On Dec. 16, 2009, a US F-16CG (88-0444/AV) belonging to the 510 FS of the 31 FW c/s “Buzzard 54″ performed an emergency landing in Rome Fiumicino airport as a consequence of an engine failure experienced while the aircraft was flying within a formation of 4 F-16s abeam Italy’s capital town, above the Tyrrhenian Sea. Another aircraft (90-0709/AV) escorted Buzzard 54 to the successful landing on runway 34L, performed a low passage and then proceeding to the South of the field before landing on runway 34R, while the remaining two F-16s returned to Aviano airbase.
Most probably, since the F-16 decided to divert to Fiumicino airport and not to Pratica di Mare, a military airport located just a few miles to the South of Fiumicino, the pilot found easier to spot the large civilian airport and more safe to land on its long runway parallel to the coastline than using the smaller Pratica’s runway.

The Whole lecture can be watched at youtube:

Part 1

Documents from the U.S. National Archives

http://www.icdc.com/~paulwolf/pakistan/pakistan.htm

New Delhi November 30, 2009

An Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter plane crashed near Jaisalmer on Monday, but both the pilots were safe.

The Sukhoi crashed near Jathegaon, about 40 km from Jaisalmer. The pilots ejected to safety.

Air crashes have been bogging down the IAF, with Defence Minister A.K. Antony recently informing Rajya Sabha last week that 12 aircraft, including seven fighters, had been lost this year.

The fighters included the frontline Su-30MKI, which crashed over Jaisalmer in April killing one of the pilots. The others were three Russian-built MiG-27s and MiG-21s each.

The crashed trainer aircraft included the HPT-32 and Kiran Mk II. A transport aircraft was also lost over Assam.

- With inputs from agencies

Source: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/72998/LATEST%20NEWS/IAF+jet+crashes+near+Jaisalmer;+pilots+safe.html

By McClatchy Newspapers
Friday, November 27, 2009

ISLAMABAD — Suspicions by Pakistan’s powerful army that the country’s civilian leadership is growing too close to the United States are fueling a political crisis that analysts here believe threatens the survival of the government and could divert attention from the battle against Islamic extremists.

Military officials believe that secretly taped conversations between Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and his ambassador in Washington prove that it was at Zardari’s insistence that a $1.5 billion U.S. aid package passed by Congress in September contained several provisions that angered the Pakistani military. The military publicly protested the aid package last month.

“The reaction (from the military) was not so much to what was in the bill but to the thought that the government was trying to create a civilian-to-civilian dialogue (with Washington),” said a senior Pakistani official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The army has ruled Pakistan for most its existence, with civilian rule returning only last year.

Now the military is responding by pressing a confrontation with Zardari over the expiration of a legal amnesty for politicians that benefited many members of Zardari’s government, including the president himself and his ambassador to Washington, Husain Haqqani.

The amnesty, known as the National Reconciliation Ordinance, wiped away long-standing charges against politicians and bureaucrats who served between 1986 and 1999. But the Supreme Court ruled that the measure, which had been decreed in October 2007 by then President Pervez Musharraf, was unconstitutional, and it will come to an end on Saturday.

That will expose serving ministers and senior aides to prosecution over cases that range from corruption to murder — including Zardari, who was charged with taking kickbacks when his wife, the assassinated Benazir Bhutto, served as the country’s prime minister.

Most here argue that Zardari, who is head of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party, will still have legal immunity as president. But analysts believe the military is behind a campaign to oust Zardari and, with the help of sympathetic media and opposition politicians, is using the end of the amnesty as an opportunity to strike. While dislodging the president will be tough, it is possible that he’ll be forced to transfer most of his powers to the prime minister through a constitutional amendment.

Suspicions in the president’s camp about an attempt to isolate him were heightened when the law ministry released a list of amnesty beneficiaries that featured those close to the president, including his top aide and several Cabinet ministers, but none of the allies of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.

At the center of the civil-military conflict is the relationship between Zardari’s government and Washington, with the Pakistani army resentful of the close ties and the government’s agreement with some U.S. security policies that don’t fit with the military’s view.

Even when there have been civilian governments in Islamabad, the military has viewed sensitive foreign and security policies as its purview. In particular, the military jealously guards its role in relations with India, Afghanistan and the United States, as well as the policy toward the country’s nuclear arsenal.

Zardari, however, has intruded in all those areas since taking office. He has reached out to traditional enemy India, improved relations with Afghan President Hamid Karzai — usually seen in Pakistan as dangerously close to India — and agreed with the United States that Pakistan must eliminate extremist groups on its soil — the same Islamic militants that the military previously used to fight proxy wars in India and Afghanistan.

Zardari also unsuccessfully tried to place the main military spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, under civilian control, and he offered a “no first use” policy on Pakistan’s nuclear weapons to India.

“The army does not like too much civilian interference in their internal affairs,” said Hasan Askari Rizvi, a defense commentator and author of “Military, State and Society in Pakistan.” “The military thinks that the Pakistan government wants to use this (U.S.) law to somehow interfere in the affairs of the military.”

“Zardari is perceived as too dependent on or too pro the United States, and sometimes not quite in agreement with the strategic view of the army,” said Arif Nizami, a political analyst and former newspaper editor.
Source: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/world/s_655152.html

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

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Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

By Muhammad Saleh Zaafir

KAMRA: Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has made it emphatically clear that Washington will have to keep Pakistan on board while reviewing its Afghan policy as Islamabad has a key role in ensuring and maintaining peace in the region.

The Army chief, who looked visibly jubilant over the achievements of his troops first in Swat-Malakand and now in South Waziristan, was informally talking to this scribe at the historic ceremony of the rolling out of the JF-17 Thunder multi-role fighter plane of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

Gen Kayani, who visited the conflict zone about half a dozen times in recent weeks, was confident about a final victory over the terrorists who are now on the run.

The COAS insisted that the Americans could not afford to ignore Pakistan while formulating a policy about the region as they had been consulting Pakistan on important occasions in the past.

The Army chief’s statement has come in the wake of a major policy review in Washington and the new US strategy about the region. Kayani recalled that the operation was launched the day the decision was taken in a high-level meeting in Islamabad. The terrorist leaders were expecting it a couple of days later. Answering a question, Kayani said the Army will keep on tracking the terrorists in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and the operation to hunt them down will continue till the peace and tranquillity return to the area.

