e-paper pakistantoday 16th february, 2012

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Pakistan needs to address IED issue, says Panetta

In YDA vs govt, the bureaucracy is the culprit

PAGE 02

Assad sets Syria vote to end near 50-year Baath rule

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PAGE 17

pakistantoday.com.pk

Rs15.00 vol ii no 230 22 Pages Lahore edition

thursday, 16 February, 2012 Rabi-ul-Awal 23, 1433

‘Innocent’ PM expects justice Gilani announces APC on Balochistan g Does not rule out early elections g

ISLAMABAD

ISLAMABAD: An elderly woman weeps as she shows the identity card of her missing son during a protest camp organised by the Defence of Human Rights at Parade Avenue on Wednesday. online

Pakistan, india agree to open bank branches ISLAMABAD AMER SIAL

To overcome a major obstacle in bilateral trade, Pakistan and India on Wednesday decided to take a giant leap forward and develop an institutional framework that would allow opening bank branches in each other’s countries on reciprocal basis.

Addressing a joint press conference with his Pakistani host and counterpart Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Indian Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said the Reserve Bank of India will be hosting a delegation of the State Bank of Pakistan to discuss opening bank branches and devising an institutional framework. “Once this takes place the

economic engagement and concentration will increase”, he added.

When asked about the timeline for finalising the framework between the two central banks, he said both the banks will be meeting in the first fortnight of March in Mumbai. Both the countries also plan to hold the next round of parleys on expanding economic cooperation during the next month.

“We are building bridges of understanding as this is the time for economic engagement for positivity, prosperity and stability in the region,” he added. Speaking on the occasion, the Pakistani commerce minister said the talks between the two countries continued on PAGe 04

H

RANA QAISAR

AvING pleaded not guilty before a seven-judge bench trying him for contempt of court, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Wednesday said he was “innocent” and expected “justice” – poetic or un-poetic.

A composed Gilani, while interacting with Islamabad-based editors and columnists, appeared satisfied with his decision of not writing “the letter” as he claimed that it was his choice not to move against the president.

“I am innocent… and I expect justice,” the prime minister said, explaining that he had decided not to write the letter against the president, who, he said, was part of parliament. “It would amount to contempt of parliament if I had written the letter (to the foreign authorities),” he said without repeating his earlier position that he was advised not to write the letter against the president because he enjoyed immunity under the constitution.

Asked about his strategy, he said it was for his lawyer to devise a legal strategy and political strategy would be formulated by his party. When referred to President Asif Ali Zardari’s statement that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had decided not to write the letter “come what may”, the prime minister

said he had never used these words. To a question whether he would resign upon being convicted, he said he would follow the constitution. On the situation in Balochistan, the prime minister said he had decided to convene an All-Parties Conference (APC) in consultation with the political leadership of the country. “I had a meeting with the army chief, ISI DG and the foreign minister on security and we also reviewed the situation in the province,” he said, adding that the APC would be called as soon as possible.

The prime minister said a lot had been done for Balochistan but nothing helped improve the situation significantly continued on PAGe 04

AG to submit evidence todAy | PAGe 28

Pasha’s departure will affect Pak-US cooperation, says Cameron Munter BOSTON ONLINE

US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter said on Wednesday that the Pakistan government was well abreast of the fact that both Washington and Islamabad were equal stakeholders in the war on terror, but this cooperation could get affected when Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt General Ahmad Shuja Pasha finished his tenure. Speaking at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Munter said cooperation between the secret agencies of Pakistan and his country were still sustained. He said Pakistani politicians did not want the US soldiers to go back home, adding that the US had put on hold military aid to Pakistan based on the withdrawal of American trainers, and the ties between the militaries of the two countries were not good. The US envoy advised his country’s leadership to employ a policy of minimum interference and maximum decency towards Pakistan’s affairs, adding that the US should refrain from the use of threats. He said the leadership in Islamabad and Rawalpindi wanted better ties with Washington but also believed that it should be based on mutual respect. He said Pakistan was like a ship that did not move forward or backward in the sea, but it also was not sinking. US-Pakistan ties, he said, were harmed by the Raymond Davis issue and Pakistan also took the US covert operation to kill Osama bin Laden as affront to its sovereignty, along with the NATO attack on the border checkpost on November 26 last year that left 24 Pakistani soldiers dead.

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02 News Today’s

thursday, 16 February 2012

Lahore

NewS

In YDA vs govt, the bureaucracy is the culprit

Arrested uS diplomat returned to consulate

Story on Page 07

Story on Page 06

cartooN

Quick look

Page 13

Pakistan needs to address ieD issue, says Panetta Karachi among world’s cheapest cities KARACHI ONLINE

Karachi along with New Delhi and Mumbai topped 130 cities worldwide to become the cheapest cities, according to a new global survey. Zurich topped Tokyo to become the world’s most expensive city, as surging currencies push up the cost of living in countries like Switzerland and Australia, a survey showed on Tuesday. The Swiss Franc’s allure as a safe haven for investors moving their funds out of euro zone nations propelled Zurich to the top spot from fifth last year, while Geneva came in third. Asian cities moved up the ranking, with Singapore gaining one place to 9th spot and Seoul climbing nine places to 27th. Asia was also home to some of the cheapest cities. Three of the four cheapest were in the subcontinent; New Delhi and Mumbai in India, and Karachi in Pakistan, which was the cheapest of cities surveyed. Five Australian cities made it into the top 20, led by Sydney and Melbourne in seventh and eighth places, according to The Worldwide Cost of Living survey, carried out by the economist Intelligence Unit. “exchange rates have been the greatest influence for the Australian cost of living, with the Australian dollar seeing its value to the US dollar double in a decade,” said survey editor Jon Copestake in a statement.

Canada’s vancouver overtook US cities to become the most expensive in North America, ranked 37th in the world. Los Angeles was the most expensive US city —equal 42nd with Shanghai — while New York came in 47th.

The survey of 130 cities worldwide compares more than 400 individual prices across 160 products, including food, clothing, transport, rents and private schools.

Saranjam Khan, two others quit PML-N MARDAN NNI

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) received another jolt on Wednesday after the departure of its senior leader Makhdoom Javed Hashmi last year, as its three senior leaders from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa announced to quit the party. PML-N central leader Saranjam Khan, along with Abdul Subhaan Khan and Bahadar Khan, who endured tough times and a military rule, announced to end their long association with the party. Announcing the decision, Saranjam said they had not yet decided their future political path, and would announce it within a few days. The estranged leaders are most likely to joing the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) led by Imran Khan. Sources close to Saranjam said Hashmi, who is now a senior PTI leader, had contacted Saranjam and invited him to join the PTI. Source said the three leaders were set to join the PTI and would announce their decision within a few days.

WASHINGTON MONItORINg DESk/AfP

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta on Wednesday pushed Pakistan to address the issue of prevalence of Pakistan-manufactured improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan, saying IeD was the major reason of casualties of American soldiers in the war-torn country.

According to a report in the economic Times, testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Panetta said “the supplies of IeDs continue to come from Pakistan and this is an area where action needs to be taken to be effective at trying to cut back on these”.

“We have made very clear to them (Pakistan) that, where these threats emanate from, we have identified locations. We’ve directed

them to specific sites. We have urged them to take steps.” “In some cases, they have. In some cases, they wind up there too late. But we’re continuing to impress upon them that they have got to be part of the answer to dealing with this issue,” the paper quoted the US defence secretary as telling a senator.

Panetta said in some ways the IeD issue related to prevalence of safe havens.

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said America’s relations with Pakistan had been somewhat challenged.

“They’re improving. And this is one of the points of friction between us that we have to get at,” he said.

Taliban prisoner deal: About the Taliban prisoner deal, Panetta said he would not approve the transfer of any Taliban inmates held at the US-run prison in Guantanamo Bay unless he was sure the detainees would not return to the battlefield.

The Obama administration has confirmed tentative discussions with the Taliban insurgency on a possible transfer of five inmates from the prison at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to the Gulf state of Qatar.

But Panetta struck a cautious tone at a Senate hearing, saying he was legally bound to ensure the release of an inmate would not pose a security threat.

“Absolutely no decisions have been made along this line,” he told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Senate body concerned by worsening Baloch human rights situation g

Government’s failure to investigate missing persons’ killing giving impression of state’s involvement QUETTA

T

SHAHzADA zuLfIQAR

He Senate’s Functional Committee on Human Rights has expressed serious concern over human rights abuses in Balochistan, urged the Balochistan government to immediately release all political prisoners and engage angry Baloch leaders in dialogue besides hosting an All-Parties Conference on the Balochistan issue.

The meeting of committee, presided over by chairman Afrasiab Khattak of the ANP, was here on Wednesday and was attended by members Senator Suryya Amirud Din, Senator Hafiz Rasheed and Senator Farhat Abass.

A detailed report on the Balochistan situation was presented before the committee, however, the committee members expressed complete dissatisfaction with it.

After the meeting, Senator Afrasiab Khattak told reporters that the human rights situa-

tion in the province was serious and issues of missing persons, growing incidents of kidnapping for ransom and targeted killing were lamentable.

He said the issue of recovery of decomposed bodies was extremely deplorable and intelligence agencies were being held responsible for it. He said the government’s failure to investigate these incidents created an impression of the state’s involvement in the killings.

Khattak assured that he would raise the issue of bodies in parliament, however, the judiciary should also take notice of the incidents.

The ANP leader said the issue of targeted killing of members of Hazara community was also raised in the committee’s meeting and it had expressed serious concern over it.

He said it was the responsibility of the government to ensure security for the members of the Hazara community.

“The targeted killing of the Hazara people is being given a sectarian color, but it is an act

of terrorism,” he said.

The committee chairman said the committee had directed prisons department officials to install mobile phone jammers to stop prisoners from using mobile phones.

Referring to US congressional hearing on Balochistan, he said the committee members had come to Quetta to hold a meeting on human rights situation, not to discuss political issues.

However, he opposed foreign interference in Balochistan, saying Pakistan should not give any opportunity to others to interfere in our affairs.

To a question, he said stern action should be taken against anyone involved in incidents of abduction for ransom, because no one was above the law.

He said the government must take concrete steps to curb incidents of kidnapping for ransom, adding that members of Hindu community were compelled to migrate for being a soft target of kidnapping.

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thursday, 16 February 2012

ForeiGN NewS

artS & eNtertaiNMeNt

SPortS

At least 272 dead in Honduras prison fire

Whitney Houston was ‘secret lesbian’

Pakistan crash to second successive defeat

News 03 coMMeNt 20th Amendment: Election to be free and fair.

the courts:

A backlog of cases awaits notice.

Nazir Naji says: Amendment for the better: Democracy trudges through…

Dr James zogby says: On US-Egypt relations: On the rocks.

Imran Husain says: Inside the volcano: Pakistan is simmering.

Story on Page 15

Story on Page 18

Story on Page 19

articles on Page 12-13

Pakistan among top countries having malnourished children ISLAMABAD StAff REPORt

Despite the fact that every year more than 2.6 million children lose their lives throughout the world due to malnutrition, it cannot receive due attention and investment as other causes of child mortality like diarrhea and pneumonia did. In Pakistan, it accounts for 35 percent of under-five mortality.

This was showed in a report compiled by ‘Save the Children’ titled ‘A Life Free From Hunger: Tackling Child Malnutrition’. The launching ceremony of global nutrition advocacy strategy and report was held here on Wednesday at the National Library of Pakistan.

The same advocacy strategy and report has also been launched in 24 other countries.

According to the findings of report, Pakistan together with Bangladesh, India, Nigeria and Peru is among the top countries that have more than half of the world’s malnourished children population. “After a year of soaring food prices, 38 percent of surveyed Pakistani families claim to have been

kARACHI: family members mourn the deaths of seven labourers who were gunned down by Baloch militants in turbat a day before. online

ISLAMABAD Zahid Bukhari, lawyer for former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani, has decided in principle to visit London to cross-examine the star witness in the memo scandal, Mansoor Ijaz.

Ijaz is likely to record his statement before the memo commission via video link from the Pakistani High Commission in London on February 22.

ISLAMABAD StAff REPORt

Around 166 candidates of all major political parties and independents are taking part in the Senate election on 54 general and reserved seats for a six-year term 2012-18.

The scrutiny of nomination papers will be carried out today (Thursday) and Friday. pUnJab: Those who submitted their nomination papers from Punjab on 12 seats include Muhammad Ibrahim (Independent), Ishaq Dar (PML-N), Zulfiqar Khosa (PML-N), Malik Rafiq (PML-N), Zafarullah Khan (PML-N), M Hamza (PML-N), Muhammad Afzal (PML-N), Bilal Butt (PML-N), Kamil Ali Agha (PML-Q), Aslam Gill (PPPP), Zaheeruddin Babar Awan (PPPP), Aitzaz Ahsan (PPPP), Mohsin Leghari (PML-Q), Sarfraz (Independent), Nuzhat Sadiq (PMLN), Khalida Parveen (PPPP), Yasmin Akhtar (PPPP), Najma Ahmed (Independent), Anusha Rehman Khan (PML-N),

LAHORE StAff REPORt

According to sources, Bukhari had sent an application to the memo commission secretary, Raja Jawad Hassan Abbas, requesting him to issue a covering letter so that he could get visa for the UK. During the previous hearing on February 10, the commission had decided to record the statement of the US national via video link and allowed the respective lawyers to go to London if they wanted to cross-examine the witness.

As the Abbottabad Commission investigating the May 2 raid that killed Osama bin Laden proceeds gradually, controversies are going viral about the masterminds behind the al Qaeda chief’s hideout, upkeep and security.

Scandals are rampant, with the potential to mislead the ongoing probe and influence the results. One controversy flared up after a story made the headlines that former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief General (r) Ziauddin Butt, a close aide of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif, had claimed that a safe house in Abbottabad was made to order for bin Laden by another former ISI bureau head Brig (r) Ijaz Shah at the behest of former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf.

Butt was quoted as saying further by a foreign newspaper that Brig (r) Shah was the man behind bin Laden’s setup in Abbottabad, ensuring his safety and keeping him hidden. Zia said Musharraf knew all about it but never revealed the facts. Analysts are of the opinion that the controversy was nothing but an attempt to settle old scores on a personal grudge. About Butt’s allegations, they said he remained ISI chief from 1997 to 1999 and was promoted to Chief of Army Staff on October 12, 1999 by Nawaz Sharif, who was prime minister at the time. “He was fired by Musharraf and after the coup, he went into solitude for two years. Later, he was deprived of some retirement benefits and various perks,” they added.

Security personnel told Pakistan Today that after what happened to Gen (r) Butt, it was natural that he wanted to entrap Musharraf and Shah in a high-profile case such as bin Laden’s mysterious stay in Pakistan.

“Does it make sense that a single person (Shah) could be so resourceful as to hide anybody from the eyes of a superpower equipped with high technology, fully assisted by allies of the war on terror and even by Pakistan intelligence agencies?” he added.

166 candidates apply for 54 Senate seats Ishaq Dar (PML-N), Aitzaz Ahsan (PPPP), Kamran Michael (PML-N), Shahzad Munshi (PML-N). sindH: Kanwar Naveed Jameel (MQM), Nasreen Jalil (MQM), Kanwar Khalid Khan (MQM), Farogh Naseem (MQM), Tahir Hussain Mashadi (MQM), Umar Khan Sher Zai (MQM), Abdul Ghaffar Qureshi (Independent), Syed Muzzafar Hussain Shah (PML-F), Saeed Ghani (PPPP), Maghan Mangrio (PMLF), Dr Karim Ahmed Khawaja (PPPP), Mian Raza Rabbani (PPPP), Mukhtar Ahmed Dhamra (PPPP), Rashid Hussain Rabbani (PPPP), Syed Mustafa Kamal (MQM), Niala Munir (MQM), Yasmeen Farukh (Independent), Muddassir Sehar Kamran (PPPP), Shahida Rehmani (PPPP), Faogh Naseem (MQM), Umar Khan Sher Zai (MQM), Kamran Khawaja (PPPP), Abdul Hafiz Sheikh (PPPP), Arshad Abdullah (MQM), Mangal Das Ar-

dren at a shocking 48 percent.

“Pakistan is not far with 43.6 percent children officially reported stunted. Save the Children warns that if no concerted action is taken, Pakistan will have the highest percentage of stunted children population over the next 15 years,” the report said, adding, in fact the stunting rate in Pakistan had not decreased but actually grew by almost 50 percent in the last 10 years in Pakistan (The 2001-2002 National Nutrition Survey-NNS, reported stunting rate at 31 percent, whereas the NNS report in 2011 shows it has alarmingly risen to 43.6 percent).

Nutrition expert Dr Qudisa said if we wanted to change the situation, we will need to increase coordination in developing and implementing a coherent nutrition strategy. “The federal and provincial governments, international community and all other stakeholders need to react to this crisis now, otherwise the future of millions of Pakistani children will be at stake,” she said.

The representative of ‘Save the Children’ made several recommendations to get rid of the said curse.

Controversies galore as May 2 probe proceeds

haqqani’s lawyer to go to London for cross-examination StA ff REP O Rt

forced to cut back on food. One in five parents (22 percent) complained that their children did not have enough food to eat,” the report said.

It was pointed out in the report that recent economic shocks, largescale emergencies and sharp rise in the prices of food made accessing nutritious diet increasingly difficult for the poorest households. Widespread flooding has destroyed crops and livelihoods, contributing further to increased prices. Consequently, nationally 58 percent of households are considered food insecure, Sindh being the worst affected with 72 percent of the population being food insecure while overall various estimates put 2440 percent population living below the poverty line.

The report also showed that rising food prices and malnutrition are putting future global progress on child mortality at risk. This trend is especially alarming in Asia, where more than a third of children are stunted, which account for almost 100 million of the global total. India holds the highest rate of stunting amongst chil-

wani (Independent), Arif Masih (MQM), Poonjo (MQM), Photomi (Independent), Hari Ram (PPPP) and Harish Parwani (PPPP).

KHYber paKHTUnKnWa: Shamroz Khan Jadoon (PPPP), Shahi Syed (ANP), Mian Iftikhar Hussain (ANP), Baz Muhammad Khan (ANP), Tajuddin Khan (ANP), Talha Mahmood (JUI-F), Azam Khan Hoti (ANP), Abdul Jalil Jan (ANP), Ahmed Hassan (PPPP), Nisar Muhammad (PML-N), Asif Kari (PML-N), Syed Qasim Shah (PML-Q) Ashraf Ali (JUI-F), Ahmed Fahim Khan (Independent), Muhammad Ali Saif (Independent), Ammar Ahmed Khan (Independent), Shah Faisal (Independent), Muhammad Tahir (Independent), Nek Muhammad Khan (Independent), Zahida Khan (ANP), Tabbassum Shams (ANP), Naeem Akhtar (JUI-F), Rubina Khalid (PPPP), Tabnida Zaffar (Independent), Tahira

Bukhari (Independent), Farhatullah Babar (PPPP), Ilyas Ahmed Bilour (ANP), Rahat Hussain (JUI-F), Iqbal Zafar Jhagra (PML-N), Intikhab Khan (Independent), Razaullah Khan (ANP), Amer Jeet (ANP), Gulshan Yousaf (ANP), Waqas Qayyum Gill (JUI-F) and Gul Zari Lal Singh (Independent). baloCHisTan: Nawazada Saifullah Magsi (PPPP), Mir Shahnawaz Marri (Independent), Kuada Babar Baloch (Independent), Haidar Khan Nasir (Independent), Israrullah Khan Zehri (BNP-A), Tahir Bezenjo (NP), Muhammad Yousuf (PPPP), Hafiz Hamdullah Saboor (JUI-F), Haji Muhammad Wali (JUI-F), Manzoor Ahmed Mengal (JUI), Muhammad Daud (ANP) Syed Nawab Shah (PML-N), Akbar (PML-N), Ahmed Khan (Independent), Rozi Khan Kakar (PPPP), Saeedul Hassan (PML-Q), Ayaz Khan Kakar (PPPP), Tariq Baloch (PML-

Q), Javed Iqbal Kurd (PML-Q), Umer Khan Jamali (Independent), Jameel Ahmed (Independent), Aga Pari Gul Syeda (Independent), Parveen Mengal (PPPP), Sabina Rauf (JUI-F), Naseema Bibi (BNP-A), Nehrun Nisha (ANP), Kishwar Ahmed (PML-N), Hinna (PPPP), Farah Azeem Shah (Independent), Raheela Hameed Durrani (Independent), Nasreen Rehman Khethran (Independent), Robina Irfan (PML-Q), Fouzia Tabasum (PPPP), Javed Ahmed (PPPP), Mufti Abdul Satar (JUI-F), Abdul Jabbar Khan (ANP), Kamran Murtaza (JUI-F), Agha Faisal (PML-N), Manzoor Ahmed Giohki (Independent), Raheela Hameed Khan, Malik Taj Bazai, Basant Lal Gulshan (PML-Q), Ramesh Kumar (Independent), Ashok Kumar (Independent), Heman Dass (JUI-F), Benish Sikandar Masih (ANP), Bassant Lal (PML-Q) and George Paul (PPPP).

Federal CapiTal: Osman Saifullah Khan (PPPP), Omar Mughal (PML-N), Mushahid Hussain Syed (PML-Q) and Dr Mazhar Hassain Mirza (PML-N).

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thursday, 16 February, 2012

Senate body passes SEZs bill with amendments ISLAMABAD

T

StAff REPORt

He Senate Standing Committee on Law, Justice, Human Rights and Parliamentary Affairs on Tuesday passed the Special economic Zones (SeZs) Bill 2011 with amendments, while Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Ilyas Ahmad Bilor and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Zafar Ali Shah presented their dissenting notes.

The bill lays down a policy framework for encouraging the establishment of SeZs to attract both domestic and foreign investors. The committee, which met here with Senator Muhammad Kazim Khan in the chair, was of the view that setting up SeZs through an act of parliament would be an achievement by the government. The new law will bring about consistency in the gov-

ernment policies, allowing the investors to work without any apprehensions of sudden changes or withdrawal of incentives given to them in the SeZs, the committee members said.

The Board of Investment (BOI) has been working on the draft of the SeZ bill in close coordination with the provincial governments, including Gilgil Baltistan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and other stakeholders for over a year. The Council of Common Interests (CCI) in its meeting on the August 27, 2011, approved the draft bill with consensus and support of the provincial governments for legislation. As per the bill, the SeZs can be set up by the federal government or any provincial government or by a private developer. The federal and provincial governments can also set up SeZs in collaboration with private developers. The existing industrial es-

tates and zones in the country can also qualify for the SeZ status subject to the fulfilment of criteria mentioned in the law.

The SeZs are expected to reduce the rising cost of doing business in the country and provide one-window facility to the entrepreneurs. The purpose is to improve efficiency and competitiveness of the industry by creating industrial clusters of big projects where the government is committed to provide infrastructures at the doorstep of the SeZs. The law requires the formation of a Board of Approvals (BOA) to be chaired by the prime minister and an Approvals Committee to be headed by the BOI chairman for final approval of the development agreements for setting up SeZs. The provinces will be required to set up SeZ authorities to approve and select zone developers for consideration of the BOA. The BOI will be the

secretariat for the BOA and will extend full support and facilitation to provincial SeZ authorities, including FATA SeZ authority.

