ISLAMABADAMeR SIAL

WITHOUT revealing when Pak-istan will be going again to theInternational Monetary Fund

(IMF) for a bailout package, FinanceMinister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on Sat-urday conceded that the position was“uncomfortable” but still “manageable”.

Addressing a post-budget news con-ference on Saturday, the minister saidthat the country had braved tough timeswithout the IMF for the last two fiscalyears. The assistance from the Fundstands suspended since May 2010. “Weare in an uncomfortable but manageableposition,” he said.

Pakistan is expected to pay $3.5 bil-lion to IMF during the next fiscal year.The import bill of POL products is ex-pected to increase to $17 billion in thenext fiscal year and both of these will cre-ate a major pressure on the country’s for-eign exchange reserves of $16.5 billion.Experts point out that the governmentwill be reverting back to IMF in the nextfew weeks.

Perturbed by repeated questions re-lating to the IMF, Shaikh said there wasno disgrace in going back to the IMF as itwas created by the member countries forcountering short-term liabilities. “We arecontinuously in touch with them andhave made a prearranged repayment of$1.2 billion to IMF”.

The government has exercised re-straint in its expenditure even though itwas claimed that it would be free fall inan election year, he said. However, theminister said he could not publicly com-ment on the relations with the Fund.

He gave a similar reply when askedabout the blockage of Coalition SupportFund (CSF) dues from the United States.The government this year expunged thesection on losses related to war againstterrorism from the Economic Survey.

The minister was absolutely at losson giving a convincing reply on when the

government would be able to contain thelong power outages. His remarks that thepeople were not protesting against out-ages but for affordable power price showsdisconnect between the government andthe people.

He said that the federal governmentwill be picking up the inter-DISCO tariffdifferential subsidy. Earlier, the Centrewas pushing the provinces to share theburden from their share in revenue pool.

Asked that the budget for the next fis-cal offers nothing to the people, he usedthe mantra of providing more develop-ment spending in the backward areas andBenazir Income Support Programme thatis providing cash grant of Rs 1,000 permonth to the poorest of the poor in theleast developed areas.

Disagreeing with a question that thegovernment was using indirect measuresto enhance revenue through gas infra-structure development surcharge, he saidthat it was a demand rationalization stepto lessen the demand for natural gaswhich is the most affordable fuel. “It wasneeded to bring gas prices at par with theimported gas through pipeline and alsofor developing the required gas infra-structure.”

Questions about inflation also nervedthe minister, who said that the govern-ment elected by the people was aware ofthe issue and was taking steps to counterthe situation. “An elected government ismore worried than the other claimants ofpeople,” he said.

islamabad — peshawar edition Sunday, 3 June, 2012 Rajab 12, 1433Rs 22.00 Vol ii no 337 22 pages

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD/FAISALABADAGencIeS

With no respite in load shedding despiterepeated assurances and appeasing an-nouncements by the government, peopleacross the country again donned theirprotesting costumes on Saturday todemonstrate against the authorities failureto ensure uninterrupted power supply.

The power shortfall has gone up againto 6,150MW from 4,787MW a couple ofdays ago, resulting in unannounced loadshedding and manic protests by citizens.People burnt tyres, blocked roads andhurled stones at vehicles and governmentinstallations to vent their burning angst.

PEPCO source said power plants wereexperiencing a shortage of oil and gas sup-ply while water reserves were also decreas-ing, worsening the power supply figures.

Traders in Faisalabad, who had an-

nounced a three-day strike against mas-sive power cuts, continued with the strikeon Saturday. A complete shutter-downstrike was observed across the city, whiletraders took to the roads to protest againstpower outages. Angry protesters chantedslogans against the government and burnttyres while some protesters carrying sticksalso forced nearby shop-owners to shutbusinesses. Protest demonstrations werealso staged in Lahore, Jhang, Dera GhaziKhan, Multan, Gujranwala Sialkot, Pe-shawar and other areas. In Lahore,protests continued as Punjab Chief Minis-ter Shahbaz Sharif continued performinghis duty at his Minar-e-Pakistan camp of-fice for the second consecutive day.

The CM said the masses did not wantdemocracy, they wanted electricity, addingthat an additional 4,000 megawatts ofelectricity could be generated within twodays if the government ended its corrup-

tion. In Peshawar, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members led by Central VicePresident Khwaja Muhammad Khan Hotiprotested against prolonged and unsched-uled power cuts, and marched to the Pe-shawar Press Club from FC Chowk.

The demonstrators chanted slogansagainst the government and said the lead-ers had failed to provide relief to themasses. Urban areas of Peshawar are fac-ing at least 13 hours of power outages,while 16-hour power cuts are being con-ducted in rural areas. Hoti said the gov-ernment was not sincere in ending loadshedding as it was busy making blackmoney. He criticized the ruling ANP for ig-noring the issue of load shedding, addingthat corruption, unrest, unemploymentand price hike were on their peak but thegovernment was least interested in solvingthese problems. The PTI also held demon-strations in Swabi, Karak and Nowshera.

ISLAMABAD TAYYAB HuSSAIn

Under pressure from countrywideprotests against long hours of loadshedding, President Asif Ali Zardarion Saturday ordered the swapping ofportfolios of water and power minis-ter Naveed Qamar with defence min-ister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar.

An official at the Prime Minis-ter’s House confirmed the swap andsaid the decision had been taken anda notification had also been issued.Recently, both Naveed Qamar andAhmed Mukhtar had invited the ireof the president for their poor per-formance. Experts, however, werenot optimistic about the change ofportfolios and called the move an“artificial step” which might furtherdeteriorate the power sector. “Thislooks like an artificial move asAhmed Mukhtar has no experienceof Water & Power Ministry. At least Ihave no knowledge about any suchexperience he enjoyed. One wonderswhat good he brings to power short-

age as his performance as defenceminister and especially as chairmanof Pakistan International Airlines(PIA) was pathetic,” said Dr SalmanShah, a former finance minister.

He, however, said the decisionshould not be viewed in isolation andthis move might have some other di-mensions as well. “You know that therelations of the defence minister withthe army chief were also not pleas-ant. I don’t know whether thischange has taken place on request ofthe army. Also, when former air chiefRao Qamar Suleman was made PIAchief sometime back, Mukhtar wasreplaced as the PIA chairman,” headded. He wondered if the move wasa punishment for Mukhtar byZardari, as Mukhtar had to contestthe polls from Punjab and the peopleof Punjab were already facing thebrunt of massive load shedding. DrSalman Shah said the move might beaimed at the revival of KalabaghDam by the PPP-led coalition

‘We are onslippery slope’g Finance Minister Shaikh dodges keyquestions in post-budget press briefing g Says financial situation ‘uncomfortable’ but‘manageable’ g Touts load shedding protestsas demand for affordable electricity

Power-starved massescontinue rampaging

PM orders new lawsfor Balochistan

ISLAMABADAGencIeS

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Saturdaychaired a high-level meeting on security situation inBalochistan, and ordered to devise special lawsregarding missing persons. Among others, themeeting was attended by Balochistan Chief MinisterMuhammad Aslam Raisani‚ federal ministers forinterior‚ finance‚ law and justice‚ information‚ postalservices‚ food security‚ and science and technology.The meeting decided that no law enforcementagency would give any preferential treatment toinfluential persons’ cars with tinted glasses, andsuch practice and “Rahdaris” would stand ceasedforthwith. Besides‚ non-custom paid vehicles wouldnot be allowed to ply on the roads, the officialsdecided. The meeting also agreed to immediatelycancel the temporary permission granted to non-custom paid vehicles. The prime minister wouldstart a two-day visit to Balochistan from Sunday tomeet a various people. He ordered the interiorminister and the Balochistan chief minister to holdregular meetings to review law and orders situationin Balochistan, especially in Quetta. Gilani alsodirected the law ministry to formulate necessarylaws with respect to missing persons, and makenecessary amendments in the anti-terrorism law.

Naveed, Mukhtar swap officesto improve each other’s affairs

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani chairs a high-level meeting on Balochistan at Prime Minister’s House on Saturday.

Continued on page 04

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02Sunday, 3 June, 2012

News

Today’s

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ISlamabad

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NewS

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CaRtooN

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Past rulers responsible for neglecting power sector: Kaira KP govt asks federal govt to shift Afridi to another jail

Indian spy caught stealing

information for PakistanNEW DELHI: A staffer associated with the Indian Military Intelligence unithas been caught in a joint operation by the Indian Army and Directorate ofRevenue Intelligence officials for allegedly stealing and trying to pass onclassified information to Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence. Acting onintelligence input, a trap was laid and the havaldar was held inThiruvananthapuram in April this year and handed over to the army forfurther action, official sources were quoted by Times of India on Saturday.They said certain classified documents and pen drives, among other things,were seized from the possession of the staffer, identified as Sivadasan. “TheDRI had got intelligence that a staffer working with Military Intelligence wastrying to negotiate a deal for passing on classified information. The input wasshared with army officials and a trap was laid. Following which the staffer washeld in Thiruvananthapuram,” a senior DRI official, who did not wish to beidentified said. He said the army officials were informed as the DRI did nothave relevant powers to arrest a person in the matter. Army sources said thehavaldar had been detained and a Court of Inquiry (CoI) had been ordered tolook into the allegations against him. AGencIeS

Pakistan Rangers arrest

Indian intruderJAISALMER: Pakistani rangers have arrested an Indian trespasser who jumpedover the border fence and intruded into Pakistani territory on Monday. A report byTimes of India said on Saturday that the Rangers arrested Prasanjeet Singh Sarkar,who is being stated as a labourer at a border construction site near Ganganagar. Thenewspaper said the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) had written a “strict protestnote” to the Rangers demanding his return, besides holding a flag meeting withthem over the issue. The newspaper cited its sources as saying that three to foursuch meetings had taken place to get Sarkar released. It said the Rangers hadconfirmed the intruder’s arrest, however gave no information on his whereabouts.The paper said the issue would be raised at higher-level bilateral talks if the personwas not released in the next few days. OnLIne

Student commits suicide for

fear of failureMARDAN: In a wave of tendency among students to take their lives, a 17-year-old student committed suicide by shooting himself down in the Londkhurarea of Mardan on Saturday, officials said. According to police, Wajid Ali, whohad taken matriculation exams, was depressed due to fear of failure. He shothimself down in the fields near his house. Police registered a case on report byhis brother Rehmat Ali. Almost half a dozen students have committed suicidein the recent days. OnLIne

Country on verge of bankruptcy because

of govt’s wrong policies: Nawaz LAHORE: PML-N President Nawaz Sharif on Saturday said the country was onthe brink of bankruptcy due to the wrong policies of the PPP-led government.Talking to a delegation of businessmen and bankers, Nawaz said electricity loadshedding and corruption of the incumbent rulers had destroyed the economy andgave birth to various other crises. He said had the government given only onepercent of its attention to improving the economic sector of the country, thenation would not have been facing these problems. The PML-N chief told thedelegation that traders and people should come out on the roads to get rid of theload shedding and eliminate the corrupt rulers. “The coming generations will bedestroyed if the corrupt rulers re not removed,” Nawaz said, adding that thepeople should not expect any good from the government. AGencIeS

ISLAMABADInP

Leader of the Opposition in the National As-sembly and central leader of PML-NChaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Saturday de-nied allegation that he used derogatory re-marks against the Sindhi culture and cap,only strongly criticised President Asif AliZardari.

Talking to a delegation of journalistsfrom Sindh at the Punjab House on Satur-day, Nisar said his statement did not breachthe privilege of Sindh Assembly MPAs or theSindhi people and as such there was noquestion of any breach of privilege.

He said the privilege motion movedagainst him in the Sindh Assembly was in

violation of rules and law as the movers didnot verify his statement.

He pointed out that in his statement, hestated that when difficult times come toSindh, “President Zardari goes to Londonand Paris and when he (Zardari) faces diffi-cult time, he wears Sindhi Topi and Ajrak.”

Nisar said the Sindhi culture was cen-turies old and Sindhi people had been pre-senting him the gifts of Sindhi cap andAjrak, adding that the people of Punjab felthappy wearing them.

He said propaganda had been launchedagainst him by President Zardari and hissupporters whereas he (Nisar) holds theSindh culture in high esteem.

He said late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was anational leader and the PPP became popular

in the four provinces because of his leader-ship qualities. However, what “PresidentZardari and his cahoots are doing must bedisturbing the soul of ZA Bhutto and Be-nazir Bhutto”.

Nisar said corruption was at its peak inSindh and the PML-N along with nationalistparties would provide justice to the peopleof the province. He hoped that an alliancewould be formed with Sindhi nationalistparties on the basis of principles.

He said for a strong federation, it wasessential to make provinces strong and au-tonomous. He said on coming to power thePML-N would protect the rights of Sindhand Balochistan. He said if Benazir had beenalive, the Charter of Democracy would havebeen implemented.

Nisar denies using derogatory

remarks against Sindh cultureg Says alliance will be reached with Sindh nationalists on the basis of principles

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03Sunday, 3 June, 2012

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articles on Page 12-13

The League gets physical

Friendly adviceLet’s be practical, please!

Humayun Gauhar says:Granny’s getting married: Oh yeah, the budget was passed too

M J Akbar says:Horse whisperers of Raisina: Beware the unlikely one

Saad Rasool says: Blind loyalty: Toeing the party line, no matter what

foReIgN NewS

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aRtS & eNteRtaINmeNt

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SPoRtS

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Iraq crisis escalates with calls for PM to go Ali Zafar’s ‘chashme Buddoor’ eyes monsoon release england ponder Anderson omission

QUETTAInP

THE Frontier Corps in-spector general hasclaimed that millionsof rupees were beingspent to spread unrest

in Balochistan, adding that over 30militant training camps had beenset up across the border inAfghanistan to launch terroristand anti-state activities inBalochistan.

Talking to reporters at FCHeadquarters on Saturday, MajorGeneral Obaidullah Khan Khattaksaid around 121 insurgent trainingfacilities were operating in variousparts of the province.

Teachers, doctors and manycivilians have fallen prey to tar-geted killings, Khattak said,adding that over 100,000 people

had migrated from the provincedue to worsening law and order.

About 550 incidents of terror-ism have taken place in theprovince so far this year, of whichseveral groups have claimed re-sponsibilities of 258 such inci-dents, he informed the media.

“The future of the country is in

Balochistan,” Khattak said, alleg-ing that foreign powers had theireyes set on the province for thesame reason. Moreover, a well-planned conspiracy had beenhatched for a propaganda cam-paign against the FC and intelli-gence agencies, he added.

On Tuesday, a high-level

meeting attended by the primeminister, army chief General Ash-faq Kayani, ISI chief Lt Gen Za-heerul Islam and BalochistanChief Minister Nawab AslamRaisani had decided to initiate di-alogue with the Baloch leadershipand discontented nationalist par-ties in the province.

Over 30 training camps in Afghanistanfuelling Balochistan unrest: FC IG

QUETTA: Three people including two paramilitary soldiers were killed in separate incidents of violence in therestive province. Two paramilitary soldiers were killed when militants attacked a check-post in Awaran districtof Balochistan, sources said on Saturday. The sources said that unknown armed opened firing at a check-postand managed to escape. The bodies were shifted to a nearby hospital for medico-legal formalities. In a separateincident, a passenger from Karachi was targeted by unidentified gunmen on Sariab road. According to police,the victim was traveling in a rickshaw when unidentified gunmen attacked him on Sariab road on Saturdaymorning. The passenger and rickshaw driver Haji Muhammad Zahir were severely injured and both wereshifted to a nearby hospital, police said. Later, the unidentified passenger succumbed to his injuries. Police havestarted investigation of the incident. Balochistan has been witnessing a low-level insurgency by nationalists,demanding more provincial autonomy while some others fighting for freedom. The militants kill Punjabi andPashtoons settlers in Baloch populated areas of the South Western province. OnLIne

Two troops among three killed in Balochistan

LAHOREAGencIeS

Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharifhas said in the present circumstances, thepeople were demanding basic amenities, in-cluding uninterrupted power supply insteadof democracy. Talking to the media outsidethe protest camp at Minar-e-Pakistan onSaturday, Shahbaz Sharif said people havenothing to do with the so-called democracyand that they needed food, shelter andclothes for themselves and their families.

Criticising the federal government overits incompetence to tackle the prevailing en-ergy crisis he said the time had come to getrid of the inefficient and corrupt rulers tosolve the problems being faced by the coun-try.

Sharif said it was the right of the peopleto protest against power outages, addingthat he will not rest until ‘Ali Baba and the40 Thieves’ were ousted.

He stated that the nation does not carewhoever is in power or what the govern-ment’s processes were; instead what they re-ally wanted was the resolution of theproblems they faced.

The CM said the people mandated thesitting leadership to represent them in theparliament and not to appraise them aboutthe regional and global crises.

The chief minister added that the sittinggovernment had looted the national excheq-uer with ‘both hands’ during the last fourand half years, as no projects were initiatedwhile keeping the interest of the masses inmind.

The development programmeslaunched by the political leaders were aimedat facilitating the people they favoured andfor protecting their vote bank, he added.

He said that the energy crisis had led toclosure of many industries in Faisalabadand other cities while the people were strug-gling to make ends meet.

The CM also presided over a meeting toreview the law and order situation in theprovince. Provincial Law Minister RanaSanaullah Khan, National and ProvincialAssembly members, chief secretary, Inspec-tor General Police, Home Secretary, Addi-tional IG Special Branch, Lahore CCPO andother officers also attended the meeting.

IGP Haji Habib-ur-Rehman informedthe meeting about the law and order situa-tion in the province whereas Energy Secre-tary Jahanzeb Khan talked about the loadshedding and the electricity short fall.

Addressing the meeting, Shahbazclaimed that the resolution of the ongoingcrises, including poverty, unemploymentand inflation was not possible without get-ting rid of the corrupt government whichwas the root cause of all the problems con-fronting the national sovereignty and the in-terests of the people.

While justifying the province-wideprotests against the prolonged power out-

ages, he said he stood shoulder-to-shoulderwith the protestors to address their woes.He urged the people to unite for a joint effortto get their demands fulfilled instead of act-ing like silent spectators.

He appealed to the masses to protestagainst load shedding but not to damage na-tional and public property.

He directed the IGP Home secretary tosend special teams to Faisalabad, Multan,Sahiwal, Vehari, Kasur and other cities andtake special measures for the protection ofpublic properties.

The chief minister said Punjab is beingdiscriminated against over the electricityload shedding and that the protests willcontinue across the province until a uni-form schedule of power outages is enforcedthroughout the country. Sharif said he canleave the government but cannot live withgas pilferers.

The chief minister said his governmentwas using all the resources available to re-

solve the watercrisis that hashit the agricul-ture sector andto facilitate thefarmers.

‘Nation wants electricity more than democracy’

RAWALPINDIInP

Anti-terrorism court No 1 Judge Shahid Rafiq onSaturday accepted two applications by the FIA,one asking to make a foreign journalist’s state-ment part of the Benazir Bhutto murder case andthe second asking to hold the hearing twice aweek.

Chaudhry Azhar and FIA officers representedthe prosecution while Malik Rafiq, Malik JawadKhalid and Naseer Ahmad Tanoli, appeared on thebehalf of the defendants. All the accused werepresent in the court. FIA prosecutors presentedsupplementary challans, requesting the court tomake foreign journalist Mark Siegel’s statementpart of the case. In his statement, Siegel had con-

firmed that Benazir had sent an email to him inwhich she expressed concerns over her securityand threats given by General Pervez Musharraf.He said the blackberry and the mobile on whichhe received the e-mail were both secure.

In the second supplementary challan, theprosecutors said under the amended ordinance is-sued by President Asif Ali Zardari, anti terrorismcourt can hear the cases of young children and re-quested that the Benazir murder case hearing beheld twice a week.

The court accepted both the requests and ad-journed the hearing until June 5.

FIA prosecutors said Mark Siegel has ex-pressed his willingness to become a part of thecase and would be ready to appear before the courtas and when summoned.

ATC to hold hearing in BBmurder case twice a weekg makes statement of journalist mark Siegel part of case

30 militants killed

in KhyberKHYBER AGENCY: More than 30 militants were killed inclashes with security forces in Khyber tribal region, officialsources said on Saturday. The source said that the forceslaunched a massive crack down in Tirah valley of KhyberAgency. Five militants were also killed in the area in clasheswith Peace Laskhar. Four hideouts and compounds of militantswere also destroyed in security forces’ assault. Pakistan’smilitary has been battling a TTP-led insurgency in country’snorthwestern tribal region since 2008. More than 35,000people, including military personnel have lost during the waragainst terrorists in the country. OnLIne

atC acquits 4accused intimes Squareattack case

ISLAMABADAGencIeS

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) has acquittedall four accused of the New York TimesSquare bombing plot, as no proper evidencecould be presented against them.The accused Shoaib Arshad, Shahid Abbasi,Faisal Bashir Abbasi and Hambal Akhterwere arrested two years ago for allegedlyproviding assistance to Faisal Shahzad, whowas arrested by the US authorities on May 1,2010, for carrying out failed car bombing.Shahzad was arrested approximately 53hours after the attempt.

FAISALABAD: A view of closed

shops in a market on Saturday

after traders called a strike to

protest against excessive

electricity load shedding. ONLINE

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04Sunday, 3 June, 2012

News

TRIPOLIReuTeRS

CL A S H E Serupted be-tween support-ers andopponents of

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in neighbouringLebanon’s northern port cityof Tripoli on Saturday,killing nine people andwounding 42, residents anda doctor said.

A Reuters journalist saidthe two sides fired machine-guns and rocket-propelledgrenades at each other andthat the army moved into thearea with armoured vehiclesin an attempt to quell the vi-olence but did not open fire.

Gunmen from the JabalMohsen district, home to theminority Alawite sect - the

same offshoot of Shi’iteIslam to which Assad be-longs - have fought on-offskirmishes over the past fewweeks with the Sunni Mus-lim residents of the Bab al-Tabbaneh area.

Saturday’s death toll isthe highest in a single day inTripoli, raising fears thatSyria’s unrest could spillover into its smaller neigh-bour.

Lebanon’s NationalNews Agency said there was“shelling across both areasheard every five minutes,and snipers targeting civil-ians”.

Residents said thosekilled included civilianscaught in the crossfire andthat a Lebanese soldier wasamong the wounded.

The neighbourhoodshave long-standing griev-

ances separate from the Syr-ian conflict but the Sunni-led uprising has led to strifeamong Lebanon’s dividedpopulation, especially in ma-jority Sunni Tripoli, 70 km(43 miles) north of Beirut.

International peaceenvoy Kofi Annan said onSaturday that Syria was slip-ping into all-out war andthat the entire region wouldsuffer if the internationalcommunity did not step uppressure on Assad.

“Let me appeal to all ofyou to engage earnestly andseriously with all otherstakeholders, mindful that ifregional and internationaldivisions play out in Syria,the Syrian people and the re-gion - your region - will paythe price,” Annan told ameeting of Arab Leaguemember countries.

Nine killed inSyria-linkedclashes in Lebanon

SINGAPORE ReuTeRS

The NATO alliance willemerge strengthened fromits decade-long mission tocrush Taliban militants inAfghanistan with a generalwill to reform the 28-nationbloc, Canada’s defence min-ister said on Saturday.

