CMYK
Sunday, 01 February, 2015
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Rabi-us-Sani 11, 1436
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Rs 25.00
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Vol V No 212
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100 Pages
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Karachi Edition
The waR is nOT OveR yeT n
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LAHORE: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif inspects the guard of honour by Punjab’s new Counter Terrorism Force personnel at Elite Police Training School on Saturday. inP
Rocket attack on Khuzdar DPO’s vehicle kills two cops, wounds two
PM, COAS renew commitment against terrorism at passing out parade of new Counter-Terrorism Force in Punjab
Sharif urges other provinces to follow Punjab and establish counter terrorism forces for effective implementation of NAP COAS says Pakistan Army has improved its capacity for training and is fully committed to capacity-building of LEAs STORIES ON PAGE 03
PETROL PRICE CUT BY SHIAS MOURN 61 KILLED IN SHIKARPUR IMAMBARGAH BOMBING RS 7.99, GST INCREASED BY 5% n
Prime Minister Sharif says farmers to benefit from relief of thousands of rupees after reduction in POL prices STORY ON PAGE 02
TEXAS LAWMAKER DEMANDS MUSLIMS TO SWEAR ALLEGIANCE NEXT TO AN ISRAELI FLAG STORY ON PAGE 06
DAR WANTS ‘BHABI’ TO POUR KHAN SOME SENSE n
Finance minister says issue over formation of judicial commission can be resolved in 10 minutes if Reham Khan convinces Imran Khan STORY ON PAGE 02
LAHORE: Shia women hold placards during a demonstration on Saturday against the killing of 61 Shias in a bombing at an imambargah in Shikarpur during Friday prayers. online
STORY ON PAGE 08
MQM REJECTS SINDH CM’S PROPOSED JUDICIAL COMMISSION n
Party leaders say commission headed by former judge unacceptable
STORY ON PAGE 07
02 NEWS
Sunday, 1 February 2015
Petrol Price cut by rs 7.99, Gst increased by 5 Per cent PRIME MINISTER SHARIF SAYS FARMERS TO BENEFIT FROM RELIEF OF THOUSANDS OF RUPEES AFTER REDUCTION IN POL PRICES
SAYS GOVT WANTS TO PROVIDE CHEAP ELECTRICITY TO PEOPLE
LAHORE: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announces reduction in prices of petroleum products during a press conference on Saturday. PPi
LAHORE
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STAFF REPORT
RIMe MINISTeR Nawaz Sharif on Saturday announced that per litre price of petroleum has been further slashed by Rs 7.99, with the new price at Rs 70.29 per litre now. With the new reduction in petrol prices, petroleum will now be cheaper than Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), the price of which stands at Rs 76.35 for region I (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,
Balochistan and the Potohar Zone, including Rawalpindi and Islamabad) and Rs 71.50 per kg for region II (Sindh and Punjab excluding the Potohar zone). Addressing a press conference, Prime Minister Sharif said petrol prices are being reduced by Rs 7.99 per litre, HBOC Rs 11.82 per litre, kerosene oil Rs 10.48, light diesel oil Rs 9.56 and high diesel oil by Rs 5.62 per litre. The per litre price of High Octane Blending Component (HOBC) has come down from Rs 92 to Rs 80.18. The price of High Speed
Diesel (HSD), which is widely used in heavy vehicles and the agriculture sector, has been slashed by Rs 5.62 per litre bringing its price down to Rs 80.61 per litre from Rs 86.23 per litre. The price of light diesel oil was cut down from Rs 67.5 per litre to Rs Rs 57.94 per litre. The price of kerosene oil, which is used as kitchen fuel in remote areas of the country, came down to Rs 61.44 per litre from Rs 71.92 per litre. “Farmers will receive a benefit of thousands of rupees as a result
of the price cut,” the premier said, adding that the provinces have been instructed to bring down transport fares in accordance with the new fuel prices. “I want the people to receive not just cheap petrol but cheaper electricity as well,” Sharif further said. The premier announced the revised petrol price will take effect from Feb 1 (today). The government on Saturday also issued a notification for a five per cent increase in the General Sales Tax (GST) on petroleum products from 22 per cent from 27 per cent. It is pertinent to mention here that crude oil prices have drastically fallen down in the international market since late June, and now it stands at $47 per barrel. This is the second reduction in POL prices in the past two months. A petrol crisis had emerged in the country after the previous price cut which had resulted in an increase in petroleum demand in early January. The price cut and increase in demand, both, were unprecedented as well as unforeseen, and were the root cause of petrol shortage in many areas of the country especially in northern Punjab and some parts of KP. The shortage had prompted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to cancel all his official engagements to focus on the fuel crisis.
DAR WANTS ‘BHABI’ TO POUR KHAN SOME SENSE n
Finance minister says issue over formation of judicial commission can be resolved in 10 minutes if Reham Khan convinces Imran Khan
ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has advised Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s newlywed Reham Khan to play her role in convincing Khan to conciliate with the government over the formation of judicial commission. “If ‘Bhabhi’ succeeds in convincing Imran Khan over formation of the judicial commission, the issue can be resolved within ten minutes,” Dar said while addressing a press conference on Saturday. Dar rejected Khan’s claim about government earning Rs 300 billion from petrol. He requested Khan to avoid doing politics on Pakistan’s economy. The minister said that the word ‘conspiracy’ or ‘by design’ will have to be used for forming judicial commission and the premier was ready to issue an ordinance for the formation of judicial commission if one of the two words were added. “If Reham Khan can convince Imran on two other matters, I would request her to convince him on adding the words ‘conspiracy’ and ‘by design’ as well,” Dar said. He added that formation of the judicial commission would be quick through an ordinance while getting a bill passed from assembly in this regard may take up to six months. Dar said that the government was ready to accept Opposition Leader Syed Khurshid Shah as mediator or neutral umpire but the PTI had not yet given a green signal to his name. Moreover, he suggested forming a national action plan for economy on the lines of National Action Plan formed for countering terrorism. STAFF REPORT
CSI LAHORE: US FORENSICS BIG SHOT COMES HOME TO HELP PAKISTAN LAHORE AGENCiES
As one of America’s top forensic scientists, Mohammad Tahir uncovered evidence that helped jail boxer Mike Tyson for rape, convict serial killer John Wayne Gacy and clear doctor Sam Sheppard of murdering his wife. Then Tahir took on his toughest assignment yet, applying his skills in Pakistan, a poor nation of 180 million people beset by crime and militancy. But catching criminals is not Tahir’s biggest problem. It’s working with the country’s antiquated criminal justice system. The very notion of producing evidence is a newfangled concept for many involved in law enforcement in Pakistan. Cases often rely on witnesses who are easily bribed or intimidated. Terrorism and murder suspects usually walk free. So Tahir, a softly spoken man whose passions are reading and gardening, set out on a quest: to promote forensic science. “Physical evidence does not lie, it does not perjure itself as humans do,” said the dapper 65-year-old. “It is a silent witness ... We make it speak in a court of law.” Tahir, a dual Pakistani and US citizen, has his own forensics lab in the Unites States. He spent 36 years working with US police and helped write the FBI handbook on forensics. In 2008, with militant attacks rising in Pakistan, Punjab’s chief minister called
Tahir and asked for help: to design a new $31 million forensics lab in Lahore, handpick its scientists and try to enforce new standards of crime solving. The lab was finished in 2012 and at first, business was slow. But now the lab, which is funded by Punjab state, takes around 600 cases a day, Tahir said. It could easily handle twice that if more police start sending in evidence or suspects. “The police are not educated, they don’t know our capabilities. We have to teach them,” he said. ProBLeMS wIth PoLIce: The gleaming new lab quickly discovered only a tiny fraction of police knew how to secure crime scenes and collect evidence. DNA samples were mouldy. Guns
arrived for analysis, smeared with officers’ fingerprints. “If garbage comes in, garbage goes out,” explained one scientist at the lab during a recent Reuters visit, as his masked colleague unwrapped a bone from a woman’s body found in a canal. To change that, Tahir set up localised crime scene investigation units and began training police. Now the DNA department says around half the samples they receive are packaged correctly. “They are getting better,” Tahir said. So far 3,100 police out of a force of 185,000 have been trained. But progress is slow. Punjab Police Inspector General Mushtaq Sukhera said police still secure “very few” crime
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scenes. One detective was even found fingerprinting himself instead of the suspects for dozens of cases, an official working with the judicial system said. Some police try to game the system. A prosecutor and a scientist told Reuters that police sometimes plant bullets at the crime scene and the gun on the suspect. Courts usually treat police as unreliable. Any confession made to them is legally inadmissible because suspects are frequently tortured. Police argue they are becoming better at playing by the book. “It used to be, you can say, a quick method of getting disclosure from the accused,” said Sukhera. “(But now) I think very rarely the police torture.” Tahir has banned police from entering the lab to
make sure they do not interfere with the process. When Reuters visited the lab, police waited patiently in the basement, some clutching white cloth packages sealed with twine and red wax. A dozen of them held bottles that were to be tested for alcohol, which is illegal in Pakistan. One had brought a pistol. Another held a box of body parts. court crISIS: Once the lab makes a report, it goes to the prosecutor. But judges, lawyers and witnesses are often threatened or killed. Courts have a backlog of more than a million cases. As a result, conviction rates are low. Anti-terrorism courts convict around a third of cases, about half of those are overturned on appeal. Fewer than a quarter of murder suspects are convicted. But Tahir said that the lab has had some notable successes. One man confessed he poisoned his Scottish wife thanks to evidence from the toxicology and polygraph departments. Two men claimed police planted suicide vests on them, but they were jailed after the lab’s computer section recovered deleted videos from their phones confirming their wrongdoing. A man who raped and killed a 5-yearold in a mosque was identified by his DNA; seven other suspects were freed. “On one hand, you have exonerated a man,” said Tahir. “On the other you have found someone who has actually committed a crime. Nothing makes you happier.”
Sunday, 1 February 2015
NEWS
the war is not over yet PM, COAS RENEW COMMITMENT AGAINST TERRORISM WITH PASSING OUT PARADE OF NEW COUNTERTERRORISM FORCE IN PUNJAB
SHARIF URGES OTHER PROVINCES TO FOLLOW PUNJAB AND ESTABLISH COUNTER TERRORISM FORCES FOR EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF NAP
COAS SAYS PAKISTAN ARMY HAS IMPROVED ITS CAPACITY FOR TRAINING AND IS FULLY COMMITTED TO CAPACITY-BUILDING OF LEAS LAHORE
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STAFF REPORT
HILe addressing the passing-out ceremony of the first batch of Counter-Terrorism Force at elite Police Training School in Lahore on Saturday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif expressed determination to the cleanse the country of terrorism. Addressing the ceremony attended by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan among others, the premier stated that the government will not rest till the
UN CHIEF ASKS PAKISTAN TO ‘REDOUBLE’ COUNTERTERRORISM EFFORTS uNIteD NAtIoNS: United Nations SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon on January 30 condemned the attack on the Imambargah in Shikarpur that very day, calling on Pakistani authorities to step up their efforts to combat terrorism “in all its forms” and protect religious and ethnic minorities. A statement issued by the Secretary-General’s spokesperson stated that he was “appalled by such vicious targeting of people on account of their religious affiliation”. “The SecretaryGeneral extends his condolences to the families of the victims and his sympathies to the Government and people of Pakistan,” the statement added. A powerful explosion in the Karbala-eMoalla Imambargah in the Lakhidar area of Shikarpur on January 30 killed over 60 worshippers and wounded many more. More than 300 worshippers were inside the double-storey compound of the Imambargah when the bomb went off. AGENCiES
elimination of terrorism. “The protection of lives and properties of people and maintenance of law and order is our foremost priority. The entire nation and institutions have taken a decision that the war on terror will be won at all costs as it is the matter of our future generations and economic prosperity,” PM Sharif said. “The war on terror is the war of entire nation. On one hand our armed forces are engaged in Operation Zarb-e-Azb while on the other hand the national institutions and federal and provincial governments are striving to weed out terrorism under the National Action Plan,” the premier elaborated. Sharif said that the establishment of
LAHORE: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army Chief General Raheel Sharif photographed during the passing out parade of Punjab’s Counter Terrorism Force at Elite Police Training School on Saturday. iNP
Counter-Terrorism Force is also a part of the action plan. He said that this force will be equipped with modern security gadgets and provided necessary training. Besides, its strength will also be further enhanced with the passage of time. He expressed confidence that other provinces will also follow the suit of Punjab province and establish Counter-Terrorism Force. “Our people, including children, women and security personnel, have rendered matchless sacrifices in the war on terror. The blood of martyrs will serve as a beacon of light for the entire nation.” Referring to the Shikarpur tragedy, he said the incident has aggrieved the entire nation. He expressed determination that
such deplorable incidents will further bolster resolve to rid the country of terrorism. Moreover, he said that he will soon visit Karachi and Quetta to personally monitor the situation. He said it will take time to free the country of terrorists but the process has started. “We will not remain oblivious to our responsibilities,” he assured. coAS IS DeterMINeD: Addressing on the occasion, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif said that the Pakistan Army has greatly improved its capacity of training and the scope of this would be extended to the entire country. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the COAS said that the
MQM REJECTS SINDH CM’S PROPOSED JUDICIAL COMMISSION PARTY LEADERS SAY COMMISSION HEADED BY FORMER JUDGE UNACCEPTABLE KARACHI STAFF REPORT
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Saturday rejected the Sindh government’s judicial commission formed to investigate the murders of party workers Sohail Ahmed and Faraz Alam. Speaking to reporters, MQM leader Qamar Mansoor said a judicial enquiry should be conducted to probe extrajudicial killing and disappearances of party workers. “The commission formed by the Sindh government comprises a retired judge, which is not acceptable,” he added. Mansoor expressed hope that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would write a letter to the Supreme Court and constitute an inquiry commission headed by a serving judge. Terming the commission formed
CALL FOR ENQUIRY INTO EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS BY A SERVING JUDGE OF SHC
by the Sindh government as ‘administrative’, Mansoor said if the provincial government had honest intentions they would have written a letter to the chief justice of the Sindh High Court (SHC). Speaking to reporters, MQM leader Farooq Sattar termed a problem with Karachi as the entire country’s problem. Sattar said residents of Karachi and MQM had played a key role in the fight against terrorism. Sattar said that 20 MQM workers were missing while 36 had been murdered extrajudicially. “No suspect for the extrajudicial murders has been arrested.” According to Sattar, if a monitoring committee was formed there might not be a need for a judicial commission. Sattar added the MQM was the first party to support the targeted operation in Karachi.
“The situation has deteriorated since CM Sindh was made the captain,” he said. The MQM leader said Rangers had been present in the city for some time. “There is partial martial law in Karachi.” Sattar said if Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif wanted a real democracy, Article 245 should be eliminated. Farooq Sattar further said the direction of the Karachi operation had been turned towards the MQM. “Only the offices of the MQM and no other party were closed in Karachi.” On Friday, the Sindh government formed a one-member judicial commission to investigate the murders of MQM workers Sohail Ahmed and Faraz Alam. A spokesman for Sindh CM said the commission would be headed by Justice (r) Ghulam Sarwar.
