e-paper pakistantoday 05th May, 2013

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Rs 25.00 Vol III No 308 19 Pages Lahore Edition

Sunday, 5 May, 2013 Jamadul Sani 24, 1434

Will shoot doWn us drones if elected to poWer: imran A PTI vote is a haram vote: JUI-F stories on page 04 story on page 19

pervez ashraf challenges naWaz to live tv debate Shahbaz tamed after PPP threatens to open Pandora’s box stories on page 04

injured pakistani prisoner in india remains ‘very critical’ Sarabjit killed over drug money dispute

stories on page 04

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ISLAMABAD ANWER ABBAS Interim Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Arif Nizami on Saturday said Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso has reiterated his commitment for free, fair and peaceful polls following which military deployment has been completed across the country. He said no law enforcement agency personnel would be permitted to stay inside polling stations.

Briefing media personnel on the cabinet meeting that had taken place earlier, the caretaker information minister said during the cabinet meeting the premier reiterated his resolve to hold free, fair, peaceful and timely polls, stressing to strengthen intelligence coordination among provinces and intelligence agencies. “The prime minister has urged the spy agencies to provide intelligence in real time,” Nizami added. He said during the meeting the interior secretary gave a detailed briefing on the law and order situation across the country, indicating improvement, however he mentioned that “the threat is still in place”. Nizami said the cabinet was informed that deployment of army throughout the country has been completed. The provinces have expressed satisfaction over deployment since they have more than the required strength of security personnel. A quick response force of the army, said the information minister, would also be on the standby to respond to any untoward incident during voting.

“However, none of the law enforcement agencies personnel would be permitted to stay inside the polling stations. Sensitive polling stations would be monitored through video. The candidates would be provided with bullet proof rostrums.

Tinted glass and posters on window panes of vehicles would be removed,” he said. He said one National Assembly and three provincial assembly candidates had lost their lives till now, but the government is making preparations for peaceful polls despite all threats, following which an emergency plan for elections day security has been approved.

Responding to a question regarding a level playing field for all parties in elections‚ Nizami acknowledged that there are security problems adding that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had also become target of terrorism. He said the government has provided a level playing field to all parties and no one was stopping any party from campaigning in Punjab. The minister said during his visit to Balochistan he noticed that media did not venture to cover the far flung areas of the province where people relied heavily on Radio Pakistan. In view of this, he said, approval has been taken from the premier for installation of a new radio transmitter in Balochistan. Nizami said a Journalists Endowment Fund has been instituted with seed money of Rs10 million to compensate families of journalists who are killed during discharge of their professional duties in combat zones. Nizami expressed hope that Pakistan Broadcasting Association and All Pakistan Newspapers Society would contribute Rs 5 million each, to the fund.

He strongly condemned the attack on Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah in a Jammu jail. He also said the cabinet decided to rename the Ministry of National Services and Regulations as Ministry of Health Coordination and Regulation.

( constituency profile – na-122

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Military deployed across country for peaceful polls: Nizami

A CloSE GAME

Why imran khan’s opponent deserves attention LAHORE

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NAdEEm SyEd

ITH the PTI’s Kaptaan, Imran Khan pitted against the PML-N’s underdog, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, the NA122 is a unique constituency witnessing a fast-paced campaign, suggesting that a close fight is in the making.

The stakes are much higher for the PTI, and Khan appears pretty confident of defeating the ‘N’ on May 11. In 2002, Imran had lost to Sardar Ayaz Sadiq.

“Losing here means taking a pasting in the Punjab”, commented one local politician. Aware of the implications, the PTI’s juggernaut is running on full throttle in this constituency. Deployed in the constituency are two well-known party personalities, Aleem Khan and Mahmood-ur-Rasheed.

Well-versed in local politics, they are managing Imran Khan’s campaign, and they are backed by an overwhelming number of foot soldiers, the volunteers, campaigning door-to-door for their supremo.

Though Imran is facing the person who vanquished him in 2002, but that was another time, another country. There is a sea change, and Imran is on the crest of a wave and is confident of eclipsing the two established mainstream parties, the PPP and even the PML-N in the Punjab. Given Imran Khan’s stature now, with his appeal soaring, it should be a cakewalk for him.

His double blockbuster at Minar-i-Pak-

istan in a year reflected overwhelming support and goodwill in his native Lahore – once the ‘N’ bastion.

It is an urban constituency that now has parts of what was before NA-94, NA95 and NA-96. Touching Ichhra one the one side and Garhi Shahu from the other, it includes areas like Baja Lines, Mayo Garden, Zaman Park, and ample part of Canal Bank, Shadman, the GOR, Shah Jamal, Rehmanpura and Samanabad.

With the predominating demographic the urban middle class, where Imran and the PTI are popular in the extreme with their mantra of change, this is where he should bag votes in big numbers.

To his credit, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq is apparently not overwhelmed by the Imran Khan phenomenon, and he is by no means irrelevant. This speaks volumes about the potential of the ‘N’ candidate who has to his credit two consecutive wins from this constituency (in 2002 and 2008). This factor has flummoxed the political analysts, and a close contest is being predicted.

Sardar Ayaz has a number of advantages even when he is going up against the superman of the PTI. It is a constituency with strong PML-N vote bank. The previous contests here have been easy pickings for the ‘N’, for it has won here in five elections on the bounce – in 1990,1993,1997,2002 and 2008.

Ayaz’s politically efficacy grants him popularity here. He is the man who remained in contact with his workers and locals throughout the last five years,

hoping for a hat-trick?

LAHORE: Sardar Eye Hospital is a well-known place in Garhi Shahu. Its claim to fame is not just that people get free medical treatment but also the fact that they could find Ayaz Sadiq here. Ayaz Sadiq owns this hospital, and is often around and readily available whenever in Lahore, making sure that he attends to the people from his constituency two or three times a week. As chairman of the NA’s Standing Committee on Railways, most people brought to him issues with the public utility, providing him an opportunity to bond with people living in the Railway quarters. Even otherwise Ayaz, with his mild manners, is a likeable character. He started his political career in 1997 with a PTI ticket to contest from a provincial seat falling in NA-122. He later joined ‘N’, and in 2002 asked for a provincial assembly ticket, but given the shortage of candidates he was obliged with both the national and provincial assembly seats by the Sharifs. He made the most of this opportunity and has since never looked back, making his own niche in the party. Ayaz Sadiq is one of those PML-N leaders of the outgoing parliament from Lahore who has actually something to show for his political pains and rightly deserves credit for taking care of the people while also contributing as legislator. His friends say, Ayaz maintains that even this time round Imran stands no chance. “The success of my campaign is based upon our performance in the past. This is an ‘N’ constituency with voters loyal to it and Nawaz Sharif. They know that it is only N that can deliver”, says Ayaz, adding, “Imran talks of lofty ideals, but both the PTI candidates for PA from this constituency were Musharraf cronies. The people do not like this,” he added. NAdEEm SyEd

enabling him to strengthen his position over and above the party vote bank.

This is also an area where biradaris have historically played an important role.

The Arains constitute the biggest followed by the Kambohs. Today, Sadiq is the undisputed leader of both these biradaries.

By virtue of his family background he is well-connected here too.

kp women putting up a challenge in polls PESHAWAR SHAmIm SHAHId

Contrary to norms, the number of women candidates contesting on general seats for both National and provincial assemblies is on the rise all over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). So much so, that for the first time in tribal history, a female is contesting polls from Bajaur Agency, where she is facing 21 other male candidates.

During the nomination process, around 42 females filed papers for National and provincial assembly seats throughout KP. At present, at least 20 are in run while the remaining have either withdrawn papers or have been declared unfit for polls owing to various reasons. Amongst the 20 that are still in the run, five have remained members of parliament (MP) in the previous government on reserved seats.

Dr Faiza Rashid from Haripur and film star Mussarrat Shaheen are contesting elections on general seats for the second time whereas the remaining are new comers. Two female candidates including Syeda Gulnaar Shah and Sajida Tabbassum are contesting polls from the constituency PK-53 Mansehra.

Both of them are challenging exprovincial minister Shuja Salim Khan.

Since Pakistan’s inception, Benazir Bhutto, Begum Nusrat Bhutto, Begum Sharin Wahab, Kulsoom Saifullah, Bilqees Minallah, Begum Nasim Wali Khan, Ghazala Tanoli and several others have contested polls on general seats and almost of them were successful. However, these elected women belonged to influential families.

Following allocation of reserved seats, women from common families got access to the parliament.

Former MPs now contesting polls on general seats include Shazia Aurangzeb and Khurshid Begum who are contesting polls for National Assembly seats. Shazia Aurangzeb recently switched over from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) whereas Khurshid Begum is contesting on an Awami National Party (ANP) ticket.

Shazia Aurangzeb is challenging former chief minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti and former federal minister Nawabzada Khawaja Mohammad Khan Hoti on NA-9 Mardan. Khurshid Begum is also facing a number of male candidates on NA-14 Kohat, including PPP’s Dilawar Shah and PML-N’s Malik Asad. Dilawar Shah was elected on an ANP ticket in 2008 but recently he switched over to PPP.

The PTI has a strong presence in this area, probably more than anywhere else.

There are party offices at every nook and corner, packed with party enthusiasts campaigning round the clock.

Ayaz is also trying to match the presence of Imran Khan on the ground. The other day he opened 36 offices in a day – all signs of a lively contest building up.

ECP sends packing Thatta SP for favouring Tappi’s election campaign Erum Fatima is contesting polls from NA-19 on an ANP ticket where she faces Sardar Mushtaq, Omar Ayub Khan and Pir Alamzeb Shah who are strong candidates.

Other female candidates who are contesting for National Assembly seats include TV journalist Aneela Shaheen from NA-4 Peshawar, Najma Zeb from NA-7 Charsada, Dr Shaheen Zameer from NA-21 Mansehra, Asma Mehmood from NA-31 Chitral and Nusrat Begum from NA-34 Upper Dir. Najma Zeb of Qaumi Watan Party is challenging ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan and while Mussarat Shaheen is challenging JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman.

Female candidates for provincial seats include Yasmeen Sheerazi from PK-3 Peshawar, Dilruba Yousafzai from PK-15 Nowshehra, Farrukh Khan from PK-41 Abbottabad, Dr Faiza Rashid from PK-50 Haripur, Syeda Gulnaar Shah from PK-53 Haripur, Rashida Bibi from PK-56 Mansehra, Gul Daana Bibi from PK68 Tank, Hazrat Bibi from PK-72 Bannu and Asma Mehmood from PK89 Chitral.

ISLAMABAD: Taking notice of protocol given to President Asif Zardari’s half-brother Owais Muzzafar Tappi, the Election Commission of Pakistan on Saturday directed the IGP Sindh to transfer Thatta superintendent of police (SP). “The Election Commission of Pakistan has, after receiving a number of complaints against SP Thatta that he is favouring Owais Muzzafar Tappi, a contesting candidate from PS-88, directed the Inspector General of Police, Sindh to immediately transfer SP Thatta and appoint a neutral officer at his place,” a spokesman of ECP said. Meanwhile, the ECP has authorised the presiding officers to exercise powers of a first class magistrate under the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898 (Act V of 1898) from May 10 to 12 in respect of the offences punishable under Sections 80, 82A, 83, 84, 85, 86 and 87 of the representation of the People Act 1976 and to take cognizance of any such offence under any of the clauses of Sub-section (1) of Section 190 of the said code of criminal procedure and to try any such offence in a summary way in accordance with the provisions of the said Code, relating to summary trials. STAFF REPORT

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Taliban target MQM office in Azizabad, kill 3, injure over 35 KARACHI/PESHAWAR

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STAFF REPORT

T least three people were killed and dozens of others were injured in two back-to-back blasts near a unit office of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in Karachi as incidents of pre-election violence continued to take place in various parts of the country on Saturday.

KARACHI BOMBINGS: The first blast struck near MQM Unit 153 office located in Azizabad Block 8, just a couple of kilometers away from the party’s headquarter, Nine Zero, while the second one tore through the same area minutes after. The second bomb was reportedly much deadlier than the first blast as it targeted rescuers, law enforcers, volunteers and reporters who had thronged the attack site. The injured included a large number of women and children. DIG of Police (West) Zafar Bukhari said it was a suicide attack.

Minutes after the attack, the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) came out with a claim, accepting responsibility for the bombings, just the way it did in the

past weeks following similar attacks.

According to police sources, the bomb disposal squad did not reach the site even after the second blast. Police said the explosive device was planted in a rickshaw, a modus operandi the terrorists reportedly used in some of their early attacks in Karachi, while the second one was strapped on a motorcycle. The sources quoted an eyewitness as saying that the second explosion struck when a policeman challenged a motorcycle rider to stop but the biker detonated the bomb, which made the police suspect that the second blast was a suicide attack.

MQM leader Anis Qaim Khani is said to have narrowly escaped the bombing as he was in the office by the time the improvised explosive devices went off.

MQM chief Altaf Hussain vehemently denounced the bombings in Azizabad, and gave a call for mourning across Sindh on Sunday (today). A series of bombings in recent weeks have targeted offices and candidates of the MQM, Awami National Party (ANP) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), most of which took place in Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta in the run-up to the May 11 general elections.

25% Pakistanis fear a ‘very high threat’ on May 11: survey ISLAMABAD: According to a Gilani Research Foundation Survey carried out by Gallup Pakistan, at least 25% Pakistanis believe there is a ‘very high threat’ of riots and breakdown of law and order in their constituency on May 11. According to details, a nationally representative sample of men and women from the four provinces was asked, “In your opinion, in your constituency where you vote, is there a threat of riots on election day?” Responding to the question, 25% of the respondents said very high threat existed, 32% were somewhat threatened and 42 percent said there no threat at all. However, 1 percent did not give a response. ONLINE

JI LEADER TARGETED: In Hangu, Jamaat-e-Islami candidate from NA-39, Raj Muhammad escaped a roadside bombing.

According to police, Raj was travelling to an election rally when his car struck an improvised explosive device. Raj survived the attack but his car was badly damaged in the incident. In Peshawar, a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf election office was partially destroyed in a bomb attack.

According to police, unidentified militants had planted a three kilogramme bomb on the roadside near the PTI office. Police sources said that the target of the attack was a vehicle of the law enforcement personnel but the bomb exploded prematurely, damaging the PTI office.

BLAST AT JI OFFICE: At least two persons were injured when militants hurled a hand grenade at the electoral office of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) in Quetta.

Fayyaz Sumbal, the deputy inspector general of police, said that two militants threw a bomb at the election office of the JI in Gailani Road area of Quetta.

Sumbal said two persons were injured in the attack while the blast damaged the election office.

mQm wants pakistan to prosper: altaf SUKKUR ONLINE

Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain on Saturday said that his party wanted Pakistan to progress according to the vision of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Dr Allama Muhammad Iqbal.

He was addressing an election meeting in Railway Ground Sukkur via telephone. Altaf said that the liberal, democratic and progressive political parties in Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa did not have the freedom to run their election campaign while conservative parties supporting Taliban have complete freedom to hold

election meetings and rallies.

He asked if such elections could be called free, fair and transparent. Altaf said that a conspiracy was being hatched to bring the conservative parties and supporters of the Taliban in power.

Altaf invited the armed forces to join hands with the MQM, ANP and PPP in combating the terrorists involved in bombings. “Today, the armed forces of Pakistan, law enforcing agencies and progressive political parties are facing difficult times. Liberal parties are on the target of barbaric terrorists. Bomb attacks and firing at the election offices, rallies, and meetings of the MQM, the ANP and the PPP continue unabated.”

army troops to control 5,500 ‘highly sensitive’ polling stations in sindh TROOPS TO TAKE CONTROL

BY MAY 8, CAMERAS TO MONITOR POLLING BOOTHS KARACHI AFTAB CHANNA/ISmAIL dILAWAR

With an aim to ensure free, fair and peaceful general elections in Sindh, particularly in Karachi, jawans of the Pakistan Army will take control of at least 5,500 highly sensitive polling stations from May 8, 2013, Pakistan Today has learnt.

The army has been called by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) under Section 255 sub-section (I) (II) in order to ensure the upcoming elections are free, fair, transparent and conducted in a peaceful atmosphere, said Sindh Chief Secretary Mohammad Ijaz Chaudhry.

The Ministry of Defence has approved the proposal and dispatched more than 70,000 army jawans to all four provinces.

“At least 5,500 polling stations in the province have been declared highly sensitive, a majority of which are in Karachi. The army would take control of these polling stations by May 8 and will be responsible for carrying and returning of ballot papers under its supervision,” the chief secretary added. Reliable sources told Pakistan Today that the army jawans had been put at the disposal of the Sindh government and they could by called up on demand of the returning officer or the district administration.

Sources said at least seven troops would be deputed at highly sensitive polling stations while four troops along with a police constable will guard sensitive polling stations. A strike force comprising army jawans and rangers would also be set up that will work as a quick force to thwart any untoward incident, they added.

