e-paper pakistantoday 08th March, 2013 by Pakistan Today

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Rs 17.00 Vol III No 250 19 Pages Lahore Edition

Friday, 8 March, 2013 Rabi us Sani 25, 1434

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International Women’s Day – More power to the other gender story on page 06

pIa MD summoned in sexual harassment case

Karachi unrest causes concern among army top brass

The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice to the Pakistan International Airline (PIA) managing director to appear before the court and clarify his stance over the issue of victimising women in the organisation. The notice was issued by the apex court to the MD of the national flag carrier when Captain Riffat Hai submitted an application before the court requesting to make her a party in the current case. page 02

North Korea has vowed to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the US, hours ahead of a UN vote on whether to level new sanctions against Pyongyang for its recent nuclear test. story on page 07

ptI tickets not for tax evaders, bank defaulters: Imran story on page 04

govt laughs away pML-n nominees for interim pM

govt not seeking any package from IMF: Mandviwala

Finance Minister Senator Saleem H Mandviwala Thursday said there is neither any programme to seek new loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) nor is there any proposal under consideration for this purpose. The finance minister said if the parliament gave its approval for Tax Amnesty Scheme, the government would not need to go to the IMF. page 16

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Anti-social elements involved in derailing peace. – Shazia Marri

N news Friday, 8 March, 2013

PIA MD summoned in sexual harassment case ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice to the Pakistan International Airline (PIA) managing director to appear before the court and clarify his stance over the issue of victimising women in the organisation. The notice was issued by the apex court to the MD of the national flag carrier when Captain Riffat hai submitted an application before the court requesting making her a party in the current case, saying women were professionally victimised and sexually harassed by some of the PIA officials. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and comprising Justice Gulzar Ahmad and Justice Sh Azmat Saeed resumed hearing of mismanagement and corruption in PIA. During the course of proceeding, Justice Gulzar Ahmad asked the applicant Riffat whether she had submitted any application before the officials regarding the harassment and victimisation. Captain Riffat said she had submitted several applications to the concerned officials but no action was taken, that was why she decided to become party in the current PIA case. The petitioner further told the bench that any employee who raised a voice against the management was victimised and she herself was an example of professional victimisation when she was forced to sit at home for more than a year. She added that the atmosphere was not suitable and congenial for women working with the national flag carrier. Upon this, the bench accepted her application to become party while issuing notice to the PIA MD. Meanwhile, Raja Bashir Ahmed, counsel for PIA, informed the bench that the attorney general was engaged with the PIA chairman, as he would be appearing in the next hearing on the behalf of PIA chairman. APP

LAHORE: A woman and her daughter labour on a roadside on Thursday as the world marks International Women's Day today (Friday). INP

IP project is vital for Pakistan, US must understand: FO sPokesman says disCussions underway with iran on setting uP oil refinery at gwadar ISLAMABAD

ONlINe

he Foreign Office on Thursday said Pakistan was aware of concerns of the United States and some other countries about the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project, but hoped that they would understand Pakistan’s economic compulsions in this regard. Foreign Office spokesman Moazzam Ahmad Khan said at the weekly news briefing that President Asif Ali Zardari was to visit Iran to perform ground-breaking of Iran-Pakistan gas

Pakistan does not need noC from india to ConstruCt reservoirs pipeline project that would be taking place on Monday. he said several heads of state had also been invited to attend the ceremony. Khan said the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources was working out the details. he rejected the impression that Pakistan was in a fix over the project due to foreign pressure and said the project, being in the country’s national interests, would be taken forwards. To a question, he said discussions were underway with Iran about setting up an oil refinery at Gwadar. The spokesman also confirmed that Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf would pay a personal visit to Ajmer Sharif shrine in India on Saturday. he said no official talks were yet

scheduled with the Indian leadership. Asked to comment on Indian prime minister’s allegations that Pakistan was not doing enough against terrorism, he said Pakistan condemned terrorism and extremism in all its forms and manifestations. he said it was a common threat and required a common strategy and cooperation amongst all countries of the region. As for the Mumbai attacks, Khan said Pakistan had repeatedly told India to provide proof that could stand scrutiny in the court of law as mere statements were not enough. The FO spokesman said Pakistan wanted resolution of all issues with India through dialogue, including the recent skirmishes along the Line of Control. he said Pakistan had even gone to the extent of offering investigations under the mechanism of UN system. To a query on granting MFN status to India, he said the Pakistani government was committed to its decision in this regard, but the two countries had to complete the required processes first. When his attention was drawn to-

wards reports that India wanted Pakistan to seek NOC for construction of water reservoirs in Azad Kashmir or GilgitBaltistan, the spokesman said Pakistan did not need any NOC from India. “This position has also been supported by the latest verdict of the international court of arbitration in Kishan Ganga dispute,” he said. Khan, however, added that per provisions of the Indus Basin Treaty, India was under obligation to inform Pakistan before hand if it wanted to build any structure on three Western rivers meant for Pakistan. To a question, Khan said there was an understanding with the United States for initiation of case against Raymond Davis for killing two Pakistanis in Lahore, but so far no such development was in his knowledge. Asked to sum up the five-year foreign policy of the present government, the spokesman said the focus had been on improving relations with regional countries, including India and Afghanistan. he said it was also pertinent that the government involved parliament in the formulation of the country’s foreign policy.

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There is one universal truth, applicable to all countries, cultures and communities: violence against women is never acceptable, never excusable, never tolerable. – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Govt committed to protecting women from inequality

ISLAMABAD

ECP determined to conduct elections on time: CEC ISLAMABAD: Chief election Commissioner (CeC) Fakhruddin G ebrahim on Thursday said the election Commission of Pakistan (eCP) was determined on conducting the general elections on time. The CeC was talking to Finance Minister Saleem Mandviwalla at the eCP’s Secretariat where the two discussed the issue of funding for the elections. Later, talking to reporters, the CeC said the eCP was facing a shortage of funds. “We require Rs 6 billion… but so far we have received only Rs 2 billion,” he said. Clarifying the eCP’s stand on the elections, the CeC said the elections would be held on time, adding that all the arrangements had been finalised. The finance minister assured the CeC that the government would release the required funds to the electoral body. STAFF RePORT

news

Friday, 8 March, 2013

Leghari points out flaws in new province bill senator leghari says there is ContradiCtion as both bills have dissimilar number of minority seats

ISLAMABAD : President Asif Zardari on Thursday said the government was committed to protecting women from all kinds of exploitation and discrimination. In his message on the International Women’s Day being observed worldwide, the president said it demonstrated that women everywhere were waking up. “On this occasion I wish to congratulate the women of the world in general and of Pakistan in particular and salute them for their struggle for emancipation and an end to discrimination,” he said. President Zardari said, “In this struggle we are inspired by the teachings of our religion, the dictates of our constitution and the vision of our founding father Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah as well as of our great leaders Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto.” he said Benazir Bhutto (BB), the first woman premier in the Muslim world and the twice elected PM of the country, felt a special responsibility towards promoting the cause of the women. he said by asserting that women’s rights were inseparable from human rights and that there was no human right more fundamental and more universal than equal rights for women in the new century, BB laid down a firm basis on which the future edifice of women empowerment was to be built. The president said driven by conviction and inspired by the vision of its leaders, the government had enacted far reaching reforms for protecting women from harassment on the one hand and empowering the poorest of the poor women through the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) on the other. he mentioned that the Women in Distress and Detention Fund Act 2011 had been enacted to provide financial and legal assistance to women in distress. Also, a National Commission on Status of Women had been set up to protect the social, economic, political and legal rights of women and job quota for women in government services enhanced, he added. President Zardari reiterated to pursue the pledges made by Benazir Bhutto at the Beijing Conference on elimination of all forms of discrimination against women. he called upon all political parties and civil society to revisit the laws discriminatory to women and propose suitable amendments to extricate women from the agony and embarrassment of discriminatory laws and customs. he acknowledged the strides made by women in their forward march towards gender equality. “Let us further build on their progress and collective power to help make our country, the region and the world more tolerant, harmonious and secure,” he said. The president said, “With courageous girls like Malala Yousufzai among them, our women are fated to succeed against all odds.” APP

TAYYAB HUSSAIN

he treasury benches were left speechless on Thursday after lone opposition member Senator Mohsin Leghari raised legal flaws regarding a number of minority seats proposed for distribution between Punjab and the proposed province of Bahawalpur Janoobi Punjab. Speaking on a point of order, Senator Leghari expressed serious concerns over what he called “legal blunder” committed by the government’s legal team due to a hasty legislation in terms of 24th Constitutional Amendment Bill 2013, which has been passed by the Senate, could raise serious legal questions. Leghari said that the bill mentioned an amendment in Article 106 of the constitution, stating that the eight seats allocated for minorities in the Punjab Assembly would be divided between Punjab and the proposed province BJP, with a 5:3 ratio. “The bill stated that five minority seats would be allocated to Pun-

PPP senator says na Can again amend 24th amendment bill to remove flaw jab province while three minority seats would be allocated to BJP. however, the government’s legal minds forgot the fact that the government had also moved another piece of legislation titled 23rd Constitution Amendment Bill 2013 in the National Assembly which said that the minority seats of Punjab Assembly are being increased from 8 to 10,” he said. Senator Leghari added that there was a contradiction between both the government’s bills as both the bills had dissimilar number of minority seats. “Where the additional two seats allocated for Punjab Assembly would go as 23rd Amendment Bill puts the number of Punjab Assembly seats at 10 while the 24th amendment bill terms the number at 8,” he also said. Senator Leghari said that this contradiction has put a serious question mark on the commitment of the government and the ability of the legal wizards. “Lawmaking is a serious business and immense seriousness is required. You cannot frame laws in a hurry and this was the point which I had raised yesterday,” he asserted. he also said that it seemed that both

Govt laughs away PML-n nominees for interim PM says Pml-n has nominated a PolitiCian who the Party has CritiCised in the Past ISLAMABAD TAYYAB HUSSAIN

The Pakistan People’s Party-led coalition government on Thursday laughed away the nominees proposed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Chaudhry Nisar for the caretaker prime minister’s slot, stating that the three nominations made by PML-N also included the name of a politician who had been criticised by the party in the past. Nisar had told reporters that three names had been finalised for the interim PM. The nominees were Justice (r) Nasir Aslam Zahid, Justice (r) Shakirullah Jan and veteran politician Rasul Bakhsh Palejo. Briefing reporters on the decision of the last sitting of the federal cabinet, Federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said the PML-N should have adopted political sagacity. he also said that the federal cabinet had extended provincial quota in the federal government jobs for another 20 years. he said that during the cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf said that judiciary, media and the election Commission of Pakistan (eCP) were independent today and hence there was no chance of rigging in the upcoming general elections. Kaira said the PM had also said the government had made efforts to improve national economy besides providing basic amenities to people during the

Pm says there is no ChanCe of rigging in Polls as judiCiary, media and eCP are indePendent past five year.The prime minister had also termed all parties conferences convened by the Awami National Party (ANP) and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl as a positive step to eliminate terrorism. The PPP also participated in the APC and would always welcome such steps which will help stabilise the country, he added. he said in order to facilitate farmers the cabinet also decided to provide them a subsidy of 16 billion rupees on agricultural tube wells. The cabinet allowed the Unaccounted For Gas (UFG) at 50 percent of the demand made by the gas companies as an interim relief to them. he said a committee was also formed to determine the pricing formula and arrive at the exact volume of the UFG within three months. The committee on prevention of corruption presented its 12-point recommendations to the cabinet, which were approved. The committee suggested documentation of economy, automation of revenue record, documentation of public institutions, introduction of companies’ structure, preparation of national corruption strategy, a powerful editor general of Pakistan and steps to dispose of revenue cases, pending in the court. Kaira said the cabinet also approved establishment of the Federal Law University. he said a review of the performance of the present cabinet was also presented before the meeting.

mQm lawmakers stage token walkout from senate over sindh govt’s inaCtion in abbas town bombing the bills would lapse as the National Assembly is going to be dissolved on March 16 after completion of its stipulated term of five years. “Both bills were not ordinary bills and rather those were constitutional amendments. No parliament of the world amends the constitution in such a bizarre manner. This anomaly is tantamount of breach of this house,” he added. he said it was a serious question how the parliament would deal with these legal flaws. To the arguments raised by Leghari, PPP Chief Whip Senator Islamuddin Shaikh made a failed attempt to defuse the situation and said that the business of any house of parliament dies not lapse with the expiry of the term of the respective house and the same could be carried by the next elected house. however, Shaikh’s notion was rebuffed by Senate Chairman Nayyar hussain Bukhari, who read out Subclause 3 of the Article 76 of the constitution and said that business of any house of the parliament expires with its term and next elected house could not carry same business. PPP Senator Saeed

Ghani said that the National Assembly could again amend the 24th amendment bill passed by the Senate and hence the flaw could be removed. Ghani also criticised the remarks made by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry made about the performance of Sindh government and said that The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) lawmakers staged a token walkout from the Senate in protest to the indifferent behaviour of the Sindh government, police and rangers towards the victims of Abbas Town blast. Speaking on a point of order, MQM Senator Tahir hussain Mashhadi said a step-motherly treatment was meted out to the Abbas Town blast victims and despite a lapse of four days; there was inaction on the part of the Sindh administration. ANP Senator Zahid Khan, on a point of order, while referring to a media report, said the finance minister had released Rs 3 billion without a nod by the federal cabinet which was illegal. however, Senate Deputy Chairman Sabir Baloch opposed the move and said that no accusation could be made on the basis of a media report. The chairman said that no member could be condemned unheard. ANP Senator haji Adeel said that water was being provided to Rawalpindi Cantt and Islamabad from a canal of Ghazi Barotha which was a violation of the Water Accord. The chairman advised him to submit a calling attention notice so as the government could respond to the argument.

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PPP will go to polls on basis of its performance. — Qamar Zaman Kaira

news Friday, 8 March, 2013

Karachi unrest causes concern among military top brass ISLAMABAD SHAIQ HUSSAIN

The top military brass on Thursday expressed its grave concern over the worsening law and order in Karachi, resolving that the army was all prepared to tackle the threat of terrorism and safeguard the country against internal and external threats. At the 158th Corps Commanders’ Conference held at General headquarters (GhQ) under the leadership of army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the military leadership observed that the army could assist the government in fighting terrorism wherever it was if asked by the civilian authorities. According to officials privy to the top level military consultations, the corps commanders’ meeting was held a day after the General Kayani’s visit to Karachi on Wednesday, where he was given a detailed briefing on the law and order in the city by the senior military officials. An official seeking anonymity said the army chief shared the details of his visit to Karachi with the top military brass during the meeting.

A brief official statement by the ISPR said, “Apart from professional military matters, the meeting under took a comprehensive review of internal and external security environment of the country.” however, the official, who wished not to be named, said apart from professional matters, the army leadership also discussed the recent horrendous acts of terror in Karachi and Quetta. “The army brass expressed its grave concern over Abbas Town blast in which scores of people were killed as well as recent bombings in Quetta that took lives of dozens of other civilians,” said the official. “The army commanders were of the view that the law enforcement agencies should work in complete coordination against the menace of terror. The military leadership observed that the army was all prepared to tackle the menace of terror and it could assist the government wherever it was needed,” he said. however, he said the military commanders observed that it was up to the government to take any decision regarding the army’s as-

sistance to eliminate terrorism in Karachi or any other area. Another official, who also sought anonymity, said that the corps commanders’ meeting also took up the other vital issue of peace talks’ offer made recently by the Tehreeke-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) led by hakimullah Mehsud. he said the army leadership was of the view that a decision on the TTP talks offer should be also taken by the government. he said the upcoming general elections in the country were also deliberated upon by the army leadership and it was decided that full cooperation would be extended to the election Commission for holding peaceful polls. The official said a delegation of the election Commission was likely to visit the GhQ today (Friday) to discuss the army’s role in the conduct of smooth and peaceful elections. he said the military commanders reviewed the latest situation on the country’s eastern and western border and also various aspects of ongoing cooperation with the United States in antiterrorism campaign.

ptI tickets not for tax evaders, bank defaulters: Imran Party Chief says will move suPreme Court if PPP, Pml-n jointly get tax amnesty sCheme aPProved by Parliament

Pti to resPond to Pml-n’s nominees for slot of Caretaker Prime minister today

Nawaz lays out plan to ‘salvage Pakistan’ Pml-n to eliminate viP Culture, ensure demoCratiC oversight of military, emPower women LAHORE STAFF RePORT

NNOUNCING the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) manifesto for the coming election, party President Nawaz Sharif on Thursday vowed to take the country out of the multiple challenges of unprecedented load shedding, massive unemployment, increasing poverty, poor governance, deteriorating law and order, widespread corruption and rising inflation. Nawaz said the PML-N manifesto was an all-embracing agenda for national renewal and real change to revive the confidence of people by instilling hope, restoring national dignity and resurrecting Pakistan as a progressive and prosperous nation. explaining salient features of the manifesto, the PML-N president said a cabinet committee on defence and national security headed by the prime minister would be established to maintain democratic oversight of all aspects of foreign and defence policies, ensuring that all institutions, civil or military, acted in accordance with the law and per directives of the federal cabinet. “Needs and requirements of the armed forces will be met under all circumstances, and strategic assets will be protected,” he said. he announced that hazara, South Punjab and Bahawalpur provinces would be

