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Issue 14

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Thursday, 18.10.12

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Girl shot with Malala: Memory of attack ‘still in my head’

Malala reconstructive surgery Operations planned Doctors in Birmingham treating Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen, are planning the reconstructive operations to treat her horrific injuries. Dr Dave Rosser, the hospital’s medical director, explained experienced surgeons are going over the procedures Malala will need as part of her prolonged care on the road to physical and psychological recovery. Its obvious that Malala will need reconstructive surgery, and we have international experts in that field, so its beginning to plan for reconstructive surgery,

Girl still critical after Harlow house fire

Dr Shakoor with his five children - Maheen, three, is by his side

Father ‘Inconsolable’ After House Fire Deaths Inquest to open into Harlow Pakistani family fire deaths

A three-year-old girl remains in a critical condition after a suspected arson attack that killed her mother and four siblings. Maheen Shakoor was

said to be “critical but stable” in the specialist burns unit at Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, Essex, where she Continued on page 6 >>

he said.

Dr Rosser said there had been a security incident overnight in which people falsely claiming to be Malalas family were detained by police, but West Midlands Police later clarified no arrests were made and the two visitors were well-wishers.

After the Pakistani Taliban shot her along with Malala Yousufzai, Kainat Ahmad couldn’t sleep for two days. After the Pakistani Taliban shot her along with Malala Yousufzai, Kainat Ahmad couldn’t sleep for two days.

By now, millions around the Continued on page 2 >>

West’s free speech stand bars blasphemy ban: OIC

As Western opposition made it impossible for Muslim states to obtain a global ban on blasphemy, including anti-Islamic videos and cartoons that have touched off deadly riots, the Islamic world’s top diplomat pointed out that Pakistan provided a negative example of the blasphemy laws.

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), said his 57-nation body would not try again for United Nations support to ban insults to religion, but appealed for states to apply hate-speech laws concerning Islam.

Continued on page 12 >>

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South Asia Tribune I Thursday 18 October 2012

UN ambassador Jolie hopes Malala will be in contention for a Nobel.

Angelina Jolie was compelled to share Malala’s story with her kids

“Still trying to understand, my children asked, ‘Why did those men think they needed to kill Malala?’ I answered, because education is a powerful thing,” she added.

Actress Angelina Jolie, in an article published on an international news website, appreciated the efforts of 14-year-old Pakistani activist Malala Yousufzai who was shot by the Taliban for promoting women’s education.

Jolie appealed to international organisations to collect funds for the rights of Pakistani women and children.

Actress Angelina Jolie has written 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.

1st Floor, Avenue Appt., Near Sheth. R. J. J. High School, Tithal Road, Valsad - 396001 Gujarat, India United Arab Emirates Office S.K. Group of Companies P.O. Box 9021, Karama Dubai, United Arab Emirates Tel: +971 4 2659970, 3359929; Fax: +971 4 2659971, 3341609 www.sk-groupofcompanies.com Managing Editor & CEO Mohammad Shahid Khan Group Editorial Managers Gulzar Khan (India) Abdul Khalique (Pakistan) Editorial Board UK Frances Brunner FYI Tribune team Adrian Fellar Misbah Khan Reema Shah Rohma Khan Keziah-Ann Abakah Marketing & Sales Andrew Klugman (Manager) Art Department UK Ali Ansar (Art Director) Mohammad Reazul Islam

an essay sharing how she informed her children about Pakistani child

activist Malala Yousafzai, who was shot early this month. The 14-yearold girl, Pakistan’s first National

Peace Award winner, was shot and seriously injured by unidentified

gunmen in the country’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province Oct 9.

In the essay written in Daily Beast,

the actress wrote: “I felt compelled to share Malala’s story with my children. It was difficult for them to comprehend a world where men would try to kill a child whose only crime was the desire that she and others like her be allowed to go to school.”

The UNHCR’s special envoy said that the terrible event marked the beginning of a necessary revolution in girls’ education, adding that, she considered Malala to be a suitable candidate to receive the Nobel Committee’s award.

UN ambassador Jolie hopes Malala will be in contention for a Nobel Peace Prize.

“As the Nobel Committee meets to determine the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, I imagine brave Malala will be given serious consideration,” said the Hollywood star.

Mean while Pakistan Government on Tuesday announced Sitara-e-Shujaat for Malala Yousafzai, The civil award for bravery has been conferred on the child activist for publicly speaking out against the Taliban’s tyrannical stance on education for women.

Malala reconstructive surgery Operations planned

Continued from page 1 >> world know how 14-year-old Malala and her classmates were

Kainat Riaz Ahmed

attacked in their school van in the Swat Valley, a bastion of traditional Muslim practices in Pakistan.

Lesser-known Kainat can, and she shared her story in an exclusive interview.

Speaking from her hospital room in Mingora, the 16-year-old described her startled reaction and lingering fears over the attack.

Kainat, who was shot in the upper right arm, displayed a thoughtful demeanor as she chatted with CNN journalists “I want to tell all the girls to continue their mission to get an education,” Kainat said Tuesday.

The 10th-grader toughed out the ordeal. She said she has no regrets

about defying a group that wants to stop girls from learning.

“God willing, I will continue my

and

Shazia Ramazan

education,” she said.

Kainat appreciated attention from hospital visitors -- from reporters to government officials -- and was gratified to emphasize the need for girls’ education.

“I can’t believe what’s happened, but I am happy everyone is here to see me,” she said.

She can remember just a snippet of the attack. She said she was talking to her friend about an Urdu-language exam when a male approached.

“He asked, ‘Who is Malala?’

When someone told him, he started firing. Sir, because of this, Malala suddenly fell,” she said.

Kainat, who fainted during the attack, couldn’t describe the shooter.

The inside of the van where Malala Yousafzai, Kainat Riaz and Shazia Ramazan were shot.

“I didn’t see anything,” she said.

“I just heard the gunshots. I don’t know what happened. I just passed out.”

She woke up in an emergency room. It has since dawned on her that the incident has gone viral, with people across the world viewing defiant female Pakistani students like her and Malala as heroic.

So far, the terror hasn’t worn off as she recovers from her wound.

“I want to tell you that when I think about what happened, it’s still in my head and sometimes it’s terrifying,” she said. The attackers shot a third girl, who also survived.

Kainat’s remarks focus on Malala and her classmates. She hopes other girls “stay ambitious in their studies.” And she wants

Malala to recover.

“She was good friends with everyone,” Kainat said. “I hope Malala gets better as soon as possible and comes back to her country and joins us at school again.”

Shazia Ramzan who is one of Malala’s friends who were also injured in the attack told in another interview earlier that the assailants were covering their faces and opened fire getting identified Malala.

Shazia said that no securoty was provided to Malala in Swat and nor there is any security arrangement for the other students. If the students are not provided security parents would be scared to send their duaghters to school, she added.

Shazia prayed for Malala’s life.

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 18 October 2012

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Obama regains the initiative to win second presidential debate President more confident and combative, with Mitt Romney committing a series of gaffes over Benghazi attack and women

Barack Obama secured the comeback he desperately needed in the second presidential debate against Mitt Romney, finishing the night on top after a series of fierce clashes in which the two made no attempt to hide the extent of their personal hostility.

At one point in the 90-minute debate, watched by tens of millions of Americans, the two squared off, only a few feet apart, talking over one another, jabbing fingers at one another and accusing each other of lying.

Obama needed a big performance after his dismal failure in the first presidential debate in Denver. That 3 October debate was dominated by Romney and started the president’s poll slide, leaving the two in a dead heat less than three weeks from election day.

Obama will have lifted Democratic morale and may have done enough to slow – or even arrest – the crisis.

It will be several days before the first reliable polls appear but a snap poll by CNN awarded the debate 46% to Obama and 39% to Romney, while CBS put it as 37% Obama to 30% Romney.

The two men clashed in the second debate – at Hofstra University, Long Island – over tax, energy, women’s rights, immigration and Libya. Obama was much sharper and more energetic than in their opening debate two weeks ago, A fired-up President Barack Obama has persistently attacked Republican challenger Mitt Romney in a critical debate, offering a striking contrast from his listless performance two weeks ago that appeared to damage his re-election prospects.

Mr Obama blasted Mr Romney’s economic plans as damaging to the middle class and accused him of flip-flopping on issues such as energy and gun control.

He appeared angry - a rare emotion to see in the famously cool Mr Obama - when Mr Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, criticised his response to the deadly attack that killed the US ambassador to Libya and three other Americans at the US Consulate in Benghazi last month.

He pointedly told Mr Romney that any suggestion that his administration “would play politics or mislead when we’ve lost four of our own, governor, is offensive.

That’s not what we do”.

PRESIDENT Barack Obama put his re-election bid back on firm footing last night with a strong debate performance that is likely to thrill his Democratic supporters and earn him a second look from the few voters who remain undecided.

Obama,” said Boston University communications professor Tobe Berkovitz. “Certainly it would be difficult for anyone to say Romney won this debate.”

Flash polls taken after the debate pointed to an Obama win.

With the November 6 election three weeks away, Obama’s second of three debates with Republican rival Mitt Romney represented one of the final chances to make an impression with voters.

Obama made the most of it with a focused, aggressive effort. It was a sharp departure from his listless first debate two weeks ago, when Romney’s dominant performance ignited a resurgence by the Republican that left the race virtually even heading into yesterday’s match-up.

“Game on - he’s back,” Carleton College political science professor Steven Schier said of the president.

Obama made sure to work in all of the attack lines he had neglected in the October 3 debate.

He hammered Romney for the wealthy Republican’s low personal income tax rate and Romney’s nowinfamous dismissal of “47pc” of the electorate, as seen in a secretly recorded video of the former Massachusetts governor.

Obama also crisply outlined the accomplishments of his first term in office - from saving the car industry to killing Osama bin Laden - and framed his answer on a question about women’s rights in movingly personal terms.

Romney had his moments as well, especially when describing promises Obama had made and not kept.

Romney avoided the type of rout that Obama suffered in the October 3 debate, but the night belonged to the president, analysts said.

“I’d say it’s a clear win for

Meanwhile, Obama’s odds for reelection on the Intrade prediction market climbed 1.6pcage points, to 63.6pc.

Debates have rarely affected the outcome of US presidential elections, but this year may prove an exception.

Romney silenced critics in his own party and reversed a month of missteps with a strong performance in the first debate. A week later he had wiped out Obama’s lead in opinion polls.

That “bounce” for Romney has slipped in recent days, according to Reuters/Ipsos tracking polls.

Obama led Romney by 3 percentage points in the daily Reuters/Ipsos poll yesterday.

“This will give the president a bit of a bounce and a little bit of an edge, but it’s going to be quite close right down to the wire,” said Notre Dame University political science

professor Michael Desch.

The final presidential debate, scheduled for Monday in Boca Raton, Florida, probably will matter less.

Some 10pc of voters have cast their ballots already, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling data, and that figure will climb sharply as both campaigns kick their get-outthe-vote operations into gear and urge supporters to take advantage of state laws that allow early voting.

Foreign policy, the topic of next week’s debate, takes a distant back seat to economic concerns for most voters.

It was a foreign policy discussion that led to Romney’s most uncomfortable moment last night, as he bungled what could have been an opportunity to plant doubts in voters’ minds about Obama’s handling of the attacks on diplomatic facilities in Libya last month.

Romney had hoped to use the incident to erode Obama’s national security credentials. Instead, he battled with the moderator, CNN’s Candy Crowley, over whether he was accurately characterising Obama’s remarks about whether the incident was a terror attack.

The exchange left Romney aides fuming at Crowley, while Obama was able to avoid the question of whether his administration had protected the facility adequately.

Obama also danced around other questions that could have tripped him up.

He turned a question about gun control - an unpopular issue for voters in many battleground states - into an opportunity to point out Romney’s shifting positions on the issue.

Obama responded to a question about petrol prices by noting that they had been low when he took office only because of the recession that he inherited.

“It’s conceivable that Governor Romney could bring down gas prices, because with his policies we’d be back in that same mess,” he said, drawing laughter from the crowd.

Aside from his blown opportunity on Libya, Romney did not do poorly.

He reminded viewers that Obama had failed to fulfill promises to cut the deficit in half and introduce immigration-reform legislation, and warned that too many people are still out of work.

“If you elect President Obama you know what you’re going to get,” he said. “You’re going to get a repeat of the last four years.”

Romney’s performance probably did not hurt his chances of winning the White House, analysts said.

But Obama probably boosted his odds by turning in the focused, aggressive performance that his supporters had hoped to see in the first debate.

“They’re thinking, ‘We’re back in the ball game,’ “ said Robert Lehrman, a former speech writer for Democratic vice president Al Gore who now teaches at American University.

“It wasn’t that Romney got worse Obama got a lot better.”

Polls showed voters judged Obama the winner. A CNN survey gave him the edge by 46 percent to 39 percent, while CBS had Obama the winner by 37 percent to 30 percent.

The final debate, slated to focus entirely on foreign policy, will be held on Monday night.

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EDITORIAL

Islamic bloc abandons plans for global blasphemy law at UN The Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation has revealed that it has abandoned plans to introduce a global blasphemy law through the United Nations.

The Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) completed 40 years of its existence last week. It was set up in Rabat, Morocco on September 25, 1969, in reaction to an arson attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque on August 21, 1969, in Al-Quds, carried out by an Israeli.

The meeting was the first unified expression of the Muslim Ummah of its determination to safeguard its interests, speak with one voice and ensure the progress and well being of the Muslims in the world. t took an organised shape in March 1970, setting up a secretariat in Jeddah and appointing a secretarygeneral as its head. Two years later, a charter was adopted demonstrating that the OIC`s purpose was to strengthen solidarity and cooperation among Islamic states in all fields.

OIC members represent 22 per cent of the world population, have 2 per cent of the world`s GDP, 1.3 per cent of the world trade and only 1.5 per cent of the investments. Twenty five per cent of OIC population does not have access to medical facilities or safe drinking water.

Half of the population lives below the poverty line classified as the most poor.

No Muslim country is in the top list of the Human Development Index or in any other global economic indicators.

This depressing picture of the Islamic countries is not limited to the economic and social spheres, in the realm of education and technology the facts are equally disappointing.

The OIC member countries possess 70 per cent of the world`s energy resources and 40 per cent of available raw material but their GDP is only 5 per cent of the world GDP. Muslim countries miserably lag behind in education and technology.

They produce only 500 PhDs each year as compared to 3,000 in India and 5,000 in the United Kingdom. None of their educational or research institutions or centres of excellence find place in the top 100 in the world.

The OIC has failed to respond meaningfully to any of the crises or demonstrate any unity of thought and action apart from issuing high-sounding declarations at the end of each summit.

Nothing was done to contain the crises or avert the tragedies. The OIC remained merely a silent spectator.

The Muslim world has abjectly failed to grasp the demands and requirements of the 21st century. The absolute need to introduce and embrace modern technology has not dawned on its leaders, reflecting their distressing intellectual poverty.

Western opposition has made it impossible for Muslim states to obtain a ban on blasphemy, including antiIslamic videos and cartoons that have touched off deadly riots, the Islamic world’s top diplomat said. “We could not convince them,” said the Turkish head of the 57-member group which had tried

from 1998 until 2011 to get a United Nations-backed ban on blasphemy. “The European countries don’t vote with us, the United States doesn’t vote with us.”

Ihsanoglu told a conference in Istanbul at the weekend that the OIC had failed to win a ban at the United Nations and would not revive its long diplomatic campaign for one. Asked about recent media reports that the OIC wanted to resume the campaign for a blasphemy ban, he said: “I never said this and I know this will never happen.” Ihsanoglu said Western states had a “strange understanding” of free speech if it could be abused to hurt and insult others.

Responding at the United Nations last month to the Muslim protests against the video, President Barack Obama condemned the film but staunchly defended free speech. “The strongest weapon against hateful speech is not repression, it is more speech - the voices of tolerance that rally against bigotry and blasphemy,” he said. But while editorialists and religious leaders have renewed calls for a worldwide blasphemy ban, few national leaders have actually ended their rhetorical reactions with that demand.

One who did at the United Nations last month was President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan, whose own national blasphemy law has come under increasing criticism at home and abroad as open to widespread abuse against minority Christians.

Ihsanoglu, speaking at the conference on a panel with Pakistani opposition leader Imran Khan, encouraged countries with blasphemy laws to apply against insults to Islam, and then quickly added: “not particularly the one in Pakistan”.

Beginning in 1980, a slew of clauses was added to the chapter of religious offences in the Pakistan Penal Code.

A large majority of Pakistani people support the idea that blasphemers should be punished, but there is little understanding of what the religious scripture says as opposed to how the modern-day law is codified. The laws carry the death sentence for anyone who insults Islam and critics say they have been used to persecute minority faiths.

The law empowers extremists within the society. They invoke it to enflame sectarian sentiment, raise an angry mob, determine what can be said, and thus leverage their own political power.

Blasphemy laws are often justified as necessary for social harmony, but they do the opposite.

Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are incompatible with its aspiration of being a modern, democratic, Muslim state respected by the international community. Amending the blasphemy laws has been on the agenda of nearly all the popular secular parties. But none of them has made much progress - principally because of the sensitivities over the issue, but also because no major party wants to antagonise the religious parties which have on numerous occasions proved capable of bringing large numbers of protesters on to the streets.

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 18 October 2012

UK hacker’s extradition to US blocked

British government says human rights of Gary McKinnon would be at risk if he was sent for trial in the US. The UK has blocked the extradition of a British computer hacker to the United States, ending his decade-long campaign to avoid trial there over allegations he broke into sensitive military and NASA computer networks.

Theresa May, Britain’s interior minister, told the House of Commons on Tuesday that she had refused the US request to send Gary McKinnon, 46, to face charges over his actions between 2001 and 2002.

McKinnon, who has been fighting extradition since 2002, admits accessing US government computers but says he was hunting for evidence of extraterrestrial life.

May told parliamentarians there was no doubt McKinnon, who suffers from Asperger’s syndrome and depressive illness, was “seriously ill” and the extradition warrant against him should be withdrawn.

She said it was now for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer, to decide whether he should face trial in the UK. May said: “Since I came into office, the sole issue on which I have been required to make a decision is whether Mr McKinnon’s extradition to the United States would breach his human rights.

“Mr McKinnon is accused of serious crimes. But there is also no doubt that he is seriously ill.

“He has Asperger’s syndrome, and suffers from depressive illness. The legal question before me is now whether the extent of that illness is sufficient to preclude extradition.

“I have concluded that Mr McKinnon’s extradition would give rise to such a high risk of him ending his life that a decision to extradite would be incompatible with Mr McKinnon’s human rights,” she concluded.

Al Jazeera’s Laurence Lee, reporting from London said: “McKinnon was looking for evidence for flying saucers when he hacked the US websites, he said he had no intention of terrorist activities, the UK

government had pledged they would fight plans for any extradition to the USA for McKinnon.”

‘Intimidation and coercion’ Docotrs said there were concerns over McKinnon’s mental health and a risk he could attempt to commit suicide if extradited.

The previous plans to send McKinnon to the US had been publicly criticised by politicians across the British political spectrum, including Prime Minister David Cameron and his coalition deputy Nick Clegg.

McKinnon was originally arrested in 2002 and again in 2005, before an extradition order was made in July 2006.

US authorities have described the hacker’s actions as the “biggest military computer hack of all time”.

They insisted his hacking was “intentional and calculated to influence and affect the US government by intimidation and coercion”.

US officials said his actions caused $800,000 worth of damage to military computer systems.

The family of Babar Ahmad, who was extradited to the US alongside radical cleric Abu Hamza earlier this month, welcomed the decision but said questions had to be asked.

The family said: “Why within the space of two weeks, a British citizen with Aspergers accused of computer related activity is not extradited, while two other British citizens, one with Aspergers, engaged in computer related activity are extradited.

“A clear demonstration of double standards.”

Switzerland blocking over $1 billion in assets belonging to leaders of Arab Spring states Switzerland holds $753m in frozen Mubarak assets

Swiss authorities are cooperating with judicial authorities in Tunisia and Egypt to speed restoration of the funds, belonging to Hosni Mubarak, Assad, Gadhafi, and others.

Switzerland has blocked nearly one billion Swiss francs ($1.07 billion) in stolen assets linked to dictators in four countries at the centre of the Arab spring Egypt, Libya, Syria and Tunisia, the Swiss foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

Swiss authorities are cooperating with judicial authorities in Tunisia and Egypt to speed restoration of the funds, but it is expected to take years, said Valentin Zellweger, head of the international law department at the Swiss foreign ministry.

“Today a total of one billion francs is blocked in the framework of Arab spring,” he told a news briefing in Geneva, giving the latest figures for funds frozen since early 2011.

