E-paper Pakistan Today 15th December, 2012

ISLAMABADKASHIF ABBASI

THE Supreme Court on Friday issuedshow-cause notice to MuttahidaQaumi Movement (MQM) chief AltafHussain for using contemptuous andderogatory language against the

judiciary and directed him to appear before thecourt to explain his position on January 7.A three-member SC bench headed by ChiefJustice of Pakistan Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry issued the notice under Article 204read with Section 3 of Contempt of CourtOrdinance 2003, while hearing the Karachi lawand order case. It asked the MQM chief to appearbefore the court and explain why contemptproceeding should not be initiated against himfor criticising the judiciary. Following SupremeCourt’s judgment on delimitation ofconstituencies in Karachi, Altaf criticised SCjudges in a telephonic address to a party rally onNovember 30, calling remarks made by judges inthe case unconstitutional and undemocratic.The MQM chief had said that the judges’remarks in delimitation of new constituencies’case amounted to contempt of the mandategiven by the people of Karachi.On Friday, the chief justice said in his orderthat the MQM leader’s remarks following thedelimitation order were not only contemptuous

but also advanced threat to the court and triedto undermine its authority.Excerpts of the speech were derogatorytowards the judges, the chief justice said,adding that Hussain had targeted certainjudges in his speech.The chief justice said he had read the text ofthe speech and found it to be offensive andthreatening. The language used in the speechwas tantamount to an attempt to obstructjustice, he said. The court directed PEMRA tosubmit the script of the relevant parts/portionof the speech. According to the order, in wakeof law and order situation of Karachi the courtissued a number of direction inter alia thedelimitation of constituencies in the economichub in the Watan Partycase. The court notedthat no review petitionhad been filed against theorder. When the directionscontained in the judgment werenot implemented, the courtconstituted a bench forimplementation of its judgment,the order said.

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saturday, 15 december, 2012 Muharram 30, 1434rs 15.00 Vol iii no 168 19 Pages islamabad — Peshawar edition

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at least 27 killed in Connecticut school massacre

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g Bench headed byCJp summons self-exiled mQmchief altaf Hussain on Jan 7

g apex court saysmQm chiefridiculed court,threatened judgesin speech onNov 30

altaf to file rePly, not Protest

related stories

pakistan, Indialaunch newvisa agreementRegime to come into effect on Jan 15

NEW DELHIAPP

Pakistan and India on Friday launched anew visa agreement to facilitate travel forpeople of both countries and to promotebilateral contacts. At a launching ceremonyin the Indian capital, Pakistan Minister forInterior Rehman Malik and his Indiancounterpart Sushil Kumar Shinde termedthe operationalisation historic and in thelarger interest of people on both sides,especially the coming generations. The newvisa regime would become operationalfrom January 15, 2013. Malik, who is on avisit to Indian capital, said the new visaregime was an achievement of both thegovernments of India and Pakistan, whichcontinued their efforts to achieve the goal.The minister said there were so manyrestrictions and formalities in the visasystem, but “I appreciate leaderships ofboth the countries for their interest in newvisa regime and to strengthen the bilateralties.” He said he had come to India with amessage of peace from President Asif AliZardari, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashrafand people of Pakistan as this was a wayforward. “We should forget the past for thesake of coming generations as throughjoint efforts for peace we can bring stabilityand progress.” Malik said both countrieswere facing terrorism, adding that “we donot want incidents like, 9/11, Mumbaiblast, Samjhota Express and Babri Mosque.We just want peace and we areconcentrating on that”.

Continued on Page 04 Page 03

Will act against Hafiz saeed if we get proof, Kasab’sstatement not enough: malik

‘Little movement’by pakistan in 26/11

case: Indian Fm

says supreme Court

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02News

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Justice (r) Rana Bhagwan Das retires from FPSC Wife swap beauty queen escapes prostitution charge

Saturday, 15 December, 2012

HeC body refers eD’sappointment issue to sCISLAMABAD: In a bid to get an edge in the SupremeCourt’s hearing set for coming Monday, HEC ChairmanDr Javaid Leghari restrained the members of HEC’sgoverning body to take any step regarding alleged illegalextension given to Dr Sohail Naqvi. In its meeting heldon Friday, rather than deciding on the lingering issue ofDr Sohail Naqvi’s appointment, the HEC’s governingbody referred the case to the apex court. The HECChairman’s letter in which he had acceptedEstablishment Division’s notification had already beenproduced in the Supreme Court in the previous hearing.After the development, Dr Leghari changed his owndecision of accepting Chaudhry Qamar Zaman as actingED, arguing that he did not consult HEC membersbefore accepting the government’s decision. And whilechairing the HEC meeting on Friday, he left it to theSupreme Court to decide the matter. Meanwhile,hundreds of HEC employees who had gathered outsidethe meeting’s venue chanted slogans against Dr Legharifor “misguiding the members of the Commission andstopping them from accepting the prime minister’sorder”. They demanded the HEC chairman resign as hewas openly supporting illegal extension in the tenure ofDr Naqvi. STAFF RePORT

three ppp mpas resignfrom membership

LAHORE: Three Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP)members of Punjab Assembly resigned from theirmemberships, owing to conflicts with the partyleadership. According to reports, the three lawmakersare Jamil Shah, Nishat Ahmed Daha and Babar Hussain,and all of them have submitted their resignation letterswith the Secretariat. All three members hail fromKhanewal. OnlIne

8 injured in Quetta blastQUETTA: Eight persons including a BalochistanConstabulary official were injured in a bomb blast near SariabGrid Station on Friday. According to police officials, explosivesweighing 2 kilogrammes were attached to a bicycle parked at aroadside. The bomb went off when a commander ofBalochistan Constabalury, Abdul Khalil, rode past the area ona vehicle. As a result seven persons and a constabulary guardreceived injuries and were shifted to Civil Hospital. The blastalso damaged four rickshaws, two cars and two motorcycles.According to hospital sources, two of the injured are in criticalcondition. Police officials claim the commander of BalochistanConstabulary was the target of the explosion. STAFF RePORT

ISLAMABADAPP

SUPREME Court of Pak-istan on Friday bannedfresh appointments inPakistan InternationalAirlines (PIA) until the

court decides the fate of a case on il-legalities and irregularities in thenational airline.

A three-judge bench headed byChief Justice (CJ) Iftikhar Muham-mad Chaudhry and comprising Jus-tice Anwar Zaheer Jamali andJustice Jawad S Khawaja heard thecase.

The CJ observed that as per re-ports, the financial health of PIA

was deteriorating because approxi-mately 450 staffers had been de-ployed on a single aircraft ascompared to around 150 in otherairlines.

Keeping in view this excessiverecruitment, the court banned anynew appointments in the organisa-tion.

Meanwhile, counsel for PIARaja Basheer Ahmad handed over abooklet to the CJ containing mate-rial reflecting the poor financialconditions of the airline.

According to the booklet, in2012, the PIA sustained losses of Rs22.43 billion against Rs 19.29 bil-lion in the previous year provingthat losses were swelling every year.

During the proceeding, the CJinquired about the number of em-ployees working on a regular basisand those working on a contractualbasis and asked the concerned au-thorities to present records on thesestatistics.

Moreover, PML-N leader MarviMemon said the PIA authoritiesshould be asked why their flightsgot delayed routinely and requestedthe court to direct PIA to reform itsstructure without further delay.

The CJ expressed his surpriseon finding out that the airline hadno concrete plans to replace old air-crafts with new ones.

To this, PIA Chief Engineer in-formed the court that they were get-

ting eight aircrafts on lease under anew policy which he expressedwould help improve the situation.

The court summoned PIA chair-man and Civil Aviation Authoritydirector general (DG) to appear inperson in the next hearing to givespecifics on how they planned to re-solve the organisation’s problems.

The court also ordered the man-agement to devise a strategy to en-sure that flights do not get delayedso that inconvenience to passengersis avoided, who should be properlyinformed and managed if a flightgets delayed owing to any valid rea-son.

Later, the court adjourned thehearing for two weeks.

SC bans new hirings in PIA

LONDON: London High Court in a verdict against Pakistan Inter-national Airlines (PIA) has ordered the carrier to pay £35,000 totravel agents as fuel surcharge commission within 21 days. Thecourt also dismissed the appeal of the national flag carrier, inwhich PIA had contended that fuel surcharge was government taxon which it could not provide commission. The travel agents hadpleaded in the court that PIA was not providing them commissionon fuel surcharge. The court observed that fuel surcharge is not agovernment tax as claimed by PIA, therefore, commission on itshould be provided to travel agents. OnlIne

London High Court orders PIA to

pay £35,000 to travel agents

HYDERABADAGenCIeS

Pakistan Muslim League-Functional(PML-F) chief Pir Sibghatullah ShahRashidi— Pir Pagara—on Friday said hisparty supported a united Sindh and aunited Pakistan.

Addressing a public rally, he said hisparty wanted to see the nation and thecountry safe and prosperous.

Pagara said he had joined the coalitiongovernment to solve the problems of peo-ple of Sindh. However, added that whenthe party felt that the government was not

sincere, it was decided it was better to partways with the coalition setup as it was amatter of principles.

This was the first speech by Pagara toany political rally and so far the biggestpublic meeting of the PML-F against thenewly-set up local government system inSindh.

Criticising the incumbent government,he said the sitting rulers had failed to giveany relief to people of the country. “Cor-ruption has reached its peak and everydayRs 4 to 7 billion are being shifted aboard.”

He said the PPP-led government hadwreaked havoc with this country, adding

that the government had even failed to pro-vide shelter to the flood-affected people,who had become homeless in floods threeyears ago. Pagara said the dual local gov-ernment system in Sindh was a grave con-spiracy against the people of the province.

“We categorically reject the controver-sial Sindh Peoples Local Government Act,”the PML-F chief said. Commenting on thelaw and order in Karachi, he said the rulershad failed to stop targeted killings in thecity where 10 to 15 people were beinggunned down everyday.

Pagara said his party had no problemswith the Urdu-speaking people, or people

of other provinces who had settled inSindh. However, he added, “We want jus-tice and honour.” “Sindhi youth is facingimmense problems for pursuing their ed-ucational goals but the rulers have no pro-gramme to provide them guidance,” hesaid. Rashidi said, “The MQM has to live inSindh and people of Sindh have to live withthe MQM.” He said all people of theprovince, irrespective of what languagethey spoke, were Sindhis, adding that a po-litical game was being played to compel theMQM for sitting on the oppositionbenches. The PML-F chief also criticisedthe controversial Kalabagh Dam.

NEW DELHIOnlIne

Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshidsaid on Friday that presenting of evidence by Pak-istan to a terrorist court was “little movement” as faras the accountability of those responsible for the26/11 Mumbai attacks is concerned.Regarding Inte-rior Minister Rehman Mailk’s visit to India, he saidthat India should have an open mind, and try to pushthings in the direction it wants.

“There should not have great expectationsgiven the constraints and limitations in the rela-tionship between the two countries,” said SalmanKhurshid as quoted by PTI. His comments camedays after the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA)presented evidence regarding the 26/11 Mumbaiattacks in a Rawalpindi Anti-Terrorism Court(ATC). Photographs of Lashkar-e-Taiba trainingcamps in Sindh and motorboats used by the 10 ter-rorists who attacked Mumbai were among evidence

presented to the court conducting the trial of LeTOperations Commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhviand six other Pakistanis charged with involvementin the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

PML-F wants a united Sindh, a united Pakistan: Pir Pagarag Says dual local government system in Sindh grave conspiracy against people of province

US presses Pakistanon bomb fertilizer

WASHINGTONOnlIne

The US has called on Pakistan to crack downon the production of a common fertilizer,saying it is being used to make bombs thathave claimed the bulk of troop deaths inAfghanistan. As the long and tenserelationship between US and Pakistan slightlyimproved, US officials credited Islamabad withtaking the issue more seriously but said muchmore needed to be done by authorities andproducers of the fertilizer. Calcium ammoniumnitrate is responsible for more than 70 percentof roadside bombs against coalition forces inAfghanistan despite a ban by Kabul on thefertilizer, Lieutenant General Michael Barberotold a Senate hearing. Barbero, who heads aDefence Department unit that combats thebombs, said the Fatima Group, the Pakistanicompany that runs the factories, has been “lessthan cooperative” in discussions with theUnited States. Senator Bob Casey, who put uppictures of maimed US soldiers at the hearing,said Interior Minister Rehman Malikpresented plans to prevent the bombs – knownas improvised explosive devices, or IEDs –during an October visit to the United States.“While I’m pleased that Pakistan hasdeveloped a very detailed and comprehensiveset of plans to counter IEDs, let me be clear – itis time to finally and fully implement theseplans,” Casey said. “IED incidents have risen inAfghanistan. The flow of chemicals comingfrom across the border has not diminished,”said Casey, a member of President BarackObama’s Democratic Party from Pennsylvania.Casey said Pakistan had an interest in haltingthe fertilizer’s misuse. Citing the US embassy,he said IEDs had killed 2,395 people insidePakistan in the past year. He called forrestrictions on the sale of ammonium nitrateand a tracking system that charts the course ofchemicals to distributors to buyers.

‘Little movement’ by Pakistan in

26/11 case, says Indian FMRANA BABAR HUSSAIN NISHAT AHMED KHAN DAHA JAVED ALLA UD DIN


03NewseDitoriallooking for scapegoats:

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The fault, dear politicians, lies not with the EC.

Arif nizami says;Winds of change: Is there a policy shift?

Raoof Hasan says;

The antics of the foreign office: An empire afflicted with shrinking intelligence.

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Anushka Sharma takes digs at Deepika Padukone From bridges to art


Ajmal to be a trump card during India tour: Whatmore

NEWS DESK

The Supreme Court on Friday orderedMuttahida Qaumi Movement’s self-ex-iled Chairman Altaf Hussain to appearin court on January 7 in a contempt ofcourt hearing. Following is a look atprevious interactions between theMQM and judiciary.

ALTAf HUSSAIN CONTEMpT OfCOURT CASE

December 14, 2012: The SC issues acontempt of court notice to MQM chiefAltaf Hussain and summoned him onJanuary 7 along with the party’s deputyconvener Dr Farooq Sattar. The noticewas issued during the hearing of thecase regarding Karachi’s law and ordersituation. The court had been sent ex-cerpts from a speech made by Hussain,which were said to have containedderogatory remarks against certainjudges.December 5, 2012: The SC asks Elec-tion Commission to carry out door-to-door verification of voters with helpfrom the army and the Frontier Corps.The court had earlier suggested thatthe ECP relaunch the verificationprocess in Karachi to help identify un-scrupulous and criminal elements re-sponsible for the breakdown of law andorder in the country’s largest city.However, the idea was opposed by theMQM who said the party would onlysupport the move if it was carried outacross the country.December 2, 2012: Altaf Hussain,speaking from London, hits out at theSC’s order and termed the apex court’sruling regarding fresh delimitation ofconstituencies in Karachi as an attemptto ‘snatch his party’s mandate’, addingthat the people of Karachi would neverallow such ‘conspiracy’ to succeed. Hesaid his party accepted fresh delimita-

tion of constituencies but that measurewould be “in contravention of law andthe Delimitation of Constituencies Act,1974” if it is done to stop a single partyfrom having a monopoly. He also ques-tioned why the same orders had notbeen issued in Balochistan and KhyberPakhtunkhwa where the law and ordersituations were similar to that ofKarachi.November 26, 2012: The SC issues anotice to the ECP stating that con-stituencies in Karachi should be delim-ited to include mixed population inorder to avoid political polarisationand reduce ethnic strife.

MAY 12 INCIDENTS

May 2007: Over 50 people are killedand more than 100 vehicles torched dur-

ing the visit of Chief Justice IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry to Karachi whohad arrived in the city to address alawyers’ gathering on May 12. The CityCourts police register an FIR against theSindh government and the leaders of theMQM regarding the incidents duringwhich 14 MQM workers were also killed.September 2007: MQM orders itsworkers and supporters, who had wit-nessed the incidents on May 12, to at-tend all future proceedings related tothe May 12 case and furnish personalaffidavits.October 2011: The Sindh High Courtrestored to its original position a con-stitutional petition seeking a judicialinquiry into the incidents of May 12filed by civil rights campaigner SyedIqbal Kazmi, who had previously with-drawn it in November 2007.

November 3, 2012: The Sindh HighCourt asked the lawyer of the petitionerwho had filed a case regarding the May12 incident to explain why the case,which had been earlier dismissed,should be reopened.

MAjOR KALIMUDDIN CASE

june 20, 1991: A Pakistan ArmyMajor, Kalimuddin, went to Landhi ina jeep on a fact-finding mission when agroup of 15-18 boys surrounded the ve-hicle and forced him and his subordi-nates to come out and beat them upafter which they were taken to a build-ing known as ‘white house’ whereKalimuddin and his subordinates weretortured and given electric shocks.They were freed after the police arrivedat the scene.

1994: A special court convicted Ash-faque Chief, Javed Kazmi and HajiJalal in 1994 and sentenced them to 30years’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs20,000 each. All others accused, in-cluding Altaf Hussain, were declaredabsconders and sentenced to 27 yearsin jail and a fine of Rs 30,000 each inabsentia.1998: The convicts challenged theirconviction before the Sindh High Courtand the case was found to have ‘almostno legal evidence’. Major Kalimuddinfiled an appeal against the SHC deci-sion in the Supreme Court and saidthere was enough evidence against theaccused.2007: The Sindh High Court dis-missed the petition as withdrawn fornon-prosecution as neither the peti-tioner nor the counsel was present.

tHe mQm-JuDICIary aFFaIr

altaf to file reply,

not protest over

Sc verdictKARACHIOnlIne

Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief AltafHussain has said he had no plan toprotest against the Supreme Court’sjudgment against his remarks, rather hewould prefer to submit his reply in theapex court while living within the limitsof the constitution. In a telephonicaddress to party workers on Friday, hereiterated that no power of the worldcould exterminate the MQM exceptalmighty Allah. He made it clear thatpeople had observed the end of those whoused to level fake and fabricatedallegations in the name of politics fortheir vested interests. He said he hadgreat respect for national institutions,which is why he had decided to submit hisreply with the court. However, heregretted that the courts had not takennotice of the killings of hundreds of MQMworkers despite several petitions movedby the party seeking the judiciary’sattention. The Supreme Court on Fridayissued a contempt of court notice to Altafunder Article 204 and Section 3 of theContempt of Court law.

LAHOREKUnWAR KHUlDUne SHAHID

IN one of the biggest triumphs for adeveloping country in the Interna-tional Centre for Settlement of In-vestment Disputes (ICSID),Government of Balochistan and Dr

Samar Mubarakmand have been given thegreen light to go through with their miningand smelting project, at the expense ofTethyan Copper Company (TCC). The for-eign company’s pleas with regards to ir-reparable loss and urgency have also beensnubbed in the ICSID Tribunal’s 45-pageverdict. Following ICSID’s go ahead, DrSamar and his team have been asked tokeep the tribunal informed regarding theactivities being carried out in Reko Diq.

TCC had been vying for an 18-monthstay order and wanted the international ar-bitration institution to freeze the provincialgovernment’s work in the 99-square-kilome-tres area that included the H/4 deposit.

Baloch government’s rebuttal claimed thatthey had already been working on H/4, lo-cated at a distance of 12 kilometres fromH/14 and H/15 – the two deposits for whichTCC had earlier filed the feasibility report.The Mining Authority of Balochistan hadalso rejected TCC’s claims on a 99km zonethat had 14 deposits citing the fact that the —— company had given a feasibility report ofmerely 6km that included only two deposits.Dr Samar had earlier shed light on the tech-nical details of the project in front of the tri-bunal, highlighting early development workon the project as being in the interest of thepeople of Balochistan and Pakistan.

The legal arguments on behalf of Pak-istan were addressed by Cherie Blair QC,Ahmer Bilal Soofi, Arthur Marriott QC,Mahnaz Malik, John Kingston, theBalochistan Advocate General also beingpresent during the proceedings. The es-teemed tribunal had renowned Judges andeminent scholars including the likes ofKlaus Sachs, Lord Hoffman and Stanimir A

Alexandrov, and after five weeks worth ofextensive deliberation the tribunal gave thehistoric verdict in Pakistan’s favour.

Dr Samar Mubarakmand, while talkingto Pakistan Today, underscored the monu-mental victory and praised the ICSID’s im-partiality. “ICSID always decides things onmerit, and having by far the stronger of thetwo cases, the edge was always with us.” DrSamar said. He added, “We are hoping tobegin the mining work within the nextmonth or six weeks.” Dr Samar while criti-cizing TCC’s demands of an 18-month stayorder saying, “Mining needs to commence assoon as possible; we can’t afford to furtherdelay working on province’s economic pros-perity. We now have the land and the neededmanpower to begin the mining work.”

