Internet advocacy: Blogs in Pakistan – no more a silent revolution

 

PTI chief Imran Khan, who made a surprise appearance at the Pakistan Blog awards held in Karachi, said bloggers are part of a revolution. PHOTO: SIDRAH MOIZ KHAN

 

KARACHI:  To the audience’s delight, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan made a surprise entrance at the second Pakistan Blog Awards that kicked off Friday evening at the Regent Plaza hotel.

Acknowledging bloggers in Pakistan, Imran said that a silent revolution is building up in Pakistan and that the bloggers are a vital part of the revolution.
“Political class is in a state of shock due to this revolution,” the PTI chief said. Stand-up comedian Sami Shah had his reservations about Imran’s presence, saying, “It turned political all of a sudden”. However, Shah said that the event was a positive step.
The awards were attended by prominent, as well as the not-so-prominent faces of the Pakistani blogosphere and cyberspace. The popular opinion remained that the blogosphere has shown an exponential growth.
“This year around, it is great,” blogger Sana Saleem said. “You can gauge the importance of media from the fact that almost every news organisation’s website has a blog now,” she added.
Applause roared across the hall, which housed around 300 people, as Rabia Gharib, the host for the event started to announce the winners.
“Each nomination represents a different hue of Pakistan,” Gharib said.
“The environment is electric,” remarked CEO P@sha Jehan Ara. “Blogs are definitely going to go a long way.”
Jehan Ara, who began blogging a few years back, said that there were about 25 blog nominations in every category.
However, prominent talk-show host Faisal Qureshi said, “Pakistani blogs have quantity, but don’t have quality. We are a nation of complainers, not advocacy. We should be more responsible about our content,” he added.
“Internet usage is converging in Pakistan, which is helping new and social media,” said Badar Khushnood, the Google Pakistan’s country consultant. “There is always a certain level of noise and hype, but in my belief, blogs have done a lot of good to citizen journalism.”

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Pakistan Bloggers Awards 2011

Karachi: Bloggers from all over Pakistan attended the Pakistan Bloggers Awards 2011. The ceremony took place in a local hotel in Karachi, in which the Chairman of PTI Imran Khan made a dramatic appearance.

While speaking to the audience Imran Khan said that Karachi will witness the biggest change on 25th December 2011. He said that a tsunami of change is coming in Pakistan, due to which father is in one political party, whereas their family members are joining PTI.

On the blogs front, the best social activist award was given to mybitforchange.org, a blog by Dr. Aisha Aijaz. The best blog by a journalist was awarded to Beena Sarwar, whereas best political coverage award was given to Ali K. Chisti. TV anchor Faisal Qureshi, social activist Abid Beli, President PASHA Jehan Ara, Google Pakistan Country Manager Badar Khushnood and several others from the social arena and media industry attended the event.

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Not giving Gold Medals in KU Annual convocation 2011 -A very good Decision

 
Karachi: University of Karachi held a Annual Convocation 2011 on 17 December 2011 at Valika Ground.Students, who have taken degrees of BS in the relevant subjects staged protest during the Convocation Ceremony 2011 against the neglecting by the administration.
Its a very good decision by KU Administration to not giving gold medals to the position holders because everyone knows how they got positions in their respective discipline. Karachi University administration said that due to unavailability of sponsors we are unable to give gold medals to position holders.The main cause behind no interest of sponsors in giving sponsorship for gold medal might be they knows about checking system in KU.They have seen that what KU's gold medalist do in market after passing out.

Its a common belief in KU that if any teacher got angry or student just argue, misbehave on any lecture matter or point, the teacher will definitely took revenge by giving him low marks as compare to his class fellows even the student gave a perfect answers  on sheet.If you want good marks in any subject, all you have to do is to curry favor of your teacher.Even in the morning,You will have to admit it as evening if your teacher called morning as evening.If you succeed in to happy your teacher as compare to your mates, you will definitely got highest marks even you left empty copy.The student who does not care about these things & just focuses on his studies gets average marks. You can't even claim on any result if your teacher failed you or give you low marks, you have to write an application to your DEAN & CHAIRMAN but like all government institution your application will not effect anything and will disappear soon.
BS program starts with controversially as the administration has no plan what they have to do and what not.They even have not give GP(Grade point) to 1st BS batch which passed out recently. Their is lack of professional teachers in BS Program. Departments cover this by outsourcing and sometimes they called their recent master students for teaching their BS batch.Outsource professor founds sometimes unavailable and took few classes, no one can ask them.On other hand inexperience teacher can give limited information as experienced professor can share his experience with students and can teach well.But senior teachers are remained very few in KU.Many have resigned due to threatening from students political parties in Karachi University.
The major problem of BS program which administration recently solved was market is not recognizing it as old Master degree.The name changed like  earlier you have to enroll for 3 years graduation program and than for 1 year master or 2 years bachelor and 2 year master, in short in past 16 years of education consider as masters degree but HEC starts in 2007 that every institution affiliated with it will have to start 4 Year BS  program.But it came out in controversial when students passed out in 2010 & started searching jobs but market asked them for a masters degree and give jobs to 2 years bachelor and 2 years master holder candidate.KU now has given offer to students whether they want to took 3 years bachelor and 1 years master or 4 years BS.This is the fault of HEC and universities that they should aware the market about their BS Program.

