e-paper pakistantoday 22th march, 2012

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Stop using Palestinian cause to justify terror, says Salam Fayyad PAGE | 16

Lyari’s Baloch hit back

US, Pakistan have shared anti-terror interest: Clinton

PAGE | 7

Rs15.00 Vol ii no 264 22 pages Karachi edition

PAGE |04

thursday, 22 March, 2012 Rabi-ul-Sani 28, 1433

Aitzaz feels SC won’t give PM a fair trial

France shooting suspect says he ‘trained in Waziristan’ TOULOUse AFP

Says letter to Swiss authorities cannot be written until Zardari is sitting in Presidency

g

IsLAMABAD MAsooD REHMAN

T

He contempt case against Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani took a new turn on Wednesday after Aitzaz Ahsan, counsel for the premier, objected to the seven-member special bench hearing the matter and sought its recusal.

If Aitzaz’s objection, which according to him is very legitimate and holds purely the legal grounds, is admitted, eight other judges including the chief justice, who had dismissed the intra-court appeal of the premier against the seven-judge bench order, cannot hear the matter.

The total available strength of the Supreme Court judges, including the chief justice, is 16 and if Aitzaz’s plea is admitted, there is no other forum to hear the matter.

The court, however, gave no ruling to the Aitzaz’s plea.

Aitzaz expressed dissatisfaction over the bench, saying that the bench that issued show cause no-

tice and delivered verdict before the case was started, should not conduct proceedings and recuse itself from the case.

He said the bench had already made its mind against the sitting prime minister to be punished, thus it (bench) could not hear the case.

He contended that the bench could not conduct a fair trial, adding that under the 18th Constitutional amendment, Article 10-A has been introduced that has radically changed the scope of law. “It’s a revolutionary change,” Aitzaz said, adding that fair trial and adopting due process of law was essential for a particular case. He elaborated that in criminal trial and even in contempt case, a person is entitled to fair trial. “You mean this bench is not competent to hear the trial,” Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany asked Ahsen. “Yes after the 18th Amendment,” Aitzaz replied.

Justice Osmany, however, told Aitzaz that a bench that framed charges was also competent to proceed further in the trial.

Continued on page 04

NEW DELHI: West Pakistani refugees shout slogans during a protest rally on Wednesday. West Pakistan refugees are Hindus from West Pakistan who migrated to Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan's Punjab province during communal riots in 1947. Though they are Indian citizens and have resided in the state for more than 60 years, they cannot buy property, get government jobs or vote in the Indian parliament and assembly elections since they do not have a Permanent Resident Certificate. afp

Pakistan ‘does not want Taliban to seize control of Afghanistan’ News Desk The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has long been accused of siding with the Taliban as part of a strategy to ensure a friendly government in Kabul and to ensure arch-rival India cannot gain a foothold, but details of an interview with Lt Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha, who stepped down as ISI DG last weekend, suggests the agency fears that a Taliban takeover would have dangerous

implications for Pakistan’s security. The account of the meeting in April last year – written by a researcher with the private intelligence firm Stratfor and obtained

by WikiLeaks – was reported on Wednesday by British newspaper Telegraph.

“We do not wish to see the Talibs dominate Afghanistan,” said Pasha. “On the contrary, we want to see a broad-based government Continued on page 04

The shooting suspect holed up in a flat in southern France claimed to police besieging him he was trained by the al Qaeda militant network in Pakistan’s tribal Waziristan area, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

Francois Molins, France’s chief anti-terror magistrate, said Mohamed Merah had claimed responsibility for three recent shooting sprees that left three soldiers, three Jewish schoolchildren and a teacher dead. “Mohamed Merah explained that he belonged to al Qaeda. He explained he had been trained Continued on page 04

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02 News Today’s

thursday, 22 March, 2012

lahorE

NEWS

LEsCo says it hates PEPCo too

It’s business as usual for the PM

Story on Page 07

Story on Page 05

CartooN

Quick Look

Page 13

Cabinet reshuffle is routine matter, but my resignation is not: PM IsLAMABAD

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sTAFF REPoRT

RIMe Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Wednesday said the reshuffle in the cabinet was a routine matter, but his resignation was not. After chairing the National Workshop on Food Security in Pakistan, he was responding to a query regarding media reports about a reshuffle in the federal cabinet and his possible resignation from the premiership if convicted on the contempt of court case.

He added that the contempt of court case against him would be decided by the Supreme Court.

When a journalist reminded him of his earlier statement in which he had said that Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was his “friend” and asked if he was in contact with his friend for an out-of-court settlement, Gilani replied that the talk of an out-of-court settlement was “contempt of court”. He continued, “Once a friend, always a friend. His (chief justice’s) two friends — one who was part of his restoration (Yousaf Raza Gilani) and the other who was part of the lawyers’ movement (Aitzaz Ahsan) — both are present in the court in the case.”

On a question on holding local government elections, the prime minister said the issue had become a provincial subject after

the passage of the 18th Amendment, and the federal government could not interfere in provincial matters. He said there was political stability in the country, and there was nothing to worry about in the presence of an independent judiciary, media, and vibrant civil society.

When asked about the possibility of reopening NATO supplies, the prime minister said the parliament’s decision in this regard would be accepted. Gilani said the parliament had the mandate of the people and it was not an easy task to satisfy every single person.

Responding to a question about the rightwing Difa-e-Pakistan Council’s opposition to the reopening of NATO routes, the

premier said that NATO supplies were neither closed nor would be reopened on their (DPC’s) advice. He said that religious parties had also signed the foreign policy report of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS).

Regarding opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan’s concerns over the PCNS’ recommendations on foreign policy and terms of engagement with the US in war on terror, the premier said the national security committee was not constituted by Nisar and it had the representation of all political parties, including the party of the leader of the opposition. “Whoever has reservations would be given ample opportunity to express their point of view.

ECP rejects resolutions over voters’ lists ISLAMABAD: The election Commission of Pakistan on Wednesday declined requests made by three provincial assemblies for extension of timeframe for preparation of electoral lists.

The eCP took the decision after a Supreme Court order on Wednesday said it could not accede to the request for extension of time for preparation of electoral lists. The eCP said the application/resolutions of the provincial assemblies (KP, Balochistan and Sindh) made in this regard were declined.

“In view of the order, dated 21-03-2012 passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of Pakistan whereby the Apex Court has dismissed the CMA No 1116/2012 in CP No 31/2012 and declined to grant the prayer for extension in time for display of Preliminary electoral Rolls, the same being not relevant and maintainable,” an eCP press statement said. INP

Zardari-Nawaz partnership needs to be broken: Imran KHANEWAL: The partnership between President Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N President Nawaz Sharif needs to be broken to get independence from corrupt rulers and their supporters, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said on Wednesday.

Addressing a big public gathering at Khanewal, he said, “I will break the partnership of Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz, because I know very well how to break partnerships.” Imran accused Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani of committing contempt of court just to protect someone who had looted people’s money. The PTI chairman appealed to CJP Iftikhar Chaudhry to bring “looted money” back to Pakistan from Swiss banks, adding that the people, who were saying that the PTI’s tsunami had been finished could see its impact here. He said that the person who believes in oneness of God never fears anyone in the world and this holy sentence was the tonic for hearts. Imran promised that after coming into power, the PTI will provide justice to the nation on their doorstep.

“We will provide employment, education and strong economic policies to the nation and also bring a better local government system,” Imran said. sTAFF REPoRT

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thursday, 22 March, 2012

ForEIgN NEWS

artS & ENtErtaINMENt

SPortS

Israel mourns as victims of French attack buried

I miss all my ex-flames: Veena Malik

BD aim for a final roar against Pakistan

News 03 CoMMENt Tariff goes up: while the power comes down.

Declaration of assets: Iffy at best.

Nazir Naji says: Too big for our boots?: We all know who wins Pak vs US.

syed Hassan Belal Zaidi says: How not to go out of business: Trim the fat, of course.

Imran Husain says: The crystal ball: It tells a lot to the seeing eye.

Story on Page 14

Story on Page 17

Story on Page 18

articles on Page 12-13

President, PM highlight alarming water situation in Pakistan IsLAMABAD

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GNI

RIMe Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Wednesday said the water situation in Pakistan was becoming alarming as its availability was sharply declining and was likely to aggravate due to climate change impact and rapidly increasing population.

The prime minister said this in his message on World Water Day today (Thursday).

Water is the most precious gift of nature which ensures life on the planet.

Recognising the need for preservation and conservation of this valuable resource, the United Nations General Assembly declared March 22 as World Water Day. “Pakistan lies in the semi-arid region and Indus River System is the major source of water which is fed by the glacial melts. Glacial reserves in the

North of the country melt and flow through the country, supplying more than 70 percent of the river flows. This frozen “blue gold” is the country’s most precious reserve and sustain the agro based economy coupled with the unpredictable monsoon rains of the summer,” the prime minister said.

He said the glacial melts and the monsoon rains overlapped in summer periods providing irrigation water on one hand and dangerously raising the risk of flashfloods on the other. “This catastrophe was evident in 2010 floods, which affected 20 million people and damaged over five million acres of farmland. A similar flood repeated itself in Sindh and Balochistan during 2011.”

In his message, President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday stressed the need for sensitising people that water issue was becoming more and more critical because of depleting resources of fresh water and lack of adequate awareness about its conservation and judicious use.

‘SC can’t put PM in jail for more than 6 months’ IsLAMABAD sTAFF REPoRT

Barrister Aitzaz Ahsen, who is advocating Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in the contempt of court case, claimed on Tuesday that the Supreme Court could not punish his client for more than six months.

Talking to reporters after the hearing of the case, he said the SC, in its orders on January 10, 2012, considered disqualification for life and a five-year imprisonment for his client. However, he said that he personally did not accept it. He said he believed that the court would review its consideration to

this effect.

Aitzaz gave the example of Indian minister A Raja, who is currently serving jail after having been convicted of corruption, saying his corruption was in the notice of a close staff member of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He said when the matter was agitated before the Indian Supreme Court, it held that the prime minister had so many engagements that even if his closest officer knew about the corruption, it could not be proved in the court that the prime minister also knew about it.

He said that four documents had been submitted to the court in the con-

tempt case as evidences which imply that the prime minister did not have any knowledge of the court orders.

He said he had requested the court to pass a verdict based only on the submitted documents. He said these were complete documents, and the court could hang his client over it if it wished to do so. He said that after the introduction of Article 10-A through the 18th Amendment, the law had witnessed important and basic changes and now fair trial had become a fundamental right of every citizen. He said he had raised objections about the bench on concrete basis and the court would have to consider his objections.

President presses govt on railways ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday asked the government to consider various options to bail out railways from its financial crunch.

The president said this during a briefing on issues relating to Pakistan Railways, the restructuring and revitalisation plan and the progress made in the Gul Train. The meeting was informed that Turkish transport experts had been tasked to prepare a feasibility report for involvement of private sector in the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul container train service, the Gul Train, to make the train a lucrative cargo service not only between Pakistan and Turkey but also beyond to europe. Railways Minister Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour briefed the meeting about the situation of railways and strategies being pursued to cope with the challenges. GNI

PM appoints Irfan Qadir as law secretary IsLAMABAD sTAFF REPoRT

In a clear departure from Babar-Awan-led legal and constitutional rigmarole, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Wednesday appointed Irfan Qadir as secretary of the Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Division with immediate effect.

Irfan Qadir was working as Consultant (Legal Affairs) at the President’s Secretariat.

He has replaced Masood Chishti, who has been posted as Senior Member, Prime Minister’s Inspection Commission.

After taking Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan on board to defend him in the Supreme Court in the contempt case, it was expected that the prime minister, after having sidelined former law minister Babar Awan, whose strategy had brought Gilani in a contempt situation, would remove the entire legal team. Masood Chishti was appointed law secretary by Babar Awan to keep his complete control over legal and constitutional matter. Both Awan and Chishti had declined to appear before the Supreme Court as witnesses in the contempt court. Their refusal to appear before the court had embarrassed the prime minister’s counsel who had nominated them as witnesses for having advised the prime minister that the letter to the Swiss authorities could not be written.

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04 News

thursday, 22 March, 2012

US proposes slashing drone ‘target list’ to settle issue IsLAMABAD

I

MULTAN: Policemen arrest passengers who stopped a train at Multan Railway station on Wednesday. OnLIne

US-pakistan relations must have ownership of pakistanis: Khar IsLAMABAD INP

Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has emphasised that Islamabad wants to build a relationship with the United States which has the ownership of Pakistani people and that it works for both sides in a way that is respectful of Pakistani sovereignty.

“I don’t think it’s a matter of grievance as much as it is about a matter of building a type of partnership which is lasting, which has the ownership of the people of Pakistan, and of course the parliament of Pakistan,” Khar told MSNBC channel in an interview.

The foreign minister’s remarks came as the parliament started examining recommendation on moving forward the Pakistan-US relationship, which the White House sees as critical to regional security. Khar argued that the partnership between the two countries should be

haqqani denies Ijaz’s allegation ISLAMABAD: Husain Haqqani’s lawyer Sajid Tanoli submitted his statement before the memo commission in which the former ambassador denied most of the allegations levelled against him.

Haqqani however confessed to having met with Ijaz and a telephonic conversation in November 2011. oNLINE

US, pakistan have shared anti-terror interest: Clinton WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that the United States and Pakistan share interests in fighting terrorism after a panel in Islamabad made demands over the troubled relationship. Clinton declined to comment in-depth on the panel’s recommendations but said that the United States was committed to an “honest, constructive, mutually beneficial relationship with Pakistan.” “We’ve been working through these difficulties and challenges. We believe we have shared interests. We believe we have the same enemies,” Clinton said a news conference with Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul. “We believe that it’s important to support counterterrorism against the insurgents who kill and maim tens of thousands of Pakistani people, who send teams across the border to kill and maim people in Afghanistan and to kill and maim our soldiers and others,” Clinton said. AFP

able to “achieve results which are considered to be in the joint interest of both Pakistan and the United States and of course the NATO members, who are operating in Afghanistan”.

Separately, she told re-

porters that Pakistan would grant Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India by December 2012. Khar said India would automatically get the MFN status when trade relations normalise with it by December 2013.

France shooting Continued fRoM page 1 by al Qaeda in the Pakistani-Afghanistan region in Waziristan. He explained his trips abroad, including his time in Afghanistan,” Molins said.

“He said he does not have a suicidal spirit, he did not have a martyr’s soul, he preferred to kill and remain alive,” said Molins, who as

Paris prosecutor has overall responsibility for anti-terror investigations in France.

“He claims responsibility for all three series of killings, explaining them by evoking the fate of the Palestinians, France’s external operations notably in Afghanistan and dispute over the ban on the full face veil in France.”

sHAIq HUssAIN

N a bid to resolve the thorny issue of drone strikes with Pakistan, the United States has proposed slashing the ‘target list’ for these deadly attacks by CIA’s spy planes to a minimum low level with names of only “high value targets” in al Qaeda and Taliban ranks.

The Obama administration and Pakistani authorities have been able to overcome differences on host of issues like restoration of suspended NATO supplies by Islamabad, deployment of CIA operatives and American military trainers and extension of Coalition Support Fund (CSF) arrears to Islamabad by Washington, but differences still persist over drone strikes.

These differences are

well reflected in the recommendations of Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) that were tabled in the joint session of both Houses of parliament on Tuesday, in which once again a halt to drone attacks have been demanded.

Pakistani authorities blocked the NATO supplies in the wake of NATO airstrikes on Pakistani border posts in November last year that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. Moreover, the US officials were asked to vacate the Shamsi airbase that was used for drone attacks in the Tribal Areas and Islamabad also boycotted an international conference on Afghanistan in Bonn.

After that Pakistani government asked the PCNS to review the relations with US and come up with its recommendations on the vital matter and the committee’s proposals would be now de-

bated from Monday in the joint session of National Assembly and Senate.

In case of parliamentary approval of these recommendations, it is likely that NATO supplies will be restored and some other issues will also get settled but no settlement of drone strikes is in sight yet.

The US administration, however, is trying hard to resolve the matter and US CeNTCOM chief General James Mattis and US Special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman, who are expected to visit Islamabad after the joint session of parliament, will discuss the drones issue in detail with Pakistani officials with an aim at its settlement to the satisfaction of both sides.

“The US administration has proposed to Islamabad that it will shorten the list of intended drone strikes’ tar-

gets to minimum low level and the future attacks shall be restricted only to targeting few top al Qaeda and Taliban leaders,” said a diplomatic source on Wednesday, requesting anonymity.

He said barring those few top militants’ leaders, the other Taliban and al Qaeda operatives, including the leaders of second and third tiers and their foot soldiers, would not be targeted by the drone strikes, according to US officials.

A Pakistani security official confirmed that the US was trying hard to resolve the contentious issue of drone strikes. He said that US officials were willing to limit the scope of drone attacks in coming months but any decision on the vital matter like other conflicting issues with the United States would be decided by the parliament.

‘Pakistan a threat pIa moves court against Ex-MNa escapes to war on terror’ from court after ‘malicious’ campaign wAshINGTON appear on behalf of PIA,” it rejection of bail kArAchI INP

A top American military commander told lawmakers on Tuesday that Pakistan continued to be a threat to the war against terrorism. “As you know, the nature of the Taliban in those safe havens differs, varies according to where they are geographically. I believe that, in the south, the southern Taliban elements out of the Quetta Shura — their momentum has been successfully thwarted,” General John Allen, commander of the US and NATO forces, told lawmakers at a congressional hearing. If the issue of safe haven across the border was not resolved, he continued, more and more Afghan security forces would have to be deployed on Afghan-Pakistan frontier.

“Chances are very good that, if the issue isn’t resolved in our favor one way or the other, we’ll probably have to have a larger presence of the ANSF than we had anticipated which may require us to thin the ANSF in other places in Afghanistan.

sTAFF REPoRT

PIA on Wednesday filed a law suit against the Transparency International-Pakistan (TIP) and 17 others for permanent injunction in the Sindh High Court for restraining continuing malicious and baseless campaign regarding purchase of five aircraft from the Boeing Company.

The next hearing of the case was fixed for March 29, a statement issued by the airline said. “Rasheed A Rizvi, senior advocate Supreme Court will

said. Plaintiff PIA pleaded that Defendant No.1 Ms TIP in connivance with other defendants launched a campaign against the PIA maligning and defaming the same by claiming that the deal between Boeing Company and plaintiff is “shady” and in violation of procurement laws and that the same had no approval of the PPRA. Representatives of plaintiff time and again clarified the socalled allegation of defendant No. 1 such allegations raised are incorrect, malicious and baseless.

BAHAWALPUR: Former MNA Amir Yar Waran escaped from court premises after his bail application was rejected in a fake degree case on Wednesday. The case was lying pending in the court of Additional Sessions Judge Wajahat Hussain for last one year. He appeared before the court but when his bail plea was rejected, he escaped from court premises. His wife Khadija was elected from his seat in by the polls after he was disqualified on the charges of holding a fake degree. oNLINE

pakistan ‘does not want Taliban Continued fRoM page 1 that can end the civil war in that country, which has had a disastrous fallout for us. Of course the Talibs will be a key player in a post-NATO Afghanistan, which we feel is necessary for true peace to take place.”

Well-placed observers in Islamabad suggest Pakistan’s Afghan policy is un-

dergoing a period of “evolution”.

The Pakistani military has so far resisted US pressure to launch an offensive in North Waziristan, where the feared Haqqani network is headquartered and from where it launches attacks against NATO forces in Afghanistan.

In the meeting, Gen

Pasha apparently said the military wanted to move into North Waziristan, but was still trying to secure neighbouring areas.

“The only way to mount an offensive in NW is through South Waziristan, which we are trying to stabilise with the building of roads and resettlement of locals,” he said.

witness instead of a prosecutor, adding that four people were directed to send summaries to the premier in the matter but his client’s response was misconceived.

To a court query, Aitzaz contended that his client never stated that he would not follow the apex court’s orders, adding that the president enjoyed immunity in 198 countries under international law.

During the hearing, an exchange of harsh words took place for several times between Aitzaz and Justice Khosa.

To a query by Justice Nasirul Mulk, Aitzaz said he had the right to raise objection to the bench at any moment, adding that a new

bench should be constituted to hear the case and Article 10-A should be followed. Justice Gulzar Ahmed said it meant no court of the country framing charge sheet was authorized to hear the case.