He dispelled the impression that most of the terrorist leaders had fled to Afghanistan. The Army will continue to chase them and the operation could be expanded for the purpose. “Eventually, we will totally smash Baitullah’s terror network and with the cooperation of the people the whole area would be transformed into a peace zone,” he said.

The sophisticated JF-17 Thunder, painted green and white in the colour scheme of the national flag, appeared with grandeur amid thundering sound and colour display as Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani unveiled the fighter jet before the cheering audience.

The event has been termed the beginning of a new era of Pak-China friendship and cooperation. Naval chief Admiral Noman Bashir has gone for Hajj and the Navy was represented by acting naval chief Admiral Asif Humayun. General Kayani felicitated Chief the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman on the auspicious occasion. He lauded the role of the PAF in actions against the terrorists in Swat-Malakand and South Waziristan.

Meanwhile, addressing the ceremony, Gilani reiterated his government’s firm resolve to eradicate ignorance, illiteracy and backwardness to carve a respectable niche for the country in the comity of nations.

Senate Chairman Farooq H Naek, Federal Ministers Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Luo Zhaohui, Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Masood Khan and the three services chiefs attended the ceremony.

With this Pakistan has joined the international community of fighter aircraft manufacturers as JF-17 Thunder, the first ever multi-role state-of-the-art plane rolled out of the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex here and was included in the fleet of the Pakistan Air Force.

Addressing a select gathering of local and foreign dignitaries and PAF officials, the prime minister said progress and prosperity could not be achieved without achieving self-reliance in defence production.

He termed the manufacturing of JF-17 Thunder aircraft the “achievement of an important milestone” in the government’s ongoing efforts to attain self-reliance.

The prime minister assured full cooperation, support and patronage to the PAF in its projects, adding the national project would be remembered as a landmark in the country’s history.

Referring to the present challenges, Gilani said the fast changing technology intensive battle arena required intense involvement of air power which had emerged as a major player in conflict scenarios.

He said the role of air force also becomes vital in tackling the threat posed by the forces of extremism and militancy. Under these circumstances, he said, a modern air force was a national requirement adding the government was making sincere efforts for a strong and well-equipped Pakistan Air Force.

He said that the JF-17 programme had provided employment to about 5,000 people. Referring to long and trustworthy relations between Pakistan and China, the prime minister said: “It is not trade or economics that we collaborate and cooperate in, but our association and fraternal ties bind us in the everlasting embrace of friendship.” Gilani thanked the Chinese friends for providing the PAF the required technical assistance for the programme.

Chief of the Air Staff Rao Qamar Suleman highlighted the efforts of the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex Kamra in establishing itself as a hub of aviation industry. Luo Zhaohui, on behalf of the Chinese government, appreciated the technical acumen of the PAC Kamra in acquiring complex skills and expertise in fighter aircraft manufacturing. He said the collaboration between the two peace loving countries in air defence was a major step for the region’s peace.

Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has said that Pakistan was achieved in the name of Islam and the religion can never be expelled from the country.

Addressing a gathering at Police Line Peshawar here, the COAS said that no one can separate Islam from Pakistan as the country was achieved in Islam’s name.

This comes after MQM, ANP and PPP said that they wanted to change the name of Pakistan from Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Peoples Republic of Pakistan.(Read Below)

He said that Pakistan Army will succeed in its bid to root out extremism from the country in cooperation with the nation and the media.
Announcing Rs 20 million for the martyrs of NWFP Police, Gen. Kayani said that the all kinds of needed weapons and ammunitions would be provided to police to make its progress better.

Earlier, Chief of Army Staff General was received by Corps Commander Lt. Gen. Muhammad Masood Aslam at Peshawar Airport when he arrived here on a day-long visit on Wednesday.  He will also visited Lady Reading Hospital to express solidarity with the bomb blast victims.
The Army Chief is schedule to meet Governor NWFP Owais Ahmad Ghani, Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, tribal elders and students later in the day.

Source: http://pakistankakhudahafiz.wordpress.com/2009/11/25/no-one-can-seperate-islam-and-pakistan-gen-kayani/

http://www.thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=92203

http://www.asianews.com.pk/2009/11/no-one-can-separate-islam-and-pakistan-general-kayani/

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/25-Nov-2009/Islam-and-Pak-can-not-be-separated-COAS

———————————————————————————

From Islamic to Peoples Republic of Pakistan?

ISLAMABAD – Awami National Party (ANP) during the deliberations of Parliamentary Reforms Committee had proposed to change the name of Islamic Republic of Pakistan as Peoples Republic of Pakistan, while Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) supported the move, the sources close to these political parties disclosed to TheNation.
The idea was, however, dropped due to strong opposition from the rest of the members of the committee, the sources added.
MQM Deputy Convener and Federal Minister Dr. Farooq Sattar confirmed it to the media in an informal chat on Wednesday and said that MQM along with PPP members of the committee supported the idea of renaming Islamic Republic of Pakistan as Peoples Republic of Pakistan.
On the other hand, ANP member of the committee Haji Adeel denied having proposed the name of Peoples Republic of Pakistan to replace Islamic Republic of Pakistan. However, some members of the committee on condition of anonymity confirmed it to TheNation that ANP had proposed the said change in the name of the country and MQM and PPP members had supported it.
During chat with media, Dr. Farooq Sattar also proposed making Gilgit-Baltistan as the fifth province of the country and its chief minister should also be included in the National Finance Commission (NFC). The government should take appropriate steps in this regard to remove the constitutional and international hurdles, he added. He said if the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reforms would finish with its deliberation on provincial autonomy by mid of December, they would be in a position to give the nation a new year’s gift in the shape of constitutional reforms package.

Source: http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/19-Nov-2009/From-Islamic-to-Peoples-Republic-of-Pakistan

MQM backs ANP proposal to change Pakistan name

KARACHI: Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Parliamentary leader of the MQM Dr Farooq Sattar said Awami National Party (ANP) put up a proposal to change the name of Pakistan, which the MQM has supported.

He said the ANP gave this proposals to the Committee for Constitutional Reforms that Pakistan’s name be changed from Islamic Republic of Pakistan to People’s Republic of Pakistan.

Farooq Sattar also hoped that the Committee on Constitutional Reforms will give good news at the commencement of new year.

