e-paper pakistantoday 07th may, 2012

PAGE | 22 PAGE | 03

British-Pakistanilawyer defrauded byMNA’s daughter in law?

Socialist Hollande is the new

French presidentPAGE |22

Islamabad-Peshawar Edition Monday, 7 May, 2012 Jamadi-ul-Sani 15, 1433Rs 15.00 Vol II No 310 22 Pages

Hillary Clinton coulddrop by to attempt to end stalemate

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE AgenCIeS

PRIMEMinisterYousafRazaGilani on

Sunday called on thePML-N to resign fromthe assemblies,exhorting mainpolitical rivals, PTIChairman ImranKhan and PML-Nchief Nawaz Sharif, todevelop a betterunderstanding of theconstitution beforeembarking uponprotests and chantingslogans in support ofthe judiciary.During his interaction with the members of the Lahore PressClub, Gilani said mechanism for implementation of judicialdecisions had been given in the constitution.He said his government would hold by-elections if the PML-Nresigned from the assembly seats.He said followers of dictators could not withstand the force ofthe PPP leadership and lambasted Nawaz by saying that hehad a track record of striking compromises with dictatorsduring critical phases of the country’s history. He said Nawazhad fled the country after striking a deal with a dictator.“Nawaz Sharif was in Jeddah when [President Asif] Zardari andGilani were confronting a dictator,” he said, adding that theywould continue to face dictators.He also asked Nawaz to tender anapology before the nation for making compromises with dictators.Gilani said the opposition’s hue and cry could not impress themasses. “There is no need for support from the opposition orthe provincial governments to implement the SupremeCourt’s orders.” He also did not see any reasons for agitationby lawyers as they had been supporting the democracy andconstitution. About his disqualification issue, the primeminister said it was the prerogative of the National Assemblyspeaker and not of the Supreme Court, and questioned Nawazto explain why he had not left politics when convicted for 25years in a pane high-jacking case. He said the PML-N washolding rallies to hide their blunders and corruption exposedin the Mehran Bank scam while cases were still being heard bythe Supreme Court and called upon the PML-N leadership tofirst get themselves exonerated from these cases.ComplaIn: Gilani expressed his dismay over weeks-longdelay in indictment of Babar Awan in a contempt of courtcase.He complained that contempt issue against Awan hadtaken place prior to the proceedings against him but Awan’scase had been deferred for long and the former office bearerof the PPP was indicted yet.london vIsIt: The prime minister is leaving for Londontoday (Monday), and a 70-member entourage will accompanyhim to what might be the last foreign tour of the convictedprime minister.A 21-member team has already reachedLondon to cover his visit. The British media has startedcriticising the prime minister’s visit and during hisinteraction, Gilani will have to face tough time over hisconviction and flouting of Supreme Court’s decision.

Gilani daresPML-N to resign from assembliesg PM unmoved with opposition’s demands,advises Nawaz, Imran to carefully studyconstitution g Complains over delay inBabar Awan’s indictment in contempt caseg Leaves for London today accompaniedby 70-member delegation

PML-N, PTI launch anti-govt rallies

Nine soldierskilled in NWA

PESHAWAR/NORTH WAZIRISTANAgenCIeS

Security forces, engaged by terrorists in NorthWaziristan, suffered nine casualties in clashes withmilitants on Sunday. According to an ISPR statement,the security forces were continuously targeted by theterrorists at Amin checkpost in Miranshah. OnSunday, during an attack on a military convoy,intense exchange of firing took place in which ninetroops were killed. Earlier, the security forces usedhelicopters and artillery to bomb militant hideouts inNorth Waziristan shortly after they fired rockets on aconvoy of security forces, tribesmen in the regionsaid. An army captain and two other securitypersonnel were injured in exchange of fire, they said.The injured were airlifted to a military hospital inBannu. Tribesmen said a rocket landed on a mosqueSunday evening, injuring up to 15 people. The shell hitthe mosque at Zafar town in the outskirts ofMiranshah as the security forces and suspectedmilitants exchanged firing for several hours.Announcements were made through loudspeakersfrom mosques to rush to the mosque to shift theinjured to the main hospital, residents said. Anemergency was also declared in the agency’s mainhospital to treat the injured, they said. Clashesbetween the army and the militants began as thesecurity forces started demolishing a garden, whichofficials said, was being used by the militants forattacks on the security forces. The garden is located inthe outskirts of Miranshah. A shell also hit a vehicle,carrying suspected militants, killing three of them, acorrespondent said on phone from the region. Shellsalso landed on houses and vehicles, causing hugeflames, residents said. A shell also hit the residence ofa local officer of education department in civil colonyin the heart of the town. There was no report ofcivilian casualty as security forces had imposedweekly curfew in North Waziristan. The authoritiesclamp curfew on every Sunday for troops’ movementin the region. Residents said people also fled to saferplaces as there had been no let up in exchange offiring the whole day. In other areas fighting forcedthe people in remain indoors.

ISLAMABADSTAff RePoRT/AgenCIeS

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) on Sundaybegan their formal protest against the governmentacross the country, demanding Prime MinisterYousaf Raza Gilani resign from his office afterbeing convicted by the Supreme Court.

The PML-N staged protest rallies inGujranwala and Karachi, demanding animmediate resignation of Gilani.

However, internal scuffles,mismanagement and lack of zeal turned therallies chaotic.

The PML-N’s rally at the Karachi PressClub was marred by mismanagement, forcingmedia to boycott the rally after beingmanhandled by unruly workers.

In Gujranwala, the PML-N had alreadyannounced the launch of its protest movementagainst Gilani’s refusal to step down after hisconviction by the Supreme Court in thecontempt case.

The organizers had made arrangements foraround 8,000 to 10,000 people, but protestorsturned frenzied as they burnt effigies.

Members of the PML-N youth wing alsoscuffled with the rally organisers when theytried to get on the stage.

Addressing the Gujranwala rally, PML-Nleader Khwaja Saad Rafique said the convictedprime minister should resign, else the entirePakistan People’s Party (PPP) governmentwould have to face public justice.

The PML-N workers and parliamentariansstaged a huge protest at Rail Bazaar and ralliedacross Gujranwala.

Saad said Gilani was a convict and had nomoral ground to govern the country.

He said that before the “long march”, thePM would have to do a “quick march” towardsthe pavilion.

“We are pro-democracy and have giventhem time to mend their selves, but instead ofdoing something for the betterment of themasses they have exploited the whole nation.Now the Supreme Court has declared him(Gilani) a convict and he should resignotherwise a long march will decide his fate andpeople will elect honest people to rule the landof pure,” Saad said.

He said the so-called prime minister wasinvolved in various corruption scandals and

had played with the future of the peoplethrough nepotism.

Zaeem Qadri said the prime minister hadput the country on the track of destruction.

He said the PM had looted the publicexchequer and the common man was evenworse than before.Imran: Meanwhile in Islamabad, PTIChairman Imran Khan called upon PML-NPresident Nawaz Sharif to resign from theassemblies if his party was serious about“disastrous policies” of the government.

“Mian Sahab prove you are a real tiger bycoming out of the assemblies,” Imrandemanded while addressing a rally stagedoutside Parliament House to express solidaritywith the judiciary. Imran called Nawaz a “papertiger” and challenged him to hold publicmeetings in Quetta and Karachi, where the PTIhad organized massive gatherings.

“If Mian Sahab holds public meetings inQuetta and Karachi, he would be the leader ofentire Pakistan, otherwise he would be theleader of Punjab only,” he said.

The PTI chief also took to task PresidentAsif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani andslammed the resolution passed in favour of thelatter by parliament a few days ago.

“I don’t accept this resolution and it has noworth. If the parliamentary resolutions had anyworth, the drone strikes against Pakistan wouldhave been stopped,” Imran said.

He said Gilani should be ashamed ofgetting such resolutions passed fromparliament against the judgment of theSupreme Court.

Imran held President Asif Zardariresponsible for the predator strikes onPakistani territory by the US.

He asked Gilani why was he not writing tothe Swiss authorities, saying the PM had beenin fact protecting a thief and dacoit of nationalexchequer by defying court orders.

Imran also announced to approach allparties included in the former All PakistanDemocratic Movement (APDM) that boycottedthe 2008 general election to take them onboard against the designs of the rulers.

He also announced to hold a massivepublic gathering in Liaqat Bagh Rawalpindilater this month and declared that PTI wouldbring the youth across the country toIslamabad if the rulers remained bent upontheir anti-judiciary plans.

g pML-n arranges rowdy, chaotic rallies in Gujranwala, Karachi g imran demandspML-n resign from assemblies, challenges nawaz to hold rally in Quetta

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan addresses a rally to express solidarity with the Supreme Court. inp

ISB 07-05-2012_Layout 1 5/7/2012 3:52 AM Page 1

02Monday, 7 May, 2012

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nawaz Sharif should explain his ‘deal’ with dictator, says Kaira PPP stands by PM gilani: Mukhtar

LAHOREAgenCIeS

As summers approach, the intensityin warm temperature increases, andso does the hours of load sheddingin Punjab’s major cities, includingLahore.

Citizens, frustrated with the summer heatand electricity providers, have started protest-ing and burning tyres on the streets of Lahore.

About 12 to 14 hours of load shedding isbeing carried out in major cities of Punjab,whereas the rural areas of Punjab are sufferingfrom more than 20 hours of load shedding

every day. Some villages are reported to be de-prived of electricity for over 22 hours a day.

Numerous people tired of load sheddingand the rising heat, burnt tires and stagedprotest in Hafiz Abad, while roads were blockedin various parts of Gujranwala.

The power short fall reached 5,000megawatts on Sunday, and the Pakistan Elec-tric Power Company (PEPCO) resorted to un-scheduled long load shedding in rural andurban areas.

Cities affected by the unscheduled loadshedding include Sialkot, Faisalabad, Gujrat,Mandi Bhawal, Sargodha, Sahiwal,Sheikhupura, Okara and Multan.

PEPCO sources said that the demand forelectricity was 15,912MW while the currentpower generation was 10,912MW. They said theIPPs were providing 5,503MW and Thermalplants only 1,378 MW. They said that hy-dropower generation showed some improve-ment, reaching 4,131 MW.

Sources said the Karachi Electric SupplyCompany (KESC) was being provided 710MWof electricity. They said that due to increase intemperature, people had switched on their airconditioners and the demand was increasing ata rapid pace. However due to non payments foroil and gas, power generation by the IPPs wasnot keeping pace.

Summer heat triggers new waveof protests against load shedding

Musharraf leavesfor China on4-day visit

DUBAIInP

Former president and head of the AllPakistan Muslim League, General (r)Pervez Musharraf, left for China on afour-day visit at the invitation of theChinese leadership. Sources in theAPML said that during his stay inChina, Musharraf would meetimportant Chinese leaders and deliverlectures. During meetings with Chinesepolitical and government leaders, theformer president will exchange viewson regional and international situationparticularly in the context of theirimpact on Pakistan and China, partysources said.

Qureshi saysGilani lostprerogative overnational issueslaHorE: PakistanTahreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ViceChairman Shah MahmoodQureshi said on Sunday thatPrime Minister Yousaf RazaGilani stood disqualified afterthe Supreme Court decisionand thus lost his prerogative totake decisions on national is-sues. Talking to media, he saidhis party was not calling shotsbut was taking practical stepsfor the removal of corrupt rul-ing junta, and for the purposea protest movement had beenlaunched. Gilani should haveresigned from his office afterhis conviction but he wasshowing defiance to the apexcourt’s orders and clinging tohis post, the former foreignminister lamented, adding thatall decisions by Gilani after hisconviction would have no effi-cacy, as these would be termedunconstitutional and illegal.About forging of alliance withthe Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for oustingGilani, the PTI leader said thatthey had not taken any deci-sion as they were not willing torepose confidence in PML-NHe also hinted at extendingmass protests to all parts of thecountry. InP

Undercoverrobbers snatchPPP MNA’sson’s car

ISLAMABADInP

Unidentified armed menwearing Islamabad Policeuniforms snatched the car ofthe son of Pakistan People’sParty (PPP) MNA fromLarkana Nazir AhmadBhugio in Kohsar PoliceStation precincts on Sunday.According to police sources,Bhugio’s son was passingnear the Jatoi chowk, wherehe was signaled by armed“policemen” to stop. Whenthe politician’s son stoppedthe car, he was taken out ofthe vehicle at gun point, andthe dacoits drove away thevehicle. A case was registeredat the Kohar Police Stationand search for the vehicle hasbeen launched.



NewsCoMMeNtProtests:

Articles on Page 12-13

These aren’t going to be like the judges' long march.

Drone attacks: Time to put it to rest?

Waqqas Mir says;

Muneeb farooq says;

ForeIGN NewS

Story on Page 17

ArtS & eNtertAINMeNt

Story on Page 15

SPortS

Story on Page 18

Russians protest over Putin’s return as president Kristen Stewart gets ‘swag’ in step after injury

The insecure majority: The state against its own citizens.

Politics all around: Especially where it shouldn’t be...

Rabia Ahmed says;Information: available or not: Poised for flight?

ICC cannot interfere in bilateral ties, says Lorgat

LAHOREuMAIR AzIz

In what turns out to be a question of na-tional integrity and working of the state ap-paratus, a British lawyer of Pakistani originhas been allegedly defrauded of Rs 5.5 mil-lion by a high-profile female personality ofMuzaffargarh, Pakistan Today has learnt.

Per details, Humayun Akhtar, a 67-year-old British lawyer, has been runningfrom pillar to post in Pakistan to recoverhis money allegedly swindled by 27-year-old Mehnaz Saeed, who belongs to Muza-fargarh and is wife of Saeed Durrani (sonof MNA Dr Ayatullah Durrani).

Mehnaz recently registered an FIR(53/12) at Ramna police station, Islam-abad, against Humayun, alleging that heintercepted her car and attacked her.

However, Humayun said the FIR hadbeen quashed by a judicial magistrate inIslamabad. He further said that the FIRwas entirely “concocted, bogus, mani-festly false, un maintainable on facts andpure fabrication with clear mala fide in-tentions to get him entangled in the Pak-istan’s criminal procedures, so that insheer frustration he would give up hisclaim and return to the UK”.

In April 2011, Mehnaz, also known asMehnaz Javed, went to the UK with astudent visa to study English and whilein London, she went to see Akhtar with arecommendation of a common friendfrom Rawalpindi to seek political asylumon grounds of her perceived persecution

in Pakistan.According to Humayun, Mehnaz stated

that she came from a family of poor eco-nomic and educational background inMuzaffargarh and her father still worked asa tyre mechanic at a petrol filling pump.

She also narrated other terribleevents including men “using” her andpassing her on.

She further said that as a single motherand a woman, her life was “unbelievablytough” and merciless.

Upon hearing this story, Akhtar cameto the judgment that it would be difficultfor her to succeed in her asylum claim. Headvised her that since she had no educa-tion, no skills, insufficient command ofEnglish and no funds, she should go backto Pakistan and try to establish herselfafresh with a clean life.

“Mehnaz was crying and with tearsrolling down her cheeks, she begged meto help her to settle back in Rawalpindi…to this I agreed purely and simply on hu-manitarian grounds that I am prepared tohelp her by entering into a joint businesspartnership with her in which she wouldbe a working partner and he would pro-vide the capital with equal share of profitand loss…She also very willingly signed abinding partnership agreement and con-senting to the provision that should shefail to honour it, he shall be entitled to pe-ruse a criminal fraud claim against her…In accordance with the signed agreementI provided Mehnaz with Rs 5.5 million ofwhich Rs 3.7 million were given to her in

Pakistan through Pakistani banks’cheques. To help her further, I also agreedto loan her my Acer laptop valued at Rs91,000,” Humayun said.

However, by August 30 after having re-ceived a total sum of Rs 5.5 million,Mehnaz simply disappeared. She changedher address in Islamabad and also her cellnumber. She simply became untraceable.

On September 11, 2011 Humayunwrote to the National Assembly officialand on October 15 to Dr Ayatullah Dur-rani (father in law of Mehnaz) but none

of them responded. Akhtar came to Pakistan on December

27 to look for her to recover his money andfound from her father and brother at theMuzafargarh police station that she hadbeen living in G 11/ 2, Islamabad.

However, Mehnaz invited him over toIslamabad for a meeting to settle the issue,but got an FIR registered against Hu-mayun, who asserted that in this sordidand gory act, Mehnaz had been activelyhelped by high ups in the Ministry of Inte-rior and Police IG’s office.

However, on May 2, a judicial magis-trate in Islamabad quashed the FIR ongrounds that it was false and that Mehnazrepeatedly failed to provide any independ-ent evidence to support her claim.

Akhtar said he intended to tryMehnaz both for her false FIR and thefraud she had committed.

However, Mehnaz told PakistanToday that the charges were false, sayingshe met Humayun in London because of acommon acquaintance only for my child’scase. “Humayun persuaded me to investin business ideas and got £45,000 fromme and actually defrauded me…I didn’twant to create any problem with my fam-ily life so I did not take up the issue, butHumayun returned partial amount bycheques…he has been stalking me and I’vebeen avoiding him,” she said, adding thatshe was a partner in Sheena Textile Millsand had been running an NGO.

“I met him for my child’s case, but Iwas not interested in nationality because Iwas to pursue a political career…I amANP’s Punjab president and very well off…it is ridiculous he gave this much amounton humanitarian grounds,” she added.

She further claimed having got emailrecords in which Humayun fell for herand also urged her to invest in his busi-ness ideas, however, she could not pro-duce any such evidence despite a lapse ofseveral days. Humayun, however, gavecopies of all agreements and correspon-dence and record of his entire corre-spondence with her.

British-Pakistani lawyer defrauded by MNA’s daughter in law?g Humayun says Mehnaz, relative of dr Ayatullah durrani, defrauded him of rs 5.5 million

LAHOREAgenCIeS

PAKISTAN People’s Party (PPP)Secretary General Jahangir Badarsaid on Sunday that some peoplewere trying to politicise the court’sverdict and wanted to crush the

“people’s mandate” by force. Speaking at Lahore Press Club, Badar said

that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)chief Nawaz Sharif was committing a great mis-take by launching the long march.

“Everyone is waiting for a detailed verdict bythe court and the verdict will be accepted what-ever it is,” Badar said, adding that the PPP had noquarrel with the judiciary and the party would inno way attack the apex court. He said the judici-ary was facing dangers not from the PPP, butfrom those who were politicising its verdicts.

The PPP leader said there would be noconfrontation if the parliament and the judici-ary would remain within their constitutionallymandated role. He said that Sharif brothershad been brought up by military dictator ZiaulHaq and they fled away after signing an agree-ment with another dictator. He said the PPPcould not understand what the Sharif brotherswanted to achieve through their anti-govern-ment movement. He said their anti-federationpolitics would damage the federation. He said

the need of the hour was to strengthen democ-racy and resolve people’s problems.

Badr said that by conspiring against the gov-ernment, the PML-N president was violating the“charter of democracy” signed with the PPP.

Answering a question about the situationin Lyari, Badar said that the operation wasbeing conducted in the area against drug ped-dlers and criminals.

“The PPP has always won from Lyari and willbe winning from there in future as well,” he said.

Long march will

be a grave error

by Sharifs: Badar

ISLAMABADonLIne

Despite the depressive economic situa-tion of the country, the government is allset to repay $783 million as the secondinstallment to the International Mone-tary Fund (IMF) next month.

Pakistan had already repaid $417million as first installment to the IMF inthe last week of February. An officialwho wished not to be named said thegovernment would pay back a totalamount of $1.2 billion to IMF during the

current fiscal year, of which the first in-stallment of $417 million had been paidback while the second installment of$783 million would be repaid by June 30from foreign currency reserves held bythe State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

According to the repayment sched-ule agreed between Pakistan and IMF,Pakistan will repay $7.6 billion to theIMF by the end of fiscal year 2014-15.

The $11.3 billion SBA program hadexpired on September 30, 2011 and thelast two tranches of $3.7 billion couldnot be paid to Pakistan by the IMF fol-

lowing Islamabad’s failure to pursue keyreforms as well as the emergence of therevenue figures fiasco. The foreign ex-change reserves stood at $16.645 billionby the week ending on February 17, ofwhich $7.6 billion were loans obtainedfrom the IMF under the existing SBAprogram. Pakistan had entered into a$11.3 billion programme with the IMF in2008 and got disbursements of about$7.6 billion, but failed to get the remain-ing $3.7 billion due to slippages in per-formance criteria, leading to suspensionof the programme in May 2010.

pakistan to pay $783m to

iMF as 2nd installment

QUETTAShAhzADA zuLfIqAR

Five people were killed and two injured in variousincidents of violence across Balochistan on Sunday. In thefirst incident, unknown men sprayed bullets at a shop inDasht area of Mastung, killing shop owner Ali MohammadHazara. The Levies Force said the murder appeared to bean act of sectarian killing. In the second incident inQuetta’s Sariab area, unknown assailants gunned down asnake keeper. However, the reasons behind the murdercould not be known. Hadayatullah committed suicide afterhanging himself to a ceiling fan in Usta Mohammad townof Jaffarabad district, 450kms southeast of Quetta. AshiqAli Magsi died after his motorcycle plunged into a deepditch due to over speeding, also in Jaffarabad. A reportfrom industrial town of Hub said unknown persons killedKhuda Bakhsh in Goth Haji Murad and escaped from thescene. In the same town, a 12-year-old boy drowned in

Hub river. Police recovered the body and handed it over tothe heirs. Also, two men riding a motorcycle receivedinjuries near Sui town when their bike hit a land mine.They were identified as Shahnawaz and Dilar. Meanwhile,armed bandits abducted three truck drivers and alandlord, Hadayatullah, from Usta Mohammad town ofJaffarabad and Bolan district. Dozens of truck driversprotested the abduction from the main national highway atDingra area, demanding the district administrationrecover their colleagues. According to detail, armedkidnappers blocked the road near Bala Nari area of Bolanand kidnapped three truck drivers. Truck drivers arrivingat the spot from Quetta and Jacobabad blocked the roadand protested for hours. The blockage of the main Quetta-Jacobabad Road caused much inconvenience forpassengers amid hot weather. On the other hand, threedrivers, Mohammad Aslam, Khair Mohammad andMohammad Ishaq, who were abducted a week ago fromBolan, reached home safely on Sunday.

Five killed across Balochistan



NewsZardari to

participate in

NAto Summit

on Afghanistan ISLAMABAD

onLIne

Pakistan would participatein the NATO SummitConference, which woulddiscuss future ofAfghanistan, despite ofUSA’s decision to speed upthe drone attacks in thetribal belt of Pakistan. The moot would be held atChicago, USA, from May 20and President Asif AliZardari along with adelegation would attend it.Sources said although therelations between Pakistanand US were going coldthese days, Pakistan wouldtake part in the summit onspecial invitation ofAmerican President BarackObama. India has also beeninvited to the conference.The sources said that it wasdecided that the countrywould partake in thesummit in the recentmeeting of “trioka”. Firstthe president instructedPrime Minister Gilani torepresent the country in themoot, but due to delay inthe detailed judgment in thecontempt case against theprime minister, Zardari haddecided to attend themeeting himself.