Moreover, at least four police constables will be deputed at normal polling stations for safety and security of voters on polling day, they said, adding that the entire polling process will be recorded through close-circuit cameras which will be installed when army takes control of the polling stations. When contacted Humayun Muhammad Khan, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N)

candidate for PS-89, termed the army’s deputation in the city a good omen for elections which, he said, would encourage paranoid voters to come out on May 11 and use their right of self determination. “Inside or outside polling stations, army should be deployed in the city’s polling stations along with increased patrolling,” said Humayun who also condemned Friday’s attack on an Awami National Party (ANP) candidate.

The PML-N leader, a former MPA from the same constituency, also hoped that the move would ensure transparency on the day of polling by keeping a check on rigging. Asif Khan, another PML-N leader from Keamari, said army’s arrival would be helpful in guarding sensitive polling stations in PS-89 areas like Machar Colony, Sultanabad and Okai Colony.

Also welcoming the army in Karachi, Bahsir Jan of ANP was unclear on what the troops’ nature of deployment would be.

“Army, which I think is on the way (to Karachi), would certainly make a difference in the law and order here,” he viewed.

Its effectiveness, however, was linked to the deployment pattern, he said. “The law and order in Karachi is worse than Waziristan today,” he said adding that mostly innocent people were being punished in attacks that were the handiwork of “terrorists and extremists” and were not politically motivated. “The armed forces have to control it because we don’t have a force to deal with terrorists who neither recognise our constitution nor Pakistan,” the ANP leader said.

Asked if he thought use of force could really deliver in dealing with the never-ending ideological war, Jan said, “This could happen only when the government and the civil society remain on the same page.” The ANP leader, who often wears a bullet-proof jacket after surviving two recent attempts on his life, lamented on discrepancies that he said had led to the emergence of terms like “good” and “bad” Taliban. “This makes the situation more complicated for us,” he said.

Asked if he supported negotiations with Taliban, Jan said table talks were the only ultimate solution to wars. “But who should we talk to. There is no single office, organisation or leadership here. There is Mangal Bagh, there is Wali Rehman and a lot of other militant factions,” he said.

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Sarabjit killed over drug money dispute: jail sources LAHORE: The death of convicted Indian terrorist Sarabjit Singh by his fellow inmates continues to surround itself with controversy, as a jail source has confided to Pakistan Today that the Indian spy was killed over a drug money dispute. The source, an official deputed at the Kot Lakhpat Jail, said that Sarabjit was involved in peddling drugs within the jail and his activities were in the knowledge of the jail authorities. The source said that Amir Tambaywala and Mudassar, Sarabjit Singh’s alleged attackers, have a long history of peddling drugs and both men were involved in the drug racket involving Sarabjit. He said that according to his information, Sarabjit owed Rs 20,000 to Amir Tambaywala and both men had several heated arguments over the issue. The source claimed that after Sarabjit’s persistent delay tactics, Amir and Mudassar planned an attack on him with help from a jail employee, Talib Chief. He said that according to information obtained from prisoners, Amir and Mudassar managed to intoxicate Sarabjit’s food with alleged help from Talib. “Sarabjit was intoxicated when he was taken out for his daily walk. It is then Amir and Mudassar attacked him, leaving him critically injured,” he said.

Pakistan Today made repeated attempts to confirm the information from Prisons IG Farooq Nazeer but his phone remained unattended. RANA HAIdER

TV ads against PMl-N contain fake content: Shahbaz LAHORE: Former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif on Saturday said TV ads against his party contained fake content.

Addressing a public meeting in Sialkot, Shahbaz said opponents were afraid of PML-N’s popularity and resorted to smear campaign against the party. “TV ads containing fabricated content against PML-N is the joint venture of PPP, PTI and PML-Q,” Shahbaz told a public meeting in Sialkot.

He said that people knew that only the PML-N had worked for the rescue and rehabilitation of the flood-hit people in Punjab. Shahbaz alleged that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan had played the role of President Zardari’s spokesman by claiming that the president could not be held responsible for the current power crisis in the country. “There is every possibility that Imran Khan also exonerates the PPP from corruption scandals of railways, PIA, steel mills, NICL and rental power projects,” he said. INP

lal Masjid cleric denies support to PMl-N LAHORE: Lal Masjid cleric Abdul Aziz on Saturday denied that he and his supporters had announced support for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

In a press statement, Aziz said the PMLN’s role during and after the Lal Masjid operation was an open secret and the party’s leadership had not even condoled the deaths of those killed in the operation.

Aziz further said that he believed that the current system in place in the country could not resolve people’s issues which is why he and his supporters would not support such a dispensation. STAFF REPORT

PMl-N is subjecting lions to cruelty: WWf The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) accusing the party of animal cruelty. According to details, the WWF complained to the election watchdog that the PML-N was parading lions around in cages at their rallies in extreme heat, endangering the lives of the animals and subjecting them to torture. mONITORING dESK

SWABI NNI

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AKISTAN Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday said he would order to shoot down American drones if he comes to power following the upcoming general election.

Addressing an election rally in Swabi, the PTI chairman slammed President Zardari and Jamiat Ulema-eIslam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman for looting public money.

Rejecting all allegations by Fazl, Khan said, “I’ve read the Holy Quran with translation and it clearly states that one who does not believe in the finality of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is not a Muslim. The Quran asks us to follow the example of Prophet Muhammad and although it is impossible to reach his level of perfection, I

try my best to be like him.”

Addressing a public gathering in Mardan, Khan has said no one could stop the tsunami from victory. The PTI chief said his party had no big names but young leaders would achieve great things. He urged the people to vote for PTI for a better future.

Khan said if his party came to power, PTI will work selflessly for the welfare of people and will truly address all their problems. He hoped people will elect honest representatives in the general election.

Taking on the JUI-F chief at a rally in Charsadda, Khan said, “He has been favouring killings of Pukhtoons in United States’ war and was in alliance with Pervez Musharraf.”

Imran Khan predicted the political death of Fazlur Rehman on May 11. “Maulana had requested United States for premiership. US reports have made it clear that all

STEEriNG PAkiSTAN ouT of dArkNESS ToP PrioriTy, SAyS NAWAz LAHORE ONLINE

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) chief Nawaz Sharif on Saturday said steering the country out of the darkness is his party’s top priority.

“Pulling the country out of darkness features atop the manifesto of PML-N and this is not merely an election pledge,” he said. While addressing party workers in Lahore on Saturday, Sharif said, “We have experts in all walks of life, including economic experts and planners to run the ministry of water and electricity in an efficient manner.” We also have the brains capable of leading the country out of darkness and putting it on the road to development within three years, claimed the PML-N chieftain. Talking on the outgoing Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government, Nawaz claimed, “We are not empty handed like the PPP whose ministers did nothing except plundering the national exchequer.”

Sharif added that if voted to power, the masses would be provided gas and electricity on reasonable tariffs without load shedding. PML-N understands very well that overcoming the 6,000 MW power deficit will not be a difficult job and the crisis can be resolved by introducing reforms in NEPRA, Sharif claimed.

After coming into power, PML-N would introduce hydropower, solar power and biomass power projects and a net metering system for small consumers would be introduced also, he said. Supply of gas to power generation houses will be ensured on a regular basis in order to reduce the cost of production of electricity, Sharif added.

He further said special concession would be given to poor consumers of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). Mutual cooperation will be forged between the federal and provincial governments so that no province suffers the way Punjab did under the PPPled government, Sharif stated.

a pti vote is a haram vote: jui-f

politicians have a dual character,” said the PTI chief.

Later, addressing a gathering in Buner, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as part of his election drive, Khan accused his rivals of using unfair means to run their election campaign. Imran targeted the main contesting political parties, PML-N and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

He also criticised Fazl for his “friendly opposition” during the previous government. He said Fazl used Islam to fulfill his designs. The PTI chairman appealed people to vote on ideology and rise above “cast and creed” in the forthcoming elections.

DERA ISmAIL KHAN: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam – Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazalur-Rehman on Saturday issued a decree (Fatwa) against Imran Khan, saying that voting for the Pakistan Tehrik-eInsaf leader was ‘haram’.

Talking to reporters, he expressed full confidence in his belief that Imran was an ‘Ahmadi agent’ and Zionist lobbyist.

Moreover, he said that Imran Khan issued a fake decree with the reference of Maulana Saeed Ahmad Usmani who passed away in 2010. ONLINE

ashraf challenges nawaz to live tv debate LAHORE

Shahbaz tamed after PPP threatens to open Pandora’s box

STAFF REPORT

LAHORE

Former prime minister and secretary general of the Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPPP), Raja Pervez Ashraf has challenged Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif to a live TV debate to prove that the PPPP’s ad campaign against the PML-N was devoid of facts.

In a press statement, Ashraf said that the PPPP had compiled authentic data for its ad campaign to reveal the true face of the PML-N in front of the people. He said that charges relating to terrorism during the PML-N government, the telephonic con-

ONLINE

versation between Shahbaz Sharif and Malik Qayyum and the PML-N’s handling of the floods were based on facts. He said that Nawaz Sharif had 24 hours to accept his challenge for a TV debate on the allegations.

If the PML-N president refuses to counter our allegations it would prove that all charges levelled against his party are true and the PML-N leaders should then stop telling lies in their election rallies, he added.

injured pak prisoner in india remains ‘very critical’ NEW DELHI AGENCIES

The condition of Sanaullah Haq, a Pakistani prisoner injured in an attack by an inmate at central Jammu Jail in Indian-administered Kashmir, remains “very critical”, the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi said Saturday.

“Sanaullah’s condition remains very critical.

He is on life support system in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) on ventilator. Given the severity of head injuries, his prognosis remained grim,” said a statement by the Pakistani High Commission.

Sanaullah had suffered multiple injuries to the head, and was airlifted on Friday to a government hospital in the city of Chandigarh, 250 kilometres north of New Delhi. A spokeswoman for the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research Hospital in Chandigarh said Sanaullah was in the intensive care unit and on a ventilator as his condition “continues to remain critical”. The Pakistani High Commission officials “came to the hospital and we have given them his medical update”, added Manju Wadwalkar, the spokeswoman of the PGIMER Hospital.

Haq was said to have entered a state of coma after the apparent tit-for-tat attack after convicted Indian spy Sarabjit Singh died after being bludgeoned with a brick by fellow inmates at a Pakistani prison.

Sanaullah, who hails from the city of Sialkot, was attacked by a prisoner who was identified as a former Indian army soldier nearly 24 hours after Singh’s

demos against assault on pakistani prisoner in ihk jail SRINAGAR: In Indian-held Kashmir, people staged demonstrations in Sopore against attacks on a Pakistani prisoner in Kot Bhalwal jail, Jammu. Witnesses told reporters that people took to the streets at main chowk and its adjoining areas in the town and staged demonstrations against the attack on Pakistani prisoner, Sanaullah. They raised anti-India and pro-freedom slogans. The witnesses said that Indian police and troops, who were deployed in the town to prevent protests against the incident, resorted to baton charge and teargas shelling to disperse the protesters. NNI

death in Lahore. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry had termed the jail attack on Sanaullah an “obvious retaliation” for the killing of Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh.

Singh died on Thursday in Pakistan and was cremated with state honours on Friday in his native village in northwestern India. Singh had been on death row after being convicted by a Pakistani court 16 years earlier for espionage and for involvement in a string of bomb attacks in Pakistan that killed 14 people in 1990.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Saturday disposed of a petition filed by former chief minister Shahbaz Sharif against a TV advertisement being run by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) after the former chief minister faced a barrage of arguments by PPP lawyers.

The court also withdrew the interim order for withholding display of the advertisement that had been the cause of the dispute in courts.

According to details, a three-member bench of the LHC took up the petition for hearing. PPP General Secretary Latif Khosa and Aitzaz Ahsan appeared in the court for the hearing.

Both Khosa and Ahsan opposed the interim order granted by the court for preventing the screening of the advertisement.

They argued that the Supreme Court (SC) had already accepted the telephonic conversation as evidence and there was no harm in making it public. They further said that no legal limit had been placed on its screening.

Furthermore, they argued that the issue of receiving of money by Sharif brothers from Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) had also been mentioned in SC decision in the Asghar Khan case. They said that in the light of the SC ruling, proceedings could be initiated against them and they could be barred from contesting in elections. When the court sought a reply from Shahbaz Sharif’s lawyer to counter arguments made by the PPP lawyers, he said that relief had been provided to them and withdrew the petition. Subsequently, the LHC disposed of the case.

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VER 10,788 cases of measles have been reported in Punjab during the last five months with the addition of 46 new cases during the last 24 hours.

According to health department officials, at least 64 deaths have been Been reported so far, including one at Children’s Hospital on Saturday. Most of the deaths occurred in Lahore, Gujranwala, Rajanpur, Rahim Yar Khan and Kasur.

During the last 24 hours, around 100 cases of measles were reported in Punjab, including 48 in city hospitals.

Meanwhile, Health Services Director General Punjab Dr Tanveer Ahmed said that a majority of the deaths in Lahore were caused by severe pneumonia and due to delay in reaching hospitals.

“Measles’ vaccination is available in

all hospitals of the city in ample quantity and patients are being treated for free,” he said. He appealed to parents to get their children vaccinated without any delay and cooperate with vaccinating teams.

2m children vaccinated: Over two million children have been vaccinated against measles in a special campaign launched from April 29 till May 5.

Talking to APP on Saturday, EPI Additional Director Dr Nazir Hussain said that during the special anti-measles campaign, the health department had set a target of administering vaccination to at least three million children in Lahore and the vaccinators had achieved the target of over two million.

He said school children had also been vaccinated against measles in schools.

The facility is also being provided at all government hospitals of Lahore.

“Around 5,000 health workers are involved in the special drive,” he added.

Meanwhile Lahore EDO Health Dr

Zulfiqar Ali pointed out that 600 mobiles, 165 schools and 265 fixed teams had been assigned the task of vaccination. He said

that an epidemic control room was also working at the office of the EDO Health and could be contacted at 04299237028.

Mariam Nawaz appears SECuriTy GuArd AT PTi’S before local court, says lAhorE offiCE fouNd dEAd nobody is above the law LAHORE: A security guard at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) office in Lahore was found dead under mysterious circumstances on Saturday morning. According to details, unidentified miscreants shot dead Muzaffar Khan who served as a security guard at PTI’s Lahore office. Police claimed that the security guard had shot himself as a pistol was also recovered from the crime scene. The victim hailed from Vehari and was staying in Lahore to earn a livelihood for his family. INP

LAHORE: Mariam Nawaz, daughter of PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, said on Saturday that no body is above the law that is why she appeared before a local court to explain her position viz-a-viz a recent PML-N rally in Lahore. Talking to journalists, she said she did not take out the rally without prior permission, adding that the PML-N had a major role in formulating the election code of conduct. Mariam Nawaz was issued a notice by a local district returning officer to explain her position regarding the rally which was allegedly taken out without prior permission of the local authorities. “When there is mob around you, you just cannot ask them to disperse. A rally forms by itself,” she explained. She said NA-120 was a stronghold of her party and wherever she went, she was surrounded by her supporters. He also said that she was not even a candidate and it is not her prerogative to run the campaign. The PML-N leader was then exempted from appearing in the next hearing. INP

Arrest warrants issued against 1,000 govt employees for refusing poll duties LAHORE: Returning Officers (ROs) on Saturday issued arrest warrants of over 1000 government employees who have refused to perform election duty in Lahore. The respective Station House Officers (SHOs) have also been directed to arrest these employees and produce them in the court. ROs had summoned the employees of different government departments in connection with the performance of duties in 13 constituencies of national assembly and 25 constituencies of provincial assembly in Lahore. Some employees held out assurance that they would perform the duties while about 1000 employees kept on pursuing evasive tactics and sending applications to avoid the duty. In pursuit to Clause 2 Paragraph (A) of Article 179 of Civil Servants Act -1964 and Clause 1 of Article 178, the services of government employees can be hired to aid administrative affairs under activity of federation. It is binding for government employees to perform duties during polls and they are compensated for such duties.

Those who refuse to perform election duty are liable to be proceeded against under Articles 178 and 179 of the constitution. Such punishment may entail termination from service. Article 220 of the constitution makes it binding on federal and provincial governments to assist the election commission to deal with administrative matters. ONLINE

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LAHORE: Two people were killed and two others were injured when a truck of Solid Waste Management fell down from the Muslim Town flyover on Saturday. Police said that the vehicle was going to Wahdat Road when it fell down due to over-speeding. As a result, the driver died on the spot while the other three were rushed to a hospital where one of them died.Police took the bodies to the city morgue for autopsy. Further investigations are underway. STAFF REPORT

Taliban threatening Sarabjit’s lawyer: hrCP LAHORE: The Pakistan Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said on Saturday that Sarabjit Singh’s lawyer, Awais Sheikh, and his family have been receiving threatening letters and calls from the Taliban.

