E paper pdf (31 05 2015) (lhr)

CMYK

Sunday, 31 May, 2015

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Shaban 12, 1436

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Rs 25.00

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Vol V No 332

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136 Pages

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Lahore Edition

Pti leads in mismanaged KP Polls KP cm blames ecP for lg polls fiasco

PESHAWAR: Women voters cast their ballots during local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Saturday. INP

Zimbabwe to continue Pakistan tour despite suicide bomb PCB not happy with info minister’s bomb attack comment STORIES ON PAGES 2 & 16

SHARIF SAYS HIS FOCUS IS ON INDIA FOR ITS ‘ANTI-PAKISTAN’ ACTS PM lauds ISI’s efforts and achievements in countering terrorism, emphasises need for more coordination among intelligence agencies STORY ON PAGE 03

AFTER MASTUNG BUS ATTACK, FEARS OF WORSENING INSURGENCY United Baloch Army claims responsibility for attack that left at least 22 Pashtun bus passengers dead STORY ON PAGE 03

Judiciary won’t allow Judicial officers for delimitation in PunJab, sindh

Powerful 7.8 quake shakes JaPan

STORY ON PAGE 03

STORY ON PAGE 05

Army checking annoys PHC judge in Bannu Court seeks personal appearance of federal interior, defence secretaries on Wednesday

Constitution bars high court from exercising jurisdiction under Article 199 in relation to any area manned by armed forces in aid of civil authorities in pursuance of Article 245 STORY ON PAGE 02

STORY ON PAGE 04

02 NEWS

Sunday, 31 May 2015

army checkIng annoys Phc judge In Bannu COURT SEEKS PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF FEDERAL INTERIOR, DEFENCE SECRETARIES ON WEDNESDAY

CONSTITUTION BARS HIGH COURT FROM EXERCISING JURISDICTION UNDER ARTICLE 199 IN RELATION TO ANY AREA MANNED BY ARMED FORCES IN AID OF CIVIL AUTHORITIES IN PURSUANCE OF ARTICLE 245

ISLAMABAD

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MIAN ABRAR

tiff between Bannu Brigade Commandant Attique Ahmad and Justice Ikramullah Khan of Peshawar High Court (PHC)’s Bannu bench has taken a new turn as the court has summoned the attorney general of Pakistan (AGP) and federal interior and defence secretaries for Wednesday, June 3, to explain as to why the high court judge was not allowed to enter the court.

Per documents, PHC Justice Ikramullah Khan’s official vehicle along with the police squad was stopped from entering the Bannu Cantonment on Muslim Gate on the evening of May 27.

The PHC Bannu Bench is located inside Bannu Cantonment.

According to the court notice, the army personnel posted at the gate stopped the vehicle of Justice Ikramullah Khan and put an “unjustified” demand for the judge’s official card. The guards resisted when the judge refused to show the card and the driver tried to enter the gate. This infuriated the judge who proceeded on foot, leaving the official vehicle at the gate.

The PHC Bannu Bench additional registrar issued notices to the federal defence secretary, KP home & tribal affairs secretary, Bannu 325 Brigade Commandant Brigadier Attique Ahmad and Bannu deputy commissioner for personal appearance on May 28.

However, the defence secretary, KP home & tribal affairs secretary and Brigadier Attique did not appear before the court next morning. Deputy attorney general (DAG) represented the federal defence secretary while Bannu DC marked their presence. The court took notice of officials’ absence and again issued notices to the three for ensuring personal appearance on June 3.

During the hearing, the DAG and Bannu DC told the court that the KP government provided sufficient funds to the Pakistan Army to provide security to the people, however in the “garb” of those funds, instead of providing security to the people/citizens,

The official vehicle of PHC Justice Ikramullah Khan is seen parked at the Muslim Gate of Bannu Cantonment on the evening of May 27.

“the army has started harassing civil servants and members of civil society, including high court judges and lawyers”. Documents available with Pakistan Today reflect that the court has also directed KP chief secretary, KP provincial police officer (PPO) and Bannu regional police officer (RPO) before the bench on Wednesday.

“Under what authority the residential as well as the premises of high court are given under Pak Army 325 Brigade, Bannu, and also to show cause that under what authority the respondent (Brigade) have installed a checkpost in an area where the PHC Bannu bench works, civil society is residing and to show that under what law, they are disgracing people in the garb of security and also to show that who has given them authority to search the judges while entering and leaving the PHC, Bannu Bench,” the court order sought explanations. The court order, issued by PHC Bannu additional registrar stated that the division bench showed great resentment over the incident as not only the official card was sought by the army personnel but also the vehicle was prevented from entry inside the cantonment.

“As far as Bannu 325 commandant is concerned, he considers himself to be immune from Constitution and law, therefore, AGP and interior and defence secretaries have been directed to ensure

his attendance in the court,” the order said. In the meanwhile, social media remained abuzz with the narration of Constitution’s Article 245 which explains the functions of the Armed Forced as: “(1) The Armed Forces shall, under the directions of the Federal Government, defend Pakistan against external aggression or threat of war, and, subject to law, act in aid of civil power when called upon to do so.

(2) The validity of any direction issued by the Federal Government under clause (1) shall not be called in question in any court.

(3) A High Court shall not exercise any jurisdiction under Article 199 in relation to any area in which the Armed Forces of Pakistan are, for the time being, acting in aid of civil power in pursuance of Article 245: Provided that this clause shall not be deemed to affect the jurisdiction of the High Court in respect of any proceeding pending immediately before the day on which the Armed Forces start acting in aid of civil power.

(4) Any proceeding in relation to an area referred to in clause (3) instituted on or after the day the Armed Forces start acting in aid of civil power and pending in any High Court shall remain suspended for the period during which the Armed Forces are so acting.”

PCB not happy with info minister’s bomb attack comment PCB SPOKESMAN SAYS AFTER THE BLAST STEPS WERE TAKEN NOT TO CAUSE PANIC AMONG THE PEOPLE MONITORING DESK The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) hierarchy is reportedly not happy with the timing of the disclosure made by Federal Minister for Information Pervez Rashid about an alleged foiled suicide bomb attack near the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore on Friday night, according to a Press Trust of India (PTI) report published by Zee News on its website.

Rashid told Geo News channel late on Friday that due to the bravery and vigilance of the policemen on duty, the suicide bomber failed to penetrate the security cordon around the stadium where the second one-day international was taking place between Pakistan and Zimbabwe.

According to the minister, the attempted attack was foiled outside the outer security cordon and a kilometer away from the stadium. He said the blast killed two persons, including a police official, and injured 10 others. Rashid’s disclosure caused embarrassment for not only the PCB but also the senior police officials who after the blasts had said they occurred due to an explosion in a power transformer close to the stadium.

Later a police spokesman said the blast occurred due to an explosion of a gas cylinder of a rickshaw near Kalma chowk.

He said originally it was thought that the rickshaw had explosives fitted in it but investigations had shown it was a gas cylinder blast. The Pakistani media also perhaps realizing the sensitivity of the moment didn’t give much coverage to the incident and played up the police version until Rasheed spoke about it.

“It is so embarrassing and we fear now that all the hard work we put into making this tour possible could go waste. As the timing of the minister’s statement was not right

we wanted to talk about it after the Zimbabwe cricket team returned home on Monday,” a reliable source in the board said.

He said PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan and senior member Najam Sethi had both been in touch with government officials on the incident that continued to cause confusion as the police till late night were sticking to their version of the blasts.

The PCB after much difficulty had managed to convince the Zimbabwe cricket team to tour Pakistan. They are the first test side to come to the country since 2009.

“The chairman had a long talk with the Zimbabwe team management and assured them everything was under control and the security being provided to them was top notch,” the source said. The Zimbabwe management announced it would continue with the tour and play the third and final one-dayer on schedule on Sunday (today).

But the source said after the incident, security had been further stepped up with around 4,000 policemen guarding the stadium itself, and a further 2,000 along the route from the Zimbabwe team hotel to the venue. A PCB spokesman confirmed to PTI that after the blast steps were taken not to cause panic among the people last night.

“The blasts were heard and word spread around but the people who came to watch the match remained orderly and there was no incident,” Agha Akbar said.

“The main thing is that the Zimbabwe team is continuing the tour and will play the last ODI as planned on Sunday,” he said. Akbar said the tickets for the match were sold out as were the first four games of the tour. “They were scheduled to go shopping on Saturday which they did and the foreign broadcasters, including some Indians showed remarkable spirit,” he said.

IndIa ‘afraId’ IslamIc state may get access to PakIstan’s nuclear arms NEWS DESK Indian Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh struck an alarmist tone on Saturday, saying India is concerned that extremist groups such as Islamic State may get their hands on nuclear arms from Pakistan.

“With the rise of ISIS in West Asia, one is afraid to an extent that perhaps they might get access to a nuclear arsenal from states like Pakistan,” Singh said on Saturday on the sidelines of the Shangri-La regional security conference in Singapore, Bloomberg reported.

Singh went on to add that if Pakistan develops technology that enables its submarines to carry nuclear warheads, “it would just be a step further in arming their defence services.”

India has also been criticised for the quality of its nuclear security. India’s nuclear materials security conditions were adversely affected by the continued increase in its

quantities of nuclear material, as well as high levels of corruption among public officials, The Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative said last year. In the latest issue of its propaganda magazine, Dabiq, the Islamic State (IS) suggested that the terrorist group is expanding so rapidly that it will buy its first nuclear weapon from Pakistan within a year. The article, which the group attributes to British hostage John Cantlie, says that the IS surpassed its roots as “the most explosive Islamic ‘group’ in the modern world” to evolve into “the most explosive Islamic movement the modern world has ever seen” in less than twelve months.

The government has flip-flopped on its position on Islamic State with the Foreign Office saying the militant group posed a threat to the country just days after the interior minister had denied the presence of Islamic State in South Asia, particularly Pakistan.

axact ceo admIts to ProvIdIng 147 fake doctorate degrees KARACHI: Axact CEO Shoaib Shaikh has admitted to providing 147 fake doctorate degrees to people in the US, England and Middle East, FIA officials said on Saturday. According to FIA officials, people who obtained these fake doctorate degrees are working at important posts worldwide. FIA officials added that counting of 86,000 fake degrees found at Axact’s office in Karachi has been completed. 100 cartons of fake degrees from Axact’s office have been shifted to FIA. Axact is being probed by the FIA in the fake degree scandal and its CEO is currently in custody. The scandal broke following a report in the New York Times which said the Axact had reaped millions by selling fake degrees online. In a raid at an office of the company, the FIA found thousands of fake degrees, student ID cards and other material used in printing. STAFF REPORT

CMYK

Sunday,31 May 2015

NEWS

03

BalochIstan cm announces aPc after mastung kIllIngs

JUDICIARY REJECTS ECP’S REQUEST FOR APPOINTING JUDICIAL OFFICERS FOR DELIMITATION IN PUNJAB, SINDH

DR BALOCH SAYS TERRORISTS WHO GUNNED DOWN 22 PEOPLE IN MASTUNG WILL BE BROUGHT TO BOOK

NJPMC says hundreds of posts are lying vacant in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh

GOVERNMENT AND OPP LEADERS BLAME RAW FOR RECENT SPIKE IN VIOLENCE IN BALOCHISTAN

QUETTA

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STAFF REPORT

ALOCHISTAN Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch on Saturday announced that the provincial government would hold an all parties conference (AOC) following the brutal killing of 22 Pashtun people in Mastung late on Friday.

On Friday night, unidentified terrorists kidnapped about two dozen passengers from two buses heading to Karachi from Pishin and killed at least 22 of them in Khad Kocha, a mountainous area in Mastung district about 70km southeast of Quetta. The United Baloch Army later claimed responsibility for the attack on Pashtuns.

“We will bring the culprits to book,” said Dr Baloch during a hurriedly called press conference at Chief Minister’s Secretariat. The chief minister also said that he had spoken to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif with regards to convening the APC, which would be

QUETTA: Relatives of the Mastung bus attack victims force their way into the Red Zone during their sit-in protest on Saturday. ONLINE

held in the next couple of days.

Leader of the Opposition in the Balochistan Assembly Maulana Abdul Wasey, Rahim Ziaratwal of Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), Zamarak Achakzai of Awami National

PAKISTAN SLAMS ‘SCANDALOUS’ARTICLE LINKING IT WITH BCCI SCAM NEW YORK: A spokesman of the Pakistan Embassy in Washington Friday rejected as “misconceived and scandalous” an article in Foreign Policy magazine that linked Pakistan to the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) scandal in 1980s. “The Op-ed piece speaks of a complete lack of knowledge and understanding of the facts surrounding the rise and fall of BCCI,” Nadeem Hotiana, the embassy press attache, wrote in response to the article by Michael Kugelman, a senior programme associate for South and Southeast Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center, a Washington-based think-tank.

The article is titled ‘Remembering Pakistan’s Biggest and Baddest Fraud Scandal’.

“Regrettably, the title of the article is misconceived and scandalous as it attempts to establish unsubstantiated links between Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) scam and Pakistan,” Hotiana said in a letter to the magazine. “We simply fail to understand why the blame for the scam by a Bank, incorporated in Luxembourg with Headquarters in London, is placed at Pakistan’s door, where only a few of worldwide 400 branches of the erstwhile bank existed.” He maintained, “Moreover, the author has not explained how one individual, Agha Hassan Abedi, was responsible for every malfeasance of the bank, which being incorporated was a separate entity in the eye of the law. Very conveniently, the article has not mentioned that Abedi was also a British national.” APP

Party and other political leaders also addressed the press conference, which was held after successful negotiations with protesting families who had brought the dead bodies of the victims outside CM Secretariat.

The government and opposition leaders termed the Mastung carnage as a pre-planned conspiracy to disrupt the law and order situation in Balochistan.

The parties also announced a shutter-down strike on Sunday across the province to express sympathy with the bereaved families.

“Our enemies want bloodshed here,” said Zamarak Achakzai, the parliamentary leader of ANP, while addressing the conference.

Political leaders also said that for the past 10 days, vulnerable people were being targeted in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan to sabotage peace in the province. They also claimed that the violence was part of conspiracy against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Balochistan Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti alleged that Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) was involved in terrorists incidents in the province. “The enemies of Pakistan want to destabilise the country,” said Bugti.

AFTER MASTUNG BUS ATTACK, FEARS OF WORSENING INSURGENCY UNITED BALOCH ARMY CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR ATTACK THAT LEFT AT LEAST 22 PASHTUN BUS PASSENGERS DEAD QUETTA AGENCIES

As hundreds of mourners on Saturday protested the killing of 22 people in deadly bus hijackings in western Pakistan, the assaults raised new fears that a long-simmering insurgency there could be growing more violent.

The country’s restive Balochistan province has seen two major attacks in the span of a month, including an April assault on a dam project that killed at least 20 people and Friday’s bus hijackings. In both, gunmen let Baloch people flee while killing others, signaling a worrying ethnic bent to an insurgency seeking independence for the oil- and mineralrich region that’s also home to Islamic extremists.