The main reason of no sponsorship in Convocation is the failure of BS Program.KU administration should make strict action and make it possible that their should be clear & fair teaching and checking of examination copies that we can get good graduates and masters in future.The graduates should be "GOLDEN" not Gold lover.The main complain from companies ,enterprises,banks & other industries is that they want golden product for running their business on a successful path but when they took interview of Gold Medalist they even don't know basics about their discipline and when the interviewer asks him how he got gold medal if he does not knows basics than the answer comes from him that the teachers didn't taught us that things or teacher of that subject didn't took classes properly.
If the gold medalist will not perform well in the market than how come we expect from anyone to Sponsor further graduates from University of Karachi.Administration should consider all these facts and make it possible that we will produce quality of graduates not in Quantity.


By  
Muhammad Usama Abbasi

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Veena Malik goes missing from Mumbai - ZEE NEWS

MUMBAI: After courting severe backlash for her controversial photo shoot with FHM magazine, starlet Veena Malik has mysteriously gone missing from her Mumbai residence.

Apparently, Veena’s business manager Prateik Mehta and filmmaker Hemant Madhukar revealed that Veena is untraceable since the morning of December 16. Veena was shooting for a horror flick ‘Mumbai 125 kilometres’ in Goregoan (West) before disappearing.

Talking to a daily, Hemant said, “Veena, without giving her last shot at 5 am for my film ‘Mumbai 125 kilometres’, suddenly disappeared from her vanity van. Her mobile too was not reachable I assumed that the actress was tired and left for home.”

However, Hemant received an SMS from Veena, which disclosed that the actress was depressed and unwell. After almost twelve hours of the incident, Prateik and Hemant discovered that Veena was missing.

“Today we had a couple of shots with Veena but I realised that her phones are still switched off and she has also not communicated with her manager since then which is indeed serious. Veena normally is very chirpy and full of life on the sets but from past few days she looked depressed. Hope she is fine.” added Hemant.

Hemant and Veena’s manager have approached the local Bandra Police to help them find Veena Malik.

JEW(GEO) NEWS REPORT ON VEENA MALIK DISAPPEAR

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India uranium sales 'unique': Australia

Islamabad- humari news Australia’s Defence Minister Stephen Smith said India represented a “unique” case for uranium sales Thursday and denied that lifting its export ban to New Delhi opened the door to countries like Pakistan.
The ruling centre-left Labor party voted to overturn its long-standing ban on uranium sales to India at its national policy summit last weekend despite the fact that it was still not a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Smith, on an official visit to India, said the decision had been “warmly welcomed” but rebuffed suggestions that Pakistan may want a similar arrangement.
“The circumstances for India so far as export of uranium is concerned are, in my view, unique,” Smith told ABC television from India.
“Pakistan does not have the same record so far as proliferation is concerned. There have been serious expressions of concern about proliferation in the past.”
Though India had not signed the NPT — Labor’s rationale for withholding sales until the weekend’s policy u-turn — Smith said it had agreed to split its civilian and military nuclear programmes and vowed not to engage in atomic tests.
It had also submitted to the authority of civil nuclear regulators.
“India is the world’s largest democracy. There’s never been any serious suggestion or any evidence of proliferation on India’s part,” he said.
He described the ban as “an irritant or a grain of sand in the relationship (that) is now gone” and said he and Indian officials had agreed that they could and should do more to to boost strategic cooperation.
“The whole world is moving to the Asia Pacific and the Indian Ocean, and India is very much a central part of that,” he said.
Smith said he had also discussed the recent announcement of a US troop boost in northern Australia with Indian counterpart A.K Antony and he understood that “Australia has an alliance relationship with the United States.
“India also understands that Australia has a strong view that the engagement of the United States in the Asia Pacific, indeed the enhanced engagement of the United States in the Asia Pacific, is a good thing for peace, prosperity and stability,” Smith said.
Australia describes India — its fourth-largest export market — as at the “front rank” of its global partnerships and aims to strengthen ties beyond economic and trade links into areas such as defence and security.

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Boneless BONN conference started in Germany without its bone Pakistan

Afghan Foreign Minister Salmai Rassul, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle (L-R) pose for a picture at the International Afghanistan Conference in Bonn, December 5, 2011. — Photo by Routers

BONN: BONN Conference started in Germany without their Prime member country Pakistan.Germany’s foreign minister on Monday opened a major conference on Afghanistan’s future, vowing that the international community won’t abandon the country after Nato combat troops pull out in 2014.
 “The goal of this conference will be to lay the groundwork for a free, secure and prosperous Afghanistan,” Guido Westerwelle told about 1,000 delegates from around the world gathered in the western city of Bonn.
Pakistan was seeming to be very important for this conference but due to NATO attack on Pakistan's tribal area Pakistan boycotted  this conference as a protest.

The involvement of Pakistan in this conference do not matter anything as USA is doing what it likes, it never consider Pakistan's suggestions on Afghanistan issue.USA always treated Pakistan as its slave not as its alliance.So participation of Pakistan in this conference will not affect directly but there is also have some negative impacts which can raised questions on credibility and importance of decisions made during this conference as one of the country whose contributed lot during Afghan war and who is also its major neighbor country is not participating in the conference.