The commission urged the chief minister of Punjab to provide security to Sheikh. The panel also said that a CID official tried to kidnap Sheikh in Pakistan a day before Sarabjit’s death, when he went to Wagah border to see Sarabjit’s family off. Sarabjit Singh, 49, was a death row convict at the Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore. On Friday, a group of other prisoners hit him on his head with bricks after which he was taken to Lahore’s Jinnah Hospital in a comatose state and was on a ventilator until he died on Thursday. Sarabjit was sentenced to death for planting bombs in Punjab which killed 14 people in 1990. ONLINE

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Portugal must show “our European partners that they have no reason to doubt our commitment'' to repairing the country's public finances — Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho

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israel confirms airstrike inside Syria TEL AVIV AGENCIES

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SRAELI officials have confirmed that the country's air force carried out a strike against Syria and say it targeted a shipment of advanced missiles. The officials said on Saturday the shipment was not of chemical arms, but of "game changing" weapons bound for the Lebanese Hezbollah group. They claimed, speaking on condition of anonymity, that the airstrike was early on Friday, but no mention was made of where it took place. "Syria has large amounts of chemical weaponry and missiles. Everything there is under (Assad government) control," Gilad said in a speech. "Hezbollah does not have chemical weaponry. We have ways of knowing. They are not keen to take weaponry like this, preferring systems that can cover all of the country (Israel)," he said. Earlier this week, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said his group would assist Assad if needed in the effort to put down a 2year-old uprising. Israeli

irAQ PrESSurEd To STEP uP rAid ProbE BAGHDAD: Human Rights Watch has urged Iraqi authorities to give a government committee charged with probing a deadly raid by security forces on a protest camp last week greater financial and political backing to investigate who is responsible for what it described as an apparently unlawful use of lethal force. On Saturday, the group also said it received photos from a separate, parliamentary investigation allegedly taken in the aftermath of the attack that showed the bodies of several men lying in the protest area amid burning cars. Some have their hands bound and "appear, because of the way the bodies are positioned, to have been executed with gunshots,'' the group said. The April 23 action against the Sunnis in Hawija who were protesting against the Shia-led government unleashed a backlash of deadly attacks

by Sunnis, and battles between gunmen and security forces that have claimed more than 250 lives. Before the Hawija crackdown, local and tribal officials had been trying to negotiate a peaceful end to a standoff between protesters and security forces.

Authorities had wanted to enter the camp to hunt for weapons and make arrests related to an earlier incident in which a nearby checkpoint came under attack. Iraqi forces opened fire only after they were attacked, according to the Defense Ministry. It said 23 people, including three members of the security forces, were killed in the clashes. It said "only insurgents and extremists remained" in the camp before it moved in, and that some of the dead included fighters with ties to al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath Party. The Defense Ministry has said security forces opened fire only after they came under attack while trying to make arrests.

Hours after the raid, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered the creation of a ministerial committee to investigate the incident. A parliamentary committee is also probing what happened at Hawija. AGENCIES

embassy spokesman Aaron Sagui would not comment on Friday night specifically on the report of an Israeli strike into Syria. "What we can say is that Israel is determined to prevent the transfer of chemical weapons or other game-changing weaponry by the Syrian regime to terrorists, specially to Hezbollah in Lebanon," Sagui said in an email to the AP. The Syrian UN Ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari, told Reuters: "I'm not aware of any attack right now."

INtENSE OvERfLIGHtS: It was not immediately clear where the airstrike took place, or whether the air force carried out the strike from Lebanese or Syrian airspace.

The Israeli air force has so-called "standoff" bombs that coast dozens of kilometres across ground to their targets once fired. That could, in theory, allow Israel to attack Syria from its own turf or from neighbouring Lebanon.

Lebanese authorities reported unusual intensive

Israeli air force activity over their territory on Thursday and Friday. A Lebanese security source said his initial impression was that Israeli overflights were monitoring potential arms shipments between Syria and Lebanon, potentially to Hezbollah. "We believe that it is linked to Israel's concerns over the transfer of weapons, particularly chemical weapons, from Syria to its allies in Lebanon," said the official, who asked not to be named. Syrian opposition sources, usually quick to announce rumours of Israeli air strikes, said they had not heard of an attack on Syrian territory. In January this year, Israel bombed a convoy in Syria, apparently hitting weapons destined for

Hezbollah, according to diplomats, Syrian rebels and security sources in the region. In 2007, Israeli jets bombed a suspected nuclear reactor site along the Euphrates River in northeastern Syria, an attack that embarrassed and jolted the Assad regime and led to a buildup of the Syrian air defence system. The Israeli strike also follows days of renewed concerns that Syria might be using chemical weapons against opposition forces.

japan signs nuclear plant deal with turkey TOKYO AGENCIES

Japan and Turkey have signed a deal to build a major nuclear power plant on Turkey's Black Sea coast, a milestone for the Japanese nuclear industry as it recovers from the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

On Friday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed the $22 billion contract as a "very important step" that would transform bilateral relations with Japan into a "strategic partnership."

A Japanese-French consortium won the giant contract to build Turkey's second nuclear plant, Japan's first successful bid on an overseas nuclear project since a tsunami wrecked the power station in Fukushima. Turkey weathered criticism for teaming up with Japan in light of the catastrophe, but "despite that, we have taken this step," Erdogan said.

“What happened at Fukushima upset all of us,” he said, adding that “successful steps are being taken now with the use of

improved technology.”

Like Japan, Turkey lies in a part of the world that is prone to earthquakes, making it essential that nuclear plants are designed to resist the effects of such events. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who arrived in Turkey as part of a larger Middle Eastern tour, said that Japan had learnt important lessons from

the 2011 catastrophe.

"Japan will share its experience and the lessons it has learnt and will contribute to the improvement of nuclear security at the highest level," Abe said in comments translated into Turkish.

Abe and Erdogan also signed an agreement covering the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

California wildfire nearly triples in size WASHINGTON AGENCIES

Firefighters have deployed ground crews to battle a raging southern California wildfire that has nearly tripled in size as it threatens 4,000 homes. The Springs Fire, near Malibu 60km west of Los Angeles, grew to 11,330 hectares from 4,040 hectares on Friday morning. The Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD) said that the blaze was just 20 percent contained.

Aerial operations ended for the night, but ground crews would continue battling the blaze, the department said. California typically has fires later in the year, but strong winds and temperatures in the 90s (30s Celsius) have triggered a series of brushfires this week - including a new one in Glendale, just outside Los Angeles. In the fire near Malibu, nearly 1,000 firefighters battled wind-fanned flames that have ripped through tinder-dry brush, threatening some 4,000 homes during the day, the VCFD said. Some celebrities, including actors Jamie Foxx and Tom Selleck, live near the evacuation area, according to KTLA 5 television. Many of the homes were luxury ranches that had stables of horses and other animals.

obama 'does not foresee' us troops in syria WASHINGTON AGENCIES

US president Barack Obama said on Friday he does not foresee a scenario in which he would send US ground troops to Syria and outlined a deliberate approach to determining whether the Syrian government had used chemical weapons in a 2-year civil war.

Obama insisted that the United States has not ruled out any options in dealing with Syria as the United States investigates whether the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons. But Obama, who has spent much of his presidency winding down wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, made clear he was not inclined to send troops to

Syria, saying "I do not foresee" such a scenario. Leaders in the region that he has consulted on this issue agree with him, Obama said.

If Syria is found to have used chemical weapons, however, Obama will be under pressure to take some action beyond what the United States is already doing. The Obama administration is considering sending lethal aid to Syrian rebels. Obama, who has come under fire from some critics in Washington who contend he has a muddled approach to Syria, insisted the United States is not standing by even as it waits for a chemical weapons ruling.

"We're not waiting," he said. "We are working to apply every pressure point that we can on Syria."

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Mumbai attacks trial deferred after prosecutor’s death

Judges’ detention case: Next hearing at Musharraf’s sub-jail ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

RAWALPINDI INP

The trial of seven Pakistani suspects charged with involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks was adjourned on Saturday till May 18 due to the killing of the main prosecutor in the case. According to details, prosecutors from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) asked Judge Chaudhry Habib-ur-Rehman of the AntiTerrorism Court to adjourn the case as chief prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali was killed in Islamabad on Friday.

The judge accepted the request and adjourned the case for a fortnight during proceedings held behind closed doors. It is not immediately known whether the FIA will appoint a new chief prosecutor in place of Zulfiqar Ali or if the case will be taken over by his deputy Chaudhry Azhar. Ali was killed by unidentified gunmen near his home in Islamabad in an execution-style drive-by shooting on Friday.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Besides the Mumbai attacks case, Zulfiqar Ali was also handling the Benazir Bhutto assassination case, over which former president Pervez Musharraf was recently arrested by the FIA.

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HE Islamabad chief commissioner on Saturday issued orders for conducting trial of former president Pervez Musharraf at his sub-jail residence in the judges’ detention case.

Meanwhile, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Saturday extended the judicial remand of the former military ruler for a further 14 days.

ATC Judge Kausar Abbas Zaidi resumed hearing of the case in which Musharraf is accused of detaining judges of superior courts in 2007.

Musharraf’s counsel also filed a bail application in the court and the judge fixed a hearing for May 6.

Owing to security concerns, the former president did not appear before the court in person.

The lawyers told the court that the Islamabad chief commissioner on April 3, had issued a directive in which it was ordered that owing to security concerns, proceedings of this case be conducted at Musharraf’s house, which has been declared as a sub-jail.

Following this, the court after getting a formal approval from the Islamabad High Court, decided to

conduct the next hearing at Musharraf’s sub-jail residence.

The court extended the judicial custody of the accused and directed the police to produce him before court on May 18. The judicial remand was extended on the request of police as investigators pleaded that work was still underway on the case. The court has ordered making judiciary’s stance, Pervez Musharraf’s November 3 speech, and other material as part of the record of the case.

The former military ruler was placed in police custody at his home following his arrest on April

19. In this case, he is facing charges of imposing emergency in the country in 2007 and detaining superior judiciary including Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudhry.

indian police raise concerns over security of Pakistani pilgrims AJMER INP

Rajasthan police have raised serious concerns over the security of 640 Pakistani pilgrims, who are likely to visit Ajmer during Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti’s urs amid anger over Sarabjit Singh’s death.

Quoting sources, The Times of India reported that intelligence officials have listed several threats to the pilgrims and recommended cancellation of their visit.

An intelligence report has warned it would be difficult to arrange security for the pilgrims.

“The report mentions several memorandums and reports of recent protests over Sarabjit’s death and threats given by some organisations,’’ a source was quoted as saying. The report reads that in such a situation the Pakistani pilgrims may “become victim of anger” over Sarabjit’s death.

Ajmer’s railway station is vacated when the train carrying Pakistani pilgrims reaches here and they are accommodated in a local school under tight security.

The BJP, Vishva Hindu Parishad and Shiv Sena have staged protests and threatened the Pakistani pilgrims.

Over 700,000 pilgrims are expected to participate in the urs from around the world between May 7 and May 22 . If Pakistan delegation’s trip is cancelled, it will be probably for the first time that devotees from the neighbouring country will not be able to attend the rituals.

how nawaz sharif is more mature and ready to lead pakistan NEWS DESK The politician most likely to be Pakistan’s next prime minister is a wiser man and a more mature leader than the one who governed twice in the 1990s before being overthrown in a military coup, according to one of the women who knows him best – his favourite daughter Maryam Nawaz.

It would be an extraordinary comeback for Nawaz Sharif who 14 years ago was arrested, thrown in prison and exiled.

For months his family did not know whether he would escape with his life.

“I think those years of struggle, those years of hardship, those years of adversity, they have made a better, stronger and more mature Nawaz Sharif,” Maryam told The Telegraph, as she campaigned amid the narrow alleys and open sewers of his Lahore constituency.

“He’s a thinker now. I think there’s no hunger or greed for power. This is the time he wants to do something for the country.” Pakistan goes to the polls next Saturday in an election that marks a crucial milestone in the country’s democ-

racy. For the first time, a government will have served a full five-year term before handing on to another.

While the intricacies of Pakistan’s feudal politics are almost impossible for outsiders to fathom there is one thing on which the pundits agree: voters are tired of President Asif Ali Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party, leaving Sharif’s PML-N as favourite.

While he tours the country by private jet, his 39-year-old daughter has been immersing herself in grass-roots politics, designing campaign ads and flying his flag in his prosaically named NA-120 constituency.

Maryam has been a daily visitor, her armoured car making slow progress as it squeezes past donkey carts, motor rickshaws and throngs of supporters.

Handfuls of rose petals rain down, obscuring the windscreen as she remembered how her father was arrested when General Pervez Musharraf seized power in 1999. “That was a tough time, a very tough time,” she said.

A gaggle of women pushed themselves against her toughened window and

she opened the door to hear how a mother could not afford to get her sick son to hospital. Telephone number noted, the car was soon on its way.

This election has been marked by violence. At least 62 people have died in political attacks including a candidate for a smaller secular party, shot dead along with his three-year-old son in Karachi on Friday - the first time that a candidate has been killed. The Taliban claimed responsibility.

With an affectionate smile Maryam explained how a protective father lectured her on the dangers of stopping so frequently.

“I was actually using a normal car, an SUV, earlier,” she said from her front seat perch. “But my father was very annoyed.

He said you have to use this car, don’t expose yourself to danger.”

She is often compared with Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the 24-year-old political heir to Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister assassinated in 2007. It is a comparison that makes her bristle and she insists she won’t be parachuted into leadership, preferring to learn politics from the ground up.

While he has largely disappeared from the campaign, she has continued to work 12-hour days for her father, juggling the demands of politics and her three children.

The case she makes on the streets is that the scale of the crises engulfing Pakistan – battered by Islamist terror group and afflicted by crippling power cuts - demands a leader with her father’s experience. It is a direct response to Imran Khan, the former cricketer who has gained ground with his call for the old order to be swept away, replaced with new faces untainted by corruption.

“Nawaz Sharif won’t be a prime minister who needs to spend two years taking briefings and trying to understand the issues,” she said. “He’s ready to get to work on the very first day.”

His reputation for economic competence is playing well with voters. And Maryam pointed to his work building motorways and his party’s major projects in Lahore (where his brother, her uncle, holds power) such as a new, much admired bus system.

Her fear is that anything other than an outright majority will hobble his plans with the distractions of coalition government.

Western governments will have other concerns, however. Sharif seems likely to withdraw support for America’s deadly drones programme that has eliminated many suspected terrorists but is a source of massive anger in Pakistan, and he is frequently accused of cosying up to religious hardliners.

Whatever happens next Saturday, he is faring better than his nemesis, Pervez Musharraf. The former general remains under house arrest after returning to Pakistan in March, accused in connection with the death of Benazir Bhutto and of subverting the constitution by dismissing judges as he tried to cling to power.

Maryam said his plight was a sign that democracy would triumph over dictatorship but added that her family were not seeking revenge over the general who sent them fleeing to Saudi Arabia.

“Whatever Musharraf has done to us as a family, we are ready to forgive him,” she said. “What he did to the constitution, to the law of this country, what he did to democracy, for that we don’t have the right to forgive him.”

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karzai suggests Afghan Taliban target Pakistan KABUL AGENCIES

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FGHAN President Hamid Karzai Saturday suggested that the Taliban should turn their weapons against Pakistan, escalating tensions with Islamabad days after the two countries exchanged fire along a disputed border.

Speaking to reporters in Kabul, Karzai praised an Afghan policeman who died in Wednesday’s border clash and then called on the Taliban to “target the place that is hostile to Afghanistan.” No Afghan government, he added, will recognize as an international frontier the British-drawn boundary with Pakistan, known as the Durand Line, which cuts in two the ethnic Pashtun homeland.

Karzai’s comments—his strongest remarks yet since the border clashes—may complicate US-led efforts to mediate a peace settlement and to ship military equipment out of Afghanistan through Pakistan as most international troops prepare to leave the country by the end of

2014. “Without cooperation with Pakistan, we will never be able to reach stability in Afghanistan,” cautioned Haroun Mir, a Kabul-based political analyst. “We need their assistance for negotiations with the Taliban but we also depend on them for our economy.”

A Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman had no immediate comment on Karzai’s remarks. Karzai, who has been trying to persuade the Taliban to engage in peace talks, called on members of the insurgency to stand in support of Mohammad Qasim Khan, the policeman who was killed in Wednesday’s clashes, saying he died in defense of his country.

Afghanistan and Pakistan disagree over who started Wednesday’s fighting.

Kabul says Pakistani troops built a border outpost within Afghan territory. Islamabad has denied that claim, saying the outpost is on its side of the border, and condemned the attack of Afghan security forces on Pakistani troops as unprovoked. The deadly clash sparked an outpouring of anti-Pakistan sentiment in Afghanistan.

Protesters chanting “Death to Pakistan”

took to the streets of Afghan cities over the past few days, calling for an end to Pakistan’s alleged interference in its internal affairs. On Saturday, thousands of protesters drove to the district of Khewa, the home of the slain Afghan policeman, to mourn with his family, according to a provincial official.

Crowds also gathered in the provinces of Nuristan, Khost and Uruzgan in support of Afghan security forces and chanting anti-Pakistan slogans. This comes a day after thousands of protesters

marched in Kabul, with some setting the Pakistani flag on fire and calling for war.