He said the proposal was tabled that Gilgit-Baltistan should be given a status of fifth province and it should have representation in NFC Award.

http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?221523

Father of the Nation Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s achievement as the founder of Pakistan, dominates everything else he did in his long and crowded public life spanning some 42 years.

Yet, by any standard, his was an eventful life, his personality multidimensional and his achievements in other fields were many, if not equally great. Today I am posting his pictures which are very rarely seen. These pictures are sent to me by one of my friends. One thing I want to mention here once I posted come pictures of (screen shots) of British India Passport, and one of our reader give a commnet the what to do with these pictures. And in response my question was WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF MUSEUM? I hope you better knows the answer

Here I want to paste from comments from different organizations and persons with the help of cyber-cityonline:

It was, therefore, with a sense of supreme satisfaction at the fulfillment of his mission that Jinnah told the nation in his last message on 14 August, 1948: “The foundations of your State have been laid and it is now for you to build and build as quickly and as well as you can”. In accomplishing the task he had taken upon himself on the morrow of Pakistan’s birth, Jinnah had worked himself to death, but he had, to quote richard Symons, “contributed more than any other man to Pakistan’s survivial”. He died on 11 September, 1948. How true was Lord Pethick Lawrence, the former Secretary of State for India, when he said, “Gandhi died by the hands of an assassin; Jinnah died by his devotion to Pakistan”.

A man such as Jinnah, who had fought for the inherent rights of his people all through his life and who had taken up the somewhat unconventional and the largely misinterpreted cause of Pakistan, was bound to generate violent opposition and excite implacable hostility and was likely to be largely misunderstood. But what is most remarkable about Jinnah is that he was the recipient of some of the greatest tributes paid to any one in modern times, some of them even from those who held a diametrically opposed viewpoint.

The Aga Khan considered him “the greatest man he ever met”, Beverley Nichols, the author of `Verdict on India’, called him “the most important man in Asia”, and Dr. Kailashnath Katju, the West Bengal Governor in 1948, thought of him as “an outstanding figure of this century not only in India, but in the whole world”. While Abdul Rahman Azzam Pasha, Secretary General of the Arab League, called him “one of the greatest leaders in the Muslim world”, the Grand Mufti of Palestine considered his death as a “great loss” to the entire world of Islam. It was, however, given to Surat Chandra Bose, leader of the Forward Bloc wing of the Indian National Congress, to sum up succinctly his personal and political achievements. “Mr Jinnah”, he said on his death in 1948, “was great as a lawyer, once great as a Congressman, great as a leader of Muslims, great as a world politician and diplomat, and greatest of all as a man of action, By Mr. Jinnah’s passing away, the world has lost one of the greatest statesmen and Pakistan its life-giver, philosopher and guide”. Such was Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the man and his mission, such the range of his accomplishments and achievements.

———-

Source: http://www.geotauaisay.com/2009/09/rare-pictures-of-father-of-the-nation-quaid-e-azam-m-a-jinnah/

India’s first night-time test of a medium-range missile was a failure, missing its target, a defense ministry official said Tuesday.

India test fired the surface-to-surface “Agni-II” (Fire) missile from Wheelers Island in the eastern state of Orissa on Monday.

“It couldn’t hit the target,” the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in line with ministry rules.

“The liftoff was smooth, even the first stage of separation was smooth. But there was some problem during the second stage of separation and it deviated from its coordinated path,” the official said.

The Agni-II, with a range of up to 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers), is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads weighing up to 2,200 pounds (1,000 kilograms), the official said.

India has a variety of missiles including the short-range Prithvi ballistic missile, the medium-range Akash, and the supersonic Brahmos.

India’s missiles are mostly intended for any confrontation with neighboring archrival Pakistan, but the Agni-II can put areas in southern China within striking range.

India’s previous missile tests have been done during the day.

“The Indian army wants to confirm a 24-hour operational cycle and to be able to fire under the cover of darkness,” said Rahul Bedi, a defense analyst with Jane’s Defense Weekly.

Monday’s test is unlikely to aggravate tensions between India and Pakistan as they both routinely test fire missiles.

It was not immediately known whether New Delhi informed Islamabad about Monday’s test, which is the normal practice.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since their independence from Britain in 1947, two over control of the Himalayan region of Kashmir.

Associated Press

Source: http://us.asiancorrespondent.com/breakingnews/india-missile-test-fails.htm

BALASORE: India’s nuclear-capable intermediate range Agni-II missile, test-fired for the first time after sunset on Monday, reportedly failed to get the desired results.

The Army test-fired the surface-to-surface Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) from Wheeler’s Island, Bhadrak district, around 7.50pm.‘‘The liftoff and the first stage separation was smooth. But it faltered just before the second stage separation and behaved erratically, deviating from its coordinated path. Further analysis is on to ascertain the cause,’’ said a source.

The entire trajectory of Monday’s trial was tracked by a battery of sophisticated radars, telemetry observation stations, electro-optic instruments and a naval ship.

The launch, originally scheduled in the first week of this month, was deferred due to some technical snags in its pneumatic system. Though the snags were rectified, another glitch surfaced during Monday’s test, leading to the fiasco, the source claimed.

The nuclear capable 2,000-km-plus range missile has a length of 20 meters, a diameter of one meter, weighs 17 tonnes and can carry a payload of around 1,000 kg. It was first tested on April 11, 1999.

The test launch was significant from India’s strategic point of view because for the first time since the beginning of DRDO’s missile development programme, a missile was put under trial during night. The user trial was conducted by Army officials while scientists from DRDO were present to provide necessary logistical support.

Sources: http://www.hindustantimes.com/Nuke-capable-Agni-II-missile-fired-first-time-after-sunset/H1-Article1-479440.aspx

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/72132/India/Agni-II%20missile%20fails%20to%20clear%20night%20trial.html

http://www.geo.tv/11-24-2009/53497.htm

http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/n-capable_agni_ii_test_firing_at_night_fails.php

http://www.allvoices.com/s/event-4683130/aHR0cDovL3d3dy50aGVoaW5kdS5jb20vMjAwOS8xMS8yNS9zdG9yaWVzLzIwMDkxMTI1NTU5NDEyMDAuaHRt

http://www.thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=92078

and on and on…..

