Naseerabad Case: 4 Accused Sentenced Life in Prison

NASEERABAD, Pakistan News: Anti-Terrorism Court of Naseerabad/ Jaferabad sentenced four accused life in prison and fined a lakh each. The incident of the women being buried alive occurred two years back in Goth Gorang in a remote village, the Baba Kot, 80 kilometers away from Usta Mohammad city of Jafferabad district.

These women were buried alive for alleged fornication.

Human rights leaders brought the incident to the limelight, after which a case was registered in Kot Khan area of Naseerabad with police as plaintiff.

Taking notice of the incident, Balochistan High Court (BHC) ordered police to immediately arrest the culprits involved in the incident.

Police arrested all 20 people nominated in the FIR within year. Naseerabad/ Jaferabad’s Anti-Terror Court hearing the case for last year, announced the verdict today.

Judge Muhammed Alim Mengal delivered the verdict after elaborate proceedings of the case.

According to the verdict, Ghaus Bux, Sardar Allah Bux, Muhammed Arif and Rehmatullah were sentenced 25 years in prison and fined one lakh each.

At least 16 people arrested in the case, have been acquitted as no evidence was found to validate their guilt.

Sheikh Rasheed Escapes Attempt on life, 4 Killed

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan News: Chief of Awami Muslim League Sheikh Rashid survived an armed attack at his election office here on Monday.

Sheikh Rashid received minor injuries on his leg when he fell on the ground at the time of the attack. However, four of his guards were killed in the attack.

Armed assailants carrying Kalashnikov(s) attacked Sheikh Rashid outside his election office when he was heading on foot to attend a public meeting.

Eaerlier, Javed Qureshi, the personal assistant of Sheikh Rashid confirmed the attack while talking to Geo News from 1122 ambulance in which Sheikh Rashid was being shifted to hospital.

President Asif Ali Zardari has ordered inquiry into the attack and submission of its report immediately.

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif also ordered the commissioner and RPO to investigate into the incident.

Some of the bullets hit the Land Cruiser of Sheikh Rashid shattering its window panes.

Later, workers of AML took to the streets to protest the attack.

Life Turns 50pc Costlier in 2 Years

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan News: In sharp contrast to the rulers’ repeated rhetoric of burning the midnight oil to bring prosperity in the lives of the poor and the people at large, the government’s own statistics show a phenomenal price hike in the last two years as the average life of every citizen has become 50 per cent costlier than what it was in February-March 2008 when the present regime took power.

In a report, editor investigation and senior analyst of Geo News Ansar Abbashi stated while the overall economic health of the country has deteriotated, corruption, too, saw a record increase, governance is in tatters, mismanagement is the rule of the day, the rupee-dollar parity rate has jumped from 60-1 to the present 85-1; the lives of citizens from the common man to the business class have gone from bad to worse.

The sensitive price index (SPI) of the government shows it shooting up from 173 in Feb 2008 to 254 in January 2010 with certain daily-use commodities showing an unprecedented increase up to 250-300 per cent. The rulers, who in their public speeches promise “Roti, Kapra” and “Makan” have in fact given an exceptional price hike since Feb 2008. For example, according to the average price index of the statistics division, sugar has jumped from Rs26 to the present Rs70 per kilogram; Ata (wheat flour average quality) has reached the present Rs30 from Rs16.5 per kilogram; tea (250 grams packet) has gone up from Rs65 to Rs124; farm chicken per kilo rose to Rs116 from Rs71, etc.

Almost every daily-use commodity, vegetables and fruits, electricity and natural gas rates, petroleum product prices, everything has gone up and up. The only exception in the list of 53 commodities, listed in the official essential commodities list, is tomato whose price has decreased from Rs38 to the present Rs16 per kilogram.

Electricity price for the poor, i.e., those who use up to 100 units per month, has been increased by almost 50 per cent from Rs2.65 per unit in Feb 2008 to Rs3.91 per unit today.

For those who use electricity beyond 100 units, and for commercial and industrial consumers, the power rates have been increased far more than the minimum users. Today the domestic users, who consumed between 101-300 units have to pay Rs4.96 per unit (excluding taxes), for those using between 301 and 700 units are paying Rs8.03 per unit (without taxes), and above 700 units the tariff rates are Rs10 per unit (without taxes). For commercial users, the power tariff in Feb 2008 was Rs9.53 per unit (including taxes) but now it is Rs14.93 (including taxes).

Natural gas prices saw 15 per cent increase for the minimum users whereas the price of LPG has gone up from Rs817 to Rs1,092 per cylinder, i.e., an increase by over Rs270 per cylinder. Petrol price has jumped from Rs53.83 to the present 65.92 per litre, diesel jumped from Rs37.86 to Rs69.27 per litre and kerosene shot up from Rs42 to Rs72 per litre. For the poor — who don’t afford LPG, have no natural gas and are dependent on wood, whose price per 40 kg has increased from previous Rs230 to Rs302.