Pml-n manifesto Pledges to Create hazara, south Punjab, bahawalPur ProvinCes

created if he came to power. “Our government will eliminate VIP culture and expenses of presidency, prime minister, governors and chief ministers will be significantly reduced. A specially deigned employment programme will be designed to generate three million new jobs in the public and private sectors, including one million each in IT and SMe sectors.” “Minimum wages of workers will be gradually enhanced to Rs 15,000 per month,” he added. Nawaz said the PML-N would strive to eventually provide a house to each Pakistani family through pubic-private partnership. “The PML-N government will revive the economy, double the GDP growth to over six percent, reduce budget deficit to four percent, reduce country’s dependence on foreign loans and assistance, revamp state enterprises eating Rs 400 billion, decrease tax rates, ensure lower interest rates and make Pakistan emerge as one of the top ten economies of the world in 21st century,” he added. “All major export sectors will be sales-tax free, an export Import Bank (eXIM) will be set up as well,” the PML-N chief said. Nawaz said the government would improve tax to GDP ratio to 15 percent by 2018, unaccounted economic activity would be brought into tax net and tax evasion would be curbed. “Short and medium-term measures would be initiated to end

Karachi simmers in violence again KARACHI STAFF RePORT

ISLAMABAD STAFF RePORT

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday said the PTI would not award party tickets to bank defaulters, tax evaders and corrupt politicians and it would also move the Supreme Court if the PPP and PML-N jointly got the tax amnesty scheme approved by parliament to protect their tax-evading MPs. “The PTI will give tickets to those candidates who have a clean past and those who are not involved in tax evasion, burglary and theft, because only a clean leadership can bring a real change in the country which is what the PTI is striving for,” Imran said, adding that the PTI would award tickets to those who uploaded the lists of their assets on the party’s website. he was addressing a press conference after former bureaucrat Roedad Khan, former ambassador Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, Sikandar hayat Khan, hammad Muhammad Khan, Rai Ahsan Raza Kharal, Ahsan Raza Wahga, Khawaja Muddasor Mehmood and Iqbal Khan Qaisrani announced joining the PTI. “Over 70 percent of parliamentarians belonging to the PPP and the PML-N are tax evaders. Both parties have joined hands to get the tax amnesty scheme passed by the standing committee. If they passed the tax amnesty bill in parliament, the PTI will move the Supreme Court against the discriminatory law that is aimed at providing

protection to tax thieves,” he said. CARETAKER PM NOMINEE: Imran said the PTI would respond to the PML-N’s nominees for the slot of caretaker prime minister today (Friday). he said although Justice (r) Nasir Aslam Zahid was respected by all, any decision regarding the caretaker PM would be made in the party meeting. Talking about the intra-party polls, Imran made it clear that the party would begin the reconciliation process with the objective to address the reservations of all the candidates and if needed, the elections would be held again in certain areas. IP GAS PROJECT: Talking about the IranPakistan gas pipeline project, Imran wondered why the government had taken so long to give the go-ahead to the much-needed project. he said both these initiatives were against the US interests, so the present leaders neither had the guts nor the courage to take such a bold step. however, he added that bringing forth such issues at this point in time when the general elections were weeks away seemed political gimmickry. PTI SURVEYS: Talking about the recent surveys in which the PTI was rated below than the PPP and PML-N, Imran said the PTI was busy in the elections within the party which might have affected its popularity, adding that both the PPP and the PML-N had given nothing to the poverty-stricken, inflation-ridden masses other than joblessness, lawlessness, poverty and inflation, so the surveys could not be trusted.

A senior religious leader escaped attempt on his life in Landhi area of Karachi, as the financial hub continued to be under a spell of violence on Thursday that claimed the life of eight people, two Rangers personnel among them. The dead included at least two Rangers intelligence personnel, a policeman and two missing people. According to details, two assailants fired at a religious leader in Landhi, but he escaped the attempt on his life. enraged people later took into custody both the assailants, tortured them and handed them over to police. Two bodies bearing torture marks were found in Mewa Shah area of Pak Colony. The victims were identified as Rangers personnel Munir Baloch and Aijaz Ahmed, who were abducted from Lyari on Wednesday. Both belonged to Field Security Wing and were on intelligence duty.

They were subjected to torture before being shot dead, sources said. Meanwhile, unidentified gunmen ambushed a passenger bus in Gulshan-e-Ghazi area of Baldia Town and killed a man identified as Javed. The victim was a factory worker and police said the incident seemed to be the result of old enmity. Another two people lost their lives when unidentified assailants opened fire in Pak Colony and Gulistan-e-Jauhar. The man killed in Bhitaiabad area of Gulistan-eJauhar was identified as Mehram Chand, a policeman. earlier, two strangled bodies were found from Khairabad area near Manghopir Northern by-pass with their names, Babu Iftikhar and Maqbool, written on a slip. The sources said the deceased had been kidnapped from Panjgor district in Balochistan and belonged to Kakaan area. Their names were part of missing persons’ list, the sources added.

load shedding in three years, invest $20 billion to generate 10,000MW of electricity in the next five years and permanently eliminate circular debt. high priority will be given to importing gas through pipelines, intensifying oil and gas exploration, developing Thar coalfields by setting up of at least 5,000MW of new coal-fired power plants under the IPP mode in Sindh and developing alternative sources of energy,” he said. Nawaz added that agriculture would be turned into a fully viable economic industry and high priority would be given to development of livestock and fisheries sectors. “The PML-N government will introduce a transparent system of income support programme for needy families with special focus on widows, orphans and girls.” he said a national education emergency would be declared to eradicate illiteracy on war footings and a vision 2025 for Pakistan’s education shall be formulated to transform the country’s education sector into a world class system. The education budget would be enhanced to 4 percent of the GDP by 2018. The PML-N chief said a new national health insurance card scheme would be introduced for free treatment of children up to 12 years of age, senior citizens of over 65 years and families with low income. he said the government would promote participation of women in national devel-

opment, enact and improve legislation on violence against women, expand micro credit for female borrowers and inheritance and property rights of female heirs would be safeguarded. “A dynamic National Youth Policy will be implemented through skill development programme to create one million positions for apprenticeship, self employment loans shall be extended, services of youth will be utilised in national literacy programmes and youth will be involved in governance at local levels.” “A National Day for Minorities will be celebrated, they will have complete freedom of worship, legislative measures will be undertaken to prevent forced conversion of religion, development funds for minorities will be doubled and Christian community will be permitted to run their own educational institutions.” Nawaz reiterated commitment to the Charter of Democracy and vowed to build strong dimension of democratic governance by building institutions, including an effective parliament, independent judiciary, election commission and a vigilant media. he said Local government elections would be held within six months of general elections and police laws would be reviewed to depoliticise the force and end thana culture. “The PML-N government will grant voting rights to all overseas Pakistanis and dual nationals and the “Aao Badlein Pakistan” programme will be launched to motivate overseas Pakistanis towards development of Pakistan.” Freedom of media would be guaranteed and respected, Nawaz added.

shahrukh Jatoi escaped with help from CIa oﬃcers: FIa Dg

ISLAMABAD ONlINe

The main accused in the Shahzeb Khan murder case, Shahrukh Jatoi escaped with the help of officers from the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) who had earlier been managing protocol for Bilawal house guests, FIA Director Muhammad Malik told the Supreme Court on Thursday. The FIA director further revealed that Jatoi had also been a guest at the Bilawal house, and that one of the officers, Waseh Akhtar had secured bail before arrest on Feb-

ruary 28. The chief justice said the FIA director general must keep in mind that nobody was above the law. JATOI INDICTED BY ATC: Meanwhile, Jatoi along with three others has been indicted by the ATC in Karachi. Jatoi, Siraj Talpur, Sajjad Talpur and Ghulam Murtaza Lashari were produced before an ATC amid tight security, where they were indicted in the murder of the 20-year-old Shahzeb. however, the accused pleaded not guilty. The ATC directed all the witnesses in the case to appear before the court on Friday (today).

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BJP bill to bring prosperity in South Punjab. – Manzoor Wattoo LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif submits his application for party ticket for the NA and PA seats at the PML-N’s Secretariat in Model Town. INP

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‘Better to die than to shoulder blame’: Police constable commits suicide LAHORE: A constable committed suicide in GOR-1 on Wednesday. According to details, Tasneem Anjum, 50, killed himself over a family dispute. A letter reading “It is better to die than to shoulder blame” was also found near his dead body. Anjum had recently married his son. ROBBERY: A robbery took place in a house in P-Block, Defense. According to details, four robbers entered a house and robbed it of 50 tola gold, Rs 150,000 and five mobile phones. In another report a citizen named Umer was robbed of Rs 20,00,000 at Kalam Chowk Underpass ACCIDENT: An over-speeding van hit an electricity poll and injured five people who were shifted to Jinnah Hospital. ARRESTS: Police arrested three members of Imran robbery gang along with the master mind from Factory Area. Weapons, dozens of mobile phones and cash were recovered from their possession. STAFF RePORT

LhC CJ takes notice of law and order in province LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Thursday took notice of the law and order situation in Punjab. The notice was taken on the basis of newspapers’ reports. The LHC chief justice directed the Punjab inspector general and district and sessions judges to file their reports within one week after the probe. INP

No society based on injustice and cruelty can survive: CM LAHORE

INP

UNJAB Chief Minister (CM) Shahbaz Sharif on Thursday said no society based on cruelty and injustice could survive or prosper. Talking to complainants from haveli Lakha, Okara and

Sialkot in Model Town, the CM said those who molested women and girls were a blotch on the society and deserved maximum punishment. he assured the affected families that no effort would be spared to provide justice to them and ensuring due punishment to the culprits, and directed the Okara DPO to take immediate steps for ensuring

punishment under the law to the criminals. The CM gave cheques of Rs 500,000 to the family of a girl of haveli Lakha, Okara who was raped and a cheque of Rs 300,000 to the children of a person of Sialkot who was murdered. he said the Punjab government had provided all available resources

PTI intra-party elections delayed again LAHORE UmAIR AzIz

The intra-party elections of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have been postponed yet again, this time over printing of wrong ballot papers, Pakistan Today has learnt. This would be the third time that the party will be holding elections to elect an array of office bearers both, in the district and towns, in the metropolitan. Last time the issue was about placement of ballot boxes which gave rise to confusion further leading to an armed scuffle which ended with party workers in jail. The party high-ups had

to intervene to resolve the issue. however, this time incorrect serial numbers were given to ballot papers sent from Islamabad, making the authorities to call-off the entire process. An insider, on condition of anonymity, said the Lahore election commission officers received the ballot paper last (Wednesday) night, which were checked on Thursday morning after the candidates were called in and the voters turned up. A few candidates started shouting right at the beginning of the election process complaining that the serial numbers mentioned in the ballot papers did not match the serial number given to candidates.

“My serial number is 41 but on the ballot paper it has been changed to 38, meaning that all my voters are going to cast their votes to some other candidate. It takes a lot of time, energy and effort to mobilise the people for coming and voting and such hiccups will only damage the party’s reputation within the ranks,” a female candidate added. Lahore election commission head Fayaz Mehar told Pakistan Today that the fault lies with the central election commission office in Islamabad. he said the serial numbers sent from Lahore were different from the ones sent back. The next date of election is March 11, he added.

PoLice nabs the chanGars LAHORE RANA HAIDeR

Notorious criminals from Township Shauki Changar and Azam Changar along with 10 other wanted criminals have been arrested. According to sources, Lahore CCPO Aslam Saleemi received a tip that the criminals were in Township at Shauki Changar’s residence. The CCPO immediately formed a special team which colluded with Township Police to arrest the criminals. Sources said mobile phones from all officials had been snatched so that no one could intimate the criminals

about the raid. They further said the police station concerned had not been informed about the target of the raid and no one knew who was going to be arrested by the special team. When the team raided the location, they captured Shauki Changar along with his brother Azam and 10 other wanted personnel. They recovered a large amount of arms and ammunition from them also. A source said Shauki and his gang was backed by a political party from Punjab and had been openly committing crimes in the city. In 1993, Shauki had killed Naseem Pathani’s (former PPP women’s wing president) son, which had

landed him in jail. Because Pathani had been pursuing her son’s murder case, Shauki’s brother Azam Changar along with an accomplice killed Pathani in 1997 in broad daylight as she was leaving a clinic. Shauki had also managed to kidnap Pathani’s 22-year-old nephew, harris, on February 27. The boy’s family informed the police immediately who were able to retrieve harris from Cangar’s residence but did not manage to arrest any culprit. A source said in 2001, Shauki Changar had contested for Nazim but faced defeat. After some years, he again contested for the same position from the platform of another party and was able to

win. The source added that Shauki has also illegally occupied a piece of land in WAPDA Town. Col Sadiq, the owner of the land, has filed a report against illegal occupation of his land against Shauki but no progress has been made in this regard as yet. harris’ uncle talking to Pakistan Today said his nephew was drenched in blood when he was recovered from Shauki’s captivity. he said the whole area was afraid of him and he had political backing and contacts at high level positions. he might have been arrested but will manage to come out of jail again and continue with his work, he said.

to the police for the eradication of crime. he said elements involved in heinous crimes deserve no leniency and would be awarded harsh punishment. he said no society based on cruelty and injustice can survive or prosper. Talking to the family of the victim who was killed in Sialkot, he said immediate justice will be provided to the victims.

PErvAIz ELAhI INAUGUrAtES GEPz

LAHORE: Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhary Pervaiz Elahi on Thursday inaugurated Gujranwala Export Processing Zone (GEPZ) at the State Guest House. Export Processing Zone Authority (EPZA) Chairman Saadat S Cheema, Gujranwala Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Khawaja Amir Hasan, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Zafar Bakhtawri, Chaudhary Zaheerud Din, Basharat Raja and traders from all over the country were present on the occasion. Addressing the ceremony, Elahi said the aim of setting up export processing zones was to facilitate exporters and traders through onewindow operation besides increasing the country’s exports and attracting local and foreign investment. Elahi said efforts for setting up an EPZA office in every chamber of commerce were being made to attract foreign investment. APP

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I have served people selflessly during the last five years... I’m answerable only to Allah and the people. – Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif

Lahore Friday, 8 March, 2013

INtErNAtIONAL WOMEN’S DAy: MOrE POWEr tO thE OthEr GENDEr! I AIMA KHOSA

NTeRNATIONAL Women’s Day is upon us. It is the one day of the year when the “other” gender is celebrated; when her mere presence in the country and world over is recognised. This International Women’s Day is a time for reflection; it is a time to realise the full meaning of the term gender inequality. International Women’s Day is not a day that is celebrated by feminists. Often, this day is not about a mere celebration. Instead, times such as these call for introspection. Pakistan’s gender make-up is as diverse as Pakistan’s ethnic and religious situation. The conditions of Pakistani women vary from one location to another. They vary from one socio-economic system to another; a woman in the tribal areas experiences an entirely different life than a woman in the urban centers. even in urban cities, the quality of life that shapes a woman is diverse; urban centers witness women ranging from fashionistas and intellectuals to prostitutes and beggars. Last year, World economic Forum ranked Pakistan was ranked among the worst countries in the world on its Global Gender Gap Report. even as this International Women’s Day is being celebrated and the importance of a woman in any society of the world highlighted, a Pakistan girl will be subjected to some of the worst kinds of atrocities humankind has invented; rape, acid throwing, honour killing, forced marriage and forced prostitution. Women’s groups across the country have complained about the government’s hesitation to take on the plight of a Pakistani woman in an attempt to bolster the country’s international image. however, the numbers speak for themselves. Last year alone, as many as 2,713 cases of violence against women in southern Punjab alone, according to a report by Awaz Foundation Centre for Development. Many of these included walking on burning coal to prove

innocence, abduction and torture after abduction, acid attacks, Panchnayat decisions and much, much more. What is even more startling is the fact that this report focused on reports from merely 15 districts and 53 tehsils. It is a startling reminder that there must be a number of unreported cases and how terrifying the overall picture could be for women in the country. This year’s official theme by the United Nations for International Women’s Day is, “A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women.” With this promise, one wonders what measures have been taken by the Pakistani government to address women’s issues in the country – what promises were made and how many of them were kept.