Peter MacKay, in an in-terview with Reuters, saidboth Canada and NATO hadlearned tough lessons aboutcounter-insurgency duringtheir efforts to maintain sta-bility after the removal of the

Taliban from power in 2001.He said the Afghan mis-

sion, and the NATO air cam-paign in Libya last year,would prompt the organisa-tion to proceed with changesneeded to tackle security is-sues worldwide. “We are bigbelievers in NATO as thepre-eminent security estab-lishment, security body. Ithas its shortcomings - whatorganisation doesn’t?”MacKay said on the sidelinesof the Shanrgi-La Dialoguein Singapore, devoted to in-ternational security issues.“There appears to be a will-

ingness and desire to reformNATO and take on boardsome very serious lessonslearned over the course ofthis mission. “I think it willmodernise in a way that willincrease its flexibility, its de-ployability and, dare I say it,its accountability.”

At its Chicago summitlast month, NATO sealed anagreement to hand control ofAfghanistan to its own secu-rity forces by the middle ofnext year. NATO will thenface questions over its futurerole in a post-Soviet world asgovernments cut defence

spending to reduce budgetdeficits, and the UnitedStates focuses on security is-sues in Asia.

MacKay said NATO hadplayed a major part in help-ing nations emerge fromyears of what appeared to beintractable conflict, some ofwhich were now standing inline for membership.ASPIRANT COUNTRIES:“There are aspirant countriesthat want to be part of theNATO family. ConsiderCroatia, which was a recipi-ent of NATO forces, is now acontributing nation,” he

said. “This is not to suggestthat we are going to seeAfghan forces participatingin NATO missions anytimesoon. But dare to dream.There is hope.”

MacKay said the capacityof Afghanistan’s securityforces “has grown exponen-tially” ahead of the 2014NATO pullout. “Hopeful isthe word I would use. I amnot Polyanna-ish or overlynaive about the extent of thechallenge,” he said. “But I dohave an abiding confidencein the will of the Afghan peo-ple to find a lasting peace. I

think there is tremendous fa-tigue on the part of the pop-ulation having enduredliterally decades of conflict.”

Canada’s force, whichpeaked at around 3,000troops, was based in thesouthern region of Kanda-har, the spiritual heartlandof the Taliban and the targetof numerous deadly attacks.

The contingent’s lossesstood last month at 158, thethird highest after theUnited States and Britain,and proportionately one ofthe highest among NATOmember states making up

the force. Many NATO coun-tries, led by the UnitedStates, intend to keep advis-ers in Afghanistan beyondthe end-2014 departure ofmost foreign combat troops,but MacKay said there wereno plans to maintain anyCanadian personnel. He saidCanada’s feeling leavingAfghanistan was “one of in-trospection in what we takeaway from this mission forfurther counter-insurgencymissions, which are very dif-ficult to say the least ... It wasa major, major undertakingfor our country.”

Afghan mission will prompt NATO reform: Canada minister

LONDON ReuTeRS

An obsession with sex anddivorce is running rampantthrough British society, theBishop of London said onSaturday, urging Britons touse the Queen’s DiamondJubilee celebrations as achance to reflect and changetheir ways.

Taking stock of thechanges in Britain sinceElizabeth came to thethrone in 1952, RichardChartres said rapid eco-nomic and progress had notcome without its cost.“Promiscuity, separationand divorce have reachedepidemic proportions in oursociety,” Chartres said in apamphlet written to mark

this weekend’s festivities.“Britain is indeed a bet-

ter place today materiallythan ever before, but thatmaterial progress has beenat the expense of our rela-tionships with one another,our communal life.”

The senior Anglicanchurchman, a close friend ofheir-the-throne PrinceCharles who delivered thesermon at his son PrinceWilliam and Kate Middle-ton’s wedding last year,urged politicians to clampdown on the power of mar-ket forces and to give civicbodies the room to flourishand improve society.

“Government needs todo less, and do more to en-able all the various bodieswithin civil society to do

what they do best,” he said.“But at the same time it isalso necessary to rein in themarket which has ruledsupreme over the last 30years.”

The Church of Englandhas turned up the volumeduring the economic down-turn, urging the govern-ment to consider the socialimpact of its harsh austerityplans, particularly in cuts toyouth services.

Archbishop of Canter-bury Rowan Williams, thespiritual leader for 80 mil-lion Anglicans around theworld, used his ChristmasDay address last year towarn Britain risked tearingitself apart.

Williams also criticisedthe coalition government

for acting radically withoutthe mandate to do so,backed the anti-capitalistprotest movement and sup-ported calls for a “RobinHood” tax on banks.

Chartres, seen as a po-tential successor toWilliams who steps down atthe end of this year, said therate of youth unemploy-ment was “appalling” -more than one in five peo-ple between the age of 16and 24 are out of work inBritain. “This is a cripplingdebt economy and it cannotgo on. A jubilee reflectiontells us that the new normalmust see us living withinour means and not borrow-ing from tomorrow in theway we have been doing inthe past,” he said.

g fears of increased spillover violence from Syriag long-standing grievances between neighbourhoods fuel strife

Brits obsessed withsex and divorce

Naveed, mukhtar

swap offices to

improve each

other’s affairs

government as arepresentative of theCouncil of CommonInterest had informed theLahore High Court benchthat it had no reservationover Kalabagh Dam.On the other hand,Naveed Qamar was alsofacing severe criticismfrom within the rulingcoalition and even PrimeMinister Yousaf RazaGilani and President AsifAli Zardari had expresseddispleasure with hisperformance.Finance Minister DrAbdul Hafeez Shaikh hadclaimed that the Waterand Power Ministry hadno mechanism in place toevaluate actual quantumof load shedding and thegap between scheduledand unscheduled loadshedding.To the PM’s surprise,Qamar had notcontradicted Shaikh’sclaim.

Continued fRom page 1NEW DELHI

OnLIne

India has agreed to discuss thesensitive Siachen issue at theJune 11-12 secretary-levelmeeting with Pakistan, push-ing the Sir Creek issue – an-other flashpoint – way downthe agenda.

Observers said the reasonfor resetting the priorities wasthat Siachen was a far morecomplex issue than Sir Creekand any leeway on that frontmay give Pakistan the domesticleverage necessary to pushahead with the peace process,according to The HindustanTimes. The Siachen glacier isknown as the world’s highestbattlefield where troops havebeen deployed at elevations ofup to 22,000 feet. Sir Creek, a96 km disputed strip of waterin the Rann of Kutch, dividesthe Kutch region between Gu-jarat and Sindh province ofPakistan.

Pakistan wants to knowhow far India will be flexible onthe Siachen issue before reveal-

ing its cards on Sir Creek. Itwas at the insistence of Pak-istan that the talks on Sir Creekscheduled in May had to bepostponed and the new dateshave not yet been decided, thepaper said. It said New Delhiwas deciphering the confusingsignals from across the border,including that of the neighbourbacking out of signing the newvisa agreement at the last mo-ment. The Siachen troop with-drawal issue gainedprominence in Pakistan follow-ing a massive avalanche bury-ing a Pakistan Army camp inSiachen on April 7, resulting inthe death of 129 soldiers and 11civilians.

After the incident, Presi-dent Asif Ali Zardari advocatedfor troop withdrawal fromSiachen during his informalmeeting with PM ManmohanSingh in April. The foreign sec-retary-level meeting is ex-pected to prepare the groundfor external affairs minister SMKrishna’s Pakistan tour proba-bly in the third week of July toreview the peace process.

Siachen withdrawaltops agenda for talkswith Pakistan: India

ISLAMABADInP

The Supreme Court (SC)will hear on June 6 petitionsfiled against the ruling ofNational Assembly SpeakerFehmida Mirza on the dis-qualification of Prime Min-ister Yousaf Raza Gilani inthe wake of his conviction ina contempt of court case.

A three-member benchof the apex court will hearthe petitions on June 6

(Wednesday).Pakistan Tehreek-e-In-

saaf (PTI) Chairman ImranKhan and Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz’s KhwajaAsif and Zafar Ali Shah sub-mitted the petitions againstthe ruling of the NAspeaker.

The petitioners are ofthe view that the ruling wasunwarranted after thecourt’s sentence to the PM,hence, the speaker’s rulingshould be annulled.

SC to hear petitions against NA

speaker’s ruling on June 6 ISLAMABADOnLIne

Prime Minster Yousaf RazaGilani has postponed hisvisit to the UK due to his en-gagements in the country.

He was to attend the Di-amond Jubilee Celebrationsof Queen Elizabeth’s throne.

According to the PM’sHouse, the visit has beencancelled due to Gilani’s en-gagements in the countryand the Senate chairman willrepresent Pakistan at theceremony instead of the PM.

Gilani postpones UK visit

JeRuSALeM: Young Israelis chant slogans during a protest in demand for social justice on Saturday. Thousands of Israelis

marched in different cities across the country in protest against the high costs of living in Israel. AFP

ISB 03-06-2012_Layout 1 6/3/2012 1:44 AM Page 4

05Sunday, 3 June, 2012

News

NEWS DESK

A Pakistani woman has been given a newnose more than 32 years after she was at-tacked by her razor-wielding husband,Daily Mail reported.

Allah Rakhi, 48, has spoken out aftersuccessfully undergoing an operation to re-place her nose, which was sliced off whenshe was just 16.

Forced into a brutal marriage whilestill a teenager, Allah Rakhi eventually fledthe marital home - but her husband caughther and mutilated her in a fit of rage.

The issue of female mutilation washighlighted last week when the plight ofAfghan teenager Aesha Mohammadzai -who also had her nose cut off - made inter-national headlines.

Allah Rakhi’s successful operation at aPakistan hospital was carried out with thehelp of the Acid Survivors Foundation(ASF).

‘When I found out I had to live the restof my life without a nose I wanted to die,’Allah Rakhi said.

‘I couldn’t imagine it. But now I am sohappy. When I saw my new nose I justwept and wept.’

Allah Rakhi was just a teenager whenshe married farmer Gulam Abbas, who wasthe same age, as part of an arranged mar-riage.

‘I knew of Gulam for many years aswe’d grown up in the same area, but I hadnever spoken to him until after we wereman and wife,’ Allah Rakhi said.

She was a very simple, uneducatedteenager who had only been taught to runa home and be a good wife. But married lifewas not what she had hoped for.

‘From the moment we started to live asman and wife I could tell he had no respect

for me or what we had married into,’ AllahRakhi added.

‘We argued almost straight away andhe always forced me in bed. I also knew hewas doing immoral things with other un-married women in my area.’

But when Allah Rakhi went on to haveher children, son Azhar Abbas, and daugh-ter Uzma Shahzadi, she wanted so desper-ately to make her marriage work.

She refused to moan to her parents.And even though many people know ofGulam’s lifestyle it’s a part of their cultureto put up with it and carry on.

However, 32 years ago, Allah Rakhiremembers her husband spending thesummer day hanging around the homefeeling ill.

‘Even though he was moaning of afever his brother made him go to work andplough the fields,’ she remembered.

‘So when he came home he wasn’t ina good mood. I stupidly asked him whyhe bothered going to work if was so illand he just beat me.’

As soon as he left the house thatevening, Allah Rakhi decided she’d hadenough and tried to escape to her par-ent’s house.

But as she was walking to the busstand she saw Gulam sitting in a barber’sand he spotted her.

Terrified, she ran. But Gulam caughtup with her and cornered her in the forest.

He pinned her down and suddenlyflashed a razor blade – one she assumed hehad picked up at the barber’s.

Before Allah Rakhi could do anything,she remembers him slicing off her nose.

She can recall him shouting: ‘I’m goingto kill you and I’ll confess all to the police.Our children will live with someone else.’

But thankfully Allah Rakhi’s screams

drew attention and locals came running.Allah Rakhi remembers falling in and

out of consciousness as tension grewaround her. Neighbours tried to help her tohospital. But Gulam stopped them afraid ofpolice tracing his crime.

Eventually, Allah Rakhi was carriedhome, screaming in agony.

Neighbours managed to call a doctorbut he refused to treat her other than pre-scribe some sleeping pills for fear of the po-lice and the severity of the crime.

‘That night is a complete blur,’ she said.‘I can only remember patches. The painwas excruciating, I remember feeling numbto it in the end as I lay hour after hour withno help.’

Eventually, 24 hours later, wordreached Allah Rakhi’s parents and theymarched Allah Rakhi straight to the civilhospital, in Wazirabad.

Allah Rakhi remained in the hospitalfor three months.

‘There were some very sad days. Ifound it hard to go on,’ she said. ‘But I hadto find the strength to carry on for my chil-dren.’

Gulam Abbas, 50, was eventually ar-rested and jailed before he managed to begfor a pardon and was released a year later,under Pakistan law.

Within months Allah Rakhi had a di-vorce granted and tried to carry on with herlife.

Six years later she happily marriedJavid Iqbal but he later died and AllahRakhi found herself alone again.

‘It was hard to live with no nose,’ sheadded. ‘There were many things I couldn’tdo, like smell, taste, breathe properly. Butmost of all I found it hard to go out, peoplewere always staring and pointing.’

Many cases of violence against womenin Pakistan go unpunished. Human rightsgroups report that Pakistani women suffersevere discrimination and widespread do-mestic violence. They’re constantly callingon the government to revive efforts to crim-inalise the act.

After many years of suffering in si-lence, Allah Rakhi, with the help of herdaughter, turned to the Acid SurvivorsFoundation.

And on April 2, this year, Allah Rakhiwent into surgery, surrounded by herfriends and family, at Benazir Bhutto Hos-pital, Islamabad.

Surgeon Professor Hamid Hussain,took flesh and bone from her rib cage andabdomen and created a new nose.

‘All I remember from that day is wak-ing up and seeing everyone smiling downat me. It was a happy day,’ she said.

Allah Rakhi now lives with her son anddaughter-in-law. But with her new-foundconfidence thanks to her new nose shewould like to get a job and buy her ownplace and regain some independence.

‘I just want to live the rest of my lifein peace now. I never want to marryagain, I just want happiness for myselfand family,’ she said.

‘when I saw my new nose I just wept and wept’g teenage Pakistani bride who had nose hacked off by angry husbandundergoes corrective surgery - 32 years after brutal attack

WASHINGTONInP

TWO top Americanlawmakers haveasked US Presi-dent BarackObama to with-

hold all aid to Pakistan untilthe country releases Dr ShakilAfridi who helped the CIAtrack Osama bin Laden.

“Until Dr Afridi is releasedfrom prison, we urge you towithhold all unallocated for-eign assistance money for Pak-istan remaining for this fiscalyear. We must send a messagenot only to Pakistan but to anyother countries seeking to useAmerican taxpayer dollars tosubsidize their subversion ofAmerica’s global priorities,”Senator Rand Paul and Con-gressman Dana Rohrabacher,said in a letter to Obama. Acopy of the letter was releasedto the press on Saturday.“Through the use of a door-to-door vaccination drive, Afridibravely assisted US intelli-gence services in identifying

the residents of the Abbottabadcomplex which was later con-firmed to be the home of binLaden,” the two Congressmensaid. “For his work in support-ing the successful search forOsama bin Laden, Dr Afridideserves our appreciation. Un-fortunately, the government ofPakistan has made it a point topunish Dr Afridi for helping toexpose Osama bin Laden’sPakistan hideout in the mostsevere manner possible,” theysaid. They said in response tothis situation, they would beproposing legislation to with-hold all foreign assistancemoney to the government ofPakistan until Dr Afridi is re-leased.‘VERY CONCERNED’: ean-while, a State Departmentspokesman said the US was“very concerned” over DrAfridi’s welfare. “We’re obvi-ously very concerned about hiswelfare. It’s something thatwe’ve conveyed, obviously,from the highest levels of theState Department,” State De-partment spokesman Mark

Toner told reporters at hisdaily news conference.

“The Secretary (of State)spoke about this. We also areraising it bilaterally throughour Ambassador, CameronMunter, who I believe met withthe foreign minister just a dayor so ago and raised this issueagain. We’re being very clearthat we’re concerned about hiswelfare,” he said. Toner saidthat the US has not yet receivedany response on the clarifica-tion it sought from Pakistan onthe reason for Afridi being sen-tenced.

“We’re still seeking clarityon what these new charges,where they came from andwhat, in fact, they mean. As faras I know, we’ve not receivedany response, but it hasn’tchanged our basic position,which is that we think he’sbeing unfairly, unjustly held.”

“And what he did was inPakistan’s interest, as well asour own, which is to take downone of the biggest mass mur-derers of the 21st century,”Toner said.

US lawmakers demandwithholding of all US aiduntil Dr Afridi’s release

BAHAWALPuR: A girl lights candles to pay tribute to the Pakistan Army officers and soldiers who embraced martyrdom in Gayari

Sector at Martyrs Monument. INP

KP government asks federal govtto shift afridi to another jail PESHAWAR: In the wake of threats to the life of Dr Shakil Afridi, who was sentenced to 33years of rigorous imprisonment and accused of helping the CIA in confirmation of al Qaeda chiefOsama Bin Laden’s presence in Abbottabad, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government hasapproached the federal government asking that Afridi be shifted to another prison house. “Wehave informed the federal government of threats to Afridi’s life,” Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ChiefMinister Amir Haider Khan Hoti remarked in a brief chat to reporters here on Saturday. Hotisaid Afridi had become a high-profile prisoner in the province and there existed hard linemilitants in Peshawar and other jails of the province. On such grounds, he said the provincialgovernment had established contacts with the federal government. “Dr Shakil Afridi is a prisonerof the federal government therefore, he may be shifted to another jail.” Hoti however claimedthat “efforts are underway for making safe and secure all prison houses in the province”. He saidthe government was doing its best to avert a Bannu like incident in the future. STAFF RePORT

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06Sunday, 3 June, 2012

News

KABULAFP

NATO special forces res-cued two foreign womenand killed five kidnappersin a “breathtaking” pre-dawn raid Saturday on a

cave in Afghanistan’s remote and moun-tainous Badakhshan province.

The women, who worked for Swiss-based charity Medair, were named asBriton Helen Johnston, 28, and KenyanMoragwe Oirere, 26. Two Afghan col-leagues kidnapped with them on May 22were also freed unharmed.

All are well, Afghan officials toldAFP.

“The mission to rescue the hostageswas launched in the early hours of todayunder cover of darkness with the assis-tance of helicopters,” a spokesman forNATO’S International Security Assis-tance Force said.

“The hostages were being held in acave in the mountains.”

British forces took part in the opera-tion, which was authorised by PrimeMinister David Cameron, the British for-eign office (FCO) said.

The prime minister said he gave thego-ahead on Friday afternoon, after be-coming increasingly concerned aboutthe safety of Johnston and her col-leagues.

“It was an extraordinarily brave,breathtaking even, operation that ourtroops had to carry out,” he said. “I paytribute to their skill and dedication.”

The victims were seized at gunpointwhile travelling on horseback acrossrugged terrain to relief project sites inBadakhshan in northeasternAfghanistan. Cameron said the rescueshould serve as a warning to terroristsacross the world who take British citi-zens hostage.

“They should know if they takeBritish citizens as hostage we do not payransoms, we do not trade prisoners.They can expect a swift and brutal end.”

Badakhshan provincial governmentspokesman Abdul Mahroof Rasikh toldAFP “the kidnappers were a group ofcriminals with links to the Taliban”.

He said they had demanded a cashransom and the complete closure of allforeign aid agencies in Badakhshan.

Rasikh, who said the informationcame from local elders who were medi-

ating with the kidnappers, did not knowhow much ransom was demanded, butsome reports have put the figure at $4million.

The two women were now receivingsupport from British embassy staff inKabul, while the two Afghan aid workerswere returning to their families inBadakhshan, the foreign office said.

“Staff from the FCO remain in closecontact with Helen’s family who are un-derstandably hugely relieved at thisnews.

“We are also in touch with Mor-agwa’s family and with the Afghan andKenyan governments, and Medair havebeen in close contact with the families ofthe Afghan aid workers.”

ISAF commander General John R.Allen thanked the Afghan interior min-istry for its “tremendous supportthroughout this crisis”.

He said the mission “exemplifies ourcollective and unwavering commitmentto defeat the Taliban”.

“I’m extremely grateful to theAfghan authorities and proud of theISAF forces that planned, rehearsed, andsuccessfully conducted this operation.”

Impoverished Badakhshan has been

mainly quiet but there have been pocketsof Taliban-led insurgency against theWestern-backed government of Presi-dent Hamid Karzai.

In August 2010, the Taliban claimedresponsibility for killing a group of eightmedical aid workers in Badakhshan,claiming they were “Christian mission-aries”.

The successful rescue must havecome as an enormous relief to the Britishgovernment and ISAF commanders, ashostages have died in botched rescue at-tempts in the past.

In October 2010, British aid workerLinda Norgrove was killed by a grenadethrown by a US soldier during an at-tempt to rescue her from Taliban kid-nappers.

And in 2009, an Afghan interpreterworking for the New York Times waskilled in gunfire as his British reportercolleague was rescued.

The kidnappers in the latest casewere heavily armed, the ISAFspokesman said, but none of the res-cuers was wounded. He could not saywhether the militants had managed tofire a shot before being killed in the swiftassault.

Daring raid frees aid workers

in Afghanistan

SINGAPOREAFP

The United States will shift the bulk of itsnaval fleet to the Pacific by 2020 as partof a new strategic focus on Asia, Penta-gon chief Leon Panetta told a summit inSingapore on Saturday.

The decision to deploy more ships tothe Pacific Ocean, along with expandinga network of military partnerships, waspart of a “steady, deliberate” effort tobolster the US role in an area deemedvital to America’s future, he said.

And he insisted the switch in strategywas not a challenge to China, saying bothcountries had a common interest in pro-moting security and trade in the region.

Panetta said “by 2020, the Navy willre-posture its forces from today’s roughly50/50 percent split between the Pacificand the Atlantic to about a 60/40 splitbetween those oceans.

“That will include six aircraft carriersin this region, a majority of our cruisers,destroyers, littoral combat ships, andsubmarines.”

The US Navy currently has a fleet of285 ships, with about half of those ves-sels deployed or assigned to the Pacific.Although the total size of the overall fleetmay decline in coming years dependingon budget pressures, Pentagon officialssaid the number of naval ships in the Pa-cific would rise in absolute terms. TheUnited States also planned to expandmilitary exercises in the Pacific and toconduct more port visits over a widerarea extending to the Indian Ocean.

Panetta was speaking to mainlyAsian defence officials and officers from27 countries at the Shangri-La Dialogue,an annual summit organised by the Lon-don-based International Institute forStrategic Studies.

Unlike previous summits, China

chose not to send a high-level delegationto the event, prompting speculation as towhat lay behind the move.

Since President Barack Obama un-veiled plans in January to shift towardsAsia, the Pentagon has offered up few de-tails about how it intends to achieve itsgoal. Saturday’s announcement on thefuture of the US fleet provided the clear-est evidence yet of a shift to Asia, and thespeech appeared designed to reassure al-lies that Washington will back its much-publicised “pivot” to Asia with tangibleaction.

But US Senator John McCain, at-tending the summit in Singapore, said hewas concerned the US Navy lacked theresources to carry out Obama’s vision. “Ithink the commitment is excellent butthe reality is the defence cuts that thisadministration is contemplating willmake it very difficult to maintain thatkind of commitment,” McCain told re-

porters.In his speech, Panetta said budget

woes in Washington would not affect theplan to tilt towards Asia, which he saidwould take years to fully realise.

