ISLAMABADonline

The supreme Court on Friday severely criticisedPunjab chief minister and inspector general of po-lice for their indifference to the stoning of a mar-ried woman in Khanewal district.

A three-member bench of supreme Courtheaded by Chief Justice Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry conducted suo motu hearing in the caseof killing of a woman in the Kachcha Khu area ofKhanewal. The chief justice asked what Punjab Po-lice IG was up to for the last three days. He in-quired whether the IGP was capable of beingappointed anywhere else in the country. The CJwarned that if the remaining accused were not ar-rested, the court would recommend the IGP’s sus-pension, adding that how could the IGP have noknowledge of the murder of a mother of five.

He also questioned why the Punjab chiefminister was unaware of the incident. The Pun-jab advocate general told the court that the con-flict aroused when the stoned woman, Maryam,cut grass from an area. He said the punchayat or

local council had called her to resolve the contro-versy, not to kill her. The AG said the husband ofthe deceased woman disappeared from the scene,but had now been recovered, while three peopleinvolved in the killing had also been arrested.The chief justice said the woman’s husband hadonly been recovered after the court raised theissue. The AG told the court that the Punjabchief minister had taken notice of the matterand had ordered the arrest of the accusedwithin 48 hours. Justice Jawad s Khwaja remarked that ifthe poor people’s grievances could notbe taken up, they better be eliminatedonce for all. “No one hears the plight ofthe poor sitting in air-conditionedrooms”, he maintained. The chief jus-tice said witness of the stoning inci-dent, sarfaraz, was also kidnapped tocover the crime. He said Punjab was abig province but its law and order waspitiable. The court also directed the au-thorities to present a detailed report aboutthe crime-rate in Punjab.

Pakistan has provided Afghanistanwith key “intelligence information” onthe hideouts of Tehreek-e-TalibanPakistan (TTP) in Kunar province, de-manding their complete eliminationand effective measures by Afghan Na-tional Army (ANA) and NATO troopsfor the prevention of cross-border mil-itant attacks in Pakistani frontier re-gions of Dir, Bajaur and Chitral.

The intelligence information onMaulvi Fazlullah-led TTP faction,also known as ‘swat Taliban’, wasprovided by Pakistani officials totheir Afghan counterparts during thedaylong visit of Prime Minister RajaPervez Ashraf to Afghanistan onThursday, diplomatic sources said onFriday. Fazlullah and dozens of hisfollowers crossed over to Afghanistan

and took refuge in Kunar and othernearby regions after they faced defeatat the hands of Pakistani Army inswat in 2009.

The swat Taliban spent somemonths in silence, but of late, theyhave resorted to deadly acts of sub-version targeting Pakistani borderposts in Dir, Chitral and Bajaur,killing several soldiers deployedthere, causing great anger and an-guish among the top civilian and mil-itary cadres in Islamabad.

“Prime Minister Ashraf’s delega-tion that visited Kabul also includedsenior security and intelligence offi-cials, who shared vital informationon the presence and hideouts of Fa-zllullah-led Taliban in Kunar withthe Afghan authorities in Kabul,” a

source seeking anonymity said.He said the prime minister also

raised the contentious issue of cross-border militant attacks in Pakistaniborder areas with Afghan PresidentHamid Karzai in the presence ofBritish Prime Minister DavidCameron, who was also in Kabul toattend the trilateral meeting withPakistani premier and the Afghanpresident.

“Pakistani officials conveyeddeep concern prevailing in the Pak-istani capital over the repeated at-tacks by TTP militants on borderposts of Pakistan Army and also theinability of Afghan army and NATOforces to prevent these assaults,” hesaid. He said Pakistani officials de-manded strong and immediate ac-

tion by troops of its allied nations inAfghanistan against the TTP hide-outs, warning that the continuationof the terror strikes would have neg-ative impact on the ties between Is-lamabad, Kabul and NATO capitals.A security official said following theattacks in the country’s border re-gions, some important steps hadbeen taken by the Pakistan Army tobeef up security arrangements thatwould help counter the possible ter-rorists’ strikes effectively. He saidPakistan was in close contact withKabul and NATO states, includingthe Us, on the cross-border attacksand it had been assured that thosenations would take all possible meas-ures to prevent the assaults by mili-tants in Pakistani frontier regions.

ISLAMABADStaff RepoRt

As the government keeps driving its point homeabout the ‘untouchable supremacy’ of parliament,the supreme Court also appears in no mood tocompromise on its freedom and on Friday orderedthe formation of a five-member bench headed by

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to hearpetitions filed against the new contempt of court law.Other members of the bench will be Justice shakirullahJan, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, Justice Jawad s Khawajaand Justice Tassadduq Hussain Jilani. The sC has alreadyfixed July 23 as the date to commence hearing in 13constitutional petitions filed against the newly-enacted law.The federation, prime minister, National Assembly speaker,senate chairman, attorney general, federal law minister andcabinet secretary have been named respondents in the cases.The court has also called Attorney General of Pakistan IrfanQadir to assist the court in the case. The tussle between the twosides has turned cold ever since Yousaf Raza Gilani was shownthe door, but it may again turn into a full-scale confrontation,keeping in view the commentary from each side.Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had told alawyers’ gathering in Quetta a few days ago that thesupreme Court would not allow “anyone” to makeunconstitutional moves. “Now there will only be thesupremacy of law and constitution in the country,” theCJP had said. Addressing lawyers at the sindh HighCourt (sHC) some days later, Justice Chaudhry said thequestion of parliament’s supremacy over constitutionwas unjustified. He had said Article 8 empowered thesuperior courts to strike down any legislation thatencroached upon the basic rights of the citizens, and itcould also strike down any law that was in conflict withthe constitution.The CJ said whatever position or post one held, the lawwas the same for all. “Action on contempt of court wastaken against the chief executive for not obeying the courtorder and he lost his position,” he added.The chief justice said Article 2(A) of the constitution wasthe guarantor of judiciary’s independence.“The courts of the country are under the constitution.There would be no compromise on protecting theindependence of judiciary,” the CJP added.He said obeying the law was necessary whateverconsequences it entailed, adding that it was incumbentupon lawyers and judges to protect independence of thejudiciary. On Thursday, President Asif Ali Zardari alsodirectly jumped into the cold war between the executiveand judiciary by declaring the parliamentsupreme in all respects. He said it wasthe duty of “everyone to accordparliament every respect” it

was entitled to havingbeen elected by the

sovereign people of Pakistan.The ongoing series of subtleremarks and hints from bothsides appears to be a harbinger ofa new crisis that could again seethe sC putting its foot down onthe issue and the governmentpressing immunity for itsmembers from every sort of

questioning.

Saturday, 21 july, 2012 ramadan 1, 1433rs 15.00 vol iii no 26 19 pages

PAGE | 19 PAGE |02

Manmohan singh’strip to Pakistan

unlikely

Pakistanis to face travelrestrictions if polio noteliminated by 2013

no ‘AstAghfAAr’ for Veena Malik this ramadan

karachi edition

PAGE |03

Five-memberbench to hearcontempt law petitionsg CJ to head bench taking up 13 petitions

against new contempt law on 23rd

Pakistan gives

afghanistan

the ‘hit list’

ISLAMABADShaiq huSSain

seher

IftAr 07:25

fIqAh-e-hAnfI fIqAh-e-jAfrIA

04:10 seher

IftAr 07:35

04:00

Where’sthe law in Punjab?g SC slams Punjab CM, IGP over

woman’s stoning in Khanewal

g Says IGP to be suspended if

all accused are not arrested

Islamabad gives Kabul intelligence info on militant havens on Afghan soilUrges end to cross-border attacks

Sri Lanka judgeS boycott courtS over

poLiticaL interference | page 24

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02Saturday, 21 July, 2012

News

Today’s

lookQuick

newS

Story on Page 05

Cartoon

Page 11

InfotaInMent

Story on Page 14

na speaker reviewing contempt notice limits to human perception

Four additional PHCjudges sworn in PESHAWAR: Four additional judges of the PeshawarHigh Court (PHC) took oath on Friday raising thetotal number of judges to 13. PHC Chief Justice DostMuhammad Khan administered the oath to fouradditional judges: Justice Asadullah Chamkni, JusticeRooh-ul-Ameen, Justice Akhwanzada shahjhan and afemale Justice Irshad Qaiser. With the induction offour more judges, the total number of judges hasbecome 13, while only five of them are permanentjudges. Besides performing duties in PHC, the judgeswill also frequently attending proceedings at thecircuit benches of Dera Ismail Khan, Abbottabad andDar Ul Qaza swat. agencieS

Ramadan moon sighted,first fast todayLAHORE: Muslims across Pakistan, except in someparts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, will observe the firstfast today (saturday) as the Central Ruet-i-HilalCommittee announced on Friday that the moon of theholy month of Ramadan has been sighted in thecountry. The announcement was made by CommitteeChairman Mufti Munibur Rehman after a meeting heldat Meteorological (Met) Office in Karachi. Heannounced that Ramazan 1, 1433 Hijri, will fall on July21 (today). The month of Ramadan began in Algeria,Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, saudi Arabia, Tunisia,the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and some parts ofPakistan’s KP province on July 20, as well as forLebanon’s sunni Muslims. Staff RepoRt

Three killed inBalochistan violence QUETTA: Three people were killed in two separateincidents of firing in Jhal Magsi and Bolan districts ofBalochistan on Friday. Levies officials say the two werekilled in Goth Wazdani of Jhal Magsi district when anarmed clash erupted between two rival groups. Thevictims were moved to a nearby hospital for autopsywhere they were identified as Mohammad Mubarik andsher Dil. The cause behind the killing is stated to be anold enmity. In another incident, unidentified armed menkilled a person in Mithri area of Bolan district. Motivebehind the killing was stated to be a family dispute.Levies Force has registered a case against theunidentified people and investigations are underway.Staff RepoRt

SC accepts petitionagainst Army ActISLAMABAD: The supreme Court on Friday acceptedpetitions against Army Act Rule 13 for hearing. A three-member bench of the apex court headed by ChiefJustice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry heard the caseand issued notices to the Attorney General and DefenceMinistry for August 27. The apex court observed that itwas mandatory to mention reasons of punishment in acourt martial law. agencieS

ISLAMABADStaff RepoRt

Pakistanis may face travel restrictions if the countryfails to eliminate polio by 2013.

This was revealed in a meeting of the standingCommittee of the senate for Inter-Provincial Coor-dination held on Friday under the chairmanship ofsenator Farrukh Aqil.

A member of the Committee Dr Karim AhmadKhawaja said that billions of rupees were beingspent on the publicity of polio immunisation cam-paign and if the target of elimination of polio fromthe country was not achieved, it would lead to re-strictions on the travelling abroad of Pakistanis. Thecommittee sought details of the distribution ofglobal funds among the provinces. The secretaryinter-provincial coordination told the meeting thatthe country received $500 million through globalfunds last year and $900 million are expected dur-ing the current year. After learning this, the com-mittee asked for details about the system underwhich the funds are given to the provinces.

It seems that Pakistanis might have to live withthese travel restrictions, much like the children ofPakistan are living with this disease as the countrydoesn’t look anywhere close to eradicating polio by2013. The fight against the crippling ailment hasbeen a difficult one for Pakistan in many ways.While it was close to eliminating the disease at theturn of the century, it didn’t succeed due to a hostof reasons which include being pressed for re-sources, inadequate health machinery, retrogres-sive social customs and the rising tide ofobscurantism. Even though the re-emergence of

polio had always been a cause for concerns in re-cent years, alarm bells started reaching a feverpitch last year when there was a spike in the num-ber of cases in the last year (198 in 2011 – the high-est number in the world – as compared to 144 in2010). Thus, the government reinvigorated itsdrive against polio at the beginning of 2012. It an-nounced its National Augmented Emergency Ac-tion Plan in January 2012 and tried to expand theoutreach as well as crank up the publicity and ad-vertisement. High profile ambassadors like AseefaBhutto and shahid Afridi have been taken on invisible efforts to fight the spread of the disease. Notjust the federal machinery but the provincial gov-ernments have also been active in the fight.

But these efforts might yet take a serious hitgiven certain recent events. The Taliban have an-nounced that no immunisation campaign will be al-lowed to be held unless the NATO supply routes areblocked. This announcement has troublingly beenbacked by tribal jirgas that have set the halting ofdrone attacks as a pre-requisite to let these immu-nisation drives take place. While extreme elementshad always been opposed to these immunisationcampaigns calling them un-Islamic or Westernconspiracies, the shakil Afridi episode has nothelped matters and has just given grist to these ex-tremist mills. This does not bode well for combatingthe disease in the country in general and FATA andthe adjacent areas in particular as they are the worsthit areas and lie at the heart of the fight againstpolio. Only last month, 160,000 children were de-nied vaccines in North Waziristan alone. And it isexpected that 350,000 children around the countrywill suffer the same deprivation.

Pakistanis to face travel restrictionsif polio not eliminated by 2013

Stop being vindictive,pleads RiazISLAMABAD: Real estate tycoon MalikRiaz Hussain on Friday said he had fullconfidence in the investigative team, butauthorities should stop seeking revenge fromhim. He was talking to reporters on Fridayafter appearing before a five-member probeteam made by the attorney general in theArsalan Iftikhar case. Riaz said he also had fullconfidence in the chief justice of Pakistan andhad left his case with Allah Almighty. Earlier,Riaz appeared before the JIT at NAB HQs andrecorded his statement. He was examined bymembers of the JIT regarding his allegationsagainst Arsalan Iftikhar Chaudhry. He hasbeen given a detailed questionnaire which is tobe returned duly filled by him by July 24. Riazalso submitted evidence to substantiate hiscontention and sought time toprovide additionaldocumentary and otherevidence in respect ofalleged questionable andillegal transactions. TheJIT has summonedArsalan Iftikhar Chaudhry,salman Ahmed and AhmedKhalil on July 23 for recordingtheirstatements.Themembers ofthe JIT willalso visit theUK and UAE forcollectingevidence. online

WASHINGTONapp

The United states continues coun-terterrorism cooperation with Pak-istan, the state Department said onFriday, but gave no specific com-ment on a House of Representa-tives measure proposing $650million cut in aid for Pakistan inthe next fiscal year.

spokesman Patrick Ventrellsaid the Us administration contin-ued to consult Congress but had noparticular comment on the ongoinglegislative process. “We continue toobviously support our Pakistanicounterparts in key areas like coun-terterrorism,” he said. The Housepassed a legislation proposing a cutin security aid for Pakistan by $650million. The measure will have tobe passed by senate for it to be-come effective. The new Us fiscalyear 2013, starts from October 1,

2012. Islamabad’s Ambassador toWashington sherry Rehman andher colleagues, including Pakistan’slobbyists, were engaged with theCapitol Hill late into the eveningwhen the voting went on. The billhas yet to be reconciled with thesenate version, and has some wayto go before it becomes a policy.Meanwhile, the Pakistani envoycontinued to interact with Congres-sional leaders as part of diplomaticoutreach to present Islamabad’sviews on various issues strainingthe bilateral ties. The relations be-tween the two countries haveshown signs of improvement afterthe American public apology oversalala airstrike and Pakistan’s sub-sequent reopening of key supplyroutes into landlockedAfghanistan, where the Us-ledforces are now working toward se-curity transition and drawdown ofcombat troops by 2014.

US for continued counterterrorism support to Pakistan

RAWALPINDI:

A man raises

his hands in

prayer after

the Ramadan

moon was

sighted in the

country on

Friday. Online

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03Saturday, 21 July, 2012

NewsedItorIalgilani out, gilani in:

CoMMent

articles on Page 14

Misplaced chagrin all around.

arif nizami says;The world according to Nawaz: How will he navigate the choppy waters?

Raoof hasan says;

The swing gets wobbly: With a bit-of-all strategy failing, it is time to decide.

artS & entertaInMent

Story on Page 13

buSIneSS

Story on Page 18

SPortS

Story on Page 15

Jackie chan returns to making action films no reason to ‘be negative’ harbhajan aims to answer critics

Mockery of judiciary

won’t be tolerated: NawazKOTRIonline

PAKIsTAN Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) PresidentNawaz sharif has said his partywill not allow the rulers to vio-late the constitution and make a

mockery of the supreme Court’s verdicts.Talking to a delegation from Hyderabad,

Nawaz said “We will not tolerate conspira-cies hatched against the judiciary.”

He said the PML-N won’t allow rulers tomake mockery of court verdicts, stressingthat his party would not allow the rulers toviolate the constitution.

He added that time had come for the in-cumbents to pack their bags, adding thattime was not far when the PML-N wouldbring revolutionary changes in the country.

Nawaz is currently touring sindh tostrengthen his party in the province ruled bythe Pakistan People’s Party and its coalitionpartners, Muttahida Qaumi Movement andAwami National Party.

On Thursday, Nawaz’s PML-N signed anelectoral alliance with the sindh UnitedFront to give impetus to his party in thecoming elections. Addressing the occasion,

Nawaz said PML-N would never supportpartition of sindh, adding that if his partygot into power, distribution of water amongprovinces would be implemented in accor-dance with the 1991-formula.

The former prime minister said The PML-N president said he would not

meet President Asif Ali Zardari through anybackdoor channel. “Zardari’s sindh card haslost credit,” he added.

Nawaz also said he would conduct “eco-nomic blasts” if he came into power. “Mygovernment had earlier conducted nuclearblasts and now would conduct “economicblasts” if a chance is given to us,” he said.

Nawaz said like other Pakistanis, thepeople of sindh also wanted economic revo-lution, adding that he took up revolutionarysteps during his last term in power andwould go for economic explosion this timeround. He said democracy was being dealt ablow through chalking out contempt of courtlaws, adding that the law was made to hidecorruption.

“The PPP should not chalk out a law inhaste only to protect a handful of people,” hesaid. “It should sit across a table with us andother parties and prepare a law through col-lective wisdom”.

