Yet again the Interior Minister gets in action. This times constituted a committee to examine draft bill regarding misuse of electronic equipment i.e. emails, SMS, MMS in anti-state activities detrimental to the national security. This comes in wake of the recent change in political winds and anti-state messages been floated on emails, mobile phones etc.. As reported by the APP:

The committee headed by Secretary Interior would brief the Minister within one week regarding the proposed legislation. He was chairing a meeting on the subject of “misuse of electronic equipments, i.e. internet, email, SMS/MMS and to take remedial measures to curb the menace of such illegal activities with iron hands.

Secretary Interior, Secretary, Information Technology,Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Inspector General Sindh, Members FBR and Representatives of Intelligence Agencies attended the meeting.

Once again the Multiple and illegal SIMs got under the gun:

It was observed that the criminals are still using unauthorized mobile SIMS for their criminal activities and terrorists’ acts, bank robbery, target killings and other heinous crimes.

The Minister directed Chairman PTA to revisit the whole system and ensure that all those illegal SIMS which are being used on stolen identity shall be blocked.

Mobile number portability (MNP) was also discussed to be banned in wake of misuse associated with them. Any kind of misuse to be booked under Anti-Terrorism Act.

The meeting decided that in view of the grave complaints, Mobile Number Portability (MNP) by the service providers is banned in future and anybody found violating should be booked under Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 as it is against the national security.

Anybody misusing, sending threatening emails or tampering with email address, mobile phone via SMS, MMS etc shall be dealt with under ATA and other relevant sections of law.

Chairman PTA and Secretary IT have been directed to immediately hold a meeting with service providers and convey the concerns of the government and ensure that their services are not misused by anti-slate and anti-social elements, putting the security of the country in danger.

The SMS filtering policy was also discussed.

The meeting also decided that the service providers shall have to have their own monitoring system to block such detrimental communication as mentioned above in coordination with the PTA.

The meeting decided to identify “obscene words” or anti state wordings, being used by anti-social elements and they shall be entered in the system to be blocked.

The service providers would ensure that they will not advertise anything against social norms and customs and they will not support any media programme with content that brings government into disrepute, scandalizes it or is against the national honour and security.

The Minister also directed PTA and other authorities that while taking such remedial measures, it would be ensured that general public may not face any problem and no site would be blocked.

All those who receive threatening messages or anti state messages,the same should be brought to the notice of Ministry of Interior through the following email and telephone numbers for taking legal action against the senders under ATA, 1997 & other sections of law.

via Associated Press of Pakistan

Update

Other point of views on the minister’s nonsense:

1. Rehman Malik back with Tech-Blunders
2. Government to ban MNP (Mobile Number Portability) – Another one by Rehman Malik

Arshad Arbab / EPA

Pakistani security officials in Peshawar on Oct. 21 carry the coffins of paramilitary Frontier Constabulary members who were killed in an attack in the Shalobar area of Bara Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. At least 34 alleged militants and three soldiers were killed during a clash along the Afghan border in northwestern Pakistan. The fighting occurred in a stronghold of the Lashkar-e-Islam militant group.

Matiullah Achakzai / EPA

Arshad Butt / AP

 

People mourn next to the body of a relative at a hospital in Quetta, Oct. 4. Suspected Sunni extremists opened fire on Shiite Muslims traveling through southwestern Pakistan.

 

 

K.m. Chaudary / AP

 

A supporter holds a poster of Mumtaz Qadri, the confessed killer of a liberal Pakistani governor, during a rally to condemn the court decision against Qadri on Oct. 1 in Lahore. A Pakistani court convicted and sentenced Qadri to death for the killing of Salman Taseer, a murder that led to fears the country was buckling under the weight of extremism. Taseer was an outspoken critic of the country’s “blasphemy laws.”
Angry demonstrations broke out in Pakistan after a court on Saturday convicted and sentenced a police officer to death for the killing of a liberal governor.

Aamir Qureshi / AFP – Getty Images

 

Residents gather at the site of a blast in Islamabad, Sept. 29, that ripped through the top floor of a hotel building in Islamabad, injuring at least six people. City police chief Bani Amin said the cause of the blast appeared “to be a gas cylinder” that was still leaking at the Citi Hotel in the Blue Area, a bustling district of shops and restaurants.