Judicial

Commission to

meet today

ISLAMABADAPP

Chief Justice of PakistanIftikhar MuhammadChaudhry will chair ameeting of the JudicialCommission today(Monday). Senior judges andmembers of the commission,including Attorney Generalfor Pakistan Irfan Qadir,Federal Law Minister FarooqH Naik and representative ofthe Pakistan Bar Council(PBC), Khalid Ranjha, willattend the meeting. TheJudicial Commission willtake up the matter related tothe appointment of two ad-hoc and one additional judgein the Supreme Court. After alengthy meeting of allPakistan lawyers’representatives on Saturday,PBC Vice-Chairman AkhtarHussain had said theappointment of ad-hocjudges had been discouragedby the Supreme Court in itsjudgments.

MOSCOWReuTeRS

President Dmitry Medvedevdismissed the head of Rus-sia’s accident-prone navyand named a new air forcechief on his last full day in of-fice on Sunday as he pre-pares to take the No. 2 postunder Vladimir Putin.

Medvedev, who is ontrack to become prime min-ister after Putin returns tothe presidency on Mondayfor a six-year term, has re-placed the heads of the army,navy and air force in the past

two weeks. In a decree an-nounced by the Kremlin, hedismissed Admiral VladimirVysotsky, whose nearly five-year stint as navy com-mander included a fireaboard an atomic-poweredsubmarine in December anda deadly accident on anothersubmarine in 2008.

Authorities initially saidall nuclear arms aboard theYekaterinburg had been un-loaded long before a firebroke out aboard the dockedvessel on Dec. 29, but a sen-ior official later suggested itmay still have been carrying

the weapons. The officialspoke after the respectedmagazine Vlast quoted Russ-ian navy sources as sayingthe submarine was carrying16 intercontinental ballisticmissiles, each armed withfour nuclear warheads, dur-ing the fire set off by weldingsparks. “After something likethat, the head of the navy inany functioning state wouldhave been sacked,” said Rus-lan Pukhov, director ofMoscow-based defence thinktank CAST.

He said the decision wasprobably made by Putin, who

becomes commander-in-chief of the armed forceswhen he is sworn in as pres-ident on Monday. Medvedevreplaced Vysotsky with avice-admiral, Viktor Chirkov.In another decree, he namedGeneral Viktor Bondarev toreplace former air force chiefAlexander Zelin, who hadgrumbled about military re-structuring and was dis-missed on April 27.

Medvedev also dis-missed the commander ofthe army in late April, butappointed him to a high-level post as deputy head of

the military general staff. OnSunday, Medvedev namedZelin as an aide to DefenceMinister Anatoly Serdyukov.Russia’s military brancheshave been weakened by thegrowing power delegated toits geographical military dis-tricts, and the air force haslost some of its functions tothe Aerospace DefenceForces, said independentmilitary analyst AlexanderGolts. But Medvedev’s mainaim of the last minute an-nouncement may have beento show “that he must betaken seriously”, Golts said.

ISLAMABAD: Children hold placards during Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rally to express support for the judiciary after its verdict on prime minister’s conviction. inp

GUANTANAMO BAY US NAVAL BASEReuTeRS

FIVE Guan-tanamo prison-ers accused ofplotting the Sep-tember 11 attacks

refused to answer a US mili-tary judge’s questions on Sat-urday in a chaotic courthearing in which defencelawyers sought to cast the warcrimes tribunal as unfair.

Khalid Sheikh Mo-hammed, the confessed archi-tect of the hijacked planeattacks in 2001, and his fourco-defendants exercised theirright to indefinitely delay en-tering a plea to murder andterrorism charges that carrythe death penalty. The disor-derly 13-hour arraignmenthearing in a top-securitycourtroom at the GuantanamoBay US naval base in Cuba wasmarked by the defiance andoutbursts of the defendants.The military tribunal was ad-journed until June 12.

The judge, Army ColonelJames Pohl, said it would be at

least a year before the trialstarted. The Islamist militantsare accused of conspiring withOsama bin Laden, murder inviolation of the laws of war, hi-jacking, terrorism and othercharges stemming from the2001 attacks that propelledthe United States into adeadly, costly and ongoingglobal war against al Qaedaand its supporters.

Two defendants insistedthat the charge sheet be readout and it took prosecutorstwo-and-a-half hours to readthe portion describing thehighjackings. But they did notread the appendix listing thenames of all 2,976 people killedwhen the seized jetlinersslammed into the twin towersof New York’s World TradeCentre, the Pentagon and aPennsylvania field. A previousattempt to prosecute the fourmen in Guantanamo washalted when the Obama ad-ministration tried unsuccess-fully to move the case into aNew York federal court.

Saturday’s hearing was thefirst time the detainees had

been seen in public in aboutthree years. Mohammed, a 47-year-old Pakistani, looked hag-gard and his full, scraggly beardwas tinted red with henna. Hewore a white turban and whitetunic. As he and his co-defen-dants refused to answer Pohl’squestions, the exasperatedjudge struggled to keep thehearing on track. ““Why is thisso hard?” he asked at one point.

Defence attorney DavidNevin said Mohammed refusedto respond to the judge’s ques-tions because ““he is deeplyconcerned about the fairness ofthe proceeding” and had beentortured.praYInG In CoUrt:Yemeni defendant Ramzi Bi-nalshibh knelt on the court-room floor and prayed as arow of burly guards kept aclose watch. Later he stood upshouting and seemed to besaying that the late Libyanleader Muammar Gaddafi wasbeing held at Guantanamo.He said tricks were beingplayed on the defendants in-side the prison camp and“maybe they are going to kill

us at the camp ... and say thatwe are committing suicide.”

When Yemeni defendantWalid bin Attash refused toenter the courtroom, guardsstrapped him into a restrainingchair and wheeled him in. Theylater brought him the pros-thetic leg that replaced one helost during a 1997 battle inAfghanistan. Bin Attash wasfreed him from the restraintsafter promising to behave butstripped off his shirt and un-dershirt when his attorney saidhe had been scarred by abusein custody. The defendants re-fused to listen through ear-phones to Arabic translationsof the judge’s questions, so thejudge ordered the translationbroadcast over a loudspeaker,which sometimes drowned outthe conversation between thelawyers and the judge.

An attorney for bin Attash,Cheryl Borman, who wore ablack hijab and long blackrobe, told the court that mis-treatment of her client atGuantanamo had interferedwith his ability to take part inthe proceedings. She asked

that female paralegals and FBIagents sitting with the prose-cution team dress with culturalsensitivity so that the defen-dants would not be forced tolook away as their religion re-quires. The women in questionwere wearing pantsuits andknee-length skirts and blazers.The defendants prayed andchatted among themselvesduring recesses, and passedaround a copy of The Econo-mist magazine. When they re-fused to answer his questions,the judge ruled that theywould be represented by thelawyers assigned to them. Inaddition to their militarylawyers, each has a civilian at-torney with experience indeath penalty cases.tortUrE IssUE: The de-fendants were all held for morethan three years in secret CIAprisons before being sent toGuantanamo in 2006, and allhave said they were torturedthere. The CIA said Mo-hammed alone was subjected183 times to the simulateddrowning technique known aswaterboarding.

Accused 9/11 plotters defiantat Guantanamo arraignment

A Pakistani government of-ficial, who soughtanonymity, said the Obamaadministration could sendSecretary of State Clintonor Senator Kerry after thefailed talks between USSpecial Envoy Marc Gross-man and the Pakistanileadership last month.

Those talks remainedinconclusive over the USrefusal to come up with anapology over Salala inci-dent and also a dronestrike by CIA in NorthWaziristan after a lull of

over a month coincidingwith the visit of ambassa-dor Grossman to Pakistan,he said. He added that theUS would also try to reachsome understanding withPakistan over the futuredrone strikes in the TribalAreas during the visit ofClinton or Senator Kerry toIslamabad.

Moreover, he said theUS administration wouldalso try to persuade Pak-istan to attend the NATOSummit in Chicago, whichwas scheduled for May20-21.

Clinton could dropCONTINUED fROM PagE 22

Salafists injure 29German police inanti-Islam demo

BERLIN ReuTeRS

Ultra-conservative SalafistMuslims turned on policeprotecting anti-Islam protestersin the western German city ofBonn, injuring 29 officers, twoof them seriously, police said ina statement on Sunday.Authorities arrested 109people, among them a 25-year-old man suspected of stabbingtwo police officers, after angryclashes on Saturday betweenprotesters waving bannersshowing cartoons of theProphet Mohammad and alarge group of Salafists. Localmedia said 500-600 Salafistsfaced off with 30 anti-Islamprotesters. The Salafists inrecent weeks have handed outthousands of Korans,translated into German, tonon-Muslims, sparking ahighly charged debate inGermany. North Rhine-Westphalia Interior MinisterRalf Jaeger pledged to identifyall Salafists prepared to useviolence, so that authoritiescould take swifter action infuture. Four million Muslimslive in Germany, about half ofwhom have Germancitizenship.

Medvedev sacks russia navy chief on last day as president



News

WASHINGTONReuTeRS

The Taliban is stronger now than be-fore President Barack Obama ordereda surge of US troops to Afghanistan,two senior US lawmakers said on Sun-day, contradicting the administration’sassessment of the insurgency.

“I think we both say that what wefound is the Taliban is stronger,” Sen-ate Intelligence Committee Chair-woman Dianne Feinstein told “FoxNews Sunday” in an interview that in-cluded House Intelligence CommitteeChairman Mike Rogers, who agreedwith her statement. The two lawmakersreturned last week from a trip toAfghanistan.

The Defense Department said lastweek in a report to Congress that itssurge of 33,000 extra troops inAfghanistan ordered in late 2009 hadweakened the Taliban but that the in-surgency remained resilient.

The report said overall insurgentattacks declined in 2011 for the first

time in five years, even though violenceincreased in areas surrounding the Tal-iban’s southern stronghold of Kanda-har, a region where US efforts havebeen focused since 2009.

Feinstein, a Democrat, said radicalIslamist religious schools in Pakistanwere providing new recruits to theAfghan insurgency. “So an insurgencywhich one can expect will burn itselfout after a period of time will not nec-essarily burn out,” she said.

Obama traveled to Kabul lastweek to sign a strategic partnershipagreement with Afghan PresidentHamid Karzai. The deal sets out along-term US role in Afghanistan, in-cluding aid and advisers, after mostAmerican and NATO combat soldierswithdraw by the end of 2014. Rogerssaid there was a danger that Obama’sannouncement of a date of with-drawal of US combat forces inAfghanistan and Washington’s deci-sion to hold talks with the Talibancould undermine the US objective ofdenying a safe haven to terrorists.

“The first priority is to deny safehaven and that means a strategic de-feat of the Taliban and we have toalso defeat the safe havens in thetribal areas of Pakistan,” said Rogers,a Republican.

The Obama administration is dueto pull the last of its 33,000 surgetroops from Afghanistan by this fall,leaving around 68,000 US soldiersthere. Rogers and Feinstein both saidthe United States should designate theHaqqani network, an Afghan insurgentgroup believed to be based in Pakistan,as a terrorist organization.

“They’ve killed nearly 500 UStroops. They are based in Miram Shah(in Pakistan) ... This is something wehave to be very aggressive to put an endto,” Rogers said. The United States hasrepeatedly urged Pakistan’s military tolaunch a major offensive in NorthWaziristan to go after the Haqqanis,which have links to al Qaeda. Pakistansays it is already stretched fightinghomegrown Taliban militants else-where near the Afghan border.

LAHOREInP

DEFENCE MinisterChaudhry Ahmad Mukhtaron Sunday said the Pak-istan People’s Party (PPP)stood firm by the prime

minister in the contempt of court issueand an appeal would be filed after the an-nouncement of the detailed judgment.

Addressing a press conference,Mukhtar said the prime minister had theright to appeal and a line of action wouldbe finalized after the announcement of adetailed judgment by the Supreme Court.

He further said the party was standingbehind the PM and he had not been askedto tender resignation.

The minister said if the SupremeCourt rejected the appeal of the primeminister, he would resign. He said he wasnot a candidate for the prime minister’sslot and whoever was nominated by the

leadership for the chief executive’s slot,the party members would vote for him.

About the threat of long march byPML-N President Nawaz Sharif, the de-fence minister said the long march wasnot being planned on the signal of army orany other institution. He said NawazSharif was a leader of a major party and amature politician and would not take de-cisions on anybody’s desire.

He said the judiciary was not againstthe PPP, but they also did not expect jus-tice from it. He said Nawaz and his partyhad “terms” with the judiciary.

To a question, he said the democraticsystem should continue and shouldn’t be de-railed. The defence minister said the armedforces and the government were on the samepage that there would be no compromise onthe sovereignty and integrity of the country.He said Pakistan had repeatedly told the USthat drone attacks should be conductedjointly, but the US had not agreed.

Mukhtar said the defence budget

would not be curtailed in the next budget.He said the army had full support of thegovernment in rescue operation in Gayarisector. Mukhtar said if the NATO con-tainers were not given passage, it wouldbe a violation of international laws and

sanctions could be imposed on Pakistan.Regarding Siachen, he said it was

difficult to resolve the Siachen issue atthis point of time, adding that Pakistancould not withdraw forces from Siachenunilaterally.

‘Sin’ has ledto MiddleEast unrest:Saudi cleric

JEDDAHReuTeRS

Saudi Arabia’s top religious official hasblamed Muslim sinfulness forinstability in the Middle East, wherepro-democracy unrest has toppled fourheads of state. “The schism,instability, the malfunctioning ofsecurity and the breakdown of unitythat Islamic countries are facing thesedays is a result of the sins of the publicand their transgressions,” Grand MuftiSheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh wasquoted as saying by al-Watannewspaper. In a Friday sermon, heaccused “chaotic” people of wearingmask of “democracy and equality” foractions leading to injustice andinstability within the umma, orMuslim nation. Revolts that eruptedlast year have removed Arab autocratsin Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemenand are still raging in Syria andBahrain. They gave voice to millions ofpeople who suffered decades ofrepression but have alarmed Gulf Arabrulers. Ties between Riyadh and Cairowere strained by the fall of PresidentHosni Mubarak, a close Saudi ally, andby the rising power of the MuslimBrotherhood in Egypt, an organisationviewed with suspicion by many Gulfgovernments. On Friday an Egyptiandelegation visited Saudi King Abdullahto smooth a spat caused by protests atthe Saudi embassy in Cairo, which hadled to the recall of the Saudiambassador. The king later orderedthe envoy back Cairo and the embassysaid he would return on Saturday. Lastmonth, the grand mufti was criticisedafter international media quoted himas saying all churches in the ArabianPeninsula should be destroyed,angering Christian bishops in Austria,Germany, and Russia. The commentscould not be verified by Saudi officials.

Two moreschools blownup in FATA

PESHAWARInP

Unidentified militants blew up two moreschools in South Waziristan andMohmand Agencies in tribal regionbordering Afghanistan on Sunday. Themilitants destroyed the girls’ middleschool in Kari Kot area, five kilometersaway from Wana, the headquarters of theSouth Waziristan Agency. In secondincident the militants destroyed aprimary school in Halimzai tehsil ofMehmand Agency by detonatingexplosives.Sources said that both theschools were completely destroyed in theattacks but no loss of life was reported.

1 killed, 6 injured in

blasts in KP, BalochistanTIMERGARA

nnI

Two separate blasts in remote areas ofBalochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa(KP) left one person dead and at least sixinjured on Sunday. Police said a power-ful explosion ripped through an automo-tive workshop at a bus stand in Timer-garah town of the Lower Dir district,killing one person and injuring four oth-ers. Timergara is a small town and dis-trict headquarters of the Lower Dir dis-trict, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The otherexplosion took place in Mandhorani areaof Nasirabad district at Balochistanwhere police said two people were in-jured as result of a mine blast.

PPP staNds by PM GiLaNi: Mukhtar

Taliban stronger after UStroop surge: US lawmakers

CiA-complicitmedic faces sexual harassmentcharges

PESHAWARonLIne

Lady Health Visitors (LHVs) have decided toregister another FIR against Dr Shakil Afridiover his alleged sexual harassment of women.Dr Afridi had already been dismissed in hightreason case for arranging fake vaccinationcampaign to get DNA sample to trace Osamabin Laden. Earlier, the provincial governmenthad dismissed Afridi on the charges of hightreason under the Pakistan Penal Code andunder reference 223. According to sources,Dr Shakil Afridi has been accused of sexuallyharassing women. Three “sexually harassed”LHVs made the allegation in their writtenstatement to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)chief secretary and Chief Minister’sSecretariat. However, at that time no onetook action against Afridi, and the LHVsnow demanded the government to moveagainst the accused. The provincialgovernment, in order to undertake theinvestigation in this regard, has asked forprevious enquiry reports from the HealthDepartment on this matter.

hAfIzABAD: Moj Ali Malang demands an end to electricity load shedding in a sit-in protest with his pet dogs on Sunday. inp


06 Monday, 7 May, 2012

News

PARACHINARInP

Apro-government tribalelder escaped life attempt,while two tribesmen werekilled and a woman wasinjured when unidentified

men attacked the house of Mailk Rehanin Turbat area of Central Kurram onSunday.

Sources said Rehan’s house was at-tacked by some 15 militants armed withautomatic weapons, killing two tribes-men and injuring a woman.

Rehan was not at home at the time.Meanwhile, death anniversary of

former PPP federal minister SyedQamar Abbas was observed in Parachi-nar in which students and local elderstook part. Separately, three womenand children were among several pas-sengers belonging to the Shia sect who

sustained injuries when their passengervan was ambushed by unknown miscre-ants on Sunday close to Urwala Fron-tier Corps (FC) Fort in Lower Kurramon Tall-Parachinar Road. Passengersand local sources said a passenger vanwhich was on way to Peshawar was at-tacked by miscreants with automaticweapons, inflicting injuries on severalpassengers including three women andchildren in Lower Kurram on Tall-Parachinar Road.

Local sources said the incident tookplace close to Urwala FC Fort but thesecurity personnel did not respond tothe calls for help.

The injured were immediatelyrushed to hospital for treatment . Theincident sparked panic among the ToriBangash tribesmen who condemned itand also held meeting of the elders inwhich they demanded the governmentdeploy troops in Lower Kurram where

militants have some control despitepresence of troops in Upper Kurrambecause there is no much tension.

AMRITSARInP

Peaceniks of India and Pakistanhave begun a signature campaign fora relaxed visa regime between twonations to enable hassle-free cross-border travel for the common man.The campaign aims at collecting atleast 100,000 signatures of citizensfrom both countries, and presentingthem to their respective presidentsand prime ministers to apprise themof the aspirations of common peopleof both countries whose voices

generally go unheard. “Our Pakistani colleagues at

Institute of Peace and SecularStudies have already begun thecampaign and we are going to beginthe campaign in Punjab in nearfuture,” said president of FolkloreAcademy Ramesh Yadav. Whilestressing on people-to-peoplecontact between India and Pakistan,he said, “When we meet regularly,we understand each other in a betterway and also sink our differencesand if we don’t meet our perceptionsabout each other are based on

hearsay which could be influencedby anti-peace elements,” he said.

The Institute of Peace andSecular Studies secretary RahimulHaq told Times of India over phonefrom Lahore that they aimed toconclude their campaign on August14. “Our teams are on the job invarious cities of Pakistan, which alsohelps to generate commonconsensus on peaceful existencebetween two nations other thanobtaining signatures of commonman,” he said.

Haq added that the peaceniks

were not deterred by the designs ofpro-war elements which werepresent in both the countries andhad been attempting to sabotage thepeace process. He said achievingpeace was not a short-termprogramme and the path was full ofseveral difficulties. Rahimul Haqopined that for a permanent peace,both the governments of India andPakistan have to undergo majorreforms in their administrative andbureaucratic set up and should bepositive of forging permanent tiesbetween two neighbouring countries.

‘Early electionswon’t solve country’s problems’

ISLAMABADAPP

Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q)chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain onSunday said that early elections were notthe solution to the country’s problems.Talking to a private news channel,Shujaat said that only the masses couldresolve the current crisis through votepower, however, general elections wouldbe held according to schedule in March,2013. He said the fifth budget would alsobe presented by the coalition government.Referring to opposition’s position, he saidthe PML-Nawaz should adopt a logicalapproach towards national issues,including the creation of new provinces.Shujaat also urged the federalgovernment to table a resolutionregarding creation of Hazara province.The PML-Q chief said he did not considerthe prime minister as a convicted personuntil a decision is made on his appeal. Hesaid the prime minister had the right toappeal. Replying to a question, Shujaatsaid it made no difference whether NawazSharif accepted the prime minister or not.Shujaat said the Sharif brothers hadcommitted contempt of court becausethey themselves were involved indefaming the judiciary by storming theSupreme Court in past.

Kp govt to allocate 4% ofGDp to education

PESHAWARSTAff RePoRT

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governmentwill allocate four percent of GDP forthe education sector in the nextbudget which in the past has neverexceeded two percent, KhyberPakhtunkhwa Minister for Culture andInformation Iftikhar Hussain said onSunday. Addressing a cheque-distribution ceremony at Nishtar Hall,the minister said the country’s artistswere “highly respectable for us andthey are our precious assets”. “Thegovernment will do its best toameliorate their lot,” he added. Heregretted that in the past “our artistswere humiliated and were compelledto flee the country”. Hussain said aftercoming into power, the governmentnot only revived cultural activities butalso gave Rs 1 million to Pushto singerKhial Muhammad with a view toconvey a message that “we love ourartists and no one can harm ourculture”. He said the government hadarranged special programmes inhonour of their living, passed andlegendary people of this region. Hesaid they were conducting culturalprogrammes to encourage the peopleand discourage the terrorists.

pM rejects extension of energy companies’ heads

ISLAMABADonLIne

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani hasturned down the summaries for givingextension to the heads of four publicsector energy companies and oneconstruction firm. Sources in theEstablishment Division told Onlinethat the Ministry of Water and Powerhad forwarded the summaries for theextension to the Chief ExecutiveOfficers of Lahore Electric SupplyCompany(LESCO) Sharafat Sial, CEOSukkur Electric Supply Company(SESCO) Musa Khan and ChiefExecutive Alternative Energy BoardArif Ala-ud-Din while the Ministry ofHousing and Works also sent thesummery for allowing extension in theservices of Asad Khan MD NationalEngineering Services of Pakistan(NESPAK). The EstablishmentDivision sent the summaries to thePrime Minister’s Secretariat withdissent note that extension to theofficers is violation of rules andregulation as the officers were alreadyappointed wrongly so by giving themextension, would cause further breachof law. The Prime Minister’sSecretariat has returned thesummaries to concerned ministrieswith the note of dissent.

PeShAWAR: A man harvests wheat stalks in a field on the outskirts of the provincial capital on Sunday. REUTERS

2 tribesmen killed, in Centalkurram attack on tribal elderg three women, children among several injured in insurgents’ ambush in Kurramg tori Bangash elders demand deployment of troops in Lower Kurram

Security forceskill 8 militantsin Orakzai

PESHAWARAPP

Security forces killed at least eightmilitants in Mamozai and Khadizaiareas of Orakzai Agency on Sunday,official sources said. The securityforces targeted militant hideouts inMamozai and Khadizai and destroyedtwo of them, source the said.

India, Pakistan peaceniks beginsignature drive for easy visas


Monday, 7 May, 2012

RAWALPINDIAPP

THE demand of UninterruptedPower Supply (UPS) units,batteries, power inverters andgenerators has increasedmanifold due to scheduled

and unscheduled power outages in urbanand rural areas here.

