Lhr 07 10 2013 layout 1 by Pakistan Today

story on page 03 Monday, 7 October, 2013

Zil Hajj 01, 1434

Rs 17.00 Vol IV No 101 16 Pages Lahore Edition

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peW unhappy over privatisation process

Queen elizabeth II invites Malala to Buckingham palace

The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Sunday expressed concern over rapid privatisation process initiated on the dictates of International Monetary Fund (IMF). The PEW that hasty sale of national assets to finance budget deficits without a detailed strategy might prove harmful to the economy. There is no justification in selling state-owned companies that were making profit, said PEW President Dr Murtaza Mughal. page 05

Queen Elizabeth II has invited Malala Yousafzai to the Buckingham Palace. The news of the invitation has increased speculation that the 16-year-old may be named as the youngest winner of the Nobel peace prize later this week. The Queen has been very impressed by her bravery and also asked Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Wajid Shamsul Hasan about her recovery, the ‘Sunday Times’ reported on Sunday. page 04

Pakistan win first World Team Snooker Championship story on page 17

afghan taliban supporting pakistani militants

Mumbai Indians crowned CLt20 champions

The Afghan Taliban are financially supporting Pakistani militants at war with Islamabad and providing sanctuary for them in neighboring Afghanistan, the Pakistani Taliban’s spokesman said, highlighting the risk both groups pose to the Pakistani government. The disclosure is meaningful because Pakistan has long been accused of pursuing a policy of differentiating between the Afghan and Pakistan Taliban as socalled ‘‘good’’ and ‘‘bad’’ militants. page 04

Mumbai Indians beat Rajasthan Royals by 33 runs in the Champions League Twentyu20 finalon Sunday Earlier, Mumbai Indians displayed a clinical performance with the bat to post a mammoth 202/6 in the Champions League Twenty20 final against Rajasthan Royals in New Delhi today Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma didn’t look a happy man after losing the toss, but the right-hander will be more than satisfied with the effort of his team. page 17

Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers. — Aristotle

N NEWS

Monday, 7 October, 2013

no DIffErEnCES WITh faTEmI

InDIan mEDIa rEPorTS of INFILTRATIONS BASELESS: BASHIR HIGH COMMISSIONER SAYS PAKISTAN WANTS PEACE AND IS READY FOR DIALOGUE ON ALL DIFFICULT ISSUES HYDERABAD

ISLAMABAd:National Security and Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz has rebutted the differences between him and Advisor to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatimi. While talking to Online on Sunday, Sartaj Aziz said the rumors about differences with Fatimi were baseless as both of them were working with complete coordination. He said the issue of talks with the Taliban was very sensitive and he would not talk on it. Responding a question, he said the agenda was under preparation for the meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and US President Obama which would take place in the last week of current month in Washington. OnlinE

JEWISh LoBBy ruLIng In KP

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AKISTAN'S High Commissioner to India Salman Bashir on Sunday described as baseless Indian media reports about infiltration and called for both neighbours to address their respective concerns through dialogue instead of whipping up frenzy. He called for leaving the issue to be addressed by the military authorities rather than pointing fingers. He also found fault with the way the Indian media, especially news channels, were focusing on so-called incursions and infiltrations. Talking to reporters, he maintained that Pakistan wanted peace on the Line of Control (LOC) in Jammu and Kashmir and was ready for dialogue on all difficult issues. "In the last few days, the Indian media has been focusing on Karen sector.

"Whoever is making the argument that they (infiltrators) have not descended from heaven, I want to ask who are these thousands of people who are involved in heinous acts of terrorism in Pakistan. Have they descended from heaven? We agree they have "If you want I can not descended vitiate atmosphere by I Want to ask Who are these from heaven. spelling out those thousands of peopLe Who From where are concerns but I don't they being want finger pointing. are InvoLved In heInous aCts funded and Let us address each of terrorIsM In pakIstan. sourced," he other's concerns... that asked. is the way forward froM Where are they BeIng "Unfortuand that is the logical, funded and sourCed? nately in this country you don't see this. It is not mentioned here. What you see is propaganda against Pakistan which serves no good. It is detrimental. We will deal with this issue in Pakistan. This issue is not local to Pakistan, it is global and for us it is also regional," he added. Bashir arrived here Saturday on a two-day visit. On Monday, he will visit the CII Green Business Centre and address an interactive session organised by the ConfedsaLMan rational and civilised way. Let usBashIr not do eration of Indian Industry (CII) Andhra HIGH COMMISSIONER TO INDIA Pradesh chapter. this through media," Bashir added.

SAYS PAKISTAN HAS SHARED EVIDENCE ABOUT INDIAN INVOLVEMENT IN TERRORISM

There are concerns and we have concerns. Let us sit together and address them that is the civilised way of dealing with this instead of whipping up frenzy and creating hysteria. It does no good to anybody," he said when asked about the alleged involvement of the Pakistani army in ceasefire violations. "But if we are going to talk about infiltrations and incursions, then we must also talk about something which is very important and which needs objective reflection in Pakistan, in this country and elsewhere," he said and asked who was funding the terrorists who were targeting civilians, the Pakistani Army and the InterServices Intelligence. "We have evidence which we have shared and we are prepared to share with the rest of the world and particularly with the government of India on these aspects about fuelling of acts of terrorism in Pakistan. I say this not to make propaganda point," he said.

talks with taliban will bring peace: rashid SAYS MEETING BETWEEN PRIME MINISTERS OF INDIA AND PAKISTAN REMAINED SUCCESSFUL

THE GOVERNMENT HAS IN PRINCIPLE DECIDED TO OPEN YOUTUBE AS IT IS AN EFFECTIVE SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE FOR STUDENTS

ISLAMABAD PESHAWAR: Fazlur Rehman, chief of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-eIslam (JUI-F), on Sunday said Jewish lobby was functioning in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and an NGO rather than a political party was governing the province. Islam is a religion of moderation, but “we (followers of Islam) speak of Shariah with arms in our hands”, he added. Addressing a seminar, the cleric said, “Pakistan’s environment is moderate, but we can’t let our youth to act to their free will.” He said, “Some of our national leaders consider politics as sinful job which was a major hurdle to bridge the gap between religious and political parties.” The JUI-F chief said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Zardari avoided consultation on political issues which further intensified the crises faced by the country and masses. Fazl said that constitution of the country and Islam put emphasis on promoting Arabic language but political forces were acting against the constitution. He said that Islam preaches harmony, respecting others and persuading them through arguments rather than imposing Shariah at gunpoint. inP

APP

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pervaiz Rashid on Friday expressed hope that dialogue with the Taliban would produce positive results in order to restore peace and tranquility in the country. The government was exercising the option of talks with the Taliban as proposed and endorsed by the All Parties Conference. While speaking in a PTV programme, the minister said that the Taliban had showed willingness to hold dialogue and the government welcomed it and responded with a positive gesture. He alleged that previous regimes did not take serious steps for addressing militancy and ending the energy crisis. He was of the view that sensitive issues should not be discussed in media talk shows. To a question, he said Pakistan was following the policy of non-interference in other country's affairs and no one would be allowed to interfere in Pakistan's matters as well. Talking about the country's foreign policy, the minister said international community appreciated the vision of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He said the recent meeting between prime ministers of India and Pakistan remained successful as Manmohan Singh

LAHORE: Federal Minister for Information Broadcasting & National Haritage Senator Perviaz Rashid talks to the media.

responded positively. Pervaiz Rashid said some elements tried to sabotage the New York meeting and an attempt was also made to disrupt Pak-China relations, but they failed. To another query, he said the govern-

ment had in principle decided to open Youtube as it was an effective source of knowledge for students. The minister said objectionable material published on Youtube should be blocked instead of imposing a ban on the site.

Three security officials killed in Bannu Law enforcer injured in IED attack in Peshawar PESHAWAR STAFF REPORT

As many as three security personnel were killed and eight others injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in Bakakhel area of FR Bannu on Sunday. An official said that a convoy of security forces was on way to Miranshah when the militants attacked it in Bakakhel. A vehicle was completely destroyed in the attack. The official also said a security official died on the spot whereas two succumbed to their injuries in a hospital. The injured officials were shifted to the Combined Military Hospital in Bannu. They are said to be out of danger. Terrorist outfit Ansarul Islam has claimed responsibility for the attack. Soon after the attack, security forces cordoned off the area and started a search operation. Meanwhile, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has heightened security after getting information about a possible terrorist attack. An official said law enforcers had intercepted telephonic conversation of the Taliban militants in which they were talking about attacking FC and police stations in and around Peshawar. The government has also deployed plainclothesmen in markets and shopping centres to keep an eye on suspects. Separately, an improvised explosive device (IED) planted near a check post in Karkhano market Peshawar went off, injuring one security official.

If the United States of America or Britain is having elections, they don't ask for observers from Africa or from Asia. But when we have elections, they want observers. — Nelson Mandela

I’m hEaDIng homE COAS KAYANI SAYS NOT SEEKING ANY EXTENSION IN SERVICE WSJ REPORT READS KAYANI COULD BE BE MADE AMBASSADOR TO US HYDERABAD

STAFF REPORT

HIEF of Army Staff Ashfaq Kayani on Sunday said he has no intention of getting another extension and would retire on November 29. According to an Inter Services Public Relations press release, the general dispelled rumours about him trying to occupy a new, powerful position. Speaking at army field exercise, Azm-e-Nau 4 in the desert close to Hyderabad, General Kayani said, “For quite some time, my current responsibilities and likely future plans have been debated in the media with all sorts of rumours and speculations doing the

Imran condemns attacks on relief providers in Balochistan

rounds. The subject of being entrusted with new duties has also come up in several reports. I am grateful to the political leadership and the nation for reposing their trust in me and Pakistan Army at this important juncture of our national history. However, I share the general opinion that institutions and traditions are stronger than individuals and must take precedence.” "As I complete my tenure the will of the people has taken root and a constitutional order is in place. The armed forces of Pakistan fully support and want to strengthen this democratic order." Sources privy to the development had said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was keen to induct Kayani as chairman of a new and powerful Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC). An intelligence official said Nawaz planned to renew the JCSC into a “central defence body” by restoring its command over the military establishment and making it more powerful. “The new JCSC chief will be incharge of the nuclear arsenal. He will decide to take action against terrorists,” the official said. He also said the new chief would be empowered to promote and transfer senior officials. A Wall Street Journal report citing

military and civilian officials read that Kayani was prepared to “accept a revamped JCSC chairman job, currently a largely ceremonial post that would be given more authority, or to become defence adviser to the government”. The report also quoted army officials saying that Kayani could also be made ambassador to the US. Pakistan's army chief is considered

ISLAMABAD APP

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Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman has condemned the continued attacks on relief providers working in Balochistan. The PTI chairman said security forces were reaching out to victims in inaccessible areas in Awaran district and those targeting these relief efforts were enemies of the poor people of Balochistan. “To target humanitarian relief efforts when the victims are totally dependent on this aid coming through is simply inhuman”, he added He said militants, if they truly cared about their Baloch brethren, should be providing humanitarian relief to earthquake victims instead of attacking relief providers in their hour of need. The PTI chairman thanked all those who helped the PTI send aid to the earthquake victims.

the most powerful man in the country, commanding a force of around 600,000 and guiding policy in defence as well as in foreign and home affairs. The country has suffered three coups and been ruled for more than half of its 66year history by the military. Kayani is generally seen as a supporter of democracy, who helped the country complete its first democratic transition of power earlier this year and has also led the military in the socalled war on terror. He played a key role in convincing former dictator General Pervez Musharraf to resign in 2008 and pushing then president Asif Ali Zardari to reinstate sacked judges in 2009. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will announce a new army chief, who will take on the problems of Islamist militants and renewed border tensions with India.

Govt seeking to end terror through talks: Nisar INTERIOR MINISTER SAYS PM HAS SAID USE OF FORCE SHOULD BE AVOID

ISLAMABAD

COAS

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Sunday that the government's priority was to root out terrorism through dialogue. The minister, in a policy statement, said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had wished for the talks, which was also endorsed by the political and military leadership at the recent all parties conference. He said the government praised the efforts of the clerics for seeking a permanent solution of terrorism and would extend them full support in this regard. Nisar said the dialogue process had full backing of the military leadership. He was sure that the way the army was ready to protect the borders and lives of the people, it also wanted to see the peace prevail. Nawaz, he said, had persistently said the use of force should be avoided to bring peace in the country. Even in his first address to the nation, the Prime Minister had expressed the same sentiments. Talking about

NEWS

Monday, 7 October, 2013

KhurShID Shah haILS KayanI’S DECISIon of rETIrEmEnT

I aM gratefuL to the poLItICaL LeadershIp and the natIon for reposIng theIr trust In Me and pakIstan arMy at thIs IMportant junCture of our natIonaL hIstory

generaL ashfaQ kayanI

drone attacks, the minister said Nawaz was the first leader, who had raised this issue at the United Nations General Assembly session, which depicted the government's stance on the matter. He said the government had made it clear that the drone attacks were not only against Pakistan's independence and sovereignty but were also fueling extremism. Nisar said all out efforts would be made to get the country out of the menace.

ISLAMABAd : General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani’s decision not to stay on as chief of army staff any longer will go a long way in establishing a remarkable example in the armed forces institutions, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khurshid Shah said in a statement on Sunday. He said after the landmark transition of power in the democratic system, it was another meritorious step to set good values and strengthen the institutions in the country. “This decision has not only brought the speculations on the matter of extension to an end, but has also made it easy for decision makers to take a right step as per laid down criteria and that is none other than preferring merit,” the PPP leader said. Shah also praised General Kayani’s services both for country and democracy at a very critical juncture of time. “His measures to distance military from politics and play his role remaining within the dictates of constitution are very laudable,” he added. He also noted that General Kayani’s honesty of purpose reflected in his statement and “we hope that the coming chief will follow the steps he has taken to safe guard the country and strengthen the democratic institutions in Pakistan”. “This is because the future of the country is in respecting the will of the people and that is democracy,” he said. STAFF REPORT

moon SIghTED: PaKISTan To CELEBraTE EID on oCToBEr 16 The Zilhaj moon was sighted in major cities of Pakistan and Eidul Azha will be celebrated across the country on October 16, Express News reported on Sunday. Ruet-e-Hilal committee chairman Mufti Muneebur Rehman presided over the session of the central committee in Karachi while sessions of Zonal Ruet-e-Hilal committee continued in other cities. The central committee makes the final decision on the basis of moon sighting testimonies from across the country and makes the final announcement of moon sighting. “The decision of the moon sighting will be taken after reaching a unanimous agreement with zonal committees,” said Rehman. uetta was the first city in which the moon was sighted. For Lahore, it was expected that the moon would be visible at 6:33 PM. Officials from the meteorological department were present in the sessions convened to sight the moon. In the Islamic calendar, Eidul Azha falls on the 10th day of Zil Haj and lasts for three days. In the Gregorian calendar, the dates vary from year to year, drifting approximately 11 days earlier each year. MOniTORing DESk

Coas set posItIve preCedent: aLtaf MQM CHIEF CALLS ON TALIBAN TO STOP KILLING INNOCENT CIVILIANS MonItoRIng DESk Muttahida Quami Movement Chief Altaf Hussain has said General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has set a positive precedent by announcing his voluntary retirement on the completion of his constitutional term. In a statement on Sunday, Hussain said the country faced many crises under the leadership of General Kayani. He could have easily toppled the democratic government, but he did not which enabled democracy to flourish in the country, he added. Hussain said Kayani faced serious crisis during his service but the armed forces defended their eastern and western borders under his leadership. Earlier in the day, Altaf Hussain appealed to terrorists to stop the bombings in the country for the sake of peace. Addressing the party workers at the MQM's In-

ternational Secretariat London, he also called upon the citizens of the metropolis to exercise patience during the operation and avoid outrage over any unjust measure. The negotiations, he remarked, between the government and the Taliban were a vital issue in Pakistan; some people favour them while others oppose them. The situation demanded that those at the helm of affairs including political and religious leaders should make in-depth deliberation and take the entire nation into confidence for whatever decision they make in this regard. Making an impassioned appeal to the Taliban, the MQM chief asked them to halt sabotage activities in the country with no more assaults at soldiers, troopers and citizens on public and military places. They should ponder over the agenda of negotiations offered by the government, he added.

