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Thursday, 31.05.12

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Racist Tube rant jailed One victim Pakistani Boy responded with smile and said Pakistan Zindabad and jiay Mutehida

A drunk passenger who hurled racist abuse at fellow travellers on a London underground train in a tirade that became an internet sensation has been jailed for 21 weeks.

Jacqueline Woodhouse, 42, launched an expletive-laden rant at passengers on the Central line, telling those seated near her: “I used to live in England and now I live in the United Nations.”

A seven-minute video of the verbal assault was uploaded to YouTube and viewed more than 200,000 times.

Condemning her showdown, District Judge Michael Snow at Westminster Magistrates’ Continued on page 27 >>

Is Britain a racist nation?

One in three Brits ‘admits to being racist’, according to poll

Sikhs protest outside Luton Police station over ‘assault’ allegations

• Third admitted making comments or being involved • Anti-racism group said the poll was ‘disappointing’ in discussions which could be considered racist • A third of Brits admit they are racist, a shock report has revealed.

• Almost 40 per cent confessed to using the phrase ‘I’m not a racist, but...’ when discussing • The worrying figure emerged in a poll of 2,000 race issues adults who were asked to honestly express their feelings about foreign nationals living and working in this country.

• One in three admitted regularly making comments or being involved in discussions which could be considered racist.

A worrying survey suggests one in four people who live in the South West admit they are racist.

The figure emerged from a national study into attitudes towards foreign nationals who now live in the UK. As many as one in ten sai d they say things or carry out acts which could be deemed as racist. And one in five said this was acceptable ‘because they were only Continued on page 02 >>

Members of the Sikh community have held a sit-down protest outside a police station in Luton following allegations that a young woman was sexually assaulted .It comes after a young Sikh woman, who has not been identified, was reportedly beaten and sexually assaulted in the Bedfordshire town by a “Muslim man”.

Bedfordshire Police are in consultation and negotiation with members of the Sikh community following a protest by around 250 people outside Luton Police Station last night .

A number of officers were on the scene attempting to resolve the situation with community leaders, Continued on page 27 >>

NEWS

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South Asia Tribune I Thursday 31 May 2012

Women and children executed in Syria - UN

Syrian ambassadors expelled from countries including UK, France and US As Kofi Annan meets Syrian President Bashar al-Assad following the massacre in Houla, the UN says most of those killed were victims of summary executions.

Diplomatic action follows massacre of more than 100 people in Houla Britain, France, the United States and three other European countries are expelling the ambassadors of Syria in protest at the massacre of more than 100 people, including scores of children, in Houla near Hama last weekend.

The co-ordinated international diplomatic action came as Kofi Annan, representing the UN and the Arab League, met the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus “to convey the grave concern of the international community about the violence in Syria” and the prospects for the Publisher Salah Bu Khamas (UAE) Sabha Khan (UK) UK Office 10 Courtenay Road, Wembley, Middlesex, HA9 7ND UK Phone: +44 20 8904 0619 Fax: +44 20 8181 7575 info@satribune.co.uk India Office Satya Infomedia Pvt. Ltd. C/O Satya Group.

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implementation of his apparently failing six-point plan.

and in effect closed its embassy in Damascus on security grounds

London some months ago. The charge d’affaires, Ghassan Dalla, was given the news when he was called into the Foreign Office. Two other Syrian diplomats have also been told to leave the UK. Annan met Assad “to convey the grave concern of the international community about the violence in Syria, including in particular the recent events in Houla,” reported his spokesman, Ahmed Fawzi. “He conveyed in frank terms his view

Australia also said it was expelling the Syrian ambassador. It is understood that the US will follow suit. Germany announced it was expelling the Syrian envoy, and Spain and Italy are due to do the same.

Syria has flatly denied responsibility for the atrocity, calling it a “terrorist massacre”.

France’s president, François Hollande, was the first European leader to announce the expulsion of the ambassador, describing it as “not a unilateral decision but in consultation with our partners”.

Britain’s decision was due to be made public by William Hague, the foreign secretary, shortly afterwards.

It was not immediately clear why other members of the 27-strong EU had not joined in.

Britain withdrew its ambassador

earlier this year. That meant there was little to lose by taking this punitive step. But its effect will be largely symbolic. Syria’s ambassador, Sami Khiyami, left

to President Assad that the sixpoint plan cannot succeed without bold steps to stop the violence and release detainees, and stressed the importance of full implementation

of the plan.” Annan is to give a press conference later.

Of the estimated 108 deaths half of them children - just 20 were killed by artillery and tank fire, the UN human rights office said on Tuesday. The killings have prompted French President Francois Hollande to expel Syria’s ambassador to Paris, and there are reports that Britain has told the Syrian charge d’affaires and other diplomats to leave.

In Houla, survivors have told UN investigators that most of the other victims were executed by progovernment Shabbiya militiamen.

“I believe at this point, and I would stress we are at very preliminary stages, that under 20 of the 108 can be attributed to artillery and tank fire,” UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said.

Of the dead, 49 were children and 34 women.

Mr Annan, the UN/Arab League peace envoy to Syria, has described the killings as an “appalling massacre”.

The Syrian government blames Islamist militants, but the UN has implicated the army. The Syrians’ Russian allies believe government and rebel forces were responsible.

West seeks civil war in Syria to find excuse for intervention: Activist

The United States and its Western allies are trying to incite a civil war in Syria in order to pave the way for military intervention in the country, a Syrian activist tells in a Press TV report. “The whole point of them is to try to create a civil war in Syria, trying to create a pretext for some intervention in Syria by NATO and its allies,” Syrian activist Mimi al-Laham told Press TV in an exclusive interview on Monday.

Laham reiterated that both the United States and Israel benefit from the massacre of the Syrian civilians, saying that US and Israeli elements are being stationed inside Syria as death squads and are taking orders from Washington and Tel Aviv. “I don’t believe that a Libya-style intervention could occur in Syria with an air force campaign but it’s only

Continued from page 01 >> joking’. The study also found just over one in ten have been accused of being racist by someone close to them.

Many blamed attitudes passed down to them by previous generations for their animosity towards foreigners.

The true extent of the racist undercurrent within the country was revealed in a nationally representative study carried out by Bristolbased research firm OnePoll in which 88 per cent of the respondents classed themselves as ‘White British’.

Overall the national study revealed one in three people admit they are racist.

Yesterday a spokesman said: ‘‘What constitutes being racist will always be a contentious issue.

What one person deems inappropriate the next person may not. The opinions and beliefs of our parents and grandparents are bound to

because the Syrian air force is actually quite strong, and they wouldn’t be able to attack Syria without sustaining heavy losses,” she went on to say.

Is Britain a racist nation? be a factor in the way we address other people regardless of their nationality or skin colour.

“Likewise life experience and cultures we have grown-up in are inevitably going to influence our beliefs and the language we use.”

OnePoll polled 2,000 adults nationwide. They were asked to honestly express their feelings about foreign nationals living and working in this country. One third admitted regularly making comments or being involved in discussions which could be considered racist.

Additionally, more than one in ten admitted they had been accused of being a racist by someone close to them. And almost 40 per cent confessed to using the phrase “I’m not a racist, but...” when discussing race issues facing Britain today.

Many felt their animosity towards foreigners was passed down by previous generations.

But the country’s immigration policy also emerged as a trigger for emotions which could be considered racist.

Other factors which many feel stir up antiforeign emotions was the environment or neighbourhood people currently live in. Life experience was also hailed as a reason. The study also found one in five accept the fact people around them make disparaging remarks about different ethnic groups – and are not bothered by it.

The Government’s immigration policy was slammed by many of those who took part in the study. Seventy one per cent said they felt an ‘open doors’ approach of the Government’s immigration policy brought an increase in racist feelings. As many as one in six wanted Britain to close its doors to anyone not a UK national.

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 31 May 2012

NEWS

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Sayeeda Warsi: is it really all about expenses?

The scandal surrounding Lady Warsi may be down to her perceived unsuitability for the Tory party chairman role Conservative Party co-chairman Baroness Warsi has admitted failing to declare rental income in the register of interests for members of the House of Lords.

David Cameron has suffered a fresh political blow as the Conservative Party chairman admits that she failed to declare thousands of pounds in rental income. The admission by Baroness Warsi is a serious blow to the Conservative Party’s pledge to be transparent in its dealings, and will increase pressure on Mr Cameron to replace her in a reshuffle. Labour MPs are calling for an investigation into an expenses claim by the co-chair of the Conservative Party, Baroness Warsi, in 2008.

As co-chairman of the Conservative Party, Warsi, 41, does these 48-hour visits around the country every week for nine months of the year.

It is a gruelling schedule, but there has been little sympathy for her among some of her Tory colleagues in Westminster. Some have sounded less than impressed with their chairman.

Anonymous briefers in Westminster variously paint her as a “lightweight” not up to the job; “over-promoted” because of her race and gender; never elected to office; “not to be trusted” for big media performances; and about to be sacked in a reshuffle.

Prime Minister David Cameron backed Sayeeda Warsi, co-chairwoman of the Conservative Party and a member of his Cabinet, amid allegations that she claimed an accommodation allowance while staying with a friend rent-free.

Warsi had not offered to resign following the report published in the Sunday Times newspaper , Cameron’s spokeswoman Vickie Sheriff said. Warsi on Monday asked

Paul Kernaghan, the House of Lords standards commissioner, to investigate the accusation, his office said.

“Yes, he has full confidence in Baroness Warsi,” Sheriff told reporters in London today. “She is happy to cooperate with any investigation.”

Warsi says she made an “appropriate payment” to a friend, Conservative Party official Naweed Khan, for the nights she stayed at his London apartment.

Khan supported the assertion .

Lady Warsi insists that she made an “appropriate payment” for the nights she stayed at a property occupied by Tory official Naweed Khan.

Earlier she wrote to the Standards Commissioner Mr Kernaghan, saying: I strongly reject any suggestion that my claims for House of Lords allowances were in any way improper. My claims reflected the fact that as a peer whose main home was outside London, I incurred costs when staying in London overnight to attend the House of Lords.

These included payments to Naweed Khan for the inconvenience and additional expense to which he was put when I stayed with him.

Nonetheless, in order to provide reassurance to the public that this matter has been considered dispassionately and independently, I would like to invite you to examine the substance of the allegations.

However - according to reports in The Sunday Times and The Sunday Telegraph - the owner of the property in Acton, West London, denies that he received any income from either Lady Warsi or Mr Khan. Baroness Warsi charged the taxpayer £165.50 a night for attending the House of Lords while staying at a house in Acton, west London.

The owner of the house said she had her own bedroom and front-door key and said he received no money in rent from Warsi or from Naweed Khan, the party official who was also staying there, it was reported.

She claimed £12,247 in over-night subsistence within six months of taking her seat in October 2007, records show.

It was the equivalent of 74 nights’ stay.

The Lords sat for 84 days in the period.

She was then the youngest peer at the age of 36.

The property was owned by Dr Wafik Moustafa, a GP. He said Warsi had

stayed at the house over four months between Mondays and Thursdays and occasionally at the weekend. He said: “Baroness Warsi paid no rent, nor did she pay any utilities bills or council tax.

It was an informal arrangement, so no tenancy contract was drawn up.”

Moustafa, 63, added: “I’m not exactly sure how many days she stayed in total, but I believe my home was her main London residence [at the time].”

The Tory peer, now a Cabinet Office minister, was at the time claiming Lords subsistence of £165.50 a night.

Labour MP John Mann said he would be asking the Lords commissioner for standards to investigate.

“If you are paying no rent where you are staying, you can’t possibly be claiming subsistence for staying there,” he said.

“It all seems very murky. We need a full investigation into the matter.”

which she began letting the Wembley flat.

Peers are required to declare sources of income of more than £500, although the annual rent on a London flat is likely to be many times greater than that.

In a statement last night, Lady Warsi said that she contracted to buy the flat in September 2007, but it was not due to be ready until the following year.

In the interim she stayed predominantly at two hotels but also, for “occasional nights”, at an Acton property occupied

by Tory party adviser Mr Khan.

“The completion date for the property was slightly delayed, and not having made advanced bookings for these hotels, there was a period of around six weeks when I spent occasional nights at a flat in Acton, which was occupied

by Naweed Khan, at the time a member of Conservative Campaign HQ staff,” she said.

“For the nights that I stayed as a guest of Naweed Khan, I made an appropriate financial payment equivalent to what I was paying at the time in hotel costs.

But Mr Moustafa said: “Naweed Khan never paid me any money.”

“In March 2008, I moved into the flat

Interests when its value and the rent received came to exceed the thresholds for disclosure,” she said.

“When the discrepancy became apparent this week, I immediately informed the Registrar of Lords’ Interests of its omission.

“I repeat, at all times my ownership of the flat and the fact that it was being let out was fully disclosed to Cabinet Office officials and HM Revenue and Customs, and was appropriately reported on the register of ministers’ interests held by the Government.”

The Acton flat is understood to be owned

by Dr Wafik Moustafa, a Conservative donor and former electoral candidate who is now engaged in a dispute with the party and Lady Warsi.

Mr Khan said that he stayed at the house belonging to Dr Moustafa between July 2007 and November 2008 while working in central London.

“In the early part of 2008, for a short period, Baroness Warsi stayed with me,” he said in the statement.

“I confirm she made a financial payment on each occasion, which compensated for the inconvenience caused and additional costs incurred by me as a result of her being there.”

In a further embarrassment for Lady Warsi, the most senior Muslim politician in Britain, she has admitted failing to declare rental income on a London flat in the Lords register of interests.

She said the omission was due to an “oversight”, adding that she had reported the letting of her Wembley flat in the Register of Ministers’ Interests.

The arrangement had also been declared to the Cabinet Office and HM Revenue and Customs, she said.

The peer bought the property in 2007 but moved closer to Parliament when she became a minister in 2010, after

in Wembley. As I was living in the property, it was therefore not registrable on the Register of Lords’ Interests.

Upon becoming a minister, however, my ownership of this property was fully disclosed to the Cabinet Office.

“In June 2010, upon security advice, I moved to another address closer to the House of Lords and some months later began, with the prior approval of the Cabinet Office and the Leader of the House of Lords, to let out the Wembley property.

“Due to an oversight, for which I take full responsibility, the flat was not included on the Register of Lords’

Shadow business minister Chuka Umunna called for an inquiry.

He told BBC1’s Sunday Politics: “To rebuild trust and demonstrate this is being dealt with in a proper way there has to be a proper, independent investigation.

“So long as these stories endure, we are going to struggle to rebuild the trust and confidence we need there to be between Westminster and the people it exists there to serve. That is incredibly important.”

Warsi came to London and probably did what others advised her to do. By Continued on page 8 >>

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EDITORIAL

Racism and anti-Muslim racism Jacqueline Woodhouse sentenced to 21 weeks in jail for racial abuse, she pleaded guilty to one count of causing racially aggravated “harassment, alarm or distress” by using “threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour”.

Rebecca Lee, defending Woodhouse, suggested a fear of terrorist activity and her views on immigration could have fuelled her actions.

Woodhouse was caught on a video recorded and uploaded on You tube but the recent poll gave the clear picture how Britain is effected by Racism and the reality of Islamic Racism.

Last week figures revealed that tens of thousands of children – including some as young as three – have been accused of racism at school.

Data from 90 councils detail 87,915 ‘racist incidents’ at primary and secondary schools between 2007 and 2011.

‘It’s alarming that so many people are just accepting the racist behaviour around them.’Nobody should feel an outsider in their own community.

Racist attacks accounted for nearly four fifths of the hate crimes that reached court in 2010/11, according to figures released by the Crown Prosecution Service. The number of hate crime prosecutions increased to 15,284 cases, of which 12,651 resulted in a conviction – an increase of 11 per cent on a year earlier. A total of 86 per cent of those convicted pleaded guilty. A further 565 cases motivated by religious hatred were prosecuted, while others included homophobic/ transphobic and disability hate crimes.

The belief in the superiority of the British and European races fed the expansion of the empire. The British empire grew from the idea ‘that the British were the best race to rule the world’, a view expressed by Cecil Rhodes .

Should we look at Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism today as something new and apart, or as a continuation of the racism we have known in the UK? The components of racism are always the same – cultural, political, economic and social. But the shift from an industrial to a post-industrial society gives the components of racism a different weightage.

Islamophobia, in its most sophisticated form, is the province of middle-class opinion formers, erstwhile liberals, defenders of the true liberal faith against the encroachments of illiberal Islam, as defined by them, the ‘liberati’. AntiMuslim racism is the province of the working class and is no different from past working-class racisms. Except that now it finds its justification in Islamophobia – suitably translated into the vernacular of stereotype and scapegoat by the tabloids, the

carriers of racist culture. Racism is now justified not on notions of racial superiority but on notions of Islamic ‘barbarity’. And religion is racialised.

Religion is not race. And unless we unravel race from religion and employ different strategies for the different sites of struggle, while still keeping their relationship in view, we will be rendered ineffective on both sites.

Why is Islam being demonized more these days?

Muslims are being demonized all over the world. The so-called Islamic Jihadists are the main factor. People like from Osama Bin Laden, to Abu Qatada , Omer Bakri, Abu Hamza, Aswat or Al-Muhajiroun, Hizb Tahrir or Banned Muslims Against Crusades are who are a minority and double agents and now include some minority of politicians (Asian descent ) too, they give all of mainstream British Muslims a bad name.

Too many critics of Islam, including atheists, fail to appreciate just how diverse and varied Islam can be. There are things you can say that apply to all or most Muslims, as is the case with Christianity, but there are many more things which only apply to some or a few Muslims.

Rochdale Sex Gang Reveals Horrific Islamophobia

Earlier this month we were sickened by the case of nine Rochdale men found guilty of systematically grooming, has reached hysterical levels over , with every self promoted expert wanting to get their minutes in front of the camera to use the actions of a few criminals to lambast every single Pakistani – Muslim in the country. When white British males are found guilty of the rape of an 18-month-old boy and sexually assaulting a three-month-old as part of a pedophile network the entire white British male population are not made to apologies. Baroness in a mess: some says she is the victim of “institutional racism” too.

Sayeeda Warsi regarding Rochdale Sex Gang has said that a small minority of Pakistani men believe that white women “are a fair game”, media reported on Friday.

She decided to wade into the debate joining the likes of Nick Griffin, Melanie Phillips, and the English Defence League, with her reckless statements against the Pakistani community. Despite the fact that sexual abuse of young girls and women is sadly rampant across the UK, perpetrated by men from all communities – the majority however being white, non-Pakistani, and nonMuslim. One wonders, how she would feel if her failure or the allegations that she claimed expenses would be generalised to a deficiency in integrity displayed by a “minority of Asian Tory Politicians.

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 31 May 2012

Iran announces plans to build a second nuclear power plant

It has been revealed that Iran is set to begin construction of a second nuclear power station.

According to the head of the country’s Atomic Energy Organisation, Fereydoun Abbassi Davani, work on the new 1,000 megawatt plant will begin next year and will be completed by March 2014.

It will be built close to an existing nuclear facility in the southern city of Bushehr, which was officially opened in September last year.

Construction of the first plant began in 1975, but was temporarily halted as a result of the Islamic Revolution.

The announcement – on the same day as the opening session of Iran’s parliament – comes after world powers recently met in Baghdad to discuss the country’s nuclear programme.

There are concerns that Iran is seeking to develop a nuclear weapon. A further round of talks will be held in Moscow next month.

A recent report from the IAEA said satellite images showed “extensive activities,” which it suspects may be used for nuclear weapon experiments.

Iranian officials have refused access to the site, south-east of Tehran, saying it is a military area. They claim the UN nuclear watchdog has not given sufficient justification to visit the location.

Iran talks show little progress, but will continue Six world powers and Iran agree to a third round of nuclear talks next month, but the second round ends with the two sides ‘far apart,’ a U.S. official says.

Six world powers and Iran announced Thursday after a second contentious round of negotiations over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program that they intend to continue their talks, though they have so far produced few concessions.

Diplomats for the two sides said they would meet again in Moscow on June 18 for a third round of talks, which are aimed at ensuring that Iran does not use its civilian nuclear program to develop a bomb-making capability. But the group of world powers appeared some distance from its goal of getting Iran to suspend key nuclear activities.

Iranian negotiators who appeared eager to do business during a meeting a month ago in Istanbul, Turkey, sniped publicly at the so-called P5

Plus One group’s negotiating proposals and tried to begin discussions of peripheral subjects — a tactic Western officials have said shows they are not serious about nuclear talks.

“These were difficult talks,” said a senior Obama administration official, describing some exchanges as intense. “We are far apart.”

But officials insisted that the talks were not about to break off and that the Iranians were committed to negotiating over the program. They described the Iranian approach as one indicating a country that is increasingly desperate to ease Western sanctions that are battering Iran’s economy.

“It is clear that we both want to make progress and that there is some common ground,” Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, told reporters when the meetings were concluded after 11 hours. “However, significant differences remain.”

The limited results may expose the Obama administration and the other governments to criticism from conservatives, Israelis and other critics who are impatient to end a program that may be close to reaching bomb-making capability.

Last month, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the group’s first meeting with Iran, saying the world powers had given Tehran a “freebie.”

U.S. officials said they had never expected to accomplish in this second meeting an interim deal that would have required Iran to halt production of 20% enriched nuclear material, which can be converted to use in nuclear bombs with relative ease.

On Wednesday, negotiators for the P5 Plus One group laid down their goals, which include halting Iran’s production

of 20% enriched uranium, surrender of the country’s existing stockpile of the nuclear material, and an agreement to dismantle an underground site near Qom where enrichment is taking place. Iranian officials complained that the proposal was “unbalanced” because it didn’t sufficiently reward Iran for concessions.

