Pope says communists are closet Christians

Pope Francis conducts a mass before presenting Archbishops with their palliums in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican June 29, 2014.

(Reuters) - Pope Francis, whose criticisms of unbridled capitalism have prompted some to label him a Marxist, said in an interview published on Sunday that communists had stolen the flag of Christianity. The 77-year-old pontiff gave an interview to Il Messaggero, Rome's local newspaper, to mark the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, a Roman holiday. He was asked about a blog post in the Economist magazine that said he sounded like a Leninist when he criticized capitalism and called for radical economic reform. "I can only say that the communists have stolen our flag. The flag of the poor is Christian. Poverty is at the center of the Gospel," he said, citing Biblical passages about the need to help the poor, the sick and the needy. "Communists say that all this is communism. Sure, twenty centuries later. So when they speak, one can say to them: 'but then you are Christian'," he said, laughing. Since his election in March 2013, Francis has often attacked the global economic system as being insensitive to the poor and not doing enough to share wealth with those who need it most. Earlier this month, he criticized the wealth made from financial speculation as intolerable and said speculation on commodities was a scandal that compromised the poor's access to food.

Global stocks set for quarterly gains, euro zone inflation eyed

The curve of the German share price index DAX board, is pictured at the Frankfurt stock exchange June 27, 2014.

Reuters) - Global stocks rose on Monday, on track for their fourth straight quarter of gains, as investors bet that a raft of U.S. and European economic data due this week will soothe recent worries over the pace of growth. MSCI's world equity index .MIWD00000PUS, which tracks shares in 45 countries, rose 0.15 percent. It has risen over 4 percent this quarter, aided by the prospect that monetary policy in the major economies will remain accommodative for longer. European stocks rose, with the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares up 0.3 percent at 1,375.49 points, steadying after a 1.7 percent slide last week. Investors will focus on euro zone inflation data for June, due at 0900 GMT (5.00 a.m. EDT), which should show inflation stuck at 0.5 percent, its ninth consecutive month in the European Central Bank's "danger zone" below 1 percent. That should keep the threat of deflation in the euro zone at bay for now. But with inflation nowhere near the ECB's target of just under 2 percent, expectations are the central bank will keep policy loose for longer, underpinning demand for riskier assets and peripheral euro zone bonds, analysts said. "If anything, we see risks to our forecast as skewed to the upside, mainly related to energy prices," said Francois Cabau, an analyst at Barclays. German inflation was above forecasts on Friday, fuelling expectations that the numbers for the whole of the euro zone could rise above the 0.5 percent predicted in a Reuters poll. As a result, German Bund yields edged up while the euro held steady against the dollar at $1.3646 EUR=. "Germany having higher than expected inflation pushed up expectations that we are not going toward a deflation scenario," said Christian Lenk, a strategist at DZ Bank. The ECB cut all its interest rates earlier in June and promised more liquidity for banks that lend to businesses and households as it tries to revive growth and bring inflation closer to target. HOPES FOR A U.S. REBOUND French bank BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) will be in focus after sources said the U.S. Justice Department is expected to announce on Monday a settlement involving a record fine of nearly $9 billion over alleged U.S. sanctions violations. Investors are hoping to see evidence of an economic rebound in the United States in this week's busy calendar of data that includes the June non-farm payrolls report on Thursday, a day earlier than usual due to the July 4 holiday. Economists polled by Reuters expect 213,000 jobs to have been added in June, for the fifth straight month of gains above 200,000, a run unmatched since the period from September 1999 to January 2000. A weaker-than-expected payrolls report could see the U.S. dollar suffer more. The U.S. earnings season also starts in the next couple of weeks, which will provide evidence on how the economy and profits are faring. Globally, purchasing managers' indices (PMIs) for manufacturing are out on Tuesday and services on Thursday. They are expected to show a picture of growth or at least stability despite geopolitical tensions around Ukraine and Iraq. In commodity markets, gold XAU= was steady at $1,315.40 an ounce, underpinned by geopolitical unrest in Iraq and Ukraine and a soft dollar. The safe-haven yen was at a five-week high against the dollar at 101.35 yen per dollar. JPY= Brent crude oil LCOc1 lost 42 cents to 112.88 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures CLc1 fell 49 cents to $105.25. Oil prices have come off recent highs as fighting in Iraq stayed away from the country's south, where most of its oil is produced. [O/R]

U.S. government to unveil near $9 billion fine for France's BNP: sources

The logo of BNP Paribas is seen on top of the bank's building in Fontenay-sous-Bois, eastern Paris, May 30, 2014.

(Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department is expected to announce on Monday a settlement with BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) involving a record fine of nearly $9 billion over alleged U.S. sanctions violations by France’s biggest bank, sources familiar with the matter said. The penalties, which the sources said may also include a temporary ban on some dollar-clearing business, could hit BNP's dividend payout, regulatory capital ratios and its investment banking targets, analysts say. BNP is expected to plead guilty to a criminal charge in Manhattan Federal Court on Monday and the U.S. Justice Department is planning a news conference in Washington to announce a deal the same day, sources said. However the lender is expected to retain its banking license from the New York state banking regulator, after negotiations which, according to sources close to the matter, at one point raised the prospect of an even bigger fine up to $16 billion. "I want to say it clearly here: we will receive a heavy penalty," BNP Chief Executive Officer Jean-Laurent Bonnafe told staff in an internal message sent on June 27 and seen by Reuters. "However, the difficulties that we are currently experiencing must not affect our plans for the future." The bank has not commented publicly on the case since it warned shareholders on May 14 that the fine could be stiffer than the $1.1 billion for which it originally provisioned. A BNP spokeswoman declined to comment. Shares in the group were 0.6 percent higher at 49.660 euros in early Paris trade. U.S. authorities are examining whether BNP evaded U.S. sanctions relating primarily to Sudan between 2002 and 2009, sources have said. A $9 billion fine, not far short of BNP's entire 2013 pretax income of about 8.2 billion euros ($11.2 billion), would be the largest penalty paid by a European bank to date for violations of sanctions imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, Morgan Stanley analysts said. BNP has only said publicly that it is in discussions with U.S. authorities about "certain U.S. dollar payments involving countries, persons and entities that could have been subject to economic sanctions". Last month it said it had improved control processes to ensure mistakes did not occur again. FAIR AND PROPORTIONATE French President Francois Hollande has appealed to his counterpart Barack Obama to ensure any penalty is fair and does not have repercussions for Europe's economy. Obama has replied that it is purely a matter for the judiciary. European Union internal market commissioner Michel Barnier said it was normal that any breach of rules be punished. "That's exactly what we do over here if a U.S. company does not respect European rules," Barnier, a French national, told France Info radio, noting 2013 penalties imposed by EU antitrust regulators on Microsoft (MSFT.O) for breaking competition rules. The investigation of BNP operations has turned up billions of dollars of transfers involving the bank that specifically violated U.S. sanctions, one source has said. Bonnafe inherited a bank that emerged relatively unscathed from the economic crisis and sought to raise revenue outside its traditional European markets, just as tougher financial regulation made banking a less profitable business. The New York State Department of Financial Services, headed by Benjamin Lawsky, proposed the suspension of dollar-clearing operations as one condition for not revoking the license, Reuters reported last month. BNP is likely to be suspended from converting foreign currencies to dollars on behalf of clients for some businesses for as long as a year, sources have told Reuters. A source familiar with the matter said on Sunday this would mainly involve oil and gas financing. Two sources said on Sunday the ban would not go into effect for another six months in order to let the bank and clients arrange other plans. One source said the settlement would include about a dozen employees leaving the bank and disciplinary action for others. Shares in BNP have fallen 17 percent since it first said it would make provisions for the fine in mid-February, on concerns the penalties could be big enough to restrict its dividends and drag its capital ratio to below 10 percent - a level seen as key to staying out of the danger zone under tighter post-financial crisis guidelines.

As caliphate declared, battle continues in Iraq

. Members of the Iraqi security forces prepare to fire artillery during the clashes with the predominantly Sunni militants from the radical Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the town of Dalli Abbas in Diyala province, June 28, 2014. Add caption