A market survey conducted by APP re-vealed that nowadays, these products arebeing sold in the market on exorbitantrates. The shortage of batteries has also in-creased the miseries of the customers, as200-ampare battery is being sold on blackrates for Rs. 14000 while its company

price is Rs 11,500.According to the suppliers the demand

of UPS has increased manifold as the citi-zens are expecting the worst loadsheddingduring this summer. This year, UPS pricesrange between Rs 6,000 and Rs 18,000,depending on capacity of the unit. Variousvarieties of UPS are available in the mar-ket. A dealer of imported and local-madeUPS, said the demand for the locally madeUPS has almost doubled while the demandfor Chinese UPS is noticing downwardtrend as it is costly while on the otherhand, its repair charges are also high.

When asked about the demand ofthese items, he said it is increasing day byday. Most of the consumers said they have

to cut their expenses to save money to getnew power back-up equipments as there isno immediate solution to the energy crisis.

Other options are being used by thecitizens and the demand of inverters andgas-generators has also increased consid-erably. An inverter is available in the mar-ket at minimum Rs 2500 price while thegas-generator is being sold at Rs 30,000.dronE attaCKs Can’t EradI-CatE tErrorIsm: IftIKHar: In-formation Minister of KhyberPakhtunKhwa Mian Iftikhar Hussain saidterrorism cannot be eradicated throughdrone attacks. Talking to a private newschannel, he said drone technology shouldbe provided to Pak Army which can com-

bat the terrorists. The Information Minis-ter said stable Afghanistan is in Pakistan’sinterest while weak Afghanistan would becenter of problems.

He added that Afghanistan-USstrategic agreement is not new develop-ment because US has been staying inAfghanistan since long. However, “Weshould keep in mind that stableAfghanistan is in our own interest”, hecommented. He said US already hasbeen existing in Afghanistan under UN’sresolution working together with NATO.It may be recalled US will supportAfghanistan in financial and militarysectors for ten years under the strategicpact after withdrawal, he added.

ISLAMABAD: Women activists of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chant slogans in the favour of chief justice during a rally held to show solidarity with Supreme Court OnLinE

ISLAMABADAPP

Federal Minister for Information andBroadcasting Qamar Zaman Kairahas said that Nawaz Sharif should ex-plain to nation his NRO withMusharraf, which he signed for leav-ing the country.

Talking to Radio Pakistan, Kairasaid Nawaz Sharif was sent to Jeddahafter punishment by the court, whichad been endorsed by twelve judgesof the Supreme Court. He said laterNawaz Sharif signed an NRO with adictator, and left the country.

He said Nawaz Sharif shouldalso bring that NRO along with itsconditions, before the nation.Qamar Zaman Kaira said thatChaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had alsosigned an NRO with Musharrafwhen his family attained house ar-rest facility for him.

Kaira said PML-N considers thattheir leaders can interpret the Con-stitution better than other parties.

He pointed out if no one is followingPML-N stance, it means there is mis-take in their stance; therefore, theyshould correct their stance.

He said “appeal against SC’s ver-dict is our right and we should be al-lowed to file an appeal”. “We willtake the decision democratically andconstitutionally”, he added.

The Information Minister said“we have got rid of a dictator, flour-ished democracy and weakened ter-rorism in our five-year term”. He said“we served the country duringcalamities, re-employed thousands ofpeople, and gave identity to Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakhtuns.”

He said PPP ensured rights to thepeople of Balochistan and startedAghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan pro-gramme. He said “we have takenPakistan out of isolation in the inter-national community.”

He urged Nawaz Sharif to explainbillions of rupees spent lavishly inthe name of Sasti Roti, DanishSchools and laptops. He said PPP will

not allow Nawaz Sharif and his partyto go back to the politics of eightiesand nineties and will pull them topolitics of 2012.saCrIfICEs of KasHmIrImartYrs not to Go wastE:JKlf: The Jammu and KashmirLiberation Front (JKLF) in occupiedKashmir has said that the sacrificesof Kashmiri martyrs will not be al-lowed to go waste and their missionwill be accomplished at all costs. TheJKLF Acting Chairman, BashirAhmad Butt, in a statement in Srina-gar paid glowing tributes to advocateIftikhar Ahmad on his martyrdomanniversary, Kashmir Media Servicereported.

He said over hundred thousandKashmiri people had offered thesupreme sacrifice of their lives forfreedom of their homeland. Mean-while, the JKLF has expressed griefover the demise of the mother of pro-freedom activists, Muhammad AfzalMir and Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Mir,of Trehgam, Kupwara.

elections to be held on schedule: Fauzia

ISLAMABADAPP

Political Secretary to the President FauziaHabeeb said the government will completeits tenure and elections would be held ac-cording to the schedule in March 2013.Talking to Voive Of Ameica, commenting onPML-N’s call for a long march and its rallyin Taxila, she said holding of public meetingis right of every political party includingPML-N. To a question, she said every thingshould be done according to the Constitu-tion. She said PPP would favor every consti-tutional and democratic step. She saidpeople want the government to complete itstenure. As for contempt of court case, thedetailed judgment has not yet come. Reply-ing a question, she said Pakistan PeopleParty has always honored the Court. “OurPrime Minister thrice appeared before theCourt, our party never attacked the court”she added. To a question, she said PPP-ledgovernment is not scared of public meet-ings. She said PTI leader Imran Khan alsoheld such a public meeting but nothing hap-pened to the government.

Iran, China to produce electric vehicles

ISLAMABADAPP

Iran’s private sector backed by the De-partment of Environment (DoP) willshare experience with Chinese industrialunits in manufacturing different kinds ofelectric vehicles.The cooperation will begin under agree-ments signed by an Iranian delegationand Chinese officials on the sidelines ofthe Iranian delegates’ visit to several in-dustrial units engaged in production ofelectronic vehicles in Shanghai, IRAN re-ported.Talking to IRNA, Acting Head of the DoP,Ali-Mohammad Sha’eri, said, ‘Vehiclesaccount for more than 70 percent of pol-lution in metropolitan cities such asTehran, So, we will do our best in cooper-ation with the country’s private sector tosupport production of electric vehiclesthat will help minimize pollution.’ Hesaid during visits to several industrialunits that have the technology for pro-duction of electric vehicles in Shahghai,an agreement was signed with the Chi-nese party for development of technologyfor building electric buses and minibusesin Iran in the next year.He said presently, more than 10,000worn-out minibuses are plying Iranianroads and streets. To this end, he added,using new technology for mass produc-tion of electric public transportation ve-hicles is of high importance.

Margalla Hills Parkunder threat

ISLAMABADAPP

The Margalla Hills National Park is facingmany threats including stone crushing,forest fires and tree cutting which will ul-timately result in squeezing of the actualcore habitat and concentration of animaland birds in certain pockets.Ever-increasing human settlements, min-ing, fuel wood extraction, wildlife hunt-ing, livestock grazing, road construction,air, noise and water pollution, and re-cently installed lights on the Daman-e-Koh Road are the main problems in thepark area.Pakistan Museum of Natural History(PMNH) Zoology Department Director DrMuhammad Rafique said such hurdles inhabitat and resource partitioning wouldlead to competition among the species,resulting in drastic changes in speciescomposition and their associations.He said the park was important, as it“forms the southern most distributionallimit for many Himalayan animal speciesand the northern most limits for manyspecies of the plain areas in the south”.“This park provides a refuge to many in-digenous species locally migrating fromnorthern parts of the country when thoseareas are packed with snow during thewinters. It also serves as a transit placefor many species of birds migrating fromnorthern hemisphere, and also serving asan important recreational place for thepeople of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.” Hesaid the park also provided an excellentspot for bird watchers, as many people inIslamabad had this hobby. Dr Rafiquesaid the park was unique in the sense thatit had a remarkable variety of microhabi-tats, which was an indicator of highspecies diversity. As a result of a series offaunal survey of the park, 54 species ofbutterflies, 37 of fish, nine of amphibians,20 of reptiles, 380 of birds, 21 of smallmammals and 15 species of large mam-mals were recorded. He said that the needwas to chalk out a comprehensive man-agement plan for the future sustainabilityof the park and to convert it up to thelevel of world-class national parks.

Nawaz Sharif should explain his ‘deal’ with dictator, says Kaira

Demand for UPS, generatorsgoes high due to heavy outages



Islamabad

Low

High

tUeSdAy wedNeSdAy tHUrSdAy37°C I 21°C 38°C I 21°C 38°C I 22°C

PrAyer tIMINGSFajr Sunrise Zuhr Asr Maghrib Isha

03:58 05:26 12:06 16:56 18:47 20:13

CIty dIreCtory

PoLICe eMerGeNCy 15

AMBULANCe 115

reSCUe 1122

HILAL-e-AHMer 9250488

edHI FoUNdAtIoN 2827844

BoMB dISPoSAL 9270698

FIre BrIGAde CeNtre 16

CIVIL deFeNCe 9262830

eMerGeNCy HeLP

HoSPItALS

BLood BANK

PIMS BLood BANK 9261272

PoLy CLINIC BLood BANK 9209123

CoMPLAINt

wAPdA 111-000-118

SUI GAS 1199

rAILwAyS

CIty StAtIoN (eNQUIry) 117

reSerVAtIoN 9273614

rAILwAy PoLICe 1333

AIrPort

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

PIMS 9261170

PoLy CLINIC 9218300

CdA 9221334

SHIFA INterNAtIoNAL 4603666

ALI 4444435

dIStrICt HQS 5556311-14

ULtrASoNIC CLINIC 2824862

HoLy FAMILy 9290319

MY PAST LOVE

"My Past Love" by Mohan das & ZahraMalkani opens at Khaas Gallery. do joinus for this experimental two person showthat continues till 5 May 2012 and meetthe artists in person. Please spread theword and bring your friends!

DrUMMING CIrCLE

dAte ANd tIMe: 05:00 PM, weeKLy eVeNtVeNUe: tHe CeNtre For ArtS & CULtUre

our drumming circle is a (free!) ongoing

event and is held every Friday from 5pm

to 6pm

we are having a great time, and want to

share the good time with you! our

drumming circle has children ...

CLoUdy

weAtHer UPdAteS

36°C

dAte: APr 24 - MAy 05 At 5:00PM

VeNUe: KHAAS Art GALLery (Free)

21°C

WOMEN: HOLDING UP HALF THE SKY

this group exhibition showcasing the

work of Iqbal Hussain, Ahsen Asif, Amna

Ilyas, Isma Hussain, Amra Khan, Amna

tariq, Faten Anjum Suleman, Anmal Fatima

Uppal, Sehar Hashmi and Annem Zaidi

will run from April 20 - May 10, 2012.

dAte: APr 20 - MAy 10 At 6 to 8 PM

VeNUe: SereNA HoteL, ISLAMABAd.

RAWALPInDI: Students pose for a photo as they wear dresses during a dress fashion design exhibition at Arts Council Shamsabad. OnLinE

ISLAMABADAPP

PAKISTAN has not com-peted well in the inter-national gem stonemarket inspite of its su-perior gem stone de-

posits and there is need to changethe thinking of the small-scale min-ers through education and training.

Every naturally occurring gem-stone has its own particular feature,which should be known before toexplore it in the mountainous areasof the country. There are emeraldmines in Mohmand and BajaurAgencies and Swat, topaz mine ofKatlang, tourmaline mine of StakNala, Ruby mines of Hunza andAJK and peridot mine of Spat,Naran-Kohistan.

Gemstone deposits of Pakistanare said to be the biggest deposits ofthe world with the estimated re-serves over million of carats foreach of the deposit. Previously,these deposits were explored andexploited by the government enter-prises, but at present all the gem-stone mining in NWFP andnorthern areas is done by privatesector.

Gemstones have captured theimagination and desires of men andespecially women for ages. The pur-suit of gems has become the subjectof legends, fairy tales, epics andmajor motion pictures. Today, finergemstone specimens are availableto the average person than at any

other time in history. Out of morethan 3,000 identified minerals, lessthan 100 are used as gemstones, cu-rator Hamid Dawood of PakistanHistory of Natural Museum(PMNH) said. Talking to APP he in-formed that the northern andnorthwestern parts of the countryare shrouded by the three world-fa-mous ranges called Hindukush, Hi-malaya and Karakorum.

In these mountains have beenfound nearly all the minerals Pak-istan currently offers to the worldmarket, including aquamarine,topaz, peridot, ruby, emerald,amethyst, morganite, zoisite,spinel, sphene, and tourmaline, hemaintained.

He said Pakistan must look intothis situation seriously. It can con-duct surveys by any reputable/for-eign-based institutes to attractforeign investors in this sector. Butthe locals who have ever venturedinto such activity have only storiesof failure to tell.

It is important to stress herethat the non-professional residentsof mining areas are actually theones who mine these jewels of earthin their hazardous, traditional wayof mining. They usually formgroups that initiate diggings andblastings, distributing the costs thatmay incur during the mining pe-riod.

This process is something thatgovernment has failed to control orinvestigate. The resulting product iscompromised in terms of quality

and quantity. Mining ventures inprecious and semi-precious stonesare uncontrollable in Pakistan be-cause they are undertaken by itspeople without any permission,support, or guidance from the gov-ernment. Curator Hamid said Pak-istan, based on its potential inmineral wealth, can become a greathub of the gemstone industry, on ascale comparable to that of Brazil,provided it takes a few essential, lo-cally effective steps that can en-hance the exploration of resourcesand growth of business.

Lack of financial support fromthe government to the private sec-tor, lack of marketing skill andsmuggling of gemstone outsidePakistan, is also a reason that Pak-istan is not in main stream likeBrazil for exporting gemstones.Gemstone sector should be giventhe status of an industry which willhelp a lot to revamp the gemstonesector and to bring it in good shape,he concluded.paKIstan monUmEnt attraCtIvE plaCE for vIsItors: Pakistan Monument, asymbol of art and architecture, hasbecome an attractive place for thevisitors from all over the country.

A large number of people visitthe Monument daily and particu-larly on Saturday and Sunday. Thevisitors include people from all agegroups and especially students andchildren as the place provide im-mense information and knowledgeabout different cultures of the

country.“The Pakistan Monument is re-

ally a tremendous place for enjoy-ment. After spending a hectic day, Irush towards it and become freshafter spending only a few momentshere,” said Saeed Ahmed, a residentof sector I-10.

“Because of the high altitudeand situated in the middle of thecity, the monument gives a clearview of the capital”, commentedIftikhar who came with his familyto enjoy the weakened.

The four main petals of themonument represent the fourprovinces (Punjab, Balochistan,Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh),while the three smaller onesdemonstrate Gilgit-Baltistan, AzadJammu Kashmir and the FederallyAdministered Tribal Areas.

Pakistan Monument Museum,located beside the Pakistan Monu-ment, Islamabad, is a unique `the-matic museum’ and also a majorsource of attraction for visitors.

The Monument has been de-signed to reflect the culture and civ-ilization of the country and narratesthe story of the Pakistan Move-ment, dedicated to those who sacri-ficed themselves for futuregenerations. Relics of AllamaMuhammad Iqbal and Qaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in thetwo separate rooms were also dis-played in the museum. There is alsoa library in the museum containingrare manuscripts and few popularbooks published on the subject.

Pakistan not competing wellin int’l gemstone market



IslamabadUK-based AJKMCassures full supportto KC London

ISLAMABADAPP

The All Jammu and Kashmir MuslimConference (AJKMC), UK, has assuredfull support to the activities of KashmirCentre London.A three-member delegation of AJKMC,UK, led by its Vice President, JameelTabassum, visited Kashmir Centre Lon-don. Other members of the delegationwere Sardar Arshad Khan and Raja Mo-hammed Eshaq Khan, KMS reported.The delegation had an exclusive meetingwith the Executive Director of KashmirCentre London, Professor Nazir AhmedShawl, President, Advisory Council,Raja Mohammed Ayub and members ofthe Advisory Council, Shoaib AkberNazish, and Raja Saroop Khan. Themeeting thoroughly discussed the latestsituation of occupied Kashmir.It was observed that India was not pro-viding the desirable space to the politi-cal leadership and was creatingimpediments by arresting them or con-fining them to their residences. The re-cent arrest of the Hurriyet leaders wascondemned in the meeting. The partici-pants of the meeting appreciated thegesture of Amnesty International toraise voice for revocation of draconianlaws like Public Safety Act (PSA).They also hailed the engagements be-tween Pakistan and India but stressedthe need to make it inclusive by involv-ing genuine leadership of the Kashmiriswith the process.

AIoU exams tostart from today

ISLAMABADAPP

Examination for ATTC, PTC, CT andBEd programmes of the Allama IqbalOpen University (AIOU) for the Semes-ter Autumn 2011 is going to be startedfrom May 7 across the country.This was announced by MuhammadBashir Ch, Controller of Exams, AIOURoll No. slips of PTC, CT, ATTC andBEd programmes have already been dis-patched to all the eligible/enrolled stu-dents at their given addresses by PostalMail Service. The students who did notreceive their Roll No. slips so far are ad-vised to contact the nearest Regional Of-fice of the university or SuperintendentTeacher Education Section, Examina-tions Department for issuance of Dupli-cate Roll No Slip. Students are requiredto bring two passport size photographsduly attested by the gazetted officer.Roll No. Slip along with Date Sheet hasalso been placed on AIOU websitewww.aiou.edu.pk for the convenience ofstudents. All students are also advisedin their own interest to read the instruc-tions mentioned on Roll No. Slip care-fully before entering into theExamination Center.

ISLAMABAD: A woman carries firewood on a hot day in the federal capital. OnLinE

Group art

show to continue

till tomorrow ISLAMABAD

APP

A group exhibition of paintings on his-torical perspectives of human exis-tence through contemporary art willcontinue here at Rohtas Arts Gallerytill May 8.The show entitled “Soul Searchers”,has been presented by a group of threeartists including Ahmed Ali Mangan-har, Imran Channa and Aqeel Solangi.Around 15 art pieces depict the seriesof works by the artists in mediumslike Graphite on Paper, Acrylics onBoard, Acrylic, Charcoal and Graphiteon Paper and Acrylics on Canvas.The “Memories” series of ImranChanna explores that photograph isthe most perfect picture of the past. Itis a record of reality and a way of in-forming as a very reliable object fromhistory. “My work deals with the his-torical perspectives, questioning theauthenticity of the history which ismanipulated and constructed by thepower,” Imran said.The body of work is based on visualinvestigation, by questioning the au-thenticity of historical records. Thedisplay of large graphite drawings area deliberate act of making and erasingrecords from history, until it emergesinto single plan by compressing timeand motion.The distinction between objects andtime are blurred which draw the at-tention to capture the feelings of van-ishing of history. Ahmed Ali roughlyreworked the repertoire of receivedimages from art school education,mostly European and vintage filmposters of Pakistani cinema from itshiatus in the 80s. Aiming to exploreissues of interiority and exteriority,the artist painted scenes of fraughtdomesticity and the turbulent worldout there, encoding and encirclingeach other.Aqeel Solangi’s work deal with ancientbeliefs, rituals and collective wisdomas the threads connected to human ex-istence everywhere on the globe.“Most of the contemporary art prac-tices find their roots within thesehuman sensibilities. I address thesevisual and conceptual concerns in mywork,” Aqeel said about the work.“I create locations which might notrelate to the physical world and takeelements from actual location andtransform them in an other loca-tion. In this way each work opensnew pictorial episode in my portfo-lio,” he said.

ISLAMABADAPP

WOMEN rights activistscalled for ensuringwomen’s right to propertyto make them economi-

cally stable and reduce their dependenceon male heads. Talking to APP, ExecutiveDirector Women Organization of Rightsand Development (WORD), Aqsa Khansaid the women deprived of their dueright to land have to depend on malemembers of their families which not onlyweaken their financial position but alsoresults in increasing violence againstwomen in the society. She said a recentresearch study conducted in India hasshown that weaker financial position ofwomen caused sharp increase in the inci-dents of violence against women.

“Ownership of land is always consid-ered as a symbol of power and high statusin the society and due to male dominancein our country, the women right to landor share in inheritance is openly deniedwhich has been clearly stated in our reli-gion, “Aqsa said. More than 65 percent ofwomen are working in agriculture sectorin the country, out of which less than onlyone percent own land, she lamented.

Aqsa said the equitable distribution of in-heritance shares among all family mem-bers irrespective of their gender, byfollowing the religious teachings, will notonly give confidence to women and en-sure their economic empowerment butalso help minimize incidents of violenceagainst women Lauding the role ofwomen for passage of Anti-Women Prac-tices Bill and other pro-women legisla-tions, Aqsa said the implementation ofthese laws is must for ensuring womenemancipation in the country.

Anti-Women Practices Bill covers allsuch traditional practices which hinderwomen development process by snatch-ing their rights and compel them for mar-riage to Quran, Wanni, Sawara,Badl-e-Sulah and deprive them from theirright to inheritance. Aqsa said deprivingwomen from their right to inheritance isa criminal offence now and there is direneed to implement the law by raisingawareness among women at district,provincial and national level and simplifythe land revenue process. Besides devis-ing an effective mechanism for imple-menting the law, the police officialsshould also be sensitized to play their cru-cial role because getting share in inheri-tance is a delayed and tedious process.

This law will definitely help women to gettheir share at its earliest, if implementedin letter and spirit, she said. Prominentwomen rights activist, Fauzia Saeed alsostressed the need to raise awarenessamong women as well as men to givewomen their due right to inheritance.

She said computerization of land willhelp simplify the procedural side of trans-ferring land of inheritance in the name ofwomen which is very complicatedprocess. Fauzia also appreciated the roleof Punjab Government for announcingpro-women package recently, whichstated that the heir of the family shouldget the share of their inheritance withinthree months of the death of the head offamily. In case of non compliance of thisregulation, the property will be distrib-uted among all the family members bytaking data of family members’ registra-tion from National Database and Regis-tration Authority (NADRA). Fauzia saidother provinces should also follow thetrend and announce similar packages forensuring women right to inheritance.Media Manager of National Commissionon the Status of Women (NCSW), TahiraNoor said the commission has filed a pe-tition in Supreme Court of Pakistan fordeclaring Jirga holding as an illegal act.

Women’s right to land must foreconomic stability: activists

IHK ulema resolve to fight divisive forcesISLAMABAD

APP

Ulema of different schools of thought ata seminar in occupied Kashmir have re-solved to fight together the conspiraciesaimed at fuelling the sectarian divideamong the Muslims in the Kashmir Val-ley.

Addressing the seminar, the veteranKashmiri Hurriyet leader, Syed Ali Gi-lani said that conspiracies were beinghatched to whip up Maslaki enmityamong the Muslims in Kashmir, Kash-mir Media Service (KMS) reported.

“All this is being done to divide theMuslims and weaken the ongoing strug-gle,” he said, adding, “Unity is thestrongest tool to fight Maslaki hatred.”

He appealed the Ulema of all schoolsof thought to ignore the differences onthe issues of secondary importance in thelarger interest of Umah and be unitedunder one banner to strengthen the mat-ters of religious and national importance.

The General Secretary of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir, Muham-mad Ashraf Sehrai in his speech, said thatthe people of Jammu and Kashmir werestruggling for a cause for the past over 60years. He pointed out that besides usingthe military might, New Delhi had beenlaunching cultural and economical ag-gressions to divide the Kashmiris andweaken their ongoing struggle. “We needto forge unity and foil all the conspiraciesand attempts aimed at dividing us in thename of Maslaks,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Amir Ja-maat-e-Islami, Sheikh Muhammad Has-san said unity alone could countereffectively all the internal and externalconspiracies. The seminar was also ad-dressed among others by MaulanaMuhammad Khursheed Kanoongo,Maulana Ghulam Rasool Hami, QaziYasir, Maulana Rehmat Ullah Qasmi,Syed-ur-Rehman Shams, Abdul RehmanButt, Maulana Abdul Rashid Dawoodi,Maulana Altaf Ahmad Nadwi, Maulana

Syed Ali Akbar and Dr Yousuf-ul-Umar.They stressed for greater unity

among the ranks of Kashmiri people tofight the divisive forces effectively. EnCroaCHmEnts In marKEtCaUsE traffIC mEss: Encroach-ments are on the rise on roads and mar-kets of Bhara Kahu which are creatingproblems both for the pedestrians andthe motorists.