Iranian diplomats countered with a five-point plan that they said was intended to address the country’s grievances.

This plan wasn’t released publicly. But diplomats said the key point was a demand that the world powers recognize its right to enrich uranium — a demand the world powers refused.

The Iranians also sought to bring up their grievances about regional issues, such as what they see as Western meddling in Syria and Bahrain.

Neither side gave any ground, diplomats said. They said they planned a series of intense meetings and planning sessions before the next meeting. But one diplomat said they would go into that session with no fixed agenda.

Though U.S. officials had no bilateral meetings with the Iranians, the senior administration official said that Saeed Jalili, the chief Iranian negotiator, at one point approached the ranking U.S. official, Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman, to exchange pleasantries. “We’re getting to know each other better,” the official said.

Jalili said, in an appearance after the talks concluded, that they had been worthwhile but suggested that the world powers’ refusal to recognize Iran’s right to enrichment was a serious obstacle to progress.

He said that if that right was recognized, “we will of course welcome some offer to cooperate on.”

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 31 May 2012

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Hijacked crew family fear ransom is unpaid

A relative of one of the sailors on board the hijacked cargo ship MV Albedo is worried that a US$2.8million ransom may not have reached the pirates.

“Zardari uncle, my name is also Bakhtawar, the same as your daughter’s. Please bring my father home.”

This appeal comes from a fouryear-old child who hopes the president of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan will hear her plea.

Bakhtawar is begging for money to save her father, when she should be in school learning nursery rhymes.

Her father is Ghulam Mujtaba, the first officer of Malaysian merchant vessel Albedo, which has been held hostage by Somali pirates for 18 months. When he departed on the journey that ended in his long captivity, his wife Neelam was pregnant with their son Abdullah.

The boy, who is now 15 months old, has only ever seen his father in pictures. He has never known his touch or heard his voice.

Ironically, he may be the lucky one.

For the families of captured sailors and for those children old enough to understand what has happened, every minute their fathers spend in captivity is a minute filled with fear and uncertainty.

“Every time I eat my food, I feel

guilty because I know my father is being deprived of this food.

Every time I sleep on my bed,

remaining amount, and a little before midnight on May 14, the president also directed Interior

I think of him because he’s not given this comfort,” says Mishal,

Minister Rehman Malik to use all available resources to secure the hostages’ release.

Now, the money to free all the hostages, irrespective of their nationality, has been raised but the last step has to be taken by the Malaysian ship owner who is in the process of arranging payment and logistics. After 18 months of agony, the prospect of having come so far and still having to wait for their loved ones is hopefully the final test these families will have to face.

Fathima Farhana, daughter of the ship’s second engineer Mohammed Bisthamy, said she had recently

whose father, 61-year-old Captain Jawaid Saleem, is also among the captives. Prominent businessman Malik Riaz agreed to provide the

Extremists Targeting Students via Social Media, Says Report

Islamic extremists are using social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to radicalise British students and spread propaganda, according to a report.

Campaign groups The Henry Jackson Society and Student Rights, in their

themselves,” the Daily Express quoted Sutton, as saying.

He said that some of the material could breach existing counter-terror legislation and promote groups such as

report ‘Challenging Extremists’ have uncovered the online use of propaganda. The report pointed out that chilling videos of armed insurgents, accompanied by hate-filled speeches from leading al Qaeda figures, have been posted on websites linked to Islamic societies at several leading universities.

Rupert Sutton, the co-author of a report, said that ‘the attempted radicalisation of students over the internet, predominantly via social media, is deeply concerning.’

“We were able to uncover large amounts of shocking material targeting students and in many cases, shared by students

Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned from operating on campuses by the National Union of Students.

“We would encourage universities and student unions to heed the revelations in this report to tackle Islamist-inspired extremism while still effectively protecting fundamental freedoms on British campuses,” Sutton added.

According to the report, the researchers discovered violent and radical videos posted on the University of Westminster’s Islamic Society Facebook page, including one featuring a sermon by slain Al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula leader Anwar al-Awlaki.

been contacted by her father, one of the ship’s crew, who said he was being tortured.

“We do not know what is happening as we are not getting any updates,” said Ms Farhana, a schoolteacher in the Maldives.

extensions to the pirates’ deadline, it was announced that the ransom had been raised.

Half of the funds were raised by philanthropists, businessmen and relatives. The Malaysian-based ship owner, Omid Khosrojerdi, had

“It has suddenly become silent. My father said they have not received the amount.”

She said he was exhausted from his ordeal. “My dad said he is weak and cannot even stand anymore.”

The cargo vessel was hijacked in November 2010 in the Gulf of Aden after leaving Jebel Ali for Kenya. Seven Pakistanis, seven Bangladeshi, six Sri Lankans, an Indian and an Iranian are being held by Somali pirates for the Dh10.2m ransom.

Two weeks ago, after several

also agreed to raise at least half of the ransom.

Ahmed Chinoy, the chairman of the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee in Karachi, which represented the relatives in negotiations with the pirates, had said the 22 crewmen were expected to reach Jebel Ali early next month.

But Ms Farhana said that when she spoke to her father he had not seemed hopeful of that. “He said it was unclear whether the money had been paid and he wanted to know about the progress.”

Terrorism made in USA

By Rui Paz

On May 7th, the Obama administration announced that the U.S. had managed to avoid a bomb attack on an airliner.

The next day, Hillary Clinton accused “terrorists” of using “wicked and terrible methods” and trying to “kill innocent people.”

But a few hours later, it was discovered that the “terrible” plan of slaughter of the innocents had come from the CIA itself and would be executed by its collaborators.

It is not the first time that Washington has triggered acts of terrorism whose authors and performers maintain links to U.S. intelligence services.

Since President Jimmy Carter signed the July 3, 1979 policy of secret aid to Afghanistan mujahideens (Brezinski), the U.S. government and its allies began to work with Saudi terrorist groups, such as Bin Laden.

In the future, one of the greatest difficulties for historians in analyzing the events of the last four decades will be knowing the Washington establishment’s contributions to the spread of the phenomenon of international terrorism.

As we have seen once again in the terrible explosions of May 10 in Damascus, which killed dozens of Syrians, these acts of terrorism coincide with the interventionist strategy of imperialism

in the region.

What is the role of members or collaborators infiltrated by the CIA and other allied secret intelligence services of western powers in these terrorist massacres ? To what extent and which certain organizations are already under partial or total control of imperialism in order to intervene actively to whip up ethnic and religious conflicts between Shiites and Sunnis, with the aim of establishing chaos, dividing and conquering or weakening regimes and governments that do not surrender to Western interests?

Don’t forget the recent FBI lie about an attempted bombing by the Iranian secret services against the ambassador of Saudi Arabia in Washington that led to sending notes from the State Department to embassies worldwide.

The secret services and U.S. government work together to visibly deceive public opinion.

In the commission’s final report on September 11, 2001, the terrorist component from the Balkans is spoken of only a few times in a total of 567 pages,

despite having played an important role in the attacks in New York. According to the author of “Jihad reached Europe,” Jürgen Elsässer, the reason is simple: “the friends of Bin Laden in the Balkans were on the payroll of the CIA.” Certain terrorist forces and groups are passed off as allies to enemies of the USA and NATO, and vice-versa. The killing of Bin Laden, among other elements, was also officially presented as presumable or declared adversaries of Washington.

While the US government claims to be “fighting terrorism” in statements, they are actively cleaning up traces of collaboration between the Pentagon, the CIA and terrorist bombing groups whose interests coincided or coincide with those of Washington.

It is absolutely necessary that an institution such as the UN speaks out against the killings without trial by a state that calls itself “right”. Otherwise one runs the risk of barbarism becoming institutionalized with the complicity and cover of an international organization that, according to its Charter, should preserve the norms of international law.

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South Asia Tribune I Thursday 31 May 2012

UK braces for immigration crackdown if euro collapses

THE Home Office is drawing up plans to cope with a possible rise of Greek immigrants if the euro collapses.

Home Secretary Theresa May claimed people looking for work abroad may see non-eurozone Britain as an attractive alternative in the event of financial meltdown.

Britain’s Home Office is drawing up contingency plans to restrict the number of economic migrants from Greece and other European Union nations in case the euro collapses. ¬EU rules allow citizens to work anywhere in any country in the single market, including the UK, with the exception of new members Romania and Bulgaria. People looking for work abroad may see Britain as an attractive option as it is a non-eurozone country.

Home Secretary Theresa May told the Daily Telegraph that “work is on-going” to restrict European immigration in the event of financial collapse.

May didn’t go into detail, but the British government has some room for manoeuvre, as rules are in place to restrict immigration in extreme situations.

May said there was no evidence that immigration was on the rise, and that it is difficult to say how the situation is going to develop in the coming weeks.

Her statement appeared to contradict official figures this week showing that net migration to the UK in the 12 months to last September stood at 252,000, more than double the government’s target of fewer than 100,000 people a year.

At the same time, the number of people emigrating from Britain to work abroad has plunged in the wake of the credit crunch.

With unemployment rates running at over 8 per cent, immigration is seen as putting huge pressure on an alreadysaturated job market.

The number of people unemployed for more than a year is also at its highest level since the Conservatives were last in power in 1996.

Britain’s limping economy will find it tough to withstand a deteriorating situation in Europe, as figures show that output shrank by 0.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2012.

But the country’s Migration Advisory Committee said EU migration had little or no impact on the native employment rate.

The number of asylum seekers entering the UK also rose in 2011, with a marked increase in applications from Libya and Syria, and the number of illegal immigrants is estimated at up 1 million.

Mrs. May said that work was underway to deny illegal immigrants access to work, housing and even bank accounts.

“The aim is to create here in Britain a really hostile environment for illegal

immigration,” she said.

European governments have been preparing secret action plans if Greece descends further into crisis, which could be precipitated if there are no clear winners in next month’s election.

If Greece does leave the eurozone, economists say it’s likely to make

premiums, mostly in France, Germany, Spain and Italy. The market also has a fledgling operation in Poland.

A Franco-German provider of credit insurance for eurozone trade, Euler Hermes, said it was considering reducing cover for trade with Greece because of the risk the country might leave the eurozone.

leave the Eurozone of the 17 countries using the euro as a currency because of its financial crisis and the rise of parties opposed to austerity measures, financial markets in the United States are preparing for the worst – and could yet be caught unprepared despite their expectations.

Greeks go to the polls on June 17 amid

matters much worse for other debttroubled members such as Portugal, Spain and Ireland.

British Prime Minister David Cameron appeared to cast doubt on the future of the euro in comments last week. He told MPs, “It [the eurozone] either has to make-up or it is looking at a potential break-up.”

Prospect of euro collapse focuses the minds of Lloyd’s insurance chiefs The Lloyd’s of London insurance market has reduced its exposure “as much as possible” to the crisis-hit euro zone in preparation for a collapse of the bloc’s single currency, its chief executive told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper. The chief executive of the multibillion-dollar Lloyd’s insurance market has admitted publicly that the world’s leading insurance provider is prepared for a collapse in the euro and has reduced its exposure ‘’as much as possible’’ to the crisis-ridden continent.

When a company goes bust, it is often sparked by withdrawal of credit insurance for suppliers wanting to trade with it.

A spokesman for Euler Hermes, Bettina Sattler, said: ‘’The outcome of the new elections in June remains highly uncertain. Consequently, the situation is further deteriorating. The risk of Greece exiting the eurozone has been revived.’’

Lloyd’s fears are likely to be shared by a number of European businesses, which are watching developments in Greece. Juergen Fitschen, co-chief executive of Deutsche Bank, described Greece on Saturday as a ‘’failed state’’ run by corrupt politicians. ‘’I’m quite worried about Europe,’’ Mr Ward of Lloyd’s said of the scale of the crisis that would be prompted by a eurozone collapse. ‘’I don’t think that if Greece exited the euro it would lead to the collapse of the eurozone, but what we need to do is prepare for that eventuality.’’

fears of euro supporters that a new government could be ruled by parties who want to renegotiate, or renege on the terms of $325 billion in two bailouts from international lenders.

If that happens, some analysts believe that the money pipeline will be cut off and that a domino effect could further weaken other Eurozone countries such as Portugal, Spain and Italy, and even topple the financial bloc itself.

Greece would quickly run out of cash, be unable to pay workers, pensioners or its bills, face social unrest or anarchy, and would have to return to the drachma or find some temporary currency. American exposure to weakened European banks who hold Greek bonds could rattle Wall Street and affect the U.S. Presidential campaign.

Willem Buiter, a noted euroskeptic and chief economist for Citi, told AgenceFrance-Presse (AFP) that there is a “50-75 percent” chance Greece will leave the Eurozone, possibly in early

German politicians are meanwhile piling the pressure on Greece before elections on June 17. A conservative member of the German cabinet said Germany would not ‘’pour money into a bottomless pit’’.

With growing speculation that Greece will – sooner or later – be forced to

2013, although others have suggested it could happen sooner, and leave Greece with less than two days to make the transition.

“This is not just an event now, this has been going on for a very long time, well beyond two years,” said Hartmut Grossman of ICS Risk Advisors,

Richard Ward said the London market had put in place a contingency plan to switch euro underwriting to multi-currency settlement if Greece abandoned the euro.

He also said Lloyd’s could have to take write-downs on its £58.9 billion ($94.4 billion) investment portfolio if the eurozone collapses.

Europe accounts for 18 per cent of Lloyd’s £23.5 billion of gross written

commenting on how banks have prepared, AFP reported. “You look at your exposure, you look at reducing it as much as possible in critical countries, you put hedges in place, swaps, portfolio hedging,” he said. “I think a lot of it is priced in, a lot of people have exited Greece.”

According to Bank for International Settlements data, US banks’ direct exposure to Greece now stands at just $4 billion. Japanese investment bank Nomura has been simulating a Greek exit for six months. One of its currency analysts, Jens Nordvig, predicted Greek exit spillovers for the United States via currency markets, a slump in Greek import demand, credit losses and regional politics. Most of these are manageable thanks to two years of preparations, said Grossman. But two extremely large, interlinked question marks remain: indirect contagion and market panic. “I think the mechanics for this are probably in place, but how crazy are the markets going to go?” He added: “There has been a lot of work done to deal with it, but there is a sort of quantum imponderable, that I think nobody knows really what is going to happen.”

Here the specter of the collapses of AIG and Lehman Brothers looms large. While each had significant problems in the run-up to 2008, it was ultimately market rumors that spurred their terrifyingly quick demise, and Greece got a taste of that with a minirun on its underfunded banks, which have been weakened by being included in a Private Sector Involvement (PSI) deal in which the Greek government imposed 74 percent losses on investors to write down its debt by $134 billion.

Earlier this month, Greeks were withdrawing $1 billion a day from banks.

With European banks still exposed to Greece to the tune of $65 billion, and indigenous problems in Spain, Italy, Portugal and Ireland, panic could easily cause banks to doubt their counter parties and freeze lending. The disastrous results could quickly spread through the international financial system.

The U.S. Treasury Department won’t talk about Greece leaving the Eurozone but AFP said preparations are being made, just as European Union officials said they have been making plans, although they denied it. Phillip Swagel, a former Treasury and Federal Reserve official, said that if a US bank looks to be in trouble, the government will step in, using powers gained since the last financial crisis. “For now, though, the US government must just watch in amazement at the inability of the Europe to deal with its situation.”

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World Powers Forced to Accept Iran’s N. Rights as Red Line

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Undersecretary Ali Baqeri said Iran made the six world powers in their last week talks in Baghdad accept Tehran’s nuclear rights as a red line.

“In our talks with the Group 5+1 (the US, Britain, France, Russia and China plus Germany) we could make the opposite side accept that our nuclear rights are the red line,” Baqeri told the Iranian state-run TV Sunday night.

He said in talks with the six world powers, Iran’s rationale is based on the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as well as meeting the country’s present and future needs.

“Iran’s strategy is also meeting its present and future technical needs and consolidating the nuclear rights of the Iranian nation,” Baqeri said.

He pointed out that the exchange of nuclear fuel was Iran’s initiative and that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) acknowledged Iran’s active membership in that agency and the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program.

“Strength, initiative and logic of Iran resulted in their participation in talks instead of exerting pressure on Iran,” Baqeri added.

He further called on the six world powers to take practical steps, saying, “If the opposite side expects a serious approach from us, then it should take practical steps.”

Iran and the G5+1 held several rounds of talks in Baghdad on Wednesday and Thursday. The Baghdad meeting came after Iran and the six world powers resumed talks in Istanbul, Turkey, last

month and agreed to meet again in the Iraqi capital on May 23. The two sides are due to continue their negotiations in the Russian capital, Moscow, on June 18 and 19.

Iran Sets Condition for Possible Restrictions on Nuclear Work

Iran said Western nations should recognize that its nuclear program is non-military in exchange for a possible curb of uranium enrichment work.

“If Western countries acknowledge that Iran is enriching at 20 percent for peaceful purposes but ask us not to do it, Iran will consider their

UK campaigners target deputy PM’s house Britain’s anti-austerity campaigners have staged an alternative street party outside the house of the deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to voice their anger at the government’s cuts program.

Hundreds of activists descended on Clegg’s home in Putney, southwest London, just before 1pm on Saturday, local media reported.

Disabled campaigners had secured the quiet residential street shortly beforehand by chaining their wheelchairs together, according to a report by the Guardian.

“Nick Clegg is one of the architects of austerity. He’s a millionaire and lives in a million-pound home”, said a UK Uncut supporter, Jean Sandler.

“The cuts are a political choice of this government and the cabinet of out-of-touch millionaires. They are not necessary.

No one voted for Cameron and

Clegg’s disastrous plan that means that we end up paying for the banks’ crisis”, added the campaigner.

The demonstration was one of 11 alternative street parties around the country organized by UK Uncut in what is expected to be a series of protests in the lead-up to next weekend’s jubilee celebrations and the Olympics later in the summer.

Around 400 demonstrators

occupied the street outside Clegg’s house setting out blankets on the floor and sharing food. Scores of uniformed and plainclothes police officers watched as musicians performed and activists made speeches.

UK Uncut has said the street parties are designed to resist the government’s cuts and celebrate alternatives to austerity.

request,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted as saying late yesterday by the official Islamic Republic News Agency. “That there was an agreement in Baghdad to a further meeting is positive. They have repeatedly seen that threats yield no results.”

Iran negotiators and their Chinese, French, German, Russian, British and U.S. counterparts agreed on May 24 to hold a new round of talks about the Persian Gulf nation’s nuclear work in Moscow on June 18-19 after failing to bridge differences during negotiations in Baghdad last week.

There is “some common ground” though “significant differences remain,” Catherine Ashton, European Union foreign policy chief, told reporters in the Iraqi capital after the talks.

As a signatory to the nuclear NonProliferation Treaty, Iran is entitled to carry out uranium enrichment for civilian purposes. The U.S. and

its allies say the program may be designed for military ends, and have imposed financial, trade and energy sanctions against Iran.

“Imposing sanctions against Iran while negotiations are ongoing won’t be efficient,” Mehmanparast said. “Only the recognition of the Iranian nation’s right is seen as an undertaking that may allow for results.”

Medical Isotopes Uranium enriched to 20 percent is closer to the 90 percent level of purity needed in atomic weapons.

Iran says it’s only enriching uranium to that grade to ensure sufficient fuel for a Tehran Research Reactor producing medical isotopes for cancer treatment.

The six nations, known as the P5+1, had offered to discuss providing fuel plates for Iran’s medicalisotope reactor in exchange for Iran curtailing its production of 20 percent- enriched uranium, U.S. and European diplomats said during the talks last week.

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South Asia Tribune I Thursday 31 May 2012

Reception for Urdu “Taming of the Shrew” team at Pakistan High Commission Artists from Pakistan are now a days performing Shakespeare’s play “Taming of the Shrew” in Urdu across the UK including Shakespeare’s Globe theatre as a part of London’s 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Last evening Pakistan

media. They said that the play effectively showed the strength and resilience of Pakistani women who are making their mark in all walks of life. They were of the opinion that such cultural events could further enhance awareness

into a reality. He said that it was indeed an important initiative, also first of its kind, and would go a long way in projecting Pakistan’s immense talent to the British public. Mr Hasan stated that Pakistan and UK enjoyed

the socio economic development of both UK and Pakistan but also serving as a bridge between the two countries and cultures.

The performers of Urdu version of Shakespeare’s play “Taming of the Shrew” with Pakistan High

High Commissioner hoped this project would be the start of many more such collaborations in the future.

Counsellor Political Mr Khalid Majid conducted the event whereas Deputy High Commissioner

High Commissioner held a reception in honour of the artists taking part in the play.

While speaking on the occasion the artists termed the initiative an endeavour to highlight Pakistani culture and the richness of Urdu language – the facet which is much needed to be portrayed in the wake of constant negative projection of Pakistan in the

about the richness of Pakistani culture abroad and strengthen cultural ties between the UK and Pakistan.

In his welcome address, High Commissioner Mr Wajid Shamsul Hasan congratulated Wallay and KASHF theatres of Pakistan as well as all those who were involved in this project including the sponsors for turning this wonderful idea

very strong relations which were rooted in shared history, shared culture, shared positions on many issues and shared aspirations for progress and development.

Another unique feature of bilateral ties of friendship was the strong Diaspora linkage, he added, as the UK was home to around 1.4 million Pakistani community which was not only playing a sterling role in

Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan on the reception at Pakistan High Commission London on 25-52012 He said he was happy to inform the audience that cultural cooperation was amongst the five strands of cooperation under the framework of Enhanced Strategic Dialogue between the two countries. The

thanked the guests urging them to come up with more such cultural initiatives in future so that Pakistan’s accurate image could be shown to the world.

Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain leader of Pakistan Muslim League briefing the media on issues related to overseas Pakistanis at Pakistan High Commission London on 265-2012

Muslim Aid Urges International Community to Join Fight against Hunger on World Hunger Day Muslim Aid has urged the international community to come together on the eve of World Hunger Day to resolve the problem of food insecurity, echoing concerns from the recent G8 Summit about the poor level of involvement

by developed countries and leading humanitarian organisations in assuaging hunger and malnutrition in

the developing world.

A spokesperson from Muslim Aid said, “Sustained interventions are required for combating the food crisis that has hit so many countries, as a consequence of conflicts, climate change, natural disasters and misapplication of agricultural resources. There is an immediate need in areas like the Horn of Africa and Sahel to provide emergency response and devise long term sustenance programmes to prevent negative economic indicators taking hold such as low mortality, poor physical and mental growth and low economic productivity that stem out of the vicious cycle of hunger and poverty. ” According to recent UN reports, in

the Horn of Africa region, over 12 million people require food aid and over 300,000 children have been left severely malnourished and at risk of death because of droughts and famines.

Muslim Aid has been instrumental in restoring food security in disaster affected regions, such as Somalia, with the distribution of food packs and drinking water among the affected. The seasonal programmes of the Charity are also aimed at comforting victims of hunger. In 2011, for instance, Muslim Aid staff, volunteers and partners distributed healthy and nutritious halal food throughout Ramadan to vulnerable people in countries like Somalia, Cambodia, Bosnia, Lebanon and Mexico as part of the “Feed the Fasting” programme.

Sayeedayoung Warsi white girls for sex. Pakistani

<< Continued from page 3

Christmas that year she and Labour’s Lord Ahmed were dashing to the Sudan to rescue a British teacher from the teddy-bear-blaspahemy affair, so

community Protested against Baroness Warsi statement and community leaders condemned her statement against Pakistanis.

Last year Barones Warsi also said that

Luton Saeeda Warsi was pelted with Eggs, at Ahmediaya Convention 2009, at Golden Temple

foolish a row that we will not revive it here. Baroness Warsi became the first Muslim woman to be selected as a parliamentary candidate by the Tories, contesting the Dewsbury seat in 2005, but failed to win.

She went on to be a special adviser to Lord Howard, the former Conservative leader, but saw her career take off under Mr Cameron, who made a special effort to promote ethnic minority candidates and party officials as part of his drive to modernise the Tories.

Luton Saeeda Warsi was pelted with Eggs at Ahmediaya Convention 2009 at Golden Temple This month she said a small minority of Pakistani men saw white women as “third-class citizens” and “fair game” — following a case which saw nine Muslim men found guilty of grooming

Pakistan is failing to live up to one of the tenets of Islam which guarantees rights to all women. Last year February She was pelted with eggs, surrounded and intimidated while making a public appearance in Luton. Not by the EDL or anti-Islamic protesters, but by her own Muslim community. Some might find this strange behavior against a Moslem who has achieved such a high status in the UK political establishment and represents Moslem’s. but these group blame that Moslem’s attack Baroness Sayeeda Warsi. Too British.

Not Moslem enough. Some Muslims also felt offended as She attended an Ahmadiyya conference and refers to the Head of the Ahmadiyya Mirza Masroor Ahmad, as his holiness and continually praises them. She also participated in their celebrations.

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Saarc international I Thursday 31 May 2012

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Thursday, 31.05.12

international

Team Anna: We respect PM, but want probe into ‘coalgate’

With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declaring that he will quit public life if corruption allegations are proved against him, Team Anna on Wednesday demanded an independent probe into the charges, saying they will be most happy if these are proved wrong.

Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal said it was not they who came up with charges against him but it was in the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on coal bloc allocations.

“We will be most happy if the allegations levelled against the Prime Minister are found false. But how will it be proved? For that we need to have an independent investigating agency to probe it,” he told reporters.

“The Prime Minister has said that the allegations levelled against him were baseless, unfortunate and irresponsible. We want to tell him that it was not we who levelled these allegations but the CAG, which is a Constitutional body,” he said.

Kejriwal said he would like to ask the Prime Minister whether he considered “irresponsible” the CAG report which is pegging a loss of Rs 1.80 lakh crore to the exchequer in the allocation of coal blocs.

Team Anna’s reaction came following Singh’s remarks that he will quit public life if corruption allegations are proved against him.

“If there is even an iota of truth in it, then I will give up my public career and the country can give me any punishment,” the Prime Minister had said, adding his public life has been an open book.

Another Team Anna member Justice Santosh Hegde said it is “extremely difficult” to believe that allegations raised by Team Anna against Singh could exist but demanded an inquiry if there are documents to suggest that some wrongdoing was done.

“It is extremely difficult for me to believe, having

seen the Prime Minister all these years, to say that such an allegation could exist. But at the same time, if somebody has said it is in documentary form, I think an inquiry should be held,” he said.

On Singh’s remarks that the public should make up its mind whether Team Anna’s kind of politics will rule the roost in India, Kejriwal said they do not do politics.

“We are just common people who are affected by corruption and price rise. We oppose the kind of politics prevailing in the country. Today’s politics is snatching the food from the children, forcing farmers to commit suicide when some ministers are given permission to indulge in scams and get more richer,” he said.

Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy, however, attacked Team Anna claiming that they had accused Singh of corruption and want him to be prosecuted but alleged that they have not specified under which section of Prevention of Corruption Act is he prima facie guilty.

He asked Anna Hazare to leave the group which is in the grip of “Naxalite-minded crazies” and join him and Ramdev in the fight against corruption.

Kejriwal refused to respond to Swamy’s allegations saying they will not reply to such remarks.

In his comments, Hegde said, “if there are materials that are there, I think an inquiry should be held.”

However, he said, he had not seen any of the documents Team Anna had sent to Singh seeking inquiry. “With regards to the charges made by Team Anna, I don’t have the facts with me,” he said.

Bhushan said Singh should have gone through the documents accompanying the ‘charge sheet’ before terming them as “irresponsible allegations...He should respond to them on a point-by-point basis, fact by fact basis.”

Climate change increasing malnutrition in South Asia

Malnutrition is worsening in developing countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and India because of the impacts of climate change particularly on water resources, a key input for producing food for more than a billion people in the region.

Climate change and rising temperatures have now badly disturbed food production patterns and have deepened food insecurity. Malnutrition is particularly increasing in the countries where large populations are dependent on rain-fed subsistence farming.

Climate change, growing use of food crops as a source of fuel and soaring food prices are three major challenges that threaten efforts to overcome food insecurity and malnutrition according to ‘Impact of Climate Change and Bioenergy on Nutrition’ a joint report

by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the UN Food and

up by 37 percent by 2050, to 9.2 billion.

Global economic and food experts at the World Bank and FAO predict that economic growth of 6 percent per year in developing countries during the next few years, combined with rapid urbanization, will drive demand for food to new heights just as food production contracts.

They warn of substantial risks to food production from the spread of plant pests, animal diseases and invasive species across international borders – something climate change could worsen.

Subsistence farmers in developing countries, dependent on agriculture, will be particularly vulnerable to climate change.

Other groups similarly at risk of worsening food security include pastoralists, indigenous people, coastal communities and artisanal fishermen.

Agriculture Organization.

According to the report, food security has four dimensions: food availability, access to food, stability of supply and access, and the safety and health of food.

Besides climate change and rising demand for bioenergy, other factors can hamper efforts to reduce malnutrition, including widespread land degradation and scarcity of fresh water resources, and structural shifts in the food and agricultural systems.

Changing weather patterns linked to climate change will cause more intense and longer droughts, and the frequency of heavy precipitation events is increasing over most of the world’s land areas. There is likelihood that heat waves and future tropical cyclones will become more intense.

Droughts and water scarcity can reduce the diversity of diets and bring down overall food consumption, worsening malnutrition. Flooding, sea level rise and worsening storm surges could expose more people to diarrhoea and other diseases, lowering their capacity to use food efficiently.

Adapting to the coming pressures will be crucial. Adaptation actions could include extension or intensification of existing risk management or simply efforts to produce more food.

Just as important will be making infrastructure climate change-resilient and building capacity to adapt broadly into communities and institutions.

CUT CLIMATE CHANGE TO CUT HUNGER That means some not-very-obvious ways of cutting malnutrition could have a big effect. That’s things like cutting emissions of greenhouse gases through improved transport, adopting better food producing techniques and making the choice to use greener energy.

Global population is expected to gallop

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CJP urges rule of law to counter terrorism

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has said that respect for law and rule of law are the available solutions to the menace of terrorism and the judiciary can act as a deterrent against anyone who breaks the law in order to create anarchy and chaos.

“Equality before law and equal protection of law are the principles which subject all people to the same laws of justice,” the chief justice said in his inaugural speech at the International Jurists Conference in the UK. He stressed that the courts must treat every person without regard to his caste, colour and status. “The judiciary, by adopting an attitude of zero tolerance towards crime and criminals, in accordance with legal procedures can no doubt bring the society towards peace and prosperity,” he added.

The CJP said the judicial system had a special role to play in securing the basic human and fundamental rights of the citizens in a given society and in protecting their life and liberty.

He said the judiciary acted as an ultimate protector and upholder of rights of citizens and civil liberties. He said the 1973 constitution had made specific provisions for the protection of fundamental rights.

He said the Supreme Court acted as a final arbiter and protector of constitutional norms by virtue of constitutional mandate. “The apex court by taking its constitutional responsibility of adhering to the principles of justice and fair play tried

its utmost to redress the grievances in matters of public importance and involving violation of fundamental rights”.

The Supreme Court under its inherent powers of judicial review had set

all institutions of the State,” he said.

The CJP said rule of law bore a substantial impact on the economic development of transitional states and its establishment rested on a strong constitutional and legal

trichotomy of power was beautifully woven in the constitutional scheme of Pakistan distributed and harmonised the powers among the three organs of the state.

“Jurisdictional domain of each of

out precedents of constitutional importance that had led to the improvement of criminal and civil justice system in Pakistan, he said.

Defending an autonomous and independent judicial system, the chief justice termed it a sine quo non for a functional democracy and it was central for social harmony and good governance in any given democratic society. “Independence of the judiciary from extraneous and internal influences is essential for the nourishment of good governance in

framework. “The supremacy of the constitution, strengthening of state institutions and independence of judiciary are some of the main factors that lead towards the formation of an integrated and impartial legal and judicial structure built on the well established norms of justice”.

Apprising the conference of Pakistani system, the chief justice said that the country was a democratic state having an autonomous executive, a bicameral legislature and independent judicial system. He said the principle of

these organs has been manifestly set out by the Constitution itself.

Every organ is independent within its domain and enjoys unfettered powers subject to specified constitutional constraints”.

He said unfettered and unrestrained investing of powers in one of the organs of the state was a recipe for authoritarianism and mismanagement. “It merely retards the growth and adversely affects the functioning of the other two organs”.

The chief justice said anarchy and

chaos were the natural outcome of arbitrary exercise of powers by the state institutions thus the system of checks and balances ran parallel to the system of distribution of power.

Talking about terrorism, he said it had to be eradicated with the means that should be more humane and in conformity with established human rights and judicial norms. He said the recognition of human rights was the foundation of tranquility, justice, societal freedom and peace in the world. “Protection of these rights is indispensable for the existence of humanity.”

He told the conference that Pakistan

enacted and enforced special antiterrorism laws to counter terrorism and terrorist activities.

Honorable Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhary with the world jurists at International Jurists Award Ceremony on 28-52012 in London.

Honorable Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhary presenting shield to Lord Judge Igor, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales at Royal Court of Justice on 29-5-2012.

I do not have British citizenship, reiterates Rehman Malik If he had surrendered his UK Nationality he must have proof copy RN1

Rehman Malik must produce RN 1 Form to save his Senate seat: Ministry Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s lawyer failed to produce any evidence of Malik renouncing his British citizenship. Malik had submitted an affidavit before the court that he renounced his citizenship in 2008, but has failed to produce the required evidence thus far.

Malik’s lawyer, Chaudhry Azhar, tried to shift the court’s attention towards technical issues of the documentation.

The bench did not accept this and reaffirmed that all he had to do was show the receipt of the payment made to forgo the citizenship. “We simply asked you to show us that receipt,” Chaudhry said.

Giving an extension to the interior minister as per his request to provide the receipt, the court warned that if he failed to provide it, his membership as MNA will also be suspended on May 30.

According to UK Border Agency One can give up or surrender British citizenship status by completing the declaration on form RN. If the person holds more than one of citizenships, they can give them up together on one form.

The person will stop being a British citizen, on the date the declaration is registered by the Home Secretary.

The date will be shown on the copy of the form.

The declaration affects only the person’s status and does not affect the status of any other member of their

existing family.

Resuming British citizenship after giving it up If the person give up British citizenship the person is allowed (only once) to resume that citizenship if it was necessary for the person to give it up so that person could keep or gain some other citizenship.

If the person give up British citizenship more than once, or for another reason, the Home Secretary may allow the person to resume his citizenship, depending on the circumstances.

If you give up British overseas

citizenship, British subject status or British national (overseas) status, you cannot resume it.

If you are giving up British citizenship, British subject status, British overseas citizenship or British overseas territories citizenship, your fee category is ‘RN1 £229.

Depending on which citizenship or status you wish to give up, you should send us evidence that you are a British citizen, British overseas citizen, British overseas territories citizen, British subject or British national (overseas).

Normally, your passport will establish your citizenship or status.

If you do not have one, send us your birth certificate or a certificate of registration or naturalisation.

One can surrender even If the person is in any other country One should send forms and documents to the nearest British consulate, embassy or high commission. after someone sent their application form to UK border Agency declaring that he / she wish to give up British citizenship or other British status.

After Border agency have registered declaration, the UK Border Agency will return their copy of the application form to the person, officially signed and stamped, and together with the documents they have sent to UK BORDER Agency.

The copy of the application form will be their formal evidence that declaration of renunciation (giving up) has become effective.

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WEEKLY REVIEW OF AFGHANISTAN NEWS

Pakistan, Afghanistan to decide refugees’ future

For almost three decades, Pakistan has played host to over 3 million Afghan refugees who first fled the fighting following the Soviet invasion in 1979. Representatives of refugee departments decide that refugees will be repatriated or relocated voluntarily Over that period, the refugees have been a challenge for Pakistan’s meagre resources and international aid agencies to upkeep. On Tuesday, when representatives of respective refugee departments met in Islamabad, it was decided that refugees will be repatriated or relocated voluntarily and gradually.

In 2009, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the UN had signed a Tripartite agreement according to which the stay of Afghan refugees in Pakistan had been extended to December 2012. With little over six months remaining in the expiration of that agreement, the future for millions of Afghans still hangs in the balance.

From Islamabad on Tuesday, the voice of agreement was on voluntary

repatriation. It is an agreement which has existed on paper for years, but has been witnessed infrequently at any of the innumerable border

strong friendship between the two neighbouring countries.

At a meeting between a delegation of Afghan officials, Dr Anwari included,

refugees, to whom unconditional hospitality has been extended for over three decades, will have to be resettled elsewhere, albeit

crossings along the Durand line.

Dr Jamaher Anwari, the Minister for Refugees and Rehabilitation of Afghanistan is currently on a four-day visit to Pakistan. He held a one-on-one meeting with the Federal Minster of States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) Engr. Shaukatullah Khan. The message out of that meeting was that of reasserting a deep and

and officials from Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior, SAFRON, Foreign Affairs, Commissioners of Afghan Refugees from KhyberPakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Punjab, the more prickly issues facing refugees were discussed.

Pakistan made its policy clear, that it remained committed to the rehabilitation and development of Afghanistan. But the 3 million plus

per guidelines of voluntarism and gradualism embedded in the Tripartite agreement.

Many Afghan refugees have been unable to return to their motherland due to continued strife in the years leading on from the withdrawal of Soviet Union. A civil war after the Russians left prevented repatriation.

War returned following the 9/11 attacks. A decade later as

international troops plan an exit, Afghanistan is still not secure enough for refugees to return.

For his part, Dr Anwari raised concerns over the problems facing Afghan Refugees in camps. He pointed out the limited facilities for education,health and police harassment of camp inmates. He also recommended that Hajj visas should also be issued to refugee pilgrims.

Engineer Shaukatullah assuaged him that all relevant departments will seek to resolve all issues identified by the Minister on top priority.

However, he also reminded the Afghan Minister that Pakistan was faced with resource constraints. He further warned the Afghan delegate that recent security related incidents have led to a change in local perceptions towards the refugees.

The delegation was briefed that Pakistan was offering 2000 scholarships to Afghan students.

Reintegration grant too had been increased from $100 to $150 in 2011.

Taliban and Haqqani leaders Afghan parliament approves US strategic pact arrested in Afghan operations

Afghanistan’s parliament on Saturday voted by an overwhelming majority to ratify a strategic partnership agreement with the United States signed earlier this month, lawmakers said.

“We voted with a majority in favour of the strategic pact,” Afghan MP Shukria Essakhil told AFP. “Only five MPs voted against it,” she said, adding that around 190 lawmakers out of 249 were present for the open vote.

Earlier this month, US President Barack Obama paid a surprise visit to Kabul to sign a deal with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai that will cement post-war ties with Kabul after 2014, when NATO-led combat forces leave Afghanistan.

The pact foresees the possibility of American forces staying behind to train Afghan soldiers and pursue the remnants of al Qaeda but does not commit Washington to specific troop or funding levels.

The pact alarmed Afghanistan’s neighbours including Iran, and lawmaker Bakhtash Seyawash said that the Islamic republic had attempted to ‘sabotage’ the vote.

“There were accusations that Iran has tried to pay millions of dollars to Afghan MPs, that is why the parliament decided to hold an open vote,” he added.

Relations between Afghanistan and Iran have been strained by the strategic pact, officials said, charging that Tehran had harassed Afghan diplomats in recent weeks.

Afghan lawmakers had warned Iran to end its ‘interference’ in Afghanistan’s internal affairs over the pact.

On Friday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that the agreement was not against the national interest of any neighbouring countries.

“Any pact we sign is not against Iran and it’s for the stability of Afghanistan and expanding relations with its neighbours,” Karzai said.

The deal, reached after months of painstaking negotiations, also states that the US does not seek permanent military bases in

Afghanistan. There are currently around 130,000 international troops in Afghanistan and all NATO-led combat forces are due to leave by the end of 2014.

But amid a rising death toll, troubled domestic economies and the increasing unpopularity of the Afghan war in many Western countries, troop withdrawals are now getting under way.

New French President Francois Hollande, on a surprise visit to Kabul on Friday, defended France’s imminent exit from Afghanistan.

France is set to withdraw combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2012.

The pact is now going to be sent to the Afghan senate where it is expected to be signed as early as next week, Seyawash said.

Afghan and coalition security forces detained a Taliban and Haqqani Network leaders following joint military operations at southern and eastern regions of the country.

NATO-led International Security Assistance Force following a statement on Monday announced, Afghan-led security force, supported by coalition troops, detained a Taliban leader during an operation in Panjwa’i district, Kandahar province, today.

The source further added, the leader coordinated suicide bombings and attacks against Afghan civilians, Afghan security forces and coalition troops throughout the district.

He also supervised the construction of suicide vests and other explosive

devices and distributed them to the insurgents under his control.

As a result of the operation, the security force detained two additional insurgents.

International Security Assistance forces following the statement also added, in Jaji district, Paktiya province, Afghan and coalition security force detained a Haqqani leader and two other insurgents during an operation today. The leader planned and directed roadside bombings and other attacks against Afghan and coalition security forces throughout the district.

Anti-government armed militant groups yet to comment regarding the reports.

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Saarc international I Thursday 31 May 2012

WEEKLY REVIEW OF BANGLADESH NEWS UK minister praises democracy, HR

UK minister for SA, foreign and Commonwealth Office, Alistair Burt, has commended the achievements of the present govt in Bangladesh towards democracy, human rights, socio-economic development and progress in achieving MDGs and addressing climate change.

UK minister for SA, foreign and Commonwealth Office, Alistair Burt, has commended the achievements of the present govt in Bangladesh towards democracy, human rights, socio-economic development and progress in achieving MDGs and addressing climate change.

Burt, who arrived in Dhaka Monday on a three-day visit made the appreciation during a meeting with the foreign minister, Dipu Moni, at her ministry on Monday.

UK minister insists on need for talks

Visiting British Foreign Office Minister for South Asia Alistair Burt MP has underscored the need for dialogue to find out a way to hold next national elections in a free and fair manner with participation of all parties.

The UK official said this at a meeting with Leader of the Opposition and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia at her Gulshan office in the city on Monday noon, former foreign secretary and BNP Vice Chairman Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury told reporters.

“During the meeting, Khaleda Zia told him that the next elections should be held under a non-party neutral government system to make the elections acceptable to all. It’s the principled stand of BNP. The British minister also expressed hope on reaching an acceptable resolution through dialogue.”

Explaining the position of her party, Khaleda said that her party would sit for a dialogue with the government over its demand to hold the next elections under a non-party and neutral government.

Khaleda said they have no objection if the word caretaker is changed, but

it must be a non-party and neutral government.

Chowdhury also underscored the need for dialogue to find a way out of the prevailing political conundrum.

“The UK thinks that fair and credible polls need to be held in Bangladesh, so that the country’s unstable political atmosphere melts down and the country moves towards economic and social stability,” he said.

During the 40-minute meeting, Khaleda and Burt also discussed bilateral issues between the two friendly countries.

Responding to a query, Chowdhury said that meeting also discussed the

incidents of disappearance, including that of BNP organising secretary M Ilias Ali. ‘Expressing his concern over the issue, the British minister said that the matter was also discussed in the House of Lords and House of Commons of the UK. His country thinks that such incident should come to an end.”

