Tag Archives: pakistan
Suicide attack on Pakistani church kills 56 people
Suicide bombers kill more than 60 at Pakistan church (AFP) / 22 September 2013 A double suicide bombing killed more than 60 people at a church service in northwest Pakistan on Sunday, officials said, believed to be the deadliest attack on Christians in the troubled country. The two bombers struck at the end of a service at All Saints Church in Peshawar, the main town of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Doctor Mohammad Iqbal of Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital said that 61 people had been killed and 120 wounded. Fellow doctor Sher Ali confirmed the numbers. Sahibzada Anees , one of Peshawar’s most senior officials, told reporters the bombers struck when the service had just ended. “Most of the wounded are in critical condition,” Anees said. “We are in an area which is a target of terrorism and within that area there was a special security arrangement for the church. We are in a rescue phase and once it is over we will investigate what went wrong.” Former minister for inter-faith harmony Paul Bhatti and provincial lawmaker Fredrich Azeem Ghauri both said the attack was the deadliest ever targeting Christians in Pakistan. School teacher Nazir Khan , 50, said the service had just ended and at least 400 worshippers were greeting each other when there was a big explosion. “A huge blast threw me on the floor and as soon as I regained my senses, a second blast took place and I saw wounded people everywhere,” Khan tosaid. Grieving relatives blocked the main Grand Trunk road highway with bodies of the victims to protest against the killings, an AFP reporter said. Provincial lawmaker Ghauri said there were about 200,000 Christians in the province, of whom 70,000 lived in Peshawar. “Now after this attack Christians across Pakistan will fear for their lives,” he warned. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the bombings. “Terrorists have no religion and targeting innocent people is against the teachings of Islam and all religions,” he said in a statement. Sharif said such “cruel acts of terrorism reflect the brutality and inhumane mindset of the terrorists”. Continue reading
VIASPACE CEO Update Part 2 Highlights California and Hawaii Business Activities and Opportunities
WALNUT, Calif., Sept. 16, 2013 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — VIASPACE Inc. (otcqb:VSPC) CEO, Dr. Carl Kukkonen, today provided an update on recent company business activities. This second of three updates covers the Giant King Grass nursery in California and activities in Hawaii. It complements a previous company update issued on September 4, 2013. A future third CEO update will cover business activities and opportunities in Southeast Asia. Dr. Kukkonen reported, “The VIASPACE Giant King Grass propagation nursery and test plot in California is ready to harvest for propagation material (Giant King Grass seedlings) to be sent to customers. The Giant King Grass was cut on March 10, 2013 and is now six months old. It is about 14 feet tall and is fully mature for propagation. We conducted a germination test at five months old and obtained 100% germination which is outstanding.” Kukkonen continued, “The nursery is also a demonstration plot that potential customers can visit to see the Giant King Grass in person. Although we show pictures of Giant King Grass and it can be seen on our website, seeing it in person reveals the full power and effect. The canopy is fully closed and when you walk inside, you cannot see the California sun. The closed canopy prevents weeds from growing amongst the Giant King Grass without the need for herbicide. The plants are racing each other to get to the sun and get very tall. During the last few months we have had visits from potential customers from Central America, the Caribbean, Philippines, India, Pakistan and the US. The nursery is not open to the public, but only to serious potential customers that have signed nondisclosure agreements.” “In addition, we recently announced results of independent and third-party testing that show when Giant King Grass is cut frequently at 4-5 feet tall, it is an excellent, high protein animal feed. The testing data demonstrate that Giant King Grass is very similar in nutritional value to oat hay. We have just recently expanded our California Giant King Grass nursery with additional land dedicated to further develop, implement and support our animal feed business line. This is an important new aspect of our overall business strategy to accelerate and augment our sources of revenue.” “Giant King Grass has been grown by the US Department of Agriculture and declared to be free of pest and disease, and approved for distribution throughout the United States, and for export to other countries. When Giant King Grass is exported, the US Department of Agriculture inspects the shipment at our California nursery and issues a phytosanitary certificate. Giant King Grass has been sent from our nursery in California to St. Croix in the U.S.Virgin Islands, Nicaragua, South Africa, Hawaii and to other locations.” “For those of you who have been to Hawaii, you will remember that there is a form that you have to fill out on the airplane declaring if you are carrying any agricultural items. This is because the Hawaiian Islands are very careful not to let in any new pests or invasive agricultural species. To get Giant King Grass into Hawaii, it has to be grown in their quarantine facility