It is a common sight in the area mar-kets that shopkeepers have encroachedupon pavements in front of their shopswhile vendors have set up stalls onroads, forcing pedestrians to walk in themiddle of roads, besides hindering traf-fic flow.

The residents of the localities said allthe encroachers have established theirbusiness by placing stalls in front ofshops. They said encroachments havebecome hazardous in populated areas ofBahara Kahu markets including BazaarStop, Simli Dam Road, Kiyani Road,Bhera Bridge and other areas.

“Vendors and their stalls hamper thesmooth flow of traffic,” said a local resi-dent Sher Muhammad. He claimed thatthe residents have time and again com-plained to the administration over theissue, but no action was taken to addressthe problem. Another resident said ithad become almost impossible to walkfreely in the market because of en-croachments on footpaths.

Residents have demanded the au-thorities concerned to take actionagainst encroachments in various areasof the city. When contacted, an official ofthe Enforcement Directorate of CapitalDevelopment Authority (CDA), said theauthority had launched many anti-en-croachment campaign drives to keep theroads and footpaths clear.

It was a wrong impression that theauthorities was not cognizant of the sit-uation, he said and warned the shop-keepers and vendors not to encroachupon the footpaths, otherwise strict ac-tion would be taken against them.



Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: PPP MPA nargis faiz Malik addresses a press conference at party office. STAFF phOTO

ISLAMABADAPP

CLIMATE change mitigationand adaptation must gohand in hand with efforts tomake development more in-clusive and sustainable in

Asia-Pacific countries, the top UnitedNations official in the region said inBangkok.

This was stated by United NationsUnder-Secretary-General and ExecutiveSecretary of the United Nations Eco-nomic and Social Commission for Asiaand the Pacific (ESCAP), Dr. NoeleenHeyzer, IRNA reported.

As the world’s most natural disaster-

prone region and with climate changeadding to its vulnerability, Asia and thePacific must make disaster risk reduc-tion and climate preparedness a keycomponent of its economic and socialdevelopment agenda.

“The fight against extreme povertycannot be won without also addressingthe climate vulnerabilities of our mostat-risk communities,” Dr. Heyzer said inher opening remarks at the Asia-Pacificlaunch of the United Nations climatechange panel’s Special Report on Man-aging the Risks of Extreme Events andDisasters to Climate Change Adaptation(SREX).

Among those present at the launchwere Thailand’s Science and Technology

Minister, HE Dr Plodprasop Suraswadiand Intergovernmental Panel on Cli-mate Change (IPCC) chairman, Dr Ra-jendra Pachauri, a press release issuedby the UN Information Center (UNIC)said here on Sunday.

Noting that Asia-Pacific countriesaccounted for 70 per cent of globallosses from natural disasters in 2011, es-timated at more than $366 billion, Dr.Heyzer said the poor and marginalizedsuffer the most from disasters related toclimate change such as floods anddroughts.

Hazards linked to increasingly vari-able climate conditions, “become disas-ters in the absence of development,where inequalities are greatest and with

inadequate investment in risk reduc-tion.” “The Report is clear - that expo-sure and vulnerability to the impacts ofclimate extremes vary greatly `based oninequalities expressed through levels ofwealth and education, disability, andhealth status, as well as gender, age,class and other social and cultural char-acteristics’,” Dr Heyzer pointed out.

“The combination of disasters anddevelopment failures push the near-poor into poverty, and ensure evengreater vulnerability to future disasters.It is a vicious cycle that must be bro-ken.” According to the ESCAP executivesecretary, climate change presents thegreatest global challenge of the twentyfirst century, but also the biggest oppor-

tunity to make growth more inclusiveand sustainable.

“Early warning systems, more sus-tainable land use planning, micro-insur-ance, better local ecosystemmanagement, improvements to health,water supply, sanitation and irrigation -these are all important developmentchallenges with co-benefits for climatechange adaptation and disaster risk re-duction.”

In closing, she highlighted the op-portunity Asia-Pacific countries haveto harness climate action as a newdriver of economic growth. In linewith this, ESCAP will unveil aRoadmap for Low Carbon GreenGrowth later this month.

Pre-marriage blood screening urged to prevent thalassemia

RAWALPINDIAPP

The Thalassemia Federation has urgedthe public as well as the governmentsector to speed up their efforts to pro-mote blood screening process to eradi-cate the deadliest disease, Thalassemiaas the country has over eight millionpeople who are thalassemia carriers andround 6000 babies are born with tha-lassemia major every year.President Thalassemia Federation LtGen (R) Moin-ud-Din Haider said allout efforts should be made to createawareness among public regarding thedeadly disease.The blood screening therapy beforemarriage could play a vital role in pre-venting thalassemia, he said in a state-ment issued here. He said ThalassemiaFederation is trying to create aware-ness of this disease among the people.A two-day 8th National ThalassemiaConference concluded in Rawalpindion Sunday which discussed strategiesto make Pakistan a Thalassemia freecountry. The conference was organizedby Islamic International Medical Col-lege, a constituent institute of Riphahinternational University, in collabora-tion with the Thalasaemia Federationof Pakistan.Renowned scientist Dr Inam-Ur-Rehman was the chief guest at the in-augural session of the conference. TheVice Chancellor of Riphah Interna-tional University, Prof. Dr. AneesAhmad and the Secretary of Tha-lassemia Federation of Pakistan, Dr.Yasmin Rashid were the key notespeakers at the inaugural session.The conference was part of NationalThalassaemia week being observed bythe Pakistan Thalasaemia Federationfrom May 2 to May 8 to create publicawareness about the disease. Dr InamUr-Rehman, in his address, congratu-lated RIPHAH International Univer-sity and Thalassemia Federation fororganizing the conference and hopedits recommendations will help in elim-inating Thalassemia from Pakistan.Prof. Dr. Anees Ahmed in his key notespeech, threw light on the Islamic andShariah aspects of the preventivemeasures to avoid the disease.He said that Shariah is not a compli-cated thing and it is very simple to fol-low it for better health and good life.Quran and Shariah have given clearguidance for prevention of diseasesand leading a healthy life.He stressed to make use of moderntechnology such as telemedicine fordiagnosis and treatment of Tha-lassemia. He also suggested forming ayouth force to work for creatingawareness about Thalassemia and helppatients for their treatment. It shouldalso be made a subject of curriculumat college and university levels so thatour youth are aware of the disease andits causes.The Secretary General of ThalassemiaFederation Dr. Yasmin Rashid spokeabout the clinical preventive measuresto eradicate Thalassemia from the so-ciety. She said that families havingThalaseemia history should get screen-ing of their children before marriages.

ISLAMABADAPP

Supreme Court Bar Association Presi-dent Yasin Azad said that without theElection Commission’s notificationSyed Yousuf Raza Gilani is a PrimeMinister and will remain the same.

He said it is a short order and thedetailed order is still awaitd.

Talking to a private news channel,Yasin Azad said that the legal positionis that the copy of the detailed judg-ment would first send to Speaker Na-tional Assembly, who then sends it toChief Election Commissioner aftermaking reference within a month.

He further said if Chief ElectionCommissioner okays the referenceafter completing proceeding within theperiod of ninety days, he will refer it toSpeaker National Assembly who willthen send it back to Election Commis-sion. He added that the Election Com-mission will then notify that PM is nomore a member of National Assembly.

He explained that Lawyers have nobusiness with the call of political par-ties as they work independently. Hefurther said in case of any nationalissue, lawyers only respond to the callof the Bar Council. He added thatlawyers have given no call till the mo-ment.sHort-sIGHtEdnEss HIGHlYaffECts asIan stUdEnts:About 90 percent of high school grad-

uates in major East Asian cities are suf-fering from myopia or short-sighted-ness, a large study suggests.

Ian Morgan of the Australian Na-tional University in Canberra, and col-leagues who reviewed 101 papers andsources believe the epidemic in youngAsian people is caused by environmentrather than genetic factors, IranianPress TV reported.

“The higher prevalence of myopiain east Asian cities seems to be associ-ated with increasing educational pres-sures, combined with life-stylechanges, which have reduced the timechildren spend outside,” says the re-port published in The Lancet.

“East Asian countries with highmyopia now dominate internationalrankings of educational performance.”Spending long hours reading and writ-ing, video gaming and watching TV areamong the potential habits causing the“extraordinary rise” of short-sighted-ness among children living in China,Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Singaporeand South Korea.

For instance, sun exposure is be-lieved to stimulate production ofdopamine, a neurotransmitter whichstops the eyeball from distorting thefocus of light entering the eye. “It’spretty clear that it is bright light stim-ulating dopamine release which pre-vents myopia,” said a researcheradding that being in the sun for two tothree hours a day even in cloudy

weather may be significantly helpful.morE tHan 12,000 tonGarbaGE rEmovEd from 33UCs: District Office Solid WasterManagement Dr Mazhar Azeen saidmore than 12,000 ton garbage hadbeen lifted from 33 union councils ofRawalpindi. He said City District Gov-ernment Rawalpindi is making all outefforts for the beautification of the cityand ensure a healthy atmosphere forits residents.

“The cleanliness campaign is goingsuccessful”, he said adding that nocomplaint was received in this regard.Earlier, EDO Muncipal Services ImtiazAhmed Malik while addressing themeeting directed the Chief Sanitary In-spector of each sector that cleaninesswork should be completed timely.

He directed his staff that no com-plaint should be received, other wisestrict disciplinary action would betaken. He directed the officials to workefficiently for the satisfaction of gen-eral public. He appealed to the busi-ness community to cooperate with thesanitation staff to make the city clean.

EDO also asked shopkeepers thatthey should clean their shops at closingtime and dump the garbage promi-nently at a side so that it could be liftedby staff early in the morning. Thecleanliness campaign was launched onthe directives of Opposition Leader inthe National Assembly, ChaudhryNisar Ali Khan.

PNCA holds potteryworkshop today

ISLAMABADAPP

The National Art Gallery of Pakistan Na-tional Council of the Arts (PNCA) willhold two-week clay workshop to explorethe art of pottery here from today toMay 14.Sheherezade Alam will impart the train-ing with theoretical and practical ses-sions to the students and amateurartists entitled “Earth Fire Water Air: AJourney with Clay”.Sheherezade Alam made Pakistan’s firstfemale studio potter in early 1970’s andestablished LAAL, an artists collective,whose mission is to bring cultural andheritage education to young children.According to her, the course is de-signed to take the participants into theexciting world of pottery. The studentswill be guided into the 9000 year oldliving legacy of clay, the Indus ValleyCivilization.The participants will learn to touch,sense and feel the four elements com-mon to human and clay vessel with ex-perience of 7 stages of pottery makingthrough various techniques of handbuilding and the pottery wheel.The workshop will be an opportunity toexplore the creative potential and artis-tic skills of youngsters with this ancientmaterial.The participants will be given certifi-cates and also exhibit their work at theNational Art Gallery to share their cre-ations. Talking to APP, Director GeneralPNCA, Tauqeer Nasir said that PNCA fo-cusses on cultural education of youth inall its programmes to inculcate culturalvalues among the young generation.

PM’s disqualification alengthy process: Azad

Climate change, adaptation must go side by side


Editor’s mail 11Monday, 7 May, 2012

A convicted PM?This is with reference to statement of

Qamar-uz-Zaman Kaira, Minister forInformation (06 May), that he does notaccept the interpretation of Sharif’s inPM’s contempt case. He is justified insaying this because every one havebecome law expert therefore has theright to interpret the constitution suitingto his genius and convenience. What isarticle 63(1)(g) of the constitution? Itrelates to the disqualifications formembership of Majlis-e-Shoora(Parliament). Para (1) says that a personshall be disqualified from being electedor chosen as, and from being, a memberof the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), if,after this we have eleven conditions thatresult in the disqualification.

The point to understand is that thisarticle says that a person shall bedisqualified from being elected or chosenas and from being a member of theparliament if he falls under these clauses.This article is applicable when someoneis contesting elections. In PM Gilani’scase, he is already elected and wascleared by the Election Commission ofPakistan, and by virtue of this clean chithe is the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

This article of the constitution shallapply to him once he contests freshelections. Since the law is silent aboutthe people who have already beenelected, that is the main reason that theSC has decided to constitute larger benchin case PM files appeal against contemptpunishment. Yes, morally he had thechoice to quit or continue with thestigma of being a convicted PM.

Parliamentarians have had enoughfree hand, it is time that ambiguities areremoved from the constitution once forall. Secondly, in a country where rule oflaw has never been practiced in its trueletter and spirit, irrespective of therulers, it will take time for things toreconcile with the independent judiciary.Those who think things can be changedovernight are unaware about the groundrealities. Patience and tolerance mustsupersede all ambitions and that is theonly solution to the present crisis.

MUKHTAR AHMEDKarachi

PIA Haj operationOne only hopes that unlike last four

Haj operations by PIA, this year thingswill hopefully improve as per claims ofMinister Khursheed Shah. The onus forthe mess lies not only on Ministry ofReligious Affairs, but also PIA andSaudia which carry bulk of PakistaniHajis. Last year the nexus between theformer Director Marketing and fewtravel agents led to an artificial shortagefor seats available, which resulted infleecing of poor hajjis.

While it was not PIA that benefittedfrom this evil practice, it is to be blamedfor appointing such controversial andcallous men blinded by greed, whose circusacts were shown on YouTube dancingwith a whiskey glass balanced on theirhead at an official party hosted by formerMD, who has since been sacked. The PPPmust be particularly careful because thisis an election year and it cannot affordany more lapses or controversies. Thisgovernment already has a very poor trackrecord viz-a-viz Haj operations.

SHAHZAD KHALILSialkot

the english languageI belong to the privileged few who

have done their O/A-levels. Upon joiningKarachi University for my undergraduatedegree, I was appalled to realise thatmany of my classmates could not evenread and write simple English.

This is no exaggeration, but the bitterreality. Our local educational systemthrives on the system of rote learning,and students can easily pass examswithout actually educating themselves. Itis no wonder then, that even aftercompleting twelve years of education,these students do not even possess therudimentary skills of the Englishlanguage. This is a matter of gravesignificance, because at theundergraduate level, students have toread publications, journals andresearches written in the Englishlanguage. For these students, coping upwith the requirements of theundergraduate syllabus is an uphillbattle. They are by no meansincompetent or incapable; they just havean unfair disadvantage of not beingtaught properly at primary andsecondary level.

In this globalised world, English is alanguage one must master. It is a greatfailure on part of our local educationboards that they are unable to hone intheir students the basic language skills.The curriculum, teaching method andexamination approach must be upgradedimmediately, right from the primarylevel so that students can have a strongfoundation in the English language.

KHADIJA MUSTAFAKarachi

dacoit Harbouring AgencyThe Defence Housing Society, Lahore

was once considered a very reputedhousing society as its name is associatedwith Pakistan Army. However, with thepassage of time as our other instituteshave collapsed, this Authority has alsodeteriorated due to corruption to such anextent that it has to employ rogueelements to collect jugga tax to meet itsrequirement. To my knowledge, DHAhas contributed not a single penny forthe construction of Lahore Ring Road, itsallied structures and interchanges but toour surprise they have engaged acontractor to extort bhatta in the nameof toll tax from the vehicles travelling toand from DHA Phase 5 to other DHAphases as well as to other areas such asLahore School of Economics, Burki andBedian roads. This act in a civilised societyis neither acceptable nor tolerable.

The Chief of Army staff, ChiefMinister, Punjab and Governor Punjabare requested to take strict punitiveaction against the persons involved inthis scam as it is not only creatingproblems for the residents but is alsoearning a bad name to our armed forces.

SALMAN KHANLahore

education is vitalEducation plays a very vital role in

modernising any country. Actually itpaves the path to success. But it is verysad to observe such deplorable conditionof education in our country. Our country’sliteracy rate is very low. The poor areunable to make both ends meet with highprices. It’s really hard for them to coverup the educational expenses for them.

In today’s world, education is like alocker which remains at the same levelno matter how much you thrust it withmoney. In mostly developed countries,basic education is provided free of cost tostudents along with facilities. But here inPakistan, forget about facilities or freeeducation, but instead education hasbeen turned into a business.

Many of the schools, whethergovernment or private, have neitherproper classrooms, staff nor propersystem. There are only few schools whoseeducation is considered good but suchschools are out of reach of the poorpeople of our society.

Another important thing is that thediscrimination in our education systemis unavoidable. This develops problemsin the young blood of our society. Thus,one of the factors in causing destructiveminds is the lack of proper guidance andeducation.

FARWA LIAQUATKarachi

our own problem?Pakistan army today is faced with

multidimensional challenges. None ismore important than the need tounderstand that it must create anenabling environment to combat growingmilitancy in FATA (AfPak region). Thestate of the country’s economy suggeststhat it should cut down the size of theactive duty force. Cut down on thestrength of soldiers as well as the unitsthat employs them. But the generals aswell as the politicians know well that thearmy cannot be asked both ‘to ensureoperational effectiveness and cut downon the resources and save money as well’.What then is the way forward? Can webend the arc of cost by altering thestrategy to combat militancy? Can this bedone without negatively affecting thecapability and the capacity of the army toperform its assigned roles? We cannotcut down the size of the army as it

remains critical in maintaining nationalstability but we can surely ‘lower the cost’by cutting down on army’s operationalcosts.

US spent nine years, $700 billion andsuffered over 4000 American causalitiesto culminate the war it started in Iraq.Compare this with five months, $ onebillion and no causalities to topple theLibyan regime through covert operationsand NATO strikes. Quite strikingly themethods employed and the manners inwhich both wars have been fought areremarkably different yet with the sameresults.

Pakistan army’s units deploy and re-deploy in the formations on the westernfront. The ‘rotation policy’ for the unitson the western front is a criticalguarantor that combats war fatigue butthe ‘rotational presence’ is high on cost.The units come and go in the combat

zone (FATA) while those whom they fighthave a permanent presence in the land.Resultantly tactical operational failuresthat are seen as signs of ‘incompetence’often are a product of non familiarizationwith the terrain as well as unfamiliarityand inexperience of fighting the irregularwarfare there.

The US troops draw down that startsthis year will eventually be completed in2014. By that time we must plan tosecure the ‘open, provocative anddestabilizing AfPak border’ on the samelines as Indians have done in Kashmir. Inthe long run this will help the army tobroaden its scope of not only efficientlyand effectively countering the militantthreat in the area but substantiallycombating the growing insurgency in theprovince of Balochistan. It will alsoreduce deployment of regular troops onwestern borders thus cutting on cost on

long term and permanent basis.Strategically it will deliver a clearmessage that our priority is to ‘ensurethat after the US troops are gone no crossborder movement takes place andAfghanistan gets to deal with its internalproblems all by itself and on its own’. Theproject is extremely expensive yetconsidering its long term benefits it isnecessary and unavoidable.

Advanced technology andinformation revolution has altered thebattlefield. Controlled border crossingwill prevent conflict in FATA and alsocreate enabling security environment allalong AfPak border. Without a secureborder on our western front peace willremain elusive and we will continue tospend and pay for army’s operationalcosts in a war that it is unlikely to win.

MUHAMMAD ALI EHSANKarachi

Safe havens’ elimination?“Kabul: US ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan C Crocker said

that Pakistanis are going to find some way to eliminate safehavens for terrorists across the border in Pakistan.”

A western genius Joaquin Setanti once said, ‘Beware of theman who urges an action in which he incurs no risk.’ So, thismakes Ryan’s suggestion a matter of policy for us.

‘When all you use is stick, you are not going to get very far,’

a western proverb. “A few days after the US had bombardedAfghanistan in which every third house was destroyed, DonaldRumsfeld said: ‘It would be a wonderful thing if Iraq weresimilar to Afghanistan’, a news item read on 3-4-2003 in anewspaper. Has the US won the war in the last 10 years?

Z A KAZMIKarachi

Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. Fax: +92-42-36298302. E-mail: [email protected]. Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively.

Lyari crackdownFor 8 days police with all its might

and incompetence unleashed anoperation in Lyari, which failed to nabarmed gangs, but only succeeded inkilling and terrorizing local residents.Lyari the oldest residential locality ofKarachi, is home to bulk of Balochsettlers for more than a century. Theseare hard working simple folk doingphysical jobs and along with Pathans,previously comprised bulk of workforcein KPT. Why were they laid off in the firstplace?. Has the state not failed inproviding these original residents ofKarachi subsidized education, health andvocational training. It is the state whichis responsible for allowing Karachi tobecome infested with weapons, wherearmed gangs indulge in target killings,street crimes not just in Lyari, but allparts of this city.

Primarily it is the PPP which hasalways been voted from this locality, thathas to bear responsibility for failing todeliver. In past few years, Lyari’sunemployed numbers have escalated andjob opportunities become scarce, makingthem prey to armed gangs looking forrecruits. The Sindh Home Minister formany decades has never been fromLyari, and therefore they cannot beblamed for cultivating criminals andspread of weapons in Karachi. It is alsounfair to state that Lyari alone isbreeding ground for criminals, becausetarget killings, extortion, kidnapping,drug and land mafia gangs terrorize allresidents of Karachi.

If the official version of InteriorMinister is to be believed that prohibitedautomatic weapons, rocket launchers,grenades are stocked there by mobsters,the question arises how did theseweapons, not produced in Pakistan arrive

here. Obviously these heavy weaponscame by sea, air or along land route fromacross the border, or even worse throughconnivance of corrupt individuals in oursecurity units. After all the Balochresidents of Lyari cannot be blamed forover 60,000 missing containers that leftKPT and never reached Afghanistan.

It is Pakistani citizens who live inLyari, and Interior Minister should nothave placed head money for them deador alive, nor threatened to burn theirhouses, if weapons are found there.When the state fails to protect citizensfrom threats and brutalization ofcriminals, than residents may be forcedagainst their will to allow weapons to belocated within their houses. Thousandshave been killed in target killings, bycriminals who enjoy political supportfrom ruling coalition, not by Lyariarmed gangs alone.

MALIK TARIQ ALILahore

where are we going?Lacking in aim, direction and content,

most of the morning shows are drivingthe nation, specially our womenfolk, to asuperstitious and gullible mindset. Mostof these programmes are saturated withinvitees supposedly mastering witchcraft.

The dark horrifying ambiance createdis intended to take the drama to ghastlyheights. The presumably ‘ghost experts’reveal their dark powers by calling somephantom/ supernatural and try to proveits presence by creating chaos in thestudio room.

The purpose of airing such acts isinconceivable. In our society, especiallyin rural areas, where the literacy rate isalarmingly low, such fictitious andbizarre content can make problems ofpeople more perplexed.

The authorities and the editorialboards of these channels should put astop to such unscrupulous and decadentprogramme themes which can neither fallin entertainment nor educational category.Do look at the flip side of the coin.

