e-paper pakistantoday 17th october, 2012

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only 31 percent of Chinese have positive view of Pakistan

imran Khan stresses political solution to militancy PAGE |03

PAGE |04

Pakistani response to Malala attack ‘very appropriate’: Clinton PAGE |04

www.pakistantoday.com.pk

Rs 15.00 Vol III No 112 19 Pages Lahore Edition

Wednesday, 17 October, 2012 Dhual-Qi’da 29, 1433

4 HazaraS SHoT dead in QueTTa QUETTA: Unidentified armed men shot dead four Hazara Shias in Kabari Market area on Sirki Road in Quetta on Tuesday. Police said the unidentified gunmen riding a bike opened indiscriminate fire on a vehicle, killing four people on the spot. The police moved the bodies to a hospital, where the deceased were identified as Ibrahim, Ghulam Ali,

Awaz Ali and Ali Ataa. Police said it was an apparent act of sectarian killing. They later cordoned off the area and launched a search operation. Meanwhile, an enraged mob staged demonstration outside the Civil Hospital on Jinnah Road to protest the continued killing of Hazaras across the province. Staff RepoRt

Malala shooting ‘an attack on all Pakistani girls’: President Zardari

QUETTA: Hazara Shias mourn the killing of their relatives at a hospital following an attack by gunmen on Tuesday. afp

PML-N thwarts govt attempt to bring President’s resolution against Malala attack involvement in politics would Malik confers Sitara-e-Shujaat on Malala, $1m on Taliban leader’s head be unfortunate: SC ISLAMABAD OnlinE

ISLAMABAD TAyyAb HUSSAin

Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Tuesday said it would be highly unfortunate if “the presidential authority is proven to be involved in the Mehran Bank scandal”, as the posts of the president, army chief and the director general of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) are of great importance for the country.The CJ was heading a three-judge bench hearing the decades-old case of former Air Chief Marshal Asghar Khan regarding alleged distribution of money among a set of politicians by the civil and military authorities to sway the 1990 elections in Islami Jamhoori Ittehad’s (IJI) favour. The bench also issued notice to former Military Intelligence (MI) chief Brigadier (r) Hamid Saeed for Wednesday and adjourned the hearing.

During the hearing, the chief justice observed that political alliances like the IJI would not be allowed in the country anymore and only a democratic system would thrive in which lay national salvation. Salman Akram Raja, counsel for Asghar

Khan, said of total 140 million rupees that were doled out, Rs 70 million were spent while Rs 70 million were kept in bank accounts. He said wrongs of the past would always remain wrong, as held by the court in its various judgements.

He said the court had the power to oversee investigation process, especially in financial scams. The bench declined a request by Muhammad Akram Shaikh, counsel for former chief of army staff Mirza Aslam Baig, to make public the record of 12page cross examination of PPP’s former interior minister Naseerullah Babar. The chief justice said the court through its various judgments had been trying to keep the system on track. He further said that through apex court’s judgement of November 3, 2007, it had restrained all unconstitutional steps of then president and the army chief. The CJ termed such a directive a conscious effort on part of the superior judiciary against the unconstitutional steps to derail the democratic system.

The resolution against the attack on Malala Yousafzai and in favour of an operation in North Waziristan Agency could not be tabled in the National Assembly on Tuesday due to opposition from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Speaking in the NA, Leader of Opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said the government had made parliament a graveyard of joint resolutions and not even a single one of them had been implemented. He said the PML-N did not impede the government despite facing taunts of being a friendly opposition.

“The government should stop disrespecting the parliament. The interior minister is befooling the nation by telling lies continuously,” Nisar said. “If the attackers of Malala are in Afghanistan, why does the government have plans to launch a military operation in North Waziristan Agency?” he said.

He said the tradition of calling political opponents traitors should be stopped.

Ahsan Iqbal of the PML-N said his party would provide jobs to the youth of Sindh by eradicating robbers’ rule there. The PPP government had ruined the peace of Sindh, he added. Khurshid Shah of the PPP said the PML-N was trying to make alliance with anti-federation nationalists in Sindh.

PPP’s Nasir Ali Shah said there appeared no end to the targeted killings in the country, adding that it was strange that PPP workers were being killed during the party’s rule. Saad Rafiq of the PML-N said Pakistan had become more unsafe under the PPP rule than under Musharraf’s regime.

“The nation has been divided into several segments. Now issues

WASHINGTON: Interior Minister Rehman Malik has announced $1 million bounty on Tehreek-eTaliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan, who claimed responsibility for the attack on Malala Yousafzai, while declaring to award the teenage education activist with another gallantry award, Sitara-e-Shujaat, on Tuesday. Malik announced the bounty during an interview with CNN, saying: “This assassination plan was made across the border in Afghanistan. Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah had fled to Afghanistan when we took action in Malakand and Swat.” “At that point in time, we did not exactly know what their objective was, and what kind of action they were going to take, until they had hit Malala. Of course, we have identified one other guy, and a few of his associates have been arrested,” he said, adding that one of the financers of one of the terrorists had been detained. The interior minister announced $1 million bounty on the Taliban leader who claimed that the TTP was responsible for her shooting. “On his head, which is more than, you know, (inaudible) of Pakistani, 100 million apiece, because we want to definitely get him and all our line forces, intelligence agencies are hunting all those who were involved,” he said. “Let me assure that the military leadership and of course, the civil leadership will take action at appropriate time. But at the same time, the actions based on intelligence are continuing. But the good thing what I can tell on behalf of the people of Pakistan, people of Pakistan do not want Taliban. They do not want extremism,” Malik said. online

such as carving out provinces on ethnic basis are being raised,” he said. The PML-N leader said the government had now agreed to write the letter to Swiss authorities after sending one prime minister home. Saad said Gen (r) Ahmed

Shuja Pasha had hinted at federal government’s involvement in the release of CIA contractor Raymond Davis. He added that no representative of the government met Baloch Sardar Akhtar Mengal when he came to Islamabad.

BAKU

P

AGEnCiES

RESIDENT Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday said the shooting of 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai by the Taliban was an attack on all girls in the country and on civilisation itself. In some of his most poignant remarks on the incident to date, Zardari vowed not to let her shooting stop the nation’s drive to educate girls.

“The Taliban attack on the 14-yearold girl, who from the age of 11 was involved in the struggle for education for girls, is an attack on all girls in Pakistan, an attack on education, and on all civilised people,” Zardari said at an economic summit in the Azerbaijani capital Baku. “The work that she led was higher before God than what terrorists do in the name of religion.

We will continue her shining cause,” he said.

Zardari voiced three “clear and present dangers” in the region. The president named terrorism, poverty and illiteracy, fundamental peoples’ rights as three major dangers that threatened the region.

“No other region shares as much as we do, but also no other region is under as much threat as we are.” He said that regional cooperation is very important, as countries must face their challenges with courage and collective action.

Malala was attacked on her school bus in the former Taliban stronghold of Swat a week ago as a punishment for campaigning for the right to an education and free expression.

Zardari said such attacks would not deter Pakistan in its search for broader social justice. “Terrorists should not have an impact on our future. We ourselves must determine our future,” he said. The shooting has been denounced worldwide and

by Pakistan, which has said it will do everything possible to ensure Malala recovers and will meet all the costs of her treatment. She was flown to Britain for specialist treatment at a hospital in Birmingham on Monday where doctors said she had “a chance of making a good recovery”.

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02 News CArtOOn

neWS

today’s

Global outpouring to help Malala yousafzai: report

InfOtAInment Crocodile escape gives Vietnam school children the day off

Quick look

Page 11

Story on Page 05

Story on Page 14

Meera says $10,000 stolen from handbag LAHORE: Film actress Meera on Tuesday claimed that $10,000 were stolen from her handbag during a fashion show on Monday. Meera said she did not want to blame anybody for the theft but would get a case registered soon.

She said she had exchanged Pakistani rupees with dollars for her scheduled visit to India. OnlinE

Chairlift cable break drowns seven in Swat river SWAT: Seven people, including three women and a child, fell into torrential Swat river on Tuesday after the cable of a chairlift broke. Sources said the seven people were crossing the river in a chairlift in the Bahrain area of Swat valley. However, the cable broke, sending them all into speedy currents of Swat river. All the passengers were swept away by the river and drowned. Rescue workers said they had recovered the body of one woman.

Chairlifts are a popular means of crossing rivers in the mountain areas of Pakistan, particularly in places where no nearby bridge is available. OnlinE

India says Pakistan border shelling kills three SRINAGAR: Pakistani soldiers allegedly fired heavy weapons into Indianheld Kashmir and killed three civilians on Tuesday, the Indian defence ministry said, in the latest reported skirmish between the rival nations.

They opened fire near the village of Churunda, near the Line of Control that acts as the de facto border in the Kashmir region, according to the Indian statement. Government officials in Islamabad were not immediately available for comment. “Pakistani troops... started firing heavy-calibre weapons on the houses of civilians of Churunda village resulting in the death of three civilians,” the statement said. Local residents have reported sporadic small-arms exchanges between Indian and Pakistani troops in the same sector for the past fortnight. AFP

Doctor kidnapped on his way home QUETTA: A senior eye specialist Saeed Ahmad Khan working for a charity hospital was kidnapped last night on his way home. Police said the doctor was returning from his clinic in a private hospital when two armed persons on a vehicle stopped him, dragged him out from his vehicle and took him away to an unknown location. His car was found near Chaki Shawani along with two mobile phones. STAFF REPORT

ECP restores membership of 33 MPs ISLAMABAD: Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has restored membership of 33 parliamentarians including Interior Minister Rehman Malik after they declared their assets. The membership of nine Senate, 12 National Assembly, 12 Punjab Assembly and each from Sindh and Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa assembly members was restored after they submitted details of their assets. These included Rehman Malik, MNA Shakil Awan, Kashmala Tariq and others. It may be noted here that ECP had suspended membership of 154 MPs after they failed to submit details of their assets. APP

Wednesday, 17 October, 2012

BHUBANESWAR: Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik gives final touches on a sand sculpture in honour of teen education activist Malala Yousufzai at Puri beach on Tuesday. afp

CJ’s ‘constant but concealed’ involvement questioned in PHC Petitioner says CJ ordered initiation of case against a magazine that provided evidence concerning Arsalan Iftikhar case g

PESHAWAR

A

OnlinE

contempt case instituted in July under written instructions of Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Tuesday raised a serious question before the Peshawar High Court about the top judge’s conduct.

A writ petition filed in the PHC by Shahid Orakzai questioned the “constant but concealed involvement” of CJ in matters pending against his son.

The petitioner provided a document of the apex court’s administration branch signed by the chief justice as preliminary evidence to the question raised in the petition.

The PHC was informed that on June 7, Justice Chaudhry formally rescued himself from a full bench hearing a suo motu case involving his son and the ostensible purpose of his withdrawal was to allow the Supreme Court to do “complete justice” between the parties and “deny his son any undue advantage of his relationship with any judge of court”. Petitioner Shahid Orakzai said in re-

sponse to an objection by the attorney general, the chief justice had a day earlier assured that the question of his presence on the bench would be ruled “in the light of the injunctions of the Holy Quran and Sunnah as well as precedent case laws on the subject”.

However, much to the contrary, the chief justice instructed the SC registrar on July 26 to instantly register a contempt case against an English weekly of the capital for printing some sensitive evidentiary material about the dispute involving his son. The chief justice insisted that the case shall “be fixed today” and before the very “same bench” which was then hearing a review petition of his son. The brief note of the chief justice, reproduced in the petition, reflects his worries: “8. A perusal of note put up by the office prima facie suggests that the matter requires to be dealt with on judicial side for initiating proceedings of contempt of court against all concerned, as such it may be registered as a Contempt Petition and be fixed today before the same Bench”, the CJ noted. The above note is an “irrefutable evidence” of his “constant but concealed in-

volvement and understandable interest” in the matters pending against his son, noted the petition. By initiating a new criminal case against the magazine, the chief justice “seems to be indirectly pressurising and penalising all those who may give any evidence against his son. And in this process, two judges of the Supreme Court are being unnecessarily maligned”, the petitioner said.

Orakzai said action taken by the CJ in his chamber had exposed his commitment to “Holy Quran and Sunnah”. The court was told that the Quran did not insist that a judge must abstain from deciding any case involving his family members and per the Holy Quran, a judge who withdrew from such a case was even unfit to be a witness, the petitioner asserted.

The petitioner pointed out that while the withdrawal of the CJ was based on the prevalent judicial practice or his own view of the constitution, the constitution did not insist so. By initiating a contempt case against two people who might hold some evidence against his son, the chief justice of Pakistan has negated the oath he made before President General Pervez Musharraf.

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News 03 ArtS & entertAInment

buSIneSS

SPOrtS

it’s the script, not the genre: Halle berry

Uncle Sam wants trade… lots of it

Pietersen talks will end England rift: broad

edItOrIAl Militants and their apologists:

No way their stance has a chance.

COmment Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi says; Soul searching: Pakistan cannot afford to allow armed groups to function with impunity.

Syed Hassan belal Zaidi says; Harf-e-aakhir: Your guess is as good as mine, although mine may be just a fraction better because I’ve done a little more leg work on it than you have.

M K bhadrakumar says;

Obama should take the road not taken…: Preoccupation with geopolitics.

Story on Page 18

Story on Page 13

Story on Page 15

Articles on Page 14-15

Imran Khan stresses political solution to militancy g

PtI chief says military operation can be a part of it

TTP labels Malala as ‘an American spy’ The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Tuesday defended the attack on Malala Yousafzai, rejecting that she was an innocent girl and labeling her as ‘an American spy’. The central spokesman of TTP, Ehsanullah Ehsan, in a detailed statement issued to the media said Malala’s date of birth is July 1997 which makes her 15 years four months old today. “Even if no sign of puberty becomes noticeable, this age of the girl marks the end of pre-puberty phase.” The statement said: “In Islam and Pashtun traditions there is absolutely no room for an attack on a woman of pure virtues.

But in cases where a woman is seen as a clear sinner who stands in defiance of Shariah, such a woman is not only allowed to be attacked but there is an obligatory instruction for such an action.”

The TTP spokesman said, Malala Yousafzai was ‘a spy who divulged secrets of Mujahideen and Taliban through BBC and in return received awards and rewards from the Zionists’. “She not only spied against Mujahideen but also created propaganda against them. The Gul Makai diary is an embodiment of anti-Taliban views,” he continued. “She has received the punishment for her sin.”

The spokesman further said that Malala was brought before the media under a pre-planned strategy so that she could pollute the minds of the youth against the Taliban. nEWS DESK

ISLAMABAD

Shahbaz files written reply on dual nationality allegation

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STAFF REPORT

A K I S T A N Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Tuesday stressed the need to find a political solution to the war against terrorism.

He condemned the attack on Malala, saying such acts could be justified under no condition and crticised the president and the prime minister for not coming up with a solution to the issue that posed a grave threat to Pakistan.

Speaking on a talk show on Geo TV, he said

the military succeeded in its operations but the politicians failed to deliver, citing Swat as an example. “It was a very successful operation but the political vacuum remains intact. The current political situation in Swat is evidence that outright operations do not work,” said Khan.

He said a political solution should be given priority to counter all problems and talks should be held in this regard with those militants who accepted the constitution of Pakistan. “The Taliban are fighting as numerous factions, each for different goals,” he stressed. Khan said action could be taken against those who did not accept the constitution but believed that once sidelined following negotiations with local leaders, their number would automatically decrease.

Khan said it was essential to kill the conception that Pakistan was fighting America’s war,

NA SeSSioN

PPP criticises PML-N for ‘doing politics’ with Sindh separatist parties g

Opp leader vows to support govt on issues of national interest ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

ISLAMABAD OnlinE

Rejecting the allegation levelled against him by Raja Riaz that he holds dual nationality, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has filed his written reply in the Supreme Court. Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Raja Riaz had accused Shahbaz of holding dual nationality. In this connection, the SC had directed Shahbaz and Riaz to file written replies. In his written reply, Shahbaz said, “I am a Pakistani citizen by birth and I have no dual citizenship. During the period of my exile, former president Pervez Musharraf had refused to renew the passport. I wanted to fly to the UK from Saudi Arabia with regards to my cancer treatment and an offer for foreign passport was also made to me during this period but I refused to accept it.” “Raja Riaz gave a false statement against me and misguided the court. He remained no more truthful and ‘amin’ therefore, he should be penalised under Article 62-1/F of the constitution for levelling false allegation against me and case be dispensed with against me,” he pleaded.

A copy of the affidavit submitted to the Election Commission was also enclosed with the written reply.

Criticising the PML-N in the National Assembly on Tuesday, Minister for Religious Affairs Khurshid Shah said the Nawaz Sharif-led party engaged separatist parties in Sindh for political mileage, as Leader of the Opposition in NA Nisar Ali Khan vowed to support the government on issues of national interest, urging it to implement parliamentary resolutions.

To PPP’s allegation, PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal said, “Our party has become famous in Sindh. We are against division of Sindh and when we come into power, we will purge the province of politics of corruption, gun and extortion.”

Nisar said, “We have to shun old politics and bring nationalists in the mainstream.”

He said opponents had termed separatists the enemies of state, adding that such politics should end now.

Speaking on a point of order, Nisar questioned the rationale behind seeking the opposition’s support for operation in North Waziristan despite a statement by the interior minister that Maulana Fazlullah had planned the attack on Malala Yousufzai while sitting in Afghanistan.

He asked what would be the outcome of a

MQM, Nisar discuss dual nationality bill ISLAMABAD: A delegation of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) called on Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Nisar Ali Khan on Tuesday to exchanged views on the dual nationality bill.

Sources said the MQM delegation comprised Dr Farooq Sattar, Babar Ghauri and Haider Abbas Rizvi. Nisar did not favour or oppose eth dual nationality bill. However, the MQMleaders looked satisfied after the meeting, the sources added. STAFF REPORT fresh resolution when all resolutions on crucial national issues were awaiting implementation.

