AN EXCITING CRICKET MATCH The 2nd semifinal of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 was played between

the archrivals India and Pakistan at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali on 30 March 2011. India won the match by 29 runs and qualified for the 2011 Cricket World Cup Final. India won the Toss and elected to bat first and made 260 runs in 50 overs for 9 wickets. Pakistan though with a good start failed to make up to the score with just 231 all out in 49.5 overs resulting in the victory of India over Pakistan and leading their way towards the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 against Sri Lanka where they beat Sri Lanka and won the World Cup. The match holds utmost historical significance because of the hype created around the match since both the teams made their way towards the semifinal. The match was even equated to the War and it experienced the presence of Celebrities, Diplomats and Prime Ministers from both the Nations alongside the huge crowd at the stadium. The Life for more than a billion people across India and Pakistan came to a standstill during the semi-final match. Three people including a Pakistani actor all belonging to Pakistan died out of shock after Pakistan lost the match. This match has been perceived by Pakistani former cricketers and fans as a great let down from Pakistan due to their weak fielding and batting despite good talent shown previously from the Pakistani captain and players in the 2011 ICC cup. The match drew 67.3 million viewers in India alone, and an estimated 150 million viewers worldwide. It was really an exciting Cricket Match. A DREADFUL ACCIDENT Airblue Flight 202 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight which crashed on 28 July 2010 near Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, killing all 146 passengers and six crew on board.[2][3][4] It is the deadliest air accident to occur in Pakistan to date.[5] The aircraft, an Airblue operated Airbus A321-231 narrow-body jet airliner, crashed in the Margalla Hills north of Islamabad during a flight from Karachi's Jinnah International Airport to Benazir Bhutto International Airport.[6] Air traffic controllers reportedly lost contact with the flight crew during its attempt to land in dense fog and heavy monsoon rain.[7][8] The accident was the first fatal crash involving an Airbus A321, a long variant of the Airbus A320 family of short to medium range airliners.[9] Based in Islamabad, Airblue is Pakistan's second largest airline, with over 30% share of the domestic market. At the time of the accident the airline operated seven aircraft, all in the A320 family. Aircraft The aircraft that crashed was an Airbus A321-231, registered AP-BJB,[10] manufacturer's serial number 1218, which was built in 2000. This was the first fatal crash for the A321, and the second hull-loss of the type.[11] The aircraft had originally been delivered to Aero Lloyd and used by Aero Flight before being taken up by Airblue in 2006.[12] It had accumulated approximately 34,000 flight hours in some 13,500 flights.[13]

[edit] Accident

The flight left Karachi at 07:50 local time (01:50 UTC).[2] Initial reports suggested that flight controllers at Benazir Bhutto International Airport lost contact with the aircraft at 09:43 local time (03:43 UTC) [6] after they delayed its landing 13 minutes earlier.[4] It was reported that the poor weather had forced controllers to divert another aircraft attempting to land 30 minutes before the crash.[14] The aircraft approached Islamabad from the southeast, following a procedure that required it to fly toward the airport until making visual contact. It was then to have flown around the airport to the east and north, keeping within a distance of 5 nmi (9.3 km), until lining up with runway 12, which faces toward the southeast. The aircraft crashed in the mountains outside the 5 nmi (9.3 km) radius, approximately 8 nmi (15 km) north of the airport, facing almost due west, before it could line up with runway 12 for final approach.
[15]

