E paper 18th february (lhr) by Pakistan Today

CMYK

NO POINT TALKING WITH TERRORISTS!

Government committee refuses to meet Taliban representatives as Nawaz Sharif says he cannot allow more innocent blood to spill in garb of talks STORY ON PAGE 03

Skipper believes govt, army to blame for FC troopers’ slaying

Tuesday, 18 February, 2014 Rabi-us-Sani 16, 1435 Rs 17.00 Vol IV No 232 16 Pages Lahore Edition

STORY ON PAGE 03

Thirteen children among 15 injured in Karak blast STORY ON PAGE 02

It’s time to take a decision, PPP, MQM tell govt STORY ON PAGE 03

US seeking bases in Central Asia for its drones

STORY ON PAGE 03

Iran threatens to send forces into Pakistan

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia sign $183m credit facility agreements

Afghan Taliban leader shot dead in Peshawar

SC says warnings to spy agencies futile in missing persons’ case

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to hold LB polls in April

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on Monday signed two agreements under which the latter will provide a total of around $183 million for the import of Urea fertilizer from Saudi Arabia and the construction of a hydro-power project in Chitral. The signing ceremony held here at the PM House was witnessed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Saudi Crown Prince and Defence Minister Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud... PAGE 02

A former minister of the Afghan Taliban who was in favour of peace talks with the Kabul government was gunned down in Peshawar on Monday. “Armed assailants riding on a motorbike shot Mullah Abdul Raqeeb, a former minister for refugees during the Taliban regime, killing him on the spot,” a member of the Afghan Taliban in Pakistan said. Speaking from Afghanistan, another Taliban member said Raqeeb was part of a group in Peshawar... PAGE 04

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) government has decided to hold local bodies (LB) elections in April. According to media reports, KP Minister for Local Bodies Inayatullah said holding the polls by the end of February is impossible, however, arrangements are in place to hold them by the April. Sources said the authorities have decided to hold the voting in April, however, the final date will formally be announced... PAGE 04

02 NEWS Mullah, 5 others arrested for stoning couple to death LORALAI: Authorities have taken into custody a cleric along with five others involved in stoning to death of a couple in the Loralai district of Balochistan on Monday. The Home Department has launched an investigation into the incident. A woman and a man were stoned to death on suspicion of having illicit relations. The orders were given by two clerics without holding any investigation over the matter. No funeral prayers were offered for the couple and they were buried. The district administration arrested the cleric who gave fatwa against the married couple along with the other five people involved in the incident. Loralai DC Abdul Waheed Kakar told the media that the incident occurred four days ago, adding that the brother of the woman was also arrested. Balochistan Home Minister Sarfraz Bugti said there were two clerics who gave the fatwa against the couple. One of them has been arrested, he added. The district administration has also requested for autopsy and exhumation. ONLINE

Freight subsidy scandal: Amin Faheem’s secretary arrested ISLAMABAD: Former commerce minister Makhdoom Amin Faheem’s private secretary Aslam Peerzada has been arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). Peerzada had allegedly established 35 fake companies worth Rs 700 million with the help of a front man. He has also confessed to using part of the funds to purchase air travel tickets for Makhdoom Amin Faheem and his family. According to FIA’s investigation, the tickets alone are worth tens of millions of rupees. The FIA has filed more than 65 lawsuits regarding the scandal. Fraud in the freight subsidy scandal amounts to a total of Rs7 billion. In September last year, the FIA also arrested the former Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) chairman Tariq Puri over alleged involvement in the trade subsidy scam. STAFF REPORT

COAS, CJCSC meet Saudi crown prince ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif and Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) Chairman General Rashid Mahmood held meetings Monday with Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz during which issues related to defence cooperation and regional security were discussed, a private news channel reported. According to sources, the army chief and the Saudi crown prince discussed the security situation in the region during their meeting. Meanwhile, Gen Mahmood and Abdul Aziz discussed Saudi-Pak defence in their meeting and agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two countries. Moreover, it was also agreed in the meeting that the two countries would share counter-terrorism intelligence whereas a memorandum of understanding (MoU) would be signed in the field of security cooperation. Abdul Aziz is on a three-day visit to Pakistan on the first leg of his four-nation Asia tour. He is also scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. STAFF REPORT

Tuesday, 18 February, 2014

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia sign $183m credit facility agreements NAWAZ TELLS SAUDI CROWN PRINCE PAKISTAN HOLDS KINGDOM IN HIGHEST ESTEEM ISLAMABAD APP

AKISTAN and Saudi Arabia on Monday signed two agreements under which the latter will provide a total of around $183 million for the import of Urea fertilizer from Saudi Arabia and the construction of a hydro-power project in Chitral. The signing ceremony held here at the PM House was witnessed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Saudi Crown Prince and Defence Minister Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud. Vice Chairman/Managing Director Saudi Development Fund, Yousef Bin Ibrahim Al-Bassam and Secretary Economic Affairs Ms. Nargis Sethi signed the agreements on behalf of their respective sides. Under the first agreement, Saudi Arabia will provide a credit facility of US $ 125 million for the import of Urea fertilizer from Saudi Arabia. Whereas under the second agreement, Saudi Arabia will provide an additional loan of $ 57.8 million for the construction of a 106 MW Golen Gol hydro-power project at River Mastuj in Chitral.

Earlier while talking to the visiting Saudi dignitary, Nawaz said that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have good relations and have similar views on regional as well as international matters. Pakistan supports efforts of Saudi Arabia aimed at strengthening unity among the Islamic countries, he added. Both the leaders expressed desire to

further strengthen cooperation in various fields for the promotion of the causes of the Muslims as well as international peace and stability. Nawaz said that Pakistan held Saudi Arabia in highest esteem and the relations between the people of both the countries were more than fraternal. He said that Pakistani community in Saudi

Arabia served as a bridge between the two countries and played a positive role in the development of Saudi Arabia as well as Pakistan’s economy through annual remittances of over $4 billion. The Saudi crown prince expressed his gratitude for the hospitality shown towards him and his delegation during the visit.

THIRTEEN CHILDREN AMONG 15 INJURED IN KARAK BLAST KARAK STAFF REPORT

As many as 15 people, including 13 children, sustained injuries in an explosion that occurred outside a private school in Dhab area of Karak district on Monday. According to details, some unidentified miscreants had planted explosive materials outside the private school gate located in Dhab, which went off with a loud noise. Subsequently, 15 people were injured, including the school’s principal. Following the incident, the injured persons were shifted to District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ). Police have registered a case against unknown miscreants. PESHAWAR EXPLOSION: In Peshawar, an explosion occurred in a three-star hotel in the Namak Mandi area, leaving one person injured. According to the police, the blast took place on the first floor of the hotel near to the lobby. Subsequently, the hotel’s security guard Allah Baksh reportedly sustained injuries. As a result of the explosion, the hotel windows were smashed. According to the hotel administration, three suspected individuals walked out of the hotel without checking out at the reception; however their records were available with the management.

Two polio workers among six kidnapped from FR Tank PESHAWAR STAFF REPORT Six men, including two polio workers, were kidnapped from a rural area in Frontier Region Tank on Monday. Sources said that a driver accompanying a team of polio vaccination workers and three Khasadar security personnel were also picked up by unknown people while the team was on routine duty in Peeng village in FR Tank.Sources added that the kidnapped men included Dr Khandad and Fareed Taleem Ullah, who were working for the polio vaccination program. No militant group has so far claimed responsibility of the kidnapping. The incident comes a day after a policeman

deployed for a vaccination campaign was killed in a bomb attack in Peshawar. FR Tank lies on the outer boundaries of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tank district and separates it from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) governed by tribal laws. Pakistan is one of only three countries where the crippling polio virus remains endemic. According to the WHO, Pakistan recorded 91 cases of polio last year, up from 58 in 2012. It warned earlier this year that Peshawar is the world’s “largest reservoir” of polio. More than 40 health workers and police personnel providing security to teams administering anti-polio drops to children have been killed in incidents of violence in the country since December 2012, according to a tally by news agency AFP.

Police reached the site of blast and investigation of the incident was underway. The nature of the blast could not be ascertained as yet. Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, lies on the edge of Pakistan’s tribal areas which have been labelled by Washington as the main sanctuary for al Qaeda and Taliban militants in the country. The city has seen frequent attacks by militants in the past few years, with targets ranging from civilians to policemen and other law enforcement personnel.

CMYK

Tuesday, 18 February, 2014

NEWS

No point talking with terrorists! ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

HE peace talks between the government and Taliban committees were scrapped on Monday after the government side refused to meet the representatives of the terrorist outfit following the slaying of 23 soldiers of Frontier Corps (FC) in Mohmand Agency who had been abducted in the year 2010. After the killings of FC personnel on Sunday night, the government committee cancelled its scheduled visit to Akora Khattak to meet the TTP committee comprising Maulana Samiul Haq, Maulana Yousaf Shan and Prof Muhammad Ibrahim on the orders of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Talking to reporters, the government’s negotiator Irfan Siddiqui said that the committee had decided with consensus not to visit Akora Khattak for a meeting with the Taliban committee. He said he himself phoned Yousuf Shah and informed him about their decision to not undertake the visit. “We do not want to go just for the sake of meetings,” he said, adding that the martyrdom of the FC personnel was condemnable and the committee had reservations over such acts. Earlier during a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the premier condemned the killing of FC personnel in Mohmand Agency, saying the incident had negatively impacted the peace talks and Pakistan could not afford bloodshed anymore. Nawaz said the government initiated the dialogue process with good intentions

GOVT COMMITTEE REFUSES TO MEET TALIBAN REPRESENTATIVES AS NAWAZ SHARIF SAYS HE CANNOT ALLOW MORE INNOCENT BLOOD TO SPILL IN GARB OF TALKS

SKIPPER BELIEVES GOVT, ARMY TO BLAME FOR FC TROOPERS’ SLAYING

SIDDIQUI SAYS VISIT TO AKORA KHATTAK WAS POSTPONED BECAUSE ‘WE DON’T WANT TO GO JUST FOR SAKE OF MEETINGS’

TALIBAN REPRESENTATIVES EXPRESS DISMAY AT CANCELLATION OF MEETING BUT DISTANCE THEMSELVES FROM TALIBAN ACTIONS

in the light of decisions taken at the AllParties Conference (APC); however‚ the process is sabotaged whenever they reached an encouraging point. He told the government’s committee members Major (r) Aamir and Irfan Siddiqui that the government could not allow such barbaric incidents in the garb of talks. Irfan Siddiqui told the prime minister that a special meeting of the committee has been called today (Tuesday) in which the whole situation would be scrutinised and a final decision will be taken regarding the talks. Meanwhile, the government and the military leadership have reportedly decided in principle not to hold any further talks with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan after the martyrdom of the FC personnel and have started preparations for launching decisive action against them.

According to sources, the security forces are fully prepared for action in Waziristan and are waiting for a green signal to go after the terrorists. Sources also said the civil and military leadership late on Sunday night decided to launch an operation in North Waziristan. During the meeting, the prime minister said no concession would be made with terrorists, observing that no compromise would be allowed regarding national security. The meeting decided that the security forces will not halt their action against terrorist elements and that ground and air attacks will be conducted against them. A security official said the TTP allegation of killing of terrorists in the security forces’ custody was a baseless propaganda to justify their brutal acts of terrorism. TALIBAN COMMITTEE MEETING:

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Monday accused the government and army for doing nothing for the release of the 23 abducted Frontier Corps personnel. In a statement, Imran Khan said that the

FC men had been held prisoners since 2010 in an area – Mohmand Agency – that had ostensibly been “cleared” by the military. “Yet the former government, the military and the present government, had done nothing to release the soldiers. Clearly this incident is direct sabotage of the peace talks,” he said.

Meanwhile, the TTP negotiating committee in their meeting in Akora Khattak, stressed the need for jointly working for restoration of peace by both the Taliban and government committees and end of violence in the country. Maulana Yousaf Shah told reporters after the meeting that he had come to know that Irfan Siddiqui had said that it was not possible for the committee to hold a meeting in such a situation. He stated that the TTP committee was only a negotiating committee and that the people and the government committee should accept their status, as it did not consider itself separate from the government committee. “We regret that the government committee did not come to Akora Khattak to attend the meeting. We could have discussed the latest situation for the restoration of

peace in the country, had they come today,” he said. The Taliban negotiating committee said that a military operation was no solution as it would bring more bloodshed, displacement and terrorism in the country. The members also stressed the need of strengthening contacts between the two committees to end further violence in the country. Saying that it was inevitable that the committees should work jointly for peace, professor Ibrahim said the committee was facing a difficult situation, adding that the visit to Miran Shah had been a major development and that TTP had given a positive response. He said that the committee had a desire to reach a ceasefire at the earliest, but admitted that it was a difficult task. He also said that the committee could not defend the TTP’s actions, adding that many forces and hands were active in the region.

ISLAMABAD INP

It’s time to take a decision, PPP, MQM tell govt MQM CHIEF URGES PM AND ARMY CHIEF TO TAKE NATION INTO CONFIDENCE OVER SITUATION ISLAMABAD ONLINE

PPP leader Khurshid Shah and MQM chief Altaf Hussain on Monday condemned the killing of 23 FC personnel by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

In separate statements, they urged the government to take the nation into confidence on talks with the TTP terrorists. Shah said the government had said that the TTP would not conduct any attacks. TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said on Sunday the FC personnel were killed in retaliation of the killing of their members by security forces. In a statement, security forces dismissed the Taliban’s claim calling it propaganda to justify their killings. Separately, Altaf Hussain said that the Taliban through bombings and suicide

attacks had killed hundreds of people, including soldiers and police personnel. “With regard to negotiations with TTP, I have been demanding that if the government has to negotiate with TTP, then there should be no further delay in holding talks. The TTP, however, has turned the talks into a joke and has killed hundreds of Pakistan army soldiers, personnel of paramilitary forces and civilians in dozens of suicide attacks and bombings.” The MQM chief urged the prime minister and army chief to come up with a joint strategy and take the

nation into confidence over the situation. “I appeal to Nawaz Sharif and General Raheel Shareef in the name of Almighty Allah and his last Prophet [Muhammad] (PBUH) that now the time for a final decision is upon us, please do not delay the decision any further. Any further delay is likely to cause irreparable damage to the country’s integrity and security,” he said. “I firmly believe that whatever the decision, the government and army jointly make, people of Pakistan will abide by it and will stand shoulder to shoulder with their government and the armed forces.”

US seeking bases in Central Asia for its drones LA TIMES REPORT SAYS OBAMA ADMIN MAKING CONTINGENCY PLANS IN CASE IT HAS TO WITHDRAW ALL FORCES FROM AFGHANISTAN WASHINGTON INP

The Obama administration is making contingency plans to use air bases in Central Asia to conduct drone missile attacks in northwest Pakistan in case the White House is forced to withdraw all US forces from Afghanistan at the end of this year, Los Angeles Times quoting US officials reported on Monday. But even if alternative bases are secured, the officials said, the CIA’s capability to gather sufficient intelligence to find Al Qaeda operatives and quickly launch drone missiles at specific targets in Pakistan’s mountainous tribal region will be greatly diminished if the spy agency loses its drone bases in Afghanistan. The CIA’s targeted killing program thus may prove a

casualty of the bitter standoff with Afghan President Hamid Karzai over whether any US troops can remain in Afghanistan after 2014, as the White House has sought. Karzai has refused to sign a bilateral security agreement to permit a long-term American deployment, and some White House aides are arguing for a complete pullout. According to current and former officers, CIA analysts operating from fortified outposts near the Pakistani border evaluate electronic intelligence, while case officers meet sources who help them identify targets. They pay people to place GPS trackers on cars or buildings to help guide the drone-launched missiles. “There is an enormous amount of human intelligence collected that supports the

strikes, and those bases are a key part of it,” one official said. The CIA cannot fly drones from its Afghan drone bases without US military protection, according to several American officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the program is classified. If the bases are evacuated, the CIA fleet of armed Predator and Reaper drones could be moved to airfields north of Afghanistan, US officials say, without naming the countries. “There are contingency plans for alternatives in the north,” said one official briefed on the matter. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel publicly acknowledged for the first time this month that US officials are examining different basing options for drones. The CIA and the military used an air base in Uzbekistan to conduct drone flights until the US was evicted in 2005, said Brian Glyn Williams, a University of Massachusetts professor and author of the book “Predators: The CIA’s Drone War on Al Qaeda.” The military also has

used a base in Kyrgyzstan to conduct air operations, including moving troops and supplies into Afghanistan. Last month, Maj. Gen. Michael K. Nagata, commander of US special operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, visited Tajikistan, which abuts Afghanistan’s northern border, for talks on “issues of bilateral security cooperation” and “continued military cooperation,” according to a US Embassy statement in Dushanbe, the capital. American officials refused to say whether they are seeking permission to base CIA drones in Tajikistan, which allows the US to ship military equipment and supplies through its territory. Several officials said Russia almost certainly would try to block any new US basing agreement in Central Asia. Officials say a new jetpowered drone, called the Predator C, or Avenger, could figure in plans to use bases outside Afghanistan. The Avenger could “get to ‘hot’ targets in Pakistan much faster

CMYK

and might solve some of these logistic problems posed by the slower-moving propellerdriven Predator and Reaper drones,” said Williams, the professor. General Atomics, which makes the Avenger, says it is ready for combat. So far, the San Diego-based company has built four prototypes. Drone strikes in Pakistan have grown less frequent — 28 last year, down from 117 in 2010. The London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which has compiled a database of known drone strikes, found four noncombatants killed in 2013. But the ability to act quickly, without harming civilians, would suffer if the CIA was forced to leave the area, officials say. “People think of drones as if they fly to a place, shoot and go home,” said a former US official familiar with counterterrorism operations. “But there is a large amount of coordination and intelligence gathering that takes place and it takes a lot of time and patience.”

