Friday, 22 March, 2013 Jamadi ul Awwal 9, 1434Rs 17.00 Vol III No 264 19 Pages Lahore Edition

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JI to go for seat adjustment withany political party in elections.– Munawwar Hassan

Malik insists on becomingpresident’s adviserislAMABAd: In an attempt to remainrelevant to the country’s power corri-dors, former interior minister RehmanMalik on Thursday sent a letter to thePresident’s House requesting to be ap-pointed as the president’s security advi-sor. According to a report by a privatetelevision channel, the idea of RehmanMalik being appointed as the president’ssecurity advisor had been floating in thePresident’s House but the cabinet divi-sion had shot the proposal down. De-spite the rejection of the proposal, Malikhas pursued the appointment, citing theexample of Dr Asim Hussain who waspresident’s family doctor before beingappointed as a federal minister. SulemanFarooqui, secretary to the President AsifAli Zardari has solicited opinion fromthe concerned ministries on receipt ofthe letter from Rehman Malik. OnLinE

Raisani regularisescontractual employees

QUETTA: Balochistan Chief MinisterNawab Aslam Raisani on Thursday is-sued orders regularising all contractualgovernment workers in Balochistan.Raisani ordered the Chief Secretary tosubmit a summary of the order byMarch 22. Earlier, the Sindh and Pun-jab governments had also given legalcover to contractual employees. Thisdecision came shortly after theBalochistan government and oppositionhad finalised the name for the interimCM slot. STAFF REPORT

ISLAMABAD

TAyyAb HuSSAin

THOUGH the eight-mem-ber parliamentary com-mittee tasked to decidethe caretaker prime min-ister could not evolveconsensus over a single

individual on Thursday, members of thecommittee agreed not to refer the matter tothe Election Commission of Pakistan andsought time to consult with their party lead-ers to seek fresh direction over the matter.

A source who attended the meeting toldPakistan Today that he was optimistic thata majority of the committee members mayagree on the name of Dr Ishrat Hussain forthe slot of caretaker prime minister or Jus-tice (r) Nasir Aslam Zahid.

During the meeting, the government’srepresentatives voiced serious concernsover the statement by PML-N chief NawazSharif that the matter could not be resolvedin the committee, rather it would be re-solved somewhere else, the source added.

Khursheed Shah said at this point of

time Nawaz should not have given such anirresponsible statement, as it depicted hisnon-seriousness, but their participation inthe meeting spoke volume about their seri-ousness to get the issue resolved amicably.“We would not have participated in themeeting after Nawaz and Nisar Ali Khan’sstatements.”

Shujaat Hussain said Nawaz’s pressconference gave a wrong impression thatpoliticians might fail in resolving the mat-ter, which was unfortunate.

The committee met at the ParliamentHouse with Sardar Yaqoob Nasir in thechair and discussed nominations of DrIshrat Hussain and Justice (r) Nasir AslamZahid. It had ruled out the names of Justice(r) Mir Hazar Khan Khoso and RasoolBukhsh Palejo in its Wednesday meeting.

The source said a PPP committee mem-ber questioned how Nasir Aslam Zahidwould do justice with the PPP as he hadclose relations with the Sharif family. How-ever, the PML-N side countered his claimsand said there was no such relationship.

“The PML-N members also respondedin the same manner and said Dr Ishrat Hus-

sain was a close relative of President AsifAli Zardari. However, the PPP side rub-bished the allegation,” the source added.

Both sides kept debating the reserva-tions of each other for around four hours,but could not prove their points, thus leav-ing the matter for the last day of discussion,the source added.

Another source said though they wereindependently deliberating over the matter,they had contacted their parties seekingfresh directives from party chiefs.

Talking to reporters after the secondround of talks, Khursheed Shah said therewas no deadlock between the two sides andall proposed names were thoroughly dis-cussed in the meeting and hopefully consen-sus would be reached on any of the fourproposed names in today’s (Friday) meeting.

He said the media and nation wouldhave to wait for another day for the care-taker PM, however, he said the meetingwas held in cordial atmosphere and consul-tation process was almost completed, hint-ing that the Friday meeting could be adecisive one.

He vowed that all possible effortswould be made for the matter to be resolvedin the meeting.

Shah said politicians were to resolvepolitical matters and this matter would alsobe resolved by them politically.

Farooq H Naik said Friday would bethe last chance for the committee to take adecision, adding that all things were going

per rules and efforts were afoot for achiev-ing consensus on the matter. “Negativepropaganda should be avoided and the na-tion should wait for one more day.”

He said they discussed all proposednames thoroughly and the committeewould appoint the best man available.

Ghulam Ahmed Bilour said all fournames came under consideration and mostlikely consensus would be evolved in thefinal round of talks.

Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said it wouldbe quite unfortunate if the matter was notresolved in the committee meeting, addingthat politicians should resolve the politicalmatters by themselves rather than it beingresolved through non-political people.

Opposing sending the matter to theECP, Shujaat said his party would not bepart of any such move and the committeeshould have to decide the matter.

Sardar Yaqoob Nasir said if the matterwas not resolved, it would be sent to thecommission and there was no harm if thematter was sent to the commission, as itwas also constituted by politicians.

Sardar Mehtab Abbasi said Dr Ishratwas a close relative of Ambassador Khalil,who was a close relative of PresidentZardari.

Khwaja Saad Rafique said 14 partieswere consulted before finalising the namesfor the slot of the caretaker premier, so itwas out of question to include any newname, as they would be have to taken into

confidence again, which was not possible.Earlier, it was reported in the media

that harsh words were exchanged betweenSaad Rafiq and Naik.

Albeit, all members unanimously re-jected reports that there was no such inci-dent had taken place.

Senator Pervaiz Rashid said there wasno stalemate in the committee and tomor-row’s meeting would be decisive, as thecommittee was close to deciding a care-taker prime minister.

Discussions continue, but interim PM remains elusive

Committee membersslam nawaz sHarif’sremarks on seleCtionof Caretaker pm

Hopeful tHat matter will beresolved in fridays’deliberations

A PPP committeemember questioned howNasir Aslam Zahid woulddo justice with the PPP as

he had close relationswith the Sharif family.