While the BBC reported that officials stated that "there was nothing in conversations between the pilot and the Islamabad control tower that suggests anything was wrong",[2] The New York Times gave an account of communications between the aircraft and the ground that indicated otherwise. The newspaper claimed that the pilots were warned that they were flying away from the runway, to which the pilot responded I can see.[14] The controller then told the flight crew to immediately turn left, Margalla [Hills] are ahead, before the pilot again replied we can see it.[14] An airline official stated that the pilots did not send any emergency signals prior to the crash.[16] Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik stated that the plane was at 2,600 feet (790 m) as it approached Islamabad but went back up to 3,000 feet (910 m) before eventually crashing.[17] The altitude of 2,600 feet (790 m) was above the safe minimum descent altitude (2,510 feet (770 m) above sea level, or 852 feet (260 m) above ground level) had the aircraft remained within the 5 nmi (9.3 km) radius of the airport.[18][19] One witness on the ground, who was out walking, stated that "the plane had lost balance, and then we saw it going down".[8] Others described the plane as being lower than it should have been. "I wondered why the plane wasn't flying higher as it was flying towards the hill", one stated. "Then within three or four minutes I heard a loud explosion". Another said that "it was raining. I saw the plane flying very low from the window of my office".[2] Imran Abbasi told The New York Times that he "could tell it was trouble because it stayed so low even though the mountains were up ahead". He stated that the jet was "flying as low as a four-story building".[14] It was reported that Mr. Abbasi said that "as the aircraft started to turn, the right side of its front banged into the highest mountain, emitting an instant billow of blue fire and black smoke".[14] The plane was found near Daman-e-Koh viewing point in the Margalla Hills outside Islamabad.[20] The Los Angeles Times reported that "television footage of the crash site showed smoke and burning debris strewn in a swathe cutting through the forest. Rescue helicopters hovered overhead. Fire was visible, and smoke was blowing up from the scene."[8]

The weather conditions before the accident, as detailed by the 03:00 UTC METAR (aviation routine weather observation message) report for Benazir Bhutto International Airport, were as follows: Wind from 50 (approximately north east) at 16 knots (30 km/h). Visibility 2 kilometres (1.2 mi), rain, few clouds at 1,500 feet (460 m), few clouds at 3,000 feet (910 m) with towering cumulus. Scattered clouds at 4,000 feet (1,200 m), broken clouds at 10,000 feet (3,000 m). Temperature 24C, dewpoint 23C. QNH 1006.5 hPa.[10]A

[edit] Passengers and crew

Early reports in the morning had stated that there were over 40 injured survivors, later revised at around midday to around five to six people having been rescued, before Interior Minister Rehman Malik confirmed in the afternoon that there were in fact no survivors.[21] Pakistani footballer Misha Dawood, 19, of Diya Football Club, Karachi,[22] and former national athlete Zafar Saleem, who was director-general of the Sindh Workers Welfare Board, were killed in the crash.[23] The sixty-two year old captain of Flight 202, Pervez Iqbal Chaudhry, had 35 years and more than 25,000 hours of flying experience, with an unblemished flight safety record.[21] The comparatively junior first officer (Sqn Ldr) Muntajib Ahmed, a former F-16 Pakistan Air Force fighter pilot, had logged one year of experience on the Airbus A321 aircraft.[24] Of the passengers, 110 were men, 29 were women, 5 were children, and 2 were infants.[17] Six members of the Youth Parliament of Pakistan were on board [14] as were three off duty air hostesses,[25][26][27] and four foreign nationals.[16][28][29]

[edit] Nationalities of passengers

Fatalities Passengers Crew 1 0 Austria Pakistan 142 6 1 0 Somalia United States 2 0 Total 146 6 Nationality Total 1[29][30] 148 1[28] 2[16] 152

[edit] Rescue attempts

A local police official stated that he had reports "that the plane fell into the Margalla Hills. There is smoke, but we have not been able to reach there. It is surrounded by the hills and there is no road access".[31] An army helicopter arrived to survey the crash site at 10:30 local time (04:30 UTC) but was not able to land. All 152 passengers have been confirmed dead; initially there had been conflicting reports about survivors being airlifted to nearby hospitals. However, they were later proven to be wrong.[2] All hospitals in Islamabad were declared in a state of emergency.[20]