NATO attacks on Pakistan can be raise a question that may be it is possible that cause behind NATO attack can be to rid Pakistan from BONN conference and during conference NATO countries are planning some thing against Pakistan so they make Pakistan away from the conference and also wanting to kick Pakistan from their alliance.

Their is also some news in the circle that NATO is going to attack Pakistan's tribal areas for searching Taliban commandos.So it'll definitely increase tension among Pakistan and USA as COAS Kiyani said that he has allowed border forces to take immediate action on any attack from NATO forces. 

Pakistan seems to be Bone in the US alliance and kicking Pakistan from alliance could be danger for USA as their is two ways for NATO supplies for their equipments and other stuffs.One is from Pakistan but they have now tension with it and second is through Russia but Russia didn't forget 1980's Soviet Afghan war when USA helps Pakistan to break Russian federation into tiny parts.So Russia is also don't want to leave this opportunity.

So if USA lost the war and starts exit from Afghanistan in upcoming years with broken hands they will be 2nd Super power who 'll defeated by PAKISTAN.So they can't took Pakistan as a "Piece of Cake" as it can be cause them as a "Piece of Rock" which can break their teeth.

*********************LONG LIVE PAKISTAN*****************************

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Judaism and Islam side by side

On Sunday night, the fashion collective Three as Four opened its highly anticipated exhibition “Insalaam Inshalom” at the Beit Ha’Ir Center for Urban Culture in Tel Aviv, bringing to fruition a project over two years in the making. Covering the walls of the four-story building in fabric printed with their spring collection’s central motifs, which are made of a mix of Muslim and Jewish symbols, the designers Gabi Asfour, Adi Gil and Ange Donhauser invited 10 artists to show works that relate to the project’s central notion: that Judaism and Islam can live side by side. “We’ve accumulated the energy of artists and performers who are like-minded,” Asfour said. “We tried to balance things from all sides, though it’s always difficult.”
Featured in the show are pieces by Yoko Ono, Joseph Dadoune and Jessica Mitrani, to name a few. Installations, video works, textiles and photography are among the works on display throughout the center’s “Insalaam Inshalom”-patterned walls. The performers at Sunday’s event included the Cyprus-born, New York-based director/choreographer Maria Hassabi, who wore cotton overalls from the Three as Four collection. Carrying a rolled-up rug on her slight frame, she slowly made her way down a flight of stairs into a cramped performance area, stopping every few seconds in different sculptural positions. Having arrived, she released the rug behind her back and wrapped herself in it as in a cape. At other moments she lay on it as well as under it as if it were a blanket.
As usual, Three as Four opted for a less formal fashion show, with a backgammon board acting as a centerpiece onstage, with mannequins dressed in pieces from the collection positioned around it. Models entered the central space to stand between the forms, then took turns walking over to a low table, sitting down, rolling the dice and moving the pieces of the board game. After each turn, one model would get up and take the place of another — a collective game of musical chairs.
“Fashion and beauty are tools to promote togetherness and unity in different countries and cultures,” Gil said. “We hope we can inspire other people to work together and not be scared of working together.”
The fashion collective’s members are themselves products of multiple cultures and identities: Asfour was born to parents from Mandate-era Haifa, who fled to Beirut; Gil was born and raised in Israel before moving to Germany and then New York; and Donhauser is a Soviet-born Russian-German who moved to Germany in childhood. Donhauser met Gil in Germany, and they met Asfour in New York, where they had moved to seek a more culturally diverse setting.
“I’m the middleman in the Middle East,” joked Donhauser, who adds that she’s glad she finally made it to Tel Aviv. “I’m closer to understanding how meshugeneh it all is. You shake your head and say: It’s all so human after all.”

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facebook tries to triangulate their "privacy" policy

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RAW calls the shots in Pakistan: Imran Khan

Islamabad:  India's terrorist Intelligence (RAW) spy agency is calling the shots in the country, cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan says, adding that the government lacks moral courage, "giving the space to RAW to assert its powers".

"The government lacks the moral courage, which has been giving the space to RAW to assert its powers in various affairs of the country," Imran Khan, who heads the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), said on Sunday.

Talking to the media after PTI's central executive committee meeting, Mr Khan said that RAW is no.1 terrorist organization of the world which is also responsible for corruption in India.

He said the corrupt practices of politicians had provided the RAW an excuse to meddle in the political arena,  Times of India reported.

He pledged that if he came to power and if his government's directives were not followed, he would resign rather than stay in power and will kill all agents of CIA, MOSAD & RAW in the country.He warned all agencies who are currently working against the Pakistan that they should leave Pakistan otherwise he 'll give lesson to them after coming in power.

