E paper pdf 3rd may (isb)

FRONT PAGE (03-05-2014) FINAL_Layout 1 5/3/2014 1:05 AM Page 1

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Khan seeks suo motu on poll foul, lists Geo as suspect!

STORY ON PAGE 02

NEW INDIAN ARMY CHIEF’S APPOINTMENT RUNS INTO CONTROVERSY STORY ON PAGE 03

Saturday, 3 May, 2014 Rajab 3, 1435 Rs 17.00 Vol IV No 304 16 Pages Islamabad Edition

WORLD BANK APPROVES $12 BILLION, FIVE-YEAR LOAN FOR PAKISTAN

STORY ON PAGE 10

Government a biG defaulter; expect no relief in outaGes! Terming his government the “biggest defaulter”, Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif jolted the masses out of the dream world saying that he did not want to give any false hope of an immediate end to electricity load shedding. The minister also said whoever does not pay electricity dues will not get power supply – whether on a federal level, provincial or an individual level. STORY ON PAGE 03

‘NEEDLESS RHETORIC’ HAS PUT TALIBAN TALKS AT STAKE: NISAR Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Friday said those who are supposed to support the dialogue process with the banned Tehreeke-Taliban Pakistan are busy in hurling allegations at the government through needless rhetoric. “They have made a road show out of it... continuation of peace talks would be difficult under these circumstances,” the minister told reporters.

STORY ON PAGE 02

GLOBAL PRESS OSAMA BIN LADEN: FREEDOM SLIPS THREEYEARS TO DECADE LOW AFTER ABBOTTABAD STORY ON PAGE 04

STORY ON PAGE 05

MORE THAN 2,000 BELIEVED TRAPPED UNDER LANDSLIDE IN AFGHANISTAN STORY ON PAGE 04

02 NEWS Info MInIstry secret fund converted to endowMent fund

Saturday, 3 May 2014

‘needless rheTorIc’ has PuT TalIban Talks aT sTake, says nIsar

PtI, PAt sPendIng MIllIons for MAy 11 Protest, clAIMs rAnA sAnAullAh

LAHORE NADEEM SYED

LAHORE ONLINE

Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid has said that secret fund of the Information Ministry will be converted to endowment fund.

Addressing Women Journalists Convention on Friday, he announced setting up of endowment fund for journalists. Rashid called for respecting laws concerning the rights of female journalists. He said women journalists have success stories to follow. The minister said the Punjab government had decided to facilitate women journalists at workplaces including setting up of daycare centers. He said that journalists will also be covered under the government insurance scheme.

Moreover, he said agreements worth $ 35 billion have been signed with China for investment in infrastructure, power and industrial sectors. He said Nandipur power project near Gujranwala will be inaugurated during the current month.

The minister said that prudent policies of the government have put the national economy on the right track. He said these policies were attracting foreign investment.

INTERIOR MINISTER SAYS DELAY IN DIRECT TALKS WITH TALIBAN SHURA IS DUE TO INFIGHTING BETWEEN TALIBAN FACTIONS MAULANA SAMIUL HAQ SAYS NEXT ROUND OF TALKS LIKELY ON MAY 5 ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

NTERIoR Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Friday lashed out at all those involved in criticising the

government’s peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban, saying the dialogue process cannot move forward amid “needless rhetoric”.

Speaking during a ceremony held at NADRA headquarters, he again dispelled the notion of a deadlock in peace talks with the Tehreek-eTaliban Pakistan (TTP). “Those who are supposed to support the dialogue process are busy in hurling allegations at the government through needless rhetoric … they have made a road show out of it,” said the minister without naming anyone.

“Continuation of peace talks would be difficult under these circumstances,” he added.

Nisar said that delay in the next direct meeting with Taliban Shura was due to an internal rift within the militant outfit’s ranks rather than the government. He expressed annoyance over attempts to create an impression

of a rift between the civil-military relations, saying the government’s ties with the Pakistan Army were good before and will remain that way in the future also.

NEXT TALIBAN TALKS: on the other hand, head of the TTP negotiating committee, Maulana Samiul Haq hinted that the next round of direct talks would be held on May 5.

Speaking to reports at Rahim Yar Khan airport, he said that TTP negotiators would also participate in the government’s meeting with the Taliban Shura. The chief of his own faction of Jamiat Ulema-iIslam (JUI-S), who known as “Father of Taliban” in the West, said that ‘internal and external forces’ were hatching conspiracies to derail the dialogue process. He advised the armed forces and the militants to choose the path of dialogue by laying down their arms.

Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah on Friday said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) are spending millions of rupees to make their May 11 protest demonstration successful. Talking to Pakistan Today, the minister said, “According to our information, they are pouring in Rs 100,000 per union council (UC). In Punjab there are 4,331 UCs. Imagine the amount of money being spent on two protests just to get desired results. I am more than sure that they will never get public support. People know that they are puppets in the hands of establishment.”

Both PAT and PTI are organising protests on May 11 against the PML-N government. Signs show that both parties are joining hands to start an agitation movement against the government. So far, the Punjab government has not permitted the PAT to hold the demonstration. The minister said that both the parties were out to derail the democratic process and sabotage the progress achieved by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to resolve the most chronic issues facing the people. “These forces do not see any future if they did not stop Sharifs from all the good work they have been doing,” Sanaullah said. He alleged that PTI Chairman Imran Khan has not himself taken the decision to join PAT chief Tahirul Qadri, adding that the decision was taken somewhere else.

Imran Khan was following the orders as a loyal politician, the minister said. “It has been proved that Imran Khan is under the influence of the forces that have patronised him all along,” he observed.

Khan seeks suo motu on poll foul, lists Geo as suspect!

PTI chIef urges cJP To Take noTIce of rIggIng In May 11 general Polls, deMands verIfIcaTIon of ThuMb PrInTs In four consTITuencIes accusIng geo, Jang grouP of beIng ParT of Poll rIggIng, says PTI wIll boycoTT MedIa organIsaTIon unless IT aPologIses To ParTy

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has urged Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Tassaduq Hussain Jillani to take suo motu notice of rigging in May 11 general elections held last year and demanded verification of thumb prints in four constituencies.

Addressing a press conference at Central Secretariat on Friday, Khan demanded action against those who were involved in rigging in polls.

“Today, I will present to you the extent of the rigging that took place, which was even more than we had expected,” said Khan. The PTI chief mentioned that the PTI representative from NA-118, Hamid Zaman, put in Rs 5.7 million of his own money to acquire information about the vote count. He said that Zaman had received threats following his request to use fingerprint verification during the polls.

Khan also alleged that out of 325 bags of ballot sheets in the constituency, only 69 bags had been sealed and had the right material in them; as many as 256 of those bags were either empty or had incomplete material. He said that 170,000 votes were casted but 90,000 of the ballot papers were missing. He demanded that the recounting of the votes in the constituency should be conducted in front of the media. “The returning officer is responsible for this,” said Khan, “the presiding officer’s task is to give the bags to the returning officer who must only accept them if they are sealed.”

Khan reiterated his allegation that former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry also provided support to the returning officials involved in rigging. He said that the election tribunals did not dispose of the cases within 120 days. He said that according to the Free and Fair Election network (FAFEN), 71,000 complaints were filed against the election results. “Jang and Geo group was also part of the rigging process,” PTI chief al-

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leged. He also announced that he will completely boycott Jang Group until they publicly apologise to PTI. He said that PTI will announce its future plan of action in a gathering scheduled on May 11

at D-Chowk in Islamabad. PTI General Secretary Jahangir Tareen, PTI Information Secretary Shireen Mazari and other party leadership was also present on the occasion.

Saturday, 3 May 2014

NEWS

03

govT a bIg defaulTer; exPecT no relIef In ouTages!

Power MInIsTer says rs 3.2b recovered In caMPaIgn agaInsT elecTrIcITy bIll defaulTers, vows noT To ProvIde elecTrIcITy To defaulTers – governMenT beIng one Too! ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

ERMING his government the “biggest defaulter”, Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif jolted the masses out of the dream world saying that he did not want to give any false hope of an immediate end to electricity load shedding.

Khwaja Asif, flanked by Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid and State Minister for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali, was addressing a press conference on Friday. While referring to the recent disconnections of electricity supply to top government buildings, including President’s House, Prime Minister’s Secretariat, Parliament Lodges and official residence of chief justice of Pakistan, and the non-payment of electricity bills, the

federal minister for water and power reiterated that the recovery drive will continue and feeders will be shut “by hook or by crook” to disconnect power supply to consumers who were not paying bills.

“Whoever does not pay electricity dues will not get power supply – whether on a federal level, provincial or an individual level.” The defence minister further said that 2,200 megawatts of electricity will be added to the system in the next two months. Referring to the hardship that the citizens will face in the next couple of months, Asif added that the people will have to tolerate load shedding as there was a shortfall of electricity.

“Energy crisis is being curbed because of the construction of new power projects such as the one in Guddu,” the minister remarked shedding ‘some’ positive light to the situation the country is currently in.

The minister said that those protesting against load shedding were defaulters and wanted to steal electricity through ‘kundas.’ The minister said Rs 3.2 billion has been recovered during the ongoing campaign against electricity bill defaulters. He said most of this amount has been recovered from public sector departments. He said free electricity could not be provided and the merchandize would be sold to those who paid for the same, the minister warned. He said serious efforts had been put in place to ensure full recovery from government departments and private sector by June 30, which would improve power situation. He said thanks to the power supply disconnection move, an amount of Rs 1.5 billion were recovered from Peshawar and the federal government was in touch with all provin-

MIlITary ToP brass dIscuss TalIban Talks, securITy sITuaTIon RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) General Raheel Sharif has chaired a monthly Corps Commanders’ Conference in which the overall internal and external security situation of the country was discussed. According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), corps commanders and principal officers were present in the meeting. The conference was part of routine monthly meetings. Various professional matters of the military were discussed in the meeting. The peace process with Tehreek-e-Taliban militants was also discussed in the meeting. Earlier on April 30, addressing the Youm-e-Shuhada ceremony, General Sharif had said, “Pakistan Army supports all efforts to eliminate terrorism and restore peace in the country, and it is our earnest desire that all elements fighting against the state should unconditionally submit to the country’s constitution and law and come back to the national main stream.” ONLINE

cial governments to settle disputes on power liabilities against them.

The minister said that there should be a solution to the disputed dues and the federal government should accept if it had to bear a bit of the outstanding as part of settlement arrangements to clear the backlog, he suggested. He said agriculture was a vital sector and efforts were being made to observe minimum load shedding and added that tube wells head was reflecting Rs 72 billion as outstanding. Moreover, the minister said that a control room was being set up in the min-

istry to provide real time information about 8,900 feeders in the country with regard to load shedding, demand and supply gap etc. He said the power situation would improve when imported gas would start flowing in by the end of 2015 and the domestic and industrial sector will have sufficient power supply. He said the government was making earnest efforts to add more power supply to the system and last year in May, generation stood at 8,200MW and but it had gone up to 10,058MW this year.

The minister said efforts were also

Pakistan summons Indian diplomat over visa denial to 500 pilgrims ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The Foreign office on Friday summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner Gopal Baghlay to lodge a protest over denial of visas to 500 Pakistani pilgrims to visit the famed shrine of Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer. Visits to religious shrines in Pakistan and India are governed under the Bilateral Protocol on Visits to the Religious Shrines, 1974. Pakistan conveyed its deep

disappointment and concern over the denial of visas by the Indian government, a statement released by the Foreign office said.

This is the fourth time that visas have been denied to Pakistani pilgrims in the past one year, it said. This is not only against the bilateral agreement, but also runs contrary to the efforts towards normalising ties between the two countries and the spirit of people-to-people contacts, the Foreign Ministry said.

Foreign office sources said that

India has officially intimated that as general elections are being held in the country, it would be difficult to host the pilgrims.

Reached for comments, Foreign office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said: “our High Commission in New Delhi has the information that Rajasthan government has no problems in hosting the pilgrims.” Every year, hundreds of Pakistanis visit the Sufi shrine in Ajmer in Rajasthan, which is revered by people across the subcontinent.

New Indian army chief’s appointment runs into controversy fronT-runner for coveTed sloT, gen dalbIr suhag accused of InvolveMenT In kIllIngs of Three youThs In a boTched MIlITary InTellIgence oPeraTIon In 2010 NEW DELHI AGENCIES

In a fresh controversy into the appointment of the new Indian Army chief, a writ petition has been filed in Manipur high court against army personnel, including Lt General Dalbir Suhag, who is the frontrunner for the post of army chief.

A petition filed in the Imphal High Court by the family member of one of

the Manipuri youth, who were allegedly killed by the military intelligence unit in Dimapur in March 2010. Bodies of three Manipuri youth were found in Dimapur on March 25, 2010. Army has denied its involvement in the killing and claimed it happened due to “inter-group rivalry”.

The petitioner has mentioned that when the local police requested the Dimapur-based 3 Corps to co-operate in the investigation as fingers were being pointed towards the intelligence unit of the same Corps, the then Corps Commander Lt General Dalbir Suhag refused to cooperate with the police investigation citing protection under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. However, the army has denied any involvement of Lt General Dalbir Suhag, as he was not Corps Commander at the time of the incident. “The killing took place because of inter-group rivalry. Army had carried out a detailed investigation but nothing was found against army personnel. And at that time, 3 Corps Commander was Lt General NK Singh not Lt General Dalbir Suhag. Suhag took over as 3 Corps Commander in March 2011,” said a senior army officer. Interestingly, General

VK Singh, who has accused the government of appointing next army chief in haste, was the Eastern Army commander when incident happened.

However, the then army chief Gen VK Singh had imposed a discipline and vigilance promotion ban on Lt General Dalbir Suhag in May 2012. General VK Singh placed him under the ban on charges of “abdicating responsibility” in handling an intelligence and surveil-

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lance unit under his command in Dimapur-based 3 Corps for what was dubbed as a “botched-up intelligence operation.” However, the ban was revoked by General Bikram Singh within a week of his taking over as the army chief.

It is notable that a similar type petition was filed in the J&K high court for alleging involvement General Bikram Singh in a fake encounter, as an attempt to derail his appointment as chief of army staff. Petition was filed weeks before General Bikram Singh was slated to be designated as the successor of General VK Singh in May 2012. Meanwhile, despite stiff resistance from opposition, the Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-II is all set to go ahead with the appointment of next army chief. According to top sources in the government, the Ministry of Defence has completed the procedural requirement for the appointment before sending to the Appointments Committee on Cabinet headed by the prime minister. The BJP has approached the Election Commission and the president for restricting government for making appointment of next army chief.

being made to clear circular debt but the power sector still faced it with Rs 197 billion, adding that 1,700 MW was added as result of partial clearing of the intercorporate debt. He said Ministry of Finance recently released Rs 20 billion to Pakistan State oil (PSo) for fuel supply to power plants as a part of efforts to ease load shedding. He said the media should play its role to educate people to regularly pay their bills and added that if any official was found responsible in the malpractice, he would be taken to task.

us coMMander gen. ausTIn MeeTs gen raheel sharIf RAWALPINDI: United States (US) Army Central Commander General Austin met the Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) General Raheel Sharif at the Army House on Friday. Defence Secretary Lieutenant General (R) Asif Yasin Malik was also present.

During the meeting, the top military leadership of both the countries discussed bilateral affairs and the regional situation, expessing satisfaction over Pak-US defence cooperation. General Austin also expressed his views on the withdrawal of US-led NATo forces from Afghanistan, later this year. INP

ttP coMMAnder AMong sIx kIlled In s.wAzIrIstAn PESHAWAR: At least six militants including a top commander of Tehreek eTaliban Pakistan (TTP) were killed on Friday in Babor area of South Waziristan Agency. According to an official, security forces targeted a compound of militant commander, Wafadar, with air strikes and shelling. He said the compound was destroyed and six people were killed. Commander Wafadar was an aide of Said Khan Sajna, a senior commander of the TTP. STAFF REPORT

Another PolIo cAse surfAces In n wAzIrIstAn PESHAWAR: A 14 month old child was diagnosed with polio virus in the Miranshah area of North Waziristan Agency. A statement issued on Friday by the Prime Minister’s Polio Monitoring Cell confirmed the detection of the case. No polio team has visited the area since 2012 as the government had discontinued antipolio campaign in the region following attacks on several polio teams by militants.