Ahmer Bilal Soofi also highlighted DrSamar’s contribution to fast-tracking theeconomic development of the Balochi peo-ple and hailed the tribune’s decision as “oneof the biggest victories ever” for a develop-ing country in the ICSID. “It was one of the

biggest cases ever presented in the interna-tional court, and winning the case at the ex-pense of a foreign company is a massiveachievement for the country” Ahmer saiddiscussing the case with Pakistan Today.Citing TTC’s manoeuvres as a breach of na-tional sovereignty he added, “We are a sov-ereign nation and hence the governmentshould decide the fate of its opulent zones”.“TCC were never given any licenses regard-ing mining work in Reko Diq and no con-cession agreement had been executed. Itwas a straightforward case and justice wasdone with the final verdict,” he added. Com-menting on TTC’s work in Reke Diq Ahmersaid, “Despite two decades worth of explo-ration in the zones, and after having mo-nopolised nearly a thousand kilometer TCChad only managed to file a feasibility reportof merely 6km.” “They really had no case,”he exclaimed. A meeting for the Reko DiqBoard of Governors is scheduled for Mon-day, Dec 17, which would determine theschedule of mining work in the area.

ICSID gives Balochistan government,Dr Samar the green signal

tension grips parts ofKarachi, HyderabadKARACHI: Tension gripped different parts of Karachi,Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas on Friday night bringingbusiness activities to a halt. According to reports, unknownpeople resorted to aerial firing forcing the shopkeepers andtraders to close their businesses. The shops, food centres,parks and petrol pumps were also forcibly closed. Theaffected areas in Karachi include Orangi Town, BaldiaTown, Saeedabad, Maskan Chowrangi, Hasan Square, oldcity areas, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, NaganChowrangi Gulbhar, Sarjani Town, Shah Faisal Colony,Anda Morh, Hussainabad, Liaquatabad, Water Pump, NorthKarachi, Landhi, Korangi, Saddar and Tariq Road, Agra Tajand other areas of Lyari Town. A bus was torched byunknown people in Landhi. Situation remained the same inother cities of Sindh including Mirpurkhas, Tando Allahyar,Nawabshah and Kotri where business activities were closedafter unidentified men fired in the air. STAFF RePORT

reKo DIQ Case

g tcc’s demand for a stay order turned down g mining work to begin in around 6 weeks time: Dr Samar



pakistan, Indialaunch newvisa agreementOn the issue of Mumbai blasts, he saidthe perpetrators of the incident would bebrought to justice, adding that the trial ofseven accused continued in Pakistanicourts. “I assure the Indian authoritiesthat justice would prevail and throughstrong evidence those responsible for theincident would be brought to justice.”He said a Judicial Commission fromPakistan was required to come to India tocross examine the evidences.Malik said Pakistan had suffered a lot interms of economy and human lives due toterrorism, as more than 40,000 innocentpeople had been killed.Sushil Kumar Shinde thanked Pakistaniauthorities for the cooperation andexpressed the hope that the perpetratorsof the Mumbai attack would be broughtto justice. Announcing the agreement,Shinde said the new visa regime had beenoperationalised from December 14,however, the visa on arrival will comeinto effect from January 15, 2013.HIGHLIGHTS Of THE NEW VISAREGIME: Places of visit have beenincreased from three to five while inexceptional cases, visitor visa for a yearcould be issued in the past. Now provisionhas been made for issuance of visa for upto two years in following cases: The persons above 65 years of age,national of one country married tonational of the other country andchildren below 12 years accompanyingparents. Visa on arrival could be granted atAttari/Wagah checkpost to personsmore than 65 years of age for 45 dayswith single entry (effective fromJanuary 15, 2013). BUSINESS VISA: In business visa,exemption from police reporting hasbeen granted to businessmen with anannual income above five millionPakistani rupees or equivalent or annualturnover above Rs 30 million orequivalent.TOURIST VISA: Per new regime, theGroup Tourist Visa for 30 days might beissued for travel in groups, with not lessthan 10 members and not more than 50members in each group, organised byapproved tour operators/travel agents.This would be effective from March 15,2013. New entry and exit from differentdesignated immigration checkposts couldbe allowed, if indicated in application.

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ISLAMABADTAyyAB HUSSAIn

Members of the Upper House on Fridaywitnessed an interesting debate be-tween Senate Chairman Nayyar Hus-sain Bokhari and Leader of the HouseJahangir Badr over responsibility forabsence of senior bureaucrats and min-isters in the Senate question hour.

The Senate chairman and leader ofthe House kept shifting responsibilityon each other for ensuring presence ofministers and senior bureaucrats to re-spond to questions asked by the mem-bers. Responding to a supplementaryquestion by Abdul Haseeb Khan, Ja-hangir Badr informed the chair that hewanted to respond to the query but he

had not been briefed by Cabinet Divi-sion officials. “The officials were askedto brief me for answering the questionsbut they did not appear for briefing. Ifthey don’t come in the future, we willissue summons,” Badr said.

Bokhari, however, intervened andsaid it was unfortunate to note thatthe officials of the ministry con-cerned did not appear for briefing.He asked Badr that since he was rep-resenting the prime minister in theHouse, he should arrange a meetingwith the prime minister and requesthim to ensure proper briefing to himor any concerned minister enablinghim to respond to the questions.“This is not an insult of the leader ofthe House if this is understood that

the officers are not answerable to thisaugust House and the executive au-thority. Rather, this is disrespect tothe entire House,” Badr added.Bokhari asked Badar why had he ac-cepted responsibility for answeringquestions if he was not briefed.

“Sir you are the custodian of theHouse. You should take responsibilityand put your foot down. When ZahidKhan issued warrants of an officer,your secretariat had withheld thesame. This might happen that I issuewarrants of any federal secretary orequivalent, but am asked to stop theprocess,” Badr said. WALKOUT: The debate prompted awalkout by the Awami National Party(ANP) senators.

CAIROAGenCIeS

ON the eve of a crucial referendumin Egypt over a contentious draftconstitution, Islamists backing

President Muhammed Mursi and the sec-ular opposition held rival rallies andclashed while making last-ditch efforts toswing the vote in their favour.

Nearly 51 million voters will participatein the two-stage vote over the Islamist draftconstitution that may seal the fate of the

deeply polarised nation. Clashes erupted be-tween opponents and supporters of the ref-erendum on the draft constitution outsideAl-Qaed Ibrahim Mosque in Alexandria.The clashes broke out with demonstratorson both sides throwing stones. Hundreds ofanti-constitution protesters had gatheredearlier outside the mosque. Alexandria isamong the ten governorates, where the firststage of the public vote will take place to-morrow. The other nine are Cairo, Daqahlia,Sharqiya, Assiut, Sohag, Aswan, Gharbiya,North Sinai and South Sinai, state-run

MENA news agency reported.While the second stage, to take place

on December 22, will be held in the re-maining 17 governorates. The NationalSalvation Front of opposition groups or-ganised demonstrations at the presiden-tial palace and in Cairo’s iconic TahrirSquare today, after deciding to call on fol-lowers to vote “no” in the referendum,rather than a boycott. The opposition fearthe draft constitution “gives too muchemphasis on Islamic law ... They wouldlike to see more emphasis given on rights

and freedoms”. In particular, those plan-ning to vote against the draft constitutionwant additional rights for workers andwomen. Pro-Mursi groups lined up on themain roads in Cairo, holding placardsthat say “Yes to the constitution.” Also,thousands of people gathered at theRabaa Al-Adawiya mosque in Cairo’sNasr City in support of Mursi and thedraft constitution. Meanwhile, Egypt’sNobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei haspleaded to Mursi to delay the upcomingvote to avoid the “specter of civil war.”

Israel’s foreignminister resignsamid charges

TEL AVIVAGenCIeS

Israeli Foreign Minister AvigdorLiberman announced Friday he wouldresign, a day after the country’s Ministryof Justice said he would be charged withbreach of trust and fraud. He said in astatement that he must resign from hisposition “in light of the circumstances ofthe case and details of the indictment.”Liberman maintains he has “not violatedany laws.” His resignation comes fiveweeks ahead of parliamentary electionsscheduled for January 22. Liberman’sparty, Yisrael Beiteinu, and PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party,Likud, have formed a coalition, andLiberman was considered a primecandidate for a top spot in the governmentif the coalition wins a majority in theKnesset, the Israeli parliament. Thecharges of breach of trust and fraud relateto a case dating to 2009. Prosecutors saidLiberman pushed to get the IsraeliAmbassador to Belarus posted to anothercountry after the diplomat allegedlyhanded over confidential information thatincluded details of a secret police inquirypertaining to Liberman.

Contemnor

The bench conducted its hearing in Karachilaw and order situation and on the last dateof hearing passed an interim order for thedelimitation of the constituencies. Theorder added that the Ministry of ForeignAffairs had been directed to locate theexact place from where the speech wasorated and deliver the notice to AltafHussain through the foreign mission inLondon. A notice is also to be served toMQM chief through party convener FarooqSattar, who has also been directed toappear on January 7. In a statement afterissuance of the SC order, MQM chief AltafHussain said he would respond to theshow-cause notice after consulting hisclose aides and legal advisers.

Continued froM Page 01

CONNECTICUTAGenCIeS

Mass shooting by an unidentified gunmanat the Sandy Hook Elementary School inNewtown, Connecticut has left around 27dead, including at least 18 children. Thefiring began in the school hall at around9:35am three people went to investigatebut were shot immediately. According to awitness, around 100 rounds were fired and600 students were present in the schoolpremises. A law enforcement source saidthat around 27 people had been killed, 18of which were children, and severalreceived gunshot wounds. The twenty yearold gunman is reportedly from New Jersey.

at least 27 killed in Connecticut school massacre

Senate chairman, House leader caughtin debate over officials’ absence

ISLAMABADAPP

The Supreme Court on Friday re-served its opinion on a presidentialreference filed to seek guidelinesregarding role of the referring au-thority in the appointment ofjudges of superior courts.

It also reserved its decision on apetition moved by Nadeem Ahmedadvocate seeking a direction for is-suance of notification about appoint-ment of the Islamabad High Courtjudges. A five-member bench com-prising Justice Khilji Arif Hussain,Justice Tariq Pervez, Justice EjazAfzal Khan, Justice Gulzar Ahmedand Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeedmade the announcement to reservetheir opinion after conclusion of ar-guments by the parties. Counsel forNadeem Ahmed advocate AkramShiekh concluded his arguments ear-lier, saying despite presence of JusticeMuhammad Anwar Khan Kasi in theJudicial Commission meeting on Oc-

tober 22, the decision taken by theforum would remain effective. Hesaid under Article 175-A, absence ofany member from the commissionproceedings would not render the de-cision invalid. Sheikh contended thatdue to a delay in the appointment ofIHC judges, litigants of Islamabadwere facing severe difficulties.

Attorney General for PakistanIrfan Qadir and Wasim Sajjad, coun-sel for the referring authority, alsocompleted their arguments. Theysaid the president enjoyed constitu-tional discretion and his role afterthe 18th and 19th Amendments hadnot been diminished to a ministerialone. They said by virtue of Article 48(2), the president had to act in hisdiscretion as he was empowered byvarious constitutional provisions.“Suppose the president noticed thatthe educational degree of a nomineejudge appeared fake or he lacked theexperience of standing in the bar, hecould send back the matter for re-view,” they added.

SC reserves opinion in presidential reference case

Egypt braces for divisive referendum, rival rallies staged



recentrains ruinedroads

ISLAMABADAPP

The recent Westerly rain showershave caused cracks in several roadsthat cause trouble to motorists andpedestrians.Large cracks were visible on severalroads that could pose a serious threatto vehicles and drivers.The road from NDC to 7-Up Chowkhas deteriorated noticeably. "The roadnear Sector I-10/3 industrial area isin a bad shape and several vehicleshave had accidents," said TalhaNadeem, a motorist. He said the roadhad turned into a pond and driverscould not spot big potholes and dam-aged their vehicles.A taxi driver said there were big holesin the middle of the road in front ofthe H-9 College and the authoritieswere not interested in repairing it. Traffic from the Lahore-IslamabadMotorway and GT Road from Taxilahad been directed to the KashmirHighway and 10th Avenue, causingmore traffic jams. A CDA official said that maintenanceof roads was carried out on a regularbasis.

formerrailways SSPgets bail

RAWALPINDISTAFF RePORT

A trial court on Friday accepted thebail petition of former Railways SSPJaved Khan in three different casesagainst surety a bond of Rs 100,000each.The Railway Police had filed threecases against the former official for il-legal recruitments, tampering with of-ficial records and abusing power afterhe had retired from service last year.Special Central Judge Iftikhar Ali ap-proved Javed’s bail because he suf-fered from high blood pressure,diabetes and heart ailments and hadbeen admitted to the Pakistan Insti-tute of Medical Sciences.Counsels for the accused, SheikhAhsan-ud-Din and Qazi Waqar con-tended that their client was ill and thecases framed against him were basedon malafide intent and were politi-cally motivated.They argued that Javed had denied allallegations. He had also been nomi-nated for the Quaid-e-Azam PoliceMedal award for recovering stolenrailway tracks. Railway Prosecutor Inspector RiazBosal opposed the bail petition sayingthat the accused had to be interro-gated in corruption and fraud cases.

ISLAMABADSTAFF RePORT

The Capital Development Authority(CDA) has prepared a plan to vacateAfghan refugees from Sector I-11 andspecified Dec 20 as the deadline forresidents to evacuate the area, afterwhich an operation would be launched.

According to details, the CDA hasfinalised arrangements to evacuate

slum areas of Sector I-11. In the initialphase, illegal residents have beengiven time till Dec 20 to voluntarilyleave the area after which the civicbody, in collaboration with the CapitalTerritory Police, would launch an op-eration for the complete repatriation ofAfghan nationals.

This was stated by CDA EstateManagement Member Shaista Sohailduring a meeting of the National As-

sembly executive committee chaired byHameedullah Jan Afridi.

Shaista said around 7,995 illegalAfghan immigrants had been residingin the slums and they were given theoptions of an alternate location or fa-cilities for repatriation. She added thatdialogues would be held with illegalAfghan nationals for volunteer repatri-ation till Dec 20, after which an opera-tion would be conducted for forceful

evacuation of the area.The Ministry of States and Frontier

Regions (Safron) secretary said thatregistered Afghan nationals would beshifted to refugee camps, while trans-port facilities would be provided to therest to leave for their native areas.

Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said thatcriminal elements had taken shelter inslum areas and become a securitythreat to the city.

Gas load sheddingdriving country toStone age: citizens

RAWALPINDI OnlIne

Persistent gas load shedding has sentcitizens to the Stone Age as they havebeen forced to use firewood to cookfood and meet their needs, residentssaid on Friday. Residents of the canton-ment area including Dhok Jumma,Dhok Kalhor and Mubarak Lane, Alla-habad, Dhok Hassoo, Dhok Mangtaland Peshawar Road have had gas loadshedding from 6am to 5pm daily. Theysaid while the world moves ahead onthe path to progress Pakistan keeps re-gressing due to ill-conceived policies ofthe government. “Our rulers are on alooting and plunder spree and pay noheed to our problems,” said NazirAhmad, a social worker. “We areforced to burn firewood and usekerosene oil to prepare breakfast andmeals and even that has consumed alarge portion of our budget,” said AmirAbbasi. “We have to use gas cylindersto meet our daily needs, they cost a lotbut we are forced to use them,” said ZiaUd Din, a ‘tandoor’ owner.

exhibition of ‘lifelikeSimiles’ today


An art exhibition titled ‘Lifelike Similes’by Aqeel Javaid and Kamran Ahmedwill kick off at Gallery-6 today (Satur-day). The exhibition will showcase a va-riety of paintings following uniquethemes and ideas. Aqeel is aRawalpindi-based artist who did hisMasters in Fine Arts from the PunjabUniversity Lahore in 2006. He has heldthree solo exhibitions and participatedin 9 group shows in Lahore. Kamrangraduated from the Karachi School ofArts in 1996. He has also participated in9 group shows in Karachi and Dubaiand spent several years abroad in theanimation industry. Both artists are re-alistic painters who create quality art-work that draws attention. This wouldbe their first exhibition in Islamabad.


THE Capital Development Au-thority on Friday launched adrive to beautify bridges inthe city that would be dedi-

cated to national heroes. The initiativewas launched at China Chowk Under-pass that has been beautified by muralpaintings by student volunteers fromthe Rawalpindi National College ofArts. The project has been sponsored byActionAid, a civil society organisation,in collaboration with the CDA.

The first bridge to be decoratedhas been dedicated to women who con-tribute to national empowerment.

CDA Administration MemberMunir Ahmed Chaudhry said the ini-tiative aimed to beautify structuresand recognise the services of heroesincluding women, saints, leaders ofthe Pakistan Movement, youth, andsportsmen. ActionAid had sponsoredthe project entirely, he added.

Environment Member Kazim Niazlauded the initiative and said the citycan be beautified through coordinatedefforts of the CDA and residents. Hesaid the environment directorate willalso add flowers beds under the paint-ings. The students had put in a lot ofeffort to paint the wall and it was theresponsibility of citizens to protect it

from vandalism, he added.ActionAid Policy Manager Uzma

Tahir said through a pictographic rep-resentation of the women's strugglefor rights we would like to highlightthat all women in Pakistan carry invis-ible burdens. She said the purpose ofthe event was to highlight and createawareness about women's rights, earlymarriage and women’s educationthrough wide media coverage. Thepainting cost around Rs 460,000 andtook 10 days to finish, Uzma said. Theorganisation was willing to beautify all

bridges in Islamabad with paintingsdepicting themes like education, foodinsecurity and youth, she added.

NCA Director Nadeem Omer saidthe event was organised under NCA'soutreach program where studentswere encouraged to play a role for thebetterment of society. "The NCA be-lieves that artists should step out oftheir studios and galleries to work andexhibit in public spaces and the civilsociety should work in collaborationwith them to make the city a beautifulplace," he said.

Dec 20 deadline for volunteer repatriation of Afghan refugees from Sector I-11

From bridges to artNCA students to paint murals on allbridges in the capital

RAWAlPInDI: A traffic police warden performs his duty during rain on Friday. INP



06 Islamabadcrackdown against morethan two cnG cylindersin public transport

RAWALPINDISTAFF RePORT

The Rawalpindi Transport Authority (RTA)began a crackdown against public transportvehicles with more than two CNG cylinders,following the new government policy.On the directives of Rawalpindi DCO SaqibZafar, RTA Secretary Ajmal Bukhari directedpublic transporters to fix both cylinders to theboot of their vehicles and said that all extracylinders would be confiscated and the trans-porters would be fined.All Pakistan Public Transport Workers UnionChairman Haji Zahoor Ahmed, PresidentAbdul Rasheed Gondal, Vice PresidentOrangzaib Rathor and Secretary General Di-lawar Gardezi condemned the new policy andsaid that installing two cylinders in the boot ofthe vehicles would be dangerous for com-muters as the cylinders could blow up there.


pRIME Minister Raja PervaizAshraf on Friday said thatevery effort would be madeto ensure the cleanliness and

beautification of Islamabad to presenta positive image of the country.

He said this during a presentationby the Capital Development Authority(CDA) at the Prime Minister House.

Ashraf said that unless the CDAgenerated more financial resources, itwould not be able to provide betterservices to the people. He told CDAChairman Tahir Shahbaz that the au-thority needed to ensure transparency

and focus on increasing revenue. The prime minister observed that

there were a lot of ‘katchi abadis’ andunauthorised encroachments thatmarred the city’s beauty. He directedShahbaz to look into the mushroomgrowth of these kachi abadis and carryout background checks of people livingthere. The chairman was asked to sub-mit a comprehensive report in this con-nection at the earliest.

Ashraf also took notice of theCDA’s failure to get an approval for therevised cost of construction on theKashmir Highway. He directed thechairman to get an approval from theproper forum and hold an enquiry toexpose the persons responsible for the

violation. He emphasised on the needfor cleanliness and directed the au-thority to start an awareness campaignin this regard.

Shahbaz said that in two monthsthe CDA had introduced new SOP’s toensure transparency, improve effi-ciency and the financial health of theauthority. He said that the CDA’srecords were being digitalised and itswebsite would contain necessary infor-mation so that transparency could beensured.

He informed the meeting that theCDA was launching an anti-litteringcampaign and planning to hold a fes-tival to create awareness among resi-dents about clearness.