According to the government statistics, during this period the prices of essential commodities have increased from Rs18 to Rs27 per kg in case of wheat; from Rs16.5 to Rs30.19 — Ata (wheat flour) per kg; from Rs36 to Rs43 per kg rice basmati; from Rs26 to Rs34 per kg rice IRRI; from Rs71 to Rs123 per kg masoor pulse washed; from Rs51 to Rs84 per kg moong pulse washed; from Rs42 to Rs84 per kg green pulse washed; from Rs122 to Rs174 per kg beef; from Rs234 to Rs312 per kg mutton; from Rs62 to Rs80 per dozen eggs; from Rs19 to Rs26 per bread plain medium size; from Rs26 to Rs70 per kg sugar; from Rs31 to Rs73 per kg Gur; from Rs133 to Rs167 per kg red chilli powder; from Rs30 to Rs41 fresh milk; from Rs114 to Rs115 per kg vegetable ghee; from Rs44 to Rs147 per kg garlic; from Rs65 to Rs124 per 250 grams of tea packet; from Rs318 to Rs353 per 2.5kg cooking oil tin; from Rs11 to Rs17 per kg potato; from Rs12 to Rs25 per kg onion; from Rs32 to Rs38 per dozen banana; from Rs7 to Rs11 per cup tea; from Rs33 to Rs45 cooked beef plate; from Rs20 to Rs29 per cooked daal plate; from Rs71 to Rs116 per kg farm chicken, etc.

Economic growth in 2007-08 was 4.1 per cent, which has tumbled to 3.4 per cent (revised estimates). The foreign and internal debt issue is already extremely serious. The ‘Debt Policy Statement 2009’, recently submitted to parliament, has already warned the government that the rising trend of debt to the GDP ratio, now touching 58.1 per cent, is a cause of concern and should not be allowed to continue or it could breach the 60 per cent targeted level as laid down in the Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitation (FRDL) Act 2005.

The detailed Debt Policy Statement, prepared by the Ministry of Finance’s Debt Office headed by its DG Masroor Ahmed Qureshi, stated that the total stock of Pakistan’s outstanding external debt and liabilities (EDL) has increased by $6.6 billion or 14.3 per cent. “The largest net yearly increase since the turn of the century saw the stock of outstanding EDL rise from $46.2 billion at the end of 2007-08 to $52.8 billion by the end of 2008-09,” the report added.

Pakistan’s Total Public Debt (TPD), during the first three months (July-Sept) of the current fiscal year, rose to Rs8,100 billion, registering an increase of Rs495 billion or 6.5 per cent, mostly on account of considerable inflows of foreign currency denominated debt.

The exact size of domestic debt stands at Rs4,010 billion and external debt in terms of rupee at 4,090 billion. “Disbursements under the third tranche of the IMF-SBA and from multilaterals caused the foreign currency component of the TPD to increase by Rs338 billion by end-September 2009,” the report disclosed.

During the year 2008-09, the total public debt increased by Rs1,600 billion (26.6 per cent). As of end-June 2009, Pakistan’s Total Public Debt stood at Rs7,605 billion. The Rupee denominated public debt increased from Rs3,266 billion to Rs3,853 billion during the same period, increasing by Rs587 billion or 18 per cent during the period.

The increase in the domestic component of public debt accounted for 37 per cent of the total increase in public debt. The primary source of increase in public debt during 2008-09 has been a rapid increase in the foreign currency component, which accounted for 63 per cent of the total increase in the TPD.

Fidel Castro Dead

Fidel Castro Dead: On July 27, 2006, Fidel Castro nearly died during emergency intestinal surgery to stem internal bleeding caused by chronic diverticulitis. Since then, Cuba-watchers and obituary writers have been on high alert awaiting his demise.
Fidel Castro DeadYet, more than three years later, Castro soldiers on, approaching his mortal end with the same zeal he lavished on his life. The 83-year-old appears to have adjusted to his medically mandated retirement, enduring various surgeries and their attendant complications. A state-of-the art convalescent suite has been installed in his principal residence, Punto Cero, where he is surrounded by family and Cuba’s finest doctors. On his good days, he entertains well-wishers — among them, Harry Belafonte and Oliver Stone. And he continues to intervene in the thorny politics of Cuba.

In 2007, while still hospitalised, Castro began a transition from being Cuba’s commander in chief to its pundit in chief, penning columns he calls ‘Reflections’ in the state-run newspaper, Granma. Late last year, he offered some personal introspection. “I have had the rare privilege of observing events for a very long time,” he wrote. He then acknowledged the gravity of his illness. “I do not expect I shall enjoy such a privilege four years from now — when President [Barack] Obama’s first term has concluded.”