(Reuters) - Iraqi troops battled to dislodge an al Qaeda splinter group from the city of Tikrit on Monday after its leader was declared caliph of a new Islamic state in lands seized this month across a swathe of Iraq and Syria. Alarming regional and world powers, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed universal authority when it dropped the local element in its name and said its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as leader of the Islamic State, was now caliph of the Muslim world - a mediaeval title last widely recognized in the Ottoman sultan deposed 90 years ago after World War One. "He is the imam and caliph for Muslims everywhere," group spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani said in an online statement on Sunday, using titles that carry religious and civil power. The move, which follows a three-week drive for territory by ISIL militants and allies among Iraqi's Sunni Muslim minority, aims to erase international borders drawn by colonial powers and defy Baghdad's U.S.- and Iranian-backed, Shi'ite-led government. It also poses a direct challenge to the global leadership of al Qaeda, which has disowned it, and to conservative Gulf Arab Sunni rulers who already view the group as a security threat. Fighters from the group overran the Iraqi city of Mosul on June 10 and have advanced toward Baghdad, prompting the despatch of U.S. military advisers. In Syria, ISIL has captured territory in the north and east, along the desert frontier with Iraq. The government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, with the help of Shi'ite sectarian militia, has managed to stop the militants from reaching the capital but security forces have been unable to take back cities they abandoned in the fighting. The army attempted last week to take back the city of Tikrit but was unable to seize the city. Helicopters hit Islamic State positions around the city overnight. On the southern outskirts, a battle raged into Monday, residents in the areas said. Tikrit was the home city of Saddam Hussein, whose overthrow by U.S. forces in 2003 ended a long history of domination by Sunnis over what is today a Shi'ite majority in Iraq. The fighting has started to draw in international support for Baghdad, two and a half years after U.S. troops pulled out. Armed and trained by the United States, Iraq's armed forces crumbled in the face of the ISIL onslaught and have struggled to bring heavier weaponry to bear. Only two aircraft - turboprop Cessna Caravans normally used as short-range passenger and cargo carriers - are capable of firing the powerful Hellfire missile. The U.S. is flying armed and unarmed aircraft in Iraq's airspace but says it has not engaged in fighting. Russia has sent its first warplanes to Baghdad, filling an order for five second-hand Sukhois. The government said they will be operational within a few days. In Falluja, just west of Baghdad where Islamic State fighters have been in control for six months, a bank accountant who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution said the announcement of the caliphate was a "step backward". "It will only turn the government even more hostile to us," he said. "This will isolate us further from the rest of the world." The Islamic State has used alliances with other, less radical Sunni armed groups and tribal fighters who are disillusioned with Maliki. Members Saddam’s secular Baath party have also fought in the revolt. "ISLAMIC STATE" The Sunni Muslim militant group follows al Qaeda's hardline ideology, viewing Shi'ites as heretics. Its declaration of the Islamic State could isolate allies in Iraq and lead to in-fighting. Such internal conflicts among rebel groups in Syria has killed around 7,000 people there this year and complicated the three-year uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, another ally of Shi'ite Tehran. The group crucified eight rival rebel fighters in Syria, a monitoring group said on Sunday. And in the Syrian city of Raqqa, controlled by the Islamic State, militants held a parade to celebrate the declaration of the caliphate. The Islamic State posted pictures online on Sunday of people waving black flags from cars and holding guns in the air, the SITE monitoring service said. Some analysts say the group is a credible threat to frontiers and is stirring regional violence while others say it exaggerates its reach and support through sophisticated media campaigns. The Islamic State also released a video called "Breaking of the Borders", promoting its destruction of a frontier crossing between the northern province of al-Hasakah in Syria and Nineveh province in Iraq, said SITE, which tracks militant websites.

Exclusive : Live experiences of an Indian Prisoner of War in Pakistan

 The postmortem revealed that the Pakistan army had tortured their prisoners by burning their bodies with cigarettes, piercing ear-drums with hot rods, puncturing eyes before removing them, breaking most of the teeth and bones, fractures of the skull, cutting the lips, chipping of nose, chopping off limbs and private organs of these soldiers besides inflicting all sorts of physical and mental tortures and finally shooting them dead, as evidenced by the bullet wound to the temple. The postmortem report also confirmed that injuries were inflicted ante-mortem (before death)

Capt. Saurabh Kalia

Saurabh was born on 30 June 1976 at Amritsar, India to Mrs. Vijay and Dr. N.K. Kalia.[3] His schooling took place in the D.A.V Public School Palampur. Saurabh graduated in (B.Sc. Med.) from H. P. Agricultural University, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh in 1997. He excelled at school, securing first Division and winning scholarships throughout his academic career.