In a small town in East Africa, a person decided to open up a Cinema business, which was right opposite to the mosque.

The Members of the community at the congregation started a campaign to block the theatre from opening with petitions and prayed daily against his
business. Work progressed. However, when it was almost complete and was about to open, a strong lightning struck the construction and it was burnt to the ground.

The mosque folks were rather smug in their outlook after that, till the theatre owner sued the mosque authorities on the grounds that the mosque authorities through their congregation & prayers were ultimately responsible for the demise of his project, either through direct or indirect actions or means.

In its reply to the court, the mosque autorities vehemently denied all responsibility or any connection that their prayers were reasons to the theatre’s demise.

As the case made its way into court, the judge looked over the paperwork at the hearing and commented:

“I don’t know how I’m going to decide this case, but it appears from the paperwork, that we have a theatre owner who believes in the power of prayer and we have all the devotees from the mosque who don’t!!!

Source: http://www.geotauaisay.com/2009/09/interesting-conclusion/

Indian media insulting Indian cricket team after losing match against Pakistan.

Reko Diq is the area where world largest copper reserves and one of the biggest Gold reserves has been estimated. Near 100 Billion Dollar and its just an surface estimate. The international conspiracy roots behind US invasion in Baluchistan via Drone Attacks and Jewish Mining Company Barrick Gold!

The current turmoil in Pakistan, thousands of journalists, attorneys, opposition leaders and human rights NGO members, has thus far not impacted the Antofagasta/ Barrick Reko Diq joint venture advanced exploration project. A conspiracy to gain 75% of all the reserves, gold, copper and whatever they find….

I am posting the Urdu Report by Saeed Ahmad Abbasi on this issue:

Source: http://www.geotauaisay.com/2009/10/reko-diq-gold-copper-reserves-in-pakistan-in-urdu/

Compiled & Edited from Various Sources) by: Naveed Taj Ghouri

The current turmoil in Pakistan, thousands of journalists, attorneys, opposition leaders and human rights NGO members, has thus far not impacted the Antofagasta/ Barrick Reko Diq joint venture advanced exploration project. A conspiracy to gain 75% of all the reserves, gold, copper and whatever they find….

People who wondering why US is so much after Balochistan Area and why now talking about Drones at Quetta, because its all business and game for reserves of Balochistan. Read the exclusive Urdu Report on Reko Diq which has been already published.

America is After Reko Diq Balochistan Gold Reserves – Exclusive Report

Reko Diq is a small town in Chagai District, Balochistan, Pakistan, in a desert area 70 kilometres north west of Naukundi, near to the Iran-Afghan border.

Reko Diq, also the name of an ancient volcano, literally means sandy peak, but this is something of a misnomer. It could be called Tangav Diq, or gold peak, because according to development expert Syed Fazl-e-Haider, below the sands lie some 12.3 million tons of copper and 20.9 million ounces of gold. The copper-gold deposits at Reko Diq are believed to be even bigger than those of Sarcheshmeh in Iran and Escondida in Chile.

What is Reko Diq Project?

The Reko Diq project is a large copper-gold porphyry resource on the Tethyan belt, located in the dry desert conditions of southwest Pakistan within the remote and sparsely populated province of Baluchistan. The Tethyan belt is a prospective region for large gold-copper porphyries.

Reko Diq is a giant copper and gold project in Chaghi. The main license (EL5) is held jointly by the Government of Balochistan (25%), Antofagasta Minerals (37.5%) and Barrick Gold (37.5%).

Actually Barrick has a 50% interest in Tethyan Copper Company (the other 50% is owned by Antofagasta plc), which has a 75% interest in the Reko Diq project and associated mineral interests (for a resulting 37.5% interest in Reko Diq).

As of December 31, 2008, Barrick’s share of measured and indicated and inferred gold resources are 8.5 and 8.4 million ounces respectively. Barrick’s share of measured and indicated and inferred copper resources are 11.5 and 8.5 billion pounds respectively.

A further 14 mineralized porphyry bodies are known to exist, with the potential to place the Reko Diq Project among the largest undeveloped copper resources on the globe.

The TCC has estimated annual production 200 to 500 million copper tones from the project. The Company started the Reko-Diq copper project in 2003 with an investment of US $130 million. The project is faced with acute shortage of water for having no surface flow. The expected mining operations in Reko Diq will depend on sub-surface water with the exploration of underground water potential in the region being a pre-requisite for any mining project.

Protestors gathered outside of Barrick Gold’s annual general meeting last year to show their solidarity with the affected indigenous community representatives who were inside the meeting voicing their complaints to the company shareholders.

Rise of Barrick Gold in Pakistan:

The Jewish Company working there stats that the pre-feasibility study is expected to be finalized in the third quarter of 2009. Work on the feasibility study has commenced and is expected to be completed in early 2010. Barrick bought a stake in the Reko Dig copper-gold project in Pakistan for $100 million in February from Antofagasta PLC, a Chilean mining group.

In 2007, When CEO Greg Wilkins went to Islamabad in connection with that project, Munk said, he was received by both Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and President Pervez Musharraf.

Although the company’s assessment of opportunities in that country is still in the early days, Wilkins said Barrick would be “very interested” in more projects there, despite challenges posed by the presence of al-Qaida in some of its regions.

According to Mineweb.com…. What is believed to be one of the world’s largest reserves of gold and copper were discovered last year in the Chaghi area in Pakistan’s southwest Balochistan Province. The Balochistan government has a 25% share while Barrick Gold has obtained 50% of the Reko Diq project. Reko Diq is believed to contain 12.3 million tons of copper and 20.9 million ounces of gold in inferred and indicated resources. Some surveys have suggested that Reko Diq may contain as much as 11 billion pounds of copper and nine million ounces of gold.

BHP Billiton, which was involved in the project at an earlier date, also believed Reko Diq may have the potential to yield copper resources that may eventually make it a multi-billion project. Antofagasta is now a 50-50 partner with Barrick. If the project is successful, it may have the potential to generate a mining industry in Pakistan.

An estimated US$46 million project budget includes a scoping study and initial pre-feasibility costs. The scoping study has been completed for the Western Porphyries with an updated resource anticipated at year end Barrick Executive Vice President, Exploration and Project Development, Alex Davidson told analysts last week.