Aitzaz said if the accused deserved to be hanged on the basis of evidence and proof, he should be hanged, otherwise he should be declared innocent; adding that making mistakes was a human phenomenon and the PM was also a human being.

Justice Nasirul Mulk remarked that no slightest deviation from the law would be shown in the matter. Meanwhile, the court adjourned the hearing for today (Thursday).

aitzaz feels SC won’t give pM a fair trial Continued fRoM page 1 “Trust us, we will be absolutely impartial,” Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa told Aitzaz, adding he should never think “we could go an inch from due course of law”.

Aitzaz replied that he too could not go an inch from the evidences he had submitted before the court.

“If you prove the contempt from that evidence, then sentence me instead of pardoning,” Aitzaz contended, adding that the court could not proceed on assumptions as it was a criminal trial and decision be made on evidence submitted before the court.

The bench, however, again observed that it would not move an inch

from due course of law and would decide the case impartially. Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa observed that if Aitzaz’s objection over the bench was accepted, everyone would demand that the bench that had issued notice was not competent to conduct the trial.

Aitzaz categorically stated that until Asif Ali Zardari was holding the office of president of Pakistan, the SC order to write letter could not be implemented. He contended that only the prime minister was held responsible for the contempt though former attorney general and former law secretary advised the premier for not writing the letter to Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases

against President Zardari.

He said neither he was asking the court to review its’ order, nor the verdict was wrong but the implementation of the relevant part of the order was not possible because the president enjoyed immunity under the international law.

He said former attorney general Anwar Mansoor and former law secretary had sent the advice to the PM, telling him that the president enjoyed immunity and that the letter could not be written. Justice Osmany remarked that the court was never informed about the PM’s view. “Do you want to say that the PM had no malafide intention”, Justice Khosa asked.

Aitzaz said Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq should be standing in the witness box to answer why PM’s comments were not conveyed to the court.

He said the PM’s reply was misunderstood and it was assumed that he (PM) was not sincere in implementing the court’s order.

He said when the court disclosed its six options in the PM’s case, it was presumed that war drums had begun to beat and PM got disqualified. Ahsen said the court used harsh words against his client and termed him dishonest to his oath, even without hearing him. Justice Khosa then said the court had not used harsh word against his client.

“If the court had been

rigid, it would not have provided you full opportunity to argue in the instant trial,” Justice Khosa said.

At the onset of hearing, Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq submitted before the court that he would not submit any more evidences in the case. He also submitted the reply of the prime minister in response to the court’s earlier order of March 8, 2012. Aitzaz also told the court that he too would not submit any more evidence.

The court then closed the evidence and started proceedings of the trial.

Aitzaz contended that the attorney general, being chief law officer of the federal government, should be presented in the court as a

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thursday, 22 March, 2012

News 05

It’s business as usual for the PM IsLAMABAD

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sTAFF REPoRT

R R e S P e C T I v e of what fate holds for him in the contempt court and not even bothered by the possibility of his conviction in the case, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani remains busy with not only handling the government affairs with the same spirit but he also looks forward to embark upon his international visits this month.

Though it cannot be said as to when the seven-member bench will decide the case, it is clear that in case the proceedings do not conclude and the decision is not announced before his forthcoming foreign visits, the case will understandably prolong as the Supreme Court is not likely to take any

adverse decision against the chief executive of the country when he is on a foreign tour.

While the prime minister initially appeared quite disturbed, he gradually regained confidence and prepared himself for any eventuality with a convincing satisfaction that he has become the longest-serving chief executive of the country even heading a minority government with the support of the PPP’s coalition partners.

He will visit Korea from March 25 to 28, China on March 31 and Britain in the second week of April. “These are the already scheduled visits and it is unlikely that the Supreme Court will embarrass him while he is on an official visit abroad,” a federal minister said.

However, it cannot be ruled out

that the Supreme Court announces its decision before his departure to Korea or when he returns on March 28 to again leave for China on March 31. But what appears from his recent public statements is that he is ready to face conviction in the contempt case rather than being dictated to write the letter.

There are reports that the prime minister, in consultation with the president, who is also PPP co-chairman, is preparing to shuffle his cabinet to form an election year team, which would work under the next prime minister in case he is convicted. The reports also suggest that he may opt to resign to avoid conviction.

In that case, among others, the name of federal minister Samina Khalid Ghurki is also being discussed in political circles. She is from Punjab

like Yousaf Raza Gilani, though he comes from the south.

Another candidate for the premiership is Makhdoom Shahabuddin from South Punjab. He may be a choice in case the PPP decides to pursue its strategy of dividing the Punjab with the creation of another province. Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, on the other hand, continues to assiduously argue before the seven-member Supreme Court bench to save his client from conviction and his point is that the letter cannot be written as long as President Asif Ali Zardari holds the office of the head of state. This, however, remains to be established whether Article 248 of the Constitution, which provides immunity to the president against any court proceedings, also restricts the government from writing the letter.

SCBa president urges gilani to write to Swiss authorities LAhOre NNI

BAHAWALPUR: A camel trainer displays the skills of his animal during the spring Flower show and Garden Competition here on Wednesday. Inp

Parliament to decide future of Pak-US ties: Sherry

Salala attack was unintentional and unfortunate: Munter PeshAwAr sTAFF REPoRT

wAshINGTON INP

Pakistan’s Ambassador to Washington Sherry Rehman has said parliament will decide the future course of Pakistan-US relations. Talking to reporters, the ambassador said no single person could take decision in Pakistan and parliament was responsible for taking decisions. She said drone attacks should either be stopped or should be made conditional. She said bilateral relations should be based on mutual respect, adding that US parliament also takes time in making decisions. “The low in relations between the two countries would have made it clear to the Obama administration what kind of relations people and the government of Pakistan wants to continue with Washington,” she added. She expressed gratitude to the US officials on patience over parliamentary review report.

The US ambassador to Pakistan, Cameron Munter, has said the attack on the Salala checkpost in Mohmand Agency was unintentional and unfortunate, and preventing such attacks from happening in the future was possible only through framing of joint and trustworthy strategies. .

“US-Pak relations should be based on mutual interest and respect, as America is interested in long-term ties with Pakistan as a key ally the in war against terrorism,” Munter remarked while speaking in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) on Wednesday.

He said people-to-people contact was key to strengthening relations between the US and Pakistan. He said there was a need to create favourable environment for investment in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the rest of the region.

His welcome address, SCCI President Afan Aziz said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as frontline state had suffered a lot in the ongoing war against terrorism.

Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Yaseen Azad on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to write a letter to the Swiss courts at all costs, adding that there was “something somewhere which is spurring misunderstanding”.

A delegation of 209 lawyers led by Azad left for India through Wahga border to attend a two-day international law conference there.

Talking to reporters before his departure, Azad said the government said the president basked under the immunity entitled by Article 248, underscoring that if there were more than one opinions concerning a particular article of the constitution, it was incumbent upon the SC to interpret that article.

Azad requested to the court to interpret Article 248, so that the government might come out of the maze over the immunity, adding all the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) verdicts should be implemented.

The SCBA president stressed if all institutions worked in their respective jurisdiction, no clash would occur, and if clashed did occur, it would be detrimental to the country and institutions alike.

“Short of Kashmir issue, the soured relations between Pakistan and India cannot be improved, as it is the core issue between the two countries,” he emphasized, adding that if the Kashmir dispute was resolved, the money spent on defence could be used for people’s welfare.

Judges of Faisalabad lower courts end strike FAIsALABAD INP

The US ambassador on the eve of his two-days trip to Peshawar, also met Governor Barrister Masud Kausar, Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Khan Hoti and academicians from Peshawar University.

In his address to the industrialists and traders, Munter said the US was keen to invest in energy and other potential sectors in Pakistan, adding that they had already extended assistance for Gomal Zam Dam project, which aimed at protecting floods and creating new opportunities for local people.

He dispelled the impression about the US aid for Pakistan, saying that the US had extended $2 billion of assistance since a decade to Pakistan.

However, he said assistance was not being used to benefit deserving people. “The US believes to continue supporting Pakistan for rebuilding and rehabilitating from post-war and natural disastrous situation,” the US diplomat said.

The Pakistani leadership should focus on business, investment and especially issues of people, he emphasised

The judges of lower courts of Faisalabad called off their strike against a lawyer’s misbehaviour and resumed court proceedings after consensus over settlement of dispute through organisation action. The judges went on strike against misbehaviour of advocate Mohsin Nabeel who attacked Civil Judge Azhar Ali during the court proceedings. The protesting judges wanted that a case be registered against the accused and he be tried under the law of the country. A three-member delegation appointed by the Lahore High Court (LHC) Registrar visited and recorded the statement of Civil Judge Azhar Ali and collected evidences from eyewitnesses. Later the delegation also held a meeting with the representatives of the lawyers. The lawyers took the stance that the issue should be resolved through organizational action.

The LHC probing delegation advised the judges to hand over the issue to the Punjab Bar Council instead of registering a case at police station after which they announced to end their strike and started hearing the cases.

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06 News

thursday, 22 March, 2012

taliban commander wants Pakistan’s nukes, overthrow of govt wAshINGTON INP

One of the top leaders of the movement of the Taliban in Pakistan said the terror group sought to overthrow the Pakistani government, impose sharia, seize the country’s nuclear weapons, and wage jihad until “the Caliphate is established across the world”.

The statements were made by Omar Khalid al Khurasani, the al Qaeda-linked leader of the Taliban in Pakistan’s branch in the Mohmand Agency, in a video that was released on jihadist web forums.

The video, which also discussed the history and evolution of the Taliban Movement in Pakistan, was released by Umar Studios and has been translated by the SITe Intelligence Group.

In the video, Khalid said the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan was united, strong and operating under the leadership of Commander Hakeemullah Mehsud. Khalid outlined five “important goals” of the Taliban: overthrow the Pakistani institutions; release both Pakistani and “foreign” fighters; impose sharia law; obtain a nuclear weapon; and establish a global caliphate.

“First of all, we aim to counter the Pakistani government, its intelligence agencies, and its army, which are against Islam and have oppressed the mujahideen and their families,” Khalid said, according to the SITe translation. The Taliban want to “avenge the oppression of the mujahideen in the tribal and urban areas” as well as the “humiliation of the mujahideen in Pakistani prisons”.

“Our second objective is to seek the safe release of Pakistani and foreign mujahideen in Pakistan,” Khalid continued. The term “foreign mujahideen” refers to members of al Qaeda and other outside terror groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.

Khalid said the Taliban wanted to “replace the english system of democracy with Islamic Shariah” as “the Pakistani system has nothing to do with Islam”.

Khalid also said that the Taliban wanted to seize Pakistan’s nuclear weapons and “other resources”, including the army, to defend Islam.

aPCa stages hunger strike camp kArAk sTAFF REPoRT

All Pakistan Clerks Association (APCA) Karak chapter staged a hunger strike camp on Wednesday against delaying tactics of the government in approval of time scale and observed a complete pen down strike.

Clerks demanded implementation of recommendations of the pay and pension committee and resolved that a countrywide protest would be organised if the government failed to satisfy low-paid employees. The hunger strike camp organised by APCA was held at Tehsil Chowk Karak and a large number of clerks participated in it. People of all walks of life visited the camp to show solidarity with clerks.

PEsHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly speaker Karamatullah Khan shakes hands with Princess Maya Chakri sirendham of Thailand as Governor Masud Kausa looks on. STaff pHOTO

India accused of poverty ‘smokescreen’, Muslims poorest religious minority New DeLhI

I

INP

NDIA has been accused of creating a “smokescreen” to conceal the true scale of poverty in the country after the government claimed to have lifted more than 50 million people above the threshold in the last five years.

Analysts and opposition leaders said the government had created an artificially low poverty benchmark, which some denounced as a “starvation line”, to shrink the official number of poor, the Telegraph reported.

The issue is politically sensitive in India where those officially deemed to be living below the poverty line are entitled to more government benefits and food subsidies.

The survey deemed as poor those living on or below Rs 22 per day in rural areas and Rs 28 per day in towns and cities. It calculated the total number living in poverty in India at 354 million, which was 53 million fewer than in 2005. The urban poverty line

wage is just under the cost of a litre of milk – Rs 37.

The figures appeared to show that India’s rapid rise to become the world’s second fastest growing economy after China in this period had resulted in a trickling down of wealth to millions of the world’s poorest people.

This period had seen “rural poverty declining by 8.0 percentage points from 41.8 percent to 33.8 percent and urban poverty declining by 4.8 percentage points from 25.7 percent to 20.9 percent,” the government’s Planning Commission said in its report.

But their findings were fiercely criticised by political leaders and analysts who said it had used unacceptably low income levels as the benchmark to hide the real scale of poverty in the country.

Mohan Guruswamy of the Delhibased Centre for Policy Alternatives think tank said the government’s benchmark is based on the numbers earning the amount of money it costs to eat 2000 calories of food per day. Its figure of between 28 and 35 pence per day is around a quarter of the poverty level in-

come of 100 Rupees or £1.25 per day set by the United Nations Development Programme.

“Twenty eight rupees per day is the starvation line. We must have a comprehensive poverty line for basic human needs like access to education, drinking water, electricity and medical care.

“Seventy percent of Indians earn less than Rs 100 per day and that makes the government look bad. So these figures are a smokescreen to make them look good. The whole elite is in denial that there is a problem in society and think India is shining,” he said.

A statement released by India’s CPI (M) Communist Party accused the government of “fraud” and called for an assurance that its benchmark figures would not be used to cut the numbers entitled to welfare benefits. “This shows the huge gap between the members of the Planning Commission and the reality lived by crores of people in this country who have been burdened by relentless price rises amidst meagre incomes. It hardly needs to be stated that these are destitution lines and it is a

shame that an institution chaired by the Prime Minister should produce such absurd figures,” it said.

The report highlighted an uneven pattern in India’s growth story with some states making significant advances in poverty reduction and others slipping behind. In Goa, the tourism destination and mining centre on the Arabian Sea, the percentage below the poverty line shrunk from 25 per cent in 2005 to 8.7 percent in 2010-2011, but in Bihar, one of India’s most backward states, the number of poor people increased by five million to 54.3 million. According to the Planning Commission findings, Muslims are India’s poorest religious minority, while India’s Christian minority has the lowest percentage of poor people.

Planning Commission member Abhijit Sen said there had been no change in the relative poverty of caste and religious groups. “The relative ranking across castes or religion has not really changed. Those who used to be poorest are still the poorest. But it is also the case that poverty has declined for all of them,” he said.

IHC removes objections on Two more Indian lawmakers accused OBL’s brother-in-law’s plea of watching porn in assembly IsLAMABAD sTAFF REPoRT

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday removed objections from a plea filed by the brother-in-law of Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden and adjourned the hearing of the case until today (Thursday).

Zakarya Ahmed Abdulfattah, brother of Osama’s youngest widow Amal Abdulfattah, filed a petition in the IHC, seeking quashing of a criminal case filed against his sister and her children. But the IHC office raised some objections about maintainability of the petition, contending that the petitioner was not personally aggrieved. Chief Justice Iqbal

Hameedur Rehman held the hearing of the petition and removed the objections raised about maintainability of the plea. Petitioner’s counsel Amir Khalil submitted in court that although his client was not personally aggrieved, some petitions of the same nature were admitted by the court. He requested the court to remove all objections.

Osama’s brother-in-law had made the ISI, interior and defence secretaries as respondents. He challenged the registration of a criminal case filed against her sister under sections 13 and 14 of the Foreign Act and sections 212 and 419 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and also expressed reservations over the trial of his sister by civil courts.

AhMeDABAD AFP

The speaker of an Indian state assembly ordered an enquiry on Wednesday into allegations that two lawmakers had viewed pornography during a sitting of the chamber.

It is the second such scandal involving state lawmakers in recent weeks after three ministers in the Karnataka assembly were filmed viewing pornographic clips when the house was debating legislation.

Janak Purohit, a journalist for

the Gujarat Samachar newspaper, said he spotted two members of the right-wing Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) watching porn in the Gujarat state assembly.

The lawmakers, Shankar Chaudhary and Jetha Bharwad, were watching an “obscene” video clip on a tablet computer during a session, Purohit told a local television station.

He complained to the speaker who ordered an enquiry and asked for the computer to be sent for forensic investigation.

“Taking into consideration the seriousness of the issue... an enquiry committee... will probe the matter,” speaker Ganpat vasava told the assembly.

Chaudhary, one of the accused lawmakers, denied the charges at a press conference in state capital Gandhinagar, 27 kilometres (17 miles) from Ahmedabad.

“The report that I was watching porn in the assembly is incorrect, baseless and devoid of any truth.

This is an attempt to tarnish my political image,” he told reporters.

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thursday, 22 March, 2012

‘art is more than just lines and colours’ rabia Dawood and her world of art 07

Lyari’s Baloch hit back

UtP commits suicide in Malir courts washroom

■ Stage protest demonstration claiming police looted their houses under the garb of search operation ■ law enforcers baton-charge and tear-gas protesters, who retaliate by pelting stones kArAchI

I

AAMIR MAJEED

T was yet another day of unrest involving the troubled neighbourhood of Lyari on Wednesday, as police baton-charged and tear-gassed protesting residents of the town in the Lee Market area after the latter attacked them with stones.

The protesters, wearing masks, were staging a protest against the police, claiming that the law enforcers looted their houses under the garb of conducting a search operation. The police had recently conducted an operation in Lyari following the murder of Kutchi Rabita Committee (KRC) leader Abdul Rasheed Kutchi on Sunday.

Claiming that the police action was aimed against the Baloch community of Lyari, masked residents of the area took to the streets in the old city area, firing gunshots in the air and forcing shops and markets to shut down.

Some of them staged a protest in Lee Market area. They torched tyres and blocked roads, chanting slogans against the police and demanding that the government should put an end to the “highhandedness” of the police in Lyari.

They claimed that the police are targeting the Baloch population of the town in order to appease a government’s coalition partner.

They alleged that the police looted the poor citizens of Lyari in the name of conducting a house-

to-house search operation in the town.

A large number of policemen reached the spot and were attacked by protesting mob.

The police baton-charged and tear-gassed the protesters, who retaliated by pelting stones at the law enforcers.

After an hour-long effort, the police managed to compel with the leadership of protesters into ending their demonstration and clearing the roads.

Talking with Pakistan Today, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader in Lyari, Zafar Baloch claimed the police took away the residents’ television sets, computers, jewellery and cell phones during the search operation that was started after the killing of the KRC leader.

“The police entered the houses to loot the residents’ valuables. If they wanted to arrest extortionists, they would have raided gambling dens. But they did not do that because they are bribed by the influential owners of these dens,” he added.

The PPP leader said the police specifically targeted the Baloch residents of the town. He blamed his own party for the “biased” search operation and asked PPP CoChairman President Asif Ali Zardari to look into this matter.

“The president should take action against the PPP leaders, who supported the operation in a bid to dent the PPP’s vote bank in Lyari,” he demanded.

kArAchI sTAFF REPoRT

two passers-by watch a tear-gas shell fired by the police to disperse the protesting residents of lyari. OnLIne City Town SP Nasir Aftab told Pakistan Today that the police had launched a search operation against the gangsters and criminals of Lyari.

He rejected the claims of the protesters that the police are targeting the Baloch population of the town.

“This search operation was not started because of the murder of the KRC leader and it had to be conducted even if that had not happened. Some people are wrongly trying to give the impres-

sion that there are political motives behind the operation,” he added.

The police official said around 25 notorious gangsters have been arrested from the town during the two-day search operation.

“The arrested people were not only Baloch, but there were also Kutchi among them,” he added.

“The police have taken weapons and drugs into custody during the house-to-house search operation and if these things are their ‘precious valuables’, then yes

SIndH aSSeMBLy SeSSIOn

‘Grant one-month extension to correct voter lists’ ■ PPP lawmakers protest shifting of over 100,000 Sindh’s votes to Balochistan ■ MQM cries foul on listing of over 7,000 ‘bogus votes’ in Shanti Nagar, gulshan-e-Iqbal ■ around 35,000 Sindh government employees registered from interior of province kArAchI IsMAIL DILAWAR

The Sindh Assembly called upon the federal government on Wednesday to give another one-month time to the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) for correcting thousands of “bogus and misplaced entries” in the voter lists.

