e-paper pakistantoday 11th march, 2012

LHR 11-03-2012_Layout 1 3/11/2012 2:28 AM Page 1

Rs22.00 Vol ii no 253 22 pages

Lahore edition

Sunday, 11 March, 2012 Rabi-ul-Sani 16, 1433

Allies decide to hold polls in March 2013 PPP nominates Nayyer Bukhari for Senate chairman, Sabir Baloch for deputy chairman

g

ISLAMABAD

HERAT: Former Afghan militant commander Basir Nawrouzi (C) is watched by his 16-year-old fiancee Parvana as he hands over his AK47 assault rifle to a government official on Saturday. Nawrouzi surrendered some weapons to the government in order to fulfil conditions set by Parvana who Basir wishes to marry. afP

‘Confused’ PM finds it hard to implement SC’s new orders ISLAMABAD STAFF REPoRT

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani is “confused” about the Supreme Court’s fresh orders on writing a letter to Swiss authorities for reopening corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, saying it was not clear on which case he should write the letter.

“There is confusion in the minds of the people that on which case the order was issued, as there are two separate cases,” he said while talking to a group of

journalists at the Prime Minister’s House. In an hour-long session with the reporters, the premier answered a volley of tough questions in a frank and candid manner, saying he would have to consult his counsel over the SC’s order.

“Aitzaz Ahsan is a competent lawyer and he is representing me in the contempt case, although I don’t think I have committed any contempt,” he said.

Asked whether he would write the letter to implement the court’s new orders, the prime minister said, “This is like putting a cart before the horse. I would only take

any decision after seeking advice from my lawyer.” However, when pressed again whether or not he would implement the court’s order, Gilani said he would “abide by the constitution”. “I am ready to appear before the court once again,” he added. Asked whether his government would give in to the US pressure on Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project, the premier said that “national interest would be kept supreme while taking any decision”.

Continued on page 04

A

MiAN ABRAR

MeeTInG of the ruling coalition partners on Saturday decided in principle to hold the next general elections in March 2013, while endorsing the nomination of nayyer Hussain Bukhari as Senate chairman, and Sabir Baloch from Balochistan as deputy chairman, sources told Pakistan Today.

Sources said the coalition members had decided to hold the elections next year in order to allow the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government achieve its election targets, and go to the masses with some achievements to sell.

“The idea was floated by Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and endorsed by Awami national Party’s (AnP) chief Asfandyar Wali Khan, leaders of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) among others. President Asif Ali Zardari also supported the idea,” sources said, adding that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had opposed the idea initially, but agreed with the majority’s view later.

Sources said the president had told the allies that he would address the joint session of the parliament on March 17, and urged them to come up with their recommendations to be included in his speech. Finally, it was decided that the allies would meet again on March 15 to discuss proposals from the allied parties, sources added.

At a meeting held at the Presidency with Zardari and Gilani, the heads of the coali-

tion parties also deliberated upon a strategy for the next general elections. The meeting was attended by PML-Q President Shujaat Hussain, PML-Q Secretary General Mushahid Hussain Sayed, AnP chief Asfandyar Wali, Senator Afrasiab Khattak, MQM members Senator Babar Ghauri and Senator Tahir Mashhadi, Balochistan national Party-Awami (BnP) chief Senator Mir Israrullah Zehri, Munir Khan Orakzai, and Shaukatullah of the FATA parliamentary group. PPP leaders Khurshid Shah, Senator nayyar Hussain Bukhari, MnA Raja Parvez Ashraf and Presidential Spokesman Farhatullah Babar were present in the meeting.

Zardari welcomed the allied parties to the meeting, and said the PPP wished to nominate Senator nayyer Hussain Bukhari for the slot of the Senate chairman and Senator Sabir Baloch from Balochistan for the slot of Senate deputy chairman.

Continued on page 04

LHR 11-03-2012_Layout 1 3/11/2012 2:28 AM Page 2

02

Sunday, 11 March, 2012

LHR 11-03-2012_Layout 1 3/11/2012 2:28 AM Page 3

Sunday, 11 March 2012

ARt & ENtERtAINMENt

NEwS

Today’s

News 03

Bench and bar together serve the cause of justice: CJP Naseeruddin shoots in Pakistan for indo-Pak director duo

Good step but make it effective.

Humayun Gauhar says: Armageddon: That is what effectively Israel attacking Iran will be…

Saad Rasool says:

Look

Testing judicial mettle: The Asghar Khan case gives the SC many opportunities.

M J Akbar says: UPA in trouble: On Congress’ poor showing in the UP elections.

Articles on Page 12-13

Story on Page 14

Story on Page 06

ISLAMABAD

New spymaster: Will he change the ISI’s MO?

Another commission:

Quick Four groups added to list of banned outfits

CoMMENt

Pak-US ties likely to improve with ISI change

STAFF REPoRT

The Federal Interior Ministry on Saturday banned four religio-political organisations for their involvement in sectarian clashes and terrorism in the country. The banned organisations are Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, formerly known as Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, Shia Talba Tanzeem, Karachi-based People’s Aman Committee, a wing of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), and Tehreek-e-naujawan Ahle-Sunnat, Gilgit.

A senior official of the Interior ministry told Pakistan Today that a notification had been issued to the authorities of all four provinces, including Gilgit and Baltistan. He said that the decision to ban these organisations was taken in the backdrop of the recent terrorist attack in Kohistan that left 18 Shias dead. Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat Chairman Maulana Ahmad Ludhianvi condemned the ban, saying that the government had banned his group at the behest of the USA. He said that for the last six months, Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat had been drawing people’s attention to the country’s defence from the platform of Difa-ePakistan Council, which may have irked Washington.

Judicial Commission approves six judges for LHC ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission on Saturday recommended the names of six new additional judges for appointment at the Lahore High Court (LHC). The Judicial Commission meeting presided over by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry pondered over eight names to fill the vacant seats at the LHC. The commission gave a goahead to the names of Abdus Sami Khan, Ayesha Malik, Shahid Waheed, Baqir Ali najfi, Shujaat Ali and Ibadur Rehman Lodhi Mirza to be appointed as additional judges. The proposal regarding the appointment of Shams Mehmood Mirza was put in abeyance and the name of Shahid Karim was not discussed on recommendation by a subcommittee. The commission recommended Sheikh Ahmed Farooq and Jahangir Arshad to be appointed at the Federal Shariat Court iNP

ISLAMABAD

T

REuTERS

He appointment of a new director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence will create a possible opening for improved US-Pakistan relations after 15 months of tension.

Lieutenant-General Zaheer-ulIslam, who has participated in USbased training programs, will take over as director-general of the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) after serving as the commander of the V Corps, one of the most important in the army and based in Karachi.

“It is very important at this time when the Americans and nATO troops are withdrawing from Afghanistan, it is important to have a professional man running the ISI,” military analyst Talat Masood said.

Islam takes over from Lt Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha, who was appointed in 2008 and oversaw some of the stormiest times in the US-Pakistan relationship. Pasha is scheduled to retire on March 18.

A US official said that during the course of his career, Islam had “traveled to the US to participate in US military sponsored training and international fellowship programs.”

“We would expect General Zahir to continue cooperation with the United States in our mutual fight against terrorism,” the US official said.

As a brigadier, Islam attended the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 2002-2003 and had an academic year of interaction with American military officers, a US military spokesman said. The college is the army’s top educational institution for senior leaders. Analysts say the incoming director-general has held some of the most important posts in the army since his commissioning in 1977, and is seen both inside and outside the military as experienced and professional.

The US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Islam was close to Gen Ashfaq Kayani and said many of his key posts in the army were focused on India. At one point, he was chief of staff of the Army’s Strategic Forces command.

Islam also has previous intelli-

gence experience, the US official said.

From 2008-10, he served as chief of the wing of ISI responsible for Pakistan’s internal security. “(Islam) has the confidence of the people who matter,” Masood said.

“The institution also needed to change; this injects new thinking and energy into the organisation.”

Others, however, believe policy within one of Pakistan’s most powerful institutions will remain unchanged and will still be directed by Kayani, the Army chief of army staff.

“The role of the ISI does not necessarily depend on an individual, but it’s a policy that is designed primarily by the army chief. I think there will be continuity of policy”, said political analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi. either way, the appointment may be an opportunity to set a new tone in the often tense dialogue between Pakistan and the United States.

“The new person can make a new beginning because he doesn’t have the baggage of problems with the US,” Rizvi said. “So in a way, this can facilitate the improvement of the relationship.”

analyst claims new ISI chief’s link with Shah Rukh Khan NEW DELHI iNP

Pakistan’s new ISI chief, Lt Gen Zaheerul-Islam, is the nephew of Indian national Army hero Shah nawaz Khan and through him, shares a tenuous link with Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, defence analyst Ikram Sehgal has said.

Sehgal said that Islam’s father served as a brigadier in the Pakistan Army and Shah nawaz Khan, who was a major general in the InA led by Subhas Chandra Bose, was his uncle.

The Inter-Services Public Relations has however rejected the report that Islam has any relation with Shahrukh Khan. “One son of Shah nawaz Khan went with him at the time of Partition, while another, Mahmood nawaz, stayed on in Pakistan and became a full colonel.

In fact, Mahmood nawaz went and met his father only after retirement as he could not travel to India while he was in service,” Sehgal said, providing details of the new ISI chief’s extended family.

Shah Rukh Khan’s late mother La-

Cambridge elects its first Pakistani president of graduate union ISLAMABAD APP

A Pakistani student from Faisalabad has been elected as the president of Cambridge University Graduate Union.

Arsalan Ghani will lead the student union representing 12,000 MA, M Phil and PhD students studying at Cambridge University. It is a sabbatical position, meaning that Arsalan will have to intermit his studies and take a full time role as the president of union offices. In over 800 years of Cambridge’s history, this is the first time that a Pakistani student has been elected as the president of the Graduate Union. Arsalan did his bachelors from the national Textile University, Faisalabad and completed his masters in Belgium. He is doing his PhD in manufacturing policy from Cambridge.

NEPRA increases tariffs of 6 IPPs ISLAMABAD iNP

The national electric Power Regulatory Authority (nePRA) on Saturday increased the power tariff of six IPPs in view of increase in the prices of furnace oil. The increase had been allowed from 52 paisa to 83 paisa per unit.

Man throws acid on wife VEHARI APP

teef Fatima was the adopted daughter of Shah nawaz Khan, according to the Bollywood star’s biography on several websites.

It could not immediately be ascertained whether Islam had ever met Shah nawaz Khan, who died in 1983.

Shah nawaz Khan was himself born at Kahuta and served in the British Indian Army during World War II. He was captured when Japanese troops overran

Singapore in 1942 and then joined the InA. He subsequently fought alongside Japanese forces against the British in Burma (now Myanmar).

Shah nawaz Khan was captured by the British and put on trial with other InA officers in 1946. They were convicted for treason but were discharged due to intense pressure from the public.

He later joined the Congress party and was elected to the Lok Sabha four times.

A man threw acid on his wife, inflicting burn injuries on the face and other parts of her body, over a family dispute in Chak 9/11 WB on Saturday. According to Rescue 1122 officials, Firdous Bibi, resident of Chak no 9/11 WB had a dispute with her husband Intezar Ahmed over some family issues. On Saturday, Intezar Ahmed, along with his two brothers Muhammad Sarwar and Iftekhar, sister Yasmeen, cousin Pappu, Manzoor Ahmed and Menhdi Bibi, threw acid at his wife after an exchange of harsh words. The woman received burn injuries on her face and other parts of the body.

Rescue 1122 officials reached the spot and shifted her to District Headquarters Hospital, Vehari. The acid victim was then referred to nishtar Hospital because of her precarious condition.

LHR 11-03-2012_Layout 1 3/11/2012 2:28 AM Page 4

04 News

Sunday, 11 March, 2012

Oscar lady calls for laws regulating acid trade KARACHI

disease and not a part of culture,” she remarked.

At the press conference, the award-winning director was flanked by the film’s coproducer Fazeelat Aslam and cameraman Asad Faruqi Lauding the country’s women parliamentarians for playing an instrumental role in promulgating the women protection bill, the filmmaker vowed to launch a countrywide campaign to create awareness about women rights, relevant laws for the protection of women and the respective punishments therein to deter the male-dominated society in Pakistan from creating more Zakyas and Rukhsanas, the victims of acid burns filmed in her documentary.

She said the campaign would include distribution of pamphlets inscribed with harsh penalties like life imprisonment for acid throwing, enacted in the recently-passed women’s bill by the parliament.

Recalling her “incredible feelings” at the Academy Awards function, Chinoy said “you can’t remember what you say during that 45seocond speech”.

About the Winners Walk, she said all the Oscar

winners pass through a room and when the door is opened no one is able to see but the cameras flash as journalists and photographers from across the globe are there to cover the event.

On the awards day, the director said that the award winners are entitled to enter any event across Los Angeles without having an entry pass. “You show [them] the Oscar and they allow you entry; it’s your entry pass,” she recalled.

Chinoy told the media that she, along with her husband Fahad Chinoy and coproducer Junge, was sitting in the 16th row from the stage and despite hearing the words “Saving Face”, was not able to stand up until she saw Junge stepping down the stairs. “It was the most incredible feeling ever.”

About the film, she said the documentary took 15 months to be completed, shot in Rawalpindi, Karachi and the Seraiki belt of Southern Punjab. “The theme of Saving Face was to show that Pakistan can solve its social problems and is looking for solutions to its problems,” she added.

“The short film will be

aired by the Channel 4 in April following which, we would be dubbing it in Urdu and Seraiki languages to be broadcasted by the Pakistani channels,” said Chinoy.

Asked for comments on the impression attributing her win to her close relations with “westerners”, the filmmaker said that the jury members of the academy are not accessible as their names are never disclosed. “I got an Oscar because my work deserved it”.

On claims of some critiques saying the film had maligned the image of Pakistan worldwide, she said it was impossible to please everybody at the same time.

“I tend to concentrate only on those who support me.”

She also rejected the view that her winning the Oscar was due to the very nature of her topic of acid burn, which the West is more interested in.

Preparing for developing more films, one with the Un peacekeepers and another in China, the filmmaker also intends to soon launch at least two documentary series, one on children animation, being prepared by her firm, SOC Films, for local television channels.

The president urged the coalition partners to support the PPP in electing its nominees for the offices of Senate chairman and deputy chairman for which elections would be held on March 12.

All the allied parties attend-

ing the meeting endorsed the president’s suggestion, assuring him of their support for PPP’s nominees. They also congratulated Bukhari on being nominated for the post of Senate chairman.

The allied leaders also expressed the hope that both

Bukhari and Baloch would be elected unopposed as chairman and deputy chairman of the Upper House respectively.

The president thanked the allied parties for endorsing the PPP nominees. Senator Bukhari also thanked

Zardari for nominating him to the slot of Senate chairman and all the allied parties for endorsing his nomination. He said he would discharge his responsibilities to the best of his abilities and in the best parliamentary traditions.

was being finalised to improve security situation in the restive province.

About reaching an ‘understanding’ with Pakistan Muslim League-nawaz (PML-n) chief nawaz Sharif, Gilani said he used to develop understanding with nawaz and Opposition Leader in national Assembly Chauhdry nisar on national issues.

“We would also reach an understanding on the accountability bill like other major issues. My government has never victimised anyone and I placed nAB (national Accountability Bureau) under the Law Ministry to ensure that no one is victimised,” he added.

When asked to comment on the nature of role Afghan

President Hamid Karzai expected from Pakistan in talks with the Taliban, Gilani said the Afghan president felt that Pakistan had influence over some Afghan militant groups who had fought against the Soviet invasion.

“We are ready to assist in an Afghan-led and Afghanowned peace initiative and this commitment is not new.

Others would soon leave the region, but we have to stay as we are neighbours,” he said.

Recalling his first interaction with former US president George Bush, Gilani recounted that he had asserted his party’s “3D policy” of “deterrence, dialogue and development”. However, he added, the US president had laughed it off, thinking it was a Greek

proverb. “now the US itself is talking with the Taliban,” Gilani said.

He also rubbished the assertion that Pakistan had some agreement with the US government for drone attacks.

He said the Mehran Bank scandal should have been heard by the apex court decades ago. “However, it’s better late than never. We leave it to the judiciary to decide the case as the matter is sub-judice,” he said.

Gilani did not give a specific response to repeated questions about the next general elections, saying the decision would be made after consulting the coalition partners.

“The election date would be announced by the govern-

ment rather than the chief justice,” he said, adding that the 20th Amendment had cut the powers of the president and the chief justice in naming the next caretaker government. “now the leader of the house and the leader of the opposition would name the caretakers,” he added.

About Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan’s criticism against the 20th Amendment, the prime minister said that Imran Khan should be happy to know that the president would not name the caretaker government.

When asked if he feared the rising popularity of the PTI, Gilani said Imran Khan was his “favourite” so there was no reason for him to be afraid of his popularity.

iSMAiL DiLAWAR

O

SWAT: Skiiers and paragliders display their skills during the final day of the snow festival at Malam Jabba on Saturday. ONLINE

Canal road party afghan fM to visit leads to 3-hour Qatar for Taliban talks traffic stagnation KABUL AFP

The Afghan foreign minister will visit Qatar in the “near future” for peace discussions with the Taliban, his spokesman told AFP Saturday.

Zalmay Rassoul will visit Qatar in “the near future on the invitation of the Qatari government”, his spokesman Janan Mosazi said.

The minister will hold talks on the relationship between the nations and also “discuss the Afghan peace process,” including “the idea of establishing an office... in Qatar to facilitate the peace process,” Mosazi said.

The Taliban, ousted in late 2001 by a US-led coalition, have been fighting a decade-long guerilla war against Western forces in Afghanistan.

But in January they announced their intention to

open an office in Qatar to hold talks with the US. The Afghan government has supported the idea, as it seeks to avoid being marginalised from negotiations.

The US has repeatedly reassured Kabul of its role in any talks.

The Taliban demand the release of imprisoned members from US-custody in Guantanamo Bay before sitting down to any negotiations, but Washington says they must first renounce violence before discussing prisoner amnesties.

“The Afghan government has agreed to the transfer of Afghan detainees from Guantanamo to their families if that’s what the detainees desire,” said Mosazai.

Twenty Afghans, including five officers of the former Taliban regime, are being held in the US-leased naval base at Guantanamo.

LAHORE STAFF REPoRT

Vehicles remained stuck owing to a massive traffic jam on Canal Road late on Saturday evening, causing problems for citizens including many VIP personalities. The traffic mess started building up on both sides of road from Dharampura to Mall Road at around 7pm and soon it reached to the extent where movement seemed to have almost ceased. Around 10pm, the queue of stagnant vehicles extended till Jail Road.

According to traffic police, the jam was caused by heavy VIP movement on the canal due to a party at a club located on the Canal Road. Several high profile personalities of political, bureaucratic and journalistic circles were invited to the party which was hosted by a famous TV anchor.

SCAR-WInn I n G director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy on Saturday called on the government to promulgate effective laws to regulate the purchase and sale of acid to curb its use in violence against the women in the country.

“The law [on sale of acid] should be such where the buyer should have a licence to purchase acid. These laws already exist and have been immensely helpful in Bangladesh,” she told a wellattended press briefing, organised on her return from Los Angeles, US, where she, along with Daniel Junge, won the Academy Award for directing a short documentary film “Saving Face”.

Chinoy said that in Bangladesh, incidents of acid-throwing on women were double than that taking place in Pakistan but concerted efforts by the government, media and civil society to ensure strict implementation of laws had reduced the number of such violent happenings by 25 percent.

“Burning women by acid is a

allies decide Continued fRoM page 1

‘Confused’ PM Continued fRoM page 1 “Iran and Pakistan are sovereign countries. We do have bilateral ties, and Iran also has ties with other states. no sanctions have been imposed by the United nations. Despite media statements, the US government has not taken up the matter with Pakistan,” he added.

Gilani said his party was in touch with coalition partners for amending the constitution for Saraiki province, but that some individuals were demanding other provinces to confuse the cause of Saraiki province.

When asked about a cabinet reshuffle, Gilani said the possibility could not be ruled out. He said he would also change top men in the bleeding public service enterprises (PSes).