BEWARE TERRORISTS! CTF IS HERE TO GET YOU! 421 corporals of Counter-Terrorism Force (CTF) pass out at an impressive ceremony in Lahore LAHORE STAFF REPORT
The first batch of 421 corporals, including 16 women, of the Counter-Terrorism Force (CTF), passed out from the elite Police Training School in the city on Saturday. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was the chief guest of the ceremony while Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif, ambassadors of Saudi Arabia and Turkey, federal and provincial ministers and several prominent personalities attended the ceremony. An exercise was also arranged on the occasion in which all skills, including latest techniques, investigation unit, intelligence unit, latest forensic lab, bomb disposal unit and modern weapons were used. The corporals have been trained on the basis of modern techniques, knowledge and practical skills which are needed to eliminate terrorism in a real sense. The CTF has been raised under the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) which was converted after revamping of Crime Investigation Department as the lead agency in Punjab to counter terrorism. The CTF has been raised in CTD with the induction of 1,182 corporals and they have been divided into three batches from which the first batch has completed its training, the second one is undertaking its Special Training Program while the third batch is also on the way. These corporals are being trained in view the
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multi dimensional challenges of terrorism and required response thereof. The standard training period for the corporals is nine months which includes common training program of seven months and special training program of two months. The CTF corporals are taught eight modules in Counter Terrorism Program and then they are segregated into specialized wings of special operations, intelligence and investigation. It is worth mentioning the Turkish government has extended its full cooperation in the raining of these corporals by sending 45 senior officers of Turkish Na-
tional Police for training the corporals in the specialised legs of intelligence, operations and investigation. After imparting quality training to the first batch of corporals, the Turkish trainers are training the second batch of corporals. These officers of TNP have also trained 56 officers of Punjab Police as master trainers both in Pakistan as well as in Turkey. The Pakistan Army also supported the program and provided trainers for the training of the CTF. The prime minister also gave away awards to the corporals on their outstanding performance during the course.
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Pakistan Army is fully committed to enhance the capacity of all the law enforcement agencies (LeAs) in the country. The ISPR said that according to the National Action Plan (NAP), the process of competence-building of the police is ongoing. It went on to say that the first batch of the elite Police Force in Lahore has passed out and the training was carried out by officers of the Special Services Group (SSG). On the occasion, the personnel of Counter-Terrorism Force demonstrated their skills to apprehend the terrorists. The prime minister also distributed certificates and cash prizes amongst the outstanding officers.
ROCKET ATTACK ON KHUZDAR DPO’S VEHICLE KILLS TWO COPS, WOUNDS TWO QuettA: A rocket attack on a convoy of Khuzdar District Police Officer (DPO) Abdul Aziz Jhakrani killed two policemen and injured as many near Pasni area of Balochistan’s Gwadar district on Saturday. The DPO Khuzdar was travelling to Gwadar along with his family to attend a marriage function when a rocket hit the convoy from an unknown direction. Two policemen escorting the DPO died on the spot whereas two others were critically wounded. The victims were shifted to Basic Health Unit Pasni for treatment. Security forces cordoned off the area as a probe into the incident went underway. Security sources suspect Baloch insurgents could be behind the attack. Militants in the area have been targeting vital national installations including railway tracks, power pylons and gas pipelines for almost a decade. STAFF REPORT
THREE NEW CASES TAKE COUNTRY TALLY TO SIX ISLAMABAD: Three more cases of polio were confirmed in the country on Saturday, taking 2015’s count to six. The infected children belong to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Sindh. According to the KP health department, 29-month-old Munazza from Khweshgi village of Nowshera district tested positive for the poliovirus. Her sample was collected on January 5. The second polio-infected child belongs to Birmal tehsil in South Waziristan Agency; nine-month-old Ataullah’s sample was collected on January 7. The third case of the day hails from Qambar district in Sindh and the child’s sample was collected on January 4. Further details for this case have not been released yet. In what seems to be a contravention of the 18th Amendment, the Federal Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination approved a standard operating procedure late last year, which routes all confirmed cases of polio through the Centre. The chain of communication on polio cases begins with the regional reference laboratory – the National Institute of Health (NIH) – at the Centre. each confirmed case will be emailed to the national emergency Operation Centre (eOC) by the head of the NIH. Only the eOC coordinator will then send the information to the NHSRC, PM’s focal person on polio, DG health, the WHO, Unicef and the relevant province’s health secretary, chief secretary and health DGs. The SOPs were meant to be “implemented in letter and spirit with effect from December 15, 2014. However, none of the mentioned websites display polio cases or give any information. iNP
04 NEWS
Sunday, 1 February 2015
IndIa tests long-range mIssIle from mobIle launcher
NEW DELHI
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AGENCIES
NDIA on Saturday succeeded for the first time in using a mobile launcher to test-fire a long-range missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead deep inside rival China. Although Saturday’s launch was the third test of the Agni V missile, it was the first time the weapon had been fired from a so-called cannister mounted on a truck rather than from a concrete launchpad used in previous trials. The new delivery mechanism gives the armed forces increased operational flexibility. “Successful test-firing of Agni V from a cannister makes the missile a prized asset for our forces,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter after the test on an island off the eastern state of Orissa. The Agni V — developed by India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation — was first tested in April 2012. Analysts say the Agni V has the range to strike any target on the Chinese mainland, including military installations in the far northeast. India sees the rocket, which has a range of 5,000 kilometres , as a key boost to its regional power aspirations and one that narrows — albeit slightly — the huge gap with China’s missile systems. Agni, meaning “fire” in Sanskrit, is the name given to a series of rockets India developed as part of a guided missile development project launched in 1983. While the shorter-range Agni I and II were mainly developed with traditional rival Pakistan in mind, analysts say later versions with a longer range reflect the shift in India’s focus towards China. India and China, each with a population of more than one billion, have prickly relations and a legacy of mistrust that stems from a brief but bloody border war in 1962. India, the world’s biggest arms importer, is in the midst of a $100-billion defence upgrade programme. The new right-wing government has
Analysts say Agni V has range to strike any target on Chinese mainland, including military installations in the far northeast
cleared long-delayed projects worth over $16 billion since storming to power at
ECP TO ANNOUNCE LG POLL SCHEDULE FOR SINDH, PUNJAB, K-P ON FEB 12 ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will submit a tentative schedule for local bodies elections in Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) in the Supreme Court (SC) on February 12, as the apex court is set to take up the issue once again. Sources in the ECP said that the commission is working on tentative dates for the LG polls in the three provinces, and submit the schedule before the SC to build pressure on the provinces to fulfil their constitutional obligation. LG polls in Sindh, Punjab and KP are due since 2009 — when the last LG system expired. The only exception, Balochistan, completed the process of LG elections on January 28. ECP plans to hold LG polls in KP by May. The tentative schedule for it is being discussed with the provincial government, the sources said, adding that the only hitch now was the KP government’s insistence to go for polls on the same day across the province. STAFF REPORT
elections in May. Modi has pushed for greater indigenisation of its defence in-
dustry, saying India must build up its military might to the point that no other
PML-N TO CONTEST ALL 11 SENATE SEATS FROM PUNJAB LAHORE STAFF REPORT
The Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) on Saturday decided to nominate candidates on all 11 seats of Senate from Punjab. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has formed a committee headed by former law minister Rana Sanaullah to lobby support for the candidates. The decision was made during a meeting held at Shahbaz Sharif’s residence in Model Town. The other members of the committee include Hamza Shahbaz, Raja Ishfaq Sarwar, Malik Nadeem Kamran, Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman, Bilal Yasin, Rana Muhammad Arshad and other senior leaders. A decision has also been made to call meetings of
PM FORMS PARLIAMENTARY BOARD FOR SENATE POLLS ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Saturday constituted a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) parliamentary board for the upcoming Senate elections. The board comprises Nawaz Sharif as chairman while Ishaq Dar would be the convener. According to PM Media Office, the board comprise Raja Zafarul Haq, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Pervaiz Rashid, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan, Shahbaz Sharif, Pir Sabir Shah, Ismail Rahu, Sardar Sanaullah Zehri, Sardar Yakoob Khan Nasir, Dr Asif Kirmani and Nuzhat Sadiq. STAFF REPORT
members of the Punjab Assembly in the next week for preparation for Senate and for effective coordination between the members. These meetings would continue till the Senate elections. A meeting of PML-N’s
parliamentary party will also be held to take members into confidence on the Senate election strategy. It was decided that PML-N will not make seat adjustment with any party for the Senate elections.
EGYPT COURT RULES HAMAS ARMED WING ‘TERROR GROUP’ CAIRO AGENCIES
An Egyptian court on Saturday banned the armed wing of Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, declaring it a “terrorist” group. Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, denounced the ruling against the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades as “a
dangerous political decision that serves the interests of the occupier,” referring to Israel. Since Egypt’s military ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, the authorities have accused Hamas of aiding jihadists who have waged a string of deadly attacks on security forces in the Sinai Peninsula. Saturday’s court verdict followed a complaint from a lawyer accusing the
Hamas armed wing of direct involvement in “terrorist operations” in the Sinai, which borders Gaza, a court official said. The lawyer also accused the movement of using tunnels under the frontier between Egypt and Gaza to smuggle arms used in attacks against the police and army, the official said. Egypt’s military says it has destroyed more than 1,600 tunnels since Morsi’s ouster. In the ruling, the judge said that “the documents submitted by the plaintiff to the court showed that the organisation has conducted attacks...that targeted the military and the Egyptian police and facilities.” There was no immediate response to the court ruling from the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades itself, but a Hamas spokesman in Gaza said the armed wing should not be dragged into “Egypt’s internal affairs”. In early January, Egypt began work on doubling the width of a buffer zone along the border with Gaza to prevent militants infiltrating from the enclave.
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The buffer zone was created following a suicide bombing on October 24 last year that killed 30 Egyptian soldiers and wounded scores. After that incident, Cairo declared a three-month state of emergency in parts of North Sinai, a remote but strategic region bordering Israel and Gaza. Last week the decree was extended by three months. On Thursday militant attacks, including a car bombing, claimed by the Egyptian affiliate of the Islamic State (IS) group left at least 30 people dead in North Sinai. The following day a 50-year-old Egyptian interior ministry employee was shot dead in his home in the provincial capital El-Arish, officials said. Jihadists in the Sinai have killed scores of policemen and soldiers since Morsi’s overthrow, vowing revenge against a crackdown on his supporters that has killed more than 1,400 people. Egypt blames Hamas, which is close to Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, of supporting the blacklisted Egyptian movement.
country “dare cast an evil eye” on the South Asian nation.
CLOSE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH PAKISTAN WILL CONTINUE: US WASHINGTON: The United States said it would continue to have a close strategic partnership with Pakistan. State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki said that the United States’ relationship with Islamabad is strong and vital for its strategic needs. With continued tension between India and Pakistan and shelling on the line of control and the Working Boundary, the spokesperson said that the two countries should enter into a dialogue for a peaceful resolution of their issues. AGENCIES
BANGLADESH CUTS POWER TO OPP LEADER KHALEDA ZIA’S HOME DHAKA: Bangladesh authorities on Saturday cut the power to opposition leader Khaleda Zia’s home in an apparent bid to force her to call off a crippling antigovernment transport blockade. Local television showed footage of a technician from a state-run power utility climbing a ladder and cutting the line outside Zia’s house, where she also has her office and where she has been holed up since the protests began early in January. “We got permission from police to cut the power line,” the technician told reporters as he cut the line. Private Channel 24 television said that Internet and satellite television connections to her office were also severed. There was no official comment from police or the power utility. Shamsuddin Dider, a spokesman for Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), told AFP that the 69-year-old leader was “shocked and surprised” by the “loathsome” move. The power line was cut just hours after a government minister reportedly threatened to sever the connection and force her to starve to death if she did not call off the nationwide transport blockade. “Even the food provided to you by your party officials will not reach your room. You’ll have to die there without food,” shipping minister Shahjahan Khan told a rally late Friday, according to the local Daily Star newspaper. AGENCIES
Sunday, 1 February, 2015
NEWS
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24 injured at anti-Charlie hebdo protest in Kabul KERRY FINED $50 FOR NOT CLEARING SNOW BOSTON: US Secretary of State John Kerry has been fined $50 for failing to shovel snow away from the pavement outside his home in Boston. The US top diplomat was in Saudi Arabia with President Barack Obama on a condolence visit following the death of King Abdullah when the worse blizzard in decades swept through New England. Around two feet of snow fell in Boston, where householders are responsible for clearing the pavement outside their homes. Kerry, who lives in the fashionable Beacon Hill district, did not comply with this rule – and suffered the consequences. According to the Boston Herald, the officer who issued the fine was unaware that the offender was the US secretary of state. A State Department spokesman played down the indiscretion. “Diplomats – they’re just like us,” a spokesman said. “Secretary Kerry was working overseas while the blizzard packed a wallop back home, and unfortunately his snow removal company misconstrued yellow hazard tape along the sidewalk – put up to warn of falling snow and ice overhead – as police tape and thought that part of the sidewalk was off limits. “Once they understood they were allowed to enter the area, the contractors finished the sidewalk late Thursday morning.” The spokesman added: “The snow has all been shovelled now, the secretary will gladly pay the ticket, and let’s hope this is the last blizzard of the year.” AGENCIES
MUFTI TO HEAD IHK GOVT WITH BJP SUPPORT NEW DELHI: India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may not have got its promised mandate to repeal Jammu and Kashmir’s special status by abrogating Article 370 of the country’s constitution but it has found a landmark toehold for the first time in the region’s history by becoming a member of its ruling coalition. According to The Indian Express, more than a month after the poll results were declared, the BJP and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) have finalised a power-sharing pact and are set to form the next government in the region. According to sources quoted by the paper, PDP Patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is set to take oath as chief minister in midFebruary. The deputy chief minister will be from the BJP, with party leader Nirmal Singh being the front-runner for the post. “We have almost reached a consensus to form the next government with the PDP,” BJP national executive council member and MLA from Billawar, Nirmal Singh, told the newspaper. “J&K will soon have a stable government headed by a mature politician and a good cabinet team,” he said. AGENCIES
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T least 24 people were injured Saturday when a protest in Kabul against French magazine Charlie Hebdo turned violent, police said, with officers firing warning shots after demonstrators pelted them with stones. Some 500 people joined the rally on the outskirts of the Afghan capital to express their anger against the satirical magazine’s publication of sacrilegious cartoons. “Seven protesters were wounded during the protest and they were taken to hospital,” Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi told reporters. Seventeen policemen were also injured when protesters hurled rocks at them, he added. Local media, citing witnesses, said at least two people had been killed in the unrest, but the police chief dismissed the reports. Gunmen had shot dead 12 people at Charlie Hebdo’s Paris offices on January 7. The satirical weekly, which lampoons everyone from the pope to presi-
dents, had sparked anger in the Islamic world in the past with its cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Many Muslims consider depictions of the Prophet (pbuh) to be blasphemous. The attack on Charlie Hebdo sparked worldwide protests in defence of freedom of speech, but the magazine stirred fresh anger in Muslim countries a week after the shootings with a defiant “survivors’ issue” that again featured Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) on the front page. The cartoon prompted angry crowds to pour onto streets from Pakistan to Ivory Coast to vent their rage at the new cover. At least 20,000 people protested against the magazine in the Herat, Afghanistan, last week, while several thousand others rallied in Kabul chanting “death to France, death to the enemies of Islam”. Police said Saturday’s protest had been brought under control and the road opened for traffic. “The protesters were throwing stones at the police, and the police fired some shots in the air to stop the protesters,” said Kabul deputy police chief Gul Agha Rohani.
