KHI 16-04-2012_Layout 1 4/16/2012 3:29 AM Page 1
Rs 15.00 Vol ii no 289 18 pages
Karachi edition
Monday, 16 april, 2012 Jamadi-ul-awal 23, 1433
Nearly 400 escape in epic Taliban jailbreak PESHAWAR Shamim Shahid
W
ith a wellplanned strategy, taliban militants stormed the Bannu Jail in the wee hours of Sunday and freed 384 prisoners, including some most-wanted and highprofile terrorists. the escaped prisoners include Adnan Rashid, a former Pakistan Air Force (PAF) employee who was sentenced to death for involvement in the attack on former president General Pervez Musharaf, and five female prisoners. they also include around 150 militants linked with the banned tehreek-e-taliban Pakistan and its affiliated groups. Although the officials declined knowing details, there are reports that among the escaped inmates there were some foreign militants, including three fugitives of the islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, arrested in 2008. the movement’s top commander, Saifullah Asad, was killed in the attack. Officials and eyewitnesses said that about 300 to 500 militants carried out the attack at 1.30am on Sunday. Continued on page 04
Officials, eyewitnesses say some 500 militants invaded Bannu prison g About 150 Taliban militants among escaped prisoners g KP police chief claims 100 escaped inmates returned voluntarily
g
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02 News Today’s
Monday, 16 April, 2012
LAhore
ProFIt
tePa chief engineer to be shown the door
When you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands
Story on Page 05
Story on Page 17
CArtooN
Quick Look
Aitzaz appointed President Zardari’s counsel in ZAB case
Page 09
Peshawar: activists of the Defence of Pakistan Council on sunday gather during a rally against the possible reopening of NaTO supplies to afghanistan. AFP
Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan has been appointed President Asif Ali Zardari’s counsel on former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s reference pending with the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Geo News reported on Sunday. Aitzaz has been appointed counsel in the Bhutto Reference in place of Babar Awan whose legal license was canceled by the Supreme Court in a contempt of court case. Aitzaz is also Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s lawyer in contempt of court case. monitoring deSk
Bombproof walls’ construction completes around US Consulate PESHAWAR: in the wake of terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, construction of bombproof walls Sunday has been completed to secure American Consulate. American Consulate officials sought permission of raising bombproof walls after the bomb explosion incident that took place near Shama Chowk a couple of years earlier. After completion of the walls, the Consulate has become more secure while authorities concerned had beefed up security in its surroundings. onLine
Drones will be shot down during my govt: Imran Pakistan tehreek-e-insaaf (Pti) Chairman imran Khan has said that he would never support any unconstitutional step, and that even if an angel came in uniform he would not support him. in an interview on Geo News, the cricketlegend turned politician said that if drone strikes were carried out during his premiership, they would be shot down. imran said that drone attacks were being conducted with the consent the Pakistani government. monitoring deSk
JSQM holds province-wide protests LARKANA: Jeay Sindh Qaumi Muhaz (JSQM) on Sunday held province-wide protests including Larkana and staged sit-ins on indus highway demanding proper investigation of Bashir Khan Qureshi’s murder by the United Nations. On the occasion, hundreds of activists of JSQM led by Comrade Athar Soomro, Muzafar Sandano, Aziz Sheikh and others who were carrying portraits of late JSQM chairman Bashir Khan Qureshi, shouted slogans against the present rulers and concerned officials of health department. Comrade Athar Soomro said the present government and hospital administration were mishandling the incident and even collected 6 viscera from a body of JSQM chairman which were not tested yet. the JSQM activists blocked vehicular traffic for several hours and burnt tyres. they appealed from the UNO to take notice of the matter and to help investigate the matter. inP
SNF merged with PML-N KARACHI: the Sindh National Front (SNF) formally merged into Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz after an agreement as result of negotiations held between both parties. During negotiations, Mumtaz Bhutto and Amir Bhutto from SNF were present in while Marvi Memon, Salim Zia and Ghous Ali Shah represented the PML-N. the final announcement in this regard would be made in a public gathering. inP
Seven more shot dead in Karachi, dozen arrested KARACHI
K
agenCieS
ARAChi once again witnessed deteriorating law and order situation as the series of targeted killings continued and seven people lost their lives whereas many others were injured after midnight on Sunday. two people were attacked by two unknown armed men in Bhatti Mohalla of Lines Area in Karachi. the assailants easily escaped after their attack. Both critically injured persons were being shifted to Jinnah hospital when they succumbed to their wounds. the slain persons are stated to be members of a political party. Unidentified gunmen injured five people in a park near Bait-ul-Mukarram mosque in Gul-
shan e iqbal. All injured were rushed to Abbasi Shaheed hospital. One of the injured who is said to be a political party activist, lost the battle of life where as the condition of others is stated to be critical. Similarly two people were killed in Clifton near Schon circle and Urdu Bazaar area. those killed had not be identified. A police man was killed in an encounter near Shaheen Complex whereas two suspects were arrested. Armed men attacked two unidentified persons in tin hatti area, the victims were rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition. in yet another incident of violence, unidentified person shot dead a man in Soldier Bazar. Meanwhile three persons were injured in firing related incidents in Orangi, North Karachi and Baldia town. Karachi police conducted raids in different parts of the city and arrested three accused
of Lyari gang war, nine members of abduction for ransom gang and four car lifters and recovered large quantity of arms and stolen vehicles from their possession, sources said. According to police, Safeer, Ali Muhammad and Dilawar of Lyari gang war were arrested during raid in Maripur, Nabi Bakhsh and Sher Shah localities of Karachi and also recovered large quantity of arms from their possession. the accused were wanted in several cases of murder, attempted murder, abduction for ransom and extortion. On the other hand, PLC and AVCC conducted a raid near Northern Bypass and arrested nine members of a gang involved in kidnapping for ransom and recovered arms prom their possession. Police also recovered an abducted officer of a private cell phone company during the raid.
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Monday, 16 April, 2012
ForeIGN NewS
ArtS & eNtertAINMeNt
SPortS
n korea’s kim gives first speech at centenary parade
ali Zafar Sanam marwi mesmerise at lifestyle expo
Bangladesh agrees Pakistan cricket tour
News 03 CoMMeNt eventful day: The Taliban out and about.
Seraikistan province:
A province isn’t built in a day.
Waqqas mir says: PTI on Hafiz Saeed: The court of public opinion.
arif ansar says: Crisis and cooperation: Pakistan’s looks to solve its energy crises.
umair Javed says: The unplanned (r)evolution: The changing landscape of Punjab.
Story on Page 15
Story on Page 07
Story on Page 14
Articles on Page 12-13
Balochistan won’t fall as long as Pakistan Army is there: Musharraf KARACHI
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inP
ORMER president General (r) Pervez Musharraf has said that as long as Pakistan army is present in Balochistan, the restive province cannot be separated from Pakistan. Addressing Pakistan First – an organisation of retired army officers – over video link on the present situation in Balochistan, the former army chief said that the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) was an organisation of militants supported by foreign elements. he said the BLA
was targeting everyone who was not a Baloch. he regretted that some politicians were supporting the separatists for political gains. the former president said out of 160 tribes in the province, only three chieftains, namely Bugti, Marri and Mengal, wanted the separation of Balochistan for their vested interests and that they had the backing of foreign elements involved in destabilising Pakistan. he claimed that talal Bugti, Shahzeb Bugti and others were in contact with the foreigners for this purpose. he said only 4 percent of Pakistan’s population lives in Balochistan and 60 percent of its people had rejected the sepa-
ratists. he regretted that the people of Pakistan were not fully aware of the situation in Balochistan, but even then they were perturbed over the prevailing crisis. Musharraf said the situation had worsened in Balochistan due to the failure of the government, and he much concern about the situation. he said that during his tenure, four universities and three cadet colleges had been opened in Balochistan, and that all masters degree-holders were given Rs 10,000 scholarships and jobs. Speaking on the occasion, retired army officers also expressed concern over the situation in the province.
Siachen Rescue Operation Day 9: Still no sign of life GAYARI agenCieS
Nawaz to visit Siachen LAHORE inP
Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif will visit Gayari Sector of Siachen on April 17. A news channel quoting sources said that the PML-N president would visit the site on April 17 to express solidarity with the Pakistani soldiers who were buried under an avalanche and their families. Pakistan Army said on Saturday that assistance was also being sought from abroad and teams from Germany, Switzerland and China had already reached there. the army said the avalanche had fallen during 3:00 am to 5:00 am in the night from the height of 18,000 feet.As many as 400 troops and some 60 civilians are busy in rescue and search operation.
Operation to rescue 139 soldiers and their civilian aides buried under the snow in Gayari sector, Siachen gained momentum for the 9th day (Sunday despite) all kinds of operational problems. there were no signs survivors or bodies till filing of this report. Over 500 soldiers and foreign experts are taking part in the rescue operation. Rescue work gained pace as weather got better Sunday and it also allowed teams of experts laced with latest equipments from many countries to reach the scene of the accident. Chinese and Norweigen rescue teams have also reached islamabad to take part in the rescue operations. the search and rescue operation continued even in extremely cold conditions. Earlier on Saturday, a fresh slide,
MNA attacks hospital with armed men, injures four
which had triggered at the site of old avalanche, created difficulties for troops devoted to conducting search and rescue operation. According to iSPR, the situation had been compounded by the mass of snow in which troops were working under low temperature, intermittent snowfall and piercing blizzards. “however, concern of their brothers at arms under avalanche is driving troops of Siachen Sector to endure hardships of the weather and terrain to accomplish their task befittingly,” the iSPR said. “the excavation work, therefore, is underway nonstop at its fullest exploiting all available manual and mechanical resources, to dig as quickly as possible. in this regard, the search teams have commenced excavation at a new site as well with the help of plant equipment and infantry troops,” it said.
MUZAFFARGARH: Former Minister of State and member of the National Assembly (MNA) Abdul Qayyum Jatoi raided a government hospital along with a group of armed men, and injured four persons including the deputy district health officer here on Sunday. hospital staff said that Jatoi raided with the hospital with dozens of armed accomplices, as he wanted to occupy the medical facility. After the incident, a case was registered against Jatoi and 60 others for injuring the deputy district health officer, medical officer and two dispensers. Punjab Medical Association (PMA) President Dr Mohammad iqbal warned that if the accused were not arrested and action was not taken against them, doctors across the province would go on strike. Police said they were carrying out raids to arrest the accused. INP
Himalayas buck glacier melt trend: study LONDON reuterS
Some glaciers in the himalayas mountain range have gained a small amount of mass between 1999 and 2008, new research shows, bucking the global trend of glacial decline. the study published on Sunday in the Nature Geoscience journal also said the Karakoram mountain range in the himalayas has con-
tributed less to sea level rise than previously thought. With global average temperature rising, glaciers, ice caps and ice sheets melt and shed water, which contributes to the increase of sea levels, threatening the populations of low-lying nations and islands. the research at France’s University of Grenoble estimates that the Karakoram glaciers have gained around 0.11 to 0.22 metres (0.36 feet to 0.72 feet) per year between 1999 and 2008.
“Our conclusion that Karakoram glaciers had a small mass gain at the beginning of the 21st century indicates that those central/eastern glaciers are not representative of the whole (himalayas),” the experts at the university said. the study appears to confirm earlier research that had suggested the Karakoram glaciers have not followed the global trend of glacial decline over the past three decades. the mountain range’s remoteness had made it hard to confirm its behaviour.
Haj to be once in a lifetime affair, Indian govt tells SC g
Government to subsidise haj only once in lifetime, Indian government tells Supreme Court NEW DELHI inP
the indian government has informed the Supreme Court that it has decided to restrict haj pilgrimage at government subsidy to the Muslims only “once in a lifetime” affair as against the existing policy of “once in five years”. in an affidavit filed before the apex court, the government said the new guidelines had been framed to ensure that prior-
ity was given to those applicants who had never performed haj. Restricting the number of pilgrimages to a haj applicant through hCOi (haj Committee of india) to ‘once in a lifetime’ as against the existing ‘once in five years’ will ensure that the hajis will benefit from government subsidy only once in his/her lifetime. it will also ensure that priority is given to those applicants who have never performed haj,” the indian government said. the government, however, refrained
from disclosing the amount of subsidy being incurred by it for 2012 saying: “the exact figure in respect of the travel subsidy to the pilgrims going through haj Committee of india for 2012 will be known after the hajis complete their haj journey and return to india.” According to the government, priority will be given to those who are in the 70 plus category and those who had unsuccessfully applied thrice earlier for the subsidy. the indian government’s affidavit comes in the
backdrop of certain searching questions raised by the apex court on February 24. A bench of Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai had directed the Centre to provide details of subsidy given by it and criteria adopted for allocation of seats to state committees. the apex court frowned at the practice of sending official delegations to accompany the pilgrims and had asked the Centre to furnish entire details regarding haj subsidy, as also to the criteria adopted. the apex court was hearing an appeal
filed by the centre challenging a Bombay high Court judgment which had directed the ministry of external affairs to allow certain private operators to operate the services of 800 of the 11,000 pilgrims earmarked under the ViP quota subsidised by the government. Earlier, the bench had pulled up the centre’s practice of “politicising” the annual haj pilgrimage by permitting official delegations to accompany the pilgrims, for which the government offers huge subsidy, saying: “it’s a bad religious practice.”
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04 News
Sunday, 15 April, 2012
revamp: Regional organisations Judicial Conference concludes PTI replaced with steering committees with ‘Islamabad Declaration’ LAHORE
Staff rePort
ISLAMABAD maSood rehman
t
hE three-day international Judicial Conference, 2012, concluded here on Sunday with the adoption of “islamabad Declaration”. it unanimously drafted a recommendation to be called “international Judicial Conference Declaration”. the conference declared that all stakeholders should work together to uphold the rule of law in Pakistan. it recognised that Pakistan requires an objective mechanism to measure its adherence to the rule of law and it is declared that the World Justice Project’s ‘Rule of Law index’ and the ‘Framework for Court Excellence’ be utilised in this regard. it declared that no other branch of government should be allowed to exercise either direct or indirect control over critical inputs of the courts in Pakistan. it declared that the effective management of the court system by court administrators will allow judges to focus on their adjudicatory duties rather than administrative responsibilities. it declared that the courts must continue to decide cases on merits in accordance with the law expeditiously, and ensure the execution and enforcement of decrees and orders effectively. the declaration said that it is fundamental that honest and dedicated persons who share a strong commitment to the dispensation of justice be appointed as judges. it further recommended that all authorities act in support of the
CJP praises lawyers’ movement on book launch ISLAMABAD: On the concluding day of the three-day international Judicial Conference, a book titled “Counter-terrorism: international Law and Practice” was launched. the book is co-edited by Ana Maria Salinas de Frias, Katja Samuel and Nigel White and published by Oxford University Press. Chief Justice of Pakistan iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, in his introductory remarks at the book’s launch, called the publication “a valuable work” wherein so many established luminaries from all over the world had made notable contributions. he said he was delighted to know that the principal editor and visionary of the project – Dr Katja Samuel, who is a barrister and an associate lecturer at Britain’s Nottingham University, was present on the occasion to introduce the book, in addition to Justice tassaduq hussain Jillani, a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, who is one of the contributing experts. it gives rise to our understanding of international Law and leads us to raise many interesting questions that need to be addressed in the jurisprudence of international legal regime, the CJP said. “On a lighter note, may i say that speaking about my experience of the lawyers’ movement, perhaps the international legal regime requires a similar movement to protect the norms and values of the international Law, the way our lawyers protected the rule of law and constitution. it was a movement of selfless people striving for the benefit of the system and its people; and against the arrogance of the brutal forces which came to set aside the norms of justice,” the CJP added. he said that one of the themes of the judicial conference was “terrorism and money laundering”. the deliberations of the professionals would also be helpful to the relevant stakeholders in curbing this menace, he said. the CJP said the book was very skilfully divided into five parts and 38 chapters, assigning a great variety of topics and dealing with them with the help of case law, UN resolutions, international treaties and various other declarations. A great scholarly work has been produced out of its analysis. Staff rePort Supreme Court in accordance with Article 190 of the Constitution. it is imperative to enforce the fundamental rights of the people of Pakistan as encapsulated in Articles 9 to 28 of the constitution, in particular light of Articles 37 and 38 which provide guidelines for the promotion of social justice, eradication of social evils, and social and economic well-being of the people. the conference declared that both terrorism and money laundering constituted a grave threat to the civilised nations throughout the world. Pakistani laws dealing with these issues may be brought in conformity with international standards as well as Pakistan’s commitments under various international legal obligations, it demanded.
it further declared that all relevant bodies such as law enforcement agencies, prosecutors and presiding officers of the trial courts, be provided the necessary training and capacity building in dealing with these offences, and that “hawala/hundi” transactions to be discouraged, including overinvoicing and under-invoicing through effective regulatory mechanisms with surveillance. it has also been emphasised that Pakistan should seek to strengthen its mutual legal assistance arrangements with various countries to ensure better coordination, information-sharing, timely and effective provision of support from the relevant law enforcement agencies operating in different countries. it recommended that the
judiciary recognises that its primary duty lies in interpreting and implementing laws and not in the governance of society which may come about only as an ancillary effect of its decisions. it is further recommended that the superior courts articulate a consistent and clearly defined doctrine of judicial review so that depending on the nature and context of the rights involved, relevant standards of review may be applied. the conference declared that the judiciary exercises judicial restraint so that it may not be perceived as excessively encroaching upon the roles and functions of the coordinate branches of the government. it proposed that a code of conduct may be devised for judicial officers and also be strictly enforced.