The bulk of the assets, nearly 700 million francs, are tied to former President Hosni Mubarak and his entourage, he said.

Swiss foreign minister Didier Burkhalter held talks in Cairo on Sunday with his Egyptian counterpart

Mohamed Kamal Amr on judicial cooperation to restore the embezzled funds, he said.

Some 60 million francs linked to ousted Tunisian president Ben Ali has also been seized, Zellweger said. In line with UN Security Council sanctions, 100 million francs linked to the late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and 100 million francs linked to Syrian President Bashar Assad and associates are blocked.

Switzerland has worked hard in recent years to improve its image as a haven for ill-gotten gains, seizing the assets of deposed dictators and agreeing in 2009 to soften strict bank secrecy to help other countries catch tax cheats.

“In the past, the affair that was resolved most quickly was Abacha and it took 5 years,” Zellweger said, referring to assets linked to the late Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha.

NEWS

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 18 October 2012

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Farrakhan’s Fiery New Warning to the U.S.: ‘Every Plague That Is Written in the Quran Is Going to Come to Pass in America’

The Minister Louis Farrakhan has become known for his often-cryptic warnings about the calamity that he believes Allah will inflict upon America.

On Sunday, in a speech he delivered at Bojangles’ Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, the fiery faith leader issued yet another warning to the audience of 6,000, telling them that “every plague that is written in the Quran is going to come to pass in America.”

From advice for President Barack Obama to words of encouragement for Muslims and the Islamic world, Farrakhan was filled with advice and proclamations delivered with his version of love and kindness — and, at moments, with rage. At one point, while discussing what he claims will befall America, Farrakhan could barely contain himself, as he was so impassioned that he slammed his hand numerous times on the podium in front of him.

“All of the punishments that are written in the Quran never came to pass in the time of Prophet Muhammad…never —

but every plague — every plague that is written in the Koran is going to come to pass in America under the modern Pharaoh, in the modern Rome, in the modern Babylon, in the modern Sodom and Gomorrah — take it or let it alone,” he proclaimed.

These statements come on the heels of other similar sentiments that the preacher has spewed. In July, he told a separate audience in Chicago, Illinois, that America is crumbling as a result of the nation’s purportedly “imperial” ways and mistreatment of mankind.

“So you read about the fall of the Roman Empire, the fall of the Persian Empire, the fall of Ancient Egypt, the fall of Ancient Babylon and you’re living now in the fall of the United States of America and Europe and their imperial designs on the masses of the people of the earth,” he proclaimed.

In May, he issued a more detailed warning, including Allah’s purported plan to bring down American skyscrapers: “I am warning you: Take it or let it

Israel to act if threatened

by Syria’s chemical arms

Israel forced to consider military action in Syria: Israel today report

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told European Union ambassadors on Tuesday that Israel will do its best to make sure that the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons won’t fall into the hands of terrorists.

He warned, however, that the Jewish state will consider taking military action if such a threat arises.

According to Israel today report Israel has been forced to consider injecting itself into Syria’s ongoing civil war in order to prevent the country’s chemical weapon stockpile from falling into the wrong hands, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed on Tuesday.

Netanyahu told European ambassadors

that having Syrian weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) reach groups like Hizballah, Hamas or even some of the Muslim Brotherhood-dominated rebel groups is unacceptable to the Jewish state.

“Israel will do everything it takes to ensure Syria’s chemical weapons do not fall into the hands of terrorist organizations, and if such a situation arises, then Israel will weigh a military option,” said Netanyahu.

EU foreign ministers on Monday imposed new sanctions on Syria and were considering fresh measures against Iran, hours after discussing the two countries with Russia’s top diplomat.

Moscow has drawn the EU’s ire by joining forces with Beijing in the UN Security Council to block international action against the Syrian regime.

Tensions were further fuelled recently by an EU antitrust...

alone. He will take down cities and when I look at the skyscrapers in some of these major metropolis. He’s not going to take the big ones down first.

He’s going to show you his power. In the meantime, one calamity after another until you submit, America, and know that judgement is here. You can escape it but you gotta do right by this people.

And if you don’t do right by them, you can’t do right by the people outside of America, if you won’t do right for those

aside from warning about America’s demise, Farrakhan also lectured the Islamic world about the need to reform. Interestingly, he seemed to allude that he — and the Nation of Islam — will lead the reformation of the East from the West. On a softer note, he highlighted the importance of educating women and he spoke out against honor killings.

“We challenge Muslims in America rise up and educate your people. Know

who have…built your country.”

In his latest address on Sunday,

that you’re in an environment that is lawless,” he said, clearly speaking,

again, about America. “And if your daughter slips, be merciful. Bring her home. The dishonor is you killing her.”

The more bizarre comments during Farrakhan’s most recent address occurred toward the beginning, when he accused the Republican Party of having “a deep racial undercurrent.” He also said that prominent conservatives have worked diligently against Obama.

“Ever since he has been elected, the Republican right with Rush Limbaugh, Breitbart, Fox News…their whole idea has been to get this man out of the White House and nullify any policy or position that he might come up with that might bring success to his presidency and that might possibly give him a second term,” he said. ”It started like an undercurrent, but now it is so overtly hateful and racist in nature that it is polarizing America on the basis of race.”

This latter commentary is ironic, considering that many would claim that Farrakhan is one of the most racial-divisive figures in the U.S.

Najma Akhtar in Concert Sunday 11th November 2012 at 7.45pm A rare opportunity to experience a mesmerising and intimate musical evening – 'Mehfil Style'

Jazzmeen International presents: “An evening of celebrated Ghazals, semi-classical and spiritual music with vocalist Najma Akhtar”

This exceptional night set in a traditional ‘Mehfil’ style will take you on a spiritual journey that will inspire your senses and move your soul.

Sunday 11th November 2012 Ͳ 7.45pm The Cockpit Gateforth Street Marylebone London NW8 8EH

Book now for tickets: Prices: £15 each and £17.50 at the door Buy online or call the Box Office: 020 7258 2925 (12noon – 6pm, Monday Ͳ Saturday) Further info links:

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NEWS

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 18 October 2012

Girl still critical after Harlow house fire

Continued from page 1 >> was transferred after the attack on her home in Harlow.

Her father, Dr Abdul Shakoor, was the only other survivor. He suffered from smoke inhalation and shock. Dr Abdul Shakoor fought in “appalling conditions” to save his wife and four children who died in a blaze in Essex early yesterday that might have been started by an arsonist plaguing the area, police said.

A spokesman for Princess Alexandra Hospital, where Dr Shakoor worked, said he had also been transferred to Broomfield Hospital.

He added: “Dr Shakoor wanted to be closer to his only surviving daughter who is still in a critical condition.

“Dr Shakoor thanked staff for the kindness and support that they have showed him.”

Consultant Dr Purnami Da Silva, who worked with Dr Shakoor in the endocrinology department, said: “I met him yesterday and as you would expect he is inconsolable.

“It’s a very difficult time for a father whose family has been taken away.”

His wife Sabah Usmani, sons Sohaib, 11, and Rayan, six, and 12year-old daughter Hira, died in their end-of-terrace house in Barn Mead, Harlow, in the early hours of Monday. A third son, Muneeb, nine, later died at the Princess Alexandra hospital, where Dr Shakoor worked and was also being treated until late last night. Police have not said which of the children he was able to

bring outside.

According to neighbours, Dr Shakoor had to be physically restrained from going back inside the property and police have said he “fought hard” to save his family.

Police, who have started a

isolated incident and there was no evidence that a serial arsonist was involved. There had been no previous problems with racism in the area.

Dr Shakoor, who reportedly left from a first-floor window as flames

sightings will form key lines of inquiry, police said.

A silver Ford Focus was found burning a short distance from the house when fire crews arrived at the address.

The vehicle was not connected

Inquest to open into Harlow Pakistani family fire deaths

An inquest is due to open this afternoon into the deaths of a mother and four of her children in a Harlow house fire, believed to be arson.

The inquest follows a post-mortem examination into the deaths of Sabah Usmani (44), and sons Sohaib (11), Muneeb (9), and Rayyan(6)and daughter Hira(12) Shakoor.

Father Dr Abdul Shakoor and daughter Maheen (3) remain in

serious condition in hospital.

An Essex Police spokesman said that preliminary results of the postmortems, will be released following the inquest, to open in Chelmsford this afternoon.

Yesterday police quelled rumours circulating in the town that the fires were caused by arsonists targeting cars in the town.

Although lines of inquiry included

looking at previous incidents of arson involving cars in the area, a police spokesman said, recent statistics do not show that a spate has taken place.

A council in Essex is to open a book of condolence so residents can pay their respects to a family who died in a “suspicious” house fire on Monday.

Harlow Council will open the book at the Civic Centre on Thursday.

painstaking forensic examination of the house, are now investigating whether the family were not the intended targets of the attackers.

But they stressed it was an

engulfed the house, is said to be in “severe shock”.

Witness reports suggest between one and four people were in the area at the time of the fire. Such

to the family but that fire is also being treated as arson.

Among the flower tributes at the house, one message read: “RIP little angels and your special

mummy xxx.”

Lesley Lynn, headteacher at Abbotsweld Primary School where Sohaib, Rayan and Muneeb studied, said everybody had been left distraught by the “horrible tragedy”.

She said: “They were intelligent and sociable with a good sense of humour, good at sports and much loved by everyone.”

The Harlow Islamic Centre has described the family as “muchliked and respected”.

Detective Superintendent Rob Vinson, who is leading the investigation, said the local community could hold the answer to who was behind the attack.

He said: “Nobody expects such a catastrophic incident in their own neighbourhood.”

Originally from Karachi, Pakistan, the couple had lived in Saudi Arabia, where the children were born, for more than a decade before moving to the UK. Parvez Hamid, 43, and Safia Anwar, 38, said they had known the couple since they moved to Harlow and some of their children attended the nearby Abbotsweld Primary School together.

Mrs Anwar said: “They were a wonderful family. Their children were best friends with our own.”

Neighbours raised the alarm after being woken in the early hours. It is thought some form of fuel may have been used to start the fire.

Osama Bin Laden Film Delayed Over Election Fears or could incite terror attacks?

Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow’s Osama Bin Laden film, ‘Zero Dark Thirty’, has been delayed for release until December 2012, until after the US Presidential election.

Hollywood studios fear three new films depicting the mission to kill Osama bin Laden could incite terror attacks. It follows violent protests over the crudely-made video Innocence of Muslims. At least one studio has asked an Islamic cleric to “vet” their film. And senior executives at another have held briefing sessions with Department of State officials in Washington. One movie-maker said: “We are even asking if we dare release anything on this subject.”

The movie sparked controversy due

to its release in the run up to the November election, with Republicans fearing that the movie would give

President Obama a political boost as he bids for a second term.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4, John Horn

from the LA Times said that some on the right of US politics also had concerns over the access film makers

were granted to secret files.

Horn said: “Initially the film was scheduled to open in October, right before the Presidential election, and there was outrage on two different fronts, one for the access that the film makers were granted and two by Republicans who felt that this would kind of glorify the President’s raid on Osama Bin Laden.”

However Horn added that the delay was likely to be due to the movie not being ready in time, saying: “The release has been postponed to December, I think less so because of the election but because the film makers weren’t ready in time.”

Bigelow’s 2008 movie ‘The Hurt Locker’, set during the Iraq War, garnered critical praise and won a Best Picture Oscar. Her new film will show the events of the raid that killed Bin Laden in his Pakistani compound in 2011.

Zero Dark Thirty is due to hit UK screens in January. Code Name Geronimo is out next month in Brazil and a film based on the book of a Navy Seal on the raid is being considered by Steven Spielberg.

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 18 October 2012

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Muslims Call For Blasphemy Law In UK And UN To Prevent Repeat Of Anti-Mohammed YouTube Film

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, a 57-member bloc of countries, has often proposed a UN resolution criminalising the defamation of religion.

Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has said he will raise the topic in New York next week.

Indonesia’s president Susilo

Bambang Yudhoyono is also pledged to push for such a global law.

Similar domestic blasphemy laws exist in large Muslim states such as Indonesia, Iran and Pakistan.

In the UK, Muslim leaders have called on the government to look at religious hatred laws,

and suggested introducing a blasphemy law tailored to Britain.

On Sunday 7,000 Muslims demonstrated outside the US Embassy in London, organised by the Muslim Action Forum, which was set up specifically to respond to the film and subsequent events.

Thousands of Muslims protest US-film in London UK

Thousands of Muslims have held a demonstration outside Google headquarters in London to protest YouTube’s refusal to remove a “hateful and offensive” US film against Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).

The 10,000-strong rally organized

by Muslim Action Forum was held to force Google to remove the sacrilegious movie from YouTube video-sharing website.

“Our next protest will be at the offices of Google and YouTube across the world.

We are looking to ban this film,” organizer

Masoud Alam said.

“This is not freedom of expression,

there is a limit for that. This insult of the Prophet will not be allowed,” he added.

The Muslim Action Forum said up to 10,000 people, including 800 imams from mosques across Britain, joined the demo, which closed off one side of a busy road through Victoria on Sunday afternoon, but police put the number at about 3,000.

Muslim Action Forum, which was created in response to the release of the insulting film, says in its manifesto that it “unreservedly condemns the preposterous film vilifying Islam and desecrating the sanctity of the Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)” and calls for a “Campaign for Global Civility” in response to the video.

The protesters outside Google headquarters carried placards reading “Campaign for Global Civility” and “Don’t they teach manners in Google” in line with the group’s manifesto.

The rally that was the third of its kind in a month comes ahead of a planned millionsstrong march againt the sacrilegious film in Hyde Park, central London, in the coming weeks.

The Metropolitan Police said there were no arrests at the protest.

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South Asia Tribune I Thursday 18 October 2012

Scottish independence: ‘An historic day’ as referendum deal is signed

DAVID Cameron and Alex Salmond have signed a historic deal to ensure Scots make a “decisive and respected” call on whether to create a country

way for the most important decision our country of Scotland has made in several hundred years”.

Mr Cameron said: “This is the right

governments would, in the event of a Yes, work in the “delivery of independence”.

Scotland would raise around two

reject independence in the 2014 referendum.

It proposes, however, that the Act of Union between England and

independent from the rest of the United Kingdom in two years’ time.

Seventeen months after the SNP’s landslide victory in the 2011 Holyrood elections, the First Minister and Prime Minister yesterday put their names to an agreement to ensure Scots make an irrevocable vote on the country’s future in the autumn of 2014.

Both London and Edinburgh are now committed to respecting whichever decision the voters take, even if either side wins by a wafer-thin majority.

The agreement declared the referendum will now deliver a result “that everyone will respect”. It also committed both UK and Scottish governments to “work together constructively in the light of the outcome, whatever it is, in the best interests of the people of Scotland and of the rest of the United Kingdom”.

Mr Salmond said the deal “paves the

decision for Scotland, but it’s also right for the United Kingdom that there is going to be one, simple, straightforward question about whether Scotland wants to stay in the United Kingdom or separate itself, and that referendum has to be held before the end of 2014.”

He added: “I always wanted to show respect to the people of Scotland – they voted for a party that wanted to have a referendum, I’ve made that referendum possible and made sure that it is decisive, it is legal and it is fair.”

The end of the agreement declares: “The two governments are committed to continue to work together constructively in the light of the outcome, whatever it is, in the best interests of the people of Scotland and of the rest of the United Kingdom”.

Mr Salmond said this was “most significant”, showing the two

thirds of all the money it spends, under proposals due to be unveiled by the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

The plan is contained in the party’s blueprint for ‘home rule’ which has been obtained by BBC Scotland.

The Lib Dems hope other parties will adopt the proposals if voters

Scotland should be scrapped.

The radical plans are among 56 recommendations made by a commission chaired by former party leader Sir Menzies Campbell.

The commission’s report is due to be released on Wednesday.

A leaked copy suggests allowing the

Hajj pilgrimage to start Oct. 25: Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has announced that the Islamic hajj pilgrimage, which attracts around 3 million Muslims worldwide each year, will begin on Thursday, Oct. 25.

The kingdom’s High Court, comprised of religious scholars who serve as judges, announced Tuesday that Eid al-Adha celebrations coinciding with the pilgrimage will start on Oct. 26.

Hajj is among the five pillars of Islam and is required of all able-bodied

Muslims at least once in their lifetime.

Already some 1.4 million people from 160 countries have arrived in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia for hajj, which according to Islam traces the steps of prophets such as Muhammad (PBUH), Abraham and Ishmael.

Hajj is a spiritual experience aimed at fostering closeness to God, the cleansing of sins and a sense of unity and equality among Muslims.

Scottish Parliament to collect almost all income tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax and air passenger duty - but not VAT, alcohol or excise duties.

It also proposes the UK adopting a federal system, which would create a series of regional and national parliaments and assemblies across the United Kingdom, with a federal government retaining powers over foreign affairs, defence, currency, welfare and pensions.

The report acknowledges that different parts of the UK may wish to move at different speeds towards federalism, adding: “The move to home rule status for Scotland, in which it enjoys a federal relationship with the rest of the United Kingdom, is a first stage that can proceed ahead of the rest.”

In his introduction to the report, Sir Menzies said it was his “firm belief” that the proposals were in the best interests of every part of the UK - not just Scotland.

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.

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South Asia Tribune I Thursday 18 October 2012

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09

Malala to the Birmingham Hospital

Sitara-e-Shujaat for Malala

Taliban says its attack on Malala justified Pakistan has arranged with the UAE for a specially equipped air ambulance which was used to transfer Malala to the Birmingham UK. In order to provide continuity of care, an army intensive care specialist was accompanied Malala on her flight.

In a statement, the Pakistani army said: “The panel of doctors recommended that Malala be shifted abroad to a UK centre which has the capability to provide integrated care to children who have sustained severe injury. All expenses including transportation of Malala by specially equipped air ambulance and treatment abroad will be borne by the government of Pakistan.”

The attack has succeeded in uniting Pakistan in a wave of condemnation. Authorities have offered a reward of £70,000 for the capture of the gunmen.

Dr Dave Rosser, medical director at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, said some of his colleagues were out

in Pakistan when Malala was shot and was one of the reasons the hospital got involved.

The hospital is the receiving centre

for British military casualties so has a range of specialist staff and facilities.

Saying that it was likely Malala would be treated for months rather than weeks, Dr Rosser added: “We do unfortunately

have very extensive experience of dealing with this sort of traumatic bullet related injury...our experience with battle casualties, and you can deal with her as a battle casualty from a physiological point of view, is that patients need lots of different specialities.”

Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the militant group that has said it shot her, has threatened to attempt to kill her again if she recovers.

Two people have been questioned by police after they turned up at a hospital wanting to see Malala Yousafzai, West Midlands police described the visitors who turned up at the hospital as “well-wishers”.

A spokeswoman said: “They were stopped in a public area of the hospital and questioned by police, who recorded their details and advised the pair that they would not be allowed to see her. No arrests were made and at no point was there any threat to Malala.”

Taliban insurgents said on Tuesday that the Pakistani schoolgirl its gunmen shot in the head deserved to die because she had spoken out against the group and praised US President Barack Obama.

Malala Yousafzai, 14, was flown to Britain on Monday, where doctors said she has every chance of making a “good recovery”.

The attack on Malala, who had been advocating education for girls, drew widespread condemnation.

Authorities have said they have made several arrests in connection with the case but have given no details.

Pakistan’s Taliban described Yousufzai as a “spy of the West”.

“For this espionage, infidels gave her awards and rewards. And Islam orders killing of those who are spying for enemies,” the group said in a statement.

“She used to propagate against mujahideen (holy warriors) to defame (the) Taliban. The Holy Quran says that people propagating against Islam and Islamic forces would be killed.

“We targeted her because she would speak against the Taliban while sitting with shameless strangers

and idealized the biggest enemy of Islam, Barack Obama.”

Yousufzai, a cheerful schoolgirl who had wanted to become a doctor before agreeing to her father’s wishes that she strive to be a politician, has become a potent symbol of resistance against the Taliban’s efforts to deprive girls of an education.

“We did not attack her for raising voice for education. We targeted her for opposing mujahideen and their war,” said the Taliban.

“Shariah (Islamic law) says that even a child can be killed if he is propagating against Islam.”

Pakistan Government has announced that Sitara-e-Shujaat will be awarded to 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai who was shot by the Taliban for speaking against them, report.

Pakistani Minister Rehman Malik was in Swat where he visited Malala’s school and announced the award for her. He also visited the other two girls injured in the incident and awarded them money. He also promised them compensation.

The minister, speaking at the school, said that Malala was a symbol of bravery.

Taliban to target media organisations on Malala coverage Chief of banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Hakimullah Mehsud has issued special directions to his subordinate terrorists located in different cities of Pakistan to target national and international media organisations, BBC Urdu reported.