In the first two weeks of May 1999, several patrols were conducted in the Kaksar Langpa area of Kargil to check whether the snow had retreated enough for the summer positions to be re-occupied.[5] He was the first Indian army officer to observe and reported large-scale intrusion of Pakistani Army and foreign mercenaries in Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC) at Kargil. He assumed guard of "Bajrang Post" at the height 13,000-14,000 feet to check infiltration in the Kaksar area.[6] On May 15, 1999 Saurabh Kalia along with five soldiers - Sepoys Arjun Ram, Bhanwar Lal Bagaria, Bhika Ram, Moola Ram and Naresh Singh[7] of the 4 Jat Regiment had gone for a routine patrol of the Bajrang Post in the Kaksar sector in the rugged, treeless Ladakh mountains. After a continuous cross fire with Pakistan armed forces from across the LoC, he and his troops ran out of ammunition. They were finally encircled by a platoon of Pakistan rangers and captured alive before any Indian reinforcement could reach for their help. No trace of this entire patrol was left meanwhile Radio Skardu of Pakistan announced that Captain Saurabh Kalia had been captured by the Pakistani troops.[3][8] It was after this that India discovered hundreds of guerrillas had established fortified positions on the peaks of the hills deep inside the Indian side of the Line of control, with sophisticated equipment and supply lines back to Pakistan-controlled Kashmir



My Reminiscences As A Prisoner Of War

BY- Air Marshal K C Cariappa (Retd)

The second, or could it be called the third, Indo-Pak War was now nearly three weeks old, and there were no talks of a cease fire. To us in the field we did not really have a clear picture of how the war was going, or how either the Army or the Air Force was doing, on the ground or in the air. We knew of Air Force casualties more through the grape vine rather than through authentic sources. Our hopes as young fighter pilots were to be detailed for as many operational missions as possible against the enemy. And of course, each of us hoped we would encounter the enemy in the air and to shoot him down.

So it was on 22nd Sep '65 when I was detailed as the leader of what was meant to be a four-aircraft formation of Hunters. We took off at about 0830. Our target was enemy Armour in an area some distance South of Lahore. Once the primary mission was accomplished, we could take on any "targets of opportunity" that we might see. Now, in hindsight it would appear that our mission was not going to be as successful as one might have wished.

At the outset, though four aircraft started their engines, only three taxied out of dispersal. At the take-off point final checks were carried out by the ground crew, rockets were "armed" and the 30mm cannon were made "live". The first few minutes of the mission were over Indian territory, but as always, we were "keyed" up and on the look out for enemy aircraft that might be on a sortie to attack our positions. As always happened, at least where I was concerned, there were butterflies in my stomach. The uncertainty of what awaited us across the border and what enemy opposition we might encounter was at the back of my mind. It was at this point that the pilot of the third aircraft found something seriously amiss with his aircraft and I ordered him to return to Base. And then there were two!

However, once over Pakistan, nothing mattered other than finding the enemy and doing what we could to destroy his armoured formations. We did not see too much by way of enemy activity other than a few dust columns that were kicked up by vehicles that were slow in following the standard dictum of "freezing" in their tracks if enemy air was in the sky. We attacked what little we could see and then decided to return home. On the way back we spotted an enemy target that gave away its position by opening fire on us. We retaliated. Within moments of doing so my aircraft was hit by ground fire.

All the warning lights in my cockpit were illuminated, indicating that many systems and my controls had failed, and also to tell me that my aircraft was on fire. Shrapnel went through my cockpit and I found my controls jammed. My "wing-man" called out on the radio that I was on fire and that I should abandon the aircraft. I acknowledged his transmission and ejected. All I can recall is my boots flying off and within seconds I was on the ground lying in a semi-supine position. Within moments I was surrounded by troops who ordered me to raise my hands in submission, and to stand up. I replied that I could not do so as I was hurting badly, and felt paralysed. The troops were in khaki uniform and for some unknown reason I thought they were Indian. At about that time I could hear artillery opening up and one of the troops said, "Those are your guns firing at us".

I was a Prisoner of War! The time was 0904 because my watch had stopped, presumably on impact with the ground. I was asked who I was and from where I had taken off. As per standard procedures, I rather parrot-like gave my "name, rank and number". It was then that I was asked if I was related to General Cariappa. I feigned a faint because of the pain, or maybe I did pass out. The next thing I knew was that I was lying on a litter in the back of a jeep and was being questioned by a Brigadier. After some first aid I was moved to a rear location, to a place called Luliani were for sometime I was left on the floor awaiting treatment and then as it transpired, evacuation to a hospital. I have no recollections of that journey. When I did come to, I found myself in a hospital bed and in excruciating agony. This was the military hospital in Lahore.