Pakistan tehreek-e-insaf has dissolved all regional organisations in the country and steering committees for each region have been created. Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi held a meeting on Sunday of the Lahore Region steering committee in which various party issues were discussed. in particular, the ongoing membership drive was discussed in detail and it was noted with satisfaction that large number of people are flocking to the party to become members. it was decided that efforts would be redoubled to make as many
Central Punjab Steering committee comprises the following: Mian Mehmood-ur-rasheed, Mian Naeem Javed, Aleem Khan, hammad Azhar, Kanji omer, Zaheer A, Khokhar, omer Dar, hamid Miraj, Shoaib Siddiqui, SA hameed, Mansoor Sarwar Khan, Mian Afzal hayat, eiaz Sehole, Bukhfiyar Kasuri, Ch Yaqoob, Akhtar husain Bhatti, Shaukat ranjha and Umer Sarfaraz Cheema. west Punjab Steering committee comprises the following: tariq Chaudhry, rai Aziz Ullah, Ali has-
Hazara killings Continued fRoM page 20 he said that the recent killings were not sectarian, but were aimed at pitting one community against the other – a deep conspiracy against Balochistan and its people as well as Pakistan. the meeting approved a comprehensive medium and long term security plan for restoring peace and tranquillity in the provincial capital. Under the plan, a targeted operation would be launched against terrorists involved in fanning sectarian violence and other heinous crimes taking place in Quetta. it was also decided that the general public and their elected representatives would be taken into confidence during the targeted operation in their respective areas to improve the
performance of law enforcing agencies. the meeting decided to constitute committees comprising assembly members to constantly monitor the implementation of the security plan, and monitor its results by keeping coordination with the law enforcement agencies. home and tribal Affairs Secretary Naseebullah Bazai informed the meeting that Quetta city would be divided in 20 sectors, and gave details about the presence of police check posts, pickets and patrolling teams. he said that departmental action would be taken against police officials found guilty of negligence in the duties, or for causing any untoward incident in their jurisdiction. the government will
Afghan attacks
nain Naqvi, Faiz Ullah Kmoka, Zuifiqar Shah, Prof, rouf Doula, Chaudhry Ashfaq, Dr, Asad Muazzam, Dr, Abul hanan, haider Bari, Shehbaz Kasana, Janbaz Sahib, Atta Ullah Niazi, Mian Shafiq, Nauraiz Shakoor, Amjad Joyia and rao Qaiser Ali Khan. North Punjab Steering committee comprises the following: Sadaqat Abbasi, Malik Sohail Khan, Mohammad Sadiq Khan, Inam Ullah Niazi, Sardar Ghulam Abbas, Col Mohammad taj, ejaz Minbas, haroon Piracha, hina Manzoor, Sadia Abbasi, ehsan tiwana, Asghar Kalyar and ChaudhryAsghar. South Punjab Steering committee comprises the following: Sikandar Bosan, ejaz Chaudhry, Mian Sajid Pervez, Shirin Mazari, Jamal Leghari, rafeeq haider Leghari, Khalid Khakwani, husnain Jhanian Gardezi, Awais Gardezi, Noor Bhaba, Jehnazeb Khichi, Shaukat Dawood, Mureed husnain Qureshi, Maj MujeebAhmed Khan, Shaukat Lalika, lbraheem Khan, NawabAman Ullah, Saeed Chaudhry and Mazhar Khan Lakhwera.
set up scanner gates at all exit and entry points of Quetta, while check posts manned by FC, police and Levies would be established on the highways. Around 250 close circuit tV (CCtV) cameras would be installed in the city, while police and Balochistan Levies would be provided with sophisticated weapons, transportation facilities and communication equipment. the provincial ministers voluntarily surrendered the additional police personnel deployed for their security during their movement, and informed the meeting that they would remove the black papers pasted on the screens of their vehicles. the meeting also decided to launch an operation against illegal weapons, smuggled vehicles, and those with tainted glasses without any discrimination.
“the Kabul administration and the invading forces had said some time ago that the taliban will not be able to launch a spring offensive. today’s attacks were the start of our spring offensive,” he said. NAtO has about 130,000 troops supporting the government of President hamid Karzai against the taliban insurgency, but they will pull out by the end of 2014, handing control of security to Afghan forces. A spokesman for NAtO’s international Security Assistance Force (iSAF) told AFP that Afghan forces, whose ability to withstand the taliban after 2014 has been questioned, were taking the lead in countering the assaults on Kabul. But the latest in a series of spectacular attacks shows militants still have the ability to strike at the heart of the capital. in September last year taliban attacks targeting locations including the US embassy and
headquarters of foreign troops in Kabul killed at least 14 during a 19-hour siege. And in August, nine people were killed when suicide bombers attacked the British Council cultural centre. A German foreign ministry spokesman said in Berlin that the “grounds of the German embassy” had sustained damage Sunday but that “as far as we know (there have been) no injuries”. Japan’s Kyodo news agency said three rockets landed in the Japanese embassy but nobody was hurt and staff had evacuated to a nearby air raid shelter. US embassy spokesman Gavin Sundwall said the building was in lockdown but all staff were accounted for and safe, with no reports of injuries. And the British Foreign Office said in London that all British embassy staff in Kabul were “accounted for”. “i was in my car repairing workshop when i saw two suicide bombers armed
with RPG’s and rifles,” said witness Mohammad Zakir. “One of them started shooting on the spot and killed an intelligence employee. the second one occupied a building under construction building and started firing rocket propelled grenades at the Kabul Star hotel, German, US and UK embassies,” the 27-year-old said. Several attackers tried to enter the Afghan parliament but were engaged by security forces and driven back, parliamentary media officer Qudratullah Jawid told AFP. they had taken cover in a building near the parliament, he said. MP Mohammad Naeem Lalai told AFP lawmakers joined the security forces in firing on militants as they tried to storm the parliament, which was in session. A police spokesman said the areas under attack in Kabul were the diplomatic enclave of Wazir Akbar Khan in the centre, parliament in the west and District Nine in the south, where there are several foreign military bases.
a couple of months ago. the leaders of the banned ttP have already expressed resentment over the detention of women who were related to militant commanders. the jail officials said that they informed senior officials of Bannu police soon after the attack, but police officials say that they could not reach the prison because it was surrounded by militants from all four sides. however, the high-ups in the KP govern-
ment believe that the incident occurred due to the lapse of security. the KP information minister said that the home secretary had been assigned the task of conducting a complete enquiry. he confirmed the escape of 384 prisoners, and added that some of them had returned. in response to a question, the minister said that secret agencies had already pointed out the vulnerability of the Bannu prison. in this respect,
the provincial government had made up its mind for shifting all imprisoned militants from Bannu to prisons in Lakki Marwat and Kohat, he said, adding that the government could not implement the plan due to certain “legal hurdles”. KP inspector General of Police (iGP) Muhammad Akbar hoti said on Sunday that 21 prisoners on death row were among those who escaped during the attack on the prison. hoti added that 100 prisoners had returned.
Continued fRoM page 20
Bannu: Security officials gather at the damaged main entrance of Bannu prison following an attack by taliban militants on Sunday. AFP
members as possible before the scheduled party election in early June. Among other party issues, the modalities for holding party elections were also discussed, Qureshi would be visiting all provinces to hold similar meetings, the first of these would be held in Peshawar today.
Nearly 400 escape Continued fRoM page 1 Scores of militants attacked the prison’s main gate, an official said. the few wardens at the jail attempted resistance, but were soon overcome and surrendered to the invading militants. According to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) information Minister iftikhar hussain, clashes between the two sides continued for around two hours. however, the locals say that militants entered
the prison after facing a brief resistance by the guards, and broke into the six barracks where their accomplices were locked. “the masked militants were frequently enquiring about Adnan Rashid,” an official said. the masked militants also asked frequent questions about the women prisoners’ barracks, and after breaking its lock, asked five women to embark on their vehicles and took them away, he said.
Soon after the attack, high-ranking police and prison department officials rushed to the site. heavy contingents of police and Frontier Constabulary (FC) cordoned off the area. Surprisingly, the jail administrator, commonly known as the superintendent, was absent from the important prison along with his deputies. the jail is in the outskirts of Bannu city, which is adjacent to Waziristan, where scores
of local and foreign militants take shelter. So far, the exact identity of most of the militants could not be ascertained, but officials believe that the freed inmates included top militant commanders. the escaped women prisoners are also considered linked to militant groups, and could include close relatives of Qari Kamran, who was killed during a military operation in Baazaar Zakhakhel of Khyber Agency
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Monday, 16 April, 2012
‘house to present resolution for upgrading Sindh Medical College’ 05 SUPER FLOOD 2010
Nature snatched everything away, but Salma persists KARACHI
L
amar guriro
iFE was not easy for Salma Solangi after the death of her husband Shafi Muhammad Solangi, a patient of tuberculosis. She went through trying times in her life. Salma, a young widow and a mother of a child, is a resident of Aamri, an archaeological site that dates back to Moenjodaro, in the Jamshoro District, located just on the edges of the indus River. Salma started doing different odd jobs since her husband died. “Life was so difficult. After working all day as a maidservant and doing other odd labour, i was hardly earning around Rs 4,000 a month, which was not enough for the everyday expenditures of my small family,” she said. Despite going through all these difficulties, she was satisfied with her life. But nature had something else in store for her. Located near the indus River, the village is always experiencing ups and downs. in case of brief rainfalls and declining streams of river, the locals are faced with droughts. But if the river brings flood, it causes destruction and displacement. it was the monsoon season of 2010 when Salma and other residents of her village thought that they were experiencing a routine rainy weather, but it proved to be a massive disaster, which is now known as Pakistan’s Super Flood 2010. Salma was among the hundreds of residents who were displaced because of the flood. And when she returned home, there was nothing left. then stood another challenge in front of her, which was to restore her routine life when almost every house in the village and the entire infrastructure had been washed away by the flood. “i stayed at the flood relief camp in a tent, which was donated by some non-governmental organisations (NGOs), with other displaced families. it was a horrible experience for me,” she said, recalling the 2010 flood. While thinking about emerging from the tragedy and restoring routine life, Salma was not getting any ideas, as she had lost her job as well, because everyone in the village was going through the same situation. But all of a sudden, she heard of a group of people in her village. it was the team of the hamdam Development & Welfare Organisation (hDWO), a hyderabadbased NGO working on flood rehabilitation with the help of the international Organisation for Migration (iOM). “Earlier, i had thought that nobody from the outside world would come to our
rescue. But it was unimaginable when a team of hDWO with the support of iOM came to our aid. During their identification procedure, they found me as deserving of their help,” said Salma. She said, “the hDWO team told me that they would donate some bricks to me and provide me with the technical help to build a one-room shelter where i could
live safely.” Salma said that they were generous people and paid her Rs 25,500 with the promised technical support and guided her in building a shelter. it was inspiring for her to receive this help and begin a new life after facing destruction. “i personally took active part in building a safer shelter to avoid any loss in
future,” she said. the major problem the villagers are facing right now is unavailability of drinking water. Women have to travel 3 kilometres once or twice a day to fetch water for domestic use from the ponds of the indus River. Since underground water has turned brackish, the locals depend on river ponds.
Long ago, they had old wells in their courtyards and then they installed hand pumps, but all these sources have been depleted. Despite these problems, Salma seems confident in facing everything. She said, “Now i live a safer life under my shelter. i am happy because i myself took part in its construction.”
Autonomy of National Commission on Women demanded KARACHI aPP
Activists have demanded an autonomous status for the National Commission on Women (NCW) in letter and spirit so as to facilitate those seeking justice under the law of Protection of Women against harassment at Workplace. they said on Sunday that an autonomous status for the NCW could be a catalyst in strict implementation of the law that is a prerequisite for the pro-
tection of Pakistani women. Advocate Rubina Brohi appreciated that a mechanism has been evolved under which all public and private sector organisations are required to constitute a three-member committee, including at least one woman, to investigate complaints made by victims. “We, however, feel that there must be an autonomous body, empowered enough to address the genuine grievances of women who feel they are not being provided the needed justice,” she said.
in response to a query, she said that the courts might not be the appropriate forum because of the large number of pending cases. “Moreover, our women are generally reluctant to approach the courts due to different reasons,” she added. Another senior lawyer, Kulsoom Niazi, urged women to be confident enough to raise their voice when injustice is committed against them. She said that female victims are often observed to be reluctant in making complaints in writing against their ex-
ploiters. the bill itself has been adopted after a long struggle within the house, mentioned the activist Mehnaz Rehman. “Extra and meaningful measures are required for its implementation in the truest sense,” she said. She urged the government for more gender balance in the government as well as in private organisations. in their respective capacities, the activists were unanimous that the law was undeniably a major step towards recognition of women’s rights.
they hoped that the government, non-governmental organisations and media would play their role in bringing about a change in the mindset of the people towards working women in particular and women in general. “it is expected that the law itself would also pave the way for creating a sense of respect of individuals as human beings,” said Advocate Rubina Soomro. Mehnaz Rehman opined, “Our society has to learn to respect human beings without any distinction on the basis of gender, caste, religion or social status.”
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‘House to present resolution for upgrading Sindh Medical College’
PrAYer tIMINGS Fajr 4:51
Sunrise 6:09
Zuhr 12:32
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N its next session, the Sindh Assembly would bring forth a resolution for upgrading the Sindh Medical College (SMC) to a fullfledged university, said Sindh Assembly Deputy Speaker Shehla Raza during a ceremony arranged by the SMC Alumni Association Pakistan. the programme organised to mark the 39th anniversary of the college was also attended by SMC graduate Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Dr Farooq
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the assembly, but it would hopefully also be unanimously adopted, she added. the deputy speaker assured that the legal and constitutional procedures required for granting the SMC the status of university through presentation and adoption of a bill would be initiated without any delay. “the fact that the SMC has emerged to be one of the best medical colleges of the country over the years and that it has produced over 10,000 graduates cannot be overlooked,” she added. the federal minister Dr Sattar, a strong supporter for the SMC
being granted the status of university, urged the students and graduates to make concrete efforts for the achievement of the much cherished goal. PMA Sindh President Dr hashmi expressed full support on the PMA’s behalf towards the cause of the Sindh Medical University. the ceremony was also attended among others by Dr Nusrat Anis, Dr Sameer Qureishi, Prof tariq Rafi and Dr Qaisar Sajjad. On the occasion, a debate and poster competition was also arranged, which was largely participated by the students of the college.
Commissioner retrieves 5km of Pakistan Railways land KARACHI
rAILwAYS
Sattar, Sindh health Secretary S hashim Raza Zaidi, Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) Sindh President Dr Samrina hashmi, and faculty members, graduates and undergraduates of the SMC. the deputy speaker of the provincial assembly assured that the SMC would definitely be granted the status it deserves. She said, “this college was established by Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who understood well the needs of the people and had the will to get them materialised.” Not only a resolution for upgrading the SMC would be brought forth in the very next session of
aPP
in pursuance of the directives of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Karachi Commissioner Roshan Ali Shaikh launched a campaign in the metropolitan to retrieve state-owned land suspected to be encroached by land grabbers, the land mafia and other criminals. “We have managed to evacuate a belt of the Pakistan Railways’ land spread over an area of 5 kilometres
that stretches from Wazir Mansion to Gulbai,” Shaikh said on Sunday. the commissioner said that the campaign that succeeded in the retrieval of the precious piece of land was supervised by Deputy Commissioner Gunhwar Ali Laghari and harbour Assistant Commissioner Junaid Rajput. “it was a joint effort of the city administration, the local police and the Anti-Encroachment Cell that led to the recovery of the 43,360 square feet land,” said Shaikh.
grouP ShoW
in response to a question, the commissioner said that he was fully aware of the information regarding government lands, as well as those that are the property of state-owned entities infringed on by professional land grabbers under one or the other pretext. “We have not only initiated a crackdown, but we have also chalked out a plan to counter the criminals,” he said. the commissioner also said that the land mafia has to be strictly han-
ghaLiB made eaSY
dled, as it is also responsible for disturbing law and order in the commercial hub of the country. “We cannot allow anyone to hamper economic activities in a city that is the source of the lifeline for the people as well as the country,” he said. the commissioner appealed to the people and the media to help the government in eliminating anti-social elements that are disrupting the peace and tranquillity of the metropolis.
the goLden CoLLeCtion
ART EXHIBITION STARTS APRIL 17 AT 5:00 PM VENUE: GRANDEUR
POETRY ON APRIL 18 AT 7:00 PM VENUE: T2F 2.0
ART EXHIBITION STARTS APRIL 19 AT 6:00 PM VENUE: UNICORN GALLERY
A group art exhibition from April 17 to 24 at the Grandeur art gallery. Call 35435744 for more information.