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Defence of Pakistan Council announces to hold public meeting over issues of national security & defence

ISLAMABAD, (SANA): Pakistan Defence Council has announced to hold public meeting over the issues of national security and defence at Liaquat Bagh Rawalpindi.
The council has announced to state cross-country protest against the granting of Most Favorite Nation status to India on Friday and supported sit-in protest at Wahga boarder and Ganda Singh in Qasoor.
This announcement has been made in joint declaration in the “All Parties Pakistan Defence Conference” organized by Defence of Pakistan Council; meanwhile the conference was attended by more than 45 political, religious parties and more than 62 leaders of civil society, former military leadership and other important personalities.
The joint declaration was read out by Amir Jamiat Ulema Islam-S Maulana Samiul Haq at the closing ceremony; meanwhile all the leaders presented in the conference had supported the declaration.
The APC has decided to file a writ against the drone attacks in Supreme Court and also decided to stage protest meetings against government at Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi.
Jamaat-e-Islami has announced staging protests across the country against granting of MFN status to India for trade; meanwhile Mohsinan Pakistan Forum has announced sit-in protests at Wahga boarder and other destinations on 27th and 28th November and the APC has supported the protest.
Prior to this, in a resolution passed in the conference stated that granting of MFN status to India was very dangerous and disastrous for the Pakistani industry, agriculture and trade, adding that instead of granting self determination to Kashmiri people the Indian government killed more than 0.1 million innocent people in Kashmir and trying to occupy the rivers to deprive Pakistan from the water of its share.
It is also stated in the resolution that Pakistan was divided in two parts by military aggression; meanwhile in view of these historic facts granting of MFN status to India is like attack on the two-nation theory, Pakistan movement, national integrity and its resources.
The APC through the resolution demanded from the government of Pakistan to repeal the status of MFN to India because this decision not only eliminates the cause of partition of Indian subcontinent but it is also committing a traitory with blood of martyrs of Pakistan movement and martyrs of Kashmir independence movement.
The resolution stated that those people who thought India as favored country should shift to India; meanwhile the APC warned that if the decision would not be repealed then the government should forced to repeal its decision through by public power.
Maulana Samiul Haq while presiding the conference has said that foreign powers trying to impose their decisions on Pakistan through threats, adding that India, Israel and United States is trying to eliminate Pakistan.
Amir Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Syed Munawar Hassan while addressing the conference said that it is need of hour to come out of closed rooms and manage programs on large scale, adding that he termed SAARC conference as charged sheet against Pakistan and said that it was arranged to increase the aggression of India.
He said that the SAARC conference was effort to dishonor Pakistani image, adding that US trying to punish Pakistan on behalf of its defeat in Pakistan and for this purpose US want to handover the atomic program of Pakistan to international control.
He said that the military and government leadership should take a brave decision but it cannot happen and no step was taken for the implementation of resolution passed in all parties’ conference arranged by prime minister.
He said that the rulers declared Kashmiris as strangers but they cannot behave with the Kashmiri people as strangers.
Former director general ISI lt general (retd) Hamid Gull has said that it is not possible for anybody to ignore Kashmiri people, adding that pressure being put on Afghanistan to give five to six airbases as lease to United States.
Leader of Jamaat-ud-Dawwa Hafiz Muhammad Saeed has said that a deep conspiracy has been hatched against Pakistan and US, Israel and India are united in this conspiracy, adding that granting MFN status to India is the conspiracy to make Pakistan disable.
Leader of Awami Muslim League Sheikh Rashid Ahmad has said that it is quite sure that granting MFN status to India is without consensus of Pakistan army, adding that situation between government and army is very critical.
Former minister for religious affairs Aijazul Haq has said that US wants Indian supremacy in Afghanistan and it is not possible without this transit and for this purpose, huge power terminals were constructed at Wahga boarder.
General (retd) Faiz Ali Chishti has said that it is need of hour to get rid of government, adding that the internal enemy is very dangerous as compare to external enemy.
Leader of PML-Q SM Zaffar while addressing the conference has said that economically weak nations are unable to defend, adding that Pakistan did not have any threat from regional powers.
Meanwhile parliamentary leader of FATA Munir Khan Aurkazai, Professor Andrew Bishop, Azad Marshal and others also addressed the conference.

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First female chief executive appointed in IBM

IBM named Virginia Rometty, the head of sales, marketing and strategy, to take over as chief executive on January 1, making her the first woman to head the legendary US computer company.
Rometty, 54, who is also a senior vice president at IBM, will take over from current president and chief executive Samuel Palmisano, 60, on January 1, IBM said in a statement Tuesday.
Palmisano, who was named IBM’s chief executive in 2002, will stay on as chairman of the board of directors.
IBM said Rometty had also been elected to IBM’s board of directors, effective immediately.
Rometty will be the ninth chief executive in the 100-year-old history of the company known as “Big Blue” and the first woman to hold the top post.
She joins a select group of women heading US technology companies. They include Ursula Burns at Xerox and Meg Whitman, the former chief executive of eBay who was recently named to the same position at Hewlett-Packard.

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A huge amount of spam attack for Facebook users in shape of graphic images

Facebook said Tuesday that a “coordinated spam attack” was responsible for graphic images appearing in the news feeds of some members of the world’s largest social network.
Facebook, which has more than 800 million members, said some users of the social network were tricked into unknowingly sharing the offensive content.
“Recently, we experienced a coordinated spam attack that exploited a browser vulnerability,” Facebook said in an email statement to AFP.
“Our efforts have drastically limited the damage caused by this attack, and we are now in the process of investigating to identify those responsible,” the Palo Alto, California-based company said.
“We’ve built enforcement mechanisms to quickly shut down the malicious pages and accounts that attempt to exploit it,” it said. “We’ve put in place backend measures to reduce the rate of these attacks and will continue to iterate on our defenses to find new ways to protect people.”
Facebook said protecting users from spam and malicious content “is a top priority for us and we are always working to improve our systems to isolate and remove material that violates our terms.”
Facebook did not say how many members were affected by the spam but hundreds of users of the social network took to Twitter to complain about the images, which they said included hardcore pornography and graphic violence.