A responsible official of the interior ministry told BBC Urdu on condition of anonymity that intelligence agencies have intercepted the telephonic conversation of Hakeemullah Mehsud with one of his sub-ordinate Nadeem Abbas alias ‘Intiqami’ in which Mehsud was directing Abbas to attack media organisations.

Mehsud directed his subordinate to target the offices of media

organisations in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and in other cities of the country especially those media organisations and media personalities who were denouncing TTP after attack on child activist

Malala Yousufzai.

Interior Ministry has issued orders to beef up the security near the offices of media organisations in the country after tracing Mehsud’s call, the official informed.

Malala, a National Peace Award winner and young Pakistani rights activist, along with three other schoolmates sustained bullet injuries when some unknown assailants opened fire on their school van in Mingora early in the day.

TTP had accepted the responsibility of the attack on Malala Yousufzai on Oct 9 and justified the attack with their interpretation of the Sharia (Islamic law).

Interior Ministry has also issued directions to the religious scholars, who had publicly denounced the Taliban, to be cautious, the official informed.

The government has issued

directions to the authorities to deploy additional police troops in the areas where media offices are located and help of Frontier Constabulary (FC) could also be sought if needed, the interior ministry official added.

Moreover, the official said that Chief Commissioner Islamabad and chief secretaries of the four provinces have been directed to hold meetings with media owners and address their security concerns.

Earlier today, a spokesman for the Swat Taliban has threatened to kill Malala’s father Ziauddin Yousufzai after a failed attempt to assassinate his daughter, said a report by Reuters.

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South Asia Tribune I Thursday 18 October 2012

‘Killer’ in the Home Office : The Sun Man accused of double murder gets to Theresa May

A DOUBLE-MURDER suspect was allowed to meet Home Secretary Theresa May in a shocking security shambles.

Mrs May shook hands with Nasir Butt when she greeted him privately at the Home Office unaware that he was on the run from his native Pakistan the Sun reported .

Butt, 48, was waved through Westminster security without ANY vetting or checks.

Officials launched a probe last night — and admitted “a very unhappy” Mrs May had demanded “answers about this cock-up”.

Butt managed to slip into the heart of government with two official Pakistani delegates who were on a prearranged private visit.

He was NOT on the approved visitor list, was ushered through Westminster security with NO

Nasir Mehmood Butt Senior Vice President Pakistan Muslim League UK

Fugitive ... Nasir Butt with Sun’s Stephen Moyes

checks and did NOT undergo the rigorous vetting faced by anyone meeting a senior Cabinet minister.

Butt — who fled Pakistan in 1996 after being named over the murder of two brothers — joined Mrs May for photos.

He beamed as she was presented with a shawl by Shahbaz Sharif,

Chief Minister of Punjab and a senior figure in the Pakistan Muslim League.

Zubair Gull, President of the PML’s UK arm, was the other guest. They discussed education and Mrs May’s planned trip to Pakistan.

Butt, granted asylum after coming to the UK on a visitor visa, runs a dry cleaners and furniture store in Greenford, Middlesex.

A Home Office spokesman said last night: “We were not told in advance that this individual was part of the delegation and he was not invited by the Home Secretary.

We are investigating further.”

A Sun source close to the probe said: “There are a lot of red faces. Theresa May hit the roof when she was told.

This is a serious cock-up.”

Father-of-two Butt is said to have been condemned to death by a Rawalpindi court in his absence.

He said he was officially declared a fugitive because he was wrongly suspected of killing the men in revenge for the murder of his brother.

Butt, who says he is senior vice president of the PML in the UK, said: “I need to go to Pakistan to clear myself.”

Five British Royal Marines charged with murder

Five Royal Marines are charged with murder in relation to an incident in Afghanistan in 2011, the Ministry of Defence said.

Seven marines were arrested on Thursday, and the MoD said Royal Military Police (RMP) had arrested two more marines on suspicion of murder, one on Friday and the other yesterday, taking the total number of arrests to nine.

Four have since been released without charge, pending further inquiries.

A statement from the MoD said: “The RMP has referred the cases of the remaining five Royal Marines to the independent Service Prosecuting Authority (SPA).

“Following direction from the SPA these marines have now been charged with murder and they remain in custody pending court proceedings.”

The soldiers were arrested in connection with an incident which occurred while they were based in Helmand last year.

The incident has been described as “an

engagement with an insurgent”, with no civilians involved.

Rules of engagement The rules of engagement, largely derived from the Geneva Convention, dictate under what circumstances British troops are allowed to

open fire, whether that is to prevent an attack by the enemy or in direct contact.

The arrests are thought to be the first time UK servicemen have been held on suspicion of such charges during the conflict in Afghanistan.

A Territorial Army soldier was investigated

by military officials after shooting dead a suspected Taliban bomber in the Nahr-eSaraj area of central Helmand in the summer of 2010.

Senior officers believed the man may have been an innocent farmer. But after an 18month inquiry no charges were brought against Fusilier Duane Knott, who said he had no regrets over his action.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said he was determined that the rules of engagement were followed in Afghanistan.

He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “Everybody serving in theatre knows the rules of engagement, they carry cards in their uniforms with the rules on them in case they should need to remind themselves.

“I can’t comment on the specifics of this case.

“We are very determined that rules of engagement will be followed, that any abuse will be dealt with through the normal processes of service justice and that is happening now.”

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 18 October 2012

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Faisal Raza Abidi stirs a storm in Senate Ready to prove allegations he had levelled against Chief Justice

The Senate witnessed stormy scenes when Faisal Raza Abidi of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Thursday sought refuge of his colleagues, after law enforcement agencies started a probe into his controversial conduct against the Supreme Court.

Speaking on a point of order Senator Zahid Khan of the Awami National Party (ANP) came down hard on the judiciary, saying it had ruled that criticism on judges in the media was not allowed, while there was no respect for members of parliament. Judges, he said, were making all out efforts to keep their own prestige intact, adding that parliamentarians were being tormented for speaking the truth.

“If they [judges] don’t want us to comment, they should ban the media from covering the proceedings of the courts...it is our job to comment after seeing tickers on TV screens,” he said.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik rejected Abidi’s allegations that FIA was torturing him, saying that an inquiry had been launched against him on the directives of the Supreme Court following his interviews on various TV channels.

“He [Abidi] is an honorable colleague and nobody tortures him. The inquiry is being done

by FIA after the registrar of the Supreme Court wrote a letter to FIA on behalf of the Chief Justice

of Pakistan,” he said. This was not enough to satisfy the enraged senator, who accused judges of the apex court of imposing a judicial ‘martial law’. About a text message allegedly circulated by the senator against the family of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he said he had nothing to do with the SMS. The firebrand PPP senator, Faisal Raza Abidi, thundered: “Accusing apex court’s judges is legal...We should not remain silent over the

Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary.

He demanded the chair to give him an opportunity on Monday or Tuesday so that he could share the proof against the judiciary with the house. Criticising the chief justice for his son’s involvement in alleged corruption, Abidi implied that he believed the Justice Chaudhary himself was involved in the corruption.

The judge who took suo motu action on “two bottles of whisky” and that too under pressure of a

alleged that it was Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary, who, in a meeting of the Supreme Judicial Council in 2005, had declared that ‘allegations could be levelled against the judges’.

Senior PPP leaders, including Interior Minister Rehman Malik were not supportive of their protesting colleague. This prompted Abidi to stand up from his seat and sit on the floor in front of the chairman Senate in protest.

At one stage, the senator even

Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) verdict...they don’t allow anyone to say anything against them. Are members of parliament inferior to these judges?” he questioned. He said that he was ready to prove allegations he had levelled against Chief Justice

heavyweight cleric was incapable of dispensation of justice, he said.

“The personality of the CJP is not of the sort who could deliver justice,” he alleged. Declaring his controversial press conferences against the apex court ‘legal’, he

threatened to shoot himself publicly on November 10 if his voice was not heard by senators. “I’ll shoot myself in the head for which you will be responsible or give me an opportunity so that I could share proof against judges,” he said.

UK inflation rate slows to Holy See rebukes anti-Islam video 2.2% in September, ONS says

Speculation the Bank of England will add more stimulus to the economy.

The pace of price rises in the UK slowed in September, pushing the inflation rate down to its lowest level for nearly three years.

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure of inflation stood at 2.2%, down from 2.5% in August.

UK inflation fell to its lowest in almost three

years in September, easing the pressure on cash-strapped consumers. But there was a sting in the tail for people on benefits, as last month’s inflation numbers will be used to set payouts.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said

consumer price inflation eased to 2.2% in September, the lowest since November 2009.

That compares with a rate of 2.5% in August and is in line with economists’ forecasts.

Inflation as measured by the retail prices index (RPI), which includes some housing and tax costs, dropped from 2.9% to 2.6%.

The pound fell to a one-month low versus the euro after data showed U.K. inflation slowed to the least in almost three years last month, boosting speculation the Bank of England will add more stimulus to the economy.

September’s consumer price reading was the lowest since November 2009, the Office for National Statistics said in London and matched the median forecast of 37 economists in a Bloomberg News survey.

Tuesday’s data will provide George Osborne with a rare piece of good news, as next year’s benefits bill could come in lower than forecast as a result. The Office for Budget Responsibility, whose forecasts are used by the Treasury, expected September’s CPI [consumer prices index] to be 2.6%. Under that estimate, the benefit bill for next year stood at £183bn.

THE Vatican has distanced itself from a row over Muslims in Europe triggered by the showing at a synod of a video that claims ‘’Europe as we know it will cease to exist’’.

Cardinal Peter Turkson, the president of the Vatican’s council for justice and peace - and seen as a possible future pope - played the video in a discussion period on Saturday during a synod attended by 262 bishops from across the world.

Titled Muslim Demographics, and viewed more than 13 million times on YouTube since its release in 2009, the seven-minute video claims Muslim immigration and higher birth rates mean France will become ‘’an Islamic republic’’ within 39 years.

But many of the statistics used have been shown to be false or unproven, including a claim that French Muslim families have 8.1 children on average, and that 25 per cent of Belgians are Muslims - the true figure is 6 per cent. A German government official is falsely quoted as saying Germany will be a Muslim state by 2050.

Yesterday a Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, sought to distance the Holy See from the video, saying: ‘’This video does not express the view of the synod or the Vatican. Turkson has said he is sorry if the video was wrongly interpreted since he did not intend it to be anti-Muslim, merely a comment on the nihilism in Western society.’’

Bishops who watched the video were reportedly shocked by its content. ‘’I think it would be fair to say that several in the room questioned the veracity of the facts followed by ‘Who can this be

attributed to?’ and ‘Who actually wanted this film to be shown?’’’ said Father Thomas Rosica during a press briefing.

Vatican radio was more critical, calling the video ‘’fearmongering’’, adding: ‘’Why one of the curial cardinals chose to show this piece of anti-Islamic propaganda is quite unclear.’’

Pope Benedict has stressed the importance of defending Europe’s Christian identity, but he has also promoted dialogue with Muslims, most recently during his visit to Lebanon last month.

Last week he read out a greeting in Arabic for the first time during his weekly general audience.

Cardinal Turkson, who is from Ghana, has said previously that theological dialogue with Muslims is impossible. Known for his strong views, the cardinal proposed the creation of a global bank after the global economic crisis began in 2008.

One bishop at the synod asked about the video was less critical, telling the US weekly National Catholic Reporter: ‘’At least it got us talking about something more important than what order confirmation and first communion ought to be in.’’

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South Asia Tribune I Thursday 18 October 2012

George Galloway Submitted a motion on against senior police officer Afiz Khan

In his early day motion George Galloway MP said about the

CONDUCT OF AFIZ KHAN, A SENIOR METROPOLITAN POLICE OFFICER IN THE COUNTER-TERRORISM BRANCH S015 He said : intrusion was sanctioned by the Commissioner or of respect party. And finally there was a rush of new That this House expresses its concern at the involvement of a very senior officer in the Metropolitan Police Counter-Terrorism branch SO15 in an apparent dirty tricks operation against the hon. Member for Bradford West; notes that the officer, Afiz Khan, entered the hon. Member’s London home without his knowledge or consent, the hon. Member never having met or heard of him, and he slept in the hon. Member’s home; further notes that Afiz Khan sent emails to an individual in the hon. Member’s officewho acted as his agent; further notes he co-ordinated this operation from his police email account and from at least two other fake email accounts, duping, amongst others, the Guardian newspaper as to his true identity; further notes that he operated under an alias against the hon. Member on Facebook and elsewhere, all the while concealing that he was a senior serving police officer at Scotland Yard; and asks the Home Secretary to make an urgent statement to Parliament on these matters.

Galloway demands Home Secretary investigation

BRADFORD West MP George Galloway called on Home Secretary Theresa May to investigate a ‘dirty tricks campaign’ involving a senior Metropolitan police counter-terrorism officer and a member of his staff.

‘A very senior officer in SO15 has been feeding disinformation aimed at damaging me to a national newspaper and to others, aided by a member of staff in Bradford who has now been suspended,’ Galloway said. ‘This involved him using the Met email as well as creating at least

two false email addresses to spread the deceit. I have incontrovertible evidence. He either did this a freelance or it was sanctioned by his superiors.

I have today asked the Home Secretary Theresa May to act on this and I have also written to the Met police commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe and to the Speaker of the House of Commons.’

The letter to Theresa May is below with the names redacted.

Dear Home Secretary, I am writing to you to ask you to investigate the behaviour of a senior member of the Metropolitan police’s counter-terrorism squad SO15 who, I believe, has been carrying out a campaign of vilification – a dirty tricks operation - against me in my constituency using police facilities and resources.

I would also like to know whether this unwarranted

other senior SO15 officers.

The officer’s name is xxxxx. It is my understanding that his role is to investigate and report on radical Muslim groups. But perhaps you can clarify his remit precisely?

My first contact with xxxxx came on the day of a burglary at my home in Streatham in June. He was introduced to me by my then parliamentary assistant xxxxx. It is my understanding that the two had had, and were having, a relationship. She brought him to the house as a ‘security adviser’ who could give advice on how to make the house more secure after the local officers investigating the break-in had left.

However, within hours of that I learned that he and xxxxx had been sleeping in my house, and without permission, while I was abroad. This came out because he had to tell the officers investigating the burglary that his fingerprints would be found in the house. I asked the local officers informally to report on this to his bosses. I heard no more and neither have I heard any more about the burglary. I should, of course, have dismissed xxxxx but foolishly I gave her a second chance.

I have now discovered that she has been leaking and distorting information from within my office and handing it on to xxxxx who, apart from using his Met police email address, has set up at least two others to pump out false information to national newspapers.

For instance, on October 1 from his address (xxxxx@met.police.uk) he sent an email to her (xxxxx@hotmail.com) which included this: ‘I think there was an election fraud. I found out the printer of the election voting cards is a member of respect. the postman for the postal votes was also a member

voters with the name of Ali. There were 450 voters apparently all staying at the midland. And finally the gypsies came in to support GG via the Westfield site.’

Now apart from this being utter tosh – you will recall my majority was more than 10,000 and there has, to my knowledge, been no enquiry into voting irregularities in the by-election – it is a blatant attempt to set a pernicious lie running in an attempt to blacken me in my constituency and in parliament.

Again, on October 3, he emailed her from his Met address with an extensive email on tactics she should employ and which defamed several members of staff and volunteers. I can supply a copy of both of these emails.

Going on from that he, with the encouragement of his accomplice, my employee, set up at least two false email accounts so that they could pass on rumour, disinformation and downright lies to the Guardian reporter Helen Pidd. I presume she was unaware that ‘Nabeel Raja’ was xxxxx and that he was in a conspiracy with xxxxx.

I have now suspended xxxxx pending dismissal.

I think you will agree that the behaviour of this senior officer in carrying out this dirty tricks campaign goes well beyond his role in counter-terrorism and is a direct attack on not just me but on democracy. I will be writing separately to the Metropolitan police commissioner and to the Speaker but as xxxxx is ultimately responsible to you (and parliament) I would ask you to look into this and let me know the result of your investigation.

Yours sincerely, George Galloway MP

West’s free speech stand bars blasphemy ban: OIC

Continued from page 1 >> “We could not convince them,” said the Turkish head of the 57-member organisation which had tried from 1998 until 2011 to get a United Nations-backed ban on blasphemy.

“The European countries don’t vote with us, the United States doesn’t vote with us.”

Western countries see the publication of such images and materials as a matter of free speech.

The posting of an amateurish USmade video portraying the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) as a foolish womaniser and the publication of caricatures of him in France last month led to violent protests and renewed calls from the Muslim world for a global law against blasphemy.

The protests claimed some two dozen lives.

Ihsanoglu told a conference in Istanbul at the weekend that the OIC had failed to win a ban at the United Nations and would not

revive its long diplomatic campaign for one.

Asked about recent media reports that the OIC wanted to resume the campaign for a blasphemy ban, he said: “I never said this and I know this will never happen.”

The OIC respects freedom of expression but sees anti-Islam videos and cartoons as an abuse of this freedom that Western countries should sanction through their own blasphemy or hate crime laws, he said.

Long diplomatic struggle Ihsanoglu’s statement clarified the OIC stand at a time when Muslim religious leaders have stepped up demands for an international blasphemy law and politicians have accused Western states of spreading anti-Muslim hatred under the protection of their free-speech laws.

Starting in 1998, the 57-nation OIC won majorities in UN rights bodies and at the UN General Assembly every year for non-

binding resolutions on “combating defamation of religions” that Western states opposed as potential threats to free speech.

But support for these texts steadily fell to just over 50 per cent by 2010, because of strong Western and growing Latin American opposition, and the OIC opted for a weaker resolution against intolerance towards all religions last year.

That more general resolution, drawn up with the United States and the European Union, passed unanimously.

The long dispute highlighted differing views of free speech in Western and Muslim countries.

Ihsanoglu said Western states had a “strange understanding” of free speech if it could be abused to hurt and insult others.

Responding at the United Nations last month to the Muslim protests against the US-made video “Innocence of Muslims” parodying Prophet Mohammad (pbuh), President Barack Obama

condemned the film but staunchly defended free speech.

“The strongest weapon against hateful speech is not repression, it is more speech – the voices of tolerance that rally against bigotry and blasphemy,” he said.

Explaining his decision not to pursue a world ban, Ihsanoglu said the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and a nonbinding 2011 UN General Assembly resolution against religious intolerance provided a sufficient basis for UN member states to take legal action.

“We have enough law and we need to implement these laws,” he said.

Pakistan’s negative example Muslim politicians have stepped up their denunciations of Western free speech policies following the video and cartoons lampooning Prophet Mohammad (pbuh). Muslims consider any criticism of him as highly offensive and beyond free speech protection.

“We cannot accept insults to Islam under the guise of freedom of thought,” Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told the Istanbul conference.

“We Muslims want the same respect shown to Jewish culture, which we support,” Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.

But while editorialists and religious leaders have renewed calls for a worldwide blasphemy ban, few national leaders have actually ended their rhetorical reactions with that demand.

One who did at the United Nations last month was President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan, whose own national blasphemy law has come under increasing criticism at home and abroad as open to widespread abuse against minority Christians.

Ihsanoglu, speaking at the conference on a panel with Pakistani political leader Imran Khan, encouraged countries with blasphemy laws to apply against insults to Islam, and then quickly added: “not particularly

Saarc international I Thursday 18 October 2012

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Asian powers open first summit of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue

Asia’s economic powers, including major oil exporters and importers, opened their first summit of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Tuesday, aimed at promoting cooperation and dialogue in a range of issues including food security, energy, financing and technology.

The two-day summit of the 32member ACD is also expected to focus on ways to reinvigorate and sustain regional cooperation to protect the member nations against the festering global economic crisis, organizers said.

Initiated by Thailand in 2002, the ACD summit brought together leaders, foreign ministers and senior officials from Asia’s major economies -South Korea, China, Japan and India -- as well as leading oil

producers such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, in addition

India, Pakistan in talks for allowing mobile roaming

Roaming services between the two countries have been banned since 2004 after Indian security agencies raised concerns around misuse by anti-social elements.

The two Governments are in talks to remove all hurdles to enable operators to offer roaming services according to senior functionaries in the Ministry of Commerce.

The Department of Telecom is backing the proposal but the Home Ministry is yet to

monitoring laws in place wherein all telecom operators are required to give traffic details of specific users on a real time basis. The security agencies are monitoring about 10,000 phones and 1,000 emails at any given point of time.

Mathews, however, added that the move will not have any significant revenue implications for operators. “Roaming is anyway used by a small percentage of the total subscriber base and then there are

to Iran and Russia.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra were among leaders attending.