‘Ghalib Made Easy: interactive Sessions with Musharraf Ali Farooqi’ at the 2nd Floor. Call 35389033 for more information.
Art exhibition titled ‘the Golden Collection’ from April 19 to 26 at the Unicorn Gallery. Call 35831220 for more information.
KHI 16-04-2012_Layout 1 4/16/2012 3:29 AM Page 7
Monday, 16 April, 2012
Editor’s mail 7
Let there not be light the much trumpeted National Energy Conference, held recently in Lahore, with the Prime Minister presiding over and the Chief Ministers of all provinces and the Federal Ministers concerned among others participating. Contrary to all high expectations of the people that the moot will come up with immediate measures to rid them of lingering intolerable electricity load hedding from the country, it turned out to be yet another case in which the rulers have failed us, to say the least. the only “welcome” decision of the moot was that electricity loadshedding henceforth be equitable for all the provinces and there was no indication, assurance or promise whatsoever even at the highest level of the Prime Minister as to when the menace of electricity loadshedding, which has already made
Smoke-on zone life of the people quite miserable and pitiable, would be eliminated from this country of ours. this is not all. According to reports appearing the media, a formula to end the electricity loadshedding presented by PML(Q) Secretary General Mushahid hussain Sayed on behalf of his party President Ch Shujat hussain was just laughed out without being given even a little consideration. Outright rejection of a rather feasible and practical formula, under which the provinces were required to part with some percentage of their share under the NFC Award for a short period so that the independent Power Producers (iPPs) could be made fully functional after paying their dues, was just deplorable and reflected sadly on the rulers’ indifferent attitude towards solving the
people’s problems and give them relief from their prolonged sufferings. the moot was also expected to consider for sometime fuel saving measures as well in order to minimise the mounting oil import bill. Even otherwise, electricity and fuel are interrelated and dependent on each other for boosting power generation. these fuel saving measures, as being lately mentioned in these columns of newspapers, could include usage of such equipments of gadgets to begin with in the vehicles of the federal and provincial governments which could help in saving fuel consumption up to a maximum of 25 percent. Such gadgets or equipments, based on innovative Japanese technology and tested internationally quite successfully, are available in the local market and when used in a vehicle help
in giving a fuel saving of up to 25 percent besides being environment friendly, no compromise on mileage and improved engine performance. the fuel saving of up to 25 per cent is what the foreign manufacturers and local importers and suppliers of this gadget or equipment are claiming. the fuel saving may be somewhat less in the ratio of 15 to 20 percent. But still there would be lot of fuel saving and reduced burden on oil import if put to use in huge fleet of vehicles of the federal and provincial governments. if spending some millions more on procurement of this fuel saving gadget could result in fuel saving of billions of rupees over a period of few months, then this is certainly worth trying. ASIM MUNIR Rawalpindi
Mobile phone towers Mobile Phone towers, installed on the roofs of residential and commercial building, can cause health problems, due to radiation, to the people living in surrounding areas. the height of these towers being about double the height of the building on which these are installed, these can also cause safety problems if these get uprooted and fall due to any reasons. Such buildings were constructed as per maps and designs approved by the competent authorities according to their building by-laws. So, installation of these towers afterwards on such buildings is in gross violation of building by-laws. in fact, mobile phone companies should construct their own platforms for this purpose. it will encourage other people also to indulge in such violation if no suitable action is taken against owners of these buildings. AREEBA HUSSAIN Karachi
Polluted water
why the bigger cabinet? the size of the cabinet expanded by inducting five more federal ministers. the size of cabinet is now 55 plus apart from a number of other figures relishing the status of federal minister. the public kitty, which is starved of cash due to massive corruption, lacks money even for urgently needed projects like power generation. Now it will be under further strain as it shells out millions of rupees more on the upkeep of the new inductees. the government should spend this huge amount of money for the welfare of the masses rather than political expediency. Public health and education sectors could be improved by using this money. Government can also control energy crisis from this amount. i am of the view that the government should do something for masses and take back decision of new induction. i also appeal to government to do something in the best interest of the country. TARIQ HUSAIN KHAN Karachi
why CNG buses? the gas availability situation is deteriorating day by day and it looks like the government is not doing anything to control it; it is actually taking the steps to worsen the situation. there are millions of cars, rikhshaws and autos which run on CNG and now the government has announced to run the CNG busses again so as to provide citizens with low bus fare .At one side the government is saying that we are low on CNG and on the other they are announcing the running of CNG buses. this is an idiotic decision taken at stage where CNG consumption should be curtailed and brought under control. the government should make up their mind whether they have sufficient CNG to fulfil the requirement or not. it is high time that the government should take proper actions; increasing the CNG price won’t help because the owner of public transport will simply increase the bus fare. So the government should think twice before running the CNG buses and worsening the situation for the people. SYEDA NOVAIRA HASNAIN Karachi
through the columns of your newspaper, i would like to draw the attention of the authorities concerned to the following problem. Unfortunately, Pakistan is amongst the few countries which are lagging behind the rest of the world in their implementation of the smoking ban at public places. Scientific research has confirmed that exposure to second-hand smoke (ShS) can cause lung cancer, heart attack, asthma, pneumonia as well as several other diseases. Sadly our hotels and restaurants are openly flouting the smoking ban in their premises. international fast food chains which have completely smoke-free outlets in the rest of the world, allow smoking inside their restaurants in Pakistan. Authorities concerned in the country are watching this violation of law as a silent spectator, seemingly because public health is not a priority here. the situation is also not very different at other public places like airports. Just recently at islamabad airport people were openly smoking in the domestic departure lounge. When i complained to the Civil Aviation Authority about this violation, the officer in charge said that he had not received any notification from the government regarding the closure of smoking areas at airports. Our buses and other public transport are also full of tobacco smoke, endangering people’s health. i urge the ministry of health to take urgent measures in order to protect the public from the serious health risks associated in Pakistan. HAFIZA MEHAK ASLAM Karachi
new terms of engagement? there has been much pomp surrounding the fact that our parliament has supposedly reordered the terms of our engagement with the US. Given the charade-like feel of the entire process aside, one has a strong hunch that these recommendations are high on rhetoric and may not be implemented. there is an inherent imbalance in our relation with the US, it being a superpower that in many ways underwrites our ailing economy and us being a third world country widely seen as a duplicitous terror sponsor.
of media trials it is amazing era that we are living in. the cases which are in courts, including the SC, are openly discussed in talk shows on tV. the anchors give their ‘verdicts’ and the participants give their viewpoints to counter the arguments. they only act as paid mercenary of their parties. they resort to loud shouting, cynicism and become even derogatory. in some programmes, the anchors act as judges. to the best of my knowledge, such cases cannot be discussed in public till the courts give their decisions in black and white. On 15th April, i was surprised even more when i read a news item that President Zardari declares Musa Gilani as innocent in drug case. Musa Gilani’s name is being taken as a perpetrator and SC has summoned Musa to clarify his position. he has not been proven guilty yet. Executive action should be taken
Despite the strong words of our parliament, can we expect the US to be any more respectful of our sovereignty or to take these seriously? the real engagement of the US is not with our political leadership to begin with. (And even if it was, many in the political leadership would be eager to have American patronage and the perks that it entails). the more things change, the more they stay the same… ALI ASIF Lahore
against those elements which are passing verdicts on the media about the cases that are yet to be decided. Why are we complicating the case? i am dead sure that the SC judges are not biased or ignorant. We should allow them to do their job without prejudice. Drug case is a fact and serious in nature. Let the SC bring to books the culprits. AMJAD H MIRZA Lahore
hashim Abro has drawn a very accurate picture of the plight of the poor people of Sindh. the solution is staring us right in the face but we are paying no attention to it. Agriculture provides livelihood directly to 70 percent of the rural population and employs 48 percent of the total labour force. there is negative growth in agriculture because of shortage
of water. Food inflation is rampant, 12 of the 18 crore people are being forced to spend all their income on food, pushing more people below the poverty line, 8 crore today compared to 5 crore in 2008, 11 crore people have been forced to cut down on their intake of food, two meals instead of three, or even less. All we hear is thar coal, gas from iran, electricity from india, solar and wind power but nary a mention of hydel power which alone will also give us water. 20 million acre remain to be irrigated, most of them in Sindh. Building dams is the only sensible option to boost agriculture in the shortest time to alleviate the plight of the poor people not only in Sindh but over the whole country. the poor people are paying a very heavy price for our penchant for playing politics with national issues. KHURSHID ANWER Lahore
proceedings of the court. Knowing the attitude of haqqani court should not have allowed him to leave the country, apprehensions expressed that he may not return have proved right. how can haqqani’s life be in danger in Pakistan where he is received in bullet proof car with VViP security and stays in the Prime Minister house? the problem has arisen due to Gen Pasha’s appearance before the court of law that has created a staggering effect on those who matter at the helms of affairs. it was a bold step on the part of
Gen Pasha who showed strength of character and firm resolve to uncover the truth. he stood by his stance on affidavit on Memogate submitted to the court and that must have surprised many but provided a relief who want to know the truth. haqqani’s rejoinder and clarification on the Memogate case points at unobtrusive and implied schemes to mislead and elude the judiciary. his attitude of delay and postpone with the court schedules amply reflect his intentions. there is no justification in
Is anyone listening?
i live in the area of North Nazimabad. the water we are getting from the tap appears to be not clean. Maybe the water supply comes to us from a source which is near to some polluted area. For instance, i have seen that there are some chemical factories in the area which discharge their chemical effluents into the supply source. Also, it has been found that the water pipelines are laid so close to the drainage system and the drain water might have gotten into the water pipeline at some point, due to wear and tear of the corroded pipelines. it is hoped that the concerned authorities will take suitable action soon to rectify the problem. if necessary, a sample of the water can be supplied for evaluation. SYED FAIZAN ALI ALVI Karachi
Late night weddings in residential areas, weddings can be very disturbing. Loud music, roars of laughter, firecrackers etc. cause a lot of hindrance for the people living nearby, especially for those who are old, sick and students. i am a student; last week i had my final exams going on and there was a wedding in my neighbourhood. it was highly troublesome for me to prepare for my exams. Many students like me would have faced the same situation. i, therefore, request the authorities that weddings should be held far from residential areas where families don’t get disturbed. NATALIA ISLAM Karachi
on Mr haqqani’s absence this is with reference to news that appeared in your esteemed paper (14 April) that Supreme Court shall hear a petition filed by haqqani seeking opportunity for recording his statement through a video link as it was done in the case of Mansoor Ejaz. his earlier petition filed before the judicial commission was rejected and he was directed to appear personally. At the same time, the petition he had filed in the Supreme Court that will be taken up on 19th April. the entire world knows how haqqani has deliberately been delaying the
taking down statement of haqqani on video conference. haqqani shall receive the highest protocol and top security when he comes to Pakistan. this is on record that haqqani was allowed to leave Pakistan on condition that he will come back when ever he is called by the judicial commission. Why has he disobeyed the courts? the best course of action for haqqani is to seek an apology from the nation for what he has done before it is too late. MUKHTAR AHMED Karachi
Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. Fax: +92-42-36298302. E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk. Letters should be addressed to Pakistan today exclusively.
KHI 16-04-2012_Layout 1 4/16/2012 3:29 AM Page 8
08comment eventful day taliban on a rampage
K
abul is a near impenetrable fortress of a city. the mountains that surround the city dwarf any man-made fortification. there really could have been no other capital for the Afghan people, a far cry from the naked capitals of, say, india or Pakistan. During the Soviet war, the city saw very little damage. the carcass that exists today was the product of a later time, when the Mujahideen were slugging it out amongst each other. But those were the battles of conventional armies and militias laying siege to cities. in the immense entropy of asymmetric warfare, especially the sort that involves that most disarming weapon, the suicide bomber, there is very little that occupiers can do to prevent infiltration into a populous city like Kabul. But occupiers could at least control certain areas within the city. Yesterday’s attacks in Kabul were in upmarket areas. Apparently even that was asking too much of the Afghan and iSAF security setup. Much egg on the faces of both the aforementioned. the Afghan internal security situation, at least as far as cities like Kabul are concerned (there were attacks in three other cities as well), was said to have been securely handed over to the indigenous Afghan security set up. So much for that. And this is while western forces remain in the country. When they leave, the remaining forces will be virtually at the mercy of the insurgents. But this is no time for the government of Pakistan to pretend it is running a tighter ship than the Americans and Afghans. Yesterday also saw a daredevil raid on a prison in Bannu that set free around 400 inmates, including 20 dangerous militants. Amongst these is one of the militants who was a part of the group that attempted to assassinate former president Musharraf. the provincial government is to take responsibility and it should hold the area’s police officers accountable. But Bannu is contiguous to both the Waziristan agencies. to treat it like just another district in the country, or even as a regular settled district in the province, would be incorrect. the military should be held more responsible for the attack. the police is not as well-equipped as the army nor trained to handle situations like these. if the militants could slip through the army, they obviously could pose an overwhelming threat to the police. the Americans don’t have their act together. Nor do the Afghan army and police. Nor the Pakistanis. Glimpses of the future, if that was what yesterday was, are harrowing.
Seraikistan province think it through
E
ven the most ardent supporters of newer provinces will not deny that the issue is rather complicated. With a tempestuous federation to begin with, the idea is to open another can of worms on an already open can of worms. the problems, be they ethnic, administrative, geological, economic, are too many to list here. in fact, even the spadework for beginning investigating what a new province would entail hasn’t begun yet. What would one do about water, an already tenuous issue with an accord having been reached relatively late in the federation’s history? An accord which is already not being followed, allegedly, and one that is the source of much discontent. What about finance? the provinces managed to thrash out a consensus on the NFC after a gap of decades, that too, reportedly because the financial mismanagement of the incumbent Punjab government left the province in no position to veto its way out of a consensus; otherwise, the agreement would have been even later, or maybe it would never have been reached at all. imagine what would transpire if several layers of complexity were to be imposed on the present rickety balance between the federating units and the federation. None of this should imply newer provinces should not be formed. if subnational aspirations resoundingly call for them, they should be. On another, non-ethnic premise: if units are unwieldy, they should be carved up for administrative ease and for reducing the distances between provincial capitals and the people. But all this should be done after much thought has been given to the issues at hand. the president speech from the other day doesn’t imply that. the idea that the Seraikistan province will be formed before the general polls is problematic. there has obviously been no debate on the issue and the studies cannot possibly be done in time. Whether the ruling coalition could even achieve the plan is a question, one that depends upon which areas a Seraiki province would include. it is unreasonable to ask for political parties not to gain political mileage over any issue. All issues are political and everything can be milked for its worth. But this would be politicking over an issue that has extremely vast and long-lasting consequences. Short-term political gains should not merit such decisions. the PPP should desist from such irresponsible populism.
Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami
Arif Nizami Editor
Lahore – Ph: 042-36298305-10 Fax: 042-36298302 Karachi – Ph: 021-34330811-3 Fax: 021-34330900 Islamabad – Ph: 051-2287414-6 Fax: 051-2287417 Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk
Monday, 16 April, 2012
PTI on Hafiz Saeed there’s more to guilt than court verdicts
By Waqqas Mir
h
afiz Saeed is innocent. hafiz Saeed is guilty. And so the discourse rages on in Pakistan. in a public move on the 5th of April, Mr Javed hashmi, President Pti endorsed Mr hafiz Saeed as (reportedly) “a preacher of peace in the world.” i have had issues with Pti’s world-view for a while. this statement is rather easy to mock but let us resist the temptation and deal with what it implies. Now it is important to state what this piece is not going to be about. this piece is not about defending or opposing the bounty placed on Mr Saeed by the US. that is a distinct issue. this piece is about condemning the deliberate obfuscation, by the Pti leadership, of the issues involved. if Mr Saeed is a preacher of peace in the world then the world, according to Mr Saeed and President Pti, excludes india, indian Kashmir and non-Muslims particularly those living outside Pakistan. Such a world view is predictable among right wing militarised radicals in Pakistan but it hardly deserves endorsement from a political party and its leaders that are fast gaining popularity. Of course Mr hafiz Saeed has never been found guilty by a court of law and that is a fact. But is that the only standard which a society uses or should use to endorse an individual? if court verdicts are the only standard by which Pti thinks Mr Saeed is to be judged then, quite frankly, Pti has shot itself in the foot. Messrs Zardari and Sharif can easily point to the lack of court verdicts finding them guilty. Does that mean the Pti will not call them corrupt anymore? And even if Pti can point to the odd verdict abroad against a politician, its whole rhetoric of corruption being rife collapses if court verdicts are what determine its discourse. And this brings us to the heart of the matter; Mr hashmi/Pti has been disingenuous when it comes to Mr hafiz Saeed. the latter of course should get due process before the courts and presumed innocent till guilty. But that is a standard before the courts. Endorsing him, as a man of peace and providing him legitimacy, is an entirely different matter. Mr Saeed is about more than the ostensibly charitable Jamaat-ud-Dawa. And JuD is
about more than charity. it is about money, arms, hatred preaching literature et al. One only has to live with open eyes and ears in Pakistan to see how these organisations operate with impunity. You, of course, always have the option of being naïve and willfully blind. What Mr Saeed believes can be gleaned by anyone with half a brain cell willing to look at what Mr Saeed has said — both recently and in the past. Guilt before courts is one thing. Social utility of discourse or lack thereof is another. Dangers posed to society by a narrative endorsing violence are linked to this. in a country where most of us would agree that the justice system is broken, relying on legal formalisms and court verdicts as the only yardstick by which to determine whether someone deserves to be celebrated by society is downright corrupt. Save your typing energy if your criticism is that this piece doesn’t mention corruption of the government. that is an article for another day. Mr Saeed’s world view and speech preaches hatred against india and the West in blanket terms. he thinks that he is doing all of us a favour by supporting/heading Lashkar-e-taiba or its militants. the fact that his bigoted views are held deeply does not or should not legitimise them. And political parties that endorse him in public as a man of peace deserve condemnation. the banning of the Let should in no way be presumed to have put an end to Mr Saeed’s anti-state activities. Yes, anti-state because the Constitution of Pakistan expressly prohibits the raising of private armies. to the extent that our military establishment supports such unholy “joint-ventures” it is also guilty. For those who want to discover whether Mr Saeed is actually a preacher of peace, i recommend Jessica Stern’s book “terror in the Name of God; Why Religious Militants Kill.” Ms Stern analyses trends of militancy in Christianity,
Judaism and islam. For the chapters focusing on terror perpetrated by islamist elements, she interviewed Mr hafiz Saeed. in Muridke. in those pages, Mr Saeed comes across as a man who thinks that jihad is his duty/god-given responsibility. Killing others is then merely something his God tells him to do. he does not see problems with infusing the religious element into a territorial dispute such as Kashmir. he owns armed fighting and training of militants. the book also features interviews with members of Mr Saeed’s army; young men brainwashed into taking up the cause — deserting not just good sense but, more tragically, their families. Mr hashmi would presumably forgive all of Mr. Saeed’s violent designs since Mr Saeed has allegedly always been pious. Doesn’t work that way for me. hafiz Saeed has never disputed the account put forward by Jessica Stern. And why focus on that account alone? One could locate his world view in many of his speeches. Murder and violence for a cause he deems worthy appears justified to him. if hafiz Saeed is innocent because the courts have never found him guilty, then Pti loses the whole corruption argument. it is incumbent upon those holding sway over public opinion to state the obvious. And problems with what Mr hafiz Saeed stands for are glaringly obvious. By relying on formalisms and legitimising him, Pti is doing everyone in this country, except the supporters of violence, a great disservice. For this, all of us must hold the Pti leadership accountable. Not before a court of law but in the court of public opinion. The writer is a Barrister and an Advocate of the High Courts. He is currently pursuing his LL.M in the US and can be reached at wmir.rma@gmail.com or on Twitter @wordoflaw
regional Press
on the prospects of peace Daily Pashtun Post
W
ith the start of strikes against Afghanistan in the name of the war on terror, any chance and hope for peace in the region were dashed. the US actions, one after the other, backfired and contributed more to instability and violence in the war-torn region than contributing to peace and stability. it is because the land of Afghanistan has proved to be area of defeat for the allied forces. the US was here in Afghanistan with an aim of seeking permanent bases in the country but it seems that it will not be able to fulfil this aim as it is facing interminable losses on all fronts in Afghanistan and its ailing economy will be hardpressed to sustain any kind of prolonged military presence in the country. this is why they want to cut their losses and run now. the proof is in the fact that the Americans are seeking talks with the taliban for peace and have duly opened an office at Qatar for the same purpose. the question is whether the plan to have a military
presence in Afghanistan by the US has yielded any result or has the US realised the mistake it committed in plunging into the region without thinking the entire thing through. Pakistan should be praised for the role it has played in the larger interest of the region. Not only has Pakistan hosted millions of homeless Afghans for decades, it has also ceaselessly continued with its efforts for lasting peace in the region through cooperation with regional and global stakeholders. the talks intended for peace in the region among various stakeholders cannot shun the importance of Pakistan to the whole process. But in the ultimate analysis, it is the Afghans who must have a solution of their liking. A solution that has been manufactured to cater to the interest of other stakeholders and powers will not sit well with the Afghans and will be doomed to fail from the start, as history has proved. thus, the process must ensure that the Afghans are freely able to decide what is best for them. – Translated from the original Pashto by Abdur Rauf Khattak
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Monday, 16 April, 2012
Crisis and cooperation regional collaboration will help with our energy crises
Politact By Arif Ansar ith the date of US withdrawal from Afghanistan approaching, the focus of Pakistan, as well as that of other stakeholders, has shifted towards envisioning the future beyond 2014. there is obviously an optimistic and a pessimistic picture. More than anything else, the major determinant of the direction of future events will be the ground reality and the public buy-in. the optimistic view envisions a trade and energy corridor that extends from Central Asia to South Asia. As energy shortages worsen in Pakistan, the nation is not only stagnating presently but the prospect for meeting future needs is not any brighter. According to a World Bank estimate, widespread loadshedding and the economic impact of the energy crunch are estimated at upward of 2 percent of GDP. the State Bank of Pakistan claims that by year 2016, the country will face an acute gas shortfall of 3.021 bcfd (billion cubic feet per day). After years of delay, the country is working on a number of energy projects and approaches simultaneously, with special emphasis on regionalism. Nonetheless, political complications and instability have hindered exploiting of both the internal energy resources as well as the external ones. the list includes the iran-Pakistan (iP) gas pipeline project, the turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan and india (tAPi) pipeline project, and Central Asia-South Asia (CASA) 1000. Surprising, regional rival india has offered to export liquefied gas to Pakistan. One of the recent successes came in the form of a World Bank approval for $1.1 billion worth of Agro projects. As economic and trade ties between india and Pakistan warm
up, india’s state-owned oil and gas company GAiL wants to provide Pakistan liquefied natural gas (LNG). this would be done through an extension of gas pipeline to Lahore. the company has plans of bringing gas to Gujrat, and then will transit this gas through the Dahej-Vijaipu-DadriBawana-Nangal-Bhatinda pipeline to indian Punjab, and onwards to Pakistan. As opposed to building an LNG terminal that takes longer time, supplying gas through extension of pipelines is being considered more feasible for this venture. On the other hand, india is also exploring a Pakistani route for the transport of iron ore from Afghanistan. the project worth $11 billion and involves a consortium of 7 states and many private firms. the companies in the consortium include: state-run miner NMDC Ltd, steelmaker Rashtriya ispat Nigam Ltd (RiNL), private sector steelmakers JSW Steel Ltd, JSW ispat Steel Ltd, Jindal Steel & Power Ltd, and Monnet ispat & Energy Ltd. Chairman of the Steel Authority of india, CS Verma said hajigak mines and a 6 million tonne steel plant are being developed for this purpose. the hajigak deposits contain about 1.8 billion tons of ore, with an exceptionally high iron concentration ranging from 61 percent to 64 percent. the contract, to be signed in about two months, will be the biggest capital-intensive investment in Afghanistan, outweighing China’s $4.4 billion investment in Aynak Copper mine. Mining work is expected to begin in 2014 as the Afghan forces take over the security responsibility of the country. however, there are concerns whether Afghans will be able to provide the needed security. As compared to using the longer iranian route via Charbhar, Verma elaborated that india would prefer Pakistan for transporting the ore out and for building a slurry pipeline. While Pakistan recently approved the trade and transit treaty that allows Afghanistan to send goods to india, it has remained concerned about losing influence in Afghanistan as indian economic clout increases there. the above listed projects, including Pakistan-india trade coop-
eration, have tremendous economic potential for the region and Pakistan. For example, transportation, mining, construction, hospitality, agriculture and dairy sectors are all likely to substantially benefit. Additionally, the prices of basic consumer items, including medicines, are also expected to drop. however, in the absence of broad political consensus, the above vision is unlikely to be realised. in other words, a convincing public case has not been presented on what brought about a change in the long-standing government security concerns in Pakistan. in absence of this, the change in traditional policies might be perceived as a sign of weakness and present fuel to be used by hard line elements for further manipulation. Driven by profit motives, the business community and traders have long been proponents of regional trade. however, since the start of the war on terror and due to poor governance, the liberal space has consistently shrunk while the nationalist and religious forces have constantly gained. None of the above approaches and projects will resolve the nation’s immediate energy and economic crisis. the success of these initiatives is dependent upon stable FAtA, Balochistan, and Afghanistan, and that does not seem to be in sight. Moreover, achieving the above vision will require easing of international tensions over iran’s nuclear program, which is also ultimately linked to the state of ties between Russia, China and US. Managing change requires increased level of communication between people leading it and those impacted by it, so as to handle anxiety and misinformation. in case of Pakistan, we are seeing more interaction amongst those championing trade with india while the general public is in the dark. this usually means more of the potential benefits are likely to be exploited by the few, at the expense of the public. And, in this respect, it hardly represents a change. The writer is the chief analyst for PoliTact (www.PoliTact.com and http:twitter.com/politact) and can be reached at aansar@politact.com
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The unplanned (r)evolution the narrative of transformation in Punjab t is commonly asserted that Marx, despite being incredibly nuanced in some of his earlier work, was far too deterministic, reductionist, and linear in his political economy writings. this critique is predicated on a particular reading of his work that sees a 5 stage process for all societies, eventually culminating in the blossoming of modern capitalism – complete with contradictions and alienated labour. Whether the criticism is premised on a close enough reading of what Marx actually meant to say is a separate matter, yet there is no denying that many scholars, both before and after Marx, dealt in grand narratives of history and in stories of a homogenous future for the entire planet. During the time of the British, a common subject for debate in Whitehall - between administrators, bureaucrats, and academics- was how to make india modern, i.e. what would it take to make indian society break free from the shackles of backward traditions and decadent institutions? the aim, as can be gleaned from the debates, was to create a colony in the image of the home country - something that stuck around till as recently as the 1950s, when Rostow and Organski’s modernisation theory continued to inform the way western societies dealt with the developing world. the truth, however, was (and is) that societies have their own pace and pattern of change. the outcomes from this process could very well produce resemblance with other sociBy Umair Javed eties at different points in time - for example Pakistan being more open to global fast food chains and imported consumer products - but the intricate dynamics informing the relationship between urbanisation, capitalistic development, and people are always quite unique. Nothing reveals this as starkly as the journey on the National highway – 5 (Gt Road) from Rawalpindi to Lahore. this road, snaking through 300 kilometres of nearly contiguous urban territory, gives an interesting snapshot in how the question of change played itself out in Punjab, how different rural areas eventually became urban centres, and how people both led and became recipients of this rapid transformation. there were three things that stood out for me on this particular journey. First is the rise of commercial activity in the food, banquet, and retail sector; second is the proliferation of suburban gated communities; and thirdly the spread of techni-
cal/vocational educational institutes. Each of these three represent qualitative shifts in the lifestyle choices made by residents in a number of places. Starting from Shahdara, on the edge of Lahore, all the way to Rawat and Mundra in Rawalpindi district, each intermittent urban patch projects the very urban, and very consumerist aspirations of its residents. Restaurants selling both indigenous and continental cuisine (with names like ‘Chicks and Burgs’ and ‘take Awayz’) provide anecdotal evidence of leisure time choices, and of a generational shift in dietary preferences. Another pervasive sight on the highway is the presence of large wedding halls, and the movement of wedding convoys from one town to another. Giving a modern twist to the old Punjabi adage of ‘same caste, different village’, the wedding industry is flourishing in the province, with each wedding competing to be more ostentatious than the other. Rows upon rows of gleaming and decorated new toyotas, and to my surprise, hondas, dot the sides of the highway giving off a skewed sense of unbridled prosperity and welfare. Another transformation has been in changing patterns of land-use in and around these small towns and cities. Whereas most of the area between Lahore and Jhelum was at one point fertile canal irrigated agriculture land, large swathes have now been converted into residential suburbs. Large land-owners, facing diminishing returns from cash-crop farming, simply decided to divide their holdings into individual plots, laid down a few metalled roads and converted their farmland into a gated community. Given population pressures and the ubiquitous housing shortage in North and Central Punjab, such development has proven to be good business. Finally, the demographic reality of having a large youth bulge has resulted in its own outcomes. Every few kilometres or so, one is confronted by large, garish advertisements of private commerce and information technology colleges offering degree and non-degree programs, and promising a brighter future for its potential customers. in many cases, these institutions are complemented by the presence of English language training centres and immigration agents – both of which rely on the deep-rooted impulse of migration in this part of the province. All of this is akin to stating the glaringly obvious, yet the point of this mundane exercise is to show exactly how the obvious isn’t talked about as much as it should be. Population pressures, urbanisation, and its accompanying features all have very real consequences in terms of the politics it breeds, the developmental questions it poses, and the impact these have on society at large. So while the world places its focus on islamism, radicalisation, and state-collapse, society in some parts of the country is humming along, forging a unique relationship with modernity in the process. And that, as Arif hasan puts it, is the real unplanned revolution. The writer blogs at http://recycledthought.blogspot.com. Email him at umairjaved87@gmail.com, or send a tweet @umairjav
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Monday, 16 April, 2012
Fashion KaraChI: Models present creations by Zainab Sajid at the Pantene, Style360 Bridal Couture Week. PhotoS BY imran aLi
Fashion NOMAN ARFEEN: presented his menswear collection entitled ‘rags to riches’. The inspiration behind this collection left over warehouse materials, turned into high fashion. sharp and modern cuts were the designers’ emphasis with the collection accentuated through embellishments and rich embroideries. noman's collection was accessorised by fetish headgear made by the designer himself. LALA TEXTILES showcased their collection based on tropical hues including sunshine yellow, ocean blues, pinks and classic black and white pieces. With a young and flirty silhouette, Lala's collection included long summer dresses, printed crushed pants and kurtas. LAHORE: Day 2of the PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week April 2012. Photos by NADEEM IJAZ AND FAISAL FAROOQUI
Lahore AKIF: showcased his women’s wear collection entitled ‘Glamazon’, inspired by the glamorous woman of today. The collection was based in rich, luxurious fabrics, woven and crafted with gold threads translating into bold motifs and patterns such as brocades and jamawars with jacquard weaves.
sitara
Fahad hussayn
Karma Fabric
Nimsay
Zonia anwaar
ammar Belal
Akshay talks business, Aamir Khan’s says make your own films neW deLhi: Bollywood star Akshay Kumar may be seen just as an entertainer, but he has got his finger on the pulse of movie business. he says the sure-shot success mantra is to either make your own film or go for profit sharing. "I have a very simple solution - make your films, because when you make your film you will not include your remuneration and it takes off the burden from a film," Akshay said. Akshay, who started his career with action movies like ‘Khiladi’ and ‘Mohra’, now returns to the genre after seven years with ‘rowdy rathore’. "I personally believe that people enjoy raw action more than technology. If you use too much of technology, it will bounce back. People are very smart and understand what is real and what is unreal. So when I did my first action film `rowdy rathore` after six years, I chose to do raw action. I believe in manpower and not technological power," he said. agenCieS
health secrets mumBai: Given their sheer body of work, the Khan triumvirate has ruled the hearts of audiences for almost over two decades. while age seems to be catching up with the other Khans (SrK and Salman were heard of suffering from multiple ailments like back pain and neurological disorders), Aamir Khan sure is an exception. Do you want to know what makes Aamir so super fit and always at the pink of health? the perfectionist star who is out on a mission to promote ‘Satyamev Jayate’ – his first ever tv show and perhaps his most ambitious project, revealed the secret of maintaining a disease free healthy body. when a media person wished to know the address of the ‘aata mill’, the actor gets his supplies of wheat flour from, a quick-witted Aamir said he does not eat wheat products. he eats ‘raagi’ (millet) instead. Aamir who recently kicked the butt was quizzed if he is using nicotine patches to control his cravings. Aamir said, “there is no craving. trust me, this time I don’t feel the urge to have even one puff if I see anybody smoking near me.” About his forthcoming show, Aamir said that ‘Satyamev Jayate’ helped him develop an emotional connect with his countrymen and there were quite a few moments during the show that made him cry. agenCieS
ASIFA & NABEEL: showcased ‘Leaves of Fall’ which drew inspiration from autumn. The collection was designed keeping in mind the transition of summer into winter. The collection featured unconventional silhouettes with a diversity of cuts and layering involved and with presented knee length tops, cropped jackets with bold pockets along with kurta style blouses with overlapping.