Iran threatens to send forces into Pakistan TEHRAN AGENCIES

Iran’s interior minister on Monday warned that Iranian forces may enter Pakistani and Afghan territory to release border guards seized by a rebel group. Abdol Reza Rahmani Fazli’s remarks on state TV come a week after the little-known Jaish al-Adl posted photos on Twitter of five men it claims were border guards it seized near Pakistan. He said Iran had asked Pakistan to treat the case “strongly and seriously” or allow Iran to secure the remote region “deep on Afghanistan and Pakistan soil”. “Otherwise we do consider it our own right to intervene and create a new security sphere for our safety,” he said. Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Hossein Hassani Sa’di spoke of Tehran’s tough confrontation with the terrorists who have abducted five border guards in the Southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan since early this month, stressing that Tehran will show no compromise in this case. “We will have no soft stand in this case and our neighbouring country (Pakistan to which the terrorists have transferred the kidnapped soldiers) should account for its lack of action,” Hassani Sa’di told reporters in Tehran on Monday. Meantime, the general said the five Iranian border guards are still alive, and underlined that “political and military measures are underway to set them free”. Earlier reports said that they had been transferred to Pakistan which has a long border with Iran in the Southeastern parts of the country. On Sunday, an Iranian deputy foreign minister stressed Tehran’s firm will to root out terrorist groups alongside Iran-Pakistan border. On February 9, Iran’s Police Chief Brigadier General Esmayeel Ahmadi Moqaddam voiced concern over the presence of terrorist groups in Pakistan’s territories, and underlined that Iran’s police along with the Foreign Ministry are resolved to do their best to clear the fate of the five Iranian guards abducted at the IranPakistan border. Ahmadi Moqaddam criticised the performance of the Pakistani government and its border police in the joint border region. He then asked how it is possible that certain elements ambush the Iranian guards, kidnap them, take them to Pakistan and release some photos of them. The director-general of West Asia Office of the Iranian Foreign Ministry on Sunday invited the Pakistani envoy and conveyed the Islamic Republic’s “displeasure and official protest” to him over the terrorist attack and the abduction of the border guards.

04 NEWS

Tuesday, 18 February, 2014

AfghAn TAlibAn leAder shoT deAd in PeshAwAr PESHAWAR SHAMIM SHAHID

former minister of the Afghan Taliban who was in favour of peace talks with the Kabul government was gunned down in Peshawar on Monday. “Armed assailants riding on a motorbike shot Mullah Abdul Raqeeb, a former minister

for refugees during the Taliban regime, killing him on the spot,” a member of the Afghan Taliban in Pakistan said. Speaking from Afghanistan, another Taliban member said Raqeeb was part of a group in Peshawar “which is in favour of making some connection with the Afghan government over possible peace talks.” Raqeeb was coming out of a seminary where he had been teaching when he was at-

Ethiopian plane hijacked to Geneva by co-pilot GENEVA AGENCIES

An Ethiopian Airlines copilot hijacked a plane bound for Rome on Monday and flew it to Geneva, where he wanted to seek asylum, officials said. The Boeing 767-300 plane with 202 passengers and crew aboard had taken off from the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, and landed in the Swiss city at about 6 am. Officials said no one on the flight was injured. Geneva airport chief executive Robert Deillon told reporters that the co-pilot, an Ethiopian man born in 1983, took control of the plane when the pilot ventured outside the cockpit. ‘’The pilot went to the toilet and he (the co-pilot) locked himself in the cockpit,’’ Deillon said. The man ‘’wanted asylum in Switzerland,’’ he said. ‘’That’s the motivation of the

hijacking.’’ The hijacking began over Italy, Switzerland’s southern neighbor, and two Italian fighter jets were scrambled to accompany the plane, Deillon said. The co-pilot himself alerted authorities to the plane’s hijacking, officials added, though passengers on the plane were unaware it had been hijacked. After landing in Geneva, the copilot exited the cockpit using a rope and turned himself in to authorities. Police escorted passengers one by one, their hands over their heads, from the taxied plane to waiting vehicles. Geneva prosecutor Olivier Jornot said Swiss federal authorities were investigating the hijacking and would press charges that could carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years. Geneva airport was initially closed to other flights, but operations resumed around two hours after the hijacked plane landed. ‘’We hope everything will return to normal in the afternoon,’’ Deillon said.

KARACHI: National Bank of Pakistan recently launched Home Remittance Services in collaboration with Arab National Bank (Telemoney). On the occasion Khalid bin Shaheen, SEVP/Group Chief – NBP said, “NBP is a key player in the remittance market of Pakistan and the remittance arrangement with Arab National Bank is another milestone”. Seen in the picture are: Khalid Bin Shaheen, SEVP/Group Chief, Global Home Remittances Management Group from NBP (1st from left), Anwar Al Murshed Head of TelemoneyArab National Bank (2nd from left) and Adnan Malik Product Manager, Telemoney -Arab National Bank (3rd from left). PR

Two media houses in Karachi come under attack KARACHI: The offices of private TV channel Aaj TV and Nawa-i-Waqt group came under bomb attacks in Gurumandir area of Karachi on Monday. The guards’ checkpost outside the Aaj TV building was the target of the attack. Ball bearings, part of the crackers, were found on the site of the attack. There were no injuries in the attack, however the entrance to the building was reportedly damaged. Aaj TV security guard was injured in the attack. Meanwhile, an unexploded bomb was recovered near the Nawa-i-Waqt office also located in the same area. Separately, APNS strongly condemned attack on the offices of Daily Business Recorder/Aaj TV and Nawa-i-Waqt. The APNS expressed concern over the increasing trend of attacks on media houses which showed the failure of security agencies. The APNS reiterated its demand that the government provide security to media houses and journalists. STAFF REPORT

KP to hold LB polls in April

tacked. Senior Peshawar police officer Muhammad Faisal confirmed the murder. A Taliban office in Qatar that opened last June was meant to lead to peace talks, but instead it enraged Afghan President Hamid Karzai after it was styled as an embassy for a government-in-exile. Public efforts at reconciliation have since been frozen.

Abdul Basit appointed as new envoy to India

In a written statement, another former Afghan minister Aga Jan Motasim said leaders and jihadi commanders of the Afghan Taliban were being targeted in the Pakistani cities of Quetta and Peshawar. “Mullah Abdul Raqeeb was working for a peaceful Afghanistan,” said the statement. He praised Raqeeb, terming him a learned scholar, politician, social worker and “guardian of thousands of orphans.”

Tehelka editor charged with sexual assault PANAJI AGENCIES

Indian police charged the high-profile editor of an investigative magazine Monday with sexually assaulting a female colleague in the elevator of a five-star hotel in the resort state of Goa. Police also said Tehelka Editor Tarun Tejpal tried to evade arrest for several weeks after being accused. He has been in custody since Nov 30 and faces a bail hearing on Tuesday. Under newly expanded Indian laws on women’s safety, Tejpal was also charged with rape and outraging the woman’s modesty. If convicted he could face up to seven years in prison. The case against Tejpal has

stunned many in India, in part because he was the face of a weekly investigative magazine that has pushed Indian society to confront corruption and sexual violence. The woman said Tejpal assaulted her twice in a hotel elevator, on Nov 7 and 8, when the magazine was hosting its annual conference of Indian leaders, newsmakers and celebrities. The woman’s duties at the conference involved escorting Robert De Niro and his daughter to events. As the allegations became public, Tejpal first apologised for ‘’a bad lapse of judgment, an awful misreading of the situation’’ and said he was stepping down for six months. Later, he described the sexual encounter as consensual and fleeting.

Tejpal came under investigation after the woman told the magazine’s managing editor about the alleged assault. The woman has not been named in line with Indian laws protecting identities in sexual assault cases. Indian media chronicled every turn in the case, from leaked emails and police reports to a resignation letter in which the accuser said she endured ‘’intimidation, character assassination and slander.’’ Six other senior staff members have also resigned. Tehelka, which means upheaval or sensation in Hindi, is closely followed by Indian journalists and the English-speaking elite. Using sting operations and exposes, the magazine has taken aim at high-level corruption in India.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has appointed Abdul Basit as Pakistan’s high commissioner to India, the Foreign Office announced in a statement on Monday. Basit joined the foreign service in 1982 and has held various assignments in Pakistan missions abroad and at the headquarters, including as the foreign office spokesperson. His predecessor, Salman Bashir, is expected to relinquish charge of office on February 28, to return home. Bashir, a former foreign secretary, still has some time left in his contract extended to him by the PPP government, but Nawaz Sharif government wanted a nominee of its choice in New Delhi. Since May, 2012, Ambassador Abdul Basit, a distinguished career diplomat, has been representing Pakistan in Berlin. He has previously served at Pakistan’s missions in Moscow, New York, Sana’a, Geneva and London. STAFF REPORT

President’s rule imposed in New Delhi NEW DELHI: Indian President Pranab Mukherjee accepted the resignation of the Arvind Kejriwal-led government and approved Lieutenant Governor of Delhi’s recommendation to put the capital city under President’s rule, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde informed the Lok Sabha ahead of the interim budget speech on Monday, according to a report on IBN-LIVE. Firebrand anticorruption champion Arvind Kejriwal quit as Delhi’s chief minister only 49 days after his upstart Aam Aadmi (“Common Man”) Party took power in the capital. AGENCIES

Missing Nepal passenger plane found, no survivors

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) government has decided to hold local bodies (LB) elections in April. According to media reports, KP Minister for Local Bodies Inayatullah said holding the polls by the end of February is impossible, however, arrangements are in place to hold them by the April. Sources said the authorities have decided to hold the voting in April, however, the final date will formally be announced by KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak in a couple of days. The PTI-led KPK government had delayed the polls in an effort to introduce a biometric system to put an end to paper-related rigging for good. As per sources, it is likely to use it in the upcoming LB elections. ONLINE

KATHMANDU AGENCIES

Nepalese troops Monday recovered 18 bodies from the snow-blanketed wreckage of a plane that crashed into a hillside, the latest disaster to hit the country’s internationally-blacklisted airlines. Body parts and debris from the Nepal Airlines plane, which was carrying 15 passengers and three crew, were found scattered in a village next to the scene of Sunday’s crash in the mountainous west of the country, a police official at the scene said. Officials dug through snow that had blanketed passengers’ bodies overnight in Arghakhanchi district, 226 kilometres (140 miles) west of the capital, local police official Kiran Khatri told AFP. “It was horrible, we found burned body parts. Only eight people had undamaged faces,” Khatri said in a phone interview. The Twin Otter propeller plane, carrying locals and one passenger from Den-

mark, lost contact with air traffic controllers shortly after taking off from the popular tourist town of Pokhara on Sunday afternoon. The aircraft from the state-run carrier encountered heavy rain en route from Pokhara to the town of Jumla, 353 kilometres west of Kathmandu. The torrential downpour eventually forced two helicopters to stop their hunt for the plane Sunday. Police resumed their search at first light on Monday, finally spotting scattered pieces of the wreckage during an aerial search of Arghakhanchi. Soldiers have since recovered the bodies of all those on board, an army statement said. “The bodies will be brought to Pokhara and Kathmandu for post mortem and handed over to respective families,” it said. The crash, which left the aircraft shattered into small parts, is the latest to raise alarm over Nepal’s aviation indus-

try. It comes only weeks after all the country’s airlines were banned from flying to the European Union. An airline spokesman said engineers had refurbished the plane in recent weeks, leaving it in “good condition”. “The preliminary report shows that the cause of the crash was the bad weather,” Ram Hari Sharma, Nepal Airlines spokesman, told AFP. “When the plane took off from Pokhara airport the weather condition was fine… but unfortunately the weather condition en route to the destination worsened,” Sharma said. “We cannot predict when the clouds cover the land,” he said. Kathmandu-based aviation expert Hemant Arjyal said that while the weather may have played a part, the accident made it “pretty clear that our safety has not been up to the standards”. “It’s well below the world average,” Arjyal told AFP.

Indian naval oﬃcial put on trial for ‘contacts’ with Pakistani agencies NEW DELHI ONLINE

An Indian Navy official has been put on trial by a Delhi court for allegedly conspiring with Pakistani agencies and passing them sensitive documents and information regarding establishment of armed forces. The court framed charges against Chand Kumar Prasad under provisions of the IPC for conspiring and the Official Secret Act and fixed March 15 for recording prosecution evidence in the case, reported Rediff.com. The provisions of OSA for which Prasad,

who was arrested from New Delhi railway station in 2010, has been put on trial entails a maximum of 14 years jail term. The court said perusal of the charge sheet, the recovered articles and disclosure of Prasad showed that the charge of spying was made out against him and there was sufficient material to frame charges against him. “As per the concerned agency, these documents were classified documents. Hence charge under... of the OSA is made out,” it said. The judge said, “Whatever accused has done as alleged by the investigating agency, he has done along with other operatives of Pakistani secret agencies.

Simply because they are not before this court for facing trial does not absolve the accused from the charge under section 120B IPC.” “What is relevant for the purpose of charge under section 120B IPC is that he acted in conspiracy,” the court said. The court rejected the contention of Prasad that he was the sole accused in the case, so he cannot be charged for criminal conspiracy. The prosecutor told the court that Prasad was in possession of photographs of confidential documents of Indian Navy, having information about its movement and secret operations.

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He also said Prasad was having the restricted documents containing the visit schedule of chief of naval operations of US Navy with his staff and another was on the schedule of visit of Union Defence Minister AK Antony on the occasion of launching of indigenously designed third ship of project 15 (Chennai). Prasad, a mechanic, was arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police in 2010 from New Delhi railway station on information that an official of Indian Navy, who was allegedly involved in supplying classified/confidential documents to Pakistani agencies, would be arriving in a train from Ahmedabad and would be

carrying secret documents. When Prasad was caught by the police, he was unable to explain possession of certain documents, including two diaries having details of Indian armed forces, two mobile phones and three memory cards. The prosecutor told the court that memory cards contained photographs of confidential documents of the navy. He claimed that during the probe, Prasad had admitted that he used to provide secret/classified documents relating to Indian Navy to agents of Pakistani intelligence agency in Nepal in lieu of which he was given money.

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Tuesday, 18 February, 2014

SC says warnings to spy agencies futile in missing persons’ case Defence secy says he has warned agencies of disciplinary action if missing persons are not found ISLAMABAD ONLINE

BAJAUR: FATA health department personnel administer polio drops to a child at a mobile hospital camp on Monday. INP

Afghan Taliban leader shot dead in Peshawar PESHAWAR SHAMIM SHAHID

Unidentified men on Monday shot dead Afghan Taliban leader Maulvi Abdul Raqeeb. The Afghan Taliban have confirmed the assassination and termed it a great loss saying, “A great advocate for peace and ward of hundreds of orphans has been murdered.” A police official said that Raqeeb was shot dead when he was coming out of a seminary in Tehkal. In the first information report (FIR), name of the deceased is mentioned as Abdullah, son of Abdul Bari from Takhar province of Afghanistan. However, his real name is Abdul Raqeeb and he was the Taliban minister for refugees and repatriation from 1998 until November 2001. No group has claimed responsibility for the assassination. Top Afghan Taliban leader Naseeruddin Haqqani was shot dead in Islamabad in November 2013. Sources confirmed that Maulvi Raqeeb was running a seminary in Tehkal.

Only 35 KP legislators paid income tax last year PESHAWAR AGENCIES

F income tax details revealed by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) are to be believed, the big guns among KhyberPakhtunkhwa’s (KP) politicians are from the poorest section of the province. According to the Parliamentarians Tax Directory issued by FBR on February 15, of the 97 lawmakers of the provincial assembly who filed their tax returns, only 35 paid taxes while only two paid the income support levy (ISL). The government has imposed the ISL at the rate of 0.5% of the value of all moveable assets an individual owns. More interestingly, of a house of 124, only 97 bothered to make the effort of filing their returns. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker from Peshawar Ziaullah Afridi paid ISL worth Rs97,072 and Rs231,460 in taxes while Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker from Haripur Raja Faisal Zaman paid ISL worth Rs8,333 and

taxes worth Rs 54,200. The income tax returns published on FBR’s website are up till the financial year that ended on June 30, 2013 and are stated to be a “provisional edition” to be finalised by the end of this month. K-P Chief Minister Pervez Khattak paid Rs 300,494 in taxes whereas opposition leader Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan Abbasi paid Rs 153,844 but both have not paid the income support levy. Senior minister Sirajul Haq’s name does not appear on the list. Meanwhile, cabinet members including Minister for Information Shah Farman, Minister for Health Shaukat Ali Yousafzai, Minister for Revenue Ali Amin Gandapur, Minister for Agriculture Shahram Khan, speaker Asad Qaiser and Minister for Sports and Culture Mehmood Khan have not paid any taxes. PTI lawmaker Dr Mehr Taj Roghani and PML-N’s Sobia Shahid were the only female MPAs among 22 women lawmakers who paid taxes worth Rs 704,730 and Rs156,000 respectively. Of parliamentary leaders in K-P Assembly, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-

Fazl’s (JUI-F) Maulana Lutfur Rehman, Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) leader Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao, Awami National Party (ANP) leader Sardar Hussain Babak and Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Muhammad Ali Shah Baacha have not paid a penny in taxes. Out of the 35 lawmakers who paid taxes, only 14 have six figure payments and the rest have submitted paltry amounts. JUI-F lawmaker from Lakki Marwat Malik Noor Salim has paid the highest amount of tax amounting to Rs11.512 million, however, he paid no ISL. PTI’s Amjad Khan Afridi and Iftikhar Ali Mashwani paid Rs3.8 million and Rs3.2 million respectively in taxes. PML-N’s Sardar Zahoor Ahmed and Nawabzada Wali Mohammad Khan paid Rs2 million and Rs1.3 million respectively but did not pay any ISL. JUI-F lawmaker Shah Hussain Khan Allai and Adviser to Chief Minister on Food Haji Qalandar Khan Lodhi have topped the list from the bottom after having paid Rs1,000 each in income tax returns.