The latest case brings the total number of polio cases detected in the country during the current year to 59. ONLINE

04 NEWS

Saturday, 3 May 2014

global Press freedoM slIPs To decade low freedom house report says in every region of world last year, it was observed that both govts and private actors attacked reporters, blocked their physical access to newsworthy events, censored content, and ordered politically motivated firings of journalists WASHINGTON AGENCIES

World press freedom has hit its lowest level in a decade after a regression in Egypt, Turkey and Ukraine, and US efforts to curb national security reporting, a watchdog said Friday.

The report by Freedom House, which has been conducting annual surveys since 1980, found that the share of the world’s population with media rated “free” was 14 percent in 2013, or only one in seven people. Meanwhile, 44 percent of the world population lived in areas where the media was “not free” and 42 percent in places where press was “partly free,” the Freedom of the Press 2014 report said. “The overall trends are definitely negative,” said Karin Karlekar, project director of the report. Karlekar said press freedom is under attack in many regions of the world. “We saw a real focus on ‘attacking the messenger,’” she told a news

saudIs geT InTerneT hoTlIne To The kIng NEWS DESK Saudi citizens can now petition 90-year-old King Abdullah directly and lodge complaints through an Internet site set up at the initiative of the monarch himself. The portal tawasol.royalcourt.gov.sa, named after the Arabic word for communication, was launched on an experimental basis on Wednesday. All messages are to be forwarded to the king. “People will be able to inform the king about any shortcomings in the services offered by government agencies, and to take suitable action for the benefit of all citizens,” the website says. More and more Saudis in the ultraconservative Muslim state are turning to social networking sites to demand improved living conditions. However, the authorities, who block access to politically sensitive or pornographic websites, made several arrests in March for tweets deemed offensive to the king.

conference, including “deliberate targeting of foreign journalists” in many countries. “In every region of the world last year, we found both governments and private actors attacking reporters, blocking their physical access to newsworthy events, censoring content, and ordering politically motivated firings of journalists,” she said. of the 197 countries and territories evaluated in 2013, Freedom House found 63 rated “free,” 68 “partly free” and 66 “not free.” The top-ranked were the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, and the lowest North Korea, which ranked just behind Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The report expressed concern on use of new technologies by authoritarian governments to filter online content and to monitor the activities of reporters.

“Governments have become more sophisticated in their efforts to crack down, even in the online space,” said Karlekar. The report ranked countries on a scale of zero to 100, with the low-

est numbers representing the best score, and also compiled an aggregate global number to measure press freedom. The average global score was at its worst since 2004, and the percentage of people living with a free news media fell to its lowest since 1996, the report said.

The population figures are due in part to the impact of China, rated “not free,” and India, “partly free.” Those two countries account for more than a third of the world’s population. The US remained in the ranks of countries with a “free” press, but fell in global rankings to 30th best, tied with Australia. The report cited a “limited willingness of high-level (US) government officials to provide access and information to members of the press.” The report also cited an increase in the United States in the number of information requests denied, and the targeting of journalists in criminal investigations.

Karlekar said the worst countries — which included Cuba, Equatorial

Guinea, Iran, Belarus and Eritrea — were “black holes for freedom of information” with little access and difficult conditions for journalists. Countries downgraded to “not free” were Libya, South Sudan, Turkey, Ukraine, and Zambia. Freedom House said China and Russia continued to maintain a tight grip on locally based print and broadcast media, while also attempting to control views in blogs or by foreign news sources. Both countries introduced additional legal measures to penalize online speech in 2013. The group said journalists were attacked in 2013 in Ukraine, Turkey and Egypt, and to a lesser extent in Brazil, Venezuela, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Jordan, and Uganda. on the positive side, 11 countries improved their rankings including eight in sub-Saharan Africa. Ivory Coast was upgraded from “not free” to “partly free.” out of 197 countries and territories, North Korean media is the least free whereas Swedish and Norwegian media is the most free.

MQM gIves 72-hour ulTIMaTuM To fInd kIllers KARACHI STAFF REPORT

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Farooq Sattar demanded on Friday the arrest within 72 hours of the persons involved in the killing of four of its workers whose bodies were recovered on Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference at Khurshid Memorial Hall near the MQM headquarters, commonly known as “Nine-Zero,” Sattar said the party had never raised any accusatory fingers without solid evidence. The senior MQM leader added that it was the government’s responsibility to ensure protection to the life and property of citizens. He said all unit offices of the MQM were shut down since the beginning of an operation in Karachi in September 2013. Speaking about the killing of four MQM workers, whose bodies were recovered on Wednesday and identified a day later, he said the bodies of the activists bore marks of ‘barbaric’ torture who were later killed in a ruthless manner.

He further claimed that six party activists were picked up by plain-clothed personnel from a snooker club in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, adding that two of the persons were still missing while four others had been identified after the recovery of their bodies from Memon Goth area of Karachi. He said a person had been con-

HYDERABAD: An elderly man sits outside a shuttered shop on Friday as businesses were closed on a strike called by the Mutahida Qaumi Movement against alleged extrajudicial killings of its workers. INP

AGENCIES

Uspected tribal rebels in India shot dead 11 Muslims, including two women, in attacks in the northeastern state of Assam where tension has run high during an election, officials said on Friday.

Police said they suspected the militants behind the overnight killings were members of the Bodo tribe.

“The gunmen entered the house and shot them dead on the spot,” a senior police officer in the state capital, Guwahati, with knowledge of the investigation said. He was referring to an incident in which the militants shot

MAZAR-I-SHARIF AGENCIES

A landslide in northern Afghanistan killed at least 350 people on Friday, officials said, with hundreds also feared missing as a major rescue operation was launched to find survivors in villages buried under mud. The first emergency teams on the scene in Badakhshan province started digging through rocks and dirt as local authorities, the United Nations and the NATo-led military force raced to assess the damage and provide help. “The number of deceased has increased to 350,” the UN mission in Afghanistan said in a statement. “A response is being mobilised for those who survived but were displaced, with some partners already on the ground. “(NATo’s) Regional Command in the north in contact with the Afghan National Army in regards to search and rescue efforts.”Badakhshan is a remote province in northeast Afghanistan bordering Tajikistan, China and Pakistan. “It is a disaster. The landslide has affected around 1,000 families,” Sayed Abdullah Homayun Dehqan, provincial director of the Afghan National Disaster Management Authority, said.

“Around 300 families are missing, that could involve around 2,000 people. The people are working to remove the rocks, so far three bodies have been recovered. “Around 700 families were rescued, we have sent in some basic assistance such as tents and blankets.”

MysterIous dIseAse clAIMs lIves of 14 woMen In BAjAur KHAR AGENCIES

ducting reconnaissance of the area since three hours prior to the arrests on April 13. Later, he said, the plain-clothed people, travelling in a double cabin, attacked the snooker club adding that the watchman posted on the premises opened fire assuming the attackers were robbers.

The attackers subdued the watchman after retaliatory firing and then nabbed the MQM activists from the club. Following the commotion, Rangers personnel also arrived at the scene to protect the plain-clothed men, Sattar added. He

also demanded that the plain-clothed personnel involved in the incident should be revealed. Following the identification of the bodies as those of MQM activists, the party announced for observing of a ‘day of mourning’ across the province against what it called was ‘extrajudicial killings and kidnapping’ of its activists. The MQM’s stronghold cities of Karachi and Hyderabad witnessed a shutdown on Friday but life returned to normalcy after the burial of its activists concluded after Friday prayers.

11 Muslims killed in sectarian attacks in India’s Assam GUWAHATI

aT leasT 350 dead as landslIde hITs afghan vIllages

dead three members of a family, including two women, while wounding a baby. In a second attack, eight people were killed by a group of guerrillas.

Bodo people have frequently clashed with Muslims, they say have illegally entered from neighbouring Bangladesh and encroached on their ancestral lands near the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. Candidates in India’s general election, including opposition front runner Narendra Modi, have contributed to anti-Bangladeshi feeling in Assam.

Modi, a Hindu nationalist, last week said immigrants from Bangladesh in a nearby state should have their “bags packed” in case he came to power. He

accuses the state government of being soft on immigration.

Voting was held over several days in Assam to help security forces handle any violence from several separatist and tribal militant groups active in the state. Polling in the Bodo region ended on April 24, in what residents say was a tight race between a Bodo and a nontribal candidate. Police reinforcements were sent to the two districts where the attacks took place, which have a history of sectarian violence. Dozens of police in military style uniforms armed with automatic rifles patrolled the area, television pictures showed. “The authorities will take firm action against

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those involved in this crime,” said state government spokesman Nilamoni Sen Deka. Two years ago, dozens of people were killed in clashes between Bodo people and Muslim settlers in the same area and about 400,000 people fled from their villages. The state government, led by the ruling Congress party, was criticised for not acting quickly enough to stop rioting. The riots stoked tension nationally, triggering sometime violent protests by Muslims in cities across India. About 30,000 migrants from the northeast temporarily returned home after threats of reprisals by Muslims circulated by text message.

At least 14 women have died during the past one week and several others suffering with infection after a mysterious disease broke out in Warah Mamond area of Bajaur Agency. According to reports, the disease had hit people in the mountainous areas of Dabar, Badan, Saro Sha and surrounding localities of Warrah Mamond, 16 km from Khar, the agency headquarters. “As many as 14 women have died within a week while many others are infected after the disease spread in the area,” said Tahir Khan, a local tribesman, said. When contacted, Agency Surgeon Dr Zakir Hussain also confirmed the prevalence of the disease and casualties of several women because of it in the area. He said that the health condition of all the women who died from the disease was normal before being infected. They were between 40 and 50 years of age, he said. Talking to media, he said that the mysterious disease broke out among women in different areas of Warrah Mamond a week ago. “Several women have died within a week and many others are seriously affected by an unknown disease,” he said. The agency surgeon, who visited the affected areas, said that a large number of women had been infected by the disease. “The disease is serious and fatal and we have not seen indications of such a disease in the agency before,” Dr Hussain said. He said that several health teams comprising senior doctors and paramedics had been sent to the affected areas to overcome the situation and identify the cause of the disease. Answering a question, he said that the health department was making efforts to find out main cause of the disease, adding that all patients died in a short time after contracting the disease.

Bajaur Agency political Agent Abdul Jabar Shah told reporters that the administration had asked the local health department to arrange medical camps in the area to ensure medical care to the affected patients. The residents have complained of lack of health facilities for the infected women in the area and expressed concern over the situation.

Saturday, 3 May, 2014

DISCRETIONARY SPENDING: HEARING OF GOVERNMENT REVIEW PLEA SET FOR 6TH SC had banned in December 2013, transfer of funds from an account approved by parliament to another as technical supplementary grant g Sources say govt in a quandary because of SC ban g

ISLAMABAD

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STaFF RePORT

HIEF Justice of Pakistan Tassaduq Hussain Jillani has fixed the government’s review petition against the Supreme Court’s December 5, 2013 judgment regarding transfer of funds to May 6.

In the December 2013 ruling, the SC had banned the transfer of funds from an account approved by the parliament to another as technical supplementary grant. This ruling curtailed the government’s discretionary powers, which are often used in May and June.The three-judge bench, headed by CJP himself and comprising Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed will hear the case on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, it has been learnt that the federal government is in a quandary these days because of the Supreme Court’s ban.

“The major problem is on the development side where the government used the powers to transfer funds from low priority projects to schemes initiated under political consideration,” sources have said.

The sources also revealed that in view of the difficulties of the federal government, the office of the Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) has been active for the early hearing of the government’s review petition against the court’s judgment, which bars even the prime minister from exercising his discretionary powers in the matter of supplementary and excess grants.

Former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had authored the 38-page judgment in the suo motu case regarding the doling out of bil-

lions of rupees in the form of development funds by former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf during the last 10 days of his tenure.

Review petition: The Finance Ministry, in its review petition, has requested that the court enable the government to continue to work on the basis of a system of fiscal management that has been practiced since the creation of Pakistan. The ministry argues that it is not only consistent with constitutional provisions but has also proven its utility and worth.

The government has also expressed apprehensions in the review petition, saying that if the judgment is implemented it would cause serious governance problems.

The review petition questioned whether the court misinterprets Article 84 read with Article 90 of the Constitution to hold that the prime minister cannot authorise expenditure on account of supplementary grants from the Federal Consolidated Fund.

The government also contended that though no provisions are made explicitly mandating the use or allocation of elected representatives and notables, some development schemes identified and recommended by the parliamentarians are funded through the budget after completing all procedural and financial formalities by the competent authority.

“The prime minister is the chief executive of the federation and the chief minister is the chief executive of the province. As such, the federal government and provincial governments act through respectively their prime ministers and chief ministers,” it read.

Raising objections over paragraph 32 of the judgment, the petition contended that the federal government acts through the prime minister and the ac-

tions of the prime minister in performance of functions under the Constitution shall be considered as actions of the federal government.

“Even the rules of business 1973 of the federal government empower the PM to dispose of matters of business as he may consider appropriate without reference to the cabinet. The prime minister is also empowered to permit relaxation of the rules of business he considers appropriate,” it said.

Objecting to paragraph 39 of the judgment, in which prior approval of the National Assembly will be required for decisions on supplementary expenditure, the government submitted that there is no requirement in Article 84 that the supplementary or excess budget statement be placed before the NA in the same or next financial year.

Raising questions over para 52 (4) of the judgment, the government submitted that the constitution does not provide any specific provision to regulate the re-appropriation of funds and that this part of the judgment is liable to be reviewed.

“Budgetary allocations for the next fiscal year are prepared largely on the basis of previous expenditure trends and are only estimates,” it further said.

“Therefore, it is almost impossible to forecast needs/exact requirements of funds under numerous heads of accounts for the forthcoming financial year. Therefore, funds are re-appropriated within the same demand of ministries/divisions/ departments organisations in order to meet shortfall under certain heads from the savings from other heads of same demand with the approval of principal accounting officers and finance division for the efficient and effective functioning of the government,” it added.

NEWS 05 Militants transferred from Central Jail Peshawar INMATES HAD BECOME A THREAT TO DR SHAKIL AFRIDI’S SAFETY PESHAWAR

these prisoners had been sentenced to various terms.

Dr Shakil Afridi, sentenced to 22 years of rigorous imprisonment on charges of extending support to United States CIA for identifying Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden’s Abbottabad residence is also locked in Peshawar jail.

Therefore, the Peshawar jail is guarded by a special police squad round the clock.

A few days ago, KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak confirmed a security threat to Central Jail Peshawar and other prison houses. He also said that the

provincial government has requested shifting Dr Shakil to a prison in another province but the federal government has yet to respond.

According to sources, the militants had become a serious threat to Afridi. Therefore, these prisoners were disintegrated and shifted from Peshawar jail to various other prisons. A few days ago, the KP government had fixed head money for 70 terrorists. It is believed that the government is apprehending strong reaction in response to this decision so these prisoners were shifted to other jails.

ENQUIRY COMMISSION RECORDS HAMID MIR’S STATEMENT

10 KILLED AFTER FALLING INTO CONTAMINATED CANAL IN DI KHAN

ShamIm ShahId

In the wake of security threats, around 35 militants imprisoned in Central Jail Peshawar have been airlifted to prisons of Kohat and Haripur on Friday.

According to officials, the prisoners were shifted to Peshawar Air Base through Armored Personnel Carrier amidst tight security. So far, the identity of the shifted prisoners could not be ascertained but they included militants from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Federally Administrative Tribal Areas (FATA). Some of

KARACHI

DERA ISMAIL KHAN

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Senior journalist and a private news channel anchor Hamid Mir appeared before the judicial commission in Karachi on Friday to record his statement.

