e-paper pakistantoday 06th october, 2012

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Accusers should resign if UN group on missing Windies blow away dual nationality charge persons’ visit conforms Australia to is not proved, says Shahbaz to int’l rules: Khar reach T20 final PAGE |02

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Saturday, 6 october, 2012 dhual-Qi’da 18, 1433

Rs 15.00 Vol iii no 101 19 pages islamabad — peshawar edition

Pakistan urges US for common strategy on counterterrorism WASHINGTON SPecIAL correSPonDenT

ISLAMABAD: Supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and American peace activists stage a demonstration on Friday in connection with the party’s planned ‘peace march’ to the Tribal Areas. inp

Another reprieve as Naik gets time until 10th SC unhappy with ISdraft of Swiss letter for a third time

LAMABAD

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Law minister seeks short adjournment, hearing in chamber to discuss sensitive aspects g

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TAyyAB HuSSAIn

HE Supreme Court on Friday rejected the draft of Swiss letter for a third time and put off the hearing until October 10, giving another reprieve to honey-tongued Law Minister Farooq H Naik by accepting his request for a “short adjournment” in the NRO implementation case.

A five-judge special bench of Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Athar Saeed took up the implementation of its direc-

PM sacks water and power secretary ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Asharf on Friday removed the removed the federal secretary for water and power Zafar Mahmood after taking serious notice of the continued load shedding across the country. Cabinet Secretary Nargis Sethi has been given the additional charge of the Water and Power Ministry. Zafar Mahmood has been directed to report to the Establishment Division. The PM had since long been cross with Mahmood over his failure to better the power supply situation. In the cabinet meeting on September 26, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf had furiously reprimanded Zafar Mahmood over continued load shedding in the country. Ashraf had lashed out at Mahmood for his failure to ease the power crisis, cutting down the circular debt and failing to effectively coordinate between the ministries of water and power and oil and gas to ensure sustained provision of furnace oil, gas and other necessities to independent power producers (IPPs). Staff report

tive contained in the para 178 of the NRO judgment.

However, despite the adjournment, the law minister told the court he could not make a “commitment” whether he would be able to convince the prime minister and other authorities on the content of the Swiss letter as per the direction of the court.

At the onset of proceedings, the minister submitted the draft letter with the court that would be sent by the government of Pakistan to Attorney-General’s office in Geneva.

The bench for a short period retired to chamber to consider the contents of the letter.

After re-assembling, Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa told the law minister that

as far as other paras of the letters were concerned, they were in accordance with the directive contained in para 178 of the said judgment.

However, he shared concerns of the bench over the last paragraph, containing that the president enjoyed international and domestic immunity under Article 248 of the constitution and UN charter. Justice Khosa observed that they were conscious of the fact that it was a long journey and efforts made so far to resolve the issue should not go waste. “We don’t want the entire exercise go waste. The issue could not have been resolved if such efforts were not made.

Continued on page 04

Voicing Pakistan’s concerns on continuing US drone attacks in the tribal areas, Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Friday asked Washington to adopt a common counterterrorism strategy with Islamabad in pursuit of common goals. Malik was speaking to the media after meeting Marc Grossman, US Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The interior minister, during his two day visit, is also scheduled to meet Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and FBI Director Robert Mueller and discuss counterterrorism cooperation in a working group meeting with the US officials.

“We have a common enemy and we must have a common strategy to fight this enemy —- Pakistan is committed with the international community in this fight -and we will hit them (terrorists) hard,” the Interior Minister said standing alongside Grossman. He said it would be good if the two countries had a common strategy on drones but did not explain his comment.

Malik noted although both sides are fighting a common enemy there are reservations on the two sides as well. “Our side has conveyed our concerns regarding drone attacks —- the people of Pakistan have been voicing this and we hope that this voice of the people of Pakistan will be heard,” Rehman Malik said.

Grossman, who is US special representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Malik also discussed the issue of combating improvised explosives devices, which have killed soldiers on both sides. Islamabad, the interior minister said, is pursuing a national counter-IED strategy to curb the cross-border movement of material – ammonium nitrade, which is also used in fertilizers - and that terrorists use in the explosive devices.

Pakistan, he said, has succeeded considerably on containing the movement of the material.

“We have taken every possible measure —- we are an agrarian country, and fertilizers are important…. What we have done we have regulated the movement of fertilizers —- we have also strengthened the (relevant) Punishment Act —- so administrative and all other steps are being taken.”

For his part, Grossman recognized the sacrifices Pakistan has made in fighting terror. “Americans recognize who are victims of terrorism —-the Americans are victims but so many Pakistanis have lost their lives, so many have given their lives fighting terrorism – so this issue of counterterrorism is very important between the United States and Pakistan, “ Grossman said. On the issue of a planned anti-drone march to tribal areas in Pakistan, —- being spearheaded by PTI chief Imran, which has also drawn American CODEPINK peace actiivists’ participation -Grossman said the US diplomats in Islamabad have informed the American citizens about travel advisory in place for the tribal areas. Malik, speaking on the subject, said the provincial government has the prerogative on deciding on the planned protest march as it has to maintain the law and order.

Taliban faction warns PTI against holding ‘peace march’ g

TTP spokesman says Imran Khan holding anti-drone rally for political point scoring PESHAWAR SAjjAD ALI

As the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) remains undeterred on its peace march to South Waziristan Agency (SWA) to protest against US drone strikes, a hitherto unknown Taliban faction on Friday warned the party against holding the rally tomorrow.

The group “Mujahideen-e-Jaishul Khilafa” (MJK) on Friday distributed pamphlets in Tank district, warning the people against participating in the march and threatening of “dire consequences”. The pamphlets, written in Urdu, warned the anti-drone demonstrators against entering SWA, while holding them responsible for any untoward incident they may face in the area.

The warning comes a day after the political administration of the SWA refused to give permission to the rally.

The SWA administration is currently working out the ways and means to block the anti-drone peace march on the boundary between the districts of Dera Ismail Khan and Tank.

Meanwhile, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan denied that the Taliban had offered security to the PTI rally. “Imran Khan is holding the so-called peace march for political point scoring,” Ihsan said, adding that “our mujahideen are not that dispensable that we deploy them to protect a secular and western person.”

However, the approach of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government appears different than its stated policy. Despite its

verbal opposition to the peace march from Islamabad to SWA, the Awami National Party (ANP) government is likely to quietly give way to the rally instead of countering it with force. The KP government is laying maximum emphasis on maintaining law and order situation.

KP Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain said the government had neither banned political activities in past, nor was it intending to in future. But he added that it would be better if PTI chief Imran Khan marches towards North Waziristan Agency, which is more affected by drone strikes. “If marches could stop drone strikes, we would have been organising much bigger ones than Imran Khan’s,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, KP Home and Tribal Affairs Department has announced that the

foreign activists accompanying the march would not be allowed in the area. An official in the department said that entry into southern areas of the province and the tribal belt required a No Objection Certificate (NOC), and so far the PTI had not contacted the department to obtain the NOC.

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02 News newS

today’s

Afghans still revere Pakistan’s hospitality

carTOOn

InfOTaInmenT Vietnam returns endangered turtle to cambodia

Quick Look

Story on Page 05

PML-N demands All Parties’ Commission on Balochistan

Page 11

Story on Page 14

Shahbaz Sharif challenges accusers to resign if his dual nationality is not proved in court

ISLAMABAD: US lawyer and human rights advocate Clime Steghan Smith addresses a press conference on US drone strikes on Friday. onLine

LAHORE STAFF rePorT

ISLAMABAD: Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Friday demanded the government to form an All Parties’ Commission (APC) on the situation in Balochistan. Talking to reporters, Nisar said that all political parties should be included in the proposed commission, while stressing that all dissident Baloch leaders would have to be brought back in the national mainstream to restore peace in the province. The PML-N leader said his party would table the proposed resolution before the House Business Advisory Committee to elicit opinions from other parties. InP

Nawaz’s demand for FC pullout from Balochistan ‘point scoring’: Kaira ISLAMABAD: Turning down Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif’s demand to withdraw Frontier Constabulary (FC) from Balochistan, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said on Friday that the opposition leader’s demand was intended for political point scoring and could not bring a lasting solution to the crisis. Speaking on a point of order in National Assembly in response to an assertion by PML-N lawmaker Tehmina Daultana, Kaira said that it was not suitable for the twice-elected prime minister to issue such irrelevant statements. Daultana had objected to Kaira’s comments on Nawaz’s statement regarding troop pullout. Kaira said the PMLN chief had demanded FC’s withdrawal without offering any alternative solution to maintain law and order in the province.

“Withdrawing FC from Balochistan will be no solution to the situation unless an alternate system to maintain law and order is put in place. Nawaz Sharif should have considered the ground realities prior to issuing the statement,” Kaira said. He said that the police was covering only five percent area of the province, while the remaining 95 percent was either guarded by FC or the tribal forces. He said the Balochistan issue was a sensitive one, and that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government was trying hard to improve the situation. “We offered apology to the Baloch people for the follies we had never committed.

We apologized for others’ sins to normalise the situation,” he added.

“We are aware that law and order situation in the province is not ideal.

But, the resolution of this problem is the responsibility of all political parties. It is the responsibility of all stakeholders,” Kaira added. APP

Saturday, 6 October, 2012

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that he holds only Pakistani nationality and would prove it in the Supreme Court.

Talking to reporters, Shahbaz said though he traveled and stayed in various foreign countries but didn’t have any dual nationality. He challenged the accusers to resign if he proved in the court that he just holds Pakistani nationality. Shahbaz further said whenever the SC summoned him, he would appear before the court. The SC has already issued notices to Shahbaz Sharif and opposition leader in Punjab Assembly Raja Riaz in the dual nationality case. The apex court taking notice of allegations against Shahbaz Sharif by Raja Riaz directed both the leaders to appear before the court on October 17.

Bin Laden movie to premiere in US ahead of election WASHINGTON AFP

A big-name Hollywood fundraiser for Barack Obama is releasing the first feature film about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden two days before the US presidential election.

“SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Osama bin Laden” is distributed by Harvey Weinstein, the respected movie mogul who hosted the president at a celebrity-studded fundraising event in New England last month.

In a press release, the National Geographic Channel said it would premiere “SEAL Team Six” on November 4 after its president Howard Owens and Weinstein discussed “the insight the film is sure to evoke in all Americans.”

The film — directed by John Stockwell and produced for theatrical release by Nicholas Chartier, who produced the Oscar-winning war film “The Hurt Locker” — will then go onto Netflix movie screening website.

In a trailer posted online Friday, characters are heard saying “We’re going to be the team that takes out Osama” and “the president of the United States is going to be staking his presidency on this call.”

Obama personally gave the green light for US

Navy SEAL commandos to target Bin Laden’s hideout in Pakistan on May 2, 2011 in a daring night-time raid that killed the Al Qaeda leader responsible for the 9/11 attacks.

“This portrayal of the events that took place that night is moving, to say the very least,” said Weinstein in the National Geographic Channel press release. “I anticipate audiences will be as captivated as I was from the beginning to the end,” he added. “And I’m extremely proud as an American citizen to play a role in making sure this stunning portrayal over very recent American history is available in as many homes as possible.” Opinion polls had put Obama, gunning for a second White House term, ahead of Mitt Romney prior to a televised debate Wednesday in which Romney came out the victor in the eyes of most political analysts.

Weinstein, executive producer of films as diverse as “The English Patient,” “The Artist” and the most recent “Rambo” movie in a filmmaking career dating back to the 1970s, is a well-known supporter of the Democratic party.

His exclusive Obama fundraiser in August at his seaside compound in Westport, Connecticut was attended by about 50 people, the Hollywood Reporter trade journal reported. Tickets cost $38,5000 each.

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News 03 arTS & enTerTaInmenT

BuSIneSS

SPOrTS

I don’t have time for love: Malika Sherawat

SBP’s quite the slasher!

Defeated Hafeez proud of Pakistan team

edITOrIal The Swiss letter Inches away from resolution

cOmmenT Arif nizami says; Walking the talk: For Balochistan issue, the time is now

raoof Hasan says; Mengal’s initiative: Time to heed and heal

Story on Page 18

Story on Page 12

Story on Page 15

articles on Page 14

Govt wants resolution of Balochistan issue through dialogue, NA told forty two of 61 policy actions under aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan Package implemented g country to export 3.5 million tonnes of rice this year g Information minister says only five percent of Balochistan under police control

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ISLAMABAD

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STAFF rePorT

HE National Assembly was informed on Friday that the government wanted to bring the people of Balochistan into the mainstream and believed in resolving their issues through dialogue by approaching all stakeholders across the board.

This was stated by Parliamentary Secretary for Cabinet and Establishment Division Khurram Jahangir Wattoo as the 46th session of the National Assembly began on Friday with Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi in the chair.

At the onset of the session‚ MNA-elect Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan Nasir took oath as member of the House. The oath was administered by Deputy Speaker Kundi.

The chair also announced the panel

Petrol, CNG prices likely to go up again ISLAMABAD: Petrol price is likely to go up by Rs 3 per litre while diesel price is expected to be slashed by Rs 3.10 from next week. OGRA would be sending its summary to the ministry of petroleum tomorrow in this regard. If the petrol price is increased as proposed, then CNG price would also rise by Rs2.50 per kilo, as these two prices are correlated. Sources said that earlier oil marketing companies had sent their summary relating to the POL prices proposing increase in petrol price by Rs 3 per litre, while a cut in the diesel price by Rs 3.10. Kerosene and light diesel prices are also expected to be slashed by 35 paisas per litre. STAFF rePorT

of the presiding officer for the current session that includes Nawab Muhammad Yusuf Talpur‚ Yasmeen Rehman‚ Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhary‚ Bushra Rehman‚ Khawaja Sohail Mansoor and Usman Advocate.

The parliamentary secretary for cabinet and establishment division told the House during the question hour that under the Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan Package, 42 of 61 policy actions had been implemented while other proposed actions were in various stages of implementation.

Wattoo said the policy actions had been divided into constitutional‚ administrative‚ political and economic categories as envisaged by the federal government.

To a question‚ Parliamentary Secretary for Communication Chaudhry Saeed Iqbal informed the House that a number of highways were damaged by floods last

year and this year. He said the highways damaged in last year’s floods had been fully repaired, while the Damaged Assessment Need of the highways damaged this year was underway, adding that repair work would be completed after the completion of the assessment.

To another question‚ he said an amount of over Rs 813 million had been collected from Kohat Toll Plaza during the last five years.

Iqbal said special security arrangements had also been made for the installation and two units of Pakistan Army and a platoon of Frontier Constabulary had been deployed for its safety.

To a question‚ Parliamentary Secretary for Information Technology Nawab Liaquat Ali Khan said domestic production of rice exceeded the domestic demand and the country was exporting up to 3.5 million tonnes annually.

He said although the production of

Daughter accuses fC of father’s abduction from Kechh QUETTA SHAHzADA zuLFIqAr

The daughter of a missing person has claimed that her father, Munishi Nabi Bakhsh Baloch, had been whisked away by the Frontier Corps Balochistan from Kechh around four months ago and his whereabouts are still unknown.

Addressing a press conference on Friday at a hunger strike camp set up by the relatives of missing persons, she said her father, 80, was returning from his native village Turbat, on June 20 in a bus which was intercepted by the FC at a checkpost near Jusak.

She said FC personnel forced

her father off the bus and into a two-door vehicle with tinted windows and without a registration number and whisked him away.

She alleged that almost 25 to 30 passengers were traveling in the bus, adding that they were all witness to her father’s abduction by the FC. She said having been informed by the passengers, her family lodged the case of her father’s enforced disappearance in Turbat Police Station and also submitted an application in the Supreme Court Balochistan Registry but to no avail. She said despite the passage of four months, the family members had no information about her father, adding that her father could not be in-

volved in any illegal activity due to his old age. She said her family feared her father might have been killed. She said the Supreme Court had also not been much successful against what she called the powerful intelligence agencies in Pakistan.

She appealed to human right organisations, nations of the EU and other international organisations to put pressure on Pakistani secrete agencies and the authorities so that the aggrieved mothers, sisters and daughters could meet their fathers, brothers, and sons. Asked whether her father had contacted her family since his disappearance, she said nobody had ever contacted them.

rice decreased this year due to delay in monsoon rains, even then “we will be able to export three million tonnes of rice and the domestic price will also remain stable”.

Khurram Jahangir Wattoo said a special cabinet committee headed by Defence Minister Syed Naveed Qamar had been constituted to assess the reasons for breakdown in the law and order in Balochistan‚ the options available to the authorities on the desired course of action and to make recommendations.

He said the committee would also hold meetings with the political leadership of Balochistan to resolve the issue.

To a question‚ Minister for Capital Administration and Development Nazar Muhammad Gondal informed the House in a written reply that free medical treatment was being provided to patients of cancer‚ AIDS and dialysis at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences.

President has immunity against prosecution: naik

ISLAMABAD

Pak, US business moot focuses on improving economic ties LONDON STAFF rePorT

The first Pakistan-USA bilateral Business Opportunities Conference was co-hosted by the United States Trade Representative (USTR), Embassy of Pakistan, Washington DC and Ministry of Commerce, Islamabad, on October 4-5.

US Ambassador to UK Ambassador Susman and Pak Ambassador to UK Wajid Shamsul Hasan patronised this conference.