ISLAMABADAPP

The lack of a river hydrologist or a mor-phologist has caused wastage of river re-sources in the country due to lack ofexpertise.

Addressing the opening session ofan international workshop on ‘FloodRisk Mapping using Spatial Technolo-gies’, Special Assistant to the Prime Min-ister on Water and Agriculture KamalMajeedullah said that wastage of waterhad hindered progress in the country.

The workshop was organised by theUnited Nations Educational Scientificand Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)and Pakistan Space and Upper Atmos-phere Research Commission (SU-PARCO) in collaboration with PakistanMetrological Department (PMD), theNational Disaster Management Author-ity (NDMA) and the Federal Flood Com-

mission.The workshop is part of the UNESCO

project on ‘Strengthening Flood Warningand Management Capacity in Pakistan’,funded by Japan through JICA.

Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan Hi-roshi Oe told participants that Japan hadcontributed $3.6 million to Pakistanthrough the UNESCO, which was devel-oping institutional capacity and increas-ing resilience mechanisms to deal withfloods.

UNESCO Director Dr Kozue Kay Na-gata said, "The project is on track forachieving its objectives, I am happy toshare that we have made significantprogress towards GSMAP and IFASmodelling of the Indus catchments,which is a key deliverable of the project".He said that the first version of theknowledge platform for timely national,provincial and district level data sharingwas functional.

ISLAMABADAPP

The Romanian government has pre-sented merit awards to five Pakistanis forpromoting relations between the twocountries. Romanian Ambassador HEEmilian gave away awards for education,business, trade and economy, culture andmedia. Several ambassadors, ministersand members of the civil society attendedthe award ceremony.

The ambassador congratulated theaward winners and hoped that they wouldcontinue rendering their services for thepromotion of relations between the twocountries. He announced that Romaniahad introduced a special visa regime forPakistani businessmen. He said that busi-nessmen who had a valid Schengen visacould stop over in Romania for a week.

Emilian said that this was a positivestep and hoped that it would promote eco-nomic activity between the two countries.

"I am happy to announce that therewill be direct flights between Romaniaand Pakistan in 2013," he said.

A group of Romanian businessmenhad decided to launch direct flights be-tween the two countries, he said. Flightswill be operated from Lahore to Bucharesttwice a week and the frequency could beincreased later, he added.

Emilian said the airline company hadalready bought three planes to connectBucharest with Lahore. This initiative will

give a new dimension to our bilateral re-lations, he added. Islamabad Chamber ofCommerce and Industry (ICCI) PresidentZafar Bakhtawari thanked the Romaniangovernment and said that the ICCI willtake a delegation to Romania to exploremore avenues of mutual cooperation.

Bakhtawari welcomed the Romaniangovernment’s decision to give visa incen-tives to Pakistani businessmen and thelaunch of direct flights. He said thesesteps would spur trade and economic ac-tivity between the two states. The ambas-sador presented these awards to NationalSchool of Mathematics Managing DirectorRaza Chaudhry, Pakistan Romania Busi-ness Council Chairman Sohail ShamimFirpo, ICCI President Zafar Bakhtawari,Businessman Faiq Jawed and media rep-resentative Ansar Mahmood Bhatti.

A beautiful Islamabad would presenta positive image of the country: PM

Romania honoursfive Pakistanis forpromoting bilateral ties

Pakistan lacksexpertise to controlwater wastage


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PotterY & HoBBY CerAmICS

instructor: Shahid waheedtimings : 4pm - 6:00pm Days : monday, tuesday &wednesday.

Date anD time: 05:00 Pm, weeKly eVentVenUe: tHe centre for artS & cUltUre

our drumming circle is a (free!) ongoingevent and is held every friday from 5pmto 6pm. we are having a great time, andwant to share the good time with you!our drumming circle has children ...

Date: oct 22 - Dec 31VenUe: KUcH KHaaS: artS &cUltUre

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this yoga course will creatively and mindfullyincorporate physical poses with the rhythmof the breath. the course will teach you thefundamentals of yoga, such as goodalignment, body mechanics, and breathwork.

Date: oct 22 - Dec 31VenUe: KUcH KHaaS: artS &cUltUre

DrummIng CIrCLe

Islamabad 07

LAHOREPReSS ReleASe

THE technology in usedetermines the presentand also the future of asociety. No group or na-tion can claim a place

among the prosperous if it does notexercise control over the latestknowledge and resultant technology.

Like many other developingand underdeveloped countries,Pakistan has remained unable totransform its economy, society andstate institutions according to theglobal economy. Therefore, wemissed both post-modernisationand globalisation-based IT revolu-tion, resulting in persistent tribaland feudal structures and a weakeconomy. The failure meant thatthe majority fell victim to ‘digitaldivide’, with multiple negative ef-fects like millions of unskilledlabours and many others in workforce but unable to ensure optimumuse of productivity in their respec-tive organisations or fields.

In this scenario, the PML-Ngovernment in Punjab decided todistribute laptops among students,

with a sole criterion of merit. Themove is a natural outcome of thePMLN’s vision to equip the youthwith state-of-the-art of knowledgeand tools so that they can becomepart of the mainstream workforceand today’s globalised economy.

Before going into further de-tails, some words about the ‘habit-ual critics’, who are ‘not

unsurprisingly’ claim to representliberal and progressive schools ofthought in Pakistan. From the ‘sec-ular PPP’ to the ‘indefinablechange-famed’ PTI and power-hun-gry PML-Q, all of them are of theview that the venture is just a polit-ical stunt and wastage of resources.They also say that the distributionof laptops is ‘spontaneous reaction

to the tsunami fear’.Without wasting time on un-

founded criticism, one may askthem some simple questions: Whatis their plan of action to bridge thedigital divide? Did they ever thinkof updating the means of produc-tion and modifying the social rela-tions in a manner that people areable to think and produce beyondthe limited horizon of pseudo tradi-tional societal affiliations? What istheir proposed remedy to initiate asocioeconomic process culminatinginto a progressive and developedPakistan with vibrant democraticpolity? Why themes like social mo-bility are not on their agenda?

These questions get more im-portance given their posture as ifthey are the lone torch-bearers ofmodernity and democracy, whilethe PML-N is something of a repre-sentative of pseudo anti-develop-ment conservative forces. Peoplewant clear answers as they are notgoing to be fooled by slogans-onlymanifestos. They understand whohave always aligned with and actedon the behalf of traditional eco-nomic interests, revolving aroundignorance and mental slavery.

Evolution of technologygoes hand-in-handwith society, says CM

MURRee: People on their way during snowfall on Mall Road on Friday. INP


08


NewsChavez’s statusupgraded to‘favourable’CARACAS: Doctors have upgradedVenezuelan President Hugo Chavez’scondition to favourable from stable afterhis latest cancer surgery in Cuba,according to the country’s vice-president.“In the last few hours his process ofrecovery has evolved from stable tofavourable, which allows us to continuesaying that there is a growing recovery inComandante Hugo Chavez’s situation,”Nicolas Maduro told a rally of SocialistParty supporters on Thursday. Earlier onThursday, Information Minister ErnestoVillegas said the 58-year-old presidentwas recovering well two days after hisoperation, but that he had suffered“bleeding” that required “correctivemeasures”.“The patient is recoveringprogressively and favourably and his vitalsigns are normal,” he said. “This recoveryprocess, nevertheless, will require aprudent period of time as a consequenceof the complexity of the surgeryperformed,’’ Villegas added. Villegasexpressed hope a day earlier about thepresident returning home for his January10 swearing in for a new six year term,but said in a written message on agovernment website that if Chavez isnot well enough by then “our peopleshould be prepared to understand it’’.Chavez underwent his fourth cancer-related operation in Havanaafter announcing that tests had found theillness had come back despiteprevious operations, chemotherapy andradiation treatments. Chavez has keptsecret some details about the cancer,including the type and location ofthe tumours that have been removed. TheVenezuelan constitution says presidentsshould be sworn in before theNational Assembly, and if that is notpossible then before the Supreme Court.Former Supreme Court magistrate RomanDuque Corredor said a president cannotdelegate the swearing-in to anyone elseand cannot take the oath of office outsideVenezuela. A president could still besworn in even if temporarilyincapacitated, but would need to beconscious and in Venezuela, Duque toldthe AP news agency. If a president-elect isdeclared incapacitated by legislators andis unable to be sworn in, the NationalAssembly president would temporarilytake charge of the government and a newpresidential vote must be held within 30days. Chavez said on Saturday that if anelection had to be held, Maduro shouldbe elected as president. AGenCIeS

Hamas holds rareWest Bank rallyNABLUS: Thousands of Palestinians haveattended a rare Hamas rally in the city ofNablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bankcelebrating the 25th anniversary of the group’sfounding and its recent “victory” over Israel inGaza. The rally is the first time that the WestBank’s ruling Palestinian Authority (PA), whichis dominated by Hamas rival Fatah, has allowedsuch a gathering since 2007. It comes as thetwo movements take tentative steps towardsrestarting a reconciliation process. “Ourmessage is that Hamas is here, on the groundand in the heart of our people,” Hamas MPHosni al-Burini told the AFP news agency.Yussef Iqtishaat, a teenager attending the rallywith his family, was among those eagerlybrandishing the movement’s flag. “It’s a greatday thanks to the victory in Gaza,” he told AFP.In November, Hamas and other Palestinianfactions fought an eight-day conflict with Israelthat left 174 Palestinians and six Israelis deadand ended with an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire.Among those speaking at the Nablus rally wasAmin Maqbul, the secretary-general of Fatah’srevolutionary council, who saluted the rivalmovement. “Hamas has given thousands ofmartyrs, prisoners and wounded for Palestine,”he said, adding that Fatah head and PalestinianPresident Mahmoud Abbas would soon holdreconciliation talks with Hamas’s chief-in-exile.“There will soon be a meeting in Cairo betweenAbu Mazen [Abbas] and Khaled Meshaal tocomplete the reconciliation and this will be ahistoric day,” he assured the audience. The rallywas a rare opportunity for Hamas to display itssupport in the West Bank, where the PA hasclamped down on the rival group. AGenCIeS

MOSCOWAGenCIeS

RUSSIA has denied that itsdeputy foreign ministersaid that Syrian PresidentBashar Al-Assad was losingcontrol of his country.

The Russian foreign ministry saidin a statement on Friday Mikhail Bog-danov did not say that “an oppositionvictory can’t be excluded”.

The statement said Bogdanov wassimply citing the stance of the Syrianopposition while giving a speech onThursday.

“We would like to remark that he[Bogdanov] has made no statements orspecial interviews with journalists inthe last days,” Alexander Lukashevich,the ministry spokesman said in a state-ment on Friday.

Lukashevich confirmed that the

hearing with the Social Chamber, whereBogdanov’s comments wererecorded, had taken place but said Bog-danov’s remarks focused on Moscow’sstance on the crisis.

“Bogdanov reiterated Russia’s posi-tion there is no alternative to a politicalsolution in Syria, based on the finalcommunique of the Action Group whichwas approved by consensus at a minis-terial meeting in Geneva,” the state-ment said.

In what analysts said were theclearest sign that Moscow was prepar-ing for possible defeat of its ally, Bog-danov said: “One must look the facts inthe face. The regime and government inSyria is losing control ... Unfortunately,a victory of the Syrian opposition can-not be ruled out.”

The US seized on Bogdanov’s com-ments, saying Russia is “waking up tothe reality’’ and analysts viewed the

diplomat’s statement as Russia’s at-tempt to begin positioning itself forAssad’s eventual defeat.

The comments came on the sameday that NATO chief also said that hebelieved Assad’s regime was nearing“collapse”.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen also con-demned the alleged use by Assad’sforces of Scud missiles to attack rebels.

“I think the regime in Damascus isapproaching collapse,” he told reportersafter a meeting with the prime ministerof the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, at themilitary alliance’s headquarters inBrussels. “I think now it is only a ques-tion of time.”

Rasmussen said the reported use ofScud missiles by the Syrian govern-ment showed “utter disregard” for thelives of Syrian people.

Scud missiles “are weapons of ter-ror,” said Riad Kahwaji, founder of the

Institute for Near East and Gulf Mili-tary Analysis (INEGMA).

Aaraba Idriss, former first lieu-tenant who defected 10 months ago,said members of his former battaliontold him they fired five Scud missilesfor the first time on Monday from theirlocation in Nasiriyeh on the highwaybetween Damascus and the central Syr-ian city of Homs, according to the AFPnews agency.

Idriss said the “Golan-1 missileswere either Russian-made orRussian modified” and had a range ofup to 300km.

Syria’s foreign ministry has deniedusing Scud missiles against rebels andcalled the statements “biased and con-spiratorial rumours”.

“It is known that Scuds are strate-gic, long-range missiles and are notsuited for use against armed terroristgangs,” the ministry said.

Russia denies ‘Syria regimefalling’ remarks

PYONGYANGAGenCIeS

Hundreds of thousands of North Koreansoldiers and civilians have packed Py-ongyang’s main square to celebrate theirnation’s successful launch of a long-range rocket. State television footageshowed the crowd in Kim Il-sung Squarestanding in organised ranks on Friday asthey cheered speeches by senior mili-tary, party and government officialshailing the success of Wednesday’slaunch and praising the country’s youngleader, Kim Jong-un.

Many of the civilians were in warmcoats, and the soldiers in olive-greenovercoats and Russian-style trappers’hats, as they pumped their fists andchanted “long live!”, the state TV’s hour-

long broadcast showed, according to theAFP news agency.

“This was achieved thanks to theGreat Marshall Kim Jong-un’s endlessloyalty, bravery and wisdom,” said JangChol, president of the State Academy ofSciences.

Friday’s rally came hours after statemedia published a statement by KimJong-un ordering further “satellitelaunches”, despite the global outrageand UN condemnation triggered byWednesday’s launch.

North Korea says it placed a satellitein orbit for peaceful research, but criticssay the launch amounted to a bannedballistic missile test that marked a majoradvance for the communist state’s nu-clear weapons programme.

The launch has been condemned by

neighbouring South Korea, the UnitedStates and the United Nations.

The United Nations Security Councilheld emergency talks on Wednesdayafter the North, already under interna-tional sanctions for nuclear tests in 2006and 2009, ignored pleas from friendsand foes and went ahead with thelaunch.

The launch has sparked fears amongWestern nations that nuclear-armedNorth Korea is now a step closer to firingintercontinental ballistic missiles acrossthe planet.

The UN Security Council has con-demned the move and called for toughersanctions.

Condemning Wednesday’s launch,the US state department said Kim hadthe chance as new leader “to take his

country back into the 21st century” butinstead was making the “wrong choices”.

Unfazed by the criticism, North Ko-rean state media said Kim, who is in hislate 20s, had personally signed off on therocket launch and had declared hisregime’s “unshakable stand” that theprogramme will continue.

Kim stressed the need “to launchsatellites in the future... to develop thecountry’s science, technology and econ-omy”, according to the North’s officialKorean Central News Agency (KCNA) asit gave new details of the launch.

The “dear respected Marshal” vis-ited mission control an hour before therocket took off on Wednesday morningand praised the “ardent loyalty and pa-triotic devotion” of the technical team,KCNA said in the report early Friday.

North Koreans celebrate rocket launch

ex-policemanjailed overPolitkovskayamurder

MoscowAGenCIeS

A former Russian policeman has beensentenced to 11 years in a prison camp forhis role in the 2006 death of an anti-Kremlin journalist. Friday’s sentencingof Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov by the Moscowcity court came at the end of a pleabargain process that qualified him for areduced sentence in exchange for his co-operation in the case. Pavlyuchenkov wasaccused of tracking Anna Politkovskaya soshe could be assassinated and of givingthe shooter the gun with which thejournalist was killed. Having confessed hisguilt, the defendant was ordered to pay$98,000 to the victim’s family.Politkovskaya’s family opposed the deal,which allowed Pavlyuchenkov to admit hisguilt without testifying, on the groundsthat it would not help find themasterminds of the killing. The allegedtriggerman and four other defendants willbe tried separately. Politkovskaya, a sharpcritic of Kremlin policies in Chechnya, wasgunned down in her apartment buildingon October 7, 2006. The ruling came onthe same day as Moscow denied anyinvolvement in the murder of anotherKremlin critic and former spy in 2006. ABritish lawyer on Thursday told apreliminary hearing into AlexanderLitvinenko’s poisoning that the Russiangovernment was most likely involved inhis death, which has soured relationsbetween Moscow and London.

BEIjINGAGenCIeS

At least 22 children and one adulthave been injured in a knife attackoutside a primary school in cen-tral China, police say.

An officer said the attack, inthe village of Chengping in Henanprovince, happened shortly before8am on Friday, as students werearriving for classes.

The attacker, believed to be36-year-old villager Min Yingjun,is in police custody, said officials.

A county hospital administra-tor said the man first attacked an

elderly woman, then students, be-fore being subdued by securityguards. Two students have sincebeen transferred to “better-equipped” hospitals outside thecounty.

China has witnessed a spate ofschool stabbings in recent years,leading to more security guardsbeing deployed across the vastcountry.

In March 2010, eight childrenwere murdered in Nanping, Fu-jian province, by 41-year-oldknifeman Zheng Minsheng. Theattacker was executed a monthlater, hours before 33-year-old

Chen Kangbing injured 16 stu-dents and a teacher at Hongfu Pri-mary School in Leizhou,Guangdong.

In April 29 2010, 28 schoolchildren - mostly four-year-olds -were stabbed alongside two teach-ers and a security guard in Taix-ing, Jiangsu. On April 30, WangYonglai committed suicide afterusing a hammer to attack pre-school children in Weifang, Shan-dong.

Further attacks in the monthsand years following have left 11children and four adults dead, andseveral more injured.

children stabbed in attack at chinese school

MADRID: A girl looks out from under a banner during a protest against the latest government spending cuts on education. AgeNcIeS


09


News

NEW DELHIAGenCIeS

INTERIOR Minister RehmanMalik, who reached New Delhion Friday, said that he has cometo India to take the peace processforward with the country.

Malik condemned terrorism andsaid that Pakistan doesn’t want a repeatof attacks like 26/11 in India.

He, however, said that Pakistan can-not act against Hafiz Saeed - the allegedmastermind of Mumbai terror attacks -because it does not have evidenceagainst him. Malik said that AjmalKasab’s statement was not enough forPakistan to arrest Saeed. Kasab, the lonesurviving gunman of the Mumbai terrorattacks, was executed at a Pune jail onNovember 21.

“On terrorism, Malik said non-stateactors have played havoc with ties be-tween India and Pakistan...We have cat-egorically stated that Pakistan and Indiahave to respect court orders (in Mumbai

attack cases),” said Rehman on his ar-rival at Indira Gandhi International Air-port in New Delhi.

Malik said that Pakistan has alsobeen a victim of terrorism and therefore

it understands the pain of the families ofterror victims. “Pakistan has lost 40,000innocent people to terrorism. I want topay condolences to the families who suf-fered due to terrorism. India has also

suffered due to terrorism. Pakistan andIndia have to be friends,” insisted theminister.

Talking about relationship betweenthe two countries since the Mumbai ter-ror attacks, Malik said it has improvedwith time. “Situation has changed forthe last five years. Our achievement isthat we have agreed for a new visa pol-icy. This will help increasing interactionbetween the people of two countries,” hesaid. Malik described the visa accord asa gift from the leadership of both coun-tries to future generations as peace andstability between the two sides wouldusher in a new era of progress and devel-opment.

Malik claimed his visit to India wasa “victory for peace and those whowanted to see an improvement in Pak-istan-India relations”. He said that dur-ing his visit, he would give message tothe world that Pakistan and India arepeace-loving nations that believe in co-existence and want to live as peacefulneighbours.

Will act against Hafiz Saeed if we get proof,

Kasab’s statement not enough: Malik


The National Assembly was in-formed on Friday that Pakistanwanted resolution of all outstandingwater issues with India.

Parliamentary Secretary forForeign Affairs Palwasha Khan toldthe House during the QuestionHour that Islamabad had diligentlybeen voicing concerns over the vio-lation of the Indus Water Treatycommitted by India. “All possibleefforts have been made at diplo-matic levels to impress upon Indiathat it is in the interest of both na-tions that the water treaty be re-spected.”

Responding to a supplementaryquestion, the parliamentary secre-tary said India had resumed con-struction on Wullar Barrage Damand Pakistan had raised this issue inthe last secretary-level talks. Shesaid Pakistan had also taken theKishanganga Dam Project to theCourt of Arbitration which is ex-

pected to give its decision in thenext six months.