About holding a joint session of the parliament to discuss the recommendations compiled by the Parliamentary Committee on national Security on new terms of engagement with the US, the prime minister said it would be held in a matter of days, and soon after the joint session of March 17 which would be addressed by President Zardari, another joint session of the parliament would be summoned to discuss the new terms of engagements with

the US. “You know that true friendship starts after a quarrel. The new terms of engagement with the US after the parliament’s nod would help build mutual confidence and trust. Previously, both the nations were interacting on adhoc basis and this was the reason there was lack of confidence which was a major hurdle (in good relations),” he added.

Asked if Pakistan had set a precondition for the US government to offer apology for attacking Salala check post, Gilani said no such demand was ever made. “This is not the government of an individual who wore four caps (sic) but had fallen on a mere phone call by (US) under-secretary,” said Gilani in an apparent reference to General (r) Pervez Musharraf without mentioning his name. He said that he had never acted in that manner, and had conveyed Pakistan’s concerns to the US diplomatically and in a decent manner.

Terming terrorism and energy crisis as the biggest challenges his government had faced in the past four years, the prime minister asserted that several constitutional amendments were his biggest success as he had revived the 1973 Constitution in its original shape.

About the government’s failure in convening an All Parties Conference (APC) on Balochistan issue, the premier said that he had decided to respect the mandate given to the elected representatives by the people of Balochistan.

“I had to consult with the Balochistan chief minister and seek his recommendations to improve the law and order condition, which was the biggest challenge in talks with the dissident Baloch leaders who want to settle the issue of recovery of mutilated bodies as precondition. now this is a provincial matter,” he said.

He said the Balochistan chief minister wanted that all the federal law enforcement agencies should work on his recommendations. “I have held talks with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, the army chief and the DG-ISI. All necessary steps would be taken and I would direct the law enforces to assist the chief minister in improving law and order,” he added.

Terming all Baloch leaders as patriotic, Gilani said those who were killing settlers in Balochistan, including Punjabis and Saraikis, were some “other elements”.

“We cannot rule out the involvement of foreign hand in Balochistan unrest,” he said, adding that a mechanism

LHR 11-03-2012_Layout 1 3/11/2012 2:29 AM Page 5

Sunday, 11 March, 2012

05

LHR 11-03-2012_Layout 1 3/11/2012 2:29 AM Page 6

06 News

Sunday, 11 March, 2012

Malik announces operation in GB

GILGIT NNi

BAHAWALPuR: Family members of a police torture victim block the road in front of the District Police office on Saturday. INP

Bench and bar together serve the cause of justice: CJP g

Chief justice welcomes 55 new advocates of Supreme Court ISLAMABAD

C

iNP

HIeF Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has said that the nexus between the bench and the bar is very strong and the mutual aim of both is administration of justice.

“People reposed confidence in judiciary and it is incumbent upon us to ensure justice to them at their doorsteps. Further judges are also appointed with care and caution so that they may discharge their constitutional duty in free and fair manner,” the CJP said on Saturday, while addressing the participants of the 21st Roll Signing Ceremony of newly enrolled advocates of the Supreme

Court.

The ceremony was held in the Supreme Court Building in which 55 new advocates (07 from Rawalpindi/Islamabad, 22 from Punjab, 10 from Quetta, two from Sindh, and 14 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) were enrolled as advocates of the Supreme Court.

“Indeed it is an important milestone in your career to be enrolled as an advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Henceforth you would be in position to share more responsibility than usual as you have been appearing before the courts for long period.

“I know all of you and recognise your ability and talent. You deserve enrolment as advocate of Supreme Court, and I congratulate all of you on behalf of the Supreme Court and on

JUI-S chief launches anti-polio drive by giving drops to grandson PESHAWAR STAFF REPoRT

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) chief Sami-ul-Haq inaugurated the polio vaccination campaign at a famous religious seminary on Saturday by administering polio drops to his six-month-old grandson.

Sami, who also chairs the Pakistan Defence Council, has been a vocal critic of polio immunisation in the past.

The launch ceremony was attended by nowshera District Coordination Officer (DCO) Mohammad Ayaz Mandokhel, former parliamentarian Hamid-ul-Haq Haqani, representatives of the World Health Organisation (WHO), United nations Children’s Fund (UnICeF), government officials and a large number of

teachers and students of the seminary.

While launching the campaign at Jamia Haqqania, Sami said human life was precisions and it was the responsibility of all Muslims to take care of their children’s health. He said some people had doubts about the polio vaccine, but decrees by religious scholars in favour of the vaccine had cleared those misconceptions.

He urged the people to come forward and help the country rid itself of the crippling disease. He assured of his seminary’s full cooperation in eradicating polio virus from the country. He also asked the seminary students and teachers to educate the people about the polio disease and help in its eradication. He lauded the efforts of health authorities in eliminating the deadly virus from Pakistan.

my own behalf for signing roll as Advocate Supreme Court of Pakistan.

After getting the enrolment in Supreme Court you have to work hard specialising in the area of your choice to appear before the court to assist the bench regarding the interpretation of the constitution”, the chief justice said.

“The responsibility of judges and members of the bar is to interpret the constitution. To decide case is an onerous duty and you have to fully assist the bench to accomplish this task.

Without able assistance of you, it would be difficult for bench to decide case in a befitting manner,” he added. earlier, Dr Faqir Hussain, registrar of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, welcomed the newly enrolled advocates of the Supreme Court.

Kidnapped student found dead in fields DASKA STAFF REPoRT

A 16-year-old student, who was abducted for a ransom of Rs 1.5 million, was found dead in the fields near Lurkhiki village in the precincts of Saddar Police Station, Daska.

Manzar Ali, a resident of Moman Kalan, was reportedly going home on a bus after attending the Government Technical College when he received a call on his mobile phone. He got off the bus near Kotli Behram and went missing. Later, his family received a phone call from Manzar’s kidnappers who demanded Rs 1.5 million for his release.

Manzar’s family reported the matter to the police, which started investigations, and found Manzar’s body in the fields. The police sent the body to a hospital for autopsy.

Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Saturday said that a large scale operation would be launched in parts of GilgitBaltistan to maintain law and order in the region. Chairing a meeting to review law and order situation in Gilgit-Baltistan, Malik said that investigation teams have tracked down the elements involved in the brutal killing of at least 18 Shias in Kohistan on February 29.

He said that five suspects involved in the massacre were arrested by the law enforcement agencies, adding that foreign elements were also involved the incident.

Malik said that no one would be allowed to play with the law and order of the region and he was in constant touch with the GilgitBaltistan chief minister as part of government efforts to bring peace.

PML-N not interested in alliance with JI, says Munawar OKARA: Jamaat-e-Islami chief Syed Munawar Hasan has said that the Pakistan Muslim Leaguenawaz (PML-n) has not shown keen interest in making an alliance with his party but the JI was in contact with all parties in this regard. Talking to members of Okara Press Club on the telephone on Saturday, Munawar said that a way out could have been found if nawaz Sharif had convened another meeting of the opposition parties. He accused the PML-n of supporting the government on the 20th Constitutional Amendment. Munawar said that the issue of distribution of money by the ISI among the political parties was in the Supreme Court and the court’s verdict in this regard should be implemented, whatever it may be. iNP

LHR 11-03-2012_Layout 1 3/11/2012 2:29 AM Page 7

Sunday, 11 March, 2012

Spreading the ‘Yellow Cab Scheme’

No shuffling on the cards… not yet anyway Firdous Awan says party leadership would decide Senate’s fate g wants Shahbaz Sharif to appear before SC after Mehran Bank episode g Conveniently sidesteps question about Babar Awan

PAGE 07

Dengue strikes again: first patient tests positive for virus LAHORE STAFF REPoRT

g

LAHORE

F

iMRAN ADNAN

eDeRAL Minister for Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan has denied that reshuffling or change of Federal Cabinet is not on the cards. She did, however, add that it was the democratic right of the prime minister, party and its collation partners.

She was speaking to the media after inaugurating a construction and building materials exhibition, ‘Build Pakistan 2012’, here at Lahore expo Centre on Saturday. She said the party leadership would decide the fate of the cabinet in greater national interest after deliberating with coalition partners. However, the first preference was to administer oath-taking of the newly elected senators and elections of deputy and chairman of the Senate, she added.

Speaking about the Mehran Bank scandal case, she said that the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP)

was hearing the ‘historic case’, in which former Mehran Bank President Younis Habib had unveiled sensational revelations. He had disclosed the names of several sacred cows, who always tried to voluntarily offer their cooperation to the apex court in almost every case, she added. Considering the proceedings of recent hearings, she said, “I appeal to the so-called democracy champions to appear before the court for accountability and maintain their tradition to cooperate with the Supreme Court.”

Firdous stressed that they should give their clarifications to the apex court instead of the media and avail the opportunity to make history by presenting them before the court. She further said that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) expects the SC to do justice by assigning responsibility and giving exemplary punishment to all those elements who had robbed the national exchequer for their self seeking interests. She said that those elements were responsible for toppling the government of

Benazir Bhutto Shaheed.

The federal minister underscored, former Mehran Bank President Younis Habib had revealed that former Presidency’s Political Cell In-Charge Rudad Khan had had pressurised Fozi Ali Kazmi and himself for making fake cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. She said that history had proved that these so-called champions of democracy had always tried to hatch conspiracies against PPP for deviating it from the democratic path. She demanded the SCP to include Rudad Khan and his political aides in the investigation.

She said that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who claimed himself to be one of these ‘champions of democracy’, always made tall claims of good governance and criticised Zardari.; but the time had come for him to present himself before the court for accountability and prove that he was a truly democratic leader.

Responding to a question, the federal minister said that it fell

under the category of treason to send elected government packing.

All institutions, including military, ISI and political parties, role should be defined to resolve this issue once for all otherwise, similar cases would keep coming before the nation, she maintained.

She said that PPP wanted to remain live in the history of the country and that it did not believe in day-to-day headlines. Historians would definitely recognise the struggle of PPP for restoring democracy in the country, she added.

She sidestepped the question related to Babar Awan by stating that she did not want to comment on the issue as it was a constitutional and legal matter. Responding to a question, she said that the public had given mandate to PPP for five years and her party would not take part in any activity to ruin the public mandate. She pointed out that the election commission still required some time to complete the voter lists otherwise free and fair elections would not be possible.

Firdous, where’s the proof?

LAHORE: A PML-n leader and Special Assistant to CM Punjab, Senator Pervaiz Rashid has said that those leveling allegations against Muslim League leadership should back the allegations with proofs. He said that they neither feared accountability earlier nor would they hesitate to appear before the courts in the future.

While commenting on the talk of Federal Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan with media, Senator Pervaiz Rashid said that Firdous Ashiq Awan should not save the “don” sitting in the presidency, who had deposited national wealth in Swiss banks. He advised Firdous Ashiq Awan to worry about the defence of the president house instead of leveling accusations against Shahbaz Sharif. He said that facts could not be changed by drawing conclusions on baseless allegations and added that nawaz Sharif had exposed Mehran Gate scam of Younis Habib in 1993 when he had gone to Choti Zereen along with the national media and identified the barren land against which a huge amount had had been taken as a loan.

Senator Pervaiz Rashid advised the federal information minister to correct her record and check the rampant corruption being committed in the President House instead of leveling allegations against Shahbaz Sharif. He said that as far as accountability was concerned, PPP presented the guard of honour to a dictator who could not prove irregularity of even a single penny against the Mian Brothers despite all their endeavours for 10 years. STAFF REPoRT

The first case of the dengue virus was reported on Saturday in the provincial capital confirming the presence of the virus in city despite the claims of the provincial government. According to details, a youth was confirmed to have contracted the dengue fever after his nS-1 test reports came out to be positive.

Recently, the emergence of suspected dengue cases had made headlines but the government had refused to acknowledge the cases, saying that the patients’ nS-1 tests were not positive. However, 22-year-old Abdullah a resident of the Abdalian Society was confirmed to have contracted the dengue virus after a private laboratory confirmed his nS-1 test reports to be positive. The Punjab Health Department also confirmed the patient as the first official dengue case in the province during the current year. Despite the Punjab government’s efforts, the city is yet to be dengue-free. The health department has been issuing reports that the presence of the dengue carrier mosquito was not detected in the samples taken from different parts of city. The government’s official dengue advisory committee recently changed the criteria for the confirmation of the dengue fever, setting the nS-1 test as compulsory confirmatory test.

LHR 11-03-2012_Layout 1 3/11/2012 2:29 AM Page 8

08 Lahore

Sunday, 11 March, 2012

wEAtHER UPDAtES

25 °C High 13Low0C

PARtLY CLoUDY

MoNDAY

tUESDAY wEDNESDAY

27°C I 12°C

25°C I 12°C

26°C I 13°C

PRAYER tIMINGS Fajr Sunrise 04:57 06:16

Zuhr 12:13

Asr 15:36

Maghrib 18:09

Isha 19:30

CItY DIRECtoRY EMERGENCY HELP RESCUE EDHI CoNtRoL MotoRwAY PoLICE PoLICE GoVERNoR’S HoUSE CHIEF MINIStER’S HoUSE FIRE BRIGADE BoMB DISPoSAL MCL CoMPLAINtS LAHoRE wAStE DISPoSAL

1122 115 130 15 99200081-7 99203226 16 99212111 99211022-29 1139

HoSPItALS MID CItY 37573382-3 SERVICES 99203402-11 MAYo 99211100-9 GENERAL 35810892-8 SHEIKH ZAID 35865731 SIR GANGA RAM 99200572 UCH 35763573-5 IttEFAQ 35881981-85 CMH 366996168-72 SHoUKAt KHANUM 35945100 JINNAH 111-809-809 ADIL (DEFENCE) 36667275 CHILDREN’S 99230901-3 DEFENCE NAtIoNAL HoSPItAL 111-17-18-19

BLooD BANK FAtMID ISLAMIC ALLIANCE

35210834-8 37588649/37535435

CoMPLAINt wAPDA SUI GAS

111-000-118 1199

RAILwAYS CItY StAtIoN (ENQUIRY) RESERVAtIoN RAILwAY PoLICE

117 99201772 1333

AIRPoRt FLIGHt ENQUIRY PIA RESERVAtIoN

114 111-786-786

Lahore welcomes Istanbul mayor LAHORE

O

STAFF REPoRT

n the invitation of Punjab Chief Minister, Shahbaz Sharif, Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbas is reaching Lahore today on a two-day visit. The Lahorities will accord a

warm welcome to the mayor. The visit would prove to be a milestone in promoting friendly ties between the two countries.

After reaching Lahore, Kadir Topbas is scheduled to call on Shahbaz Sharif after which, he would inaugurate Lahore Solid Waste Management Project in Town Hall. After negotiations with Turk companies, the cost of the project has

been reduced, which is a proof of the affection of Turks with regards to Pakistani.

The Istanbul mayor would be the chief guest in the cultural show and participate in different ceremonies. He would also inaugurate Bus Rapid Transit System Project at Ferozpur Road.

It is the first opportunity in the history of the country that this mega project is being launched in collaboration with Turk companies and people of Punjab are getting the fruits of government efforts for the last three and half years.

The credit goes to Kadir Topbas and Shahbaz Sharif for important projects like Solid Waste Management and Bus Rapid Transit System between Punjab government and Turkey. It is due to their personal interest that these mega projects are adopting practical shape.

Spreading the ‘Yellow Cab Scheme’ g

Punjab requests other provinces to verify particulars of applicants if referred LAHORE GNi

The Punjab government has extended the verification process for the Punjab Yellow Cab Scheme to the all other provinces including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Baluchistan as well as to Gilgit Biltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The Additional Chief Secretary Punjab has requested Chief Secretaries of all the provinces, Gilgit Biltistan and AJK to verify the driving licenses, academic certificates, worth of assets owned by the applicants and other related issues of the candidates in case a reference is forwarded from Punjab for verification under the Yellow Cab Scheme.

At the provincial level, the District Verification Committees will verify domicile certificate, driving license and academic certificate of the applicants drawn after computerised balloting while the remaining features of the eligibility criteria would be verified in case of any complaint. The DCOs are required to complete the process of verification of credentials of the successful applicants within 15 days of the balloting

ArAbic cAlligrAphy

for the respective districts. However, it is quite likely that few applicants may have driving license and academic qualification certificates issued from provinces other than Punjab which would require verification from the concerned quarters of those provinces. The Punjab government has launched “The Chief Minister Punjab, Self employment Scheme for educated Unemployed Youth (Yellow Cab Scheme) aiming at providing employment opportunities to the educated unemployed youth, provision of dignified means of public transport to the people and development of local auto industry.

Under the scheme 20,000 vehicles (Suzuki Mehran and Suzuki Bolan) would be distributed among the eligible applicants and the government has already set the criteria for it.

According to the eligibility criteria, the maximum assets (own, parents and immediate family) of the applicant should not be more than Rs2 million, while applicant should have valid driving license and should be at least matriculate.

The applicant should have valid domicile certificate of the district of his residence and should be between 21 to 35 years of age on 15th July 2011.

The applicant must not be employed anywhere either in public or private sector. celebrATing spring 2012

red bull pAper Wings 2012 p ...

CoLLEGES / UNIVERSItIES PUNJAB UNIVERSItY KINNAIRD CoLLEGE QUEEN MARY CoLLEGE GoVt. CoLLEGE UNIVERSItY UMt LUMS UEt LCwU SUPERIoR CoLLEGE

99231257 99203781-4 36362942 111-000-010 35212801-10 35608000 36288666 99203072 111-000-078

DAtE AND tIME: JUNE 1, 2012, 4PM to 6PM VENUE: HASt-o-NEESt CENtER CALLIGRAPHY CLASSES are on-going, interested students can enroll throughout the year. the duration of one module is three months. there are four modules of learning calligraphyt: primary, secondary, advanced and higher. the course includes traditional pen and traditional paper making.

DAtE AND tIME: FEB 11 —MAR 11, 2012, 8AM to 1:00PM VENUE: ALHAMRA — GADDAFI StADIUM Register till 10th March 2012 during office timings 3 pm at Permanent Art Gallery, Cultural Complex, Qaddaffi Stadium Lahore Children will bring their art material along with Drawing Boards & Drawing Sheets size 18x20/28x 30 inches. Students can use any medium (Pencil colors, water colors, crayons, pastels, clay, collage, mix-medium oil color, acrylics etc).

DAtE: FEBRUARY 10 — MARCH 10, 2012 VENUE: UNSPECIFIED, LAHoRE Feeling the need for wINGS? After an overwhelming response to Red Bull Paper wings held in Pakistan in 2009, the best and most creative Pakistani folders & throwers will have the chance to represent their country at the world Finals at Hangar-7, Salzburg, Austria this year also!

LHR 11-03-2012_Layout 1 3/11/2012 2:29 AM Page 9

Sunday, 11 March, 2012

AAG dismissed for not appearing in court LAHORE

T

STAFF REPoRT

He Punjab government has terminated Punjab Assistant Advocate General (AAG) Maqsood-ul-Hasan due to his reluctance in appearing before the Lahore High Court.

The former AAG was summoned to the court for a hearing of the case against the owners of the Kharak medicine factory that collapsed after a boiler blast, leaving

26 people dead.

The action against the AAG was taken by the government after Justice Kazim Raza Shamsi questioned his absence from the court during the hearing for the bail applications filed by Zafar Iqbal, Zaheer Iqbal and Zubair Iqbal, the owners of the medicine factory. earlier, Punjab Advocate General Ashtar Ausaf sought an explanation from AAG Hasan for not showing any interest in the case, but the latter failed to justify his position. Ausaf then sent in his com-

ments to the government which stated that he had dismissed the AAG from service.

AAG Maqsood was allegedly siding with the factory owners and was trying to buy time for them by staying away from the court’s proceedings.

The counsel for the accused was Advocate Khurram Latif Khosa, Punjab governor Latif Khosa’s son.

The court had to adjourn the hearings and extend the interim bails of the accused two times due to absence of the AAG despite being

Lahore 09

repeatedly summoned by court.

Punjab Prosecutor General Sadaqat Ali Khan defended the government’s case against the factory owners in lieu of the AAG. After hearing the arguments put forward by Sadaqat, the LHC dismissed the bail applications, following which the accused were placed in police custody on remand.

The government had registered an FIR against the factory owners in the Sabzazar Police Station under Sections 302/149, 324/ 427, 290/ 291 of the PPC.