Alistair Burt, a lawmaker of the ruling Conservative Party of the UK, reached Dhaka on Monday morning on a threeday official visit.

British High Commissioner in Dhaka Robert Gibson was also present in the meeting.

Anwar, Khokan out on bail

BNP leaders M K Anwar and Mahbub Uddin Khokan have been released from Dhaka Central Jail on an interim bail in a case over arson during the Apr 29 opposition-sponsored countrywide shutdown.

“They were released around 6:45pm after we received copy of the order granting them bail,” Jailer Mahbubul Islam told bdnews24.com on Monday.

The duo is among the 42 leaders of the BNP, its allies and their associate organisations, including BNP Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, who were sent to jail over the torching of a bus in front of the Prime Minister’s Office.

Thirty-five senior leaders of the 18Party Alliance arrested in the case had appealed to the High Court on Sunday against the May 23 rejection of their bail by a sessions judge’s court.

Polls under AL govt to Bangladesh indicts party leaders for alleged war crimes be fair, reaffirms PM Nizami, Quader Molla’s war crimes trial starts

The chief of Bangladesh’s largest Islamic party and one of his deputies were indicted Monday for alleged crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 independence war against Pakistan.

A special tribunal set up by the government to deal with charges of crimes against humanity indicted Matiur Rahman Nizami, the chief of the Jamaate-Islami party, on 16 charges, including genocide and murder. Another tribunal indicted Abdul Quader Molla, a deputy of Nizami, for his alleged involvement in crimes against humanity.

Nizami’s trial will begin July 1, while Molla’s starts June 20. If convicted, they could face the death penalty.

Bangladesh -- with help from India -- won independence from Pakistan in 1971 after a nine-month war. Bangladesh says Pakistani soldiers, aided by local collaborators, killed some 3 million people, raped about 200,000 women and forced millions to flee their homes during the war.

Jamaat-e-Islami openly campaigned against breaking away from Pakistan during the war, and several party leaders

now stand accused of collaborating with the Pakistani army in committing atrocities.

Nizami and Molla, who have been in jail since last year, are among five top Jamaat-e-Islami leaders and one former party chief accused of crimes against humanity. The former party chief, Ghulam Azam, also is in jail awaiting his trial, which begins June 5.

Two other people, including a current member of Parliament, face similar charges.

A three-judge panel headed by Justice Nizamul Huq indicted Nizami after prosecutors said he was responsible for the deaths of many academics, journalists and doctors just two days before Pakistan’s army surrendered on

Dec. 16, 1971.

Nizami has been accused of masterminding the abductions and systematic killings of people sensing an imminent defeat. At the time of the war, Nizami was president of Islami Chhatra Sangha, then the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami. He also served as a Cabinet minister from 2001 to 2006 under then-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who now heads the main opposition party.

Separately, another tribunal indicted Molla, one of the assistant secretaries general of the party, on six charges, including genocide and conspiracy.

He was widely believed to be behind the killings of many villagers near the capital, Dhaka, in 1971.

The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, has expressed her strong resolve to hold the next general election in a free, fair and credible manner as the present Election Commission has been working independently and neutrally.

‘The Awami League believes in democracy. If the AL government could hold some 5,175 different elections in a free, fair and neutral manner during its tenure, then it can also hold the next general election freely and fairly,’ she said promising not to allow anyone to interfere in the Election Commission’s activities.

The Awami League president was exchanging views with the grassrootslevel leaders and workers of Meherpur district unit of her party at her official residence Ganabhaban on Saturday.

The deputy leader of the house, Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, AL presidium members Kazi Jafarullah, Akhtaruzzaman Chowdhury, AL joint general secretary Mahbub-ul-Alam Hanif were also present.

‘No one will be allowed to play with the fate of the country’s people as done in the past…we’ll have to ensure the economic emancipation of our

people and the AL is working to this end,’ Hasina told the AL grassrootslevel leaders.

About human rights, the premier said questions were being raised about human rights violation at a time when attempts were made to try those who burnt sleeping people to death in buses and cars. ‘Where are the human rights of those who were burnt to death?’

She said the government also had the records of those who gave such advice and orders.

Referring to the opposition leader, Khaleda Zia, Hasina said, ‘Has the opposition forgotten the 1/11 incident when her two sons were driven out of the country after a good beating? How, can she forget the 1/11 episode… Ijjuddin, Moeenuddin and Fakhruddin? It’s all her creation.’

Saarc international I Thursday 31 May 2012

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WEEKLY REVIEW OF BHUTAN NEWS

Karma Lotey speaks on behalf of the tourism sector

The government yesterday agreed to relax restrictions on certain non-essential imports from third countries, but did not agree to give government land for commercial farming, as a means to address the prevailing Rupee crunch.

These were a few of the proposals by the private sector to the government in yesterday’s five-hour meeting in Thimphu, which discussed issues, ranging from promoting agro-based products to tourism, to concerns of labour shortage in the hotel and automobile industry.

The government, which was represented by the prime minister, four cabinet ministers and senior government officials, said that, while import of vehicles, furniture and alcohol would continue to be restricted, the import of juice, energy drinks, chips, wafers, waffles, snacks and cakes from third countries would be allowed. High-end hotels would be allowed to import international brands of beverages, which they use as a raw material.

To promote tourism, the government announced that it would support local tour operators in bringing in high-end Indian tourists. “High end Indian tourists, with similar culture of buying gifts for families and friends back home, purchase more handicrafts, unlike the foreign

tourists, which benefits the inflow of INR,” Lyonchoen Jigmi Y Thinley said, adding that last year, about 16,000 high end Indian tourists

for developmental activities.

“To purchase raw material, the government is already providing industrialists with the INR (Indian

visited Bhutan, excluding the 30,000 plus Indian tourists that came by road.

However, the submission to allow the private sector to take up commercial farming on government land was shot down in the absence of a policy.

“But, in the meantime, the government will try to provide more loans to farmers and provide infrastructure, technical, plant and machinery support to the agriculture sector,” the prime minister said.

The government also shot down the submission of the industrial sector to exempt excise duty, something industrialists have been pushing for years, because it would affect the government revenue required

Rupee), besides the exemption will not make much of a difference to the industries, who already enjoy the cheap power advantage,” economic affairs minister, Khandu Wangchuk said.

Reviewing the guidelines for external commercial borrowings for the manufacturing industry, raising the limit of foreign mechanical workers for automobile workshops, waiving the restriction of rooms for three and four star hotels were some of the other proposals that the government did not accept.

On external commercial borrowings by the private sector, the prime minister said that, if what is borrowed cannot be paid back, it will again hurt the economy, like the

Govt. mulls resuscitating moves

The government is considering and assessing the Bhutan Airlines proposal that it be allowed to temporarily halt domestic air services, information and communications minister, Nandalal Rai, said on Saturday.

While specifics on the proposal were not revealed, lyonpo Nandalal Rai said the government is aware of the private airline’s problems in the domestic sector, and in obtaining an airbus jet for its international operations.

The Bank of Bhutan was not able to provide a USD 4.5M loan, sought by Bhutan Airlines to lease an airbus jet, it has been learned.

Additionally, the airline has been bearing financial losses on its domestic operations, as a result of low traffic volume, in the six months since the domestic sector was established.

Lyonpo Nandalal Rai said the government would “look into how to help” and “facilitate” the private airline’s effort to acquire

an airbus jet. He emphasised the significance of establishing Bhutan Airlines’ international services, as it is in line with the government’s efforts to bring in 100,000 tourists a year.

The minister also said that, currently, certain conditions that Bhutan Airlines will have to fulfill, if it is allowed to temporarily suspend domestic operations, are being determined. This would likely include determining the time limit on when Bhutan Airlines should recommence its domestic services.

He also said he would suggest to the government that more levels of

the civil service should be using the domestic air services. He said such a move would not only enhance the sustainability of the industry, but also decrease government expenditure and utilisation of personnel and equipment.

Lyonpo Nandalal Rai pointed out that it is faster and cheaper for the government to send civil servants to the east by air than road. The minister had just returned to Paro airport from Yonphula, Trashigang, on a Drukair flight.

Lyonpo Nandalal Rai also instructed DCA to research the current existing domestic airfares of Drukair for a possible revision.

current INR crunch.

Regarding changing the requirement of rooms for hotels, lyonchhoen said the requirement is based on a study done by the Tourism Council, which allows every business equal opportunity to build hotels. “If there is no ceiling to the number of rooms, most hotels then would only be owned by multi-national companies from outside,” he added.

Lyonchoen reminded the meeting that revenue from hydropower is just enough to pay for the fuel imports. “Everywhere, people are constructing buildings with credit from banks, and we have no option but to stop it because of the INR crunch,” lyonchhoen said. “Despite the crunch, if banks continue to give loans, it will lead to a crisis that hit the western world.”

The film industry did not have

anything to say at the meeting. “We didn’t put any proposals, because we have no problems, nor need huge amounts of INR, like other sectors,” a member of the motion picture association, said. “To purchase equipment, the INR we get from banks is enough.”

BCCI president, Tobgay Dorji, said the current INR shortage is a wake-up call for everyone, and higher government spending is also to blame for the situation. “The measures taken are ad-hoc,” he said.

“It may lead to economic crisis.”

The owner of Zimdra automobiles, Ugen Tshechup, said he respected the government measures, as long as they were temporary. “But if it continues, the few automobile dealers in country will go out of business. Vehicles are no longer a luxury.”

A busy month for MPs Bills, reports, protocols, conventions, the summer sitting has them all and more. Four new bills will be up for deliberation in the upcoming parliament session that starts on June 8.

A tentative agenda for the 9th parliament session reveals that the domestic violence bill and road bill will be introduced in the National Assembly while the National Council will take up the contract bill and alternative dispute resolution bill.

The land amendment bill will also be introduced in the assembly, but officials said it might not be taken up for discussion, since there are still a lot of issues to be incorporated in the bill.

The assembly will also deliberate on two conventions, Nagoya protocol on access to genetic resources, and the fair and equitable share of benefits, arising from their utilisation, to the convention of biological diversity, and the SAARC seed bank convention.

While the finance minister will present the annual budget and appropriation bill 2012-13, there will also be the submission of a number of reports.

Ministries will report on implementation status of the resolutions of the past assembly sessions. The home minister will present a report on gewog creation or bifurcation, and the finance minister on standard land compensation rate.

The chairperson of the ethics and credential committee will present the annual anti corruption commission report, and the chairperson of public accounts committee will present the annual audit report.

Towards the end of the session, in a joint sitting of Parliament, there will be a presentation of the annual report on the state of the nation, including legislative and annual plans and priorities of the government.

Routine question hour session will be held on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Besides the two new bills, National Council will deliberate the Druk Gyalpo relief fund bill, education city bill and the disaster management bill that was taken up by the assembly in the previous session.

The council has also forwarded the national flag bill and the parliament entitlement bill they deliberated in the last session to the assembly for discussion in this session.

The budget and appropriation bill 2012-13, annual audit report and annual anti corruption commission report will also be presented to the house.

While the council will also discuss several policy issues, like the Rupee crunch, education policy and the land issues, among others, they will ratify the Cape Town convention and aircraft protocol and also the Nagoyu protocol.

The more than a month long session will end on July 11.

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Saarc international I Thursday 31 May 2012

WEEKLY REVIEW OF INDIA NEWS

For first time, Team Anna attacks PM New power equation in BJP

What should ideally have been an occasion for brainstorming and bringing all senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) together, turned out to be a tussle for power and influence. The recently-

and Vice President Hamid Ansari.

After being in office for nearly three years, Gadkari has realised he should have a team of his own, not be bullied by party seniors. As a first step to this, Gadkari agreed to the resignation of Sanjay Joshi, former BJP generalsecretary (organisation), from the national executive, to please Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

concluded BJP national executive meeting in Mumbai witnessed a split in the party’s leadership, as not all senior leaders were convinced party president Nitin Gadkari should get a consecutive term in office.

The tussle, which has continued since December 2009, when Gadkari

Gadkari and Modi had started avoiding each other and had even stopped taking each other’s phone calls. Modi was upset after Joshi was brought back into the BJP and made a national executive member.

To express his displeasure, Modi had skipped the party’s national executive meeting in Delhi last year.

By agreeing to Joshi’s resignation, Gadkari has managed to please not

took over as party president, came out in the open after senior leader L K Advani refused to attend the public rally in Mumbai. Sushma Swaraj, leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, followed. The two senior leaders were unhappy about the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)’s decision to give Gadkari a second term.

“A party changing its constitution to suit one person is a dangerous trend.

The constitution was changed when Rajnath Singh got a three-year term, because till then, BJP presidents only had two-year terms. Now, the constitution has again been changed to allow Nitin Gadkari to continue in office for another three years till 2015,” said a senior BJP leader.

Sushma Swaraj is upset with Gadkari after the BJP denied a ticket to Jharkhand leader S S Ahluwalia, former deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, for a second term in the Upper House. Swaraj was also snubbed when she was made to retract her statement on the presidential election. She had revealed BJP’s cards when she publicly said the party would not agree on the names of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee

only Modi, but also former BJP president Rajnath Singh, as well as Arun Jaitley, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. Rajnath Singh was miffed with Joshi after the latter had blamed the former and other party leaders for making the BJP virtually irrelevant in Uttar Pradesh. Jaitley, a good friend of Modi, played a crucial role in the patch-up between Modi and Gadkari.

In an effort to assert his authority in the party, Gadkari is also forming his ‘own team’ to get the job done. Among the members of his team include general-secretary Dharmendra Pradhan, political secretary Vinay Sahastrabudhe, Jagat Prakash Nadda and Muralidhar Rao. Interestingly, all members in this team are from the RSS.

Targeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the first time, Team Anna on Saturday sought an investigation against him and 14 other cabinet ministers, including finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, on charges of corruption by July 25.

Citing the draft CAG report on the coalgate scam, the anti-graft campaigners said that the PM, who was responsible for the coal ministry, “abused his position to give huge pecuniary benefits to private parties’’.

The CAG report has held that by not auctioning coal blocks, the government extended benefits worth Rs 1.8 lakh crore to private players.

Mukherjee came under attack for not taking action against those who allegedly took kickbacks in the Rs 18,000 crore Scorpene deal, and those involved in the Navy war room leak. Team Anna wants all-judge SIT by July 25 In a letter to the PM, Team Anna demanded the government set up

a special investigation team of six retired judges - Justices J S Varma , M N Venkatchaliah, both former Chief Justices, Kuldeep Singh, A K Ganguly, Sudarshan Reddy and A P Shah - to probe graft charges levelled by them against the PM and 14 other Cabinet ministers. They said the panel should be set up by July 25, failing which they would launch an indefinite fast.

Team Anna, whose relentless campaign appears to have bruised the government has so far left the PM and Pranab Mukherjee, out of their firing line. Manmohan Singh had on Tuesday acknowledged public frustration and

anger over graft, in what was seen as a testimony to Team Anna’s success in mobilizing popular sentiment.

Team Anna said that the SIT should also be allowed to investigate charges against P Chidambaram, Sharad Pawar, S M Krishna, Kamal Nath, Praful Patel, Vilasrao Deshmukh, Virbhadra Singh, Kapil Sibal, Salman Khurshid, G K Vasan, Farooq Abdullah, M K Alagiri and S K Shinde. They added that the probe should also cover Mayawati, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Prasad and TN chief minister Jayalalithaa.

Besides, the SIT could investigate charges against Team Anna too.

Saarc international I Thursday 31 May 2012

NEWS

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Clinton to Zardari: Show leadership, crackdown on extremists

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton bluntly told a “subdued” President Asif Ali Zardari to show leadership in forging national unity to step up the campaign against militants, according to a media report on their May 20 meeting in Chicago.

The top US diplomat spoke after President Zardari, who was attending the NATO summit, complained about the difficulties of unifying Pakistan’s fractious political parties to support a more aggressive campaign against extremists and noted it was an election year in both countries, The New York Times reported Monday, citing unnamed officials from both sides.

“We don’t have the resources or control over these groups,” Zardari was quoted by the Times as saying, referring to militants based in Pakistan’s borderlands. He added, “We’re backed into a corner because you haven’t apologized” for a NATO attack in November that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at Salala.

“Reflecting the Obama administration’s mounting frustration, Mrs. Clinton told him that the only way countries have defeated insurgencies like the ones threatening Pakistan and its neighbour was by forging national unity and exercising political will,” The Times report said.

“It’s going to take leadership,” she told President Zardari. “It’s going to take leadership from you and others.”

The report said, “Mr. Zardari’s visit to the summit meeting — after an 11th-hour invitation intended as a conciliatory gesture — went well for neither the United States nor Pakistan. It not only failed to resolve a six-month deadlock over the transportation of supplies to Afghanistan, but it also underscored the poisonous distrust and political chasms in an uneasy alliance that is central to the Obama administration’s

plan to end the war in Afghanistan.”

The report quoted one Obama administration official saying bitingly, “You have to look at the meeting in context of whether it’s worth the investment having Pakistan as a partner.” The best that the official could say of Mrs. Clinton’s meeting with President Zardari, according to NYT, was that it was “not a total waste” since she was able to deliver such a pointed message.

Relations have only worsened since then, the newspaper said.

On three days last week, American drones fired missiles at what were thought to be insurgent hide-outs in northwestern Pakistan, ending a brief lull heading into the NATO summit meeting and ignoring demands by Pakistan’s Parliament to end the strikes altogether. And on Wednesday, a court in Pakistan convicted a doctor who helped the C.I.A. in the search for Osama bin Laden, sentencing him to 33 years in prison for treason.

The next day the Senate approved a new cut of $33 million in American military assistance to Pakistan, $1 million for each year of his sentence.

Commented the Times, “The failed diplomacy of the last week highlighted the inability of both countries to repair a relationship that was badly frayed by the secret raid

that killed Bin Laden in May of last year and then was nearly ruptured by the NATO attack in November. It has raised questions over whether even a more limited security relationship between the two countries is even possible.”

“It’s an up-and-down relationship,” Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” news programme.

Officials from both countries expressed a desire to resolve their differences, but it appeared that both were drifting ever farther apart, the report said. “We need to scale back expectations for each other,” Sherry Rehman, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, said in an interview with The New York Times.

It said, “For Mr. Zardari, the visit to Chicago was a political disaster at home, exposing the increasingly embattled president to blistering criticism. In a clear diplomatic slight, President Obama refused to hold a meeting with him, speaking to him for only a few minutes on the way to a group photograph of the world leaders who came to Chicago to map out an end to the war in Afghanistan.

While Mr. Obama later expressed support for “a successful, stable Pakistan,” he added, “I don’t want to paper over the differences there.”

Mrs. Clinton has now met Mr. Zardari three times since the Osama bin Laden raid; after the first two she had expressed hope that the relationship was “back on track,” as she put it in Islamabad in October.

After Pakistan’s Parliament completed a review of relations with the United States in April, Mrs. Clinton and others in the State Department expected that they could reach a new understanding on security cooperation, which has been more or less delayed since November, according to the report.

A series of American delegations visited officials in Pakistan — led by Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides and Marc Grossman, the administration’s special envoy — only to find Pakistan changing its demands in response to domestic politics and, some said, Mr. Zardari’s weakened position, it added.

The Pakistani Parliament demanded an unconditional apology for the November attack and an immediate end to the C.I.A. drone strikes, but it also paved the way for a reopening of NATO supply lines through Pakistan, though at a cost that the administration and members of Congress viewed as extortion., the Times said A brazen attack on Kabul and other Afghan cities in April by the Haqqani network, Islamic militants operating from a base in Pakistan, simply hardened the administration’s stance, especially on the apology, something that also would be politically risky for Mr. Obama’s reelection campaign, it said.

Even so, a team of American specialists remained in Islamabad to try to hammer out an agreement to reopen the supply routes. Pakistan, stung by the suspension of American military assistance last year, demanded a fee of $5,000 for each truck that crossed its territory from the port in Karachi to Afghanistan.

Before the November attack, NATO had paid $250.

The Pakistanis also asked for an indemnity waiver in case American cargo is damaged, for some repairs to the port of Karachi, and for road improvements near the border crossings, the senior American official said.

Before the summit meeting in Chicago, according to the report, the two sides appeared to narrow the difference, with Pakistan asking for $3,000 and the United States offering to pay up to $1,000. In hopes of finishing the deal, NATO extended a late invitation to Zardari to attend, but even the narrow issue of supply routes proved too divisive to resolve.

By the time Mrs. Clinton sat down with Mr. Zardari, the administration had lowered its expectations, the report said. Tactically, the officials said, she pressed him to tell the NATO leaders that he was committed to resolving the dispute over the transit of supplies, which he did in a closed meeting the next day.

Most of Zardari’s meeting with Mrs. Clinton was spent on his difficulties unifying the country’s political blocs, the Times said. He responded defensively. “Zardari made it clear it’s an election season where he is, and he knows it is here, too,” one administration official said.

Mrs. Clinton suggested specific ways to overcome the differences over counterterrorism operations — and to sell them to politicians in Pakistan, according to the Times. The officials declined to discuss those ideas, even on the condition of anonymity. The meeting ended without any clear commitments, it said.

“The secretary,” the official said, “sought to make this very clear: Are you guys ready to move and get your whole leadership on the same page?

Because sometimes it looks to us like you’re not.”

Paraguay proposes India long-term plan to exchange food for investments and technology

Paraguayan president Fernando Lugo currently visiting India proposed an exchange of food for investment and technology. Lugo was received

by President Pratibha Patil and later by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

“In Paraguay we are 6 million but we have been supplying food for 60 million. We have the capacity to keep expanding crops and provide India with what it is looking for in this area”, said Lugo.