About relations with Russia, shesaid there had been a marked im-provement in bilateral ties over therecent years. She said Pak-Russiarelations were now characterised byintensification of high-level visits,mutual trust, better understandingand convergence of views on impor-tant political and security issues in-cluding regional stability,combating terrorism and drug traf-ficking. Cooperation in the areas ofenergy, steel industry, science andtechnology, trade, investment, edu-cation, agriculture and infrastruc-ture had given new impetus to themutually beneficial cooperation be-tween the two countries.

On a question about dronestrikes in the Tribal Areas, Palwashasaid Pakistan had a clear stance onit and considered them “violation ofour territorial integrity and sover-eignty. These attacks are against theinternational rules and regulationsand are proving counter-productive

in the war against terrorism”. About the presence of foreign

militants in the Tribal Areas, shesaid they also posed greater threatto the country’s security and sover-eignty.

She said about 8,715 Pakistaniprisoners were languishing in for-eign jails including 315 inAfghanistan and 403 in India. Shesaid Interior Minister RehmanMalik was visiting India and hewould raise the issue of the releaseof Pakistani prisoners. “A specialcell for Overseas Pakistanis hasbeen set up besides signing bilateralagreements with different countriesfor the release of prisoners lan-guishing in foreign jails.”

To a question, the parliamen-tary secretary for foreign affairs saidPakistan had strongly condemnedthe Israeli aggression on Palestini-ans in Gaza. She said Pakistan hadnot accepted Israel as a state and itstill stood by its stance.

Minister of State for CommerceAbbas Khan Afridi told the House

that free trade agreements had beensigned with Malaysia, China and In-donesia to increase exports. “Thiswill help Pakistan reduce its tradedeficit.”

He said a policy of enhancedtrade with Asian and African coun-tries was being pursued to explorenew markets for Pakistani products.“Our exports to Asian countrieshave increased to $11.5 billion whileexports to Africa have also shown agrowing trend.”

About trade with India, Afridisaid MFN status had so far not beengiven to India but negotiations tothis effect were underway. “Deci-sions in this regard will be taken byDecember 31.” Minister for Reli-gious Affairs Khurshid Shah in-formed the House thatcompensation of Rs 150,000 wasbeing provided to bereaved familiesof Pakistani workers who lost theirlives abroad. He said he would rec-ommend to the Ministry of Overseasto enhance this compensation tofive hundred thousand rupees.

Pakistan wants resolution of all outstanding water issues with Indiag mfn status not yet given to india, na told g international arbitration decision on KishangangaDam expected in six months

Justice (r) RanaBhagwan Dasretires from FPSC

ISLAMABAD: Federal Public ServiceCommission (FPSC) Chairman Justice(R) Rana Bhagwan Das retired from hispost on Friday. According to reports, theauthorities are mulling Lt Gen (R)Shafqaat Ahmed, who has served as themilitary secretary of former army chiefand President General (R) PrevezMusharraf, as Bhagwan Das’s successor.Justice Bhagwan Das was a senior judgeand a former acting chief justice of theSupreme Court of Pakistan (CJP). Heremained the acting CJP during the2007 judicial crisis in Pakistan andbecame the first Hindu and the secondnon-Muslim to serve as chief of thehighest court in the country. OnlIne

Lahore-bound int’lflights escapemid-air collisionISLAMABAD: Two internationalflights fortunately escaped mid-aircollision in Pakistani air space on Fridaywhen the Radar Control System inPakistan’s Pisni area was shut formaintenance, a report said on FridayAccording to sources, the incidentoccurred late on Thursday night whentwo Lahore-bound flights’ (241 and 622)internal Airbourne Collision AvoidanceSystem (ACAS) alarmed the pilots aboutthe situation. The aeroplanes were flyingat a height of 34,000 feet. Sources addedthat the incident occurred because theradar system in Pasni area was turneddown for maintenance purpose whileaudio frequency system was unreachabledue bad weather conditions. “Airportofficials have been told several times thatPasni is a ‘dead-point’, its radar shouldbe working around the clock. But CivilAviation officials never heeded to it,”sources said. AGenCIeS

‘Protection wall’ aroundUS consulate inPeshawar demolished

PESHAWARSTAFF RePORT

The under-construction “protection wall” around theUnited States Consulate in Peshawar was demolished byofficials of the Peshawar Cantonment Board on Friday. “Itwas illegal… was encroachment, therefore, had to bedemolished,” said one of the official. The wall, constructionof which had begun a day ago on Khyber Road was beingbuilt to further tighten the security of the consulate. Theofficial said the Cantonment Board was going to lift allbarricades blocking roads and routes connecting to the USConsulate with the rest of the city. Over two dozenworkers of the Peshawar Cantonment Board, equippedwith construction and destruction tools, demolished thewall. “There is no resistance from the US Consulate,” theofficer said, adding that earlier one US Consulate officialcame and questioned the workers about the demolitionbut “he was informed that all these barricades andprotection walls being built without any permission had tobe demolished”. The official said the destruction processtook half an hour. However, the task proved to be a littlehard as the material being used to build the wall was highquality. Before leaving the site, the officers said theywould lift the remaining slabs and other barricades veryshortly. So far no statement has been issued by the USConsulate in Peshawar. High-ups in the civilianadministration were also tightlipped about the incident.

QUeTTA: A doctor attends to a patient on Friday as medical practitioners at government hospitals resumed their duties after more than a month of protests. ONLINe


Comment10

Arif NizamiEditor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36375963-5 Fax: 042-32535230Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9 Fax: 021-35381208Islamabad – Ph: 051-2287414-6 Fax: 051-2287417

Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk Email: [email protected]

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

The fault, dear politicians, lies not with the eC

looking for scapegoats

Five years of uninterrupted democratic era and political partiesstill captive to infantile attitudes. For instance, they have failedto overcome the indulgence in self-righteousness. Theelections are fair only if their candidate wins. In case he

doesn’t, they are rigged. A judgment by a court is fair only if it favoursthem. An accountability body is judicious only if it persecutes theopponents and raises no accusing finger at anyone in their fold. It istime they learnt to concede defeat gracefully, if not congratulate thewinning opponent.

There was a universal consensus among observers that the recentby-elections in Punjab were in the main peaceful, free and fair. Ashappens in all elections, tempers ran high at places. There was howeverno report of rioting or serious injuries to anyone. There was aerialfiring of a celebratory type at a couple of places which should not havetaken place. The EC promptly directed the provincial government toregister cases which was done. No written complaint was registeredwith the commission regarding any possible election malpractice.Despite this, the losing side continues to cast doubts through innuendoand insinuations on the performance of the ECP which is unfair. Aprominent PML-Q leader groused that the commission remained asilent spectator over what he called the mismanagement of the polls. APPP minister accused the PML-N of retaining its seats by using thegovernment machinery. All this was in fact an attempt to shift theburden of defeat on someone else. What one expects from acomplainant is that he would either present the incriminating evidenceor concede the defeat. Instead, an attempt has been made to make aconsensus EC controversial.

Another dangerous tendency is to look towards the courts or thearmy to resolve problems outside their domain and then accuse andcriticise both. One can understand the utility of employing the army inFATA, Balochistan or a handful of sensitive constituencies elsewhere.One may also concede the replacement of the police inside the pollingbooths with FC as the former is more likely to be amenable to localpressures. It is, however, beyond one’s comprehension why Wattooshould demand stationing an army soldier to guard every ballot box.During the elections, the country will have a neutral caretaker setup.With an independent and powerful EC also in place, a betterarrangement was never made in the past. The political parties shouldestablish mechanism to oversee the general elections so that they areable to come up with hard evidence, instead of allegations, regardingany possible election malpractice.


An empire afflicted with shrinking intelligence

The antics of the foreign officeCandid CornerBy Raoof Hasan

The one paragraph statementof the foreign ministry in Is-lamabad in the matter of the

raid on MQM office defies logic. Inresponse to a question about theoperation conducted by ScotlandYard on the business address ofMQM on Edgware Road in Lon-don, the FO spokesperson said: “Itwould be premature and wrong todraw any conclusion about theraid. We are confident that the in-vestigation would eventually helpclear all misgivings about MQMwhich is not only a coalition part-ner, but also represents secularforces in the country”.

The FO interjection came afterScotland Yard confirmed the raidon the office of the MQM chief inconnection with the ongoing inves-tigation in the murder of Dr.Imran Farooq who was brutallyeliminated when he was planningan independent political courseand was in touch with some groupsoutside his own party which hadangered its leadership.

Since the publication of the re-port about the raid, the MQM’s re-sponse has vacillated fromabsolute denial to a reluctant butangry acceptance. The latter cameabout when London’s Metropoli-tan Police formally confirmed theraid leaving no option with the

party to keep denying it. The ques-tion is why this palpable uneasi-ness on the part of the MQM andits leadership? If a raid had beenconducted, why did the party lead-ers of all hues and shades deny itso vociferously in the beginning?Also, why is it that they relentlesslyconstrued it as part of a viciouscampaign to malign the party andits political standing?

More importantly, what werethe compulsions for the FO tocome up with this unwarranted de-fence of a political party which isgenerally perceived as the architectof the culture of murder, extortionand kidnapping at a time when itstop leadership is reportedly beinginvestigated for the assassinationof one of its own party members?If at all such a statement had to beissued to assuage the growing con-cerns of the MQM leadership inthe wake of the ongoing criminalinvestigation, a more natural plat-form would have been the PPP.The pressure exerted on the FOand the latter’s spineless capitula-tion to issue the dictated statementis a small reflection of the malaisethat afflicts the executive, the FObeing no exception. Given thegrandiose ambitions of the ladywith a million purses who rules anempire afflicted with shrinking in-

telligence, this is only a smallmeasure of the sordid compro-mises which the FO would be will-ing to make without the winking ofan eye!

But, it is not just the overridingambition of the lady that weshould be concerned about. It iswhat she has reduced the FO toduring her tenure that deserves anhonest comment. Was it for the FOto get involved in an embarrassingeffort to retrieve the MQM fromthe political mess that it is gradu-ally sinking into? Who is not awareof the countless murder and kid-napping cases registered acrossthe length and breadth of Karachiagainst all its top leaders – theones who lord over things sitting inPakistan and the one who sits inLondon masterminding a vastmafia of criminal gangsters oper-ating wantonly to maintain theirill-gotten power in Karachi andsome other parts of the Sindhprovince? Was it appropriate forthe FO to dub this band as a ‘secu-lar force’ apparently in a bid to ap-peal to the liberal West to belenient on the MQM in the midst ofvirtual talibanisation of the coun-try? More, should this argumentbe construed as a mitigating com-ponent to conclude the investiga-tion in the matter of the murder of

Dr. Farooq? And should this argu-ment also be treated as a reason tolet go off the leader of the party ifhe and his cohorts are indeed im-plicated in the heinous murder?

Why did the FO get into allthis? Whose instructions was it fol-lowing? Who pushed the foreignminister to get embroiled in a mat-ter that did not warrant a commentin the first place, or was she awareat all of what was happening backat the base? Was it the presidencycalling the shots as usual using itsmultifarious avenues of influenceto make the FO do something un-precedented in the annals of diplo-macy? Is it the pressure of theelections showing in a desperatebid to keep the coalition intact, oris it a smart move with hindsightthat MQM and its leadership maybe ultimately indicted?

These and countless otherthoughts come to mind when onetries to decipher the gross mannerin which various offices and insti-tutions are being used to help thegovernment keep the necessarynumbers intact. But, an overridingperception is gradually takingshape that the MQM may have hadits day. Whether its fall comesabout through the unlikely event ofthe don in London being impli-cated in the murder of Dr. Farooq,

or contradictions within the partyranks lead to an implosion, thelong-term future looks dicey forthe MQM and its leadership.

In spite of the politicalshenanigans of the PPP leadership,it would be the happiest among theMQM partners at this juncture.Having seen its hold on Sindh di-luted considerably owing to thegains of the MQM particularly inthe urban parts of the province, itmakes for a wonderful strategy forthe PPP to do everything to as-suage its concerns in the open butplay the Brutus behind closeddoors to expedite the political de-mise of a party that was originallyconceived by a dictator to eat intoits vote bank. The strategy be-comes even more meaningful giventhe challenges that the PPP is fac-ing at the hands of the growingpower of the nationalist parties ofthe province on the one hand andthe visible gains that PML-N hasmade on the other. The only un-derside is that the advantage thatthe PPP may be planning to securemay actually fall in the lap offorces that are even more inimicalto its domination of the province.

The writer is a politicalanalyst. He can be reached [email protected]

The good news is that accord-ing to US Defence SecretaryLeon Panetta, Islamabad hassignalled its willingness todeal with the safe havens in its

badlands. It would have sounded toogood to be true only a few weeks ago.

But as the deadline for withdrawal ofNATO troops from Afghanistan drawsnearer, efforts to find common groundbetween Islamabad, Kabul and Washing-ton have been redoubled.

Why the change of heart so late in theday? According to a senior US diplomat,with the endgame in sight Islamabad hadnot many options but to review its flawedsecurity paradigm. The same can how-ever be said of the US and Afghanistanrevisiting their policies towards Pakistan.

The pitch had been queered by the re-cent assassination attempt on Afghan in-telligence chief Asadullah Khalid, whichHamid Karzai alleged, had been plannedin Quetta. Afghan president’s bitternesswas understandable as the intelligencechief is reportedly not only his trustedlieutenant but also like a son to him. Toboot, he is a sworn enemy of the ISI.

Apparently, President Asif Zardari atthe trilateral moot in Ankara was able toconvince the Afghan president that Islam-abad was not behind the attack. Turkey’sPresident Abdullah Gul termed the assaultas an attempt to derail the dialogue betweenthe two countries, adding that as a result ofthe meeting both sides had renewed trustand were willing to work together.

A stage is being set for talks with theTaliban. And this time Islamabad is play-ing ball. A number of Taliban leaders –senior Taliban leader Mullah Turabibeing the latest – have been released. Ob-viously, this is a clear signal to the Tal-iban to join the peace talks.

Contrary to the position a fewmonths back, unmistakably the Pak-

istani military is playing ball now. Sev-eral emissaries of Karzai have met theArmy Chief General Ashfaq Kayani in re-cent weeks. The message is loud andclear: Islamabad wants to be part of thesolution rather than the problem.

Citing strategic and tactical restraints,till now the military has been reluctant tomove against the militants holed up inNorth Waziristan. Now according toPanetta there has been a change of heart.

There has been no official confirma-tion of the US defence secretary’s state-ment, who only a few months back hadclaimed that the Haqqani network wasthe veritable arm of the ISI.

It is indeed ironical that we learn abouta major policy shift in our strategic para-digm from US officials rather than our own!

When there was need to show ouriron fist to the US in the post-Salala inci-dent in November 2011, the parliamentwas used to send a tough message. Butlater NATO supplies were resumed with-out a whimper. Similarly, neither the Pak-istani media nor the lawmakers have beengiven any clue from their own policymak-ers on what is happening on the Pakistan,US, Afghan and the Taliban front.

Obviously, there is a belated realisa-tion on the part of our policymakers thatthe Al-Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban and theTTP are an existential threat to the Pak-istani state. Apart from North Waziris-tan, their safe havens in Karachi andQuetta are major source of instability.The distinction between the good andbad or Afghan and the Punjabi Taliban issomewhat blurred when it comes to ter-rorist attacks within the country.

There has already been a lot of timewasted in useless polemics. By the timethe US withdraws from Afghanistan atthe end of 2014, Islamabad should bepoised to be in an advantageous positionvis a vis its western neighbor.

General Kayani has reiterated on differ-ent occasions that Pakistan, unlike the US,cannot wish away its neighbours. Hence ithas to deal with Kabul even after the UnitedStates does the proverbial cut and run.

But in order to walk the talk Pakistanhas to – no matter how belatedly – play apivotal role in starting meaningful nego-tiations between Kabul, Washington andthe Taliban. Obviously there are inherentdifficulties in achieving this elusive goal.

Primarily, there is a huge trust deficitbetween Kabul and Islamabad on the onehand and between Islamabad and Wash-ington on the other. Karzai and his USpatrons have to do more in order to win

the trust of Islamabad instead of keepingon blaming Pakistan for their failures inAfghanistan. Kabul and its patrons haveto move against safe havens withinAfghanistan that are used by the TTP tolaunch attacks against Pakistan.

Despite claims to the contrary, theresurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistanis a major impediment to peace. Onlyhours after Leon Panetta had boasted tothe CNN in Kandahar that the US waswell on its way to defeating Al-Qaeda,there was an attack on the US base killingat least one US soldier.

Pakistan is in the process of announc-ing elections in the next three months. Nev-ertheless with the military calling the shotsanyway, someone will always be in place todeal with the thorny strategic issues.

However, the US administration hasstill to get its act together. PresidentObama relied more on the CIA’s lethaldrone programme to eliminate Al-Qaedaand its cohorts in Pakistan’s tribal areasthan on a coherent negotiating policy toprepare for the endgame. Perhaps thestrategy was to beat the Taliban to pulpin order to force them to negotiate onWashington’s terms.

Unfortunately, this game plan hasbeen found to be utterly flawed. After 11years and two months in Afghanistan, theISAF has neither been able to usher in astable government in Kabul nor in buildinga credible Afghan National Army or policeto take over once the NATO forces leave.

President Obama has yet to decidewho will be his next secretary of state tosucceed Hillary Clinton, who is set toleave soon to nurse her presidential am-bitions for 2016. Thankfully, the US per-manent representative at the UN SusanRice has bowed out of the race, clearingthe decks for Senator John Kerry to bethe next secretary of state.

Kerry is considered by Islamabad tobe somewhat of a friend more in touchwith the realities of the region. Anotheradvantage that Kerry carries is that he isrespected across the aisle in the US Con-gress. Hence he will be in a better posi-tion to sell the administration’s foreignpolicy initiatives.

However, in the final analysis, Kerrywill pursue hard-nosed US foreign policygoals, not Pakistan’s. Hence it is time ourmilitary and civilian leadership shouldtailor Pakistan’s strategic and foreignpolicy goals according to our own long-term national interests.

The writer is Editor, Pakistan Today

Winds of changeIs there a policy shift?

By Arif Nizami


Comment 11


time and place

Seen recently on a Lahore-bound flightfrom London was a tight-western-attiredlady, who entered the business class

with three bottles of Scotch. OK, if you insiston knowing, they were all Johnny Walker butthat’s not the point.

The lady gave one to a passenger sittingnear the door, a gora, one to a person sitting inthe middle of the plane and the last, she said,was for her. The gora insisted he didn’t want todrink but she insisted. Giving up, he asked forsome water and ice, which the lady asked theattendants for. Now the latter, jolted out oftheir initial haze, told her there could be no al-cohol on a PIA flight, only to be told sternlythat she was a force to be reckoned with inPakistan and that she would make sure they alllose their jobs. The poor things hadn’t a choice.

Well, several passengers imbibed; nothingquite like free booze. The lady herself alsohelped herself.

Just before the flight reached Lahore, shemerely went into the washroom and came outin an abaaya, wearing a burqa. And, as shehad promised, there was an impressive en-tourage waiting to receive her at the airport.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Sticks and stones

Shahbaz Sharif is into coining names forhis political nemesis. His Asif Baba andChalees Chor for the President, though,

wasn’t thought through well. Ali Baba was thehero in that particular fable.

Some jiyalas have also responded by amutation of their own of his Khadim-e-aala.They’ve taken to calling him Zaalim-e-Aala.

Imran Khan has also come into the act bycalling the Punjab chief minister Showbaz Sharif.

Ah, the maturity of Pakistani politics.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Some are more equal

Latest on the upcoming elections in themost populated club of Lahore! The in-cumbent bureaucrats group has thrown

the book at their opponents in true bureau-cratic style. Three members have been de-barred to participate in the elections ontechnical grounds, while the fourth, who camerunning from London to participate in theelections, was aghast when told he had notpaid his dues. It is another matter that a noticewas never sent to him. Misbah-ur-Rehman,the perennial candidate for the post of chair-man was told he could not run for a third termunder new rules. Interestingly, rules were bentfor an Islamabad based bureaucrat to enablehim to participate in the elections.

whitelIeS

For feedback, comments, suggestions and,most importantly, tips, contact us at

[email protected]

who pays tax in Pakistan?According to reports, in Pakistan, only

two million people pay taxes from apopulation of more than 180 million. Itmeans only one percent population is in thetax net. This is not the correct position.There are two types of taxes; namely, directtaxes levied on incomes, profits, fees, wealth,property etc; and indirect taxes, whicheverybody, unobtrusively pays. Theseindirect taxes include duties on imports, rawmaterials, consumer goods and so-calledluxury items like cigarettes and cell phoneswhich low-income groups also use.

