Connect With Us on Twitter
Follow@nytimesworldfor international breaking news and headlines.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Friday, June 15, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
SC orders strict action against Arsalan Iftikhar, Malik Riaz
Real estate tycoon Malik Riaz (C) waves to members of the media as he leaves after appearing before the Supreme Court in Islamabad June 12, 2012.—File Photo by Reuters.
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has wrapped up the suo motu case involving Chief Justice’s son Dr Arsalan Iftikhar and real estate tycoon Malik Riaz, ordering action against the two in its short order issued Thursday, DawnNews reported.
The court has ordered the Attorney General Irfan Qadir to take strict legal action against Dr Arsalan Iftikhar, Malik Riaz and his son-in-law Salman.
Justice Jawad s Khawaja read out the short order after Thursday’s proceedings of the controversial case heard by a two member bench of the apex court.
The court said that not only was the Supreme Court’s credibility questioned, but allegations were also levelled against the Chief Justice and the judiciary. The court added that bribery is a sin, and both givers and takers of bribes were sinners.
The SC also explained its reasons for taking the suo motu notice of the case in its Thursday’s short order, It said that the suo motu notice was necessary to counter the wrong perception about the Supreme Court being created due to reports in the media.
The apex court rejected suggestions put forth to hand over the case to an investigative commission or the National Accountability Beureau (NAB).
The court ruled that Malik Riaz had attempted to “buy justice” through bribery, and that he had grown into a habit of buying everything with money.
It also declared that Riaz had fuelled skepticism and raised doubts on the apex court’s credibility.
Moreover, the court also said that journalists should be careful in verifying a story before publishing it, and that the media should consider all aspects of a story before airing it.
It also said that baseless allegations were levelled against the courts in the media, and that it should be more careful about its credibility and reputation.
The court also referred to Malik Riaz’s statement in which he said that even after allegedly paying Rs 340 million to Arsalan Iftikhar, no favours were returned to him from the Supreme Court.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Khari Baat Luqman Kay Sath Special With Malik Riaz -13th June 2012 Exclusive
Part - 1
Part -2
Share Below with your Friends...
Part -2
Part - 3
The Remaining Part Of 2 Hours Program ---10 PM- 13 June 2012
Share Below with your Friends...
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan - SC registrar defends chief justice
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan - SC registrar defends chief justice
ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court Registrar Faqir Hussain has confirmed that Malik Riaz had met with Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, however, while the CJP was deposed. Hussain added that two to three such meetings had taken place during which he (the registrar) was also present. Talking to different media channels, the SC registrar said further that Malik Riaz had proposed that the chief justice should meet with President Asif Ali Zardari regarding the restoration issue but the CJP declined his suggestion deeming it inappropriate. Hussain claimed that the CJP held no meetings with Malik Riaz after his restoration. He also said Malik Riaz had offered his own bulletproof car to the chief justice for security but the offer was declined. The registrar said he could not confirm as to when the CJP came to know about the business deals between Malik Riaz and Dr Arsalan Iftikhar.
ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court Registrar Faqir Hussain has confirmed that Malik Riaz had met with Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, however, while the CJP was deposed. Hussain added that two to three such meetings had taken place during which he (the registrar) was also present. Talking to different media channels, the SC registrar said further that Malik Riaz had proposed that the chief justice should meet with President Asif Ali Zardari regarding the restoration issue but the CJP declined his suggestion deeming it inappropriate. Hussain claimed that the CJP held no meetings with Malik Riaz after his restoration. He also said Malik Riaz had offered his own bulletproof car to the chief justice for security but the offer was declined. The registrar said he could not confirm as to when the CJP came to know about the business deals between Malik Riaz and Dr Arsalan Iftikhar.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Pater familias by Saad Rasool
By:Saad Rasool