The Sri Lankan delegation to the Summit included Ministers Susil Premjayanth, and Professor G.L.Peiris, Parliamentarians

Sajin Vas Gunawardene and A.H.M.Azwer, and President’s Secretary Lalith Weeratunge.

“A whole decade has passed on our annual consultation and dialogues, during which, our genuine desire to cooperate and develop our joint action was embodied in order to promote our dialogue into a mechanism beneficial to our peoples’

prosperity and welfare,” Kuwait’s Deputy Premier Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah told reporters.

“Our Asian continent is the largest and most populated,” Al-Sabah said, urging the ACD members to “reinvigorate joint efforts towards more coordination and consultation.”

Thai Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said, amid the global economic crisis, Asian nations should maintain a stable and peaceful environment to foster better relations within the region.

Since the 2008 global crisis, economic growth around the globe has been fragile amid the deepening debt crisis in Europe, a weakening growth in the U.S. and a cooling Chinese economy.

Such uncertainties have forced Asian countries to join hands in fighting against the impacts of the global economic malaise.

Last week, the International Monetary Fund cut its 2012 global economic growth forecast to 3.3 percent from its July outlook of 3.5 percent.

Tuesday, 13th November, 2012 Cultural Activities Centre (C.A.C), International Islamic University Malaysia

give clearance on the Indian side.

Roaming services between the two countries have been banned since 2004 after Indian security agencies raised concerns around misuse by anti-social elements. While terrorism was one of the biggest issues, Indian agencies also raised cricket betting as another reason to ban roaming.

Monitoring agencies But now technology allows security agencies to better monitor mobile users.

“Monitoring agencies will be able to track specific users if the need arises better if the user is on a mobile network,” said Rajan Mathews, Director General, Cellular Operators Association of India.

Home Ministry has put in place stringent

not too many people travelling between India and Pakistan to make a significant addition to the operators’ revenues,” he said.

Subscriber info If roaming is allowed, the two countries will have to put in place a mechanism to share subscriber information for security purposes.

For example, Indian security agencies have repeatedly curbed services in Jammu and Kashmir and the North East whenever there is trouble. They can do so because the services in J&K are being controlled

by Indian operators. The concern is that if roaming services are permitted, Pakistani elements can sneak mobile connections into Indian territory.

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South Asia Tribune I Thursday 18 October 2012

Like Diamonds? 55 Cancri Super-Earth Could Be A Girl’s Best Friend

A new planet that’s a real diamond It seems the universe has just got a little bit richer following the discovery of a new planet which scientists say is made largely out of diamonds.

The rocky planet called ‘55 Cancri e’ orbits a sun-like star in the constellation of Cancer and is twice the size of Earth.

Time is said to move at hyperspeed on this gem-like planet so one year lasts just 18 hours compared to Earth’s 365 days.

Despite being 40 light years away from earth, in dark skies 55 Cancri e’s host star is clearly visible to the naked eye.

Researchers believe the planet’s surface is covered primarily in carbon in the form of graphite and diamond rather than water

and granite like our planet.

Marek Kukula, Public Astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich told Channel 4 News, “It’s a lovely image - diamonds in the sky - but there’s not likely to be a

space mission to the mine the diamonds any time soon because it would probably take 10,000 years to get there.

Buried deep down “The planet is intensely hot, 2,000 degrees Centigrade and

the diamonds are likely to be buried deep down. We’d end up spending all the diamonds on Earth in order to get there so it’s not a way to get rich quick.

“In general mining in space is being talked about more and more and is moving away from being something science-fiction to something that is more serious. Asteroids are thought to have precious metals and they are relatively close to us in our solar system.

“Although they are moving, if we could chase and catch one it is not far-fetched to think in the next couple of decades this may be tested.”

The study was led by researchers at Yale University who estimate

that at least one third of the 55 Cancri e’s mass - the equivalent of about three earth masses could be diamond.

It’s the first time astronomers have identified a diamond planet around a sun-like star and specified its chemical make-up.

David Spergel, an astronomer at Princeton University, said it was relatively simple to work out the basic structure and history of a star once you know its mass and age.

He said: “Planets are much more complex. This ‘diamondrich super-Earth’ is likely just one example of the rich sets of discoveries that await us as we begin to explore planets around nearby stars.”

European Union awarded the Nobel Peace Prize

The European Union is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its role in creating a “continent of peace”. But in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the end of the war, is the timing ironic?

The European Union won the Nobel Peace Prize for its long-term role in uniting the continent, the Norwegian Nobel committee said on Friday.

The award will be seen as a morale boost for the bloc as it struggles to resolve its debt crisis amid social unrest and revolt in southern Europe.

The committee praised the 27-nation EU for rebuilding after world war two and for its role in spreading stability to former communist countries after the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall.

The EU received the award for six decades of contributions “to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe,” said the Nobel committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland.

“The stabilising part played by the European Union has helped to transform a once torn Europe from a continent of war to a continent of peace.”

‘Deeply touched’ The president of the European parliament, Martin Schulz, said he was “deeply touched and honoured” that the EU has won.

“Reconciliation is what the EU is about. It can serve as an inspiration,” said Mr Schulz in a statement. “The EU is a unique project that replaced war with peace, hate with solidarity.”

It is a moment when a lot of people on the street are turning their backs on the EU, seeing it as the source of their problems, rather than the solution. Philip Whyte, Centre for European Reform The EU was a surprise recipient of the award, which is usually given to individuals

or groups working towards reconciliation.

Favourite to win was Gene Sharp, the leading political theorist on non-violent revolution, who influenced the Arab Spring uprisings.

The prize, worth $1.2m, will be presented in Oslo on 10 December. The Nobel committee said it was up to the EU to decide which country would receive the prize on behalf of the EU, and deliver the winner’s lecture. The

that the two countries pool their coal and steel resources in a new organisation - along with founding members Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands - that other European countries could also join.

The 1960s saw a period of economic growth for the EU, and Denmark, Ireland and the UK joined in 1973. A few years later Portugal and Spain became members after the collapse of

fact that Norway declined EU membership twice, and has since thrived, was not mentioned by the committee.

History of reconciliation The EU rose from the ashes of world war two, born of the conviction that closer economic ties would ensure that war could never again be waged between century-old enemies France and Germany. The idea became more defined when, in 1950, French foreign minister Robert Schuman proposed

right wing dictatorships.

The EU is now made up of 500 million people in 27 nations, with other nations lining up to join. The Nobel committee pointed to the admission of Croatia next year and the possibility of Serbia’s membership, as factors that helped strengthen reconciliation in the Balkans region.

‘Ironic’ timing However in recent years the EU has been ridden with social unrest and diplomatic

tension, following the debt crisis of the eurozone, particularly in Greece. Greek protesters recently donned swastikas when German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the country this week, blaming Merkel for the worsening economic situation in the country, while there has also been a rise in extremism in the country and anger against immigrants.

Philip Whyte, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said the timing of the award could be seen as “ironic”.

Many EU countries have committed to austerity measures and stringent loan agreements, which they have very little power to resist and the terms of the eurozone bailout agreements could be seen as “undermining democracy in southern Europe”, Mr Whyte said.

“It is a moment when a lot of people on the street are turning their backs on the EU, seeing it as the source of their problems, rather than the solution,” he told Channel 4 News.

Reminder of alternative The statement released by the Nobel committee acknowledged the “grave economic difficulties and considerable social unrest” within the EU at the moment.

But committee chair Mr Jagland said after the announcement that he hoped the prize would act as a reminder of what the EU had achieved, adding that if it was allowed to “disintegrate”, there was a risk it could “dissolve into extremism”.

“You might think it is perverse timing, but I think there is a particular thought behind the timing,” Mr Whyte told Channel 4 News. “It is a reminder that the EU has been a force for good for much of its history, and in a sense, an encouragement to all those involved, to make sure it remains that way.”

South Asia Tribune I Thursday 18 October 2012

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Sedition charge dropped against Indian cartoonist

INDIAN prosecutors have dropped sedition charges against a cartoonist whose arrest over his anti-corruption drawings outraged freedom of speech campaigners, his lawyer says.

Aseem Trivedi, whose online cartoons include the national parliament depicted as a huge toilet bowl, was detained in Mumbai early last month before being released four days later on bail after an outcry from campaigners.

“The sedition charges have been dropped but the other charges continue,” his lawyer Vijay Hiremath told AFP, after western Maharashtra state’s top law officer filed a revised affidavit on Friday to the Bombay High Court.

Trivedi, 25, still faces charges under section 66A of the Information Technology Act and section two of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act. Advocate general Darius Khambata told the court that after a close look

at the issue, there was “clearly no case” under sedition regulations, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.

But he said three of seven drawings were still found to be in violation of the other acts. “Proceedings in this will continue against him,”

Khambata described police action against Trivedi as a “bonafide knee jerk reaction” to the numerous complaints they received over his cartoons, displayed at an anticorruption rally last year and online.

Khambata said.

It was not clear which cartoons remain part of the prosecution case, but Trivedi’s works include one of the national emblem with lions replaced by wolves with blood dripping from their teeth,

standing on the sign Corruption alone triumphs instead of the motto Truth alone triumphs.

Another sketch titled Gang Rape of Mother India shows a woman draped in the Indian flag being held down by a politician and a bureaucrat, while a horned animal depicting corruption appears ready to attack her.

Earlier this year Trivedi established Save Your Voice, a group lobbying against internet censorship, while he is also a supporter of India Against Corruption (IAC), the popular anti-graft campaign lead

by Anna Hazare.

The arrest of the cartoonist, from northern Uttar Pradesh state, sparked a backlash against Indian authorities, accused by campaigners and rights groups of using British colonial-era sedition laws to silence dissent in the country.

Human Rights Watch was among those calling for the “politically motivated” charges to be dismissed,

describing such an arrest as “a hallmark of a dictatorship, not a democracy”.

India in recent months has shown sensitivity to criticism of its leaders and other cartoons have come under fire.

A university professor was arrested in April for allegedly circulating a sketch ridiculing Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal.

In May MPs reacted furiously to an old cartoon being used in school textbooks lampooning B.R. Ambedkar, author of India’s constitution.

Trivedi, who is currently taking part in the Indian equivalent of the Big Brothe reality show, told AFP last week that the case had not deterred him from his political drawings.

“I will keep on with my campaign against corruption, my cartoons and my art,” he said.

“My anger was against corruption.

This whole case was just a part of the story.”

Carnage at anti-Taliban office as 17 are killed Police still hold suspects in probe into shooting of schoolgirl Malala

A car bomb tore through a crowded bazaar outside an office for anti-Taliban tribal elders in north-western Pakistan yesterday, killing at least 17 people, officials said.

The blast in the town of Darra Adam Khel was the latest to strike the troubled area near the Afghan border, showing militants still pose a threat to the stability of key US ally Pakistan despite government offensives against the Taliban and their supporters.

No group immediately claimed responsibility, but the Pakistani Taliban have staged similar attacks in the tribal region of Darra Adam Khel to punish elders for backing security forces in offensives against militants.

The explosives-laden car was parked near the office of one of the so-called peace committees formed by local elders to rid the area of militants, regional government administrator Fakhruddin Khan said.

It was unclear how many people were in the office at the time, but Khan said those killed included tribal elders and passers-by.

He said 40 people were also wounded and the

attack destroyed 35 shops and eight vehicles. The dead and wounded, including some in critical condition, had been transported to hospitals in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

The region, which is in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, is famous for its weapons market, selling guns made by local craftsmen.

Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain blamed the Pakistani Taliban, noting the fundamentalist Islamic movement had also tried to kill a 14-year-old girl who is an advocate of education for girls and a critic of the Taliban.

Malala Yousufzai was shot and wounded by a Taliban gunman in the Swat Valley last Tuesday.

The attack has drawn widespread condemnation.

Mr Hussain urged the federal government to consider launching a “decisive operation against terrorists” to eliminate the militants.

“These Taliban have killed our innocent people in so many attacks. They are still killing our people. Instead of wasting time, we should hit them back, and we should do it as early as possible to save the precious lives of our innocent

girls like Malala Yousufzai,” he told reporters in Peshawar.

Meanwhile, Pakistani police were still holding a number of suspects in the case of the 14year-old girl shot and wounded by the Taliban for criticising the fundamentalist Islamic movement.

The shooting of Malala Yousufzai along with two classmates while they were on their way home from school last Tuesday horrified people in Pakistan and internationally. It has been followed by an outpouring of support for a girl who earned the enmity of the Taliban for publicising their acts and speaking about the importance of education for girls.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the shooting, saying that the girl was promoting “Western thinking”. Late last Thursday, a spokesman for one of the group’s branches in the country’s north said the top leadership of the Taliban’s Swat Valley chapter decided two months ago to kill Malala in a carefully planned attack after her family ignored repeated warnings.

Police have been questioning people in the town of Mingora, in the Swat Valley, where the shooting took place.

Mingora police chief Afzal Khan Afridi said arrests had been made, but he declined to give any details about the number of people detained or what role they’re suspected of having in the shooting. He said he did not want to endanger the ongoing investigation.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters on Friday that the two gunmen who staged the attack were not among those arrested, but he said investigators had identified the masterminds of the shooting and efforts were under way to capture all those involved.

The Taliban spokesman, Sirajuddin Ahmad, said Malala’s family had been warned three times -- the most recent warning coming last week -before the decision was made to kill her.

Mr Ahmad said local Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah and his deputies selected three attackers, including two trained sharpshooters, who carefully studied the girl’s route home from school while planning the attack.

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Saarc international I Thursday 18 October 2012

Great Prophet World Prize will be Iran’s answer to Nobel Prize Iran, which only has one Nobel Prize laureate, announced the inception of a rival award intended solely for outstanding scientists of the Islamic world, the country’s news agency Fars said on Saturday.

The Great Prophet World Prize will be bestowed biennially on “the Muslim world scientists in three technological fields in which Iran has also make outstanding progress,” said Iranian Vice President for Science and Technology Nasrin Soltankhah.

She did not identify the fields covered by the Great Prophet World Prize, but said it would help prepare Muslim scientists for tighter competition over global awards such as the Nobel Prize, identified in the report as “the Noble prize.”

The Nobel Prize, established in 1901, currently has six categories. The only Iranian to win it so far has been human rights activist Shirin Ebadi, now living in London, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003.

The Nobel Prize, from dynamite to peace

Every year in October since 1901, the Nobel Prize is awarded to those “who have done most for the benefit of humanity,” With the latest winner of the $1.4 million windfall due to be named on Monday, the case is stronger than ever for scrapping the prize altogether. The economics award — created in 1968 by Sweden’s central bank — has always been the odd man out. One man introduced indefinite detention and expanded the deadly global drone war. Another was the architect of the deliberate mass killing of civilian populations in

in accordance with the wishes of its founder. Its laureates are honoured with an immensely prestigious prize.

The prize is named after Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite.

When he died in 1896, he had amassed an immense fortune,

and asked in his will for a foundation to be created to award prizes to people whose careers “had done most for the

benefit of humanity”, regardless of nationality, in the disciplines of chemistry, physics, medicine, literature and finally peace. The first prizes were awarded in 1901.

Did you know that worms cause cancer? They don’t, of course, yet in 1926 Johannes Fibiger won a Nobel Prize in medicine for this “discovery.”

The Nobel committees for science prizes rarely make such amusing blunders, but those awarding the medal for economics have a long history of endorsing ideas that are useless, incorrect and even dangerous.

Indochina. What do they have in common? Both are Nobel Peace laureates. ¬Gandhi never got one. Al Gore did. In one of the stranger ironies befitting of both Kafka and Orwell, sometimes the makers of permanent war are awarded for bringing temporary peace. Sometimes they don’t even get that far.

With the winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize set to be announced in Oslo, Norway on Friday.

If the Nobel Prize Committee in Norway believed that the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union would constitute a vital shot in the arm for the EU as it undergoes one of its most difficult

Chinese writer Mo Yan was Thursday announced as the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, but not everyone is happy about it. Mo will be receiving his prize December 10 in Oslo at a ceremony that coincides with the birthday of the founder of the prize, Alfred Nobel.

periods, it was probably mistaken.

It was seen as a political statement by the committee, much like the criticized decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Barack Obama early during his term of office

The Nobel Peace Prize 2009 was awarded to Barack H. Obama “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”.

without any real record of achievement to justify the award. which raised more than a few eyebrows, considering the nomination came just 12 days after he took office. The New York Times called the decision a “stunning surprise,” while less generous spectators accused the Nobel Committee of having political motivations.

Once called “the most controversial to date,” the decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Henry Kissinger in 1973 was fraught with debate. Critics said Kissinger’s alleged involvement as Secretary of State in Operation Condor and the U.S. bombing campaigns in Cambodia made a mockery of the prize and led Tom Lehrer to quip that the award “made political satire obsolete.”

Further incensing the situation, North Vietnam’s Le Duc Tho, who was jointly awarded the prize, declined his half of the Continued on page 17 >>

Saarc international I Thursday 18 October 2012

Sadly, economists, as a caste, have showed no such humility. The Nobel imprimatur has encouraged us to exaggerate the scientific quality of the dismal science.

Unlike their counterparts in physics, chemistry and medicine, economists have precious little predictive power. Lately, there has been much soul searching about the failure of economists to anticipate the 2008 meltdown. But given the profession’s history it would have been surprising if they had.

Continued from page 16 >> spoils on the grounds that he didn’t want to share the award with the real politik ringmaster. Before, during and after his acceptance of the prize, Kissinger would be implicated in assassination, war crimes and the slaughter of civilians in a large swath of countries: East Timor, Pakistan, Greece, Cyprus, Chile, Argentina, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

Far from celebrating those who have “conferred the greatest benefit

on mankind” as Alfred Nobel intended, the economics prize has done more harm than good.

The prize has fostered a faith in economists that is often misplaced.

Friedrich Hayek, who won in 1974, said he would have advised against creating the award. The title, he said, “confers on an individual an authority which in economics no man ought to possess.”

Laureates, he suggested, should be required to take “an oath of

humility … never to exceed in public pronouncements the limits of their competence.”

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The 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded jointly to Sheldon Lee Glashow, Salam, and Steven Weinberg “for their contributions to the theory of the unified weak and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles, including, inter alia, the prediction of the weak neutral current”. Dr Abdus Salam, Pakistan’s first and only theoretical

physicist and Nobel Laureate, was also an Ahmadi.

Over the past 20 years economists have failed to forecast any of the major twists and turns of the U.S. economy. Economists, as labor leader George Meany once grumbled, is “the only profession where a person could be considered an expert without having once been right.”

Worse still, the Nobel committee has set its seal on ideas that have been extremely toxic. Nobel Prizewinning theories were behind the biggest market meltdowns since the Great Depression.

Markowitz — which was culpable in both the panics of 1998 and 2008. These models helped justify skimpy capital ratios in the run-up to 2008.

“These theories have managed to transform tranquillity into turbulence, creating crises out of nowhere,” says Pablo Triana, author of “Lecturing Birds on Flying: Can Mathematical Theories Destroy the Financial Markets?” He adds: “The Nobel Prize helped give them respectability.”

And Nobel-endorsed economic theories helped justify the aversion to regulation showed by policy

In 1987, wide acceptance of the Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing model helped turn a market stumble into the worst one-day fall in Wall Street history, threatening the entire system. The model was rejected by traders, yet a decade later Robert Merton and Myron Scholes picked up their check from the Riksbank.

Or take Value at Risk models — backed by the Nobel Prizewinning portfolio theories of Harry

makers like Alan Greenspan. A long list of laureates from the Chicago school from Gary Becker to Edward Prescott helped promote the idea that governments should stand aside.

If the Swedish central bank wants to give away 10 million kronor a year, that is their business. But the prize should not be allowed to coast on the prestigious Nobel brand. Surviving relatives of Nobel are right to ask that their name be taken off the prize.

Rushdie releases ‘Midnight’s Children’ film

The screen adaptation of the seminal 1980 Salman Rushdie novel will be released in India before the yearend

Oscar nominated Deepa Mehta’s next Midnight Children is one of the most anticipated films this year. Based on Salman Rushdie’s Booker prize winning novel, the film will be released in India by PVR Pictures on 26th of October.

Until recently, it seemed as though Deepa Mehta’s worst nightmare—the non-release of her latest project, Midnight’s Children, in the country in which the movie is set—had come true.

There is some good news at last for the beleaguered film-maker: Midnight’s Children has been acquired by PVR Pictures and will be released in India before the end of the year.

Kamal Gianchandani, CEO of PVR Pictures, says: “We’re looking at releasing the film in December.

We’re yet to decide the release date.”