The conference was significant as it was the first time a bilateral business initiative had been taken between both governments under the PakistanUSA Trade & Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA).

US Ambassador Susman, Pak Ambassador to US Sherry Rehman, Pak envoy Hasan, US Assistant Trade Representative Michael Delany, Com-

merce Secretary Munir Qureshi and Board of Investment Chairman Salim Mandviwala spoke at the plenary session of the conference on Friday, and made a strong pitch for Pakistan-US economic relations, which have been growing consistently and comprise the one constant that has not been undermined by stresses in other areas of the relationship. The resilience of the Pakistan-USA bilateral trade and investment relationship is evident from the fact that USA is Pakistan’s largest export market and also Pakistan’s largest inward investor.

The US government was represented at this conference to demonstrate their support to this opportunity for businessmen from both sides to interact and actually conduct business transactions. Significantly Ambassador Dan Feldman, who is deputy special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, OPIC Vice President

Robert Drumheller and Robert Ewing, who is a US economic counselor stationed at US Embassy Islamabad, also attended the conference and spoke with the Pakistani government officials and expressed hope that this conference would provide a tool for growth and prosperity in Pakistan.

The Pakistan Private Investment Initiative was also launched at the conference. The whole afternoon of the conference was dedicated to sector specific breakout sessions on textiles, energy, access to finance, consumer goods and financial services. The conferences’ first goal had been to put many of the US and Pakistani companies together, and many of the 50 companies participating booked the entire afternoon schedule for interbusiness meetings.

Upon conclusion of the conference, Sherry Rahman said, “This was an important first step in re-building

the relationship and setting it on a more sustainable axis of enhanced economic ties. I appreciate the effort that USTR and the (American) State Department put into this, and hope that many of the conversations we are having today will yield positive outcomes. We already have some demonstrations of business intent; some US companies are almost doubling their investment, which will spur muchneeded job creation.”

“The purpose of the conference is to get the two private sectors to focus on the investment opportunities available in the two countries,” said Sherry.

“Historically, this dimension of the relationship has not received adequate attention. This is a step towards realigning the relationship and underpinning it in a mutually beneficial economic partnership between the two countries, as US remains Pakistan’s largest trade partner.”

onLIne

Law Minister Farooq Naik on Friday said the government wished to resolve the issue of the Swiss letter amicably and added that the president enjoyed immunity from prosecution under the country’s constitution. Speaking to reporters outside the Supreme Court, Naik said the first two paragraphs of the letter to be sent to the Swiss authorities for reopening a graft case against President Asif Ali Zardari were in accordance with the Supreme Court’s directives.

According to Naik, the judges hearing the case expressed their reservations regarding the draft of the letter and he and his client expressed their reservations as well. He said a decision over the final version of the letter was yet to be taken, adding that the letter had been drafted in accordance with the SC’s directives and that it had also been approved by the prime minister. Naik reiterated that the constitution was clear on the issue of presidential immunity. “Moreover, any decisions that will be made will be in the greater national interest and will consider the three pillars of the state.” He said in democracies, decisions could not be made without consultations, adding that the government would remain flexible in resolving the matter. He said many sacrifices had been made for democracy and therefore, those who were aiming to derail the country’s democratic process would not be allowed to succeed.

Saturday, 6 October, 2012

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04 News India’s new anti-graft party targets Gandhi clan

Another reprieve as Naik gets time until 10th Continued fRom page 01

NEW DELHI AFP

A new anti-corruption party accused the son-in-law of India’s most powerful politician, Sonia Gandhi, of large-scale graft Friday at a news conference targeting the country’s famed ruling dynasty. Social activist Arvind Kejriwal, who launched his as yet unnamed new party earlier in the week, accused Gandhi’s businessman son-in-law Robert Vadra of benefiting from murky deals in real estate linked to property group DLF. “We want to know how his wealth grew from five million rupees ($90,000) to three billion in a span of three years?” he told the news conference in which he handed out papers he claimed were sourced from the registrar general’s office. There was no immediate comment available from Vadra or from the registrar general’s office but a spokesman for the ruling Congress party Manish Tewari called the allegations “completely baseless”. “There can be no case of corruption against Vadra,” Tewari said.

“Members of the new party are indulging in petty politics and we are not interested in this kind of tactics.” Kejriwal said every transaction made by Vadra’s companies were examined by independent chartered accountants to unearth the “fraud”. “Everyone would like to know why was he given the houses and lands at throwaway prices? The nation must be informed,” he said.

Vadra is married to Sonia’s daughter Priyanka. Italianborn Sonia’s 42-year-old son Rahul is widely seen as being groomed for the role of prime minister. Sonia Gandhi, president of India’s ruling Congress party, is widely seen as the country’s most powerful politician and the family’s privacy is fiercely guarded by party members .

The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty has ruled India for most of is post-independence history, with three members of the family becoming prime minister. Vadra calls himself an entrepreneur heading a small firm, Artex, which specialises in jewellery and handicraft exports. He is also a selfconfessed fitness freak who enjoys riding his motorbike and is frequently seen on New Delhi’s social circuit.

DerA GHAzI KHAn: Flood-affected people hold a demand relief from the government during a demonstration on Friday. onLine

Karzai govt wants to be part of US-Taliban talks top afghan official says demand has stalled peace process g asserts drive has to be led by afghan govt g

WASHINGTON InP

The Karzai administration’s demand to be part of talks between the United States and the Taliban has stalled the peace process, a top Afghan official said on Friday, asserting the drive had to be led by Afghan government.

Visiting Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Jawed Ludin told reporters in Washington that an Afghan-led peace effort needed to be respected and adhered to by all parties concerned.

“We aren’t opposed to (the deal). What we criticised was the fact that we felt that if you are really true to the motto of an Afghan-led peace process, we should be involved.” “We were told that this was because the Taliban are not ready to have the Afghan government on the other side of the table.

Frankly, this is not enough,”

Ludin told a group of journalists. As a result of Afghanistan’s assertiveness, the US-Taliban negotiations, including on the release of five insurgent leaders from Guantanamo Bay and opening of a Taliban office in Qatar, had paused. The Taliban, who did not agree to the condition set by the Karzai government, had cut off the talks and “since then there’s been no contact, he added.

“They’re still there in Doha, but the office hasn’t been set up.” Ludin said the Afghan government was still waiting for Qatari officials to come to Kabul for discussions on the opening of a Taliban office in Doha. In response to a query, he said most of insider attacks in Afghanistan resulted from terrorist infiltration into the ranks of local security forces and had nothing to do with cultural differences between American and Afghan soldiers.

The minister said in an effort to increase the strength of Afghan forces, some basic conditions like background checks of those being drafted were relaxed and the rebels took advantage of it to infiltrate ANSF. But steps were being taken to rectify that error, he hastened to add. “Some people think this is a cultural thing.

This is vastly overstated,” he told a questioner.

UK ArreSTS 12 for mUrder ATTempT oN iNdiAN geNerAl LONDON M SArwAr

Counter Terrorism Command (CTC) officials have arrested 12 people so far in connection with a attempted murder in Centeral London on a retired Indian army officer, Lt General KS Brar, on Sept 30.

Gen Brar is famous for leading ‘Operation Blue Star’ some 28 years ago to flush out pro- Khalistani Sikh militants from the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

Police have not disclosed names of the arrested persons and only marked them alphabetically for identification, but informed sources claimed that all belong to the Sikh community. A number

Saturday, 6 October, 2012

of search warrants have also been issued in connection with this investigation.

Enquiries are underway and police continue to appeal for information about the incident. The police are avoid-

ing identifying the victim as an Indian general and state that the victim, an Indian national who is visiting London, was with his wife when they were approached by four men. He was assaulted on his

way back to his hotel from dinner with his wife, with what is believed to be a knife, and suffered a wound on his neck. His wife was not injured in the attack. The four men are described as Asian in appearance, and were wearing dark clothing and long black jackets. They all had long beards. His wife told police that three bearded men reportedly attacked and tried to slash his throat, but she would not jump to the conclusion that they were Sikhs.

Gen Brar and his wife arrived back in Mumbai on Tuesday.

The attack has caused concern among Indian and Sikh communities and Sikh leaders are avoiding commenting over this incident.

Erdogan says testing Turkey would be ‘fatal mistake’ ANKARA AGencIeS

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that testing Turkey would be “a fatal mistake”, in a warning to Damascus in the wake of Syrian shelling of a town in southeast Turkey that killed five people.

Turkish artillery bombarded Syrian military targets on Wednesday and Thursday in response to the shelling by Syrian forces and Ankara has made clear it is ready to launch more retaliatory strikes if the war spills across the border. The salvoes killed several Syrian soldiers, and Turkey’s parliament stepped up pressure on the political front by authorising crossborder military action in the event of further aggression.

Striking a belligerent tone in a speech to a crowd in Is-

tanbul, Erdogan said: “We are not interested in war, but we’re not far from it either.

This nation has come to where it is today having gone through intercontinental wars. “Those who attempt to test Turkey’s deterrence, its decisiveness, its capacity, I say here they are making a fatal mistake,” he said.

“When they say ‘if you want peace prepare for war’ it means that when the time comes, war becomes the key to peace”. Despite the rhetoric, Turkey has said it will act under international law and in coordination with other foreign powers. The U.N. Security Council on Thursday condemned the Syrian strike, while the United States has said it stands by its NATO ally’s right to defend itself against aggression spilling over from Syria’s internal armed conflict.

We are few inches away from a perfect solution which holds the dignity of courts,” he added.

Naik said it was good for the system and made request for two things, i.e.; adjournment for a short period and a brief audience in the chambers so that he could apprise the members of the bench about certain sensitive aspects of the draft.

He said he would also require time to consult the prime minister and address certain aspects. Justice Khosa said they were also conscious of the transparency and sensitivity involved in the matter.

Naik replied that he was not a private party but representing the government.

Justice Khosa remarked that they had travelled a long way and they were quite reluctant to meet in chambers, but as the issue was close to its resolution, they were giving another chance.

The bench then retired to the chamber once more and after re-assembling dictated its order. The bench observed in its order that some aspects of the draft required to be addressed by the government and the law minister wanted to consult the prime minister on the subject so as to produce an improved version of the draft, if any.

The bench said that in the larger interest of justice and for a proper resolution of the long standing issue, the hearing was being adjourned until October 10 as requested by the law minister. The law minister, however, made it clear that he was not committing anything to the court.

Assange costs Britain £11,000 a day LONDON InP

Scotland Yard confirmed it is costing Britain a whopping £11,000 a day to ensure that WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange, holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy there, does not flee the country, reported Daily Mail.

The police bill for securing the embassy where Assange is holed up has already crossed 1 million pounds. The final bill could be much more as the 41-year-old continues to defy extradition to Sweden where he is suspected of sexually assaulting two women.

Ecuador granted political asylum to Assange in August after he took refuge in the country’s embassy in London.

Assange fears that he may be sent to the US, if extradited to Sweden, and face charges punishable by death for publishing some 250,000 leaked American diplomatic cables.

Ecuador Foreign Minister Ricardo Pinto has warned As-

sange he could be in the embassy for a decade if he is not allowed to leave Britain. Officers have been watching the property in Knightsbridge, West London, since Assange breached his bail and claimed asylum in June. They have been told to arrest him if he puts “one toe” outside. Foreign Secretary William Hague admitted last week that there was “no sign of any breakthrough” after meeting his Ecuadorian counterpart Pinto at the United Nations in New York. The comments came after the Assange accused the

US of persecuting WikiLeaks and torturing Bradley Manning, the soldier accused of leaking classified documents.

At least four Metropolitan officers guard the embassy, on the second floor of a block of flats behind Harrods in Knightsbridge, West London, around the clock.

They have set up a £250,000 mobile command station on the doorstep of the building and occupy positions outside and in surrounding properties. Critics have called for ending the costly stakeout, but to no avail.

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News 05

Govt committed to improving compensation for teachers: PM ISLAMABAD

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APP

R I M E Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Friday said the government had undertaken far-reaching measures to improve the compensation of teachers.

“Let us pledge to make welfare of teachers the centre of our public policy agenda. It is by working for their wellbeing that we can return to them a bit of their enormous contributions in shaping the future of our state and society,” the prime minister said in a message on World Teachers Day. He said the devolution of education to the provinces, under the 18th Amendment, had made more resources available to them by doing away with

duplication of functions and providing integrated leadership.

He said the World Teachers Day was observed every year to acknowledge the contributions and services of teachers to the development of society.

“On this day, we not only eulogise the teaching community for their noble role in educating students but also reiterate our resolve to work for the wellbeing and welfare of teachers.”

He said this year’s motto “Take a stand for teachers” was appropriate and reflected the need for affirmative policy action on part of all the stakeholders, aimed at improving the service conditions and standard of living of the teaching community.

He said education was a sine qua non in determining a nation’s status in the comity of nations and achieving

socio-economic development.

The prime minister said the quality of education imparted to students cannot be separated from the role of teachers. Teachers were central to building an educated, tolerant and a moderate society, and a knowledgebased economy.

He said the progress that the international community has made economically as well as technologically represents a befitting tribute to the contributions of teachers in making it happen.

He also said human civilisation would not have come that far without the role played by teachers. They not only educate young generation by equipping them with knowledge but also build their character by infusing in them social, cultural and spiritual val-

ues.

The importance a teacher enjoys in Islam can be gauged from a tradition of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) wherein he said: “I have been sent as a teacher.” In fact, all societies and religions hold teachers in high esteem.

He said globalisation, a marked and defining feature of the modernday world, had presented a new set of challenges as well as opportunities. In the battle of ideas, teachers had a key role to play in preparing young generations to meet the challenges of tomorrow.

Expecting teachers to deliver without being conscious to their problems may be too much to ask for. It is the duty of all concerned to make sure that teachers enjoy the prestige and honour that they rightfully deserve.

One killed in Hangu blast HANGU APP

A man was killed in a suicide attack at village Sarkanda Lakhti Banda in the limits of the city police station on Friday, police said. According to police, a suicide bomber blew himself up in the house of Abdul Khaliq, killing a man named Ibrahim. Abdul Khaliq was not present in the house. The bomber and the owner of the house belonged to different factions of Taliban. The house was completely destroyed. Police have recovered the body parts of the deceased. The motive behind the blast was not immediately ascertained, however internal rivalry is suspected to be the main reason. Police have started investigation.

Five persons drown in pond BHAKKAR onLIne

India test-fires N-capable Dhanush ballistic missile BHUBANESWAR: India on Friday successfully tested its nuclear-capable ballistic missile Dhanush from a naval ship in the Bay of Bengal off the Odisha coast, an official said. The missile was fired somewhere between Puri and Visakhapatnam as part of the training exercise of the Indian Navy. “The test was successful,” Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) spokesman Ravi Kumar Gupta told Indian reporters. With a pay-load capacity of 500 kg, Dhanush is a naval version of the nuclear-capable ballistic missile Prithvi. It is capable of carrying both conventional as well as nuclear warheads and can strike targets in the range of 350 km. With its ability to hit targets on the sea as well as on shore, the missile gives the Indian Navy the capability to strike enemy targets with great precision. The test of Dhanush comes a day after the Indian armed forces successfully test-fired nuclear-capable ballistic missile Prithvi-II from Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur-on-sea in Balasore district, about 230 km from here. InP

Five persons, including four sisters, drowned in a pond of water in a jungle in the area of Norang Mukh on Friday.

According to a private TV channel, Nasreen, 9, Samrin, 10, Maafia, 6, and Tehsin Bibi, 4, daughters of Muhammad Sabtain, and his 8-year-old nephew went to a nearby forest in Norang Mukh to chop wood. They started playing in a pond of water and drowned, not realising it was deep.

NATO oil tanker torched in Quetta QUETTA onLIne

KoHLu: Karim Dad Marri, a 70-year-old resident of Kali wadera Samad Khan, sits next to his newly born triplet daughters on Friday. inp

Unidentified miscreants set on fire a NATO oil tanker in Mastung on Friday.

Media reports said that an oil tanker after supplying oil to NATO forces was traveling to Karachi from Quetta, when some unknown armed men opened indiscriminate firing at it and later torched it. The tanker was completely burnt however the driver jumped out from the tanker and managed to escape from the scene.

Afghans still revere Pakistan’s hospitality KABUL SHAMIM SHAHID

Despite spiraling tension between Islamabad and Kabul, the common Afghan citizen at Kabul and other parts of the war-stricken country, not only respect Pakistan and its people but is also desirous to have cordial, friendly and trustworthy relations between the two neighbours.

“Irrespective of government policies, we can’t forget the unprecedented hospitality of Pakistan and its people,” remarked Mohammad Yaseen Sangar, a local tribal leader at Kabul. In fact, Sangar, while waiting to meet an Afghan politico-spiritual elder at the latter’s residence in Kabul, opened his heart after coming to know that next to him sat a Pakistani national.

Sangar belongs to Central Bameyan province of Afghanistan, and was amongst the millions of Afghans who abandoned their home country after the invasion of former Soviet troops in 1979, and migrated to Pakistan.

While narrating the tale of his stay of over two and half a decades in Pakistan, Sangar was unable to keep his tears at bay.

