Don't make the mistake of attacking us, Pak warns

India should not make the "mistake" of carrying out surgical strikes against Pakistan as such an action would provoke a strong response, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Thursday.

Pakistan did not want war but is ready to defend its frontiers, Qureshi told reporters in his hometown of Multan. If India made the "mistake of carrying out a surgical strike", Pakistan will deal sternly with such an eventuality, he said. "We will be compelled to respond if it happens," he said.

Asked if the possibility of war could be ruled out amidst escalating tensions in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, Qureshi said: "If you are asking me, I am not ruling out anything. But if war is imposed, we will respond to it like a brave and self-respecting nation."

He added, "I want to give a message to India that we are the torch-bearers of peace and remain committed to our desire for peace...Contrary to our reasonable, cooperative and non-aggressive attitude, some elements from India are issuing provocative statements."

Regional tensions have escalated after India blamed Pakistan-based elements for the Mumbai terror attacks that killed over 180 people. India has asked for action against these elements, but Pakistan has been insisting that it needs evidence from India to take forward its investigation into the incident.

Qureshi said Pakistan condemns terrorism and wants to expose those involved in such activities. It has already promised cooperation to India in this regard, he said.

"We will not resort to provocation while remaining committed to cooperation but at the same time, we will not tolerate any pressure," he remarked. Pakistan, he said, should "hope for the best but be prepared for the worst".

The country and the armed forces are vigilant and keeping a close watch on developments. "The situation keeps changing and we will prepare a strategy after examining any change," Qureshi underlined. "We are continuously monitoring the situation on the ground and in the air. Our air force and armed forces are on alert."

Meanwhile, presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said "some elements in both India and Pakistan" did not want peace between the two neighbours.

"As Pakistan-India relations were improving...Mumbai happened. There are elements on both sides who not want Pakistan-India relations to improve. The Mumbai incident has occurred at that very moment when relations were not only improving but I think a strategic advancement was being made," he told Dawn News channel.

The two countries now have to decide whether the Mumbai incident "should be allowed to derail the peace process or be viewed as an obvious challenge to the process".

He added, "The government of Pakistan is determined that the Mumbai incident should not be allowed to derail the peace process and this is what we also urge the Indian government."

65-year-old bulb still shines, and outshines all

It withstood German air raids on London in the second world war. It defied the British police opposed to its presence. And it continues to survive, about to outlive the store it was brought from. This is the story of a light bulb, aged 65.

The 40-watt bulb, which still works, now has the pride of place in a china cabinet at the home of Valerie Beaney, 68, whose late mother Rose Allen bought it from Woolworths in 1943.

Woolworths is now insolvent because of the credit crunch and all the shops of the British retail chain will close between coming Saturday and next January.

The bulb survived the bombing of London in the second world war. Rose and her husband Jack were then living in Waklthanstow in east London. Their building took bomb hits, but nothing happened to the bulb.

Defying British black-out rules, the bulb illumined the Allen's bedroom. They were even fined for it, but the Allens never put it off. It was under its light that their younger daughter Elaine - sister of Vaierie - was born.

When Jack died 10 years ago, Rose moved to a house in Kent. The bulb went with her and was used in her spare bedroom. 

When Rose died three years ago, aged 92, daughter Valerie, who lives nearby, decided to preserve the light bulb that has outlived Woolies, as Woolworths is fondly known.

She wrote to Woolworths, whose customer relations department told her they were “amazed” the bulb had lasted so long.

Valerie told Daily Mail: “The bulb my mother bought all those years ago still lights up, although I am very careful not to drop it on the rare occasions that I show it to people.

“Although I am very sad to see Woolworths go, at least the wonder of Woolies shines on through our little bulb.” 

The world's oldest working bulb is a carbon-filament lamp with a hand-blown glass bulb which was first switched on in the summer of 1901 in the hose-cart house of the fire department of Livermore, California, US.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the bulb manufactured by the Shelby Electric Company, is still lighting up.