SYEDA SARAH HAIDERKARACHI

New vision of polio dropsThe prestigious Scientific American

journal of April 2012 has reported in anarticle titled “Polio’s Last Act” by HelenBranswell that “As the number of cases ofthe paralytic disease fall, world healthofficials have to grapple with a vexingproblem: a component of the most widelyused polio vaccine now causes moredisease than the virus it is supposed tofight”. The problem is caused by the useof a weakened virus in the three types 1, 2and 3. Out of these type 2 no longerexists in nature since past 13 years.

However, this component can revertto disease – causing pathogens andprovoke the very illness they are meantto prevent. An expensive alternatevaccine popular in wealthy countries ismade up of “killed viruses is known asIPV costing $ 3 a dose as an injunctionwhile the oral polio drops cost 15 cents adose. The WHO’s governing council willbe asked to approve the early withdrawalof type 2 strain at its annual meeting inMay this year. An average of over 1000cases of polio have been reported yearlyin the world from 2000 to 2010 causedby the wild type viruses while 120children get polio every year as a resultof oral inoculation. This is a signal forthe health authorities in poor countriesto consider the cautious use of poliodrops currently in use.

DR MUHAMMAD YAQOOB BHATTILahore


Comment12Monday, 7 May, 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: [email protected]

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Time to put it to rest?

drone attacks

The US has perhaps taken to heart the meaning of theproverb ‘once bitten, twice shy’ by not slowing down,let alone ending altogether, the drone attacks onsuspected terrorists in the north-western tribal areas

of Pakistan. They claim it threatens their country’s nationalsecurity and they would do anything to eliminate this threatwhether the government of Pakistan agrees or not.

But how are things shaping up in response to these droneattacks and other American transgressions, i.e. how does a vastmajority of population in Pakistan takes these, like the May 2incident and Salala chek post incident? One can safely say notwell. The public perception is that the US, by ignoringPakistan’s repeated requests regarding these attacks, istreating Islamabad not as an ally, if not entirely like a foe. Thesecond drone attack the other day in North Waziristan in lessthan two weeks has put further strain on the frayed relationsbetween both countries. Pakistan’s stance is that for certaintactical advantages larger strategic interests are beingoverlooked with this covert programme. But this argumentseems to fall on deaf ears.

The legality and moral acceptance of these attacks is yetanother aspect that needs careful treading. No country wouldlike to have another country attack it in this blatant mannerwithout a care for the consequences. This is a troubled area butnot in a way that the stick remains the only viable solution. Ifused properly, the carrot could offer better dividends. Theterrorists need to be taken up on their own game. They playwith the mindset of impressionable youth and that’s exactlywhat the government of Pakistan needs to do with the youthtoo and try to wean them away from this militant ideology.Meanwhile, development projects could help ameliorate theimpoverished conditions in the restive areas, thus leaving littleroom for such activities. But all of this won’t work unless theUS agrees to respect Pakistan’s sovereignty, stops such attacksand backs dialogue with the terrorists; the US needs to becalled out on its double standards as it engaged in a dialoguewith the terrorists in Afghanistan but has objections to thesame when Pakistan does so.

These aren’t going to be like the judges' long march

Protests

The PML(N) is between the rock and a hard place. Onthe one hand, party supremo Nawaz Sharif’s exilefrom the country has taught him a lot about the largerscheme of things as far as the endeavour of

democracy goes in the country. He realised that our nascentand fragile democratic process should not be upset andgovernments should be allowed to complete their terms. Buton the other hand, he is, after all, the head of the country’slargest opposition party and opposition parties leave no stoneunturned to dial up the heat for the government whenever theycan. The PM’s conviction is an opportunity like no other.

But Mr Sharif would have been content with making all thenoises and not much more if it weren’t for the fact that he feelshis turn is being encroached upon by the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Isaaf. Vying for the same urban middle-class votes that countas the League’s constituency, the PTI is also encroaching uponthe carefully constructed, friendly media-enabled image ofclean politics as opposed to the grime of the PPP. And, sincethe PTI has literally nothing to lose in its sabre-rattling, theelder Sharif now fears the brouhaha over the PM’s resignation,coupled with allied disappointments, has it in it to become agame changer. Much like the later aborted long march towardsthe capital, which restored the higher judiciary.

Now when the PTI leadership is using terms like TsunamiMarch, the Sharifs feel Imran Khan is stealing their thunder.The latter has been reinforcing their apprehensions by usingthe “friendly opposition” line everywhere.

The emasculated League feels this is a time to step up theirgame, let the real opposition stand up and what have you.

The problem with the series of protests that the Leagueenvisages is their lack of specific point or purpose. Thegovernment is adamant in its point of view about the issue ofthe resignation: the premier won’t; he would rather sit out theentire process that spans the gamut of the election commissionand the speaker’s office. And the League’s assessment aboutthe issue somehow being like the judges’ restoration is flawed;the government won’t cave in this time.

The result: tumult, with the deep state smirking in theshadows.

The insecure majorityThe state against its own citizens

Scholars tell us that part of thereason that constitutions existis to afford protection againstabuses that a majority is proneto; in other words constitutions

exist to save us from ourselves. The way we persecute minorities is a

stark reminder of the lack of our collectiveimagination. What else can explain it? Weare up in arms each time we hear of aMuslim being strip searched or discrimi-nated against in some country that isoceans away and yet the religious minori-ties in our country are told: don’t you daredo anything that we deem improper. Thatis some high-minded bigotry.

The latest tragedy in the systematicpersecution against Ahmadis has arisenin Lahore. Their “place of worship” wastoo similar to a mosque and hence com-plaints were lodged. Police acted to re-move Quranic verses from the walls andhas now, reportedly, put up billboards tomake the mosque look less like amosque and more like God knows what.I do not think God intended his places ofworship to have particular designs or forthem to be called certain names. Butthanks to the late Mr Zia-ul-Haq, that ishow we roll in Pakistan.

The hatred and discriminationagainst Ahmadis has been pervasive inthe state of Pakistan since 1947. The factthat intellectual giants like Mr ZafarullahKhan achieved any position of promi-nence was and remains the exceptionrather than the rule. Of course it is unjustfor a state to decide who is or is not aMuslim. But Mr Bhutto gave in to politi-cal pressure and put his weight behindthe 2nd Amendment that labelled Ah-madis as non-Muslims. However, eventhat action did not allow use of statepower against Ahmadis so it is not thereal reason why we are in this mess.

The reason Ahmadis have no real con-stitutional right to freedom of religiontoday was Mr Zia’ul-Haq’s doing. He crim-inalised, among other things, practice andpropagation of Ahmadi beliefs, includingthe use of the word mosque to refer totheir “place of worship”. The English pressof Pakistan which today often sells itself asa liberal element celebrated when Ah-

madis were declared non-Muslims in1974. Our leading papers opined that theAhmadi “problem” had been solved andthat democracy had prevailed. In one way,that view was still defensible. The Pak-istani constitution was never meant to bea “constitution of feelings” — I borrow thisterm from Professor Noah Feldman. Un-like the US Constitution which prohibitsestablishment of religion and concomi-tantly the feeling of being excluded if onereligion is endorsed, an Islamic state nec-essarily causes people to feel excluded.However that feeling of exclusion, as im-portant as it is, did not and does not haveto mean that state power is used to harassand punish people for their beliefs. That isthe real rotten thing here

I do not agree with a state decidingwho does or does not belong to a particu-lar religion but absent any discriminationI can still see the point of those who wantto engage in such an exercise. Howeverthere is no defence to a state persecutingthose that the majority deems to be “hi-jacking” its own religion — that is howPakistan treats Ahmadis.

Consider the absurdity of the Lahoresituation. Policemen reportedly had to re-move Quranic verses from the walls of theAhmadi mosque. Can you imagine whatwould happen if a Christian or an Ahmadiever dared to remove Quranic verses fromanywhere? Even from the walls of achurch or a temple? Bingo, Blasphemylaws and the punishment of death wouldcome into play. Yet because here the in-tent was to “protect” Islam, then removingverses is not a crime. I am not suggestingthat the poor policemen committed acrime. I am pointing to the absurd appli-cation of the laws of the land. Just thinkabout the glaring contradictions in ways inwhich we treat actions.

Let there be no doubt about this. Free-dom of religion, if you are a non-Muslim,is a joke in Pakistan. It only exists to theextent that you do not offend the sensibil-ities of any orthodox Muslim — if you do,then he can file a criminal complaintagainst you. What moral authority do peo-ple have to protest against discriminationagainst Muslims inother countrieswhen Ahmadis arepersecuted in Pak-istan? The logic isthe same; the ma-jority feels unsafe.At least in othercountries, thestate’s policepower does not le-gitimise systematictargeting of beliefs.

The real dan-ger here — andone that is nowhurting the Shiasin Pakistan as well

— is this: society has little tolerance forbeliefs it deems offensive. And many ofits members are willing to use not juststate’s police power but also arms to at-tack the minorities. This has resulted intargeting of Ahmadis, Christians, Hin-dus, Shias. Where do you draw the line?This is morally bankrupt and let no onetell you otherwise. What is so Islamicabout an Islamic state that discriminatesso blatantly on the basis of religion? Thatanyone branded or born a non-Muslim isnot just a lesser citizen but also has tosuffer a lifetime of insecurity? I knowPakistanis love demonising Israel but Is-rael does not, and I repeat does not, dis-criminate on the basis of religion when itcomes to rights of citizenship. Yes it is aJewish state but Muslims and Christiansare equal citizens of the Israeli state.Don’t rebut this by pointing to someother instance of Israeli policies, dealwith the argument — a state’s treatmentof its own citizens. Yes, I just defendedAhmadis’ rights and lauded Israel. Thatwill make me very popular in Pakistan.

Any one of us in Pakistan could havebeen born into an Ahmadi, Christian orHindu household. The fact that we, theconstitutionally recognized Muslim ma-jority feel safe today, is merely an accidentof birth. But think of those who value afaith just as much as you value yours andthey have to suffer for it. I do not expectanti-Ahmadi laws to vanish soon and evenif they vanish I am not naïve enough to be-lieve that discrimination would end. Butthe least we can do is have empathy, chal-lenge use of state’s power to persecute mi-norities and take the fight from there.Anyone with a modicum of decencyshould be outraged by the recent events inLahore. Anyone who cares about discrim-ination on the basis of faith has to be, sim-ply has to be, outraged by this. And Icannot say that enough times.

The writer is a Barrister and an Ad-vocate of the High Courts. He is currentlypursuing his LL.M in the US and can bereached at [email protected] or onTwitter @wordoflaw

By Waqqas Mir

The same day that Vice-Premier Li Keqiang wrapped uphis European trip, which came close on the heels ofPremier Wen Jiabao’s own European trip, the fourth

round of the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialoguestarted on Thursday in Beijing.

Economic and trade concerns stand tall in most of theseface-to-face communications. This is logical at a time whenEurope is still struggling to overcome its debilitating debtcrisis, and China and the United States share an urge to ironout their differences over interest rates, intellectual propertyrights, export restrictions and investment policies.

However strategic concerns are also on the agenda. Thestakes are high considering the size of the three economies, sodirect exchanges at the highest possible levels are essential toavoid misunderstandings and hence misjudgments. This issomething they have learnt the hard way.

That they have, by and large, included in bilateralconsultations all major topics of concern, from human rightsto currency policies, testifies to an ever-clearer consensus thatdialogue is the best means of dealing with their differences.

There have been many ups and downs in the relations

between China and Europe and the US over the past decades,but immediate benefits have served to anchor bilateral ties. Yetit is this shortsighted focus on short-term goals that causes theinstability in the ties. The increasing dialogue that is takingplace may add a valuable long-sighted strategic perspective tothe handling of such relationships.

Beijing’s eagerness to exploit the constructive potential ofits dialogues with the US and Europe is both explicit andsincere. Throughout their visits to Europe, Wen and Liappealed for a more open Europe while assuring their hosts ofChina’s commitment to the special partnership.

Addressing the China-US dialogue in Beijing, President HuJintao emphasized the need for equality and mutualunderstanding for a “new type of relations” between the twocountries. But such words will only work when embraced byboth parties.

The practical approaches of Europe and the US to therelations with China are sadly lacking in strategic insight.

The apparent vulnerability of the ties to what should bemanageable incidents, indicates the conspicuous obsoletethinking that shapes the policies of Europe and the US.

If they are truly interested in better ties with China, theyneed to be more attentive to China’s concerns: that is notdancing to China’s tune, it is reciprocal respect.

Listening as well as talkingChina Daily

foreign Press


Comment 13Monday, 7 May, 2012

It’s politics all around these days;all the mainstream parties aredoing their best to take advan-

tage of the restiveness prevalent inthe country. PPP has played its cardswell and even after the conviction ofits prime minister, it stands firm andcompletely impervious to the wrathof its opponents. As they say, Pietyhas no relevance to Politics andPower and PPP’s decision to depre-cate the demand of resignation onmoral grounds is in line with that.One wonders if this is opportunismor leverage. I deem it to be leveragebecause the hawks feel that politicsand opportunism are not confined topolitical parties and their sponsorsanymore. They are being overtly ex-hibited and practiced in the institu-tions which should be apolitical.

The reference is clear and itspeaks for itself. It’s about the coun-try’s highest constitutional court.The Supreme Court pledges to dis-pense justice with equality to every-one and promises to be impartial andindependent at all times but the per-ception is quite to the contrary. Evenafter giving historic orders in thecases like Rental Power Plants, Hajjscam and NICL, the institution doesnot stand vindicated. Their lordshipshave fallen prey to populism in anumber of cases. The NRO is onegood example of this. Being a studentof law, I fully support the judgmentin NRO case but I humbly disagreewith the way the entire matter washandled by the august court. Therewas no need to start suo moto pro-ceedings in the form of NRO Imple-mentations case. The responsibilityof implementation was with the ex-ecutive and the executive would havebeen held accountable the way it isbeing held now. The judicial ac-tivism of our lordships has cost themtheir impartiality. The defiant exec-utive has reasons to believe that thisjudiciary is targeting PPP and itsleadership. Some may say this is in-

correct and but the perception isright there and well-placed.

Many things feed into giving cre-dence to this perception. For in-stance, the petition (Not a StayOrder) by Mr Shahid Orakzai whichis still pending with the SupremeCourt and has not been taken up inyears even after leave was granted bythe honourable court. I showcasedthe SC’s website in our show (AapasKi Baat) last year to demonstrate thatthe case been conveniently left asidefor months. This case is against theformer PML(N) president and the in-cumbent Chief Minister Punjab’sdual membership issue. If taken up,the result could be devastating for MrShahbaz Sharif as it hinges upon aclearly written Article 223 (4) of theConstitution. I leave it for the prudentminds to make of this what they will.

It dismays many when the hon-ourable institution of the SC does notabide by the principles it has set forall of us to follow. The judgment todenounce extensions and contractualappointments of the government em-ployees was hailed at all levels but itwas an unpleasant surprise to wit-ness the unwarranted and repeatedextensions awarded to the hon-ourable registrar of the SupremeCourt. I repeat what the honourablejudges had said: “Isn’t there anycompetent officer in the country tofill the important posts?”

While a defiant executive dis-turbs many, a populist judicaturedoes even more so. The executive iselected through a political processand it has its own vested interests.But the judiciary has to think and act

beyond that. It was very unfortunatewhen the CJ commented on the issueof availability of judges for the PM’sreview petition while addressing thebar in Sibbi. The question was not di-rectly asked of him and there was noneed to address this issue on thatforum. Adding more to the contro-versy, the honourable Lordship hasdecided to appoint acting and ad hocjudges to hear the prime minister’sappeal. Yes, it is not unconstitutionalto do so but the spirit of Article 181and 182 have been discussed atlength in the Al-Jehad Trust Casewhich clearly deprecates the idea ofappointing ad hoc judges when thereis a vacancy for permanent judge ofSupreme Court. The vacancy for apermanent judge has to be filled.The Pakisan Bar Council, High CourtBar Associations and the Supreme

Court Bar Associations have onceagain denounced the practice of ap-pointing favoured ad hoc judges.

The contention behind the abovestated arguments is that the institu-tions like the Supreme Court shouldnot only be impartial but also beseen to be impartial. They shoulddisseminate the perception that itdoes justice to all and at every level.Lord Denning had once said that“Justice must be rooted in confi-dence: and confidence is destroyedwhen right-minded people go awaythinking: ‘The judge was biased’.”(Metropolitan Properties Co (FGC)Ltd v. Lannon [I9691 1 Q.B. 577)

The writer hosts a prime timetalk show. He can be contacted [email protected]

especially where it shouldn’t be...

politics all around

By Muneeb Farooq

Poised for flight?

information: available or not

Information, often used as a tool forcontrol, is either freely available orelse has curbs placed upon its

availability.Freedom of information is well ex-

plained in the American Library Bill ofRights which says that libraries, as thecentre of ideas and information mustcater to the information needs of every-one in the community, that no informa-tion must be excluded on the basis of theorigin or views of those generating it.Every attempt is to be made to includedifferent points of view, current and his-torical, none of which must be excludedfor reasons such as doctrinal difference.

The opposite camp believes in curbson the free availability of information.

On a league table ranking nations onthe basis of freedom of press, the UK andthe USA find themselves at 28 and 47 re-spectively this year. Pakistan ranks at 151.

Upon cursory examination, people inthe West although more passionate in de-fence of freedom of information, andoften with a higher rate of basic educa-tion appear to be less well-informedabout world affairs than their poorermore illiterate counterparts in the Third

World. I am not speakingof the Sarah Palins of eitherworld who have a life oftheir own, but of the com-mon man on the street.

It is usual, in Pakistan,to see a group of mensquatting around their oneliterate member who readsfrom a newspaper. Thissuggests a relationship be-tween the freedom and/orability to procure informa-tion and the will to seek itout at the street level. Theinference is that where in-formation is easily availablepeople lose the urgency toobtain it, as compared towhen it is harder to accesswhen there is a greater urgefor it, although there areother related reasons.

It is important to re-member that there is a lackof information, and thenthere is misinformation.The first is more commonin the illiterate Third Worldand/or in countries wherethe state controls themedia. The second…misin-formation, of the rabidright wing variety, is freelyavailable everywhere.

‘There is a propagandacampaign to make the pub-

lic believe in the presence of an identifiedentity representing the ‘devil’ only inorder to drive the TV watcher to accept aunified international leadership for a waragainst terrorism’. Former British For-eign Secretary, Robin Cook.

Correspondingly, for many countriesaround the world and certainly Pakistan,all things evil originate in the West and allcurrent social ills are laid at its door.

There are analogies for thesuppression of information in incidencesof suppression and control of other kinds.One of the oldest, an attempt atsuppressing rebellion by the murder of allnewborn Jewish males resulted in a wellknown uprising. Today, the separationwalls built by Israel along its bordersrestricting the freedom of movement ofits citizens and neighbours have notsucceeded in containing violence. And yetIsrael is building another wall along itsborder with Lebanon.

The banning of books…Boris Paster-nak’s Dr Zhivago, Salman Rushdie’s Sa-tanic Verses, Taslima Nasreen’s Lajja allfailed to restrict readership. The first wastranslated into almost twenty languageseven before it was published and won itsauthor a Nobel Prize for literature. TheSatanic Verses became a prime favouriteovernight and was smuggled in everysuitcase into countries where it wasbanned, while Lajja sold 50,000 copieswithin the first six months of its exis-tence. The most recent, a controlled re-release of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kamp’ isset to be as ineffective seeing that thebook is already available everywhere in-cluding online. The electronic age has ofcourse opened another Pandora’s Box.

The presence of these restrictionsand misinformation is a commentary onthe short sightedness of the instigators.Governments that fail to deliver, schoolsthat fail to educate, ideologies twistedand out of synch with the people theyclaim to represent, flawed projects andplans, (or their lack thereof)…and back-wardness of implementation…these arethe sources from which these restrictionsand misinformation originate.

Anyone interested in controlling anelectorate should think in terms of mak-ing information freely available, and toenable persons to access and dissemi-nate it in safety. Chances are, the com-mon man, being no academic, once ableto access information with ease will nolonger fall over himself to do so. So long,of course, that he is content where he isand is not eternally poised for flight,when of course he will be looking for in-formation of the world around him. Thisis one of the other reasons for the urgefor information mentioned before.

By Rabia Ahmed

It dismays many when the honourable

institution of the SC does not abide by the

principles it has set for all of us to follow.

the judgment to denounce extensions and

contractual appointments of the

government employees was hailed at all

levels but it was an unpleasant surprise to

witness the unwarranted and repeated

extensions awarded to the honourable

registrar of the Supreme Court.


Friendship with Salmannothing to do withShah Rukh: Aamir MuMBAI: Bollywood’s perfectionist Aamir Khan, whose debut tV show commenced on Sunday, is pretty excited and

nervous about the same. with Aamir’s arrival into the world of small screen, speculations were rife that other

Bollywood biggies were being roped in by rival channels to beat the star’s show. reportedly, Salman was offered a

mammoth fee to host a tV show that would be pitted against Aamir’s ‘Satyamev Jayate’. But the ‘dabangg’ superstar

chose friend Aamir over the tempting fee and declined the lucrative offer. Aamir too had recently expressed his

equation with Salman. Aamir said, “Salman is a very dear friend, and we do catch up, but not to discuss people. Nor

are we a bunch of schoolers to team up against anyone. My friendship with Salman has nothing to do with my

equation with Shah rukh or his

equation with Salman. I have a lot

of respect for Shah rukh.” Aamir,

Shah rukh and Salman are the

three biggest names of Bollywood

and it seems their success stories

have always been intertwined with

their professional and personal

rivalries. explaining how he does

not intend to break anyone’s

record, Aamir said, “why only them,

there’ve been so many other actors

on tV. But, you know, I am really

not looking at breaking anyone’s

record. that’s not my or my show’s

motive.”AgenCIeS


IN LIMELIGHTThe summermovies thatwill be hugeand the onesthat could flop

LoS AngeLeS: As the summer flicks start rolling out and

‘the Avengers’ does record-breaking business worldwide,

trade analysts are crunching the numbers for every big-

budget schlockfest coming this summer, and of all the

celebrities involved, from ri-ri to Johnny, Cruise to Charlize,

will Smith and Josh Brolin, to anticipate which movies not

the least likely to succeed. A lot of industry watchers do

not have high expectations for, say, a certain Cameron diaz

pregnancy giggler, or ‘Sparkle’, which, despite the final film

appearance by whitney Houston, analysts say looks to be

‘Glitter’ of 2012. But the movie most likely to face

problems? None of the above, says Jeff Bock of exhibitor

relations. “‘total recall’ will have the toughest time making

back its budget," Bock says. "It reportedly cost upwards of

$200 million and opens head-to-head against ‘the Bourne

Legacy’, which is widely expected to be a hit, even without

Matt damon. “Besides, everyone in Hollywood knows," he

says, that Colin Farrell doesn't exactly light up the box office

when he headlines a film. that's right: even ‘Battleship’, the

movie based on a game and which stars rihanna, is

expected to fare better dollar for investment dollar, Bock

says. As for ‘dark Shadow’s, whose trailer has already

sparked decidedly mixed reactions, fret not for Johnny

depp. “‘dark Shadows’ and ‘rock of Ages’ (with tom

Cruise), while tough sells, have huge names attached and

should do relatively well," he says. Maybe Colin Farrell needs

to do another vampire movie. AgenCIeS

NEWS DESK

Grandeur CEO Neshmia Ahmed, organ-ised an exhibition to showcase fresh de-signer talent, among them, Sara Baloch isan anchor and a textile artist/designer.She graduated from the National CollegeOf Arts Lahore. The very young multi-tal-ented girl owns this brand and designs ex-clusive leather clutches. Sara Habib’slabel SH jewelry lays emphasis on styleand quality, using the most enchantingand captivating designs. The jewelry is ex-pertly crafted with a twist of contempo-rary and traditional designs with an arrayof gorgeous precious, semi preciousstones set in silver. Each piece is expertlycustom designed with the fiery tonedstones in dazzling colors which will giveevery piece a mesmerizing glow. Theseexquisite pieces are designed to accent

your style. Nadia Salem establishedNADDA who is a PIFD graduate, in 2007while she's been designing professionallysince 1999. The design philosophy behindNADDA is 'stylish trendy fashion' cater-ing to women who have busy lives and de-sire 'effortless elegance' in whatever theychose to wear without breaking the bank.NADDA does Bridal, wedding, party andcasual wear. Farah Farooqi is an emerg-ing talent in the Pakistani fashion worldwho owns her own brand, which spe-cialises in blending the originality andcreativity of fashion’s past and present to-gether. Her vision is to maintain the dis-tinctiveness of colors and cuts she usesand adhere to high quality design stan-dards at all costs. Her designs give cus-tomers an edge to enhance their innersense of style and carry out the best lookthey possibly can.