Nawaz Sharif’s government was embroiled in the famous Saima Waheed scandal, due to which his government sought to implement tighter family laws to discourage love marriages, even though the Lahore high Court clearly called for amendments to the 1965 Family Laws. There were also calls by all quarters to repeal the hudood Ordinance, especially a report by the Inquiry of the Commission for Women (1997). The report indicated that the hudood Ordinance stood in contradiction of the fundamental rights of the woman. however, neither Nawaz Sharif nor Benazir Bhutto, who pledged undying support for the emancipation of women, sought the repeal of the hudood Laws. Moreover, alleviation of the women was stated as one of the 16 goals of

Pakistan 2012 Program (1997). Strangely, the document failed to mention women while listing 21 areas of interest. Much later, in 2006, General Pervez Musharraf ordered amendments to the controversial hudood Ordinance. Later that year, some progress was seen as the parliament passed the Women’s Protection Bill, repealing several clauses of the hudood Ordinances. however, many women’s groups criticised the bill, saying that this bill was only a show to portray progressive politics. The present government, as it nears the completion of its term, has little to show as successes as a democratic government seeking equality and freedom for Pakistani women. President Asif Ali Zardari’s government only passed Protection against harassment of

Crime scene: murder, robberies and arrests LAHORE STAFF RePORT

LAHORE: Workers of the Sunni Tehreek demolish statues placed in Sher Shah Wali Shrine. Murtaza Ali

wise awards nomination open LAHORE: Educationists, school managers, teachers and students from Pakistan can apply for the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) awards, which are likened to Nobel Prize in education, according to a press release issued by WISE administration. At the opening ceremony of 2013 WISE Awards Applications, Sheikh Abdulla, chairman of WISE said, “There is a lot Pakistan can teach the world”. The awards are launched by the WISE administration, Doha. Since its inception in 2009, Pakistan has failed to win any nomination in awards. The WISE opened the submission period for the 2013 WISE awards seeking out and honoring projects that solve real-world barriers to education and are ultimately creating a toolbox of best-practices in education. STAFF RePORT

A kidnapped woman, Farah Riaz, was killed on Thursday. According to details, Farah, 55, was kidnapped from the area of Ghaziabad on February 24. She was murdered, and the police arrested the suspects but did not file an FIR against them. The woman was a lecturer at Islamia College. The police arrested her driver named Mirza Salman. During investigations, he confessed to kidnapping Farah with the help of his friend Imran and murdering her later when his demands were not fulfilled. he said that after killing her, he threw her body in the Khanpur canal. Talking to Pakistan Today, CIA chief Nawaz Cheema refused to comment on the case and said they had not arrested anyone. TORTURE: Nishter Police was accused of torturing a woman named Shamin Akhtar. According to details, the police arrested Shamin on charges of housegrabbing. During investigation, the police was accused of beating the woman until she lost consciousness. According to police sources, four other women were also involved in the case. ROBBERIES: A man was injured

by robbers upon offering resistance in the area of Gawal Mandi. According to reports, robbers attempted to rob a businessman named Amir. They tried to rob him of Rs 100,000 cash and his mobile phone. When he resisted, they shot at him, took the looted material and fled from the scene. Another man was tortured by robbers for offering resistance in the area of Cantt. The robbers stole Rs 5,000 in case and fled. A robbery took place in a house situated at Rashid Colony, Ichhra. According to reports, robbers took gold worth Rs 900,000, thousands of rupees in cash and escaped from the scene. ARRESTS: The police arrested four members of Shahbaz Soni robbery gang from the area of Shalimar. The police seized a rickshaw, motorbikes, mobile phones and weapons from their possession In another report Gawal Mandi police arrested a drug dealer named Ifran and recovered half kilogram of heroin from his possession. In another report, the police raided the house of a suspected criminal named Sab and arrested 19 gamblers in hurbanpura area. The police recovered thousands rupees in cash, mobile phones and other valuables from their possession.

Women at Workplace Bill 2009 as a notable move for the protection of women. At the same time, the current government’s failure to protect women and their education led to a gruesome attack on child activist Malala Yousafzai who is currently in the United Kingdom seeking treatment after getting shot in the head. While the government showered her with prizes and awards, they carefully neglected to recognise their failure in keeping the young girl, and countless others safe in the first place. Another failure on the part of the current government to protect the women of Pakistan was when female health workers were attacked and killed during an antipolio vaccination campaign. Such failures have been recognised by human rights groups, including human Rights Commission of Pakistan (hRCP). On the eve of the International Women’s Day, hRCP Chairperson Zohra Yusuf expressed solidarity with the women who were suffering due to growing violence and various forms of discrimination. Talking to Pakistan Today, cofounder of Pakistan Feminist Watch, Nabiha Meher said, “The issue of women’s rights in Pakistan is multifaceted and many layered. Feminism in this country is not just about seeking justice and equality for women; it is also about unifying women at all levels to seek what is rightfully theirs.” Moreover, she said that feminism in Pakistan lacked one important component: unity between theoretical and practical work. Furthermore, she said that it was important to remember that the Left played a significant role in leading women’s movements all over the world and in Pakistan. According to women’s rights activist Sonia Qadir said, “At this point, one needs to ask the important question: what is a woman? Who is she?” She said that women of all races and ethnicities all over the world had fought their freedom and this struggle was evident from women’s movements in world history.

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As a rule, men worry more about what they can't see than about what they can. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Julius Caesar

news

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Friday, 8 March, 2013

BErLUSCONI CONvICtED OvEr LEAKS

ROME: An Italian court has sentenced former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi to a year in prison over the publication of leaked transcripts from a police wiretap in a newspaper that he owns. Berlusconi, who faces two more verdicts this month for tax fraud and having sex with an underage prostitute, can appeal Thursday's conviction which would suspend the sentence under Italian law. Italian sentencing guidelines indicate that people aged over 75 and with sentences of less than two years do not have to actually go to prison. Berlusconi, a billionaire media tycoon, is 76. He stood accused of violating secrecy laws after his il Giornale daily published transcripts in 2005 that were widely seen as an attempt to discredit a senior member of the centre-left Democratic Party ahead of elections in 2006. The leaks were about the attempted takeover of BNL bank by insurance giant Unipol. His brother Paolo, editor of il Giornale, was sentenced to two years and three months. The three-time prime minister also faces a verdict possibly as early as March 18 in a trial in which he is accused of having sex with a then 17-year-old prostitute when he was prime minister and then abusing the power of his office by putting pressure on police to release her from custody. AgeNcIeS

PORT SAID: An Egyptian protester throws a stone at riot police during clashes in front of the security directorate building on Thursday. AgeNcIeS

North Korea threatens US with nuclear attack pyOngyAng

ChAvEz LASt WOrDS WErE 'I DON't WANt tO DIE' CARACAS: President Hugo Chavez died of a massive heart attack after great suffering and inaudibly mouthed his desire to live, the head of Venezuela's presidential guard has said. "He couldn't speak, but he said it with his lips ... 'I don't want to die. Please don't let me die,' because he loved his country, he sacrificed himself for his country," General Jose Ornella told The Associated Press. The general said he spent the last two years with Chavez, including his final moments, as Venezuela's president of 14 years battled an unspecified cancer in the pelvic region. Ornella spoke to the AP late on Wednesday outside the military academy where Chavez's body lay in state. He said Chavez's cancer was very advanced when he died, but gave no details. Ornella did not respond when asked if the cancer had spread to Chavez's lungs. AgeNcIeS

AgeNcIeS

ORTh Korea has vowed to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the US, hours ahead of a UN vote on whether to level new sanctions against Pyongyang for its recent nuclear test. North Korea has accused the US of using military drills in South Korea as a launch pad for a nuclear war and has scrapped the armistice with Washington that ended hostilities in the 1950-53 Korean War. "Since the United States is about to ignite a nuclear war, we will be exercising our right to pre-emptive nuclear attack against the headquarters of the aggressor in order to protect our supreme interest," the North's foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency. The North conducted a third nuclear test on February 12, in defiance of UN resolutions, and declared it had achieved progress in securing a functioning atomic arsenal. Although North Korea boasts of nuclear bombs and pre-emptive strikes, it is not thought to have mastered the ability to produce a warhead small enough to put on a missile capable of reaching the US mainland. It is believed to have enough nuclear fuel, however, for a handful of crude nuclear devices. The North's unnamed foreign ministry spokesman also said it would be entitled to take military action as of March 11 when US-South Korea military drills move into a full-scale phase as it had declared the truce invalid. It is the latest in an escalation of tough words from both sides of the armed Korean border this week as the UN Security Council deliberates a resolution to tighten financial sanctions and a naval blockade against the North. North Korea, which held a mass military rally in Pyongyang on Thursday in support of its recent threats, has

protested against the UN censures of its rocket launches. It says they are part of a peaceful space programme and that the criticism is an exercise of double standards by the US. In 2010, the North bombed a South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island killing two civilians. It is widely accused of sinking a South Korean navy ship earlier in the year, killing 46 sailors. North Korea was conducting a series of military drills and getting ready for state-wide war practice of an unusual scale, South Korea's defence ministry said earlier on Thursday. South Korea and the US, which are conducting annual military drills until the end of April, are watching the North's activities for signs they turn from an exercise to an actual attack, a South Korean official said. "It hasn't been frequent that the North conducted military exercise at the state level," South Korea's defence ministry spokesman, Kim Min-seok, said. "We are watching the North's activities and stepping up readiness under the assumption that these drills can lead to provocation at any time." A top North Korean general said on Tuesday said Pyongyang was scrapping the armistice. But the two sides remain technically at war as the civil war did not end with a treaty.

syria rebels urged to release Un peacekeepers DAMASCuS AgeNcIeS

Armed fighters linked to the Syrian opposition have detained about 21 UN peacekeepers in the increasingly volatile zone separating Israeli and Syrian troops on the Golan heights. The UN Security Council and Philippine government demanded their immediate and unconditional release on Thursday. "The Philippine government is calling for the immediate release of 21 Filipino peacekeepers who are part of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan heights," a foreign ministry statement said. Talks were under way for the release of the unarmed peacekeepers, who were detained on Wednesday, Raul hernandez, Philippines foreign affairs department spokesman, said. The foreign affairs department spokesman said that the Filipino peacekeepers were unharmed. "The apprehension and illegal detention of the Filipino peacekeepers are gross violations of international law," the statement said. The hostages are part of a 300-

member Filipino peacekeeping unit. Colonel Arnulfo Burgos, spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, told Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas that the abducted peacekeepers are "safe" and being "treated as guests" by the Syrian fighters. The UNDOF force was established in 1974 following the 1973 Yom Kippur war to monitor the disengagement of Israeli and Syrian forces and maintain a ceasefire. Vitaly Churkin, Russia's UN ambassador andthe current Security Council president, said talks were under way between UN officials from the peacekeeping force and the captors. herve Ladsous, UN peacekeeping chief, who briefed the council behind closed doors, identified the captors as being from a group associated with the Syrian armed opposition, Churkin said. "There was no fighting, according to his briefing to us," Churkin said. "My understanding is that they took over the trucks in which the UNDOF personnel was moving around." Churkin said the capture of the peacekeepers "is particularly unacceptable and bizarre" because the UNDOF peacekeepers are unarmed and their mission has nothing to do with Syria's internal conflict.

"They are there on a completely different mission so there is no reason at all under any circumstances, any kind of sick imagination to try to harm those people," he said. Ban Ki-moon, UN secretary-general, also condemned the capture of the peacekeepers, eduardo del Buey, UN deputy spokesman, said. Del Buey said the UN observers were on a regular supply mission when they were stopped by approximately 30 armed fighters near an observation post that was damaged in heavy combat last weekend and had been evacuated. The rebels have accused the peacekeepers of assisting the Syrian regime to redeploy in an area near the Golan that the fighters had seized a few days ago in battles that left 11 fighters and 19 regime forces dead. A man identified as Abu Qaed al-Faleh, spokesman for the Martyrs of Yarmouk Brigades, announced the group is holding the peacekeepers until Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces withdraw from Jamlah. "They will not be released until after Bashar Assad's forces withdraw from the village of Jamlah bordering Israel," the man said. Churkin urged countries with influence on the Syrian opposition to use it to help free the peacekeepers.

MALAySIA rEJECtS CEASEFIrE IN SABAh KuALA LuMpuR AgeNcIeS

Najib Razak, the Malaysian prime minister, has rejected the ceasefire offer by leader of rebels in Sabah island, saying only an unconditional surrender is acceptable. The Malaysian prime minister, who flew to the region on Thursday to inspect security operations, said he told Philippine president Benigno Aquino by phone the ceasefire offer was rejected. "I told President Aquino they must lay down their arms immediately," Najib told reporters in a village near where the army and police were searching for scores of rebels. "They have to surrender their arms and they have to do it as soon as possible." "We have given them more than three weeks to surrender and postponed it four times. We only took action after they killed eight of our policemen, so Malaysia does respect human rights," he said. At least 31 armed Filipino gunmen have been killed in the latest offensive by the Malaysian troops. That brought the total dead close to 60, including eight Malaysian policemen. Jamalul Kiram III, a self-proclaimed Philippine sultan, declared a unilateral ceasefire to be effective from 12:30pm local time (04:30GMT) and urged Malaysia to reciprocate, according to a statement read out by his spokesman in the Philippine capital, Manila, on Thursday. Malaysian troops launched a major offensive against the rebels who infiltrated Sabah Island last month. "They will not take any action. They will remain in the place where they are now. They will not expand operations," a spokesman said, referring to the rebels, believed to number between 100 and 300. The spokesman, Abraham Idjirani, said Kiram was responding to a call by UN Secretary General Ban Kimoon on Wednesday in which he urged an end to the violence in the Malaysian state and encourage dialogue between the opposing sides. "The sultan is calling for a unilateral ceasefire... in order to reciprocate the call of the UN to preserve lives," said Idjirani, as the elderly and ailing Kiram sat next to him. Anger has mounted in Malaysia over the incursion, which began on February 12 when fighters arrived from the southern Philippines province of Sulu to press Kiram's claim to the area.

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Creation of new province major breakthrough of PPP govt. —Yousaf Raza Gilani

news Friday, 8 March, 2013

US discusses extending targeted killing to new militant groups: report WASHIngTOn

SPecIAl cORReSPONDeNT

he Obama administration is examining whether the legal basis for its targeted killing program can be extended to militant groups with little or no connection to alQaeda, the organization responsible for the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, The Washington Post reported citing US officials. The Authorization for Use of Military Force, a joint resolution passed by Congress three days after the strikes on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, has served as the legal foundation for US counterterrorism operations against al-Qaeda over the past decade, including ongoing drone campaigns in Pakistan and Yemen that have killed thousands of people, a report in the newspaper said. But US officials said administration

lawyers are increasingly concerned that the law is being stretched to its legal breaking point, just as new threats are emerging in countries including Syria, Libya and Mali. “The farther we get away from 9/11 and what this legislation was initially focused upon,” a senior Obama administration official said, “we can see from both a theoretical but also a practical standpoint that groups that have arisen or morphed become more difficult to fit in.” The waning relevance of the 2001 law, the official said, is “requiring a whole policy and legal look.” The authorization law has already been expanded by federal courts beyond its original scope to apply to “associated forces” of al-Qaeda. But officials said legal advisers at the White house, the State Department, the Pentagon and intelligence agencies are now weighing whether the law can be stretched to cover what one former

official called “associates of associates.” The debate has been driven by the emergence of groups in North Africa and the Middle east that may embrace aspects of al-Qaeda’s agenda but have no meaningful ties to its crumbling leadership base in Pakistan. Among them are the al-Nusra Front in Syria and Ansar al-Sharia, which was linked to the September attack on a US diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya. They could be exposed to drone strikes and killor-capture missions involving US troops. US officials say they have not ruled out seeking an updated authorization from Congress or relying on the president’s constitutional powers to protect the country. But they said those are unappealing alternatives. According to the Post, the debate comes as the administration seeks to turn counterterrorism policies adopted as emergency measures after the 2001 attacks into more permanent procedures that can sustain

the campaign against al-Qaeda and its affiliates, as well as other current and future threats. The AUMF, as the 2001 measure is known, has been so central to US efforts that counterterrorism officials said deliberations over whom to put on the list for drone strikes routinely start with the question of whether a proposed target is “AUMF-able.” The outcome of the debate could determine when and how the war on terrorism — at least as defined by Congress after the Sept. 11 attacks — comes to a close. “You can’t end the war if you keep adding people to the enemy who are not actually part of the original enemy,” said a person who participated in the administration’s deliberations on the issue. The newspaper reported that so far the United States has not launched strikes against any of the new groups, and US officials have not indicated that there is any immediate plan to do so. In Libya, for example, the United States has sought to work with the new government to apprehend suspects in the Benghazi attack. Still, the administration has taken recent steps — including building a drone base in the African country of Niger — that have moved the United States closer to being able to launch lethal strikes if regional allies are unable to contain emerging threats. US officials stress that the stakes of the debate go beyond the drone program, the Post reported. The same authorities are required for capture operations, which have been far less frequent. The AUMF is also the legal basis for the CIA’s drone campaign in Pakistan, although the agency compiles its own kill list in that operation

The debate has been driven by the emergence of groups in North Africa and the Middle East that may embrace aspects of al-Qaeda’s agenda but have no meaningful ties to its crumbling leadership base in Pakistan with little involvement from other agencies. “Some options beyond the 2001 authorization are problematic for Obama. For instance, he has been reluctant to rely on his constitutional authority to use military force to protect the country, which bypasses Congress and might expose him to criticism for abuse of executive power. “Working with Congress to update the AUMF is another option. The Senate Intelligence Committee has already begun considering ways to accomplish that. But Obama, who has claimed credit for winding down two wars, is seen as reluctant to have the legislative expansion of another be added to his legacy,” the Post said.

