Journalist Taha Siddiqui escapes
Pakistan Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal has taken notice of an alleged attempt to kidnap journalist Taha Siddiqui in Islamabad early Wednesday.
Siddiqui escaped an abduction attempt after being assaulted by 10-12 armed men on his way to the airport on Wednesday morning.
“I was on my way to the airport today at 8:20 AM when 10-12 armed men stopped my cab and forcibly tried to abduct me. I managed to escape. Safe and with police now. Looking for support in any way possible,” he said on Twitter using account of another journalist Cyril Almeida.
In the press conference, Siddiqui said he considers his escape a miracle and was still recovering from the shock.
“They held a handgun on me, while one of the men asked to ‘shoot him in the leg’,” he said, adding that the cab driver witnessed the entire episode.
Bureau chief of World is One News, Siddiqui had filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court in May 2017 over alleged harassment by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). After hearing the petition, the Islamabad High Court had directed the FIA to stop harassing the journalist.
Geo news
CAIT STRONGLY OPPOSE FDI IN RETAIL
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) strongly oppose move to allow 100% FDI in single brand retail through automatic route as it will facilitate easy entry of MNCs in retail trade of India and will also violate poll promise of BJP. It’s a serious matter for small businesses. It is a pity that instead of formulating policies for the welfare, upgradstion and modernisation of existing retail trade, the Govt is more interested in paving way for the MNCs to control and dominate the retail trade of India. This love towards MNCs is highly condemned in strong words. Such a step will also result into making large number of people jobless. CAIT will soon declare its nationwide strategy to oppose this brutal move of the Govt.
CAIT National President Mr. B. C. Bhartia & Secretary General Mr. Praveen Khandelwal said that this decision is step towards allowing FDI in Multi Brand Retail. India is a consumer driven economy. Govt is unable to provide employment hence only source of employment is self employed. People literate, illiterate, rural or urban all get employed in retail trade.With small working capital and limited space traders are conducting their business operations.
We are one because our culture eating and dressing habits are one. These companies through their products will destroy the Indian fabrics of our society. Large scale unemployment and closure of small units will be witnessed.
Quake’s M 5.5 hit Kermanshah
US Geological Survey, and according to Iran’s state TV, the western province of Kermanshah was hit by a strong earthquake. Local media reported that an earlier earthquake hit Baghdad and central Iraq at around 10am (0700 GMT).
There was some panic in central Baghdad following the tremor and its aftershocks, with residents exiting buildings Reuters said, citing witnesses. There were no reports of significant damage, and electricity and internet services were not interrupted in central Baghdad.
The USGS said the quake’s magnitude was 5.5
Carles Puigdemont,elect Catalan leader
The two main Catalan separatist parties Together for Catalonia (Junts per Catalonia – JpC) and the Republican Left (ERC) have reached an agreement that aims to see former Carles Puigdemont re-elected as leader of the region in northeast Spain.
A spokesman for JpC confirmed that the two parties aim to “move forward with this new parliamentary term with Puigdemont as the president”.
JpC won 34 seats in the Dec. 21 regional elections, while ERC won 32 with the radical separatists CUP claiming 4 seats to give pro-Catalan independence forces a majority in the 150 seats Catalan Assembly.
Further remains to be seen just how Puigdemont could be re-invested as Catalan leader less than three months after Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy temporarily suspended Catalan autonomy and Puigdemont sought exile in Belgium.
He faces charges of sedition, rebellion, disobedience and misuse of public funds in Spain in the wake of the independence referendum on October 1st and the unilateral declaration of independence in the region on October 27th.
Puigdemont faces arrest and almost certain imprisonment if he returns to Spain and as in the case of his former deputy leader, Oriol Junqueras (who has spent over two months in prison), it would be unlikely the Spanish Supreme Court would grant him bail.
Agilent acquired Luxcel Biosciences
Agilent Technologies Inc. announced that it has acquired Cork, Ireland-based Luxcel Biosciences (“Luxcel”), a developer of real time fluorescence plate-reader based in vitro cell assay kits.
This acquisition expands Agilent’s cell analysis portfolio with the addition of easy-to-use assay kits that are compatible with industry standard plate-readers.
Luxcel is developing a portfolio of in vitro cell-based assay kits and solutions targeting cell metabolism, drug safety and toxicity, as well as hypoxia and oxidative stress for a variety of life science customers from research institutions to pharmaceutical companies.
Scientists use this technology to understand the roll of cell metabolism across a variety of important research areas including cancer, metabolic disorders, cardiovascular disease, immunology, and infectious disease.
Agilent entered the cell analysis market in 2015 with the acquisition of Seahorse Bioscience, a leader in providing specialized instruments and live-cell, kinetic assays.
The Luxcel team will remain in Cork and form a dedicated sensor chemistries and bioassay solutions group within Agilent’s Cell Analysis Division.
biospectrumindia.com
ASECNA to Deploy Space-Based ADS-B in Western and Central Africa
Aireon and Agency for Aerial Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA) will bring real-time air traffic surveillance to high-trafficked, terrestrial African corridors
MCLEAN, VA. January 9, 2018 – Aireon announced today that it has signed a data services agreement with the Agency for Aerial Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA). ASECNA, created in December 1959 is an international public organization of 18 members States which headquarters is located in Dakar (SENEGAL).
ASECNA’s members states are: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Centrafrique, Comores, Congo, Côte d’ivoire, Gabon, Guinée Bissau, Guinée Equatoriale, France, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritanie, Niger, Sénégal, Tchad and Togo.
ASECNA is one of Africa’s largest Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs), covering 16.1 million square kilometers of airspace, through six Flight Information Regions (FIRs) – Antananarivo, Brazzaville, Dakar Oceanic, Dakar Terrestrial, Niamey and N’Djamena.
ASECNA is responsible for air traffic services in a significant part of the African continent, handling frequently traveled routes between Europe, East and Southern Africa and South America. With AireonSM data, as early as 2019, ASECNA will be able to introduce a continuous layer of surveillance, augmenting existing infrastructure and completing coverage for their entire airspace. This will significantly improve service availability to airlines and enhance safety and efficiency in African airspace.
“The vastness of the landmass that ASECNA is responsible for poses an immense surveillance challenge, especially because it is not always possible to install or maintain ground infrastructure,” said Mohamed MOUSSA, ASECNA Director General, “With Aireon’s space-based ADS-B, we are looking towards the future, augmenting our capability and providing full, real-time air traffic surveillance to our airlines. This will not only provide a much higher level of availability of services, but will also significantly increase safety, as controllers will be able to see all aircraft, in real-time, across the ASECNA airspace. Safety will always be our top priority, and we look forward to having real-time surveillance in this part of the African continent.”
“The Agreement with ASECNA is a major step towards safety and efficiency in Western and Central Africa, allowing 17 African States to make a major step towards some of the main goals of the ICAO Global Air Navigation Plan,” said Don Thoma, CEO of Aireon. “Safety has long been a top priority in the region, and we are proud to be working with leading organizations such as ASECNA. For the first time, more than half of the African airspace will be under real-time air traffic surveillance.”
ASECNA joins other African ANSPs in the deployment of space-based ADS-B. South Africa’s Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS) and Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) have also signed agreements over the last 18 months.
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