Grandeur holds exhibitionfor upcoming designers

Akshay-Twinkleto becomeparents againMuMBAI: Bollywood khiladi Akshay Kumar is all set to

become dad again. Sources confirmed that Akki’s

wife Twinkle is pregnant and the couple is expecting

their second baby. grapevine has it that Twinkle, who

is in her second trimester, has been advised

complete bed rest, but now she is okay and has been

allowed to walk and move around. Both Akshay and

Twinkle are happy that they can now share this

happy news with the rest of the world. Akshay and

Twinkle already have a son, Aarav, born 11 years ago.

But, what’s interesting to note here is that both Akki

and son Aarav are September babies, and baby no. 2

is also due in September. AgenCIeS

MuMBAI: ‘dhak dhak’ girl Madhuri dixit is all set to

play a new innings in the Hindi film industry and

says she wants to challenge herself as an actor. She

has signed Vishal Bhardwaj’s ‘dedh Ishqiya’ and

Anubhav Sinha’s ‘Gulab Gang’, thrilling her fans. "I am

trying to explore new roles and do different types of

films. want to challenge myself as an actor! Having

fun. I think you will be thrilled with the roles. they

are powerful, moving and will leave an impression!

More films to come," she tweeted. Post-marriage,

Madhuri worked in just ‘Aaja Nachle’, which didn`t do

so well. But her stint as the judge on dance reality

show ‘Jhalak dikhhla Jaa 4’ gave her a chance to

reconnect with her fans in a big way. After the

success of the show, the 44-year-old shifted base

here with her husband and sons from the US in

october last year. AgenCIeS

Madhuri Dixitlooking forchallenges


15

KARAChI:

grandeur

Ceo

neshmia

Ahmed

organised an

exhibition for

upcoming

designers.

Kristen Stewartgets ‘swag’ in stepafter injury

LOS ANGELESAgenCIeS

A pesky foot injury can totally put the "swag" in your step. That is, accordingto Kristen Stewart. The ‘Twilight’ star, who donned flats for a recent inter-view, joked that she lost all ability to smoothly walk on the stage after in-juring her foot during ‘Breaking Dawn: Part 2’ reshoots recently. “I wasn'ttrying to have ultimate swag when I walked out," Stewart told Jay Lenoof her stroll to her chair. "I hurt my foot. I wasn't trying to get out ofwearing heels either. Puncture wound, promise.” The ‘Twilight’ starwas in Vancouver with the likes of on-screen and off-screen loveRobert Pattinson reshooting a few scenes for the highly anticipatedfantasy flick earlier this week. And while Stewart didn't drop anyspoilers while on the show, she did reveal the cast was there toreshoot "hunting" scenes. “It was more of the hunts in the be-ginning," Stewart said. "We all wanted more of it." The 22-year-old actress also dished on what it was like to play a momto newcomer McKenzie Foy, saying the 11-year-old is "thecoolest actress I've ever worked with." Stewart also workedwith a lot of "fake children" that looked like "Chucky dolls"during the last ‘Twilight’ installment, which we imagine was-n't as pleasant an experience. ‘Breaking Dawn: Part 2’ is setto hit theaters November 16th.

Britney Spears wantsdemi Lovato on ‘X Factor’

LOS ANGELESAgenCIeS

Pop star Britney Spearshas reportedly asked teenstar Demi Lovato on thejudging panel of US ‘XFactor’. Spears, 30, whowill receive USD 15 mil-lion to join Simon Cowelland LA Reid on the judg-ing panel, has a beliefthat Lovato and she havegreat chemistry together,reported Showbiz spy."Britney is the anchor ofthe new judging paneland that was Simon`smost important hire.Britney is extremelyhopeful that Demi Lovatowill become one of the

judges because she truly admires her. Britney loves how open andhonest Demi has been with her fans after she went to rehab last year."She thinks they have a lot in common and that they would have greatchemistry on the show. Britney is being kept apprised of the status ofongoing contract talks with Lovato and it is looking like she will bejoining the show," a source said. Judges Nicole Scherzinger and PaulaAbdul were sacked after one season on the show.

Scarlett Johanssonplanning Broadway return

LOS ANGELESAgenCIeS

Hollywood star Scarlett Jo-hansson is close to signing adeal to return to Broadwayin a revival of TennesseeWilliams’ ‘Cat on a Hot TinRoof’. The 27-year-old ac-tress made her New Yorkstage debut in ‘A View FromThe Bridge’ in 2010 andpicked up a Tony Award forher performance. The ‘LostIn Translation’ star is slatedto take on the role made fa-mous by the late ElizabethTaylor in the 1958 movieadaptation of the play, re-ported a website. "I’m closeto making a deal on it. Icannot wait absolutely toget to it. I’m exhilarated,I’m terrified, but I think ina good way," Johanssonsaid. Her ‘The Avengers’ co-star Jeremy Renner has alsobeen linked to a role in theproduction.

George Clooneycelebrates 51stbirthday

los anGElEs: Some things (andpeople) just get better with age.George Clooney, for example. Thecharitable ‘Descendants’ star, whoturned the big 5-1, wrapped up amonumental milestone year chockfull of awards-show accolades,humanitarian efforts and strongpolitical statements. And it doesn'tlook like he's slowing down any timesoon. Shortly after his 50th birthday,the seasoned thespian was back onthe market after an "amicable split"with Italian actress/model ElisabettaCanalis in late June. But, before toomany ladies could get excited aboutthe prospect of a single-againClooney, the actor started dating‘Dancing With the Stars’ alum StaceyKeibler. The Academy Award-winning actor also found himselfback in the midst of awards showfodder for his roles in ‘The Ides ofMarch’ and ‘The Descendants’. Whilehe didn't snap up an Oscar this year,but won a Critics Choice Award and aGolden Globe award, among manyother accolades. AgenCIeS

Pattinson to play car

thief in new filmlos anGElEs: ‘Twilight’ starRobert Pattinson is in negotiations toplay a car thief in a thriller film‘Rover’. The 25-year-old actor willstar opposite Guy Pearce, who playsa man pursuing a group of carthieves through the wild and ruggedAustralian Outback. ‘Rover’ is set tobe directed by Animal Kingdomhelmer David Michod, who pennedthe script based on an idea he andactor Joel Edgerton originated.Pattinson has just landed a role in‘Mission: Blacklist’, which revolvesaround the search for former Iraqileader Saddam Hussein and aninterrogator named Eric Maddox,who spearheaded his capture. Theactor will next be seen in‘Cosmopolis’, ‘Bel Ami’ and highlyanticipated ‘The Twilight Saga'sBreaking Dawn Part II’. AgenCIeS

MuMBAI: Here’s some good news for all

those who love to watch Shah rukh Khan

romancing Kajol on screen. According to the

latest buzz, King Khan will play Kajol’s man

in Karan Johar’s next. A source revealed,

“Karan always works on one film at a time

and he has just come back from thailand

after having wrapped up portion of his

home production. though he hasn’t

announced his next film, it will most

probably be with Shah rukh. But the film

won’t be announced before the end of the

year and won’t begin rolling before early

next year, the reason being SrK’s dates.

He’s busy with his upcoming films with

yash Chopra and Farah Khan’s ‘Happy New

year’. He can only give dates in early 2013

now.” SrK and Kajol have shared a crackling

chemistry ever since they were cast

opposite each other in ‘Baazigar’. Since

then the duo have worked together in

‘dilwale dulhaniya Le Jayenge’, ‘Kuch Kuch

Hota Hai’, ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham’ and

‘My Name Is Khan’, all of which have been

blockbusters. Kajol happens to be Karan’s

lucky mascot, and hence she does make an

appearance in most of his films. AgenCIeS

Shah Rukh, Kajolto romance yet again

Shahid replaces Boman,Riteish as IIFA hostMuMBAI: Actors riteish deshmukh and

Boman Irani have been entertaining

viewers their wit and comic timing as

the hosts of the International Indian

Film Academy (IIFA) awards for the past

four years. But this year, Shahid Kapoor

might be taking the mantle away from

them. According to a source, Shahid is

being roped in to anchor the 13th

edition of IIFA, to be held in Singapore

June 7-9. Superstar Shah rukh Khan

and Hrithik roshan are also likely to

host certain segments of the ceremony.

Both actors are in the run for the best

actor in a leading role award for their

performances in ‘don 2: the King Is

Back’ and ‘Zindagi Na Milegi dobara’,

respectively. the three-day cine event,

will see a host of Indian celebrities. It

will feature fashion shows and a

musical extravaganza, with all

celebrations culminating into a

glittering awards presentation

ceremony. ‘Zindagi Na Milegi dobara’ is

leading the nomination pack as it

features in 14 categories. AgenCIeS


Monday, 7 May, 2012

16 Foreign News

PARISReuTeRS

France voted in elections on Sundaywhich could make Nicolas Sarkozy the11th European leader to be swept from of-fice by the economic crisis and crownFrancois Hollande as the nation’s firstSocialist president in nearly two decades.

Buoyed by a tide of anger at Sarkozy’sinability to rein in rampant unemploy-ment during his five-year term, Hollandewas between four and eight points aheadin final opinion polls. A wide margin ofvictory in Sunday’s runoff would give theSocialist presidential candidate more au-thority to pursue his programme ofadding growth-oriented policies to theausterity effort in France and Europe.

Casting his vote in the town of Tulle incentral France, where he was mayor for sevenyears, Hollande took time to shake hands andkiss voters, many of whom he knows person-ally. “It will be a long day. I do not knowwhether it will be a beautiful day, the Frenchwill decide on that,” Hollande told Reuters,adding that he had slept little. Sarkozy wasgreeted by cheering crowds when he ar-rived to vote at a school in an upmarketParis neighbourhoood close to the home ofhis wife Carla Bruni, a former supermodel.“We are going to win” chanted supportersas the conservative leader briefly claspedthe hands of well-wishers.

“Both Sarkozy and Hollande would becapable managers of the French economybut Sarkozy has created too much discord... That is why I voted Hollande,” photog-

rapher Gilles Leimdorfer told Reuters inParis. Polling stations are open from 8 a.m.(0600 GMT) to 6 p.m. (1600 GMT) onSunday, and two hours later in big cities.

Initial turnout figures published bythe Interior Ministry showed 30.7 percentof registered voters had cast their ballotby at midday (1000 GMT) despite coldand wet weather in much of France, top-ping the 28.3 percent at the same stage ofthe April 22 first round. Politicians arenot allowed to make public comments onelection weekend, but Hollande told re-porters on Friday he was worried that hislead over Sarkozy would shrink.

Reliable projections of the resultbased on a partial vote count will be pub-lished as soon as the last polling stationsclose. Media that publish exit polls or par-

tial results before that risk fines and legalaction. Hollande voter Sylvie, a head nursebased in Paris, said she feared Sunday’sresult could give Hollande a lower marginthan opinion polls have suggested. “Theelectorate has always been very evenlysplit, so we could head for something moretowards 51-49 percent,” she said.

Despite shaving a couple of points offHollande’s lead in the last days of a fre-netic campaign, Sarkozy’s own aides pri-vately admit it would require a miraclefor him to turn the odds in his favour andclinch a second term. “I’d say he has onechance in six,” a member of Sarkozy’sinner circle told Reuters on condition ofanonymity shortly before campaigningdrew to a halt on Friday.

BNP Paribas economist Dominique

Barbet said that uncertainty about theelection outcome was extremely low.stEadY lEad: Hollande, a mild-man-nered and popular career politician, hasheld a steady lead for weeks after outlin-ing a comprehensive programme in Jan-uary based on raising taxes, especially onhigh earners, to finance spending andkeep the public deficit capped.

As much as his own programme, he isbenefiting from a tide of anti-Sarkozysentiment due in part to the incumbent’sshowy and occasionally arrogant personalstyle and in part to anger over the sameeconomic gloom that has brought downleaders from Britain to Portugal.

The vote coincides with a Greek elec-tion where voters are expected to punishmajor parties for economic misery.

Iran parliament

rejects subsidy

cuts proposalsDUBAI

ReuTeRS

A committee of Iranian lawmakers hasrejected a government plan to increase pricesfor subsidised food and fuel in a move thatthreatens to derail a drive to rein in thecountry’s sanctions-squeezed budget, Iranianmedia reported late on Saturday.International sanctions imposed over Iran’snuclear programme have sharply reduced theamount of money Tehran earns from oil,upping pressure on President MahmoudAhmadinejad to push through cuts ingovernment spending worth tens of billions ofdollars by scaling back subsidies for thepopulation. But a parliamentary committeeexamining this year’s budget - which theoverall parliament has yet to approve -rejected the size of the proposed cuts, settingthe stage for a possible compromise deal thatmay force the government to sign up to farless ambitious cost-savings. “The Majlis(parliament) may agree to raise energy pricesto some extent, but far less than theadministration has requested,” theparliament’s Integration Committee said,according to the Mehr News agency. Thecommittee approved just 560 trillion Rials forthe programme (around 44 billion dollars),less than half the amount the governmentwanted to add to its coffers thanks to subsidysavings, parliament’s news agency reported.That is the same amount allotted in 2011 and50 billion dollars less than the governmentwanted. The government implemented thefirst-stage of its Targeted Subsidies Plantowards the end of 2010 in an attempt towean the country off more generous food andfuel subsidies. At the time, Ahmadinejadcalled it the “biggest economic plan of thepast 50 years”. But the next phase of the planneeds the parliament’s approval before it canbe implemented at a time when the makeupof parliament appears to be changing infavour of Ahmadinejad’s conservative critics.Prices have spiralled since the reforms werefirst introduced, causing serious financialproblems for millions of people across thecountry. The price of petrol has risen three-fold and the cost of gas has soared by 500percent. Critics of the plan have accusedAhmadinejad of pushing through aprogramme of wasteful public spending thathas caused soaring inflation and of using thereforms for his own political gain.UndEr prEssUrE: The parliamentaryspeaker Ali Larijani - a fierce critic of thepresident - said the government was nowplanning to triple petrol prices and todouble the cost of natural gas, Mehr newsreported on Friday. Last month, thegovernment said it would boost themonthly cash payments it gives to itspoorest citizens to offset the rising pricesby more than 50 percent to 730,000 Rials(around 60 US dollars). Ahmadinejadwanted to introduce the second phase of hissubsidy reform programme last month buthostile MPs say the additional paymentshave not been approved and are illegal. In aNew Year speech, Ayatollah Ali Khameneigave his backing to the reforms which hesaid were an important means ofdistributing welfare in a more balancedway. The International Monetary Fund hascommended the Iranian government forthe policy which it said had led to areduction in fuel consumption andinflationary pressure.

KoLKATA: uS Secretary of State hillary Clinton (L) watches girls perform during an anti-human trafficking event in Kolkata on Sunday. REUTERS

Sarkozy faces defeat as France heads to polls

Hospitalised dissident

awaits permission to

leave China

bEIJInG: Chinese human rights activistChen Guangcheng remained largely out ofcontact in a Beijing hospital on Sunday asdiplomats kept up contacts with authoritiesover how he might leave China and travel tostudy in the United States. Chen arrived atthe Chaoyang Hospital last week from theUS embassy, where he had taken refugeafter a dramatic escape from 19 monthsunder house arrest in his home village. Thefate of the blind, 40-year old activist over-shadowed a visit to Beijing last week by USSecretary of State Hillary Clinton, andthreatened to complicate already difficultUS-China relations. China’s Foreign Min-istry made an apparent concession on Fri-day, saying Chen could apply to studyabroad. Reuters last spoke to Chen thatevening. The US Embassy said on SundayUS officers had visited Chen’s wife on Satur-day at the hospital, and remained in contactwith the family and with Chinese officialsdealing with the case. The embassy declinedto elaborate on any negotiations. Humanrights lawyer Jiang Tianyong, who said hewas recovering from ear injuries after secu-rity agents struck him following an attemptto visit the hospital, told Reuters he hadspoken to Chen on Saturday afternoon.Jiang said Chen had told him Chinese lead-ers had contacted him about his case. Jiangdid not say which leaders. The US embassyhad earlier thought it had a deal to allowChen to stay in China without retributionbut it fell apart as Chen grew worried abouthis family’s safety. He changed his mindabout staying in China and asked to travelto the United States. ReuTeRS

KOLKATAReuTeRS

tHE United States willseek assurances thatIndia will reduce its pur-chases of oil from sanc-tions-hit Iran during a

visit by Secretary of State Hillary Clin-ton to the South Asian giant this week,a senior US official said on Sunday.

Clinton started a three-day trip toIndia on Sunday that will coincidewith a visit by a large Iranian tradedelegation, as India walks a tightropeof strengthening ties with ally theUnited States and sating its fast-grow-ing energy needs.

During her visit, Clinton will alsomake the case for the country to openits supermarket sector to foreignchains such as US giant Wal-MartStores - a major economic reform thathas stalled under Prime MinisterManmohan Singh’s government.

India has publicly rejected West-ern sanctions but has pushed refinersto cut imports of oil from Iran by 15-20 percent - enough, it hopes, to wina waiver from Washington.

The United States in Marchgranted exemptions to Japan and 10European Union nations from itssanctions, which are aimed at pres-suring Iran to end its nuclear pro-gram. India and China, Iran’s biggestbuyers of crude, remain on a list at

risk if they do not cut oil imports“substantially”. “Our assessment isIndia is making good progress but wereally need to receive assurances thatthey are going to continue to makegood progress,” a senior US official,travelling with Clinton, told reporters.

The 56-member trade delegation,led by the president of Iran’s chamberof commerce, will also arrive on Sun-day for another round of talks on howthe two can trade via a rupee mecha-nism set up to skirt sanctions. A pre-vious trade mission of Indianbusinesses to Iran in March hadproved unproductive.

“These are not going to be strate-gic trades of any kind,” the US officialsaid. “So I don’t think that we are tooconcerned about this, but we’ll obvi-ously want to hear from the govern-ment what they see as the focus of thistrade delegation.”rEtaIl rEform sHElvEd: Re-lations between the United States andIndia have blossomed in recent years,especially during the presidency ofGeorge W. Bush, which signed a land-mark civilian nuclear pact with India.But irritants, especially over trade andinvestment barriers, have raised tem-peratures of late.

Clinton started her visit to Indiain Kolkata, the eastern city that ishome to the most powerful ally inSingh’s coalition government, Ma-mata Banerjee, who had blocked the

government’s push for retail liberal-ization last year.

The policy - which would allowforeign firms to buy a 51 percent sharein an Indian retailer selling more thanone brand - is one of several reformsthat stalled in Singh’s second term,which has been overshadowed byscandals and a slowing economy.

Opponents of the reform say itwould result in huge job losses inIndia’s retail sector, which is mostlymade up of mom-and-pop stores.

“She’s also somebody who’s gotquite a lot of influence,” the US offi-cial said, when asked why Clinton wasmeeting Banerjee before heading tothe capital.

“She put her foot down about theretail decision. Certainly we’d like totalk about that. My sense is that she’snot opposed to the retail overall, shejust perhaps felt that she wasn’t prop-erly consulted about it.”

Clinton arrives in India leavingbehind her a stormy visit to China,which saw Beijing and Washingtontussle over the fate of a blind Chinesehuman rights activist who had es-caped 19 months of house arrest andfled to the US embassy.

From Kolkata, Clinton will travelto New Delhi on Monday to meetSingh. Afghanistan and India’s con-troversial proposals on retroactivetaxation are likely talking points, In-dian sources told Reuters last week.

Clinton seeks indianassurance on iran


Foreign News 17Monday, 7 May, 2012

AMMANReuTeRS

fIGHTING between rebelsand President Bashar al-Assad’s forces erupted inan oil producing provincein eastern Syria, residents

and activists said on Sunday, the eve ofa parliamentary election the authori-ties say shows reforms are under way.

Rebels armed with rocket-propelledgrenades attacked tank positions in theeast of the provincial capital Deir al-Zor,in response to an army offensive againsttowns and villages in the tribal area bor-dering Iraq that has killed tens of peopleand stopped others reaching suppliesand medical care, they said. “We do nothave a death toll because no one is dar-ing to go into the streets,” said GhaithAbdelsalam, an opposition activist wholives near Ghassan Abboud roundaboutthat has become a flashpoint for thefighting in the city.

“The population has been trappedand anger has been building up,” hesaid, adding the fighting subsided early

in the morning after eruptingovernight. The army still has tanks andheavy weapons in cities and towns in vi-olation of ceasefire being monitored bya U.N. team and rebels are continuingtheir guerrilla attacks on military con-voys and army roadblocks that have cutoff swathes of the country, according towitnesses and opposition sources.

Fifty out of a planned total of 300U.N. observers are now in Syria tomonitor the ceasefire declared on April12, but their presence has not halted 14months of violence.

The authorities say they are fight-ing what they call foreign backed ter-rorists in Deir al-Zor and across thecountry who are bent on sabotagingwhat state media describe as a compre-hensive reform programme being ledby Assad that is more advanced than inWestern democracies.

The authorities are touting Mon-day’s parliamentary election as a show-case of these reforms. However, theopposition says it will change little in arubberstamp assembly that has beenchosen by the ruling Assad family,

backed by the powerful secret police,for the past four decades.“notHInG CHanGEd”: The as-sembly currently does not have a singleopposition member and official mediasaid half the seats would be reserved to“representatives of workers and peas-ants”, whose unions are controlled byAssad’s Baath Party.

“Nothing has changed. Syria’s po-litical system remains utterly corruptand election results will be again deter-mined in advance,” said opposition ac-tivist Bassam Ishaq, whounsuccessfully ran for parliament in2003 and 2007.

“There are effectively very fewseats for independents, and these willgo to the highest bidder.”

Interior Minister MohammadNidal al-Shaar toured the northern cityof Aleppo on Sunday, and declaredSyria’s commercial and industrial hubwas ready for the vote. “All resourcesshould be made available to ensure theelectoral process proceeds smoothly,”Shaar, flanked by electoral officials,told state media.

MOSCOWReuTeRS

Russian demonstrators carried a blackcoffin bearing the word ‘democracy’through the city of Vladivostok on Sun-day at the start of protests againstVladimir Putin on the eve of his returnto the presidency for another six years.