Afghan riot police walk towards a protest against the printing of satirical sketches of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) by French magazine Charlie Hebdo along the Kabul-Jalalabad road in Kabul on Saturday.
Islamic State seizes oil facility in north Iraq, 15 workers missing KIRKUK AGENCIES
Islamic State insurgents seized a small crude oil station near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk where 15 employees were working, security and oil officials said on Saturday. Two officials from the state-run North Oil Co confirmed the militants seized a crude oil separation unit in Khabbaz and said 15 oil workers were missing after the company lost contact with them. “We received a call from one of the workers saying dozens of Daesh fighters were surrounding the facility and asking workers to leave the premises. We lost contact and now the workers might be taken hostage,” an engineer from the North Oil Co told Reuters, using a derogatory acronym for Islamic State. The radical jihadist movement seized at least four small oilfields when it overran large areas of northern Iraq last summer, and began selling crude oil and gasoline to finance their operations. Islamic State insurgents attacked regional Kurdish forces southwest of Kirkuk on Friday, seiz-
AIR STRIKE KILLS IS ‘CHEMICAL WEAPONS EXPERT’: US WASHINGTON: A US-led coalition airstrike killed a chemical weapons specialist with the Islamic State group in Iraq who once worked for Saddam Hussein, US military officers said. The air raid carried out last Saturday near Mosul took out Abu Malik, whose training “provided the terrorist group with expertise to pursue a chemical weapons capability,” the military said in a statement. Malik had worked at a chemical weapons production plant under Saddam’s regime and later forged an affiliation with al Qaeda in Iraq in 2005, before joining the extremist IS group, according to Central Command. “His death is expected to temporarily degrade and disrupt the terrorist network and diminish ISIL’s ability to potentially produce and use chemical weapons against innocent people,” it said. US officials had not publicly referred to Malik previously as a key figure. There has been no sign that the IS group possesses a major chemical weapons arsenal. But there have been allegations the jihadists have employed chlorine gas, which is classified as a “choking agent,” though not as lethal as nerve agents. AGENCIES
ing some areas including parts of the Khabbaz oilfields. Kurdish forces sought to push back Islamic State in further fighting near Khabbaz on Saturday, Kurdish military sources said. Khabbaz is a small oilfield 20 km southwest of Kirkuk with a maximum production capacity of
15,000 barrels per day. It was producing around 10,000 bpd before the attack. Islamic State has declared a caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria, and poses the biggest challenge to the stability of OPEC member Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
OUSTED INDIAN FOREIGN SECY SPEAKS OUT Sujatha Singh says govt maligning her reputation NEW DELHI AGENCIES
India’s ousted foreign secretary Sujatha Singh has hit out at the government saying her reputation was being maligned. “My reputation is being maligned, my record being trashed. Why was this necessary?” Singh told NDTV news channel. Singh was removed on Wednesday night by the government with seven months to go before retirement, and replaced by S Jaishankar, the former envoy to the US, just after a successful visit by President Barack Obama. “It was a decision that had already been taken and nothing I could have done would have made a difference,” she said. With Pakistan, Singh was at the
heart of controversy when she became the diplomat whose visit to Islamabad was cancelled in August by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, starting a new round of border tensions. Singh revealed that she was summoned on Wednesday by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who told her that Modi wanted Jaishankar as his foreign secretary. “I said, as instructed by the prime minister, I hereby request for early retirement,” said Singh. “Why has it become so low and dirty?” the 60-year-old officer questioned, and told NDTV that she wanted to set the record straight. “I felt I needed to do this because I want an honourable exit. I don’t mean a tenure as Ambassador or a tenure in UPSC (Union Public Service Commission). I mean an
exit which is in keeping with what I have been as an individual, what I have been as an officer, as a foreign secretary,” she said. Singh said she deserved more credit than she had been given for driving foreign policy over the past eight months, and referred to what was described as a major takeaway of President Obama’s visit this week - the agreement on the nuclear deal. “Shall I start by claiming credit for working on the nitty gritty of the recent understandings we arrived at
on the civil nuclear deal with the US? The liability and the administrative issues? Believe me, I was fully involved in guiding the discussions, taking decisions on the line to take, on what to do and what not to do. I coordinated very closely with the Prime Minister’s Office,” she said. “This government has charged a great deal on the foreign policy front over the past 8 months. None of this would have happened with the PM (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) or the EAM (External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj) operating on their own, in a vacuum.” The officer confirmed reports that she had been offered an exit last year. “I was sounded out in December as to whether I’d be interested in a three or five year Constitutional position. I declined because of my belief that my responsibility was to the Ministry and to my Service,” she told NDTV.
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DEADLY CLASH IN PHILIPPINES A SETBACK TO PEACE WITH MUSLIM REBELS KUALA LAMPUR: A deadly clash between Philippines police and Muslim rebels in the south of the country has dealt a temporary setback to peace talks, Manila’s chief peace negotiator said on Saturday, appealing for renewed efforts to keep the process on track. The government has described last Sunday’s clash, which shattered a three-year ceasefire, as a “misencounter” during a bid by police to arrest two wanted militants who had taken refuge with Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters. Forty four police commandos were killed in the assault. “We have been temporarily set back by the Mamasapano incident,” Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, the government’s chief peace negotiator, told a news conference in Kuala Lumpur. “Please stay the course with us,” she said. “The other alternative is simple unthinkable ... I don’t think we want to go back to the 1970s.” Government and rebel peace panels met in Malaysia on Friday to sign protocols for the surrender of weapons by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in a bid to underscore their commitment to the peace process, brokered by Kuala Lumpur. The two sides signed an agreement in March 2014, ending a conflict that has killed more than 120,000 people, displaced 2 million and stunted growth in one of the poorest but resource-rich regions in the country. AGENCIES
06 NEWS
Sunday, 1 February, 2015
in la, MusliM woMen find eMpowerMent in feMale-only friday prayers LOS ANGELES
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FTER the traditional call to prayer, Edina Lekovic stood in front of some 150 women seated on the floor at an interfaith center in Los Angeles, and delivered a sermon, a role traditionally reserved for Muslim men. “We have the right and responsibility to our faith,” Lekovic told the women as she stood in front of banners emblazoned in gold with verses from the Holy Quran. Lekovic, an activist with California’s Muslim Public Affairs Council, then joined the women in kneeling in prayer in the direction of Mecca. Friday’s gathering at the interfaith center – a former Jewish synagogue near downtown Los Angeles with Stars of David etched into the stained glass windows – aims to encourage women to participate fully in Muslim prayer and education. Significantly, women are at the helm. In traditional mosques, women pray separately from men, which can distance
JAPAN SAYS HOSTAGE NEGOTIATIONS WITH MILITANTS ‘DEADLOCKED’ TOKYO: Efforts by Japan and Jordan to secure the release of two of their nationals held captive by Islamic State militants remain “deadlocked” and the situation remains highly unpredictable, Japanese officials said. Militants had threatened to kill Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh unless a would-be suicide bomber being held on death row in Amman was handed over by sunset on Thursday. Japanese journalist Kenji Goto was also being held by the militants. “The situation is deadlocked,” Japan’s deputy foreign minister, Yasuhide Nakayama, said in Jordon late on Friday according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK. Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said in Tokyo on Saturday that the situation was unpredictable and that anything could happen, NHK reported. “Anything could happen,” he said. “We can’t predict it at all. While preparing for every situation, I want to make every effort for Mr. Goto’s release.” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga arrived at the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s office on Saturday afternoon, and the prime minister is on standby to receive regular updates on the situation, NHK said. Jordan’s army said on Friday state agencies were “working round the clock”. An audio message purportedly from Goto said the pilot would be killed if Jordan did not free Sajida al-Rishawi, jailed for her role in a 2005 suicide bomb attack that killed 60 people in Amman. The message extended a previous deadline set on Tuesday in which Goto said he would be killed within 24 hours if al-Rishawi was not freed. AGENCIES
them from the lecturer. Women may also feel excluded for other reasons, such as male-only Quran studies. Muslim women often meet for casual gatherings and prayer, but rarely do they unite in a formal setting, such as the Friday worship, under the banner of a mosque. “The fact that this is the Friday prayer, the jumma’a, and that there’s a woman officially giving the sermon, the khutbah, that’s new,” said Donna Auston, a doctoral candidate studying American Muslim culture at Rutgers University. MEN AND WOMEN SHOULD fEEL AT HOME: Hussam Ayloush, of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said some Muslims may prefer integration – not segregation – as a way to draw women into Islam. “A mosque is a place of worship where all segments of the Muslim community, men and women … should feel at home,” he said. After the initial call to prayer and Lekovic’s sermon, the women sat in a circle under the tall arched ceiling, some with tears in their eyes, and reflected on the experience. “I want every woman to
Muslim women kneel for the prayer service at the Women’s Mosque of America in downtown Los Angeles, California.
MUSLIM WOMEN OFTEN MEET FOR CASUAL GATHERINGS AND PRAYER, BUT RARELY DO THEY UNITE IN A FORMAL SETTING, SUCH AS THE FRIDAY WORSHIP, UNDER THE BANNER OF A MOSQUE experience what it feels like to learn from a female religious authority in the mosque,” said M. Hasna Maznavi, 29, who founded the Women’s Mosque of America organisation with Sana Muttalib, 31, after feeling excluded from traditional mosques. They say it is the nation’s first female-only mosque. Lubna Muttalib, Sana’s mother, said she has sat so far behind men at other mosques she has had to watch the sermon projected onto a screen. “It’s so good to see my khatiba in per-
son, instead of looking at a TV screen,” she said, referring to the person who gives sermons. Maznavi hopes to unite Muslim
women from diverse backgrounds and said the mosque is neither Sunni nor Shi’ite and occupies the “middle ground” of politics.
CHINA VOWS TEXAS LAWMAKER DEMANDS MUSLIMS TO SWEAR ALLEGIANCE NO ‘WESTERN VALUES’ IN NEXT TO AN ISRAELI FLAG
AUSTIN AGENCIES
A representative of the United States’ state of Texas, Molly White is forcing Muslim visitors to her office swear allegiance to America next to an Israeli flag on Texas’s Muslim Capitol Day, according to the Texas Tribune, Vox reports. Texas Muslim Capitol Day is an event organised by the American-Islamic Relations Council, in which
Muslims from Texas travel to Austin to learn about political activism and meet with state representatives. Meanwhile, protestors outside the State Capitol building were holding signs with messages like “Save America, Stop Islam” and “Go Home and Take Obama with You.” White’s message could implicate that she has assumed all AmericanMuslims are enemies of the US, unless they pass this rite of passage which includes posing next to the Is-
raeli flag. Since 2010, eight US states have passed legislation prohibiting the use of “foreign law” or “sharia law” in American courts. At least 25 states have considered such laws. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich called for a federal equivalent. Though these state laws often use neutral language, the clear intent is to single out Islamic law — which in reality has a number of interpretations and is in no way being imposed on Americans. The father of this legislation, a lawyer named David Yerushalmi, once wrote that “the Muslim peoples, those committed to Islam as we know it today, are our enemies.” However, it is important to note that Yerushalmi is not the only antiMuslim activist. He is part of a larger activist network that argues that American Muslims pose a threat to ‘American freedom.’ Likeminded groups received about $42.6 million in external funding between 2001 and 2009, according to a Center for American Progress report, according to a reported at Vox.
Muslim man becomes member of synagogue council in England LONDON AGENCIES
A Bradford synagogue has appointed a member of the city’s Muslim community to its council, The Independent reported. Jani Rashid, who heads the Diversity and Cohesion at Education Bradford, was an active member of the Muslim community who came to the financial rescue of the synagogue a few years ago. In 2013, a Bradford Council for Mosques donation had helped save the synagogue when it ran into financial difficulties. “The local Muslim community has been an unfailing partner in the fight to keep the building open and flourishing,” a spokesperson said. “At a time when both the Jewish and Muslim communi-
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ties are reeling from the impact of the horrific attacks in Paris,” the spokesperson added, “the positive and supportive relationship between Bradford’s Jews and Muslims has grown another step closer.” “We thought it would be a splendid idea to co-opt Jani to the Council,” Rudi Leavor, chairman of the synagogue council, told Jewish News. The proposal was passed unanimously by the council. “I am delighted to take up this kind offer to sit on the Synagogue Council,” Rashid said. “I am a firm believer in openness within and between communities.” “This helps us to respect one another’s diversity and, to share in our common beliefs of decency, respect and compassion for our fellow human beings,” he added.