A three membered judicial commission, constituted by the Supreme Court to investigate the assassination attempt on Mir, resumed its proceedings on Friday at the Supreme Court’s Karachi Registry. The enquiry commission headed by Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and comprising Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman conducted the judicial proceeding in a closed room where Mir appeared on a wheelchair and recorded his statement. Hamid’s brother Amir Mir has already recorded his

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statement before the commission. The home secretary, Inspector Genera(IG) Sindh, Additional IG Karachi, Director General Rangers Sindh, Joint Director Intelligence Bureau, Deputy IG East, DIG Special Branch, SSP Traffic and other police officers have already submitted the relevant record and confidential reports regarding the incident.

At least 10 people were killed and eight fainted when they accidentally fell into a contaminated canal in Dera Ismail Khan on Friday.

Around 15 to 20 people were crossing the canal when two of them lost balance and fell into it. In an attempt to rescue their companions, more people jumped into the canal that was filled with poisonous industrial effluent.

Rescue workers recovered 10 bodies and eight unconscious people from the canal.

Police said a nearby sugar mill was spilling its poisonous effluent into the canal.

OSAMA BIN LADEN: THREE YEARS AFTER ABBOTTABAD Three years ago on May 2, US Special Forces killed Osama bin Laden in his Abbottabad compound. Occurring in the midst of the Arab Spring revolutions that were taking root, the death of al Qaeda’s leader seemed to represent a defining moment. Not only had the group lost its leader, its entire ideology was being discredited by regime changes occurring via peaceful protest, rather than violence.

In hindsight, this turned out to be a wildly optimistic forecast. As the Arab Spring faltered, al Qaeda and likeminded groups have flourished, controlling territory and launching a steady stream of terrorist attacks. In order to assess the influence of bin Laden’s legacy in all this, it is worth considering how things have changed not only in the Middle East, but also within al Qaeda itself.

There have been huge shifts in the Middle East’s political landscape in the past three years. Two of bin Laden’s former foes - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh - have both been deposed (with Gaddafi subsequently being murdered). In Egypt, bin Laden lived to see the resignation of another former adversary, Hosni Mubarak, but not the chaos that has ensued since. Significant change has also occurred within al Qaeda itself in the last three years. The volume

of US drone strikes against al Qaeda’s senior leadership in Pakistan has meant that the network is more decentralised than ever. The operational oversight that bin Laden’s replacement, Ayman alZawahiri, has over the group is likely at an all-time low (something that bin Laden would also have found virtually impossible to avoid were he alive).

This has led to a fundamental shift in the way al Qaeda is run. Last year, Nasir alWuhyashi, a trusted bin Laden aide and emir of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, was appointed as al Qaeda’s general manager. This was the first time a senior leadership role had been handed to a member of a regional affiliate, rather than the core leadership in Afghanistan and Pakistan. A paper issued by Britain’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office said that this signalled the demise of the “alQaeda core leadership” concept, as Wuhayshi’s appointment showed that the leadership in Afghanistan and Pakistan “do not necessarily have a higher standing than any of the other AQ [al Qaeda] groups”. This is a significant shift from bin Laden’s time. Another change since then is that two more regional affiliates are formally part of the al Qaeda network - the Al-Nusra Front (ANF) in Syria and al-Shabaab in Somalia. The creation of the ANF occurred months after bin Laden’s death,

The volume of US drone strikes against al Qaeda’s senior leadership in Pakistan has meant that the network is more decentralised than ever

as did al-Shabaab’s integration into the al Qaeda network (bin Laden had actually been dubious of the merits of formalising these ties). Yet now, in sheer weight of numbers, these new groups are actually al-Qaeda’s two largest affiliates. These developments make al-Qaeda a very different proposition now than when bin Laden was alive.

However, al Qaeda has not just gained affiliates since May 2011; it has also

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lost them. Its Iraq offshoot, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), has been expelled over the carnage it has unleashed in Syria and its refusal to take guidance from al Qaeda’s senior leadership. This move has contributed to ISIS now becoming a regional competitor for influence among ‘jihadi’ groups.

AffiliAted gRoups: According to the business intelligence group Five

Dimensions Consultants, the emir of ISIS has sent a letter to several al Qaeda affiliated groups asking that they pledge allegiance to him instead of Zawahiri.

This has led to some success, with Egypt’s Ansar Beit al-Maqdis subsequently agreeing to do so. ISIS’s rise may threaten the group’s overall position at the forefront of the violent movement.

Despite this, bin Laden’s death has clearly not led to al Qaeda’s decline. Its presence has spread all over the world, with numerous countries blighted by its ability to inflict violence and suffering.

Furthermore, al Qaeda’s ideology carries on inspiring Westerners to attempt attacks domestically. In these regards, bin Laden’s legacy lives on.

Yet this should not mean that we disregard the importance of his death.

Bin Laden was militarily experienced, theologically well versed enough to inspire others to die for his cause and pulled off the most remarkable terrorist attack in history on 9/11. No-one else alive today in al Qaeda can match this, and international counterterrorism efforts mean that replicating it on a similar scale is now virtually impossible. That does not mean that al Qaeda no longer poses a grave threat. Clearly it does. But it does mean that, thankfully, bin Laden remains one of a kind. COURTeSY alJaZeeRa

06 ISLAMABAD

WEATHER UPDATES SATURDAY

350C 200C

SUNDAY

340C 210C MONDAY 330C 210C

PARLIAMENT GAS-LESS AGAIN FOR NON-PAYMENT OF DUE ISLAMABAD: The gas supply to the Parliament House was disconnected again on Friday after the passage of three-day deadline to pay the outstanding bills amounting to Rs 1.3 million to Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Company (SNGPL). The company officials also took the gas meter away with them. The canteen and cafeteria of the Parliament were shut down, creating trouble for the parliamentarians, staff, journalists and others. The SNGPL had cut the gas connection few days ago due to non-payment of the dues and later restored the supply with warning that it would be disconnected again if the bills were not paid within three days. Capital Development Authority (CDA) did not pay the bill and on the end of the deadline, the company again disconnected the gas supply to the Parliament House. INP

234 CAMERAS ON MURREE ROAD FOR METRO’S SURVEILLANCE RAWALPINDI: To keep a check on the quality and pace of the work on Metro Bus Project and ensure security, 234 CCTV cameras have been installed at various points along Murree Road. A control room of the surveillance system has been set up in Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) office and report will be sent to the Punjab chief minister on daily basis. Through the cameras, an eye would also be kept on the construction material used in the mega project. Action will be taken against the construction company found involved in any irregularity. The construction work on the Metro Bus Project is in full swing and the companies have been tasked to complete the construction of pillars after deep boring before the rainy season. INP

330C 210C

Saturday, 3 May, 2014

PrayEr TImINgs

KAPTAAN’S KNOCK NOT DEMOCRACY FRIENDLY: ANP LEADER ISLAMABAD: The Awami National Party (ANP) central leader and chairman of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Water and Power Zahid Khan said on Friday that the sit-in of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Islamabad on May 11 may prove detrimental for democracy but his party will not allow anyone to derail democracy. Addressing a press conference at the Parliament House, Khan said that it was the responsibility of Imran Khan to speak against ‘rigging’ when the ANP was stopped from campaigning during the May 11 polls last year.

The ANP leader alleged that PTI’s Bashir Khan was winning the NA-34 Dir seat in general elections but Jamaat-e-Islami (JI)’s Sahibzada Tariqullah won that election by rigging. He further alleged that Bashir Khan was winning his case against Sahibzada Tariqullah but Imran Khan forced him to take back his case. He alleged that JI always wins in Upper and Lower Dir through rigging. Senator Zahid Khan lamented that Hakimullah Mehsud and not Justice (r) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim was the ‘real’ chief election commissioner during the general polls. To a question, he said the JI by giving a suggestion of direct talks between the army and the Taliban has tried to tarnish the character of democracy. He said everyone knows who created the PTI. He said the PTI can only stage sit-ins while sitting on the shoulders of ‘someone’. The ANP leader alleged that there was rampant corruption in KPK. He said a provincial minister and an adviser have been dismissed over corruption. To another question, Zahid Khan said KPK produces more electricity while power rates have been increased for the province by 7-8 rupees per unit. INP

TUESDAY

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MAGHRIB ISHA

3:44

5:17

3:47

6:52

12:05

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ISLAMABAD: Children from Kalash perform their traditional dance during the inaugural ceremony of Children’s Literature Festival. INP

Put your act together, gentleMen! Fun tiMe is over!

Sheikh Aftab speaks of massive irregularities in Pakistan Post, PIA, CAA, CDA and CADD Senate body asks Pakistan Post to run computerised postal operations on its own instead of outsourcing ISLAMABAD

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InISTeR of State for Cabinet Sheikh Aftab Ahmad has said that there have been massive irregularities in Pakistan Post, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Capital Development Authority (CDA) and Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) and warned these departments to improve their functioning or face serious action. He was briefing the Senate Standing Committee for Communication on Friday.

Chairman of the Committee Daud Khan Achakzai expressed his reservations over the computerisation project of Pakistan Post Office costing Rs340

million.

The chairman and the committee members said that instead of giving contract of the operation to a private company, Pakistan Post should recruit its own IT staff. The chairman sought full details of the project at the next meeting and warned that failure to do so would invite legal action against the postal authorities.

Pakistan Post additional director general told the meet-

ing that Pakistan Post has started the computerisation and online functional operation at a cost of Rs 160 million. Under the project, 83 post offices have been computerised and linked online while all the post offices would be networked by September next. He said contract for the computerisation has been given to Telconet Services while Data Housing facilities

PRESIDENT, NAVAL CHIEF DISCUSS NAVAL MATTERS ISLAMABAD: Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Asif Sandila called on President Mamnoon Hussain Friday and exchanged views over the professional matters of Pakistan Navy.

Sources said the naval chief briefed the president about maritime security environment

in Pakistan’s neighbourhood and preparedness of Pakistan Navy to meet the emerging challenges. The naval chief assured the president that the naval arm was fully prepared to defend the vital maritime interests of the country. INP

IHC SEEKS GOVT’S REPLY ON KHOKHAR’S SECURITY ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) has sought reply from Interior Ministry and Islamabad SSP on the matter of provision of security to Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar former advisor to prime minister on life threats hurled by Taliban. A single bench of IHC led by Justice Noor ul Haq Qureshi heard the case Friday. Khurrum M Hashmi counsel for the petitioner appeared in the court and told that the petitioner is receiving life threats from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and other banned outfits but government has taken no steps for his security. Request was made to government to provide security and bullet proof vehicle but no heed has been given to our request.

He prayed the court to issue orders to government to provide security to his client. ONLINE

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have been obtained from PTCL at an annual cost of Rs 23.6 million.

Replying to members’ question, the additional DG said after completion of the project, services have also been contracted to Telconet.

Senator Kamil Ali Agha said that Post Office has no capability to run the computerisation operation while outsourcing the operation to a private company would be dangerous.

In this view, the committee stressed that Pakistan Post should run the operations on its own instead of giving to private company.

Achakzai said Pakistan Post has kept many things secret and not disclosed in the meeting. He said five posts for postal department were advertised in Balochistan and in their place eight persons were recruited illegally.

ONE MORE MISSING, WHO DARES TO BLAME? IHC seeks reply from Islamabad IG, interior, defence ministries for recovery of Iqra School chairman ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) has sought reply from Interior Ministry, Islamabad IG and Ministry of Defence within a week on the recovery of Iqra School System Chairman Hafiz Ikram Abbasi. A sing bench of IHC comprising Chief Justice (CJ) Justice Riaz Ahmad Khan took up the case for hearing on Friday. Hafiz Malik Mazhar Javed counsel for the petitioner told the court personnel in plain clothes have kidnapped and taken away Hafiz Ikram Abbasi from the area of Islamabad and government has taken no measures for his recovery. The court was told Hafiz Ikram Ahmad Abbasi was the former candidate in KP assembly constituency 45 and he was also candidate in the by polls to be held on the vacant seat of governor KP Sardar Mehtab Abbasi.

Kidnapping Hafiz Ikram Ahmad Abbasi during the polls is a great tragedy. The petitioner has registered FIR for recovery of Hafiz Ikram Abbasi but police has taken no step so far. ONLINE

ISLAMABAD 07

Saturday, 3 May, 2014

“UYGUR STUDENTS WILL STAY SILENT NO MORE!" ISLAMABAD PrEss rELEasE

Terrorists will be eternally punished even though they are dead because they are deeply guilty of killing innocents.

Bad news saddens us time and time again, and this time it’s 19:10 on April 30, 2014. Our hearts started bleeding once again when innocent people were killed or maimed, and the hearts of the 79 injured were left with indelible scars.

The incident coincided with the May Day holiday when we students were out of school and buying tickets at the train station for what was supposed to be an enjoyable spring holiday. now, alas, we are in no mood for any fun at all.

You shout slogans, saying you want respect and rights, but not far away from the blast you conspire is a mosque where worshippers are quietly praying. You say you’re devout believers, but you inflict violence, terror and brutality on the innocent, regardless of their nationality, gender or age.

Why are the criminals so bold? It’s because their purpose is to create panic among common people of all nationalities, provoke conflicts and instigate hatred.

And again, terrorists, what do you get?

Do you really want to deprive others of their lives at the expense of your own? What the violent criminals get are blood-stained hands covered with sin. The Uygur man who was two days away from his wedding, the child who helplessly cried for his father, the mother who anxiously looked for her child …it all falls on them.

Violent criminals have brought nothing but trouble to the people of Xinjiang.

Outsiders are starting to fear Xinjiang.

Xinjiang residents and the Uygur are becoming synonymous with violence and terrorism. We stop blaming people outside Xinjiang because we come to realize that this is the “well-being” that is brought about by the violent terrorists to our nationality.

The Uygur nationality has become a problem to the international community. The sins of the criminals are being paid for by innocent people of all nationalities living in Xinjiang.

We call on Uygur compatriots to stand up courageously against evil extremism and lend a hand to the ignorant youths who are about to fall prey to extremism.

We can stay silent no longer and we will remain silent no more. Let us stand shoulder to shoulder and deliver a blow to violent terrorists.

ISLAMABAD: A woman taking interest in calligraphy work of Jamil Naqus during the exhibition of his work titled “The Supremacy of Letters” at Tanzara Gallery. INP

Final list oF successFul PilgriMs on 15th RAWALPINDI

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aPP

eDeRAL Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Sardar Muhammad Yousaf Friday said the final list of successful intending pilgrims, who would perform the religious obligation under the government scheme, would be issued on May 15.

This year, around 56,684 and 86,684 pilgrims would be sent to Saudi Arabia under the both government and private schemes for Haj respectively.

The minister said the ministry was compiling 127,000 applications

The article was written by eleven Uygur university students at 5:13 am on May 1, 2014. They are Abudrixit and Kurban from North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power; Mardan and Hurxidan from Xinjiang University; Marlisa from Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Ferhad from Beijing University of Chemical Technology; Airxit from Beijing Foreign Studies University; Emran from Shanghai Foreign Studies University; Yusuf from Shanghai University; Xuhlat from Xinjiang University of Finance and Economics and Sikandar from Xinjiang Medical University.

it received under the government scheme and hopefully the process would be completed by May 15 on first come first served basis. He was talking to reporters at Benazir Bhutto International Airport Islamabad after inaugurating the direct flight operation of Flynas Airlines from Islamabad to Saudi Arabia and back. He said four airlines including Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Flynas, Shaheen and Saudi Airlines would participate in the pre and post Haj flight-operations to airlift Pakistani pilgrims to the Holy land and bring them back.

On special directives of Prime Minister nawaz Sharif, he said, haj package has been reduced by Rs

ADMISSIONS INTO MODEL COLLEGES DENIED

23,000 per pilgrim as part of the government's commitment to extend maximum facilities to the guests of Allah.

Replaying to a question, the Sardar Yousaf said, the ministry has made a special request with the Saudi authorities to exempt Pakistani pilgrims from submitting food charges, to be served pilgrims, during their stay in Saudi Arabia.

However, he said, there would be no increase in the Haj package, which the governments already announced, for both the South and north regions of the country. "The government will itself bear all additional charges, if imposed by the Saudi authorities."

ISLAMABAD: Parents of over 400 students have voiced strong protest against denying of admission to their children by model colleges.