PVR Pictures has been talking to

the movie’s international sales agent, FilmNation Entertainment, ever since it was optioned at the

one of the most cherished awardwinning novels of the 20th century, premiered in the 56th

Rushdie, who is also the author of the controversial novel The Satanic Verses - which earned him

intertwined and are inextricably linked to India’s whirlwind journey of triumphs and disasters.

Asian Film Market last year, Gianchandani adds. “The film will be released and marketed like a big Indian Hollywood film,” he says. “Deepa Mehta will be here to support the film, and the local actors will also be involved with the marketing.”

The film version of Salman Rushdie’s “Midnight’s Children”,

London Film Festival on Monday.

It tells the story of a pair of children born when India gained independence from Britain. The novel includes negative portrayals of senior Indian political figures, which led to Rushdie being sued by former prime minister Indira Gandhi.

In an interview with Al Jazeera,

a death threat from Iran - urged fellow writers to not give way to religious or political pressures when expressing their ideas.

Rushdie has narrated the film and written the screenplay himself.

The plot revolves around about two children born at the hour of India’s independence.

Their lives become mysteriously

The star cast of the film includes ace actors like Satya Bhabha, Shabana Azmi, Shriya Saran, Seema Bisawas, Rahul Bose, Sahana Goswami, Rajat Kapoor, Soha Ali Khan and Ronit Roy. The film has created quite a buzz internationally with its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Catch the first poster.

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Saarc international I Thursday 18 October 2012

Amitabh’s 70th birthday bash mesmerizes Bollywood

The entire film industry gathered under one roof to celebrate the birthday of the star of the millennium Amitabh Bachchan.

Planned by Jaya Bachchan, everyone was floored with the grand and captivating bash.

As the celebrities walked the red carpet, they are stopped by media persons and asked them to comment about this great event.

The celebrities wished Amitabh Bachchan good health and a great future ahead.

Ramesh Sippy who directed Bachchan in Sholay said Big B’s professionalism kept him going.

“Bachchan has always been sincere and committed to work. He is a thorough professional. That is why he has lasted so long,” Sippy said.

Recalling his association with Bachchan, the director said, “My association with him is for close to 40 years. My first film with him was Sholay considered to be one of the greatest films of Indian cinema.

I am happy to have worked (with him) in films like Shaan, Shakti and Akayla. We have always had lot of trust and understanding for each other”.

Sippy’s son Rohan has directed Bachchan’s son Abhishek in quite a few films.

Sippy expressed his desire to work with Bachchan again. “I haven’t written anything great of late to approach him with a role. The day I have a subject worthy of him I will turn to him. I want to direct him again,” he said.

Karan Johar: The B70 bash was a beautiful blend of nostalgia, reverence and legendary acknowledgement... SrBachchan has a legacy of abundant goodwill....

Madhuri Dixit: Had an amazing time at Amitji’s party. Was a reunion of sorts. Got to spend time with so many of my friends! It was great seeing everyone! It was an honour to be in the presence of so many talented people. It brought back so many amazing memories.

Looking forward to more!

Riteish Deshmukh: Love and respect to the entire Bachchan family for hosting such a gracious function last night, specially Jaya aunty. everything was mesmerizing.

Arshad Warsi: Mr Bachchan’s party last night was absolutely amazing, it was great to see the entire film industry under one roof....

Actress Sridevi who worked with Amitji in films like Khuda Gawah, Aakhri Raasta says he has an aura around him.

“His growth has been tremendous.

The kind of roles he challenged to do is something no one can do. He is just amazing,” she said.

R Balki who directed Bachchan in Cheeni Kum, Paa and recently released English Vinglish, directorial venture of his wife Gauri, said he was once in a lifetime actor.

“He is once in a lifetime actor and the best way to respect and be friendly with him is to continue adoring him. He is an icon,” Balki said.

morning and were seen performing ‘hawans’ (prayers) and distributing sweets on the occasion.

Some of them were wearing T-shirts bearing chest prints of the veteran actor. Also there were a few who were chanting and singing names of all his films in a parody ‘Saat Hindustani un mein se ek ‘Sharabi’, jiska naam tha ‘Anand’ jo gaya ‘Bombay to Goa’

Today, the 70-year-old waved to the fans from his car while he was heading to the Seven Hills hospital in Andheri where he received a mobile diabetes testing unit (housed in a van), as his birthday present from the British Deputy High Commissioner.

The mobile unit has been named after Bachchan, who is the charity’s international patron and has been instrumental in raising diabetes awareness in India.

Another highlight of the day is an art exhibition -- Entitled ‘B Seventy’-- at Worli which features creations by 70 Indian artists from around the world, offering their best interpretation of the Bollywood legend and his filmi career. or and wish him a long life.

What gifts did Amitabh Bachchan get for his 70th birthday?

As expected, the legendary actor’s landmark day turned out to be an eventful, exciting and extraordinary affair and he was given an art show,

As the living legend of Indian cinema, Amitabh Bachchan, turned 70, family, friends and fans pulled out all stops to make his birthday a memorable one.

The entrance of his bungalow

aur ban gaya ‘Don’... as an ode to his timeless stardom.

The fan frenzy is not only limited to his birthday but its a phenomenon that has not changed over the years as the crowd gathers outside

a mobile application, a bullock, a pagdi and more!

Actor Amitabh Bachchan’s 70th birthday on October 11 had to be a momentous occasion, even though the superstar himself didn’t believe

24x7 to gift him a “touching and a very big gift”. Raj Kapoor Chitera, 26, is making a 70-foot oil painting which will show various milestones in Bachchan’s personal and professional life.

Chitera, a resident of Allahabad, has done such work in the past too.

Remember we had suggested some wild possibilities like a royal armchair or stone studded potty or a glided leash and diamond-studded collar as Big B’s surprise gift from the family’s favourite designer duo Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla? The superstar actor’s admirers didn’t quite match up to our level of wild imaginings. But he did receive a motley mix of interesting presents for his birthday.

- A software and content company launched an exclusive mobile application on Amitabh Bachchan for his fans to keep track of everything – from past and new films to blogs to Tweets to photographs and songs, all related to the superstar.

- Animal rights organisation PeTA gave Big B a bullock that was rescued from a life of hard labour.

What’s interesting about the bull is his name: Vijay! Get the connection?

In a lot of AB senior’s early films, he was called Vijay.

- British Asian MP Keith Vaz in collaboration with a famous hospital launched a mobile diabetes testing unit to honour the legendary actor’s milestone birthday.

- B Seventy, an art show was held in which 70 renowned artists put together their artistic interpretations of Bollywood’s superstar actor.

- A few days before Big B’s birthday, one of his Kaun Banega Crorepati 6 contestants from Rajasthan presented a traditional padgi to the

--Jalsa--at suburban Vile Parle was adorned with garlands and hundreds of people from different walks of life, gathered outside his house to catch a glimpse of the iconic actStarstruck fans from various cities like Haryana and Punjab queued up here since

Bachchan’s home every Sunday.

His following has only multiplied since the ‘6pm wave-out’ tradition began many years ago. When the megastar is in Mumbai and not filming, he steps out and waves to the screaming fans.

it was a big deal that he turned a year older! So everyone from his family, his friends and his many fans did their best to make the Kaun Banega Crorepati 6 host happy and special in their own sweet way. a young fan of Big B is working tirelessly

superstar.

We are sure there are many more yet-unopened presents lying around in the Bachchans’ bungalows Jalsa and Prateeksha, but nothing will compare to the ones we told you about. Right, na?

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Saarc international I Thursday 18 October 2012

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international

Thursday, 18.10.12

India, Australia begin talks on uranium exports

India and Australia have begun talks to strengthen economic and strategic ties and explore cooperation in civilian nuclear energy.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard began the daylong talks on Wednesday with her Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh.

JULIA Gillard has flagged closer defence ties with India, including full naval exercises, as part of deeper strategic engagement with the world’s biggest democracy.

The Prime Minister told a business audience in New Delhi yesterday that Australia and India should look to increase their defence and security interaction.

Officials said the two leaders will discuss Australia’s decision to overturn a longstanding ban on exporting uranium to countries that have not signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. India has not signed the treaty.

Australia has 40 percent of the world’s known uranium reserves.

Ms. Gillard has said that she expects discussions on uranium sales to India to last one to two years. In the major speech of her three-day visit to the Indian capital,

New Delhi, Ms Gillard said both countries had a keen interest in keeping Indian Ocean maritime routes secure.

“Our defence and security interactions have been stepped up in recent years and we should look to increase them further,” she told Indian business leaders on Wednesday.

“In time this could include more regular and combined talks at ministerial level, and stronger co-operation between our defence

forces - including full naval exercises.”

Ms Gillard is holding talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other senior officials as she comes to the business end of her visit.

Her main message throughout the trip has been that Australia and India’s interests are fast converging and it’s time to deepen economic and security ties.

“India is at the forefront of our thinking

and the forefront of our relationships in the world,” she told reporters on Wednesday after laying a wreath at a Gandhi memorial - and taking a bit of a tumble when one of her heels got stuck in a lawn.

“In the past we haven’t had sufficient interests to drive the relationship forward. In the modern age all of that has changed.”

Ms Gillard said she wanted India to rank alongside the US, Japan, China, Indonesia and South Korea in terms of its importance to Australia.

She and Mr Singh will discuss uranium but will not be getting into the nitty-gritty of the nuclear safeguards agreement that must be struck before any sales can take place.

The prime minister said the uranium talks were about more than exports, jobs and energy security.

“They demonstrate in the most practical way that the strategic partnership between India and Australia is founded on enduring shared interests.”

Earlier, Ms Gillard was joined by Mr Singh as she was given a full ceremonial welcome at Delhi’s spectacular presidential palace.

Ms Gillard conceded it has been a long time Continued on page 20 >>

Taliban threat worries Pakistan media

Pakistan’s media have expressed alarm at Taliban threats to target journalists after critical coverage of the shooting of Malala Yousufzai.

The 14-year-old education campaigner was seriously wounded as she returned home from school in the Swat valley.

The Pakistani Taliban said it had shot her for “promoting secularism”.

The All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) said Taliban threats directed at the media were aimed at

The APNS said the Taliban was trying to “browbeat the voice of the people”.

The Pakistan Press Foundation said religious scholars who publicly denounced the shooting had also been alerted by the government.

It said the government was taking the TPP threat seriously.

curbing the freedom of the press.

Officials say the threats were uncovered in an intercepted phone call from a Pakistani Taliban leader.

In the call, intercepted by Pakistan’s intelligence agencies, Hakeemullah Mehsud, chief of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), reportedly gave his

subordinate “special directions” to attack the media in cities including Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi and the capital Islamabad.

US imposes sanctions on three Pakistan-based terrorist facilitators Continued on page 31 >>

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Saarc international I Thursday 18 October 2012

The Two Faces of Dr.Tahir Ul-Qadri?

As Western opposition made it impossible for Muslim states to obtain a global ban on blasphemy, including anti-Islamic videos and cartoons that have touched off deadly riots, the Islamic world’s top diplomat pointed out that Pakistan provided a negative example of the blasphemy laws.

Pakistan’s Blasphemy Law: Was Dr. Tahirul-Qadri the author?

Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri is the founding leader of Minhaj-ul-Qur’an International (MQI), an organization with branches and centres in more than 90 countries around the globe. He is controversial in many aspects to his opponent but last September when he visited Denmark to attend a European Peace Conference. The conference’s organisers, the Danish Ethnic Youth Council, had invited the scholar Muhammad Tahir ulQadri, leader of the Muslim organisation Minhaj-ul-Quran, to speak on tackling religious radicalization , Conference took place at Tivoli Congress Centre, Copenhagen on September 9, 2012. Also a ceremony to launch Fatwa against Terrorism authored by Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri was held in Marriott Hotel in Denmark on September 6, 2012 under the banner of Minhaj-ulQuran International (Denmark). A major

controversy started when the minister for integration and social affairs, Karen Hækkerup (Socialdemokraterne), was pulled out of a conference on religious radicalism.

Minister said she will not share stage with a controversial Muslim scholar that helped create Pakistan’s anti-blasphemy laws. Than Danish media started reporting that he was one of the architects behind Pakistan’s “sharia laws”, and that he therefore was partially responsible for the arrest of the 11 year old Christan girl.

Dr. Tahir ul Qadri’s Interview on Danish TV 06-September-2012

I was totally against Blasphemy law!

When Founder and chief of Minhajul Quran was on his visit to Denmark he presented his famous Fatwa against Terrorism and he was interview on Danish TV and where he was asked his point of view on Blasphemy law and question of minister of integration Karen Hækkerup refusal to share came up . In his Interview Dr Tahir ul Qadri claimed that the Danish Ministry is misinformed and he clarified that “He was never been consulted or advisor to Pakistan former dictator President Gen Zia Ul Haq who made the Blasphemy law in 80s”. Dr Tahir ul Qadri also said “he had never been a member of Gen Zia Cabinet. Dr Tahir ul Qadri also said that “the way Zia Ul Haq was formulating the law he was totally against it, finally when this law was made President Zia Ul Haq never consulted him and he was never been part of shaping this law in Parliament “.

It was it was ME and only ME who had this law made!

Yet on the contrary in his another recorded interview in front of members and supporters of Minhaj ul Quran, Dr. Tahir

Ul Qadri emphasized that “I want to bring it to the record that the blasphemy law, 295-C was made solely due to me efforts. I was the one who got this law made. He said in his lecture that after completion of his 18 hours arguments in the court of law, in the favor of Blasphemy law . he said further in his lecture that “in a nut shell I want to tell you that it was ME and only ME , through whom Allah got the Blasphemy law 295-c made . There is no contribution of anyone else, what so ever in this regard.

And that was the reason why at OIC Imran Khan, encouraged countries with blasphemy laws to apply against insults to Islam, and then quickly added: “not particularly the one in Pakistan.”

India, Russia to strengthen nuclear, economic ties Russia unhappy over Kudankulam, Sistema

India and Russia Monday decided to accelerate their economic ties and agreed to factor in New Delhi’s liability concerns in their technocommercial negotiations for units III and IV of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.

Russia, however made very clear to India its unhappiness over two key bilateral issues~ Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) 3 and 4 and investments by its telecom company Sistema in the country, saying rules of the game should never be reconsidered till it is over.

Addressing a joint press conference, the two leaders agreed that efforts have to be made to achieve the desired bilateral trade target of USD 20 billion by 2015.

“We discussed the preparatory work for units III and IV. A techno-commercial agreement

is being negotiated,” External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna told reporters after talks with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin.

“I have no doubt that we will arrive at a mutually satisfactory result,” Krishna said.

Krishna was responding to a question on the progress on units III and IV of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, which is embroiled in differences over perceptions over India’s civil nuclear liability.

“We see a growing role for Russia in the development of nuclear plants in India,” Krishna said at a joint press conference.

Both Krishna and Rogozin agreed to step up trade and investment and shared the perception that the economic ties between the two countries are much below potential.

“We have the will to pursue the relationship and add economic content to the relationship,” Krishna added.

Talks between Krishna and Rogozin helped in finding a way forward on units III and IV of the KNPP, which have been bogged down in sharply differing perceptions over India’s civil nuclear liability law.

Rogozin had said here Sunday that if there are issues that require additional assurance, then it will require additional money, indicating that the price of these reactors may have to be renegotiated.

The two leaders also signed the minutes of the Commission meeting.

The External Affairs Minister invited Russian investments in a number of projects, including the Delhi- Mumbai industrial corridor.

India, Australia begin talks on uranium exports Continued from page 19 >> since an Indian leader has visited Australia - 26 years - and said she’d love for Mr Singh to visit.

He was meant to come to Perth for last year’s CHOGM summit but pulled out. But Ms Gillard’s serious message about AustraliaIndia relations was overshadowed somewhat by her fall.

She was walking towards a press conference when she went down.

Tripping up ... Ms Gillard tumbles near the Gandhi memorial in Delhi.

She slammed into the ground face first and had to be helped to her feet.

“I’m fine,” she said.

“For men who get to wear flat shoes all day, every day, if you wear a heel it can get embedded in soft grass and when you pull your foot out the shoe doesn’t come. And the rest of it is as you saw.”

Ms Gillard has a history of losing her shoes, most notably as she

was being whisked away from protesters at an Australia Day function in Canberra this year.

The prime minister also defended the decision to give legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar membership of the Order of Australia, despite some criticism at home.

She leaves New Delhi on Wednesday night and arrives back in Australia on Thursday.

Saarc international I Thursday 18 October 2012

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WEEKLY REVIEW OF AFGHANISTAN NEWS

Afghanistan: Suicide Bomber Attacks Afghan-U.S. Base, Wounding 45

Heavy casualty rates amongst Afghan security forces NATO says 243 Afghan soldiers and 292 policemen were killed or wounded in an average month this year A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a joint Afghan-U.S. base in the country’s east on Wednesday, wounding at least 45 Afghan soldiers, local officials said.

The Taliban took responsibility for the car bomb attack in the Zurmat district of Paktia province, saying they had also dispatched a group of fighters in suicide vests who managed to

enter the base.

A spokeswoman for NATO’s International Security Assistance

Force (ISAF) said insurgents fired at the base after the explosion.

There were no NATO casualties,

she added.

Paktia, a small province about 100 km (62 miles) south of the capital Kabul, has been beset by increasing violence over the past two years.

“The bomber detonated explosives right in front of a joint base shared by the Afghan army and foreign forces, wounding 45 soldiers,” the deputy governor for Paktia, Gul Rahman Mangal, told Reuters.

Seven civilians were among the wounded, hospital officials in Zurmat added.

Violence has been increasing across the country as the

deadline of end-2014 looms for most foreign combat troops to leave Afghanistan, leaving the 350,000-strong Afghan security forces in control.

Heavy casualty rates amongst Afghan security forces - NATO says 243 Afghan soldiers and 292 policemen were killed or wounded in an average month this year have raised concerns that their ability to tackle insurgents may be dwindling along with morale.

A senior government negotiator on Saturday denied that plans by Kabul to seek peace talks with the Taliban were in deadlock, saying progress was under way.

Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan Hold Afghanistan becomes member of Asia Cooperation Dialogue Trilateral Meeting in Kuwait

The leaders of Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Iran met Tuesday evening in Kuwait on the sidelines of the first Asia Cooperation Summit.

The leaders discussed different fields of cooperation between the three countries while attending the first Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) summit in Kuwait city, President Hamid Karzai’s Office said in a statement Wednesday.

Karzai addressed the summit with a special thank you to His Highness, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al-Jaber Al Sabah, the Emir of the State of Kuwait for establishing a trust fund to aid the least developed

nations of Asia.

“The State of Kuwait deserves our especial gratitude not only for hosting this first ACD Summit and its hospitality, but also for its active support in strengthening the ACD to serve the interests of the people of Asia, and their aspiration for a peaceful, stable and prosperous future,” Karzai said.

“In this context, we applaud His Highness for his proposal to establish the ACD Trust Fund for the development efforts in the least developed Asian countries and his announcement to contribute $300 million towards the target amount of

US$2 billion.”

Afghanistan believes that it was an excellent initiative by the Kingdom of Thailand to launch the Asian Cooperation Dialogue in 2002 with the aim of integrating Asia’s strengths and transforming the vast continent into a desirable unified community, Karzai said.

It comes after Karzai attended the meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on Monday.

Leaders from Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and representatives from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan attended the summit.

During the meeting Karzai asked for ECO’s help in fighting terrorism.

Karzai said that Al-Qaeda, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and other terrorist groups are active in Afghanistan, but their eradication required the fight of all countries.

He urged regional leaders to prevent the trafficking of weapons and other materials that could aid terrorists in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan has become the member of Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) a regional grouping of more than 30 nations of Asia. A press release issued by the Afghan President’s office in Kabul on Wednesday said the first Summit of the forum in Kuwait on Tuesday Afghanistan was welcomed and congratulated as a new member of the organization.

President Karzai thanked Kuwait and all ACD member states on their constant support for making Afghanistan a member of the ACD forum. He hoped that Afghanistan’s membership in Asia Cooperation Dialogue will further provide the opportunity to better strengthen regional cooperation for the well being of the whole continent and beyond. Afghan President said the ACD can enable Afghanistan to further strengthen peaceful co-existence among cultures and civilizations in the

continent. Asia Cooperation Dialogue was founded in 2002 in Thailand.

India is one of the founder nations of the organization. Almost all Asian countries are members of the regional forum and number of its members has crossed 30.

Founded in Thailand in 2002, the Asia Cooperation Dialogue is a forum of more than 30 countries of the Asian continent. It members include India, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Iran and the major oil producing countries of the Persian Gulf. The key objectives of the ACD are to transform the Asian continent into an Asian Community, capable of interacting with the rest of the world on a more equal footing and contributing more positively towards mutual peace and prosperity. Regional groupings like ACD should play a major role in peace and progress in war ravaged Afghanistan.