While Riko was initially envisioned as a 72,000 tpd operation, Davidson said the joint ventures partners are now examining “significantly greater outputs.”

In an e-mail Monday to Mineweb, Barrick Senior Vice President Vince Borg said, “Our project staff in Islamabad are safe, which is the paramount concern wherever we operate, and we are in regular contact with them.” He noted that Reko Diq is in a very remote location, Baluchistan, “and work on the site is continuing.”

“We will obviously continue to monitor the situation,” Borg concluded.

Community representatives of affected indigenous communities in Papua New Guinea, Chile and Australia traveled great distances to come to Toronto last year to speak out against the world’s largest gold mining corporation, Barrick Gold, regarding their gold mining operations where they live.

The Conspiracy:

BHP Billiton, the world’s largest mining company, started this project with the Australian firm Tethyan, entering into a joint venture with the Balochistan government and estimating an annual production of 200 to 500 million pounds of copper. A large number of porphyry rocks are also known to exist.

The interests of the Australian company in Reko Diq and its neighbourhood were taken over by the Toronto-based Barrick Gold Corporation and the Chilean Antofagasta Minerals. These companies were handed a very lucrative deal. The terms agreed upon show that there is more to the issue than meets the eye. Royalties were reduced from the initial four to two per cent. Terms for the provision of cost-free land for an airport and a 400 km Reko Diq-Gwadar road were accepted. An unjust clause is that a 25 per cent share will be paid to the Balochistan government, but only after it invests 25 per cent in the project.

Antofagasta’s net assets at the end of 2007 grew to almost $5bn. In December 2005 it said: “Tethyan’s principal assets are a 75 per cent interest in the highly prospective Chagai Hills region of North West Pakistan known as Reko Diq, including the Tanjeel Mineral Resource. This mining district hosts significant copper-gold porphyry deposits as part of an extended copper-gold belt. Total indicated and inferred mineral resource estimates at these properties are 1,213 million tonnes with a copper grade of 0.58% and a gold grade of 0.28 grams per tonne. Estimates include probable reserves at the Tanjeel of 128.8 million tonnes with a copper grade of 0.7%.”

According to Rob Maguire of the Dominion paper, Barrick is the foremost gold mining corporation in the world, with sales exceeding $2.6bn in 2005 and the largest reserves in the industry, at nearly 90 million ounces. Proponents of this project state that the mines will create thousands of high paying jobs and give a massive boost to the local economy. However the main fear many have is that revenues generated by this project will be squandered by corrupt officials. Therefore it is imperative that a mechanism be evolved to ensure that revenues generated actually lead to better infrastructure, education and health.

These corporations have outsourced services to Pakistani contractors such as ROCKMORE PVT LIMITED, Security 2000, Zia ul Haq & Company, and foreign companies like Capital Drilling & Zain Drilling Company. In April 2008, Zain Drilling Company terminated the services of forty drilling assistants and recruited novices and non-locals. The AZAT Foundation has tried to protect their rights, and on June 14, 2008 a well-attended demonstration was held outside the Quetta Press Club.

There are many advocates of such mega projects who claim that the Baloch have benefited from their trickle-down effect. However, mining uses sodium cyanide, arsenic and other chemicals which produce toxic by-products. According to Marcel Claude, vice-president of the international environmental group Oceana, gold mining dumps 79 tonnes of waste for every 28 grams of gold and produces 96 per cent of the world’s arsenic emissions.

Source: http://www.geotauaisay.com/2009/10/reko-diq-gold-copper-reserves-in-pakistan/

From coffee to cheques and the three-course meal, the Muslim world has given us many innovations that we take for granted in daily life. As a new exhibition opens, Paul Vallely nominates 20 of the most influential- and identifies the men of genius behind them Published: 11 March 2006

1.  Coffee:

The story goes that an Arab named Khalid was tending his goats in the Kaffa region of southern Ethiopia , when he noticed his animals became livelier after eating a certain berry. He boiled the berries to make the first coffee. Certainly the first record of the drink is of beans exported from Ethiopia to Yemen where Sufis drank it to stay awake all night to pray on special occasions. By the late 15th century it had arrived in Mecca and Turkey from where it made its way to Venice in 1645. It was brought to England in 1650 by a Turk named Pasqua Rosee who opened the first coffee house in Lombard Street in the City of London. The Arabic qahwa became the Turkish kahve then the Italian caffé and then English coffee.

2.  Pin-Hole Camera:

The ancient Greeks thought our eyes emitted rays, like a laser, which enabled us to see. The first person to realise that light enters the eye, rather than leaving it, was the 10th-century Muslim mathematician, astronomer and physicist Ibn al-Haitham. He invented the first pin-hole camera after noticing the way light came through a hole in window shutters. The smaller the hole, the better the picture, he worked out, and set up the first Camera Obscura (from the Arab word qamara for a dark or private room). He is also credited with being the first man to shift physics from a philosophical activity to an experimental one.

3.  Chess:

A form of chess was played in ancient India but the game was developed into the form we know it today in Persia . From there it spread westward to Europe – where it was introduced by the Moors in Spain in the 10th century – and eastward as far as Japan . The word rook comes from the Persian rukh, which means chariot.

4.  Parachute:

A thousand years before the Wright brothers a Muslim poet, astronomer, musician and engineer named Abbas ibn Firnas made several attempts to construct a flying machine. In 852 he jumped from the minaret of the Grand Mosque in Cordoba using a loose cloak stiffened with wooden struts. He hoped to glide like a bird. He didn’t. But the cloak slowed his fall, creating what is thought to be the first parachute, and leaving him with only minor injuries. In 875, aged 70, having perfected a machine of silk and eagles’ feathers he tried again, jumping from a mountain. He flew to a significant height and stayed aloft for ten minutes but crashed on landing – concluding, correctly, that it was because he had not given his device a tail so it would stall on landing.  Baghdad international airport and a crater on the Moon are named after him.

5.  Shampoo:

Washing and bathing are religious requirements for Muslims, which is perhaps why they perfected the recipe for soap which we still use today. The ancient Egyptians had soap of a kind, as did the Romans who used it more as a pomade. But it was the Arabs who combined vegetable oils with sodium hydroxide and aromatics such as thyme oil. One of the Crusaders’ most striking characteristics, to Arab nostrils, was that they did not  wash. Shampoo was introduced to England by a Muslim who opened Mahomed’s Indian Vapour Baths on Brighton seafront in 1759 and was appointed Shampooing Surgeon to Kings George IV and William IV.