One person present at the scene of the crash stated that the passengers "are badly mutilated and burnt ... and there are two women among the dead". He told journalists that "a good number of rescue workers have reached the site. Other people have reached here on their own. The plane is totally destroyed. The pieces and parts scattered over a large distance. Some parts of the plane are still burning. Some bushes have been burnt."[2] It was reported that rescuers at the crash site were "digging through the rubble with their bare hands."[2] A senior city government official stated that the rescue operation was "very difficult ... because of the rain. Most of the bodies are charred. We're sending bodybags via helicopters."[2] It was reported, however, that the rescue operation was "chaotic". BBC journalist Zeesha Zafar reported that "there were fewer rescue workers there than one would have expected. A majority of them were members of the anti-terrorism police. Most of them just stood around, gazing at the burning debris, and looking as though there was not much that they could do." He stated that a police officer threatened to baton charge rescuers if they did not "move quickly".[32] Zafar reported that "just when the rescuers were shuffling to get to work, a policeman in plain clothes announced that an army helicopter was coming in to pour water on the fire, and that everyone should get out of the way. The work stopped. The helicopter came, circled on the spot a couple of times, and went away. No water."[32] Zafar went on that it "was distinctly obvious that there was no coordination between the workers of different departments such as the police, the rescue department, the Capital Development Authority and the military ... Rescuers operated in a chaotic manner, scouring through the debris that was not on fire ... During the two hours that I stayed at the scene, I saw rescuers collect three separate loads of body parts which they tied up in shrouds. There was no telling how many people they belonged to."[32]

THE EARTHQUAKE The 2008 Pakistan earthquake was a magnitude Mw 6.4 earthquake that hit the Pakistani province of Balochistan on October 29, 2008. The US Geological Survey reported that the quake occurred 60 km (37 mi) north of Quetta and 185 km (115 mi) southeast of the Afghanistan city of Kandahar at 04:09 local time (28 October, 23:09 UTC) at a depth of 15 km (9.3 mi), at 30.653N, 67.323E.[3] It was followed by another shallower magnitude 6.4 earthquake at a depth of 10 km (6.2 mi) approximately 12 hours after the initial shock, at 30.546N, 67.447E.[4] 215 people were confirmed dead. More than 200 were injured (according to Mohammed Zaman, assistant to the Balochistan chief secretary, Nasir Khosa),[1][5][6] and 120,000 were homeless (according to Dilawar Khan Kakar, Ziarat, Balochistan mayor and chief administrator).[7][8] The New York Times reported that Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, director general of Pakistan Meteorological Department, stated the quake epicenter was 70 miles (110 km) north of Quetta,[9] and about 600 km (370 mi) southwest of Islamabad.[10] Quetta, Baluchistan's capital, was levelled in 1935 by a magnitude Mw 7.6 earthquake which left 30,000 people dead, according to the US Geological Survey.[11][12]

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[edit] Tectonic summary

Earthquakes and active faults in western and northern Pakistan and adjacent parts of Afghanistan are the result of the Indian plate moving northward at a rate of about 40 mm/yr (1.6 inches/yr) and colliding with the Eurasian plate. Along the northern edge of the Indian subcontinent, the Indian plate is subducting beneath the Eurasian plate, causing uplift that produces the highest mountain peaks in the world, including the Himalayan, the Karakoram, the Pamir and the Hindu Kush ranges. West and south of the Himalayan front, the relative motion between the two plates is oblique, which results in strike-slip, reverse-slip, and oblique-slip earthquakes. The pattern of elastic waves that were radiated by the October 28 and 29, 2008, earthquakes implies that each earthquake was the result of predominantly strike-slip faulting. Seismographically recorded waveforms imply that the shocks were caused by either left-lateral slip on a northeaststriking fault or right-lateral slip on a northwest-striking fault. The tectonic setting favours left-lateral slip on a northeast-trending fault as the likely fault plane. The October 28 and 29 earthquakes occurred in the Sulaiman fold-and-thrust belt, a region where geologically young (Tertiary) sedimentary rocks have been folded and squeezed by forces associated with the Indian-Eurasian collision. The earthquakes are located approximately 80 km east of the 650-km-long Chaman fault, which is a major left-lateral strike-slip fault that accommodates a significant amount of the slip across the plate boundary. The occurrence of the earthquakes suggests that other left-lateral strikeslip faults are present beneath the fold-and-thrust belt and that they accommodate some of the relative motion of the Indian and Eurasian plates. The earthquakes of October 28 and 29, 2008, are located approximately 50 km northeast of the region of most intense damage from the Pakistan earthquake of May 30, 1935 (M 7.6), which is estimated to have killed 30,000 people. The 1935 earthquake probably occurred as the result of left-lateral strike-slip motion on a northeast-striking fault.[13]