The provincial legislature was told that massive irregularities were detected in the voter lists by lawmakers and officials of NADRA and the provincial election commission office that were prepared by the registration authorities.

“In a recent briefing by NADRA and election Commission of Pakistan (eCP) officials, we were told that over 100,000 votes of Sindh province had been shifted to Balochistan,” said PPP lawmaker Humera Alwani, who moved the resolution demanding a one-month extension for correction of voter lists.

“This assembly resolves that the (Sindh) government should approach the federal government to extend the deadline for a month for corrections in the voter lists and enrolling the names for the next general elections,” read the draft, adopted unanimously by the 168member house.

Alwani said three, four people were also identified in the briefing for having used fake thumb impressions to rig voter lists. “One of the accused, hailing from Balochistan, is said to have used fingerprints on 15,000 enrolments… we

want such people to be arrested immediately,” the legislator said.

The MQM lawmakers appeared uneasy when Alwani claimed that around 35,000 Sindh government employees, living permanently in Karachi, found out that their votes were registered from their ancestral villages in interior Sindh.

She said when the eCP was contacted, it advised such government servants to fill the Form 4. “A proper awareness campaign needs to be launched as most of them know nothing about the Form 4,” she demanded.

Referring to the erroneous listing of thousands of votes complained about by Murad Ali Shah, Sadiq Memon, Shaharyar Mahar and other lawmakers, the PPP lawmaker said the provincial election commission office and NADRA officials should be recalled for an in-house briefing. “We still have a lot of questions in our minds,” she added.

The statement did not go well with the MQM legislators, as Heer Soho warned that references like that of the registration of government employees in the province’s interior should be avoided. “This gives an impression as if this was done by a certain party,” she said.

She advised that the house better keep NADRA’s mistakes in focus and highlight the same.

Her party colleague Muzammil Qureshi was the next to reveal that over 7000 “bogus votes” were listed in the Shanti Nagar area of his constituency, Gulshan-e-Iqbal. “The block-wise maxi-

mum number of votes can not go beyond 2,700 to 2,800 votes but in Shanti Nagar over 7,000 are registered,” he said.

He added that incomplete and dubious addresses for the bogus voters had been mentioned as “District east”. “This would change the entire system,” he warned. The MQM member said his side was supporting the resolution so that all such mistakes are taken into account and corrected.

Sensing the atmosphere heating up, Sindh Assembly Speaker Nisar Khuhro was quick to put the draft to vote before the house which was unanimous in saying “yes”.

On a point of order, Dr Ahmed Ali Shah called for a strong check on the postmasters who, in certain provincial districts, were embezzling the financial aid being transferred through them to the poor people under the Benazir Income Support Programme.

While a privilege motion of Shehryar Mahar was deferred in the absence of PML-Q lawmaker, the speaker announced the Sindh Governor’s assent to the Sindh Irrigation (Amendment) Bill, 2011.

Also, the lawmakers thumped their desks to welcome a Turkish delegation in the house comprising the country’s Consul General and other parliamentarians.

Sindh excise and Taxation Minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla responded to supplementary and starred questions of the members during the Question Hour.

The house was adjourned until 10:00 am Thursday (today).

the police have seized them.”

Dawood Kutchi, a KRC leader, appreciated that the police conducted an operation in the town.

“Keeping the operation in view, the KRC has postponed its protest, which was scheduled after the murder of our leader,” he said.

“The police have assured us that Rasheed’s killers will be arrested. However if they fail to produce any results, the KRC will decide its future course of action,” he added.

An under-trial prisoner committed suicide by hanging himself in washroom of the Malir District Courts on Wednesday, police said on Wednesday.

Riaz was arrested by the Sachal police a couple of days in a robbery case.

After the registration of an FIR against him in the Sachal police station, he was sent to the Landhi Jail The Landhi Jail police brought him to the Malir District Courts to present him before the judicial magistrate.

The police said Riaz went to a washroom in the building and did not respond when the policemen on duty knocked at the door.

Later, it was discovered that Riaz had hung himself with the help of his izaar band tied to a window.

“This happened due to the negligence of the police personnel there and we are investigating the case,” an official at the al Falah police station told Pakistan Today.

Riaz was a Pakhtun and hailed from Waziristan.

His body was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for autopsy and later handed over to the heirs.

Sa set to send dr arbab Rahim packing ■ PMl-likeminded feels “political victimisation” for contesting Senate polls ■ accuses PPP of being only party to disqualify lawmakers ■ Marri says house and not party would decide arbab’s fate kArAchI The PPP-dominated Sindh Assembly is all set to disqualify today (Thursday) the self-exiled leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (Likeminded group), Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, due to his prolonged absence from the provincial legislature. The former Sindh chief minister, considered an archrival of the PPP in Sindh, is facing de-seating under subsection 1 of Clause 56, Chapter vIII of the Rules of Procedure of Sindh Assembly.

“If a member remains absent, without leave of the assembly, for 40 consecutive days of its sitting, the speaker shall bring the fact to the notice of the assembly and thereupon any member may move that the seat of the member who has been o absent be declared vacant,” states the rule. While the PPP lawmakers hinted Thursday as the day of disqualification for Rahim, their counterparts from the PML-Likeminded confirmed the same to Pakistan Today.

“They are planning to de-seat Rahim tomorrow (Thursday) and that’s why have called the assembly session on the 103rd day,” said PML-Likeminded leader Abdul Razzak Rahimoon. He said that last year on June 26, the house had granted leave to Rahim, who is living in Dubai, United Arab emirates for the past four years. “The 40-day absence required [for disqualification] have completed,” he conceded. The lawmaker, however, disagreed with Sindh Information Minister Shazia Marri’s contention that Rahim was being dealt with in the light of assembly rules.

Rahimoon questioned that if this was the case, why was the PPP not applying the same rules on its own members, Ruqayya Soomro and a Hindu lawmaker doing business in

Dubai, who have been absent from the house for long. “It was only before the Senate polls when they submitted a leave application for an ailing Soomro,” he claimed.

The Likeminded leader went on to claim that his party, despite being in power during the previous Musharraf regime, never questioned the attendance of PPP’s Marvi Mazhar, the daughter of senior education minister Pir Mazharul Haq. “She never came to the house but we still accommodated,” he said.

“This is nothing but political victimisation on the part of PPP, which is the only party having a long history of disqualifying lawmakers,” he alleged. “In the past, they disqualified Jam Madad Ali of PML-Functional during the reign of Abdullah Shah in 1995 and now it’s Rahim’s turn.”

Rahimoon perceived that the former Sindh chief minister was facing the all-powerful PPP’s wrath for contesting the recent Senate polls, denying the coalition government from sweeping the elections uncontested.

“They felt insulted by our participation in the Senate election,” he claimed.

Marri, however, said it was not her party but the legislature that would decide the fate of ex-chief minister. “It is the house that decides not a party,” the information minister told Pakistan Today. Speaking at a post-session briefing, she had said that the leave applications being submitted by Rahim were self-contradictory. “While some applications cite security reasons for his absence, others cite illness,” she added.

To her comments, Rahimoon accused the PPP of never having bothered to quote reasons on its own members’ leave applications.

“We would go to the court and even if that doesn’t work, we would contest the by-polls on the vacant seat,” he added. IsMAIL DILAWAR

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thursday, 22 March, 2012

ARTIST RABIA DAWOOD SAYS SHE FUSES A PIECE OF HER SOUL INTO EVERY ARTWORK kArAchI

T

ADNAN HUssAIN

HE artist Rabia Dawood has been drawing and painting since childhood. She used to participate in school projects and interschool art competitions.

In art school, she studied anatomy and the skeletal system, and learned to draw from memory the origin, insertion and action of every surfacing muscle in the human body.

For her, working directly from life was the basis for all the classes in painting, drawing and sculpture. It gave her a strong foundation that allowed her to fully express her ideas later on.

“I have been visiting art galleries, meeting artists, and discussing their works and techniques, which helps me to improve and develop my own skills,” Rabia told me in an interview.

Once out of college, she took a short course in painting. Thereafter, she continued developing her artistic skills with passion.

She said she was admired and praised for her work. “Art has always been a part of my soul. I believe it’s a gift from God,” she added.

When asked why she decided to become an artist, she said, “I didn’t really decide to be an artist. There were probably other things that I could do and be happy, but I really think that making art is the most interesting thing, because to some extent it incorporates everything else that I’m interested in.”

She started studying fine arts at the North City School of Art. In the final year, she transferred to the Karachi School of Art and was awarded the vM Art education Scholarship in 2007 to complete her thesis.

Talking about her working style, she said her paintings consist of oil or acrylic paints on canvas with dark dripping textures.

She said the subject is mainly human form in contours and lines. “The technique in sculpting my human form is that I start with clay moulding, dye in Plaster of Paris and pouring gel coat, resin and casting my sculptures in fibreglass. I have also started working in watercolours miniature detailed portraits,” she said.

Rabia said art is more than just lines and colours. “It’s the visual emotion which comes from within the artist. This

attachment brings a whole new meaning to the piece. It gives the picture character, gives the story animation and brings the dimension to life,” she added.

Growing up, she tried to develop her art from simple sketches to complex shading. Her work tends to focus on human emotions and individual growth as consequences faced through different acts in life.

She is very sensitive about her art, as she puts a part of her in every piece of artwork she creates. “It’s like a little piece of my soul is fused into every project. My mission is to create works that provoke thought and emotion,” she explained.

When she started learning art, the works of vincent van Gogh and Leonardo da vinci, and the sculptures of Auguste Rodin really inspired her.

Talking about her hobbies and other interests, she said she has always loved drawing and doodling, and “creating fun things when I was younger.”

She was fond of playing cricket, reading poetry, studying about astrological signs and playing computer games.

She likes soft, melodious songs, especially ghazals. She often reads books

by Ashfaq Ahmed, Mumtaz Mufti, Qudratullah Shahab, Bano Qudsia and Mustansar Hussain Tarar. She has also been doing portraits from live sittings.

When asked where her ideas and in-

Guilt

spirations come from, Rabia said she finds her subjects within herself and from her surroundings.

Books, news and the internet help define her thought process. As a shy person, she is not very communicative.

“Art is how I communicate and express myself. It’s like self-medication for me,” she said.

Rabia said that of all her artworks, her personal favourite is one of her thesis paintings titled ‘Mending of the Souls’. “It gives me a feeling of spiritual connection between the human soul and God,” she added.

Influenced by nature

Revitalization

You-are-My-Treasured-Soul

Out with invasive species, in with native ones ■ 300 saplings planted in Pai Forest kArAchI sTAFF REPoRT

The WWF’s Indus for All Programme and Forest Department organised a ceremony in the Pai Forest to observe the World Forest Day. Three hundred saplings were planted on the occasion.

Speaking at the ceremony, Shaheed Benazirabad Additional Deputy Commissioner Akhtar Hussain Qureshi said forests play a vital role in the rural economy and maintains the natural ecosystem.

“The decline in forest coverage is alarming and more attention is needed to control the current rate of deforestation,” he added.

He emphasised the need to develop public-private partnership for forest conservation. He said the communities living near the forest can help protect existing forest coverage and they must be encouraged in this regard.

WWF Programme Coordinator Nasir Ali Panhwar said forests in

Baba

Sindh are facing both natural and manmade threats and strategies needs to be devised to address both threats, which are detrimental for forests. “The world is facing numerous environmental challenges including climate change and environmental degradation. These could be addressed through planting more trees and enhancing forest coverage,” he added.

He further said trees and plants are the prime source of environmental purification and beautification and suggested to promote indigenous species of trees instead of invasive species.

“The WWF is assisting the Sindh Forest Department to revise the Sindh Forest Act 1927 to bring new and pragmatic concepts in forest management in Sindh,” he informed the audience.

Divisional Forest Officer Usama Anwar said the downstream Sukkur barrage Pai is only forest left intact.

“The department is striving to remove illegal encroachments from

FUUaSt announces evening programme admissions kArAchI APP

the forest despite threats from multiple stakeholders. Invasive species like will be replaced with native species in the Pai Forest,” he added.

“The agro forest policy has failed achieve its objectives.”

WWF Pai Site Manager

Hafeezullah said the communities of Pai have been organised to protect the forest. “Many initiatives including provision of biogas units and livestock model farms have been taken to reduce pressure on the forest,” he added.

The Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology (FUUAST) has announced admissions to its evening programme. According to a press release issued by the institution on Wednesday, admissions to various disciplines are being offered in the evening programme at both the campuses in Karachi at the Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Abdul Haq campuses. He said at the Abdul Haq Campus, admissions are available in BS and Masters in Mass Communication, BS and MA in economics and MCom. At the Gulshan Campus, admissions are available in BS Commerce, MCom, MA in english, BS in Computer Science, environmental Science, Bio-Chemistry, Physics, Microbiology, Chemistry and M.Sc. in Physics, environmental Science, Chemistry and Mathematical Studies, MCS in Computer Science and Pharm D. The NTS Test would be held for the admissions to Pharm D only. The last date for submission of form is March 26. Admission forms are available at the prescribed banks and official website of the university. The forms can be submitted to Gulshan Branch of Askari Bank, National Bank, UBL, ABL and Baba-e- Urdu Road ABL Branch. Admissions are also available in the evening Programme of Management Sciences in Abdul Haq Campus including BBA, MBA, MCom, BS Commerce, MS and PhD in economics, MS in Finance and MeF. The last date for submission of forms for admission to management sciences is March 30.

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karachi 09 PakistaN today

WORLd WaTeR day TOday

Oh precious clean drinking water, where art thou? kArAchI AMAR GURIRo

W

HILe countries around globe, by celebrating the World Water Day on Thursday, will be focusing on water resources and how the water is embedded in the food that humans consume everyday, millions of people affected by the floods in the lower districts of Sindh still await safe drinking water and basic food items.

A national survey jointly conducted by the Aga Khan University (AKU) in collaboration with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICeF) under the title National Nutrition Survey (NNS) 2011 reveals that despite being one of the important agricultural provinces of Pakistan, Sindh is the poorest and the most food-deprived province of the country with 70 percent of its total population (estimated at 35 million) facing food insecurity.

When disasters like floods hit such a poor population, the conditions worsen.

Monsoon floods hit the southern Sindh in August 2011 and officially uprooted more than nine million people. But despite several months, these survivors of the natural disaster are yet to be rehabilitated.

During the floods, the survivors lost every thing. Besides standing crops, the massive floods washed away the water and sanitation infrastructure and forced these already-poor population to face acute food shortage.

Though, Pakistan will be among one of the countries celebrating World Water Day but rarely these flood survivors would rarely be taken on priority by the government authorities.

The International World Water Day is observed globally on March 22 every year to highlight the importance of freshwater and sustainable management of freshwater resources. The day was recommended at the United Nations Conference on environment and Development in 1992 and the United Nations General Assembly responded by designating March 22 1993 as the first World Water Day. Since then it is being observed every day under different themes and for 2012, the theme is being set as “Water and Food Security”.

The World Water Day team has issued shocking figures that there are around seven billion people to feed on the planet

‘Pakistan’s water reserves depleting with each passing day’ KARACHI: Pakistan’s water reserves are depleting with each passing day and joint as well as individual efforts are required to address this problem, Sindh environment Minister Shaikh Muhammad Afzal said in a statement issued on Wednesday. In context of the “World Water Day” that is observed on March 22 every year under the aegis of UN, the minister emphasised that the day draws our attention towards the importance of freshwater and the need for coordinated and durable water management. The minister said Pakistan, and in particular Sindh, is facing a shortage of water due to the migration of people from rural areas to urban dwellings at a massive level, contaminated underground water, etc. He stressed the need for changing habits and adaptation to such a strategy that can ensure use of water as per needs. sTAFF REPoRT today and another two billion are expected to join them by 2050.

Quoting official statistics, the team said each of us drinks between two and four litres of water every day, however most of the water we ‘drink’ is embedded in the food we eat: producing one kilo of beef for example consumes 15,000 litres of water while one kilo of wheat ’drinks up’ 1,500 litres.

Unaware of these figures, the people of Sindh are still waiting for basic facilities including safe drinking water and proper food. The survivors of the floods in Pakistan in 2010 and 2011 have lost everything and it is a dream for them to get all those facilities, which they had before the floods.

Ninety percent of the water supply schemes in nine districts of Sindh as well as sanitation facilities were completely washed away during the 2010 floods, the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) disclosed in a recently-published report. But despite the passage of several months, neither the federal and provincial governments nor international and local NGOs have started reconstructing water and sanitation infrastructure in Sindh.

In the context of the millennium development goals, Pakistan claims 89 percent of the rural population has access to improved drinking water, but PCRWR’s Dr Murtaza Arain disputes the veracity of these claims.

“We took water samples from 19 out of 23 districts, and after a detailed study, we found that all samples had some bio-

logical contamination or that the level of total dissolved salts and turbidity was higher and the colour of the water changed. This meant that water in 19 districts is unfit for human consumption,” he said.

The PCRWR report further states that the water supply schemes in major portions of Larkana, Qambar-Shahdadkot, Shikarpur, Ghotki, Dadu, Jamshoro, Badin, Thatta and Kashmore-Kandhkot districts have completely been destroyed.

The report added that 75 percent of the water supply schemes in the remaining districts of the province were built in the early 1980s. Many are now outdated, or that ponds have either been filled with silt or have vanished altogether.

‘EIa and SEa can mitigate environmental Numbers game: KU not keen to grant PIthM its affiliation? damages and losses to national kitty’ kArAchI

KARACHI: experts at a media seminar underlined the need for effective environmental impact assessment (eIA) to mitigate environmental damages and losses to national kitty.

Hailing from planning and environmental sectors, these experts also called upon the state departments, the project executors and above all the media to play their due role in implementation of eIA and promoting strategic environmental assessment (SeA) culture.

Speaking as chief guest, Jawed Ali Khan, Director General of the environment Wing, Ministry of National Disaster Management, under-

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lined the need for effective impact assessment and saying that eIA does not oppose development, but rather contributes to making it more sustainable.

He urged collective efforts by the government departments, civil society and media and recommended tools like eIA and SeA to protect environment and ensure sustainable development.

The seminar was organised under the National Impact Assessment Programme (NIAP), being jointly implemented by the Government of Pakistan and IUCN. The programme aims to contribute to sustainable development in Pakistan by strengthening eIA and introducing SeA in Pakistan’s development planning process.

NIAP has four partners: the Pakistan environmental Protection Agency; environment Wing, Ministry of environment; environment Section, Planning Commission and IUCN Pakistan.

Technical assistance to the programme is being provided by the Netherlands Commission for environmental Assessment while the project is

being funded by the embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands.

Jan Willem Cools, First Secretary (environment and Water) Development Section, eKN emphasized the role of media in raising awareness on the issues of eIA and SeA. In the opening remarks, Dr Aurangzeb Khan, Chief environment Section, Planning Commission of Pakistan/ NIAP National Project Director said the country faces many challenges in promoting eIA and SeA. He stressed the need for focusing on eIA, improving its quality and effective application of SeA for sustainable development.

Dr Parvaiz Naim pointed out that the lack of guidance in policies and called upon media to highlight these shortcomings.

Asif Shuja Khan, Director General, Pak-ePA highlighted the importance of eIA and SeA, saying that we must deal with environment as a national issue and educate our policy makers to ensure sustainable development.

During the interactive session, the experts responded to questions about

eIA and SeA while underlining the collective efforts to address the environment related issues.

Former Minister of State for environment, Malik Amin Aslam, Impact Assessment expert, Dr. Parvaiz Naim and DG Pak-ePA, Asif Shuja Khan were among the panelists.

They had a common notion that role of media was imperative to educate people on the subjects of eIA and SeA which it plays as a overseer for proper execution of policies by the government departments and the private sector. All panelists agreed that devolution of the subject of environment has hampered certain initiatives due to lack of capacity at the provincial level.

“It is due to media’s efforts that now the executors prefer to get eIA done first,” said Malik Amin Aslam. He recommended that eIA and SeA should be the part of the initial project instead of doing it at the time of execution. He observed that if SeA had been carried out for the CNG policy we would not have been facing the present crisis. AMAR GURIRo

AFTAB CHANNA

Despite the passage of more than six months, the University of Karachi (KU) is reluctant to grant affiliation to the Pakistan Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (PITHM), reportedly due to the small number of students enrolled at the institute, Pakistan Today has learnt. Prior to the devolution under the 18th Constitutional Amendment of federal government institutions to the provincial governments, the institute was working under the administrative control of the federal tourism ministry; however, it was transferred under the Sindh government authorities a couple of months ago. The PITHM is a state-run

institute and became the property of Sindh government after devolution in the first week of April 2011. Wellplaced sources told Pakistan Today that after the institution being handed over to the Sindh province, the PITHM Board of Directors decided to seek affiliation from the KU in order to start classes of degree courses in various disciplines.