Mureed Baloch, a militant who identifies himself as the spokesman of United Baloch Army, which has attacked security forces in the past, claimed the bus attacks Saturday. Friday night’s attacks, which happened in the province’s mountainous Mastung district, saw gunmen wearing security force uniforms stop the buses, then check ID cards to determine the ethnicity of their captives, one survivor told private satellite news channel Geo TV. Local Pashtun leader Allah Dad told The Associated Press that the gunmen made Pashtun passengers stand in a line, then shot them dead.

“What was the fault of the Pashtun passengers who were killed in the attack on the buses?” Dad asked. “We want assurance from the government that the attackers

will be arrested and they will be punished.” On Saturday, hundreds of Pashtuns, who make up about 35 percent of Balochistan’s 9 million residents, placed 16 coffins with the bodies of their dead in front of the Governor’s House in the provincial capital, Quetta. The protesters later dispersed peacefully after meeting with Chief Minister Abdul Malik Baloch.

The paramilitary Frontier Corps said Saturday that 200 troops were taking part in an operation to find the gunmen, while Balochistan Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti said security forces already killed two of the attackers. The current violence is the deadliest to target civilians in the region in recent years.

Kalim Ullah, a retired history professor who lives in and has extensively studied Balochistan, said he worries the insurgency may be growing increasingly violent and spark further ethnic tension.

“There is a need to wisely handle the situation following yesterday’s attack on Pashtun people as this is something that is very dangerous,” Ullah said.

“The government must take immediate steps to avoid such incidents in future because Balochistan could plunge into a deep turmoil if Baloch and Pashtun people clashed.”

ISLAMABAD: The judiciary on Saturday turned down a request from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for appointing judicial officers as delimitation authorities to hear and decide on objections against delimitation of union councils and wards in Punjab and Sindh. A meeting of the National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee (NJPMC) was held under the Chairmanship of Chief Justice of Pakistan Nasirul Mulk on Saturday. The meeting was attended by Chief Justice Federal Shariat Court Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan, Chief Justice Islamabad High Court Justice Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi, Chief Justice Peshawar High Court Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Chief Justice High Court of Balochistan Justice Muhammad Noor Meskanzai, Chief Justice High Court of Sindh Justice Faisal Arab, Chief Justice Lahore High Court Justice Manzoor Ahmed Malik and Secretary Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan (LJCP) Mohammed Sarwar Khan. Under the Delimitation of Constituencies Rules 2015, the outlined functions of delimitation authorities are such that they can be assigned to and performed by executive officers. The committee, however, observed that the district judiciary was already busy with a large backlog of cases, therefore, any additional responsibility of delimitation would hamper the administration of justice.

Hence the body turned down the ECP’s request.Appointment of judicial officers: The committee reviewed the process of appointment of judicial officers. It observed that in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh, hundreds of posts were lying vacant.

After deliberations, the NJPMC chairman asked the chief justices of the respective High Courts to fill all vacant posts. It also reviewed the performance of the subordinate judiciary service tribunals. The secretary LJCP presented the status of appeals pending instituted and disposed of by the tribunals.

After deliberations, the committee resolved that the tribunals may meet once a week to hear the service appeals of the members of district judiciary. The CJP further asked the chief justices of high courts to monitor the performance of respective tribunals to ensure that at least half of the pending appeals should be cleared within a period of six months. The NJPMC also considered a proposal for reviving and reconstituting the provincial justice committees. The secretary LJCP briefed the meeting about the composition and mandate of the proposed provincial justice committees which includes heads of all the provincial justice organisations and secretary LJCP as secretary and member of the committees. They were told that the proposed committees, technically supported

by LJCP, would ensure effective implementation to improve the quality of justice services. After deliberations, the committee has approved the proposal for reconstitution of provincial justice committees which would meet on a monthly basis. The CJP observed that provincial justice committees would potentially strengthen the provincial justice coordination, policy, planning and improve the administration of justice in the country. STAFF REPORT

SHARIF VOWS TO COUNTER ‘ANTI-PAKISTAN’ ACTS PM LAUDS ISI’S EFFORTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS IN COUNTERING TERRORISM, EMPHASISES NEED FOR MORE COORDINATION AMONG INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday expressed serious concern over recent statements made by the Indian political leadership, and said that all possible measures would be taken to counter “antiPakistan” acts.

The prime minister said this during a visit to the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) headquarters on Saturday where he

and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif were briefed by ISI Director General Rizwan Akhtar on the internal and external security situation of the country as well as ongoing counter-terrorism operations.

Prime Minister Sharif lauded the efforts and achievements of the ISI in countering terrorist activities, and paid rich tributes to the officers and men of the agency who have laid down their lives in the line of duty.

“We are proud of our intelligence agency

and they deserve due recognition and acknowledgement,” he said.

Sharif said that terrorism and extremism are the biggest challenges to a secure and prosperous Pakistan. He showed his concern over actions of foreign intelligence agencies in destabilising the country. He emphasised the need for a more proactive and coordinated role of intelli-

CMYK

gence agencies to defeat all threats.

Earlier, Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had said that terrorists have to be neutralised only through terrorists. “India will take proactive steps to prevent a 26/11 type attack,” Press Trust of India had quoted him saying. The statement was strongly criticised by the Pakistani leadership, which said that Parrikar’s remarks

vindicated Pakistan’s stance that RAW was fomenting terrorism in the country.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Adviser to PM on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Special Assistant to PM on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi accompanied Prime Minister Sharif.

04 NEWS

Sunday, 31 May, 2015

PTI LEADS IN MISMANAGED KP POLLS seven, including indePendent candidate saifur rehman guJJar, killed in incidents of violence, Polling susPended at various stations during largely mismanaged local bodies election in kP Per unofficial results, Pti claims 46 seats, anP 16, Jui-f 11, Ji 3, Pml-n 15, PPP 3, while indePendent candidates claimed 60 slots PESHAWAR/SWABI/TANK/KOHAT

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STAFF REPORT

S many as seven people, including an election candidate, died while several others were injured in incidents of clashes, crossfire and scuffles as local bodies (LB) elections proceeded in various districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Saturday. Per reports, three people were killed in Charsadda, two in Dera Ismail Khan and another lost his life during clashes in Kohat as the LG polls in KP witnessed mismanagement, poor security measures and conflicts between different rival groups in different parts of the province which hampered the polling process. Polling for the largest LG elections in the history of KP took place across the province in which citizens voted to elect 41,762 councillors in the three tiers of local councils. According to unofficial results, PTI claimed 46 seats, ANP 16, JUI-F 11, JI 3, PML-N 15, PPP 3, while

independent candidates claimed 60 seats.

Strict security arrangements were made to ensure a smooth polling process with some 86,115 security personnel deployed at the polling stations. However, due to poor law and order situation across the province, polling in various stations was suspended.

VIOLENCE MARS POLL: Per details, crossfire between two groups resulted in independent candidate Saifur Rehman Gujjar’s death in UC Majohan of Abbottabad while three others were injured. About 20 people were also injured during crossfire between the supporters of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). Similarly, incidents of clashes between rival groups and exchange of fire were also reported from different polling stations of Mardan, Swat, Kohat, DI Khan, Nowshera and Malakand and Hazara divisions, while in Swabi, the security was handed over to security forces after severe clashes between two rival groups.

Moreover, four people were left in-

jured after a clash between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and PPP workers in Ward 6 of Kark area. Separately, PTI and Jamiat Ullema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) supporters fought in Hangu, resulting in injuring the JUI-F candidate Nasrullah. The supporters of JUI-F and PTI also had a clash in Government Primary School Number 1 in Nowshera. Furthermore, in Tehsil Road area of Nowshera, Awami National Party (ANP) and PTI workers had a fight at women polling station and the situation was controlled by the police afterwards. In Charsadda, the workers of Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) attacked a polling station and injured a policeman.

Moreover, a policeman was attacked by voters for casting fake votes in Abbottabad while in Chamad area of Abbottabad, clash between PTI and PML-N workers injured two people. Army was called in to control the situation afterwards. Separately, various people received injuries when unidentified assailants fired shots on two women polling stations in UC Naspa and Regai areas. Furthermore, people set ballot boxes on fire in Rashkai area while in polling station number 2 of Nowshehra, a mob broke ballot boxes. A voter broke a ballot box in Garhi Ismailzai area of Mardan as well.

The deputy commissioner of Nowshehra confirmed that angry workers of some political parties put the ballot papers on fire in reaction to alleged rigging during polling process, adding that security forces were summoned to control the situation besides supervising the polling and balloting process.

In Lower Dir, voters jumped inside a polling station over the closed gate, ham-

kP cm blames ecP for lg polls fiasco

PESHAWAR STAFF REPORT

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervaz Khattak on Saturday blamed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for the mismanagement witnessed across the province during the daylong polling.

“We put the whole administration at the disposal of ECP. Our job was to support and facilitate the Election Commission as per laws,” Khattak said, adding that the election wasn’t conducted by the provincial government.

The chief minister said that government would implement if ECP took any decision regarding complaints of rigging or barring women voters. He, however, rejected reports that women were stopped from voting in Nowshehra.

“Women came out to vote in large numbers and it was ECP’s responsibility to facilitate them,” he said.

CMYK

pering the polling process.

POLLING SUSPENDED: Polling was suspended in a number of stations in Peshawar, Mardan, Charsadda, Swat and Nowshera after ballot boxes and stations’ windows were broken. The officials of provincial election commission confirmed that the polling process was hampered on various polling stations in different districts, adding the time for balloting could not be extended after 5pm. In Swabi, polling was stopped in Girls High School polling station due to a clash between ANP and JI workers. Polling was also stopped in Bechamail area of Mansehra after a clash between PTI and ANP workers. KP Inspector General Police (IGP) Nasir Khan Durrani took notice of the incidents and ordered registration of cases in areas where weapons were fired or ballot boxes were broken.

MISMANAGEMENT: Moreover, polling could not be started on time at various polling stations while wrong voting symbols were also printed on several ballot papers which added to the suffering and misery of the contestants who registered their protests with the presiding officers. It was reported that at several places, presiding officers ran away from the polling stations while enraged people broke or took away the ballot boxes and polling had to be suspended. At many places people complained that it was taking more time for the voters to fix stamps at five to seven symbols and feared low turnout. They said that the Election Commission did not take into consideration that it was difficult to locate the symbols of their candidates in a short period of time and then stamp them. They were of the opinion that more polling stations should have been opened or more booths would have been set up so that about 20 to 30 people would have been allowed to get ballot papers at a time and ex-

ercise their right to franchise.

WOMEN PARTICIPATION IN LG POLLS: In the meanwhile, KP Minister for Local Government Inayatullah Khan said participation of women in the LG polls in the province was higher than the last general elections. He said women had been encouraged to exercise their right to vote and they turned up in a good number for selecting their representatives at the grassroots.

To a question about some reports that in certain localities of KP women were barred from casting votes, he said “Forcibly, neither women can be taken out for votes nor stopped from exercising their legitimate right.” When asked about reported mismanagement at some polling stations, Inayatullah termed the LG polls a “big exercise” carried out after around a 10-year break. “No doubt that there were problems but not to that extent where legitimacy of the elections become questionable,” he said.

The minister said the provincial government had extended all possible facilities to the polling staff for smooth, free and fair elections.

RIGGING MOSTLy WITNESSED AT WOMEN POLLING STATIONS IN PEShAWAR: Most of the incidents of rigging were witnessed at the women polling stations during Local Government polls in Peshawar. According to reports, more than 30 people including women were injured in firing and violent incidents in the Peshawar city. The polling started peacefully at 8am in the morning. However, as the polling progressed, instances of rigging started to take place and kept recurring during the allotted time. Three people sustained wounds in a firing incident at a polling station in Nasapa while ballot papers were brought outside from a women’s polling station in Bagh Colony.

NEWS 05

Sunday, 31 May, 2015

RegiMe BaRRel BoMBs kill 71 civiliaNs as syRia aRMy iN RetReat BARREL BOMBS ARE CRUDE WEAPONS MADE OF OIL DRUMS, GAS CYLINDERS OR WATER TANKS PACKED WITH EXPLOSIVES AND SCRAP METAL USUALLY DROPPED FROM HELICOPTERS DAMASCUS

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AGENCIES

ARREL bombs dropped from regime helicopters killed at least 71 civilians in Syria’s Aleppo province Saturday, after forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad retreated from the neighbouring northwestern region of Idlib.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said “at least 71 civilians were killed, and dozens

scene. Bulldozers were used to clear away the rubble by civil defence volunteers. One of them, Shahud Hussein, said the blasts were so powerful that buildings in the neighbourhood were “likely to collapse”. The other 59 civilians, all male, were killed at a market in Al-Bab, Abdel Rahman told AFP. Al-Bab lies about 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of Aleppo city and is controlled by the extremist Islamic State group.

“People often gather on Saturday mornings at the Al-Hail mar-

were wounded, when regime helicopters dropped barrel bombs on the city of Al-Bab and in Al-Shaar in east Aleppo city”. Rami Abdel Rahman, the director of the Britain-based monitoring group, said 12 people were killed in rebel-held Al-Shaar, including eight members of a single family.

The bodies of those slain were laid out on the streets of the neighbourhood, with the limp bloodcovered hand of one of them protruding from under a blanket, said an AFP correspondent at the

New guidelines by the US military have paved way for service members to perform their duties while wearing religious attire including turbans and skullcaps, the Department of Defence announced.

The guidelines further made allowances for facial hair, body art and other expressions of religious belief. The ease in the guidelines however, do not apply as blanket permission and requests for dispensation from stated uniform policy are to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Military ranks include thousands of Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Wiccans and members of other religious groups who have protested against the exclusion of religious apparel, claiming that it forced them to choose between their religious beliefs and their desire to serve.

In order for the requests to be approved, changes in apparel or presentation must not impair the operation of weapons, pose as a

ket in Al-Bab, which is why the number of dead was so high,” said Abdel Rahman. Those killed were all male because women have much less freedom of movement in IS-controlled areas, he added.

Barrel bombs are crude weapons made of oil drums, gas cylinders or water tanks packed with explosives and scrap metal usually dropped from helicopters.

Boko Haram attack on Nigeria’s Maiduguri city kills 11

New US military guidelines pave way for turbans and beards

NEWS DESK

Syrians stand next to the bodies of those killed in a reported bomb barrel attack by the Syrian airforce on the eastern Shaar neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on May 30.

health or safety hazard or interfere with other military equipment such as helmets, flak jackets or wetsuits according to the guidelines. “The new policy states that military departments will accommodate religious requests of service members, unless a request would have an adverse effect on military readiness, mission accomplishment, unit cohesion and good order and discipline,” said Pentagon spokesperson Lt Cmdr Nathan J Christensen.

Despite the ease in the new uniform rules, the Sikh American Legal Defence and Education Fund said the rules did not go far enough.