These students including boys and girls had filed their admission forms with admission cell set up under director Asif niazi of Federal Directorate of education. Major chunk of applications were received for admission into model colleges located at F-6, F-7, F-8 and I10. Farid Ullah Khan had issued strict directives that no student be denied admission into any college and stern action will be initiated against the educational institutions which will not extend admission to the students. Sources said admission cell has sent 50 percent applications to the model colleges but the heads of these colleges have refused to accord admission to the students on the plea that they have no more capacity to admit more students. Parents have filed complaints with the admission cell against this attitude of the model colleges. Asif niazi has said that he is evolving a comprehensive report which will be sent to CAD secretary for initiation of action against these colleges. ONLINE

District eDucation, health authorities next year RAWALPINDI: The Punjab government has decided to set up education and health authorities at district level throughout the province on the start of new financial year in July. The provincial government decided to appoint district coordination officers (DCOs) or their nominated representatives as chairmen of both the authorities in every district. For the purpose an amendment will be approved by the provincial assembly in the relevant law. The draft of the amendment is at final stage of preparation. The authorities will be consisting of nine to 11 members. A bureaucrat will be the executive officer and nominated person (MPA, retired sessions judge, police officer, education officer or person from nGO) will be chairman. The authorities will be authorised for recruitments, procurement of furniture and medicines and other affairs of the education and Health departments. These will also have power to privatize any school, hospital, dispensary or Basic Health Unit (BHU). INP

ADMISSION WOES OF TRADERS’ CHILDREN IN FG SCHOOLS CONTINUE ISLAMABAD INP

Local traders have appealed to the prime minister of Pakistan to intervene and direct the concerned authorities to redress the admission woes of their children in FG schools.

ICT Chamber of Small Traders President Khalid Mian said that there is no policy for enrolment of children in the FG Schools and 30 percent admis-

sions are given to those children who do not reside in Islamabad nor their parents are federal employees.

This situation deprives the students of Islamabad of admission in FG Schools and they are forced to seek admissions in private schools.

He appealed to Capital Administration and Development Division Secretary Faridullah Khan to order for thorough inquiry into the admissions in FG Schools to find out true facts of the matter and arrange admission of all those children who have been kept

out of enrolment due to such unfair practices.

He said few years ago, some FG Schools were merged into model schools but have not been provided any funds due to which their teachers are facing problems and condition of such schools have also deteriorated. He further said that the plan of free education is proving just a mirage as students have not been provided books as yet and they have to purchase the same from market.

Khalid Mian said that getting admission to FG

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Schools for the children of traders has become a serious problem because despite having domicile, they are not being enrolled. He said if the government cannot run schools, it should privatize them to improve their condition. He appealed to the Prime Minister Muhammad nawaz Sharif to take notice of this situation and issue instructions to concerned authorities to facilitate children in getting admission to FG Schools and save their future career from destruction.

08 COMMENT A different mourning day in Karachi

Saturday, 3 May, 2014

US foreign policy is in disarray The Obama administration must prove to America’s allies that it is competent to lead

MQM’s peaceful protest but what’s with the LEAs?

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ITHIN ten days of joining the Sindh government the MQM announced Friday as the day of mourning on account of what the party called the extra-judicial murder of its four workers. The announcement caused panic in Karachi as it revived memories of lawlessness, killings and destruction of property that have invariably followed such announcements in the past. There was a complete shutter down-cum-wheel jam strike in Karachi and Hyderabad on Friday, causing as usual big losses to the business community. The educational institutions were shut down and examinations due on Friday rescheduled. Courts were closed causing hardships to the litigants coming from far off cities. The common citizens too faced hassle as vendors providing daily services were not available.

There was something unusual this time though. The protest day passed off peacefully making the Karachiites heave a sigh of relief at the end of the day. A day earlier Altaf Hussain had addressed party workers but instead of reverting to the familiar threats and calls for revenge, he appealed to them to withhold their emotions and observe a peaceful day of mourning. In the provincial assembly on Friday, MQM legislators pleaded for justice and forcefully argued for putting an end to the killing of their workers. As it looked odd for a party in power to be protesting against its own government, the MQM exonerated the provincial government of responsibility for the killings. The House passed a resolution condemning the executions.

For years Karachi has suffered from lawlessness, target killings, kidnappings for ransom and extortions through violent means. This despite three parties representing the city ruling as coalition partners during 2008-13 when criminal activities of the sort attained new heights.

As the coalition partners blamed each other, the Supreme Court warned both the PPP-led federal government and the Sindh government that unless they acted responsibly Karachi would be reduced to ashes. The ongoing operation in Karachi was launched at the demand of various political parties, including the MQM. It is the responsibility of all these parties to make it successful.

When the PPO was introduced it was argued that the wide powers given by the Ordinance to law enforcement agencies and the prosecution department would ensure that there were no enforced disappearances or extra judicial killings.

It is therefore highly worrisome that dead bodies, in cases bearing the signs of torture, continue to appear in Karachi and occasionally in interior Sindh. Instead of making unsubstantiated claims, as Farooq Sattar has done, the MQM should register an FIR against those it suspects of involvement and present the evidence before the court.

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: 051-2204545 Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

RICHARD N HAASS

U

S foreign policy is in troubling disarray. The result is unwelcome news for the world, which largely depends upon the United States to promote order in the absence of any other country able and willing to do so. And it is bad for the United States, which cannot insulate itself from developments beyond its borders.

If success has many fathers, it turns out that so, too, does disarray. The Administration of George W. Bush overreached in Iraq and (along with the Federal Reserve Board and Congress) under-regulated the financial sector in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis.

Congress should also be held accountable for the sequester (which makes no distinction between investment and spending), the government shutdown, the near-default on the debt, and repeated failures to reform the immigration system, modernize infrastructure, or reform long-term entitlement obligations. All of this has weakened the economic strength of the United States and exacted a serious toll on its reputation for reliability and competence.

Still, the Obama Administration cannot escape its share of the responsibility for what has gone wrong. As was the case with its predecessor and Congress, the shortcomings are mostly self-inflicted. What is curious about the Obama Administration’s troubles is that they are inconsistent with its own professed approach to the world. A concept exists—one developed and promulgated by the Obama Administration in its first term—that provides a useful compass for what the United States should do in the world. What is missing is the commitment and discipline to ensure that implementation of foreign policy is consistent with this compass.

The concept that should inform American foreign policy is the pivot or rebalancing—that is, the notion that the United States should decrease its emphasis on the Middle East and instead focus more on Asia. The change is warranted by the fact that the United States has enormous interests in the Asia-Pacific region, which is home to many of the countries likely to dominate the current century. It is also an area where the United States can count numerous formal obligations. The worrisome news is that the region’s stability is increasingly uncertain; the reassuring news is that the United States possesses the tools (be they diplomatic, economic, or military) to advance and defend its interests there.

The Middle East, for its part, is much less likely to define the world’s future, given the absence of a major power presence. What is more, the instruments of American foreign policy tend not to be effective if the goal is to remake local political systems. The United States is much better positioned to shape the policies of governments beyond their borders than it is their behavior within them.

So if the strategy is good, what is the problem? It is this: If, as Woody Allen says, 80 percent of life is showing up, then 80 percent of foreign policy is implementation. No design, no matter how good, is better than what is carried out in its name. The problem is not with the pivot or the rebalance; it is with a foreign policy that pays it little heed.

This judgment may appear odd, as at first glance the Obama Adminis-

tration seems to be moving away from the Middle East. There are no longer any U.S. combat forces in Iraq, and the number of U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan (now below 40,000) will before long be reduced to 10,000 or fewer. Elsewhere in the region, the Obama Administration confined itself to leading from behind in Libya, avoiding following up the overthrow of Muammar Qaddafi with “boots on the ground.” It has largely remained aloof from the war in Syria, declining to provide much in the way of arms to the “moderate” opposition and backing away from a direct use of military force, even though the Assad government defied a U.S. “red line” by using chemical weapons on several occasions.

There is a problem, however.

While the Administration is doing less in the region militarily, it continues to articulate ambitious goals politically.

The default option for the Obama Administration’s foreign policy in the Middle East seems to be regime change, consisting of repeated calls for authoritarian leaders to leave power.

First it was Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, then Muammar Qaddafi in Libya, followed by Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

Yet history shows time and time again that it can be difficult to oust a leader, and even when it is not, it can be extremely difficult to help bring about a stable, alternative authority that is better in terms of American preferences. The result is that the United States often finds itself with an uncomfortable choice: Either it must back off its declared goals, which makes it look feckless and encourages widespread defiance, or it has to make good on its aims, which would require enormous investments in blood, treasure, and time rarely justified by the interests or results.

The Obama Administration, wary of anything that would lead to a longterm, large-scale deployment on the scale of either Iraq or Afghanistan, has largely opted for the former. The most egregious case has been Syria, where the President and others declared that “Assad must go” only to do little to bring about his departure. Military support of those opposition elements judged to be acceptable has been minimal. Worse yet, the President avoided using force in the wake of clear chemical weapons use by the Syrian government, a decision that raised doubts far and wide about American dependability and that damaged what little confidence and potential the non-jihadi opposition possessed. The result is that Assad has not gone and the principal opposition is worse, from an American perspective; it is only a matter of time before the United States will likely have to swallow the bitter pill of tolerating Assad while supporting acceptable opposition elements against the jihadis. Negotiating efforts that ignore realities on the ground will continue to bear little if any fruit.

Meanwhile, large areas within Libya are increasingly out of government control and under the authority of militias and terrorists. In Egypt the United States alienated both supporters of a secular society (by calling for Hosni Mubarak’s departure and pressing for early elections) and those of the Muslim Brotherhood (by refusing to describe the ouster of the government of Mohamed Morsi in late June 2013 as a coup and accepting the result). Today’s Egypt is polarized and characterized by mounting violence. Much the same is true in Iraq, now the second-most turbulent country in the region, where the United States now finds itself with little influence despite a costly decade of occupation. Terrorists now have more of a foothold in the re-

CMYK

gion than ever before. Jordan risks being overwhelmed by refugees; only Tunisia seems better off, although even this is in some doubt.

Just to be clear, none of this should be read as a call for the United States to do more to oust regimes, much less occupy countries in the name of nation-building. To the contrary, it can be costly to oust regimes (Syria being the prime example) and even costlier (and, at times, impossible) to put something sufficiently better in its place to justify those costs.

Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, and Libya all come to mind here. There is as well a good deal of evidence that gradual and peaceful reform of authoritarian systems is not only less expensive by every measure and more likely to result in an open society, but also less likely to result in disruption and death.

The push for regime change has brought about “cures” worse than the disease; to extend the medical metaphor, the United States would have been wiser to observe the Hippocratic Oath and, first, do no harm.

The extraordinary commitment being made to resolving the IsraeliPalestinian conflict is also difficult to justify. The dispute does not appear ripe for resolution, and even if a framework is established, it is anything but certain that it would be translated into an actual agreement. And even if this assessment proves wrong, it needs to be acknowledged that the Israel-Palestinian dispute no longer occupies center stage in the Middle East. The emergence of a separate Palestinian state would not affect the dynamics of what is taking place in Syria or Egypt or Iraq. It would be important and desirable for both Israelis and Palestinians, but it has become more a local than a regional dispute.

The one vital undertaking in the Middle East that the Obama Administration has pursued energetically is the effort to negotiate a pact with Iran that would place a ceiling on its nuclear capacity and potential. The Obama Administration deserves praise for all it did to ratchet up sanctions against Iran.

Iran’s interest in a nuclear deal has gone up as a result; the challenge will be to come up with a package that is enough for Iran and not too much for us and for Israel.

It is a difficult but worthwhile pursuit, as a diplomatic settlement is far preferable to an Iran possessing nuclear weapons or to mounting an attack to prevent such an outcome.

A Secretary of State can only do so much; time spent in Jerusalem and Geneva is time not spent in Tokyo and Beijing. And there is much that could be done in Asia. Regular consultations are warranted with the principal powers of the region, including China, Japan, and South Korea. Both crisis prevention and crisis management need to figure prominently in a region char-

acterized by growing nationalism and rivalry and few diplomatic channels or institutions; so, too, does planning for a transition to a unified Korean Peninsula. Long-promised increases in U.S. air and naval presence in the region need to become a reality.

Unfortunately, no senior official in the Administration has yet made this set of issues a sufficient second term priority. The one official who has done so is U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman. The progress on negotiating a regional trade pact is welcome on economic and strategic grounds alike; still, an energetic trade policy is no substitute for a broader strategic undertaking.

The United States also will want to increase its involvement in and with Europe. American inattention, combined with Ukraine’s own political dysfunction and the European Union’s bungling, set the stage for Russian expansion into Crimea. Shaping Russian behavior henceforth will require sustained diplomacy across the Atlantic, greater allocation of economic resources to Ukraine, a willingness to export meaningful amounts of oil and natural gas, and a renewed commitment to NATO’s military readiness.

The Administration also needs to focus on the home front and the strength and resilience of the economy and society. This is not an alternative to national security, but rather a central part of it. The energy boom is a major positive development, but also needed is comprehensive immigration reform, infrastructure modernization, and a willingness to tackle entitlements. Absent such efforts, economic growth, while it will proceed, will not be as great as it could be or needs to be; just as important, the opportunity will be lost to do something about the debt before it explodes owing to surging Medicare and Social Security costs and higher interest rates.

But it is not just a matter of ensuring American strength and continued internationalism in the face of growing isolationist sentiment. It is also a case of sending the right message to others.

Foreign and domestic policy developments over the past decade have raised questions about American competence and reliability. Revelations about NSA activities that signaled to many friends and allies that they are not treated all that differently from adversaries exacerbated such problems. The result is accelerated movement in the direction of a post-American world in which a growing number of decisions are made and actions taken with reduced regard for U.S. preferences and interests. Such a world promises to be messier and less supportive of American interests.

Richard N. Haass is president of the Council on Foreign Relations. His most recent book is Foreign Policy Begins at Home.

WORLD VIEW 09

Saturday, 3 May, 2014

Brazil Olympics taking human tOll Press TV

t

DaviD swanson

HE author of Brazil's Dance with the Devil, Dave Zirin, must love sports, as I do, as billions of us do, or he wouldn't keep writing about where sports have gone wrong. But, wow, have they gone wrong!

Brazil is set to host the World Cup this year and the Olympics in 2016. In preparation Brazil is evicting 200,000 people from their homes, eliminating poor neighborhoods, defunding public services, investing in a militarized police and surveillance state, using slave and prison labor to build outrageous stadiums unlikely to be filled more than once, and "improving" a famous old stadium (the world's largest for 50 years) by removing over half the capacity in favor of luxury seats. Meanwhile, popular protests and graffiti carry the message: "We want 'FIFA standard' hospitals and schools!" not to mention this one: FIFA = Fédération Internationale de Football Association, aka Soccer Profiteers International Brazil is just the latest in a string of nations that have chosen the glory of hosting mega sports events like the Olympics and World Cup despite the drawbacks. And Zirin makes a case that nations' governments don't see the drawbacks as drawbacks at all, that in fact they are the actual motivation.

"Countries don't want these mega-events in spite of the threats to public welfare, addled construction projects, and repression they bring, but because of them."

Just as a storm or a war can be used as an excuse to strip away rights and concentrate wealth, so can

the storm of sporting events that, coincidentally or not, have their origins in the preparation of nations for warmaking.

Zirin notes that the modern Olympics were launched by a group of European aristocrats and generals who favored nationalism and war -- led by Pierre de Coubertin who believed sport was "an indirect preparation for war." "In sports," he said, "all the same qualities flourish which serve for warfare: indifference toward one's well being, courage, readiness for the unforeseen." The trappings of the Olympic celebration as we know it, however -- the opening ceremonies, marching athletes, Olympic torch run, etc., -- were created by the Nazis' propaganda office for the 1936 games. The World Cup, on the other hand, began in 1934 in Mussolini's Italy with a tournament rigged to guarantee an Italian win.

More worrisome than what sports prepare athletes for is what they may prepare fans for. There are great similarities between rooting for a sports team, especially a national sports team, and rooting for a national military.

"As soon as the question of prestige arises," wrote George Orwell, whom Zirin quotes, "as soon as you feel that you and some larger unit will be disgraced if you lose, the most savage combative instincts are aroused."