under supervision of the Hawaii Department of Agriculture for one year. It does not make any difference that the mainland USDA grew and approved Giant King Grass under their supervision, to get approval in Hawaii, it takes another year. VIASPACE made arrangements with the Hawaii Department of Agriculture and began growing Giant King Grass in quarantine on December 20, 2012.” “The quarantine facility is a one-story building surrounded by a water moat to prevent crawling insects from getting in. The door enters into a small vestibule painted black with another door admitting entry into the facility itself. This two step entrance process is meant to prevent flying insects from getting inside. Within the facility, there are separate rooms for each species. Our room is about 10′ x 13′ with a 13 foot ceiling that is a translucent plastic. Two sides are screened and air can get in. The room was sterilized and the Giant King Grass was planted in 5 gallon containers. The Department of Agriculture waters the plants according to our schedule, but does nothing else. VIASPACE does the maintenance including fertilization.” Kukkonen continued, “It is not an ideal growing situation because there is no direct sunlight and only partial diffuse sunlight. This could significantly inhibit the growth of Giant King Grass. Secondly, Giant King Grass is supposed to be harvested twice per year whereas the quarantine is for a full year. Third, the grass is planted in 5 gallon containers rather than in the earth– they are root bound. Despite these limitations, the Department of Agriculture notified us that the Giant King Grass was literally hitting the ceiling. Last week, I went and cut the grass and did a propagation of new Giant King Grass. The grass is doing well and there are no pests or disease. We expect that the Giant King Grass will be released from quarantine in three months on December 19, 2013. The seedlings from the Giant King Grass soon to be released from quarantine, represent the future of VIASPACE in Hawaii.” “While I was in Hawaii, I met with potential customers who are developing projects for biomass electricity. One important thing I learned was that the Hawaiian government is trying to resurrect the agriculture sector in Hawaii. There is only one operational sugar plantation remaining of the many great plantations of the past. Pineapple is virtually gone. At one time the Hawaiian Islands raised a great number of cattle and this business is almost gone as well. Pig farming is active, but declining. The food for the pigs is imported from the mainland which is very expensive. The few remaining cattle graze on pasture and then are sent to the cattle feed operations on the mainland to gain enough weight to be sold. There are many great opportunities for Giant King Grass to be used as animal feed and as an energy crop in Hawaii.” “I attended the Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit and VIASPACE exhibited at the Expo. Hawaii Governor, Neil Abercrombie, gave the opening speech. He was very passionate and articulate about the need for renewable energy in Hawaii. He said that the electricity price of up to $0.40 per kilowatt hour was the highest of anywhere in the United States, and that Hawaii was totally dependent on expensive, imported oil. He specifically called out biomass electricity in addition to solar and wind as good alternatives for Hawaii. The Summit and Expo gave VIASPACE great exposure and produced several new leads and potential partnerships.” Kukkonen concluded, “Our propagation nursery and test plot in California is an extremely valuable asset. It is both a sales showroom and a source of Giant King Grass seedlings for customers interested in bioenergy projects and/or animal feed applications. Hawaii presents an exciting and new opportunity for VIASPACE as well and it is very timely that we entered quarantine last year. We will have Giant King Grass available to actively pursue and implement business opportunities in Hawaii in December.” About VIASPACE Inc.VIASPACE grows renewable Giant KingTM Grass as a low-carbon fuel for clean electricity generation; for environmentally friendly energy pellets; and as a feedstock for bio-methane production and for green cellulosic biofuels, biochemicals and biomaterials. Giant King Grass is a proprietary, high yield, dedicated biomass clean energy crop that does not compete with or displace food production. For more information, please go to www.VIASPACE.com or contact Dr. Jan Vandersande, Director of Communications, at 800-517-8050 or IR@VIASPACE.com. Safe Harbor StatementInformation in this news release includes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Such factors include, without limitation, risks outlined in our periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012, and other factors over which VIASPACE has little or no control. SOURCE VIASPACE Inc. Continue reading
Free YouTube! Pakistan ban faces court action