Supreme Court (SC) Justice Nasirul Mulk on Monday said that warnings to intelligence agencies would yield no positive result as far as recovery of missing persons was concerned. He gave these remarks while heading a three-member bench during the course of hearing of Hafiz Jamil’s case. Defence Secretary Asif Yasin and Additional Attorney General (AAG) Tariq Khokhar told the court that a special meeting had been held in the Defence Ministry. The meeting lasted for four hours and it was attended by senior officials of the intelligence agencies. “I, being the defence secretary, have warned them that disciplinary action will be initiated against them if missing persons are not recovered,” he added. The court asked about Jamil. The secretary said 20 of 43 detention centres have been reviewed and Jamil was not there. Two weeks would be needed to review the remaining internment centres, he added. The court said, “We cannot give two weeks. We are going to hear case of Balochistan missing persons’ case on February 20 and we fix Hafiz Jamil case with Balochistan missing persons’ case for hearing. You should also convene the meeting, work out reply and file it in the court.” The secretary said Balochistan and KP cases are different from this case and this case be heard from them separately. The court remarked this case will also be heard on February 20. Khokhar told the court that the missing youth has not been traced so far.

Senate moves privilege motion against Imran ISLAMABAD ONLINE

The Senate on Monday moved a privilege motion against Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan. The privilege motion was passed against Imran Khan over his statement in which he said that most of the parliamentarians sell themselves for gaining interests. As many as 26 Senators had signed the motion.

NA body rejects job quota bill for special persons ISLAMABAD

PML-N, PPP AND JUI-F OPPOSE BILL ON GROUNDS THAT IT WILL URGE OTHER FRATERNITIES TO MAKE DEMANDS

ONLINE

The National Assembly’s Standing Committee for Law and Justice on Monday rejected the proposed bill for allocation of special seats for special people. A meeting of the committee, chaired by Mahmood Bashir Virk, deliberated over the bill tabled by Kishwara Zahra, in which it was said that the special persons were denied their due rights of representation and quota for official jobs, despite being 10 percent of total population.

The bill fully endorsed by PTI and MQM, was opposed by PML-N, PPP, JUI-F and others on the grounds that approval of the bill will usher in a flow of demands by other fraternities, dividing the society on whole. The bill was ultimately rejected by majority vote. The other bill tabled by Dr Ramesh Kumar was critical of the fact that despite an increase in the National Assembly seats during 2002, the allocation for minorities was not increased proportionally; while also being critical over what he claimed about current selection of minority

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leaders by polity according to the policy of favoritism; while also demanded non-Muslims’ right for dual voting, like the one granted to Kashmiri citizens. He also wanted delimitations for minority leaders, from whence they could contest elections independently. The committee’s unanimous opinion was that since no census had been carried out in the country, it was difficult to determine exact delimitations and their exact numbers in Country; besides the bill had failed to pinpoint the exact basis required for such demanded delimitations.

Virk was of the opinion that wherein the 17th Amendment had increased the NA constituencies, the quota for minorities should also have been increased proportionally; while this particular bill could also be added to review of numerous other bills regarding issues of separate electorates for minorities and dual voting system. The body members opined that the issue of voting for minorities should be decided along with other bills, without any further delay; while adjourning any further review until the next committee session.

06 LAHORE PRAyER TimingS FAJR

SUNRISE ZUHR

ASR

MAGHRIB ISHA

5:24

6:46

3:24

5:48

12:17

7:10

GotchA!

WEATHER UPDATES

TUESDAY

190C 080C

WEDNESDAY

160C 080C

THURSDAY

170C 060C

FRIDAY

180C 060C

Tuesday, 18 February, 2014

CM is a Man with plan SHAHBAZ BENT ON REFORMING PUNJAB, APPROVES DIFFERENT SCHEMES FOR MASSES

TWO ROBBERS KILLED IN POLICE ENCOUNTER LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Two robbers were killed in exchange of fire with police on Monday. Police said that two dacoits allegedly barged into a house located in Green Town and started looting the residents at gun point. The police upon getting the information reached the scene and after cordoning of the house tried to arrest the dacoits. The robbers started firing at the police which led to encounter and in retaliatory action of the police both dacoits were killed. According to police, the robbers killed in fire exchange namely Shah Nawaz and Babar hailed from Dipalpur and were wanted in various cases including robbery, murder and kidnapping for ransom.

RivAlS DeFAce oppoNeNt LAHORE STAFF REPORT

A man was defaced and injured brutally as rivals chopped off his nose and lips in Khan Bela where he is struggling for life in a hospital. According to police, Mohammad Amir was earlier imprisoned as main accused about a year back in the murder case of his relative Hafiz Hussain, resident of tehsil Liaqutpur, over family enmity. Amir was released on bail recently but two men Mohammad Akram and Shakeel Ahmed last night took him to the fields where they chopped off his facial features and left him bleeding profusely. The victim was shifted to RHC Khan Bela where his condition was declared serious. Shaidani police registered a case against the accused men and claimed to arrest them soon.

lhc complAiNt cell tAkeS Notice oF lAwyeR’S muRDeR LAHORE APP

The Lahore High Court Complaint Cell on Monday took notice of the murder of an advocate for pursuing cases. The cell took the notice on administrative side and directed the Okara District and Sessions judge (DSJ) to look into the matter and submit a detailed report regarding steps taken by the police along with his own comments within a week. The notice was taken on a press report which stated that Advocate Siddique Wattoo, resident of the suburban village of Baseerpur, was going to Lahore High Court along with his driver Muhammad Ahmad when accused Khalid Fareed, Muhammad Amir, Muhammad Abdullah, Muhammad Afzal, Muhammad Zaman and three unidentified people intercepted them near rice mills and opened fire at them. Advocate Siddique died on the spot while Ahmad received serious bullet injuries. The injured was rushed to a hospital. According to police, three cases against the said accused were registered in Baseerpur Police Station. The deceased lawyer had appeared in the said cases before a court of law and consequently the bails of the culprits were cancelled. In a grudge, they shot dead the lawyer. However, police registered the case and started investigation.

LAHORE STAFF REPORT

ANAGEMENT and disposal of Land and Properties System would be given an organisational form as well as made highly transparent, said Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Monday while chairing the Punjab Cabinet that decided to fix separate quota for special persons in housing schemes besides giving approval to establishment of Nawaz Sharif University of Engineering and Technology in Multan as well as several draft laws. The cabinet also decided to undertake effective legislation for awarding deterrent punishment to the elements involved in the sale of dead and Haram animals. He said that a large portion of Punjab’s population is associated with livestock sector and Pakistan is considered among the largest producers of dairy products. He said that all out efforts would be made for earning maximum foreign exchange from livestock sector for the benefit of farmers. He said that a comprehensive plan would be evolved for livestock and dairy development to meet the future needs. Shahbaz Sharif said that the elements involved in the sale of harmful meat deserve no leniency and government would take stringent measures against them. He said that the legislation to be carried out by Punjab government in this regard would yield positive results. He said that under the proposed law, non-bail able warrants would be issued against those selling the meat of Haram animals. The chief minister directed cabinet committee to formulate final recommendations for awarding stringent punishment to those selling the meat of dead and Haram animals. Referring to energy projects, the chief minister said that projects for generation of electricity from traditional and alternative resources are being completed expeditiously. He said that government is attaching top priority to

the completion of projects of production of low-cost electricity and coal-based power projects are being set up for this purpose in Punjab. He said that Punjab government would establish two coal power projects of 660 megawatt in Sahiwal with its own resources while work is also being undertaken on Nandipur power project round the clock. He said that Nandipur power project has been executed with a national spirit and its grid station has been completed in a record period. He said that this project was pending due to greed and criminal negligence of the former rulers while the present leadership immediately after coming into power resumed work on this project of national importance. The chief minister said that he believes that Allah Almighty helps those who are sincere and determined. He said that Punjab government is establishing a 100 megawatt solar project at Quaid-eAzam Solar Park in Cholistan with its own resources. He said that link roads and bridges of the solar park have been completed and the contract of the project would be awarded till March 23, 2014 while electricity production in the first phase would start from June 2014. He said that planning has been made for generation of 1000 megawatt electricity from Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park and local and foreign companies setting up projects in the park would be given special facilities. The meeting granted approval to Management and Disposal of Land and Properties by Development Authorities Act, 2014 Punjab Prohibition of Smoking and Protection of non-Smokers Health Amendment Act 2012, Punjab Mental Health Amendment Act 2012, Punjab Industrial Relations Act, Punjab Employees Efficiency, Discipline and Accountability Act 2006, Punjab Livestock Breeding Bill 2013 and amendments in Punjab Civil Servants Act 1974. Health secretary, Labour secretary, Regulation Wing secretary, Livestock secretary, Higher Education secretary,

Strategy to increase growth rate being prepared LAHORE STAFF REPORT Punjab is the biggest province of Pakistan and has a large share in GDP, said Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif while addressing a high level meeting regarding Punjab Growth Strategy 2018 for increasing growth rate in the province on Monday. Provincial ministers, assembly members, Lahore Development Authority vice chairman, chief secretary, secretaries of departments concerned and economists were present in the meeting. Addressing the meeting, the chief minister said that information technology is being used for the capacity-building of government departments and rapid progress is being made towards establishment of e-government. He directed that effective measures be adopted for increasing growth rate and Growth Strategy 2018 be given a final shape as soon as possible. He directed that the committee headed by Advisor Dr Ejaz Nabi and Planning and Development chairman should give a final shape to Growth Strategy 2018 while heads of all institutions should provide complete support for this purpose. He said that there is a vast scope of development in agriculture, livestock

Lahore Development Authority director general and officers concerned gave briefing on the draft laws. Provincial

and dairy farming sectors and national economy can be strengthened while huge foreign exchange can also be earned through uplift of these sectors. The chief minister said that Punjab is rich in natural resources and there is a need to take full benefit from them. He said that completion of a masterpiece like metro bus project is an example of courage, hard work, transparency and determination and the same spirit should be displayed for increasing growth rate in the province. He said that the model of metro bus project be followed in every department. He said that availability of additional resources for development projects is not a problem all that is needed is honesty and hard work. Advisor on Economic Affairs Dr Ejaz Nabi and Planning and Development chairman while giving a detailed briefing on Growth Strategy 2018 informed that it is aimed at generation of one million new job opportunities every year, improvement of health and educational facilities, provision of the best services to the masses, acceleration of industrial process, promotion of investment, encouragement of private sector, preparation of skilled workforce, improvement of sanitation system, urban development and promotion of livestock sector.

ministers, special assistants, advisors, chief secretary and secretaries of departments concerned were present.

Novelist Rosie Dastagir launches ‘A Small Fortune’

LAHORE: British writer Rosie Dastagir addresses the launching ceremony of her novel ‘A Small Fortune’ at a local hotel on Monday. PR

LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Rosie Dastagir, a British writer and novelist, launched her novel “A small Fortune” in Lahore on

Monday. Her novel is a beautiful collection of his memories about Pakistani and Asian immigrants. Rosie is a British writer, born in England to a Pakistani father. A Small Fortune presents the

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qualities of a splendid prose which can be visualized as an elegantly woven Pakistani textiles stitched with the western lace. In her novel she narrates experiences of the two worlds of

the immigrant family. With insight, affection, and a great gift for character and story, Dastagir immerses the reader in a rich, beautifully drawn immigrant community and complex

extended family. Mustansar Hussain Tarar, Salima Hashmi, Atta ul Haq Qasmi, Amjad Islam Amjad and other prominent literary personalities were present on the occasion.

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Tuesday, 18 February, 2014

‘FoReiGN hAND’ iRkS muNAwAR! JI chief says hidden hand wants to sabotage government-Taliban talks LAHORE OnlinE

EFINITELy some hidden hand wanted to sabotage the Government-Taliban talks before these reached a decisive stage, said Jamaat e Islami AmeerSyed Munawar Hasan in a statement issued from Mansoora on

Monday. He stressed upon the government to thoroughly investigate the Mehmand agency incident besides the Taliban’s allegation that their colleagues were being killed. He said that no side could be believed as such. Expressing deep grief over the killing of 23 FC men, Syed Munawar Hasan said that certain forces in the country could not see the talks to be successful, and were trying their best to pit the Pak army against the Taliban which would result in large scale bloodshed. He however warned that a military operation would be disastrous. He said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had himself admitted that whenever the talks reached an important stage, there

were some incidents from some hidden power which disrupted the process. The JI chief said that a meeting of the Taliban Shoora had been continuing on Sunday and they were to inform of some important decision. The Taliban had even talked of ceasefire when the unfortunate killing of the FC men took place. He urged both sides to show extreme tolerance and prudence and sit together to carry the talks forward. He said the government committee should have had meeting with the Taliban committee according to the schedule and the Mehmand agency incident should have been discussed there.

Another tourist attraction in the making Bhagat Singh’s house, school gets Rs 80 million for restoration LAHORE inP

Legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh’s ancestral house, school and his village will be restored under a Rs80 million project. “We have allocated Rs 80 million for restoration of the house and school of independence war hero Bhagat Singh. The amount will also be spent for the uplift of Singh’s village where clean drinking water is not available and drainage system is in bad shape,” Faisalabad District Coordination Officer Noorul Amin Mengal told Indian media. Mengal said that people in Faisalabad take pride in the fact that Bhagat Singh was the son of their soil and want the place to be known as the town of Bhaghat Singh. The celebrated revolutionary was born September 28, 1907 at Bangay village,

lhws’ sit-in on mall causes massive traﬃc gridlock LAHORE: Hundreds of lady health workers staged sit-in outside the Punjab Assembly on Monday. Lady health workers protested due to the non-payment of outstanding salaries of last eight months. Women joined the sit-in with their children and family members. The protest caused massive traffic jam on The Mall and surrounding areas until late at night. STAFF REPORT

FAke DeGRee holDeRS cAN AlSo coNteSt lB electioNS, puNjAB Govt tellS couRt LAHORE

let’s join heads for peace SCHOLARS DISCUSS PEACE, EDUCATION SYSTEM OF RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS LAHORE

OnlinE

STAFF REPORT

There is no precondition for elected public representatives to be honest or free from debt, said the government of Punjab, in its reply in the court regarding local bodies (LB) polls, on Monday. The Lahore High Court (LHC) was hearing a petition regarding implementation of Article 62 and 63 of the Constitution on local government representatives. The Punjab Government stated in its reply that public representatives should not be ashamed, even if they are involved in any criminal activity, fake degree holder or indebted, and acquire respectful status in the society. The government also said Article 62 and 63 also do not apply on public representatives, adding this section only applies on parliamentarians. Article 62 is related to ‘Qualifications for membership of Majlis-eShoora (Parliament)’ and Article 63 describes ‘Disqualifications for membership of Majlis-eShoora (Parliament)’. However, the petitioner argued that if aforementioned articles were not implemented then any fake degree holder, tax evader and other such persons would also take part in the elections, which is ultimately add to the miseries of people. The court sought replies from FIA, NAB, FBR and other respondents on March 17, 2014.

Religious scholars on Monday discussed in details the charter of peace, education system in religious institutions and Carvan-e-Aman rally in different targeted districts of the Punjab province and formulation of strategy during a daylong meeting under the banner of FACES Pakistan and the Peace and Harmony Network Pakistan (PHNP). The meeting was attended by

PEACE RALLIES IN PUNJAB, AND WAY FORWARDED STRATEGY ALSO DISCUSSED Parliamentary Secretary on Human Right and Minorities Affairs MPA Tariq Masih Gill, FACES Pakistan President and PHNP Secretary General Javaid William, Allama Muhammad Zubair Abid, Bhagat Lal Khokhar, Shireen Abdul Salam, Sohail Ahmad, Syed Mufti Ashiq Hussain, Khalil-ur-Rehman, Khawaja Azizul Hassan, Tariq Hussain, Mushtaq Hussain Jafferi and other scholars and leaders. After a detailed discussion, a document on the charter of peace was signed. On the

occasion, it was also decided that a Carvan-e-Aman rally will be arranged which will start from Lahore and will appear in different districts to promote peace, harmony and coexistence among different communities. MPA Tariq Masih Gill assured the participants that the government will fully cooperate with the Carvan-e-Aman rally. Addressing the audience, Javaid William urged religious scholars to play their positive role in promoting sectarian harmony and unity among people of different faiths. He also called upon the general public to maintain unity within their ranks and don’t let the relationship of mutual respect and affection die down. He described sectarian hatred and intolerance as a conspiracy against the peace loving and peace supporting people and unity of Pakistan.

how many re-count pti wants, wonders marghoob LAHORE: A division bench of the Lahore High Court Monday stayed election tribunal (ET) from proceeding on an election petition for vote recount in PP-150. The division bench headed by Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah passed the orders on a petition filed by PML-N MPA Mian Marghoob Ahmad challenging election tribunal proceedings. Earlier, the petitioner’s counsel arguing before the court submitted that the petitioner was elected as MPA from PP-150 in bye-elections held in 2013. He pointed out that the petitioner was also declared successful in vote recount held by the returning officer on orders of the Election Commission. However, the runner-up PTI candidate through an election petition approached the commission for recount after verification of thumb impression of votes polled in bye-election, he added. He further mentioned that the election tribunal had admitted the said petition for hearing and issued notice to the petitioner. APP

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Jaranwala Tehsil in the Faisalabad. Singh’s village, Bangay, some 150 kilometres from Lahore, would also become a tourist attraction for people, especially Indians, once his house is restored by this year end, he added. “Singh’s village is just 35 kilometres from Nankana Sahib. It could be another point of attraction for the Sikh pilgrims,” he said. The government has also planned to shift Singh’s belongings from Faisalabad Museum and Library to his house, he added. Bangay has a population of 5,000 people. Bhagat’s two-kanal house is owned by advocate Iqbal Virk. “We will certainly buy the house from the advocate,” Mengal said. On March 23, 1931, following his trial for involvement in the ‘Lahore conspiracy case’, the British government hanged him at Shadman Chowk. The Punjab government had decided to rechristen the Fawara Chowk to Bhaghat Singh Chowk in October 2012. The plan, however, was put on hold after the report of renaming drew objections from some quarters.