IGP addresses Police Darbar, ensures timely resolution of problems

LAHORE STAFF REPoRT

The examination Department of King edward Medical University Lahore has announced the result of MBBS Final Professional Annual examination 2011.

Total 290 candidates appeared and 260 have been declared pass. According to the result, the pass percentage is 90.59%. The result of three candidates would be declared later on.

Roll no 115024 Anum Afsar got the first position; roll no 115018 Anam Kamran got the second position, roll no 115097 Maryam Hameed got the third position and roll no 115169 Zainab Tariq got the fourth position.

The Omani Ambassador Mohammad Bin Said Bin Mohammad Al-Lawati met Punjab Governor Sardar Latif Khan Khosa at the Governor House on Saturday to discuss matters of mutual interest. Khosa said Pakistan and Oman enjoy friendly relations which should be strengthened for the mutual benefit of the people of the two countries. He added that international investors should utlise the wide range of facilities offered by Pakistan. He stated that regular contact needed to be established in the areas of trade, manpower, culture and education. He said Oman could accommodate more Pakistani skilled workers apart from the 170,000 already settled in the country. Khosa appreciated the visionary leadership of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos, saying that the country has made remarkable progress under his leadership.

PLC dedicates women’s Day to Sharmeen obaid Chinoy LAHORE On 8th March 2012 with reference to International Women’s Day, Punjab Law College Lahore dedicated the day to Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, the first Oscar Award Winner from Pakistan. In this regard, a seminar on Women Inheritance was organised by Study Circle Society in which the Guest Speakers threw light on basic factors which directly or indirectly affected the observance of women inheritance. Afterwards, Punjab Law College Principal Hadia Awan unleashed the hindrances and proposed solutions, as to how we can assure inheritance for women in Pakistan.

LAHORE

KEMU announces final professional exam results

LAHORE STAFF REPoRT

PRESS RELEASE

STAFF REPoRT

Modern, professional training can enable the police officials to meet the challenges of terrorism and eliminating crime from the society. This was stated

by Punjab Inspector General of Police Mohammad Habib-ur-Rahman while addressing the Passing-out Parade of ASIs at the Sihala Police College on Saturday. Among the 542 graduating ASIs, 462 belong to Punjab, 12 are from Balochistan, 30 from Azad Jumu and Kashmir, one from Islamabad. The number also included 37 Anti-narcotics Force ASIs. The IGP was told that the police academy had taught a revised syllabus titled ‘Continuous Professional Development Programme’ in which, subjects like terrorism, religious extremism, heinous crimes, security intelligence, crime scene investigation and crime controlled strategies were taught. Retired army officers, intelligence school instructors and senior FIA officers were hired to teach at the academy.

Khosa discusses trade ties with omani ambassador

MAo College concludes declamation contest LAHORE STAFF REPoRT

MiNi CiNEMA: An old man takes children through a colourful, enthralling experience. NadEEM IJaz

Billiard club owner left in blood pool LAHORE STAFF REPoRT

A 50-year old billiard club owner was shot dead by some unidentified people in Misri Shah Police precincts on Saturday. The victim was identified as Shahid Butt, a resident of Dilawar Street. According to details, Shahid had left home for some domestic chores when some unidentified persons opened fire on him with automatic weapons. As per police sources, the victim sustained five bullet injuries and succumbed to heavy bleeding before he could be shifted to the hospital. Police removed the body to city morgue and started investigating the matter after registering a case. The heirs of victim said he

had not had any enmities with anyone which could have led to the incident.

SECURITY GUARD MURDERED: A security guard was found shot dead in mysterious circumstances in Millat Park police precincts on Saturday morning. The victim, 30, was identified as Inayat Ali. According to details, he was a security guard of a trader’s house located at Multan Road. early Saturday, Inayat’s employer found him dead in his house.

Police officials said the victim was shot with a triple two rifle bullet. The body was removed to morgue for autopsy and further investigations. Police said the victim’s phone record showed that he used to talk with a local lady on phone. Police suspected the affair could have been a possible reason of the murder.

New gadget will save up to 25 percent fuel LAHORE STAFF REPoRT

Comprehensive proposals and suggestions have been submitted to the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) regarding fuel saving equipment that reduces fuel usage in vehicles up to 25 percent. This was stated by Future Technologies Chief executive Officer (CeO) Shoaib Ashfaq Qureshi, while talking to a group of journalists on Saturday. Qureshi said he had met ICCI President Yassar Sakhi Butt in Islamabad and made a presentation to him regarding fuel saving measures. He said the presentation especially focused on a small innovative gadget called the ‘Panther’ which reduces fuel consumption up to 25 percent and gives more power to the engine without reducing the mileage. He said the ICCI President had asked him to submit a written proposal that would outline the role the chamber could play in educating the people of the federal capital about fuel saving measures. Qureshi said the gadget is based on Japanese technology and is now being marketed in Pakistan after being tested internationally. Asked about the ICCI’s response to the gadget, Qureshi said he was hopeful that his suggestions would be accepted as the chamber president was very keen to try the equipment.

Review petition filed against Habib Bank’s sale LAHORE: A review petition has been moved in the Supreme Court’s Lahore Registry against the sale of the Habib Bank Ltd at a throw-away amount of Rs 22 billion.

The sale was initiated by the Musharraf government under its privatisation policy. The plea was filed by barrister Zafar Ullah Khan contending that the base value of the bank was Rs 500 billion, but it was sold at Rs 22 billion, causing a huge loss to the national exchequer. He said he had filed a petition against the privatisation of the bank in 2011, which was later dismissed by the court. He requested the court to admit his review petition for regular hearing and grant a stay order to stall the bank’s sale. He submitted that Musharraf’s government had benefited its political aides by selling national assets under the guise of privatisation. STAFF REPoRT

The Punjab Group of Colleges won the final round of the All Pakistan Bilingual Declamation Contest, held on Saturday at the MAO College. 16 teams from Punjab’s educational institutions participated in the event which was attended by a large number of students. MnA Khawaja Saad Rafiq was the Guest of Honour of the competition which was judged by MAO College Principal Prof Dr Farhan ebadat Yar Khan, Prof Dr Sabieh Anwar of LUMS and GCU Lahore Debating Society President Muhammad Saddique Awaan. Punjab College Lahore won the trophy while Almas Sabieh of GCU Lahore stood first in Urdu declamation. Rabia Zia of King edword Medical College won the first prize for english declamation.

Speaking on the occasion, Khawaja Rafiq, an MAO alumnus, said co-curricular activities are an essential part of college life. He appreciated the efforts of Dr ebadat Yar Khan for changing the culture of the MAO College.

LHR 11-03-2012_Layout 1 3/11/2012 2:29 AM Page 10

10 Lahore

Sunday, 11 March, 2012

CM hopes to strengthen trade ties with Oman LAHORE

P

STAFF REPoRT

UnJAB Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif said on Saturday that Pakistan and Oman enjoy frendly ties that will be strengthened

over time.

He was talking to Omani Ambassador Mohamed Bin Said Bin Mohamed AlLawati. Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif also invited Omani investors to explore investment prospects in the livestock, energy, agriculture, information technology industries in Punjab. Sharif said a large number of Pakistani expatriates in Oman are playing an important role in Oman’s development.

He stated that a joint business council had been set up by the Chambers of Commerce of the two countries to enhance trade and economic relations. The Chief Minister added that Punjab has a conducive eco-

nomic environment and that investments made in the province are safe and profitable. He said the Punjab government has provided all the trade facilities under the aegis of the Punjab Board of Investment and Trade for facilitating foreign investors.

The CM stated that Muslim countries have played an active role in the rehabilitation of the families affected by the recent flood. He also commended the cooperation extended by Oman and other Islamic countries in setting up model villages. Ambassador Al-Lawati said Oman is willing to play its due role in the rehabilitation of the people affected by the floods. He expressed the hope that economic relations between Oman and the Punjab province will be strengthened in the future. Punjab Board of Investment and Trade Vice Chairman Dr Miftah Ismail informed the meeting about the investment prospects in the province.

Omani Commercial Attache Abdul Ghani was also present on the occasion.

Patients’ attendees file applications for negligence, mistreatment LAHORE: The attendees of patients admitted at two different hospitals protested against the hospitals’ administrations and lodged applications with the police for mistreatment.

The attendees of a patient admitted at the Jinnah Hospital were involved in a minor clash with the hospital’s security guards. They filed an application with the Garden Town police against guards. According to details, Ramzan, a resident of Kasur, had brought a patient to the Jinnah Hospital emergency Ward. He exchanged heated words with a security guard, after which the guards allegedly tortured him and his friends. Ramzan and his friends later protested in front of the hospital administration block against the paramedical staff and the security guards. In a separate incident, protesters also slammed the Doctors Hospital administration for negligent treatment administered to a patient and filed an application with the Johar Town police. The protestors alleged that the negligence of the medics at the hospital had caused their relative to go into a critical situation. STAFF REPoRT

PMA wants suo motu over ‘out of merit’ appointments LAHORE STAFF REPoRT

The Pakistan Medical Association has appealed to the Chief Justice Supreme Court of Pakistan to take suo motu notice on the out of merit appointments of heads of medical institutions made by the Punjab Government. The seniority list of the Punjab Health Department has been sent to the Supreme Court of Pakistan to bring the violations of merit in front of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The Pakistan Medical Association office bearers Dr M Tanveer Anwar, Dr Izhar Ahmed, Prof Dr M Ashraf nizami, Dr Shahid Malik, Dr Ihsan-ur-Rehman, Dr Yasmin Ihsan, Dr Kamran, Dr Sabahat Habib Khan, Dr Salman have also demanded of the Chief Minister Punjab to reconsider the out of merit appointment and give the senior professors their due rights.

Medical camp on world Kidney Day LAHORE STAFF REPoRT

A free medical camp was set up on World Kidney Day at Shalamar Hospital Outpatient Department on Saturday for special medical tests of patients. The patients were facilitated with free kidney, sugar, urine, ultrasound and blood pressure tests in the camp. Awareness literature and free medicines were provided to the patients in the camp. Chief Guest Prof Dr Tahir Shafi and Dr Rashid Ahmed visited the camp and appreciated the public interest and involvement of pharmaceuticals.

LAHoRE: Students participate in the annual sports day of the Anjuman Himayat-e-islam College on Saturday. ONLINE

Govt reiterates commitment to end malnutrition LAHORE STAFF REPoRT

The Government of Pakistan is committed to improving the health of women and children, as well as its global health index.

Government of Pakistan Planning and Development Division Senior Chief Muhammad Ayub stated this on Saturday while addressing a workshop on the regulatory monitoring of salt, oil and wheat flour fortification programmes in Pakistan.

The workshop was organised in collaboration with The Micronutrient Initiative, World Bank and other development partners.

Ayub said the workshop would help in improving communication between the private and public sectors in implementing quality fortification

PGMI’s book fair to host renowned publishers LAHORE STAFF REPoRT

The Post Graduate Medical Institute annual book fair will be held on March 15 in the institute. Renowned publishers from across the country will participate in the event, while their books will be available at affordable prices. PGMI Principal Prof Dr Tariq Sallahuddin announced the event on Saturday. He said books from all genres, including medical, social, political, economic and religious subjects would be presented on various stalls. Sallahuddin stated that the fair would promote good reading habits among the students. He added that similar book fairs should be held and the number of libraries increased to introduce the youth to a legacy of love for books and a thirst of knowledge. Sallahuddin said there were more than 13, 000 books in the PGMI library and was considered to be one of the best libraries in the city’s medical institutions.

The PGMI library is the only facility to online access to medical universities all over the world.

CINEMA

FILM

CINE StAR PH: 35157462

KAHAANI DR. SEUSS’ tHE LoRAx tHE woMAN IN BLACK LoNDoN PARIS NEwYoRK KAHAANI

02:30 PM 05:00 PM 06:30 PM 08:00 PM 10:15 PM

tIME

CINE GoLD PH: 35340000

LoNDoN PARIS NEwYoRK LoNDoN PARIS NEwYoRK LoNDoN PARIS NEwYoRK LoNDoN PARIS NEwYoRK LoNDoN PARIS NEwYoRK

12:00 PM 3:00 PM 6:00 PM 9:00 AM 12:00 AM

SoZo woRLD PH: 36674271

KAHAANI KAHAANI LoNDoN PARIS NEwYoRK LoNDoN PARIS NEwYoRK KAHAANI

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 5:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:45 PM

SoZo GoLD PH: 36674271

LoNDoN PARIS NEwYoRK tERE NAAL LoVE HoGAYA KAHAANI KAHAANI LoNDoN PARIS NEwYoRK

12:30 PM 03:00 PM 05: 30 PM 08: 30 PM 11: 00 PM

programmes. The Micronutrient Initiative Country Director Dr Tausif Akhtar Janjua appreciated government’s commitment to eliminating vitamin and mineral deficiencies from the country.

He stressed that monitoring, quality control and regulatory enforcement were essential for the success of any fortification programme and that the workshop would strengthen the existing regulatory system in Pakistan, while paving the way for the enforcement of these regulations.

World Bank Consultant Quentin Johnson highlighted the importance of regulatory and monitoring framework of wheat flour, salt and oil fortification programmes. The participants of the workshop were updated on global standards for fortified salt, edible oil and wheat flour.

LHR 11-03-2012_Layout 1 3/11/2012 2:29 AM Page 11

Sunday, 11 March, 2012

Editor’s mail 11

Pakistan's worsening energy crisis The energy crisis in the country seems to be deteriorating with each passing day. The gas crisis that confronts this nation is no less serious. In fact, it is as alarming as the electricity crisis. The measures that are being taken by those at the helm of affairs in the government, to deal with this grave problem, are grossly insufficient. That is why the situation vis-à-vis the issue under reference continues to be alarming. A possible solution, in sight, to overcome the gas crisis is purchasing gas from neighbouring Iran.

Pakistan and Iran signed the Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement (GSPA) in

Anyone for morality?

June 2009. The Government of Pakistan has already made an assessment that natural gas imported from Iran would provide the cheapest and perhaps the most suitable fuel for power generation.

It has been estimated that 750 mmcfd gas would help generate around 4,000 MW of electricity.

Moreover, this would also help create significant employment opportunities in the backward areas of Balochistan and Sindh. Iran has already laid the 56inch diameter pipeline for a distance of 900 km from Assaluyeh to Iran Shehr.

The remaining 200 km to bring the pipeline to the Pakistani border are

likely to be completed in the next two years. Pakistan, on its part, is planning to complete its segment of the pipeline by the end of 2014. However, a bottleneck that seems to seriously impede the pace of work on the project is the rapidly deteriorating US-Iran and stalled USPakistan relations.

The US pressure on Pakistan to forego the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project must be viewed in the context of the foregoing situation. Its real purpose is to build up pressure on Iran more than anything else. But if we give in to the US demand, it would have serious (negative) consequences for Pak-

istan, which is facing serious energy crisis because of electricity and gas shortages.

Also, from the economic point of view, it seems appropriate for Pakistan to complete the Iran-Pakistan pipeline project as early as possible to meet its fast-growing energy requirements. The alternate project that would bring gas through pipeline from Turkmenistan (TAPI) doesn’t seem to see the light of completion, in the near future, because of the continuing armed conflict in Afghanistan.

M FAZAL ELAHI Islamabad

More on HEC rankings Senior faculty members of the Institute of Business Management (IBM) have rejected the recent ranking released

by Higher education Commission (HeC). They believe that HeC has ignored or misinterpreted data submitted by the institute. Crucial data on teaching, research and quality assurance was not incorporated. It is more distressful to note that IBM which has always enjoyed reputation as one of the top tier business schools evidenced by its quality of intake, faculty and placement of graduates, was ranked so low.

Mistakes made by HeC are also obvious from the press, protests by other universities and articles appearing in the press by individuals supporting the fact of unfair ranking.

IBM faculty members have demanded that HeC revisit the data and also implement those shortcomings as mentioned by Chairman HeC himself in the press recently.

Faculty members strongly feel that once the data is carefully scrutinised IBM will be one of the top business schools of Pakistan. ed Universal, Paris, in its rankings of the world’s business schools, has already ranked IBM as one of the best business schools of the region.

PROF DR AKHLAQ AHMED Karachi

Some real work The main issue nowadays is the political situation of Pakistan. every politician wants to be the next leader of Pakistan.

They are going to organise jalsay utilising the public holidays. Is that the best way through which they can attract the people to vote for them in the coming elections? The most important thing that they should do is to ensure us that they are doing something for the nation, not just making promises or waiting to become a PM or president.

Why don’t they try to perform their duties sincerely? They should show us their work and fulfil their promises first, only then we will vote for them. Our nation wants some positive changes. Mere promises are not sufficient to qualify for the PM's seat or be a president.

HINA ZAFAR Karachi

In a recent media quagmire vis-à-vis banning of a morning TV show host, on account of her infringement on the privacy of people, was a step which received maximum response from all and sundry.

However, the scary part which most of the people missed was “the presence of paid actors doing this fiasco’’.

Is there any rule in electronic media/print media on what to do or what not to do other than self-preservation?

Irrespective of the social service someone wants to do, there has to be some well defined red lines, do’s and don’ts, which should be followed/enforced in true letter and spirit, by all, specially the owners and CeOs, of the media houses.

ZARA SHAH Islamabad

Safe by chance?

The Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani says that he cannot be turned out, in or over. He is lucky indeed.

It is clear from our history that our civilian governments are terminated midstream only by the men in uniform who have the express backing of our great friend United States of America.

But the situation is such that our great friend is down in the dumps economically right now and all foreign interferences cost a lot of money which it cannot afford under the present circumstances.

Our civilian government is therefore safe for the foreseeable future and may not fear removal even if it robs the people blind through continuous price escalations of common utilities.

TALIB HUSSAIN Muzaffargarh

Malik’s statements

Mehrangate Air Martial (Retd) Asghar Khan deserves national appreciation for his 1996 petition regarding the lavish distribution of Mehran Bank’s, under duress, dole of Rs 340 million, for distribution amongst various political dignitaries, in the “supreme national interest” under the orders of then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, through former army chief Aslam Beg.

on KoNY 2012 The greatness of the power of social media has only recently been made obvious to the people of the world. After the Arab Spring, we may have the next social, perhaps international, movement in the form of the viral documentary KOnY 2012. It was made by documentary filmmakers who researched and presented to the world the horrors of the war crimes committed by one Joseph Kony, the Ugandan leader of the Lord's Resistance Army. In 2005, he was at the top of the most wanted list by the International Criminal Court and is said to have a 30,000 strong army of child soldiers who amongst other horrors were abducted, raped and forced to kill their families.

The efforts of the project team for In-

The act was reprehensible and the SC must bring all those involved to book so that this unholy alliance of money and politics can be unravelled and the prospect of hidden hand interference in the political process curtailed.

SULTANA RIZVI Karachi

visible Children – KOnY 2012, and numerous young volunteers, have brought the issue on to the US foreign policy agenda even though the country has no policy or financial interests in the region.

Their aim is to have an American or perhaps international force to help the Ugandan Army fight Kony. For that to happen, they would require large scale support from the world community. They intend to get this support by making Kony famous the world over. The website for KOnY 2012 shows a petition to have him brought to justice, the documentary and information about how people from anywhere can get involved in the effort.

It is awe-worthy what they have accomplished with one film, posters, tshirts and Facebook posts. It is heartening to see that the people are not

powerless in the face of bureaucracies or for that matter, borders. There is a lesson in this for the youth of Pakistan as well.

This is a time for optimism and a belief in a better future, and it is us, with the power of our speech, who can and must fight for what is right, in Pakistan and anywhere in the world. Stand up and spread the word.

SHANDANA SAJJAD Rawalpindi

Step-in ‘Government is taking steps to bring Fata into mainstream,’ said Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, Information Minister. This is very much like acquiring new boots.

Z A KAZMI Karachi

The interior minister has said that an image capturing system is being introduced in major cities of the country.

This system will be helpful in controlling crimes in big cities.

The ground reality is that extortion and killing of people are on the rise. I want to ask him: what has been the progress of the government in controlling such crimes in the past four years?

People feel insecure. It has become difficult for businessmen to continue their activities under the deteriorating law and order situation.

I advise the interior ministry to take concrete steps to control crimes in cities. The time of employing hollow slogans and befooling the people is now over.

TARIQ HUSAIN KHAN Karachi 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 may be edited for length and clarity.