LANdON: MQM chief Altaf Hussain giving a lecture on ‘National and international social economic and regional situation’ to party leaders at MQM’s international secretariat. inP

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Life without liberty is like a body without spirit. — Khalil Gibran

NEWS Monday, 7 October, 2013

afghan TaLIBan SuPPorTIng PaKISTanI mILITanTS fInanCIaLLy WAZIRIStAn

AgEnCiES

HE Afghan Taliban are financially supporting Pakistani militants at war with Islamabad and providing sanctuary for them in neighboring Afghanistan, the Pakistani Taliban’s spokesman said, highlighting the risk both groups pose to the Pakistani government. The disclosure, which the spokesman made Saturday in an interview with a small group of reporters, is meaningful because Pakistan has long been accused of pursuing a policy of differentiating be-

tween the Afghan and Pakistan Taliban as so-called ‘‘good’’ and ‘‘bad’’ militants — even though Islamabad denies this. Pakistan has waged war against the Pakistani Taliban, which seeks to replace the country’s democratic system with one based on Islamic law. But it has held off on targeting the Afghan Taliban, which has focused its attacks on US-led troops in Afghanistan. Pakistan has historical ties with the Afghan Taliban, and many analysts believe Islamabad views the group as a useful ally in Afghanistan after foreign forces withdraw. But the Taliban spokesman’s comments

illustrate the dangerous nexus between the two groups. This link could become even more dangerous for Pakistan as the US withdraws most of its combat forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. That could give the Afghan Taliban more space to operate inside Afghanistan, which could benefit Islamabad’s enemies in the Pakistani Taliban. ‘‘The Afghan Taliban are our jihadi brothers,’’ said Shahid in an interview in Waziristan, the Taliban’s main tribal sanctuary in Pakistan along the Afghan border. ‘‘In the beginning, we were helping them, but now they are strong

enough and they don’t need our help, but they are now supporting us financially.’’ The Afghan Taliban are also providing sanctuary for a prominent Pakistani Taliban commander, Mullah Fazlullah, in eastern Afghanistan’s Kunar province, said Shahid. Fazlullah was the commander of the Taliban in Pakistan’s northwest Swat Valley but was driven into Afghanistan when the Pakistani army launched a big offensive there in 2009. The army has also staged many offensives in Pakistan’s semiautonomous tribal region, the Taliban’s main sanctuary, but the militants have proven resilient and continue

to carry out regular attacks. The Taliban have financed many of these attacks through a combination of kidnappings, extortion and bank robberies. But Shahid’s comments indicate these sources of financing do not always provide the funds they need. The government has more recently stepped up efforts to negotiate a peace deal with the Taliban, but those efforts do not appear to be making much progress. Shahid reiterated the Taliban’s view that peace talks will not succeed unless the government releases all militant prisoners and withdraws the army from the tribal re-

gion. He also demanded an end to US drone strikes targeting militants in the tribal region. ‘‘Yes, we are terrorists, but we are against the

system of the infidels,’’ said Shahid. ‘‘We will fight up to our last drop of blood to impose Shariah (Islamic) law in the country.’’

Queen elizabeth II invites Malala to Buckingham palace LonDon inP

HYdERABAd: Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani addresses troops during his visit to Army Field Exercise AZM-E-NAU 4 in the desert area near Hyderabad. OnlinE

4 uS soldiers killed in south afghanistan kABUL OnlinE

Sherpao urges govt to avoid anti-people policies PESHAWAR nni

The U.S.-led international military coalition says four of its service members have been killed in southern Afghanistan and a military official confirms all were Americans killed by an improvised explosive device. NATO said in a statement that the four were killed Sunday during a partnered operation in the south, but did not provide any further details or their nationalities. A military official confirmed the four were from the United States and were killed by an IED. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorised to speak publicly. No other details were available. IED's have become one of the top killers of Afghan and foreign soldiers, as well as civilians.

Qaumi Watan Party Chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao on Saturday asked the federal government to avoid anti-people policies. Addressing a press conference, he said the government should start meaningful talks with the Taliban and take the talks to a logical conclusion. He advised the government to work out a strategy to cope with the post-2014 scenario in the region. Sherpao said that 2014 would have farreaching effects not only for Afghanistan, but the whole region after the withdrawal of the US forces from Afghanistan. He maintained that peace

in Pakistan was interlinked to the stability of Afghanistan so efforts should be made to remove misconceptions. “Pakhtun on both sides of the Durand Line had suffered a lot,” he mentioned. T h e QWP leader suggested Afghanistan and Pakistan to ensure that their soil would not be used against each other. He disclosed that over 52,000 people were killed and thousands injured in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over the last several years. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Senior Minister Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao, QWP General Secretary Bakht Baidar Khan, MPA Meraj Humayun and others were also present.

ThEfT aT SharIfS’ houSE! What to talk of the common man when the house of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif is not safe from thieves, a private TV channel reported. On Sunday, a theft took place at the house of the prime minister and the Punjab chief minister in Jati Umra. Per reports, security officials arrested three domestic workers including a man and two women involved in stealing gold belonging to PM’s daughter Marium Nawaz, worth millions. The three were trying to flee when the security officials caught them. The security officials recovered the valuables from their possession and took them into custody for further investigation. The area police was not informed about the incident, however, an FIR was registered in the area police station. MOniTORing DESk

Indian high commissioner, Dar take up bilateral issues ISLAMABAD inP

Dr TC Raghavan, Indian high commissioner to Pakistan, on Sunday called on Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in the latter’s office. Talking to the Raghavan, Dar referred to the recent meeting held between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh in New York and termed it a good step. The minister said Pakistan wanted good relations with India and the government wanted an early beginning of the composite dialogue between the two countries. The high commissioner said that Nawaz Sharif’s views on IndiaPakistan ties were praised in India and a large number of people in both the countries wanted better relations. He said that though the volume of trade between the two countries was sizeable yet there was a great potential that needed to be tapped. Raghavan said the trends of shopping by Indians visiting Pakistan reflected that there was a high demand of Pakistani goods in India. He hoped that the relaxation in visa restrictions for businessmen would help in increased trade between the two countries.

Impressed by the bravery of Pakistani girls' education campaigner Malala Yousafzai, Queen Elizabeth II has invited her to the Buckingham Palace. The news of the invitation has increased speculation that the 16-year-old may be named as the youngest winner of the Nobel peace prize later this week. The Queen has been very impressed by her bravery and also asked Pakistan's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Wajid Shamsul Hasan about her recovery, the 'Sunday Times' reported on Sunday. Malala had been airlifted to Birmingham for life-saving surgery after being shot in the head by Taliban gunmen for speaking out in favour of girls' education. Malala has given her first detailed account to the British newspaper of what happened when she was shot on the way home from school in Pakistan a year ago. The teenage activist revealed her terror after coming out of a coma at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham six days later with no idea where she was. "I was terrified. Where were my parents? Who had brought me there?" she said, in reference to her four operations in Britain and crediting

the surgeons for giving her ‘a second life’. Malala, who now lives and goes to school in Birmingham, will be in the United States this week to launch her memoirs, 'I Am Malala', of her journey from schoolgirl to educational activist taking on the Taliban. Her message that all children be allowed to go to school have made her a favourite to win the Nobel prize, to be announced on Friday. Her memoirs are published worldwide on Tuesday, in which she has also chosen to name and thank Fiona Reynolds, an intensive care specialist at Birmingham Children's Hospital who was visiting Pakistan when the young campaigner was critically wounded last year. Reynolds had her moved to an army cardiology hospital with better intensive care and stayed with her alongside a team of nurses from Birmingham. The 47-year-old also had the tough task of inf o r m i n g Malala about what had happened to her when she came around in the Birmingham hospital. "I didn't know what had happened. The nurses weren't

telling me anything. Even my name. Was I still Malala? No one told me what was going on or who had brought me to the hospital," recalled Malala. She then became so worried about the cost of her treatment that she thought of sneaking out of hospital to get a job. "I thought, 'I need to go out and start working to earn money,'" she said. The attack on her also wounded two other girls but to Malala's frustration the only person in custody is the school bus driver, who is being held in case he needs to identify a suspect. "Why did they arrest him and not the Ta l i b a n l e a d e r, " s h e asked.

nahEED WanTS naWaz To ExPoSE BEnazIr’S KILLErS PESHAWAR AgEnCiES

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Naheed Khan Abbasi on Sunday demanded Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif fulfill the promise he had made during the election campaign and uncover faces behind the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Addressing a press conference, Naheed said the nation should be informed as to what forces had masterminded Benazir’s assassination. She regretted that getting to the killers of

Benazir was not a priority for the authorities in the PPP’s rule, which she observed remained focused on a single goal of securing its grip on power. “The PPP is a party of the people and we will not let it become a property of any individual,” she vowed, adding that a commission would be formed to ascertain the causes that led to the defeat of the PPP in the general elections. She said terrorism was by large a collective issue of the nation and it would have to be tackled through unity.

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Seminar suggests study of comparative religions LAHORE: The Lahore Leads University (LLU) holds a day long discussion on the importance of studying comparative religions this Sunday. The seminar attended by renowned educationists, journalists and peace activists was conducted in collaboration with Global Human Rights Defence, Friends of Humanity and the Lahore Leads University to promote equality and justice without any discrimination. Speaking at the forum, Leads University’s Vice Chancellor Dr Munawar Mirza urged upon the introduction of different religions among the new generation. ‘We have to combat hatred and discrimination against our people without any prejudice,’ she added. Quoting references from the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah, Dr Shabbir Mansoori from the Punjab University said that in an Islamic State, it is the responsibility of Muslims to protect people from different religions. Professor Ashok Kumar from the Punjab University and journalist Muhsen Ali highlighted that peaceful coexistence is mandatory for national development. STAFF REPORT

five women arrested over bomb scare LAHORE: Five women, who visited Data Darbar on Sunday, were arrested for ushering a bomb scare. Per details, the women came to offer prayers and after some time started shouting about the bomb. The people at the shrine got panicked due to the outcry. Security officials immediately took action against the women and took them into custody for further investigation. The women were identified as Samia, Nasreen, Muskan, Sajida, Anwar Bibi, all residents of Multan. RAnA HAiDER

Cm resolves to complete all ongoing projects within stipulated time LAHoRE OnlinE

UNJAB Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Sunday said the Punjab government, through its good governance, had set an example of transparency and standard in the development projects. He was presiding over a high-level meeting to review various projects being completed by the Punjab Works and Communication Department. He said masses were being provided the latest infrastructure facilities in the province. The chief minister directed the authorities concerned to

complete projects related to road construction, carpeting, widening, and repairs, while stressing high standards for all such projects. He resolved to maintain the past record of zero tolerance of any instance to corruption in the province and directed the concerned officials not to compromise on the quality and transparency of the work.

escalating trend in prices recorded in sunday Bazaars LAHoRE nASiR BuTT

The City District Administration (CDGL) has at last awakened from its slumber and started checking Sunday Bazaars affairs in the provincial capital and registered cases against profiteers and cancelled stalls licenses of 12 vendors in Shadman, Wahdat Road and Model Town. But the Sunday bazaars established in far flung areas and lower class localities still await improvement in the affairs of makeshift settlements. Under the instruction of authority of CDGL, as many as eight cases were registered against profiteers and sellers of substandard commodities in Sunday bazaars, while 12 stall holders licenses were also cancelled this week. On the whole, the impact of fuel price escalation and price hike was very visible in Sunday Bazaars and the prices of vegetables and fruit items were on the up. During the survey conducted by Pakistan Today of various Sunday bazaars, low business activity was witnessed in most bazaars owing to escalating trend in commodities prices. This week the price of price of fresh potato reached Rs 40 to 42 per kg and stored potato was selling at Rs 20 to 22. Onion price was further increased by Re one per kg and fixed

at Rs 42 to 46 per kg. Tomato price gained Rs 6 per kg, reaching Rs 55 to 58 per kg, while that of lower quality was sold at Rs 60 per kg. Garlic (China) price increased by Rs 10 per kg and fixed at Rs 90 to 95 per kg and garlic desi at Rs 95 to 100 per kg. Ginger (China) was being sold at Rs 180 to 185 per kg, while Brinjal cost Rs 10 to 12 per kg. Cabbage rates were Rs 40 per kg and cauliflower was being sold at Rs 35 to 40 per kg. Among fruits, rates of different variety of apple was fixed at Rs 50 to 90 per kg while B grade was sold at Rs 60 to 80 per kg in makeshift markets while in open market good quality was sold at Rs 40 to 70 per kg. Banana was fixed at Rs 40 to 50 per dozen and lower quality was sold at Rs 60 per dozen while in open market sold at Rs 30 to 50 per dozen. Peach special was fixed at Rs 90 to 95 per kg and B grade at Rs 65 to 70 per kg while it sold at Rs 120 per kg. Pomegranate desi was fixed at Rs 60 to 65 per kg and sold upto Rs 80 per kg and Pomegranate khandari at Rs 100 to 130 per kg and sold at Rs 150 per kg. Grapes sundarkhani was fixed at Rs 170 to 180 per kg sold at Rs 200 to 220 per kg and grapes gola at Rs 85 to 90 per kg sold at Rs 120 per kg. Grape fruit was fixed at Rs 8 to 10 per piece and higher quality was sold at Rs 15 to 20 per piece.

high feed rate trims purchase of sacriﬁcial animals LAHoRE APP A 25 percent increase in feed prices in the last one year, has adversely affected the purchase of sacrificial animals in the market. Illegal exports and mismanagement in the animal market are the other causes of lower turn out. Vice Chancellor of the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS), Professor Talat Naseer Pasha on Sunday said, the role of feed in the growth of animals was 75 percent and when prices of feed were heaved up, the cost of production increased. Responding to a question, he said the illegal exports, transportation and management costs consisting of labour and watering played an important role in raising prices of animals. He explained that legal exports are beneficial for the government as it will improve the flow of foreign exchange and as a result, benefit the farmer.