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Wikileaks:Julian Assange files application to take extradition case to Supreme Court. Centers on "Judicial Authority"

Julian Assange’s team have raised the following points of law as grounds to appeal to the Supreme Court:
1) Whether a European Arrest Warrant issued by a partisan prosecutor working for the executive (i.e. not an independent judge or investigating magistrate in the civil law system) is a valid Part 1 Warrant issued by a "judicial authority" within the meaning of sections 2(2) & 66 of the Extradition Act 2003?

• This point argues that the decision goes against parliamentary intent in the 2003 Extradition Act (see High Court Appeal).

2) Whether a person in respect of whom no decision to prosecute has been taken can be said to be ’accused’ within the meaning of sections 2(3)(a) of the Extradition Act 2003?
Read why these two points are of ’general public importance’ in High Court Appeal (currently being updated).

15 November 2011: Julian Assange’s legal team have applied to the High Court for leave to appeal two points of law of general importance at the Supreme Court. The same High Court judges who dismissed Julian Assange’s case at the High Court will decide whether or not to certify these points, which must be of public importance and go beyond the specific facts of this case. They will decide this in open court, at the Royal Courts of Justice on 5 December 2011. A decision is expected the same day. If JA loses, he will be extradited to Sweden within 10 days and placed into Swedish custody.

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Famous designer Bilal Ansari will design Bridal dress for Reema Khan

Bilal Ansari aka Billu a very popular name of Pakistan Fashion Industry will going to design Bridal dress for Pakistan film Industry's top actress Reema Khan for her marriage at USA.

Karachi- AP, famous fashion designer Bilal Ansari will design bridal dress for Pakistani film actress Reema Khan on her marriage function in America. Both the nikkah and rukhsati of the Golden Girl of Lollywood will take place on November 18. The plan is that, following the wedding, Reema will remain in Washington for a couple of weeks before returning to Pakistan.Reema's groom Shahab graduated from Dow Medical College University of Karachi before heading for the US for further training in cardiovascular diseases. He completed his Internal Medicine residency training at the University Of Michigan Medical Centre where he was awarded the Outstanding Resident of the Year Award.
for more visit http://www.fashionsgala.com

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Gossip World:Justin Bieber Baby Daddy “Quotes” Are Tabloid Rubbish

“Justin Bieber: Selena Not Bothered By Baby Daddy Rumors,” reads the headline of a Hollyscoop story, which heavily relies on quotes the young singer supposedly gave Britain’s Star magazine.

According to the blog, Bieber’s relationship with Selena Gomez is perfectly fine, despite allegations that fathered a child with Mariah Yeater.

“She is doing great – like me she just ignores things,” Bieber supposedly tells the tab.

He adds, “Both Selena and myself have had to get used to this stuff; it’s part of being in the industry. It’s not right that we have to get used to it, but it’s one of those things you need to accept. We’ve both learned to ignore the rubbish that comes out.”

Wait, just because Bieber reportedly spoke to a British tab, he’s now using words like “rubbish”?

Hardly.

Bieber, who does not freely talk about Gomez, seems NOT to have spoken to Star.

The singer’s rep tells Gossip Cop the quotes are “false.”

We tried to get an answer from Star, and was told by a staffer that they didn’t know whether or not Bieber really spoke to the mag, and to call again tomorrow.

Based on the quotes, Bieber’s rep, and the noncommittal response from Star, we’d say the tab’s story is… rubbish.

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Britney Spears Gets Raunchy in Newly Released “Sweet Dreams” (VIDEO)

This will come as a shock, but Britney Spears made a provocative video!
Although it was shot as an interlude for her 2009 Circus Tour, the pop princess’ raunchy visual companion to Marilyn Manson‘s cover of “Sweet Dreams” just surfaced online.
It features Spears mouthing the words to the song while writhing around a poorly lit masquerade ball that may or may not be an orgy.
The mom of 2 can still push buttons.

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Heather Locklear and Jack Wagner Call Off Engagement

Heather Locklear and Jack Wagner have called off their wedding, Gossip Cop confirms.
A rep for the actress tells us, “They are no longer engaged.”
Locklear was not wearing her engagement ring Monday night at the Breaking Dawn premiere in L.A.
The former “Melrose Place” co-stars began dating in 2007, shortly after Locklear finalized her divorce from Richie Sambora.
They got engaged in August.

We’ll update when we get more information.

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PTCL broadband internet service down in Karachi - Humari Technology

Karachi: One of the biggest telecommunication & DSL internet provider in Pakistan and ex-state institution, Pakistan Telecommunication Limited (PTCL) has failed to maintain its fine service and now is completely down in different areas of Karachi, the business hub of Pakistan.

According to sources, service of PTCL has been creating problems for around 4 days in different areas of Karachi and nearly 1,00,000 commercial and domestic users facing severe problems due to this crisis.

Sources said that the problems occurred due to old devices installed in the system. These devices have been working since 2006 but the maximum age of the devices is 2 years.