The Paraguayan president who is in a Far East tour, said that the country is world known for its production of soy and beef, “but we are also making efforts to diversify production

into wheat and corn which could be exported to India”. “We have fertile soil, abundant energy and water and I think this should be an advantage for those Indian investors who are interested in moving to South America to

expand business”, added President Lugo.

Prime Minister Singh said that India is the world’ leader in information technology, an area which could benefit Paraguay in improving education and providing agriculture with

technology input.

President Pratibha Patil announced that in coming months India will be opening an embassy in Paraguay.

Bilateral trade in 2011 reached 152 million dollars, virtually balanced, according to India’s Foreign Affairs ministry stats office.

“The visit represents an opportunity to renew our commitment with Latin America and with Paraguay in particular”, said the official Indian release.

President Lugo arrived from Taiwan and from New Delhi travels to Thailand, Korea and Japan.

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On Thursday, 24th May 2012 a very special women’s group was launched by Baroness Verma, Minister for Women & Equality.

Saarc international I Thursday 31 May 2012

The Women Empowered (W E), is a social initiative which aims to empower women to make the best of their individual skills and talents and help them achieve the personal and professional goals they have.

At the Bright Courtyard Club in Baker Street, 120 attendees came together to share inspirational

former Director of Environment and Digital London; Kulveer Ranger. WE’s other champions

speakers were Ms Tasmin Lucia Khan, and Entrepreneur Geeta Sidhu-Robb (CEO and Founder of

entrepreneur, described how as a result of her courage she went on to become a success and found

Co-Founder Mona Remtulla said the aims of WE are to provide women with a forum, WE aims

stories of their lives and successes.

The Launch was attended by many high profile guests, many of who are WE’s Champions, including Mayor of Amersham Cllr Mimi Harker OBE, Seema Malhotra MP, MOBO Awards Founder Kanya King MBE, Dr Kamel Hothi; Business & Community Director at Lloyds Bank Group, brand ambassador of Patak’s food; Anjali Pathak, Mrs Nina Amin; Diversity Ambassador KPMG, Author; Alpesh B Patel, TV Presenter; Tasmin Lucia-Khan and London Mayor Boris Johnson’s

include Pritti Patel MP, Kiran Sharma; Manager to PRINCE and managing director of KIKIT Ltd, Cllr Lurline Champagnie OBE and Ruby Mc Gregor-Smith CBE; Chief Executive MITIE Group PLC. Other notable guests included Baroness Shreela Flather, music producer Rishi Rich and Ch4 “The Family’s” stars and radio presenters; Sunny & Shay Grewal.

The Key note speaker was Baroness Sandip Verma, Minister for Women and Equalities and Whip for the Cabinet Office. The other

Nosh Detox).

Baroness Verma said the launch of WE shows that work still needs to be done to get a fair deal for women in society. No society can move forward whilst treating more than half of its population as unequal.

She pledged her support to inspire those women who do not have easy access to professional networks.

Ms Tasmin Lucia-Khan said she was appalled by the violence against women in society and that it must be addressed in earnest.

Ms Geeta Sidhu-Robb, an

fulfilment in life.

Chairwomen and Co-founder, Reena Ranger, spoke about how women are multi talented, hardworking and committed and how as British Asians she was privileged to have so many examples to learn from. From the Queen who has been serving her people for 60 years with dignity and grace whilst being a wife, a mother, grandmother and great grandmother. It just goes to prove women can do extraordinary things when given the opportunity.

to be broad and provide an array of speakers on the same topic at each event so that women can find applicability and can find an affinity with one or more of them to make the difference to their lives.

A vote of thanks was given by Mr Rajesh Agrawal CEO of RationalFX. He said he was happy to sponsor the launch as he felt WE is a worthy cause and should be supported.

Thanks was also given to Bea’s of Bloomsbury for their cupcakes and to CRR Photography.

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Diamond Jubilee costs UK economy £275m The report did not take account of the massive cost of security for the event, which features a 1,000-boat pageant on the Thames River in central London. On Sunday 3rd June 2012, The Spirit of Chartwell will have top billing as the Royal Barge, carrying The Queen in the Thames Diamond Jubilee River Pageant in celebration of her sixty year reign. The Pageant, one of this year’s most exciting events, is unprecedented as the largest flotilla to be assembled on the river in

The Queen gets a £44bn valuation for family ‘Firm’ It is known as “The Firm” and perhaps with good reason. For a new study estimates the commercial value of the Royal family at more than £44 billion.

Britain’s royal family is worth a dizzying £44 billion in tangible and intangible assets as a brand, a study shows, yet the Queen’s upcoming Diamond Jubilee will damage the British economy by at least £275 million.

Brand Finance said in a special report ahead of the Queen Elizabeth’s celebrations of 60 years on the throne that tangible assets of the royal family including the Duchy of Cornwall are worth a staggering £18 billion. The tangible assets are those assets that the monarchy controls directly and makes money from.

Brand Finance said the monarchy is also valued another £26 billion in intangible assets, which include the royal family income from several sources such as the Royal Warrant scheme as well as the boost to British tourism and businesses as a brand.

The report said the Royal Warrant alone brings in £4 billion annually while many companies also strive to get a Coat of Arms on their products that is worth separately an annual £400 million.

While being a royal earns an individual a huge income annually, the report shows that the

benefits are not extended to the British economy when it comes to the Diamond Jubilee.

The Brand Finance said the celebrations are estimated to boost tourism, leisure and accommodation industry by £924 million while the cost of the extra Bank Holiday for the Diamond Jubilee is around £1.2 billion.

A depiction of the Royal Barge as it will look for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in June 2012

The Queen will attend the Epsom Derby.

Sunday 3 June, 2012 The Big Jubilee Lunch: Building on the already popular Big Lunch initiative, people will be encouraged to share lunch with neighbours

modern times.

Accommodating The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh and other members of the Royal Family, the first sight of the Royal Barge on the Thames will be one of the most highly anticipated moments of the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant.

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee - celebrations and events Marking 60 years of The Queen’s reign, the Diamond Jubilee celebrations will centre around an extended weekend on 2, 3, 4 and 5 June.

60 years of The Queen’s reign The Queen came to the throne on 6 February 1952 and her coronation took place on 2 June 1953.

She celebrated her Silver Jubilee (25 years) in 1977 and her Golden Jubilee (50 years) in 2002.

If you are considering visiting central London to join in with the celebrations, you may find it

and friends as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. This may take the form of a traditional street party or a picnic lunch in small or larger groups. This event is being organised by the Big Lunch.

The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant: This event will take place on the Thames and consist of up to 1,000 boats assembled from across the UK, the Commonwealth and around the world. The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh will travel in the Royal Barge which will form the centrepiece of the flotilla.

useful to visit the Transport for London website Alternatively, you may wish to consider watching events on one of the many BBC Big Screens around the UK. Here is our run-down of events over the Diamond Jubilee weekend, including approximate timings: Saturday 2 June, 2012

Approximate timings are as follows: 14:30BST – The Queen embarks the Royal barge, the Spirit of Chartwell, near Albert Bridge 16:15BST – The Royal Barge comes alongside HMS President (Royal Naval Reserve Unit), near Tower Bridge Monday 4 June, 2012 BBC Concert at Buckingham Palace: There

will be a televised Diamond Jubilee Concert at Buckingham Palace with tickets being available to UK residents by public ballot. The musical programme for the concert is still being planned and is expected to feature British and Commonwealth musicians. Details on how to apply for the concert will be available in due course. This event is being organised by the BBC. The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Beacons: A network of 2,012 Beacons will be lit by communities and individuals throughout the United Kingdom, as well as the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and the Commonwealth. As in 2002, The Queen will light the National Beacon.

Approximate timings are as follows: 19:30BST – Diamond Jubilee Concert at Buckingham Palace begins After 22:30BST – The Queen lights the National Beacon outside Buckingham Palace Tuesday 5 June, 2012 On Tuesday 5 June, the Diamond Jubilee weekend will culminate with a day of celebrations in central London, including a service at St Paul’s Cathedral followed by two receptions, a lunch at Westminster Hall, a Carriage Procession to Buckingham Palace and finally a Balcony appearance, Flypast, and Feu de Joie.

Approximate timings are as follows: 10:15BST – The Queen leaves Buckingham Palace by car 10:30-11.30BST – Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s 12.30BST – The Queen travels by car from Mansion House to the Palace of Westminster 14:20BST – Carriage Procession from Westminster Hall to Buckingham Palace commences Approximately 15:25BST – Royal Family appear on the Balcony at Buckingham Palace

Diamond Jubilee: 500 street parties across Greater Manchester to mark Queen’s 60 year reign

Manchester is gearing up for a ‘weekend of a lifetime’ of bank holiday events as the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee draws nearer. More than 500 street parties are expected to take place across the city over the bank holiday weekend as residents and community organisations prepare to party.

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Saarc international I Thursday 31 May 2012

India, Pakistan journos appeal govts to slash defence spending

Appealing the governments of India and Pakistan to slash their respective defence spending, a media conclave in Mumbai calls for channeling the funds for socioeconomic development in both countries.

‘We have talked enough about building peaceful relationships between the countries, now let us concentrate on the real issues affecting the people of both countries,’ observed speakers at a media conclave held in Navi Mumbai, business capital of India in Maharashtra state at the fag-end of the Mumbai visit of a 14-member media delegation from Pakistan.

‘Increasing tension between India and Pakistan, piling up of arms worth billions of dollars helps only arms merchants from the US and other countries and is not at all in the interest of poverty-stricken India and Pakistan,’ said Tahir Hasan Khan, president of the Karachi Press Club which is leading the media delegation of scribes from Karachi and Sindh.

‘We (the Pakistan’s delegates) have seen homeless people sleeping on the pavements of Mumbai and it is the similar situation in Karachi and other cities there,’ he said, adding that the governments of both countries should spend more on poverty alleviation and creating jobs rather than ‘mindless spending’ on purchase of arms that helps only the western powers ‘at the cost of our own people.’

Journalists from Mumbai threw pointed questions at the Pakistan media on their opinion and role over the US using Pakistan as its base and strengthening arms buildup in the region.

arms manufacturers,’ said Karamat Ali, Executive Director of the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER).

PILER, along with Karachi Press Club, hosted the Indian media delegation’s

‘It is not just Pakistan, the US has been successfully fooling even India to suit the western super power’s

trip to Pakistan in November and also the current visit by the scribes from the neighboring country.

Zardari orders crackdown operation in Sindh

President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday directed to form a joint task force of intelligence and law-enforcement agencies. He ordered to launch a crack down operation against the criminal elements in Sindh, report .

The president was chairing a high level meeting at Bilawal House to discuss the law and order situation of the province with special focus on recent incidents of firing and killings in the capital city of Karachi.

Governor Sindh Dr Ishratul Ebad, Chief Minister Sindh Qaim Ali Shah and Federal Ministers Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Syed Khurshid Shah, Syed Naveed Qamar and Maula Bux Chandio attended the meeting which set up a committee to look into matters of law and order in the province. Senior officials of Police, Rangers and

intelligence agencies also attended the meeting.

President Zardari showed concern over increasing weapon proliferation in the city. He inquired the police officials about the routes through which weapons in such large quantity are coming in the city. He said despite availability of all the resources, law and order situation of the city is still the worst.

Chief Minister Sindh, Director General (DG) Rangers, Inspector General (IG) Sindh and officials of the intelligence agency gave separate briefings in the meeting.

The president issued directions to the police and the rangers specifically for the investigations of Lyari operation, firing incident on Sindh Muhabbat rally in Karachi and firing incident in Nawabshah.

‘Let us leave the knotty issues of Kashmir and Siachen to be tackled at government levels. As people we must together concentrate in handling common problems of Roti, Kapda and Makaan (food, clothing and shelter),’ Ali said drawing a loud applause.

Navi Mumbai Mayor Sagar Naik, who was the chief guest at the conclave hosted by Valuable Group, said he was pained to learn that both India and Pakistan were busy building up massive defences.

‘We are erecting high walls of defence while our homes are becoming hollow,’ he observed.

Indo-Pak peace activist Jatin Desai said it was high time that media from both countries addressed the real issues affecting the neighbors.

Since their arrival in Mumbai last week, the Pakistan media delegation has had a hectic schedule in Mumbai meeting Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Home Minister R R Patil,

Public Works Minister Chagan Bhujbal, besides participating in seminars, discussions hosted by the Press Club, Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh and Vidhi Mandal Patrakar Sangh. They visited Mumbai’s landmarks like the BSE, Gateway of India and had a chat with actor Aamir Khan.

The discussions basically focused on increased media cooperation to build lasting peace in the region and improved trade relations which will help create jobs in both countries.

The Press Clubs of Mumbai and Karachi have agreed to set up an Information Exchange on their web sites.

The 14-member media delegation from Karachi and Hyderabad (Sindh) arrived in Mumbai on May 22nd for a week-long visit. A 22-member delegation from Mumbai Press club had visited Karachi and Hyderabad in November last year.

The delegation represents leading newspapers and television channels.

The purpose of the visit is to promote a philosophy of understanding and tolerance between the two countries by increasing and improving the quality of media content when reporting on each other’s country and bilateral issues. This is expected to give a boost to the peace process between the two countries.

Amend Constitution to provide reservation to Muslims: TDP Seeks exclusive quota for Muslims

The Telugu Desam Party on Tuesday demanded the Centre to amend the Constitution of India for providing reservation to Muslims in educational institutions and jobs.

Reacting to the quashing by the AP High Court of the reservation sub-quota for Muslims, TDP president Chandrababu Naidu said the Centre should create exclusive quota for Muslims by bringing in a constitutional amendment.

“There should not be a quota within quota (of OBCs). The Congress, both in AP and at the Centre, has been cheating Muslims on the reservation issue. The 4.5 per cent reservation was provided in haste on the eve of the UP Assembly elections to garner votes.

The only way to ensure proper quota is through a constitutional amendment,” Chandrababu asserted.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court had on Monday quashed the 4.5 per cent reservation for Muslims from the 27 per cent OBC quota.

A division bench of the HC headed by Chief Justice Madan B Lokur observed that the sub-quota was based on religious lines and not on any other intelligible consideration. “There was no rationale or empirical data to justify such an action,” the bench noted, indicting the Central government for handling the issue in a “casual manner”.

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India, Pakistan agree on liberal visa regime, pledge joint fight against terrorism Pakistan and India agreed on Friday to introduce a liberalised visa regime, but put off the signing of the document to an unspecified date.

The progress towards much-anticipated easing of visa restrictions at the end of a two-day meeting of interior secretaries of the two countries was accompanied by an incremental, but significant, advance on counter-terrorism cooperation and a consensus that terrorism continued to pose threat to the peace process.

“Both sides welcomed the finalisation of the visa agreement and agreed to sign it at an early date. The Pakistan side said some internal approvals were under process and the agreement will be signed once they are in place,” a joint statement said.

The two countries, which have witnessed a remarkable turnaround in bilateral ties over the past year, were expected to ink the muchanticipated agreement on visa.However, it had to be delayed on two counts. First, the Pakistani side had yet to get the proposed agreement approved by the federal cabinet, and secondly, Interior Minister Rehman Malik insisted the pact be signed by the political leadership, instead of bureaucrats.

The much-talked about relaxed visa regime is anything but revolutionary. It appears

aimed at promoting bilateral trade than people-to-people contacts.

Businessmen, once the agreement is concluded, may get one-year multiple entry visas, which would allow them to visit five

reiteration of commitment to fight terrorism may have been a regular feature of such statements, but proposals like setting up a hotline between the interior secretaries and agreement on initiating negotiations

to deliberating on human trafficking, counterfeit currency and cyber crimes.

Similarly, an exchange of updates on investigation into the Mumbai attacks and Samjhauta Express bombing may look

cities in each other’s country instead of the previous three.

They would also be exempted from police reporting on arrival and departure.

Beyond the visa regime, the joint statement carried a number of significant steps towards rebuilding confidence between the two countries.

The agreement on enhanced cooperation between premier investigative agencies of India and Pakistan, NIA and FIA, and

on a mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) denoted progress.

It was particularly interesting to note that both countries agreed to expeditious execution of pending red notices.

The Indian list of 50 fugitives includes Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, Maulana Masood Azhar, Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon. The Pakistani list is not known.

India’s CBI and FIA would now meet to discuss the issue of red notices, in addition

a formality for such an interaction, but Pakistan’s willingness to receive an Indian judicial commission, which it had hitherto resisted, was yet another sign of forward movement.

The two sides also took up the issue of inadvertent crossings by fishermen.

The Indian Coast Guards and the Pakistan Maritime Agency will meet next month to see how to handle the inadvertent crossings.

Siachen tragedy: Army declares buried troops dead after 52 days

Pakistan on Tuesday declared dead 140 people buried alive by a huge avalanche in Gayari more than seven weeks ago.

A huge wall of snow crashed into Siachen Glacier base high in the mountains in disputed Kashmir in the early hours of April 7, smothering an area of one square kilometre (a third of a square mile).

Only three bodies have so far been recovered from the remote glacier, dubbed the world’s highest battleground, despite desperate rescue efforts assisted by foreign teams, including from the United States.

The military said that given the improbability of recovering anyone

alive, and after consulting religious leaders, “it has been decided to

Pakistan: Man selling his eye during a demonstration outside press club Islamabad.

declare the remaining brave soldiers as ‘shuhada‘ (martyrs)” to try to reduce the families’ suffering.

“This is being done with mixed feelings of pride, grief and above all unflinching resolve to continue all out efforts to recover the bodies of all shuhada,” the military said in a statement posted on its website.

Rescuers have dug tunnels into the mass of snow and ice that hit the battalion headquarters of the 6th Northern Light Infantry to try to recover the bodies of 129 soldiers and 11 civilians at the Gayari camp.

The site is 4,000 metres (13,000 feet) up in the mountains, just below the glacier where Pakistani

and Indian troops have faced off since the 1980s.

Kashmir has been the cause of two wars between India and Pakistan and the nuclear-armed rivals fought over Siachen in 1987, though guns on the glacier have largely fallen silent since a peace process began in 2004.

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WEEKLY REVIEW OF PAKISTAN NEWS

Pakistan tests nuclear capable missile

Pakistan on Tuesday successfully testfired a short range nuclear capable missile, the military said.

The indigenously developed Short Range Surface to Surface Multi Tube Missile Hatf IX (NASR), with a range of 60 km, can carry nuclear warheads of appropriate yield, with high accuracy, and possesses shoot and scoot attributes, an army statement said.

This quick response system addresses the need to deter evolving threats, specially at shorter ranges, it said.

“The successful test has also

been warmly appreciated by the president, prime minister of Pakistan and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, who have congratulated scientists and engineers on their outstanding success,” the statement said.

Pakistan, which carried out nuclear tests in 1998, has developed several series of nuclear capable missiles and routinely conducts tests.

Director General of the Strategic Plans Division Lieutenant General Khalid Ahmed Kidwai, terming the NASR missile as a weapon of peace, said that the test was

a major development which will consolidate Pakistan’s deterrence capability at all levels of the threat spectrum, thereby ensuring peace in the region.

Senior officials who witnessed the test included Chairman of the National Engineering and Scientific Commission Irfan Burney, and Commander of the Army Strategic Forces Command Lieutenant General Tariq Nadeem Gilani, as well as senior officers from the Strategic forces and scientists and engineers of strategic organizations.

PM Gilani not to file review Pakistan spy chief cancels visit to US amid strained ties plea against conviction penalty

Recent criticism by the United States targeting the Pakistani government has led to the cancelation of a visit to Washington by Pakistan’s new intelligence chief.

Newly-appointed head of Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) Lt. Gen. Zaheer alIslam was scheduled to meet his American counterpart, Director of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) David H. Petraeus, during a visit to the US this week, the Washington Post reported Tuesday, quoting a Pakistani official.

Pakistan earlier handed down a 33year jail sentence to Pakistani doctor Shakil Afridi convicted of treason for assisting CIA’s operatives with

Head of Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) Lt. Gen. Zaheer al-Islam

the US hunt for Osama bin Laden, a move which became the target of harsh criticism emanating from the White House.

The Pakistani military has claimed in a Monday statement, however, that

the cancellation of spy chief’s visit to Washington was due to “pressing commitments” at home and that “there is no other reason.”

Citing a senior Pakistani official, the report further added that growing bilateral tensions over Afridi’s case as well as a long-brewing dispute over Islamabad’s refusal to reopen its territory to NATO supply convoys destined for the US-led forces in Afghanistan has contributed to the decision to cancel the trip.

The CIA and the ISI are working on a new date for the visit, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The CIA has declined to comment on the issue.

India, Pakistan treaty likely on prisoners’ legal aid, swap

India and Pakistan initiate discussion on Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) and put the process of releasing each other’s prisoners/fishermen on fast track.

The failure to sign a new visa agreement may have been the low point of the home secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan but the meeting, which concluded on Friday, was a step forward in terms of initiating discussion on Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) and putting the process of releasing each other’s prisoners/ fishermen on fast track.

Despite initial resistance, Pakistan has agreed to examine the draft of the MLAT and revert with comments as early as possible.

Though it may take time before the two countries sign such an

agreement, India believes Pakistan agreeing to discuss the matter assumes significance in view of recognizing the need to have such a legal instrument on criminal matters including terrorism. The MLAT is devised in such a way that it can help both countries in combating transnational organized crimes, trans-border terrorism and other serious offences such as drug

trafficking, money laundering, counterfeit currency and smuggling of arms.

“After signing the MLAT with Bangladesh and starting the process with Nepal, New Delhi has been keen on bringing Pakistan on board as well considering transborder movement of criminals/ terrorists in the countries bordering India,” said an official.