On Saturday, Karzai reiterated that “Afghanistan will never recognize the Durand Line.” He also accused Pakistan of supporting the Afghan insurgency.

“I once again call on the Pakistani government to take the path of brotherhood and good friendship with Afghanistan, as terrorism and extremism has not done them any good,” said Karzai. In his remarks Saturday, Karzai played down the fact that his office has been receiving money from the Central Intelligence Agency over the past decade.

“This is nothing unusual,” said Karzai, noting that Afghanistan is heavily reliant of international assistance.

Karzai said he recently met the CIA station chief in Kabul on the matter. “I thanked him for the support given to us over the past 10 years and I asked him to continue this support,” Karzai said.

The CIA payments to Karzai’s office were previously reported by The New York Times. A Taliban spokesman was not reachable for comment.

uS urges amicable resolution of Pak-Afghan border dispute WASHINGTON INP

Describing recent incidents of border clashes as troubling, the United States on Friday urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to resolve their dispute peacefully and bilaterally.

“We are aware of recent incidents along the border. Whenever these occur, they are troubling. We encourage both sides to try peaceful resolution of the border issues,” the Pentagon press secretary said in a statement.

According to details, George Little told reporters at an off-camera news conference that the border spat needed to be worked out between Afghans and Pakistanis.

“If we can support these efforts, we will,” he said adding that the US was helping the two countries resolve their disputes peacefully.

“Our operations to my knowledge are not affected,” Little concluded. During the highstakes battle in the Goshta district of eastern Nangarhar province on Wednesday night, Afghan forces claimed overrunning a Pakistani-held border crossing and pulling down a gate unilaterally erected in the area.

The incident triggered a string of antiPakistan demonstrations, with thousands of people in a number of Afghan cities taking to the streets.

8 terrorists killed in upper orakzai UPPER ORAKZAI ONLINE

Security forces on Saturday killed eight terrorists in operations. While some unidentified people barging into the house of a tribal leader and gunned him down. Security sources said operations were conducted at Qismat Tanga and Sheen Qamar areas of Upper Orakzai, which resulted in the death of eight militants besides the destruction of their three hideouts.

Meanwhile, a landmine planted on the roadside at Bezoot area of Orakzai Agency exploded with a big bang, but fortunately no loss of life took place.

On the other hand, some unidentified persons barged into the house of tribal leader Haider Khan and killed him in the Sanober area of Tehsil Bara of Khyber Agency.

CHAmAN: Army soldiers transport polling material through a helicopter on Saturday. INP

Gas supply to parts of balochistan suspended QUETTA APP

Gas supply was suspended to parts of Balochistan on Saturday after Sui Southern Gas Company’s gas pipeline exploded in Pat Feeder area near Dera Murad Jamali.

Official sources revealed that an increase in gas pressure caused the explosion in the pipeline supplying gas to Quetta and other parts of the province from Shikarpur.

Unknown men had attempted to blow up gas pipeline in the same area one month ago.

The plan was foiled, police sources said.

Local administration, along with bomb disposal squad (BDS) reached the scene and cordoned off the area. Officials said that the repair work would begin after security clearance was issued.

taliban told to distance itself from al Qaeda before opening Qatar office

KABUL NNI

Diplomatic sources on Saturday revealed that the Taliban have been asked to issue a declaration distancing itself from al Qaeda and committing itself to peace talks before it can open a political office in Qatar.

According to a report by The Guardian, conditions were laid down by the Qatari government with the backing of Kabul and the US for the Taliban to open peace talks.

These involved making an unambiguous public break with global Jihad and promising to use the office in the capital city of Doha as a base for negotiations with the US and the Afghan government, rather than as the seat of a government in exile or for fundraising.

At a three-way meeting outside Brussels last week, attended by Afghan president Hamid Karzai, US Secretary of State John Kerry had asked Pakistan’s army commander

General Ashfaq Kayani to demonstrate his stated support for peace talks by putting pressure on the Pakistan-based Taliban to make the declaration.

David Cameron made the same appeal to Kayani at Chequers in February.

However, the Pakistani delegation told British officials that Islamabad’s influence over the Taliban was far from absolute. The Taliban sent representatives to Doha last year with the aim of pursuing talks with the US, but the peace process stalled over a failure to agree terms for the release of five Afghan insurgent commanders held at Guantanamo Bay. President Barack Obama’s restated commitment this week to close the prison camp has revived hopes that releases could be back on the table, but it is far from clear whether the Taliban would accept conditions it rejected last year, including the pledge that the prisoners released would stay in Doha, under Qatari supervision.

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The most courageous act is still to think for yourself.

Aloud. –Coco Chanel

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Enter James dobbins The new US Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan

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ECRETARY of State John Kerry telephoned President Zardari on Friday and discussed Pak-US bilateral relations. What is significant, Kerry also announced the appointment of James Dobbins, a senior diplomat, as US Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan. One would readily agree with Kerry that this is a pivotal moment for both Afghanistan and Pakistan where security issues are interconnected. The nomination has raised eyebrows. It has been asked how a person who had supported Pentagon’s failed policy of COIN despite Joe Biden’s warning of Afghanistan turning into another Vietnam-like quagmire could act as a lead US diplomat in the region.

As things stand the Afghan National Security Force which is to replace the foreign troops lacks the sophisticated weapons systems that gave an edge to NATO forces against the Taliban. With the Afghan economy unable to sustain such a large army and the US unlikely to continue to finance the Afghan defence expenditure year after year, there is a need to look for a political solution of the insurgency. Many think some sort of understanding with the Afghan Taliban might have been reached by now if Washington had got rid of its militaristic thinking earlier. Now that the Taliban know the US would be leaving within 19 months and there would be a new Afghan president after the elections due next year, they are reluctant to talk to Karzai. Despite Taliban having set up their office in Qatar, they have shown little willingness to hold negotiations with the US either. Meanwhile, other complications have arisen. Though Pak-US relations have improved a bit, they are still marred by mistrust. Similarly, relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have touched a new low. Unless things change the situation would provide the militants an opportunity to play havoc in the region. Dobbins therefore has to work for greater understanding between the US, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

James Dobbins faces tough agenda ahead. There are regional rivalries and the fears among neighbours that Afghan territory could be used to their disadvantage. For Afghanistan to be at peace the governments of all these countries will have to be convinced that the arrangement being visualised secures their interests. The Taliban and the Afghan government have to be brought together on a power sharing arrangement with mutually acceptable modifications to the existing constitution. What needs to be ensured is that the negotiations lead to a stable and peaceful Afghanistan which neither hosts nor collaborates with international terrorists. In 2011, when Dobbins and Shinn wrote “Afghan Peace Talks, A Primer” for RAND Organisation, they observed that Pakistani military did not yet seem ready to cut ties with the terrorist groups with which it had long been associated. One wonders if they would still hold the view after Gen Kayani’s latest pronouncement.

More parties under attack Survival and commitment shall be the two pillars of these polls

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F the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and religious parties, especially the Jamaat-iIslami (JI), thought they could get away without risk till the date of the general election, Friday brought them a shocker. The three major attacks of the day, included the targeted killing of an Awami National Party (ANP) candidate in Karachi, but, more significantly, a PTI election office in Peshawar and a JI candidate in Hangu were also targeted. This added dimension to the terror attacks leaves more questions about how much chaos shall be suffered before the next election takes places.

To add to this toll, a member of the Sunni Tehreek’s (ST) Ulema Board was also gunned down in Lahore. The attack appears to be connected with the spate of election violence; but again it is not clear who was behind the attack. Law enforcement agencies suggested the attack was aimed to provoke a response, but the ST candidate from NA-120 managed to calm down party activists. But without addressing the question of who is responsible, it appears like the situation will keep getting worse, with the trail of violence increasingly encroaching towards the one province that had managed to escape, Punjab.

Is there a pattern to the trail? And does the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have a clear, coherent plan on how it intends to derail the next general elections? Are there other actors involved, who are settling personal scores under the cover of the fear imposed by the TTP threat? The job belongs to law enforcers and intelligence agencies, but neither appears to be up to the task. It is certainly not the most conducive of circumstances to be calling upon people to elect a new leadership from. The question is: were the three attacks freak events, with no relation to the TTP threat, and more due to local rivalries, or do these mark a new trend within the TTP? Or is there a terror network other than the TTP that is out to derail the elections? There are many questions and barely any answers. Whoever is behind the attacks, if the PTI and JI had thought their criminal silence on attacks on other major parties would exempt them from being targeted, it appears this shall not be the case. All political parties shall have to unite against the terrorists out to derail the system, and political ideologies shall have to be cast aside. Those looking for some answers should turn to Imran Khan’s rally in Peshawar. Direct threat or no direct threat, it is clear that no political party shall escape these elections without having to put their workers on the line for the sake of votes and democracy. Survival and commitment shall be the two pillars of these polls; barring any major tragedy.

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad Editor Lahore – Ph: 042-36375963-5 Fax: 042-32535230 Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9 Fax: 021-35381208 Islamabad – Ph: 051-2287273 Fax: 051-2850505 Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

‘democracy’s revenge park’ Think: why are we perennially taking the wrong path?

HumAyuN GAuHAR

W

ITH elections nigh there’s no point in making predictions.

With so many assassinations though, we should make a ‘Democracy’s Revenge Park’ in memory of its martyrs.

What will happen will happen, though one can say that barring some horrible event elections will go ahead unless the anti-Taliban parties of the three provinces being targeted by terrorists boycott them.

Unlikely, for they would be out in the cold, but it would throw a big spanner in the works. My worry is: will all big players accept their validity given that terrorism obstructed their campaigns and they get fewer seats than they expect or if Imran Khan’s Tsunami turns out to be a splash? Credibility of elections is at stake, as is the system.

Last week I was part of a panel discussion on ‘Pakistan at the Crossroads’ in the Islamabad Literature Festival of the Oxford University Press organized beautifully by Ms. Ameena Saiyid and her team. They deserve praise and congratulations. I learned something when some Baloch Pathans vented their anger on the panel, I particularly, for not knowing what we were talking about. They had attacked Prof. Dr. Rasul Bakhsh Rais a day earlier during a panel discussion I was moderating. I realized how much they wanted to differentiate themselves from the Pathans of Pukhtoonkhwa and how much anger and resentment they harbour against the State. When I thanked them for adding to my knowledge and suggested that we should all think about how to assuage their anger and bring them back into the mainstream, they suddenly mellowed. Afterwards they climbed the stage and the person who hectored me kissed my hand, thanked me and said that he would give me a return ticket to come to his place in Balochistan to eat ‘sajji’, the delicious whole roast lamb they cook on wood fire.

Afterwards we continued our discussion outside the building in a most civilized manner. I realized that there is good in everyone if only we searched for it and how easy it is to bring the alienated to one’s side with a little love, understanding and sympathy. The big lesson is that one can co-opt people with honey instead of poison. We keep using poison all the time against a people we don’t know and a place we have never seen.

When has Pakistan not been at a crossroads, not faced a decision that would change the course of its history?

Not being used to normalcy we would feel unwell if we were not at a crossroads at any time. Sadly, we always take the wrong

Editor’s mail

turn. But let it continue for this is an evolutionary learning process and we the people will eventually find the correct path.

And that is precisely the point: whereas a crossroads gives one four roads to choose from, we are actually at a fork. One is the correct path that leads to water that is the source of life and the other the wrong path that leads to destruction of mind and body.

As Muslims we have no option but to take the correct path or Shaarey, the path that leads to the well. We have always taken the Satanic path rather than the Divine path for we have abdicated our thinking to the cleric masquerading as scholar who abducted our faith long ago and now tells us what our religion is and how we ought to practice it when God has already told us so in the Quran. Please dwell on the two words I have used – ‘faith’ and ‘religion’, ‘Iman’ and ‘Deen’ – for we have made them into two different things and foisted the ‘Mazhab’ of a man-made Sharia on us to divide the Muslim community. God’s Sharia or guidance is already in the Quran.

Faith is what matters: how one practices it is religion that is enunciated clearly in the Quran, so why do you need the cleric?

Don’t get lost in debates about how many angels can stand on the eye of a needle.

That is neither faith nor religion but dogma.

Clerics have turned religion into a collection of dogma, customs and rituals some of which pre-date the faith and become the self-appointed bureaucrats of religion run by churches, de facto and de jure.

So let us see whether on May 11 we take the correct path or the incorrect one once again. The four roads at this crossroads are all incorrect paths on which ruling class misguides us. The correct path has to be found through experience, through failure. That is evolution. As Hazrat Ali (RA) said, “Unfortunate is the man who knows no failure for he doesn’t get a chance to know God.” I would add that he doesn’t get a chance to see his own smallness either in the larger scheme of things.

Actually, the wrong path can often lead to the right path through successive misguidance and abdication of one’s own thought process. That is what I was indicating when I said a few weeks ago that whatever the outcome of the elections it will not be good in the short term but will enhance the realization that we are on the wrong path and need to find the correct one. And we will. My heart tells me so, as does my head.

Think: why are we perennially taking the wrong path? Is it that we are collectively stupid or that the roadmap given to us by beneficiaries of the iniquitous status quo masquerading as leaders is incorrect so as to preserve their own benefits and privileges?

Think: why was the prosecutor in the Benazir murder case assassinated? By putting blame on Gen Musharraf, Pervez Elahi and others, did her real murderers perhaps drop a veil on themselves by sending us on the wrong path? With Musharraf unexpectedly returning and giving a candid statement to the investigation team, the veil is in danger of being lifted.

Think: why was Khalid Shahinshah, one of Benazir’s security men standing alongside her on the stage while she was speaking making suspicious gestures? Why was he killed a few days later? Why was his killer killed in turn? You don’t have to be a genius to take your thinking in the

right direction. Think: don’t go by drawing room hearsay and teahouse gossip.

Think: will General Musharraf be alone on trial for Benazir’s murder or will it expose her real killers? They must be besides themselves with worry. Is that why they are desperate that he should accept exile again so that they are off the hook? If he agrees they would send him off with another honour guard.

Think. Why are terrorists rampant in three provinces and not in the Punjab?

Who do the Taliban want in power? Referring to Mullah Omar’s Afghan government, the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif said on November 17, 1998: “We need a Taliban type system in Pakistan”, and “The Taliban are running the government better.” What does that tell you?

Think. Why does would-be deliverer Imran Khan keeps making excuses for the Taliban, as this newspaper editorialized the other day? If Imran wins big so much the better for these two softies on the Taliban in the Punjab would negate one another and Nawaz Sharif will find it difficult to form a viable coalition government that will make space for obscurantists. While we want God’s Islam we don’t want the mullah’s ‘Talibanisation’.

Think: Nawaz Sharif used his heavy majority in the National Assembly to pass the 15th Amendment that would have brought us very close to becoming Taliban clones. Mercifully, before the Senate could pass the Act into law Sharif committed political suicide. This election is not likely to get him a two-thirds majority again but the danger of being soft on the Taliban remains. Think.

Think. For 33 years Pakistan’s politics has revolved around pro-Bhutto and antiBhutto forces. That is evaporating but now our politics revolves around pro- and antiTaliban forces, a backward movement actually. But then how else does one get obscurantist forces of darkness out of our system, just as it seems that we are on the cusp of getting fascism out of our system – the use of the most progressive rhetoric to further the most retrogressive ends, like strengthening feudalism by nationalizing industry and breaking the urban back?

Think. Is only Musharraf on trial but the judges too? That is good: let judges and lawyers expose themselves by their own hand and inadvertently save the judiciary, a vital institution in a democracy and an Islamic state, instead of being ‘martyred’ again to return as heroes.

The next government will be a wobbly caretaker and it will be a miracle if it completes its term. Let it fall on its face so that the system can be exposed for what it is and we can move on and hopefully get on to the correct path.

Think. Why do I think that even if elections don’t take us out of the quagmire we are headed in the right direction albeit on the wrong path? Not because I am an incorrigible optimist who grasps at silver linings in the darkest of clouds but because only by repeatedly taking the wrong path will this man-eating system eventually collapse and our eyes and minds finally open to recognize the correct path. Then we will see.

The writer is a political analyst. He can be contacted at humayun.gauhar786@gmail.com

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

Fax: +92-42-32535230 E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively

Pakistan’s progress Elections are round the corner. Party campaigns are at its peak. Parties in the race are making tall promises to the electorate that they will bring an end to all the predicaments that confront Pakistan today. They are promising to bring an end to problems of this country. They are making strong commitments to bring the economy of Pakistan back to its feet. Undoubtedly, all their rhetoric vis-

à-vis the predicaments of the masses of this country are close to reality. The electorate vividly remembers these commitments, and that is what makes it difficult for them to believe in the tall promises that parties are making to them. Is there a way out of this for the people? Yes, there is.

People should use their right to vote judiciously; vote for only those who are sincere and have a good past track record.

M FAZAL ELAHI Islamabad

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The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off. –Gloria Steinem

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doomed elections?