It would be appreciated if letters were addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively.

Sherry Rehman at Capitol Hill

By Sajid Hussain

S

ince her arrival in Washington about two months back, Ambassador Sherry Rehman has been making earnest endeavours to put Pakistan-US relationship back on the rail and build a positive image of Pakistan at the White House, State Department, among Congressmen and the think tanks.

To counter the impression in the western society and the media about women in Pakistan, the ambassador made it a point to organise a special function at the embassy on "empowering women: The Way Ahead" on the occasion of International Women Day at which the ambassador, herself a champion of women and human rights, through a video documentary showed the audience how the Pakistani women were being empowered through legislation that had been pursued by the parliament to make them a valuable

member of the community.

Sherry Rehman, who was a close associate and confidant of former Prime Minister Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, in her address said women's rights is part of the history of struggle of the Pakistan Peoples Party. As the first woman ever elected to head an Islamic nation, our leader Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto felt a special responsibility to address issues relating to women, she said and added that the present government was committed to follow her vision.

Ambassador Rehman, was summoned back in the last week of March for fresh briefing at the highest level during which she met President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and COAS General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. She has a very difficult task as tension between the two allies in war on terrorism has plunged US-Pakistan relations to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War.

She brought glamour to her critical post along with a willingness to play hardball embodying the beauty and the boldness of her friend and mentor, Benazir Bhutto. Since taking up her post the envoy has handled her challenging portfolio with similar, purposeful charm and made her presence felt at the Capitol Hill.

After landing in Washington, Ambassador Sherry Rehman followed a hectic schedule by meeting all the key Senators, Congressmen, state department and Pentagon policymakers and important think tanks before presenting her credentials to President Obama. In her interaction with Obama, she highlighted Pakistan's cooperation with the US and the international community in defeating terrorism and the sacrifices and efforts by Pakistan for security along the Afghan border and the region at large.

As a former journalist, politician and in her new role as a diplomat, Sherry Rehman fully knows

that she had to strengthen bilateral ties and set them on firmer, transparent and equitable footings with the support of who is who in the US and the Pakistani-American community.

She followed the right path by meeting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the all important Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Senator John Kerry. During meeting with Clinton which lasted for an hour and attended by Barack Obama's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Marc Grossman, troubled ties between the two nations came under detailed discussions and views were exchanged on the way to move ahead. The Pakistani ambassador asserted that Pakistanis were very sensitive to their country's honour and dignity and in no would accept any type of interference in their internal affairs. She stressed that the Pak-US relationship would be enduring only if it was built on equal footing and Islamabad's strategic

interests in the region were kept in view by the policymakers at the Capitol Hill.

John Kerry, who is a former presidential candidate and is listened with great respect in the American policy circles, in his address emphasised for a serious attempt to understand Pakistan's strategic interests in the region and for rebuilding a productive relationship. He was quick to recognise that there was much reason for distrust between Pakistan and US saying a series of tactical disputes have strained their strategic partnership and the truth was that the US would have a lot of work to do to rebuild a productive relationship.

In view of the tremendous economic losses that Pakistan suffered during the war on terror, the ambassador made it a special point to address the US-Pakistan Business Council urging the American investors to benefit from vast business opportunities Pakistan offers in several potential areas,

particularly the energy sector.

In the US, different think tanks play key role in shaping the policies, and to judge where Sherry's heart lies, she addressed a packed auditorium at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington. Her speech signalled a desire for substantive changes in US engagement with Pakistan based on a belief that it is understandable for the US to reach out to Pakistan only in times of strategic needs. She hoped that she would be remembered as an anchor in a critical bilateral relationship between the two countries.

While the Pakistani Parliament is all set to debate Pak-US relations, and the government will follow the guidelines in reshaping the vital relationship, Ambassador Rehman, herself a former legislature, will have to play a key role to remove the trust deficit by strongly advocating Pakistan's viewpoint.

She thus faces some formidable challenges in her term as ambassador to reset US-Pakistan relations.

LHR 11-03-2012_Layout 1 3/11/2012 2:29 AM Page 12

12 Comment New spymaster New outlook at the agency too?

T

he change of command in the ISI has taken place at a crucial moment. The role played by the security agencies is under public scrutiny as never before. The security agencies are being widely accused for disappearances and extrajudicial killings at court proceedings, seminars and in the media. early this month, referring to the incidents of missing people in Balochistan, the chief justice regretted that fingers were being pointed at the intelligence agencies. In the Adyala jail missing persons case, the Supreme Court expressed serious concern about the ISI and MI detaining people in violation of law. The relatives of missing persons camping outside Parliament House have roused sympathy in the public and drawn media’s attention.

The politicians, including those once in the good books of the ISI, are highly critical of the agencies meddling in politics. The admission in the SC by a former ISI chief that he distributed huge amounts of money among certain politicians at Gen Aslam Mirza’s orders constitutes another indictment of the agency. The agencies are under attack on two scores: for undertaking activities that do not come under their purview like political engineering and for violating constitutional guarantees provided to citizens and breaking laws. As the change in command takes place, there is an opportunity to improve the image of the ISI by turning it into a non-political, thoroughly professional and law abiding organisation. Gen Zahir who headed the ISI’s internal wing for almost two years is the best person to initiate the much needed policy change.

Gen Zahir takes over the charge amidst important changes in the regional scenario. The US which is scheduled to hand over fighting to the Afghan troops by 2014 is playing the endgame now. Hints thrown by Foreign Minister Khar reveal some of the contours of the new foreign policy that is to be formulated within weeks by parliament. She has rejected the concept of strategic depth achieved through military means or proxy war affirming that “The only way to do is through building trust with the Afghan state.” She has also maintained that good relations with neighbours are to be the corner stone of Pakistan’s foreign policy. The ISI’s outlook must not be out of sync with the country’s foreign policy.

Another commission Empower this one, please

T

he Senate on Friday did a commendable job by unanimously adopting a bill seeking the establishment of a national commission on human rights, incorporating various clauses to enlarge the scope of the legislation carried out by the national Assembly a few months ago.

The bill was moved by Leader of the House nayyar Bukhari after it was thoroughly examined and vetted by a Senate committee comprising prominent legal and constitutional experts which had proposed key amendments aimed at making the commission more powerful, impartial and free from political interference.

The bill will now be referred to the nA for its reendorsement before being sent to the president for final assent.

The commission to be headed by an individual qualified to be appointed a member of the superior judiciary with sufficient human rights expertise will have Chairperson on the national Commission on the Status of Women and a minority representative as its members.

The government might have been compelled to expedite the process to meet a criterion set by the Un under which all member states are bound to constitute such commissions and furnish reports on the state of human rights to the world body without hiding any aspect.

That the proposed commission will be empowered to entertain complaints of human rights violations against members of the armed forces and their intelligence agencies is indeed welcome. There, however, remains an obvious lapse on the part of the senate committee which has suggested only a recommendatory role for the commission while leaving it to the government to decide whether or not to take any action against the culprits.

The bill was passed at a time when the people have been protesting against enforced disappearances across the country. But the proposed commission may not be able to achieve the desired objectives unless the ruling political leadership takes concrete measures to rein in the military’s intelligence apparatus involved in human rights violations.

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36298305-10 Fax: 042-36298302 Karachi – Ph: 021-34330811-3 Fax: 021-34330900 Islamabad – Ph: 051-2287414-6 Fax: 051-2287417 Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Sunday, 11 March, 2012

armageddon Madness comes without giving notice

By Humayun Gauhar

A

nyone who imagines that Israel can attack Iran and not unleash another world war must be mad. Pray pause and think.

I know that if the world weren’t halffull of madcaps we wouldn’t have had the first two world wars in the first place.

Both were touted as ‘wars that would end the world’ but they were essentially european, with Japan thrown into the second and most of the rest of the world in bondage to european powers drafted in, not really knowing what they were fighting, killing and dying for who and why. For King and country? Which King? Which country? not theirs, surely? That was the lot of the Indian. not so Iran, which was not enslaved and never was. Herein lies the essential difference in mental makeup, not in being Shia or Sunni.

But the next world war could truly bring Armageddon. It would be the end, if not of the world, if not of humankind, then certainly of contemporary civilisation. Khatam shud. That includes Israel, which ironically would have started the war to protect itself. It would not be the first time that our brother Jews would have brought destruction down upon themselves. But I’m sure of one thing: the Jews may be anything but they are one people who are not crazy. Going by the record, they are the most intelligent people on earth, so intelligent that they often are too intelligent for their own good.

“Good,” some would say. “I want to get off this ship of fools. Let’s begin all over again.” That’s easy to say in the comfort of your armchair, but not so easy when you see your child’s skin peeling off before your eyes because of heat and radiation.

So what do we do? Give Israel what it wants? not a bit of it. Think it through.

Try and understand why Israel and its supporters (I use the word ‘supporters’ tongue in cheek) are fanning the flames of war and fomenting hysteria. Gauge what they really want, and then, if you can, outsmart them. Beat them at their own game. not so easy, but if there is any Muslim country capable of doing this, the only one is Iran. The rest are… best not to say it. Or should I? The rest

are largely regional general managers in America’s global scheme of things.

Those few who are not are despots at the very least. Look at Assad the Tyrant of Syria and what he won’t do, how many of his own brothers, sisters and children he won’t kill just to cling to power. He should visit his despotic father Hafiz the Tyrant’s grave sometimes and see whether he can detect a throne there. He will find it not there but under his own derriere. Soon, someone else’s derriere will be on it. And his derriere will be gone.

It was netanyahu’s speech in Washington that set the cat amongst the pigeons. It fell just short of a declaration of war. There is still a ‘window of opportunity’ open for an attack, he said, but fast for it would close soon and Iran would have passed the nuclear threshold. Time was of the essence, not to be wasted contemplating one’s navel. Israel didn’t need anyone’s blessings and would go it alone if need be. But as Tuco said, “When you have to shoot, shoot.

Don’t talk.” With netanyahu speaking so much, I doubt if he really intends to shoot. Soothing of feathers started in earnest. Kick the can down the road, at least until the US presidential elections and hope that better sense would prevail thereafter.

But then Israeli President Shimon Peres added to the hysteria by letting off in the same vein, that sanctions were only the first option. If they didn’t work all other options were still on the table, including a military strike. echoes of Osirak, what?

Why don’t I think Iran will be attacked, either by Israel or America?

Here are some reasons.

1. My analysis is rationality based. Ruling is ruthless, often bereft of rationality. Look at it objectively and you can only see losers in this conflict, no winners. not one.

2. Obama is up for re-election this november. Here he is trying to get out of the two brainless wars his predecessor got him into, would he want to get or sucked into a much bigger one?

3. America’s and europe’s economies are fragile. Truthfully, the world economy is fragile. Closing the Straits of Hormuz is easy for Iran, despite America’s fabled armada going up and down watery hills in the Arabian Gulf, like the Duke of York. They should recall the even more fabled Spanish Armada. When the price of oil goes up appreciably, which it most certainly will, the world economy will collapse. There’s no two ways about it. Would anyone in his right mind want that? The question is: are rulers in their right minds all the time? Types like us would be done and dusted, which is most of the world. India’s growth, already sputtering, will take a giant leap backward. China’s growth will

stall. Humanity will go into wretchedness never before seen, not even in pre-biblical times.

4. Whatever destruction it might cause, Israel too will get destroyed in the process. Attacking Iran would be suicidal. Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas at the very least would jump into the fray. So might other Muslim countries, especially if their people rise in support, forgetting historic Shia and Sunni cleavages for the moment. It certainly would spell the end of many manufactured post-World Wars and post-colonial states.

5. Worse, whether it likes it or not, and regardless of the noises it is making, America would also have to jump into the fray, not just because of the inordinate pressure brought to bear on it by ‘The Jewish Lobby’ and AIPAC, but more because it would be eying who gets control of the oilfields of the Arabian Gulf and the Caspian Basin once the region starts unravelling. There is no gainsaying that Russia and energy-starved China would not want a piece of the action. even energy-starved India might madly imagine that it can also grab some of the booty. In that unlikely event, what adventure do you think Pakistan might get into? even China might advise us to. Sounds like the Mad Hatter talking right now, I agree, but it won’t sound so mad when history comes to be written.

The foregoing begs the question: then why all this sabre rattling? It’s about applying pressure on: 1. America to side even more with Israel.

2. Russia and China to talk to Iran to make it come under international oversight, just as Pakistan is perennially being asked to. They are the only countries Iran might pay heed to.

3. The threat of the destruction that an attack on Iran would wreak could actually prevent a war and bring Iran to where Israel feels safe.

4. A US president driven by election fever would bend over backwards to placate Israel if he wants to win.

On the other hand, you just don’t know. Madness comes without giving notice. It doesn’t take an appointment.

The rationale of rulers is different from the rationale of normal people. Often driven by imaginary demons, the confidence they exude is frequently hubris.

They are so certain of their technology, their satellites, their listening and watching devices and their fearsome computer driven gizmos of mass destruction, that logic and rationality often desert them. That is how empires, superpowers and civilisations end and new ones begin. These are social super novae.

The writer is a political analyst.

He can be contacted at humayun.gauhar786@gmail.com

Regional Press

on new provinces Daily Pashtun Post

W

ith the change of the name of nWFP to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, there was an increase in the vibrancy in the demand for other provinces in the country including Hazara and Seraiki provinces.

Addressing a public gathering at Muzaffargarh, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani also supported the creation of Seraiki province, saying it was imperative to be carved out necessarily. The prime minister added on the occasion that the creation of a Seraiki province could bring an end to the sense of deprivation among the people there and that the government would utilise all its resources in this regard to do the right thing.

The prime minister delivered this speech on a Seraiki province at a time when there are an increasing number of voices for the creation of new provinces, the Hazara province being one of them. After this movement has gained steam in the recent days, there have also been protests against the carving out of a Hazara province which have led to some injuries and other untoward incidents.

There is no denying that if the government puts its weight behind the Seraiki province cause, movements for other provinces would also gain impetus. As mentioned earlier, these movements earlier gained momentum when the name of nWFP was changed to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as it meant that the federation was more cognisant and respectful of ethnic identity and favoured greater political autonomy.

One consequence of the prime minister’s speech at Muzaffargarh could be that it could lead to some estrangement between the AnP and PPP as the former does not favour the creation of a Hazara province and the latter’s support for a Seraiki province might entail that it has to support a Hazara province too.

Creating new provinces is no mean feat and a lot of thought must go into the process. Before any decision can be taken, all stakeholders should assess in detail whether the ground reality warrants the carving out of a new entity and only then should all the legislative bodies move on it.

– Translated from the original Pashto by Abdur Rauf Khattak

LHR 11-03-2012_Layout 1 3/11/2012 2:29 AM Page 13

Sunday, 11 March, 2012

Testing judicial mettle Can the court rein in the spooks?

By Saad Rasool

e

very once in a while, during the course of a nation’s journey of selfdiscovery, a clear and present opportunity is presented to correct the wrongs of the past and set the course for a new and promising future. The Supreme Court of Pakistan has one such opportunity before it now – the Asghar Khan case.

It is no secret that the ISI has been dabbling in Pakistan’s politics for many decades – at the very least since the creation of its political-wing in the 1970s. And this practice continues still today.

However, either out of fear or the extreme wizardry of our spymasters, no one has ever come forth with substantive proof of the ISI’s tinkering with the democratic process.

That, however, doesn’t apply to the Asghar Khan case.

For once (and probably for the last time ever) we have on record the sworn affidavits of military’s top brass, including former DG ISI, admitting that they bribed certain politicians into forming the IJI as a counterforce to the PPP (having deemed Benazir Bhutto a ‘national security threat’ pursuant to a tapped phone conversation between her and Rajiv Gandhi in which the two premiers agreed in principle to mutual troop reduction). And if this was a slam-dunk, add to it the fact that no alleged recipient of the money has come forth to deny the claim.

All this amounts to blatant violations of the law. The military officers involved have, prima facie, violated their oath under Article 244 of the Constitution, which forbids them from “any political activity”.

They have also subverted the democratic process, hatched a

conspiracy against the state and violated Article 5 (Loyalty to State and obedience to Constitution). Additionally, they have also violated section 15 (Attestation/Oath), section 31 (Mutiny) and section 42 (Illegal gratification) of the Army Act, 1952, and should have been court martialed.

Similarly, the elected representatives who participated in this abominable exercise could be held guilty under section 78 (Corrupt practice), 79 (Bribery) and 83 (Illegal practice) of the Representation of People Act, 1976.

The stage is set, and the matter is now before the honorable Supreme Court. And the Court has three possible roads to walk down.

One, it could hear the matter and not decide the issue – to the dismay of everyone but the culprits. Following this road, the court could listen to the arguments and simply reserve the judgment; which, if reserved for long enough for a judge on the concerned bench to retire, would mean that the entire case would have to be reheard by a fresh bench. Alternatively, a commission of sorts could be constituted to investigate and prolong the issue (though it is hard to imagine what investigation could be required since the affidavits are on record and no one has denied the facts stated therein).

Two, the court could limit its judgment to the disclosure of the affidavits and a verdict against the generals, leaving the prosecution of offences to the government. While this – the convicting of three and four star (retired) generals – would be no small feat, this is perhaps the lesser goal. Much more important than punishment (for crimes committed almost 25 years ago) is the need to set a direction for the future.

This brings us to the third option – a judgment that goes beyond mere disclosure and conviction, to take on the virtuous endeavour of defining the contours of ISI’s authority.

Currently, there is no law that governs the ISI, unlike some

of its international counterparts including the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency Act, 1949) and MI-6 (Security Service Act, 1989). In the absence of a legislative mandate, the ISI essentially operates without any check. And this problem extends far beyond the circumference of the Asghar Khan case, into the darkness of the missing-persons issue and the murder of Saleem Shehzad.

Stricto sensu, ‘legislating’ the ambit of ISI’s authority falls outside the gates of judicial responsibility. this is exclusively the parliament’s domain. But the issue needs to be viewed through the prism of two connected realities: one, the parliament (this or any other) is not likely to stand up to the intelligence apparatus and deliver a meaningful legislation, and two, over the past some years our (independent) Supreme Court has edged ever closer to ‘legislating justice’ in areas that parliament stands impotent.

As a result, based on the facts of the Asghar Khan case, the court can make simple declarations that effectively form the law and limit ISI’s role to a (somewhat) constitutionally adherent agency: declaring ISI’s influencing of domestic politics as unconstitutional; requiring that ISI’s budget, while being a secret from open publication, must have some accountability process in the civilian government; declaring that, independent of the government, the ISI cannot define what constitutes ‘national security’; declaring phone-tapping, except in accordance with law (section 54 of PTA Act), as illegal.

In this regard, the Asghar Khan case is a test of judicial mettle. And millions across this land, who rallied for an independent judiciary, are expectantly looking towards the apex court.

The writer is a lawyer based in Lahore. He has a Masters in Constitutional Law from Harvard Law School. He can be reached at: saad@post.harvard.edu

Comment 13

UPa in trouble Will it survive this summer?

Third Eye

By M J Akbar

A

fall from grace is par for the course. A slide into humiliation is another discourse. Defeat is the familiar price of failure in democracy. Humiliation is retribution for a more dangerous sin, arrogance. Parties often blossom after an election victory, as Congress did after 2004; very few retain any relationship with reality after re-election. The trap of 2012 was set in 2009.

Rahul Gandhi sought to win his electoral spurs in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh on the road to the PM’s office. After two years of effort and expense, he has just discovered that he has neither horse nor direction along the Gangetic belt. Family, in these egalitarian times, is an inadequate rationale for office.

Dynasties are loath to admit mistakes, since they damage their principal claim to power, mystique. even a punctured prince must be praised, therefore, if for nothing else than hard work, as if hard work is perfectly understandable for mortals like Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati but a labour of love for a prince. everyone works hard in an election. Defeat cannot be a prince’s fault: candidates were wrong, or the party was to blame, and not a whisper about who chose the candidates, or who was in charge of building the party.

Rahul Gandhi is not young. At his age, 41, his great grandfather Jawaharlal presided over the historic 1929 Lahore session and pushed through, despite the skepticism of his mentor Mahatma Gandhi, the swaraj resolution which formally committed the Congress to complete independence from the British. Jawaharlal soared ahead in national esteem on the wing of ideas, not slogans undercooked by trainee chefs who do not know the difference between hot air and nourishment.