He stayed in Sardar Ahmad Jan Colony Charsadda Road, Chirat and Warsak Road, Peshawar. “During this long tenure, I felt Pakistan was just like my native country,” he said, “and my most golden days were in Sattar Shah Bacha Colony Peshawar where I made friends like late Amir Hamza Baba Shinwari, late singer Rafique Shinwari and Kheyal Mohammad. He said that he and his family members were in contact with their Pakistani friends and neighbours

through telephone since their repatriation to homeland in 2002.

Several other Afghans expressed similar sentiments, praising Pakistan and its people for extending help to them in a critical stage. “It was only Pakistan and its people, who opened their gates for Afghans when over 100,000 Soviet troops landed in Kabul and other main cities and towns,” remarked a senior Afghan politician. The politician is counted amongst friends of Pakistan and he believes that Pakistan and Afghanistan could emerge as the most prosperous states in South Asia if the rulers resolved their misunderstandings. An ironic phenomenon was witnessed throughout Kabul on the eve of the T-20 Semi Final between the GreenShirts and Sri Lankans at Colombo, on Thursday. Afghans of every age demonstrated the same enthusiasm while watching the cricket match as Pakistani nationals and almost all of them prayed for Pakistan’s victory. But unfortunately like millions of Pakistanis, these Afghans were also disappointed when Sri Lanka came out as victorious. At that stage, a government official, Qari Naseer, a computer expert Hilal Shinwari and an emerging cricketer Zabih Shinwari extended sympathies with Sangar’s tribe on the failure of Pakistan. Right from Torkham till Hairataan, almost all Afghan markets and bazaars are flooded with Pakistani products. Trucks carrying construction materials, office materials, stationary, vegetables, China clay, marbles, fresh and dry fruits, vegetables and a wide array of other products regularly make the difficult journey from Pakistan to Afghanistan for the common people.

FILE PHOTO

Pakistani labourers, technicians, artisans and others are also playing a key role in the reconstruction and rebuilding of the warstricken Afghanistan. Due to lacking of proper arrangements between the two governments, however, such efforts aimed at the rehabilitation of Afghanistan face problems.

For further boosting up trade links between the two neighbours, Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries is going to hold an exhibition from October 12 to 18 at Kabul. Arrangements in this respect are in full swing, and Afghan traders and business-

men are considering it a valuable opportunity. Newspaper reading habit is very low in Afghanistan but some of the political stalwarts, workers, intellectuals and technocrats developed the habit during their long stay in Pakistan, and have now subscribed to Pakistani newspapers on a regular basis. A couple of days back, the Afghan government banned supply of newspapers from Pakistan on the pretext of its negative approach towards Afghanistan, which has disheartened the readers in Kabul.

Continued distrust and misunderstand-

ings between policy makers and rulers from both countries is however increasing the distance amongst the people who entered into close relations with each other after the Soviet invasion. Most Afghans are not only familiar with Pakistan’s culture and traditions but can easily determine the ethnic background of a Pakistani visitor. Strengthening of such relations could help rulers and policy makers from both the countries in tackling their politico-economic crises by adopting policies and strategies in accordance with the wishes and expectations of people.

Saturday, 6 October, 2012

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Saturday, 6 October, 2012

ISLAMABAD: containers were placed on the road in anticipation of protests against the blasphemous film on Friday. onLine

fruit, vegetable market becomes safe haven for criminals

PM directs preparation of national food security policy

An illegal fruit and vegetable market at Khanna Pull has turned into a safe haven for criminals and murderers.

The market had been established alongside the expressway, which could become a security risk in the near future.

Alleged murderers were seen sitting there in the guise of owners of hand driven carts. These alleged murderers had killed at least 3 people so far, including a lawyer and his brother.

Movement of VIP and VVIP traffic had usually been witnessed on this road, and the obliviousness of police and administration towards the murders in the market could lead to terror acts on the expressway. It is worth mentioning here that Former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) Chief Mian Nawaz Sharif were also attacked at a short distance from this market.

Intensified encroachments in the market had resulted in severe traffic jams on the main road, and people could not even breathe at the closing hours of offices as vehicular traffic increased in the locality.

Citizens complained that the criminals had been let loose in this market because they extorted money from stall holders and hand pushed carts owners and gave a major chunk of this extorted money to the police and the Capital Development Authority (CDA).

The social and religious circles and civil society members demanded from the authorities concerned to immediately remove the market from the area.

ISLAMABAD AGencIeS

ISLAMABAD

ISLAMABAD onLIne

low oversight: 50 percent dispensaries go derelict: report

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APP

RIME Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf said that the present government attached high priority to rural economy and wellbeing of people and is committed to ensuring food security in the country.

He said this during a briefing by the Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFSR) at his official residence this afternoon.

The PM said that a special Ministry of National Food Security and Research was created to coordinate with the provinces as well as international organizations to achieve the synergy needed to ensure food security and growth in the agriculture sector. He directed the ministry to present a comprehensive national food security policy for the approval of the cabinet with the objective of achieving surplus agricultural produce for export.

The PM said it is unfortunate that despite abundant natural resources Pakistan’s per acre yield is so low. The PM said that no country could progress without research and emphasized the need to intensify research work on prominent crops like wheat, rice, cotton, sugarcane and pulses to attain higher yields. In this regard, he also directed the ministry to take necessary steps to ensure usage of appropriate technology in order to minimize post harvest losses.

Ashraf further said that there should be an effective mechanism to educate the farmers and the industry

on any development made in agricultural research so that the agriculture sector can benefit from it. He directed the ministry to work on a plan to increase edible oil production so that the country can save on imports.

He added that farmer friendly policies of the government have enabled the country to not only become self-sufficient in wheat but have also created a surplus which is exported.

The government is committed to extend all possible support to maintain this momentum, he said.

The meeting was informed that

the government had wheat stocks of 8.41 million tons and planned to export one million tons from its stock.

Rice production is expected at 6.16 million tons which shows an improvement of 28% against the last year.

Sugarcane production is estimated at 59.5 million tons as compared to 55.3 million tons last year. Cotton production is expected to be around 13.6 million bales.

The meeting was briefed about the various departments working under the ministry for promoting agriculture and research in the country.

A Free and Fair Election (FAFEN) report shows that elected officials made only 83 visits to monitor dispensaries from June to August 2012, while ignoring 50 percent of the facilities altogether.

The report released on Friday said that low oversight often resulted in the staff of the dispensaries taking little interest in their duties. Therefore, the data showed the importance of informed and regular oversight which ensured the efficient working of institutions.

The FAFEN monitors visited 167 dispensaries in 99 districts to collect relevant data and assess the overall situation.

The monitors found out that medical staff (doctors) had not been posted at 28 percent of the dispensaries. However, among paramedical staff, the male occupancy rate was 90 percent, while the female staff stood at 80 percent.

Similarly, watchmen and sanitary workers’ occupancy stood at 91 percent and 83 percent respectively.

Assessment of general facilities showed that 29 percent dispensaries had no boundary walls, while 40 percent were operating out of dilapidated buildings.

Similarly, 46 percent lacked the proper arrangements for clean drinking water for patients, 50 percent had no lavatories with running water, 27 percent lacked proper waiting areas for visitors, 56 percent were without sterilizers, and another 36 percent lacked syringe cutters.

FAFEN observers interviewed three outpatients at each dispensary for their views on the staff’s performance. Although most of those interviewed seemed satisfied, 35 percent patients expressed dissatisfaction, complaining the doctors did not give enough time to the patients.

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Islamabad 07 residents of arya mohallah decry contaminated water supply RAWALPINDI AGencIeS

Residents of Muslim Colony in Arya Mohallah have demanded of the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) to provide clean drinking water in their area as they are receiving contaminated water. Owing to consumption of toxic water the residents of Muslim Colony had been suffering from various stomach diseases.

Residents said that water being supplied to their homes by WASA got mixed with sewerage water due to leakage of a water pipeline. Malik Tariq, Safeer Hussian, Agha Nadeem and many others said they feared the spread of stomach diseases due to the toxic water and demanded from WASA officials to take samples of the toxic water and ensure provision of clean drinking water in the locality.

When contacted, WASA Managing Director Raja Shoukat Mehmood said that he had issued directions to take samples of the contaminated water for laboratory testing and ensured that clean water would be provided to the residents soon.

ISLAMABAD: Students pick litter from the road after participating in a walk in connection with world Teachers Day on Friday. inp

activities of wSw continue at IST ISLAMABAD APP

Activities of World Space Week (WSW) continued here Friday at the Institute Of Space Technology (IST),with a view to generate space awareness among the general public and students from a large number of schools and colleges of the twin cities and its surrounding areas.

The WSW began with an impressively elegant opening ceremony, which was presided by IST Vice Chancellor, Engineer Imran Rahman.

The audience was educated with scholarly views about “Space exploration and space for human safety & security” which was the theme for this year’s WSW. Dr. Sohaib A. Khan, explained the socio-economic applications of satellite imagery, while Dr. Imtinan-ul-Haq gave a presentation on the use of space for the security and safety of humanity.

Senate body takes serious notice of ETPB chairman’s absence ISLAMABAD

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APP

ENATE Standing Committee on National Harmony, on Friday, took serious notice of the absence of Chairman Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) from meetings for the last several months.

The senate body, which met under the chairmanship of Senator Mir Muhammad Ali Rind, said that the meeting was rescheduled on request of the chairman but he had still failed to show up at the meeting, while eight members of the committee and the chairman were attending it.

Members also remarked sarcastically that the chairman might be requested, for his convenience, to attend

the meeting so that they could get satisfactory answers of their questions regarding the matter of ETPB. The meeting also directed the vice chairman ETPB, to provide complete details of all institutions running under the board in all provinces and financial details of each unit in the next meeting.

The vice chairman informed the meeting that the total land in possession of the board was 109370 acres in rural areas, while 15849 buildings were owned by the board in urban areas in different parts of the country.

He added that the board had also allotted 74456 acres of land on lease, and rented 24442 sub-units.

Reviewing progress of the Rimsha Masih case, a minor girl accused of blasphemy, the committee condemned the negative propaganda of a few Non-

Government Organizations who were portraying a negative image of the country internationally.

They strongly recommended that such matters should be discussed through the Ministry of National Harmony on an official level. The meeting also asked for action to be taken against those who were spreading unauthentic and ambiguous information to the masses and international organizations.

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister for National Harmony Akram Masih Gill said that the doors of the ministry were open for everyone, especially for minorities, and if anyone had any problems they should come directly to the ministry, where prompt action would be taken against their complaints, after carrying out an inquiry.

annual SPelT conference from 19th ISLAMABAD APP

The 28th annual international conference of the Islamabad chapter of the Society of Pakistan English Language Teachers (SPELT) will be held on October 19-20. During the three-day conference, more than 70 international and national experts would deliver lectures and conduct workshops on various aspects of teaching, especially English language teaching. The objectives of the conference would be to provide an opportunity to English language teachers to exchange and share teaching experiences at local and global levels to enhance their teaching skills and abilities. The conference would also provide an opportunity to develop a platform for English language teachers for further interaction in future that would serve as a centre for the dissemination of the current ideas and development in English language teaching. In addition, the conference would also provide an opportunity to the English language teachers to benefit from the experience of internationally renowned scholars.

High achieving students presented with guard of honour RAWALPINDI APP

Position holder male students of Matriculation Examination 2012 (Annual) from all education boards of Punjab were presented with a guard of honor by a police contingent at the Punjab House, Murree.

The students reached there on a three-day recreational and study visit of Murree on the invitation of Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif.

A total of 48 male position holders attended the guard of honor ceremony.

Punjab Minister for Education, Excise & Taxation Mian Mujtaba Shuja-urRehman represented Punjab CM on this occasion.

Director General (Protocol) Asjad Ghani, Protocol Officer Nadia Awan, Assistant Commisioner Manzoor Ahmed Chandio, Superintendant Police (SP) Murree and other officers of the administration were also present on this occasion.

According to schedule, the high achievers would visit Patriata, Bhurban, Government House, Murree and other important picnic spots in Murree and adjoining areas, besides enjoying the scenic views of the hill station from a chair lift and soft wheel train during their three-

day stay in the beautiful town.

They would be accorded protocol of a “State Guest” during their stay, the objective of which would be to encourage the students and acknowledge their talent and high achievements.

The Punjab education minister, while addressing the occasion said the promotion of education was essential and vital for the eradication of ignorance and poverty. He said that for the first time in the history of Pakistan, the Punjab CM adopted the policy of merit and took unprecedented steps for the promotion of education.

The minister said the high achieving students of matriculation and intermediate examinations of the boards were awarded with cash prizes. They were offered a recreational trip of Murree, while laptops were also being distributed among the students with a view to encourage them and promote an atmosphere of competition among them in pursuit of higher education.

He further said that the students were also offered foreign trips to provide them with opportunities of visiting various world renowned universities.

Similarly, 40,000 students had been provided scholarships for higher education in national and international univer-

sities under the Punjab Education Endowment Fund (PEEF), he added.

Shuja-ur-Rehman congratulated the successful students on their success and high achievements in the examination.

The students while expressing their emotions on the occasion said that they were highly delighted by the visit to the hilly town. They said that they had been inspired by the encouraging gesture of

the Punjab government and they pledged that they would further their hard work for acquiring knowledge and would strive to show excellent results in their future academic career.

Saturday, 6 October, 2012

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08 Islamabad weaTHer uPdaTeS

ARTISANS IN BLUE POTTERY AND BONE WORK FASCINATE VISITORS AT LOK VIRSA

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cITy dIrecTOry emerGency HelP POlIce emerGency amBulance reScue HIlal-e-aHmer edHI fOundaTIOn BOmB dISPOSal fIre BrIGade cenTre cIVIl defence

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ISLAMABAD STAFF rePorT

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series of artisans’ training workshops are currently being organized at Lok Virsa complex, Garden Avenue, Shakarparian under the aegis of Lok Virsa (National Institute of Folk & Traditional Heritage) and SUNGI NGO. Three workshops under this series have already taken place whereas the fourth one is underway, which is being attended by 25 master artisans in the field of stone carving, ivory, blue pottery, bone work, bead work, mirror work, basketry and replicas.

Artisans participating in the workshop include Abdul Rashid Qureshi in bone work, Sajid Mahmood and Muhammad Jamil in blue pottery, Muhammad Kaleem and Hina Kaleem in mirror work, Zahid Hussain, Muhammad Ilyas and Aurangzeb in stone carving, Zainab, Kaneez Fatima and Hajan Fateh Bibi in basketry, Sadaf Aziz and Saima in bead work, Bashir Masih in seepi work (see shell), Hajan Ali Machee in Mohenjo-daro replica making, Muhammad Nawaz in Harappa replica making, Manzoor Ali in clay pottery and others.

Most prominent among them is Abdul Rashid Qureshi of Multan who specializes in ivory bone work.

He learnt this art from his father at an early age. Qureshi has also trained many students in this art and has dedicated over 45 years of his life to keep this traditional craft alive. He has been demonstrating his skill at Lok Virsa’s annual folk festival for the past 20 years and has been honoured several times with cash awards and certificates in recognition of his talent.

Explaining details about ivory work, Lok Virsa’s executive director

Khalid Javaid informed that the use of ivory in the manufacturing of handicrafts was fairly common until some decades ago, but with the sharp decline in the elephant population all over the world, ivory substitutes like plastic as well as camel bone are progressively employed for this purpose. In appearance, camel bone is so similar to ivory that shopkeepers often pass off items made from it as ivory-made.

Camel bone handicrafts range from necklaces to bracelets, earrings to paper cutters, napkin rings, key rings, cigarette holders, ball point casings and decoration objects like miniature elephants, tigers, cows, camels and so on. Ornaments like necklaces, bracelets and earrings are made using graded camel bone beads prepared on a hand lathe.

The process for turning such beads is rather simple. A bone stick of the required length and breadth, depending on the thickness of the beads to be manufactured, is first sliced from the main leg bone and slashed with a ‘dossola’ or a specially shaped axe. After its rough edges have been adequately rounded, the stick is mounted on

the ‘charkha’ or wheel of the lath and expanded to meet the required thickness. The next stage involves the shaping of beads out of this stick. They are lathed into graded sizes with holes in the middle through which a flexible brass wire is passed to form necklaces, bracelets and earrings. Beads of graded thickness are used in order to impart ornaments with beauty for which they are justly famous.

The arrangement of beads is such that the bigger ones occupy the centre while smaller beads are placed on either side of them.Southern Punjab, in particular Multan and to some extent Lahore, is famous for this craft.

Khalid Javaid described pottery as any article made of clay or a plastic mixture of clay and other substances hardened by the application of fire. The discovery of Mohenjodaro and Harappa civilization of Indus Valley is of significant importance because it clearly indicates that the art of pottery had attained a high degree of perfection around 2500 BCE (Before Common Era).

Later extraction at Kot Diji, a location in the same area, suggests that Pakistan’s pottery craft was even

ANWAr MAQSOOD’S PAWNAY 14 Aug

30 YEArS OF rOHTAS gAllErY

older going farther into 3000 BCE. Egypt and near east regions were the first parts of the world that developed the art of ceramics.