Are the Tailban above the law and the Constitution?

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The impending choice A choice between electing the lesser of the evils

SAAd RASOOL

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N a week’s time, on May 11th, 2013, the ‘tired, poor, and huddled masses’ of our nation, yearning to breathe free, will once again be afforded their democratic right to caste their vote, and elect fresh representatives for governance. And this exercise, of casting the ballot, is arguably the most sacred privilege in a democratic dispensation. It is the singular virtue that sets apart a democracy from other forms of government. It represents the single most important right, through the exercise of which we choose to be governed according to our own aspirations, and can claim to be masters of our own national destiny.

As a result, in essence, the casting of the ballot is not simply a privilege, but more importantly, the most solemn responsibility of each one of us.

In theory, it is fascinating that every five years we get to (legally and constitutionally) overthrow the government. In Pakistan’s case, however, the theory is as far as the fascination extends. Because at the shores of the theory, start the bare sands of reality. And the reality is this: the impending election, divorced from individual passions that any of us might have for certain political parties, is a choice between electing the lesser of the evils.

Lets start with getting the obvious out of the way: the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), and its allies (namely: PML-Q, the ANP, and the MQM) are not, at least realistically, in a bid to form the government in the center. There is an outside chance that some combination of these parties return to some form of power (in case the electoral process returns such a split that none of the other parties can form a government in themselves, or with a possible coalition, and the small fragments magnet together to scratch out a weak government). In realization of their abysmal performance over the past five years, and no plausible excuse to hide behind, these political parties (especially the PPP) do not even seem to be making a serious bid for political power. There have been no major political rallies or jalsas by the incum-

bent coalition partners, no sloganeering on television talk-shows, and no real presence in significant parts of even those constituencies where they had previously won in the 2008 elections.

The contest, effectively, is then just a twoparty race: that between the entrenched political machinery of PML-N and the newly minted and untested (but ever so exuberant) razakaars of PTI. And this race, for all intents and purposes, will be decided in the plains of Punjab, which is the ‘home-ground’ of the PML-N for several decades now.

The PML-N is contesting on the slogan of their performance in Punjab, compared to the rest of Pakistan, over the past five years. Their claim is that, while the rest of the Pakistan faced corruption charges, and despondent performance by the federal government and respective provincial governments, Punjab, under PML-N has made (marginal) advances (in terms of infrastructure projects). And using this as a tool – mixed with half-baked dreams about how they ‘created’ the atomic bomb, and were ‘considering’ selling electricity to India in their previous government – they are trying to pose as the only party with (some) track record of good governance. But in their rhetoric of past performance and good governance, they forget to mention the episode of ransacking the Supreme Court, being in bed with the khakis (in fact, being the creation of Army), and the Asghar Khan claims (now sanctified, in part, by the Supreme Court). Nonetheless, when compared to the PPP regime, this appeal of the PML-N, even if it is simply a case of picking the lesser evil, does not seem as bad.

The appeal of PTI is more primitive, idealistic, and untested in nature. Having emerged as a national political force to reckon with only about two years back, believing in them is an act

of faith. Not having been in power, ever, they do not carry the baggage that other major political parties carry. The plight of the people of Pakistan cannot be pinned on them as a party (though it can be pinned on several individual members of PTI). And having admirably worked out and published policy papers on different sectoral reforms, their appeal to the nation, at the hear of it, is one of “trust me! I can fix this”. And what they lack in experience of governance, is made up by the exceptional fan-following (even cult) of their leader. While supporters of other political parties, when asked, say that they are voting for ‘PPP’ or ‘Noon-League’, the PTI supporter, in all constituencies across Pakistan, would proudly declare that they will be voting for “Imran Khan”.

And his appeal, as an individual, of being a straight-shooter and honest man, seems sufficient to drown out the fact that his party is flanked by faces that have never been straight-shooters or honest individuals. Khan Sb.’s rhetoric of the other parties being a ‘drama’ with the same characters taking turns on center stage, seems enough to veil the Achilles’ heel that his party too is far too populated the same tested and discarded characters, this time in different costumes.

Less than a week of campaigning is left, which will be followed by voting and swearing-in of the new government. As we all gear up to caste our votes, and then wait for the results with abated breath, it is hard to wish for or pray for the success of any individual party.

The only prayer that I find myself articulating, is that for Pakistan.

The writer is a lawyer based in Lahore. He has a Masters in Constitutional Law from Harvard Law School. He can be reached at: saad@post.harvard.edu

ELENTLESS and merciless bombings and violent attacks by the Taliban directed against the leaders and members of three major parties, the ANP, the PPP and the MQM, have dissolved the morale of the state. If such incidents continue, there is a real danger the elections would be reduced to a mere farce, a sick joke practiced on the helpless, captive peoTAuSIF KAmAL ple of Pakistan.

In times like these, people naturally look to our national “saviors” for help: both the traditional saviours clad in khaki and the new saviours clad in black robes. As the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry declared in Islamabad lately: “In recent years the judiciary has successfully emerged as a saviour...”

The SC judges have been hyper active during the last couple of years, continually issuing judicial and contempt notices to the shivering babus and puny politicians on anything their majesties deemed appropriate. Yet, suo motto actions and court summons took a back seat in this game of political tag. Isn’t the horrendous massacre of about 50,000 of our citizens, men and women, civilians and soldiers by the Taliban, not enough to warrant such notices from the judiciary? Isn’t the massive loss of human life in our country of greater public importance than the price of a samosa or the transfer of a section officer, for which the judges have issued notices at the blink of an eye?

Our grand saviour has been shouting pearls of wisdom such as, “Nobody is above the law” or “ Everyone has to respect the Constitution.” Really? May one humbly ask the Chief Justice if these lofty admonitions are applicable to the armed Taliban also? Are Tailban above the law and the Constitution? If not, what actions has the judiciary taken against them?

On the contrary, it seems that our bold and independent judiciary would go to any length to avoid invoking the ire of the Taliban/Jihadi murderers. We are all aware of how the courts have released and set free most of the terrorists accused of execrable crimes on one flimsy ground after another, thus giving them leeway to continue with their carnage.

As far as our other longstanding traditional saviour, the Army, is , it lives in a cabalistic world of it’s own, issuing arcane and enigmatic speeches once in a while that leave the public scrambling to figure out the true message embedded in their statements. People have practically given up trying to remind the Army of its constitutional duty to defend the country from our internal enemy, the Taliban/Jihadists.

It is now being reported that the Army has decided to deploy about 50,000 troops on the Election Day in order to ensure that elections are free and fair. But impartial elections are not a product of a single day; they are a culmination of a long period of uncorrupt management.

Free and unfettered campaigning by the political parties is the very essence of democratic elections. And if half the number of political parties and their candidates are effectively prevented from doing so because of targeted threats, attacks and bombings that hinder their political meetings, while the other half of the political parties and their candidates are able to campaign in complete freedom and security, then the elections cannot be deemed free and fair by any stretch of the imagination.

Imran Khan made a shockingly false statement, shocking even by Pakistan’s political standards, when he claimed that the Taliban had no hand in murdering Benazir Bhutto. Will he also say that they are not responsible for all the suicide bombings and attacks that have killed tens of thousands of our civilians? He is trying these new tactics of appeasement either because he is so desperate to get votes or out of fear and behind-the- scenes coercion by the Taliban forces.

The same goes for those supine, fundamentalist political parties who have gotten a free pass from the Taliban. Their silence and acquiescence of the Taliban’s atrocities will come to haunt them, especially after the elections, when Taliban will come to collect their pound of flesh from them.

There can be no doubt that if murderous attacks, lethal threats and ensuing mayhem by Talibans/Jihadists are not immediately stopped, then the elections would amount to a farce, a gross violation of Pakistan’s electoral laws and its Constitution, and would stand in complete disregard of the guidelines set by international laws such as the Declaration on Criteria for Free and Fair Elections adopted by the Inter Parliamentary Council in 1994.

In that event, the nation might as well be prepared to face a fiery maelstrom of such intensity that will obliterate any vestiges of national stability, viability and hope.

Free and unfettered campaigning by the political parties is the very essence of democratic elections.

The writer is a US-based corporate attorney, author and independent analyst. He can be contacted at: tausifkamal@hotmail.com

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A arts Sunday, 5 May, 2013

VEENA MAlik ENJoyS bold PhoToShooT NEWS DESK Veena Malik has done a bold photoshoot for her forthcoming Bollywood film Zindagi 50-50 in which she plays a sex worker. She says she loved shooting in a bikini. Veena wore a black bikini during the shoot. She is said to have done extensive research for her character and met sex workers to understand their body language and the way they talk. "I love shooting in all those sexy bikinis. It will be one of my boldest photoshoots for the character Madhuri which is realistic rather than bold. This is a true story of a girl. I have given more than my hundred percent thanks to Madhuri, the character I am playing," said Veena. The actress is also working in Haroon Rashid's The City That Never Sleeps.

A man is a worker. If he is not that he is nothing. –Joseph Conrad

‘iroN MAN 3’ blASTS off uS bloCkbuSTEr SEASoN “i

NEWS DESK

RON Man 3" is expected to launch America's summer blockbuster season with a bang this weekend, having already taking global box offices by storm, industry analysts say. Robert Downey Jr returns as the metal-suited Marvel superhero, in a sequel to the last "Iron Man" movie in 2010, but also playing off the back of last year's comic-book mega hit "The Avengers," which also featured him.

The film, starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Kingsley as well, has already made nearly $200 million around the world in the last week, and could earn a similar sum in its first weekend in North America.

"The summer firework show has already begun for most of the world. Disney's cash rocket... is expected to light up the box office with $165 million," said Jeff Bock, box office analyst at industry tracker Exhibitor Relations. That may be short of the best opening weekend box office ever -$207 million for "The Avengers" -- but it would be the biggest "Iron Man" debut after $98 million for the first one in 2008 and the second three years ago.

Downey Jr was in suitably relaxed mood when promoting the movie recently ahead of its US release, bantering with Paltrow, whose character's teasing romance with his reaches new levels in this movie.

"These guys are wimps, okay? The suit is not that bad," Paltrow said after Downey Jr and metal-clad co-star Don Cheadle complained about how heavy their suits were, and how much they had to wear them on set compared to Paltrow. The "Iron Man" star shot back: "And Gwyneth by the way, she did

come in and she was having a ball, and her kids were there and she was in rockin' shape, so it was all nice and easy. I think she wore it once or twice. "It's an accumulative issue," he joked at a Beverly Hills press conference, before acknowledging: "I admit, we're wimps." In the new movie, Tony Stark, his billionaire playboy character who transforms himself into "Iron Man," faces formidable terrorist The Mandarin, played by Kingley.

There are two baddies in all, with Anglo-Australian actor Guy Pearce playing evil scientist Aldrich Killian, who has developed a fluid that can turn people into superhuman mutants. "These movies are only ever as good as their bad guys," said

Downey Jr, paying tribute to his co-stars -who in turn heaped praise on the US star actor, who makes fun of his past problems with drugs and the law. "The truth is that these movies work because Robert has a really big picture creative mind about what these movies should feel like," said Paltrow.

"He is always asking... how can we make it feel like something we care about, and we want to watch. So I think... that's why the movies keep working, and they're not a weaker carbon copy of the one before." Box office analyst Bock noted that in China, "Iron Man 3" made $21.5 million in just one day, a record he said -- compared to $18 million taken by "The

Avengers" there over two days last summer. "In fact, 'Iron Man 3,' straight out of the gate, may be the top movie of the summer," he said, adding that it was "definitely playing like a pseudo-sequel to" last year's "The Avengers." So will there be an "Iron Man 4?" "We never could have known what and who was going to come together for the third Iron Man. Usually, the third of anything struggles to even meet the first two, let alone the first one," said Downey Jr. "So in all earnestness, things are very much in flux right now. Marvel has their plans and we're all living and growing, so we'll see what happens," he added. "The future, as usual, is uncertain."

Margaret thatcher: The authorised biography, Volume One: Not for Turning by Charles Moore (book review) COURTESY THE GUARDIAN Charles Moore's authorised life of Thatcher is clear-eyed and rich in telling detail.

It is a tricky deal being an authorised biographer. Charles Moore's big advantage over those who have previously tackled Margaret Thatcher is that he has been provided with material denied to them. Of the arrangement that he was offered by his subject, he writes: "I would have full access to herself… and to her papers. She would assist all my requests for interviews with others, including access to members of her family." With her support, the Cabinet Office was persuaded to allow him to truffle among all the government papers of her time in power, including those documents subject to the 30-year rule.

The potential trap is that the writer will become imprisoned both by the weight of material and a sense of obligation to the person who unlocked it. A further challenge confronting Moore, one of Britain's most prominent Conservative journalists, was to rise above his own sympathies for her politics, candidly acknowledged in the preface and often expressed on television since her death, and to remain clear-eyed about his subject.

In this, the first of two intended volumes, he generally, and often superbly, overcomes those hurdles. He mines his sources skilfully without becoming their captive. His prose is more considered and his conclusions more nuanced than his partisan journalism. He is not afraid to address the contradictions and tease out the inconsistencies of his subject. Nor to be critical, sometimes deeply so. The result is to paint a much more multidimensional portrait of Thatcher than the caricature heroine adored by the right or the devil incarnate loathed by the left.

Her early life is illuminated in much greater detail than before. Moore had the great good fortune to come by a treasure trove of more than 150 candid private letters between Margaret Hilda and her older sister, Muriel. We discover a much more sexual creature than earlier biographers

have supposed, one acutely aware of her femininity, with a pre-Denis love life which was complicated and completely ignored in her own memoirs. One boyfriend was passed on to Muriel and went on to become the sister's husband. We also learn that her marriage to Denis was not as blissful as it is usually depicted. He suffered a nervous breakdown in the 1960s which some of their friends believed was triggered, at least in part, by his wife's obsession with her burgeoning political career. He may even have contemplated divorce. He disappeared to South Africa and for a while it was uncertain whether he would ever return. Her ravenous and lifelong appetite for facts and arguments contrasts with her much slighter interest in personalities. A niece is quoted: "The Robertses are not very good at feelings."

That lack of emotional intelligence was one of the flaws that eventually provoked key members of her cabinet to regicidal revolt.

Moore is a patrician Old Etonian and a High Tory. So another of his challenges is to make the empathetic leap necessary to get inside the head of a grammar school girl who was born over a shop in Grantham. He makes a decent stab at it, but can't always resist lapsing into pedantic snobbery. Quoting letters in which she writes "he and I", he adds a lordly "[sic]" to tell the reader that he knows, as the young Thatcher did not, that this is not strict grammar. One is therefore very surprised to find this old stickler for the English language using spellings that many consider vulgarly American: "realized" for "realised", "organize" for "organise", "privatization" for "privatisation". Motes and beams, Charles.

I quarrel with some of his judgments. He gives too little attention to the inner-city rioting, mass unemployment and savage deindustrialisation that disfigured her first term and is generally thin on the wider context in which she operated.

He takes the conventional view about the Falklands war, the triumphant note on which this volume ends. Writing "she had indeed proved herself to be the Iron Lady", he implies that no other prime minister would have had the audacity

to send the taskforce to the south Atlantic. The truth is, she had little choice. The alternative would have been her resignation. To be fair, he is balanced enough to also note why the Falkands sowed the seeds of hubris. "In her mind, it helped to create the dangerous idea that she acted best when she acted alone."

The prose is intricate, elegant and laced with dry humour. The rather obvious title – taken from her self-mythologising speech to the 1980 Tory party conference – is actually deceptive. Unlike some of her eulogists, who write as if her reign was almost divinely ordained, Moore rightly suggests that it was in many ways a fluke. She surprised nearly everyone when she supplanted Ted Heath as Tory leader. If Jim Callaghan, another of the men who fatally underestimated her, had not funked calling an election in the autumn of 1978, before the winter of discontent destroyed his authority, she might well have fought just one election and lost it and there would never have been such a thing as Thatcherism. Moore places appropriate emphasis on her ideological zigzags on the way to the top and her insecurities once she got there, including the capitulation to the miners in 1981 because she was not yet ready for battle.

When IRA prisoners at the Maze went on hunger strike, she privately admired their courage. "You have to hand it to some of these IRA boys" is a brilliantly revelatory quote.

While insisting in public that she would never negotiate with terrorists, secretly her government did just that. Moore is also capable of some piercing criticism of aspects of her record. Writing of the sale of council houses to their tenants, the signature policy still regarded by most Tories as a stroke of genius, he blames it for "the gradual build-up of a housing shortage which, in 1979, had not existed".

This biography will not radically transform anyone's fundamental view of Margaret Thatcher, but it immensely adds to our knowledge and understanding of the longest-reigning prime minister of the democratic age.

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God gives the nuts, but he does not crack them. –Franz Kafka

artS Sunday, 5 May, 2013

STAr WArS dAy: May the fourth be with you!