6.  Refinement:

Distillation, the means of separating liquids through differences in their boiling points, was invented around the year 800 by Islam’s foremost scientist, Jabir ibn Hayyan, who transformed alchemy into chemistry, inventing many of the basic processes and apparatus still in use today – liquefaction, crystallisation, distillation, purification, oxidisation, evaporation and filtration. As well as discovering sulphuric and nitric acid, he invented the alembic still, giving the world intense rosewater and other perfumes and alcoholic spirits (although drinking them is haram, or forbidden, in Islam). Ibn Hayyan emphasised systematic experimentation and was the founder of modern chemistry.

7.  Shaft:
The crank-shaft is a device which translates rotary into linear motion and is central to much of the machinery in the modern world, not least the internal combustion engine. One of the most important mechanical inventions in the history of humankind, it was created by an ingenious Muslim engineer called al-Jazari to raise water for irrigation. His 1206 Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices shows he also invented or refined the use of valves and pistons, devised some of the first mechanical clocks driven by water and weights, and was the father of robotics. Among his 50 other inventions was the combination lock.

8.  Metal Armor:
Quilting is a method of sewing or tying two layers of cloth with a layer of insulating material in between. It is not clear whether it was invented in the Muslim world or whether it was imported there from India or China . But it certainly came to the West via the Crusaders. They saw it used by Saracen warriors, who wore straw-filled quilted canvas shirts instead of armour. As well as a form of protection, it proved an effective guard against the chafing of the Crusaders’ metal armour and was an effective form of insulation – so much so that it became a cottage industry back home in colder climates such as Britain and Holland.

9.  Pointed Arch:

The pointed arch so characteristic of Europe’s Gothic cathedrals was an invention borrowed from Islamic architecture. It was much stronger than the rounded arch used by the Romans and Normans, thus allowing the building of bigger, higher, more complex and grander buildings. Other borrowings from Muslim genius included ribbed vaulting, rose windows and dome-building techniques. Europe’s castles were also adapted to copy the Islamic world’s – with arrow slits, battlements, a barbican and parapets. Square towers and keeps gave way to more easily defended round ones. Henry V’s castle architect was a Muslim.

10.  Surgery:

Many modern surgical instruments are of exactly the same design as those devised in the 10th century by a Muslim surgeon called al-Zahrawi. His scalpels, bone saws, forceps, fine scissors for eye surgery and many of the 200 instruments he devised are recognisable to a modern surgeon.
It was he who discovered that catgut used for internal stitches dissolves away naturally (a discovery he made when his monkey ate his lute strings) and that it can be also used to make medicine capsules. In the 13th century, another Muslim medic named Ibn Nafis described the circulation of the blood, 300 years before William Harvey discovered it.  Muslims doctors also invented anaesthetics of opium and alcohol mixes and developed hollow needles to suck cataracts from eyes in a technique still used today.

11.  Windmill:

The windmill was invented in 634 for a Persian caliph and was used to grind corn and draw up water for irrigation. In the vast deserts of Arabia, when the seasonal streams ran dry, the only source of power was the wind which blew steadily from one direction for months. Mills had six or 12 sails covered in fabric or palm leaves. It was 500 years before the first windmill was seen in Europe.

12.  Vaccination:

The technique of inoculation was not invented by Jenner and Pasteur but was devised in the Muslim world and brought to Europe from Turkey by the wife of the English ambassador to Istanbul in 1724. Children in Turkey were vaccinated with cowpox to fight the deadly smallpox at least 50 years before the West discovered it.

13.  Fountain Pen:

The fountain pen was invented for the Sultan of Egypt in 953 after he demanded a pen which would not stain his hands or clothes. It held ink in a reservoir and, as with modern pens, fed ink to the nib by a combination of gravity and capillary action.

14.  Numerical Numbering:

The system of numbering in use all round the world is probably Indian in origin but the style of the numerals is Arabic and first appears in print in the work of the Muslim mathematicians al-Khwarizmi and al-Kindi around 825. Algebra was named after al-Khwarizmi’ s book, Al-Jabr wa-al-Muqabilah, much of whose contents are still in use. The work of Muslim maths scholars was imported into Europe 300 years later by the Italian mathematician Fibonacci. Algorithms and much of the theory of trigonometry came from the Muslim world. And Al-Kindi’s discovery of frequency analysis rendered all the codes of the ancient world soluble and created the basis of modern cryptology.

15.  Soup:

Ali ibn Nafi, known by his nickname of Ziryab (Blackbird) came from Iraq to Cordoba in the 9th century and brought with him the concept of the three-course meal – soup, followed by fish or meat, then fruit and nuts. He also introduced crystal glasses (which had been invented after experiments with rock crystal by Abbas ibn Firnas – see No 4).

16.  Carpets:

Carpets were regarded as part of Paradise by medieval Muslims, thanks to their advanced weaving techniques, new tinctures from Islamic chemistry and highly developed sense of pattern and arabesque which were the basis of Islam’s non-representationa l art. In contrast, Europe’s floors were distinctly earthly, not to say earthy, until Arabian and Persian carpets were introduced. In England, as Erasmus recorded, floors were “covered in rushes, occasionally renewed, but so imperfectly that the bottom layer is left undisturbed, sometimes for 20 years, harbouring expectoration, vomiting, the leakage of dogs and men, ale droppings, scraps of fish, and other abominations not fit to be mentioned”.
Carpets, unsurprisingly, caught on quickly.

17.  Pay Cheques:

The modern cheque comes from the Arabic saqq, a written vow to pay for goods when they were delivered, to avoid money having to be transported across dangerous terrain. In the 9th century, a Muslim businessman could cash a cheque in China drawn on his bank in Baghdad.

18.  Earch is in sphere shape?

By the 9th century, many Muslim scholars took it for granted that the Earth was a sphere. The proof, said astronomer Ibn Hazm, “is that the
Sun is always vertical to a particular spot on Earth”. It was 500 years before that realisation dawned on Galileo. The calculations of Muslim astronomers were so accurate that in the 9th century they reckoned the Earth’s circumference to be 40, 253.4km – less than 200km out. The scholar al-Idrisi took a globe depicting the world to the court of King Roger of Sicily in 1139.