LAHORE Monday, 7 October, 2013

Shahbaz visits house of rape victim LAHoRE APP

UNJAB Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has said that murderers of innocent citizens and molesters of minor girls are not humans but beasts and it is the responsibility of police that such elements, who are a burden on earth, should not escape punishment. He said this while sympathizing with the parents of a minor girl who was raped, in

village Dhakepalki in Gujranwala and talking to the family of a young labourer, killed by human smugglers, in Jalalpur Jattan, on Sunday. Talking to the parents of the deaf and dumb girl of a poor family, the chief minister said the culprits involved in the incident would not be able to escape punishment under the law. He said that joint investigation team would probe the case and he would spare no effort to provide justice to the aggrieved family. He directed that the

challan of the case be completed as early as possible and the case should be vigorously pursued. Later, the chief minister visited village Mohla Langarial of Jalalpur Jattan (Gujrat) and met the family of a young worker Muhammad Qadeer who was killed by human smugglers. Expressing his sympathies to the bereaved family, Shahbaz Sharif gave a cheque of Rs 300,000 to the mother of deceased. He assured that justice would be provided to the aggrieved family.

govt has adopted bold policies to counter terrorism: mujtaba Shuja

LAHORE: Punjab Minister for Excise & Taxation and Finance Mujtaba Shuja-urRehman said that Pakistan had been facing terrorism for many years and the present government has adopted bold policies to counter it. He was addressing a gathering on Sunday where he said the government will foil conspiracies of antiPakistan forces and terrorists with the cooperation of the masses. He said, “The PML-N leadership has formulated policies with a renewed pledge to rid the society of terrorism with complete cooperation from all segments of society”. APP

Partly cloudy with chances of thundershower forecast LAHORE: The local meteorological department on Sunday forecast partly cloudy weather with chances of thundershower for the provincial capital during the next 24 hours. Synoptic situation, yesterday’s low pressure area over north Madhya Pradesh persists. Weak seasonal low lies over northeast Balochistan and adjoining areas. The weather pundits said that mainly dry weather is expected over most parts of the country however, thundershower is likely to occur at one or two places of Mirpur Khas, Rawalpindi, Gujranwal, Lahore, Hazara divisions, Islamabad and Kashmir. The maximum and minimum temperatures were recorded as 34.5 degrees Celsius and 22.8 degrees Celsius, respectively. APP

LAHORE: A sorry state of affairs of a girls’ school in Rechogil Village that needs attention of the authorities concerned. onLIne

people form a human chain in deﬁance of extremist forces LAHoRE inP

Dozens of civil society members, religious scholars, politicians, artists and academics formed a symbolic human chain by joining hands around St. Anthony’s Church on Sunday. They linked their arms in defiance of the extremist forces and showed solidarity with the victims of Peshawar St. Patrick Church. The Pakistan for All organised this event by gathering citizens concerned

about the growing attacks on Christians in Pakistan. The twin suicide attack on All Saints church occurred after Sunday mass ended and is believed to be the country’s deadliest attack on Christians. In the days following the deadly attack, Christians had demonstrated in towns and cities around Pakistan, including Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Faisalabad, to protest against the violence and demand better protection from the authorities.

rescue 1122 is responding to 500 accidents daily: dg LAHoRE APP

Punjab Emergency Service (Rescue 1122) Director General Dr Rizwan Naseer on Sunday said due to an increasing rate of traffic accidents, the service was responding to an average of 500 emergency calls on daily basis. Giving details on Rescue 1122’s one-month performance, he said, alone in Punjab the service had

rescued 46,585 victims by conducting 44,179 rescue operations. The emergency calls from various districts of Punjab, Rescue 1122 had responded to 5,882 road traffic crashes, 20,567 medical emergencies, 611 fire incidents, 65 building collapse incidents, 2,133 crime complaints, 122 drowning incidents, four explosions and 4,795 other emergency operations in the province.

Traffic police to begin crackdown on unregistered vehicles

LAHORE: Traffic Police has started a crackdown against vehicles with illegal documentation on Sunday. Chief Traffic Officer Sohail Chaudhry has directed circle incharges of different areas of the city to seize all vehicles roaming around city with fake number plates and illegal documents. He has also directed them to take actions against the owners of impounded vehicles without discrimination. He advised wardens to educate citizens on minor traffic violations. Speaking to traffic police officers and wardens, the CTO acknowledged that last month, traffic police fined 19487 vehicles on violating traffic signals, 2385 people without number plates, 4489 on having tampered number plates, 5897 were fined for using mobile phone during driving, 6908 for wrong parking. APP

yehe to reel in young entrepreneurs LAHoRE STAFF REPORT

“Entrepreneurs are always in search of change, respond to it, and exploit it as an opportunity.” The Youth Entrepreneurial Hub Exhibition (YEHE) will be held on October 12 and 13, 2013 at a local hotel in Lahore. The exhibition is being organised by Convene Events, an event management firm whose expertise in the field is well known. The event is expected to attract youth from different walks of life to forward their entrepreneurial talents Talking bout the event, Convene Events Corporate Affairs Executive Usman Saleem Khan said that YEHE was being organised to provide the youth with an opportunity to polish their skills and hone in on careers and jobs, adding that in these time crisis and hopelessness such exhibitions were necessary to tap

the indigenous talent of the youth. Urooj Qamar, a teacher of entrepreneurship, said that this opportunity is a beacon for the aspiring entrepreneurs. She said that students and youth were bursting with talent but they had not provided with any platforms to display their skills. Marzyyiah Gondal, one of the aspiring entrepreneurs who will be showcasing her products at the event, said that this opportunity will boost morale. Further adding that in the era of joblessness such exhibitions should be organised by the government to give a chance to the youth to show the level of skill they posses. Apart from the exhibition there will be a talent show, a singing competition and performances by many upcoming bands Specials stalls will be set up to cater to the students and their needs. The event is expected to attract 2,000 to 3,000 individuals.

15 injured as bus rams into auto workshop LAHoRE APP

At least 15 persons were injured when a passenger bus rammed into an auto workshop in Johar Town area of Lahore on Sunday. According to police, a passenger bus owned by a private transport company skidded off road due to bursting of tyre. After hitting a footpath, in attempt to save

a motorcyclist, the bus driver rammed into an auto workshop located at Maulana Shaukat Ali Road of Lahore. As a result of the accident, 15 people including cleaner, employees of workshop and passengers sustained injuries. The injured persons were shifted to hospital where according to hospital sources three people sustained critical wounds.

Plan to convert college libraries into IrCs LAHORE: Punjab government has decided to convert 186 college libraries of the province into “Information Resource Centers” by introducing massive open line courses after digitalization of all these libraries. Presiding over a consultative session with the officebearers of Punjab College Libraries Association here Sunday, Punjab Minister for Education Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan announced to up-grade all assistant librarians working in Grade-16, to Librarian in Grade-17. All posts of assistant librarians will stand abolished. It has been decided that initial recruitment and selection of librarians will be done through Punjab Public Service Commission in Grade-17 in future and the total strength of librarians in different grades has been enhanced from 332 to 415 through creation of new posts. APP

Civil society rallies out to protest against terrorism LAHORE: Civil Society took out a rally to protest against the terrorist activities against minorities on Sunday. The protesters took out the rally from Shimla Pahari to Empress Road. They were holding placards and banners demanding strict actions against the militants. Speaking on the occasion, the speakers said that the terrorists, who are targeting innocent people, deserve no concession. Representatives of civil society demanded of the government to take concrete action against the terrorists and ensure the safety and security of all Pakistanis including minorities. inP

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving. ― Albert Einstein

NEWS

Monday, 7 October, 2013

man Who BroughT aL QaEDa To afghanISTan noW runS for PrESIDEnT

ISLAMABAd: Indian High Commissioner dr TC Raghavan call on Minister for Finance Ishaq dar. inP

6 arrested for killing of Peace Committee members

PEW unhappy over privatisation process

SWAt

ISLAMABAD

APP

inP

Law enforcement agencies on Sunday arrested six suspects for their involvement in murder of Peace Committee members Qalandar Khan and Shah Imdad. According to details, Qalandar Khan and Shah Imdad were killed by unidentified assailants on Saturday. A report of the incident was lodged by the brother of the deceased peace committee member in Charbagh police station. Meanwhile, during the search operation conducted by law enforcers in the area, six people have been apprehended who are under investigation.

he Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Sunday expressed concern over rapid privatisation process initiated on the dictates of International Monetary Fund (IMF). The PEW that hasty sale of national assets to finance budget deficits without a detailed strategy might prove harmful to the economy. There is no justification in selling state-owned companies that were making profit, said PEW President Dr

Murtaza Mughal. He said majority of the earlier privatisation initiatives failed as most of the buyers were interested in the properties of the organisations sold to them. The sale of PTCL worked because it was in profit at the time of privatisation process, he observed. Therefore, property dealers and developers should not be allowed to take part in the bidding process, said Dr Murtaza Mughal. Similarly, he said, local investors should be given preference over foreigners who would earn profit in local currency but transfer it abroad in dollars paving way for serious problems.

Those who bought national assets on throwaway prices in the earlier privatisation should be discouraged to avoid allegations of favouritism which the government could not afford, he said. He said turning around some units that were highly indebted and under-performing to even pay its workforce on time before sale would have been a better option, said Dr Mughal. Those opposing sale of assets say that the government is too focused on short-term interests and prioritises the benefits of a few over the general population as millions will face loss of jobs or income.

KABUL: The man said to be responsible for bringing al Qaeda to Afghanistan announced he was running for president on Thursday, a move likely to be greeted with apprehension by the international community. President Hamid Karzai is barred from running by the constitution, and the new government is seen as an opportunity to push the country away from years of damaging allegations of corruption and maladministration. "Today I nominate myself in order to serve my countrymen and my nation - I want to stand alongside the true servants of Afghanistan," Abdul Rassoul Sayyaf told Reuters minutes before he registered at the offices of Kabul's Independent Election Commission.Next year, millions of Afghans will vote in what is being hailed as the most important election since the United States-led war against the Afghan Taliban began 12 years ago. NATO and the U.S. are also pushing for a credible vote ahead of the exit of tens of thousands of foreign combat troops by the end of the next year. Western diplomats have previously told Reuters of their concerns regarding Sayyaf's nomination, given his deeply conservative views regarding women's rights and social freedoms, and his deep ties to militant Islam. The Philippine insurgent group Abu Sayyaf is named after him and he was mentioned in the 9/11 commission reports as "mentor" to Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, the operational mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks. A conservative Islamic scholar, Sayyaf ran paramilitary training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the 1980s and 1990s, and it was there he meet al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. In 1996, Sayyaf helped bin Laden return to Afghanistan after he was ejected from Sudan. Bin Laden stayed in the country under the protection of the Taliban until the American-led invasion of late 2001. Sayyaf's nominee for first vice president, Ismail Khan, will also worry the country's Western backers. Khan, from the country's west, is a warlord turned politician who has been accused of seeking to re-arm ahead of the NATO withdrawal. AgEnCiES

IndIa’s BooMIng rent-a-WoMB Industry nEW DELHI AgEnCiES

Commercial surrogacy in India has become a profiteering business with an annual earning of $1 billion. Most pregnant mothers are kept in Shelter Homes during their days of confinement; critics have dubbed these homes as “baby factories”. WHy dO WOmEn tAkE sucH A stEp?

An 18-year-old surrogate mother Vasanti, said, “In India, relationships and family are very highly valued. One can do anything for one’s children. I have become a surrogate mother so that I can provide my children with all the very best in life, which I have only dreamed of.” Vasanti is at present pregnant; but the child protected in her womb is not her own, instead it belongs to a Japanese couple. Vasanti shall be paid $8000 for her troubles. Such a huge amount is like a dream to Vasanti, who can now build a new home and also educate her kids, who are seven and five years of age. With regards to the impending payment, Vasanti declared that she was extremely happy with the arrangement. tHE “bAby pROductiOn” pROcEss

The procedure for injecting her womb with the embryo of the Japanese couple was undertaken in the Akanksha IVF Centre in Anand town of the Gujrat state. She has been moved to a nearby temporary shelter home provided by the centre, where she will continue to live for nine months. This home houses a 100 other surrogate mothers just like Vasanti. All of these women are under the supervision of gynecologist, Doctor Nayana Patel. Each room in the shelter home is allocated to 10 surrogate mothers, who are provided with food and vitamins. They are also instructed to rest regularly; Vasanti how-

ever does not rest that often. “I keep roaming around here and there at night because I can’t sleep. As the child in my womb grows, I am beginning to get bored. I want to go home as soon as possible, back to my husband and children.” According to the rules and regulations of the shelter home, pregnant surrogate mothers are prohibited from indulging in sexual acts. These women are also very explicitly told that in case of any complexities, the doctors, the parents who have donated the embryo(s) and the hospital will not be liable to pay for any damages. If a surrogate mother carries twin embryos until the time of delivery she is paid $10,000 but if she suffers a miscarriage during the first three months, then she is only paid $600 for her troubles. Moreover, if the birthing process is successful, the shelter home is paid a fee of $18,000 by the donor couple. Dr Nayana Patel, who is in charge of the shelter home and the IVF Clinic, admits that her profession is a breeding ground for criticism because of its controversial nature. “I have faced many difficulties during my work, and I shall continue facing them, because our line of work is extremely controversial.” According to Patel, critics have also defamed the shelter home as a place for the production and selling of children, some even going so far as to calling it a “Baby Production Factory”. “Such allegations really hurt me,” Patel says. Some critics claim that surrogate mothers are exploited to make a profit, but Patel believes that the world’s trading companies, political platforms and the glamour industry are all much harder than this. “I think everybody is using each other to attain their own personal goals,” declares Patel. She also believes that the surrogate mothers in her shelter home are getting a

fair deal under her surveillance. “I know these women are undergoing physical labour, but they are also being paid for their troubles. They know that nothing can be gained without working hard for it.” A Hub Of suRROgAcy

While staying in the temporary home, these women are also taught how to stitch clothes and cook, so that when they leave they can continue to support themselves and their families with dignity. The reward given to these surrogate mothers at the end of their trials is enough, according to Patel. Vasanti is paid for her troubles every month; a payment which greatly exceeds her husband’s $40 monthly salary. Some surrogate mothers even return to the shelter home after they have given birth, but Patel refuses to accept their services after the third time. According to Patel, there are several reasons as to why India is fast becoming a hub for surrogacy. These reasons include the low cost of surrogacy, the good medical aid which is provided to these mothers and also the helpful laws that allow such activity to take place and flourish. However, surrogate mothers in India have no rights over their children after they are born, and neither are they expected to care or be responsible for them. Therefore, surrogacy is extremely easily undertaken within the land. In contrast to this, surrogate mothers in the West are considered the true mothers of the children, and even the birth certificate which is provided has the surrogate’s name as the child’s biological mother. About one-third of the world’s poor live in India, and critics believe that it is only abject poverty which forces women to take such a course. Patel stated that India has a very high number of needy women. “Food, shelter, clothes and medication are not free for everybody in the country.

People have to really work hard in order to get their right here,” says Patel. She added that she advises surrogate mothers to carefully spend the money they receive for their efforts at the shelter home. VAsAnti’s stORy

Vasanti and her husband Ashok built a new home for their family. Ashok said that their previous house had been rented, and the new one was much better in comparison. “My parents will be very happy to know that my wife and I have finally made our own home. Our social status will also increase, which is a great thing!” However, Vasanti and Ashok paid a heavy price for the new home they currently have. They could not build it in the same neighbourhood because they were afraid of the misconduct and the taunts that would surely come their way. Vasanti was getting increasingly worried as the time for delivery comes near. “I don’t know if the parents of the child will immediately take him away, or whether he will have to stay with me for 10,

15 or even 20 days. I might not be allowed to see him at all!” She was shifted to a hospital for her delivery, where Dr. Patel had decided to conduct a cesarean. While in India a son is hailed as good news, Vasanti was worried because the Japanese donor parents had wanted a baby girl. However, after the delivery, the newborn was immediately shifted to another hospital, from where the parents would take him to Japan. Vasanti was depressed at just catching a glimpse of the baby, and her eyes filled up with tears as she recalled him. “I saw my son while the cesarean was taking place, I saw him! But then they took him away. They should have at least let me see him for five seconds!” Vasanti has now started living a new life with her family in her new home. Her children also go to English-medium schools. “My kids are growing up, and we took this step to ensure a better future for them. But I would never want my daughter to become a surrogate mother.”