NEWS DESK May 4th is a special day for fans of the Star Wars franchise. Over the years, celebrations of Star Wars day have gained audiences and a structure. For instance, in 2011 and 2012 has been organised the Intergalactic Star Wars Day in Toronto. It had trivia games, a costume contest and projections of short movies about the Star Wars universe. The proceeds of the event were given to charity. Unfortunately, there is no event this year. To counter the celebrations, the Star Wars’ official Youtube page has released a Public Service Announcement video jokingly entitled “Say No to May the 4th“.

Styled as a vicious attack ad, the video criticizes celebrators and the Force, respectively dubbed “traitors to the empire” and a phenomenon “used for mind control, levitations of deadly weapons and haunting of the living.”

‘GrEAT GATSby’

premiere shines with diCaprio, Jay-z on the red carpet NEWS DESK Wednesday's premiere of The Great Gatsby in New York drew so many celebrities that even Jennifer Lawrence found herself feeling starstruck. After walking the red carpet, the actress nearly fell over herself trying to catch a glimpse of the film's executive producer, Jay-Z. "Oh my God, there's Jay-Z," the Oscar winner enthused, while a group of VIPs including Gatsby star Leonardo DiCaprio and Sacha Baron Cohen converged in a VIP area outside Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. As for director Baz Luhrmann, he is more impressed by Jay-Z's work ethic than his fame. "He was an amazing collaborator," Luhrmann gushed of the hip-hop mogul who is making inroads in Hollywood with Gatsby and an upcoming Annie remake.

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My ChEMiSTry WiTh kArEENA GoES A biT flAT oN SCrEEN: SAif NEWS DESK

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HEN two Bollywood stars tie the knot, there's increasing speculation about them being seen together on screen. But Saif Ali Khan, who's paired up with Ilean D'Cruz for his next film, isn't too keen to appear with his wife of six months in movies.

"It's something that happens to me when I'm working with her, I'm not as interesting on screen," admits Saif, "I become like how I am when I am with her, which is not interesting. Normally, an actor is competitive, and that makes for good chemistry on screen. The chemistry goes a bit flat when you're too comfortable." The last

time Kareena and Saif came together for a film was in 2009, for Kurbaan. Before that, they were seen in Tashan, but their first film together was JP Dutta's LOC: Kargil. Now, however, Saif and Kareena are maintaining a studied approach towards working together.

Or let's say not working together.

It's not like they aren't offers for endorsements, especially after they wed, but they are not interested.

"It's really difficult to maintain your identity as an individual when you're in a relationship like ours.

People are constantly asking you about your relationship. You're promoting your film and someone asks you about the relationship and that answer is made into the headline.

The way around it is the way Ameri-

cans do it. Daniel Craig is married to Rachel Weisz, you won't even know, he doesn't talk about her, he's not seen with her except for in some private function. And they're both known for the work they do. Even a brand endorsement for us as a couple, we don't want to do it because we don't want to be projected like that, we want to be projected as individuals, who have a personal connection with each other. But in the public, the less you see us together, the better," says Saif.

bulleh Shah – Tu Nahion, Main Naaheen ULLEH Shah (1680-1757) was a Punjabi poet hailing from Kasur. He was educated under Shah Inayat, but rejected his scholarly education and elite family status, instead choosing to roam the streets dancing and singing his kafis for the populace. His poetry covers many themes, including love, Sufism, and social rebellion.

b

Tu nahion, main naaheen, vay sajnaa Without you, I am not, my beloved Kholay de parchawayn waangon, ghoom rahaan mann maanheen Like a shadow amidst ruins, my heart wanders Jaan bolaan toon naalay bolain, chup rahwaan mann naaheen When I speak, you speak inside me and my heart can’t be silenced Jaan sowan toon nalay sowayn, jay turaan toon raaheen When I sleep you sleep with me, when I walk, you’re the path Bullah, shoh ghar mere aaya, jinndree ghol ghumayeen O Bullah, the Beloved visited me, and I tossed away my existence in his name Tu nahion, mein naaheen, main naaheen, vay sajnaa Without you, I am not, my Beloved.

TRANSLATEd By SARA KAzmI

aamir khan plans to shift home NEWS DESK Bandra may lose one of its stars to SoBo. Now that he has a growing baby, Aamir Khan has been planning to shift to a bigger house. With the deals in and around Bandra not working out to his liking, the actor is focused on Parel and Worli.

According to sources, the actor is looking at a 5 BHK pent house or duplex ideally in SoBo and his staff is in talks with various builders. He may also buy an entire floor and convert two penthouses into one.

Aamir currently owns two flats in Bandra west. While, he and Kiran live in a 3 BHK apartment in Marina, his brother stays at a 2 BHK flat in Bella Vista. "He needs more space and ideally would have liked to stay on in Bandra. He was looking for a penthouse in one of the high-rises in the area but the deals fell through," a source told us adding: "Since, a twomonth search has not yielded a property of his choice, he has decided to shift focus towards SoBo, and is now

considering Lower Parel or Upper Worli. However, it will take some time to finalise the deal."

Interestingly, a source close to the developments had a slightly different story: "For the past four-five months Aamir has been scanning various properties. And now it seems he has finally found a place that he likes.

Only his wife, agent and few close friends know the location."

Even after the deal is signed, it would take Aamir some time to pack all his belongings and memories — including an archive of rare family photos, vintage film costumes, innumerable awards and fan letters among other things, from the house where he has spent the most part of his life. With the actor busy shooting for Dhoom 3, it will be up to Kiran to oversee the shifting process.

Interestingly, both Salman and Aamir, who have been living in the apartments they grew up in, are shifting homes. Salman is reportedly acquiring an entire building in Bandra west.

Salman khan’s NGo comes to aid of drought-hit Maha districts NEWS DESK Bollywood star Salman Khan's 'Being Human' foundation has come forward to offer help in the drought-hit Marathwada region of Maharashtra. The foundation will provide 2,500 water tankers with a storage capacity of 2,000 litres each to the drought affected districts of Marathwada from May 6 to 31, according to an e-mail received recently by the Aurangabad Divisional Commissioner from Salman's 'Being Human' Foundation. Beed Residential District Collector B M Kamble said they had also received a mail regarding this from the divisional commissioner yesterday. "We have received an e-mail that Beed district will get 750 water tanks from 'Being Human' foundation. We have informed the Divisional Commissioner for distribution of these tanks," Kamble said. Per the e-mail, the NGO would supply 750 water tankers to Beed, 500 each to Osmanabad and Jalna, and 250 each to Aurangabad and Nanded. People of the Marathwada region have been facing acute water scarcity caused by uneven distribution of rainfall in the state.

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infotainment Sunday, 5 May, 2013

GooGlE rECoGNiSES ‘PAlESTiNE’ oN SEArCh ENGiNE hoMEPAGE

Google has recognised the Palestinians’ upgraded UN status, placing the name “Palestine” on its search engine instead of “ Palestinian Territories,” a company spokesman said on Friday.

The domain name www.google.ps, Google’s search engine for the territories, now brings up a homepage with “Palestine” written underneath the Google logo. The change took effect on Wednesday, Google spokesman Nathan Tyler said in a statement. “We’re changing the name ‘Palestinian Territories’ to ‘Palestine’ across our products. We consult a number of sources and authorities when naming countries. In this case, we are following the lead of the UN... and other international organisations,” he said. The UN General Assembly in November upgraded Palestine to the status of non-member observer state by a vote of 138 votes in favour, nine against and 41 abstentions.

Palestinian authorities have since begun to use the “State of Palestine” in diplomatic correspondence and issued official stamps for the purpose. Israel questioned Google’s decision. “This change raises questions about the reasons behind this surprising involvement of what is basically a private Internet company in international politics -and on the controversial side,” foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told AFP. NEWS dESK

STudy fiNdS CArCiNoGENS iN liPSTiCk A new study of 32 popular lipsticks and lip glosses uncovered nine metals including lead, aluminum, chromium, and cadmium, some at levels that could be toxic, researchers say. The UC Berkeley study found that, in particular, average lipstick users (who apply lipstick an average of 2.3 times a day and are estimated to ingest 24 milligrams of lipstick per day) could be in danger of overexposure to chromium, a carcinogen that has been linked to stomach tumors. For heavy users (who apply as often as 14 times daily), some lipsticks could also result in an excessive exposure to aluminum, cadmium, and manganese, USA Today reports. Though lead was found in 24 of the products tested, it “is not the metal of most concern,” says a study co-author, because in no case did the level exceed the acceptable daily intake. Two takeaways from the study: The FDA needs to “wake up and pay attention,” the co-author says, and heavy lipstick users should perhaps “use it less.” NEWS dESK

Humor is the first of the gifts to perish in a foreign tongue. –Virginia Woolf

NASA invites public to send names and messages to Mars

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NEWS DESK

ASA is inviting members of the public to submit their names and a personal message online for a DVD to be carried aboard a spacecraft that will study the Martian upper atmosphere.

The DVD will be in NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft, which is scheduled for launch in November. The DVD is part of the mission’s Going to Mars Campaign coordinated at the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (CU/LASP). The DVD will carry every name submitted. The public also is encouraged to submit a message in the form of a three-line poem, or haiku. However, only three haikus will be selected. The deadline for all submissions is July 1. An online public vote to determine the top three messages to be placed on the DVD will begin July 15.

“The Going to Mars campaign offers people worldwide a way to make a personal connection to space, space exploration, and science in general, and share in our excitement about the MAVEN mission,” said Stephanie Renfrow, lead for the MAVEN Education and Public Outreach program at CU/LASP.

Participants who submit their names to the Going to Mars campaign will be able to print a certificate of appreciation to document their involvement with the MAVEN mission. “This new campaign is a great opportunity to reach the next generation of explorers and excite them about science, technology, engineering and math,” said Bruce Jakosky, MAVEN principal investigator from

CU/LASP. “I look forward to sharing our science with the worldwide community as MAVEN begins to piece together what happened to the Red Planet’s atmosphere.”

MAVEN is the first spacecraft devoted to exploring and understanding the Martian upper atmosphere. The spacecraft will investigate how the loss of Mars’ atmosphere to space determined the history of water on the surface.

“This mission will continue NASA’s rich history of inspiring and engaging the public in spaceflight in ongoing Mars exploration,” said David Mitchell, MAVEN project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. MAVEN’s principal investigator is based at the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. The university will provide science operations, science instruments and lead Education and Public Outreach. Goddard manages the project and provides two of the science instruments for the mission. Lockheed Martin of Littleton, Colo., built the spacecraft and is responsible for mission operations. The University of California at Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory provides science instruments for the mission. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., provides navigation support, the Deep Space Network and the Electra telecommunications relay hardware and operations.

Robotic insect: World’s smallest flying robot takes off NEWS DESK NASA is inviting members of the public to submit their names and a personal message online for a DVD to be carried aboard a spacecraft that will study the Martian upper atmosphere. Scientists in the US have created a robot the size of a fly that is able to perform the agile manoeuvres of the ubiquitous insects. This “robo-fly”, built from carbon fibre, weighs a fraction of a gram and has super-fast electronic “muscles” to power its wings. Its Harvard University developers say tiny robots like theirs may eventually be used in rescue operations. It could, for example, navigate through tiny spaces in collapsed buildings. The development is reported in the journal Science. Dr Kevin Ma from Harvard University and his team, led by Dr Robert Wood, say they have made the world’s smallest flying robot. It also has the fly-like agility that allows the insects to evade even the swiftest of human efforts to swat them.

This comes largely from very precise wing movements. By constantly adjusting the effect of lift and thrust acting on its body at an incredibly high speed, the insect’s (and the robot’s) wings enable it to hover, or to perform sudden evasive manoeuvres. And just like a real fly, the robot’s thin, flexible wings beat approximately 120 times every second. The researchers achieved this wing speed

with special substance called piezoelectric material, which contracts every time a voltage is applied to it.

By very rapidly switching the voltage on and off, the scientists were able to make this material behave like just like the tiny muscles that makes a fly’s wings beat so fast.

“We get it to contract and relax, like biological muscle,” said Dr Ma. The main goal of this research was to understand how insect flight works, rather than to build a useful robot. He added though that there could be many uses for such a diminutive flying vehicle.

“We could envision these robots being used for search-and-rescue operations to search for human survivors under collapsed buildings or [in] other hazardous environments,” he said. “They [could] be used for environmental monitoring, to be dispersed into a habitat to sense trace chemicals or other factors.

Dr Ma even suggested that the robots could behave like many real insects and assist with the pollination of crops, “to function as the now-struggling honeybee populations do in supporting agriculture around the world”.

The current model of robo-fly is tethered to a small, offboard power source but Dr Ma says the next step will be to miniaturise the other bits of technology that will be needed to create a “fully wireless flying robot”. “It will be a few more years before full integration is possible,” he said.

biologist discovers new meat-eating dinosaur in china NEWS DESK A George Washington University biologist has discovered a new meat-eating dinosaur in northwestern China. James Clark, the Ronald B. Weintraub Professor of Biology, located the fossil remains in an out-of-the-way region of Xinjiang in China in 2006. The new dinosaur specimen is said to be just over three feet long and l i k e l y weighed a p prox-

imately three pounds. According to Clark, the only part of the new meat-eating dinosaur that was visible on the surface was a small part of the leg. The biologists were pleased to also unearth a skull hidden in the rock. The new dinosaur specimen is called Aorun zhaoi, which is a reference to the Dragon King in the Chinese tale Journey to the West. Though the fossil is small, the biologists point out that this particular dinosaur died when it was young. Jonah Choiniere, Clark’s former doctoral student, said that microscopic details of the dinosaur’s bones revealed that it was approximately a year old when it passed away. Choiniere is now a senior researcher at the Evolutionary Studies Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. According to the biologists, the new meat-eating dinosaur lived more than 161 million years ago during the first part of the Late Jurassic Period. Aorun likely hunted lizards and tiny relatives of today’s mammals and crocodilians.

CoMiNG SooN: A cure for gray hair?

Researchers are working on a true anti-graying cream that could make people produce their own youthful colors again. So far, it’s worked in just a few people who have lost pigment in their hair and skin not from age, but from a condition called vitiligo. Because the cause of vitiligo pigment loss is the same as one possible cause of graying in old age, however, the prototype cream might be a step toward a real anti-graying cream. (But what would we do without those Just For Men commercials?) The cream worked in just five people in a preliminary study, so it’s likely a long way from becoming a commercial product. If it does turn out to work in more people, it could be a great thing for those who have vitiligo, most of whom live with the condition for the rest of their lives. As for other graying folks, it would be the first anti-graying product that actually addresses the root of the problem instead of just hiding gray hair, Gerald Weissmann, editor-in-chief of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Journal, said in a press release. The FASEB Journal published a paper about the cream this week. The European researchers found some of the changes in what proteins vitiligo patients make compared to people without vitiligo. They also found that a couple different chemicals accumulate in vitiligo-affected skin: peroxynitrite and hydrogen peroxide (Yep, the same stuff that’s often used in bleach). NEWS dESK

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SportS Sunday, 5 May, 2013

Sl mull over recalling out-of-form iPl players

SPORTS DESK Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) will hold a meeting next week to decide whether it should make a request to the BCCI to release some of the under-performing Sri Lankan cricketers in the ongoing IPL so that they can partake in preparations for the Champions trophy. Nine of the ten Sri Lankan players playing in the IPL are part of Sri Lanka's 15-member squad for the Champions trophy. "We have been discussing this issue recently but have not taken a firm decision," Nishantha Ranatunga, the SLC secretary, said. Sri Lanka have arranged a limited-overs triangular tournament at Pallekele as preparation for the Champions trophy in England. The three teams in the preparatory tournament, Sri Lanka Rest (team selected for England), SLC Combined XI and Sri Lanka 'A', are due to play a total of seven fifty-over matches from May 12 to 20.

I don’t want to sound politically incorrect but what will they do if I enter? Shoot me?. –Shah Rukh Khan

Pakistan cricket team camp starts in Abbottabad LAHORE

Irfan, Saeed Ajmal and Junaid Khan - also spent time working on their batting with help from assistant coach Shahid Aslam.

Ajmal, who is expected to play a significant role with the ball, showed he has worked on his batting with a couple of eye-catching shots - a back-foot cut and a slog over midwicket. Asad Shafiq, who scored four consecutive half-centuries recently in the President's cup one day tournament, had an extended batting session for two hours. In the absence of Younis Khan, Shafiq will shoulder extra responsibility in the Pakistan middle order. "I have batted on a track that helped both bowlers and batsmen, a pitch similar to what we are (expecting) to get in England," Shafiq said after the session.

"My confidence is already up after playing in South Africa. I am trying to avoid being complacent and maintain my rhythm from these training sessions."

"My plan is to bat for big runs as I know the responsibility in his [Younis] absence has gone up. As a team, we understand how important it is to score runs to support our bowlers, as our group is a tough one. It's in our minds that we have to be ready and have to give our hundred per cent to winning the opening game." Akram, who arrived today for a two-day visit, cited batting as the key if Pakistan are to succeed. He said that the team's chances in Champions Trophy are 'bright' but batsmen need to contribute regularly. "If our batting clicks, our bowlers will follow it up on a good note," Akram said. "Our strength has been the bowling. Even in my era, we never felt comfortable chasing the target. So our batsmen need to score runs. "The are indeed preparing well, but we need to see how they execute the plans there in the matchesm," he said. "I always deem Pakistan as a favourite for such tournaments and with a proper planning we can beat any team any where."