The bill allows setting up SeZs anywhere in the country over a minimum area of 50 acres. There are several incentives for the developers of SeZs and entrepreneurs setting up industries in the zones. The developers will get a one-time exemption from customs duties and taxes for all capital goods imported into Pakistan for the development and operation of SeZs. A 10-year tax exemption for both SeZ developers and entrepreneurs will also be provided under the law.

The committee was informed that the interests of both local as well as foreign investors will be protected. The rationale behind the SeZs in Pakistan was to create efficient and competitive industrial cluster and reduce the cost of doing business, besides attracting foreign direct investment. China and India

have adopted the same policy and the main factor behind China’s rapid growth was the creation of special economic zones. In China, the tax rate is 25 percent but in SeZs, it 15 percent.

Meanwhile, the Senate body formed a sub-committee to discuss and incorporate the proposed amendment in the National Commission for Human Rights Bill 2011, already passed by the National Assembly. Senator SM Zafar will chair the sub committee while JI Senator Professor Khurshid, PML-N Senator Zafar Ali Shah and Leader of the House in Senate Nayyar Hussain Bukhari will be the members of the committee. The sub-committee will meet on February 17 to discuss the proposed amendments in the bill and finalise the recommendation. It was already decided that the amendments would be finalised so as to lay the bill on the first day of the next Senate proceedings.

Pakistan, india agree continued FRom PAGe 01

were progressing and the issue of converting the positive list to negative list would be completed by the end of the current month. “I don’t think there will be any problem in this regard,” he said.

Sharma said the issue of visa regulations was discussed during the talks and it was decided that the regulations will be revised to facilitate the flow of people, especially the businessmen, to promote bilateral trade.

The two countries also initiated three agreements on cooperation in customs, mutual recognition of each other’s certifications and redressing each other’s trade grievances that will help build confidence of the business community on both sides. The

AtHENS: An employee of the state-owned Labour Housing Organisation threatens to jump off the company building on Wednesday after the government decided to shut down the organisation and lay off its staff. AFP

Baloch minister deprived of ministry for backing independent Senate aspirant QUETTA SHAHzADA zuLfIQAR

In compliance with the wishes of party high ups, Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Mohammad Aslam Raisani deprived a PPP minister, Asfanyar Kakar, of the charge of department of food for violating party discipline by proposing and seconding an independent candidate for

up coming Senate elections.

Kakar, who got elected on a PPP ticket from his family seat of Barshor in Pishin district, was accused of entering into a deal with multi-millionaire Jameel Ahmad, owner of an international construction company who is vying for a Senate seat as an independent candidate.

Asfanyar was allotted the lucrative Ministry of Food

after depriving PPP’s Haji Ali Madad Jattak who had challenged the chief minister and criticised him for weak governance. Sources said Faryal Talpur, sister of President Asif Ali Zardari, finalised the list of candidates for Senate elections, particularly Sindh and Balochistan, and on her direction, the PPP minister was deprived of his portfolio.

They said the party

high-ups sent repeated messages to Kakar, asking him to contact Talpur to explain his position on backing an independent candidate. The sources said Kakar kept avoiding Talpur and the PPP highups had decided that if Kakar did not make his position clear, the election commission would be asked to unseat him.

Shutter-down ‘Pakistan wants resultOBITUARY oriented talks with india’ strike observed

Daily Jang Lead Maker Syed Ali Akbar Shah passed away on Wednesday. He was 47. His funeral prayers will be offered at 10am today at House No 1, Street No 1, Lal Pul Nabi Pura, near Gourmet bakery.

Shah was survived by his two sons and three daughters. He was the brother of Talat Ali Shah (Machine Man, Pakistan Today) and Zahid Ali Shah (Digital Manager, Newsweek Pakistan).

WASHINGTON ONLINE

Pakistan is working to step up dialogue with India and to make it more result-oriented, with the hope the Kashmir issue could be resolved peacefully, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Sherry Rehman said in her speech at the US Institute of Peace on Wednesday.

“It is our intent to enhance our dialogue with India and to make it productive and result-oriented,” she said.

Sherry said Pakistan was

QUeTTa: A shutter-down

pursuing a non-intrusive peace offensive in the region, adding that Pakistan would support a peace process that was Afghan-led and Afghan owned, in real-time practice, not just as a policy platitude.

“We do not consider Afghanistan our strategic backyard, as many claim we do, but we do have the highest stakes in Afghan stability since we simply cannot afford the blow-back from either a civil war there again, nor any other kind of surge into Pakistan, with its long, porous border,” she said.

strike was observed for the second consecutive day in several areas of Balochistan on Wednesday against killing of Baloch Republican Party (BRP) leader Sangat Sana Baloch, whose bullet-ridden body was found from Murgab area of Turbat on Monday. The strike call was given by the BRP, Baloch National Movement (BNM) and Baloch Students Organisation-Azad (BSO-Azad).

All business activities remained suspended in Khuzdar, Panjgur, Gwadar, Turbat, Pasni, Mastung, Mongechar, Awaran, Kharan, Masky, Tump, Nushski, Dalbandin, Kalat, Hub and other areas. ShAhzADA zulFiQAr

implementation of these agreements the two countries will systematically address the issues related to Non-Tariff Barriers on which the Pakistani businessmen have serious concerns.

The Indian minister termed the finalisation of these agreements a significant development, adding that once implemented they will help allay the fears of Pakistani businessmen “who would be gaining access to a market of 1.2 billion Indian people”. According to the joint statement issued after the talks between the two commerce ministers, the two sides firmly reiterated to scrupulously adhere to the roadmap drawn up by the commerce secretaries for full normalisation of trade relations. It was agreed that Pak-

Brig ali was brainwashing colleagues for mutiny: report MONITORING DESK Brigadier Ali Khan who faces court martial for his ties with a banned outfit was brainwashing other officers for mutiny, Geo News reported on Wednesday quoting a Londonbased news agency. The foreign news agency further said that Brig Ali Khan has been charged with mutiny as well. Khan, who was arrested for his alleged links with the banned Hizb-ut-Tahrir, will be court-martialled, a media report said. earlier, Pakistan Army decided to courtmartial Brig Ali Khan, whose arrest last year had sparked concerns about the presence of sympathisers for the extremist group in the Pakistani military.

istan will move from a positive list to a small negative list

by February 2012. The timing for the phasing out of the negative list will be announced at a time when the list is notified. It is expected that the phasing out will be completed before the end of 2012.

The understanding is that when the transition to MFN is completed, all items other than those in the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) sensitive list would get preferential access at a peak tariff level of 5 percent by the end of 2012. The commerce secretaries also agreed to advance the preferential trading arrangement agenda through SAFTA. This will be done in a sequenced manner.

Tariff liberalisation for up to 30 percent of the sensitive list will be considered by India within four months of notification of the small negative list by Pakistan.

‘InnoCent’ PM continued FRom PAGe 01

with law and order being the major problem that posed a challenge to every effort. He dispelled the impression that the government was reluctant to name India for its involvement in Balochistan and said he had already mentioned this in his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

On civil-military relations, he appeared relaxed suggesting that the tension had lowered but he did not agree to conjecture that there must have been some quid pro quo for the business back to normal after the situation had reached a point of confrontation with no chance of retreat from either side.

Amidst speculation about some names under consideration for the appointment of the next director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the prime minister said he would take the decision when the current ISI chief, Lt General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, retired. Lt Gen Pasha is set to retire on March 18 after having served two extensions of one year each. “I took all decisions and I will take this decision too in national interest,” he said, when asked if there was any chance of giving Lt Gen Pasha another extension.

He said a perception had been created that “all roads lead to Multan” when it came to corruption in the country.

“Let me speak my heart out today,” he said, complaining

that every sub judice issue was discussed in media without investigation and without highlighting what his position was. He referred to the cases of federal secretaries’ promotion, appointment of Khwaja Adnan, Hajj scam with particular reference to Rao Shakeel, import of a jeep by his son and the Khurram Rasool scandal. “But I am not bitter,” he said, adding that if a prime minister could be summoned for contempt of court, anyone could be called to appear before the court. He referred to many behind-the-scenes players without naming them and said: “You will be surprised to know the reality.”

His argument was that it was not he who did all this in his discretion but what he did, he said, was on the basis of the recommendations by the officials concerned.

He agreed that the parties holding countrywide rallies were proscribed and said the federal government had already written to the provinces in this regard. But he was speechless when pointed out that these rallies still continued despite the interior minister, whom he thrice referred to as “Rehman Baba”, writing to the provinces. The prime minister supported business relations with India saying that China, the best friend of Pakistan, advised Islamabad to improve its economy by expansion of trade but he immediately restrained himself before going into details

when asked even if the core issues remained unresolved.

“Nothing, including the MFN status to India, will be done against the national interest,” he said, but did not agree to a question about the concerns of the Kashmiris and referred to billions of rupees trade across the Line of Control (LoC) to suggest that they were not opposed to Pakistan opening trade with India.

About the possibility of early general elections, he said it was a coalition government and every decision had to be taken in consultation with its partners. He said it was a prerogative of the prime minister to call for early elections but in a coalition government the decisions could not be taken independent of the partners.

“One cannot rule out… but I am not committing,” the prime minister said, suggesting that there was a possibility of holding general elections before time.

When asked if he would consider dissolution of the National Assembly at any stage, the prime minister again said that his party did not have majority in the Lower House. “We are a coalition government and whatever decision we take, it has to be with consensus,” he said. He also justified his government’s lack of performance on the grounds that he did not have majority to independently and freely take decisions.

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Karachi should be made a weapon-free zone: Shahi g

aNP Sindh president says some people want Pakhtuns to do low-level jobs forever PESHAWAR

T

StAff REPORt

He only solution to Karachi’s unrest is to launch a full-fledged operation and make the port city a weapons free zone, ANP Sindh President Shahi Syed said on Wednesday.

He was talking to journalists at the Peshawar Press Club. “Karachi is an industrial hub and backbone of the coun-

try’s economy. If there is no peace in Karachi then we cannot expect peace anywhere in the country. I demand the federal government to a launch operation without any discrimination against those who are involved in anti-state activities and the operation can be started from my own house”, the Senate election candidate said. Shahi said that if all Pakhtuns of Karachi get united against what was happening in the city, they could even play their role for peace in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

He said due to disunity and envy among Pakhtuns, they were losing on all fronts.

“We have been divided into different factions and camps, owing to which we are now in trouble at everyplace”, the ANP Sindh president said, adding that some elements want Pakhtuns to remain drivers, conductors, watchmen and not doctors, engineers, journalists or something else. Labourers were being killed, who had nothing to do with politics and just came to Karachi

in search of livelihood, Shahi lamented, adding that the main reason behind their killing was to stop Pakhtuns from coming to the port city.

Without naming anyone, the ANP Sindh president said that a party was spreading terror among the people of Karachi openly and no one spoke against this. “Perhaps, our law enforcement agencies don’t recognise antistate elements”, Shahi said, adding that the ANP wanted free and transparent elections and to get rid of the land

mafia and extortionists in Karachi. He alleged that development projects were being carried out in Karachi on ethnic basis, adding that since five years, construction work on the Bacha Khan Bridge was going on but it was not completed causing problems for the masses.

Shahi said he envisions Karachi to be become a trade city such as Dubai so that industry could boost. “We will do jihad for justice and against a terrorist group, who is terrorising and killing our people”, he concluded.

SC rejects Faisal Saleh’s plea against reinstatement of ex-en ISLAMABAD StAff REPORt

The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a plea filed by Federal Minister for Housing and Works Faisal Saleh Hayat against a verdict by the Islamabad High Court that reinstated an executive engineer (ex-en) of his ministry.

A three-member bench of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Parvez expressed concern over the federal minister’s plea and for approaching the apex court against a government official in his personal capacity, as rules did not

tANDO JAM MuHAMMAD: An army doctor checks a child during a free medical camp on Wednesday. online

For some people, suicide is the only way to escape poverty ISLAMABAD/KARACHI REutERS

Bashiran Bibi and her husband fought everyday because money was too little. Their hungry children’s screams tormented her. She began begging in Pakistan’s streets. But that didn’t help.

So the maid, 25, decided there was only one way to deal with crushing poverty. She jumped in front of a speeding train with her two sons and daughter, all under the age of 3.

“Bashiran told me the night before that it would be better for everyone if they all died,” said her mother-inlaw, Barkat.

Pakistanis react to widespread hardship in many ways. Some head abroad looking for jobs. Others are drawn to militant groups seeking to topple the state.

In the ten months to October of 2011, about 1,600 people decided that suicide was the only option, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. The previous year 2,399 people killed themselves and poverty was a significant factor, but a precise breakup was not available, the commission said.

Suicide linked to poverty is not unique to Pakistan.

Since the mid-1990s, an estimated 150,000 small farmers have committed suicide in neighbouring India, mostly over debts, according to the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at New York University.

But Pakistan is nowhere near the economic power that India does, so tackling social ills could be more difficult here.

Growing economic pressures could push the suicide figure even higher in the South Asian nation where over one in five people live below the international poverty line of $1 a day.

Critics say alleviating poverty has never been a priority. In the 2011-12 budget, Pakistan’s government allocated 0.04 percent of spending for social protection schemes. By comparison, just over 17.8 percent went to defence, though some experts put the figure at 26 percent.

Shahnaz Wazir Ali, special assistant to the prime minister on social affairs, argues Pakistan had made enormous efforts to eradicate poverty including monthly cash grants to poor families headed by women.

“The government has led a very targeted and focused approach,” she said.

People like Talib Hussain, 45, didn’t seem to benefit.

He borrowed money to start a livestock business but it folded. One creditor after another threatened to

call the police if he didn’t pay up.

When the pressure became unbearable, he walked out of his thatch-roofed mud hut house early one morning, wrapped his turban around his neck and hung himself from a tree.

“Poverty took my father away. If someone had helped us maybe he would still be with us today,” said his weeping, 16-year-old son Riaz Hussain, who scratches out a living selling dried fruits and nuts from a stall.

“We didn’t even know who to ask.”

Those who can’t bring themselves to commit suicide or infanticide, and still can’t find ways to provide for their children, sometimes abandon them.

The edhi Foundation, the largest private provider of social services in Pakistan, says last year it rescued 110 such babies.

Outside orphanages, the organisation leaves cots with signs above them which read “Do not kill your children, leave them here and we will care for them.”

Part of the problem is Pakistani leaders are often too consumed by power struggles or tussles with the Supreme Court and powerful military to address social ills.

“My central thesis on this is nobody gives a damn.

The political parties don’t care,” said Tahira Abdullah, a socio-economic development worker and human rights activist.

“There is an intense struggle for power now in Pakistan ... They all have noble-sounding intentions but the road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

Fresh political uncertainty has again left many Pakistanis wondering when their leaders will ever offer relief.

High prices for staple foods are squeezing millions.

Pakistan’s consumer price index rose 10.10 percent year-on-year in January, slightly more than projected.

Analysts said they expect it to rise further in coming months.

Sher Mohammed is sitting in a jail in Karachi on charges of murder. Piling debts made it impossible for the milk vendor to take care of his six children, half of them disabled. So he gave his three daughters sleeping pills and drowned them in a water tank used by his cows, police say. His wife, Aasia, is now struggling to sell milk and has taken on the crippling interest payments.

“He never told me exactly how much he owed. But it was probably hundreds of thousands of rupees (several thousand dollars),” she said, speaking inside a tworoom cement home.

allow him to do so.

The chief justice asked the minister’s lawyer to tell his client that he should not get personal and if such things were allowed, the heads of all ministries would approach courts against their subordinates.

The petitioner had contended that ex-eN Fayyaz Ahmad was suspended due to his alleged involvement in irregularities of a project, Construction of Bridge over River Ravi on Kamalia – Harrapa Road, Mal Fatyana District Toba Tek Singh.

Faisal had said that the inquiry was ordered by the ministry against him on December 7, 2011,

Special committee to review increase in petroleum prices formed ISLAMABAD StAff REPORt

The government on Wednesday formed a six-member special parliamentary committee to review the increase in petroleum prices.

However, three members of the committee are federal ministers and one is an adviser to the prime minister on finance, who would be an ex-officio member.

National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza formed the committee. Per the notification, the committee has been mandated to review the current POL prices within one week.

The committee will comprise Water and Power Minister Naveed Qamar, who would represent the PPP, Minister for Technical and Professional education Riaz Hussain Pirzada of the PML-Q, Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Farooq Sattar from the MQM and Khurrum Dastgir and Rana Tanveer Hussain from the PML-N. However, Adviser to the PM on Finance Hafeez Shaikh would be the ex-officio member of the committee.

The committee has been formed in line with the commitment by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on the floor of the National Assembly after a unanimous resolution passed by the members of the Lower House of parliament asking the government to withdraw petroleum prices.

The government had increased the prices of petroleum products despite recommendation by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) to not increase the petroleum prices on January 31.

However, it is interesting to note that the government had also formed a parliamentary committee last year to oversee the petroleum prices but the committee only met once.

but he challenged the matter in the high court, which gave him relief. On the other hand, the respondent executive engineer submitted that upon refusal to surrender before illegal demands of Faisal Saleh’s front man, a so called fact finding inquiry was managed through MB Awan, joint secretary of the Housing Ministry.

“MB Awan has a dubious reputation and was once dismissed from service on corruption charges. MB Awan, on the behest of the petitioner, tried to entangle the respondent in the so called scam of Kamalia Bridge,” the exen added.

Ji condemns efforts to open market to indian goods islamabad: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leader Khurshid Ahmed on Wednesday condemned efforts to open Pakistani markets to Indian goods. In a statement, Khurshid said that any move in this direction without resolving the Kashmir and water disputes would be against our national interests. “The federal government, which has lost confidence of the people, must not move in this direction. The political and economic consequences of this move will be disastrous. The way in which the government is dealing with the matter is shocking. I hope the cabinet will not surrender to the “Indian lobby” on this critical move of our political life”, he said. StAff REPORt

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Pakistani at Gitmo charged with trying to kill Musharraf MIAMI REutERS

US prosecutors in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals on Tuesday filed charges against a Pakistani man who grew up outside Baltimore, alleging he plotted with al Qaeda to attack US targets and assassinate former president Pervez Musharraf.

The charges against defendant Majid Khan allege that in 2002, he donned an explosives vest and sat in a mosque in Karachi, where Musharraf was expected.

He planned to blow himself up and kill Musharraf, but the plot was foiled when the president failed to show up, the charges said.

Prosecutors allege Khan, 31, was an al Qaeda operative who reported directly to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the selfdescribed mastermind of the September 11 attacks.

Khan is accused of plotting with Mohammed, better known as KSM, to blow up underground gasoline storage tanks in the United States - attacks that were apparently not carried out.

And Khan is accused of conspiring with al Qaeda operatives in Indonesia to bomb bars, cafes and nightclubs frequented by Westerners.

The charges, filed at the Pentagon, allege Khan delivered money used to fund a 2003 attack in which a suicide bomber drove a truck full of explosives into the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta.

The explosion killed 11 people and injured scores.

Khan was charged with conspiring with al Qaeda, murder and attempted murder in violation of the laws of war, providing material support for terrorism and spying on US and Pakistani targets. He would face a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted.

Khan was captured in Pakistan in March 2003 and held in secret CIA custody for three years before being transferred in 2006 to the detention centre at the Guantanamo Bay US naval base in Cuba.

He is currently held in a top-security prison at the base for “high-value” prisoners.

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee general khalid Shameem Wynne called on President Asif zardari at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Wednesday.

PM should resign ethically, says imran

PESHAWAR g

Pti chairman says Punjab cM should have resigned over Pic medicines issue LAHORE StAff REPORt

Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani should resign ethically after the Supreme Court (SC) charged him for contempt of court but he was just trying to secure President Asif Ali Zardari’s looted money stashed in Swiss banks, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said on Wednesday.

He was holding a press conference at his Zaman Park residence after former

BiSP set to launch Waseelae-Taleem Scheme ISLAMABAD PR

The Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) is all set to launch the Waseela-eTaleem Scheme as part of its endeavour to empower poor people.

More than one million children aged between 5 to 12 years from beneficiary families would be enrolled in schools across Pakistan in April in the first phase of the programme. Leading experts from various sectors of the economy and social sector had agreed that poverty had a direct link with the level of education in any society. Many organisations working in

Meeting reviews security measures in KP, Fata

the social sector had made education their prime area of focus. In realisation of the same fact, the BISP had envisaged the Waseela-e-Taleem Scheme, which would help poor parents to send their children to school.

The Waseela-e-Taleem Scheme would provide additional financial assistance to these families while they would keep receiving regular cash grants as usual. Keeping the objectivity of these efforts, experts in the social sector were confident that the programme would be able to achieve both its long and short term goals regarding poverty alleviation in an effective and efficient manner.

Students of gilani Law College, Bahauddin zakria university, at the launch of a 'Cleanliness Drive’. PR

federal minister Noraiz Shakoor announced joining the PTI. Imran said that an all parties conference should be called over formation of a caretaker government, adding that the PPP and PML-N had united for their interests while people were suffering from hunger. The PTI chairman said that the Punjab government was responsible for killing of people from medicines at PIC and the CM should have resigned, as he was holding the health ministry along with 18 others.

He said that both the PPP and PML-N could not compete with the

PTI in the next general elections, as the nation now wanted a change, adding that the PML-N got power five times in Punjab and two times in the Centre and all its tenures were the worst in the country’s history. Imran said that the next generation of ‘dynastic rulers’ had come into the field and there was no room for a common man in politics. The PTI chairman said that no one could stop the party now and if someone tried to sabotage the election process, a bloody revolution would start.

Can PiA fly through tough times?

ISLAMABAD REutERS

On a recent Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight, water flowed from the toilets through the aisles during the entire journey from London to Islamabad.

“What if it reaches some electrical wires and puts us in danger?” said one concerned passenger to another after flight attendants brushed off repeated complaints. “This could be a catastrophe.” PIA, like Pakistan, always seems to be on the brink of disaster. But now that seems closer than ever for the national flag carrier, once a source of pride for the country.

The airline is haemorrhaging hundreds of millions of dollars a year while being pummelled by competition from sleek Gulf giants like emirates, etihad and Qatar Airways. A quarter of its 40 aircraft are grounded because the airline can’t find enough money to buy spare parts. Flights are regularly cancelled and engineers say they are having to cannibalise some planes to keep others flying.

“The situation has worsened to the extent of rendering this airline almost financially unviable,” said the State Bank of Pakistan in a report on the state of the economy.

PIA lost Rs 19.29 billion ($212.7 million) in the first nine months of

2011, almost double the losses in the same period in 2010. The airline, like the Pakistani economy, has relied on bailouts to stay in the air, and is negotiating with the state for another rescue package.