UNIVERSITIES
BEIJING AGENCIES
China’s education minister has vowed to ban university textbooks which promote “Western values”, state media said, in the latest sign of ideological tightening under President Xi Jinping. “Never let textbooks promoting Western values appear in our classes,” minister Yuan Guiren said, according to a report by China’s official Xinhua news agency. “Remarks that slander the leadership of the Communist Party of China” and “smear socialism” must never appear in college classrooms, he added. China’s universities are run by the ruling Communist party, which tightly controls discussions of history and other topics it construes as a potential threat to its grip on power. The party often brands concepts such as multiparty elections and the separation of powers as “Western”, despite their global appeal and application. China has tightened controls on academics since Xi assumed the party leadership in 2012, with several outspoken professors sacked or jailed. Xia Yeliang, an economics professor at the prestigious Peking University, was fired from his post in 2013 after a 13year tenure in a decision he attributed to persistent calls for political change in China. Xia was one of the original signatories of the reformist petition Charter 08, whose main author Liu Xiaobo remains in prison even after winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
WEATHER UPDATES
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KARACHI 07 four foreigners arrested in city KARACHI: The police arrested four foreigners during a crackdown on Saturday. Police on a tip-off conducted raid on a house located in Gulistan-e-Johar area of Karachi. During operation, four foreigners illegally staying in Pakistan without required documents were nabbed. The detainees were shifted to an undisclosed location for further interrogation. Meanwhile, unknown miscreants hurled a hand grenade at a hotel in Lyari Shah Baig Lane leaving three people critically injured and fled the scene. The injured were shifted to hospital while police after registering a case against the assailants started the investigation. STAFF REPORT
Three injured in Gushan-e-Iqbal firing
KARACHI: Men stand near a truck which was set ablaze by an angry mob near Malir 15 during a protest against Shikarpur incident. ONLINE
MQM rejects chief Minister’s proposed judicial coMMission PARTY LEADERS SAY COMMISSION HEADED BY FORMER JUDGE UNACCEPTABLE KARACHI
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STAFF REPORT
He Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Saturday rejected the Sindh government’s judicial commission formed to investigate the murders of party workers Sohail Ahmed and Faraz Alam. Speaking to reporters, MQM leader Qamar Mansoor said a judicial enquiry should be conducted to probe extrajudicial killing and disappearances of party workers. “The commission formed by the Sindh government comprises a retired judge, which is not acceptable,” he added. Mansoor expressed hope that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would write a letter to the Supreme Court and constitute an inquiry commission headed by a serving judge. Terming the commission formed by the Sindh government as ‘administrative’, Mansoor said if the provincial government had honest intentions they would have written a letter to the chief justice of the Sindh High Court (SHC). Speaking to reporters, MQM leader Farooq Sattar termed a problem with Karachi as the entire country’s problem. Sattar said residents of Karachi and MQM had played a key role in the fight against terrorism. Sattar said that 20 MQM workers were missing while 36 had been murdered extrajudicially. “No suspect for the extrajudicial murders has been arrested.” According to Sattar, if a monitoring committee was formed there might not be a need for a judicial commission. Sattar added the MQM was the first
CALL FOR ENQUIRY INTO EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS BY A SERVING JUDGE OF SHC
IGP VISITS HOUSE OF SLAIN MQM WORKER KARACHI: Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ghulam Haider Jamali on Saturday visited the house of deceased worker of Muttahidda Qoami Movement (MQM) Sohail Ahmed and talked to his parents and relatives. The IGP formed an investigation team under the supervision of Additional Inspector General (AIGP) to probe the alleged murder of Sohial Ahmed. He said that investigation team would investigate the case from different angles and compile their report. PPI
party to support the targeted operation in Karachi. “The situation has deteriorated since CM Sindh was made the captain,” he said. The MQM leader said Rangers had been present in the city for some time. “There is partial martial law in Karachi.” Sattar said if Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif wanted a real democracy, Article 245 should be eliminated. Farooq Sattar further said the direction of the Karachi operation had been turned towards the MQM. “Only the offices of the MQM and no other party were closed in Karachi.” On Friday, the Sindh govt formed a one-member judicial commission to investigate the murders of MQM workers Sohail Ahmed and Faraz Alam. A spokesman for Sindh CM said the commission would be headed by Justice (r) Ghulam Sarwar.
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KARACHI: Three persons were severely injured in Gulshan-e-Iqbal on Saturday. Three unknown persons, aged about 25, 40, 34 years, were injured when unidentified armed men opened indiscriminate fire in Gulshane-Iqbal Block No 13. They were brought to Liaquat National Hospital Karachi for treatment. STAFF REPORT
08 KARACHI PRAyER TImINgS FAJR SUNRISE
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sindh wants intelligence sharing with Balochistan
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KARACHI: The Sindh government Saturday sought intelligence sharing with the Balochistan government to probe into Shikarpur bomb blast that killed 60 people the other day. According to reports, the terror activity seemed similar to those happening in Balochistan. Sectarian terrorists targeted the imambargah in Shikarpur, as hundreds of worshippers were in attendance of Friday prayers. Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has announced that a compensation of Rs 2 million would be granted to each bereaved family. INP
Mob lynches two robbers in Korangi
Sunday, 1 February, 2015
sindh Mourns shiKarpur iMaMBargah Martyrs 14 CRITICALLY INJURED OF SHIFTED TO KARACHI SHIKARPUR
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complete strike was observed in Sindh province to mourn the martyrs of Shikarpur imambargah bomb blast, and all big and small towns and cities including Karachi remained shut on Saturday when a mass funeral prayer of the deceased was offered here and the victims were laid to rest. Some 60 people had died and 50 others had injured on Friday when a powerful explosive device went off in ‘Karabala Mauala Imambargah Mosque’ at Lakhi Gate Square of the historic northern town of Shikarpur, 470 kilometres from Karachi. Most of the deaths occurred due to poor medical facilities at the government-run district headquarters hospital of Shikarpur and the critical patients were shifted to the hospitals of Larkana and Sukkur and many of them died before reaching the hospitals. On Saturday morning, the funeral prayer of the martyrs were offered amid
tight security at the Lakhi Gate Square and a large number of people attended the congregation. Later, the victims were buried in different graveyards of the town. However, the whole province remained shut to mourn the martyrs. Bazaars and markets were shut and public transport off roads. However, due to extraordinary security measures no untoward incident took place. Like other parts of Sindh province, a complete shutter-down strike was also observed in Ratodero, Naundero, Larkana and other adjoining areas and villages on Saturday to mourn the martyrs of Shikarpur tragedy. Protestors blocked main Sukkur-Larkana Highway at Mahotta and Chooharpur villages. They burnt tyres and bushes and chanted slogans against the banned outfits and the Sindh government. Due to strike all shops, business centres, bazaars, petrol pumps and shopping centres remained closed in these areas due to which commuters felt great hardships. They demanded foolproof security measures to all the vulnerable points so that such incidents do not occur in future. Meanwhile, in Naundero, protestors took out a large rally, burnt tyres and chanted slogans near munic-
ipal & Khooni Chowk where they also staged sit-in which was participated by Mumtaz Sethar, Roshan Ansari, Barkat Jaffery, Ashiq Mangi and many others. Local JUI-Fazal (JUI-F) and PPP leaders of Naundero including Khalid Memon and Sikander Katper strongly condemned the incident. In Larkana, protestors blocked main thoroughfares and roundabouts at various places including empire Road, Lahori Muhalla, Airport Road, Jinnah Bagh and Gajanpur roundabouts due to which everything came to standstill including transport. The protesters said terrorists were roaming freely without any proper check by the government organisations due to which common men were suffering the agonies for no fault of theirs and the Sindh government completely failed to protect their lives. Meanwhile, three more injured died at Chandka Medical College Hospital which include Aqeel Channa, Abid Soomro and Abdul Majeed Jalbani. Two injured Ali Dino Siyal and Nizamuddin Bhutto were discharged after treatment and three others were admitted to CMCH but the fourth injured Kashif Mangi was shifted to Karachi. The admitted persons include
Ali Hassan Luhar, Salman Khakhrani and 6-year boy Ali Raza, son of Kashif Mangi. Khakhrani has been admitted to the surgical ward and two others in Orthopaedics Surgery Ward. Meanwhile, 14 severely injured of Shikarpur bomb blast were shifted to Karachi by a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) aircraft C-130 on wee hours of Saturday. On the occasion, spokesperson of CM House Waqar Mehdi, Sharmila Faroqi, Rashid Rabbani, Commissioner Karachi and other officials were present. However, leaders of different political, religious and social organisations visited local hospitals to enquire about the health of injured. Speaking to media persons outside a hospital, Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) leader Hassan Zaffar Naqvi, Muttahidda Quami Movement (MQM) Rabita Committee Member Gul Faraz Khan, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam (PMlQ) leader Haleem Adil Sheikh and Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Khurram Sheryar Zaman strongly condemned the Shikarpur incident. They demanded to upgrade the district headquarters hospitals of the province including Civil Hospital Karachi and fill the vacant posts of doctors and technicians on urgent basis.
KARACHI: Two suspected robbers were burnt alive by a mob during a failed robbery bid in Korangi No. 4 area of the city. Per initial details, the locals caught two robbers who were looting people in the neighbourhood on gunpoint. Instead of calling for the police, the residents torched the two suspects, burning them to death. Meanwhile, Manghopir Police has arrested four suspected Taliban terrorists after an encounter. All four men were reportedly injured during an encounter with the law enforcement personnel. STAFF REPORT
two death row convicts shifted to Karachi jail KARACHI: The Sindh police Saturday shifted two death row convicts to Karachi central jail. The two convicts, identified as Atta and Azam, were handed capital punishment by a court for the murder of Dr Ali Raza. They are expected to be executed on February 3. Atta and Azam were shifted to Karachi Jail from Sukkur prison on the request of their families. It should be noted that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif lifted the ban on death sentence after the attack on Peshawar’s Army Public School in which 150 people including 135 children and nine staff members were killed. Several convicts have already been sent to the gallows. ONLINE
dry weather with cool night forecast KARACHI: The Met Office has forecast dry weather with cool night and hazy morning Karachi on Sunday with minimum temperature ranging between 10-12 degrees centigrade. Dry weather with cool/cold night and hazy/misty morning has been forecast for Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Sukkur and Larkana divisions. On Saturday, the highest maximum temperature of 29.5 degree centigrade was reordered at Mithi while lowest minimum of -3.5 at Kalat. STAFF REPORT
KARACHI: Buses have been parked on Numaish Chowrangi Road to stop traffic during the mourning day announced by Majlis Wahdat-ul-Muslimeen against the Shikarpur incident. ONLINE
Bodies of five new born babies recovered from a garbage heap KARACHI STAFF REPORT
Bodies of five newborn babies were recovered from a garbage heap near Abdul Sattar Bachani petrol pump in the Tando Allah Yar district of Sindh on Saturday. Following discovery of the bodies, local residents in the area informed police and civil hospital officials.
Police reached the site and took the bodies into custody which were later shifted to the civil hospital. In the aftermath of the discovery, panic spread in the area and residents demanded the arrest of those involved in this heinous offence. Chief Minister Sindh Qaim Ali Shah took serious notice of the incident and directed the concerned police station to hold inquiry into the incident and to bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to jus-
tice. According to law, anyone found to have abandoned an infant can be jailed for seven years while anyone guilty of secretly burying a child can be imprisoned for two years. Murder is punishable with life imprisonment but crimes of infanticide are rarely prosecuted. edhi says up to 200 babies are left in its 400 cradles nationwide each year and that it handles thousands of requests for adoption by childless couples.
KU awards 1,598 degrees, 137 gold medals to students KARACHI STAFF REPORT
Pro-Chancellor University of Karachi (KU) and Senior Minister for education and Literacy Nisar Ahmed Khuhro said it was an honour to be educated from KU which was recognized globally for its quality education.
He said this while addressing the convocation of University of Karachi on Saturday. Degrees were conferred upon 1,598 students of different disciplines and 137 position holders were presented gold medals on the occasion. “The graduates of the university are an asset for our country. I myself feel proud to be educated from the same hon-
ourable university of Pakistan. I would request from KU Chancellor and Governor Dr Ishrat-ul-ebad Khan to give a bonus to the staff of BPS 1-16 of the university as an acknowledgement of their hard-work for the university,” he said. He said the socio-political situation in which students of their country were braving to get educa-
tion was commendable. “Students drive a nation towards prosperity and I hope that these students would lead the nation for its development and progress,” he said. KU Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammed Qaiser said admissions in the university were granted on merit through a transparent policy approved by the academic council.
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Some 147 colleges were affiliated with the university and each year it conducts examinations of about 0.15 million students of the colleges and external candidates. “Despite bad law and order situation in the city, examinations are mostly held as per schedule. In the wake of recent incidents of terrorism, KU has upgraded the
security arrangements on all the entry gates, foreign faculty hostels, administrative buildings and other sensitive places by installing 30 CCTV cameras and private guards,” he said. He also asked the government to help the university to avert its financial crisis. It was not a duty but an obligation to serve the university, he said.
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Sunday, 1 February, 2015
health experts emphasise importance of ‘evidence to Action beyond 2015’ ISLAMABAD: Speakers stress upon the role of research-based evidence to action beyond 2015 in order to build better policies and practices related to maternal and newborn health in Pakistan. Research and Advocacy Fund for Maternal and Newborn Health (RAF) organised a 2-day conference to share their learnings from more than six years of successful projects in Pakistan, and give profile to issues to determine the way forward beyond 2015. The conference facilitated debates and discussions leading to call for action to support sustainable development goals beyond 2015. Research and Advocacy Fund is a key component of the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)’s commitment to Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5, and their support to Maternal and Newborn Health (MNH) in Pakistan. The RAF is managed by a consortium led by the British Council with its partners Immpact at the University of Aberdeen, Social Development Direct and RIZ Consulting. PReSS ReleASe
India becomes world’s biggest gold consumer NEW DELHI: India overtook China as the world’s biggest gold consumer in 2014 as global physical demand fell, an industry report showed, forecasting that prices that have declined for the last two years would bottom out this year. Chinese gold demand slid by more than a third last year to a four-year low of 866 tonnes, while the country’s scrap gold supply rose 21 per cent to an unprecedented 182 tonnes, the report by GFMS analysts at Thomson Reuters showed. Slower economic growth and a crackdown on corruption helped knock Chinese jewellery demand to 608 tonnes, 33pc below the previous year’s “extraordinary” levels, it said. Physical bar demand fell 53pc to 171 tonnes, a fiveyear low. “We do expect an increase in Chinese demand this year. However, without a dramatic course of events we would not expect it to come close to matching the level in 2013,” GFMS analyst Ross Strachan said. “The recovery will be helped by the fact there was an overhang of stock at the start of 2014 in China due to the voracious buying in 2013, and this kept purchases subdued last year.” Indian jewellery demand rose 14pc last year to a record 690 tonnes, putting it back ahead of China as the world’s number one jewellery manufacturer. The drop in buying in China helped drive a 19pc fall in global physical gold demand, with all areas declining except central bank buying, the report said. World jewellery demand fell 11pc. An expected price decline to an average $1,180 an ounce in the first six months of this year is not expected to be enough to stimulate fresh retail investment demand, the report said. Gold prices are expected to average $1,170 an ounce in the full year. That should mark the low point of spot gold’s decline of recent years, GFMS said. It ended a 12-year bull run with a 28pc drop in 2013 and declined another 1.5pc last year. AGenCieS
More than 600 international flights fly over country: Azeem ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Aviation Advisor Shujaat Azeem has said Pakistan air traffic is safe and more than 600 international flights fly over the country. He said this while talking to a news channel days after the warning of the European Air Safety Agency (EASA). EASA had issued a warning to national aviation authorities and aircraft operators to exercise “extreme caution” while flying in Pakistani airspace. It issued a notice on its website stating that the “potential” of terrorist attacks in Pakistan has led to an increased risk for airlines. He said he discussed the issue with French officials and clarified that the warning is not Pakistan specific but it is also for other countries. “Our airspace is safe for traffic. EASA’s warning is a precautionary step that is issued not only for Pakistan but also for eight other countries,” he said. APP
GovT refuses To bAN IMporTeD vehIcles
Commerce Ministry expresses reservation about high prices and poor quality of locally assembled cars ISLAMABAD
T
AGenCieS
HE Ministry of Commerce has expressed reservations about the high price and poor quality of locally assembled cars, raising the objections in the backdrop of automakers’ demand from the ministry to impose a complete ban on the import of used cars in the proposed auto policy. The Engineering Development Board (EDB) has refused to support the proposal of placing the ban on the import of used cars, saying it would strengthen the monopoly of the local carmakers and auto part manufacturers, media reports said on Saturday. The car assemblers also urged the government not to reduce the duty on auto parts. This will maintain the local players’ monopoly over the manufacturing of auto parts, the reason for high prices of local cars. However, the government has expressed the intent to reduce the duty in order to make the market more competitive by facilitating new entrants. The previous government had
reduced the age limit on imported used cars from five to three years under the influence of the car assemblers in February 2013. Meanwhile, economic managers of the PML-N, in an Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) meeting held in October 2013, noticed this monopoly of the car industry and suggested that the tariff protection for new entrants should be given for five to seven years. According to reports, key stakeholders in the government, including the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Ministry of Industries and EDB, have refused to support the proposal
of placing a ban on the import of used cars as it would strengthen the monopoly of local carmakers and auto part manufacturers. After failing to get support of these stakeholders, the Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts and Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM) approached Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir to win his backing for imposing curbs on car imports and raising duties on equipment. A PAAPAM delegation met the commerce minister on Thursday and urged him to play his role in imposing the ban. However, officials of the Commerce Ministry raised
the issue of poor quality of cars and their high prices. Industry representatives told the minister that all issues in the proposed auto policy had been settled with the EDB, but two issues were yet to be resolved. They included a ban on import of used cars and no cut in duties on import of auto parts. During the meeting, they attributed the rise in car prices to inflation and depreciation of the rupee against the dollar. However, officials said the quality of locally made cars was deteriorating with the passage of time. They said even the quality of imported used cars was far better and therefore consumers were switching to them. The minister said the commerce ministry had no direct role in the auto sector, including import of used cars. According to reports, the FBR was of the view that the age of used cars for import should be extended to five years from the current three years to facilitate the consumers by ending the monopoly of key industry players. It argued that the government had given incentives to the local car industry but it did not flourish and consumers were facing even higher prices.