Calling for immediate implementation of a resolution on the revision of petroleum prices, Nisar demanded the government apprise the House on why these resolutions had not been enforced yet. “Please don’t consider this House week, deaf and dumb,” the opposition leader said.

Shah said the accountability bill would be presented in the next session.

adding that the Afghans’ jihad against the US in their own homeland was justified. “Once it becomes clear that we are fighting for ourselves and not for the US, the scenario will be different,” claimed the PTI chief.

Khan said he stood against the ongoing military operations in Tribal Areas as well as the US drone strikes.

He said these tactics only helped in producing more terrorists rather than eliminating them. “Real success would have been achieved if the areas returned to normalcy immediately after the operations ended,” he added.

The PTI chief stressed that the military operations being carried out for the past eight years had failed and said a military option should be retained as part of a bigger political process instead.

LHC bans statements against judges on TV shows LAHORE OnlinE

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday barred television channels and anchorpersons from airing anti-judiciary statements during talk shows.

While hearing a petition on the issue, Justice Nasir Saeed Sheikh ordered that statements against honourable judges must not be permitted during talk shows, and summoned the attorney general and advocate general on November 5 for assistance. Shumail Ahmad, counsel for the petitioner, pleaded before the court that statements against the sitting judges of the superior judiciary were being made on various TV channels by politicians. “It has become a routine practice that various anchorpersons invite controversial personalities, and conduct an anti-judiciary show to enhance their programmes’ ratings,” the petitioner argued, adding that the practice was a violation of Article 68 of the constitution. The court, while admitting the petition for further hearing, adjourned the case until November 5.

Wednesday, 17 October, 2012

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04 News Red Cross tallies 72.4 million forced migrants worldwide GENEVA AFP

P QUETTA: Relatives of victims of a targeted killing incident on Sirki Road stage a demonstration on Jinnah Road on Tuesday. online

only 31 percent of Chinese have positive view of Pakistan WASHINGTON AFP

A new survey by Pew Research Centre has found that 31 percent of Chinese people had a favourable view of Pakistan, only slightly better than their opinion of Islamabad’s rival India.

China has since long provided military and economic support Pakistan, whose leaders often praise the relationship with Beijing as time tested. “Pakistani views of China actually tend to be quite positive, but Chinese views of Pakistan are not the

President’s involvement CONtINuED fROm PagE 01

Akram Shaikh said a conspiracy was being hatched against his client and the noose was being tightened around against his neck through deliberate allegations. He also questioned the role of Asad Durrani, former ISI head, and said through his letter to late prime minister Benazir Bhutto, he had given his first stance over the issue as ambassador of Pakistan to Germany. Shaikh said everything followed that stance later. The CJ said they had been hearing the case since long and it had become significant after pleadings of the parties concerned. The lawyer contended that Naseerullah Babar’s stance in the National Assembly over withdrawal of money by his client from Mehran Bank was incorrect as the said bank never existed during 1990s. The chief justice told him that they were not holding trial of anyone but examining the constitutional violations and enforcement of fundamental rights. Shaikh argued that his client had been the first person who had demanded that political cell be disbanded. Earlier, Roedad Khan, a former bureaucrat accused of running the affairs of a political cell in the Presidency during tenure of late Ghulam Ishaq Khan, submitted a reply before the bench and denied the accusations. He said a reference to existence of political cell could be found in Rafi Raza’s report who served as special assistant in the prime minister’s house.

Wednesday, 17 October, 2012

same,” Richard Wike, associate director of the Pew Global Attitudes Project said.

The survey, part of a 21nation study, included 3,177 face-to-face interviews in China in March and April and had a margin of error of 4.3 percentage points.

Only 23 percent of Chinese said they held a favourable view of India, with a sharp rise since 2010 in the percentage of Chinese who saw the fellow billion-plus nation as hostile. India and China fought a war in 1962 and tensions have risen in recent years over their borders

in two regions. India has for decades offered refuge to Tibetans fleeing Chinese rule, including the territory’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

The Chinese public, once upbeat about US President Barack Obama, also increasingly sees a hostile relationship with Washington, but most Chinese still admire American democracy. Some 39 percent of Chinese said they believed Beijing’s relationship with the United States was one of cooperation, a sharp drop from 68 percent who said so two years ago, the poll found. Twenty-

six percent of Chinese said that US relations were hostile, a jump of 18 percentage points since 2010, with the rest of the public not offering an alternative assessment.

Only 38 percent of Chinese said they had confidence in Obama, a fall from a narrow majority in 2010 but still higher than George W Bush’s approval rating in China before he left the White House. “We’ve seen attitudes towards the US and towards President Obama cool a little bit in different parts of the world since some of the initial enthusiasm that followed his election,” Wike said.

US court throws out bin Laden driver conviction WASHINGTON AFP

A US federal court threw out Tuesday the conviction of Osama bin Laden’s former driver, once jailed at Guantanamo Bay, saying material support for terrorism does not constitute a war crime.

While Salim Hamdan has already been freed, the Yemeni’s appeal in civilian court could have ramifications for other suspects because “material support for

terrorism” is a common charge against detainees at the US prison camp in Cuba.

A three-judge bench at the US Court of Appeals in Washington said that a law that listed material support for terrorism as a war crime — approved in 2006 in response to Hamdan’s case — could not apply to him retroactively. US prosecutors instead had to rely on international law, which defines some forms of terrorism — such as the intentional tar-

geting of civilians — as war crimes, the court said. “But the issue here is whether ‘material support for terrorism’ is an international-law war crime. The answer is no,” wrote Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

“International law leaves it to individual nations to proscribe material support for terrorism under their domestic laws if they so choose.

There is no international-law proscription of material support for terrorism,” he said.

OLITICAL upheaval, violence, natural disasters and development projects have forced some 72.4 million people to migrate from their homes worldwide, the Red Cross said Tuesday.

“This figure rises relentlessly every year, and most migrants are either in protracted displacement situations or permanently dispossessed,” the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in its annual World Disasters Report.

The Geneva-based organisation said forced migration costs the international community around $8.0 billion (6.2 billion euros) a year.

While the world currently counts some 214 million cross-border migrants and 740 million migrants within the borders of their own

Pakistani response to malala attack ‘very appropriate’: Clinton LIMA: In her remarks to an American news channel during an interview on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the response of Pakistani public to condemn the terrorist attack on 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai was very appropriate.

“The people of Pakistan are saying what needs to be said so eloquently now – that children, boys and girls, deserve to go to school; they deserve to have the chance to make the best of their God-given potential, to make a contribution to their society”, she pointed out.

“Any country that doesn’t stand up against extremism in order to protect its children has to really take a hard look, and I think that’s what’s happening in Pakistan. And I certainly hope so because there are so many thousands of young girls who deserve to go to school, who deserve to have an education, and those who are committing these terrible acts of violence need to be brought to justice,” she stressed. INP

countries, the IFRC said it had focused this year’s report on the 72.4 million people, or one percent of the world population, who are forced to leave their homes by events beyond their control. The IFRC report said conflicts in places such as Syria, Mali, the Horn of Africa and Libya had led to the displacement of around 26.4 million people within their own countries, in addition to the current 15 million refugees and one million asylum seekers tallied by the United Nations worldwide.

Some two million people fled their homes since the start of the Arab Spring uprisings in 2010, the report said, while the UN refugee agency recently put the number of Syrian refugees alone at over 300,000. Natural disasters such as those in Haiti, Japan and Pakistan had meanwhile forced another 15 million people to flee, the report said, adding that at least another 15 million had been pushed

from their homes by development projects.

Dam projects, major building projects and slum clearance caused development-related migration, according to the report, citing as an example the recent Manila metro upgrade, which alone shifted as many as 35,000 families. China’s Xiaolangdi dam resettlement programme, which by 2001 had resettled more than 185,000 people from 227 villages, was “a relative success story,” the report said, noting that 70 percent of the affected people improved their living standards after the move.

But more often than not, major development projects plunge the dispossessed into poverty, the report said.

About 20 million of the world’s 72.4 million forced migrants meanwhile live in “prolonged displacement” and as a result fail to integrate with local communities, the report lamented.

Saudi arabia To allow woMen lawyerS To Plead CaSeS in CourT RIYADH AFP

Women lawyers in Saudi Arabia will be be allowed to plead cases in court for the first time from next month, according to a justice ministry directive published on Tuesday by Al-Watan daily.

The ruling, which will take effect at the beginning of next month after the end of the four-day Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha in late October, will apply to all women who have a law degree and who have spent at least three years working in a lawyer’s office.

“This is a decision we have awaited for a long time,” recent law graduate Mona Belabid was quoted as saying.

“We launched a campaign in 2011 to be able to plead in court and it is good that the campaign has borne fruit.”

As far back as February 2010, the justice ministry announced that it was preparing a rule that would allow the practice.

The highly conservative kingdom follows a rigorous form of Islam. Women are not allowed to drive, and there are also strict rules governing mixing with the opposite sex.

4 pakistanis long-listed for DSC prize for South asian literature NEWS DESK Four Pakistani names are among the list of 16 authors whose books have been long-listed for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature for the year 2013.

Jamil Ahmad, Musharraf Ali Farooqi, Mohammed Hanif and Roopa Farooki joined other authors from the region when the list was announced on Tuesday.

In last year’s nominations, no Pakistani author managed to enter the long list and the prize was eventually won by Sri Lanka’s Shehan Karunatilaka for his book “Chinaman: The legend of Pradeep Mathew.”

Mohammed Hanif’s “Our Lady of Alice Bhatti,” Musharraf Ali Farooqi’s

“Between Clay and Dust,” Jamil Ahmad’s “The Wandering Falcon” and Roopa Farooki’s “The Flying Man” are the Pakistan entries. The list comprises four debut novels and two translations from Hindi into English. Other authors included in the list are from India, Australia, UK and Bangladesh. The prize is not ethnicity driven in terms of the author’s origin and is awarded for the best work of fiction based on South Asia, published in English, including translations into English, according to the committee. There were 81 entries for the US $50,000 prize, from which the jury, comprising K Satchidanandan (Chair), Muneeza Shamsie, Rick Simonson, Suvani Singh

and Eleanor O’Keeffe, longlisted 16. Commenting on the long list, Satchidanandan, the jury’s chair said, “The values we were looking for in the works were many: novelty of theme, freshness of the narrative strategies used as well as the idiom, the contribution the work makes to the genre of the novel in general. And we found several works which had one or all of these qualities. They were charmingly diverse in their theme and treatment and well aware of the political, cultural and psychological dimensions of life in the societies and people they were dealing with, making our reading a rich, educative as well as aesthetic experience. All

jury members prepared their own long lists, which had many works in common. Where they differed, they arrived at a consensus through mutual consultation.”

The jury will deliberate on the long list over one month and the shortlist will be announced on November 20. The winner will be subsequently declared at the Jaipur Literature Festival in January 2013. The long-listed entries are:

Jamil Ahmad: The Wandering Falcon (Hamish Hamilton/Penguin India), Alice Albinia: Leela’s Book (Harvill Secker, London), Tahmima Anam: The Good Muslim (Penguin Books), Rahul Bhattacharya: The Sly Company of People Who Care (Picador, London), Roopa Farooki: The Flying Man (Headline Review/ Hachette, London, Musharraf Ali Farooqi: Between Clay and Dust (Aleph Book Company, India), Amitav Ghosh: River of Smoke (Hamish Hamilton/Penguin India),

Niven Govinden: Black Bread White Beer (Fourth Estate/ Harper Collins India), Sunetra Gupta: So Good in Black (Clockroot Books, Massachusetts), Mohammed Hanif, Our Lady of Alice Bhatti (Random House India), Jerry Pinto: Em and the Big Hoom (Aleph Book Company, India), Uday Prakash: The Walls of Delhi (Translated by Jason

Grunebaum; UWA Publishing, W. Australia), Anuradha Roy: The Folded Earth (Hachette India), Saswati Sengupta: The Song Seekers (Zubaan, India), Geetanjali Shree: The Empty Space (Translated by Nivedita Menon; Harper Perennial/ Harper Collins India), Jeet Thayil: Narcopolis ( Faber and Faber, London).

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News 05

Pakistan, Iran vow to expedite joint mega projects BAKU OnlinE

In his meeting with Iranian President Mehmoud Ahmedinejad on the sidelines of the 12th ECO summit on Tuesday, President Asif Ali Zardari emphasised the need to expedite implementation of various joint mega projects. The two leaders discussed the multi-billion dollar Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, electricity transmission lines and rail and road projects. Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Senator Haji Muhammad Adeel, Pakistan’s ambassador to Azerbaijan Inayatullah Kakar, and Alamgir Babar were also present. President Zardari said greater interaction between the leadership and the people of the two countries would not only strengthen mutual historical, cultural and religious bonds but would also help to benefit from each others’ resources and expertise. The president said there existed a huge potential of trade between the two countries and urged for effective steps which included preferential tariff and free trade arrangements to reach the bilateral trade target of $10 billion. “The agreement on export of wheat and rice to Iran was a test case for our barter trade and if successful it can be replicated in other areas,” President Zardari said and stressed the need for removing tariff and non-tariff barriers and identifying alternative arrangements to further enhance the bilateral trade. The two leaders also reviewed progress on the mega projects, including the IranPakistan gas pipeline, the 1000MW Taftan-Quetta power transmission line, the 100MW Gwadar power supply project, construction of Noshki-Dalbandin section of Quetta-Taftan Highway and upgrading of the Quetta-Taftan Railway Track and urged for early implementation of these projects. President Zardari said Pakistan was deeply concerned over the fast deteriorating situation in Syria, “as we believed that stability in this region was important for peace in the region and beyond”. He said Pakistan desired an immediate end to the bloodshed in Syria and would continue to advocate principles of non-intervention and non-interference in the internal affairs of states. Zardari also reiterated Pakistan’s principled stance of supporting an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned reconciliation process. He said control of trans-border movement of drugs and human trafficking among Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran was a priority of the government and stressed the need to intensify cooperation at the bilateral and trilateral levels.

Zardari, Erdogan discuss bilateral matters, international situation g

President says Pakistan and turkey need to coordinate on deteriorating situation in Syria BAKU

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APP

RESIDENT Asif Ali Zardari and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met on the sidelines of 12th ECO summit on Tuesday and held wide-ranging discussions on bilateral, regional and international issues, peace process in Afghanistan and the situation in Middle East particularly Syria.

The president said both Pakistan and Turkey needed to coordinate closely on the deteriorating situation in Syria as it had serious implications for the entire Middle Eastern region.

He said Pakistan had already condemned the reprehensible act of cross-border shelling in which Turkish citizens lost their lives and also expressed Pakistan’s full support and solidarity with Turkey on this

grave incident. Zardari said Pakistan’s position in this regard was based on the principle of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, adding that as stable democracies both Pakistan and Turkey were well placed to play a constructive role at this current critical juncture.

He said Pakistan appreciated the democratic transformations in the Middle East and the broader Islamic World and believed that the transformation should be in accordance with the aspirations of the people.

Praising Turkey’s constructive role in Afghanistan, the president said both countries needed to intensify their cooperation, both bilaterally as well as under the trilateral mechanism to support an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process of reconciliation.

He also inquired about President Gul’s health and prayed for his full recovery.

President Zardari said both Pakistan and Turkey should create facilitative mech-

anism and opportunities for their private sectors in order to achieve the mutually agreed trade target of $2 billion and called for fast tracking the conclusion of PakistanTurkey Preferential Trade Agreement.

The president said he was glad to know that Turkish banks were opening more branches in Pakistan, adding that it was also encouraging that the two countries’ private sectors were collaborating in the energy, construction, food processing and rubber industries. During the meeting, he invited Turkish investment in key sectors such as infrastructure, housing, engineering, energy, agriculture, telecommunications and mining. Zardari said Pakistan was keenly interested in the Gul Train project and thanked the Turkish Prime Minister for his personal interest in it and stressed for collective work on generating more cargo load for this train. Commenting on issues of the Muslim world, the president said these were

defining times for the Muslims as “we are facing unprecedented challenges from Afghanistan to North Africa and the entire Middle East and these unprecedented circumstances demand extraordinary vision and leadership on our part”.

The Turkish prime minister assured full support and cooperation to Pakistan in all areas and praised the sacrifices made

by Pakistan in the fight against militancy and terrorism. He also assured assistance to Pakistan in its efforts in the war against terrorism. Erdogan said close cooperation at various levels between Pakistan and Turkey would further strengthen bilateral relations particularly trade and investment ties. The two leaders hoped for early implementation of bilateral agreements signed during the Turkish prime minister’s recent visit to Pakistan. Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar was also present during the meeting.

Sunni Ittehad wants crackdown on terrorists

PESHAWAR: Vendors offload sacrificial animals from a truck on Tuesday. inp

RAWALPINDI: The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) on Tuesday demanded the government to crack down on terrorists challenging the state’s writ, and making the lives of innocent and peaceloving people insecure. Addressing the participants of a train march outside Rawalpindi Railway Station, SIC Chairman Sahibzada Fazal Karim strongly condemned the attack on teenage education activist Malala Yousafzai. He termed the attack “un-Islamic” and “a conspiracy against Islam”. “Islam does not allow anyone to take lives of innocent people by carrying out subversive activities,” he said. The train march, which started from Karachi on Sunday evening against US drone attacks and the blasphemous film, reached Rawalpindi Railway Station in the wee hours of Tuesday. Hundreds of SIC supporters and several prominent clerics received the train march here.

Speaking about the anti-Islam film, the SIC chairman urged Muslims to unite against such acts in order to prevent them from happening in future. He asked the government to call a session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on the issue of preserving the Holy Prophet’s (PBUH) sanctity, and ask the United Nations to make anti-blasphemy legislation. APP

Global outpouring to help Malala Yousafzai: report WASHINGTON OnlinE

When the time came to choose medical treatment for Malala Yousafzai, the 14-year-old schoolgirl who defied the Taliban and then was shot by them, her family and doctors faced a world of possibilities after a global outpouring of advice and offers of assistance, the US media reported on Tuesday.