UN expert urges release of enquiry findings on CIA interrogation practices

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Joint Chiefs Of Staff Committee General Khalid Shameem Wynne calls on President Asif Ali Zardari at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Thursday. INP

Security forces kill 12 militants in Orakzai Agency uppER ORAKZAI ONlINe

Security forces on Thursday killed as many as 12 militants in a fresh offensive in Orakzai Agency, officials said. The officials said further security forces carried out the operation in the Gundamela area and took control of the stronghold of the militants. On the other hand, forces conducted search operation in the Nadarmela area after a landmine killed a soldier and injured three others, including an officer. “Seven militants were killed and several others injured in the operation after the blast,” sources said. Orakzai Agency is the only northwestern tribal agency of Pakistan which does not border Afghanistan. earlier on Wednesday, security forces killed at least eight militants during an operation in the Mamoonzai area of the agency.

oregon man charged with helping in pakistan bombing granted bond ISLAMABAD APP

A federal judge on Wednesday granted bond to an Oregon man charged with conspiracy to provide material support to one of three militants who carried out a 2009 suicide bombing in Pakistan. Reaz Khan, a 48-year-old wastewater treatment plant operator for the city of Portland, was arrested on Tuesday on an indictment charging him with providing advice and funds to a suicide bomber who participated in an attack in Lahore in May 2009 that killed 30 people and injured 300. Khan, who pleaded not guilty during an initial court appearance on Tuesday, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if he is convicted at trial. During a bond hearing on Wednesday, federal prosecutors argued that Khan, a naturalised US citizen originally from Pakistan, should be held without bail because he was a flight risk and a danger to the community. But US District Judge Michael Mosman granted his release on $25,000 bond, citing his job, family, ties to the community and lack of a criminal record. Mosman also said that Khan, a married father of three,

knew he was under investigation and had retained defense lawyers before his arrest but made no effort to flee despite having cash and valid US and Pakistani passports. The judge said before Khan was released he was required to disclose all of his financial assets and submit to home detention with a monitoring device placed on his ankle. Under the conditions set by Mosman, Khan would be permitted to work, go to religious services and see his attorneys. According to the indictment, Khan used email and intermediaries to consult with and provide financial support to a Maldivian national named Ali Jaleel and his family, making it possible for Jaleel to attend a training camp in Pakistan in preparation for the bomb attack. The indictment says the conspiracy began in December 2005 and continued on through the attack on the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) headquarters in Lahore on May 27, 2009, and into the following month. Jaleel and two others carried out the attack, the indictment says. The indictment cites instances in which Khan is accused of helping Jaleel with travel arrangements and instructions on how to avoid detection. The Pakistani government said at the time that the car bomb attack was carried out in apparent revenge for an army offensive against Taliban in Swat.

UNITED NATIONS: A UN expert on Wednesday urged the United States and the United Kingdom to release the findings of confidential enquiries into the detention and interrogation practices of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during President George W Bush’s administration. In a report to the UN Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism, Ben Emmerson, said US authorities must publish without delay, and to the fullest extent possible, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report into the CIA’s secret detention and interrogation programme. Emmerson, a prominent British human rights lawyer, said the request for publication of the findings is based on the principles of accountability for systematic human rights violations while countering terrorism. “Those individuals found to have participated in secretly detaining persons and in any unlawful acts perpetrated during such detention, including their superiors if they have ordered, encouraged or consented to secret detentions, should be prosecuted without delay and, where found guilty, given sentences commensurate with the gravity of the acts perpetrated,” he said. Until now, the international community has failed to secure full responsibility for the acts committed by certain sections of the CIA in implementing a programme of torture, rendition and secret detention of terrorist suspects, Emmerson said. He also called on the British government to make public the interim report of the Gibson Inquiry, which seeks to look into allegations that the UK intelligence services were complicit in the torture of detainees and rendition flights, and establish a timetable for the proposed judge-led inquiry, stating its mandate and powers. Emmerson urged governments, particularly those which allegedly enabled the use of their airspace and landing facilities for CIA rendition flights, to review their domestic law and practice, including a review of the investigations, if any, that have so far been conducted by their national authorities. In his recommendations, Emmerson also called on the Governments of Lithuania, Morocco, Poland, Romania and Thailand to launch or re-open effective independent judicial or quasi-judicial inquiries into credible allegations that secret CIA ‘black sites’ were established on their territories; to identify any public officials who may have authorized or collaborated in the establishment or operation of these facilities; to publish the findings of such inquiries; and to hold the relevant officials publicly accountable for their actions. APP

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ANP will come into power again. —Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Amir Haider Hoti

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09 N

Friday, 8 March, 2013

SC questions restoration of Sindh local bodies act 1979

QUETTA: Afghan envoy Mohammad Omer Daoudzai distributes cheques among the victim families of Hazara Town at Afghan Consulate on Thursday. INP

SC orders immediate return of ex-OGrA chairman ISLAMABAD ONlINe

hearing the OGRA corruption case on Thursday, the Supreme Court directed the Foreign Affairs secretary to take immediate measures for former OGRA chairman Tauqeer Sadiq’s return to Pakistan. The apex court asked the foreign secretary to remove all documentary loopholes related to Sadiq’s return to the country. A two-member bench headed by Justice Jawad S Khwaja resumed hearing in the OGRA corruption case on Thursday, wherein NAB prosecutor general KK Agha told the apex court that all arrangements for facilitating Sadiq’s return were final, but the UAe police said at the last moment that Sadiq’s documents were incomplete. Upon this, Justice Jawad S Khwaja inquired why NAB took no action against the institutions that created hurdles in the way of Sadiq’s return. Agha replied that action would be taken against those responsible in this regard. Justice Khwaja further noted that no reference had been filed against those facilitating the escape of Tauqeer Sadiq. Subsequently, Judicial Assistant Khwaja haris observed that a case could be filed against those under Article 212 and 216 of Pakistan Penal Code.

CEC reaffirms pledge to hold free, fair polls media bodies ProPose guidelines to eCP ISLAMABAD

STAFF RePORT

hIeF election Commissioner Fakhruddin G ebrahim on Thursday said he is under oath to hold elections and everybody, especially media, should help in holding free and fair polls. Talking to a delegation representing leading media bodies, ebrahim categorically dispelled all speculations regarding postponement of elections on any pretext. The delegation comprised representatives of various media organizations, leading editors, journalists, publishers and broadcasters, including Council of Pakistan Newspaper editors (CPNe), All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), National Press Club, South Asia Media Commission (SAMC), Media Commission-Pakistan, South Asian Free

Media Association (SAFMA) and South Asian Women in Media (SAWM). Those who represented their bodies were: Aamer Mahmood Khan, CPNe, Mahtab Khan and Khushnood Ali Khan, APNS, Tariq Chaudhary, PFUJ, Farooq Faisal, National Press Club, M Ziauddin, SAMC, Arif Nizami, MC-P and Fauzia Shahid, SAWM. The media people had earlier in the day met at the SAFMA office in Islamabad and discussed and firmed up a set of proposed “Guidelines for Covering elections”. Various editors, anchors, owners and office bearers were also consulted throughout Pakistan on the guidelines. SAFMA Secretary General Imtiaz Alam presented the Guidelines to the election Commission of Pakistan (eCP) for its perusal and further consultation with authorized representatives of vari-

ous media organizations and leading media persons. The CeC decided to convene a consultative meeting of the representatives of the APNS, CPNe, PFUJ, National Press Club, Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA), SAFMA, SAWM, SAMC, Cable Operators Association, PTV, PBC, APP, Information Ministry and Pemra on March 14 to finalize the Guidelines for Covering elections before the announcement of election schedule. The draft proposed by the SAFMA Secretary General in consultation with various media bodies was approved by 75 participants and leading media persons from all over the country. According to the guidelines, public and private sector media should educate voters about electoral processes, political parties, candidates, campaign issues and importance of democracy for the empowerment of people.

Women empowerment: From Dream to reality FARZAnA RAjA It is truly a matter of immense pride and satisfaction to me that Pakistan has made quite vital inroads in the cause of women empowerment and emancipation during last few years. Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) is one of the largest interventions in the social sector of Pakistan. This breakthrough has special significance to me because the programme has not only laid the foundations for sustainable poverty reduction but also been able to change the hearts and minds of the people in general regarding status of women in our society. While marking International Women’s Day, I would like to recall that mainstreaming of women and their socio-economic uplift was envisaged as one of the prime objectives of BISP at the very begin-

ning of this unique initiative in the social sector besides poverty alleviation. We as a nation are grateful to Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah, Begum Rana Liaquat Ali Khan and Mother of Democracy Lady Nusrat Bhutto who played significant role in the women empowerment... Inspired by the dynamic leadership and vision of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, the programme was designed to achieve the desired goals through empowering women folks of society. There is no denying of this reality that women empowerment is a key phenomenon of bringing about sustainable socioeconomic progress of every nation or society. This forward-looking approach is helping such societies to get fully benefited from the active participation of women from every walk of life. It is also worth watching that the women today are more aware of their role,

existence and rights than ever before. International Women’s Day has equally special significance for Women of Pakistan that have made an epic struggle to protect and safeguard the rights of millions of voiceless women of our society. Some historic achievements have been made during this momentous struggle but still there is a long way to go uplift the status of women in society further. During recent years, some landmarks have been achieved regarding protection of the rights of women. It is quite an encouraging advancement to achieve the ultimate fruits of women empowerment and emancipation as it was envisioned by the Father of the Nation, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Our great Quaid was of view that “No nation can ever be worthy of its existence that cannot take its women along with the men. No struggle

can ever succeed without women participating side by side with men.” The history of Pakistan is evident of the fact that it was the democratic government of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto that had revived the vision of Jinnah in its true spirit by taking practical measures to protect rights of women and by making the welfare of women an integral part of social, political and economic reforms. Later, after a long era of tyranny in which women of the country suffered the most, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto introduced various women-friendly policies to revive their status in society and to reduce their socio-economic hardships. She was indeed an ardent believer of women right and empowerment and thus served the cause of women by making it foundation stone of the policies of her government.

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Thursday said that after the repeal of one law, another never came into force by itself and the court would still discuss the restored 1979 Sindh Local Bodies Act. He passed the remarks while heading a three-judge bench comprising Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed during the hearing of petitions against the Sindh People’s Local Bodies Ordinance 2012. During the course of proceeding petitioner Zameer Ghomroo informed the court that the Sindh government had repealed the ordinance thus his application stood void. Sindh additional advocate general presented the cancellation papers of Sindh People’s Local Bodies Ordinance, 2012 and stated that after the cancellation of the ordinance, local bodies act of 1979 had been restored in the province. To this, the CJP remarked that the issue would not settle in this manner and the court had to see the other side of the application as well. CJP Iftikhar Chaudhry said two queries arose after the cancellation of the ordinance that whether during the whole exercise, Article 264 and 140-A of the constitution were kept in consideration or not. He stated that after the repeal of one law, another never came into force itself and the discussion would be made on the topic. The CJP questioned who would be held responsible for the wastage of time and money while crafting the Sindh People’s Local Bodies Ordinance, 2012 which was repealed later on. The bench then adjourned the hearing for three weeks while issuing notice to the attorney general. APP

Kaira urges politicians to follow ideological politics ISLAMABAD: Federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira on Thursday urged politicians to follow ideological politics and avoid changing loyalties for political gains. Talking to state-run TV, he said the politicians, who were not following ideological norms would lose their political credibility. He said that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) believed in ideological politics and followed democratic norms and was against changing the political loyalties. To a question, he said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz for the first time in the country’s politics was contesting free and fair elections, adding that in the past this party had got victory in polls through the support of state agencies. He said that the PML-N had strongly criticised the Raisani-led Balochistan government for not maintaining peace in Balochistan. He questioned that now how the PML-N included Lashkari Raisani in their party. To another question, Kaira said that interim setup would have limited powers and it would not influence the coming general elections at any cost, he said. APP

Mardan girls’ school bombed PESHAWAR: A low-intensity bomb planted outside the Government Girls Primary School at Karam Khan Banda in Mardan District went off on Wednesday night. However, no casualties were reported. According to Mardan police, the incident occurred in the Katlang police precincts when the low-intensity bomb was planted outside the wall of the school. The wall and a room of the school were damaged. However, no casualty has been reported. The police rushed to the scene and started investigation. APP

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I think that Barack Obama aside from 'the president' - is a good guy. –Hugo Chavez

coMMent Friday, 8 March, 2013

Pakistan and India not an easy relationship

No respite for minorities the country continues to bleed

he relations between Pakistan and India merit a case study. One day both are toasting to laying one of many rounds of foundation for a lasting friendship and not long after that they are swearing against each other on some misunderstanding or an issue that never was there. The latest spate of calls for undoing the efforts of normalisation of relations between the both has significance due to a different reason. This time both countries were moving forward on trade and commerce front. But the elements with myopic approach want to drive a wedge in this blooming friendship, as is usual with them. ever since the 26/11 incident, the Indian political leadership has been vocal about eliminating terrorist safe havens in Pakistan and bring to justice the ones responsible for that tragic incident. Their demand is not irrational, per se, but the way the proponents of peace suddenly give way to the hawks on both sides of the border is actually what upsets the applecart. Violent incidents on LoC a few weeks ago have brought the talks on normalisation of relations, which had taken a nosedive after the Mumbai incident, to glacial speed. however, the desire to be friendly and have relations with as few glitches as possible appears to be the casting call of both nuclear armed states. But certain circles, the establishment on both sides to be precise, and terrorists to a great extent, don’t want to see them living in a peaceful environment; establishment because it would hurt their vested interests, and terrorists because they thrive only in an environment of hatred, discord and terror. But going this way there sure are going to be some problems, for peace, it seems, is what the people in both South Asian countries are asking for. The Indians have apparently stalled the progress on peace initiative on one pretext or the other. They are reluctant in removing non-tariff barriers on Pakistani exports to India and thus have failed to offer a level playing field to Pakistani exporters which consequently has forced Pakistan to delay granting MFN status to India, as stated by Amin Fahim, Commerce and Trade Minister. his ministry lays the blame on the Indian side and will submit a report to the Cabinet for complete normalisation of trade relations with India in due course. Meanwhile, State Minster for Foreign Affairs Nawabzada Malik hammad has said that due to Indian rigidity, the Sir Creek border issue has not been resolved either. True that peace process has been stalled, this should, however, not be the case. For once both should move ahead and bring peace to the region one step at time by managing their problems, a much more proven course than a more ideal but almost impractical method of problem solution.

the house’s honour unnecessary venom over unverified accusations

he parliament is making waves without much need to – and running the risk of alienating the ever sceptical media – once again. While the accusations on the sitting education and training minister from one controversial anchor may lack substance, the parliament has responded in a manner that does not befit its locus standi. In passing a resolution on Wednesday demanding television channels remove all anchors that air “unverified” accusations against parliamentarians, it has only served to show its own insecurity 10 days before the termination of its mandate. The matter could have been resolved in a different manner – when one anchor accused education and Training Minister Sheikh Waqas Ahmed of holding a “fake degree” and “patronising terrorists” in his home constituency of Jhang. Ahmed, known to have taken a consistent stance since the Musharraf period against local sectarian groups and himself having a background in media, should have known better than to let it affect his ego. Anchorpersons are no angels – and the particular anchor who made the accusations had already been tainted recently by a scandal by appearing partial to a property tycoon against the son of the sitting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (SC) – but should people not be the better judge? While one agrees that no one, especially anchors, should refrain from levelling unverified charges against a parliamentarian, parliamentarians must also maintain decorum while raising what may be valid concerns of unqualified defamation. Does it befit a sitting education minister to say that he wanted to “barge into the TV (set) and drag him out”? A simple lawsuit tends to serve as a better reminder that one is serious about contesting an accusation. Moreover, is the parliament not overstepping its terrain when it calls on owners of the media houses concerned to “expel them [such anchors] forthwith besides other due action”? Also, if the condemnation was against one anchor, why was it phrased to cover all channels and anchor persons? Support for the “besieged” and “agitated” education minister was extended by the Speaker Fehmida Mizra, who said she could go to court, if needed, to “defend the honour of the house”. But is the honour of the house so fickle as to be disgraced by one unverified accusations? Just before assemblies are set to be dissolved, parliamentarians should have known better than to squabble over sour grapes. This may not be the best time for parliamentarians to spit venom against television anchors and the media. Accusations against members of parliament are nothing new – and should not affect the sitting parliamentarians, who know they were brought in by the vote of the people. Would it not have been better for the minister to present his documents before the election Commission – and media – and let bygones be bygones?.