People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built. — Eleanor Roosevelt

08 N

NEWS Monday, 7 October, 2013

govT faILED To faCILITaTE maSSES, fuLfILL ITS PLEDgES, SayS KaIra

LAHORE: Troops of Lahore Garrison load a consignment of relief items for earthquake-affected people of Balochistan on Sunday. PR

LAHORE: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Information Secretary Qamar Zaman Kaira has said the government has failed to provide relief to the masses and therefore has failed in fulfilling the pledges made to the nation prior to the general elections. Talking to reporters on Sunday, Kaira said though the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) through fake promises got the public’s mandate but the nation had rejected them within three months. He rejected the statements regarding the PMLN being a friendly opposition during the PPP’s government, saying Nawaz Sharif and Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan left no stone unturned to topple the government and even the PML-N leader appeared in court for the purpose. Kaira alleged that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif indulged in negative propaganda against then president Asif Ali Zardari and in defaming the national institutions by criticising their performance. The PPP information secretary said the government did not take parliament into confidence prior to making important decisions. He said increase in the prices of petroleum products, gas and electricity had crushed the masses who were already struggling for survival. Kaira alleged that tax was not imposed on chosen people of the PMLN and only the common man had to pay it. inP

govT ELImInaTIng Poor InSTEaD of EraDICaTIng PovErTy: LaTIf KhoSa

(use of MoBILe phone jaMMers)

national, provincial assemblies using devices illegally PTA ASKS LEGISLATURES TO SEEK INTER MINISTERIAL COMMITTEE’S PERMISSION

MULTAN: Former Governor Punjab Sardar Latif Khosa has blamed that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led government through inflation has forced the masses to commit suicide. Addressing a press conference on Sunday, Khosa said that PML-N government shifted entire burden on the poor masses who were already in the grip of multifaceted crises. He said the government is following the policy of eliminating the poor instead of eradicating poverty. The price hike witnessed during the three months of the sitting government has manifolded the miseries of the masses, he added. The Punjab former governor said he was already aware of the fact that All Parties Conference (APC) will come with no results. Khosa said that Pakistan People's Party (PPP) during its five-year rule facilitated the masses despite economic crunch and least burden was put on masses. inP

PTA SAYS JAMMERS TROUBLING CELL PHONE USERS IN ADJOINING AREAS OF ASSEMBLIES kARACHI

iSMAil DilAWAR

HE national and provincial assemblies are using mobile phone jammers in their secretariats illegally. The federal government’s policy whereas requires the assembly secretariats to seek authorisation from the Inter Ministerial Committee (IMC) before installing jammers on their respective premises, the later appeared to have been using the devises without permission of the competent authority. The matter came to the fore only when a number of cell phone operators ap-

proached the PTA complaining that their users living in adjoining areas of the national and provincial legislatures were facing connectivity-related problems. “Some mobile companies approached us with complaints,” PTA spokesman Khurram Mehran confirmed to Pakistan Today. The regulator, however, moved when the Frequency Allocation Board (FAB) too verified these complaints. “We have informed them to seek permission of the Committee (IMC),” Mehran said, adding that the federal body was entitled to decide the fate of such jammers in accordance with their usage in specific areas and the technical issues related thereto. “The jammers, under the federal government policy, are used with the permission of ICM,” the PTA spokesman said. And the PTA’s mandate is to refer the concerned stakeholders to the Committee, claimed Mehran. However, official correspondence between the PTA and Assembly Secretariats, particularly that of Punjab, shows that the authority was coming hard on the legislatures which now are running from pillars to post to give a legal cover to the “illegal” usage of MPJs inside their premises. “PTA Islamabad has raised objection on the use of mobile

phone jammers and termed it as illegal,” the Punjab Assembly told the Sindh Assembly via letter number SA-1/Mobile Phone Jammer/2006/6330 dated the 24th of last month. Titling “Use of Mobile Phone Jammers”, the letter shows that the Punjab Assembly also has contacted the secretariats of the National Assembly, Baluchistan Assembly and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. “I am directed to inform you that Punjab Assembly Secretariat has been using mobile phone jammers (MPJs),” reads the letter undersigned by Assistant Secretary Tehmina Tabish. PTA, it said, had advised to seek “necessary authorization/permission” the IMC formed by the federal government in the context of national security. “In view of the position explained above, you are requested to provide information and rules under which you are using mobile phone jammers,” the Sindh Assembly was asked. Justifying the placement of MPJs in its premises, the Punjab Assembly contends, in the letter, that in a “very sensitive” and “dignified” area like provincial assembly the use of mobile phones was detrimental to legislative process.

“The most decent way of stopping the use of mobile phones is the installation of jamming device,” it said. The Punjab Assembly refers to Rule 223(k) of the House’s rules of procedures, however, its Sindh counterpart quotes Rule 212 to justify the installation of jammers. “Rule 212 authorises the speaker, as a custodian of the House, to order such measures,” said an official at Sindh Assembly. Clause 1 of Rule 212 reads, “All matters not specifically provided for in these rules shall be regulated in such manner as the speaker may deem fit.” Clause 2 reads, “Any decision taken, ruling given or direction issued by the Speaker in these rules shall not be called in question in any manner or on any ground whatsoever.” Clause 3 of the same rule says, “No person shall comment upon or make any statement in press or otherwise in respect of ruling given or direction issued by the speaker.” The official, seeking anonymity, said the jammers were being used on special directives of the Sindh Assembly speaker at present. The lawmakers routinely tended to bring Iphones but lack of internet facility barred them from using the same.

MusLIM vICtIMs In MyanMar say poLICe aIded attaCkers tHAnDWE AgEnCiES

Even as the president came to western Myanmar to urge an end to sectarian violence, security forces could not prevent Buddhist mobs from torching the homes of minority Muslims or hacking them to death, at times, unwittingly, even encouraging them. That has raised questions about the government's ability to quench a virulent strain of religious hatred blamed for the deaths of more than 240 people in the last 18 months. The latest attack occurred on Tuesday in Thandwe township, killing five just hours before President Thein Sein touched down for a scheduled visit. He promised an immediate investigation and, with uncharacteristic speed, staterun media by Saturday night said 44 suspects had been arrested, though few other details were released. Still, as soldiers walked the dusty streets in the hardest-hit village of Thabyuchaing, semi-automatics slung

across their shoulders, Myint Aung and other Muslims residents were afraid. They said authorities had plenty of opportunities to prevent a series of attacks Tuesday, each more brutal than the next, but did nothing. More than 110 homes were burned to the ground, and nearly 500 people were left homeless. Initially, the Buddhist mobs numbering about 150 entered before dawn, setting one house on fire, but Muslim residents were able to push them back, said the 52-year-old, standing before a charred mosque and several homes. He added that the police detained three suspects soon after, but released them almost immediately following threats of more violence. Though police promised the Muslim villagers protection – and disarmed them and ordered them back into their homes – the mobs returned in even greater numbers at 9.30am, and then again at 2.30pm Among the dead were a 94-year-old woman and an 89-year-old man, both too old to run, each with multiple stab wounds. ''We had no way to protect ourselves'' said

Win Myint, 51, another resident, standing in front of his demolished home, echoing complaints heard by victims in other attacks across the state. ''And the police did nothing. They just looked on. Everyone is living in fear now.'' In an interview with Associated Press in New York, Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin denied the charges that law enforcement or government troops failed to take necessary action. Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist nation of 60 million, is undergoing a mind-boggling political transformation after a half-century of brutal military rule. However, the greater freedoms of expression have had a dark side, exposing deep-seated hatred toward Muslims that, fueled by radical monks, have ignited attacks first in western Rakhine state and then from Meikhtila in the country's center to Lashio near the Chinese border. Under the new democratization, a poorly trained and ill-equipped police force – made up almost exclusively of Buddhists – is now tasked with dealing with sectarian violence, the army only stepping in at the

invitation of civilian authorities or during states of emergency. The results, on many occasions, have been disastrous. ''From the facts as presented, it appears the police failed to do their job properly,'' said Jim Della-Giacoma, the Asia program director for the International Crisis Group, a research organization. ''But it is not just the authorities fault here,'' he added. ''The community is being riled up by extremists. There is no justification for such violence.'' Tensions started to build in Thandwe one week ago, when a Buddhist taxi driver accused a Muslim shop owner of being abusive over a parking space dispute. Several houses were burned or damaged in the hours that followed, and by Tuesday the anger exploded into mass violence. Thein Sein was quoted by state media as saying he was ''suspicious of the motives'' of those who turned a ''trivial argument and ordinary crime into racial and religious clashes.'' ''According to the evidence in hand, rioters who set fire to the villages are outsiders,'' he said. ''Participation of all is

needed to expose and arrest those who were involved in the incident and those instigating the conflict behind the scene. Action will be taken in accordance with the law, without discrimination on the grounds of race and religion.'' In what appeared to be rare criticism of ''969,'' a state media report said some organisations had distributed religious flags that were hung in front of thousands of Buddhist-owned homes and shops. A Buddhist-led campaign, ''969'' has taken root nationwide with its supporters urging Buddhists to shop only at Buddhist stores and avoid marrying Muslims or selling homes to them. Billboards with the logo were seen lining the bumpy roads. Muslims in and around Thandwe also blamed outsiders, saying they had existed peacefully side by side with Buddhists for generations and never imagined it could be otherwise. ''Now, suddenly, anyone who believes in Islam is seen as the enemy,'' said U Win Myint, a 51-year-old member of the ethnic Kaman Muslim minority. ''They are targeting us just for our religion.”

Liberalism is trust of the people tempered by prudence. Conservatism is distrust of the people tempered by fear. –William E Gladstone

COMMENT Monday, 7 October, 2013

While the terrorists continue to terrorise Are talks the only panacea?

HE terrorist storm remains unabated, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remains the focus. In the last 24 hours alone, there were three attempts, one of them unsuccessful, but at the deadliest the terrorists succeeded in killing three and injuring eight soldiers when a blast destroyed a security forces vehicle that made a convoy on Sunday in Bannu. While the TTP itself has recently been found shying away from directly owning up to the killing and carnage, it is invariably one of its slightly less well-known subsidiaries that claims responsibility. This latest outrage was by the Ansarul Mujahideen, and its spokesman, Abu Baseer, speaking from an ‘undisclosed location’ presented his rationale: “As long as drone attacks are carried out in Pakistan, we would continue our attacks targeting security forces and the administrative machinery of the Pakistani government”. This is weird logic. The Pakistani forces do not attack through drones, the United States does. The US forces, or to put it more precisely, the American spymasters, make drone strikes because the militants are a threat to American forces. But instead of taking out their vengeance against the US, the TTP and its affiliates keep attacking the Pakistani people and its armed forces. Despite the talk of talks now for the best part of four months since the leading exponents of the right, the PML-N in the centre and the PTI in KP took control, there has been scant progress. The PML-N succeeded in selling its ‘talks taking precedence over all else’ view, to the extent of making ‘talks as the only solution’ to all political entities of note in the country through the APC. Yet it has failed to initiate the mandate it received with such fanfare, after so many delays and so much procrastination. Meanwhile, the terrorists continue to strike with impunity and deadly impact with no real response from the government or reprisals from the law enforcement agencies. Enough is enough. The government must move apace. If it still thinks talks are the way out despite relentless attacks by the militants, it should urgently initiate parleys and persuade the militants to stop violence and abide by the constitution. In case this is not possible a well thought out operation should be initiated to get rid of the extremist militants. The mindset that allows only talk of talks and no action has to change. Looking for shortcuts and opting only for the rightist, constituencybased solutions instead of doing what is right for the country and directing all resources and energy towards getting rid of the menace is simply not going to work.

Solidarity with minorities Pakistan’s record begs for more

HE Taliban have long been out of control, with no hint of humanity left in them. Only two weeks ago, a church in Peshawar was the target, killing more than 80 and injuring over 150 people. They have twice denied responsibility for it, though the attack bore the Taliban signature to a tee – suicide bombers and all. Now the statement: they did not carry out the attack, but it was still in accordance with Sharia. Meaning: they fully endorse the attack. What Sharia, may one ask? It surely is not in the Quran, while the Caliphates throughout guaranteed non-Muslims the right to life and property – among other protections. As barbaric as that attack on the church was, a group of religious scholars called the attack not in compliance with the teachings of Islam and called for a government-backed action against the Taliban, who they say are maligning the image of Islam as a religion of peace. While it is worth appreciating what a bunch of ulema is saying, it is also worth wondering why it was needed in the first place, and why a vast majority of ulema is still silent on the issue. Why they have a soft spot for the barbarians for whom humanity means nothing is beyond comprehension. Perhaps what keeps them in hiding is the government’s appeasing attitude towards terrorists. This puts country’s minorities at a severe risk, for there will always be some ultra conservative group who would consider the mere presence of the people who follow religions other than their own easy prey. It is the government’s job to make sure that minorities are afforded as much protection and freedom as assured by the constitution. Knowing full well how he wanted the state of Pakistan to be, the Quaid-eAzam was an outspoken supporter of the rights of minorities. His vision for a secular, tolerant state that offers equal protection to people from all religions must be realised. The statement by a group of ulema must be adhered to. The government should take steps to ensure that the followers of all religions are treated the same and their every right is protected. A human chain outside St Anthony’s church the other day in “defiance to the extremist forces and solidarity with the minorities” should be appreciated, but it would have been much better if the government took the initiative in this regard.

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor

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

The case of the naB Chairman A corrective intervention is overdue Corruption is worse than prostitution. The latter might endanger the morals of an individual, the former invariably endangers the morals of the entire country. –Karl Kraus N spite of the interventions of the Supreme Court (SC), the appointment of the Chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has remained dogged for over three months now, and for an understandable reason: its existential impact on the future of the political mafias currently saddled in power in the country. Consequently, there is a common overriding denominator that has to be followed in the pending appointment: he or she should neither initiate any new case/s nor follow-up on existing ones against any of the current or previous incumbents in power, most notably the leaderships of the PML-N and the PPP. So, the nation has witnessed a humiliating parade of prospective candidates being lined up and then booted out because they did not quite measure up to the combined bottom-line expectations of the prime minister against whom there are outstanding cases in various courts of law and the leader of the opposition who needs to safeguard against the prospect of cases against Mr Zardari and his cronies. Both the parties have remained busy with proposing the names of such individuals who would carry their absolute trust. They were eventually dropped because they failed to win support from the other side represented by the leader of the opposition. The race has effectively degenerated to finding a person lacking in the qualities of character, integrity, honesty and fearlessness to head the sole accountability watchdog of the country. It is an appropriate reflection of the level of morbidity and self-interest that has engulfed our decision-making processes. For five long years, the succeeding incumbents of the office at NAB did not do a fig to move against corruption of the political mafias. Instead, they were effectively in league with the rulers to keep their files under lock and key. This was done despite the fact that, following in the footsteps of their leaders, corruption had assumed maniacal proportions through all echelons of the government when a new case, ever more degrading than all the previous ones, kept hitting the headlines in double-quick RAOOF HASAn succession. A former chairman of NAB is on record to have stated that Rs10 to 12 billion were being siphoned out of the system illicitly on a daily basis, but he kept talking of ‘prevention’ rather than cure. The logic given was that catching a few thieves would not prevent others from indulging in corruption which was built around the inherent need of protecting the known megathieves residing in the corridors of power. Not much has changed. If, at all, things