LAHORESaRah eleaZaR

Newly-launched Hero TV of theExpress media group has de-cided not to air its special pro-gram for Ramadan,‘Astaghfaar’, in the face of amounting public outcry and anonline petition that had gar-nered plenty of support against

its controversial host, VeenaMalik.

The promo for Veena’s Ra-madan special made rounds

on every social network-ing website,

p r o m p t i n ghundreds of

blog en-

tries and sealing the deal for skyrock-eting ratings for Hero TV before evenbeing launched.

The criticism it received, however,outweighed appreciation by a mile,with several community pages onFacebook, derisive internet meme’sand thousands of posts and commentsdevoted to grounding the show beforeit aired.

PEMRA subsequently took up theissue with Hero TV, after receivingover 3,000 complaints on its officialwebsite.

A naysayer on the website com-plained saying, “Hero TV intends to aira program in Ramadan hosting VeenaMalik. The program and channelmight have a positive vision about this,but I strongly feel that this program

will actually be another act of makingfun of Islam. Any program that has aclear vision to promote channel rank-ings by making fun of Islam or anyother religion must not be allowed togo on air, especially in Islamic Repub-lic of Pakistan.”

Talking to Pakistan Today, PEMRAspokesman Fakhruddin Mughal saidthat Hero TV’s ‘Astaghfaar’ wentagainst the authority’s code of conductand hurt public sentiment and aspira-tions.

He said that Hero TV was in-formed about the massive criticism in-voked on social media as well as byreligious and social groups, and it de-cided to take the show down withoutfurther ado.

The promos and trailers of the

show, in which Veena appeared with ateary face, sparked an outrage acrosssocial media platforms. several blogposts alleged that this was only a mar-keting stunt and Hero TV had neverintended to air the show.

However, the PEMRA spokesmandenied this statement, revealing thatVeena had indeed been hired for theprogram.

Looks like the queen of scandal,Veena, will not be repenting her sinson cable TV after all. While the onlineroster for complaints on the PEMRAwebsite had indeed gained enough ob-jections to take action, a lot of her fanson Twitter vociferously tweetedagainst this move, asking for Aamir Li-aquat and Maya Khan’s respectiveshows to be taken off air as well.

LAHOREinp

Former supreme Court Judge Justice (retd)Khalilur Rehman Ramday on Friday saidthat the nation should not be misguidedthrough political sloganeering.

speaking at a ceremony, he said that theapex court could strike down any law in con-flict with the constitution. “Parliament hasno authority to cut supreme Court’s powersand it cannot make laws against basic

human rights,” he said.He said the supreme Court was not su-

perior than anyone; instead, it was bound toact according to the constitution. “Courtshave right to interpret the constitution”, hestressed.

Ramday said all the state institutionsshould operate within the ambit of power setfor them by the constitution. He cited exam-ples of India and Bangladesh where the ju-diciary has struck down a number ofamendments made by the parliament.

Supreme Court can strike downunconstitutional laws: Ramday

The hammer shall fall…

Torrential rain, windstormlash Daska, Sambrial tehsils

DASKAStaff RepoRt

Torrential rain and wind storms lashed both Daska and sambrial tehsilsof sialkot on Friday, uprooting dozens of trees that blocked several mainroads, including sialkot-Daska-Gujranwala Road, sialkot-Pasrur Road,sialkot-sambrial-Wazirabad Road and Pasrur-Narowal Road. The heavyrain also badly affected the electricity and communication systems due towhich the supply of electricity remained suspended for several hours inurban and rural areas of both tehsils. Heat-stricken people enjoyed thepleasant weather, which remained overcast coupled with loud thunder.Rain inundated all low-lying urban and rural areas of the region,paralyzing routine life. The torrential rain also badly exposed thenegligence of the Daska TMA due to which all main city roads includingKutchery Road, College Road, Nisbat Road, Pasrur Road, Awami Road,sambrial Road, Jamkey Road, Muhallah Wahab Masjid,Muhammadpura, Afshan Road, stadium Road, Wazirabad Road,congested Main Bazaar Daska City, subedar Bazaar, Thathiyaraan Bazaarand all surrounding residential, industrial and commercial areas. On theother hand, paddy growers welcomed the rain, calling it “most awaitedand most conducive” for the under-cultivation paddy crop in both tehsils.

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04Saturday, 21 July, 2012

News

WASHINGTONafp

Us lawmakerspassed a sweep-ing $606 billiondefense billThursday that

exceeds a budget cap andfaces a veto threat from theWhite House for failing tosufficiently rein in spending.

The bill would provide$518 billion for the Penta-gon and an additional $88.5billion for overseas contin-gency operations, specifi-cally the war in Afghanistanand counterterrorism ef-forts, for the fiscal year that

begins October 1.The 2013 Defense De-

partment spending bill hadoriginally come in at $519 bil-lion, an increase of $1 billionover 2012 spending, but in asurprise move just before thefinal vote lawmakers ap-proved an amendment bring-ing the spending into linewith current figures.

It’s still roughly $2 billionmore than President BarackObama requested, and about$8 billion above the cap set bylast year’s Budget Control Act.

The Republican-con-trolled House of Representa-tives passed Thursday’s bill bya vote of 326-90.

Democrats and Republi-cans are promising a majorbudget tussle this electionyear as the two sides squareoff over whether to raise taxesfor wealthy Americans as wellas slash federal spending in abid to pare down the skyrock-eting debt.

Us lawmakers failed toreach a deal last year overhow to reduce the long-termdeficit by $1.2 trillion, and de-fault spending cuts are sched-uled to kick in next Januarythat could see the defensebudget slashed by an addi-tional $50 billion in 2013.

House AppropriationsCommittee chairman Hal

Rogers praised the bill, sayingit “supports and takes care ofour troops at the highest levelpossible, keeps America at theforefront of defense technolo-gies, and boosts key trainingand readiness programs toprepare our troops for combatand peacetime missions.”

“But in this environmentof fiscal austerity, we mustalso recognize that even thePentagon should not havecarte blanche when it comesto discretionary spending,”the Republican Rogers said,insisting that the bill makes“common-sense decisions” onspending cuts.

some Democrats were

keen on making even deepercuts, but three of their pro-posals to slash some $23 bil-lion from the bill wererejected. “The bloated Penta-gon budget must be ad-dressed if we are seriousabout solving our nation’sdeficit,” said congresswomanBarbara Lee, who authoredseveral cost-saving amend-ments which were turneddown.

But while Republicanshave stood firm in their desireto see defense spending levelsmaintained, Lee had a part-ner in Republican Mick Mul-vaney, who authored themeasure which successfully

cut the bill by $1 billion. “Aus-terity to me means spendingless,” the Tea Party conserva-tive said. “Total governmentspending will be up this year.We’re still facing a $1 trilliondeficit. We need to do betterto get our spending undercontrol.”

The bill saw lawmakersexpress their disgust withRussia’s stance on syria, asthey voted overwhelminglyfor an amendment that endsthe Pentagon’s arms contractwith a major Russian defensefirm which provides weaponsto the regime in Damascus.

House Democrat JimMoran, who introduced the

measure, lambasted the Pen-tagon for its contract withRosoboronexport, which hesaid sells mortars, sniper ri-fles and attack helicopters tosyria.

The Pentagon has pro-cured some 33 Mi-17 attackhelicopters from the Russianfirm and which are to be usedby the Afghan military afterUs operations wind down inAfghanistan. “I should thinkit’s troubling to all of us thatwe are purchasing helicoptersfrom a Russian firm that is di-rectly complicit in the deathsof thousands of innocent syr-ian men, women and chil-dren,” Moran said.

US House passes huge defense spending bill

ALISHINGafp

About 200 tribesmen gath-ered in an eastern Afghantown this week to mark whatthey said was an uprisingagainst Taliban insurgents –the latest in a series of suchmoves, officials say.

Analysts caution that theso-called uprisings could be at-tempts by local militia leadersto reassert their authorityahead of the 2014 withdrawalof NATO troops supporting thegovernment of President

Hamid Karzai.Or they could be orches-

trated as part of a govern-ment strategy, they say. Buton Wednesday, in the centralbazaar of Alishing, a farmingdistrict in eastern Laghmanprovince, the tribesmen —some carrying AK-47 rifles orrocket-propelled grenades —made their intentions clear.

“We’re fed up with the Tal-iban and their brutal aggres-sions against our people,” atribal elder among the protest-ers, Ghulam Rasoul, told AFPat the scene. “We’re standing

up against them and will notallow them to oppress our peo-ple and kill our people,” theturbaned elder said.

Laghman provincial ad-ministration spokesmansarhadi Zwak told AFP thatAlishing’s revolt was the latestin a series of similar movesacross the province northeastof Kabul. And since mid-May,self-armed tribal militia havesecured several villages inGhazni province’s Andar dis-trict south of the capital, asenior interior ministry sourcetold AFP. They were keeping

the Taliban at bay and helpedreopen dozens of schools theinsurgents had closed, he saidon condition of anonymity. Al-though at an early stage, the re-volts have worried theinsurgents.

“Taliban fighters used tocontrol most of the provinces,but now they are losing groundin areas like Helmand, Kunduzand more recently Kandahar,Zabul and Ghazni,” a mid-levelTaliban source told AFP inPakistan.

“They lost ground to tribalmilitias because they don’t let

people access basic services, es-pecially school,” said thesource, who belongs to the mil-itants’ political wing and travelsregularly between Pakistan andAfghanistan.

“That is what happened inGhazni two months ago,” hesaid.

At the demonstration inAlishing, tribal elder NoorZaman told AFP: “The Talibanare insulting our elders, theyare killing our elders, we de-cided to end this.

“Today we have gatheredto tell the Taliban that they are

no longer welcome in our vil-lage. If they try to enter our vil-lage again we will kill them,”Zaman said. “As the NATOtroops are preparing to with-draw, the Taliban have startedto expand their activities in thecountry,” said analyst and au-thor Waheed Mujda, a formerofficial in the Taliban regime.“The more they expand themore it becomes difficult forthem to control their com-manders and they and theirsoldiers have in some areas ha-rassed and angered local com-munities.

KaRachi: president asif Zardari and aseefa Bhutto Zardari law the foundation stone of Bibi aseefa institute of electronics

and Vocational training on friday.

Tribesmen rise up against Afghan Talibang analysts warn so-called uprisings could be local militias’ attempts to reassert their authority ahead of 2014 nato troop withdrawal

french lawmakersvote to cut pay ofpresident, PM

PARIS: French lawmakersvoted Thursday to reduce thesalaries of President FrancoisHollande and Prime MinisterJean-Marc Ayrault by 30percent as part of a series ofbudget-cutting moves. Thelower house National Assemblythus endorsed one of the firstdecisions made by Hollandeafter he came to power in May,bringing his and his primeminister’s monthly salariesdown from 21,300 euros($26,100) per month to 14,910euros. Government ministerswill also see their pay cut by 30percent to 9,940 euros amonth. afp

Militants blow uptwo govt schools inMohmand agency

GHALLANAI: Militants blewup two boys primary schoolswith explosives in MohmandAgency on Friday. According tomedia reports, anti-educationmilitants had plantedexplosives in a governmentprimary school located in theMansoor Korr area, whichexploded on early Fridaymorning, and destroyed aportion of the school building.In another incident, militantsblew up a government primaryschool in the sandokhel area ofthe Agency. The school wasdestroyed completely in theexplosion but no casualties orinjuries were reported as thebuilding was empty at the timeof the blast. agencieS

afghan bomb kills

five policemen

KABUL: A roadside bombkilled five Afghanpolicemen, including adistrict police chief, when itripped through their vehiclein a volatile part of southernAfghanistan, provincialauthorities said Friday.“Four police bodyguardsalong with district policechief, Ahmadullah, werekilled in sarab district inUruzgan province late lastevening,” Abdullah Himmat,the provincial governor’sspokesman, told AFP.“Initially, the Talibaninsurgents attacked asecurity checkpost. Whenthe district chief along withhis men went to respond,his vehicle struck a roadsidebomb,” provincial policeinvestigative director, GulabKhan said. afp

Pakistan has hosted Afghanrefugees for more than 30years, after they fled the so-viet invasion in the 1980s, thehorrors of the civil war, Tal-iban rule and, most recently,the conflict triggered by theUs-led invasion of the coun-try in late 2001. It is thelargest and longest-runningrefugee problem in the world.

There are currently 1.7million Afghan refugees reg-istered in Pakistan – morethan half of them under 18 –of whom 630,000 live incamps. A further 1 million areestimated to be living in thecountry unregistered andtherefore illegally.

“After 31 December 2012,there is no plan to extend thevalidity of the POR [proof ofregistration] cards of Afghan

refugees. Those currently reg-istered will lose the status ofrefugees. They will be treatedunder the law of the land. Theprovincial governments havealready been asked to treatthe existing unregisteredrefugees as illegal immi-grants,” the Guardian quotedKhan as saying. Khan de-clined to spell out what wouldhappen to the refugees afterthe end of the year but, if thepolicy sticks, they will all bein the country illegally and li-able to be thrown out. TheUN is running a voluntaryrepatriation programme butit is making slow progress. sofar this year, it has been ableto entice just 41,000 peopleto return to Afghanistan, aslight increase on the 35,000who returned in the first halfof 2011. since 2002, the UN

has repatriated 3.7 millionAfghans to Afghanistan, butthe rate of return stalled inrecent years as the war inten-sified, while it is likely thatmany of the returnees haveslipped back into Pakistan,given that today there are al-most as many Afghanrefugees in Pakistan as therewere in 2002.

Neill Wright, the Pak-istan representative of theUN High Commissioner forRefugees (UNHCR), said theUN would still recognisedregistered Afghans in Pak-istan as refugees after the endof 2012 under internationallaw, “until a durable solutioncan be found”. “We hope thatthe government of Pakistanwill continue to recognisethem as refugees,” saidWright. “Returning them to

Afghanistan could destabilisethe country further at a timewhen it is already experienc-ing instability from the draw-down of international forces.”

While some Afghans haveprospered in Pakistan, thepoverty of the majority is ob-vious, even in Islamabad. Onthe outskirts of the city, oppo-site the huge and gleamingMetro supermarket where itis possible to buy everythingfrom imported salmon to awashing machine, lies a littlemud-shack settlement ofAfghan refugees, all of themofficially registered. No onein the few dozen houses ofsorang Abadi village can reador write, none of their chil-dren goes to school, there isno electricity or water. Yetnone wants to return toAfghanistan.

enough is enough!continued from page 19

ISLAMABADapp

The reopening of NATO sup-ply lines might not havebeen well-received by a sec-tion of people in the country,but small traders associatedwith trucking business arehappy for the economic ac-tivity generated alongsidethe routes.

An article published inBritain’s leading daily ‘TheGuardian’ contains views byanalysts and persons relatedwith this business includinga truck driver, cleaner,painter and decorater,restaurant owner and me-chanic, in support of reopen-ing of NATO supply routes.

“These clerics who arefrowning with disgust aboutPakistan’s decision to letNATO convoys pass throughthe country and intoAfghanistan are the oneswho are in the trucking busi-ness and have been trans-porting goods to the soldiersin Afghanistan,” Haider Ali,a young truck artist, says.

Pakistan cut off the sup-ply line in protest after an airraid by NATO forces on twoPakistani checkposts on No-vember 26th killed 24 sol-diers. But opposition leadersand religious-political par-ties have criticised the deci-sion on July 3rd to lift theblockade.

At the Mauripur truckterminal in the southernport city of Karachi, there isalready a flurry of activity.“Our work came almost to acomplete standstill when theroute was closed,” says Mo-

hammad Iqbal Khan, a deco-rator who puts artfullybeaten aluminium tinselstrips on the truck. “It takessix to eight men to paint anddecorate a trolley for whichwe charge Rs 100,000. Ittakes us a day to finish one,and we split the money.”

Political analyst HasanAskari Rizvi says the suspen-sion had adversely affectedpeople attached to the truck-ing business. These includeddrivers, cleaners, assistants,loaders and mechanics.

“It [trucking] generateda small level of economy forroadside hotels, vehicle re-pairs, etc. But no one paidattention,” he says. “It wasnot wrong to close the supplyroute because the protesthad

to be registered,” headds.

Kaiser Bengali, arenowned economist saysthat every move must be partof a carefully calculatedstrategy, and adds that “theblockade was a knee-jerk re-action.”

sajjad Hussain, 27, man-ager at the salateen restau-rant in shireen JinnahColony, next to the oil tankerterminal, says the reopeningof the supply line will bringback the old crowds. “Therewas never a dull momentwith them around,” he re-calls.

Hussain witnessed themerriment when the govern-ment lifted the seven-monthblockade. “They [drivers]started with a volley of aerialfiring, danced and distrib-uted sweets,” he says.

The right-wingers

aren’t happy, but

the truckers are

KHI 21-07-2012_Layout 1 7/21/2012 1:37 AM Page 4

Saturday, 21 July, 2012

05

PESHAWARStaff RepoRt

Another controversy haserupted amongst law en-forcement agencies aftercivil and police administra-tions of both Peshawar and

Nowshehra denied involvement in Thurs-day’s operation that led to the killing oftwo alleged militants and recovery of twopolice officers.

Both police officers, sub-InspectorGul Mohammad and Assistant sub-In-

spector Javed Akhtar, were on securityduty with former nazim of Bazed Khelarea of Peshawar Faheemur Rehman.Rehman and his three aides were founddead in the outskirts of Peshawar on June27, 2012. Rehman and his aides had con-stituted a peace lashkar with the supportof Peshawar police around four years ago.He survived at least nine terrorist acts,including three suicide attacks. Per de-tails, Fahim, his three aides and two po-lice officers left Peshawar for Thandyani,Abbottabad in the last week of June.However, bullet-riddled bodies of Fahim

and his three aides were found inside ajeep on Ring Road Peshawar on June 27,whiel both cops went missing.