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

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

AzIz-UD-DIN AHmAD

he man in the street has many expectations from the May elections. Many think the new government might succeed in curbing the type of sectarian attacks that have taken place in Quetta and Karachi. After so many innocent people killed those in power would leave no stone unturned to put an end to the shameful acts. Is there a hope for the minorities then? Unless there is a change in the mindset of the security establishment and the next government, there is little possibility of respite in the ongoing attacks on minority communities in the foreseeable future. The security agencies are to be blamed for their abysmal failure to break the terrorist networks who have been active for the last many decades. The two ruling parties at the centre and Punjab have failed to take any decisive action against the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP)/Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) network with Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) group serving as umbrella organisation. As the agencies nurtured the sectarian terrorist networks in the 1990’s and even later, numerous operatives and officers of the security agencies were themselves bitten by the sectarian bug. It is an open secret that the communal terrorists have numerous sympathisers in these agencies. Instead of hunting down the terrorists they provide them inside information as well as protection. Can anyone imagine that Usman Saifullah Kurd, the architect of this year’s Quetta massacres, could have escaped from the high security Quetta Cantonment jail in 2008 without inside support? Combined with the general lowering of the standards of professionalism in these agencies on account of their misuse for political purposes, one has little confidence in their ability to deliver in days to come. Irrespective of the positions taken by the PML-N and PPP leadership, extremist thinking prevails in the ranks of both the parties

Editor’s mail

to varying extents. Quite a few middle ranking leaders are under the influence of the anti-minority clerics. Some justify suicide bombing if it is conducted in Afghanistan or Israel. Others seriously believe that hindus and Christians conspire against Pakistan and the Shias are not genuine Muslims. Both the PML-N and PPP have aligned at different times with religious parties whose seminaries nurture sectarian thinking and produce violent anti-Shia and anti-Ahmadi activists. The alliances, it is usually maintained are necessary to sustain democracy. The leadership of these parties lacks the vision or the courage to educate their cadre. There is little possibility of these parties changing the policy in days to come. The political leadership invariably loses nerve whenever it comes to facing up to the mobs collected by rabble rousing extremists. It develops cold feet whenever decisive action is required to put an end to the crimes committed in the name of religion. The PML-N did not do anything to rein in those who had issued anti-Taseer edicts and had justified his killing. had the clerics leading the campaign been taken to the courts and the handful of people they had brought on the streets dealt with firmly, bigger protest marches could have been stopped in the tracks. The PML-N had two reasons to let the mischief continue: a strong dislike for Taseer and a sharing of conviction with the extremist regarding the blasphemy law. The PPP’s response was at best lukewarm. The party did not want to get unpopular by seeming to defend its governor. A section of the party was in fact unwilling to defend Taseer as it shared the extremist thinking. The interior minister was as ineffective in Punjab as he was in Karachi. The outspoken Taseer was left to fend for himself. The PPP was contented by adding another name to its pantheon of martyrs. Both parties tend to use extremists to advance their political aims. The nomination by the PML-N of Prof Sajid Mir as a Senator was meant to send signals of solidarity to the extremists. Sajid Mir is the head of Jamiat Ahle hadith (JAh), a Salafi network having ties with Saudi extremists financing the SSP/LeJ/ASWJ. he is also a prominent campaigner against the Ahmadis. The PPP is by no means deficient in acts of appeasement of the sort. Pir of Bharchundi Sharif Mian Abdul haq alias Mian Mithoo was last year the central figure in the “conversions” of several young hindu girls which led to widespread protests by the minority community in Sindh. hundreds of hindus subsequently migrated to India. Mian

Mithoo does not belong to any extremist outfit but is a PPP MNA from Ghotki. Both the PML-N and PPP have sought the support of ASWJ/Lej/ASWJ in Punjab bye-elections, the first openly, the second somewhat discretely. There is thus only a difference of style rather than substance in the views of the two mainstream parties regarding how to use the extremist outfits during the elections. The ASWJ chief stood side by side in the open vehicle as Rana Sanaullah campaigned for PML-N during bye elections in Jhang. The ASWJ took credit for the victory of the party’s candidate. The PPP candidates too do not hesitate to seek SSP/Lej/ASWJ support in elections whenever required. The way Ahmadi community has been systematically persecuted in Punjab during the last five years opens a window into the thinking of the PML-N leadership. In May 2010, sectarian terrorists killed about 100 Ahmadis who were offering prayers in two separate places. The Punjab chief minister, who rushes to console rape victims or those overtaken by natural calamities along with a battery of photographers and reporters, did not care to visit the injured Ahmadis for fear of annoying his extremist allies. Thanks to the PML-N’s collusion with the SSP/LeJ/ ASWJ during the five years of its tenure, there has been a systematic persecution of the Ahmadi community all over Punjab. Numerous members of the group have been killed. Ahmadi graveyards have been desecrated. The Christian community in Punjab has suffered most under the PML-N government. In 2009, a mob was allowed to torch 75 Christian houses in Gojra. The next year five Christian homes were burnt in Manga Mandi. Many in the PML-N credit the party’s placatory attitude towards the terrorist networks with securing Punjab against terrorist attacks. Didn’t the graph of the terrorist attacks come down after Mian Shahbaz’s appeal to spare the province ruled by his party? Few take into consideration the damage done to the rest of the country through the understanding. The SSP/LeJ/ASWJ network was allowed to operate from the province as quid pro quo. The offices of the ASWJ were not closed. It is from safe havens in Punjab that the sectarian terrorists operate in other provinces. Unless there is a keen awareness among the voters that none with extremist inclinations is to be elected, the country would continue to bleed. The writer is a former academic and a political analyst.

Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively Fax: +92-42-32535230 E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk

Lawless Karachi

talks with the ttP

Cases of young girls being kidnapped, raped and released, are reported everyday from various parts of Karachi. The fact that no arrests have been shows the priorities of those at helm of our financial capital. In a rare instance, when such an attempt was thwarted on 2 March at a shopping complex in Clifton and the assailants were caught by video surveillance cameras, their faces were not shown to the media to ‘name and shame’ as deterrence. For this to go unnoticed in a country which prides upon calling itself an Islamic Republic is shameful. No other state would allow such heinous crimes to go on unchecked. Who is responsible for such a state of affairs? Is it the city administration, the provincial government, elected representatives, or the numerous security agencies being paid for by tax payers? For five years, we have had an elected government, but no legislation has been undertaken to effectively prosecute terrorists. On 3 March, terrorists launched an attack on the residents of Abbas Town, killing over 55, using an inflammable chemical. This is the same chemical which was used in 12 May, 2007, when lawyers were burned to death. After all these sectarian hate attacks occurred right in the centre of Karachi or Quetta. They plan and stage these attacks from within these cities and manage to flee. Terrorism can only be curtailed in Pakistan if there is a total crackdown on all criminals, whether they be affiliated with TTP, any political party or sectarian outfit. MALIK TARIQ Lahore

Talks about the talks had been going on for far too long and as the drawdown approaches and the endgame starts shaping up the communicative process starts to dominate the battleground. The Americans have been involved in the process for much longer now as talking sessions have taken place between the Taliban and the US representatives. The Taliban have been given the status of being a major stakeholder in the post 2014 future of Afghanistan therefore any idea of peace and harmony in the region would have to be associated with them. The Taliban office in Qatar had been set up specially to facilitate the process. Further, the Afghan peace council has been found pampering the Taliban by succumbing to every demand they make such as releasing of key Taliban figures from jails, for the sake of peace. India, however, is a regional power that has never played its role in bringing stability into the region is finding itself at a loss as the war nears its goal. The Pakistani side, however, had always been advocating the need for genuine reconciliation as it was believed as the only viable option towards a harmonious end. The all parties meeting held recently according to the JUI-F chief, is being marked as the official beginning of the peace process by the Pakistan side. Further, the KP governor has declared his office as the centre for reconciliation which indicates that this time the authorities and the politicians mean business. PROFESSOR KABIL KHAN Peshawar

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Overall my sense is that what Mr. Chavez has done over the last several years has not had a serious national security impact on us. –Barack Obama

coMMent

Friday, 8 March, 2013

rape and respectability society must change to end gender-based violence

Kafirometre gauging kufr since 7th Century ad

KUNwAR KHUlDUNe SHAHID

KAFIROMeTeR (From Arabic: kāfir; meaning “infidel” and Greek θερμός: μτρον, metron, meaning “measure”) is a device that measures kufr or infidelity gradient using a variety of principles. A kafirometer has two important elements: the kafir sensor (e.g. the caliphate bulb on a Sunni-Shia kafirometre) owing to which some mental change occurs in case the object differs from your point of view, plus some means of converting this mental change into an absurd act (e.g. the massacre scale that is marked on a Muslim-Non-Muslim kafirometer). Kufr While an individual kafirometer can be used to gauge kufr on an everyday basis, the readings on two kafirometers cannot be compared unless they conform to an agreed ideological scale. There is today an absolute kufr scale. Internationally agreed kufr scales are formulated to approximate this closely, based on fixed points and interpolating kafirometers. The most recent official kufr scale is the Takfiri-Salafi scale, which extends from Wahhabism to Shi’ism. Development Various writers have credited the invention of the kafirometer to 7th century AD scientists in Saudi Arabia. The kafirometer was not a single invention, however, but a development. After Arabian scientists drafted out the first sketch of the instrument in the early part of the 7th century, Persian and Byzantine scientists were then added to upgrade the kafirometer in the latter half of the century. Between the 8th century and the 13th century there was the addition of scientists from sub-Saharan West Africa, Central Asia, Volga Bulgaria and the Malay Archipelago to the development of the kafirometer and the ensuing experimentation. Scientists of the Delhi Sultanate were also heavily involved in laboratory experiments in the Indian subcontinent at the time to bolster kafirometry. Then onwards it was the Ottoman scientists who, till the culmination of the First World War,

had the complete authority over kafirometers and their usage. The scientific disagreements between the egyptians and Mongols threatened to upset the Ottoman unity, but it did not stop the excessive usage of kafirometers, which eventually spiraled out of control. Mughal scientists are also renowned for the promotion of kafirometers. After contradictory kafirometres became ubiquitous, Aurangzeb Alamgir in his thesis “Fatwa—e-Alamgiri”, taking notes from Shah Wali Ullah’s invaluable scientific insight, streamlined kafirometry in the Indian subcontinent. Principles of kafirometry Kafirometers may be empirical or absolute. Absolute kafirometers are calibrated numerically through the kafirodynamic absolute infidelity scale. empirical kafirometers do not necessarily agree with absolute kafirometers as to their numerical scale readings, but to qualify as kafirometers at all they need to agree with absolute kafirometers and with each other in the following way: given any two objects isolated in their separate respective kafirodynamic states of equilibrium, all kafirometers must agree as to which of the pair has the higher level of kufr, or that both of them have an equal level of infidelity. Calibration Kafirometers can either be calibrated through comparison with other calibrated kafirometers or by checking them with respect to known fixed ideological points on the kufr scale. historically the fixed points have been Muslim and NonMuslim, but the most commonly used fixed points these days are Wahabism and Shi’ism. (Note that these ideological fixed points vary with an influx of education, enlightenment, or tolerance, so this must be controlled.) The kufr scale in the most popular kafirometer – Takfiri kafirometer – is divided into two major segments with a 9:1 ratio – Sunni and Shia. Notable sub-segments include Wahabbism, Salafism, Quranism, Sufism, Deobandi, Barelvi, Ahl-e-hadith and Shia. each subcategory is given its own distinct colour on the scale, and when the needle strikes the object’s corresponding subcategory on the kafirometer, the scale’s colour changes in synchrony with the kufr value. Some kafirometers also come with a warning alarm that screeches “Shia kafir, kill Shia” as soon as the needle strikes the Shia zone on the meter. Kafirometres in Pakistan Few countries have contributed more to kafirology in the recent past than Pakistan (for kafirometry on the global scale, please refer to Saudi kafiropedia). There are various kinds of kafirometers in Pakistan that ring blasphemy alarms in all parts of the country. The Takfiri-Shia kafirometer has been the most prominent in the

recent past, with prominent scientists like Malik Ishaq, Mahmoud Baber and Ahmed Ludhianvi from celebrated labs like LeJ and SSP performing their experiments throughout the country. In two experiments conducted in Quetta this year over 200 kafirs were detected and exterminated. Similarly more than 50 kafirs were eliminated in Abbas Town, Karachi last week, as these establishment supported experiments continue to bear desired fruits. Kafirs of every breed and creed are hunted down with these meters, with more than 21,000 Shia being eradicated in Pakistan since 1947 through kafirometers and kafirologists that are sponsored by Saudi Arabia and Qatar. even though the Shia are the most sought by the scientists, other infidels have their work cut out in dodging the kafirologists’ bullet as well. To prevent being detected the murtid normally tend to penetrate out of the kafirometers’ range and leave the country. The hindu, Christian and Sikh are easily identified and face atrocious discrimination in all walks of life. And then there are the Ahmadi Muslims, whose detection needs more robust kafirometers, but once spotted even their corpses can’t escape the scanner. Following the Liaquat Ali Khan-led Scientific Objectives Resolution in 1949 which is the lifeline for kafirologists in Pakistan, Ahmadi Muslims have always been an integral part of kafirology experiments. But Ahmadi Muslims didn’t bear the full brunt of kafirometry until the Socialist Scientist Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto called for exclusive kafirometers for the Ahmadis in 1974. And then onwards anything from Ahmadi mosques and tombstones to bakeries and juice boxes have been successfully detected by kafirometres all over Pakistan. The future of kafirometry in Pakistan The Taliban of the TTP lab are arguably the most renowned kafirologists in Pakistan, and they along with SSP and LeJ are the flag bearers of kafirometry and the most frequent users of the instruments. As long as these scientists remain healthy and are allowed to safely conduct their experiments, kafirometry shall live on and flourish in Pakistan. There is no shortage of funds for this popular branch of science in the country, with scientific organisations from Saudia Arabia and Qatar splurging the dough with open hearts. The only way kafirometry can be halted is if the people of Pakistan start fearing that one day they might be under a kafirometer’s gun, considering the fact that the definition of kufr is so ambiguous and alterable. however, that rude awakening doesn’t seem like being conjured any time soon. The writer is a financial journalist and a cultural critic. Email: khulduneshahid@gmail.com, Twitter: @khuldune

OST people regard the Internat i o n a l Women’s Day (IWD) as an occasion to pay tribute to the accomplishments of women – but it also serves as a grim reminder of the trials and tribulations faced by women in a patriachal world. The existence of a separate day dedicated to women places them in the realm of the NADIA KHAwAjA social ‘other’, different from and still not equal to a man. Despite new legislation drafted to promote equality, the soaring success of women in a range of fields and feminism moving from a political to a more theoretical agenda, the theme for this year’s IWD, “A promise is a promise: time for action to end violence against women,” aptly reasserts that the struggle to end gender discrimination has not moved past its foundational stages. As the conversation focuses on the essential safety and security of women, it reminds us that feminism is as relevant today as it was a hundred years ago, when IWD was first celebrated. Multiple cases of women being brutally raped have surfaced in the past few years; in their latest Violence Against Women Report, the women’s welfare NGO, Aurat Foundation, reports that the percentage of reported cases of violence against women in Pakistan has risen by 6.47 percent from 2010 to 2011. In India, a 23-year old girl was gang raped and murdered on a bus while a fifteen year old girl in Maldives was ‘allegedly’ raped by her step-father and a highschool student was reported to have been harassed and raped by her classmates in Ohio in the US. But these are only the cases that garner international media attention; in Pakistan there are 827 reported cases of rape in 2011 alone, in addition to the countless cases that go unreported every day. While these number of incidents is gruesome, what is even more terrifying is how society has reacted to such instances of violence. Following the Delhi-rape case, the defense lawyer made a statement that reflects the rape culture in a nutshell: “Until today, I have not seen a single incident or example when a respected lady has been raped. even an underworld don would not like to touch a girl with respect.” Depressingly, the “respected ladies don’t get raped by the mafia” argument is not an anomaly as many prominent Indian politicians shared his reasoning. The West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banarjee said, “earlier, if men and women would hold hands, they would get caught by parents and reprimanded but now everything is open. It’s like an open market with open options.” To give another example of victim blaming, in the Maldives case, the 15-year-old alleged rape victim is being sentenced to a 100 lashes for premarital sex. We are living in a society that not only tolerates such crimes but also rationalises them while treating male sexual aggression as a norm. In her article on rape culture, Melissa Mcewan suggests that “Rape culture is tasking victims with the burden of rape prevention. Rape culture is refusing to acknowledge that the only thing a person can do to avoid being raped is not to be in the same room as a rapist.” how is a woman to register that she is an equal when she feels unsafe walking out of her house? When she always has be alert, always has to pay attention, always has to has to watch her back, always has to be aware of her surroundings and must never let her guard down for a moment lest she be sexually assaulted and if despite all of this protection, she is raped, she will be made to think it was “her fault”. As we rave on about ‘violence against women,’ it is useful to provide a definition of what it means. Violence against women is any act of gender based violence, whether physical, sexual or mental or the threat of such, that causes suffering to women. Violence is not restricted to extreme acts such as bride-burning, rape or honor-killing, rather most women face violence in a much more discreet manner, living in a society that views them as subordinate beings. In a culture such as ours, women face violence that begins with discriminatory remarks to rape itself. Such a culture is created through the objectification of women, which is part of a dehumanizing process involving the regulation of their behavior, their bodies and their thinking. Take the media’s eroticization of violence—for instance in the latest James Bond movie ‘Skyfall’, Bond stands by as Javier Bardem shoots a woman in the head, causing the glass of whiskey on her head to topple to the ground and casually remarks “what a waste of good scotch.” Diminishing the gravity of such acts, even in fiction, normalizes violence against women and makes us disassociate with the fact that women constantly live under the threat of assault. even the language we speak contains phrases that are laced with an attitude of aggression towards women and uses sexual violence as a metaphor in mainstream discourse—“The ATM raped me with a huge fee.” Furthermore, silence provokes violence. The silence around the discrimination of women in national discourse, in homes, in schools, in streets, helps in promoting gender inequality. Aurat Foundation cites the failure to report cases of violence as a “lack of confidence” on the part of women, however this does not account for the fact that women have been taught not to speak, to repress their thoughts and desires, through the threat of admonishment. As we think of violence against women today and what we can do to prevent it, we need to focus on changing the culture as a whole, check ourselves when we speak, be critical about what we watch and conscious of how our society works. “There is one universal truth, applicable to all countries, cultures and communities: violence against women is never acceptable, never excusable, never tolerable.” — SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon The writer is a staff member of Pakistan Today and holds a degree from Mount Holyoke College.