Whatever they chose, a medical jet from the United Arab Emirates was waiting to take her to hospitals abroad, the New York Times reported.

Pakistani and American officials had talked about arranging treatment for her at the giant American military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.

A well-developed offer came from former representative Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, Mark E Kelly, who had gone through their own treatment ordeal after she was shot in the head last year. They had gone as far as to line up a noted neurosurgeon and had even arranged a transportation option of their own to the United States – with a television celebrity offering to quietly foot the fuel bill. Those were among dozens of offers from across the world. But when the time came to fly the wounded schoolgirl out of Pakistan, in the early hours of Monday, a deal from Britain to accept Malala at a specialised hospital in Birmingham proved hard

to beat, but first, to get her there.

Out of worry that the Taliban would fulfill their promise to take a second shot at the teenage activist, the dawn run from the military hospital in Rawalpindi to the airport was shrouded in secrecy, said Interior Minister Rehman Malik.

“I directed the airport staff to remain incognito, because there was an alert, threats from the Taliban that they would kill her,” he said. “We were very careful.”

When the Emirati jet carrying her and a team of doctors landed in Birmingham on Monday afternoon, most agreed that the de-

cision made both medical and diplomatic sense. Britain and Pakistan have a long history stretching back to British rule on the subcontinent; doctors at the hospital, the Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Center, have treated hundreds of British soldiers wounded in fighting against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan.

“We do, unfortunately, have a considerable expertise in treating that sort of bullet injury,” Dr David Rosser, the hospital’s medical director, told reporters. Pakistani, British and American officials took pains on Monday to emphasise that the final decision

about Malala’s treatment had been based on medical grounds above all else. “We never saw this in a political light,” one senior American official said on the condition of anonymity. “This was a humanitarian story, not a political one.” Yet there was little doubt that each of the possibilities, especially given the diplomatic tensions between Pakistan and America, carried its own political risk.

Initially, Pakistani officials had approached the American embassy for help, officials from both countries said.

Two options were discussed, Interior Minister Malik said, the possible use of an American military facility in Oman, and evacuation to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. “We scrambled like hell,” one American official said. “We were standing by, ready to do anything.”

There were also private American offers – from Giffords and Kelly, plus at least three other “serious” parties, the American official added. One came from an American businessman with ties to senior figures in the Pakistan government; another came from a constituent of Senator John Kerry, who has longstanding political ties to the country.

Meanwhile Giffords’s doctor, Dr Dong Kim, the head of neurosurgery at the Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, got ready to travel to Pakistan. Kelly, a former astronaut, said he had recruited an American celebrity, whom he declined to name, to fi-

nance the fuel costs of an emergency plane trip from Peshawar to Houston.

“We were just trying to offer the best help available, as we understand it from being down this road,” Kelly said. Kelly also pressed political contacts in the White House, State Department and Pakistan to help push the offer through. He said that Johns Hopkins University made a similar offer.

But over the weekend, Kelly was told by a senior State Department official that “Pakistan has decided to solve this domestically.”

The British connection, however, had already been well established at that point through two doctors, both experts in trauma injuries and one of whom was of Pakistani descent, who happened to be visiting Pakistan at the time of the shooting last week.

The medics were quickly drafted into the effort to save Malala’s life. They were flown to Peshawar to help with the initial diagnosis and then on to the hospital in Rawalpindi. They shared in decisions about how long to keep the patient in Pakistan, officials from Britain and Pakistan said, declining to name the two. Early Monday morning, the medics accompanied a brigadier in watching over Malala during the flight to Britain. The air ambulance that ferried them had been offered by the United Arab Emirates, a country with close political ties to President Asif Ali Zardari.

Wednesday, 17 October, 2012

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Wednesday, 17 October, 2012

Policemen sent to jail because their father is not the CM The employee, who was thrown outside the bakery after torture, received serious injuries including one that has affected his ability to pass urine n Asian Human Rights Commission calls for action against CM, daughter and son-in-law for torture of bakery employee n CM’s daughter is famous as the ‘lady gangster’, has also beaten up Ayesha Ahad, Hamza Shahbaz’s former wife n

LAHORE

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AiMA KHOSA

sian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on Tuesday called on the public to take action against Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and his daughter Rabia Imran for the alleged video that was leaked online several days ago.

AHRC made this appeal after it was discovered that Mrs Rabia Imran, the daughter of the chief minister of Punjab and allegedly a known lady gangster of the province, visited the Sweet Tooth bakery situated in T-Market, Defence, in the noon on October 7 and demanded a cake. There was one sweeper who was cleaning the shop and he informed her that shop was closed and, as he was only the sweeper, he could not help her. At this moment she got angry and started threatening him that she knew how to deal with such situations. She also informed him that she is the daughter of Shahbaz Sharif, the chief minister of

the province and she could do anything. At this moment some employees of the shop reached the scene and told her that she might visit after 3 pm, as the bakery was closed and employees were busy in cleaning it. However, it infuriated the woman, and two persons, who appeared to be guards, came in and abused an employee, Irfan. They also threatened his life.

At around 6:30pm three persons in plain clothe including her husband Imran and his personal guards came with men in police uniform who were from ‘Elite force’ a special force which was said to be the personal force of the chief minister that uses it for police encounters. The whole video clip is self explanatory that shows the son-in-law beating and kicking the sweeper and asking the policemen to abduct him in a police van. The victim was taken to an unknown place and after some hours he was thrown on the footpath of the bakery in serious condition. He body showed signs of severe torture and he received internal injuries which has affected his ability to pass urine.

The son-in-law is using the police force for his personal business although he is not a government employee or in any official position. The daughter is a well known gangster of the province and does this type of activity routinely.

She is thought off in the province as the militant daughter of the chief minister.

She also allegedly beat an actress, Ayesha Ahad, when she demanded her right as a wife of her brother. But no action has been taken even after the police case was filed against Rabia.

The provincial government and police avoided registering the case against her and the other attackers until the case received much popularity from the social media. The so-called independent electronic media also remained silent for a week because of their close links with the chief minister who is well known for providing perks and privileges to the media men and anchorpersons. After the breakthrough from the social media and a strong protest from society about the silence of the independent media the news was taken up at the national hook-up.

The chief minister took the action on October 15 eight days after the incident but has not ordered the filing of a criminal case against his daughter and her husband who were involved in the attack and misusing their position with the chief minister.

In a statement on their website, AHRC appealed to the public to take action against the chief minister by writing the letters to authorities calling on them to arrest and prosecute the daughter and son-in-law of the chief minister of Punjab province for attacking, beating, torturing and keeping a sweeper of the bakery in illegal confinement. Please also urge the authorities to take strong action against the policemen involved in the case and also prosecute the station head officer of the Defence police station for not performing his duty according to law and refusing to file a case against the perpetrators. The AHRC also added that it is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture calling for his intervention into this matter.

Robberies, arrests and FIRs LAHORE: Criminals continued their activities in different areas of the city on Tuesday and deprived several citizens of vehicles and other valuables.

According to reports, a robbery took place in the shop named Bhai Bhai Shop in the area of Gulberg, where robbers robbed mobile phones worth millions and Rs 40,000 of cash after breaking the locks of the shop.

A famous singer named Sara Raza Khan, while returning from Karachi to Lahore by PIA flight number 3042, was deprived of her cloths, gold and other valuables at Allama Iqbal Airport. According to reports, her valuables were stolen by cutting her luggage with a knife.

She alleged that PIA officials are involved in the case and PIA announced that it is investigating the incident.

In another report, a citizen named Ali Nawaz was deprived of his car at Pakistan Institute of Cardiology parking area. Another vehicle having government registration number LOJ 6472 was also stolen from IR Department Punjab University. An FIR was launched as per area police station against unidentified robbers. Custom Anti-Smuggling Squad raided and recovered heavy quantities of illegal Indian medicines worth Rs 2 cores from the area of Bund Road, where officials said that a man named Shahzad was apprehended for carrying illegal medicines. Customs Anti Smuggling Squad also recovered 37 meters of illegal cloth worth of Rs 50, 00,000 from the area of Sherakot. STAFF REPORT

‘The war against dengue has been won’ Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif says the efforts of those who took part in the fight against dengue would not go unrewarded

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LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Punjab Chief Minister, Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif on Tuesday said that those who waged a successful crusade against dengue are national heroes and will be rewarded.

He expressed satisfaction over the fact that no human life was lost this year because of dengue while addressing a special meeting regarding dengue at Model Town. He added that he is thankful to the public representatives, concerned institutions and especially the masses who extended their cooperation in the drive against dengue.

Provincial Minister for Education Mian Mujtaba Shujar ur Rehman, Deputy Speaker Punjab Assembly Rana

Murderer arrested after 23 years LAHORE STAFF REPORT

The perpetrator of eight murders, Irfan alias Achoo Ishtihari/Talwari has been arrested after remaining at large for 23 long years.

According to details, the Baghpura police arrested the murderer Irfan after a long search. The accused had been involved in the murders of Zafar in Manawan during 1985, Nasir in 1989, Akhtar Sajid and Munir Ahmed in Baghpura and also murdered Shaukat, Ashiq Ali, Haji Abid and Muhammad Sadiq in 2000 outside the sessions court due to some personal enmity.

Mashhood Ahmed, Special Assistant Kh. Salman Rafique, Advisor Zaeem Hussain Qadri, members of national and provincial assemblies, heads of development agencies and experts were present on the occasion.

Addressing the meeting, the chief minister said that the worst outbreak of dengue was faced last year, however, every human effort was made to counter the situation. He said that doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and officials of other institutions were imparted training abroad. He said that relentless efforts were also made this year for controlling dengue and he had never seen such team work on any other front in his life. He said that the performance of Special Assistant Khawaja Salman Rafique, concerned

institutions, district government and their teams is laudable.

Moreover, he said that a two day seminar will be held on November 10 and 11 to encourage the outstanding performers in the drive against dengue.

He said that friends from Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand would also be invited on this occasion who had extended fullest cooperation last year in the fight against dengue. He further said that those who showed outstanding performance in anti-dengue campaign last year would also be encouraged. The CM also added that there is a need to continue efforts for complete eradication of dengue and a more effective strategy will have to be adopted for future by keeping in view the flaws and shortcomings in the recent campaign.

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Lahore 07

MAYBE THIS WILL ATTRACT PEOPLE: Aslam has wrapped a pink balloon around Basanti’s (the monkey) neck in an attempt to attract people. “People are not generous these days. I do not make enough to feed my family. Life is hard,” Aslam added. MURTAZA ALI

High prices boost collective sacrifice on Eid ul Azha LAHORE

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APP

WING to high prices of sacrificial animals in the provincial capital’s main market Bakr Mandi people opt for collective sacrifice on Eid ul Azha.

According to a survey, a majority of people may not be able to sacrifice animals individually on Eid ul Azha as rates have increased by 50 to 80 per cent in two years. “After floods in Sindh in the last few years, which is a hub of production of animals, there is a shortage of hundreds of thousands of ani-

mals in the country, due to which their rates have skyrocketed,” livestock traders said. They said high prices of sheep, goats, cows had forced people to go for collective sacrifice.

On average, the price of a goat has reached Rs 25,000, cow Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000, according to the survey.

“The rates are beyond my budget and it’s not possible for me to sacrifice an animal this Eid,” said Usman Mughal. Yousaf Khan, a cattle trader from Hyderabad, said, “Many animals were killed in floods, this is the main reason for high rates”. Another trader, Sabir Khan, was not convinced that floods were the cause of high rates. “A

large number of animals are smuggled to other countries,” he said.

“There is no price control mechanism in the country and traders demand their own prices,” said a buyer, Khalid Shah, adding that he would pool for joint sacrifice this year.

“We have booked over 500 shares in animals,” said Aneel Rehman, an organiser of joint sacrifices at a local mosque. “Not only is this a cheap option, it also allows everyone to take part in the spirit of Eid.” “I am glad the religion gave us this option, otherwise I would not have been able to be a part of this Abrahamic tradition,” said Noman Afzal, a shopkeeper.

Cost effective energy resources sought to overcome load shedding LAHORE APP

Federal Republic of Germany ambassador Dr Cyril nunn receives a souvenir from Punjab Counsular Deam Qazi Hamayun Fareed.

Honorary Cousular Anees ur Rehman is also present. Staff pHoto

CIne StAr PH: 35157462

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Pakistan Economy Watch Vice President Abdullah Tariq on Tuesday said that the cost effective energy resources for power generation were needed to get rid of load shedding and for long term economic development in the country.

“Inter-fuel substitution can end the need for gas load shedding during the five months of winter giving relief to the masses and industry,” he said, while speaking to the media.

He said, demand and security concerns are growing about oil which provides 35% of global energy consumption therefore policymakers should consider replacing high cost products like petrol, diesel and LPG with cheaper fuels. He said, gas load shedding has become a routine matter which has crippled the economy. Now plans are afoot to cut supply to CNG sector which he said will hurt millions.

Rejecting the plan to upward revise of CNG prices, Tariq said that the issue of gas load shedding can be tackled properly by importing of two million tonnes of furnace oil for power generation during winter season.

He called upon the government to immediately respond to the energy substitution proposal.

Wednesday, 17 October, 2012

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onservationists see the decimation of pangolins (scaly anteaters) in Pakistan as a sign of the callousness with which this country’s rich biodiversity is being traded away for commercial gain, according to a report by the IPS. Tariq Mahmood, an assistant professor, toldsIPS that if the illegal trade in pangolins – prized for their scales and meat – is not stemmed, the animal may well go extinct within the next few decades.

Between December 2011 and March 2012, Mahmood’s team of researchers recovered 50 pangolin carcasses in the Potohar district of Punjab province alone.

International trade in Asian pangolin species is banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, but with each animal fetching about 125 dollars, poachers supplying markets in China and Southeast Asia are ready to take the risk.

In China, the main market for pangolins, the meat of the animal is considered a delicacy with the scales, blood and other parts used as ingredients in traditional medicine.

“People in Pakistan know pangolins only as a harmless animal and are unaware that the animal also saves crops and plants from insect pests,” says Ejaz Ahmad of the World Wide Fund-Pakistan (WWF-Pakistan).

“With their super strong sense of smell, they can detect termites and ants from hundreds of metres away.”

“They are natural pest controllers,” Rhishja Cota-Larson of Project Pangolin (PP) told IPS. “One pangolin can consume an estimated 70 million insects per year.

“If pangolins disappear, you would need to increase the use of pesticides in order to control the insect population. This, in turn, would have adverse affects on the environ-

ment and on people,” she said.

“We know of pangolins being killed for their scales in Pakistan and their seizures occur on a regular basis in India and Nepal,” Cota-Larson added. The PP has noted similar incidents in Zimbabwe, Kenya, Mozambique and Uganda.

The insatiable demand may have wiped out around 50,000 pangolins worldwide in 2011, according to PP. “In Pakistan, pangolins are bought for as much as 105 dollars per individual at some five-star hotel for use in their Chinese restaurants,” said Mahmood.

Last year, Mahmood said, ‘Pangolinswanted’ pamphlets were dropped by helicopter over rural areas around the Jhelum river giving details of people to contact if anyone had a captured animal for sale.

There are no reliable estimates for the pangolin population in Pakistan as they are elusive, nocturnal animals. “We have no idea how many remain in the wild,” said Ahmad.

But pangolins are not the only animals under threat in Pakistan, and scientists have identified 100 species that are endangered. Taken together with the massive denudation of pine forests in areas such as Swat and the Khyber Paktunkhwa province, the damage to Pakistan’s biodiversity may already be irreversible, experts fear.

WWF-Pakistan’s Ahmad said since every living thing is in a symbiotic web, balanced biodiversity is vital for the survival of life on earth. “Biodiversity is the summation of all living things on this planet.”

Already gharial, a crocodile species found in Pakistan till late 1970s, has vanished, says environmentalist Munaf Qaimkhani. “This knowledge alone should prompt us to take steps to save those species facing extinction,” he told IPS. Similarly, the blind dolphin of River Indus, which lost its habitat due to the damming of the river, is now breathing its last, caught in nets, starved of fish and

forced to live in increasingly toxic waters.

In 2006, the WWF-Pakistan estimated that there were just 1,200 dolphins left in the Indus. “Each year almost two dozen dolphins get trapped in the irrigation channels,” said Nasir Panhwar, executive director of the Centre for Environment and Development, a non-governmental organisation based in Hyderabad in Sindh province.

Qaimkhani lists the snow leopard, white-backed vulture, falcons, houbara bustards, Chiltan markhor, Marco polo sheep, woolly flying squirrel and musk deer among animals in Pakistan that have become highly endangered.

Conservationists worry that there are cases where the government is not just apathetic about biodiversity loss but also collusive in its destruction for political or diplomatic reasons.

Raja Zahoor, a customs official, said many animals and birds are hunted for sport by foreign nationals with special permission granted by a government eager to “foster good relations” among influential countries in the Middle East. “Rare species of falcons and the houbara bustard are being taken away to Arab states on dubious documentation.”

Arab falconers hunt the internationally protected houbara bustard on special permits issued by the ministry of foreign affairs. They often bring in their own hunting falcons, but take back endangered Pakistani species using re-export permits. “It is very easy to swap the falcons,” said Panhwar.

“We know this is illegal, but our hands are tied. Customs officers who have tried to stop local falcons from being smuggled out of the country in this way have been taken to task,” Zahoor said.

“In case a bird or animal is seized by customs, there are no facilities to keep it safely until the courts call for its exhibit or until the case is disposed of – often the animal or bird dies in custody,” Zahoor added.