“The PITHM moved an application seeking KU’s affiliation six months ago but no response has been received so far from the varsity authorities.” The decision to seek KU affiliation was made after the authorities took a U-turn on their earlier decision giving the PITHM the status of a university along with the establishment of four campuses in Hyderabad, Benazirabad,

two robbers arrested kArAchI sTAFF REPoRT

Two bandits were arrested from Landhi No-II Area, police said on Wednesday. The Landhi police said the two men deprived a pharmaceutical firm representative, Irfan Baig, of his belongings at gunpoint

in Landhi No-II 37-D-1 area.

Baig informed a patrolling police party about the incident.

The police chased the robbers who were fleeing on their motorcycle. The robbers’ motorcycle hit a vehicle coming from the opposite direction and the two men were injured. The police arrested them and re-

Khairpur Mirs and Larkana district headquarters. A committee was also constituted that drafted the bill and the Sindh Law Department approved the draft. In the draft bill, the name of PITHM was proposed to be changed to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Shaheed Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management. In the Annual Development Programme 2011-12, the government had also proposed a project for the establishment of four campuses at a cost of Rs100 million with an allocation of Rs 10 million for the running year. The sources told Pakistan Today that the KU administration did not want to grant affiliation to small institutions where only a small number of students are enrolled.

covered two TT pistols, looted valuables and Rs 96,500 cash from their possession. They were identified as Basharat Ali and Naveed, both residents Base Colony. Separately, a boy was killed and his mother injured in a road accident near Banaras Chowrangi on Wednesday. Witnesses said that a car hit Abdul Rahim and his mother when they were crossing a road.

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PakistaN today

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HeRe is an urgent need to educate h e a l t h c a r e providers about proper tuberculosis management in particular context of mild to severe sideeffects of anti-TB drugs, it was pointed out during a seminar held on Wednesday.

The event, organised by the Chest Department of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), provided an opportunity to not only acknowledge headway made in the country vis-a-vis decline in TB-induced morbidity but also the lethal consequences due to reckless administration of the otherwise lifesaving anti-TB drugs.

Doctors and postgraduate students attending the seminar were cautioned that anti-TB drugs can lead to kidney- and liver-related complications, skins conditions and arthritis.

The scenario hence demanded optimum and careful supervision of the patients prescribed with the medication.

Dr Nausheen Saifullah Baig, discussing the management of side-effects of anti-TB therapy advised her colleagues that the patients must be well informed about the possible side-effects of the medicines besides ensuring strict and regular vigil on patients being put on anti-TB drugs.

Dr Saifullah Baig, assistant professor at the Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases, referred to the issue of drug resistant TB caused due to irrational medication and also because of poor compliance to required drug therapy.

He said the treatment of multi-disease resistant (MDR) TB is difficult and expensive while there are very few centres having regular supply of expensive MDR TB drugs to treat the condition.

“Proper drug compliance and availability of good

quality of TB drugs is essential to prevent MDR TB,” he added.

Prof Shaheena Qayyum, incharge research wing at Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases, DUHS, drew attention towards the latent TB infection (LTBI) that constitutes 90 percent of all cases of the disease.

The LTBI was defined as a condition when a person is infected with Mycobacterium Tuberculosis but may not have active TB disease.

She said in a scenario when in every single second a person is infected with the bacteria and five to eight percent of them develop TB, it would be important to ensure that all close contacts of active TB patients are regularly screened.

“This strategy is prerequisite to achieve millennium development goals to reduce TB prevalence rate as well as TB induced death rates by 2015 and eliminate TB by 2050,” she added.

Dr Shaheena Qayyum said

that as the number of notified TB cases is still very low in the country therefore have to increase the number of diagnostic facilities and also strengthen identification of TB suspects and also intensify case findings.

Prof Nadeem Rizvi, head of the Chest Department, JPMC, hinted towards the lack of public confidence in healthcare facilities functional in rural and less developed areas with majority of TB patients landing at tertiary care hospitals.

“It is our collective responsibility to assist the patients and restore their confidence so as to avail of diagnostic and free medication facilities provided by national and provincial TB control programs in the country,” he added.

Dr Amanullah Ansari, technical expert at the Sindh TB Control Programme, discussed in detail the revised guidelines for diagnosis and management of TB.

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KHUsRo/AFsHAN

GoLDEN CoLLECTIoN II

ArT eXhIBITION UNTIL MArch 24 VeNUe: VM ArT GALLerY

ArT eXhIBITION UNTIL MArch 24 VeNUe: GrANDeUr

ArT eXhIBITION UNTIL MArch 28 VeNUe: UNIcOrN GALLerY

Farah Mahbub’s ‘Baraka Silsilae-Nisbat’ until March 24 at the vM Art Gallery. Call 34940411 for more information.

Khusro Subzwari and Afshan Kohari’s art exhibition until March 24 at the Grandeur gallery. Call 35435744 for more information.

A group exhibition ‘The Golden Collection II’ until March 28 at the Unicorn Gallery. Call 35831220 for more information.

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thursday, 22 March, 2012

Editor’s mail 11

Some recent research findings Most of the people in developing countries are suffering from starvation or malnutrition of protein and energy.

Due to an ever-increasing global human population, there is a dire need to produce good quality protein in a large amount to fulfil the daily requirements of these essential items of food. The protein malnutrition is more acute and wide spread than energy malnutrition. Pakistan, along with other developing countries, is also facing the problem of acute protein malnutrition.

The routine diet of an average Pakistani mostly contains cereals and is deficient in protein especially of animal origin. In Pakistan, per capita availability of chicken meat and eggs in the year 2008-09 was 3.5 kg and 50-60, respectively, which is much less than the developed countries, due to lack of focus for development of livestock sector in the past.

In Pakistan, commercial poultry farming started during early 1960 with the establishment of breeding farms, hatcheries, broiler and layer farms and

feed mills in the private sector and since then it has shown tremendous development and in recent years acquired the status of a promising enterprise.

The share of poultry sector in national GDP is about 1.12 percent and generates employment (direct/indirect) and income for about 1.5 million people.

It’s contribution in agriculture value addition is 4.8 percent and livestock value addition is 9.8 percent. Poultry meat contributes about 24.8 percent of the total meat produced in the country.

The current investment in poultry industry is about Rs 200 billion and it has shown a robust growth of 8-10 percent annually which is likely to increase up to 15-20 percent per annum. However, there still exists a gap between supply and requirement of animal protein in the country, which is likely to widen if concerted efforts are not taken to increase production of animal protein foods.

The situation therefore calls for not only strengthening the existing resources but also exploiting some efficient and

Darkness beneath the lamp cheaper alternate sources of production of animal protein in the country. Commercial Quail production seems to be one of the possible alternate sources possessing bright prospects required to off load pressure on already existing meagre resources of production of animal protein foods.

According to American Ornithologists Union (1983) Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) belongs to class Aves, order Galiformes, family Phasianidae and the Kingdom Animalia like chickens. Quail as a species or subspecies belong to the genus Coturnix and are native to all the continents. Several interbreeding sub-species are recognized, the more important being the european quail (Coturnix coturnix coturnix) and the Asiatic or Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica).

Japanese quail inhabits Russia and eastern Asia, including Japan, Korea, China, and India. It is a migratory bird, spends winter season in China, Southeast Asia, the extreme northwestern coast of Africa, and other parts of Africa,

the Nile River valley from egypt to Kenya, and Angola.

It migrates to India, northern Japan and Korea in summer season. This omnivorous bird was first kept and bred for song during World War-II. Almost all of the song quail in Japan became extinct during World War-II and it is believed that only few domestic birds survived during World War-II in Japan.

Quail is efficient converter of feed; with each egg a female deposits an edible package of 8 percent of her own body weight as compared to 3 percent in case of chicken.

Broiler quail rearing can be adopted due to the excellent market potential for its meat which is high in protein and less in fat contents. Quail meat is also known for increasing the sexual instinct in human beings. Japanese quails have the excellent potential for egg and meat production and are robust, disease resistant, easy to maintain with less requirement for feed, space and equipment.

AHMED SULTAN UVAS, Lahore

‘asghar Khan case’ Startling revelations have been made

by Yunas Habib, ex-chairman Mehran Bank. He provided 148 million rupees to ISI on Gen Mirza Aslam Beg and Ghulam Ishaq Khan’s orders. This money was allegedly distributed amongst generals and politicians.

Mr Habib is the star witness in Asghar Khan case. It is now established beyond doubt that the ISI created IJI (Islami Jamhoori Itehad) with these funds. The political process was corrupted by the ISI. Benazir Bhutto had initiated investigations into this scandal with the approval of Chief of Army Staff Gen Abdul Waheed Kakar. Gen Aslam Beg and Gen Asad Durrani were involved in this racket. Now it is up to the judiciary and the government to take action against politicians and generals for recovering this money.

The influence and interference in the political process by the ISI has been established beyond doubt. The Supreme Court should take action against the person involved in this criminal activity without favour or fear.

This is a test case for the SC and the government. Let us hope some credible actions are taken against the influential people.

JAVAID BASHIR Lahore

Is MQM anti-feudal?

People of Karachi and Hyderabad voted for MQM in the hope that they would deliver them peace, security, welfare and equal opportunities. MQM never tires of claiming to be a party of middle class, which opposes feudal mindset and will stand up for rights of oppressed.

Does MQM understand that a state which nurtures corruption, patronises tax evasion, flight of capital, criminals and land grabbing, whether urban or rural, will never have resources so vital to provide welfare to the people, even if it desires to do?

Yet it was none other than MQM’s own mayor which cleared Younis Habib’s claim for 25 acres of Aziz Bhatti Park, despite rejection of this claim by none other than Sindh High Court and pendency of this case before the Supreme Court. Is the party of middle class not aware that Younis Habib, an inter pass clerk, through manipulation, forgery and deceit has become a billionaire and been involved in massive corruption and unlawful deeds.

It is the lower middle class who are biggest beneficiaries of public parks, and nobody including an elected city government, or even provincial government has any right to give ownership of land allocated for public use and welfare to any individual or group. Can the elected representatives of Karachi explain how they allowed expensive real estate belonging to Pakistan Railways to be forcibly occupied and allocated by individuals, although enough finances could have earned from sale of this land to bail out this vital transport system?

RAHAT SIDDIQI Karachi

While our courts are quite busy hearing or heading different cases which are making the whole nation unnerved such as Mehran bank scam, May 2 commission, Mansoor Ijaz memo commission, contempt of court case etc, some strange things are happening within the court as well.

As per a news report, the Supreme Court has extended the services of its grade-22 registrar, who is already on contract after the retirement, for another two years.

Though most of the PCO judges are persona non grata inside the Supreme court building, however, this is not applicable to a few who are getting attractive jobs with required blessings – one PCO judge is now head of federal judicial academy while another one is looking after Supreme Court’s human rights cell – all grade-22 jobs (of course on contract!). A 19-grade additional registrar has been given charge of grade-21 position. Not only this, the seniority rule has been bypassed while promoting a few out of their turn. For such lucrative promotions, nepotism is the keyword.

Now few of the disheartened employees of the Supreme Court have decided to challenge all these anomalies in the court – no officers to be on contract after retirement (as the federal government is being advised day and night), PCO judges not to be reinstated, seniority rule not to be bypassed and judicial officers can’t be placed in administrative positions.

I don’t know which court is going to hear this case against the working of the Supreme Court, if ever one does, but rest assured we know the outcome.

MASOOD KHAN Jubail, Saudi Arabia

Frequent breakdowns

tarnishing the claims of Punjab government. No amount of passionate slogan mongering and desk beating could compensate for the lack of across the board accountability of civil servants in Punjab.

People now tend to equate PML(N) with PPP in matters of ‘good governance’.

DR MUHAMMAD YAQOOB BHATTI Lahore

I would like to draw the attention of KeSC authorities to the frequent breakdowns as well as daily loadshedding of electricity in my area (Nazimabad, Karachi).

There is loadshedding for two hours after every two hours. Frequent breakdowns have become a regular feature for the last month.

Students have to bear great loss of study during this period. Those who have alternate sources of electricity like generators or UPS can survive without the supply of electricity but what should others do? Beside, there are swarms of mosquitoes to suck the blood of the people living this area.

Due to very less rainfall in monsoon season the water level in dams has fallen down. Indus River System Authority (IRSA) is worried that the country has entered a deficiency phase of water level. Water levels in Tarbela and Mangla dams are also 44 percent and 36 percent lower than their capacities.

The government should concentrate on generating electricity from thermal power plants. Projects which are under construction should be completed soon to meet the deficiency in future.

SUMBAL FATIMA Karachi

tries, local market could be given the chance and by this mean income generation and small level business industry can flourish on local level.

Tourism can also be promoted through Basant festival as a great number of foreigners are keen to enjoy this festival with its local touch. But in present scenario, this is need of time that government should not allow foreigners like Raymond Davis to enter in Pakistan, and masses of Pakistan also should behave reasonably and should not treat foreigner as Raymond Davis.

It’s a high time we should draw a fine line between so called fanaticism and religion. We, entertainment starved nation badly need some opportunities to get together and have some fun according to our religion and customs. Our religion does not deprive us from the right of being happy.

Otherwise one should not forget that majority of youth has been inspired and attracted towards terrorism and playing in the hands of religious fanatics. They should not have been used on the name of religion in any case. As religion dislike

extreme of any kind.

In current discussion on Friday, March 16, 2012 in Supreme Court of Pakistan arguments were given that a sport cannot be blamed if a person playing it dies. People die in traffic accidents but driving has not been banned, cricket would not be banned if someone were to die after being hit with the ball.

Kite flying was regulated under the Punjab Prohibition of Kite Flying Ordinance 2001. However, activity had been banned in 2010 by the Lahore High Court. Kite-flying should continue, but in accordance with the law. What remains to be seen is whether the number of deaths caused from kite flying declines as a result of regulation.

Another measure in this regard is vital that people should be tolerant to each others as it is taught by religion and civilization. If Basant festival is celebrated as a composite heritage and owned by the different segments of society, then it would turn out into an entertaining occasion.

LALARUKH FAROOQ Islamabad

Who is safe here?

After the lawyers movement and successful restoration of judiciary, people have kind of been woken to a rude reality that not all is well yet. Nothing has changed. It is almost the same except new centres of power have emerged. Now the lawyers and judiciary have also become stakeholders in more than just one way in matters of national importance or those related with

Who is who of corruption?

There is talk in the air of widespread practice of not so good governance in Punjab. An epic example is of a professional district officer known for links with a specific religious person that he flagrantly exploits to get a soft corner of political masters. So much so that in

security. But this has given them unfettered powers which they often abuse, the recent example being that of a beating up of a judge in Faisalabad by lawyers. If judges are not safe from those who are supposed to uphold law, who else is?

AMNA ALI Lahore

spite of reported cases of misgovernance bordering on corruption this bearded gentleman is promoted to become director general of a department to the consternation of his victims in the private sector.

The provincial government’s proclivity to support frequent Umrah visitors in spite of their anti-people track record is

Basant: a composite heritage This world is a blend of divergence.

Different societies are mixture of different casts, creeds, colours, faiths, and other diversities. This is also a human dilemma to appreciate similarity. Dissimilarity is often disapproved rather men try to destroy the unlikeness. This is the major psychology hidden behind different wars and genocides.

Composite heritage, though a new terminology, can play a role of binding agent in this regard. One might not find detailed definition of this phenomenon in dictionary or on internet but Manual of Composite Heritage compiled by Dr Khurshid Anwar, can provide thorough information about said topic.

Composite Heritage includes events, festivals, celebrations, personalities, cultures, customs, tradition, hobbits, language, art, architect, etc, any other thing which can be owned by different segments of society in an area without any kind of bone of contention. This scene of ownerships brings acceptance, regard and respect for dissimilarities. Here one should not mix this phenomenon with hazards of globalization. Religion can

play important role in this regard yet in some cases, blend of religion with composite heritage works as an inverse agent and mostly fire back.

For example if we take example of Basant festival, as far as my understanding regarding this issue is concerned, Basant can be tagged as composite heritage. However, it is called non-religious, prohibited event. Many decrees have been issued against celebrations of this festival yet there is some ground facts which make this opposition justified.

Many people have lost their live as string which is normally covered with glass powder used to cut down other kites usually slit the throats of passers-by or bike riders. Moreover, grudges and patty fights on cutting other’s kites turn into serious clashes which turn this cultural festival into controversial event.

But in my opinion, this event can be made profit earning business activity with the help of some precautionary measures and management this loophole can be crammed. Rather smuggling chemical string, kites and other accessories of Basant from neighbour coun-

Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. Fax: +92-42-36298302. E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk. Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively.

KHI 22-03-2012_Layout 1 3/22/2012 2:29 AM Page 12

12 comment tariff goes up … … while the power comes down

C

riticism seems to be pouring in on the government’s recent decision to increase the electricity tariff, by not just one or two rupees, as is the usual practice, but by a whopping 6.39 rupees, leaving most of the population feeling hit below the belt, proverbially. The government claims to recover, by this hike, only the differential in the international prices and the amount already charged from the consumers for a period of four months. Some are, though, of the opinion that this has got something to do with this being, most probably, an election year.

Most of the consumers won’t take the decision by NePRA lying down. The problem can, for the purpose of understanding, be looked at from two perspectives: that of the power authorities’ and that of the consumers’. From power authorities’ perspective: Lack of funding has forced them not to initiate work on any new mega project of power generation. They have proven to be inefficient, sluggish and riddled with corruption. Many of the public sector power generation plants are working below accepted levels of efficiency. Power distribution companies have not been able to recover their arrears from defaulters. Higher fuel prices and a dangerous bend towards carbon-based energy production in our energy profile automatically jacks up cost per unit. And then there is the matter of colossal circular debt, threatening our entire financial system. Meanwhile, the country’s demand for energy increases unabated.

From consumers’ perspective: Why do consumers have to pay for the inefficiency, line losses and power theft (the same was also questioned by a NePRA member from KP in the same meeting where the recent decision was taken), all of which could have been tackled had the corresponding authorities made an effort. If it is not the cost of inefficiency that the consumers are being forced to pay, where is the subsidy on power so often claimed by the government?

Instead of hiking power tariff and increasing the duration of loadshedding simultaneously, why can’t the government opt for policies that would enhance power generation capacity and plug in all, or at least most of, the loopholes in power distribution network?

Technicalities aside, these are relevant questions that need to be answered by the government if it wants to justify the recent hike in power tariff.

Declaration of assets Millionaires’ club?

D

espite the yearly declaration of assets by parliamentarians being a legal requirement, the laxities revealed during the exercise indicate that the lawmakers are not altogether happy with the exercise. To begin with there are delays in the submission of the required papers which have to be filed by September 30.

Those who fail to do so are liable to be declared nonfunctional after October 15. Last year, the membership of as many as 222 lawmakers was suspended. They included important federal ministers also.

That the lawmakers are not forthright while filling the declaration is revealed by a studied indifference to the required details. Important questions are ignored by the simple remark “not applicable“ without stating the reasons In the current 2010-11 declarations, numerous legislators, from both the treasury and the opposition, have maintained that the value of their property was the same as last year despite the all too normal appreciation and depreciation that takes place over time. Columns requiring the listing of the original cost and present market value have in cases been left blank. Senator Rashid Ahmad who is supposedly the richest parliamentarian on the basis of his declaration has declined to give any figures regarding the value of his coal and a soap stone mines and agricultural land by simply stating they were of “unlimited” value. This creates the perception that some of the declarations are not as transparent as they should be. In the absence of any mechanism to scrutinise these assets, lawmakers can make mockery of the declarations if they choose to.

The declarations indicate that a few of the legislators are billionaires on account of their landed property, or business or urban property acquired abroad. A couple of them, one from Punjab and the other from PK, have declared that they possess no moveable or immoveable property. In between, there are fairly well to do parliamentarians. What is clear from the data is that generally fighting elections is possible only for those who have enough money to spare. As long as election expenses are not brought under control through proper legislation, it would be difficult for a middle class candidate to enter the millionaires club that the Senate and the assemblies have morphed into.

