Tuesday, 30 September 2008
Monday, 29 September 2008
Seven Maj. Gen. promoted to rank of Lt.General
The names are Major General Tahir Mahmood, Infantry, Major General Shahid Iqbal, Infantry, Major General Tanvir Tahir, EME, Major General Zahid Hussain, Artillery, Major General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, Infantry, Major General Mohammad Mustafa Khan, Armoured Corps and Major General Ayaz Saleem Rana, Armoured Corps.
Lieutenantt General Raza Muhammad Corps Commander Bahwalpur has been appointed DG JS at JSHQ. Lieutenant General Muhammad Yousaf has been appointed Corps Commander Bahwalpur. Lt General Ahsan Azhar Hyat, Corps Commander Karachi has been appointed IGT&E at GHQ.
Lt Gen Shahid Iqbal has been appointed Corps Commander Karachi. Lt Gen Muhammad Zaki has been appointed IG Arms at GHQ. Lt Gen Javed Zia has been appointed QMG at GHQ.
Lt Gen Nadeem Taj has been appointed Corps Commander Gujranwala. Lt Gen Mohsin Kamal has been appointed MS at GHQ. Lt General Tahir Mahmud Corps Commander Rawalpindi Lt Gen Muhammad Zahid has been appointed Adjutant General at GHQ.
Lt Gen Ahmed Shujaa Pasha has been appointed as DG ISI Lt Gen Muhammad Mustafa has been appointed CGS at GHQ.
Lt Gen Tanvir Tahir has been appointed at IG Communication and IT at GHQ. Lt Gen Ayyaz Salim Rana has been appointed Chairman HIT.
Aussies concerned at Delhi bomb blasts
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Black men in raised prostate risk
Black men living in England have a three times higher risk of prostate cancer than white men, figures show.
They also tend to be diagnosed five years younger, a study of all cases in London and Bristol found.
The results cannot be explained by access to diagnostic tests, awareness of the condition or screening, the British Journal of Cancer reported.
Cancer charities said the finding may lead to better care for men at higher risk of the disease.
Researchers at the University of Bristol said the US had already reported a higher rate of prostate cancer in black men.
 |  There's very few known risk factors for prostate cancer but it's starting to look like being of black race is a risk factor  Dr Chris Metcalfe |
In the UK study, it was initially unclear whether there was a "genuinely" higher rate of prostate cancer in these groups or whether they were more likely to be diagnosed.
But when they looked in detail at hospital records they found black and white men had similar levels of knowledge about prostate cancer, similar symptoms and similar delays before they went to their GP.
However, there was some evidence that black men were more likely to have had a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test before they had any symptoms.
Susceptibility
On why black men could be being diagnosed earlier, the researchers said prostate cancer at a younger age was more likely to be due to greater biological susceptibility to the disease.
The researchers are now doing further work to see if there are any differences in survival between the two groups.
Studies looking at whether PSA should be used as a routine screening test are also being done and it may be that it is recommended for some high risk groups but not everyone.
Study leader Dr Chris Metcalfe said this was the first evidence from the UK on differences between black and white men in rates of prostate cancer.
"One of the possibilities based on anecdote was that black men may delay presentation - so the cancer gets to a later stage.
"If anything the evidence showed black men were presenting sooner."
He added: "There's very few known risk factors for prostate cancer but it's starting to look like being of black race is a risk factor."
Dr Joanna Peak, science information officer at Cancer Research UK, said prostate cancer was the most common cancer in UK men.
"The study indicates that there is a true biological difference between ethnic groups and this knowledge could potentially lead to improved care for men at higher risk of developing prostate cancer."
Anna Jewell, from The Prostate Cancer Charity, said: "We would encourage all men to visit their GP if they are experiencing any possible symptoms of prostate cancer such as problems when urinating.
"This strongly demonstrates the need for continuing work to raise awareness of the higher risk of prostate cancer in black men.
"We would like to see further research investigating whether there are any differences in access to treatment or care for prostate cancer between black and white men to help us understand how we can meet the needs of those most at risk from the disease."
Fast forward for mobile broadband
Phone firms, chip makers and PC manufacturers are uniting to push mobile broadband on laptop computers.
The alliance will build wireless modules into laptops to make it much easier to use the gadgets on future high-speed services.
Laptops with the wireless chips built-in will bear a service mark which shows they will work with the third and fourth generation wireless technology.
The branded laptops should be on shop shelves in 91 nations by Christmas.
Fast forward
Laptops and notebook computers bearing the "Mobile Broadband" logo will have on-board modules that will boost current third generation speeds and work with future fourth generation technologies.
At their fastest, these technologies - which include High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and Long Term Evolution - support web browsing speeds of up to 7 megabits per second (Mbps).
"It's comparable to fixed broadband services and close to what you get in a wi-fi hot spot," said Mike O'Hara, a spokesman for the GSM Alliance which has brokered the tie-up on Mobile Broadband.
Mr O'Hara said the laptops would eventually be available where people now buy mobile phones.
| ...it's not really necessary for what they are trying to achieve Steven Hartley, Ovum |
"You can go to an operator's store, buy a laptop and it will be already fitted so you can go online instantly.
