Islamabad:  Reports suggest that none of the nearly 159 people on board have survived this morning's plane crash in Islamabad.  This is Pakistan's worst-ever plane crash.  

The passenger plane, an Airbus A321, operated by private airline AirBlue, was headed from Karachi to Islamabad.  It went up in a haze of flames and white smoke close to 10 am in the heavily-forested Margalla Hills overlooking Islamabad. It was raining heavily in the region this morning and that, along with thick fog and the smoke from the crash made it tough for rescue helicopters to reach the crash site.   Rescue officials had to trek for close to an hour to reach the area.

Through the day, Pakistani media carried conflicting reports on survivors, with some reporting that 45 people were alive.   Rescue officials reported that the plane's debris was spread over a huge area, and that dead bodies- charred beyond recognition -were strewn around the forest.
"I heard a loud bang and then saw smoke rising over the Margalla Hills," said Aman Ali, a schoolboy.

The plane was reportedly ready to land, as scheduled, at 9.30 am when the pilot was told he'd have to wait because of heavy traffic at the Islamabad airport.

Hafiz Khalid Zaheer said he rushed from Islamabad to the crash site as soon as he heard about the tragedy.   "I came running here, and then went away. I had a friend with me, but I do not know where he is now, but thank Allah I was able to leave...dead bodies are strewn all over, as well as people's belongings," he reported. (Pak crash victim: I heard people shouting 'Allah'!)

Pakistani civil aviation officials say the black box of the plane has been recovered.  It will be crucial in explaining why the plane crashed.  Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the aircraft was at 2,600 feet when it was cleared to land. It then rose up to 3,000 feet before disappearing from radar screens, he said."We will need to study the black box to ascertain the exact cause of the crash. The (control) tower did not receive any SOS message or report of a technical problem before the crash," Malik explained.

Authorities declared an emergency in all hospitals in Islamabad.

A 22-year-old US Army intelligence analyst, facing a court-martial, appears to be behind the biggest leak in US military history of classified documents on the war in Afghanistan that also exposed Pakistan's double- game in the war-torn country, including its Taliban links.  

Bradley Manning, who allegedly boasted online that he was going to reveal "the truth" about the war in Afghanistan, is believed to be the main suspect who leaked the information to Wikileaks, the Telegraph reported.

Manning was arrested in Baghdad in May and charged earlier this month with multiple counts of mishandling and leaking classified data, after a computer hacker turned him in, the paper said. Wikileaks, the website known for publishing secret government documents, has exposed Pakistani ISI's links with Afghan insurgents and Taliban, undermining US-led efforts to stabilise the war-torn nation. With over 90,000 US military documents leaked on the website, the expose is considered to be a huge embarrassment for the US.

During online chats with the hacker, a man thought to be Manning said he had passed material relating to Afghanistan to Julian Assange, the founder of the Wikileaks website which leaked more than 92,000 secret documents to select media. Manning, who is currently awaiting a court martial, is widely assumed to have been the man who passed the documents to Assange, though investigators believe he must have had accomplices.

Manning is alleged to be a whistle-blower who used the online name Bradass87 when he contacted a high-profile Californian computer hacker, Adrian Lamo, on May 21, the paper said.

Over the following five days, Bradass87 held a series of online conversations with Lamo, in which he identified himself as "an army intelligence analyst, deployed to eastern Baghdad" with "unprecedented access to classified networks".

He said his job gave him access to two high-security networks: the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network, SIPRNET, which carries US diplomatic and military intelligence; and the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System, which includes "top secret" classification.

Bradass87 said the networks had enabled him to see "incredible things, awful things that belong in the public domain and not on some server stored in a dark room in Washington DC almost criminal political backdealings the non- PR version of world events and crises".

He said he had downloaded 260,000 classified or sensitive State Department cables and transmitted them by computer to Wikileaks.

He claimed he copied some of the information on to blank CDs labelled "Lady Gaga" and hummed along to non-existent music while he downloaded secret information.

"I want people to see the truth," he added. "It's open diplomacy it's Climategate with a global scope and breathtaking depth it's beautiful and horrifying. It's public data, it belongs in the public domain." Unknown to Bradass87, Lamo had contacted the US military two days into the online chat, fearing that the leak of information would endanger lives.

On May 25, he met Pentagon officials in a branch of Starbucks and gave them a printout of the online chat. Manning was arrested the next day at US Forward Operating Base Hammer near Baghdad, the Telegraph said.

Manning is also suspected of being behind the leak of a video, distributed by Assange in April, of a 2007 US helicopter strike in Baghdad which killed a dozen people.
Yesterday, Lamo said he had no doubt Manning was behind the vast amount of leaked material from Afghanistan, though he strongly suspected the young analyst from Maryland could not have acted alone.

"It was not my impression that he had the technical expertise to carry out some of these actions," he was quoted as saying. 

New Delhi:  The full-scale commercial operations at the swanky new integrated terminal 3 (T3) of the IGI airport here will begin from Wednesday with all airlines shifting their operations and the Air India flight from New York will be the first to arrive.