The United States planned new in-vestments in capabilities needed “toproject power and operate in the Asia-Pacific,” including radar-evading fighterjets, a new long-distance bomber, elec-tronic warfare and missile defences, hesaid. “But make no mistake — in asteady, deliberate, and sustainable way— the United States military is rebalanc-ing and is bringing an enhanced capabil-ity and development to this vital region,”he added.

Amid a growing US-China rivalry,American officials privately acknowledgethe push for a larger military footprint ismeant to reinforce US diplomacy whenconfronting Beijing’s assertive stance inthe South China Sea.

But Panetta insisted that Washingtonwanted dialogue with Beijing and notconflict. “Some view the increased em-phasis by the United States on the Asia-Pacific region as some kind of challengeto China. I reject that view entirely,” hesaid. “Our effort to renew and intensifyour involvement in Asia is fully compat-ible... with the development and growthof China. Indeed, increased US involve-ment in this region will benefit China asit advances our shared security and pros-perity for the future.”

In laying out core US principles inthe region, Panetta made clear Washing-ton opposed any attempt by Beijing tomake unilateral moves in its push for ter-ritorial rights in the South China Sea,where a number of countries have over-lapping claims. Disputes had to be re-solved through agreed-upon rules amongall countries and based on internationallaw, he said.

DeRA GHAZI KHAn: Activists of Saraikistan Qaumi Movement hold a demonstration in support of their demands on Saturday. ONLINE

US to shift most of naval fleet to Pacific by 2020

tribal elders

back sentence

for dr afridi PESHAWAR

STAFF RePORT

Endorsing prosecution’s allegationsagainst Dr Shakil Afridi, a number ofelders from Bara tehsil of Khyber Agencyalleged that Afridi was in contact with thebanned Lashkar-e-Islam and wasresponsible for killing hundreds ofinnocent people and challenging the writof the state.“Dr Shakil deserves capital punishmentas he is involved in the killing of innocentpeople,” said Haji Masal Khan and HajiMohammad Amin during a pressconference on Saturday.Introducing themselves as members ofbanned Ansarul Islam, a rival to the LI,the tribal elders said Dr Shakil was notonly involved in each and every criminaland terrorist act of the LI, but had evenprovided financial assistance to its chiefMangal Bagh.“During clashes between AI and LI, DrShakil had to declare emergency in civilhospital Dogra, Bara,” they remarked,adding that “leading commanders of LIwere treated at the hospital”.They said Afridi refused treatment andadmission of AI volunteers in thehospital.They also accused him of providingtreatment and first aid facilities to LImilitants in far flung Tirah valley in2007-2008.The tribal elders said Afridi alsocontributed in strengthening of the LIthrough reconciliation between MuftiMuneer Shakir and Mangal Bagh.“Similarly, he had handed over medicinesand other relief goods to LI during crisesand clashes in Bara. To a question, all four tribal eldersconfirmed that they were not part of theofficial jirga consulted by Bara assistantpolitical agent during the trial of DrAfridi.However, they supported the jirga and itsdecision, which they said was inaccordance with of tribal traditions.

govt employees

with another job to

be sacked, jailedISLAMABAD

InP

The government has decided to sack andimprison those employees who are workingin another organisation while beinggovernment employees, a private TVchannel reported on Saturday. As many as400,000 people across the country have twojobs. In Sindh alone, about 40,000 peoplework in two organisations, one beinggovernment-owned. The government hasdemanded details of such employees fromNADRA. Sources said such employeeswould be sacked from both jobs and wouldbe jailed for six months.

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Sunday, 3 June, 2012

ISLAMABADAPP

Federal Information andBroadcasting MinisterQamar Zaman Kaira onSaturday said that themedia should make the

previous rulers accountable for fail-ing to produce electricity during theirtenures and widening gap betweenits demand and supply.

“You make us accountable forour performance. You should alsoneed to question those who havefailed to produce even a singlemegawatt of electricity from 1999 to2007,” Kaira said while replying to aquestion during the post-budgetpress conference addressed by Fi-nance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.

He said those who could not exe-cute any power production project were

public offenders for which they shouldbe questioned. The federal informationminister said the PPP government hadcome into power through people’svotes, so they better realised their ago-nies because of the power outages.

He said for bridging the wide gapbetween demand and supply of theelectricity, both short and long-term

strategies were required. Kaira saidthe government had already startedNeelum Jhelum Power Project, TharCoal power Project and DiamerBhasha Dam, besides alternative en-ergy projects to exploit maximumpower potential in the country. Hesaid the democratic government waswell cognizant of its responsibilitiesand was dedicatedly working to over-come the power crisis. However, theminister said this struggle could bemade successful only through coordi-nated efforts and asked the Punjabgovernment to implement the deci-sions made in the energy conference.

The energy conference had unan-imously decided to announce twoweekly holidays across the countrybesides ensuring closure of marketsat 8pm; however, the Punjabprovince had not yet implementedthe decision.

RAWALPINDISTAFF RePORT

The Rawalpindi Arts Council, in collab-oration with The Lasanians, organiseda cultural programme to create aware-ness among children about the cultureof Pakistan here on Saturday.

Raja Hanif Advocate, member, Pun-jab Assembly, was the guest of honorwhile Resident Director Waqar Ahmedwas also present on the occasion. Thestudents of The Lasanians presentedthe culture of four provinces, includingGilgit Baltistan, in perfectly decorativedresses, said a press release issued here

by RAC.It said that children also performed

tableaus and regional cultural dances.In his presidential address, Raja Hanifapplauded the efforts of RawalpindiArts Council to inculcate spirit of na-tionalism among the children. He saidthat it was a great honour for him towatch such a great performance by thestudents of The Lasanians.

Raja Hanif further said introductionof regional culture is a good form ofextra-curriculum activities. He addedsaid that it is obligation for everyone togive preference to nationalism ratherthan provincialism.

FEDERAL MINISTERS CONDOLEWITH RAzA RABBANI: FederalMinister for Hosing and WorksMakhdom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat andFederal Minister for Human ResourceDevelopment Chaudry Wajahat Hus-sain have expressed their heartfelt con-dolences over the sad demise ofParliamentry Committee on NationalSecurity (PCNS) Chairman SenatorRaza Rabbani’s father.

The senator’s father, Mian Ata Rab-bani, passed away at the age of 90 onSaturday, said a press release issuedhere. The ministers prayed to AlmightyAllah to place the departed soul in eter-

nal peace and give courage to the familyto bear this loss. ML-LM DEMANDS CREATION OFHAzARA PROVINCE: PML-Like-minded Steering Committee ChairmanSalim Saifullah Khan has said that hisparty would strongly oppose the referenceregarding the creation of two provinces inPunjab, if the president of Pakistan didnot set up a commission for the creationof Hazara province. He urged PresidentAsif Ali Zardari to send a reference to theNA speaker to form a commission on Haz-ara province like South Punjab and Ba-hawalpur provinces, adding this is thevoice of the people of Hazara.

14 arrested from

guesthousesISLAMABAD

STAFF RePORT

The city police arrested 14 accused, in-cluding four women, for their alleged in-volvement in immoral activities.These accused were arrested from thelimits of Margallah and Golra police sta-tions. A spokesman for Islamabad policesaid that on a tip off, a team of Margal-lah police station, headed by SHO In-spector Muhammad Hussain Lasi, raidedHouse No.19, street No 6, Sector F-8/3,and arrested 10 persons for their allegedinvolvement in immoral activities. The police nabbed two Russian girls,identified as AIDA and ELENA and onelocal woman. Meanwhile, Golra policeteam, headed by ASI Asif Khan, raided aguesthouse in Sector E-11/4 and arrestedfour accused, including a woman, fortheir alleged involvement in immoral ac-tivities. Cases have been registeredagainst these nabbed persons and fur-ther investigation is underway fromthem.

Nullah lai to be desiltedRAWALPINDI

OnLIne

The WASA has launched Rs 5 millionprojects to desilt Nullah Lai. The WASAstarted this project on self-help basis asthe provincial government has not pro-vided any monitory assistance for thisproject.The project was lunched to avoid fromthe disasters of rainy seasons. MDWASA Rana Shaukat Hayat said thatblockage in water flow under bridgeswould be cleaned during first phase ofthe project. He said that the cleanlinessof the Nullah would be completed be-fore monsoon season.

CULTURAL SHOW HELD AT RAC

Past rulers responsible for neglecting power sector: Kaira

anti-poliodrive to beginnext week

RAWALPINDIOnLIne

The city district government is all set toadminister anti-polio vaccine to 520,000children during a five-day drive startingon June 5.The arrangements have been finalized inthis regard as 52 polio centers has beensetup in different rural health center ofthe district while the government has de-ployed 1360 mobile teams to administeranti polio vaccine, the drive would con-tinue for five days.A meeting was held in the DCO office,headed by EDO Finance and Planning, Mat-tie Ullah Khan, to review all the arrange-ments made by the government for thepolio drive while EDO health and other rep-resentatives of the health department alsoparticipated in the meeting.

ISLAMABAD: Picnickers enjoy themselves at chhattar Park as the country is facing a spell of hot weather. ONLINE

ISB 03-06-2012_Layout 1 6/3/2012 1:44 AM Page 7

08 Sunday, 3 June, 2012

Islamabad

low

high

fRIday SatURday SUNday42°C I 23°C 40°C I 23°C 29°C I 21°C

PRayeR tImINgSfajr Sunrise Zuhr asr maghrib Isha

03:32 05:08 12:04 15:48 19:00 20:36

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hIlal-e-ahmeR 9250488

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bomb dISPoSal 9270698

fIRe bRIgade CeNtRe 16

CIVIl defeNCe 9262830

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blood baNK

PImS blood baNK 9261272

Poly ClINIC blood baNK 9209123

ComPlaINt

waPda 111-000-118

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RaIlwayS

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ReSeRVatIoN 9273614

RaIlway PolICe 1333

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flIght eNqUIRy 114

PIa ReSeRVatIoN 111-786-786

CollegeS / UNIVeRSItIeS

INteRNatIoNal ISlamIC UNIVeRSIty 9260765

bahRIa UNIVeRSIty 9260002

NUml 9257677

qUaId-e-aZam UNIVeRSIty 90642098

aRId agRICUltURe UNIVeRSIty 9290151

fJwU 9273235

RIPha INteRNatIoNal UNIVeRSIty 111510510

NCa RawalPINdI 5770423

PUNJab law College 4421347

mahRoof INt 2222920

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Poly ClINIC 9218300

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ShIfa INteRNatIoNal 4603666

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holy famIly 9290319

ExhIBITIoN of PoTTERY

exhibition of Pottery bySheheReZade alamon tuesday 8 may, 2012the exhibition will countinue till 24 June, 2012Closed friday, Saturday & Public holidays

DRUMMINg CIRCLE

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 6pmwe are having a great time, and want toshare the good time with you! ourdrumming circle has children ...

SUNNy

weatheR UPdateS

44°C

date: may 08 - JUNe 24, 2012 VeNUe: NatIoNal aRt galleRy (fRee)

21°C

DIRT UNDER MY NAILS

Please join us this thursday, 10 may 2012for mohsin Shafi's first Solo Show atKhaas art gallery at 5:00 p.m onwards.do spread the word and bring yourfriends to meet the artist in person andsee his work.

date: may 10 - 21, 2012VeNUe: KhaaS aRt galleRy (fRee)

RAWALPINDIOnLIne

THE number of beggars, especiallychildren and women, is increas-ing in the city. Beggars are seenat every traffic signal and it is acommon sight. One can see lot of

children and women thronging vehicles ask-ing for alms.

Beggars use novel techniques to attractpeople as their sole purpose is to take moneyfrom them. The increasing trend of beggary attraffic signals is due to lack of attention fromthe concerned authorities.

People opined that use of children in suchactivities should be banned strictly. People urg-ing the civic administration, demanded that theconcerned authorities should take strict actionagainst the responsible persons.

They said if action to tackle the menace isnot taken seriously, it would attain alarmingproportions over a period of time.

REPLACING FIzzY DRINKS WITHWATER CAN LOWER DIABETES RISK:You want to stay away from diabetes? Thenstart drinking plain water instead of fizzydrinks and juices as it could help stave off themetabolic disorder, scientists claim.

However, adding water to a sugary bev-erage will not make any difference, accord-ing to the researchers at the Harvard Schoolof Public Health.

The researchers, who looked at thedrinking habits of about 83,000 women formore than a decade, found that those whodrank plain water instead of the sweetenedbeverages had seven to eight per cent re-duced risk of developing diabetes.

Lead researcher Dr Frank Hu said it`swell established that sugary beverages arebad for diabetes risk.

“People have recommended drinking plainwater instead of sugar-sweetened beverages,and the question is whether this kind of substi-tution has any impact on diabetes,” he wasquoted as saying by the Daily Mail.

For the study, Dr Hu and his team collecteddata from the massive Nurses Health Study,which tracked the health and lifestyle of 82,902women for over 12 years. Over time, about2,700 of them developed diabetes.

The amount of water women drank did notseem to influence their diabetes risk – thosewho drank more than six cups a day had thesame risk as women who drank less than onecup a day. However, sugar-sweetened drinksand fruit juice were tied to a higher risk of dia-

betes – about 10 per cent higher for each cupconsumed each day.

The researchers estimated that if womenreplaced one cup of fizzy drink or fruit juicewith one cup of plain water, their diabetes riskwould fall by seven to eight per cent.

“While it is not a huge reduction in the riskas diabetes is so prevalent in our society, evenseven or eight per cent reduction in diabetesrisk is quite substantial in terms of the popula-tion,” Dr Hu said.

Dr Hu`s study, published in the Americanjournal of clinical nutrition, also found thatunsweetened coffee or tea might be a good al-ternative to sugary beverages.

The researchers estimated that replacingone cup of a carbonated drink or fruit juicewith one cup of coffee or tea could reduce therisk of developing diabetes by 12 to 17 per cent.

Dr Hu said the study is important in point-ing out that fruit juice is not an optimal substi-tute for soda or other sugar-sweetened drinks.He said: “The reality is those juices contain thesame amount of calories and sugar as softdrinks.”

“The bottom line is that plain water is oneof the best calorie-free choices for drinks, and ifthe water is too plain, you can add a squeeze oflemon or lime.”

Begging on the rise

at traffic signals

RAWALPInDI: People collect water from a water tanker on Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Road. ONLINE

ISB 03-06-2012_Layout 1 6/3/2012 1:44 AM Page 8

09Sunday, 3 June, 2012

Islamabad

ISLAMABADOnLIne

WHILE it is known thatvitamin D deficiencyis not good for health,a new study has nowsuggested that too

high a level of the essential vitamin isnot good either.

The new research from the Univer-sity of Copenhagen is based on bloodsamples from 247,574 Copenhageners.

Vitamin D is instrumental in help-ing calcium reach our bones, thus less-ening the risk from falls and the risk ofbroken hips. Research suggests that vi-tamin D is also beneficial in combatingcardiac disease, depression and certaintypes of cancers. The results from astudy conducted by the Faculty ofHealth and Medical Sciences now sup-port the benefits of vitamin D in termsof mortality risk. However, the re-search results also show higher mortal-ity in people with too high levels ofvitamin D in their bloodstream:

“We have had access to blood tests

from a quarter of a million Copen-hageners. We found higher mortality inpeople with a low level of vitamin D intheir blood, but to our surprise, we alsofound it in people with a high level of vi-tamin D. We can draw a graph showingthat perhaps it is harmful with too littleand too much vitamin D,” explainedDarshana Durup, a PhD student. If theblood contains less than 10 nanomol(nmol) of vitamin per litre of serum,mortality is 2.31 times higher. However,if the blood contains more than 140nmol of vitamin per litre of serum, mor-tality is higher by a factor of 1.42. Bothvalues are compared to 50 nmol of vita-min per litre of serum, where the scien-tists see the lowest mortality rate.

Darshana Durup emphasised thatwhile scientists do not know the causeof the higher mortality, she believesthat the new results can be used toquestion the wisdom of those peoplewho claim that you can never get toomuch vitamin D.

“It is important to conduct furtherstudies in order to understand the rela-tionship. A lot of research has been

conducted on the risk of vitamin D de-ficiency. However, there is no scientificevidence for a ‘more is better’ argumentfor vitamin D, and our study does notsupport the argument either. We hopethat our study will inspire others tostudy the cause of higher mortality witha high level of vitamin D,” said Durup.

“We have moved into a controver-sial area that stirs up strong feelingsjust like debates on global warmingand research on nutrition. But our re-sults are based on a quarter of a millionblood tests and provide an interestingstarting point for further research.”

The study is the largest of its kind– and it was only possible to conduct itbecause of Denmark’s civil registrationsystem, which is unique in the Nordiccountries. The 247,574 blood samplescome from the Copenhagen GeneralPractitioners Laboratory.

“Our data material covers a wideage range. The people who participatedhad approached their own generalpractitioners for a variety of reasonsand had had the vitamin D level in theirbloodstream measured in that context.

dark chocolate

can help beat

heart diseaseISLAMABAD

OnLIne

Consumption of dark chocolate on adaily basis can reduce cardiovascularevents, such as heart attacks andstrokes, in people with metabolic syn-drome (a cluster of factors that in-creases the risk of developing heartdisease and diabetes), a new studyhas found. Cardiovascular disease is the leadingcause of death worldwide. Darkchocolate (containing at least 60 per-cent cocoa solids) is rich inflavonoids – known to have heartprotecting effects - but this has onlybeen examined in short term studies.So a team of researchers from Mel-bourne, Australia, used a mathemati-cal model to predict the long-termhealth effects and cost effectivenessof daily dark chocolate consumptionin 2,013 people already at high risk ofheart disease. All participants hadhigh blood pressure and met the cri-teria for metabolic syndrome, but hadno history of heart disease or dia-betes and were not on blood pressurelowering therapy.With 100 percent compliance (bestcase scenario), the researchers showthat daily dark chocolate consump-tion could potentially avert 70 non-fatal and 15 fatal cardiovascularevents per 10,000 people treated over10 years.Even when compliance levels were re-duced to 80 percent, the number ofnon-fatal and fatal events potentiallyaverted was 55 and 10 per 10,000people treated over 10 years, andcould still be considered an effectiveintervention strategy.The model also suggested that 42 dol-lars could be cost effectively spentper person per year on dark chocolateprevention strategies and could beused for advertising, educationalcampaigns, or subsidising darkchocolate in this high risk popula-tion, they added.The authors stress that only non-fatalstroke and non-fatal heart attackwere assessed in their analysis, andthat the potential effects on othercardiovascular events, such as heartfailure, are yet to be tested.Also important, they say, is that theseprotective effects have only beenshown for dark chocolate (at least 60-70 percent cocoa), rather than formilk or white chocolate, probably dueto the higher levels of flavonoidsfound in dark chocolate. Neverthe-less, they conclude that the bloodpressure and cholesterol lowering ef-fects of plain dark chocolate “couldrepresent an effective and cost effec-tive strategy for people with meta-bolic syndrome (and no diabetes).”

‘more fundsneeded to endpower shortages’

ISLAMABADOnLIne

The government should have allo-cated sufficient funds for the devel-opment of water and power sector inthe announced budget 2012-13 tocope with energy crisis.There is dire need to initiate variouspower projects to bridge supply anddemand gap as it is high time to de-velop all available energy generatingresources including hydel, thermaland wind to end the energy crisis,Yassar Sakhi Butt, president, Islam-abad Chamber of Commerce and In-dustry (ICCI), said during a meetingheld at the chamber’s house.The ICCI president said that the in-dustrial sector could not wait forlong, so the government should pres-ent quick solution to fill in the gapbetween demand and supply of en-ergy. He said the government shouldhave allocated more funds in the an-nounced budget for tapping TharCoal potential because these reservescould play a pivotal role in meetingenergy crises both in long term andshort term which would enhance in-dustrial competitiveness due to costeffectiveness. He expressed concern over the alloca-tion of very diminutive money whichhas been set for the development ofwater and power sector, which is only 6percent of the total budget outlay andalso stresses a mini-budget everymonth in the form of gas and electricityprice hike is destroying the industryand measures should be taken on im-mediate stop on these mini budgets. Yassar Sakhi Butt said the govern-ment should also strive hard to attractforeign investors by giving them lu-crative incentives to invest in energyprojects in Pakistan, aiming to bringdown expensive oil-based energy gen-eration in the country.He said Pakistan’s electricity de-mand was increasing by 7 per centannually and allocation of smallamount of funds in the budget 2012-13 for new dams and water reser-voirs was insufficient. The ICCI president said that high-power tariff, a burden on businessesand consumers, could be reduced byutilizing the available water re-sources more efficiently as the wateris the most viable and cheapest wayto produce electricity.

Excessive vitamin D not good for health

RAWALPInDI: Paramedical staff of government-run hospitals protests in favour of their demands at Benazir Bhutto Shaeed Hospital. INP

ISLAMABAD: A delegation of traders’ union calls on AJK President Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan. INP

ISB 03-06-2012_Layout 1 6/3/2012 1:44 AM Page 9

10Sunday, 3 June, 2012

Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: PML-n MnA Shireen Arshad Khan leads a protest against the federal government. ONLINE

ISLAMABADAPP

Atwo-day national consulta-tion on green economy hasproposed a set of recom-mendations to the govern-ment ahead of the United

Nations global summit on sustainable de-velopment (Rio+20) conference, in Brazilnext month, said a press release here onSaturday.

The consultation, jointly organised bySustainable Development Policy Institute(SDPI), One UN Joint Programme on Envi-ronment, Ministry of Climate Change,Heinrich Boll Stiftung (HBS), Lead Pakistanand Action Aid Pakistan, brought togetherall the stakeholders and gave them an op-portunity to review measures taken by thegovernment so far and identify areas of con-cern that need to be dealt with through pol-icy and legislative interventions.

The consultation also sought to de-velop a consensus on broad guidelines forthe official Pakistani delegation toRio+20 to ensure that Pakistan partici-pates in the summit as a responsiblemember of the world community.

The UN’s summit is the largest plat-form on sustainable development thatwill bring together more than 130 headsof state and government.

The national consultation led to fruit-ful exchange of views and the delegatesproduced two sets of recommendations,one for national decision makers and theother for the international community.

The resolution is the outcome of draftrecommendations carefully reviewed andprovisionally approved during the con-sultation. The final resolution incorpo-

rates the suggestions of all stakeholders.The resolution in its national-level

recommendations, urges that greeneconomy should bind together the threepillars of sustainable development, so-cial equity, economic prosperity, andenvironmental conservation. It alsourges the industrial and business com-munity to agree on a coherent agendaon sustainability challenges and initiatethe process for drafting a plan of actionon green economy in Pakistan. The res-olution asks the federal and provincialgovernments to support sustainable de-velopment and green economy througha strategic approach, including imple-mentation of National Sustainable De-velopment Strategy (NSDS), effectivesystem of devolution and the establish-ment of a national fund on climatechange and green development. GORGAIJ HAILS DECISION TO PAYTUITION FEE OF BALOCHISTAN,GB STUDENTS: Federal Minister forPostal Services Sardar Umar Gorgaij hashailed the federal government decision topay tuition fee of PhD and master stu-dents belonging to Balochistan, FATAand Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).

Talking to APP here Saturday, helauded increase in Balochistan’s share upto 9.09 percent.