08 COMMENT

Casting around for allies

Tuesday, 18 February, 2014

Pawns of terrorism When proxies turn on their masters

Pakistan needs to be wary of Saudi intentions

FTeR differences with the US over Syria, egypt and Iran and an expected decline in petroleum profits, Saudi Arabia is looking towards east. After visiting Pakistan the Saudi Crown Prince is expected to visit India and Japan. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have signed a number of MoUs. The significance of some is clear while that of others will manifest itself in days to come. There are issues over which the interests of Pakistan coincide with those of Riyadh. There are others where the interests conflict. Pakistan must jealously guard its national interests and agree to nothing, openly or secretly, that has the potential to harm Pakistan’s national interests. With US developing its shale oil reserves and a number of other countries following suit, they would depend less on petroleum inflows from the Kingdom, thus decreasing the Saudi ability to dictate the OPeC oil prices. Saudi Arabia can thus no more depend on entirely oil revenues. It is therefore looking for more sources of revenue including investments abroad. The country has already made investments in Near east and is trying to discover possible avenues of investment in countries like Pakistan, India and Japan. here the interests of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia converge. There is however little possibility of any large scale private sector investment from the Kingdom as long as terrorist activities continue and power and gas remain scarce. What remains to be seen is if Saudi government will agree to make big investments in Pakistan. Currently whatever trade Pakistan has with Saudi Arabia is skewed in favour of the later. Will the two countries devise ways to reduce the imbalance? There is a perception that if the Kingdom transfers only a fraction of its funds invested in the western banks, the country would be rid of some of its forex headaches. Saudi Arabia is keen to reach an understanding with Pakistan on regional security. This is a tricky subject. It must have come up during COAS Raheel Sharif’s Saudi visit. On Monday the Crown Prince had yet another meeting with Gen Sharif and CJCSC Gen Mahmud. While Riyadh is free to hold whatever views it likes about Turkey and Iran, no regional security arrangement at the cost of Turkey or Iran will be in Pakistan’s interest which has good relations with both. Similarly Pakistan must in no way be a part of meddling in Arab conflicts and decline to offer any support in suppressing the dissent in the Arab lands. Pakistan may sell weapons to any country but has to refrain from becoming a party in any conflict in the region under whatsoever slogan. Pakistan and Saudia are sovereign countries. It is facetious to maintain, as Defence Minister Khwaja Asif has done, that the defence of Pakistan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the same thing.

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor

Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad Joint Editor Lahore – Ph: 042-36375963-5 Fax: 042-32535230 Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9 Fax: 021-35381208 Islamabad – Ph: 051-2287273 Fax: 051-2818125 Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Yasmeen aftab ali

he Westgate mall siege in Nairobi taking lives of 72 people including six security personnel and five militants sharply brought to focus the rise of asymmetrical warfare. Al-Shabab joined Al-Qaeda in 2012 and laid claim to this attack.“Kenya's foreign minister, Amina Mohamed, said that two or three Americans and one female British national were among the attackers.” (The GuardianSeptember 24, 2013) CNN says Al-Shabaab has over the past many years now had strong links within the United States. “Some fifteen Americans have died fighting for Al-Shabaab, as many as four of them as suicide bombers in Somalia, and an American citizen even took up a leadership role in the group.” Terrorism is spreading globally using unconventional warfare. It transcends geographical borders, bringing on one platform people from different religions, different cultural backgrounds and targeting innocent people. NYT shares; a former Navy reservist killed at least 12 people in a mass shooting at a secure military facility in America. (September 16, 2013) The enormity of such actions cannot be ignored because it was carried out by individuals. Then there is the Ku Klux Clan.Believing in supremacy of the white, it’s a racist and anti-sematic movement. Founded in 1866, it is dubbed as America’s first terrorist group. Initially against the African-Americans, the group spread its base, with time enveloping others in its hate list. Though most would agree upon certain acts to be part of terrorism, no single, internationally acceptable definition exists. According to the US Department of Defense terrorism is, “The calculated use of violence or the threat of violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of

Editor’s mail

goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological.” Terrorists act outside the ambit of law; aimed to bring pressure upon the government. New causes result in emerging of new groups whose interests may overlap at some levels and diverge on others. The number of incidents of terrorism has increased over the years. Societies are becoming increasingly more desensitized towards these human tragedies. Media has a lot to answer in terms of playing a mentionable role in this desensitization by increasingly sensationalized reporting. Terrorists may feel they must enact bigger and increasingly more gruesome acts, in order to gain media attention. Asymmetrical warfare is wedded to terrorism. Proxy wars are an example of asymmetrical war. Governments may use proxy wars, so can non-state actors. Proxy wars may be fought along with full-scale conflicts or more typically, during cold wars. An obvious example is of the Vietnam War from 1959 to mid-1975 between the US and its Western allies on one side and Soviet Union and People’s Republic of China on the other. A more recent example is the war between the Mujahedeen/Taliban and the Soviets in Afghanistan. The danger of creating a third force to fight a proxy war can never be undermined. The Frankenstein’s monster can develop a mind and will of its own, smashing the control in the hand of its creator. Pakistan in recent years has become a hotbed of sectarian violence.Many elements play their part including economics, external interference and religious intolerance! There can be no political independence without economic independence. The cascading effects are devastating; creating wedges between different sects and religions, destabilizing a peaceful environment thereby damaging the economy, creating internal security threats and politicization of religion to name a few. The step-up in sectarian violence may also be due to the fact that many sectarian based organizations are allowed greater space to operate. Multiple explosions in Shama Cinema Peshawar, killing 11 and leaving 19 injured is a more recent act of terrorism. Questions spring to mind. First, are pawns, in their simplicity being conned to fight each other and commit violence in the name of religion by their leaders – egging them on for vested interests? In many cases, particularly in the case of Taliban suicide bombers, they are indeed brainwashed

into believing the righteousness of their deeds. Is this an extension of the proxy war as witnessed in Syria? Vali Nasr in Japan Times says, “Syria is now a proxy war, the outcome of which will determine the regional pecking order. In the Mideast, aura of power decides strategic advantage.” (Published June 8, 2013) Terrorism once spreads base, takes years, nay, decades to control. Whether home grown or otherwise, it must be weeded out. Better sooner than later. The first tactic to curb terrorism is using force. U n f o r t u n a t e l y, though this tactic may reduce the ability of a terrorist outfit to create greater havoc and orchestrate more killings, force alone may not work if the base of terrorism is laid beyond borders, with terrorist groups forging alliances backed by vested interests,receiving training and being funded to buy state-of-the-art weapons. Negotiations or “talks” with the terrorist outfits is another method of handling terrorism. Nations and people may deny talking to terrorists for crimes committed by them; however “back channel” talks may work in some situations. Britain had refused to negotiate with the Irish Republican Army. Once out of the public eye that places pressures on both parties and provokes them into greater rigidity of stances. Negotiations did take place, finally leading to the Good Friday Agreements, which were instrumental in eventually ending the terrorist attacks in Northern Ireland. The third tactic is engaging in international agreements. Organizations like the United Nations can play a positive role in bringing member nations to-

gether for better understanding and world peace. Kofi Annan says, “More than ever before in human history, we share a common destiny. We can master it only if we face it together. And that is why we have the United Nations.” however, in order to achieve this objective, organizations entrusted with a role, must play a strongly independent oneand free from influences. The trend of state sponsorship of terrorism aimed to retain supremacy locally, regionally or globally will continue. No amount of lip service to dealing with terrorism without governments deciding not to support it themselves will make any difference in the final analysis. Nick Turse commenting on America’s support for proxies, writing for The Nation International states, “Right now, the United States is once again training, advising, and conducting joint exercises all over the world with proxy war on its mind and the concept of “unint e n d e d consequences” nowhere in sight in Washington.” (August 9, 2012) Brian Whitaker (The Guardian, May 7, 20o1) commenting upon what terrorism is, states wittingly “…It also points towards a simpler - and perhaps more honest definition: terrorism is violence committed by those we disapprove of.”

The trend of state sponsorship of terrorism aimed to retain supremacy locally, regionally or globally will continue. No amount of lip service to dealing with terrorism without governments deciding not to support it themselves will make any difference in the final analysis.

The writer is a lawyer, academic and political analyst. She has authored a book titled ‘A Comparative Analysis of Media & Media Laws in Pakistan.’ She can be contacted at: yasmeenali62@gmail.comand tweets at @yasmeen_9.

Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. Fax: +92-42-32535230 E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively

Human flag

Fight against mindset

Pakistan youth has achieved yet another feat of creating a world record by making the national flag with 29,040 students of various schools. No doubt it was a gigantic effort by the minister of youth affairs and the other organizers to control such a huge number of students. But major share of credit goes to the students who faced the hostile weather and remained in the ground the whole day. One has to think of the parents of children who must be worried about the welfare of their wards in rain and hailstorm besides their meals arrangement. Of course the organizers including hamza Shahbaz were sitting comfortably under a shade with regular service of tea/coffee to get a feather in their caps for a world record of no consequence. One has to think of the effort, time and the money which has been spent to create such frivolous world record. The minister should hunt for talents in the youth to create any worthwhile record like in athletics events by providing them facilities of coaching. Our youth if properly trained may beat or equal the record of Usain Bolt in 100 meters or for that matter in any other field or track event. If country like ethiopia with limited resources could win a gold medal in marathon or 10,000 meters race, why not Pakistan? MUHAMMAD AZHAR KHWAJA Lahore

For last few days. Pakistani politicians and media have been questioning the wisdom of a statement Imran Khan made in public which shall otherwise be considered as state secret. In a recent interview, Khan told that he was informed by ex-Army Chief Parvez Kiyani in Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s presence that if army attacked the terrorists’ hideouts in North Waziristan, the success rate of such an operation would be only 40%. It’s obvious whether an army is ready or capable to take on its enemy or not, it will never accept the reality at a public forum; otherwise, it could have devastating repercussions on its soldiers’ morale. however, the way Khan has been advocating Taliban’s cause for the last few years, we shall not expect much from him which could boost army’s morale, or it could just be an example of lack of deep understanding of such issues by Khan. After the backlash in the parliament and media, there are now host of interpretations of what the ex-army chief informed Khan, such as whether Kayani was talking about success rate in entire Pakistan, or Kayani was not in favour of high hopes to be associated with the operation. Regardless of these interpretations, whatever way we see this private dialogue among Nawaz, Kayani and Khan, one thing is sure: merely an operation in North Waziristan is not the solution as it’s already too late. Taliban

CMYK

have deeply entrenched all over Pakistan -- they are now surrounding big cities such as Peshawar and Karachi, enjoying an in-built support mechanism from religious and sectarian parties, they are having hideouts in slums, shanty towns, seminaries, even in universities hostels. They are already on offensive, as is evident from one after the other attack on security forces throughout the country. It’s true that in case of attack on North Waziristan, of which right-wing religious and sectarian parties are vehemently opposed, chances of backlash against civilians and security forces in major cities are very much there. Therefore, unless we make our cities safe, force Taliban out of their hideouts and safe havens, merely an operation in North Waziristan will not bring the desired results. But we know this is not going to happen as we are fighting not only against a shrewd enemy but against a wicked mindset. This mindset provides ideological, political, technical, moral and financial support to Taliban. Changing or even influencing such mindset is not a matter of weeks and months, somewhat spread over decades and centuries. Do we have time for that long, or we better take a backseat and get ready to be something of the past. It won’t be that long as suicide bombers are not only in abundance but are also in a hurry to reach the promised paradise. MASOOD KHAN Jubail, Saudi Arabia

WORLD VIEW 09

Tuesday, 18 February, 2014

The coming conflicT in norTh WazirisTan STRATFOR

Iran nuclear deal requires compromise Financial Times Hossein Mousavian

At a meeting in Vienna on Tuesday, negotiators from Iran and six world powers will begin hammering out a longterm agreement that would resolve questions related to Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for respecting Iran’s right to use peaceful nuclear technology and a gradual lifting of sanctions. In the historic November accord that laid the ground for this process, both parties agreed that “the Iranian nuclear program will be treated in the same manner as that of any non-nuclear weapon state party to the non-proliferation treaty”. Yet Wendy Sherman, the US nuclear negotiator, has told Congress she believes that Iran has no need for either a heavy water reactor or the second enrichment facilities in Fordo. She added that Iran should give up some centrifuges. All these demands go beyond the requirements of the NPT. American insistence on “zero enrichment in Iran” is one reason for the failure of past talks. Last November’s deal was only possible because the US was prepared to be more realistic. A comprehensive agreement must offer something for both sides. Measures that go beyond the NPT may be required for a time to build confidence. But Iran cannot be expected to agree to them forever. Any deal will have to involve compromise on four main issues. The first is the fate of the heavy water reactor at Arak. The US and its allies worry that plutonium produced there could be used to build a bomb. But the Iranians refuse to dismantle it or convert it into a light water reactor. They say the facility is needed for research and to produce radioisotopes needed to treat cancer patients, and that its purpose is not to make weapons. The fact is, however, that both heavy and light water reactors can be used to produce plutonium. Iran could allay these concerns by making design changes that would greatly reduce the amount of plutonium produced. Alternatively, it could promise not to build a reprocessing plant of the kind needed to extract plutonium from spent fuel. Or it could ship its spent fuel out of the country as soon as it is cool enough to be transported. Iran’s second enrichment site in Fordo is an equally thorny issue. It was built deep under the mountains to protect it from aerial attack. As long as the US keeps repeating its threat that “all options are on the table”, including military action, shutting down Fordo will be out of question. But Iran could agree to place Fordo under full IAEA surveillance, and accept limitations on what it can do at the facility. The third issue is how much enriched fuel Iran will produce, and in what concentration. The world powers want to limit enrichment capacity to the equivalent of about 4,000 firstgeneration centrifuges. Yet Iran already has something like 20,000 centrifuges, of which 9,000 are operating. Providing fuel for a single nuclear power plant would require about 100,000 of these first-generation machines – far more than would be needed to support a small weapons programme. Ironically, the enrichment facilities that the west says it will allow would be only useful for making weapons, not for generating power. One way forward would be for Iran to agree not to enrich uranium beyond about 5 per cent, and to tailor its equipment to the needs of civilian activity. A final issue concerns international oversight. To resolve concerns about a possible military dimension to Iran’s nuclear programme, Iran could agree for a limited time to give the IAEA more access to its sites than the NPT requires. As part of an agreement, Iran will probably have to accept temporary limitations on its nuclear programme and submit to extra inspections. In return, world powers must respect the country’s right to the peaceful use of nuclear technology, including enrichment. After verifying that Iran has complied with its obligations – a process that could realistically be completed within three to five years – they must lift all sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear programme, withdraw Iran’s nuclear file from the UN Security Council and normalise its relationship with the IAEA. Some officials in Washington and Tehran feel deceived by the other side and are sceptical of the prospects for the new talks. Allaying those doubts will require compromise – and not only from Iran. The writer is a research scholar at Princeton, a former spokesman for Iran’s nuclear negotiators and author of ‘The Iranian Nuclear Crisis’

Islamabad has negotiated with the rebels at least five times since war in Pakistan's tribal areas began a decade ago. Peace agreements designed to end militancy were signed every year from 2004 to 2009, but all failed, with violations occurring within days of their signing. The last deal, with Taliban forces in the greater Swat region, actually emboldened the jihadists to try to expand the boundaries of their socalled emirate, forcing the government to launch its biggest military offensive to date against the jihadists.

AVOIDING NORTH WAZIRISTAN After retaking Swat from the Taliban in early 2009, the government expanded the scope of the counterjihadist campaign to South Waziristan that fall. Over the next few years Islamabad further expanded its offensive to the remaining parts of the tribal belt, with the exception of North Waziristan, which has become headquarters for numerous Pakistani and international jihadist forces. Several factors explain Islamabad's previous hesitance to enter North Waziristan. For one, its forces have been stretched thin between the greater Swat region and the remaining six districts of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Moreover, North Waziristan is the home of Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a key tribal warlord who has remained neutral in the fight between Islamabad and the Taliban rebels, and it is a key base of operations for the Islamabad-aligned Haqqani subgroup of the Afghan Taliban movement. Finally, Pakistan was able to rely on the United States to take the fight to the jihadists. Washington engaged in a heavy campaign of drone strikes that eventually eliminated many key foreign and local jihadists. But despite these losses, the Taliban rebels regained their ability to stage attacks across the country, hitting high-profile military and other security targets. The military in turn began demanding the use of unprecedented force against the jihadists in recent weeks to finally move toward launching an offensive in North Waziristan. The Pakistani air force recently began pounding militant positions in North Waziristan, and thousands have fled the area in anticipation of a large-scale military operation. Meanwhile, in Islamabad the civil and military leadership held a key meeting Jan. 23 chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. In addition to the army chief and the head of the country's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, three other key generals were present, signaling an impending all-out military assault in North Waziristan. A majority of lawmakers from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League had given their support for the use of force, only for Sharif to make a surprise announcement that a peaceful solution would be given one last chance and to appoint a four-member committee authorized to negotiate with the Taliban rebels. Though unexpected, Sharif's decision meshes with the majority view among the public that the insurgency ought to be dealt with through talks.