Later, high-ups claimed that both ofthem had been abducted. The Peshawarpolice late on Thursday claimed recover-ing both police officers from an under-construction and deserted house invillage speen Khak, Nowshehra, after anencounter with militants.

The encounter, according to police of-ficers, continued for around two hours andafter the killing of two militants, both po-licemen were recovered. The two cops were

shifted to an unknown place for interroga-tion regarding the killing of Fahim. so far,high-ups in Peshawar police are reluctantto comment on claims or point of view oftheir counterparts from Nowshehra.Through some highly placed officialsources, Pakistan Today came to know thathigh-ups of both civil and police adminis-tration have held a meeting wherein theyexpressed ignorance of the operation. Theyordered a detailed investigation and a teamof high-ranking officers rushed to the sitewhere they questioned locals. A majorityof local people is tight-lipped about police

claims, but some of the people have alsoendorsed Nowshehra administration’spoint of view that no operation was con-ducted in that part of the district.

The Nowshehra administration hasalso established contacts with the high-ups in Peshawar. The mystery furtherdeepened when Nowshehra administra-tion also denied involvement in the re-covery operation. The Lashkar-e-Islam,headed by Mangal Bagh, had claimed re-sponsibility for killing Fahim and histhree aides and announced releasing avideo of the killing in a couple of days.

ISLAMABADafp

The government has moved to requisi-tion the land on which al Qaeda mas-termind Osama bin Laden spent hisfinal years, an official said Friday.

After bin Laden was killed by Ustroops in May 2011, hundreds of peoplevisited the compound which the au-thorities destroyed in February, fearingit could become a shrine to al Qaedaacolytes. Authorities in Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa have now published no-tices in newspapers asking for any ob-jections to the land being declaredgovernment property.

It was not immediately clear whatthe government intends to do with theplot in Abbottabad, where bin Ladenwas shot dead in a three-storey buildingby Us Navy sEALs. “It has been adver-tised in newspapers that anyone object-ing to the transfer of land shouldcontact the DRO (district revenue offi-cer) within 15 days,” Mohammad

Mushtaq, an official in the revenue’sAbbottabad branch, told AFP on Friday.“In case of no objection the propertywill be transferred and declared gov-ernment property,” he added. Not hadyet been in contact, he said. Accordingto the revenue office, the land wasbought by Mohammad Arshad, a resi-dent of Charsadda killed with bin Ladenin the 2011 raid. One of the terrorchief’s wives, who was captured afterthe raid, told investigators she had livedwith her husband there since 2006.

Na speaker

reviewing

contempt notice

ISLAMABADagencieS

National Assembly speaker Dr FehmidaMirza on Friday said that the notice sentto her by the supreme Court regardingthe new law against contempt of courtcharges is being reviewed. During hervisit to the office of the ParliamentaryReporters Association, Dr FehmidaMirza informed the media that the sCnotice pertaining to the newly enactedcontempt of court law had been servedto her and that she would submit a replyin the court after consulting legalexperts. Fehmida said that she hasreceived the court’s notice and wouldtake further steps after reviewing it.

Who conducted policemen’s rescue operation?Peshawar, nowshehra administrations deny involvement in recovery operation for two abducted policemen

Multan: former prime minister Yousaf Raza gilani addresses pakistan people’s party workers after the victory of his son abdul qadir gilani in the by-election at na-151 late on thursday. Online

Government to requisitionOsama bin laden’s plot

rehman malikwants his senate seat back

KARACHIagencieS

senior Advisor to the Prime MinisterRehman Malik on Friday submittedhis nomination papers at theprovincial election commission inKarachi, for the technocrat seat in thesenate. Earlier he had resigned fromthe senate on July 10. PakistanPeople’s Party has nominated himagain to fill the vacant seat in theupper house. Polling on the vacantseat will be held on 8th of the nextmonth. The Election Commission ofPakistan (ECP) had called on membersof the provincial assembly of sindh tonominate a new candidate for thesenate from the province after the seatwas vacated by Malik, following hisresignation. showing the renunciationcertificate from United Kingdom’sborder agency, Malik gave hisassurance that he is only a Pakistanicitizen now and does not hold anyother nationality. seconding hisstatement, he showed his Pakistaninational identity card to the mediasaying, “The basic reason for myresignation was, that for many daysPakistan Muslim League-Nawaz ChiefNawaz sharif, had been saying that thedual nationality bill was passedbecause of me and that their party willnot support the dual nationality law.so, I told him that Pakistanis livingabroad, who send in billions of dollarsto Pakistan, should not be victimizedand I decided to pull myself out of thisissue.” He said that he would notcomment on the documents he hadsubmitted as they were under scrutiny.The minister said that the documentscould be obtained by anyone wishingto see them. The documents will bescrutinized on July 23 and 24, whilecandidates can withdraw theirnomination papers by July 30, 2012.Rehman said that he has alwaysrespected court orders. He is aPakistani citizen and has submittedpapers proving his relinquishing ofBritish citizenship. He said thatanyone doubting his nationality canchallenge it in the court.

KHI 21-07-2012_Layout 1 7/21/2012 1:37 AM Page 5

Saturday, 21 July, 2012

KARACHIonline

ADVIsOR to PM on InteriorRehman Malik Friday said thatMuttahida Qaumi Movement’s(MQM) leader Altaf Hussain andPresident Asif Ali Zardari wouldcontinue to share their brother-

hood by working together in the broader interestof the country.

During a quick chat with journalists at theKarachi airport, he said his disclosures regarding thelaw and order situation in Karachi were not hiswords rather the reports were prepared by his de-partment after extensive legwork.

“Karachi is Pakistan’s biggest urban center andmy public statements on its law & order situation arebased on the intelligence I receive from my officialsources. My word on it is neither less nor more thanthat,” said the advisor.

He said gangs of violent criminals had mush-roomed in the metropolis at an alarming rate.

“These felonious bands need to be rounded upbefore it is too late,” he added.

Replying to a query, he said that in the wake ofthe 18th constitutional amendment the maintenanceof city’s law and order was a provincial matter.

Given the circumstance, sindh police would beempowered with material as well as human re-sources before long.

“Prime Minister himself will visit Karachi verysoon to review the situation in the city taking all thestakeholders on board,” Malik said.

The advisor said that Pakistan Peoples’ Partyand MQM’s strong alliance was a pain in the neckfor their rival parties.

“Both the coalition partners would work handin hand for the upcoming elections to ensure an-other term.”

An optimistic Malik also claimed that PPP waspredestined to get away with a thumping victory inthe polls to come.

ZARDARI, ALTAF ‘brothers in politics’ KARACHI

aftaB channa

THE ruling Pakistan Peoples Party(PPP) has wooed its coalition partner– Muttehida Qaumi Movement(MQM) – by appointing the party’sblue eyed official Fazalur Rehmanknown as Lala as the secretary of the

important department of sindh local government,Pakistan Today has learnt. The appointment wasmade after President Asif Zardari gave a go-ahead tothe sindh government in his visit to the city the other

day. In this regard, a notification was also issued bythe services, General Administration and Coordina-tion Department (sGA&CD) that Fazalur Rehmanhad been appointed as secretary local government.

The LG department has great importance as it is re-sponsible for running the affairs of the district govern-ments of the provinces. Given the state of affairs ofKarachi and Hyderabad in particular and the politicallandscape of the province in general, having this depart-ment in its hands could help any party in the upcominggeneral elections.

After syed Yousaf Raza Gilani was removed fromthe premiership, the ruling PPP required the support ofits coalition partners to get Raja Pervez Ashraf electedas the new prime minister. However, the coalition part-ners - particularly the MQM and PML(Q) - tabled anumber of demands to the PPP in return for their sup-port. The PML(Q) got the slot of deputy premier whilethe MQM put before the PPP leadership the demands ofthe sindh home ministry, control of the local govern-ment department, release of additional funds forKarachi and Hyderabad districts etc, insiders told Pak-istan Today.

As far as these demands by the MQM are concerned,there was consultation amongst the PPP leadership andthere was clear consensus that the home ministry couldnot be given to the MQM as this move could have a de-cisive impact on the upcoming elections. However, theparty leadership gave a green signal to President AsifZardari to allot the slot of LG secretary to the MQM byappointing its blue-eyed bureaucrat Lala FazalurRehman to the post, the sources added.

As the tenure of the Local Bodies expired in 2010,the MQM had suggested Lala Fazal as administrator forKarachi and Aftab Khatri as administrator for Hyder-abad so that the party could have a strong grip on theadministration of these major metropolises. However,these officials were later removed from their positionsas the disputes between PPP and MQM heated up.

MQM gets post of Secretary Local Government in Sindh

What the coalition partnerwants, the coalition partner gets

KARACHIinp

A roadside bomb weighing 20 kilogram was foundand diffused by the bomb disposal squad at saforaChowrangi Friday morning, police authorities said.

According to details, police recovered a bombweighing 20kg near a private school located at Uni-versity Road in safoora Chourangi of Karachi.

The bomb disposal squad was called in which

defused the bomb hidden in cement blocks. Thebomb contained ball bearings, nut bolts and a re-mote controlled device attached with it.

Police said the recovered bomb was similar tothe explosives devices found in Buffer Zone,Quaidabad and super Highway during the last cou-ple of weeks. Tension gripped the area after thenews of a bomb hit the surroundings. Meanwhilesecurity in the area was beefed up with the deploy-ment of additional police contingents and rangers.

Terror bid foiled, 20kg bomb recovered

KARACHIinp

Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial CoordinationMir Hazar Khan Bijarani on Friday said the middleclass people would benefit from the subsidy given atthe utility stores across the country.

Talking to media at the inauguration of Ra-mazan Package at a utility store located in the cityarea of Defence, he said the people hailing from themiddle class were provided relief under RamazanPackage and an attempt was being made that theconsumers do not face any trouble while buying atany of the retail stores run by the government.

“The government is making efforts that nochaos is created for the buyers at the stores,” he saidfurther.

The federal minister said people hailingfrom the low-paid class could benefit from thispackage, adding that the prices of over 600 es-sential commodities had been slashed with re-duction of Rs 5 to 22.

KARACHIinp

At least five more persons werekilled and several others injured incontinuing spate of target killingsin different area of the city on Fri-day. As per details, unknown gun-men shot dead a police officialAbdul Hafeez who was on intelli-gence duty at Nishtar Road.

In a robbery attempt at theAbul Isphahani Road, residentsopened fire and shot dead a dacoit.

In Korangi area, shakir Ullah wasshot dead for resisting during arobbery while a man was shotdead in Metrowill area.

Meanwhile, some unidentifiedpersons attacked Toori BangashPolice Post in Raees AmrohiColony area of Orangi Town witha hand grenade which caused in-juries to a police official and dam-aged wall of the police post.

The police also recovered abullet riddled and tortured deadbody of a 28 year old man, found

from Hussainabad, Federal BArea, in the limits of Azizabad po-lice station. The dead body wasshifted to a hospital where the de-ceased was identified as Nadeem.Police said that the he was kid-napped and then shot dead.

Another bullet riddled deadbody of Gulfam, 30, was alsofound near Lee Market. He wasresident of Azam Basti. Meanwhilefiring incidents were reported indifferent areas of the city duringwhich seven persons were injured.

Another five gunned downg Violence goes unabated in city

‘Prices reduced by rs 5 to 22 at utility stores’

KHI 21-07-2012_Layout 1 7/21/2012 1:37 AM Page 6

07Saturday, 21 July, 2012

Karachi

KaRachi: a crane is being used to lay a sewerage line on nishtar Road, Ranchore lines. Online

KARACHI: Advisor to the PM on Interior Affairs, RehmanMalik on Friday said that cases would be registered againstthe extortionists and target killers to protect the businesscommunity in the economic hub of the country.

The decision was taken in a meeting with Chief Ministersyed Qaim Ali shah, in which they decided to take actionagainst the anti-state elements targeting the innocents anddeteriorating law and order situation in the provincial me-tropolis. They reviewed the overall security, and law & ordersituation in the city ahead of the holy month of Ramazan.Rehman Malik said that stern action would be taken againstthose involved in target killings and extortionist activities tomaintain law and order in the city.

CM sindh syed Qaim Ali shah informed that the policecontingent is very small in number to control the situationof the big metropolis, however, 10,000 more police consta-bles would be appointed for the purpose of providing securityto the masses during Ramazan. online

malik goes machoRehman Malik sends a ‘stiff’ message to extortionists and target killers

Mysterious disease

kills over 24

peacocks in tharHYDERABAD

newS DeSK

A mysterious disease had killed as many as24 peacocks over the course of three daysin the Thar desert, a TV channel reportedon Friday. According to the wildlife depart-ment, the mysterious disease in the pea-cocks was discovered when 15 birds werekilled in a village near Islamkot. Locals saidafter being infected by the disease, the eyesof the peacocks had popped up because ofswelling and they died within next 24hours. The disease has now spread to sev-eral villages. The samples of the disease-in-flicted peacocks have been sent to Karachi.

two killed, six injured

in road mishapTHATTA

app

Two persons were killed and six othersinjured in a road accident at the NationalHighway near Thatta late Thursday night.According to a police official, a RevenueTapedar Ghulam Rasool Jamari and hisyoung son Aijaz Ali Jamari were killedand his cousin seriously injured whentheir car collided with the other car be-tween Gharo and Gujo. Five passengers inthe other vehicle were also injured andshifted to Gharo hospital. Police have reg-istered case and started investigation.

rs 3.5 million

looted in bank heistHYDERABAD

inp

Armed dacoits looted Rs 3.5 millionfrom a private bank in Hyderabad onFriday. According to police, armed da-coits barged into a private bank locatedin Latifabad No. 7, made the securityguards and the staff hostage and lootedRs 3.5 million. Meanwhile, three armedbandits took away Rs 650,000 and 11cell phones from a mobile franchise lo-cated at Thandi sarak. In yet two otherincidents, armed men deprived a traderof Rs 0.6 million in sITE area and a manof Rs 250,000 at Qasim Chowk.

KARACHIpReSS ReleaSe

A dashing and handsome 22-year-oldswiss pilot passed through the city on hisway to making a world record of beingthe youngest pilot to fly round the globein 80 days.

Carlo schmid flew in to Karachi fromMuscat on his way to Ahmedabad andNagpur in his quest for the record. Carlo,who hails from a family of bankers andis one himself, has a fascination and pas-sion for flying. He has undertaken thisadventure called “RTW 2012” (RoundThe World) as a way of paying tribute tohis mother Carla schmid who died ofCancer in August 2010.

To achieve this goal, Carlo, who isthe sole pilot and assisted by a 12-mem-ber team in switzerland, founded a pri-vate limited company, which wouldcollect donations for a Children Projectbeing run under UNICEF. The RTW-2012 is initiated, planned and executedby a generation of youngsters, the eldestteam members being 40 years old. sev-eral high profile partners like TCs, swissInternational Air Lines and Zürich Air-port have helped in the RTW-2012 chil-dren project.

The dashing pilot landed in Karachitwo days ago by coincidence to be just intime for the 721 st swiss National Daycelebration which saw a large turnout ofthe city’s elite. He joined the receptionand was introduced to the gathering bythe swiss Consul General Mr. DidierBoschung.

In a brief chat with the media, Carloschmid said he had a passion for flyingand taken his first gliding lesson at theage of 15. He became member of ZürichAircraft Club at 17 and soon passed his

PPL (Private Pilot’s License) exam.Carlo’s passion for flying was so intensethat he usually spent 95% of his appren-ticeship salary on flying and doing part-time jobs to save money and collectfunds for his dream of flying round theworld.

Carlo quit banking in 2011 to fullyconcentrate on his Round The Worldproject and his hard work and dream fi-nally became a reality on July 11, 2012when he took off from switzerland in hisCessna 210 turbine single-engine plane

to fly around the world.Carlo intends to fly round the world

in 80 days, covering 40,000 kilometerswhile crossing 24 countries in Europe,Africa, Asia and North America. He saidif he manages to achieve the objective,this would be a great honor for him andthe memory of his late mother to be theyoungest pilot to fly around the world.He added that that since 1929 when thefirst pilot flew round the world, only 87pilots had managed to successfully flyaround the world.

transporters of

Hyderabad won’t

reduce faresHYDERABAD: The transporters ofHyderabad have refused to bring downthe fares despite decrease in petroland CNG tariffs. According to details,the transporters across Hyderabad dis-trict had increased five to 10 rupeesfare on city routes. Now despite reduc-tion in petrol and CNG prices trans-porters had refused to decrease thefares in accordance with the petroleumproducts. Commuters of the city saidthey had to pay increased fares in pub-lic transport which was a violation oftheir basic rights. They have de-manded of the authorities concernedto implement government fare list oth-erwise they would hold district-wideprotests and strikes. inp

Man strangles

daughter to death

over domestic disputeKARACHI: A callous man strangled hisdaughter to death as she returned to herex-husband, media reported on Friday.According to the police sources, Muqadasd/o Dilbar Khan hailing from North Naz-imabad area of Karachi got married withHameed belonging to Gulshan-e-May-mar. But four years ago the couple di-vorced and started living separately.