He also appreciated the governmentfor financing 11,500 jobs for Baloch youthand allocating Rs 700 million for the con-struction of 100 small dams in Balochis-tan. Sardar Gorgaij said the budget wouldboost economy. He hoped that povertywould decrease in the country. Hestrongly condemned the agitation ofPML-N parliamentarians on the occasionof the budget presentation.

RAWALPINDIAPP

The authorities concerned have been di-rected to accelerate pace of constructionwork at Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiol-ogy (RIC) so that the new building couldbe inaugurated on June 30, the datefixed by Punjab Chief Minister ShahbazSharif.

The meeting of the steering commit-tee of Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology(RIC) was held here in the medical su-perintendent’s office. It was decidedthat the demand note of IESCO for theconnection of electricity would be de-posited before June 10 to avoid any in-convenience and delay in gettingelectricity connection.

The meeting was chaired by SteeringCommittee Chairman MNA MuhammadHanif Abbasi and attended by MS Dr

Shoaib Khan, DHO Dr Khalid Rand-hawa, NESPAK Resident EngineerMuhammad Hanif Khokhar, contractorfirm’s director, Masud Qureshi and rep-resentatives of IESCO. The meeting wastold by IESCO officials that the stores ofthe IESCO would be closed from June 10and after that date it was very difficultto issue the material, therefore, demandnote for electricity connection must bedeposited before this date.

The meeting directed the director ofthe contract firm to make necessaryarrangements in this connection at theearliest. It was also decided that a meet-ing of the steering committee wouldagain be held in RIC on June 13 to re-view the progress in the matter.

The steering committee chairmandirected the firm to get the design ofelectrical subdivision by June 4 from thedepartment concerned and construction

of the building should be started imme-diately after the receipt of the design.Hanif Abbasi directed the contract firmto apply for the telephone connectionsimmediately so that the approved tele-phone connections could be installedbefore the inauguration of the newbuilding of RIC by June 30 as alreadyannounced by Punjab Chief MinisterShahbaz Sharif.

It was also decided that the revisedload of electricity for the ongoing projectof RIC should be submitted by June 5after getting approval of the consultantcompany, NESPAK. Abbasi directed thePHA to visit the RIC building and fi-nalise the horticultural designs forplanting plants and grass with the con-sultation of the NESPAK resident engi-neer and the contract firm director sothat the greenbelts of RIC should be de-veloped as early as possible.

RAWALPINDIAPP

Punjab Emergency Service (Rescue 1122)Director General Dr Rizwan Naseer saidthat as many as 37,412 emergency victimswere rescued by the emergency serviceduring May 2012.

The emergency data revealed thatthe service has rescued over 37412 vic-tims of emergencies while carrying out38,613 rescue operations during lastmonth in 36 cities of Punjab, whilemaintaining its average response time.

The DG, chairing a meeting held toreview performance of the emergencyoperations of all the districts of Pun-jab, said that it was being observedthat the numbers of emergencies areincreasing day by day.

The Rescue 1122 responded toemergency 13186 calls, road traffic ac-cidents, 21,390 medical emergencies,1790 fire incidents, 61 building collapseincidents, 1950 crime, 98 drowning in-cidents, 129 special rescue operationsand nine explosions.

The 38,613 rescue operations in the

month include 6,973 rescue operationsin Lahore, 3,904 in Faisalabad, 2,929in Multan, 2,505 in Gujranwala, 1,497in Bahawalpur, 1,166 in Rawalpindi,1,382 in Dera Ghazi Khan, 1,180 in Sar-godha, 814 in Rahim Yar Khan, 1,260in Sahiwal, 1,146 in Sialkot, 425 inMurree, 1,360 in Jhang, 545 in TobaTek Singh, 701 in Muzafargarh, 491 inRajanpur, 503 in Mianwali, 630 in Pak-pattan, 678 in Kasur, 447 in Gujrat,649 in Bahawalnagar, 306 in Jhelum,711 in Attock, 660 in Khanewal, 423 inVehari, 301 in Chakwal, 657 in Okara,542 in Hafizabad, 682 in Sheikhupura,749 in Lodhran, 356 in Nankana Sahib,372 in Khushab, 295 in Mandi Bahaud-din, 531 in Narowal, 397 in Layyah and446 in Bhakkar.

The Emergency Service, Rawalpindiresponded to 1,166 emergencies and res-cued 1,052 victims of different emergen-cies in May.

The Rescue Service responded to522 road traffic accidents, 89 fire inci-dents, 34 crime calls, three drowningincidents and 512 to medial emergen-cies in district Rawalpindi.

ISLAMABADOnLIne

At least 17 gamblers were arrested in thearea of G-9 here the other day while po-lice also recovered stake money, mobilephones and computers from them.

Margalla police raided two places ofgamblers in G-9 Markaz at Mehran plazaand arrested 17 gamblers red handed andrecovered Rs 36,000 as stake money, 13mobiles, a computer and different gam-bling equipment from them.

SSP Islamabad Muhammad YousafMalik and Inspector General of PoliceBinyamin had ordered all SHOs to launcha crackdown in the area to end all im-moral activities.

In the light of his direction, ASP Mar-galla Sarkal Mustansar Feroze, under thesupervision of SHO Muhammad HussainLassi, Abdul Sattar Sub Inspector, Ma-teen Chaudhary ASI, Abbas head consta-ble and others, cordoned off the G-9 areaand nabbed 17 gamblers. Separate caseshave been registered against them.

National consultation

proposes recommendations

for global summit

17 gamblers nabbed from G-9

Completion of Cardiology Institute before 30th ordered

Rescue 1122 rescued 37,412emergency victims in May: DG

ISLAMABAD: Jinnah Avenue presents a deserted look at noon due to the hot weather in the capital on Saturday. INP

ISB 03-06-2012_Layout 1 6/3/2012 1:44 AM Page 10

Editor’s mail 11Sunday, 3 June, 2012

economic chaos?Let me congratulate PM Gilani, his

cabinet, especially his brilliant financeteam for giving to the world a perfectblue print of what can be called Con-trolled Flight Into Economic Collapse orCFIEC (much like something similar inaviation: CFIT-Controlled Flight IntoTerrain). This is likely to develop from atheory into a law, provided there is notimely intervention to reverse this proj-ect by elements bitten with the loyaltycum integrity and ethics bug.

The main feature of this economictheory are:

(1)Primary environmental require-ments are poor governance to cripple thestate industry, trade, health and educa-tion by denying them cheap electricalpower (2) Put unqualified cronies tohead state enterprises so that they canbleed them effectively. (3) Ensure thatonly those who have split loyalties andhold dual nationality or residential statusare at helm of affairs especially in FBR,State Bank, NB, NEPRA etc (4) Ensurerapid depreciation of local currency anddouble domestic and foreign debt in fouryears so that the country is on verge ofdefault. (5) Create ethnic polarisation sothat no effort can be made on a unitedfederal front to create impediments inthe scheme of things. (6) Ensure that im-ports escalate, while exports are drasti-cally reduced by destroying localindustry. (7) Allow law and order to dete-riorate in major financial hubs likeKarachi, Faisalabad, Lahore, Hyderabad,Peshawar and Quetta so that there is nocohesive attempt for economic revival.(8) Destroy all state-run health, educa-tion, public transport, roads and alter-nate power generation developmentprojects by subversive bureaucraticmeasures and divisive political intriguessuch as new provinces. (9) Make surethat flight of capital exceeds the quantumof foreign exchange repatriated by expa-triates having already created a wide gapbetween exports and imports. (10) De-stroy and annihilate all accountabilitysystems in place and make all efforts todefy judiciary if it intervenes to createhurdles in attaining the objective ofCFIEC.

MALIK TARIQ ALILahore

ministries’ reshuffleReports published in the media sug-

gest appointment on contract of a retiredbureaucrat as head of NEPRA, who aschairman FBR recorded the highest taxevasion in Pakistan under his tenure andhis role in covering up investigations intomissing 70,000 containers scam.

As if this was not enough, the min-istry for Water and Power is beinghanded over to Minister for Defence,under whose watch PIA losses escalatedby over 200 percent, CAA came underscrutiny of EU, overstaffed PIA wasstuffed with surplus staff on jobs thatwere sold to highest bidder and who hasjust concluded the signing of a controver-sial deal for induction of 5 more B777s inviolation of PPRA rules, while the na-tional airline's Trans-Atlantic and Euro-pean operations have been slashed. Thisis a man who made Hajj and Umra an or-deal for pilgrims.

RAHEEM LALA BUTTKarachi

for the sake of system!Reports published in the media sug-

gest appointment on contract of a retiredbureaucrat as head of NEPRA, underwhose tenure as Chairman FBR the high-est tax evasion in Pakistan was recorded.The man also had an alleged role in halt-ing investigations into the 70,000 miss-ing containers scam.

As if this was not enough, the min-istry for water and power is beinghanded over to the minister for defence,under whose watch, PIA’s losses esca-lated by over 200 percent, CAA cameunder the scrutiny of EU, PIA wasgrossly over-staffed and jobs were sold tothe highest bidder and who has just con-cluded the signing of a controversial dealfor induction of 5 more B777s in viola-tion of PPRA rules, while the airlinesTrans-Atlantic and European operationshave been slashed.

IRFAN BUTTKarachi

dr Shakil afridiThis is with reference to news that

“Pakistani diplomats abroad find it hardto explain government’s stance on (DrShakil) Afridi” (02 Jun).

A controversy is going on account ofpunishment awarded to Dr Shakil Afridi,a Pakistani doctor, who allegedly ran afake vaccine programme being on thepay roll of CIA in tracking Osama binLaden, still to be proved whether theseDNA tests at all were helpful or not.

He was arrested after the raid onOsama bil Laden, tried under FCR andsentenced to 33 years of imprisonment.Abbottabad does not fall in the jurisdic-tion of any agency. The governmentmust explain as to why he was allowedto be tried under FCR.

He was tried on act of treason that isnot understandable at all. Gen Mushar-raf in the line of fire has admitted thathe handed over people as per the de-mand of USA and received handsomemoney in return.

Was his act lawful and did not at-tract provisions of treason? Dr ShakilAfridi was paid for doing something forthe same country, then why this distinc-tion? In fact, Dr Shakil should have beenawarded the highest award for helpingCIA in getting closer to track Osama bilLaden, who was declared the greatestterrorist and US waged a war againsthim in Afghanistan to track and kill himbut failed and killed thousands of peo-ple.

Not only this, the war entered in ourhomeland killing thousands of innocentpeople and equal number of soldiers. Weare still paying the price.

Dr Afridi did what our ISI failed todeliver. He was operating in the closeproximity of Pakistan Military Academywith huge troop’s concentration. He canbe asked as to why he did not take in toconfidence our own agency.

The answer is very simple. If he haddone that he would have been taught les-son of his life; secondly, being part ofCIA he could not dare perform role ofdouble agent. The US along with allies isrightly perturbed on the sentenceawarded to Dr Afridi and they believethis was a harsh punishment. This issuehas further aggravated the situation andrelations between Pakistan and US shallfurther deteriorate.

The government’s stance that he wastried for his links with militant organiza-tion and not for CIA is a unique logic. Ifit was known to militant organization,he could have been easily eliminated bythem because militants have the abilityto strike any target anywhere at any timesuiting to their convenience.

Pakistan is running short of time.We must hurry up and take proper lineof direction before it gets too late. Clo-sure of NATO supply route has not re-sulted in starving NATO troops inAfghanistan; they are being fed as usualexcept the cost has increased.

Who is the loser? Not the US butPakistan. State decisions are not takenon emotions but on ground realities.Sooner or later, Dr Afridi, like RaymondDavis, shall be flown to USA. Won’t it bebetter we take the credit to undo thewrong? Dr Afridi should be regarded asa hero as he helped Pakistan and its in-telligence agencies in catching Osama bilLaden.

MUKHTAR AHMEDKarachi

I sympathise with dr Shakil afridiI sympathise with Dr Shakil Afridi. I

do that because despite acting as CIAagent and working for them for makingsome personal fortune for himself andhis family he is now stuck in a Peshawarjail just because his client (CIA) had apoor exit plan. Having achieved what hedid, he should have been an honouredguest of state department/CIA/Pentagonin USA and delivering lectures in stateuniversities on how human dignity, jus-tice and impartiality forced him to coop-erate with USA to hunt down OBL. Infact, CIA would have helped him explainto the world how ‘betraying your country’is a lesser crime when the beneficiary ofsuch a betrayal is a peace seeking world.There they would have further utilizedhim by projecting him as a participator, afacilitator and an extremely importantsource that made getting OBL possiblefor USA. Without the poor man knowingit, he would have become an instant heroand a darling of millions of all those ag-

grieved hearts who longed for and soughtjustice after 9/11 tragedy and ultimatelyfound their ‘William Tell’ who lead themto it.

Without his help confirming thepresence of family of OBL in the com-pound in Abbottabad, the May 2 opera-tion may not have been undertaken ; atleast not in a manner it was that causedhuge embarrassment to the armed forcesand this country. Considering this, is thestance of the state of Pakistan correct incase of arrest and punishment of DrAfridi? Frankly, we actually don’t have aclear stance that our state has taken sofar. What we have is what our state hasdone in the past itself to receive Ameri-can assistance and rewards for its coop-eration with it. Doesn’t this set an agendafor individual greed and gluttony? WhenState follows no morals how can it expectit’s subject to do so?

We had an Afghan policy that took au turn after 9/11. The state benefited

from US rewards such as; PresidentMusharaff’s visit to Washington in Feb2002 and again in 2003 to Camp Davidwhere $3 billion economic and militaryaid package was announced by PresidentBush for Pakistan.

We were declared as major nonNATO ally in 2004. In 2005 resale of F-16’s was promised. By 2007 Pakistan hadreceived $10 billion aid from US since its“Afghan Policy U Turn” which was morethan all aid provided by USA to Pakistanbetween 1948 and 2001. These were re-wards to the state for ‘pulling the plug’ onthe critical life line leading to Talibanthrough Pakistan.

USA believed in our actions that re-sulted in the capture of many Al-Qaidaoperators. We were being rewarded untilwe 'were doubted'. Blamed that we knewmore then we told Americans', graduallyUS started taking matters in its ownhands. The influx of CIA operators inPakistan and the unilateral drone attacks

were the demonstration of US distrust onPakistan.

It is in this context that we shouldview the choice that both USA and MrShakil Afridi made. The doctor did nottrust his own state as much as the Ameri-can's didn't. He towed American line ofthinking of 'not sharing vital and credibleinformation with Pakistan for the fear ofloss and compromise'. Why did the man-agement of our Afghan Policy force theUSA and the world to distrust us somuch?

Was Dr Shakil Afridi also not pre-pared to trust the State more than theUSA, if so why? To find the answers tothese questions and to give a fair oppor-tunity to the individual to seek justice theState must arrange for his trial in the reg-ular courts. Though, we may never knowthe actual truth but seeking it is the rightof every Pakistani.

MUHAMMAD ALI EHSANKarachi

Thanks Allah that the budget session is over. Three days ofcelebrations finished with post budget press conference. Specialtransmissions are over and we are back to normal. Heartiestcongratulations to Yousaf Raza Gilani and his mentor Asif AliZardari for setting a milestone in the history of Pakistan for pre-senting 5th budget.

This will go down in the history of Pakistan as an impossi-ble deed come true. The budget was crap. Revision and reduc-tion of duties and taxes on component of medicines and fewother things will hardly matter to the common man.

Power outages, sky rocketing prices of basic eatables, mis-management in almost all public utilities, corruption and law-lessness are there as they were, if not enhanced in these days.This budget festival was well guarded by Mehreen Raja at theNA, when she stood besides Hafiz Sheikh replacing Raja PervaizAshraf. Mehreen looks like a judo player anyway whereas Per-

vaiz has recently dyed his hair and was wearing a new necktieafter some 16 months of hibernation. Increase and decrease ofduties and taxes, exemptions and increase is salaries can onlybring illegitimate support of the players in the government inforthcoming national elections.

It will not bring even an iota of benefit to the suffering poor.Budget was a festival; it was a formality and something for PPPcandidates to speak on in public rallies, else it was nothing but apiece of crap. Yes, 70 billion more in Benazir Income Support tomake the ailing nation beggars even in 5th year. Well done thelovers of democracy and constitution. Poor Fozia is critically illand cannot appear on TV to give you all a pat on the back. Waittill she returns. Meantime, take the services of Mehreen,Sharmila and Shazia after all they are not bad looking.

AMJAD H MIRZALahore

Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. Fax: +92-42-36298302. E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk. Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively.

In the common interest?It is very encouraging that the CCI

has told the Lahore High Court that ithas no objection to the Kalabagh dam. Itis encouraging that the CCI has said thisbecause Bhasha dam is no substitute forthe Kalabagh dam (not because of its alti-tude which is high enough) because no ir-rigation canals can be taken out from itbecause of the hilly terrain. No canalscan be taken out from any dam on theIndus except from Kalabagh dam. This iswhat makes Kalabagh dam so importantif North Punjab is to receive any waterfrom any dam on the Indus, be it Tarbela,Bhasha, Akhori, Bunji, Dassu, Skardu orKatzara. As for the opposition to the Kal-abagh dam, the PPP and ANP are hostageto the anti-dam sentiments that havebeen aroused in the public mind by un-scrupulous leaders with self-serving andbaseless statements (e.g. Sindh will be-come a desert, Nowshera will drown etc).Unless efforts are made to educate thepublic about the issue, nothing can beachieved. Investigative reporting by thepress is the need of the day.

KHURSHID ANWERLahore

Kudos for mqmIt is welcome news that MQM has

now seen the need to building of Kal-abagh dam which would give Sindh 37percent share of its stored 6.1 MAF ofwater while it has only 15 percent irri-gated area at present of Pakistan. Previ-ously, it had not supported Kalabaghdam for unknown reasons which wassuicidal for Sindh as it would have de-prived Sindh of irrigating a millionacres of virgin land.

It is better late than never. It hasdawned on MQM in national interestthe dire need of Pakistan for water andenergy being the third largest party ofPakistan comprising intelligent edu-cated people.

They are to be congratulated ontheir new stand and are expected tofollow it through in the teeth of oppo-sition of ANP and other nationalisticparties that have vested political in-terests at the behest of India that doesnot want us to store our own share ofIndus waters while it build scores ofdams on western rivers to deprivePakistan of its sweet river waters andenergy potential that is badly needed

for its economic survival.Dr MUHAMMAD YAQOOB BHATTI

Lahore

terminal problemI would like to describe one of the

most important problems of Karachi uni-versity. There is only one bus terminalfor use by the students of the varsity. Amajority of students use the bus service.Thus, those students whose departmentis nearer to the terminal reach very easilybut it is very difficult for those studentswhose departments are not close to theterminal. There must be 4 or 5 terminalsmade operational so that the studentscan reach easily to the respective termi-nal that is closest to their department.

Moreover, the current terminal hasno adequate waiting facility for students.The current and proposed terminalsshould be outfitted with proper shelteredwaiting facilities and a canteen so thatthe students don’t have to brave the ele-ments unnecessarily.

I hope the authority will look in tothis matter as soon as possible.

SUMERA ANDLIBKarachi

The budget festival

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Comment12Sunday, 3 June, 2012

Arif NizamiEditor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36298305-10 Fax: 042-36298302Karachi – Ph: 021-34330811-3 Fax: 021-34330900Islamabad – Ph: 051-2287414-6 Fax: 051-2287417

Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Let’s be practical, please

friendly advice

Countries maintain relations with other states notbecause they feel any emotional compulsion but toprotect their interests. It would only be irrational toconsider that any state generally, and powerful

states particularly, would just be friends with you becauseyou have something in common, like a border or language.Rather it makes sense to look at states and their relationsthrough the prism of their interests (which are mostlyclouded by carefully crafted diplospeak). To be fair toforeign policy mandarins, it is the right thing to do.

Amid all the cheering for our longstanding internationalfriendship with China and its vocal support for Pakistan’sefforts in the war on terror, we seem to forget that Chinaalso has a stake in seeing the war end and it will not go easyon Pakistan if the fallout starts affecting it in an adversemanner. In this context, the Chinese Foreign Minister YangJeichi’s message that has asked the Pakistani military andpolitical leadership to take it easy against the Americansmakes sense. The message was supposed to be a secret onebut some media outlet got a hold of it somehow. The factthat this message contains sentiments antithetical toChina’s public posturing doesn’t come as a surprise to thediplomatic community as they know that most of the dealsare finalised behind closed doors while public statementsare meant only for public’s consumption.

It is not like China has given us a cold shoulder; it has infact taken a prudent approach to give us practical advice onan issue that affects China, US and Pakistan in more thanone way. Beijing’s exports to the USA and its vast foreignexchange reserves have intertwined it to the US which isfeeling the heat because of Pakistan’s resistance inreopening the Nato supply routes. Pakistan, on its part, isfacing a severe budgetary crisis because of the US’ blockadeof its civil and military aid.

This message is a fine example of a piece of friendlyadvice one state can offer to the other. Realistically, can weactually afford to take such a strong position against theUS? If the answer to the question were an unequivocal yes,only then we could’ve continued on this collision course; butsince it is not, Islamabad needs to start sorting out thismess and wear a conciliatory hat.

The League gets physical

N for noisy

While politicians in Pakistan never tire ofexpressing their commitment to democracy,they have yet a long way to go before theyimbibe a democratic culture. The rumpus

created in the National Assembly on Friday violated thebasic democratic norms of tolerance and patience. Thesituation that led to fisticuffs was created consciously by thePML(N) which had meticulously prepared its war planahead of the budget session. Whatever happenedunderlined the fact that those who planned the show hadlearnt little from the past. The PML(N) would have beenwell within its right if it exposed the flaws in the budgetonce the debate on the document, which its members toreinto pieces, started. To create uproar so that nobody couldhear the finance minister indicated the undemocraticmindset that does not allow the expression of a differentpoint of view. To disrupt the session in disregard of theSpeaker’ ruling and to advance threateningly towards theprime minister which led to scuffles with the ruling partymembers was no service to democracy. The brawl will onlygladden the forces opposed to democracy.

What is highly unfortunate is the way the Leader of theOpposition has justified the unjustifiable. He has describedthe sloganeering during the session as “the voice of thepeople.” What is even more disturbing is his warning thathis party would continue to put up similar shows duringfuture sittings of the budget session. That this remained aone party show- as none from the other opposition groupsjoined - indicates the PML(N)’s isolation. This should makethe party leadership review its negative strategy. Withelections due within months, the opposition parties need tosit with the government to take crucial decisions regardingthe appointment of a permanent head of the ElectionCommission and a neutral caretaker set up. They shouldalso approach their constituencies with their policydocuments rather than merely with negative slogans.

Ch Nisar needs to realize that the example he has setdoes not bode well for democracy. It opens the way for anynoisy party however small to stop the functioning of the NAby the use of vocal cords and muscle power.

Foreign Press

Granny’s getting married

I’ve good news and bad news. De-pends on how rosy or jaundicedyour lens is. I’m not in a goodmood. In fact, I’m in a very badmood, not least because I got the

much-advertised injection in my lens, myleft eyeball. The good news is that it’sworking because my sight is beginning toimprove. Suddenly, I can read somewhatfor God’s sake, albeit out of focus, but thatis still something. It didn’t hurt much, notafter the amount of local anesthesia theyput in it. More to the point, Dr. Zeba is avery good doctor. “Don’t move your eye-ball,” she said. “Just look at me.” That’seasy, I thought, for she’s pretty, but I stillmoved my eyeball when I started seeingmulti-coloured bubbles, like a kaleido-scope. So I got red eye, most impressive,but frightening.