PRE-OFFENSIVE TALKS This view is especially pronounced among the prime minister's own conservative center-right constituency and from his main rival, Imran Khan, whose right-wing nationalist Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf party governs KhyberPakhtunkhwa province. Sharif's move to appoint a four-person team of negotiators to meet with the jihadists is his way of demonstrating that he is seriously trying to resolve matters peacefully. The committee is chaired by Sharif's adviser on national affairs, Irfan Siddiqui; a key former official from Inter-Services Intelligence, Maj. Amir Shah; former Pakistani Ambassador to Afghanistan Rustam Shah Mohmand; and prominent journalist Rahimullah Yousafzai. The chair of the committee obviously represents the interests of the Sharif government, and Yousafzai has been selected for being one of the most senior experts on the cross-border Taliban and wider jihadist phenomenon. Mohmand is a key member of Khan's party and has sympathies for the Taliban. Amir Shah is perhaps the most interesting member of the team, since during the late 1980s and early 1990s he served as station chief, when he had a reputation for being an ex-

tremely professional operative. Even so, he ultimately was dismissed from the military after differences with several army commanders and intelligence bosses. Amir Shah likely was not chosen for his past experience as a one-time prominent ISI player, but rather for his family connections, which include close links with the Taliban. He is the son of a prominent religious figure, Maulana Muhammad Tahir, who established the Salafi Panjpir madrassa and whose students include prominent Afghan and Pakistani jihadist leaders. These leaders include the current chief of the Taliban rebel alliance, Mullah Fazlullah, who used to head the Swat Taliban movement before the 2009 army action. Amir Shah's brother succeeded their father, currently leads the madrassa and maintains close ties to the Taliban and other ultraconservative religious forces. Even so, the committee is unlikely to make much headway with the Taliban. The members of the Taliban committee strongly suggest that the Taliban are not seriously seeking compromise but rather are manipulating the talks to advance their position -- as is the government. States negotiate with armed non-state actors to moderate the latter and bring them into the mainstream. In the case of Pakistan and its Taliban rebels, the non-state actors are not interested in moderation; they are interested in radically altering the nature of the republic. Instead of appointing a committee of their own that will negotiate with the government's team, the Tehrik-i-Taliban announced a team composed of Khan; Maulana Sami ul-Haq, the head of a prominent Deobandi madrassa and leader of a small Islamist party; Mohammed Ibrahim Khan, a prominent Islamist academic from the country's most organized Islamist party, Jamaat-i-Islami; Mufti Kifayatullah, a key figure in Pakistan's largest Islamist party, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam; Fazlur Rehman; and Maulana Abdul Aziz, the former imam of the Red Mosque who was arrested during the army action to storm it in 2007. Khan and Kifayatullah declined the offer, but the remaining three accepted. That both committees contain many members sympathetic to the Taliban gives the jihadists ample room to manipulate the talks by exploiting the existing differences within the political mainstream. Already, the Taliban have an advantage in that they have been able to skillfully exploit public sentiment on issues like Islam, Pakistani nationalism and Muslim geopolitics. Separately, the Taliban have appointed a 10member committee of their top commanders that will oversee the talks on behalf of the movement's leadership. Thus, a complex web of committees has emerged that will prevent any serious talks from taking place. Meanwhile, Pakistan's Islamists believe they could gain from the talks, as do their right-wing allies. With the exception of the 2002 elections, which were engineered by the then-Musharraf regime to keep the mainstream parties out, the Islamists have never done well at the ballot box. Their involvement along with other religious groups in the current talks could elevate their standing while increasing state dependence on them.

The Taliban see this as a positive development, as it would enhance their pool of potential supporters and create a social environment conducive to their political demands. For their part, Islamist parties and religious groups see threats and opportunities in the Taliban's rise. The threat arises from the fact that in matter of just a few years, the jihadists have overtaken them in terms of influence despite their much longer history. The government's decision to negotiate with the Taliban could further marginalize them. By inserting themselves in the middle of these talks, these Islamist and religious forces seek to not just prevent their marginalization but also hope to make up for their electoral shortcomings. The opportunity lies in the chance that the Taliban could enter the political mainstream (despite maintaining a militant presence) and subsequently join forces with the Islamists and other religious elements to undermine Pakistan's nonIslamist political forces, which still dominate Pakistani politics. Hopes aside, the Islamist middlemen are unlikely to benefit regardless of the outcome of the Taliban insurgency. Should the state prevail over the Taliban, there would be no change in the status of these groups. And should the Taliban insurgency succeed, they will always be subordinate to the jihadists.

AFGHANISTAN AND NORTH WAZIRISTAN Islamabad fears the drawdown of Western forces from neighboring Afghanistan as much as the Pakistani Taliban look forward to it for the same reason, namely because this will give the Pakistani jihadists the strategic depth with which to advance their insurgency in Pakistan. The jihadists therefore want to drag talks out until Afghanistan becomes chaotic enough again for them to exploit the vacuum. The vacuum in Afghanistan will be hastened by the political transition in Kabul, where President Hamid Karzai will leave office after elections in April. The government is well aware of the Pakistani Taliban's intentions. It, too, is pessimistic about the prospects of a negotiated settlement. But it hopes to use the talks to exploit divisions within the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, perhaps rendering it a more manageable entity. The chances of this happening, however, are far less than the reverse, in which the Taliban can seek to exploit the fault lines within the state and society. Islamabad also wants to establish that the government did its best to avoid war, but was left with no choice because the jihadists were not willing to compromise and join the national mainstream. The Pakistani leadership knows that between the domestic insurgency and the one that will intensify next door once NATO forces draw down, they are looking at a long and brutal war. Part of the preparation for the coming battle is to make sure that the sizable chunk of the public that has been ambivalent and even opposed to the use of force realize that the government had no other option, particularly since the Taliban are gearing up their war machine to inflict as much damage in the core areas of the country as possible.

10 BUSINESS

Tuesday, 18 February, 2014

SBP UNVEILS PLAN TO BOOST AGRICULTURE FINANCING

LOW 7800.00 3000.00 261.13 272.00 251.00

CLOSE CHANGE 7800.00 63.31 3000.00 22.25 261.13 12.43 282.80 11.80 260.00 10.00

TURNOVER 440 1,200 700 500 800

9501.00 4695.00 1274.90 712.50 710.00

9501.00 4700.00 1285.00 712.50 710.00

9447.75 4571.88 1211.14 712.50 702.95

9450.00 4571.88 1228.97 712.50 703.00

-495.00 -240.62 -45.91 -37.49 -36.94

180 140 4,540 100 800

12.65 2.02 10.82 42.10 54.52

12.81 2.07 10.90 42.85 55.98

12.00 1.73 10.27 40.02 53.60

12.10 1.77 10.39 40.03 54.14

-0.59 -0.24 -0.24 -2.09 -1.21

9,967,500 9,961,500 8,988,500 8,784,900 8,418,500

Interbank Rates of wheat, 4th largest producer of cotton and 12th largest producer of rice in the world. ‘Similarly, Pakistan is ranked one of the top ten largest producers in minor agriculture commodities. Pakistan ranks 8th worldwide in farm output’, he added. Wathra said that agri finance is close to his heart as he comes from an agriculturist background. ‘Hence it has become one of his top priorities since he joined it (SBP)’, he added. He also urged the farmers’ representatives and government departments to contribute in the efforts of banks and address the demand side bottlenecks including low yield, proper marketing & storage, water efficiencies, land record management, adoption of modern techniques, mechanization and other agri innovations. Wathra said that despite structural shift towards industrialization, agriculture sector continues to remain the vital sector of our economy with its backward and forward linkages with other sectors of the economy having strong socio-economic implications. ‘It is the second largest sector, accounting for over 21 percent of GDP, he added. He shared with the audience some of the

key initiatives taken recently by SBP. State Bank of Pakistan has revised Prudential Regulations (PRs) for Agriculture Financing whereby banks have been urged to formulate comprehensive agri finance policies and set up dedicated divisions/units within banks, well equipped by trained professional staff, to promote agricultural credit. ‘Further, the scope of agri financing has been widened by including Islamic as well as value chain financing aspects in the revised agri PRs’, he added. Wathra said that SBP had just revised the per acre indicative credit limit for crops, orchards and forestry which were previously set in 2008. This should facilitate to meet the enhanced credit requirements of farmers and also increase the agri credit portfolio of banks manifold, he said, adding that the SBP has introduced a Livestock Insurance Scheme for borrowers to mitigate risk of loss of livestock due to disease, natural calamities & accidents. ‘Moreover, Government has been approached to provide premium subsidy for small farmers as is being done in case of crop loan insurance’ he said.

Chinese company to invest in renewable energy inP

The National Assembly standing committee on national food security and research has directed the provincial governments and Pakistan Steal Mills Association (PSMA) to ensure timely payment of sugarcane to farmers. The meeting of the National assembly standing committee on national food security held on Monday under the chair of Shakir Bashir Awan. The committee showed concerns over the delayed payments of sugarcane to the farmers by sugar mills and said that middle men is minting money and farmers are suffering. The committee said that provincial government are silent spectator of the situation and concrete steps from their side are awaited yet. The committee said that middle men gets sugarcane from farmers at cheap rates and sells to sugar mills at expensive rates and unfortunately provincial government are mum over it. The committee recommended the Provincial

HIGH 8123.52 3099.00 261.13 282.80 262.50

Major Losers

Jah.Sidd. Co. Bank Of Punjab(R) Byco Petroleum Adamjee Ins. Engro Fertilize Ltd.

ISLAMABAD

Online

OPEN 8123.52 3000.00 261.13 272.00 251.00

Volume Leaders

NA body recommends ensuring timely payment of sugarcane

ISLAMABAD

COMPANY Rafhan Maize Bata (Pak) AL-Ghazi Tract. Sunrays Textile Khyber Tobacco

Nestle Pak. Wyeth Pak Ltd Siemens Pakistan Bhanero Tex. Murree Brewery

KArAchI Staff RePORt

TATE Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Acting Governor Ashraf Mahmood Wathra has announced a six-point action plan for boosting agricultural financing in the country. Addressing a meeting of Agricultural Credit Advisory Committee (ACAC) here at SBP Monday, he outlined his action plan that includes (i) the launch of financial innovation challenge fund (FICF) in rural and agriculture finance to foster innovation and test new markets, lower cost of delivery, streamlining systems and procedures to provide more efficient new ways of meeting the larger demands of farming community; (ii) launch of country-wide internship programme for 100 top agriculture. Graduates to be funded under the ADB’s improving access to financial services endowment fund; (iii) upward revision in the provisional agriculture disbursement target of Rs 360 billion to Rs 380 billion for 2013-14 in the light of banks’ encouraging performance in the last two years. The target is 13 percent higher from Rs 336 billion disbursed in 2012-13; (iv) banks to be assigned targets for outstanding agriculture, portfolio and number of borrowers to have high impact of agri. financing at grass root level from the current year; (v) SBP to make agricultural finance a key indicator of performance of banks, including Islamic banks, which will be reflected in their supervisory ratings; and (vi) formulation of a working group to review the state of affairs of small farmers financing and making recommendations for increasing financing to this segment and also bringing in additional small farmers into formal financing system. Referring to the potential of agriculture sector in the country's economic development, Wathra said Pakistan is the 9th largest producer

Major Gainers

governments to take steps to stop male practices at the time of purchase of sugarcane from farmers. During the meeting, Chairman ZTBL informed the committee that the bank provides loan according to its receivables amount adding that, if government increase its funding to the bank then loan amount to the farmers would be increased automatically. The committee recommended the Ministry of finance to increase loaning for ZTBL to fifty billion rupees so that it could deliver to the farmers. National assembly standing committee resented the usage of sugar cess in other districts and called for its proper utilization. In the meeting chairman ZTBL appraised the meeting that bank paid nine billion taxes while it has receivables of 37 billion from different government departments. He said that provincial government of Balochistan owes Rs 502 million, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa owes Rs 169 million, sixty million by Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 56.6 million have to be paid by Gilgit Baltistan government.

30 Pakistani food companies to participate in Gulf Food Fair DUBAI: The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) in collaboration with the commercial section, consulate general of Pakistan, Dubai, is participating in the Gulf Food Fair scheduled from 23-27 February, 2014, at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), Dubai. The Gulf Food is the leading global food industry event where leading companies are involved in buying and selling food products, services and equipment to conduct face to face business. This year, 30 leading Pakistani Food products companies will be participating in this exhibition. They will be displaying their full range of products under “Pakistan Pavilion” situated in ‘ZABEEL PAVILLION’ at DWTC. Pakistani Food products will includes Rice, Juices, Pickles assorted, Canned fish, Edible oil, Fresh fruits & vegetables, Chilled Mutton & Beef, Frozen Meat Products, Syrups assorted, Confectionery items, Bakery items, Tea, Dried seeds, Herbal & Health products, Milk products, Honey and Dry fruits etc. The main participating companies will be Garibsons, Mehran Spice & Food Industries, Tapal Tea, Marhaba Laboratories, Chappal group and Al Riaz Rice Mills. inP

With the Federal Minister for Finance Senator Ishaq Dar in chair a meeting of Pak-China Investment Company Limited (PCICL) took place at the Ministry of Finance on Monday. Cao Wenjian, Managing Director PCICL briefed the finance minister that his company has the total assets worth Rs 16 billion in Pakistan and has been investing in sectors like fuel and energy, ports and shipping, sugar and fruits, Cement and construction, engineering, telecommunication and IT, finance and insurance and fertilizers, of which the first three constitute 46 percent of the total investment. PCICL is focusing on promoting Chinese investment and trade between the two countries. The management of PCICL would like to make equity investments in joint ventures of Chinese and Pakistani companies, said Wenjian. In future Pak-China Investment Company has one of its core strategy to invest in the power sector as it has been the priority of the present government to solve the energy crisis. Pak-China Investment Company Limited has also made it a part of its core strategy to promote joint ventures of local and Chinese investors/companies said the MD. Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar appreciated the resolve of PCICL that it plans to promote close cooperation between China Development Bank (CDB) and Government of Pakistan and that it wants to work as an advisory on privatization and foreign direct investment to Chinese investors who have plans to invest in Pakistan. The finance minister further appreciated that PCICL wanted to promote government’s public private partnership initiatives with a focus on infrastructure development and development of special economic zones.

USD GBP JPY EURO

PKR 104.8948 PKR 175.8142 PKR 1.0299 PKR 143.7793

Forex Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar China Yuan Euro Japanese Yen Saudi Riyal U.A.E Dirham UK Pound Sterling US Dollar

BUY

SELL

95 95.5 17 144.25 1.035 28.1 28.7 176.75 105.55

95.25 95.75 17.25 144.5 1.040 28.35 28.95 177 105.8

‘Slapping of 9pc additional tax on CNG has no legal standing’ ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed review petition filed by government against court‘s decision in additional tax on CNG case saying that slapping of 9 percent additional on CNG has no legal standing and government can not charge this additional tax. Justice Jawwad S Khawaja has remarked “people are already facing crushing inflation and the double taxation will make their life more miserable. This type of tax is illegal. Double taxation leads to escalate prices of food items. He gave these remarks while presiding over a 3-member bench of SC during the course of hearing of petition filed by government seeking review of court’s decision in 9 percent additional tax case here Monday. Counsel for Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) during the course of hearing of the case tried to convince the court in favor of levying of 9 percent additional tax on CNG. Online

CORPORATE CORNER HBL strengthens service excellence standards

KARACHI: HBL, Pakistan’s largest bank has taken strong initiatives towards strengthening their service excellence standards. They have collaborated with a leading global training company, UP! Your Service College, Singapore, to attain a licensed program. The objective of this program was to develop a customer-centric culture, upgrading service skills in view of world class service concepts and taking HBL’s mission of customer focus forward. To commemorate this achievement, HBL recently held a ceremony in Karachi to certify HBL Course Leaders of ‘Achieving Superior Service’. Present at the occasion were Aman Aziz Siddiqui, HeadStrategy and Investment, HBL, Ron Kaufman, Founder, Up Your Service College, Sima Kamil, head-Branch Banking, HBL, Tariq M Akbar, Head-Global Operations and Roofi Jamil, Head - Learning and Development Head South, HBL. PReSS ReleaSe

KARACHI: Rose Beauty Parlour Chairman Sheikh Ihsan Muhammad and NIB Managing Director Farhat Ihsan open a branch of the bank at 5-Star Chowrangi. NIB Country Head Suhail Bashir, Area Manager Danish Mehdi and Marketing Head Arsalan Habib are also seen in the picture. PR

LEISURE 11

Tuesday, 18 Febuary, 2014

HaGaR tHE HoRRIblE

aries

taurus

gemini

Try to look for good deeds to do today -you need to boost your karma a bit, and you should find that you are better off in the long run if you blow off your own needs for a bit.

Dive into your daily routines -- they don't feel boring in any way. That makes it the perfect day to take care of all the little tasks that may have piled up, as it's practically impossible to lose focus.

You are having fun with someone new -- or maybe a new project or job that you weren't sure about at first. Your terrific energy is perfect for turning work into playtime, so share the good vibes!

cancer

leo

virgo

You're going through some home-related issues today that may drag your attention away from other aspects of life. It may not be all that bad, actually, and the sense of satisfaction should be profound.

You should find that a close friend or colleague gets a little closer today -- the combination is perfect! You're on the right track toward something new and big, so make sure that you're on the same page.

You're tempted to spend too much money on too little of value today -- so try to either have a friend watch your wallet for you or lock away your credit cards where you can't get to them.

libra

scorpio

sagittarius

It should be a terrific day for you -- as long as you're mixing it up with new people. Your social energy demands an outlet, and if that comes across as flirting, so be it. Things should be fun!

Your mind may be spinning with all the options you face -but that's not such a bad problem to have! Things are good, but you may find that it's harder than usual to make decisions.

Your people are backing you up all the way -- even if they had their doubts just yesterday. Move forward with confidence, because you can expect support no matter how things go.

dIlbERt

GaRFIEld

baldo

capricorn

aQuarius

pisces

You need to deal with job dissatisfaction today -- most likely your own. It may be time for a change, or it may just be a good time for you to remix your responsibilities and see things in a different light.

All this brainy energy needs an outlet -so hunt down problems that need solving! You can do a lot of good today, both for yourself and others. One thing may lead to another in a chain of good karma.