However, the PML-N sidecountered his claims andsaid there was no such

relationship

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

Senior politician Dr Mubashar Hassanon Thursday filed a writ petition andsought an early hearing in theSupreme Court to ensure free and fairupcoming general elec-tions.

Counsels for thepetitioner AK Dogar,Gillani and Siddiquialso sought an earlyhearing at the court.

The petitioners toldthe court that Article218 of the Constitutiondemanded honest, justand fair elections by notallowing any person tocontest in general elections whose de-gree was not valid.

They asked the court to issue di-rections to the authorities concernedthat a candidate must never have de-faulted on a bank loan, must have aNational Taxation Number (NTN)and must have paid taxes in the lastfive years.

The petitioners further said thereshould be no forgery, tax evasion andcheating and loan default charges onthe candidate. They said electionsshould be held in the light of theSupreme Court judgment and theelections should not be delayed either.

They further asked the court thatno big development schemes, plots or

jobs should be given by political par-ties as a political bribe. Moreover, thepetitioners said regularisation of100,000 jobs by the Punjab govern-ment must be stalled.

They also pleaded the court to takenotice of a Sindh government legisla-

tion topreventt h eH i g h e rE d u c a -t i o nC o m -mission

(HEC) from attesting the degrees oflegislators. The petitioner further

asked the court to ensure that no onecontests in elections who did not havea repute as required under Article 62and 63 of the Constitution of Pakistan.The petitioner further asked the courtto issue directions to the State Bank ofPakistan governor to file a list of allpersons whose nomination papers mayhave been approved by the electioncommission along with a personal af-fidavit confirming that none of theperson whose nomination had beenaccepted by the ECP had been a loandefaulter. Directions were also soughtfor the FBR chairman to file in the

court thatall thosew h o s enominationpapers hadbeen ap-proved hadan NTNand theywere nottax evaders.Similar di-r e c t i o n swere alsosought forHEC chair-man to ex-amine thedegrees oft h o s ewhose pa-

pers had been approved to ensure freeand fair elections.

Barozai consensusBalochistancaretaker CMQUETTA: The government and opposition inBalochistan have developed consensus on thename of Ghaus Bakhsh Barozai for caretakerchief minister.The announcement was made by Chief MinisterAslam Raisani and Opposition Leader Tariq Magsiat a joint news conference on Thursday.JUI-F’s central leader Abdul Wassay, and ANP’sZamrak Achakzai were also present.Raisani said the decision proved that they hadcompleted the constitutional and democraticprocess in the best possible way. He claimed thathis government had done record developmentschemes in the last five years.He demanded Reko Diq and Gawadar Port behanded over to the Balochistan government whilethe province should also get royalty from Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline.Magsi said they had been holding talks sinceWednesday and had agreed on Barozai’s appoint-ment as caretaker chief minister of the province.BHC vErdiCT ovEr BAloCHisTAn op-posiTion lEAdEr CHAllEngEd in sC:The Balochistan High Court (BHC) verdict on theprovincial assembly’s speaker has been challengedin the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

A divisional bench of the BHC rejected an earliernotification by Balochistan Assembly Speaker Matiul-lah Agha regarding appointment of JUI-F’s MaulanaWasay as opposition leader and restored NawabzadaTariq Magsi as the opposition leader in the provincialassembly. A petitioner, challenging the BHC verdict,pleaded the apex court that Wasay be appointed as op-position leader in the provincial assembly.

Earlier on Wednesday, JUI-F’s provincial chiefSenator Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani hadsaid his party would challenge the BHC decision,adding it was their constitutional right to move theapex court over the issue. STAFF REPORT

Mubashar files petition in SC toensure free and fair elections

PEOPLE WHO DO NOT MEETTHE REQUIREMENTS UNDERARTICLES 62 AND 63 OF THE CONSTITUTIONMUST NOT BE ALLOWED TOCONTEST ELECTIONS

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Friday, 22 March, 2013

PTI to bring Islamic welfare system in

country. – Imran Khan

PESHAWAR

STAFF REPORT

AT least 17 peoplewere killed andmore than 30 in-jured in a carbomb explosion at

the Jalozai Refugee Camp near Pe-shawar on Thursday.

The victims included a workerof a non government organisationHumaira, a policeman and twochildren.

An official said the explosionoccurred when a large number ofinternally displaced persons(IDP’s) were standing in a queueto get registered and receive foodration. The explosion was so se-

vere that most of victims werekilled on the spot.

Behroz Khan, a police officer,told Pakistan Today that unidenti-fied saboteurs had planted 35 to 40kilogrammes of explosives in apick-up parked near the distribu-tion center. Several other vehicleswere also blown up to pieces as aresult of the explosion.

The police officer said 17 peo-ple had died and around 30 hadbeen injured, adding that the con-dition of several of the injured wassated to be critical.

Security forces and volunteersfrom various organisations rushedto the site soon after the blast andtook the injured to hospitals.

Dr Gohar Ali of Lady ReadingHospital said they had received 29injured while the Nowshehradeputy commissioner said 18 peo-ple had been admitted to Pabbi andNoshehra hospitals. He said theyalso received nine bodies.

No one has claimed the re-sponsibility for the explosion sofar but officials believe it is adoing of the Taliban.

Majority of the victims be-longed to Khyber Agency’s TirahValley.