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor

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thursday, 22 March, 2012

Too big for our boots Who wins Pakistan vs Us? (Hint: Not Pakistan)

By Nazir Naji

T

here is a serious lack of consistency and realism from our national constitution. One day we are infatuated and besotted with India. The very next day we are ready for war with it. A few days ago we were sacrificing our lives in The US’s war but now we are adamant about squaring off with it. One day we are trying to cosy up as much as possible with Iran while the very next day are giving it a cold shoulder and turning towards Saudi Arabia. On any given day our parliament may pass a resolution unanimously but the same parliament will witness intense disagreement on a similar sort of resolution. Thus, any field of life you’ll consider, you’ll see this inconsistency. So much so, that we are downright self-contradictory sometimes.

A couple of days ago, the Parliamentary Committee on National Security presented its recommendations to the joint session. These took a perfunctory review of foreign policy in general and gave certain guidelines. But the focus was on Pak-US ties. We’ve kept one condition for the resumption of Nato supplies that The US unconditionally apologise for the unwarranted attack on the Salala checkpost. They have also been informed that with the resumption of the supplies, the railways will be used for half the transportation. Thus, it seems we are convinced that The US will say sorry but what if it doesn’t?

Moreover, national sovereignty and independence has been stressed greatly while simultaneously asking them for this amount of money in that amount of time. Old habits are hard to break, it seems.

The report also includes talk of establishing relations on a basis of parity. There was also talk of sovereignty and sloganeering that would “show ’em”. But why this sudden awakening to self-respect, national dignity and sovereignty and relational equality? Have we found oil in our country? Or gas reserves? Or has load-shedding ended? Maybe terrorism has ended? Have we es-

tablished peaceful relations with all our neighbours? Has the railways become sustainable?

Have the PIA’s many woes been rectified? If The US does refuse to apologise, all we can do is mutter “Or else…” We are like the salaried servant entreating for a raise who says that, “You better raise my salary or else I will keep working on this salary.”

We are not new to the Americans and neither are they knew to us. Both parties know each other full well. The military might on the basis of which we are huffing and puffing, a large chuck of that might is The US’s bequest. The arms that we have prepared ourselves are the nuclear bombs but what good are they and where can we use them?

We don’t have a missile that can reach US territory. Neither do we have any bases around American territory. We have no economic leverage that we can use against the Americans.

Our biggest ‘arms’ are the terrorists that we use as proxies to bleed American and Allied forces. But we shouldn’t forget that these proxies we so soundly rely on, the world has had enough of them and our support of them. If we don’t uproot these centres of export of terrorism and establish our writ in the tribal areas, I fear the world may make some kind of united front against us as it reaches the end of its rope. And much has been done in this regard. We should stop clinging to the notion that we can use these proxies to bring the US or our neighbouring countries under our pressure and get them to agree to our demands. We tried this method against India but could not free and inch of occupied Kashmir. We tried this method in Afghanistan and it backfired badly. We set to bring Afghanistan under our influence but now are ourselves under the influence of terrorism.

China is also apprehensive about the activities of terrorists within our territory. If we don’t put a stop to those conducting cross-border terrorism in China, Then China too will soon have had enough of us.

We should accept the hard reality that we are in no position to threaten or pressurise the US. Our betterment is in that we should try to establish control over our own territory. We should protect our own frontiers and try to disassociate as much as we can from the US’ war in Afghanistan. Furthermore, we should try to convince the US and its allies, through our words and actions, that we have nothing to do with the terrorist activities taking place in Afghanistan If our word is not enough, then it can be advised that neutral observers be appointed to the PakAfghan borders to ascertain our claim.

The Committee’s report and its recommen-

dations are premised on the assumption that the US is deeply interested and desirous of resuming and bettering relations with us. Maybe those who have come up with these suggestions are not familiar with the workings of the American executive and have no idea about the American public’s feeling. There exists a string antipathy against us there. A majority of the decision makers and decision making institutions over there are convinced that Pakistan cannot be taken for its word and that nay future arrangements with Pakistan must come with airtight guarantees.

We’ll have to go a lot, a lot, before we can re-establish our credibility. People not cognisant of this governmental responsibility can afford to sloganeer. But those who realise that, in the given circumstances, a soft stance towards the US will be to the detriment of Pakistan are not even thinking of such campaigns.

China and Iran will be of no help if tensions escalate with the US. China has stopped its bank from investing in the IP gas-pipeline project. Iran doesn’t have the dollars to get its own necessities.

The ‘brotherly’ help from Saudi Arabia will come till the US steps in and stops that. The day the US decides to tighten the economic screw, then say what of Saudi Arabia and UAe, no one will give us anything. All the IFIs sing to American tunes.

What little we get from them is because the US still sees something of value in us.

Those adamant about keeping the supply lines closed do not realise that if we try to corner the Us on this issue, it will try to get the routes reopened by hook or by crook. For that reason, it has its eyes set on Balochistan and it is not difficult for the US to conduct Libya-like action over there. To generate international consensus, the ‘plight of the Baloch’ question is already under discussion.

We can only use our nuclear ability defensively. And that, too, only against India. It is as useful as a pile of stick bombs against a superpower like the US. Nothing is to be had from all our pointless slogan. The conditions for mutual relations will be but of course determined by our respective power and size. Nowhere in the world will a country get more than its power and clout entitles it to. The best course of action for us is to be cognisant of that and then pursue our interests. We shouldn’t be too big for our boots but we also shouldn’t back down from what is rightfully ours. We have done so in the past. Rulers have bartered off Pakistan’s national interests to safeguard their tenures. This, at least, should stop.

The writer is one of Pakistan’s most widely read columnists.

ethnic profiling at its worst

Washington Watch

By Dr James J Zogby

T

he massive surveillance programme implemented by the New York City Police Department (NYPD) in coordination with CIA officials is shredding the constitution, putting at risk the rights and freedoms of Arab Americans and American Muslims. If left unchecked, their behaviour will weaken the foundations of our democracy and seriously compromise our values as an open and inclusive society.

Revelations by the Associated Press have established that the NYPD, working with a few CIA officials, has been monitoring Arab and Muslim-owned businesses, mosques, and "mapping" areas of the city where high concentrations of Muslims and Arab immigrants are known to live. In order to accomplish these objectives, the NYPD has coerced Muslims to act as spies.

In one instance, the police scoured records of taxi drivers

looking for those who had unpaid tickets and other violations. Those who also had immigration status issues were given the option of acting as spies or facing possible deportation. Once turned into informants, they were then asked to go to popular gathering places, attend religious services, and other community events in order to report on who was present and what was said. This material has been entered into extensive surveillance files, even when the activities attended and the words spoken have been innocent and protected by the First Amendment.

The reports which have been compiled and are categorised as "Secret" are, at best, trite. At the same time, they are dangerous, since they represent ethnic profiling at its worst and an extension of the long arm of the state into the normal everyday activity of an entire community.

One report, for example, on "egyptian Locations of Interest" purports to map "centres of activity" or "hangouts" for egyptian Americans that can be used as "listening posts" where informants can go to “listen to neighbourhood gossip...[and] get a feel for the community.” The report goes on to present a demographic profile of where persons of egyptian descent live in New York City and describes, with pictures attached, all of the restaurants and other businesses where egyptians and other Arab immigrants to the city congregate or

shop.

As disturbing as this behaviour has been, what is more so is the outright denial by New York officials that anything untoward has occurred and the public's apparent tolerance for these flagrant violations of rights. Despite clear evidence to the contrary, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly denies such practices. Mayor Michael Bloomberg also denies that any profiling is involved ignoring the statements in the beginning of each of the "Secret" reports that they are targeting specific ethnic and religious communities. Finally, a recent poll of residents of the City concluded that “New Yorkers brush aside the gripes about police surveillance of the Muslim community.”

In addition to the violations of the fundamental and guaranteed rights of citizens to be free of intrusive government surveillance as they go about their normal everyday activity, there are other troubling issues that must be noted.

First and foremost is the fear and suspicion generated by this behaviour. As a result of this NYPD/CIA programme, Arab and Muslim immigrants have become increasingly fearful of law enforcement. Trust has been broken. And trust between the community and the police is the key to any successful crime prevention strategy. Another by-product of this effort is the suspicion it has created about the community, reinforcing negative

perceptions. Some might say “if the police think that they are all a threat, they must be.”

It must also be pointed out, especially after reviewing the "reports", what an enormous waste of resources this has all been. Not only has it alienated the community from the police, it has also expended countless hours of valuable labour to produce files and reports that are of no value. In fact, it can safely be said, that the net result of all this work has been of zero benefit to the effort to keep New York safe.

I have long argued that Arabs and Muslims were the weak link in America's civil liberty chain. When the rights of vulnerable minority groups are threatened, we recognise the need to demand a halt to abuse, because we have learned that when the rights of any group are compromised, the rights of all are at risk. It is worrisome that in the post-9/11 era the challenge to constitutional rights has all too often been met with silence – because it was Arabs and Muslims who were the targets. What we have failed to recognise is that if the rights to assemble, to speak freely, to be secure from unwarranted search, to due process, and more are put at risk by the NYPD and CIA in New York, then these rights may ultimately be threatened for all Americans.

The writer is President of the Arab-American Institute.

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thursday, 22 March, 2012

How not to go out of business The young professionals do all the donkey work, while some fossil takes all the credit. And no one gets paid.

Mighty obvious By syed hassan Belal Zaidi

I

am almost never asked the question “Why are all Pakistani media houses losing money?”

What people do end up asking me is, “Is it true that your paper isn’t paying its employees?” My answer to them is always an honest, “Yes, that is correct.” But when I am pressed for more information, I cannot give them any, because, to be honest, it’s been nearly a year that I last set foot in a newsroom.

But even when I was in the news business, I didn’t really understand why newspapers didn’t make money.

Sure, there are mitigating factors, such as a circular debt in the revenue stream stemming from a lag in payments from advertisers; a lack of ads to be begin with; or even a dearth of creative ideas to keep the thing going. But one can never truly have the complete picture as long as one is on the inside. To find out what the world looks like, you have to be on the outside. Fortunately for me, that paradigm shift came sooner rather than later. So today, when asked why paper X or channel Y shut down or is on the brink of shutting down, I have something to tell people. Something which makes sense, at least in my head. I don’t know about you though.

You must understand that there are two kinds of mainstream media institutions in this country. By saying ‘mainstream’ I seek to exclude the two-penny eveningers and the one-room studio broadcasters that clutter newsstands and the airwaves.

The first kind is the ‘conglomerate’, which is a euphemism for ‘Big Money’. These include the truly multimedia groups, such as Jeem, Red and White, The Nationalists etc who deal in both print and electronic and have multiple publications/channels operating under one umbrella.

These are usually backed by corporations that have even deeper pock-

ets than their ‘journalistic’ sister concerns. Interests such as shipping, manufacturing, banking and whatnot, all of whom do make cartloads of monies, serve to supplement the revenue stream of said groups, thereby enabling them to absorb late-payment shocks and allow them to continue managing the day-to-day running of a newspaper or a Tv/radio channel.

Then there are those minnows that put all their eggs into a few baskets. These include the now-comatose Hard Times group, the Morning News network and, incidentally, the newspaper that you hold in your hands right now. These publications/broadcasters, while viable and established in their own right, do not have the kind of financial resources or the competence necessary to sustain themselves in the post-Musharraf world. Where these publications and channels owe their existence to our erstwhile military head honcho, they also curse him for opening the floodgates for every Tariq, Daud and Haris who has some cash to spare. Or needs a front for shady activities. More on that in a later column, though.

Far more current and relevant to our discussion is lay-offs. As of late, it seems that more and more people are being fired from news organisations. everyday, the parallel media (such as Internet websites and media watchdog-type publications) is awash with horror stories of mass firings and en masse resignations.

Most of these exoduses are moneydriven. But some, such as the one that gave you this newspaper, are also ideological. That a group of professionals would dare to separate themselves from the institution that made them what they are today is a notion that would normally be unthinkable to most of us. But given the success (or lack thereof) that such ventures have enjoyed, this initiative is not an ignoble one, i.e. that you seek to cut out the businessman and try to establish a newspaper which is designed for the reader by the people who know how to do it best. Unfortunately, however, this leads us to one of life’s greatest ironies, i.e. the media is, after all, a business. No one, not even the most open-source of paid journalistic publications, can claim to be completely free of corporate control.

So when you cut out the business

minds and rely solely on the petty sahafi to work his magic with content rather than circulation figures, you’re clearly missing a key ingredient, i.e. sustainability, which means that you will be able to pay your staff even if last month’s ad revenues don’t come in or that you will be able to continue publishing even though your seed money is all but exhausted. This was the model that everyone strove for, in the beginning. It was supposed to be a purely journalistic enterprise. But we later discovered that there is no such thing.

People are always telling me to lose weight. Something about an increased life expectancy. In the past, I would never pay any attention to such haters. I always believed that they were out to rob me of my mojo.

But as I look at the news publications and channels of today, I see a metaphor emerge. For too long now, the old guard have been retained by organisations as a sort of Jedi Knight squad, paid to do nothing but watch over the young knaves who now populate newsrooms. These knights, battle-hardened and weary, are unfortunately the relics of an era long gone. They are from a time when newspapers had a whole department known as the ‘Pasting Section’ and when footage was edited manually.

Now, thanks to Mac and Adobe, the publication process has been made far cheaper. This means that now, such media can pay more attention to content and devote less funds to expensive printing and broadcasting solutions. But this has, somehow, not happened and media houses find themselves paying mammoth sums to dinosaurs who do nothing but rant, harass staffers and sip tea in their offices all day long.

This is the excess fat that media organisations now need to cut.

‘Down with the moneybags’ should be the battle cry. Leading the charge are the young professionals: subeditors, layout designers, producers, editors and copywriters who do all, repeat, ALL of the donkey work, while some fossilised animal takes all the credit. It is time employers woke up and smelt the curry. Dump the extinct animals. Before the country takes a dump on you.

Follow @mightyobvious on Twitter for more incoherence in 160 characters or less

comment 13

The crystal ball It may seem murky but look deeper

I

tell you. This week is pretty amazing. So many imponderables and so much happening! Fame and fortune is on the line whichever way it goes. The crystal balls are out and being rubbed furiously by the pundits et al.

India thrashed Pakistan, unceremoniously. It was a batting display par excellence; forget the cock-ups by the Pakistanis. Fortunately, we had already won our way into the final. At the other end, fame and fortune bestowed itself upon Bangladesh. In a courageous display, they defeated Sri Lanka to make the finals against Pakistan on Thursday.

India has to slump their way home, much to Pakistan’s delight. Bangladeshi are already excited about their prospects, having beaten India and Sri Lanka as well and falling to Pakistan by just twenty-one runs.

If the Pakistanis play cricket, they should win. But if the play ‘gulli dandha’ as they are prone to do, especially the relics, they are likely to eat crow. Inspiration derived on home turf can turn the meekest into a tiger.

So come on crystal ball make a prediction, if you dare!!

The week doesn’t end there. As I write, the PM is most probably making his way to the Supreme Court to face what could be his Waterloo. This case has held the focus of the nation for simply ages. The PM believes he is acting within his oath of Random Thoughts office and the constitution.

It is undeniable that the

By Imran husain constitution provides the president with immunity.

There is also no denying in democracy sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them. Therefore the PM’s stance that parliament alone can decide appears to be reasonable. The apex court’s stance is well known.

Whether courts can question constitutional provisions is a moot question.

I guess, again, the crystal ball will come into play.

It is relevant to mention that the PM deserves commendation for his cool demeanour and exemplary conduct during these trying times. There has been no outburst a la PPP rhetoric.

Wisdom plays a large part in difficult circumstances and hope that it prevails, across the board, is the order of the day.

The issue goes beyond just the present case. The past is full of excesses hav-

ing being committed by all three players on our scenes: executive, military and judiciary.

Pakistan is in transition. Never before has a democratic government completed its full tenure. The current prime minister is the longest serving in our history. It appears that democracy, whatever trials and tribulations exist, is finally taking root. It is incumbent therefore to ensure the flower blooms at the end of the gestation period.

Thus, it is imperative that all arms of governance in viewing their current stance review past performance in context to current issues and curb the natural tendency to enforce deportments autocratically. It is not difficult to list the excesses committed. So a ‘holier than thou’ posture is not becoming. Today the people are more than aware, and constantly reminded by the media, of the past and current issues. No one is spared today. It’s a good thing, even though the media may not be entirely objective in reporting.

Take the steel mill issue for instance.

Ironically, the apex court is hearing a matter dealing with the huge losses caused to the exchequer and thus the people by the project.

Billions, it is said; more than ten billion a year. Well, seven odd years ago the government privatised this mill. It was well documented then that it was bleeding and there was no redemption. The mill had run its course, its machinery was antiquated, it was overstaffed, and the real estate was being wasted. Privatisation was the only solution; else huge recurring losses would cripple government.

The privatisation was stopped by the apex court’s intervention. The impact of billions lost, whether forty or seventy, is the denial of educational and basic amenities to the people.

Just think of how many students could have been educated. So who bears responsibility?

Look into the ball, it tells all.

Parliament is in joint session to determine relations with the US. Again, wisdom must prevail. And cold, hard facts determine the course of recommendations and actions. The Americans are in a war. To be fought according to a strategy determined by them. They intend to win. Whether they do or not depends, not just on the crystal ball, but also on the cooperation the ‘ally’, Pakistan, provides. US strategy limits hand-to-hand combat to the minimum thus the need for drones, and … and! Let’s be rational and shun rhetoric and emotionalism. Let Imran Khan blow that balloon.

Like I said excesses have been rampant, but let’s not go there. Let’s move on. Let’s begin looking at life in the transition, the new democracy and stop people in glass houses throwing stones at each other. Look into the crystal ball instead.

The writer may be contacted via e-mail at imranmhusain@gmail.com

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thursday, 22 March, 2012

SOciety

Iex-flames: missVeenaall my Malik A

News Desk

CTOR veena Malik, who had a controversial relationship with tainted Pakistani cricketer Mohammad Asif and later got engaged to American national Faisal Akbar Khan on a rebound, says that she still has a soft spot for her former lovers. “I love all my ex-boyfriends. I still miss them sometimes, but I don’t want to go back to them.

The past is the past. I am not among those who love someone at a time and hate them

later. But I always cherish memories,” she said. The actor, who is now harbouring dreams of tying the knot with her soul mate on ‘Swayamvar Season 4 – veena Ka vivaah’, also shared that she was upset at Pakistan’s loss to India in Sunday’s ODI match. “I have been in India for one-andhalf years now, but I will always root for Pakistan. Peace talks, relationships between the two countries are all good, but when it comes to a match between India and Pakistan, it’s serious cricket and nothing else,” she said.

Body Shop launches Ananya fragrance range News Desk The Body shop launched their new fragrances range Ananya at Clifton. Body Shop Brand Manager Anita Ali said the brand had also launched the Stop Child trafficking Campaign. The key call to action of our campaign was the ratification of optional protocol to UN convention on the rights of Child, on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

Over 7 million signatures from around the world were raised; around 250,000 signatures were received from Pakistan.”

Sunita Marshal revealed Ananya with

models, Saba Skinder, Ambreen, Maryam, Komal and Noreen. The models walked the ramp with the new fragrances. The event was organised by Munna Mushtaq and his company Montage event in collaboration with Asif Nicky as project head and choreographer of the show. The make-up was done by Angie Marshell and Sherry Faridi while the wardrobe was provided by Wassam. Gia Ali, Ayesha Umer, Rabia Butt, Mona J, Amber Khan, Kiran Khan, Uzma Khan, model Meera Ansari, designers Asad Tareen Samar Mehdi, Ayesha Warsi and other celebrities and socialites attended the event.

Rani MukeRji

turns a year older MUMBAI: The queen of millions of people’s hearts, Rani Mukerji celebrates her birthday on Wednesday. The cute looking and extremely talented actress turned 34. Rani made her acting debut with ‘Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat’ in 1997, but the actress tasted her first and biggest commercial success with Karan Johar`s rom-com ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ which was released in 1998.