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yogA AND MeDiTATioN CLASSeS

PhoTogrAPhy & PAiNTiNgS

COlleGeS / unIVerSItIeS PunJAb unIVerSItY KInnAIrd COlleGe queen mArY COlleGe GOVt. COlleGe unIVerSItY umt lumS uet lCWu SuPerIOr COlleGe Wednesday, 17 October, 2012

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LHR 17-10-2012_Layout 1 10/17/2012 1:57 AM Page 9

Foreign News 09

Libyans long for security year after Gaddafi killed TRIPOLI AFP

L

IBYA took a major step towards democracy this year by holding its first free elections but success has been marred by rising extremism, failure to disband militias and delays in forming state institutions.

And facing tribal conflicts, threats from former regime backers and high social demands, the new authorities seem not sure where to turn next, one year after deposed dictator Moamer Gaddafi was captured and killed in his home town.

“Libya passed the first test of democracy by electing a national assembly after more than 42 years of totalitarianism,” said Libyan analyst Nasser al-Daessy, referring to the General National Congress elected in July. “But the political situation is still shaky in Libya and we must urgently reach a political consensus to rebuild the institutions of the state.”

Overwhelmed by sporadic outbreaks of clashes and militant attacks, which last month claimed the life of a US ambassador, the interim authorities have been hard pressed to rebuild the country after it was ravaged by eight months of conflict.

And they are not lacking in means. The oil sector wasted no time in getting back on its feet with production almost reaching pre-conflict levels of 1.6 million bpd. The North African nation boasted a 2012 budget of $56 billion, the highest in its history. But Gaddafi has left behind a grim legacy: a country without institutions as well as a weak army and police force, which have been eclipsed by militias that looted weapons depots during the war. Gaddafi’s diehard supporters remain a threat, with Tripoli periodically accusing remnants of the former regime of trying to spread

chaos and derail the democratic process.

A security source told AFP that “precautions” were being taken to prevent any attack by pro-Gaddafi elements hoping to mark the one-year anniversary of his death, which falls on Saturday.

No ceremonies are planned that day in Libya, which will celebrate instead the first anniversary since the declaration of “liberation” that was announced on October 23, 2011 — three days after Gaddafi was killed in Sirte.

Former rebels, who were once hailed as heroes and in some cases joined nascent law enforcement organs in the aftermath of the 2011 conflict, are now facing a backlash from a population angry over the unchecked power of armed groups.

Citizens want to see security in the hands of a professional army and police.

Spurred by massive anti-militia protests in Benghazi last month, in which some hardline Islamist groups were forcibly evicted from their bases by angry residents, Tripoli has cracked down on armed groups holed up in strategic facilities.

Mohammed Megaryef, president of the assembly, stressed the need for greater security in an address on Monday to military officers.

“You need to form an army in order to build a state... A strong professional army is vital to guarantee security and protect the sovereignty of the state,” he told them.

Meanwhile, human rights remain a source of concern with watchdog organisations warning against the entrenchment of militias which continue to arrest and torture with impunity, some of them emboldened by the state’s recognition.

And the surprise arrest of an International Criminal Court delegation visiting Gaddafi’s son Seif al-Islam

TRIPOLI: A picture taken on September 1, 2011 shows a defaced mural of then Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi in Tripoli. Libya took a major step towards democracy this year by holding its first free elections but success has been marred by rising extremism, failure to disband militias and delays in forming state institutions, one year after deposed dictator Moamer Gaddafi was captured and killed. afp

in Zintan, where he has been held by an ex-rebel brigade since his capture in November, raised serious concerns about justice.

Tripoli, however, bent on holding local trials for key figures of the former regime including Seif, scored big points at home by obtaining the extradition of former spy chief Abdullah Senussi and ex-prime minister Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmudi.

In Benghazi, senior military and police officers, along with judges who served under the former regime, have been targeted in a wave of attacks that are blamed on hardline Islamists previously held in Gaddafi’s jails.

Extremists became an ever greater source of concern in the wake of the September 11 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi that killed four Americans, including US Ambassador Chris Stevens.

Iran won’t capitulate in nuclear talks: Khamenei TEHRAN: Iran will not give in to “bullying” at the negotiating table with world powers over its disputed nuclear programme despite new economic sanctions, its supreme leader said on Tuesday. The West “keeps saying pressure against Iran is aimed at forcing the Islamic republic to return to the negotiating table” about the nuclear programme, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in remarks carried on state television. “But when did we leave the table that now we need to return?” he asked during his visit to the northeastern province of North Khorasan. “Their real objective is (forcing) the Iranian nation to surrender to their bullying at the negotiating table... (but) you are too weak to bring Iran to its knees,” said Khamenei. His remarks came a day after the European Union toughened sanctions against Tehran, targeting its dealings with Iran’s banks, shipping and gas imports and banning trade in metals. Without directly mentioning the sanctions, Khamenei accused the European leaders of seeking to bully Iran. AFP

Egypt probes Islamists over Tahrir clash WEST bAnK: Palestinian protesters hold up a national flag in front of israeli troops during a demonstration on route 443 near the West bank village of beit Ur in protest against settler attacks and to demand its opening to local traffic. afp.

Gunmen kill adviser to Yemen defence ministry SANAA AFP

Unidentified gunmen shot dead a military adviser to Yemen’s defence ministry, an Iraqi national, in central Sanaa on Tuesday, a security official said. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the victim, Khaled Hatem al-Hashemi was killed when “two gunmen on a motorbike” fired “two bullets” into his head as they drove past him.

The official said the assailants managed to escape. It is believed that many Iraqi military officers who served under Saddam Hussein fled to Yemen after the fall of his regime and took jobs as military and defence advisers to the Yemeni government. So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the killing but AlQaeda has been blamed for a spate of attacks on Yemeni security officials, both in the capital and throughout the country. Yemen’s unity government, created to lead a political transition after the ousting of veteran president Ali Abdullah Saleh in February, is struggling to maintain control in an increasingly divided country plagued by lawlessness and militancy.

Last Yugoslav war crimes fugitive Hadzic in dock THE HAGUE AFP

Croatian Serb former rebel leader Goran Hadzic went on trial at the Yugoslav war crimes court in The Hague on Tuesday, the last defendant to be prosecuted for crimes during the brutal Balkan wars.

“This is the last opening statement of the last trial to be held in this tribunal,” prosecuting lawyer Douglas Stringer told the court as the trial opened.

“But the crimes you will hear about ... were among the very first to be committed during the long years of conflict and despair that witnessed the death of a culturally rich, diverse country called Yugoslavia,” he said.

Hadzic, 54, faces 14 counts of war crimes and crimes against hu-

manity for his role in the 1991-95 war in Croatia, including the massacre of civilians taken from Vukovar hospital in 1991 in one of the conflict’s darkest episodes.

He is also charged with responsibility for the massacre of Croat civilians who were forced to walk into a minefield in the Croatian town of Lovas in October 1991, one of the first crimes of the long and bloody conflict.

“Fifty prisoners were called out by name and marched out of the town to a clover field where mines had recently been placed,” Stringer told the court as Hadzic, wearing a dark blue suit, listened impassively.

“When the prisoners reached the field, they were directed at gunpoint to hold hands and walk across, sweeping their legs side to side in order to locate and disarm the

mines that were placed there,” he said.

“When the first mine exploded several Serb soldiers began firing at the prisoners in the field and when it was over 21 of the Croat men had been killed. ... The dead were buried in a mass grave,” Stringer said.

The one-time leader of the selfproclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina during the early 1990s is the last of 161 suspects charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

He was arrested in northern Serbia’s idyllic Fruska Gora mountains in July last year after seven years on the run, some two months after the court’s most wanted fugitive, Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic, was caught in the same region near the city of Novi Sad.

CAIRO: Egypt’s state prosecutor has asked the general intelligence service and interior ministry to provide possible evidence in a probe of Islamists over clashes with liberals last week, state media said Tuesday. The prosecutor was acting on 53 complaints, some against senior members of President Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement, of orchestrating Friday’s unrest in which dozens of people were injured, Al-Akhbar newspaper reported. Essam al-Erian, the acting head the Brotherhood’s political party, is among those accused of organising the rally that degenerated into the worst clashes between supporters and opponents of Morsi since his election in June. The demonstration was called to denounce the acquittal of former regime members accused of a deadly attack against protesters during the uprising that overthrew president Hosni Mubarak in early 2011. AFP

Syrian jets bomb rebels despite UN ceasefire call DAMASCUS: Warplanes unleashed a wave of raids in Syria’s north on Tuesday, bidding to dislodge rebels whose seizure of a key highway has prevented reinforcements from reaching main battleground city Aleppo. Peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi issued an appeal for a ceasefire during the upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, meanwhile, as he travelled to Cairo to thrash out a possible solution to the conflict. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the morning air raids around Maaret al-Numan were the “most violent” since insurgents captured the strategic town last week.

The warplanes targeted a rebel blockade of the highway to second city Aleppo, theatre of intense fighting for the past three months, it said, adding that insurgents responded with anti-aircraft fire. AFP

Wednesday, 17 October, 2012

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10 Comment Soul searching Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Pakistan cannot afford to allow armed groups to function with impunity

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Arif Nizami Editor Lahore – Ph: 042-36298305-10 Fax: 042-36298302 Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9 Fax: 021-35381208 Islamabad – Ph: 051-2287414-6 Fax: 051-2287417 Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

militants and their apologists no way their stance has a chance

A

senior police officer and two FC officials who were entrusted with the security of Peshawar suburbs were beheaded at the orders of the TTP. Gloating over the heinous act TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan, who operates from Waziristan, accepted the responsibility for the attack and said men had taken away the heads of the victims with them. Can anyone think of a similar incident in a civilized country?

Another report tells us about 25 labourers having been abducted from Bannu and taken away to North Waziristan. Coming within days of the attack on Malala Yousufzai, the incidents show that the militants’ leadership continues to challenge the authority of the state from an area it considers to be secure.

Despite these attacks, there are elements in Pakistan who oppose a military operation in North Waziristan. Some of them fear the terrorists while others have leanings towards them.

Prominent ulema refusing to support militancy like Dr Sarfraz Naeemi and Maulana Hassan Jan have been killed by the militants. Some of the clerics who have seminaries in the tribal areas are unwilling to annoy the Taliban. Under pressure from public opinion they have condemned the attack on Malala, hedging it with remarks aimed at pacifying those who targeted her. Imran Khan also supports talks with the militants while rejecting military action. It is forgotten that despite talks with the militants leading to the setting up of Qazi courts in Swat, the militant leadership refused to accept the authority of the constitution, Parliament and the Supreme Court, vowing to continue to fight till a system of their choice was established throughout Pakistan through the barrel of the gun. Those recommending talks with the militants virtually advocate a policy of capitulation by the state.

Military operation is not an ideal solution and has to be deferred till other options have been exhausted. But when an area in the country is turned into a launching pad for terrorist attacks and the militants insist on dictating to the state, delaying the operation could inflict incalculable losses on the country. The writ of the state has to be established at all costs. The dreadful acts committed by the militants have roused the public opinion against them. Lawyers, civil society activists and political workers have held protests against the attack on the Malala Yousafzai. Sunni Ittehad Council Chief Sahabzada Fazal Karim has led a train march from Karachi to Rawalpindi demanding military operation in Waziristan. When the lives of so many people are at stake, those entrusted with the task of providing them security from enemy attacks cannot ignore their duty for long.

Mighty Obvious

By Syed Hassan Belal Zaidi

akistan is in the grip of religious extremism, terrorism and ethnic and sectarian violence. Religiocultural divisions and socio-political intolerance have increased so much that there are competing perspectives of what has been happening in and around Pakistan over the last several years.

The followers of competing perspectives have become exclusivist because each group is convinced of one’s righteousness and describes other interpretations as mistaken and misinformed.

Traditional right-wing political groups and Islamists extend varying degrees of support to the Taliban (Pakistani and Afghan).

The Jamaat-i-Islami and the JUI (both factions) and their affiliates and other Islamic groups sharing their religious and political perspectives engage in a passionate defence of the Taliban and other militant groups. To them the fault lies on the side of the Pakistan government and the United States. They want the Pakistan government to change its policies and adopt a friendly attitude towards the Taliban. It may however be mentioned that a number of Islamic groups subscribing to the Bralevi and

By Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi Shia doctrines do not support the Taliban, although these groups are religiously conservative and criticise the US policies in the region.

They plead for a tough action against the Taliban and sectarian groups.

These groups have now become more active on these issues than was the case in the past.

It is ironic that the Jamaati-Islami and the JUI work within the framework of Pakistani constitution and law and participate in the elections but they support the Tal-

iban who neither owe their allegiance to Pakistan’s constitution and law nor do they accept the primacy of the Pakistan state. The Taliban want to overwhelm the Pakistan state to use state power to implement Islam of their choice. They have never issued any appreciation of Islamic parties but, on the other hand, Pakistan’s Islamic parties have much appreciation for the Taliban and defend them against all criticism.

The friendly attitude of Islamic parties towards the Taliban has made the latter more defiant and violent. They appear more determined than ever for using violence against the Pakistani state. They resort to suicide attacks, armed ambushes, car bombs and other bombings and resort to intimidation against those who publicly reject their worldview. On more than one occasion they beheaded the captured Pakistani soldiers and dumped their heads and bodies separately. Similarly, they often execute people publicly for working against their interests.

Neither Islam nor any doctrine of humanity justifies such brutalities.

The attack on Swat’s girl students by a Taliban group has given all of us a chance for soul searching for how the issue is to be tackled. Though all parties and societal groups, including the Islamic parties, are condemning the attack, this consensus breaks down as we try to examine the causes and how to deal with the situation in the future. Should we continue to engage in polemical exchanges based on partisan party or group interests or turn this into an ideological war amongst various political and religious identities?

The Swat incident has produced noticeable impacts on the current discourse on terrorism. First, those publicly opposed to the Taliban, viewing them as a threat to the state and society, have become more vocal in their criticism and they are demanding that the state’s civilian and military institution should give up the policy of soft paddling towards selective militant and hardline groups. They want a firm action against those challenging the primacy of the Pakistani state and using coercion to impose their socio-religious perspectives on others by force.

Second, a large number of fence sitters between those wanting a tough action against the Taliban and the Islamists and extreme right-wing group that support the Taliban are now tilting towards the emerging first perspective. A large number of these people feel that some tough action is needed to make sure that these extremist groups do not repeat the Swat incident.

Third, Islamist political parties and groups are on the defence and they are perturbed by the growing societal criticism of

the Taliban and other militant groups. They are worried that if the current barrage of criticism of the Taliban and others continues, many people in the middle of the ideological divide would shift towards the anti-Taliban discourse. Therefore, they are putting forward all kinds of explanations for the Swat incident and raising issues to deflect the current societal pressure and shift the focus from the controversial role of the Taliban.

Their often repeated arguments are that the attack is a conspiracy for creating justification for an attack on North Waziristan or that the Swat attack is engineered by the foreign enemies of Pakistan rather than the Taliban.

The issue is straight forward. If Pakistan is to continue functioning as an effective nation-state with respect in the comity of nation, it cannot allow armed groups to function that reject Pakistan’s constitution and law and want to impose their narrow dogmatic Islamic views on others with the threat of violence. If such groups proliferate and expand their domain of authority for any reason, Pakistan will gradually fade out as a state. Such a situation has to be dealt with a policy that combines tough military action against those who continue to use force, dialogue with those who are prepared to stop violence and talk for a political settlement, and economic development for the strife ridden areas. However, no meaningful economic development can be pursued if strife continues unabated.

Pakistan’s Islamic parties should convince the Taliban to moderate their behaviour and work within the framework of Pakistan’s constitution and law. This will be their major positive contribution towards promoting societal harmony and stability in Pakistan.

The major political parties of Pakistan, especially the PPP and the PML-N, need to coordinate their policies for controlling the menace of religious extremism and terrorism. The PML-N leaders need to recognize that if they are able to assume power at the federal level after the next general elections, the Taliban and other extremist groups are not going to accept the domain of the Pakistani state. These groups are neither fighting against the US nor exclusively against the present ruling coalition led by the PPP. They are fighting against the Pakistan state and their efforts will continue even after the next general elections. If these two political parties develop a broad-based understanding on the Taliban and terrorism related issue, the prospects of controlling these problems will increase.

The writer is an independent political and defence analyst.

Harf-e-aakhir your guess is as good as mine, although mine may be just a fraction better because i’ve done a little more leg work on it than you have

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ournalism, fortunately, does not operate on the principles of faith. You are not required to believe in everything you read in the paper or see in the news. The audience is always presented with three things: facts, opinions and conclusions. While the first is objective, the latter two are necessarily subjective and are included to help the audience make a decision.

In most (if not all) cases, the choice of which shades of opinion to present and what kind of a conclusion to draw from the presented facts and opinions ties in directly to a channel/publication’s own slant or leanings. This is not ‘unethical journalism’, it is simply ‘journalism’.

Human beings are peculiar creatures. They can see causal and logical linkages where none may exist. This is because post-hoc rationalization is something we are quite adept at i.e., the ability to mould facts, events and speculation to suit our own point of view is something that comes as naturally and involuntarily to us as breathing.

Therefore, it is obvious that many reporters and opinion writers produce pieces that are little better than James Joyce’s stream-of-consciousness ramblings in Ulysses: they may

Wednesday, 17 October, 2012

look like the best-written words of the century, but they’re not.

‘Thick-skinned’ is a term that is used to describe someone who is impervious to senseless abuse and unconstructive criticism. But the number of thick-skinned individuals in our society has seen a drastic decline ever since the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf reared its head in Pakistan’s politicosphere. It would be unfair on my part to say that every other party has been far more tolerant of criticism, since onceprime minister famously targeted the Jang Group and had Mr Najam Sethi ‘picked up’, ostensibly for “doing their job”. Similarly, Herr Musharraf imposed a mini-martial law on November 3, 2007, because the media wouldn’t stop telling him just how big of an ass he was being.