When in 321 BC Chandragupta sought to overthrow Mahapadma nanda (‘the son of a barber’), Chanakya offered some sensible advice: Remember how your mother taught you to eat a hot chapatti – begin from the edges. Rahul Gandhi’s strategy, literally and metaphorically, was the reverse. He operated from the centre. From the comfort of a power perch in Delhi, he converted the chapatti into a jigsaw puzzle. His advisers thought each geographical or demographic piece could be adjusted by money, legislative illusion or emotional patronage.

From this emerged a campaign of smoke and mirrors. A cash award was assigned to Bundelkhand. The Dalit heart was meant to melt at the sight of a prince dropping in for a meal. Rahul Gandhi’s problem is not that he is young, but that he continued to play with toy soldiers in his electoral war room. I trust that Rahul Gandhi is not going to tear up any opponent’s manifesto for a long time.

The biggest play was made for the Muslim vote, with promises that were tainted with compromise. The dust of reservations was thrown into the eye and pantomime paraded as drama. Second rank Congress leaders began to compete for awards in histrionics. The only astute player in this game was the Muslim voter: on a bulk level, he drove Mulayam Singh Yadav to office, and in constituencies where strategic voting made more sense, he elected fellow Muslims across labels. There should be a lesson in this somewhere.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi thought the crisis was serious enough to merit that rare indulgence called a press conference. She let slip a thought that should trouble her colleagues, that the problem was too many leaders rather than lack of leadership. But we shall let the party worry about that. Her more substantive comment was that UPA still had time to correct its mistakes, since the next general elections were in 2014.

In straight political mathematics, association with Congress is slowly turning into a liability. Congress leaders like spokesman Manish Tiwari are beginning to admit that there is sweeping urban resentment against the party. This is, once again, a reversal from UPA1, when

Congress added value to an ally’s vote base. But the decisive impetus will come from the Agatha Christie question: who benefits from death in the drawing room, or, in a more straightforward simile, the collapse of Dr Manmohan Singh’s second government?

Just as the Congress, as Mrs Gandhi pointed out, needs time, others need to be in a hurry. Mamata Banerjee, nitish Kumar, Jayalalithaa, Jagan Reddy, Chandrababu naidu, naveen Patnaik, Prakash Karat, nitin Gadkari, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayawati, Prakash Singh Badal, Om Prakash Chautala may have enough contradictions between them to confuse a doctorate in logic, but they want an election when the Congress is at its weakest. Throughout 2012 Congress will remain shaken by the UP-Punjab earthquake. By 2013, Congress could begin to recover. Why wait?

Some facts will linger like a terrible, toxic cold. Dr Singh, the first Sikh Prime Minister, has lost Punjab twice to the Akalis. The first time could have been carelessness; the second time is punishment. Mrs Sonia Gandhi has lost all Assembly seats in Rae Bareli, despite the continual presence of Priyanka Gandhi, internally touted as a bigger campaign star than brother Rahul.

Rahul Gandhi has blamed the party infrastructure for the UP defeat, but has he looked at the structure at the top? not a single Congress heavyweight is heavy enough to lift his own state, or even a part thereof.

Why blame the worker at the base?

The Congress can revive, of course. But it must return to what it used to be, liberal in spirit and democratic in ethos. It can either be a national trust or family property, not both. The fact that other parties are run by families is irrelevant.

There were many turning points in the UP election. One of them was the arrival of Priyanka Gandhi’s husband Robert Vadra and her still young children to Rae Bareli. The electorate was being given advance notice for 2030. I don’t know what voters will do in 2030, but we know now what they did in 2012.

The columnist is editor of The Sunday Guardian, published from Delhi, India on Sunday, published from London and Editorial Director, India Today and Headlines Today.

LHR 11-03-2012_Layout 1 3/11/2012 2:31 AM Page 14

14

Sunday, 11 March, 2012

‘London Paris New York’s

SOCIETY

KARACHI: the House of Kamiar Rokni Lawn by Bonanza 2012 was launched at a star-studded event. PR

success lands Ali Zafar

various offers

T

NEWS DESK

He unconventional romantic comedy of Rose movies production, ‘London Paris new York’, which marked the directorial debut of Anu Menon has managed to impress the overseas audience. The film, which mainly

revolves around the conversational relationship of nikhil and Lalitha, played

by Ali Zafar and Aditi Rao, was mainly targeted at a niche audience as told by CeO of Fox Star but the box office figures reveal that it has managed to score better than many commercial masala films.

According to an official statement released by the film's official publicist, the film collected approximately 32,538 pounds, which is said to be more than the collection of ‘Band Baaja Baarat’ (25,000 pounds), ‘Tanu Weds Manu’ (28,000 pounds) and ‘JaaneTu... Ya Jaane na’ (30,000 pounds). Also the movie collected $53,535 on its opening weekend in the US and $112,000 in the Middle east. Such overwhelming response of the targeted audience has earned Ali Zafar various movie offers right after his film released on the 2nd March. Movie critics were all praises for his effortless enactment of a character that was to go through an emotional transition at every time lapse during the film. So having delivered spectacular performances in three hit movies in a row, Ali Zafar has become one of the most desired new actors in B-Town that are here to stay for a long time.

Faisal Qureshi

Anoushay with Nabila Salon team

Ali Xeeshan

Marvi

Sanam Chaudhri

Frieha Altaf and Deepak Perwani

Asad Tareen

Nadia Hussain

Maheen Khan

Marium Bilwani and Usman Bilwani

Mosin Sayeed

Naseeruddin Shah shoots in Pakistan for Indo-Pak director duo NEWS DESK Actor naseeruddin Shah was recently in Pakistan to shoot for a film by debutant Indo-Pak director couple Minoo Gauhar and Mazhar Zaidi. While naseer tried to keep it a hush-hush visit, he was followed

Action is easy, comedy toughest:

Akshay Kumar

by chants of ‘Ooh la la’ wherever he went.

“That sound follows me everywhere. It's a curse, I tell you,” he laughed. naseer plays a despicably negative character in the film which is about illegal immigrants. “I was very moved by the script and Minoo and Mazhar's sincerity,” the actor said. He is really kicked about the fact that apart from being an Indian acting in a Pakistani film, the film itself is being made by Minoo, a Hindu from Meerut and her husband Mazhar, a Muslim from Pakistan. This isn't naseer's first Pakistani film either. He played a pivotal role in Shoaib Mansoor's highly lauded film ‘Khuda Ke Liye’ and was to be part of the director's next, ‘Bol’. Unfortunately, he could not do it, a fact he regrets.

Meanwhile, naseer will return to Pakistan on the 17th of this month to continue shooting. This would be his fifth visit to the country. naseeruddin Shah, who was last seen 'Ooh La La' ing with the gorgeous Vidya Balan in ‘The Dirty Picture’.

NEW DELHi: He has proved to be a ‘khiladi’ of both genres - action and comedy. But kicking and boxing in front of the camera is far easier than making the audience laugh, says Bollywood star Akshay Kumar.

“Action is easy, it is very easy. Comedy is difficult,” Akshay said while on the sets of Neeraj Pandey’s ‘Special Chabbis’. “You know...you can kick your legs, punch someone very easily and do action. In fact, action can even look great through camerawork. Also, for an emotional scene, you can put glycerine in the eyes and make any artist cry, and the viewers think he is crying, so people also start crying,” said the actor. “But to make someone laugh, you have to work very hard. It’s very difficult to make people laugh. So comedy is tough-the toughest,” he added.

Akshay became the undisputed action star of Hindi films with projects like ‘Khiladi’, ‘Sabse Bada Khiladi’, ‘International Khiladi’, ‘waqt Hamara Hai’ and ‘Mohra’. In 2000, he tried his comic timing in the hit movie ‘Hera Pheri’. It was followed by others like ‘Garam Masala’, ‘Bhagam Bhaag’, ‘welcome’, ‘Singh Is Kinng’, ‘Housefull’ and ‘tees Maar Khan’. “Nothing has changed about comedy. People enjoy what you give from the heart. Don’t try and go by the trend. Go with your heart and mind. If you do your work with sincerity, it will always work,” said the actor who has done about 100 films in his 25-year-old career. “If you make a film with your head and heart, it will always have a connect with the audience,” said Akshay, who is now awaiting for the sequel of Sajid Khan’s 2010 comic film ‘Housefull’ to hit the theatres April 5. AGENCiES

Imran Khan finalised for ‘Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai 2’ NEW DELHi: Bollywood actor Imran Khan, known for his chocolate boy looks, will turn baddie for the sequel of the 2010 film ‘once Upon A time in Mumbaai’. He will play a don in parallel lead with Akshay Kumar. the movie was to feature Shahid Kapoor earlier but now Imran has been finalised for it. “talks were on with Shahid but we have decided on Imran now. Imran loved the script, and we are very gung-ho about this project. the audience will get to see a different Imran,” Girish Johar, head of acquisition and distribution, Balaji Motion Pictures said. In the film, Akshay will be seen as underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, and Imran will play his rival Aslam. the project will be directed by Milan Luthria, who is basking in the success of ‘the Dirty Picture’. the prequel – ‘once Upon A time In Mumbaai’ - had Ajay Devgn and Emraan Hashmi together on screen. their mentor-turned-rival chemistry as Sultan Mirza and Shoaib, respectively, was appreciated.

Producers are hoping that the Akshay-Imran pairing works wonders for the sequel too. AGENCiES

MuMBAi: Vidya Balan, who won the best actress National award for her bold and beautiful performance in ‘the Dirty Picture’, says she has achieved a lot more than she ever expected to in her seven-year Bollywood career. “I am feeling very good. Actually, I am speechless to tell how wonderful and happy I am feeling,” the 33-year-old said at an event. “I always thought of receiving at least one National award in my career. I am just seven years old in the industry and I already have a National award to my credit. As I said, I have got much more than I had expected. I am feeling very content,” she added. Vidya forayed into Bollywood in 2005 with ‘Parineeta’ and received the Filmfare award for best female debut for her role as Lolita. the year 2011 proved to be splendid for the actress, whose ‘No one Killed Jessica’ and ‘the Dirty Picture’ received accolades. Vidya’s latest ‘Kahaani’ is also fetching the actress rave reviews for her performance as a pregnant woman in search of her missing husband. AGENCiES

LHR 11-03-2012_Layout 1 3/11/2012 2:31 AM Page 15

15 Taylor is Billboard’s

Bruno Mars, Justin Bieber, make GQ’s most stylish list

big money maker LOS ANGELES

LOS ANGELES AGENCiES

Bruno Mars and Justin Bieber aren’t just multi-platinum singers — they’re also snappy dressers.

Both stars are among the musicians who’ve made GQ’s list of the 30 Most Stylish Young Men in Hollywood, along with Joe Jonas, nick Jonas and ‘Glee’s’ Darren Criss, who actually topped the list. The magazine calls Bruno, who came in at number 30 on the list, “a master of throwback style,” saying he’s “one part elvis, one part Sinatra, one part R&B charmer.” As for the Bieb, in at number nine, the magazine says, “His taste is about as lux as you can get: YSL brooches, Watanabe varsity jackets,

C

REuTERS

OUnTRY singer Taylor Swift, 22, was named Billboard Magazine's biggest money maker on Friday, beating powerhouses U2, Lady Gaga and Adele to top the list with earnings of more than $35 million in 2011.

The ‘Love Story’ singer pocketed more cash from her album sales and world tour in 2011 than Irish rockers U2, country music veteran Kenny Chesney, pop star Lady Gaga, and rapper Lil Wayne, who rounded out the top five on Billboard's annual list of 40 of music's biggest money makers.

Sade, rockers Bon Jovi, Canadian singer Celine Dion, country singer Jason Aldean and current pop music darling Adele rounded out the top 10, with earnings ranging from $32 million to $13 million.

custom-made motorcycle jackets in powder blue.” nick Jonas is number six on the list, and GQ says he “looks like a movie star” with his “leather jackets and slinky tees.” The most unusual person to end up on the list, though, is Gwen Stefani’s son, Kingston Rossdale. Yeah, he’s under 30, all right — he’s not even six-years-old. Still, the magazine raves about his look, which isn’t surprising given that his mom’s a part-time fashion designer and his dad Gavin Rossdale’s no slouch in the style department either.

“Look at this kid!” says GQ. “This rock scion obviously has a leg up on all the other boys in the, er, playground. expect him to occupy this list for, oh, the next 24 years or so.”

‘Bol’ actor

Manzar Sehbai Swift’s breakthrough 2008 album, ‘Fearless,’ debuted at no. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart and 11 tracks entered the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, led by ‘Love Story.’ now 22, Swift has also become a branding powerhouse, with her own management company and lucrative contracts with companies such as Covergirl.

She also launched her own perfume, Wonderstruck. She has a following of more than 29 million fans on Facebook and 11 million fans on Twitter.

Swift will feature in the soundtrack for the upcoming film ‘The Hunger Games’.

Kamiar Rokni

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy returns home:

talks about Academy win at SOC Films’ conference KARACHI NEWS DESK

Anoushay Ashraf, Kamiar Rokni, and Nadia Hussain

Frieha Altaf, Umer Sayeed and Kamiar Rokni

I’ve got more than I expected:

Vidya Balan

As investigative filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy returned to Pakistan, SOC Films hosted a press conference where Sharmeen addressed the media and discussed her Academy Award win in the Documentary (Short) category for her film ‘Saving Face’, co-directed by Daniel Junge. ‘Saving Face’ chronicles the work of acclaimed British Pakistani plastic surgeon, Dr Mohammad Jawad as he travels to Pakistan and performs reconstructive surgery on survivors of acid violence. Acid violence, an extreme form of physical abuse, is systemically underreported in Pakistan. ‘Saving Face’ is an account of such violence told by survivors through their personal journeys of endurance, recovery and reconciliation. The observational documentary was filmed en-

tirely in Pakistan and was primarily based in the Seraiki belt in addition to Rawalpindi, Karachi and Islamabad. Speaking about the film, Sharmeen said “This is a film about despair as much as is it is a film about hope – to know that an issue like acid violence is being tackled on the ground by so many people is heartening. Daniel and I hope this film will spur more support

for the victims of acid attack as well as long term measures to prevent future occurrences.” In addition to those within the film and behind the scenes, the making of ‘Saving Face’ was deeply aided by Sarkar Abbass (Zakia’s lawyer), PIMS Hospital, Indus Hospital, Islamic help and Valerie Khan of the Acid Survivors Foundation. Sharmeen will be launching an outreach campaign

Salman is worth a rupee more than Shah Rukh!

MuMBAi: two of the biggest Khans in Bollywood are no longer on speaking terms. Many of Salman Khan’s movies have crossed the 100 crore mark, and Shah Rukh still rules as the badshah of Bollywood. there’s no love lost between the two biggies, and at the receiving end of the cold (or otherwise) war is Aditya Chopra. Salman has allegedly demanded a rupee more than the amount that Shah Rukh gets from Aditya Chopra.

Apparently, the ‘one rupee more, please’ demand has always been behind the amicable relationships and competitions between actors in the industry.

Since the times of actors like Dev Anand and Raj Kapoor, and then to the more recent Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan, directors have always had the difficult work

of choosing an actor worth a rupee more. tradition has continued as far as the monetary remuneration is concerned. And it has permeated down to our Khans – Salman and Shah Rukh, too. one crore or a hundred crores is hardly of any consequence to the arch rivals. It is only one rupee that matters.

AGENCiES

in collaboration with the Acid Survivors Foundation in Pakistan to spread awareness and promote critical conversation about acid violence. ‘Saving Face’ was presented in the USA on the 08th March by HBO documentary films, JUnGeFILM and MILKHAUS. ‘Saving Face’ was co-produced by Aaron Kopp and Fazeelat Aslam, and directed by Sharmeen and Daniel Junge. One of her most recent projects is a film titled ‘Transgenders: Pakistan’s Open Secret’ which sees Sharmeen at the director’s helm – the film was released in the UK in December 2011. The film explores the lives of transsexuals in Pakistan who exist on the fringes of society. Sharmeen is also producing an animated television series for children in Pakistan for national broadcast which endeavours to explore issues in identity, history and culture in Pakistan.

WELLiNGToN: Brad Pitt, who is concerned about his longtime partner Angelina Jolie’s health, is said to have given the actress “an ultimatum that she has to start eating.” the celebrity couple raise six children together, and Jolie, 36, is rumoured to be pregnant with another set of twins. Pitt, 48, is reportedly concerned for the health and wellbeing of his love and his unborn kids, as the loving patriarch believes Jolie is too thin. “It’s really got Brad terrified,” Stuff.co.nz quoted a source as saying. “Brad gave Angie an ultimatum that she has to start eating for the sake of the twins’ health,” the source said. It is speculated that the ‘Salt’ star began battling issues with her weight nearly a decade ago.

“She’s been extremely thin since ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’. She’s never properly put that weight back on,” the source claimed.

Jolie’s frame altered drastically following the birth of her twins Knox and Vivienne in 2008. the actress wasn’t happy with how her body changed. “when she went to Cannes eight months after the twins were born, she had the tiniest of curves in her hips and stomach. “I think it was the most beautiful she’s ever looked. But I don’t think she felt that way,” the source said.

Pitt is prepared to take a stand for his partner’s wellness. “Brad is determined to see her gain some weight. And this time he’s not going to back down. Brad needs to get her to start eating for at least one,” the source added. AGENCiES

makes Bollywood debut NEWS DESK Pakistani actor Manzar Sehbai, who played the lead in ‘Bol’, is all set to make his Bollywood debut with Hasnanin Hydrabadwala’s film ‘Ya Rab’. Sehbai, who has been living in Germany since the past 30 years, will play a pivotal character of a neurosurgeon in the Hindi film. The actor had wowed critics and the audience with his turn as a strict hakim in Shoiab Mansoor`s ‘Bol’.

"That was my debut in Pakistani film industry and ‘Ya Rab’ is my debut for Hindi film industry. I have enjoyed both the experiences. I am basically a theatre artiste and have done serious research in theatre in Germany. Films are a new medium for me post retirement from teaching theatre and I am thoroughly enjoying it. It’s quite entertaining," Sehbai said. He has also received an offer to work side by side with naseeruddin Shah in another Pakistani film. “I am heading to Pakistan to get complete narration and get into my character.”

Dennis Quaid's wife

files for divorce LOS ANGELES REuTERS

Actor Dennis Quaid and third wife Kimberley Buffington are splitting after Buffington filed for divorce, the actor's spokeswoman said. “We can confirm that Kimberley Quaid has filed for divorce. Contrary to what has been reported, a satisfactory settlement is being worked out for both parties,” Quaid's spokeswoman said in a statement, adding no further details would be provided on this “private matter.” Quaid, 57, married Texas real-estate agent Buffington in 2004, and the couple had twins Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace in 2007 via a surrogate. The ‘Soul Surfer’ actor was married twice before, once to actress PJ Soles from 1978 to 1983, and to actress Meg Ryan from 1991 to 2001.

Brad Pitt ‘terrified’

over Angelina Jolie’s health

LHR 11-03-2012_Layout 1 3/11/2012 2:32 AM Page 16

16 Foreign News

Sunday, 11 March, 2012

Assad promises Annan to back any ‘honest’ peace bid Troops kill 16 rebels in ambush while rebels kill four soldiers and capture five DAMASCUS

S

AFP

YRIAn President Bashar alAssad promised international envoy Kofi Annan Saturday that he would back any “honest” peace bid but warned dialogue would fail if “terrorist groups” remained.

State television said there was a “positive atmosphere” to the Damascus meeting between Assad and the former Un chief, on his first visit since being named United nations-Arab League envoy on the conflict.

Annan himself made no public comment about the progress of his crux mission to prevent a year-old uprising from spiralling into all-out civil war. “Syria is ready to bring success to any honest bid to find a solution,” the official SAnA news agency quoted Assad as telling Annan. But “no dialogue or political process can succeed as long as there are terrorist groups that are working to sow chaos and destabilise the country by attacking civilians and soldiers,” he added. “The success of any effort firstly requires an examination of what

is happening on the ground instead of presumptions spread by certain states of the region and others to distort the reality ... of the situation in Syria,” said Assad.