The opposition also planned a“march of the million” in Moscow andstaged smaller rallies in other cities theday before a lavish inauguration cere-mony inside the Kremlin at which thehead of the Russian Orthodox Churchwill bless Putin. Many Russians areangry that Putin, 59, is extending his al-ready 12-year domination of Russia andfear he will stifle political and economicreform during his new term.

Witnesses said about 100 protestersstaged a rally in a central square in the Pa-cific port of Vladivostok and unfurled abanner declaring “Putin is not our presi-dent”, a reference to allegations of fraud inthe March 4 election that Putin won.“Putin was illegitimately elected ... We

cannot stay silent and watch this dis-grace,” Boris Nemtsov, a liberal oppositionleader, said before the Moscow march gotunderway. “People who are not indiffer-ent will come to show Putin his inaugura-tion is not a national holiday like he thinksit is, like a coronation, it is the funeral ofhonest politics.” Putin has dismissed alle-gations that widespread fraud helped himwin the presidential election and securedvictory for his United Russia party in aparliamentary poll in December.

Six people were detained after the rallyin Vladivostok, opposition supporters toldreporters. Police also detained 10 protest-ers in the Urals city of Kurgan and severalwere led away by police in the WesternSiberian city of Kemerovo, Russian mediasaid. Weeks of protests against Putin,sparked by allegations of electoral fraud,lost momentum when he was re-elected.But the opposition hoped to draw largecrowds again on Sunday to put him undermore pressure at the start of his new term.

Enthusiasm for the protests could,however, be dented by the fact that the op-position called the protests on a national

holiday when many people like to leaveMoscow and head for the countryside.pUtIn sUpportErs planrallY: In response to the opposition’splans, pro-Putin supporters have an-nounced their own rally, saying they ex-

pect 50,000 people to gather at a park insoutheast Moscow.

Users of social networking sites re-ported attempts by the authorities intowns outside Moscow to prevent oppo-sition supporters coming to the capital.

Angry Greeks vote in

cliffhanger electionATHENS ReuTeRS

Greeks enraged by economic hardshipvoted on Sunday in a deeply uncertainelection that could reignite Europe’s debtcrisis and throw into doubt the country’sfuture in the euro zone. At stake in the firstgeneral election since Greece detonated awider European crisis at the end of 2009 iswhether it will stick to the terms of adeeply unpopular EU/IMF bailout or startdown a path that could take it out of theeuro. Leaders from all sides emphasizedthe importance of the vote - whichpollsters say is impossible to call - for thefuture of Greece, now suffering one of theworst recessions in postwar Europe. “Weall agree that these elections are perhapsthe most crucial and today each of us isdeciding not only who will govern thecountry but also Greece’s path for the nextdecades,” said outgoing technocrat PrimeMinister Lucas Papademos, as he cast hisvote in Athens. Opinion polls indicatevoters hit by record unemployment,collapsing businesses and steep wage cutswill send to parliament an unprecedentednumber of small parties opposed toausterity and punish New Democracy andSocialist PASOK - the two parties whohave ruled Greece for decades. They arethe only major forces backing the bailoutsthat fended off bankruptcy but causeddeep hardship. The prospect that NewDemocracy and PASOK will fail to winenough votes for a coalition government,despite finishing first and second, hasraised the risk of a prolonged period ofuncertainty as they seek allies from anti-bailout parties. But Papademos said hethought a new government would beformed this week. International lendersand investors fear success for up to sevensmall parties opposed to the bailout couldlead to Greece reneging on the bailoutterms, dragging the euro zone back intothe worst crisis since its creation. Manyvoters flinched and turned their head awayat a polling station in the southern Athenssuburb of Ilioupoli when asked if they hadvoted for one of the big pro-bailout parties.“wE arE alrEadY banKrUpt”:

Some shrugged off threats that Greecewill go bankrupt if it abandons thebailout. “I don’t think that voting for asmall party will make us go bankrupt. Wealready are,” said 53 year-old Panagiotis,a craftsman, after voting for theconservative Independent Greeks. Eurozone paymaster Germany has warnedthere would be “consequences” to ananti-bailout vote and the EU and IMFinsist whoever wins the election muststick to austerity if they want to receivethe aid that keeps Greece afloat.

Nuclear-free Japan

braces for severe

power shortagesTOKYO

ReuTeRS

The shutdown of Japan’s last workingnuclear power plant and thegovernment’s failure to convince a warypublic about restoring production atdozens of reactors leaves the world’sthird largest economy facing anothersummer of severe power shortages.Hokkaido Electric Power Co shut itsnuclear plant late on Saturday - the lastof Japan’s 50 reactors to go off line -marking the first time since 1970 Japanhas been nuclear power-free. Japan’s $5trillion economy has relied heavily onnuclear power for decades, with itsreactors providing almost 30 percent ofelectricity needs, but last year’s massiveearthquake and subsequent nuclear crisisspurred a public backlash against atomicenergy. Cabinet ministers have largelyfailed to win over the public to allow therestart of the country’s plants - shut oneby one for scheduled maintenance andunable to resume operations because ofconcerns about safety. Japan’s Asahinewspaper said public sentiment was“wavering between two sources ofanxiety” - fear over the safety of nuclearpower and doubts on whether Japan canlive without it. “The public shouldn’t justcriticise (the government) but make itsown decision on energy policy thatinvolves burden and responsibility, suchas through cooperating in power saving,”the paper said in an editorial on Sunday.The government hopes to come up withan estimate by mid-May of expectedshortages this summer, and will thenproduce a plan to conserve energy thatcould include compulsory curbs on use ofpower, Japanese media say. But setting along-term energy policy or a cleartimeframe for restarting the plants willtake time given strong public oppositionand a divided parliament that hasparalysed policy-making, analysts say. wIdEsprEad paIn: Policymakersare worried about the damage to thebudding economic recovery as the powershortages are expected to be more severeand widespread than last summer, whenmany areas in Japan were still runningnuclear reactors. Some also warn of thelong-term fallout as the rising cost ofelectricity, coupled with a strong yen, hitsproduction and could prompt companiesto shift operations overseas. “Dependingon the weather, power supply couldconstrain output during the summer,” theBank of Japan said. “But we must bemindful not just of such short-termeffects but the chance (the powershortages) could hurt Japan’s medium-and long-term growth expectations,” thecentral bank said in a twice-yearly reporton the economy issued on April 27.Japan managed to get through thesummer last year without any blackoutsby imposing voluntary curbs on the use ofpower in the aftermath of the earthquakeand tsunami that left thousands dead.

heavy fighting rockseastern syria ahead of poll

Russians protest over Putin’s return as president

RAnChI: Tribal people and farmers from the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand take part in a prayer ritual believed to bring rain, outside the hindu god Shiva's temple here on

Sunday. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast average rains in 2012. The annual rains are likely to be 99 percent of the long period average, helping India

avoid drought for the third year in row. REUTERS


Monday, 7 May, 2012

Page 21

Federer fresh for clay swingafter much-needed break

LAHORESTAff RePoRT

wHILE expressing its sym-pathies with the PakistanCricket Board over thepostponement of the

Bangladesh's tour to Pakistan, the ICChas made it clear that it cannot interferein any bilateral arrangement between twomember nations. The PCB chairman andchief operating officer discussed the issuewith ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgatand other officials during a meeting ear-lier this week in Dubai.

"The PCB officials apprised Lorgatand ICC officials of the situation and

pointed out that it was perhaps for thefirst time in cricket history that a teamhad postponed a tour to another countrybecause of a court order," reports quotingsources said.

"Lorgat was briefed that the PCB'slegal team had gone through the order ofthe Dhaka high court restraining theBangladesh team from touring Pakistandue to security concerns and noted thatthe petition on the basis of which thecourt gave the injunction didn't haveenough merit," he said.

He said Lorgat and other ICC officialshad expressed sympathy with PCB's posi-tion but made it clear they cannot inter-fere as it was a bilateral matter.

"But the ICC's outgoing CEO agreedthat it was imperative that Pakistanneeded to resume intentional cricket athome."

The official said PCB had also ap-prised the ICC about their plans for thePakistan Premier League T20 competi-tion. "The ICC officials agreed that thePPL, if held successfully with the partici-pation of some foreign players, could go along way in reviving international cricketin Pakistan," the official said.

A source within the board said thatthe PCB was looking towards the ICC toprovide some assistance in convincingsome foreign players to take part in theproposed league.

iCC cannot interfere inbilateral ties, says Lorgat

LAHORESTAff RePoRT

Pakistan on Sunday let the matchslip away to India when they wereheld to a 2-2 draw in the JuniorMen's Asia Cup Hockey Tournamentbeing played at the MBM HockeyStadium here Sunday. Pakistanwhich earned 1-0 win against chinain its opening match, face India at

Malacca, Malaysia in their secondencounter of the event. The goalscorers for Pakistan were Moham-mad Dilber (5th minute) and Mo-hammad Irfan (39th minute) whileAmit Rohidas (penalty corner 25thminute) and skipper AkashdeepSingh (61st minute) scored for India.Pakistan took the lead in the fifthminute with Dibler's strike, afterwhich India pressed hard and got the

equaliser 20 minutes later through apenalty corner converted by Rohidas.The score was tied 1-1 at halftime.Pakistan took a 2-1 lead in the 39thminute courtesy Irfan. India foughtback strongly with skipperAkashdeep scoring in the 61stminute. Earlier, China defeated SriLanka 5-0 in the tournament. Pakistanwill play against Sri Lanka in its thirdmatch on May 7 at 1505 hours (PST).

NOTHING compares to the flairthat Pakistan players bring to acricket field. It's not much dif-

ferent to the swagger of a VivianRichards, the touch play of a MarkWaugh, the style of a Tiger Pataudi oreven the daredevilry of a Douglas Jar-dine. The aura surrounding such crick-eters is incomparable, and for someenigmatic reason, every Pakistan teamover the years has had players whocome under that bracket.

And one can't stop thinking that theIndian Premier League is in urgent needof including Pakistan players, who canadd the spice that keeps getting lighterwith its every passing season.

One doesn't need to look too far tofind the rationale that turns this line ofthought from a conjecture to a fact.Look at what the arrival of Azhar Mah-

mood has done to the fortunes of KingsXI Punjab. A team that was strugglingto put together a winning combinationis now in reckoning for the playoffs - allbecause of a Pakistani spark that sprungthe whole team into action. And it's notbecause Mahmood has scored heavily orsounded the death rattle for batsmen,but because he brought with him thenever-say-die attitude, the killer in-stinct that we associate with Pakistaniplayers.

The IPL - which seems to havereached a saturation point - needs somePakistani flair on the field. And consid-ering it's the Indian Premier League,sparks are expected to fly and thrill thespectators when Umar Gul bowls toVirender Sehwag or Shahid Afridi hitsHarbhajan Singh out of the park. Thoseare the kind of sights the IPL is missing,leading to low TRPs and dwindling in-terest of the fans.

It needs to be understood that theIPL is 'Entertainment Cricket'. While

giving the fringe players an opportunityto earn well and perform on the bigstage, the league is also meant to in-crease cricket's following around theworld. And when it comes to Twenty20cricket, especially leagues like the IPLand BPL (Bangladesh Premier League),entertainment is as much important ascricket. That warrants the organisers tocome up with new innovations everyseason to keep the brand intact. IPL isin serious need of such innovations, andbringing Pakistan players under its um-brella is one such innovative measure.

But the political situation betweenthe two estranged neighbours is suchthat Pakistani cricketers aren't allowedto play in India, while Pakistan becamea no-go zone for international teamsafter the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankanteam bus in Lahore. In such a scenario,it's difficult to see Pakistan players inthe IPL, which will leave the fans devoidof watching some of the most excitingand raw cricket talent in the world.

Salman is lonelyand depressed,says Asif

LONDONAgenCIeS

Banned Pakistan pacer Mohammad Asif,who was released from jail last week, hasdescribed his former roomate Salman Buttas a "lonely and depressed man" anxiouslywaiting to be released from prison aftercompleting his 30-month sentence forspot-fixing. "Salman and I were sharingthe same room for three months in theprison and he wished me good luck on theday of my release," Asif said. "But he(Salman) is a lonely man and looked verydepressed on the day of my release fromjail. He has been quite miserable at timesand is anxiously awaiting his release," headded. Asif was released last Friday aftercompleting a 12-month sentence for hisrole in the spot-fixing scandal that brokeout on Pakistan team`s tour to England in2010. Before Asif, young pacer Muham-mad Aamir was also released from jail ear-lier this year after he completed his sixmonth term. The Southwark crown courtin London had last October handed outdifferent jail terms to Butt, Asif and Aamirafter finding them guilty of spot fixing andcorruption. The trio is also serving a mini-mum five year ban from the anti-corrup-tion tribunal of the International CricketCouncil for the same offence. Only formercaptain Salman Butt now remains inprison with Pakistani bookmaker, MazharMajeed who was also given a jail term inthe spot fixing scandal. According to thereport, the prison in Canterbury is a men`sprison which has an arrangement whichallows two foreign nationals in the sameroom. Asif, who has vowed to get the ICCban overturned and has also proclaimedhis innocence in the case, said he and Buttshared a room because there were veryfew Muslims in the prison. "We both werefirst asked whether we could share thesame room," recalled Asif. "We immedi-ately agreed. Having a non-muslim roompartner could have made life difficult forboth me and Salman," he added. Asif alsoplayed down reports of differences and illfeeling between him and Salman Buttafter the two accused each other duringthe trial held at the Southwark court.

Malik was neveroffered a contract:Hampshire County

LAHORESTAff RePoRT

Rejecting Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik'sclaims of being offered a contract for the cur-rent season, Hampshire County officials saidno such offer had been made. HampshireCounty's clarification came just three daysafter the former captain said he had refusedvarious county offers, including ones fromHampshire and Essex, in order to make him-self available for national selection, reportssaid. Malik said he refused to sign the dealbecause of a strict clause in the contract. Theteams sought assurance that he would beforced to play for them, even if he was se-lected for Pakistan, he said, adding that hehad no option but to turn them down, asmaking a return to the national side was hispriority. While Hampshire confirmed to TheExpress Tribune that no such offer was madeto Malik; Essex, when contacted, was sur-prised at Malik's description of the contract'offered'. "No county is permitted to includesuch a clause," said an Essex County CricketClub spokesperson.

Junior Asia Cup:india hold pakistan 2-2

IPL needs some Pakistani flavour

JASPREET SAHNI

Comment


Sports 19Monday, 7 May, 2012

LAHORESTAff RePoRT

sEVERAL senior Pakistan play-ers, including captain Misbah-ul-Haq and former captainShahid Afridi, are unhappy

with the PCB as they have not got permis-sion to play a Twenty20 match inToronto match on May 12. The playersare upset because they had sought per-mission from Intikhab, who is PCB Di-rector (international cricket operations)and had got verbal assurance.

"Now it has transpired that sincenone of the players has applied for NOCsin writing from the Board and neitherhave they submitted details of the organ-isers and match the PCB says it cannotgive permission," the source added.

Another source said the players werenow blaming Intikhab for the mess upbut a Board official said the players werethemselves to blame for the situation.

"Even if Intikhab gave them per-mission verbally the Board can`t actwithout having something in writing.None of the players have bothered to

seek permission or NOC in writing fromthe relevant authorities in the board sohow do they expect to get permission,"the official said. He also said that under

existing regulation no player could con-firm his appearance in a match or enterinto a deal with any foreign club withoutfirst taking the Board into confidenceand getting their NOC. "All players who

now go to play in foreign leagues haveto follow this practice. It was adoptedfor the Bangladesh Premier League andeven when players signed contractswith English counties."

The players contention is that sinceMisbah and Afridi were in Thailand for acommercial shoot they didn`t have timeto write to the Board and secondly theyaccepted that getting verbal clearancefrom Intikhab was enough and he wouldtalk to the board himself.

The organisers are creating a fussnow as according to them they have soldout tickets for the match on the basis of

the Pakistani players confirming theirappearance in the match.

"The organisers point out that ticketswere sold out because they advertisedthat Misbah, Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez,Saeed Ajmal, Umar Akmal, HammadAzam were the players who would takepart in the match," one source said.

"They even arranged electronic visasfor the players for Canada after confirma-tion from the players and they fear if theplayers don`t show up for the match theycould face heavy financial losses."

Nadeem steersPioneer Club to winlaHorE: Pioneer Cricket Club beatDharampura Cricket Club by 27 runs atthe Hazarat Mian Mir Stadium.SCoReS: Pioneer 227 for in 20 overs. Nadeem JavedButt 122 not out, his 165th club century, ehteshamButt 56 not out, Ali raza 32. Asim Ahmed took onefor 40. dharampura Club was all out for 200 runs in19.4 overs. tahir Qadeer Butt 48, osama Asim 42.tanzeel tasawar four for 38, Gulzar Ahmed four for42, Hasan Azam two for 22. Nadeem Butt was man ofthe match. Sohail Butt, secretary Pioneer Club in-formed that the next round matches will be played onMay 16 at Iqbal Park ground no 2. Pioneer club vs CityGymknana at 9 am and second match Pioneer Clubvs ehsan Memorial cricket club at 2pm. STAff RePoRT

tauseef Club outplaytownship whites laHorE: Tauseef Club has outplayedTownship Whites by 1 wicket in the excitingmatch of 2nd phase of LCCA Super cricketLEague played at Iteefaq ground LCCA. SCoReS: township whites 247 all out in 45.1 overs. yasir Ali17, Kamran Husain 43, Hamza Akbaar 43, Arif Aslam 26,Saeed Shafiq 27, M Sharif 53, Zubair Aziz 14. Israr Baig 2/49,waqas Khan 1/39, Sheraz Baig 2/48, Awais Manzoor 1/46.tauseef Club 248/9 in 49.3 overs. M Ahmed 21, waqas Khan58, Ibrar Baig 35, Sher Baz Khan 66, Junaid Mudassar 19, ISrarBaig 15. Hamza Akbar 1/34, Zubair Azeez 1/33, Qaiser Khan4/59, M Shareef 1/39, Abeel Akbar 2/37. STAff RePoRT

Inter district tabletennis concludes

KHANEWALSTAff RePoRT

The Invitational Inter District Table Ten-nis Tournament 2012 concluded on Sun-day with MPA Haji Ghulam JaffarSargana of PP-212, khanewal distributedprizes in a colorful ceremony.tournament was arranged by DistrictTable Tennis Association Khanewal withdistrict Sports department Khanewal co-ordination. Sargana said that the Punjabgovernment has declared year 2012 as‘year of sports’, and revolutionary stepshas been taken by the Chief MinisterMian Shahbaz Sharif for the promotion ofsports and extra curricular activities inyouth. He also added that Punjab govern-ment is designing a special sports policyfor the 1.2 million players of the provincevery soon, and about on 18310 venues hasbeen selected for the sports stadiums andplay grounds to provide suitable atmos-phere to the young generation for sportsactivities throughout the Punjab. ReSuLTS: Single boys Muhammad Ishfaq of Khanewal(winner), Subtain raza of Multan (runner Up), in boysteam event, Subtain raza & Hamza of Multan defeatedMuhammad Burhan & Muhammad Ishfaq to get first po-sition, in girls single event, Mariya of Sahiwal was win-ner, in girls team event Mariya and Natish of Sahiwal hasdefeated Sobiya and Mehvish of Khanewal to retain title.

LAHOREASheR BuTT

Newage sneaked to a minimum possiblemargin win to clinch the Finale Polo Cup,that also wrapped up the games season inthe city here at the Lahore Polo Club’smain Aibak ground on Sunday.

Newage’s half a goal handicap provedto big a margin to earn them the titleagainst fighting Black Horse Paints. Boththe teams remained locked six-all till thefinal hooter was blown and it was thehandicap advantage of Newage which pre-vailed in the end.

Newage and Black Horse Paints ridersremained locked in intense battle through-out the four chukkers. During the wholeproceeding anyone who took lead wasoverhauled by the other. In the first two

chukkers, they were even by two goals eachwhen Newage took the lead. And by thethird chukker Black Horse Paints were agoal ahead 4-3. They stretched the lead bythe fourth chukker but Newage came frombehind to level the match and let theirhandicap do the talking.

Adnan Jalil Azam with three goals wasthe leading scorer of the winners whileAgha Najeeb Raza Khan, Hassan AghaKhan and Agha Musa Ali Khan shared onegoal each in a show of great team work.From the losing end, Mian KhurramMunir and Amar Khalid shared three goalseach and the lack of coordination costthem dear. Ali Malik and Feroze Gulzarkept the game under check and later MrsAgha Murtaza Ali Khan who was the chiefguest distributed the prizes and gave thewinner’s trophy to Newage quartet.

MOHALICRICInfo

Rajasthan Royals' batting fired collectively tobreak a run of four consecutive losses andconsign Kings XI Punjab to their fourth defeatin five home games this season. Royals blazedaway at the start after Rahul Dravid chose tobat on a greenish pitch, slowed down in themiddle and picked up the pace at the death topost the highest total at Mohali this season.

Their bowlers kept the home batsmenunder pressure from the outset, and at nostage did Kings XI threaten to chase success-fully, something which had been achieved inthe four previous games at Mohali.

Royals' batsmen had been guilty recentlyof easing off after strong starts to post inade-quate scores. Just when it looked today thatthe flurry of boundaries upfront from Dravidand Shane Watson would dissipate into an-other middling total, Brad Hodge and JohanBotha cracked 27 off the last two overs to en-

sure Royals finished close to the 180-markwhich they were aiming for. When Dravid andWatson were pounding the Kings XI attack intheir contrasting styles, Royals would haveeyed 200. The duo took control after the in-form Ajinkya Rahane fell early to Ryan Harris.Dravid, enjoying the pace and bounce on thetrue pitch, launched an array of orthodoxstrokes, clipping and cover-driving Harris forthree consecutive boundaries in the fourthover. Watson did it his way, powering Parvin-der Awana down the ground for two fours anda six in consecutive balls in the sixth.sCorEs: Rajasthan Royals 177 for 6(Dravid 46, Harris 4-34) beat Kings XI Pun-jab 134 for 8 (Tait 2-18, Botha 2-21, Watson2-22) by 43 runs.dwaYnE smItH stUns CHEnnaIIn last-ovEr HEIst: In perhaps themost thrilling last-ball finish in this season,Dwayne Smith, playing his first game forMumbai Indians this year, smashed threeboundaries off the last three balls of the chaseto avert what seemed a certain choke from thehosts at Wankhede Stadium. Mumbai Indi-ans held control for a sizeable chunk of thechase, courtesy a century stand betweenSachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma, beforethe middle order imploded, but the last-minute scramble was handled in brutal fash-ion by Smith. Mumbai needed 16 off the lastover with three wickets in hand. Ben Hilfen-haus conceded a single off the first ball,yorked Lasith Malinga off the second, and asingle off the third by RP Singh left Mumbaineeding 14 off the last three. sCorEs: Mumbai Indians 174 for 8(Tendulkar 74, Rohit 60, Smith 24*) beatChennai Super Kings 173 for 8 (Vijay 41,Bravo 40, Malinga 3-25) by two wickets.

PCb stops players fromtoronto t20 participation

newage claimFinale polo Cup

Rajasthan endlosing streak at last


Sports20Monday, 7 May, 2012

KINGSTON ReuTeRS

Jamaican Olympic champion UsainBolt held his nerve after two falsestarts by competitors and powered tothe year's fastest 100 metres at the Ja-maica International Invitational onSaturday.

The 100 and 200 world recordholder clocked a dazzling 9.82 secondsin his first individual race of 2012, ex-ploding from the blocks to take controlat 40 metres.