The MQM has often used its ‘clout’ with cable operators to pull certain unfriendly content off the air, most famously in the case of Amir Khan, whose press conferences (before he re-joined the party fold), were blacked out by allied cable-wallahs across the city. Even the current PPP government, which has been most unhappy with the Jang Group of late, violated its commitment to free press when it ordered that Geo

be taken off the air on repeated occasions. And these are just the examples that readily spring to mind.

The point is, being reactive to criticism isn’t a characteristic of a certain group or party: it applies across the board on all individuals.

When a story or a barb hits too close to home, everyone and anyone clams up and becomes hostile. But it has always been the more levelheaded among all parties that have eventually prevailed; it is always those with a sense of humour and irony who can best answer pointed questions. Take spin-doctor extraordinaire Qamar Zaman Kaira’s putting-down of Kamran Khan on the eve of the contempt verdict against erstwhile premier Gilani. Or Sherry Rehman and Husain Haqqani’s handling of the media following the multiple crises that they have had to face. Effective media management and damage control is a skill that is essential to today’s politics. Even the PML-N has its Saad Rafiques and Khawaja Asifs to pacify the media monster; the ANP has Shahi Syed and the MQM is a trained jamaat of veritable talkshow pundits. But few others do.

People should remember that a free press means the freedom to do

all sorts of things. It can also be used to further all sorts of interests and agendas. However, unlike the United States, where airtime is openly purchased by political parties for their campaigns, things in Pakistan are a little more under-thetable. Since media organizations are less straightforward about why they are representing a certain opinion, it is up to the audience to decide whether they want to side with the talking head on screen, or not. While this presupposes the intelligent viewer, it does not liberate the media from ethical limitations: no one is arguing for the abolition of PEMRA, just for the institution of better mental checks for readers themselves.

The intelligent reader is not a myth. Habitual newspaper readers and TV viewers become accustomed to a certain style of presentation and begin to read between the lines once they are familiar enough with a certain publication/channel’s style.

This is what separates them from the masses who treat all they see on TV as harf-e-aakhir, when in fact, there is no such thing.

The lesson we must take from this diatribe is this: the fourth estate is part and parcel of the democratic (sic!) setup. There will forever be ac-

cusations of bias, yellow journalism, slander and unfair criticism against it, but that will never change the way it does business. Like so many other professionals, media moguls don’t particularly like being told what to do and consider it their sworn duty to tell others just how they should be running their affairs.

It’s not a perfect arrangement, but it does work most of the time.

Fellow columnist Nadir Hassan once remarked, “Imagine what our opinion pages and TV shows would be like if people were more comfortable with expressing doubt”.

While losing the pulpit of punditry may compromise the credibility of many a two-penny writer, the general rule is quite consistent. No one is an expert on everything and no one has any crystal balls. Your guess is as good as mine, although mine may be just a fraction better because I’ve done a little more leg work on it than you have. This is what the narrative of the media in Pakistan should be like. Any attempts to contradict this will only amount to severe stupidity.

Follow @mightyobvious on Twitter for more incoherence in 140 characters or less

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Comment 11

obama should take the road not taken…

Preoccupation with geopolitics

By M K Bhadrakumar

T

he forthcoming visit of the United States Deputy Secretary of State William Burns to New Delhi should provide the Indian side an opportunity to have an indepth discussion on Afghanistan.

The point is, President Barack Obama is expected to revisit the Afghan strategy soon after the November 8 election in the US. Delhi needs to structure its talking points regarding Afghanistan with foresight and wisdom. There is an avalanche of despondency today visible in the recent US discourses regarding Afghanistan.

Most assessments are gloomy but of course the stunning weekend editorial by The New York Times outstrips them all — demanding the complete, unconditional, total withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan by end-2013 i.e., an year ahead of the anticipated drawdown through end-2014.

The NYT even recommends that the US should destroy its high-tech weapons rather than leave them behind in the Hindu Kush for Taliban and the Al-Qaeda to appropriate them. Are things so hopelessly bad?

The noted Pakistani author Ahmed Rashid has a fine piece on this big question. His answer? “Not really, provided…” I go along with Rashid’s prognosis. Indeed, there is a striking parallel with the February 1989 situation when the Red Army withdrew. The Soviets, Americans and Pakistan’s Zia-ul-Haq were all agreed that the PDPA regime would collapse without the support of the Red Army.

They were proven wrong. Najibullah’s fall, when it came, was precipitated by three factors: Soviets threw him to the wolves; Soviets began dealings behind his back with Ahmed Shah Massoud; and, Pakistan’s relentless attempts to overthrow the regime despite Najib’s numerous overtures to Islamabad seeking a modus vivendi.

Rashid is right: Washington should not pre-judge the Kabul government’s resilience. The heart of the matter is that Afghanistan has its own yardsticks and the resilience of the Afghan people should not be underestimated. It is a nation with acute survival instincts. The mini-

mum that is expected of the US and its allies under the circumstances is to fulfill the aid pledges made for the post-2014 period.

It is a modest commitment, affordable and morally obligatory — $16 billion in economic aid through 2015 and $3.8 billion in military aid to 2017.

In sum, give the Afghans the breathing space to get their act together without the NATO and the “international community” cutting them adrift.

Second, it is inevitable that at some point substantive talks with the Taliban become necessary. But don’t make it a clandestine intelligence operation, as the Soviets did, without the Kabul regime being in the loop.

Here, the imperative need is to have good intentions, which always provides scope for transparency. The fact is there is today a wide recognition among the world community that the Taliban need to be part of the solution.

Thus, the challenge should be to give the Taliban the confidence to come forward. Alas, there has been a lot of doublespeak on this score, because ‘T’ continues to be a dirty word for the political class in the US, especially on The Hill. Surely, some sincere “CBMs” are needed on the part of the US. Looking back, the Taliban — Haqqanis or whoever is responsible — have scaled up the attacks on the NATO forces only because there is no other sphere of activity available for their political agenda to be articulated. Obama should not waste further time by delaying a serious engagement of the Taliban.

Where I disagree with Rashid is as regards his emphasis on the US shepherding the 2014 presidential election in Afghanistan. It didn’t work in 2009 and it won’t work now.

In fact, it will only increase the suspicions about the US’ long term intentions.

At any rate, the political dispensation in Kabul in the post-2014 period is critically linked to the outcome of the US’ efforts to reconcile the Taliban. Without the reconciliation of the Taliban, any regime in Kabul will wear a “transitional” look. On the other hand, with the reconciliation of the Taliban, US’ intrusive role in Afghan politics and internal affairs will become not only superfluous but counter-productive.

In sum, Obama shouldn’t lose sleep over Hamid Karzai’s secretive approach toward the 2014 election.

What matters at the end of the day is that HK is a leader of some standing and he is a proven coalition-builder.

And, of course, it is his native country. Do not humiliate him. HK is also a proud chieftain of an important Pashtun tribe.

Rashid is spot on while suggesting that the US has a lot to do to repair the regional environment. Here, the priority for the US should be to open a line of communication towards Iran.

The Iraq quagmire, the approaching endgame in Syria — they show once again that while Tehran can be trusted to unfailingly do what it takes to safeguard its vital interests and core concerns, it is also capable of rising above pride and prejudice to contribute to regional stability.

In fact, Iran can be a valuable ally for the US in the stabilization of Afghanistan. The sooner Obama realises, the better. This is not going to be easy since so much of bad blood exists, but then, both the US and Iran are famously pragmatic when the crunch time comes.

The silver lining is that if Obama gets re-elected, he is for the first time a liberated politician who is free to pursue his Iran policy unfettered by the elements who doggedly pursued him and hindered him though the period since his pathbreaking 2009 speech at Cairo University promising a new beginning toward Iran.

Equally, Pakistan is doggedly refusing to give up its “strategic assets” in Afghanistan, but it is an entirely different matter as to whether it really believes in its capabilities to ensure a Taliban takeover in Afghanistan overcoming the heavy resistance by the majority of Afghan people that is almost inevitable.

Even if, for argument’s sake, such a takeover by the Taliban through military means happens, there comes the infinitely more dangerous prospect of a Taliban regime in Kabul across the Duran Line, brimming with a sense of triumphalism over having licked yet another superpower.

It is hard to believe that the Pakistani military leadership is unaware of the groundswell of anti-Pakistani feelings in the Afghan society; or, the acute limitations of Islamabad to bankroll and Afghan regime; and, of

course, the grave implications of a de facto “Afghan-Pakistan confederation” for Pakistan’s own future as a nation state.

Indeed, it is hard to believe that the animus against India would cloud the minds of the Pakistani generals to such an extent that they throw overboard their innate caution and commitment to Pakistan’s longterm security and stability.

That is to say, the US should remain engaged with Pakistan. True, there has been double-crossing. But then, what else did the US expect in a matrix where Pakistan is left with no choice but to safeguard its vital interests? In the ultimate analysis, it is not for the US to determine what should be in Pakistan’s vital interests.

The trust deficit cannot be underestimated, which accumulated through the period since the Raymond Davis affair. But there is no alternative for Obama but to revisit the relationship with Pakistan, since, as Rashid rightly points out, Pakistan is uniquely paced to “ensure a final settlement or to sabotage one”.

Finally, Rashid overlooked a key element, which I have harped on for years. The US’s Afghan strategy was fundamentally flawed since it has overloaded this war in the Hindu Kush with geopolitics. Afghanistan is far too fragile to have been even contemplated as a pawn on the chessboard of big power politics.

This preoccupation with geopolitics — specifically, the containment of Iran, Russia and China — made the US myopic to an extent not even to accept the repeated Russian offers to lend a hand although the precious lives of hundreds and thousands of its young men and women were in serious peril.

Aren’t Iran, Russia and China stakeholders in Afghanistan’s stability? Of course they are.

Arguably, they are even more so involved as stakeholders than the US and its western allies ever could be.

But look at the dark humor in the Russian writings on the US’ defeat in Afghanistan. Why did things have to come to such a sorry pass?

The choice is truly the US’.

Obama should take the road not taken — the road leading to Afghanistan’s genuine neutrality.

The writer can be reached at a.amjad@decurious.com

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

Fax: +92-42-36298302.

E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively.

KeSC’s good step As a concerned citizen of Pakistan I am happy to see that a certain organization in the power sector continues to take their corporate social responsibility seriously by contributing towards the benefit of the needy despite current difficulties.

Recently, I came across a positive piece of information about KESC’s Social Investment Plan (SIP) under which KESC will provide free of cost electricity to leading non-profit organisations in the country.

To this effect, KESC has signed the first memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indus Hospital for bearing 50 percent of their electricity cost, the second with Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre (MALC), the third and fourth with Layton Rahmatulla Benevolent Trust (LRBT) and TCF schools, respectively for covering 100 percent of the cost of electricity used by these institutions every month.

More organisations in the country need to reconsider their CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY programmes in a similar fashion and should step forward to help the communities around them.

KESC, which has received the flak, especially during summer months, must be applauded for this initiative which would enable the concerned to divert funds to those who deserve primary healthcare and education in economically challenged times. It is definitely a ray of hope in an otherwise grim scenario.

SARAH MIAN Karachi

A welcome initiative One should welcome opening of a debate among scientists, philosophers and theologians over the origin of universe. This event is being arranged by CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, and Switzerland in the wake of Higgs Boson particle discovery. They intend to concentrate on the Big Bang theory to discuss how our universe began. A number of professors, philosophers, scientists and theologists are participating in this conference. Debate is expected to be heated one as both sides will demand the other one to accommodate its view point.

Though it’s beyond any doubt that they may come to any conclusion, however, it’s promising to at least have the debate. Science is still on a journey to discover things by imitating the nature; they are far away from creation. Same is applicable for religions which are based on divine scriptures. Apparently both are working in isolation; they need to work hand-in-hand for the future generations’ sake.

MASOOD KHAN Jubail, Saudi Arabia

Wednesday, 17 October, 2012

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Rolling Stones’50th anniversary tour dates announced

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he Rolling Stones have officially announced dates for their highly anticipated 50th anniversary tour. The rock icons will perform their ‘50 and Counting…The Rolling Stones Live’ tour November 25 and 29 at London’s O2 Arena and December 13 and 15 at Newark’s Prudential Center, the New York Post reported. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood revealed their return to live work via video message on YouTube. The Stones haven’t performed in public since their ‘Bigger Bang’ tour ended in August 2007.

Jagger said in a statement, “everybody loves a celebration, and London and New York are two good places to do it in! Their 50th anniversary performances will feature all-new, custom-built set design, with a stage based on the band’s celebrated tongue and lips logo. nEWS DESK

David Beckham to release new underwear line?

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OOTBALLeR David Beckham will reportedly will release another underwear collection for the festive season. high Street retailer h&M are reportedly planning to bring out more David Beckham Bodywear before Christmas, reports dailystar.co.uk.

"Who wouldn`t want to get their hands on Becks` kecks this Christmas?" said a source. Beckham, who has four children with fashion designer wife Victoria Beckham, has previously spoken of how much he enjoyed working on the range. "The underwear is totally my designs, and are things that i like to wear.

Working with a team has always been a key part of my life and i found that to be the same when developing this range," he said. nEWS DESK

‘Reboot will differ from Schwarzenegger`s classic’

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iLMMAKeR Marcus Nispel, who is all set to release the reboot of `Conan the Barbarian`, said he wanted to give moviegoers a reason to see the new take on the character Arnold Schwarzenegger has made iconic in 1982. American model-actor Jason Momoa will take on the iconic role in Lionsgate`s update of the 1980s film franchise, which will hit theatres this week, said the hollywood Reporter. "Our collective perception of who Conan is really changes through the decades and is not just defined by one thing alone. he needs to be updated," Nispel said. The new movie will see going into a world where he survives as a thief, pirate and warrior after his father is murdered and the village is destroyed. he then meets the warlord responsible for the destruction of his tribe. "is this still a generation that embraces or reveres machoism? Are they still into an experience where you get dirt under your nails, and that`s sweaty and grimy and hard-core? i believe they will be," he added. nEWS DESK

Wednesday, 17 October, 2012

Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor finally tie the knot

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OLLYWOOD star couple Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor tied the knot in a quiet affair after a five-year courtship.

Saif, 42, son of late Nawab of Pataudi and former Indian cricket captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and actress Sharmila Tagore, sealed his relationship with Kareena, 32, at his residence in suburban Bandra through a registered marriage. "It was a registered marriage with three witnesses -- Kareena's father Randhir Kapoor, her mother Babita and Saif's mother Sharmila," marriage Registrar Surekha Ramesh told . The couple who started dating in 2007, married in the presence of close friends and family this afternoon. The couple had officially declared their intention to tie the knot in the beginning of 2012 after the release of their film 'Agent Vinod' in March.

Randhir and his elder daughter Karisma later waved to the waiting fans and media from the balcony of the house.

Kareena wore a green salwar-kurta with a heavy embellished red dupatta wrapped around her. She teamed it up

with minimal jewelry, red bangles and left her hair open. Saif, simply dressed in a grey kurta and white pajamas, came out with his new wife to greet fans from his balcony. There is a buzz that a reception will be held tomorrow at a city hotel.

This will be followed by another reception in Delhi on October 18 and a ceremony at Saif's ancestral Pataudi Palace in Haryana. Although Saif and Kareena had maintained silence on their much awaited wedding, it was Saif's mother Sharmila who came out with the October wedding date. Saif has two children - son Ibrahim and daughter Sara - from his previous marriage to actress Amrita Singh. Kareena was in a relationship with Shahid Kapoor earlier. Saif and Kareena featured together for the first time in the 2008 movie 'Tashan', followed by 'Kurbaan'. They were last seen in Khan's home production 'Agent Vinod' in March this year. The actor duo, popularly called 'Saifeena', have appeared in several advertisements also. Sharmila had converted to Islam after her marriage to Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi.

Earlier during an event, when asked if she would convert to Islam, Kareena had said, "It is a very personal question and I cannot answer it." CoURteSY toi

i knew my dad would never recommend me: Varun Dhawan Filmmaker David Dhawan`s younger son Varun Dhawan, who is all set to make his acting debut in Karan Johar`s upcoming release ‘Student Of The Year’, says his father never put in a word for him. The film is a romantic comedy film and also marks the debut of producerdirector Mahesh Bhatt`s daughter Alia Bhatt and Sidharth Malhotra. "My father didn`t even discuss with either me or my brother Rohit about making us an actor or director respectively.

You look at his record, he has made 40 films and still hasn`t launched a single newcomer," Varun told PTI. "That is the way he has always worked and this is the reason why from day one I knew that if I had to enter the film industry or any other line, I would have to make my own path," he added. "The credit it to my parents who have always brought these values into us. They come from this school of thought that whatever their children do, it has to be on the basis of `do it on your own` so that they learn how to deal with adversities," Varun said. The newcomer also said that that he is in a very good position as Johar`s ‘Student Of The Year’ is taking him all over the world and ensuring that the world knows him even before the film hits the screens. neWS DeSK

Japan's Kiyoka Hashimoto performing in the ballet "nutcracker", The vienna ballet has named Hashimoto star dancer after her performance. AFP

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My Version of `We Found Love` is better than Rihanna: Leona Lewis

360 bridal CouTure weeK ModelS PreSenTing CreaTionS by PaKiSTani deSignerS on THe laST day of THe STyle 360 bridal CouTure weeK faSHion SHow in laHore

Says Academy Award-winning actor about her choices in films Academy Award-winner Halle Berry is one actor who's known for her versatility, when it comes to picking her roles. From superhero flicks to playing the sexy Bond girl and, of course, nailing her characters in awardwinning emotional dramas, she's dabbled with many roles. Next up, she will be seen in two diametrically opposite films.

First up is Cloud Atlas, a scifi fantasy drama. Talking about this film, based on a novel by the same name, Halle says, "Everything about the film excited me. It was an opportunity to work with Tom

It’s the scrIpt, not the genre: halle Berry Hanks, Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer.