“This is an expansion of the waiver policy that is decided person by person,” its director, Jasjit Singh said, adding that “It does not open doors and say you can apply as a Sikh American and serve your country fully.” It was only in 2009 that Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi, a doctor and Afghanistan combat veteran, was granted a religious accommodation by the US army.

MAIDUGURI: Boko Haram insurgents attacked the outskirts of Borno state capital Maiduguri in Nigeria on Saturday morning and at least 11 people were killed in the fighting, residents and security sources said. The attack occurred barely a day after the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari, who swore to crush the Islamist militant group and move the command center for military operations away from the capital Abuja to Maiduguri. Gunshots from highcaliber weapons could be heard between about 1 a.m. and 2:20 a.m. (8 p.m. -9.20 p.m. EDT) from the southwestern part of the city. A military source said the shooting took place around the Damboa road near the small settlement of Mule, about 10 km (6 miles) from Maiduguri, a city of two million people. “A rocket launcher from Boko Haram hit a house around the Bulumkutu area...and killed five people. Our boys also picked up six corpses in different locations,” local militia member Mohammed Bunu said.

The militants tried to cross trenches dug around the city, he said. The attack follows twin bomb blasts early on Friday in Tashan Alade, a remote Borno town, which killed at least seven people. Boko Haram has since been pushed back with the help of offensives launched by troops from Chad and Niger while Cameroon has fought them off along its borders. AGENCIES

These weapons, which rights groups have criticised as indiscriminate, have struck schools, hospitals, and markets. But Saturday’s death toll was particularly high. “This is one of the biggest massacres that regime planes have committed since the beginning of 2015,” said the Syrian Revolution General Commission activist group.

The Observatory said regime

forces also dropped barrel bombs Friday in Idlib province, now under the de facto control of rebels after the Army of Conquest alliance captured the city of Ariha and surrounding villages. The brutal tactic of carrying out air attacks on built-up areas after battleground losses has become common for Syria’s regime, and it has ceded swathes of territory lately.

Powerful 7.8 quake shakes Japan TOKYO AGENCIES

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the Japanese coast Saturday, geologists said, shaking buildings in Tokyo and setting off car alarms, an AFP correspondent reported.

Despite the huge power of the quake, there was no risk of a tsunami, The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre reported. Residential buildings swayed for around a minute as the quake built in intensity at around 8.30pm.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

The epicentre was 676 kilometres below the Earth’s surface. It was centred on a remote spot in the Pacific Ocean around 870 kilometres south of Tokyo, the US Geological Survey said.

Yoshiyuki Sasamoto, who runs a traditional guest house on Chichijima, one of the

closest inhabited places to the epicentre, told NHK the shaking had been violent.

“Initially a weaker quake hit and it stopped. Then the big one came. It was so strong that I couldn’t stand still and couldn’t walk,” he said.

Both runways at Narita Airport, the main international gateway to Tokyo, were temporarily closed while inspections were carried out. Trains in Tokyo were also temporarily halted and a football match in the city was briefly suspended. There were no reported abnormalities at any of the region’s mothballed nuclear power plants.

A massive undersea quake that hit in March 2011 sent a tsunami barrelling into Japan’s northeast coast. As well as killing thousands of people and destroying communities, the waves also swamped the cooling systems at the Fukushima nuclear plant, sending three re-

actors into meltdown.

The nuclear disaster, the world’s worst since Chernobyl, displaced tens of thousands of people and rendered tracts of land uninhabitable, possibly for decades.

Saturday’s rattle was the second sizable shake Tokyo has had this week, after a much less powerful — but far shallower — quake hit close to the capital on Monday.

Japan sits at the meeting place of four tectonic plates and experiences around 20 percent of the world’s most powerful earthquakes every year.

On Friday a volcano in the far south of Japan erupted, spewing a huge column of ash high into the sky and forcing authorities to evacuate the island on which it sits. The eruption caused no injuries and no damage was reported, but it served as yet another reminder of the volatile geology of the country.

Passengers wait for "Shinkansen" bullet train operations to resume at a train station in Tokyo following a 7.8-magnitude earthquake shook buildings in the city.

IS group in Saudi urges more attacks against Shias DUBAI AGENCIES

An Islamic State-affiliated group in Saudi Arabia has urged more attacks against Shias, after IS claimed two bomb attacks on mosques in the kingdom.

An IS suicide bomber on Friday blew himself up at the entrance of a mosque in Eastern Province, killing three people, exactly seven days after the militant

group attacked another mosque in the oil-rich region.

The so-called Najd Province, which claimed both bombings, defended attacks on Shias and said they should be “killed everywhere”, in an audio message posted online late Friday. The Islamic State “has ordered its soldiers everywhere to kill the enemies of religion, especially the Rawafedh (Shias),” a spokesperson for the group is heard as say-

CMYK

ing in the audio message.

Shias are “apostates” and “it is our duty to kill and displace them… wherever they may be,” added the unidentified speaker.

Four people were also wounded in Friday’s attack in the city of Dammam, which coincided with weekly prayers. The attack sparked wide condemnation. The United States denounced the “brutality of the terrorists” and said it was committed to working with

Saudi Arabia to fight extremism.

“We deplore the brutality of the terrorists who perpetuated this violence at places of worship,” said US State Department spokesperson Jeff Rathke. “The United States stands with the people of Saudi Arabia against this violence and remains committed to working with the Saudi government and our international partners to fight violent extremism in the region,” he added.

06 NEWS

Sunday, 31 May, 2015

iRaN NucleaR talks sNag oN access to MilitaRy sites VIENNA

Policemen stand among the debris after a bomb explosion near a mosque in Jolo town, on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.

15 wounded in Philippines mosque attack JOLO: Fifteen people including 10 police officers were wounded in an attack on a police camp mosque on a remote island in Philippines long plagued by Islamic militancy, officials said Saturday. Successive blasts targeted the mosque inside Camp Kasim on the island of Jolo early Friday evening — an initial grenade attack followed by a bomb explosion less than 10 minutes later that was intended to target police who rushed to the scene, local authorities said. “It seems the [first] explosion was set up to draw responders as the target,” the provincial police chief Senior Superintendent Abraham Orbita told reporters.

Rosalyn Aya-ay, a shopkeeper and policeman’s wife, said she found her husband sprawled on the ground after the first explosion and took him to the camp hospital, though he was not seriously injured. “When I returned I found my two daughters wounded by the second blast. I was scared and I had a hard time finding an ambulance to carry them,” she told AFP. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred inside the sprawling police headquarters in the provincial capital of Jolo, a mainly Muslim island in the south of the predominantly Catholic Asian nation. It was the second bomb attack on Camp Kasim since 2010, when a Christmas Day blast wounded six people worshipping at a Catholic church in another section of the facility. Jolo is a known stronghold of Abu Sayyaf, a small group of a few hundred Islamic militants founded in the 1990s with seed money from Al Qaeda. AGENCIES

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AGENCIES

ITH the top US and Iranian diplomats meeting Saturday in Geneva one month before a deadline for a historic nuclear deal, demands for UN inspections of Iranian military bases appear to be becoming a problem.

Tehran is uneasy about letting foreigners go poking around such sites, saying that since no nuclear material is present, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) watchdog has no right to enter them.

But the six powers negotiating with Iran want the IAEA to be able to visit them in order to investigate claims of any suspicious activity — past and future — that could indicate attempts to build a bomb.

“The Western powers cannot accept a deal that precludes IAEA access to military sites,” Mark Fitzpatrick, International Institute for Strategic Studies analyst, told AFP, calling it “politically indefensible”.

Last week supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tehran “will not allow any inspections of military sites by foreigners” or the “interrogation” of nuclear scientists by the Vienna-based IAEA. France’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius shot back on Wednesday, saying any deal without access to military sites “will not be accepted”.

This prompted a rebuke on Thursday by Iran’s Foreign Minis-

ter Mohammad Javad Zarif, who called on “my negotiating partners to refrain from making excessive demands”. “People need to have their foot in reality, not in illusions,” said Zarif, who is due to hold talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Geneva on Saturday.

On April 2 Iran and the “P5+1″ — the US, China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany — agreed to

the main outlines of a deal that they hope will end the long-running crisis over Iran’s nuclear programme.

Diplomats as well as technical and legal experts have been working hard in Vienna and elsewhere since then to turn the outlines into a final accord by June 30.

If it can be finalised, the deal will see Iran dramatically scale down its nuclear activities to make

any dash to make a bomb virtually impossible. Iran maintains that its nuclear activities are only for peaceful purposes. The deal will see the IAEA keep even closer tabs than it already does on Iran’s nuclear sites — which Iran accepts, according to April’s joint statement issued in Lausanne, Switzerland.

In return, painful sanctions will be lifted.

India reels under heatwave as death toll tops 2,000

HYDERABAD AGENCIES

India’s brutal weeks-long heatwave has killed more than 2,000 people, authorities said Saturday,

as the government launched a mass education campaign to help people cope with scorching temperatures.

Hundreds of mainly povertystricken people die at the height of

summer every year in India, but this year’s toll is the second highest in India’s history and fifth most in recorded history globally, according to EM-DAT, an international disaster database.The southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana — which have so far borne the brunt of the heatwave — accounted for 1,979 deaths. A further 17 people were killed in Orissa, eastern India, while nine people were reported dead elsewhere in the country, taking the death toll to 2,005.

A total of 2,541 people died in 1998 due to extreme temperatures, the highest figure in India’s history, according to EM-DAT. Officials in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, meanwhile, launched public education cam-

paigns to inform the most vulnerable on how to withstand the heat.

In Telangana, the authorities were using pamphlets and local media to inform people to avoid going outdoors and to drink plenty of water, the state’s disaster management chief BR Meena said.

“The death toll stands at 489.

There has been some relief in the heatwave also but we are out on the roads telling people how to stay safe,” he told AFP, adding that there had been no deaths in the state as a result of the hot weather since Thursday.

Meena’s counterpart in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, where 1,490 people have died since mid-May, said officials there had launched a publicity

campaign outlining how to deal with the heatwave.

“The deaths have definitely come down in the last few days,” state disaster management chief P Tulsi Rani told AFP. Health officials in Andhra Pradesh’s Prakasam district, where 305 people have died due to the heatwave, said the situation has improved in the last few days with few people arriving in hospitals with symptoms of heat stroke.

“There is no alarming situation at present. The heat has come down, and we’re seeing fewer new patients come in with heat stroke,” J.V. Subbarao, a top official at Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, told AFP. On Saturday, maximum temperatures across India hovered

around 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit), with forecasters in New Delhi warning that searing temperatures would continue next week across several states.

Hundreds of people — mainly from the poorest sections of society — die at the height of summer every year across India, while tens of thousands suffer power cuts from an overburdened electricity grid. India declares a heatwave when the maximum temperature hits 45 degrees Celsius, or five degrees higher than the average for the area in previous years.

The annual monsoon is forecast to hit the southern state of Kerala this week before sweeping across the country, but it will be weeks before the cooling rains reach India’s arid plains.

Fighters battle Houthis in Yemen’s Aden ADEN AGENCIES

Heavy fighting erupted in southern Yemen near Aden airport on Friday when local militia attacked Shi’ite Houthi rebels in a push to drive them from the district, residents and fighters said.

Saudi-led forces also made four air strikes on a military base near the airport, a source in the southern militia told Reuters.

A Saudi-led coalition began air strikes in Yemen on March 26 in a campaign to restore Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power. He fled in March, after Iranian-backed Houthi rebels seized the capital Sanaa in September and then thrust into central and south Yemen.

Aden is Yemen’s commercial hub. Its airport has been closed since fighting began but

its port provides sporadic access for desperately needed humanitarian aid to enter the country.

Houthis and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh are concentrated around Aden’s districts of Khor Maksar, Crater and Moalla.

The fighting in Khor Maksar has killed four southern militia fighters and 15 Houthis so far, the militia source said.

Later on Friday Houthis fired shells at Saudi Arabia’s southwestern province of Jizan, according to their official Twitter account. There was no immediate information about casualties.

Saudi forces and the Houthis have been trading fire across the border since the Arab alliance began its military operations.

On Thursday, two Saudi border guards were killed and five wounded by shells fired from

Yemen.

Intense air raids by the Arab alliance were also reported overnight by residents of Saada, a province in northwest Yemen which borders Saudi Arabia.

Raids also targeted a weapons storage site in Sanaa, said residents.

On Monday, Houthi fighters suffered their first significant setback in the south in two months of civil war when local militia ejected them from much of the southern city of Dalea, about 170 km (105 miles) north of Aden.

The militias, who call themselves the Southern Resistance, are a loosely allied group of fighters who took up arms against the Houthis.

UN-sponsored peace talks set to be held in Geneva this week have been postponed because of the heavy fighting.

Fighting has intensified in Aden despite 11 days of air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition.

WEATHER UPDATES

SUNDAY

400C 270C

MONDAY

290C

260C

TUESDAY

370C 260C

WEDESDAY

370C 260C

Sunday, 31 May, 2015

LAHORE 07 PRAyER TiMiNgS FAJR SUNRISE

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

3:22

12:01

3:40

4:58

7:02

8:39

PROTESTS, STRIKES END: DASKA CITY RETURNS TO NORMALCY

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf activists and lawmakers stage a sit-in in front of Punjab Assembly on Saturday against Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah’s restoration as Punjab law minister. iNP

LCWU VC WaLking the extra miLe to empoWer femaLes LAHORE COLLEGE FOR WOMEN UNIVERSITY VICE CHANCELLOR PROFESSOR DOCTOR SABIHA MANSOOR SAYS HER VISION IS TO EMPOWER WOMEN THROUGH EMPLOYABILITY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP SO THAT THEY CAN CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF PAKISTAN LAHORE

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HASSAAN AHMED

ROFESSOR Doctor Sabiha Mansoor is presently the Vice Chancellor of Lahore College for Women University (LCWU), Lahore. She is an eminent and renowned social scientist and has made valuable contributions at national and international level for women development and higher education. She holds a PhD degree in Education and a Master’s degree in teaching of English as a Foreign Language from University Reading UK, and a Master’s degree in English Literature from Punjab University.

Pakistan Today got a chance to have an informal chat with her about her experience and achievements during her tenure as LCWU VC. She took charge as the LCWU VC four years ago on July 11, 2011 and is due to retire in July this year.

“I launched Vision 2020 after taking charge with the collaboration of all stake-

holders including faculty, students and alumni in order to transform LCWU into a more peaceful, tolerant and reputed varsity. The core objective of the vision is to empower women through employability and entrepreneurship so that they may contribute towards socio-economic development of Pakistan,” Dr Sabiha said.

Many achievements have been made during my first tenure through good governance, strong yet democratic leadership, and decentralised administration to produce a conducive environment for academics and research, she said, adding that her achievements include removal of an illegal union and negative politics.

In order to motivate the faculty to pursue academic and research excellence, five new institutes were established by clustering homogenous departments while numerous new academic and research departments were formed and programs were kicked off for student development to enable LCWU graduates to empower themselves through employ-

NATIONAL MINORITIES AWARDS 2015 ACKNOWLEDGES NON-MUSLIM HEROES

ment and entrepreneurship.