It is pertinent to mention that different businesses are working on Saturday in Karachi despite two-weekly offs. But the disruption in service creating many problems for the users.

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US: Reality show on lives of Muslims to be launched

New York:  Reality TV welcomes a brand new program in the United States which follows the lives of American Muslims and makes its debut on Sunday. 

According to press statements from the cable channel, ”All American Muslims” deal with the same small and large issues of life that other Americans encounter. A new eight-part series on TLC that premieres November 13 will try to answer that question by following the lives of five very different Muslim-American families.

The show, “All-American Muslim,” was filmed in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit that’s known for its large Arab-American population and America’s largest mosque.

It promises to go “inside the rarely seen world of American Muslims to uncover a unique community struggling to balance faith and nationality in a post 9/11 world.”

According to reports, the show’s producers selected a diverse group of people and topics. It will cover segments on sisters who are polar opposites (one wears a headscarf and prays daily, the other has tattoos – forbidden in Islam– and is married to an Irish Catholic). It will also follow the story of a high school football coach, and newlyweds.

The media kit hopes to show people who “share the same religion, but lead very distinct lives that often times challenge the Muslim stereotype.” Additionally, the series will also delve into the hot topics of post 9/11 life for Muslims and gender roles in Islam.

The show’s ambition to provide an encompassing portrayal of an entire faith community takes it into risky territory.

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Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi likely to resign today

Rome: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is supposed to resign on Saturday after the lower chamber of the parliament passed a set of reforms, paving way for an emergency government and ending the 17-year political era in the European country.

Berlusconi agreed to step down once the bill was passed earlier this week when it became clear he could no longer garner support to keep his coalition government intact.

In a statement issued after his final cabinet meeting, Berlusconi confirmed he would go to see President Giorgio Napolitano to hand in his resignation, bringing an end to one of the most scandal-plagued periods in recent Italian history.

The definitive approval of the package by the lower house will mark the final act of the Berlusconi government. He is expected to hold a last cabinet meeting and then go to the Quirinale Palace and hand his resignation to President Giorgio Napolitano.

His resignation will trigger a series of events over the weekend and most likely conclude on Sunday night or Monday morning with the formation of new government headed by former European Commissioner Mario Monti.

Global markets panicked earlier this week because of the sustained political turmoil in the euro zone’s third largest economy, and Italy’s borrowing costs shot above a “red line” of 7 percent.

On the other side hundreds of demonstrators gathered at government buildings on Saturday celebrating the imminent departure of Berlusconi, who has been Italy’s longest serving prime minister.

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UN says poverty in India higher than Pakistan

New Delhi: India has the world’s largest number of citizens living under the poverty line, with 612 million, according to a UN report.

Despite of the impression that India economy is fastest growing in the world, it has been ranked as poorer than its neighboring Pakistan, Daily Telegraph said quoted report of United Nations on global poverty.

The report also finds more ‘gender equality’ in conservative Pakistan than in ‘tolerant’ India.

Its findings amount to a wake-up call for a nation which has taken great pride in its rapid economic growth and the increasing clout of its billionaire business leaders but has failed to share the spoils with its poor. Britain’s Department for International Development has pointed to this chequered progress to justify its continuing aid to India.

The Human Development Report reveals that while India ranks slightly above Pakistan in its level of ‘human development’ – based on life expectancy, schooling and per capita income – its wider poverty level is worse than Pakistan.

In absolute terms, 41.6 per cent of India’s 1.1 billion people earned less than 78 pence per day compared with 22.6 per cent of Pakistan’s 173 million.

The report quotes its ‘multi-dimensional poverty index’ which includes measures of schooling, child mortality, nutrition, access to electricity, toilets, drinking water, and hygienic living conditions, and reveals India is poorer.

More surprisingly, India is ranked below Pakistan and Bangladesh on gender equality which reflects maternal death rates, teenage pregnancies, access to education, and the number of women parliamentarians and in the workplace.

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Indo-Pak Express-Aisam,Bopanna wins Paris Masters final

Paris: Pakistani tennis star Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and his Indian partner Rohan Bopann defeaed Julien Benneteau and  Nicolas Mahut to clinch the title of Paris Masters Tennis Tournament.

Aisam and Bopanna defeated the French duo in straight sets with score 6-2,6-4.

Earlier in semi-finals, the seventh-seeded Pak-Indo pair won straight sets 6-3, 7-6 (7)  over the third seeded Belarusian-Canadian combination after battle of one hour and 27 minutes.

On Friday, they had shocked second seeds Michael Llodra and Nead Zimonjic 3-6, 6-4, 10-6 in the quarter-finals of the euro 2,750,000 event.

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Climate change to bring more floods: World Bank

 

A girl reacts as she gets hit with a wave of flood water while walking with her family in Bangkok November 9, 2011. - Photo by Reuters

HANOI: Climate change will bring more floods and extreme weather to Southeast Asia, a World Bank official said on Thursday on a visit to the region, where hundreds have died in severe inundation.
“What we are seeing is there are more floods, more extreme weather events, higher temperature, more variable rainfalls and we believe that is caused by the climate change.
And we should expect this to increase, sadly,” Andrew Steer, the World Bank’s special envoy for the climate change, told reporters in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi.
Thailand’s worst floods in half a century have killed 533 people and damaged the homes and livelihoods of millions around the country.
In the neighbouring Cambodia, the deadliest floods since 2000 have killed at least 247 people while more than 100 have died in Vietnam, mostly in the southern Mekong Delta.
Steer, who cancelled plans to visit Thailand on his regional tour because of the disaster, said the floods there were “consistent with what we know to be true about climate change.”
The United Nations says climate change, fuelled by hydrocarbon-based energy systems, is the world’s most pressing environmental issue.