The pottery is made by clay dug from the earth’s surface, which is prepared by beating and kneading with hands, feet or simple mallets of stone or wood. Vessels are shaped either by hand or by using rotating potter’s wheel. The clay is raised and shaped as the potter’s wheel rotates. The piece is removed once shaped and placed under the sun to dry. When it is half-dry, it may again be centered on the wheel and carefully turned down to exact shape. The pots are completely dried in the sun before being exposed to fire, ensuring that they hold their desired shape. In Pakistan, Multan and Hala are the major centers of this craft.

Nature has blessed Pakistan with a fair variety of stone, sandstone, slate and limestone in various formations and its tradition of stone crafts stretches back into the mists of antiquity. The basis of these crafts was laid in this area when man learnt to help himself with stone, patiently beaten into the shape of a working tool or a weapon for hunting. A number of such rough and crude tools have been found in the Soan Valley of Potohar The impact of geographical location, vegetation and availability of raw materials is always reflected in the crafts of a particular region.

Stone work of ancient city of Taxila has a standing tradition of centuries and the workmanship still bears influence of the Gandhara period. The skill of stone carving involves first, the refining of the stone with a chisel and hammer. A sketch is drawn on this stone either from memory or from a photograph and then carved, again with the help of a chisel and hammer. Finishing touches are given with sandpaper.

DruMMINg CIrClE

cOlleGeS / unIVerSITIeS InTernaTIOnal ISlamIc unIVerSITy 9260765 BaHrIa unIVerSITy 9260002 numl 9257677 quaId-e-azam unIVerSITy 90642098 arId aGrIculTure unIVerSITy 9290151 fJwu 9273235 rIPHa InTernaTIOnal unIVerSITy 111510510 nca rawalPIndI 5770423 PunJaB law cOlleGe 4421347 Saturday, 6 October, 2012

SePT 1 - 25 PaKISTan naTIOnal cOuncIl Of arTS ‘Pawnay 14 august’ has broken all theatrical records in Pakistan with 28 performances and 15000 viewers in Karachi and lahore is now ready to sweep Islamabad off its feet. for more details call 0333 3377909, 0300 9558701

SePT 24 - OcT 24, 5Pm Venue: naTIOnal arT Gallery

daTe and TIme: 05:00 Pm, weeKly eVenT Venue: THe cenTre fOr arTS & culTure

Sixty five artists will exhibit more than 165 works in what will be a testimony to Pakistan’s contemporary artists and an amazing journey through their growth and contribution to art over three decades.

Our drumming circle is a (free!) ongoing event and is held every friday from 5pm to 6pm. we are having a great time, and want to share the good time with you!

Our drumming circle has children ...

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Foreign News 09

Parliament threat to Indian reform push NEW DELHI

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AFP

former coalition ally said on Friday that it would bring a no-confidence vote against India’s government over its reform proposals, pointing to the fierce legislative battle lying ahead in parliament.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s cabinet quickened its dash for reforms, approving plans to open up the insurance and pensions sectors to foreign investors.

“The minority government cannot play such (an) immoral role. Let us move

a no-confidence motion,” the leader of the regional Trinamool Congress party, Mamata Banerjee, wrote on her Facebook page.

The new government proposals follow a highly contentious decision to invite foreign supermarkets into the retail sector last month, alongside other measures to reduce subsidies on gas and diesel and part-privatise state-owned companies.

While the latter could be decreed by the cabinet, foreign investment in the more sensitive insurance and pensions sectors must be approved by parliament where the ruling coalition is now technically a minority.

Banerjee, a populist who decries moves to cut subsidies or invite in foreign investors as “anti-poor”, withdrew her party from the coalition last month.

To survive a no-confidence vote — which could prompt early elections — the coalition will have to rely on outside parties, many of which are hostile to foreign investment. The government has proposed allowing foreign companies to own up to 49 percent in insurance companies, up from 26 percent now, and the same level in the pensions sector, which is currently closed to outsiders.

The ruling Congress party would “engage with all bodies” in parliament to get the measures passed, Finance Minis-

ter P. Chidambaram told reporters.

The cabinet also okayed a bill on Thursday to overhaul corporate regulation. The government has stressed the need for “hard decisions” to encourage foreign and domestic investment to get the economy moving again.

India’s growth right now is bumping along at 5.5 percent — its slowest pace in around three years. Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s warned in June that it could lose its investment-grade rating.

The Indian rupee soared to its highest level against the dollar since midApril in early trade on Friday, which analysts say is down to optimism about the inflow of foreign funds.

jeruSALeM: Israeli riot police walk at jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during scuffles with Palestinian stone throwers on Friday. afp

Al Qaeda claims wave of attacks in Iraq BAGHDAD: An Al-Qaeda front group, the Islamic State of Iraq, claimed responsibility for a wave of attacks that cost 33 lives, in a website statement posted on Friday. “The targets were government, security and army centres” and Shiites as well as Sunni “traitors,” it said on jihadist website Honein. The bombings and shootings in 10 cities and towns across Iraq last Sunday that also left more than 100 wounded rounded off the deadliest month in Iraq for more than two years, with a total of 365 people killed in September. While insurgents opposed to the Baghdad government are regarded as weaker than in past years, they are still capable of launching periodic mass-casualty attacks across the country. AFP

islamists protest after Jordan king calls early elections AMMAN AFP

Thousands of Islamists demonstrated in central Amman to call for reforms on Friday, just hours after King Abdullah II dissolved parliament and called early polls without any major political change.

“We demand constitutional reform before the people revolt. The people want to reform the regime,” they chanted in the demonstration held outside Al-Husseini mosque in downtown Amman.

The crowd is estimated to be around 15000 “Democratic electoral law, constitutional changes, parliamentary governments, independent judiciary, constitutional court, effective anti-corruption efforts and preventing security services from interfering in political life,” read a large banner carried by protesters spelling out their demands.

Police said they prevented a group of

youths from attacking the demonstrators, after they arrested eight people who were found to be carrying firearms in three minibuses heading into central Amman.

“We have been protesting for more than 20 months and you still do not understand our demands. We do not like demonstrations but we love Jordan,” read another banner carried by the protesters.

The demonstration was the latest in a series of protests in Jordan since January 2011 to call for political and economic reforms and to demand an end to corruption.

The king decided to dissolve the chamber of deputies on Thursday and to call early elections, the royal palace said. It gave no date, although the monarch has said he wants polls to be held by the end of 2012.

But the opposition Muslim Brotherhood said it was going ahead with its planned rally in central Amman after Friday prayers, with the group predicting an estimated 50,000 supporters would attend.

Abu Hamza, four other terror suspects set for US extradition LONDON AFP

Radical Islamist preacher Abu Hamza and four other men are set to be extradited to the United States after a British court on Friday rejected their last-ditch attempts to block their removal.

Two senior judges at the High Court in London dismissed a plea by Hamza, an Egyptian-born 54-year-old former imam, to be allowed a stay of extradition in order for medical tests to be carried out to assess his fitness to face trial.

Fellow terror suspects Khaled Al-Fawwaz, Syed Tahla Ahsan, Adel Abdul Bary and Babar Ahmad were also denied an injunction.

Judge John Thomas said: “The applications by all five claimants must be dismissed. It follows that their extradition to the United States of America may proceed immediately.”

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in September that all five men could be extradited, but the High Court ordered the government to halt their removal while it heard their final appeals.

The government dismissed the appeals as delaying tactics.

They are now set to be flown out of Britain to be incarcerated in ADX Florence, the “supermax” jail in the United States.

Lawyers for Abu Hamza, who has been indicted in the United States on charges including setting up an Al-Qaeda-style training camp for militants in the state of Oregon, argued that he should not be extradited because he needs a brain scan.

They told the court he suffers from sleep deprivation and memory loss which make him unfit to plead, as well as infections in the stumps of his two amputated arms.

Hamza — who wears a hook where his right hand once was — has also been charged with criminal conduct related to the taking of 16 hostages in Yemen in 1998 and with advocating violent jihad in Afghanistan in 2001.

He rose to prominence in the 1990s when he gave fiery sermons at the Finsbury Park mosque in north London, but has been in prison in Britain for eight years after being convicted of inciting hatred.

Ahmad and Ahsan, both British nationals, are accused of operating websites supporting Chechen and Afghan insurgents.

Syrian warplanes batter Homs city amidst protests for ‘weapons not words’ DAMASCUS AFP

Syrian warplanes pounded a rebel-held area of Homs Friday in the heaviest bombardment of the city for months, monitors said, after the UN condemned the army’s deadly shelling of a Turkish border town.

Calm returned to the border, and although Ankara’s parliament approved further action in Syria after Turkish artillery hit back at Syrian army positions, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said there were no plans to go to war.

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP the bombardment of Khaldiyeh district was the most intense of Homs in five months, and the first time the regime has deployed fighter jets against the city.

Activist network the Syrian Revolution General Council said a series of large explosions rocked the neighbourhood after the bombing raids. The Observatory reported five civilians and one rebel killed in the central city and province of Homs, giving an initial death toll of 54 nationwide — including 28 soldiers, 14 civilians and 12 rebel fighters. In the hill resort of Zabadani, a rebel bastion outside Damascus, two civilians were killed in an army bombardment, the watchdog added.

The army also battered rebel strong-

holds in Aleppo, Daraa, Deir Ezzor, Idlib and Latakia, said the Britain-based Observatory, reporting clashes in each region.

Despite the relentless violence, thousands of people demonstrated across Syria calling for the arming of the rebel Free Syrian Army and condemning the international community’s inaction, the Observatory reported. The uprising, which began in March 2011 with pro-reform protests that were brutally crushed, has since turned into a civil war pitting mainly Sunni rebels against President Bashar alAssad’s minority Alawite-dominated regime. Activists say more than 31,000 people have died in the conflict.

The international community has expressed fear the war could spill over into other countries in the region, exacerbated by exchanges of shelling between Syria and Turkey on Wednesday and Thursday.

Turkey had demanded strong UN Security Council action after Syrian fire killed five of its nationals in the border town of Akcakale on Wednesday, including a mother and her three children.

‘We want weapons, not words!’

After hours of haggling between Turkey’s Western allies and longtime Syria backer Russia, the UN body issued its statement, which was toughly worded but a rung down from a formal resolution.

“The members of the Security Council

condemn in the strongest terms the shelling by the Syrian armed forces,” the statement said.

Saying the shelling “highlighted the grave impact the crisis in Syria has on the security of its neighbours and on regional peace,” the council “demanded that such violations of international law stop immediately and are not repeated.”

Turkey retaliated to Wednesday’s shelling by striking back at Syrian positions. Several soldiers were reported killed, but Syria’s UN ambassador said two soldiers were only wounded.

The Turkish premier said the authorisation given by parliament for further military action was not a mandate for war but said his nation’s borders and citizens would be defended.

The border region between Turkey and northern Syria was quiet on Friday, an AFP journalist in Akcakale said, although the Turkish military had amassed tanks and anti-aircraft missiles.

Military vehicles patrolled the Turkish town, which lies opposite the Tall alAbyad border post controlled by Syrian rebels since last month.

The US State Department said the Turkish retaliatory fire had been an “appropriate” and “proportional” response, while Russia said the Syrian shelling had been “a tragic accident.”

Saturday, 6 October, 2012

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10 Comment Walking the talk

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

For Balochistan issue, the time is now

Arif Nizami Editor Lahore – Ph: 042-36298305-10 Fax: 042-36298302 Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9 Fax: 021-35381208 Islamabad – Ph: 051-2287414-6 Fax: 051-2287417 Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

The Swiss letter Inches away from resolution

By Arif Nizami

T

HE decision by the government to write the letter to the Swiss authorities withdrawing the earlier one written by former Attorney General Malik Qayyum was widely seen as a breakthrough. The standoff with the Supreme Court has already cost one prime minister his job. The democratic order which has yet to strike roots firmly would be shaken badly if a second chief executive of the country was to be sent home. The last three hearings of the SC have led many to think that a happy ending of the affair is possible.

At the first hearing Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf agreed to write the required letter. He also agreed to notify that the draft of the letter would be prepared by the law minister keeping in view the SC’s directives. In the second hearing both the notification and the letter were presented before the court.

The notification was approved but the law minister sought more time to make the desired changes in the letter in the light of the SC’s observations. At the third hearing on Friday, two paragraphs of the draft letter were approved by the SC. The apex court however expressed reservation on the third para. It granted the request made by the law minister for consultation in the chamber to better understand the judges’ point of view in order to be able to put it before the PM. The court agreed that open discussion on some of the sensitive matters at this stage could be harmful. The law minister was given four more days to make the required changes in the draft. While the journey continues there are milestones which indicate that the destination may not be very far.

When the PPP leadership which had vowed never to write the Swiss letter took a 180-degree turn on the issue, it did so because of a belated realization that the cost of a prolonged standoff with the judiciary was highly detrimental for the government and the democratic system. The exemption to the prime minister from appearing before the court and the permission to nominate someone else to write the letter encouraged the party to change its stance on the letter. During the last three years the government must have fully realized what the court wants it to do. Once a decision has been taken to write the letter, the matter should not be delayed any longer.

The party leaders claim that they have always accepted the court’s verdicts instead of defying them. The time has come to prove it. The government would do well to fully focus on resolving the issue. The court should meanwhile continue to encourage the government. Neither side should do anything that upsets the apple cart.

candid corner

By Raoof Hasan

A

KTHAR Mengal deposing in the Supreme Court in the missing persons case has brought the Balochistan issue in sharp focus. At the court the Baloch National Party (BNP) leader also unveiled his six-point formula to tackle the Balochistan imbroglio.

In the context of Pakistan’s checkered political history, six points have a peculiar connotation. Sheikh Mujeeb-ur-Rehman’s six points formed the basis of separation of East Pakistan from the rest of Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh.

Mengal’s six points as clarified by him are distinct from that of Mujeeb-urRehman’s. Mujeeb’s six points were maximalist envisaging a virtual confederation between East and West Pakistan. General Yahya’s military putsch against the Bengalis put paid to Pakistan as Jinnah had created it.

On the other hand, the Baloch leader’s six-point charter put forth in the Supreme Court envisages finding a solution to problems of the perennially troubled province.

It basically demands an end to the military’s spy agencies’ interference in Balochistan; disbanding of the death squads and allowing the Baloch political parties to function and resume their political activities without interference. It also demands an end to forced disappearances.

Ostensibly the six-point charter seems harmless. It, however, sums up the sad state of affairs in the province. Successive governments, both military and civilian, and the establishment have played havoc with the people of Balochistan. However, Baloch leadership itself cannot be entirely absolved of the blame for the present unsavory state of affairs.

As a result of the twentieth amendment in the Constitution, the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award and the so-called Balochistan Package, the province has received a lot of funds. But these have hardly

permeated to the common Baloch who still lives in abject poverty and neglect.

The Balochistan Assembly’s rump with the exception of perhaps three members is composed of those sitting on the government benches. Corruption is rife. And bulk of the enormous funds allocated to the members has not reached their respective constituents.

The Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani seems hardly interested in the province he is supposed to govern. He spends most of his time in Islamabad. He is fond of good things in life, sometimes engaged in his favourite hobby: riding a highpowered motorbike on the streets of Islamabad.

Akthar Mengal has incurred the wrath of the ultra nationalists who seek an independent Balochistan. These nationalists are hyperactive abroad lobbying for an independent Balochistan. They have been able to win the support of some influential US Congressmen for their cause.

Apart from the Sardars, nationalists and ultra nationalists, pro-federation or anti-federation, the relguous militants and the jihadists are also hyperactive in the province.

As it is obvious from the name, the headquarters of the Taliban leadership, the socalled Quetta Shura, is based in the province.

The ethnic cleansing of the Hazara Shia community has become the norm rather than the exception in Balochistan.

Even the Punjabis settled for generations or those who are engaged in government jobs are not spared. Ironically not much is said about these victims by our Punjab based leadership.

The federal government that was initially very keen to bring the estranged Baloch leadership in the mainstream and to restore a semblance of normalcy has conveniently adopted an attitude of benign neglect.

Predictably, the maverick Interior Minister Rehman Malik reacting to Mengal’s demands sees a “foreign hand” in Balochistan.

Malik is not the first government functionary invoking foreign interference as an excuse for what is wrong with Pakistan.

The first PPP government in 1972 initiated the military action against an elected Baloch leadership. A flimsy pretext that arms were being smuggled through Iraq was also used. Ironically, Nawab Akbar Bugti was the lynchpin of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto against the Sardars. He appointed him governor of the province.

Neither General Pervez Musharraf had any qualms in crushing the Baloch resistance with an iron hand on the pretext of protecting “the national interest”. Ironically,

Akbar Bugti, basically a moderate, was the victim of his wrath.

Bugti was killed on his orders. But he literally got away with murder in this case.

Now Musharraf, while ensconced in his comfortable abode in London, reacting to Mengal’s six points claims that Balochistan is no East Pakistan.

Probably not. But does this mean that the military establishment and its spy agencies should not let go? Do they have carte blanche to trample over the basic human rights of the Baloch population?

It is the Chief Justice of Pakistan who unlike his predecessors mustered the courage to take up the cause of missing persons in Balochistan, albeit with mixed results. The military establishment that has always considered itself a law in itself has not paid much heed to the apex court’s orders. But sadly the federal government by parroting the establishment’s line has taken the path of least resistance.

The Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani has backed any political process in Balochistan as long as it is within the confines of the constitution.

The general also said in his policy statement that any steps taken in violation of the constitution in the insurgency-hit province would be unacceptable.