ASIAN IMPORTS OF IRANIAN CRUDE OIL RISE 20PC IN 2014
TEHRAN AGenCieS
Asian imports of Iranian crude oil rose by 19.8 per cent last year to hit a three-year high, although further increases by the OPEC nation’s biggest buyers will depend on whether Tehran and world powers can settle the dispute over its nuclear programme. Imports by Iran’s four biggest buyers — China, India, Japan and South Korea — averaged 1.12 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2014, government and tanker-tracking data showed, the highest since the region took more than 1.5m bpd in 2011. Soaring imports last year by China and India after the partial easing of economic sanctions at the end of 2013 more than offset declining shipments into Japan and South Korea. December imports into Asia rose 22.1pc from a year ago to 1.21m bpd — the highest since May — due to a huge jump in India’s imports for the month and higher seasonal winter demand.
Iran agreed with the United States and five other world powers in 2013 to work towards a permanent agreement on its nuclear programme in exchange for an easing of some sanctions. Two deadlines for a final deal have slipped since then, and now the goal is to reach a political understanding by the end of March, with a view to a lasting agreement by a self-imposed June 30 deadline. Iran called talks with France, Germany and Britain on Thursday “promising” but some analysts have cast doubts on any agreement by the new target dates. And until a final agreement is reached, most of the Middle Eastern nation’s Asian buyers are unlikely to increase their imports except China, sources said. India has asked its refiners to slash oil buys from Iran in the next two months to keep its imports in line with the previous fiscal year’s levels, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters last week. The US Senate Banking Committee on Thursday advanced a bill that would toughen sanctions on Iran, but a full vote on the bill is not expected until at least March 24 in the face of veto threats by President Barack Obama. “It looks as though the West’s stance is inconsistent and the talks are unlikely to be finalised,” said an oil industry analyst who declined to be identified. The United States named nine new sanctions targets in Iran at the end of December, a move that Iran’s foreign ministry said “raises doubts about America’s intentions and violates the good will principles” of the nuclear negotiations.
NTN will not be mandatory from next fiscal year: Dar ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said that the national tax number will not be mandatory for the tax payers from the next fiscal year. Addressing a news conference in Islamabad on Saturday, he said individuals would be able to file tax returns using the national identity card numbers. He said the individuals who did not have CNIC due to not attaining the prescribed age would continue using NTN numbers to file tax returns. The finance minister said the export refinance scheme that stood at 9.4 percent would be reduced to 6 percent from today. He said the long term finance facility would also be reduced to 7.5 percent from today. Ishaq Dar said the Federal Board of Revenue collected 1162.4 billion rupees during the first six months of the current fiscal year. He said the budget deficit stood at 2.3 percent during the last six months against the target of 4.9 percent for the current year. Online
OIL PRICE WILL AVERAGE LESS IN 2015 THAN DURING FINANCIAL CRISIS: POLL WASHINGTON AGenCieS
Crude oil will likely continue falling before posting only a mild recovery in the second half of this year, a Reuters survey of analysts showed on Friday, with prices set to average even less in 2015 than during the global financial crisis. The survey of 33 economists and analysts forecast North Sea Brent crude would average $58.30 a barrel in 2015, down $15.70 from last month’s poll, in the biggest month-on-month forecast revision since prices last collapsed in 20082009. If the forecasts for 2015 prove correct prices will average the lowest since 2005, even if they recover after June, illustrating the impact of OPEC’s decision to
maintain output in the face of fast-growing U.S. shale output. “It should be a year of differing halves. The likelihood of further nearterm fund selling will see Brent trade down to $42 per barrel and WTI at $40 per barrel by the end of Q1 2015,” ANZ analyst Mark Pervan said. “The mood will remain cautious for the remainder of the first half of the year, before high-cost U.S. supply discipline starts to emerge in the third quarter,” he added. Twenty seven of the 28 analysts who contributed to data for both the December and January Reuters polls have slashed their forecasts. More than half of those lowered their projections by $15 a barrel or more from last month. European investment bank Barclays,
which has the lowest forecast according to the poll, cut its 2015 price outlook for Brent by almost 40 percent to $44 per barrel. Goldman Sachs, widely-seen as one of the most influential banks in commodity markets, sees WTI hovering around the $40 per barrel mark for much of the first half of this year. It has slashed its 2015 Brent forecast by $33.40 to $50.40 per barrel. Most of the analysts were in agreement that
the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) would maintain its stance of not cutting production despite oil prices touching multi-year lows, with any tightening of supplies expected to come from higher-cost producers outside the group. “Low crude prices negatively affect (U.S.) shale oil profitability,” Intesa Sanpaolo analyst Daniela Corsini said. “I expect to see lower rig counts and lower investments over the next months... before the end of the year, shale oil supply should start contracting.” Brent has averaged $49.57 so far in January, consolidating
over the past two weeks after hitting a near six-year low of $45.19 a barrel on Jan. 13. It was trading around $48.75 on Thursday. The poll forecasts U.S. light crude will average $54.20 a barrel this year and $64.90 in 2016. WTI has averaged $47.24 a barrel so far in 2015, hitting a post-2009 low of $43.58 on Thursday. Brent’s premium to U.S. crude, known as the Brent-WTI spread, is expected to widen to $4.10 a barrel in 2015 from around $2.20 so far this year, the poll showed. That would be the smallest annual Brent-WTI average since 2010. BrentWTI averaged more than $12.50 a barrel between 2011-2014 as the shale boom drove the U.S. benchmark to a steep discount to its North Sea rival.
10 LEISURE
Sunday, 1 February, 2015
HaGaR tHE HoRRIblE
aries
taurus
gemini
Harboring secret getaway plans could be a sweet distraction today, but they may fall apart once you remember all the promises you made. Even if you're willing to leave your responsibilities behind, there.
You're excited about your career now, yet it's also a source of endless worry. Finding a place of rest isn't easy as you are distracted by one thing after another today. Even if there are things going.
Although you have good reason to be prudent with your finances now, you are still tempted to buy something beyond your means. Weigh out the pros and cons carefully before committing the money, for a large.
cancer
leo
virgo
Oftentimes, you comfortably dance around the edge of your feelings, especially if you are uncomfortable with them. However, it's important that you get to the source of your desires now or you'll inadvertently.
If others are resisting your current pursuit of your dream, reconsider your role in bringing these unsupportive people into your life. The relationship houses of your chart are heating up, but you might.
Petty disputes with your friends or family may stir up old wounds today. Even if you believe it is wiser to leave old issues buried, they still might trigger conflict anyway. No matter how unpleasant it.
dIlbERt
GaRFIEld
libra
scorpio
sagittarius
Your current circumstances at work may feel oddly familiar as you have trouble judging the relative importance of a particular situation. You often tend to look at the bright side of things, but can get.
Although you might have a case of the blues today, you can change the game by not taking yourself too seriously. You may be reconsidering the relationship between how much you need to work and what benefits.
Deeply-rooted patterns are sneaking into your awareness today, awakening you from a fantasy that still continues to fascinate you. However, you can now see your attachment to the past. Even if there is.
baldo
capricorn
aQuarius
pisces
Friends and relatives might make you uneasy today because they bring you face to face with your core values. Unfortunately, some principles that you hold dear are based upon opinion rather than fact. Thankfully,
Although you are quite enthusiastic about your future prospects, prior commitments prevent you from heading off in a new direction now. Family obligations could be defining your schedule, but a busy calendar..
You have the capability to make headway now on a variety of innovative projects, but your activities are not just about carefree, playful expression. What you create must also be practical. However, it's.
cRosswoRd
sUdokU
woRd sEaRcH
ACROSS
bRIdGE
How to play fill in all the squares in the grid so that each row, column and each of the squares contains all the digits. the object is to insert the numbers in the boxes to satisfy only one condition: each row, column and 3x3 box must contain the digits 1 through 9 exactly once.
order planet right sees shown speak speed start stiff survey tent these toward tradition trash understand weapon worth wrong yourself
Today’s soluTions
wHIcH Is HaRdER?
cHEss white tO PLAY AND MAte iN twO MOVes 8
crossword solution
7 6 5 4 3 2
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
chess solution
A
1.Nh5 Qd7 [1...Qxh4 2.g7# is mate] 2.Qg3 *
1
sudoku solution
1 hypothetical virus that didn't cause global computer chaos on 1/1/2000 (10,3) 8 sea (abbr) (3) 9 occurred later in time — adopts ted (anag) (9) 10 spring plant with bell-shaped flowers (8) 11 sicilian volcano (4) 13 me taut? (anag) — change fundamentally (6) 14 soup dish (6) 16 egyptian port (4) 17 make small adjustments (to) (4-4) 20 convert to sloping type (9) 21 sign of the zodiac (3) 22 container with a teat for the very young (7,6) DOwn 1 infectious childhood disease (5) 2 legendary keeper of arthur's sword, excalibur (4,2,3,4) 3 push through faster (8) 4 one failing to appear as booked (2-4) 5 cancel — reverse (4) 6 grasp the nettle (4,3,6) 7 blasted — odd g-man (anag) (7) 12 part of the unconscious mind — pose urge (anag) (8) 13 powerful, smooth-coated dog used for security work (7) 15 supposedly, the secret of great comedy (6) 18 portray feelings theatrically (5) 19 short skirt — small car (4)
answer assist because cafe confident cord doubt effect either entrance excess found gene gentle guest hostility human lent loose nine orate
Sunday, 1 February, 2015
ARTS
11
Do NoT baby TalK wiTh yoUr chilD, say researchers RESEARCHERS SAY NORMAL SPEECH IS EASIER TO UNDERSTAND - AND PARENTS SHOULD SPEAK CLEARLY TO THEIR CHILD
Previous research has claimed talking to babies gives them advantages in life far beyond a larger vocabulary.
P
ARENTS have long thought that the best way to communicate with their young child is through baby talk. Speaking more slowly, using a sing-song voice, and using strange words may not, in fact, be the best way to communicate with
your child, researchers have revealed. In fact, they say parents should just speak clearly. The research findings in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, found that mothers may actually speak less clearly to their infants than they do to adults.
The researchers first recorded 22 Japanese mothers talking to their children (ages 18 to 24 months) and an experimenter. A team of experts at the Laboratory for Language Development at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Tokyo then spent 5 years annotating the 14 hours of speech, marking specific aspects of the speech including the beginnings and ends of consonants, vowels, phrases. ‘To our knowledge, this is one of the most finely annotated large corpora of child-directed speech in the world,’ said the researchers. Next, the researchers applied a technique they had developed to measure the acoustic similarity between any two syllables, like ‘pa’ and ‘ba’, ‘po’ and ‘bo’. Because the analysis is automated, the international team was able to examine the 118 most frequent syllable con-
trasts in both the adult- and childdirected speech. The results were surprising: Mothers spoke slightly less clearly when talking to their child than to the experimenter. ‘This finding is important because it challenges the widespread view that parents do and should hyperarticulate, using very robust data and an analysis based on a study of 10 times as many syllable contrasts as previous work,’ says Alejandrina Cristia, a researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris. ‘By studying all the frequent contrasts in spontaneous speech, we can be confident that we have gained a view of the child’s input that is both comprehensive and realistic.’ The researchers caution that these findings don’t provide any evidence regarding whether speaking more or less clearly to your
Speaking more slowly, using a sing-song voice, and using strange words may not, in fact, be the best way to communicate with your child, researchers have revealed.
child boosts language acquisition. But they may shed light on why babies seem to be so much better at learning the distinctive sounds of their language than adults are. ‘Our results suggest that, at least for learning sound contrasts, the secret to infants’ language-learning genius may be
AIRCRAFT SET FOR MINUTE-BY-MINUTE TRACKING AFTER DEADLY 2014 MONTREAL AGENCIES
Pilots in helium-filled balloon land in Mexico after recordsetting Pacific Ocean flight ALBUQUERQUE: Two pilots in a helium-filled balloon landed safely off the coast of Mexico on Saturday after a record-breaking trip across the Pacific Ocean. The pilots landed off Baja California about 300 miles (480km) north of Cabo San Lucas, greeted by a team of balloon enthusiasts who assisted with the landing. The pilots came in low and dropped thick trailing ropes into the ocean to slow the balloon before setting down in a controlled water landing. Troy Bradley of Albuquerque and Leonid Tiukhtyaev (tookh-TY’-yev) of Russia beat what’s considered the “holy grail” of ballooning achievements, the 137-hour duration record in the first balloon flight across the Atlantic. They also easily exceeded the distance record of 5,209 miles set during the first trans-Pacific flight in 1981. AGENCIES
Google to change privacy policy after investigation by UK data watchdog Search engine Google has agreed to better inform users about how it handles their personal information after an investigation by Britain’s data protection regulator found its privacy policy was too vague. The Information Commissioner’s Office said in a statement that it required Google to sign a “formal undertaking” that it would make the changes by June 30 and take further steps in the next two years. The ICO investigation stems from a privacy policy implemented by Google in March 2012 that consolidated some 70 existing privacy policies into one and pooled data collected on individual users across its services, including YouTube, Gmail and its social network Google+. Regulators in Spain and France have fined Google 900,000 euros ($1.02 million) and 150,000 euros respectively over the privacy policy, small penalties relative to Google’s scale. Google’s annual revenue in 2013 was $55.52 billion. AGENCIES
All commercial flights worldwide could soon send out an automated signal every minute in times of distress to help rescuers find downed aircraft more easily. The new measures are in response to last year´s disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in what remains one of history´s great aviation mysteries. The aircraft, with 239 people on board, has never been found, nearly a year on. The new tracking rules, prepared by an industry working group, would be phased in by the end of this year, said the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), a United Nations agency. The initiative will now be presented to delegates from all 191 ICAO member states at a meeting in Montreal from Monday to Thursday, and “a final proposal” will be submitted to the ICAO Council within six months for ratification. The measure has unani-
All commercial flights worldwide could soon send out an automated signal every minute in times of distress to help rescuers find downed aircraft more easily.
mous support among ICAO member states, a source said Friday, meaning it is virtually assured to be brought in. Currently, radar can track a plane, however coverage fades when aircraft are out at sea or the plane is flying below a certain altitude. Under the new rules, airlines will be required to track their aircraft using a system that gives their location at 15-minute intervals.