“We have significantly increased research grants for faculty and postgraduate students and enhanced their research capacity increasing their chances to secure mega funded research grants from HEC, national and international organisations in last four years. The LCWU collaborated with international universities to improve the learning capacities of faculty. These foreign institutions include University College London, Queen Mary College, Essex, Glasgow and Warwick universities in UK, George Washington and New York universities in USA, Victoria University, Sydney University in Australia, AIT, University of Philippines, in Far East and numerous others through the projects of USAID, USEF and British council,” she highlighted.

“Keeping in view that the LCWU is the largest and oldest women university, I established the Women Institute of Leadership and Learning with approval of the Syndicate to empower women through

It’s human error not rigging, says NADRA report on NA-122 LAHORE STAFF REPORT

LAHORE: Dastak Foundation and Sadai Aqliat monthly organised a National Minorities Award Ceremony on Saturday to pay homage to those who sacrificed their lives to save others during the twin suicide attacks on two churches in Youhanabad on March 15, and acknowledge the services of prominent non-Muslims who are contributing to the progress of the country. Addressing the gathering, Dastak Foundation Chairman and Chief Patron of Sadai Aqliat, Rufus Solomon said that a nation that forgets its heroes can never achieve its destination. Aleem Khan, senior leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and PTI leader Shoaib Saddique were the guest of honours and handed out the awards among the martyrs’ families and other recipients STAFF REPORT

employment to contribute to socio-economic development of Pakistan as well as to groom women leaders,” she said.

“A career counselling and job placement centre has been set up to facilitate the students and may prove helpful in selecting their jobs,” she adding elaborating upon her step to empower women.

She further said that the faculty and students were being developed through the LCWU’s 4-year collaboration with George Washington University so as to enable the Department of Gender Studies and Women Development to offer high quality PhD program.

“The most important function of the LCWU is to produce world class graduates who are independent learners and critical thinkers. In this regard, a system has been placed at the LCWU with the help of Punjab Education Foundation (PEF), HEC, foreign consulates and university’s own funding, where all the talented students are rewarded with scholarships,” she concluded.

The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has submitted its report comprising 1,475 pages to the Election Tribunal investigating into alleged rigging in NA-122 constituency, Lahore.

The report was submitted by the NADRA acting chairman to the tribunal. The tribunal then summoned the NADRA chairman and adjourned the hearing till June 13.

According to the report, of the 6,123 votes on which wrong CNIC numbers were written, 96.7 percent were valid votes. It said the writing of wrong CNIC number on the counterfoil was a human error and when it was compared to the CNIC numbers on the voter lists, most of them were found to be correct. It elaborated that only 204 votes could be described as illegal. In about 70% cases, the report said, only one figure out of 13 was written wrongly while in 20%

cases, two figures were wrong out of 13.

While objecting over the report, the Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaf said that in several cases either the fingerprints were unreadable, or the CNIC numbers were wrong and in some cases the voters were not of the same constituency.

During the hearing, the acting chairman said that the chairman is presently out of the country and the hearing be adjourned after which the tribunal adjourned hearing till June 13.

SIALKOT: The situation in Daska has normalised after the city saw protests and arson by the local lawyers and people followed by deserted look due to shutter down strike, in the aftermath of the brutal murder of Daska-based two senior lawyers Rana Khalid Abbas (President Daska Bar Association) and Muhammad Irfan Chohan by accused police inspector Shehzad Warraich during a clash in front of the Daska city Police Station five days ago on May 25. All the shops, bazaars, markets, business centres remained opened fearlessly with usual flow of traffic on all the inter-city roads in Daska. However, the protesting lawyers today marched peacefully on various city roads to lodge their protest against the brutal murders of their senior colleagues. Meanwhile, the office of the deputy superintendent of police (DSP) has started working temporarily in the small sized judicial complex (Bakhashi Khana) adjacent to the Daska City Police Station. A mob of the protesting people including some lawyers had set ablaze the office of the DSP with complete official record during the protest. The lawyers’ community has urged the Punjab government to construct a monument at the spot of the incident in the memory of deceased lawyers. STAFF REPORT

Dry, hot weather to prevail in province, lucky Lahoris to enjoy rain LAHORE: Mainly hot and dry weather is expected in prevail in most parts of the country, however, rain-thundershower with dust storm is expected in the provincial capital during next 24 hours. According to met office, rain-thundershower with dust storm is expected at isolated places in Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Zhob divisions, Kashmir and GilgitBaltistan during the next 24 hours. According to synoptic situation, seasonal low lies over Balochistan and adjoining areas. A shallow westerly wave is present over upper parts of the country. The weather remained hot and dry in most parts of the country while rain-thundershower with dust storm occurred at isolated places in Malakand, Hazara, Peshawar, Multan, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi divisions, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir during last 24 hours. The maximum temperature was recorded as 41 degree Celsius in the city on Saturday. APP

SKMCHRC organises antitobacco poster contest

LAHORE: Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre organised its annual “Anti-Tobacco Poster Competition” to create awareness among the masses to prevent the incidences which is on the rise due to smoking on the eve of World No Tobacco Day observed every year on May 31 internationally.All major schools from all over Pakistan participated in the contest in which approximately 6000 entries were received. Chief Executive Officer of the hospital Dr. Faisal Sultan distributed shield sand certificates among the winners of the competition. Speaking at this occasion, Dr. Faiz-ur-Rehman, Consultant Cardiologist, SKMCH&RC said tobacco usage is on the rise in the Pakistani youth which is a very dangerous trend to their health. Developed world is striving hard to educate its people about the hazards of tobacco use and they have achieved continuous declining ratio in this regard and their youth have become less prone to the tobacco use. But developing countries like Pakistan are facing huge surge in usage of tobacco and other toxic drugs in youth, he said. PRESS RELEASE

08 LAHORE CCP CONDEMNS LEAS RESPONSIBLE FOR MASTUNG TRAGEDY LAHORE: The Concerned Citizens Society of Pakistan (CCP) has strongly condemned the government’s negligent attitude towards its citizens. In a statement, the society enquired as to why security guards were not accompanying the passenger buses in Baluchistan when Mastung tragedy occurred on Friday night.

“This is admittedly a vulnerable route where public transport should have armed escort which could have prevented the armed men intercepting coaches in Kund Umrani area of Khad Kocha in Mastung district and asking passengers to disembark, twenty of whom were later brutally killed,” the statement read. “The incident is shockingly tragic and condemnable in the strongest possible terms. This is not the first massacre of its kind, but the law enforcement agencies have shown extreme negligence and complacency in protecting the lives of citizens living in restive areas of Baluchistan,” read the statement. The society further said that the incident reinforces the impression that the federal and Baluchistan governments have failed to deliver on their promise to eliminate militant groups and to improve law and order situation. Shias have been brutally killed on earlier occasions after verifying their identities in the same fashion, the statement said, adding that each time there are meaningless statements of grief from those who could have made the difference. PRESS RELEASE

Sunday, 31 May, 2015

CM LAMENTS OFFICIALS FOR NOT USING IMPORTED MACHINERY

LAHORE

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STAFF REPORT

UNJAB Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif Saturday has strongly condemned the negligence on part of the officials for not using the machinery imported for upgrading of District Headquarters Hospital, Dera Ghazi Khan. He was presiding over a high level meeting through video link in which Chief Minister’s Inspection Team chairman presented its investigation report about the up-gradation project of the hospital.

Declaring the act tantamount to cruelty against the people, he said

that the machinery closed in cartons worth million of rupees is criminal negligence. He warned of stern action against those responsible for keeping machinery closed in cartons for two years.

“Why officials of the Health Department did not take action on deviation and violation of PC-I of the project?” he questioned.

He said that non-implementation of third-party audit policy regarding the project is also lamentable. He said that there is no justification for not using the machinery worth 700 million rupees for providing medical facilities to the people.

“Those who did this will be held accountable and such officers and

officials have no right to remain on their posts,” the chief minister said.

He directed to constitute a highpowered committee for completely reviewing all matters and said that on the recommendations of the committee, those responsible of wasting resources of the poor nation will be held accountable. He reprimanded officers concerned for not taking immediate action on the matter and expressed his indignation.

He said that setting affairs of government hospitals right is the responsibility of the Health Department. He directed the chief secretary to submit a report about the nonfunctional machinery in the hospitals within two weeks.

LAHORE: World Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Day, that falls on the last Wednesday of May every year, unites MS organisations globally, helps raise awareness about multiple sclerosis and those living with MS to improve public understanding and support that will move us closer to a world free of MS,” said, Society for Multiple Sclerosis Patients in Pakistan President Afroz Syed. She further said, “The day this year is being celebrated under the theme ‘Together We’re Stronger’ that focuses on finding positive ways to celebrate both the big and small things that people and organisations have done to help make life less difficult for those affected by MS.” Leading Neurologist of Pakistan Dr Amir Ikram said, “MS is a chronic inflammatory and demyelinising disease of the central nervous system predominantly involving the white matter.” PRESS RELEASE

LAHORE: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has strongly condemned the murder of at least 21 passengers of two Karachi-bound buses in Mastung district on Friday and demanded that the killers should be brought to justice and road travel is made secure from such wanton acts of violence. In a statement on Saturday, the commission said.

“HRCP strongly condemns the horrible act of terrorism in Mastung on Friday night, where at least 21 people were abducted and killed after being forced out of two Karachi-bound buses,” “HRCP also denounces the overall lack of security and general lawlessness where the killers seem to have little problem in acquiring sophisticated weapons and uniform of security forces to facilitate their killing sprees, especially against bus passengers.

Unlike the merely reactive measures on display since Friday night, the disturbing trend of attacks on bus passengers, often by culprits in security forces uniforms, need to be confronted by identifying and bringing to justice the groups involved,” the statement added. The statement further said there have been hints that the victims might have been targeted because of their ethnic identity, adding that it would be exceedingly unfortunate if that turns out to be the case. One cannot agree more with the authorities’ contention that such attacks are a conspiracy against peace in the country, the statement concluded. STAFF REPORT

GOVT MAKING EFFORTS TO ENSURE QUALITY EDUCATION: RAJWANA LAHORE: The government is making allout efforts to ensure quality education for development of human resource as development and progress could not be achieved without promoting higher education, said Punjab Governor Muhammad Rafique Rajwana while talking to Punjab University Vice Chancellor Mujahid Kamran. Rajwana said it was necessary to promote a culture of competition, adding that students should be encouraged and motivated to take part in research work. Felicitating Mujahid Kamran over improvement in ranking of the Punjab University, he said better coordination was needed among educational institutes to meet modern requirements of education. Talking to Dr Sameena Amin of Government College University (GCU), he said women had been taking active part in educational activities to bring development and prosperity in the country. The governor also appreciated educational standard in Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi. Talking to Dr Muhammad Khaleequr Rehman of Government College University, he lauded the GCU’s performance for starting new programmes at masters and bachelor especially at MPhil level. University of Health Sciences VC Maj General (r) Muhammad Aslam, Lahore College for Women University VC Sabiha Mansoor, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences VC Dr Talat Naseer Pasha also met the governor. APP

LAHORE: Schoolboys celebrate the start of summer vacation on the last day of school on Saturday. iNP

World multiple sclerosis Day observed last week to create awareness about disease

HRCP CONDEMNS MASTUNG KILLINGS, DEMANDS JUSTICE

PAKISTAN-US ALUMNI NETWORK PROMOTES INTERFAITH HARMONY LAHORE: The Pakistan-US Alumni Network, Lahore chapter, celebrated peace week under the theme of “Art Travels Through Faiths” from May 25 to 31. The alumni brought religious communities – Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, Christians and Ahmadis – on a platform where they produced joint art pieces. “All communities jointly filled canvases expressing their desire for peace, and interfaith harmony,” said Komal Fiaz, leader of the activity. The artworks were later exhibited at 39-K, Model Town on Saturday. She said that the idea of the exhibition is to bring perspective of different communities together to show that every perspective can be a part of a bigger narrative. Other alumni – Fahima Khan, Kashif Fiaz, Syed Fahim, Shahzaib, Anam Bhatti and Carol Mukhtar – said they enjoyed interaction with communities and every place had wonderful people. The activity kicked off with paint canvases that travelled from one religious community to another in Lahore. Each member of the community added their perspective of life and peace on the canvas. “We need to interact more and more with communities,” said Fahima Khan. She said she enjoyed the time spent in a mosque, temple, gurdwara and church. STAFF REPORT

Mother forces two children to consume acid GUJRANWALA: A pitiless mother forced her two children to consume acid over domestic dispute on Saturday resulting in their death. Police said that a woman hailing from Dhaley, Gujranwala, after exchanging hot words with her in-laws forced her children to consume acid and also guzzled the fatal liquid. Condition of the three deteriorated and they were rushed to a nearby hospital where Ahmad, 5, and threeyear-old Manahil expired while condition of their mother was also serious. STAFF REPORT

INDIA RELEASES ANOTHER PRISONER LAHORE: The Indian government on Saturday released another Pakistani prisoner languishing in Indian jail. The India authorities handed over prisoner Sameer, 25, s/o Vilgee, resident of Sindh’s Vikaser, Tehsil Nagar Parket, district Mitthi, to the officials of the Punjab Rangers at the Wagha Boarder, said rangers sources. The rangers officials handed over the prisoner to volunteers of Edhi Foundation who took him to Edhi Home, Gulberg. APP

BUSINESS 09

Sunday, 31 May, 2015

Flattened by erratic rain, Pakistani Farmers ditch croP Farming ISLAMABAD

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AGENCIES

N late April, after 28 hours of heavy rain, Noor Hussain and his two brothers surveyed his three-hectare wheat plot to see what they could save. An earlier hailstorm had already devastated much of the crop. Now, standing on the fringes of the sodden farm, Hussain despaired. “Look at spikes of the wheat,” he said, pointing out where the heavy weather had broken them off.

“Only the small plants in the middle of the plot have survived.” Hussain, 39, estimated 70 percent of the crop was ruined, with harvest only six weeks away. Farmers all over Pakistan are suffering the same heartbreak, as a season of unusually heavy rain and cold weather continues to destroy crops across the country.

Heavily in debt and tired of struggling against the worsening effects of climate change, some farmers have decided to abandon crop farming altogether, instead turning to raising cattle and poultry as more reliable sources of income. “How can I keep growing wheat when I have suffered so much economic damage?” asked Hussain, who said erratic rains had been hurt-

ing his harvests since 2011. “I will grow wheat on one hectare to meet my family’s food needs and on the rest I will establish a cattle pen and poultry farm,” he said.

Swapping cropS for cattle: Speaking to the Thomson Reuters Foundation by telephone, farmers from districts southeast of Islamabad said that delayed or excessive rains, coupled with heavy hailstorms, have nearly flattened their wheat and mustard crops. “I have no way to pay off my loan, other than resorting to labour at a brick

kiln on the outskirts of Islamabad,” said 40year-old Mujtaba Khan, who wept as he spoke. “I don’t think I will be able to grow crops for the next three years, because it will take too long for me to clear my debt.” Of the dozens of farmers in Punjab who spoke with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, most have already reduced their crop farming activities and started raising animals. A mushrooming of cattle pens around towns and cities in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces reflects a growing resignation

among farmers that they can no longer make a living from agriculture, experts said.