They are such wonderful people.

Besides, in the past, I haven't done something that is so challenging. As an artist, to play different kinds of characters in one movie was a constant challenge day after day. Every character that I played is different from the other."

Little wonder that Halle admits, "It's not the genre that matters,

what matters is the script", justifying her choices in films, admitting she has no favourite genre. The actor is excited about the coming year for the same reason, as she's experimented with something new. "In Movie 43, which is scheduled for release in 2013, fans will get to see me play an extremely funny character for the first time," she says. The trailer of Movie 43, which released worldwide recently, was an instant hit with fans because of its unapologetically funny

approach. The film has a stellar ensemble cast. "It was a crazy experience. It was just so much fun working with all these immensely talented actors. We had such a good time filming it," reveals Halle. With the latest James Bond release around the corner, Halle also admits that she is a Bond fan. "I loved being a part of the Bond franchise and I loved playing the character of Jinx. She was great fun and it offered a new challenge for me," reminisces Halle. The Monster's Ball actor doesn't rule out a visit to India either. "I haven't been to India yet and I kind of have an idea of what I am missing. I want to come there as soon as possible. I have seen pictures of the country and read about it.

I'm fascinated by Indian culture and attire. I'm waiting to visit India which is a land of rich heritage culture," says Halle, who reveals she's heard of Aishwarya Rai. "She looked stunning when she was on Oprah and also in Pink Panther.

But unfortunately, I haven't seen any of her Indian films," ends Halle. CoURteSY toi

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OP star Leona Lewis says it was she who initially lent her voice on the dance hit `We Found Love`. The smash hit, penned by Calvin harris, was ultimately released with R&B star Rihanna`s vocals, reported a website. "i worked with Calvin and we recorded We Found Love. But he went touring with Rihanna and she ended up releasing it. i didn`t commit to it because i wanted Trouble to be my (next) single so i think that was another reason they went with Rihanna," Lewis said. Despite the massive success, Lewis, 27, believes her version is better than Rihanna`s. "it was the same version and production but mine`s better. it was a bit annoying to see how big a hit it was around the world but if i`d released it maybe it wouldn`t have done as well." nEWS DESK

Keira Knightley feels skinny jeans are unfriendly

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CTReSS Keira Knightley says she hates wearing skinny jeans and micro-minis as she feels that they are invented to make you feel bad about yourself. The 27-year-old, known for her slender frame, says that she wears them herself but sometimes don`t find them good, reports a website. Talking about trends from the last decade she dislikes, she said: "i think skinny jeans and micro-miniskirts are very unfriendly. i`ve been known to wear both, but on some days it seems like they were invented to make you feel bad about yourself. nEWS DESK

Dolce & Gabbana want to style Anil Kapoor?

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TALiAN designer duo Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, popularly known as DnG, are reportedly keen to style Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor. The 52-year-old, who has made a successful hollywood foray with movies like "Slumdog Millionaire", "Mission: impossible - Ghost Protocol" and US sitcom "24", was noticed by the designers at GQ Mens Awards Sep 30 when they saw his portfolio picture. "Anil is an extremely good looking and a very stylish person. DnG were really impressed when they saw his photograph at GQ Mens Awards at an award ceremony and offered to meet him immediately," Atul Kasbekar of Bling! entertainment Solutions, which handles Anil`s work, said in a statement. The designers reportedly called Anil who was surprised when they told him about their plans nEWS DESK

Wednesday, 17 October, 2012

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Infotainment 14 ‘Top 10 ways To get away with rape’ flier found in Mu men’s room

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astronomers discover planet with four suns

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N international team of amateur and professional astronomers has discovered a planet whose skies are lit up by four suns — the first known case of such a phenomenon. The planet, located about 5,000 light years from Earth, has been dubbed PH1 in honor of Planet Hunters, a programme led by Yale University in the United States, which enlists volunteers to look for signs of new planets.

PH1 is orbiting two suns, and in turn is orbited by a second distant pair of stars. Only six planets are known to orbit two stars, researchers say, and none of those are orbited by other distant stars.

“Circumbinary planets are the extremes of planet formation,” said Yale’s Meg Schwamb, lead author of a paper presented Monday at the annual meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astro-

nomical Society in Nevada. “The discovery of these systems is forcing us to go back to the drawing board to understand how such planets can assemble and evolve in these dynamically challenging environments.” US citizen scientists and Planet Hunters participants Kian Jek and Robert Gagliano were the first to identify PH1. Their observations were then confirmed by a team of US and British researchers working in Hawaii.

PH1 is a gas giant with a radius about 6.2 times that of Earth, making it slightly larger than Neptune. It orbits a pair of eclipsing stars that are 1.5 and 0.41 times the mass of the Sun roughly every 138 days. The two other stars are orbiting the planetary system at a distance that is roughly 1,000 times the distance between Earth and the Sun. The Planethunters.org website was created in 2010 to encourage amateur astronomers to identify planets outside

our solar system, using data from the US space agency NASA’s Kepler space telescope. Kepler, launched in March 2009, is NASA’s first mission in search of Earth-like planets orbiting stars similar to our Sun. The discovery of PH1 was made available online Monday at the site arxiv.org and has been submitted to the Astrophysical Journal for publication. “It still continues to astonish me how we can detect, let alone glean so much information, about another planet thousands of light-years away just by studying the light from its parent star,” Jek said.

Last week scientists reported the discovery of a “diamond planet” twice the size of earth and orbiting a sun-like star. Up to one-third of the planet’s mass and much of its surface is believed to consist of diamonds, implying that distant rocky planets can no longer be assumed to have the same features as Earth. AFP

IAMI University is under fire after a horrendous flier titled “The Top 10 Ways To Get Away With Rape” was discovered in a men’s bathroom. The “Get Away with Rape” list includes tasteless suggestions like using roofies, preying on females walking alone, climbing into windows and slitting the victim’s throat if the rapist is identified, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, which published a photo of the list. Miami University officials called a mandatory meeting of male students at the McBride Hall dorm and launched an investigation.

Leaders of Women Against Violence and Sexual Assault (WAVE), an organization that aims to prevent sexual assault, said the response is inadequate. At least 27 sexual assaults have been reported at Miami University since 2009, according to USA Today. Miami University reports that multiple incidents of forcible sex offences have occurred on campus and in residence facilities since 2009. No statistics are available for 2012. nEWS DESK

Crocodile escape gives vietnam school children the day off

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RIMARY schoolchildren in part of southern Vietnam were given a day off on Monday after a number of crocodiles escaped from a farm and were seen roaming around residential areas. The reptiles were prowling around denselypopulated neighbourhoods after breaking free, according to Thanh Nien newspaper, which said the Kim Dong school had closed “to ensure safety for teachers and children”. Nearly 60 of the animals had been rounded up, Le Van Hai, head of the Forest Ranger Department of Ca Mau province told AFP, but it was unclear how many others remained at large. “The wall of the crocodile farm collapsed because of rain erosion, letting them escape,” Hai said of the incident on Friday at Dinh Binh town. The Thanh Nien report said the farm had around 580 reptiles before the wall collapsed.

It was not clear how many escaped. AFP

baumgartner feat boosts hopes for imperilled astronauts Daredevil Felix Baumgartner’s record-breaking jump raises hopes that pilots and even astronauts can be saved from accidents in the stratosphere, experts said on Monday. Michel Viso, an expert in exobiology at France’s National Centre of Scientific Research (CNRS), said Baumgartner’s leap from 39,045 metres (128,100 feet) “has operational potential” for manned flight at extreme heights. “In the event of a problem, people can eject at very great altitudes, provided they have a pressurised suit and self-contained breathing system and a parachute and provided they have

the appropriate training,” Viso told AFP. Bernard Comet of France’s Institute of Space Medicine and Physiology (MEDES) said: “It proves at the very least that one can eject at extreme altitude, although this is something that hasn’t been done before.” Both Viso and Comet stressed that the technical and training challenges were major.

In contrast with Baumgartner, who leapt from a balloon, a pilot who ejected would be exposed to an extreme shock from acceleration, said Comet. It could in theory be used in the classic rocket-and-capsule system if a

problem occurs at high altitude during the launch phase, he said. But ejecting upon reentry, when a spacecraft is flying at supersonic speed and battling atmospheric friction, would be impossible, Viso said. “If you reenter at seven kilometres per second (15,600 miles per hour) in a pressure suit, you will burn up, and so will your suit,” he said.

Baumgartner’s medical director, Jonathan Clark, lost his wife, Laurel, in the US space shuttle Columbia, which tore apart on February 1 2003 as it re-entered the atmosphere.

The US space shuttle was fitted with a crew evacuation system after the 1986 Challenger disaster.It could be used during return phase but not during launch phase. Even so, it could not have helped the Columbia crew.

Astronauts could bail out from a side hatch after donning parachutes, but only provided the shuttle was on a stable glide at a height of 20,000 feet (6,150 metres) or less. AFP

Pizza chain opens up debate

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US pizza chain has been forced to tweak a “free pizza for life” contest after coming under fire for daring the crowd at a debate to ask Barack Obama and Mitt Romney to reveal their favorite topping. Pizza Hut hoped for free publicity when it promised one large pizza a week for 30 years to anyone who asked the presidential rivals, during Tuesday’s televised debate, whether they prefer sausage or pepperoni on their pizza. But, following criticism it was interfering in the democratic process, the firm opened the contest to all users of the website of its mock Pizza Party, which will randomly chose one voter and reward them with a lifetime of pizza. “The anticipation and buzz around this question proves that this debate should be taken to the people,” said chief marketing officer Kurt Kane.

Free pizza is among several promotional stunts planned in the run-up to the November 6 elections, the USA Today newspaper has reported. AFP

Wednesday, 17 October, 2012

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Wednesday, 17 October, 2012

djokovic ‘inspired’ by $10m charity tie-up Page 17

PCB distances itself from T20 games with World XI LAHORE STAFF REPORT

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HE PCB has distanced itself from the two Twenty20 matches being played between the World XI and Pakistan Stars XI over the weekend.

The matches on Saturday and Sunday are being organised by Sindh sports minister, Dr Mohammad Ali Shah, with the help of a private sports management company, Extreme sports. But while the PCB on Monday said that it supports the matches, it made it clear that foolproof security, anti-corruption measures, marketing and broadcasting of the matches remained the

nz great Crowe diagnosed with cancer

responsibility of the organisers. The PCB said in a statement that at a meeting of its executive coordination committee, it wished all success to Shah, and noted that the board had also released players to participate in the matches. "But all other obligations including security, anti-corruption, marketing and broadcasting etc. are direct responsibility of the organiser and were to be managed by him (Shah)," the statement said.

Shah told a news conference that by holding the two matches, he hoped to send out a positive message to the cricketing world that it was safe to play in Pakistan. "We are making elaborate arrangements and hope it will help in the revival of international cricket in the country. The response from

the people has been overwhelming," he said.

International cricket has remained suspended in the country since March, 2009 when militants attacked the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore, killing six Pakistani po-

licemen and a van driver while injuring five of the visiting players.

No test team has toured Pakistan since then while the International Cricket Council (ICC) moved 2011 World Cup matches away

pietersen talks will end england rift: Broad

WELLINGTON

LONDON

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Former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe has been diagnosed with cancer, leaving his family "in shock", the batting great's manager has revealed. Crowe, 50, was still coming to terms with the news he had the cancer lymphoma, his manager Louise Henderson said. "The family is still in shock and obviously dealing with the understanding that life as they know it for the unforeseeable future is different," she said in a statement late Monday.

Henderson did not provide details of how advanced Crowe's illness was, saying the family had requested privacy.

Crowe, a cousin of Hollywood actor Russell Crowe, played 77 Tests for the Black Caps, averaging 45.36 with the bat. His 17 Test centuries is still a New Zealand record.

He worked as a television commentator after retiring from the Black Caps in 1995, with an attempted comeback to first class cricket in Auckland last year cut short by injury.

England bowler Stuart Broad believes his international team-mates are ready to end their rift with Kevin Pietersen after agreeing to peace talks with the controversial batsman. Pietersen was sent into exile during the Test series against South Africa after sending provocative text messages to the opposition that contained criticism of then England captain Andrew Strauss. The 32-year-old was dropped for the final Test and has since been left out of the one-day series against South Africa and then World Twenty20 tournament in Sri Lanka, while Strauss retired from all forms of cricket during the controversy. But Pietersen has now apologised for his behaviour and recently signed a new central contract with England after agreeing to enter a "re-integration" process.

The next step in bringing Pietersen in from the cold will be a meeting with his England team-mates and Coach Andy Flower. Flower and several of England senior stars were believed to be furious with

Pietersen's actions in recent months, but there has been a softening of that attitude and Broad is hopeful the talks will aid the Surrey batsman's return in time for the forthcoming tours to India and New Zealand. "It's in the management's hands. Of course (we'd welcome him back). We've had some amazing success with KP as a team," Broad told the BBC on Tuesday. "I've been in the side six years, we've won two Ashes series and a Twenty20 World Cup, and we know that KP is a really dangerous player for us. "There's not a better man in charge than Andy Flower to put the situation right and there's a lot of trust in him at the moment.

"Whether it's for (the tour of) India or New Zealand, the team will welcome him back. "We pride ourselves on being an honest changing room and the only way to move forward is to talk about things. "There will be a meeting with some of the hierarchy and we just need to lay some things out. "I think that will be a really good meeting with most of the England players, and hopefully we can move forward and draw a line under the whole experience."

Batsmen face ‘baptism of fire’ in Australia: coach SYDNEY AFP

SYdneY: michael Clarke poses with Special Order Cricket trunk he designed in collaboration with louis Vuitton. afp

Top order batsmen will face a "baptism of fire" in South Africa's upcoming tour Down Under as the world's two best pace line-ups face off, Australian coach Mickey Arthur said Tuesday.

Australia are hoping to reclaim cricket's world number one ranking over a packed Test schedule in the year ahead, starting with the first of three against top-ranked South Africa in Brisbane on November 9.

"It's going to be about the batters," Arthur said of the series.

"It is going to be about which top six can adapt better, which top six is going to be more consistent over the three Test series. I think both top sixes are in for a real baptism of fire."

Arthur said the ability of the Australian batsmen to hold off South Africa's bowling line up, which includes pacemen Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander, was an opportunity to prove themselves.

On Australia's side, selector John Inverarity said there could be as many as five pace bowlers in the squad for the first

Test at the Gabba, with James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus and Mitchell Starc all in the mix.

"We're just delighted that we've got the pace bowling on tap that we have," Inverarity said.

The toughest choice for Australian selectors will be that of wicket-keeper and whether to name the more experienced Brad Haddin over Matthew Wade.

"We are aware of all the factors; I mean the fact that Matthew is 24 and rising and Brad turns 35 about now," Inverarity said.

"Obviously Matthew is more for the future, but we're very focused on who deserves and who will be best against South Africa."

Cricket Australia also defended its decision to withdraw Shane Watson midway through the Twenty20 Champions League in South Africa to have the allrounder fresh and rested for the upcoming Test campaign at home.

"We need Shane to be best prepared for that first Test match," Arthur said of Watson, 31, who has proven himself with bat and ball in all forms of cricket and is a star of the Indian Premier League.

"For us right now his best prepara-

tion is coming back and playing some red-ball cricket."

South-African born Arthur admitted there was an extra incentive for him to "get one over" the Proteas in the upcoming series.

"On a personal level for me, I guess it has a little bit of extra spice to play against the country of your birth, the country that I coached for five years," he told journalists in Sydney.

But he said "first and foremost" the series was about Australia getting back to the top position in international cricket.

Australia dominated world cricket from 1995 but its fortunes dived after Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden retired, culminating in a 3-1 Ashes defeat at home in the 2010/11 season.

There have been recent signs of a revival with a 4-0 whitewash of India last summer at home and the emergence of a new generation of rising stars such as Pattinson, David Warner and Pat Cummins.

"We have a massive opportunity here to get back to number one in the world and that's what this series is going to be about," Arthur said.

from Pakistan due to security concerns.

Shah said that former Sri Lankan captain, Sanath Jayasuriya, West Indians Ricardo Powell, Steven Taylor, Jermaine Charles Lawson and Adam Sanford and South Africans Justin Kemp, Loots Bosman, Mthandeki Tschabalala, Andre Nel, Andre Johann, Seymore and Nantie Hayward and two Afghanistan players have confirmed their participation.

Former West Indian batsman Alvin Kallicharan will manage the World XI. Shah said that around 5,000 policemen will be deployed to avoid any security lapse and efforts are being made to make the foreign players feel at home.

Pakistan All Stars will be led by current all-rounder Shahid Afridi and include Younis Khan, Nasir Jamshed, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Umar Gul, Mohammad Sami, Wahab Riaz and Imran Nazir.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) welcomed the move but said in a media release that security would be the responsibility of the organisers.

tendulkar to be given Australia honour

NEW DELHI AFP

India's record-breaking batsman Sachin Tendulkar is to be conferred with membership of the Order of Australia, visiting Prime Minister Julia Gillard said in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Gillard, currently on a three-day state visit to India, told reporters that Tendulkar deserved the "special honour" because he was a "very special cricketer".

"Cricket is of course a great bond between Australia and India. We are both cricket-mad nations," she said.

"I am very pleased that we are going to confer on Sachin Tendulkar the membership of the Order of Australia.

"This is a very special honour very rarely awarded to someone who is not an Australian citizen or an Australian national."

The award will be conferred on the 39year-old Tendulkar during Australian minister Simon Crean's upcoming visit to India, Gillard said.

There was no immediate comment from Tendulkar, who is in South Africa representing the Mumbai Indians team in the Twenty20 Champions League.

Tendulkar has scored a world record Test (15,553) and one-day (18,426) runs and has also compiled an unprecedented 100 international centuries.

West Indies batting great Brian Lara was honoured with the membership of the Order of Australia in 2009.