The question that begs an answer here is: who will decide what is constitutional and what is beyond its ambit? The military or the higher judiciary?

Certainly implementing Mengal’s six points, prima facie, does not violate the constitution. Democratic norms demand that those wanted by the state are entitled to due process.

Of course no one can condone those who espouse the dismantling of the state. But keeping the military intelligence, the ISI and the FC on a tight leash is certainly within he confines of the constitution.

The ball is squarely in the military’s court. It should make full disclosure to the apex court, if need be in camera. Furthermore, practical steps should be taken to demilitarize the troubled province.

Imran Khan and Nawaz Sharif lending support to Akthar Mengal and their call for ending military operations in the province should be commended. Imran holding a public meeting in Quetta was a salutary step. Sharif and other mainstream politicians from different political parties, including the president and the prime minister, should do the same if they are sincere in walking the talk.

The writer is Editor, Pakistan Today

Mengal’s initiative Time to heed and heal

T

HE fact that Akhtar Mengal actually travelled to Islamabad to present his case before the Supreme Court (SC) establishes that there are still people who are willing to invest in Pakistan and give a chance to the federation to survive.

Much would depend on how the government responds to his depositions and his appraisal of sustaining the state in its present shape.

There is nothing new about his demands. They are all legitimate.

There is not a rational soul in the country who would disagree either with the content of his demands or the tenor in which these have been presented. There was an enormous quantum of positivity in his interactions at the apex court, with the media and the political leaders. This all showed that he meant well and was making an earnest effort for things to move forward.

There was also firmness about what he stated. Without painting a doomsday scenario, he reiterated that considerable time had been lost and there was little patience left to invest in bringing the estranged people of the province back to the mainstream. Quite rightly, he said that the people of Balochistan were not looking for aid packages and dole-outs.

They demanded their inalienable

Saturday, 6 October, 2012

rights which had been wrongfully taken away from them. They demanded their political rights. They demanded priority right on the natural wealth of their province as enshrined in the constitution.

The six points that he envisages to be recognised for initiating a process of reconciliation include no great surprises. He demanded that the ongoing army operation should be stopped, all missing persons should be traced and recovered, those responsible for the defaced dead bodies found in the province should be held accountable, the killers of Akbar Bugti and other Baloch leaders should be arrested, those rendered homeless as a consequence of the military operation should be rehabilitated and all political parties should be granted total freedom to operate in the province.

Coinciding with his visit to Islamabad, voices were raised for the scores of settlers who have been mercilessly murdered in the province. It is being said that this should also have been mentioned in the list of demands put forward by Mengal. Reprehensible that every such killing is, one should try to understand the dominant sentiment underlying these demands at this point in time.

These are the demands of people who

believe that they have been wronged for all the sixty-five years that Pakistan has been there as an independent country and who have been the victims of military operations by dictators and ‘democrats’ alike. They believe that they have been deprived of their democratic and constitutional rights. The feeling that has accentuated over decades is that Balochistan has been the victim of a decadent mindset that is unbending and refuses to see the other side of the story. While the stratagem has not worked in the past, the chances of it keeping the country together in the future are beyond reckoning.

There are also questions raised about his legitimacy to intercede on behalf of Balochistan from two extremes. There are those who believe that it is already too late for any such effort to be initiated while others contend that he may not be the best choice to fight Balochistan’s case and express doubts about the circumstances under which he arrived in Pakistan, presented his case in the SC and hastened to his base. Both perceptions may have their relevance, but in an environment when the prospect for a credible and sustainable solution to the Balochistan quagmire appears to be fast diminishing, what harm would it bring if

Mengal’s intervention was taken seriously and given the encouragement that it deserves? Instead of seeing the bluntness of the demands, one should try to focus on the seemingly good intentions behind the move that is meant to preserve the federation on the basis of a more equitable and non-discriminatory distribution and disposition.

As a matter of fact, this may be the only way left to move forward.

The initiative should also be viewed in the context of the continually deteriorating conditions in the restive province. The killings are on the increase and the writ of the provincial government is nowhere in sight. It is said that the whole cabinet which comprises all the members of the provincial legislature is comfortably ensconced in the Balochistan House in Islamabad because they dare not be in Quetta or their respective constituencies. Imagine a government that is being run from a thousand kilometres away!

The initial government reaction denying the ongoing military operation or the role of the security agencies in the disappearance of civilians is not a good omen. Instead of coming forth with a knee-jerk reaction, the government should have pondered the demands more diligently

and engaged Mengal in a conciliatory interaction as a precursor to initiating a more comprehensive dialogue with a broader spectrum of stakeholders. If the opportunity is lost - as it would be if the denial-mode remains paramount - the shadows of doubt hovering over the government’s intentions would only elongate, thus eliminating the prospect of a peaceful solution to the simmering problem. It is the intransigence of the same mindset that has cost Pakistan dearly in the past as it is bound to in the future. For the country to escape its tentacles, there is a need to address the dynamics of this mindset and also remember the damage it has inflicted on the state in the past.

The geo-political situation in the region would also not help the sustenance of an unbending approach towards the Balochistan crisis. Instead, it demands a more meaningful and result-oriented initiative that would bring the crisis to a peaceful end. But there is no moving in that direction if the mindset that is the principal architect of the crisis is not addressed urgently. In the event it is not, we’ll do so to our own peril.

The writer is a political analyst.

He can be reached at raoofhasan@hotmail.com

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Comment 11

Editor’s mail Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan.

Fax: +92-42-36298302.

E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk.

Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively.

we ought to think We cannot stop Jewish lobby against Islam. This animosity is well known to us and it existed even 1400 years back. We also cannot do anything about the ‘freedom of press’ syndrome of the Western world.

These slanderous attacks on the sanctity of Islam and our Holy Prophet (SAW) will go on at regular intervals, as history has told us. We can’t break our properties and assets lest we should be left impoverished. So let us think of something concrete and productive to thwart the Jewish onslaught.

Muslims must convene a get together in which all Muslims countries must appear, regardless of their internal and political differences.

All sections of Muslims must represent, regardless of their sect or belief. Muslims must create a huge Islamic Media Centre from where the true picture of Islam is projected. Let the West know what Islam is.

We hear that their intellectuals study Quran as a book and get convinced of its logic, explanation and historical truth of events mentioned in Quran. Let us project them in an orderly way of expression and especially in a way that the faithless and distorted youth of West find answers to their bewilder ness. This perpetual activity will not only discourage the lunatics of the West to say anything derogatory but will also curtail US intervention into Iraq and Afghanistan and now the entire ME. The US won’t get away with their oft-repeated allegations against Islam and practices of Islam. Hijab won’t be a problem to the police in the West. This Islamic Media must be backed up rich Islamic countries which have abundance of wealth. This Islamic Media must have a multi-faceted design and run by Islamic experts and undisputed scholars. Access to this media center must be made easy to Muslims all around and easier for non-Muslims to reach it. We have to correct our image in the world and leave no space for them to make a joke of us. The asking is? Can we do this? Or shall we break our country every time they trigger a reason? Can our governments take the initiative or will they only debate on 6 men being sent to Islamabad

by PML-N to ransack Islamabad?

AMJAD H MIRZA Lahore

who is innocent?

As per the challan (charge sheet) submitted by the Pakistani police team who was investigating a blasphemy case against a teen-age mentally sick Christian girl, Rimsha, no evidence has been found that Rimsha desecrated the Holy Quran; instead the mosque Imam, Khalid Chishti, has been accused of tampering with evidence by adding burned pages of Holy Quran into the polythene bag allegedly being carried by Rimsha. Regardless of the police investigation, we know the facts on ground: Rimsha and her family has been sheltered in a ‘safe’ place in Islamabad (how safe that is only time will tell), a number of Christian families

have left the poor neighborhood fearing reprisal attacks, Civil Judge Amir Aziz, who was earlier hearing the case has gone on leave, counsel for accuser, Rao Rahim, has already announced that if Rimsha is not punished by the court then a number of ‘Mumtaz Qadris’ will do the job (a reference to Punjab governor’s murderer).

In this backdrop, if it is proved that Imam Khalid Chishti burnt the Holy Quran prior to adding them to the polythene bag, he could be declared accused under the blasphemy law – 196 PPC (wherein he may face death penalty). We all know that blasphemy law has been misused by mischievous people to

Shia killings on the rise Our government, our security forces and our judiciary are silent on the killings of innocent people of Shia and Hazara community. When our Supreme Court can take suo motu action on the killings in Karachi and on the Balochistan situation, it should also take suo motu notice on the killings of innocent people belonging to the Shia and Hazara communities.

The Quaid in his maiden speech to the Constituent Assembly on Aug 11, 1947, said, “The first and foremost duty of a government is to maintain law and order and to protect the life and property of its citizens.”

It is very sad that we have become an intolerant society. Religious intolerance has reached an alarming proportion.

We are killing each other just because of differences in religious views.

People belonging to different faiths add diversity to our culture. We must respect other religions and faiths. This will help to build a tolerant society.

MAIMUNA RAZA Karachi

Twisted facts This is in connection with the September 21, 2012, the day declared as the Day of Love for Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) by the federal Government and protest day by various political and religious parties.

The day was hijacked by some extremist elements and the media which chose to show clips of the looting, arson and killings only. Unfortunately the hypocritical behavior of our media is not understandable, they look towards sponsorship and chose to cover only those incidents which they believe would enhance their rating.

Majority of our so-called intellectuals on electronic media discuss and analyze the incidents and problems without taking into consideration the ground realities in an inconclusive manner. No doubt, incidents of looting, arson and burning of private and public properties are not liked by any sane person. However, we have to look into the causes that why some people may be 2% of our population

target their opponents, settle personal score, evacuate properties and businesses, and in most cases the defendants, though found innocent by the courts, were murdered in broad day light, socially boycotted, thrown out of the area.

Accusers were never charged and they achieved whatever they were looking for.

We need to break this cycle of death game; let’s request authorities not to book Imam Chishti under the blasphemy law-196 PPC, instead he shall be charged for fraudulent and tampering with evidence – a charge to be handled by an ordinary criminal court.

MASOOD KHAN Jubail, Saudi Arabia

choose to acts like this. We saw scenes of looting and arson in United Kingdom last year and USA few years back similar to the one which we saw on our screens on Friday. The only difference is that they learnt a lesson and tracked down the real miscreants behind them and made accountable each and every culprit through CCTV coverage. We on the other hand while sitting in our lounges issued sweeping statements blaming all the people who chose to protest.

We should appreciate some political parties especially PTI etc. Whose leaders along with their supporters protested in a peaceful manner and condemned the movie. However, the politicians and the rulers who announced the day as a Protest day and remained inside their houses due to security concern should be condemned. We should also look into the fact that the attitude of the miscreants clearly depict the widening gap between the “Haves” and “Have not” as they could be seen looting, laughing and enjoying which is not a good omen.

Khalid Khan Lahore

Ban pillion riding It has been seen that motorcycles are being used as more than a bike with three or even four adults sitting tightly with the driver sitting on the fuel tank.

This makes it too risky due to a lack of effective control by the driver as he leans forward to drive it.

The load of three adult passengers makes the driver to sway left and right and it is difficult to apply brakes in an emergency due to his difficult posture. They can result in accidents that can be avoided by enforcing the law that says that not more than two people can ride a bike.

Another common scene is carrying milk cans on both sides of a motorcycle that often collide with other vehicles on the road. A motorcycle is meant to carry passengers and not milk cans. It is suggested that the traffic police may check such motorcyclists that carry three persons and milk cans on sides that obstruct the normal traffic to make our roads safe for travel.

DR MUHAMMAD YAQOOB BHATTI Lahore

whiteLIeS P By ess aich

rodigal son Arsalan Iftikhar’s favorite spot in Lahore is a posh restaurant on Lahore’s MM Alam Road. The chap is often seen there at lunch in designer clothes or, of late, some simple shalwar kameez.

Now, the eatery is also a haunt of a lot of members of the elite auntie circuit. Recently, when the chap was having lunch, a lady from one such group approached him and gave him a piece of her mind. You know the drill: are you ashamed of shaming your father and other questions of the like. The poor (figuratively speaking) former-sort-ofpoliceman didn’t know where to look.

A couple of days later, he went to the restaurant again, only to find the same group there, not to mention the most prominent lawyer of the Lawyers’ Movement. Our realtor-in-chief fled for his life, circumventing any other possibility of a dressing down.

Moral of the story: Don ko pakarrna mushkil hay, na mumkin nahi.

************** Well, the jetset foreign minister might fly from one mission to the next, representing her country, and looking good while doing it, but all that glamour takes a lot of work.

She is seen regularly at a swanky beauty salon and spa in Lahore. The trick is to make sure it doesn’t seem like it took a lot of hard work to look like that. ************** So the elder Mian Sb is off and about almost all the time. And the younger Mian Sb’s favorite destination of choice is now Turkey, where he is reportedly asking the Turks how they made their bus transit systems work. Then, off to Germany to hone his linguistic skills – trivia of the day: the chief minister is fluent in the language.

The question: who, really, is minding the PML-N store while the braadraan are away?

For feedback, comments, suggestions and, most importantly, tips, contact us at whitelies@pakistantoday.com.pk

Saturday, 6 October, 2012

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12 i doN’T hAve Time for love: mAliKA SherAWAT The title of next film plays on a popular expletive acronym. But actor Mallika Sherawat has a different take on the four words that make up the title of the film: Kismet Love Paisa Dilli (KLPD).

We get her to break down what those four words mean to her.

KISMEt (DEStINy): Kismet does play a huge part in every person’s life.

Your destiny is very important, but remember it is shaped by your own karma. I have always believed in kismet, and coming from a conservative, traditional Haryanvi background, it has been an important aspect of my life. I belong to a place, which is extremely male-dominated and where women are not even allowed to venture out of the house, I have managed to make a career in Bollywood and have traveled all over the world. I have been to the White House to meet Barack Obama. Isn’t this all but destiny?

LovE: Love is all encompassing. It is a

Saturday, 6 October, 2012

great feeling, especially for me because I get so much of it from fans. One of them has even tattooed my name on his wrist! I am also a very romantic person, that’s why my favourite song in KLPD is ‘Dishkiyaon’.

I absolutely love the romance in it. However one needs to give a certain amount of time and devotion to maintain a steady relationship. I don’t have that kind of time right now; I am constantly on the move.

But I will always be ready to fall in love, if the right man comes along. Right now, I am absolutely single.

PAISA (MoNEy): This is one word that probably every politician in the country loves! But for me, personally, money is only important to ensure a normal and comfortable life. You should be independent and have enough money to live your life with dignity.

DILLI (DELHI) I love Delhi. I have studied at Miranda House College and have grown up there, so, it will always have a very nostalgic value for me.

That’s why this movie is so special to me — because it brought out all the colours and flavours associated with the city. All of this comes out gloriously in the movie.

CoUrteSy Ht

Hulk Hogan’s sex tape surfaces online Hulk Hogan’s long-rumored sex tape has surfaced online in the form of a preview posted by Gawker after it was given a copy by an anonymous source.

According to the site, the minute-anda-half clip—which contained snippets that were edited together from a 30minute recording—shows the WWE legend, real name Terry Bollea, about to do the deed with an brunette whose identity cannot be confirmed. But before the duo hits the mat, the exgrappler’s cell phone goes off (the ringtone is daughter Brooke Hogan’s song “About Us”). Hogan checks it to make sure it’s not his son, Nick, who’s calling, which means the tape was probably recorded some time after the younger Hogan got out of jail in 2009 for a reckless driving accident that severely injured his best friend two years earlier. Hulk decides not to answer, and a brief montage of X-rated activity ensues. News of the grainy video’s existence was first reported last April when adult film honcho Steve Hirsch, CEO of Vivid Entertainment, said he had been approached by a third party about buying the home movie. An attorney for Hogan subsequently announced that Bollea was taking legal action to make sure no one profited off the tape, which he said was secretly recorded without his authorization. neWS DeSK

I was bullied by mean girls at school: Lilo Lindsay Lohan has revealed that she was targeted by her classmates for landing successful acting roles as a teenager, and was laughed at for her dysfunctional family situation. The 26-yearold actress was so moved by chat show host Katie Couric’s interview with bullied 16-year-old Whitney Kropp, who was elected as a prom queen by her peers as a joke, that she took to Twitter to take a stand against bullying “@katiecouric I think what you did today on your show for #WhitneyKropp was lovely. It had me crying. I’d love to meet her.#stopbullying,” the Daily Mail quoted her, as tweeting. “I was actually bullied @ my public school when i would leave to film. Whenever I came back girls and boys would call me names. “They would also mock me because of my home situation, when people found out that my father was in jail,” she wrote. In fact the tormenting got so bad for the actress, who famously played a school misfit turned bully in teen comedy ‘Mean Girls,’ that she decided to drop out of school in favour of being tutored at home. neWS DeSK

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13 novelist razia Butt passes away

mArKS James Bond fans on Friday celebrated 50 years of the suave British spy’s adventures on the silver screen with a day of 007-themed events around the world.

Bond appeared in a film for the first time in the now classic “Dr. No”, released on October 5, 1962, introducing himself with the immortal line “Bond... James Bond” over a high-stakes game of baccarat.