"It's a good start, I would say,"said Bolt, who erased the previous sea-son-leading time of 9.90 by his train-ing partner and world championYohan Blake three weeks ago.

"I feel better than last year, so I'mdefinitely happy with myself," Boltadded. "I don't think my execution was

perfect, but I think for my first race itwas good." Michael Frater, a memberof Jamaica's world record 4x100 relayteam, finished a distant second in ex-actly 10 seconds.

Bolt was disqualified from lastyear's 100 final at the world champi-onships because of a false start, butwas not perturbed by the delays.

"A couple of false starts will throwyou off, but I stayed focused and wentout there and executed as best as pos-sible, so I'm just happy with myself,"he said.

Although pleased with the last 50metres of the race, the lanky sprinter,who owns world records of 9.58 sec-onds in the 100 and 19.19 in the 200,said he must continue to work on thefirst phase of the shorter race.

"I always try to work on my first40 metres because the last 40 metres

is always the best part of my race," hesaid. "So over the season as I get morefit and get more fluent it will definitelyget better." Blake also added a season-leading performance, one of four inthe meeting. The world 100 championclocked 19.91 seconds in the 200. "Bolterased my world lead in the 100 so Ithoughthought I would set a worldlead in the 200," the Jamaican said.Top performances of the year alsocame in the women's 100 and 400.

World champion Carmelita Jetertook the shorter race in 10.81 seconds,finishing ahead of Kelly-Ann Baptisteof Trinidad and Tobago, who ran10.86. Jamaican Olympic silver medal-list Kerron Stewart was third in 10.98.

"I feel good with that win," Jetersaid. "I know there's some things Ididn't do right and I'm sure my coachis going to get on me, but it's a long

season. "Right now I just have to stayhealthy ... to stay humble, stay focused... I can't get ahead of myself, I can'tget big-headed because you neverknow who is going to show up."

Jamaican Novelene Williams-Mills, the 2007 world bronze medal-list, held off U.S. world indoorchampion Sanya Richards-Ross in thelast 50 to win the women's 400 in49.99 seconds. Richards-Ross, whohad the previous world leader of50.18, took second in 50.11.

Jamaican Brigitte Foster Hilton,the 2009 world champion who strug-gled in 2011, appeared to have re-gained her form in the 100 hurdles,winning in 12.51 seconds.

The time was just 0.02 behind theworld leading performance of 12.49 bycurrent world champion Sally Pearsonof Australia.

Bolt speeds to year’s fastest 100 metres

KINGStoN: Bianca Knight of the US (L) sprints to win ahead of her compatriot ShalondoSolomon (r) and Shelly-Ann Fraser of Jamaica during the women's 200 metres event. REUTERS

KINGStoN: Usain Bolt (C) of Jamaica sprints to win the men's 100 metres eventat the Jamaica International Invitational track and field meet. REUTERS

Beckham topsBritain’s sportswealth league

LONDONReuTeRS

Former Englandsoccer captainDavid Beck-ham's successon the field andappeal to spon-sors have madehim an esti-mated fortuneof 160 millionpounds ($259million) to puthim top of the Sunday Times Sport RichList published this weekend. Beckham,now 37 and playing for LA Galaxy, is oneof 48 soccer players past and present inthe list of the 100 richest current and for-mer sportsmen in Britain and Ireland.London-born Beckham hopes to makethe Team GB squad to play in theOlympics in his home city this summer.The Sunday Times also ranked Beckham10th in its list of the world's richestsports figures, a group led by golfer TigerWoods with an estimated 538 millionpounds. Woods was followed by GermanFormula One driver Michael Schumacherand former basketball player MichaelJordan. Russian Maria Sharapova wasthe world's richest sportswoman, worth55 million pounds. Sharapova, like Beck-ham, has augmented her earnings fromsport with lucrative fashion and other en-dorsements. No current British or Irishswimmer, cyclist or track and field ath-lete made the top 100, something thatmight change over the course of thisOlympic year. There were no past orpresent sportswomen among the top 100on the British and Irish list. Not all thefigures on the list are household names.

Chelsea lift FA Cupas di Matteo magicdoes the trick

LONDON ReuTeRS

Chelsea's remarkable turnaround sinceRoberto Di Matteo took over as interimcoach has taken them to the brink of a cupdouble after they beat a disappointing Liv-erpool side 2-1 with goals from Ramiresand Didier Drogba on Saturday. Their vic-tory at Wembley Stadium in a match theydominated for the first hour keeps the Lon-don side's momentum going for what couldbe an even greater triumph in the Champi-ons League final against Bayern Munich intwo weeks' time. A season that seemed des-tined to end in failure under coach AndreVillas-Boas could now finish as the mostsuccessful in the club's history if they be-come European champions. Andy Carroll's64th minute strike for Liverpool broughtthe game to life for the last half-an-hourafter Chelsea appeared to be coasting to aseventh FA Cup success and their fourth insix seasons but Di Matteo's side hung on toclaim the spoils. The club's campaign hasbeen transformed under Di Matteo - whonever lost at Wembley as a player - withjust two defeats in 18 matches although heis still only their caretaker boss. "I'm fortu-nate enough to have played for the cluband won the trophy and today I led theplayers out ... not many people get thatchance," said a beaming Di Matteo. Thisvictory and another against Bayern in Mu-nich on May 19 would make it seem almostimpossible for Roman Abramovich to givethe job to anyone else although withChelsea, as ever, the future is uncertain.

nAIL-BITIng WIn

Italian Di Matteo, an FA Cup winner as aplayer with Chelsea in 1997 and 2000, cel-ebrated an ultimately nail-biting win onthe pitch with his team who have redis-covered their self-belief and confidencesince he took over. However, he refused tobe drawn on his future, telling reporters:"It is not an issue. I am very pleased withmy position until the end of the seasonand then we will make a decision that isbest for the club and we will all respect it."

LONDON: Chelsea’s players lift

the cup after their FA Cup final

soccer match against Liverpool

at Wembley Stadium. rEUTErS


Aisam-rojer win estorilopen doubles title laHorE: Pakistan tennis ace Aisamul Haq Qureshi and his partnerRojer Jean-Julien clinched the doubles final of the Estoril Open in Por-tugal, defeating their Aussie-Spanish opponents Julian Knowle and DavidMarrero in a close match. The duo triumphed in a 7-5, 7-5 win. Winningthe final bags Aisam/Rojer 250 points in the ATP-250 tournamentand it may boost Aisam's ranking to allow him to play at the2012 London Olympics. The Pakistani-Dutch pair had easilydefeated Frenchmen Richard Gasquet and Roger Vasseln6-3, 6-1 in the semi-final. This win may boost Aisam’sranking to allow him to play at the 2012 London Olympics.prEsIdEnt ConGratUlatEs aIsam: PresidentAsif Ali Zardari extended heartiest felicitations to Aisamon clinching the men’s doubles final of the Estoril Open inPortugal. In his message of felicitations, the President ap-preciated the superb performance and excellent sportsmanspirit exhibited by Aisam and his partner throughout thetournament. STAff RePoRT

Sports 21Monday, 7 May, 2012

watch It LIve

GEO SUPERIPL-5: Delhi Daredevilsv Kolkata Knight Riders07:30PM

MADRIDAfP

US Open champion Saman-tha Stosur got off to a win-ning start at the MadridMasters Saturday, the Aus-

tralian advancing to the second roundwith a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) defeat ofCroatian Petra Martic. Stosur wasjoined by Romanian Sorana Cirstea,who upset French seventh seed MarionBartoli 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 6-3.

French Open winner Li Na, theeighth seed, also made it through after

dominating her opener againstteenaged Madrid debutante GarbineMuguruza Blanco of Spain, who savedtwo match points before finally falling6-2, 6-4. Unseeded Mona Barthel wonan all-German battle, eliminating 2011semi-finalist Julia Goerges 6-4, 6-1.

"This time last year I was rankedaround 200 and now I'm close to beingseeded," said Barthel, making herMadrid debut. "It feel strange, but Iworked hard for it.

"I'm serving well and moving bet-ter on the clay and I'm obviously bene-fitting from confidence right now."

Venus Williams, the losing finalisttwo years ago, was pushed hard by Ro-manian Simona Halep before winning6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (8/6), while Spain's SilviaSoler-Espinosa beat Austrian TamiraPaszek 6-7 (2/7), 6-2, 6-2.

The men begin play on Sunday,with the top eight seeds given a bye.

Rafael Nadal, seeded two, will gethis first test on the unorthodox and ex-perimental blue clay courts which havedrawn the Spaniard's anger when heplays the winner from the match be-tween Croatian Ivo Karlovic and Russ-ian Nikolay Davydenko on Sunday.

MADRID ReuTeRS

In fine fettle after a month-long rest,Roger Federer is ready to get his clay sea-son underway and continue his bid to re-capture the world number one rankingfrom Novak Djokovic. The 30-year-oldSwiss maestro has not played since losingto Andy Roddick at the Sony EricssonOpen at the end of March. He said heneeded some time away from tennis torecharge his batteries and rid himself ofone or two niggling injuries.

Federer has played some of his besttennis in years in winning three titles thisyear, including the Indian Wells Mastersevent, but knows that challenging RafaNadal on the Spaniard's favored clay andstealing his French Open crown in Parisstarting at the end of this month will be atall order. "I feel good about my chancesof playing well in the next few months,"the world number three told a news con-

ference at the Madrid Open on Sunday."But then again I am coming back on

clay and Rafa has been so dominant onthis surface for so many years so I knowthe task ahead of me," added the 16-timesgrand slam singles champion.

Federer said he had needed time outafter an intense start to the year when heplayed 23 matches and lost just three,reaching the semi-finals of the AustralianOpen before falling to Nadal. He wonevents in Rotterdam and Dubai to add tohis success in Indian Wells. He also hada busy end to 2011, triumphing at theWorld Tour finals in London in Novem-ber after victories at the Paris Mastersand his home event in Basel.

"I needed it because I did play so, somuch and this break was also lookingahead to what's to come and there's a loton my plate and want to be fresh in mymind and fit in my body for those biggoals ahead," he added. "It was moreabout relaxing my body because I had

been playing with some niggling injuriesover a few weeks, or a few months almost,and I am happy they went away.

"It was just to get away from tennisfor a while really, get away from the crazi-ness that surrounds it, the matches andthe press and all that stuff. "So that wasnice to just recharge the batteries, thatwas the key during this break."

If Federer can leapfrog number twoNadal and topple Djokovic he wouldequal Pete Sampras's record of 286weeks at the top of the rankings and theSwiss said he was in a "pretty good po-sition" to do it over the coming months."All of a sudden if you do win a grandslam again you have a shot and if I doI'll probably be extremely close toworld number one," he said. "Thenagain - easier said than done. I knowwhat it takes to win a grand slam. It'shard, it's always been hard. "It's still faraway for me and my focus is on my nextmatch here on Wednesday.

Army, Muslim Clubin U-22 Football final

LAHORESTAff RePoRT

Army and Muclim Club hae reachedthe final of the National U-22 FootballChampionship-2012 being held at Ba-hawalpur. Army beat KPK 2-1 at theDring Football Stadium.Army got its goals from Nisar Ahmedin the 66 minute and and Rehan Ali(FW) in the 94 minute while the losingide KPK scorer was Tariq Khan whoprovided his team lead in the 9 minute. In the other semifinal Muslim FC(Chaman) beat Sindh 1-0 and the allimportant goals of the match as scoredShabbir Ahmed in the eighth minute ofthe match.

Super Seriesranking tennisin progress

LAHORESTAff RePoRT

The qualifying round of the 9th Pizza HutOpen Super Series Ranking TennisChampionship were played held atKarachi Club on Sunday and the talentedplayers made the next round with ease. ReSuLTS: Mens singles ( qualifying) round 1: FarhanAltaf w/0 Sameer Chanai ( qualified for main draw),Shehroz beat Muhammed aamir tunio 6-4, 6-2( quali-fied for main draw). Men s singles qualifying round 2:Ali Mansoor beat Nazif Ahmed 6-3, 6-4 qualified formain, Hassan Siddiqui already qualified for main draw.Juniors under 17 main draw first round: Shehroz beatsaad Ahmed 6-0, 6-1, Maheen dada beat Neha khan 6-0, 6-1, Hassan Siddiqui ( 2nd seed) beat Haris shakil 6-1, 6-0. Boys & girls under 15 Singles main first round:Muhammed razaz Sawani beat Abdul rehman 6-4, 6-1, Sagar beat waqas 6-2, 6-3, Hania Naveed beat AliMuhammed 6-1, 6-1, Ibrahim iltifat ( 3rd seed0 beat Ajay6-2, 6-1, Sheheryar beat yasir 6-1, 6-3, Boys & Girlsunder 13 Singles main first round: Muhammed dadabeat rida Khan 6-0, 6-0. Boys & Girls under 13 SinglesQuarter Final: Hania Naveed beat Jay Kumar 6-1, 6-0,Boys & girls under 11 round robin: Abdullah Khanbeat Samad suhail 8-2, Muhammed dada beat IbrahimKhan 8-4, Ibrahim Khan beat rida Khan 8-3¸Muhammed dada beat rida Khan 8-0, Muhammeddada beat Abdullah Khan 8-1. Under 9 round robin:Muhammed yahya ehtisham beat Ibrahim Khan 8-1,Ibrahim Khan beat Muhammed Abdullah Ahmadani 8-3, Abdullah Khan M. Hyaya ehtisham 8-5, M. yahayaehtisham Muhammed Abdullah Admani 8-2. Ladies Sin-gles Main First round: Hania Naveed w/o hajraNadeem, Aysha Mir w/o Saba Ahmed. Ladies SinglesSemi final: Hania naveed beat Aysha mir 6-0, 6-1.

railways clinch PHFU-21 Girls Hockey title

LAHORESTAff RePoRT

Railways on Sunday won the 2nd PHF U-21Girls Hockey Championship title beatingtitle-favourites Wapda by one goal here atthe National Hockey Stadium. In a battle ofnerves, Railways held its one goals su-premacy in tact till the final whistle to laytheir hands at the glittering trophy.Kalsoom of Railways provided Railways themuch-needed lead in the fifth minute of thematch and that solitary goals edge proved tobe a decision-maker as they kept a strongdefence for full 70 minutes play. Despite sev-eral attacks from both sides the score re-mained the same and ultimately Railwayslifted the trophy. Dr Sabia Mansoor, ViceChancellor Lahore College for Women Uni-versity was the chief guest of the final matchand gave the prizes to the winners and bestplayers of the tournament. Aqsa Mumtaz ofRailways team was the best player of thetournament while Mayira Sabir also of Rail-way turned out to be the top scorer andSamia Anwar of Punjab Whites was the bestgoalkeeper. The 3rd position trophy went toPunjab Colours, WAPDA got the runner up.

stosur starts witha win in Madrid

Federer fresh for clay swing after much-needed break


Monday, 7 May, 2012

22

Published by Arif Nizami for Nawa Media Corporation (Pvt) Ltd at Plot # 7, Al-Baber Centre, F/8 Markaz, Islamabad. Editor: Arif Nizami, Resident Editor: Rana Qaisar

g Sarkozy concedes, phones hol-lande to wish him luck

PARISAfP

FRANCOIS Hollande was elected France’sfirst Socialist president in nearly twodecades on Sunday, dealing a humiliat-ing defeat to incumbent Nicolas Sarkozyand shaking up European politics. The

result will have major implications for Europe as itstruggles to emerge from a financial crisis and forFrance, the eurozone’s second-largest economy anda nuclear-armed permanent member of the UN Se-curity Council.

Hollande won the vote with about 52 percent, ac-cording to several estimates from polling firms basedon ballot samples, becoming France’s first Socialistpresident since Francois Mitterrand left office in 1995.Joyful crowds gathered in Hollande’s adopted home-town of Tulle and in Paris to celebrate his victory.

“We are rid of a poison that was blighting oursociety. A normal president! It gives us a lot todream about,” said Didier Stephan, a 70-year-oldartist who was among throngs of supporters atParis’s Place de la Bastille.

Even before polls closed and broadcasters re-leased estimates, supporters were chanting “Presi-dent Hollande!” and “We Won!” at the iconicsquare. Sarkozy urged leaders of his right-wingUMP party to remain united after his defeat, butwarned he would not lead it into June’s parliamen-tary elections, according to political sources presentat a meeting at his headquarters.

Hollande led in opinion polls throughout thecampaign and won the April 22 first round with

28.6 percent to Sarkozy’s 27.2 percent – makingthe right-winger the first-ever incumbent to losein the first round. Grey skies and rain showersgreeted voters across much of France, but turnoutwas high, hitting 71.96 percent according to Inte-rior Ministry figures. More than 46 million peoplewere eligible to vote.

The election was marked by fears over Euro-pean Union-imposed austerity and economic glob-alisation, and Hollande has said his first foreignmeeting will be with German Chancellor AngelaMerkel — the key driver of EU budget policy. The57-year-old Socialist has vowed to renegotiate thehard-fought fiscal austerity pact signed by EU lead-ers in March and to make it focus more on growth,but is facing resistance from Merkel.

Sarkozy fought a fierce campaign, saying a vic-tory for Hollande would spark market panic and fi-nancial chaos and calling him a “liar” and“slanderer” in the final days of the race. But Sarkozy

failed to overcome deep-rooted anger at meagreeconomic growth and increasing joblessness, anddisappointment after he failed to live up to thepromises of his 2007 election.

“This is a very big failure (for Sarkozy) against acandidate who has no experience in government,” saidpolitical analyst Stephane Rozes. “It is not so much forthe content of his policies that he has been punished,but for his way of being and acting,” Rozes said.

Hollande is expected to be sworn in by May 15and after seeing Merkel will quickly set off for a se-ries of international meetings, including a G8 sum-mit in the US on May 18-19 and NATO gathering inChicago on May 20-21. Sarkozy conceded defeat toHollande and said he had phoned him to wish himluck as the new leader of France.

“The French people have made their choice...Francois Hollande is the president of France and hemust be respected,” he said in a speech to support-ers, adding that he had wished his successor well.

KARACHIAgenCIeS/STAff RePoRT

Interior Minister Rehman Malik onSunday vowed to continue targeted op-eration against miscreants in Lyari, thehub of criminal gangs and stronghold ofruling Pakistan People’s Party.

Talking to reporters, Malik said actionagainst the banned People’s Aman Com-mittee and other criminals would go on inLyari. He said police and rangers wouldtake part in selected operation in Lyariagainst gangsters, adding that the rest ofareas would be untouched. “We want togive security to the people of Lyari whovery well know who their enemy is,” hesaid, adding that the government wouldcontinue to take such steps for the safety ofinnocent citizens. The interior ministerruled out the possibility of negotiationswith the Aman Committee, saying the gov-ernment had fulfilled its promise to clearLyari of criminals. Malik said if the crim-inals of Lyari trusted Nawaz Sharif, theycould send Punjab police instead. Hesaid the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz(PML-N) would make a major blunder ifit included Uzair Baloch in the party.

Malik said criminals would not be al-lowed to take Lyari hostage. He vowed thatcaptured criminals would be presented be-fore the media, adding that names of Lyarigang war suspects had been put on theExit Control List (ECL). He said PresidentAsif Ali Zardari was worried about the sit-uation in Lyari and had ordered the re-lease of funds for the area. “Rangers andpolice have been directed to provide com-pensation to the people of Lyari,” he said.To a query, he said criminals could not dis-

guise themselves in any political party.Malik said he did not know Uzair Baloch,but he (Uzair) would be provided justice ifhe faced cases against him. Earlier, the in-terior minister and Sindh Chief MinisterQaim Ali Shah jointly chaired a high-levelmeeting in Karachi. Sources said the meet-ing reviewed law and order in Sindh, es-pecially in Karachi, where a policeoperation against alleged criminals inLyari ended inconclusively on Friday.

The interior minister advised all polit-ical parties and groups to stay away fromalleged criminal groups in Lyari and sup-port the government’s efforts to maintainpeace and security in the city. “Politicalparties’ contacts with the criminals inLyari will encourage lawlessness and sucha move can be questioned according to lawof land,” Malik said. Also on Sunday, na-

tionalist parties of Sindh continuedprotests against the Lyari operation in var-ious districts of the province. Jeay SindhQaumi Mahaz (JSQM) and Sindh UnitedParty (SUP) jointly organized a protestdemonstration outside the Karachi PressClub. Protest demonstrations againstLyari operation were also held in Nawab-shah under the auspicious of Baloch Itte-had and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.

Similar rallies were also organizedin other areas of interior Sindh, includ-ing Sakrand, Thatta, Badin, Nowshero-feroz, Moro, Kandyaro and DariyaKhan Marri. Pakistan People’s Party(Shaheed Bhutto) Larkana also stageda protest rally and sit in at Jinah BaghChowk and Larkana Press Club againstthe Lyari operation and killing of inno-cent Baloch people in Karachi.

socialist hollande ousts sarkozy in French vote

ISLAMABADShAIq huSSAIn

The Obama administration could send its Sec-retary of State Hillary Clinton to Pakistan soonto end the stalemate in relations with Islam-abad over the reopening of NATO supply lines,which is facing a delay owing to Washington’srefusal to tender a public apology over Novem-ber airstrikes on two Pakistani border poststhat killed 24 soldiers.

Clinton, who reached India on Sunday fora three-day visit, could also undertake a sur-prise visit to Islamabad from New Delhi in abid to impress upon Pakistan to reopen theNATO supplies before the NATO Summit inChicago later this month.

However, diplomatic sources said in caseClinton didn’t come to Islamabad, the US ad-ministration could once again seek the use of“good offices” by the influential DemocraticSenator John Kerry for the reopening ofNATO supplies and ironing out of differences

with Islamabad over other contentious issuessuch as drone attacks.

“Senator Kerry, if he comes to Islamabadin place of Secretary Clinton, could meet therelatives of 24 Pakistani soldiers killed byNATO aircraft in the Salala attack and hecould also go to the site of that assault in No-vember last year in Mohmand Agency,” said asource, seeking anonymity.

“In his meetings with Pakistani soldiers’relatives and during his visit to MohmandAgency, Senator Kerry would offer his condo-lences and regret the NATO airstrikes to fulfillthe Pakistan’s demand for public apology fromUS over the Salala incident,” he said.

However, he said that no agreement hadyet been made on the words of apology as wellas on who would do that from Washington andcurrently both Islamabad and Washingtonwere working silently to reach some under-standing on the vital issue.

Clinton could drop by to

attempt to end stalemateISLAMABAD

onLIne

The United States has decided tointensify drone strikes in the TribalAreas to mount pressure on Pakistanto restore NATO supply line withouttendering an apology. Sources saidthe US had absolutely rejected thedemand of an apology over the Salala

attack last year, adding that the UShad informed Pakistan about its newdrone policy. “During his recent visitto Pakistan, the US SpecialRepresentative for Afghanistan andPakistan Marc Grossman hadinformed the leadership of Pakistanabout the new drone policy and theUS was not considering apologizingover the Salala attack,” the sources

said. Sources said the Pakistanileadership had denied US demandswhen Mark Grossman haddemanded unconditionalrestoration of NATO supply frompolitical and military leadership ofPakistan. Sources claimed thatHilary Clinton had also canceledPakistan’s visit which was expectedin the beginning of May.

US to intensify drone strikes in Pakistan

Malik says targeted operationin Lyari to continue

CONTINUED ON PagE 04


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