19.  Rocket and Torpedo:

Though the Chinese invented saltpetre gunpowder, and used it in their fireworks, it was the Arabs who worked out that it could be purified using potassium nitrate for military use. Muslim incendiary devices terrified the Crusaders. By the 15th century they had invented both a rocket, which they called a “self-moving and combusting egg”, and a torpedo – a self-propelled pear-shaped bomb with a spear at the front which impaled itself in enemy ships and then blew up.

20.  Gardens:

Medieval Europe had kitchen and herb gardens, but it was the Arabs who developed the idea of the garden as a place of beauty and meditation. The first royal pleasure gardens in Europe were opened in 11th-century Muslim Spain. Flowers which originated in Muslim gardens include the carnation and the tulip.

Source: http://www.geotauaisay.com/2009/10/20-greatest-inventions-by-muslim-scientists/

In nearly all the western countries including Europe, the PRIMARY choice for meat is PIG. There are a lot of farms in these countries to A breed this animal. In France alone, Pig Farms account for more than 42,000.

PIGS have the highest quantity of FAT in their body than any other animal. But Europeans and Americans try to avoid fats. Thus, where does the FAT from these PIGS go? All pigs are cut inslaughter houses under the control of the department of food and it was the headache of the department of food to! dispose of the fat removed from these pigs.

Formally, it was burnt (about 60 years ago). Then they thought of utilizing it. First, they experimented it in the making of SOAPS and it worked.

Then, a full network was formed and this FAT was chemically Processed, Packed and Marketed, while the other manufacturing companies bought it. In the meantime, all European States made it a rule that every Food, Medical and Personal Hygiene product should have the ingredients listed on its cover. so, this ingredient was listed as PIG FAT.

Those who are living in Europe for the past 40 years know about this. But, these products came under a ban by the ISLAMIC COUNTRIES at that time, which resulted in a trade deficit.

Going back in time, if you are somehow related to South East Asia, you might know about the provoking factors of the 1857 CIVIL WAR. At that time, Rifle Bullets were made in Europe and transported to the sub-continent through the Sea. It took months to reach there and the gun powder in it was ruined due to the exposure to sea.

Then, they got the idea of coating the Bullets with fat, which was PIG FAT. The fat layer had to be scratched by teeth before using them. When the word spread, the soldiers, mostly Muslim and some Vegetarians, refused to fight.Which eventually lead to the Civil War. The Europeans recognized these facts, and instead of writing PIG FAT, they started writing ANIMAL FAT.All those living in Europe since 1970’s know this fact. When the companies were asked by authorities from the MUSLIM COUNTRIES, what animal fat is it, they were told it was COW and SHEEP Fat. Here again a question raised, if it was COW or SHEEP Fat, still it is HARAAM to MUSLIMS, as these animal were not SLAUGHTERED as per the ISLAMIC LAW. Thus, they were again banned. Now, these multinational companies were again facing a severe drought of money as 75% of their income comes from selling their goods to Muslim Countries, and these earn BILLIONS OF DOLLARS of Profit from their exports to the MUSLIM WORLD.

Finally they decided to start a coding language, so that only their Departments of Food Administration should know what they are using, and the common man is left lurking in the dark.Thus, they started E-CODES. These E- INGREDIENTS are present in a majority of products of multinational firms including, but not limited to -

• TOOTH PASTE,
• SHAVING CREAM
• CHEWING GUM,
• CHOCOLATE,
• SWEETS,
• BISCUITS,
• CORN FLAKES, TOFFEES,
• CANNED FOODS,
• FRUIT TINS,

Some medication Multi-vitamins Since these goods are being used in all MUSLIM Countries indiscrimately, our society is facing problems like shamelessness, rudeness and sexual promiscuity. So, I request all MUSLIMS or non pork eaters to check the ingredients of the ITEMS of daily use and match it with the following list of E-CODES. If any of the ingredients listed below is found, try to avoid it, as it has got PIG FAT;

E100, E110, E120, E 140, E141, E153, E210, E213, E214, E216, E234, E252,E270, E280, E325, E326, E327, E334, E335, E336, E337, E422, E430, E431, E432, E433, E434, E435, E436, E440, E470, E471, E472, E473, E474, E475,E476, E477, E478, E481, E482, E483, E491, E492, E493, E494, E495, E542,E570, E572, E631, E635, E904.

Courtesy
Dr. M. Amjad Khan
Medical Research Institute
United States

Source: http://www.geotauaisay.com/2009/10/2why-pig-fat-is-not-mentioned-but-codes-are-printed/

November 24, 2009

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

Fact Sheets on U.S. – Indian Cooperation

Attached are a series of factsheets highlighting some of the key outcomes of this visit.   In total 6 Memoranda-of-understandings were signed, 2 memoranda-of-interest as well as several other initiatives and agreements. Below are some of the highlights from the four papers covering global security and counter-terrorism, education and development, health cooperation, economic trade and agriculture, and green partnerships.

Advancing Global Security and Countering Terrorism

• Expansion of the U.S.-India Counterterrorism Cooperation Initiative, Prime Minister Singh and President Obama committed to redouble their collective efforts to deal effectively with terrorism, while protecting their countries’ common ideals and shared values, and committed themselves to strengthening global consensus and legal regimes against terrorism.

• Support for an early start of negotiations on a multilateral, non-discriminatory and internationally verifiable Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty. The two leaders also look forward to the April 2010 Nuclear Security Summit and agreed to consult each other regularly.  They affirmed their commitment to work together to prevent the spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction- and missile-related technology and to realize their shared vision of a world free of nuclear weapons.

Green Partnerships

• Launch of a “Green Partnership” to strengthen U.S./India cooperation on clean energy, climate change, and food security.  This reflects our two countries’ commitment to taking vigorous action to combat climate change, ensuring mutual energy security, working towards global food security, and building a clean energy economy that will drive investment, job creation, and economic growth throughout the 21st century.
• Launch of an Indo-U.S. Clean Energy Research and Deployment Initiative, supported by U.S. and Indian government funding and private sector contributions. This new Initiative will include a Joint Research Center operating in both the United States and India to foster innovation and joint efforts to accelerate deployment of clean energy technologies.  The Initiative will facilitate joint research, scientific exchanges, and sharing of proven innovation and deployment policies.
• Support for an Indian EPA that will focus on creating a more effective system of environmental governance, regulation and enforcement.  Working with the India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will provide technical support to help establish an Indian National Environmental Protection Authority.