And there is prestige not just in "your" team winning, but in "your" nation hosting the grand event.

Zirin spoke with people in Brazil who were of mixed minds, opposing the injustices the Olympics bring but still glad the Olympics was coming to Brazil.

Zirin also quotes Brazilian politicians who seem to

US BILLIONAIRE BUYING UP ISRAEL'S MEDIA

share the goal of national prestige.

At some point the prestige and the profits and the corruption and the commercialism seem to take over the athletics. "[T]he Olympics aren't about sport any more than the Iraq war was about democracy," Zirin writes. "The Olympics are not about athletes. And they're definitely not about bringing together the 'community of nations.' They are a neoliberal Trojan horse aimed at bringing in business and rolling back the most basic civil liberties."

And yet ... And yet ... the damn thing still is about sports, no matter what else it's about, no matter what alternative venues for sports are possible or imaginable. The fact remains that there are great athletes engaged in great sporting activities in the Olympics and the World Cup. The attraction of the circus is still real, even when we know it's at the expense of bread, rather than accompanying bread. And dangerous as the circus may be for the patriotic and militarist minded, one has the darndest time trying to find anything wrong with one's own appreciation for sports; at least I do.

The Olympics are also decidedly less militaristic -- or at least overtly militaristic -- than U.S. sports like football, baseball, and basketball, with their endless glorification of the U.S. military. "Thank you to our service men and women watching in 175 countries and keeping us safe." The Olympics is also one of the few times that people in the U.S. see people from other countries on their televisions without wars being involved.

Zirin's portrait of Brazil leaves me with similarly

Ruth Eglash

Las Vegas casino magnate and GOP super donor Sheldon Adelson is gambling on a new venture. On Wednesday, after the Israeli antitrust authority approved his purchase of two more news outlets, the Jewish American billionaire upped his ante in the country’s media market.

Adelson already owns one of the four mainstream newspapers here, a free daily tabloid called Israel Hayom (Israel Today). He started that newspaper in 2007 and helped it grow to have the largest circulation in the country.

With his latest purchases, Adelson will now also control the main religious daily, Makor Rishon, which caters to Israel’s Zionist religious right, and NRG, the news Web site of the Maariv newspaper, which has faced a multitude of financial woes in the past few years.

While the antitrust authority decided that Adelson’s acquisitions are not crossing any competitive red lines, media watchdogs (and not a few political pundits) worry about Adelson's growing influence. Adelson is an avid supporter and long-time friend of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“As a very strong backer of Prime Minister Netanyahu – not that there's anything wrong with it – Adelson owns a paper that is rarely, if ever, critical of the PM,” wrote Shmeul Rosner, an Israeli commentator, in Jewish Journal.

“He now owns two papers, and one might suspect that now two papers will never be critical of Netanyahu.”

Israel’s news media are lively, but venues are not infinite, with four main national newspapers, three television news broadcasters and a handful of radio and news Web sites vying to inform and sway public opinion in a country known for its rough-and-tumble politics.

An investigative report by Channel 10 aired last year claimed that Adelson’s newspaper Israel Hayom was spinning the news to show Netanyahu in a more positive light. The newspaper’s editor, Amos Regev, dismissed the report, saying, “This so-called evidence doesn't prove anything other than the routine workings of a news organization."

Adelson’s new ventures are seen as a good thing for Netanyahu. Israel’s media is often very critical of Netanyahu — and loves engaging in what the Prime Minister calls “psychobabble” about his motives. Though he makes plenty of public pronouncements, Netanyahu rarely grants on-the-record interviews or does not host regular news conferences. Adelson's purchase might also be a plus for Netanyahu's wife, Sara, who regularly faces media scrutiny for what critics call her imperial lifestyle (she recently came under fire for yelling at a staffer for buying bags of milk instead of a proper carton).

Adelson has played a big role in GOP politics and is vocal about his support for Israel. In 2012, he spent millions backing the presidential candidacy of Mitt Romney, not only in a bid to beat President Obama but also to ensure strengthened support for Israel in domestic U.S. politics.

And, more recently, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) apologized to Adelson after referring to the West Bank as “occupied territories” in a speech at the spring leadership meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition, an event Adelson hosted at his Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas.

David Swanson is an American activist, blogger and author. He served for a year as media coordinator for the International Labor Communications Association.

IRAQ’S ELECTIONS MAY ACCELERATE ITS DESCENT washiNgToN PosT

washiNgToN PosT

mixed sentiments. His research is impressive. He describes a rich and complex history. Despite all the corruption and cruelty, I can't help being attracted to a nation that won its independence without a war, abolished slavery without a war, reduces poverty by giving poor people money, denounces U.S. drone murders at the U.N., joins with Turkey to propose an agreement between the United States and Iran, joins with Russia, India, and China to resist U.S. imperialism; and on the same day this year that the U.S. Federal Communications Commission proposed ending the open internet, Brazil created the world's first internet bill of rights. For a deeply flawed place, there's a lot to like.

It's also hard to resist a group of people that pushes back against the outrages being imposed on it. When a bunch of houses in a poor Brazilian neighborhood were slated for demolition, an artist took photos of the residents, blew them up, and pasted them on the walls of the houses, finally shaming the government into letting the houses stand. That approach to injustice, much like the Pakistani artists' recent placement of an enormous photo of a drone victim in a field for U.S. drone pilots to see, has huge potential.

Now, the question is how to display the Olympics' victims to enough Olympics fans around the world so that no new nation will be able to accept this monster on the terms it has been imposing.

Iraq’s best days in the past decade have been its elections, and somewhat surprisingly, Wednesday was one of them.

Though the country is sliding into civil war — the United Nations reported that 750 people were killed by political violence in April — about 12 million people went to the polls to vote in the first parliamentary elections held without the presence of U.S. troops. The turnout, a reported 58 percent, was higher than in most U.S. presidential elections. Iraqis remain eager to practice democracy, even if their rulers are not.

Unfortunately, the voting appears more likely to accelerate than arrest Iraq’s descent into the mass bloodshed and disintegration that has overtaken neighboring Syria. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki , in office eight years, appears confident that his Shiite party will win a plurality of votes, allowing him to continue what has been an increasingly authoritarian and sectarian rule. With heavy backing from Iran, Iraq’s strongman hopes to corral dissident Shiite par-

ties and perhaps Kurds into a new coalition, though that process could take months. Even if he fails, Mr. Maliki’s opponents may lack the muscle to remove him from office.

The Baghdad government and its U.S.-trained Army, meanwhile, are losing control over much of the country.

Mr. Maliki built support among Shiites before the election by launching a military campaign against Sunni tribes in Anbar province; the result was the takeover of Fallujah by al-Qaeda and waves of bombings against Shiites in Baghdad. Without U.S. support, the army appears to lack the means to recapture Fallujah and other Sunni-populated areas, though Mr. Maliki, like Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, has resorted to using Iranian-backed Shiite militias. The prosperous, autonomous Kurdistan region, with its own oil reserves, has become a de facto independent state.

At least some of this trouble could have been avoided had the Obama administration managed Iraq better. Eager to withdraw all U.S. forces during his first term, Mr. Obama backed Mr. Ma-

liki following the 2010 election even after it became clear his coalition had been brokered by Iran. Just as the absence of U.S. military advisers and trainers has contributed to the Iraqi army’s loss of effectiveness, the absence of U.S. political brokers — generals as well as diplomats — has accelerated the sectarian crumbling of the American-built democratic system.

Most Americans may share Mr. Obama’s readiness to dismiss this mess.

But Iraq’s failure will do more than reverse the gains won by the hundreds of thousands of Americans who served there over nine years. Al-Qaeda and its affiliates are close to consolidating control of a wide swath of territory extending across western Iraq and northern Syria. U.S. intelligence chiefs have told Congress that the extremists, who have attracted thousands of recruits from around the Middle East and Europe, aspire to launch attacks against the U.S. homeland. The Obama administration may hope that a new Iraqi government can eliminate this threat; the odds are that it will not.

FRENCH JIHADISTS IN SYRIA New York Times The four French journalists safely returned to France last month after being held as hostages in Syria for 10 months reported the shocking news that some of their captors spoke perfect French. The men were never allowed to see their hooded guards’ faces, and were told they would be killed if they did. The idea that French citizens might have been among the hostages’ captors has shaken the French public, and the government moved quickly to announce a plan to prevent its citizens from joining extremist groups in Syria.

Some of the measures will be difficult to put into effect, and some raise legal and civil liberties issues, but there is no question that the government has to act. The French Foreign Ministry estimates that 500 to 700 citizens have left the country to join radical groups fighting in Syria, like the Islamist State of Iraq and the Levant, which is suspected of kidnapping the French journalists. Many are teenagers or young adults who have become radicalized by visiting websites that promote jihad in Syria as holy war. The government will take aim at extremist Islamic websites; reinstate a requirement that minors have parental permission to leave French territory; and register profiles of people deemed to pose a risk with French agencies and with the Schengen Information System, the European database.

On April 30, the French, British, Belgians and Germans met in London to discuss how best to tackle this growing, panEuropean problem. France is cool to Britain’s plans to encourage British Muslims who want to help Syrians to do so through charitable groups, and to enlist women to work with the police to identify potential jihadists.

France’s strategy of enlisting parents and educators to identify vulnerable minors before they feel the pull of violent jihad and to prevent those young people from running off to Syria to be killed or turned into battle-hardened fighters makes sense. So does making sure that any who return do not pose a threat at home.

10 BUSINESS

Saturday, 3 May, 2014

WORLD BANK APPROVES $12B, FIVE-YEAR LOAN FOR PAKISTAN Loan carries two per cent interest rate, first tranche will be spent on refinancing short-term, high-interest loans that the govt has taken ISLAMABAD

T

often cannot afford to pay for it, causing daily power cuts that have damaged many industries. The country was facing a balance of payments crisis last year and had only enough cash for one month’s worth of imports before the International Monetary Fund approved a package of $6.7 billion in September.

Since then, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has helped boost the country’s cash reserves. In February, Saudi Arabia gave Pakistan a gift of $1.5 billion.

In April, Islamabad raised $2 billion raised in a eurobond offering and $1.1 billion from an

StAff RePoRt

He World Bank has approved a $12 billion loan for cash-strapped Pakistan that will disbursed over five years, the Finance Ministry said on Friday.

The ministry said the money will target “energy, economy, (fighting) extremism and education”, with $1 billion being transferred to Pakistan in the next week. The loan will carry a 2 per cent interest rate.

Pakistan is struggling to deal with a massive energy crisis, high unemployment and a shortfall in tax revenue. It has borrowed heavily to pay to cover government expenditure.

Pakistan relies on imported oil to run most of its electricity grid, but

auction of 3G and 4G telecommunications licenses. But money remains tight. The IMF loan is largely being spent on repaying a previous one from the Fund.

Pakistan needs about $1 billion a month to pay for its imports, and energy demand will peak during the sweltering summer months to come.

The first tranche of World Bank money will be spent on refinancing short-term, high-interest loans that the government has taken. Pakistan is facing a large shortfall in tax revenue. Some wealthy Pakistanis pay no income tax, which the government has repeatedly promised, and failed to change.

Many legislators and some ministers evade tax, according to the Center for Investigative Reporting in Pakistan, a non-government organization. Social services and infrastructure are crumbling while politicians splurge on personal bodyguards, foreign trips, luxuries and land for their personal use.

Activists say rage at government corruption and neglect are fuelling two insurgencies.

Major Gainers COMPANY Rafhan Maize Philip Morris Pak. Murree Brewery Sanofi-Aventis XD MithchellsFruit

OPEN 10299.99 638.40 611.73 896.00 697.99

HIGH 10299.99 670.32 611.73 900.00 716.62

LOW 10299.99 638.40 611.73 896.00 690.00

CLOSE 10299.99 670.32 611.73 900.00 700.00

CHANGE 99.99 31.92 29.13 28.50 17.50

TURNOVER 20 1,700 1,500 400 2,500

8500.00 3399.00 4100.00 1247.00 476.00

8500.00 3350.00 4100.00 1220.00 475.00

8500.00 3368.38 4100.00 1220.00 475.25

-300.00 -116.62 -40.00 -27.00 -24.75

20 200 20 240 500

14.47 31.09 12.35 10.74 16.60

13.97 30.35 11.75 10.30 15.95

14.07 30.73 11.82 10.59 16.34

-0.05 0.28 -0.18 0.21 -0.03

18,588,000 11,074,500 9,439,000 8,190,500 6,450,500

Major Losers Unilever FoodsXD Bata (Pak) XD Wyeth Pak Ltd Siemens Pakistan Pak Services

8500.00 3350.00 4100.00 1220.00 475.00

Volume Leaders Lafarge Pak.XD Maple Leaf Cement Jah.Sidd. Co. B.O.Punjab Faysal Bank

14.20 30.59 12.24 10.32 16.35

Interbank Rates USD GBP JPY EURO

PKR 98.7290 PKR 166.6842 PKR 0.9634 PKR 136.8285

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

BUY

SELL

91.6 90.1 15.3 137.85 0.9554 26.5 27.10 166.55 99.5

91.85 90.35 15.45 138.1 0.9698 26.75 27.35 166.8 99.75

CORPORATE CORNER Emirates to start services to Brussels LAHORE: Emirates, a global connector of people, places and economies today announced that it will launch a new daily service to Brussels, Belgium, from 5th September 2014. Hosting the European Commission, the European Council and over 120 other international organisations, Brussels is a key decision making centre. Home to thousands of international diplomats and civil servants, Emirates’ new service will add to the city’s global connectivity and contribute to further stimulating the country’s economic growth. Brussels will be Emirates’ 147th destination, closely following the launch of Oslo, Norway on 2nd September. The non-stop service will be operated by a Boeing 777 in a three-class configuration. Emirates will be the first international airline to offer a First Class product from Brussels to the Middle East and Asia offering customers an unrivalled travel experience. PReSS ReLeASe HYDERABAD: Businesses were closed at Tawer Market on Friday in wake of MQM’s call for observing a day of mourning over alleged extrajudicial killings of its workers. INP

LG reports improved first quarter 2014 results

VALUE ADDITION IMPERATIVE TO INCREASE TEXTILE EXPORTS: MINISTER LAHORE APP

Federal Minister for Textile and Industry Abbas Khan Afridi has said that work is underway on a new policy of value addition to increase exports.

Addressing a press conference at the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) office on Friday, he said without adding value to their products it was impossible to achieve the target of increasing their

exports up to $26 billion.

He was of the view that CNG should only be available to taxis and buses while the rest should be given to the textile industry.

The minister said the prime minister had formed a committee which would review electricity and gas related issues of the textile industry and its meeting would be held soon.

Abbas Khan Afridi said that Pakistan's cotton industry contributed a lot to the national economy and the unemployment problem could be tackled by strengthening it. All

decisions would be made after due consultation with stakeholders of the textile industry, he added. There was a need to build an image of Pakistan's textile sector that people know its products because of their best quality, he added.

He said a plan was being made to celebrate the coming year as textile year so that maximum improvement of the textile industry could be ensured. Federal Secretary for Ministry of Textile and Industry Rukhsana Shah was also present.

LAHORE: LG Electronics Inc. (LG) today announced a 319 percent increase in first-quarter net profit compared with the same period last year.First-quarter 2014 net profit rose to KRW 92.60 billion (USD 86.62 million) while operating profit of KRW 504 billion (USD 471.47 million)marked a significant improvement from the previous quarter due to improved profitability from the LG Home Entertainment Company.Unaudited first quarter consolidated revenues of KRW 14.27 trillion (USD 13.35 billion) increased 1.2 percent compared to the same quarter in 2013. The LG Home Entertainment Company reported first-quarter revenues of KRW 4.95 trillion (USD 4.63 billion), a 3 percent increase from the first quarter a year ago.Operating profit of KRW 240.30 billion (USD 224.79 million) exceeded expectations due to stronger sales of larger-sized TVs and better cost structure resulting from declining material prices. Revenues are expected to increase in the second quarter with new model launches. LG will continue to diversify its premium Ultra HD TV and OLED TV lineup with more sizes and price levels to offset greater competition. PReSS ReLeASe

LARGE LISTED BANKS’ PROFITS UP 17PC IN 1Q 2014 KARACHI StAff RePoRt

Falling interest rates and tightening requirement of minimum return on saving deposits affected the conventional banks’ margins and profits in 2013.