Free YouTube! Pakistan ban faces court action (AP) / 16 September 2013 ToffeeTV has hit an unexpected snag. The Internet startup depended on YouTube to promote “Hokey-Pokey,” “The Umm Nyum Nyum Song” and other language-teaching clips it produces for children, but the video-sharing website has been banned in Pakistan for nearly a year. The measure was imposed to block videos that Muslims took as insulting and blasphemous. But the unintended consequence has been frustration for many companies, educators and students. A petition to end Internet censorship is before a Pakistani court, and a debate has been rekindled over how to reconcile the right to a free flow of information with a widespread public sentiment that Islam needs special protections. ToffeeTV has had to save its clips on its own servers and delay the rollout of its apps, says company co-founder Rabia Garib. “It threw us off our feet,” she said. “We’re off schedule by about eight months.” While the tech-savvy have ways to get around the ban, the vast majority of Pakistanis who try to view YouTube get this: “Surf Safely! … The site you are trying to access contains content that is prohibited for viewership from within Pakistan.” The made-in-America trailer for “Innocence of Muslims,” the movie of which has never reached cinemas, provoked uproar throughout the Muslim world, and several US diplomatic missions were targeted. In Pakistan, clashes between police and protesters left 19 people dead. YouTube as well as Facebook were initially blocked although the government soon exempted Facebook, saying it removed the offensive material. At the time, US President Barack Obama’s administration asked Google, YouTube’s parent, to take down the video. But the company refused, saying the trailer didn’t violate its content standards. The only other countries that block YouTube are Tajikistan, China and Iran, according to Google’s transparency report that tracks restrictions of its products. Another 56 countries have localised versions of YouTube that allow for tailoring content to local standards. Pakistan, a nation of roughly 180 million, has a democratically elected government and a legal system inherited from its former British rulers. But that system also contains significant religious strictures, and disputes over religion frequently end in bloodshed. So at the time the YouTube ban was imposed, many saw it as a necessary calming measure. Now an advocacy group called Bytes for All is petitioning the Lahore High Court to order an end to all Internet censorship. Muzzling YouTube “could lead to the opening up of an entire Pandora’s box of moral policing and dictatorial controls despite the democracy being in place,” said Furhan Hussain of Bytes for All. At the organisation’s Islamabad offices, activists say the YouTube case is just the latest example. Over the years the government has periodically banned Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, but the YouTube ban has lasted the longest. It can be circumvented via VPNs, virtual private networks that mask the user’s computer but are prone to viruses and slow the Internet connection. These proxies are too cumbersome for his staff to deal with, says Jawwad Ahmed Farid, founder and CEO of Karachi-based Alchemy Technologies, which does risk-management training for financial professionals. It posts short videos of its classes on YouTube to attract business, but uploads fewer of them following the ban, and the volume of Pakistani customers referred through YouTube has fallen, Farid said. “My team finds it very difficult to work with all the proxies in place. It certainly slows it down a bit,” he said. Sidra Qasim is co-CEO of HOMETOWN, a Lahore-based company that helps leather workers to market products such as shoes and belts online. It used YouTube to reach customers and also to teach the workers new techniques. “Now that training part is stopped totally,” she said. A committee of officials from various ministries is looking for solutions and will make the decision on whether to unblock YouTube. But experts aren’t sure a technical solution even exists, and Bytes for All and others say that even if the government comes up with a filtering mechanism, they will continue to resist it as censorship. Kamran Ali, a spokesman for the Ministry of Internet Technology, acknowledged that the ban can be a hardship but said the government must weigh freedom of information against offending the public. “It’s a Muslim country, and this video clearly violates the religious sentiments of the people of Pakistan,” he said. At Air University in Islamabad, some students supported a government-imposed filter. “If they are able to control this blasphemous material that would be a good step,” said Waqar ur-Rehman, 21. But they recognised the difficulty of actually coming up with a system, and some argued against any restrictions, if only because they could be evaded. “I think the ban shouldn’t have been there. It (the movie) hurt a lot of religious sentiments, mine as well, but it was not the right way to do it, because there are so many ways to go around it,” said Palwasha Khursheed, who studies electrical engineering. Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a Muslim cleric, acknowledged the ban was porous, and said Pakistan was missing an opportunity to use technology such as YouTube to educate people about Islam. He urged the government to lift the ban, but only after installing filters, saying, “We must not allow anyone to attack our cultural values.” One solution would be a localised version of YouTube for Pakistan. But Google would need immunity from prosecution for any offending content, and Pakistani law so far doesn’t allow for such an arrangement. “It is Google’s goal to offer local versions of YouTube to more places worldwide, but it takes time,” said Google in a statement to The Associated Press in request for comment about the court case. “The localization process can be lengthy as we research laws and build relationships with local content creators.” Continue reading