As unseasonable rain continues, many farmers are still waiting to harvest their crops, three weeks behind schedule. According to farming experts, such delays, as well as hurting harvests, can increase the chances of attack by yellow rust, a fungal disease that hampers photosynthesis and stunts the growth of grain. Ibrahim Mughal, chairperson of the Pakistan Agri Forum, estimates that unwanted rains in

A home truth about Karachi builders CONTRACTORS FAIL TO DELIVER HOUSES, FLATS DESPITE TIMELY INTALMENTS KARACHI ARSHAD HUSSAIN

House is the third basic need of human beings, but in the absence of laws and regulations for the builders, thousands of people are running after them to take possession of their flats in Karachi and other big cities of Pakistan.

“Most of the builders have taken money during the constructions of the flats or before it with a promise to handover the

said flat in three to five years, but most of the builders failed to provide their properties in 7 to 10 years or above,” said flat owners in Karachi. The investment of billion of rupee of people is in doll drum as they have no approach to the builders of the said projects and the area police do not cooperate them for their rights. The small builders, who launched their projects with an investment of the land, award selling contract of the flats to marketing companies to arrange the money for the construction. In the middle of construction, most of the flat owners delayed their instalments and the projects stopped. These small builders are not registered with any government or the ABAD. Role of the marketing companies is to sell the projects on normal printed papers or receipts which have no legal authority in the law and thousands of

WHT ON PRIZE BONDS, PAY ORDERS, DRAFTS LIKELY IN BUDGET ISLAMABAD AMER SIAL The government is likely to impose withholding tax (WHT) on cashing prize bonds, and on banking products like bank drafts, pay orders and even letters of credit (LCs) to achieve the revenue collection target of Rs 3,100 billion during the next fiscal year. An official source said the imposition of WHT was being contemplated on these products as they have effectively remained outside the tax net for quite a long time. Along with enhancing revenues, they will help track the non-taxpayers. Prize bonds, the source said, especially of higher denomination, Rs 25,000 and Rs 40,000 are being used widely by the business community, especially traders. The increasing use of bonds in trade settlements require that it should be taxed. There is also a proposal to issue higher value bonds in name along with CNIC number. About the imposition of WHT on banking products, the source said it was being opposed by the banks claiming that the tax could be imposed on income or profit and pay orders, drafts and LCs don’t fall in that category. The government is already collecting WHT on cash withdrawal of Rs 50,000 which also doesn’t fall under income or profit category. The banks claim it would discourage the people from coming into the banking system. The businesses will look for other options as tax will increase their cost of doing business. However, the source said the FBR was of the firm opinion to track these products as NTN would be replaced with CNIC during the next financial year. The tax authorities plan to identify and include majority of the non-compliant taxpayers in the tax net during the next financial year.

people are giving them savings of their whole life to get shelter on their heads.

“If you have even a piece of 80 yards land in Karachi, you can construct flats on this plot,” said a KDA official. There was no law whether it was commercial or residential plot, you must have bribe to get legal documents,” he added.

“Approximately, 175-200 projects worth billions of rupee are under completion in Karachi and thousands of owners of the flats are waiting for the possession.

I don’t know, where should I contact to get stuck up money back from the builder as there is no office of the builders nor marketing company,” said an owner of the flat.

The official of the front line marketing said: “Our work is to sell the project at early stage of the construction, but after that we have no link with the builder.”

According to a builder, some of the

projects were stopped due to terrorism and law and order situation in Karachi, but most of the small builders have financial crisis after initiating the projects.

He said the builders of the big projects had the bank guarantee and loans facilities on the construction site and they delivered their flats on time and with minor delay. The builder said: “Small builders should be registered with the governments and the associations so that the customers of the flats/houses may lodge complaint of the delay or fraud case.”

“We have currently 9 million unit shortfall. Each year there is need for 600,000 units but only 300,000 units are constructed. This adds 300,000 numbers of units shortfall. In order to increase housing finance to 10 percent of GDP over next 10 years we have to finance some 300,000 units per year.”

Textile exports increases 2.94pc in April ISLAMABAD App

The textile exports from the country increased by 2.94 per cent in April against the exports of same month of last year.

The exports of textile group in April were recorded at $1.081 billion against the exports of $1.05 billion in April 2014, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). Similarly, on month-on-month basis the textile group exports in April also increased by 4.6 per cent from $1.033 billion in March 2015 to $1.081 billion in April.

The exports of textile group during first 10 months of the year 2014-15, however, decreased by 1.21 per cent as compared to the exports of same period of last year. The overall textile group exports during the period under review were recorded at $11.281 billion as compared to the exports of $11.42 billion in July-April (2014-15). The textile products that witnessed increase in trade included cotton carded or combed export of which increased by 2.49 per cent, by going up from $6.1 million last

year to $6.253 million this year. Exports of yarn other than cotton yarn also increased by 5.40 per cent from $35.61 million last year to $37.532 million this year while the exports of knitwear increased by 7.76 per cent from $1.839 billion to $1.982 billion.

According to PBS data, exports of towels during the period under review increased by 3.2 per cent to $650.064 million from $629.881 million during last year. The exports of tents, canvas and tarpaulin also surged by 73.26 per cent from $65.797 million during July-April 201314 to $114.001 million during July-April (2014-15), whereas the exports of readymade garments increased by 9.14 per cent from $1.5778 billion to $1.722 billion.

The products that witnessed negative growth in exports included raw cotton exports of which declined by 26.22 per cent, from $196.128 million to $144.695 million. The exports of cotton yarn decreased from $1.716 billion to $1.587 billion, showing a decrease of 7.5 per cent while exports of cotton cloth decreased from $2.346 billion to $2.088 billion showing decrease of 10.98 per cent.

northern Punjab and Kyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces have resulted in losses of up to 50 percent in wheat, mustard, and maize production. The region accounts for over 65 percent of the country’s total wheat production, according to Mughal.

“If the rains come a month ahead of harvest time – usually April to mid-May – it is always disastrous,” he said in a telephone interview from Lahore. The Federal Committee on Agriculture had fixed the national wheat production target at 26.3 million tons for the 2014-2015 rabi season, which produces a spring harvest. But officials are pessimistic about achieving those figures. Instead, “we estimate damages of over three million tons to the crop from this year’s odd rainy season,” said Sikandar Hayat Bosan, federal minister for National Food Security and Research. For some of Pakistan’s farmers, this year’s damage is the last straw. In Gujar Khan, about 70 kilometres (43 miles) from Islamabad, wheat and mustard farmer Fareed Khan lost $325,000 worth of crops to heavy rains. Now he’s converting his farmland into a cattle pen. “How can a farmer like me afford to continue with the cultivation of wheat, when erratic weather has become the foe of farmers?” he asked.

OGRA RECOMMENDS GOVT NOT TO RAISE PRICES OF POL PRODUCTS ISLAMABAD StAff REpoRt

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has recommended to government for not enhancing prices of petroleum products to avoid inflation during the holy month of Ramadan.

As per media reports, the OGRA has said that the government could make a change in levy slapped on petroleum products in order to minimise General Sales Tax (GST).

The past tendency reflects that transporters and traders have looted the consumers by taking undue advantage of increase in the price of petroleum products. In this context, it has been recommended to the government that Ramadan is two weeks away and it will be better for the consumers if the prices of petroleum products are kept stable in the prevailing situation.

A senior government functionary said that Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif did not agree with the ministry of petroleum recommendations for raising prices of petroleum products.

GOVT DECIDES TO INCREASE FED ON CIGARETTES IN BUDGET

ISLAMABAD StAff REpoRt

The government has decided to scale up federal excise duty (FED) on cigarettes, sugar, beverages and cooking oil in the budget for the financial year 2015-16.

The government has accepted proposal from Central Board of Revenue (CBR) for raising FED from 19 to 33 per cent on cigarettes, 9 to 12 per cent on beverages and 8 to 17 per cent on sugar.

The increase in FED is likely to accrue billion of rupees revenue for the government. Approval in this regard will be accorded in June 5 cabinet meeting.

10 LEISURE

Sunday, 31 May, 2015

DILbERt

aries

taurus

gemini

Your plans begin to fall in place today as you gather more information about your partner's vision of the future. However, you need more time to find common ground since you still have important details to work out.

You might have big expenses on the horizon that require you to spend more than you planned.

Naturally, you Bulls like to feel secure about your monetary situation but lingering concerns may be plaguing you now.

You are at a fork in the road and may feel pressured by someone to choose one path or the other. However, this urgency is a bit of an illusion now, so continue incorporating new data and reconsidering your strategy for a while longer.

cancer

leo

virgo

However, you can't start your next adventure until you tie up the loose ends from the previous one. Review your recent experiences so you can decide what you want to carry with you into the future.

Your confident nature usually empowers you to navigate your way through the most trying situations. It's not that you have all the answers; you just have a knack of turning mountains into mole hills once you state your intentions.

Don't get tricked into thinking you must map out your entire future today, since you're likely to change your mind more than once. Instead of stressing out about your ambivalence, luxuriate in the additional time at your disposal to search for answers.

GARFIELD

libra

scorpio

sagittarius

Money matters are on your mind today as the provocative Scorpio Moon slips into your 2nd House of Personal Resources. Perhaps someone owes you money or maybe you need to discuss the details of a financial arrangement with an expert you trust.

Unfortunately, you're not currently in the mood to involve others in your emotional process, prompting you to deny that anything is wrong. But just because you're fully capable of handling your problems by yourself, it doesn't mean you should.

Your life would be much simpler now if everyone around you would stop changing their minds. It seems as if others are telling you what they want one minute, and then saying something completely different the next.

capricorn

aquarius

pisces

Your schedule has been unusually erratic with mischievous Mercury backtracking in your 6th House of Routine. You may be wondering when your daily life will calm down and return to normal.

You may have plenty of projects in process now and even a few new prospects on the horizon. But you can't say yes to every intriguing opportunity that knocks on your door today as clever Mercury, ardent Mars and the brilliant Sun cluster in your 5th House of Creativity.

Sorting out the most practical thoughts from all the noise is tricky while chatty Mercury connects with the Sun. It's even more complicated today because everyone seems to have something contrary to say.

cRosswoRD

sUDokU

woRD sEARch

ACROSS

7 something cheap or easy to do (4) 8 rinse arm (anag) (8) 9 cup final stadium (7) 11 military rank (5)

bRIDGE

how to pLAy

5 us choo-choo destination? (11)

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.

against apart appearance attack attitude blink blush brace bright chairs chirp drawing engine gala hatch hies image joker knocks

mutton nicks office participate poet prayer process queen quite river sense shore speck story tare teas trick yearn

Today’s soluTions

tIppInG poInts

13 portly — type of dark beer (5) 16 curved sword (8) 17 steal — castle (4)

chEss white tO PLAY AND MAte iN three MOVes

18 new york, new york (3,3,5)

8

DOwn 1 emblem of ireland (4)

7

2 baffled (7)

6

3 in a paddy (5)

crossword solution

14 wrong but prevalent notion (7)

5

4 english county (8) 5 the nutmeg state (11)

4

6 presidential plane (3,5,3)

3

10 people from birmingham (8)

2

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

chess solution

17 ecstatic — engrossed (4)

1.Qxb5 Qxb5 2.c4 g6 3.cxb5 *

1

15 divest — team's garb (5)

sudoku solution

12 golf course area between tee and green (7)

Sunday, 31 May, 2015

ARTS

Woman sees man With brother's transplanted face for the first time MARYLAND

a

AGENCIES

Maryland woman, whose brother was killed in a traffic accident at 21, met the man who was given his face in a pioneering transplant operation.

An Australian television programme showed the moment when Rebekah Aversano saw and touched the face of her dead brother. The recipient of Rebekah’s brother’s face, Richard Norris from Virginia, US, was severely injured in a shotgun accident 15 years ago.

Before the operation was conducted, Richard rarely went outside and lived a

reclusive life.

Normally, transplant recipients don’t meet the families of their donors. However, in this case, Rebekah came face-toface with the man who received some of her brother’s facial tissues and structures.

“This is the face I grew up with,” she said, as she touched his face.

In an interview with CTV News, Rebekah’s mother said that the decision to donate her son’s face was difficult, but it would have been what he wanted.

“Knowing our son, he would have wanted someone else to go on with their lives if he wasn’t able to,” she said.

“After meeting Mr Norris, seeing him and speaking to him we can definitely see

TWO FAITHS, ONE PRAYER: MUSLIMS AND JEWS COME TOGETHER TO PRAY

our son in him. We were just so pleased we were able to help Mr Norris even though we had such a tragic loss,” she added.

The extensive transplant surgery took place at the University of Maryland three years ago. It lasted more than 36 hours.

Richard Norris had lost his lips and nose during the shotgun accident and had limited movement of his mouth.

Founder of the charity Changing Faces James Partridge told the BBC he did not know of another case where the family of the donor had met the person who had received the face.

Further, Barry Jones, former president of the British Association of Aes-

thetic Plastic Surgeons, said there were many issues to consider.

“It must be rather difficult for any relative to meet a recipient but it must be particularly difficult for faces,” he said.

“On this occasion it seems to have been a happy outcome. But that might not always be the case.”

11

He added that a family would have to ponder how they would feel about the personality of the person with the new face. “I am not against recipients meeting donor families if both parties want too, but I hope they have been counselled properly before their meeting,” he said.

HAVING GREEN TEA MAY HELP PREVENT PROSTATE CANCER NEW YORK AGENCIES

NEW YORK: As a part of an initiative called Two Faiths One Prayer, a group of Jews and Muslims from California gathered at a Los Angeles beach to pray in a display of solidarity. “We were just so surprised that we could do this together and it’s very similar,” said participant Maryam Saleemi. The sounds of the worshippers reciting their prayers in their respective languages, Hebrew and Arabic mingled with the crashing of the waves. As the devotees laid out their prayer mats, Saleemi added, “It was kind of like an ‘Aha Moment’ that we’re praying to the same God, why aren’t we doing this all the time together?” According to reports, Two Faiths One Prayer took the initiative and directed a group of 20 Muslims and Jews to five different sites across the city.

The organisation also gave the group of worshipers an opportunity to communicate and find common ground. The event was organised by members of New Ground, an interfaith organisation aiming to strengthen the bond between Muslims and Jews. AGENCIES

A research conducted by an Indian-origin scientist proves that drinking green tea may help prevent prostate cancer in men with high risk of developing the disease.

The research team was led by Nagi Kumar from Moffitt Cancer Center in the US. He assessed the safety and effectiveness of the active components in green tea to prevent prostate cancer development in men who have premalignant lesions.

The researchers administered capsules that contained decaffeinated green tea, called Polyphenon E. The main components of the medication contained a mixture of green tea and a substance called “catechins.” The drug was prescribed twice a day for the cancer patients.