Former attorney-general Soli Sorabjee is the only other Indian to have received the award.

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Sports 16 ChAMPioNS LeAgUe

All-round Mahmood pushes Kolkata to the brink CAPE TOWN

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high impact all-round performance from Azhar Mahmood, his second of this Champions League Twenty20, gave qualifiers Auckland Aces their third comprehensive victory in South Africa, and severely damaged Kolkata Knight Riders' prospects of progress in the tournament. Mahmood's timely wickets and composed innings during the chase, which was supported by several toporder cameos, led Auckland to the target with 14 balls to spare, a considerable boost to their net run rate.

While this was Auckland's first match of the Champions League proper, it was Kolkata's second, and a second defeat left the IPL champions needing to win both their remaining games, while keeping an eye on run rate, in order to make the semi-finals from Group A. After winning the toss on a cold and windy day in Cape Town, Kolkata looked like setting a formidable total on two occasions, and both times they were stymied by Mahmood.

Gautam Gambhir had fallen early caught by Martin Guptill diving low and to his left at point - but despite the new ball seaming and bouncing, Manvinder Bisla and Brendon McCullum had begun finding the boundary regularly. They got to 72 for 1 in the ninth over when left-arm spinner Ronnie Hira made the breakthrough by having Bisla caught at long-off, and then it was over to Mahmood.

In his first over, Mahmood had Jacques Kallis caught at slip and

KOlKATA KniGHT RiDERS MS bisla† c Kitchen b Hira 38 G Gambhir* c Guptill b bates 5 bb McCullum c †Hopkins b Azhar Mahmood 40 0 JH Kallis c Vincent b Azhar Mahmood 0 MK Tiwary c & b Azhar Mahmood 15 Shakib Al Hasan c de Grandhomme b Mills 22 yK Pathan not out R bhatia not out 9 EXTRAS 8 TOTAl 137 FAll OF WiCKETS 1-10 (Gambhir, 1.5 ov), 2-72 (bisla, 8.4 ov), 3-72 (Kallis, 9.2 ov), 4-72 (Tiwary, 9.3 ov), 5-98 (McCullum, 14.3 ov), 6-108 (Shakib Al Hasan, 16.2 ov) bOWlinG KD Mills 4-0-23-1, MD bates 4-0-33-1, AR Adams 4-0-310, RM Hira 4-0-30-1, Azhar Mahmood 4-1-16-3 AUCKlAnD 25 MJ Guptill c narine b balaji 30 l Vincent c Tiwary b narine 51 Azhar Mahmood not out 24 AK Kitchen lbw b narine C de Grandhomme not out 9 0 EXTRAS 139 TOTAl FAll OF WiCKETS 1-37 (Vincent, 2.6 ov), 2-76 (Guptill, 9.5 ov), 3-117 (Kitchen, 14.4 ov) bOWlinG l balaji 4-0-38-1, Shakib Al Hasan 4-0-34-0, SP narine 4-0-24-2, JH Kallis 3-0-17-0, PJ Sangwan 2.4-0-26-0 Match details Toss Kolkata Knight Riders, who chose to bat Points Auckland 4, Kolkata Knight Riders 0 Player of the match Azhar Mahmood (Auckland) Umpires HDPK Dharmasena (Sri lanka) and RJ Tucker (Australia), TV umpire Aleem Dar (Pakistan), Match referee DC boon (Australia), Reserve umpire S George

CAPe tOWn: Azhar mahmood of the Auckland Aces reacts during a match of the Champions league t20 between the Auckland Aces and the KKr at the newlands Stadium. afp Manoj Tiwary caught and bowled off successive deliveries, reducing Kolkata to 72 for 4. His two-over spell contained a maiden and returned figures of 2 for 7. The loss of those wickets forced McCullum and Shakib Al Hasan to consolidate and

Auckland were able to drag the run rate from 8 down to just above six and a half per over.

McCullum was Auckland's major threat and he began to break free with a tremendous six against Andre Adams, charging the medium pacer

and smashing him beyond the midwicket boundary. Gareth Hopkins brought Mahmood back for the next over - the 15th - and he had McCullum edging behind with the third ball.

Shakib didn't last much longer, toe ending a slash off Kyle Mills to deep cover to be dismissed for 15 off 22. He didn't come off with the bat and his selection ahead of Brett Lee on a pitch that had seam movement and bounce was questionable.

PUNJAb yoUTh FeSTiVAL 2012

Provincial Level set to start from 18th LAHORE STAFF REPORT

The Punjab Youth Festival 2012 activity has reached the most toughest and interesting Provincial Level and as the top competitors of all the divisions assemble in Lahore the true passion of youth would be witnessed during the next 10 days.

The Festival rolled into action from August 26 from Neighbourhood and Village Level and after passing from five levels has now reached its concluding stage.

The Provincial Level which stands sixth in the flow chart of the Festival would be contested in 31 sectors of the society involving general public in individual, family and team events, education sector would have elementary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, skill sector gets involved Tevta, electrical, computer, mechanical, green energy, business management, engineering and IT sectors and the most important of all are the events set to make the world mark in Guinness World Record.

In all there will be 29 sectors on which the entire Provincial Level competitions are based and in this entire activity there would be 256 events of general sports and non-sports are set to be contested.

Usman Anwar, Director General Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab, said that Rs 50,000,000 will be distributed among the winners of all the categories of the Punjab Youth Festival.

Highlighting the details of the coming schedule, he said that the Provincial Level will start formally with the formation of the largest mosaic and the biggest human flag on October 18 and the next day would be spent rehearsing for the October 20

opening ceremony and for the mass participation of national anthem and from that day onwards the Provincial Level will start.

“In this Level there would be 256 events to be contested that include nine sports sectors and rest of sectors has general category sectors which also have seven new sectors.

“In sports sector, secondary schools, colleges, universities, general public and press clubs, bar association, corporate and departments.

“The sports events to be contested in these sectors includes athletics (eight events, badminton, basketball, hockey, karate (three events) table tennis, tug of war, volleyball, billiard, bodybuilding (three categories), chess, cricket, football, gymnastics (five categories), hockey, Kabaddi, karate (three categories), mat and mud wrestling (three categories each),

swimming (five categories) tug of war, table tennis, boxing (three categories), cycling, taekwondo, tent pegging, baseball, powerlifting, marathon, rugby, car racing, heavy bike race,” he added.

He further informed that the other sectors of competitions include all the events that were contested in the previous five levels, Neighbourhood and Village, tehsil, union council, district and divisional levels.

“In the provincial level we have also included events of embedded system challenge, speed wiring competition, component de electrical, robo extreme, robo wars, robo navigation contests in electrical sector. In the other sectors like exhibition and quiz, mechanical, green energy, business management, engineering, IT and Computer Sciences there are events of engineering and IT exhibition, build

from waste contest, geek wars contest, industrial project exhibition, medical quest, general knowledge, 3D cad contest, aero mania contest, eco-car marathon, energy efficient building design, clean energy, social entrepreneurship, start-up business, battle of business giants, xtreme coding, game development, code the bot, application development challenge, conceptialise notion (poster design competition), project based learning, typing titan contest etc.

“And on the sideline of the entire activity there will be individual Guinness world record events to be held at expo centre,” he maintained.

Usman Anwar further informed that the conclusion of the Provincial level will mark the start of the first ever Punjab International Sports Festival 2012, which will start in the first week of November.

National Ju-Jitsu to prepare players for festival LAHORE: The Pakistan Ju-Jitsu Federation is organising the 8th National Ju-Jitsu Championship 2012 from November 4-5 at Sports Gymnasium Nishtar Park Lahore.

The Championship will be held in 50kg, 56kg, 62kg, 69kg, 77kg, 85kg, 94, +94kg for men and in women category events will be contested in 48kg, 55kg, 62kg, 70kg, +70kg. This event would be treated as the selection criteria for the national team to be placed in the upcoming Punjab International Sports Festival 2012 starting from November 7-11 at Lahore. In Ju-jitsu event around 23 countries have confirmed their participation and had already submitted their entries and copies of passport. Around 130 players and official under PJJF would be attending this mega event in Pakistan. Keeping in view of the importance of the event and to give the local players an opportunity to show their talent and skill, PJJF decided to host Chief Minister Punjab Ju-Jitsu Championship 03 days prior to the International tournament in Pakistan. The categories are the same as has been decided in the upcoming National Games of Pakistan duly organized by Punjab Olympic Association in the month of December 2012 at Lahore. STAFF REPORT

Sydney Sixers annihilate listless Yorkshire CAPE TOWN CRiCinFO

Newlands witnessed its second consecutive onesided game as Sydney Sixers needed just 8.5 overs to breeze past Yorkshire's 96 and give the county side the rudest of welcomes to the main draw. The Sixers showed why they are among the better bowling units in this competition, keeping Yorkshire to a score below 100 under sunny skies. The seamers shared all nine wickets to fall, striking with such regularity that the innings failed to gather any momentum. It was as if the teams were batting on different pitches.

It was a collective struggle for Yorkshire as several across-the-line swipes failed to find the middle of the bat; punches and lofts hit the toe end of the blade and didn't have enough to clear the fielders. That only two batsmen went past the 20s - the highest score was Joe Root's 25 was indicative of how tough it was. When Brad Haddin and Michael Lumb swung and swished, the ball hit the sweet spot more often than not and found the boundary 16 times during their association. Yorkshire managed only 11 boundaries in all. The Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale himself found it hard to get bat on ball after opting to bat first, and had limped to 8 off 18 balls before he walked across his crease opting to improvise against Josh Hazlewood, only to see his leg stump cartwheel. After Phil Jaques fell for a breezy 19, the seamers applied the stranglehold that stayed through the innings. At one stage, Yorkshire managed only eight runs off five overs. Root broke free with a flick to midwicket and a pulled six - the only one of the innings off Watson. However, the slowness of the pitch consumed him as well as he swung too early against Moises Henriques and lost his off stump.

The run-rate took a beating as well - it stayed below five an over for seven consecutive overs, sneaked above five for a couple of overs before slipping again. The pressure piled on with every quiet over as the middle order ended up swishing at thin air as if they were shadow-practising a sword fight. Yorkshire managed only three boundaries of those coming in the last ten overs.

Mitchell Starc, who leaked 13 off his first over, came back well, landed his yorkers correctly and finished with 3 for 22. The only consolation in the field for Yorkshire were the wickets of Shane Watson and Brad Haddin. Though Watson lasted just one over, Haddin lasted eight and by the time he was done, the Sixers were eight away from victory. Haddin and Lumb charged the bowlers and bashed the ball to all corners, propelling the score to 62 for 1 after just five overs.

It was over so quickly that the few who showed up in the stands had more time to kill before the second game of the evening.

SCOREbOARD yORKSHiRE AW Gale b Hazlewood 8 PA Jaques c Thornely b Starc 21 JE Root b Henriques 25 A lythc Rohrer b Watson 18 GS balance c †Haddin b Cummins 8 AU Rashid c †Haddin b Cummins 1 DM Hodgson† c Smith b Watson 7 Azeem Rafiq c Hazlewood b Starc 0 RJ Sidebottomnot out 3 SA Patterson b Starc 2 EXTRAS 3 TOTAl 96 FAll OF WiCKETS 1-30 (Gale, 5.5 ov), 2-30 (Jaques, 6.2 ov), 3-62 (Root, 12.4 ov), 4-78 (lyth, 15.5 ov), 5-79 (Rashid, 16.1 ov), 6-88 (Hodgson, 17.5 ov), 7-90 (ballance, 18.4 ov), 8-92 (Azeem Rafiq, 19.2 ov), 9-96 (Patterson, 19.6 ov) bOWlinG SnJ O'Keefe 2-0-14-0, MA Starc 4-1-22-3, PJ Cummins4-0-13-2, JR Hazlewood 4-0-9-1, SR Watson 4-0-27-2, MC Henriques 2-0-10-1 SyDnEy SiXERS SR Watson c Root b Sidebottom 11 MJ lumb not out 43 bJ Haddin*† c lyth b Azeem Rafiq 41 DJ Thornely not out 1 EXTRAS 2 TOTAl 98 FAll Of Wickets 1-11 (Watson, 1.1 ov), 2-89 (Haddin, 8.1 ov) bOWlinG: JE Root 1-0-11-0, RJ Sidebottom 2-0-28-1, SA Patterson2-0-15-0, MA Ashraf 1-0-14-0, Azeem Rafiq 1.5-0-21-1, AU Rashid 1-0-8-0 Toss yorkshire, who chose to bat, Points Sydney Sixers 4, yorkshire 0, Player of the match bJ Haddin (Sydney Sixers), Umpires Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and RJ Tucker (Australia), TV umpire HDPK Dharmasena (Sri lanka), Match referee RS Madugalle (Sri lanka), Reserve umpire S George

Wednesday, 17 October, 2012

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17 Sports djokovic ‘inspired’ by $10 mn charity tie-up

tOKYO: Serbian tennis player novak djokovic (C) instructs Japanse children at a tennis school during an event held by Japanese fashion brand uniqlo. uniqlo announced that it launched a 10 million uSd fund 'Clothes for Smile' program for kids all over the world in collaboration with djokovic who is its grobal brand ambassador. afp

TOKYO AFP

Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic, aiming to finish the year as the world number-one, said Tuesday he was getting inspiration from a $10 million charity tie up with a Japanese clothing firm.

Cheap-chic giant Uniqlo has put up the money for the fund, which is being fronted by Djokovic, fresh from his backto-back wins at the China Open and the Shanghai Masters in the past fortnight.

"This kind of humanitarian work always helps me play positive," said the 25-yearold world number two, who began a sponsorship deal with the firm last May. The fund will be split in two $5 million parts, with one being spent on ideas solicited online from around the world on the theme of giving "children a better tomorrow", a Uniqlo statement said.

The other half will provide support to programmes aimed at improving children's education that will see the firm's parent company Fast Retailing working with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). "I find it very inspiring because not so many companies around the world have such vision and idea. And you have to embrace it in the best possible way," Djokovic said.

Sepang to pay tribute to marco Simoncelli KUALA LUMPUR AFP

MotoGP riders will gather at Malaysia's Sepang circuit this week for the installation of a plaque in memory of Italian rider Marco Simoncelli, who died in a crash last October, a top official said Tuesday. Razlan Razali, Sepang International Circuit (SIC) CEO, told AFP that riders and team officials would gather at turn 11 on Thursday where the young racer lost control of his bike. "A bronze plaque will be installed at turn 11 in remembrance of Simoncelli," he said. The tragic incident occurred soon after the race began when the 24-yearold Honda rider's bike veered across the track and into the path of riders Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi, who appeared to have hit him. Simoncelli, considered an up-and-coming MotoGP star, had his helmet knocked off in the collision. Razlan also said a new "Marco Simoncelli rookie of the year" trophy in memory of the flamboyant 2008 Moto2 world champion would be unveiled on Saturday. SIC will award the trophy to the best rookie in the MotoGP class at the season ending race in Valencia on November 11. Any rookie rider with the most number of points wins the trophy.

Sepang is to host the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday, in round 16 of the 18part MotoGP Championship.

Cassano can’t fathom italy snub: report MILAN AFP

Inter Milan striker Antonio Cassano said he is still mystified about why he has been left on the sidelines by Italy coach Cesare Prandelli. Cassano has played at every level for Italy and made 35 appearances for the senior national side but played no part in their World Cup qualifying campaign so far.

The 30-year-old, who switched from AC Milan to Inter at the start of the season, said however he has not given up on what would be his first World Cup appearance if Italy qualify. "I don't know why I haven't been selected but I remain hopeful that I'll be considered all the way up to the World Cup," Cassano told Italian television late Monday. He added: "I feel a bit annoyed that journalists know five days before I did that I wasn't going to be picked. I hope to go to to the World Cup but if it doesn't happen

it's not a tragedy." Cassano hit the headlines last year when he underwent heart surgery after suffering a scare on a return trip to Milan with the Rossoneri.

The Inter striker, who last played for Italy in the final of Euro 2012 -- won 4-0 by Spain -- has so far been snubbed by Prandelli for games against Bulgaria, Malta and Armenia.

Italy go into Tuesday's match against Denmark at the San Siro top of Group B with a twopoint advantage on Bulgaria after three of their 10 qualifiers.

EGyPT fOOTBALL ASSOCIATION DELAyS SEASON AGAIN: Egypt's football association has delayed the start of its season for a second time after security refused to authorize the commencement of games, the association said on its w e b s i t e .

T h e popular sport in Egypt is still reeling from a stadium riot in February that killed 70 people. The association postponed the season, scheduled to start on October 17 after a one month delay, because "the necessary security authorization is absent," it said.

Fans of Cairo's Al-Ahly club, whose members died in the violence, had stormed the association's headquarters last month to

protest a decision to resume the games.

The Ultras were furious after the association decided to begin the season before the end of the trial of suspects in the deadly violence.

The February riot erupted at the final whistle when Al-Masry fans invaded the pitch after their team beat the visitors 3-1, throwing rocks, bottles and fireworks at Al-Ahly supporters, causing chaos and panic as players and fans fled in all directions.

The Port Said stadium deaths sparked days of violent protests in Cairo, in which another 16 people were killed.

The violence was one of the deadliest incidents in football history, and came amid charges from witnesses that security forces did little to prevent the rioting, prompting more deadly clashes in the days that followed.

Nine policemen are among defendants in the trial which opened in April.

aussie Matosevic shocks Haase VIENNA AFP

mOSCOW: Andrey Kuznetsov of russia returns a ball to Carlos berlocq of Argentina during the Kremlin Cup tennis tournament match. afp

Wednesday, 17 October, 2012

Australian Marinko Matosevic produced the shock of the first day of the ATP Austrian Open here on Monday as he beat Dutch sixth seed Robin Haase 1-6, 6-3, 6-2. Matosevic's world ranking of 55 is the best of his career and the 27-year-old Aussie showed he means to hold onto it in his victory featuring five aces and four breaks of serve in 97 minutes.