“Just like PIA has the potential to do well, Pakistan’s economy does too.

But both haven’t because of mismanagement. In the end that is the story — mismanagement,” Salman Shah, Pakistan’s former finance minister, told Reuters. PIA officials were not available for comment on the challenges facing the airline despite repeated requests. overloaded: Over the years, critics say, governments have manipulated state corporations like PIA for political and financial gain, giving jobs to so many supporters that the size of the workforce has become unsustainable in the face of mounting losses. “We don’t have people in the right places in typical Pakistani fashion. It’s about who you know, not what you can do,” said a PIA pilot, who like other employees asked not to be identified for fear of being fired.

“Politically motivated inductions have been the major cause of the significant increase in human resource burden in this organisation,” said the central bank. “It cannot be corrected without taking drastic steps for rightsizing and increasing operational efficiency.”

StAff REPORt

A high-level meeting presided over by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Governor Barrister Masood Kausar on Wednesday reviewed the security situation in the province and the adjoining tribal belt.

The 29th meeting of the apex committee was held at the Governor’s House and attended by KP Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti, Peshawar Corps Commander Lt General Khalid Rabbani and other senior government officials.

At the start of the meeting, the governor raised the issue of missing persons and highlighted its seriousness. He said sincere and devoted efforts by the relevant departments were required to recover all missing persons, and to facilitate the courts in promptly disposing of cases linked with the disappearances. He said the orders of the Peshawar High Court in this regard should be implemented in letter in spirit.

The governor also praised the courage shown by the personnel of Pakistan Army, Police, Frontier Corps, Frontier Constabulary and other law enforcement agencies in establishing the writ of the state and maintaining security.

He also lauded the services of former Peshawar Corps commander Lt General Asif Yasin Malik and former inspector general of Police Fiaz Ahmad Toru.

Pasrur traders warn of strike against worsening security SIALKOT StAff REPORt

The traders in Pasrur have strongly protested and announced going on a shutter-down strike to protest against the local police’s failure in controlling the worsening law and order in the city. The Anjuman Tajraan Pasrur issued a press release on Wednesday saying the number of incidents of robbery and theft in the city were rising and warned that they would go on a strike if the situation did not improve. Anjuman Tajraan Pasrur President Abdul Waheed Ahmed said the people of the area were being targeted by robbers due to which they were terrified, adding that the city police had miserably failed in arresting the accused. He said Anjuman Tajraan Pasrur Senior vice President Muhammad Shafqat Butt was robbed about three weeks ago and police had still not arrested the accused.

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In YDA vs govt, the bureaucracy is the culprit g

Young doctors’ strike and the patients’ suffering continue as doctors hold bureaucrats responsible g Govt says doctors guilty of contempt of court LAHORE StAff REPORt

W

ITH the Punjab government completely silent on the issue, patients became the real victim as the Punjab Young Doctors Association (YDA) kept the outpatient departments of all the hospitals and both the out and in patient departments of the Punjab Institute of Cardiology remained closed on Wednesday.

The Punjab YDA has demanded the restoration of senior doctors suspended from their posts in the wake of deaths caused by medicines from the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC). They had given a timeline to the government regarding the shut down of OPDs across the city hospitals. Patients at the PIC however suffered the most because poor heart patients from across the province come to the premier heart facility. On Wednesday however the loss was immense as around 10 daily surgeries and nearly 100 angiographies and angioplasties could not be performed and patients had to return disappointed.

“We have come from Sialkot for angiography, but we have to return because doctors did not even check us up least of all performing any angiography…we have been told that the government is not listening to the doctors so the operations would not be performed,” Mushtaq Ali, an attendant who was accompanying a patient said.

The government however claimed that the strike was a clear violation of the orders of the Supreme Court. Health Parliamentary Secretary Dr Saeed elahi said the government was compiling the data of the doctors who were striking and would file a case against them in the court.

Meanwhile, the health secretary also held negotiations with the striking doctors but to no avail. The young doctors however said the bureaucracy was the real hurdle in getting the doctors restored because the health secretary had been sent on a leave so the bureaucrats do not want the doctors to be restored without their peer getting the same. They further alleged that the government had put all the blame on innocent doctors while it was trying to hide the real culprits.

“When the report has absolved doctors of all the blame then why are not they being

restored?” YDA Spokesperson Dr Nasir said, adding that the strike would continue till their demands were not accepted.

Health Secretary Captain (r) Arif Nadeem however said the SC had issued directions that evidence shall be produced in the case, action shall not be taken against anyone before final proof and doctors will not go on a strike. He said even the former health secretary Jehanzaib khan was appearing before the committee and the bureaucracy had no resentment against the doctors. “If something of this sort happens then even I will resign. The doctors were only suspended because the enquiry needs to be impartial,” he said.

Senator Pervaiz Rasheed said the government has had negotiations with the doctors but in vain. He said the doctors were the educated section of the society and they should make sure that the patients do not suffer. He said the judicial enquiry was being done and restoring anyone would give a wrong impression.

‘CanCel THeir liCenCes’: An application was also moved in the Lahore High Court for cancellation of licenses of YDA doctors for staging the strike.

The civil miscellaneous (CM) application was filed by Judicial Activism Penal Chairman Advocate Azhar Siddique, terming the strike a step against the fundamental rights of patients. It was filed in pending petition against the deaths caused by reaction of spurious drugs at PIC and other hospitals. The petitioner pleaded that in Lahore alone, 35,000 patients visited the OPDs daily while 100,000 patients from all Punjab approached the provincial metropolis every day and the doctors were playing with their lives. The petitioner has impleaded the government, health secretary, YDA, PMA, PMDC, College of Physician Surgeon of Pakistan (CPSP), Pakistan Medical and Dentist Council (PMDC), King edward Medical University and University of Health Sciences (UHS. He said the strike was a conspiracy on the part of YDA to create anarchy in the province. He contended that the SC had asked the doctors to not to strike. He said a handful doctors were running the YDA affairs and they had hijacked the city’s hospitals. “This is a conspiracy since all YDA office bearers have got their degrees from abroad and are working on some personal hidden agenda,” he contended.

isotab, what is it?

One year, over a 100 deaths if YDanotmembers say some other ‘hidden later, Punjab agrees to a DRA hand’ is at work g

Pa passes resolution on establishment of a federal Drug regulatory authority g opposition continues to protest against the cM’s absence g

LAHORE NAuMAN tASLEEM

The Punjab Assembly passed a resolution for establishing a Drug Regulatory Authority on Wednesday while the Opposition kept criticising Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for not attending the PA session to discuss the deaths caused due to Punjab Institute of Cardiology’s spurious drugs.

The PA session started with a delay of two hours with Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal in the chair. The Opposition kept criticising the CM for not taking the PA seriously and for delaying the passage of resolution in favour of Drug Regulatory Authority while the Treasury benches defended the CM saying that he was doing all that was necessary for the welfare of the province.

Punjab Law Minister Rana

Sanaullah Khan moved the resolution.

However, Opposition Leader Raja Riaz, over a point of order, said the Opposition was not against the resolution but it had its qualms over the performance of the Punjab government. He said all the three provinces had passed the resolution, asking of the federal government to establish a DRA a year ago and the Punjab government had been delaying the move for no reason. He warned that if the culprits in the PIC spurious drugs case were not held, the Opposition would not allow the PA to carry on its proceedings. “The incompetence of the ‘Superman CM’ has been exposed and the PA is passing this resolution after a year,” Riaz said, adding “Punjab government has got the control of the Sheikh Zayed Hospital (SZH) like it wanted and they made the people suffer to get their way.”

“We called the session to pass the

resolution within 24 hours of being given the control of the SZH,” Sana said, adding “Why did the federal government take so long to hand it over?”

Opposition Member Zulfiqar Gondal said the CM had promised to show up at the PA session but he had not come, adding “We will not let the session continue if funds are not issued and the CM does not come to the House.”

Treasury Member Rana Muhammad Afzal tried to defend the CM, saying that the Opposition was criticising the government without any reason. Riaz said it was promised that each member would be issued Rs 8 million for their constituency but the government had not kept its promise. The Opposition raised the slogans of ‘shame’ while Sana tried to present the Punjab Bank (Amendment) Bill but Riaz pointed to the lack of quorum and the session was adjourned.

g

Govt says doctors should inform the commission of the ‘hidden hand’ LAHORE uMAIR AzIz

The Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) drug-death episode has taken another surprising turn as the doctors allege that nearly 55 percent of patients who had died in the entire episode were not using Isotab-20, the drug that the Punjab government has dubbed responsible for over 100 deaths, Pakistan Today has learnt.

The Punjab government sent samples of five drugs being used by affected patients to drug-testing laboratories abroad after the deaths were reported by the media. The labs in UK and Switzerland pointed out that Isotab-20 was the responsible killer drug manufactured by efroze pharmaceuticals. However, Dr

Nasir of the Punjab Young Doctors’ Association alleged that the Punjab government was trying to “hide” the other culprits involved in the episode and was trying to shift the blame to the doctors.

He further said the government had seized the entire record of the hospital regarding the drugs and hence the doctors had no “proof”, however, “the initial enquiry completed by the PIC found out that other drugs including Cardiovestin were also responsible for the deaths, but these were not highlighted and the entire issue was managed tactfully and in a hurry,” he added.

PIC former CeO Professor Azhar however said the enquiry report had found Isotab-20 to be responsible for the havoc, adding that he did not know who was spreading these ‘rumours’. However Health Secretary Captain (r) Arif Nadeem said foreign labortarise ahd labelled Isotab-20 to be the main culprit and that was the reason why an action had been taken against its manufacturers.

Meanwhile a judicial commission is probing the incident and statements were submitted by Dr Azhar and former health secretary Jehanzaib Khan. Senator Pervaiz Rasheed further said if the doctors were confident that these rumours were true then they should get their statements recorded with the commission.

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08 Lahore weather UPDateS

Sex, now a few bUttonS away

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asr 15:26

Maghrib 17:50

isha 19:12

tech savvy sex workers say their business has increased since the police cannot track them and they do not need pimps anymore experts say more and more people being lured into the skin trade because of increase in sexual exploitation, use of social media and telecommunication LAHORE MuzAffAR ALI

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Phones make me feel safe. The police can’t catch me and people don’t get to waste my time. I don’t have to wait for clients on the roads or pay chunks of my income to my pimp and nobody gets to find out what I do for a living, everyone wins,” Razia, a sex worker from Lahore, candidly talks to Pakistan Today about how her mobile phone has made her profession easier.

“I got a call on the valentine’s Day, went to a rest house, did my job, took the money and left,” she says, “It is that simple.”

Dubbing it as ‘secure, lucrative and easy,’ the sex workers in the city have left the traditional path of hiring a pimp or waiting for their clients on the roads and are using modern tools like the social media and the internet to expand their business. International donor agencies working on sex trade in Lahore have pointed to the link between the increase in mobile phone and internet usage by the prostitutes and the expansion of their business.

Other Non-Government Organisations engaged in the spread of HIv and AIDS in the prostitutes have registered an increase in prostitution also since the phones and the internet provide a good ‘cover up’ to the women.

Owners of brothels have also claimed that the use of technology has made their job easier since it gets harder for the police to track them and they are just ‘a few buttons away’ from their clients. Sources privy to Punjab AIDS Control Programme told Pakistan Today that another reason for the ‘increase’ in sex workers could be the fact that the international donor agencies compel the

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government to use the term ‘sex workers’ instead of prostitutes and no health

IMAgE COuRtESY: the Huffington Post or social organisation could claim to ‘help’ the illegal trade.

“We advise them to adopt preventive measures while engaging in sex and then we send the police over to nab them,” the source said, adding “This issue is still a taboo in Pakistan and it is not recognised.”

Imran Khan Lohani, a supervisor of an NGO dealing with women infected with HIv/AIDS, said the UNICeF and NGOs in their different joint ventures had highlighted around 40 areas in Lahore where one or two members of every family were associated with the skin trade. He said approximately 70,000 sex workers, including Female Sex Workers (FSW), Hijras, Men having Sex with Men (MSM) and injecting drug users were involved in this business in Lahore. He said the estimated numbers directly or indirectly involved in this business were about 0.2 million if their clients are also included. “I also have accounts on some forums from where my clients can pick me up,” Shamim, a prostitute, told Pakistan Today, adding “I send an MMS and a price list to my clients via my iPhone.”

“I have my own brothel and a porno website. I also put ads up of my women to attract customers. They see the videos and the pictures and then they come to my brothel,” Kamran alias Kalu, an owner of brothel house in Red Light SHAMIM area of Taxali a prostitute Gate, told Pak-

i send an MMS and my price list to the clients via my iPhone

istan Today, adding that the internet had definitely helped his business.

“Foreign clients also find it easier to contact me on the internet,” he said. males HavinG seX WiTH males on THe rise: Punjab AIDS Control Programme Treatment Coordinator Dr Tayyaba Rasheed told Pakistan Today that compared to female sex workers, the numbers of male sex workers was increasing much more rapidly. She said the only way people could be deterred from joining the business would be informing them of the risk of acquiring fatal diseases such as AIDS and other STDs. Talking to Pakistan Today, Punjab AIDS Control Programme Director Dr Suleman Shahid said according to the Canada-Pakistan HIv/AIDS Surveillance Project the approximate number of sex workers in Lahore were 23,766. He said there were about 7.2 sex workers for every 1000 men in Lahore. Dr Suleman said male sex workers were quite thinly distributed in the city as around only 5 to 10 male sex workers were found operating at pick-up points or cruising sites.

Pakistan Medical Society Chairman Dr Masood Akhter Sheikh said the rise of sex workers in the city could be judged through the fact that one in every 22 patients visiting different hospitals of the city had a sexually transmitted disease including Hepatitis B and C. He said children were being forced into this profession and it was a dangerous thing as according to a UNICeF report, 1 in every 3 girls and 4 in 7 boys were likely to be sexually exploited or abused in someway before reaching the age of 18 years in Pakistan. He said the reason behind this raise was poverty, drug addiction, rising incidences of sexual abuses, law enforcement agencies’ failure to curb prostitution, lust for money and most importantly the use of secure modes like cell phones.

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Date aND tiMe: JUNe 1, 2012, 4PM to 6PM VeNUe: haSt-o-NeeSt ceNter caLLiGraPhY cLaSSeS are on-going, interested students can enroll throughout the year. the duration of one module is three months. there are four modules of learning calligraphyt: primary, secondary, advanced and higher. the course includes traditional pen and traditional paper making.

Date: JaN 23 – FeB 23, 2012 VeNUe: the DrawiNG rooM art GaLLerY rashid rana, Naazish ataullah, ayesha Jatoi, Mudassar Manzoor, rM Naeem, Sadaf Naeem, irfan hasan, adeel Us Zafar and others display their art in an effort to capture past.

Date: FeBrUarY 10 — March 10, 2012 VeNUe: UNSPeciFieD, Lahore Feeling the need for wiNGS? after an overwhelming response to red Bull Paper wings held in Pakistan in 2009, the best and most creative Pakistani folders & throwers will have the chance to represent their country at the world Finals at hangar-7, Salzburg, austria this year also!

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thursday, 16 February, 2012

We are doing our best: CM g

Lahore 09

announces distribution of free laptops to college teachers also LAHORE

p

StAff REPORt

UNJAB Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said the Punjab government was implementing a comprehensive programme for the rapid development of the province and provision of basic amenities to the masses. He said special attention was being paid to infrastructure, education, health and other projects and work had been started on the project of Bus Rapid Transit for the first time in the history of the country. He added that elected representatives should play an active role for the transparent and expeditious completion of development schemes for

the benefit of the masses.

The CM was addressing a meeting with assembly members of various districts, who apprised him of development activities and problems of the people of their respective areas. Talking to the parliamentarians, the Chief Minister said that they should earmark such projects for ameliorating the living standard.

He said that Punjab government had paid special attention during the last four years to meaningful measures apropos education, health, social welfare and other sectors which could raise the living standard of the people.

He said that Punjab educational endowment Fund, Daanish schools, Punjab education Foundation, IT labs and other such projects are leaving a positive im-

pact on the education sector. Similarly, he said that Punjab government has the credit for recruitment purely on merit basis. He said that the measures taken by government for the improvement of education sector are yielding positive results with regards to promotion of education and that that deserving students were being laptops as well. lapTops For TeaCHers: The CM also announced that laptops would be given to the teachers who had showed excellent performance to encourage them to further improve the standard of education.

He was talking to a delegation of Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association led by its president Dr Zahid Ahmad. Provincial Law Minister Rana

PMA in action to lessen the academic fee at SZMDC LAHORE StAff REPORt

Pakistan Medical Association on Wednesday demanded that the fee of Sheikh Zayed Medical and Dental College, Lahore be brought at par with the other public medical colleges.

In a press conference at the Lahore Press Club, Joint Secretary Pakistan Medical Association Lahore (PMA) Dr Salman Kazmi, Parent Action Committee of Sheikh Zayed Medical and Dental College and Advocate Noshab A Khan added that the fee of the students of Shaikh Zayed Medical and Dental College, Lahore (SZMDC) should be reduced to Rs twenty thousand.

The Action Committee has demanded that the fee structure of college should be at par with the fee of the other government medical colleges of Punjab.

The fee structure as given in the

prospectus for admission to the government medical & dental institutions of Punjab session 2011-2012 reveals that the total annual fee for the first, second, third, fourth & fifth academic year is Rs 14,551, Rs 12,151, Rs 12,351, Rs 12,151 and Rs 12,251 respectively.

Whereas the annual fee structure of SZMDC for the five academic years is Rs 470,000, Rs 430,000, Rs 480,000, Rs 480,000 and Rs 480,000 respectively, which does not at all commensurate with the public sector medical and dental colleges in the province.

This has been termed as a great injustice to the students of SZMDC notwithstanding the fact that this is a public funded institution.

The executive committee of Pakistan Medical Association, Lahore has unanimously authorized Dr Salman Kazmi to present before the Lahore High Court a writ petition against the unfair fee structure in SZMDC.

Sanaullah, Special Assistant Zaeem Hussain, MPA and secretaries of Finance, Law and Higher education were also present on the occasion. Talking to the delegation, the CM said the teachers play a key role in imparting knowledge and Punjab government was taking solid measures for improving the education sector. Referring to the service structure of the teachers he announced that 10 seats will be allocated for college teachers in Grade 21, five each for males and females. He also approved the 4-tier formula regarding the promotion of college teachers. He asked the teachers to play their required role in the improvement of education. Ahmad thanked the CM for the laptops and said the laptops would be distributed transparently.

Shortage of petrol, cNG station holidays create inconvenience laHore: A number of petrol pumps in the city remained without fuel on Wednesday, creating problems for consumers. This coincided with the weekly holidays of CNG stations, which doubled the problems of commuters. CNG stations are closed for three days of the week, from Mondays to Wednesdays. The manager of a filling station in Township said there had been problems in the supply chain that had caused the shortage. Consumers said they faced inconvenience because of the closure of petrol pumps and CNG stations, and that the government should ensure the supply of petrol was available during CNG holidays.Public transport has also faced problems with people waiting for hours for buses in the absence of rickshaws. StAff REPORt

LSe hosts massive debating event LAHORE StAff REPORt

Lahore School of economics hosted one of the biggest debating events in Pakistan, in terms of the number of teams this year. Held at the Burki Campus, between February 3 and 7, the debating event pitted over 40 schools and 15 universities in Urdu and english declamation and parliamentary-style debates.

Teams from all over Pakistan were engaged in enthralling debates with topics running the whole gamut from cultural subjects like religious intolerance, to economic themes such as Third World disparity during the five day event. The competition also included an entertaining social event on Saturday with performances from Quadrum and the Whirling Dervaish for the participants.

Dco pushes the accelarator laHore: Lahore District Coordination Officer (DCO) Ahad Khan Cheema on Wednesday advised the authorities concerned to pace-up the work of development schemes in the city and that all resources should be utilised for timely use of development funds. He expressed these views while presiding over a meeting at the Town Hall in which progress of development schemes were reviewed in detail. The DCO directed the officers concerned to pay special attention to the standard of construction material and to complete all schemes within the scheduled time period. StAff REPORt

Punjab governor and czech ambassador discuss bilateral relations LAHORE StAff REPORt

Czech Republic Ambassador He Miroslav Krenek called on Punjab Governor Latif Khan Khosa at Governor’s House on Wednesday to discuss matters of mutual interest. On this occasion the Punjab governor said Pakistan had maintained friendly relations with the Czech Republic and hopes to strengthen these bilateral relations on the basis of mutually beneficial cooperation in the economics fields. The governor said: “Pakistan believes in trade, not in aid.” He added that since the existing volume of bilateral trade between Pakistan and the Czech Republic did not reflect the true potential of the two countries, the expansion of their trade and economic relations should be prioritised. He said further that Pakistan had offered lucrative opportunities for joint ventures and international investment. He stated: “We would welcome and facilitate Czech investments in Pakistan, particularly joint ventures in the energy, IT, automotive and precision engineering sectors, in which the Czech Republic possesses skilled people and state of the art technology.” Khosa also said the expression ‘war begets war while love begets love’ was an acknowledged fact, as time had shown that war had never been the solution for anything. Peace could only be achieved through dialogue and reconciliatory processes. The wife of the Czech Republic ambassador, Punjab governor’s wife Mussarrat Khosa and the Honorary Consul General Lahore of the Czech Republic in Lahore Kamal Monnoo were also present.

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10 Lahore Steps needed to protect children during disasters: DG PDMa Khalid Sherdil

thursday, 16 February, 2012

Centre vS PUnjab Standoff

Who knows which way the wind blows?

LAHORE

LAHORE StAff REPORt

Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Director General, Khalid Sherdil has stressed the need for serious steps for child protection with special mention of disasters. He was speaking as the chief guest at a one-day training session on “Child Protection in Disasters” held at a local hotel. The training was organised by Punjab PDMA in collaboration with UNICeF, Pakistan. Referring to recent flood disasters in Pakistan, Khalid Sherdil said that this aspect had not been given due priority, however frameworks and policies were being prepared to protect and mainstream child issues. He explained the United Nations Convention on Rights of Child (UNCRC) to the participants and talked about recent issues. While referring to his experience in recent emergencies, he sensitised participants with separated accompanied and unaccompanied issues in local cultural and religious context. Issue of birth registration, distribution of relief items to under-age un-companied children were discussed in detail.

i

StAff REPORt

T might prove only a truce before both parties start afresh with their favourite sport of pulling each other’s legs, but the national political horizon looks a bit calm for the time being. Such was the indication given by Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz Senator Ishaq Dar who on Wednesday claimed that with the transfer of Sheikh Zayed Hospital (SZH) Lahore to the Punjab government, the turf war going on for the last year and a half between the federal and provincial government had ended.

He was speaking here at the University of Health Sciences (UHS) after the inauguration of

faculty lodges and a multipurpose examination hall complex at the university.