Hugh Grant says new Bridget Jones script needs to be polished London: roping in hugh Grant for the planned second sequel to ‘Bridget Jones’ Diary’ appears to have become a challenge for the makers of the movie. Amid rumours that Grant, who plays Mark Darcy, had pulled out, tim Bevan, the producer, admitted in February that filming had been put on hold. Now, the 51-year-old insists that the screenplay needs more work, before he commits himself to the project. “we’re all up for it, as a cast, and the basic premise is fantastic,” the telegraph quoted him as saying. “we just need to polish up the scripts,” he said. the actor also revealed his desire of donning the director’s hat. “I don’t really know if I’ll continue doing films, but I should do directing. I just know that I’m much less inclined to do acting jobs nowadays. I never really chose romcoms- they chose me. I have no particular affection for that genre,” he added. agenCieS
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Ali Zafar Sanam Marwi mesmerise at lifestyle expo
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Li Zafar, one of the few Pakistani actors with a huge fan base in india, entertained the audience on the second day of Lifestyle Pakistan Expo here when he danced to Bollywood numbers, and appeared on stage with a dhol in his hands. Ali, who has become a popular name in Bollywood thanks to films like ‘tere Bin Laden’, ‘Mere Brother Ki Dulhan’ and ‘London, Paris, New York’, was dressed in a dhoti and an embroidered kurta. he walked the ramp at the first ever Lifestyle Pakistan Expo for designer brand ChenOne, and came with a dhol to add zing to the show. he set the mood with his foottapping numbers including ‘Madhubala’ from ‘Mere Brother Ki Dulhan’, ‘Woh Dekhne Mein Seedhi’ from ‘London, Paris, New York’ and also grooved to some popular numbers from his albums. A venture between the Pakistani and indian governments, Lifestyle Pakistan Expo is a fourday event where 100 Pakistani fashion and lifestyle brands are exhibiting their collections. Ali hopes the initiative bridges the gap between the two countries. “(it’s an)
Excellent crowd in Delhi. hope Lifestyle Pakistan will help in bringing the two countries closer," Ali said. he danced at a celebration event, organised by the Pakistan government, to mark the launch of the exhibition. the event witnessed 11 leading designers from Pakistan, including
PFDC Sunsilk Fashion week, Day 2: A splash of colours NEWS DESK the Pakistan Fashion Design Council in collaboration with Sunsilk presented the second day of the PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week which included both early evening Voile Shows and later in the evening, shows by design houses attended by buyers, retailers, foreign and national media alike.At the venue, Sunsilk presented an exclusive booth for fashion styling, where complimentary hair styling and makeup touch ups with Nabila's salon team was available and will continue to be available for the remaining days of PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week. Sunsilk also presented a photo studio where fashion week goers to have their pictures taken on the Lux Red Carpet for instant, framed photographs as souvenirs. Among the designers who presented their collections, Ammar Belal’s show stood out as it used a lot of college students as models and also brought to the ramp young students from Rubina Foundation along with a dance performance choreographed Wahab Shah. the PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week is being produced, choreographed and directed by hSY and his team with Maheen Kardar Ali and Zara Shahjahan for front stage management. Mohsin Ali and Akif Mahmood managed the exhibition area, Fahad hussayn and Ali Xeeshan are working alongside the style teams for hair and makeup, Kamiar Rokni and Asim Naeem are overseeing green room management. the event is being coordinated by the Rteam, with foreign buyer and media management by Latitude and PR by Lotus.
Watson turns glamorous for
new role LoS angeLeS: Actress emma watson is set to shed her girlnext-door image as she turns glamorous for her role in new movie ‘the Bling ring’. watson has been roped in to play one of the real-life teens who stole stuff from the homes of stars including Paris hilton Lindsay Lohan and orlando Bloom in 2008 and 2009. the actress, known for her role as young hermoine in the ‘harry Potter’ series, was spotted parading the streets in tiny shorts, leather jacket and towering high heels. A temporary tattoo, applied to her lower back, completed her transformation into her rebellious character Nicki. agenCieS
Kayseria, Saai by Sahar Atif, Ran Ja, honey Waqar, Sadi Designs, Shireen Khan, Faizaa Samee and ChenOne, showcasing their collection on the ramp.Pakistani singer Sanam Marwi, who was here with her troupe, also mesmerised audience with her Sufi and Sindhi songs.
rihanna to concentrate on film career LOS ANGELES agenCieS
Singer Rihanna wants to put her music career on hold so that she can concentrate on acting. She made her big screen debut in board game-based blockbuster ‘Battleship’ alongside Liam Neeson and Alexander Skarsgard. She is due to perform at a number of music festivals during summer. "there are some festivals here and there throughout the year but i want to do some more films before i go back on tour," contactmusic.com quoted her as saying. Rihanna hasn’t decided on her next movie project, but she hopes to try out comedy before returning to action films. "i don’t want to stick to one thing yet. i want to see where i excel. i want to try comedy and probably another action film," said the 24-year-old.
adele set to dethrone as longest reign as chart topper
Prince London: Adele is poised to be crowned queen of the American music scene, with her album ‘21’ topping the charts for the 24th week. the singer is on course to top the American charts, marking the longest reign at number one since Prince and the revolution’s ‘Purple rain’ soundtrack. experts expect the 23-year-old superstar to sell between 110,000 to 130,000 more copies by the close of play ensuring she remains at the top spot. It will be known on wednesday if she has beaten Prince, who spent 24 weeks at the top of the charts in 1984 and 1985. A couple more weeks would see ‘21’ also become one of only eight albums to rack up six months at the top of the list. the largestselling album in the SoundScan era is Metallica’s ‘Metallica’, released in 1991. agenCieS
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Children killed in restive Yemen south SANAA afP
three children were among four people killed on Sunday in Yemen’s restive east and south by suspected Al-Qaeda militants, security officials said, a day after three jihadist leaders were killed in an air strike. the defence ministry said in a statement on its website that three “local Al-Qaeda leaders” were killed in a Yemeni air strike late Saturday while a security official told AFP the raid was conducted by a US drone. the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the strike hit a moving vehicle carrying Al-Qaeda operatives in the province of Bayda, some 210 kilometres (130 miles) southeast of the capital Sanaa. the ministry, however, maintained the government’s routine insistance that only its aircraft carry out such operations on Yemeni soil. the United States has never formally acknowledged the use of drones against Al-Qaeda in Yemen, considered by Washington to be the most active and deadly branch of the global terror network and a major focus of its “war on terror.” the three children, including two siblings, were killed Sunday when a roadside bomb exploded in the eastern province of hadramawt, a security official told AFP. he blamed Al-Qaeda militants for planting the device and said a “suspicious vehicle” had been spotted in the area the night before. the children were killed while walking to school by what the official described as an improvised “time bomb.” in other violence Sunday, one person was killed and at least five others were wounded, including two women, in an AlQaeda mortar attack on the southern town of Loder, a security official told AFP. the victim was a member of a committee of armed residents fighting alongside the Yemeni army, the official added. he said “sporadic” clashes continued in the strategic town where last week fierce battles raged between militants and the army. At least 222 people, including 183 militants, were killed in five days as AlQaeda tried to seize the town.
Syria clashes warm up ahead of UN team arrival DAMASCUS afP
Syrian forces reportedly killed four civilians in shelling of rebel areas and clashes with gunmen on Sunday, testing a shaky UNbacked ceasefire as international monitors prepared to fly in. Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad subjected the Khaldiyeh and Bayada neighbourhoods of the flashpoint central city of homs to their fiercest bombardment since the truce came into force at dawn on thursday, monitors said. “the bombardment of Khaldiyeh intensified this morning with an average of three shells a minute,” the head of the Syrian Observatory for human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP. he said one civilian was killed in Khaldiyeh, another was killed in shelling of the Jobar neighbourhood, and a third was shot dead by a sniper in Qsour. With clashes warming up and both sides blaming each other for the violence, shabiha pro-regime militiamen also shot dead a civilian in the town of Aqrab, in the central province of hama. three civilians died in homs shelling on Saturday, among 14 people reported killed nationwide ahead of a UN Security Council vote approving the dispatch of the observer mission to monitor the truce. Elsewhere, rebel fighters clashed with security forces in Al-Bab in the northern province of Aleppo, near the town’s State Security police headquarters, the Britain-based Observatory added. Opposition group the Local Coordination Committees said the army shelled the village of Khirbet al-Joz in the northwestern province of idlib, which is base to fighters from the rebel Free Syrian Army. thirty-two people have been killed since the ceasefire brokered by UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan took effect, most of them civilians, the Observatory said.
BurgoS: People take part in a historical re-enactment of the first uprising of the Spanish people against the occupation by napoleon’s troops, on Sunday. Burgos was the city which rose for the first time against the french occupation with some weapons and called for justice, challenging authority of the city. the uprising was followed later by the revolution of madrid’s people against the french occupation on may 2, 1808. AFP
French rivals hold duelling Paris rallies one week from vote PARIS
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hOUSANDS of supporters of France’s right-wing President Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist challenger Francois hollande gathered in Paris on Sunday for duelling rallies one week before polling day. Sarkozy summoned what he calls his “silent majority” to the Place de la Concorde in the heart of the city, while an increasingly confident hollande staged a concert and campaign meeting at the Chateau de Vincennes in the east. “to imagine an election already won would be a political, even a moral mistake. Nevertheless, i admit, i am ready to govern France,” hollande declared in
a interview with the weekly Le Journal du Dimanche. his buoyant mood in the final straight was supported by the latest opinion polls, which all still predict a close first round on April 22 followed by a comfortable victory for hollande in a May 6 run-off against Sarkozy. Sarkozy and hollande both hoped to gather tens of thousands of their own supporters — and the attention of television cameras — to launch the final week of campaigning before the first round on a triumphant note. Speeches got underway first at Sarkozy’s event, with the leaders of his UMP party taking to the stage to denounce the left, while at Vincennes the French West indian band Kassav took to the stage to entertain hollande’s
crowd. UMP leader Jean-Francois Cope claimed 100,000 had come to cheer Sarkozy, under a sea of tricolour flags, but observers thought this an exagerrated estimate. the rival crowds looked similar in scale in television images. “today, Paris is yours! Your number is a stinging riposte to those who said you were resigned and voiceless,” Prime Minister Francois Fillon declared. hollande’s adviser Manuel Valls claimed on twitter that the Socialists had also gathered 100,000, again appearing to err on the high side. Police said in advance that they would not be giving an official estimate of the crowd. Observers were keen to see who could draw the biggest or most fervent crowds, but nothing in the race has yet
French Muslims feel stigmatised in vote debate ROUBAIX afP
When police kicked in Mohamed Asbol’s at dawn and hauled away his son on suspicion of being an islamist radical, he saw it as further proof that he was not considered fully French. the 64-year-old was born in Algeria but came to France as a teenager, took French nationality, worked for decades as a welder, paid his taxes and quietly brought up his family in the northern city of Roubaix. But, he insisted, as a friend arrived to help him fix the door on his modest redbrick terraced house, he is still seen as an outsider and he believes the policies of President Nicolas Sarkozy are reinforcing that prejudice. “they broke my dignity. i am disappointed with France. it’s obvious that he is stigmatising Muslims to get votes,” said Asbol, just a week before the first round of voting in France’s presidential election. “Just because my son has a beard, wears a djellaba and goes to the mosque doesn’t mean he’s a ter-
rorist!” he said, indignantly. his 28-year-old son Said’s arrest came during a series of police raids on April 4 that netted 10 individuals in cities across France. the first wave netted deactivated assault rifles and other weapons and a number of people were kept in custody on terrorist-linked charges. But the second round, conducted under the glare of deliberately invited television cameras, came to nothing. Said Arbol and the nine others were released without charge. this led to claims that Sarkozy was using the raids to burnish his tough-guy anti-immigrant credentials and to poach votes from erstwhile supporters of the anti-immigrant National Front party. Such criticism is particularly trenchant in Roubaix, a city of around 95,000 people on the Belgian border that has the biggest ethnic mix of any French city outside Paris and also happens to be France’s poorest town. Many of the city’s residents are Muslim, and many feel particularly
angry at Sarkozy, who bluntly announced last month in his first major campaign interview that there were “too many foreigners” in France. Sarkozy has consistently trailed his Socialist rival Francois hollande in the opinion polls. “they have attacked us on all fronts — the burqa, halal meat, young people,” said 34-year-old Moussa Gacem as he stood behind the counter at the Roubaix snack bar where he worked. Gacem, a French national born here of North African parents, was referring to a law Sarkozy passed banning the full-face veil that had been worn by a tiny minority of Muslim women in France. Sarkozy has also sparked protests from both Jewish and Muslim leaders, who complained that their communities were being used as pawns in the election, after the president criticised the production of halal and kosher meat. “if islam can be used as a target then Sarkozy will do that,” said Gacem.
shifted the underlying polling data: Sarkozy appears to be on course for a clear defeat after one term. A cautious campaigner, hollande has not generated much passion in his own camp, but insisted: “i do not want to be president by default. the country is not waiting for a president to leave, but for a new one to arrive.” he has invited popular rock bands to entertain the crowds at his festivallike rally in a leafy area of eastern Paris near the working-class districts that he will have to mobilise to ensure a majority. Sarkozy’s camp mocked the line-up, joking that musicians had been invited because the Socialists feared that no one would turn up to hear hollande’s stump speech, and promised a more traditional rally of their own.
Britain says its embassy staff in Kabul ‘accounted for’ LONDON afP
All British embassy staff in Kabul have been “accounted for” amid explosions and heavy gunfire in the diplomatic quarter of the Afghan capital, the Foreign Office said in a statement on Sunday. “We can confirm that there is an ongoing incident in the diplomatic area of Kabul. We are in close contact with the embassy, all staff are accounted for,” it said, while Foreign Office sources added that there had been no injuries. Suicide bombers struck across Afghanistan on Sunday in coordinated attacks claimed by taliban insurgents as the start of a spring offensive. the German and Japanese embassy compounds were reported hit as militants attacked the city’s diplomatic enclave and tried to storm parliament — sparking a gun battle in which lawmakers and bodyguards fired back from the rooftop. A spokeswoman of the German embassy told AFP that there was “smaller damage to the property”, but no one had been injured. the embassies of the United States and Britain were also targeted, the spokesman for NAtO’s international Security Assistance Force, General Carsten Jacobson, said.
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Israel bans ‘flytilla’ activists but hundreds left in Europe BEN GURION afP
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SRAEL on Sunday barred 40 pro-Palestinian activists who had flown in for a “Welcome to Palestine” campaign as hundreds more wouldbe protesters were stranded at airports across Europe. As hundreds of police deployed at israel’s main international airport in a bid to stop activists from entering, Europe’s main airlines faced a wave of passenger fury after cancelling some 300 tickets following heavy israeli pressure. By early afternoon, police had detained 40 passengers on suspicion of being part of the fly-in campaign, better known as the “flytilla,” with all facing deportation. Organisers of “Welcome to Palestine,” now in its third year, had been expecting to welcome up to 1,500 people as part of a campaign to expose israel’s control of movement both into and out of the occupied territories. But israel vowed to prevent their entry, warning airlines they would be forced to foot the bill for the activists’ immediate return home in a move which saw many carriers toeing the line. With airlines cancelling at least 300 passengers’ tickets, scores of activists staged angry demonstrations at airports in several European capitals. At Brussels airport, protests erupted after at least 100 French and Belgian nationals were unable to board flights with Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa and Swiss Air. in Geneva, several dozen activists held an angry demonstration after around 45 people out of a group of 70 who had been planning to join the campaign were barred from boarding an easyJet flight. Scores of activists also protested at Charles
dhaka: motorists travel on the largest ‘alpana’ (motif) in the world, painted on both sides of the manik mia avenue in the Bangladeshi capital on Sunday. the 350,000 square foot motif was painted to mark the Bengali new Year which represents the folk culture of Bangladesh. the Bangla calendar is a traditional solar calendar and the year begins on ‘Pohela Boishakh’ which falls on april 14 in Bangladesh. AFP
egypt ruler, political heads meet on poll turmoil CAIRO afP
Egypt’s political leaders met on Sunday after next month’s presidential election was thrown into turmoil with key candidates disqualified and the fate of a new constitution hanging in limbo. Military ruler Field Marshal hussein tantawi met the heads of 17 political parties and groups and MPs to discuss major developments ahead of the first presidential poll since a popular uprising ousted long-time leader hosni Mubarak last year. According to a military source, the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, whose candidate Khairat al-Shater was barred from running
for office, attended the meeting as well as AlNur party, which represents the more conservative brand of Salafi islam. On Saturday, Egypt’s election commission said that 10 of the 23 registered presidential candidates had been barred from the race, including ex-spy chief Omar Suleiman, Shater and popular Salafist politician hazem Abu ismail. the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) headed by tantawi, that took power when Mubarak was ousted is also to examine a law passed by parliament that would ban members of the former regime from standing for office. if approved, the law could also see Ahmed Shafiq — Mubarak’s last prime minister — excluded from the May 23-24 election.
tornadoes kill five in US Midwest CHICAGO afP
At least five people were killed in Oklahoma after dozens of tornadoes swept through the Midwestern United States late Saturday and early Sunday, leaving destruction in their wake, local media reported. CNN television said the five fatalities, which included two children, occurred in the northwest Oklahoma town of Woodward early Sunday morning. A total of 60 tornadoes touched down overnight in Kansas, iowa, Nebraska and Oklahoma, reports said. they pounded local communities with gale-force winds and hail the size of golf balls. homes were damaged and power lines were downed throughout the area while a hospital was wrecked in Creston, iowa. Officials evacuated the entire population of roughly 300 people of the town of thurman, iowa, after a suspected tornado struck Saturday, damaging or destroying three out of every four homes, CNN said.
de Gaulle in Paris, where airport sources said 90 passengers had been prevented from boarding boarding Lufthansa and Swiss Air flights for tel Aviv. Flanked by dozens of anti-riot police, they marched up to the Lufthansa counter to demand an “official written statement” as to why they had not been allowed to fly. At istanbul airport, another 50 activists were stranded after turkish Airlines reportedly refused to allow them on board, Anatolia news agency reported. in Vienna, Austrian Airlines said five passengers were barred from flights to tel Aviv, and in Rome, Alitalia turned back seven italian activists, press reports said. Air France and two British budget carriers, Jet2.com and easyJet, also barred an unspecified number of passengers, with easyJet confirming it had prevented activists from boarding israel-bound planes from both London and Switzerland. Despite the success of its diplomatic campaign to pressure European carriers not to allow activists to board flights for tel Aviv, israel deployed hundreds of police at its main international airport with orders to “exercise restraint, but to intercept any troublemakers.” All of Sunday’s arrests took place far from the whirring cameras with police detaining 33 French nationals, two Spaniards, two italians, one Swiss national, one Canadian and one from Portugal as soon as they landed. Of that number 27 French nationals were refusing to board planes back to France, immigration spokeswoman Sabine haddad told AFP, saying they would be “transferred to a detention facility.” the rest had either already been deported or would be sent back later in the day, she said. Police also arrested another six israelis and a French national, who were already in the country, for disturbing the peace at various locations in and around the airport.