Athar Hussain / Reuters

 

Supporters of the Pakistan People’s Party wave flags during an anti-American rally near the U.S. consulate in Karachi, Sept. 27. Pakistan, facing a crisis in relations with the United States, appears to be seeking more support from China.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Banaras Khan / AFP – Getty Images

 

Shiite Muslims shout slogans as they carry coffins during a funeral ceremony for those killed in an attack in Quetta on Sept. 21. Gunmen shot dead 26 Pakistani Shiite pilgrims traveling to Iran on Sept. 20, the deadliest attack on the minority community in Pakistan for more than a year. In a brutal assault, gunmen ordered pilgrims off their bus, lined them up and shot them. Two weeks later, a similar incident left 13 dead.
Suspected Sunni extremists shot 13 Shiite Muslims to death execution-style after ordering them off a bus and lining them up Tuesday in southwestern Pakistan, ramping up a campaign of sectarian violence that has exposed Islamabad’s inability to protect minorities.

Pervez Masih / AP

 

Displaced Pakistanis try to hand over their identity cards to get permits for relief at an office in Tando Mohammad Khan near Hyderabad, Sept, 29. Flooding killed scores of people, destroyed some 665,000 homes and displaced nearly 1.8 million people in Sindh province.

 

Athar Hussain / Reuters

 

 

Athar Hussain / Reuters

Residents peer past a cloth barrier raised to cordon off the scene of a suicide bomb attack in Karachi on Sept. 19. At least eight people were killed, including six policemen, after a Taliban suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden car into the home of a senior police official in Pakistan’s commercial center, Karachi.
At least eight people were killed, including six policemen, after a Taliban suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden car into the home of a senior police official in Pakistan’s commercial hub Karachi on Monday.

A. Majeed / AFP – Getty Images

 

Pakistani firefighters attempt to extinguish a fire after a bomb blast at a market in Peshawar on Sept. 19. The bomb killed at least five people and wounded 28 others at a market selling CDs.

 

 

 

Google has produced a new global set of updated satellite imagery on 28th November 2011. This satellite imagery covers huge area in Pakistan and significantly important towns and settlements. You can download the Google Earth KML file and see the marked areas with updated satellite imagery. You can also subscribe to emails with Follow your World application to receive notifications regarding imagery updates to your areas of interest.

A vast size of area in Pakistan has received satellite imagery updates. Badin District in Sindh province that recently been affected by massive floods due to Monsoon season in late summer this year receives a massive satellite imagery update.

Undiscovered Balochistan

One of the interesting part of the update is the undiscovered areas of Balochistan province. Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan in relation to area size although hosts very small amount of population as compared to other provinces. Balochistan is full of rocky mountains to sandy beaches, lakes, hiking opportunities, canals, fords, gardens and diverse extreme weather conditions from blazing hot summer to freezing cold winter. By utalizing this imagery update we share some of the undiscovered places and let you find more on own your using Google Earth.

Surfing in Ganz

Ganz is located almost at West corner of Balochistan near border of Iran. The nearest famous town is Jewani and Gwadar. Ganz beach has been recommended for surfing by surf-forecast website and many others because of its fairly consistent tides and surfing waves.

Regiwar

Regiwar is very small settlement in middle of Balochistan province. The noticeable attractions are nearby mountains that are shaped in particular way to form a pallet like structure. These mountains are part of Hingol National Park.

Gardens & agriculture fields of Shank

Shank or Bibi Shank is medium sized settlement surrounded by approximately 50 Km man-made wide stripes of gardens and agriculture fields. The amazing part is a very well organised structure of these gardens and fields. It has been so beautifully structured that from a distance aerial imagery, it looks like a pattern.

Other most prominent areas included in this update are listed below.
Badin district, DHA city, North area of Jamshoro, Mirpur Khas, Sanghriaro Lake, Sanghar town, Indus Dolphin reserves in Sindh
Khuzdar, Shank, Regiwar, Suleman Mountain range and Ganz seaside town in Balochistan.
Dera Ghazi Khan, Jampur, South side of Sahiwal, Allah Abad and Ara near Khewra.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Barram Ghali, Harianai and Biar.
Laki Marwat in Federal Administrated Tribal Areas and Hattian Bala in Azad Jammu & Kashmir.

Source: Imagery Update: Week of November 28th – Google LatLong Blog

In this podcast, two activists involved in flood relief efforts in Pakistan compare the damage and response in 2011 with that of 2010, and then offer some advice as to how the government should be preparing for future emergencies.

Newsline and TeaBreak.pk co-hosted an online chat covering the 2011 Sindh floods on October 19. Get an instant replay of the entire discussion here, featuring doctors, journalists and activists who have been working on the ground in affected areas.

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Tell everyone you know about the 2011 flood victims who, having barely recovered from the 2010 floods, are now faced with immense suffering once again, their cries for help ignored by the world.