Partnerships are tough today, so make sure that you're paying close attention to what your work buddy or sweetheart is doing. Nothing too hard should pop up, but you've got to handle it all quickly.

cRosswoRd

sUdoKU

ACROSS

bRIdGE

How to play fill in all the squares in the grid so that each row, column and each of the squares contains all the digits. the object is to insert the numbers in the boxes to satisfy only one condition: each row, column and 3x3 box must contain the digits 1 through 9 exactly once.

paper patch ranch rebel round salad service solid space speed spell steam teases tend waist wove yearn

Todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s soluTions

loUIE oN dEFENsE

cHEss white tO PLAY AND MAte iN seveN MOves 8

DOWN

7 6 5 4 3 2

chess solution

1.Nxe5 b5 2.Qa1 bxh3+ 3.Kxh3 Qxe5 4.Rxc6 Qh5+ 5.Kg2 Rxc6 6.b4+ Kg8 7.bxa5 *

sudoku solution

1 bellow (4) 2 contrived idea (7) 3 someone suffering emotional exhaustion (7,5) 4 public estimation (6) 6 came about (5) 7 holiness (8) 8 behave assertively (4,2,6) 12 of great worth (8) 15 arousing intense feeling (7) 16 notepad (6) 18 traditional pub game (5) 19 looks (both ways!) (4)

animal calendar cereal collection cotton dowel exclusive fairy fruit garbage hide incredible inform leave ledge library locate loin

crossword solution

1 oil processing plant (8) 5 fingerprints (slang) (4) 9 range (anag) (5) 10 part of speech (7) 11 in an unfair manner (5,3,4) 13 most suitable (6) 14 design for the first time (6) 17 being dealt with successfully (5,7) 20 russian beetroot soup (7) 21 shelved (2,3) 22 otherwise (4) 23 satisfactory development (8)

woRd sEaRcH

Tuesday, 18 February, 2014

ARTS

SHOULD BOYS AND GIRLS GET DIFFERENT FORMULA MILK?

Researcher Katie Hinde said just as we produce different deodorants for men and women, we should consider making gender-specific formula milk. Dr Hinde also said that as breast milk varies so much from woman to woman, in some cases formula may be better for the baby than its mother’s milk. She spoke out after showing that nursing monkeys make different milk for boys and girls. Milk for male babies is fattier and higher in protein and the milk made for the firstborn male is particularly rich. In contrast, the milk for female babies is less rich but there is more of it. It is also higher in bone-building calcium. The American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual conference also heard that the few humans studies carried out have had mixed results. But some have also hinted at sex-specific differences. There are also differences in the way the sexes respond to breast milk. Dr Hinde, of Harvard University in the U.S., has shown male and female monkeys respond to the stress hormone cortisol in different ways. And work on human babies found that girls, but not boys, get more fractious if their mother’s milk is high in cortical. However, in rat studies at least, this has long term benefits, with the animals actually better at coping with stressful situations than others. Research also shows that the quality of breast milk varies greatly from woman to woman, with different amounts of vitamins, minerals, sugars, fats and other nutrients. In some cases, the quality is so low that formula may be better. However, women are made to feel guilty if they don’t breastfeed, said Dr Hinde. Calling for more research on sex-specific formula milk, she said: ‘Public health would be aided if greater attention was paid to this. ‘We have good reasons to be sceptical of a onesize-fits-all formula milk.’ news DesK

MEN ARE 50% MORE LIKELY TO DIE FROM CANCER THAN WOMEN, GLOBAL FIGURES SHOW

Men are 50 per cent more likely to die from cancer than women, according to new global statistics. Data published by Cancer Research UK shows more than 4.6 million men die from the disease every year across the globe - the equivalent of 126 men in every 100,000. This compares to about 3.5 million women who die from the disease each year – this represents 82 women per 100,000. Central and Eastern Europe are the regions where men have the highest death rate compared to women. In East Africa women are more likely to die of cancer than men are. In the UK, there is also a stark difference, previously reported, which shows men are 30 per cent more likely to die of cancer than women. There are 126.05 cancer deaths per 100,000 men in the UK each year, compared to 97.28 per 100,000 women. This is one of the lowest differences seen in Europe but still represents a sizeable inequality. Together, they cause almost half of all cancer deaths worldwide. The figures, compiled by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, also show more than 14 million people around the world are diagnosed with cancer every year. Men are almost a quarter more likely to be diagnosed with the disease than women. Nick OrmistonSmith, head of statistics at Cancer Research UK, said: ‘The contrast in cancer death rates between the sexes may be down to more men being diagnosed with types of cancers that are harder to treat, such as cancers of the bladder, liver, lung and oesophagus. ‘Cancer is estimated to account for around 16 per cent of all deaths worldwide. ‘Age is the biggest risk factor for most cancers and, as global life expectancy increases, we'll see more people being diagnosed with the disease. ‘But lifestyle also plays an important role. ‘Worldwide, tobacco consumption has been responsible for an estimated 100 million deaths in the last century and, if current trends continue, it will kill a billion in the 21st century. ‘Smoking is by far the most important preventable cause of cancer in the world.’ news DesK

Meet JaMes who’s extreMely rare blood has saved Millions of babies 74-year-old James Harrison is a superhero in his own right. Granted, he doesn’t wear a cape or spin webs, but he has saved over two million babies’ lives in the past 54 years. And in real life, it doesn’t get cooler than that. Australian-born James has a very special type of blood – the plasma contains an antibody that cures babies of Rhesus disease, a severe form of anemia. He has been donating blood every few weeks since he was 18 years old, and has done it over 1,000 times now. James never fails to make a donation; even when he’s holidaying, he makes sure to stop by a donor center. “I’ve donated on the Sunshine Coast, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, NSW,

wherever I go and I get around the place with the caravan club I’m in.” “I’ve never thought about stopping. Never,” he said. His initial motivation for donating was a major chest surgery that he underwent at age 14, for which he needed 13 liters of blood. “I was in the hospital for three months. The blood I received saved my life so I made a pledge to give blood when I was 18. I said to my father that I would give blood myself as soon as possible and I stayed true to my word.” It was just after he started donating that the rare antibody was detected in his blood. Thousands of Australian babies were dying every year at the time of Rh disease. Some newborns suffered permanent brain damage. James’ blood became so valuable that his life was insured for AUS $1million. In 1966, he began to donate plasma. “I wasn’t scared. I was glad to help,” said James, who has been dubbed the ‘man with the golden arm’ and the ‘man in two million’. “I had to sign every form going and basically sign my life away.” When the truth about his blood was discovered, he volunteered for a series of tests to help develop the Anti-D vaccine. news DesK

AL QAEDA ISSUES CURRENCY NOTES WITH IMAGES OF OSAMA BIN LADEN A group tied to al Qadea in Iraq’s Anbar province has started issuing notes with the images of Osama bin Laden and of the World Trade Center towers. The bills come from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and are stamped with the valuation of “one Islamic Hundred pounds.” But a local official said that anyone caught with the currency would be seen as a member of the ISIL. The official said the money is not being honored in Anbar, a US news agency reported. “The 100-guinea note bore the likeness of for-

mer al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden on one side, and the two World Trade Center towers attacked by the group on September 11, 2001, on the other,” a published statement said. Fars News Agency reported the bills are being touted as the “ISIL dinar.” The tribal head, who leads the Anbar Salvation Council, said the currency proves the existence of ISIL in Anbar, where members have been engaging in clashes with the Iraqi military for months. news DesK

Thousands Turn ouT for ‘War of The TomaTo’ Thousands of people have participated in the fourth annual War of the Tomato event in the Chilean city of Quillon. Duplicating the famed tomato festival in Spain, some 50 tones of tomatoes were piled-up in the centre of the arena waiting to be thrown by participants. Spectators watched in awe and used chairs and boxes to protect themselves as tomatoes went flying through the air. Approximately 12,000 people took part in the event according to local organisers. 'It's great - the music, the atmosphere. Everything is great,' one participant told Reuters. Business boomed for local tomato growers who supplied the fruits of their labour for the festival. Similar events have been held in Costa Rica, Colombia and the United States. news DesK

Jacko fans win €1 for eMotional daMages Grieving Michael Jackson fans have been awarded a €1 payout for ‘emotional damages’ after they took the doctor jailed over his death to court. The five members of the Michael Jackson Community had spent two years battling for remuneration from Dr Conrad Murray, who served 24 months for involuntary manslaughter. Their lawyer, Emmanuel Ludot, hailed the historic victory, which he said would be communicated to Murray through a diplomatic courier. ‘As far as I know, this is the first time in the world that the notion of emotional damage in connection with a pop star has been recognised,’ he said after the ruling in

Orléans, France. ‘Dr Murray was ordered to pay a “symbolic” euro and that’s what we were looking for. But the fight is not about claiming the sum.’ The fans – two French, two Belgian and one Swiss – were just five of 34 from the community who had sought damages for ‘endured suffering’. Each had given medical reports and emotionally-charged witness statements to support their claims against Murray. Mr Ludot hopes Tuesday’s ruling will convince Jackson’s mother, Katherine, to allow his clients to visit the King of Pop’s grave in Glendale, California. news DesK

CMYK

Tuesday, 18 February, 2014

Pakistan stoPs issuing noCs for indian films KARACHI

of Indian movies last month and this has affected a lot of distributors like himself. “The whole process has just been stopped and we couldn’t get NOCs for new films like Gunday and Hasee Toh Phasee, which were eagerly anticipated in our cinemas,” he said. “Investors and business groups are very worried because they have invested millions of rupees while new parties are willing to channel investment, but now everything is at a standstill for the last few weeks as no new Indian films have been released,” he added. “The irony is that pirated copies of Gunday are being aired on cable across Karachi but it can’t be shown legally in cinemas,” he pointed out.

Online

AKISTAN has now stopped issuing No Objection Certificates for the release of Indian films in the country. This effectively stops the release of new films like Gunday and Hasee Toh Phasee. The Federal Information and Broadcasting Ministry has told distributors and exhibitors of Indian films that it is processing new laws and regulations and NOCs will not be issued till these are approved by the federal cabinet, according to media reports. Nawab Siddiqui, who is one of Pakistan’s leading distributors and exhibitors, runs the Atrium Cineplex in Karachi. He says the authorities stopped the screening

Eva Mendes pulled over by police

Would be interested in ‘shuddhi’ if Hrithik is in it: deepika

NEWS DESK Actress Eva Mendes was allegedly caught using her cell phone while driving but managed to avoid a ticket. The 39-year-old Training Day star narrowly avoided a ticket when she was pulled over by a police officer on a bicycle in Los Angeles after he spotted her chatting into the device in her grey Lexus SUV. Eva Mendes was reportedly given a piece of paper but

apparently talked her way out of a ticket. The brunette beauty has had a difficult time recently as rumours surfaced she split from her boyfriend Ryan Gosling after almost three years together over Christmas. But a spokesperson for the actress said that the breakup reports were just rumours. The 2 Fast 2 Furious star also sparked speculation she was pregnant when she refused to go through an airport security scan recently.

N her forthcoming film Queen, Kangana ranaut plays a girl, who, after being dumped by her fiancé, goes off on her honeymoon alone. what follows is a hilarious tale of her self-discovery and growth with the help of friends and strangers. off screen Kangana insists she is nothing like her character rani save for one aspect - like the protagonist rani, Kangana too has had

experience in being dumped! “I didn’t need any research in that part to play the role, it came naturally,” chuckled the actress when asked whether she related to any part of the role she played. “women bond with the each other a lot when men let us down. It’s useful to keep calling them, pouring your heart out and getting over heartbreak,” she laughs. There is another thing that Kangana suggests, works well as a tool of self-discovery: travel alone like her

Jana malik rejects morning show offer

amous television actress Jana malik rejected the offer of a private television channel for a morning show. Jana malik said that I received a telephonic offer from a private T.V channel to host a morning show. The channel asked about the payment. But later, I was informed that channel is not on air till now so I refused the offer. People of the field know that I don’t do the morning shows whereas many channels have contacted me about it. she said that I have signed a drama with Imran Dar. neWS DeSK

game of thrones has economic influence wo of the countries Game of Thrones has been filmed in have told Newsbeat the TV show is having a positive effect on their economy. Iceland’s tourist board says it’s seen an increase in the number of people wanting to go on tours of locations where the show was shot. while, the film industry in Northern Ireland says it’s helped increase employment in the area. But it’s also helped spread the country’s cinematic reputation around the world. Newsbeat’s entertainment reporter Chi Chi Izundu has been finding out more. Game of Thrones series three is released on DVD today (February 17), while series four starts on sky atlantic on april 7. neWS DeSK

EllEn PagE ConfEssEs sHE’s gay

NEWS DESK Madhuri Dixit does not buy into the myth that Bollywood actresses have a short shelf-life or they can’t get work post marriage. “Age is just a number according to me, talent is the same whether you are 10, 20 or 100. I think it gets better with age. I also don’t believe in the myth about married actresses. I think it is crazy. “Sharmila Tagore worked after marriage, Rakhiji worked after marriage... Yes, some of them quit but that was their own decision. There were so many who did work. There are no hard

I DON’T NEED RESEARCH TO PLAY A DUMPED WOMAN: KANGANA NEWS DESK

Age is just a number T for me: Madhuri Dixit

NEWS DESK Deepika Padukone has denied reports that she was approached for Karan Johar’s much-discussed project ‘Shuddhi’ but said she was willing to do the film if offered. “I haven’t been approached for the film yet. I don’t know if they (makers) know what is happening with the film,” Deepika said at an event. “At the point when Hrithik was doing it I would have definitely be interested in doing it. Now that he is not doing it, I don’t know what is happening with the project,” she said. The upcoming film under Karan Johar’s home production is getting delayed over its casting. Earlier Kareena Kapoor Khan and Hrithik Roshan were to star in the film but Hrithik’s illness delayed the project, forcing the actor to opt out. It is also not clear whether Kareena is still a part of the movie. When asked if she would do the role if approached, Deepika replied in the affirmative. “Yes I would do it, why not?… If Karan thinks I would do justice to it then I will do it. Though Hrithik is not doing the film, I would be okay to do the film with any other costar. It all depends on what they plan to do with the project,” she added. The film will be directed by Karan Malhotra of ‘Agneepath’ fame.

ARTS

character does in the film. “I have done it so many times now,” she says. “sometimes, it’s great to just be on your own, you tend seek some anonymity. Travelling alone helps you introspect and look at yourself in a new way. It keeps you real and grounded.” and guess where does she go when she wants to be away from the crowd? “I enjoy travelling to europe. I also like the us. at times, it’s fun to watch people wonder whether you are a celebrity or not.

CMYK

and fast rules,” Madhuri told. Madhuri ruled Bollywood in the ‘80s and ‘90s as one of the top stars but she shifted to the US post her marriage to Sriram Nene only to return in 2011. Her US stay did not lessen her sway over her audiences as she kept travelling back to star in movies like ‘Devdas’ and ‘Aaja Nachle’. Post her return, Madhuri is busy juggling between various TV shows, advertisement deals and films. She is ready to release her second film of 2014 ‘Gulaab Gang’ following the success of ‘Dedh Ishqiya’.

CTress ellen Page has come out of the closet and said that she is gay. she made the revelation at the Human rights Campaign’s Time to Thrive event held here recently. Page, who has been seen in films like “Juno”, “smart People” and “Inception”, said that she did this to make this confession easier for others as well. “I’m here today because I’m gay...and because maybe I can make a difference - to help others have an easier and more hopeful time,” Page said. “regardless, for me, I feel a personal obligation and a social responsibility. I also do it selfishly, because I am tired of hiding and I am tired of lying by omission. I suffered for years because I was scared to be out. “my spirit suffered, my mental health suffered and my relationships suffered. and I’m standing here today, with all of you, on the other side of all that pain,” she added. neWS DeSK

14 SPORTS

Tuesday, 18 February, 2014

PYF ALL SET TO BREAK ANOTHER RECORD lAHORE

STAFF REPORT

He arrangements have been completed for another grand Guinness World Record (GWR) here at the Punjab University New Campus where 175,000 will sing national anthem on February 24. The campaign for breaking and creating world records has gathered momentum in the Punjab Youth Festival (PYF) 2014 which has already set a new world mark on February 15 when 29,040 youngsters formed the largest human flag here at the National Hockey Stadium. The administration has started the work of placing 100,000 chairs at the site while 75,000 people will take part in the grand activity in queues to break the world record set by India. In 2013, Pakistan established the same record with over 42,000 youth but India notched up the feat with a grand figure of 121,653 people. Pakistan will also try to register world

record of most persons waving national flags simultaneously on the same day with a massive number of 150,000. Right now, this distinction lies with Spain which grabbed it with the help of 30,000 individuals. The attempt to grab a record of the biggest art lesson of the world will also be made on February 21. Previously, 4810 people have achieved this distinction, however, Pakistan officials will try to grab this mark with 6000 painters. On February 22, Pakistan youth will try to clinch as many as 10 world records. At 1pm, five persons will try to control the heaviest weight with nail. In this activity, all the five people will support each other’s body with nails. At 1:40pm on the same day, an attempt will be made to dislodge a cup with the kicks. The cup will be placed at another person’s head. Presently, this mark is with French David Sanio. After this, the PYF competitors will also try to achieve the world record of most pushups with back of hands.