The following day I was taken to the operation theatre and was told the extent of my injuries. I was impressed by the number of doctors who had returned from abroad to be of service to their nation at this juncture in its history. I stayed in hospital for about a week during which time General Musa the Pakistan Army C-in-C visited. He came to see me, knowing by now that I was General Cariappa"s son. He asked if there was anything I wanted. All I could think of was being with the other Indian prisoners of war. From Lahore I was flown to Rawalpindi and kept in the hospital there, and it was during this time that I was visited by President Ayub Khan"s son. Treatment and food in the hospital was good, yet being in solitary confinement I was hankering to be with the other Indians.

This happened soon enough and suddenly one fine morning I was discharged from the MH and moved blindfolded to what turned out to be a prison cell. Here I was given a pair of black armoured corps overalls, and a pair of rubber-soled slippers. It was by now almost mid-Oct with the winter chill beginning to manifest itself. There was one charpoy for furniture and nothing else. I was also given three typical army blankets; one served as the mattress and the other two as a covering. By day the outer wooden doors were closed, I was in darkness with no light penetrating, and by night they were kept open with the single dull electric bulb switched on. If I wanted to use the toilet I would be taken blindfolded to the lavatory about 50 yards away. There the sentry would wait till I was through, and then would escort me back to my cell. It was here that a Major first interrogated me, and it was here that I really experienced the "fear of the unknown" for the first time as a POW. There is no more frightening condition than being in solitary confinement. I was not subjected to "third degree" treatment, but I was told that I had better answer all questions because if I did not, there would be no hesitation in "putting me away"!! I realized then that the standard "rank/name/

number response would not help and so I did "reveal" what I thought to be innocuous information. This lasted over a period of three days. During this ten days I was incarcerated in the cell I was fed thick wholesome "chappatis and dal" twice a day. There would be a mug of sweet "langar" tea at 0700 and again at 1500. "Lights on time " was 1600. A few days later I was told that I would be moving to the main POW camp. I first moved to a transit camp in Rawalpindi itself where I was kept in "solitary" again for two days. It was here that I met a Pakistan Army JCO who, having learned that I was my father"s son, came up to me and said he heard that I was in the Sadr Kothi (he meant the President"s home). I of course denied this.

A train journey to Dargai, throughout which I was blindfolded, to the main POW camp followed. Winston Churchill was supposed to have been billeted here too!!! Meeting with the 38 other Indian prisoners was a momentous occasion for me, who had, for the preceding six weeks been deprived of any form of company. I was the only airman with that group. I learned later that the others were kept in separate enclosures within in the same complex. The next few days were filled with getting to know my mates, and settling into some kind routine. Soon thereafter, I joined the other airmen who were Sqn.Ldrs Sikand and Pilloo Kakar, and Flt Lts Mani Lowe, Lal Sadarangani, MV Singh and Vijay Mayadev. A third compound housed the twelve Sikh officers who had been segregated for political reasons. Our compound had a small forecourt about thirty feet long and some seven feet across. Then the billet that housed us comprised three rooms. One that had our seven charpoys packed closely together, a dry-toilet facility (more of this later) and our dining area. We were given three blankets, and an olive green army pullover was all that we had to protect ourselves from the severe winter chill of the NWFP. As a result by 1700 hours we got into our beds and were regaled by stories and experiences by Siki who seemingly had an endless fund of them. He often had us in splits of laughter!

In the first week of November, quite inexplicably, Mani Lowe and I were told to "pack our bags" as we were going "somewhere". Blindfolded, we were put into a van and driven off to a place about two hours South from Dargai and put into two adjacent dank, cold and airless cells, similar to the "lock-up" in our own Air Force Guardrooms. The toilets were about fifty paces of so from our cells, and as was the practice, we would be blindfolded when being taken to and from there. We were not interrogated, and were unable to figure out as to why on earth we were separated from our mates. All we knew is that we were at an air force base because every evening and through the night we would hear the typical, and unmistakable whine of Hercules aircraft starting up, taxiing and taking off. About ten days later we were returned to Dargai, much to our delight, and indeed relief.

The first Red Cross parcels came in on 7th Dec and our lot improved considerably. One packet that thrilled us was that the film star Asha Parekh had sent us dried fruit! Now, we were even provided with a quilt that was paid for from out of the approximately Rs.60.00 that was our entitlement as Prisoners. The arrival of the "goodies" from the Red Cross was an indication that our folks at home knew that we were alive!