How could the chief justice know?‘Pater familias’ – father of the family – is how the Chief Justice of Pakistan had been described and hailed during the challenge to the 18th Constitutional Amendment. While I don’t have the experience myself, I bet being the ‘father’ of any family (let alone the ‘judicial family’) must be an awfully tough job. In fact, I believe this job is so demanding (and his focus as pater familias is so unflinching) that he cannot be faulted for not having noticed the meteoric rise of his son’s wealth or lifestyle over the past three years. So everyone casting shadows at the honourable CJ should just back-off, if not for the sake of logic, then for the sake of ‘saving’ the last bastion of integrity in our land.Fist, it must be accepted that the honourable CJ, in fidelity to his unflinching impartiality and fair-play, has done two exceptionally courageous deeds in the Dr Arsalan case: 1) he has brought a suo motu case against his own son, and 2) he has recused himself from the bench in demonstration of ‘justice being manifestly seen to be done’. Nothing less could be expected of pater familias.However, it seems that people never learn from history. It was only five years ago that the first (baseless) episode in this saga came to light, when it was (falsely) alleged that, upon securing an overall C grade in the intermediate examination (a fact), Arsalan Iftikhar was granted admission in Bolan Medical College upon the influence exerted by the chief justice. No one made concession for the fact that, despite his grades, the admission committee of Bolan Medical College could have looked into Arsalan’s eyes, and confronted him in a moment of human honesty to recognise his limitless intelligence to serve as a doctor. And the same could have happened when, years later, Dr Arsalan was promoted as section officer in the health department, only days after his initial appointment.And once inducted in the government machinery, it was perhaps not very difficult to recognise the potential and acumen of the young man, as a result of which in August of 2005 the ministry of interior issued a bona fide notification appointing Dr Arsalan as Assistant Director (later Deputy Director) in the FIA. This chain of events cannot imply any influence of the chief justice, for it is not like Dr Arsalan was suddenly made the Director General of the FIA. Anyways, God knows that in this country we need our best talent in the security forces of Pakistan that are pitted against the forces of extremism and evil, so it is no surprise that soon after his stellar performance in the FIA, in 2006 Dr Arsalan was poached by the Police Service of Pakistan for permanent induction (with a little bending of the Police Service of Pakistan Rules, 1985). And those who raised hue and cry over all this, culminating in an abominable reference against the chief justice in 2007, were not only trying to villainise the judiciary, but were also trying to destroy the spectacular rise of a young man making his mark in the government service of Pakistan.It seems only natural that since so much (baseless) controversy concerning the career-path of Dr Arsalan had surrounded the chief justice in 2007 that since then the honorable judge has decided to make a resolute effort of not concerning himself with the professional and career growth of his son. Which is why, we must necessarily believe that over the past three years (the time during which Malik Riaz has allegedly paid Rs 400 million to Dr Arsalan), the chief justice had no idea what his thirty-something-year-old son was doing. He is ‘baligh’ after all, and independent in all respects. Just because he lived in the honorable chief justice’s house (at least up until his marriage this year), does not automatically mean that the honorable chief justice ever asked him where the Gucci cufflinks or the Montecristo cigars came from. In fact, it is only reasonable to assume – given Dr Arsalan’s stellar performance in medical school, FIA and police – that the riches and lavish vacations were a result of him creating a name for himself in whatever he is putting his mind and hands to.Not just that, but I believe that a man like our chief justice (not that there can be anyone comparable), who is as focused and dedicated to serving the cause of justice with the aim of improving our collective lives, was probably too busy trying to rid Pakistan of all its evils to even notice the Louis Vuitton sunglasses his son was sporting. Over the past three years, the honorable chief justice has barely taken a day-off from work (exceptionally commendable), and therefore cannot be blamed for not knowing (or even asking) where his family had been vacationing during the summer, or who was paying for it. For those who haven’t noticed, the chief justice has had his hands full in bringing the prime minister’s son, Pervaiz Elahi’s son, and so many others to justice for exerting their influence to extort money from people. So while I would never allow Yousaf Raza Gilani, Pervaiz Elahi, Nawaz Sharif or Asif Zardari to ever plead that they did not know what their sons were doing, I cannot allow anyone to believe that the honorable chief justice, over the past three years, even had a slight hint of Arsalan’s doings.In this country, in the present set of circumstances at least, it is crime – nay a sin – to even imagine that the honorable chief justice could be less than perfect in his professional or personal conduct. And I submit my name as one who does NOT aspire to be a sinner! I fully endorse the viewpoint of countless other brethren of mine in media, politics and the legal community who are taking pains in describing how the chief justice has no fault in the matter, and instead there is a ‘conspiracy’ at play here to malign an infallible institution and a flawless individual. And I make a solemn oath that even if Malik Riaz and his cronies produce the evidence that Kamran Khan claims to have seen, my crusade of carrying the flag of defending our pater familias cannot be deterred by mere credit-card receipts, exorbitant hotel bills, lease agreements or even video recordings. No sir. Never!
The writer is a lawyer based in Lahore. He has a Masters in Constitutional Law from Harvard Law School. He can be reached at: saad@post.harvard.edu
Friday, June 8, 2012
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Connecting the Dots: Journalists with an "Agenda" - Case in Point : Uma...