The meeting came against a backdrop of fierce fighting between troops and rebel fighters, particularly in the northwestern province of Idlib, close to the border with Turkey, where the Free Syrian Army has been especially active. Troops killed 16 rebels in an ambush in the province on Saturday while the rebels killed four soldiers and captured five, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. nationwide, 31 people were killed, the Britain-based watchdog said, adding to a death toll that had already topped 8,500 since protests against Assad’s regime erupted last March. emissary of the United nations and the Arab League, Annan has the support of Damascus allies Beijing and Moscow and his mission has been welcomed by the both the Syrian government and opposition.

But Russia said its Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made clear to Annan at a meeting earlier in Cairo that Moscow was opposed to “crude interference” in Syria’s

affairs. “A particular emphasis was placed on the inadmissibility of trampling on international legal norms, including through crude interference in Syria’s internal affairs,” the foreign ministry said. The Russian stance drew an angry reponse from Gulf states when Lavrov joined an Arab foreign ministers’ meeting in Cairo with Saudi Arabia’s Saud al-Faisal accusing Moscow of giving Damascus a “licence to extend its brutal practices against the Syrian people, without compassion or mercy.”

Current Un chief Ban Ki-moon said Annan would demand an immediate end to the violence and aid agency access to besieged protest cities to evacuate casualties and provide desperately needed relief supplies to civilians trapped by the fighting. “I very strongly urged Kofi Annan to ensure there must be an immediate ceasefire,” Ban said. “I also asked him to urge Assad to facilitate humanitarian assistance and access.” Ban said his predecessor would seek to encourage dialogue between Assad’s government and the opposition but that he would not meet opposition figures inside Syria on his two-day visit.

arabs, Russia discuss Syria amid splits CAIRO AFP

Arab and Russian foreign ministers met in Cairo on Saturday over Syria, amid splits over how to move forward to resolve a crisis that has left thousands dead in a year. The meetings come as the West and the Arab world pile pressure on President Bashar alAssad’s regime to end a year-old uprising spiralling into all-out civil war. Beijing and Moscow have used their veto powers as permanent members of the Un Security Council to block resolutions condemning the crackdown, because they singled out Assad for blame. “Today, the most urgent is to end all violence irrespective of where it came from,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his Arab counterparts. He said both the government and the armed groups had to vacate Syrian cities and towns. But Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani, Qatar’s foreign minister, said the killings of civilians in Syria amounted to “genocide” and that a

ceasefire was “not enough.” “The Syrian regime is committing systematic genocide while we talk of a ceasefire,” Sheikh Hamad said.“After all the killing, we cannot just talk of a ceasefire,” he said, demanding “accountability” for those responsible for the violence.Sheikh Hamad said “the time has come to apply the proposal to send Arab and international troops to Syria,” while calling for the recognition of the Syrian national Council as the Syrian people’s “legitimate representative.” “When we went to the Security Council, we did not get a resolution because of the Russian-Chinese veto, which sent a wrong message to the Syrian regime,” he said, warning that “our patience and the patience of the world has run out.” Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said the Un veto allowed the “brutality” to continue. The stand of “the countries that thwarted the Un Security Council resolution and voted against the resolution of the General Assembly on Syria gave the Syrian regime a licence to extend its brutal practices against the Syrian.

young new star rises in india’s most populous state LUCKNOW AFP

MiNAMiSANRiKu: Visitors look around the devastated area in Minamisanriku, Miyagi prefecture on Saturday. afP

eu frets at latest gaza violence BRUSSELS AFP

The european Union on Saturday expressed concern at the worst IsraeliPalestinian violence in three years which left 14 Palestinians dead, calling on both sides to restore calm. A statement from eU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the bloc “is following with concern the recent escalation of violence in Gaza and in the south of Israel”. “I very much deplore the loss of civilian life. It is essential to avoid further escalation and I urge all sides to re-establish calm.” Medics said Saturday that Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip killed 14 Palestinians, including a militant group chief, after Palestinian militants fired at least 90 rockets and mortar rounds into southern Israel, according to an army spokeswoman. The Palestinian barrage injured four people, one of them seriously, Israeli military sources said. Israeli media said that three of the casualties, including the badly wounded man, were agricultural labourers from Thailand working on a farm near the border with Gaza. One of the retaliatory air strikes killed the head of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), Zohair al-Qaisi, and fellow member Mahmud Hanani.

Tibet exiles blame China ‘hardliners’ for immolations NEW DELHI AFP

Tibet’s government-in-exile on Saturday blamed China’s “hardline” leaders for a string of Tibetan self-immolations as it marked the anniversary of the Dalai Lama’s failed revolt against Chinese rule. In the past year, more than 20 Tibetans, most of them monks, have set themselves ablaze to protest Beijing’s rule, sparking international condemnation of what critics call religious and cultural repression.

Lobsang Sangay, the head of the exiled government, said that while he strongly discouraged such extreme actions, the “fault lies squarely with the hardline leaders in Beijing”. Beijing has heaped blame for the self-immolations on the Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India, accusing the 76-year-old Buddhist leader and his followers of plotting to create “turmoil” in China’s Tibetan-inhabited areas. But Sangay said “the self-immolations are an emphatic rejection of the empty promises of the so-called ‘socialist paradise’“ and

the lack of ability to protest in any other way in Tibet. “Today, there is no space for any conventional protests such as hunger strikes, demonstrations and even peaceful gatherings in Tibet,” Sangay said. “Tibetans are therefore taking extreme actions such as the one by 26 Tibetans who have committed self-immolations since 2009,” Sangay said.

The Harvard academic’s statement comes as Tibetans around the world marked “national uprising day” to commemorate the abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959 that sent the Dalai Lama into exile in northern India. Chinese authorities launched a huge security clampdown ahead of the sensitive anniversary of the uprising which also marked the deadly anti-Chinese government riots that erupted in Tibet four years ago. Sangay asked the United nations to appoint a “special rapporteur” to visit the troubled Tibetan region in the statement issued from the northern town of Dharamshala where the Tibetan government-in-exile is headquartered.

In new Delhi, at least 1,000 pro-

testers shouting “we want freedom” paraded through the Indian capital to pay tribute to the men and women who they said had “sacrificed their lives” for the cause of the Tibetan people. In Kathmandu, the capital of neighbouring nepal, nine protesters were arrested for chanting “anti-China” and “free Tibet” slogans near the Chinese embassy. And in Australia, 150 demonstrators marched through Sydney, carrying placards with slogans such as “Tibetans are burning”, before staging a noisy rally outside the Chinese consulate. Beijing insists that Tibetans enjoy religious freedom and have benefited from improved living standards brought on by China’s economic expansion. But the Tibetan government-inexile rejected that claim and called for China to embrace a “Middle Way Policy” which seeks “genuine” autonomy for Tibetans. “We hope that China’s upcoming leaders will initiate genuine change, and they find the wisdom to admit the government’s long-standing hardline policy in Tibet has failed,” Sangay said.

A fresh young star was chosen Saturday to take power in India’s most populous and politically key state after dealing a stinging electoral humiliation to the nehru-Gandhi dynasty scion Rahul Gandhi. Charismatic politician Akhilesh Yadav, 38, is credited with crushing Gandhi’s hopes of reviving the national ruling Congress Party’s fortunes in impoverished Uttar Pradesh ahead of national elections due in 2014. “We will work to take Uttar Pradesh on the path of prosperity and ensure that it matches up to the other states which have left us behind,” Yadav promised after his party chose him to be chief minister following a meeting in the state capital Lucknow. His selection came after he engineered the regional socialist Samajwadi Party’s sweeping comeback in state elections earlier in the week in Uttar Pradesh, which has 200 million people — more than Brazil’s population. Riding his regional party’s symbol, the cycle — which he called the “cycle of hope” — at rallies across the state, the marine engineering graduate represented the face of the “new” Indian politician, analysts said.

Uttar Pradesh is viewed as critical in India’s political alliance formulations as the state sends the biggest single bloc of lawmakers to the national parliament in new Delhi. Akhilesh Yadav is the son of wrestler-turned politician Mulayam Singh Yadav, who has served in the role three times. In the elections, the Yadav son and father duo trounced the incumbent chief minister Mayawati, a mercurial low-caste leader criticised for her grandiose displays of wealth and taste for expensive statues, including those of herself. Akhilesh “embraced the idea of aspiration and change” in the state, which has suffered from a series of corruption-tainted governments that have failed to bring development, India express editor Shekhar Gupta told India’s nDTV. Congress scored disappointing results in three other states elections, winning a clear majority only in the far-flung northeastern state of Manipur. The fourth-place finish of Congress in Uttar Pradesh has raised doubts over the political abilities of Gandhi, often tagged as India’s “prime minister-in-waiting”, to live up to his party’s aspirations for him.

But despite the setback, 41-year-old Gandhi is seen as the party’s unofficial candidate to succeed Manmohan Singh, 79, as prime minister of the Congress-led national government.

LHR 11-03-2012_Layout 1 3/11/2012 2:32 AM Page 17

Sunday, 11 March, 2012

‘Many dead’ in Somalia Islamist attacks on Ethiopian troops MOGADISHU AFP

An offensive by Somalia’s Islamist Shebab fighters on ethiopian troops on Saturday left many combatants dead, military sources on both sides and witnesses told AFP. “The fighting around the village of Yurkut was the most intense since ethiopian forces entered Somalia” in november, said one of the witnesses in the country’s southwestern region, Abukar Moalim Yarow. Military sources in both camps gave differing tolls but stressed the fierceness of the fighting, which lasted three hours, according to independent witnesses. “The mujahideen fighters led their most important military incursion against enemy positions in Yurkut,” Sheikh Mohamed Abu-Fatma, a top Shebab commander in the sector, told AFP by telephone. “We forced the enemy to temporarily abandon three barracks and we killed more than 40 of their men,” he added. Kalif Adan, a pro-government official, told AFP from Baidoa that the Shebab “attacked Yurkut this morning. Many of them were killed in fierce fighting. “The fighting is now over and (the Shebab) have been heavily beaten.” The hardline Shebab attacked ethiopian positions in Yurkut, near the strategic town of Luuq, on the road linking the Somalia-ethiopia border with Baidoa, a former rebel bastion in southern Somalia which ethiopian forces recaptured last month.

Somalia has been plagued by a relentless conflict since the 1991 ouster of president Mohamed Siad Barre.

Merkel lauds Germany’s nuclear phase-out plan

Foreign News 17

RUSSiA PoliCe BReAK UP ANTiPUTiN RAllieS oUTSiDe MoSCow SAINT PETERSBURG

R

AFP

ussian police Saturday arrested dozens of people as they broke up opposition rallies in Saint Petersburg and in nizhny novgorod on the Volga, an AFP correspondent and activists said.

Truncheon-wielding police violently broke up a protest and detained several dozen people in nizhny novgorod protesting strongman Vladimir Putin’s crushing victory in presidential polls, activists said. Another 40 people were detained at an unsanctioned protest in the former imperial capital Saint Petersburg after scores were detained Monday following a similar protest in Russia’s second city, an AFP correspondent said.

Using batons, police in nizhny novgorod roughly detained around 50 to 60 protesters after about 1,000 gathered for a march and subsequent rally, an opposition activist said.

Konstantin Baranovsky, a leader of the Solidarnost (Solidarity) movement, said the rally proceeded peacefully before police started pulling people out of the crowd and beating them with truncheons. “This happened for the first time since 2007 when an opposition rally was violently dispersed,” Baranovsky told AFP. Around 250 people gathered in Saint Petersburg as the budding protest movement attempted to sustain its momentum following Putin’s decisive victory in March 4 polls that

MoSCoW: Police officers block protesters in central Arbat area on Saturday shortly after an anti-Putin rally. afP gave him a third Kremlin term.

Unlike a simultaneous protest in Moscow, the Saint Petersburg rally was not sanctioned and police detained around 40 people, a local police spokesman told AFP. The detentions came after dozens were arrested in Saint

Petersburg at an unsanctioned rally of around 1,500 people on Monday. Many fear Putin’s crushing victory will take the sting out of the opposition movement but those at the rally expressed the hope that Russians will continue to stand up for their rights. “I am sure this

air raids kill 33 Qaeda suspects

BERLIN

SANAA

AFP

AFP

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday lauded her country’s decision to phase out nuclear power, speaking on the eve of the first anniversary of Japan’s Fukushima disaster. “We have seen the risks in a highly developed industrial country, risks which we considered impossible — or speaking for myself, I considered impossible,” she said in an interview posted on the government’s website. “I think that quite a large part of the (German) population is in favour of the phasing out of nuclear energy by 2022,” she added. In March last year, europe’s leading economy decided to immediately shut down its eight oldest nuclear reactors and to take nine others out of service by the end of 2022. “We have a good chance of becoming leaders in other markets, for example in the market of renewable energy sources, and that could work out very well for us in the future,” she said.

Air strikes killed at least 33 suspected Al-Qaeda militants in Yemen, in the first such action since a massive attack on the army, local officials said on Saturday. The sources said that 27 were killed and 55 wounded in air raids which residents said were carried out

by US warplanes on positions in a mountainous area of Al-Bayda province, south of the Yemeni capital.

“They were new recruits, youths from the region, taken by surprise by the raids which struck as they were dining in training camps” on Friday night, one official said, on condition of anonymity. The raids hit three villages west of the provincial capital, also called Al-Bayda — Al-Makhnaq, AlDooqi and Al-Mamdud, the sources said. On Saturday, Yemeni planes raided the southern province of Abyan,

killing six militants, a local official said.

He said positions near Jaar, 12 kilometres (seven miles) from the militantheld town of Zinjibar, were hit.

The air strikes were the first since a massive March 4 attack on an army camp in Abyan province claimed by the jihadists’ Yemeni branch, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) that cost the lives of 185 soldiers. Residents said the raids in Al-Bayda were carried out by US aircraft, but the accounts could not be immediately verified. Yemen is the ancestral homeland of slain Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and the jihadist network took advantage of a protracted anti-government uprising last year to seize large swathes of the south and east.

Washington has long made Yemen a major focus of its “war on terror” and the US Defence Department has provided hundreds of millions of dollars worth of equipment and training designed to help Yemeni special forces counter AQAP.

Two of the raids, launched from around 9:00 pm (1800 GMT) and lasting around three hours in total, struck the homes of Ahmed and Ali al-Humaiqani, two residents of Wadi al-Makhnaq, witnesses said. Wadi al-Makhnaq has an AlQaeda training camp, one local resident told AFP. “Several armed men arrived in multiple vehicles, along with two trucks loaded with weapons and ammunition boxes, and attended Friday prayers in Wadi al-Makhnaq,” said the resident, who declined to be identified.

Islamist militants, some of them Al-Qaeda loyalists, launched a major offensive in Al-Bayda province in January, that brought them just 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the capital, the closest they have reached. That month, around 1,000 Al-Qaeda fighters swept the town of Rada and overran it within hours, holding it for nine days before withdrawing under pressure from Yemen’s powerful tribal leaders.

Rio DE JANEiRo: Britain’s Prince Harry plays rugby with children during a British and Brazilian-themed sports day on Flamengo beach on Saturday. afP

is not the last protest,” Viktor Drobyshev, 38, told an AFP reporter in Saint Petersburg. “The fact that there are so few of us does not mean anything. Many have just been released following the detentions on March 5. They haven’t had the time yet to come to their senses.”

nigeria grills kidnappers of slain british, italian hostages KANO AFP

nigeria on Saturday quizzed suspected kidnappers of two Westerners killed during a failed British-nigerian rescue operation amid a row between Italy and Britain over the incident. Italian engineer Francesco Molinara, 48, and his British colleague Chris McManus, 28, were believed to have been shot by their captors before they could be rescued in the assault authorised

by British Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday. nigerian security sources told AFP eight suspects had been flown to the nation’s capital Abuja and had confessed to killing the two expatriates in the northern town of Sokoto during the join military operation to free them after almost a year in captivity. “Those that were arrested in connection with the incident were brought to the SSS (secret police) headquarters, Abuja yesterday,” a security source said. “In the course of interrogation one of them said they killed the two guys on sighting the security men because they were not sure they, too, will survive the attack,” he said. Another security source said: “They are being interrogated to have a complete picture of the whole episode.” “A lot of substantial information is beginning to emerge from the suspects,” he said. Italy has condemned Britain’s failure to warn it ahead of the failed rescue operation, but London said it had been forced by the situation to act swiftly.“The behaviour of the British government, which did not inform or consult with Italy on the operation that it was planning, really is inexplicable,” President Giorgio napolitano told reporters on Friday. “There needs to be a political and diplomatic clarification,” he said. At an eU foreign ministers’ meeting in Copenhagen later Friday, Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata said he made Italy’s feelings clear during talks with British Foreign Secretary William Hague. “I asked for detailed information because we have a right to maximum clarity on this episode,” Italy’s foreign minister said.

LHR 11-03-2012_Layout 1 3/11/2012 2:32 AM Page 18

Sunday, 11 March, 2012

Azarenka scrambles win at Indian wells Page 27

Pakistan to focus on Shakib in opener Australia experience gives rivals edge in Asia Cup: Misbah DHAKA

M

AGENCiES

ISBAH also warned his teammates about the stiff challenge posed by Bangladesh ahead of their clash in the opening match of the Asia Cup on Sunday.

He said his side would not make the mistake of taking Bangladesh lightly despite Pakistan’s nearly perfect record against the hosts. Of the 29 matches between the sides, Pakistan has lost just one, an ODI at the 1999 World Cup. ‘We don’t want to commit that mistake. Bangladesh is a difficult opposition at home, because they know the condition very well,’ Misbah said. ‘On their day they can upset you, so we will not take them lightly. We have to put in our hundred percent, we really have to come out hard to win the game.’

He added that new Pakistan coach Dav Whatmore, a former Bangladesh coach, should be able to provide the tourists with details about the opposition and the local conditions. ‘He is already contributing, and of course he can give some input about the Bangladeshi players,’ Misbah said. ‘But I think we are playing lots of cricket against Bangladesh, we played a series against them here in Dhaka. So we are quite familiar with them. ‘Both the teams know each other well, both the teams know strengths and weaknesses of each other.’

He added that Pakistan will pay particular attention to Bangladesh all-

rounder Shakib Al Hasan.

‘Shakib is a key player, so we are focusing on him. But we are also focusing on other players as well,’ he said.

Meanwhile, Shakib said dealing with Pakistan’s spin attack would be the key challenge for Bangladesh.

‘Handling Pakistan’s spin attack is vital for us, and moreover their fast bowling unit is also good. I think they have the best bowling unit of all the teams playing this tournament,’ Shakib said.

Despite Bangladesh’s inconsistent performance against top teams, Shakib said the hosts will aim to win every match at the tournament. The Asia Cup also involves India and Sri Lanka.

Although Bangladesh was whitewashed in its bilateral series against Pakistan earlier this year, Shakib remained confident of his side’s chances. ‘We have the ability to bowl well against any big side in the world. We will play every game

to win,’ he said. ‘We did not perform well in the last series we played against Pakistan, but this is a different tournament, and we are preparing well.’

Shakib said Bangladesh could not practice much as a team before the Asia Cup, ‘but we have been playing domestic cricket so the guys are confident.’

India has won the Asia Cup five times while Sri Lanka won it four times. Pakistan has won it once.

The tough experience that India and Sri Lanka went through in Australia in their recent tour will give them an advantage over their rivals, Misbah said. The biennial four-nation Asia Cup begins in Dhaka on Sunday with Pakistan and Bangladesh vying for the top spot in the continent along with India and Sri Lanka.

India had just a few days break before flying to Dhaka after a tough Australia tour where they lost all four test matches and failed to qualify for the finals of the

tri-series one-day tournament.

Sri Lanka, beaten by Australia in the best of three finals of the tri-series, flew to Dhaka directly from Australia on Saturday. "I think the way they have played cricket in Australia, it will always be difficult... to play against them as they have played tough cricket over there," Misbah told a news conference in Dhaka about their opponents.

"To compete with them we have to work very hard and have to improve our performance."

Pakistan toured Bangladesh in December and won both test and one-day series by a clear margin.

They also beat england in a test series 30 in the United Arab emirates before losing the one-day series 4-0 to the same opponents.