[edit] Details
Most of the casualties were from two villages on the outskirts of Ziarat town. Balochistan chief minister Nawab Aslam Khan Raisani ordered declaration of emergency in the hospitals of the affected areas. These areas, situated on steep terrain, were badly damaged by landslides caused by the quake.[1] Hundreds of mud houses were destroyed.
"Rescue work is being carried out by the villagers themselves, but a larger operation is needed here." Mayor of Ziarat Dilawar Kakar [14]

The tremors were felt in Quetta, Ziarat, Pishin, Qila Abdullah, Mastung, Sibi, Bolan, Kuchlak and Loralai areas

Pakistan Day Celebration

Pakistan Day of Pakistan: March 23

Pakistan Day is a public holiday in Pakistan. Pakistan, from Urdu meaning the Land of the Pure, celebrates Pakistan Day (locally known as Yom-e-Pakistan) to commemorate the celebration of Pakistan Resolution which took place on March 23, 1940 in Lahore. Pakistan Day marks the demand for the creation of a Muslim state in India.

History of Pakistan Day

The creation of a separate Muslim state has long been wanted by Muslim minority in India before the 1940s. The ensuing resolution was fueled after the end of World War II and the defeat of the Muslim League in the general election which took place in India in 1937. The All India Muslim League conducts yearly sessions in Lahore to talk about the plans for the future of all Muslims in India. Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, a member of the league pointed out the vivid differences in terms of cultural and historical background of the two regions which they use as basis to the creation of an independent Muslim state. The negotiations that followed culminated the presentation of resolution to a higher level by A. K. Fazl-ul-Haq, the Chief Minister of Bengal during that time. A. K. Fazl-ul-Haq worked his way out to the institution of the said resolution. It reads, No constitutional plan would be workable or acceptable to the Muslims unless geographical contiguous units are demarcated into regions which should be so constituted with such territorial readjustments as may be necessary. That the areas in which the Muslims are numerically in majority as in the North-Western and Eastern zones of India should be grouped to constitute independent states in which the constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign. That adequate, effective and mandatory safeguards shall be specifically provided in the constitution for minorities in the units and in the regions for the protection of their religious, cultural, economic, political, administrative and other rights of the minorities, with their consultation. Arrangements thus should be made for the security of Muslims where they were in a minority

The above resolution was passed in March 24, 1940 leading to the creation of an independent and united Muslim India known as Pakistan Resolution instead of forming allegiance to India whose population is dominated by Hindus. Minar-e-Pakistan, a distinctive building illuminated during the celebration of Pakistan Day, was built in Iqbal Park Lahore to commemorate this event. This is the same place where the resolution was passed.

Pakistan Day: Traditions, Customs and Activities

Pakistan Day is celebrated with various events both in private and public offices. During this day, schools hold various events which particularly focus on spreading knowledge about this important resolution in Pakistan including the various cultural aspect of Pakistan that separates it completely from other nation. Keynote speakers deliver speeches about the role of ordinary Pakistan citizens in maintaining peace and order and supporting the economic progress of the country. The government also holds military parade including the famous Pakistan Air Force planes acrobat demonstration in Islamabad to showcase Pakistans latest military weaponry.

A PICNIC AT SEASIDE One fine sunny Sunday afternoon, Mr and Mrs Lee took their sons, Jacky and Dawn, to a picturesque seaside to have a picnic. As the seaside was far away from their home, Mr Lee drove them there. When they arrived at their destination, Jacky and Dawn were too impatient to wait, so they took their swimsuits and rushed into the changing room to change. After that, they hopped into the sea. In the meantime, their parents laid the mat with fried rice, two bottles of Sprite, a chocolate cake and some sandwiches. Mr Lee then tuned the radio to class 21 for his wife. Meanwhile, Mrs Lee went to buy a copy of newspaper for her husband. While Mr Lee read the newspaper, his wife listened to the radio. After about twenty minutes, the two boys were hungry and went back to the beach to have some food. They ate the delicious fried rice before eating the sweet chocolate cake and sandwiches which were prepared by Mrs Lee. Jack liked the taste of the cake and sandwiches and asked his mother, How delicious! How did you do it? Mrs Lee answered, I used some baking powder and some fragrant ingredients. Mr Lee also joined in praising Mrs Lee for giving them such palatable food. After their meal, it was half past six and Mr Lee suggested going home. They packed up and were soon on their way home. Mrs Lee promised to take them to the beach again. The children were happy on hearing that. They are now looking forward to the next trip.