RECORD SIXTH WICKET STAND IN TESTS S PERvEz QAiSER Brendon McCullum and Bradley-John Watling broke the world record for the highest sixth-wicket partnership with a 352run stand against India on the fourth day of the second Test at Basin Reserve, Wellington on Monday (February 17). They erased the previous record of 351 which was put together by Mahela Jayawardene and Prasanna Jayawardene against India at Ahmedbad in 2009-10. Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum's 339-run stand against Bangladesh at Hamilton in 2009-10 was the previous best sixth wicket stand for New Zealand in Tests. ** Brendon McCullum and Bradley-John Watling's 352-run partnership was the fourth highest for any wicket to come in the second innings of a team. The highest partnership also came at the same venue between Martin Crowe and Andrew Jones when they added 467 runs for the third wicket against Sri Lanka in 1990-91. ** Brendon McCullum is only 19 runs away from the first triple-hundred in Tests by a New Zealand batsman. His current score of 281 is the second highest by a New Zealand batsman in Tests. Martin Crowe who made 299 against Sri Lanka at the Basin Reserve in 1990-91, holds the record for the highest Test score for New Zealand. ** Brendon McCullum's unbeaten 281 is the fourth-highest by a batsman in the second innings. Only Hanif Mohammad has scored a triple-century (337) in the second innings, against West Indies in Bridgetown, way back in 1957-58. ** Brendon McCullum's double hundred is the third in Tests and all of them have come against India. He has become only the second New Zealand batsman with three scores of 200 or more. Stephen Fleming is the other to score three double hundreds for New Zealand. ** Brendon McCullum's innings has lasted approximately 727 minutes, which is the longest any New Zealand batsman has batted, beating the 704 minutes that Glenn Turner batted for, against West Indies at Bridgetown in 1971-72. This is also the longest a batsman has batted in Tests in New Zealand, beating Shoaib Mohammad's 720 minute-long vigil at the crease at the same venue in 1988-89. ** Brendon McCullum has faced 525 deliveries in his marathon innings. This is now the most deliveries faced in an innings by a batsman in Tests in New Zealand, beating the 524 balls faced by England's Clive Radley in his 158-run knock against the hosts at the Eden Park, Auckland in 1977-78. ** Bradley-John Watling's third Test century (124) was only the fourth hundred by a New Zealand No. 7 in the second innings. Bradley-John Watling fell just two runs short of the highest score by a New Zealand No. 7 in the second innings - 126 by Chris Cairns against India at Hamilton in 1998-99.

Furthermore, an attempt will also be made for most caps ups in break dance. Later on, Pakistani individuals will try to attain a world record by cracking 44 walnuts in one minute. In an attempt for sixth world record of the day, most pushups will be tried with back hand. In yet another attempt, most walnuts will be smashed in one minute. For the 10 world record of the day, most pushups will be made with finger tips. The record of hitting 65 coconuts with baseball bat over a person’s head in one minute will be broken at the Sports Board Gymnasium on February 23 while the records, which will be broken on the same day, are longest duration box splits between two objects for 3 minutes 48 seconds, 82 full body pushups, longest time in an abdominal plank position with 100 lbs packs for two minutes and 55 seconds, most pushups on four Swiss balls in one minute and most pushups on arm with 40 lbs pack in one minute. On February 24, Captain M Arbab will attempt to break the most pushups in 24

DOOLAN REGRETS MISSING TON ON DEBUT SPORTS DESK A resounding Test victory over South Africa, a compelling innings of 89 at No. 3 and a pair of scarcely believable snaffles at short-leg made for something close to the perfect debut from Alex Doolan. Nevertheless, one of his chief emotions in the aftermath of Centurion was pain at missing out on a hundred in that second innings, an opportunity never to come again. So assured against the bombs hurled down by Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander, Doolan fell to the gentle spin of JP Duminy. "I am not sure I will ever get over that," Doolan said. "You only ever get one chance to make a debut hundred and I blew that opportunity, I think I will probably get more disappointed as time goes on rather than the other way around. The fact that we were in a really good position made it a little bit easier, and the fact that we had batted really well, Davey and myself, to get us into that position on that second day. That was I guess the silver lining to the cloud but I am still pretty gutted about it."If this sounds like a young man being overly hard on himself, Doolan has good reasons for the unstinting self-assessment. A major reason for his development into a player of the requisite quality to play for Australia has been growing determination that he must raise his own standards, after earning an unwanted early reputation as the author of elegant 30s for Tasmania. A tally of 27 on day one raised that same familiar question. "I've certainly been a lot tougher on myself," he said. "In the past there has been a perception of me that I do get to 30 and get out. I was aware of that. It was something that bugged me a lot, so I've

been a lot harder on myself in making sure that those [perceptions disappear]. "I got 27 in the first innings and got out and I was pretty ropeable. I'm just trying to make sure the job's not done when you get to 20 or 30, then try and push on and make a hundred every time you bat, rather than just getting lucky once or twice." Doolan has had a long time to think about what Test cricket might be like. From the day he sculpted 161 not out for Australia A against the South Africans at the SCG in 2012, he has been close to selection, and thoughtfully sought out the opinions of several Test men, including Justin Langer, about what to expect. Centurion brought an enormous weight of expectation that Langer had warned him about. "A big step up," Doolan said. "I remember speaking to Justin Langer before I came away and he said the major difference was expectation from shield cricket to Test cricket. I certainly think that's the case. Yes, the bowling attack was very, very good, it the best I've ever faced, but that expectation of needing to perform and make sure that Australia stayed ahead of the game is certainly very tough. "I tried to use it as motivation, I don't think you can totally disregard it because it is always going to be there whether you like it or not. I tried to have it feel like the nation was behind me and was striving to do well and put the team into a good position. Having Davey Warner at the other end, who was a very cool calm head, was very helpful." Doolan's identification as a top-order player of note came, in large part, from the view that he looks unhurried against quality fast bowling. The coach Darren Lehmann has offered comparisons

to Mark Waugh and Martin Love in terms of the calm elegance Doolan exudes, but the man himself has no trouble admitting it doesn't always feel as good as it looks, particularly in his early duel with Steyn on day three. "It wasn't calm from my perspective. The heart was going at 100 miles an hour," he said. "I was very, very pleased to get through that, and to push on and have a really good partnership was Davey was sensational, it's something I'll always remember. "That whole innings was a confidence booster for me. I can't put my finger on any certain point where I felt comfortable at all. If it wasn't Dale Steyn, then it was Morne Morkel bowling at you or Vernon Philander, these guys are relentless. It's probably the most uncomfortable I've felt in an innings consistently because there was just no let-up.

NZ UNDECIDED ON BATTING TOMORROW: MCCULLUM WEllingTOn AGENCIES

Brendon McCullum has said that New Zealand will decide overnight whether they will push for a 2-0 series win on the final day of the Wellington Test or settle for 1-0. McCullum was unbeaten on 281 as New Zealand ended the fourth day at 571 for 6, leading India by 325 runs. McCullum has an opportunity to become the first New Zealand batsman to score a triple century, but was unwilling to commit to the side batting on the final morning. "Obviously we are 1-0 up in the series," McCullum said. "We have worked really hard to get back into this contest, so that is one decision we have to look at, whether we try and push on for a Test win or we look to consolidate the lead that we have got knowing how far out of the game we were. "Those are the decisions we have to mull over tonight. The decisions were not in our court a couple of days ago. It is nice to be able to be in that luxury position to make those decisions, and to know that you have worked incredibly hard to get into that situation to give you that luxury of making those decisions.

HIGHEST SIXTH WICKET STANDS IN TESTS RUNS .PAIR .............................................OPPONENT ..VENUE .........SEASON 352 351 346 339 317 307

hours consecutively and the record will only be given to the Guinness World Record (GWR) team. On the same day, Sohail Abbas will try to attempt the record of most pushups in one hour, M Nadeem and Sajjad Hussain will attempt the record of most pushups on back of hands in one hour while Shahid Abbas and Zafar Iqbal will attempt to break the record of most pushups in 12 hours continuously. On February 25, M Ashraf will attempt the record of most pull ups in 24 hours consecutively, Sajjad Akram will try to attempt the record of most pull ups in continuous 6 hours and similarly, M Amjad and Kashif will also try to attempt their respective records to earn laurels for the country. LCWU DOWNS PU: Lahore College for Women University outclassed Punjab University 12-7 in the final of the Inter-varsity Women Basketball event of the Punjab Youth Festival (PYF) education sector here on Monday. The students of Government College University, LUMS and FC College University Punjab University and hosts Lahore College for Women University participated in the event. Ch Akram and Sakhi Sarwar were the

chief guests of the events which were more disciplined than the inter-collegiate events and were also high in competitiveness and standard. earlier in the first semi-final, Punjab University and FCC teams locked horns in the same event and PU won 7-5 after a close contest while in the second semi-final, Lahore College beat LUMS 17-12. Talking to media, the chief guests said: “The government has provided an opportunity to people of all walks of life to excel and more such event will give the women players a platform to perform at national and international level in a much better way.” ALL SET TO BREAK THE NATIONAL ANTHEM RECORD: Provincial Minister for Sports Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan chaired a special meeting regarding breaking the record of national anthem at Punjab University ground. The meeting was attended by Sports Board Punjab (SBP) Director General Usman Anwar and the officials concerned. After the meeting, Mashhood along with his team checked the arrangements. Talking to media, Mashhood said: “The record of maximum people singing national anthem with the participation of 175,000 will be the new Guinness World Record (GWR) which will become an important source of recognition for Pakistanis across the globe.” He urged the entire nation to come out and take part in the world record breaking activity to not only make it success but also pray for its success. “The breaking of records is portraying good image of the country internationally and we are getting greetings and congratulations from the entire world in this regard,” Mashhood concluded.

.....Brendon McCullum/BJWatling (NZ) ........India .............Wellington ......2013-14 .....M Jayawardene/P.Jayawardene (S.L) ......India .............Ahmedabad .....2009-10 .....Jack Fingleton/Don Bradman (Australia) .England .........Melbourne .......1936-37 .....Martin Guptill/Brendon McCullum (NZ) ...Bangladesh ....Hamilton .........2009-10 .....Damien Martyn/Gilchrist (Australia) .......South Africa ...Johannesburg ..2001-02 .....Michael Hussey/ B Haddin (Australia) ....England .........Brisbane .........2010-11

HIGHEST INDIVIDUAL SCORES FOR NEW ZEALAND IN TESTS RUNS .........BATSMAN ...........................OPPONENT .............VERNUE .............SEASON 299 ...........Martin Crowe ......................Sri Lanka ................Wellington .........1990-91 281* ..........Brendon McCullum ..............India ......................Wellington .........2013-14 274* ..........Stephen Fleming .................Sri Lanka ................Colombo ............2002-03 267* ..........Bryan Young Sri Lanka .........Dunedin .................1996-97 262 ...........Stephen Fleming .................South Africa ............Cape Town .........2005-06 259 ...........Glenn Turner .......................West Indies ............Georgetown ........1971-72

CMYK

"I cannot assure you on that (batting tomorrow) yet. Whatever we decide, we will make sure we give it a 100%." BJ Watling, McCullum's partner in their record-breaking 352-run, sixth-wicket stand, suggested the side's decision to bat on the final day would depend on conditions on Tuesday morning. "[It's] still a good pitch and I think it is pretty flat," Watling said. "Off the straight there is not too much turn out there and the bounce is pretty consistent. I think a couple might have stayed down, a couple might have jumped a little bit but nothing too extreme. "We would definitely love to win the Test but we still think there is a job to be done in the first hour tomorrow morning and see where we are at. It's still a good batting track but I think if the conditions are right, our bowlers could come out there and swing it and try and put them under a bit of pressure and possibly try and win a Test match." McCullum was pleased with the day New Zealand had, after they began effectively at 6 for 5 and added 319 runs for the sole loss of Watling. He said: "We set our game plans and our strategies, and you dream the dreams and you don't always live them.

SPORTS 15

Tuesday, 18 February, 2014

JOHNSON THE AVENGING ANGEL

SPORTS DESK

ICHAeL Holding believes Mitchell Johnson's reign of pace bowling terror is providing an overdue reckoning for batsmen grown impure of technique and slow of reaction by years of bullying bowlers of nothing like the same speed. He has also counselled administrators, coaches and spectators to cherish Johnson while he lasts, and work harder to nurture future examples of the express fast bowler. No spectator at Centurion during the first Test was better placed to assess Johnson's impact than Holding, given his own famed ability to generate the highest pace from a run-up and bowling action far more graceful yet equally powerful. From the commentary box, Holding felt the same heady mix of exhilaration and apprehension he himself caused over the course of 60 Tests, and pointed out this dimension of the game had been missing in recent years with the retirement of Brett Lee and the gradual erosion of Dale Steyn's pace. "What Mitchell Johnson did in this Test match and in the Ashes is add a new dimension to what you've seen over the past five or six years in Test cricket," Holding told eSPNcricinfo. "We haven't seen too many people bowl with that sort of aggression and that sort of pace, and I think it's finding out some batsmen who have been quite comfortable over the past five or six years with the medium pacers they've had around. "Dale Steyn has been quick ... but Johnson has exhibited a great deal more pace and a lot more aggression. Pace is the game changer. A lot of bowlers are brilliant, Glenn McGrath was a fantastic bowler, but he didn't have the effect this man is having. With that much pace it's all about 'this man can hurt me as well as get me out', and that changes the entire dynamic of the game." Holding and Johnson can both be lauded for producing performances of the highest order on dead pitches - the West Indian's 14 for 149 at The Oval in 1976

and the Australian's 7 for 40 on Adelaide Oval's drop-in strip to turn the Ashes irrevocably the way of the hosts earlier this summer. But Centurion had more the ring of Old Trafford from the same series in 1976, when an untrustworthy pitch made for an altogether more macabre spectacle. Johnson had been given pause when asked whether he derived more satisfaction from a ball striking the stumps or a batsman, and Holding hoped there was no desire in any fast bowler to cause physical damage. What he felt more important was the threat of inflicting pain serving to change a batsman's approach, something Johnson has done frequently in recent months in part due to his much improved control. "I wouldn't want to be thinking a fast bowler gets any pleasure out of the thought of hitting anyone," Holding said. "You get pleasure out of the thought that you know they're afraid of you and you have that

extra element to your game. If you have that skill of getting the ball in the right area, what you're hoping is the batsman will fend it off or do something to get out. even if he doesn't get out it passes closely and he thinks in his mind 'oh that was close, that could have been dangerous'. "At various times through the 1970s and 1980s when we had the fast bowling attack we had, we had that effect on the opposition. You go out as a fast bowler and you see the body language of the opposition players. They know exactly what's happening. Proper fast bowling adds a different dimension to you as a person if you are bowling fast and you see people hopping around. It stays in the mind, and it affects the person who is hopping around as well. "Johnson's got control now he didn't have before. Obviously in the time he's spent away from the game, Dennis Lillee has worked with him, that has done a lot of

good, because pace alone isn't going to do it, you've got to have the control to put the ball where you want to. If you bang the ball into the pitch and it's flying all over the place that doesn't really matter, it has to be well directed." To reach the level Johnson has done at the age of 32 is in some ways a contravention of conventional wisdom about fast men, namely that by the early 30s their speed has begun to depreciate. Holding said this could be partly explained by the amount of time Johnson has taken to mature his method, but suggested that not even an athlete as powerful as the left-armer could maintain such heights indefinitely. "Mitch had come back after being out of international cricket for a while," he said. "If for instance Dennis Lillee had got him early and sorted him out and he was doing this early in his career, he wouldn't be doing it to South Africa now. He would not be able to bowl as fast as he's bowling now for an extended period of time. Impossible. You're not going to stay at that pace for 10-12 years. "A prime example is Brett Lee ... he retired early to make sure he could continue to play Twenty20 and earn big bucks. You cannot fault him for that, but that's the nature of the game we are playing now. The amount of cricket being played means guys are going to do that, and even guys who want to stay with Test match cricket, they are going to make sure their careers are going to be stretched out a bit more by not bowling as fast." As for the emergence of other bowlers to rival Johnson's speed and the pre-eminence Australia are building around it, Holding said that while none could be manufactured, they could certainly be better identified and taught, citing the poignant example of england's misfiring Steve Finn, a bowler capable of 150kph at his best. "You can't make them," Holding said. "If it was simple as that you'd just send young bowlers into the gym and tell them to bowl fast. When countries do find someone with that ability to bowl fast they need to know how to deal with it, and that is why england have destroyed Steve Finn.

KULDEEP HAT-TRICK SETS UP INDIA WIN DubAi AGENCIES

SA RECALL ALBIE MORKEL FOR T20S, MAIDEN CALL-UP FOR HENDRICKS SPORTS DESK Allrounder Albie Morkel has been recalled to South Africa's squad for the three T20s against Australia and the forthcoming World Twenty20. The other major addition to the squad is fast bowler Beuran Hendricks, who earned a maiden call-up after finishing as the leading wicket-taker - 28 wickets in 11 games at an average of 10.28 - in the recent Ram Slam T20 challenge. Morkel, who holds the record for most Twenty20 appearances, last played for South Africa in October 2012 during the World T20 in Sri Lanka. Since then, the allrounder featured in IPL 2013 and was also signed by Derbyshire as their T20 specialist for last season's Friends Life t20 competition. In the Ram Slam T20, Morkel scored 202 runs in 10 games at an average of 28.85 and took two wickets. "Both Beuran and Albie fully deserve their selection following outstanding campaigns in the Ram Slam T20," Andrew Hudson, CSA's selection convener, said. "As always, there are unlucky players but we feel we have chosen the right combination for the conditions we are likely to encounter on the sub-continent.