Connecting the Dots: Journalists with an "Agenda" - Case in Point : Uma...:
Pen - they say, is the most powerful weapon. It has the power to express feelings, thoughts, ideas as well as the power to shape opinions and perceptions. The latter part is when it can actually be used to exploit, and like weapons, becomes counterproductive, if an individual has ill intentions. It has become quite apparent that several journalists have their own "hidden" agenda in what they write and they need to be held accountable. The onus lies on those giving them platform and space to express.
Who will do Journalists' Accountability?
One such case was the infamous Shamsul Anwar fraud. On January 10th The News published a story by Shakeel Anjum (http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=86770&Cat=6) of an ill-fated man whose family became targets of terrorists. And of course Imran Khan, our favorite bashing person, was shown to be a lesser man than Chaudhry Nisar when it came to his son's treatment for Cancer. But something strange happened, a story that was probably supposed to slip through the cracks, got youngsters attention. The social media got activated and started to collect donations to help this poor man's plight. And then the most heart breaking news broke - the story turned out to be a fraud and youngsters trust shattered. But amazingly there was no remorse or rebuttal from either The News (of not validating the story) or action against the journalist. He still writes for The News.
Analysing a Journalist's inclination - Umar Cheema(The News)
This brings me to the actual reason for this blog - another The News journalist - Umar Cheema. I am not going to dwell into a particular story and start writing against it. And one news is not enough to show some ones agenda. It is a series of stories trying to create a perception. They say if a lie is told over and over again - it eventually becomes a "truth".
"the most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly and with unflagging attention. It must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over"
This is why it is important to review series of stories by Umar Cheema Here is a list of all articles written by him (http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintWriterName.aspx?URL=Umar+Cheema). My analysis is based on his articles after October 30th, since the political landscape of Pakistan changed significantly.
Bulk of Umar Cheema's stories are on Government's misgovernance and struggle against state institutions, the establishments "evil" designs for missing people or Osama Bin Laden's hideout and few articles on Pakistani Journalists and Supreme Court challenges.
But when it comes to PTI and PML-N there is a serious shift in Umar Cheema's projection.
Umar Cheema (The News) and PTI
Since October 30th Umar Cheema has written 9 articles against PTI. One spectacular piece(http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-84579-Results-of-youth-survey-motivated-Imran) where Umar Cheema gets a peek into Imran Khans mind and his motivation of attracting youth - although since 1994 Imran Khan has belief in youth changing the fate of Pakistan and in fact 2007 Punjab University incident he went first to the youth to mobilise them for judiciary independence, and Umar Cheema says that it was 2009 survey that motivated him. Read the article and make your opinion.
What is even more sinister is that how Umar Cheema, even unrelated articles, tries to drag Imran Khan or PTI. For instance - take the example of mispronouncing Turkish Prime Minis Erdogan's name (http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-109739-Mispronounced-but-still-loved). Although he bulks everyone in - but Imran Khan, his favorite, is the only one who gets mentioned.
Similarly, when talking about Dynasty politics(
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-12968-Political-parties-being-run-as-family-limited-companies ) while for PPP and PML-N only top leadership is highlighted (Zardari and Sharifs), PTI gets the special privilege of going down to second and third in the hierarchy because Umar Cheema doesn't have anything concrete. And interestingly even misquoting that Imran Khans sister has role in PTI as well.
Here are the other 9 stories by Umar Cheema trying to create a negative sentiment towards PTI.
1. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-82447-Imrans-new-media-czar-was-his-strongest-critic
2. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-83171-Watching-the-PTI-newcomers-from-the-sidelines
3. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-11231-NAB-tainted-ex-IG-slips-into-Imrans-PTI
4. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-84393-PTI-embraces-another-relic-of-the-past
5. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-84579-Results-of-youth-survey-motivated-Imran
6. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-6-88500-Attempt-to-whitewash-PTI-newcomers-fails
7. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-110545-Why-Jemima-Khan-entered-into-a-benami-transaction-with-Imran
8. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-6-110715-Why-Jemima-Khan-did-a-benami-transaction-with-Imran
9. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-112376-PTI-changes-constitution-to-open-gates--for-those-accused-of-corruption
Umar Cheema (The News) and PML-N
But here is the interesting aspect. Although it seems Umar Cheema has only negative bone in body for political players - be it PTI, Government or Military - but for PML-N he seems to have a different opinion and projects them in a different light. From singing songs of Punjab CM(http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-107632-Shahbaz-pays-for-all-his-visits-from-his-pocket), to trying to twist the Mehran Gate in favour of PML-N (where PPP tried to topple PML-N Government)
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-13046-Another-Mehrangate-in-Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
Even calamities like Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Umar Cheema ignored the plight of the patients, Punjab Drug regulation and labs condition and Chief Minister having Health Minister portfolio along with several others, and instead the only news he could muster was about two honest brothers linked to the Punjab Government.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-90569-Drug-crisis-pitches-two-honest-brothers-against-each-other
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-6-90724-Drug-crisis-pitches-2-honest
The only story that he writes projecting PML-N slightly negative and after initial mention quickly shift the blame to the Government and then eventually takes it to the rest of the world, totally forgetting he started with PML-N.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-95387-PML-N-only-paying-lip-service-to-check-agencies
The Bottom Line vs. The Balancing Act
One has to realise before believing a news communicated by a Media Group. The fact is Media Groups are businesses, and for them the bottom line - profits matter. And if they come through back door channels, they will count them in. Some might call it lobbying other funding or sponsoring. But it is our responsibility to filter news and connect the dots. Only then we would be able to avoid manipulation of our mind.