A couple of days earlier after recon-ciliation due to mediation by relativesMuqadas returned to Hameed’s house.On Thursday Dilbar Khan took her backhome assuring that her wish would be ac-cepted but somehow strangled her todeath. inp

Political situation,

security on table as

President, CM meetKARACHI: Chief Minister sindhsyed Qaim Ali shah along with somemembers of the sindh cabinet andsenior party leaders Friday called onPresident Asif Ali Zardari at the Bi-lawal House.In the meeting were discussed cur-rent political situation, matters relat-ing to coalition, developmental issuesand the law and order situation in theprovince.Those present during the meeting in-cluded Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq, MrMuhammad Ayaz soomro, Agha sirajKhan Durrani, syed Murad Ali shah,Mr Rafique Engineer, Mr Abdul QadirPatel and Mr Rashid Hussain Rab-bani. inp

Swiss pilot in town; en route to world record

KHI 21-07-2012_Layout 1 7/21/2012 1:37 AM Page 7

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eXhIBITION BY hamra aBBas

date: June 19 to July 19, 2012Venue: CanVaS Gallery

Internationally acclaimed artist Hamra abbas, recipient of the abraajcapital art prize and the Sharjah biennale jury prize, exhibits herculturally loaded, iconographic works at Canvas Gallery on tuesdayJune 19th 2012, from 5 pm - 8 pm. Hamra received her bfa and Mafrom the national College of arts, lahore and a Meisterschuelerfrom universitaet der Kuenste, berlin. She lives and works betweenlahore, Pakistan and boston, uSa. the show remains open dailyuntil July 19th 2012, from 11 am - 8 pm (excluding sundays)

GhalIB maDe easY

date: tHurSday, 7:00 PM, weeKly eVent

Venue: tHe SeCond floor (t2f)

Partly Cloudy

weatHer uPdateS

35°C

08Saturday, 21 July, 2012

karachi

sculPTures shOW

fIne art PaKIStan Gallery Cordially invites you on the

exhibition of sculptures by akbar Khan, latif Ghouri and

M.K.Saleem on tuesday, 17th 2012.

Chief Guest: anjum ayaz inaugurates the show.

date: July 17 to 21tH, 2012

Venue: fIne artS PaKIStan KaraCHI

Join us at t2f every wednesday for interactive sessions onMirza Ghalib’s poetry, conducted by author and translator,Musharraf ali farooqi. Ghalib Made easy by @MicroMafthepoetry of Mirza Ghalib (27 december 1797 – 15 february1869) has been considered complex, abstract and difficultto comprehend. even for Ghalib’s contemporaries, hislanguage and imagery presented a challenge.

KARACHInni

FINE Arts Pakistan (FAP)recently organised agroup exhibition of threeeminent sculptors, AkbarKhan, Latif Ghauri and

MK saleem at a local art gallery.Khan started his career as a theatre

actor and then directed for televisionand stage. At the same time, he sculp-tured different mediums includingstone, marble, wood and mix. His 81sculptures including large, mediumand small ones were on display atreasonable prices on this occasion.some of them were calligraphy onsteel. His best sculpture, ‘Mother & Child’was a stone crafted in sophisticatedcuts and designs. Khan’s small andmedium sculptures were based ondifferent themes including danc-ing girls and leisureliness.

Talking to the guests, hesaid that the sculptures on dis-play were his struggle of a year.“sculpturing depends on mymood. Whenever I feel like doing it,I just start doing it,” he added. Khanexpressed his joy over the keen responseof people.

saleem had put up names of AlmightyAllah, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and differ-

ent holy verses in his sculptures. The best partabout his sculptures was that they seemed to

be broken pieces of wall. He said that hehad completed the sculptures in

six to seven months.“The govern-

ment is nottaking any

p o s i t i v emeasures to promote

art,” he said, adding that high-ups should pro-vide opportunities to the artists.

Ghauri, an emerging sculptor, set his majortheme as revolution. His inspirations werehuman nature, system, culture and spiritualism.His work was distributed in four forms includingwire, stone, wood and chalks work. Ghauri pre-sented the small sculptures of blackboard chalks.

Ghori also exhibited the sculpture of wood,which expressed a village woman covered withscarf from one side. The most amazing work of

Ghauri was a wire sculpture depicting awoman, who became prisoner on the

pretext of veil instead she had talentto do something. Ghauri designed

it with black and golden wire,black wire depicts her veil

and golden wire showedher talent.

Curator of the galleryRafia Maniar said theartworks were made byusing materials andprocesses traditionallydefined as craft whichoccupied a uniqueplace in contemporaryart disorders.

Commenting on thework of artists, Director

FAP Gallery Asma Ahmedsaid that they did an amazing

job, as people in large numberswere present to watch the marvelous work. “It’san honour for us to exhibit the real talent,” sheadded. The exhibition will continue till July 21.

big Three enSembleg faP organises group exhibition of three eminent sculptors

hYDeRaBaD: Seen on the dining table of every family during Ramadan, dates are considered to be sacred for breaking fast. inP

KHI 21-07-2012_Layout 1 7/21/2012 1:37 AM Page 8

09Saturday, 21 July, 2012

Foreign News

DENVERafp

AT least 12 people were killedand around 40 woundedwhen a gunman opened fireFriday at a movie theatershowing the latest Batman

film, police said. The police department in the town of

Aurora, Colorado, where the shooting tookplace, said in a statement that there were“approximately 50 victims with at least 12confirmed dead.” Police had earlier put thetoll in the shooting at the Century 16 MovieTheater, which was holding a midnightshowing of “The Dark Knight Rises,” at 14

dead with around 50 wounded. Witnesses told police the gunman had

thrown “some type of gas or explosive de-vice” and opened fire on moviegoers.“When the suspect was arrested, police re-covered one rifle, one handgun and a gasmask,” Aurora police said.

“A third gun is still inside the theater.”Us television networks identified the gun-man as James Holmes, a 24-year-old Au-rora resident, and quoted the FBI as sayinghe had no known connections to terrorism.Police said the suspect “offered no resist-ance when he was arrested.” “At this time,the police have no evidence that any addi-tional suspects were involved other than theperson arrested,” the Aurora police said.

12 dead in batman

movie shooting

SEOULafp

North Korea said Friday it had nochoice but to “completely review” thenuclear issue after accusing theUnited states and south Korea overa plot to blow up a statue of itsfounding leader.

“Various circumstances compelus to completely review the nuclearissue,” the North’s foreign ministrysaid in a statement released throughthe official Korean Central NewsAgency (KCNA).

The plot amounted to a “war ac-tion” and ran counter to a deal underwhich Pyongyang agreed to disman-tle its nuclear programme in returnfor economic and diplomatic benefitsand security guarantees, it said.

The statement did not elaborateon what was meant by the review.But it will add to concerns Py-

ongyang is planning to conduct athird nuclear test following its failedrocket launch in April — althoughlast month the North said it had noplans “at present” to conduct such atest.

The threat came after southKorea confirmed a man who was ar-rested in the North after allegedly at-tempting to blow up a statue offounding father Kim Il-sung, was aformer defector who had settled inthe south.

Pyongyang claimed south Ko-rean intelligence authorities hadhired him to carry out the plot andthat Washington was actively in-volved.

New leader Kim Jong-Un wasthis week named Marshal of NorthKorea amid a reshuffle of senior fig-ures seen as a means of cementinghis grip over the 1.2-million-strongmilitary.

north Korea to‘completely review’nuclear issue

SYDNEYafp

India has topped Britain and China tobecome Australia’s leading source ofmigrants for the first time, data re-vealed Friday, with seven of the top 10source countries now in Asia.

Immigration Minister ChrisBowen said India accounted for29,000 of the 185,000 places in Aus-tralia’s 2011-12 permanent migrationprogramme — some 15.7 percent of thetotal and the first time the country hascome top.

China was a close second with25,500 (13.8 percent), followed by25,275 from Britain (13.7 percent), ac-cording to the 2011-12 Migration Pro-gramme report.

Bowen said seven of the top 10countries for Australia-bound mi-grants were now in Asia — the othersbeing the Philippines, sri Lanka,Malaysia, south Korea and Vietnam —with south Africa and Ireland round-ing out the top count.

skilled migration accounted forthe majority of the programme’splaces, with accountants the top pro-fession followed by cooks, software

and applications programmers, soft-ware engineers and developers.

“skilled migration is essential tosupport our economy and help over-come the challenges of an ageing pop-ulation,” said Bowen.

“Over 60 percent of skilled migra-tion visas go to employer, governmentand regional sponsored places to helpfill critical skills needs.”

The report confirms census datareleased last month showing that In-dian-born people were the fastestgrowing group in Australia, now ac-counting for 5.6 percent of the popula-tion, preceded only by China (6.0percent) and New Zealand (9.0 per-cent).

The rise comes despite damage toAustralia’s reputation from a spate ofviolence against Indians in southernMelbourne, including a 2010 stabbingmurder which stoked diplomatic ten-sions and saw a sharp drop in studentnumbers.

Indian enrolments are still in de-cline, with 40,709 students in the yearto May, a 24.3 percent slump from ayear earlier, which is almost triple theaverage fall being seen in the sectordue to the strong Australian dollar.

Indians now Australia’stop migrants

bangladesh mourns

best-known writer

Humayun ahmedDHAKA: Bangladesh’s most popularfiction writer Humayun Ahmed has diedin the United states after a near year-longbattle against colon cancer, his family saidFriday. He was 64. Ahmed, also thecountry’s leading film director and TVdrama-maker, “was pronounced dead bydoctors at Bellevue Hospital in New York”on Thursday, his brother Ahsan Habibtold AFP. Ahmed wrote over 200 fictionand non-fiction books, almost all of thembestsellers in Bangladesh, often tacklingthe life struggles of the middle class inlucid and easily understandable Bangla,peppered with humour. Many have havesince been translated into English,Japanese and Russian among otherforeign languages, including “GouripurJunction”, a work of fiction centredaround the small town in northernBangaldesh where Ahmed was born. afp

amnesty decries

abuses against

Myanmar MuslimsBANGKOK: Myanmar security forceshave committed serious rights abusesagainst Muslims in violence-hit westernRakhine state during six weeks ofemergency rule, Amnesty Internationalsaid Friday. Hundreds of people, mostlymen and boys, have been detained insweeps of areas heavily populated by theMuslim Rohingya group, with almost allheld incommunicado and some ill-treated, it said. Most arrests appear tohave been “arbitrary and discriminatory”,it added. “In six weeks, Myanmar has notonly added to a long litany of humanrights violations against the Rohingya,but has also done an about-turn on thesituation of political imprisonment,” saidAmnesty researcher Benjamin Zawacki.While communal violence appears tohave eased since the unrest erupted inearly June, violations by the securityforces have increased, he said. afp

tel aViV: israelis try to extinguish flames from a protester who set himself on fire during a demonstration on friday to

mark the first anniversary of last summer’s social justice demonstrations that swept the country to protest the spiraling

cost of living. the protestor died of his wounds. AFP

MOSCOWafp

Russia has detained four men suspected oforganising an assassination attempt on theIslamic leader of Russia’s main Muslim re-gion and killing another top cleric, investi-gators said Friday.

Moscow-based investigators said themain reason for the double attacks in theoil-rich republic of Tatarstan — oftenpraised for its religious tolerance — was the

clerics’ fight against Muslim radicals.On Thursday the Mufti of Tatarstan,

Ildus Faizov, was wounded in a car bombwhile his former deputy, Valiulla Yakupov,was shot dead in the region’s main city ofKazan in twin attacks. The strikes, an hourapart, came as Muslims prepared to beginobserving Ramadan at sundown.

Russian President Vladimir Putin calledthe attacks, which have shocked the coun-try, a “serious signal” to the authorities.

“According to the investigation, the main

motive of the crime was the professional ac-tivity of the victims including their ideologi-cal differences with opponents,” theInvestigative Committee said. It citedFaizov’s “tough stance” against organisationspromoting radical Islam in Tatarstan follow-ing his election last year. The four detainedare 57-year-old Rustem Gataullin, head ofIdel Hajj, a tour operator for Muslim pil-grims; 39-year-old Kazan resident MuratGalleyev; and Tatarstan residents, Airatshakirov, 41, and Azat Gainutdinov, 31.

Russia detains four over attacks on Muslim clerics

Egypt’s Morsi orders release of572 detained by militaryCAIRO: Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on Thursday ordered the release of 572people detained by the military, the official MENA news agency reported. Morsi, whowas sworn in last month as Egypt’s first elected civilian president, “issued an order topardon 572 people convicted by the military justice,” MENA said. The Egyptianpresident had ordered the formation of a committee to review the cases of civilians triedby the military. A total of 11,879 Egyptians have been detained by the military since lastyear’s uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, according to figures issued by thecommittee. Of these, 9,714 have since been released. Activists and international rightsgroups have repeatedly called for the end of military trials of civilians. “International lawis crystal-clear on this: no civilian, regardless of the crime, should be tried by a militarycourt,” sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human RightsWatch, said this week. afp

new Delhi: indian Muslims shout religious slogans following congregational friday prayers

at the site of a Mughal-era structure near Jama Masjid. the archaeological remains of a

structure, supposedly the 17th century ‘akbarabadi Masjid’, was unearthed at Subhas park

on July 6. the discovery has put the archaeological Survey of india and the Delhi Metro

Rail corporation against each other, with the aSi recommending further investigation of

the site while the DMRc playing down the heritage tag of the findings, a report said. AFP

KHI 21-07-2012_Layout 1 7/21/2012 1:37 AM Page 9

Comment10Saturday, 21 July, 2012

Arif NizamiEditor

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

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

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Misplaced chagrin all around

Gilani out, Gilani in

Individual by-elections in a particular constituencycan, in no way, serve as an index of how things willplay out in a general election. There is too muchentropy in the body-politic for that to happen. Yes,

politics here is politics there but the contours of eachconstituency are still different in their own way.

But the candidacy of Qadir Gilani for the Multan seathis father was forced to vacate was too much of anopportunity for the media to let go of. This election willdetermine, many from the commentariat claimed, howthe sitting federal government has lost its mandate. Andso, off it was to the polls, where the Gilanis were to facelongtime rivals, the Bosan clan. In what was a nail-bitingelection, Gilani won by a lead of four thousand.

Many sheepish grins on TV ensued. Goal-posts had tobe shifted: but he only managed to scrape through by sucha short margin, was the new catchphrase.

True, the number, if compared to the senior Gilani’slead in ‘08, was small, but the comparison is not apple-to-apple. Whereas in the last election, different partiesfielded their own candidates, this one was the PPP vs allthe rest. Mr Bosan got the Jamaat’s support. And thePML(N)’s. And the PTI’s.

Whereas Mr Bosan maturely accepted there had been norigging in the election he had just lost - may all candidatesof the future be like him in this regard - some from thePTI’s media machine were screaming quite the opposite!

The above two types of tut-tutting of the electionsresults, however flawed, are not mean spirited. Thatparticular distinction went to those pundits who appearedon the airwaves and rather than weighing the lead orcontesting the validity of the results, saw it fit to be caustictowards the electorate itself. Idiots, said some; illiterates,said others. Classy.

A respect for the will of the people is paramount forthe polity to get anywhere. As explained earlier, individualelections don’t mean anything more than what they do. Butfor whatever it is worth, the people of Multan have spoken.Opponents of the PPP had better learn to grin and bear it.

The world according to nawazhow will he navigate the choppy waters?

Nawaz sharif, is he really the sim-pleton he is sometimes portrayedto be in the media? After all, hehas been in the business of poli-tics now for almost three decades.

Barring nine years of Musharraf’s dictator-ship, the sharifs have enjoyed the perks andprivileges of power. Even during the Mushar-raf interlude, after cutting a deal with him,they were the lucky recipients of the lavishhospitality of their saudi hosts and mentors.

Naturally being the second largest politicalmachine in the country and remaining in powerfor an extended period requires more brainsthan brawn. Granted the PML(N) supremo hasbeen luckier than others, but he deserves fullmarks for playing his cards right nonetheless.

Like all good things in life, even luck runsout. After trouncing the PPP in its citadel ofPunjab, the PML(N) is facing a formidablechallenge from Imran Khan’s growing popu-larity in the province.

After wallowing in luxury during his exile,first at suroor palace in Jeddah and later athis expensive apartment in London’s exclu-sive Park Lane, sharif is somehow losing hismagic touch. He likes to spend more time inLondon, Frankfurt, Dubai or singapore or athis Raiwind palace, rather than interactingwith his party men or women back home.

According to sharif, even if ten primeministers are sacrificed at the altar of rule oflaw, it is a small price to pay. It’s another mat-ter that if these prime ministers belonged tothe PML(N), the party leadership might nothave hesitated in sending such an assertivesupreme Court packing. “Intoxicated with itsown independence”, even before such aneventuality arose.

For the first time, Nawaz has declared hisintention to consult parties outside the parlia-ment for the purpose of forming a consensual

caretaker government to hold fair and freeelections. This could be construed as an olivebranch to his nemesis, the PTI chief.

But the mixed signals emanating from theparty continue. It’s a bit confusing. At the sameday the PML(N) supremo spoke to the media,his leader of the opposition in the National As-sembly, Ch Nisar Ali, declared in his usualacerbic style that PTI was a test tube baby ofthe former IsI chief, General shuja Pasha.Nisar also warned Imran that those who live inglass houses should not fling stones at others.

True. But who is not living in a glasshouse? The Zardari-led PPP, the PTI or forthat matter the PML(N) itself? It is true that,today, Nawaz is positioning himself as anti-es-tablishment. But how can he deny that hehimself is a test tube baby of the late discred-ited dictator General Zia-ul-Haq.

Notwithstanding Mehrangate (that pro-vided the financial base for the IJI - the socalled Islami Jamhoori Ittehad), it must beconceded that over the years the PML(N) hascome into its own. Through hard work andsheer political savvy in filling the slot of theformidable anti-PPP vote, the party has cometo stay. Especially in Punjab where - till now -it has enjoyed a commanding position.

Nawaz being anti-establishment was not al-ways the case. He was the pivotal part of the anti-PPP alliance sewed and stitched by the IsI. It isa sad commentary on the apex court that it hasnot shown the same alacrity in disposing of As-ghar Khan’s petition on the matter as it has donein petitions against Zardari and his cohorts.