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A arts Friday, 8 March, 2013

Gordon-Levitt named `Breakthrough Filmmaker of the year`

The time is long overdue to encourage more women to dream the possible dream. — Sheryl Sandberg

Will India sparkle at Cannes? NDIA will be the country of focus this year at the Cannes Film Festival. The Festival’s 66th edition, which begins on May 15 at the ever scenic French Riviera happily sandwiched between the sea and the mountains, will celebrate 100 years of Indian cinema. The National Film Festival of India (NFDC) will be co-sponsoring the Market Party along with Marche Du Film on May 16 that is in many ways a grander affair than the Opening Night Party itself. For one, the food is far more sumptuous, and with India in the fray there, the spread is bound to be more desi and delicious than French and fastidious. In fact, of all the parties and dinners I have attended at Cannes in all these years, it is the Indian get-togethers that have topped a foodie’s list of favourites. even europeans have agreed with this. All this is fine, but what about cinema. Is Cannes going to get some sensitive, sensible stuff from India this year? This is, to use a time-worn, cliché, a million dollar question. As a leading Delhi journalist and Cannes veteran quipped the other day, “otherwise, we would be left with camels and elephants…Do not be surprised to see a camel sharing a seat next to you on your flight to Cannes!” Sadly, India has become a joke, a big joke. As much as a foreigner would tell you that he loves Bollywood’s song and dance formula, he would invariably rubbish it in private conversations with his own fellowmen. An important reason for this is the overdose of hindi cinema. Those in charge of selections must accept the blame for this. There can be another reason for the tilt towards Bollywood. Its presentation is very similar to

CTOR Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who premiered his directorial debut Don Jon’s Addiction at the Sundance Film Festival in January, has landed his first honour as a director. The 32-year-old will be feted as the Breakthrough Filmmaker of the year at the 2013 CinemaCon Big Screen Achievement Awards in Las Vegas on 18th April, Contactmusic reported. The movie starring Gordon-Levitt as a pornobsessed womaniser, who attempts to start a meaningful relationship with a character played by Scarlett Johansson, is set for a summer release. NewS DeSK

Jessica favorite choice for Jane in tarzan reboot

Iron Man 3: A trailer full of new images

ARVEL Studios has released a new trailer for Shane Black’s Iron Man 3, set for release on May 3 in North America. The 2’30’’ video released on Yahoo!Movies summarizes the plot of Iron Man 3. Robert Downey Jr. reprises his role as Tony Stark, a weapons mogul and superhero who has been personally affected by the attacks of the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley). The trailer features Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle and Guy Pierce, even though it is not known which part he will play. The trailer also highlights a wave of special visual effects that reveal Iron Man 3 as the first blockbuster of Spring/Summer 2013. NewS DeSK

POETICALLY SPEAKING

Jessica Chastain is reportedly the first choice to play Jane in a new version of Tarzan. Alexander Skarsgard is rumoured to be in the running to play the titular character in the Warner Bros. reboot, the New York Post reported. In the new story, Tarzan is fully assimilated to life in London when Queen Victoria asks him to investigate problems in Congo. According to reports, Samuel L. Jackson will play a former mercenary, who helps Tarzan save the Congo from a vicious warlord. David Yates, who directed four Harry Potter movies, will be helming the project. NewS DeSK

that of hollywood, and American cinema knows how to narrate a story, how to engage and enslave you with its superb script, photography, acting and editing. Non-Bollywood films – generally – are poor in all these. Tamil cinema may be high in some areas, but tends to look crude and lacks finesse. As for Indian art cinema, much of it is listless and lacks the kind of energy we see in, for instance, a Pedro Almodovar or Ken Loach or Mike Leigh or Steven Spielberg work. Spielberg’s Lincoln, a captivating portrait of the man who abolished slavery in the U.S., is currently a huge success in his own country as well as in France, where it has already been seen by over a million people. The movie got Daniel Day-Lewis his third Oscar for Best Actor. Day-Lewis, who portrays Abraham Lincoln, has accomplished a feat that none has. Now Spielberg will chair the Festival’s top international jury which will give away several Palm d’Ors. he takes over from last year’s jury president, Italy’s Nanni Moretti. “As they say across the Atlantic”, averred Gilles Jacob, President of the Festival, “Steven Spielberg is a Cannes ‘regular’: Sugarland express, Colour Purple. But it was with e.T. that I screened as a world premiere in 1982 that ties were made of the type you never forget. ever since, I’ve often asked Steven to be Jury President, but he’s always been shooting a film. So when this year I was told “e.T., phone home”, I understood and immediately replied: “At last!” Spielberg said: “The memory of my first Cannes Film Festival, nearly 31 years ago with the debut of e.T., is still one of the most vibrant of my career. For over six

decades, Cannes has served as a platform for extraordinary movies to be discovered and introduced to the world for the first time. It is an honour and a privilege to preside over the jury of a Festival that proves, again and again, that cinema is the language of the world.” Spielberg, who was born in Ohio in 1946, was a film enthusiast from a very age. One of his first shorts, Amblin, got him through the doors of Universal Television, which produced his first movies. Success came very quickly. Duel (1971), originally made for television, proved to be such a hit that a feature length version was released in theatres soon after. And the first movie he made for cinema, Sugarland express, was selected for the Cannes Film Festival in 1974 and won the Best Screenplay prize. Thereafter, Spielberg had a series of international successes: Jaws (1975); Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and e.T. (1982), which closed the Festival. But it was his 1993 Jurassic Park that renewed the hollywood entertainment genre creating new ties with themes of adventure and sci-fi. The abundant imagination that characterises Spielberg has him say of himself “I dream for a living”, a dream that combines boundless curiosity, a delight in innovation and a virtuoso talent for directing. Spielberg has also surprised us with his more intimate and socially engaging cinema: The Colour Purple (1986), empire of the Sun (1987) and Schindler’s List (1993), which brought him the highest accolades as well as a clutch of Oscars, including one for Best Director. And now, Lincoln. his 40-year career with 27 movies has been an amazing canvas of dream and reality reflecting history, racism, human endurance, hope and peace. cOURTeSY HT

Rudaad-e-muhabbat kya kahiye kuch yaad rahi kuch bhool gaye By Saggar Siddiqui

Rudaad-e-muhabbat kya kahiye kuch yaad rahii kuch bhool gaye do din ki masarrat kya kahiye kuch yaad rahi kuch bhuul gaye Jab jaam diya tha saaqi ne jab daur chala thaa mahafil mein vo hosh kii sa’at kya kahiye kuch yaad rahi kuch bhool gaye ehsaas ke maikhaane mein kahaan ab fikr-o-nazar ki qandiilen aalam ki shiddat kya kahiye kuch yaad rahi kuch bhool gaye Ab apani haqiqat bhi Sagar berabt kahaani lagati hai duniyaa ki haqiqat kya kahiye kuch yaad rahi kuch bhool gaye

Aamir Khan’s old radio traced in Chor Bazaar

AMIR Khan carries a radio in the film P.K. which apparently was sourced though Chor Bazaar. There are various pictures doing the rounds of Aamir Khan in the ghagra or the tight shirt from the sets of P.K. however no-one has been able to identify Aamir Khan’s character in the film. Aamir has strangely also been spotted carrying a radio. The radio is of olden times and, if sources are to be believed, has an important part in the film. It has almost become like a character, in a sense, and has created curiosity among the audiences. Sources close to the film say, “Aamir had seen this radio in olden times and was very keen to have it. he vaguely described it as one of the oldest radio which was launched.” The production team had a hard time sourcing this radio. They researched and asked a lot of people and finally managed to spot it at Chor Bazaar. This was the closest radio they found to what Aamir had described. cOURTeSY TOI

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Why would I cry over a boy? I would never waste my tears on a boy. Why waste your tears on someone who makes you cry? — Kirsten Dunst

arts Friday, 8 March, 2013

John Abraham to take final call on release date of his films

Mallika fails

tO IMPrESS At MIKE & MOLLy AUDItION M

ALLIKA Sherawat, who seemed to have vanished from the scene, popped up at one of the unlikeliest places—the auditions of American sitcom ‘Mike and Molly’. And although Jackie Chan had famously vouched for her acting credentials, the actress failed to impress the casting panel. Mallika had been making frequent rounds to the auditions for nearly a month. however, she lost the race in the final round to London-based singer-cum-model Nosheen Phoenix. A source close to the sitcom Mike & Molly said, “Mallika came for the final auditions in a very exuberant mood. her casting agent was accompanying her. however, her return was not that jubilant.” The final auditions were held last week in Los Angeles.

Mallika seems to have taken a hiatus from films after both her international project Love, Barack and Bollywood venture Kismat Love Paisa Dilli tanked at the box office. Phoenix, who has bagged the role for which Mallika was vying for, has spent the last three years developing her acting skills and has recently finished her first feature film ‘Confessions of a Womanizer’. While what went wrong with Mallika in the final round is not known, the source added, Nosheen too was in Los Angeles for the last few weeks auditioning for the romantic comedy that has recently sparked controversy with an American-Indian alcoholism joke. As for Mallika, we are sure she’ll pop up on our radar soon—either on a tycoon’s private jet or on the red carpet, blowing kisses to her invisible fans. cOURTeSY TOI

Carrie Fisher set to return as princess Leia in new star Wars

slower and less inclined to be up for the big battle. She joked that her character will be wearing bagel buns and the bikini, because probably she has sundowners syndrome adding that at sundown, she thinks that she’s 20-something and she puts it on and gets institutionalised. earlier, harrison Ford had also confirmed that he will be returning as an older han Solo. Only one of the original trio of actors has yet to comment on a return to the silver screen: Mark hamill, who played the young Luke Skywalker. NewS DeSK

ARRIe Fisher has revealed that she will once again be donning the white gown and boofy wig buns as Princess Leia in the new Star Wars movie. In an interview with Palm Beach Illustrated, the 56-year-old actress jokingly replied to a question about her character’s age, “elderly. She’s in an intergalactic old folks home.” When Fisher was asked if she could confirm her appearance in the new Star Wars episode VII, she said yes, the Daily Telegraph reported. She said that thinks that she will be just like she was before, only

notabLe tWeets

I DON’t WANt AN OSCAr, SAyS BrADLEy COOPEr

13 A

N order to ensure that his upcoming films have a good run at the box office, actor turned producer John Abraham has decided to take a call on the release dates of his projects. The actor’s home production ‘Vicky Donor’ was a huge hit, which seems to have given John a fair idea about the right time for release of movies. The film was released on April 20 last year and there were no other big releases at that time. “I am going to dictate my release dates to a large extent. I will take the studio in confidence as they need to understand my point of view. I decided the release date of ‘Vicky Donor’. I knew what I was doing... so let me do it,” John told. “I will be absolutely cautious about the release dates of my films,” he said. John’s next release will be ‘Shootout at Wadala’ where he essays the role of gangster Manya Surve. ‘Shootout at Wadala’, a prequel to the 2007 hit film ‘Shootout at Lokhandwala’, dramatises the first ever registered encounter by Mumbai police where Manya Surve was shot dead at an institute at Wadala in 1982. It stars Anil Kapoor, Tusshar Kapoor, Sonu Sood, Manoj Bajpayee, Ronit Roy, Kangana Ranuat and others. The film will hit cinema houses on May 1, which happens to be the International Worker’s Day. NewS DeSK

MovIe prevIeW

MICheLLe obaMa We can give all our children the bright, healthy futures they so richly deserve. #LetsMove

vICtorIa beCKhaM Love my Church’s Chelsea boots!

bIna shah

It’s just a pet peeve of mine. I’m not going to mug you or beat you up because of poor grammar skills but I will wince.

shazaF FatIMa @mohsin_hamid may you dream in second person *evil manaical laughter*

azIz ansarI New Spring Buried Alive tour dates: Phoenix, San Diego, Dallas, Boulder & more!

RADLeY Cooper has said that he doesn’t care about small things like winning the Oscar, ever since he lost his father. The 38year-old actor told British GQ that winning an Oscar would have changed nothing as the things in his life that aren’t fulfilled will not be fulfilled, ABC News reported. The Oscar nominated star asserted that career-wise it is better that he didn’t win one. Cooper said that he watched his father dying and he was there by his bed watching him, breathing with him, and then he saw his last breath and he was gone. The Silver Linings Playbook star said that he experienced the whole thing, which was a watershed moment that he was privileged to experience and has ever been the same since. he added that his father gave him two gifts having him and dying with him, adding that he used to be the kid, who got the shakes if he had to talk in public but now he just doesn’t get nervous about stuff as he can’t control everything. NewS DeSK

oz – the great anD the poWerFuL DIRECTOR: Sam Raimi Cast: James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, Zach Braff Producer: Joe Roth Executive Producers: Grant Curtis, Palak Patel, Josh Donen, Philip Steuer Screen Story: Mitchell Kapner Screenplay: Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire Genre: Fantasy, Adventure Runtime: 127 min Indian Release Date: March 8, 2013 SYNOPSIS: Disney’s fantastical adventure “Oz The Great and Powerful,” directed by Sam Raimi, imagines the origins of L. Frank

Baum’s beloved wizard character. When Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he’s hit the jackpot—fame and fortune are his for the taking—that is until he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone’s been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants,

Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity— and even a bit of wizardry—Oscar transforms himself not only into the great wizard but into a better man as well. When small-time magician Oscar Diggs (James Franco) pulls one flimflam too many, he finds himself hurled into the fantastical Land of Oz where he must somehow transform himself into the great wizard— and just maybe into a better man as well. cOURTeSY TOI

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InFotaInMent Friday, 8 March, 2013

hIGGS BOSON CONFIrMAtION AChINGLy CLOSE

Thousands of checks have scientists inching ever closer to confirming that last July's discovery at the Large Hadron Collider was in fact the Higgs boson, reports the AP. The researchers say there's still one possibility they want to eliminate before declaring they are 99.9% positive: that it's a graviton, another subatomic particle associated with gravitational fields (but not mass). If the particle has no internal spin, that pretty much confirms it is a Higgs boson. "It looks more and more like a Higgs boson," said one scientist at the European Center for Nuclear Research yesterday. To which Adam Mann replies "yawn-fest" in Wired. The big discovery last July was exciting, but now, as scientists slowly sift through the data, all they're doing is confirming the standard model Higgs—no signs of any new particles, and that's making "some physicists a bit nervous," he writes. He zeroes in on one of the things they were hoping for: "a signature of a theory known as supersymmetry, which pairs all known particles with a heavier but nearly identical partner, of which there is still no clear evidence." "Big analysis of the new data on the Higgs boson, and—it’s looking pretty vanilla," tweeted one researcher. NewS DeSK

PIzzA hUt hOLDING 140-SECOND JOB INtErvIEWS Want to be Pizza Hut's social media manager? Then you better be able to market yourself well—in 140 seconds. That's precisely how long interviews for the position will last during SXSW in Austin this week, Mashable reports. The way the pizza chain figures it, anyone who can sell himself in 140 seconds can easily sell the company in Twitter's 140-characters-orless format. NewS DeSK

salt linked to immune rebellion in study

I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion. — Alexander the Great

'viking sunstone' found in shipwreck A

CRYSTAL found in a shipwreck could be similar to a sunstone - a mythical navigational aid said to have been used by Viking mariners, scientists believe. The team from France say the transparent crystal may have been used to locate the Sun even on cloudy days. This could help to explain how the Vikings were able to navigate across large tracts of the sea - well before the invention of the magnetic compass. however, a number of academics treat the sunstone theory with scepticism. VIKING LEGENDS: The team from the University of Rennes in France say they found the crystal while examining the wreck of a British ship sunk off the island of Alderney - in the english Channel - in 1592. An oblong crystal the size of a cigarette packet was next to a pair of dividers - suggesting it

was part of the navigational equipment. It has now been shown that it is of Iceland spar - a form of calcite known for

its property of diffracting light into two separate rays. Testing a similar crystal, the scientists proved that by rotation it was possible to find the point where the two beams converge - indicating the direction of the Sun. They say it works on cloudy days, and when the Sun has set. This particular piece of Iceland spar was found on the British vessel long after the Viking heyday in the ninth and 10th Centuries. But the scientists conjecture that use of sunstones may have persisted for many centuries as a back-up to the often unreliable magnetic compass, which was introduced in europe in the 13th Century. There is only a sketchy reference in the old Viking legends to the sunstone. Vikings were seafarers from Scandinavia who used their longboats to explore and conquer parts of europe, Greenland, Iceland, Russia and North America. NewS DeSK

astronomers gain new tape measure for the universe Using binary stars as a standard for reference, astronomers have measured the distance to our neighbouring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), more accurately than ever before. And improving the accuracy of this measurement has a knock-on effect, improving knowledge of the hubble Constant, the rate of expansion of the universe, and therefore of of the mysterious dark energy that is causing the expansion to accelerate. "I am very excited because astronomers have been trying for a hundred years to accurately measure the distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud, and it has proved to be extremely difficult," says Wolfgang Gieren of the Universidad de Concepción, Chile. "Now we have solved this problem by demonstrably having a result accurate to two percent." Astronomers survey the scale of the universe by first measuring the distances to close-by objects and then using them as standard candles to pin down distances further and further out into the cosmos. Stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud are used to fix the scale for more remote galaxies, meaning that measuring its distance is particularly important. Now, careful observations of a rare class of double star have now allowed a team of astronomers to deduce a much

more precise value for the LMC distance: 163,000 light-years. The astronomers managed this by observing rare close pairs of stars, known as eclipsing binaries. When one passes in front of the other, as seen from earth, the total brightness drops. By tracking these changes in brightness very carefully, and also measuring the stars' orbital speeds, it is possible to work out how big the stars are, their masses and other information about their orbits. When this is combined with careful measurements of the total brightness and colours of the stars, remarkably accurate distances can be found. This method has been used before,