Candid Corner

have further deteriorated as the current incumbents, in addition to being corrupt, are notoriously sensitive to the accusation because they have built their reputation on a ‘high moral ground’ through an assiduous and fraudulent process spread over years. All this while, using their political clout, they have succeeded in keeping their cases under the rugs which they would like to continue doing in the future also hoping that, like the Swiss cases involving Zardari, their corruption would also be time- (and memory-) barred and they would walk away as never having indulged in the crime. This would not be a first-timer. There have been numerous occasions in the past where instances of corruption, involving the high and the mighty, have been successfully camouflaged through a process of institutionalising the scourge. This also holds true for the abuse of power by practically everyone who has ascended the throne. The traditionally blurred lines separating the right from the wrong have only been further blurred with the misdoings of each new entrant into the realm of power. Collectively, they have bequeathed upon this hapless nation a legacy that would only breed abdication of all hues and shades of honesty, transparency and honourable conduct. We have been reduced to be recognised as a nation of thugs and bandits. So will it be with the appointment of the NAB Chief. The interesting feature is that, as per the relevant provision of the constitution, if the prime minister and the leader of the opposition, who separately and collectively may or may not reflect the approval of the other political parties which are present in the national assembly, agree upon a name, the same will be hoisted on the NAB and, apparently, the appropriate constitutional process would be deemed to have been followed in the said appointment. So, the institution of NAB and the nation at large will be left to suffer the abominable consequences of any such self-motivated confluence of interests between the leaders of the two massively corrupt political outfits of the country. Such is the destiny that our constitution ordains for the people – languish perpetually at the mercy of the powerful and the corrupt who have literally bought their way into power. Ideally speaking, none of the political stakeholders would like the continuation of an institution that sits in judgement over their financial corruption and administrative misdoings. If they could, NAB would be abolished with one evil stroke of the pen, but the SC and the media stand in the way. The next best thing, therefore, is to defang the institution totally and effectively by appointing a chairman who would agree to live by the writ issued from the prime minister’s secretariat which, simultaneously, would encompass the interests represented by the leader of the opposition. The perception of the last five years that there was an agreement between the two principal players not to disrupt each other’s tenure in the annals of power is now a living reality as the nation continues to reap the dividends of this evil partnership. One shudders to think of its longterm effects on the country and its plummeting into regression. In the ultimate analysis, it is the mindset that one has to deal with. Like the mindset of the TTP. In a statement, they have said that though they were not responsible for the church carnage in Peshawar, but they believed that it was

according to the Sharia. What could be more disgusting than that? What Sharia are they talking about? Where is it stated in the Qur’an that Muslims should attack the worshipping places of those who do not subscribe to their religion? It is the same mindset that the political leaders of the country want to engage with in a dialogue. What would this dialogue be about? That attacking the churches and other places of worship is in accordance with the tenets of Islam? That killing innocent people is a sign of bravery? That meting out draconian and savage punishments without following due process of law should be applauded by the society and the government? The political leaders seem hell-bent on talking to this bunch of bandits, each one of whom practicing his own brand of Islam, and they are in large numbers. So, do we expect the corrupt-to-thecore conglomerate of the political parties of Pakistan to sign thousands of pacts with all such groups and then constitute an independent ministry to ensure that these agreements are implemented fully to live happily thereafter? They could call it the Ministry of Barbarity and Banditry – MOBB for short. Nothing could be more nauseating than that, nothing could be more sickening than that. It is the same mindset that comes into play when we talk of accountability. The political mafias are consumed with the notion that they have ‘conquered’ the country through the power of votes and they may do with it as they please. They may loot its wealth, they may disenfranchise its people, they may keep them from education and enlightenment, they may deny them the basic healthcare and the needs to sustain their lives, they may deprive them of their basic privileges, all that and more. They believe that they have an inherent right to inflict this on the people, a vast majority of whom, by their own confession, are surviving below the poverty line. Like a group of criminal mafias, they cooperate with one another to secure their common interests. So will it be at the NAB. Unless these common interests are fully secured through the selection of an individual endowed with the reprehensible qualities as required, the watchdog will remain headless and non-functional. Like in so many other cases, the onus would again be on the SC. Since it has intervened in the matter and given the government a limited time to appoint the chairman, it is left with no alternative but to take the matter to its logical conclusion: either ensure that a chairman is appointed immediately, or intervene and appoint one itself. While the former option may end up in the appointment of an individual who may be intrinsically corrupt and may not be able to use the institution for eradication of malpractices in the country, the latter may be construed as an undesirable intervention by the judiciary into the administrative realm. The rulers’ intentions in the case in point are decidedly mala fide and leaving the matter to their sole discretion presents no sustainable solution to the deeply-ingrained malaise of corruption that the country is afflicted with. A corrective intervention is overdue. It may not be possible to hold it back for long.

The race has effectively degenerated to finding a person lacking in the qualities of character, integrity, honesty and fearlessness to head the sole accountability watchdog of the country.

The writer is a political analyst and the Executive Director of the Regional Peace Institute. He can be reached at: raoofhasan@hotmail.com

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. –Steve Jobs

COMMENT

Monday, 7 October, 2013

Blot on the image of the India army V K Singh is all politics: even his body language says so

have been getting calls from the Pakistan media to inquire whether the army stalled the government from certain decisions or forced it to take some without its willingness. Their concern is understandable because the army is the boss in Pakistan and even Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who said the elected government would be superior, has to clear the agenda of close India-Pakistan relations with his army chief Gen Parvez Kayani. I have assured the Pakistan media that the situakulDiP nAyAR tion in India is like the one prevailing in advanced countries in the West where voters are the arbiters. However, I can recall one example of the Armed Forces (Special) Powers Act which can kill anyone on suspicion without being arraigned. The government was inclined to modify the act after a commission’s recommendations. But the army had its way and the act stays without any amendment. Except for this, I have found the Indian army obedient to the elected government. It may be a cliché but the army is apolitical and takes pride in eschewing politics. There may be discussions in messes or canteens of the armed forces on the present conditions obtaining in the country. But they are healthy and nothing beyond the ventilation of disgust. This is not even a case of Bonapartism. I know of a few aberrations on the part of certain army chiefs who have gone beyond the ambit of authority. But there is no instance of defiance. When General K S Thimmaiah, a popular army chief, submitted his resignation to the dismay of public, it was against the functioning of the then Defence Minister Krishna Menon. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru intervened and made Thimmaiah to take back his resignation. Menon stayed on at the Defence Ministry and Thimmaiah retired after completing his term. General K Sundarji went beyond his authority during the military exercises (Operation Brass Tacks). He went into the disputed territory under China and into Pakistan. Islamabad was so disturbed that it sent its Foreign Secretary Abdul Sattar to New Delhi. Sundarji was pulled up. However, he continued to be the army chief until his retirement. Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw was popular among the people, particularly after the victory in the Bangladesh war. Even the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, was suspicious. He made it clear when he met her that he was proud to head such armed force which did not interfere in political affairs. “You do your job and allow me to do mine,” he was supposed to have told Indira Gandhi. The latest example, somewhat disturbing, is that of General V K Singh who retired recently as the army chief. He shared the dais with the controversial Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi. I wish V K Singh had waited a bit longer before jumping into politics. There is no harm in generals joining politics. The greatest democracy of America has examples of top military chiefs like Douglas MacArthur and Dwight D Eishenhower running for presidential election, the latter winning the coveted position. But both of them did not rush to the election platform from the theatre of war. They contested only after decent intervals. The main allegation against V K Singh is that he set up a unit, the Technical Support Division, to snoop on the government at Srinagar and used secret funds to topple it. In an interview to a television network, he has gone further to say that the army has been financing since independence ministers in the Jammu and Kashmir government to maintain “peace and stability” in the state. The allegation of snooping against the elected government at Srinagar is a serious one. The ruling National Conference is justified in demanding a probe by a sitting Supreme Court judge. The centre is in the dock as far as V K Singh’s admission that the military has financed all ministers at Srinagar. Let the Omar Abdullah government explain whether the charge is correct. Farooq Abdullah, former chief minister, is so disturbed that he has demanded a CBI probe immediately. The constitution by V K Singh of a special cell for special purposes has also to be looked into. The defence ministry has issued a statement to assure that the matter is being pursued for “further action”. V K Singh was said to have been upset by the leakage of report against him by top army officials. The report is not yet in the public domain. But the charges are too serious to be left at that. The revelations make a mockery of the army’s function in a democratic polity. Covert operations are conducted all over the world. They should never see the light of the day and the officials engaged in them should keep quiet till their death and not even mention them in their memoires. The military also needs to revise its rules of retirement so as to stop the former chiefs of the three services – army, air force and navy – are not able to join a political party for a decade after their retirement. Being in command they are bound to have earned enough fame to influence the voters. All this darkens the image of the army. However, V K Singh is not the entire army. He is a maverick. He has criticised even the Supreme Court for having rejected his claim to continue for one year more in service because of his birth certificate was “incorrect”. When he had made no effort to have the “mistake” rectified during his entire career, he had no right to do so after occupying the position of the chief of army staff. V K Singh is all politics. Even his body language says so. What he has said speaks volumes of affairs between the government and the army. The self-righteousness of V K Singh is not understandable. Why did he not stand up and stop the financing on Kashmir? Instead, he accelerated the process. He says that Omar Abdullah has “an agenda”. What is it and what did V K Singh do to stop it? To topple an elected government is no solution. His own credibility is in doubt. His association with Anna Hazare at present should be taken with a pinch of salt.

Border Crossing

The great shut down How America is transforming

ARiF AnSAR

HE government shutdown continues in the US and worries are growing about the looming debt-ceiling deadline, and whether the US will default. The media discussions are occurring around the clock about the evolving positions of the Republican and Democratic parties. However, so far they do not appear to be much different from what they were earlier, leaving little room for compromise. The question remains, why did the shutdown occur and was it really about the Republican resistance to the Affordable Care Act (Obamocare) that brought about this fate. President Obama himself has stated the closure is political in nature and a response to his health care, and not about some ideological differences or spending issues. The comments emanating from the Republican side seem to verify this; they claim if Democrats agree to defund the Obamacare programme, the budget will pass and the government will open. A deeper look reveals a different picture. The confrontation between the Democratic and Republican Party is related to a wider debate on the role of government and the private sector in governance. The US is presently in the midst of a fundamental transformation, and the seemingly day-to-day manoeuvring is part of a larger debate about contemplating its role in an era of fiscal restraint, locally and globally. A historical perspective is needed to understand how America arrived at this stage and the associated political, economic and security reasons behind it. At the root of this present fiasco is the Republican belief in small government, less regulation, and letting the market forces

(laissez-faire) determine the direction. The party has traditionally supported lower taxes (capital gains tax) for the rich, as it believes it suffocates further investments. On the other hand, the Republicans, also known as Conservatives, have always been critical of the Democrats that have supported social programmes, believing that it’s the government’s responsibility to play a balancing act. Moreover, the Democrats, also known as Liberals, want to tax the rich more and have imposed more regulations on corporations. How these differing views have played out in the present American drama is obvious, but polarization has been made acute by the on-going recession and the debt crisis. The simple way to understand the debt ceiling debate is that government revenues are lower than the expenditures, which means the US government has to borrow money to settle the difference. As the gap between the income and spending grows, so does the deficit, which stands at about $16.7 trillion. Added to the complication is the fact that as a result of the economic recession, the tax revenue has reduced while the government had to spend even more on assistance and bailout packages for the banks, due to the collapse of the housing and financial sector. Another factor related to the tremendous increase in expenditures has to do with the security environment prevailing since 9/11, which led the US in to Afghanistan and Iraq. The dilemma Pakistan faces is somewhat similar, at a smaller scale. The nation’s economy is shrinking and thus the country has to borrow money from institutions such as the IMF to cover the deficit, and to make the interest payments on loans taken in the past. However, when the country tries to raise taxes or decrease subsidies, it faces a public backlash from the middle and lower class. At the same time, the country has been unable to address heavy spending in defence and waste in the forms of corruption. However, the issue in Pakistan is not related to the differing views of various political parties, as it is in the US. Larger parties that form the government, behave pretty much the same way once in power, and have protected the interests of the elites. While the US has had about 17 shutdowns in the past, the last one being in 1995, the present one indicates the country may actually be in the midst of a course correction. At the end of the Great Depression, the US entered an era what came to be known as the Great Deal, starting from 1933. The Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt greatly expanded the role of government and social

welfare programmes. One of the goals of his first hundred days was to deal with financial mess and the banking collapse. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) that guaranteed bank deposits was established during this time including many other regulatory agencies. The Social Security Act came in 1935, including the right for workers to bargain collectively, the advent of the labour unions. It was during this time the influence of British economist John Maynard Keynes was expanding. He argued to deal with the depression, government should reduce interest rates and taxes while increasing expenditure, and not worry about balancing the budget. This, he claimed, would result in growth in investment and consumption. While many other economic concepts have been applied ever since, the Keynesian approach has remained influential. Another major concept, for example, came in the form of Reaganomics. The Republican president, and economist Paul Harvey, argued in the 1980s that to stimulate the economy, government spending, income and capital gains tax, including government regulations, need to be reduced, and to manage the supply of money to check inflation. Theoretically speaking, the fix to the situation US confronts is to increase revenues by raising taxes, eliminating waste and duplication, while cutting and reforming programmes that are no longer needed or affordable. The challenge is the two parties interpret what to cut and what to retain differently, based on their ideological outlook. The Conservatives want to cut and reform social welfare programmes that have come to be accepted as entitlements. Other part of the equation has to do with the defence spending already impacted by the sequestration. While the New Deal had greatly expanded the role of government and social programmes, the Republicans have consistently fought to cut it down. While these struggles have continued in the past, they have taken on a new dimension in the era of economic recession and when security concerns have taken precedence over economic matters since 9/11. As the debate continues, the US will have to frequently delve in its history to reinterpret and make the intent of the founding fathers relevant. The writer is chief analyst at PoliTact, a Washington based futurist advisory firm (www.PoliTact.com). He can be reached at: aansar@politact.com and tweets at @ArifAnsar

The writer is a veteran Indian journalist, human rights activist and a noted author.

arts Monday, 7 October, 2013

haLLE BErry anD huBBy WELComE BaBy Boy

There’s a new man in Halle Berry’s life. A representative for the 47-year-old actress confirmed Berry and new hubby Olivier Martinez welcomed their son on Saturday. But publicist Meredith O’Sullivan Wasson did not reveal whether the child has been named or any other details. E! News reported Berry delivered the baby at CedarsSinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The boy is the second child for Berry. She has a 5-year-old daughter, Nahla, with her ex-boyfriend, Gabriel Aubry. The two settled their custody battle over the child in 2012. This is the first child for Martinez. The French actor and Berry married in July. nEWS DESk

In seeking truth you have to get both sides of a story — Walter Cronkite

raDCLIffE WanTS To maKE harry potter ‘dIsappear’ B

EFORE Daniel Radcliffe became the most famous child actor in history, he was just a child: an only child, a poor sleeper, a nonstop talker, a picky eater. He was also disarmingly sweet. In the screen test he took at age 10, in 2000, for the first Harry Potter film, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” he smiles brightly, ebullient, his delight in being there apparent; he is concentrating, concentrating so hard at one point that he mouths words under his breath while waiting to deliver a line, but even still, when he does finally speak, he is all natural sincerity. His face is a flawless littleboy face, his eyes huge and cerulean blue. One eye occasionally blinks more slowly than the other, but no matter. He turns, compliantly, this way and that when asked. About four minutes into the footage, someone places the iconic round glasses on him, and there he is: Harry Potter, boy wizard, the chosen one. The adult voice on the video says: “Those look good.” Within weeks, Radcliffe, officially cast as Harry Potter, was sitting at a news conference before a roomful of cameras and reporters. One of his first questions from the media: “How do you feel about becoming famous?” Radcliffe brightened: “It’ll be cool!” The crowd laughed. Thirteen years later, on Sept. 2, Radcliffe was on a small boat in Venice, speeding along the Grand Canal toward the Rialto Bridge. The

bridge, a 16th-century stone marvel, is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Venice, but on that day, it was merely a convenient viewing station from which wildly waving fans could await Radcliffe’s arrival. Radcliffe was making his way from the Lido, a small resort island that hosts the Venice Film Festival, to a department store that had agreed to publicize, with huge banners, the independent film, “Kill Your Darlings,” that Radcliffe was in town to promote. Young people, mostly girls but a few boys, had been lining up outside the store since the evening before for an autograph-signing. Radcliffe was hoping to lure at least some of his Harry Potter following to see his new film, in which he plays a youth icon of a different order: the poet Allen Ginsberg, during his rebellious late-teenage years. Everywhere Radcliffe looked, on tiny side streets opening out to the water, on lacy balconies overhead, people were crammed in close, screaming his name — “Donyell! Donyell!” — and blowing kisses. From the deck, a manager with the film’s Italian distributor called to Radcliffe, “Come up top!” The day was beautiful, with that warm Venetian light bouncing off the water. “I’ve been told not to — sorry!” Radcliffe called back. Radcliffe, who is 24, looked mortified by this precaution, which was not to protect his safety but someone else’s labor. “I’m sorry I’m acting like I care about my hair,” he told me, “but Dan"— his

hairstylist — “gave me strict instructions not to make him look like an ass.” Radcliffe, in person, generally vibrates at a faster frequency than the character that made him famous, but looking out at the awaiting throng, he seemed quiet and focused. After so many years, he is accustomed to the frenzied desire, the crazed crush of fans wanting to see him, capture him on film or claim his autograph; if he was feeling some dread, it was because he already knew that he would be disappointing so many people. “I’m more nervous about the anticipation of feeling bad,” he said. “When you’ve got thousands of people who’ve gotten up at 4 in the morning and think