17 killed, over30 injured inJalozai bombing

explosives-laden veHiCle blew up wHen alarge number of internally displaCedpersons were standing in a queue to getregistered and reCeive food ration

Shahbaz asks PM to appoint impartialbureaucrats

lAHorE: Former Pun-jab chief minister

Shahbaz Sharif onThursday calledupon the primeminister to ensureappointment of im-partial bureaucrats

to all key posts. In anopen letter written to

prime minister Raja Per-vez Ashraf, Shahbaz con-

gratulated him on the completion of term byparliament and the government. He called uponthe prime minister to ensure appointment of impar-tial bureaucrats to all key posts both at the federaland provincial levels. OnLinE

After Lahore andBalochistan, Musharraf seeks pre-arrest bail in SindhKArACHi: Former president Pervez Musharrafhas submitted an application for bail before arrestin the Sindh High Court. Musharraf has the serv-ices of Barrister Salman Safdar and the Law andJustice Commission of Pakistan member AQ Hale-pota. The Supreme Court Bar Association VicePresident Abdullah Khan Kakar is all set to file apetition before the Balochistan High Court for bailbefore arrival in the Akbar Bugti murder casewithin a week Similarly, a team under the supervi-sion of senior party member Ahmad Raza Kasuri,will file an application before the Lahore HighCourt to get bail before arrival for Musharraf in theBenazir Bhutto assassination case. Musharraf is setto arrive in Karachi on March 24, to contest the up-coming general elections. Musharraf stands ac-cused in the cases of Benazir Bhutto, Nawab AkbarBugti and Lal Masjid but failed to present himselfbefore the court and went in self-exile. STAFF REPORT

Dr Qayyum Soomro’sdisqualification: Haspre-poll rigging begun?

ISLAMABAD

KASHiF AbbASi

Allegations of Election Commission of Pakistan’s(ECP) involvement in rigging Dr QayyumSoomro’s Senate election have surfaced as thegovernment and the opposition lock horns over theinterim set up. According to details, Soomro’ssenate elections had been declared null and voidby the ECP because of the rushed nature of theproceedings. The Director General Elections (DGE) office an-nounced the election schedule on March 8 (Fri-day), fixed Saturday for scrutinizing Soomro’selection papers and Sunday for hearing appealsagainst the nomination papers. Interestingly, the DGE office had announced theelection schedule for another senate seat fromBalochistan for March 27, while the election forsenate seat Soomro was vying for was set onMarch 14. The suspicious nature of the election schedule andthe rushed nature of Soomro’s nomination led to aplea being filed by a citizen to probe into the pro-ceedings and the nomination. Soomro was elected as a senator from Sindh, re-placing Dr Hafeez Sheikh on a technocrat’s seat.However, a citizen, Tariq Ahmed, appealed to theECP that according to election laws, Soomro didnot qualify as a technocrat. According to election laws, a technocrat is definedas, “A person who is the holder of a degree requir-ing conclusion of at least sixteen years of educa-tion, recognized by University Grant Commission,now ECP, including record of achievement at na-tional and international level.” However, Soomro was declared an unopposed sen-ator without having the required experience andinternational achievement. Moreover, in Soomro’selection, the presiding officer allowed the polls toproceed without proper scrutiny of his nominationpapers. Consequently, a three-member bench of the ECPheaded by Justice (R) Riaz Kayani declaredSoomro’s election as null and void, saying Soomrodid not fall in the category of technocrat.ECP announced a detailed judgment of the case,observing that an inquiry against officers con-cerned of ECP should be conducted.“We are very serious about the senate elections.We will conduct detailed investigations to ascer-tain responsibility. If links between Dr Soomroand our officers are established, we will take ac-tion against them,” said a senior officer of ECP,asking not to be named, told Pakistan Today.The officer further said, “Whether they (officers)intentionally helped Dr Soomro or unintentionallyannounced such a dubious election schedule anddid not conduct proper scrutiny of Soomro’s nomi-nation paper, we will take stern action against theofficers either way.”

Intra-PTI politics: OmarCheema moves party ECagainst Javed Hashmi

islAMABAd: Pak-

istan Tehreek-e-

Insaf (PTI)

leader Omar

Sarfaraz

Cheema has

filed a peti-

tion against

Javed Hashmi

for the post of

presidency in

the Election

Commission. PTI

Election Commission

Secretary Rauf Hasan

confirmed that the office has

received Omar

Cheema’s petition

seeking Hashmi’s

disqualifica-

tion.In his peti-

tion, Cheema

stated that

Javed Hashmi

was not physi-

cally and men-

tally fit and had

not cleared him-

self in the Asghar

Khan case therefore he

should be disqualified.

Cheema said that Hashmi has not proven himself

as ‘sadiq and ameen’. STAFF REPORT

PESHAWAR

AGEnCiES

The military is reportedly step-ping up an offensive to dislodgethe Taliban from a key strongholdin an effort to safeguard May’sgeneral election and crack downon militants behind a wave of at-tacks.

The Tirah Valley, hemmed inby steep mountains and repletewith numerous caves, has offeredthe Tehreek-e-Taliban a new basein the Khyber Agency beyond thereach of ground troops.

Long linked to the drugs tradeand militia activities, with an in-flux of militants evicted fromelsewhere, it poses a new threat tonearby NATO supply lines and toPeshawar, a city of 2.5 millionand a key electoral battleground.

There in Tirah, the TTP hasalso formed a troubling alliancewith the once hostile Lashkar-e-Islam, a militia run by warlordMangal Bagh, to oppose the mil-itary’s efforts to dislodge themthrough airstrikes and shelling.

Elections on May 11 arebilled as Pakistan’s first demo-cratic transition between oneelected civilian government andanother, but concerns about secu-rity are casting a shadow overpreparations.

The campaign also marks thefirst time that parties are allowedto contest the vote in the tribalbelt, a reform introduced by theoutgoing government in a bid toclamp down on militancy.

“We have intensified our op-eration,” a senior security officialtold AFP. “Elections are ap-proaching, Khyber is an impor-tant place, we have to restrictthem and push them back,” he

added.Fighter jets are targeting safe

houses in Tirah. Troops, who sur-round the valley from the outside,are also shelling, the official andresidents said.

On Monday, four people werekilled when a suicide bomberposing as a clerk and an accom-panying gunman attacked themain courts complex in Pe-shawar.

Last month, militants at-tacked the office of the top gov-ernment official for Khyber,Mutahir Zeb, killing six people aspolitical leaders met to discuss astrategy for peaceful polls. Zebwas unhurt.

Also in February, a suicidebomber tried to kill provincialchief minister Ameer HaiderKhan Hoti two months after hisdeputy, Bashir Bilour, was assas-sinated in Peshawar.

