Over 200 Pak lawmakers suspended for not declaring assets

ISLAMABAD: Over 200 lawmakers of Pakistan's Parliament and provincial assemblies were on Wednesday temporarily suspended by the Election Commission for failing to submit the annual details of their assets.

Under the Constitution, the lawmakers are bound to report every year the details of their wealth by September 30 which can be extended by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for 15 days.

The ECP had set October 15 as the deadline for the submission of assets.

A total of 210 lawmakers failed to submit their details of assets and liabilities.

In a notification issued at the end of deadline, the ECP directed that those failing to comply cannot attend the session of their respective assemblies during the period of suspension.

However, the members can get their membership restored anytime by fulfilling the legal obligation.

Those suspended included 40 members of the National Assembly, two members of the Senate, 98 members of the Punjab assembly, 28 members of the Sindh assembly, 33 members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly, and nine members of the Balochistan assembly.

Among the prominent members suspended are chief of right wing Jammat-i-Islami Sirajul Haq and Chairman of National Assembly Committee of Foreign Affairs Awais Khan Leghari.

The majority of those suspended belong to ruling PML-N of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

US's fight against ISIS finally gets a name: 'Inherent Resolve'

WASHINGTON: It may be less punchy than previous nicknames for US conflicts in the Middle East; remember Operation Desert Storm andits thunderous attacks on Saddam Hussein's occupation army; but the Pentagon has finally named its fight against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria: Operation Inherent Resolve. 

The naming process, which took weeks of quiet deliberation behind closed doors at US Central Command and at the Pentagon, is part of a package of administrative moves under way to organize a long-term military campaign. 

But that name, Inherent Resolve.  It sounds, well, inherently bland. 

It's less awe-inspiring than any of the names chosen for US military operations in Iraq over the past two decades such as Desert Shield, Desert Storm or Desert Fox, for example. It appears to convey the no-drama approach that marks President Barack Obama's style. 

The staff of Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the final decision on the name, said Dempsey spokesman, Col. Ed Thomas. Thomas offered no details about the process. 

Central Command, which is executing the campaign, took a stab at explaining the choice. 

"Inherent Resolve is intended to reflect the unwavering resolve and deep commitment of the U.S. and partner nations in the region and around the globe to eliminate the terrorist group ISIL and the threat they pose to Iraq, the region and the wider international community," it said, using a common acronym for the Islamic State group. 

Military operations are routinely given official names, in part for administrative reasons. 

But they are meant also to bolster public support and international credibility. The US-led effort to protect Kurds who fled their homes in northern Iraq in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War, for example, was called Operation Provide Comfort. A US military disaster relief mission in Bangladesh that same year was Operation Sea Angel. 

The US military's effort against Ebola in West Africa is called Operation United Assistance. The name for the US role in an international air campaign in Libya in 2011 was Odyssey Dawn. 

The naming of the current air campaign in Iraq and Syria comes as Obama and his military advisers wrestle with directing a coalition of partner nations toward a common goal: destroying the Islamic State group. It has been slow going thus far, with officials cautioning that it could drag on for months or years. 

The US has more than 1,400 military personnel in Iraq, mostly in Baghdad, but Obama has ruled out sending combat troops. The US says it has no troops in Syria. 

The US has a long and difficult history of military involvement in Iraq, beginning with the George H W Bush administration's initial response to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. 

That effort was dubbed Operation Desert Shield to deter Saddam from invading Saudi Arabia; in early 1991 that transitioned to a US-led air and ground campaign, Operation Desert Storm, which successfully expelled Iraqi troops from Kuwait but left Saddam in power in Baghdad. 

In December 1998, in response to Saddam's refusal to comply with U.N. weapons inspectors, President Bill Clinton launched Operation Desert Fox — four days of airstrikes against weapons installations and command headquarters in Baghdad. 

Promising to "shock and awe" Saddam's forces, President George W Bush launched Operation Iraqi Freedom in March 2003, an air-and-ground campaign that quickly toppled Saddam's regime but opened the door to a homegrown Sunni insurgency that turned the war into an eight-year struggle. 

The practice of naming military operations goes back at least to World War II, when code names were assigned mainly to preserve security. The code names were classified, unlike the nicknames of modern operations. 

In a 1995 article in Parameters, a US Army War College academic journal, Gregory C Sieminski wrote that the Pentagon's Vietnam-era guidelines for naming military operations cautioned against counterproductive name choices, specifying that they must not express "a degree of bellicosity inconsistent with traditional American ideals or current foreign policy" or convey "connotations offensive to good taste or derogatory to a particular group, sect or creed." 

There should be no fear that Operation Inherent Resolve is too bellicose. 

Sieminski argued that careful naming of military operations can provide a public relations boost and help shape what he called a war of images. "In that war, the operation name is the first — and quite possibly the decisive — bullet to be fired," he wrote. 