STAFF REPORT

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HE Pakistan cricket team's 6day training camp began at Abbottabad with all players present. It is being held at the Hill Station to acclimate players to England-like-weather, organisers said.

Coach Dav Whatmore is supervising the camp while legendary Pakistani players Javed Miandad and Wasim Akarm were also present. Pakistan will visit England later this month to play two OneDay International matches each with Ireland and Scotland and then participate in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy in England in June.

On the opening day at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, the team had a two-hour session, spending most of it in physical and fielding drills. The stadium is at an altitude of 1260 metres above sea level, surrounded by hills, and the players wanted to ensure they acclimatised themselves with the conditions first. The forecast suggests that temperature will stay pleasant through the day, but could drop to single figures at night.

"The mood is pretty good here," Dav Whatmore, the Pakistan head coach, told reporters. "We are very keen to extract as much as we can in the six days by training in the conditions, which are similar to where we are going to play much of our cricket in the next two months.

"We decided to come to Abbottabad, with its obviously cooler conditions, as it's very warm in Lahore at the moment. We have also prepared pitches with grass on them to try and simulate conditions like those in England. While one cannot recreate it exactly, this is the best we have." The day started with fielding drills as Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez and Asad Shafiq had a rigorous slipcatching session while rest of the players

went through regular fielding practice.

There wasn't much bowling as the groundstaff worked on preparing the centre pitches for batting practice on Saturday. Except Junaid Khan, all players picked for the Champions Trophy arrived for the camp, while five emerging fast bowlers were also called in to train with the national squad. Junaid, who lives in Swabi, about two hours away from Abbottabad, is expected to join the squad on Saturday. Thirty minutes into the camp, Javed Miandad made an appearance. He said he was there to motivate players and had come on the request of the PCB chairman. One of the sidelights of the day was the race between Nasir Jamshed and Saeed Ajmal. The usual sprinting drill was amusingly converted to a competition between the two, with the 35-year-old Ajmal beating the 23-year-old Jamshed by a big distance, leaving the latter out of breath.

PAKISTAN wANT BATSMEN TO SuPPORT BOwLERS: As the camp training of the Pakistan cricket team rolled into action at Abbottabad, the entire focus is being laid on the improvement in batting as the bowlers of the national order have already been through rigorous training at Karachi under the supervision of Pakistan bowling legend, former captain Wasim Akram.

The Pakistan squad for Champions Trophy spent the second day of their conditioning camp in Abbottabad focusing on their batting, reported Cricinfo. The players had a full-fledged session under the guidance of former players Javed Miandad and Wasim Akram, while the regular coaches, Dav Whatmore and Mohammad Akram, took a backseat. Misbah-ul-Haq, Nasir Jamshed and Umar Amin were batched together for a batting session with Miandad, while the bowlers - Mohammad

( icc champions trophy 2013

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Gambhir, Yuvraj out of India’s squad SPORTS DESK Experienced batsmen Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh were left out of India's 15man squad for the Champions Trophy, the country's cricket board said on Saturday.

Left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan, who last played a 50-over match for India in June 2011, got the nod ahead of Gambhir while wicketkeeper batsman Dinesh Karthik, who can also open the batting, was recalled after almost three years.

The other opener in the squad, Murali Vijay, was a surprise inclusion as the righthander last played an ODI against South Africa in January 2011 and has failed to score a fifty in his 11 matches in the format.

Yuvraj, who made a fairytale comeback last year after battling a rare form of lung cancer, could not find a place in the Indian middle-order with selectors preferring right-handed batsman Rohit Sharma ahead of him. Fast bowler Umesh Yadav returned from his back injury while allrounder Irfan Pathan also got a recall. Offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin and legspinner Amit Mishra were the two specialist slow bowlers in the squad.

India, the reigning 50-over world champions, are in Group B and will play the opening match of the June 6-23 tournament against South Africa in Cardiff.

Pakistan and West Indies are the other teams in the group.

SQUAD: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Dinesh Karthik, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Irfan Pathan, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar

Kumar, Ishant Sharma, R. Vinay Kumar.

VERSATILE KARTHIK READy FOR ANy ROLE: Ever since he burst on to the domestic scene as a teenager more than a decade ago, Dinesh Karthik has been considered as a prodigious talent with the bat. Add to it his skills as a wicketkeeper and exceptional fielder and he becomes an all-round package. But without consistent performances, talent doesn't get you too far.

As a result, it wasn't a surprise when Karthik was dropped from the Indian team after an ordinary outing during the tri-series in Dambulla where he scored 33 runs in five innings against New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

Similarly, after a season in which Karthik was at his consistent best, nobody was surprised when Karthik returned to India's squad for the Champions Trophy, to be played in England from June 6. Even the man himself wasn't surprised. "I am happy about it [selection]. I've been batting well

and it feels good when your efforts are rewarded," Karthik said. He has been in exceptional touch while batting at No. 3 for Mumbai Indians during the IPL - 331 runs in 10 matches at a strike-rate of almost 140 - and it has come at the back of a run-heavy domestic season. In the season-opening Corporate Trophy, he emerged as the highest run-getter with 301 runs from three innings for India Cements. Then in the Ranji Trophy, even though it was a disappointing season for Tamil Nadu, Karthik was by far their top scorer with 577 runs at 64.11.

Then came the domestic one-dayers. And even though Tamil Nadu failed to progress to the all-India knockouts of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Karthik scored at least a fifty in each of his five innings. As a result, despite playing only five games, he finished as the secondhighest run-scorer of the tournament. "All along [these three years], I have been working hard in domestic cricket," he said. "I have been

trying to be as consistent as possible. And it feels good enough to score virtually every time I bat these days." The confidence drawn from such consistency means Karthik wasn't weighed down at the prospect of replacing an ODI stalwart like Yuvraj Singh. Though Karthik hasn't yet been spoken to either by the selectors or team management about his specific role in the team, the squad composition hints that he may well be required to bat in the middle order. And he is up for the challenge. "That is what I have done even

earlier, so I am ready to play any role that the team management expects of me - whether a specialist batsman or a keeper-batsman."

Over the last two years, Karthik has been working with his personal coach Prasanna Agoram, the South African national team's performance analyst. And the efforts have culminated in Karthik being recalled to the national squad, incidentally for a tour to the same country where Karthik made his international debut more than eight years ago.

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Podolski was a little bit rusty (against United) because he had not played a lot, but I believe it is his best position maybe because on the flanks he needs to work so hard and he is more a finisher than anyone else in the team. –Arsene Wenger

PTTf removes ambiguity about selection, other issues LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

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HE Pakistan Table Tennis Federation wants to remove ambiguity and all misunderstandings on the process of team selection and the team’s participation in different international events. An official of the PTTF said: “It is to clear the air and all speculations whereby it is being construed that Pakistan is not

NATioNAl, JuNior kArATE bEGiNS LAHORE

being represented in various international tournaments and players are being deprived of their participation.

“PTTF with its President Riaz Ahmad and Secretary Ahmer Mallick is working in an organized and efficient manner in complete adherence to its constitution and the necessary guidelines issued by Pakistan Sports Board,” said he in a press release.

“The PTTF enjoys full support and confidence of the majority of its affiliated units. And the Pakistan Olympic

Association issued an illegal affiliation to a non-entity comprising of persons which are not at all engaged with table tennis any more without any merits only on account of the fact that PTTF decided to comply with the decisions of the august higher courts of Pakistan and the decision of the Pakistan.

“The ongoing conflict within the POA is well within the knowledge of ITTF, ATTU and all other Table Tennis Sports regulatory authorities. “All top ranking players are aware of the prevailing situation

pakistan name team for asian 5 nations rugby SHARJAH: the Pakistan rugby team busy preparing for the upcoming event during a practice session at Sharjah.

STAFF REPORT

LAHORE STAFF REPORT

The Pakistan rubgy team underwent final selection and training camps at Sharjah for its participation in the upcoming HSBC Asian 5 Nations Championship 2013.

The squad was short listed after a trials and selection process over the past two months. The selection committee consisted of newly-appointed head coach MR Roger Coombs who was well supported by Yahya Bhatti and Anwar ul Haq Zaffar.

PRU President Fawzi Khawaja commented on the selection: “I would

like to thank Coombs and the Selection Committee on their diligent work in selecting the National Team, I have full confidence in their selection.

“The team selected is a combination of experience and youth with a possible 8 new caps who are mostly boys from the University league started last year by PRU. The team also include 5 UK-based players which will add strength to the dquad. The mood of the Team is upbeat and Pakistan is looking towards a win this year.” tHE SquAD: forwards: Aftab Ashraf Qureshi, Ammar Ali Shigri, Arslan Zahid (Captain ), Azmat Khan Niazi, Hammad

( myanmar trauma too serious for no heads to be rolling

Safdar, Khawar Ashraf, Muhammad Ali Khan, Muhammad Babar, Rehan Mansoor, Saqib Murtaza, Syed Xeeshan Rizvi, Taimur Zia Butt, Shahraiz Azmat Malik.

Scrum halves: Muhammad Galib Javed, Shakeel Ahmed Centers/f. backs: Adnan Saeed Niazi, Ahjay Liaqat Hussain, Imad Ali Nasir, Juniad Imtiaz Malik, Khalid Hussain Bhatti, Muhammad Abdullah, Muhammad Manan Naseem, Saad Arif, Umer Islam Butt, Umer Usman.

Head Coach on tour will be Roger Coombs and Manger on tour will be secretary Punjab Rugby Association Khuram Haroon.

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Sunday, 5 May, 2013

Pathan, kallis stroll to big win for kkr

EDEN GARDENS The Kolkata Knight Riders cruised to an eight-wicket triumph over the Rajasthan Royals in their IPL clash on Friday night, as Yusuf Pathan (49 not out) and Jacques Kallis (33 not out) added an undefeated 78 to seal victory at Eden Gardens. The win was so comfortable for the Kolkata outfit that Kallis even tried to nurse Pathan to a first IPL fifty in over three years. But when he clubbed a Brad Hogg full-toss for four, the game was up with 16 balls to spare. Sanju Samson had earlier racked up a solid 40 for the Royals against his former employers, facing 36 balls and hitting two sixes. Shane Watson, who struck a run-a-ball 35, was the only other Rajasthan batsman to make any real impression with the bat. The pair put on 44 for the third wicket, as the Kolkata spinners kept a tight wrap on the run rate. S Senanayake opened the bowling and produced a fine spell of 2-26 in his four overs, while Suresh Narine, the West Indian off-spinner, was at his miserly best, giving away just 20 runs in his spell. Owais Shah clubbed 24 off 22 balls late in the innings, but it wasn't enough as the Royals closed on just 132 for six. Pathan, at his brutal best, smashed three sixes on his way to a 35-ball knock that also included three fours. Kallis, meanwhile, was at his serene best, facing 30 balls and hitting a six and two fours. Earlier, Manvinder Bisla (29) and Gautum Gambhir (12) had chalked up a breezy 41 for the first wicket, to ease any nerves in the Kolkata dug-out. Gambhir was smartly stumped off Watson, before Bisla was caught in the deep off A Chavan. The win was Kolkata's fourth for the season, and kept them just about in the hunt for the playoffs. The Royals, despite the big loss, stay in third place in the standings.

KOLKAtA KNIGHt RIDERS: MS Bisla (wk), G Gambhir (capt), YK Pathan, JH Kallis, EJG Morgan, DB Das, R Bhatia, S Narwal, SMSM Senanayake, Iqbal Abdulla, SP Narine RAJAStHAN ROYALS: R Dravid (capt), AM Rahane, SV Samson, SR Watson, STR Binny, OA Shah, DH Yagnik (wk), AA Chavan, JP Faulkner, GB Hogg, SK Trivedi

(

The 22nd National Karate Championship and National Junior Karate Championship began at Crescent Sports Complex, Faisalabad. At the end of the day, WAPDA is at top while Army is at second position.

On the day three medals competitions were decided with Wapda winning two gold medals while Punjab getting one.

In senior Individual Kata Israrul Haq of WAPDA won gold medal while Sajjad from Army won silver while Saeed Ahmed from Balochistan and Ghulam Ali from Railways got bronze medal. In Team Kata event Israrul Haq, Abdul Khaliq and Ali Waqas of WAPDA won gold medal, Muhammad Arshad, Muhammad Sajjad and Akhter Munir from Army won silver while Railways and Sindh got bronze medal.

In Junior Individual Kata Shahbaz Saleem from Punjab clinched gold medal while Furqan from Balochistan won sliver medal and Muhammad Bashir from Railways and Nehmat Ullah from WAPDA got bronze medal.

Preliminary rounds of all weight categories were completed and finals will be held on Sunday. Closing Ceremony will be held at 4:30 pm and Lt. Gen. Syed Arif Hasan HI (M) will be the chief guest.

and majority of them did not participate in the trials conducted by fake/illegal entity.

“In view of the above, it needs to be understood that no sports team is allowed for foreign participation without permission of Ministry of Interprovincial Coordination and the players, as well as the delegates nominated by the legal and genuine body of table tennis duly recognized by Pakistan Sports Board, Ministry of Interprovincial Coordination, can represent Pakistan in any foreign tour and competition,” he added.

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Some probing questions from the ptF SPORTS THIS WEEK ALI AKBAR

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HE Pakistan Tennis Federation’s appeal against the unprecedented default of the Pakistan Davis Cup team in Burma has been summarily rejected. It is felt that the complete report should be placed on record in the faint hope that we might do some inward looking as opposed to the customary lashing out at one and all: “The ITF’s Davis Cup Committee, at a meeting held on Tuesday, 30 April 2013, denied the appeal by the Pakistan Tennis Federation against the decision of the ITF referee at the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Asia/Oceania Zone Group II tie between Pakistan and New Zealand in Yangon, Myanmar on 5-7 April. The referee awarded the tie to New Zealand due to an unplayable grass court. It was the view of the Committee that the Pakistan Tennis Federation did not organise the tie to the required standards, notably with regard to the quality of the two available courts.

Pakistan was given special approval by the Committee in March to play the tie on a neutral ground as the home nation. The Committee noted that the poor quality of the original match court led the referee to

designate the practice court as the match court. Following the deterioration of the second court, specifically during the second match, the referee determined that this court was now unplayable and a risk to player safety. The referee also deemed that the court would not become playable in the next 24 hours due to its poor condition, and awarded the tie to New Zealand. The Committee cited Regulation 44(d) of the ITF Davis Cup Regulations which states that “the referee may call off a tie and award the victory to the visiting nation if the home nation fails to provide a playable court as per Regulation 38”; and Regulation 44(e) which states that “the decision of the referee is final”.

Regulation 38 refers to the surface of the courts and playing conditions. As per the Davis Cup Regulations, the Pakistan Tennis Federation has the right to appeal the decision of the Davis Cup Committee to the ITF Board of Directors. The Davis Cup Committee is chaired by ITF Executive Vice President Juan Margets (ESP) and also comprises Armando Cervone (ARG), Guy Forget (FRA – observer), Tom Gorman (USA), Geoff Pollard (AUS), Charles Trippe (GBR) and Slobodan Zivojinovic (SRB).”

There has been the usual aggressive

response from PTF about fighting the case to the very end. They would be well advised to refrain from embarrassing the nation any further. A little, nay, a lot of introspection is in order. This scribe has been inundated by calls from former national champions, Davis Cup players and tennis lovers, who feel spectacularly let down by the shenanigans of the usual suspects who have hijacked tennis from right under the noses of their bosses.

These people, almost unanimously, feel that with the PTF president away on posting in Sudan, the decision making of PTF has been left in the hands of people who have a vested interest. They feel that people, who are making money through umpiring, should not be allowed to form opinion because everything would be manoeuvred to favour their interests. tHE quEStIONS tHAt BEG tO BE ASKED ARE: 1. Who is in charge at PTF? 2. Are those calling the shots tennis players and have enough experience to take decisions?

3. Who took the decision to host the tie in Myanmar? Was it the coach of a player as is claimed by the former players?

4. Was there a vested interest for

someone in holding the tie in Myanmar, where a certain coach was director of tennis and had been tasked with bringing Davis Cup matches to the country? Interestingly, the scheduled Group 3 ties to be held in Myanmar have since been cancelled.

5. The two people who were sent to prepare for the tie, were they paid by PTF? 6. Did they also umpire for the ITF during the tie?

7. Since they did such a terrible job of preparation and (if) they received money for umpiring, why have they not refunded their ticket and expense money?