What the media groups dont understand is how social media is the balancing act.
Next stop - Tariq Butt of The News!
PS: My comments on the News comes from the fact that it is the daily newspaper subscribed at my home.
Who will do Journalists' Accountability?
One such case was the infamous Shamsul Anwar fraud. On January 10th The News published a story by Shakeel Anjum (http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=86770&Cat=6) of an ill-fated man whose family became targets of terrorists. And of course Imran Khan, our favorite bashing person, was shown to be a lesser man than Chaudhry Nisar when it came to his son's treatment for Cancer. But something strange happened, a story that was probably supposed to slip through the cracks, got youngsters attention. The social media got activated and started to collect donations to help this poor man's plight. And then the most heart breaking news broke - the story turned out to be a fraud and youngsters trust shattered. But amazingly there was no remorse or rebuttal from either The News (of not validating the story) or action against the journalist. He still writes for The News.
Analysing a Journalist's inclination - Umar Cheema(The News)
This brings me to the actual reason for this blog - another The News journalist - Umar Cheema. I am not going to dwell into a particular story and start writing against it. And one news is not enough to show some ones agenda. It is a series of stories trying to create a perception. They say if a lie is told over and over again - it eventually becomes a "truth".
"the most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly and with unflagging attention. It must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over"
This is why it is important to review series of stories by Umar Cheema Here is a list of all articles written by him (http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintWriterName.aspx?URL=Umar+Cheema). My analysis is based on his articles after October 30th, since the political landscape of Pakistan changed significantly.
Bulk of Umar Cheema's stories are on Government's misgovernance and struggle against state institutions, the establishments "evil" designs for missing people or Osama Bin Laden's hideout and few articles on Pakistani Journalists and Supreme Court challenges.
But when it comes to PTI and PML-N there is a serious shift in Umar Cheema's projection.
Umar Cheema (The News) and PTI
Since October 30th Umar Cheema has written 9 articles against PTI. One spectacular piece(http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-84579-Results-of-youth-survey-motivated-Imran) where Umar Cheema gets a peek into Imran Khans mind and his motivation of attracting youth - although since 1994 Imran Khan has belief in youth changing the fate of Pakistan and in fact 2007 Punjab University incident he went first to the youth to mobilise them for judiciary independence, and Umar Cheema says that it was 2009 survey that motivated him. Read the article and make your opinion.
What is even more sinister is that how Umar Cheema, even unrelated articles, tries to drag Imran Khan or PTI. For instance - take the example of mispronouncing Turkish Prime Minis Erdogan's name (http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-109739-Mispronounced-but-still-loved). Although he bulks everyone in - but Imran Khan, his favorite, is the only one who gets mentioned.
Similarly, when talking about Dynasty politics(
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-12968-Political-parties-being-run-as-family-limited-companies ) while for PPP and PML-N only top leadership is highlighted (Zardari and Sharifs), PTI gets the special privilege of going down to second and third in the hierarchy because Umar Cheema doesn't have anything concrete. And interestingly even misquoting that Imran Khans sister has role in PTI as well.
Here are the other 9 stories by Umar Cheema trying to create a negative sentiment towards PTI.
1. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-82447-Imrans-new-media-czar-was-his-strongest-critic
2. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-83171-Watching-the-PTI-newcomers-from-the-sidelines
3. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-11231-NAB-tainted-ex-IG-slips-into-Imrans-PTI
4. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-84393-PTI-embraces-another-relic-of-the-past
5. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-84579-Results-of-youth-survey-motivated-Imran
6. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-6-88500-Attempt-to-whitewash-PTI-newcomers-fails
7. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-110545-Why-Jemima-Khan-entered-into-a-benami-transaction-with-Imran
8. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-6-110715-Why-Jemima-Khan-did-a-benami-transaction-with-Imran
9. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-112376-PTI-changes-constitution-to-open-gates--for-those-accused-of-corruption
Umar Cheema (The News) and PML-N
But here is the interesting aspect. Although it seems Umar Cheema has only negative bone in body for political players - be it PTI, Government or Military - but for PML-N he seems to have a different opinion and projects them in a different light. From singing songs of Punjab CM(http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-107632-Shahbaz-pays-for-all-his-visits-from-his-pocket), to trying to twist the Mehran Gate in favour of PML-N (where PPP tried to topple PML-N Government)
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-13046-Another-Mehrangate-in-Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
Even calamities like Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Umar Cheema ignored the plight of the patients, Punjab Drug regulation and labs condition and Chief Minister having Health Minister portfolio along with several others, and instead the only news he could muster was about two honest brothers linked to the Punjab Government.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-90569-Drug-crisis-pitches-two-honest-brothers-against-each-other
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-6-90724-Drug-crisis-pitches-2-honest
The only story that he writes projecting PML-N slightly negative and after initial mention quickly shift the blame to the Government and then eventually takes it to the rest of the world, totally forgetting he started with PML-N.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-95387-PML-N-only-paying-lip-service-to-check-agencies
The Bottom Line vs. The Balancing Act
One has to realise before believing a news communicated by a Media Group. The fact is Media Groups are businesses, and for them the bottom line - profits matter. And if they come through back door channels, they will count them in. Some might call it lobbying other funding or sponsoring. But it is our responsibility to filter news and connect the dots. Only then we would be able to avoid manipulation of our mind.
What the media groups dont understand is how social media is the balancing act.
Next stop - Tariq Butt of The News!
PS: My comments on the News comes from the fact that it is the daily newspaper subscribed at my home.
Google deploying planes over cities for 3D maps
Google deploying planes over cities for 3D maps
SAN FRANCISCO: Google Inc is deploying a fleet of small, camera-equipped airplanes above several cities, the Internet search company’s latest step in its ambitious and sometimes controversial plan to create a digital map of the world.
Google plans to release the first three-dimensional maps for several cities by the end of the year, the company said at a news conference at its San Francisco offices on Wednesday.
Google declined to name the cities, but it showed a demonstration of a 3D map of San Francisco, in which a user can navigate around an aerial view of the city.
“We’re trying to create the illusion that you’re just flying over the city, almost as if you were in your own personal helicopter,” said Peter Birch, a product manager for Google Earth.
Google’s head of engineering for its maps product, Brian McClendon, said the company was using a fleet of airplanes owned and operated by contractors and flying exclusively for Google.
Asked about potential privacy implications, McClendon said the privacy issues were similar to all aerial imagery and that the type of 45-degree-angle pictures that the planes take have been used for a long time.
Google has used airplanes to collect aerial photos in the past, such as following the 2010 San Bruno, Calif. gas-line explosion, but the latest effort marks the first time the company will deploy the planes in a systemic manner to build a standard feature in one of its products.
By the end of the year, Google said it expects to have 3D map coverage for metropolitan areas with a combined population of 300 million people. The first 3D cityscape will be available within weeks.
Google has for years operated a fleet of camera-equipped cars that crisscross the globe taking panoramic pictures of streets for its popular mapping service. The cars have raised privacy concerns in some countries.
In 2010, Google acknowledged that the so-called Street View cars had been inadvertently collecting emails, passwords and other personal data from people’s home wireless networks. Collecting the WiFi data was unrelated to the Google Maps project, and was done instead so that Google could collect data on WiFi hotspots that can be used to provide separate location-based services.
The forthcoming 3D city maps will be part of the Google Earth software app available for mobile devices such as smartphones based on Google’s Android software and Apple’s iOS software.
The company also announced a version of Google maps for Android smartphones that allows users to access certain maps without an Internet connection.
Shares of Google finished Wednesday’s regular session up 1.8 percent at $580.57.
Google’s announcement comes a week before Apple Inc’s developer conference in San Francisco, as competition between the two tech giants continues to heat up, particularly in the fast-growing mobile market.
Apple is planning to replace Google Maps as the built-in mapping service on its iPhone and iPad later this year with technology that it has created in-house, according to media reports. Apple could show off its new mapping software at next week’s conference.
Google’s McClendon said the company would continue to make Google maps services available as widely as possible, on “all platforms.”
In what appeared to be a veiled jab at Apple, he said the integration with Google’s search engine provides a mapping serving that is far more useful than a product that simply uses a “geocoder” – technology that uses geographic coordinates to create a digital map. Apple began to use its own geocoder technology for the Google-based maps on its smartphones late last year.