Afghan response to attacks ‘sign of progress’: US envoy WASHINGTON afP
US Ambassador Ryan Crocker to Kabul said the ability of Afghan security forces to respond to a wave of coordinated attacks Sunday across Afghanistan were a “clear sign of progress.” “We’ve seen a very professional performance by Afghan security forces,” Crocker told CNN on Sunday after militants launched a series of gun and suicide attacks which they said marked the start of a spring offensive. “they are able to deal with events like this on their own. A clear sign of progress,” he said on the program “State of the Union.” the attacks however also “demonstrate why we need to be here,” said Crocker, after the US embassy was put on lockdown dur-
ing attacks that highlighted a precarious security situation as NAtO prepares to withdraw combat troops by the end of 2014. “to get out before the Afghans have a full grip on security, which is a couple of years out, would be to invite the taliban and Al-Qaeda back in, and set the stage for another 9/11... that, i think, is an unacceptable risk,” Crocker said, referring to 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. A spokesman for NAtO’s international Security Assistance Force (iSAF) told AFP on Sunday Afghan forces, whose ability to withstand the taliban after 2014 has been questioned, was taking the lead in countering the assaults on Kabul. A residual US force is expected to remain past 2014 after the 130,000strong US-led NAtO troops end combat operations.
N Korea’s Kim gives first speech at centenary parade PYONGYANG afP
North Korea’s new leader Kim Jong-Un delivered his first public speech Sunday and vowed to push for a stronger military as his country unveiled an apparently new missile. Kim addressed cheering troops and citizens waving flowers at a major military parade marking the centenary of the birth of his grandfather and the nation’s founder Kim il-Sung. the parade came just two days after the North’s satellite launch fizzled out embarrassingly, when the rocket apparently exploded within minutes of blastoff. But Jong-Un, aged in his late 20s and in power for less than four months, appeared confident as he oversaw the parade featuring rockets, artillery, tanks and thousands of goose-stepping troops. “We must strengthen our military in every possible way... and accomplish the goal of building a powerful and prosperous socialist state,” he told troops and civilians packing the central square
named after his grandfather. “the time when the enemy threatens and blackmails us with atomic bombs has gone for good,” Jong-Un said in reference to the North’s nuclear weapons programme touted as one of the greatest achievements of the family dynasty which has ruled since 1948. “Let’s move on towards our final victory!” he said, gesturing at cheering troops who repeatedly chanted “Mansei!” (hurray). Jong-Un, clad in his customary dark Mao suit, pledged to improve the lives of people in a nation beset by acute food shortages, an ailing economy and severe power outages. the ruling party, he said, was determined that North Koreans, “who have endured so many challenges and faithfully served the party, will no longer have to tighten their belts and will fully enjoy socialist prosperity”. Critics say the North’s massive military spending could feed millions of malnourished people living outside the showpiece capital Pyongyang. the US State Department estimates that up to a quarter of the North’s gross
national product is spent on the 1.2-million-strong military. Washington has scrapped plans to deliver 240,000 tonnes of food aid after the launch, widely seen overseas as a disguised ballistic missile test in violation of
UN resolutions. One of several missiles on display Sunday appeared new, analysts said. ham hyeong-Pil of South Korea’s Korea institute for Defense Analyses said the weapon — apparently longer than the
North’s existing Musudan mid-range missile — seemed to be a new long-range missile. “the Musudan, about 12 metres long, is believed to have a range of 3,000 to 4,000 kilometres. But this one appears capable of reaching at least 1,000 kilometres further,” ham told AFP. “it is certain that the North has developed a new long-range missile.” Christian Lardier, a specialist with the French magazine Air and Cosmos who watched the parade, told AFP it was a taepodong-class missile about 20 metres (66 feet) long and the first stage was identical to that of the Unha rocket fired Friday. the parade also featured thousands of troops from a variety of units, trucks with multiple rocket launchers, tanks, armoured personnel carriers, artillery and an array of short- and medium-range missiles. Five aircraft staged a fly-past. A sea of people using red, yellow and white paper flowers formed giant displays of the names of the Kims, the national and communist party flags and slogans such as “Glory” and “Undefeatable army”.
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Kerber downs wozniacki to claim title Page 17
Bangladesh agrees Pakistan cricket tour LAHORE Staff rePort
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AKiStAN Cricket Board chairman Zaka Ashraf have been successful in convincing Bangladesh to tour Pakistan later this month for two matches. Bangladesh Sunday agreed to tour Pakistan for a short one 50-over match and one twenty20 international later this month, reviving international cricket suspended in the country three years ago. "i am pleased to confirm the tour in which Bangladesh will play a one-day match on April 29 and a twenty20 game the next day, both in Lahore," Bangladesh Cricket Board president Mustafa Kamal said in a press release. international cricket has been suspended in Pakistan since a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in March 2009. the attack left eight people dead and seven visiting players and their assistant coach wounded. Pakistan's government had promised fool-proof security for the Bangladesh team after their security delegation assessed the situation here last month. Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Zaka Ashraf said the confirmation is a good sign. "i am extremely pleased that Bangladesh has confirmed the tour. Obviously this is very important for us and we will leave no stone unturned to ensure that this tour takes place in a befitting manner," said Ashraf. Pakistan had been a 'no go' zone for international teams as they fear security
of the players in a country where the national army is fighting militancy. Both the countries had started to show signs of bitterness after Bangladesh showed reluctance over the tour and Pakistan threatened to review relations if the tour doesn't take place. PCB further said the remaining matches of the FtP (Future tours Programme) tour will be played at dates mutually agreed between the two Boards at venues including Bangladesh. Bangladesh was due for a full tour of Pakistan under the international Cricket Council (iCC) FtP in 2012. the iCC said it will need a comprehensive security plan from Pakistan to
send match officials. "the iCC Board were informed that the tour will take place and the Board, having due regard to its duty of care to match officials and other iCC staff, requested that the PCB to immediately provide a comprehensive security plan for consideration," the iCC said. "thereafter, the iCC’s Anti Corruption and Security Unit will commission a localised risk assessment to determine whether its officials and staff are appropriately protected by the proposed security plan, before any further decision is taken in relation to their appointment." Last month, the iCC had announced a "special dispensation" to be made only
in "exceptional circumstances" in order to ensure that a bilateral series take place even if the ruling body has determined it "unsafe" to appoint its officials for such series. this would allow such series to be manned by "non-neutral match officials." Kamal, who is a joint nominee of Pakistan-Bangladesh for the iCC vice president's post in 2012, said the series will give Pakistani people some cricket. "the public of Pakistan have been deprived of cricket and we felt that we needed to support them. the reception we received when we toured Lahore and Karachi on our security visit was overwhelming.," said Kamal. "this tour is taking place after 2009 and this short tour will hopefully demonstrate to the world that cricket should start taking place in Pakistan," said Kamal. Pakistan last year invited Bangladesh for a three-match one-day series which was later changed to two ODis and one twenty20 international. Karachi and Rawalpindi were the other possible venues but Bangladesh have agreed to playing in Lahore only. Even before the 2009 attacks foreign teams had refused to tour Pakistan since the war on terror began in the wake of 911 attacks in 2001 in the United States. Australia have not toured Pakistan since 1998, forcing them to play in Sri Lanka and Sharjah (2002), 2009 (UAE) and England (2010). Pakistan had also played their home series in New Zealand in 2009.
Malik reiterates full security for BD team
ISLAMABAD: Minister for interior A Rehman Malik Sunday reiterated that the government would provide full security to the Bangladesh's cricket team as had earlier been committed. in a statement, the interior minister welcomed the decision to visit Pakistan and thanked Chairman Bangladesh Cricket Board Mustafa Kamal who had visited here. Malik also appreciated the efforts of Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board Zaka Ashraf to promote cricket in Pakistan as well as at international level. aPP
51St NatIoNal Golf CHaMPIoNSHIP too-heavy rios Thangaraja wins men’s title, Ghazala ladies crown unbeaten but title stays vacant LAHORE
Staff rePort
LAS VEGAS afP
American fighter Brandon Rios remained unbeaten with a split-decision victory over Cuban Richard Abril on Saturday but the World Boxing Association lightweight title remained vacant. Rios failed to make weight on Friday for the fight, coming in at 137 pounds rather than inside the division's 135-pound limit, and so as a result was ineligible to claim the crown, instead only able to deny Abril the title. two judges gave the 12-round decision to Rios by scores of 115-113 and 116-112 to provide the margin of victory while the third judge saw Abril a 117-111 winner. Rios improved to 30-0 with one drawn with his 12th consecutive triumph while Abril fell to 17-3 with one drawn. it was the second time in a row that Rios cost himself the WBA crown by failing to make weight, having stopped Britain's John Murray in the 11th round last December after failing to tip the scales at or below 135 pounds. Rios is expected to move up in weight to the junior welterweight division.
N. thangaraja of Sri Lanka cruised to a stylish four stroke victory in the 51st National Golf Championship at the par 72 Royal Palm Golf and Country Club Golf Course yesterday. By virtue of this performance he captures the Pakistan National Golf title 2012, making his trip to Pakistan a memorable one. And in the Womens Section Ghazala Yasmin of Garrison Golf Club, Lahore retains her title and creates history by winning the Ladies title, three times in a row, a great achievement inddeed. thangaraja of Sri Lanka, after his triumph in india three weeks back, further underlined his champion like credentials by his powerful game, demonstrating his talent strongly in this championship too and all through the four days of chilling competition , every shot of his reflected excellence and though a couple of shots did go astray, he overcame the stroke losses with solid play on the other holes and thereby kept his winning ways on the right track. . All in all he played the four rounds in style and his aggregate of 287, one under par was way better than the runner up, Dulal hossain of Bangla Desh and the third position winner Wasim Rana of Pakistan. And very rightly thangaraja
said, "its been very satisfying, i've been pretty consistent off the tee and my putter has not been a distraction and in combination with the excellent Royal Palm Golf Course conditions i have been able to do well". As for Dullal hossain, of Bangla Desh he carded a battling 73 on the final day, for a second place in the national championship, upsetting Wasim Rana's charge who could ultimately succeed in securing the third prize. Dollal too was extremely impressed with the golf course and local hospitality and had a great wish to be here again.
the toP Seven N. thANGArAJA (SrI LANKA) 74+68+73+72=287 DULAL hoSSAIN (BANGLADeSh) 71+71+76+73=291 wASIM rANA (PAKIStAN) 73+71+73+77=294 SAJIB ALI (BANGLADeSh) 75+72+77+71=295 ALI hAI (PAKIStAN) 70+76+76+74=296 M. rehMAN (PAKIStAN) 72+77+74+77=300 AShIQ hUSSAIN (PAKIStAN) 71+73+75+81=300 in the ladies contest the lady of the championship turned out to be Ghazala Yasmin of Garrison Golf club, Lahore who again won this champioship with some authentic accuracy oriented golf performance. She has also created history by winning the title for three consecutive years, she won it in 2010, 2011 and now 2012 with three rounds scores of 85, 83 and 88 and an aggregate score of 256. Out of the upcoming
LAhore: the Prize winners of the 51st National Golf Championship of Pakistan with hina rabbani Khar, Federal Foreign Minister and ramzan Sheikh, Ceo royal Palm. STAFF PHOTO teen agers, Kashifa Zafar and Nushmiya Sukhera made their presence felt. Kashfa Zafar came second and Nushmiya Sukera came third in gross section. in the ladies net section the winners are Kashfa Zafar(first), Nushmiya Sukhera(second) and tehmina Rashid, a former national champion won the third net. Earlier the Punjab team won the the inter asoociation team title, Pakistan won the J. R. Jaywardene trophy and Sri Lanka won the international team Match. at the ConCLuSion of the nationaL event: hina
rabbani Khar, Foreign Minister awarded prizes to the winners in a ceremony attended by foreign teams, golfers, ramzan Sheikh, Pervez Qureshi, Maj Gen(r)tariq Saleem of PGF, Lt Gen(r)tariq, Lt Gen(r)Khalid Maqbool and a large number of members. on this occasion taimur hassan, honorary Secretary of PGF suggested that to make Pakistan a more welcome place a golf championship should be held and top sportsmen of international prominence who also play golf should be invited to take part in a charity or social golf event and all influential sportsmen can help the National efforts to make the idea practical. In her reply, hina rabbani Khar accepted the proposal and agreed to form a body for this purpose.
AFC U-14 Festival of Football concludes ISLAMABAD Staff rePort
the curtains were dropped on the AFC U14 Festival of Football in the islamabad on Sunday with Afghanistan leading the points table with 16 points. On the last day of the festival, two matches were played to accomplish a total of six matches under the second format where the teams played for 60 minutes with a half-time break. Altogether, the two Central Region Asian youth teams played 18 matches both under the second and first formats, the latter being a format where the teams played for 30 minutes without a break. the last two matches were played between Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as the Pakistan and
ISLAMABAD: the PFF official present a shield to AFC official. STAFF PHOTO Pakistan A. Eng. Shaukat Ullah Khan, Federal Minister for States and Frontier Region (SAFRON) & President FAtA Olympic Association was the chief guest of the closing ceremony has said that sports are an impor-
tant component and imperative for the projection of the soft image of Pakistan abroad. the promotion of sports activities, he added, would help to engage the youth towards healthy activities and also develop tolerance as well as sense of fair competition among them, he added. the honorable chief guest mentioned that incumbent government is taking keen interest in the development and promotion of sports. Minister directed the Ministry of Sports should also study the sports management systems of other leading sports countries of the world. At last Federal Minister distribute the certificate among the players and officials. Mr. John Whittle, Project Director AFC, thanked Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) and its PFF Management Committee and
Local Organizing Committee (LOC) for hosting this festival for the Central Region and appreciated their continuous collaboration with AFC for football development in Asia. he also congratulated all participants for helping make the festival successful and wonderful. Earlier, Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh hayat, President PFF in his message said that AFC decision to choose islamabad (Pakistan) as a venue for a premier youth football event makes me very happy, as it augurs well for Pakistan and its soccer. But more importantly because it reflects the AFC’s faith that Pakistan is a good and safe destination and also that PFF has an appropriate human and financial resources to be able to stage an event of this scale. Mr. hayat further said that i hope that by the time this event concludes, its im-
pression would have been further reinforced. Lt. Col. ® Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi ti (M), General Secretary PFF on the closing ceremony added that it gives me immense pleasure to welcome the participating teams of Pakistan, Pakistan A, Afghanistan and tajikistan the emerging nations in Asia. this will help these countries to gauge the level of youth talent in their countries. indeed it is an honor for Pakistan to be hosting this of this prestigious AFC event second time.
PointS taBLe RANK 1. 2. 3. 4.