He said his party assured the federal government that if its demand of handing over SZH to Punjab was fulfilled, it would support the federal government over the passage of the 20th Amendment. “We promised the PPP-led federal coalition government that as soon as SZH is transferred to Punjab, the provincial assembly would pass a resolution within 48 hours in favour of the Drug Regulatory Authority (DRA) to be established at the Centre for exercising coordinated control over the drugs manufactured in Pakistan or imported from other countries,” he added.

He said further that the transfer notification of the hospital was issued on Tuesday evening

and the Punjab Assembly passed the resolution in favour of the DRA within 16 hours instead of the promised 48 hours.

He said further that Pakistan was going through difficult times and the only way out of this mess was through good governance, self-accountability and corruption-free practices.

Speaking on the occasion, UHS vice Chancellor Prof Malik Hussain Mubbashar said that UHS had entered into strategic partnerships with renowned international universities including University of Liverpool, UK University of Glasgow, University College Dublin, Ireland, and University of eastern Finland. UHS Registrar Dr Asad Zaheer and Controller of examinations Prof Junaid S Khan also spoke on the occasion.

in-laws hang woman for being infertile

Mao college holds dengue awareness seminar LAHORE StAff REPORt

On the direction the Punjab Government, a seminar on dengue awareness was arranged on Wednesday at MAO College, Lahore. Professor of Zoology Nauman Usmani, was the keynote speaker and head of CM’s team for development of curriculum about dengue fever Mr Ilyas Khan, was the Guest of Honour. Prof Tahir Yousaf Bolhari, vice Principal, MAO College, Lahore welcomed and introduced the guests. Professor Nauman Usmani delivered a comprehensive lecture covering all aspects of dengue awareness and its vector. Principal Prof Dr Farhan ebadat Yar Khan addressed the audience and thanked the keynote speaker Prof Nauman Usmani and Ilyas Khan, Coordinator to Chief Minister Programme.

112th GcU annual Sports to kick off tomorrow LAHORE StAff REPORt

The 112th Annual Sports of Government College University Lahore are scheduled to start from tomorrow (Friday, February 17, 2012). The three-day sports event will kick off after a grand march-past at the Punjab University Old Campus Cricket Ground in which 26 contingents comprising almost 1,300 students would take part. GCU Director Sports Khadim Ali Khan said that this would be the biggest ever march-past held at the annual sports of any educational institution in Pakistan. It would be followed by sports competitions including 800-metre race, long jumps, shot put, javelin throw, high jump and 100-metre girls’ race.

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Hamza vows to convert reservoirs into production LAHORE StAff REPORt

Punjab University Hailey College of Commerce (HCC) organised the Convocation 2011 ceremony in the college’s lawn here at New Campus on Wednesday. vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran presided over the ceremony while Member National Assembly Hamza Shahbaz was the chief guest on the occasion. The ceremony was also attended by MPA Khawaja Imran Nazir, Principal Prof Dr Liaqat Ali, senior faculty members and a large number of graduating students and their parents.

Addressing the ceremony, Hamza Shahbaz said it was an unforgettable day for the graduating students who should have been thankful to their parents and teachers who had prayed and worked hard

LAHORE StAff REPORt

in this regard. He said Pakistan was a country of 18 crore inhabitants out of which 10 crore were youngsters. He said we had spent $10 billion in the war on terror recently but we could not control the circumstances. He said if this amount had been spent on the youth then conditions would have been more prosperous. He said the country had been facing serious issues but every problem had a solution as well. He said Pakistan’s energy need was 18 to 20 thousand megawatts and that Balochistan was rich in energy reservoirs and the coal reservoirs of the country were enough to meet energy demand for 200 years. He said Pakistan was at number three in coal reservoirs, fourth in cotton production and fifth in gold and copper reservoirs and that the only issue was sincerity of purpose, as he highlighted the need of taking practical measures.

Seminar held for dengue awareness LAHORE StAff REPORt

Parliamentary Secretary for Health Dr Saeed elahi addressed an awareness seminar regarding the dengue virus at the Government College for Girls on Wednesday.

He said that awareness was the most effective weapon to eliminate dengue from society, and students could play an active role in creating awareness by using preventive measures against the disease. He said the government had developed a comprehensive strategy to control dengue and expressed the hope that the year 2012 would not see the virus take the form of an epidemic.

On this occasion, a consultant from Mayo Hospital, Dr Sobia Iqtedar, delivered a comprehensive lecture to students and apprised them of the preventive measures against the virus. She stressed the need to ensure cleanliness inside houses and proper disposal of solid waste. She informed students that source reduction was most important to curb mosquito breeding.

Punjab Director General Health Dr Zahid Pervaiz said the breeding places of dengue mosquitoes should be mechanically eliminated and stagnant water must be disposed of to ensure that dengue larvae could not survive. He said that chemical methods should only be used as a last resort because it was not environment and human-friendly.

A woman was allegedly hanged to death by her in-laws in Liaqat Abad Police precincts on Wednesday. The deceased was identified as Iffat Bibi wife of Rizwan and a resident of Pindi Rajputan. Police have arrested Rizwan and his brother Umar after registering a case against them on complaint of the Abdul Rehman, brother of the deceased. According to details, Iffat was married to Rizwan three years ago but could not conceive. Iffat’s parents were informed on Wednesday that their daughter had passed away because of illness. However, the family found marks of rope around deceased’s neck and reached the police station.

The in-laws, however, have claimed that she had committed suicide. man CommiTs sUiCide: A man shot himself dead over the accusations of murdering his sister-in-law in Kahna Police area on Wednesday. The deceased was identified as Amjad Ali a resident of Salman Pind in Kahna area.

According to details, the brother of deceased Asghar Ali had two wives and used to beat his first wife Shabana for domestic reasons. Some unidentified persons had killed Shabana few weeks ago and her family had accused Asghar, who tried to prove his innocence many times but was not heard. He committed suicide on Wednesday.

‘You want to run a tyre shop at a cultural heritage?’

LAHORE StAff REPORt

Justice Umer Ata Bandial of the Lahore High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition filed by Zahid Hasan, owner of famous restaurant Pak Tea House at Neela Gumbad Chowk, seeking restraining order against the government’s plan to reopen the restaurant against his consent.

Rejecting the petition Justice Bandial observed that the Pak Tea House was an icon of Pakistan’s rich literary culture and heritage therefore no other business could be permitted at that place. The judge held that ‘heritage could not be changed’ and it needed to be preserved for the future generations. The petitioner contended that he wanted to run profitable car tyre business at the place (Pak Tea House).

NATO SUPPLY CHALLeNGeD: A petition has been moved in the LHC challenging the facil-

ity of aerial supply to NATO force provided by the government of Pakistan terming it joke with ban imposed on supply by road.

The petition was filed by Ghazi Illamuddin advocate impleading federal government, through cabinet division secretary, Ministry of Defence, interior ministry, Chief of Army Staff General Pervez Kiyani and chairman joint chief of staff through GHQ. Terming it threat of to sovereignty and solidarity of Pakistan the petitioner requested the court to order General Kiyani to take all steps without any government permission to protect land and air space of the country and strike down the NATO aircrafts entering the country without permission.

YelloW Cab Girl sTill HopeFUl: Justice Muhmmad Khalid Mahmood Khan of the LHC directed the Punjab chief secretary and others on a contempt of court petition filed by a

post-graduate girl against not giving her a cab under Punjab Chief Minister Yellow Cab Scheme despite court orders. The court was hearing a petition filed by Hina eithisham, a master’s degree holder, pleading that she had applied for the provision of cab after fulfilling all requirements set by the government. But, she said, her application was subjected to discrimination for being a daughter of a PPP activist.

WHo represenTaTive Called: The judicial commission, set up to probe the deaths caused by Punjab Institute of Cardiology’s spurious medicines, on Wednesday summoned representatives of World Health Organization forFebruary 16. earlier, Home Secretary Punjab Shahid Ali Khan appeared before the commission as a witness and his statement on oath was recorded whereas he also produced documents in support of his statement.

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thursday, 16 February, 2012

Editor’s mail 11

the Samjhauta express blast India has been unable to destroy the Hindutva terror groups from its soil despite obtaining concrete evidence of their involvement in various terror attacks in India. Saffron terrorism is on a rise in India that also threatens what little peace that the Pakistanis are left with. The capture of Kamal Chauhan, a key suspect in the Samjhauta express blast provides some hope that things might move towards a conclusion.

The horrid episode of Samjhauta express blast where sixty eight innocent Pakistani travellers lost their lives just due to the fact “that it was basically Pak-

University transportation

istanis who travel on the Samjhauta express train that runs between India and Pakistan” that compelled them to commit such a heinous crime, exhibits the desire of the hardcore Hindu extremists to crush and destroy all that symbolizes Pakistan.

This exposes the gravity of threat that emanates from our eastern borders that is predominantly Pakistan centric as the main target of these Hindutva terrorists is Pakistan. Coupled with the Pakistan centric Indian security policy, that is, the cold start, provides all the more reason to Pakistan to maintain its vigil on the east-

ern border.

The fact that India is deeply infested with a colossal homegrown insurgency in the form of religious terror groups who enjoy popular support among Indian masses provides reason for the Indian authorities to enhance their security machinery that has been found at a loss to intercept and prevent attacks of such high magnitude.

Yet the Indian state seems to be paralysed into inaction, thus finding it easy to blame a few well known names inside Pakistan and rid themselves of the burden. The responsibility of apprehend-

ing the perpetrators of the Samjhauta blast however is something that the Pakistanis are expecting from the Indian side in order to maintain better relations in the future.

Hindu terrorism must be taken seriously by the Indian government. There is also a need to highlight the issue globally and that India should play a role in curbing terror in its territory. Any future incident should now be viewed as terrorism which is far more fatal and detrimental to the peace in South Asia.

PROFESSOR KABIL KHAN Peshawar

war on terror revisited America’s impotence in the war on terror is evident today. Terror is an intangible matter, an idea that cannot be dealt with tangible means. Winning war on terror requires winning the hearts and minds of people. People are the constituency which gives thriving capacity to terrorists. If the people start labelling terrorists as freedom fighters, the war on terror can never be won.

Getting back to 9/11, the entire Muslim World (from secular to religious parties) sympathised with the United States, willing to lend their utmost support in their war against terrorism. However, the way United States conducted its war on terror changed the perception of masses in the entire Muslim world who started believing that the war on terror is a war against Islam. It all started with the bombing Afghanistan (a prior victim of the Cold War between Soviets and the US). Around 1.5 million Afghans lost their lives and the country was devastated.

Fighting Taliban was not the solution to the problem. It was like putting veil on the face and assuming the problem was being cured, where in reality it was being aggravated. Terrorism is not a physical but an emotional phenomena and the cure of it lies in dialogue, not action.

MOHAMMAD ARSALAAN BAIG Lahore

israel’s terrorists One of the US officials, the other day, admitted as reported through media that Israel is funding, training and arming terrorist groups inside Iran, which is on one hand reflective of obsessive frame of mind of Israel.

The Obama administration is trying to rope him but encouragement and maddening back-up of extreme right Republicans, the likes of Boehner, is making Israel run crazy. At the same time, by not stopping Israel from sending terrorists to Iran, the US administration is legitimising the Indians’ involvement in arming, funding and backing terrorist groups inside Pakistan’s Balochistan province and Pak-Afghan border strip of FATA. HAMZA ALI Islamabad

Through the columns of your newspaper I want to bring government's attention towards the problem which we students are facing due to small number of point buses of Karachi University.

Karachi University, which is considered to be one of the largest universities of Pakistan, is facing a deficiency of point buses. There are only 18 points in the entire University where 24,000 students are receiving education at a time. So the problem is obvious and can easily be understood as to how this large number can be transported in just 18 buses. each and every point is overfilled that the students are forced to stand even on the last step of the bus, which is so dangerous.

Another problem related to the same issue is that there seems to be no scheduled timing of these buses. I request the government to take some serious steps to overcome the above mentioned problem.

SUMBAL FATIMA Karachi

our educational system

Eat my lead!

As per the details provided by our defence ministry, the Nato supply has resumed but is restricted to only ‘eatable’ stuff on humanitarian basis. Yes, but this eatable stuff sustains those

in the name of merit The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) struggled for sixteen years with a vision to reverse the present downward slide and take it to new heights.

It was indeed sad for the party that after the October 30 Lahore jalsa, the PTI leadership started ignoring the ideologically committed workers and not only welcomed opportunists but also gave them key responsibilities.

The ideological workers of the party showed their reservations but were given a lollypop of “merit” and the PTI bosses begged the workers to accept the decision in the name of Imran Khan. These bosses are good at exploiting the feelings of the workers. The entire country witnessed

who found their way to our soldiers at Salala checkpost.

KAMIL HASSAAN Lahore

the ugly scenes at the PTI’s Central Office in Islamabad at the time of the joining of Pervez Khattak.

Akbar Sher Babar is a well-known analyst and a founding member of PTI; he has played a vital role in bringing PTI to where it is today.

On August 6 and 13, 2011, Akbar Sher Babar with the support of other ideologically committed workers who were forced on the sidelines as they did not agree with the sham elections conducted in the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Islamabad chapter where not a single vote was cast and all the panels were pre-approved by the PTI mafia, was able to mobilise the people. Fearing the rise of Akbar Sher Babar, who is known to be an honest and upright person, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-

Insaf Central Office mafia ganged up against him and successfully developed differences between him and Imran Khan.

I fear that during the award of party tickets, the same opportunists such as Pervez Khattak, Sardar Aseff Ahmed Ali, Shafqat Mahmood, Azam Swati, Iftikhar Jhagra, Shah Mahmood Qureshi and others would be preferred over the ideologically committed and competent people thus risking the entire future of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and dashing the hope of real change in the country. I sincerely suggest that Imran Khan should first clean sweep his own backyard before clean sweeping the country.

HAFEEZ KHAN Lahore

We are living in a society which has low moral vales and usually people want shortcuts in life. Our education system is not an exception, thereby we have to sufferer the consequences of this unjust society which has deep roots in every course of our life. The examination system is an essential part of any education system but even in this here are many problems faced not only by the students but also by parents and teachers. This examination system has many hurdles such as bribery, late results, inaccurate results, favouritism etc.

If any nation of the world wants a progressive and prosperous society, it must have an integrated and fare educational system. An unfair and corrupt examination system will leave many students behind in the race of life. Such a system would take us towards complete disaster.

The attitude of the invigilators in examination centres is not only bad but also corrupt. Cheating is allowed in many examination centres. Students are often allowed using unfair means to pass the exams by bribing the examiner. Inaccurate and delayed results sometimes cause disappointment. We are nothing but silent spectators of this brutal and unjust system. There is an old saying that God helps those who help themselves. We should stand up against this examination system and strive to provide better future to our children with a transparent examination system.

KHADIJA ASIF Lahore send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan Fax: +92-42-36298302 e-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

It would be appreciated if letters were addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively.

The peace in the region

By Waheed Hussain

L

et us talk again. Talking can not only break the status quo but also ensure a change, mostly good and positive.

However, declining such an opportunity coupled with doubts and blame game is nothing else but deception. The ground realities demand not to be trapped in the danger zone of deception by the so-called friends conspiring to devastate this region. As one has the option of changing friends and foes but not the neighbours.

With this positive thinking the three neighbuors, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran are sitting across the table in Islamabad for the next two days to find out practicable solutions to the various

challenges these Muslim countries are confronted with. The three had met earlier as well and this consultative process is expected to lead them to wider and greater cooperation in various fields. The centre of gravity of talks would be future of Afghanistan vis-à-vis the role of the neighbours.

The proposed agenda on the table includes, 1) counter-terrorism, 2) militancy, 3) economic cooperation in the areas of energy, transport, industry, mining, agriculture, infrastructure development, 4) cooperation against human trafficking, 5) money laundering, 6) arms smuggling, 7) return of the Afghan refugees, 8) trilateral mechanism to strengthen bonds of friendships, 9) establish peace and security in the region, 10) alleviate poverty through economic development.

No doubt it’s the most comprehensive agenda for peace and prosperity of the region, however, lot of difficulties are attached to this ambitious list of items. No economic development or energy cooperation is possible until there

is sustainable peace and stability in the region, particularly in view of the so-called war on terror. external forces and factors play an important role in the region. The US, for instance, wants to achieve success in Afghanistan by arm-twisting both Pakistan and Iran. As for as Afghan government is concerned, it’s already under the US pressure.

Similarly, the US has issues with Iran its nuclear programme, as it has recently imposed fresh sanctions against Tehran. The US has also threatened it of an attack.

The real test of the three states lies in how far they could resist the American influence in their internal and regional policies and decisions.

The tri-literalism is connected with the bilateralism, and this is how the three states will go about the process. During this engagement the three will also have their separate bilateral meetings on various agenda items.

Under the counter-terrorism cooperation, Afghanistan and Pakistan are expected to take up the

issue of US-Taliban negotiations.

Though the two countries very much support any negotiated settlement of the Afghanistan conflict, both have expressed their reservations on the Qatar talks between the US and the Taliban. The two nations have recently expressed their concern on being ignored and left out by the US. The US must understand that there can be no progress for the lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan without the inclusion of Afghanistan and Pakistan in any negotiation process.

Pakistan has claimed, many times, that any solution to the Afghan problem must be Afghanled and Afghan-owned, and that it is ready to facilitate or help as much as it can. Moreover, it does not want to interfere in the internal matters of Afghanistan.

Recently, when Foreign Minister Hina Rabani Ghar visited Kabul she met with all Afghan leaders across the political and ethic divide. For Pakistan, Pashtuns, Tajiks, Uzbaks, Hazara, Taliban or well-known Northern

Alliance are all Afghans and they as nation have all the right to decide their future.

Pakistan wants friendly and brotherly relations with Afghanistan on the basis of mutual respect and interest. It also supported the Afghan Peace Council led by late Burhanuddin Rabbani.

But at the same time, Pakistan expects from its friend Afghanistan to stop blaming Pakistan for its every ill. It should not allow its land to be used by anti-Pakistan forces including NATO, India or terrorists having their safe havens along the Pakistani borders.

The Pakistan-Afghanistan border issue should be addressed in a more serious manner. There have been a number of attacks in settled areas of Chitral, Lower and Upper Dir districts of Pakistan by the Taliban crossing over Pakistani border from Afghanistan. Pakistan has established more than 800 security check posts on its side of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border to stop terrorists’ infiltration, now it’s the responsibility of the Afghan government to guard its side of the

border too. It should not be left to the NATO and terrorists creating confusion among the two brotherly nations.

As for as Iran-Pakistan bilateral relations are concerned, the two countries are interested to move forward expanding their economic and commercial relations, including the already agreed IP gas pipeline. However, there is pressure on Pakistan regarding this gas pipeline.

Both Pakistan and Iran want to go ahead with the project and complete it by the end of 2014.

Pakistan, time and again, has made its position clear that the Iran nuclear issue should be resolved through negotiation and any misadventure will further destabilise the volatile region.

With all difficulties in sight, we hope the three nations will realise the importance of peace and stability in the region.

The writer hosts a primetime talk show on a TV channel and can be contacted via email: waheed.h35@gmail.com

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12 Comment 20th amendment No mean feat

D

espite the various failures and shortcomings of the PPP-led coalition, it goes to the government’s credit that it has managed to take the opposition along in the passage of the 20th Amendment as it did in the case of the two earlier constitutional amendments also. This underscores the fact that historic achievements can be made even by a beleaguered elected government. Also that only a democratic polity can create bridges among adversaries and create favourable conditions for the resolution of conflicts. elections in this country have rarely been accepted by the opposition parties without serious reservations. The two usual targets of attack have been the election Commission and the caretaker setup which are accused of acting as tools in the hands of the executive and intelligence agencies. The eC’s five year long constitutional tenure guarantees that no government can pressurise it to extract decisions of its own liking. This also ensures the Commission’s independence from other powerful institutions. The formula regarding the appointment of the caretaker setup does not recognise any role for the president, which removes another bone of contention.

Under the new dispensation, in case the leader of the house and the leader of the opposition fail to agree on the setup, and the parliamentary committee created for the purpose also remains divided, the CeC would nominate the interim body. It would be mandatory for the president to accept the CeC’s advice. While the opposition in the NA has fully endorsed the provisions and has praised the PM for his role in creating a consensus, there is a need on the part of the opposition outside the parliament also to accept the amendment with good grace. There are fears, however, that the conventional power brokers might use some of their protégés to challenge the historic electoral reforms.

While the eC has been given autonomy and more powers, its responsibilities have also increased. It should now be seen to be exerting its clout to ensure free and fair elections. existing election rules that often remain unimplemented have to be enforced. Constituencies have to be re-demarcated to remove the perception of gerrymandering. Above all, extraneous forces have to be stopped from interfering in the electoral process.

the courts all is not well

H

appy families are all alike, said Leo Tolstoy; all unhappy families, however, are unhappy in their own way. In Pakistan, the reverse is true if one analogises with the well-being of citizens in Pakistan’s hundred-odd districts. Success stories in districts that work would be varied, like some initiative by a Nazim or a DC in sewerage, economic empowerment or maintenance of public order. It is in some of our dysfunctions, really, that the vast expanses of the countries are alike. Chief amongst these is the problem with the courts. A person from Swabi could empathise perfectly with a stranger from Nawabshah were the latter were to bring up her troubles with the district sessions court. An unlikely engine of national unity.

When the honourable chief justice decries the fact that the rich and the poor have a different relationship with the law in the country, like he did the other day, while heading a three-member bench on the issue of encroachments on the lands of the Pakistan Railways, he should remember that in this case, he is no mere passive observer like he is before he takes suo motu actions over sugar prices and the like. Here, the judicial services of the country represent an integral and, indeed, the most important part of the problem.

The situation in the lower courts is most disturbing and, at the risk of sounding contemptuous, the state of affairs in the higher courts also needs much reform. Cases take years on end, with a particular breed of lawyers specialising specifically in getting the courts to drag on and on. Family savings are eaten into in the pursuit of just legal recourse.

The nationwide movement for the restoration of the judiciary, limited not just to the lawyer community, was prompted by the gross injustice meted out to the dispenser of justice. But it was also motivated by a hope that things will change with regards to the courts. The administrative reforms that followed the restoration could, perhaps, not live up to those lofty expectations. The backlog of cases remains huge and a polity wonders whether the principle of speedy justice is being sacrificed at the altar of judicial activism.

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36298305-10 Fax: 042-36298302 Karachi – Ph: 021-34330811-3 Fax: 021-34330900 Islamabad – Ph: 051-2287414-6 Fax: 051-2287417 Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

thursday, 16 February, 2012

Amendment for the better twentieth time’s the charm

By Nazir Naji

T

he ruling coalition and the opposition have both been successful with their agendas. The opposition wanted to ensure that the government couldn’t operate on full thrusters and couldn’t complete its term. The government, on the contrary, wanted to complete its term at all costs. If you look at the passage of the 20th Amendment and the lead up to it, you could possibly say that both political forces have achieved their respective objectives to an extent. early elections are taking place but the government too has completed its term with somewhat reduction.