"That's a powerful proposition.
"There's a natural evolution such as we saw with wi-fi which at first used to need an external card and became embedded."
Hugh Padfield, principal manager for PC connectivity at Vodafone, said: "The important thing for us is to make it as easy for customers to buy mobile broadband."
He said the logo and branding scheme would help reassure customers about the laptops that will work with future fast net services.
"It will help to create even more momentum than what we have already seen with mobile broadband," he said.
"It's reached something of a tipping point even before it's been built in."
 This logo denotes a laptop fitted with high-speed wireless |
The deal to produce the modules, build them in to laptops and the campaign around the Mobile Broadband log has been brokered by the GSM Alliance - the trade body that represents 80% of the world's mobile phone firms.
The 16 firms in the Mobile Broadband alliance have pledged to spend about £554m ($1bn) to promote the logo and inform customers about laptops fitted with the technology.
Laptop makers Dell, Toshiba and Lenovo have signed up to the alliance along with 3, Microsoft, T-Mobile, Ericsson, Orange, Qualcomm and Vodafone.
It is not yet clear when mobile operators will roll out the wireless technologies that will help buyers of the branded laptops use the high-speed services.
Mr O'Hara from the GSMA said laptops were just the start of the process of connecting more devices with mobile broadband technologies. The wireless modules would soon crop up in digital cameras, music players, cars and phones.
But Steven Hartley, senior analyst at consultancy Ovum, expressed scepticism about the deal.
"My feeling is that it's not really necessary for what they are trying to achieve," he said.
"If you look at the uptake of mobile broadband services do they really need an initiative like this?
"The operators and vendors are working together anyway to ensure these things are interoperable."
Given that mobile broadband was already catching on, Mr Hartley also wondered how the success of the initiative would be measured.
Freighter destroyed over Pacific
Europe's "Jules Verne" space freighter has destroyed itself in a controlled burn-up over the southern Pacific.
The 13.5-tonne cargo ship had completed a six-month mission to the space station and was packed with the orbiting platform's rubbish.
Two engine firings were required to slow the freighter sufficiently to pull it into the atmosphere.
The European and US space agencies had chase planes in the air to try to capture the fireball on video.
Astronauts on the space station reported seeing the light from the falling freighter.
| It's been a fantastic ride John Ellwood, ATV project manager |
"Everything went correctly, nominally, smoothly. This was the last section of the chain," said Simonetta di Pippo, head of human spaceflight at the European Space Agency (Esa).
Most of the vehicle was expected to burn up in the descent; only fragments should have made it down to the ocean water. Computer modelling of the re-entry had put the impact time at 1346 GMT.
Events were overseen from Esa's freighter control centre in Toulouse, France.
John Ellwood, the agency's vehicle project manager, said all the data would need to be assessed before it was known conclusively how the re-entry went; but the early indications were that everything had proceeded as expected.
And summing up the past six months, he told BBC News: "It's been a fantastic ride; everything has worked nominally. Although there are mixed emotions at the end, there is a lot of satisfaction after having had such a fantastic mission."
Jules Verne - also known by the generic name Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) - cost about 1.3bn euros to develop.
Although Esa has produced many complex scientific satellites, none match the scale of the freighter.
| JULES VERNE - THE FIRSTS The ATV is the first completely automated rendezvous and docking ship to go to the ISS The ATV is the largest and most powerful space tug going to the ISS over its mission life It provides the largest refuelling and waste elimination capability for the space station It is the only vehicle on the current timeline able to de-orbit the ISS when it is retired  |
After launch, the space truck can work out where it needs to go in space, and then makes a fully automatic docking once it arrives at its destination.
It was developed as part of Esa's ISS membership agreement, to haul cargo, propellant, water and oxygen to the space station; and also to provide propulsion capacity at the station.
But such has been the performance of Jules Verne that Esa officials and industry chiefs are already talking about upgrading the ship's design - potentially to carry astronauts.
The first step, however, would be to develop technologies that enable the safe return of cargo to Earth.
European space ministers will discuss the issue at their meeting in The Hague in November.
 Cost: Total bill was 1.3bn euros (at least 4 more ATVs will be built) Total cargo capacity: 7.6 tonnes, but first mission flew lighter Mass at launch: About 20 tonnes depending on cargo manifest Dimensions: 10.3m long and 4.5m wide - the size of a large bus Solar panels: Once unfolded, the solar wings span 22.3m Engine power: 4x 490-Newton thrusters; and 28x 220N thrusters Mission timeline: Launch - 9 March; Docking - 3 April; Undocking - 5 September; De-orbit - 29 September |
Under the agreement Esa has with its international partners, at least four more ATVs will be flown to the space station in the coming years. The next is due to launch in 2010.
And, ultimately, it is likely that an ATV will be tasked with destroying the space station when the partners have decided the platform is beyond servicing, perhaps towards the end of the next decade.
A freighter will be commanded to drive the whole structure into a similar region of the south Pacific.
Animation of Jules Verne's final voyage
US rivals claim TV debate victory
he first presidential debate in full
The rivals for the US presidential election have taken part in the first of a series of debates ahead of the vote in November.