TEAMS Afghanistan Pakistan tajikistan Pakistan A
PTS 16 15 13 4
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Aussies lose openers, reach 74 for two at lunch PORT OF SPAIN afP
Australia lost both their openers in the opening session of the second test against West indies at Queen's Park Oval on Sunday before reaching lunch on 74 for two. Shane Watson was not out on 10, while Ricky Ponting was on five. Openers David Warner (29) and Ed Cowan (28) had put on 53 for the first wicket as Australia, who won the toss and chose to bat, made a steady start in their bid to wrap up the series after winning the first test by three wickets in Barbados. the test started in dramatic fashion when Warner was given out by umpire Marais Erasmus from the sixth ball of the opening over bowled by Fidel Edwards. the ball had come off the pad and bounced in front of wicket-keeper Carlton Baugh but Erasmus's finger was still raised before West indies skipper Darren Sammy immediately indicated that the ball hadn't carried. A quick consultation with fellow umpire ian Gould overturned the decision. however, had Erasmus's decision been made for an lbw appeal, rather than a catch, then Warner would have been on his way. there had been much talk about the wicket leading up to the test with the likelihood that it would take spin. the thinking of both teams was confirmed when Australia decided to play two spinners for the first time in nearly four years with Michael Beer coming in to partner Nathan Lyon. the West indies brought in off-spinner Shane Shillingford for Devendra Bishoo who had disappointed in Barbados. he bowled the first over of spin in the match in the 15th over and had immediate success. Warner didn't quite get to the pitch of his fifth ball but continued through with a drive with the ball coming off the outside edge straight to Sammy at slip. Shillingford, back in the team after undergoing remedial work on his action, continued to bowl a tight spell only conceding six runs from his four overs as he found some slow turn from the pitch.
SCoreBoard auStraLia d. Warner c Sammy b Shillingford 29 28 e. Cowan lbw b roach S. Watson not out 10 r. Ponting not out 5 extras (lb 2) 2 total (2 wickets; 27 overs) 74 to bat: m. Clarke (capt), m. hussey, m. Wade, m. Beer, B. hilfenhaus, n. Lyon, J. Pattinson fall of wickets: 1-53 (Warner), 2-65 (Cowan) Bowling: edwards 6-2-21-0, roach 7-2-35-1, Sammy 8-3-12-0, Shillingford 6-3-4-1 West indies: darren Sammy (capt), adrian Barath, kraigg Brathwaite, kieran Powell, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, darren Bravo, narsingh deonarine, Carlton Baugh, Shane Shillingford, kemar roach, fidel edwards, toss: australia, umpires: ian gould (eng) and marais erasmus (rSa), match referee: Jeff Crowe (nZL), third umpire: tony hill (nZL).
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Punjab hold nerve to win thriller KOLKATA CriCinfo
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triple strike from Piyush Chawla in the middle of the Knight Riders innings and last over heroics from harmeet Singh brought Kings Xi back from the dead to beat their hosts in unlikely fashion. After posting a below par 134 and allowing Knight Riders to canter to 71 for 2 at the halfway stage of the chase, Kings Xi relied on a spectacular effort from their legspinner to negate Sunil Narine's jaw-dropping 5 for 19. Narine's strangling efforts and Rajat Bhatia and Shakib al hasan's supporting efforts kept the lid on Kings Xi. Knight Riders were favoured to chase down a moderate target after Gautam Gambhir started with a speedy 22 and Manvinder Bisla and Manoj tiwary steered the reply with a stand of 43. But, the home side unravelled after Chawla removed three of their key batsmen, Bisla, Yusuf Pathan and Shakib. Debrabata Das threatened to take the match to its expected conclusion with his aggressive innings but a slew of legbreaks from harmeet ensured Kings Xi defended what seemed hard to defend at one stage. Gambhir began in a hurry. the early loss of Jacques Kallis - caught spectacularly by Paras Dogra at point - did nothing to deter him as he collected boundaries at will before offering Dimitri Mascarenhas a simple return catch. Despite the departure of their captain, Bisla and tiwary continued the task stoically and formed a partnership that would not have been out of place in longer formats of the game. they rotated strike, searched for singles and only targeted the boundary when they got a bad ball. they seemed certain to guide Knight Riders to an easy win but the match turned when tiwary was trapped in front by Bhargav Bhatt. A tiny wound had been inflicted on Knight Riders and Chawla prised it open. he bowled Bisla with a delivery that did not turn and meted out the
PUNe: Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (L) walks away as Pune warriors India cricketers greet teammates Steven Smith and Jesse ryder celebrate after scoring the winning shot. AFP same to Yusuf Pathan with a legbreak in the same over. After 14 overs, Knight Riders were 85 for 5. Chawla had pulled them back to exactly the position Kings Xi had been in at that stage - 85 for 3. he struck again, with a googly to Shakib al hasan, to have the Bangladesh allrounder caught of his own bowling. Das defied the Kings Xi charge. he started by smacking a full toss from Chawla for a straight six. As full deliveries were offered to him, he smoked them to the boundary. Ryan ten Doeschate provided some support and the pair took Knight Riders to within 13 runs of victory with two overs left. Praveen Kumar gave away only four of those runs, bowling an over punctuated with yorkers and harmeet had nine runs to work with in the final over. his seemingly harmless legbreaks had ten Doeschate frustrated as he played on. harmeet then proved impossible to get away as he made up for Kings Xi's lapses with the bat through cunning bowling. Kings Xi saw off 51 dot balls in their innings and allowed Knight Riders' attack
to create pressure and use it to their advantage. Narine struck twice in his opening spell - when Adam Gilchrist top-edged and attempted pull to depart for 5 and by bowling Shaun Marsh with a delivery that turned away from the left-hander. SCoRES: Kings Xi Punjab 134 for 9 (Mandeep Singh 38, Narine 5-19 ) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 132 for 7 (Das 35, Chawla 3-18) by 2 runs RyDER, SMITH PUT WARRIoRS ToP oF THE TABLE: Pune Warriors had only four wins in their entire campaign in 2011, and were expected to struggle again in the absence of their marquee player Yuvraj Singh. instead, they've got three victories in four games and are top of the table after upsetting the fancied Chennai Super Kings in front of a boisterous home crowd. it was an all-round performance from Warriors, with their bowlers first stifling the power-packed Super Kings batting by hitting the blockhole as often as possible, backed up by some sharp fielding, something which is a rarity in the iPL. their chase was then controlled by two contrasting innings from two men strug-
Lahore Chatkhara claim Summer Polo Cup
Bolt makes triumphant start to olympic season KINGSTON afP
Swimming trials LAHORE Staff rePort
the Sports Board Punjab is organizing the trials for the selection of Punjab Swimming team on April 16. the trials will be held at FC college swimming pool at 4 PM while the Punjab swimming team will be selected for the upcoming PSB inter Provincial youth U14 boys swimming championship. For further information contact hafeez Bhatti,Deputy Director Sports – 03214394118 and Rafi uz Zaman ,District Swimming Coach - 03217843324.
tauseef Club beat Servis Coalts LAHORE Staff rePort
tauseef Club has won a friendly match against Servis Coalts by 3 wickets played at Wahdat Colony ground on Sunday. Fine batting by shehzad Muhayudin, Waqas Khan and equally good bowling by Sheraz baig were the main feature of the match. SCoRES: Servis Coalts 190/7. Ali Afzal 33, Babar Ali 35, Mudassar 31, NAsir 21, Zohaib 21, Khusnood 12. Sheraz Baig 3/38, israr Baig 2/39, Waqas Khan 2/24. tauseef Club 192/7. Shehzad Muhayudin 57, Waqas Khan 56, M Ahmed 18, israr Baig 21(No). Khuram 2/29, NAseer 2/31, Basit 2/26.
gling to hold down a place in their national sides. Jesse Ryder began in a hurry, but calmed down to play through the innings for the first time in his t20 career. Just when things started to become tense in the chase, Steven Smith hammered a bunch of boundaries, including two in the final over to complete the victory. it hadn't seemed that it would be this close an encounter after Ryder, who would probably have been dropped had he failed again, provided a turbocharged start, and even the run-outs of Robin Uthappa and Sourav Ganguly weren't too big a hindrance. the spin duo of R Ashwin and Suresh Raina, though, choked the runs to inflate the asking rate, making it difficult to understand why Ravindra Jadeja was not used. it came down to 34 required off the final three overs, in which Ryder only needed to take three singles Smith's big hits took care of the rest. SCoRES: Pune Warriors 156 for 3 (Ryder 73*, Smith 44*) beat Chennai Super Kings 155 for 5 (Jadeja 44, du Plessis 43) by seven wickets.
LAhore: Lahore Chatkhara and remington Pharma players fight for the bal during the Summer Cup final. NADEEM IjAz LAHORE Staff rePort
Lahore Chatkhara thrashed Remington Pharma to claim the Summer Polo Cup here at the LPC’s Aibak groun on Sunday. Lahore Chatkhara hit in seven goals and allowed penetration into their danger zone twice while Magic
River having half a goal on handicap won over Lotto Carpets 6 ½ to 4. Chief guest Mrs Maliha Shahnawaz later gave the winner’s trophy to Lahore Chatkhara team. Shah Shamyl Alam played a pivotal role in Lahore Chatkhara’s win with four goal. Col Asif Zahoor and Syed husnain Shah supported Alam with two and one goal respectively.
From the losing side, Ahmad Nawaz tiwana and hashim Kamal Agha shared one goal each. Earlier, Agha Najeeb Raza Khan, Ahmed Ali tiwana and Omer Asjad Malhi earned won for magic River while hamza Mawaz Khan and Mustafa Monnoo fought all ends but their efforts went in vane.
Double sprint world record-holder Usain Bolt made a triumphant start to his 2012 season under rainy conditions on Saturday, joking the weather would prepare him for the 2012 London Olympics. At the Utech Classic in Kingston, Bolt anchored the Racers 4x100 relay to victory in a season's world-best 37.82 seconds, defeating an MVP club relay with Asafa Powell and Britain's Dwayne Chambers that ran in 38.27 seconds. "i am always a bit nervous before my first race but i got through it OK and that's good," Bolt said. "i'm always wondering if i'm still fast, even if i'm doing well in training, so it is always good to come out here and run." Bolt's relay teammates were reigning world 100-meter champion Yohan Blake, Mario Forsythe and Kimmari Roach. Bolt said he wanted to run the 200 meters on Friday but poor weather forced him not to compete. Saying the rain did not affect his performance, Bolt said he knows he might face similar weather during pre-Olympic events in Europe this season. "this is what we are accustomed to in Europe and i went out there and executed," Bolt said. Bolt brushed off health worries, saying he was fit "though not as smooth as i want" and downplayed anxiety over the late start to the season, saying it was coach Glen Mills decision about when he would run.
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Aqeel wins Model Town Tennis third time in a row LAHORE Staff rePort
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QEEL Khan won the Atlas honda Championship here at K-21 Model town Sports Club for the third time consecutively. Aqeel beat his younger brother Jalil Khan in straight sets and won the biggest prize of this championship honda CD 70 along with winning trophy. Aqeel, who was in great touch today, proved that he is truly top player of the country and other players need tremendous hard work to reach even near to him. in the final match, Aqeel won the toss and elected to serve. Right from the start of the match, both the players concentrated not to take risks in approaching net and slicked to the baseline. Aqeel, during the first set, got chances to break Jalil’s service games but could not convert the points in his favour. in fact, the first set of today’s match was great
Ljubicic says goodbye with first-round exit
display of powerful serve and consistent baseline game by both the players. Aeel, who is well famous for consistent baseline game especially lethal backhand,
damaged enough to raise pressure on Jalil and as a result, when scored reached six games all and tie break started, Aqeel led the tie break with four points to nil at this stage due mainly because of unforced errors. then Aqeel lost the consecutive three points which helped Jalil to come back in the match once again. Aqeel, at the this stage, was lucky enough to hit couple of aces and started driving the first set according to his wish and won the set by 7-6(5). in the second set, Jalil, who performed well in the first set, could not keep the momentum and made a number of unforced errors from the baseline. he could not hold his service games while on the other hand, Aqeel put the pressure and had full command on his game leading him towards the win. Aqeel won the second set 6-4. A big crowed was present there to witness the Atlas honda Cup final. Weather was also fantastic in the favour of audience while the arrange-
ments were also appreciable. At the end, the prize distribution ceremony held and President K-21 Model town Sports Club President Rao Akbar Latif welcomed the distinguished guests and the audience. in his welcome address, he thanked the sponsors and media in particular for the tremendous support. Waqas Asghar (Brand Manager Atlas honda), Major Farooq , (Director Lake City holdings), Sahibzada Saif-ur- Rehman Khan, President Model town Society were also present on this occasion. MNA Pervaiz Malik was chief guest on this occasion and distributed prizes amongst the position holders. RESULTS BoyS SINGLES U-14 FINAL: Syed Nofel Kaleem beat Abdal haider 6-1,6-2 BoyS SINGLES U-12 FINAL: hafiz Arbab beat haris irfan 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(3) VETERANS DoUBLES 60 PLUS FINAL: Khalid ikram/Asad Niaz beat imtiaz Ahmad/Gul hameed 6-4, 6-4.
Oostie eases Masters misery with Malaysia win
MONTE CARLO afP
Croatia's ivan Ljubicic said his goodbyes to tennis on Sunday after suffering a 6-0, 6-3 opening defeat to compatriot ivan Dodig at the Monte Carlo Masters. the first-round loss was the end of the line for the shaven-headed Croatian icon, who last played in an opening loss in Dubai two months ago. the Monte Carlo-based veteran, 33, had previously announced that the elite event in the principality which opened the pre-French Open run would be his last hurrah in the sport. "it was a tough day for me, on the court and off," said an emotional Ljubicic. "i had my mind everywhere else except on the tennis court. Obviously i'm completely out of shape. i don't even think it makes any sense to talk about the match today. "i have to say that i felt like it could end up emotional but i didn't expect these big emotions really. it's the end of something beautiful for me. it's been 20 years and now it's time to do something else." After the loss, a tearful Ljubicic was honoured in an on-court ceremony by AtP boss Brad Drewett and tournament director Zeljko Franulovic. "it's something that really made me proud as well," said Ljubicic, who helped Croatia to their first Davis Cup triumph in 2005. the popular Croatian was applauded in the locker room by his fellow players. "Really, to feel also now walking into the locker room, all the guys standing and clapping, it's something beautiful to see how guys respected me and the way i represented them for many, many years."
FarUM: Caroline wozniacki of Denmark in action against angelique Kerber during the final of the wTa Danish Open. afP
KUALA LUMPUR afP
Louis Oosthuizen bounced back from his US Masters heartbreak in the best possible fashion as he completed a stirring three-shot victory at the Malaysian Open on Sunday. Oosthuizen cut a miserable figure after last week's Augusta play-off, but he was all smiles following his win over Scotland's Stephen Gallacher, who pushed him until the final holes at par-72 Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club. the South African, who soared to prominence when he won the British Open two years ago, shot 66, 68, 69, 68 for a 17 under par total, enough for his first victory in Asia and his second of the season after January's
Africa Open. But most importantly, the win atones for his gutwrenching Masters play-off defeat just one week ago to America's Bubba Watson, whose mesmerising shot from trees proved the difference on the second play-off hole. Last year's Masters champion Charl Schwartzel was sixth, six shots back, while defending champion Matteo Manassero and former world number one Martin Kaymer were both in seventh spot. England's Danny Willett, David Lipsy of the United States, and Spain's Rafael Cabrera-Bello shared third on 12-under-par 276. Since Augusta, Oosthuizen has flown 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometres) across 12 time zones with his wife and children and grappled with jet lag in tropical Malaysia, where capricious weather forced storm delays on Friday and Saturday. But he candidly admitted the Masters was still on his mind when he was asked if he felt set for a great year. "it would have been better if i had the green jacket!" Oosthuizen said. "i had a good week last week and i'm looking forward to the next majors." Oosthuizen had to rise early to complete seven holes of his third round, after heavy showers curtailed Saturday's play. he finished it with 69 to maintain his narrow, one-shot lead over Scottish journeyman Gallacher. he dashed straight back out for his fourth round and, as hot sun replaced the rain-clouds, raced through the front nine with three birdies against a bogey on the par-four sixth to turn at 15 under, a lead of two shots. Fellow South African Schwartzel, who shot a stunning 64 in round one before slipping off the pace, had got off like a shot with birdie, eagle, birdie on holes four to six, and he picked up another stroke on the 10th. But he pretended to snap his putter in frustration after a bogey on 13 slowed his charge, and then drove into the water on 16 as his challenge dissolved. Meanwhile Gallacher slashed Oosthuizen's lead back to one shot when he birdied the 10th, and he held his nerve with a five-foot save on the par-four 13th to keep pressure on the front-runner. But within minutes Oosthuizen, playing the same hole in the very next group, arrowed his pitch to within eight feet and duly holed out for a two-shot cushion on 16 under par. Oosthuizen's putter was running hot and he was in disbelief when a 30-foot birdie putt just veered centimetres (inches) left on the par-four 14th. he then shaved the cup with another long putt on the par-three 15th.