Security has declinedmarkedly in the country since thelast election in 2008. Officialslink some recent attacks to Khy-ber and fear that Tirah could posean ongoing threat as the electoralcampaign heats up.

Although the military pushedthe TTP out of the Swat valley in2009, the government has beenunable or unwilling to crackdown on the plethora of militantnetworks blamed for violence inPakistan, Afghanistan and India.

Religious violence hasreached dizzying levels, most re-cently against the Shia minority.Karachi is also suffering fromrecord killings linked to politicaland ethnic tensions.

“Lots of us fear that theseelections might entail a lot of vi-olence,” said Raza Rumi, directorof the Jinnah Institute think tank.

Military may targetTTP in Tirah Valley

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Friday, 22 March, 2013

Nawaz Sharif is showing no confidence

in parliamentary committee.

– Ghulam Ahmed Bilour

KARACHI

AAMiR MAJEED

Apprehensions regardingrigging in the general electionsin Sindh are likely to turn trueas the Pakistan People’s Party(PPP) and the MuttahidaQaumi Movement (MQM)have decided on a 13-membercaretaker provincial cabinet ofblue-eyed jiyalas and sathis tosteal the elections in theprovince. The announcementin this regard is yet to be madethough. According to reliablesources, the caretaker cabinetwould include eight PPPjiyalas and four MQM sathiswhile one portfolio has beenallotted to the Awami NationalParty (ANP), so that it keepsits lips sealed. However, thesources said the provincialcaretaker setup does notinclude a single member from

the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) or theNational Peoples Party (NPP),the two other oppositionparties in Sindh. Thecandidates from the PPP wouldbe Fida Hussain Dhakan, AghaWasi Durrani, Fauzia Jaffery,Fazalur Rehman, Gen (r)Ehsan, Dr Kareem Memon,Zia Langar and Shujat AliJokhio. The four candidatesfrom the MQM would beBarrister Habibur Rehman,Shujaat Ali Baig, NadraPanjwani and Advocate QaziKhalid. The lone ANP man inthe would-be Sindh caretakergovernment would be Pir RiazGul. According to sources,Dhakan is PPP’s Media Cellin-charge, Durrani is thebrother of former PPPprovincial minister Agha SirajDurrani, Lanjar is coordinatorto President Asif Zardari’s

sister Faryal Talpur and Fauziais the president of the PPPWomen Wing while, formerSindh chief secretary Rehmanand Memon are said to beclose to President Zardari.Among the MQM candidates,Baig is the husband of MQMMNA Khushbakht Shujat andAdvocate Khalid hasrepresented the MQM severaltimes. Barrister Rehman andNadra are also said to bestrong supporters of the party.When approached forcomments, the NPP presidentsaid the MQM had notconsulted the PML-F and theNPP, on the issue of thecaretaker setup in Sindh. “Ihave no idea of this dealbetween the PPP, the MQMand the ANP as the NPP is notpart of any negotiations as faras the caretaker setup in Sindhis concerned,” he said.

13-member interimSindh cabinet decided

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

At least 11 more people, including a po-litical worker, were killed in separate in-cidents of firing and violence in variousareas of the metropolis on Thursday.

Per details, a 19-year boy, Khalid,was shot dead while he was standing out-side his house in Sarjani Town. Another

man, Imran Haider Naqvi, was gunneddown by unknown miscreants in Gulba-har Colony. Separately, two groups en-gaged in an armed clash inGulshan-e-Iqbal resulting in the death ofNadeem Magsi. A tortured human bodywas recovered near Super Market onSuper Highway. In another incident, ashopkeeper was shot to death in ShahLatif Town. Also, Huzaifa was killed in a

firing incident in Kemari’s Masan Road.Three other people were killed in separatefiring incidents near Nazimabad MatricBoard Office, Lyari’s Miran Naka andBoat Basin areas. Meanwhile, gunfire ata wedding ceremony held in BhainsColony resulted in the death of 15-yearMir Murtaza, while a 12-year child Zafarwas left injured. Sukhan police arrestedthe man responsible for firing.

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

Punjab Chief Minister ShahbazSharif on Thursday said that bylaying the foundation stone ofIran-Pakistan gas pipeline proj-ect when the federal govern-ment was taking its last breath,President Asif Zardari hadshown dishonesty to the coun-try and deceived the nation.

“People want to know whyZardari and his cronies did notaccept the offer of this projectfive years ago. Starting the IP gaspipeline project in the final hoursof the government is an attemptto bolster the image of People’sParty and create complicationsfor the future government,”Shahbaz said while addressing

senior journalists and columnists.He said that the Pakistan MuslimLeague-N had nominated thebest names for caretaker setup atthe federal and Punjab level,adding that if the PPP had madebetter nomination, the PML-Nleadership would definitely haveconsidered those names. Shah-baz said that the Punjab govern-ment had served the peoplehonestly and selflessly during thelast five years and dissolved theprovincial assembly 20 days be-fore its constitutional tenure ex-pires. He said that the PML-Nleadership had utilized resourcesfor the benefit of masses despitetremendous opposition of thefederal government. He said thatthe Punjab government surren-dered Rs 11 billion from its share

for the unanimous approval ofNFC Award. He said that thefederal government gave billionsof rupees to other provinces inaddition to their share underNFC Award but Punjab raised noobjection. He said that despitethis the Punjab government hadcompleted record developmentprojects in education, health,agriculture and other sectors ofsocial development during thelast five years.

Referring to the energycrisis, he said that Nandi Purand Chichoki Maliyan powerprojects became a victim ofgreed and corruption of for-mer rulers and the machineryof these projects was rustingat Karachi Port.