"The airlines would shift their operations to T3 from 2 pm onwards. We have chosen Wednesday to shift from T2 to T3, because on this day there are least number of flights between 2 pm and 7.30 pm," Andrew Harrison, Chief Operating Officer, DIAL, said.

Passengers of Air India's flight (AI-102) from JFK New York would be the first to arrive at the world's sixth largest airport, when its commercial operations begin, he said, adding Air India's Jaipur-Delhi-Dubai flight (IC-895) would be the first flight to take-off from here.

AI-102 will arrive at T3 at 1645 hours while IC-895 would depart for Dubai at 1850 hours

On Wednesday, all the international flights would arrive at T2 till 1645 hours, but after the departure of Gulf Air flight (GF-135) to Bahrain at 1805 hours, all the operations at T2 will be shifted to the new terminal.

"Check-in for the first departing flight (IC-895) from T3 would begin from 1450 hours and, all the facilities like food and beverage counters, shops and other facilities would also start functioning from tomorrow itself," Harrison said.

He said that DIAL has put up signages and deployed a battery of volunteers to help and guide the passengers to T3.
Apart from it, DIAL would be running the shuttle services for the passengers between T2 and T3.

He also assured that T3 would provide seamless connectivity to the international and domestic passengers with world class experience, after three full service carriers , Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher  will also shift their domestic operations from August 27.

New Delhi/Ahmedabad:  The CBI on Tuesday arrested Rajendra Jirawala, owner of Arham farm where alleged gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kausar Bi were kept for questioning, in connection with the fake encounter case, agency officials said.

Rajendra, who has a house in Arham farm, was called for questioning on Tuesday. He was arrested later, they said.

He was later produced in the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate A I Rawal for remand after being charged by the CBI with criminal conspiracy, destruction of evidence and wrongful confinement.

Rajendra is the brother of Surendra Jirawala, who is a BJP corporator in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.

Sohrabuddin and his wife Kausar Bi were allegedly shifted to the Arham farm from Disha farm on the night of November 25, 2005. Gujarat Police had said the next day that Sohrabuddin was killed in an encounter.

Kausar Bi was allegedly kept at the Arham farm for the next few days before she was killed, her body was burnt and ashes were thrown in Narmada river near Bharuch.

Red Chillies Entertainment, run by actor Shah Rukh Khan, who had come under fire from Shiv Sena for his support to Pakistani players during IPL bidding, has wished Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray on his 50th birthday today.

A half-page advertisement by the company greeting Uddhav appeared today in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana's supplement, a 96-page pullout brought out to mark the occasion, which is seen as a move by Shah Rukh to placate the Sena.

The 44-year-old actor was the target of Sena ire for his support to Pakistani cricketers during Indian Premiere League (IPL) bidding earlier this year.

Shiv Sainiks had also held angry demonstrations at theatres, seeking a ban on the actor's film My Name Is Khan in February. Sena chief Bal Thackeray had also attacked Shah Rukh.

New survey finds most workers in the Arab world believe they're not paid fairly
 
Workers in the Gulf are among the most dissatisfied with their pay in the Arab world.Two-thirds of employees in the Arab world complain they are underpaid, with those in the Gulf region among the most dissatisfied, a new survey has found.

Sixty-six per cent of workers said they were not paid fairly, compared to just 16 per cent who said they were content with their salaries, according to the survey by job site Bayt.com.

Seventeen per cent of respondents were unsure about whether they were paid fairly.
 
Bayt.com surveyed an unspecified number of people across the Middle East and North Africa between June 4 and July 7.
 
In the UAE around three-quarters of respondents said they were unhappy with their salaries, with only 12 per cent saying they were well paid. Fifteen per cent said they were unsure if they were paid fairly.
 
In Kuwait the percentage of respondents unhappy with their pay was even higher at around 80 per cent, whereas 71 per cent said they were underpaid in Saudi Arabia and 75 per cent in Qatar.
 
For nine out of 10 workers in the Gulf region the pay package was the decisive factor in whether they stayed with an employer, the survey found.
 
The economic downturn sweeping the region has reduced the negotiating position of employees amid significant job losses, especially in sectors such as real estate, hospitality and financial services.
 
In many cases, companies have frozen pay and reduced their budgets for salary increases, according to recruitment consultants.
 
The impact has been more prominent in the UAE due to the collapse of the construction industry and Dubai’s debt woes.
 
Energy producers Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi continue to spend money on infrastructure but at a moderate pace.

Married to woman without reproductive organs, bisexual man contracts HIV from frequenting brothels

A man married to a sexless woman is blaming her and her in-laws because he contracted HIV from having sex with sex workers.

Raj and Shabnam (names changed) were married in 1993 at the age of 16 and 12 respectively. When Raj wanted to consummate the marriage two years later, he discovered that his wife did not have any reproductive organs.

Raj then confronted his in-laws for not informing him about Shabnam's condition and told them that he would go to sex workers.