Google said on Wednesday that there are currently 1 billion monthly active users of Google maps services and that the Street View cars have driven more than 5 million miles photographing streets all over the world.
Asked if Google had any plans to use unmanned aerial drones to gather photos for its 3D cityscapes, McClendon said it was an interesting question, but noted that drones were still being evaluated by the Federal Aviation Administration.
“That’s a larger can of worms that we’re not going to get into here,” he said.
How To Win The Talent War - Bhittani
I once hired a developer who had more experience in his field than I did in mine. His resume touted roles at companies I one day hope to emulate, and his Rolodex read like a who’s who of tech startups. I was excited by the possibilities of having someone like this on our team, and I anticipated a long and rewarding career for him at our company.
No doubt he was talented--but the sad reality was that he had no genuine interest in building the company I envisioned. He stayed with us less than six months.
When hiring for roles like this at Betterment.com, the investing startup I founded two years ago, I soon learned the formula for a successful startup. It’s simple: create a product that people need, and hire ridiculously talented, highly motivated people to build it.
As I experienced then (and many times over), finding the ridiculously talented, highly motivated people is the more challenging side of this equation.
I don’t want to downplay the need for a great product--but a great product is rarely born on day one. Instead, it takes modifications, iterations, and adjustments based on user feedback. You need smart, thoughtful employees to imagine and implement these changes.
We break the pool of promising candidates into three buckets:
No doubt he was talented--but the sad reality was that he had no genuine interest in building the company I envisioned. He stayed with us less than six months.
When hiring for roles like this at Betterment.com, the investing startup I founded two years ago, I soon learned the formula for a successful startup. It’s simple: create a product that people need, and hire ridiculously talented, highly motivated people to build it.
As I experienced then (and many times over), finding the ridiculously talented, highly motivated people is the more challenging side of this equation.
I don’t want to downplay the need for a great product--but a great product is rarely born on day one. Instead, it takes modifications, iterations, and adjustments based on user feedback. You need smart, thoughtful employees to imagine and implement these changes.
We break the pool of promising candidates into three buckets:
- A-Players: These candidates have the unique combination of talent and drive. They are rare gems and we do everything in our power to hire these applicants right away.
- Brilliant Misfits: Undoubtedly talented candidates who, much to our disappointment, don’t demonstrate enough drive and passion for our company. While we want to hire these folks to get talent in the door, we know that drive and ambition can’t be taught, and so we must pass on these people.
- Future Stars: Driven candidates who don’t have the technical skills or expertise we are looking for. While these candidates can be quick learners, we ultimately have to decide if we can afford the time it will take to teach and onboard them.
For many startups, hiring “A-Players” is the only option. While a Future Star would be a great hire for a later-stage venture, it is likely that the onboarding time would prove detrimental to the accelerated pace at which startups must move.
It will come as no surprise that it’s difficult to find “A-Players”: they are few and far between, and everybody wants them. We’ve been fortunate enough to find and hire a number of highly talented and driven people; here’s our game plan for winning the talent competition:
It will come as no surprise that it’s difficult to find “A-Players”: they are few and far between, and everybody wants them. We’ve been fortunate enough to find and hire a number of highly talented and driven people; here’s our game plan for winning the talent competition:
- Be obsessive about networking: By networking, I don’t mean LinkedIn or career fairs. The best candidates are not looking for a job, and are passively considering opportunities at best. You need to go where these candidates are and build relationships with them. That means if you want to hire a developer, you need to attend tech meetups, hack-a-thons, and product launch parties. It means having a lot of conversations, then following up after the event to tell the A-Players about the awesome role you think they’d be a great fit for.
- Look for the love: The worst thing a candidate can do is send over a generic cover letter. I’m impressed by people who demonstrate that they’ve taken time to understand our product, and that they’re excited by it. It becomes clear fairly quickly whether he or she understands our mission, values, and message. This is one of the core requirements. Passion is a powerful drive and an important part of what makes an employee truly valuable.
- Stay close to home: If you have a consumer-facing product, you may have users who already know, use, or love your product, and would be a great addition to your team. Don’t forget to share jobs with your community of users, and ask them for referrals. Sometimes the best candidates come to you. One of our customers caught our attention when he contacted us with a browser plug-in he'd written to retrieve and process the raw data we use to build our charts. His code published the buy and sell data from his Betterment account right into his personal money management tool. Talk about impressive. We contacted him right away.