But until Castro is in the grave, we will be hearing from him. While his brother Raul and the Cuban army are running the day-to-day affairs of the country, Castro retains and exercises veto power. And Cubans continue to feel the strongman’s sting.

In March, more than a dozen of the most senior members of the Cuban regime were purged from the government. While Raul Castro had initiated the internal coup, Fidel was quick to weigh in and assail its casualties, all former members of his inner circle. The men had succumbed to “the honey of power,” he wrote in his column.

Castro’s reluctant leave-taking — with its periodic near-finales — fits into a long tradition of Hispanic caudillos or dictators. Consider, for example, the life — and death — of Francisco Franco, Spain’s dictator of almost 40 years. Both Castro’s father and Franco hailed from the rugged northern countryside of Spain, a region renowned for its fierce and stubborn citizenry. And notwithstanding divergent political ideologies — Franco was a zealous anti-communist — the two men had a good deal in common. Both were willing to forge unpalatable and unpopular alliances with totalitarian states to shore up their power — Franco with Nazi Germany and Castro with the Soviet Union.

And Franco’s shrouded last days neatly foreshadowed Castro’s. Franco became grievously ill in 1974 and was forced to turn over his rule — “temporarily,” he insisted — to Prince Juan Carlos. Castro also initially ceded control to his brother only “temporarily”. Like Castro, Franco had an unexpected recovery, although his lasted only a year before he died at 82.

Although it is generally believed that Franco died days earlier, his death was announced on November 20, 1975, the same day on which Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, the founder of Franco’s fascist Falange party, died 40 years earlier.

Some people assert doctors kept Franco alive under orders from the dictator that he would live until the ordained date.

Castro’s untidy leaving has kept the news media in an indefinite state of high alert, as they formulate and reformulate coverage and obituaries. The veteran Spanish Civil War reporter Martha Gellhorn found herself in a similar pickle three decades ago. In 1975, she accepted an assignment from New York magazine to write about post-Franco Spain. “This thrills me, the sort of journalism I love,” she wrote her son. “I am waiting for the old swine to die; but obviously he is being kept breathing [no more] while the right tightens its hold on the country.”

When I asked Castro in a 1994 interview when he would retire, he snapped: “My vocation is the revolution. I am a revolutionary, and revolutionaries do not retire.”

Bardach is the author of Without Fidel: A Death Foretold in Miami, Havana, and Washington and serves on the Brookings Institution’s Cuba Study Project. Thanks to gulfnews.com

For The House Fell On Her Head, Sarah Jarosz

For The House Fell On Her Head, Sarah Jarosz: A career beckons, but Sarah Jarosz has chosen the life of a student at New England Conservatory Patience is a virtue rarely lavished on the young, but Sarah Jarosz is fully equipped in the difficult art of waiting. People have been clamoring for an album of mandolin, banjo Claw Hammer player and singer and songwriter since he began touring the bluegrass festival circuit at the tender age of 12.

Jarosz not rush, waiting his time until she had gathered an impressive collection of original songs. Fortunately, the wait was short and fruitful. “Song up in your head,”was released in June on Sugar Hill Records in Nashville, just weeks after turning 18 years of Jarosz. The praise poured in, and she quickly booked on” A Prairie Home Companion.”

Now, just as the rising stars would jump head first into the beckoning arms of agents and promoters, Jarosz is putting his career on the back seat to study in the New England Conservatory. She admits she enroll in school life was a tempting option, a lot of musicians do, and many believe that hitting the road is the only legitimate path for a player.

“I talked to a lot of musicians I respect and have a lot of different opinions,”Jarosz said over coffee at a cafe near campus.” And I definitely did ponder the idea of just going directly to the musical career. But there’s always more to learn, and I do not want to miss the college experience. My roommate is a classical vocal performance major, makes a lot of opera singers, which is something I’ve never been around before. I’ve been hearing a lot of Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan. I’m in a world of music and a collection of Jewish music. I’m leaving my comfort zone.”

Jarosz happily announces his intentions and his desire to shake its own status quo seems remarkable, considering how comfortable accomplished sounds in “Song Up in your head.”Her voice is crystal clear, as settled and firm, like his songs , which have their roots in bluegrass, but it feels much larger. Gillian Welch comes to mind, but not an evangelist Jarosz. So Aoife O’Donovan of Crooked However, Jarosz friend and mentor, a native of Newton who also attended the New England Conservatory. There is an inevitable musical choices Jarosz, a certainty that belies her youth and goes back to the jams Friday night in his hometown of Wimberley, Texas, who began frequenting the 10 years old, beginner mandolin. Since then he has shared the stage with statesmen Earl Scruggs and Del McCoury, and allied with royalty newgrass as Tim O’Brien, Abigail Washburn, and Chris Thile of Nickel Creek album whose clarity of style Jarosz grace.
Source: boston.com

Blindsided Movie

Blindsided Movie: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation has released the first trailer for their upcoming film “The blind side. This film is a story of facts that, based on the book by Michael Lewis in 2006 entitled “The blind side: evolution of the game. Kathy Bates, Quinton Aaron, Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw are playing an important role in this film.