‘Suo motoed’ Atiqa Odho went withme to the hospital and created somethingof a stir, especially after the success of herlast play, ‘Humsafar’. I didn’t see it butI’m told that half the army did. They evenput up big screens. She should make an-other one called ‘Kutchery’ based on heralleged bottles. It too would be a hit. Justlike I did Imran the future prime minister,I have given her a puppy too, which shehas named ‘CJ’. No, it doesn’t stand forwhat you think; it stands for ‘chal jhoota’.It has only one testicle. But you don’tknow the sort of stir she is going to createcoming Friday. “I have to tell you that I’ma big fan,” said Dr. Zeba. “Hers or mine,”I asked honestly. “Hers,” she said firmly.That hurt more than the injection. Ishould cook my famous ‘aloo gosht’ forthis girl one day.

I got into a bad mood because afterwaiting for hours I could hardly hear thebudget speech, the fifth and probably thelast by this government, though you neverknow. If they extend their term as theconstitution permits then to they mightdo another one yet. The National Assem-bly was akin to a wrestling pit. Punchesflew, as did kicks, abuse and invective. Iwas waiting for someone to pull a luxuri-ant wig off. That would have been some-thing. Opposition’s fat ladies held up hugeanti-government placards. Treasury’s fatladies tore them up. How were they ableto get the placards in, I wonder? Onwhose side is parliament’s security? Ourpretty Benazir lookalike Speaker shouldtry and find out. Just because such badbehavior happens in other parliaments is

no license. Why don’t we copy some oftheir good things also?

The good news is that under the cir-cumstances Hafeez Shaikh gave us a goodbudget. ‘Good’ is relative. If you’re in op-position the budget is bad for starters,mindlessly, simply because they are in op-position. That’s the ‘beauty’ of democracy.Comes their turn and their budgets are nobetter, usually worse. When this govern-ment started, the opposition was its part-ner and gave it the finance minister. Itwas he who bequeathed us the horribleforeign exchange reserve position thatHafeez Shaikh lamented. In a clumsy ef-fort to get his own back for bequeathinghim an economy in the grave, the gentle-man announced that the Musharraf gov-ernment’s figures were fudged. Capitaltook flight, some $5 billion of it in a week.That’s how the foreign exchange got bad.Thank God the gentleman lasted only afew weeks else we wouldn’t have surviveda longer bout of what the World Bankcalls ‘Darnomics’. He takes it as a compli-ment, by the way. Do you need any fur-ther proof that I’m in a bad mood,lampooning poor Ishaq Dar like this?

Our central bank governor did no bet-ter when he put the skids on the Rupee bytelling The Wall Street Journal two daysbefore the budget that we would not beable to service the IMF’s loans. Next day,he took refuge in remittances that are thestraw that saves us from drowning. Withclowns like this shooting their mouths offany finance minister would be hard-pushed to run an economy.

The budget was good because it wasn’tbad. What the hell does that mean? Itmeans that it could have been worse.Under this vote-attracting system, it couldhave been no better. This being electionyear, toughness was out of the question.Austerity is difficult in a democracy whosestaple is votes. Why else did they have toremove Greece and Italy’s democraticallyelected governments and replace themwith unelected ‘technocrats’, whateverthat animal is? Because elected govern-ments cannot take tough measures. Thebest part is that Hafeez Shaikh couldmake a budget at all, what with fightingmultiple wars, little fiscal space, loansdrying up and America stealing ourmoney. Thank God, I say, for this shouldforce us to live within our means. It wouldbe tough for the charmed few but life asusual for the deprived many. ‘Ai tair-e-la-hooti, uss rizq say maut achchi; jis rizqsay aati ho, parwaz mein kotahi’. Thosewho know Urdu – and I mean know – willunderstand what Iqbal is saying.

People think that a budget is somekind of magic potion that will put every-thing right. They look for ‘tax free’, what-ever that means. No new taxes? They lookfor ‘relief’, whatever that means. Morehandouts? Not paying the full price forwhat you consume? They look for de-crease in prices, forgetting that our infla-tion is largely imported, caused byinternational oil prices. Yes, some pricescan come down if they remove obscene in-direct taxes on them, but how can youwhen few pay taxes, especially agricultur-

ists who contribute some 23 percent toour GDP? They look for job creation, for-getting that without direct investment fewjobs will be created and in our unfriendly,unstable environment there will be littledirect investment. We need annual GDPgrowth of 7 percent to create jobs for newentrants into the job market. Ours isabout half that.

If you want magic potent I will give itto you later, maybe next week if my eyeshold up and my mood improves. It wouldbe futile though knowing that we don’thave it in us to do it, not before we arementally decolonised, we whose Ka’aba isin Washington, not Mecca.

Funny news is the cute announcementthat the prime minister has decided toturn the PM’s sprawling bad Spanish-clone of a mansion into a place of learn-ing. Wouldn’t it have been better if he haddone so when his term started, not whenit’s ending? Is this a parting kick to thenext prime minister? What if his holinessthe Mukhdoom becomes prime ministeragain in a country where anything canhappen? But wait for the parting kick tous. I’m told that they are going to make anew prime minister’s house in place ofour one and only National Library. Whata joke, if true. ‘Tu Shaheen Hai basairakar paharon key chitanon mein’. Forgetit.

Very good news is that the presidenthas decided to donate his organs – afterhe’s dead, obviously, not now. If true, Iwant his brain. It’s an incredible brainthat has given multiple haircuts to all andsundry, especially to all the Queen’shorses and all the Queen’s men. It’s unbe-lievable. Science would learn a lot byanalysing our president’s brain, like theydid Einstein’s. It was heavier than normal.

The best news is that next Friday theAPML’s Atiqa Odho is getting married tothe PTI’s Samar Ali Khan, better knownas ‘Sammy’. I call him Sammy Davis Jr.He’s an architect. My puppy to Imranstarted speculation that he and Musharrafwere cooking something, just because thepuppy’s revered mother lives on the gen-eral’s farm. Now Atiqa’s puppy could startthe notion that her wedding could be a‘marriage merger’ of the two parties. Nosuch thing, so speculators better cool it,though in this country anything couldhappen. My wife and I are going toKarachi for the nuptials, not least becauseI am slated to be her ‘vakil’ since I had asmall part to play in this her third enter-prise, his second. He is about to become agrandfather; Atiqa is already a grand-mother. We must have a photograph ofthe blushing bride (I wouldn’t bet on it,the blushing part that is) with her grand-son on her lap. I will put it on my Face-book page. We have a saying in Punjabi:‘Nani nain viya keeta, burra keeta. Karkay chud ditta, hor burra keeta’ –‘Granny got married, she did bad; she lefthim, she did worse’. One hopes and praysthat this time they will live happily everafter. Ameen.

The writer is a political analyst. He can becontacted at humayun.gauhar786@gmail.com

By Humayun Gauhar

Oh yeah, the budget was passed too

The debate over allowing or disallowing of whitening ofundisclosed sums of money is a strong one. The pro-posed provision for legalising moneys that is off the

books envisages a payment of a flat penalty @10 percent. Thisfacility of making black money white is likely to take effect inthe next fiscal despite strong reservations of the various bod-ies representing the business community. The reasons forsuch opposition are obvious.

On the one hand the government is pressing ahead withwidening the tax net and encouraging people and commercialentities to pay what is due to deepen the State's coffers; si-multaneously it is extending the scope for legalising incomegenerated illegally. The latest move is bound to send mixedsignals to those who remain outside the tax brackets for itsmells of double standards. Furthermore, how exactly doesthe government intend to legalise ill-gotten money when it issignatory to international anti-money laundering statutes re-

mains to be seen. The fact that such undisclosed sums arecommonly associated with corruption, crime or other illegalactivities is not lost on anyone. More importantly, granting ofsuch facility year after year encourages, even the otherwisehonest tax payer to reconsider paying taxes. When one may'whiten' one's money at a flat rate of 10 percent as opposed tothe multi-layered tax slabs that exist under the tax laws, doesit not make more sense to go with the latter?

Despite the government's plea that black-money-turned-white could potentially help rebound the subdued stock mar-ket, the fact remains is that untaxed money is simplyimpossible to control. So long as we don't find an antidote tothe temptation to retain black money, we won't be able to con-trol its black money. The lure of it stems from the fact that itcan be used in various ways including in politics and influencepeddling to obtain 'favours'. It is possible that vested andpowerful lobbies are pressurising to allow for such facility tobe given, but taking into consideration the ills that far out-weigh the benefits, it is imperative to take stock of such amove.

legalising black moneyThe Daily Star - Bangladesh

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Comment 13Sunday, 3 June, 2012

When does a horse ina race turn dark? Ithas nothing to do

with colour, obviously. Thisoccurs when a horse becomesboth visible and invisible; notbecause it is out of sight, butbecause it is out of mind.Why would Mrs SoniaGandhi consider a dark horseoption in the race for Presi-dent of India when the field isfull of those who claim afairer pedigree, and at leastone of them, Pranab Mukher-jee, would probably make it aone-horse race?

Because every contenderin the many shades of white –pale, dawn-grey, ashen orsaintly bright – carries thehandicap of consequences.Now that paper-white PrimeMinister Manmohan Singhhas, in his prim, half-uttered,half-implied manner, finallyadmitted that RashtrapatiBhavan could be his finest re-tirement benefit plan, let usdo a cost-benefit analysisfrom the perspective of MrsGandhi, who will take all thedecisions, from initial tofinal.

She certainly realises thatthis tired, rudderless UPA 2has crossed its sell-by date asfar as the voter, tortured byinflation and incensed at cor-ruption, is concerned. Thiswould be an honourable exitfor Dr Singh, creating the op-portunity to attempt a des-perately needed newbeginning. Moreover, despitethe fact that his ministersconstitute the most unwhole-some bunch to have evershared a Cabinet table, DrSingh is still broadly accept-able in a non-executive office.

Now for the bad news.

Who can step into the chair tobe vacated by Dr Singh? DrSingh looks depressed now,except when he is abroad, butin 2009 he came as close tolaughing in public as he everhas or will. Even at the heightof his acclaim, there wasnever any debate over theheir, although there was un-certainty over when. At hisfirst press conference, DrSingh offered his chair toRahul Gandhi at a moment’snotice. Rahul Gandhi shouldread Shakespeare: There is atide in the affairs of menwhich when taken at the floodleads on to fortune. Moreprosaically, time and tidewait for no man.

After the Uttar Pradeshelections, the river went dry.Since hierarchy is non-nego-tiable in Congress, an interimPrime Minister can only bereplaced by another interimPrime Minister. This is not aproblem for aspirants, mostof whom would be perfectlycontent even if they could be-come Prime Minister for aday.

The problem is that thereare too many of them. PranabMukherjee is a natural suc-cessor; but Mrs Gandhi willhardly make him Prime Min-ister when she cannot trusthim as president. A K Antonyis closer to her comfort levels,but is hardly the inspirationalorator who can command thewinds to bend to his will. PChidambaram could get thetemporary job, but his repu-tation is swirling in thenether regions; not quite theright signal to send to a coun-try in a punishing mood.

If Mrs Gandhi leaves theCabinet alone, do her chancesof victory in the presidentialelection improve? This, inpractical terms, narrows heroptions down to chairs of theRajya Sabha and Lok Sabha,Vice-President Hamid Ansariand Speaker Meira Kumar.

Both have their merits,but a different sort of handi-cap. Would they be accept-able to all sides of theone-issue coalition that Con-gress needs to elect a presi-dent? The present UPA hasabout 4,60,000 votes in an

electorate of about 11,50,000.It needs to ensure the supportof a semi-ally or two; Mu-layam Singh Yadav is theswing factor who could be de-cisive. Mulayam Singh hashinted that he has a differentMuslim candidate in mind, inwhich case Mrs Gandhiwould have to accept hisnominee as the price for hissupport. Meira Kumar wouldnot be acceptable toMayawati. Each variable hasproblems.

It was all so simple fiveyears ago. An unknown Prat-ibha Patil sailed through be-cause while Congress hadfewer MPs, it had greaterconfidence thanks to betterleadership and popular sup-port.

A battered Congress in2012 might find that when allthe preening is over, MrsPatil would be the least con-troversial runner. Mrs Patil’sreputation is frayed, but thatis hardly hanging offence in aculture where politicians puta spell in jail on their cvs. Hermost important qualificationremains an unshakeable loy-alty to Mrs Gandhi. Mrs Patilbrings a formidable politicaladvantage: Her candidatureprotects the status quo. Everyother choice shifts somehinge in a structure whosefoundations have eroded.

Mrs Gandhi could evenreach out to Opposition withher name; Shiv Sena sup-ported Mrs Patil in 2007 forregional reasons. She couldtempt BJP with a quid proquo offer for the vice-presi-dent’s post. Suddenly MrsGandhi has a dark horsewhich could trip earlyfavourites, with a feint hereand a dodge there. Mrs Patilhas faded from public view,but she could be perchedwhere it matters: In MrsSonia Gandhi’s thoughts. Asthey say, it’s the thoughtwhich counts.

The columnist is editor ofThe Sunday Guardian, pub-lished from Delhi, India onSunday, published from Lon-don and Editorial Director,India Today and HeadlinesToday.

Third eyeBy M J Akbar

Toeing the party line, no matter what

Blind loyaltyBeware the unlikely one

Horse whisperers of Raisina

The National Assemblysession, announcing thecoming year’s budget,

added another blotch onto thealready blemished fabric of ourdemocracy. And by this, I donot mean the staggeringly im-potent budget itself, but themob-fight that broke out on thefloor of the house between theopposition and governmentmembers, under the garb of‘protest’.

Let’s get one clear fact out ofthe way first: the requirementof a ‘BA Degree’ has done noth-ing much to change our politi-cal culture. This episode showsthat it takes more than a pieceof paper to be ‘educated’.

Coming more to the point, itis becoming painfully clear thatin Pakistan, the idea of showingsolidarity and support to one’scadre, party or leadership,trumps all constraints of lawand civility. And this culture, ofproving that one is ‘more loyalthan the king’, cuts across allpolitical parties and (sadly) in-stitutions.

Examples? This episode ofrowdiness is nothing new formembers of PML(N), who inthe past have shown support totheir leadership by ransackingthe Supreme Court and threat-ening judges with physicalharm. Similarly, the prime min-ister’s adamant refusal to writea letter to the Swiss authorities(as ordered by the SupremeCourt), and risking his premier-ship in the process, is a demon-stration of exactly the sameculture that measures loyalty tothe party leader above all otherresponsibilities.

In addition to political par-ties, this idea perseveres just asstrongly across other (more es-

teemed) institutions. Personnelin the Pakistan army, for exam-ple, in fidelity to the doctrine of‘unity of command’, will followand defend the army chief, evenif that entails violating the lawand the constitution (apparentfrom over 30 years of militaryrule in Pakistan).

And perhaps most disap-pointingly, a resurgentSupreme Court that prides it-self on its independence, alsoseems to have fallen prey to thesame ideology of demonstratinginstitutional solidarity – appar-ent from the fact that over thepast three years (since restora-tion of the honorable judges)there has been no voice of dis-sent from any judge, on anybench, in any case (with the ex-ception of a partial dissent fromJustice Nasir-ul-Mulk in theMukhtara Mai’s case). Institu-tional solidarity and consensus,it seems, trumps all other fac-tors.

While it is bad enough thatsuch a ‘culture’ persists in ourdemocracy, the problem (to theextent of the legislature and po-litical parties) got institution-alised through the 18th

Constitutional Amendment,without so much as a murmurof protest from any quarter ofthe society. Through thisAmendment, Article 63A wasincluded in the Constitutionwhich expressly declares thatany member of the Parliamentwho “votes or abstains fromvoting in the House contrary toany direction issued by theParliamentary Party to whichhe belongs” (in relation to theelection of prime/chief minis-ter, vote of confidence, moneybill or constitutional amend-ment) shall “cease to be a mem-ber of the House” upon therecommendation of the “PartyHead” (through the laid-downprocedure). In other words, nomember of the parliament canexercise his or her own mind toindependently support or op-pose a prime ministerial candi-date, a money bill (mostimportantly the budget), or anychange to the constitution ofPakistan. Such decisions, on be-half of all members of the par-liament, are made by the party

(or party head), and no oppor-tunity for debate or deliberationneed be extended in this regard.

Putting this in context of thecurrent parliament, four indi-viduals – Asif Ali Zardari,Nawaz Sharif, Chaudhry Shu-jaat Hussain and Altaf Hussain(none of whom are members ofthe National Assembly!) –could sit in a room together andpick a prime minister, make abudget and transform the entireconstitution, and no member ofthe parliament will be able toquestion or vote against theirdecisions! Is there any reason,anymore, to believe that we livein a democratic system whereeach person’s opinion iscounted as equal to every otherperson?

But despite the abhorrenceof this proposition, Article 63Awas unanimously accepted andendorsed by members of all po-litical parties in the Parliamentat the time of passing of the 18th

Amendment. And perhapsmore disturbingly, when a chal-lenge was made to the 18th

Amendment before theSupreme Court, no one (thelawyers or the judges) sug-gested that inclusion of Article63A affected the ‘basic struc-ture’ of our constitution ordemocracy in any way. For,after all, what concern do par-liamentary workings and dem-ocratic process have with our“basic structure”… which is bet-ter protected by defending theage-old process of appointmentof the superior court judges!

This is symptomatic of alarger culture of institutionaland political loyalty trumpingall concerns of law, reason orethics. What happened on thefloor of the parliament betweenmembers of PML(N) and PPPis, at most, a two-day story inour country. And on the thirdday, there will be some laptopscheme that will overshadowthis rot in our democratic fab-ric.

The writer is a lawyer basedin Lahore. He has a Masters inConstitutional Law from Har-vard Law School. He can bereached at: saad@post.har-vard.edu

By Saad Rasool

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14 Sunday, 3 June, 2012

Shah Rukh Khan

to give IIFA

a missMuMBAI: Shah Rukh Khanwill not be attending theIIFA awards that is beingheld in Singapore in thesecond week of June. Theactor leaves for London onSunday to shoot for Yashchopra's untitled film. Theactor said, “IIFA alwayscomes during the summervacations of my kids. Sothis time will have to miss.I will be shooting inLondon and then my kidswill join me for vacationthere.'' Shah Rukh has beennominated in the bestactor category for ‘Don 2’.His film ‘Ra One’ hasnomination for best musicfor the song chammakchallo. AGencIeS

L OS ANGELES: Films will be front and centrewhen the MTV Movie Awards broadcast livefrom Los Angeles tonight (Sunday). Hostedby comedian/actor Russell Brand, the cere-mony will honour some of the biggest

names in Hollywood. ‘Bridesmaids’ and ‘The HungerGames’ are the top contenders for the golden pop-corn trophies, earning eight nominations each.There will be six new categories, including beston-screen dirtbag and best gut-wrenchingperformance. And this year, there will be plenty ofstar power. ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ stars ChristianBale, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Gary Oldman, alongwith director Christopher Nolan, will be on hand topreview exclusive footage from the upcoming Bat-man film. Actress Emma Stone will receive the first-ever MTV Trailblazer Award, while actor JohnnyDepp will be honoured with the MTV GenerationAward for his contributions to the film industry.The Black Keys will perform a special renditionof their hit single ‘Gold on the Ceiling’ in Depp’shonour. Presenters include Matthew Mc-Conaughey, Channing Tatum, Adam Sandler,Emma Watson, Andy Samberg, LeightonMeester, Logan Lerman, Ezra Miller, AndrewGarfield, Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth,Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, MilaKunis and Mark Wahlberg. French DJ MartinSolveig will serve as the show’s house DJ,remixing themes from iconic movies like‘Jaws’, ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Pulp Fiction’. cBS

MuMBAI: Clearly, unadulterated masala is thetalk of the day, and akshay ‘Rowdy’ Kumarhas no reason to be ‘angry’. his re-emergenceas an action hero (read: superhero) is writlarge all over the box office. after ‘agneepath’and ‘bodyguard’, ‘Rowdy Rathore’ has nestleditself comfortably in the third position in thelist of the highest openers ever. despitereceiving mixed reviews from critics, the filmhas been instrumental in proving beyonddoubt that as far as the audience isconcerned-as long as there is masala-nothingelse matters. the film resulted in anavalanche of good wishes and congratulatory

messages for akshay Kumar from all acrossthe country and abroad. here’s a look at a fewtweets from bollywood: Karan Johar: “hugecongratulations to shabina khan, Slb,teamUtV,@sonakshisinha,@akshaykumar!!!! forroaring Rowdy RathoRe!!!! more PoweR toall of u!!!!” Riteish deshmukh: “Just saw#RowdyRathoRe- blockbuster written allover it. Its funny-Romantic & has aCtIoN thatwill blow u away-@akshaykumar is in fullform... #RowdyRathoRe @sonakshisinha hssuper chemistry with akki- Prabhudeva willkeep u at d edge of d seat-congrats Shabinakhan - big hug.” AGencIeS

‘Rowdy Rathore’ rises to be a blockbuster LOS AnGeLeS: annehathaway has revealed thatshe was left humiliated aftershe repeatedly kept trippingover batman's cape while

filming 'the darkKnight Rises'. the 29-year-old actress, whoplays Catwoman in themuch awaited film,had been lookingforward to sparringwith Christian bale'sbatman on the set,but had to hide herblushes after losingher balance duringcrucial scenes. "I'mjust trying to think ifthere were anystumbling moments,"the daily expressquoted the actress astelling empiremagazine. "you know,they have a fewbatman capes fordifferent cameralenses and there wasone cape Christian waswearing that was solong, I kept tripping onit!" she said. AGencIeS

boStoN: Chris Rock sits courtside as hewatches the boston Celtics host the miamiheat in game three of the Nba Playoffs. AFP

PaRIS: Justin bieber listens to fans from a balconyof his record label after singing a musical set. REUTERS

loS aNgeleS: Van halen, dave lee Roth and eddie Vanhalen perform as part of their 2012 North american tour. AFP

beIJINg: Nicolas Cage arrives at the launch ceremony of montblanc’snew Princesse grace de monaco jewellery collection. REUTERS

beIJINg: Jessica alba arrives at the launchceremony of montblanc’s new Princesse gracede monaco jewellery collection. REUTERS

PaRIS: Kanye west and Jay-Z performduring their tour ‘watch the throne’. AFP

Ali Zafar’s ‘Chashme Buddoor’ eyes monsoon releaseThe much-talked about ‘Chashme Buddoor’remake, directed by David Dhawan, will releaseAugust 31. The original came out in 1981.Directed by Sai Paranjape, the light-hearteddrama starred Farooque Sheikh, Deepti Naval,Rakesh Bedi and Ravi Baswani who gave stellarperformances in the film, which entertains moviebuffs even today. Dhawan has roped Pakistaniactor Ali Zafar, Siddharth of Rang De Basantifame and Divyendu Sharma, who was seen in‘Pyaar Ka Punchnama’ and southern beautyTapasee in the remake. The music for the film has been composed by Sajid Wajid. neWS DeSK

Anne Hathaway felt humiliated as Catwoman

IN LIMELIGHT

ISB 03-06-2012_Layout 1 6/3/2012 1:45 AM Page 14

LOS ANGELESAGencIeS

R IHANNA hasracked up anotherfilm role after mak-ing her debut in‘Battleship’-she’s

starring in Seth Rogen’s newcomedy ‘The End of TheWorld’. The pop singer firstput her acting talents to thetest playing a tough cadet inthe naval blockbuster and nowshe’s trying her comedy skillsfor Rogen’s movie. Apparently,she’s building up her Holly-wood resume with a comedy

role. Rihanna was spottedshooting scenes with ‘HarryPotter’ star Emma Watson onRogen’s latest project, along-side co-star Jonah Hill. The‘Umbrella’ hitmaker also tookto Twitter.com to drop hintsabout the project, telling fans,“Movie time in N.O, all my favcomedians in 1 room! Purelaughs non stop.” After herscenes wrapped, she added,“Just leaving set! This has tobe one of my favourite mo-ments in life (shooting) end ofthe world. Kevin Hart clearlyhas childhood issues!Lolololol!” A host of stars in-

cluding James Franco, JasonSegel, Danny McBride andMindy Kaling have signed upto play themselves in the apoc-alypse-themed film, which isset for release next year. Themovie follows a group ofcelebrities who get stuck inactor James Franco’s apart-ment when the apocalypsehits. RiRi held hands withMichael Cera while runningthrough the grass in a see-through top and denim shorts.She made some new friendswith Jonah Hill, Kevin Hart,and Emma Watson, and jokedaround with her BFF Melissa.