In a similar vein, the PML(N) should con-cede the response Imran is getting across thecountry is not IsI-sponsored. If intelligenceagencies could prop up political parties withlarge crowds, Musharraf would have suc-ceeded in making the PML(Q) win the 2008elections and the PPP and PML(N) leadershipwould still be in exile.

Both the PML(N) and the PPP should pon-der over the Imran Khan phenomenon. The PTIchief portrays himself as an agent of change. Heis probably not. But, certainly, he is emergingas a third alternative for the voters.

The PPP might draw pleasure from thePML(N) leadership’s obvious discomfort withPTI’s growing popularity. It might not translatemuch into seats to dislodge the incumbents,but would certainly play the spoiler’s role.

The reason why Nawaz is trying to doff themantle of a friendly opposition and demand-ing early elections is the underlying fear ofImran. The PTI needs time to reorganise itsdisparate party machine and woo phenomenalnumber of first-time young voters. It is for

this reason that it is not vociferous in de-manding immediate polls.

The PPP, on the other hand, knows thatgoing by its performance of the past four anda half years in government, it is going to facea tough time at the hustings. However, it feelsthat if it could ease the burden of perennialload shedding and give more money to its sit-ting ticket holders, it could still carry the day.

Even though Yousaf Raza Gilani’s scionQadir Gilani scraped through in the by-elec-tion in Multan, the ruling party should be wellaware of its dismal position in Punjab. If not,it is living in a fool’s paradise.

It is banking upon Imran playing thespoiler’s role as well as on the seraiki provinceslogan in the south of Punjab. The party - de-spite its poor record in government - shouldbe able to regain its majority in sindh. How-ever, barring Balochistan, it winning in therest of the country is open to question.

The probable results in the forthcomingelections could be a hodgepodge of parities re-taining their respective strongholds. The onlywild card in the pack is Imran Khan who hasvowed to sit in the opposition if he is unableto eke out a majority for his party. Hence, inthe end analysis, if Imran refuses to play ball,the next government could well be a coalition.

Zardari as president has finally spoken de-claring the parliament as the supreme legisla-tive body of the country. Notwithstandingsharif’s newfound penchant for an independ-ent judiciary, all institutions have to workwithin their respective domains for the sake ofthe smooth running of the democratic system.

Regardless of posturing, both the PPP andthe PML(N) have to sit down and evolve amodicum of consensus on basic issues includ-ing the timing of the elections and the subse-quent formation of the caretaker government.

Issues like the economy, Balochistan, ter-rorism and the deteriorating law and ordersituation in the country (including Punjab)need urgent attention. Both the parties shouldrealise that people are sick and tired of theirpetty squabbling. In the process, the countryand the democratic system is suffering.

There is talk of a military-backed govern-ment of technocrats for a couple of years tosort out the present mess. It’s an idea basedon sheer naiveté. How can such a setup suc-ceed unless one of the major parties is willingto lend a helping hand? Certainly neither thePPP nor PML(N) could support such a dubi-ous setup. But they should evolve a consensusin thwarting it.

The writer is Editor, Pakistan Today

By Arif Nizami

The pendulum that Pak-istan has been swinging isshowing increasing signsof wobbliness. It appears

that Pakistan can no longer be al-lowed the luxury of enjoying a bitat both ends. It is time to settle forwhat it may (rightfully) construe asappropriate for its interests whichshould also be acceptable to the in-ternational community.

There is no one to blame for thissordid state than Pakistan’s own my-opic policies formulated and prac-tised through decades of corrupt andself-centred leaderships – be they‘democratic’ or ‘military’. In an edi-torial captioned Wheeling and deal-ing with Pakistan, Washington Posthas recently commented: “The faultis not inadequate diplomacy by the(Pakistani) administration, dronestrikes against al-Qaeda targets inPakistan’s tribal territories or theraid that killed Osama bin laden at acompound near the heart of thecountry’s military establishment.Rather, the insurmountable obstacleis the political dysfunction of Pak-istan, a country divided between afeuding, corrupt and insular civilianpolitical elite and a military estab-lishment dependent on terrorist al-lies and obsessed with unacceptableand unattainable geopolitical ambi-tions”. Is it really as bad as it looks?

Pakistan has been traditionallypropelled by an uneasy accord be-tween a combine of inept and ex-ceedingly corrupt political mafiasand an overwhelmingly India-cen-tric military leadership eternallyvowing to safeguard the country’sfounding ethos and, lately, its Is-lamist credentials. This has beenachieved through bouts of experi-mentations in parliamentary democ-racy in a country lacking in theground conditions essentials for anyrepresentative system to work effi-ciently and countless bloodless mili-tary interventions on the excuse ofan abysmal lack of delivery of the po-litical governments. It appears thatthis unspoken contract between thecivilian and the military arms of thecountry has waned sufficiently tosow seeds of discord with an over-zealous political mafia protestingloudly regarding the interventionistproclivities of the military as the corecause of its own inadequacies.Wrong it may be, but the rationalehas won buyers across the interna-tional community because the mili-tary has apparently stuck to itstraditional mindset and methodolo-gies in securing its objectives. In thecontemporary context, that is tanta-mount to extending support to theterrorist networks and sanctuariesthat the world is united to dismantle.

This, inter alia, pits it against thecombined might and resourcefulnessof the entire civilised world. CanPakistan remain secure in its in-creasing alienation from the interna-tional community and still hope toachieve its objectives, even survive?

For the rest of the world, Pak-istan’s commitment to defending itsinterests has become synonymouswith an attempt to damage their in-fatuation with eliminating terror-ism. As Washington Post commentsfurther in its editorial, “Even suchan accord (of the political leader-ship) is unlikely with the militarywhich appears locked into backinga militant Taliban faction as itsproxy in Afghanistan and is equallyrelentless in its attempt to challengeIndia through a use of terroristproxies. Until Pakistan develops ademocratic civilian government ca-pable of purging that belligerence,the United States will have to settlefor a pragmatic combination ofbuying off Pakistan when it is pos-sible – and containing it when it isnot”. Imagine! This is the statusPakistan has degenerated to.

After a 7-month hiatus in its re-lationship with the Us, Pakistan hasemerged as decisively weaker andhas also lost on numerous opportu-nities to play a meaningful role inthe post-Us-withdrawal-from-

Afghanistan environment. This hasalso created an enormous trustdeficit between the two which wouldbe difficult to bridge in a long timenow. Consequently, the relevance ofa combination of the “paying off”and “buying off” strategy which theUs opinion-makers perceive appro-priate for Pakistan at this juncturemakes some sense after all. This isall to Pakistan’s ultimate detrimentand a serious setback to its short-and long-term policy interests andits relevance in the region.

While the subjugation of Pak-istan’s political elite to its militarycommand has remained almost un-shaken because of the manner ofthe former’s emergence, its inher-ent contradictions have intensifiedwith the induction of the incum-bent aberration which is beingrightly touted as the most corruptgovernment ever in the history ofthe country. It may, therefore, beadvisable that before coming to anyconclusions about Pakistan, Usshould recognise its own part inhaving further badgered the tenu-ous balance between the civil andthe military arms of the state ofPakistan by facilitating the induc-tion into power of a highly ineptgovernment vide the NRO whichmay have damaged the prospect ofdeveloping a “democratic civilian

government capable of purgingthat (military) belligerence”.

Most of the conflict that is cur-rently raging in the country pittingone institution against the other isbecause the weird formulation couldnot stand before any court of lawanywhere in the world. That’s whythe executive perpetuated a conflictwith the judiciary which, at onetime, was being perceived as a pre-cursor to the demise of the system.Pakistan may have outlived thatfear, but the seeds of conflict havedamaged its foundations with nosigns of it waning in the near future.

Harmony within and co-exis-tence with the regional and interna-tional stakeholders is the keychallenge that Pakistan faces. Thiscannot be achieved if it continues tobe perceived to be “obsessed with un-acceptable and unattainable geopo-litical ambitions”. That calls for aremedy in terms of redefining ourstrategic priorities. With increasingsigns of discontent with its approachto tackling the existing and evolvingissues, the future may not offer muchrespite for its over-extended re-sources and its myopic policymakers.

The writer is a political analystand a member of the PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf. He can be reachedat raoofhasan@hotmail.com

with a bit-of-all strategy failing, it is time to decide

The swing gets wobbly

candid cornerBy Raoof Hasan

KHI 21-07-2012_Layout 1 7/21/2012 1:37 AM Page 10

Comment 11Saturday, 21 July, 2012

Editor’s mailSend your letters to: Letters to Editor,

Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah,Lahore, Pakistan. Fax: +92-42-36298302.

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

Pakistan Today exclusively.

rIP, rajesh KhannaBollywood veteran actor Rajesh Khanna

died recently. The news has left many of his fans grieved.

In Pakistan almost all the leading newschannels of Pakistan aired the news of RajeshKhanna’s death and showed his biography. Forseveral hours, the news of Rajesh Khanna’s deathwas aired in headlines and in detailed news.

I remember when Dr Israr Ahmed died in2010, no channel in Pakistan gave coverage to thenews of his death. If an Islamic scholar had died,no channel would have covered his death likeRajesh Khanna’s death news.

It would have been better if these channelsmaintained the balance in all the news.

The one question I want to ask is when anyPakistani artist dies, do the Indian channels also

air the news for several hours?MUBASHIR MAHMOOD

Karachi

ntS should improve its servicesThe National Testing service (NTs), which is

an authorised institution by the government ofPakistan to conduct NAT, GAT and otherexaminations for admission in various universities,recruitments and scholarships by Higher EducationCommission (HEC), has shown very poorperformance since its establishment.

The fee structure is inappropriate and the feefor each test is so high that it is hardly affordablefor students seeking admission in the Masters, MPhil and PhD programmes.There is only one testcenter in the Cantt area of Lahore for GAT. Is thatone centre convenient for the students who come

from far-flung areas like Wahga and shadara?NTs does not provide the participants with

basic facilities such as water, electricity andwashrooms at test centers.

The schedule of advertisement in newspapers,test day and result declaration date is mentionedon its website but the result is not posted on itswebsite on the published date. One more problemthat irks the candidates is that its helplinenumbers either do not respond or are always onbusy mode.

After the test day, students don’t have any way to contact the NTs for queries due to the non-availability of functional helplines or emailaddresses. The NTs should be more efficient infacilitating the test participants because they pay a heavy amount in fees.

WAQAS SHAHAIDLahore

whitelieSby ess aich

Afamous anchor at a (the?) leading TVchannel was rumoured to have quit inprotest of the channel re-hiring a hate-

mongering ratings-pulling televangelist.she hasn’t.Company insiders say that the diva’s resig-

nation is a bit of an annual feature where shecomes back at a renegotiated package.

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

Ah, the curious similarities betweenAmbassadors Haqqani and Munter.Both got the boot because they were

perceived to be pleading the case of the countrythey were representing their country in ratherthan the other way around.

Hussain Haqqani in the memo scandal andCameron Munter’s efforts for the Us to apolo-gise over the salala incident are sort of mirrorsof each other.

For feedback, comments, suggestions and, most importantly, tips, contact us at whitelies@pakistantoday.com.pk

All those darbaars withoutair-conditioning sure mustbe taxing for that special

khadim we all know and love (buthe sleeps with the AC on, screamsformer interior minister RehmanMalik.)

Be that as it may, Mr Malik,(and we’ll ask you another timehow you know this) but all thatdaytime garmi is still a little toomuch for the CM to bear. so for asabbatical, the Punjab CM goesoff to Doonga Gali to the familymansion. Accompanying him isthe vast, vast entourage of his se-curity detail.

saronjani Naidu’s famous re-marked about Gandhi: it takes afortune to keep him living inpoverty.

Perhaps the Punjab exchequerwould be better spent if the CMwere to simply switch the AC onduring the darbaars.

Invest in the youth, pleaseYouth of this country, in particular, that of

my home province sindh is down anddesperate. Our provincial government is notdoing anything to ameliorate the fate of theyouth in the province. Only the other day, onediplomat from the western world asked me ifthere was any youth ministry in your province,if so, then what that ministry was doing. Afterthis very demanding question, I was mute fora while and told him to visit the website of theprovincial government/department to learnabout its activities for the promotion anddevelopment of the youth of this soil. Heopined that he had learnt during his stay inthis country, especially, in the capital city ofsindh, Karachi, the policy makers anddecision-makers did not believe in the youthwhich was an asset of any nation.

I appeal to the ruling elite to believe inyoung people because young people have thepower to lead and they must be providedwith opportunities to lead and be preventedfrom committing suicides and resorting todrug addiction and alcoholism.

HASHIM ABROIslamabad

The holy month of fasting, Ramzan-ul-Mubarik, is just around the corner. The faithfulhave already started or completed making thenecessary preparations for fasting and earning asmany blessings of Almighty Allah as possible.

It is good to see that the federal government aswell as the newly-inducted Deputy Prime MinisterCh Parvez Elahi have kept their commitment to thepeople regarding continuation of the RamzanPackage at the Utility stores network throughoutthe country. Under the package, hundreds of itemsincluding atta, ghee, rice, sugar and other daily useitems are being sold to the people at subsidisedrates with effect from July 16, perhaps.

While making the announcement regardingcontinuation of the Ramzan Package at the Utilitystores last month or so, Ch Parvez Elahi had said

that the Ramzan Package would benefit peoplefrom all walks of life in general and the poorpeople with limited and meager resources inparticular both in the rural and urban areas.

He had also hinted at expansion of the Utilitystores network all over the country in a continuousphased manner in order to ensure that more andmore outlets become available to the people forpurchasing good quality daily use items atreasonable rates throughout the year and atsubsidised rates during Ramzan.

While appreciating the launching of theRamzan Package with increased number of dailyuse and essential articles available at subsidisedrates, this is to avail this opportunity to make animpassioned appeal to the prospective buyers atthe Utility stores to please not to indulge in panic

buying at all on one account or the other. Thiswould create avoidable and unnecessary shortageof one or more items and at the same time, storingof the essential daily use articles by some peoplewould deprive other needy people of these itemswhich in no way is something to be appreciated.

Furthermore, such panic buying provides anopportunity to the hoarders and the blackmarketers to exploit the situation, which couldeasily be avoided, and sell the daily use items athigher prices to the needy people. so, please avoidpanic buying during Ramzan as much as possibleso that all can avail this facility. This is an appealby an elderly faithful to the fellow faithful with thehope they would give this due consideration.

MUHAMMAD MURTAZA ZISHANLahore

ramzan Package at utility Stores

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12 Saturday, 21 July, 2012

Aishwarya rai in a hollywood film?

AIShWARyA Rai Bachchan, who lost on MadhurBhandarkar’s heroine due to her pregnancy,has a reason to rejoice. The former Miss

World has reportedly been approached for aninternational project by director Daniel Silva. The filmwill also feature Billy Zane (who played Kate Winslet’sfiancé in Titanic), TV actress Sara Khan and singerLucky Ali, reports Mid Day. Sara confirmed to thetabloid: “I have signed the film. I have been told themakers have approached Ash. We will start shooting inLos Angeles from September 13. It’s a thriller film andI am playing Billy’s wife.” Aishwarya Rai received a lotof flak for her weight gain post pregnancy. now, thenew mom is apparently working hard to get back intoshape for this project. She was last seen in 2010 flickGuzaarish. her fans can’t wait to watch her again onthe big screen! newS DeSK

houseful for Cocktail in Pakistan

The romantic comedy movie Cocktail, releasedon the July 13, 2012, directed by homiAdajania and written by the talented Imtiaz Ali

who has in the past directed blockbuster films like JabWe Met, Love Aaj Kal and Rockstar, still remains in thehangover of its exceptional box office response. Themovie that made an outstanding Rs. 10.75 CARoReSon its first day at the Indian Box office alone, and hascollected an aggregate of Rs. 45 CARoReS worldwidein only 5 days. It has gained 90% to 100%registration and occupancy of seating capacity all overIndia and Pakistan in every show weather morning,noon, evening, night or after midnight. The Love AajKal duo Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone, alongsidethe beautiful supermodel Diana Penty “Meera” havedone an exceptional job of portraying themselves asyouth symbols in a story that whirls around threeamazing strangers who walk each other’s path only tofind love tangle all three in a complicated andconfusing desire for each other, in a love triangle.CoCKTAIL is IMGC GLoBAL entertainment’s 61stMovie Presentation in Pakistan and the company is allset to various Major releases lined up for 2012 and thecoming year. newS DeSK

john Abraham gets Bipashadropped from his film

John Abraham has shown his clout. he hasreportedly asked the makers of Shootout AtWadala (SAW) to drop his former flame Bipasha

Basu from the film. It seems that recent interviewswhere Bips caustically hinted at infidelity during hernine-year relationship with John has not gone downwell with the actor. ToI was the first to break thenews that Bipasha had been signed for a cameo andan item song in SAW. She was to play the characterof Chitra, a love interest for Sabir’s character (playedby Manoj Bajpayee), who is Dawood Ibrahim’s elderbrother in the film. John plays Manya Surve, agangster who bumps off Sabir. And though there wasto be just a fleeting interaction between John andBips in the film, we hear from a very reliable sourceconnected to the film that John — who is currentlyon a better professional wicket than Bipasha — hasallegedly asked the makers to find a replacement forChitra. Are the makers paying heed to John’s diktat?“naturally yes,” says the insider. “In Bollywood, ahero still gets his way.’’ couRteSY toi

WHAT’S IT ABOUT? Amar Joshi (sunielshetty) who runs a video library in Banarasaspires to be a film maker. Despite facingobjection from his father Amar Joshi de-cides to sell his video library and join a filmInstitute in London. After completing hiscourse he lands in Mumbai to make a film.suraj (Rajpal Yadav) is a struggling actorwho is Amar’s only connection in Bollywood.Amar Joshi starts his struggle to make hisfilm by meeting different type of producerswho have their own take on Amar’s story.After many failed attempts He finally bumpsinto Monty Chadda (Rakesh Bedi) a P.R.Publicity man who sees good potential inAmar and decides to produce his film. Amar& Monty take help of star secretary Gupta ji(Akhil Mishra) to convince Mohini (UditaGoswami) & her starry mother Mummy ji(Neena Gupta) who agrees to do the film.However, as they say it’s not so easy to makea film, problem creeps up and whether thefilm gets made or not follows through therest of the plot. STORY ANALYSIS: On the very concep-tual level, Mere Dost Picture Abhi Baaki Hai(MDPABH) had the potential to make a verywitty take on the entire film fraternity andhad struck a chord with countless peoplewho nurture Bollywood dreams and gothrough the grind for the same. However,what it ends up becoming is a shoddy plotthat not only bores you but annoys you too.