It means that 100 percent of urbanpopulation pays taxes, direct and indirect. Alarge chunk of rural population also pays taxesof some kind. Even a low-paid constructionworker and a beggar using a cell phone alsopay tax to the government. So the reportsabout only two million people paying taxes areerroneous and misleading. All salariedpersons, in private and public sectors, payincome tax, according to law. However, richand influential people, mostly politicians andbusiness tycoon, do not pay taxes.

ASGHAR MAHMOODIslamabad

old pensioners’ caseIt hit me like a bolt from the blue to be re-

minded by a TV channel that Hon’ble ChiefJustice of Supreme Court of Pakistan, IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry, is to retire in a year’stime on 12-12-2013. The reason being that thechief justice had graciously entertained ahuman rights case no 43650-P/2011 pertainingto old pensioners past 75 years of age who hadbeen denied similar annual increases on thecommuted portion of pension on restoration asallowed on the-non commuted portion of pen-sion. Some persons have got a decision in theirfavour from the Apex Court but the rest of theold pensioners whose number runs into severalthousands are running from pillar to post to in-dividually follow their cases in superior courts,the last hope being vested in the Article 25(1)which enshrines equality of citizens before law.If some citizens are allowed increment on com-muted portion of pension, others in the sameboat may also be allowed similar treatment.One hopes that the chief justice decides thishuman right case during his tenure.

DR MUHAMMAD YAQOOB BHATTILahore

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Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah,

Lahore, Pakistan. Fax: +92-42-36298302.

E-mail: [email protected] should be addressed to

Pakistan Today exclusively.

the white elephantAccording to media reports, a Bench of the

Supreme Court on Friday ordered theEstablishment Division to furnish a list of retiredcivil servants who have been re-employed by thegovernment after their superannuation.

In Pakistan, the age of superannuationstipulated in the Civil Servants Act 1973 is 60years. It means that a civil servant who hascompleted 60 years of his recorded age cannotcontinue in the service of Pakistan, under Section14 of the Civil Servants Act. However, this rule isblatantly violated in practice. Favourite retiredcivil servants and army officers are appointed invarious organisations under the control ofgovernment generously, without any regard toestablished norms, rules and laws.

The most sought after positions are in thePrime Minister’s Inspection Commission (PMIC),Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC),provincial public service commissions, FederalService Tribunal (FST), provincial servicestribunals, Benazir Income Support Programme(BISP), regulatory authorities, National School ofPublic Policy, National Institutes of Management,Pakistan International Airlines Corporation(PIAC), Pakistan Steel Mills, Karachi Port Trust(KPT), Planning Commission of Pakistan, NAB,etc.

It may be interesting to note that theChairman NAB, Chairman PMIC andSecretary/Chief Executive of the BISP are in lateseventies and eighties. They are holding positionsconcerned with the affairs of the federalgovernment, thus in violation of the provisions ofthe law.

There is no secret about it that these

appointments are made on political and personalconsiderations without regard to merit and law.Many federal secretaries manipulate prestigiousand lucrative appointments after retirement.These appointments not only breed frustration inthe civil services but are also against Article 25 ofthe Constitution of the Islamic Republic ofPakistan. This is the context of the petition of MrKhushdil Khan, who has been relocated from theInterior Division.

If we want rule of law and good governance inthe country, merit and only merit must prevail inappointments and promotions. There is alsourgent need to evolve an oversight mechanism formonitoring crucial and strategic appointments inthe government organisations.

ASGHAR MAHMOODIslamabad

an interesting ideaRecently, a news report was aired from a

private news channel of Pakistan that in Indiancity Rajkot a beauty parlour owner was offeringfree makeup of those women who would cast votesin the elections. All those women who had themark of election ink on their hands were giventhis service.

However, this beauty parlour owner is notsupporting any political party in the election, sheis only giving this free makeup service to attractmore and more women to cast votes.

The idea is a good one but I doubt that anybeauty parlour in Pakistan will provide this typeof free service. Maybe political parties should takeadvantage of this idea.

MUBASHIR MAHMOODKarachi

While I have great regardsand respect for Justice (retd)Khalil Ramday, the decision ofcommittee headed by him toname roads in Lahore, hasforgotten to honour memory ofmen who played a vital role inour freedom movement. I meanno disrespect to the men thatthis committee in its wisdom, orlack of it, has decided to honourby renaming roads and majorcrossings of Lahore. PerhapsJustice Ramday is unaware ofthe role played by Allama Iqbaland respect he had for BhagatSingh, a man who fought andlaid down his life to resist theoccupation by British Raj,which many opportunists withinthe Muslim community areguilty of supporting andbenefitted from this treachery.The resolution moved by AllamaIqbal, Malik Barkat Ali and twoother non-Muslim lawyers inLahore High Court BarAssociation on 19 June, 1930,bears testimony to the heroic

role of Bhagat Singh.Justice Khalil Ramday and

the Punjab government shouldbe aware of unfortunatedemolition of Masjed ShaheedGanj on the night of 7 July,1935, in Lahore, which was builtin 1722 AD (1134 AH) and theunfortunate role played by fewMuslim members of Punjabcabinet, headed by a coalitionformed by Hindus, Sikhs andMuslims members of formerUnionist Party. There are roadsin Pakistan named after thesemen who collaborated in thisdastardly and cowardly act, butnone is named after MalikBarkat Ali. The agitation toprevent this demolition andjudicial fight to restore thismosque was led by Allama Iqbaland Malik Barkat Ali with theconsent of Quaid-e-Azam MohdAli Jinnah. The fact is thatMalik Barkat Ali, a very closeassociate of Allama Iqbal, wasthe sole representative electedto Punjab Legislature in 1937

general elections on MuslimLeague’s ticket and he alonebore flag of Muslim League onthe floor of the House. He wasagain re-elected in 1945 anddied on 5 April, 1946.

On his death the Quaid paidhim the following tribute: “I amdeeply grieved to hear the verydepressing and sad news of thesudden death of Malik BarkatAli. He was from the verybeginning a true and loyalmember of the Muslim League,and on all occasions, herendered the greatest service toMuslim India. His advice andstaunch support on all occasionswas of greatest value to theLeague and myself. MuslimIndia has lost in him a greatman, and I have lost in him notonly a colleague, a collaborator,but also a great friend. Mydeepest sympathies go out to hisfamily in their bereavement fortheir irreparable loss.”

MALIK TARIQ ALIIllinois, USA

not honouring freedom pioneers

by apollo


12

anushka sharma takes digs at Deepika padukone

ACTreSS Anushka Sharma has taken potshots

at deepika Padukone. “There is no

comparison between deepika and me.

Nothing links us. we do different kind of films. In

fact she has done more films. I’ve been choosy. I

have not picked up just about any role that came my

way,” she said. Asked to give a word for her peers,

Anushka said, “Stop throwing garbage at me since I

don’t throw garbage at you,” she told Mumbai Mirror.

third 'Dabangg' to be prequel: salman Khan

ACTor Salman Khan, who is on a promotional

spree for his forthcoming movie " dabangg

2", says the third instalment of the franchise

will be a prequel to the first film. "we have our third

film ready and it will go back and show how Chulbul

Pandey becomes Chulbul Pandey. If the second one

becomes a hit, we can go to the third one, which is

actually the first one. So 'dabangg 3' will be a

prequel," said Salman, who plays a corrupt, but

kind-hearted cop in the movie. "dabangg", released

in 2012, was directed by Abhinav Kashyap. It

featured Salman and then debutant Sonakshi Sinha

in the lead. Sonakshi also features in "dabangg 2".

Asked if she will be seen in the prequel, he said:

"There is a place for Sonakshi in 'dabangg 3' as well.

She is there, her father is there, but we don't meet."

For now, Salman is looking forward to "dabangg 2",

which has been produced as well as directed by his

younger brother Arbaaz. The film, featuring Prakash

raj as the villain, releases dec 21. neWS DeSK

Katrina suffers injurywhile shooting ‘Dhoom 3’

Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif has

reportedly been injured while practicing for an

action scene for her upcoming blockbuster

‘dhoom 3’. According to reports, the actress fell down

and tore a ligament in her right hand and was in pain

for few hours. despite her injury, the Bollywood

starlet didn’t miss the cancer awareness event where

she was invited as chief guest. She attended the

event with a bandaged hand. This isn’t the first time

she suffered an injury while shooting. during the

shoot of “Mere Brother Ki dulhan” Kaif reportedly

suffered a nose-bleed, and while shooting “de dhana

dan” had an accident while performing an underwater

stunt. Besides Katrina, the film stars Bollywood dons

Aamir Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Uday Chopra, Jackie

Shroff and Australian newcomer Tabrett Bethell. The

release date of the film has yet to be confirmed,

though it is set for release in 2013. neWS DeSK


'midnight’sChildren' finallycleared forrelease in 2013After months of uncertainty, thefate of Deepa Mehta's Midnight'sChildren is finally sealed. TheCentral Board of Film Certification(CBFC) cleared the movie, based onSalman Rushdie's 1980 novelMidnight's Children, onWednesday. "We are relieved andexcited at the thought of the filmreaching the country's audienceintact," said Deepa. The film, basedon the controversial novel has beenissued an 'A' certificate with minorcuts. Writer and spokesperson forCBFC, Anjum Rajabali, said, "Thecuts were more on technicalgrounds, like the depiction of themap of India. The national emblemwas also partially cut." Rajabaliadded, "The film is based onRushdie's book, which was quitecritical of the Emergency (declaredin 1975). However, the adultaudience is discerning enough toview it in its historical context.Moreover, the story evolves throughthe viewpoint of the protagonist, soit is subjective. It was important torespect the narrative integrity of thefilm." NeWS DeSk

Action hero Jackie Chanprovoked a furious fight-backfrom Hong Kongers Thursdayafter reportedly suggesting in aChinese magazine interview thatprotest in his native city shouldbe restricted. The commentsfrom the Hong Kong-born starunleashed a wave of criticism inthe southern Chinese city, whichprides itself on the upholding ofcivil liberties including the rightto protest. "Hong Kong hasbecome a city of protest. The

whole world used to say it wasSouth Korea. It is now HongKong," the South China MorningPost quoted Chan as saying in aninterview with Guangzhou-basedSouthern People Weeklymagazine published Tuesday."People scold China's leaders, oranything else they like, andprotest against everything. Theauthorities should stipulate whatissues people can protest overand on what issues it is notallowed." The Rush Hour star,known for his martial arts skillsand daring stunt work, faced acounter-attack from Hong Kongpoliticians and academics, whosaid he was ignorant of the valueof freedom cherished by the city'sseven million people. The formerBritish colony, which wasreturned to Chinese rule in 1997,maintains a semi-autonomousstatus with its own legal systemand civil liberties not seen on themainland, including the right toprotest and free speech.

"This is disastrous," pro-democracy lawmaker Cyd Hotold AFP, branding the remarks"unacceptable" and noting thatChan had built his success in themovie industry where freedom ofexpression was essential. "Hemade his fame and wealthbecause Hong Kong is a free cityin which he had the opportunityto climb up the social ladder.These opportunities should beavailable to all," Ho said.Political analyst Dixon Sing Mingfrom the University of Scienceand Technology told the Post thecomments showed Chan was"almost detached from the dailylives of the people of Hong Kong".Calls by AFP to Chan's charitablefoundation went unansweredThursday. Chan was slammed in2009 after he told a governmentand business leaders meeting inChina that Chinese people "needto be controlled" and the countryshould be wary of allowing toomany freedoms. NeWS DeSk

jackie chan

criticism

sparks

hong kong

ACTRESS Vidya Balan andUTV head Siddharth RoyKapur were married on the

morning of December 14. Thewedding took place at the Green Milebungalow in Bandra, contrary toearlier reports of a temple wedding inChembur. Priyanka Chopra tweeted:Congratulations to my friendsSiddharth Roy Kapoor and VidyaBalan!They make such a beautifulcouple..heres wishing them happinessforever! Madhur Bhandarkar tweeted:My heart filled wishes to buddySiddharth Roy Kapoor & Vidya Balanfor the new phase of their livestogether.Congratulations to thebeautiful couple. According toreports, the wedding rituals went onfor over an hour at the well-decoratedvenue in the presence of familymembers of the bride and groom.According to reports, the actressunderwent three changes in costumeduring the wedding ceremony,including a mustard sari with a pinkblouse, matching the groom's yellowkurta and pink turban. Vidya woreflowers in her hair and a big smile.After the wedding ceremony was over,the bride and the groom came out fora photo op and posed happily for thewaiting cameras. By this time, Vidyawas in a tomato red banarasi sari withgold jewellery and sindoor on herforehead. After their quiet wedding,the couple intends to send sweets topeople from the industry. Thecouple's wedding celebrations kickedoff on December 11 with a privatesangeet that was attended by closefamily members of the bride and thegroom. Vidya wore a kanjeevaramsari and heavy gold jewellery. Vidya'smehendi, held at her Khar residencein Mumbai on Dec 12, was also aprivate affair like her sangeet. Again,only close family and friends wereinvited for the ceremony. The onlycelebrity to be invited was veteranactress Rekha, a close friend of themuch-younger Vidya.The bride-to-bewas glowing in a sari designed by herfavourite Sabyasachi Mukherjee. Shewore it in Bengali style with floralornaments. Despite the functionbeing private, Vidya obliged thewaiting cameras by coming out for abrief photo-op.Family presence atboth the sangeet and mehendiincluded Vidya's parentsSaraswathy and P R Balan. Theactress' elder sister Priya andbrother-in-law Kedar have beenoverseeing all arrangements. Thecouple have so far remained tightlipped about their wedding and postwedding plans though Vidya willreportedly take a sabbatical. Thecouple will reportedly be hosting areception in Chennai. Tracking theVidya-Siddharth love story

Vidya Balan is now MrsSiddharth Roy Kapur

December 2010:

Love blossomed between Siddharth and Vidya when the former's production company was working on No One Killed Jessica. The news of their romance leaked in the media even before the film hit the theatres.

February 2011:

July 2012

Though the lovebirds keptdenying the many media reports,they were spotted in Goa relaxing on the Baga beach.

march 2011:

Vidya coined the termSRK for Sid, using theinitials of her beau's name.

may 2012:

Siddharth and Vidyastepped out togetherfor Karan Johar's 40thbirthday bash

November 2012:

Vidya and Siddharth got busydoing up their new abode to settledown in after their marriage

Siddharth bought Vidya a Rs 14 crore sea facing flat on JuhuTara Road. The same month, he whisked her away toLondon to watch a tennis match at the Wimbledon stadium.

tHe story so Far...


13


ICOLE KIDMAN had best callsome dress designers. With hersecond Hollywood awardnomination in two days - joininghusband Keith Urban, Hugh

Jackman, Naomi Watts and composerJohnny Klimek as Australians up forGolden Globes - the Moulin Rouge starhas emerged as an Oscar’s contender.Kidman was nominated for two GoldenGlobes, in fact - for her sex-crazed rolein The Paperboy and for playing anadventurous journalist in the TV dramaHemingway & Gellhorn. Urban wasnominated for best original song for ForYou from Act of Valor. Jackman is up forbest actor in a comedy or musical forplaying the reformed prisoner JeanValjean in Les Miserables, while Wattswas recognised for her role as a tsunamisurvivor in The Impossible.Klimek, whose films have includedSwimming Upstream, Tomorrow , Whenthe War Began and I, Frankenstein, wasnominated for the Cloud Atlas score.

While the Golden Globes are aquestionable pointer to the Oscars -noted Hollywood commentator NikkiFinke called them ''a completelymeaningless awards show from ascandal-riddled organisation'' -Kidman's nomination at both the ScreenActors Guild Awards and Golden Globesfor The Paperboy suggests she could joinJackman and possibly Watts at theOscars. ''The most rewarding gift for meas a songwriter, is knowing that the songhas somehow made a connection,''Urban said. ''To wake up to this news, aswell as to Nic's two nominations, isabsolutely beautiful. What a way to startthe day'' The Globes' best motion picturedrama nominees are Argo, DjangoUnchained, Life of Pi, Lincoln and ZeroDark Thirty. The contenders for bestmotion picture comedy or musical areThe Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, LesMiserables, Moonrise Kingdom, SalmonFishing in the Yemen and Silver LiningsPlaybook.

Globes�nominee

70% 70% PROFIT ShARe FOR RANBIR

With this demand, he is the latest to join theleague of Bollywood A-listers like Aamir,Shah Rukh and Salman Just ten films intoshow business and Ranbir Kapoor is alreadypart of the league of Bollywood A-listers whodemand a lion's share of the profit pie.Apparently, the young actor is claiming awhopping 70 per cent of the profit, placinghim on par with stars the likes of AamirKhan and Shah Rukh Khan, who are knownto take home (after all these years) a similarpercentage of the profit. And, buzz is, Ranbir's father Rishi has beeninstrumental in getting his son inducted intothis elite club. Seems Rishi's newestcondition is: "If you want to cast my son inyour film, you have to make sure you givehim 70 per cent of the film's profit share."We hear the Besharam deal was made on thiscondition which is why, initially, producersViacom 18 withdrew as they weren't willingto relent. TOI had reported in August how Viacom 18earlier withdrew support to AbhinavKashyap because he wanted profit sharing

benefits not only for himself but for hisentire crew. Apparently, the condition putforth by Rishi only added to Abhinav'sdemands. And the production house wasforced to decline because they felt this wasmore in keeping with the Hollywood styleof functioning. However, later everythingfell into place and Viacom 18 agreed toproduce the film. Trade analyst Amod Mehrafeels it is the perception about Ranbir thatworks for him. "The boy has got good reviewsfor his performances and so in the youngercrop, he is the superstar. It is obvious his dadwants to make the best of this situation. It isall about smart thinking and smartmarketing of talent," Mehra said and added,"The stars of today are much smarter. Wecannot run away from the truth that mostmovies run and are guaranteed to do well, ifthere is star power attached to them. So theymight as well use it to their advantage."Trade analyst Taran Adarsh said, "Most A-list stars like SRK, Salman, Aamir, Ajay, Saif,Akshay and now Ranbir ask for a percentagein the profit. NeWS DeSk

A few days ago, Hrithik Roshan delivered what was apparently an inspiring lecture at SubhashGhai’s film school, Whistling Woods International. Now, if all goes well, the actor should be put-ting on his professor’s hat again sometime next year. Apparently, the management has invitedhim again, and he is believed to have said yes. “We have requested him to visit the school again,once the next session starts, and he has agreed. It’s not officially confirmed yet, since a lot willdepend on his shooting schedule and availability. We would love to have him on campus, afterhe delivered such an awe-inspiring lecture,” says Meghna Puri-Ghai, presi-dent of the film school and daughter of Subhash Ghai. Hrithik’s inter-active session was with a class of over 300 students. During this, heimpressed not just the students, but also the faculty. “It was amazingto see Hrithik show techniques that an actor can use. By the end ofthe session, everyone was awestruck,” says Meghna. But it remains tobe seen if Hrithik can take time off for another ses-sion, since he will be busy next year with Sid-dharth Anand’s KnightAnd Day remake (thatalso stars KatrinaKaif), besides wrap-ping up the finalleg of his fatherRakeshRoshan’s Krrish 3.

proFessor

HrItHIK rosHaN

India's Grammy Award-winning composer A.R.Rahman is all set to release his solo single, after almost15 years as reported by Indian media sources. Asconspiracy theories do the rounds of the impending'Mayan apocalypse' expected on December 21, thecomposer has decided to make a comeback with an"optimistic message" through his song themedaround love, hope and joy. Rahman's lastalbum "Vande Mataram" was released in1997. After that, he composedbackground scores for various bigblockbusters including Oscar-winningfilm "Slumdog Millionare". NeWS DeSk

Ar rahman's latestsingle after 15 years

soNam FrIeNDs star-struCK ByFarHaN aKHtar

For the last one month,Sonam Kapoor has beenbusy shooting for BhaagMilkha Bhaag (BMB) inRajasthan and Delhi. Infact, when the trailer of

the film released,Sonam and Farhan

Akhtar were still busywrapping up the finalbits of the movie. And

looks like the trailer didgenerate interest, as asource close to Sonam

tells us that the actorwas inundated with re-

quests by her girl-friends and extended

family to meet Farhanon the sets. The source

says, “After seeingFarhan as MilkhaSingh, Sonam has

been flooded with re-quests. All her

friends have be-come fans of

Farhan and theywanted to meet

him.” In fact, thesource says, that

Sonam even beganteasing Farhan aboutthis. “Sonam changed

her display pictureon one of the chat

groups on herphone to a pic-ture of Farhanfrom the film.

Her phone didn’tstop ringing after that,”

the source adds. NeWS DeSk

new JerSey: Katy Perry and John mayer at rolling Stones concert.