Laboratory studies have shown that catechins inhibit cancer cell growth, motility and invasion, and stimulate cancer cell death. The researchers compared the effects of Polyphenon E in 49 men to placebo tablets in 48 men over a one year treatment period.

The researchers found that people who had taken the green tea capsule had a significant decrease in prostatespecific antigen (PSA) levels. PSA is a biomarker that in combination with other risk factors is used to screen pa-

JEWISH GROUP CAUSES FURORE WITH WARNING TO WOMEN DRIVERS

tients for prostate cancer, and high levels signify a higher risk of prostate cancer. Green tea catechins also prevent and reduce tumour growth in animal models, the study noted. Twenty per cent of green tea is consumed in Asian countries where prostate cancer death rates are among the lowest in the world, the researchers said. The study was published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research.

GANDHI GOES MISSING FROM INDIA'S RS10 NOTE

TOWNSEND LETS CAT OUT OF THE BAG, EXPLAINS WHY HOTELS ARE BEST

AMERICAN EXPRESS PRESIDENT DIES DURING NEW YORK-BOUND FLIGHT

NEWS DESK American tennis player Taylor Townsend, when deciding whether to stay in a cramped Parisian hotel or rent a private apartment during Roland Garros, opted for the former.

Past experience helped make up her mind.

Recalling last year’s US Open, the 19-yearold described how she was forced to share a toilet with a cat. “You guys are going to laugh at this,” Townsend, beaten 6-3 6-4 by Czech Tereza Smitkova in the first round on Tuesday, told reporters. “Lord have mercy.

We were in New York, and the guy walked outside and he greeted us and he had no shoes on. “Then he told us when we were in the elevator ‘I hope you like cats’. We’re like, yeah, cats are fine. He was like ‘but you can’t let down the toilet seat because the cat uses the toilet.’ “After that, I think hotels are safer!”

LONDON: Schools run by an ultraOrthodox Jewish community in London could face an investigation after leaders of the group warned in a letter that women members were banned from driving their children to the premises. The letter said women drivers were “contrary to the rules of religious modesty” for the Hasidic community and said that children driven in by their mothers would be barred once classes resume in August. Education Secretary Nicky Morgan called the ban “completely unacceptable in modern Britain”, while the community replied that it was self-imposed and fell under religious freedom rights. “If schools do not actively promote the principle of respect for other people they are breaching the independent school standards. “Where we are made aware of such breaches we will investigate and take any necessary action to address the situation,” she said in a statement. The Hasidic community was founded in Belz, Ukraine, in the 19th century, and comprises 10,000 families worldwide, mainly in Canada and the United States. In Britain, there are around 400 families living in the London neighbourhood of Stamford Hill and members run two schools with hundreds of children. AGENCIES

The founding father of India, Mahatma Gandhi, has gone missing from Rs10 currency note, Times of India reported.

The bank notes were posted on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s website, causing a flutter among the Indian population.

RBI has been printing and issuing bank notes in the Mahatma Gandhi series since 1996. The note in Rs5 denomination was printed in 2001, Rs10 in June 1996, Rs20 in 2001, Rs100 in June 1996, Rs500 in October 1997 and Rs1000 in November 2000.

All the bank notes of these series carry Gandhi’s portrait on the front side in place of a symbol of a lion

mark capital of the Ashoka pillar which has also been restored and shifted to the left side, next to the water mark window. The Rs10 note carries Gandhi’s image on the obverse side while that of fauna on the reverse side and it is one of the first notes introduced by the RBI in Mahatma Gandhi series in 1996.

In the latest notes, only the lion mark capital of the Ashoka pillar is visible. Refuting the claims of the bankers in Vijayawada and Hyderabad, who stated that they have not received these particular notes from the RBI, businessman Venkateswara Rao said that he had received such a note from a shopkeeper in his native town.

“I obviously grew suspicious

CMYK

upon seeing the note without Gandhi’s image. When I showed it to the local State Bank of India officials, they said it was an original note only. The note bears the pin marks indicating that it came out from a pinned currency bundle issued by a nationalized bank”, he said. A senior official in RBI said that they were not aware of the new bank notes printed without Gandhi’s portrait.

“The Rs10 note is under circulation since colonial times and is in continuous production since the RBI took over the functions of the controller of currency in 1923. The notes you are referring to could be belonging to the earlier period”, said the RBI officer. COURTESY TOI

NEW YORK: President of American Express Ed Gilligan suddenly collapsed and died while during a flight to New York on Friday. Gilligan’s death left everyone at the New York-based company, where he had worked since he was a college student, devastated. According to a spokesperson, the 55-year-old was returning to New York from a business trip in Japan when he fell ill. Gilligan was also accompanied by other executives on the plane, he added. Gilligan was considered as a strong leader internally as well as by investors and was names president of AmEx in 2013. The company’s CEO in a letter to the staff stated, “Ed Gilligan’s contributions have left an indelible imprint on practically every area of our business, from commercial card and travel to international, consumer, small business, merchant services, network services and, most recently, the group forging our digital partnerships and driving payment innovations.” Further, Gilligan’s tragic demise has left the company without a successor at a time when it is facing a number of difficulties. AGENCIES

12

Sunday, 31 May, 2015

ARTS

FUNNY OR NOT? SALMAN KHAN JOKES ABOUT JAIL TIME MUMBAI: Is he covering up his embarrassment or is he genuinely remorseless? Either way, Salman Khan hasn't lost many fans, if scenes from the Arab Indo Bollywood Awards in Dubai are to be believed. When Khan handed over the award for best debut director to Sajid Nadiadwala, the director said making Kick was so nerve-wracking that he probably won’t be making another film for the next five to six years. “That’s because I have no dates available,” Khan quipped, referring to his recently suspended sentence in a hit-and-run case. Khan, who requires permission from a Mumbai court to leave India, also danced to the songs 'Mashallah' (Ek Tha Tiger) and 'Fevicol Se' (Dabangg 2), and gave a little impromptu performance of the song 'Hangover' from Kick. Although his last song was in poor taste, his fans lapped it up. The Dabangg star was greeted by his deafening screams when he waded through the crowd with his swarm of black-suited men to get to his seat. His arrival on foot came as a surprise to many, as Khan was earlier said to be sailing into the awards arena atop a hot air balloon. “You see that thing behind you?,” he asked the audience prior to his performance. “It was taking me half an hour to climb into that basket and then climbing out. I felt it was a total waste of time”. Well, if nothing else, it seems his recent brush with jail has taught Khan some consideration for time. AGENCIES

Kangana Ranaut: 'tanu Weds Manu RetuRns' success a confidence boosteR MUMBAI

K

AGENCIES

ANGANA RANAuT is beaming with joy as her latest release Tanu Weds Manu Returns has crossed the coveted Rs 100 crore mark and the actress says the film's success makes her more confident about her choices.

The Anand L Rai directed romantic-comedy, also starring R Madhavan and Jimmy Shergill, opened to decent reviews and good public response last week.

"It makes you a lot more confident in your instincts... What you believed in has clicked in such a big way. It definitely boosts your confidence. It is a nice feeling," the 28year-old actress told reporters here.

A huge crowd had gathered to click her pictures and Kangana was greeted by "we love you Tanu" chants. The actress gave a thumbs

up sign to the fans waiting for her appearance.

When asked if the success of Tanu Weds Manu Returns preceded

‘SAN ANDREAS’ ROCKS BOX OFFICE WITH $47M DEBUT, ‘ALOHA’ LEFT IN THE DUST

by Deepika Padukone's Piku proves that female- centric films have finally arrived, Kangana said, Tanu Weds Manu Returns is not a female-

B-TOWN GIVES 'BLOCKBUSTER ALERT' POST 'BAJRANGI BHAIJAAN'TEASER MUMBAI AGENCIES

IAN BOTHAM Awesome @benstokes38 and Alastair Cook Back to his best at the top of the order ! Ben long may you play your own game....you win matches !!

AMIR KHAN Credit to @ChrisAlgieri came to fight and made it tough all the way, good 12 rounds under my belt and a great win for me #TeamKhan

HAMID MIR Balochistan was the 1st province to hold LB polls now KPK holding LB polls but biggest and most peaceful province Punjab yet to go for LBs

TARIQ MALIK The moment u try 2 verify the thumbprints 2 make elections verifiable,all state machinery moves against u with full prostitution of power! Y

JOHN CENA Can't think of another person more deserving than @TheRock for a spot on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. #Respect #Hardwork

NEWS DESK Warner Bros.’ “San Andreas” is no box office disaster, with the 3D action pic drawing $18.2 million on Friday, setting it on track for a weekend haul of $47 million at 3,777 locations and smashing past estimates that put it around the $40 million mark. Cameron Crowe’s “Aloha,” meanwhile, was left in the dust, eyeing a modest $10-11 million weekend after a slow Friday that drew an estimated $3.6 million at 2,815 sites. Critics may not be giving “San Andreas” points for its brains, but the Dwayne Johnson film is certainly demonstrating its brawn — its strong performance is the best of Johnson’s career outside the “Fast & Furious” franchise, handily beating the opening weekend haul for “Hercules” ($29.8 million), “Pain and Gain” ($20.2 million) and “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” ($40.5 million). There’s still a chasm between “San Andreas” and the opening weekend tallies for Roland Emmerich’s similarly cataclysmic movies, “The Day After Tomorrow” ($68.7 million) and “2012” ($65.2 million), but it’s a vast improvement over last year’s “Into the Storm” ($17.3 million) and “Pompeii” ($10.3 million), which barely measured on the Richter scale.

There is style, glamour, action, energetic music and dance -- all packed in one. The teaser of Salman Khan's next "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" has left tinsel town asking for more, and film fraternity members like Karan Johar, Sonakshi Sinha and Huma Qureshi are raving about the Kabir Khan directorial.

Salman will be a man on a mission in the film. The clip gave a sneak peak of the storyline, which revolves around a young Pakistani girl who is mute and is lost in India.

The actor will embark on an adventurous journey to take the girl back to her country. The film will narrate a tale around the people he will stumble upon during his travels.

LOS ANGELES AGENCIES

DYEING HAIR MAKES MEN LOOK OLDER: GEORGE CLOONEY

centric film. It is a love story, it has just got a great female protagonist.

If you see in the past we had films like Guide, Mughl-E-Azam or even Pyasa for that matter...

"And in between we had really unfortunate times, when women were reduced to furniture in the films. Now is a great time that does not mean they are women-centric films, they are just good films," she said at the launch of a clothing store.

The actress has just landed Vishal Bhardwaj's Rangoon, a period love triangle, also starring Saif Ali Khan and Shahid Kapoor.

While the director has given both Saif and Shahid their career's most defining roles in Omkara, Kaminey and recently released Haider, he is teaming up with the National-award-winning actress for the first time.

"Yes, I am doing Rangoon and it is going to be an amazing film," Kangana said.

Hollywood superstar George Clooney says he has no issues with grey hair.

The "Tomorrowland" star, whose hair has been gray for over a decade now, said he loves the process of aging gracefully, reported E!Online. "I will say that there's nothing fun?and I know for actresses it's infinitely worse because of public perception based on nothing except studios not hiring them and those sorts of things?but I think for all of us, you have to come to terms with getting older and not trying to fight it," he said.

"You have a couple of options, which is get older or die and so you have to get used to the

CMYK

Actress Kareena Kapoor Khan smiles her way to the teaser and is seen sharing screen space with Salman as his love interest. Another powerful point of the film is actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who features in the teaser in one scene. In the movie, he plays a Pakistani journalist.

The secret behind the silver locket dangling on Salman's neck that grabbed attention in the first look has been decoded with the teaser. Salman will be seen as a devotee of Lord Hanuman.

A fast paced song "Jai jai bajrangbali" accompanies Salman's action scenes and wacky dance moves in the teaser.

"Bajrangi Bhaijaan" is extensively shot in Kashmir, Mandawa and Delhi. The film will hit the screens on Eid this year.

idea that your roles in films and who you are and how you're perceived is going to change. That'll disappoint people at times but you just go with it," Clooney added. Asked if he was at all tempted to dye his hair or have plastic surgery, Clooney said, "Clearly, I haven't. For me, it isn't an issue or an option. I don't think it would make much sense, quite honestly... I've seen it happen and... Particularly on men, I don't think it really works well. I actually think it makes you look older."Hollywood superstar George Clooney says he has no issues with grey hair.

The "Tomorrowland" star, whose hair has been gray for over a decade now, said he loves the process of aging gracefully, reported E!Online. "I will say that there's nothing fun?and I know for actresses it's infinitely worse because

of public perception based on nothing except studios not hiring them and those sorts of things?but I think for all of us, you have to come to terms with getting older and not trying to fight it," he said. "You have a couple of options, which is get older or die and so you have to get used to the idea that your roles in films and who you are and how you're perceived is going to change. That'll disappoint people at times but you just go with it," Clooney added.

Asked if he was at all tempted to dye his hair or have plastic surgery, Clooney said, "Clearly, I haven't. For me, it isn't an issue or an option.

I don't think it would make much sense, quite honestly... I've seen it happen and... Particularly on men, I don't think it really works well.

I actually think it makes you look older."

SPORTS 13

Sunday, 31 May, 2015

KHaN CaLLS oUT MayWEaTHEr afTEr UNaNIMoUS dECISIoN WIN ovEr aLgIErI

NEW YORK

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RITAIN'S Amir Khan took a unanimous decision victory Friday over American Chris Algieri in a welterweight matchup, then called out unbeaten Floyd Mayweather for a world title showdown.

Khan improved to 31-3 with his fifth victory in a row, which came by judges' scores of 117-111, 117-111 and 115-113.

Algieri fell to 20-2 with his second defeat in a row, the other coming last November at

Macau at the hands of Filipino star Manny Pacquiao -- who lost to treble world champion Mayweather in boxing's richest-ever megafight earlier this month.

“Amir Khan wants to fight Floyd Mayweather,” Khan screamed in the ring. “I want that next. I'm number one World Boxing Council (challenger). He's the champion. So let's make it happen.”

That might be easier said than done. Khan thought he might fight Mayweather in May last year but the US star instead decided to fight Argentina's Marcos Maidana.

Khan kept Algieri at bay much of the

night, the American landing a strong combination early in the eighth round but unable to connect often enough to claim victory.

“He come to fight, wanted to win, had his home crowd, but I came here to win,” Khan said, adding he had to resort to “Plan B” to defeat the hometown hero. Khan said support from the crowd helped him push to the finish and secure the decision.

Kell BrooK confident of win over Gavin, eyes Khan next: Kell Brook is all set to defend his IBF title this Saturday against Frank Gavin at the O2 Arena in Greenwich, London in what he believes will remain his despite the challenge being put up by his southpaw opponent.