Thousands of British troops to quit Afghanistan in 2013

Britain plans to withdraw thousands of troops from Afghanistan next year, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said on Sunday, as pressure mounts to end British involvement in the costly and unpopular war.

More than 430 British troops have been killed in Afghanistan since the US-led intervention in 2001, yet stability remains elusive and violence high, while relations between Western troops and Afghan forces and civilians are increasingly frayed. Britain on Sunday said it had charged five soldiers with

murder as part of an investigation into what it called an engagement with an insurgent in Afghanistan last year, and that a total of nine soldiers had been arrested in connection with the case.

Some 500 British troops are to be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of this year, leaving around 9,000 still there. Asked about troop withdrawals next year, Hammond told a news channel: “I would expect it will be significant, which means thousands, not hundreds, but I would not expect it to be the

majority.” That would indicate a potential withdrawal of up to 4,500 personnel in 2013. All British combat

troops are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

Britain’s defence budget, like that of other NATO members, is under pressure, forcing the defence ministry to slash spending and cut force numbers and equipment programmes.

The Treasury, struggling to revive a flagging economy, earlier this year said it would use money once earmarked for the military mission in Afghanistan to fund tax cuts.

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Saarc international I Thursday 18 October 2012

WEEKLY REVIEW OF BANGLADESH NEWS

World peace not possible excluding Muslims: PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina addresses 26th convocation of Islamic University of Technology in Gazipur on Tuesday Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday said establishing any permanent and durable peace in the world is not possible excluding 1.5 billion Muslims.

“Proper understanding of the distinct code of life and culture of the 1.5 billion Muslims is essential for real peace and stability of our beloved planet,” she told the 26th convocation of the Islamic University of Technology (IUT) in Gazipur.

Due to the strong bonding of brotherhood among 57 OIC

countries, the world, particularly the developed, has realised that a relationship with the Islamic World based on justice is vital, the prime minister said.

With IUT Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Imtiaz Hussain in the chair, the function was also addressed by Mehmet Vakur Erkul, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Turkey to Bangladesh and Chairman of the Governing Board, IUT. Dr Razley bin Nordin, director general of Science & Technology, OIC read out a statement of OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu at the function, while Dr

Ahasan Habib, registrar of the IUT, delivered the vote of thanks.

The prime minister also called upon the graduates of the IUT to move forward by facing all challenges

‘97% MPs linked to negative activities’ A Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) research published on Sunday said 97 percent Members of Parliament (MPs) are involved in ‘negative activities’.

It says they influence administration, control educational institutes, misappropriate development fund and even back criminal activities.

The Bangladesh chapter of the Berlinbased Transparency International also says that the MPs influence the administration’s procurement decision, break electoral rules, and in many cases provide false information to get plots.

TIB recommended passing a code of conduct bill with provisions for taking legal steps against the legislators for such breach of rules and powers.

The group unveiled the findings on Sunday at a news conference at the Brac Centre Inn in Dhaka where a top official of the independent corruption watchdog said the MPs consider their posts ‘a means of profit making’.

TIB Senior Programme Manager (Research and Policy) Shahjada M Akram presented the research findings titled ‘Review of Positive and Negative Roles of the Ninth Parliament Members’.

TIB Trustee Board Chairperson Sultana Kamal, Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman, Trustee M Hafizuddin Khan were also present.

Iftekharuzzaman said, “The MPs are involving in negative activities while doing development works apart from their main responsibility as they consider their membership in parliament as a source of profitable earning.”

Shahjada M Akram told the press

briefing that they organised 44 discussions in 42 districts of the country for the research. At least 600 people including teachers, businessmen, lawyers, other professionals and journalists attended those discussions.

These people discussed and evaluated activities of 149 MPs --136 from ruling Awami League and 13 from the opposition. There are 27 ministers and state ministers among them.

TIB officials said the research was done based on the information and opinion of the direct or indirect experiences of those who attended the discussions.

Akram said among the 97 percent of these MPs directly involved in ‘negative activities, seven are reserved seat women MPs and five are MPs from the opposition.

On the other hand, of the 149 MPs, 53.7 percent is involved with ‘positive activities’. Of them, six are reserved seat women MPs, five are opposition MPs and 19 others are either ministers or state ministers.

The research included issues such as – contribution in health or education sectors, good relationship with the opposition, contribution in agriculture and local infrastructure development,

personal activities, maintaining law and order, ensuring women empowerment as ‘positive activities’.

Akram said national level newspapers have published reports on negative activities of 181 MPs (51.7 percent) in the time between January, 2009 and September, 2012.

Evaluation of Parliament business days between the first and seven sessions shows that the attendance percentage of the MPs in the sessions is only 67 percent. The question-answer session of the Prime Minister and the ministers takes 23.8 percent of the total time of a session while formulation of a law takes only 9.2 percent of the time.

The TIB research report also said the Parliament has no legal system to ensure accountability of the MPs except just staging the General Elections after every five years.

TIB Senior Programme Manager Akram said the ‘culture of no punishment’ has thrived because of no formulation of new committee in grassroots level of the major political parties for a long time, no conference, lack of creating new leaders and taking no steps against the MPs involved in negative activities.

in the practical field through hard labour. “You will have to work for your country’s socioeconomic development through the technical knowledge and experiences you

acquired,” she said, adding, “Now, it is your responsibility to expose yourself in front of the real world and work hard to face and win all challenges.”

Hasina advised the graduates not to give up hope when they face any obstacles. “You would continue your efforts, as ceaseless endeavours and integrity must bring successes,” she said. “We all need to open our minds and hearts to understand the needs of others, and be willing to compromise and make sacrifice, on the basis of justice and fairness, and thereby, achieve a world of peace and harmony, for our future generations,” she added.

High Court seeks report over Ramu violence

The High Court on Monday directed the government to submit a report by November 6 on the security measures taken following the Ramu violence.

The court came up with the order during hearing of a writ petition that challenged the government inaction in preventing the violence in Ramu on September 29 that eventually spread to Ukhia, Teknaf and Chittagong on September 30.

and houses of the minority communities.

The court also said it would hear the supplementary petition also on November 6.

SC lawyer on Sunday filed the supplementary petition seeking HC directive for forming a judicial probe commission to investigate into the violence.

During the Monday’s proceedings, Deputy Attorney General Moklesur

Muslim fanatics destroyed 12 temples, monasteries and 50 houses on September 29 following posting of an alleged defamation of the holy Quran on a Facebook account of a local Buddhist person in Ramu of Cox’s Bazar.

Supreme Court lawyer Eunus Ali Akond on October 3 filed the writ petition saying that local law enforcers have failed to take appropriate measures to protect the temples, monasteries

Rahman told the court that the government had taken security measures after the violence.

A report would be submitted to the court on the issue later, he added.

The deputy attorney general also prayed to the court for some time to submit the report.

After hearing on the issues, the HC bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar fixed November 6 for further order on this issue.

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WEEKLY REVIEW OF BHUTAN NEWS

Bhutan Bans Religious Activity Ahead Of Election

Political leaders in the tiny Buddhist nation of Bhutan have announced a nearly six-month ban on all public religious activities ahead of

expected in June 2013. But it also states that religious institutions and clergy “shall not hold, conduct, organize or host” any public activity

to a “noble national declaration” in the constitution calling for religion to be above politics while requiring religious institutions and figures

mixing of religion and politics. He claims it has “unstinted support and cooperation from all quarters.”

However, the local daily Kuensel

the upcoming elections, citing the Himalayan nation’s constitution that says “religion shall remain above politics.”

A notification by the Election Commission of Bhutan asks people’s “prayers and blessings” for the second parliamentary election,

from Jan. 1 until the election.

The ban comes a year after the country’s religious affairs ministry identified Buddhist and Hindu clergy who should be barred from voting to keep a clear distinction between religion and politics.

The commission’s notification refers

to promote the Buddhist spiritual heritage. That rule “provides for the political system to be secular where religion is elevated to the higher pedestal,” says the notification.

Election Commissioner Chogyel Dago Rigdzin explained that the ban is a “preventive measure” to avoid

newspaper reports that people, clergy and politicians find the embargo ambiguous, and are concerned because rituals are part of people’s lives in the nation of 700,000 people. Rigdzin admitted “there will be gray areas and ... complications,” but added, “we

have to deal with it.”

Formerly a Buddhist monarchy for more than a century, Bhutan held its first democratic elections in 2008. The nation’s constitution, which says Mahayana Buddhism is the state religion, provides for funding for Buddhist monks.

An editorial in Kuensel said religion is kept above politics in Bhutan because “earthly games like politics” are for “the lesser mortals.”

Around 75 percent of the Bhutanese are Buddhist. Another 22 percent are Hindus, the only other officially recognized religion. Christians make up less than 2 percent of the country.

In many countries, misuse of religion is causing discord and tensions, said Tashi Gyeltshen, a filmmaker.

“In Bhutan, it can be very tricky.

It’s a very religious country,” he said. “Buddhism even provides for a Buddhist king. So what’s the problem with clergy’s participation in politics?”

Bhutanese refugees get free uniforms from EU‚ UNHCR

Refugee students in the Beldangi and Sanischare camps in eastern Nepal were given school uniforms funded by the European Union (EU) and UNHCR the European Union (EU) and UNHCR on Tuesday. Around 9,800 children between the ages of 6 to 16 will benefit from the scheme.

The donation is a part of the overall EU funding of Euro 2,950,000 to the UN refugee agency for the period 2011 to 2014.

Giap Dang, Trade and Economic Advisor of the EU Delegation to Nepal said, “Using your time to study is the best investment that you can make for your future. Education is also your best passport for life. I wear these uniforms with happiness, and I wish that they bring you luck and will help you in your commitment to study well in school.”

Fourteen-year-old Ashmita Subba, a student at the Panchawati School in the Beldangi camp said, “I am very happy today to get my new uniforms.

We do not have the money to buy

Devotees throng Gahawamai temple to offer puja on the first day of the greatest Hindu festival‚ Dashain in Birgunj on Tuesday‚

new ones, and I have been wearing these old uniforms for the last two years.”

Since 2009 when the students last received uniforms, they have been wearing the same uniforms and for some they are the only clothes they have. School uniforms are an ongoing need for the refugee children.

Due to lack of funds free uniforms

could not be provided to them since then.

“We are very grateful to the European Union for their continued support to the Nepal programme and particularly for the donation of school uniforms which is a great support and help to the refugee children,” said Mads Madsen, UNHCR Acting Head of Sub-Office Damak. He also

Participants taking part in the Kalas Rally on the first day of the Nawaratri Puja in Pathlaiya of Bara on Tuesday‚ October 16‚ 2012.

thanked CARITAS Nepal for their untiring support for the education of refugee children and undertaking the task of procuring and distributing the school uniforms very efficiently and successfully.

The EU has provided continuous support to UNHCR’s activities in Nepal since the beginning of the programme for refugees from

Bhutan. So far, more than 72,160 refugees from Bhutan have left their camps in Nepal to begin a new life in third countries. Some 41,885 remain in the camps, which was 108,000 before the programme began. Among the remaining population, over 32,478 persons have already declared an interest in resettlement.

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Saarc international I Thursday 18 October 2012

WEEKLY REVIEW OF INDIA NEWS

UP government won’t be impartial in Salman PM not on silent mode: PMO Khurshid probe, alleges Arvind Kejriwal Law Minister Salman Khurshid has said he will not resign over allegations that his NGO embezzled funds granted by the Central government meant to help differently-abled people. He said he will brief the Prime Minister on the controversy that centres on whether his NGO used the money it was given to buy and distribute equipment like crutches and hearing aids in Uttar Pradesh.

Activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal who has devoted the last few days to campaigning for Mr Khurshid’s dismissal offered what he described as more proof against the minister today. At a sit-in protest in Delhi, he produced three differentlyabled people whose names allegedly figure on the list of beneficiaries of the minister’s trust; they deny they were helped by the trust in 2011.

By late afternoon, Mr Kejriwal and his associates announced, after consulting the gathered crowed of supporters, that they are moving the protest to Mr Khurshid’s constituency Farrukhabad.

“In the last three-four days, Salman Khurshid has been exposed in front of the country... the Congress has been exposed... and so has the Prime Minister,” Mr Kejriwal said. Mr Kejriwal also said that an inquiry against Mr Khurshid, initiated by the UP government, cannot be impartial.

He said that Mulayam Singh Yadav,

whose son Akhilesh is the Chief Minister of UP, is being investigated for corruption. Mr Kejriwal alleged that Mr Yadav and the Congress

could trade favours.

“How can you say the inquiry is fair or not before the report is made public?” Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav asked today.

Meanwhile, the Congress continued to defend the Union Law Minister.

“Khurshid’s trust has done good work, it’s on record. There is no question of isolating him, he is an important minister of the UPA. We cannot respond to Kejriwal all the time,” Congress leader Ambika Soni said.

Congress General Secretary Digivjaya Singh told NDTV, “He came to me in 2010 with Swami Agnivesh and requested me that I should promote his name to become a member of the NAC. Probably Soniaji knew more about him than me, so she refused.”

Mr Singh also said Mr Kejriwal wants to foist his opinion without proper evidence. “Na khata na

Beni Prasad backs Khurshid, says Rs 71 lakh is too low for a scam

Supporting his colleague and party man Salman Khurshid, Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma came up with a statement that did not go down well with many.

Quizzed on the NGO row Khurshid

found himself troubled in, Beni Prasad said, “Rs. 71 lakh is too little for a minister like him to get into a scam. I would have taken it seriously if the amount was Rs 71 crore.”

He also used the ‘opportunity’ to slam India Against Corruption (IAC) leader Arvind Kejriwal, who had levelled allegations against Khurshid and his wife Louise Khurshid. “Kejriwal talks all the time. People who talk all the time are insignificant.”

Earlier on the day, Kejriwal alleged that most of the beneficiaries of eqipment meant for handicapped people distributed by a trust run

by Law Minister Salman Khurshid were ‘fictitious names’.

Kejriwal, who on Sunday said he would produce more ‘evidence’ against Khurshid whom he has accused of forgery and embezzlement of funds through an NGO, said IAC members tried to locate the people given wheelchairs, hearing aids and tricycles by the trust, but found most of them to be ‘fictitious’.

bahi, jo Kejriwal kahe woh sahi (No documents or evidence, but whatever Kejriwal says must be considered true).”

Last week, Hindi TV channel Aaj Tak broadcasted a sting stating that the money, meant to buy equipment for special-needs residents in Uttar Pradesh, was released to the NGO on the basis of forged documents. The signatures of UP government officials were allegedly forged on documents that testified that camps were held in different parts of UP to distribute equipment like hearing aid, crutches and mechanized tricycles for the differently-abled. Mr Khurshid is suing the media group which owns the channel for Rs. 200 crore on charges of defamation.

At a press conference yesterday where he often lost his temper at reporters from Aaj Tak, the minister waved photos that showed him inaugurating some of these camps.

Mr Kejriwal says the photos do not clear Mr Khurshid because they are taken after the period under scrutiny. Mr Kejriwal has been citing the TV expose to demand that Mr Khurshid be removed for misusing Rs. 71 lakh given by the Centre to his NGO for 2009-10. Mr Kejriwal, who formed his own political party earlier this month, was arrested last week when leading a group of demonstrators including some special-needs protestors, towards the Prime Minister’s house.

Mr Khurshid said he “will not oblige them (activists like Mr Kejriwal) by quitting. His wife, Louise, who runs the NGO, said, “People are doing politics on the shoulders of the disabled.”

Opposition parties might charge Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with maintaining silence on key issues but he addresses gatherings every third day, his office said on Tuesday.

“Prime Minister to make his 100th speech for the year 2012, at Hyderabad today (Tuesday). He addresses gatherings every third day,” the Prime Minister’s Office said on microblogging site Twitter.

Manmohan Singh delivered his 100th speech this year at the inauguration of the Eleventh Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity here on Tuesday.

The prime minister has been under attack from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other activists of keeping silent on issues of corruption, rise in

prices of essential commodities and other issues.

Apart from delivering speeches, the prime minister’s office had also issued 160 releases to the media this year.

Since 2004, the PM has addressed events and the nation 1,368 times and his office has issued 1,502 releases to the media till Tuesday, according to information available.

Mumbai named world’s worst city in terms of sustainability: Report Mumbai is considered to be the worst city in terms of sustainability, a new report has found.

The report by PricewaterhouseCoopers said that Sydney, the only Australian city on the list, was the 11th most influential city overall and topped the list in terms of sustainability.

The city was ranked second for demographics and livability, behind Paris, and third for health, safety and security, behind Stockholm and Chicago.

Mumbai, however, had a better transportation system than Sydney, which is the fourth-worst major city in the world for transport and infrastructure.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, in global terms, it would be better taking a train or bus

in Mumbai, Moscow, Istanbul, Shanghai or Beijing than travelling in Sydney.

The far-from-flattering assessment of Sydney’s public transport system, however, puts it ahead of only Los Angeles, Sao Paulo and Johannesburg for operation and coverage, according to the Cities of Opportunity study.

The accountancy firm ranked 27 of the world’s biggest and most influential cities on factors such as quality of life, economic factors, technology and cost of doing business.

Sydney was ranked the fourthworst major city in terms of the ‘transportation and infrastructure experience for residents and visitors’.

Overall, New York came No.1, followed by London, Toronto, Paris and Stockholm.

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WEEKLY REVIEW OF PAKISTAN NEWS

Gunmen kill four Shias in Quetta: police

Gunmen shot dead four people from the Shia community on Tuesday, in what appears to be a fresh sectarian attack in Pakistan’s troubled southwestern province of Balochistan, police said.

All those killed ran junk and scrap shops in the Kabarhi Market in Quetta, the provincial capital where sectarian and separatist violence is common.

“It was a sectarian attack. Gunmen on motorbikes opened fire on them and drove away,” Asif Ghafoor, a senior police official, told AFP. The province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, is plagued

by sectarian violence between the minority Shia and majority Sunni community, as well as by Taliban

President Zardari reaffirms Pakistan’s resolve for regional cooperation

President Asif Ali Zardari has reaffirmed Pakistan’s resolve to strengthen regional cooperation particularly in trade and economic fields for the progress and prosperity of the people.

Addressing the Economic Cooperation Organisation summit in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku today‚ he said Shaheed Benazir Bhutto gave a vision to promote trade among ECO and she struggled for the rights of women and children throughout her life. Leaders from ten member countries including Pakistan‚ Afghanistan‚ Iran‚ Turkey‚ Azerbaijan‚ Tajikistan‚ Turkmenistan‚ Kyrgyzstan‚ Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are attending the Summit.

make has to go a long way to establish it on the lines of Association of South East Asian Nations and the European Union.

President Zardari will also meet with leaders of other countries on the sidelines of the Summit and discuss bilateral relations and regional issues.

The Summit provides a platform to discuss ways to promote trade and investment opportunities among the member countries. The common objective of the member countries is to establish a single market for goods and services on the patron of European Union.

Meanwhile‚ Foreign Minister Hina

President Zardari said the regional countries should make concerted efforts to combat all challenges of the day‚ including terrorism‚ poverty‚ and illiteracy.

He called for removing all the hurdles in the way of promoting mutual trade.

In this regard‚ he proposed to launch a train service to promote trade and people to people contact among people of the member states.

The President said the ECO will have to

Rabbani Khar has stressed for strengthening intra-regional economic cooperation in important areas of trade and commerce‚ infrastructure connectivity and energy among the ECO countries. Speaking at the Council of Foreign Ministers meeting ahead of the ECO Summit in Baku‚ she said this is essential to come up to the hopes and aspirations of the people of the region.

She said ECO Trade and Transit Transport Framework Agreement should

attacks and a separatist insurgency.

Riasat Ali, another police official confirmed the incident and told AFP

that the victims were critically injured and died on their way to hospital.

The victims of the shooting were from

the Hazara community, the APP said in its report.

Sectarian violence involving Sunni and Shias, who account for around 20 per cent of the population, has killed thousands of people since the late 1990s.

Despite having large reserves of oil and gas, Balochistan remains one of Pakistan’s most impoverished provinces, and bomb blasts and attacks on police and security forces are common.

In 2004 Baloch rebels rose up, demanding political autonomy and a greater share of profits from the region’s mineral resources.

13 killed in firing in Pakistan’s Karachi At least 13 people were killed and several others injured in separate incidents of target-killing and police encounter in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi on Tuesday, police said.

On Tuesday evening, two unknown armed men riding a motorbike opened fire at the car of Director Education Karachi Shamim Khan in Hyderabad Colony of the city.