With Dec. 21, 2012, quickly approaching, peoplearound the world are grappling with doomsdayphobia and fears of an impending apocalypse.

Friday, Dec. 21 marks the end of the Mayanlong-count calendar. On this day, doomsayers be-lieve the world will end. Some fear a waywardplanet called “Nibiru,” supposedly discovered bythe Sumerians, will collide with the Earth. Oth-

ers point to a 2012 doomsday in Biblical prophecy,a cataclysm complete with fiery explosions, earth-quakes and floods. Despite the fact that NASA hasdebunked such apocalyptic theories, many are stillworried about the end of the days approaching.

One in 10 people questioned in a worldwidesurvey said they think the world will end in 2012,according to Yahoo! News’ “Who Knew?”

In China, doomsday seeds were plantedwhen the 3-D version of the 2009 Hollywooddisaster film “2012” hit theaters just last month,according to Asia Times.

Stories of doomsday phobia sprouted aroundthe country. A senior engineer and wife of a uni-versity professor in Nanjing reportedly cashedin her savings to donate to poor children to makethem happy “for the last few days,” Asia Timesreported. A carpenter in Chongqing supposedlyspent his earnings wining and dining, eventhough his wife had just given birth. In Xinjiang,a man allegedly spent his family’s savings tobuild an ark in hopes of survival.

Going to the extreme is not unheard of. InMay 2011, when Christian radio broadcasterHarold Camping predicted the rapture, some de-vout followers sold all their possessions to helpspread the doomsday message. In 1997, 39members of the Heaven’s Gate cult committedmass suicide in Southern California believingthey were called to follow the comet Hale-Bopp,according to Time magazine.

For those with burning questions, NASA cre-ated a Google+ hangout on Nov. 28 to answer in-quiries and calm worries about apocalyptictheories, noting, “Contrary to some of the com-mon beliefs out there, Dec. 21, 2012 won’t be theend of the world as we know, however, it will beanother winter solstice.” A wikiHow has alsobeen created in an attempt to help those withdoomsday phobia. The website highlights othersupposed “doomsdays” throughout history, sug-gests having a healthy skepticism about end ofdays “news” and stop reading into the scaremon-gering too much. neWS DeSK

17Infotainment


iphone 5 launches in China,apple shifts focus away from us

APPLE chief executive Tim Cook said inOctober on the company’s fourth quarterearnings call that it expects the iPhone 5 to

arrive in mainland China by December.In November, the iPhone 5 received regulatoryapproval for two versions of the iPhone 5 — a3G/GSM version for China Unicom’s network, thesecond largest in the country; and a CDMA versionfor China Telecom’s network, the country’s thirdlargest network. But it wasn’t that simple. Applealso needed to receive a network-access license.With the iPhone 5’s debut in China today, all thehurdles are clear and the company is home freeto sell the long-awaited 4-inch smartphone in acountry with a potential user base of more than340 million, or around 25 percent of China’s ever-growing population. Cook said on the Q4 earningscall that Apple generated $23.8 billion in China, upby $10 billion year-on-year, representing a 78percent rise from the same quarter a year ago.Interestingly, despite the massive increase in salesin the country, China only represents around 15percent of Apple’s global revenue for the 2012fiscal year. neWS DeSK

Doomsday phobia grows as world awaits December 21

man breaks into girlfriend’shome, glues refrigerator

APennsylvania woman recently made a glue-some discovery inside her apartment,according to state police. The woman, an

unidentified resident of Lykens, a borough about35 miles northeast Harrisburg, contactedpolice on Nov. 12 and reported someonehad broken into her Main Streetapartment when she was not home. Worse yet, the perpetrator had gluedshut her refrigerator door and a utensildrawer. Glue had also been poured onher computer keyboard, the womanalleged. Authorities soon focused theirattention on the woman’s ex-boyfriend,42-year-old Dennis Michael Homberg,of Elizabethville. Police have yet toreveal what, if any, evidence theyfound linking Homberg to the stickysituation. Nevertheless, he was chargedMonday with burglary, trespassing,stalking and criminal mischief.Homberg is being held in the DauphinCounty Prison, pending arraignmentbefore the office of Magisterial DistrictJudge Rebecca J. Margerum inElizabethville, police said. neWS DeSK

IN the world of internet businesstoday, lack of website visitors is one ofthe common problems that frustratethe overall effort of making money on-line. That is why most successful in-

ternet marketers commit a lot of their timeand resources into finding solution to thisproblem. If you want to earn good incomeonline as an internet information marketer,you must find the best ways to attract morevisitors to your website.

This is because nothing is more disturb-ing to an internet marketer than to have awebsite without having visitors viewing it.Moreover, experience has shown that it iseasier to convert an interested visitor to yourwebsite into a buying or paying customer de-pending on whether you are selling a prod-uct or offering services, than to capture to anew visitor and convert him to a buyer ofyour product or services. Let us examine fewways of attracting more visitors to your web-site here.

The quality of the content of yourwebsite

It is an indisputable fact that many on-line visitors will hardly spend much time onyour website except the quality of the con-tent of the website is very interesting andrelevant to their need or the purpose thatbrought them to the webpage. That is whenthey will stay long enough on the website.The other type of visitor that will likely staylonger on your website is someone who ar-rives there on purpose such as through asearch engine or on research project. There-fore it is very important to ensure that thequality of the content of your website is ofhigh standard as it can be a key factor thatcan keep the interest of the visitor long onyour website.

Make your website interesting andrich in information

As an information marketer you must de-sire to attract more customers to your websiteto enable you build a mailing list. If this isyour desire, then you must make your websiteinteresting and rich in the information thatwill solve their immediate need. Most firsttime visitors who find the information onyour website very useful and satisfying totheir need will bookmark it and subsequentlybecome repeating visitors. Such visitors easilyget converted into buying customers. To en-rich your website, you must do good researchwork on your niche and provide knowledge-able information that will be of immense ben-efit and value to your visitor. Use properlyresearched keywords that will easily bepicked up by search engines among the mostsearched for in your niche. It will bring upyour website quickly in your niche and maylikely place your site on search engines firstpage. This is one of the many ways to attractmore visitors to your website very easily.

Discuss products benefit insteadof hard selling to the buyer

If you wish to sell a product on your web-site, and you want to attract more visitors toyour site, get more involved in explaining howthe product can be of benefit to them. List theadvantages your product has over its competi-tors. Do not attempt to force your visitors tobuy your product as this will definitely be re-sisted, rather give your visitors enough reasonthat will cause them to pick up their credit cardand order your product. Avoid hard selling; in-stead take the customer through the rigorousprocess of providing them with the benefit ofsuch a product or service. Through this way,every visitor that gets to your website will re-

main longer on your website on each visit andwill easily be converted to a buying customer.

Showcase your experience andpersonality through your websitecontent

If there is anything every website visitor is in-terested in, it is how to know the person behindthe website as well the product or service it maybe selling. The only way for your visitors to ascer-tain who you are is to read between the lines ofthe website content. Your online visitors want toknow you and be reassured that in buying fromyou rather than your competitors, they are notonly satisfying your purpose of creating a productor service and setting up a website to market it,but they are also getting the benefit of your longstanding experience in whatever field or niche ofinterest that you are presenting to them. There-fore do not just present your product or serviceat the front end to sell, showcase your experienceand personality on your website. Give them a rea-son that will cause them to repeat their visit.

Give it your personal touch ofexcellence

To give first time visitors cause to repeattheir visit, you must not only endeavor tomake yourself available to answer questionsfrom them but you must do so with humility,giving them your personal touch of excellence.This is the fastest way to make your websiteinteractive and relevant to the needs of yourvisitors. No matter how important your prod-uct or service may be in solving the problemsor satisfying the needs of your visitors, donot hesitate to give it your personal touch ofperfection because it will also help to attractmore visitors that can easily be convertedto customers to your website. HASSAn AyUB

Tips to

make your

website

more

interesting

Wife swap beauty queenescapes prostitution charge

ANew York district attorney has dropped aprostitution charge against former realityTV star Alicia Guastaferro, but will still

pursue remaining misdemeanor charges.According to the Genesee County DistrictAttorney’s Office, the prostitution charge wasdropped after further investigation revealed it wasunmerited. “Continuing investigation indicatedthat the prostitution charge was not viable. Wewere not going to be able to prove it beyond areasonable doubt,” Assistant District AttorneyRobert Zickl told The Huffington Post.The D.A. still plans to pursue charges of possessionof a controlled substance and criminal impersonation.Guastaferro, the teen beauty queen who appearedon the ABC reality TV show “Wife Swap,” wasarrested Aug. 27, after she was found with a 54-year-old Rochester-area attorney James D. Doyle,at a New York Thruway service area in Pembroke,30 miles outside of Buffalo. State police said aconcerned motorist contacted police to report a carbeing driven erratically before stopping at thetravel plaza. When state troopers arrived, theyfound Doyle’s car illegally parked, with the enginerunning and the lights on. Doyle, according to acopy of the arrest report provided to TheHuffington Post, was “slumped over the steeringwheel passed out,” while Guastaferro was slumpedover in the passenger seat. Doyle did not submit toa sobriety test and was arrested on a charge ofDWI and other violations. neWS DeSK


Pakistan-india oDiin Kolkata maystart a coupleof hours earlier

LAHORESTAFF RePORT

The second One Day International ofthe much-anticipated three-match se-ries between India and Pakistan at thehistoric Eden Gardens on January 3could start a few hours early to tacklethe heavy dew factor, a senior CricketAssociation of Bengal (CAB) official re-vealed in a report.The day and night fixture between thearch rivals is originally scheduled tobegin at 2:30 pm, but the organisersare contemplating over starting thematch at 12 noon to counter the un-favourable wet conditions caused byheavy dew coupled with fog, late in theevening.This was revealed by the Cricket Asso-ciation of Bengal’s (CAB) joint secre-tary Subir Ganguly, who also said thatany decision in this regard will be takenonly after seeking BCCI’s approval."It's heavy dew couple with fog duringthis time of the year. We will seek theBoard's permission to advance the One-dayer for a few hours so that the matchgets over early before the dew falls,"said Subir Ganguly, who was in Delhi toattend a marketing committee meetingof the Board."The early start will also help the spec-tators to leave early, I am sure we willget the Board's nod," the CAB joint sec-retary added further.Pakistan cricket team is scheduled totour India late this month to play twoT20 Internationals and three One DayInternationals against the hosts, thefirst bilateral series between the sub-continental cricketing giants in fiveyears.The other two ODIs of the series will behosted by Chennai and Delhi, whileBangalore and Ahmedabad are the ven-ues for the two T20 Internationals, tobe played on December 25 and 27 re-spectively. The third one-dayer inDelhi, on January 6 is also expected tobe advanced due to same reason.Cricketing relations between the twocountries have been on hold since theterrorist attacks in Mumbai in Novem-ber 2008, as the Indian governmentsuspected involvement from across theborder. However, the two boards agreed to re-sume the bilateral ties in July this year,when the BCCI president N Srinivasaninvited Pakistan cricket team to tourIndia for a short limited overs series inDecember-January.

WC KABADDI fInAL


Page 18

ferrari should tryto push limits: alonso

DHAKAAGenCIeS

THE Bangladesh CricketBoard is in talks with thePakistan Cricket Board abouta short tour to the country

next month. BCB president NazmulHassan said that the talks are now allabout a suitable timeframe for thetour. "We can't go in December so wewill speak to the PCB today, aboutwhether we can fit in a small tour be-fore the BPL," Hassan was quoted byESPNcricinfo on Friday.

Bangladesh's proposed tour to

Pakistan hit a snag earlier this yearwhen, on April 19, a Dhaka court orderembargoed a series between the twoscheduled for the end of April. In No-vember, Hassan said that the BCB hadmade a "written commitment" to thePCB to go ahead with the tour.

On Friday Hassan explained thatthey are now in the second phase oftalks with the PCB because the firstphase, which dealt with security is-sues, was satisfactory. "I have spokento those who went for the security as-sessment and they are quite satisfied,"he said. "If we can agree on a time, wewill go next month."

He also said that the players andthe support staff will be spoken toabout the tour, but no one will beforced to go on the tour. "The last timewhen we discussed [touring Pakistan],we wanted to talk to the players andfind out their opinion. We will alsospeak to foreign staff but it is highlylikely that they won't go. That we canunderstand. We don't want to forcethem."

Back in March, the ICC had intro-duced a "special dispensation" to bemade only in "exceptional circum-stances" that allowed bilateral seriesto take place even if the ruling body

determined it "unsafe" to appoint itsofficials for these series. This wouldallow such series to be manned by"non-neutral match officials", a depar-ture from the ICC's Standard PlayingConditions.

Hassan said the dispensation willtake effect if the ICC doesn't send itsofficials to conduct the matches. "They[ICC] are quite clear about it. Theywant us to decide if we want to go ornot. We will submit a security plan tothem, after which they will decidewhether they will send their match of-ficials or not. If they don't, we willhave to appoint match officials."

BCB in second stage of planning for Pakistan tour

HOBARTAGenCIeS

Phil Hughes made a solid 86 on his returnto test cricket before Michael Clarke andMike Hussey took up the running andsteered Australia to 299 for four at close ofplay on the first day of the first test againstSri Lanka on Friday. Hughes was the onlybatsmen to fall in the final session, lastingonly a couple of overs after lunch beforebeing bowled through the gate by ChanakaWelegedera, giving the Sri Lankan seamerhis third wicket of the day.

Clarke, who had made 70 not out, andHussey, unbeaten on 37, batted throughthe remainder of the day and if the evi-dence of their prolific partnerships in therecent series against South Africa is any-thing to go by, will take some shifting.

"Overall, 299 for four puts the ball inour court," said Hughes. "I thought wewere outstanding today. It really gives usmomentum going into tomorrow." SriLanka's bowlers, dubbed this week as theworst pace attack ever to tour Australia byformer test bowler Rodney Hogg, made lifeuncomfortable for the batsmen at times butstruggled for any real penetration undercloudy skies at Bellerive Oval. "I think weshowed we can put Australia under pres-sure and hopefully the bowlers will be freshin the morning and we can get them out forless than 100 additional runs," saidWelegedera, who finished with 3-99 on hisreturn after nine months out injured.

Hughes shines as Australia reach 299-4

LAHORESTAFF RePORT

Offspinner Saeed Ajmal will be Pak-istan's "trump card" during their shortcricket tour of India this month, CoachDav Whatmore said on Friday. The 35-year-old Ajmal is ranked No. 1 in one-day internationals and Twenty20s, with109 wickets in 71 ODIs and 69 wicketsin 48 T20s. "Saeed Ajmal will alwaysremain a trump card for us as we allknow he's a wonderful bowler," What-more was quoted by a foreign newsagency. "He's very much needed, andhe will always remain a threat."

Ajmal's doosra that turns awayfrom the right-handers continues tobaffle batsmen. But he's expected tohave to share an extra workload in theone-dayers after enigmatic allrounderShahid Afridi was dropped by the selec-tors due to poor form. Pakistan's shorttraining camp was confined to the Na-tional Cricket Academy in Lahore dueto rain on Friday. Former captain Inza-mam-ul-Haq was expected to pass onbatting advice before the team leavesfor India on Dec. 22. "He's been a stal-wart for Pakistan cricket and he's onlyrecently retired so he's able to pass onsome knowledge against contemporary

bowlers he has faced," Whatmore said.Inzamam has been appointed as a bat-ting consultant on a series-to-seriesbasis by the Pakistan Cricket Board."He has faced the Indian bowlers so heis able to work with our players and dis-cuss and let them know how he ap-proached the same bowlers that we aregoing to approach." The series, the firstbetween the neighbours in five years,features two T20s and three ODIs be-ginning at Bangalore on Dec. 25. Tours

between them were suspended when166 people were killed in the 2008 ter-ror attack in Mumbai, which Indiablamed on Pakistan. Since then, theyhave met in tournaments, including the2011 World Cup semifinals at thenorthern Indian city of Mohali. Indiabeat Pakistan then, and went on to winthe World Cup.

Whatmore said no matter what typeof pitches they met in Bangalore,Ahmedabad, Chennai, Calcutta andNew Delhi, he just hoped they were con-ducive to good matches. "We've got fivedifferent venues, the pitches at thosevenues, I think, are slightly different,"he said. "Inherently you have certainvenues that will play in a certain way ...both sides have decent players of allconditions. But, you know, the condi-tions in India are fairly well known toour boys and it will be a good contest."

Whatmore was appointed coach inMarch and soon after the former Aus-tralia test batsman guided Pakistan tovictory against India in the Asia Cup inBangladesh. India got the better of Pak-istan in the World Twenty20 in SriLanka. "This will be the first time we'llplay more than two or three times in asmall series, it's an honour to be part ofthat," he said. "It will be an experience."

Ajmal to be a trump cardduring India tour: Whatmore

HOBART: Having lived with a question mark over his namefor the last three years, Australian batsman Phil Hughes wasdelighted to get some reward for the work he has done on histechnique with 86 runs against Sri Lanka on Friday. Hugheswas making his return to test cricket after a year in thewilderness at the same Hobart ground where his second spellin the longest form of the international game came to an endagainst New Zealand last December. The 24-year-old's knockwas brought to an end when he was clean bowled by seamerChanaka Welegedera but the lefthander helped Australiareach 299 for four at the close of play on the first day of thefirst test. "There were a couple of nerves, but overall I wasquite calm," he told reporters. "There was more excitement

around me than anything. I was just happy to get out thereand back in the colours again. "It was nice to get a few, itwould have been nice to get three-figures and a few more,that's cricket. To get 80-odd was good for my confidence." Atleast Hughes could say that he was not caught out by a nickto the slips. Having previously been dropped when England'sbowlers bounced him out of the 2009 Ashes series, Hughesfell victim to New Zealand paceman Chris Martin in fourstraight failed innings last year - all caught by Martin Guptillin the cordon. While the phrase "c Guptill b Martin" becamepermanently associated with his name, Hughes went off towork on his technique in domestic cricket before piling onthe runs with new state South Australia. AGenCIeS

Australia's Hughes grabs third lifeline with both hands

mouth-wateringclash in theoffing as Pakistanclash with india

CHANDIGARHAGenCIeS

As it is in any sport, when India and Pak-istan face-off in the finals of the KabaddiWorld Cup sparks are certain to fly. Before,the Pakistani cricket team comes to Indiato play a three-match ODI series and twoT20 internationals; the arch-rivals willrenew their rivalry on the Kabaddi pitch inLudhiana. Both teams are high on confi-dence having enjoyed an unbeaten run inthe tournament and have brushed asidemost of their rivals with consummate ease.Pakistan outplayed Canada in the firstsemifinal 53-27, while India defeated Iran72-23 in the second. The final will provideIndia an opportunity to gain sweet revengeagainst Pakistan who had beaten them inthe recently conducted Asian KabaddiChampionship in Pakistan. On the otherhand, Pakistan is aspiring to win the crownfor the first time on the Indian soil. WithIndia and Pakistan meeting in the final,fireworks are expected as both countriesare feeling confident and have preparedtheir teams well for the summit clash.

AUSTRAlIA WOn THe TOSS AnD CHOSe TO BAT

AUSTRAlIA FIRST InnInGS

D. Warner run out 57

e. Cowan c eranga b Welegedera 4

P. Hughes b Welegedera 86

S. Watson c M. Jayawardene b Welegedera 30

M.Clarke not out 70

M. Hussey not out 37

extras (b-1, lb-3, w-1, nb-10) 15

Total (for four wickets, 90 overs) 299

Fall of wickets: 1-18 2-97 3-183 4-198

To bat: M. Wade, P. Siddle, B. Hilfenhaus, M. Starc, n. lyon.

Bowling: Kulasekara 22-2-51-0 (nb-5, w-1), Welegedera 20-1-

99-3 (nb-3), eranga 16-3-52-0 (nb-2), Mathews 11-2-35-0,

Dilshan 4-0-11-0, Herath 17-3-47-0.

Sri lanka: T. Dilshan, D. Karunaratne, K. Sangakkara, M.

Jayawardene, T. Samaraweera, A. Mathews, P. Jayawardene, n.

Kulasekara, C. Welegedera, S. eranga, R. Herath.

Series: Second test Dec. 26-30 Melbourne Cricket Ground

Third test Jan. 3-7 Sydney Cricket Ground

SCOReBOARD


Sports 16


NAGPURAGenCIeS

DEBUTANT Joe Root's 73 runsand three more wickets fromJames Anderson combined toput India under pressure on

day two of the final Test. Twenty-one-year-old Root, a surprise inclusion for thismatch which England must at least draw tocomplete a series victory, rose to the occa-sion with a determined 229-ball knock inan England total of 330. Anderson (threefor 24) has been reliable and often expertall tour - and after he induced an Indiawobble to 87 for four at stumps, the valueof Root's fine effort was apparent. Theyoung Yorkshireman's range of stroke, likeeveryone else's, was constrained by the lim-itations of a deathly slow Nagpur pitch.