Brook, who won the IBF belt from Shawn Porter, is coming off a recent victory last March against Jo Jo Dan and he believes that another win against Gavin could help set the stage for an impending match between him and Amir Khan. But before looking ahead, Gavin warned Brook not to be too overconfident. In fact, he has a surprise for Brook, something he relayed through Brook's promoter Eddie Hearns. Brooks holds a 34-00 record with 23 knockouts. He has been unbeaten ever since turning pro (2004) and has been longing to face off with Khan. But Gavin is not about to make things easier for Brook and an upset cannot be discounted.

JAMES ANDERSON JOINS 400-WICKET CLUB IN TESTS SPORTS DESK James Anderson became the first Englishman and 12th bowler overall to take 400 or more wickets in Test cricket.

The right-arm fast medium bowler from Burnley, Lancashire, reached this landmark, during his 104th Test match, by dismissing Martin Guptill, caught

by Ian Bell in New Zealand's first innings on the first day of the second Test match at Headingley, Leeds on Friday.

James Anderson who made his Test debut against Zimbabwe at Lord's, May 22, 2003, took 12 years and eight days to complete 400 wickets.

Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan (800 wickets in 133 Tests), Australian

Shane Warne (708 wickets in 145 Tests), India's Anil Kumble (619 wickets in 132 Tests), Australian Glenn McGrath (563 wickets in 124 Tests), West Indian Courtney Walsh (519 wickets in 132 Tests), India's Kapil Dev (434 wickets in 131 Tests), New Zealander Richard Hadlee (431 wickets in 86 Tests), South African Shaun Pollock (421 wickets in 108 Tests), Pakistan's Wasim Akram (414 wickets in 104 Tests), India's Harbhajan Singh (413 wickets in 101 Tests) and West Indian Curtly Ambrose (405 wickets in 98 Tests) were the other bowlers to take 400 or more wickets in Tests before James Anderson.

James Anderson took 254 wickets

at an average of 26.61 in 60 matches at home while he claimed 147 wickets at 34.04 in 44 Tests played outside England.

Australian Peter Siddle has the dubious distinction of being dismissed most often by James Anderson, 11 times in 20 Test matches, followed by another Australian Michael Clarke, nine times in 23 matches. Indian Sachin Tendulkar has been dismissed

by James Anderson on nine occasions in 4 matches.

The 32-year old, has dismissed right handed batsmen on 274 occasions (68.32%) and left handed batsman on 127 occasions (31.67 %) of his 401 wickets so far.

THE 400-WICKET CLUB IN TESTS:

COOK BREAKS ENGLAND TEST RUNS RECORD SPORTS DESK Alastair Cook has overtaken his mentor and coach Graham Gooch to become the highest run-scorer for England in Test cricket.

Cook required 31 runs to draw equal with Gooch's record of 8,900 runs and, with a restrained drive to the cover boundary off Tim Southee, he passed the man who he has coached him, first with Essex and then with England, since he was 18 years old.

Before the Headingley Test, he insisted that by his reckoning Gooch remained unsurpassed as the finest England Test batsman in history.

Highlights of Cook's career include scoring a century on debut (in Nagpur in 2006), plundering 766 runs in seven innings in the 2010-11 Ashes series, hitting three centuries in successive Tests to help England to a series victory in India in 2012 and becoming the second-youngest man - after Sachin Tendulkar - to make 5,000 Test runs.

While he endured a grim run of form throughout much of 2013 and 2014, Cook has also made more Test centuries - 27 than any England player and averages a

fraction under 47. Doubts about his prowess as a tactical captain may remain, but he is a respected leader and his place among the greats of England batsmen is assured.

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Cook's new record is his relative youth.

Gooch, also an Essex and England opening batsman, was 41 by the time he finished playing Test cricket; Cook is just 30 and could have some of the best years of his career ahead of him.

Cook's record - achieved in the same match in which James Anderson became the first England bowler to claim 400 Test wickets - is partially a reflection of the packed international schedule in the modern era which sees far more Test matches staged. He has already played 114 matches in a nine-year Test career that started in Nagpur in 2006, while Gooch managed 118 in a career that was interrupted by a three-year ban for going on a rebel tour to South Africa in the early 1980s.

Twelve men from other nations have scored more Test runs than Cook. But few of them are still playing and, given Cook's age and continued fitness, he could reach the top of the list by the end of his career.

Bowler ................................................M.......................I.......................Balls..................runs....................wkts ..................aVG..........................5wI.......................10wM ...............Best Muttiah Muralitharan (sl)................133.....................230 ................44039 .................18180 ....................800 ......................22.72.......................67..........................22......................9-51 shane warne (australia)...................145....................273.................40705.................17995....................708.......................25.41........................37..........................10.......................8-71 anil kumble (India).............................132 ....................236.................40850.................18355....................619 ........................29.65.......................35..........................8.........................10-74 Glenn McGrath (australia) ................124 ....................243.................29248..................12186.....................563 .......................21.64........................29..........................3.........................8-24 Courtney walsh (west Indies)........132 ....................242.................30019 ..................12688....................519 ........................24.44 ......................22..........................3.........................7-37 kapil Dev (India)..................................131......................227.................27740..................12867....................434.......................29.64.......................23..........................2.........................9-83 richard Hadlee (new Zealand).......86......................150 .................21918 ....................9611 .......................431 ........................22.29.......................36..........................9.........................9-52 shaun Pollock (south africa)...........108....................202 ................24353..................9733 .....................421 ........................23.11 .........................16...........................1..........................7-87 wasim akram (Pakistan) ..................104....................181...................22627..................9779.....................414........................23.62.......................25..........................5 ........................7-119 Harbhajan singh (India).....................101.....................186..................28293..................13372....................413 ........................32.37.......................25..........................5 ........................8-84 Curtly ambrose (west Indies).........98......................179..................22103...................8501......................405.......................20.99 ......................22..........................3.........................8-45 James anderson (england) ..............104....................194..................23166 ...................11763.....................401........................29.33.......................17 ...........................2.........................7-43

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14 SPORTS

Sunday, 31 May, 2015

Aston VillA boss tim sherwood hAils ‘incredible’ Arsene wenger

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IM Sherwood has hailed Arsene Wenger as he tries to shock his rival in the FA Cup final and create a new era at Aston Villa. The Villa boss believes the Frenchman’s critics should lay off ahead of Saturday’s final against Arsenal. The Wembley showdown will be just Sherwood’s 44th match as a manager while Wenger has taken charge of 1,065 during his 19-year Gunners reign.

The holders face Villa aiming to defend the trophy they won last season to end a nine-year drought and Sherwood believes Wenger remains one of the best.

He said: “You have got to be careful what you wish for as a fan. For me he’s done a tremendous job. If you line up the chairman and every director in a football club they all want a Wenger. “Maybe Chelsea and Man City might be an exception because they’ve got gazillions of pounds to

keep throwing at it. If you want a sustainable business and someone to run it through, I think Arsene Wenger is a great model of that. It’s Saturday’s FA Cup final, as seen by 442oons, as Arsey Whinger takes on The Ego himself in a royal rumble. “It does drive me mad if someone has never stepped into that technical area and claims to be the expert.

“That is a little bit gruelling. They don’t know what it’s like. It’s impossible for them to know. “When you first step in the technical area it’s a whole expectation of the football club. “I don’t think anyone should be criticising Arsene Wenger. You can criticise Tim Sherwood all you want.

I think it’s a bit rich criticising Arsene Wenger. I think he’s an incredible manager.” Villa have not won the FA Cup since 1957 and have not claimed any major silverware since 1996 when they clinched the League Cup. Four straight battles against relegation have seen them slip away from the

top with Sherwood replacing Paul Lambert in February. They survived by three points this season and Sherwood wants victory on Saturday to create a new dawn at Villa Park.

“It’ll be the same for most clubs. We know we are huge underdogs going into the game but every time we’ve been underdogs this year I’ve asked them for a big performance and we’ve produced it,” he said. “They ticked the boxes in all those games. They can rise to the occasion, they just need to do it one more time. It’s a great opportunity for everyone involved to give the club a platform to move on. “There’s no getting away from the fact it’s got a losing mentality, people keep looking at the players saying this group of players shouldn’t be where they are. “You are there for a reason and four years on the spin is because something is wrong with the mentality. Losing becomes a habit and we have to make sure winning becomes a habit.”

BLATTER HITS OUT AT US AUTHORITIES AND UEFA

SPORTS DESK Sepp Blatter has said that the events in the run-up to his re-election as FIFA president “do not smell right” and he was the victim of “hate” on the part of European soccer’s governing body UEFA. Blatter implied that it was not

just a coincidence that Swiss police arrested seven leading soccer officials, including FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb, two days before the FIFA Congress and presidential election.

The seven have been detained pending an extradition request from the United States where they are wanted on

corruption charges. The arrests were connected to a bribery scandal being investigated by U.S., Swiss and other law enforcement agencies that has plunged FIFA into the worst crisis in its 111-year history. “No one is going to take it off me that it was a simple coincidence (that) this American attack (happened)

two days before the elections of FIFA,” Blatter told the RTS Swiss television channel in an interview.

“And afterwards the reaction of UEFA and (UEFA president Michel) Platini. No one is going to take this out of me...I am not certain, but it’s not good.”

“Why didn’t they (the police) do this in March when we had the same meeting. At that time, we had less journalists.” Platini called on Blatter to step down as UEFA president on Thursday and UEFA’s member associations said they would vote for his opponent Prince Ali bin Al Hussein.

FIGO CRITICISES BLATTER REELECTION: Former FIFA presidential candidate Luis Figo was amongst those criticising the re-election of Sepp Blatter on Wednesday, after football’s governing body voted “The Americans, if they have a financial crime that regards American citizens, must arrest these people there and not in Zurich in the moment we have a congress.”

Russia was awarded the right to host the 2018 World Cup and Qatar the 2022 tournament in a controversial vote in December 2010. “It is a hate not only by one person of UEFA but by the organisation of UEFA that has not understood that I have been president since 1998,” Blatter said. “I forgive everyone but I don’t forget.”

‘VERY HAPPY IN LOVE LIFE AFTER CAROLINE WOZNIACKI SPLIT’ SPORTS DESK World number one Rory McIlroy has reflected upon his “very happy love life” a year after his high-profile split from then fiancée Caroline Wozniacki and spoken about his new girlfriend. McIlroy, who has endured a torrid time at the Irish Open, was talking about his life away from the golf course in an interview with The Times, and he was not shy in discussing his private feelings. The 26-yearold four-time Major winner famously broke off his five-month engagement with Wozniacki last May in brutal fashion, only days after invitations were sent out. Having been with the Danish tennis star for two years, McIlroy revealed that he is now in a relationship with Erica Stoll, an American who works for the

PGA, and says things are “going great”.

“I am very happy in my love life,” McIlroy told The Times.

“We haven’t really been putting it

out there. She is from America, which is why I like to spend time in Palm Beach (in Florida). “The past six or seven months have been really nice. That part

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of my life is going great.” McIlroy went on to tell the newspaper just how much his parents, Gerry and Rosie, sacrificed in order to enable him to grasp golfing greatness as he grew up in Holywood, County Down. “At that age, you just don’t realise the scale of the sacrifice,” he said. I thought that it was normal; it is what I had got used to. “Looking back today, I realise that it was anything but normal. They were doing it for me, to help me develop my golf.

MCILROY ANNOUNCES WOZNIACKI SPLIT: “They were not at all pushy; they just wanted me to develop in the game that I loved.” After a string of disappointing outings since the Masters, the Northern Irishman travels to the US Open next month as the favourite once again, chasing his fifth Major triumph.

AZhAr Ali- third PAKistAn sKiPPer to hit two hUndreds S PERvEz QaiSER Azhar Ali became only third Pakistani skipper after Inzamam-ul-Haq and Shahid Afridi to hit two hundreds in one day internationals. The right hand top order batsman from Lahore, scored his second hundred, 102 off 104 balls with eight fours in the second one day international against Zimbabwe at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on Friday (May 29).Azhar Ali’s 101 off 112 balls with 10 fours against Bangladesh at Mirpur, Dhaka on April 22,1015 was his first hundred as skipper in one day internationals. Inzamam-ul-Haq and Shahid Afridi also had two hundreds each as captain in one day internationals from 87 and 38 games respectively. Including Azhar Ali ‘s hundred in this game, only 11 of the 170 centuries in one day internationals by Pakistan have come from their captains. This was also the first hundred by a Pakistan captain in a successful chase in one day internationals. ** Azhar Ali also became the first Pakistan batsmen to make four fifty-plus scores in their first-five one day internationals as captain. Asif Iqbal had made 53, 59*, 61 and 51 in the first five of the six one day internationals he captained Pakistan. Overall, Azhar Ali is the fourth to captain to do this after Asif Iqbal, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Eoin Morgan. ** This match was Zimbabwe’s 50th against Pakistan. Pakistan are only the third team against whom Zimbabwe have played 50 or more on day internationals. They have played 64 against Bangladesh and 57 against India. ** Gaddafi Stadium Lahore became the second ground after Sharjah Cricket Stadium where Pakistani team played 50 or more mathes in one day internationals. Pakistan have won 31, lost 18 and tied one in 50 matches played at Gaddafi Satdium Lahore.

They have won 79, lost 39 and tied one in 119 one day internationals played at Sharjah.

GROUNDS WHERE PAKISTAN PLAYED MOST MATCHES: Ground Sharjah Cricket Stadium Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore National Stadium, Karachi Sheikh Zayed Stadium Melbourne Cricket Ground

M 119 50 39 27 22

W 79 31 20 12 8

L 39 18 17 15 14

T N/R Success % 1 66.80 1 63.00 - 2 53.84 - 44.44 - 36.36

SPORTS 15

Sunday, 31 May, 2015

ALBERTO CONTADOR SECURES GIRO CROWN AS FABIO ARU WINS STAGE 20 SPORTS DESK Italy’s Fabio Aru won a successive stage in the Alps at Sestriere as Spain’s Alberto Contador survived a wobble on the Colle delle Finestre to secure the second Giro d’Italia title of his career. Tinkoff-Saxo’s Contador cracked under the pressure of Aru’s Astana team on the dirt roads of the Colle delle Finestre but recovered to finish the 199km stage 20 in sixth place, 2min 25sec down on his Italian rival. Aru’s second successive scalp in the Alps saw the 24year-old Sardinian secure second place in the general classification behind Contador - who will ride into Milan on Sunday to cross the t’s and dot the i’s of the seventh Grand Tour win of his illustrious career. Despite his struggles during the final 30km of the final mountain stage of the race, Contador enters the final processional stage with a lead of 2:02 over Aru. Another Astana rider, Spaniard Mikel Landa, completes the podium at 3:14 after crossing the line in fourth place in Sestriere behind Colombian Rigoberto Uran (Etixx-QuickStep).

Canada’s Ryder Hesjedal (CannondaleGarmin) - besides Aru, arguably the stand-out rider of the third week of the 98th edition of the Giro - finished behind the Italian for the second day running, 18 seconds in arrears.