- Hire Specialists: We focus on hiring employees who are specialists in multiple areas--so that they can transition to different areas if needed. Flexibility is important for a startup, since roughly 65% of startups undergo a significant pivot at some point, according to Union Square Ventures Managing Partner Fred Wilson. Even if the actual go-to-market strategy for the startup doesn’t pivot, it is likely that there will be significant changes to the technology or process as the product evolves.
- Pay for talent: If you want to hire “A-Players,” you should expect to pay a bit more. A-Players have likely been recognized for the work they do at their existing companies, and may be making 10-30% more than their peers. Don’t get too caught up in this difference. The delta in pay is incredibly small compared to the delta in value. Steve Jobs described the difference between an average programmer and a great programmer as being at least 25:1. Given these odds, paying 30% more for talent seems like a bargain.
- Be Timely: If you find two good candidates, hire them both. Don’t waste time trying to determine which candidate is better than the other. A-Players will likely have many options. Don’t give them time to consider alternatives. Conversely, if you find two average candidates, don’t hire anyone. Move on and keep looking.
Reserve spots on your team for A-Players only, and you’ll be more than halfway to startup success.
Jon Stein is the founder and CEO of Betterment. Passionate about helping people make smart decisions with their money, he founded the online brokerage in 2008. Jon is a graduate of Harvard University and Columbia Business School. His interests lie at the intersection of behavior, psychology, and economics. What excites him most about his work is making everyday activities and products more efficient, accessible, and easy to use. Follow Bettermentand Jon on Twitter.
Jon Stein is the founder and CEO of Betterment. Passionate about helping people make smart decisions with their money, he founded the online brokerage in 2008. Jon is a graduate of Harvard University and Columbia Business School. His interests lie at the intersection of behavior, psychology, and economics. What excites him most about his work is making everyday activities and products more efficient, accessible, and easy to use. Follow Bettermentand Jon on Twitter.
[Image: FXQuadro/Shutterstock]
After Cabinet Officials, Next on the Docket for Pakistan’s Chief Justice Is His Son
By SALMAN MASOOD
Published: June 6, 2012
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The gleaming, marble Supreme Court building in Pakistan’s capital has been the stage for several high-intensity dramas this year, as senior judges have called politicians, government officials and even military commanders to account. But the proceedings on Wednesday saw the court move in an entirely new direction, when the chief justice summoned his own son to answer corruption allegations.
Arsalan Iftikhar Chaudhry, the son of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, has suddenly come under the spotlight after rumors surfaced that he had accepted bribes worth $3 million to $4 million from a powerful real estate tycoon with ties to both the president and the military.
The accusations had placed Mr. Chaudhry, a strong-willed judge whose policy of unchecked judicial activism has targeted officials at the highest levels, in a notably awkward spot. But the court then announced Justice Chaudhry would head a three-justice panel investigating his son’s actions, in what critics are calling a clear conflict of interest. Justice Chaudhry insisted that he would uphold the law and punish his son without favor if he found him guilty.
In a country where conspiracy theories seem to gain steam the more baroque they get, the case has riveted and confused much of the public, in part because the proceedings are based on news media speculation rather than any official complaint.
The news media have been abuzz in recent days over accounts accusing a well-connected developer, Malik Riaz Hussain, of paying for Arsalan Chaudhry to take lavish European vacations and go on shopping sprees in order to curry favor with his father.
But it was Mr. Hussain himself who got the recriminations rolling, according to several accounts; days before, he began meeting with senior television journalists, showing them what he called evidence of the vacations, including credit card statements and videos.
It was unclear why would Mr. Hussain, who oversees a business empire, would implicate himself in such payments. Justice Chaudhry’s supporters are portraying the accusations as part of a carefully planned conspiracy designed to undermine his reputation and, more broadly, the independence of the judiciary.
On Wednesday, Arsalan Chaudhry appeared before the court. Upon arriving, he told reporters that Justice Chaudhry had barred him from their house until the case concludes.
Moments later, he stood to deny any wrongdoing. “Baseless,” he said.
Mr. Hussain was absent from the proceedings; his assistant told the visibly unhappy judges that he was undergoing medical treatment in London. “Have you told him about the court orders?” Mr. Chaudhry asked.
“We have not been able to make contact despite repeated efforts,” the assistant replied.
The judges then summoned Mr. Hussain’s son, Ali Ahmad Riaz, the chief executive of the business empire, only to be told that he, too, was abroad.
The court summoned six officials working for Mr. Hussain’s private housing enterprise, Bahria Town, to determine whether they had evidence against Arsalan Chaudhry. Each, in turn, denied any knowledge.