Shahbaz doubts Zardari’ssincerity in IP gas project

Karachi violence claims another 11 lives

Jiyalas and satHis readyto steal tHe sHow in sindH

not a single member frompml-f and npp inCluded

Alvi takesoath as Sindhcaretaker CM

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

Justice (r) Zahid Qurban AliAlvi was sworn in as caretakerchief minister (CM) of Sindh onThursday. In a ceremony held atGovernor House, SindhGovernor Dr Ishratul Ebadadministrated the oath. FormerSindh CM Syed Qaim Ali Shahand other leaders from PakistanPeople’s Party (PPP) andMutahidda Qaumi Movement(MQM) also participated in theceremony. The caretakercabinet of the province is likelyto comprise between 10 to 12ministers.Justice Alvi belongsto Karachi and was nominatedas judge of the Sindh HighCourt on May 5, 1988.Alvi also took oath under formerarmy chief Pervez Musharrf’sfirst Provisional ConstitutionalOrder (PCO) in 2000 as judge ofthe Sindh High Court. pMl-nTo TAKE ppp, MQM ToCoUrT ovEr Alvi’sAppoinTMEnT: ThePakistan Muslim League-Nawaz(PML-N) on Thursday said itwould drag the PakistanPeople’s Party (PPP) and theMutahidda Qaumi Movement(MQM) to court forunconstitutionally appointingJustice (r) Alvi as caretaker chiefminister (CM) of Sindh.The announcement wasmade by PML-N SindhPresident Justice (r) GhausAli Shah in a pressconference at his residencein Karachi.

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

Taking a strong exception to therecent cold-blooded killing ofLyari gangsters, the SupremeCourt on Thursday directedSindh Police to arrest the killersand cleanse the volatileneighbourhood of all criminalelements within a day’s time.Expressing deep concern overthe inhumane assassination ofArshad Pappu, his brother YasirArafat and aide Shera Pathan atLyari’s Birohi Chowk onMarch 17, Chief Justice (CJ)Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhrysaid killing and mutilatinganyone- even criminals- inbroad daylight was adesecration of humanity whichwas unacceptable. Heading alarger bench to hear the Karachiunrest suo motu case, he saidstaging such heinous acts soexplicitly was an openchallenge to the writ of thegovernment, maintaining which

was the responsibility of lawenforcement agencies,especially the police.Comprising Justices Jawad SKhwaja, Khilji Arif Hussain,Amir Hani Muslim and AjazAfzal Khan, the bench grilledpolice officials over the Lyarikillings and asked forexplanation from the SindhPolice IG and Rangers DG overwhy gangsters were able to turnlocalities like Lyari into ‘no-go’areas for law enforcers. Inresponse, South DIG ShahidHayat said criminals in Lyaripresented a tough resistance.This response irked the CJ whosaid the statement by such ahigh-ranking police officerimplied a clear surrender tocriminals. The CJ,subsequently, ordered the SindhPolice IG and Rangers DG topersonally conduct an operationin the area and abolish allcriminal-infested areas from allparts of the city. The apex courtsaid peace cannot be restored to

Karachi until the city wascleansed of criminals, the no-goareas were abolished and thedelimitation process was carriedout in accordance with itsearlier order. Addressing Hayat,the court said his statement wasunacceptable because it meanteveryone was free to take lawinto their hands. The CJreminded the police officer ofhis duty as well as that of hisforce, which was to enforce thewrit of law and protect thecitizens. The legal counsel ofRangers submitted a reportstating that Rangers had noinformation about any no-goareas in the city, particular inLyari. He said whenever suchinformation was brought intoRangers’ notice, an operationswas conducted in such areas.The court rejected the report,directing Rangers to place onrecord a specific report aboutthe statement made by policeregarding the presence of a no-go area in Lyari.

MUZAFFArABAd: People protestingagainst unscheduled and prolonged loadshedding in Muzaffarabad turned toviolence on Thursday. According to aprivate TV channel, a heavy policecontingent arrived at the scene as protesterstried to enter the Azad Jammu and Kashmir

legislative assembly. The police resorted toaerial firing and baton charged protesters todisperse them. As many as 50 people,including the Muzaffarabad DSP, sustainedminor injuries when protesters peltedstones at police. They also set a police buson fire.OnLinE

SC wants Lyari criminal-free in 24 hours

LOAD SHEDDING PROTEST IN MUZAFFARABAD TURNS VIOLENT

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fLORAL DELIgHT

LAHORE: The Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) is organizing a flower exhibition at the Lawrence Garden today. The exhibition has been organisedunder the banner of Rang-e-Lahore, a project of PHA. As the city bids farewell to spring season, the provincial government is busy pleasing thecitizens with eye candies in the form of colorful festivals. These types of exhibition and programs are being organized in a bid to provide recreationalactivities to the citizens. Also, a fireworks show is being organized at Ravi Park to welcome Pakistan Day. MuRTAZA ALi

LAHORE

RAnA HAiDER

Amodel of Boeing 777 installed next to thesecurity guards deployed at PIALahore’s booking office has beenmissing for over 72 hours,Pakistan Today has

learnt. It is alarming thatsomeone made away with asufficiently hugeinstallmentfrom

the area which supposedly is monitored by CCTVcameras.

The PIA’s booking office is located adjacent toAssembly Chambers on the ground floor of PIA’sLahore office opposite Falettis Hotel and is accessibleto general public who frequent it for buying tickets.

The PIA’s security general manager, a retiredarmy officer, has outsourced the security to a privateagency, which is responsible for monitoring the entry

and exit of all vehicles.When contacted, PIA spokesperson Athar

Awan termed the theft ‘a minor incident’, sayingthere were several models of airplanes in the PIA

office and if one had been ‘misplaced’ it should notbe made into an issue.

“The PIA management does not deem itfit to register an FIR of this incident,” he

told Pakistan Today, ruling out any securityrisks to the office.

Boeing 777 model at PIAdisappears in thin air

despite tHe possibility of aseCurity lapse in pia laHore’sbooking offiCe, pia offiCialsremain at peaCe

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) has finalised itsarrangements to hold a public meeting at Minar-e-Pakistan on March 23. Torch bearingprocessions were held in different parts of the cityon Thursday, while a rally was arranged by PTIGulberg at Liberty Chowk. The rally was led byPTI Lahore President Abdul Aleem Khan.