Subsequently, Rani made a mark in Bollywood with the critically acclaimed drama ‘Saathiya’, for which she received numerous awards and nominations, including her first Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress. The actress established herself in the industry by working with the three Khans of Bollywood Aamir, Salman and SRK in films ‘Ghulam’, Hello Brother’ and ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’. Rani in her illustrious career has done it all. Some of her path breaking films in the recent years are ‘No One Killed Jessica’, Black’, ‘Nayak’, ‘Yuva’, ‘Chalte Chalte’, ‘Hum Tum’ and ‘Veer Zaara’.

She will now be seen in Reema Kagti’s ‘Talaash’ along with Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor. AGENCIEs

John’s injury sets back Sanjay Gupta's film MUMBaI: After Ranveer singh's back injury, it is John Abraham's broken leg that's playing havoc with a film's shooting. sanjay Gupta's ‘shootout At Wadala’, suffering a series of bizarre hiccups ever since its commencement earlier this month, suffered another setback last week when the film's leading man John Abraham suffered a hairline fracture in his foot during an action sequence. And now a very expensive action sequence to be shot on a crowded street where John had to run through a gauntlet of pursuers in the midst of buses would have to be postponed. John had undertaken intense preparations for his big action sequence which was to be shot on March 22 and 23. Informs Gupta, “He had to run faster than the buses. He was on a fish-only diet. And he was looking forward to ending the bland diet after finishing the action sequence. The postponement means more fish no-carbohydrate diet for a month more for John.” Unperturbed by the financial losses Gupta says John has already given alternative dates to shoot the postponed action sequence in April. “In the meanwhile John isn't sitting idle at home. He will be doing dialogue reading sessions with Anil Kapoor while his leg heals.” AGENCIEs

It’s a drea with

MUMBaI: “I my life; a r fly. after d these year life,” says h playing the 3D science While the skyscraper wants to h father, he h the art of him down laughs. las director ra scrapping t writhe in p double slip was full of who consu Internet an Kris genth Johnson to

KHI 22-03-2012_Layout 1 3/22/2012 2:29 AM Page 15

15 ego is Simon cowell’s Gwyneth Paltrow snubs Kate Moss biggest downfall

'John Carter' bombs: Disney to lose $200 million

LOs ANGeLes

LOs ANGeLes

AGENCIEs

AGENCIEs

I

T'S not just our desi babes, who indulge in catfights and pass snide comments at each other, even the Hollywood divas indulge in this amazing sporting activity. This time it's Kate Moss, who has been put down well and proper by none other than Gwyneth Paltrow, who's known to speak her mind. The Hollywood actress put Kate in her place at Sir Philip Green's 60th birthday party in Mexico during a bit of verbal sparring on the beach, claim sources.

“Gwyneth had gone for a jog on the beach before the big birthday bash. Kate was out for a walk, eating crisps, when Gwyneth ran past. 'Kate said, 'Oi, what you out jogging for?' Gwyneth fired back, 'So, I don't look like you when I get old'. Kate was appalled for a second then spat back and threw some crisps at her.

She said, 'Why don't you eat some carbs,” claims the source. In this melee of catty humour, the onlookers sure had a gala time.

M

eDIA mogul Simon Cowell, who lost all his money in the late 1980s and ended up living at home with his mother, admits that his ego has been his biggest downfall. “I’ve had many failures. The biggest were at times when I believed my own hype. I’d had smaller failures, signing bands that didn’t work, but my record company going bust, that was the first big on,” the 52-yearold said. “I was a typical eighties cliché. I had the cars, the house, the image and everything was beyond my means. I spent too much time at parties and then everything imploded,” he said. “Losing everything is probably the greatest lesson you learn. I went back to my parents` house and started again. From then on everything I did was different. It was all about the work. I sold the Porsche, got a classic red TR6 for seven grand. I loved that car more than the Porsche. Sometimes you throw a pebble in the water - occasionally a rock - just to wind everybody up. When things get a little too comfortable I get bored. And yes, it amuses me,” showbizspy.com quoted Cowell as saying.

Sara Shahid launches Simply Sublime line

LOs ANGeLes AGENCIEs

‘John Carter’ is now officially a flop of galactic proportions. The Walt Disney Co. said it expects to book a loss of $200 million on the movie in the quarter through March. That ranks it among Hollywood's all-time biggest money-losers. Directed by Pixar's Andrew Stanton, the 3-D effectsladen movie about a Civil War veteran transplanted to Mars was already headed to the “Red Ink Planet”. The movie was based on a series of books written by the late edgar Rice Burroughs, starting with ‘A Princess of Mars’ in 1912 and ending with ‘John Carter of Mars,’ published posthumously in 1964. There was plenty of material for sequels and prequels but they seem highly unlikely now. The poor reception was a shock given Stanton's directing success with movies like ‘Finding Nemo’ and ‘Wall-e,’ each of which won an Oscar for best animated feature.

Muppets get their own Hollywood star

LAhOre NEWs DEsK

Sara Shahid of Sublime will launch a brand new line of ready to wear fashion, Simply Sublime, in Lahore on 25th March at her flagship store on MM Alam Road. The Simply Sublime line is the newest addition to the Sublime label which currently boasts over five permanent Prêt-a-Porter and couture lines. While creating the Simply Sublime line, designer Sara Shahid was motivated by three main features: versatility, affordability and wearability- all wrapped into each Simply Sublime ensemble. From a design perspective, the new ready to wear line ranges from lightly embellished trendy tunics to elegant, sophisticated and glamorous tops. The Simply Sublime line ranges from Rs 30008000. The Simply Sublime line will be available nationwide after the launch at the Sublime by Sara Flagship Store.

It’s about dreaming big with ‘Krrish’ MUMBaI: “I’ve been emulating superheroes all my life; a recurring childhood dream was to fly. after doing that in my dreams for all these years, it’s suddenly coming true in real life,” says hrithik roshan, who is back to playing the masked crusader in ‘Krrish 3’, the 3D science-fiction sequel to ‘Krrish’ (2006).

While the 38-year-old actor is jumping off skyscrapers, his six-year-old son, hrehaan, wants to hop off stools. according to the star father, he has just about begun understanding the art of slow-motion fighting. “I had to sit him down and explain the laws of gravity,” he laughs. last year, hrithik’s father, producerdirector rakesh roshan, almost considered scrapping the sequel after watching his son writhe in pain from a knee injury and a double slip disc. “I was in a dark place that was full of negative vibes,” reminisced hrithik, who consulted friends, therapists, surfed the Internet and finally connected with trainer Kris genthin and his nutritionist wife Marcia Johnson to get back into shape. AGENCIEs

LOs ANGeLes AFP

n Nadeem: India ng gi a t o b a s s m l i f a m e n i c i n a t s i k Pa News Desk Pakistan’s living legend Nadeem says no to Bollywood films considering them to be an assault on Pakistani cinema. The veteran film actor is not in favour of Indian films being exhibited in Pakistan, saying they go against Pakistani culture. He said every

Shahid pulling strings for kjo film MUMBAI: opportunity knocks at your door just once, they say.

However, for shahid Kapoor, a chance to work with Dharma Productions has presented itself not once but thrice. The actor, who couldn't work in Karan Johar's ‘Kaal’ in 2005 had to wait seven years to be offered another film from the production house. sadly, due to date issues, the actor had to opt out of the Punit Malhotra directorial as well. shahid had then said, “I hope it doesn't take us another seven years to work again.” And thankfully, his wish has just come true albeit with a little prodding by the actor himself. shahid, after KJo's production fell through, was approached by siddharth Roy Kapoor for the Hindi remake of the Tamil blockbuster ‘Vettai’. seizing this opportunity, the actor asked the UTV head to get Karan Johar to co-produce the venture, which will finally add the muchcoveted ‘Dharma film’ to his resume. This managed to magically fix Karan Johar’s problems - Firstly, the filmmaker without having to upset his other productions or Punit Malhotra got a project with shahid.

Also, he got a big film like ‘Vettai’ in his kitty without having to fight for its remake rights. And lastly, he did not have to make shahid wait for another seven years. Perhaps for the first time, tinsel town's very own peacemaker and problem solver got his dilemma sorted. AGENCIEs

sector in Pakistan must record its protest against the release of Indian films in Pakistan. He also demanded the Pakistani government to ban Indian films from being exhibited in Pakistani cinemas. According to Nadeem, a few groups in the country are interested in promoting Indian culture in Pakistan, which is the main reason behind their favouring Bollywood movies.

Nadeem also said he has always opposed the exhibition of Indian films in the country, on different forums as he believes Bollywood films are the main cause of the Pakistani film industry’s destruction.

The Muppets were honored with their own star on the storied Hollywood Walk of Fame, right outside the theater where their recent movie was made and premiered.

Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear and the rest of the puppet gang gathered in front of the el Capitan Theatre. "We are just really happy to be on Hollywood Boulevard today, joining some of the greatest names in show biz," said Kermit as the Muppet star was unveiled on the stellar stretch of sidewalk visited by millions of tourists. Key scenes from their recent movie ‘The Muppets’ were filmed at Disney's el Capitan theatre, where its world premiere was held followed by festive season screenings of the film preceded by an in-theater Muppet show.

‘Stylists make everyone look the MUMBAI: sonam Kapoor, known for her unique fashion style, believes that the trend of hiring stylists means that everyone looks the same. “Everyone is hiring stylists now and we all are looking the same. so it's all good,” said the 26-year-old who has earned accolades more for her style statement than her acting skills. Meanwhile, when asked which Bollywood actress would she want to give fashion advice to, sonam quipped, “Honestly, a lot of them.” Her choice of best dressed people is unique. she says that she finds, “Kalki Koechlin is really amazing.” “Priya Kishore (owner of bouqtique Bombay Electric) dresses very well. I mean they are not very known for their fashion, but for me, they have an amazing individual style and they don't ape anybody else. so I like them. If I have to look beyond our generations, then I will look at Audrey Hepburn,” she said. Her tryst with all things fashionable started with her sister Rhea's production venture ‘Aisha’ and post the movie she established herself as a fashion icon for youth. sonam's last film ‘Players’ bombed at the box office and she is currently shooting for Rakeysh omprakash Mehra's ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ with Farhan Akhtar. AGENCIEs

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16 Foreign News 70,000 children dying every year from tuberculosis: Who GeNeVA AFP

As many as 70,000 children are dying every year from tuberculosis, as the curable disease often goes unnoticed due to a failure by health workers to recognise the symptoms, the WHO said Wednesday. “Often TB is undiagnosed in children... because the symptoms in children are not very specific,” said Malgosia Grzemska, coordinator at the World Health Organization’s Stop TB department.

Unlike adults who often cough incessantly when infected with the disease, “children may not even cough, but may just be less playful, they may be lethargic,” said Grzemska. The UN health agency’s expert said that ensuring screening of TB for all children in households with infected adults would help to detect cases early. Children living in households with TB who are found not ill should be given preventive therapy while those infected should be treated early, she said, adding that about half a million babies and children contract the disease annually.

thursday, 22 March, 2012

UN agrees on Syria stand to back Annan DAMAscUs

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AFP

He UN Security Council on Wednesday agreed on a statement to boost envoy Kofi Annan’s peace bid in Syria, diplomats in New York said, as activists said the army pounded a rebel-held area of Homs city.

Syrian forces blasted the Khaldiyeh district of Homs for a second straight day, activists said, as UN chief Ban Kimoon, on a visit to Jakarta, warned the crisis in Syria had “massive” regional repercussions.

“Khaldiyeh is being bombed, with shells and rockets, for a second day,” Hadi Abdullah of the Syrian Revolution General Commission told AFP, reached

by telephone from Beirut.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said at least five civilians were killed and dozens wounded in the shelling, a day after 14 civilians were killed in the same district.

Abdullah said he feared a repeat of the month-long battering that killed hundreds in the Baba Amr district of Homs before the army moved in on March 1 after a withdrawal by Free Syrian Army rebels.

He said thousands of residents who fled Baba Amr and other parts of the city in central Syria had taken refuge in Khaldiyeh, “the last front left” in Homs. elsewhere, Syrian troops surrounded Taftanaz and opened fire on rebels in the town in Idlib province in the northwest, rebel sources said,

adding outnumbered Free Syrian Army fighters withdrew.

Rebel fighters, lightly armed, have been on the retreat from cities since the start of March in the face of the far superior firepower of government forces.

Closing ranks after months of division on the year-long crisis, the Security Council, meanwhile, was to adopt its statement at 1400 GMT, a diplomat told AFP in New York.

UN chief Ban said in a speech to a defence conference in the Indonesian capital that Annan, who held talks in Damascus on March 10-11 and briefed the Security Council last week, was “working tirelessly.”

The prepared text of Ban’s speech released to media in Jakarta said Annan was expected to return soon to Damascus. The line was removed from the

speech as delivered, and Ban did not give any timeframe for a return.

Martin Nesirky, a spokesman for Ban, told AFP: “The joint special envoy’s technical team is still in Damascus, and he is still waiting to hear more details from them before he decides on his travel plans.”

Ban, urging unity, told his Jakarta audience that the United Nations had three major priorities in Syria.

These were “an immediate end to the violence — all violence”, an “inclusive political dialogue” to shape the country’s future, “and thirdly we have to provide, immediately and urgently, humanitarian access”.

“We all have a responsibility to work for a resolution of this profound and extremely dangerous situation and crisis,” Ban said.

Exemptions show US in ‘retreat’ over Iran: key MP TehrAN AFP

A US decision to exempt nations from tough new sanctions on Iran showed Washington is in “retreat” in its stance against the Islamic republic, a key lawmaker said in a report Wednesday. The United States said Tuesday it was exempting 11 countries including european Union members and Japan from new punitive measures on Iran while praising them for reducing dependency on oil from the Middle east country. “Due to decisive stances taken by the Islamic republic, such a move (by Washington) is an overt retreat from earlier stances,” Aladin Borujerdi said, quoted by ISNA news agency.

Borujerdi, the head of parliament’s foreign policy and national security commission, said the US decision was influenced by concerns about “rising oil prices which harmed the european consumer nations and the tumbling economies of the West.”

Under a tough new law aimed at pressing Iran over its nuclear program, the United States plans to penalise foreign financial institutions that deal with Iran’s central bank, which generally handles oil purchases. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington would exempt financial institutions from 11 nations — Belgium, Britain, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain.

Borujerdi reiterated Iranian policy that it would not “retreat from its stances on the nuclear programme,” as it is within the framework of the non-proliferation treaty.

BEIRUT: Kurds hold up syria’s pre-Baath and Kurdish flags, chanting slogans against the syrian regime as they celebrate Noruz spring festival on Wednesday. afp

Stop using palestinian cause to justify terror: fayyad rAMALLAh AFP

extremists must stop using the Palestinian cause to justify their acts of violence, prime minister Salam Fayyad said on Wednesday after a deadly attack on a French Jewish school.

“It is time for these criminals to stop marketing their terrorist acts in the name of Palestine and to stop pretending to stand up for the rights of Palestinian children who only ask for a decent life,” the Palestinian premier said in a statement. His remarks came as French special forces in the southern city of Toulouse were locked in a tense stand-off with a self-declared Islamist militant of Algerian origin believed to have carried out Monday’s attack.

He has told officials that he attacked the school and killed three Jewish children and a teacher to avenge Palestinian children killed

in the conflict with Israel. Speaking to reporters, Interior Minister Claude Gueant said the suspect had told police he wanted “to avenge Palestinian children and to attack the French army.”

In Monday’s attack, the gunman opened fire on a group of parents and children at Ozar Hatorah school in Toulouse, killing a 30year-old teacher and his two sons, aged four and five, as well as the seven-year-old daughter of the school principal. Fayyad heaped condemnation on the attack. “This terrorist crime is condemned in the strongest terms by the Palestinian people and their children,” he said. “No Palestinian child can accept a crime that targets innocent people.” French investigators believe the suspect also killed three soldiers in two separate shootings in the same area last week.

The soldiers were French citizens of North African origin, while another who was critically wounded was black and from the French West Indies.

french Muslims fear backlash after ‘Islamist’ shootings PArIs AFP

French Muslims said Wednesday they feared a backlash and increased inter-religious tensions as police besieged a suspected Islamist militant who killed seven people including three Jewish children.

On the streets of Paris and its suburbs, French Muslims denounced his attacks and said they hoped his acts would not spur anti-Islamic feelings in France.

“Killing young Jews to avenge young Palestinians causes nothing but revulsion,” said Abdelhak eddouk, a Muslim leader in the Paris suburban region of essonne.

“This type of person hurts everyone,” he said, adding that he feared that “in an

Man claiming to be French shooter vows to post videos online PARIS: French police said Wednesday they were probing a call made to a news channel by a man claiming to be the killer of seven people, who said footage of the attacks would soon be on the Internet. The call to the France 24 news channel came just two hours before police cornered a suspect who made exactly the same claims as the caller — that he was linked to Al-Qaeda and his crimes were revenge for Palestinian deaths. “He said he was affiliated with Al-Qaeda and that it was only the beginning ... that everything was filmed ... and that it would be on the web shortly,” the journalist who took the call at France 24 told AFP. AFP

election period, some will take advantage of this to stigmatise Islam as a religion and Muslims as citizens.” ezdine Ould Mohamed, the head of

a local Muslim cultural association in essonne, urged politicians to “ask the right questions and act responsibly” after the attacks.

Immigration has been a top theme in the campaign for France’s April-May presidential election, with right-wing President Nicolas Sarkozy declaring this month that there were “too many foreigners” in France.

Sarkozy allies and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen have also lashed out against the widespread production of Islamic halal meat.

In Paris’s working-class neighbourhood of Belleville, home to a large North African community, butcher Lassaad Fkiri said he feared the shootings would add fuel to the rhetoric.

“I think politicians will fan the flames, after the halal debate, and some will use these dramatic events to point the finger at Muslims,” the 39-year-old said.

Colombia army kills 24 leftist rebels BOGOTA AFP

Colombian troops killed 24 FARC leftist rebels and captured 10 others during a gun battle in the country’s eastern Arauca province, President Juan Manuel Santos said in a Twitter message on Wednesday. “A huge blow against the FARC in Arauca where they killed our soldiers,” Santos wrote. “There are 24 dead and 10 captured,” Santos said in his message, which was also posted in his official webpage.

Over the weekend, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia rebel group ambushed an army unit in Arauca, killing 11 soldiers. The violence follows FARC rebel overtures — deemed insufficient by the government — to make peace with the Bogota government. The FARC officially renounced abduction of civilians late last month, but still holds 10 members of Colombian security forces, though it has pledged to release them soon. Santos has said he would open a direct dialogue with the FARC only when all hostages are released and the group vows to cease “terrorist” actions.

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thursday, 22 March, 2012

Foreign News 17 Belarus strongman defends ‘tragic’ executions MOscOw AFP

Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko on Wednesday called the execution of two men controversially convicted of bombing the Minsk metro a “tragedy,” but said he had no doubts about their guilt. “It was a tragedy in my life. Most of all I feel for the parents of those men, whom unfortunately I can’t help,” the veteran Belarus president said in an interview with Russia’s state-funded television channel RT. Belarus authorities last week executed two 26-year-old factory workers convicted of planting explosives in a busy metro station close to Lukashenko’s offices in April 2011, killing 15 people and injuring scores more. The trial saw one of the men recant his testimony and the prosecution fail to come up with a conclusive motive for the attack.

The european Union had urged Lukashenko to cancel the executions and introduce a moratorium on the death penalty, a call joined after the executions

by Minsk’s main ally Moscow.Lukashenko dismissed the criticism and described the trial as “absolutely transparent.”

JERUsALEM: Jewish relatives mourn during the funeral of religious teacher Jonathan sandler and his children Gabriel 4, Arieh 5, and Miriam Monsonego 7, victims of Toulouse school shooting, at the Givat shaun cemetery on Wednesday. afp

Israel mourns as victims of French attack buried JerUsALeM

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AFP

HOUSANDS of weeping mourners crowded into a Jerusalem cemetery on Wednesday for the funerals of three French-Israeli children and a teacher killed in a shooting spree at a Jewish school in France.

Among the 2,000 or so people gathered at the sprawling Givat Shaul cemetery on the western outskirts of Jerusalem were French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and some 50 relatives and family friends, who landed in Israel shortly after dawn.