However, signs of improvement have started to emerge as profits of all listed banks have increased by 17pc YoY to Rs 32.4 billion on the back of higher net interest income (NII), falling provisions against bad loans and improved non-interest income.

Similarly, profits of large banks have

increased by 12pc YoY in 1Q2014 to Rs22.6 billion.

"Our sample of large banks includes five top commercial banks, ABL, HBL, MCB, NBP & UBL while we have excluded three banks, KASBB, SILK and SMBL for calculations related to all listed banks as they are either loss making or did not announce their Mar 2014 result," said the analysts at Topline Research.

They said the effects of declining yields on advances and government papers and rising deposit costs resulted into falling banking spreads to 9 year low of 6.02pc in 1Q2014 vs 6.21pc in 1Q2013.

Last year, banking spreads averaged 6.2pc versus 7.02pc in 2012.

However, overall growth in banking deposits and assets resulted into 10pc YoY growth in NII of listed banks to Rs78 billion in 1Q2014.

Non-interest income, which contributes 18pc to the total revenues of banks, also remained strong at Rs34.5 billion. The 23pc YoY growth is mainly because of strong fee income, income from forex operations and capital gains.

During the same period, NII of large banks increased by 6.5%YoY (2.4%QoQ) to Rs48.1bn while Non-Inter-

est Income increased by 21.7%YoY (4.6%QoQ) to Rs21.0bn.

Improvement over the economic side, rising corporate profitability and improved investors’ confidence has resulted into improved asset quality of commercial banks. In 1Q2014, listed banks’ provisions against bad loans declined by 43%YoY to Rs1.6bn.

On quarter on quarter basis, provision expense declined by massive 83% mainly due to NBP’s charged Rs5.2bn provision in 4Q2013. Similar trend was witnessed for large banks whose provisions against bad loans fell by 57%YoY and 87%QoQ

to Rs624mn. Going forward, though spreads are at record low, NII and NIMs of local banks are likely to get support from banks’ recent interest in high yielding longer tenure bonds, rising credit growth and improving asset quality.

To recall, private sector credit growth during 1HFY14 remained at 10% vs. 3% average in last 5 years while net infection ratio has dropped to 3.1% in 2013 compared to 4.6% a year back.

Local banks and other investors have invested Rs1.4tn though PIB auctions in 2014 to date out of which 60-70% is likely to show up on banks’ balance sheet.

LEISURE 11

Saturday, 3 May, 2014

HaGaR tHE HoRRIblE

aries

taurus

gemini

You are starting in a new direction today - even if it doesn't feel life it. Your initiative is key to your success, so even if you don't feel like doing anything, force yourself to get out there.

Intuition is more powerful than ever today -- so make sure that you're making good use of it! You may get little clues into someone's behavior or realize that you need to make a big change soon.

Financial weirdness makes life difficult late in the day -but you have the tools at your disposal to take care of this. Just try not to panic as things start to get a little rough this afternoon.

cancer

leo

virgo

Try to assert your rights today -- especially at work or in other environments where you aren't in total control. All you have to do is speak up to be taken seriously, so it shouldn't be too tough.

Your modesty is a sometimessurprising feature, and today you deploy it in a way that is quietly impressive. It's a good time to hang back and let others hog the credit. Those in the know are aware of your talent.

Try your best to get organized today -- things are pretty intense, but you should still be able to work your magic on the mess that surrounds you. By this time tomorrow, you should be calm again.

libra

scorpio

sagittarius

Take care to appreciate life's small pleasures today -- you can tell that things are good overall, even if you can't quite see the big picture as it stands.

Things are slowly on the upswing.

Try to let go of someone you care for -their freedom trumps everything, and if they run away at top speed, that's how it's meant to be. More likely they'll stay in your orbit, which is for the best.

You have got to be as flexible as possible today -- otherwise, you may find that you've got even more work ahead of you tomorrow. Things are definitely getting better, but it takes time.

dIlbERt

GaRFIEld

baldo

capricorn

aQuarius

pisces

You're reaching new extremes today -- and you may find that you've broken through to something new and wonderful. Make this the new normal and you will be all set for quite a while!

Animals of all sorts are more appealing -- and deliver more wisdom -- than usual. If you've got pets, spend some time communing with them; if not, head out into the world and find one you can learn from.

Your emotions are almost overwhelmingly positive today -- your love life is where it needs to be, and your friends are getting everything they need from you. It's a great day!

cRosswoRd

sUdokU

woRd sEaRcH

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.

Today’s soluTions

wHat's yoUR anGlE

cHEss black TO PlaY aND MaTE IN ThrEE MOVEs 8

Down

7 6 5 4 3 2

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

chess solution

A

1...d3 2.Rxd3 Rxd3 3.Qxd3 e4 *

1

sudoku solution

1 bulgarian capital (5) 2 getting out of bed very early (2,4,3,4) 3 anger when driving (4,4) 4 badinage (6) 5 closed (4) 6 imprisonment (13) 7 aphrodite, for example (7) 12 forming an essential part (8) 13 low wall (7) 15 marine reptile of the order chelonia (6) 18 perhaps (5) 19 brief satirical sketch (4)

plank potpourri prayer rest rosary rural scour sills spate sport spume sterile stoic table tank title train trust virus

crossword solution

1 military drill (6-7) 8 a small number (3) 9 proclaimed (9) 10 blood vessels (8) 11 faithful (4) 13 thick soup (6) 14 cherubim, seraphim etc (6) 16 regretted (4) 17 tepid (8) 20 practical joker (9) 21 very cold (3) 22 commit oneself to a course of action (4,3,6)

amuse angle aristocrat behind clearly client cloud eclair faint flout guide hasp legacy lobby locus lozenge morbid nabs orbit

12

Saturday, 3 May 2014

ARTS

SCIENTISTS FIND OUT THE SECRET FOR WINNING AT ROCK-PAPER-SCISSORS

StreSS iS contagiouS - and you can even feel the effect when you're watching tv: Study

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What are your odds of winning rock-paper-scissors?

Simple - one in three. At least, that's what chance predicts. But people do not play randomly - they follow hidden patterns that you can predict to win more games than you should, a study has revealed. Winners tend to stick with their winning action, while losers tend to switch to the next action in the sequence "rock-paper-scissors".

Anticipating these moves could give you a winning edge, say scientists. Their strategy was revealed in a massive rock-paper-scissors tournament at Zhejiang University in China, documented on the Arxiv server. Scientists recruited 360 students and divided them into groups of six. Each competitor played 300 rounds of rock-paperscissors against other members of their group. As an incentive, the winners were paid - in proportion to their number of victories. To play smart, classical game theory suggests players should completely randomise their choices - to remain unpredictable and not be anticipated by opponents. COURTESY BBC

SCIENTISTS DISCOVER TRICK BEHIND BUILDING EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS

T'S news that may not be surprising to those with flustered colleagues: stress really is contagious. New research has revealed that merely seeing another person in a difficult situation is enough to trigger stress responses in our own bodies.

The effects are not just felt when a partner is stressed, but also when a TV character or stranger is seen in a worrying environment.

The researchers said stress is a major health threat in today's society, causing a range of psychological problems such as burnout, depression and anxiety. And even people who lead relatively relaxed lives constantly come into contact with stressed individuals, either at work or even in TV shows.

During the stress test, subjects had to struggle with difficult mental arithmetic tasks and interviews, while two supposed behavioural analysts assessed their performance.

Only five percent of the directly stressed test subjects managed to remain calm; the others displayed a physiologically significant increase in their cortisol levels In total, 26 per cent of observers who were not directly exposed to any stress whatsoever also showed a significant increase in cortisol.

The effect was particularly strong when the observer and stressed individual were partners in a couple relationship (40 per cent). .

However, even when watching a complete stranger, the stress was transmitted to ten per cent of the observers. When the observers watched the events directly through a one-way mirror, 30

per cent of them experienced a stress response.

However, even presenting the stress test only virtually via video transmission was sufficient to significantly increase the cortisol levels of 24 per cent of the observers.

Dr Veronika Engert, one of the study's authors from the Max Planck Institute for Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, said: 'This means that even television programmes depicting the suffering of other people can transmit that stress to viewers.'

'The fact that we could actually measure this empathic stress in the form of a significant hormone release was astonishing.

VITAMIN D MAY INCREASE SURVIVAL RATES FOR CANCER PATIENT: RESEARCH The pyramids in Egypt have posed historians and archaeologists a major puzzle for a long time now, but scientists at Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands believe they have now worked out how those huge stones were moved into place. Scientists at the University of Amsterdam have found wall paintings in the tomb of ancient Egyptian pharaoh Djehutihotep believe that the people who built the pyramids had a system that involved wetting the sand before dragging sleds with the heavy stone pieces on them over it. Wet sand creates less friction when things are pulled or pushed across it, and this would have made the job of moving the huge stone pieces that made the pyramids into place much easier. The scientists found that there was a correct amount of water that needed to be used to make the stones easier to transport. VIA YOTTAFIRE

SNAPCHAT ADDS CHAT AS MESSAGING SPACE HEATS UP

Despite its name, the Snapchat app has never offered real-time conversation -until now. Previously, users were only able to send each other photos and videos that self-destruct a few seconds after they are viewed. The Los Angeles startup said Thursday that Snapchat users will be able to chat by swiping right on a friend's name. When users leave the chat screen, messages will be automatically deleted. In keeping with Snapchat's tradition, users can take screenshots of the chat if they want to preserve it. Users will also be able to video chat, as they would with Skype or FaceTime. Snapchat's expansion comes at a time when mobile messaging apps are soaring in popularity as people look beyond traditional texting to communicate and share photos and videos. AGENCIES

Vitamin D from sunshine increases the survival rates of cancer sufferers, new research suggests.

The vitamin is particularly beneficial for people with breast cancer, bowel cancer and lymphoma.

The nutrient is made by the body under the skin in reaction to summer sunlight and found in oily fish, such as salmon, sardines and mackerel, eggs and fortified fat spreads, breakfast cereals and powdered milk.

It helps the body absorb the calcium and phosphorus needed for healthy bones and affects a variety of biological processes by binding to a protein called a vitamin D receptor. This receptor is present in nearly every cell in the body.

A new study found cancer patients who have higher levels of vitamin D when they are diagnosed tend to have better survival rates and remain in remission longer than patients who are vitamin D deficient.

Scientists reviewed all previous research to acknowledge the health benefits of the vitamin.

Professor Hui Wang, of the Institute for Nutritional Sciences at the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, said: ‘By reviewing studies that collectively examined vitamin D levels in 17,332 cancer patients, our analysis demon-

strated that vitamin D levels are linked to better outcomes in several types of cancer.

‘The results suggest vitamin D may influence the prognosis for people with breast cancer, colorectal cancer and lymphoma, in particular.’

The study, published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, looked at 25 separate studies that measured vitamin D levels in cancer patients at the time of diagnosis and tracked survival rates.

In most of the research, patients had their vitamin D levels tested before they underwent any treatment for cancer. The study found a 10nmol/L increase in vitamin D levels was linked to a four per cent increase in survival among people with cancer. However, the study found the effect was less for those suffering from lung cancer, gastric cancer, prostate cancer, leukaemia, and melanoma.

Professor Wang said: ‘Considering that vitamin D deficiency is a widespread issue all over the world, it is important to ensure that everyone has sufficient levels of this important nutrient.

‘Physicians need to pay close attention to vitamin D levels in people who have been diagnosed with cancer.’ONLINE-

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'There must be a transmission mechanism via which the target's state can elicit a similar state in the observer down to the level of a hormonal stress response.' The researchers said stress becomes a problem when it is chronic.

Dr Engert said: 'A hormonal stress response has an evolutionary purpose, of course. When you are exposed to danger, you want your body to respond with an increase in cortisol. 'However, permanently elevated cortisol levels are not good.

They have a negative impact on the immune system and neurotoxic properties in the long term.'

The findings are published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology. COURTESY DAILY MAIL

KOREAN RESEARCHERS DEVELOP WEARABLE CHARGER FOR ELECTRONIC DEVICES

Technology that could one day power your smartphone using just body heat has been developed. Wearable computers or devices have been hailed as the next generation of mobile electronic gadgets, but finding a way to deliver sufficient, long-lasting power has been a problem. Now scientists have come up with a novel solution using a glass and fabric-based thermoelectric generator that could spell a new age of discreet smart technology. A team of researchers at KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology University) in South Korea headed by Professor Cho of electrical engineering are behind the innovation.

Professor Byung Jin Cho with his team created a flexible thermoelectric (TE) generator that allows you to recharge electronic devices from your own body heat. The device is suitable for recharging heart monitors, smartglasses and other wearable technology, experts claim. A thermoelectric generator is a device that can convert heat, or a temperature difference, into electric energy. Using the small but significant temperature difference between skin and air, Professor Cho and his team have been able to produce this tiny and wearable thermoelectric generator. For electronics to be worn by a user, they must be light, flexible, and equipped with a power source, which could be a portable, long-lasting battery or a generator. KAIST's generator is extremely light and flexible and produces electricity from the heat of the human body. Professor Cho confirmed that the generator could also charge smartphones. 'Right now we are trying to make a sample that provides electricity for medical sensors,' he says. 'After that, smartphones will be next application of the TE generator,' he added. VIA DAILY MAIL

Saturday, 3 May, 2014

ARTS VEENA APPOINTED AS GOODWILL AMBASSADOR BY INT’L HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION Actress Veena Malik has been appointed by the International Human Rights Commission as a Goodwill Ambassador for Peace and Humanity worldwide, a private news channel reported. Speaking at the occassion, Malik said that she would call the appointment an opportunity to safeguard the human rights in Pakistan. She said that her life has changed drastically over the few years, adding that life has taken its best turn for her post her marriage to businessman Asad Bashir Khataak. 'He is by my side,' added the actress. Responding to a question, Malik said that she looks forward to a progressive cooperation with the Pakistani film industry. In February, Malik's husband was appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador for Peace and Humanity worlwide by IHRC. STAFF REPORT

ABRAR’S MEDICAL COLLEGE IN ITS FINAL STAGE Famous singer and philanthropist Abrar ul Haq has been on a mission to build a medical college in Narowall in Punjab. His manager Waseem Ilyass confirmed to HIP that the college is its in final stage and almost 90 per cent work has been done. Haq recently went to Canada for a fund raising concert for medical college and that was the reason he could not make up at ARY Film awards. Indulging into philanthropic activities is not new for Haq, he is among rare breed of artists who keep on engaging themselves in social work on the platform of his non-governmental organization, Sahar for Trust. Haq is a man with a golden heart who is trying to bring a positive change in society through his work. Thumbs up! NEWS DESK

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Salman Khan raceS againSt time for eid releaSe of KicK

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ALMAN Khan has always considered Eid to be a lucky period for him at the box office. And this year, after a break in 2013, the actor will be back with a film during the festival.

We’re told that Salman is working non-stop to finish the movie, as the team has just a few months to complete the shoot and get into postproduction. A source close to the actor reveals, "Salman recently returned from Poland where he was busy shooting for the film. He will take a break this weekend as he has been shooting outdoor continuously. He will be back to the gruelling schedule next week onward." The source adds that the shoot will resume on May 5. "They will be shooting at Mehboob Studio in Bandra, which is a five-minute drive from Salman’s house on Bandstand," says the source.

To save time, the makers have booked nearly four floors of the studio — which is almost the entire place — and have five active sets running simultaneously. "As soon as they finish a particular portion in one studio, they will move on to shoot the next scene on the other set with-

out any breaks. Sets are being made and broken down continuously," adds the source.