The movie franchise has gone on to become one of the most successful in history, with the 22 Bond films taking in more than five billion dollars (3.85 billion euros). To mark “Global Bond Day”, British diva Adele released a clip of the theme song for “Skyfall”, the 23rd and newest Bond film, on her website as anticipation built for its worldwide premiere on October 23. The rugged Daniel Craig is the latest of six actors to play Bond, but some things have stayed the same — his taste for fast cars, beautiful women, high-tech gadgets and vodka Martinis. “For all the attempts at change, the core of the Bondian world remains the same: obsessed with sex and violence, hypermasculine, simplistically nationalistic, and addicted to conspicuous consumption,” Christoph Lindner, editor of “The James Bond Phenomenon: A Critical Reader”, told AFP. A collection of cars from the films, including the iconic Aston Martins, were gathered at Pinewood Studios near London where the movies are made.

An auction of memorabilia at Christie’s in London was another highlight of the day before the action moves across the Atlantic. In New York, the Museum of Modern Art was unveiling an installation dedicated to the title sequence of 1964’s “Goldfinger,” which it said “captures the sexual suggestiveness and wry humor of the James Bond mythos.” And in Los Angeles, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — organisers of the Academy Awards — was hosting an evening of “memorable title songs and indelible scores” from the past 22 James Bond films. British session player Vic Flick, 75, who laid down the signature guitar riff for the James Bond theme song is due to attend.

In Washington, the International Spy Museum is staging an interactive exhibition, “Exquisitely Evil,” which pays homage to Bond’s adversaries with more than 100 artefacts from the Bond movies as well as “real stories from real spies”, recalling their own Bond-like moments in espionage. London’s Barbican Centre has put on an exhibition showcasing the design and style of “the world’s most influential and iconic movie brand”. It will move on to Toronto later this month. Britain’s tourist agency has joined forces with Bond for the first time, launching a campaign across 21 countries based around the slogan “Bond is GREAT Britain.”

A new feature documentary “Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007”, will also be unveiled, focusing on producers Albert “Cubby” Broccoli and Harry Saltzman and 007 author Ian Fleming, the three men most responsible for building the brand. The release of

“Skyfall” caps a busy year for 007, who provided one of the highlights of the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony by “parachuting” into the stadium with Queen Elizabeth II, in a wellreceived spoof film. Few would have believed that Bond would become a global institution when “Dr. No”, an adaptation of Fleming’s 1958 novel, was released. Critical reaction to the first film was mixed, with Time magazine calling Sean Connery’s Bond — still many fans’ favourite — “a great big hairy marshmallow”. Meanwhile, Adele’s new track was revealed as a soaring orchestral number that seemed a return to classic Bond themes in the mould of Shirley Bassey’s songs of the past. Initial reaction to the orchestral epic was positive, with listeners on You Tube comparing it favourably to Bassey’s renditions of “Goldfinger” and “Diamonds are Forever”. afp

Famous Urdu novelist Razia Butt passed away here on Thursday night. She was 88. Born Razia Niaz in Rawalpindi in 1924, she spent most of her childhood in Peshawar.

Her name first appeared in a literary journal around 1940 when she was in her teens. She later developed her first published story into a novel, Naila.

Married in 1946, Razia Butt resumed writing in 1950s after a break of some years. She was later hailed as one of the prolific writers of her time, with some 50 novels and 350 short stories to her credit.

She also wrote many radio plays. Being a contemporary of many famous names in Urdu fiction writing, Razia Butt carved a niche and a market for herself by perfecting a particular brand of storytelling. Her style was close to cinema’s so-called ‘Muslim social drama’ trend. Not surprisingly, many of her novels, such as Saiqa and Naila, were adapted for the big screen. She was also a favourite of television producers looking to turn a novel into a TV drama serial.

Popular with many generations of readers, Razia Butt came up with an autobiography a decade ago. neWS DeSK

clooney and Keibler attend premiere amidst break up rumors George Clooney and Stacy Keibler are still very much in love. The Oscar winner and former pro wrestler proved recent reports they were headed for splitsville wrong by walking the red carpet tonight at the Beverly Hills premiere of Argo, the Ben Affleck-directed drama that Clooney coproduced. They didn’t stop for interviews, but the black-clad couple did smile for pictures before walking hand-in-hand into the theater. Clooney, 51, and Keibler, 32, began dating more than a year ago and have weathered breakup rumors before. neWS DeSK

my 3 kids put me over the edge: Jennifer Garner Jennifer Garner has revealed that raising three children has turned out to be more difficult than she thought. The 40-yearold actress gave birth to son- Samuel, her third child with husband Ben Affleck and although she is thrilled with her brood, she admits adjusting to raising three kids is tough. “We wanted a third and we had a third, and I wouldn’t trade him for anything. But, you know how two feels like six? Three just put me right over the edge,” Contactmusic quoted her as saying on chat show ‘Conan’. “After Samuel’s birth, I was going up to anyone on the street saying, ‘Would you please come work at my house? Would you please come help me? Just take a child. Do something’,” the actress joked. neWS DeSK

nicole Kidman denies counselling Katie Holmes Nicole Kidman has denied reports that she counselled Katie Holmes when she was planning her split from Tom Cruise.

It had previously been claimed that Holmes made secret phone calls to Kidman, who was Cruise’s second wife, as she planned her exit strategy. But in a new interview, Nicole has stated that she never spoke to the 33-year-old Dawson’s Creek alumna. “I never spoke to her. I wish all of them well, but I was not involved in any of that,” Kidman told Australia’s Who magazine. neWS DeSK‘

Saturday, 6 October, 2012

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Infotainment 14 CAN Apple SUrpriSe US ANymore?

Fakers use wheelchairs to dodge airport lines

W

T

HAT iPhone 5 up there isn’t an iPhone 5.

It’s a flawless computer image we had months before we ever saw the real thing, made possible by the fact that we knew exactly what it was going to look like. Exactly. Everyone did.

We used to look forward to iPhone day like Christmas morning, or some sort of decadent electric Bat Mitzvah party. It was shrouded in secrecy. Apple secrets. “One more thing.” Now, we get it all from China months in advance. Are Apple’s exciting days over?

Let’s get one thing clear: Apple still makes exciting things. The iPhone 5 is an incredible phone, and one that’s genuinely exciting to own. There’s nothing boring about the phone itself. But we knew what it was going to look like in May. May! We had photos of the iPhone 5 a quarter of a year in advance of it even being announced. So when it was announced, there was nothing to reveal—anyone who really cared had already seen it.

And for Apple, even back when people cared about the iPod in large groups, the reveal was huge.

Steve Jobs wasn’t just a brilliant computer tyrant— he was the greatest corporate showman of our time.

He made consumer electronics something people clapped loudly about, and watched local news reports on, and stood in line for. He could drum up hype and sweaty anticipation like none other, in part because the things Apple sells are terrific, but largely because they are super-cool looking, and us human apes love being shown cool-looking things that we weren’t expecting. Fireworks. The Oscars. The new iPhone. We love being surprised, and we love a company that can consistently surprise us. Apple had a monopoly on this kind of super-hype, because it kept projects locked down tighter than secret Santa at the Pentagon. The place was a vortex of mystery—until Steve trotted it out on stage and we squealed.

Now China does it. Whoever the person or people behind these consistently perfect leaks might be, they’re on their A-game, like some sort of Shenzhen Robin Hood. Instead of the big show, we get the steady flow of grainy, watermarked Apple things from bad angles, in harsh lighting, and covered in plastic wrap. It’s the difference between seeing a

Monkey held under house arrest

movie and buying a bootleg DVD from some guy behind a CVS, but the effect is profound: Apple can’t surprise us anymore, and its stellar products yield an “Oh, cool, here it is” response instead of an orgiastic communal jaw-drop. It happened with the iPhone 5.

And frankly, good. We’ve been fetishizing iThings for almost a decade now, far beyond the attention they command as top-tier devices. Apple deserves admiration and money because it makes wonderful things. But it doesn’t deserve to hold people in such thrall over what are still just products. We should be better than drooling at Apple’s feet as it waves a shrouded steak over us. It might also bring our expectations down from their stratospheric orbit, whereby anything less than an iPhone 6 made of crystal and sporting omnidirectional laser breasts will satisfy and impress.

When we start treating things like things, we can appreciate them as things, rather than messianic revelations. Apple might lose its hush-hush-kaboom cult of secrecy, but losing the power to shock and awe might be good for everyone. Besides, we’re going to buy the damn phone anyway. courTeSy GIzMoDo

Facebook fetes billion-member mark with video

HEN security lines get long at Kennedy International Airport, workers brace themselves for a rush of wheelchair requests. A lot of passengers have realized that because no actual proof of an ailment is required to request a wheelchair, anyone in a hurry can do so and zip straight to the front of the line, workers tell the New York Times. One wheelchair pusher says she’s seen customers blatantly step out of line in front of her and ask for a chair. Many keep right on rolling until they get on the plane, since passengers in wheelchairs board first. This happens so often that flight attendants refer to “miracle flights,” in which as many as a dozen passengers board on wheelchairs, then leave on foot. “Not only do we serve them beverages and ensure their safety—now we’re healing the sick,” one attendant quips. But airlines seem content to let some cheaters through. “We respect our passengers,” says a spokeswoman for one industry group, “and we trust their integrity.” newS DeSK

Vietnam returns endangered turtle to Cambodia

A

critically endangered turtle that somehow made it to Vietnam decades ago has been returned to its original home: Cambodia.

The mangrove terrapin was handed over to Cambodian authorities in a ceremony in southern Ho Chi Minh City on Friday. The conservation group Education of Nature Vietnam said the turtle would be introduced into a conservation breeding program in Cambodia. The turtle was first spotted

by ENV staff in 2010 in a park in Ho Chi Minh City. The park bought the turtle from local people in the 1980s, but the conservation group says it is unclear how the terrapin ended up in Vietnam.

newS DeSK

A 19-year-old capuchin monkey named Mookie is under house arrest after biting a man that tried to pet him. The simian is confined to owner Brad Berman’s home Merritt Island, Fla., for one month until authorities can figure out if it has rabies. The transgression occurred this past weekend outside of a convenience store when the victim, 32-year-old Justin Debree, saw Mookie with Berman and asked if he could pet the primate. “All of a sudden, a car comes into a parking lot and startles the monkey, and the monkey bites the guy on the shin,” Brevard County Animal Services Capt. Bob Brown told Florida Today. Debree wasn’t seriously injured by Mookie’s mandibles and Berman said Mookie had never bit anyone before, and doesn’t have rabies, according to NBC Chicago. He also said that his monkey is registered with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, but officials ordered a 30-day quarantine of the animal at home to be sure Mookie doesn’t show any symptoms. That decision is driving Berman ape since Mookie’s 20th birthday will occur during the lockdown. That means a beach party that had been planned for the monkey’s big day will be canceled. newS DeSK

Facebook on Thursday commemorated eclipsing the billion-member mark with the release of a video equating the social network with chairs letting people around the world sit together.

The 90-second promotional video clip by Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu warmly compared Facebook to bridges, airplanes and doorbells as it focused on how the online community lets people share moments in life. “These are things people use to get together so they can open up and connect about ideas and music and other things that people share,” a woman’s voice said, while gatherings, both intimate and grand, played out on screen.

Facebook said Thursday it has more than a billion users, amid worries about how it would make money from the members increasingly tuning into the social network from mobile devices.

Co-founder and chief executive Mark

Zuckerberg made the announcement, saying the number is “humbling.”

“Celebrating a billion people is very special to me,” he added.

“For the first time in our history, we’ve made a brand video to express what our place is on this Earth.”

The video by the Oscar-nominated director of Spanish-language film “Amores perros” was meant to honor the everyday things created during human history to bring people together, according to the 28-year-old cofounder of Facebook.

“Chairs, doorbells, airplanes, bridges, games. These are all things that connect us,” Zuckerberg wrote in a blog post unveiling the video, which can be viewed online at facebook.com/facebook.

“And now Facebook is a part of this tradition of things that connect us too.”

Facebook planned to tailor versions of the film for a dozen languages. AFP

Police: Call from ‘burglar’ actually came from dog

P

O L I C E in Orem, Utah, say a man who thought he was getting a call from a burglar had actually gotten a call from his dog. Authorities in the community south of Salt Lake City say the man alerted police Wednesday after he received a phone call from his home phone on his cellphone. Officials say the man heard banging and scratching noises on the line and figured it was an intruder. Police went to the man’s home but didn’t find anything missing or broken. The man later called officers and told them he figured out the mystery. He said his dog had grabbed the home phone’s receiver and apparently hit the redial button while burying it in the backyard. newS DeSK

Saturday, 6 October, 2012

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Saturday, 6 october, 2012

djokovic, Sharapova reach Beijing semis Page 18

Defeated Hafeez proud of Pakistan team COLOMBO AFP

P

AKISTAN captain Mohammad Hafeez said he was proud of his team's World Twenty20 campaign despite a semi-final defeat to Sri Lanka, adding the hosts deserved to be in the final. Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath proved Sri Lanka's main weapon with 3-25 after the home side scored a modest 139 in their 20 overs at Premadasa stadium on Thursday.

The defeat is the second successive exit at the semi-final stage of the World Twenty20 for Pakistan following their loss to Australia at the same stage of the 2010 event held in the West Indies. Pakistan, among the pretournament favourites, finished run-

umar akmal fined for ‘offensive’ umpire snub

ners-up to India in the inaugural event in 2007 in South Africa before winning the title in England two years later. "We played positive cricket and I am proud of my team," Hafeez said.

"Sri Lanka deserved to win and they are worthy finalists on the basis of what they have done in this tournament." But the skipper admitted the target should have been well within his side's reach.

"The pitch was turning and it was difficult to score runs and we lost some wickets in the middle and couldn't stage a comeback. We should have chased that down."

Hafeez, who opened the innings, top-scored with 42 before he was stumped off Herath as Pakistan slipped from 55-1 to 91-6, eventually reaching 123-7 in their 20 overs. The

Pakistan captain backed outof-form all-rounder Shahid Afridi, dismissed first ball by Herath. Afridi mustered just 30 runs and took four wickets in the tournament. "There is no doubt that he still is a match-winner," said Hafeez. "There is no doubt about his abilities. He is going through very bad form at the moment. He worked hard to come out of it but failed." And the skipper said Pakistan's weakness in chasing was a concern. "I would not say that we are bad chasers but, yes, it is a concern and we have to sort that out with some planning because it has become a problem." Australia and the West Indies meet in the second semi-final on Friday with the final on Sunday, also in Colombo.

LAHORE

cOlOmBO: umar akmal reacts after Sri lanka's victory in the Icc Twenty20 cricket world cup's semi-final. afp COLOMBO AFP

Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal was fined 50 per cent of his match fee for an "offensive" snub of the umpires' authority during his team's 16-run defeat to Sri Lanka in the World Twenty semi-finals on Thursday.

The incident took place in the 17th over of Pakistan's innings when Umar, who was the non-striker, ignored both onfield umpires' request and went ahead to change his batting gloves.

"Respect for the umpires is integral and is something which we always emphasise and encourage," said match referee Jeff Crowe. "In this incident, Umar showed blatant disregard to both the umpires' requests, which was offensive and unacceptable from an international cricketer and contrary to our unique spirit, hence a level two charge was laid.

"Umar, when pleading guilty, apologised and regretted his action."

Umar was found to have breached the ICC code of conduct, article 2.2.11, which relates to "conduct contrary to the spirit of the game".

Umar finished the game at the Premadasa stadium unbeaten on 29 as his team failed to chase down a 140-run victory target.

Sri Lanka will face either Australia or West Indies in Sunday's final.

COLOMBO AFP

t20 exit saddens former stars

STAFF rePorT

Former players spoke for millions of disappointed fans Friday after Pakistan crashed out of the World Twenty20 semi-finals, blaming defeat on poor planning and lacklustre batting.

Pakistan lost to hosts Sri Lanka by 16 runs in the first semi-final Thursday, having failed to beat a modest 140-run target.

"Our openers looked in a panic," former captain Asif Iqbal said.

"The target was not easy on a slow turning pitch, but had the planning been there it could have been chased, but batsmen did not try to stay at the wicket."

Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath (3-25) and Ajantha Mendis (2-27) derailed Pakistan, who were eventually restricted to 123-7 in 20 overs.

Other former Pakistani stars blamed poor selection for the batting collapse.

"We should have played Asad Shafiq. He is our most composed and technically sound player and he should have been in the team," said former captain Aamir Sohail.

Former leg-spinner Abdul Qadir said veteran all-rounder Abdul Razzaq should not have been dropped. He was replaced by paceman Sohail Tanveer.

"You needed proper planning to chase down a total," said another for-

aussies to play england in women's T20 final

mer captain, Zaheer Abbas. "Our batsmen didn't play according to the situation and pitch conditions. I thought 140 was gettable in the match but the application was missing."

Popular all-rounder Shahid Afridi was also singled out for criticism.

Player of the tournament when Pakistan won the World Twenty20 in 2009, Afridi managed just 30 runs in five innings and took four wickets in six matches.

"He was cruelly out of form," said former batsman Basit Ali. "I think he should retire now because he was a big disappointment in the tournament.

Hafeez also made a blunder by insisting on opening the innings."

Defending champions Australia will face England in the women's World Twenty20 final after cruising past the West Indies by 28 runs on Friday.