Four coffins containing the bodies of 30-year-old teacher Jonathan Sandler, his sons Arieh, 5, and Gabriel, 4, and seven-year-old Myriam Monsonego, were flown from Toulouse to Paris on Tuesday before continuing to Israel, where the two bereaved families had asked that their loved ones be buried.

At the cemetery, mourners gathered around the four bodies — those of the teacher and his two sons wrapped in white prayer shawls, while the girl’s body was wrapped in a blue shroud embroidered with gold.

All four were shot dead on Monday morning when a gunman, be-

lieved to be an Islamic extremist, opened fire on parents and children at Ozar Hatorah school in Toulouse, in what was the third such shooting in the area in eight days.

As a rabbi intoned verses from the Book of Psalms, Myriam’s distraught parents were inconsolable, standing before her shrouded body. eva Sandler wept over her dead husband and two young sons.

Both families were supported by friends and relatives, an AFP correspondent said.

“He who looks for a justification for hatred, needs to know that there is no explanation for hatred,” parliamentary

speaker Reuven Rivlin said in a brief address to the mourners. “There is no explanation for the murder of many pupils in Toulouse,” he said. “There is not, and there will never be any explanation for acts of terror against Jews wherever such things happen.”

Speaking shortly before the funerals, Juppe said the Toulouse attack had bound Israel and France together.

“In some ways, it was the blood of our two countries that flowed on Monday at the Ozar Hatorah school,” he told reporters after meeting Israeli President Shimon Peres, saying he had come “to share in the grief of the Monsonego and Sandler families.”

Myanmar president ‘pledges’ transparent vote PhNOM PeNh AFP

Myanmar President Thein Sein vowed Wednesday to ensure that closely watched by-elections next month are “transparent and acceptable”, a Cambodian official said. “The president of Myanmar has assured that he will try his best to make the election transparent and acceptable.

That’s why he will invite observers,” government spokesman Khieu Kanharith told reporters in Phnom Penh following talks between Thein Sein and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. Myanmar has invited the United States, the United Nations and the european Union to send observers for the April 1 polls, in which Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is standing for a seat in parliament for the first time. Thein Sein is on a regional tour that also includes vietnam and Laos. A 2010 election in Myanmar which swept the army’s political allies to power was marred by widespread complaints of cheating and intimidation.

British hostage Judith Tebbutt released in Somalia NAIrOBI AFP

British hostage Judith Tebbutt, kidnapped in Kenya over six months ago by gunmen who killed her husband, said Wednesday she was “happy” after she was released in Somalia to be flown to Nairobi. Tebbutt, 57, was taken on September 11 from a remote Kenyan beach resort near the Somali border by assailants who shot dead her husband David in a late-night raid.

“I am just happy to be released and I’m looking forward to seeing my son who successfully secured my release. I don’t know how he did it, but he did.

Which is great,” she told Britain’s ITv news in Somalia.

“Seven months is a long time and ... the circumstances, with my husband passing away, made it harder,” said Tebbutt. The Foreign Office in London confirmed the release, saying the “priority now is to get her to a place of safety.” video footage on the BBC showed a thin-looking but apparently cheerful Tebbutt, dressed in the flowing robes and coloured headscarf commonly worn

by Somali women. In an interview with ITv News filmed days before her release and broadcast Wednesday, Tebbutt said

she was in good health.

“I sleep very well here,” she said.

“My condition is good as far as I know. I feel fine. I’ve had absolutely no torture whatsoever. In fact, I’ve been made to feel as comfortable as possible by the pirates that are holding me.”

She was released in the Addado region, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the ethiopian border and about 500 kilometres northeast of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu. Abdiwali Ahmed, an Addado resident, said Tebbutt left Somalia Wednesday on a small airplane bound for the Kenyan capital Nairobi with three other people.

Tebbutt was held by gunmen in the same lawless region notorious for its pirate gangs who held Paul and Rachel Chandler, the British couple seized from their yacht in 2009 and held for a year.

“The people in Addado and the surrounding areas pushed the local leaders to do something about the hostage. I heard that since the abduction, she was held by three different groups,” said Abdullahi Yasin, a driver in Addado. Security was beefed up in the region after US special forces swooped in by helicopter on a night raid in January to rescue an American woman and a Danish man working for a demining aid agency in the area.

KABUL: Afghan girls ride a swing on the second day of Noruz celebrations on Wednesday. afp

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Thursday, 22 March, 2012

Serena looks for sixth Masters title Page 21

PCB plans to have separate captains after Asia Cup LAhOre

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sTAFF REPoRT

He Pakistan cricket Board has planned to name separate captains for all the three versions of the game and Misbahul-Haq's tenure as ODI and T20 captain of Pakistan team is likely to come to an end after the ongoing Asia Cup tournament in Bangladesh. Pakistan opener Mohammad Hafeez’s names is doing the rounds for the ODI slot while there is nothing certain about the T20 captain but some of the reports suggested that PCB might give Shahid Afridi the job.

Reports said that the PCB has made up the decision no matter Pakistan wins or lose in the Asia Cup final that Misbah would not be retained as captain of the ODI and T20 squads. "Pakistan's next assign-

Strauss, trott hit tons in Sri lanka tour match

ment after the Asia Cup is the tour to Sri Lanka from late May in which they play three Tests, five ODIs and two T20 matches," report quoting ac source said.

"And all indications are that the board and selectors feel that it is time for Misbah to be restricted to leading the Test team while a new captain will be announced for the ODI and T20 teams," the source said.

He said the board will be taking a lot of inputs from newcoach, Dave Whatmore after the Asia Cup before taking a decisionon the captaincy and on the prospect of having separate Test and limited overs squads.

Misbah had been leading Pakistan in all three formats of the game since last year after the board under former previous chairman, Ijaz Butt sacked Afridi as captain of the ODI and T20 teams after the tour to the West Indies in May. Afridi led the Pakistan ODI and T20 squads

since 2010. A source said that there were also strong indicationsthat after the Asia Cup some players including Misbah, Younis Khan, Umar Gul and others might be restricted to playing Test cricket while a new look ODI and T20 squads would be formed. "There is a feeling that Pakistan need to have ODI and T20 squads with more young players and fresh faces as there is little likelihood of some seniors continuing to play in prime form until the 2015 World Cup," the source said.

The source said so far Whatmore had a restricted role in team selection since he had just taken over but is expected to play a more decisive role after the Asia Cup. "There will be a lot more input from Whatmore and other coaching staff when the squad for the Sri Lankan tour is announced," the source said. Misbah has faced a lot of criticism over his perform-

ances and captaincy in the ODIs and T20 matches after Pakistan were swept aside by england recently. even before the england series, Misbah was not a popular choice to lead the ODI and T20 squads.

"The main issue facing the PCB, selectors and Whatmore will be if they replace Misbah and also decide to sideline Younis and other seniors for the ODI and T20 squads than who will lead Pakistan in these two formats," the source said. "The problem is that choices for candidates to lead the Pakistan ODI and T20 squads are very limited with Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik among the main contenders," he said. The source said one should also not rule out the possibility of Kamran Akmal also being given a chance to make a comeback to the ODI and T20 squads after the Asia Cup in a more important role.

BD aim for a final roar against Pakistan

cOLOMBO AFP

england captain Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott warmed up for next week's Test series against Sri Lanka by slamming centuries in a practice match on Wednesday. Strauss made 100 and Trott scored 101 before both batsmen retired to give other batsmen a hit-out on the second day of the three-day match against the Sri Lanka Development XI. The pair put on 197 for the opening wicket as the tourists, replying to the home team's 431-6 declared, posted 272-4 before Strauss then declared after tea at the Sinhalese sports club in Colombo.

The development XI raced to 44-1 from eight overs in their second knock by stumps. Left-handed Strauss hit 13 boundaries and a six and Trott contributed 16 fours to strike timely form before the twoTest series opens in the southern coastal town of Galle on Monday. The second Test will be played at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo from April 3. Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell, who followed the openers to the crease, failed to make use of the friendly batting conditions. Bell, who started with a six, made 14 and Pietersen was stumped for 26. earlier, the development XI added 55 runs in 10 overs after resuming at their overnight total of 376-5. Angelo Perera smashed seven boundaries and three sixes in his 85. england fast bowler Stuart Broad, who missed the previous practice match due to a sprained ankle, finished with 3-69 on a wicket that offered the bowlers little assistance. Off-spinner Graeme Swann, whose 21 wicketless overs on the first day cost 102 runs, did not bowl on Wednesday. Seamer Steven Finn claimed 2-93. The tourists had won the first practice match against the Cricket Board XI by an innings and 15 runs.

BRIEF sCoREs: Sri lanka Development XI 1st innings: 431-6 declared (Chamara Silva 163, thilina Kandamby 64, angelo Perera 85, Stuart Broad 3-69, Steven Finn 2-93, Samit Patel 1-83) England 1st innings: 2724 declared (andrew Strauss 100 retired, Jonathan trott 101 retired) Sri lanka Development XI 2nd innings: 44-1.

DhaKa: Nazmul hossain (2nd l) plays football with his teammates during a team training session at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. afp MIrPUr AGENCIEs

History beckons Bangladesh as they aim to rise above the minnows tag and notch up their biggest title since arriving on the international scene when they take on an unpredictable Pakistan in the final of the Asia Cup in Mirpur on Thursday.

With former champions India and Sri Lanka shockingly thrown out of the competition, it is the most surprising summit line-up for the event which is struggling for relevance in a crowded in-

ternational calender. Defending champions India paid the price for a stunning loss to Bangladesh in the league stage while four-time winners Sri Lanka failed to register a single triumph this time.

The debacles of the two teams, who have dominated the tournament since its inception way back in 1984, paved the way for an unlikely finalist in Bangladesh, a side which is known to upstage biggies but not for going the whole hog.

The giant-killers thrashed India, chasing down a mammoth 290, but that was seen merely as one of the rare stun-

ners that the Tigers are so well known to throw up in multi-national events.

However, the determined side proved the critics wrong by beating an already demoralised Sri Lanka as well, a result that knocked India out of the final.

"It's a great achievement for the country, so far the biggest. We realise it's still not over, we have another very important game. We'll enjoy, we'll party, but tomorrow we'll be back to business. I hope we will fire on the 22nd," said opener Tamim Iqbal, the hero of the win over Sri Lanka with a half century.

BCB-PCB relations at a crossroads? kArAchI CRICINFo

The relationship between the Pakistan Cricket Board and the Bangladesh Cricket Board is likely to suffer if Bangladesh do not go ahead with the proposed tour to Pakistan in April because of security concerns, eSPNcricinfo reported on Wednesday. An implicit deal had been reached by the two boards, according to which the PCB backed BCB president Mustafa Kamal as the nominee for the ICC vice-presidency and Bangladesh would tour Pakistan in 2012.

"Ultimately, its Bangladesh's loss if they don't send their team," Zaka Ashraf, the chairman of PCB was quoted by eSPNcricinfo.

"We are helping them and want to have a positive relationship not only with Bangladesh, but all the nations. We want to strengthen our relationship. We have been sending our players to feature in their leagues and we expect them to respect our positive approach, after all everything is on reciprocal basis." The website understands that the BCB, despite being satisfied by the proposed security arrangements for the tour to Pakistan, is seeking some support from other countries, but none has been forthcoming. A nine-member delegation had been sent on a visit to Pakistan to observe a demonstration of the security plan for the series, and Kamal had said he was positive about the tour going ahead.

But he then put the future of the tour in doubt by saying, "We won't go if everything doesn't happen within the standard practice, which is the allocation of match-referees, umpires and all things by the ICC." While the PCB did not respond to Kamal's comments, a board official said the BCB was being leaned on by another country.

"We are informed of a third-country pressure on BCB," a PCB official reported to have said. "We understand most of the member boards aren't keen to support our move, but we are very much clear of what would be required to give Bangladesh the confidence to come to Pakistan. And we did exactly what we have to do -- we have engaged the government at the superior level to satisfy Bangladesh with the security arrangements." Since the attacks, Pakistan have played their home bilateral series at offshore venues such as New Zealand, england and the UAe but the PCB saw no commercial advantage in hosting Bangladesh at such venues. Ashraf, who is now in Dhaka for the end of the Asia Cup, will make a final attempt to allay any doubts Bangladesh might have. The PCB also ruled out the possibility of talks with the Indian board.

"There's no use of asking India any further," Ashraf said. "Their board doesn't want to play us and that's clearly understood."

Pakistan firm favourites to win Asia Cup stats corner s PerVeZ QAIser Pakistan led by Misbah-ul-Haq will be the overwhelming favourites to win the final of the Asia Cup against Bangaldesh at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur, Dhaka on Wednesday (March 22). Bangladesh cruised into the Asia Cup final for the first time in history by making a five-wicket upset defeat to Sri Lanka in the sixth and final league match.

Bangladesh have advantage of their home ground and supporting crowd while Pakistan beat the host in the first match of the tournament. Green shirts also have a very good track record against Bangladesh.

The final match be the 31st international encounter between the two teams and 11th in the Asia Cup. Pakistan have a good record against Bangladesh in one-day internationals.

They have won 29 and lost just one in 30 matches played against Bangladesh.

They have perfect record against Bangladesh in Asia Cup as well as in

Bangladesh. Pakistan have won the all 12 matches played against Bangladesh in Bangladesh and all 10 matches in Asia Cup. Bangladesh's only victory against Pakistan came in the 1999 World Cup when they beat Pakistan by 62 runs at County Ground, Northampton on May 31, 1999. Pakistan also have won all 20 day/night matches played against Bangladesh.

Pakistan recorded a 21-run victory over Bangladesh when two teams met in the league match at the same ground 11 days ago (March 11).

Bangladesh produced most of the unexpected passages in the game. They reduced Pakistan to 198 for 7 from 135 for 0. They recovered from 135 for 5 to become the favourites towards the closing stages of the game. But when it came to the critical moments which decided the match, Pakistan proved superior.

Umar Gul smashed his highest score in one-dayers of 39 from 25 deliveries to convert 198 for 7 into 262 for 8.

With Bangladesh requiring 39 off 40 with five wickets in hand, Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal took 5 for 17 between

them to ensure that Shakib Al Hasan’s heroic innings ended in frustration and disappointment.

HIGHEST INNINGS TOTALS: Pakistan made 385 for seven in 50 overs at Dambulla on June 21,2010 which is their highest total against Bangladesh.

Bangladesh made their highest total against Pakistan at Lahore on April 13,2008 by scoring 285 for seven in 50 overs.

LOWEST INNINGS TOTALS: Bangladesh were bowled out for just 87 runs in 34.2 overs at Dhaka on June 2,2000 which is their lowest total against Pakistan. Pakistan's lowest against Bangladesh is 161 in 44.3 overs at Northampton on May 31,1999.

HIGHEST INDIVIDUAL SCORES: Salman Butt's 136 at Karachi on April 19,2008 is the highest individual score for Pakistan. Shakib Al Hasan's 108 at Multan on April 16, 2008 is the highest individual score for Bangladesh.

BEST BOWLING PERFORMANCES: The record of best bowling performance on either side is held by Abdur Razzaq. Abdur Razzaq took six wickets for 35 runs at Dhaka on January

25,2002. Tapash Baysia's four for 56 at Lahore on September 15,2003 is the best bowling performance for Bangladesh.

BIGGEST MARGINS OF VICTORY: Pakistan's 233 run victory at Dhaka on June 2,2000 and 10 wickets victory at Karachi on July 4,2008 are their biggest victories against Bangladesh.

Bangladesh's only victory, 62 runs, against Pakistan came at Northampton on May 31,1999.

NARROWEST MARGINS OF VICTORY: Pakistan's 21-run victory at Dhaka on March 11,2012 is their smallest against Bangladesh in instant cricket.

oNE DAYERs AT A GLANCE VENUE PLAYED PAK WoN BANG WoN IN BaNglaDESh 12 12 IN PaKIStaN 11 11 IN SrI laNKa 5 5 IN SharJah 1 1 IN ENglaND 1 1 total: 30 29 1 D/N MatChES 20 20 IN aSIa CUP 10 10 at MIrPUr 4 4 -

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Windies come up just short in Australia thriller

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KINgStoWN: West Indies cricket team captain Darren Sammy (l) talks with teammate Kemar roach as they leave the field after being run out during the third-of-five one Day International (oDI) matches against australia. afp kINGsTOwN

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AFP

thrilling third one-day international between West Indies and Australia at Arnos vale Tuesday ended in a tie after Darren Sammy was run out with the Windies needing just one run from the last three balls to win. Sammy had hit a boundary off the previous delivery to take West Indies to 220 with one wicket remaining, but a horrible mix-up with Kemar Roach led to Sammy being run out by Brett Lee as the Australians celebrated securing a rare tie.

But the Windies had reason to be happy too, having earlier appeared up against it at 78 for five, and the five-match series remains finely poised at one win apiece with the final two games to come in

Quarters line-up decided in FMC Squash LAhOre sTAFF REPoRT

The quarter-finals and the semi-finals of the 2nd FMC Pakistan International Squash Circuit-I 2012 will be played today while the final has been scheduled for March 24.

On Wdnesday, top seeded players like Amir Atlas Khan, M. Saqib Yousaf, Syed Hamzah Shah Bukhari, Danish Atlas Khan, Kashif Shuja, Farhan Zaman, Owais Khan and Aqib Hanif reached the quarter finals of the tournament.

REsULTs Amir Atlas Khan (Pak) beat Khawaja Adil Maqbool (Pak) 11-6, 12-10, 15-13 (3-0) 35 Min M. Saqib Yousaf (Pak) beat Waqar Mehboob (Pak) 12-10, 5-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-2 (3-2) 48 Min Syed Hamzah Shah Bukhari (Pak) beat M. Shahnawaz (Pak) 11-7, 6-11, 11-6, 119 (3-1) 83 Min Danish Atlas Khan (Pak) beat M. Shoaib Hassan (Pak) 8-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-1, 11-8 (3-2) 63 Min Kashif Shuja (New Zealand) beat Mansoor Zaman (Pak) 11-7, 7-11, 13-11, 9-11, 11-9 (3-2) 54 Min Farhan Zaman (Pak) beat Nasir Iqbal (Pak) 11-8, 7-11, 7-11, 11-4, 16-14 (3-2) 70 Min Owais Khan (Pak) beat Waqas Mehboob (Pak) 12-10, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7 (3-1) 37 Min Aqib Hanif (Pak) beat Farhan Mehboob (Pak) 12-10, 12-10, 12-14, 11-8 (3-1) 63 Min

St Lucia on Friday and Sunday. "I think we believed we could beat them," said Sammy at the end of a match watched by a packed crowd on a national holiday in Saint vincent. "We should have won today. everyone played their part right down to the number 11. "The discussion (with Roach ahead of the last ball) was that we were looking to run. I won't lay blame on anyone, it's just a shame we couldn't see out the win. "The way we came back to get 220 was a great effort. The team believe we can beat Australia, and we will look to win the next two games. "The pitch here was not conducive for stroke play but we do need to play some consistent cricket."

Australia captain Shane Watson, the tourists' leading bowler with figures of three for 30, was delighted his team managed to avoid a second defeat here

in the space of three days but admitted that improvements must be made before Friday's next match. "Little things here and there could have been improved," he said. "We need to adapt and get better in these conditions. "As a captain it is a learning experience playing in a tie but there are a lot of things to work on in the next two matches."