Economic Trade and Agriculture

• Meeting of the United States – India CEO Forum brought together leaders of the U.S. and Indian business communities — approximately ten from each side across various industry sectors — with senior government officials on November 23.  Forum members conveyed their interest in working on recommendations on how the public and private sectors can work together to strengthen economic and commercial ties between the two countries, stimulate innovation, spur job creation, and promote sustainable inclusive growth.
• Launch of a new Agriculture Dialogue and agreed on a Memorandum of Understanding on Agricultural Cooperation and Food Security that will set a pathway to robust cooperation between the governments in crop forecasting, management and market information; regional and global food security through the L’Aquila Food Security Initiative; science, technology, and education; nutrition; and expanding private sector investment in agriculture.  The United States and India expect cooperation under the agreement to expand access to knowledge to improve productivity, safety, and nutritional quality of food crops; to strengthen market institutions and foster growth of agribusiness investment and improve food security and access to adequate quantities and quality of food, particularly for women and young children.
• Renewed bilateral cooperation in the field of intellectual property through a Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Commerce’s United States Patent and Trademark Office and Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry.  The memorandum and action plan will focus on human resource development, capacity building and public awareness programs in intellectual property protection and enforcement.

Enhancing U.S.-India Cooperation on Education and Development

• Expansion of the bi-national Fulbright-Nehru Scholarship Program through a 45% increase in funding by each government to support increased exchanges of students and scholars in priority fields, bringing total support for these scholarships to $6.7 million this year.
• Launched the Obama-Singh 21st Century Knowledge Initiative which will provide $10 million in combined funding to increase university linkages and support junior faculty development between U.S. and Indian universities.
• Formation of the Women’s Empowerment Dialogue (WED) to further the full participation of women in all aspects of society in order for the global community to address the complex challenges we face in this new century.  During the initial meeting of the Women’s Empowerment Dialogue in New Delhi, both sides agreed to explore the creation of a “Women’s Empowerment Fund,” that would be able to support WED initiatives such as women’s social and economic empowerment, female literacy, political participation of women, and healthcare.

Health Cooperation

• Creation of a seventh Regional Global Disease Detection Center in India as a part of the Global Disease Detection (GDD) network.  This GDD collaboration will include a range of activities, such as emerging disease detection and response, pandemic influenza preparedness and response, laboratory systems and biosafety, field epidemiology training, health communications, and zoonotic disease investigation and control.  Other Regional Centers include Kenya, Thailand, Guatemala, Egypt, China, and Kazakhstan.
• Launch of the Health Dialogue: The first meeting of the U.S.-India Health Dialogue is planned for early 2010 in Washington.  Secretary of Health and Human Services Sebelius is the U.S. lead and Minister of Health and Family Welfare Azad will lead for India.
• Cooperation on Urban Health through U.S. Agency for International Development’s, soon to be launched, new Health of the Urban Poor Program, which aims to improve reproductive and child health in urban poor populations, especially for those dwelling in slums, by building the local capacity, improving program implementation and increasing resource allocation for urban health through policy analysis.  The program will work in close collaboration with urban local bodies and Indian national and state governments.

Source: http://whitehouse.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/11/24/white-house-fact-sheets-on-u-s-india-cooperation/

The Indian forces intruded into Pakistani area in the Rann of Kutch in April 1965. In a sharp and short conflict, the Indian forces were ejected. Both the armies had fully mobilized, with eyeball to eyeball contact. Pakistan proposed cease-fire, India accepted. An agreement was signed: the forces disengaged. The Award by the Arbitration Tribunal vindicated Pakistan ’s Position.

Past midnight on 5/6 September, without a formal declaration of war, Indian Army crossed the international border and attacked Lahore and Kasur fronts. Pakistan Army and Pakistan Air Force halted the attack in its tracks, inflicting heavy casualties on the aggressor. On 7 September a single Pakistan Air Force Pilot, Squadron Leader M.M. Alam, Sitara-i-Juraat, in his F-86 Sabre shot down five Indian Air Force attacking Hunter aircraft in a single sortie, an unbeaten world record On night 6/7 September three teams of our Special Services Groups were para-dropped on Indian Air Force bases at Pathankot, Adampur and Halwara to neutralize them.

To relieve pressure on Lahore front, on night 7/8 September, after crossing two major water obstacles in a bold thrust, Pakistani armoured and mechanized formations supported by artillery and Pakistan Air Force overran area Khem Karn, 6 to 8 miles inside Indian territory. Vital Indian positions at Sulemanki and across Rajasthan and Sindh were also captured in bold, swift attacks.

On night 7/8 September, 1 Corps of Indian Army launched its main effort east of Sialkot with one armoured and three infantry divisions on our extended 15 Division front, screened only by gallant 3 Frontier Force and B Company 13 Frontier Force (Reconnaissance & Support). 24 Infantry Brigade (Brigadier A.A Malik, Hilal-i-Juraat) on the move in area Pasrur, rushed 25 Cavalry (Lieutenant Colonel Nisar Ahmad, Sitara-i-Juraat), on 8 September to delay and disrupt enemy thrusts. As soon as the presence of Indian 1 Armoured Division was confirmed, Pakistan Army rushed forward to stop the onslaught on a 30-mile front. The biggest tank battle since World War II was fought on the Chwinda front by 6 Armoured Division with under command 24 Infantry Brigade Groups and valiantly supported by 4 Corps Artillery (Brigadier A.A.K. Choudhry, Hilal-i-Juraat). The main effort of the Indian Army was blunted, inflicting heavy and troop casualties. Pakistan Air Force support helped turn the tide of the battle. Before a counter offensive by 6 Armoured Division on 22 September could be launched, Indian asked for cease-fire in the United Nations. India ’s aggression against our international borders without a formal declaration of war had cost it, apart from heavy personnel, material land economic losses, 1617 sq. miles of territory as compared to 446 sq. miles of our open and undefended territory. Pakistan Army captured 20 officers, 19 Junior Commissioned Officers, and 569 Other Ranks

An ISPR Presentation.