15Saudi princess tries to leave luxury hotel without paying

PARISAFP

A Saudi princess was caught trying toleave the Shangri-La hotel in Pariswithout settling a six million euro ($7.4million) bill for her rooms, police saidSaturday, confirming a report in thedaily Le Parisien. Maha al-Sudani, theformer wife of Saudi Arabian CrownPrince Nayef ben Abdel Aziz, tried towalk out on Thursday without payingfor her suite and those of her 60-strongentourage, prompting staff to call inpolice, Le Parisien reported. The SaudiArabian ambassador was also con-tacted during the incident, added LeParisien, which noted that Sudani en-joys diplomatic immunity.

When contacted by AFP, the luxuryhotel's director Alain Borgers said thatthat are "no problems" with its clientsand "no unpaid bills" at the moment.The princess has already had previousrun-ins over unpaid bills. In 2009, fash-ion chain Key Largo went to court to ob-tain 89,000 euros owed by the princess.

‘Cleaning fairy’ breaks into house, tidies up

WESTLAKE

AGencIeS

Sherry Bush, a mother in Westlake,Ohio, said she came home to find herhouse a little cleaner after an uninvitedguest had tidied up while she was away.Local news agencies reported thatSusan Warren, the so-called ‘CleaningFairy’, is accused of breaking intoSherry Bush's home, doing some lightcleaning, and leaving a bill for her serv-ices on a napkin, along with her contactinformation. "She wrote a note on anapkin and left it on the table, saying,'$75 I was here to clean,' and left hername and number," Bush said.

Thinking that Warren had come tothe wrong house, Bush called her up tostraighten things out. "I think our jawsjust dropped to the ground," Bush said."I said, 'What happened, did you getthe wrong house?' She said, 'No, I dothis all the time.' I said, 'What do youmean?' She said, 'I just stop and cleanyour house.'" Bush said Warren lateradmitted she had broken in becauseshe needed cash, though nothing wasstolen from the house. "She said shewas driving down the street and ran-domly picked our house and cleaned itcause she was desperate for money,"Bush said. Westlake police havecharged Warren with felony burglary.

Shahid-Priyanka’s ‘Kahaani’, on board a Jaguar

Sharmeen Obaid talks ‘Ho Yaqeen’ and life post-OscarAfter winning the maiden Academy Award for Pakistan,filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid is all poised to scale newheights. She says, "A lot has happened since the AcademyAwards in February in LA. I have begun work on a new se-ries of documentary films, which are being aired for thefirst time on TV Channels across Pakistan. In a uniquepartnership with Coca-Cola, my production company SOCFilms has launched a 6 part documentary series titled 'HoYaqeen' featuring Pakistanis doing extraordinary thingsand transforming their communities." There's more thatis making Sharmeen happy these days. "I was very fortu-nate to have been named by Time Magazine as one of the100 most Influential people in the world. This positive re-inforcement helps us get the message of our AcademyAward winning film ‘Saving Face’ out. I am also involvedin two more exciting documentary ventures outside ofPakistan, which I shall share with my friends and fanslater in the summer," she said. The first episode of the se-ries ‘Ho Yaqeen’ was launched two weeks ago. neWS DeSK

New yoRK: Chrishemsworth appears on

NbC’s today show. REUTERS

Rihanna racks up comedy role in apocalypse-themed film

Clinton casts Clooney in his biopicLOS ANGELES: Bill Clinton has said that he would pickGeorge Clooney over Brad Pitt to play him in his biopic. Theformer president has said that Pitt is "too good-looking,"during an appearance on 'Piers Morgan Tonight.' Clintongushed to guest host Harvey Weinstein about Clooney'sperformance in the Oscar-winning flick, 'The Descendants'."He was so good in it, so real," the New York Daily Newsquoted Clinton as saying. But he added that some prosthet-ics might be in order to make Clooney look more like him-self. "You could put bulbous things on his nose," Clintonsaid, referring to his own infamous schnoz. And for theactress to play his wife and current Secretary of State,Hillary Clinton, he replied saying "Meryl Streep." Clooneyis no stranger to playing politicians on the big screen -he played a presidential candidate in the 2011 film, 'TheIdes of March,' starring alongside Ryan Gosling. AGencIeS

MuMBAI: for a while now, ex-flames ShahidKapoor and Priyanka Chopra haveconstantly been venturing into and shiftingout of the limelight. and once again,rumour mills are burning themselves outspeculating as to whether the once allegedlovers are back on the relationship territoryor not. Shahid and Priyanka have theirmovie ‘teri meri Kahaani’ slated for releasesoon, and the duo is not leaving any stoneunturned in making sure that their film ispromoted well. therefore while we have apretty Priyanka proclaiming her love for theKolkata Knight Riders IPl team, a suaveShahid softly supports Chennai Super Kings

before the finals of IPl 2012. then we havethem all over the place. the ex-flames areinseparable, through and through. Priyankaand Shahid were spotted together in thelatter’s smoking hot red Jaguar, and as perreports, the two had been that way since8am in the morning, reason: promotion of‘teri meri Kahaani’. whether or not Cupidhas struck an arrow or two in the hearts ofthe ex-lovers is yet to be seen. amidstpromotions and spending immense amountof time together, the two might end uprekindling their romance-and the country isall ears for the newest prem kahaani in thetinsel town. AGencIeS

neW DeLHI: after juggling with a variety ofroles in her career till date, Katrina is all setto test waters with the action genre.bollywood’s very own Chikni Chameli hasbeen working round the clock to give herbest shot in the forthcoming flicks ‘ek thatiger’ and ‘dhoom 3’.Known for herhardworking nature,Katrina trains forhardcore actionscenes for ‘eKt’during day time andgets back for ahands-on-trainingsession for ‘dhoom 3’at dusk.the reports say thataditya Chopra hassent three trainers towhere Katrina iscurrently shooting for‘ek tha…’ so that herbody can get warmedup for the hand-to-hand combat sessionwhich is going to beone of the majorhighlights of ‘dhoom3’. for all thatdiligence, this girlreally deserves a paton her back. AGencIeS

Katrina gears up to pack a punch in ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ and ‘Dhoom 3’

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Sunday, 3 June, 2012

16 Foreign News

BAGHDADAFP

A series of intertwined politi-cal crises that began with accu-sations that Iraq’s primeminister was consolidatingpower have escalated intocalls to unseat him, and paral-ysed the country’s government.

The protracted drama hasseen Prime Minister Nuri al-Ma-

liki’s deputy revert to decryinghim as a “dictator” and the

leader of the autonomousKurdish region call

for him to go on

one side, while the premier insists he hassufficient backing to stay on the other.

“The political crisis has reached itshighest level since its beginning, but it isstill running within the framework of thedemocratic game,” Iraqi political analystIhsan al-Shammari said.

“The country is paralysed on all lev-els; there is a clear political paralysis par-alleled by governmental negligence and afailure of the legislative authority, whilethe people are disappointed and afraid ofthe security consequences,” Shammarisaid. The trouble began in earnest in mid-December, when the secular Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc began a boycott ofparliament and the cabinet over what it

said was Maliki’s centralisation of power.For his part, Maliki sought to sack

Sunni Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlak, an Iraqiya member who had la-belled the premier “worse than SaddamHussein.” That month, an arrest warrantwas issued for Sunni Vice PresidentTareq al-Hashemi, also of Iraqiya, for al-legedly running a death squad. Hashemifled to the autonomous Kurdistan regionin north Iraq, which declined to hand himover to Baghdad and then permitted himto leave on a regional tour that took himto Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. He isnow being tried in absentia in Iraq.

Kurdistan further entered the fraywhen its chief, Massud Barzani, launched

a series of attacks against Maliki.In April, the region stopped oil ex-

ports, claiming Baghdad has allegedlywithheld more than $1.5 billion (1.2 billioneuros) that Kurdish officials say is owed toforeign oil companies working in the re-gion. And powerful Shiite cleric Moqtadaal-Sadr, whose parliamentary bloc is partof the national unity government alongwith Iraqiya and the Kurdish alliance, re-ferred to the premier as a “dictator” hun-gry for acclaim, and accused him ofwanting to postpone or cancel elections.

But Maliki opponents have nowmoved from merely criticising the pre-mier to talk of actually removing himfrom office.

US, Japan, South

Korea vow solidarity

against North KoreaSINGAPORE

AFP

The United States and key Asian allies Japanand South Korea on Saturday agreed tobolster efforts to counter any threat fromnuclear-armed North Korea, officials said. USDefense Secretary Leon Panetta met with hisSouth Korean counterpart Kim Kwan Jin, andJapan Parliamentary Senior Vice Minister ofDefence Shu Watanabe on the sidelines of aregional security conference in Singapore.“The ministers reaffirmed that North Korea’sprovocative behaviour threatens all threecountries and will be met with solidarity fromall three countries,” the three said in a jointstatement after their meeting. “They agreed tocontinue to reinforce trilateral policycoordination in order to deter North Koreanprovocations.” Pyongyang’s sinking of theSouth Korean warship Cheonan, its shellingof South Korea’s Yeonpyeong island in 2010and a missile launch in April “pose a seriousthreat to the peace and stability of the KoreanPeninsula, Northeast Asia, and the world,” thestatement said.

China warns US against ‘makingwaves’ in disputed sea

BEIJINGAFP

China’s official news agency warned Saturdayit was no time to “make waves” in the disputedSouth China Sea after the US said it wouldshift the bulk of its naval fleet to the PacificOcean by 2020. “It is advisable for some torefrain from muddying the waters and fishingtherein,” said Xinhua, referring to the sea,which is part of the Pacific and the subject ofoverlapping territorial claims. China claimsthe sea in full, and it is also claimed in wholeor part by Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysiaand the Philippines. “As regards the SouthChina Sea tensions, it is some other claimants,whether emboldened by the United States’new posture or not, that sparked the fire andhave been stoking the flames,” said the agency.It was Beijing’s “genuine wish” to turn theSouth China Sea “into a sea of peace,friendship and cooperation,” added Xinhua, inthe commentary entitled “Not to make wavesin South China Sea.”

four qaeda fighters,

soldier killed in yemenADENAFP

Four Al-Qaeda fighters and a soldier were killedin overnight fighting outside Zinjibar, capital ofthe southern Yemeni province of Abyan, amilitary official said on Saturday. The insurgentshad fired three rockets at the headquarters of the25th Mechanised Brigade, killing the soldier andwounding six others. Separately, three Al-Qaedamilitants were killed and five wounded on Fridaywhen a bomb they were making accidentallyexploded in Al-Mahfad, a town in northernAbyan, a local official said. Yemeni forceslaunched an all-out offensive on May 12 aimed atreclaiming Zinjibar and other localities in Abyanlost to Al-Qaeda during the past year. Since theoffensive began, at least 376 people have beenkilled, according to an AFP tally compiled fromofficial statements.

cAIRO: egyptian protesters call for the execution of ousted president Hosni Mubarak who was sentenced to life in prison following the pronouncement of the verdict on Saturday. AFP

Iraq crisis escalates with calls for PM to go

top Chinese

official accused of

being US spyWASHINGTON

AFP

China has detained a top securityofficial for passing sensitive informationto the United States in the highest-levelspy case involving the two countriessince the 1980s, reports said. Citing anunnamed “person with knowledge of thecase,” The New York Times said theofficial, who was arrested earlier this year,was believed to be an employee in theMinistry of State Security, China’s mainintelligence agency. Hong Kong’s NewWay magazine said the detained officialwas a secretary to a vice minister at theministry. The vice minister, who was notnamed, has also been suspended fromduty, the New Way report said. “What isunbelievable is that the person involved inthis spy case is a secretary to a viceminister who is handling China’s topsecrets, which means all the confidentialdocuments sent to the vice minister passthrough the secretary first,” the magazinesaid. “The incident has caused theconcerns and worries of Chinese topleadership, and (President) Hu Jintao hasordered an investigation to get to thebottom of the matter,” the magazine said,adding that Hu was “shocked and angry.”The magazine said the official wasrecruited by the CIA when he studied inthe United States. New Way described it asthe highest-level spy case involving Chinaand the United States since China’s YuQiangsheng defected in 1985. The UnitedStates and Chinese governments have notgiven any hint publicly of the discovery ofthe spying suspect. Secretary of StateHillary Clinton, visiting Oslo on Friday,declined to comment on the reports.

CAIROAFP

SILENCE fell over thecourt room, and outsidewhere families of the vic-tims had gathered, tohear the verdict in the

murder trial of Egypt’s fallen dictatorHosni Mubarak.

But rage overtook the families ofMubarak’s victims, and the lawyer’srepresenting them, as the court sen-tenced Mubarak and his interior min-ister to life but acquitted their sixsecurity commanders on the samecharges. They had been charged withthe murder of some of the 850 peoplekilled during the 18-day uprising thatousted Mubarak in February 2011.

Outside the Police Academy, Mo-hammed Abdel Fattah, the father of11-year-old Hassan, shot dead duringthe uprising, held up the bloodiedshirt and jacket of his son, both punc-tured in the back with what he saidwas a bullet hole. “It’s void, it’s void,”he screamed of the sentence. The chiefjudge, Ahmed Refaat, had started witha speech scolding Mubarak and his topsecurity officials, who were crammedin a caged dock in the courtroom.

Mubarak’s rule was “30 years ofblack, black, black darkness; the dark-ness of bitter winter,” he said. The up-rising that toppled Mubarak brought“a new dawn to Egypt.”

Gasps could be heard inside thecourtroom, packed with police who

lined up in front of the defendant’scage, when he sentenced Mubarakand his interior minister Habib al-Adly to life. Outside, families of thevictims launched firecrackers.

The defendants were mostly ob-scured by police who stood in front ofthe black metal cage.

But the relief turned to rage as thejudge exonerated Mubarak’s six policecommanders, and his two sons oncorruption charges.

“The people demand the purifica-tion of the judiciary,” lawyers repre-senting the victims chanted, before abrief scuffle broke out in the academylecture hall the serves the courtroom.

“The sentencing will give them in-nocence in an appeal,” said AhmedHassan, one of the lawyers represent-ing the victims’ families.

Critics of the trial had been

scathing of the prosecution’s choice ofwitnesses from start. In the sentenc-ing, Refaat conceded that they wereunreliable. “He should be executed ashe executed our sons,” said MustafaMursi, whose 18-year-old son wasalso shot dead outside a police sta-tion, referring to Mubarak.

“This sentencing paves the wayfor a pardon when Shafiq comes topower,” he added, referring toMubarak’s last prime minister AhmedShafiq, who faces the Islamist Mo-hammed Mursi in a presidential elec-tion runoff on June 16-17.

Riot police advanced as some ofthe enraged protesters threw emptysoda cans at them, beating them backwith truncheons. And they quicklymoved in to separate the protesterswhen they began fighting with pro-Mubarak demonstrators.

Rage as Hosni Mubaraksentenced, aides acquitted

HOSnI MuBARAK

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Foreign News 17Sunday, 3 June, 2012

LONDONAFP

Arapturous flag-wavingcrowd of more than100,000 cheered QueenElizabeth II at Epsom race-course in Britain on Satur-

day as she arrived to kick off four days ofcelebrations for her diamond jubilee.

Shortly after gun salutes across thecountry marked the exact anniversary ofher coronation, the horse-loving 86-year-old monarch was driven across theracecourse in an open-topped vehicle,dressed in royal blue.

Paratroopers descended to the race-course trailing huge Union Jack flagsand red smoke ahead of the the arrival ofthe queen and her 90-year-old husbandPrince Philip to watch the Epsom Derby,Britain’s richest horse race.

In a surge of enthusiasm for themonarchy across Britain, thousands ofpeople meanwhile paraded through theScottish city of Perth for the jubilee, andmany more held community parties.

“It’s not every morning you wake up

on a day that will be written about in thehistory books,” declared the Sun,Britain’s best-selling newspaper.

“Make the most of this once-in-a-lifetime occasion. It may be centuries be-fore another comes along.” Crowds eventurned out to watch military bands re-hearse in London ahead of the main cel-ebrations for the queen’s 60 years on thethrone. Cloudy weather and forecasts ofrain appeared unlikely to deter the pub-lic from partying amid the highest sup-port for the royals in decades. A recentpoll showed about 80 percent of Britonswant the country to stay a monarchy.

People were already camping intents beside the Thames river ahead of apageant of about 1,000 boats that willsail through London on Sunday with the86-year-old queen in a royal bargedecked with 10,000 flowers.

“There is huge excitement. Thequeen has done a terrific job in the past60 years,” said Andrew Phasey, whosecanal narrowboat will be part of the pag-eant. “We feel hugely privileged to betaking part. It will be a terrific day.”

Britons have planned more than

9,500 street parties for Sunday, althoughthere are concerns about forecasts ofheavy rain.On Monday, some 4,000 bea-cons will be lit across the Commonwealthfollowing a huge picnic and star-studded

concert at Buckingham Palace.Tuesday — like Monday a public hol-

iday — is devoted to ceremonial eventsincluding a thanksgiving service and car-riage procession.

Indian preliminary

hearing for Italian

marines

THIRUVANTHAPURAMAFP

Two Italian marines accused ofmurdering two Indian fishermenappeared in court Saturday for apreliminary hearing in a case that hascaused a diplomatic row. MassimilianoLatorre and Salvatore Girone, whoshot dead the fishermen off India’ssouthwestern coast on February 15,appeared in the lower court in Kollamin the southern state of Kerala. Thetwo marines deny murder, saying theymistook the fishermen for pirates. Thecourt fixed June 18 for the nexthearing and directed the stategovernment to provide a list ofinterpreters “for the benefit of theaccused”, the semi-official Press Trustof India news agency reported. It alsoasked the prosecution to providecopies of the charges to the twomarines as requested by their lawyers.

arabs urge UN

action as Syria

death toll soarsDAMASCUS

AFP

Arab leaders called for UN action onSaturday as at least 27 people werekilled in Syria amid growing globalconcern that Kofi Annan’s peace plan isfailing and the country descending intocivil war. The Arab League’sministerial committee on Syria,meanwhile, called on UN-Arab Leagueenvoy Annan to set a time frame for hismission. “We request Mr Annan to seta time frame for his mission because itis unacceptable that massacres andbloodshed continue while the missionis ongoing indefinitely,” Qatari PrimeMinister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani told a meeting of the committeein Doha, attended by Annan. “Wedemand the UN Security Council referthe six-point (Annan plan) to ChapterVII so that the internationalcommunity could assumeresponsibilities,” he added, withoutelaborating. Chapter VII outlinesaction the Security Council might take,including military force, in response tothreats to international peace,breaches of the peace and acts ofaggression. Earlier, Arab League chiefNabil al-Arabi said he had asked theSecurity Council to take strong actionto protect civilians in Syria but did notraise the question of intervention. “Isent a letter to the UN Security Councilasking it to undertake all necessarymeasures to protect the Syrian people,”Arabi told AFP shortly before theopening of the Doha meeting. Butasked if he had called for armed actionagainst the regime of Syrian PresidentBashar al-Assad, Arabi said: “I havenot referred to military intervention.”On the ground, Syrian troopsconducted raids in search of anti-regime militants and clashed withrebels in several regions, with at least27 people killed, including 15 soldiers,11 civilians and one rebel, the SyrianObservatory for Human Rights said. Tensions spilled over intoneighbouring Lebanon, as clashesbetween pro- and anti-Damascusgunmen killed two people andwounded 20 others in the northern cityof Tripoli, a security source told AFP.

Cheering crowds greet QueenElizabeth at start of jubilee

eLASHA BIYAHA: Somalian troops run through a doorway during an operation to flush out suspected al-Shebab elements on Saturday. AFP

ePSOM: Britain’s Queen elizabeth II is escorted to the parade ring before the Diamond Jubilee coronation cup on Derby Day, the second day

of the epsom Derby horse racing festival, on Saturday, the first official day of Queen elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. AFP

Britain’s Big Ben to be renamed Elizabeth TowerLONDON: Britain’s famed parliament clock tower Big Ben is set to be renamed theElizabeth Tower in honour of the queen’s diamond jubilee, a report said Friday.Prime Minister David Cameron is among 331 lawmakers who have signed up to acampaign to bestow the tribute to Queen Elizabeth to mark her 60th year on the throne,the Daily Mail reported. It mirrors an honour bestowed on queen Victoria — the firstBritish monarch to celebrate a diamond jubilee, back in 1897 — after whom the squaretower at the other end of the Houses of Parliament was renamed. “It is great news thatso many MPs from across the House are backing what would be a fitting tribute to thequeen. I hope it will now move ahead,” the Mail quoted Cameron as saying. The 96-metre (316-foot) tower is formally known as the clock tower but is commonly known asBig Ben after the huge bell that it holds, whose distinctive “bongs” sound out the hoursin central London. Lawmakers accepted that the iconic tower which looms over the 19-century Gothic revival parliament would continue to be known colloquially as Big Ben,but said that its formal name should honour Queen Elizabeth. The House of CommonsCommission, the governing body of the British parliament, will meet by the end of Juneand is expected to agree on the renaming of Big Ben, the Daily Mail said. AFP

Cardinals split as

Vatican internal

rift widensROME

AFP

Cardinals tasked with deciding the fateof the Vatican bank president amidfinancial scandals and a struggle forpower in the Holy See are struggling tocome to an agreement, media reportssaid Saturday. The commission ofcardinals must decide whether or notto uphold the board’s decision to oustEttore Gotti Tedeschi, who was firedfor failing to clean up the institution’simage amid accusations of corruptionand money-laundering. But thecardinals are reportedly split, with twoof the four siding with Gotti Tedeschi,widening the bitter rift between thefinancial ethics expert and Secretary ofState Tarcisio Bertone, the Vaticannumber two. It was Bertone whoreportedly pushed the bank’s board tofire their president as internaldivisions over financial transparencycame to a head. “The cardinals aresplit. Two have refused to vote themeasure backed by Bertone,” theCorriere della Sera said. According tothe Repubblica daily, “the split withinthe organisation” is also linked to the“Vatileaks” scandal, which has seenwhistle blowers leak documents to thepress, apparently in an attempt tobring Bertone down. Gotti Tedeschi’smission was to get the Vatican on tothe “white list” of financially virtuouscountries, but tensions grew afterBertone resisted reform and pushedfor a new transparency law to bewatered down.