Electricity load shedding in Pakistan only due to defective policies

The electricity load shedding in Pakistan would have not been a big problem to cope with but its made much bigger by adopting the defective policies. One of the causes of load shedding is called the circular debt, which means the private electricity generation companies keep generating the power but they do not get the money for the electricity they have provided, in that case they can generate the electricity for limited period and after that when the outstanding amount to be paid by government to these companies cross a limit, by being not able to fuel costs these companies stop the production till they have get paid back by government. This have been happening very much lately, current approach from government is they let the circular dept build up and while companies stop production they are paid back after many months and mean while that halt brings in more shortage and more electricity load shedding subsiquently. Now this is the place where the issue of rental power plants come in. The question is, when you are not able to finance the current infrastructure and when you are not fully utilizing the current generation capacity, why on earth you need the rental power plants? It would have made some sense if the rental power plants would have have come with low cost electricity but unfortunately other than thinking of paying back the circular dept and taking all the current resources in action our government have chosen to bring in the rental power plants. The plants which does not still started generating the power but we already started paying the rent money. After carefully reading whats written above one can decide that the rental power plants stunt was really not required at the moment. Moreover when you live in country which is blessed with so much of natural resources why on earth you have to go for rental power plants. Wind forms and solar energy power plants have got huge potential in this country which can bring in lots of low cast energy, also if more dams are planned, we can get much more hydro power. After that come in the coal reserves which is blessing for this nation, we have got the coal reserves which are in few biggest coal reserves of the world. Research shows that if we use just 2% of these reserves for power generation we will be able to keep on generating the extra 25000 Mega Watts of power for next 40 years just from coal and we just have overall electricity consumption of 16000 Mega Watts country wide today. 12000 Mega Watts of power out of our 16000 mega watts is already being generated. The above facts clearly show that if the right policies are adopted we can not only generate enough power to meet our energy requirements but also generate power to sell out. The problem of our country have never been the resources but only and only the sincere leadership which really cares for the country and all the souls living in it. For the moment

we can just pray to Allah for blessing Pakistan with the leadership which is sincere and capable of making things happen. Next time when you vote in elections just think for your country and nothing else, keep the previous experiences in mind, they will help you much. Do subscribe to our Email updates, Facebook and Twitter pages from right side of this page, rest assured we will keep you updated. WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO BE IN LIFE Every young man my age dreams of being the next Michael Jordan, or the next Troy Aikman. For me, it was quite different. I wanted to actually do something that would make a difference in other people's lives; I wanted to be a police officer. My dream was shattered when I realized that the majority of them lie more than they tell the truth. The next big thing I wanted to be was a mechanic because I loved the feeling I got when I made something start up after being dead and in hibernation for a long time. I realized that the world is constantly changing and soon all vehicle motors will be digital and computerized. Soon, brain power will no longer be necessary to discover vehicular problems. Recently, I started working for my grandpa and it has really led me into a whole new direction. A direction that would allow me to utilize my education and my math concepts. I was an electricians helper with hopes of becoming an electrician. It lets me feel the sense of helping someone but without being a police officer. Being an electrician gives me the same feelings as fixing a broken motor that would not have started correctly with out my help. The first time I figured out that I wanted to be an electrician I was working with my grandpa and we were wiring a new place for a car painting business. My grandpa left me in charge of wiring the plugs around the interior of the commercial building. It was my first real big job to do in the electrical field. I, of course, jumped right on in. I wired all the plugs around the building to be GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Instrument) certified so that if water or moisture happened to get in to any of the plugs they would throw a safety switch inside the plug instead of shocking someone. Another reason for putting this in is to make sure that if I somehow creased or exposed the wires and they were touching the pipe that the wire was going through no one would be in danger of getting shocked if they touched the pipe...