Pakistan

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Posted by haiqa On 10:35 AM No comments

PhD scholar, Munir Ashraf, studying in GEMTEX France, has won a Prize for Innovative Textiles.

Ashraf was conferred the prize by Mr. Philippe Taquet, Vice President, French Academy of Science. Twelve researchers of 10 different nationalities studying in different universities of Europe presented their work for this prize.

Munir’s work was declared the best and was awarded a prize of 10,000 euros with a certificate and a shield.

“I developed a multi-functional textile by growing nano rods of ZnO on polyester fabric. This fabric cleans itself like lotus leaves. There is no possibility of its staining by colours dissolved in water but if it gets stained by colorants dissolved in low surface energy solvents like acetone, no need to wash it, just expose the fabric to UV light the colour will disappear automatically due to photocatalytic effect of ZnO.

The fabric has ability to kill the bacteria if attached on the surface and hence it prevents their growth,” says Muneer.

Friday, September 2, 2011

Turkey expels Israeli diplomats after UN report

Posted by Unknown On 11:52 PM No comments

Turkey expelled Israel's ambassador and senior Israeli diplomats and suspended military agreements on Friday, the day after it emerged a U.N. report said Israel had used unreasonable force in a raid on a Gaza-bound ship that killed nine Turks, Reuters reported.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu had said Thursday that Friday's official release of the “Palmer Report” would constitute Israel's last chance to apologize for its raid on the Turkish-sponsored flotilla and warned of consequences, including sanctions, should Israel continue to refuse to apologize.

Stung by Israel's refusal to meet demands for a formal apology, pay compensation for families of the dead, and end the blockade of Palestinians living in the Gaza enclave, Turkey announced it was downgrading ties with Israel further.

"Turkey-Israel diplomatic relations have been reduced to a second secretary level. All personnel above the second secretary level will be sent home by Wednesday at the latest," Foreign Minister Davutoğlu told at a news conference in Ankara.
Davutoğlu announced five measures that the Turkish government would take against Israel:

1. Downgrade diplomatic ties between the two countries to level of second secretary, effectively expelling diplomats above the said level.

2. All military agreements will be put on hold.

3. Turkey will take measures for freedom of maritime movement in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

4. Turkey will no longer recognize the Gaza blockade and will take the issue to the International Court of Justice.

5. Turkey will support all flotilla victims, Turkish and foreign, in court.

Israel's ambassador Gabby Levy was currently in Israel and cancelled plans to return to Turkey on Thursday.

Immediately after the attack on the aid convoy last year, Turkey withdrew its ambassador to Israel, suspended joint military exercises, and barred Israeli military aircraft from Turkish airspace.

On Friday, Turkey went a step further by putting military pacts with its erstwhile ally on ice.