'In-laws to blame'
Raj, a bisexual himself, believes that had his wife been normal, he would not have been infected with HIV. "I believe that I have contracted this disease because of my wife. If she had been normal, I wouldn't have gone out to have sex with other women," he said.

Riddled with guilt for not informing him about his wife's condition, his in-laws arranged for him to marry Shabnam's cousin in 1999. Raj now has two kids from his second wife. "I have married her cousin and want to spend the rest of my life in peace. Despite what happened, I haven't divorced my first wife."

Raj discovered that he was HIV positive when he went to his doctor for a check-up last month. His doctor, I S Gilada, sexologist and HIV-AIDS consultant at UNISON Medicare and Research Centre, confirmed that Raj had contracted the disease before he married his second wife.

"His marker of immunity is 80, which means that he has been infected for more than 10 years. It is presumed that he contracted HIV before he got married to his second wife," said the doctor.

Shabnam, however, said "I was born with this defect so how am I at fault? I was just 12 when I got married and didn't know anything. I did not have money for future treatment. My parents arranged my marriage. In our village (in Beed district), we get married early."
 

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Anyone interested in sex can come to me," these are the  alleged words of our national women's hockey coach Maharaj Krishan Kaushik to some senior women players during a series in New Zealand in 2003.

Kaushik, who resigned from his position yesterday after players sent a written complaint levying charges of sexual harrassment against him to Hockey India, was quick to respond. "Rubbish, bullshit. I have never said anything like this to anyone at anytime. This is a campaign  by some senior players to malign me. These players crumbled under some of my strict rules," Kaushik told MiD DAY.

"I did not allow players to talk on mobile phones. I felt it distracted them. Then, there were some players, who could not perform and were booted out. I am paying the price for seeking discipline in the team," he said.

"My players have always treated me like a father. I don't know what made them level such charges against me.
Players, who failed to earn a place in the national team, have resorted to such allegations," Kaushik added.

It's over for Kaushik, as far as coaching the women is concerned. "No more coaching the Indian women's hockey team. Not after all this. I just want to clear my name and that's it," Kaushik replied, when asked if he would take up the job again if the allegations against him were cleared.
 

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After cave-in at Worli, BMC warns that there will be no respite from such disasters until the storm water drains project is complete. Roads may continue to cave in between Colaba and Mahim for the next two years, warns the BMC  

Driving between Colaba and Mahim? You may just find yourself six feet under. Plying in south Mumbai and little beyond is not safe until 2012, warns the BMC, after the Narayan Hardikar Road near the old passport office in Worli caved in last morning causing a 2-ft wide, 15-ft deep hole.

This is not an isolated incident. Since 2008, the city has witnessed nine incidents of road cave-ins (six major), of which two have been reported this year.
 
According to road officials, cave-ins are unexpected and cannot be avoided until the completion of Phase III of BRIMSTOWAD in 2012. And if you go by the records, there are only  a handful of deadlines that the civic body has met.
 

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More than 200 air conditioners have been removed from offices of various ministries at Shastri Bhawan following an expose

Ministries and government departments have started feeling the heat. After regular power cuts it's time to lose the air conditioners. Due to excess consumption of power and illegal air conditioners installed at Krishi Bhawan, the NDMC has started disconnecting power supply to such Air conditioners.

With the usage of air conditioners going up at government offices in the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) area, ministry and government agencies were facing power cuts. Starting from 9:30 am each wing has started seeing outages of 90 minutes till 6 pm to bring the mounting power crisis in the city under control. A circular has been sent to all departments at Shastri Bhawan and Krishi Bhawan giving out the schedule of the load shedding.

For the last one week due to cable faults in NDMC lines, power supply was affected. NDMC has put a restriction on drawing excess power. Hence government ministries and departments were carrying out load shedding.
"We have asked all the ministries to keep a check on electricity consumption as the consumption has increased many fold. We are already overloaded and can't supply power to all," said an NDMC officer of the area.

After the cable disturbance in the area there has been acute power shortage. "The power supply at Krishi Bhawan had gone upto 2500 kilowatt and the power consumption in the NDMC area has increased tremendously in recent times and we are being asked to conserve energy by regular power cuts.

The problem is more severe during summers due to excessive use of air conditioners. The gap between supply and demand of power is widening. The power load at all departments is too much. From last Thursday power supply to 200 air conditioners has been disconnected so that we could save some electricity. After doing this we have managed to bring down consumption level to 1800 kilowatt," said one of the officials looking after electricity requirements, in the area requesting anonymity.

MiD DAY had earlier reported how air conditioners are being misused at ministries. Babus in the department of revenue, ministry of power, ministry of petroleum and ministry of human resource development are chilling out with 682 air conditioners installed.

Interestingly, more than 545 of these are running in contravention of the rules set by the Directorate of Estate, ministry of urban development. The department is responsible for the administration and management of the office buildings of various government departments.

According to rules, officers only of the rank of joint secretary and above are entitled to get an air-conditioned office. Most of these facilities are situated in the North Block, Shram Shakti Bhawan and Shastri Bhawan.
 

(malathi)