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Award shows and reunions- entertainment this week

A collection of images from concerts and award shows that took place this past week. -Photos by agencies

The audience watch Reyli perform “Al fin Me Arme De Valor” at the 12th annual Latin Grammy Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada November 10, 2011.

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Bopanna-Qureshi Reach First ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Final

Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi advanced to their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 doubles final on Saturday at the BNP Paribas Masters.
The seventh seeds defeated in-form third seeds Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor 6-3, 7-6(7) in 89 minutes.
Bopanna and Qureshi, who form 'The Indo-Pak Express', took a 6-3, 3-1 lead before Mirnyi and Nestor won four straight games to lead 5-4 in the second set.
Bopanna and Qureshi could not convert two match point opportunities at 6-4 in the tie-break and were forced to save one set point at 6-7, before making it third-time lucky at 8-7 to record their 37th match win of the season (37-23 record).
The duo have lifted two ATP World Tour titles at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle (d. Haase-Raonic) and the If Stockholm Open (d. Melo-Soares) this year. Nestor and Mirnyi dropped to a 42-19 season mark, which includes a 3-3 record in finals.
Bopanna and Qureshi will meet Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut in Sunday's final after the French wild cards broke serve three times from 12 opportunities to defeat Santiago Gonzalez and Christopher Kas 6-1, 7-6(3) in 80 minutes.
Benneteau and Mahut are through to their first ATP World Tour doubles final together since 2009 Lyon, where the duo won their second team title.

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Bollywood actress Ashwarya's Pregnancy news hits the world

Aishwarya’s pregnancy is touching people in creepy ways. Whereas various are just glad with have a good time with the moment, nurses of the Seven Hills Hospital declared a strike, thinking that it’s a good time for this!

As Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan plan for their moment of joy, we discover someone else ‘cashing’ in on this moment too! Well, exactly. they say that the nurses at 7 Hills Hospital, where Aishwarya had spent for a check up previous night, have exposed to go on strike if their wants are not met. So, what precisely are these demands? It seems that the nurses were promised a 10 percent trek after joining, but in real term they were given a trek of only four percent. So, their demand from the administration is to fulfill their promise. Also this is not all, on November 9, 2011 the nurses went on a shutter down-strike, called the flash strike, now the management takes notice. While the officials of Eight Hills don’t really believes that the promise should be fulfilled, it looks like the nurses will probably keep theirs. Well, talk about mauke pe chauka! But we don’t blame the nurses, because in Mumbai & a bit of elegance does go a lengthy way! Anyway, we expect all this gets solved before Ashwarya goes into labor room. Also we wouldn’t want to see Ashwarya delivering her baby with the help of her husband Abhishek.

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Aishwarya's baby, Sachin century, bookies and the media

MUMBAI: Though thousands of depressed fans saw West Indies spinner Bishoo send away Sachin Tendulkar, 24 runs short of his target, the bookies had a meadow day riding far above the ground on fan fury.

Yet, bookies are even more satisfied as the maestro's next end is Eden Gardens five days from now. And bets will stay crutch up till then. But, before that, Big B's yet-to-be born grandchild is probable to take centre stage. "Over Rs 150 crores is riding on whether Aishwarya Rai will bring the child on 11. 11. 11 or on Children's Day, the day the Eden Test match kicks off. This in spite of the fact that Abhishek Bachchan has made it clear that wife Aishwarya is not going for a Cesarean operation, said a bookie.

Police are keeping vigil on the gambling scene for the two super actions. "We are awake there is also serious betting on whether the actress will deliver a boy or girl. This is unlucky situation and shows how we are still fanatical with a boy child, said a police officer.

The master blaster, while, can obtain heart. While it's still five days to go, punters are already insertion odds on him achieving the deed at Kolkata. Sachin seems to be in wonderful form. It will be fine if he achieves his ton on his home ground, Mumbai, during the 3rd test.
The betting mafia is pushing in crores to forecast the sex of Aishwarya Rai's unborn child. The news doing the rounds is that bookies are trying to call the Aishwarya's doctor to know the sex of the unborn baby.

The maximum bets are coming in for 11. 11. 11 as all astrologers & numerologist are declaring it to be a very lucky day. There are sufficient bets sited for Children's Day too.

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Musharraf: Mullah Omar has 'never been in Pakistan

Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's former president, has told HARDtalk's Stephen Sackur that the Taliban leader Mullah Omar is not and has "never been in Pakistan".
He also agreed that the relationship between Pakistan and the US has "fundamentally broken down", saying it is at the "lowest ebb".

With his country racked by extremist violence, endemic corruption and deeply troubled relations with Afghanistan, India and the United States, Mr Musharraf is seeking a comeback. In the full interview Stephen Sackur asks why he thinks he is the solution to Pakistan's problems.