BJP's 'Brand Modi' Strategy to Pay Big in Maharashtra, Haryana, Show Exit Polls

New Delhi: Banking on Brand Narendra Modi is likely to pay rich dividend for the BJP, the NDTV's poll of polls - which aggregates the results of four polls in Maharashtra and three in Haryana - shows.

The party, which dumped allies in Congress-ruled Maharashtra and Haryana to contest elections on its own, is set to be the single-largest party in both states. 

In Haryana, it looks good to win 48 of the 90 seats, a comfortable majority. And in Maharashtra - which saw a four-cornered contest after two major alliances split over seat sharing - the BJP is set to win 125 of the 288 seats, miles ahead of the number 2 party. Ironically, that is the Shiv Sena, the BJP's ally till last month, set to win 70 seats. 

Together, all things equal, they would have had a towering majority. Now, the BJP is likely to fall 20 seats short of a majority - the half-way mark in Maharashtra is 144. 

Its political options would include a reconciliation with the Shiv Sena or then joining hands with the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party or NCP, which is set to get 35 seats. 

In the run-up to the elections, both the BJP and the NCP emphatically denied any such possibility and Prime Minister Modi sharply attacked the NCP, which ruled Maharashtra for the last 15 years as a partner of the Congress. 

Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Narvnirman Sena or MNS is not in the reckoning - it will have to settle for fewer seats than before.

The Congress' dream run in both states is ending. It is likely to be reduced to an insignificant 42 seats in Maharashtra. In Haryana, it could have to settle for an equally ignominious 12 seats, with Om Prakash Chautala's INLD (Indian National Lok Dal) coming in second to the BJP with 25 seats.

The BJP went for broke in these elections, building its pitch around Mr Modi and his message of development. In neither state did it project a chief ministerial candidate and said it was confident that what it calls the "Modi wave" from the national elections earlier this year endures.

The PM averaged three rallies a day in a blitz of 27 public appearances in Maharashtra and 12 in Haryana.

Story First Published: October 15, 2014 20:25 IST    

Western Iran Earthquake Injures 16

Tehran:  A strong 5.6 earthquake rocked two cities in western Iran on Wednesday, injuring at least 16 people but causing only minor damage to homes, US and Iranian sources said.

The quake occurred just after 5:00 pm (1330 GMT), with the epicentre 51 kilometres (32 miles) east of Dehloran in Ilam province, close to the border with Iraq, according to the US Geological Survey.

It hit at the relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometres.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society gave the injured toll, saying the cities of Dehloran and Abdanan, and a total population area of 65,000, were affected.

"No deaths are reported," it said in an initial statement, classifying damage to houses and residential areas as minor.

But the statement said that, due to cold weather, Abdanan's governor had issued an appeal for tents for families whose homes had been damaged.

Story First Published: October 16, 2014 05:37 IST    

Troubled Argentine City Halts Gun Sales

Bueno Aires:  The mayor of the Argentine city of Santa Fe on Wednesday temporarily banned the sale of arms and ammunition in a bid to stem violent crime, much of it linked to drug trafficking.

So far this year, 117 homicides have taken place in the city of Santa Fe, 470 kilometers (290 miles) north of Buenos Aires.

The figure tops the previous record of 116 deaths in 2007. There were 106 killings in 2013.

In a statement, Mayor Jose Corral said he was suspending the sale of arms and ammunition for 90 days.

Many Argentines are worried about violent crime in the country and the problem is especially acute in Santa Fe province, where drug trafficking is a major issue.

In Rosario, the province's largest city, local media say the problem is confounded by political disputes, corruption, poverty and soccer hooliganism.

More than 80 per cent of Argentina's soy, wheat and corn are exported through Rosario's ports.

Story First Published: October 16, 2014 05:47 IST    

Mosquito-Borne Chikungunya Virus Likely to Reach Mexico: Health Ministry

Mexico City:  Mexico is very likely to join the list of countries to register cases of the painful mosquito-borne viral disease chikungunya, a senior health ministry official said on Wednesday.

Chikungunya is spread by two mosquito species, and is typically not fatal but can cause debilitating symptoms including fever, headache and severe joint pain lasting months.

There is no current treatment for the virus, which was detected for the first time in the Americas late last year, and no licensed vaccine to prevent it.

Given that the virus has already shown up in much of the Caribbean, Central America and the United States, it is also likely to reach Mexico, Pablo Kuri, the deputy health minister in charge of disease prevention, told Reuters.

"It's very probable that at some point, we'll have confirmed cases of chikungunya," he said, noting that six cases have already been detected, but those people had contracted the virus in the Caribbean and El Salvador.

He said that Mexico is home to the mosquito species that carries the virus, adding to the likelihood of its arrival.

"There's no reason we shouldn't have chikungunya in Mexico," Kuri said.

