Preparations rises for Eid Miladun Nabi (PBUH) celebrations

Preparations for celebrating Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi (PBUH) are almost completed across Pakistan.

Roads and buildings are being decorated with colorful buntings, banners and fancy lights in all the cities of the country. The daylong programmes would be started with special prayers in mosques of the district for unity, prosperity and solidarity of the country and for early liberation of Indian held Kashmir.

Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi processions would also be taken out and Naat Khawan will pay tribute to Holy Prophet on this occasion special programmes are being prepared for paying tributes and to highlight different aspects of the life of Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) the greatest educator of mankind.

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LHC rejects Khurram Rasool Bail plea

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday rejected an application requesting for a protective bail for former PM’s adviser Mian Khurram Rasool.

Two-member bench of LHC heard the petition and summoned NAB officials.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court had ordered the FIA to arrest the prime minister’s former media coordinator Khurram Rasool who is wanted in a multimillion rupee LPG scam. The apex court has ordered that Rasool be arrested by Jan 27.

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Punjab Assembly bans music concerts in educational institutions

The Punjab Assembly has passed a resolution seeking ban on music concerts in education institutions.

The PA session started with a delay of almost two hours from its scheduled time.

PML-Q member Seemal Kamran moved the resolution against holding concerts in schools and colleges, stating Pakistan is an Islamic Republic and concerts in educational institutions is against our morals.

Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan opposed it and suggested that it would be better if the mover of the resolution came up with some amendments.

The suggestion of the law minister was endorsed by the opposition after which an amended resolution was moved which was accepted.

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Female pilot, instructor injured in PAF aircraft crash

A female trainee pilot and her instructor injured when a PAF aircraft crashed near Mianwali.

A Pakistan Air Force aircraft crashed during a training mission on Wednesday but the pilots managed to escape, an air force spokesman said.

According to an air force spokesman, it was FT-7 training aircraft. It crashed near Mianwali soon after takeoff from the base.
A woman trainee pilot Fatima and her instructor Wing Commander Waqar Ahmad were critically injured in the crash who were later shifted to PAF Hospital in a helicopter.

The PAF and security agencies cordoned off the area and launched investigation to know the cause of crash.

It was the third air force jet to crash in training in three months. Two pilots were killed in the other incidents and a helicopter crash last June killed four military personnel.

The Pakistan Air Force has a fleet of Chinese aircraft, including F-7PGs and A-5s, plus US-built F-16s and French Mirages. It recently acquired medium-tech JF-17 or Thunder jets, manufactured jointly by China and Pakistan.

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Eid Miladun Nabi (PBUH) on Feb 5

The new moon will be sighted on the evening of January 24 in all cities of Pakistan, if there was no cloud and the 1st Rabiul Awwal would be on January 25 and Eid Miladun Nabi (PBUH) on February 5.

According to Ruete Hilal Research Council Secretary General, Khalid Ejaz Mufti, the new moon could not be sighted until and unless its age was minimum 20 hours at the time of sunset at the place of observation whereas the difference between sunset and moonset (Lag Time) was more than 40 minutes.

However,he said, if the age of the new moon was much higher than 20 hours, mit would be visible at the Lag time of about 33 minutes.

He said the new moon would be born on Monday, 23rd January, at 12:39 Pakistan standard time. The age of the new moon at the time of sunset on the evening of Tuesday, 25th January, will be more than 28 hours in all the areas of the country.

On the other hand, Lag time (difference between sunset andmoonset) will be 77 minutes at Peshawar andRawalpindi/Islamabad, 75 minutes at Lahore as well as at Quetta, 72minutes at Gawadar, Jiwani and 70 minutes at Karachi.

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HEC raises university employees’ salaries by 15%

HEC has increased salaries of all the employees of government universities by 15%.

Last year, the federal government had announced to raise salaries of varsity employees but the decision could not be implemented.

According to sources, after the collaboration with World Bank, all the pending projects of HEC have been restarted and salaries of employees have been raised by 15%.

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No security for Mansoor Ijaz: US Embassy

US embassy says Mansoor Ijaz is coming to Pakistan as a common civilian.

US Embassy Spokesperson Mark Stroh said that no security will be provided to Mansoor Ijaz who intends to appear before a tribunal in memogate scam.

He said Ijaz will be treated like other US citizens and he is coming to Pakistan on his own wish.

