Dunya TV

Karachi: PIA flight catches fire

The engine of a PIA plane caught fire when a bird struck it at Karachi Airport, while all the passengers onboard remained safe, Dunya News reported on Friday.
As per reports, a bird hit PIAs flight PK-302 and its engine caught fire while it was taxiing at the Karachi Airport runway. Resultantly, the engine of the plane caught fire.
However, the pilot managed to take off the plane at the airport with all the 421 passengers safely. The flight was going to Lahore from Karachi. Rescue and fire brigade teams rushed the site.

Gates says war documents leak dangerous to troops

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the leaking of over 90,000 classified documents in website Wikileaks is dangerous to troops stationed in Afghanistan, and promised an aggressive investigation will be conducted by FBI.
Speaking to reporters at a Pentagon briefing with Admiral Mike Mullen, Gates said the leak could be dangerous for the United States and its allies in Afghanistan. Gates also warned the leak may damage US relationships and reputation in the world, as Afghans and others may no longer trust the United States to keep their secrets safe.

Plane Crash: All 152 dead bodies identified, 32 reach Karachi

Rains and bad weather hampered the search for bodies and the black box of the crashed Airblue Flight ED-202. However the search teams have recovered all 152 bodies from the crash site. All the dead bodies have been identified. As many as 32 bodies of crash victims have reached Karachi.
Relatives of the victims of Airblue Flight ED-202 crash had to face difficulties as they tried to reach Islamabad from various areas of the country.
Late last night the dead bodies of two brothers Faisal and Atif reached back to Karachi. The two brothers were buried in Shafiq Moor graveyard.
The bodies of Defence Khyaban resident Rahat and Ayesha Asif also reached Karachi. Ayesha Asifs body was buried in Yasinabad graveyard. The unfortunate pilot Muntajibu Dinn's funeral prayer was offered at the Cargo terminal mosque and his body was sent to his home. The dead bodies of the airhostess Nahid Bhatti, Javeria Faraz and Hina Usman have also reached Karachi.

Dacoit killed in alleged Lahore police encounter

The Lahore police has claimed killing of a dacoit amid an alleged police encounter in Sabzazar locality.
According to police, CIA city police received information on Asif dacoit that he was hiding with his associates in Sabzazar. When police reached on the scene they opened fire on police personnel which police retaliated killing dacoit on the spot while two of their accomplices managed to flee the encounter. Teams have been constituted to arrest the accomplices of Asif.

Govt increases CNG price

The government has increased the price of CNG in Punjab and Sindh.
According to notification, new price of CNG in Punjab will be Rs 55.33 per kg while it will be Rs 57.3 per kg in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa. Chairman All Pakistan CNG Association Ghayas Paracha while rejecting the increase in CNG prices said that he will announce the strategy tomorrow in Islamabad.

Zardari asks for early completion of probe into plane crash

President Asif Ali Zardari Thursday directed for early completion of the probe to ascertain the real causes of the air crash incident that resulted in heavy loss of precious human lives.
President was talking to Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani who called on him at Aiwan-e-Sadr. Briefing the media about the meeting the Spokesperson to the President former Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the tragic incident of air crash atop Margalla hills and current situation in the country were discussed during the meeting.
The Prime Minister briefed the President about the constitution of an inquiry committee to probe into the incident of air crash and the search and rescue measures being undertaken by various organizations of the government.
President Zardari while expressing his deep grief and sorrow over the awful incident of air crash said the incident had saddened the entire nation. The President said the report of the inquiry committee should be made public so that the people know as to what really led to the tragic incident, Farhatullah Babar said.
President Zardari also asked for taking all possible steps to facilitate the heirs of the victims. The President said the entire nation is in a state of mourning over the sad demise of all 152 people on board, including five children, two infants among them, and 29 women.

Zephyr Solar Plane lands after setting flight record

The UK-built Zephyr unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) took its place in history by becoming the first aircraft to stay afloat for 336 hours and 24 minutes. The solar-powered craft completed two weeks of non-stop flight above a U.S. Army range in Arizona before being ordered to land.
It broke all endurance records for an unpiloted vehicle before it landed on Friday.
We are just really delighted with the performance, said project manager Jon Saltmarsh. After only 31 hours of being in the air it took over the record for a long-duration flight by a drone.

Pakistan needs to do more to fight terror: Manmohan

British Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday said Pakistan should rein in terror outfits, as the existence of terror groups in Pakistan was not acceptable.
Speaking during the joint press meet held in the national capital, Cameron said: There is proof of existence of terror groups in Pakistan. We need to talk frankly with Pakistan on terror. (We) will help India to fight terror groups. Pak soil must not be used for terror.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, on this occasion, said: Pakistani soil must not be used against terror. Pakistan needs to do more to fight terror.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi should have avoided press meet remarks. We will restore dialogue sooner or later with Pakistan, he added.
Earlier today, notwithstanding angry reactions from Islamabad, Cameron refused to retract his remarks that Pakistan must stop the export of terror, insisting that presence of terrorist outfits in that country was unacceptable.
Despite anger in Islamabad about his remarks about Pakistan's record on terrorism, Cameron said: I don't think the British taxpayer wants me to go around the world saying what people want to hear.
He denied that the row had overshadowed his trip to India and maintained that he had good relations with Pakistan, whose president will be visiting him at his country retreat at Chequers next week.
Cameron said he was not responsible for the headlines generated by his comments, but said: I think what is absolutely clear is, it's not acceptable for, within Pakistan, there to be terrorist groups threatening Pakistan itself but also other countries, including British people, whether in Afghanistan or back at home.
Asked whether he regretted damaging relations with Pakistan, he said: I don't accept that they have been damaged. We have very good relations with Pakistan - I have a meeting with President (Asif Ali) Zardari next week in the UK and I look forward to discussing these and other issues.