If an “abnormal event” is detected, including a change in direction or deviation from a flight path, the signal rate hastens to every minute. Airlines would be responsible for sharing the data with authorities in cases of emergencies. “It´s the start of tracking (flights) every minute in emergency situations that is the most effective in the short term,” the source said.
in the infants themselves — the fact that they are able pick up sounds from input that is less clear than that used by adults with each other makes this accomplishment all the more remarkable,’ explains researcher Andrew Martin, a member of the Tokyo team. COURTESY DAILY MAIL
Depression and loneliness = extreme television viewing New research suggests the lonelier and depressed you are, the more likely you are to binge-watch television marathons. Although settling in to watch a series of shows may seem harmless, University of Texas researchers found that younger people use this activity to move away from negative feelings. Yoon Hi Sung, Eun Yeon Kang and Wei-Na Lee conducted a survey on 316 18- to 29-year-olds on how often they watched TV; how often they had feelings of loneliness, depression and self-regulation deficiency; and finally on how often they bingewatched TV. Researchers discovered that those who lacked the ability to control themselves were more likely to binge-watch. These viewers were unable to stop clicking “Next” even when they were aware that they had other tasks to complete. Study findings were presented at the 65th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
VIA PSYCH CENTRAL
Scientists identify ‘biological clock’ to help predict lifespan Scientists have identified a biological clock that could help predict a person’s lifespan. Researchers studied chemical changes to DNA to establish an individual’s biological age which they compared with their actual age. They found that people whose biological age was greater than their true age were more likely to die sooner than those whose biological and actual ages were the same. Four independent studies tracked the lives of almost 5,000 older people for up to 14 years. Each person’s biological age was measured from a blood sample at the outset and participants were followed up throughout the study. Researchers found that the link between having a faster-running bi-
ological clock and early death held true even after accounting for other
factors such as smoking, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
People whose biological age was greater than their true age were more likely to die sooner than those whose biological and actual ages were the same, a study found
The study’s principal investigator, Professor Ian Deary, from the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, said: ‘This new research increases our understanding of longevity and healthy ageing. ‘It is exciting as it has identified a novel indicator of ageing, which improves the prediction of lifespan over and above the contribution of factors such as smoking, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.’ The study involved scientists from the University of Edinburgh in collaboration with researchers in Australia and the US. They measured each person’s biological age by studying a chemical modification to DNA, known as methylation. COURTESY MAIL ONLINE
12
Sunday, 1 February, 2015
ARTS
Bold scenes wiTh oM PuRi weRe Tough, says MalliKa sheRawaT
T
HE bold Bollywood actress Mallika Sherawat says she was apprehensive about filming bold scenes with an actor as senior as Om Puri for ‘Dirty Politics’. But she says he made the experience “comfortable”. “I do have some bold scenes with Om Puri in the film and since he is a senior actor, it was very difficult for me to do the bold scenes with him. But I must say he made me very comfortable and he was very professional,” Mallika said. The film is directed by KC Bokadia. Mallika, who has featured in movies like “Khwahish” and “Murder”, says her journey has been a struggle like most of those people who have no godfather in the film industry. “Everybody has to struggle if you don’t have a godfather. I am still struggling. My fans have supported me a lot,” she said. AGENCIES
Bollywood moves beyond ‘copying’ to ‘certified remakes’ There was a time when Bollywood filmmakers didn’t think twice before copying Hollywood movies, and called it ‘just an inspiration’. But gone are those times. Now, it’s official — as many as seven upcoming Hindi films have been announced as certified remakes of international movies. These include desi adaptations of Hollywood films Oculus (2013), Warrior (2011), The Fault in our Stars (2014) and Buried (2010), French films Intouchables (2011), Beautiful Lies (2010) and Priceless (2006), and South Korean film, The Man from Nowhere (2010). While the Oculus remake will star sibling duo Huma Qureshi and Saqib Saleem, the Warrior adaptation, titled Brothers, will feature actors Akshay Kumar and Siddharth Malhotra in the lead. Other such films whose star casts have been confirmed are the Beautiful Lies remake, titled Shimla Mirchi and starring Hema Malini, Rajkummar Rao and Rakul Preet Singh, and that of The Man from Nowhere, titled Rocky Handsome, which stars actor John Abraham. Film trade experts feel that filmmakers now prefer to buy the rights of an international flick because of increasing global awareness. “Foreign production houses are becoming increasingly guarded about their films,” says trade analyst Komal Nahta. “Also, since there were some cases where Hollywood biggies took Bollywood copycats to court, Indian filmmakers got somewhat scared and thought it best to officially acquire film rights to avoid any legal hassles,” he adds. But blatant copy or rightful remake notwithstanding, why is it that the Hindi film industry continues to look overseas for ideas? “When you do a remake, the outside world might be aware about the film, but it definitely has potential here, provided you localise the story. If the remake is a little different from the original flick, it will thrill the audience even more,” says Mickey Virus (2013) filmmaker Saurabh Varma, who has acquired the rights of Buried. COURTESY HINDUSTAN TIMES
VIDYA BALAN:
NO REGRETS OVER NO NOMINATIONS Vidya Balan finds it “sweet” of producer Dia Mirza’s part to question why the actress’ performance in ‘Bobby Jasoos’ was not nominated for any leading film awards. However, the National Award winner says she has no regrets about it. Vidya’s 2014 film ‘Bobby Jasoos’ received a fair response from the audience and critics, but it failed to make a cut in all the major awards, including at the 60th Filmfare Awards, which are due to be held later Saturday night. Recently, Dia expressed her disapproval and posted a series of tweets on the same. Dia tweeted: “Articles, reviews stated that her performance was excellent. But when it came to nominations she was completely ignored. Why? #VidyaBalan. “I have always celebrated the achieve-
ments of my industry/colleagues and I will continue to. But I ask, why has #VidyaBalan been ignored?” On being asked about the same, Vidya said: “Actually, (it was) so sweet of her (Dia Mirza) to say that. It’s our film, obviously we feel bad. We feel we should get nominated…but, I think there is a jury who decided on the nominations and we should respect that. “It’s good to know that there is so much good work happening that they are finding it difficult to choose the nominations. I’ve no regrets about not being nominated. I’ll be there (at the 60th Filmfare Awards night) to cheer my fraternity.” On the film front, Vidya will be next seen in Mohit Suri’s “Hamari Adhuri Kahani”, which also stars Emraan Hashmi and Rajkummar Rao in key roles. AGENCIES
Ranbir is uncle Randhir Kapoor’s favourite actor Veteran actor Randhir Kapoor, known for hit films like ‘Jeet’, ‘Raampur Ka Lakshman’ and ‘Jawani Diwani’, says his nephew Ranbir Kapoor is the most intelligent actor in the Hindi film industry today. Ranbir is the son of Randhir’s younger brother Rishi Kapoor’s son with veteran actress Neetu Singh. Randhir was at a radio studio in Mumbai when he was asked what he thinks sets Ranbir apart from his own and Rishi’s generation. He said: “Ranbir is a very intelligent actor and he is one of my favourite actor in the present generation. He is very good and he is very intense. He is doing a wonderful job and his choice of films is very good.” Ranbir, who has a huge fan following for his good looks and versatile acting talent, will next be seen in ‘Roy’, which is releasing Feb 13. AGENCIES
Michael Jackson’s family denied new trial in negligence case LOS ANGELES: A California state appeals court on Friday denied Michael Jackson’s family its latest attempt to reverse a jury’s decision that cleared concert promoter AEG Live of negligence in the singer’s death. The three-judge panel ruled that Jackson’s mother and children did not have standing for a new trial after their attorneys argued last week that AEG Live was liable for Jackson’s treatment, and that jury instructions were confusing and not wide enough in scope. A Los Angeles jury in 2013 cleared privately held AEG Live, the organizer of Jackson’s ill-fated 50 “This Is It” comeback concerts in London, of negligently hiring cardiologist Conrad Murray as Jackson’s personal physician. The sensational five-month trial offered a glimpse into Jackson’s private life and final days in which Murray administered surgical anesthetic propofol to the “Thriller” singer as a sleep aid. The child star turned King of Pop, who set the world dancing but whose musical genius was overshadowed by a bizarre lifestyle and sex scandals, died in 2009 at age 50 in Los Angeles from an overdose of the powerful anesthetic. The lawsuit against AEG Live was filed by Katherine Jackson, 84, and the singer’s three children. The Los Angeles Superior Court jury found that Murray was sufficiently qualified for the job he was hired to do as general practitioner. Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2011 for Jackson’s death and served half of his 4-year sentence in a Los Angeles prison. AGENCIES
All-star actress roster to light up 65th Berlin film fest BERLIN AGENCIES
New movies starring Juliette Binoche, Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett, Helen Mirren and Lea Seydoux will put women in the spotlight when they premiere at the 65th Berlin film festival starting Thursday. The 11-day event in the frosty German capital, the first major cinema showcase in Europe each year, will begin with Oscar winner Binoche playing Josephine Peary, who accompanied her explorer husband Robert on treacherous Arctic expeditions, in “Nobody Wants the Night”. The film is directed by Spain’s Isabel Coixet, only the second woman in the history of the Berlinale, as the event is known, to hold the coveted opening-night slot. Dieter Kosslick, who has run the festival since 2001, told reporters that many of the more than 400 films that will screen focused on “strong women in extreme situations”. Kidman plays British adventurer and spy Gertrude Bell opposite former “Twilight” heartthrob Robert Pattinson as T.E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia, in German veteran Werner Herzog’s “Queen
of the Desert”. Blanchett joins Natalie Portman and Christian Bale in “Knight of Cups”, a new feature about the perils of fame by reclusive US director Terrence Malick. Kosslick said he hoped Malick, who won Berlin’s prestigious Golden Bear top prize for “The Thin Red Line” in 1999 and the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2011 for “The Tree of Life”, would attend the red-carpet premiere. Seydoux, the latest Bond girl in the British spy franchise, returns to Berlin with French director Benoit Jacquot in “Diary of a Chambermaid”, based on a novel already adapted by cinema greats Jean Renoir and Luis Bunuel. British actress Mirren stars in “Woman in Gold”, the true story of Holocaust survivor Maria Altmann who fought the Austrian government for nearly a decade for restitution of valuable Klimt paintings that the Nazis stole from her family. - ‘ChANGES iN irAN’ The Berlinale, launched during the Cold War as a window on the world for embattled West Berlin, prides itself on ripped-from-theheadlines political relevance along with high-wattage glamour from major Hollywood productions and stars. This year’s event will feature the first screening of dissident
Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s “Taxi”, in which the filmmaker himself presents his impressions of contemporary Tehran from behind the wheel of a cab. Panahi was detained for a documentary he tried to make on the unrest following Iran’s disputed 2009 presidential election and officially banned from making more films for 20 years. “We invited him but the Iranian
state must give its permission for him to attend,” Kosslick said. “We are hopeful — we have the feeling that changes are underway in Iran.” The only documentary in the race, “The Pearl Button” by Patricio Guzman, traces an arc from the story of Chile’s indigenous people to the more recent bloody history under Augusto Pinochet. Germany’s Wim Wenders, who will
accept an Honorary Golden Bear for his life’s work during the festival, will screen his new 3-D drama “Everything Will Be Fine” featuring James Franco, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Rachel McAdams. Andrew Haigh, director of the HBO television series “Looking” about gay friends in San Francisco, will enter the competition with “45 Years” starring Charlotte
A picture taken on January 23, 2015 shows a woman walking by billboards featuring ads for the 65th edition of the Berlin Film Festival on the Potsdamer Platz, in Berlin.
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Rampling in a surreal drama about a long-married couple. Japanese filmmaker Sabu will join the competition with “Chasuke’s Journey” about an angel who comes back to earth to rescue a woman. Vietnamese director Phan Dang Di, a European festival favourite, will premiere his latest picture, “Big Father, Small Father and Other Stories”. And Peter Greenaway will present “Eisenstein in Guanajuato” about the legendary Russian director of “Battleship Potemkin” and his Mexican exile. US director and screenwriter Darren Aronofsky (“Black Swan”) will serve as president of the jury judging the 19 main contenders and handing out the Golden and Silver Bear prizes on February 14. He will be joined by “Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner, French actress Audrey Tautou (“Amelie”), South Korean director Bong Joon-Ho (“Snowpiercer”), US producer Martha De Laurentiis (“Hannibal”), SpanishGerman actor Daniel Bruehl (“Rush”) and previous Golden Bear winner Claudia Llosa, the Peruvian director of “The Milk of Sorrow”. Last year, Chinese director Diao Yinan’s gritty cop thriller “Black Coal, Thin Ice” took home the Golden Bear.
Sunday, 1 February, 2015
New ZealaNd eNjoy crushiNg wiN over PakistaN
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AgencieS
HE tourists were skittled out for 210 at Westpac Stadium despite the best efforts of Misbah-ul-Haq and Shahid Afridi, who both posted halfcenturies to add some muscle to their score. New Zealand’s chase proved a
straightforward one, though, as Taylor and Elliott replied with fifties of their own in a unbeaten fourth-wicket stand which carried the Black Caps home with 10 overs to spare. Pakistan’s struggles began after just five balls when Mohammad Hafeez was clean-bowled by Kyle Mills without scoring. Ahmed She-
hzad (15) and Younis Khan (9) quickly followed each other off the pitch as the tourists wavered on 32 for three, but Misbah’s arrival steeled Pakistan’s nerves as the veteran began his steady progress towards his 38th ODI fifty. His partnership of 49 with Haris Sohail was a profitable one but was
ended by a Corey Anderson delivery when the latter was on 23, while the departures of Umar Akmal (13) and Sarfraz Ahmed (5) added to the concern within the Pakistan camp as they trembled once more on 127 for seven. However, it was the experienced heads of Misbah and Afridi which again steadied things as the pair putt on a stand of 72 in contrasting style, with Misbah playing a patient role at one end while Afridi clobbered everything that came his way and passed his halfcentury in just 21 balls. It was Elliot who eventually ended the show, tempting Misbah to loft one to Tom Latham at deep midwicket. His resistance was ended on 58, having faced 87 balls with four boundaries and two sixes. That sparked the beginning of the end for Pakistan, with Bilawal Bhatti soon following for a duck before Afridi’s belligerent performance was brought to a close on 67, with Adam Milne making the breakthrough after the batsman have smashed nine fours and three maximums from 29 balls. Ehsan Adil was the last man to fall for six to give Elliott his third wicket and leave New Zealand with a modest total to chase. Brendon McCullum’s wicket for 17 gave the visitors some hope but no major wobble followed as fellow opener Martin Guptill was ably joined by Latham, with the pair moving the scoreboard on to 75 for two before the latter fell to Afridi for 23. Guptill was the next man to walk on 39 but that simply paved the way for Taylor and Elliott and their march towards the target.