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani decided not to file review petition against contempt conviction by the Supreme Court (SC).

Former Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Aitzaz Ahsan, who was counsel of PM Gilani in contempt of court case, said the decision was made in consultation with the party leaders.

The sources said the Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani pondered over the question regarding the submission of review petition against the court’s ruling in consultation with his close aides, legal advisers and leaders of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and decided not to file the plea.

It should be mentioned here that a seven-strong bench convicted him of contempt of court on April 26, for avoiding court orders for over two years to implement apex court’s National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) verdict and write a letter to Swiss government to re-open graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

However, the court, in a historic step, punished the PM Gilani a sentence that remained in effect ‘till the rising of the court’ that made only 30 seconds.

Earlier, National Assembly Speaker Dr. Fahmida Mirza, in an expected move, opted not to file the reference against Gilani to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), saying, “There was no question of his disqualification as a member of the National Assembly.”

Before the announcement not to file review petition, Aitzaz Ahsan told the media that Speaker National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza made a right decision by not sending the

reference against the premier to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Aitzaz said the apex court’s verdict mentioned the ‘possibility’ of Gilani’s ineligibility as the prime minister, while the speaker has questioned of ‘possibility’. He said only the speaker is authorized to make decision on the question of ineligibility of any member of the National Assembly.

Aitzaz said he worked very hard to file an appeal against the prime minister’s conviction, adding that he would be disappointed if the government decided against filing the appeal.

He said he has never come across the word ‘ridicule’ in the prime minister’s indictment, therefore, the question of PM’s disqualification does not arise.

He said the judges repeatedly said during the hearing of the contempt case that the prime minister ridiculed the judiciary during his address in Bahawalpur. He said this is a separate matter which needs a separate indictment and then the court could proceed further in this regard.

Aitzaz said the speaker in her ruling mentioned that ex-PML-N MNA Javed Hashmi was convicted according to article 63(1)(G) and in PM’s case there was nothing about indictment neither any proof regarding ridicule came to surface.

He said the judges even didn’t question the premier about the ‘ridicule’ during the proceedings.

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WEEKLY REVIEW OF MALDIVE NEWS

India granted MVR5 Nasheed concerned over Government billion in aid to Maldives revealing nominee to CNI

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has raised concern with the Commonwealth after his nomination to the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) established

to probe the events leading up to and following the transfer of power on February 7, was revealed to the media yesterday.

A government official had revealed

to the media yesterday that Nasheed had nominated Mariyam Manaal Shihab who is the daughter of former Minister in the previous administration Mohamed Shihab.

In addition to the government, Commonwealth Special Envoy to the Maldives Sir Donald McKinnon had also accepted Manaal’s nomination to the CNI, according to the official.

However, shortly after the government had made the statement, opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) had refuted the claims.

Nasheed’s nominee to CNI withdrawn

After the government finally accepted the nomination made by former President Mohamed Nasheed to the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) set up to probe the circumstances surrounding the transfer of power on February 7, the name has now been withdrawn.

Nasheed has nominated Mariyam Manaal Shihab who is the daughter of former Minister in the previous administration Mohamed Shihab.

A prominent government official that Manaal’s name had been withdrawn after she had been accepted by the government.

Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has refuted the claims that Nasheed had proposed a nominee to the CNI. MDP Spokesperson Imthiyaz

‘Inthi’ Fahmy alleged that the claims made by the government were baseless and if Nasheed did make a nomination to CNI, the former President would duly inform the party first.

However, Nasheed is yet to inform the party of such a decision, Inthi added.

It has been found that Manaal had formerly worked in the legal department of the Economic Ministry.

Manaal as the nominee of Nasheed to the CNI had been accepted after the government had rejected various other nominations citing that they did not meet the specified criteria.

The last nominee Lieutenant Colonel Zubair Ahmed Manik of the Maldives National Defence

Force (MNDF) had been rejected by the government claiming that he did not meet the education criteria as per the prior agreement with opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

The work of the CNI has been temporarily halted until the proposed changes to the composition of the Commission are completed.

The government had decided to appoint a retired Judge from Singapore as the Co-Chair and a nominee of former President Nasheed to the Commission, following the call by the Commonwealth to revise the CNI in order to make it more independent, impartial and generally acceptable by the people.

Indian High Commission in Maldives has stated that the Indian government had provided MVR5 billion worth of aid to the Maldives during the past three years.

The statistics revealed to the media by the commission indicated that the projects undertaken by the government from 2009 had been granted USD 53.45 million dollars (MVR825 million). In addition, line of credit facilities, bond purchase, standby credit facility and items, equipment and financial assistance worth USD268 million (MVR4.5 billion) was provided to hold the SAARC summit in Addu according to the statistics, which is a total of USD321.5 million (MVR5 billion).

The largest contribution from India within the last three years was to the project of the construction of Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality building. USD2.5 million was granted as free assistance of the Indian government. In addition, USD4.5 million to the development of Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), USD25 million

to Police Academy, USD9 million to purchase vehicles for police, USD1.15 million to Coastal Management Centre, USD1 million for the purchase of sports equipment and drugs, USD5.3 million to Institute for Information Technology. India had also agreed to assist with the military hospital established by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF).

USD40 million credit facilities were granted for the project of building 500 housing units within the three years. Statistics also show that USD100 million to purchase Treasury bonds from the State Bank of India (SBI) and USD100 million as standby credit had been given.

The High Commission also informed that the Indian government had provided USD28 million to assist in the development of human resources and also as financial assistance in holding the SAARC summit at Addu.

Apart from this, private Indian companies had invested in major projects throughout the Maldives.

Police will handle Usfasgandu until Govt rejects Nasheed’s nominee Lt Col Zubair the Court decides on the matter

Maldives Police Service has stated that they will look after the Police will handle the Usfasgandu area until the court decides on the matter.

In a statement issued yesterday by the Police, the Police stated that they have received reports of harassment, black magic and other criminal offences being committed at the Usfasgandu and they have searched the area and collected evidences of these crimes.

The Police said that they have stopped all actions taken by them to dismantle the area following the court order of the Civil Court.

In addition to this they said that they have dismantled much of the area when they received the court order. And since there were evidences of the criminal offences committed at the area the Police have closed down the place under the authority given to them by the Article 10 of the Police Act of the constitution.

Furthermore, the Police stated that entering the area is now prohibited and no individual is allowed to enter the premises.

The Police stated that the area will now be handled by the police until the court decides on the matter.

Government yesterday rejected Lieutenant Colonel Zubair Ahmed Manik nominated by former President Mohamed Nasheed to the National Enquiry Commission (NEC) set up to probe the events leading up to and following the transfer of power on February 7.

A press statement by the President’s Office yesterday stressed that the nominee who is the uncle of Nasheed did not meet the criteria required to be a member of the Commission. To that end, Zubair did not have a first degree amongst the criteria agreed between the government and opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), statement read.

It had been learned that Zubair had been undergoing a military course in Malaysia during the time of the change in government. He had also been the head of the MNDF legal department at the time.

Nasheed’s nominee who is still in Malaysia is believed to be holding only a diploma.

Government further claimed that

Nasheed’s continued nominations that do not meet the specified criteria, was a clear sign that the former President does not wish to cooperate with the Enquiry Commission.

“The government under the guidance of the Commonwealth has agreed to appoint a foreign Judge as the Co-Chair of the Commission,” President’s Office statement added.

While the government had rejected Zubair’s nomination to the Commission, MDP had earlier claimed that the name submitted by Nasheed would fulfill the agreed criteria.

As the deadline of till the end of the month

given to the former President draws to a close, the government had rejected all nominations made by Nasheed thus far.

The former President’s nominees include Machchangoalhi-north constituency MP Mariya Ahmed Didi, former Housing Minister of the previous administration Mohamed Aslam, former Youth Minister Hassan Latheef, former Education Minister Shifa Mohamed, former member of the Judicial Service Commission Aishath Velezeenee and former board member of the Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) Ibrahim Saleem.

In addition to holding a degree, the criteria specified by the government states that the person to be placed in the Commission by Nasheed must be a person who has been away from the political scene for a period of two years, must also be a person who has not taken a specific stand in relation to the regime change, must be unprejudiced and generally acceptable to the public.

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Saarc international I Thursday 31 May 2012

WEEKLY REVIEW OF NEPAL NEWS

Nepal ‘suffering’ most, BD least in South Asia: Gallup

Nearly one in four Indians rates life as “suffering” while South Asians viewed their living standards worse in 2011 than most residents in other parts of Asia, according to a Gallup poll released Monday.

At least one in five residents in Nepal (31%), Afghanistan (30%), India (24%), Sri Lanka (22%), and Pakistan (21%) rated their lives poorly enough to be considered “suffering.”

In Bangladesh suffering is significantly lower than its regional neighbors.

South Asians rated their lives worse in 2011 than most residents in other parts of Asia.

At least one in five residents in Nepal (31%), Afghanistan (30%), India (24%), Sri Lanka (22%), and Pakistan (21%) rated their lives poorly enough to be considered “suffering.”

Bangladesh is the only South Asian country where suffering is significantly lower than its regional neighbors, at 10%.

Gallup classifies respondents as “thriving,” “struggling,” or “suffering” according to how they rate their current and future lives on a ladder scale with steps numbered from 0 to 10 based on the Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving Scale. Respondents are not asked to classify their lives according to these labels. Those who rate their present life a 7 or higher on the ladder and their life in five years an 8 or higher are classified as thriving, while those who rate both dimensions a 4 or lower are considered

suffering. Respondents whose ratings fall in between are considered struggling.

The relatively high levels of suffering in South Asia likely reflect the economic turmoil, war, conflict, domestic terrorism, or separatist movements that have afflicted many of these countries in the past decade. Additionally, most South Asian countries currently have higher levels of unemployment and corruption and lower levels of college education than the rest of Asia.

Relatively low levels of suffering in Bangladesh may run counter to extremely poor economic conditions in the nation. According to 2011 World Bank data, GDP per capita in Bangladesh is the third lowest in Asia, slightly above Nepal and Afghanistan -- countries with the highest levels of suffering in Asia, at 31% and 30%, respectively.

That Bangladeshis are less likely than residents in other South Asian countries to rate their lives poorly enough to be considered suffering may be related to Gallup’s findings about education in the country. Educational attainment in Bangladesh is the highest in South Asia -- 50%

of the adult population has at least secondary or higher education. Gallup also finds 82% of Bangladeshis are satisfied with their schools, perhaps providing a relatively young Bangladeshi population with optimism for a bright future.

Survey Methods Results are based on face-to-face and telephone interviews with approximately 1,000 adults, aged 15 and older, conducted between April 5 and Dec. 4, 2011, in the 20 countries identified in the article. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error ranges from ± 2 percentage points to ±4 percentage points. The margin of error reflects the influence of data weighting. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Nepal turmoil after charter Three parties agree deadline missed, polls in Nov to promulgate statute

Nepal’s warring political parties failed to meet a midnight deadline to agree on a new constitution on Sunday, plunging the Himalayan republic into further uncertainty, but the government moved quickly to defuse the crisis with a call for elections.

A new constitution was widely seen as crucial to ending the instability that has plagued Nepal since the end of a Maoist-led civil war in 2006 and subsequent overthrow of the monarchy, but it has been thwarted by demands for the country to be divided into states along ethnic lines.

The debate has sparked violent protests in recent weeks and ethnic groups have staged demonstrations near the parliament building where a Constituent Assembly of politicians had until Sunday night to end its

haggling and agree on the charter.

Barsha Man Pun, a Maoist minister told reporters after an emergency cabinet meeting that the government had decided to hold another round of elections for the assembly - which has doubled as a parliament - on November 22.

“We had no other alternative,” he told reporters. “We apologize for not being able to prepare the constitution.”

Earlier, several partners in the ruling coalition stormed out of the cabinet meeting, decrying the Maoist’s “unilateral” decision to set the country on course for fresh elections.

“The election will only add to the turmoil because the government did not take major political parties and all of its coalition partners into

confidence,” said Kapil Kafle, editor of the Nepal Samacharpatra daily.

More than a dozen people were injured after protesters tried to break a security cordon outside the parliament in Kathmandu, prompting police to baton charge the demonstrators and fire teargas, police spokesman Binod Singh said.

ETHNIC TENSION Prolonged instability in Nepal, which sits on the source of rivers that supply water to millions in South Asia, could suck neighbors China and India into competition for influence there.

Both are important donors and trade partners for Nepal, a povertystricken country dependent on aid and tourism. Diplomats say that because of its political uncertainty Nepal has failed to exploit the export potential presented by the rapid growth of its giant neighbors, and investors have avoided the country.

The economy grew by 3.5 percent last year, its lowest rate in four years.

The new constitution was to have been a key part of the peace deal struck with the Maoists to end their revolt.

However, the assembly missed several deadlines for the charter because of deep divisions over the number, boundaries and names of the nation’s states.

within deadline

They have also decided to settle the remaining disputed issues through transformed legislature-parliament after May 27.

The three major parties--UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress and CPNUML -- on Friday agreed in principle to promulgate the new constitution within May 27 by incorporating the constitutional issues that have been resolved so far.

A meeting of the top leaders of the major three parties held at Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s residence in Lazimpat this morning decided to this affect in view of Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling which had annulled the government’s bid to extend the term of the Constituent Assemble (CA) by three more months.

The meeting has also decided to hold talks with United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF), an alliance of Madhes based parties, in this regard. UDMF has been saying that new constitution is unacceptable to them if it fails to incorporate names and delineation of new federal structure of the country.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the ruling coalition alliance UCPNMaoist and UDMF held at Dahal’s residence earlier, has reached an understanding of promulgating the new constitution within the deadline.

However, they also stressed that names and delineation of the country’s new federal system must be incorporated in the new constitution.

Talking to the reporters after the meeting Hridayesh Tripathi, a UDMF leader said that new constitution sans federalism is not unacceptable to them.

“New constitution, promulgated just in the name of promulgating, within the deadline, would be useless if it fails to incorporate the issue of federalism” Tripathi argued.

Saarc international I Thursday 31 May 2012

SAARC

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WEEKLY REVIEW OF SRILANKA NEWS

‘Sarath Fonseka’s call, invitation to foreign meddling’

If Sarath Fonseka calls for the withdrawal of Security Forces camps from the North he is indirectly inviting foreign countries to meddle in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs, said Mass Media and Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella.

If anyone tried to take undue advantage of a pardon granted to him it will a be a very lowly and unbecoming act on his part the minister added.

“The time has now come for all to unite and work together as Sri Lankans and as such making such a statement to the international media can never be condoned, Minister Rambukwella said.

Minister Rambukwella expressed these sentiments responding to a question raised by a journalist at a press conference at his residence yesterday.

This was the first press briefing by the minister since his return from Australia following treatment for a leg injury.

Minister Rambukwella said it is not a positive development if Sarath Fonseka has made such a statement to the international media.

Minister Rambukwella said although Sri Lanka achieved freedom in the context

of the war it has not gained freedom in the international context and such statements of this nature attributed to Fonseka will only induce foreign countries to intervene in Sri Lanka’s domestic matters.

The minister said that he believed Australia supported the US sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC sessions in Geneva because it had no proper awareness about conditions in Sri Lanka.

He said Australia changed its stand after getting to know the truth.

He said Sarath Fonseka is neither the

Defence Minister nor Defence Secretary to recommend the removal of Security Forces camps in the North. The government has no need to implement a proposal made by such a person.

Since President Mahinda Rajapaksa had promised to look after the Geneva issue the Cabinet had no doubt about it.

The President who ended a 30 year war had the courage to face the Geneva issue. He said the government had still not abandoned its battle at the UNHRC. Minister Rambukwella said President Mahinda Rajapaksa had paid special

attention to him and inquired about his progress and welfare continuously from the day he suffered the accident and he wished to thank him for all the personal attention given.

He also thanked Economic Development Deputy Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardene for ably looking after his ministerial duties during his absence.

He also thanked all his well - wishers and supporters who took a keen interest about his progress and welfare. He said he suffered the accident due to the insecurity and inadequate facilities at the hotel he booked in and he hoped to institute legal action against the hotel.

Mass Media and Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella yesterday said Fonseka has started misusing the President’s magnanimity and kindness.

He said the President showed kindness in granting pardon to Fonseka.

Responding to Fonseka’s statement to a Tamil daily, the minister said Fonseka is trying to create unnecessary problems in the North when all communities are living in peace after the end of the conflict. The minister

said terrorism was wiped out from the country due to President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s dynamic leadership.

Fonseka had made a statement to a Tamil daily that the Sri Lanka Army is interfering in the civil administration in the North and Army camps should be dismantled from the Northern province.

The minister said Fonseka had made this statement to the media as a free man because President Rajapaksa pardoned him and released him.

Minister Rambukwella also thanked the President and Cabinet colleagues for helping him after he met with an accident in Australia.

The minister said he would have to receive physiotherapy treatment for another four weeks. Deputy Economic Development Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said this type of irresponsible statement by Fonseka will create problems in the North.

“This statement will affect the peaceful condition in the North. Fonseka thinks that foreign intervention is required to settle internal matters in the country,” he said.

West impressed with reconciliation efforts Indian firm to construct Sri External Affairs Minister Prof G L Peiris returned to the island after successful official visits to Washington DC, Russia and Kazakhstan where he gained the confidence of these countries on Sri Lanka’s ongoing national reconciliation process.

And its efforts to find a lasting homegrown solution to the national issue.

External Affairs Ministry Secretary Karunatilleke Amunugama told the Daily News yesterday the Washington think tanks, Senators and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were impressed with the country’s post-war reconciliation and development work in the formerly war-torn Northern Province.

After Prof Peiris outlined the mechanism adopted by the Presidential Secretariat to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had called the programme “excellent.”

“The sentiment was later repeated in the State Department press briefings with spokeswoman Victoria Nuland announcing that Prof Peiris presented a very serious and comprehensive approach to the LLRC’s implementation,” Amunugama said.

Prof Peiris told the US Senate that lasting peace, stability and growth

Lanka’s tallest building

Lanka’s tallest condominium ready by 2017

can be accomplished only through a domestic solution and at the end of the day, everyone has to have a homegrown element to it.

Foreign Ministry sources said during Peiris’ tour of Russia, Russian Federation Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Sri Lanka has forged its own impartial Commission to look into war crimes allegations and that it was wrong on the part of any country to press Sri Lanka to have an international probe. Asked if there was any pressure on the government by any country to reduce troops in the North since it is a recommendation of the LLRC, Amunugama said the LLRC is an independent body, but this is a decision that a government must take.

“Sri Lanka does not go to other countries and call on those countries

to remove their troops from one place to another. It is simply not done because it is an internal matter of that country,” he said. “The same goes for other countries. They cannot and are not expected to touch upon such matters of a country that touches upon its national security and the protection of the public,” Amunugama said.

Asked about the demands made by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) about removing troops from the North, he said: “TNA is a political party just as much as the LLRC is an independent commission. They can make such demands and make recommendations. However, it is the decision of the government how it should place its Security Forces and where. It is matter to be dealt by the state alone,” he said.

An Indian company will construct a 68-storey residential tower in Colombo that is set to become the country’s tallest building.

The 400-apartment condominium, to be built at a cost of $250 million and catering to expatriates and foreigners, is a venture of South City Projects (Kolkata) Ltd. The land, which is currently under the defence and urban development ministries, will be given to the company on an extended lease, Xinhua reported.

Indocean Developers Private Ltd, a company of South City Projects (Kolkata) Ltd. (SCPKL), which has acquired a two-acre parcel of land opposite the Beira Lake to construct the 68-storey upmarket condominium development, is

expected to be complete construction by the year 2017. Safdie Architects has been commissioned to design Colombo’s tallest condominium. Indocean Developers Private Ltd. has been floated by SCPKL specifically for the Sri Lanka project.

Project: High end, luxurious 65-storey residential tower with shopping, F&B outlets and entertainment Land / Built-up area: Two acres / close to 1.5 million sq ft Location: Beira Lake, Colombo-2 Developer: Indocean Developers (Pvt) Ltd, a venture of Indian property group South City Projects (Kolkata) Pvt. Ltd Architect: Safdie Architects, Boston, USA Expected starting date: 2012 Expected date of completion: 2017

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NEWS

Saarc international I Thursday 31 May 2012

Saarc international I Thursday 31 May 2012

ENTERTAINMENT

25

Bollywood fashion at Cannes! revenge and dignity, played out in the forested wilds of Nazioccupied Belarus during World War II, injected a chilling note to

five-hour Indian gangster epic called Gangs of Wasseypur, won a warm welcome at the Riviera event, even drawing parallels with Quentin Tarantino. The film

India’s hottest stars stepped out in style for the Cannes Film Festival The 65th Festival de Cannes, which is an event reserved for film industry professionals who need an accreditation to gain access to the “Palais des Festivals” is coming to a close. Here is a roundup of all the entertaining films as well as the red carpet standouts and the fashion blunders from the acclaimed festival.

Notable films Two films in which actor Nicole Kidman played a central role

Actors Freida Pinto in Atelier Versace, Jane Fonda in a Stella McCartney and Cavalli number and Diane Kruger wearing Chanel did not disappoint at the Cannes.

Even better was Kirsten Stewart in a stunning scarlet Reem Acra gown.

Nicole Kidman was spectacular in practically everything she came out wearing during the festival.

Bollywood star Aishwariya Rai’s corset sari by Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla remained contentious as it garnered a positive as well as a negative response.

the Cannes race. In the Fog, the austere second feature film by Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa,

which is a Bollywood-influenced gangster epic, part western, part documentary. Kashyap also had a hand in the experimental Peddlers, which screened in the other main sidebar section at Cannes, Critics’ Week. Directed by newcomer Vasan Bala and financed through appeals on Facebook, the Mumbaiset movie weaves together the stories of a cynical narcotics cop, and two youngsters who fall into

the drug trade. Likewise, Ashim Ahluwalia’s Miss Lovely, screened in the Un Certain Regard new talent

section of the festival, drew a muted reception.