FarUM: angelique Kerber of Germany returns the ball to Caroline wozniacki during the final match of the wTa Danish Open. afP
Isner to face Monaco for AtP houston crown HOUSTON afP
US second seed John isner outlasted Spanish third seed Feliciano Lopez 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 on Saturday to reach the final of the $442,500 AtP US Men's Clay Court Championship. As a result, the power-serving American ensured he will rise from 10th to ninth in the AtP rankings on Monday, passing Mardy Fish to become the toprated US player in the world. "that has been one of my goals for a long, long time," isner said. "i'm so happy to accomplish it." isner, who sparked a US semi-final Davis Cup triumph on French clay to book a semifinal date with Spain in September, will seek his fourth career title in Sunday's final against Argentina's fourth-seeded Juan Monaco, who beat US qualifier Michael Russell 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 in the other semi-final.
Pettersson leads, Donald poised to lose HILTON HEAD ISLAND afP
LAS veGAS: US fighting legend Mike tyson (r) poses with his wife Kiki on the red carpet before the start of tyson's one-man show called "Mike tyson: Undisputed truth, Live on Stage", in the hollywood theatre. AFP
Five birdies in a row pushed Sweden's Carl Pettersson to the third-round lead on Saturday at the US PGA heritage, where Luke Donald is poised to lose the World No. 1 ranking. Pettersson also sank a seven-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to nudge ahead of American Colt Knost for the lead after 54 holes at the $5.7 million event, standing on 12-under par 201 with Knost another shot back. "it was tough," Pettersson said. "the wind died down and got back up. the greens were quick. i played a really good round. i'm happy. i was able to finish strong." A host of other US challengers lurked with Zach Johnson third on 205, Boo Weekley fourth on 206 and Kevin Na, Robert Garrigus and Brendt Snedeker all on 207 and tommy Gainey sharing eighth on 208 with England's Brian Davis. England's Donald is on the verge of handing the world's top ranking
back to Rory Mcilroy on Monday without a major charge up the leaderboard in the final round. Donald, who fired a par-71 on Satur-
day to stand on 215 in a share of 52nd place, must finish no worse than a share of eighth to stay ahead of the reigning US Open champion. "Now that i've been No. 1 for a number of weeks now, it's not something i think about too much," Donald said. Mcilroy, who has the week off, will make his second reign in the rankings barring a reversal by Donald, taking the top spot for the first time last month after he won the honda Classic, only to lose it to Donald two weeks later. Pettersson, however, is more concerned about winning the $1.026 million top prize and his fifth career US PGA title, the first since he captured the 2010 Canadian Open. "i have to play my game and stay calm," the Swede said. "i feel like if i play well i have a good chance." Pettersson began his birdie binge at the par-5 second hole and also sank a long putt at the par-5 fifth during the run. he opened the back nine with a birdie but took bogeys at the 11th and par-5 16th, the latter after finding a bunker on his approach.
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Kerber downs Wozniacki to claim title COPENHAGAN agenCieS Former world number one Caroline wozniacki failed to defend her eBoksOpen title in Copenhagen after she went down to a 6-4 6-4 defeat by angelique Kerber. Top seed wozniacki had won the previous two titles here and was the slight favourite going into the final against second seed Kerber in front of a home crowd. Neither player was entirely convincing on their own serve although Kerber enjoyed more success. There were 10 breaks of serve in total, of which Kerber converted six, and the German won through in an hour and 38 minutes after being superior all round.
Another seven rugby matches decided LAHORE Staff rePort
Seven more matches were decided in LUMS Super 10’S Rugby Championship here Lums rugby ground on Sunday. On the second day a big crowd witnessed the competitions under lights at Lums ground. Rizwan Malik, head Coach Pakistan Rugby union was the chief guest on the day. he gave useful lectures among the new generation boys about rugby and laws of rugby. Sec Gen Arif Saeed also in action to supervise 3 matches as a referee. in matches Lahore University of management and sciences beats DhA dragons by 10-5, Lahore Rugby football club beats Fast University islamabad by 22-0, DhA wild bears trash Garrisonians by 37-0, Sindh Rugby club have close contest with Lums but win with 7-5, Fast university outplayed Govt College university Lahore by 15-0, UMt taste there first blood against Garrisonians by 12-5, DhA dragons lost a important game against Sindh Rugby club by 15-12. University of vetenery and animal sciences did not reach and participate in this tournament so Gladiators and Rising sung got walk over. today, quarter finals, semi finals and final played under light.
Punjab team named for National tt LAHORE Staff rePort
Inzamam hits Errani triumphs in Barcelona century in Lahore whites’ win BARCELONA agenCieS
LAHORE Staff rePort
Lahore Whites beat Sialkot Senior by 9 wickets in the 14th National Veteran Cricket Cup thanks to former Pakistan captain inzamamUl-haq’s century. the win also earned Lahore White place in the regional semi-final. Playing against Sialkot Senior at Model town Green Ground, inzamam hit 102 runs in Lahore’s win. Sialkot Senior batting first 160 all out after 30 overs. tahir Mehmood 34, Basit Saeed 24 & Qalib Shah 22 runs. Lahore white bowling Asim Sheikh bowling well 5/24, Saleem Malik 2/21, Mohtasham Rasheed 1/35 & Shahid Meer 1/20 wickets. in reply Lahore White 161/1 after 17.3 overs. Former Pakistan Captain inzamam-ul-haq batting well 102, 1 six with 20 fours in fifty balls & Pervez Ghori 40 runs not out. Sialkot Senior bowling Muhammad Asif 1/46 wickets. Ejaz Ahmad, Raza Asghar Umpire, Sadat Ali match Referee & Azhar hussain was the scorer. Lahore White qualify the regional Semi Final.
BArCeLoNA: Italy's Sara errani celebrates with her trophy after winning the Barcelona open. AFP
BArCeLoNA: Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova returns the ball to Italy's Sara errani during their Barcelona open final. AFP
Sara Errani claimed her second claycourt title of the season after easing to a 6-2 6-2 win over Dominika Cibulkova in the final of the Barcelona Open. Both women had qualified with emphatic semi-final victories on Saturday, but with Cibulkova the third seed she entered the match as favourite. however, Errani, seeded seventh, dominated throughout. the italian world number 33 broke her opponent three times in each set after Cibulkova's serve deserted her. World number 17 Cibulkova contributed to her own downfall, producing seven double faults and winning only 38% of the points. For Errani, victory meant she added to the title she had earlier secured in Acapulco.
After a series of trials for the selection of the Punjab table tennis team for participation in the 49th National table tennis Championships scheduled to be held at Peshawar from April 19 to 24 at Qayyum Stadium following 8 Boys and 8 Girls are selected to represent Punjab. these trials were organized at newly built Mohammad Ali Johar Sports Complex being inaugurated by Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif on last Sunday for the promotion of table tennis in Punjab. More than 60 players from different districts of Punjab participated in the trials. thrilling table tennis was witnessed by the local crowed throughout the day. the trials were witnessed by President Punjab, Ahmer Mallick, haji Ehsan Ul haq, Chairman Punjab, Sajjad Asghar, Secretary General Punjab, Mansur Nasir, Executive Member Punjab, Shahjahan Latif, treasurar Punjab table tennis Association. haji Ehsan Ul haq announced the team after the trials. Following players were selected for the Punjab table tennis team: Boy’s: Kashif Razzak, Shahzaib Maqbul,irtaza Ali,Shozeb Raza,Danish Altaf,Subhan Asim,Abubakr,Waheed Ur Rehman Girl’s: Raheela Kashif, Farva Babar, Yasmin Akhtar, Wasaf Naeem, Shumaila, Qurat Ul Ain, Sameera, Naila.
Ethiopian Adnane wins Rotterdam marathon ROTTERDAM afP
Ethiopian Yemane Adnane won the men's Rotterdam marathon here on Sunday in a time of 2hr 4min 47 sec. Adnane beat home compatriot Getu Feleke while pre-race favourite Moses Mosop of Kenya was third. Ethiopia cleaned up in both races as tiki Gelana won the women's race in a new record time for the Rotterdam event of 2hr 18:57. KENyANS SWEEP MILAN MARATHoN: Kenyan pair Daniel Kiprugut and irene Kosgei Jerotich won the Milan marathon in pouring rain on Sunday. Kiprugut finished in 2hr 8min 39sec to beat compatriot Nickson Kurgat into second with Ethiopia's Work Biru Gemechu third. Jerotich claimed victory in the women's race in 2hr 31.07 ahead of
italian Emma Quaglia and Nediat habtemriam of Eritrea. Before the race began a minute's silence was held in memory of Piermario Morosini who died while playing football for Livorno on Saturday. reSuLtS: 1. Daniel Kiprugut (KeN) 2hr 8min 39sec, 2. Nickson Kurgat (KeN) at 4sec, 3. work Biru Gemechu (eth) 8, 1. Irene Kosgei Jerotich (KeN) 2:31.07, 2. emma Quaglia (ItA) 8, 3. Nediat habtemriam (erI) 7.02 PARIS SPECIALIST BIWoTT WINS MARATHoN: Kenyan runner Stanley Biwott won the men's Paris marathon here on Sunday in a record time of 2hrs 05 min 11 sec to add to his victory here in March's half-marathon. the 26-year-old bettered the previous best time for the Paris marathon of 2hr 05:47 set by compatriot Vincent Kipruto in the 2009 edition. Biwott attacked at the 30km mark and came home more than a minute ahead of Ethiopian duo Raji Assefa and Sisay Jisa.
ethiopia's tiki Gelala wins the woman during the 32nd edition of the marathon of rotterdam. AFP
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Quetta falls dead after killings of Hazara Shias g
Govt decides to launch targeted operation against perpetrators of sectarian violence QUETTA
A
ShahZada ZuLfiQar
complete wheel-jam and shutter down was observed on Sunday in the provincial capital against the recent killings of hazara Shias, badly affecting already frail local business activity, while the government decided to launch a targeted operation against extremists. the strike was observed on the call of hazara Democratic Party (hDP), and was backed by Balochistan National Party (BNP), Pukhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and Jamiat Ulema-e-islam-Fazl (JUi-F). Eighteen members of hazara Shia commu-
nity were killed in the last couple of days in Quetta, where sectarian violence by extremist groups has further deteriorated security problems caused by separatist elements. All the markets, business centres and establishments, and shops, including pharmacies and bakeries, remained closed in major commercial areas such as Liaqat Bazaar, Meezan Chowk, Abdul Sattar Road, Prince Road, Jinnah Road, Zarghoon Road, Brewery Road, hazara town and Marriabad. Strict security measures had been taken with the deployment of the Balochistan Frontier Corps (FC), police and Balochistan Constabulary at various points in the city, particularly the sensitive areas.
the city wore a deserted look, as no traffic was seen in all main areas. in the outskirts, very light traffic continued to ply on the roads. in some peripheral areas like Sariab and the Airport Road, there was a partial strike, and some markets and shops continued to do business. Meanwhile, police and security forces detained over 200 people for violating the ban on pillion riding in the city. the ban was imposed by the government under Section 144 after tension gripped the provincial capital in the wake of sectarian killings, besides considering that a majority of people would prefer to stay home during the wheel-jam strike. Meanwhile, the provincial government
decided to launch a targeted operation against individuals involved in sectarian killings, and called 20 platoons of FC in addition to 300 Levies personnel for assisting police against the extremists. the decision was made in a high-level meeting chaired by Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Mohammad Aslam Raisani to review the law and order situation in the wake of recent sectarian killings. Provincial home Minister Zafarullah Zahri, and ministers Ali Madad Jatak, Babu Amin Umrani, haji ismail Gujjar, Jan Ali Changaizi, Mir Nasir Jamali, tahir Mahmood Khan, izmarak Achakzai, Chief Secretary Babar Yaqub Fatah Mohammad, inspector General of Police (iGP) Rao
Amin Mohammad hashim, FC Commandant Brigadier Shahzad, home Secretary Nasebullah Bazai, leaders of Shia Conference, hazara community notables and religious leaders were also present in the meeting. the government decided to give police and other law enforcement agencies a free hand in acting against terrorists. the chief minister reiterated that the terrorists targeting innocent hazara Shia Muslims had the backing of foreign elements. he urged religious scholars and political leaders to come forward and foil the enemies’ nefarious designs by maintaining unity and harmony. Continued on page 04
Zardari gives nod to craft ‘Seraiki bank’ MULTAN agenCieS
Quetta: hazara Shia muslims shout slogans during a protest against sectarian violence on Sunday. AFP
Coordinated suicide attacks rock afghanistan US, UK, German and japanese embassies attacked in Kabul g
KABUL afP
Explosions and gunfire rocked the Afghan capital on Sunday as suicide bombers struck across Afghanistan in coordinated attacks claimed by taliban militants as the start of a spring offensive. the German and Japanese embassy compounds were reported hit as militants attacked the city’s diplomatic enclave and tried to storm parliament — sparking a gunbattle in which lawmakers and bodyguards fired back from the rooftop. the embassies of the United States and Britain were also targeted, the spokesman for NAtO’s international Security Assistance Force, General Carsten Jacobson, said. “We have confirmed attacks on the US, the German and British embassies and had earlier reports of attacks on the Russian embassy,” he told Al Jazeera television. “And on the road to Jalalabad we had attacks on the military installations, primarily against the main turkish location in town.” Outside the capital, militants attacked government
buildings in Logar province, the airport in Jalalabad, and a police facility in the town of Gardez in Paktya province. the attacks will raise fears over the precarious security situation in Afghanistan as NAtO prepares to withdraw combat troops by the end of 2014. At least three attackers were killed in Kabul, and three others died when they detonated their car-bomb in Jalalabad — injuring several people — officials and police said, as fighting continued. Militants were still launching rocket propelled grenades and exchanging fire with security forces as evening fell, an AFP reporter at the scene in Kabul’s embassy enclave said. A taliban spokesman said “a lot of suicide bombers” were involved in the attacks, which herald the annual fighting season that follows Afghanistan’s harsh winters. Zabihullah Mujahed, the taliban spokesman, told AFP by phone from an unknown location, that the attacks were a message to the Kabul government and its Western military backers. Continued on page 04
allies to decide on early polls: PM ISLAMABAD onLine
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Sunday said that next elections were on schedule, but only a consensus amongst the ruling allies could decide if they could be held earlier than the schedule, which is set for next year. “the distance between the PM house and Adiala jail was still the same,” Gilani said, while answering questions regarding the contempt of court case against him in the apex court. talking to a group of journalists at the PM’s house, Gilani said, “We are not afraid of jails, and would go back to our homes after finishing our mandate the people had given us.” to a question, he said, the leader of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Nawaz Sharif, did not consult him on the question of early elections. “irrespective of whatever Mian Sahib says, we would continue with our policy of reconciliation,” he added. he vowed to streamline relations with the US on basis of mutual respect as well as interest. he said that his government was yet to decide about the restoration of NAtO supplies through the country. he also vowed that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)-led government would not compromise on the national sovereignty as well as security. Gilani, however, admitted that the presence of Osama bin Laden in the country was an intelligence failure. he was hopeful that the US would respect the parliament’s resolution that has set guideline for streamlining bilateral relations. Gilani said that the government wanted to resolve problems of the country through reconciliation. he said that the recommendations of the committee would be implemented in letter and spirit. he also thanked Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for supporting the establishment of Seraiki province in Punjab. he added that the ANP and MQM had also backed the government’s decision.
President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday said that he would advise the government to set up a separate Seraiki bank and asked businessmen and entrepreneurs from south Punjab to submit a formal proposal for it within a week. During a meeting with businessmen from south Punjab at the Prime Minister’s house here, Zardari said the Seraiki bank will address the financial issues of south Punjab businessmen. he said that in the past banks had been manipulated for political ends, but the government was aimed at ensuring a financial system that could not be manipulated against political opponents. Presidential spokesman Senator Farhatullah Babar said that while discussing the economy and overall economic situation, the president said that the war on terror, and natural calamities had adversely impacted the country’s economy. he said he had been actively pleading with the international community for more trade opportunities. the president said the government was aware that power shortage was among the major issues faced by the business community and industrialists. he said the government was making all-out efforts to overcome the power crisis by exploring all possible avenues. Zardari reiterated his call to the business community to assist the government in rationalising and broadening the tax net to provide relief to the small businessmen and traders, and simultaneously to strengthen the economy. “the business community not only needs to assist the government in policy formulation process, but should also own the economic
Published by Arif Nizami for Nawa Media Corporation (Pvt) Ltd at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore.
policies for ensuring their continuity,” he said. he said south Punjab had great potential for the export of fruits and the government was making all efforts to facilitate the growers and exporters of fruits, especially of mangoes. he said the government had also planned to establish Mango Pack house and cold storage common facility centres in Multan. the president said that limited job opportunities in the area and poverty were the main factors that provided militants and extremists an opportunity to mislead the youth and misuse their talent for their nefarious objectives. he said he had asked the prime minister to start consultations with all political parties for making a separate Seraiki province to honour people’s demand.
Editor: Arif Nizami, Executive Editor: Sarmad Bashir