6 more killed in Karachi target killing incidents

At least 6 people have been killed in target killing, firing and violence incidents in different areas of Karachi on Thursday.
Rangers have arrested more than 24 suspected persons from different areas and recovered arms from their possession.
According to police unidentified persons killed a person named Wahib in Sher Shah whose dead body was found near Pankha hotel. Another dead body of a lady Khalida was found from Sarjani town. In Sarjani town sector 4-d, unidentified persons killed a government employee Arif. Unidentified persons have killed Ghulab Khan and Dawood Khan, two traders from Quetta, in Aziz Abad area.
According to sources, an injured man fled hospital. Another dead body was found near PF Gate near Shahrah-e-Faisal.

Gilani turns down British PMs statement

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Thursday said the sacrifices rendered by Pakistan in war against terrorism are far higher than those of NATO forces.
Addressing the Senate, he said that that the government will raise issue of British PMs allegations on Pakistan at diplomatic channels.
David Cameron in India said that Pakistan must stop the export of terror across the globe.
Criticizing the British PM's statement, PM Gilani said, They should assist for capacity building of our law enforcement agencies. Such a criticism would raise doubts about success in war on terror .
He said that that the government would shortly devise a national policy on terrorism after consultation with all political forces.
Earlier, Raja Zafarul Haq said that he would resign if the government proves that American officials are not operative in Pakistan.

SBP provides Rs 41.35 bn to commercial banks

The State Bank of Pakistan on Thursday provided Rs 14.35 billion to the commercial banks to inject liquidity into the Money Market.
The central bank had received offers of Rs 42.35 billion for re-buying T-bills through Open Market Operation. The bank accepted offers of Rs 41.35 billion. The central bank bought back T-bills at interest rate of 12.05 percent.

Pakistan snubs Cameron's allegations

Pakistan expressing sadness on the remarks of British Prime Minister David Cameron in Bangalore about Pakistan said the remarks are contrary to the facts on the ground and have been prompted by reports of Wikileaks website.
Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit in his weekly briefing pointed out that one can never draw right conclusions from such misguided reports that are based on raw intelligence.
Basit said, It is important that we should not be creating unnecessary hype around these reports and get distracted.
The spokesman said, The world knows very well how Pakistan is contributing in the on-going fight against terrorism and continue doing that in its own interest and not to please any one.
He said the mania of do more should now be stopped as Pakistan has done a lot in this war against terror and suffered huge losses.
The spokesman said terrorism was a global, regional and local issue, Pakistan is a close partner of the international community in this war.
He said the world fully recognises and acknowledges the sacrifices rendered by Pakistan, its security forces and civil population. The spokesman said Pakistan has done much more than any other country in combating terrorism.
Director World Affairs Dunya News Dr. Moeed Pirzada said that Hamid Karzai dint mention Pakistan when he said that terrorists safe havens exit out of Afghanistan. He said that Afghanistan and Pakistan have good relations these days. He said that David Camerons statement about Pakistan was regrettable and he visited India for trade purposes. He said that statements of Wajid Shamsul Hassan and Abdul Basit will not work well, political leaderships should come forward and condemn these statements. He said that President Zardari should cancel his visit to Britain. He said that Wikileaks documents were about failure in Afghan war but American media is only blaming ISI.

7 killed in coach-trailer collision

At least 7 passengers were killed while 10 others injured when a coach collided with a parked trailer in Rajanpur on Thursday.
The accident occurred when the DG Khan bound coach collided with a parked trailer at Indus Highway.
Resultantly, seven people including a woman killed. The injured have been shifted to a nearby hospital while four of them have been referred to Nishtar Hospital due to critical condition.

Gilani rings Hoti

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani telephoned Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Amir Haider Khan Hoti and expressed sorrow over the destruction wreaked by the floods.
Gilani directed Hoti to make all-out efforts to provide relief to the flood affectees. He said National Disaster Management Authority has been directed to carry out a joint relief operation in the flood-hit areas.

Karzai asks West to target Pakistan Taliban

Afghan President Hamid Karzai asked his Western allies to move against the Taliban in Pakistan. He said the fight against terrorists should focus on their training, funding and sanctuaries outside Afghanistan.
Asked about Pakistan's alleged support for the Taliban, he suggested the West could strike, adding: The question now is why they are not taking action? He also warned the Wikileaks dossier endangered Afghan informants' lives. He also warned the Wikileaks dossier endangered Afghan informants' lives.
Wikileaks said it had removed the names of informants contained in the US military files that it published, but it has since emerged that hundreds of names have been exposed online. The classified documents on the website also carried allegations that Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence spy agency was secretly helping the Afghan insurgency.
Mr Karzai told a news conference on Thursday in Kabul: The war against terrorism is not in the villages or houses of Afghanistan... but in the sanctuaries, sources of funding and training [of terrorism] and they lie outside Afghanistan. Asked about claims of support from Islamabad for the Taliban, he said: It is a different question whether Afghanistan has the ability to tackle this, but our allies have this capability; the question now is why they are not taking action? The US is already directly targeting al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in north-west Pakistan, close to the Afghan border, through air strikes from drone aircraft.