Cannes Aids gala A star-studded Cannes gala attended by the likes of Kylie Minogue and Janet Jackson raised a recordbreaking $11 million for Aids research. Kirsten Dunst, Zac Efron, Alec Baldwin and Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld were among the 980 glitterati at the event held Thursday night on the sidelines of the Riviera film festival by the American Aids research foundation amfAR. Fashion at the Cannes

One of the most disappointing numbers was Mallika Sherawat’s Ali Mahdavi gown which seemed more space age and less elegant.

Baby K’s First Photo: Shilpa Shetty, Raj Kundra Head Back Home With Their Newborn

screened at the festival. In Hemingway and Gellhorn, Kidman played Hemingway’s third wife who is a war correspondent waging her own battles. Kidman’s other film The Paperboy is up for the Palme d’Or top prize.

Money, sex and stretch limos abound as David Cronenberg brought Cosmopolis to Cannes, with Robert Pattinson as a billionaire financier looking for a haircut as a killer stalks him.

International films A bleak morality tale of treason,

is set on the western frontier of the Soviet Union in 1942, where local partisans have risen up to battle the German occupation.

Pakistani films Kingdom of Women, which is directed and written by UAEbased Pakistani journalist Amna Ehtesham Khaishgi and produced

by Arsalan Khan not only got nominated for Cannes 2012 but was also screened for top film-makers of the world.

Indian impact The longest-running entry in this year’s Cannes festival, a

Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty has been discharged from Mumbai’s Hinduja hospital, where she gave birth to her first child on May 21.

Shilpa looked gorgeous in a black and blue long dress, while Raj adored his little one in his arms as they stepped out of the hospital.

“Today is the day Baby K will head home. I have no idea how my pet dog will react to our new born. Everyone at home eagerly waiting,” Raj Kundra wrote on twitter.

Shilpa headed home with her newborn baby boy and husband to their Juhu house Saturday afternoon. The duo, along with their little one couldn’t

Shilpa Shetty discharged from hospital after delivery escape the lens of the paparazzi eagerly eyeing around the hospital to get a glimpse of the newborn Baby K.

“Thanking all the patient press for their love and understanding! Soo many photographers outside the hospital to c

NEWS

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South Asia Tribune I Thursday 31 May 2012

Double quake highlights Italy’s seismic perils 17 dead and 200 injured in latest killer quake in northern Italy

A powerful earthquake killed at least 17 people and left 200 injured Tuesday as it rocked a swath of northern Italy. Factories, warehouses and churches collapsed, dealing a second blow to a region where thousands are still homeless from another temblor just nine days ago.

The 5.8 magnitude quake left 14,000 people homeless in the Emilia Romagna region north of Bologna, one of Italy’s most agriculturally and industrially productive areas.

It was felt from Piedmont in northwestern Italy to Venice in the northeast and as far north as Austria. Dozens of aftershocks hit the area, some registering more than 5.0 in magnitude.

The temblor terrified many of the thousands who have been living in tents or cars since the May 20 quake and created a whole new wave of homeless. wo killer earthquakes that struck northeastern Italy in nine days have shed light on the brutal but complex seismic forces that grip the Italian peninsula, scientists say.

Brian Baptie, a seismologist with the British Geological Survey (BGS), said the worst earthquakes in Italy occurred in the south of the country, which lies close to where one of Earth’s tectonic plates is sliding under another.

Farther north, earthquakes may be

triggered by collisions in the south or by complex faults running through the Apennines, the mountainous “spine” of Italy, he explained.

“Southern Italy sits at a plate

the Mediterranean Sea just south of Italy,” Baptie said in a phone interview from Edinburgh.

“The African plate is being subducted under the European plate, so that’s

there.

“Further north into Italy, earthquakes are still caused by that collision, but there are also more complicated things going on as

boundary.

The boundary between the African plate and the Eurasian plate runs through

why you get volcanoes like Etna and Vesuvius in southern Italy and why you get bigger earthquakes down

well.

“You get the Apennine mountains running down the north-south axis

of Italy, there are fault systems that run all the way through those mountains and they generate earthquake activity as well.”

The big mischief-maker in northern Italy -- and also in the western Balkans -- is Adria, a microplate that covers the Adriatic Sea and is also sliding beneath the European plate.

On its website, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said Adria “greatly complicated” seismic activity in northern Italy, contributing to a compression of the northern end of the Apennine chain.

At least 15 people were killed on Tuesday by tremors measuring up to 5.8 magnitude that struck a region east of the city of Palma.

On May 20, a 6.0-magnitude quake in the same region killed six people and reduced homes and historic buildings to rubble. It has been followed by hundreds of tremors.

Baptie said it was “entirely possible” that the May 20 earthquake had set off the May 29 event.

“We know that when there are large earthquakes, stress is transferred to other fault systems and that in turn can trigger an earthquake on that fault as well.” he said.

In May 2009, a 6.3-magnitude quake devastated the city of L’Aquila in central Italy, killing some 300 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless.

Slain, in the line of duty: A year on, Saleem Shahzad’s culprits remain at large A year after journalist Saleem Shahzad was assassinated, his killers are yet to be apprehended and recommendations of an inquiry commission formed to probe the incident implemented, said the victim’s family and human rights groups.

By not pointing out the culprits behind Shahzad’s murder, the commission’s findings have granted a ‘licence to kill’ to those who target journalists covering the war on terror in Pakistan, said Hamza Ameer, contributor to Asia Times Online and Shahzad’s brother-in-law.

The sentiment was echoed by Amnesty International (AI) which, in a press release on its website, said that “Pakistan must take urgent steps to bring his killers to justice and properly investigate claims of intimidation against journalists, including, by intelligence services.”

Incomplete inquiry Shahzad was abducted from Islamabad on May 29, 2011 while heading to a television station. His body, bearing signs of torture, was found several kilometres outside Islamabad on May 31.

A commission, headed by Supreme Court judge Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, was subsequently formed by the government and tasked to inquire into the background of the incident and identify the culprits involved. The commission was also asked to probe the constitutional implications

of this situation, and recommend measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

In its report published in January this year, however, the commission said it was unable to identify Shahzad’s killers. It speculated that any of a number of state, non-state or foreign actors, including al Qaeda or the Taliban, could have been responsible.

The inquiry also revealed a trail of missing evidence that could have helped identify the perpetrators, including Shahzad’s mobile phone log, the vehicle he had been abducted from, and footage from the security cameras across Islamabad.

Not a single witness to his abduction came forward, even though the route from Shahzad’s home to a TV station where he had been due to conduct an interview passed through several police checkpoints, AI said, quoting the inquiry report.

The inquiry had criticised police for failing to question the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) adequately about Shahzad even though the panel itself allowed the ISI representatives to submit prepared statements, and subjected them to limited questioning, AI added.

Reining in the agencies Among other recommendations, the commission

had suggested “that the more important agencies (Inter-Services Intelligence and Intelligence Bureau) be made more law-abiding through a statutory framework carefully outlining their respective mandates and role; that their interaction with the media be carefully, institutionally stream-lined and regularly documented; that all the agencies be made more accountable through effective and suitably-tailored mechanisms of internal administrative review (and) parliamentary oversight.”

Resigned to fate The slain journalist’s widow, Anita Saleem, appeared resigned to the lack of justice.

“We didn’t have any expectations from the investigations, that is why we don’t have any response on the commission’s decision,” she said.

Ameer, talking to The Express Tribune, added that most of the commission’s recommendations, visà-vis the family, have not been implemented so far either.

The commission had recommended financial compensation to the family, free education for Shahzad’s three children – 15-year old Fahad, 13year old Amna, and Rehman Shah, 10 – and a job for Shahzad’s wife. So far, the government has only provided the financial compensation to the family, he added.

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 31 May 2012

NEWS

Racist Tube rant jailed

Continued from page 01 >> Court in central London, said: “Anyone viewing it would feel a deep sense of shame that our citizens could be subject to such behaviour who may, as a consequence, believe that it secretly represents the views of other white people.”

Woodhouse was fined following a similar offence in 2008.

In the video of her latest foul-mouthed outburst, filmed by businessman Galbant Juttla, Woodhouse can be heard shouting in a thick Essex accent: “All f****** foreign f******* s*** heads.”

The former secretary, of Romford, Essex, turns to other passengers and asks: “Where do you come from?

Where do you come from? Where do you come from?

“All over the world, f****** jokers. f****** country’s a F****** joke.

“I would like to know if any of you are illegal? I am sure like 30 per cent of you are. f****** jokers taking the f****** piss.”

Prosecutor Claire Campbell said Woodhouse, who has since lost her job and is now claiming benefits, began her stream of abuse after a retirement party when she was feeling a little “worse for wear”. She had drunk an unknown quantity of champagne.

Woodhouse sat with her head bowed as CCTV footage of the prolonged rant between St Paul’s and Mile End stations was played to the court.

In it she could be seen turning to the Pakistani man sitting next to her, who is singing his national anthem.

“You can fing sing my f****** dear friend. I hope they f****** catch up

Sikhs protest outside Luton Police station over ‘assault’ allegations Continued from page 01 >> the force added.

A police spokesman said Tuesday night: “Police in Luton are currently in talks with members of the Sikh community who

with you and shove you off. I will punch you in the face, you are a f****** joke.

“Pakistani fing losers.

“Ninety per cent of you are f****** illegal. I wouldn’t mind if you loved our country.”

Sense of shame’ The court heard she stumbled over a black woman named Judy Russell as she boarded the carriage and proceeded to hurl insults, shouting: “You Africans take our council flats.”

The video shows Galbant Juttla, who filmed the incident on his mobile phone, telling Woodhouse to keep her mouth shut and that she had had too much to drink.

“It’s not your country anyway so what’s your problem?” she said.

“It’s been overtaken by people like you.”

In further remarks, on a packed train between St Paul’s and Mile End stations, she told passengers: “I’ll have you arrested because you don’t live here” and “I hope you are not claiming benefits.”

The video of the verbal assault was viewed on YouTube more than

USA uses sex to control the world

Continued from page 30 as sex is power. The act of sex worship is virtually in all parts of the world.

Pravda.Ru: And the media?

CM: Television advertisements programmes are influenced and created to develop sex worship, the more this is accepted, the more these sex symbols are able to work in favour of the American government.

Hip-hop has suddenly become so popular around the world. Why? This is majorly because of the sexual scenes associated with Hip-hop and the sex prioritised lifestyles of virtually all Hiphop artists.

In actual sense, the majority of the socalled world celebrities are not more intelligent than the average human worshiping them, but the media has been used to successfully hype these people, thus they are no longer followed, but worshipped.

The legalization of the sex trade is yet another way to increase the act of sexworship and I need to say it has been successful. Today the media preaches gender equality. This is all amongst the agenda to increase sex worship. Every right thinking human knows gender differences can only be modified, and not totally stopped. The male and female gender just cannot be equal.

27

Homosexuals, Lesbians...these are just another tool for the American government to prioritise and immortalize the act of sex worship.

At the moment the American government has about 35 percent control on over 60 percent of the world population. How? Sex ,sex, sex ...sex in movies, sex in advertising....The mainstream media is the lead singer in the business of selling sex worship. The media no longer tells you the beauty of the advertisement, music, movie; they tell you how sexy it is.

No more people power, it has long been changed. What we have presently ruling the world is sexual power. Of course, money is what is being used to pay for the manipulations and creation of sexual symbols........Here we are. * Chamakhe Maurieni is a Moroccan born Writer, Author, Public speaker.

A psychology graduate, and a former nominee for the Bridport poetry prize, he is also a former columnist for the African Vanguard and lead writer for the Gafi Research institute, Tunis. He recently joined Twitter,follow Chamakhe Maurieni on Twitter @venimaurieni.

His latest work is titled - FACEBOOK IS DECEPTION and available on the Smashwords online bookstore. Volume 1 and Volume 2

200,000 times.

Woodhouse handed herself into police, telling officers she could not remember the comments but recognised herself in the video.

Following the hearing, Mr Juttla, of Ilford, east London, said: “I found it very distressing.

“I uploaded it [the footage] to YouTube because I thought that was the fasttrack process to catching this person.

“I also needed to show the public that kind of person is out there and not to put up with this kind of behaviour.

“My kids have seen the video and they are disgusted by it.”

Condemning Woodhouse’s outburst, District Judge Michael Snow said: “Anyone viewing it would feel a deep sense of shame that our citizens could be subject to such behaviour who may, as a consequence, believe that it secretly represents the views of other white people.

The judge told Woodhouse she would serve half her prison term behind bars and imposed an order banning her from using the Tube and the Docklands Light Railway while drunk, for a five-year period.

are holding a sit-down protest outside Buxton Road police station.

facts.

“One man had been arrested in connection with the allegation and inquiries continue.”

Bedfordshire Police said later that the protesters had dispersed.

Beds Police Chief Supt Mike Colbourne said: “Obviously we have a duty to facilitate lawful, peaceful protest and if people have concerns it is right they are aired responsibly. Our priority first and foremost, however, is with the victim in this matter and her family.”

A man has since been charged with common assault following

“Their concerns follow a report that a young woman from their community was sexually assaulted on Monday.

“The allegations are currently subject of an investigation and all parties involved are being spoken with to establish the

the incident and will appear at Luton Magistrates Court this morning.

Eyewitnesses say members of the EDL were spotted wearing Turbans to show ‘solidarity with the Sikh community’. Luton has had racial tensions before.

A Summer Season of Cricket on Zee Café Pakistan v Sri Lanka Live & Exclusive On

Summer is here with more cricket action on Zee Café. The channel will be hosting a range of International matches throughout UK’s Indian Summer – all live and exclusive on Zee Café.

Starting from 1 June is the highoctane series of Pakistan v Sri Lanka, exclusively in the UK on Zee Café with English commentary. With a confident Pakistani side visiting the hosts in Sri Lanka for the series, a mix of T20s, ODIs and Test Matches sets off the season.

All matches will be available to watch live and also repeated in the evening at 7pm on Zee Café, Sky 846. Highlights special of each game can be viewed each match day at 11pm on Zee TV, Sky 788 Cricket lovers will then be treated to another action-packed series of India v Sri Lanka in July followed by Pakistan v Australia in August. The channel will further be showcasing more series leading to more than 100 days of cricket to be disclosed later.

Virad Kaul, Territory Head, Zee UK and

Europe “Zee Cafe is the hot-spot for international cricket, and this Summer would be amiss without the cricket spirit in full form on the network.

Entertainment with energy, passion, vigour and patriotism is here to stay.”

Pakistan v Sri Lanka Circket Series is presented by Claimtime Solicitors and is co-sponsored by Grand Midwest.

Day Date

Match

Fri 01/06/2012 1st T20 Sun 03/06/2012 2nd T20 Thu 07/06/2012 1st ODI Sat 09/06/2012 2nd ODI Wed 13/06/2012 3rd ODI Sat 16/06/2012 4th ODI Mon 18/06/2012 5th ODI Fri 22/06/2012 1st Test Match Sat 23/06/2012 1st Test Match Sun 24/06/2012 1st Test Match Mon 25/06/2012 1st Test Match

Start Time 14:30 14:30 10:00 10:00 10:00 10:00 10:00 05:30 05:30 05:30 05:30

Tue 26/06/2012 1st Test Match Sat 30/06/2012 2nd test Match Sun 01/07/2012 2nd test Match Mon 02/07/2012 2nd test Match Tue 03/07/2012 2nd test Match Wed 04/07/2012 2nd test Match Sun 08/07/2012 3rd Test Match Mon 09/07/2012 3rd Test Match

05:30 05:30 05:30 05:30 05:30 05:30 05:30 05:30

Tue 10/07/2012 3rd Test Match 05:30 Wed 11/07/2012 3rd Test Match 05:30 Thu 12/07/2012 3rd Test Match 05:30 Zee Café is available on Sky 846 as part of the Zee Pack, which also offers popular drama serials and reality shows, including Dance India Dance on Zee TV, premiere Bollywood movies on Zee Cinema and also lifestyle shows on Zee Punjabi as an optional. Apart from live cricket, catch cricket based entertainment shows, documentaries and dramas on the multi-genre channel Zee Café.

COMMENT

28

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 31 May 2012

Israel’s Hidden Hand Behind Pakistan’s Disasters

Shabana Syed for Salem-News.com The continual bloodbath in Pakistan will continue, even if the Americans vacate their forces ...

Quilliam Foundation founder, Majid Nawaz.

(LONDON) - Suspicions are aroused when the founder of the discredited group Quilliam Foundation, Majid Nawaz who has strong pro Israeli supporters, heads off to Pakistan to “…to counter the spread of extremist ideology within Pakistan, predominantly amongst younger generations of Pakistanis, who now constitute 63% of the total population”.

‘Khudi’ has been set up in Pakistan by one of the founders of the QF, Majid Nawaz whose continual scare mongering against the growth of Islamic extremism in Britain and the need for government surveillance against Muslims, not only gave support to fascist far right wing and pro Israel groups but also encouraged Islamophobia perpetuating a climate of hate with increasing attacks on women in hijabs, while The English Defense League marched through streets calling out ‘Death to Muslims’.

Muslims.

What can the definition of extremism be when you are funded by the government?

A secret counterterrorism strategy report in 2009, dubbed “ Contest 2” would identify Muslims as “extremist” if they hold views that clash with what the government defines as “shared British values,” reported Vikram Dodd in the Guardian.

According to Shahid Khan, the publisher of South Asia Tribune an Independent UK based English newspaper: “The fact that Khudi has been established in Pakistan by government paid stooges like Majid Nawaz to target the growing younger population of Pakistan, means the West is not only worried about the country being a nuclear state but also about controlling the youth, and Imran Khan may be part of that strategy, until a new cricketing hero rears his head, only he has the ability to mobilize the youth”.

Jemina Khan One of the patrons of the QF is

Jemima Khan, who according to Mr. Nawaz is a close friend; the Foundation which received huge government funding was set up to counteract ‘extremism’ amongst the

At a time when Pakistan is on brink of disaster, with corruption rife, tragic deaths a daily occurrence, depicted by the western press as a ‘failed state’, all eyes are on Imran Khan who according to his fresh faced young supporters ‘will get rid of the corruption, tell the Americans to go home, and reign in the chaos.’

His party Tehreek e Insaf is doing well in the polls and according to Newsweek which wrote a very supportive article on Khan, he is the ‘Most Popular Leader in Pakistan’ When the Western media supports you with positive headlines, you know they have approved you and

that in itself is a worrying fact.

Khan is riding on a wave of popularity with a strong backing from a favourable western media, many promoting him as the next Prime Minister; he is lucky to receive such attention from a media which attempts to ignore the human tragedy of ‘inconceivable magnitude taking place’ in Pakistan. Ismail Salami writes: “Only in April 2012, more than 250 Shia Muslims were maimed and killed in broad daylight. Around 150 pairs of Shias’ eyes were cut out of their sockets; many of them died while their faces had been smashed with stones or sprayed with acid.”

Khan may be saying all the right things like pointing out that US drone attacks are killing innocents and as a result breeding extremism, however is he aware that Drone attacks are just part of a long term strategy which includes extremist groups funded by Israel and India to create sectarian divisions and civil war?

If America leaves will it stop Israel’s Mossad and India’s RAW from swamping the country with mercenary groups like Xe Water, and

‘Questioning the War on terror’ explains: “Since the Zionistinstigated false-flag attacks of 9/11, the United States of America has been at war with the religion of Islam. The neocon cabal of Zionist Christians and Jews behind 9/11 have tried to disguise their war on Islam as a “war on terror.” But occasionally one of them blurts out the truth: “I always thought it was a mistake not to say what Iraq really was, that is, a war against an expanding Islam,” opined neocon think-tanker James Schall of Georgetown University.”

Pakistan is just one cog in the wheel of the establishment of the “New World Order” which George Bush senior, part of the Zionist neocon cabal first mentioned in his speech to congress in March 6 1991 where he basically outlined a long-term plan for America to dominate the world.

According to Imran Hossein a prominent Islamic scholar, Pakistan is not such a just cog in the wheel, rather it’s a very important target for the Zionist led neo con cabal, firstly because it is strategically very important, secondly it’s a nuclear state and “the only Muslim country

Tehrik-I-Taliban who have murdered or wounded thousands of Pakistanis and nearly destroyed the economy with an aim to create a civil war.

This was clearly revealed by the Raymond Davies incident who not only ruthlessly killed Pakistanis but was also found to be supplying information and funds to an Indian/ Israeli terrorist cell working with the Taliban.

Recent revelations have shown how in America a Virginia military course taught its officers to prepare for a ‘total war against Islam’.

with the nuclear capability to stand against Israel’s expansionist plans’.

It is a known fact that any Journalist, academic or world leader who states that Israel was behind 9/11, or questions who is really behind Al Qaeda, will be ostracized by the Zionist owned mainstream media never given air time or allowed to surface as a leader. Pakistan news channels also mostly parrot the western media’s narrative, raising the question who really owns the media there?

Dr. Kevin Barrett As Dr Kevin Barret author of

The late Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto along with many in

the intelligence community knew that Bin Laden was not hiding out in Pakistan, but was killed off in 2001, she stated it clearly in a Frost interview on November 2 2007.

As a result many have asked the question who has been bombing and blowing up in the name of Al Qaeda?