The amount of salt in our diet could be involved in driving our own immune systems to rebel against us, leading to diseases such as multiple sclerosis, early laboratory findings suggest. Several teams of scientists have simultaneously published data in the journal Nature suggesting a link. Salt may activate a part of the immune system that can target the body. experts said the findings were very interesting and plausible, but were not a cure for people with MS. The body's defence against infection can go horrible awry, turning on the body and leading to autoimmune diseases including Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. Genetics is thought to increase the risk of such diseases, but the world around us also has a major impact. One of the leading theories behind multiple sclerosis is a viral infection, but smoking and a lack of vitamin D may make the condition more likely. Now researchers believe they have the first evidence that the amount of salt in our diet may also be contribut-

but with hot stars - which requires certain assumptions to be made, and gives less accurate results. But now, for the first time, eight extremely rare eclipsing binaries where both stars are cooler red giant stars have been identified, which can yield much more accurate distance values - accurate to about two percent. "We are working to improve our method still further and hope to have a one percent LMC distance in a very few years from now," says Dariusz Graczyk of Warsaw University Observatory. "This has far-reaching consequences not only for cosmology, but for many fields of astrophysics." NewS DeSK

ing. Teams of researchers at the Brigham and Women's hospital and the Broad Institute of MIT and harvard were investigating a part of the immune system that has been implicated in autoimmune diseases. A sophisticated analysis of the complicated chemistry needed to form a T-helper 17 cell - which involved carefully monitoring cells and reverse engineering the changes - identified a critical gene. But the gene had been seen before. "Its day job is to increase salt uptake in the gut," said Dr Vijay Kuchroo from Brigham and Women's hospital. "When we put extra salt in the culture dish it was one of those 'Aha' moments, the cells were becoming T-helper 17 cells." Mice fed a high-salt diet were more likely to develop a disease similar to MS in experiments. Meanwhile, researchers at Yale University were also investigating salt and looking at human cells. David hafler, professor of immunobiology at Yale, told BBC news online: "In mouse models of MS, those fed high-salt diets had significantly worse disease. NewS DeSK

FACEBOOK ChANGES ACtUALLy GOt USErS tO ShArE MOrE

Facebook users started sharing a lot more after the site modified its interface and default settings in 2009 and 2010—whether they realized it or not. A seven-year study from Carnegie Mellon researchers found that from 2005 to 2009, users were trending toward keeping more information private, a trend that reversed itself after the changes, the AFP reports. The researchers attribute that to user confusion. "While people try to take control of their personal information, the network keeps changing," one researcher says. Facebook has offered users more choices about what they share and how they share it, and that "may increase members' feeling of control," another researcher says. But confusion led to "increases in disclosures of sensitive information to strangers." But Facebook dismissed the study, with a spokesman saying that "independent research has verified that the vast majority of the people on Facebook are engaging with and using our straightforward and powerful privacy tools." NewS DeSK

yOUr BrEAth CAN rEvEAL...StOMACh CANCEr?

Scientists have developed a test that can detect stomach cancer with 90% accuracy—based on a patient's breath, the BBC reports. This test sounds monumentally less unpleasant than the current method for diagnosing stomach cancer, which involves a probe and a camera being passed through the mouth and down the throat in order to do a stomach biopsy. The quick new test simply looks for certain chemical profiles in exhaled breath. Stomach cancer gives off a signature smell due to certain organic compounds, and the test can detect them—and even differentiate between early- and late-stage cancer. The development could be a big boon for those with the disease, which is typically diagnosed fairly late; in the UK, only 20% of patients survive for more than five years after diagnosis. Scientists are working on diagnosing other types of cancers, like lung cancer, in the same way. NewS DeSK

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S sPorts Friday, 8 March, 2013

Confident Bangladesh eye first Sri Lankan win COLOMBO AgeNcIeS

Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim is confident that his team can take advantage of a depleted Sri Lankan squad and secure a maiden test win over their opponents in the two-match series starting in Galle on Friday. "Sri Lanka is a good team but it's not impossible to win against them," Mushfiqur told reporters on Thursday. "Our younger players are coming through very well and we are very confident that if they put their hands up in the field we'll have a competitive test series." Mushfiqur's confidence is borne by the fact that their main tormentor of the past, offspinner Muttiah Muralitharan, is not around to bamboozle their batsmen. Muralitharan, who retired from test cricket in 2010 with a record haul of 800 test wickets, is the leading wickettaker for Sri Lanka against Bangladesh with 89 wickets from 11 tests. Sri Lanka are also without two of their experienced middle order batsmen, Mahela Jayawardene (injury) and Thilan Samaraweera, who announced his retirement from international cricket on Wednesday. Sri Lanka will be led by a new skipper in Angelo Mathews, who will become the youngest to lead his country in a test match at the age of 25 years. "The most important thing for us is to have a balance in the team with seniors and youngsters. I am sure the youngsters will take the opportunity and use it to the maximum," Mathews said. "Bangladesh are here to play some good cricket and we cannot treat them lightly." The good news for Sri Lanka is that top-order batsman Kumar Sangakkara has been declared fit and will play his first competitive match in almost three months. Sangakkara suffered a fracture on his left index finger when he was hit by a ball from Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson during the Boxing Day test in Melbourne and has been recovering from the injury since. The only other experienced batsman in the side, which is filled with youngsters, is opener Dilshan. With Dinesh Chandimal taking over the wicketkeeping position from Prasanna Jayawardene for the series, the number seven spot in the lineup has become vacant for either a batsman or an all-rounder. Uncapped test players Kithruwan Vithanage and Jeevan Mendis are vying for that spot. Left-hander Vithanage scored a career best 168 not out off 165 balls for Sri Lanka Development XI in the three-day warm-up game against Bangladesh at Matara last week, and leg-spinner allrounder Mendis has been part of the ODI team. The pitch at Galle is favourable for spin and Sri Lanka are likely to go with two spinners, Rangana herath and either Ajantha Mendis or uncapped Tharindu Kaushal, with Dilshan playing the role of a third spinner.

We’ve tried to put them (his daughters) into lessons, just for their hand-eye coordination and all of that. I think it’s important for kids to do all sports if they have an opportunity. – Roger Federer

rehman guides Pakistan home in thriller abdur rehman's unbeaten 35 dragged Pakistan out of trouble and guided them to viCtory KIMBERLEy

AgeNcIeS

AKISTAN held their nerve against a South African Invitational XI to win by one wicket in the final over in Kimberley. After choosing to bat, the hosts began well, with captain Stephen Cook and his opening partner Quinton de Kock adding 55 at better than a run a ball. De Kock went on to make a halfcentury and it seemed, at 170 for 3 in the 32nd over, that the South African side would be able to reach 300. In a final score of 266, de Kock was ultimately the only half-centurion; Temba Bavuma was next to him with 43, and Pakistan were able to give themselves a good shot at a successful chase. Their openers delivered a strong start, Imran Farhat and Nasir Jamshed adding 53 in 9.4 overs. Kamran Akmal then made 47, adding 49 with Misbahul-haq for the fourth wicket after Younis Khan had been dismissed for a duck. At 139 for 3 in the 26th over,

Pakistan were on track, but they slipped to 189 for 7; two of those four wickets were claimed by legspinner Imran Tahir. But Pakistan's lower order showed a lot of mettle, and Abdur Rehman and

ScOReBOARD SOUTH AFRIcAN INvITATION XI 34 Sc cook c Kamran b gul 65 Q de Kock c malik b Rehman 24 jD vandiar c Younis b Rehman vB van jaarsveld c Younis b malik 36 c chetty b Afridi 4 T Bavuma run out (Younis) 43 19 cH morris c Rehman b malik 25 gc viljoen not out 0 Imran Tahir b junaid 1 cj Alexander not out extras (b 1, lb 2, w 10, nb 2) 15 Total (8 wkts; 50 overs; 208 mins) 266 Did not bat lB williams Fall of wickets 1-55 (cook, 8.5 ov), 2-109 (vandiar, 18.5 ov), 3154 (de Kock, 28.2 ov), 4-170 (chetty, 31.3 ov), 5-170 (van jaarsveld, 32.2 ov), 6-224 (morris, 43.3 ov), 7-260 (Bavuma, 48.2 ov), 8-263 (Imran Tahir, 48.6 ov) Bowling: Umar gul 5-0-34-1, junaid Khan 9-1-46-1, Shoaib malik 8-0-47-2, wahab Riaz 8-0-42-0, Abdur Rehman 10-0-51-2, Shahid Afridi 10-0-43-1 PAKISTANIS Imran Farhat run out (†de Kock/williams) 40 24 Nasir jamshed c de Kock b williams

47 Kamran Akmal b Alexander 0 Younis Khan lbw b viljoen 18 misbah-ul-Haq b Imran Tahir 8 Shoaib malik lbw b Imran Tahir Shahid Afridi c de Kock b viljoen 29 Abdur Rehman not out 35 Umar gul c de Kock b Imran Tahir 30 3 wahab Riaz c de Kock b viljoen 9 junaid Khan not out 27 extras (b 1, lb 17, w 9) 270 Total (9 wickets; 49.4 overs; 226 mins) Fall of wickets 1-53 (Nasir jamshed, 9.4 ov), 2-86 (Imran Farhat, 17.3 ov), 3-90 (Younis Khan, 18.1 ov), 4-139 (misbah-ul-Haq, 25.6 ov), 5-143 (Kamran Akmal, 26.4 ov), 6-154 (Shoaib malik, 29.1 ov), 7-189 (Shahid Afridi, 35.4 ov), 8-234 (Umar gul, 43.4 ov), 9-242 (wahab Riaz, 45.4 ov) Bowling: cH morris 10-1-46-0, cj Alexander 10-0-58-1, lB williams 9.4-1-70-1, gc viljoen 10-2-29-3, Imran Tahir 100-49-3 Toss South African Invitation XI, who chose to bat Pakistanis won by 1 wicket (with 2 balls remaining) Umpires jD cloete and S george match referee SB lambson Reserve umpire cj conradie

Umar Gul built a stand that revived hopes of victory. Rehman batted patiently to make an unbeaten 35, while Gul at the other end was more attacking, scoring 30 off 34, with four fours and a six. Pakistan were still in trouble when Gul fell with the score on 234, and the hosts were on the brink when they claimed the wicket of Wahab

Riaz in the 46th over to make it 242 for 9. But Junaid Khan was reliable company for Rehman, and though the required-rate had touched almost six with just a wicket in hand, the pair guided Pakistan home. In the final over bowled by Lizaad Williams, victory was sealed off the fourth delivery.

Punjab Youth Festival: sahiwal Pc win cricket title, Lahore bar claim tt crown LAHORE STAFF RePORT

The final phase matches of table tennis, badminton and cricket among the Press Clubs, Bar Association, Departments and Corporate sectors in the Punjab Youth Festival concluded here on Thursday at various centres.. Now the festival activity is approaching towards the matches of veteran cricketers, Balochistan cricket team and the conduct of the Guinness World Record events, road cycle race and the marathon which will be followed by the closing ceremony. In the press club cricket category, Sahiwal defeated Faisalabad by six wickets in the final to claim the title. Faisalabad batting first could manage 67 runs for four wickets in eight overs. Yasir Imran with 36 runs was the main scorer while hafiz Aftab 11 and Kashif 10 extended full support. Shahid Bashir two for 13 and Imran Awan one for 15. In reply, Sahiwal achieved the score by making 68 runs in 7.3 overs losing four wickets. Safdar 24 and Shahid Bashir 27 made the win easy while Bilal Nadeem,

hafiz Aftab and Kashif Farif shared one wicket each giving away 16, 25 and two runs respectively. In the final of department table tennis, Sports Board Punjab beat Parks and horticulture Authority 3-0 while in the bar association category, Lahore beat Rawalpindi 3-0. Saud Cheema beat Mohammad Mushtaq 11-4, 11-7, 11-4. Tahir Aslam beat Mohammad Rizwan 10-12, 119, 11-8, 12-10 and in doubles Lahore beat Rawalpindi 11-6, 11-5, 3-11, 11-4. In Bar Association Lahore beat Faisalabad clinched the trophy. In the singles match Lahore’s Tayyab edged aside the rival player in singles 21-18, 21-12 and in the doubles, Tayyab paired with Zila Umar to win 21-5, 21-10. The veterans team of Lahore Greens and Reds led by Abdul Qadir and Salim Malik will play best of three matches in the Punjab Youth Festival. In the first match of the veterans, Reds beat Greens by four wickets. Greens captain after winning the toss made 227 for eight in 30 overs. Malik with 51 was the highest scorer while he got useful support from Zahoor elahi 43 and Rahat Abbas 33. Rehan Rauf of the rivals got four wickets, Afzal Munir and Shahid

Ali shared two wickets each. In reply, Reds archived the score in the final over. Jamshed Ali 38, Shakeel Malik 34 not out. Zahoor elahi and Mailk shared two wickets each from the losing end. Deputy Speaker Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan and Usman Anwar, Director General Sports and Youth Affairs were the chief guests on the occasion. Former captain Inzamamul Haq will also be seen inaction along with Kamran Khan, Ashraf Ali, Rauf Wayn, Allauddin, Mujahid Jamshed, Ghaffar Kazmi, Shahid Mansoor, Distigar Butt,

Mohammad Jamshed, Azmat Butt, Khawaja Naseeruddin, Shahid Ali, Rahat Abbas, Abid Hussain (manager) will be in Lahore Whites while the Reds would have Zahoor Elahi, Kh Nadeem, Abdullah Sumbal, Asim Sheikh, Saifullah, Malik Shakeel, Romail, Rehan Rauf, Munir Shah, Ch Shafqat, Mian Mobeen, Shahzad, Arif, Ismial and Ahmed Shahab. The veteran played their opening match at Bagh-iJinnah’s Lahore Gymkhana Ground. Their second match will be played at the same venue tomorrow, Friday and the third encounter has been slated for March 11.

GWR declares Punjab Youth Festival as world’s largest event LAHORE STAFF RePORT

The Punjab Youth Festival 2012 has been registered as the biggest sports, social and cultural activity of the world and Guinness World Record Book (GWR) officials have declared its another World Record for Pakistan. Talking to journalists here at Bagh-iJinnah after meeting the veterans cricketers playing in the Punjab Youth Festival cricket matches, Deputy Speaker Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan, who is also the chairman organizing committee of the festival, informed that apart from Sports Board Punjab under the leadership of its Director General Usman Anwar, higher education Commission, Schools, Tevta, Punjab Information Techonogy Board, Agriculture, Aufaq, Information, Live Stock and Dairy Development, Punjab horticulture, hUD and Phe, Punjab

Small Industries, Population Welfare, Social Welfare and Tourism departments got involved in this Festival that was launched on August 26, 2012. “The idea

of holding such a big festival came when we saw a mass participation of more than 900,000 people in the Punjab Sports Festival 2011-12. We put up the event for

GWR but there was a procedure required to be followed. Thus we planned the hold the Punjab Youth Festival and now it’s been declared the biggest event of the world,” he added. he further said that some of the events they had reserved for the closing ceremony and now he added: “We would be holding the around 20 Guinness events besides the cycle race and the marathon.” “In street art the work would be stretched to nine kilometres to break the previous record while 5000 boys and girls will take part in record attempt,” he added. he also congratulated the nation for getting yet another GWR. “holding such a big activity was not less than a dream come true. “Now we have planned 17 kilometres marathon which would have the participation of around 100,000 people of all walks of life,” he added. “The Balochistan cricket team, which is also taking part in the festival, is now enjoying

the hospitality of Punjab,” he added. he also rejected all the allegations of corruption and to show its transparency an agreement with Transparency International is being made. “The organization of the activity for youth was the brainchild of Chief Minister Punjab MIan Shahbaz Sharif to give them direction and to provide them a platform to show their talent,” he maintained. Usman Anwar said that a platform has been established in the sports of the province in general and country in particular. “It was being considered an impossible step but now the closing ceremony of the festival is set to be held in the coming week,” added. he further stated that the process of giving prizes and certificate to the participants of the festival has started while the winners of the provincial level would be given awards at the closing ceremony.