FA VICE-CHAIRMAN DAVID GILL REJECTS FIFA ROLE SPORTS DESK David Gill says the “terribly damaging events” of the past week convinced him to reject a place on FIFA’s executive committee while Sepp Blatter is still president. Gill, a Manchester United director, confirmed he did not attend Saturday’s first executive committee meeting following Blatter’s re-election to a fifth term in office, where he was due to sit as Britain’s FIFA vicepresident. Blatter beat rival presidential candidate Prince Ali of Jordan despite the crisis which has seen seven FIFA officials arrested, 18 people indicted by US justice authorities, and a Swiss criminal investigation into 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding. Gill said in a statement to the Press Association: “This action is not something I take lightly but the terribly damaging events of the last three days have convinced me it is not appropriate to be a member of the FIFA executive committee under the current leadership.

petRa Kvitova eases into FRench open last 16 c

SPORTS DESK

zECH fourth seed Petra Kvitova cantered into the last 16 of the French Open with a 6-3 6-2 win against Romanian IrinaCamelia Begu on Saturday. The double Wimbledon champion, a semi-finalist on the Roland Garros clay in 2012, had too much power for the 30th seed who could not muster a break point on court Philippe Chatrier. Kvitova made only nine unforced errors in a polished performance, winning the last seven points.

She faces either American 16th seed Madison Keys or Swiss 23rd seed Timea Bacsinszky for a place in the quarter-finals. Elsewhere, Sara Errani enjoyed a comprehensive 6-3 6-3 win over 10th seed Andea Petkovic of Germany. The world number 17 met Petkovic on clay at the quarter-finals of the event last year and lost 6-2 6-2, so this win will have been especially satisfying.

Errani could face another German, Julia Gorges, in the fourth round if she can beat American Irina Falconi.

One other player definitely through to the last 16 is world number 100 Andreea Mitu. The Romanian shocked 2010 French Open winner Francesca Schiavone of Italy 7-5 6-4 to earn a match against either Kristina Mladenovic of France or Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium. It is already by far the best performance in a Slam for the 23year-old, who is still to qualify for the first round proper of either the Australian Open or US Open.

RESULTS FROM THE FRENCH OPEN WOMEN’S SINGLES ROUND 3 MATCHES ON SATURDAY: AndreeA Mitu (roMAniA) beAt FrAncescA schiAvone (itAly) 7-5 6-4 17-sArA errAni (itAly) beAt 10-AndreA Petkovic (GerMAny) 6-3 6-3 4-PetrA kvitovA (czech rePublic) beAt 30-irinA beGu (roMAniA) 6-3 6-2

RAFAEL NADAL CRUSHES ANDREY KUZNETSOV SPORTS DESK Rafael Nadal moved to within one match of a potential quarter-final showdown with Novak Djokovic at the French Open after blitzing his way into round four at the expense of Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov. The nine-time champion was rarely troubled as he triumphed 6-1 6-3 6-2 in two hours.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC SWEEPS PAST THANASI KOKKINAKIS: Earlier, World number one Novak Djokovic did not take long to beat Thanasi Kokkinakis in the third round of the French Open at Roland Garros.

The Serb secured his progress through to the last 16 with a routine 6-4 6-4 64 triumph over Kokkinakis, who could not match his opponent’s intensity at crucial times in the match.

The 19-year-old Australian fought valiantly to stay in each set, but Djokovic always had too much for him and booked his place in the second week at Roland Garros.

Djokovic, bidding for his maiden French Open title, hurtled towards a potential quarter-final clash against defending champion Rafa Nadal with what was an immaculate display against Kokkinakis. Djokovic will await the winner between France’s home favourite Richard Gasquet and 15th seed Kevin Anderson from South Africa.

RORY MCILROY MAKES FAST GETAWAY AFTER MISSING IRISH OPEN CUT SPORTS DESK World number one Rory McIlroy wasted little time after missing the cut for a third straight year at the Irish Open as he headed straight for his parents’ Belfast home on Friday. The four-times

major winner gained some comfort by shooting a second round level-par 71 but the damage was done a day earlier when he ballooned to an 80 on the windswept and rain-lashed Royal County Down course.

It left McIlroy four shots outside the

cut-off mark of five- over-par in the 2.5 million euros ($2.75 million) event.

Spain’s Rafa Cabrera-Bello (68), Dane Soren Kjeldsen (70), Austrian Bernd Wiesberger (67) and British trio Chris Wood (69), Tyrrell Hatton (66) and Richie Ramsay (67) shared the lead on three-under 139. McIlroy also missed the cut in last week’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, having won the preceding Wells Fargo Championship in North Carolina.

“I was trying out there as hard as I could but just couldn’t quite get a good run of holes going and get any momentum,” the 26-year-old Northern Irishman told reporters. “I was a couple under through 14 but I still needed a good finish. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to do that. “I really left myself too much to do from yesterday and I felt like I played a solid round of golf today but it wasn’t good enough.” If there were any positives it was the backing McIlroy en-

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joyed since his arrival back in Northern Ireland, with sell-out crowds assured over the four days of the tournament his foundation hosts.

“The support out there is phenomenal,” he said. “But this is the third year in a row they don’t get to see me play over the weekend. It’s disappointing to say the least. But more disappointing for them.”

Triple major winner Padraig Harrington (73) was one stroke off the lead alongside former world number one Luke Donald (70). Irishman Harrington can book a ticket to next month’s U.S. Open with a top-three finish here. Only nine players, the other being Briton Matt Ford, are under-par for the event while American Rickie Fowler carded a 71 for 142. McIlroy is expected to be back at the course on Sunday to present the trophy. Four of his Ryder Cup team mates also missed the cut, Martin Kaymer (148), Stephen Gallacher (148), Sergio Garcia (154) and Victor Dubuisson (158).

Rio FeRdinand announces RetiRement FRom pRoFessional Football

SPORTS DESK Former Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand has announced his retirement from professional football. The defender was released by QPR after the club suffered relegation at the end of the season. Ferdinand, a former England captain, has now confirmed that his professional career in the game is at an end. The 36-year-old told BT Sport he had decided to bring an end to his illustrious career live on air. Former England teammate Michael Owen was among those who moved quickly to pay tribute to the defender. The announcement from Ferdinand came after a season in which Ferdinand struggled to hold down a regular place in the QPR side. Ferdinand was absent for the closing stages of the campaign. His wife, Rebecca Ellison, died after a battle with cancer on May 1.

RIO FERDINAND’S WIFE REBECCA ELLISON DIES FROM CANCER: He said at the time in a statement that his “wonderful wife” passed away peacefully at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London.

“My soul-mate slipped away,” Ferdinand said. “She was a fantastic, loving mother to our three beautiful children. “She will be missed as a wife, sister, aunt, daughter and granddaughter. She will live on in our memory, as a guide and inspiration.

FOOTBALL RALLIES ROUND GRIEVING FERDINAND: “Myself, my parents Janice and Julian, along with Rebecca’s parents Lesley and Stephen, would like to thank our families, friends and my club colleagues who have rallied around in these desperate days, weeks and months. “I would also like to express my gratitude for the dedication and expertise of the staff led by Professors Johnstone and Clarke at the Royal Marsden. Their valiant efforts to prolong Rebecca’s all-too-short life will not be forgotten.

SPORTS Sunday, 31 May, 2015

compLaceNcy

a chaLLeNge as pakistaN target series sweep

w

SPORTS DESK

ITH the ODI series already sealed in favour of Pakistan, the third and final game of Zimbabwe's tour is a dead rubber. It is, however, a dead rubber Pakistan cannot afford to lose. They need to sweep the series to keep their 2017 Champions Trophy qualification chances alive. A 2-1 scoreline will only widen the gap between Pakistan - currently ranked No. 9 in the ICC rankings - and the teams above them.

Zimbabwe, who opted to play the third ODI after a suicide attack occurred in the vicinity of Gaddafi stadium during the second match, are yet to win a game on this tour. They have already been deprived of their in-form captain Elton Chigumbura, who was handed a two-match ban for a slow over-rate in the first ODI. Zimbabwe's batsmen have done well to dent Pakistan at various stages in the series but

their bowling and fielding have let the home side get away with wins. The explosion close to Gaddafi stadium had put the third ODI in doubt but Zimbabwe have decided to play after assurances from the PCB and security officials in Lahore.

Mohammad Sami might have taken four wickets in two matches but has also been one of the most expensive bowlers in the series. He has had consistent backing on his return but has failed to capitalise with performances. Sami's returns in the final ODI could decide the duration of his comeback stint with the team.

Sikandar Raza, the Pakistan-born Zimbabwe batsman, scored his second one-day century batting for the first time at No. 5 in ODIs. "It's a very special hundred and it couldn't have come at a sweeter time only because, like I said, that I was questioning a lot of things in my head and I wanted to prove, not to anyone but to myself, that a lot of people have put their faith (in me) and I deserve that," he said. Zim-

babwe will look to rally themselves around Raza and Chamu Chibhabha's form as they look for a win. Anwar Ali and Mohammad Sami have been expensive but the team management, and captain Azhar Ali, have stated that both bowlers will be given maximum opportunities. However, one of them could make way for Junaid Khan, who is also in the squad.

With Chigumbura suspended and Craig Ervine injured, Zimbabwe have limited options in terms of substitutes. They have tried all the players in the squad, except uncapped Roy Kaia. Prosper Utseya missed the second ODI due to an illness

and his return will depend on his fitness before the game. Fewer runs were scored in the second ODI, compared to the first, but the pitch remained a paradise for batsmen.

Conditions will remain dry and hot and the temperature may fluctuate as the game progresses. The last time Pakistan swept a bilateral series with three or more games was against Bangladesh in December 2011.

They won 3-0. A Zimbabwe batsman has scored a hundred in each of the side's last four ODI games. Brendan Taylor struck successive centuries during the World Cup, followed by Elton Chigumbura and Raza's centuries in this series.

Zimbabwe's tour remains unaffected, will continue: PCB

LAHORE STaFF rePorT

Federal Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid admitted on Saturday that a suicide bomber was responsible for an explosion outside Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium that killed two people during a Pakistan-Zimbabwe cricket match, despite police insisting the explosion was accidental.

Friday’s incident, which triggered a news blackout in Pakistani media, came despite heavy security for the country’s first cricket series on home soil since an attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in March 2009.

“The suicide bomber failed to enter the stadium due to the bravery of our police,” Rashid told the private Geo News channel.

The attack took place about 1.5 kilometres from the venue at “the outer security cordon of the stadium”, Rashid said, adding that it did not affect the match.

However, the incident did not affect the

tour, according to a PCB spokesperson.

“The incident has not affected the tour, Zimbabwe’s tour will continue,” the PCB spokesperson said. “Their players have gone shopping today.” Zimbabwe’s team management was given a detailed briefing on the incident, the spokesperson said.

“They are satisfied with the arrangements, so the tour will continue,” he said.

Security has been ratcheted up for the series with around 4,000 policemen guarding the stadium itself, and a further 2,000 along the route from the Zimbabwe team hotel to the venue. The series, comprised of two Twenty20 matches and three one-day internationals, is the first since the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan team left eight people dead.

After winning both Twenty20 matches, Pakistan also clinched the one-day series by chasing down a target of 269 in 47.2 overs in Friday’s meet.

The third and final one-day is to be played at the same venue on Sunday.

Despite Rashid’s comments, Lahore police insisted on Saturday that the incident was an “accidental blast” caused by an auto rickshaw’s gas cylinder exploding.

“It was a gas cylinder explosion and not a terrorist act,” a police spokesperson told AFP. He said one policeman and the rickshaw driver died. Police had earlier said the blast was a transformer explosion.

The news was blacked out in Pakistani media until the conclusion of the match in order to prevent panic, a decision Rashid praised in his remarks.

NZ hit back after Lyth toN, cook LaNdmark SPORTS DESK Alastair Cook erased another long-standing entry in the England records books and Adam Lyth recorded a maiden Test century in front of an appreciative home crowd as the second Investec Test briefly settled back on to a more even keel. England's approach was more in keeping with the steady rhythms of Test cricket but New Zealand continued to harry them, taking 3 for 9 late in the evening session to shake things up again.

New Zealand had toiled through much of the day, managing to remove just two England batsmen - one via a run-out - before rediscovering their sharpness with the second new ball.

With the floodlights on, Headingley once again bestowed its favour on the bowlers and Trent Boult ended a tentative innings from Gary Ballance with a curling delivery that defeated his crease-bound prod. Tim Southee then removed Joe Root fifth ball with swinging delivery; the Western Terrace was as quiet as it can ever have been at 6pm on a Saturday.

Scoreboard New ZealaNd 1st iNNiNgs Md Craig not out 41 MJ Henry c †Buttler b Broad 27 ta Boult c lyth b Broad 15 extras (b 4, lb 14, nb 1) 19 total (all out; 72.1 overs) 350 Fall of wickets 1-2 (guptill, 2.2 ov), 2-2 (williamson, 2.4 ov), 3-68 (taylor, 14.6 ov), 4-123 (McCullum, 25.1 ov), 5-144 (watling, 30.5 ov), 6-264 (latham, 54.6 ov), 7-265 (Ronchi, 56.2 ov), 8-281 (southee, 60.2 ov), 9-310 (Henry, 66.6 ov), 10-350 (Boult, 72.1 ov) BowliNg: JM anderson 13-3-43-2, sCJ Broad 17.1-0-109-5, Ma wood 14-4-62-2, Ba stokes 17-4-70-1, MM ali 11-3-48-0 eNglaNd 1st iNNiNgs a lyth run out (Boult/†Ronchi) 107 aN Cook* lbw b Craig 75 gs Balance b Boult 29 iR Bell not out 12 Je Root c †Ronchi b southee 1 Ba stokes c Craig b Boult 6 JC Buttler† not out 6 extras (b 14, w 3) 17 total (5 wickets; 88 overs) 253 to Bat: MM ali, sCJ Broad, Ma wood, JM anderson Fall oF wiCkets: 1-177 (Cook, 58.6 ov), 2-215 (lyth, 74.5 ov), 3-238 (Ballance, 80.3 ov), 4-239 (Root, 81.2 ov), 5-247 (stokes, 86.2 ov) BowliNg: ta Boult 23-4-63-2, tg southee 23-4-57-1, MJ Henry 18-4-76-0, Md Craig 22-10-38-1, ks williamson 2-1-5-0

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

CMYK

PakiSTan: (Probable) :

1 mohammad Hafeez, 2 azhar ali (capt), 3 Shoaib malik, 4 Haris Sohail, 5 Sarfraz ahmed (wk), 6 asad Shafiq, 7 anwar ali/Junaid khan, 8 Junaid khan, 9 mohammad Sami, 10 wahab riaz, 11 Yasir Shah

Zimbabwe: (Probable)

1 Vusi Sibanda, 2, chamu chibhabha, 3 Sikandar raza, 4 Hamilton masakadza (capt), 5 charles coventry, 6 Sean williams, 7 richmond mutumbami (wk) 8 Graeme cremer/chris mpofu 9 Tinashe Panyangara, 10 Tawanda mupariwa 11. brian Vitori