But he was increasingly assured, in acentury stand with Matt Prior (57) for thesixth wicket and then one of 60 for theeighth with Graeme Swann (56). AfterKevin Pietersen also made 73 on Thurs-day, Root could take much of the creditfor ensuring England dug out a total ofsubstance since stumbling first to 16 fortwo and then 139 for five.

Prior beat Root to his half-century,defying the physics of this paceless sur-face to bag a trademark square-cut offPragyan Ojha for his sixth four. Therewere only two boundaries in Root's 50,

and four in all by the time he was donein a composed innings featuring com-pact defence against spin and the seamof Ishant Sharma - with the sweep hismain outlet to slow bowlers. His andPrior's first task today was to negotiateanother spell from Sharma, in these ex-treme conditions which have madeIndia's solitary seamer a bigger threatthan any of their four spinners.

There were no scrapes against any of

the bowlers, though, until Prior suc-cumbed to Ravichandran Ashwin. Theoff-spinner struck, from round the wicket,with a delivery that did not turn butsnaked past Prior's defensive push on theangle to hit off stump. India captain Ma-hendra Singh Dhoni sensibly turnedstraight back to Sharma (three for 49), toattack the new batsman, and that obviousswitch worked when Tim Bresnan missedan inswinger to go for a second-ball duck.

Root, Anderson puthosts under pressure

new franchisebased t20league to startin caribbean

BARBADOSAGenCIeS

A new franchise-based Twenty20 leaguewill begin play in the Caribbean nextyear the West Indies Cricket Board saidon Thursday, filling the hole left by thecollapse of Allen Stanford's tournament.The Stanford 20/20, held in 2006 and2008, kick-started Caribbean interestin the shortest form of the game butsince the collapse of the Texan's finan-cial empire, leading to his imprison-ment for fraud, there has been a lack ofresources for players.The West Indies were crownedTwenty20 world champions this yearand the West Indies Cricket Board(WICB) has run a lower-key regionaltournament to keep top players involvedin the shortest format. But the newleague promises to give Caribbeancricket a much needed financial boosttoo. The WICB said their agreementwith Barbados and New York basedmerchant bank Verus Internationalwould ensure annual funding for newretainer contracts for regional players,above and beyond the 20 main squadmembers who are contracted."This will bring a host of benefits toplayers and West Indies Cricket in gen-eral," WICB president Julian Huntesaid. "A significant number of players atthe regional level will benefit throughgreater financial stability both fromplaying in the league and from year-round retainer contracts while havingan international platform on which toshowcase their skills and talent."Most importantly is that the league willbring a huge financial injection into theCaribbean and create significant job op-portunities across the region in a widecross section of sectors."The competition is expected to compriseup to six privately owned city-basedteams. No details were immediatelyavailable on how those franchises wouldbe created or any potential owners.Ajmal Khan, chairman and CEO ofVerus said there was huge potential forthe league. "We believe that the recentlywon World Twenty20 is a testament tothe quality and excitement of West In-dies cricket," he said."We intend to utilize the Twenty20league to further develop andstrengthen West Indies cricket by ex-panding the global fan base as well asthe number of West Indian cricketersunder regional retainer contracts".

DURBANAGenCIeS

New Zealand will not be distracted bythe axing of former captain Ross Taylorahead of their cricket tour of SouthAfrica, new skipper Brendon McCullumsaid on Friday. "We can't control whathas unfolded back home and, as players,our focus is very much on the cricketfield and what we can control there,"McCullum told a news conference.

"What has happened behind thescenes over the last little while is, froma team perspective, now over and ourfocus is now moving forward." Taylorwas stripped of the one-day andTwenty20 captaincy last week and re-jected an offer to stay on as test captainwhile also making himself unavailablefor the South Africa tour which includes

three T20 internationals, two tests andthree one-day games. Former playerscriticised New Zealand Cricket (NZC)for their handling of the situation and

ex-batsman and coach Mark Greatbatchcalled on the body's chairman ChrisMoller to step down. Moller has issueda public apology to Taylor for the waythat his sacking was handled.

"There have obviously been somedistractions going on back home overthe last week or so," McCullum said onFriday. "We know about the monumen-tal task in front of us and to take it onwithout some of our better players isdisappointing but that is the way it hasunfolded." Taylor is arguably NewZealand's best batsman at the momentand McCullum said he would be missed.

"He is going to be a big loss; wehave a number of big losses rightthroughout our team. It is one thing tolong for those guys to be present but itis another thing to get on and deal withthe resources you have got.

‘Loss of Taylor will not affect team’

LAHORESTAFF RePORT

The laying of the Blue Desso Turf at theworld’s largest National Hockey Stadiumbegan here yesterday even in intermittentconditions that left the entire metropolisquite chilly is in full swing. The Dutch ex-perts, who have specially flown to Pak-istan from Holland to supervise the layingof the world’s finest plastic surface, keptworking even in rainy conditions andafter having been satisfied with theproper laying of the required shockpads,they have now started to lay the blue turf.

The Punjab government sanctionedRs 3.5 million for the turf after the Pak-istan team won the Asian Games goldmedal last year but due to some un-scrupulous contractor’s nefarious actsdelayed the laying of the turf. That delayforced the Sports Board Punjab to forma committee, which ultimately decidedto cancel the tender of that company.

The work was then handed over toTS Builders, which after some delay dueto the holding of the Punjab Youth Fes-tival’s national and international events,started the laying of the shockpads andthe turf immediately after the stadiumwas handed over to them on December3. The two Dutch experts first laid theshockpads, pasted them to the asphaltbase, after it was repaired to the require-ment. According to Mamoon Qureshi of

TS Builders, “We want to finish the workas soon as possible and that was why theworkers are busy in laying the turf evenin such a chilly weather.”

“The Dutch installers, who havebeen brought specially for the laying ofthe turf are working with great commit-ment and no matter what the conditions

maybe we would continue work till it isfinished,” he added.

The work at the stadium is beingcarried out under the supervision of Di-rector General Sports Board PunjabUsman Anwar. “We are ensuring properlaying of the turf and have also ensuredtransparency in the conduct of the entire

procedure,” said Usman.He further said that the work will be

completed as soon as possible. “We haveasked the company laying the turf to fin-ish the work by the end of the month orby the first week of January and we arehopeful they (the company) would finishthe work in time,” he maintained.

Laying of blue Desso turf starts at NHS

broad ruled outof t20 matches

LONDONAGenCIeS

England's Twenty20 skipper Stuart Broadhas been ruled out of the upcoming two T20matches against India with a bruised leftheel. Broad will return to the UK immedi-ately to begin a period of rest and rehabili-tation. James Harris, who is currently inPune with the England Performance Pro-gramme, will replace Broad in the squad.The 22-year old is uncapped at interna-tional level. Eoin Morgan will captain theside in Broad's absence with the first matchtaking place in Pune on December 20. Thesecond game will be held in Mumbai on De-cember 22. Pacer Steven Finn will also re-turn to the UK after a strained disc in hislower back ruled him out of the final Testhere earlier today (Thursday). Finn is ex-pected to be available for the ODI seriesagainst India beginning in January.

Vinay Kumar replacesinjured balaji

NAGPURAGenCIeS

Pacer L Balaji was replaced by R VinayKumar in the Indian Twenty20 squad forthe two matches against England afterpicking up a foot injury. "L Balaji hassuffered a stress injury to his right bigtoe, and has been ruled out of the AirtelT20 International series against Eng-land, as a result," BCCI secretary SanjayJagdale said in a statement.

enGlAnD 1ST InnInGS

An Cook lbw b Sharma 1

nRD Compton c Dhoni b Sharma 3

IJl Trott b Jadeja 44

KP Pietersen c Ojha b Jadeja 73

IR Bell c Kohli b Chawla 1

Je Root c & b Chawla 73

MJ Prior b Ashwin 57

TT Bresnan lbw b Sharma 0

GP Swann lbw b Chawla 56

JM Anderson c Pujara b Chawla 4

MS Panesar not out 1

eXTRAS (b 5, lb 12) 17

TOTAl (all out; 145.5 overs; 543 mins) 330

Fall of wickets 1-3 (Compton, 4.2 ov), 2-16 (Cook, 10.3 ov), 3-

102 (Trott, 49.4 ov), 4-119 (Bell, 60.5 ov), 5-139 (Pietersen,

67.3 ov), 6-242 (Prior, 114.6 ov), 7-242 (Bresnan, 116.2 ov), 8-

302 (Root, 139.1 ov), 9-325 (Swann, 143.4 ov), 10-330

(Anderson, 145.5 ov)

Bowling: I Sharma 28-9-49-3, PP Ojha 35-12-71-0, RA Jadeja

37-17-58-2, PP Chawla 21.5-1-69-4, R Ashwin-24-3-66-1

InDIA 1ST InnInGS:

G Gambhir c Prior b Anderson 37

V Sehwag b Anderson 0

CA Pujara c Bell b Swann 26

SR Tendulkar b Anderson 2

V Kohli not out 11

MS Dhoni not out 8

extras (b 1, lb 2) 3

Total (4 wickets; 41 overs) 87

To bat RA Jadeja, R Ashwin, PP Chawla, I Sharma, PP Ojha

Fall of wickets 1-1 (Sehwag, 0.3 ov), 2-59 (Pujara, 22.3 ov), 3-

64 (Tendulkar, 27.5 ov), 4-71 (Gambhir, 31.4 ov)

Bowling: JM Anderson 9-2-24-3, TT Bresnan 10-1-25-0, MS

Panesar 14-4-24, GP Swann 7-3-9-1, IJl Trott 1-0-2-0

Toss england, who chose to bat

Test debuts Je Root (england); RA Jadeja (India)

Player of the match tba

Umpires HDPK Dharmasena (Sri lanka) and RJ Tucker

(Australia)

TV umpire S Ravi

Match referee JJ Crowe (new Zealand)

Reserve umpire CK nandan

SCOReBOARD


wenger has norift with bould

LONDONAGenCIeS

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger saidthis morning there was no rift betweenhim and his assistant Steve Bould. Re-ports had surfaced of problems in theworking relationship between Wengerand his backroom staff, as the Gunners'season hit a new low in midweek withthe defeat to npower League Two sideBradford in the Capital One Cup. TheFrenchman dismissed any notion of aproblem, however. "We are a united staffteam. We cannot control lies which arewritten," he said. "What is important forus now is the future, how we do in thePremier League, the Champions Leagueand FA Cup, not whether we are out ofthe Capital One Cup or not. "We all lookto the future. "I believe we have a strongsquad and it is up to them to show I amright." Wenger hopes Arsenal will pro-vide the required response when theyhead to struggling Reading on Mondaynight, aiming to close back up on the topfour of the Barclays Premier League.

mancini expects yayato leave for anc

LONDONAGenCIeS

Manchester City manager RobertoMancini has confirmed he expects YayaToure to leave for the African NationsCup in January. Mancini had been hopingthe midfielder would opt against going tothe tournament in South Africa. However,the City boss now concedes Toure willleave after the FA Cup tie with Watford onJanuary 5. "It is difficult," said Mancini."I think he will go to the African NationsCup after the Watford game."Meanwhile, Mancini be-lieves skipper VincentKompany has only a'two percent' chance ofbeing fit for Saturday'strip to Newcastle. Kom-pany picked up a groininjury againstManchesterUnited lastSunday.

THE future of Pakistan tennis isNofil Kaleem. This was stated byPTF officials the other day. The

young fourteen year old has been playingthe Asian Tennis Federation Under-14circuit and has amassed enough points tobecome the top ranked Under-14 playeron the Asian circuit. Nofil was followedclosely in the rankings by Eric Alvarez ofthe Philippines with Chan Oh of Koreathird. Nofil earned 1150 ranking pointsafter playing in nine tournaments. Alvarezhad 965 points in three tournaments withOh getting 960 points in the one tourna-ment he played. Pakistan’s MohammadAli Sahibzada was at 59th position with230 points from two tournaments. Ab-daal Haider another Pakistani had 189points from three tournaments for71stposition. This performance is cer-tainly to be complimented.

It is encouraging to see that youngNofil has committed himself to thesport. He is studying privately andspends morning and evening at thecourts with his coach who also travelswith Nofil wherever he goes. This is theright way to go about for making tennisa career and one wishes the youngster allthe best. He is fortunate in having an ex-clusive sponsorship arrangement with abank which enables him to travel, trainand compete along with his coach.

The PTF and especially PresidentKaleem Imam deserve credit for this ini-tiative. It is hoped that this will set aprecedent and other talented players willbe afforded the same opportunity to re-alize their potential.

Meanwhile Pakistan’s Davis Cup cam-paign will kick off in February with a tieagainst Sri Lanka. For this purpose, trialshave been announced for early December.

With Aisam Qureshi and Aqeel Khan au-tomatically selected, Mohammad Abid,Heera Ashiq and Yasser Khan look to bethe other players vying for the remainingtwo positions. Two of Pakistan’s bestyoung players Samir Iftekhar and AbidAkbar are in the USA playing college ten-nis. Unfortunately, they cannot get awayfrom their University commitments untilDecember 25 and will miss the trials.

PTF OFFICe AnTICS

The PTF must have a very good rea-son to exclude these players from the tri-als especially when they knew of theplayers’ availability window. These twoplayers are playing a very high standardof tennis, beating world class players.Samir reached the finals of the NCAA re-gional qualifiers while Abid qualifiedamong the top twenty doubles teams inAmerican college tennis. At the NCAA In-door Nationals, Abid defeated the teamfrom the four-time national championUniversity of Southern California team aswell as a top Columbia Uni-versity team. Abid hadplayed tournaments inPakistan in the summer,comfortably defeating allthe other youngsters andgiving Aqeel Khan atough time. Both playersare twenty or twenty oneand should be considered,along with Nofil, tohave a future in Pak-istan tennis if not a“present”!

An ITF Coach-ing Course was heldin Islamabad re-cently. About twentycoaches or would-becoaches attended. Byall accounts it was asuccessful, happy ex-

perience for all. There were though somecomplaints of deserving people being ig-nored while inexperienced friends of thePTF office were accommodated. One ofthose left out was a former nationalchampion of international coaching expe-rience. Other players who had registeredbut were in the bad books of the PTF of-fice, were ignored as well. The PTF highcommand has been alerted by this col-umn of the presence in PTF of illegal, un-qualified people who control everything.They try to keep the tennis level low justso that they are not overshadowed. Theyhave made a career out of tennis politicsand ingratiate the high command inmany ways just to fulfill their ownagenda. This is exactly what is happeningagain and could cause a lot of embarrass-ment for the high command as well asharm the cause of tennis.

VAlIAnT DU PleSSIS

Australia missed a golden opportu-nity to win the second Test, where Faf duPlessis foiled them with a valiant rearguard action. The momentum and thewhole series turned on that innings.Even though Australia made inroads intoSouth Africa’s first innings in the PerthTest at the WACA, it was du Plessis againwho dragged his side to a reasonable

score. It was then all Dale Steyn,Morkel and co who bowled

some superb spells onthe responsive WACA

track to reduce Aus-tralia to 160 odd. But

the way SouthAfrica ran away

with the secondinnings, scoringat ODI rates,with Smith,Amla and DeVilliers mak-

ing light of the

Aussie bowlers, makes them deservedholders of the number one ranking.

And behind this new found self be-lief there is that man again, GaryKirsten. Kirsten has done for SouthAfrica what he had done earlier forIndia, instilled self belief, the one facetthat was lacking in the Proteas. He mustsurely be the most valuable coachingcommodity on the cricketing circuit.

CAPTAIn COOK, InDIA’S neMeSIS

India’s cricketers had been hopingfor an easy outing against England andcertainly, after winning the first Test eas-ily, could have been forgiven the thought.But England, led by Captain Cook, have,like the South Africans, completelyturned the momentum around. Havingwon the second Test, England dominatedthe third, as Monty Panesar again provedto be the star along with pacer James An-derson. But it is the inevitability ofCook’s batting that took all the fizz out ofIndia. With hundreds in each Test, hehas led from the front.

Cook possesses a simple, basic, tech-nique that makes batting look the easiestthing in the world. He combines thatwith a steady temperament so calm thatit is difficult to tell whether he is battingon 1 or on 201. Surely, Cook is the classbatting act of world cricket, along with,perhaps, Hashim Amla.

PAKISTAn ARe THIRD!

Pakistan have shocked world num-ber one Germany in the Champions’ Tro-phy, were given a thrashing in the semiby the Netherlands. But the win againstGermany was an outstanding result, onethat few expected. Shakeel Abbasi led theway after Germany had taken the lead.And then Pakistan beat arch-rival Indiato finish third. Not a bad effort DownUnder. Hope it would be sustained by thegreenshirts in the forthcoming events.

Sports17


lAHORe: Umer Gul bowls during net while

other members of the Pakistan team play

on the opening day of the short training

camp at the Gaddafi Stadium. MURTAzA ALI

LAHORESTAFF RePORT

Pakistan international airlines won the title of NBPGold Cup hockey tournament beating National Bank ofPakistan 4-2 in the final here on Friday at the outerground of the national stadium.

In a classification match, Pakistan Customs beatArmy 3-2 , to take the third place. President, PakistanHockey Federation, Qasim Zia was the chief guest onthe occasion and gave away the prizes to the teams. Alsopresent were Secretary, PHF, Mohammad Asif Bajwa,chief coach and manager of the team, Akhtar RasoolChaudhary and organizing secretary of the tournament,Rana Mujahid, Iqbal Qasim, Senior Executive Vice-President/Incharge Sports Department, National Bankof Pakistanand a number of former Olympians.

Airlines led the first half 2-1 against Bankers whofailed to pose a serious threat to their opponents due tolack of coordination and necessary fire in their hitting

inside the circle. PIA gained control of the game by hit-ting their first goal in the very first minute when Mo-hammad Zuabir dominated in a mid field move.Airlinesdoubled the lead late in the session with Kashif Ali col-

lecting a goal off a penalty corner as bankers captainAkhtar Ali sounded the boards with a calculated shot,two minutes before the end of the first half.

Airlines continued their onslaughts in the secondhalf with speedy moves and coordination between boththe flanks and their persistent efforts bore fruit in shapeof two goals three minutes late in the play.

Imran Abbas struck the 60thminute goal followedby 62nd minute by Inyatullah before Akhtar scoredbankers and his second goal off a penalty stroke in the52ndminutes. Customs wrapped up the first half 2-0over Army after receiving second minute penalty cornergoal from Waseem Abbas as Owais produced a short cor-ner goal in the 33nrd minute. Customs added their thirdgoal again through Owais who this time underlined histalent in a field attack in the 39th minute. Army scoredtheir first goal in the 46th minute through MohammadSafeer who made no mistake in a direct conversion drilloff a short corner. Army made it 2-3 with the 51stminutefield goal scored by Shahid Ali Khan.

PIA win NBP gold cup Hockey title

Future of Pakistan Tennis and that man Kirsten

ALI AKBAR

SportS thiS Week


Sports 18


watch it LiveSTAR SPORTSEngland V India09:00AM

two changes inteam for asianchampions trophy

LAHORESTAFF RePORT

The Pakistan hockey team named for in-augural Champions Trophy Tournamenthas two changes and MuhammadRizwan and Muhammad Umar Bhuttawere omitted from the 18 member squadthat played in the Melbourne Champi-ons trophy .“Rizwan is not medically fit and Umar islacking necessary form and due replace-ments have been made to strengthen thesquad,” said a spokesman of PakistanHockey Federation here on Friday.Asian Champions Trophy will be playedfrom December 20-27 in Doha.He said manager and chief coach of theteam, Akhtar Rasool Chaudhary, withthe approval of President PHF, QasimZia has announced squad.THe TeAM: imran Shah,imran butt,Syed Kashif

Shah,muhammad imran (capt), muhammad rizwan

Senior,muhammad tousiq,fareed ahmed, rashid

mahmood,muhammad waqas (Vice-capt),Shafqat

rasool, abdul Haseem Khan,ali Shan,muhammad

ateeq,waseem ahmed, muhammad Kashif ali,Sha-

keel abbasi,muhammad irfan and mohammad

Salman Hussain.

“the players will assemble on December 16 at Johar

hockey stadium and the team will for Doha on De-

cember 18,” he said.

following are the officials of the team, akhtar ra-

sool chaudhary - manager/Head coach,abdul Ha-

neef Khan,ajmal Khan lodhi,ahmed alam (coaches)

faiz-ur-rahman, (Physiotherapist),nadeem Khan

lodhi (Video-analyst).