PTI’s Nazir Chauhan and other office bearersincluding Zahid Sherwani, Mian Tariq and APAShahnaz were also present on the ocassion. Addressingon this occasion, Abdul Aleem Khan said that peoplehave decided to support change in the country andnow Imran Khan would be the next leader who wouldpull the country out of crises. He said that citizenswould make history by heavily participating in PTI’s

public meeting on March 23.Khan visited Minar-e-Pakistan and

reviewed the arrangements beingmade. He said strict securityarrangements have been made at Minar-e-Pakistan and no one would be allowed toenter the area without being frisked. He alsovisited different towns in city and heldmeetings of the elected office bearers of PTI.

Meanwhile, Abdul Aleem Khan was given areception by the candidates of PTI Cantt whereMaj(r) Javed Zameer, Ibrar ul Haque, Maj.(r)Mahmood Bhatti, Fawad Bhullar, MohammadAwais, Dr Saamaa Tauqeer, Najma Haleem andTabinda Mahmood were present among a numberof other PTI office bearers and workers.

Khan congra tu la ted the newly e lec tedoff ice bearers and expressed hope that par ty

would be more s t rengthened in thecoming days . He sa id tha t oa th

tak ing of 80 ,000electedrepresenta t iveswould be ahis tor icevent .

LESCO HIRES 350PERSOnnELDESPITE ECP BAnLAHORE: The Lahore Electric SupplyCompany has recruited 350 people inviolation of a ban imposed by the ElectionCommission of Pakistan (ECP). Sources inthe power utility said a notificationregarding the fresh inductions has alsobeen issued. Sources said that therecruitments had been carried out at thebehest of the federal government withoutrules and regulations. The notification saidthat the aforesaid recruitments had beenmade for 89 days on temporary basis. ALESCO Human Resource Departmentofficial said it had received list of 1700people from the Water and Power Ministryand Governor’s House for therecruitments. On the other hand, theWAPDA Hydro Union has announced astrike against the illegal hiring. OnLinE

fORMER MInISTER’S

BAIL ExTEnDED In

fAkE DEgREE CASELAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) hasextended interim bail of former federalminister Ghulam Sarwar until March 29 infake degree case and has summoned thelawyers of both the sides for furtherarguments. Justice Shahid Hamid Dar tookup the case for hearing on Thursday.Counsel for the former federal minister toldthe court that his client obtained diplomaafter passing the examination but technicalboard issued the wrong NOC. A ‘baseless’FIR was registered against his client onpolitical basis, he argued. ProsecutorGeneral Punjab Sadaqat Ali Khan told thecourt the case was registered against Khanfor holding fake diploma on the basis ofwhich he won the election. STAFF REPORT

I CAn’T SERvEPunJAB AnyMORE:CHIEf SECRETARyLAHORE: Punjab Chief Secretary NasirMahmood Khosa has regretted to servemore in the province. Khosa wrote a letterto Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf,requesting to hand over his services to thefederal government. Khosa stated that thefive-year tenure of the provincialgovernment had ended and caretakersetup would be established soon. Hehoped that interim government’s periodshould be unbiased, therefore, his servicesshould be handed over to the federalgovernment in public interest. OnLinE

I condemn Fauzia Kasuri’s disqualification. How can the

EC behave so callously with a loyal and hardworking

founder member. –Jahangir Tareen

PTI ALL SeT For ‘TSUnAMI PLUS’

ISB 22-03-2013_Layout 1 3/22/2013 2:14 AM Page 5

L

06

Friday, 22 March, 2013LAhore

The completion of parliament’s constitutional term is a singular shining

example of Pakistani politics. Now the democratic transition will take place

as a result of free, fair and transparent elections. –Yousaf Raza Gilani

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ACID THROwn

On 15-yEAR-

OLD gIRL

LAHORE: A 15-year-

old girl on Thursday

suffered burn injuries

when unidentified

motorcyclists threw

acid on her while she

was returning home in

Lahore’s Cavalry

Ground area.

Per details, Rida Zainab

was returning home

along with her maid

when two unidentified

motorcyclists threw acid

on her. The acid burnt

her arms while her face

remained safe. The

culprits managed to flee

from the scene. After

the incident, the victim

was shifted to a hospital

by Rescue 1122.

Meanwhile, an FIR has

been registered in

Factory Area Police

Station. STAFF REPORT

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf leader Fauzia Kasuri has

been removed from the intra-party elections for having dual

nationality. Talking to the newsmen, Fauzia Kasuri said that

she has now submitted her statement for leaving dual

nationality to the party election commission, adding that she

could not submit it before due to her foreign party meetings.

Kasuri, who was the president of PTI’s women’s wing,

tweeted that she was still loyal to the party despite being

disqualified . Speaking on the issue, Jahengir Tareen also

recently tweeted “I condemn Fauzia Kasuri’s disqualification.

How can the EC behave so callously with a loyal and

hardworking founder member.”

Meanwhile, Javed Hashmi, Umer Sarfraz Cheema and Dr

Sania are contesting for the slot of central president while Dr

Arif Alvi, Pervez Khattak and Rashid Khan are contesting for

the position of party’s central general secretary. STAFF REPORTLAHORE

STAFF REPORT

pUNJAB Health DepartmentDirector General NisarCheema said that Pakistanfaced the risk of travelsanctions after June 2013 if

the polio virus circulation was notstopped in the country.

The warning came at a mediaworkshop arranged by the Departmentof Health at Royal Palm Golf andCountry Club.

The participants of the workshopincluded Lahore Press Club PresidentArshad Ansari and EPI Director TanveerAhmad among editors of local dailies.The WHO was represented by Dr Amirand Dr Sarwat while Dr Tahir manzoor,Health and Nutrition specialist, was

present on behalf of the UNICEF.Editors, reporters and desk inchargesfrom major media organisationsattended the workshop. “We need mediasupport in creating awareness thatvaccinating children is our nationalresponsibility”, the DG said in hisremarks. He reminded the participantsthat in other countries like Egypt, nodoor to door campaigns were held toeradicate Polio. However, the parentswere aware enough of the hazards of thedisease that they bring their children tothe health centres, the DG remarked.

Cheema clarified in his remarks thathygiene conditions in the area were vitalto saving a child from measles, polio andother such diseases. “The Mianwali girlwho contracted polio virus was living inan Afghan refugee camp in deplorableconditions. The child was malnourished

and did not have enough immunity despiteseveral dozes of OPV,” Cheema said.