Khan was rushed to a private clinic where he succumbed to injuries. Police said, Khan received five bullets in head and chest and the incident was a part of target killing.

In a separate incident at evening, a man

Assistant Sub- Inspector was shot dead in the firing by unidentified armed men in North Nazimabad area, raising the police’s death toll to 68 during the current year in Karachi.

Two target-killing suspects were killed in the Sohrab Goth area. Police said that they carried out a search operation in the area after receiving a tip-off by intelligence agencies during which two miscreants clashed with them. One of the suspects was killed right on the spot while the other died later at hospital.

Another man was shot dead in unidentified gunmen’s firing on a car in New Town on Tuesday morning. Three

injured in the encounter.

Additional number of police and rangers has been reportedly deployed in the city to control the law and order situation. Police apprehended eight suspected miscreants and claimed to recover arms and ammunition from their custody.

Karachi, the business hub of Pakistan, is home to 21 million people of different religions, sects, political parties and ethnicities.

According to police, most of the target killings in the city are either political or religious motivated. Some of the people are also killed by extortion-mafia. The

was shot dead by unknown gunmen in Layari area. The attackers fled from the scene after the attack and the killed man has not been identified yet.

In the afternoon, a political activist of the leading Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) was shot down by unknown gunmen in Shahrah-e- Noor Jahan area of Karachi. Police said that the attack was political motivated.

In another incident in the afternoon, an

bodies with eminent marks of torture and gunfire were found in gunny bags from Crown Cinema, Mauripur Road of the metropolis. Police said that the killed people were kidnapped and later killed.

In a pre-dawn raid by police and Citizen Police Liaison Committee near Mauripur area, three kidnappers were killed and an abducted trader was released. Two policemen were also

involvement of Taliban in deterioration of the law and order situation of the city cannot also be ruled out.

The Karachi police have repeatedly claimed to arrest Taliban militants from the city. Earlier last week, Senior Superintendent of Crime Investigating Department Sindh, Fayyaz Khan claimed to have apprehended two alleged members of Pakistan Taliban in two separate raids in the metropolis.

Amir Khan is more famous now after his loss to Garcia

Continued from page 32 >> was quite embarrassed at times to see people who I know had supported me, that might be laughing at me.

“But they said, ‘We didn’t know you had so much heart to come off the floor and keeping fighting so hard’.”

The Bolton proud feels people are respecting him for coming back and still trying to fight fighters of the top calibre.

According to Khan, a lot of fighters leave fighting after such devastating losses but he has not.

“I’ve got a lot left. I’ve made a mistake but I’ve learnt from a mistake before and come back stronger and I’m going to do it again.”

Khan lost to Danny Garcia on July 14 via knockout. The defeat was a career devastating one for the Bolton proud who was hoping to face American

unbeaten fighter Floyd Mayweather but now the Briton is facing Carlos Molina.

Khan fired Hall of Famer trainer Freddie Roach, believing he was unable to improve the Bolton proud’s defence.

Khan attributed his loss against Garcia to his weak defence, saying his trainer was unable to give him enough time to improve his game.

Now, Khan is hopeful that Virgil Hunter will be a great addition to his camp.

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Saarc international I Thursday 18 October 2012

WEEKLY REVIEW OF MALDIVE NEWS

Maldives opposition: ex-president charged under outdated law

Maldives opposition complained that former president Mohamed Nasheed is charged under an outdated law and legal action against him is politically motivated.

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said that Nasheed is charged under an “archaic and incomplete” Penal Code that predates the democratic transition in 2008.

“We are deeply concerned the prosecutor general is proceeding with the trial that will neither be fair nor lawful. President Nasheed is charged under obsolete regulation that

does not tally with the new democratic constitution and this trial is politically motivated,” stated Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, MDP spokesperson for International Affairs.

On October 8, Nasheed was arrested on a warrant after he skipped two hearings to face the trial on abuse of power by ordering the detention of Chief Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Mohamed during his final days in office.

Nasheed is charged under Article 81 of the Maldivian Penal Code titled “Public

servant using authority to arrest or detain innocent persons.” If found guilty Nasheed may be disqualified from contesting in the presidential election and even could be jailed or banished to a remote island for three years.

The former president claimed that he was ousted in a military backed coup on February 8. A Commonwealth-backed inquiry into the military coup rejected his claim and ruled that power transfer from Nasheed to his vice Waheed was constitutional.

Comment

Maldives’ judiciary unreformed and unrepentant

By Eva Abdulla I have read with concern a number of articles and commentaries over recent weeks which appear to be based on two false premises: first, that the Maldives judiciary is independent and impartial; and second, that it is capable of delivering a fair trial to the democratically elected President of this country, Mr Mohamed Nasheed.

Neither premise holds-up to careful scrutiny.

The first false-premise, which is regularly put forward by members of the Government, especially Dr Hassan Saeed, as well as by the Maldives’ own ‘independent’ UN Resident Coordinator, Mr Andrew Cox, appears to be based on a misguided reading of the concept of ‘independence’. In essence, this misreading holds that if our Constitution says that the judiciary is ‘independent’ then it must be so, irrespective of what the on-the-ground reality tells us.

The 2008 Constitution does of course establish a separation of powers and makes clear, in article 142, that “judges are independent”. But just because the Constitution says this is so, does not, of course, magic the situation into existence.

What the Constitution also does therefore is set up mechanisms to ensure judicial independence, impartiality and integrity. It therefore makes clear that all judges will, under the new Constitution, be subject to a reappointment process (article 285) and that to be (re)appointed, judges (article 149) “must possess the educational qualifications, experience and recognized competence

necessary to discharge the duties and responsibilities of a Judge, and must be of a high moral character”.

Central to this process is the Judicial Services Commission (JSC), which is responsible for both the (re) appointment process and for upholding the impartiality and integrity of judges including by listening to complaints and taking “disciplinary action” against them if necessary (article 159b).

The importance of these mechanisms is clear when one recalls that all judges at the time of the entry-into-force of the new Constitution had been appointed by, and owed their loyalties to, former President Gayoom during his 30-year rule.

However, as Aishath Velezinee, President Nasheed’s former member on the JSC, has demonstrated in her book “The Failed Silent Coup”, former President Gayoom succeeded, through securing a post-election de facto majority in the Majlis, in controlling the appointment of members to the JSC and thus of controlling the JSC’s reappointment and disciplinary procedures.

As a result, despite ample evidence of some judges possessing neither the competence, qualifications nor moral character to be reappointed, the JSC quickly moved to swear them all in, arguing that the criteria laid down by the Constitution to control reappointment were only “symbolic” .

When Velezinee objected she was manhandled out of the room.

In the years thereafter, the JSC compounded this failure by refusing to process any of the multiple public complaints it received against Gayoom-era justices. When, in 2011, it finally bowed to public pressure and recommended disciplinary action be taken against Judge Abdullah Mohamed, a man accused of serial wrongdoings over many years, the judge in question simply asked his friends in the Civil Court to annul the

proceedings.

When the Civil Court did so, it removed the last pretense that the Maldives’ judiciary is independent, impartial or accountable. As of that date, the Maldives’ judiciary became a failed institution.

So what of the second premise: that such a judiciary is capable of delivering a fair trial to President Nasheed, who is ‘accused’ of arresting Judge Abdullah Mohamed after the judge used his friends in the Civil Court to circumvent the Constitution and then used his position in the Criminal Court to repeatedly free not just allies of former President Gayoom, but also a number of known criminals?

Here, it is perhaps worth turning to respected international experts, international organisations and NGOs which have studied the Maldives judiciary and the justice sector more broadly.

The systematic problems facing the judicial system have been widely documented and were perhaps best summed-up by legal expert Professor Paul Robinson who advised the Maldives on judicial reform.

In his 2005 report, he characterised the Maldives criminal justice system as “systematically failing to do justice and regularly doing injustice”.

One of Professor Robinson’s main recommendations – to conduct a complete overhaul of the country’s archaic Penal Code – remains unimplemented. As a consequence, the Prosecutor-General is insisting on prosecuting President Nasheed on the basis of a Code drafted in the 1960s and which is based on a document produced in India in the 19th century.

In February 2011, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) visited the Maldives and issued a report which echoed many of Professor Robinson’s earlier concerns and demonstrated that, irrespective of the new Constitution, little had changed.

In its report, the ICJ expressed concern at “the apparent failure of the JSC to fulfill its constitutional mandate of properly vetting and reappointing judges” as well as the “judicialisation of politics”.

“The JSC”, according to the ICJ, “was unable to carry out its functions in a sufficiently transparent, timely, and impartial manner”. The ICJ concluded that the complete lack of judicial accountability in the Maldives undermines public confidence and calls into question the institution’s independence.

In July 2012, the United Nations Human Rights Committee considered the state of the Maldives judiciary. In its concluding statement, the Committee said it was “deeply concerned about the state of the judiciary in the Maldives”.

“The State has admitted that this body’s independence is seriously compromised” noted the Committee, which called for serious reform of the Supreme Court, the judiciary more broadly and the Judicial Service Commission.

These findings were mirrored by both Amnesty International and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) in late 2012, following their visits to the Maldives. For example, FIDH in its report “From Sunrise to Sunset” on human rights in the Maldives, noted that despite important constitutional changes, “different sections of the judiciary have failed to become fully independent”, while pointing out that the JSC lacks transparency and its members are prone to “conflicts of interest”.

With the above in mind, it is difficult to understand how members of the government or some parts of the international community can claim with any degree of sincerity that our judiciary is either independent or capable of delivering a fair trial for President Nasheed or the hundreds of other Maldives Democratic Party

(MDP) members currently facing prosecution for “terrorism” and other trumped-up charges.

If justice is indeed blind, then why are hundreds of MDP supporters awaiting trial, while not one police officer or member of the current government has been held accountable for the widelydocumented brutality unleashed against protesters since February 7?

And if justice is indeed blind, then why are cases against MDP supporters being fast-tracked while there are over 2000 other cases pending with the Prosecutor-General? Why have all the serious corruption cases against Gayoom’s political allies been either sidelined or discontinued?

Perhaps the most damning indictment of the Maldives judiciary is that, at this time of political division, it is the one subject about which nearly everyone in the country can agree. Whether you are for President Nasheed or against him; whether you think February 7 was a legitimate change in government or a coup, nearly everyone – at least outside the President’s Office – agrees that our judicial sector are not fit for purpose.

And yet it is this deeply flawed institution, wielding a two hundred year old legal code that is supposedly able to deliver a fair trial for President Nasheed.

Over recent years, we have achieved much. We have amended our Constitution, embraced party politics, held our first free and fair elections, voted-out a 30 year old autocracy and voted-in our first democratically elected leader.

But the judiciary has failed to come even close to matching this pace of change and remains, by-and-large, the same institution as it was during the Gayoom era – unreformed and unrepentant.

Eva Abdulla is an MP in the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

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WEEKLY REVIEW OF NEPAL NEWS

Whole national efforts focused on new constitution: Prachanda

Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that Nepal’s whole national effort is currently focused on drafting and promulgating the constitution through democratic and inclusive means, which will institutionalise peace, stability, democracy and justice in the country.

Addressing the special session of the European Parliament in Brussels on Monday, Chairman Dahal said the country is making a determined move along her chosen path to peace, democracy and social justice consistently and in an accelerated manner.

“Political process that followed the CPA has been instrumental in creating a conducive atmosphere for the protection and promotion of human rights in the country”, he said.

Stating that the government led by the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) took bold steps to conclude the army integration process, Chairman Dahal said, however, due to lack of flexibility on the part of some adamant political forces to accommodate the issues

and aspirations of janajatis, madhesis, dalits, oppressed class and people from backward communities political consensus has become difficult.

“Unless major contentious issues like these are resolved, consensus on constitution writing will continue to be problematic. This, together with the issue of identity-based federation, is one of the most important reasons that the extended tenure of the CA expired without the delivery of a new constitution”, Dahal said.

He further said that the CA was also dissolved because of the unwillingness of the traditional parliamentary parties to part with the power and privileges hitherto enjoyed by them at the expense of the legitimate aspirations and rights of the downtrodden and marginalized people.

Referring to the ongoing political transition, Chairman Dahal said in order to make Nepal’s transition viable we need to harness our domestic resources to create employment and income as well as international goodwill, support and assistance to come out of the

conflict situation.

Chairman Dahal said, “our friends in the international community can helps us not only through trade and aid but also through direct investment in the resources, tourism and industrial development, transport connectivity, information technology and other fields.

Highlighting fundamental principles of Nepal’s foreign policy, he said our country’s conduct of foreign affairs is guided by our objectives of promoting friendly and cooperative relationship with neighbouring and all other countries around the world on the basis of equality,

‘PM has no right to talk about president’s jurisdiction’

Nepali Congress Vice President Ramchandra Poudel has said the Prime Minister with the caretaker

status has no right to comment over the statement of the President who has a role of guardianship in

the present crisis in the country.

Speaking at a press meet organised by the Nepal Press Union, Syangja chapter at Waling on Tuesday, he said Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has no right to talk about the jurisdiction of the President.

“The Prime Minister verbally reprimanding the President is unbecoming of his status as Prime Minister “, he added.

He accused the government of promoting corruption in the country. The Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML are planning to hold a protest demonstration against the incumbent coalition government on November 9, he said.

Nepal Police makes facebook account public

Nepal Police has established a facebook account with a view to collecting complaints from general public, controlling criminal activities, and sharing information about police organisation to one and all.

Nepal Police has made the account www.facebook.com/ nepalpolice public on the 57th Police Day, Tuesday.

The facebook page has been started to make police activities public, receive news, pictures, and videos of the criminal activities, and disseminate other information related to Nepal Police among the public, according to the Secretariat of Inspector General of Police.

The general public could report their complaints and

receive information about the police organisation which will be checked regularly and sent to the concerned police units for action.

mutual respect, friendship and understanding.

“Protecting and promoting our larger national interests constitute the core objective of our foreign policy and our diplomatic endeavours abroad”, Dahal said.

Stating that the EU member countries have a special relation with Nepal, the UCPN-Maoist Chairman said continued support of the EU and its member countries were of immense value during the whole peace process, and expressed the conviction Nepal would continue to receive an enhanced level of goodwill, understanding, support and assistance as it moves ahead to address the needs of rehabilitation, reconstruction and development in the post conflict situation.

On the occasion, Chairman Dahal also congratulated the people and the leadership of the European Union for winning this year’s Nobel peace Prize in recognition of its contribution to the promotion of peace, democracy and human rights not only within its borders but also around the world.

H5N1 scare in Nepal, hundreds of birds culled Hundreds of birds have been culled in central Nepal after the presence of bird flu virus was confirmed at a poultry farm.

Animal health officials decided to cull all birds and destroy eggs suspected to be infected with a strain of H5N1 virus in Bhaktapur district, 15 km east of the capital

According to officials out of 2,000 chickens at the farm, 1,200 had already died of infection from the virus.

After a sudden spurt in deaths of the birds, samples were sent to an animal health laboratory for examination.

Though the laboratory had

Kathmandu.

Tests at the farm had confirmed the presence of bird flu virus in the chicken. Directorate of Animal Health killed 780 chickens at the poultry farm following the confirmation, officials said on Tuesday.

Around 150 crates of eggs and six sacks of feeds stored at the farm were also destroyed as part of preventive measures.

The decision to kill the fowls was taken by the meeting of district coordination committee headed by Chief District Officer (CDO) held yesterday.

confirmed the presence of the flu virus on Saturday, the chickens were culled only yesterday.

“The preparation for culling chickens takes at least two days,” said Dr Narayan Prasad Ghimire, a senior veterinary officer at Department of Animal Health.

Authorities began disinfecting the area today.

“Surveillance will be intensified and veterinary officials deployed to monitor other poultry farms close to Khadka’s,” he said.

High alert was issued in and around Kathmandu to prevent the spreading of the virus.

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WEEKLY REVIEW OF SRILANKA NEWS

Sri Lanka President arrives in Kuwait to participate in ACD summit Kuwait City: The President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa arrived in Amiri International Airport in Kuwait on Monday to attend the First Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Summit.

Upon his arrival, the Sri Lankan President was warmly received by the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah along with the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah, Prime Minister of Kuwait Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, high level ministers and senior officials of the Kuwaiti government and

senior officers in the army, police and National Guard.

Later, the President held a discussion with the Amir of

Kuwait.

The first Summit of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue will be held in Kuwait City from 15 to 17

Poverty alleviation is a high priority for Asia, Sri Lankan President tells Asian leaders

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa told the leaders of Asian and Middle Eastern nations today that Asia, although with some of the world’s largest and fast growing economies has the least developed and with the rich and the poor living side by side poverty alleviation becomes an area of high priority for all.

Leaders of 32 Asian and Middle Eastern countries gathered today in Kuwait to participate in the first ever Asia Cooperation Dialogue Summit seeking economic cooperation.

The President addressing the opening session of the Summit chaired by the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah said the with more than half of the world’s population Asia has an abundance of much needed human resources.

He further pointed out that although Asia is one of the most promising markets in the world with rapidly growing economies and income levels, abundant natural sources and the potential to address the challenges of food and energy security, the people in Asia are faced with threats to traditional exports as the world economy shrinks due to the crises in other regions.

President Rajapaksa told the summit that the region is confronted

with pressing challenges such as the menace of terrorism, piracy, climate change, natural disasters, environmental pollution and antisocial activities.

“These challenges are a call for greater cooperation as we now see in the ACD,” the President stressed.

Rapidly fluctuating oil prices is another challenge that developing countries have to face, the President noted.

The summit, aimed at consolidating Asia’s strength and fortifying its competitiveness in the region, looks into the challenges facing Asia, mainly, in the economic field, and proposed solutions to tackle them.

Sharing Sri Lanka’s experience on the Development Framework of Mahinda Chintana Future Vision, the President said development of the rural economy and support for small and medium enterprises are the central pillars of Sri Lanka’s policy where domestic enterprises can be supported while encouraging foreign investment.

Calling for the ACD members to follow up on the decisions made while identifying the areas of cooperation over the last decade, the President said the ACD must now move to implement the projects

of cooperation to significantly transform Asia’s vision into reality.

According to the Sri Lankan President the urgent areas of action include reducing the impact of climate change, protecting the environment and ensuring sustainable development.

“We must work hard to generate employment ensure food security while reducing poverty, expanding literacy and ensuring gender equality,” the President emphasized.

“This Continent of Asia cannot be the playground of other forces, who seek our wealth, our assets of nature and human resources. Our progress must draw from the best of our own cultures and while learning from the best of others who come with genuine friendship,” President Rajapaksa told the Asian leaders.

“We are seeing the dawn of the Age of Asia. We must together see it bring new light to a troubled world dominated by the grave errors of other Continents,” he asserted.

The Minister of External Affairs Prof.

G.L. Peiris, Petroleum Resources Minister Susil Premajayantha, parliamentarian Sajin Vaas Gunawardena, and Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga also attended the summit.

Sri Lanka stocks closed down 0.81 pct

Sri Lanka stocks closed down 0.81 percent Tuesday with several blue chips losing ground.

The Colombo All Share Index closed at 5,608.13 down 45.67 points and the S & P SL 20 Index closed 18.92 points lower at 3,036.94 down 0.62 percent.

Turnover was 515 million rupees. Top contributors to turnover were Asiri Hospital Holdings with 56.8 million rupees, Colombo Dockyard with 46.2million rupees and Ceylon

Tobacco with 46.0million rupees. Most active counters for the day were Nation Lanka Finance, Vallibel One and Free Lanka Capital Holdings. AVIVA NDB Insurance PLC slipped 10.80 rupees to close at 359.20 down 2.92 percent.

Commercial Bank slipped 0.90 cents to close at 106.00 rupees down 0.84 percent. DFCC Bank slipped 1.20 rupees to close at 110.00 rupees down 1.08 percent. Hatton National Bank lost 0.20 cents to close at 155.40 rupees down 0.13 percent.

October 2012.

The Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al- Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah will open the ACD Summit Tuesday

with the participation of 32 Asian nations.

During his visit, President Rajapaksa is expected to meet several Gulf leaders including the King of Saudi Arabia and the Emirs of Kuwait and Qatar on the sidelines of the summit.

Sri Lanka’s External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris, Petroleum resources Minister Susil Premajayantha, parliamentarian and President’s Coordinating Secretary Sajin Vaas Gunawardena, Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga accompanied the President.

Sri Lanka new international Airport launches test landing to begin commercial operation in January

The Mattala Airport had its first ever test landing this morning. The Super king 20, Test Aircraft belongs to Pakistan Civil Aviation Department with dual engine was successfully landed on the new runner way. Sri Lanka hopes to start the commercial operation of its second international Airport at Mattala early next year. Mr. Prasanna Wickremasuriya, Chairman Airport and Aviation Sri Lanka Ltd told Information Department website that the construction work of the Mattala International Airport in the Hambantota district would be completed at the end of the year and its commercial operation will be launched early January 2013.