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I think the expectation I thought was on me at the time after the Open Championship, I always thought that people were probably caring more than they actually did about what I'm shooting. – Justin Rose

Lack of security assurance caused PSL postponement LAHORE

STAFF RePORT

he Pakistan Cricket Board has finalised two possible slots this year for its Super League Twenty20 tournament which was due to start from March 26 but has now been indefinitely postponed. The Pakistani cricket circles were surprised last month when the PCB postponed the PSL after unveiling its logo in a grand ceremony and setting up a special secretariat and inviting bids for sale of broadcast, title sponsorship rights and the five franchise teams. Although the official reason given by the PCB was shortage of time to hold the event in a fitting manner

Sehwag dropped for remaining tests nEW DEHLI AgeNcIeS

Virender Sehwag has been dropped from India's Test side for the first time since he made an emphatic comeback to the long format with a century in Adelaide in 2008-09. That, incidentally, remains his last century outside Asia. No replacement has been named for Sehwag for the remaining two Tests of the series against Australia, which makes Shikhar Dhawan a favourite to open in the Mohali Test starting on March 14. The two remaining Tests of the current series, which India lead 2-0, are the last ones they are scheduled to play before they go on four continuous overseas tours beginning with South Africa later this year. In his first reaction, Sehwag - who had been dropped from the ODI side for the series against england in January tweeted: "Will continue to work hard for my place in the team. I trust my game and am confident that, 'I'll be back.' Best wishes to the team." Since his comeback, Sehwag's performance outside Asia might have been questionable, but he kept his place in the side with typically dazzling match-winning knocks on the lower and slower tracks.

but reliable sources were quoted by reports that the decision came after the interior ministry developed cold feet on taking care of security for the event. “Apparently the PCB Chairman, Zaka Ashraf didn’t get the grand response and

security assurances for the PSL that he was expecting from concerned Government quarters after which he decided this was not the right time to hold the event,” one source said. “The attitude of the Government quarters also meant the PCB was not in a position to submit a comprehensive security plan and brief the ICC and other boards about it to get clearance for foreign players to take part in the PSL,” he added. he said Sarwar Salman Butt, who resigned as Managing Director of the PSL after the postponement, and some other officials in the board were not in favour of going ahead with the league from late March. “But the Chairman disagreed apparently also because of the fast

changing political scenario in the country. Another reason was the uncertain security environment, since campaigning for the general elections will begin from March when a caretaker Government is announced,” he explained. Another source said the Chairman had now asked for a fresh window to hold the PSL and the tentative schedules given to him for consideration are either in August or before Pakistan flies to the West Indies on July 8. “The Chairman will soon call a meeting to discuss these possible windows but the board still remains hopeful that India will eventually agree to play a series against Pakistan some time in August,” the source said.

test cricket is the ultimate game: waqar LAHORE STAFF RePORT

Waqar Younis, the former Pakistan captain and ex-coach, feels that the national team seems to be lacking unity at the moment after a disastrous Test series against South Africa and said that the senior players must start to play selflessly. Over the last two and a half year, the Green Shirts have performed reasonably well in all formats of international cricket. Their performance is rated even higher especially because Pakistan have not played any international fixture at home soil since the terror-attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in 2009. however, Misbah-ul-haq and company failed to live up to the expectations during the recentlyconcluded three-match Test series against the Proteas as the visitors were whitewashed. Pakistan’s performance was such that they failed to drag a single Test into the fifth day.

Waqar, who resigned as the coach of the national team after the tour of Zimbabwe in 2011, wants the senior players and the team management to reunite the team. The former Pakistan captain is of the opinion that every player must put the team’s benefit first and there should be no room for selfish cricketers. “It is a very difficult time for

Pakistan team and they look like a disjointed unit. Their capitulation against South Africa is very alarming,” Waqar expressed. “The team needs some direction and it can only be done by the coaches. During my tenure as Pakistan coach I always tried to convince players to put the team’s interest ahead of everything.” The 41-year-old former player represented Pakistan in 87 Tests and 262 One Day Internationals, picking up almost 800 wickets at the highest stage of the game. The Green Shirts comprehensively won the only T20 played in the on-going tour but Waqar thinks that Test cricket should be the priority of every cricketer. “Pakistan were struggling to find fast bowlers for the Test series on the tour as we saw a number debuts by fast bowlers but as soon as T20 arrived we found many quickies ready to have a go at it. Test cricket is the ultimate and we have to pay attention to it,” said the former great.

sPorts

Friday, 8 March, 2013

We know we played badly, says England batsman trott

DunEDIn AgeNcIeS

There was no need for the "hairdryer treatment" from coach Andy Flower after england were bowled out for a meagre 167 by New Zealand on Thursday, with the tourists fully aware of how badly they had played, batsman Jonathan Trott said on Thursday. Alastair Cook's side are the second best in the world in test cricket, while New Zealand are ranked eighth, but the home team confounded expectations to finish day two of the rain shortened match at University Oval on 131-0 in reply. Debutant hamish Rutherford was 77 not out, while the recalled Peter Fulton was on 46 to put New Zealand in a strong position after the first day of the first test was washed out due to rain. Left arm pace bowler Neil Wagner and debutant left arm spinner Bruce Martin took four wickets each for the home side, though all but two of england's batsmen were caught by fielders either in front of the wicket or behind square. None were caught in the slips or by wicketkeeper BJ Watling, indicating they had failed to properly execute their shots, rather than be dismissed by relentless pressure from the attack, something Trott agreed with. "We got ourselves out with poor shots and misjudgement," Trott, who top-scored with 45 before he fell to a miscued sweep off Martin, told reporters. "Andy (Flower) is pretty philosophical, but he knows the right time to put his foot down and say 'that's not good enough' and that might be what happens. "I'm not particularly happy with how things went, I don't think anyone is (so) I don't think there is the need for a hairdryer treatment.

embarassing england caught out by Kiwis DunIDEn AgeNcIeS

england had only themselves to blame for Thursday's embarrassing false start to their three-Test series against New Zealand. First, the tourists' batsmen were largely responsible for their own downfall in a descent to 167 all out inside two sessions; then the bowlers, less culpable, were no more successful as hamish Rutherford and Peter Fulton replied with 131 for none by stumps at the University Oval. A string of regrettable shots contributed prominently in a faulty england innings which featured four wickets each for Neil Wagner and debutant Bruce Martin. Only Jonathan Trott, among the frontline batsmen, and then tailenders James Anderson and Steven Finn delayed New Zealand for long. The contrast was yawning when the hosts took their turn to bat, earlier than they could have dreamed on a mostly unresponsive surface. Debutant Rutherford (77no), following his father Ken into Test cricket for his country, was the

dominant force on a day when nothing worthwhile went right for england. After ducks for Kevin Pietersen and Nick Compton, and little of substance from anyone else apart from Trott, england were already in trouble on a lunchtime 81 for five. If they dared to hope Trott or Matt Prior might bail them out, they were soon very disappointed as both fell compliantly in early afternoon. Pietersen went first ball, for the fifth time in his Test career, and the hint of a morning recovery from 18 for three in a stand of 46 between Trott and Ian Bell was as good as it ever got for england at the start of a series many expected them to dominate. Those predictions were in need of scrutiny from the moment Wagner (four for 42) saw off first Alastair Cook and then Pietersen with only his second and third deliveries on his home debut. england, put in by Brendon McCullum before bad weather prevented any play on Wednesday, were already minus Compton in the third over of a sunny morning.

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Serena is such an important figure for our sport. There really aren’t that many really outstanding personalities in women’s tennis. – Nadia Petrova

17 S

sPorts Friday, 8 March, 2013

ZtbL down Punjab to win bhutto cricket trophy LAHORE STAFF RePORT

ZTBL overwhelmed Punjab in the final to take the 2nd Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Women Cricket Challenge Trophy – 2013 here at the Gaddafi Stadium on Thursday. Qainta Jalil hammered a 33 ball 44 to first swell the ZTBL total to 147 in 20 overs. N the process ZTBL lost five wickets. Qainta got useful support from Sana Mir and Javeria. Later in reply Punjab was bundled out 60 runs shot of the required total. They could make 87 runs in the given overs. With the win ZTBL pocketed a purse of Rs 200,000 while Punjab got Rs 100,000. Qanita Jalil was declared the Player of the final and was given Rs 10,000

while Bismah Maroof also of ZTBL Women was named the Player of the Tournament for Rs 25,000 award. SCORES: ZTBL WOMEN – 147-5 in 20 overs: (Qanita Jalil 44, 4x4s, 33 balls, Sana Mir 29*, 3x4s, 22 balls, Javeria 24, 2x4s, 25 balls, Rabiya Shah 19, 3x4s, 20 balls, Anum Amin 2-24, Elizabeth Barkat 2-25) PUNJAB WOMEN: 87-8 in 20 overs: (Sidra Amin 36, 4x4s, 44 balls, Iram Javed 20, 2x4s, 25 balls, Nida Dar 3-10, Sadia Yousaf 2-10) Result: ZTBL Women won by 60 runs Toss: ZTBL Women Umpires: Sohail Jaffar & Shakeela Rafiq TV Umpire: Muhammad Asif Match Referee: Zaigham Barki Official Scorer: Najmus Saeed.

Ghazanfar to participate in Sindh Amateur Golf LAHORE STAFF RePORT

Defending champion of Punjab amateur golf title, Ghazanfar Mehmood has been invited to participate in the Sindh Amateur Golf Championship being played from tomorrow, Friday at Karachi Golf Club. Ghazanfar has been honoured by the President of Sindh Golf Association,Asad I.A.Khan and requested to be a competitor in the premier title bearing golf event with all expenses borne by Sindh Golf Association, said a spokesman of Punjab Amateur golf association here on Thursday. Asad I.A.Khan the newly elected President of Sindh Golf Association is all out to promote golf in the country and has committed himself to fully support the talented golfers who seek to ultimately become professional golf players,eager to perform at the national and international level,and bring glory for the country. “ This is a good opportunity for Ghazanfar to demonstrate his skills and golfing ability and will be up against some fierce competition from the current Sindh Golf Champion Ali hai and Wasim Rana who is a player of national standing”,he added. The Sindh Golf Championship will have events for men amateurs,seniors and boys.

Murray in Djokovic’s half in indian wells InDIAn WELLS AgeNcIeS

Andy Murray has been placed on course for a rematch with Novak Djokovic at the first Masters event of the season in Indian Wells. The British number one has not played since losing in four sets to Djokovic in the Australian Open final in January and Tuesday's draw put the pair in the same half of the draw for the

BNP Paribas Open, meaning they could meet in the semi-finals. Third seed Murray will return to the world number two spot for the first time since 2009 if he wins the title in California. he will open his campaign against either evgeny Donskoy or Tatsuma Ito. The Scot, who has a poor record in Indian Wells, is then seeded to meet Martin Klizan and Kei Nishikori before a quarterfinal meeting with Juan Martin Del Potro.

Then would likely come Djokovic in the semis. The Serb opens against Fabio Fognini or Aljaz Bedene but could have to defeat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the last eight. Second seed Roger Federer, the defending champion, is the man most likely to come through the opposite half of the draw. Federer, however, faces a possible blockbuster of a quarter-final against the returning Rafael Nadal. Seeded only fifth due to a ranking slip caused by a seven-month injury lay-off, Nadal will be playing his first tournament on a hardcourt for almost a year. he will open his campaign against Go Soeda or Ryan harrison. Federer, meanwhile, starts against Denis Istomin or a qualifier. The winner of any Federer-Nadal quarterfinal is seeded to meet David Ferrer in the last four. however, the recent Dubai finalist Tomas Berdych is also in Ferrer's quarter. The men's tournament gets under way on Thursday, a day after the women's action starts.

Tennis steps up fight against doping LOnDOn AgeNcIeS

Tennis is to introduce an Athlete Biological Passport Programme this year to boost the sport's fight against doping. The International Tennis Federation, which manages and administers the anti-doping

programme, made the announcement this morning following a meeting of the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme Working Group on Tuesday. The ITF, ATP, WTA and grand slam tournaments, who make up the group, unanimously supported the introduction of the passport, which is used to detect variances in biological make-up that might

indicate doping and has been successfully used in cycling. The tennis authorities have been under pressure from their own players, particularly Roger Federer and Andy Murray, to increase the number of blood tests carried out. In 2011, the most recent year for which data is available, there were only 131 blood tests, with just 21 of those out of competition, 18 of which were carried out on male players. The introduction of the passport will be coupled with an increase in the number of blood tests while the working group also recommended an overall increase in testing, especially out of competition. existing funding for the programme has been around US dollars 2million a year, which all bodies have agreed to increase, with the new level to be determined by the number and type of tests carried out. ITF president Francesco Ricci Bitti said: "The implementation of the Athlete Biological Passport is an important step in the evolution of the Tennis Anti-

Doping Programme as it provides us with a great tool in the fight against doping in our sport. "We also hope to have increased support from the National Anti-Doping Agencies around the world who need to do their part if we are to win this battle and make our programme more effective. "Our thanks to the grand slam tournaments, the ATP and WTA, who have recognised the need to increase the investment of tennis in anti-doping, and to the players who asked for more testing, especially blood testing, over the next few years." The process of introducing the programme will begin immediately and will be welcomed by the leading players. Brad Drewett, ATP executive chairman and president, said: "The ATP has always rigorously supported the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme and believes that the move toward the Athlete Biological Passport is the appropriate step for tennis at this time.

Ferdinand escapes sanctions for Cakir gesture

OLD TRAFFORD AgeNcIeS

Rio Ferdinand will not face disciplinary action from UeFA for sarcastically applauding Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir at Old Trafford on Tuesday night. The Manchester United defender confronted Cakir after his decision to send off Nani during the Champions League last-16 match against Real Madrid which United lost 2-1 for a 3-2 aggregate defeat. After receiving the referee's report however, UeFA will take no action against Ferdinand. A UeFA spokesman told Press Association Sport: "From the report we have received from the referee we will not take any action apart from the disciplinary proceedings against Manchester United for the red card of Nani and for post-match media obligations not being fulfilled." In 2005, Wayne Rooney was sent off after being shown a second yellow card when he sarcastically applauded referee Kim Milton Nielsen during a 1-1 draw against Spanish side Villarreal in the Champions League. UeFA's disciplinary body will assess whether Nani's red card for a high challenge on Alvaro Arbeloa was worthy of punishment beyond an automatic one-match ban. United manager Sir Alex Ferguson refused to speak to any media following the match, which breaches the obligations set out in UeFA's Champions League regulations. No United player spoke to the media either, which also contravenes the competition rules. UeFA's rules on postmatch media obligations state: Both clubs must make their manager/head coach available for this press conference.

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In a tournament competition, I would never be able to do that; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s probably against the rules to even look at your phone (laughs). â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Venus Williams

sPorts

Friday, 8 March, 2013

wAtCh It LIve STAR CRICKET Varsity Cricket: Southern Champs v Western Wolves 07:00 PM

STAR SPORTS Liga: Real Betis v CA Osasuna 01:55 AM

Judo trials for Sindh players LAHORE: Sindh Judo Association (Adhoc Committee) will hold trials on March 10 at Mini sports complex Nazimabad for the selection of the team to take part in the national championship being held from March 21 at Islamabad. A spokesman of Sindh Judo Association said here on Thursday that a balanced team will be picked to represent Sindh in the mega event. The all secretaries of District Judo Association of Sindh requested to please send your outstanding players for said trails to be held in following weight categories 50 kg, 55 kg, 60 kg, 66 kg, 73 kg, 81 kg, 90 kg, 100 kg and above 100 kg. A selection committee comprising Abdul Malik (Chairman), Jamaluddin and Abdul Rahim as its members will watch the trials. STAFF RePORT

Domenicali confident for new Ferrari season

MELBOuRnE AgeNcIeS

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali is convinced the Prancing horse will remain alive and kicking to the end of the new Formula One campaign. A year ago Ferrari headed to Melbourne for the seasonopening grand prix fearful as to their chances after building a car a long way off the pace of their main rivals. The fact Fernando Alonso only missed out on the title by three points come the conclusion was testimony to not only his skill as a driver, but the team's fortitude and determination to

right their wrongs. But it was primarily due to such a wretched start that Alonso emerged a close runner-up to three-times champion Sebastian Vettel for the second time in three years. On this occasion, with first practice in Melbourne just eight days away, Domenicali and the rest of his team are of the belief there will be no slow start to hold them back. "What are the factors that have convinced me Ferrari has made a step forward?" said Domenicali. "The new business structure, the working methods, the modifications to the equipment we have used to work on this car, the consistency of the results compared with our targets and what we saw in the recent tests.

benitez focused on steaua ahead of united MAnCHESTER AgeNcIeS

Rafael Benitez insists Chelsea's priority is simply winning their next game. And that is why his immediate focus falls on Thursday's europa League clash at Steaua Bucharest, rather than Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final at Manchester United or securing a top-four finish in the Barclays Premier League. Chief executive Ron Gourlay, speaking on a promotional visit to Asia ahead of the forthcoming pre-season tour, reiterated a place in next season's Champions League is the overriding concern this term. For Benitez the priority is the next obstacle, but the Spaniard hopes the Blues have numerous hurdles to overcome in the closing weeks of the season as he seeks to fulfil his brief of a top-four finish before his contract as interim boss ends in May. "We will try to progress in every competition and the next game is the most important game," Benitez said. "Now we are here, to play in the europa

League, we will try to win. "On Sunday we'll be at Old Trafford and afterwards we'll concentrate on West ham, or whatever. "We know that all the competitions are important and if we can finish in the top four, everybody will be happy." Wednesday's fixture at the National Arena in Romania's capital will be the 50th competitive match of a season which began with Chelsea in contention for seven trophies; the europa League is the unexpected eighth for the winners of last season's Champions League. The Blues' elimination from the Champions League prompted Benitez's appointment as successor to Roberto Di Matteo and the Spaniard faces a key eight-day period, with the last-16 matches with Steaua falling either side of Sunday's FA Cup last-eight clash at Manchester United. With United coasting to the Premier League title, for Chelsea the europa League and FA Cup represent the only remaining chances of silverware this term. Benitez hopes the fixture calendar remains a busy one and he is now confident he has the squad to cope.

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Friday, 8 March, 2013

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

Editor: Arif Nizami