The editor of a local newspapersought the cooperation of department ofhealth, the UNICEF and the WHO in thetraining of media personnel in reportinghealth issues properly. “Please givemedia personnel necessary training,material and expertise so that they couldtake guidance from the content,” he said.He urged all newspapers, magazines andTV channels to earmark a permanentspace to cover health issues. “Thereneeds to be a permanent space and timefor health issues in the print as wellelectronic media so that proper coverageis given to immunization as well asPolio,” he said. The LPC presidenthighlighted the role of press clubs incampaigns to eradicate measles andpolio.

fauzia kasuri disqualifiedfrom PTI elections

‘CuRBIng POLIO IS OuRnATIOnAL RESPOnSIBILITy’

LAHORE: With the governments dissolved, policedepartment has made a list of all VIPs from whomsecurity protocol needs to be taken away. Police protocolwill be taken back from all the VIPs including MainNawaz Sharif, Mian Shahbaz Sharif and Pervez Elahi.Sources said that only two police security vans will begiven to all the VIPs for security reason as per law.After the dissolution of the federal government, thebureaucracy called back all the police officials who wereperforming their duties with VIPs to report in theirrespective police stations. STAFF REPORT

Time’s up! Let go of securityprotocol gentlemen!

THIRSTY STRAITS: A view of

the dried up river Ravi. OnLinE

ISB 22-03-2013_Layout 1 3/22/2013 2:14 AM Page 6

JORDAn kIng LASHES

OuT AT REgIOnAL

LEADERSAMMAN

AGEnCiES

Jordan’s King Abdullah II launched abroadside against regional leaders in aninterview in a US magazine, sayingEgypt’s president has “no depth” inreading the Palestinian-Israeli conflictand that Turkey’s premier sees democ-racy as a “bus ride”. In remarks pub-lished by The Atlantic on Tuesday theking also said “wolves in sheep’s cloth-ing” ran the Muslim Brotherhood, criti-cising some Western allies for failing tounderstand that. The palace said theking’s words were “taken out of con-text” as he later reserved some harshwords for Egyptian President MohamedMorsi. “I was trying to explain to himhow to deal with Hamas, how to get thepeace process moving, and he was like:‘The Israelis will not move.’“I said: ‘Listen, whether the Israelismove or don’t move, it’s how we getFatah and Hamas [the rival Palestinianfactions] together,” the king told TheAtlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg.

07

newSFriday, 22 March, 2013

Human progress has never been

shaped by commentators, complainers

or cynics. – Tony Blair N

KAbuL: Afghan families gather on a hilltop near the

Kart-e-Sakhi shrine, the centre of the Afghanistan new

year celebrations during Nowrüz festivities. AGEnCiES

PYONGYANG

AGEnCiES

North Korea has threatened to attack USmilitary bases in Japan in response tothe use of nuclear-armed US B-52bombers in joint military drills withSouth Korea.

The threat on Thursday came a dayafter Pyongyang condemned the B-52flights as an “unpardonable provoca-tion” and threatened military action ifthey continue.

“The United States is advised not toforget that our precision target toolshave within their range the AndersonAir Force base on Guam where the B-52 takes off, as well as the Japanesemainland where nuclear-powered sub-marines are deployed and the navybases on Okinawa,” the North Koreancommand spokesman was quoted by

KCNA news agency.The Pentagon confirmed that B-52s,

taking off from Andersen Air Force basein Guam, had flown over South Koreaas part of annual joint exercises that Py-ongyang insist are a rehearsal for provo-cation.

“We cannot tolerate the US carryingout nuclear strike drills, setting us as tar-gets, and advertising them as strongwarning messages,” a spokesman for theNorth’s supreme army command said.

Nuclear submarinesAl Jazeera’s Harry Fawcett, report-

ing from Seoul, South Korea’s capital,said the latest statement from Py-ongyang should be seen as a “reminderrather than an immediate threat of ac-tion”.

“Whats interesting is the direct ref-erence to B52 aircraft and the nuclear-powered submarines that the US has at

its disposal,” he added.“Earlier this week, the US deputy

defence secretary was here in Seoul andunderlined the use of B52s in combinedUS-South Korean military exercisesgoing on.”

“B52s are capable of carrying nu-clear weapons as is the USS Cheyennenuclear-powered submarine, which isalso taking part in the exercises.”

Military tensions on the Koreanpeninsula are at their highest level foryears, with North Korea - angered byUN sanctions imposed after its nucleartest last month - threatening a secondKorean War backed by nuclearweapons.

B-52s have taken part in SouthKorea-US joint exercises before, but thePentagon said it had publicised their usethis time to underline US commitmentto defending its South Korean ally.

Pkk LEADER CALLSfOR CEASEfIRE InTuRkEy

ISTANBUL

AGEnCiES

Jailed Kurdish rebel leader AbdullahOcalan has issued a long-awaited cease-fire declaration that would be a major steptowards ending a 30-year conflict that hascost tens of thousands of lives in Turkey.The ceasefire announced on Thursday,which coincides with the Kurdish NewYear, or Newroz, also calls for the with-drawal of PKK likely to bases in north-ern Iraq. In Ocalan’s letter read out bymembers of parliament, Pervin Buldan,in Kurdish, and Sirri Sureyya Onder, inTurkish, he said: “In the presence of mil-lions of witnesses, I’m telling you, let anew process begin. No to weapons, yesto politics.

N Korea threatens strike on US airbases

TEL AVIV

AGEnCiES

US President Barack Obamahas called for direct talksbetween Israelis and Pales-tinians for lasting peace inthe region and said that Jew-

ish settlements were an obstacle toachieving that. He was speaking in Ra-mallah after meeting Palestinian officialson the second day of his Mideast tour toemphasise the importance of reaching anIsraeli-Palestinian peace deal.

Obama headed to the West Bank onThursday to tell the Palestinians that thecreation of a Palestinian state remains apriority for his administration.