Till the time of writing, the anti-democratic forces that were astir to dislodge the government have been badly defeated. For four years, these people have been waiting with bated breath for the ball to drop. But, despite their being blue with breathless anticipation, it has not happened. More acrimony has crept into their attitudes. They have now stooped to ridiculing both the government and the opposition. The hopes they pinned on the judiciary too were dashed. They even had hallucinations of approaching boots but they are yet to advance. One gentleman even had arrangements to watch the security footage of the camera at the main gate of the president house. He didn’t want to miss the departure of the ambulance he thought would take President Zardari out. All his efforts have been in vain and the passage of the 20th Amendment has ensured that the respected gentleman’s constitution has taken a turn for the worse. The poor man, against his bets wishes, will now have to watch the president exit the president house after completing his term respectfully and be possibly elected for a second term while still stationed there. I just hope that those waiting for the president’s exit in an ambulance don’t tempt fate and fall to the same misfortune they wish on the president.

When we talk of democracy, we don’t talk of a miracle-working system. But what happens in a democracy is no less than a miracle.

All you need is a discerning eye. If I start counting the accomplishments of the current democratic dispensation (the working of which must be credited to all the parties sitting in parliament right now), you will have to marvel at the fact they have indeed performed Herculean tasks.

Four dictatorships had marred the face of both the constitutions we had passed (1956 and 1973). The 1973 constitution had been tarnished for well over 35 years. This time period saw two dictatorships and ten years of democratic rule where the army had the upper hand incontrovertibly. During these times, forces that could harm the country progressively strengthened and those that could save it progressively weakened. At the end of the last dic-

tatorial rule, the country was mired in a myriad of crises (much like it was at the end of every single dictatorship). Now if one recalls the scores of predicaments we were beset with, it amazes one that this lame-duck democracy was able to pull through for four years and we are now standing at a point where we can expect better things to come.

The Pakistan that was being threatened by the IMF has now itself refused loans. The US that used to bully us into accepting this demands now is told that it has to wait for the parliament’s decision for its demands to be met. Relations with India seem to be back on the track they were before the Kargil debacle.

The constitution has not only been restored but restored in a better form. The judiciary is independent and so much so that the government is helpless before it. There is loadshedding but the government now has the capacity to deal with it. As soon as our fiscal crunch easens, it will be equipped to end loadshedding. Terrorism, that had eclipsed the entire country, has now been ended to a great extent.

The government has now even established its writ on Swat and its peripheries which were previously out of its administrative control and the 3 million people who had been internally displaced in the process of re-establishing the states writ have now been rehabilitated. And, moreover, democracy has successfully withstood the pressure of certain decisions of the military and judiciary which were purported to end it. And so it goes.

The 20th Amendment which the national assembly has passed has tried to rectify an ill which many developed countries have not been able to deal with to date. The electoral rolls have a key part in the electoral process in any democracy. If we manage to make new voter list after what has happened, we will be able to say with pride that Pakistan has the most accurate voter lists in the world. It was a news item just yesterday that even the voter lists in the US have a great amount of inconsistencies and bogus voters. Many of the registered voters are dead and many’s particulars are incorrect. But the lists that we will use in the upcoming elections will hopefully be even better than those in developed countries and old, functioning democracies. It is not possible to avoid a certain margin of error in such a huge undertaking. For instance, from the day of the preparation and finalisation of the lists to election day, many people will have died.

Obviously, their names cannot be excluded from the lists but their vote can merely be can-

celled on the basis of the provision of reasonable evidence on the spot. But still, these lists will still probably be the most authentic by any standards.

Since the creation of Pakistan to date, all the elections have seen some kind of rigging.

The rigging came not just from the candidates but often the government. Once, it was done on such a large scale that Air Marshall Asghar Khan said that the results had been prepared in the GHQ. The public had become disillusioned with the process and no longer believed in the ballot. They believed that their vote would make no difference as they voted for somebody, but somebody else was elected. But now the chance of administrative rigging has been eradicated to a great extent. The process of making a caretaker setup has been defined so meticulously and extensively that it is not possible for a single party or person to pressurise or influence it and the chief election commissioner has been empowered to such an extent that nobody will be able to coerce him.

And last but not least, there is an active and independent judiciary to protect and support the CeC and the eC. But despite all this, if somebody tries to influence the process with the help of the military establishment, they will only be able to do so if they defeat all civil institutions. Local candidates will indeed try to rig the process to the best of their abilities but the local bodies also have the state apparatus at their beckoning to curb and marginalise such attempts.

The road to one’s ultimate destiny is paved with many difficulties. everyone believes that the road that they have taken will take them to paradise. Its only in democracy that everybody has the space to believe that theirs is the right way and follow it. Democracy is the playground where everybody is a winner and all competing opinion can come to a peaceful resolution. I believe that it is only through democratic process that we will able to get a handle on the corruption problem. The purveyors of army-backed dictatorships and tsunamis who talk of ending corruption are just spinning a web of deception. Corruption can never be ended, merely controlled and curtailed.

But in Pakistan, one must temper all optimism. So having said all this we must give ourselves a cautionary reminder that we live in a country where a moment is enough to change all hopes and dream to dust.

The writer is one of Pakistan’s most widely read columnists.

Regional Press

Neighbours, for better or for worse Daily Pashtun Post

P

akistan and Afghanistan share a long porous border and cannot possibly avoid the negative spill-over effects of any developments in the neighbouring country. If the law and order situation in Afghanistan deteriorates, it is only a mater of time before the situation will seep through the permeable border.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the worst hit as the law and order situation in the province is badly hit by the ensuing violence in the wake of the war against terror in Afghanistan.

The chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, has clearly stated that peace in the province is inextricably linked to the prevalence of tranquillity in Afghanistan. He stressed the need for the development of literacy in the province to counter obscurantist forces and to inculcate tolerance and open-

mindedness.

Analysts of the gory situation in the region are also unanimous in saying that both the neighbouring countries (i.e. Afghanistan and Pakistan) cannot detach themselves from one another and must meaningfully cooperate for establishing lasting peace in the region. There can be no peace and stability in Pakistan if Afghanistan continues to be plagues by violence and instability.

But lamentably, the self-serving motives of foreign forces, including those of America, are hampering the peace process. They prioritise their own interests over those of the common masses in Afghanistan. If such an approach in Afghanistan continues to be taken by those engineering the endgame, there cannot be any hope for peace in the region. tak

– Translated from the original Pashto by Abdur Rauf Khat-

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thursday, 16 February, 2012

Comment 13

on uS-egypt relations inside the volcano Rocky road ahead

Washington Watch

By Dr James J Zogby

T

he US-egypt relationship is on the rocks. If it is to be salvaged, both sides will need to change course and pay attention to the concerns of their respective publics, both of whom now hold negative views of each other.

In the year that has passed since massive and sustained demonstrations forced egyptian President Hosni Mubarak out of office, egypt remains quite unsettled with many egyptians and Americans uncertain about that country's future.

In a poll of egyptian opinion conducted by Zogby Research Services (ZRS) in late September of 2011, egyptians were clear about the fact that their political priorities had not changed since the upheavals of January and February. When we had last polled in egypt in late 2009, egyptians said their top concerns, in order, were: improving health care, expanding employment, increasing educational opportunities, and ending corruption and nepotism. Far down the list were: expanding democracy and political reform.

Two years later, the rank order of this list of political concerns hasn't much changed.

Amidst the continuing turmoil that is rocking the country and the stand-off between demonstrators, the newly elected parliament, and the military authority, what most egyptians are saying is that they want a government, free of corruption that can provide for their basic needs. This has changed and nor has it happened.

Nevertheless, most egyptians remain hopeful that change will be forthcoming. Two recent polls

by ZRS establish that majorities are optimistic and waiting. eight

Pakistan is always on the boil in ten express the hope that their lives will improve in the next 5 years, and more than one-half reserve their criticism saying that "it is too early" to judge the success or failure of the process underway.

What haven't changed are egyptian views of the US. In midsummer 2011, only 5% held a favourable view of the US, pointing to American bias toward Israel and meddling in Arab affairs as the main reasons for their negative views, with 89% saying that US policies do not "contribute to peace and stability in the Arab World".

For the first time in our two decades of polling US attitudes toward the Arab World, we find that Americans now hold a net negative view of egypt. In the past, egypt always fared quite well in US opinion. Since the 1990s, egypt's favourable ratings have been between the mid-50% to mid-60% range. In the last year of President Mubarak's rule, positive US opinions toward egypt declined, slipping into the high 40% range. But with positive US media coverage of the demonstrations in Tahrir Square, favourable ratings shot up, increasing by 20 points. That was one year ago.

A more recent survey of American opinion, conducted in January of 2012, shows that the continued turmoil in egypt, the behaviour of the military authority (SCAF), and questions about the Muslim Brotherhood's new leadership role have dramatically altered US perceptions of egypt. Now only 32% of Americans have a favourable attitude toward egypt, with 34% holding a negative view (and 33% saying they are "not sure").

The poll also shows that some Americans are uneasy with political developments in egypt.

When asked specifically how they felt about the Muslim Brotherhood winning control in the last election, only 4% said that this was a "positive development for egypt.” Just 19% agreed that "this was the outcome of a democratic election and we must accept the results,” while 26% said that in their view this represented a "setback for egypt".

A rather substantial 39% were "not sure.”

These numbers are important. The emphasis given by egyptians to the need for material improvement in their lives, and the (maybe unrealistically) high level of optimism expressed by egyptians establish markers that neither the military government nor the new parliament can afford to ignore. There is also a cautionary note here that egypt's young revolutionaries should take note of. The public may still support the "revolution" that brought down the old regime, but what they want now are jobs and real improvement in the quality of their lives. As valid as the young revolutionaries' critique of the military and security services may be, and as important as their demands are, they must take care not to lose public support or allow the SCAF et al to drive a wedge between them and the broader public. egypt's leaders, both new and old, also need to be attentive to the dramatic drop in US public support. While in the past, egypt could count on high favourable rating from Americans – these positive ratings were mostly soft and derivative. Americans didn't really know egypt (what they did know were pyramids and the Sphinx), and US politicians knew that egypt could be counted on to support American policy – hence, they spoke well of egypt and its leader. Today, this has changed and the polls demonstrate the impact of this change. If egypt's military and government want to risk a confrontation with Washington, they may find that they have diminished American public support.

America, too, should take note of these polls. Wanting democracy for egypt may be noble, but US standing in egypt and the region, as a whole, is too low for American leaders to be using the bully-pulpit. What egyptians most want to see from the US is a change in America's regional policy and help in building their country's capacity to provide for people's basic needs.

The writer is President of the Arab-American Institute.

L

ast night it finally came to me. This feeling of unease, insecurity, uncertainty gurgling within like burning rocks, melting earth, sounds of guts spewing, imminent disaster. It’s like being inside a volcano.

That’s Pakistan today, a recipe for disaster, waiting to spew its bowels. Cooked by none other than us.

Pakistan and Pakistanis love making history, however ignominious it may be. Just the moment matters, not the ramifications.

Whether it is cricket or the highest in the land, emotions rule. We’ve seen it all. A former civilian prime minister sent to the gallows and now another civilian prime minister formally charged by the apex court of contempt.

Without going in to the grounds or stating an opinion as this is a matter in the court, one cannot help but comment upon the hamhandedness in handling the situation once the course was known. Last night, I had the privilege to spend a few minutes with a very senior legal eagle. He aptly used the phrase “loose lips sink ships”. More doesn’t need to be said.

The CJ apparently commented to the effect that the law is enforced only on the poor.

I think he is wrong. The law is not enforced or followed by rich and poor alike. He is probably unaware, sequestered by security and protocol, of the ground realities. Be it traffic violations, petty thievery or heinous crimes, law or justice is insignificant. Law has beRandom thoughts come a grandiose affair of inflated egos and excessive decorum pracBy Imran Husain ticed by those that can afford the luxury. And the ignoramus, in drawing rooms and electronic and print media, discusses it to death.

While events chart the course, this allegedly dysfunctional government has taken some positive strides towards continued political democracy. Parliament passed a landmark amendment, the emphasis being on the fact that it is unanimous. At the same time, the process for the much talked of elections to the Senate was commenced. Say what you may, this government has successfully manipulated legislative agenda during the currency of its term. It’s a major achievement given the fragmented mandate. In the process, the reputation of the combined political leadership has been enhanced for their commitment to democracy.

The country demands a cohesive response to multiple issues dominating the political, economic and development scenario. One cannot support those rejoicing in creating a further divide. There isn’t enough time for experiments. A path of stability with a goal in sight is the day’s need. Yet all around us,

we are given glimpses of alternatives that have not recorded an iota of success in sixty years.

At lunch the other day, I was seated at a table next to Imran’s would-be cabinet. He claims revolutionary measures to redeem Pakistan. Single-handedly I would assume, as he claimed he did the World cup, because what was seated on that table has achieved nothing and is ill-equipped to do so, however affable they maybe. Most are in the sixties but many in the seventies too. I am hoping God has a better future for Pakistan planned.

Then you take this DPC. A collection of failures and combination of all the retrograde elements that see themselves ruling a Pakistan reduced to a mediaeval state in total isolation and in continued threat of being bombed to smithereens with regularity. I am glad that, at least, against this organisation the editorials have been scathing and in keeping with total reality. The last thing the country needs is irrational rabble-rousing.

It’s incredible how all those that participated in the rule of this country for the last forty years and did nothing for it claim they are the answer to all the ills. What happened to them when they were in office and what achievements do they claim? It’s all very well to say they weren’t allowed to contribute, but that’s nonsense. How many of them have a ‘say’ now? How many can stand up and oppose the leaders of their parties? Let’s be real folks.

Pakistan needs seamless international relationships with neighbours and the world alike. Trade with India is a cornerstone towards commercial success; its colossal market is an obvious target for genuine traders. Relationships with China, United States and Russia are an essential part of being in the comity of nations. We need them. And they need us.

So let us quickly bury those that have little or nothing to offer but further erosion of our country’s prestige.

The importance of the press in enhancing the country’s image is invaluable. Unfortunately, it is in vogue to highlight the bad and ignore the good. A water heater explosion will make breaking news but a multi-million dollar world-class shopping mall or recreation hotspot will barely be mentioned. editors need to review the content thoroughly. Sensationalism may gain viewership and the advertisers’ fancy but is this today’s only need? The world reads and views. What we are projecting is a side of us that is not inherently Pakistan.

It’s not fair.

So much needs to be done. The country needs to get on with it. For another few weeks, the volcano will continue to spew smoke and rumble violently but we do not want it to burst. The fire must be quelled and, in the process, lessons learnt.

The writer may be contacted via e-mail at imranmhusain@gmail.com

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14

thursday, 16 February, 2012

Adele opens up about life changing year

IN LIMELIGHT

LOS ANGLES Adele, winner of six 2012 Grammy awards and arguably this year’s it-girl, recently graced the cover of vogue’s March issue. In an interview the singer, who is going places these days post her knock-out Grammy wins, discussed everything from her surgery to the latest man in her life, 37-year-old Simon Konecki. “He looks after me. I don’t think I would have gotten through the recovery for my surgery if it hadn’t been for him,” she said. While her current love life is great, she said, she discussed her past boyfriend, a man 10 years older her senior, whom she keeps anonymous, but who inspired her album, ‘21’: “If I hadn’t met him, I think I’d still be that little girl I was when I was eighteen. And the best thing is I now know what I want for myself and from someone else. I didn’t know what I wanted before.” Her songs about love are ones that everyone can relate to: “When I sing ‘Someone Like You,’ I know that every single person in the room will be able to relate to it.

That’s where that emotional connection comes from. I have sympathy for myself, I have sympathy for them, they have sympathy for me, and I know that we are all there knowing exactly how each other feels. It’s like a big pact. You can just feel it. You can slice it.” Her relatable music and vocal talent are likely why Adele received such a strong standing ovation from her musical peers at this year’s Grammy Awards.

G Five Mobile held its 2nd anniversary fashion show organised by hina enterprises

Baahir holds exhibition

Mehwash and Naiab

NEWS DESK Baahir, The leading outdoor lifestyle company is holding it exhibition in Lahore at Mussawar Furnishers (front lawn) adjacent to Bundu Khan at the Qaddaffi Stadium from the 17th to the 19th of February. The brand is offering discounts up to 15 percent on all products and will also be offering a 20 to 25 percent discount on selective Rattan Furniture. The company is one of the first to introduce Rattan furniture manufacturing here in Pakistan, retaining and enhancing their reputation to provide superior quality furniture to its customers. For the summer of 2012, using the misting technology, Baahir will also be introducing a much needed antimosquito/dengue system in Lahore. Baahir products are available in leading cities such as Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar with their own standalone stores complete with after-sales customer care.

John snubs Bipasha for calling him an oldie MuMBAI: while former lovers Deepika Padukone and ranbir Kapoor seemed to have kissed and made up, another former couple Bipasha Basu and John abraham seem to still have bitter feelings about each other. the couple who were in a relationship for nine long years split up last year. and ever since then have been avoiding each other like plague. the stars also have nothing pleasant to talk about each other it seems. when recently a daily asked Bips about John’s impending marriage to current girlfriend Priya runchal, the bong beauty promptly replied, “i really wish he gets married. he is getting old.” when John was asked to react on his ex girlfriend’s remark, the actor simply refused to acknowledge the statement. “i have been very busy with my work. honestly, i absolutely have no idea about what she has said about me.

So, i would rather not dwell on it at all. it’s been four and a half years since i stopped getting a newspaper at home, so i don’t read what people say about me in interviews,” said the ‘Desi Boyz’ star. when he was probed about his marriage plans, John said, “i love the idea of marriage. over a period of time, i have become fiercely protective about my personal space. when i say no comments, i genuinely mean it.

Professionally, i am on a high and personally i would like to guard that space.” while John remained mum about his marriage plans, Bips was a little more open as she said, “currently, there are too many men who want to date me, so i have to be careful. if i find an eligible man who fits the bill, i’ll get married too.” we know that the Shahid Kapoors and rana Daggubatis of the world are very keen on dating you Bips and that you are loving the attention, but calling your ex old is perhaps not a good idea. agenCIeS

Ahmed and Areeba

3

Ali and Roma

Areeba and Roma

Deepika goes dark

MuMBAI: Deepika Padukone is all set to darken her skintone for rajinikanth’s ‘Kochadaiyaan’. the actor’s complexion is reportedly few shades lighter than the south superstar. reportedly, this decision was taken to increase their on-screen compatibility in the movie. “we’re applying a special imported technique to the film wherein the actors’ looks, including their skin-tone, has to be compatible. in ‘Kochadaiyyan’, the demands of digitalised filmmaking are different. Deepika’s complexion is many shades lighter than rajiniji’s. when we suggested that her skin colour should be suitably modified on screen, Deepika sportingly agreed,” a source said. on tuesday, Deepika flew to chennai for the ‘looks’ test. in a marathon session, after comparing her skin-tone to rajinikanth’s, it will be digitally darkened to match his. “the demands and dynamics of the technique known as ‘performance-capturing’ that we’re using for the first time in indian cinema are different. it requires many adjustments and modulation in the actors’ on-screen performance and personality. Deepika has an important role.

She is completely in-sync with the unique technique and willing to do whatever is required,” co-producer Dr Murli Manohar said. AgENCIES

1. BerLiN: Meryl Streep reacts as she receives the honorary Golden Bear for her life’s work at the Berlinale.

2. MaDriD: Daniel radcliffe poses during the premiere of ‘the woman in Black’.

3. toKYo: Jude Law poses during a press conference for his film ‘Sherlock holmes, a Game of Shadows’.

Shahid Kapoor won’t work with

Karan Johar

MuMBAI: Shahid Kapoor’s dream of working with Karan Johar’s Dharma productions will have to wait for a while. the actor, who had been keen to star in Punit Malhotra’s next venture with the banner, has had to opt out due to date problems. and this is no good news for the young filmmaker either. after his debut directorial ‘i hate Luv Storys’, Punit has wanted imran Khan for his next. imran, busy with his Vishal Bhardwaj film ‘Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola’ had been unable to allot dates to Punit. that’s when Shahid had stepped in. however, now, even Shahid’s inclusion in the project isn’t possible. according to a source close to the project, “Shahid, Punit and Kjo have had multiple meetings. this was going to be Shahid’s first film with Dharma. everything was going great until Maneesh Sharma had a slip disc.” Sharma’s next film with Shahid yet untitled has been pushed to July-august because of his illness. that’s the time when Punit’s film goes on floors too. Shahid, who had already committed to Maneesh’s project, thus had to opt out of the Dharma venture. “Shahid spoke to Karan about it. it was a mutual decision. they have decided to do another film together,” added the source. Punit’s problem of losing his lead actor is now being worked out by Karan Johar himself. “Karan is looking for a suitable replacement for Shahid,” said the source. AgENCIES

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Whitney Houston

15 ‘cinema, theatre can promote Urdu’

was ‘secret lesbian’ LOS ANGELES

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AgENCIES

OMe of Whitney Houston’s friends, including gay rights activist Peter Tatchell have said that the singer took to drugs and drinks because she was hiding her true sexuality.

Tatchell even insisted her marriage to Bobby Brown was a smokescreen, and that she was “only really happy” in the 1980s when she was with a “lesbian partner”. “It’s important to tell the truth about this aspect of her life,” the Daily Star quoted him as saying. Although the Britain-based Tatchell didn’t say who the partner was, other sources said it was her ex-assistant Robyn Crawford. Crawford wrote a valentine’s-themed tribute to Houston hours after she died, saying she could not believe she would never again see her “peachy skin”, feel her hugs or hear her laughter. Tatchell’s claims were backed by accounts from Houston’s sister-in-law and her ex-bodyguard Kevin Ammons. even her former husband has hinted their marriage was a cover-up for her desire for women. “Whitney was happiest and at her peak in the 1980s when she was with her female partner,” Tatchell said. “They were so loved up and joyful together. Perhaps her inability to accept and express her same-sex love contributed to her substance abuse and decline,” he added. His comments sparked a storm of outrage from Whitney fans who branded him a “racist f***” and slammed him for taking a “cheap shot” by “outing” a dead woman, but he stood his ground. “Colluding with the cover-up of her same-sex relationship

NEWS DESK

is not right. She was pressured into the Bobby Brown marriage. It was a disaster. Her life started going downhill soon afterwards,” he said. The campaigner also praised the star for her work supporting HIv sufferers after he met her at a 1991 gay rights rally in London.

Houston’s closest relatives said they also believed she was gay. Bobby Brown’s sister, Tina Brown, told how Houston had wild sex sessions with women while out of her mind on crack cocaine. “I saw her with a woman a couple of times,” she said. She said the singer’s drug habit made her even crazier than usual for sex with girls. Bobby, 43, wrote in his biography that he was convinced she had a “different agenda”. “The marriage was doomed from

the beginning,” he wrote. Ammons said Crawford slapped Houston when she saw her flirting with men and was furious when she vowed to marry Brown. He also claimed she paid off ex-publicist Regina Brown to keep quiet about her affair with Crawford. The former assistant’s tribute to Houston was published in a US magazine barely a day after the 48-yearold’s body was found in a bath at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, California. She had taken a cocktail of drugs and booze. “I first met Whitney when I was 16 and knew right away she was special,” she said. However, Houston had herself spoken out against the lesbian rumours in 2000. “I am a mother, not a lesbian. I am not gay,” she had said.