Clooney proves he can be a scene stealer even when he's not photoboming his friends at the Shoah Foundation event at New York's Museum of Natural History.

they’re going to get something and they won’t. Now the boat inched its way around a tight bend and pulled up to a dock the crowd could not access. Radcliffe’s bodyguard, Sam, never more than an arm’s length away, led him up some stairs and into the glaring artificial light of the department store, which smelled of perfume and wool. From a balcony, Radcliffe took in the view — some 1,500 people, packing the street. A sofa had been set up in one of the in-store boutiques, and a few feet away, behind a barrier, a phalanx of young girls pressed up against one another to get closer to Radcliffe as he, Sam and his publicist tried to get their bearings. nEWS DESk

SALMAN KHAN WANTS A DAUGHTER Bollywood actor, Salman Khan says if he ever has a child, he wishes it should be a girl. "If I ever have a child.. Inshallah I will... I wish it's a girl. I want a girl child," he said at the press conference of the social cause he is supporting with Miss Universe Olivia Culpo and Sanjana Jon. Reigning Miss Universe 2012 Olivia Culpo recently met him in Mumbai on her 10-day tour to raise awareness for female infanticide and women empowerment in India. Salman Khan, who is known for his human deeds, is always the first to stand for social issues urged the nation to stop female infanticide. While Olivia who is on her maiden visit to India was extremely happy to meet Salman. Olivia is also most likely to meet legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar and few other renowned Bollywood actors and make them a part of her campaign.

nIna DoBrEv PoSES ToPLESS for oBamaCarE

nEWS DESk

TrESPaSSEr arrESTED AT RIHANNA'S CALIFORNIA HOME On her WhoSay account, the actress posted a pic of herself, holding a cardboard sign across her naked chest that read, "#getcovered," a reference to President Obama's Affordable Care Act. Dobrev explained, "Im Canadian. We have healthcare for all. If you dont have insurance go and #GetCovered. Because w/o it, youre naked." Nina's provocative take on the grassroots campaign has so far generated nearly 94,000 likes. Other Hollywood celebs who've shown off their own home-made signs in support of Obamacare include Rosario Dawson, Connie Britton, Kerry Washington, and Kate Bosworth. nEWS DESk

When Rihanna wrote "Rude Boy," we doubt she was thinking of this guy. E! News has learned that police have arrested Jonathan Wooper after he reportedly scaled the wall at the R&B superstar's Los Angeles estate Friday morning. Sgt. Gary Levy tells E! News the suspect seemed to have some delusions about knowing the "Diamonds" singer and being friends with her. Rihanna's security team spotted the alleged infiltrator and alerted the cops who took the man into custody at 11 a.m. approximately a mile from the home. But according to the report, as it turns out, there was another attempted break-in at RiRi's residence this past Sunday, in which a would-be burglar had tried to throw a chair through a window, but he managed to get away. Authorities are now investigating whether the two men are one and the same. A rep for Rihanna was unavailable for comment, but she wasn't home as she's currently in Australia on her Diamonds world tour. This wouldn't be the first time the 25-yearold hitmaker has had an unwelcome visitor. In June, a 26-year-old man named Robert Melanson was busted after trespassing on the same property and managing to get up onto the roof before her security officers caught him. nEWS DESk

I have only one rule in acting trust the director and give him heart and soul — Ava Gardner

ARTS Monday, 7 October, 2013

12 A

ExTInCT LIzarD DISCOVERED IN ECUADOR

Miley Cyrus rehearses for her hosting turn tonight on Saturday Night Live.

Spears slashes

lip-syncing accusations Britney Spears has insisted that she will sing live during her Las Vegas shows. The singer also addressed claims that she is pressured into filming sexy music videos in an interview with Chicago's 103.5 Kiss FM yesterday (October 4). Asked if she would like to comment about singing live in Las Vegas, she said: "I'm definitely going to be singing live. I always sing live... It doesn't sound so great all the time, but I do my best." Spears kicks off her 'Piece of Me' shows at Planet Hollywood on December 27, where she will perform for the next two years. The 31year-old revealed that her team were "respectful" to her when she requested that her 'Work Bitch' music video be toned down. In an interview with The TJ Show on AMP 103.3 earlier this week, Spears said that she would like to have less "sex stuff" in future clips. Asked if she was pressured into filming racy scenes, she replied: "No they weren't pushing me. There was one shot in the beginning of the shoot that was way too risqué and racy for anybody's eye, and I was like 'I can't deal with this at all'. "They were respectful and listened to me." nEWS DESk

HIS ain't no lie: The Pinocchio lizard was thought to be extinct for 50 years, but has been rediscovered in the cloud forests of Ecuador. After searching for the long-nosed animal for three years, a team of photographers and researchers found the lizard recently in a stretch of pristine cloud forest in the northwest part of the country, said Alejandro Arteaga, a co-founder of the educational and ecotourism company Tropical Herping, which conducted the search for the lizard. Also called the Pinocchio anole (an anole is a type of lizard), the animal is named after a certain dishonest wooden puppet and was first discovered in 1953, Arteaga said. But wasn't seen between the 1960s and 2005, when an ornithologist saw one crossing a road in the same remote area in northwest Ecuador. This is only the third time scientists have spotted it since 2005, Arteaga added. [Album: Bizarre Frogs, Lizards and Salamanders] Scientists typically look for lizards at night when most of the animals sleep, and when their coloring becomes

paler and they are less likely to scurry away, Arteaga told LiveScience's OurAmazingPlanet. One of his colleagues found a single male Pinocchio anole clinging to a branch over a stream in January. The team then kept it overnight before photographing it in the morning in its natural habitat. "After looking for so long … It was very thrilling to find this strange lizard," Arteaga said. The team then let the animal go. Arteaga and his colleagues were searching for the Pinocchio anole because it was the last lizard they needed to complete their book, "The Amphibians and Reptiles of Mindo," a rural region a two-hour drive north of Quito, Ecuador's capital. The book was published this summer. Pinocchio anoles (Anolis proboscis) are an endangered species and have been found in only four locations, mostly along a single stretch of road, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a global environmental group. They have one of the smallest ranges of any lizard in the world, Arteaga said. nEWS DESk

Gravity opens account with $55 million Deadline reports that Gravity looks set to earn a whopping $55 million at the North American box office this weekend. The movie - which stars George Clooney and Sandra Bullock as two astronaut's lost in space - has been given an impressive 'A-' CinemaScore from moviegoers and is already generating some serious Oscar buzz. For that reason, the studio is predicting long legs for this release. After taking $17.5 million on Friday (including $1.4 million for Thursday 10pm late shows and Friday midnights), Gravity gained a massive boost of 35% on Saturday to earn $23.5 million. It's now predicted that the movie will finish with a total of $55 million; a figure helped by the more expensive 3D and IMAX tickets. It's believed that the budget for Gravity is between $80 million and $120 million. Did you guys decide to check out the movie this weekend? nEWS DESk

Angela Goodwin is not bugged by insects in her Oakridge, Oregon home -- thanks to two anteaters she keeps as pets. Goodwin, 37, got her first anteater, Pua, back in 2006 and added a second, Aurora, two years ago. The bug-craving duo spend their days sleeping in her washing machine and nights searching the house for ants -- and anything else that catches their fancy. I have to keep everything locked and bolted when they are not being supervised just to prevent problems," Goodwin said, according to the Daily Mail. "They can't be taught as easily as a dog but they will learn to do things if there's something in it for them." oodwin became interested in anteaters after seeing one on Animal Planet, and started doing online research on the critters. ut some things about anteaters can only be learned by actual experience: like their lack of personal hy-

giene and bad habit of clawing furniture. hen I first got Pua it was kind of like having a little alien in the house," Goodwin told the Seattle Times. "But for me, I think it's worth it because I get a lot back from them. They're very loving." The anteaters had to get used to Goodwin as well -- mainly her taste in fashion. "I started putting little sweaters on Pua and she didn't seem to mind so now she's got a whole wardrobe of clothes," she told the Telegraph. Goodwin is definitely an anteater fan, but she has some warnings for people who might want to adopt one. “They can be trained to pee on a mat, but their pee smells skunk-like and they can also release a terrible odor when scared," she said, according to PetsFoto.com. “They also tend to dribble pee a bit. Kind of like having a giant rat. They can’t help that.” nEWS DESk

SPORTS Monday, 7 October, 2013

Clarke, B mcCullum laud afghanistan for 2015 World Cup qualification

Baseball life is a tough life on the family. — Nolan Ryan

MUMBAI INDIANS CROWNED

CLT20 ChamPIonS nEW DELHI

AgEnCiES

UMBAI Indians beat Rajasthan Royals by 33 runs in the Champions League Twentyu20 final in New Delhi on Sunday Earlier, Mumbai Indians displayed a clinical performance with the bat to post a mammoth 202/6 in the Champions League Twenty20 final against Rajasthan Royals in New Delhi today Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma didn’t look a happy man after losing the toss, but the right-hander will be more than satisfied with the effort of his team. The 2011 champions got off their usual brisk start, but lose their way somewhere in the middle. The Kotla pitch was expected to assist the spinners, and 41-year old Pravin Tambe

dUBAI: Australian captain Michael Clarke and his New Zealand counterpart Brendon McCullum on Sunday lauded Afghanistan for qualifying for the 2015 World Cup and hoped that the gritty side’s maiden experience at the biggest event turns out to be a memorable one. Afghanistan finished second in the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Championship last week and along with Ireland progressed to ICC’s flagship event that will be staged from February 14 to March 29 in Australia and New Zealand. Afghanistan is in Pool A while Ireland is in Pool B. Clarke, whose side beat Afghanistan by 66 runs in the only ODI between the two sides to date in August 2012, was delighted for the Associate side. “It was only last year that we played Afghanistan in the United Arab Emirates. They put up a good fight and showed strong potential,” Clarke was quoted as saying in an ICC release. “To obtain a qualification spot in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 is something the squad deserves and we’re all really happy for them,” Clarke said from Sydney. AgEnCiES

auSTraLIan CrICKET TEam PraCTICES aT CCI

SPoRtS DESk The Australian cricket team on Sunday sweated it out at the Cricket Club of India in their first training session ahead of the seven-match ODI series against India that will be preceded by the lone Twenty20 game at Rajkot on October 10. The ODI rubber commences on October 13 in Pune and concludes in Bangalore on November 2. The team, which arrived last night, had a light training session and played football in their one-hour outing here. The visiting team would have another two-day practice session at the Cricket Club of India before leaving for Rajkot for the opening T20 game and they are expected to have proper net session’s tomorrow morning. Five Australian squad members — Shane Watson, James Faulkner, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mitchell Johnson, Glenn Maxwell — are representing their IPL teams in the Champions League Twenty20 finals on Sunday. The team from Down Under is without regular skipper Michael Clarke and T20 captain George Bailey will lead the side in the former`s absence. Clarke was ruled out of the tour due to a nagging back injury.

showed just the same. After Shane Watson removed Sachin Tendulkar early, Tambe pulled things back for Rajasthan with a tight spell in the middle overs. The legspinner conceded only 19 in his four, and picked two wickets in the process. Mumbai were heading towards something close to 160 before Rohit made his intentions clear. The elegant right-hander stepped on the accelerator and played a little gem towards the end. He couldn’t stay till the end, but gave Glenn Maxwell the right platform to add on. And, Maxwell didn’t disappoint his skipper. The right-hander scored a 14-ball 37 to help his side score a very good total in the final. Pitch: There is some dead grass and it is dry in certain areas. Something for the spinners here. Not much for the seam bowlers. Looks like a reasonably good scoring game.

Playing XI RAJASTHAN ROYALS: Rahul dravid (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson, Shane Watson, Kevon Cooper, Kushal Perera, Stuart Binny, dishant Yagnik (W), James Faulkner, Rahul Shukla, Pravin Tambe MUMBAI INdIANS: dwayne Smith, Sachin Tendulkar, dinesh Karthik (W), Rohit Sharma (C), Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Glenn Maxwell, Nathan CoulterNile, Harbhajan Singh, Rishi dhawan, Pragyan Ojha.

SCOREBOARD MuMBAi inDiAnS 44 DR Smith b Tambe 15 SR Tendulkar b Watson 29 AT Rayudu b Tambe Rg Sharma c Faulkner b Shukla 33 kA Pollard b Faulkner 15 gJ Maxwell run out (Tambe/†yagnik) 37 15 kD karthik not out 7 Harbhajan Singh not out 7 EXTRAS (lb 2, w 4, nb 1) 202 TOTAl: (6 wks; 20 overs) DiD nOT BAT nM Coulter-nile, R Dhawan, PP Ojha FAll OF WiCkETS 1-35 (Tendulkar, 4.3 ov), 2-77 (Smith, 11.3 ov), 3-104 (Rayudu, 13.4 ov), 4-140 (Pollard, 16.2 ov), 5-152 (Sharma, 17.1 ov), 6-193 (Maxwell, 19.3 ov) BOWling: JP Faulkner 4-0-46-1, SR Watson 3-0-30-1, R Shukla 4-0-49-1, k Cooper 4-0-40-0, PV Tambe 4-0-192, STR Binny 1-0-16-0 RAJASTHAn ROyAlS MDkJ Perera run out (Smith/†karthik) 8 AM Rahane c Smith b Harbhajan Singh 65 SV Samson c Harbhajan Singh b Ojha 60 8 SR Watson c Pollard b Harbhajan Singh 10 STR Binny b Harbhajan Singh DH yagnik c †karthik b Pollard 6 k Cooper st †karthik b Harbhajan Singh 4 R Dravid b Coulter-nile 1 JP Faulkner not out 2 R Shukla c Smith b Pollard 0 0 PV Tambe c Smith b Pollard 5 EXTRAS (lb 3, w 1, nb 1) 169 TOTAl (10 wickets; 18.5 overs) FAll OF WiCkETS 1-8 (Perera, 0.4 ov), 2-117 (Samson, 11.5 ov), 3-137 (Watson, 14.3 ov), 4-155 (Rahane, 16.1 ov), 5-155 (Binny, 16.4 ov), 6-159 (Cooper, 16.6 ov), 7-163 (Dravid, 17.4 ov), 8-169 (yagnik, 18.2 ov), 9-169 (Shukla, 18.3 ov), 10-169 (Tambe, 18.5 ov) BOWling: gJ Maxwell 1-0-10-0, R Dhawan 3-0-34-0, Harbhajan Singh 4-0-32-4, nM Coulter-nile 3-0-33-1, PP Ojha 4-0-26-1, kA Pollard 3.5-0-31-3 Match details Toss Rajasthan Royals, who chose to field Player of the match tba umpires HDPk Dharmasena (Sri lanka) and RJ Tucker (Australia) TV umpire C Shamsuddin Match referee RS Madugalle (Sri lanka) Reserve umpire k Srinath

Pakistan win first World Team Snooker C’ship CARLoW AgEnCiES

Pakistan duo surprised the world by wining the IBSF 6-Reds World Championship on Sunday. Reigning world amateur champion Muhammad Asif and former Asian number two Muhammad Sajjad beat the Iran pair 5-3 in the final Asif and Sajjad went into the match on the back of a good run in the championships, having beaten Poland, India and Ireland to reach the final. Pakistan made a brilliant comeback after going into a deficit of 0-3 and achieved a memorable success.