Mansoor Ijaz got his visa from Pakistan High Commission in London two days ago and said he was all set to appear before the memo commission but he refused to disclose date of his arrival due to security reasons.

On the other hand, spokesperson for passport office said that Ijaz can visit anywhere as he is an independent citizen.

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Afghan calligrapher creates world’s largest Quran

An Afghan calligrapher has worked for five years to create the world’s biggest Quran, a bid to show the world that Afghanistan’s rich cultural heritage and traditions have been damaged but not destroyed by 30 years of war.

The lavish book has pages 2.28 metres (90 inches) by 1.55 metres (61 inches) in size, and has been certified as the world’s largest by the Afghan ministry of Haj and Religious Affairs, according to the Kabul cultural centre that houses it.

The previous claim to the title was for a 2 metre by 1.5 metre copy unveiled last year in Russia’s Tatarstan region.

The Afghan Quran weighs 500 kg (1,100 lb) and its 218 pages of cloth and paper, bound inside an embossed leather cover made from the skins of 21 goats, cost half a million dollars to create.

Mohammad Sabir Khedri, the master calligrapher behind the project, worked with nine students on a design that combines gold script with millions of tiny colourful dots, forming highly symbolic decorations around the giant pages.

“I wanted to use as many tasteful colours as possible to make this holy book look beautiful,” he said, standing beside his enormous creation in a room built specially to house it.

Khedri not only created the masterpiece, he managed to keep it a secret for over two years. It was finished in 2009, but the binding and room to house it were not ready until the start of 2012, when it was finally unveiled.

The Quran is housed in a cultural centre originally founded in the 1980s, and once home to 50,000 books, a medical centre, and schools for Afghan crafts such as carpet weaving.

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‘Babri Mosque demolition was just an incident’

The Babri Mosque demolition is just an incident and there is nothing famous or infamous about it.

The Supreme Court Monday said while listing CBI s plea for leveling charges of criminal conspiracy against senior BJP leader L K Advani, Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackeray and 18 others to March 27.

“What is famous about it? It was an incident which happened and parties are before us. It is not famous or infamous,” a bench of Justices H L Dattu and C K Prasad said when the Additional Solicitor General said at the beginning of the proceeding that the matter is related to “famous” Babri Masjid demolition case, PTI reported.

The proceeding before the bench could not go on as it was mentioned that some of the parties in the case have not filed their response and the case was then adjourned for March.

The apex court had on March 4 last year issued notice to 21 people including Advani, Thackeray,Kalyan Singh, Uma Bharti, Satish Pradhan, CR Bansal, MM Joshi, Vinay Katiyar, Ashok Singhal, Giriraj Kishore, Sadhvi Ritambhara, VH Dalmia, Mahant Avaidhynath, RV Vedanti, Param Hans Ram Chandra Das, Jagdish Muni Maharaj, BL Sharma, Nritya Gopal Das, Dharam Das, Satish Nagar and Moreshwar Save.

The court had asked all of them to file their response on why criminal conspiracy charges should not be revived against them in the Babri Masjid demolition case.

It had passed the order on an appeal filed by CBI challenging the May 21, 2010 Allahabad High Court judgement upholding a special court s decision to drop the charges against the leaders.

The high court had at that time, however, allowed the CBI to proceed with the other charges against Advani and others in a Rae Bareily court since the disputed structure falls under its jurisdiction.

Challenging the High Court order, the CBI has said in its petition that “it appears an artificial distinction was made by the trial court attempting to assign a role in respect of each of the accused persons and to see which offences were made out.

It said that the trial court had erroneously come to the conclusion that 21 persons were not entitled to be tried in the case (pertaining to the demolition on December 6, 1992).

“The order passed by the High Court results in serious miscarriage of justice, violates the principle of consolidated investigation, consolidated charge sheet and also disables an effective trial,” the petition said.

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PAF pilot martyred in Turkey crash

Squadron Leader Masood Hussain martyred as training plane crashed in Turkey.

A PAF pilot Squadron Leader Masood Hussain, on exchange posting to Turkish Air Force has crashed while on a routine training mission, with a Turkish under training pilot, the PAF said Tuesday.

A portion of the wreckage of the trainer aircraft has been found in the sea near Izmir (Turkey). The Turkish Air Force is carrying out search and rescue operations, a PAF statement said.

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