Kuldeep Yadav became the first Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in Under-19 World Cup history and in the process, sent Scotland Under-19s crashing to 88 all out in Dubai. But India ended up making heavy weather of the chase after what was predicted to be a cakewalk, given the gulf between the two sides. Scotland's spinners had entertained thoughts of an upset, having pinned India down at 22 for 5, but Sarfaraz Khan and Deepak Hooda held their nerve and ensured India didn't lose any more wickets. Kuldeep, the left-arm chinaman bowler is among the few of his type in world cricket, and Scotland batted like they had never faced anyone of his type before. Yadav's spin partner, Aamir Gani, was just as incisive and their fourwicket hauls ended Scotland's innings within 30 overs. Kuldeep's mystery element claimed the wickets of Nick Farrar, Kyle Stirling and Alex Baum in three successive balls spread out over two overs. Farrar looked to sweep, but got a top edge that lobbed to fine leg. Kuldeep didn't need any assistance for his next two wickets, relying on his own skills to fox the batsmen. Bowling round the wicket to Stirling, Kuldeep generously tossed it up but the batsman was caught in two minds about playing a shot. In the end, he merely padded up and the ball straightened and struck him in front of middle and leg stump. Kuldeep's hat-trick ball was a spinner's dream. It was a combination of flight and sharp turn from outside off stump that snuck through the big gap between Baum's pad and bat, and dismantled the stumps. Scotland were already struggling for control before Kuldeep struck. The seamers, Chama Milind and Avesh Khan

took a wicket each before both were taken off after ten overs. From then on, it was the Kuldeep-Gani show. Gani is an offspinner in the Ramesh Powar mould, with a similar approach to the crease and tendency to bowl much slower through the air. Zander Muir went a bit too deep in the crease trying to cut and was out hit-wicket. Kuldeep's hat-trick then reduced Scotland to 59 for 5, before Chris Sole edged Gani to the wicketkeeper Ankish Bains who took the catch in the second attempt. The opener Andrew Umeed, the only batsman who looked like getting a fifty, was squared up by a quicker one from Gani for 44 before Kuldeep took

his fourth wicket, getting Mark Watt to edge to slip. A brilliant running catch by Sanju Samson running to his left in the deep ended the innings on 88. It was a bizarre scorecard which read - 44, 7,1,7,0,0,5,2,16,0,1*. While Scotland hadn't prepared for Kuldeep and Gani, India looked just as shaky against one of their own Chayank Gosain. The Delhi-born leftarm spinner was given the new ball and he triggered early panic when he got rid of Akhil Herwadkar and Vijay Zol in his first two overs. Gosain bowled round the wicket to both left-handers and Herwadkar perished trying to cut while Zol failed to cover the line and edged to slip.

NO SURPRISES IN SL WORLD T20 SQUAD SPORTS DESK Sri Lanka have announced a tried-andtested squad for next month's World Twenty20 in Bangladesh. The only selection resembling something of a surprise was the inclusion of batting allrounder Chaturanga de Silva as a standby in case Rangana Herath doesn't recover in time for the tournament. Chaturanga also features in Sri Lanka's Asia Cup squad, though as a confirmed member and not a back-up. The 15-man squad for the 50over Asia Cup had only one change from the World Twenty20 side, batsman Ashan Priyanjan taking the place of spinner Seekkuge Prasanna. Sri Lanka would have had an extended taste of Bangladesh conditions before the World Twenty20, arriving in the country in late January for a full series. They won the Test series 1-0, the Twenty20s 2-0 (both victories came off the last ball) and are currently playing the first of three ODIs. The Asia Cup, also in Bangladesh, starts later this month and leads up to the warm-up matches for the World Twenty20. Chaturanga, 24, plays for Moors Sports Club, and has been part of Sri Lanka's A team over the past year. He has put in consistent performances in the ongoing home series against England Lions. He had previously been picked in the national squad for an ODI against South Africa last year. WORld TWENTy20 SquAd: dinesh Chandimal (capt), lasith Malinga (vice-capt), Tillakaratne dilshan, Kusal Perera, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Mahela Jayawardena, lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga lakmal, Rangana Herath / Chaturanga de Silva, Sachithra Senanayake, Ajantha Mendis, Seekuge Prasanna ASIA CuP SquAd: Angelo Mathews (capt), dinesh Chandimal (vice- capt), lasith Malinga, Tillakaratne dilshan, Kusal Perera, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Mahela Jayawardena, lahiru Thirimanne, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga lakmal, Chaturanga de Silva, Sachithra Senanayake, Ajantha Mendis, Ashan Priyanjan

AISAM RETURNS AFTER ACING DAVIS CUP TIE

SPORT DESK Pakistan's Ace tennis star Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi will be reached Lahore from Bangkok on Monday after participating in Davis Cup tie against Vietnam. Pakistan won the tie with a score of 32. The tie took place in Da Lat City of Vietnam. In the first singles mach Aqeel Khan beat Quang Huy Ngo 6-0, 6-4, 6-3, while in the second singles match Vietnam's Thien Nguyen Hoang beat Mohammad Abid 6-3, 6-2, 6-0. On the second day, in doubles match Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Aqeel Khan beat Quoc Le and Quang Ngo 6-1, 6-1, 6-7, 6-2 and provided 2-1 lead to Pakistan. On the third day Aqeel Khan beat Thien Nguyen Hoang of Vietnam with a score of 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 and provided an un assailable lead of 3-1 to Pakistan. Having won the tie Pakistan fielded their youngster Yasir Khan to play the fifth match in place of their ace player Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi. Yasir lost 6-7, 2-6 to Linch Trinh.

CMYK

SPORTS Tuesday, 18 February, 2014

SPoRtS DeSk

T began as a "let's see what we can do" minutes after lunch on day three. Then it became about taking it to the next session. Then to the next day. Along the way it was about making India bat again. Even the most fanciful of New Zealand players or fans wouldn't have thought or planned how they would go about it but, close to five sessions later, New Zealand are the only team in a realistic position to win this match. Brendon McCullum and BJ Watling added 194 to their overnight 158run stand without ever looking in trouble, helping New Zealand take the lead to 325 by stumps. When the two came together, New Zealand were 152 in arrears. This is possibly New Zealand's best rearguard ever. McCullum became the first New Zealander to score back-to-back double-centuries, and finished the day 19 short of their first triple-century. Watling played the longest innings by a New Zealand wicketkeeper and fell only two short of the highest by a New Zealand No. 7 in the second innings. Together they put on the highest sixth-wicket partnership, at 352 runs, in Test cricket. And when Watling finally fell, Jimmy Neesham came in and smacked an unbeaten 67 off 96, the third-highest by a New Zealand debutant at No. 8. Numbers, though, don't do justice to the stories. The task New Zealand's batsmen faced was enormous. They were going with an aim of just batting and batting for days, and at any point for a major duration in the partnership one bad ball could turn the whole match back in India's favour. Having put in a huge effort on day three, New Zealand still began the day at 6 for 5. Just imagine the cruelty of getting out at any point in the first session, and watching India come back. MS Dhoni, too, decided to test their patience as opposed to their survival skills. Having spent most of the last afternoon waiting for a mistake, Dhoni attacked for about half an hour on the fourth morning before resorting to his fancy fields. At one point, he asked Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami to bowl from round the stumps with a seven-two off-side field. It is not hard to imagine that they struggled

Scoreboard New Zealand 1st INNINGS 192 438 India 1st INNINGS NeW ZeaLaNd 2Nd INNINGS 281 bb Mccullum* not out 124 bJ Watling† lbw b Mohammed Shami JdS Neesham not out 67 25 eXTraS: (b 5, lb 11, w 2, nb 7) 571 ToTaL: (6 wickets; 189 overs) To baT: TG Southee, N Wagner, Ta boult FaLL oF WIcKeTS: 1-1 (Fulton, 1.3 ov), 2-27 (Williamson, 10.4 ov), 3-52 (rutherford, 16.6 ov), 4-87 (Latham, 34.1 ov), 5-94 (anderson, 37.2 ov), 6-446 (Watling, 160.2 ov) boWLING: I Sharma 39-4-124-0, Z Khan 43-12-129-3, Mohammed Shami 40-5-136-2, ra Jadeja 49-10-108-1, rG Sharma 11-0-40-0, V Kohli 6-1-13-0, MS dhoni 1-0-5-0 MaTcH deTaILS ToSS: India, who chose to field TeST debuTS: TWM Latham and JdS Neesham (New Zealand) PLayer oF THe MaTcH Tba uMPIreS: SJ davis (australia) and ra Kettleborough (england) TV uMPIre: dJ Walker MaTcH reFeree: rS Madugalle (Sri Lanka) reSerVe uMPIre: Wr Knights

mccullum 281 not out,

NEW ZEALAND LEAD BY 325

to bowl wide outside off. The only chance created with India still in the game was by Zaheer Khan, deep into the first session, but India had just one in-between slip that couldn't get to the catch that a second slip would have taken. It can't take away from the feat of McCullum and Watling. McCullum struggled with back and shoulder pains even on day three and has a dodgy knee. Watling had kept for 103 overs, and got a 37-over rest before coming out to bat again. They still showed intent as the fourth day began. Now that they were in credit, they knew runs would push Dhoni further on the defensive. Defensive he be-

watling relishes GAME-CHANGING GRIND

had beaten his previous best aggregate for a Test series, 370, also against India. When he shouldered arms to Zaheer in the 118th over, at 312 balls, he had played his longest innings too. That leave was part of the only spell where India found some control through Ravindra Jadeja and Zaheer. Four maidens were bowled consecutively, but the two batsmen were too well set and too determined to let that draw them into a loose shot. The shackles broke as Jadeja angled too far into the pads, and New Zealand were off again. There was little happening for India. Just before lunch Jadeja beat Watling with one that ripped across him. Watling

SL RISES FROM ASHES Dhaka

Visitors fight back to win from 67 for 8

aGeNcIeS

Wellington

Two spectacular batting collapses adorned the first ODI, one more dramatic than the other, causing amusement, ridicule and fear at a half-filled Shere Bangla National Stadium. Sri Lanka first slipped to 67 for 8 in 21.3 overs, after which Thisara Perera put together a proper rescue act and gave the visitors a lifeline, a score of 180 in 40 overs. The home side fell the other way, from 114 for 2 to 167 all out - losing 53 for 8 when they were cruising. It was the latter that had more impact on the result, as Sri Lanka ended up winning by 13 runs. Earlier, Of all Thisara Perera's rescue acts, this one perhaps was most important for Sri Lanka. Four years ago, he had played a similar innings against India, but there he had centurion Thilan Samaraweera for company. He scored a similar unbeaten 35 just last week against Bangladesh in the second Twenty20, but the target was low, 121. In Mirpur, however, Sri Lanka had slipped to 67 for 8, after being put in to bat in a rain-shortened game

aGeNcIeS

Individual milestones, team milestones, partnership records. Brendon McCullum and BJ Watling were ticking them off so often it seemed that a round of applause rang out at the Basin Reserve as soon as the previous one had ended. While the announcer was regularly keeping the batsmen aware of what they were achieving, Watling said he and McCullum just focused on coming through the next delivery and the next over for the eight-and-a-half hours their 352-run partnership lasted. "It was just a grind. Just took each ball at a time, each over at a time, each hour at a time," Watling said. "They came at us hard and we weathered the storm, then got a few runs away and just kept trying to take them as deep as we could. To lose one wicket (in the day) is a pretty pleasing effort. Definitely very proud of the way we went about things today. I think Brendon batted extremely well and to be in the position we are now after two days ago, we are pretty pleased with how things went." Watling came in at No 7 to join his captain after lunch on day three when New Zealand were still trailing by 152. They were feeling the pressure at that time, Watling said, and just wanted to somehow get a partnership started. "Yesterday was pretty much bat through the day and try and fight our way back into the game," Watling said. "Today was pretty much the same. The first hour was crucial. If we managed to not lose a wicket there, we felt we could kick on and try and keep going. Each session that started was just about starting again and keeping the partnership going and get as many runs and take as much time out of the game as possible." Watling said he and McCullum

came, but now he struggled to even stem the flow of runs. The bowlers were not able to follow his outlandish plans, and kept straying every now and then. Fiftysix runs came in 13 overs in the first hour. The slips came out, the knuckle-ball slower balls from Zaheer Khan stopped landing, Shami and Ishant went back to bowling one loose ball an over, and India were already waiting for a mistake, or the new ball. The seeds for this were sown on the third day, when India's fields suggested they were waiting for the new ball, 40 overs away. Milestones kept falling by the wayside. When McCullum went past 137, he

In such a precarious position, one that Sri Lanka never found themselves in against Bangladesh, Perera found his launching pad in the 23rd over, one over after the eighth wicket had fallen. He tried a heave towards long-on, where Sohag Gazi was far too relaxed under a well-hit shot. It went for six, and Arafat Sunny ended up

Scoreboard spoke about staying focused and extending India as much as they could. "We have got different types of style of play. We just kept batting, trying to take each ball at a time. That was just about it, really. MS (Dhoni) came to bowl at the end and that's niggly, to say the least, but it was just about seeing each over off and trying to get to that new ball and keep building the lead. "Some of their bowlers bowled 40 overs. The more tired they got, the more runs we could get, or more bad balls they bowled and we started to put a bit more of a lead on the board."

walked towards square leg, and you could imagine him grit his teeth and get his concentration back. Every time they played a false stroke - and there weren't many Watling would make sure they gathered themselves again. A Watling walk to square leg. A quiet word to McCullum. In between, McCullum found time to display some brilliance. In the 142nd over, with India already beaten to pulp, he found the boundary beating three men around the point region, and a man behind them in the deep. Soon they walked back together for a session break for the fourth time. The routine was same: a wee knocking of the fists, a quiet pat on Watling's back. The third new ball arrived in the final session. It claimed Watling. The Joe Pesci to McCullum's Robert de Niro. The lead was an even 200 with three-and-a-half sessions to go. McCullum tried to do to the third new ball what he did to the second. Beat it out of shape. This time, though, he was understandably fatigued. In the 164th over, he played and missed at Ishant thrice. Then, to the fifth ball, he left alone. The capacity crowd at Basin Reserve roared out an applause louder than one for a six or a wicket. They were with him. McCullum appreciated it, and went back to concentrate, to draw those powers out of somewhere.

SrI LaNKa INNINGS MdKJ Perera lbw b rubel Hossain 20 TM dilshan c Mushfiqur rahim b rubel Hossain 3 Kc Sangakkara c arafat Sunny b al-amin Hossain 8 Ld chandimal run out (Shakib al Hasan/arafat Sunny) 13 SMa Priyanjan lbw b Shakib al Hasan 6 ad Mathews b arafat Sunny 3 KdK Vithanage run out (Mushfiqur rahim) 7 KMdN Kulasekara b arafat Sunny 0 NLTc Perera not out 80 SMSM Senanayake b Shakib al Hasan 30 SL Malinga c †anamul Haque b Sohag Gazi 0 eXTraS (lb 1, w 9) 10 ToTaL (all out; 40 overs) 180 FaLL oF WIcKeTS 1-22 (dilshan, 3.6 ov), 2-28 (MdKJ Perera, 5.1 ov), 3-43 (Sangakkara, 10.1 ov), 4-52 (Priyanjan, 11.6 ov), 558 (chandimal, 14.6 ov), 6-62 (Mathews, 16.4 ov), 7-64 (Kulasekara, 18.4 ov), 8-67 (Vithanage, 21.3 ov), 9-149 (Senanayake, 35.3 ov), 10-180 (Malinga, 39.6 ov) boWLING: al-amin Hossain 8-1-34-1, rubel Hossain 8-0-37-2, Shakib al Hasan 7-0-29-2, arafat Sunny 6-2-31-2, Sohag Gazi 7-0-22-1, Mahmudullah 4-0-26-0 baNGLadeSH INNINGS anamul Haque c Mathews b Malinga 0 Shamsur rahman run out (Malinga/†Sangakkara) 62 Mominul Haque c dilshan b NLTc Perera 44 Mushfiqur rahim c †Sangakkara b Mathews 27

Shakib al Hasan run out (Malinga/†Sangakkara) 3 Nasir Hossain c Mathews b Senanayake 8 Mahmudullah c Priyanjan b Senanayake 0 Sohag Gazi c Vithanage b Mathews 6 arafat Sunny c †Sangakkara b Mathews 5 rubel Hossain run out (Senanayake/Mathews) 4 al-amin Hossain not out 2 eXTraS (b 1, lb 2, w 2, nb 1) 6 ToTaL (all out; 39.2 overs) 167 FaLL oF WIcKeTS 1-0 (anamul Haque, 0.2 ov), 2-79 (Mominul Haque, 14.4 ov), 3-114 (Shamsur rahman, 19.4 ov), 4-119 (Shakib al Hasan, 22.2 ov), 5-133 (Nasir Hossain, 28.3 ov), 6-133 (Mahmudullah, 28.5 ov), 7-142 (Sohag Gazi, 31.4 ov), 8-161 (arafat Sunny, 35.3 ov), 9-162 (Mushfiqur rahim, 37.1 ov), 10-167 (rubel Hossain, 39.2 ov) boWLING: SL Malinga 8-1-37-1, KMdN Kulasekara 6-0-38-0, ad Mathews 7.2-1-21-3, SMSM Senanayake 9-0-33-2, NLTc Perera 9-1-35-1 MaTcH deTaILS ToSS: bangladesh, who chose to field SerIeS: Sri Lanka led the 3-match series 1-0 odI debuTS: al-amin Hossain and arafat Sunny (bangladesh) Player of the match NLTc Perera (Sri Lanka) umpires Sharfuddoula and rJ Tucker (australia) TV umpire anisur rahman Match referee dc boon (australia) reserve umpire Mahfuzur rahman

Published by Arif Nizami at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore.

CMYK

conceding 24 off that over, spoiling his figures of 5-2-7-2 to 6-2-31-2. That over set the base for a resistance between Perera and Sachithra Senanayake, and Perera went on to reach his highest ODI score, 80 not out off 56 balls with four fours and six sixes. The chances given by the Bangladesh fielders helped both batsmen. Gazi had a catch dropped off his own bowling, Mahmudullah failing to hold on to a Senanayake edge. Nasir then leapt high at long-off, but it was poorly timed and he missed the third attempt, also off Perera. Both Perera and Senanayake got one more reprieve each as they added 82 runs in 14 overs for the ninth wicket. As their partnership flourished, Mushfiqur's decision not to use Shakib was confusing. The left-arm spinner ended up breaking the stand in the 36th over, but the batsmen had done considerable damage on a pitch that had favoured the bowlers. Bangladesh's decision to bowl was justified when Sri Lanka lost both openers by the sixth over. Kusal Perera strung two boundaries in the first over and belted out an upper-cut off Rubel in the fourth, but soon, Tillakaratne Dilshan skied Rubel Hossain to Mushfiqur while Kusal was given out leg-before, though the ball appeared to slip down the leg side.