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Anis Uddin of Youth Forum Media group is a pervert guy

Karachi- APP, The ex-president & founder of youth forum media group at Karachi University Mr. Anis uddin is a pervert guy.He founded a young students group at Ku with the name of "Youth Forum Media Group" for the awareness & for some extra training for students of Karachi University.But it founds that first he fought with Mr. Umair Sami ex-CEO of this group and than he founds in kicking some senior male members from group as his group went to very low popularity after leaving of Mr. Umair Sami. Anis is mostly found involving doing footle with girls of this group.He didn't give any importance to male members of the group.Most of the members think that he made this group to gather female students so he can talk girls easily.After resignation of Umair Sami their is no such a big activity has happen and Mr. Anis just took Rs.500 from every members of the group and make his bank account.No one can ask him for their money.Where the money goes no one knows.

 Anis Uddin aka pervert

He makes every one fool by saying that he is a crime reporter at Geo news.Every one asks question that if he is from geo news than what he is doing all the time in I.R department and in University.The life of a  reporter knows everyone well that how tough routine a reporter has in his job.

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White Dress With A Touch Of Copper Velvet

product: White Dress With A Touch Of Copper Velvet price: Rs. 4500

Product Code: 001   Product Details: A beautiful white net dress with a style of copper color velvet piece on the upper half with a delicate embroidery on neck, body and on the frill. Any Changes in color, texture of cloth or sleeves can be made on request.

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Panel Work With A Touch Of Silver Embroidery

price: Rs. 2500

 

Product Code: 002 Product Details: Beautiful different colors panel work with silver embroidery of elegant stones on top with chiffon sleeves and sherwani collar. Churidar of black color.

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APP Exclusive: Who’s following you on Twitter or Facebook? Maybe CIA’s ‘vengeful librarians’

By Associated Press of Pakistan, Published: November 8

McLEAN, Va. — In an anonymous industrial park in Virginia, in an unassuming brick building, the CIA is following tweets — up to 5 million a day.
At the agency’s Open Source Center, a team known affectionately as the “vengeful librarians” also pores over Facebook, newspapers, TV news channels, local radio stations, Internet chat rooms — anything overseas that anyone can access and contribute to openly.

From Arabic to Mandarin Chinese, from an angry tweet to a thoughtful blog, the analysts gather the information, often in native tongue. They cross-reference it with the local newspaper or a clandestinely intercepted phone conversation. From there, they build a picture sought by the highest levels at the White House, giving a real-time peek, for example, at the mood of a region after the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden or perhaps a prediction of which Mideast nation seems ripe for revolt.
Yes, they saw the uprising in Egypt coming; they just didn’t know exactly when revolution might hit, said the center’s director, Doug Naquin.
The center already had “predicted that social media in places like Egypt could be a game-changer and a threat to the regime,” he said in a recent interview with The Associated Press at the center. CIA officials said it was the first such visit by a reporter the agency has ever granted.
The CIA facility was set up in response to a recommendation by the 9/11 Commission, with its first priority to focus on counterterrorism and counterproliferation. But its several hundred analysts — the actual number is classified — track a broad range, from Chinese Internet access to the mood on the street in Pakistan.
While most are based in Virginia, the analysts also are scattered throughout U.S. embassies worldwide to get a step closer to the pulse of their subjects.
The most successful analysts, Naquin said, are something like the heroine of the crime novel “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” a quirky, irreverent computer hacker who “knows how to find stuff other people don’t know exists.”
Those with a masters’ degree in library science and multiple languages, especially those who grew up speaking another language, “make a powerful open source officer,” Naquin said.
The center had started focusing on social media after watching the Twitter-sphere rock the Iranian regime during the Green Revolution of 2009, when thousands protested the results of the elections that put Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad back in power. “Farsi was the third largest presence in social media blogs at the time on the Web,” Naquin said.
The center’s analysis ends up in President Barack Obama’s daily intelligence briefing in one form or another, almost every day.
After bin Laden was killed in Pakistan in May, the CIA followed Twitter to give the White House a snapshot of world public opinion.
Since tweets can’t necessarily be pegged to a geographic location, the analysts broke down reaction by languages. The result: The majority of Urdu tweets, the language of Pakistan, and Chinese tweets, were negative. China is a close ally of Pakistan’s. Pakistani officials protested the raid as an affront to their nation’s sovereignty, a sore point that continues to complicate U.S.-Pakistani relations.

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Firdous Cambric Collection 2011

product: Firdous Cambric Collection

price: Rs. 1800

 

Product Code: FR CB 004

Product Details: 4 Piece Printed Cotton Suit, with Printed Dupatta and Printed Sleeves Fabric Price Rs.1800 Stitched Dress Rs.3280

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Lakhany Glittering Winter Collection 2011 | Winter Collection by LSM with Ayyan

Embrace the fashion of your desire this season with Lakhany Silk Mill latest winter collection for 2011-12 titled "Glittering Winter Collection" Endorsed by brand ambassador and Model this is some high class perfection by the Lakhany textiles. The magnificent designs and amazing spread of colors would take you away from this world to a place where every moment is a fantasy come true. The high contrasting shades are
perfect for a winter season and more so Lakhany has perfected it in this collection. The fabrics includes cotton, rayon with panels embroidered necks and also sleeves. Check the complete Glittering Winter Collection 2011-12 by LSM here

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