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Sunday, 3 June, 2012

Page 21

Schiavone crumbles, Kvitovastruggles at french open

IPOHAGencIeS

FIGURING out the match lineup for the final day proved afascinating exercise in SultanAzlan Shah Hockey Cup on

Saturday. Each of the three ties playedhad some bearing on the placement inthe points table heightening the tensionfor the viewers and players. Three-timechampions Pakistan faced their worstdefeat in the Azlan Shah Cup after losingto Great Britain 2–1.

Pakistan finished last for the firsttime in the history of the Cup. AbdulHaseem Khan provided Pakistan themuch needed lead in the 15th minute,which lasted till halftime.

The Green shirts then wilted and con-ceded an equalizer in the 47th minutewhen Barry Middleton scored for GreatBritain. It seemed that the match wouldend in a draw but with four minutes re-maining, Ashley Jackson scored the win-ning goal for Great Britain.

Earlier, after a dismal run in the on-going Azlan Shah Cup, including the 2-1defeat against India, the Pakistan HockeyFederation (PHF) chief selector HanifKhan had declared that the team was un-prepared for the Olympics which are lessthan two months away.

Meanwhile, a clear picture emergedonly after the last match when Argentinabeat Malaysia by a solitary goal. Whateventually surfaced however did not con-form totally to the configurations workedout for India after the win over Pakistan.

The fight for the glittering AzlanShah Cup on Sunday will be betweenNew Zealand and Argentina. This is thefirst title fight for the Kiwis.

India, which was confronted variouspossibilities had to reconcile itself for abronze medal contest against Britainafter the latter collected full pointsagainst Pakistan. India lost 2-3 toBritain in the league stage.

Korea will lock horns with Malaysiafor the fifth and sixth places. Pakistan

went out of the reckoning and finishedat the seventh slot.

Great Britain staged a splendidcomeback in the second half after beingsubdued by Pakistan in the first half.

In fact, the Pakistanis were domi-nant this period. They moved in tandemusing the wingers and shot into the leadfrom a lovely goal from a back hander byHaseem Khan who made the most of apass from Waqas.

Notwithstanding the continues feed-ing from Barry Middleton and BenHawes, Britain’s front line failed to gen-erate that measure of velocity to over-come the well organized Pakistanidefence.

Midway after the break, Britainbrought parity to the score-line thanksto the opportunism exhibited by BarryMiddleton The vision of a draw ap-

peared on the horizon with Britainstruggling to improve and Pakistanslowly failing to combat with the escalat-ing pressure to develop. Pakistan suc-cumbed four minutes before the hooter.Ashley Jackon slotted the match winnerfrom a move initiated by Iain Lewersand developed by Richard Smith.

That goal put Pakistan out of thereckoning for placement matches. It fin-ished at the bottom of the table.

A last minute goal from a penalty cor-ner by Jang Jong Hyun enabled Koreaovercome New Zealand. Assured of theSunday’s final, the Kiwis did not stretchthemselves much unlike the Koreans forwhom the win came as a morale booster.SUNIL REPRIMANDED: SarinderDhillon, Tournament Director, has rep-rimanded India’s winger S. V. Sunil con-sequent to an apology tendered by the

player for his indecent gesture to thePakistani supporters after the India-Pakistan match. Sunil however will playon Sunday.THE RESULTS: Korea 1 (Jong JangHyun) beat New Zealand 0. HT 0-0.Great Britain 2 (Barry Middleton, AshleyJackson) beat Pakistan 1 (MuhammadWaqas) HT 0-1. Argentina1 (PedroIbarra) beat Malaysia 0; HT 0-0Table of Points: New Zealand: Played6, Won 4, Lost 2, Drawn 0, Goals for 18,Goals against 18, Points 12; Argentina 6-4-0-2-15-16-12; Great Britain 6-3-2-1-13-10-11; India 6-3-0-3-12-15-9; Korea6-2-2-2-11-8-8; Malaysia 6-1-2-3-10-14-5; Pakistan 6-1-0-5-9-16-3Sunday’s matches: 5-6: Malaysia vKorea; (1-05 p.m. IST); India v GreatBritain (3-35 p.m.); Final: New Zealand vArgentina (6-05 p.m.)

Pakistan lose to England tooAzlan Shah Hockey: NZ, Argentina in final

malaysia tohost 2013 asiaCup hockey

LAHORESTAFF RePORT

The Asian Hockey Federation's councilallotted Malaysia the 2013 Asia Cuphockey, the tournament that will offerqualification berth for the 2014 WorldCup. According to reports, this will bethe second successive time that Malaysiawill host the continental championshipto be organised by the Malaysian HockeyConfederation. Ipoh has been chosen asthe venue, having already emerged asthe most favoured hockey destination inAsia. Sultan Azlan Shah, president of theAsian Hockey Federation, chaired themeeting of the AHF Council that tookthe decision today. Ipoh's hockey sta-dium has laid a new blue turf for the cur-rent Azlan Shah Cup. Malaysia hostedthe last Asia Cup at Kuantan in 2009.Singapore was earlier tipped to host theAsia Cup as the AHF was keen to takethe event to new venues but the Singa-pore team's low ranking went against it.The schedule is yet to be confirmed andthe AHF will do so after taking the inter-national calendar and the annual SultanAzlan Shah Cup into consideration. Adecision was also taken to name theAHF-MHC Academy, situated inside theIpoh stadium complex, as the Raja Dato'Seri Ashaman Academy, in honour of thesecond son of Sultan Azlan Shah whopassed away in March.

Compton tonjust a day toolate for record bid

LONDONAFP

Somerset's Nick Compton completed1,000 first-class runs on Friday -- just aday after rain denied him the chance tobecome the first player to do so beforethe end of May in 24 years. No batsmanhad reached the coveted landmark sinceGraeme Hick in 1988 and it was widelythought the subsequent reduction infirst-class, and especially County Cham-pionship fixtures, would make it toughfor anyone to equal his feat. But Comp-ton, the grandson of England battinggreat Denis Compton, got desperatelyclose. He was nine not out when rainstopped play Thursday in Somerset'sFirst Division County Championshipclash away to Worcestershire at NewRoad. But the 28-year-old, who was atMiddlesex, the only county Denis everrepresented, put any lingering frustra-tion to one side to make 108 -- hisfourth first class hundred of the season -- on Friday. Born in South Africa to a fa-ther who also played first-class cricket,as did his uncle and great-uncle, NickCompton arrived in England as ateenager, where he attended the eliteHarrow School -- whose former pupilsinclude Winston Churchill.

LONDONAFP

England are considering leaving spearheadfast bowler James Anderson out of theirteam for next week's third Test against theWest Indies at Edgbaston in order to givethe Lancashire seamer a rest. The hosts, 2-0 up in the three-match series, are due toname their squad on Sunday. Reports inthe British press on Saturday indicated An-derson could be omitted for the 'dead'match, with England facing anothercrowded home international programme.Test cricket, despite the growing global ap-

peal of Twenty20, has remained thepriority for English administra-tors, fans and players alike. Ac-cording to a report in theGuardian, Anderson, namedEngland's player of the year lastmonth, is fully fit following aminor thigh problem. The 29-year-old has missed just one ofEngland's previous 25 Testsand, having spent muchof his early interna-tional career as a squadplayer, is keen to addto his tally of 267 wick-

ets which places him fifth on hiscountry's all-time list of most suc-cessful Test bowlers. He took sixwickets in England's nine-wicketwin at Trent Bridge, where he andStuart Broad, with Tim Bresnan asthird seamer, continued to tormentthe tourists' fragile top order. Eng-

land are due to play threeTests against South

Africa, challengingthem as the world's

number oneranked side in thefive-day game,

later in the season and have a host of one-day games with both the West Indies andthe Proteas as well. In between the twomain tours, they are also set for a one-dayseries with arch-rivals Australia. How-ever, that campaign was called intoquestion Saturday after reports in theAustralian press warned of a possiblestrike by Australia players in protestover revised performance-related payrules. While an abandoned series wouldclearly have financial implications forthe ECB, it could prove a boon forBroad, a mainstay in all three major for-mats and England's Twenty20 captain.

England ponder Anderson omission

IPoh: barry middleton (l) of britain scores a goal past Pakistan goalkeeper Imran during their match at the Sultan azlan Shah Cup tournament. AFP

PCb security wall

again demolished LAHORE

STAFF RePORT

The officials of the Gulberg Town Munic-ipal Administration on Saturday defiedcourt stay order and demolished theouter security wall of the PakistanCricket Board headquarters. Faisal Khan, TMO, came in the eveningof Saturday at the PCB with a team ofpeople to bring down the wall con-structed by the PCB to improve its secu-rity. But he went back when Javed Manj,PCB official, showed him the court stayorders barring the TMA of taking any ac-tion of demolishing the wall. TMO said itwas built on the greenbelt.However, after around half an hour theTMO again came back with his team anderased to ground the wall constructed bythe PCB. This is the second instance of the demoli-tion of the security wall by the TMA. TheTMA took the same step last month de-spite assurance and several meetings be-tween the two parties and now again theTMA defied the court directives. On Saturday, the TMA people went astep ahead not only demolishing the wallbut also got physical with the PCB offi-cials who tried to show them the courtdirectives. During the whole processtemper flared but in the end TMA com-pleted its work. An official of the TMA said that they can-not any kind of illegal constructions andno one is above the law and they wouldbe taking legal course if required.

SYDNEYAFP

Australia's cricketers may go on strikeahead of next month's one-day tour ofEngland over performance-related payissues, reports said on Saturday. Aus-tralian Cricketers Association (ACA)head Paul Marsh said there were contin-gency plans should a resolution not beagreed with Cricket Australia before July1. The Australian newspaper said playershave examined a boycott of next month'sone-day tour of England or the Twenty20World Cup in Sri Lanka in September-October. "Relationships between playersand management are heated and threat-ening to become as ugly as the stand-offsurrounding the first player contract ne-

gotiations during Mark Taylor's cap-taincy (1994-1999)," the newspaper said.

"Cricket Australia is playing hardballin negotiations and has frozen all stateand Big Bash (domestic T20) contracttalks under the threat of a Aus$50,000($48,400) fine until the new agreementis in place." The newspaper said playersand state administrators have both raisedthe possibility of a boycott of nextmonth's tour to England. Marsh told thenewspaper his members were preparingfor the possibility of an industrial stand-off if there was no contract in place beforethe current one ends.

"There's only 29 days of negotiationsleft to run, so of course we are preparingfor the eventuality of not having a deal inplace before the end of July," Marsh told

The Australian. "We are looking at all ofour different options." The players andCricket Australia were progressing to-wards an agreement on a controversialshift to performance-based pay when CAtabled a demand to change the definitionof cricket revenue, it said.

"The association considers that aAus$30 million cash grab and there isfrustration that the bid was tabled latein negotiations," The Australian said."The players argue they are not askingfor more money, but want to ensurethey do not receive less at a time whenthe game is in reasonable financialhealth." The main sticking point in thenegotiations has been the move to ad-just the players' revenue share accord-ing to performance, it said.

Australia in strike threat

ISB 03-06-2012_Layout 1 6/3/2012 1:46 AM Page 18

Sports 19Sunday, 3 June, 2012

DUBLINAFP

Rory Sabbatini posted a second straight 69on Friday to seize the halfway lead at The Me-morial, with 14-time major champion TigerWoods leading a group just one shot adrift.

Sabbatini had a 36-hole total of 139 onthe rain-sodden par-72 Muirfield Villagecourse. Woods, a four-time winner of thetournament hosted by Jack Nicklaus, cardeda 69 and was tied for second on 139 withSpencer Levin (72) and first-round leaderScott Stallings (73). A victory come Sundayfor Woods would be significant. It would tiehim with tournament host Nicklaus for sec-ond on the all-time PGA Tour wins list with73. But Woods wasn't looking that far ahead.

"We've got a long way to go for that," saidWoods. "Yeah, obviously it would be nice, butI've still got half a tournament to go."

Woods moved briskly up the leaderboardwith three birdies in his first six holes. Somemissed short putts kept the round from beingeven better, including a three-footer at the11th that would have given him the lead atsix-under par. At the next hole, Woods was introuble with a tee shot into the gallery.

After a poor chip, he finally reached thegreen in three, and took a double-bogey from13 feet. Woods, who has endured an erraticseason, shook it off with back-to-back birdiesat 15 and 16, had a birdie chance at 17 thendrained a testing four-footer at the final holeto keep the pressure on Sabbatini.

"I missed a couple out there, but overallI knew in these conditions to shoot some-thing in the 60s was going to be a pretty goodeffort," Woods said. "Pleased with myround."

Rory McIlroy couldn't say the same.Northern Ireland's world number two, whodefends his US Open title in a fortnight,carded a seven-over par 79 and missed thecut -- his third early exit in as many starts.

McIlroy wasn't the only marquee name tomiss the cut. Bubba Watson, winner of theMasters in April, and PGA Champion KeeganBradley, also exited early. A heavy storm pre-vented play for almost two hours on Friday,and South Africa's Sabbatini endured thewettest conditions in the afternoon.

After a bogey at the first, Sabbatini re-bounded with a 12-foot birdie at the fourth.

A wayward drive at the par-four sixth ledto another bogey, but a birdie at the ninthsaw him make the turn at even par for theday. At the par-five 11th, Sabbatini laid up, hithis third shot to 10 feet and rolled in thebirdie putt. He made back-to-back birdies at14 and 15 before saving par at 16 and again at18 -- where his drive found the right roughbut he managed to hit his approach to sixfeet.

"It's only halfway, so I'm happy to bewhere I am right now," Sabbatini said. "I'vegot two more days ahead of me, and I've justgot to continue to focus on what I've beendoing for the last two days."

Since winning his sixth PGA Tour title atthe Honda Classic in March of last year, Sab-batini has posted only two top-10 finishes.

"It's definitely felt like things have beenthere but just really haven't been putting thenumbers up," he said.

"Ultimately, golf is a game of numbers, soit doesn't matter how you hit it, it's how youscore. So in that sense it's been frustrating,and it's great to finally see a little bit of re-ward for the work that we've put in."

LAHORESTAFF RePORT

The morning of Sunday, March 11, 2012had a different meaning for HamzaMawaz Khan, a day that would make thebravest of men nervous with the pres-sures he coped later in the day at the ten-der age of sixteen.

The highlight of the polo season inPakistan – the Quad-e-Azam Gold Cup forthe National Championship – was to beplayed at 4:30 pm at the historical AibakGround at the Lahore Polo Club betweenNestle and Colony Sugar that day. Hamza,handicapped at 2, was playing forwardalong with three of his other teammates,two of whom were former captains of thePakistan team and the third, the highesthandicapped player – entered the field toface a highly-enthusiastic crowd. Althoughthe odds were in favour of Nestle butmaybe the gods at that day weren’t.Hamza lost, but history was made. He be-came the first player in Pakistan’s polohistory to have played the National Cham-pionship final at the age of 16. As if the

pressure of the final was not enough, lyingin his subconscious was another fact: fourgenerations of his family had already wonthe National Championships in theirprime. His great grandfather late Brig GulMawaz Khan, rated at 4 handicap, hadwon the National many a time. His grand-father, Major Javed Mawaz Khan, also a 4handicapper, had won the it six times. Hisfather, Taimur Mawaz Khan, a 3 handi-cap, had won it three times. His grandfa-ther’s brother Saqib Mawaz Khan, a 5

handicap, had won it thrice. Hamza has taken polo as a profes-

sional sport and his commitment is visiblefrom the fact that he has sacrificed schoolfor his passion. Hamza has representedPakistan on many occasions: he played forYoung Pakistan in Iran in 2010, played inThailand in 2010, played the prestigiousPresident’s Cup at Gantoot Club forSheikh Habtoor’s team in 2012, won thebest 0-2 category award in the season end-ing April 2011, also awarded as the 2012’smost valuable player and currently he isplaying his second season in the UnitedKingdom for the Dubai team and has theopportunity to play alongside the world’sbest, Adolfo Cambiaso, 10 handicap fromArgentina and the main player for theDubai polo team.

Hamza started his polo career at theage of 9 and has had his share of troublesalso. During training in 2009 in Ar-gentina, he fell from his horse and brokehis leg, bringing to a halt his steady career.It is hoped that Hamza plays safe and rep-resents Pakistan internationally in theworld of polo and make his country proud.

LAHOREASHeR BuTT

The Pakistan T20 team would desper-ately be looking to square the seriesagainst Sri Lanka after losing theopening match of the two-matchorder to hosts at Suriyawewa. But forthat they need to demonstrate a senseof responsibility and maturity.

The side will be meeting in theirsecond T20 encounter on June 3

(today) at Hambantota and new T20captain Mohammad Hafeez and hischarges that came up with the same oldspineless display particularly from theseniors like Shahid Afridi and ShoaibMalik and the floundering openers,have the ability to bounce back. Hafeez,who just missed an opportunity to startoff his captaincy career on a high note,would surely be looking to square theseries. All Hafeez needs is to take somecrucial decisions at the right time, like

taking the powerplay and avoiding tomuch dotballs.

There were also some selectionwoes which also need to be addressedwith courage without coming underpolitical or regional influence in pick-ing up the specialists of the game.

Pakistan have Hammad Azam inthe bowling line-up, who could beuseful while Umar Akmal would bethe one in the middle to carry on thestrike provided the openers give himproper start because a total of 132runs was not that big an ask to beachieved for a team which is used toplay the 20 overs matches on a rou-tine basis in their domestic set-up.

Hafeez himself admitted the totalwas not big enough to have achieved."A score of 132 was still chaseable butif your main batsmen fail then it'svery difficult to win such games," saidHafeez. Pakistan captain MohammadHafeez, however, blamed the batsmenfor the loss in the first T20I. "I haveenjoyed a fair amount of success as anopener in Twenty20, but my presenceat the top depends on the team com-bination," he added.

All Pakistan need is to come upwith a proper combination and itsseniors who have specialized in thisformat to show maturity and a senseof responsibility in their batting. Ifthey all feel the responsibility andstart to deliver, things would auto-matically start to fall at its properplace.

LAHORESTAFF RePORT

MUHAMMAD Zaka Ashraf,chairman of the PakistanCricket Board (PCB),rounded off his "very suc-

cessful" visit to India with a one-to-onemeeting with ICC president Sharad Pawar.Ashraf, who was in India on BCCI's invita-tion to watch the IPL final in Chennai lastmonth, said he requested Pawar, also theUnion Agriculture Minister, to assist in re-suming the India-Pakistan bilateral series.

Ashraf, on his maiden visit to India,met IPL governing council chairman andParliamentary affairs minister RajeevShukla to get some clarifications on themodalities of Sialkot Stallions' participa-tion in the Champions League T20 in Oc-tober. The CLT20 governing council hasinvited Pakistan's national T20 championsStallions in a path breaking move.

"My visit to India has been very fruitfuland very successful. I wish the relations ofour countries are further strengthened and

they lead to the revival of the cricketingties," Ashraf was quoted by Mail Today.

'I'm carrying fond memories of myvisit. All the people I met were very cour-teous and gave me a lot of respect. All of uswere very positive and very friendly,' hepointed out. 'I could not see the Taj Mahalbecause of the Bharat Bandh. Anyway,when I come the next time, I'll try to visitboth Agra and Ajmer sharif.'

Ashraf said he requested Pawar duringhis meeting to use his good offices, both atthe ICC and in the government, to help inrestarting the bilateral series that was lastheld four-and-a-half years ago.

'He said that the Indian governmenttoo feels the bilateral series should be re-vived. And the Prime Ministers of the twocountries have said that their the govern-ments support the resumption of bilateralseries,' he emphasised.

'I asked Mr Pawar to support the twoBoards and he said that the government al-ways wants the cricketing relations shouldbe revived. He asked me to let him knowwhatever we - BCCI president Mr N Srini-

vasan and me - decide,' he said.Ashraf, who was accompanied by PCB

chief operating officer Subhan Ahmed onhis Chennai leg, had two 'satisfactory' one-to-one meetings with Srinivasan there, andsaid that both chiefs made 'many pledges'to take the issue forward. The PCB chair-man said that a short series comprising afew ODIs and T20 Internationals couldbreak the ice this year before the Test se-ries is played. He said the 'breaking news'could come in a month or two.

'We (the two Boards) have got supporton both fronts: we have a good under-standing at the Board level, and the gov-ernments too have supported us on therevival of the bilateral series,' Ashraf said.

Ashraf also met Shukla on Friday andsought a few clarifications on the compo-sitions of the teams that would competein the CLT20 from October 8- 28. ThePCB chairman was apparently under theimpression that only domestic playerswould comprise the teams. 'I raised thispoint with Mr Shukla, that how playerscould play for his national teams and

then represent their franchisees too. I feltit's not true representation, unless allplayers in the CLT20 are locals. I feel allplayers should be locals,' he said. 'He(Shukla) said that's the way the CLT20has been structured. I also appreciatethat it's too late to change that.' Sialkot,

the first team from Pakistan to play inCLT20 since the launch of the tourna-ment in 2009, will have to go through thequalifying round. 'We discussed amongstother things the modalities of Sialkot'sparticipation in CLT20 as that's an im-portant aspect,' the paper quoted Shukla.

Pak series at homewould be the bestthing to have: dhoni

GURGAONAGencIeS

India's cricket captain Mahendra SinghDhoni has said Team India was open toplay against arch-rivals Pakistan if the twoboards agree to have a bilateral series inIndia. Chairman PCB Zaka Ashraf, whowas invited to watch the IPL final betweenthe Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings andKolkata Knight Riders, had fruitful talkswith BCCI officials to revive cricket ties be-tween the two countries. An elated Dhonisaid India-Pakistan series at home wouldbe the best thing to have. India have sus-pended bilateral sporting ties with pakistansince the 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbaiby Pakistani nationals. "Pakistan if theycome here and play us, nothing better thanthat. We are open for it. But according toschedule, I don't know where it will fit,"said Dhoni, on the sidelines of the inaugu-ration of his chain of gyms, Sportsfit.

eZ whites hold initiativeagainst NZ blues

LAHORESTAFF RePORT

East Zone Whites 244/5 while NorthZone Blues 103/4 in the Seniors RegionalInter district Cricket Tournament beingplayed here at Iteefaq Hospital ground. East Zone Whites has made 244/5 in theist innings while North Zone bluesscored 103/4 at the end of the day. ScOReS: east Zone whites 244/5 in 70 overs. Sheraz

butt 104, muntazar mehdi 34, Inayat Saeed 43, yasir ali

38(no). hafiz m Salam 3/61, waqas aslam 2/112.