The film has been in the cans for as longas nine years and the works of friction forwhatever may have been the reason can beseen. Not only do the actors look extremelyuninterested, even the script seems to havedone a torrid job in formulating this com-edy. The film resorts to sexual innuendoswith the help of double entendres havingbelow the belt jokes dishing out one afterthe other. However, even at that, instead of

coming across as funny, they end up becom-ing crass leaving you red on your face.PERFORMANCES: Both suniel shettyand Rajpal Yadav ham in epic proportions.It appears as if the share an internal joke bycoming together with such a mediocre per-formance. Even the rest of the cast likesuresh Menon, Avtar Gill, Deepak Qazir,Razak Khan Mumait Khan, shawar Ali,shyan Munshi and Neena Gupta act as aidesof the hamming actors.MUSIC/CINEMATOGRAPHY/EDIT-ING: In the film where the backbone, i.e thestory itself goes horribly wrong, the leastsaid about its technical aspects the better.OUR VERDICT: Mere Dost Picture AbhiBaaki Hai is inane, uninspiring and insipid.Best avoided. couRteSY StaRDuSt

Mere Dost Picture

Abhi Baaki Hai

Movie Review

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13

harper takes her firststeps with mommy

HARPeR Beckham was the centre of attentionat Victoria’s fashion presentation in Dublin asshe was seen tottering along her mum at the

event. The little girl, who recently celebrated her firstbirthday, was seen tottering along next to her fa-mous mother, who held her daughter as she set offat speed along the marbled floor inside the BrownThomas department store in Grafton Street, theDaily Mail reported. Wearing a blue dress and blackshoes for the event, harper beamed as she walkedalong, clearly thrilled by what appeared to be amongher first steps. Meanwhile, Victoria was seen wearinga black coat over her matching black dress, lookedon proudly at her adorable little girl. newS DeSK

Katie holmes to go back toBroadway after divorce

KATIe holmes is returning to Broadway in her firstmajor project since her divorce from Tom Cruise.The 33-year-old actor will star in Theresa

Rebeck’s Dead Accounts, a five character comedy that willbe directed by three-time Tony Award winner Jacko’Brien, CBS news reported. According to the new yorkTimes, holmes will play a “fairly unglamorous” characternamed Lorna, who lives with her aging parents inCincinnati while trying to pull her own life together. Theplay will open this fall at the Music Box Theatre. Datesand other casting news will be announced later. holmes’made her Broadway debut in 2008, when she appearedin a revival of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons. newS DeSK

tom Cruises lashes out atclaims made by a magazine

ToM Cruise’s lawyer has slammed a magazinethat published a story that accuses the actor ofabandoning his daughter after divorce. Attorney

Bert Fields fired off an email, attacking Life and Style,for what he says is “a bogus cover headline that Surihas been ‘ABAnDoneD By heR DAD.” “That, asanyone knows who saw their photos togetheryesterday and today, is a disgusting, vicious lie,”TMZ.com quoted Fields as saying. “Until this week,Tom was shooting a film on location, but he spoke toSuri every day. he’s with Suri right now; and he waswith her the day before Life and Style trumpeted theircruelly false accusation. Tom dearly loves Suri and thelast thing he would ever do is abandoned her,” headded. newS DeSK

Actor Celina Jaitley can’t believe thelaw. The 30-year-old, who is married

to Austrian hotelier Peter Haag andrecently gave birth to twins

Winston and Viraaj in Dubai,can’t get an Indian passport for

her sons. she, herself a citizen ofIndia, says all pillar-to-post

running has proved futile due toloopholes in citizenship laws. Her

hurt is evident from this letter thatshe shared with us... “Being extremely

patriotic, having been a 4th generationArmy girl, a Miss India Universe and an

Indian actor, it was extremely important to meand my husband that our twin sons get an Indianpassport besides the Austrian passport. I was underthe impression that based on their mother’s

nationality, they would automatically get anIndian passport too. However, I was in for a rude

shock as we were told by consulate officials thatthey cannot have an Indian passport as onlythe father’s nationality applies, and dualcitizenship is only possible with Canada andUsA. It was very disappointing to know this

because I believe these laws should bereconsidered in special cases such as when one

parent is an active tax paying Indian citizen. Childrenshould automatically be allowed both nationalities untilthe age of 18. so for now, the boys are on a tourist visa tovisit their own motherland.” And, she says her dreammay remain unfulfilled forever. “Because of this flaw incitizenship laws, I may never be able to see my sons inthe service of our great nation in the Indian Armyuniform.” newS DeSK

JACKIE Chan has had a change of heart over his decision to retire fromaction films, as he has assured that he is definitely not quitting. The 58-year-old actor declared in May that he was“too old” for stunts now and increasing

violence in the wider world had put him off.But when the martial arts hero with a comicedge was asked by TMZ.com whether hewas leaving the business, he replied:“No! I still do action movies!”speaking at the launch of his newproduction Chinese Zodiac at theCannes Film Festival two months ago,Chan insisted it would be his finalperformance as an action hero, theDaily Mail reported. “This is my lastaction film. I am not young any more. Iam really, really tired,” he said then.He added that he was no longer happydoing such movies, because is worriedabout the increasingly aggressive attitude ofpeople today. “The world is too violent rightnow. It’s a dilemma - I love fighting. I likeaction. but I don’t like violence,” he said.He said that he wanted to take on moreserious roles and emulate thesuccess of Robert De Niro. “I don’tjust want to be an action star, Iwant to be a true actor. I wantto get rid of my image. I wantthe audience to know alsoI’m not only a comedian.I can act. Day by day,year by year, I’mgoing to show youthe real JackieChan,” heinsisted.newS DeSK

jACKIe ChAnretUrns to MAKIng

ACtIon fIlMs

jAItley’ssons don’tget IndIAnPAssPorts

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14Saturday, 21 July, 2012

Infotainment

Christian group teachesschool children 'most rapevictims regret abortion'

Acontroversial Christian charity has comeunder fire for teaching school childrenaround England that abortion can lead to

infection, holes in the womb and dramaticallyincrease the risk of depression and suicide. Asample slide from Lovewise, which conductshundreds of presentations to secular and faith-basedschools each year, claims 93% of rape victims whoaborted a foetus regretted it, compared to 70% whohad babies with none "regretting it." Labour'sshadow public health minister Diane Abbott MP toldThe Huffington Post UK that many parents "will findthis as disturbing as I do." "What we’re seeing issilent, right-wing indoctrination in ordinaryschools," she said. "These groups are appearing inschools without any record of it happening,accountability or public awareness." newS DeSK

Woman calls 911 to complainabout a bad mugshot

WE'VE all had bad photographs taken of us -and as you'll see from the picture gallerybelow, mug shots seem to be a nigh-on

guaranteed way of achieving one - but one Georgia womanwasn't going to stand for it when a mug shot of hersappeared in a local broadsheet, no sir. After spotting a snapof herself in the Bad & Busted mug shot paper, TonyaFowler picked up her phone and called 911 to let the policeknow she did not approve, reports The Huffington Post Us."Ms. Fowler contacted 911 earlier today in reference to beingupset about a picture," an officer stated in the reportobtained by The smoking Gun. "I informed Ms. Fowler tocontact 911 for emergencies, injuries orviolence."Amazingly, the photograph we've got for youabove is not the picture she initially took umbrage with, butthe mug shot taken by the police officers who arrested herfor - you guessed it - unlawful use of the emergency service,following on from a previous incident when she needed aplace to keep her sleeping bags and a stranger wouldn't lether use their house. newS DeSK

Pepsi t-shirts and nike trainers'banned' from london olympics

LORD Coe has admitted fans will be banned fromwearing Pepsi T-shirts at the Olympic park - andcould even be turned away for sporting Nike

trainers. speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Todayprogramme, Coe had been trying to end negativitysurrounding the build-up. Earlier Boris Johnson calledon those worrying about the Olympics to "put a sock init", stop complaining and get behind Team GB for theGames. But Coe's admission, just a week before thegames begin, will do little to create a positive feelingaround the event. Presenter Evan Davis challenged theOlympics supremo on whether he would be allowed toturn up to an event in a Pepsi T-shirt. newS DeSK

over the last couple of years,samsung's compact, semi-pro cameras have startedgetting really good. or theytake great photos, anyway.But they've been hinderedby annoying little detailsthat make you go Arrrrgh.the samsung nX20 packs thesame burly sensor as last year's nX200, and itadds Wi-fi to feed yourInternet addiction. didsamsung finally build acamera you'll want to buy?

the nX20 has a larger body than other mirrorlesscameras, and its sturdy build and slew of buttonsfeel more like a dslr. It has a pop-out lCd, a pop-up flash, and an electronic viewfinder.

What Is It?

Who's it For?

the enthusiast photographerwho wants dslr performancein a (slightly) smaller, lighter package.

NX20

PrICe: $1100 w/18-55mm lenssensor: 20.3 megapixel, APs-CMAX Iso: 12800 (standard)VIdeo: 1920 x 1080/ 30fpssCreen: 614,000 dot, 3" lCdWeIght: 12 ounces w/o battery

A $1100 mirrorless,interchangeable-lens camera with a digital viewfinder, a dslr-sizedAPs-C sensor, and Wi-fi features.

Design

Buggy firmware that makes the camera unreliable.Wi-fi is nice, but the ability to quickly post tofacebook feels like a throwaway feature on a high-quality camera like this one.

Who's it For?

for such a small camera, ample buttons makeadjusting shooting settings a breeze. no moremenus. As with the samsung nX200, the slowautofocus is a drag. on the upside, the camera canshoot continuously, very fast, and the photoquality is excellent.

Using It

It hurts to say it, because this camera is so good much of the time, but thenX20 is not good enough to cost $1100. It's too big to be compact, and tooexpensive to have these problems. the photos are lovely, and the design isexcellent, but unfortunately, the buggy firmware and sluggish autofocusmakes the camera feel unpolished. Wait for gizmodo's review of Canon's t4ibefore you make a purchase at this price—or consider saving a few hundredbucks and going for the Panasonic lumix gX1.

hould You Buy It?

Every human has limits. You can onlyrun so fast, jump so high, and go forso long without water. But whatabout restrictions upon our fivesenses, those tools that we use toperceive and understand oursurroundings? Here are tenlimitations on human perception thathave a direct impact on how weunderstand the world. VISION About one quarter of the human brain is

involved in visual processing - more thanany other sense. Arguably the mostclosely studied of the five main senses,the society for Neuroscience claims thatmore is known about vision than anyother vertebrate sensory system. A pairof healthy human eyes has a total field ofview of approximately 200 degrees hor-izontally — about 120 degrees of whichare shared by both eyes, giving rise towhat's known as binocular vision — and135 degrees vertically, (though these val-

ues tend to decrease with age). This isdue to the fact that both of our eyes arepositioned more or less on the front ofour heads, as opposed to the sides. Hav-ing eyes positioned on the sides of one'shead is common in prey species, andwhile it certainly increases an animal'stotal field of view, it's often at the ex-pense of sharper binocular vision (seethe helpful chart featured here, whichshows the differences in vision betweenpigeons, whose eyes reside on the sides

of their heads, and owls, who, like hu-mans, sport front-facing peepers). HEARING Commonly listed alongside vision asone of the most important of the humansenses, hearing is is a vital part of every-thing from communication to risk-avoidance. Among young, healthyhumans, the range of frequencies thatcan be picked up by the human ear isusually cited as 20 — 20,000 Hz; how-ever, the upper limit on that range tendsto decrease pretty steadily with age.Your absolute threshold of hearing is thequietest sound your ears are capable ofpicking up when there are no othersounds around to mask its perception. TASTE & SMELL These two senses rely on different sensoryorgans, but are very closely related; whensomeone loses his or her sense of smell, forexample, their sense of taste is dramaticallydiminished. The sense of taste is arguablythe weakest of the human senses. This issomething we've talked about before; yourability to "taste" wine, for example, is actu-ally more dependent upon your sense ofsmell. Here's what we had to say about thelimitations of taste back in March: In whatis hands down my favorite experiment onthe limitations of the human palate everperformed, researcher Frédéric Brochet in-vited 57 wine experts to give their opinionson what appeared to be two glasses of wine- one red, and one white. The wines wereactually the exact same white wine; the"red" had simply been mixed with red foodcoloring. COURTeSy iO9

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Saturday, 21 July, 2012

Page 18

Snedeker seizes openlead as Scott starts

LAHOREStaff RepoRt

THE reciprocal India-Pak-istan cricket series, to behosted by the neighbour,may be played in England

as the island nation is emerging asthe most suitable venue given the In-dian board's reluctance to send ateam to Pakistan.

Deliberations between Indian andPakistani cricket officials have seenseveral options being considered, in-cluding the series being played inIndia and the venues being leased tothe Pakistani board. This proposalgets around the problem of visitingPakistan but might have run into do-mestic opposition.

similarly, the possibility of play-ing in Dubai did not find favour withthe Indian board which feels the Gulfdestination's reputation as the capitalof illegal betting can result in thecricket team attracting unwelcome at-tention. A betting scandal is the lastthing the board wants.

The England option seems themost attractive as grounds can behired, television proceeds can beworked out and security is not asdaunting a task as it might be else-where. An India-Pakistan series is asure shot full draw and England'scricketing establishment can profit byproviding the venues.

The winter's three ODI and twoT20 engagement has broken the iceand - with the quiet urging of the In-

dian government - the Board of Con-trol for Cricket in India is looking torestart the stalled cricketing ties infull earnest.

The small window in December,when the visiting English team takesa break to return home for Christmasand the new year, provides an oppor-tunity to fit in the engagement.

Reports quoting BCCI sourcessaid the board is bound to follow thegovernment's lead in scheduling a

cricket series with Pakistan and therehas been a push in this directionsince Prime Minister Manmohansingh met former Pakistani PMYousuf Gilani during an India-Pak-istan match at the 2011 World Cup.

Bilateral ties with Pakistan areunlikely to make much progress inthe remainder of UPA-2 with Pak-istan heading towards polls and in-creasingly occupied with its ownaffairs. As tougher, long standing as-pects of the relationship will be hardto tackle, confidence building meas-ures like sporting contacts are seenby the government as doable.

singh had then spoken to formerBCCI chief shashank Manohar andlater, foreign minister sM Krishnaand national security advisor shiv-shankar Menon took up the matterwith the board office-bearers.

The board is keen to keep southAsian cricketing bodies in good hu-mour as their votes count in the In-ternational Cricket Council politicswhere India currently holds theupper hand.

Pakistan-India cricket seriesmay be held in England

Krishna tovisit Islamabadin September

LAHOREStaff RepoRt

Former cricketers of Pakistan and In-dian have appreciated move of the re-vival of cricket ties between the twocountries and also expressed their de-sire to see BCCI president srinavasinto visit Pakistan to further improverelations between two countries.

Foreign Minister, sM Krishna onFriday welcomed the decision of theBoard of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI) to host a bilateral series with

Pakistan in December later this year.The Pakistan cricket team will visitIndia for a short tour in December.The bilateral series, the first for fiveyears, will consist of three one-dayand two Twenty20 matches. speakingto mediapersons in Bangalore, Kr-ishna said that this series wouldstrengthen the already improving re-lations with Pakistan. Commenting onthe killing of Indian fisherman afterfiring from a Us Navy ship off JebelAli port near Dubai, Krishna said thatthe government had already taken thenecessary steps in the matter.

"I will be visiting Islamabad in thesecon week of september," he said.some former cricketer added thatother Indian government and boardofficials should also visit Pakistan toimprove the relations between the twocountries. The ODI series, the first

after five years, will consist of threeone-day and two Twenty20 matches.

The ODIs will be played at Chen-nai, Kolkata and Delhi while the ven-ues for the two T20 games will beBengaluru and Ahmedabad.

The last match to be played be-tween them was the 2011 World Cupsemi-final in Mohali, which waswatched by Prime Minister Dr.Man-mohan singh along with his Pakistanicounterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani.

The sporting ties between theneighbours had snapped after the2008 Mumbai attacks.

Enthused by Pakistan PresidentAsif Ali Zardari’s letter to Prime Min-ister Manmohan singh informing himabout the Indo-Pak Cricket series dur-ing the year-end, Indian External Af-fairs Minister s.M. Krishna said thathe was visiting Pakistan in the second

week of september to continue the bi-lateral dialogue with his Pakistancounterpart, Hina Rabbani Khar.

Report coming from across theborder said that Krishna believed thatthe readiness of the two countries toresume cricket ties after five yearswas a good sign in bilateral relations.

Krishna, who is a Rajya sabhaMember, said that he had met Ms.Khar and held discussions with her onvarious issues of mutual interest.About India’s relations with China,Mr. Krishna said that the countrieswere maintaining good relations.

On the firing by American Navypersonnel on Indian fishermen in theinternational waters of United ArabEmirates killing one person, the Min-ister said that he was expecting a re-port about the incident and he wouldreact only after receiving it.