Food was always the focus of attention. Breakfast was a boiled egg with three puris and a mug of tea. Lunch and dinner were always, monotonously identical; either lacy, glutinous "lady"s fingers" or well watered turnips to be eaten with chappatis and/or rice. We would be given a mug of tea at about 1500 hours and then we would play quoits for an hour or so. Once a week was the luxury of a hot bath. Dinner would come by 1700 hrs after which Pilloo (Sqn Ldr Kakkar) would read to us from the Bhagavat Gita that we received with our Red Cross parcels. Siki our "master chef" was able to convince our "minders" that we needed mustard oil to keep away the winter dryness from our skins. This then was used as a cooking medium and our dinner was a much more palatable meal with fried onions and some condiments being added. Dessert was usually a biscuit sandwich that had cocoa or melted chocolate providing the filling.

As 31st December approached we agreed that we must do something to celebrate New Year"s Eve. The first pre-requisite for a successful party was "hooch"!!! So, we decided to make some moonshine. The main ingredient would be methylated spirits to be purloined from the nursing orderly"s tray when he came every afternoon to dress MV"s wounds and mine. Our stratagem was to keep him distracted somehow, and for this Siki was particularly successful. Then, I cannot remember what excuse or reason we gave for asking for a pitcher, but we were given one. This was our "still" into which put raisins, the bitter lemon (rind and all, and called for some unknown reason as "mitha" that was provided as dessert and jaggery. We also added a few chappatis for good measure in the belief that the yeast would cause fermentation and therefore provide the desired "kick" to our hooch. The "matka" was then wrapped in a blanked and placed close to the fireplace where we hoped and believed its contents would mature! Came New Year"s Eve, Dec 1965, the evening progressed as usual and we looked forward with eager anticipation to the dinner that Siki had planned. Dinner came at the usual time and then our Chef got down to work. It is now almost 40 years since then, and I don"t remember too well all that we had to eat. But, I do recall the unexpected arrival of the Camp Commandant who turned out to be a very pleasant chap. He wished us and then produced the unbelievable⦣128;泯me mutton, or, was it chicken? He left soon thereafter. We then drank our brew that tasted like nothing on earth, enjoyed a veritable repast, and talked late into the night.

Life carried on unchanging from day to day, when suddenly about the January 10th we received some intelligence that something was afoot. The source of our information was the sweeper who came in every morning to clean our "thunder boxes". He was a Hindu, and therefore it appeared was sympathetic towards us. Given the menial and unpleasant nature of his duties it was not surprising that the guards accompanying him were reluctant to enter the toilets. Siki "cashed" in on this and wrapping his face securely to keep out the obnoxious smells, he would "chat up" the sweeper. It was he who mentioned that in a few days a tailor would come to take our measurements, but he was unsure as to why. He did arrive and within a few days we were outfitted with warm serge trousers and shirts, and even provided new olive-green pullovers. Events now moved fast, so fast that we did not realize we were being prepared for repatriation!!! In fact, I don"t think we knew till the day of departure on 22 Jan 66. We were once again blindfolded, bundled into a vehicle and driven to Peshawar where we emplaned a Fokker F-27 that was going to Delhi to bring back the Pakistan COAS. We crossed the international border at approximately 0905, about the identical time that I was shot down exactly four months earlier.
Thus ended an unforgettable period in our lives. Siki retired as Air Marshal, Pilloo became a Wing Commander but was killed in an HF 24 accident. Lal Sadarangani, Mani Lowe and Vijay Mayadev left the Service as Wg. Cdrs and joined Air India. MV continued in uniform and retired as Air Commodore.

Leaked photos of Asus Zenfone 5 LTE ?

Found it on the Internet :D
more photos: here

5 Facts about One Direction , a directioner must know

#1 Louis and Zayn are the Messiest

Louis stated in an interview after being asked who was the messiest while on tour that it is both Zayn and himself. We’d hate to see the state of their bedrooms!

 #2 Harry's Hair is Naturally Straight

Harry’s hair is actually naturally straight and he has to curl it and use hair products to get that wavy-haired look.

 #3 Niall is a Brunette

 

Niall has admitted that he isn’t naturally blonde, but has been dying his brunette locks blonde since he was just twelve years old.

#4 Harry Wears Thongs and Liam has a Man-Crush

According to Niall in a recent interview, Harry Styles likes to wear thongs and Liam has a man-crush on none other than Taylor Lautner!

 #5 Liam Broke His Toe

Liam recently broke his toe but tried to keep it a secret! The injury occurred when he accidentally dropped a Macbook Pro on his foot - Ouch!