Seamer Julie Hunter claimed 5-22 as Australia, restricted to 115-7 after electing to bat, shot the West Indies out for 87 in the semi-final at the Premadasa stadium in Colombo.

Lisa Sthalekar marked her 50th T20 international with a top score of 23 and then conceded just six runs in her four overs to help Hunter fashion Australia's emphatic win.

Australia take on main rivals England in Sunday's final looking to avenge a seven-wicket defeat during the league phase in Galle.

"We have great belief in the team," said Aussie captain Jodie Fields. "It would have been nice to get 140, but we knew 115 was enough with the bowling we have. "We can't wait for the final."

Australia began the match on the wrong foot when Alyssa Healy was dismissed off the second ball and Jess Cameron fell in the third over, both wickets going to left-arm spinner Shanel Daley.

Sthalekar was supported in the recovery

by Alex Blackwell (21), while Fields boosted the total with an unbeaten 19.

The West Indies collapsed to 28-4 before Juliana Nero (31) and Daley (25) revived their hopes with a fifth-wicket stand of 48. But the last six wickets fell for 11 runs.

"Our batting just fell apart," said West Indies skipper Merissa Aguilleira. "I guess we have to say hats off to Australia because they batted and bowled very well.

"We are disappointed, but I am confident we will bounce back."

Runs were hard to come by on the slow wicket, suggesting that the men's semifinal later on Friday, also between Australia and the West Indies, could be a low-scoring game. Hosts Sri Lanka have already qualified for the men's final that takes place on Sunday.

BrIeF ScoreS: Australia 115-7 in 20 overs (Lisa Sthalekar 23, Alex Blackwell 21, Jodie Fields 19 not out, Shanel Daley 2-23, Shaquana Quintyne 2-23) West Indies 87 all out in 19.2 overs (Shanel Daley 25, Juliana Nero 31, Julie Hunter 5-22).

Sri Lanka’s captain relishes fourth final COLOMBO AFP

Sri Lanka's captain Mahela Jayawardene goes into Sunday's World Twenty20 final confident of winning the title after failing at the last hurdle in three previous world meets. Sri Lanka made the final of two successive 50-over World Cups in 2007 and 2011, and also the World Twenty20 in 2009, but were unable to win when it mattered most, frustrating fans, former players and media alike.

But Jayawardene said playing the sold-out final on home soil in front of adoring fans at the 35,000-capacity Premadasa stadium in Colombo gave him hope that the team would finally turn the corner. "It's an amazing feeling," the accomplished 35-year-old said as the hosts, who beat Pakistan by 16 runs on Thursday night, awaited the winner of Friday's second semi-final between Australia and the West Indies. "We are all really happy to be part of a very successful group over

a period of time. "We have been blessed with four now - although I know we haven't won anything.

"But four finals, it's amazing. In one's career you are lucky enough to play in one final. We are a proud nation and everyone will be behind us on Sunday."

Jayawardene, who accepted the captaincy for a second stint after Tillakaratne Dilshan stepped down in January, said his team's strategy on Sunday will be different from previous finals.

"They have all had to be approached in different ways," he said. "One final was in Barbados (2007), one in England (2009) and one was in Mumbai (2011).

"Now we are playing in the Premadasa, so we will approach it differently.

"We play with a very positive mindset. We spoke at the start of the tournament that we would have to play on three different surfaces in Hambantota, Pallekele and now Colombo. "We had to adapt. It is all about handling tough situations better."

Sri Lanka have lost just one of their

six games in the tournament so far - a seven-overs-a-side rain-affected game against South Africa in Hambantota in the preliminary league.

Jayawardene has himself led from the front with 210 runs at an average of 42, the third highest run-maker behind Australian Shane Watson (242) and Brendon McCullum of New Zealand (212).

Sri Lanka have been further boosted by the match-winning form of unorthodox spinner Ajantha Mendis, who shares the top spot among bowlers with Watson at 11 wickets apiece, and sling-arm fast bowler Lasith Malinga, who has eight scalps. The wily Jayawardene has already shown he will go to any length to see Sri Lanka end on a high - even changing captains for a match.

Eyebrows were raised when Kumar Sangakkara took up the captaincy for the Super Eights match against England in Pallekele last Monday, even though both Jayawardene and vice-captain Angelo Mathews were part of the playing eleven.

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Sports 16

Windies blow away Australia to reach T20 final COLOMBO AFP

C

HRIS Gayle smashed an unbeaten 75 off 41 balls as the West Indies stormed into the World Twenty20 final with a record 74-run demolition of Australia in Colombo on Friday. The left-hander pounded six sixes and five fours as the Windies piled up the tournament's highest total of 205-4 after electing to bat on what was regarded as a slow pitch unsuited to aggressive batting.

The Australians found the huge target too hot to handle and folded up for 131 in 16.4 overs at the Premadasa stadium in front of 28,000 awe-struck spectators still reeling from the West Indies innings.

Skipper George Bailey played a lone hand for the Aussies, making 63 off 29 balls with four sixes and six boundaries after adding 68 for the seventh wicket with Pat Cummins. Darren Sammy's men take on hosts Sri Lanka in Sunday's final with both sides looking for their first World Twenty20 title. The biggest Twenty20 win for the West Indies, surpassing their 70run victory over Ireland in 2010, was celebrated by the entire team performing an energetic version of global hit "Gangnam Style" in the middle. Gayle, who lost his

cOlOmBO: west Indies captain darren Sammy (2r) and ravi rampaul (r) celebrate the wicket of australian cricketer cameron white during the Icc Twenty20 world cup's semi-final match. afp opening partner Johnson Charles in the third over, plodded for nine balls to make four before swinging Shane Watson for a six over long-off. That opened the floodgates for an onslaught as Marlon Samuels and Gayle smashed left-arm spinner

Xavier Doherty for a six each in one over and Brad Hogg was greeted into the attack with another six from Samuels. Samuels contributed 26 in a second-wicket stand of 41 with Gayle when he was bowled by Cummins attempting another big hit.

Gayle, who faced just 18 balls in the first 10 overs, still managed to bring up his half-century off 29 deliveries with the help of four sixes and three boundaries. Allrounder Dwayne Bravo (37) helped Gayle add 83 for the third wicket from just 51 deliveries to propel the innings at a brisk pace. Kieron Pollard hit 38 off 15 balls as the West Indies plundered 55 runs in the final three overs, including 25 off the last six deliveries by Doherty.

Doherty was the most expensive Australian bowler with 1-48 from three overs, while Watson went for 35 runs in four unsuccessful overs. Australia never recovered after opener David Warner was bowled by spinner Samuel Badree with the sixth delivery and crashed to 43-6 by the eighth over. Badree took two of those wickets and seamer Ravi Rampaul chipped in by removing Cameron White and the recalled David Hussey in the space of three balls.

Pollard dismissed Bailey and Cummins off successive deliveries in the 14th over to end Australia's resistance. Both teams had met in a preliminary league match which was washed out after Australia reached 100-1 in 9.1 overs in pursuit of the West Indies' total of 191-8. The Aussies were declared winners by 17 runs through the Duckworth-Lewis method.

ScoreBoArD weST InDIeS 10 j. charles c wade b Starc 75 c. Gayle not out M. Samuels b cummins 26 D. Bravo c Bailey b cummins 37 K. Pollard c warner b Doherty 38 19 eXTrAS: (b6, lb5, w8) 205 ToTAL: (for four wickets, 20 overs) Fall of wickets: 1-16 (charles), 2-57 (Samuels), 3-140 (Bravo), 4205 (Pollard).

Bowling: Starc 4-0-32-1 (w7), watson 4-0-35-0, cummins 40-36-2 (w1), Doherty 3-0-48-1, Hogg 3-0-21-0, D. Hussey 2-0-22-0 AuSTrALIA 1 D. warner b Badree 7 S. watson b Badree 18 M. Hussey c and b Samuels c. white c ramdin b rampaul 5 G. Bailey c russell b Pollard 63 D. Hussey c and b rampaul 0 1 M. wade c Badree b narine 13 P. cummins c charles b Pollard 2 M. Starc b rampaul 7 B. Hogg st ramdin b narine X. Doherty not out 9 eXTrAS: (lb3, w2) 5 ToTAL: (all out; 16.4 overs) 131 Fall of wickets: 1-2 (warner), 2-22 (M. Hussey), 3-29 (watson), 4-42 (white), 5-42 (D. Hussey), 6-43 (wade), 7-111 (Bailey), 8111 (cummins), 9-121 (Hogg).

Bowling: Badree 4-0-27-2, Samuels 3-0-26-1 (w1), rampaul 3.40-16-3 (w1), narine 3-0-17-2, russell 1-0-25-0, Sammy 1-0-11-0, Pollard 1-0-6-2 result: west Indies win by 74 runs Man of the match: c. Gayle Toss: west Indies umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SrI) and Aleem Dar (PAK) TV umpire: richard Kettleborough (enG) Match referee: ranjan Madugalle (SrI).

a history of nail-biting encounters

DILEEP PREMACHANDRAN For more than three decades, West Indies and Australia were the standard-bearers of cricketing excellence. West Indies ruled through its pace quartet and batsmen who combined technical mastery with unrivalled flair. Australia’s era of dominance centred around ruthless attacking batsmanship, hostile accurate pace bowling and the genius of Shane Warne. Here, we look back at some of the great limited-overs matches that they’ve contested down the years.

ICC CRICKEt WoRLD CUP fINAL, LoRD’S, 1975: This was cricket’s longest day, watched by 26,000 at Lord’s. It was also the game that put one-day international cricket firmly on the map. When Clive Lloyd walked to the crease, his West Indies team was reeling at 50 for 3. Ian Chappell’s attacking fields and the pace trio of Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson and Gary Gilmour had seen to that. Lloyd announced himself with a withering hook for six off Lillee and was at his dazzling best while adding 149 with Rohan Kanhai. His century took just 82 balls and it led West Indies to a huge total of 291 from their 60 overs. Ian Chappell’s doughty half-century was the focal point of the reply, but Australia’s cause wasn’t helped by as many as five run-outs. Viv Richards threw down the stumps twice from square leg, while Alvin Kallicharan took an unbelievable catch to dismiss Rick McCosker. Lillee and Thomson added 41 to get Australia close, but almost predictably, it ended with a run-out.

The Wisden Almanack wrote: “From 11am till 8.43pm the cricketers from the Caribbean had been locked in a succession of thrills with the cricketers from the Southern Cross. It might not be termed first-class cricket, but the game has never produced better entertainment in one day.”

ICC CRICKEt WoRLD CUP SEMI-fINAL, MoHALI, 1996: Nearly

two decades on, it’s difficult to figure out exactly how West Indies lost this game. With nine overs left, they had eight wickets in hand and just 43 to get. Brian Lara’s stroke-filled 45 had ensured a fine start, Shivnarine Chanderpaul was nearing a century and Richie Richardson seemed poised for a memorable swansong. But once Glenn McGrath got Chanderpaul, it triggered a remarkable collapse. Shane Warne preyed on indecisive footwork with a spell of 3-6 from three overs and when Damien Fleming was nominated to bowl the final over, West Indies needed 10 more for victory. Richardson started with a four, but Curtly Ambrose was then run out.

Courtney Walsh’s ambitious swipe connected with thin air, and Australia had eked out a five-run win. That they even managed to set a reasonable target was down to Stuart Law (72) and Michael Bevan (69), who added 138 after Ambrose and Walsh had skittled the top order to leave Australia 15-4. Ian Healy chipped in with a cameo of 31 to take the total past 200. Until West Indies’ middle and lower order lost the plot so spectacularly though, it didn’t look like it would be enough.

ICC CHAMPIoNS tRoPHy, MUMBAI, 2006: When Adam Gilchrist departed after holding the chase together with a solid 92, Australia needed another 53 from 8.2 overs to win its opening match of the tournament. By the time four overs were left, they had whittled it down to 29 needed with five wickets still in hand. Then, after Michael Clarke, who had added 101 with Gilchrist, was deceived by a slower delivery from Dwayne Bravo, Jerome Taylor took over. Michael Hussey was bowled and Brett Lee trapped leg before. With the first ball of the final over, he cleaned up Brad Hogg to complete a hat-trick. West Indies won by ten runs. A total of 234 had looked highly unlikely earlier in the day as West Indies slipped to 63-4. But Brian Lara and the late Runako Morton added 137 to resurrect the innings. On a two-paced surface, Lara was especially adept against spin on his way to 71.

Morton, a man of many moods, smashed McGrath for a straight six during the course of his unbeaten 90. Taylor did the rest.

ICC WoRLD tWENty20, tHE ovAL, 2009: After an awful start – Taylor got both Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting in the first over – Australia had piggybacked on David Warner’s aggressive 63 to reach a competitive total. The Hussey brothers contributed brisk cameos and a chase of 170 against Australia’s attack was no formality. But Andre Fletcher set the tone with some punishing strokes before letting Chris Gayle do the rest.

The final over of the Power Play, from Brett Lee, went for 27. One ball reached the road outside Archbishop Tenison’s school. Another struck the roof of the Bedser Stand. By the time Fletcher was dismissed for a 32-ball 53, West Indies had made 133 in 11.3 overs.

Gayle smacked six four and six sixes in his 88 (50 balls) and victory was clinched with all of 25 deliveries to spare. Seldom has Twenty20 cricket seen such a rout.

Saturday, 6 October, 2012

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17 Sports Gayle lives up to his twitter remark

cOlOmBO: west Indies cricketer chris Gayle (r) plays a shot as australian wicketkeeper matthew wade (l) looks on during the Icc Twenty20 world semi-final at the r. Premadasa International Stadium. afp

COLOMBO AGencIeS

Chris Gayle surprised one and all with his prophetic tweet after the first semifinal that Sri Lanka will play the West Indies in Sunday's final but on Friday he took it upon himself to ensure that he lived upto his remark.

"So its Sri Lanka vs W.I in the final Sunday :)...Hard luck Pakistan!! Now I know who Pakistan will be supporting!. Blessed all...1 Luv!!"," Gayle had tweeted after Thursday's first semifinal.

Some might term it as an arrogant remark but if you are Christopher Henry Gayle then it's the proverbial Jamaican swagger.

He butchered the Aussie bowlers with clinical efficiency and ensured that his side has an unbeatable score to defend as he scored a swashbuckling 75 off only 41 balls to power his side to a imposing 205 for 4. Fellow Jamaican Usain Bolt also praised the star cricketer.

"Good going West Indies...Gayle u know how Jamaicans do it.." Bolt had tweeted just after the completion of the West Indies innings.

After what happened 48 hours back while partying, team's favourite 'Reggae Boy' will certainly like to do a 'Gangnam style' jig once he is back in the hotel.

KJ choi steals show with birdie blitz SEOUL AFP

Veteran South Korean K.J. Choi delighted home crowds at the CJ Invitational on Friday, hitting eight birdies to join Chinnarat Phadungsil at the top of the leaderboard before darkness halted play early. Choi, the tournament host, started his second round five shots behind overnight leader Ryan Yip of Canada but hit four birdies in his first six holes and made the turn in 32, holing another four birdies before the light dwindled. "When I got my first birdie on the opening hole, the confidence started coming back and I had this feeling that I was going to do very well today," said Choi, 42, who is on 10-under par after 14 holes of his second round. A round of 64 from 23-year-old Chinnarat, including eight birdies, gave him the clubhouse lead, putting him in a strong position to end his three-year title drought with a two-day total of 10-under-par 132.

LEADING CoMPLEtED SCoRES AftER RoUND tWo: 132 - Chinnarat Phadungsil (THA) 68-64, 135 - Lee Sung (KOR) 67-68, Ryan Yip (CAN) 64-71, 136 - Kim Dae-Hyun (KOR) 71-65, 137 - Lee Kyoung-Hoon (KOR) 69-68, Charlie Wi (KOR) 67-70, Selected scores, K.J. Choi (KOR) -10 through 14 holes, Ben Curtis (USA) -6 through 14 holes

Body formed to probe manhandling of journalist LAHORE STAFF rePorT

Deputy Speaker Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan, who is the chief organizer of the Punjab Youth Festival 2012, has formed a three-member committee to probe into the misbehaving of a journalist by crowd at the Punjab Stadium where Pak-Lanka semi-final match of T-20 World Cup was shown on big screens. The committee is headed by President, Lahore Press Club Arshad Ansari while ASP Model Town, Tariq and Sohail Ali, Vice President, Sports Writers Association of Punjab (SWAP) are its members. The committee will look into the matter and will submit its report within three days.

Saturday, 6 October, 2012

PuNjAB YOuTH FESTIvAl 2012

tough competitions on cards today

LAHORE STAFF rePorT

Tough and interesting competitions are expected on the last day of the District Level of the Punjab Youth Festival 2012 as majority of the finals of several events are to be contested today (Saturday).

The District Level which is the fourth stage of the Festival is being contested among the towns and localities of the districts and the winners of this level will compete for their district in the next phase which is the Divisional Level.

On the second last day of the District Level 4348 were the winners of their matches and competitions from among 16,149 participants. In four districts of Lahore Division 24 events were contested by 963 players and 411 were the winners.

