Students Across Pakistan Protest Against Musharraf's Emergency

The new martial law (nicknamed emergency) is awakening up the student body. Numerous events across the country are making their way to the public: Draft Resolution of the LUMS Community Regarding Martial Law Draft Resolution 03/11/07 Preamble: There is so much to condemn today that we may not begin with the unitary. We must take liberty to accept that the actions of a single individual have marred all three pillars of the state – all 'four' for that matter. Even, the institutions of preservation/maintaining the balance of power are now subservient to a single institution. The condemnation today, therefore, we must make in the harshest possible language – a condemnation directed towards the actions of that very single 'dual' institution - the President cum Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan. Resolution: We, the faculty, students and staff of the Lahore School of Management Sciences (LUMS) extend our voices in condemnation of the gross political injustices that the nation has experienced in the past few months – more so, we take liberty to condemn the ethereal blockage imposed by the executive by the declaration of a Martial Law in the country. We condemn General Musharraf for employing a 'notorious', uncalled for action; an unnecessary action, by revisiting the 'doctrine of necessity' which, perhaps, could have (in today's climate) only be called upon for its self-removal. His referral to the 'preservation of the union' quotation of Abraham Lincoln in his speech to the "American friends" appears to have been employed in the wrong context for Lincoln had to preserve a union from disintegration from problems that he had himself not partaken to create. We deny the military leaders of today both the moral ground and the legitimacy to raise again this 'doctrine of necessity' that must now be shunned to the echelons of earth. The LUMS community, again, make the statement that the incumbent government may not be extended the right to 'dirty the laundry first, and, then, be let to clean it up after dismantling the machine that fulfilled the task'. We resent and condemn the brutality dealt out to the bearers of right that have protested this illegitimate action. We express solidarity with those who find themselves in hospitals, in prisons and 'missing' for raising the voice of the right, including our own faculty members. A solemn request we make to the law enforcement authorities of the state: that the protests be let be…the protesters be let go…for the time today is for the nation to rise. Our voice echoes the popular desires of the nation – the resolution of the crisis that has unveiled itself to our nation and its people – and, in attempting to echo these considerations we call upon the state to: Lift the 'Martial Law' immediately Retract the new PCO [Provisional Constitutional Order] Restore the Judiciary to its pre-Martial Law state. Demarcate a method to return the military to the barracks for good. Provide the assurance of the right to life to each citizen of Pakistan Restore legitimacy to the government by the exercise of the right of voting to the citizens Therefore, we call for an immediate declaration of the election schedule. We, the LUMS community, reach a collective consensus that the problems that the military run government declares as responsible for the need to declare the current state of emergency are its own pandemic. We, therefore, refuse to acknowledge any attempt by the government to employ the 'doctrine of necessity' and call upon the same to immediately lift the martial law as per instructions of the Supreme Court. We must color the nation again with the green and white of our flag – and, perhaps, engrave that flag on our hearts. Time today is of highest value: we invoke and request the citizens in general and other institutions to join us in raising a collective voice. Destiny will be made or marred in the coming days! Remember that! LUMS students protesting against emergency Students in FAST detained within campus on protesting against emergency

Google pushes into mobile phones

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

(Google has unveiled software it hopes will power a variety of future mobile phones and boost the web on the move) The software could lead to cheaper phones as it is designed to speed up the process of making mobile services. The firm is working with four mobile manufacturers - Samsung, HTC, Motorola and LG - but a Google branded phone was not announced. The first phones using the so-called Google "software stack" will be available in the second half of 2008. "This is going to bring the internet into cell phones in a very cool way," Andy Rubin, Google's director of mobile platforms, told the Associated Press news agency. Mr Rubin's firm, called Android, was bought by Google in 2005 and the software it developed forms the basis of the new stack. Google has formed the Open Handset Alliance (OHA), made up of 34 companies, including chip manufacturers and handset makers. The move will be seen as a major competitor to Microsoft, Research in Motion, Palm and Symbian, who make the leading software systems for mobiles. Google's Android software will be provided to handset makers free of charge and could lead to a price war for operating system licenses and potentially cheaper handsets. In the United States mobile networks such as Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile will carry the Google-powered phones. (There are three billion mobile handsets in the world) 'Unleash potential' China Mobile, Telefonica in Spain and Telecom Italia are among the carriers that have signed on to provide services outside the US. "This partnership will help unleash the potential of mobile technology for billions of users around the world," Eric Schmidt, Google's chief executive and chairman, said in a statement. "We want to create a whole new mobile experience for users" - Eric Schmidt, Google Rene Obermann, chief executive of Deutsche Telekom, said Android would offer a "better than internet experience for mobile users". "This is a shot that is going to be heard around the world, but it's just the first shot in what is going to be a very protracted battle in the next frontier of the mobile web," said analyst Michael Gartenberg, at Jupiter Research. In a call to reporters, Mr Schmidt said: "We want to create a whole new mobile experience for users. "Mobile users want the same applications on the phone as they use on the internet." Peter Chou, chief executive of HTC, said the agreement to join the OHA did not mean the firm would stop the use of other operating systems on its platforms. "We do have commitments with some carriers and will continue with those lines," he said. There have been many reports of a so-called Google phone in recent months. "Today's announcement is more ambitious than any single Google Phone that the press has been speculating about over the past few weeks," said Mr Schmidt. "This doesn't seem to be a beta release of a technology. If I were a competitor, I would be sitting up and paying attention" - Analyst Adam Leach, Ovum "Our vision is that the powerful platform we're unveiling will power thousands of different phone models." But Mr Schmidt would not rule out the release of a Google Phone in the future. Adam Leach, principal analyst with Ovum, said: "It's an important announcement. That number of companies already committing to the service is very impressive." Mr Leach said the danger was that the move would create "yet another" competing service and not a "truly open platform". "We've seen collaboration of this sort before in the mobile industry and there's quite a number of platforms already out there professing to remove fragmentation, speed-up time to market and enable third-party innovation. "The proposition from that point of view is not new." (A Google search page is seen through the spectacles of a computer user in Leicester, central England July 20, 2007. Google will unveil its mobile strategy on Monday, including a phone operating system and a broad alliance with multiple wireless service providers and handset vendors, people familiar with the matter) He added: "This doesn't seem to be a beta release of a technology. If I were a competitor, I would be sitting up and paying attention." Google's system will be based on computer code that can be openly distributed among programmers, allowing them to build new applications. A development tool kit for working on the new platform will be released next week.