Pakistan to be blessed with cricket ‘soon’ LAHoRE AgEnCiES

After being ignored for over four years, Pakistan is hoping to see revival of international cricket in the country within the next six months with moves afoot to invite a World XI side here. All Test teams have avoided touring Pakistan since March, 2009 when terrorists attacked the Sri Lankan team in Lahore. Intikhab Alam a former Test captain, who heads the international division in the Pakistan Cricket Board, said they were making efforts to invite a World XI or a team from England. “I can’t give a exact time frame when this could happen but we are working on getting a World eleven to Pakistan in the next few months. At the same time we feel that even if a county team comes from England it could help our cause to revive international cricket,” Alam said. The veteran said he couldn’t give details but the board has been in touch with other boards, teams and individuals over this issue. “We are doing our best because we realise that our players need to be playing at home. It is important for our future generation of players,” he said.

sa to BuLL’s-eye pak’s vuLneraBLe top order SHARjAH AgEnCiES

Mohammad Hafeez’s omission from the Pakistan Test squad has given South Africa a clear indication of where to draw the battle lines for the two-match series. With Khurram Manzoor set to occupy one opening spot, and the other yet to be decided but likely to be filled with a less experienced batsman than Hafeez, South Africa’s seamers are targeting Pakistan’s fragility at the top. “Our pace attack against their opening batters will be important to set up the series for us,” South Africa’s coach Russell Domingo said ahead of the first training session in Dubai. “Hafeez’s form has been a bit of a concern for them for a period of time. But he is a quality bowler and a quality batsmen and we are not displeased that he is unlikely to play a part.” Despite conditions expected to suit spinners more than quicks, Domingo said the fast men will be tasked with putting Pakistan under pressure from the get-go, by exploiting what appears to be their most obvious weakness. Domingo said Test achievements were built on strong first-wicket stands and if South Africa can prevent Pakistan from establishing one, it will set them up in pushing for victory. “If you look at South Africa’s Test cricket, it has been successful because of the way the openers have gone about their business,” Domingo said. “Its the most important partnership in any format. If you think of great Test sides, like Australia had Hayden and Langer, that’s the kind of thing you need.” Domingo also played down talk of

raging turners, saying he was ready should the groundstaff prepare something different. “We’ve been involved in series where we want a certain type of wicket and we don’t get it, so it’s difficult to preempt,” he said. The practice pitch at the Sharjah Cricket Ground told a different story. Imran Tahir and JP Duminy spent a significant amount of time bowling and

both found substantial turn. And Pakistan certainly seem to be expecting spin. Without Hafeez to add to the bowling options, they have Zulfiqar Babar, who will be hopeful of a first Test cap, and who could be their surprise package. “We’ll need to have an in depth look at him and do some analysis,” Domingo said. “He has obviously got a

lot of experience but we need to sit down and do our homework.” So far South Africa have only had time to reacquaint themselves with each other, after not playing as a Test outfit since March. On arrival in Sharjah, they held a bonding session of sorts at an establishment where they watched the country’s national rugby team, the Springboks, lose to New Zealand’s All Blacks on Saturday afternoon. The rest of the day was devoted to enjoying some quiet and Domingo hoped it would help in acclimatising, especially to the heat. “When you get here to start with the heat is always stifling but after four or five days, you tend to get used to it.” Work, as is customary in this part of the world, began on Sunday morning when they held their first team meeting. “We had a good chat and emphasised the important elements that made this Test side so successful and how we want to try and continue to do well,” Domingo said. They will have two days of training today and tomorrow - before a three-day warm-up game against Pakistan A. Domingo said he would have preferred another practice outing but is satisfied that the cricket some of the squad has played in the last few months will ensure they are match-ready. “One warm-up game is not ideal. But its better than nothing,” he said. “Quite a lot of the guys have been playing cricket in Champions League, Hashim [Amla] was playing county cricket and some preparing with their franchises.” The last arrival from the CLT20 flew in today. Faf du Plessis was with the Chennai Super Kings and left India on Sunday morning. He traveled straight to the ground to join the practice.

Sports are a microcosm of society. â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Billie Jean King

14 S

SPORTS Monday, 7 October, 2013

WaQar CLEanED

STEvE harmISon rETIrES from CrICKET

BoWLED PaKISTan CrICKET

Steve Harmison, the former England fast bowler who took 223 wickets in 63 Tests, has retired from cricket, bringing to an end a 17-year career with Durham. Harmison did not play a game in the club's 2013 County Championship-winning campaign and his contract subsequently expired. "I was hoping to go out on a high in my benefit year but my body has not allowed me to, and I have not made a single first-team appearance," Harmison told the local Sunday Sun newspaper. "With my contract up at the end of the season, I have known for a while I would be calling it a day." After making his Test debut against India at Trent Bridge in 2002, Harmison also played in 58 ODIs, picking up 76 wickets at an average of 32.64. He also played two T20s against Australia and Sri Lanka. He was an integral part of the England squad that clinched the historic 2005 Ashes 2-1, taking 17 wickets from five matches. His retirement, following that of Matthew Hoggard last month and Andrew Flintoff three years ago, means that only Simon Jones, of England's four-man pace attack in that series, is still playing. Harmison famously produced figures of 7 for 12 against West Indies in Jamaica in 2004 and was briefly rated as the No. 1 bowler in the Test rankings later that year, but had admitted that he found touring difficult because of homesickness and once admitted: "I don't like travelling full stop - that's just me and I'll never change." SPORTS DESk

farewell or recognised his services. "I am not bitter but yes, it is sad Waqar for me. But then in Pakistan was not fair cricket most senior players been treated this way. I with either me or have am not the first to face such a Abdul Razzaq. He situation," he said. Yousuf said he would never accept any didn't deal with position or assignment with the current cricket set-up. us fairly. "It is a very bad system and it

LAHoRE AgEnCiES

ORMER Pakistan cricket captain Mohammad Yousuf has said that he has completely given up hope of making a comeback to international cricket and it is all but over for him. "I don't follow cricket now and my focus is not on the sport anymore. It is over for me," Yousuf said. Yousuf, 39, however made it clear that he held no grudges over the fact that despite serving Pakistan cricket for so long he had not got an opportunity to retire with dignity from the sport, neither had the national cricket board given him a

SLC SEEKS funDS from ExPaTrIaTES In EuroPE Sri Lanka Cricket is looking to the expatriate community in Europe for development funds, SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga said, after the board appointed a representative in the region on Friday. United Kingdom resident and textile tycoon Sarath Abeysundara was tasked with raising money for district and school cricket in Europe, and SLC is hopeful he will ease the burden on SLC's stretched domestic budget. "Mr Abeysundara's job is to try and help the board build relationships with the Sri Lankans living in Europe and to raise funds for developments in districts and schools," Ranatunga said. "We've told him to come up with a few options on how he would raise funds for SLC, which he was very keen to do. He has raised funds for SLC before, which we were aware of." Ranatunga said Abeysundara had links to county team Leicestershire and served on SLC's foreign committee in the UK - one of several of the board's outposts abroad. He is also an elected member of SLC's sponsorship committee, under whose purview the assignment falls. SPORTS DESk

WarnEr faCES SanCTIon for mISSIng CLuB maTCh David Warner will claim adequate preparation for Monday's limited-overs match between New South Wales and Victoria as the reason he missed a Sydney grade match on the weekend when he explains his absence to the Blues' chief executive Andrew Jones this week. Jones may yet sanction Warner for being absent from the second day of a fixture between his new club Randwick Petersham and Northern District, on a day when all available NSW cricketers were expected to play in the grade competition. The pair are scheduled to meet on Tuesday. Blues coaches and selectors are unhappy that Warner did not take his place in the team after being told directly that he and all other state players needed to turn out on Saturday. Warner was informed of his obligations on Friday following a net session with the coach Trevor Bayliss. SPORTS DESk

does not treat seniors fairly. I wouldn't like to be a part of it," he said when asked if he was ready to help the Pakistani batsmen as a coach or a consultant. Yousuf, who scored 7530 runs at an average of 52 in 90 Tests and also accumulated 9720 runs in 288 One-day Internationals, last played for Pakistan in November 2010 against South Africa. Since then has been sidelined by the selectors despite insisting that he was fit to play Tests for the country. The former skipper said what saddened him was that neither the board nor the selectors had bothered to ever talk to him and tell him why they had dropped him or why he didn't feature in their scheme of things. Yousuf minced no words while lashing out at former teammate Waqar Younis. "Sometimes I think the biggest problem in our cricket are these senior players. Waqar caused a lot of damage to our cricket," Yousuf said. Waqar was not fair with either me or Abdul Razzaq. He didn't deal with us fairly. By

sidelining us he only damaged Pakistan cricket in the long run because even today I know I could have been playing Test cricket, at least," Yousuf insisted. He said that while his generation of players even after retirement got along well and supported each other, he could not say the same thing about the older generation. "Some of them have massive ego problems like Waqar. I got unfit on the 2010 tour but which player doesn't get unfit? Does that mean I couldn't get fit again or not play again. I played domestic cricket after that and proved my form but I was constantly ignored," said Yousuf. He had no doubt that Pakistan team was presently facing batting problems because the youngsters didn't have proper role models to follow. "I followed players like Saeed Anwar, Javed Miandad, Salim Malik and Inzamam. Today our youngsters are not following the right role models because of T20 cricket. "I think today Asad Shafiq is technically our best player but he is in and out of the team and that is affecting his progress. Such young batsmen need to be given confidence and a proper run to gain confidence," he said. Yousuf said India had no problems finding new talents and developing a formidable batting line-up because the players followed right role models like Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly.

EMERGING PACERS LACK KILLER INSTINCT: VAAS SPoRtS DESk Sri Lanka's fast bowling coach Chaminda Vaas has criticised the emerging group of seamers in the country's pace academy for being "soft" and wanting in drive for selfimprovement. Having begun his coaching term in February, Vaas, said the bowlers coming through had a long way to go before they can compete at an international standard. "They don't know how to plan their future," Vaas said of Sri Lanka's young bowlers. "Those days when we bowled at the nets we learned something from each net session. We asked the batsman if there was any-

thing wrong with our bowling or if we had made any mistakes, in order to improve our skills. "But nowadays fast bowlers don't ask such questions. Either they are afraid to ask, or they are soft or their thinking pattern is different. So we have to keep telling them all the time what to do. It will take a long time for them to learn, but the only way to do it is by pushing them because they are not pushing themselves on their own." Vaas had also worked with the New Zealand fast bowling unit on their tour of Sri Lanka last year, and suggested foreign bowlers had a greater aptitude for fast bowling strategy than Sri Lanka's young bowlers.

"The problem is they don't want learn," he said. "Only a few of them are keen others don't even want to watch a match to at least analyse their performance what their mistakes are. They've got to think like professionals. Bowlers from other countries know exactly what to do. You don't have to push them. That's what we have to learn from them and instill in our fast bowlers." Sri Lanka's notoriously unsporting surfaces have been the bane of fast bowlers for years, but Vaas took a dim view of blaming pitches for seam bowlers' poor returns in domestic matches, and instead prescribed consistency in line and length, and selfconfidence as a route to success.

DHONI'S METHOD WAS AND IS UNIQUE: CHAPPELL SPoRtS DESk Greg Chappell, the former India coach, has praised MS Dhoni, saying the current India captain had supreme confidence in his skills and had harboured no doubts about his ability to play cricket at the international level. Dhoni made his ODI debut for India in 2004 but made his Test debut in 2005, while Chappell was coach of the team. "His reading of the game was incredible. He had a calmness and an inner strength which wasn't something I had seen a lot of in other cricketers," Chappell told the Indian Express. "He was very confident. He wasn't cocky but there wasn't any false modesty either. If he thought he could do something, he would go ahead and say he could do it. "Both in India and Australia you have a lot of players who are afraid to stand up because they feel they might be thought of as being ahead of themselves or setting them-

selves up for failure. He had no concerns about that. He was supremely confident in his own ability. He had some work to do with his wicketkeeping but you could see he had the basics. I saw him as far more than a one-day cricketer. I could see him as a Test cricketer. And I could certainly see him as a captain." Chappell credited Dhoni's success as a leader to the his ability to connect with the seniors and youngsters in the team. "His ability in the Indian dressing room to move between the seniors and the juniors was unique. There was nobody else I saw that could compare," Chappell said. "Even some of the seniors struggled with other seniors. Not just physical strength but also an emotional strength â&#x20AC;Ś a spiritual strength. He knew who he was. He didn't have any doubts about his ability to play at that level." Chappell recounted a session he had with the Indian players shortly after he took over as coach: "It was an amazing story of where

he [Dhoni] had come from and how he had learned his cricket playing on the streets with his friends, and at each level how he had to prove himself again because each time he came in he was the new boy. He talked very well about how each of those steps had given him something. Some confidence, some experience, some knowledge." Chappell also said Dhoni's confidence in his abilities and his unique approach to the game had helped him deal with pressures and failure in cricket. "This game is about dealing with failure. Bradman batted 80 times in Test cricket and he only got 29 hundreds. So he failed 51 times. The rest of us have had a huge struggle," Chappell said. "It's only those who accept that they are going to fail a lot and have a belief that their method will work, who will be able to keep at it. Dhoni's method was and is unique. Not many people play like him, but he has immense confidence in it. And that's all that really matters."

Have you ever noticed what golf spells backwards? â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Al Boliska

SPORTS

Monday, 7 October, 2013

DEL PoTro BooSTS LonDon hoPES WITh TITLE In JaPan

CoTTo SToPS roDrIguEz In orLanDo

DJoKovIC WInS 4Th ChIna oPEn BEIJING:â&#x20AC;&#x2C6;Novak Djokovic won his fourth China Open title in five years on Sunday, prevailing 6-3 6-4 in the final against Rafael Nadal who will replace him as the men's world number one on Monday. The Serb continued his love affair in Beijing, improving his tournament record to 19-0 after brushing aside Nadal to halt his run of three defeats against the Spaniard. Nadal had to reach the final in the tournament to displace Djokovic from the top ranking and the issue was put to rest on Saturday when Tomas Berdych retired with a back injury in his semi-final against the Spaniard. The 26-year-old Djokovic stamped his authority on the title match early, racing to a 3-0 lead and never allowing the Spaniard, who went into the match unbeaten on hard courts this year, to stage a comeback. The Serb broke Nadal, who has won 10 tournaments and added over $10 million in prize money in 2013, in the first game of the second set - hitting winners almost at will. Since winning the Monte-Carlo Masters in April against Nadal, Djokovic had lost to the left-handed Spaniard in the French Open semi-finals, the Rogers Cup semi-finals and the final of the US Open. AgEnCiES

SErEna BEaTS JanKovIC Serena Williams continued her excellent form in 2013 as she beat Jelena Jankovic in straight sets to win the China Open. American Williams, 32, struggled with a back problem in her semi-final but seemed untroubled against Jankovic. The world number one beat the eighth-seeded Serb in convincing fashion, taking the match 6-2 6-2. She has now won the French Open, US Open and eight other titles in 2013, losing just four of 76 matches.