The former British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook shortly before his death told the House of Commons that “Al-Qaeda” is not really a terrorist group but a database of international mujahedeen and arms smugglers used by the CIA. It is in Israel’s interest to discredit Muslims, all the Al Qaeda videos threatening jihad and bombings have been revealed to be fake and funded by Zionist groups; Adam Gadahn who had masqueraded as Al Qaeda leader in videos making death threats turned out to be a hard core Zionist Jew and was the grandson of Jewish ADL leader Carl Pearlman.

Dr Alan Sabrosky, a US Strategic analyst states: “I am also absolutely certain as a strategic analyst that 9/11 itself, from which all else flows, was a classic Mossad-orchestrated operation.

But Mossad did not do it alone. They needed local help within America (and perhaps elsewhere) and they had it, principally from some alumni of PNAC (the misnamed Project for a New American Century) and their affiliates within and outside of the US Government, who in the 9/11 attacks got the “catalytic event” they needed and craved to take the US to war on Israel’s behalf.”

The continual bloodbath in Pakistan will continue, even if the Americans vacate their forces from Pakistan as Jonathan Azaziah explains in his article ‘Hideous Sectarian Killings Reveal Deepening ZionistHindutvadi Plots Against Pakistan And Occupied Kashmir’, he writes: “How much more blood must be shed in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan before it is understood that the country is being torn to shreds from the inside out in a foreignsponsored 4th Generation Warfare (4GW) campaign.

He continues: “The real secret war against Pakistan is that which is being conducted by Israel and the Hindutva entity of India. Since the late 1980s, Zionism and Hindutva have signed military agreements and performed covert operations to destroy Pakistan’s nuclear program.”

He argues that in 2001 Mossad and RAW unleashed the codenamed ‘Dragon Policy’ aimed to create an all out ‘sectarian’ chaos within Pakistan, they hired mercenaries, drug lords Continued on page 29 >>

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 31 May 2012

COMMUNITY

29

GROUND BREAKING HERITAGE PROJECT TELLS THE STORY OF INDIAN CLASSICAL DANCE – BORN IN LEICESTER, INSPIRING A NATION

‘Karman’, funded by Heritage Lottery Fund is A Living Archive project exhibiting performances and personalities behind forty years of groundbreaking Indian classical dance in the East Midlands.

‘Karman’ began its’ journey in 2011, when the Centre for Indian Classical Dance (CICD) based in Leicester, trained and worked with a team of twenty-five volunteer historians who between them recorded over seventy hours of oral history interviews. To accompany this, volunteers worked Continued from page 28 >> and mafia figures to unleash the destabilization process.

Pakistan has no hope with the established politicians like Nawaz Sharif to President Zardari, their main concern when in power is not to deal with Mossad and RAW activities in Pakistan, but to just acquire as much wealth as they can.

Therefore the main question asked is will Imran Khan be able to deal with the growing subversive aims of Zionists in Pakistan and at the same time remain a ‘darling of the west’?

MP Zack Goldsmith

through an impressive and comprehensive archive of leaflets, posters and newspaper cuttings held by CICD. This innovative research and unique collection has led to a fascinating touring exhibition and accompanying book called ‘Karman’.

‘Karman’ not only documents the achievements of the past but explores how these have affected South Asian dance and arts in the UK over the last forty years. ‘Karman’ also describes the social changes related to these developments and therefore presents a unique piece of history that has never been exhibited in Leicester before.

‘Karman’ is not only designed for those interested in the history of Indian classical dance but also offers a rare insight for those wanting to learn more about the diverse arts and cultural heritages of the UK. “Working in Leicester for the past 30 years makes ‘Karman’ project very special for me as it explores the living history of Indian classical dance in the UK. It exhibits the roots of Indian classical dance and music through contribution by early pioneers, professional dancers, musicians, members of the community and art lovers.” Nilima Devi - Artistic Director, CICD

The exhibition is free and includes: • Narrative panels: exploring the origins and features of Indian classical

dance and the impact and influence of other dance forms on its development • Quotation panels: quotes drawn from seventy hours of interviews recorded specifically for this project • Flyer collages: showcasing some of the thousands of period posters, flyers and leaflets from the CICD’s archive ‘Karman’ will officially launch on Thursday 14th June 2012 at the LCB Depot in the heart of Leicester’s Cultural Quarter, as part of the Indian Summer festival.

This will be followed by a tour of the exhibition to various venues across Leicester reaching out to a diverse range of audiences.

2012 Tour Venues/ Dates:

Information on the libraries is available at: www.leicester.gov.uk/libraries.aspx For further information, please contact Dawinder Bansal Tel: 0116 255 2862 Email: Dawinder@cicd.org.uk Website : www.facebook.com/ KarmanLiveArchive

Israel’s Hidden Hand Behind Pakistan’s Disasters in law, and campaign on his behalf visiting mosques urging Muslims to vote for him.

Is Mr. Khan aware that this is the same Conservative Party whose leader once declared ‘I am a Zionist’ and over 80% of its MP’s are staunch members of ‘Friends of Israel’?

Does he also realize that two major Zionist funded British think tanks, ‘Centre for Social Cohesion’ and the ‘Policy Exchange’ known for their anti Muslim and Islam stance were set up by Conservative MP’s, one of them being Michael Gove who is now the Secretary of State for Education and

the forefront to support her ex husband, and been a well wisher of Pakistan.

In one of Ms Khan’s tweets she writes “Can’t believe we’re divorced and I’m still Imran’s Achilles’ heel”. According to most Pakistanis she is not an Achilles heel because she is Jewish, rather she is one if she persists in aligning herself with groups whose agenda is to ‘modernise Islam’ or against Muslims.

The fact she is a patron of the discredited Quilliam Foundation has cast many shadows on her well wishing stance.

Another baffling activity Jemima Khan has been at the centre of is the vocal and financial support she provided for Wiki leaks founder Julian Assange.

Gordon Duff Gordon Duff from the respected Veterans Today website first highlighted

Already many Pakistanis are suspicious of him and it does not help his image when he takes time out of his busy schedule to fly to London to the aid of Conservative MP Zack Goldsmith his ex brother

� Embrace Arts, 11 – 27 May www.embracearts.co.uk � Peepul Centre, 28 May – 08 June www.peepulcentre.com � LCB Depot, 11 – 22 June www.lcbdepot.co.uk � Hamilton Library, 03 – 17 July � St Barnabas Library, 17 – 30 July � South Fields Library, 31 July – 15 August � Belgrave Library, 03 – 17 September � BBC Radio Leicester, 01 – 17 October � Curve Theatre, 08 – 19 November www.curveonline.co.uk � Highfields Library, 19 – 30 November

has described “Islamism” as an ideology that is similar to fascism’.

Another fact that has cast a shadow on Mr. Khan’s motives and does not help his credibility is the actions of his ex wife Jemima Khan, who has always been at

how Wiki leaks was an Israeli intelligence operation, he wrote: “It only took Zbigniew Brzezinski Washington’s “establishment” foreign policy expert, a “New York minute” to spot Wiki leaks as an intelligence operation.

Wiki leaks Julian Assange’s lawyer Mark Stephens is connected to the Rothschild Family who control the worlds banking system and are behind the formation of Israel. The house where Assange was “imprisoned” is owned by Vaughan Smith, the owner of Frontline Trust, a news organization that seeks to influence TV journalists. Frontline is funded by George Soros’ organization, Open Society Institute; George Soros is intimately intertwined with the Rothschild’s and is a former business partner of Jemima’s father James Goldsmith.

Jemima says the reason she supported Assange was because she believes in freedom of information and because she has “…. personal interest in the revelations about Pakistan…”

According to General Hamid Gul, former Director General of ISI the Wikileaks revelations regarding Pakistan only harmed the country: “The report has not said a word about Israel, nor does it give any disadvantage to US in the implementation of policies in

Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and other Muslim countries, which have been particularly targeted.”

In the meantime Mr. Khan has just picked out Scottish millionaire Mr. Azeem Ibrahim to be his special adviser, Mr. Ibrahim’s specialty is that he “He has worked on taskforces set up by former UK prime minister Gordon Brown, advised the Turkish Government and has worked with various American bodies including the Pentagon, the National Security Council and the Department of Homeland Security” This is the same Department of Homeland Security where Zionists hold key positions and where its second secretary Michael Chertoff was the main person to block any investigation of hundreds of Mossad spies detained in connection with the attacks on 9/11, he also started a witch hunt against Muslims, incarcerating over a 1000 innocents without any evidence, in an effort to take the attention off the Israelis spy ring.

As the country nears election time and opposition parties use every dirty trick against each other, no matter who wins, one fact is clear Israel’s secret war within Pakistan will continue, to not only manipulate and control the youth but to destabilize and denuclearize the country.

30

SPECIAL FEATURE

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 31 May 2012

USA uses sex to control the world

Ever since the end of World War 2, America has controlled the world using three tools-manipulations, sex and money. These three factors have been responsible for the continual dominance of the American society

above other societies across the world.

Interview between Chamakhe Maurieni, Moroccan-born writer and researcher*, and Lisa Karpova, PRAVDA.Ru Pravda.Ru: Chamakhe, your latest research has been on how the USA uses and manipulates sex towards its own ends CM: I have come across articles, TV interviews, radio interviews, Internet videos and documentaries which talk about a banking order, a so-called Illuminati and other funny suggestions as being responsible for America’s dominance of the world.

All of these are false.

Rather this should be twisted to say

a growing new world order, banking systems being enforced by the American government on the global world is an effect of the American government’s use of manipulations, sex and money to control the world.

An over-hyped NWO, non-existent Illuminati nonsense, does not control the world. What does?

Manipulations, sex and money. Let’s take these three factors one after another.

Pravda.Ru: Can you give us some examples?

CM: The manipulation I talk about is very interesting. The news media shenanigans, Wikileaks, false news emerging from the mainstream media, so-called democratic activists and even the occupy movements are all a creation of the American government.

Over the decades, even before World War 2, the American government has always created its own friends and its own enemies. This has worked for it, and it still does work for the American government. The American government creates its own enemies in order to control and contain the action of its opposers.

Look at the story of Afghanistan, and how the American government has successfully manipulated the world.

They created the so-called Taliban resistance, and they currently run it. Every single so-called surprise attack by the Taliban on NATO or American military instalments are all pre-planned by the American government.

Pravda.Ru: And what about Afghanistan?

CM: I have come across so many Afghans who draw inspiration from Taliban attacks, and hope it will stop the American occupation of Afghanistan. In truth, it won’t. The Taliban is doing a good job assigned it. Which is keeping America and her puppet device - NATO - in Afghanistan. The more the Taliban resistance continues, the more reason for America and its forces to

then create and sponsor one or more oppositions so they keep the balance of power within their control.

Within the US, by creating her own opposition, the American government is able to pre-empt and prepare for all what may come from critics, activists and opposers campaigning against the government. They create a platform for you as a critic or opposer

stay in Afghanistan.

Don’t believe the so-called classified documents which contain statements from some top American military personnel who condemn America’s Afghanistan war and claim America has had little success in the country.

All of these are pre-planned to create an excuse for the US to stay in Afghanistan probably forever.

America won’t and hasn’t defeated the Taliban, because that doesn’t fall in her plans for now.

Pravda.Ru: So you are saying the USA manipulates everything?

CM: Wonder why Pakistan has failed to launch a full-blown attack on the Taliban? It’s very simple, they have been instructed not to.

Don’t be surprised with Americas manipulative prowess, it’s in virtually all countries across the world. They support ruling governments and

a world where sex is in control of virtually everything you can talk about. Using the media, they have successfully developed, grown and forced the act of sex worship in virtually every country across the world.

By creating sex symbols, who are sponsored and obedient to the American government, the world

who has been used over the years to clamour support for imperialistic activities, and most recently she was very vocal in clamouring for support for the American invasion of Libya.

She goes around these days sharing false accusations and clamouring for support for another invasion, this time SYRIA. For the Kony 2012 hoax, it is interesting to see how American celebrities helped popularise the Kony campaign.

Sex symbols have been so developed, and hyped that today their views and positions on global issues have

to oppose the government, discover your plans and prepare themselves.

Democrats, and Republicans have

population has been controlled for decades and is still been controlled.

Kim Khadashian is an example of a

used themselves as oppositions for decades, it is all a fable.

Pravda.Ru: Back to the beginning, sex...

sex symbol, she became a big success so-called star after her sex tape was supposedly leaked to the world. It was all pre-planned, there were no

become surprisingly extremely important. Hundreds of millions of people around the globe are disciples of these people, and will obey every

CM: Sex is a big success tool in regards to America’s success so far in terms of dominating the world. For the last five decades, the American government has successfully created

leaks. She was been moulded into a sex symbol to serve the imperialistic aims of the US. I use the term ‘socalled’ because I never knew about her until a couple months back.

Angelina Jolie is another sex symbol

command given by them.

It isn’t uprising is it? The world population is being controlled by sex and thus sex is power. Sex symbols will continually dominate the world as far Continued on page 26

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 31 May 2012

SPORTS

31

IPL 2012 Final: Knights dethrone Kings, emerge new IPL champs

SRK Apologises For Wankhede Brawl After KKR Win IPL Finals

Finally, after a whole lot of hullabaloo for the last one month, the King of Bollywood in winner’s spirit expressed regret over the MCA (Mumbai Cricket Association) scuffle on national television on Sunday.

Emotional after a fairy tale victory of the Knight Riders (KKR) against the Chennai Super Kings, the team’s owner Shah Rukh Khan on Sunday night apologized to his kids, fans and supporters for the brawl in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on May 16.

“I want to apologise to the kids for my misbehavior at MCA. I apologize to all who saw that side to me. I shouldn’t have behaved in that manner,” the superstar confessed in front of thousands of spectators, cricketers, and people from the industry present at the M A Chidambaram stadium in Chennai.

“Please forgive me,” Khan said.

He was accompanied by his wife Gauri Khan and his two kids for the match.

“I have subjected you to a sight of me which is not me,” King Khan explained.

The Mumbai Cricket Association’s Managing Committee Monday took note of the apology rendered by Shah Rukh Khan at Chennai for his behaviour at the Wankhede Stadium earlier this month but has not withdrawn the fiveyear ban imposed on the principal owner of new IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

It was the final match of this season Indian Premier League, Chennai Super Kings were the favorite to win and they were right on track for first half of the match but they were not the IPL winner. Standing between the win and CSK were Bisla (who has not performed this well in his IPL career) and Legendary Jacques Kallis.

The tension was so much that KKR captain Gambhir till the time they won

looked as if he was bombarded. But Manoj Tiwary hit two consecutive balls for four in the last over and celebration started, Shahrukh Khan (owner of KKR) was ecstatic as were the team players.

For living in shadows for 4 IPL season they emerged in front of the stage and what a rising it was. Throughout the tournament KKR played superbly and fixed their spot in playoff just behind Delhi Daredevils. They defeated Delhi in the first Qualifier and went straight to IPL. Earlier CSK heroics continued as there not in form batsmen raised their batting (just like the previous two matches) and put a mammoth score of 190 in front of KKR. Raina who was a flop show in this season IPL hit 73 runs in 38 balls, Hussey made 54 and Murali Vijay made 42. Balaji was left out because of Hamstring and Brett Lee was brought in. All bowlers were hit for runs and even mysterious Narine had his worst IPL 2012 bowling stats.

KKR lost their Wall, Gambhir in the very first over and heart of fans of KKR sank. But in came Kallis and Bisla who took the opposition on roll. Bisla hit Morkel for 4 fours in the fourth over and destruction started. He was well supported by Kallis who rotated the strike well and when Bisla was out

Sania Mirza crashes out

Continued from page 32 >> A place in the main draw of the

women’s doubles or singles would have given Sania a place in the mixed doubles event at the London Games where she was expected to partner with Mahesh Bhupathi.

And for that she needed to defend 1400 points at the Roland Garros, where she was a finalist last year.

But after today’s 3-6, 6-4, 5-7 upset defeat against Nina Bratchikova of Russia and Edina Gallovits-Hall of Romania it will be quite difficult for Sania to stay in the top-10 bracket.

Only a top-10 player makes a direct entry into the Olympics with a privilege to choose partner, irrespective of his/her ranking.

Such poor is the state of Indian women tennis that next best player after Sania is Rushmi Chakravathi, who is ranked 514 in the doubles. Their combined ranking would not take them anywhere close to the qualification mark.

Now only a wild card entry can ensure Sania’s place in the singles draw of the Olympics. If All India Tennis Association manages to get that, only then she can play in the mixed doubles event at London.

In today’s match, 15th seeded Sania and Bethanie, winners of the Brussels Open last week, fought well after losing the first set but it was not their day.

After drawing parity, they broke their rivals in the crucial 10th game to make it 5-5 in the third set but dropped serve in the next game.

They again needed to break the Romanian-Russian pair in the do-or-die 12th game but failed to do so this time around.

he took charge hitting classy fours showing his standard.

KKR had their nervous moments when Kallis got out but a no ball by Hilfenhaus followed by and another full toss that was hit for four by Shakib left 9 runs for the last over. Manoj Tiwary was the new batsman. Two singles came in first two balls but then Tiwary hit a slower ball by bravo over Cover leg for four and followed it with another four over square leg.

McCullum had to sit out so that Lee can get in, this left batting line up weak so Bisla came in as a replacement for

Balaji.

Bisla was awarded for man of the match.

Orange cap went to Chris Gayle for the highest run scorer.

Morne Morkel received the Purple Cap as highest wicket taker.

Sunil Narine was awarded Man of the Series.

Kolkata Knight Rider won the IPL final by 5 wickets over Chennai Super Kings. The match was played at M.A. Chidambaram stadium of Chennai.

Team Runs Wickets Chennai Super Kings 190 3 Kolkata Knight Riders 192 5

The city of Dubai is built on foundations that are steeped in history and tradition. From the evocative Dubai Museum to the spectacular Jumeirah Mosque, and from the breathtaking Bastakiya to the imperious Heritage Village.

There are many mysteries waiting to be unravelled. Explore Dubai at your pace and relive great traditions from day gone by.

DEFINITELYDUBAI.COM

32

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 31 May 2012

Sania Mirza crashes out of French Open, Olympic dream in tatters In a big blow to India’s medal hopes at the London Olympics, Sania Mirza crashed out of the women doubles event of the French Open with a first round defeat along with her partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands, on Tuesday.

Sania, who is world number 10 in the individual doubles ranking, needed to stay in top-10 before the June 11 cut-off mark to make a direct entry into the women’s doubles draw of the Olympics. Continued on page 31 >>

SAT

Sports

Everest Marathon kicks off

The 10th edition of Tenzing-Hillary Everest Marathon is all set to kick off Tuesday morning to commemorate the first successful ascent of Mt Everest by Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Sir Edmund Hillary on May 29, 1953.

Over 160 national and international runners are taking part in the marathon that is held annually at the highest altitude of the world, the organizer Himalaya Expeditions and co-convener Adventure Sports Nepal informed through a press statement on Monday.

The race will begin from the Everest Base Camp situated at an altitude of 5,363 meters and end at Namche Bazar (3440 m) covering a distance of 42 km in the rugged Himalayan terrain.

According to Shikhar Pandey, the event manager, “Unlike in the past years, weather brought lot of challenges but we

overcame them without letting it affect our participants in any way. The race will be held on Tuesday as scheduled,” he said referring to the disturbance of Kathmandu-Lukla flights due to weather just prior to the main event.

However, the weather at Everest Base Camp has been excellent throughout.

“The marathoners are already at Everest Base Camp and are in high spirits to take part in the ´world´s highest marathon´. They trekked there from Lukla and have already taken part in mock races to warm up for the event and are in top condition,” the organizers informed on the eve of the event.

Pandey further added, “Considering that we were able to overcome last-minute weather challenges, the marathon will by far be the best edition.”

Pandey was referring to the difficulty in organizing an international marathon in the difficult terrains of the Everest region.

Pandey also pointed out that the Everest Marathon is a unique tourism product and such a product require all the assistance it deserves to develop the country´s tourism industry. “Innovation is the key and our tourism industry requires it in large doses,” said Pandey. “We will always strive to push ourselves in that direction,” he added.

Besides the locals, who are the favorites to clinch the title, international participants from eighteen countries including Australia, the UK, the USA, Germany, New Zealand and India among others are taking part in the event.

Sri Lanka face Pakistan in T20 series, look to improve ranking Hosts Sri Lanka will swing into ICC World Twenty20 mood as they take on Pakistan in a twomatch international series with both teams looking to move up the ICC T20 Championship table.

Sri Lanka, the host ICC World Twenty20, will need to win the series 2-0 if it is to move up from third place in the ICC T20 Championship table.

The series starts from Friday.

The two teams will also be keen to get some good match practice ahead of the World Twenty20 to be held from September 18 to October 7 in Colombo, Pallekele and Hambantota later this year.

Mahela Jayawardena`s side has

the opportunity to rise to second in the table, and usurp South Africa which currently occupies second place, if the 2-0 scenario occurs.

Sri Lanka`s ratings points would rise to 124 while Pakistan`s would drop to 107 and put the latter in seventh place just above India when the points are calculated to within the decimal point.

If Pakistan, the ICC World Twenty20 2009 champions, beat Sri Lanka 2-0 in the series, then newly appointed Twenty20 captain Mohammad Hafeez would see his side move up to fourth, one ratings point behind New Zealand.

Should Sri Lanka lose the series 2-0, it would see the ICC World Twenty20 2009 runners up drop to sixth in the Championship table, just below Australia when the points are calculated to within the decimal point.

If both matches are tied, neither side will move up or down the table, while if one match is tied and Sri Lanka win the other match, Pakistan will drop to sixth in the table after losing two ratings points.

If the scenario is reversed and Pakistan win one match, while the other is tied, this visitors will remain fifth, while hosts Sri Lanka will drop to fourth in the table.

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