8. Should these White Badge umpires not be taken to task for their conflict of interest and incompetence?

9. Why is the PTF treasurer still in office, in total disregard of the National Sports Policy?

10. Is the selection and assets disbursement process of the PTF for the upcoming players fair and equitable?

The affairs in Pakistan tennis have arrived at crisis levels, these former players feel. They feel that matters cannot be left in the hands of people whose amateurish and opportunistic handling of

affairs has brought international shame and ignominy on our country. They feel strongly, that a committee be formed, consisting of former players with a proven record, through whom decisions of the PTF may be channeled. This advisory Committee would report directly to the president. The first report would be that of the Myanmar debacle.

Forming this committee would take the monkey off the PTF leadership’s back and would also allow for a more democratic way of running things rather than through a clique of vested interests.

The PTF president would be deflecting criticism that continues to come his way in his absence. This could only be good for tennis.

There are plenty of former players with decades of experience who would do an excellent job for PTF. The names are no secret. Whether the PTF does some inward thinking and change its management methods is up to the president. Good can come in the aftermath of the Myanmar trauma. But the PTF has to refrain from lashing out at critics and the ITF and learn from their mistakes. The culprits should be identified and if deserving of punishment, should be fired. This affair is too serious for no heads to be rolling.

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The greens were a lot faster today [Friday] than they happened to be yesterday [Thursday] afternoon. –Rory McIlroy

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Tennis heavyweights return to Madrid MADRID

AGENCIES

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OVAK Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer appear at the same claycourt event for the first time this season with the Madrid Masters a key test just three weeks out from the French Open. The tournament returns to traditional red clay after a controversial experiment with blue clay in 2012. The surface drew strong criticism from Nadal and Djokovic who threatened not to return to play in the Spanish capital if it wasn't changed.

However, ATP president Brad Drewett outlawed the use of blue clay and so seven-time French Open winner Nadal and world No 1 Djokovic will return for another potentially fascinating clash. Djokovic ended Nadal's eightyear reign as champion in Monte Carlo in the last Masters event a fortnight ago with such a devastating display that the Serb is now hotly tipped to become just the eighth man to complete the career Grand Slam and claim his first French

unseeded brands stuns Tipsarevic in Munich Open title at Roland Garros. Nadal bounced back to claim an eighth title at the Barcelona Open last week without dropping a set, but with Djokovic, Federer and Andy Murray all set to be in the draw this week, Nadal faces a much sterner test to lift his third title in Madrid.

Federer seemed to be the least concerned amongst the furore over the surface last year as in typically serene style he won the tournament for a record

ferrer downs hanescu to reach semis in oeiras OEIRAS: David Ferrer moved closer to his fifth ATP final of the season as he eased into the last four of the ATP Portugal Open in Oeiras with a straightsets win over Victor Hanescu. Spaniard Ferrer, who has already lifted titles in Auckland and Buenos Aires so far in 2013, did not have it all his own way against his Romanian opponent but eventually prevailed 6-4 7-6 (7/2) in one hour and 40 minutes. Next up for the top seed is Italian Andreas Seppi, who has yet to win in four meetings with Ferrer. Seppi, the third seed, prevented an all-Spanish semi-final with a 6-4 6-3 victory over eighth seed Tommy Robredo, the 2005 runner-up here. It was a better day for another Spaniard, though, as qualifier Pablo Carreno-Busta continued his impressive run with an upset victory over fourth seed Fabio Fognini. Carreno-Busta, who beat fifth-seeded Julien Benneteau in the opening round, battled back from a set down to beat his Italian opponent 3-6 6-4 6-4 and claim his maiden appearance in the last four of an ATP tournament.

Carreno-Busta's victory prevented the semi-final spots being filled by all of the top four seeds as his next opponent, number two Stanislas Wawrinka, also progressed through. The Swiss, whose only final appearance so far this year saw him beaten by Ferrer in Buenos Aires, brushed aside Portugal's Gastao Elias 6-4 6-4. Wawrinka said on www.atpworldtour.com: "I feel good and I am really happy to be in the semi-finals again. "I am confident in my form this year. It is better than last season. I hope I can get some more big results." In the women's event, Saturday's final will be contested between third seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and number four Carla Suarez-Navarro. Pavlyuchenkova had looked to be heading for the exit door after losing the first set to love against in-form Swiss Romina Oprandi but the Russian battled back for a 06 6-3 6-1 triumph.

AGENCIES

third time and he told the tournament's official magazine that he loves coming to Madrid, despite the home fans' obvious affection for his long-time rival Nadal. “I enjoy playing in Madrid. They put up a great event, there is always a fantastic atmosphere when I play.

Spanish people love tennis, Rafa is such a hero in Spain but I feel like they appreciate me and the other top players a lot as well and that is great,” said the

world number two. Federer will return to action for the first time since losing to Nadal on the hard courts of Indian Wells back at the beginning of March as he took the availability of Monte Carlo being the only optional Masters event for the top players to continue training in Switzerland. Murray will also look to get his clay court season up and running after a disappointing early exit to Stanislas Wawrinka in Monte Carlo.

pavlyuchenkova reaches final in portugal

OEIRAS AGENCIES

Third seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova fought back from a first-set whitewash to beat unseeded Romina Oprandi prevail 06, 6-3, 6-1 on Friday to reach the

women's final of the ATP/WTA Portugal Open. The 19th-ranked Russian winner will bid for her second trophy this season after Monterrey, when she plays fourth seed and 2012 finalist Carla Suarez Navarro, who beat Estonian defending champion Kaia Kanepi 6-4, 6-1 in 66 minutes.

Pavlyuchenkova had few early answers for Oprandi's blistering claycourt game in the quick opening set on a sunny spring day after a week of cold. But once she hit her stride, the seed began to dominate as the initial flush of success faded for the 53rd-ranked challenger, playing only the third WTA semi-final of her career. Oprandi saved match points as Pavlyuchenkova tried to serve out for victory, losing serve in the process for 6-1 in final set. But a game later it was all over when she broke back.

Oprandi came to the court after beating Russia's French and US Open winner Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarter-finals at the Estadio Nacional. Her previous best showings were WTA semi-finals in Palermo in 2010, and 's-Hertogenbosch a year later. She will return to the ranking top 50 after dealing with injury in 2012. Victory in Saturday's final would make Pavlyuchenkova the second Russian champion here after Maria Kirilenko five years ago.

muNICH: Top seed Janko Tipsarevic saw his bid for glory at the BMW Open in Munich end on Friday as he was knocked out in the quarter-finals by unseeded German Daniel Brands. Tipsarevic was seeking his second title of the year but the Serbian came unstuck against world number 69 Brands, who progressed through 6-3 4-6 6-4 in a match that lasted one hour and 37 minutes. Brands will now face defending champion and compatriot Philipp Kohlschreiber, who also got the better of a Serbian opponent as the fourth seed saw off Viktor Troicki 6-3 7-6 (7/3).

Three of the four semi-final spots were claimed

by Germans with third seed Tommy Haas also progressing through with a 6-4 6-1 victory over his countryman Florian Mayer, the sixth seed here. Standing in the way of world number 14 Haas and the possibility of a home winner is Ivan Dodig, who added fifth seed Alexandr Dolgopolov to his impressive list of notable scalps this week. AGENCIES

Atlas reaches 17th Asian Individual Squash final LAHORE: Aamir Atlas made his way to the final of FMC 17th Asian Individual Squash Championship, 2013 by defeating M Asyraf Azan in the semi-finals at Mushaf Squash Complex, Islamabad on Saturday.

In the final he will face Abdullah Al Mezayan of Kuwait who beat Farhan Mehboob in the other semi-final.

In the ladies category, Low Wee Wern of Malaysia will take on Annie Au Hong Kong in the final.

RESuLtS: mEN’S SEmI fINAL: Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) Beat Muhammad Asyref Azan (11/5,11/6,11/6(3-0))(30 min) Abdullah Al Mezayan (KUW) Beat Farhan Mehboob (PAK)(11/8,11/3,14/2(3-0))(45 min) WOmEN’S SEmI fINAL: Low Wee Wern (MAS) beat Joey Chan(HKG) (11/7,4/11,11/4,11/9(3-1))(48 min) Annie Au (HKG) Beat Delia Arnold (MAS)(9/11,11/6,12/10,11/9(3-1)) (54 min). STAFF REPORT

wawrinka battles into last eight in portugal OEIRAS AGENCIES

Second seed Stanislas Wawrinka advanced to the quarter-finals of the Portugal Open with a hard-fought victory over Spain's Albert Ramos in Oeiras on Thursday.

Ramos shocked the Swiss with a stunning first set but Wawrinka recovered to claim a 1-6 6-3 6-4 triumph and set up a last-eight meeting with Gastao Elias. Portuguese wild card Elias, 22, overcame Denis Istomin 3-6 6-1 6-4 to reach his first ATP quarter-final. Spain's Tommy Robredo also advanced, thanks to a straight-sets win over Robin Haase. The Dutchman was broken

twice in each set as Robredo eased to a 6-4 6-4 victory.

Third seed Andreas Seppi of Italy will be the next test for the Spaniard after he toppled Alejandro Falla 6-4 6-0.

In the women's draw, third seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova advanced to the semi-finals after a battling win over Elena Vesnina. It looked to be plain sailing for the world number 19 after she secured the opening set 6-3 but her fellow Russian was not giving up and took the second on a tie-break.

The third also went to a decider but this time Pavlyuchenkova was to get the upper hand to close out a 6-3 6-7 (3/7) 7-6 (7/3) win. She will face Romina Oprandi next after the Swiss shocked former

US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. Kuznetsova has slipped to 45 in the world and Oprandi made short work of her more illustrious opponent

as she clinched to a 6-2 6-2 victory. The other semi-final will be between defending champion Kaia Kanepi and Carla Suarez Navarro after

both claimed straight-sets wins on Thursday. Suarez Navarro was a 6-2 6-4 winner against Monica Puig while Kanepi saw off Ayumi Morita 6-4 6-3.

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I remember when my late brother Bruce was young, he was just an ordinary kid. He was always full of energy, full of life and you can say that he was borderline hyperactive. –Robert Lee

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Sunday, 5 May, 2013

wAtCh It LIve GEO SUPER Royals v Warriors

07:30 PM

ESPN Motor Cycle Racing Qualifying

02:30 PM

STAR SPORTS Barclays League: Manchester United vs. Chelsea

08:25 PM

local newS

Waah karigar beat okara in Veteran Cricket LAHORE: Waah Karigar beat Okara Veteran by 8 wickets and qualified for the regiobnal semi-final of the 15th National Senior Cricket Cup. Playing at the Racecourse park cricket ground, Okara Veterans batting first were 181 all out 29.5 overs. Rao Nadeem 42, Asif Mehmood 29, Adnan Amjad 28 & Farzand Ali 21 runs. Amir Ali bowling well 5/21, Muhammad Pervaiz 2/37, Muhammad Mujtaba 1/38, Asif Iqbal 1/32 & Aftab Ahmad 1/19 wickets. In reply Waah Karigar 182/2 after 27.1 overs. Usman Tahir 72, Amir Ali 24 & Muhammad Pervaiz 68 runs not out.

Okara Veteran bowling Farzand Ali 1/35 & Afzal Haq 1/5 wickets. Qaisar Waheed, Muhammad Asif Umpire, Khalid Niazi Match Referee, Muhammad Arif was the scorer. STAFF REPORT

Sir Syed Girls School win Net Effect Netball Jutanugarn clings on to lead in Virginia vIRGINIA: Thai teenager Ariya Jutanugarn found the going much tougher on day two of the Kingsmill Championship but managed to cling on to a one-shot lead in Virginia. The 17-year-old used a blistering start to sign for an opening round of 64 on Thursday, good for a two-shot lead. On Friday, however, she cancelled out three birdies on the opening nine with three bogeys coming back for a par 71.

However, Cristie Kerr, her closest challenger on Thursday, could do no better to drop into a share of fourth, and so it was Angela Stanford and Stacy Lewis who took over in second place, having shown their consistency with rounds of 68 matching their opening efforts. Nobody else in the field could match 68 on Friday, with Suzann Pettersen and Sandra Gal firing 69s to join Kerr on five under. AGENCIES

hollick takes lead at Swazi open JOHANNESBURG AGENCIES

Michael Hollick crammed 17 points into his third round at the Royal Swazi Open on Friday, moving into a three-point lead with one round to play. “It’s been great leading. I’m just trying to play it one shot at a time, and today I kept quite focused.

Every time my mind starts to wonder I tell myself to slow down!” Hollick said.

The Durban local's cool demeanour hides the fact that it’s his first time leading a professional tournament, but he’s focused on staying in the moment at Royal Swazi Sun Country Club. “This is my first time leading, and we’ll have to see how tomorrow goes. “You can only control yourself, not what other people do.

If I can go in there with a cool head it

should be a good outcome.” The 25-yearold was excited about teeing up in the final three-ball on Saturday, where he will be joined by Jean Hugo and James Kingston, who hold a combined total of 24 Sunshine Tour titles. “The more you play in big moments, the easier they become,” said

Hollick. “It’s never going to be easy, but it’s better if you’ve been through these situations before. Playing with those experienced guys will bring a bit of calm to the situation, and I’m sure it’ll be a good day.” Hugo could have filled an aviary with the three eagles he made on Friday, which helped him on his way to 17 points for the third round. The 2008 Swazi Open champion reached an impressive 37 point total to finish three points off the pace.

“Today I made three eagles and in this format that’s great for points,” Hugo said. “My first eagle was a four-iron into the fifth and I hit it to 10 feet and sank the putt, and then I holed it from off the green on seven. I hit another four-iron into the 17th and it stopped about four feet short and I sank the putt, so overall I'm very happy.

loeb capitalises as rivals falter in argentina SPORTS DESK Sebastian Loeb emerged from a bruising third day of Rally Argentina with a 39.8 second lead after watching a string of rivals run into trouble.

Loeb, chasing an eighthstriaght WRC victory in Argentina in his Citroen DS3, largely just needed to keep everything pointing in the right direction as Sebastian Ogier, Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala all ran into trouble.

"It was a very hard day for tyres and the cars," Loeb said on WRC.com. "I didn't have any problems but I had to push hard because Ogier was pushing hard also. I expected it to be difficult and it was. I will try to be cautious tomorrow [Saturday] but I still have to keep a rhythm."

Overnight leader Ogier got

off to a strong start in his Volkwagen Polo R, claiming a fifth win in six stages on the opening run of the morning,

contested amid fog and mud.

That extended his lead to 17.7 seconds, but the advantage was gone on stage seven when he

got into a slide and missed his turn. The mistake cost him 40 seconds and his lead as he dropped to third. A puncture in

the afternoon would deal an even heavier blow to his challenge.

Hirvonen also suffered a puncture on stage eight to lose 35 seconds, but that was small potatoes compared to the six minutes he lost on the next stage thanks to an electrical glitch.

Latvala could not avoid the puncture curse either as Loeb drove off into the distance.

By the end of the day, Loeb led Ogier by almost 40 seconds, with Evgeny Novikov taking advantage of the carnage around him to climb to third, ahead of Latvala and Thierry Neuville, with Hirvonen down in sixth.

The rally concludes on Saturday with four more stages, a little under 78 kilometres separating Loeb from another title.

LAHORE: Net Effect Netball Program 2013 for of girls successfully completed on Saturday at Sir Syed Girls College, Wah Cantt and was organized by Pakistan Netball Federation in collaboration with International Netball Federation & Islamabad Netball Association. In the final match Sir Syed School beat Hi Tech College 7-2 goals and were declared the champion of Net Effect Program 2013.

In the third position match FG School no.3 moved past FG School no.2 by 8-0 goals. The technical officials of the event were Qudsia Raja, Shazia yousaf, Uzma Waqar, Riffat Jahan, Sher Saleem, Yasir Javed & Parvez who supervised the matches. Amanullah Khan, Secretary Sports, POF was the chief guest and distributed the trophies, shields, certificates and netballs among the winner, runner and 3rd position holder teams.

Mudassar Arain, Secretary, PNF and Ms. Zile Erum, Secretary, Islamabad Netball Association and other dignities were also present in this occasion.

RESuLtS: 1st Semi Final: Hi Tech beat FG school no.3 by 3-2 goals 2nd Semi Final: Sir Syed School beat FG School no.2 by 12-1 goals.

STAFF REPORT

kinnaird Club in Women Cricket final LAHORE: Kinnaird Cricket Club defeated Ravi Club in the second semifinal of the All Pakistan Inter Club Women T-20 Cricket Tournament With 77 runs win, Kinnaird Cricket Club will take on Shah Faisal Women Cricket Club in the final. Bating first Kinnaird made 167 in 20 overs. Bima Maroof 69, Sidra Amin 65, Sana Mir 14. Hafsa Amjad and Faryal Awan took 1 wicket each. Ravi were all out in 17.5 overs scoring 90 runs. Komal Feroze 24, Bakhtawar Iqbal 15. Sana Mir, Bismah Maroof took 2 and Qanta Jalil took 1 wicket. Women of the match: Bismah Maroof. Today third place match will be played between Lahore College Club and Ravi Club at Kinnaird College Cricket ground. STAFF REPORT

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Sunday, 5 May, 2013

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