InJurED froomE PuLLS ouT of Tour of LomBarDy Tour de France champion Chris Froome has pulled out of Sunday's Tour of Lombardy because of a back injury, his Team Sky said on Saturday. "A scan this week revealed that Chris is suffering from an inflamed sacroiliac joint. We are monitoring him as a team but unfortunately the injury means he will not be able to take part in the race this weekend," team doctor Alan Farrell said in a statement. Froome, who won the Tour de France in July, abandoned last Sunday's world championship road race in soaking conditions along with his seven British team mates. The Tour of Lombardy is the World Tour's (elite) penultimate race of the season. SPORTS DESk

LonoDn

AgEnCiES

OP seed Juan Martin del Potro beat Canada's Milos Raonic in the battle of big-servers on Sunday to bag the Japan Open title and boost his chances of qualifying for the end-of-season ATP World Tour finals in London. The 25-year-old Argentine, a lastminute wild-card entry for injured Andy Murray, won 7-6(5) 7-5 with the lone break of serve of the match coming at the fag end of the second set as Raonic lost the final in Tokyo for the second year running. The win gave del Potro his third title of the year and moved him up to fifth spot in the race to London while Raonic is 10th in the qualification race for next month's

tournament involving the top eight players of the world. Raonic, 22, who finished runner-up to Kei Nishikori last year, fired 17 aces and was untroubled in his service games before a crucial double fault in the first-set tie-breaker put del Potro ahead. The Argentine got his first break point opportunity in the 11th game in the second set and managed to convert the third to go 6-5 up before holding on in the next game to win in an hour and 43 minutes. "I played really well in the last two games of the match, returning all of his first serves," del Potro told reporters. "It was a fantastic week for me as I played better and better with each match. Del Potro hit seven aces and had to save three break points in the first set against the Canadian, who had won their only meeting in Montreal in August.

Quigg keeps WBA super bantam title after close call with Cuban Salinas SPoRtS DESk Bury's Scott Quigg (26-0-2) recorded a majority draw against Cuban Yoandris Salinas (20-0-2) at the O2 Arena last night, and in doing so retains the WBA super bantamweight title. Quigg (8st 9lbs 9oz) walked into the ring as the champion after being upgraded from the 'Interim' belt by the WBA. Salinas (8st 9lbs 12oz) seemed ultra-relaxed and the fight got off to a fairly slow start with not many punches being thrown by a guarded Quigg. Salinas was slightly busier with his jab, which caused Quigg to stagger back at the end of the first. The Cuban's jab continued to better Quigg's in the second, but success with a well placed body shot caused Salinas to turn to the referee Giuseppe Quarterone and complain - but there was nothing wrong with the punch, and he would do this a further two times, earning a ticking off from the Italian official later on. Quigg started to warm up more

in the fourth round and was able to block the Cuban's jab and counter with increasing success, scoring with hooks to the body. Salinas went down, ruled a slip,

after Quigg landed with a right hand. Quigg was much busier in the fifth, and moved away from the Cuban's jab. Salinas went on to force the issue in the sixth, and managed to block a lot of Quigg's body shots. The Cuban boxed smoothly in the seventh, but from there on, Quigg bit down and started to take rounds clearly. Salinas didn't like it at close range, and Quigg was much more effective in this space. Quigg was able to adapt and fight the majority of second half of the fight on his terms, at a higher pace. This was down to a solid game plan and Quigg's unquestionable level of fitness. Salinas was outworked, and Quigg kept popping in close range body shots, dominating the eleventh. Salinas came out and danced around for the closing round, but Quigg got in his face and landed the more effective shots. Salinas was holding for the first time in the fight, but did respond with fast hands. Quigg went down, but ruled a push by the referee Giuseppe Quarterone, who had a good night.

Miguel Cotto stopped Delvin Rodriguez in the third round in their junior middleweight bout on Saturday. Fighting under new trainer Freddie Roach, Cotto produced an onslaught of punches in the second round and then the decisive left hook to the head forced the referee to stop the bout 18 seconds into the third. "It feels good to win and be able to do it in front of a wonderful crowd," Cotto said. "I thought I hit him with some good shots early and I was able to get the stop." Rodriguez believed the stoppage came too early, but managed to compliment Cotto on his performance. SPORTS DESk

WaLSh maKES SELBy WorK harD for LonDaLE ChaLLEngE BELT

Lee Selby (17-1) will be able to leave to domestic scene behind after a wide, if at times laboured, points victory over Cromer's Ryan Walsh (16-1-1) at the O2 Arena. It was a slow start for Selby (8st 13lbs 3oz). He found Walsh's (8st 13lbs 13oz) low down, close range industry difficult to cope with. A good left hand from the challenger found the Welshman's whiskers in the opener, but he was still busy, and managed to get through with a couple of clean, mid-range body shots in the second. By the third, a cut had appeared above Selby's left eye. He had started to assert more control of the fight though, despite a second cut caused by a clash of heads. Selby was warned by referee Marcus McDonnell for holding Walsh down, which was met with disgust by Selby's trainer Chris Sanigar, who gestured to McDonnell about Walsh's apparent use of the head. McDonnell then appeared to dish out an imaginary red card to Sanigar. SPORTS DESk

TIGER, KUCHAR KEEP THEIR PERFECT CUP RUN GOING SPoRtS DESk World number one Tiger Woods cannot be the easiest golfer to find a partner for but he has certainly struck up an impressive rapport with Matt Kuchar at the Presidents Cup. The pair have won all three of their matches so far, making them the only unbeaten pairing this week, though they have some work to do if they are to notch a fourth victory at Muirfield Village Golf Club. The duo will resume at two-down with nine holes to play on Sunday in their foursomes encounter with South African Ernie Els and Zimbabwean Brendon de Jonge, which was cut short by darkness at the end of another rain-affected day at Muirfield Village. Earlier in the day, in their fourball match, the Americans beat the Internationals pairing of Adam Scott and

Hideki Matsuyama one-up, with Woods leading the way. Down two holes, Woods responded by making three straight birdies, winning two holes to level the contest and after a Kuchar birdie clinched the 14th hole, a superb eagle from Woods at the next earned the Americans a two-hole lead. After Japanese Matsuyama reduced the

lead to one-hole, the Americans needed to seal the win on the 18th and did so when Kuchar cooly sank a 16-foot birdie putt. "Kuch man, what a birdie on 18," said Woods after embracing his team mate on the green. Pleased as he was with that finish, Kuchar acknowledged that Woods had made the bigger contribution throughout the match. "This guy is a horse, Holy Cow," said Kuchar. "He played some incredible golf today. I was along for the ride for most of it. I let him down a couple times, missed a few putts, but boy, that sure was a fun way to end it." It is clear that the pair are enjoying each other's company and also that Kuchar has taken on the role of the steady and consistent partner for Woods which Steve Stricker has previously filled. "I think I may relax him a little bit out there," said Kuchar.

auSTraLIa'S hEnD maSTErS ELEmEnTS To WIn In TaIWan Australia's Scott Hend mastered hostile weather to win his fourth Asian Tour title at the Taiwan Masters on Sunday. As the Taiwan Golf and Country Club faced the wrath of Typhoon Fitow, 40-year-old Hend defied torrential rain and gusty winds to card a final round of two-over-par 74 for a winning total of three-under-par 285. "To be able to win this tournament was always a tough mental challenge especially under those conditions," Hend, who had a one-stroke lead coming in to the final round, told reporters. Hend relied on his experience of playing in challenging conditions in Scotland last week to finish four strokes ahead of American Sam Cyr who signed off with a round of 77. "I got my wish when I saw how windy it was out here. It worked to my favour as I played in Scotland last week and I was mentally prepared," said Hend. Bangladesh's Siddikur Rahman (77) and Thailand's Arnond Vongvanij (73) were tied for the third place at 291. SPORTS DESk

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Monday, 7 October, 2013

foreign investors keen to invest in energy sector: asif SIALkot APP

EDERAL Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif Sunday said that a strategy is being evolved to overcome electricity load shedding. He said that under the programme long and short term electricity generating plans would be undertaken to overcoming the energy crisis. He said special attention will be paid to long term projects for producing sufficient electricity for the future needs and these projects would be initiated with

the assistance of donor agencies. He said that several foreign countries including Sweden and Norway have shown keen interest to invest in energy sector and Norwegian and Sweden companies would visit soon for the purpose. The minister said Pakistan is rich in natural resources and short and long term hydel power projects will be initiated in near future. He said that attractive opportunities are available for the foreign investors in wind, solar and hydel power generating projects of Pakistan and hopefully the foreign investors will

avail the opportunities in hydel and solar sectors. He further stated that drive against electricity and gas theft will further be accelerated across the country. Under the drive special steps are being taken to unearth the employees of Wapda and Sui gas involved in this malpractice, he said. Asif said the government is committed to weeding out this practice from the grass roots levels from the society. The minister said that black sheeps shall be purged from Wapda and Sui Gas department and strict action will be taken against them according to law.

8 of a family killed in Sambrial SAMBRIAL: A drug addict killed eight people including his father, brother and four women in a firing incident here on Saturday. According to police, the incident took place in Sambarial tehsil of Sialkot where Bilal Gondal Group and Jabbar Group had a 10year long enmity. The accused Riaz, who belonged to Bilal Gondal Group, was drunk and he opened fire at a car of the rival group in Paluwal area. Resultantly, four people including three women were killed. Later, the accused went to his own home at Sheeni Gondal village and killed his father and brother as well. Two more injured persons including Waqar and Haseena Bibi also succumbed to injuries at Mayo Hospital Lahore on Sunday raising death toll to eight from six due to over night’s ghastly incident. The injured were shifted to Mayo Hospital in critical conditions however both of them expired due to injuries. Their dead bodies were brought to Sialkot for autopsies which were later handed over to heirs for burial. The Airport police have not yet registered the case despite passage of 24 hours. inP

2 injured in Indian army’s firing

dERA GHAZI KHAN: A view of sacrifcial camels brought for sale to a makeshift animal market.

BATTAL: Indian Army’s unprovoked firing in the Battal sector left two injured on Sunday morning. The Pakistan Army retaliated after which both sides ceased fire. This is another incident of the continued back and forth violence between the countries along the Line of Control (LoC). Earlier, the Indian army claimed to have killed seven militants in their side of the disputed Kashmir state. The military claimed it had been fighting 30 to 40 infiltrators who crossed the LoC last month. On October 4, four people were injured in the Kotli area because of Indian shelling on the Line of Control. nni

JWP leader killed in Balochistan

suicide attacks kill Mushahid to lead parliamentary 15 in Baghdad pelegation to azerbaijan BAgHDAD AgEnCiES

Suicide attackers blew up explosives-laden vehicles next to an elementary school and a police station in a small northern Iraqi village on Sunday, killing at least 15 people of whom many were children. The attacks are the latest in a relentless wave of killing that has made for Iraq’s deadliest outburst of violence since 2008. The mounting death tolls are raising fears that the country is falling back into the spiral of violence that brought it to the edge of civil war in the years after the 2003 US-led invasion. Sunday’s blasts struck around 9.30am in the Shiite Turkomen village of Qabak, just outside the town of Tal Afar. The area around the stricken village has long been a hotbed for hard-torout Sunni insurgents and a corridor for extremist fighters arriving from nearby Syria. “One car bomb in the tiny village targeted an elementary school while children between six to 12-years-of-age were in class as another struck a nearby police station,” Tal Afar mayor

Abdul Aal al-Obeidi said. “The dead include 12 children, the school principal and two policemen. Another 90 people are wounded,” he said. “The village is home to only about 200 residents, and part of the singlestory school collapsed as a result of the blast,” he said. Tal Afar is 420 kilometers northwest of Baghdad. ‘’We and Iraq are plagued by al Qaeda,” al-Obeidi said. ‘’It’s a tragedy. These innocent children were here to study. What sins did these children commit?’’ There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but suicide bombers and car bombs are frequently used by Al Qaeda’s Iraq branch. It often targets Shiite civilians because it considers them heretics in its extremist ideology. Authorities on Sunday raised the death toll from a bomb targeting Shiite pilgrims on the previous evening to 51, up from 42 previously. That attack happened in the largely Sunni neighborhood of Azamiyah in northern Baghdad, which is joined to the Shiite district of Kazimiyah by a bridge spanning the Tigris River. That and other attacks on Saturday left a total of 75 dead.

ISLAMABAD APP

Senate Defence Committee Chairman Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed will lead a 15-member parliamentary delegation to Azerbaijan to observe and monitor the presidential elections there on October 9, 2013. The delegation having the representation of six political parties will be in Azerbaijan from October 7 to 11. Talking to the reporters, Senator Mushahid Hussain said “the team has been invited by the Election Commission of Azerbaijan given the close brotherly bond between Pakistan and Azerbaijan and this is in recognition of the fact that Pakistan is a vibrant and dynamic democracy, probably, the freest democracy in the Muslim World.” Azerbaijan, strategically located in the Caucasus close to Iran and Turkey, is a member of the OIC. Earlier, Senator Mushahid participated in two similar election observation missions to Cambodia and Mexico in his capacity as secretary general of the Centrist Asia Pacific Democrats International (CAPDI), which brings together civil society organisations and political parties

from 26 different countries. On Saturday, at a meeting held at Parliament House under the auspices of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, the parliamentary delegation was given a briefing on Azerbaijan by the foreign secretary and his team regarding PakistanAzerbaijan relations. During the meeting, Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed and Senator Jehangir Badr jointly proposed a resolution thanking Azerbaijan for its consistent support to the Kashmiri right of self-determination and reaf-

firming, on behalf of the people and parliament of Pakistan, support for Azerbaijan’s principled position on the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh, territory of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia as a result of military aggression, and supporting the implementation of UN resolutions in this regard. The resolution, seconded by Senator Tahir Mashaddi, was unanimously passed. The Pakistan Parliamentary Delegation is among over 100 international observers invited to Azerbaijan for monitoring their presidential elections, but this will be the single largest contingent from any one country. It may be added that Senator Mushahid Hussain led the first-ever Pakistan Parliamentary Delegation to Azerbaijan in 2006, and since then, there have been a number of visits between the two countries. The parliamentary delegation includes Senate Deputy Chairman Senator Sabir Ali Baloch, Member of National Assembly Tahira Aurangzeb, Senator Haji Adeel, Senator Jehangir Badr, Senator Tahir Hussain Mashaddi, Senator Haji Ghulam Ali, Senator Sughra Imam and other officials and a small media team.

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

KHUZdAR: Dad Ali Bugti, central leader of Jamhoori Watan Party was killed in an ambush at a remote area of Balochistan. Sources said Bugti was travelling to Karachi from Quetta in a passenger coach which was fired upon by unidentified gunmen in Koshak area of Balochistan. Bugti was killed on the spot after receiving multiple bullet wounds, initial reports said. Police and security forces arrived at the site and started investigations. Meanwhile, five bodies were found in Mand area of Balochistan’s Kech district. Levies officials said the deceased belong to Afghanistan and might have died of hunger and thirst during their attempt to illegally enter Pakistani territory. nni

TTP plans to attack law enforcers The terrorist outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is planning more attacks in the next 24 hours in Peshawar. The TTP terrorists are likely to attack law enforcers, according to a news report. According to sources, the terrorists have made a plan to attack FC and police check posts across Peshawar. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has heightened security and deployed plainclothesmen across the city to keep an eye of suspects. According to security officials, they received information that a suicide bomber had entered Nowshera. In the last week, Peshawar saw three deadly attacks in which a large number of people lost their lives. MOniTORing DESk

PIa plane catches fire midair A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane on Sunday made an emergency landing at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport after catching fire while on mid-air flight, a private TV channel reported. The PIA plane PK 213 had taken off from Jinnah Airport, when one of its engines caught fire. Several residents in Korangi and nearby areas heard a loud noise as the plane was in flight overhead. An Emergency was declared at the airport in the aftermath of the incident. MOniTORing DESk