PCB U16 One-day Cricket from Dec 24LAHORE

STAFF RePORT

The PCB U16 one-day cricket tournamentwill be played here from December 24 atLahore and Islamabad.

“In all 13 teams have been dividedinto two pools will feature in the event,”said a spokesman of Pakistan CricketBoard here on Friday.

Pool A comprising Quetta, Karachi,Faisalabad, Hyderabad, Bahawalpur, La-hore and Multan, while Pool B has Abbot-tabad, Sialkot, Peshawar, FATA,Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Bahawalpurregion has been added as thirteen team inthe tournament. Dates and venues ofsemi finals and Final of the tournamentwill be announced later,he added. Thetraining camp of the selected players willbe held from December 15-22 at their re-spective regions. FATA team’s campwould be held in Peshawar and Quettateam’s training camp will be held at NCA,Lahore. “The participating teams havebeen selected after completing talent

hunt activities at various districts acrossthe country under the youth developmentprogram NCA, Youth Development Wing.

THe TeAMS:

ABBOTTABAD: Sultan mehmood, Hamza tufail, asim

Khan (abbottabad), mohammad ibrahim, bilal ahmed

(Sawabi), mohammad mohsin Khan (buneer), azam ali

(Sawabi), aqib Khan (topi), ahmad asfandyar, mansoor

ali (mardan), ihsanullah (Sawabi), mohammad Uzair

Khan, Junaid Khan, basit Khan (mardan) and Hamza

Saeed ( mansehra)

BAHAWAlPUR: mohammad Hamza (ryK), mohammad

Saleem, Sajid iqbal (bahawalpur), mohammad Sheryar

(muzaffargarh), mohammad Umair, mohammad zubair,

ali raza (bahawalpur), mohammad Danish raza (ba-

hawalnagar), Haider Jalil (rajanpur), ahmed raza

Saeed, mohammad nadeem (bahawalnagar), Shiar

muhammad (bahawalpur), Hamza Kaleem, Kamran

majeed and muhammad Khan (rajanpur)

FAISAlABAD: mohammad Salim, mohammad Usman

Khan, abdul Samad, mohsin Hassan, mohammad bilal,

asad raza, ahmed Saffi abdullah, Shan asghar

(faisalabad), najam ud Din, Shabi-ul-Hasan (Sargodha),

mohammad waqas (Kasur), Jahanzeb (Sargodha), Has-

san Shahid (faisalabad), mirza musaab Henan (Kasur)

and Hasnat naveed (Sargodha)

FATA: zakirullah, wajidullah, mohammad Shoaib (north

waziristan), Kamran Shah (South waziristan), amanul-

lah (n. waziristan), Shafqatullah (S. waziristan), mo-

hammad abbas (m agency), mohammad

zubair, mohammad zaman (S

waziristan), aqib (f r bannu),

abdullah (U Dir), bilal ahmed

(l Dir), mohammad yunus

(f r lucky), azam Khan

and Siraj (K agency)

HyDeRABAD: Uzair Jafri,

asad malik, Khizar butt,

mohammad faraz (Hyder-

abad), mohammad imranr

(Sukkur), nisar Hussain

(Sanghar), mohammad

muzammil (mirpur Khaas),

nasir ali (larkana), ameer

Hamza (Shikarpur), mukhtiar ali

(nawabshah), mohammad ashraf (Sukkar),

Junaid ahmed (larkana), mohammad waqar (Hyder-

abad), Sarfaraz ahmad (larkana) and ayaz ali (Dadu)

ISlAMABAD: Sajawal riaz, ali imran, Sheryar Khan,

Saroosh Hasan ali, S mohammad abbas raza, Sher-

yar Khan afaqi, Samiullah, malik Sheryar Khan,

Salman fayyaz, Syed ibrahim rabbani, arsam farooq,

Syed ahmed abbas, Syed Dilawar Shah, mohammad

ismail Khan and Hasan ali

KARACHI: S m tahami, Saiur rehman, asad ali zaidi,

Hasan Shahab, raam ravi, Hamza Khan,

bilal abbas, rabish ahmed, m Shan

Siddique, Karan Parkash, moham-

mad Hasan Khan, osama ali,

anas Hameed, Saif ali Ghori

and Ghulam raza

lAHORe: bilawal iqbal, mohsin

ilyas, naeem ahmed Khan,

momin rizwan, ali zaryab asif,

faisal ali, mohammad tayyab,

Khawaja mohammad wasif,

mohammad Shahzeb, Salman

Saleem, Umer farooq, moham-

mad ali rafey, ali Haider, Shabbir

ahmed and mohammad ahmed Shafiq

MUlTAn: Saifur rehman, ahsan raza

(multan), Shahzeb (burewala), mohammad

rizwan (Sahiwal), ahmed Sultan (okara), Sabtain

rizvi (Khanewal), faraz Khan, abuzar (multan), munee-

bur rehman (Sahiwal), mustaneed naqvi, Syed ali

Pasha (multan), muzammal Hussain (Vehari), Ghulam

Haider (Khanewal), zaif ismail (D G Khan) and mo-

hammad Shahid (lodhran)

PeSHAWAR: walid bin fareed, abdul Ghani, Hamid

mahmood, Hasnat ahmed, mohammd zaheen, moham-

mad zahid (Peshawar), mohammad Usman (D i Khan),

waqas ahmed, Salman Shah, mohammad ijaz (Pe-

shawar), abdul waheed, mohammd yasin (D i Khan),

Hammaduddin (Peshawar), amir Sohail (bannu) and

Hussain mujtaba Khan (Kohat)

QUeTTA: Ghulam Haider, abdul Ghafoor (quetta), mo-

hammad imran (chaman), abdul nasir (quetta), osama

razzak (lasbela), abdul nafey, Syed najibullah, nawab

yar Khan (quetta), abid ali (D m Jamali), ahmer aziz

(Hub), imran Khan (noshki), Hayatullah (quetta), ramzan

(loralai) fareed ahmed and Hanan Khan (quetta)

RAWAlPInDI: zeeshan malik, nasir nawaz, masood

Umer, Hasnain butt, aamir Sohail, mohsin rashid, mo-

hammad asif, nisar qureshi, Hammad Pervez, ammad

ali, Haris nazir, Shahdab Khan, imran Khan, faizan

ibrahim and yasir Jan

SIAlKOT: Saif badar (Sialkot), abdul rehman, ahmed

iqbal Khan (Gujranwala), zubair butt, anil mushtaq,

waqas malik, ali zafar (Sialkot), ahsan bhatti (Gujran-

wala), Dawood masih, Hamza yousuf (Sialkot), , fateh

Khan ((Sheikhupura), Saqib ali (Gujranwala), Usman

ali, mohammd zahid (Sialkot) and mohammad rizwan

(Sheikhupura).

watson wary ofeuropean courses

NEW YORKAGenCIeS

Tom Watson has already identified onebig reason why the American Ryder Cupside he will lead again in 2014 could findit difficult to win back the famous goldtrophy. Watson, at the record age of 65and after a gap of 21 years, was on Thurs-day put back in charge after the UnitedStates' run of seven defeats in the last ninematches. The five-time Open championwill lead the United States out on the PGACentenary Course at Gleneagles - only thesecond Scottish venue to host the contest,but a lay-out that has been staging Euro-pean Tour events for the past 13 years. "Ithink the Europeans have done a master-ful job of creating an element of winningsimply by using the venues that they use,"said Watson. "These players who play onthe Ryder Cup teams have played in thattournament a number of times and play-ing in that tournament they have playedthat course under a variety of conditions.

Golf australia denymcilroy fee report

MELBOURNEAGenCIeS

Reports that world number one Rory McIl-roy did not play last week's Australian Openbecause he wanted a bigger appearance feehave been dismissed by officials. "I can con-firm there was no agreement in place withRory McIlroy or his management at anypoint for Rory to play in this year's Open,"Golf Australia chief executive officerStephen Pitt said in a statement. "In addi-tion to not having any agreement in place,at no stage were Golf Australia or tourna-ment organisers advised by Rory's manage-ment that his appearance costs hadincreased. This simply isn't true." WorldSport Group chief operating officer AndrewGeorgiou added: "We have a very good rela-

tionship with Roryand his manage-ment team andRory has playedin a number of

our events. "Atno stage had

Rory or hismanage-ment com-mitted toplay in Aus-tralia thisyear, so any

commentaryabout appearance fees istotally irrelevant andclearly inaccurate."

Wimbledon announcerecord profits

LONDONAGenCIeS

THE Wimbledon Champi-onships achieved a recordprofit of £37.753 millionthis year, the Lawn Tennis

Association has announced. The sur-plus, which is invested back intoBritish tennis through the LTA,marks a seven per cent rise from lastyear's margin of £35.174million.Confirmation of Wimbledon's fi-nancial success came in today'spublication of the LTA's annualreport and financial review.

The combined income of theLTA and the Tennis Foundationstood at £65.634million for theyear to September 30 2012, upfrom £63.153million in the pre-vious 12 months. Their combinedexpenditure stood at £66.533mil-lion, a rise of £3.853million. A totalof £12.3million was spent on the de-velopment of existing talent, with£17.4million going on encouragingparticipation levels through a rangeof projects. Business costs stood at£15.5million, including the upkeep ofthe National Tennis Centre at Roe-hampton. The LTA cites a SportEngland survey in its report whichpoints to growing numbers of active

players, with an 11% rise to 417,700in the 16-plus age group. The LTAalso claims growth from 51,900 to58,400 in the number of juniorscompeting on a regular basis. In ajoint statement, LTA president PeterBretherton and chief executive Roger

Draper underlined the importance ofsuccess at world level, highlightingAndy Murray's career-best year, instrengthening the sport at its grassroots. They said: "When will we seesuch a collection of world class tour-

naments in one country again, fromthe AEGON Championships, throughThe Championships, Wimbledon, tothe Olympic and Paralympic Gamesand the Barclays ATP World Tour Fi-nals? "Special mention must go toAndy Murray for his Olympic singlesgold medal, and of course, for hisgrand slam singles triumph at the USOpen - the first by a British maleplayer in 76 years.

"His success is born out of hardwork and determination, and he is

an inspiring role model for young-sters in tennis and across Britishsport. "We've also seen notableperformances from Jonny Mar-ray, the first British Wimbledonmen's doubles champion for 76years, and further Olympic and

Paralympic medals from LauraRobson, Lucy Shuker, Jordanne

Whiley, Peter Norfolk and AndyLapthorne. These inspiring resultsand events have led to a growth in in-terest in our sport." They added:"We've also been working with theTennis Foundation (TF) to attractpeople from all ages, abilities andcommunities, by making tennis amore accessible and inclusive sport, aswell as emphasising that it is a fun andaffordable family sport, with fair playat the heart of all our competitions."

ST jOSEAGenCIeS

Fernando Alonso has challenged Ferrari to follow the leadof their rivals and push the boundaries of regulations inorder to improve their car's performance for 2013. TheMaranello team's design office have been accused of lack-ing innovation in the development of their recentchallengers, and although they did attempt a moreradical design with this year's F2012, the ap-proach backfired when the car was over a secondoff the pace in the pre-season tests. Red Bulland their design guru Adrian Newey, in con-trast, have been credited with pushing the de-sign of their cars to the limit in recent years andAlonso says Ferrari also shouldn't be afraid tomaximise the regulations to the full. "Therewere several incidents in which the other teamswere at the limit, but not us. But this has al-ways happened and always will," he wasquoted as saying by Italy's Gazzettadello Sport. "However, we toohave to think within the con-fines of the rules while lookingfor some limits, some holes,like the other teams do in

order to improve our performances." Although Alonso ad-mits what he considers to have been a "perfect" 2012 cam-paign on his side to be tough to repeat, he is confidentFerrari will start off next season in far better shape thanthey did this - even if he acknowledges immediately closingthe gap to Red Bull will be difficult. "I'm very happy withmy season. It was a perfect year and will be difficult to re-

peat, but 2013 should be even better," the Spaniardsuggested. "Anyway, it will be impossible to beginworse than I did last season, although Red Bullwill certainly be the favourites, at least at the be-ginning. They finished in dominating fashion andthe rules will be more or less the same. In thefinal races they had six-eight tenths per lap overus. "We'll have to make up this gap in twomonths. It won't be easy, so there will be a lot

of work to do. We'll have to work overtime inthe winter but the starting point should be far

better compared to last season. There's al-ways room for improvement and things

that you can develop." He alsopraised Sebastian Vettel as the

season's "rightful champion"because "he earned morepoints than anyone. It's plainfor everyone to see."

Ferrari should try topush limits, says Alonso



19

Published by Arif Nizami at Plot # 7, Al-Baber Centre, F/8 Markaz, Islamabad. Editor: Arif Nizami

ISLAMABADTAyyAB HUSSAIn

THE National Accountability Bureauon Friday issued its position paperon rampant corruption in the coun-

try, claiming malpractices of Rs 12 billiona day were only the “tip of an iceberg” ofcorruption, as leakages in almost 13 sectorshad not been quantified by NAB.

The announcement of the positionpaper’s release had set alarm bells ringingfor government, garnering criticism fromalmost all quarters, and making severalruling Pakistan People’s Party ministerslament appointment of Admiral (r) FasihBokhari as the NAB chairman. “The figuresof corruption cater for assessment of direct

losses per day. It will increase if determin-istic study of all sectors is done … The in-direct losses not quantified (sector-wise)include agriculture sector which is 20 per-cent of the gross domestic product (GDP)– which is untaxed. Moreover, revenue de-partment, land grabbing and encroach-ments, loans/wilful defaults,over-staffing/ghost employment, wealthtax losses, like doctors, shopkeepers,lawyers, consultants, custom duties andduty drawbacks, energy losses (2 percentof GDP, approximately Rs 960 billion peryear), mega projects delays and cost overruns, administrative costs, foreign ex-change outflow, and banking sector,” saidthe NAB document. The paper says thecorruption index has increased due to a

nexus between two pillars of the state – thelegislature and the executive – who haveformed a single pillar supporting corruptpractices in the country, leaving the coun-try with two pillars of state instead of three.

The corruption evaluation paper saysthe executive and legislature had joinedhands back in 1980s and 1990s, which hadaggravated the corruption and corruptionwas on the rise ever since. “The CPI (con-sumer price index) covering last 10-15years has been constant for Pakistan vary-ing between 23-27 percent,” says the NABdocument. Elaborating the corruption fig-ures of Rs 10-12 billion a day, the NAB doc-ument says the figures quoted by NAB areconservative and based on annual directlosses, as evident from the fact that average

acceptable world tax to GDP ratio is 17-20percent. “Pakistan’s tax-to-GDP ratio is 9percent. The total loss is Rs 2,500–3,000billion. Moreover, the PAC assessment ofcorruption is Rs 300–350 billion. Thelosses in state enterprises due to incompe-tence and corruption amount to Rs 300–350 billion. The NAB’s assessment ofdirect losses in mega projects (mis-pro-curements) is Rs 350 billion. This takes thetally to Rs 4,000–5,000 billion. Thus theaverage corruption per day is Rs 10–12 bil-lion,” the paper added.

The paper states that the corruptionhas increased in the country due to a nexusbetween incompetence and corruption thatleads to low productivity - more profoundin our situational context vis-à-vis the de-

veloped states. “Pakistan’s rating decreasemust be seen in perspective of increase ofcountries. Perception evaluated countriesincreased from 120 to 200. TIP (Trans-parency International Pakistan) evaluationis to be seen in this context. The interna-tional corruption evaluation structures arebased on direct leakage parameters andnot indirect losses”.

NAB called for a behaviour change inthe society, stating that the acceptance ofcorruption as an attitude in Pakistan waswidespread across the board, regardless ofpolitical divide and covered all sectors ofsociety – public, private and even the indi-vidual. NAB said the accountability of cor-ruption since 1980s was treated with“benign neglect”.

ISLAMABADAnWeR ABBAS

Expressing severe reservations over theSupreme Court registrar’s refusal to ap-pear before the body, the Public AccountsCommittee on Friday decided to take afinal step after consultations in its meet-ing on Tuesday.

The PAC met under the leadership ofits chairman Nadeem Afzal Gondal to re-view the situation after an announcementby the SC Court that its registrar will notappear before the body. Members of thecommittee said they did not want to de-grade any institution or individual, butvowed to review the audit of the tax pay-ers’ money, adding that the SC registrarhad insulted the top accounts body ofparliament. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz members recommended forward-ing the issue to the National Assembly

speaker, saying the matter should be re-solved in a manner that avoided con-frontation between institutions, as thecountry could not bear more destructionand political destabilisation.

Committee Chairman Nadeem AfzalGondal highlighted the fact that until2004, the registrars of the SC kept ap-pearing before the committee and thiswas not a new demand on behalf of thebody. Gondal said the constitution per-mitted PAC to summon the SC registrar,saying if representatives of the Presi-dency, Election Commission of Pakistanand Prime Minister’s Secretariat couldappear before the PAC, there was noharm in the registrar’s appearance.

He said the SC had already given itsverdict that the SC registrar did not hap-pen to be a judge of the apex court. “PAChas sought the legal opinion by Ministryfor Law and Justice, legal experts, Bar As-

sociations and lawmakers, followingwhich all of them clarified that PAC couldsummon the SC registrar,” he added.

Yasmin Rehman was of the viewthat legally and constitutionally, the SCregistrar should appear before the PAC.“We have serious concerns on the an-nouncement by the apex court in whichit mentioned that the SC registrarwould not appear before the commit-tee.” Noor Alam Khan said if somebodydid not appear before a forum, it re-flected his or her guilt.

“If the prime minister and membersof the cabinet can appear before courts,why not the SC registrar,” Alam said. Hesuggested the body issue summons forthe registrar and directions to the policeto bring him in handcuffs, suggesting thatcommittee should execute its powers andauthorities. Upon this, PML-N’s AyazSadiq urged avoiding any such move and

suggested moving a reference to the NAspeaker. During the meeting, three op-tions were reviewed by PAC, including is-suance of summons for the SC registrar,directly approaching the Supreme Courton the issue or moving a reference withthe NA speaker along with recommenda-tions of the body.

However, it was decided that thecommittee would hold another in-camerasitting on Tuesday in which the all threeoptions would be reviewed again withconclusion of choosing any one. The PACchairman said if the registrar appearedbefore the committee in its coming sittingon Tuesday, the PAC members wouldwarmly welcome him and would ensuregiving him the due respect.

Earlier the audit objections in con-nection with National Assembly Secre-tariat, Senate Secretariat, DHA, FWO andthe Supreme Court were reviewed.

Punjab accounts for65% of corruption:NAB chairman

ISLAMABADOnlIne

National Accountability Bureau ChairmanAdmiral (r) Fasih Bokhari on Friday saidPunjab province accounted for 65 percent ofcorruption being done in the country,requesting an early cabinet meeting to mullways to end the scourge. In a telephonic callto Law Minister Farooq H Naik, the NABchairman asked for an early meeting of thecabinet for elimination of corruption, a NABspokesperson said. Bokhari also desired thatrepresentative of the Punjab government beasked to attend the meeting since Punjabrepresents majority of the country andshared 65 percent of responsibility, thespokesperson added.However, aspokesman for the Punjab government saidthe statement of the NAB chairman wasunclear and ambiguous. He said the NABchairman should clarify against whom hewas levelling the charge. “Is he linkingcorruption with the ratio of population,referring to this evil at departmental orpatwari level or accusing the Punjabgovernment?” the spokesman said. He saidBokhari should elaborate why he hadtargeted Punjab and why was he silent onthe federal and other provincialgovernments. He said the Punjabgovernment strongly denied allegations ofcorruption against the province, the chiefminister, his cabinet or the politicalleadership and considered such statementscondemnable. The spokesman saidstatements of international institutions likethe World Bank and TransparencyInternational were enough to refute suchcharges. He said the Punjab governmenthad introduced clear and well-coordinatedCitizens Feedback System for eliminationof corruption and this system was provingeffective for the eradication of themenace in police, revenue, land recordand other departments.

NAB paper says Rs 12b-a-day corruption ‘tip of the iceberg’g Corruption index increased due to nexus between legislature and executive g Corruption figures still conservative, based on annual direct losses

PAC to decide SC registrar’s ‘fate’ on tuesdayg PAC considering three options, including issuing summons for registrar g May contact Supreme Court on the issue or move reference with NA speaker

QUeTTA: People look at a damaged rickshaw at the site of a bombing on Sariab Road on Friday. eight people were injured in the attack. INP


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