"Regardless of the situation that we have played here and have some advantage, but it will hardly matter as they have played some tough cricket. A lot of teams

South Africa set New Zealand record mark SCoREBoARD SouTH AFRiCA 1st innings 238 (H. Amla 62, G. Smith 53, J. Rudolph 52; Martin 4-56) NEW ZEALAND 1st innings 273 (B. McCullum 48, D. Vettori 46; V. Philander 4-72) SouTH AFRiCA 2nd innings Alviro Petersen c Southee b Bracewell

25

Graeme Smith b Bracewell

115

Jacques Rudolph not out

2

DHAKA REuTERS

105

AB de Villiers c McCullum b Williamson

29

Mark Boucher not out

34

EXTRAS (b 2, lb 6, w 1, nb 3) ToTAL (5 wickets dec; 140 overs)

12 435

Fall of wickets: 1-45 (Petersen), 2-47 (Amla), 3-247 (Smith), 4-283 (Kallis), 5-353 (de Villiers) BoWLiNG: Martin 23-4-74-0, Boult 26-4-93-1, Bracewell 253-70-3 (3nb), Southee 26-4-100-0 (1w), Vettori 32-5-65-0, Nicol 1-0-9-0, Williamson 7-4-16-1 NEW ZEALAND 2nd innings Rob Nicol c Smith b Tahir

19

Martin Guptill c de Villiers b Philander

6

Brendon McCullum not out

58

Ross Taylor not out

48

EXTRAS (lb 2, w 2, nb 2)

6

ToTAL (2 wickets; 41 overs)

Bangladesh chief selector returns after PM intervention

113

Hashim Amla c Guptill b Bracewell Jacques Kallis c Nicol b Boult

get mentally strong after playing over there (Australia)," he said.

Misbah said they want to forget the poor showing in the one-day series against england and take inspiration from the past good test results. "every game and every series is a different ball game. You can't just stick to the series that you have lost," said Misbah. "If you look at the series before we won six series in a row, I think this is part of the game. What we want to do is just forget the one-day series and just look forward," he said.

BANGLADESH: Imrul Kayes, tamim Iqbal, Nazimuddin, Jahurul Islam, Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Nasir Hossain, Mashrafe bin Mortaza, Abdur Razzak, Elias Sunny, Nazmul Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Shahadat Hossain, Anamul Haque.

PAKiSTAN: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Umar Akmal, Hammad Azam, Asad Shafiq, Shahid Afridi, Azhar Ali, Sarfraz Ahmed, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema, wahab Riaz.

137

Fall of wickets: 1-16 (Guptill), 2-55 (Nicol) BoWLiNG: Steyn 8-2-25-0 (1w), Philander 12-2-29-1 (2nb), Morkel 9-2-33-0 (1w), imran Tahir 8-2-33-1, Kallis 4-1-15-0 Toss: New Zealand umpires: Billy Doctrove (WiS), Aleem Dar (PAK) TV umpire: Richard Kettleborough (ENG) Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (SRi).

DUNEDIN AFP

new Zealand need to break their record highest fourth-innings winning total if they are to snatch victory from South Africa in the first Test on Sunday.

South Africa declared their second innings on Saturday at 435-5 giving new Zealand a 401-run target -- a winning fourth-innings total beaten only

DUNEDIN: Brendon McCullum of New Zealand bats during day four of the first test match against South Africa at the University oval. AFP four times previously in cricket history.

At stumps, with one day remaining, new Zealand were 137-2 -- requiring a further 264 runs -- with Brendon McCullum on 58 and Ross Taylor on 48.

The Black Caps' current record fourth innings winning total is 324-5 against Pakistan in Christchurch in 1994.

The West Indies hold the record for

the highest winning run chase when centuries by Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan laid the foundation for their fourth innings 418-7 to beat Australia at St John's in 2003.

South Africa scored 414-4 to beat Australia at Perth in 2008, India scored 406-4 to defeat the West Indies at Port of Spain in 1976, and Australia were the first Test side to surpass 400 in a successful fourth-innings run

chase when they made 404-3 against england at Leeds in 1948.

The highest unsuccessful fourth innings total is 654-5 by england when chasing a target of 696 to beat South Africa at Durban in 1939.

There should be 98 overs available on Sunday for new Zealand to score the runs or South Africa to take the last eight wickets, although morning rain is forecast in Dunedin.

Bangladesh's chief national selector Akram Khan withdrew his resignation on Saturday following assurances from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that there will be no interference in his work.

Akram resigned earlier this week citing interference in the wake of a selection row involving his nephew Tamim Iqbal for the Asia Cup. Bangladesh board president AHM Mustafa Kamal omitted opener Tamim Iqbal reducing the 15-man squad to 14.

Tamim, who had been suffering from a groin injury, was later recalled to the side after he passed a fitness test.

"I was invited by the Prime Minster at her office on Thursday to discuss the issue," Akram told a news conference.

"She (Hasina) assured me I can work freely and no one will interfere from now on. Later through a board director she asked me to withdraw my resignation letter," said Akram.

"She is our guardian, so after her words there is nothing much to say. I hope I will be able to work independently," he said.

Akram, a former captain, helped Bangladesh qualify for their first World Cup in 1999 following victory in the lower-tier ICC trophy in 1997.

He played eight tests and 44 one-day internationals, and has been a selector since 2007. He was made chief selector after the World Cup last year.

LHR 11-03-2012_Layout 1 3/11/2012 2:33 AM Page 19

Sunday, 11 March, 2012

Sports 19

Seeded players in Jr talent Hunt event next round LAHORE STAFF REPoRT

All the seeded players have moved into the next round of the 2nd nasir Ali Khan Memorial Junior Talent Hunt Tournament being held at Punjab Coaching Center Bagh-e-Jinnah.

On day two of the tournament under-10 and under-12 first round and pre-quarter matches were played.

Results 0f Under-10 1st Round: Mustafa Baig beat M Hamza Khan 6/1, Talha Ahmad beat Zaman Imran 6/0, Sameer Saeed beat Shimza Tahior 6/4, Haider Jhanzeb beat Miss Amesha, Ahmad Saeed beat Rasheeda 6/0, Aman Kamran beat Hamza Saeed 6/0 Under-12 1st Round: nalain Abbass beat Zain Imran 6/0, Mustafa Baig beat Ahmad Saeed, Malok Hussain beat Aslam Shazaib Amin, Talha Ahmad beat Muhamad Saeed.

Under-10 Pre Quarter: Ahmad Saeed beat Abdullah Adnan, Shazan beat Amman Kamran, Talha Ahmad beat Sammer Saeed, nalain Abbas beat Aman Syed Under-12 Pre Quarter: Hafiz Arbab Ali beat Sameer Saeed 6/3, Ali Zubair Bhandari beat Hamza Saeed 6/1, nalain Abbass beat Shameer Ahmad 6/4, Humbal beat Mustafa 6/1, Omer Mehdi beat Malik Hussain Aslam 6/0, Haviza Abdul Rehman beat Hashim Javaid Qureshi 6/1, Haris Irfan ul Haq beat Ahmad Saeed 6/0.

PCB condoles death of Miandad’s mother LAHORE STAFF REPoRT

Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman, Zaka Ashraf, Chairperson Women Wing Mrs. Bushra Aitazaz, Chief Operating Officer Subhan Ahmed and management have expressed their deep sense of sorrow on the passing away of Miandad's mother on Saturday at Karachi.

In their condolence messages the PCB management have expressed their deep grief and sorrow over the sad demise of the mother of Director General PCB Javed Miandad.

The management prays that her soul rests in peace and "May Allah Almighty give him and his family strength to bear this huge loss," the PCB said.

watson fires 62 to seize wGC lead MIAMI AFP

Bubba Watson fired a 10-under 62 to seize the second-round lead at the Cadillac Championship on Friday as he and playing partner Justin Rose delivered a barrage of birdies at Doral. Watson had a 12-under total of 132, while england's Rose, who carded an eight-under 64, was in second place on 11-under 133.

DHAKA: Pakistan coach Dav whatmore (C) briefs players during a team training session at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. afP

Lahore, Multan, Peshawar, zTBL win in Women Cricket LAHORE STAFF REPoRT

Lahore, Multan, Peshawar and ZTBL eased to wins in the 7th national Women Cricket Championship-2012 round two on Saturday.

Lahore Region won the opening match of the day by five wickets against Islamabad, Multan Region defeated Abbottabad by 171 runs, Peshawar region edged to a one wicket win over Sialkot and ZTBL thrashed Rawalpindi by 10 wickets, Rawalpindi.

SCoRES: PooL - A At NAtIoNAL GRoUND, ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Region – 102 in 25.1 overs: (Uzma Kanwal 28, 107 balls, 5x4s, Huma Shafiq 17, 17 balls, 4x4s, Bakhtawar Iqbal 4-7, Namra Imran 2-20) Lahore Region 103-5 in 35.3 overs: (Komal Feroz 19, 34 balls, 2x4s, Namra Imran 17*, 52 balls, 2x4s, Anoshey Malik 2-24) Player of the match: Bakhtawar Iqbal (Lahore Region) Result: Lahore Region won by 5 wickets toss: Lahore Region, Umpires: Kaukab Butt & Samera Aftab, Match Referee: Ghulam Mustafa, official Scorer: Muhammad Akbar At MARGHAZAR GRoUND, ISLAMABAD: Multan Region 267-7 in 50 overs: (Sana Gulzar 63, 63 balls, 7x4s, Fakhira Kazmi 53, 67 balls, 6x4s, Sadia Bibi 3-46)

Abbottabad Region 96 in 42.4 overs: (Sadia Bibi 14, 72 balls, 1x4, Nadia Husain 3-17, Fakhira Kazmi 2-4, Hadia Hussain 2-30) Player of the match: Fakhira Kazmi (Multan Region) Result: Multan Region won by 171 runs toss: Multan Region, Umpires: Jamshed Iqbal & Sultan Mahmood, Match Referee: Raj Hans, official Scorer: Umer Iqbal PooL - B At IttEFAQ CRICKEt GRoUND, LAHoRE: Sialkot Region 194-8 in 50 overs: (Saima Jamil 39, 75 balls, 4x4s, Rafia Liaqat 36, 36 balls, 6x4s, Nadia Naseem 30, 66 balls, 3x4s, Zainab Khan 3-32, Yousra Amin 2-23) Peshawar Region 195-9 in 49.4 overs: (Ayesha Naeem 30, 61 balls, 3x4s, Arfa Hasan 31, 78 balls, 3x4s, Shakeela Naz 22, 31 balls, 5x4s, Saba Sardar 2-21)

Player of the match: Ayesha Amin (Peshawar Region) Result: Peshawar region won by 1 wicket toss: Sialkot Region, Umpires: Afia Amin & Humaira Farrah, Match Referee: tanvir Afzal, official Scorer: Azhar Hussain At LAHoRE GYMKHANA GRoUND, LAHoRE: Rawalpindi Region 47 in 15.1 overs: (Iqra Maroof 11, 11 balls, 2x4s, Sara Rasheed 10, , 26 balls, 1x4, Almas Akram 7-24, Kanita Jalil 2-15) ZtBL 48-0 in 5.4 overs: (Sana Mir 25*, 15 balls, 5x4s, Rabia Shah 11*, 16 balls, 1x4) Player of the match: Almas Akram (ZtBL) Result: ZtBL won by 10 wickets toss: Rawalpindi Region, Umpires: Rana Sohail & Nasir Hussain, Match Referee: Zaigham Barki, official Scorer: Abdul Hameed.

KPT National football Challenge Cup set to kick off KARACHI STAFF REPoRT

The KPT national Football Challenge Cup 2012 kicks off at KPT ground Karachi from today.

Addressing a press conference here Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Lt. Col. (Retd) Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi sid that it was a matter of pride for KPT to sponsor the event as part of their 125 years celebrations.

He gave the details of the panel of officials from KPT and PFF side. From KPT side, Rear Admiral Azhar Hayat, General Manager Operations and Shah naeem Zafar, Manager Sports were present.

From the PFF side besides the General Secretary PFF, it was attended by Syed

Khadim Ali Shah, President Sindh Football Association (SFA) and Wing Commander (Retd) Pervaiz Saeed Mir, Director Development and Competitions.

The General Secretary said that this is the first time we have inducted two youth teams in an event like this and stressed on seeing great potential in the youth. He said that our future is in the hands of youth who with experience and exposure will become asset for the national team buildup. Under the vision outlaid by the President PFF Makhdom Faisal Saleh Hayat in his vision 2020, we are strictly monitoring the results and we have great expectations from our youth. This gesture will encourage the players to put in their best efforts in the game and bring credit to the nation; he added.

LAHoRE: MNA Hamza Shahbaz Sharif during the inauguration ceremony of the Premier t20 League at Khaiyaban-i-Amin Ground. STaff PHOTO

State Bank, ZTBL grab easy win in National ODI Division-I LAHORE STAFF REPoRT

State Bank and ZTBL moved past their rival in round two of the Faysal Bank One Day Cup 2011-2012 Division-I beating nBP and HBL respectively here on Saturday. Playing at the LCCA ground State Bank defeated national Bank by nine wickets while at the Gaddafi Stadium, ZTBL beat HBL by 114 runs. In other matches of the tournament, PIA, Abbottabad, Karachi Dolphins and Faisalabad Wolves registered wins.

SCoRES: GRouP A At LCCA GRoUND, LAHoRE: State Bank 234 in 49.4 overs: (Kashif Siddique 57, 51 balls, 5x4s, 1x6, Rameez Aziz 52, 74 balls, 4x4s, Gulraiz Sadaf 33, 62 balls, 3x4s,

Rameez Raja Jr. 28, 26 balls, 3x4s, 1x6, Irfan-ud-Din 5-42) NBP 225-5 in 50 overs: (Qaiser Abbas 83*, 94 balls, 8x4s, 1x6, Umer Amin 53, 73 balls, 7x4s, Aqeel Anjum 30, 37 balls, 4x4s, Adnan Rasool 2-26, Rameez Aziz 2-31) Man of the match: Rameez Aziz (State Bank) Result: State Bank won by 9 runs toss: State Bank, Umpires: Ghaffar Kazmi & Mir Dad, Referee: Kahlid Niazi, Scorer: Masood Ahmed At GADDAFI StADIUM, LAHoRE: ZtBL 349-7 in 50 overs: (Sharjeel Khan 163, 128 balls, 15x4s, 9x6s, Babar Azam 100, 115 balls, 6x4s, Abdul Razzaq 24, 12 balls, 2x4s, 1x6, Fahad Masood 3-66, Kamran Hussain 2-64) HBL 235 in 39.1 overs (Humayun Farhat 52, 25 balls, 9x4s, 1x6, Hasan Raza 47, 46 balls, 5x4s, Imran Farhat 45, 48 balls, 4x4s, taufeeq Umer 36, 35 balls, 5x4s, Fahad Masood 21, 34 balls, 1x4, 1x6, Junaid Zia 4-50, Rehan Riaz 2-42, Babar Azam 2-28) Man of the match: Sharjeel Khan (ZtBL) Result: ZtBL won by 114 runs

toss: HBL, Umpires: Ejaz Ahmed & Zameer Haider, Referee: Saadat Ali, Scorer: Najmus Saeed At IQBAL StADIUM, FAISALABAD: wAPDA 241 in 49.4 overs: (Ali Azmat 56, 82 balls, 1x4, 3x6s, Riffat Ullah 45, 46 balls, 7x4s, Rana Naveed ul Hasan 31, 37 balls, 2x4s, 1x6, Zulfiqar Babar 28, 29 balls, 3x4s, Imran Ullah 21, 15 balls, 5x4s, Anwar Ali 3-51, Zia-ul-Haq 2-32, Shoaib Malik 2-43) PIA 246-6 in 49 overs: (Shoaib Khan 86*, 106 balls, 8x4s, 1x6, Faraz Ali 69, 95 balls, 7x4s, Agha Sabir 32, 29 balls, 4x4s, 1x6, Imran Ullah 3-38) Man of the match: Shoaib Khan (PIA) Result: PIA won by 4 wickets toss: PIA, Umpires: Saleem Badar & tahir Shah, Referee: Nadeem Arshad, Scorer: tahir Suhaib GRouP B At ABBottABAD CRICKEt StADIUM, ABBAttABAD: Sialkot Stallions 238-7 in 50 overs: (Muhammad Ayub 108, 142 balls, 10x4s, Kamran Younas 25, 35 balls, 1x4, Mubeen Mughal 21*, 19 balls, 2x4s, Muhammad Azhar

21, 19 balls, 3x4s, Ikram Ullah 2-46, Nabi Ullah 2-49) Abbottabad Falcons 239-3 in 47 overs: (Hammad Ali Shah 97, 125 balls, 13x4, 1x6, Muhammad Naeem 84, 109 balls, 11x4s, Rameez Ahmed 31, 38 balls, 3x4s, 1x6) Man of the match: Hammad Ali Shah (Abbottabad Falcons) Result: Abbottabad Falcons won by 7 wickets toss: Abbottabad Falcons, Umpires: Riazuddin & Kamal Marchant, Referee: Muhammad Javed Malik, Scorer: Aamir Sharif At DIAMoND CRICKEt GRoUND, ISLAMABAD: Karachi Dolphins 232 in 48.2 overs (Shahzeb Hasan 67, 80 balls, 7x4s, 1x6, tanveer Ahmed 44, 41 balls, 4x4s, 2x6s, Muhammad Sami 31, 39 balls, 2x4s, Shahzad Azam 3-50, Kamran Hussain 3-31, Imad wasim 2-37) Islamabad Leopards 229-9 in 50 overs (Afaq Rahim 65, 77 balls, 10x4s, Zeeshan Mushtaq 53, 61 balls, 5x4s, Naeem Anjum 39, 53 balls, 3x4s, tanveer Ahmed 2-45, Azam Hussain 2-47, Haris Ayaz 2-39)

Man of the match: tanveer Ahmed (Karachi Dolphins) Result: Karachi Dolphins won by 3 runs toss: Karachi Dolphins, Umpires: Ahmed Shahab & Qaiser waheed, Referee: Khateeb Rizwan, Scorer: Adnan Farooq At KRL StADIUM, RAwALPINDI: Faisalabad wolves 224-7 in 50 overs: (Muhammad Salman 62*, 65 balls, 6x4s, Zeeshan Asif 51, 79 balls, 2x4s, Muhammad Shahid 45, 74 balls, 6x4s, Yasim Murtaza 4-43, Haseeb Azam 2-32) Rawalpindi Rams 163 in 41 overs: (Awais Zia 38, 39 balls, 6x4s, Muhammad Nawaz 32, 45 balls, 2x4s, Yasim Murtaza 31, 36 balls, 3x4s, Ahsan Adil 3-35, Aqeel Ahmed 325, Muhammad Shahid 2-21, waqas Maqsood 2-26) Man of the match: Muhammad Salman (Faisalabad wolves) Result: Faisalabad wolves won by 61 runs toss: Faisalabad wolves, Umpires: Shakeel Khan & Ihtasham-ul-Haq, Referee: Musaddaq Rasool, Scorer: Shakeel Ahmed.

LHR 11-03-2012_Layout 1 3/11/2012 2:33 AM Page 20

20 Sports

Sunday, 11 March, 2012

Numero Uno The battle for the best in Asia kicks off today, McIlroy rises to the apex of world golf and La Liga confirms itself as the best ALL BASES COVERED KUNWAR KHULDUNE SHAHID Pakistan travel to Bangladesh knowing that a triumph in the Asia Cup could reinstate the confidence that we had lost in the ODIs against england, as the team looks to make a surge towards the top of the pile in Asia. Meanwhile, we have a new world number one in golf, while La Liga has confirmed its status as the best league in the world.

ASIA CUP PREVIEW Thick-headedness with all things related to Pakistan has ensured that captain Misbah-ul-Haq is under immense pressure to deliver in the shorter format of the game, as Asian giants – and Bangladesh – lock horns in the Asia Cup starting from today. After the anticlimactic showing in the ODIs against england, Pakistan have the ideal opportunity to make emends in Bangladesh. The home side have nothing really in their favour, barring home advantage – and too is questionable.

India are arguably worse off than Pakistan, as far as morale and confidence are concerned after their blunder Down Under, and Dhoni, like Misbah is under the scrutiny gun. Sri Lanka are undoubtedly the favourites heading into the tournament, as they give the Oz a veritable scare in the CB series and nearly clinched it as well.