After winning the toss and electing to bat, Australia were indebted to a century stand between George Bailey and Mike Hussey as they reached 220 all out. The pair reached their half-centuries in successive balls in the 39th over on their way to a fourth-wicket stand of 112. Bailey made his maiden ODI half-century and went on to make 59 before being caught at square leg

by Dwayne Bravo off the bowling of Marlon Samuels. The older of the Hussey brothers

AUsTRALIA 10 s. Watson run out 37 D. Warner c Pollard b sammy 2 M. Wade b Narine 59 G Bailey c Dwayne Bravo b samuels M. Hussey st Baugh b samuels 67 D. Hussey b Roach 15 D. Christian lbw b Narine 12 B. Lee b Roach 0 0 C. McKay c Baugh b Narine 0 X Doherty run out 4 N. Lyon not out EXTRAs (b4, lb6, w3, nb1) 14 220 ToTAL (all out; 49.5 overs) Fall of wickets: 1-34 (Watson), 2-38 (Wade), 3-58 (Warner), 4170 (Bailey), 5-202 (MEK Hussey), 6-202 (DJ Hussey), 7-203 (Lee), 8-208 (McKay), 9-208 (Doherty), 10-220 (Christian) BoWLING: Roach 10-0-42-2 (1w), Dwayne Bravo 8-1-30-0, Narine 9.5-1-32-3 (1w), sammy 5-0-27-1, Russell 5-0-28-0 (1nb), samuels 9-0-39-2 (1w), Pollard 3-0-12-0 WEsT INDIEs: 12 K. Powell st Wade b Doherty 45 J. Charles c Christian b Watson M. samuels lbw b Watson 2 Darren Bravo c Bailey b Watson 0 13 Dwayne Bravo c Wade b Doherty 36 K. Pollard c Doherty b Lyon C. Baugh c Christian b McKay 33 A. Russell c Wade b McKay 37 D. sammy run out 10 10 s. Narine c D Hussey b Lee 9 K. Roach not out EXTRAs (b1, lb5, w6, nb1) 13 ToTAL (all out; 49.4 overs) 220 Fall of wickets: 1-27 (Powell), 2-52 (samuels), 3-52 (Darren Bravo), 4-72 (Charles), 5-78 (Dwayne Bravo), 6-117 (Pollard) 7-181 (Russell), 8-190 (Baugh), 9-204 (Narine), 10-220 (sammy) BoWLING: Lee 9.4-1-52-1, McKay 10-1-50-2, Doherty 10-2-30-2, Watson 10-4-30-3, Lyon 8-2-41-1, Christian 2-0-11-0 Toss: Australia, Result: Match tied, series: Level 1-1

kept the tourists' innings together and topscored with 67 from 95 balls before being stumped by wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh off another Samuels delivery. He was named man of the match after the highest knock of the series so far in the third game played on a notoriously tough pitch.

Before that fourth-wicket stand, Australia had looked in trouble, with captain Shane Watson being run out for ten early on, and Matthew Wade being bowled by Sunil Narine for just two. When David Warner was dismissed for 37, the tourists were on 58 for 3. And after Samuels had ended that fourth-wicket stand, Australia's tail collapsed in dramatic fashion.

Australia slumped from 202 for four to 208 for nine, with Brett Lee, Clint McKay and Xavier Doherty all returning to the pavilion without scoring.

PIA clinch Faysal Bank One-day Cup LAhOre AsHER BUTT

Zia-ul-Haq and Kamran Sajid bowled PIA to lift the Faysal Bank One-day Cup 2011-12 Division-1 here at the Gaddafi Stadium on Wednesday.

Put into bat, HBL bowlers did a remarkable job in restricting PIA at 237 in 49.5 overs. Former test cricketer Danish Kaneria with his seven wickets haul jolted PIA line-up. Only Pakistan’s former captain Shoaib Malik could muster some resistance with the bat producing unbeaten 80 off 88 balls. He got 41 runs support from Faisal Iqbal after their openers Fraz Ali 30 and Kamran Sajid 33 produced 65 runs for the first wicket.

However, the good work done by Kaneria went in vane when his team’s batting line up crashed to PIA attack led by Zia and Kamran. These two bowlers shared three wickets while Malik had two including the wicket of Imran Farhat.

Kamra Hussain with 40 runs was the highest scorer from HBL while Taufeeq Umer scored 34 while opening the innings with Farhat (28).

In the end PCB COO Subhan Ahmed and Director Cricket Zakir Khan gave the prizes to the winners and other prominent players.

PIA with this win picketed Rs 500,000 with a trophy while HBL got Rs 250,000. Shoaib Malik for his all round performance was named the Man of the Match ad received Rs 50,000. He was also declared the best batsman of the tournament for scoring 353 runs and got Rs 50,000.

Danish Kaneria with 20 wickets was named the Best Bowler while the best ielder was Taufeeq Umer for tak-

ing seven catches and Humayun Farhat (HBL) and Mubeen Mughal (Sialkot Stallions) shared the Best Wicket Keeper award for 13 dismissals each and all these players were given Rs 50,000.

sCoREs Pakistan International 237 in 49.5 overs: (Shoaib Malik 80*, 88 balls, 5x4s, 1x6, Faisal Iqbal 41, 60 balls, 2x4s, Kamran Sajid 33, 48 balls, 2x4s, Faraz Ali 30, 50 balls, 2x4s, Danish Kaneria 7-39)

Habib Bank in overs (Kamran Husain 40, 50 balls, 4x4s, Taufeeq Umer 34, 43 balls, 4x4s, Hasan Raza 29, 65 balls, 1x4, Imran 28, 33 balls, 3x4s, Humayun Farhat 25, 23 balls, 4x4s, Zia-ul-Haq 3-23, Kamran Sajid 3-37, Shoaib Malik 2-33) Result: Pakistan International won by 36 runs.

Toss: Habib Bank; Umpires: Zameer Haider & Riazuddin, Tv Umpire: Nadeem Ghouri, Referee: Muhammad Anees, Scorer: Abdul Hameed.

Colony Sugar defeat Diamond Paints LAhOre sTAFF REPoRT

Colony Sugar defeated Diamond Paints/Hataff in the Faysal Bank Polo Tournament 2012 here at the LPC ground on Wednesday.

Despite having one and a half goal advantage Daimond Paints/Hataff could score another four goals only to go down to Colony Sugar which relied on Saqib Khan Khakwani who scored five of the seven goals of his team.

Sameer Habib Obeori and Mustafa Monnoo shared one goal each for Colony Sugar while the losing side had their share of goals from Maj Omer Minhas, Sufi Muhammad Haris and Hassan Ali Farrukh.

KESC, Krl in Challenge Cup final LAhOre sTAFF REPoRT

KeSC and KRL have reached the final of the KPT National Football Challenge Cup-2012, Karachi on Wednesday.

In the first semi-final, KRL beat Navy 1-0 at the KPT Football Stadium and the all important goal of the match was scored by forward Kaleem Ullah in the 17 Minute.

In the second semi-final, KeSC beat WAPDA by three goals which came from their forward Muhammad Rasool in the 46, 86, 89 minutes of the match.

Wheel Chair Marathon on 25th LAhOre sTAFF REPoRT

The Punjab Olympics Association in collaboration with the Punjab Paralympics Association is holding a Wheel Chair Marathon Race on March 25.

Addressing a press conference here, PbOA secretary Idris Haider Khawaja informed that the race will start from Liberty roundabout and terminate at the same venue after taking a u-turn from Main Market signal and the winners of the top positions will be awarded Rs 100,000.

Speaking on the occasion Paralympics president Dr Khalid Jamil said that in Paralympics Games Wheel Chair Race is a Queen of events and is a competitive sport. President PbOA Syed Shahid Ali is the sponsor of the event in which three diffeent kind of races will be held, said Azmat, secretary paralymics, said that competitions will be held among spine disabled, polio disabled, tricycle and ladies race. “The male competitors will race in three kilometers while for ladies there will be one and a half kilometer distance,” he said and added that around 200 people have confirmed their participation.

afghanistan, Namibia reach t20 finals DUBAI AFP

lahorE: the PIa team with PCB Coo Subhan ahmed and Director Domestic Cricket Zakir Khan after winning the National oDI Cup. STaff pHOTO

Favourites Afghanistan and seventhseed Namibia have reached the first final of the ICC World Twenty20 qualifying tournament after topping their groups. Both sides were unbeaten over seven matches in the competition in the United Arab emirates, in which two places are up for grabs for the World Twenty20 series in Sri Lanka later this year. Afghanistan beat Bermuda by 15 runs, while Namibia won by 27 runs against Italy.

Group A leaders Afghanistan batted first and reached 177 for five, with Mohammad Shahzad unbeaten on 64. Asghar Stanikzai (26), Mohammad Nabi (22) and Karim Sadiq (22) also chipped in with the bat.

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aussie javelin star’s olympics in doubt sYDNeY AFP

Australian javelin thrower Jarrod Bannister's chances of competing at the London Olympics were thrown into jeopardy Wednesday after he was reportedly charged with driving offences.

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) and Athletics Australia said they were considering the Commonwealth Games champion's conduct. "Athletics Australia is aware that Jarrod Bannister is currently part of an ongoing court case in relation to driving offences," the organisation said in a statement. "We are currently seeking to gather all necessary information in order to undertake an internal investigation, in light of his breach of his Athletics Australia athlete contract." Bannister, who has been selected to represent Australia at the London Olympics, faced court last week on five charges, including drink-driving and driving without a licence, Australian Associated Press reported. Under the Australian Olympic Committee's agreement with athletes, they must not engage in conduct which brings their sport into disrepute or be charged with serious offences involving alcohol. "The AOC selection committee will consider his conduct," the AOC's media director Mike Tancred said. "He has done the right thing by making a disclosure; he's been open and honest with us."

Ju-Jitsu coaching camp LAhOre sTAFF REPoRT

The Sindh Ju-Jitsu Association is organizing a two-day All Sindh Ju-Jitsu coaching camp and technical official course from March 24 to 25. The course is being organized on the directions of Sindh Ju-Jitsu Association Secretary Zulfiqar Ali. The camp and technical official course will be conducted under the auspices of the Sindh Ju-Jitsu Association and Dist Hyderabad Ju-Jujitsu Association at the Hyderabad Sports Board Hall. Syed Rahat Ali Shah (Assistant Director Sports Sindh) will inaugurate the program on March 24 at 11 am. As many as 20 coaches from all the eight districts will participate in the program to learn and improve their coaching techniques & Referee Rules. Tariq Ali (National Coach & Referee) will supervise this camp and Tec Official Corse and Muhammad Ammar as a Coach.

lahorE: Moied Javeed, Mobilink's Director Marketing (Jazz) with tariq hakim, general Manager Marketing PCB, after Jazz's partnership for the Super 8 t-20 Cup 2011-12.

DHAKA: Pakistani cricketers stretch during a team training session at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. AfP

US Pga season to national hockey trials today start in october LAhOre

sTAFF REPoRT

The trials to select the final lineup of the junior hockey team to play test match series against Malaysian and Korean junior hockey teams (from April 4 to 13) will be held at National Hockey Stadium Lahore on Thursday (March 22) at 2.30 pm.

The trials will be observed by the National Selection Committee comprising Abdul Hanif Khan, Arshad Ali Chawdhry and Khalid Bashir.

The training camp of national senior probables preparing for participation in the Tri-Nation Hockey Tournament (India, Malaysia and Pakistan) to be played at National Hockey Stadium Lahore from April 9 to 13 and 21st Sultan Azlan Shah Cup to be played in Ipoh from May 24 to June 3 on March 25. The Pakistan Hockey Federation has called the team and the officials for the training camp:OFFICIALS: Akhtar Rasool Chaudhary (Manager/Head Coach), Mr. K. m. Junaid (Coach), M/s. Shahid Ali

from 2013 OrLANDO AFP

Khan & Ajmal Khan Lodhi (Assistant Coaches), Mr. Faiz-ur-Rehman (Physio) and Mr. Nadeem Khan Lodhi (video-Analyst).

PLAYeRS: Imran Butt & Imran Shah (GKs), Sohail Abbas, Kashif Shah, Ihsan Ullah Khan, Muhammad Irfan & Amir Shahzad (Fullbacks), Muhammad Rizwan Junior, Fareed Ahmed, Rashid Mehmood, Muham-

mad Tousiq and Ammad Shakeel Butt (Halves), Waqas Sharif, Abdul Haseem Khan, Muhammad Rizwan Senior, Muhammad Zubair, Ali Shan, Shafqat Rasool, Muhammad Umar Bhutta and Shabbir Khan (Forwards).

About 4-5 more players from junior string will be included in the camp after approval from national selection committee.

Pak team named for Asia Baseball Cup LAhOre sTAFF REPoRT

The Pakistan Federation Baseball has announced an 18-member team for the 10th West-Asia Baseball Cup to be held at the Punjab Stadium here from March 23 to 28. Meanwhile, the Iran team has also reached Lahore on Wednesday to take part in the event in which Sri Lanka and Afghanistan are also the participants, besides Pakistan.

The team was selected from the 32

probables, who have been imparting training from Korean coach Hwang Hoon Dong since March 1 at the Iqbal Stadium here.

Catcher Imtiaz Ali has been named as captain of the Pakistan team. Arif Ali and Nisar Ahmad, two former international baseball players are appointed as coaches to work with Dong Head Coach Assistant Manager Maj Umer and Manager team Khawar Shah.

The team has five pitchers namely Ihsanullah, Muhammad Usman, Mo-

hammad Asif, Israr Ahmed, Tauseef Ahmed. Batters are Arshad Ali Khan, Nasir Nadeem Butt, Arslan Jamshed, Mussadiq Hanif, Muhammad Iftikhar, Muhammad Arif, Muhammad Usman, Muhammad Farooq Khan, Muhammad Asif Mushtaq, Imtiaz Ali and Sumair Zawar. Two catchers are Umair Bhatti and Arif Hussain.

Meanwhile, the PFB has made changes in the draws of the event after the arrival of Sri Lankan team was delayed. earlier, Pakistan had to face Sri

Lanka in the opener. But now Iran will be playing against Pakistan in the opening match on March 23. Both Sri Lanka and Afghanistan are scheduled to reach Lahore late on Thursday night.

REVIsED DRAWs March 23: Pakistan vs Iran.

March 24: Pakistan vs Afghanistan.

March 25: Sri Lanka vs Iran.

March 26: Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan.

March 27: Afghanistan vs Iran.

March 28: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka.

The US PGA Tour will start its season in October beginning in 2013 and tweak qualifying methods for players as a result, US PGA commissioner Tim Finchem announced on Tuesday. The 2013-2014 campaign will open in October of next year and conclude with the 2014 Tour Championship, the final event of the tour's playoff series, after approval of a restructuring plan by the tour's policy board. Currently, there are several events played over the few weeks after the Tour Championship designed at players trying to crack the season's top 125 on the money list to earn playing rights for the following year. It was one of those events at Disney World last October where current World No. 1 Luke Donald of england won to become the first player to capture the US and european tour money titles in the same season.

Those events now will mark the start of the new season although, coming so soon after the playoff finish, they are unlikely to attract large numbers of top players, who will likely take a break before resuming tour competition. Under the changes to the US PGA qualifying system, 50 tour membership cards will now be awarded through the developmental Nationwide Tour, whose final three events will combine US PGA and Nationwide players in a quest to claim the prized berths in the upcoming PGA season. As a result, the annual qualifying tournament staged in December will be played for spots on the Nationwide Tour rather than the US PGA Tour as it is currently. "We are excited to announce these significant changes as we strongly believe that they will strengthen both (US) tours," Finchem said.

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Serena looks for sixth Masters title MIAMI

AGENCIEs

PTV Asia Cup: Bangladesh V Pakistan 01:00PM

oneasia season gets under way in Indonesia JAkArTA

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eReNA Williams heads to the Miami Masters this week, returning to the WTA Tour for the first time in two months as she looks to win a sixth Sony ericsson Open title. Serena has only played two tournaments in 2012 (including suffering a surprise fourth round defeat at the Australian Open to ekaterina Makarova), but she is still second favourite with bookmakers to win in Miami yet again. Williams has made the final of the Miami Masters no fewer than seven times in her career, winning five of those finals.

The American has a decent draw this week which will give her time to shake off rust and work her way into the competition ahead of a potential US Open final rematch against Samantha Stosur in the fourth round. Serena will be pretty pumped up for that possible clash and given that Stosur has not been in good form this year, she'll have a great chance of advancing to the quarter-finals, where from that stage onwards it's anyone's game. Serena is 9/4 with bookmakers bet365 to reach the final, and she's in the right half of the draw to do that. She could face Maria Sharapova in the semifinals, but she would be relatively confident given that she leads on the head-to-head, plus Sharapova hardly relishes those encounters and is prone to disintegrating against players

wAtCh It LIve

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willing to take on her second serve.

CHINA'S ZHANG PUTS HERSELF IN SERENA'S PATH: Serena Williams, a 13-time Grand Slam champion who has not played a WTA event since a fourth-round Australian Open loss, will face China's Zhang Shuai in her first match at the WTA Miami hardcourt event. Five-time Miami winner Williams, the 10th seed on the women's side of the $9.6 million event played in conjunction with an ATP tournament, learned her opponent on Tuesday after the start of play in the two-week event. Zhang rallied to eliminate Britain's elena Baltacha 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-2 in an openinground match to book a date with former World No. 1 Williams, who has been sidelined with a sprained ankle.

Thailand golfer Thaworn Wiratchant downplayed hopes of a second successive Indonesian Open title Wednesday, saying he would be happy with a top 20 finish in the first event of the OneAsia season. The Thai star, noted for his unorthodox swing, begins his defence of the enjoy Jakarta Indonesia Open at the emeralda Golf Club on Thursday and expects the course to provide a stiff challenge. "It is very difficult," Thaworn said on the eve of the tournament in quotes released by the organisers. "The conditions are very tough. You have to play very well to win here," adding that he would settle for a top 20 spot come Sunday evening. Thaworn, who won the title by a single shot last year, faces strong competition from a contingent of Japanese players, including Shingo Katayama, who has won 26 titles and notched up $20 million in career earnings. Katayama said staying out of the heavy rough would be the key to success this week. "very hard. You must stay on the fairway or you are in trouble," he explained. Local favourite Rory Hie, who finished tied for second last year, said he was trying to think positively ahead of the tournament after a bogey on the final hole in 2011 cost him a chance of victory. "I have learnt from that and I am looking ahead now," he said. "I am focused on what needs to be done and I think I have grown as a player." The $1 million tournament is the richest on Indonesia's sporting calendar and is one of 14 events on the OneAsia schedule, which has a total purse of $16 million. The OneAsia circuit was established in 2009 as a joint venture between the PGA Tour of Australasia, the China Golf Association, the Korean Golf Association and the Korean PGA.

Tiger plays at par for last-place Tavistock team

OrLANDO AFP

Injury-nagged Tiger Woods fired a par 72 at Lake Nona on Tuesday in the second and final round of the Tavistock Cup exhibition event as his Albany team stumbled to a last-place finish. Nine days after walking off in the last round of a World Golf Championships event at Doral with

a strained left Achilles tendon, Woods made two birdies on the front nine and two bogeys on the back nine playing in the final foursome. Woods birdied the par-5 second and the par-3 fourth and took bogeys at the par-5 11th and par-3 13th in his first stroke-play round since the injury.

He had played in a better-ball format with england's Justin Rose on Monday.

Only one player among the 24 in the field, Albany teammate Luke Donald of england, had a worse round than Woods, shooting a 76. Host Lake Nona won the $2.15 million event featuring four teams of top PGA talent with a 41-under par total score, two strokes ahead of Isleworth with Queenwood third on 31-under and 2011 champion Albany last on 26-under. Health fears abounded over Woods, a 14-time major champion chasing the alltime record 18 majors won by Jack Nicklaus, when he walked off at Doral after hitting his tee shot on the 12th hole. But Woods rested his leg and received medical treatment and said last week he would play in the Tavistock event, the US PGA Arnold Palmer Invitational that begins at Bay Hill on Thursday and at the Masters, which starts April 5. Former World No. 1 Woods has won six titles at Bay Hill in his career. He will tee off on Thursday morning alongside US compatriot Hunter Mahan and ernie els, a three-time major winner who needs a victory to qualify for the Masters. els shared low-round honors on Tuesday at the Tavistock event on five-under 67 along with compatriot Retief Goosen, Australian Robert Allenby, england's Ross Fisher and Denmark's Thomas Bjorn. Last year, Achilles and knee injuries at the Masters kept Woods sidelined for almost four months, keeping him from playing in the US and British Opens. Woods, ranked 18th in the world, has not won any tour-sanctioned event since the 2009 Australian Masters, just before the start of his infamous sex scandal, and has not won a major crown since limping through a playoff to capture the 2008 US Open.

But Woods has been in solid recent form. He won the World Golf Challenge charity event he hosts last December, shared third at Abu Dhabi to open the 2012 season and shared second at the Honda Classic earlier this month after shooting a 62 on Sunday, the best final round of his career.

KEy BISCayNE: alisa Kleybanova of russia in action against Johanna larsson of Sweden during day 2 of the Sony Ericsson open at Crandon Park tennis Center. afp

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Published by Arif Nizami for Nawa Media Corporation (Pvt) Ltd at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore.

Editor: Arif Nizami, Executive Editor: Sarmad Bashir

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