Harbhajan aims

to answer critics

NEW DELHIafp

Indian off-spinner Harbhajan singhwas aiming to break his barren spell inEnglish cricket on Friday after slam-ming his country's media over reportsof his wicketless bowling for countyside Essex. Harbhajan, out of India's national teamsince an England tour last year, is play-ing in an ongoing four-day matchagainst Hampshire which started onThursday. On the first day, he bowled28 overs for 73 runs without a wicket.Indian newspapers were followingprogress in the Hampshire game forsigns of improvement, with The Timesof India headlining: "Harbhajan's bar-ren spell for Essex continues."The one-time top Indian spinner, whowon the World Cup with India in 2011,was on Wednesday named in a 30-manpreliminary Indian squad for the WorldTwenty20 to be played in sri Lankalater this year. Last week, he conceded33 runs in 13 wicketless overs whileplaying for Essex against Gloucester-shire in a rain-affected four-day match,leading to an outburst on Twitteragainst his domestic critics."Indian media makes the news out ofnothing. Three days of county gamegone in rain and they playing 'Bhajjigone wicketless'. Well done media,"Harbhajan, who is known as Bhajji inIndia, wrote last Friday."Indian media is nothing but a joke.Worst part is the people believe whatthey write. Come on guys grow up. stopputting one guy down," he added.Harbhajan, who played for Englishcounty surrey in 2005 and 2007, wasused in all three sessions on Thursdaybut failed to make a breakthrough.Over his long career, he has bagged 406wickets in 98 Tests and 259 wickets inone-day internationals.

Indian Minister welcomes series with Pakistan

LAHOREStaff RepoRt

shoaib Akhtar, the former Pakistan fastbowler, believes that the country needsgenuine fast bowlers and MohammadAmir, the banned young cricketer, de-serves another go at the internationalsport. The left-arm fast bowler, alongwith the former captain, salman Butt andnew ball partner Mohammad Asif, is cur-rently serving a five-year ban imposed bythe International Cricket Council (ICC)for bowling deliberate no-balls during theEngland tour in 2010.

Amir and Asif were considered to bethe fined fast bowling talents of the globe,proving to be the most lethal bowling pairin 2009-10, making inroads in the bat-ting line-ups of Australia, New Zealandand England. Their absence has mas-sively hurt Pakistan, the rest of the fastbowlers (Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema andWahab Riaz) being too inconsistent atthe ultimate level of the game.

The Rawalpindi Express is of theopinion that such a long ban on Amir istoo harsh and the youngster must be

given an opportunity to revive his career."If a player repeats the same mistake

again then he should be face life ban fromthe game of cricket but as for Amir hecommitted a mistake and was banned bythe ICC for five years. so I believe as soonhe completes his sentence, he should re-turn to international arena," he said.

In the recently concluded tour of sriLanka, another young left-arm fastbowler, Junaid Khan, impressed one andall, picking up 14 scalps on batting tracks,giving hope to Pakistan cricket fans.While speculating about the forthcoming

ICC World T20 2012 to be held in sriLanka in a couple of months’ time,Akhtar expressed that Pakistan possessessome brilliant players who can turn outto be match-winners in the mega event.shoaib feels, "Our team should give theirbest at the mega event and the results willbe positive." The fastest bowler of thegame’s history has also launched a web-site to stay in touch with his fans.

"My fans are my encouragement andit is because of them I launched my offi-cial website," he added. "I will keep myfans update through my website."

lrCa suspends

its Secretary for

violating constitutionLAHORE

Staff RepoRt

The Executive Committee of Lahore RegionCricket Association on Friday suspended itssecretary Mian Javed Ali for gross violationof LRCA constitution. President, LRCAKhawaja Nadeem Ahmed presided over aspecial executive committee meeting whichtook the decision in the larger interest of thegame and to ensure the smooth functioningof the body, said a spokesman of LRCA here.He said out of 21 member house 13 attendedthe meeting which took a unanimous deci-sion to suspend Javed till further orders.“He (Javed) has violated LRCA constitutionas his conduct is derogatory and repugnantto the aims and objects of the Associationand he has failed to abide by the instructionsof the Association,” he added. He said thehouse found Javed guilty of negligence, dis-obedience, using undesirable language in TVinterviews, sending unauthorized letters,misuse of powers and misconduct in somany matters. “He (Javed) was served ashow cause notice, earlier this month and hisreply was not satisfactory nor acceptable ashe twisted the fact to make the matter com-plicated,” said the spokesman. All the mat-ters explained above are in clear violation ofLRCA and PCB constitutions and he hasbeen suspended till further orders, he said.

ex-Kenya coach

to take over nz WELLINGTON

afp

Mike Hesson, who recently quit as Kenya'snational cricket coach citing security con-cerns, was Friday appointed to take the reinsof the New Zealand team. Hesson becomesthe fifth coach for the Black Caps in fouryears and was widely tipped to get the postafter leading candidates approached by NewZealand cricket declined the offer. The 37-year-old Kiwi will take over from JohnWright at the end of the WI tour. "He willbring a freshness and new energy to the side,and we know he is more than capable of de-veloping and growing the team as we worktowards the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015,"NZ director of cricket John Buchanan said.

Pakistan needs Amir,believes Akhtar

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Sports 16Saturday, 21 July, 2012

LONDONafp

JAMEs Anderson dismissedAlviro Petersen for a duck assouth Africa made a nervousstart to their first innings on the

second day of the first Test against Eng-land at the Oval on Friday. Overcast con-ditions and rain remained a threat duringmuch of the day with play getting inter-rupted and suspended for a long period oftime after tea. Anderson produced a su-perb delivery in the third over of southAfrica's innings, swinging the ball in andstriking Petersen on the back pad.

south Africa were 25 for one at tea,with Graeme smith 14 not out and HashimAmla 10 not out, in reply to England's firstinnings total of 385 all out. It continued aday during which bowlers dominatedunder an overcast sky. England lost their

last seven wickets for 118 runs despite anaggressive innings of 60 off 90 balls bywicketkeeper Matt Prior. Fast bowler Dalesteyn struck in the third and fifth overs ofthe day to dismiss Alastair Cook and RaviBopara as the match underwent a transfor-

mation from the first day when the Eng-land batsmen were seldom troubled inreaching 267 for three.

In the first eight overs, England addedonly six runs for the loss of two wickets assteyn and Vernon Philander bowled an im-

maculate line, gaining some swing with thesecond new ball. south Africa, bidding toreplace England as the world's top rankedTest team, made a crucial breakthroughwhen steyn dismissed Cook.

Cook added only one run to hisovernight 114 before he was bowled off aninside edge by a ball from steyn whichswung in to him. Bopara made an unhappyreturn after a year out of the Test team, try-ing to withdraw his bat after shaping tohook, but getting an edge to be caught be-hind by AB de Villiers without scoring.Jacques Kallis bowled Ian Bell for 13 whenthe Warwickshire batsman left a deliverywhich cut back and clipped his off bail.

Prior and Tim Bresnan added 29 runsbefore Bresnan chopped a ball from leg-spinner Imran Tahir on to his stumps andPrior also had useful stands of 45 for theeighth wicket with stuart Broad and 25 forthe ninth wicket with Graeme swann.

Anderson strikes early for Poms Security tight

for bolt and

Jamaica starsBIRMINGHAM

afp

Olympic 100m and 200m championUsain Bolt and Jamaica's star-studdedtrack and field team have been trainingunder heavy security at the University ofBirmingham since their arrival here justabout a week ago. Bolt, world 100mchampion Yohan Blake and three-timeOlympic gold medallist Veronica Camp-bell-Brown are among the big names al-ready at the camp, but fans have beenleft frustrated by the behind closeddoors training sessions. "You are not al-lowed to take any photos around theschool campus, it's a private area," amember of the university security teamshouted as fans and a few journalistswho tried to peep through the hedgeswhich surround the 400m track onThursday. "No peeping is allowed onthe athletes," shouted another securityguard. A fan, who only gave his name asPete, was very upset about the guardedtrack. "This is our country, this is ourOlympics. We should be allow here, noton the track, but certainly here to watch,that's what it's here for, to watch, notfor them not to watch," he said.

Pu practice matchLAHORE

Staff RepoRt

Punjab University played a T/20 matchagainst Lahore Club at New Campus groundfor the preparation of the Muhammad Alishah Cricket Tournament at Karachi in Ra-mazan. Lahore Club bat first scored 150 allout. Punjab University opening batsmanAhmed Akram scored 101 in 45 balls andsaad scored 30. In 17 over’s Punjab Univer-sity chased the target and won the match.Ahmed Akram took 2 wickets and scoredhighest and awarded the man of the match.

LAHOREStaff RepoRt

Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund(PPAF) will be sponsoring Pakistan ath-letes to represent the county at the Lon-don Paralympics Games, starting fromAugust 29. This announcement wasmade by CEO PPAF Qazi Azmat Isa at asimple but impressive ceremony to markthe launch of official website (www.npc-pakistan.org) of the National Para-lympics Committee of Pakistan (NPCP)

on Friday here. Two athletes namely Ali Haider, who

suffers from cerebral palsy that affectedhis right leg muscles and silver medalistat Beijing Paralympics Games, andNaeem Masiah will represent Pakistanin the upcoming Paralympics Gamesunder the aegis of NPCP and financialsupport of PPAF. Ali Haider will contestfor medal in long jump as well as 100meter and 200 meter race while NaeemMasiah will take part in 1500 meter and800 meter race.

The two athletes, along with theirsupport staff, will depart for London onJuly 24 for the pre-games training camparranged at the University of Bedford-shire-UK to take part in the interna-tional event.

speaking on the occasion, DeputyChief Executive of Quest for EconomicDevelopment – a UK-based charity –Ms. Adeeba Malik said that the athletesare great ambassadors of the country.she said that a reception would behosted for the athletes in the UK while

they would also like to collaborate withPPAF in the accomplishment of its vi-sion of poverty alleviation.

The website has been launched toshowcase more than a decade of endeav-ours of the organization for the promo-tion of the Paralympic Movement inPakistan and the achievements of itspeople with disabilities who turned ath-lete as a result thereof.

PPAF is largest source of pro-poorspending outside Public sector Develop-ment Programme and the Federal

budget. set up as a fully autonomousprivate sector institution, PPAF enjoysfacilitation and support from the Gov-ernment of Pakistan, the World Bank,IFAD, UsDA, KfW and Us Corporatesector. Outreach of PPAF now extendsthroughout Pakistan and its microcredit,water and infrastructure, drought miti-gation, education, health and emergencyresponse interventions have been widelyrecognized. As the largest institution ofits kind in the world, PPAF has receivedhigh performance ratings from donors.

PPAF to sponsor Pakistan participation in London Paralympics

ScoRe at tea inteRVal englanD, first innings (overnight 267-3)a. Strauss lbw b Morkel 0a. cook b Steyn 115J. trott c De Villiers b Morkel 71K. pietersen c De Villiers b Kallis 42i. Bell b Kallis 13R. Bopara c De Villiers b Steyn 0M. prior c De Villiers b Morkel 60t. Bresnan b imran tahir 8S. Broad b philander 16g. Swann not out 15J. anderson c De Villiers b Morkel 2extras (b2, lb24, nb14, w3) 43total (125.5 overs) 385fall of wickets: 1-0 (Strauss), 2-170 (trott), 3-251 (pietersen),4-271 (cook), 5-272 (Bopara), 6-284 (Bell), 7-313 (Bresnan), 8-

358 (Broad), 9-383 (prior)Bowling: Morkel 24.5-2-72-4 (5nb, 2w), philander 27-4-79-1(7nb), Steyn 30-7-99-2, Kallis 19-7-38-2 (1w), imran tahir 19-0-61-1 (2nb), Duminy 6-1-10-0South afRica, first inningsg. Smith not out 14a. petersen lbw b anderson 0h. amla not out 10extras (lb1) 1total (1 wkt, 11 overs) 25fall of wicket: 1-1 (petersen)Bowling: anderson 6-3-15-1, Broad 5-3-9-0to bat: J. Kallis, a. de Villiers, J. Rudolph, J. Duminy, V. philander,D. Steyn, M. Morkel, imran tahir.Match situation: South africa trail by 360 runs with ninewickets remaining in the first inningstoss: englandumpires: Steve Davis (auS), asad Rauf (paK)tV umpire: Kumar Dharmasena (SRi)Match referee: Jeff crowe (nZl)

ScoReBoaRD

london: england's James anderson (l) celebrates taking the wicket of alviro Petersen of South africa while South african Captain Graeme Smith (r) hits a shot during day two of the first test. AFP

KHI 21-07-2012_Layout 1 7/21/2012 1:38 AM Page 17

Sports17Saturday, 21 July, 2012

LONDON: British tennis players

Andy Murray (L) and his brother

Jamie pose for photos with the

Olympic rings at the Athletes'

Village at the Olympic Park. afP

Fish stumbles out ofAtlanta event with injury

ATLANTAafp

TWO-TIME defending champMardy Fish surrendered theAtlanta Open tennis crown

when an injured left ankle forced himto retire from his second round matchon Thursday. The second-seededAmerican was leading Luxembourg'sGilles Muller 6-4, 3-2 when he calledit quits at the hardcourt event. Fish,30, stumbled while trying to return adrop shot and rolled his left ankle atthe net, dropping to the ground andstaying down for about a minute.

He got up and limped off to his side-line chair, sat down for a short break andreturned to finish the fifth game but thenchose to withdraw. Fish, who beat Amer-ican compatriot John Isner in the last twoAtlanta finals, recently underwent a pro-cedure called cardiac catheter ablation,which deals with misfiring electricalpulses in the heart. Isner, meanwhile, ad-

vanced Thursday to the quarter-finals bydefeating Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Aussie Matthew Ebden beat32-year-old American James Blake 6-7(6/8), 6-4, 6-4, and will play Muller onFriday. American Jack sock also won hissecond round match by beating steveJohnson 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5).FRANCE'S BARTOLI HOPES FORSPEEDY RECOVERY: Injured Frenchstar Marion Bartoli will need to recoverquickly before she faces ChristinaMcHale, who punched her ticket to thequarter-finals Thursday with a 4-6, 6-4,6-4 win over Misaki Doi. The top-seededBartoli struggled in a second round winWednesday over American Vania King asshe needed treatment on her left hip dur-ing the match. The world number 10 iscounting on solid hardcourt perform-ances this summer in North American asshe misses the London Olympics due to alongstanding feud with the national fed-eration over her insistence that her fathershould be her only coach.

atlanta: Mardy fish retires from his match due to injury while playing Gilles Muller

of luxembourg during the bb&t atlanta open at atlantic Station. AFP

french olympicrunner Gezzartests positive

PARISafp

French athlete Nor-dine Gezzar couldface a life ban aftertesting positive forthe banned bloodbooster EPO (ery-thropoietin). Gez-zar, selected tocompete in the Lon-don Olympics, hasrequested a "B"

sample to be analysed, with the results ofthat test due to be known next week. Havingalready served a two-year drug ban when hewas suspended in 2006, Gezzar could bebanned permanently should the secondcontrol also come back positive. MichelMarle, French athletics federation vice-pres-ident, told AFP on Friday: "Gezzar testedpositive for EPO and has been provisionallysuspended. "The athlete has already re-quested the analysis of the 'B' sample. Thatwill be carried out on sunday and we'llprobably know the results 48 hours later."Gezzar, fourth at the European Champi-onships in Helsinki, was caught out when hewas tested along with all the other Games-bound competitors by the French Anti-Dop-ing Agency. The 32-year-old long distancerunner was handed a two-year suspensionin 2006 when testing positive for thebanned anabolic steroid nandrolone and thediuretic finasteride, which is used to treathair loss but can also mask steroid use.

flame makes dramatic

entrance to londonLONDON

afp

The Olympic flame makes a dramatic ar-rival in London on Friday to tour thecapital before it plays a starring role inthe opening ceremony in one week'stime. A Royal Marine commando will ab-seil from a helicopter with the torch,which will spend the night safely housedin the Tower of London, where theQueen Elizabeth II keeps her ceremonialjewels. The 8,000-mile (12,800-kilome-tre) relay culminates in the capital aftersnaking around Britain and visiting theRepublic of Ireland. Its arrival will addto the anticipation building ahead of theGames. snatched press photographsshow that preparations for the openingceremony next Friday are at an advancedstage, with the show orchestrated by"slumdog Millionaire" director DannyBoyle featuring an idyllic English village.

LAHOREStaff RepoRt

The Government College Uni-versity Lahore has made a tri-umphant return in the AllPakistan First Women’s Rifleshooting Championship organ-ized by the Higher EducationCommission.

The team GCU comprisingMadhia Ashraf, sadaf Mehbooband Noor saleem outshined all

the universities of Pakistan inthe Championship by winning13 of 20 gold medals, 4 silverand 4 bronze medals in variousshooting events including claypigeon, skeet, down the line,free pistol and trap.

GCU student sadafMehboob was adjudicated theBest shooter, while Punjab Uni-versity and COMsATs securedsecond and third positions inthe Championship. GCU Vice

Chancellor Prof. Dr. Muham-mad Khaleeq-ur-Rahman metwith winning team and appreci-ated their outstanding perform-ance in the championship. Heencouraged the participation offemale students in the sports,saying it is equally importantfor both boys and girls to par-ticipate in healthy activities.GCU Director sports KhadimAli Khan also congratulated theuniversity’s rifle shooting team.

GCU win HEC First Women’s Rifle Shooting Contest

laHore: the female rifle shooters of GCu with Vice Chancellor

Prof. dr. Muhammad Khaleeq-ur-rahman after their victory.