We’ve been informed that this is a 25-day

PRIYANKA’S FORMER LOVE INTEREST IS BACK IN BOLLYWOOD

DEEPIKA TURNS DIETICIAN FOR SHAH RUKH KHAN Shah Rukh Khan has found himself a new dietician. And this time it's none other than his fabulous co-star Deepika Padukone. SRK and Deepika who are shooting for their film Happy New Year, share a great rapport and are comfortable together. Infact it is their friendship that has turned Deepika into SRK's personal dietician. Deepika is said to be taking care of Shah Rukh's health and advises him on what to eat and avoid on the sets of their film.

Dippy even makes sure that Shah Rukh takes his meals on time and doesn't allow to eat any junk food. Shah Rukh and Deepika have been co-stars in 2 movies – Om Shanti Om and Chennai Express before Happy New Year. NEWS DESK

NEW GODZILLA LOOKS FAT, CHUBBY, COMPLAIN JAPANESE FANS

Priyanka Chopra's former love interest Aseem Merchant who had disappeared from Bollywood, is back. He has launched a production house, Limelight Motion Pictures Pvt Ltd, and its first film will chronicle Priyanka's first few years in B'town. Aseem describes the film as a "biopic of Priyanka's ex-manager Prakash Jaju". Jaju and the actress had a fallout in 2004 which led to Jaju being arrested and imprisoned for 67 days in 2008. According to Jaju, the actress owed him a huge amount of money and refused to clear his dues.

The situation worsened when Jaju allegedly started interfering in Priyanka's personal life. This led to her father (late) Dr Ashok Chopra filing an FIR against Jaju, stating that he was not only making false allegations against his daughter but also threatening the family members. Jaju went into hiding and was finally arrested from Mau, Madhya Pradesh.

Aseem knew Priyanka since her modelling days. They were together when she won the Miss World crown in 2000.

Two years later, they parted ways.

When asked if someone would play him in the film as well, he said, "The film will depict everybody who interacted with Jaju while he was working with Priyanka." NEWS DESK Japanese fans of Godzilla say the newly-unveiled monster, set to star in a Hollywood reboot of the post-war classic, is too fat and has been "super-sized" by a country used to large portions. The latest version of the giant beast will hit 3D screens in the United States on May 16 and in Japan two months later, in the year the huge Japanese lizard marks its 60th anniversary. Trailers for the film and promotional stills have begun circulating, as marketers look to build excitement, but Japanese fans said their hero was looking a little chubby. "Only the silhouette of the new Godzilla had been seen before," said Fumihiko Abe. "When I finally saw it, I was a bit taken aback". "It's fat from the neck downwards and massive at the bottom," said the 51-year-old, who said he has seen every Godzilla movie ever made. The computergenerated creature's rampage through New York was dismissed in Japanese cult circles as no match for the behemoth that terrorised Tokyo for decades. However the new version was more promising, said Abe. "I can feel the mightiness of Godzilla from this new one. I'm interested in seeing how the heaviness is expressed in the new film," he told AFP as he visited an exhibition of Godzilla paintings in Tokyo. But other fans gathering online were less-than approving, with one saying the creation looked more like a seal and another dubbing it "marshmallow Godzilla". "It's done a 'super-size me'," one person commented, a reference to the larger meals available at US fast-food restaurants.COURTESY AFP

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schedule where the entire cast will be shooting.

Currently, they are shooting only the regular scenes. AGENCIES

CRIMINALS SIT IN PARLIAMENT AND MAKE LAWS: AAMIR KHAN

Bollywood actor Aamir Khan recently expressed his sadness over the trend of political parties giving tickets to candidates with criminal background considering their winnability, but expressed hope that people at large would stop voting for criminals. Aamir Khan's Satyamev Jayate has been widely appreciated by masses as well as people from film fraternity. “Political parties give tickets to people with criminal background because they want one seat in the Lok Sabha. The same people later sit in Parliament and decide laws of our country,” said the 49-yearold, who was last seen on the big screen in last year’s blockbuster Dhoom: 3. “Political parties give tickets to criminals because we vote for them,” said Khan. “As a normal Indian citizen, I’m sad about this. I hope the political parties will rise above all this,” the actor said, adding that parties are catching the right signal. NEWS DESK

NO TIME FOR WEDDING PLANS: KATE HUDSON

Kate Hudson insists she and her beau Matthew Bellamy do not have time to plan their big day due to their careers. The 35-yearold actress, who has been engaged to Bellamy for three years and, admitted their hectic work schedules has put their wedding plans on the back burner. “You don’t (have time to plan a wedding with a busy career), which is why I’m not (planning my wedding). We got a busy summer. We’re really looking forward to it. I’m shooting a movie and so you know, we’re doing a bunch this summer,” she said.

Hudson, whose four-year relationship with the Muse frontman has been the subject of recent speculation that it is on the rocks, believes it takes a lot of work to share life with another person. AGENCIES

14 SPORTS

Saturday, 3 May, 2014

KVITOVA CONFIRMED TO PLAY AEGON INT’L AT EASTBOURNE SPORTS DESK Former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova will be one of the top stars on court at the Aegon International at Eastbourne, the organisers have announced. The Czech Republic player, who is currently ranked number six in the world, will hit the grass at Devonshire Park for the tournament, which runs from June 14 - 21 . Kvitova was runner-up to Marion Bartoli of France at the Aegon International in 2011, before securing a victory in her first Wimbledon final the following month. Kvitova said: “I'm really excited to play at the Aegon International in Eastbourne again this year, especially on the 40th anniversary of the tournament. “It's a great event to play and I'm hoping it will be a good start to my grass-court season in the UK. I can't wait to get back on the grass." Kvitova’s announcement comes as a charity exhibition match has been revealed for the second day of the Aegon International on Sunday 15th June.

The ‘Rally for Bally’ will see former world number four Greg Rusedski and former Wimbledon men’s doubles champion Jonny Marray on opposite teams in a mixed-doubles exhibition match which will also include some of Britain’s top female players. The match will raise money for the Elena Baltacha Academy of Tennis and the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, after former British number one Elena Baltacha announced that she had been diagnosed with liver cancer earlier this year.

FLYNN EXTENDS BLADES STAY

SPORTS DESK Sheffield United winger Ryan Flynn has signed a new two-year contract with an option of a third season. The 25-year-old Scot, who has made 41 appearances in all competitions this campaign, netted against Aston Villa and Charlton during United's memorable FA Cup run to the semi-finals. "I am delighted to have signed a new deal," he told the club's official website. "It means I can fully focus on next season and hopefully getting this Club back in the Championship. "I know there has been talk of my contract for a while, but as soon as the club opened talks I knew I always wanted to stay here.

"I have been here for three seasons now, I can honestly say that this is the happiest I have been and that has reflected in my performances." Clough added: "Ryan deserves his new contract and I am delighted we have managed to put this one to bed before the end of the season.

CLARKE SELECTION CALL A TURNING POINT: MARSH SPORTS DESK usTrAlIA's new chairman of selectors rod Marsh has pointed to Michael Clarke's resignation from the selection panel following the dire 2013 tour of India as a pivotal moment in the team's resurgence to their current perch at the top of the world rankings for Test and ODI matches.

The 2011 Argus review that helped install Marsh as part of a new panel also appointed Clarke as one of the selectors, an arrangement that became fraught as early as December of the same year when the chairman John Inverarity conceded the dual role was creating "extra difficulty" for Clarke in his interactions with the team.

By the end of the 4-0 hiding on the subcontinent a little more than a year later, Clarke decided that he needed to devote less time to selection teleconferences and more to a side that was fracturing in the absence of the retired ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey, as exemplified by the suspension of four players in Mohali for failing to follow instructions. While Darren lehmann's appointment to replace Mickey Arthur as coach has been commonly noted, Marsh said Clarke's call was equally significant.

"Quite a few things have occurred, but I think one of them, which seems to probably get overlooked a little is that Michael gave away his selection duties, which I think freed him up a lot to be able to interact with the team a lot more at training sessions, and off the field," Marsh said. "Michael we all know is an outstanding on the field captain, but I think his off-field captaincy has flourished since he stepped down as a selector, and you can understand that. It's very difficult for him to operate off the field when he's both captain and selector.

"That's freed him up a lot, Darren has brought a no fear feeling to the boys, he's encouraged them to go out and play with freedom and of course getting Mitchell Johnson back into the team and bowling well has just been an absolute bonus because if you remember we had very good, young fit fast bowlers a couple of years ago who've all had injuries and as a consequence it was nice to have one of the old timers, for lack of a better word, back and bowling like the wind."

Marsh spoke frankly about his selection philosophy ahead of a period in which Australia will not only seek to retain their ranking but also lift the World Cup at home in 2015 and hang onto the Ashes in England later in the year. The age of the squad is not a major concern to him, though he hopes to see more young batsmen pushing for inclusion in coming summers. until then, however, the likes of Chris rogers will remain verymuch a part of his plans.

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"I don't think you can read too much into blokes' ages these days," Marsh said. "The game has changed so dramatically from 20 or 30 years ago whereby it's become a profession, and these guys are professionals, they work very hard on their fitness etc.

They play cricket almost every day of the year and if they're not playing they're training or travelling. A 35year-old today is certainly not like a 35-year-old 20 years ago cricketwise, it's completely different. In an ideal world it would be nice to have a lot of young blokes in the side and we can't wait for that to happen - if you had three or four 19 or 20-yearold champion batsmen making 1500 runs in shield cricket that would be fantastic, we would all want that.

"David Warner and steve smith have both held up very well over the last couple of series. Obviously Chris rogers will not be around forever, he's like all of us getting older by the day. However the same guy has just made 241-odd not out in a run chase for 472 earlier this week [for Middlesex], so he wants to keep playing cricket for Australia, and while he's still in really good form it'd be very difficult to leave him out. We do have to plan ahead and we're just waiting for young players to step up and get a truckload of runs, that's what we need and want."

In the case of smith, Marsh said the panel had chosen to have him concentrate on Test matches while he was still developing his game, but expected the 24-year-old to move into the team across all formats in coming months. Though Marsh did not name him as such, the tactically astute and mentally strong smith is the man in line to become Australia's next long-term captain. "steve smith is a hell of a good cricketer," Marsh said. "When we get to sit down and choose the side for the next World Cup I'd be very surprised if his name doesn't come up.

He's also a very good T20 cricketer, but at the moment our policy has been he's just starting to establish himself in the Test arena, we've perhaps robbed Peter to pay Paul to a degree by saying 'well just keep him out of that for the moment. But we think steve smith will be a fine cricketer in all forms for Australia."

In addition to his selection duties, Marsh has also overseen the development of a unified coaching philosophy around Australia over the past two years. He reiterated his belief in the rigorous teaching of technical basics and their grounding in plenty of match-play, as no coach can help a cricketer to tweak a failing in the middle of an innings or a bowling spell.

"Within the game there are basics of technique in whatever you do. If you are taught the basics well early and learn them well, you've always got something to fall back on, because whenever you make a mistake I can promise the answer lies in the

WICB REOPENS BIDDING FOR ENGLAND TESTS SPORTS DESK The WICB has responded to a backlash over its allocation of Tests for the series against England in April 2015 by holding a fresh bidding process for potential hosts.

WICB had originally decided to allocate the three Tests to Guyana, Grenada and Jamaica. But, after that news was revealed that the cricket boards and, in some cases politicians, of the Caribbean nations that missed out reacted in dismay and have now provoked a rethink.

Officials in Barbados, which has

proved a popular destination for England cricket supporters and recently hosted three well-attended T20s between England and West Indies, are understood to have been particularity irked by the decision.

"It is correct that there is an ongoing bidding process for hosting the England series next year," a WICB spokesman said.

"There is a list of criteria which the WICB has outlined to the territories.

"The winning bids will be determined based on an assessment of these criteria and will not automatically be the highest bids. The criteria involve a number of gen-

eral and specific areas including but not limited to pitch and outfield, spectator capacity, accommodation, ground travel, logistics and airlift." With many of the Caribbean nations heavily reliant upon tourism, the allocation of an England Test is especially valuable. No other country brings as many travelling supporters and their willingness to embrace the local hotels, restaurants and bars provides a meaningful boost to the local economies. The WICB has many nations to satisfy and many grounds from which to select, meaning disappointment is inevitable for some.

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basics," he said. "The good cricketers are the ones who can correct things on the run - when they're out there in the middle you haven't got the coach to tell you to do this or that, you've got to work it out for yourself. If you've made mistakes you've got to be able to identify how to correct those mistakes on the move.

"I don't think our batting is as good as it should be for a nation of our strength. With the facilities we've got, with the coaching staff we've got in all states, with the talent we've got I don't think our batting is good enough. Technically I don't think it's good enough, and I think there's been a period where technique hasn't been taught as well as it could've been and I think we've got to get back tot he basics. All our coaching through Australia has got to get back to the basics of the game, and we don't want people to make their mark as a coach unless their mantra is first of all you teach the basics. It's the only way forward as far as I'm concerned."

ROD MARSH ON: rOTATION: "I don't think they were ever rotated. It was never a word that we used. We didn't choose some fast bowlers because we were informed by the medical staff that if we were to choose them they would break down. It was always going to be our call whether we choose them, but we didn't deliberately rotate them and say before the season 'he plays this game,

he plays this game, he plays that game'. Young fast bowlers will break down and will continue to break down, because it's the most unnatural act the human body can perform."

BECOMING A SELECTOR: "I never really aspired to be a selector, it just happened. I came back home to retire basically, but then the opportunity for selection came up and I thought I was probably too young to retire and obviously I still loved the game of cricket with a massive passion. It seemed because I was too old to continue to coach it seemed a very good way to keep a very active interest in Australian cricket."

A REPAIRED RELATIONSHIP WITH DARREN LEHMANN AFTER PUSHING HIM OUT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA: "He reckons I did him a great favour because he wouldn't be coaching Australia if he was still playing. We get on like a house on fire."

USE OF STATISTICS: "sometimes you have a look at the stats, and if you analyse them really closely, you can see that a guy might have made more runs than someone else.

But you know, and you've got this gut feeling that he won't be successful against a particular attack on a particular ground, so you don't pick him.

However if you can't find a reason not to pick a bloke with the best stats, then usually the bloke with the best stats gets picked."

SPORTS 15

Saturday, 3 May, 2014

STOKE START ASSAIDI TALKS

SPORTS DESK TOKE have entered tentative talks with liverpool over the permanent signing of winger Oussama Assaidi. Assaidi has scored four goals in 24 appearances this season, and it would have been more had he not missed two months with a knee ligament injury.

The 25-year-old joined liverpool in the summer of 2012 from Dutch club Heerenveen and made 12 appearances for the reds last season.

Hughes said: "We like Ossie and if we could come to an arrangement with liverpool we would like to bring him here. "He's a valuable player and I think liverpool recognise that. I think there's been tentative enquiries but nothing concrete yet.

"He's done really well here. It's certainly helped him and Ossie's certainly helped us.

"He's got good friends here. He's got a good relationship with Marko Arnautovic - they make

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a nice couple! Those things are important to players. If they're happy in an environment then that can help if you're trying to bring them to a club."

Assaidi is stoke's only doubt for saturday's clash with Fulham after taking a bang to his knee in training while captain ryan shawcross sits out the match through suspension.

The defender had played every minute of every Premier league this season until he was shown a red card against Tottenham last weekend. shawcross is likely to be replaced by spaniard Marc Muniesa, who deputised for the final 38 minutes against spurs.

Fulham will arrive at the Britannia stadium in desperate need of points and defeat on saturday would relegate Hughes' former club if sunderland win at Manchester united. The Welshman insists that will not be on his mind, saying: "We want to get another three points. "We were disappointed last week because we merited more than we got.

"We've got an opportunity against Fulham to

match our biggest ever points total in the Premier league. That's our motivation, it's not about beating a team and making them go out of the league.

"It's about us doing out business and Fulham have to do theirs." Hughes spent a season in charge of the Cottagers in 2010-11 but it came to an acrimonious end when he resigned.

Then owner Mohamed Al-Fayed was highly critical of Hughes, and the former striker accepts he may have walked out too soon. Hughes said: "At the time I just felt I couldn't commit to a further three years. "There was going to be a change of ownership, which has taken place now, and I was aware of that. That affected my position at Manchester City so I didn't really want to go through that situation again.