“It was highly successful as the test aircraft equipped with testing equipment to test all new installation carried out the necessary test of all the equipment and reported they were in order” said Chairman Mr. Wickremasuriya.

This dual engine test Aircraft called Beach aircraft at its preliminary landing was piloted by Pakistani pilot and they would continue their test landing and other logistic checking

continuously for a week as well said the chairman Wickremasuriya.

Construction work of the Mattala International Airport is being handled by a Chinese firm while the testing of the equipment is being carried out by the Pakistani Civil Aviation Authority. Sri Lanka is having only one international Airport- Colombo International Airport the need for an alternative International Air Port was felt, only recently President Mahinda Rajapaksa with the assistance of the Chinese Government commenced this project.

Chairman Airport Aviation Authority describing the Pakistani involvement said that Pakistan was the best option with expertise to handles this type of operations in the region.(hassen)

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Indian army claims Pakistani troops fire across LoC; three civilians killed Pak troops violate ceasefire, kill 3 civilians in mortar shelling in Uri

The Indian army says Pakistani troops have fired across their disputed frontier in the Himalayan region of Kashmir, killing three civilians.

Indian military spokesman Col. Brijesh Pandey said Pakistani forces fired mortars into the Uri sector in Indian-administered Kashmir on Tuesday.

Indian military spokesman Col. Brijesh Pandey said Pakistani forces fired mortars into the Uri sector on the Indian side of Kashmir.

A shell hit a house close to the military line dividing Kashmir

between the countries, killing a man and two teenagers, including a girl, Pandey said. “Pakistani troops fired two 80mm rockets in

an unprovoked ceasefire violation at Lambardar village in Uri sector of Baramulla district,” official sources said.

Uranium sale to India: Oz says safeguard pact may take 1-2 yrs

Defending her move to start talks on supplying uranium to India, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said the ruling Labor’s previous stance against the sale was becoming an obstacle in ties, but made it clear that a safeguard agreement is likely to take one or two years.

Gillard, who is on a three-day visit to India, hosed down any suggestions that uranium sales to India will start quickly, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on Tuesday.

She said that negotiating a safeguard agreement is likely to take one or two years, rather than months.

Gillard, undertaking her maiden India visit as Prime Minister, deflected criticism of future uranium exports and said Australia knew how to negotiate a proper agreement to ensure uranium was used for peaceful purposes.

“I think India is a wonderful example of everything we have been talking about as the possibilities of the Asian century,” another newspaper ‘The Australian’ quoted her as saying.

Gillard said she was sure the uranium issue would be raised during her talks with the Indian leadership.

The Australian Prime Minister is set to meet her Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi during her India visit. Gillard said Australia had negotiated agreements in the past and done so on the basis that its uranium

“is only used for peaceful purposes”.

She said the International Atomic Energy Agency would be involved and India would have a protocol with the IAEA in any agreement.

Separately ABC quoted Gillard as stressing that India was a reliable country that would use the uranium in a responsible manner.

“We know how to negotiate these agreements and we’ve done it in the past, and we’ve done it on the basis that Australian uranium is only used for peaceful purposes,” Gillard said.

“I formed the view as Prime Minister that it was appropriate for us to sell uranium to India, and that it had become an obstacle in our relationship that we were not.”

Gillard won a major victory last December when the Labor party’s national conference voted to overturn a longstanding prohibition on uranium sales to India, which is not a signatory to NPT. With the obstacles of uranium sales and the Indian student safety issue resolved, the Australia-India

relationship is at a point “where we can add a whole lot of weight to our bilateral relationship because our interests are converging,” Gillard was quoted as saying by local media here.

She said the relationship was very focused on commodities and international education but there were enormous opportunities in areas such as water technology, health, legal and financial services.

Gillard said the prospects for further growth in trade were bigger because the relationship with India was less developed than with other Asian nations such as Japan.

She said as a relatively young nation with a median age of 26 India would see its middle class grow by hundreds of millions of people over the next few years.

“Even if you limit the time horizon to the next 10 or 20 years our economy is going to be shaped by this growth of the Asian middle class in which India is going to be a very big contributor,” Gillard said.

One of the shells landed in a civilian area, resulting in the death of three persons, the sources said.

The deceased have been identified

as Mohammad Shafi (25), Liyaqat Ahmad (15) and Shaheena Akhtar (16), they said, adding that Liyaqat was hit when he was going to his school for appearing in 8th standard annual examination.

A local resident told over phone that Pakistani troops had over the past few days objected to construction of a forward post by the Army and sought a halt on the work.

Indian troops did not retaliate and have accused Pakistan of violating a 2003 cease-fire accord. Though the cease-fire has been holding, there have been isolated shooting incidents.

Bangladesh enters 3G era, putting telecom growth on fast track Bangladesh officially entered the next generation of wireless communications Sunday when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated third-generation mobile services via a state-run cellphone operator--Teletalk--China’s state-run news service Xinhua reported.

Prime Minister Hasina launched the technology by making a 3G-enabled mobile-phone call to President Zillur Rahman at a formal ceremony at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center in the capital, Dhaka, Xinhua said.

Experts say the launch of 3G services could assist in minimizing the “digital divide” in Bangladesh, a country poorly served by broadband Internet services.

On the phone with Sheikh Hasina, Mr. Rahman said the 3G launch is expected to put the country’s telecom growth on a fast track.

Xinhua reported officials as saying that Teletalk’s 3G services would initially be available in Dhaka and later in other cities and towns. An official said Teletalk will have to pay the same for 3G spectrum as private operators, but will not have to participate in an auction for licenses due to take place “in the shortest possible time.”

Leading global telecom vendors Ericsson and Huawei Technologies Co. are already running 3G trials in Bangladesh.

The Bangladeshi government in June signed a loan agreement for $211 million with the Export-Import Bank of China to support the South Asian country’s efforts to expand its 2.5G network and to introduce 3G. At least four slots of bandwidth will be sold at the open auction, involving almost all the big operators in the country’s telecom sector, such as Grameenphone, Robi, Banglalink and Airtel, Xinhua reported.

Bangladesh youth delegation to visit India

A 100-Member Bangladeshi youth delegation will be in India on an eightday visit starting on Saturday on the invitation of ministry of youth affairs and sports.

The itinerary involves interaction with local youth, visits to academic, tourist, industrial and cultural sites.

“It also has elements of educational values and interactive session in different areas ranging from infrastructure development, ecotourism to information technology.

The group comprises 57 males and 39 females from diverse background including students young journalists, entrepreneurs, social workers and representatives from voluntary organisations.

“During their stay in India, the Youth delegation will visit historical sites in Delhi and Agra before departing for Kolkata. In Kolkata, they will be visiting the important tourist and popular sites like Victoria Memorial, Asiatic Society, Botanical Garden and Science City.

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US court throws out conviction of bin Laden driver

A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday threw out the conviction of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a former driver for Osama bin Laden who served a prison term for material support for terrorism.

In a 3-0 ruling, the appeals court said that material support for terrorism was not an internationallaw war crime at the time Hamdan engaged in the activity for which he was convicted.

Hamdan was sentenced to 5 1/2 years, given credit for time served and is back home in Yemen, reportedly working as a taxi driver.

“If the government wanted to charge Hamdan with aiding and abetting terrorism or some other war crime that was sufficiently rooted in the international law of war at the time of Hamdan’s conduct, it should have done so,” wrote Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

All three judges on the case were appointed by Republican presidents.

The war crime for which Hamdan was convicted was contained in the Military Commissions Act of 2006.

“The government suggests that at the time of Hamdan’s conduct from 1996 to 2001, material

support for terrorism violated the law of war referenced” in U.S. law, said Kavanaugh, but “we conclude otherwise.”

Justice Department spokesman

job for the $200-a-month salary.

But prosecutors alleged he was a personal driver and bodyguard of the al-Qaida leader. They say he transported weapons for the

Cuba, a six-member military jury in 2008 cleared Hamdan of two charges of conspiracy while finding him guilty of material support for terrorism.

and must be charged under domestic laws or released, rather than being tried under a system of military commissions.

Raha Wala, a lawyer for Human

Dean Boyd said the department is reviewing the ruling.

Hamdan met bin Laden in Afghanistan in 1996 and began working on his farm before winning a promotion as his driver.

Defense lawyers say he only kept the

Taliban and helped bin Laden escape U.S. retribution following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Hamdan was captured at a roadblock in Afghanistan in November 2001. Tried at Guantanamo Bay Military Base in

The Center for Constitutional Rights, a private group which has been deeply involved in detainee issues, praised Tuesday’s decision but said it does not go far enough. The center says detainees at Guantanamo Bay are civilians under the laws of war

Rights First, said the case has repercussions for “every other flawed military commissions case like it.

It’s a basic rule of law principle that a defendant can’t be prosecuted for acts that were not criminal at the time they were committed.”

Masked Individuals Attack Popular Sufi Shrine Near Tunis

One of Tunisia’s main mausoleums of the Sufi sect has been burned down in an overnight arson attack, amid a spate of attacks on Sufi shrines by increasingly assertive Salafists.

The Saida Manoubia shrine or zawiya in the western La Manouba suburb of the capital was attacked by five armed and hooded men who shinned down ropes from the mausoleum’s roof, Melika, an employee, told AFP. She said they had tyres and petrol with them and torched the mausoleum which was completely gutted. Armed with knives, they also robbed the four women employees present of their jewellery, Melika said.

Hundreds of people came to the site on Tuesday to survey the damage, among them the police chief and political officials.

However, the authorities have not yet said whether there will be an inquiry into the attack, the latest in a series of desecrations of Sufi

shrines by radical Islamists.

At least another three Sufi shrines have been completely destroyed and several others have been forced to close, according to the ministry of religious affairs, which has acknowledged an upsurge in such attacks.

Since the early centuries of Islam, Sufi orders have always aroused suspicion among orthodox Muslims.

Members of Tunisia’s militant Salafist movement, thought to number between 3,000 and

10,000, have been implicated in numerous acts of violence since

last year’s revolution.

On September 14, hundreds of

radical Islamists angered by a US-made film mocking their religion attacked the US embassy in Tunis and a neighbouring American school in a day of violence that left four people dead and dozens wounded.

The Islamist-led coalition government has been strongly criticised for failing to clamp down on the extremists, who Tunisia’s secular President Moncef Marzouki has warned pose a “great danger” to the region.

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Can you justify barbarianism?

The Taliban did!

Coordinator Nisar Shah, who invited the activists, said, “At least we should have the courage to listen to their point of view (on drone strikes).”

Shah also alleged the NRF has hijacked the legal fraternity’s forum and is politicking in the guise of religion.

Sadly, this wasn’t the only bit of ludicrous politicking this week.

A day before the lawyers stunt, a brave young girl was the target of an assassination attempt.

As she fights for her life, the gunmen’s parent group issued a defence for their murder

on a rainy day, let alone in the middle of a city that had become the battlefield for a guerrilla war. And that’s not his fault. His uncle would probably have made the same decision at that age.

This girl is braver than me, or anyone I know.

Before the soldiers in my family go up in arms, let me explain why. Every young man who signs up for the army knows full well that he will probably be in the line of fire at some point in his career. Soldiers chose to risk life and limb entering a war zone, which is not in any way meant to belittle their sacrifices. But this

attempt, and had the gall to justify it under Islam. Fortunately, for what it’s worth, 50 clerics came out and issued a fatwa condemning the assassination attempt a day after the justification was issued.

Yes, there may be hundreds of Malalas around the country, and around the world. That they have not been written about does not make them any less brave. Unfortunately, because they have not been written about, it is harder to find out if things like this happen to them.

I have a nephew her age.

I couldn’t imagine him wanting to go to school

little girl, barely 11 when TTP savages took over Swat, did not choose to enter in a war zone.

The war zone was thrust upon her. She had the courage to go to school when women and girls who roamed in public were being attacked.

She had the drive to write a diary for the BBC, which showed the world what the government didn’t want it to know. The beautiful Swat valley was turning into hell, and the powers that be couldn’t give a damn.

In their justification, the TTP claim they were not against education for girls, but rather were in favour of education for boys and girls under

Vaqas Asghar An odd thing happened on Wednesday when a group of American anti-drone activists went to the Islamabad Bar Association office for a discussion. Members of the Namoos-e-Risalat Forum (NRF), a group that beatified Salman Taseer’s convicted assassin, the traitor Mumtaz Qadri, tried to disrupt the event, organised by a more rational thinking group of lawyers.

The uninformed NRF leader was reported saying, “Americans follow double standards; they kill innocent civilians through drone attacks while sending a peace delegation to Pakistan,” He said this not realising that it makes no sense for the Americans to send an official delegation to speak against official American military policy. In fact, the group was here independently, with no US government support, and had marched to South Waziristan with Imran Khan a few days back. They actually agree with most of the NRF and the rest of the right-wing’s positions on the war on terror, but apparently all Americans, and for that matter, all non-radicalised persons, are evil as far as the closed-minded are concerned.

The Democratic Lawyers Association Chief

Taliban threat worries Pakistan media

Continued from page 19 >> The US Treasury Department has announced that it is imposing sanctions on three Pakistan-based terrorist facilitators who are helping the Taliban, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).

In a statement, the Treasury Department said that it was designating Maulvi Adam Khan Achekzai, Aamir Ali Chaudhry and Qari Ayyub Bashir for providing material, logistical and financial support to the three designated organisations.

The statement added that Achekzai and Chaudhry have been involved in the production of improvised and other explosive devices. Qari Ayyub Bashir has been accused of coordinating financial support for IMU’s

operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S Cohen said, “Today’s actions are intended to disrupt the activities of three individuals working to carry out violent attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan that threaten the lives of civilians and military forces.

“As these designations demonstrate, we will continue to work to dismantle the terrorist support networks operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan, paying special attention to those involved in the manufacture of IEDs.” The sanctions imposed by the Treasury Department will freeze any assets under US jurisdiction held by the three individuals, and will prohibit any US citizens from engaging in transactions with Chaudhry, Achekzai and Bashir.

Shariah law. Judging by the fact they blew up every school, college, blackboard, eraser and taat in sight, this could be judged to mean that they favoured equal illiteracy for all.

The justification refers to women killed in Lal Masjid. Armed women, who terrorised the area around the mosque, kidnapped people and threatened violence against innocent citizens.

They were given the chance to evacuate, but didn’t. They did not claim they were kept there as human shields, rather they said they chose to. They were enemies of state, and any soldier who shot one did exactly what he had sworn to do — he defended Pakistan against an armed enemy of the state.

The ‘justification’ speaks of the sinless women and children in Swat, Bajaur and other places killed in the war against the Taliban, while calling the media blind for not reporting them.

How quickly they forget that it is they, the Taliban, who took the war into the cities.

On the second point, how exactly do they think the world is finding out about the ‘collateral damage’ in drone strikes if not for the media?

It refers to “3,000 young men killed in detention centres”. Even if the number and the cause of death are true, it is actually 3,000 traitors we are talking about. Traitors who adhere to a belief system where murder, kidnapping and the mutilation of dead bodies, an act to be abhorred under any circumstances in any interpretation of Islam.

Even ultra-conservative theologian Hassan alBanna strongly criticised violence, yet this part of the message of a man seen as the inspiration for Al Qaeda’s founders has been curiously forgotten by thekaydar elements.

This is an illiterate force led by illiterate leaders.

Malala wasn’t a threat because she went to school. She was a threat because she told others to. And where would they get new suicide bombers if their recruitment pool dried up?

Read more by Vaqas here or follow him on Twitter @vasghar

Another Indian cricket shock

Continued from page 32 >> to enlist the unit from the third year onwards.

Five Indian cricketers were suspended during this year’s IPL after a sting by the same India TV channel claimed to unearth evidence that no-balls could be arranged to order.

Other tournaments have also been tainted by scandal.

Bangladesh banned former international Shariful Haque indefinitely in September after he was found to have approached current star Mashrafe Mortaza for spot-fixing during its T20 tournament.

During the Sri Lanka Premier League in August, the country’s cricket chiefs were alerted to a possible match-fixing attempt by one of the team owners.

Sri Lanka Cricket announced an investigation at that time, but has remained silent on its progress.

Meanwhile, players and administrators of the Indian Cricket League, the ill-fated rival to the IPL, traded accusations of match-fixing after the tournament’s

demise in 2009.

The ICC established its anti-corruption unit (ACSU) under former London Metropolitan police chief Paul Condon after South African skipper Hansie Cronje’s was banned for life over a match-fixing scandal in 2000.

And according to de Speville, the risk of corruption in cricket is not “any less today” than when Condon and his team began work.

The ongoing Champions League T20 in South Africa is not only policed by the ICC’s anti-corruption unit but also officiated by its elite panel of umpires.

But not all boards work with the ICC’s monitors.

Bangladesh for example posted their own security officials at their event as well as hiring their own umpires. The Bangladesh Cricket Board insists that its own measures are adequate.

“We have already taken stringent measures to combat corruption including spot fixing during BPL or any domestic league,” board spokesman Jalal Yunus told AFP.

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South Asia Tribune I Thursday 18 October 2012

Amir Khan is more famous now after his loss to Garcia

Former IBF and WBA light welterweight titlist Amir Khan believes he is more famous now than ever. According to Khan, he is shocked because he is more popular among boxing fans now than he was when he was a world champion.

“I’m shocked because I’m probably more famous now than I was before I was world champion,” said Khan during his recent media interaction.

“It was hard, don’t get me wrong. It was hard to come out and face people. I Continued on page 25 >>

SAT

Sports

Another Indian cricket shock: IPL ‘increased risk’ of match-fixing

Growth of T20 fuels corruption fears: de Speville review As cricket’s T20 domestic champions battle it out for supremacy in South Africa, alarm bells are ringing that the proliferation of such tournaments has “considerably increased the risk” of match-fixing.

Less than a decade after the 20-over game made its debut in England, every major cricketing country now has its own T20 tournament: attracting new fans and lucrative sponsorship deals - and the attention of illegal betting syndicates.

An Indian TV sting last week, in which six South Asian umpires were shown to be allegedly open to bribery, was just the latest in a line of scandals to have hit the sport, especially T20 cricket.

A recent review commissioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) into its anti-corruption activities was unequivocal in pinpointing where the greatest threat to cricket’s integrity lies.

“The view of those consulted is that the

should be clear to all.

“The mushrooming of domestic T20 leagues brings in not merely sponsors, spectators and TV revenue, but also a surging interest from the betting mafia,” writer Sharda Ugra argued in a recent commentary for the Cricinfo website.

“They will not stop trying to find new footholds in the game. Protecting

cricket’s integrity does not only involve reacting to TV stings every few months.

It is now a 24x7 undertaking.”

The cash-rich IPL initially snubbed an offer by the ICC’s anti-corruption unit to monitor matches for the first two editions in 2008 and 2009.

But in a bid to quash speculation that it was a haven for match-fixers, it decided Continued on page 31 >>

arrival of T20 cricket and the Indian Premier League has considerably increased the risk of match-fixing and spot-fixing,” said the review led by former Hong Kong solicitor-general Bertrand de Speville.

The best known tournament is the Indian Premier League (IPL), a sixweek jamboree infused with the glamour of Bollywood stars as well as the biggest names in world cricket.

But as the leagues spread across the cricketing world - from Bangladesh to Zimbabwe - experts say the dangers

Tendulkar to be given Australia honour

India’s record-breaking batsman Sachin Tendulkar is to be conferred with membership of the Order of Australia, visiting Prime Minister Julia Gillard said in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Gillard, currently on a three-day state visit to India, told reporters that Tendulkar deserved the “special honour” because he was a “very special cricketer”.

“Cricket is of course a great bond between Australia and India. We are both cricket-mad nations,” she said.

“I am very pleased that we are going to confer on Sachin Tendulkar the membership of the Order of Australia.

“This is a very special honour very rarely awarded to someone who is not

an Australian citizen or an Australian national.”

The award will be conferred on the 39year-old Tendulkar during Australian minister Simon Crean’s upcoming visit to India, Gillard said.

There was no immediate comment from Tendulkar, who is in South Africa representing the Mumbai Indians team in the Twenty20 Champions League.

Tendulkar has scored a world record Test (15,553) and one-day (18,426) runs and has also compiled an unprecedented 100 international centuries.

West Indies batting great Brian Lara was honoured with the membership of the Order of Australia in 2009.

Former attorney-general Soli Sorabjee is the only other Indian to have received the award.

Tendulkar’s popularity in Australia was cemented when legendary cricketer Don Bradman said he was reminded of his own batting after watching the Indian play.

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