Bresnan suffers damp comeback SportS DeSk Tim Bresnan’s return to England colours was limited to two deliveries as rained forced the abandonment of the third one-day match between England Lions and South Africa A while the weather also hindered the three World Cup-bound players in the home side. Bresnan, whose last international appearance as the defeat against Netherlands in the World T20, was drafted into the Lions squad following his spell in the Big Bash so that he could get some further competitive cricket in case reinforcements are needed for England’s World Cup squad. He was handed the new ball alongside Durham’s Mark Wood but moments after he began his first over the weather closed in again and did not relent. There was probably greater frustration in the home camp, and not only because it means they remain 2-0 down with two matches remaining. Quinton de Kock, Wayne Parnell and Aaron Phangiso had been brought into the squad following the conclusion of the one-day series against West Indies to given them another outing before leaving for the World Cup. De Kock returned from his ankle injury in the final ODI in Centurion but fell cheaply and the weather meant he did not have the
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warriors, kNights stay iN race A strong batting performance, powered by a 178run opening stand between Michael Price and JJ Smuts, set up Warriors’ 45-run win against Dolphins in Port Elizabeth. Price (95) and Smuts (88) batted for more than two hours together at the crease, as Warriors, opting to bat, compiled 322 for 6. Both batsmen fell short of centuries, but laid a solid platform for the team, as late surges from Colin Ingram (40) and Ryan Bailey (63*) lifted Warriors beyond 300. Most of the Dolphins batsmen made starts in the chase, but could not build on it, as regular wickets soon dragged the team back to 185 for 6. A 61-run association between Khaya Zondo (74) and Andile Phehlukwayo gave the team some faint hope, but once Zondo fell in the 45th over, Dolphins duly folded for 277. Rusty Theron was the pick of Warriors’ bowlers, collecting 4 for 67, including three in a single over. Fifties from Gerhardt Abrahams, Rudi Second and Pite van Biljon helped Knights gun down 228 against Lions in Johannesburg. The comprehensive seven-wicket victory meant Knights also secured a bonus point and kept alive their hopes of reaching the playoffs. Knights lost Lefa Mosena early in the chase, but Abrahams (62) and Second (55) joined hands for a second-wicket stand which yielded 107 runs off 104 balls. Eddie Leie dismissed both batsmen in the space of seven overs, but van Biljon scored an unbeaten 51 and was part of an unbroken, fourthwicket partnership with Obus Pienaar, ensuring Knights were home in 38 overs. SportS DeSk
NEWCASTLE PUT THREE PAST ATROCIOUS HULL
chance to try and spend time in the middle against a strong Lions attack. Alongside Bresnan, Liam Plunkett, Boyd Rankin, Ben Stokes and Stephen Parry have all
played ODIs. Parnell and Phangiso, who are likely to start the World Cup as reserves, played two matches apiece against West Indies.
Messi’s bust-up with Enrique ‘has zero importance’ for Barcelona SportS DeSk The Blaugrana pair were involved in a training-ground incident shortly after the Christmas break, but the veteran midfielder insists the case is closed and that his side are only focused on maintaining their recent run of victories. “They are situations which happen throughout the season and when there are human collectives,” he said at a press conference. “They are tense situations in which you want to win, but it has zero importance. This topic is closed. “We’re all for one and motivated. We’re very close, there’s a fantastic atmosphere at the club and we’re all going forward. [Jeremy] Mathieu’s words don’t change anything. “It will happen again with colleagues and other technical staff, but [Messi-Enrique] has been given zero importance. “We all want to win. There are moments of tension and intensity. It’s not the first time it happened. “It’s happened 200 times and at all clubs. It’s good when it happens because it shows everyone wants to win. Players want to feel important and plugged in.”
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John Carver’s reign as the permanent manager of Newcastle got off to the best possible start as his side secured a comfortable 3-0 win over Hull City. Remy Cabella netted the game’s first goal just minutes before the end of a truly forgettable first half, before Sammy Ameobi’s memorable strike doubled Newcastle’s lead after the break. And Yoan Gouffran rounded off a truly miserable day for Steve Bruce’s side with a third late on. The two sides went into the clash at the KC Stadium desperate for a win for different reasons. After a huge dip in form, Hull had plummeted down the Premier League table and found themselves in the bottom three prior to kick-off, whilst Newcastle boss John Carver needed the three points to appease the fans who were angered at his full-time appointment following Alan Pardew’s departure. Understandably both sides looked nervous in the opening exchanges, obviously looking not to give their opponents an inch which made for a rather dull spectacle. Moussa Sissoko had an early effort on goal for the visitors, but it took until the 41st minute for the game to come alive as Newcastle took the lead. Hull full-back Andrew Robertson was guilty of giving the ball away deep in his own half, allowing for Cabella to capitalise on the loose ball to cut inside on his left foot and lash an unstoppable shot past the helpless McGregor from 20 yards. Hull thought they had restored parity seconds before the halftime whistle as Ahmed Elmohamady appeared to have headed the home side level, but referee Phil Dowd pulled play back, booking the Egyptian for handball.Hull returned from the break in search for a goal, but it was the visitors that looked the more energised of the two. SportS DeSk
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Sunday, 1 February, 2015
Dwayne Bravo quits Tests D
ICC unveIls umpIres, maTCh referees DUBAi The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the umpire and match referee appointments for the pool stage matches of the World Cup being staged in Australia and New Zealand from Feb 14 to March 29. Marais Erasmus and Nigel Llong will be the on-field umpires for the tournament opener between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Christchurch on Feb 14. S. Ravi and Simon Fry will be the third and fourth umpires, respectively, while David Boon will be the match referee. On the same day in a day/night fixture in Melbourne, Australia will lock horns with England in a match which will be umpired by Aleem Dar and Kumar Dharmasena. Billy Bowden will act as the third umpire, while Joel Wilson will perform the fourth umpire’s duties. Jeff Crowe will be the match referee. Apart from Boon and Crowe, Chris Broad, Ranjan Madugalle and Roshan Mahanama will share the match referees’ responsibilities during the 44-day tournament in which 49 matches will be played. All the five are members of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC match referees. All the 12 members of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires are available for the World Cup. Apart from the four on-field umpires in action on the opening day, Bruce Oxenford, Ian Gould, Paul Reiffel, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Rod Tucker and Steve Davis will supervise matches at the event. Fry, Ravi and Wilson are members of the Emirates International Panel of ICC Umpires. They will be joined by Johan Cloete, Chris Gaffaney, Michael Gough, Ranmore Martinesz and Ruchira Palliyaguru during ICC’s pinnacle event. Meanwhile, the ICC has also confirmed umpire appointments for the 14 warm-up matches to be held in Christchurch, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.
ms DhonI To BeCome faTher
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WAYNE Bravo, the West Indies allrounder, has announced his retirement from Test cricket, but wants to continue representing the side in limited-overs games. Bravo had not played Tests since December 2010, and his decision comes after he lost the ODI captaincy to Jason Holder and was then axed from the one-day side for the tour of South Africa and also the World Cup. West Indies had pulled out from their tour of India last year under Bravo’s leadership over a payment dispute with their board and players association. His subsequent removal from the squad had led to allegations of victimization from his lawyer, but chairman of selectors Clive Lloyd had said there was no axe to grind. Bravo was picked for the T20 internationals against South Africa and was also given a central contract by the board. In the statement announcing his retirement, Bravo said it was a “difficult time” for West Indies cricket and those associated with it, but added that he still wanted to “serve” the fraternity with “the pride of being a West Indian.” “Today I am announcing my retirement from Test cricket,” Bravo said. “I have already informed the WICB of this decision and also indicated my desire to continue to represent the West Indies in the shorter formats of the game. “Over the years, with the greatest enthusiasm, I have done my best with the deep awareness that I am ultimately representing the people of the game. “I recognise that this is a difficult time for all of us. Our people of the region have seen and enjoyed great cricketing days but we will not return to glory
until we agree to go forward with our love for the game and the respect of the administrators, players and the public. “I have experienced the exhilarating joy of victory and the devastating pain of defeat. The joyous memories will remind me of what we are capable of achieving. I want to be part of that mission.
“I thank the cricketing fraternity for their support and look forward to serving you with determination and the pride of being a West Indian.” Bravo scored 2200 runs in 40 Tests at an average of 31.42 with three centuries and picked up 86 wickets at 39.83 with two five-fors.
Harshal’s 11 knocks out Rajasthan sports Desk Seamer Harshal Patel took 5 for 43 in the second innings, extending his match haul to 11, as Haryana surged to an innings-and-119-run victory and Rajasthan were knocked out. Having started the day following-on at 38 for 5 on the usually spicy wicket in Lahli, the visitors stumbled further to 39 for 7 before crashing to 74 all out. Joginder Sharma also prospered, claiming figures of 5 for 27 in 13 overs. The Haryana bowlers needed only 9.2 overs on the third day to seal their second win of the season. Puneet Yadav failed to add to his overnight score and fell for 13. No. 9 Deepak Chahar top-scored with 19 off 21 deliveries, an indication of Rajasthan’s batting failure. Fittingly, Harshal wrapped up the innings when he bowled Pankaj Singh for 2. Himanshu Rana, who made 149, to power Haryana’s first innings to 373, was named Man of the Match. Vidharba inflicted the first loss for Delhi in this Ranji Trophy season, beating them by an innings and 93 runs in Nagpur. Left-
arm spinner Rakesh Dhurv and seambowling allrounder Shrikant Wagh proved to be a menace for the Delhi batsmen picking up three wickets each. Wagh ended with a match-haul of 8 for 90 while Dhurv picked up 7 for 51. Delhi started the day at 133 for 8
with Varun Sood on 21 and Virender Sehwag on 6, but their resistance was short-lived as Delhi were bundled out for 154 in their first innings where Wagh claimed 5 for 46 and Dhurv bagged 4 for 34. Having been made to follow-on, Delhi couldn’t manage to
find their footing. Only one of their top five could manage to get double-figures, and crumbled to 99 for 7 before Vidharba bowled them out for 123. Sehwag’s 41 of 54 was the only notable contribution. Though Delhi are top of their group, they are yet to win a match away from home. They drew their games against Maharashtra in Pune and Haryana in Lahli. Odisha handed Punjab their second loss of the season, beating them by six wickets in Mohali. Odisha’s seamers made most of helpful conditions as Basant Mohanty and Deepak Behera took 17 of the 20 wickets. Behera picked up Siddarth Kaul off the third ball of the morning, but the sixthwicket partnership between Yuvraj Singh (56) and Gurkeerat Singh (43) provided some resistance. Once their 61-run union was broken by Behera in the 36th over though, the tail crumbled to Mohanty, who finished with 6 for 42 and his second ten-for in a match. Odisha overhauled the target of 126 with six wickets to spare as Govinda Podder held the innings together with an unbeaten 60 off 137 balls.
Atlanta Hawks extend win streak to 18 games Agencies
sports Desk
Hawks 105, Trail Blazers 99 All-Star forward Paul Millsap led six Atlanta Hawks players in double-figures, fueling Atlanta’s 18th straight win, a 105-99 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. The Hawks survived a 37point performance from Portland forward LaMarcus Aldridge to notch their 12th straight win over a Western Conference foe. Atlanta (39-8) is undefeated in January. The Hawks matched the 1969-70 New York Knicks,
1981-82 Boston Celtics and 1995-96 Chicago Bulls with 18-game win streaks, tied for the eighth longest in NBA history. Jazz 110, Warriors 100 Small forward Gordon Hayward had a huge game and the Utah Jazz snapped a six-game losing streak to the Golden State Warriors with an upset 110-100 home win. Hayward compiled 24 points, 15 rebounds, six assists and three steals, the first player in the NBA to reach those numbers in a game this season. Golden State All-Star guard Stephen Curry scored a game-high
According to reports, Indian Cricket Captain MS Dhoni will soon be turning father. Dhoni’s wife Sakshi is reportedly carrying and expecting a baby soon. Dhoni and Sakshi tied the knot in July 2010 and has been popular couple since then. The couple is expecting their first child. Sakshi completed her Hotel Management studies and a prominent face during India’s games across the globe. Adding to this, she has been shying away from media for a while confirming the speculations that she is carrying. Dhoni had led the Indian cricket team to the victory in the World Cup in 2011 after entering into the wedlock with Sakshi. And he considers Sakshi as his lucky mascot. At a time, Dhoni is bracing up for World Cup 2015, Dhoni all set to become father come as great news for cricket fans in India.
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32 points and had seven rebounds and six assists, but the Warriors (36-8) experienced a rare off night while losing for the second time in a row. Cavaliers 101, Kings 90 Kevin Love had 23 points and 10 rebounds, and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Sacramento Kings 101-90 for their ninth consecutive victory, their longest winning streak in nearly five years. Cavs forward LeBron James started after missing one game with a sprained wrist. He had 19 points and seven assists. Forward Amir Johnson had the go-ahead putback layup with 41.5 seconds remaining in overtime and the Toronto Raptors withstood a fourth-quarter collapse for a wild 127-122 road victory over the Brooklyn Nets. Johnson had 24 points and made 10 of 11 shots from the field as the Raptors survived despite blowing a 17-point lead in a game that saw eight lead changes and seven ties in the final 17 minutes. It was the fifth successive win for Toronto, and the seventh straight home loss for the Nets. The Dallas Mavericks went on a 23-0 second-half run and snapped their four-game losing streak in style with a 93-72 road win over the Miami Heat. It was the first Dallas triumph over the Heat since the 2011 NBA Finals, a span of seven straight losses. Guard Eric Gordon scored a season-high 28 points and forward Ryan Anderson, playing for injured Anthony Davis, added 24 to lift the New Orleans Pelicans to a 108-103 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, whose defeat snapped a six-game winning streak. Eric Bledsoe scored 23 points and Goran Dragic 21 as the Phoenix Suns staved off Chicago to beat the Bulls 99-93.