"I felt it was a team that was ageing and it would need a lot of investment, and I wasn't sure that was going to be forthcoming. As it was, I probably got that wrong, but hindsight's a wonderful thing. "I've got a lot of time for Fulham. It's a good club, we had a good season, got to eighth in the Premier league. I just felt it was better for both parties to have a parting of the ways.

"You look back and think I probably did it too soon. I've got no grudge against Fulham because there's a lot of good people there. I wish them well, after the weekend."

Hughes, meanwhile, must weigh up whether to give Matthew Etherington a final appearance at the Britannia stadium.

The winger will not be offered a new contract when his current one expires this summer, bringing his five-and-a-half-year spell to an end.

Etherington has been badly affected by back problems over the past couple of seasons and has made only 10 appearances this campaign.

Hughes said: "I'm conscious of the fact Matty's been here a long time and he's played a big part in the success of stoke in the Premier league. If it's possible to acknowledge that then we'll try to do it, but not as a compromise to what we're trying to do."

PEEVER TO REPLACE EDWARDS AS CA CHAIRMAN SPORTS DESK A former Test opening batsman will be replaced by a sometime club cricketer and corporate heavyweight when David Peever takes over from Wally Edwards as chairman of Cricket Australia - and head of the ICC's newly formed and influential ExCo - next year.

Peever, the managing director of the mining giant rio Tinto's Australian operations from 2009 until retiring earlier this year, was appointed deputy chairman of CA at a board meeting on Friday, and will duly replace Edwards when his term expires at the 2015 AGM in October. His elevation to a major role in global cricket is an escalation of CA's desire to be governed by accomplished and independent directors, after a raft of structural changes in 2012.

Central to the re-shaping of Australian cricket's decision-making was the appointment of 56-year-old Peever, Jacquie Hey and Kevin roberts as the board's first fully independent directors in 2012. They have made their presence felt in asking hard questions of CA management at the board table since then, and Peever has now emerged to assume a role made doubly influential by the drastic changes made to the ICC earlier this year, ceding enormous power and influence to the boards of India, Australia and England.

"The board this morning has appointed David Peever as our deputy chairman," Edwards said, announcing his successor. "David will be the next chairman. I'll remain chairman until October 2015, we make our appointment now so the deputy chairman can get involved with me initially in the international area, we have the ICC conference coming up in June in Melbourne, and that's the first chance for David to start meeting and mingling with a lot of the international people in the world of cricket.

"David joined the board in October 2012 when we did our governance changes. He was the managing director of rio Tinto in Australia. He's been a terrific contributor for the nearly two years he's been on the board, he's brought a lot of business acumen to the board, and I'm sure he'll continue to do that and develop it further. He's got a deep passion for cricket, and I'll be working closely with him over the next 18 months to ensure a smooth transition." raised in Queensland, Peever was a modest opening batsman for the Easts cricket club, and has noted his apprehension when occasionally facing his better-known clubmates including Craig McDermott, Carl rackemann and Geoff Dymock in the nets. However it is his business acumen that CA have sought to carry on from the governance changes driven largely by Edwards since his ap-

pointment in 2011. "As deputy chairman my priority is going to be to continue to do what we've done the last 18 months since I've been on the board, and that is to support Wally, James [sutherland, chief executive] and his team with the board to progress in the way we have, especially on the governance front," Peever said. "In particular our strong focus is going to be really unifying Australian cricket and continuing down that path. We do have a way to go, but Australian cricket can be in a pre-eminent position over a long period of time if we can get this unification going the way it can."

While Peever is well attuned to CA's desire to continue its process of unification and alignment, so all the six states work more cohesively together for common goals, he has plenty of learning to do about the labyrinthine politics of the global game.

He will now be travelling extensively in the company of Edwards to meet and understand cricket's overseas custodians, from the financial powerbrokers in India and England, to the administrators of the many Associate nations. "I'd say the ICC's in much better shape now than it was when I came into the job and it will be better in another 18 months," Edwards said. "But it's really getting to meet the people - there's a lot to get to know from various positions right through to the associates, Ireland, Afghanistan and other places.

WENGER RUES COSTLY INJURIES SPORTS DESK Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger accepts there will always be a sense of regret around what might have been this season. However, there is still reason to be positive after Arsenal recovered form to get ahead of Everton in the race for Champions League qualification, with a place in the August play-offs secure should they win on Sunday or indeed before if the Toffees are beaten by Manchester City on Saturday. And Arsenal will contest the FA Cup final against Hull at Wembley on May 17 as Wenger aims to deliver a first trophy in almost a decade.

Nevertheless, the feeling of missed opportunities continues to sit uneasy with the Frenchman, who saw his team hit by injuries to key men like Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere and Mesut Ozil. "When we came out of Christmas, we were in a strong position and what you want then is to have your strong players available in March and April. We had too many injuries," Wenger said. "It is very, very difficult - you can have one or two, but after that when you have too many injuries you always have to play the same players and that is detrimental to the efficiency of the group. "The regret we have is that too many players were out at the same time between Christmas and April."

Arsenal - who lost heavily away to Manchester City, Liverpool and then Chelsea, thrashed 6-0 in Wenger's 1,000th match - are seven points off the pace, having at one stage been well clear themselves. Wenger acknowledges just being able to turn the draws at home against Everton, Swansea and Manchester City into victories would have seen them still have a fighting chance of the championship. "The restriction we had was in the big games, when we only made draws and not wins in some of them, that is where the missing points are at the moment because we are very close to the top," Wenger said. "Maybe one or two wins at home would have made that difference. "The regret we have of the season is that we have been remarkably consistent, (but) it is against the teams who did not fight for the Premier League title - and especially away from home in some of the big games - we could not claim the points." Midfielders Jack Wilshere and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will again be missing on Sunday because of injury. Wilshere is closing in on a return from the fractured foot he suffered while on friendly international duty against Denmark on March 5. The combative midfielder had originally been expected to be in contention this weekend, but now the final match at Norwich looks an outside possibility at best ahead of the cup final.

England manager Roy Hodgson indicated he would have no qualms about naming Wilshere in his 30man squad, and, given there are three warm-up matches and a training camp, he feels the 22-yearold will have enough time to get himself in shape ahead of the Group D opener against Italy in Manaus on June 14.

POYET RETURNS TO THE ROLLERCOASTER SPORTS DESK Gus Poyet will send sunderland into battle at Manchester united hoping to make a decisive breakthrough in his most eventful season in football.

The 46-year-old head coach has experienced a derby double, victory at Chelsea and a Wembley cup final at the same time as fighting a season-long battle to prevent the club from slipping out of the Barclays Premier league.

That fight has taken a significant turn for the better in recent weeks with a return of seven points from a possible nine - remarkably four of them collected from trips to title challengers Manchester City and Chelsea - having eased the Black Cats out of the relegation zone.

A continuation of that record at united on saturday would provide further hope as what has proved to be a gruelling campaign heads towards its conclusion.

Poyet said: "It's the most up and down. I don't remember having a season like it. "I have been in teams where we have been poor for a long, long time and we played for relegation - I remember in spain and even the last year at spurs, my last year was quite difficult.

"Then in another place where everything goes for you and you are winning all the time..."But to have so many ups and downs? No, I don't remember.

"On top of that, when you are leading, when you have the biggest responsibility and when you need to try to sort out things, of course it's a little bit more."

Poyet admitted after last sunday's 40 victory home over Cardiff that it has been the most "strange, incredible, unexpected" campaign in which he has been involved, and it is one which has proved hugely challenging.

The uruguayan said: "You have to be here, you have to be part of the Barclays Premier league to know how demanding

it is. "Of course, it depends on your character and what you want to do and how you want to do it, but yes, it's demanding, it's difficult.

"I like it because the way I am is, I prefer to be in a position where you don't stop, every day there is something to do.

"Those holidays will come in a few days' time, but yes, it's incredibly demanding, the Barclays Premier league."

Before those holidays come, Poyet will hope his team can make the most of the chance they have given themselves with two victories from their remaining three games enough to dispel the spectre of relegation for good. He said: "There are two ways: the easiest way is to win two, that's it. If we win two, that's it, it doesn't matter what the rest do." sunderland have already enjoyed delirious celebrations at Old Trafford once this season after booking their trip to the Carling Cup final after a dramatic penalty shout-out, and Poyet is hoping

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that will stand them in good stead.

He said: "Without any doubt, that achievement and those celebrations there will bring a possibility.

"That doesn't mean you are going to win, but you will have a little bit more chance of winning, for sure." ryan Giggs was an unused substitute that night, and he will be on the bench once again tomorrow, although this time as temporary manager. A decision on David Moyes' permanent replacement appears to be imminent, but Poyet has urged united not to

dismiss the Welshman as a genuine candidate. He said: "I think he should be considered, even if there have been so many things about the new manager.

"Why? Because he knows the club, because he has been there, because he has been successful. He knows what is needed, he knows the system that has been working for so long.

"If you are really looking for someone to continue those many, many years of trophies and celebrations, he is one of the people who can do it best."

SPORTS Saturday, 3 May, 2014

WaqaR younis offeRed tWo-yeaR contRact to coach pakistan WAQAR YOUNIS HAD COACHED PAKISTAN IN 2010 AND 2011 BEFORE RESIGNING FOR 'PERSONAL' REASONS DURING IJAZ BUTT'S TENURE AT THE HELM OF THE CRICKET BOARD lahORE

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AKISTAN Cricket Board (PCB) has offered former captain Waqar Younis a two-year contract to coach the national side, according to chairman Najam Sethi.

While it remains unclear whether Younis has accepted the offer, Sethi's interview to a local newspaper has all but confirmed recent rumours that negotiations between the two parties were underway for the position of head coach of the national team.

"I put the matter before our managing committee and they chose the option led by Moin Khan which (Wasim) Akram had listed at number one. Not everyone was

happy with the decision, but we let it go because there was no time to constitute a new committee and come up with different choices," Sethi said.

"It was never a Moin or Waqar option for us as formulated by Akram. The new formula has both former players in a format that we think will produce better results.

That's why I have now given them two-year contracts like (Dav) Whatmore earlier."

Waqar, who has coached Pakistan in 2010 and 2011, before resigning for 'personal' reasons during Ijaz Butt's tenure at the helm of the cricket board, had again expressed his willingness for the post after his previous application was rejected in early February by a PCB coachfinding committee.

Moin Khan was named the chief selector-cum-team manager

by Najam Sethi-led Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), following which Waqar had emerged as the strongest contender for the post of head coach.

The former paceman had met with PCB chief Najam Sethi and expressed his availability for the position. He had also clarified he had no differences with Moin or any other player in the national cricket team.

"As I am in Lahore I just met the PCB chairman to express my availability as head coach for the Pakistan team, for which I have already submitted an application," said Waqar. "And I would like to express that I have no differences with Moin Khan or any player," added the former pacer.

SPILAK SNATCHES STAGE THREE WIN AS FROOME MOVES INTO GC CONTENTION SPORTS DESK Defending champion Chris Froome (Team Sky) was narrowly pipped to victory on stage three at the Tour de Romandie by fellow breakaway rider Simon Spilak (Katusha) as the pair gained 57 seconds on their GC rivals.

Froome launched a devastating solo attack on the final climb to drop rival Vincenzo Nibali, before working in tandem with Spilak to amass a sizable lead in wet and blustery conditions.

Eventually the duo cast aside their allegiance and broke into a sprint duel in the final 300m – the lead swinging back and forth until Spilak made the decisive burst close to the line to snatch victory by a matter of inches.

Spilak heads the general classification by a solitary second from Froome.

Rui Costa led a five-strong chasing pack home nearly a minute later on the 180.2km ride between Le Bouveret and Aigle, which left the Portuguese 62 seconds adrift overall in third and Nibali a further four seconds back.

DAREDEVILS AND KP HOPE prospective batting FOR HOME REVIVAL coach for Pakistan

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As the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is finding it difficult to convince country’s most capped player, Inzamam-ul-Haq to become national team’s batting coach, the important position may go to Zimbabwean Grant Flower. According to PCB sources, Flower has applied for the job but the PCB preference remains Inzamam, who played

120 Tests for the country and was captain from 2003 to 2007.

“So far the Board has not met with success where Inzamam is concerned, because he is very busy with his business and religious activities and is not in a position to be with the team full time,” one source said. He said eventually Inzamam might be given the role of batting consultant but now the Board is also looking at Grant Flower as a possible batting coach.

Flower, who has the experience of working with other international teams is one of the few high profile foreigners to have applied for coaching positions. The coaching committee of the Board which includes Moin Khan, Haroon Rasheed and Intikhab Alam is scheduled to meet on Monday to finalise and recommend names for different coaching positions to the PCB Chairman.

The most important position, that of head coach, apparently has already been handed to former Test captain, Waqar Younis. “Waqar has been offered a two year contract and when he met with Sethi he outlined some of his reservations and demands clearly. Many of which have been accepted by [Najam] Sethi,” the source added.

Rooney set foR BRazil despite gRoin injuRy SPORTS DESK Wayne Rooney's groin injury will not prevent him from going to the World Cup. England manager Roy Hodgson awoke on Friday morning to news of another injury scare for his star striker.

Just a few weeks after Rooney suffered a toe injury, Hodgson learned the Manchester United forward had suffered a groin problem in training. Rooney's last two World Cup campaigns have been hindered by metatarsal and ankle injuries suffered weeks before kick-off, but United's interim manager Ryan Giggs played down the scale of the injury at his weekly press conference on Friday morning. "A few of the lads have had a bug," Giggs said ahead of Saturday's game against Sunderland at Old Trafford. "Anders Lindegaard has the bug and so does Wayne, who also has a tight groin. "You have to be careful with the bug because the immune system is down a bit but Wayne, being Wayne, wants to be involved and wants to play. "We will have to monitor it over the next 24 hours."

Sources close to Rooney insisted the injury would not put the striker's World Cup chances in jeopardy. The chances of Rooney being rested for the Sunderland game increased after it emerged that fellow striker Robin van Persie could make his return from a six-week knee injury layoff.

Four days off is normally a prospect the working man welcomes with glee, but in cricket, especially amid the manic assembly line of matches in the IPL, it threatens the momentum of a team. Delhi Daredevils won their last match, yet a prolonged break has left them in seventh place. The opportunity to climb the rungs arrives in the form of three matches in five days all at home - the first of which is against Rajasthan Royals.

Daredevils have a history of living and dying by their streaks. In 2009, they knocked off eight of their first 10 opponents to canter into the semi-finals. They enjoyed similar fortunes in 2012, when a string of four victories set up a top-of-the-table finish. Last season, however, was relentlessly bitter as they inaugurated and signed off their campaign with sixmatch losing streaks.

Pietersen has not yet had a massive innings, but a return to familiar haunts - he strikes at 152.76 and has an IPL century at Feroz Shah Kotla - should provide encouragement. A vestige of rustiness has hampered him, notably early in his innings, but should he break the cobwebs, he poses a threat along with an in-form JP Duminy.

Rajasthan Royals have stuck to a familiar blueprint - an efficient set of batsmen who are certain of their roles and ability, backed up by a motley crew of bowlers who trust their armoury of variation to restrict the opposition. Aside from a shellacking by Maxwell, they have limited oppositions below eight an over comfortably.

Against a Daredevils line-up that is yet to find it's groove that record might not be in much danger. Although Shane Watson and co have shown they have enough muscle in the batting and their think-tank knows just how to utilise it.

Steven Smith faced three balls in a Super Over scenario and never once did he slog. Even when burdened with the match on his shoulders.

His response to pressure coupled with swift feet and hectic disposition at the crease means he is suited to finish an innings - his current job - or resurrect one.

Rajasthan Royals have strangled their oppositions in the Powerplay.

Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders were kept to under six an over and their slew of slower bowlers take over from there

on. Quinton de Kock has the advantage of fast hands and isn't shy of taking risks for the run-rate.

Daredevils will hope his progress early on is as smooth as possible and Royals' grip never takes hold. Kevin

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

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Pietersen averages 36 in T20 cricket when he is not captain, but when at the helm it dips to 19.

James Faulkner's strike rate of 13.70 is the best among players who have played more than 20 IPL matches.