Noori rocks india with first performance NEWS DESK

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One of the leading music bands of Pakistan, Noori received a very warm welcome in India during its first performance there. Noori has been performing live at various award shows and concerts in Pakistan after releasing two music albums, ‘Suno Ke Main Hun Jawan’, and ‘Peeli Patti Aur Raja Jani Ki Gol Dunya’. But it was the first time for them performing across the border.

Noori’s first ever stunning performance earned the band many compliments and appreciation. Noori’s Indian fans saw the band some of its greatest hits. The band was also joined by other Pakistani singers, including Saeen Zahoor, Arif Lohar and Meesha Shafi. The concert was a huge success and the performances were appreciated by the attendees.

Ali Zafar, who is busy promoting his upcoming film ‘London, Paris, New York’, says cinema can help to promote Urdu, which he feels is on the decline in theatre and movies. “I feel the use of pure Urdu has declined. It is important to keep it alive as it is a beautiful language. It should be used in mainstream theatre and Bollywood. It’s important for the new generation to learn Urdu,” the 31-year-old said at a promotional event of the movie.

Ali made the remarks while speaking about Urdu poet Akhlaq Mohammed Khan, who wrote under the pen name Shahryar and who died Monday after battling lung cancer. “Someone once asked me, who do you like spending time with and who impresses you the most? I said, ‘Writers. The might of the pen is the greatest. So I felt sad after hearing the news of his demise,” said Ali, who has also composed music and written the lyrics for ‘London, Paris, New York’. The movie releases March 2.

Scentsation celebrates Valentine’s Day 2012 NEWS DESK Luxury fragrance retailer Scentsation celebrated valentine’s Day 2012 in the company of many celebrities and media personalities at their flagship store at Park Towers and Dolmen Mall Clifton, Karachi. The leading fragrance retailer’s valentine’s Day celebrations continued for three days. Along with Scentsation fragrances, skincare and cosmetics, there were flowers, heart candles, chocolate temptations, and special valentine baskets on display at the stores. Scentsation CeO Mohsin Firoz, director Tehseen Firoz and the Business Development Head Zarmina Khilji organised the event. Scentsation valentine’s Day celebrations were well attended by celebrities like Sunita Marshal and Hassan Ahmed, fashion designers Nadya Mistry, YBQ, Shiza Hassan, Munib Nawaz and youth icons such as Zhalay Sarhadi, Sidra Iqbal, Azzfar Rehman, and television anchors Kiran Khan, and Saniya Hasan. The PR and media of the Scentsation event was managed and designed by Statuspro.

Oprah and Gaga Unite! Sanjay’s LOS ANgELES: two of the world’s most powerful females have teamed up to empower the youth. on February 29, oprah will join Lady Gaga on stage at the harvard University to help launch the singer’s Born this way Foundation, an organisation that touts the mission statement: “this way, towards Bravery, where Youth are empowered. this way, towards acceptance, where humanity is embraced. this way, towards Love, where individuality is encouraged.” Joining oprah & Gaga on stage will be Deepak chopra along with various governmental and educational representatives to reinforce that multiple branches of the political sphere are-like her Little Monsters-100 percent behind Lady Gaga’s message.

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‘misbehaviour’

rumours sheer nonsense: Ameesha MuMBAI: all is not well between good friends Sanjay Dutt and ameesha Patel. it was reported that during the sangeet ceremony of filmmaker rohit Dhawan, ameesha was wearing a chanya-choli that revealed her cleavage awkwardly. and this did not go well with her senior colleague who asked her to cover it up with a dupatta. But when the lady declined listening to Sanju Baba’s advice, he went ahead and covered her up himself. and this miffed the actress as she does not appreciate anyone telling her what she should be doing. an eye-witness said, “Sanju is a very traditional guy who doesn’t like women wearing revealing outfits. he politely told her that she was like his sister and shouldn’t dress like that. he also took her duppatta (which she had taken on the side) and covered her bosom. he never imagined that she would have a problem with that. But ameesha just took off. She started screaming and yelling at Dutt that what she did was none of his business. Sanju was taken aback and quietly walked off from the scene of the ‘crime’. the next day he flew back to Mumbai.” Dutt seemed to be very upset with the way ameesha had allegedly behaved. he said, “i have always thought of ameesha as a sister. i would’ve done the same with my sisters Priya and Namrata if i felt that they were dressed unsuitably at an event.” however, ameehsa denied accusing Sanjay of misbehaving with her and said, “Sanju is very protective about me. he’s such a dear friend that he can never ever misbehave. in fact, Sanju would himself kill if someone would try to touch me. all these cheap rumours of ‘misbehaviour’ is sheer nonsense and spread by jealous losers.” AgENCIES

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16 Foreign News

thursday, 16 February, 2012

At least 272 dead in Honduras prison fire COMAYAGUA

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AfP

T least 272 inmates were killed and dozens injured when a fire tore through a prison in central Honduras, the Central American country’s prisons director said Wednesday.

“We are pulling out bodies,” said prisons director Danilo Orellana. “The situation is serious. Most have suffocated,” adding that the fire did not appear to have been caused by a riot. The fire was believed

to have broken out around 10:50 pm Tuesday (0450 GMT Wednesday), Orellana said, adding that investigators were looking into whether it was caused by an inmate or by a short circuit. The prison, located some 90 kilometers (56 miles) north of the capital city of Tegucigalpa, held around 850 prisoners. Orellana added that official were already at work trying to determine what caused the blaze.

“We’re bringing in all of our forensic equipment,” he said. Witnesses said some of the inmates escaped the blaze by jumping from the prison rooftop, and there

were reports that some of them had fled the facility and were on the loose.

Meanwhile desperate relatives waited for word about the fate of their loved ones. At the break of dawn Wednesday there were already hundreds lined up at the prison gates. “My brother Roberto Mejia was in unit six,” said an emotional Glenda Mejia. “They’ve told me that the inmates from that unit are all dead,” she told AFP. Next to her, Carlos Ramirez was waiting outside the facility for word about his brother elwin, imprisoned on a murder conviction, who also was housed in

unit six. “I haven’t been told anything,” Carlos Ramirez said, his voice breaking.

It was the worst disaster to strike a penal facility in Honduras in years.

Latin American prisons are notoriously overcrowded, particularly in poor Central American states like Honduras, which are gripped by gang violence and drug trafficking. The most recent similar disaster in Honduras, in May 2004, killed around 100 inmates during a fire at a prison in San Pedro Sula, which was blamed on structural problems at the facility.

Sri lanka agrees to probe war crimes ahead of un meet COLOMBO AfP

Sri Lanka’s army on Wednesday agreed for the first time to probe war crime charges against its troops and investigate allegations of prisoner executions made in a British Tv documentary. Army chief Jagath Jayasuriya appointed a court of inquiry to investigate charges that troops were responsible for killing civilians and prisoners in the final stages of their war against Tamil rebels in 2009, an army statement said. The dramatic U-turn from the security establishment came two days after the United States warned that the Indian Ocean island would face censure at next month’s UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva. Lieutenant General Jayasuriya asked a five-member panel of officers to investigate allegations against the force, including that it executed prisoners as claimed in a documentary by Britain’s Channel Four television channel.

The probe is a major shift for Sri Lanka’s armed forces, which had insisted that it did not kill a single civilian while crushing the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in a no-holdsbarred offensive that ended in May 2009.

The army said the inquiry was ordered after the government’s own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), a panel which probed why a 2002 truce collapsed, said civilians had died as a result of military action.

india to test new long-range missile NEW DELHI AfP

COMAYAguA: Relatives of inmates await outside the National Prison of Comayagua compound in Honduras on Wednesday where at least 272 prisoners were killed in a fire. AFP

More than 1.8m dead on US voter lists: study WASHINGTON AfP

More than 1.8 million dead Americans remain listed as active voters, according to a study released Tuesday which described the US voter registration system as “plagued with errors and inefficiencies.” The research conducted by the non-partisan Pew Center on the States also revealed that one in every eight voter records contains inaccuracies, and at least 51 million eligible voters are not registered to take part in elections. The study comes as the United States prepares for presidential and congressional elections in November. “voter registration is the gateway to participating in our democracy, but these antiquated, paper-based systems are plagued with errors and inefficiencies,” said David Becker, director of election Initiatives at Pew. “These problems waste taxpayer dollars, undermine voter confidence and fuel partisan disputes over the integrity of our elections.” Of the approximately 24 million incorrect voter registrations across the country, or 13 percent of the national total, more than 1.8 million of those are for people who are deceased, the center found. Another 2.75 million people are registered in more than one state. About 12 million records contain incorrect addresses, meaning either the voters have moved or the Postal Service would have trouble finding them, it said. Some of the errors can be explained by the fact that one in eight Americans moved during the 2008 and 2010 election years, mainly young people and members of the US military.

Berlusconi should go to prison for bribery: prosecutors ROME AfP

Italian ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s legal woes returned to haunt him Wednesday as Milan prosecutors asked he be sentenced to five years in prison for bribing his former tax lawyer.

“It is certain, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the defendant is guilty,” prosecutor Fabio De Pasquale told a court in a damning attack in which he accused Berlusconi’s defence of being entirely “based on false documents.”

Berlusconi is accused of paying British lawyer David Mills $600,000 (450,000 euros) to provide false testimony in several trials against the tycoon in the 1990s. He denies the charges and accuses prosecutors of plotting against him.

The request that the media magnate serve time in jail is largely symbolic. even if Berlusconi is convicted, the 75year-old is unlikely to ever serve time in prison since sentencing guidelines in Italy are lenient for

over-70s and the case is due to expire under a statute of limitations this year.

“It would be a major blow to his prestige nationally and internationally,” said James Walston, a professor at the American University in Rome.

Mills, a specialist in offshore tax havens, was convicted by a Milan court in 2009 and sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail, but an appeals court threw out the corruption case in 2010 because it had run out of time.

The court did however denounce what it described as “a case of very serious corruption”, which was taken by legal experts as an admission that it believed Berlusconi was guilty in corrupting Mills.

Mills, estranged husband of former cabinet minister Tessa Jowell, told the Milan court in December that his own claim in a letter that he had received the money from “the B. people” was in fact “pure imagination”.

Prosecutors argued Wednesday that Mills was lying

when he retracted his initial claim, Italian media said.

The trial against the flamboyant former premier for paying the bribe was previously suspended thanks to a law passed when he was prime minister, and prosecutors’ attempts to see him behind bars now may come too late.

The defence has accused the judges sitting in the Milan court of being biased against the former premier and have asked for the case to be moved to another court. An appeals court is set to rule on their request on February 18. Should they support the defence’s request, the trial will be moved to a fresh court and would start again from scratch. even if the Milan court is found to be competent, the case is set to expire under a statute of limitations later this year.

“In practical terms it means nothing, the statute of limitations is about to kick in. even if he was convicted, there would be an appeal and the case would be thrown out. He’s not going to go to jail,” Walston said.

India will next month test a new longrange nuclear-capable missile which can strike targets more than 5,000 kilometres (3,100 miles) away, a defence research spokesman said on Wednesday. The announcement came three months after India successfully tested its Agni-Iv missile, which was previously the longest range missile possessed by the armed forces capable of travelling 3,500 kilometres. “The trial of Agni-v is planned for March and its individual technologies and sub-systems have been tested and everything is fine,” a spokesman for the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) told AFP. “Agni-v is a highly accurate and state-of-art missile system which can carry nuclear weapons,” the official said, declining to disclose the size of the warhead it could carry. Agni means fire in Sanskrit language. The DRDO spokesman said India, which carried out a string of nuclear detonations in 1998, was developing an array of ballistic missiles as a “deterrence” and the move should not be seen as a threat to any country.

indian PM in ‘major step’ to solve power crisis NEW DELHI AfP

India’s prime minister ordered the country’s state-run coal mining giant on Wednesday to guarantee supplies to the private power sector in a bid to alleviate the nation’s chronic energy shortages. Coal India, responsible for 80 percent of India’s coal output, will sign 20year fuel supply agreements with those power plants having a capacity of more than 50,000 megawatts, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s office said in a statement. This is “a major step forward in solving the problems of power sector in the country and is likely to boost investors’ confidence in India’s power sector,” the statement said. The announcement came after Singh pledged last month to ease endemic power shortages in the country of 1.2 billion people at a meeting with top executives from India’s power sector.

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thursday, 16 February, 2012

Foreign News 17

over 120 hurt in Bahrain clashes, dialogue sought MANAMA REutERS

More than 120 protesters have been wounded in clashes with police in Bahrain this week, activists said on Wednesday, and a Shi’ite politician said contacts to resolve the Sunni-ruled Gulf monarchy’s year-long crisis had begun. Activists using the name “February 14 Youth Coalition” called for more demonstrations a day after protests to mark the first anniversary of a violently suppressed pro-democracy uprising.

“There were over 100 cases on Tuesday and 37 of them are bad, with head injuries and fractures,” said a medic who works with researchers of an international organization and who asked not to be identified. “On Monday we had 20 people (wounded) in all villages around the country.” The medic said some casualties had been hit by birdshot pellets, which Bahraini police deny using. Most of the wounded are treated in village homes or private health clinics because majority Shi’ite protesters fear they will be arrested if they go to government hospitals. Ahmed, 20, said he had been struck by birdshot on Tuesday during clashes with police in one of several Shi’ite districts that ring Pearl Roundabout, the hub of last year’s unrest and now a zone sealed by barbed wire and a National Guard camp. “I threw a rock and then one of them (police) stood and shot straight at me. One of the pellets just missed my head,” he said, sitting on a mattress on the ground in visible pain.

Afghan teens were armed when bombed: nATo KABUL AfP

The US-led NATO force in Afghanistan on Wednesday conceded that eight young men were killed during a recent air strike but insisted they were armed teenagers who posed a “threat” to soldiers. Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the air strikes in the northeastern province of Kapisa, where French troops are based, and ordered an investigation after saying that eight children were killed on February 8.

British Air Commodore Mike Wigston told a news conference that there was no doubt that eight young men were killed in the bombing raid. He expressed his condolences over the deaths, saying they were not targeted because they were necessarily Taliban or insurgents, but because they appeared a threat to Afghan and French troops operating in the area. “I’m in no doubt of what villagers said, that eight young men died on that day. It’s clear to me that it’s the case. Who they were, what they were doing, we may never know for certain,” Wigston told reporters. Mohammad Tahir Safi, a member of parliament for Kapisa and part of an investigation team dispatched by Karzai, said the dead were aged between six and 14, with another man aged 18 to 20 who was mentally ill. NATO said the military was examining photographs of the bodies to estimate their ages, but said they were “closer to 15-16, with one older”. “These were young Afghans. They were adult sized, athletic, strong, walking perfectly in the valley. I have no doubt that they were carrying weapons,” Wigston told reporters.

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan riot police unleash water cannon onto demonstrators on Wednesday. AFP

Assad sets Syria vote to end near 50-year Baath rule DAMASCUS

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YRIA’S president has called a referendum on a new constitution that would effectively end nearly five decades of single party rule, state media said Wednesday, as troops reportedly stormed protest hubs.

A day after flatly rejecting UN allegations of crimes against humanity, Bashar al-Assad called the national vote for February 26, in a move clearly aimed at placating growing global outrage over the bloodshed. Under the newly drafted charter, freedom is “a sacred right” and “the people will govern the people” in a multi-party democratic system, state television said.

The new constitution also states that Islamic case law will be used as a source for legislation and that the president must be Muslim and older than 40. It also prohibits parties based on religion. Assad, who in April lifted a state of emergency in force since 1963, when his Baath Party took power, has made repeated promises of reforms that have failed to materialise since a popular uprising erupted on March 15. The embattled president, who succeeded his late father Hafez in 2000, has said the constitution would usher in a “new era” for Syria, SANA state news agency reported. Russia, a major weapons supplier to Damascus, welcomed the move.

“We certainly believe a new constitution to end one-party rule in Syria is a step forward. It is a welcome idea and we hope the constitution will be adopted,”

said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Assad’s latest move came as activists said troops stormed the central city of Hama and stepped up their assault on protest hubs nationwide, defiant in the face of mounting Arab and Western efforts to end the bloodshed.

Further to the south, an explosion struck an oil pipeline at daybreak in the flashpoint city of Homs, with activists saying government forces bombed it from the air and state media blaming “armed terrorist gangs.” The pipeline blast in Homs sent up columns of black smoke over the central city, according to footage uploaded by opposition activists to videosharing website YouTube. On the ground, however, troops launched an assault on the city of Hama, just north of Homs, where loud blasts could be heard in the Hamidiyeh and other neighbourhoods, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based monitoring group, said ongoing clashes had killed 20 people, including nine civilians, in Al-Atareb, northwestern Aleppo province.

A bomb blast killed three people in Jisr al-Shughur, a 16-year-old schoolgirl was shot dead in southern Daraa province and gunfire and explosions rocked the northern city of Idlib, said the Observatory. Five soldiers died when a bomb attached to their armoured vehicle by army deserters exploded in the town of Sermin, Idlib province, it added. In Damascus, dozens of young Syrians gathered in front of the Russian embassy to thank Moscow and Beijing for their support, state television reported.

Thailand charges iranian bomb suspects BANGKOK AfP

Un general assembly to vote thursday on Syria UNITED NATIONS AfP

The United Nations General Assembly will vote Thursday on a new resolution calling on Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to put a stop to deadly attacks on civilians, diplomats said. The resolution drawn up by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which was given to member nations on Tuesday, also expresses support for the Arab League’s plan to end the 11-month crackdown in Syria and calls for the naming of a UN special envoy. The move comes after Russia and China vetoed a second Security Council resolution on the crisis in Syria on February 4, because they said it was “unbalanced.” Russia and China are expected to oppose the new text but no one can veto resolutions in the 193-nation General Assembly, though they carry less weight.

Diplomats said the measure was almost sure to pass.

Thailand charged two Iranians Wednesday over an alleged bomb plot against Israeli diplomats, officials said, piling pressure on Tehran amid accusations of a terror campaign against the Jewish state.

Tensions between the Middle east archfoes have risen sharply following three bomb incidents in world capitals in less than 24 hours, but Iran angrily rejected accusations that it was to blame. On Monday bombers targeted Israeli embassy staff in India and Georgia before escaping.

In Bangkok, two Iranians were detained over three blasts which rattled the city Tuesday. They were charged with causing an illegal explosion and other offences, Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said. “We cannot say yet if it’s a terrorist act,” he told reporters, “but it’s similar to the assassination attempt against a diplomat in India.” One of the men — named as 28-year-old Saeid Morati — had his legs blown off as he hurled an explosive device at Thai police while fleeing an earlier, apparently unintended, blast at a house in the Thai capital, officials said.

He was unconscious but in a stable condition, according to the Bangkok hospital where he was treated. A second Iranian suspect was detained trying to board a flight out of the country while a third suspect is believed to have fled to Malaysia, they said.

Malaysia arrests iranian over Thai blasts KUALA LUMPUR AfP

Iran has new centrifuges, nuclear fuel plates TEHRAN AfP

State television reported on Wednesday that Iran has made advances in its nuclear programme, building new uranium enrichment centrifuges and producing its own nuclear reactor fuel plates. The announcement, to be confirmed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad later Wednesday, was likely to further unsettle the United States and allies who believe Iran is also forging ahead with atomic weapon development.

Iran has developed “4th generation centrifuges” made of carbon fibre that are “speedier, produce less waste and occupy less space” as they spin at supersonic speeds to purify uranium, state television reported, citing Iran’s Atomic energy Organisation. Iran also created its own 20percent fuel plates for a research reactor in Tehran whose stock of fuel sourced from Argentina in the 1990s is running low, the report said. The television also said that Iran had made progress in 20 percent uranium enrichment at its Natanz facility, beyond enrichment.

iran stops oil exports to six eu countries TEHRAN REutERS

Iran has stopped oil exports to six european states in retaliation for european Union sanctions imposed on the Islamic state’s key export, its english-language Press Tv reported on Wednesday. “Iran cuts its oil exports to six european countries,” Press Tv reported. Press Tv said Iran

has stopped exporting oil to Netherlands, Greece, France, Portugal, Spain and Italy. Brent crude oil prices were up $1 a barrel to $118.35 shortly after the announcement. The eU’s 27 member states have decided to stop importing crude from Iran from July 1 over its disputed nuclear programme, which the West says is aimed at building bombs. Iran denies this.

Malaysian authorities on Wednesday arrested an Iranian suspected in an alleged bomb plot against Israeli diplomats in Thailand, Malaysia’s police chief said. The Iranian was among three suspects in the bombings that rattled the Thai capital Bangkok on Tuesday and have piled pressure on Tehran amid accusations of a terror campaign against the Jewish state. A statement released by Malaysian police chief Ismail Omar late Wednesday said authorities arrested the suspect in the capital Kuala Lumpur at 3:30 pm (0730 GMT). “The Iranian was arrested under the Immigration Act of Malaysia out of intelligence provided by Thai counterparts,” the statement said. “He is being investigated for terrorism activities in relation to bombings in Thailand.”

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thursday, 16 February, 2012

hantuchova, Lisicki upset in Doha Page 21

cancer-hit Yuvraj gets armstrong boost

Proteas eye top Test spot in New Zealand WELLINGTON

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NEW DELHI AfP

India's cancer-stricken World Cup star Yuvraj Singh said Wednesday he was inspired after getting a message from US cycling legend Lance Armstrong wishing him a speedy recovery. "Message from @lancearmstrong makes me feel better! Thank you lance means a lot hope we can meet," tweeted Yuvraj, who is undergoing chemotherapy in the United States for a malignant tumour located between his lungs. The ace allrounder, named man of the tournament after India's World Cup win in April last year, already said he had been drawing inspiration from Armstrong, who overcame testicular cancer to win the Tour de France seven times. A photo of the message, posted on Yuvraj's twitter account, read: "Yuvi, I want you to know that the entire LIveSTRONG team is here for you. "We say it all the time, and truly believe in it: Knowledge is power, Unity is strength, and Attitude is everything. Please know that we are here to help you and your family in any way possible. Go Yuvi!! Livestrong." Yuvraj had earlier tweeted that he was reading Armstrong's book "It's Not About The Bike", saying: "I'm sure the book will motivate me and pull me through this difficult time." He had a dream run in the World Cup, scoring 362 runs and grabbing 15 wickets in nine matches. He has not played competitive cricket since taking part in two of three home Tests against the West Indies in November. Yuvraj has so far scored 8,051 runs in 274 one-dayers and 1,775 runs in 37 Tests since making his international debut in 2000.