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Sunday, 1 February, 2015
australia beat south Korea after extra time to win asian Cup learnIng spanIsh was The ToughesT ThIng aBouT joIngIng real maDrID sports Desk The Welshman has developed into a key player for Los Blancos since completing a world-record transfer from Tottenham two years ago, and he insists his transition into becoming a Galactico was an easy one. “It’s important to have variety: we all bring different strengths to the team,” he said. “We have a strong squad, but more than that we have the right mixture as well. I think that is showing more and more this season, now that we’ve all started to gel together. On the football pitch, I always felt comfortable. A new language was probably the biggest challenge, to be honest. The important thing is that I now understand the team talks and what people are saying. It’ll still be a bit of time before I’m able to speak Spanish better, but I have lessons every week and I’m improving all the time. But when it comes to football, I’ve always had confidence in myself and my ability. One bonus about playing for Real Madrid is the opportunities the team creates. In the Premier League, some teams had started to double-up, even triple-up on me. It’s not impossible to deal with, but I’d have to adjust my position or my play. Now, if a team were to double up on Cristiano Ronaldo or to double up on me, it just gives space for one of the others. It makes it really hard to defend against us, because we always have someone who’ll take advantage. There’s a lot more focus on Real Madrid. Being here is like being under a microscope. They have whole newspapers that are dedicated to Real Madrid. But that’s just part of being a Real Madrid player you get used to it. As much as we wanted to win it for La Decima, we’re equally hungry to retain the Champions League. Whichever tournament we’re going into, whether we’ve won it in previous years or not, we want to win it. We’ll be trying our best to do it, and I believe that we can.”
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Agencies
OUTH Korea’s Son Heungmin scored in stoppage time at the end of 90 minutes to send the match into the extra half an hour, cancelling out Massimo Luongo’s strike on the stroke of halftime. It was just before another break with 105 minutes on the clock that Troisi put the ball into the net from close range to make Australia champions of Asia nine years after they switched from the Oceania confederation. Former World Cup semi-finalists South Korea had ridden their mean defence to a first Asian Cup final since 1988 but despite being the better side for much of thee match came up short in their bid for a first title in 55 years. Luongo’s goal was the first they had conceded in the tournament and for most of the second half it looked the goal-shyness which characterised the start of their campaign had returned to haunt them. With regulation time running out, though, substitute Han Kook
Young dispossessed Trent Sainsbury on the edge of the box and Lee Jeonghyeop fed the ball to Son who stroked it into the net under the challenge of two defenders. Australia had come out to attack as coach Ange Postecoglou had promised but in frenetic start to the match, the South Koreans showed they had threats up front too. Son had his sights set just too high in the second and 37th minutes and Luongo was on hand to block his shot after Cha Du-ri’s charge down the right wing in the 38th. Seven minutes later and Luongo was down the other end to take Sainsbury’s through ball with a deft touch and lash it into the back of the net from 25 metres. The lead was barely deserved but that did not stop the greenand-gold clad majority of the sellout crowd of 76,385 at Stadium Australia celebrating in a frenzy. South Korea pressed forward in search of an equaliser but were grateful for goalkeeper Kim Jin-hyeon for a fine save from Mathew Leckie on the hour
mark, as they had been in the first half when he stopped a Tim Cahill shot. After Son’s goal had provided a dramatic conclusion to normal time and sent the match into the extra half hour, Kim was again on hand to intercept Luongo’s cross with Socceroos lining up
PENGUINS EDGE DEVILS IN OVERTIME
Agencies Penguins 2, Devils 1 (OT) Simon Despres scored with 2:39 left in overtime, giving the Pittsburgh Penguins a come-from-behind 2-1 road victory over the New Jersey Devils. It was just the second win in seven games for the Penguins (28-138), who snapped a five-game losing streak to the Devils in Newark.
Blackhawks 4, Ducks 1 Right winter Patrick Kane led the way for Chicago with two goals and an assist as the Blackhawks dominated the league-leading Anaheim Ducks 4-1 on the road. Center Jonathan Toews and defenseman Duncan Keith also scored, while left winger Patrick Sharp assisted on all four Chicago goals. Blues 3, Hurricanes 2 (SO) Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk scored the decisive
goal in a shootout for the second night in a row as the St. Louis Blues defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2. Shattenkirk was the only player to score in the shootout as the Blues escaped after squandering a two-goal lead, notching their fourth straight victory, while the Hurricanes fell short of matching a season-best, fourgame winning streak. Avalanche 3, Predators 0 Goaltender Semyon Varlamov stopped 23 shots for his fourth shutout of the season and the surging Colorado Avalanche beat the Nashville Predators 3-0. After a poor start to the season, the Avalanche (2118-11) have rallied to challenge for the last wild-card spot, only two points behind Calgary for the eighth seed in the Western Conference. Canucks 5, Sabres 2 Defenseman Yannick Weber and center Nick Bonino scored second-period powerplay goals as the Vancouver Canucks beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-2. Vancouver snapped a three-game home losing streak, while the Sabres lost their 14th consecutive games, three short of the NHL record.
Bayern suffer shock 4-1 hammering at Wolfsburg BerLin Agencies
Wolfsburg breathed life into the Bundesliga’s title race on Friday with a shock 4-1 hammering of leaders Bayern Munich, who suffered their heaviest German league defeat for six years. Pep Guardiola’s Bayern also lost
to put it into the net. Five minutes later, though, Tomi Juric nutmegged Kim Jin-su on the edge of the box and Kim was only able to push the striker’s cross into the path of Troisi, who smashed the ball into the open goal.
their first league game of the season as second-placed Wolfsburg trimmed their lead to eight points. Bayern leaked as many goals in Wolfsburg as in the entire first half of the season as the home side ruthlessly exploited Bayern’s numerous errors. “We put in a huge performance,” beamed Wolfsburg coach Dieter Heck-
ing. “When you want to beat Bayern, you need a day like that. “The team did everything we talked about and it went 100 percent according to plan.” Netherlands striker Bas Dost gave the hosts a deserved 2-0 lead at the break as his thunderbolt volley crashed into off the post just before the half-time whistle following an earlier goal. Belgium international Kevin de Bruyne made sure of the three points with two second half goals while defender Juan Bernat scored Bayern’s consolation goal. “We made a lot of mistakes and let them hit us on the counter-attack,” admitted Bayern’s stand-in captain Bastian Schweinsteiger with Philipp Lahm injured. “We lost our shape and we lost too many balls, it wasn’t our day. “We have to analyse the performance and do better.” For the first time in three years, Bayern found themselves 2-0 down at half-time on their way to their heaviest league defeat since losing 5-1 at Wolfsburg in April 2009 when Wolves won the Bundesliga title. “They were better in the key moments. After losing too many balls, we couldn’t control Wolfsburg’s counter-attacks,” admitted Guardiola. There were emotional scenes before kick-off at the
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Volkswagen Arena with a minute’s applause for Belgium Under-21 international Junior Malanda, who was killed in a car crash earlier this month. The hosts went ahead on their first venture into the Bayern half. Daniel Caligiuri’s long-range cross from the sidelines was squared by De Bruyne and Dost drove his shot past the diving Manuel Neuer with four minutes on the clock. Wolfsburg’s Maximillion Arnold tried to knock Xabi Alonso off the ball from a free-kick on 43 minutes and both players were booked. The hosts doubled their lead when Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski headed a Wolfsburg free-kick into space. Dost latched onto the loose ball and volleyed home in spectacular fashion from the edge of the area. Wolves went 3-0 up just after the break when Arnold’s pass put De Bruyne in behind the Bayern defence and he rifled his shot home. Bernat gave Bayern some hope when he stabbed his shot past Wolfsburg goalkeeper Diego Benaglio with 35 minutes left. The Swiss shot-stopper protected Wolfsburg’s lead when he palmed Arjen Robben’s shot over the bar with 70 minutes gone as the hosts held on for a deserved victory over Bayern, who are bidding for a third straight league title.
neymar & sergIo BusqueTs ‘seT for new Deals’ According to Sport, the Brazilian forward has agreed a new deal in principle until 2020 worth €12m a year, putting him on par with Luis Suarez and just behind Lionel Messi. Neymar’s current deal expires in three years’ time, but Barca feel indebted to the 22-year-old, who reportedly rejected a bigger salary at Real Madrid, and are keen to reward his development. “We have a proposal to extend Neymar’s contract with Barca until 2020. The player is happy at the club and the club are happy with the player. The relationship is magnificent,” his agent Wagner Ribeiro said in December. Neymar, a €57m arrival from Santos in the summer of 2013, has scored 21 goals this season, and the Catalans are adamant that he will soon succeed Messi as the world’s best player. Meanwhile, Sergio Busquets is likely to join the attacker in renewing his terms with the Camp Nou giants for another two years. sports Desk
Stoch takes second World Cup win of the season
The two-time Olympic champion profited from an enormous 147.5metre jump with his first effort and his 142.5m jump in the second round was enough for a total of 276.6 points. Second on the night was Slovenias Peter Prevc who finished 14.3points behind with jumps of 139m and 144m. Germany’s Severin Freund claimed the second longest jump of the night with a 146m effort but had to settle for third, half a point behind Prevc. Victory moves Stoch up to 11th in the overall standings after the Pole missed the first nine events of the season, with Stefan Kraft still the overall leader after his seventh place finish in Willingen. Kraft has 1,043 points with Prevc in second on 1,004 and Michael Hayboeck third with 886. sports Desk
SPORTS Sunday, 1 February, 2015
Williams overpowers Amir will be monitored ‘ o n and Sharapova to off the field’: PCB win 19th grand slam KARACHI
stAff RepoRt
MELBOURNE
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Agencies
Op seed Serena Williams fought off a barking cough to clinch her 19th grand slam singles title with a 6-3 7-6(5) victory over Maria Sharapova in the Australian Open final on Saturday. Williams’s sixth title at Melbourne park moved her into a tie with fellow American Helen Wills Moody in third on the all-time list after she joined Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert on 18 at last year’s U.S. Open. Only Australia’s Margaret Court (24) and Germany’s Steffi Graf (22), who holds the record for the Open era, have more grand slam singles titles than the 33-year-old American. “Growing up, I wasn’t the richest, but I had a rich family in spirit and support,” Williams said at the trophy
presentation. “Standing here with 19 championships is something I never thought would happen. “I went on the courts with a ball and racquet and hope and that’s all I had. “I’m so honoured to be here tonight and to hold this 19th trophy.” Williams had not lost to Sharapova since the 2004 WTA Finals, a run of 15 successive victories and was not about to let the Russian end that streak on Saturday. The tone of the match was set in the first game when Williams broke the Russian’s serve. Even though rain forced them off court for 12 minutes as officials closed the roof in the sixth game, the American was not bothered by the disruption as she reeled off the next six points to establish a 5-2 lead after they returned. Williams sealed the first set when she broke Sharapova for the third
time and then continued her momentum in the second with a powerful service game while she put pressure on the Russian’s serve. Sharapova battled to stay in the match and did have chances to break, but Williams simply reached back and smashed down a succession of massive serves to get out of trouble. She sealed victory in the tiebreak on her third match point when she powered down her 18th ace and then celebrated at the net after shaking hands with the Russian. “I’ve got to congratulate Serena on creating history and on playing some of her best tennis,” Sharapova said. “I haven’t beaten her in a really long time, but I love every time that I step on the court to play against her because she’s been the best and, as a tennis player, you want to play against the best.
Pakistan’s cricket chief Saturday denied that Mohammad Amir is being fast-tracked back into international cricket after a five-year ban, saying he will be monitored “on and off the field” before his re-entry. The 22-year-old was on Thursday cleared to play in the domestic cricket by the sport’s top governing body, bringing him a step closer to redemption for his part in one of the most scandalous episodes in modern cricket. Amir was one of three Pakistani players banned from the game for at least five years for arranging no-balls to order in a Test against England at Lord’s in 2010. He was also jailed in Britain in 2011, along with former capital Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif. Amir’s ban was due to expire on September 2, but the International Cricket Council used discretionary powers to allow him to return to domestic cricket early. Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shaharyar Khan denied that Amir was going to be rushed back into international cricket, saying that he will have to “earn his place in the Pakistan team”. “Some people believe that we have fast-tracked his return,” he said. “In the period before his ban expires — and even after that Amir will be constantly monitored on and off the field. He has to satisfy the PCB and the ACSU (the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit) before getting into international cricket.” Khan said Amir was being shown some leniency because he had shown more remorse for his part in the scandal than Butt and Asif. “Amir pleaded guilty, showed remorse throughout the last four years, but the other two players did not,” said Khan. The decision to allow left-armer Amir who at the time of his ban was regarded as one of the hottest young bowling prospects in cricket — comes as Pakistan is seeking to boost its status in the game. The country has been a ‘no go’ area for international teams since terrorist attacks on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in 2009. “We want to build on Kenya’s tour,” said Khan, referring to the African team’s visit to Pakistan last month, adding that his board is also talking to national teams from the Netherlands, Nepal and Namibia. “Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe have promised to send their junior teams, so we are in the process of bringing more teams to Pakistan.
CLARKE DENIES RIFT WITH AUSTRALIAN TEAMMATES
SYDNEY Agencies
Australian captain Michael Clarke on Saturday rejected speculation about a rift with teammates as he battles for fitness ahead of the World Cup. Speaking as he returned to the field for a grade cricket match, Clarke said the six-and-a-half weeks he had spent recuperating from hamstring surgery had not driven a wedge between him and the squad. “It certainly hasn’t been for me, it seems like it might have been for a few other people and I’m not talking about my teammates or the Cricket Australia staff,” said Clarke. Clarke was forced to bow out after the first Test against India in December with the serious hamstring injury, with Steve Smith filling in as captain for the three remaining Tests. Reports have suggested that the team have taken to Smith’s style, while speculation that Clarke wants to have a strong say in when he is ready to return to the team has
caused friction with Cricket Australia. “I’m not going to get into it,” Clarke told reporters. “It seems like some people in particular are going to write what they want to write. I’m really happy and comfortable with my relationship with Cricket Australia firstly, certainly with my teammates.” “It’s water off a duck’s back for me, I’ve copped it my whole career. It’s another day, another newspaper sold. I don’t really care.” Cricket Australia has given Clarke until Australia’s second pool match against Bangladesh on February 21 to prove his fitness for the World Cup. He batted for almost three hours for his Western Suburbs team Saturday, scoring 51 from 128 balls, including two fours and a six, and said medical staff considered his recovery was ahead of schedule. “But there’s still a long way to go before I can walk out in an international and represent Australia,” he said. “It’s nice to be in a position where the Australian medical staff can allow me to come back and play for my grade club, but it’s one day at a time,” the 33-year-old added. “My goal is to get fit as soon as I can and then obviously there’s a time frame set by Cricket Australia and the selectors that I certainly understand and respect.” Opener David Warner also put his support behind Clarke, saying the suggestions that some Test players would rather retain Smith as captain once Clarke returned were “bizarre”. “Smitty (Smith) will be a good leader but he’s got a lot to learn and he knows that,” said Warner. Published by Arif Nizami at Plot No 79, Sector 24, Korangi Industrial Area Karachi.
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