ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Qamar Zaman Kaira Wednesday denied earlier reports that the black box (Flight Data Recorder) of the crashed plane has been found, Geo News reported.

He also announced for compensation of Rs 0.5 million to the victims.

Earlier in the day, the federal cabinet announced a day of national mourning. He also informed the journalist about a relief camp established in Aab Para, which would start functioning from tomorrow.

The minister said, they would have to use DNA tests to identify charred bodies plucked from the wreckage of the airliner.

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Iqbal was more than a poet or philosopher: Dr Javed

LAHORE: Justice (R) Dr Javed Iqbal, the son of poet laureate Allama Mohammad Iqbal said the Ulema of subcontinent have neglected the ‘dynamic’ aspects of Iqbal’s thought due to considering him just a poet or philosopher.

Dr Javed expressed these views while addressing a seminar on ‘Iqbal and present day Pakistan’ organised by Iqbal Academy Pakistan and Mir Khalil-ur-Rehman Memorial Society at the occasion of 133rd Iqbal Day on Monday.

Dr Javed read out his thesis on: ‘Islamic State of Pakistan in the Ideology of Iqbal – How to achieve an ideal secular state’.

He said the ability of a nation for being talented and powerful lies in its capacity of bringing up unique and distinctive personalities.

‘Allama Iqbal also urged for encouraging the creation of self-identifying individuals’, he added.

Meanwhile, on this occasion renowned Religious Scholar Dr Israr Ahmed said that Allama Iqbal was a harbinger of the renaissance of Islamic Millat and resurgence of Islam as well.

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ISLAMABAD: Seymour Hersh, Pulitzer prize winning journalist, stood by his report containing comments offered by former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf about President Asif Ali Zardari. He disclosed that the former president had given even harsher comments about his successor but in the ultimate scrutiny he made them mild and allowed the remarks that he made part of his article. Hersh will appear in Geo News programme ‘Meray Mutabiq’, at 2:05 pm today (Tuesday). Renowned journalist Dr Shahid Masood hosts the programme. Group Editor of The News Shaheen Sehbai will also participate. It is the maiden interview of the US investigative journalist in the wake of his thrilling write-up in the New Yorker magazine.

Hersh also discussed the role of the US embassy in Islamabad. He said it was the report that was received from the US embassy in Islamabad that highly classified US military and civil-emergency response team was put on alert indicating that a Pakistani nuclear component had gone astray. The team, which operates clandestinely and includes terrorism and non-proliferation experts from the US intelligence community, the Pentagon, the FBI, and the DOE, is under standing orders to deploy from Andrews Air Force Base, in Maryland (Washington), within four hours of an alert. When the report turned out to be a false alarm, the mission was aborted. By the time the team got the message, it was already in Dubai on its way to Pakistan. Hersh made several startling disclosures in the interview with Geo News.

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CHARSADDA: At least 15 people have been killed and various others injured in a powerful blast in Charsadda area of Farroq-e-Azam Chawk, Geo News reported Tuesday.

The place is usually crowded one. The people on their own kick-started the relief activities and rushed the bodies and injured to the nearby hospital.

The blast was so power that the windowpanes of nearby buildings broke and the smoke is seen billowing from the blast site.

The state of emergency has been declared in the hospital.

According to Geo News correspondent, at least 15 bodies have been taken to the District Hospital and some injured are in critical condition.

Some injured have been rushed to the Lady Reading Hospital.

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ISLAMABAD: Security forces have recovered a passport of German national, Saeed Bhaji, who allegedly chalked out the plot of 9/11 attacks.

According to sources, Saeed Bhaji was accused of carrying out 9/11 attacks.

The passport of Saeed Bhaji has an entry showing Karachi’s visit in the first week of September 2001. During the visit he informed Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan about the planned attacks.

Saeed Bhaji planned the US and Germany attacks in Afghanistan.

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KARACHI: The sugar crisis continues all over the country, as people are deprived of sugar, as sugar mill owners have plainly refused to supply sugar on prescribed prices despite the government announcements.

In contrast to Supreme Court order, the government has apparently failed to prompt sugar mill owners to supply sugar at Rs.36 per kg to the wholesalers, whereas, shopkeepers and wholesalers have stopped buying sugar at higher prices in order to evade police raids and fines, which has created a severe dearth of sugar in the retail market.

The people are deprived of sugar supply regardless of 650, 00000 tons of sugar stocked in the TCP and sugar mill warehouses collectively.

Despite of huge sugar reserves, crisis persists in different cities of the country.

In some areas of Punjab sugar is hardly available at the price of Rs.100 per kg, whereas, in Lahore sugar has completely disappeared.

The sugar prices in NWFP has sky rocketed and yet sugar is hardly on sale at Rs.90 per kg.

Similarly, in Quetta, sugar is only available for Rs.40 per kg at the government set centers, but in retail markets the sugar is being sold at 48 to 50 rupees.

In Islamabad sugar is hardly available at Rs.48 per kg, where government has held several meetings with the sugar mill owners to ensure sugar supply at prescribed prices.

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