here…

Aafia Siddiqui Trial: Two Jurors Excused, Defense Calls for Mistrial
PAKISTAN NEWS

The second week of the trial of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui began with a series of surprising twists and turns.

Two jurors were excused from the case after they informed Judge Richard Berman that they were approached by a public supporter of Siddiqui’s. An eyewitness in the gallery described the man as a Pakistani male wearing white turban. It was reported that he approached two of the jurors to ask them how the case was going. He was arrested and was taken out of the building in handcuffs.

Judge Richard Berman declined the defense attorney’s application to remove enhanced security on the grounds that it prejudices the jury. In his ruling Judge Berman cited both the incident of the individual approaching the jury and members of the defense team bringing in an additional cell phone as reasons for the denial. It is not uncommon to have additional security in high profile cases; he cited the high profile case of Martha Stewart which also drew a large amount of public interest. Read more here

Witnesses’ Accounts Differ at Dr. Aafia’s Trial
DAWN

The trial of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui has taken a bizarre turn when a witness’s testimony came out to be different from the one given by American official Captain Schnieder, reports DawnNews.

Furthermore, an FBI agent testified that they did not find Dr. Aafia’s finger-prints on the rifle.

The US federal court in Manhattan heard Aafia Siddiqui and 5 other witnesses. Dr. Aafia told the court that she is being misrepresented by the prosecutor’s statement regarding the things she has said about America, that only negative thoughts are being portrayed.

Apple iSlate / iPad to be launched tomorrow

Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs claims that “The new products we are planning to release this year are very strong, starting this week with a major new product that we’re really excited about”. Apple Tablet or iPad is a rumored upcoming tablet computing device product from Apple Inc. The price is expected to be more than the iPhone but less than an Apple notebook computer. The iSlate/iPad has been rumoured to cost between $800 and $1200. Some online surveys have shown that 49 per cent would play games on iSlate over DS or PSP, while in an other survey about its price 70% say no to $700 plus price.

It is yet not offically confirmed that what will be Apple’s new device named i.e iTablet, iPad or iSlate? McGraw-Hill CEO Confirms that Apple new Tablet will be iPhone OS Based.

Hurling dirt is more than dirt

This is apropos of Shazia’s murder, which is of course a very gruesome crime. But the way the media is blowing it for the last several days is also not less gruesome than the crime.

This is my friendly advice; the media friends may or may not entertain it. The incidence in hand if it has been done as is being said, is of course very very disgusting & repulsive occurrence. But the media friends must be mindful that the occurrence in hand is an individual act, therefore it must not and it could not be attributed to the whole community; legal fraternity. The alleged accused name is Chaudhery Naeem s/o Mr. xyz, which is sufficient identity and there is no need that his cast, creed, color or profession be also made victim of the accusation and that too before hand. If suppose a person commits a murder it is legal & sound to say that a person namely; xyz has committed a murder allegedly. But if the media begins beating the drum before hand that a Pathan, Sindhi, Punjabi or Balochi person namely xyz has committed a murder it is more heinous than the murder in the eye of law and morality. Firstly; because such like occurrence is individual act and therefore one’s cast, color, creed or profession cannot be made an accomplice in the commission of such individual act. Secondly; because the accused can defend himself during trials in a court of law but it is not possible for the accused to defend himself during the trial in media. Rather before hand drum beating sometimes also influence the minds of people as well as of the trial court!!! Media friends must not become all time housefly to breach privacy for detecting the dirt. They should and must not toss personal & family privacy simply because for the satisfaction of their media mania.

New digital music format MusicDNA™ – the future of music

MusicDNA Box is a smart media extension of standard audio code delivering a total digital music entertainment experience. It will Search is an intelligent plug & play search and

recommendation engine designed to easily access and explore huge music
libraries. This is a Player is a music application driven player that will change
the way users will interact with music and music related content

Rasta.PK Real Time Traffic Reporting in Pakistan Launched

Rasta.PK a joint project launched by UTNT and Punjab Traffic Polic will will offer real time traffic reporting. These reports will be offered via SMS,Websits etc. The traffic updates will be avilable after every 5 minutes. The project which is in its initial stages will offer

# Real time traffic information
# SMS based traffic information
# Live Traffic Cams
# Live Chat with traffic experts
# FM radio channel
# Traffic TV

If you look at their website they are now offering it for Multan, Faisalabad, Lahore, Gujranwala and Rawalpindi in first phase.

Dial 9 before dialing Pakistan Govt Offices in Lahore and Karachi

PTCL changed numbers to 8 digits in Karachi, Lahore in June/July 2009. The change in numbers is as follows: Digit 9 would be added prior

to all government telephone numbers and digit 3 would be added to all
private numbers.