Last month, El Salvador said it had detected nearly 30,000 cases of the virus. In the United States, locally transmitted infections - as opposed to infections in Americans traveling abroad - were reported for the first time this year.

Chikungunya, a virus more commonly found in Africa and Asia and transmitted by the same daytime-biting aedes aegypti mosquito that causes the more deadly dengue fever, was first detected in the eastern Caribbean at the start of 2014.

© Thomson Reuters 2014

Story First Published: October 16, 2014 06:17 IST    

Google Tests Waters for Potential Ultra-Fast Wireless Service

San Francisco:  Google Inc is preparing to test new technology that may provide the foundation for a wireless version of its high-speed "Fiber" Internet service, according to telecommunication experts who scrutinized the company's regulatory filings.

In a public but little-noticed application with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Monday, Google asked the agency for permission to conduct tests in California across different wireless spectrums, including a rarely-used millimeter-wave frequency capable of transmitting large amounts of data.

It is unclear from the heavily redacted filing what exactly Google intends to do, but it does signal the Internet giant's broader ambition of controlling Internet connectivity. The technology it seeks to test could form the basis of a wireless connection that can be broadcast to homes, obviating the need for an actual ground cable or fiber connection, experts say.

By beaming Internet services directly into homes, Google would open a new path now thoroughly dominated by Verizon, AT&T, Comcast and other entrenched cable and broadband providers. It could potentially offer a quicker and cheaper way to deliver high-speed Internet service, a potential threat to the cable-telecoms oligopoly, experts said.

"From a radio standpoint it's the closest thing to fiber there is," said Stephen Crowley, a wireless engineer and consultant who monitors FCC filings, noting that millimeter frequencies can transmit data over short distances at speeds of several gigabits per second.

"You could look at it as a possible wireless extension of their Google Fiber wireless network, as a way to more economically serve homes. Put up a pole in a neighborhood, instead of having to run fiber to each home," said Crowley.

Craig Barratt, the head of the Google Access and Energy division leading the effort to offer high-speed fiber networks in Kansas City and other locations, signed off as the authorized person submitting Google's FCC application.

The world's No.1 Internet search engine has expanded into providing consumers with services such as Internet access. The company said it wants to roll out its high-speed Internet service to more than 30 U.S. cities, and in 2013 it struck a deal to provide free wireless Internet access to 7,000 Starbucks cafes across America.

Earlier this year, technology news website The Information reported that Google was exploring ways to offer a full-fledged wireless service, with voice and Internet access, in markets where the company already offers its Fiber service.

Google's application to conduct the 180-day test is heavily redacted to protect confidential information that Google said would provide "valuable insight into Google's technology innovations and potential business plans and strategy."

The purpose of the test is so that Google can "expeditiously test radios in a way that is likely to contribute to the development, extension, expansion or utilization of the radio art," Google stated cryptically in one of the filings.

Google declined to comment on the FCC filing.

COULD BE JUST BASIC RESEARCH

Wireless experts noted that the tests could simply be basic research that does not ultimately lead to new products or services. In the past, Google has submitted applications with the FCC to test wireless communications.

The latest test, which Google hopes to begin on Nov. 13, will include three sites in the San Francisco Bay Area, including one in San Mateo county and two locations a half-mile apart which appear to be on Google's Mountain View, California campus. Google said the effort will use radio transmitters operating in the 5.8 GHz frequency, the 24.2 GHz frequency and in the millimeter wave bands of 71-76 GHz and 81-86 GHz, according to the application.

Millimeter wave frequencies work best over short distances, such as a few city blocks, and require a direct line-of-sight connection to a receiver. But multiple such devices placed next to each other, atop buildings could provide an alternative to in-the-ground fiber cables used for shuttling data throughout a city as well as for delivering Internet access directly to residences, theorized several wireless experts.

"This could be anything from something relatively small scale, like a way to supplement their existing fiber system to something like how to put a wireless cloud around your city that leverages your fiber backbone," said Harold Feld, a senior vice president at Public Knowledge, a non-profit that focuses on broadband access and competition issues and which receives funding from tech companies including Google.

The FCC is scheduled to hold a meeting on Friday about the use of wireless spectrum above 24 GHz for mobile services, including ways the agency can facilitate the development and deployment of technology using such frequencies.

Google noted that the tests are for narrow-bandwidth transmissions. According to Crowley, the application suggests that Google will not be transmitting data over the networks, but sending simple pings between locations to gauge how the signals travel over distances and in different terrains.

Google appears to be trying to get ahead of the competition in understanding the potential to use the millimeter frequencies now being discussed by the FCC, said Public Knowledge's Feld.

"If they can pull it off, they will have a potentially very innovative next-generation delivery system," he said. 

© Thomson Reuters 2014

Story First Published: October 16, 2014 06:55 IST