In Lahore City there were competitions of tug of war, volleyball, football, weightlifting, basketball, hockey, cricket and taekwondo which were par-

ticipated by around 502 players and 200 left the venue smiling. At Sheikhupura there were 218 participants and 92 were the winners.

The competitions among the nine towns saw some nail-biting competitions. At Iqbal Park Sports Complex, Cricket hardball matches were held. In the first semi-final, Nishtar town beat Aziz Bhatti Town by 21 runs and in the second semi-final, Ravi town defeated Wahga town by 5 wickets.

In Kabaddi, Iqbal town outplayed Wapda town 40-34, Data Ganj Bax town beat Aziz Bhatti town 42-34, Wahga town moved past Shalimar town 35-24, Ravi town beat Samanabad town 47-33 and Nishtar town banged Gulberg town 42-34 while in the final, Iqbal Town bagged first position and Nishtar Town was second. In the Mat Wrestling final, Data Ganj Bax Town was first whereas Iqbal Town was second.

In the Tug of war, the final competition was won by Data Ganj Bax Town which defeated Gulberg town 2-1. In the

football final, Data Ganj Bax town outplayed Aziz Bhatti town 1-0. In weight Lifting, Nishtar town ‘s Salman Aqeel Butt won the first position while Shalimar town was declared winner defeating Gulberg town in the basketball match.

In the final cooking of competitions, a number of 14 colleges were present among which Sana Abid of Government college of Home Economics won the first position.

In the other parts of the province hectic festival activity continued and Rawalpindi had 625 participants in 17 events and 217 won their competitions.

At Sargodha there were 29 events held in four districts and 870 participants saw 214 winners.

Similarly, Gujranwala had 621 were the competitors while 285 were the winners while Faisalabad registered the participation of 258 players and 83 were the winners. At Sahiwal division, 17 events were conducted and half of them were completed in which 330 con-

tested to see 151 get away with the best players tag.

Likewise, at Multan there were 446 participants and 121 winners, Bahawalpur had 463 participants and 106 winners and Dera Ghazi Khan got 753 entrants in the events and 114 got to the top.

In the sports events that were conducted by Higher Education Commission there were 8848 participants from different schools and 2515 were the winners. Lahore alone got 1250 students involved in various events and 182 earned limelight while tough competitions were also witnessed in other districts of the province.

In non-sporting events like healthy baby 14 children took part in the competition and four were declared the winners and in school events 10,185 students displayed their skills in milli naghme, essay writing and dress show.

Similarly, 341 took part in family dressing and cooking competition and 16 won the certificates.

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Sports 18

Djokovic, Sharapova reach Beijing semis BEIJING AFP

W

ORLD number two Novak Djokovic raced into the last four of the China Open in straight sets on Friday as home favourite Li Na set up a testing women's semi-final with Russian tennis queen Maria Sharapova. The 25-year-old Serbian thumped Jurgen Melzer of Austria 6-1, 6-2 to maintain his unbeaten record at the Beijing tournament and continue his push to finish the year at number one in the rankings.

Djokovic, behind only Roger Federer in the ATP standings, has won the China Open on the two occasions he has entered -- in 2009 and 2010 -- but missed last year because of injury.

The number one seed made light work of Melzer, winning in just 53 minutes and hitting 12 aces -- four of which came in a single game.

"I think that's the first time," Djokovic said of his four-in-a-row. "It was one of the best serving matches I have had in my career." "I have stepped up at least a level in each match that I have played here," he added, stressing that he was trying to be more aggressive. Djokovic set up a semi-final clash with Germany's Florian Mayer, who beat wildcard Zhang Ze to bring the Chinese wildcard's fairytale run crashing to a halt.

The 22-year-old, ranked 165th in the world, made history in the last 16 when he became the first Chinese man ever to beat a top 20 player, dumping out France's Richard Gasquet. His de-

feat of the Frenchman, ranked 14th, also meant Zhang was the first player from China to reach the quarter-final of an ATP event since Pan Bing made the semi-finals in Seoul in 1995.

But matching Pan's 17-year-old mark proved a step too far for the right-hander from Nanjing, with Mayer winning 6-3, 6-4.

Third seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France defeated Russia's Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals, where he will face Spain's Feliciano Lopez, who beat American Sam Querrey 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. In the women's draw Li, Asia's only Grand Slam singles winner, beat defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-4, 6-2 to join Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka in the last four. Victory for world number eight Li also secured her the final place at the end-of-season

WTA Championships in Istanbul later this month. "I have already qualified to play in the WTA finals so what I'm going to do is enjoy the match with Sharapova," said Li. Showing ominous form, French Open champion Sharapova, yet to drop a set in China, won the first set 6-0, and was 3-0 up in the second when Germany's Angelique Kerber quit the match citing an injury to her right foot.

The Russian stayed on track for a re-match of this year's Australian Open final, which she lost to Azarenka, who has also yet to drop a set this week.

Azarenka also came out on top in their semi-final clash at the US Open.

"I thought we played a high level of tennis in the first set and a half, and even though the scoreline was 6-0, 3-0 there were many games that went to deuce," Sharapova said.

AFP

China's Li Na on Friday became the eighth and final player to qualify for the $4.9 million end-of-season grand finale after reaching the semi-finals of the China Open, organisers said. Li, 30, will line up at the WTA Championships in Istanbul from October 23 to 28 after defeating Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 6-2 in Beijing.

She will compete against Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Radwanska, Petra Kvitova, Angelique Kerber and Sara Errani. Li made her Championships debut at Istanbul last year, where she bowed out in the round-robin stages. "In the last two years, I have played the best tennis of my career and I am excited to return to the WTA Championships again this year," the 2011 French Open champion said. Stacey Allaster, WTA Chairman and CEO, said of Li: "She is one of the WTA's most popular players and will proudly represent her country, as she continues to inspire a generation of players in China."

The organisers added that it would be the first time in the Championships' 42-year history that each player in the singles' draw came from a different country.

LAHORE The Sports Board Punjab said on Friday that it welcomes the visit of the Palestine’s football team and is ready to host them at any venue in Punjab to help support the cause of the games.

“We welcome Palestine team in Punjab and we are ready to provide them all the playing facilities in the larger interest of sports and to play our due role in the overall development of sports,” said a spokesman of SBP here on Friday.

He said it is heartening sign that Palestine’s team will be visiting Pakistan to play international football matches and SBP is ready to provide all out assistance with the provision of grounds and playing facilities to make their tour a big success.

“We are already hosting the Punjab International Sports Festival 2012 in which teams of 41 countries will be taking part in different events in the first week of November and we have asked the Pakistan Football Federation to coordinate with the concerned authorities to hold Pak-Palestine football series in a befitting manner,” said the spokesman. He said SBP backs every positive effort and move of national or provincial sports bodies to bring back international sports events to Pakistan.

“The ongoing Punjab Youth Festival is a part of our effort to build the image of Pakistan in the outer world and we will do our best in staging the PakPalestine football series to bring good name for the country,” he said.

murray battles into Japan Open semis AFP

BEIJING

STAFF rePorT

Sports Center 07:00PM

TOKYO

li qualifies for WTA Championships

SBP welcomes Palestinian football team’s visit to Pakistan

watch it Live ESPN

Defending champion Andy Murray lost a set for the first time this week before overcoming Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland to reach the semi-finals of the Japan Open on Friday.

The top-seeded Briton, playing his first tournament since winning the US Open, looked set for a straightforward victory after taking the first set but faced a battle after Wawrinka levelled the match, eventually winning 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.

The world number three converted four of his 11 break points and won 80 percent of his first serve points to clinch the win in just over two hours, sealing his 50th victory of the year and his 10th straight win. In the semi-finals on Saturday, Murray will play sixth seed Milos Raonic of Canada, who beat third seed Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 6-7 (5/7), 62, 7-6 (9/7).

Organisers take federer threat ‘seriously’ SHANGHAI AFP

Shanghai Masters organisers said they were taking a bizarre online death threat against Roger Federer "seriously" Friday and pledged to keep the world number one safe. A tournament official made the assurances after an unknown blogger threatened to assassinate the Swiss player, who will headline the tournament starting on Sunday.

"We are fully aware of the comments that have been made and we take all such issues seriously," the official said in a statement sent to AFP. "The Shanghai Rolex Masters has security in place for our players and every precaution is taken to make sure players are kept safe and comfortable," said the official.

The security alert was raised after hate messages from the blogger, who calls himself 'Blue Cat Polytheistic Religion Founder 07' appeared on the popular baidu.com site.

"On October 6, I plan to assassinate Federer for the purpose of tennis extermination," read the threat. The user also posted a doctored image showing a decapitated Federer on his knees on a tennis court, with an axe-wielding executioner standing next to him.

Indian golfers make impressive start on day one LAHORE STAFF rePorT

In this three-day golf competition between a 14-member golf team from Delhi Golf Club and a 14-member home team assembled under the umbrella of "Together We Golf", the first round came to an end at the Royal Palm Golf Course yesterday and the Indian Golfers who had the disadvantage of playing at a golf arena new to them, sprang a suprise by winning four team matches as against three won by the hosts and in the process gained a one point advantage over the Together We Golf Team.

The first round was contested on scrambles match play basis and the teams were divided into seven pairs who really fought it out against each other, in a rather accomplished manner, playing quality golf without being overwhelmed by each others strengths. Hitting from the tees carried that essential touch of accuracy and it was a lesson to see the Indian Seniors really hold their nerves, even at

crucial stages during the round, using their yoga lessons to extremely good effect, and produce chips and putts that looked extraordinary. This aspect did tilt the result their way, and cast a momentary spell of distress amongst their opponents. The total points at stake on the first day were seven and the overall score position was 4-3 in India's favour.

For the visiting team the victorious combinations were R.S. Bedi and Ini Bawa, Maj Gen (r) KMS Shergill and Prakash Bhandara, Anil Virmani and Bubbles Suneja and the fourth India pair that achieved victory was Man Mohan Singh and Vijay Dhawan. From the Pakistani side the hot pairings turned out to be the combinations of Sardar Murad Khan and Maqbool Babri, Asad Sheikh and Moeen Salahuddin and the third victorious pair was Asad I.A. Khan and M. Ramzan Sheikh. For the second round of the contest the teams move to Lahore Gymkhana Golf Course with tee off scheduled for 9.30am,on Saturday.

laHOre: The Senior Indian Golfers at royal Palm before start of the event. Staff pHoto

Saturday, 6 October, 2012

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Saturday, 6 October, 2012

19

‘UN group on missing persons’ visit conforms to int’l rules’ ISLAMABAD

D

STAFF rePorT

EFENDING her invitation to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said on Friday that the mission’s recent visit to Pakistan was in conformity with international rules and was not mandated to conduct any investigation.

Responding to concerns raised in a Senate Standing Committee meeting on Foreign Affairs, Kashmir and GilgitBaltistan, she said, “We should not be apprehensive of the visit. We are a democratic country where judiciary is independent, the media is free and civil society is robust and all these features manifest that we protect human rights.”

Khar said the UN group had clarified in its initial report that its mandate was to act as a bridge between the families of missing persons and the government. “It was neither an inves-

tigative nor a fact finding mission,” she added.

She said the mission had praised the government’s commitment towards protection of human rights in its report. She added that Islamabad’s ratification of several protocols and UN conventions on human rights shows its commitment to protect the rights of women, children, minorities and other vulnerable segments of society. She said the UN working group had received an invitation from 91 countries and had visited many countries in order to engage with the governments to promote human rights.

“We have nothing to hide. We already have had a visit by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms Navanethem Pillay and added Special Rapporteur on Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Gabriela Knaul also visited Pakistan,” she added. Khar said the elected government had taken the issue of disappearances very seriously and was making all-out efforts to strengthen the domestic mechanisms to address the humanitarian issue and en-

sure rule of law in the country. She also mentioned the legislation passed for the protection of women rights and the establishment of the National Commission for Human Rights.

Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani also defended the UN group’s visit, saying such visits improve the image of a country which ultimately promotes foreign trade. Regarding visa agreement between Pakistan and India, he said the pact would benefit senior citizens, group tourists and businessmen.

The agreement has already been approved by the federal cabinet and would be presented again for ratification, he added. Officials of the Interior Ministry informed the meeting that the agreement would be sent to the Cabinet Division next week because it had been delayed due to printing process.

The meeting expressed displeasure over the slow pace of work on the agreement, and passed a resolution calling for early submission and action against those who were responsible for the delay.

Farhatullah Babar said journalists should

also be included in the list of beneficiaries of the visa agreement, adding that the step would improve people-to-people contact and promote bilateral ties between the two countries. The committee also endorsed a resolution, condemning the recent blasphemous film. “We endorse and commend the statement of President Asif Ali Zardari asking the international community not to become a silent observer on the acts of blasphemy as these destroy the peace of the world and endanger world security misusing freedom of expression,” the resolution said. The next meeting of the committee will be held on October 11. The meeting was chaired by Senator Muhammad Adeel and attended by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Malik Imad Khan, Senators Babar Khan Ghauri, Farhatullah Babar, Sehar Kamran, Muhammad Jehangir Badar, Mustafa Kamal, Sughra Imam, Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, the foreign secretary, and representatives of the ministries of interior and commerce.

russia offers cooperation to Pakistani military

wASHInGTon: Interior Minister rehman Malik in a meeting with uS Special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Marc Grossman on Friday. onLine

No pressure from Presidency, says CEC ebrahim says holding transparent elections his obligation g eCp punjab issues schedule of by-election on seats vacated by dual national lawmakers

g

LAHORE STAFF rePorT

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Fakharuddin G Ebrahim on Friday said there was no pressure on the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from anyone, including the Aiwan-e-Sadar, adding that no such pressure would ever come.

Talking to reporters upon his visit to the ECP office Lahore, he said the ECP’s agenda was to hold transparent election.

To a question on dual nationality issue, he said a meeting of senior officers of the ECP would take place on Tuesday and the dual citizenship issue would be decided in that meeting. “We disqualified legislators having dual nationality. The Supreme Court verdict encouraged us as the ECP and apex court both want transparent and fair election. We all want that we are represented in the parliament by a person who is 100 percent Pakistani and not half-Pakistani and half-foreigner,” he said.

Referring to elections in Balochistan, the CEC said the situation there was heading towards improvement. “All political parties want to participate in elections in

Balochistan so that the people of Balochistan can become part of politics,” he added.

“We all have one-point agenda. There is no other option left before us except holding fair and transparent election. Our dream for a new Pakistan will not come true if fair and transparent elections are not held. There were lapses in all elections that took place in the past and the time has come these acts be corrected.

Holding transparent elections is my obligation now,” Ebrahim remarked.

He said electoral lists were fully prepared and it was a duty of voters to trace their names in the lists. However, no political party has seen the electoral lists so far, he said, adding that if someone believed his name was not recorded in the lists, he should get enrolled. Meanwhile, Punjab’s provincial election commission issued the election schedule for province’s constituencies whose representatives have been disqualified in wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling of September 20.

It has been announced that nomination papers of candidates for the elections on constituencies whose representatives were recently disqualified for holding

dual nationality could be filed on October 8 and 9. The papers would be scrutinised on October 10 and 11, whereas the elections would be held on October 17. The constituencies where elections would take place include NA-107 Gujrat-IV, NA162 Sahiwal-III, PP-26 Jhelum-III, PP122 Sialkot-II, PP-144 Lahore-VIII and PP-92 Gujranwala-II. On September 20,

the Supreme Court disqualified 11 members of parliament and provincial assemblies for holding dual nationality. The disqualified lawmakers will be facing legal proceedings by the ECP, which may entail a punishment of up to seven years and require them to reimburse all monetary benefits drawn by them up to the date they occupied public office.

Published by Arif Nizami at Plot # 7, Al-Baber Centre, F/8 Markaz, Islamabad.

Editor: Arif Nizami

RAWALPINDI: Russia on Friday expressed willingness to cooperate with Pakistani armed forces in all fields.

The desire was shared in a meeting between Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Russian Army Chief of General Staff (CGS) General Makarov at the Ministry of Defence in Moscow. According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Friday, the Russian army chief was assisted by Deputy Chief of General Staff (DCGS) Colonel General Postnikov, Ground Forces Col General Postnikov and Ground Forces Commander Colonel General Chirkin. The statement said that Gen Makarov welcomed the COAS and expressed his desire to cooperate in all fields with the Pakistani military. app

jCO killed, soldier injured in Afghan cross border firing PESHAWAR: A junior commissioned officer of the Frontier Corps was killed and a soldier injured as a result of alleged firing by personnel of Afghan security forces in border areas of Mohmand Agency. Officials said personnel of Afghan security forces opened fire at personnel of Pakistani security forces at Gorapari checkpost in Baezai area of Mohmand Agency late on Thursday. A subedar (junior commissioned officer) of Frontier Corps was killed and a soldier injured. In retaliation, the security forces also started firing on their counterparts from Afghanistan, forcing them to cease fire. The cross-border firing occurred a few hours after Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s press conference, wherein he put forward certain conditions for signing a strategic agreement with Pakistan, including stoppage of alleged interference by militants in internal affairs of Afghanistan. Meanwhile, two alleged suicide bombers were killed in an attack on the house of a militant commander in Hangu on Friday. Police officers said two suicide bombers blew themselves up at the main gate of Mohammad Nabi Hanfi’s House. As a result, both bombers were killed and the house razed to the ground. Staff report