AfP

OUTH Africa open hostilities Friday against New Zealand on a six-week tour they hope will climax with a 3-0 Test sweep that would see them topple england from the top of the Test rankings. The tour begins in earnest with a Twenty20 international in Wellington but most attention will focus on next month's Test series as South Africa, currently second in the ICC world rankings, look to become top dogs. england's lead in the rankings was slashed to a single point after their humiliating 3-0 whitewash against Pakistan, meaning South Africa can overtake them if they post a similar scoreline in the Test series against New Zealand.

However, the Proteas have never managed a clean sweep in a three-Test

series against the Black Caps and coach Gary Kirsten conceded his charges may have trouble adapting to unpredictable wickets. "For any team it takes a bit of time to adjust to the weather and wickets," he said. "The wickets can be quite different every time you come here."

The tour, including three T20 internationals, three one-day internationals and three Tests, will provide a gauge for New Zealand coach John Wright of how far his team has come following his appointment in December 2010.

Wright guided the Black Caps to the semi-finals of last year's World Cup in a campaign which included a shock quarter-final win over South Africa that was marred by an ugly spat after Proteas batsman AB de villiers, now the one-day and T20 skipper, was

run out. New Zealand also scored a rare Test victory on Australian soil to draw a series with the Baggy Greens in December and Wright has unearthed a rich seam of young talent, including batsman Kane Williams and seamer Doug Bracewell.

And they are confident after a string of comprehensive wins over Zimbabwe over the past month in a Test match, three one-dayers and two T20 matches.

Kirsten, whose team is coming off a Test series win over Sri Lanka last month, said the World Cup bust-up with New Zealand was in the past and his players would not be drawn into a slanging match with the home side.

"I don't think we're going to be worrying too much about what New Zealand are doing," he said. "We feel if we play really good cricket and don't say anything we're going to win more games than we'll lose. If New Zealand feel they want to get verbal with us, that's their business."

curtis cup manager turner dies aged 50 LONDON AfP

The manager of Britain and Ireland's Curtis Cup team Sue Turner has died after a long illness, the Royal & Ancient announced in a statement on Wednesday.

Turner, 50, had been battling illness since last year but had been due to manage Britain and Ireland's amateur women against the United States in this year's edition of the team golf event. "Needless to say I am absolutely speechless and devastated, as are her family and so many friends," Curtis Cup captain Tegwen Matthews said. "Sue Turner's passion for her family, Wales, golf and life itself was intoxicating and infectious. "Sue without a doubt was the most successful Welsh captain ever and her rapport and motivation of all the girls in her teams was second to none. "Sue and I were so looking forward to the Curtis Cup and I am extremely heavy-hearted that she will not be there with me." Turner played for Wales on six occasions between 1982 and 1994 and captained them to the home international championship in 2008 and 2009. This year's Curtis Cup takes place at Nairn, Scotland from June 8-10.

InternatIonal PhySICal dISabIlIty SerIeS

Matloob, husnain crack tons in Pakistan’s win over england LAHORE StAff REPORt

Pakistan's disabled cricket team members, Major Husnain Alam and Matloob Qureshi cracked centuries to steer their country to an exciting 79-runs victory over england in the first One-day match of the three-match International Physical Disability Series being held at the International Cricket Council Global Cricket Academy Oval ground. According to reports received here, Alam, who lost his left foot in a mine blast, cracked 136 runs off just 105 balls with 19 boundaries and one six while Matloob whose right hand had to be amputated following a road accident hit an unbeaten 113 runs off 110 balls with 12 boundaries.

The duo put on 233 runs for the second wicket after Pakistan opener Altaf Ahmad was trapped lbw by england skipper James Williams for four runs. It was a spectacular batting display from Pakistan after they won the toss and elected to bat. Pakistan posted a mammoth 285 for 5 in the allotted 40 overs despite Williams trapping two down batsman Rao Javed leg before. england batsmen took up the challenge and brilliantly chased the total and transformed the match into a memorable contest. Showing no signs of nervousness and playing positive cricket, england openers Gordan

Laidlaw and 16-year-old Callum Flynn put on 72 runs for the opening wicket. Mohammad Kalam, whose right foot was amputated following a road accident, trapped laid law leg before for 23. Flynn too fall leg before to left-arm spinner Fayyaz Ahmed for 32. Two wickets down for 74, Shaun Rigby hit 28 runs along with Sam

Wyles (11) to see england total past the 100 run mark.

Amer Ahmed put the brakes on england trapping Rigby leg before and also getting skipper Williams stumped by wicketkeeper Danish Ahmed for 15.

According to Gulf News, england still refused to give up and chased through Mathew Askin, who hit an unbeaten 30, and Liam Thomas who remained unconquered on 23. Though they put on an unbeaten 47 runs for the seventh wicket, england were restricted to 206 for 6. Though it was disappointing for england to lose despite the hard chase, england and Wales Cricket Board National Disability Manager Ian Martin said they are raring to come back and win the second One-day on Friday. "It's quite phenomenal and we'd expected some heads to drop but that's not been the case. The atmosphere around the group even after the loss is remarkable.

The players are bouncing off each other, there are some strong characters in there and they were all buzzing." brieF sCores: Pakistan bt england by 79 runs Pakistan 285 for 5 in 40 overs (Matloob Qureshi 113 not out, Hasnain Alam 136; James Williams 2 for 61) england 206 for 6 in 40 overs (Gordan Laidlaw 23, Callum Flynn 32, Shaun Rigby 28, Mathew Askin 30n.o; Liam Thomas 23n.o, Ameer Ahmad 2 for 37) Man of the Match: Matloob Qureshi.

Refugee to role model for Afghan skipper ABU DHABI AfP

He is the rugged face of Afghan cricket with a story fit for the big screen, and he embodies not only his nation's turbulent past, but its hopes for a brighter future.

When Nawroz Mangal led Afghanistan against Pakistan last week, it was the end of a long journey which started with his family's flight from Soviet troops, and continued when he picked up bat and ball as a young refugee.

According to Mangal, now 27, the enduring legacy from those tough days in hard-scrabble Pakistani border camps is a love of cricket which has now blossomed into a successful international career.

"That period was difficult for all the family," the Afghan captain told AFP in an interview. "We were financially hit and living in refugee camps was very tough on us.

"The best part of those ugly days was that I learnt this beautiful game of cricket."

It was "this beautiful game" which pitted Mangal's Afghanistan against Pakistan for their first top-level one-day international in Sharjah, United Arab emirates, with the debutants losing by seven wickets.

Regardless of the result, it was a landmark event greeted with high excitement in the war-wrecked nation -- even by mem-

bers of the Taliban -- which has taken cricket to its hearts. Mangal is the figurehead for Afghanistan's cricket revolution as the most recognisable player of a squad which learned the game on rudimentary pitches in the Pakistani camps.

But he says the biggest obstacle to his cricket career was his father, who wanted him to follow his two brothers by becom-

ing a doctor and looking after the injured soldiers and civilians in his war-ravaged homeland. It took skilful persuasion from coach Taj Malik -- one of the pioneers of cricket in Afghanistan -- who travelled to the border camp to convince Mangal's father of his son's talent. Mangal calls those early days "hard to forget". But once the Taliban were overthrown by US-led

troops in 2001, Mangal and his family returned home and the Afghanistan cricket team was founded. He was then selected for the Asian Cricket Council Trophy in Oman in 2004. "It was a dream come true for me," said Mangal. "While playing in the dusty refugee camps I never realised that I could make it that big, and in Oman I was playing with some top ranked players and I performed."

Although Afghanistan were knocked out in the quarter-finals, Mangal finished as leading scorer for his team with 271 runs. Three years later, he was named captain of his country.

"With the recognition by International Cricket Council and help from the ACC (Asian Cricket Council) we managed to get tours and facilities and gradually our team improved before we achieved our biggest target in 2009," Mangal recalled.

That year, Afghanistan became the first affiliate nation to gain full one-day status when they finished fifth in the World Cup qualifying event held in South Africa, only narrowly missing a berth at the 2011 tournament. The success prompted President Hamid Karzai to form the national cricket board, allocating grants and promising facilities to further harness talent. And in 2010, Afghanistan won a qualifying tournament to compete alongside

the world's top 10 nations at the World Twenty20 event in the West Indies. Afterwards, crowds thronged Kabul airport to welcome their newest heroes.

"Qualifying for the World Twenty20 was a great achievement and we were on cloud nine as everyone was talking of our achievement. I think that lifted cricket in Afghanistan more than any other thing," said Mangal.

By 2010 cricket overtook football as Afghanistan's most popular game, according to the Afghan board, with more facilities and children now playing on the street -- something that was unthinkable under the Taliban.

"It has changed totally," said Mangal.

"Now you can see kids playing cricket on the streets, something unimaginable in the past. "With more and more facilities and the team achieving more milestones I think cricket will attain more heights in Afghanistan."

According to Afghanistan team manager Shafiq Stanakzai, Mangal will play an important part in that success. "You need role models for every sport and Mangal is ours in cricket. He is cool, wise and inspiring so with him in our team more and more youth will follow the path he and his team-mates have carved," said Stanakzai.

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razzaq lands in trouble with selection committee

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Cook’S SeCond ton InSPIreS england wIn

Pakistan crash to second successive defeat

LAHORE StAff REPORt

Pakistan's experienced allrounder, Abdul Razzaq could face disciplinary action from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) after he allegedly misled the national selection committee into believing that he was unfit to bowl. A source close to the selection committee was quoted by PTI that Razzaq, who is playing for Duronto Rajshahi in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), was given a NOC by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to take part in the league after he told the selectors he would not be able to bowl if selected for Pakistan. "Razzaq was under consideration for the one-day series against england. But he informed the selectors that due to a shoulder injury he couldn't bowl.

He claimed he should be given a NOC for the BPL where he would only play as a batsman," the source said. "The selectors didn't consider him because Razzaq said he was not fit to bowl," the source said.

"But now Razzaq is bowling for the Rajashahi side in the BPL. He is not only batting but also bowling regularly for them which is strange," the source said.

Chief selector, Mohammad Illyas, when contacted, confirmed that Razzaq had informed him he would not be able to bowl in the BPL. "I don't know what is the situation now but he told us he was not fit to bowl," Illyas said. Sources close to the board said that chairman, Zaka Ashraf had taken note of the incident since Razzaq was among those players given central contracts by the board last year. "Razzaq will be asked to give an explanation over how he claimed he was unfit to bowl," a source said.

aBU DhaBi: Steven Finn (2L) celebrates with his teammates after he dismissed Pakistan's asad Shafiq (unseen) during the second one-day international at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. AFP ABU DHABI

a

AfP

LASTAIR Cook hit a second successive hundred to guide england to a 20run win over Pakistan in the second day-night international on Wednesday, giving his team a 2-0 lead in the four-match series. england put up a challenging 250-4 powered by Cook's 102 before they bowled well to restrict Pakistan to 230 in 49 overs at Abu Dhabi Stadium.

Misbah-ul Haq failed to match his counterpart during his 59-ball 47 as Pakistan lost track after being well set at 1794, needing 72 in the last 11.1 overs. Steven Finn, who took four wickets in the first match, finished with the identical figures of 4-34 to anchor england's win.

Pakistan got off to a good start with Mohammad Hafeez (26) and Imran Farhat (47) notching 61 by the 16th over before Hafeez was caught at mid-wicket off James Anderson.

Farhat, who hit five boundaries, added 31 for the second wicket with Azhar Ali (31) before Samit Patel took two wickets in the space of 12 runs, removing Ali and Younis Khan (five).

Farhat fell to a silly run out, leaving Misbah and Umar Akmal (21) to add 37 for the fifth wicket before Patel took a smart diving catch at cover to send Umar

back with 72 still needed off 11.1 overs.

Shahid Afridi briefly threatened england with a run-a-ball 18 but his wicket and Craig Kieswetter's sky-high catch to dismiss Misbah settled the issue for england. earlier Cook scored his fourth hundred -- the first england captain and ninth batsmen for his country to hit backto-back hundreds in one-dayers -- to carry on the good work after his careerbest 137 in Monday's win in the series opener. The 27-year-old left-hander put on 67 for the opening wicket with Kevin Pietersen (26) after england won their second successive toss and batted.

He also added 49 with Jonathan Trott (23) for the second and 78 for the third with Ravi Bopara who made an attractive 58. Cook was again at his fluent best, hitting 10 boundaries off 121 balls before he gave a return catch to leg-spinner Shahid Afridi in the 42nd over.

He hit paceman Umar Gul for two boundaries to reach 99 and then took a single off Abdul Rehman to reach the three-figure mark as he carried the batting right from the off. england, who remained unchanged from the first match, also owed their progress to a dropped catch by part-time wicket-keeper Umar Akmal who let Cook off on 28 off Afridi, a costly laspe for Pakistan. Ajmal, who finished with 1-54, again provided the breakthrough when he trapped Pietersen leg-before in the 16th over.

SCOREBOARD ENgLAND A. Cook c and b Afridi 102 k. Pietersen lbw b Ajmal 26 23 J. trott c umar b Cheema R. Bopara c umar b Cheema 58 25 E. Morgan not out EXtRAS: (b1, lb5, w10) 16 250 tOtAL: (for four wickets, 50 overs) fall of wickets: 1-67 (Pietersen), 2-116 (trott), 3-194 (Cook), 4-250 (Bopara) BOWLINg: gul 7-1-43-0, Cheema 9-0-49-2 (w7), Hafeez 4-0-24-0 (w1), Rehman 10-0-36-0, Afridi 10-1-38-1, Ajmal 10-0-54-1 (w2) Overs: 50

PAkIStAN 26 Mohammad Hafeez c trott b Anderson Imran farhat run out 47 Azhar Ali b Patel 31 5 Younis khan lbw b Patel Misbah-ul Haq c kieswetter b Broad 47 21 umar Akmal c Patel b finn Shahid Afridi b Anderson 18 Abdur Rehman b finn 1 umar gul lbw b finn 5 Saeed Ajmal not out 7 1 Aizaz Cheema b finn EXtRAS: (b1, lb11, nb1, w8) 21 230 tOtAL: (all out, 49 overs) fall of wickets: 1-61 (Hafeez), 2-92 (farhat), 3-104 (Younis), 4-142 (Ali), 5-179 (umar), 6-207 (Afridi), 7-217 (Rehman), 8-217 (Misbah), 9-222 (gul), 10-230 (Cheema) BOWLINg: finn 10-1-34-4 (nb1, w2), Anderson 9-1-36-2 (w2), Broad 10-0-54-1 (w4), Swann 8-0-33-0, Bopara 20-10-0, Patel 10-0-51-2 Result: England win by 20 runs, toss: England umpires: Aleem Dar (PAk) and kumara Dharmasena (SRI) tv umpire: Simon taufel (AuS) Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NzL).

ayesha shines in Garrison club victory LAHORE StAff REPORt

Ayesha Qazi with her brilliant batting guided Garrison Club to seven-wicket victory over Ravi Club in the Lahore Region Senior Inter-district Women Cricket Championship match here at the Kinnaird College ground on Wednesday. Ravi Club, batting first, scored 134 runs all out in 39.2 overs. Hafsa Amjad scored 42 runs while Farzana Shafi added 22 and Zaiba Manzoor 25. Shamsa Hashmi, Mariam Butt and Sabahat Rasheed got one wicket each. In reply, Garrison Club chased the target easily losing just three of their wickets in 21.2 overs. Ayesha Qazi remained top scorers for Garrison with 72 runs while Mahlika Mansoor scored 35.

Mehwish Tariq got 2/22 and Ambreen Nawaz 1/18. In another match of the day at GCU ground, APWA College defeated Universal Club by five wickets. Universal Club, batting first, scored 266 runs losing all of their wickets in 40 overs. Shazia Kausar (55), Nazia Akram (35) and Mariam Khan (28) played well. Izza Rizwan claimed 3/46 and Naz emanuel 2/36. In reply, APWA College achieved the target successfully for the loss of five wickets in 33 overs. Bushra Ashraf scored 58 runs while Kashaf Lodhi made 30 and Neelam Mushtaq scored unbeaten 40.

Shazia Kausar took 2/48 while Saira Shahbaz and Saba got one wicket each.

Kinnaird College will take on Universal Club at GCU today (Thursday).

7 matches decided in Lcca League LAHORE StAff REPORt

Another seven matches of the LCCA Super Cricket League of east Zone Clubs decided on Wednesday. In the 1st match Cantonment Gym beat Mughalpura Gym by 10 wickets at Iteefaq ground(Mughalpura Gym 75, Cantonment Gym 76/0); In the 2nd Match Shining club outplay Dharampura Sports by 4 wickets at Race Course ground (dharampura Sports 228, Shining club 229/6); In the 3rd Match Mughalpura XI defeated Dharampura Club by 6 wickets at Township ground (Dharampura club 134, Mughalpura XI 135/4); In the 4th Match Mughalpura Institute beat Dharampura Gym by 7 wickets at Mughalpura Institute ground (Dharampura Gym 216, Mughalpura Institute 217/3); In the 5th MAtch Raja club club beat Servis Coalts by 6 wickets at AlBilal ground (Servis Coalts 193, Raja Club 194/4); In the 6th match Muslimabad Gym beat Ghalib Sports by 189 runs at Wahdat colony ground (Muslimabad Gym 287/8, Ghalib Sports 98); In the 7th Match Gadaffi Club outplay Faran sports by 6 wickets at Imtiyaz Academy ground (Faran Sports 234, Qadaffi club 235/4).

England’s test bashing leaves top spot up for grab Comment

P

RICHARD LORD

AKISTAN'S recent Test series whitewash of england in the United Arab emirates has thrown the battle for global cricket supremacy open again. It also reinforced a lesson for teams aspiring to be on top: to do so, they need to win consistently in alien conditions.

It's nothing new. The Indian subcontinent's low, slow, dusty pitches breed exotic spinners, seamers that take wickets with smarts as much as sinew and batsmen adept at working straight balls to leg.

And although the green, seaming tracks of england and New Zealand are very different from the hard, bouncy surfaces in Australia and South Africa, they both encourage vigorous seam-up bowling, spinners whose emphasis is on containment and consistency, and batsmen less flamboyant on the front foot but more dangerous against the short or moving ball.

But a master of both worlds hasn't surfaced in recent times. england, for example, were electrify-

ing at times when they retained the Ashes a year ago with a trio of huge wins in Australia and then appeared irresistible as they deposed then world No. 1 India at home six months later. Away from home, on Dubai and Abu Dhabi pitches that offered consistent slow turn and, in the latter especially, occasional alarming spin and bounce, they were clueless.

From the start the latest series looked to be a test of england's credentials as long-term world powers; it appears those credentials are very flimsy indeed. england have occasionally played spin well away from home—their twin series victories over Pakistan and Sri Lanka in 200001 come to mind, but that was a long time ago, and they've played it badly far more often since. They blunted Pakistan's spinners pretty effectively at home in 2010, and more recently India's. In the UAe, however, they were made to look at times comically inept.

Chief wrecker was Saeed Ajmal, able to spin the ball in both directions with little discernible change in action; almost none of the england batsmen were able to read his variations. But it wasn't just Ajmal: Adbur Rehman and at times all-

rounder Mohammad Hafeez were almost equally effective, and in total england shipped 48 wickets to spin at an average of 15 during the series.

Great Test teams are built around great bowlers. england have some great bowlers who more than pulled their weight in this series, in particular Stuart Broad and the recalled Monty Panesar— but they can't do it on their own. england travel to Sri Lanka in a month's time, and then to India toward the end of the year, where they will be playing on similar surfaces to those in the UAe. What they won't be playing is Ajmal, or anyone quite so good. Sri Lanka's Rangana Herath, however, is a consistent performer who in particular will look to exploit Kevin Pietersen's notorious vulnerability against left-arm spin. India have a small cache of promising tweakers—and against england at home, that could well be enough.

Pakistan, meanwhile, become more impressive by the series. Against england their spinners were statistically extraordinary, and their calm, accumulative batting line-up looks increasingly authoritative, here doing enough in difficult circumstances against good bowlers, with young

Azhar Ali emerging as a rock at No. 3. But again, what really stood out was Pakistan's aura of professionalism—although their fielding could still do with some work— and the ease with which Misbah-ul-Haq leads the side. Misbah is 37, and his retirement will be pivotal for the team, and a big test for his replacement, who at the moment looks most likely to be Hafeez.

Like england, Pakistan's challenge as they rise through the rankings and try to challenge the rich and powerful nations at the top of the tree—england, South Africa, India and Australia—is to replicate their form outside the comfort zone of their own conditions. (The UAe isn't technically home, but it's a lot more like Lahore than Lord's.) The problem is that they don't get much chance to do so. Over the past year, they have won home series in the Middle east against england and Sri Lanka, and also won three away series against Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and New Zealand—not the toughest tests.

South Africa in February 2013 will be the real measure of their mettle on fast, bouncy pitches. After that their next scheduled overseas Test engagement isn't until December 2015, in New Zealand. Un-

able to play at home, they could do with a few more away series.

More than Pakistan, India have been the team that has traveled the worst recently. They've won their past three home series, but have been thrashed 4-0 in both england and Australia. Their problem is the converse of england's: their batsmen's inability to adjust to the moving and bouncing ball, allied to a lack of firepower in their seam bowling.

World cricket's top spot is up for grabs again, and it's largely because so many players struggle in conditions they're not used to. It's unlikely to last: the numerous domestic Twenty20 leagues around the world, of which the Bangladesh Premier League is the somewhat unlikely latest example, are all desperate for overseas international cricketers for reasons of both on-field performance and off-field marketing, plus the international calendar is ever more crowded. Players are coached to within an inch of their lives these days, and exposure to unfamiliar conditions will form an increasing part of this. In other words, someone's going to sort it out, and probably sooner rather than later.

COuRtESY WALL StREEt JOuRNAL

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thursday, 16 February, 2012

17th tour de Pakistan from March 23 LAHORE StAff REPORt

The 17th Tour de Pakistan International Cycle Race will paddle off from March 23 covering a distance of 1674 kilometres.

Syed Azhar Ali Shah, Secretary General Pakistan Cycling Federation, informed that due to some unavoidable reasons the Tour has been rescheduled.

The race which will start from March 23 will terminate on April 4. The race will start from Karachi and finish at Peshawar.

All the affiliated unites of PCF including foreign teams will participate in the race. The race will start from Mazar-e-Quaid and will reach Peshawar after covering 11 stages.

The cyclists will go through major cities of the country covering the distance of 1674 KM in 11 days. The cyclists will take two-days rest en route with one-day at Rahimyar Khan and the other at Lahore.