Gilles Muller of Luxembourg staged a fightback to overcome Belgium's Steve Darcis 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 6-3 with the winner firing down 16 aces but needing almost two and a half hours to advance. Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, the top seed, is making a re-appearance after a month out with a left wrist injury, last playing in a Davis Cup semi-final loss to the Czech Republic in Buenos Aires. The Argentine is fighting this week for one of three remaining spots

at the World Tour Finals which wrap up the season from November 5 in London. Del Potro lost the Vienna final last year to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and will hope to go a step further this week to help his cause. The provisional number seven in the London field is expected to duel with number nine rival Janko Tipsarevic, also in with a chance and seeded two here. Spain's David Ferrer on Monday claimed the fifth place behind Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and the injured Rafael Nadal.

DEL POTRO BEARING DOWN ON LONDON fINALS PLACE: Juan Del Potro is optimistic about his chances to qualify for the year-end World Tour Finals next month as the top seed prepared on Tuesday to begin his autumn indoor campaign at the Austrian Open.

The Argentine stands provisional seventh in a season points chase which has three more weeks to run before the start of the eight-man event on November 5 in London. He begins at

the Stadehalle against the winner from a pair of qualifiers, German Daniel Brands or Belgian Ruben Bemelmans. Three London spots are open, but the likely injury absence of Rafael Nadal could mean that four more players have a chance to reach the field. Del Potro wants to be one of them. "I'm very exited about trying to qualify, I need to do well here and at my next event (Basle) in order to have a chance though," the Argentine said as he continued training at the tournament where he lost the final a year ago to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. "I have to play consistently this week, it would be great to win the title here for the first time. That would help my chances," said the 24-year-old, who is competing for the first time in a month after dealing with a left wrist injury. "I followed my rehab programme in Buenos Aires and did it well," said the 2009 US Open winner who then missed most of the next season with a right wrist problem which required surgery.

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Sports 18

13 face life-ban for Zimbabwe match-fixing HARARE AFP

A

Zimbabwean probe has recommended life bans for 13 national footballers and officials implicated in a 2009 match-fixing scam in Asia, according to a report released Tuesday.

Although the probe team did not name the players and officials in the report, it further recommended a 10-year ban for seven people, a five-year ban for 37, two-year bans for 25 people and one to two-year bans for 10 players while eight players were exonerated.

"Some officials and players will undoubtedly have their football futures ruined by these greedy, despicable, ruthless and unfeeling miscreants," said retired high court judge and investigating team head Ahmed Ebrahim after the 13 were found guilty. "There

is little doubt that these young players were carefully selected due to their inexperience, youth and immaturity."

Former Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) chief executive Henrietta Rushwaya sent the national team to play unsanctioned friendlies in Thailand, Syria and Malaysia two years ago and a betting syndicate allegedly fixed the results.

Rushwaya was later fired in 2010.

Ebrahim said the exact details of how the Zimbabwe teams were involved in the match-fixing and betting syndicate allegedly organised by a Singapore-based man named Wilson Raj Perumal may never be known - but he said those behind the scam were driven by greed.

"I don't subscribe to the view that the root cause of it is one of economic hardship," the former judge said.

"I believe the motivating factor is

greed and the pursuit of making a quick buck."

ZIFA chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze said 80 players were involved in the scam. Some of the players including national team players Ovidy Karuru and Khama Billiat were cleared during the course of the probe.

Former national team coach Norman Mapeza, who was suspended last year, was among the officials implicated. Two years ago the football association suspended three board members, including a former national team player and a former referee, over the scandal.

Zimbabwe are also under investigation by world football governing body FIFA. FIFA chief Sepp Blatter warned during a visit to Harare two years ago that players and officials found guilty in the ongoing probe would face life bans.

Germany’s Klose wins fair play prize BERLIN AFP

bin Hammam makes new CAS appeal NICOSIA AFP

Mohamed Bin Hammam, the ex-Asian football chief suspended by FIFA, has lodged a fresh appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), he told AFP on Monday. "My lawyers and myself are appealing to CAS," the 63-year-old Qatari confirmed. Bin Hammam has been suspended from football activities for more than a year after FIFA's ethics committee found him guilty of bribery during his election campaign to replace the world body's president, Sepp Blatter. The bribery case was seen as shedding a light on murky practices inside FIFA, and prompted new questions about Qatar's successful bid to host the 2022 World Cup, in which bin Hammam played a key role. The bid, alongside others, is now under investigation. Bin Hammam maintains he is innocent of the charges. In July his lifetime ban from football was overturned by CAS on grounds of insufficient evidence with the proviso that the case could be reopened if fresh evidence came to light. Bin Hammam officially lodged his appeal to CAS on October 5.

The Qatari multi-millionaire remains provisionally suspended by both FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (of which he was president) pending investigations into the Asian body's financial dealings.

Germany striker Miroslav Klose on Tuesday received a fair play prize from the German Football Federation (DFB) after admitting a goal he had scored last month in the Italian league was a handball. The 34-year-old, who has scored 65 times for Germany in 125 appearances, won the award after informing the referee a goal he had scored for Lazio against Napoli in Serie A at the end of September had hit his hand first. After Klose's confession, the referee cancelled the goal as Lazio went on to lose the match 3-0 at Napoli. The German was praised by his opponents on the pitch and later by the Italian media for his honesty.

"The referee asked me if the ball had hit my hand," said Klose, who will play in Germany's World Cup qualifier against Sweden at Berlin's Olympic Stadium on Tuesday. "I admitted it had and, for me, that was the obvious thing to do.

"There are so many young people who sit in front of the television, that we should set a good example."

Klose also won a similar award in 2005 when playing for Werder Bremen in a Bundesliga match against Bielefeld. After Bremen were awarded a penalty, Klose told the referee that the Bielefeld goalkeeper had the ball first before the striker fell in the

area. The referee reversed his penalty decision and also cancelled the yellow card shown to the goalkeeper.

INjURED BUffON OUT Of ITALy v DENMARk: Italy goalkeeper and skipper Gianluigi Buffon has been ruled out of the Azzurri's World Cup qualifier against Denmark after failing a late fitness test, the Italian football federation (FIGC) announced. Buffon had been hopeful of shaking off an adductor muscle injury in time for Tuesday's match at the San Siro in Milan but will play no part in the match after tests showed he had not recovered sufficiently. "Gianluigi Buffon will not play tonight against Denmark," read a statement by the FIGC. "The Italy captain has been struggling with a left adductor muscle strain and did not pass the fitness test this morning." Napoli goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis is expected to step in for Buffon to make what would be only his sixth appearance, having been under the Juventus keeper's shadow since making his debut in 2005. Speculation about Buffon's role in the match has been rife since he picked up the injury in the 3-1 away win over Armenia on Friday -mainly because of Juventus's upcoming Serie A fixture. The Old Lady of Turin play host to Napoli on Saturday, with the chance to go clear at the top of the table at stake for either side.

watch it Live PTV SPORTS Auckland v Titans 04:30PM Kolkata Knight Riders v Perth Scorchers 08:30PM

britain seeks fresh inquests into Hillsborough disaster LONDON AFP

Britain's attorney general said Tuesday he would apply for fresh inquests into the deaths of 96 Liverpool supporters during the 1989 Hillsborough football stadium disaster.

Dominic Grieve said he would ask the High Court to have the verdicts of the original inquests into Britain's worst ever sporting disaster quashed so that new inquests can be held.

The application comes a month after a damning report revealed that police had altered at least 164 witness statements in an attempt to divert blame onto Liverpool supporters for the stadium crush.

"I will apply to have every one of those 96 inquests quashed," Grieve told parliament. "I believe that these deaths, arising as they do from a common chain of events, should all be considered afresh." Britain's police watchdog, the Independent Police Complaints Commission, said on Friday that it would launch the biggest ever independent inquiry into potential police wrongdoing over the disaster.

Oosthuizen to take another crack at Singapore SINGAPORE AFP

Former major champion Louis Oosthuizen is to take another shot at the Barclays Singapore Open next month after missing out on the US$1 million paycheck last year, organizers said Tuesday. The South African world number 12 finished third in the 2011 edition of the tournament behind Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano of Spain and secondplaced Juvic Pagunsan of the Philippines.

Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champion and runner-up in this year's US Masters, will join fellow major champions Irishman Padraig Harrington and Kiwi Michael Campbell for the event from November 8-11, organizers said. The field in the $6 million Singapore Open, touted as "Asia's major", will be led by world number one Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, three-time winner Adam Scott of Australia and US star Phil Mickelson. Recalling how he finished third in Singapore last year, Oosthuizen said: "Hopefully, this year will be different."

massa to stay at ferrari for 2013 PARIS AFP

WrOClAW: brazil thumped Japan 4-0 in a friendly in Poland on tuesday as the World Cup hosts showed their form just five days after hitting Iraq for six in Sweden. Star man neymar scored twice after Paulinho opened the floodgates on 12 minutes and neymar then weighed in with his brace - including one from the spot - before Kaka added the fourth. afp

Brazilian driver Felipe Massa is to stay at Ferrari next season, Ferrari announced on Tuesday, amid speculation that he could make way for double Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel. "Scuderia Ferrari announces that it has renewed its contract with the driver Felipe Massa to the end of the 2013 race season," the Italian racing outfit said on its website ferrari.com. "The Scuderia's driver line-up for next year is therefore made up of Fernando Alonso and the aforementioned Felipe Massa." On Monday, the president of Ferrari, Luca di Montezemolo, rejected reports that Germany's Vettel was on his way to the team to partner Spaniard Alonso for the 2014 season, depening on results next year.

Vettel, who currently drives for Red Bull, is top of the drivers' championship ahead of Alonso. Massa, who made his debut in 2002, is in ninth position.

Wednesday, 17 October, 2012

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Wednesday, 17 October, 2012

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Drug bill sails through NA despite hiccups ISLAMABAD

T

STAFF REPORT

HE National Assembly on Tuesday finally passed a bill for the establishment of the Drug Regulatory Authority (DRA) of Pakistan after the opposition accepted the government’s assurance of not appointing a dual-national as the authority’s head.

As Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi took up the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan Bill 2012 for the final reading, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Zahid Hamid said the opposition would not press

against the removal of the word ‘only’ from a clause of the bill if the government assured that the amendment was just meant to correct a grammatical error.

The question of dual nationality, which is being hotly debated in several forums in Pakistan, hit the NA on Monday when the Lower House was midway through voting on the bill’s clauses.

The bill was deferred after the PML-N broke the house quorum by having several of its back-benchers sneak out of the chamber after a lawmaker of the MQM, a coalition partner, refused to withdraw his amendment seeking deletion of the word ‘only’ from a clause that requires the chief

executive officer or a director of the proposed authority to be a Pakistani citizen.

The clause had stated, “No person shall be appointed as the CEO or director of the authority unless he is a citizen of Pakistan only.” Opposition lawmakers had insisted that the removal of the word ‘only’ seemed to be paving the way for the induction of people with dual nationality who could serve the interests of foreign pharmaceutical companies.

“What would happen to 10 million overseas Pakistanis if we put such restrictions? Dr Abdul Qadir Khan also held dual nationality when he gave nuclear power to the country,” chief whip Syed Khurshid

Shah said, adding that Article 62 of the constitution also contained the same expression and that neither the government wanted to adopt the amendment nor was it doing so on anyone’s behest.

However, Minister for National Regulations and Services Firdous Ashiq Awan assured the House that the amendment was of grammatical nature and had nothing to do with the appointment of any dual national. Minister for Law Farooq H Naik also said the Article 62 also stopped at word ‘Pakistan’ that dealt with the qualification of the prime minister and the president. According to the bill, the DRA would bring harmony in inter-provincial trade

and commerce of drugs and therapeutic goods to regulate, manufacture, import, export, storage, distribution and sale of therapeutic goods, medical devices and drugs research.

The DRA would advise the federal government on the issues relating to the obligations and commitments with international organisations related to therapeutic goods like drugs and medicine.

Moreover, the authority will also develop ethical criteria for drug promotion, marketing, and advertising.

Later, the deputy speaker put forth the bill for passage that was adopted with majority a vote.

Malala making progress in UK BIRMINGHAM AFP

FRAnKFURT: A carp opens its mouth expecting some food on Tuesday at the Palmengarten public garden in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. afp

Pakistan ready to import fuel from india if ‘price right’ NEW DELHI AFP

Petroleum Minister Asim Hussain on Tuesday said the country was willing to import diesel and jet fuel from rival India if the price is “right”. The statement by Asim Hussain is the latest sign of warming ties between the nuclear-armed neighbours who have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947. “If the right prices are given, we have no problems importing (diesel and jet fuel),” Hussain said on the sidelines of a petrochemical conference in the Indian capital, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

India and Pakistan have been channeling their peace efforts into “trade diplomacy” in a bid to build enough trust to tackle thornier issues that divide them such as the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir.

While Pakistan has removed fuel imports from its list of goods that were banned from being imported from India, it allows import of diesel and jet fuel only by ship.

India, which has refineries across the border, is keen to take the road route to reach fuelshort Pakistan. “I think a way could be found (to import via land) as import of (fuel) products is not banned,” Hussain said, adding that a team from India’s state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp would soon visit Pakistan to discuss prices.

Senate chairman seeks action against ministers’ absence Pml-n, mqm stage walkout over absence of ministers, rise in overseas call rates g mqm says govt extorted rs 20m in a week in name of taxes on overseas calls g

ISLAMABAD AnWER AbbAS

Expressing strong reservations against continuous absence of ministers from Senate proceedings, acting Senate chairman Sabir Baloch on Tuesday gave a ruling demanding Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf take action against the ministers remaining absent from Senate proceedings. The PML-N also staged a walkout over the issue, while the MQM staged a walkout over the raise in rates of overseas telephone calls.

Members of the Upper House met under the chairmanship of Sabir Baloch to resume the proceedings of the House. During the question answer session, members recorded their strong protest over the absence of ministers from Senate proceedings, saying it was useless to table various questions in the House when no minister was available to answer them.

Members belonging to both treasury and the opposition benches expressed their strong concerns on continued absence of the ministers concerned, calling it an insult of the

House, adding that business of the House could not be maintained in such manner. Recording their complaints, they urged the acting chairman to ensure the presence of absent ministers and demanded a ruling over the issue. Col (r) Tahir Mashhadi of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) pointed out that not only the ministers were absent, they also avoided giving any replacement that might respond to the questions of the members, while ANP’s Zahid Khan stressed the acting chairman to give his ruling against the ministers.

Sardar Fateh Mohammad also demanded a ruling, as “it has became a routine for the ministers to stay away from the House during the proceedings and to not to give the House due respect”.

Senator Babar Khan Ghauri asked the chair to find out the lists of MPs who were disqualified by the Election Commission of Pakistan for not giving details of their assets. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz senators, including Ishaq Dar, Pervaiz Rasheed and Syed Zafar Ali Shah pointed out that questions raised by them often remained unanswered,

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

which was not an ethical practice.

They also staged a walkout over the issue, urging the chair to bring the issue into the notice of the prime minister. Sabir Baloch said it was unfortunate and beyond understanding that what the prime minister and the rest of ministers thought about the Senate, adding that a number of requests had been forwarded to the PM, asking him to direct the ministers to maintain the discipline in the House, but in vain.

Senator Mashhadi declared the rise in overseas calls a great injustice to overseas Pakistanis and mentioned that the government had collected extortion money worth Rs 20 million in just a week in the name of taxes on overseas calls. Tahir Hussain Mashhadi said, “The minister concerned says that he had not ordered any such raise on the overseas calls, then who raised the calls?” He said it was a move by the ministries for interior and telecom.

Demanding the government withdraw the raise in charges of overseas calls, the MQM senators also staged a walkout from the Senate to record their protest.

Editor: Arif Nizami

Malala Yousafzai is making progress in a British hospital, doctors said Tuesday, as police turned away visitors claiming to be relatives. Malala was in a stable condition on her first full day in Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham after being flown to the city in central England on board an air ambulance. The hospital’s medical director David Rosser said she had had a “comfortable night”. “We are very pleased with the progress she’s made so far,” he told reporters. “She is showing every sign of being every bit as strong as we’ve been led to believe. “Malala will need reconstructive surgery and we have international experts in that field.” He said doctors at the highly specialised hospital — where British service personnel wounded in Afghanistan are treated — were beginning to plan for the complex procedures but they would not be carried out in the coming days. Malala has been assessed by clinicians from the neurosurgery, imaging, trauma and therapy departments, though “very specialist teams” who may become involved further down the line are yet to perform detailed assessments on her injuries, Rosser added. Malala was shot on a school bus in the former Taliban stronghold of the Swat valley last Tuesday as a punishment for campaigning for the right to an education, in an attack which outraged the world. The teenager had a bullet removed from her skull last week.

Given that she was targeted for assassination by a Taliban gunman, security measures are in place at the hospital. Rosser said there had been some “irritating incidents” overnight in which people “claiming to be members of Malala’s family — which we don’t believe to be true” had turned up. Birmingham has a 100,000-strong ethnic Pakistani community — a tenth of the city’s population. A West Midlands Police spokesman said two “well-wishers” were questioned by officers who took their details and turned them away. “No arrests were made and at no point was there any threat to Malala,” he said. Rosser added: “We think it’s probably people being overcurious. They didn’t get very far.”

Polio worker killed on duty in Quetta QUETTA APP

Unidentified gunmen shot dead a member of polio vaccination team in the Rind Garh area of the provincial capital on Tuesday, police said. Officials said the polio team member, identified as Imran, was administering vaccination drops to children near Labour Colony in Satellite Town Police precincts. They said that two men riding a motorcycle arrived and shot at him, leaving him seriously injured.

Imran died on way to hospital, officials added. Referring to initial investigation, police officials said the killing could be the result of a personal enmity. They said further investigation was underway.