The induction of nasir Jamshed is a promising prospect for Pakistan, since sub-continental pitches are batting paradises, in every sense of the cliché and therefore, Pakistan would need someone to have the ability to score briskly up top to have the potential of posting totals in excess of 300. nasir Jamshed can do that, without compromising steadiness, and if Mohammed Hafeez is able to recall the fact that he has a batting responsibility to perform as well – arguably one of the most significant ones – in crunch matches, then we might have a stable pair up top who have the ability to push the accelerator as well.

Misbah and Umar Akmal would be pivotal in the middle order, the former could do himself a world of good by putting up robust batting show, while the latter is possibly the most pivotal cog in our batting machine – albeit a cog that has looked rusty and out of sorts for a while. With sub-continent sides being dexterous against spin, Umar Gul’s importance hikes up a couple of notches, and maybe we need to give Wahab Riaz a good run in the side – he has showed enough to deserve that. Although we have the best spinning repertoire in the game, we can’t just look to out-spin our opponents in Bangladesh. We have most bases covered in the bowling department, but it’s the batting that needs to step up to the plate this time round. Failure to make the final, or being outdone

by India – both facets are intertwined – could result in a serious backlash that might result in a complete overhaul of the batting line-up, and perhaps the captaincy, for the limited-over sides.

MCILROY REACHES PROMISED LAND This month’s Honda Classic might just be recalled as one of those symbolic sporting moments, in the times to come, that divulge a lot more than what’s on the final scorecard. The tournament began, much like the one before it, with the gauntlet being thrown to Rory McIlroy to usurp the number one ranking by winning the tournament – something he had partially bottled the previous weekend.

With hefty expectations resting on the young northern Irish shoulders, and so much scrutiny being bombarded on every half a manoeuvre of his, the accusations of bottling in le clutch have surfaced in the past – most notably in the Masters last year, when they weren’t mere indictments. now, golf statisticians tell us that the probability of one succumbing to bigtime pressure escalates at full tilt if one Tiger Woods is amongst the chasing pack. And oh sweet lord there he was!

Shooting a 62 on Sunday – his best ever closing round – with the phrase ‘bolt from the blue’ bulging out from every iota of the American’s exploits. ever since Woods bartered sporting excellence with off-field turbulence, the golfing throne has been up for grabs.

And despite Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer and Luke Donald filling in the cavity temporarily, the golf aficionados have been awaiting the next superstar – the next Tiger Woods. McIlroy has long been the one touted to fill those particular boots; and when the US Open Champion approached the final holes at the Honda Classic to consolidate his lead, the ‘Tiger roars’ from the crowds ahead of him and the scoreboard showcased Woods upping the ante on the golfing prodigy’s quest to claim top spot. exhilarating stroke-play gives you stardom, but the ability to scramble through in the final holes – if need be – on Sunday, is the litmus test of a champion. Knowing too well that capitulation would resoundingly throw the cat among the pigeons, Rory pulled off golfing repertoire too mature for his 22-years but be-

fitting the world’s top player to reach Promised Land.

That moment had its fair share of symbolism. It was the first time that Woods and McIlroy faced off in genuine clutch-time, with Tiger finishing T2 and Rory winning the tournament. And it might just be a glimpse of the things to come in the near future, as the golfing world has long been craving for a dose of McIroy-Woods with both being on their A game – there or thereabouts. It would be hard to deny that sporting romanticism has been whetted by the fact that Tiger retraced something bordering on his halcyon days the day McIlroy finally achieved what he was long prophesised to do. not since Jack nicklaus and Tom Watson were taking each other on in the late 70s and early 80s has golf really had a veritable ‘clash of the titans’. And even though there is a considerable age disparity between the two, the fact that Tiger seems to be on his way back to his best and has a good many years of peak form ahead of him to hunt down nicklaus’ tally of 18 majors – this could fi-

nally give us that golfing showdown that the world has long pined for. Also, with Phil Mickelson striking the ball as well recently, as he has since the 2010 Masters, we might just be entering into the next golden era of golf – one akin to the days of nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Watson or the Jones-HagenSarazen era or indeed the Snead-Hogannelson era – and this is one scrumptious prospect!

Meanwhile, there’s hardly any doubt as to who’d be the vanguards of this potential epoch. Tiger has made a career out of rewriting golf history books, and he has a long way to go before that particular ink dries. Au contraire, if anyone from the current generation can pull off a Tiger-esque career it’s Rory McIlroy, who’d find out, in the coming days, how it feels to be battling it out for supremacy against someone, whose first major triumph’s scorecard found a place on your wall when you were seven.

BILBAO CONFIRM LA LIGA’S STATUS Manchester United’s loss against Athletic Bilbao on Thursday in the europa League has confirmed what has been mulled over for a couple of years – the status of La Liga as the best league in the world. ever since Liverpool’s Champions League triumph in 2005, which was followed by a lucrative era for United between 2007 and 2011 – with three finals in four years including a title – it was asserted that the english Premier League is the best league in the world. This fact was also confirmed by Chelsea and Arsenal being present at the business end on a regular basis. now, ever since Barcelona outdid United in the 2009 final, there has never been a question over who’s the best team in europe, and few would argue about Real Madrid being there as well; but the sheer disparity between the top two and the rest in Spain connoted that La Liga as a competitive spectacle failed to live up to the hype. There were also question marks over the quality of the sides below the top two and hence apprehensions over labelling La Liga as the best league in the world – all that has changed now.

Bilbao, currently lying fifth on the La Liga table, are no way near being a Spanish powerhouse. The fact that they completely outplayed a team that currently finds itself two points of the top in ePL and has won four of the last five league titles confirms the supremacy of Spanish football over their english counterparts.

United fielded a strong side at Old Trafford, and even though they still have a chance of going through to the next round after the return leg, the showing at home has confirmed the prodigious gap between La Liga and ePL.

titles keep piling up for Djokovic INDIAN WELLS AFP

Novak Djokovic heads into the Indian wells tournament sufficiently recovered from winning the first major of the year and ready to continue last year's amazing run of success. the world number one has captured the last three Grand Slams, including winning a near six-hour duel over Rafael Nadal in the Australian open final in January. "Everybody had time after Australia to recover, to get rest, and play some events prior to Indian wells," Djokovic said. "You need to play lots of matches and play against the best players in the world. the conditions here are suitable to my style of game. the courts are a little bit slower which I prefer." when he arrived at Indian wells last year, Djokovic was riding a season-long match win streak that he eventually stretched to 41 matches. Djokovic opens the defence of his title in the California desert Saturday when he faces qualifier Andrey Golubev in a second round match. He is showing no signs of slowing down as he goes for his third Indian wells title.

Jankovic crashes out of Indian wells

INDIAN WELLS AFP

Former winner Jelena Jankovic became the first seed to crash out of the Indian Wells tournament on Friday, losing in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 to world no. 99 Jamie Hampton Friday. The 12th seeded Jankovic blamed her second round loss on fatigue, especially being jet lagged after flying all the way from southeast Asia and arriving in the California desert on Monday night. "Today I was a shadow of myself," Jankovic said. "I didn't feel like I did anything right." Jankovic, who won the Indian Wells title two years ago, reached the semi-finals at the Kuala Lumpur tournament last week before heading to the United States. "I am feeling jet lagged and have some allergies here and there," she said. "I went on court and I expected much more from myself, but it didn't happen." The 22year-old Hampton fired three aces, including one in the final game of the match to go ahead, 30-0. She clinched the win when Jankovic pushed a forehand wide, ending the 89 minute match on centre court. Jankovic survived two match points but couldn't overcome a 40-0 deficit in the final game, bowing out on the third match point. She posted two double faults and won just 46 percent of her first-serve points. "My legs felt tired and swollen," Jankovic said.

"Give credit to Hampton she played solid and did what she had to do."

LHR 11-03-2012_Layout 1 3/11/2012 2:33 AM Page 21

Sunday, 11 March, 2012

Sports 21

BeRMUDA DUNeS: Novak Djokovic poses with the Bombardier learjet 45 XR. AFp

wATch IT LIve ESPN Sports Center 07:30PM

Azarenka scrambles win at Indian wells INDIAN WELLS AFP

The fulcrum of Indian batting has gone SpORtS thiS WEEk ALI AKBAR Rahul Dravid was the epitome of a craftsman. never the most talented stroke player, he more than made up for it with an impenetrable defence allied with a high percentage, beautifully controlled range of strokes and backed up by mental stamina of the highest order. Opposing teams considered his wicket to be the most important in the Indian team. Considering the names in the Indian batting order, this was the ultimate compliment from his peers. It was almost inevitable that Rahul Dravid would be given the nickname, “The Wall”.

Dravid had a brilliant 2011, scoring four hundreds in his seven Tests, the only batsman to withstand the scrutiny of england’s rampaging pacemen. He had changed his mental tactics. Before he used to concentrate from the moment he stepped onto the field till the time he was dismissed. He changed that by concentrating only when the ball was being bowled and relaxing in between. It seemed to work for him. It was also obvious that the soundness of his technique was compensating for any loss of hand-eye speed.

But it all came apart on the Australian tour. Perhaps it was the canny Craig McDermott who found a crack in Dravid’s wall, but the Australian pacers widened the breach and the balls started smashing into the stumps with alarming frequency. It was no coincidence that the Indian batting folded like a house of cards. The fulcrum was gone.

Rahul Dravid made tons of runs and oodles of hundreds, but he will be remembered most for his modesty, team spirit and a dry sense of humour. Dravid’s shoes will be extremely hard to fill.

Cricketers like him come once in a generation and there is none visible on the horizon. Virat Kohli is the real thing, but he is more in the role of a Tendulkar. Suresh Raina is suspect against the rising delivery. Ironically, the one player who reminds of Dravid is the Pakistani Azhar Ali, although he has miles yet to go.

Good luck, Dav Dav Whatmore has taken over as coach of the Pakistani cricketers. He is a tough no nonsense man who has had some success, particularly in Sri Lanka a few years ago. Whatmore played a few Tests for Australia and should command respect from the players because of that.

The fact that he is a proven commodity in his field will add to that.

Whatmore will probably be eager to ring the changes in the team’s training and technique, but should be careful, because changes take time to gestate and can, initially cause problems. He should remember that the knives will be waiting to be un-

sheathed the moment his team has a bad loss, something that is inevitable considering the amount of cricket being played.

It is up to the PCB higher ups to support him to the hilt and, critically, to give him the players he wants. After all, if the team does not perform, his neck is on the line. Being an Australian, there can be no suspicion of undue favouritism or nepotism, the major reason for hiring an overseas coach. The PCB should let Whatmore select his assistant coaches, physios as well.

He is the general who is leading his army to war. Let him win or lose on his own terms and with no excuses. Good luck, Dav. You are certainly going to need it.

Good year for Men’s Tennis On the ATP Tour, the year’s first Masters 1000 event begins at Indian Wells in California. The BnP Paribas Open has a draw worthy of a Grand Slam event, with all four of the top players competing. Andy Murray, who finished runner up to Roger Federer at Dubai last week, is sporting a new attitude as well as a more powerful forehand. This helped him to a straight sets win over novak Djokovic in the semifinals last week and although he lost to the masterful Federer in the final, this should give him some confidence.

Murray has, in the past, had a horrible body language on court and the loss of even one point would send him into a frenzy of self reproach. Ivan Lendl, his new coach, will have none of that. While his previous coaches would wring their knuckles in sympathy for their ward, Lendl has taken complete charge and one thing he will not tolerate is a crybaby. Things are looking up for Andy Murray.

Rafael nadal probably hates the sight of hard courts. They are murder on his legs, knees and his punishing allcourt style of play. Although he performs well on the surface, nadal much prefers the soft forgiving red clay of europe where he can slide into the ball and where he has that split second extra to hit his ground strokes. But nadal’s biggest problem is the same that Federer has against him. He simply cannot beat novak Djokovic. It is simply a case of strengths and weaknesses dovetailing. nadal’s punishing forehand is a nightmare for Federer’s backhand. Instead of stepping in and hitting a firm slice, Federer stays back and rolls the ball back, setting it up perfectly for nadal to hit a forcing shot. nadal cannot get away with this tactic against novak, who sits on the baseline and hammers the ball back, taking it early.

Federer on the other hand, fancies his chances against novak. So that is the fascinating triangle where the top trio of tennis stands. Men’s tennis has never been stronger, with new players challenging the established order. This promises to be a very good year.

World number one Victoria Azarenka survived an opening-match scare to beat Mona Barthel 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (8/6) in a three-hour marathon at the Indian Wells tournament Friday. The 22-yearold Azarenka appeared headed for disaster, trailing 4-1 in the third set but the unseeded German Barthel could not close the deal. "It was a survival," Azarenka said. "She had nothing to lose and I wanted to go for my shots but I hesitated. "Today my game was not at its best but the most important thing is I won." Azarenka arrived in Indian Wells riding a 17-0 match win streak which has taken her to the final of her last five tournaments, but the Barthel made her work to extend her winning run. It was the third time Azarenka and Barthel have locked horns this season, with the top ranked player beating Barthel 6-2, 6-4 en route to the Australian Open title in January and again 6-1, 6-0 last month in Doha. "Mona was real motivated to beat me. She played great," Azarenka said.

Azarenka clinched victory on her second match point of the tie-breaker after coming back from the brink in the third set. earlier in the tie-breaker Azarenka allowed Barthel to level it at 4-4 when the top seed delivered her 12th double fault of the match. The win means Azarenka, who claimed her first Grand Slam title in Melbourne, will face Svetlana Kuznetsova in the third round, who advanced after Swiss Timea Bacsinszky pulled out of their match with a wrist injury. Azarenka, who withdrew from the WTA event in Dubai last month with an ankle injury, won despite struggling on her serve. She pulled out of Indian Wells last year with an injury in the middle of her quarter-final match against Caroline Wozniacki. The dogged Barthel, ranked 37th in the world, had her finest moments in the second set and served for the set in the third. She lost the first set 6-4 then forced a tiebreaker after being down 5-1 in the second. Despite defeat the 21-year-old said she could eventually beat Azarenka. "It was difficult serving for the match against the world number one," Barthel said. "I am sad I couldn't win, but I will get another chance."

Barthel possesses an aggressive return game, potent backhand and moves quickly around the court for a 1.85 metre (6ft 1in) tall player. She also stepped up her play with precision groundstrokes on the longer rallies at key stages in the match. "This year I have improved a lot. I am just trying to get used to the tour. everything is new for me. I just want to see where I am at the end of the year," Barthel said. Former Indian Wells winner Jelena Jankovic became the first seed to crash out Friday, losing in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 to world no. 99 Jamie Hampton.

INDIAN wELLS: Viktoria Azarenka of Belarus celebrates a point against Mona Barthel of Germany during the BNP Paribas open. afP

LHR 11-03-2012_Layout 1 3/11/2012 2:33 AM Page 22

Sunday, 11 March, 2012

isrAel

kills 14 in gAzA GAZA CITY AFP

Israeli air strikes on Gaza killed 14 Palestinians, including a militant group chief, medics said Saturday, in the deadliest 24 hours in the border area in more than three years. Two men riding a motorcycle in the town of Khan Yunis were killed in a raid on Saturday, medics said. They had earlier reported one man as clinically dead but said he died later in hospital. The Israeli military confirmed its aircraft attacked a target in the Gaza Strip but had no immediate details. The raids came as Palestinian militants fired at least 90 rockets and mortar rounds into southern Israel since Friday morning, according to an army spokeswoman. The Palestinian barrage injured four people, one of them seriously, Israeli military sources said. Israeli media said that three of the casualties, including the badly wounded man, were agricultural labourers from Thailand working on a farm near the border with Gaza.

Local residents interviewed on radio and television said they had been told to stay close to bomb shelters and that large public gatherings had been banned, leading to the cancellation of several football matches on Saturday. An army statement said earlier that the air force had attacked a range of targets in Gaza since Friday. One of the retaliatory air strikes killed the head of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), Zohair al-Qaisi, and fellow member Mahmud Hanani, the ultra-hardline militant group said. The PRC threatened reprisals for Qaisi’s death. Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, said the air strikes also killed 10 of its members. Thousands of mourners, many chanting calls for revenge and firing automatic weapons into the air, buried the 12 Palestinians killed earlier at funerals across the strip on Saturday.

22

Punjab govt flouts rules by re-hiring two BS-20 officers LAHORE

I

NAuMAN TASLEEM

n a clear violation of Supreme Court’s orders, the Punjab Finance Department is all set to give reemployment to its two grade-20 officers by creating news posts.

The working paper in this regard has been submitted with the Reemployment Board, which would give the final approval on Saturday. The top leadership of the Pakistan Muslim Leaguenawaz (PML-n) has been criticising the federal government for considering to extend the

tenure of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief by calling it against the rules, but at the same time its government in Punjab has violated all such rules.

Sources in the Finance Department told Pakistan Today that two grade-20 officers — Rab nawaz Khan and Muhammad Zubair — would get reemployed. Rab nawaz was working as the professional director of Local Fund Audit, while Muhammad Zubair was working as the chief inspector of Treasury. The two blue-eyed officials of Punjab government will be appointed against two specially created posts. After

approval from the Reemployment Board, the government is considering to appoint Rab nawaz as consultant for Internal Control, and Muhammad Zubair as consultant for Treasury. In both cases, the government is not following the rules, which say that the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) should appoint officers in grade-16 or above. “Both of the officials are being appointed through the Reemployment Board, which has no authority in this regard,” a senior officer of the Punjab government said, adding that the move violated rules from all

aspects. “The Reemployment Board can take only those cases in which the extension is given on posts where a person was working, and if a new post is created, then the PPSC would have to be asked,” the official said. He added that if employment was given on old posts then the Reemployment Board would have had the jurisdiction, but in the current situation both cases do not fall under the writ of the board, thus any employment would be illegal.

It is relevant to mention here that Rab nawaz was laid off after the SC ordered removal of all

4 troops, 39 militants killed in bara clash PESHAWAR/HANGU AGENCiES

Four soldiers and at least 39 militants were killed Saturday in a day-long gun battle in Pakistan’s troubled northwestern tribal region, officials said. The fighting took place as Pakistani troops, backed by helicopter gunships, carried out a search operation around the town of Bara in the lawless Khyber tribal district bordering Afghanistan.

“Four paramilitary solders were martyred and seven others were wounded in today’s fighting,” a senior security official told AFP. “At least 39 militants were also killed,” he said. Four civilians also died when a

mortar shell hit a house, a government official said.

“Four civilians were killed in the day-long gunfight when a mortar shell hit their house,” Khyber’s deputy administration chief Syed Ahmed Jan told AFP. It was not immediately clear who fired the mortar shell, he said. A senior paramilitary official said the militants belonged to the Talibanlinked Laskhar-e-Islam group that is led by warlord Mangal Bagh. Independent verification of the incident is not possible as access to the area is restricted by the military.

33 MILITANTS KILLED: Fighter jets bombed several militant hideouts in Orakzai

Agency, killing 33 militants and wounding 23 others, military officials said on Saturday. According to sources, hideouts of terrorists were pounded in shelling by the forces in Upper Orakzai Agency area of Mamozai, Oadkhel and Jabba, killing several militants. They added that at least three dens were also destroyed in the operation. In another strike, four militant hideouts in the Khadezai and Mamozai areas of the tribal region were destroyed. Orakzai is one of seven ethnic Pashtun tribal areas where the military has carried out offensives to root out insurgent groups.

More power outages imminent as tarbela, Mangla touch dead level LAHORE AGENCiES

The water reservoirs at Tarbela and Mangla on Saturday reached dead level, further reducing the country’s already inadequate hydropower generation and increasing the odds of prolonged blackouts across the country. Water level in Mangla Dam has reached 1,040 feet, with a disproportionately large outflow of 31,182 cusecs against an inflow of 15,465 cusecs.

The inflow of water in Tarbela Dam stands at 17,100 cusecs, and the outflow is 16,400 cusecs. In Hyderabad, Water and Power Minister naveed Qamar hinted at the continuity of unannounced blackouts, saying “it will take time to end load shedding”.

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

contract employees. Sources said that Rab nawaz Khan could not be reemployed in any case; as he would reach the age of 63 in December, 2012, while the rules say that a person of that age could not be reemployed. “The reemployment is for one year, and if given in March 2012, then it expires in March 2013. Rab nawaz would reach 63 in December 2012, therefore his reemployment is against the rules,” sources said. The secretary of Punjab Services and the acting chairman of the Reemployment Board were not available for comments despite repeated attempts.