Olympic bid lifts

murray after

Wimbledon tearsLONDON: Andy Murray insists theprospect of returning to Wimbledon tocompete for an Olympic medal has easedhis heartache in the aftermath of hisemotional final defeat against RogerFederer. World number four Murray willbe back in action at Wimbledon to repre-sent Britain in the Olympic tennis eventjust three weeks after making a tearfulexit from the All England Club. The 25-year-old scot wept openly on CentreCourt during a television interview justmoments after Federer ended his hopesof becoming the first Briton to win Wim-bledon since Fred Perry in 1936. In thecircumstances, Murray, who has lost allfour of his Grand slam final appear-ances, could have been forgiven forwanting to be anywhere but Wimbledonfor the foreseeable future. But he is rel-ishing the chance to go for gold in theOlympic event and cannot wait to getback in action on the lush lawns ofsouthwest London. "I think it was goodfor me the Olympics came so soon afterWimbledon, that gave me an extrapush and extra motivation to get backon court and not think too much aboutthe final," he said. "I feel fine just now.I've been practising now for a week. Ifthe Olympics wasn't here I would havetaken two or three weeks off but I justtook four or five days off and got backon the court. "I would expect that bynow I'm experienced enough and hadenough tough losses to be able to dealwith the final." Murray's form has oftennose-dived after Grand slam final de-feats and he has made a conscious ef-fort to avoid a repeat this time. afp

KHI 21-07-2012_Layout 1 7/21/2012 1:38 AM Page 18

dHa Sports Clubbrings excitingcricket in ramadan

KARACHIStaff RepoRt

DHA sports Club, in an attempt to captivatethe hearts of cricket lovers, has collaboratedwith Advance Telecom, to organize yet an-other thrilling Night-Cricket Tournament,called the “Advance Telecom 2nd CorporateT20 Cup 2012”. DHA sports Club is a pro-fessional coaching facility, for cricket,squash and swimming enthusiasts. It fea-tures a flood-lit stadium and a fullyequipped Gymnasium in Karachi. Numer-ous cricket teams from the country and itscorporate sector, along with various mediapartners, will be engaged in this event. Thetournament will commence on July 28 andends on August 11. The spectators and par-ticipants can enjoy numerous facilities likecomfortable seating arrangements, snacksand musical entertainment, as the teamscompete in brightly colored uniforms on aFlood-Lit Arena. Famous players, celebri-ties, prominent social personalities andrenowned companies have already con-firmed their participation in this event. A“Man of the Match” award will be presentedat the end of every match. Other high-val-ued cash prizes will also be distributed atthe end of the tournament. Advance Tele-com’s Head of Marketing - Mr. Rehanshaikh said, “Advance Telecom is commit-ted to the development of the Pakistani na-tion and the telecom sector.” Moin Khan,CEO of Moin Khan Academy, DHA sportsClub said, “such energetic events help in de-veloping and expanding the local cricketclubs and encourage fitness activities amongthe youth. Fresh resources are thus createdfor coaching and training of regional andcorporate sector teams. The corporate sec-tor, media enterprises and celebritiesshould continue to support and nurturesports activities”. Participating teams in thecontest will include; Advance Telecom,Habib Bank, United Bank, National Bankof Pakistan, state Bank of Pakistan, Candy-land, Port Qasim, and Omar Associates.

WAtCH It LIvE

ESPNSportscentre

07:30PM

Sports 18Saturday, 21 July, 2012

LYTHAMafp

BOGEY-FREE AmericanBrandt snedeker seized com-mand of the British Open,charging into the lead in Fri-

day's second round as rivals stumbled inchallenging conditions or were yet to facethem. snedeker, the only player without abogey so far at Royal Lytham, birdied sixof the first 12 holes Friday to stand on 10-under par, four shots clear of first-dayleader Adam scott. snedeker, who shot 66on Thursday, opened with a birdie for thesecond day in a row and added another atthe sixth. He birdied the par-5 seventh and11th holes for the second day in a row andbirdied the par-3 ninth and 12th as well.

The 31-year-old American, whomissed the cut in each of his three priorBritish Open starts, withdrew from lastmonth's Us Open after suffering a

cracked rib on the right side of his chestfrom severe coughing.

snedeker thrived in conditions thatsent every other player stumbling back,including contenders World No. 2 RoryMcIlroy and Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts.

Overnight rain dumped nearly half aninch of water on the bunker-strewn linkslayout, creating soft and receptive greensthat prompted organizers to use tougherpin placements and double mow thegreens to make putts faster.

Add to that water puddling in severalbunkers to force drops and an unusualeast wind forcing more adjustments inshot trajectory by players and the latestarters in round two, including WorldNo. 4 Tiger Woods, had a daunting task.

Woods, the 14-time major winnerseeking his first major title since 2008,was among six past major championschasing snedeker who were yet to start.Joining three-time British Open winner

Woods and scott as late starters were2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson,three-time major winner Ernie Els, pastUs Open champion Graeme McDowell,reigning Masters champion Bubba Wat-son and scotland's Paul Lawrie, the 1999British Open winner. scott, a 32-year-oldAustralian seeking his first major title,matched the course record with a six-under par 64 on Thursday but with sevenpast major winners among the first dozenplayers behind him.

World No. 1 Luke Donald, seekinghis first major title, and three-timemajor champion Padraig Harrington ofIreland were one-under par for the dayand the tournament, trying to mount acharge. Donald, trying to become thefirst Englishman to win the Open onhome soil since Tony Jacklin did it atRoyal Lytham in 1969, took a bogey atthe third but responded with birdies onthe next three holes.

From Athensto London

17th olYMpic gaMeS in 1972Venue: Munich, Germany

DateS: august 26 to September 10,1972

nuMBeRS of SpoRtS: 23 (195 events)

nuMBeRS of nationS: 121

nuMBeRS of paRticipant: 7170 (6075 men

and 1095 women)

YoungeSt golD MeDaliSt: deana deardurff

(united States) aged 15 years 118 days in Swimming

olDeSt golD MeDaliSt: Hans Gunter winkler

(Germany) aged 46 years 49 days in Show Jumping

final MeDalS tallY:countRY g S BSoviet union 50 27 22

united States 33 31 30

east Germany 20 23 23

west Germany 13 11 16

Japan 13 8 8

australia 8 7 2

Poland 7 5 9

Hungary 6 13 16

bulgaria 6 10 5

Italy 5 3 10

Sweden 4 6 6

Great britain 4 5 9

romania 3 6 7

Cuba 3 1 4

finland 3 1 4

Holland 3 1 1

france 2 4 7

Czechoslovakia 2 4 2

Kenya 2 3 4

yugoslavia 2 1 2

norway 2 1 1

north Korea 1 1 3

new zealand 1 1 1

uganda 1 1 -

denmark 1 - -

Switzerland - 3 -

Canada - 2 3

Iran - 2 1

belgium - 2 -

Greece - 2 -

austria - 1 2

Colombia - 1 2

argentina - 1 -

lebanon - 1 -

Mexico - 1 -

Mongolia - 1 -

Pakistan - 1 -

South Korea - 1 -

tunisia - 1 -

turkey - 1 -

brazil - - 2

ethiopia - - 2

Ghana - - 1

India - - 1

Jamaica - - 1

niger - - 1

nigeria - - 1

Spain - - 1

total 195 195 210

tRiVia:n the 1972 Munich Games were the largest yet, set-

ting records in all categories, with 195 events and

7170 athletes from 121 nations.n September 5, 1972, was the blackest day in olympic

history. Six Palestinians broke through the perfunc-

tory security in the village, joined two others al-

ready there and made their way to the Israeli

headquarters. two Israelis were killed and nine

taken hostage. In a subsequent battle, all nine

hostages were killed, plus five of the Palestinians

and a policeman.n the opening ceremony of the 1972 Munich Games

was watched on television by a live audience of

1000 million which was then a record.n one of the runners in the torch relay bringing the

olympic flame to Munich was 78-year-old edgar

fried, a former general-secretary of the austrian

olympic Committee, who had been in the original

torch relay in 1936 at berlin.n German athlete Heidi Schuller, who took the oath

in theses Games became the first woman to do so.n for the first time the oath for the judges was intro-

duced in theses Games.n american swimmer Mark Spitz lined up for seven

events and won a medal count unique in the history

of the Games: seven olympic titles and seven world

records. He took part in the 4x200m one hour after

his final in the 100m butterfly. as for the 200m

freestyle gold, it was his third medal in three days.n Soviet union’s Valeriy borzov became the first eu-

ropean to win the men’s sprint double on the track.n for the first time since 1920, a team from outside

the Indian sub-continent won the field hockey title,

when host Germany beat Pakistan in the controver-

sial final.n In a controversial basketball final, the united States

were defeated by the Soviet union, thus ending the

american’s 63 consecutive victories in the Games

since 1936.n Kenyan Kipchoge Keino added the 3000m steeple-

chase title to the 1500m that he had won in Mexico

in 1968, thus making him the first runner since

american James lightbody (in 1904) to win

olympic titles at the two distances.

S. PERVEz QAISER

stats corner

lytHaM: brandt Snedeker of the uS watches his shot from the rough on the 6th hole during his second round on day two of the 2012

british open Golf Championship while adam Scott of australia watches his shot from the 1st tee during his second round on day two, AFP

Snedeker seizes Openlead as Scott starts clear

KHI 21-07-2012_Layout 1 7/21/2012 1:38 AM Page 19

Saturday, 21 July, 2012

19

Published by Arif Nizami at Plot No 79, Sector 24, Korangi Industrial Area Karachi. Editor: Arif Nizami

DAMASCUSafp

sYRIAN forces launched an all-outassault on opposition strongholdsin Damascus Friday, hours afterrebels seized crossings on the Iraqand Turkey borders on the dead-

liest day so far of the 16-month conflict.Friday’s firefights came after Russia and

China used their powers as permanent UN se-curity Council members to block resolutionson syria for the third time in nine months.

state television trumpeted the news ofthe military’s Damascus offensive. “Our bravearmy forces have completely cleaned the areaof Midan in Damascus of the remaining mer-cenary terrorists and have reestablished se-curity,” it said, using the regime term forrebels. Reporters taken on a regime-organisedtrip saw empty streets, shuttered shops andbuildings pockmarked with bullet holes. Re-porters also heard the occasional sound of gun-fire, which soldiers said came from snipers. Asecurity services source told AFP the militaryhas launched a general offensive in Damascus.

The assault comes after a Wednesdaybombing that killed four senior members of theregime, including the national security chief,who died on Friday. General Hisham Ikhtiyarhad been wounded along with Interior MinisterMohammed al-shaar in the National securityheadquarters bombing, which was claimed bythe Free syrian Army (FsA). Defence MinisterGeneral Daoud Rajha, President Bashar al-Assad’s brother-in-law Assef shawkat and Gen-

eral Hassan Turkmani, head of the regime’s cri-sis cell on the uprising, were all killed in the ex-plosion. “The army on Thursday launched acounter-offensive to retake control of areas in-filtrated by terrorists to guarantee the securityof residents and allow them to return to theirhomes,” the security source said.

state television broadcast footage it saidwas from Damascus showing weaponry re-portedly captured from rebels, including ma-terial marked “Made in UsA,” as well as scenesof prisoners seated on the ground, their handsbound. The syrian Observatory for HumanRights reported that regime forces hadstormed the Jubar neighbourhood of Damas-cus. After Wednesday’s bomb targeting mem-bers of Assad’s inner circle, a security sourcewarned that the regime would step up its op-erations against the rebels. “The army has sofar exercised restraint in its operations, butafter the attack, it has decided to use all theweapons in its possession to finish the terror-ists off,” the source said. Damascus, mean-while, dismissed comments by Russia’s envoyto Paris that Assad is ready to stand down.

“The comments attributed to the Russianambassador to Paris on the fact that PresidentAssad would agree to relinquish power in acivilised manner are totally baseless,” state tel-evision said. At the United Nations, perma-nent security Council members Russia andChina on Thursday vetoed resolutions onsyria for the third time in nine months.

The UN security Council on Friday unani-mously approved a resolution to extend the UNobserver force in syria for a final 30 days, afterPakistan helped bridge the differences over theway forward to deal with the syrian crisis. The15-member Council did so by adopting a re-vised British resolution which said the councilwould end the observer mission in 30 days butrenew it if secretary-General Ban Ki-moon andthe security Council confirmed that the use ofheavy weapons had ended and the level of vio-lence in syria was reduced. The mandate of themission had been set to expire on Friday.

The Council stood deadlocked on Thurs-day after Russia and China vetoed a securityCouncil resolution that would have imposedUN sanctions on the syrian government topressure it into implementing a peace plan tohalt the 17-month-old conflict. With the syriansituation taking a dangerous turn, the Pak-istani delegation led by Acting AmbassadorRaza Bashir Tarar stepped in to help maintainsupport for UN-Arab League Envoy KofiAnnan’s six-point peace plan to end violencein syria and build consensus in the council ona way forward. As part of the effort, the Pak-istani delegation circulated a draft seeking a45-day extension for the UN observer force asPakistan believes, like many other delegates,that the Annan’s plan was the best option toresolve the syrian conflict. The British dele-gation produced a competing draft authorizinga final extension of 30 days, but its contentswere weighted against the syrian government.

The draft would undoubtedly have invokedRussian and Chinese vetoes. In this situation,the council members met privately before theformal session on Friday. Pakistan made an im-passioned appeal for the council’s unity in theface of the deteriorating situation in syria.

Syrian forces launch all-out Damascus assaultg UnSC extends Syria observers’ mission for 45 days g Pakistan helps build consensus on draft

NEWS DESK

The government plans to cancelrefugee status for all Afghans liv-ing in the country at the end of thisyear, leaving some 3 million dis-placed people – the world’s biggestcluster of refugees – facing possi-ble expulsion to a country thatmany barely know.

According to a report pub-lished in the Guardian, pushingthe refugees into Afghanistanwould create a new crisis for thatcountry, already struggling with aninsurgency and an economy al-most entirely dependent on thewestern presence and the illicitdrug trade. The West is pressingthe government to reconsider itspolicy, which puts it at odds withthe United Nations and other in-ternational partners. The interna-tional community and the Afghan

government have no strategy pre-pared to deal with any such influxof people.

However, the top administratorin charge of the Afghan refugee issue,Ministry of states and Frontier Re-gions (sAFRON) secretary Habibul-lah Khan told the Guardian thatIslamabad would not relent. “The in-ternational community desires us toreview this policy but we are clear onthis point. The refugees have becomea threat to law and order, security,demography, economy and local cul-ture. Enough is enough,” he said. “Ifthe international community is soconcerned, they should open thedoors of their countries to theserefugees. Afghans will be more thanhappy to be absorbed by the devel-oped countries, like western Eu-rope, UsA, Canada, Australia.”

Germany to probelegality of droneattacks in Pakistan

BERLINagencieS

The German federal prosecutor’s officehas opened a probe into the death of aGerman national in a drone strike in aPakistan tribal district borderingAfghanistan in 2010, a spokesman said.In a statement, the prosecutor’s officesaid that the investigation launched onJuly 10 “aims to find out if the use ofdrones which led to the death of theGerman citizen is in line withinternational law.” The man, identifiedonly as Bünyamin E, was killed onOctober 4, 2010, the office said. Germanyat the time it was in contact with Pakistanover five German Islamists killed in a Usdrone attack in the lawless tribal belt.Berlin is the third biggest contributor oftroops to the 130,000-strong NATO-ledInternational security Assistance Forceafter the United states and Britain. It has4,900 soldiers in Afghanistan but 500 areset to be withdrawn by 2013 before acomplete pullout.

Manmohan’s trip toPakistan unlikely

NEW DELHIagencieS

Even as India and Pakistan discuss theimplementation of new cross-LoCconfidence building measures (CBMs),with progress stalled on key areas liketrade and visa, it seems increasinglyunlikely that Prime Minister Manmohansingh will visit Pakistan any time soon.According to the Indian Expressnewspaper, while the dialogue processcontinues ploddingly, the Indianpremier’s visit to Pakistan seems highlyunlikely. singh has already made itclear that he will only travel to Pakistanif there are any “tangible results”, butthere is very little progress ondeliverable issues. Initially, Pakistanseemed ready to move full ahead onissues like trade and visa liberalisation,but lately Islamabad has been insistingon progress across “all” issues, whichinclude siachen and sir Creek, the paperreported. “The PM cannot go to Pakistanas an independent actor, when there isno progress in any area,” said a seniorgovernment official.

g Govt’s plans to revoke Afghans’ refugee statuscould displace 3 million g SAFROn secretary says international community should open doors of theircountries to these refugees if they are so concerned

DaRaa: an image grab taken from a video uploaded on

Youtube on friday shows men throwing sand to extinguish

a burning vehicle following the purported shelling of the

town of Daraa by Syrian government forces. AFP

Sri lanka judges boycott courtsover political interference

COLOMBOafp

Courts across sri Lanka were paralysed on Friday as judges andlawyers staged a boycott to protest alleged political interference withthe judiciary, activists said. The influential Bar Association of sri Lankastayed away from courts to protest the alleged intimidation of amagistrate in the island’s northwestern town of Mannar earlier in theweek. “Courts across the court did not function today because of theprotest,” secretary of the Judges’ Association, Pradeep Jayatillake toldAFP. “We endorse the move by the Bar Association to stay away fromhearings today.” He said a government minister had threatened themagistrate in the town of Mannar to change an arrest order. “This is adirect interference with the judiciary,” he said. The Mannar judge hadissued an order for the arrest of suspected arsonists who had attackedsettlers in the region and the minister is alleged to have intervened torevoke the order which was said to be against his supporters. JudgeJayatillake said a mob had stoned the Mannar court house onWednesday, forcing police to fire tear gas to disperse angry mobs andrescue the magistrate who had ordered the arrest of arsonists. Therewas no immediate reaction from the government. Activists said theywere yet to decide if the boycott would continue on Monday whencourts open after the weekend. The Hong Kong-based Asian HumanRights Commission said it welcomed the action by the judges andlawyers as a “very important step in the fight back against the seriousundermining of the courts”. sri Lanka lifted a state of emergency lastyear after concluding a decades-long ethnic conflict in 2009.

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