The video focuses on the 2 key functions such as Quinton Aaron Michael Oher, Sandra Bullock and Leigh Anne Touhy and how to care for a family hug from Leigh Anne Touhy circled the life of a young person uneducated and homeless.

The story of this film is about a wealthy family who gets in an adolescent without education and broken roof of the house and helps you change your life through your guide. When Michael Oher Anne Touhy meets at which point he is a lower education, large and poor teenagers, and then approved by it. Michael Oher ultimately develops a first round selection in 2009 “NFL Draft” and an All-American left undertake unpleasant, so you discover that the story of this film is still being written. It was not only a life saving experience of Michael Oher, but also a journey of self-discovery of the family of Leigh Anne Tougy.

You can see the first trailer of the movie “The blind side” bottom will be in theaters on 20 November 2009. It really seems to be a true story and surprising.
Source: makli.com

Kareena Kapoor Like To Red Wine

MUMBAI: Kareena Kapoor plays a tormented girlfriend in Kurbaan opposite her real life beau Saif Ali Khan, who plays a terrorist. “I was really confident of the script this time. Earlier, I have done films just for relationships, like I did Main Aur Mrs Khanna because my sister pushed me,” Kareena said with a smile.

In spite of her last film being a dud at the box office, Kareena is pretty pleased with her decision.

“Come on, it is just another film. If me signing a film makes someone happy, I would still do it. Thinking that if the film will be a flop or hit is passé now.”

Kareena’s heart has always ruled her decisions. Does that mean having Saif with her in the film helped her give the nod to Karan Johar?

“Kurbaan was something I would have done even if Saif was not a part of the film, and I am sure it’s the same for him too. It is a real and gritty film. It is one of my best roles, if not as good as Jab We Met,” she said.

She added, “I can never plot and plan my career or my life. I have always been spontaneous in all my decisions and it has ultimately paid off. It has helped me make some great decisions. I live life on my own terms and it has helped me be a better human being and make some great decisions.

“There is this fire in me, which will always be there. The passion for my work and my loved ones will continue burning.”

Talking about her lovemaking scene with Saif in Kurbaan, Kareena said, “It is a part of the film. When you watch it,

you will know this. It doesn’t stand out.”

Kareena said it is her emotional self that might have helped her play the various characters well. “I am sensitive and emotional but not foolish. I have learnt over the years, and have matured a lot. I know who is out to take advantage and who’s not. I am like red wine, which gets mature with time. As I grow older I will be more mature and a better human being, just watch out,” she says. “In fact, Saif will also grow mature with age,” she says as an afterthought.

Thunder Collins

latest news about, Thunder Collins: Thunder Collins was sentenced to life in prison with another 110 years by the District Court jury in Douglas County on charges of murdering a man and the attempted murder of another and two weapons charges. Police believe the killing had arisen from a bungled drug deal. After the sentence was pronounced, Thunder Collins came out with a surprising revelation. He said that what had refused to say during the trial despite constant urging: he appointed the person who had actually pulled the trigger that killed the person.

After the jury had pronounced the sentence of Thunder Collins, said he had been foolish to protect Amhad Johnson, the man who had killed and wounded Timothy Thomas Marshall, Turner. He said he had not wanted to talk about it before and had not wanted to hide from his friend. He said he felt no remorse over the incident, but apologized to the family of the murdered man. He said that while Thunder Collins was sentenced to life in prison, had no intention of letting them find that way. He promised he would move the court for the trial and would be a free man soon.

Thunder Collins was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Timothy Thomas and seriously wounding another man in California, Marshall Turner. Police believe the man had been killed because of a dispute about a drug deal. However, he showed no remorse for what had happened and steadfastly maintained that he had committed the crime.
Source: blog.taragana.com

Celine Dion ”determined” to go for IVF again

Celine Dion is adamant that she will continue with in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment after finding out she is not pregnant after all.

Halle Berry’s mother was a domestic abuse victim

Hollywood actress Halle Berry has revealed that her mother was a victim of domestic violence. In an interview with NBC’’s Natalie Morales for NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams segment, the Oscar-winning actress spoke about her inspiration for getting involved with Jenesse Centre, an L.A.-based shelter that provides support for domestic violence victims and teaches them self-sufficiency.

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