Next up was Hamid Mir, one of the country’s most popular talk show hosts. He told the court that he had met Mr. Hussain, who showed him documents relating to the corruption allegations. “In my view, it was not hard evidence,” Mr. Mir said.
Mr. Mir then insinuated that the powerful army and intelligence services could be manipulating Mr. Hussain in order to get at Justice Chaudhry for his relentless pursuit of cases related to illegal detention and extrajudicial killings by the security forces. “Now you are going in the right track,” Justice Chaudhry said with a faint smile.
The judges adjourned the hearing until Thursday, directing that Mr. Hussain should appear in person.
The case poses another dramatic challenge to Justice Chaudhry, who over the past six months has become embroiled in political and military scandals, one of which resulted in the prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, being convicted of contempt of court. On Monday, Justice Chaudhry took legal action against Interior Minister Rehman Malik that led to his removal from his post because he could not disprove accusations that he held dual Pakistani and British citizenship.
While Mr. Chaudhry has retained much of his popularity with the middle class, his reputation has suffered amid the clashes of recent months, leading to growing accusations of partisanship and arrogance. Now his insistence on bringing proceedings against his son in the absence of established evidence could further hurt his credibility, some analysts said, adding fuel to accusations that he was using the Supreme Court for personal ends.
“The fact is that there is no evidence in the public domain to suggest that Arsalan Chaudhry engaged in any wrongdoing, only unsubstantiated claims by journalists of dubious credibility,” said Ali Dayan Hasan, Pakistan director of Human Rights Watch.
The way in which Mr. Chaudhry presided over the case raised ethical questions and represented a clear conflict of interest, he said, adding, “It is sadly inevitable that such controversial actions will harm Pakistan’s struggle for the rule of law.”
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
US ‘threatens’ Kayani, but he refuses to help, says book
WASHINGTON - The US intends to keep between 10,000 to 15,000 counter-terrorism troops in Afghanistan, much beyond its troops drawdown in 2014, which could cross over into Pakistan in case of crisis, a top Obama aide had warned Pakistan Army Chief Ashfaq Pervez Kayani.
A top Obama aide conveyed this to the Pakistan Army Chief at a secret meeting in Abu Dhabi last October in a bid to spur Pakistan to take strong action against the Haqqani network, a book has claimed.
But the threat didn't appear to have made the desired impact, according to the book 'Confront and Conceal' by the New York Times journalist David
Sanger which hit the stands on Tuesday.
The book depicts President Barack Obama's crisis moments soon after taking over the mantle from George Bush. Kayani refused to give any guarantee of taking action against Haqqani network, as demanded by the Obama Administration.
The details of a meeting between a three-member presidential delegation led by the National Security Advisor, Tom Donilon, and Kayani at a secret location in Abu Dhabi have been made public for the first time.
Donilon was accompanied by Mark Grossman, the Special US Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Douglas Lute, Obama's top adviser on Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"Donilon had sent ahead a document laying out the long-term American strategy, including a plan to keep somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 American counterterrorism troops in Afghanistan, mostly at Bagram Airfield, a large base just outside Kabul, to protect the interests of the US in the region."
"His meaning was clear: the United States would remain, and its troops would be ready to go over the Pakistani border if they needed to," Sanger writes in his book.
The three Americans told Kayani they had incriminating evidence about the latest two bold attacks against Americans in Afghanistan, the journalist wrote, but noted that even this did not have any impact on Kayani.
Kayani sought assurance from the US that there would be no repeat of raid like the one that killed Osama bin Laden, which according to him violated the sovereignty of Pakistan.
"We will undertake whatever steps we need to protect our forces," Donilon said. "We would prefer to act jointly. But if you refuse.... we will come in and do what we have to do."
"He did not need to add that the American model of success in this regard was Abbottabad, where seventy commandos infiltrated Pakistani airspace, landed forty miles from the Pakistani capital, killed bin Laden and his few protectors, and swept up his computers all without setting off Pakistan's defences," the book said.
The unspoken message was, 'We can do it again'. "Kayani took another drag on the cigarette and blew a little more smoke." Donilon, Lute, and Grossman knew what that meant.
"The Pakistanis had no intention of turning over or taking on the Haqqani network it was their insurance policy for the moment when the Americans would inevitably leave," the book said.
"And when Donilon, Lute, and Grossman got home a seventeen-hour flight aboard a military jet? they knew their first stop: the dry cleaners. Getting the fumes out of their suits would be easy enough.
"Detoxifying the American relationship with Pakistan would be much more difficult," it said reflecting the relationship between the two countries.
http://www.thefrontierpost.com/news/1692/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)