North Zone blues 103/4 in 36 overs. ateeq ahmed

42(no), tauqeer tanveer 31, m faisal 1/42, Khuram hu-

mayon 1/19, Sameer akram 1/19.

west Zone blues 259/6 while east Zone blues 83/1.

west Zone blues has made 259/6 in the ist innings of

Sr Reigional Inter district Cricket event played on forst

day at model town greens ground on Saturday.while

east Zone blues has scored 83/1 at the end of the day.

west Zone blues 259/6 in 70 overs. abdul wahab dar

89, ahmed dar 50, m Sohail 31, Umer Siddiq 70(No).

asif IShfaq 3/45, waqas ali 2/80, Usman 1/78.

east Zone blues 83/1. abid ali 39(no), Rana adnan 35.

Hamza Mawaz – a rising polo star

Zaka rounds off successful visit to IndiaPawar to push for Pakistan, India series revival

Pakistan need to showmaturity to square series

hambaNtota: Pakistan cricketer Sohail tanveer delivers a ball during a practice session. AFP

Sabbatini leads with Woodsone back at Memorial

ISB 03-06-2012_Layout 1 6/3/2012 1:46 AM Page 19

Sri lanka’s firstt20 win overPakistan at home

Sri Lanka recorded their maiden victoryover Pakistan in Twenty-20 cricket bywinnings the first match of the two-match series by 37 runs at Mahinda Ra-japaksa International Cricket Stadium,Sooriyawewa, Hambantota on Fridaynight (June 1).Sri Lanka's first win against Pakistan athome came in the second match. Theylost the first match by 52 runs atColombo on August 12.2009.Pakistan recorded their lowest totalagainst Sri Lanka in Twenty-20 cricketby making 95 in 17.4 overs. Their previ-ous lowest was 131 for nine in 20 oversat Lord's on June 12,2009. It was alsoPakistan's second lowest total inTwenty-20 cricket after 89 in 18.4 oversagainst England at Cardiff on Septem-ber 7,2010.Umar Gul, the second highest wicket-taker in Twenty-20 cricket after ShahidAfridi, conceded 43 runs in Sri Lankaninning. It was third time when UmarGul gave 43 or more runs in an inningsin a Twenty-20 match.Lasith Malings equalled AjanthaMendis' Sri Lankan record of most wick-ets in Twenty-20 cricket by taking twowickets in this match. He took 40 wick-ets at 19.67 in 32 matches while AjanthaMendis claimed the same number ofwickets in 21 matchest at 11.12.Mohammed Hafeez became the sixthplayer after Shahid Afridi (19 matches),Shoaib Malik (17 matches), Misbah-ul-Haq (eight matches), Younis Khan(eight matches) and Inzamam-ul-Haq(one match) to lead Pakistan in Twenty-20 cricket. The right hand batsman andoff brak bowler led first time after play-ing 29 Twenty-20 matches. Thisara Per-era received his maiden man of thematch award in 11 Twenty-20 matches.MOST WIcKeTS In TWenTY-20 cRIcKeT:

bowleR m oVeRS RUNS w aVg R/o 4wI beSt

S afridi 49 182.5 1124 56 20.07 6.14 3 4-11

U gul 40 136.4 906 55 16.47 6.62 4 5-6

S ajmal 38 138 857 53 16.16 6.21 3 4-19

a mendis 21 79 445 40 11.12 5.63 3 6-16

g Swann 30 103 659 40 16.47 6.39 - 3-13

l malinga 32 108.3 787 40 19.67 7.25 - 3-12

S broad 34 120.3 876 40 21.90 7.26 18.0 3-17

Sports20Sunday, 3 June, 2012

PARIS: Li Na of China

returns the ball to

Christina McHale of

the US during the

French Open. REUTERS

Li Na into French Open last 16PARIS: Defending champion Li Na of China shook off a tentative start to

reach the French Open last 16 on Saturday with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over

America's Christina McHale. Seventh-seeded Li will face Kazakh qualifier

Yaroslava Shvedova for a place in the quarter-finals. The 30-year-old Li had

to draw upon her 10-year age gap to prevail over the 36th-ranked

American, who had fallen in the first round at Roland Garros in 2010 and

2011. Li, struggling with her serve and backhand, was broken twice in the

first set as McHale put up a robust defence. Li found her form in the second

set, breaking McHale in the fourth game with a well-timed drop shot that

the American returned wide and earning another break in the eighth game

by forcing McHale into errors. The third set was all Li, who broke the now

exhausted McHale twice and finished the match with a clean forehand

winner. Age was in Li's favour the longer the match lasted, giving the

Chinese a chance to use a variety of shots to find gaps in McHale's game in

bright sunshine at Suzanne Lenglen court. AFP

KARACHIAFP

The International Olympic Committeehas summoned Pakistani sports offi-cials to resolve a row over alleged gov-ernment interference that couldjeopardise the country's attendance atthe London Games. Pakistan OlympicAssociation president Syed Arif Hasansaid Saturday his country might face aban if a stand-off with the PakistanSports Board is not resolved.

Under Pakistani sports policy, nonational sports federation head canhave more than two tenures and thePakistan Sports Board wants the Pak-

istan Olympic Association (POA) tofollow suit. But Hasan insisted thePOA was a autonomous body thatwould only follow IOC rules.

"The IOC has summoned both theparties on Monday to make clear thatany government interference is unac-ceptable in Olympic association mat-ters, but things can go wrong," saidHasan. "Under the IOC charter, politi-cal and government interference is notacceptable and it can lead to the can-cellation of IOC membership and inturn an Olympic ban," Hasan, whowon a third term as POA head in Feb-ruary this year told AFP. "It is a verydangerous scenario." The two sides

have been summoned to appear beforethe IOC in Switzerland on Monday.

In its letter to the POA, the IOCsaid government interference was"unacceptable." "As the LondonGames are fast approaching, your Na-tional Olympic Committee and theOlympic movement in your countrymust be in a position to work in aserene and peaceful atmosphere inorder to prepare your athletes andyour delegation to the London Gamesin the best possible manner," the let-ter said. "Any attempt from any gov-ernment body to implementprovisions which are not compatiblewith the basic principles which govern

the Olympic movement would be con-sidered as government interferenceand would result in protective meas-ures," said the letter.

The IOC also said the POA's Feb-ruary election was "fair and "as perthe IOC rules."

Pakistan's only chance to win amedal at the London Olympics lies infield hockey in which they have quali-fied as Asian champions.

They have also received two wild-card entries each in athletics, swim-ming and shooting and may also getone in boxing -- but do not stand areal chance of winning a medal inthose fields.

IOC summons Pakistan officials over ‘interference’

INNSBRUCKReuTeRS

Euro 2012 co-hosts Ukraine were beaten3-2 by Austria in Innsbruck on Friday intheir penultimate warm-up friendly aheadof the tournament. The visitors werecaught cold after three minutes whenZlatko Junuzovic curled an excellent freekick beyond the goalkeeper. Ukraine lev-elled after 56 minutes, Oleh Gusyev tap-ping the ball in from close range followinga through ball from Andriy Yarmolenko.

Marko Arnautovic restored Austria'slead six minutes later with a powerful effortlow into the corner. Gusyev, though, struckagain in the 65th minute with a long-rangethunderbolt of a shot into the top corner.Arnautovic then grabbed the winner withtwo minutes left to play. Ukraine, drawnwith France, England and Sweden in GroupD, take on Turkey in a final warm-up in In-golstadt on Tuesday. Their first match inthe Euros is against Sweden in Kiev onJune 11. Poland are also co-hosts.EGYPT GET FIRST WIN OF AFRICANWC QUALIFIERS: Egypt recorded thefirst win of the group phase of Africa's qual-ifiers for the 2014 World Cup by beatingMozambique 2-0 behind closed doors in

Alexandria on Friday. Mahmoud Fathallahopened the scoring with a far-post headerafter 56 minutes and Mohamed Zidan set upthe second goal nine minutes later in theGroup G encounter. Zidan, who came on asa second-half substitute to pep up an inef-fective home attack in an eerie atmosphereat the empty Borj Al Arab Stadium,thumped a shot against the crossbar and theball bounced into the net off the back ofgoalkeeper Kampagno.

The Egyptian government ordered thematch to be played behind closed doors dueto security concerns. There has been no foot-ball in the country, apart from games in thepan-African club competition, since Febru-ary's attack at the Port Said Stadium where74 fans were killed. Friday's match markedthe competitive debut for Egypt's Americancoach Bob Bradley. Both countries play an-other qualifier next week when Egypt travelto Guinea and Mozambique host Zimbabwe.ITALY THRASHED 3-0 BY RUSSIAIN EURO WARM-UP: Italy's troublesmounted as they produced some slapstickdefending in a 3-0 defeat by fellow Euro2012 finalists Russia on Friday in their onlywarm-up match for the tournament.

The game at the Letzigrund in Zurichwas played against the backdrop of a match-

fixing scandal back home that promptedItaly coach Cesare Prandelli to say he wouldnot mind his side pulling out of the Euro-pean Championship if it was the right move.

Friday's performance was a defensivenightmare for Italy, who conceded onlytwice in 10 games during qualifying, withRussia's second and third goals coming fromdefensive mix-ups involving substitute goal-keeper Morgan De Sanctis.

Italy had created more chances inthe opening hour but their rearguard al-ways looked shaky and they fell to pieceswhen Russia, who could have scoredthree times ahead of the break, wentahead through Alexander Kerzhakov justbefore the hour. Roman Shirokov thenadded two late goals.

It was Italy's third successive matchwithout scoring following 1-0 defeats byUruguay in November and the UnitedStates in February and their heaviestloss since Prandelli took charge follow-ing the 2010 World Cup. Italy have beendrawn in a tough Group C at Euro 2012with world and European championsSpain, Croatia and Ireland. MarioBalotelli drew a blank for the Italians,disappearing from the action in the lasthalf hour after a bright opening.

Euro co-hosts Ukraine beaten by Austria in Innsbruck

INNSbRUCK: Ukraine's national team player yevgen Khacheridi eyes the ball during theinternational friendly match against austria at the tivoli Neu stadium. AFP

S. PERVEz QAISER

stats corner

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fRENCh oPEN 2012

Sports 21Sunday, 3 June, 2012

wAtch It LIvE

TEN SPORTSSecond T20: Pakistanv Sri Lanka06:30PM

PARISAFP

FRANCESCA Schiavone, the2010 French Open cham-pion, tumbled out of RolandGarros and the world top 20

on Saturday in a marathon three-hour,three-set loss to unseeded AmericanVarvara Lepchenko.

Italian 14th seed Schiavone, whowas also runner-up to Li Na last yearand the oldest woman left in the toura-ment, lost 3-6, 6-3, 8-6 to Lepchenko,the world number 63 who has nowreached the last 16 of a Grand Slam forthe first time. The Uzbekistan-bornleft-hander also provided anothertimely boost for American women'stennis which was sent reeling by theshock first loss of Serena Williams andthe more predictable second round exitof Venus Williams.

Schiavone crumbles,Kvitova struggles

PaRIS: Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova hits a return to Russia's Nina bratchikova duringtheir women's singles match of the french open. AFP

eight-teamyouth Schoolfootball begins

LAHORESTAFF RePORT

The Faisalabad and Sargodha YouthFootball School Championship-2012”was launched on Friday (June, 1, 2012)with a match between PAF Public SchoolSargodha and Fazaia Inter College atCompany Bagh Football Ground Sar-godha under the banner of PakistanFootball Federation (PFF).The event is a part of the Youth FootballDevelopment Project in Pakistan beingfunded by the Australian Sports Com-mission of Australian Governmentthrough its Australian Sports OutreachProgram (ASOP). This is noticeable thatthis is second consecutive edition ofsuch development projects which is pre-sented by the PFF and endorsed by theAustralian Government through theAustralian High Commission, Islam-abad. Eight Schools’ teams of Sargodhaand Faisalabad region are participatingin the event which are divided into twopools with group A having Govt HighSchool #2 Sargodha, Govt High SchoolKhushab, PAF Public School Sargodha,Fazaia Model Inter College Sargodhawhile Group B comprisesJunior Labora-tory High School Faisalabad, Govern-ment High School Chabba Faisalabad,Government High School Gatti Faisal-abad, Crescent Model High SchoolFaisalabad. The opening match of the championshipended in favour of PAF Public SchoolSargodha 3-0 against Fazaia Model InterCollege Sargodha.The teams of each group will play onsingle league and out of the four teams,two top teams will move to the nextknock out stage. Top teams of bothgroups will clash for the title in finalmatch while runner-up teams of bothgroups will collide for the 3rd and 4thposition.

birthday boy Nadaldetermined to party

PARISReuTeRS

Rafa Nadal, gunning to become the first manto win seven French Open titles, will makesure he will celebrate his birthday in Paris ifhe beats Argentine Eduardo Schwank in athird-round tie at Roland Garros on Satur-day. The second-seeded Spaniard, who willturn 26 on Sunday, is expected to roll overthe world number 192 on Court PhilippeChatrier. Russian second-seed Maria Sharapova,chasing the only grand-slam title missingfrom her collection,will be back in action forthe second day runningwhen she faces Chinese28th seed Peng Shuai.

It may be too early to say whether there is a pat-tern to John Isner’s matches against French play-ers, but certainly his performance against PaulHenri Mathieu in the French Open second roundbrought back memories of his endless encounteragainst Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010.

Isner is extremely tall and as such, gets alot of angle on his serve, making it very difficultto break. But his erratic ground game makes itequally hard for him to break even a serve suchas Mathieu’s, because Mathieu would invari-ably best him in the ground stroke exchanges.Isner would now be looking fondly towardsWimbledon’s grass courts later this month.

The French Open has moved smoothly intothe third round stage with almost all the men’sseeds relatively untroubled as they made theirway into the second and third rounds. FavouriteNovak Djokovic had a couple of nervous mo-ments as he defeated Kavic of Slovakia. Kavic wasa break up in the second set after being swept inthe first, and matched the top seed shot for shot.It was a relived Djokovic who took advantage oferrors from his opponent to win in straight sets.

Rafael Nadal was untroubled as he movedinto the third round and looks in prime form todefend his title and win a record seventh straightFrench Open. On current form he looks the manto beat as he has been ever since he burst uponthe international scene at the age of seventeen.

Roger Federer is looking as good as ever buthe will find the going difficult against Djokovicin the semis, should he get there. Djokovic hasone of the best ever service returns and his de-fence is rock solid. Should Federer get throughhis quarter which includes Del Potro, he wouldbe the underdog against Novak. Federer’sprospects on French Clay depend considerablyon the climatic conditions during the fortnight.If the weather stays dry, the courts will be pow-dery and fast. If the courts get soaked by rain andthe atmosphere becomes heavy, the balls will ab-sorb the red clay and get heavy. They will movethrough the air slowly and will favour the base-line counter attacker. This could tilt the delicatebalance and make Federer vulnerable to playersother than the top two. But should the air andthe courts stay dry, Federer would fancy hischances against anyone. The balls being used atthe French Open are also different and it remainsto be seen as to what type of game they favour.

Andy Roddick lost in the first round as didJames Blake, two Americans whose best isprobably behind them. Roddick is never at hisbest on the slow clay that negates his serving

power. With Mardy Fish also out of action,John Isner had been hoping to carry the Amer-ican challenge until he ran into Mathieu. SerenaWilliams had been one of the favourites to winhere, but she had an attack of nerves when twopoints away from winning against 112 rankedVirginie Razzano. Razzano came back in thesecond set tie break and then raced to a 5-0 leadin the decider. Back came Serena to 3-5 andthere followed one of the most nerve wrackinggames with Serena saving nine match pointsand holding several break points before suc-cumbing to the local favourite. Venus Williamsalso lost early, to the Polish girl Radwanska.

Top seed Victoria Azarenka almost followedsuit, being down a set and 4-0 to Italian Brianti,before Brianti herself choked on the verge of vic-tory. She moved into the third round and shouldbe favourite here along with Petra Kvitova andreigning champion Li Na. Sam Stosur of Australiais also in with a chance with her booming kickserve particularly effective on the clay. Pakistan’sAisam Qureshi and partner Julian Roger easilywon their first round against a young Frenchpairing. They are in a good part of the draw withAdel Shamasdeen and Bjorn Phau next and 5thseed Horia Tecau and Robert Lindstedt awaitingthem in the round of sixteen. This is a match theyshould fancy winning. In the semis, should theyget there, are the Bryans, the second seeds. Aisamand Roger have beaten them recently, so there ishope for some good results. Aisam and his Czechpartner Andrea Hlavackova lost in the openinground to the same pairing that had defeated themat the Australian Open, Bracciali andVoskoboeva. But this time Aisam and partnerwere not in the reckoning, losing in straight sets.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, a nationallyranked tournament is being held at the Islam-abad Club. There were some oddities in thedraw, with 18 players taken into the main draw.There were eight qualifiers and that left sixempty spaces which should have been filled. In-terestingly, a former Pakistan number threewho had been performing well internationally,but because of overseas commitments, had losthis ranking, was made to qualify. This despitethe fact that he was a finalist in the previousweek’s tournament. Shahida Chishti of GreenerPakistan, the sponsors, made the astonishingstatement that if the player wished to get in themain draw, he should have made a written re-quest. Of course the man behind all this is a for-mer Treasurer of the PTF who has been doingthese subterfuges all his life and despite theSupreme Court’s decision upholding the SportsPolicy, continues to be an office bearer of thePTF. PSB should take serious notice.

All men’s seeds untroubled

ALI AKBAR

sports this Week

LONDONAFP

Usain Bolt has promised to "wow"the world with his performances atthe 2012 London Olympic Games.The Jamaica sprinter is the reigningOlympic 100 metres and 200 me-tres champion after some dazzlingdisplays in Beijing four years ago,where he also helped the Caribbeanisland in the 4x100m relay goldmedal. World record holder in bothindividual sprint disciplines, Boltendured a relatively modest start tothe European track season but wasback into top form when winningthe Rome Diamond League 100m in9.76 seconds on Thursday.

"I know I can go faster becausethis is the start of the season. Ihave a long way to go," Bolt said inLondon on Friday, where he waslaunching Jamaica's Bob Marley-inspired kit.

"I'm really looking forward tocompeting here. I haven't competedin London for a while so I'm reallylooking forward to it."

Bolt said he would seek inspi-ration from London's Jamaicancommunity, adding: "I know all theJamaicans living here are lookingforward to it also so I'm justpreparing to put on a great show."At the end of the day I just want to

wow people after this Olympics soI'm looking forward to it."

Asked whether he will need toimprove on 9.76secs to win gold,and whether he can go faster, Boltsaid: "That's what I do. "The sea-son is still early. Everybody is run-ning 9.8 so that's goodcompetition. 9.7 is also good forme. "I'm happy with the way it isand just want to continue workinghard and run faster so I'm lookingforward to it. I'm ready to go."

Bolt 'only' managed a 10.04secrun in winning the 100m in Ostravalast week, but he said: "I neverdoubt my ability, never. People for-get, and I keep explaining to people,that athletes have bad days. "Everyathlete can - cricket, football, anysport - you have bad days and thatwas just one of mine and I got pastit and now I'm just moving for-ward." Bolt's triple Olympic tri-umph in Beijing was powered on adiet of chicken nuggets -- but therewill be no repeat of that in London.

"The good thing about the factwe are in London is there will be alot of Jamaican food - the only thingI have to worry about is putting onweight," he said. "There will be nochicken nuggets this year." The Ja-maican kit was designed by CedellaMarley, who drew inspiration fromher father and his music.

loNdoN: Jamaican sprinter Usain bolt poses for photographs during the officialpresentation of the Jamaican clothing for the 2012 olympic games. AFP

Bolt promises to‘wow’ London 2012

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Sunday, 3 June, 2012

22

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

CAIROAFP

Ajudge sentenced former Egypt-ian president Hosni Mubarak tolife in prison on Saturday after

convicting him of involvement in themurder of protesters during the upris-ing that ousted him last year.

A senior lawyer for Mubarak’s de-fence team told AFP the strongman,who was taken to a Cairo prison afterthe hearing, will appeal the sentence.

Also given a life term for thekillings was the 84-year-old formerstrongman’s interior minister Habib al-Adly, but six ex-police commanderswere acquitted. Corruption chargesagainst Mubarak’s sons, Alaa and

Gamal, were dropped due to the expiryof a statute of limitations, and the for-mer president was acquitted in one ofthe graft cases. Scuffles erupted soonafter the verdicts were delivered andchants of “Void, void” and “The peoplewant the judiciary purged” could beheard, as furious lawyers told AFP theyfeared Mubarak would be found inno-cent on appeal. “We will appeal. Theruling is full of legal flaws from everyangle,” Yasser Bahr, a senior memberof Mubarak’s defence team, told AFP.

Asked if Mubarak was likely to winthe appeal, Bahr said, “We will win, onemillion percent.” Mubarak, who woredark sunglasses and a beige track-suit,had his arms folded and showed noemotion inside his caged dock, as ChiefJudge Ahmed Refaat read out the ver-dict. His two sons, Alaa and Gamal,looking tired with dark circles undertheir eyes, appeared close to tears onhearing the verdict.

“It’s vindicating to Egyptians to seeMubarak and his interior minister sen-tenced to life, but the verdict raisesmore questions than answers,” saidHossam Bahgat, the director of theEgyptian Initiative for Personal Rights,who was outside the court with mem-bers of the victims’ families. “The courtappears to have found no evidence thatthe killings were committed by police-men. It seems the court convictedMubarak and Adly for failing to preventthe killings,” Bahgat told AFP. “It’s 100percent certain that this will go to ap-peal and the court is very likely to ordera retrial,” said Bahgat, a respected ac-tivist and lawyer. In delivering the rul-ing, Judge Refaat painted a grimpicture of life under Mubarak, listinghardship after hardship suffered dur-ing his three decade rule. He said some“went hungry” and spoke of conditionsin the “rotting slums”.

Refaat said the protesters who hadparticipated in the 2011 uprising inCairo’s Tahrir Square were “peaceful”and only wanted “justice, freedom anddemocracy”.

PESHAWARSTAFF RePORT

At least four people werekilled on Saturday morningwhen missiles fired by a USdrone hit a vehicle parked ina compound near Wana townof South Waziristan Agency.

An official in Wana, whileconfirming the drone strike,said the unmanned aircraftfired four missiles at the vehi-cle in the Ghawakhwa Sheen

Warsak area near Wana. Thevehicle smashed into piecesand the compound was dam-aged, he said. The officialsaid that four people hadbeen killed in the attack. Theexact identity of the victimscould not be determined, butthe official suspected thatthey included foreign mili-tants, including a brother ofCommander Malang – a con-fidential aide of Mullah Nazir,who is alleged to have links

with militant organisationsincluding al Qaeda.

The attack has ended an al-most month-long break indrone strikes in South Waziris-tan. In previous May, about fivedrone strikes targeted hideoutsand vehicles of the militants,killing over 30 people, includ-ing foreigners. The tribalsources believe that due to fre-quent drone attacks in NorthWaziristan, several militantsslipped into South Waziristan.

g Scuffles erupt soonafter verdicts aredelivered forcing policeto use stun grenades tocontrol crowds

g Tearful formerEgyptian presidentrefuses to enter prisong Egypt presidentialcandidate Shafiq saysverdicts ‘must beaccepted’

Hosni Mubarakgets life sentence

US drone kills 4 people in SWA

cAIRO: A supporter of egypt's ousted president Hosni Mubarak reacts after

hearing the verdict outside the heavily-guarded courthouse on Saturday. AFP

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