StAgE, DAtED, fROM, tO, DIStANCE 1, 23.3.2012, Karachi, hyderabad, 153 K.M 2, 24.3.2012, hyderabad, Moro, 163 K.M 3, 25.3.2012, Moro, Sukkur, 150 K.M 4, 26.3.2012, Sukkur, rahim Yar Khan, 178 K.M one Day rest at rahim Yar Khan on 27.3.2012 5, 28.3.2012, rahim Yar Khan, Bahawalpur, 200 K.M 6, 29.3.2012, Bahawalpur, Multan, 90 K.M 7, 30.3.2012, Multan, Sahiwal, 154 K.M 8, 31.3.2012, Sahiwal, Lahore, 160 K.M one Day rest at Lahore on 1.4.2012 9, 2.4.2012, Lahore, Gujrat, 115 K.M 10, 3.4.2012, Gujrat, rawalpindi, 153 K.M 11, 4.4.2012, rawalpindi, Peshawar, 158 K.M.

Punjab Sports lahore grab thrilling win in SBP Governor Cup Festival enters LAHORE StAff REPORt

Another five matches were decided in the 8th SBP Governor Cup Super Series Cricket Tournament-2012 being played at different venues of the city.

In the first match at LCCA Ground, SBP Lahore beat HBL Multan by five wickets. HBL Multan made 170 runs for eight wickets in 20 overs but Lahore chased the target on the last ball of the match. The win was made possible by allrounder Hussain Tallat with his 51 not out and one wicket for 26 runs in 4 overs.

Later Chairman Tournament Committee, SBP BSC Lahore Rana Rashid awarded cash prize to him and declared him Man of the Match.

In the second match, Bank of Khyber PSW beat SBP Karachi by eight wickets.

SBP Karachi set the target of 132 runs for

eight wickets. BOK PSW chased the score in the 15th over losing two wickets. Saeed Khan scored 74 runs not out and was named the man of the match.

In the third match, SBP Multan defeated NBP Hyderabad at Cricket Centre Model Town by 87 runs. SBP Multan scored 220 for eight in 20 overs and restricted NBP Hyderabad at 133 for nine wickets in 20 overs.

In the fourth match, HBL Karachi thrashed SBP Hyderabad by ten wickets at Aligarh Ground. SBP Hyderabad made 127 for eight in 20 overs ad HBL Karachi achieved the score in just 12.5 overs.

Naumanur Rahman scored 67 and Basharat Hussain 57 not out.

In the fifth and last match of the day at Aligarh, PPCBL Lahore defeated SBP RWP by 26 runs. PPCBL scored 154 runs in 20 overs. In reply SBP Rawalpindi could score only 128 runs.

LiÉViN: russian athlete Yelena isinbaeva competes in the pole vault contest of the Liévin indoor athletics Meeting. AFP

third phase LAHORE StAff REPORt

The Punjab Sports Festival 2012 has now entered into its third phase of district level activity as the last day of Tehsil level sports concluded successfully at all tehsils of Punjab.

The general public, Inter school and colleges competitions will now start from today (Thursday). ”The event is going on successfully and youth of the province are enthusiastically participating in this sports festival from grass root level,” said Director General Sports Punjab Usman Anwar.

He congratulated the winning players and praised their skills and efforts.”We believe in the transparency of the events in conducting Sports Festival,” he added.

In the next phase of district level, he said, four more games including taekwondo, wrestling, weightlifting, basketball, athletics, cricket, karate, badminton, hockey, volleyball, kabaddi and Football will be played among 36 districts of Punjab.

According to the details, the final matches were played on Wednesday at Cantt/Shalamar and Lahore city in which the final match of cricket general public was held.

Union Council 59 defeated Union Council 23 by 3 runs. Ahmed hit the highest score of 25 runs. In the final cricket match for general public, Union Council 60 beat UC 57 by two runs.

Ashraf was declared the man of the match with 62 runs. At Iqbal Park Sports Complex, general public cricket final match was held in which Ali Shah XI from Union Council 90 was defeated

by Jan Mohammed XI from Union Council 94 by 1 run.

PCB Chairman assures support to FATA cricket

Lahore: PcB chairman Zaka ashraf during a meeting with the delegation of Fata at the National cricket academy.

LAHORE StAf REPORt

A delegation of the cricket representatives from FATA met Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board Ch Zaka Ashraf here at National Cricket Academy on Tuesday.

The delegation updated the chairman on the cricketing issues and problems faced by the FATA cricket.

Chairman PCB assured the delegation that their issues will be taken up on priority basis and all efforts will be made to promote cricket in the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas. Chairman reiterated his stance to do everything possible in order to identify and groom cricketing talent from every part of the country, including FATA. “PCB is committed to take

measures which help in promoting cricket even in the remotest regions of the country. Pakistan has tremendous cricketing potential and it is essential that it is provided to showcase this talent at the national and international level,” said Ch Zaka Ashraf.

“Strengthening our domestic cricket is key to our enduring success at the international level and PCB is doing everything in its capacity to ensure that no talent goes unnoticed no matter where in the country it is located”, he added.

Chairman PCB also assured the delegation that their request to make FATA a separate region would be considered favourably.

PCB COO, Director Academies, Director Coordination and Director Domestic Cricket Operations were also present on the occasion.

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DOHA: Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic serves to Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark during the third day of the WTA Qatar Open. afP

Wozniacki, Lisicki crash out of Doha DOHA

C

AfP

AROLINe Wozniacki, playing her first match since losing her world number one ranking, was knocked out of the Qatar Open on Wednesday, going down 4-6, 6-4, 76 (7/3) to Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic. Wozniacki, seeded two but now ranked at four in the world, was deposed from the top spot when she was knocked out of the Australian Open quarter-finals.

Belarusian victoria Azarenka, who won the title in Melbourne, took over the world top ranking and is the top seed here. earlier, Slovak glamour girl Daniela Hantuchova was sent packing in the first round of the Open by little known Romanian Simona Halep on Tuesday as ninth seed Sabine Lisicki was shocked by fellow German Angelique Kerber.

Hantuchova, who won in Pattaya last week, ran into an aggressive baseliner who played a brilliant tie-breaker to clinch a 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7/4) victory after two hours and 32 minutes on court. "This is one of the best wins of my career, she is a good player, but I'm happy to go into the second round," said Halep after beating the 15th seed. "I felt pain in my leg but I kept going," added the Romanian, who played with a heavily strapped thigh but nevertheless matched her rival shot for shot, taking a 3-0 lead in the tie-break before closing out when Hantuchova

London olympics triggers record rent LONDON REutERS

A seven-bedroom house in London's upmarket Mayfair district will likely set a British record rent of 433,000 pounds ($678,400) per month as landlords cash in on demand for space during this summer's Olympic Games. The house has a floor space equivalent to three and a half tennis courts spread over three floors and includes a swimming pool, cinema and seven bathrooms. It can be also rented for 100,000 pounds a week.

In addition to a six-bedroom flat near the Harrods store in Knightsbridge that is for rent at the same weekly sum, it is the most expensive home on the findaproperty.com website, which displays houses being marketed by major estate agents.

Sports 21

blasted into the net. Hantuchova's upset followed the 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 ouster of Lisicki by recent Paris Open winner Kerber. It was the fourth time in as many matches that Kerber had gotten the better of her 14th-ranked compatriot, considered one of the rising stars of the game. "She's a great player who is also a good friend, so it's not easy playing against her," Kerber said. "We travel together and live in the same hotels, but I was focused on my game." Kerber's form has been nothing short of spectacular recently, the German reaching at least the semis in six of the past 10 tournaments she played before winning her first WTA title in Paris last weekend where she beat Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli. "I am really playing well, but this is a big tournament with many

LAHORE Shahpur and Colony Sugar won their matches of the day in the eCU Line Aibak Polo Cup 2012 and also grabbed the leaders’ position in the standings here on Wednesday.

Shahpur defeated Master Paints 9½-6 while Colony Sugar moved past Hataff Security 6-3½. Shahpur despite having low handicap prevailed over star-studded Masters while Hataff failed to utilise their half a goal advantage and lost by half the margin.

Ahmed Ali Tiwana cracked fie goals with Atif Yar Tiwana getting three and Capt. Shaukat Ali Malik one for Shah-

pur’s big win. Ignacio Del Tour converted four goals and Gaston Moore two in Master Paints futile efforts. Raul Laplacette with five goals lifted Colony Sugar to win with Mian Hussain Iftikhar got one to complete the tally

stars playing, but I will really try my best," said the 22-ranked player.

Lisicki said: "I didn't play well at all. I was unwell last week and was recovering. Also I made a lot of unforced errors. Played quite bad, awful in fact." She added that her focus this year was on the Olympics more than anything else.

"I'm very much looking forward to the Olympics. I have many friends that have been there, and they've told me how nice it is. "I'm sure it's an extraordinary experience to just be there and play. For me, it's even nicer that it's going to be held in Wimbledon on grass, so it's good." The top eight players have been given first round byes and will see action only on Wednesday, with world number one victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark the favourites. Azarenka will take on Germany's Mona Barthel in the second round, while Wozniacki plays Czech Lucie Safarova.

UEFA Champions League: AC Milan v Arsenal 12:00AM

All the seeded players has made their way to the next round of the 10th Westbury Open Ranking Tennis Tournament being played here at Karachi Club.

In under-17, 15, 11 and nine age groups quarter-final and semi-final matches were decided.

RESuLtS: MEN S SINgLES: abid Mushtaq (3rd seed) (Lahore) beat Saad Mubairk ( Lahore), Nomi qamer (4th seed) beat omer Shahid 6-3, 7-6(2), Vinod Das w/o Yasir Khan JuNIORS uNDER-17 SINgLES SEMI-fINALS: takha Zubair beat Malik hamza 7-5, 6-4, hassaan Sidiqui beat Maheen dada 6-1, 6-1 BOYS & gIRLS uNDER-15 SINgLES QuARtER-fINALS: Nofil Kalim ( islamabad) beat Sameer Farishta 6-2, 4-1 rtd, Nazif ahmed beat Mansoor Khan 6-0, 6-2 uNDER-13 QuARtER: hasan Farooq beat Bilal imran Lohya 8-4, uNDER=11 SINgLES QuARtER-fINALS: Shahzil Malik beat ibrahim Khan 8-1, amin Shafi beat Mustafa Faisal 8-6, Fizza Ghanchi Daniyal 8-5, houdazher beat Kinza Ghanchi 8-1 uNDER-9 QuARtERS: ibrahim Khan beat ahmed 8-1, rida Khan w/o zeeshan uNDER-9 SEMI-fINALS: abdullah Khan beat Fizza Ghanchi 8-5, Shahzil Malik amin Shafi 8-1.

Junior hockey camp from 20th LAHORE StAff REPORt

while all the three goals of the losing team were produced by vieri Antinori.

Umpires for the matches were Simon Mclaren Tosh, Shah Shamyl Alam and James Harper while James Harper and Hissam Ali Hyder acted as referees.

P

W

L

gf

gA

PtS

AVE

1 2 1

1 1 –

– 1 1

9 17½ 6

8 15 9½

2 2 –

+1 +2½ -3½

1 2 1

– 1 1

1 1 –

4 16½ 9½

10½ 13½ 6

– 2 2

-6½ +3 +3½

POOL 'B' Guard Group/Newage hataff Security colony Sugar

TEN SPORTS

KARACHI

POOL 'A' army/Nadra Shahpur Master Paints

Australia V Sri Lanka 08:50AM

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StANDINgS tEAMS

ESPN

Seeds through to next round in ranking tennis

Shahpur, Colony Sugar lead Aibak Polo Cup standings StAff REPORt

wAtch it LivE

The training camp of national junior probables preparing for 7th Junior Asia Cup will be established here at National Hockey Stadium from February 20.

The PHF has called 25 Players for the training camp. Rana Mujahid is the camp commandant.

PLAYERS: gOALkEEPERS: amjad & ali haider. fuLL BACkS: waseem abbas, Muhammad Khalid & aleem Bilal. =3 HALVES: Zohaib ashraf, Sohaib, M. Bilal Khan & Fahad Khan. = 4 fORWARDS: ayub ali, Muhammad Dilber, M. arslan qadir, Mudassar ali, ali raza, hafiz rizwan, abdul qayyum Dogar, hafiz Umer, adnan anwar, asad, Javed, Karim Khan, ahmed Zubair, Muhammad Umair, Jaffar and Zohaib Khan. = 16 OffICIALS: rana Mujahid ali (Manager/head coach), M/s. Danish Kaleem, ahmed alam, anjum Saeed (coaches), Mr. abu Zar Umrao (Video analyst) and Dr. asad abbas (team Doctor).

Berdych, Del Potro win in Rotterdam

ROTTERDAM AfP

Tomas Berdych overpowered his Czech Davis Cup teammate Lukas Rosol 6-4, 6-2 on Wednesday to start his campaign at the ATP Rotterdam Open with a win.

Both Berdych and Rosol won singles ties at the weekend as they helped their country into the Davis quarter-finals and a date with Serbia. But Berdych, seeded second, showed his clear superiority in the

clash between countrymen. "I'm satisfied," the number seven said after advancing in an hour and a quarter with ten aces and three breaks of serve as the pair met for the first time. "It was indoors but still a tough transition from Davis Cup. "Our court was much faster with lower bounce. I didn't really have much time to train here. but I coped with it pretty well. I was able to find my rhythm quite fast and was able to play my game." Third seed Juan Del Potro made a winning debut as he played the event for

the first time as he put out 2008 champion Michael Llodra 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-4. The Frenchman, ranked 47th, was fighting jetleg after flying in from France's 4-1 Davis Cup victory at the weekend over Canada in vancouver, nine time zones away. The last member of the elite was going into opening action later, with top seed Federer stepping onto court at the Ahoy stadium for the first time since winning the 2005 title to take on Nicolas Mahut. Del Potro admitted he had trouble closing out victory. "I was nervous in the last game," said the South American who returned to the ATP Top 10 after reaching an Australian Open quarter-final which he lost to Federer. "I'm really pleased to have won in my first match here," he said after advancing in nearly two and a half hours. In other first round results, Marcos Baghdatis beat Matthias Bachinger 7-6 (7/2), 6-2 while Russian Alex Bogomolov advanced as Sergiy Stakhovsky quit injured trailing 6-3, 0-1. Slovak Karol Beck beat Philipp Petzschner 7-6 (8/6), 6-3.

New YorK: anna wintour (c), editor of Vogue magazine and russian tennis star Maria Sharapova (r) watch the Vera wang show at Mercedes Benz Fashion week. AFP

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thursday, 16 February, 2012

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AG to submit evidence today for PM’s possible conviction ISLAMABAD

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the NRO case and afterwards that were flouted by the government. To a query, he said there was no need to mention or produce witnesses in the apex court, as the documentary evidence itself had the status of witness. However, contrary to his claim that there was no need for witnesses and the documentary evidence alone would suffice, sources close to the AG’s office said it had included seven incumbent and former officials, including former AG Anwar Mansoor Khan, former acting AG Shah Khawar and some officials of the Law Ministry, in the list of witnesses to be submitted to the court on Thursday (today).

They said the names of witnesses were derived from the orders in the NRO case, as they had been related to the orders that

MASOOD REHMAN

CTING as a ‘prosecutor’, Attorney General (AG) Maulvi Anwarul Haq will today (Thursday) submit documentary evidence to the Supreme Court to prove that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani committed contempt of court by disobeying court orders in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) case and afterwards.

Talking to Pakistan Today on Wednesday, the attorney general confirmed that acting as a prosecutor, he had collected and would submit the documentary evidence coupled with other relevant records containing all the court orders passed in

were flouted and led to the indictment of the prime minister on contempt charges.

They said the documentary evidence collected by the prosecution so far consisted of around 22 orders of the Supreme Court in the NRO case and afterwards that were disobeyed by the ‘chief executive’. These orders mainly consist of Paragraph 178 of the NRO judgement, which states: “Since the NRO, 2007 stands declared void ab initio, therefore any actions taken or suffered under the said law are also non est in law and since the communications addressed

by Malik Muhammad Qayyum to various foreign fora/authorities/courts withdrawing the requests earlier made by the Government of Pakistan for mutual legal assistance; surrendering the status of civil

party; abandoning the claims to the allegedly laundered moneys lying in foreign countries including Switzerland, have also been declared by us to be unauthorised and illegal communications and consequently of no legal effect, therefore, it is declared that the initial requests for mutual legal assistance; securing the status of civil party and the claims lodged to the allegedly laundered moneys lying in foreign countries including Switzerland are declared never to have been withdrawn. Therefore the Federal Government and other concerned authorities are ordered to take immediate steps to seek revival of the said requests, claims and status.”

Gilani became the first prime minister of Pakistan on February 13 to have been

formally indicted for contempt of court for “willfully flouting, disregarding and disobeying” court orders. Determined to contest the charge, the prime minister appeared before the seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Monday and decided to plead not guilty after Justice Nasirul Mulk, who was heading the bench, read out the charges. In case of his conviction, the prime minister can be sentenced to six months in jail and a five-year ban from holding any public office for choosing to plead not guilty. The prime minister’s counsel Aitzaz Ahsen will file the documents from the defence by February 22 and the list of the witnesses by February 27. The evidence of the defence will be recorded on February 28.

PM sought Petraeus’s help in defusing standoff with army ISLAMABAD SHAIQ HuSSAIN

kARACHI: Health workers scuffle with police during a protest rally on Wednesday demanding permanent staff positions and an increase in allowances and benefits. online

Trilateral summit to begin today

uS monitoring Pakistan’s choice of new spymaster

ISLAMABAD StAff REPORt

Names being considered for the post include Lt Gen Javed iqbal, Lt Gen Zaheerul islam, Lt Gen rashid Mehmood, Lt Gen Muhamamd asif and Maj Gen Noshad Kayani

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Against the backdrop of rising tensions between Washington and Tehran, the twoday trilateral summit of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan will start here today (Thursday) with an aim to restore peace and stability to war-torn Afghanistan, but the high-level talks are unlikely to produce any tangible results. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Afghan President Hamid Karzai will participate in the trilateral summit being hosted by their Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari. The foreign ministers of the three states will finalise the agenda of the summit in their talks today (Thursday) whereas the presidents will meet tomorrow (Friday). The focus of the meeting, which is being held at Tehran’s initiative in the Pakistani capital, will be on the latest situation in Afghanistan and counter-terrorism cooperation. All the three states will discuss ways to bring peace and normalcy back to Afghanistan through increased regional cooperation. “This conference is being held in the backdrop of US efforts to reach out directly to the Taliban insurgents for peace talks, something not welcomed by both Tehran and Kabul.

Tehran feels that it is being left out as the solution to the decades-long Afghan problem is being looked into given its mounting tensions with Washington, whereas Kabul complains that US authorities have also not taken it into confidence before initiating peace talks with the Taliban,” said a diplomatic source requesting anonymity. He said although Pakistan had been taken into confidence by the US over talks with the Taliban, still it felt that for lasting peace in Afghanistan, the regional forums must also be utilised and that was the spirit with which it was hosting the trilateral summit.

However, he expressed his doubts about the success of the trilateral talks, saying that because of Pakistan being in the US camp, there was also some bad blood between Islamabad and Tehran and because of that expecting any breakthrough from the talks would be naïve.

MONITORING DESK As the incumbent Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) director general approaches retirement on March 18, the Obama administration is keenly monitoring developments in Pakistan that would eventually lead to the appointment of the country’s new spymaster, according to a Financial Times report.

The Pakistani government is said to be considering five names to appoint a successor to Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha, instead of giving him extension for a third time.

“The issue is being keenly watched by the Obama administration, which wants to convince the ISI to nudge its former Taliban protégés into talks to end the Afghan war,” the paper said in its report.

“Although there are questions over how much control the ISI director can exert over its most opaque branches, US officials will be hoping that the new chief will take a tough line against the extremist groups the agency has,” allegedly, “nurtured,” the report said.

It said the new ISI DG “must also decide how far” the ISI wanted to repair its ties with US. “Whoever takes over as ISI chief will wield huge influence over Pakistan’s relationship with the US,” Shuja Nawaz of the Atlantic Council, a Washington think-tank, told Financial Times.

“The agency is not a neutral, intelligence-gathering operation –

over time it has developed into a virtual policymaking body,” he said.

The names being considered for the post include Lt General Javed Iqbal, Lt General Zaheerul Islam, Lt General Rashid Mehmood, Lt General Muhamamd Asif and Major General Noshad Kayani.

Many former army officers believe one of the most likely candidates was Lieutenant General Muhammad Zaheerul Islam, who commands troops in Karachi.

“He enjoys a rapport with General Ashfaq Kayani, the army chief, though some question whether he would be as blunt as Lt Gen Pasha,” the paper said.

“Pasha is capable of telling his boss ‘this is right and this is wrong’,” Ikram Sehgal, a security commentator told the paper. “I doubt whoever replaces him will be quite as forthright.”

Other possible options may include Major General Isfandiyar Pataudi, who impressed instructors during a stint at the US Army War College.

With the country’s institutional balance in flux, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani might be inclined to try to bargain over the post, leaving space for surprises, Kamran Bokhari of Stratfor, the global intelligence company, told Financial Times.

“In the end he may go with Kayani’s choice in exchange for something on a different issue that strengthens the government’s position,” he said.

In a bid to seek US help for an end to the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)-led coalition government’s standoff with the army over the memo controversy, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani held an important meeting with Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) chief General David Petraeus during his recent visit to Qatar.

Gilani was in Qatar earlier this month to hold talks with leaders in Doha on various bilateral issues including cooperation in the economic sector and especially to increase collaboration in the field of energy given Pakistan’s ever-increasing needs in this vital sector. Another important issue that the prime minister discussed in Doha was the ongoing peace dialogue between US officials and Taliban representatives, including the recent opening of a Taliban office there.

However, the vital feature of Gilani’s trip to the Gulf state was his meeting there with the CIA chief, in which the political crisis in Pakistan was discussed in detail.

“It was during the meeting with the CIA chief that the prime minister expressed his desire for the use of ‘good offices’ on the part of CIA Director General Petraeus and other senior American officials to defuse the political crisis and especially the tensions between civilian rulers and army leaders,” said a diplomatic source here on condition of anonymity.

He said apparently there was no assurance from the CIA chief that he would play a role in defusing political tensions in Pakistan but he did say that the US authorities would look into the matter and were already monitoring the evolving situation in Islamabad with a keen eye.

There were also some media reports suggesting that Prime Minister Gilani had a meeting with the Taliban representatives who were

Published by Arif Nizami for Nawa Media Corporation (Pvt) Ltd at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore.

in Doha to hold peace talks with the American officials, but the Foreign Office officials here rejected such reports as “baseless”.

A Pakistani official, who also wished to remain unnamed, said the US authorities were perturbed by the prolonged political crisis in Pakistan as it had delayed the efforts being made by both Islamabad and Washington for rapprochement between the two sides after a months-long standoff caused by NATO air strikes on Pakistani border posts in November.

He said the US was anxiously waiting for the joint sitting of parliament that would approve the recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) on further relations with the US in the wake of the NATO attack. “The parliamentary approval of those recommendations is likely to pave the way for the normalisation of Pakistan-US ties and restoration of NATO supplies that were blocked in the wake of the NATO strikes,” he said.

Editor: Arif Nizami, Executive Editor: Sarmad Bashir