Obama said Palestinians deserved anindependent and sovereign state and anend to occupation by Israel. The US pres-ident said that Palestinians should nothave to confront the daily indignities thatcome with occupation.

The US president did not bring a newplan to relaunch peace talks, but said bothsides should end unilateral actions thathalt moves to resolve the conflict.

Those troublesome actions includecontinued construction of Jewish hous-ing settlements on land claimed by thePalestinians and repeated Palestinian ef-forts to achieve recognition at the UnitedNations in the absence of a peace agree-ment. Yasser Abed-Rabbo, an aide ofAbbas, said before the meeting thatthe Palestinians will tell Obama theywon’t return to negotiations withIsrael without a settlement freeze.

“There can be no real (peace) processwith the continuation of settlement activ-ities on our lands,’’ he said, adding thatthe issue of settlements is central to theObama-Abbas meeting. Palestiniansargue that they cannot negotiate a borderbetween Israel and a future Palestinewhile Israel unilaterally shapes that linethrough accelerated settlement building.

The Palestinians want a state in theWest Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem ter-ritories Israel captured in the 1967 war -but are ready for minor adjustments to ac-commodate some settlements closest toIsrael.

Since 1967, Israel has built dozens ofsettlements in the West Bank and east

Jerusalem that are now home to 560,000Israelis - an increase of 60,000 sinceObama became president four years ago.

Palestinians argue that only strongU.S. pressure can get Israel tochange course and halt its settlement en-terprise, but doubt Obama is willing to

do so. Obama’s wooing of Israeli publicopinion during his current trip has furtherenforced such perceptions. In downtownRamallah, several dozen people protestedagainst what is perceived here as a strongUS bias in favor of Israel.

Obama “should take immediate action

to stop settlement activity because thepassivity of his position toward settle-ments is happening while the very last op-tion of a two-state solution is being killedby Israeli settlements,’’said MustafaBarghouti, a leading Palestinian activist.

That calm has not extended to Gaza,which is run by the militant IslamicHamas movement. As Obama began hisprogram Thursday, Israeli police saidfighters in Gaza had fired two rockets atthe southern town of Sderot.

One of the rockets exploded in thecourtyard of a house in Sderot early in themorning, causing damage but no injuries,said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.

The other landed in an open field.Sirens wailed in Sderot shortly after the 7am. rocket attack, forcing residents ontheir way to work or school to run tobomb shelters.

In contrast to Israel, the Palestini-ans have shown little excitement overthe Obama visit. In the run-up to thevisit, demonstrators have defaced anddestroyed posters of Obama in an ex-pression of dissatisfaction with USpolicy in the region.

InDIA PASSESTOugHER SExuALvIOLEnCE LAw

NEW DELHI

AGEnCiES

India’s Parliament passed a sweeping newlaw on Thursday to protect womenagainst sexual violence in response to afatal December gang rape and beating of ayoung woman on a bus in New Delhi.The new law, which still requires the pres-ident’s signature before it becomes offi-cial, makes stalking, voyeurism andsexual harassment a crime. It also pro-vides for the death penalty for repeat of-fenders or for rape attacks that lead to thevictim’s death. Activists hailed the law asa milestone in India’s women’s rightsmovement, even as they raised concernsover some of its provisions as well as thecountry’s poor record of law enforcement.“It’s a significant moment. We have takenmany steps forward,” said Vrinda Grover,a senior lawyer and a women’s rights ac-tivist. “Much, much more needs to bedone.” The bill was passed Thursday bythe upper house of India’s Parliament, twodays after the lower house approved it.The law was hurried through Parliamentafter the Dec. 16 gang rape sparked na-tionwide protests demanding the govern-ment do more to safeguard women.

OBAMA fOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE TALkS

ISB 22-03-2013_Layout 1 3/22/2013 2:14 AM Page 7

newSNFriday, 22 March, 2013

08 Change through ballot will further

strengthen democratic process in the

country. — Makhdoom Javed Hashmi

QUETTA: A person looks at vehicles which were set ablaze during clashes between two rival groups in Noshki on Thursday. OnLinE

Over 150,000 votersapply to registervotes: fAfEn

ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

The District Long-Term Observers(DLTOs) of Free and Fair ElectionNetwork have gathered voter registra-tion statistics from 33 reporting dis-tricts and found out that 150,000applications have been filed in 23 dis-tricts in the first week of March 2013,says a press release released on Tues-day.According to this report, FAFEN’sDLTOs interviewed district electioncommissioners (DECs) in 33 reportingdistricts in the first week of March –15 in Punjab, 14 in Sindh, three inBalochistan and one in KP.The DECs in these districts wereasked if their offices were receivingapplications for voter registration. Atotal of 29 of the 33 DECs (88percent)said they are receiving applications forvoter registration. Two DECs said theyhad stopped receiving applications (6percent), and two chose not to shareinformation about voter registrationwith FAFEN observers (6 percent).Of the 29 districts receiving voter reg-istration applications, 23 DECs (79percent) said they are compiling statis-tics (keeping records) on voter regis-tration, while five (17 percent) werenot. The DEC in Bhakkar did not sharethis information (4 percent).In total, among the 33 DECs inter-viewed, more than two-third DECs(23, or 70 percent) shared full infor-mation with FAFEN about ongoingvoter registration statistics. More thanone-tenth (4, or 12 percent) were re-ceiving voter registration applications,but were not keeping records of thenumber of applications. Two DECswere receiving applications, but de-clined to share the data with FAFEN(6 percent), two were not receivingvoter registration applications (6 per-cent), and two declined to provide anyinformation about voter registration toFAFEN (6 percent).The 23 DECs who shared statisticswith FAFEN received a total of156,131 applications for voter regis-tration in the first week of March2013.

WASHINGTON

inP

HOLDING thatPakistan is thesource of manyof the US prob-lems inAfghanistan, anAmerican law-

maker has said the US has now an allyin India and an enemy in Islamabad.

“Things have changed in the last 20years. Pakistan is no longer our ally andIndia is no longer an ally of the SovietUnion. What we have now is an ally inIndia and an enemy in Pakistan,” Con-gressman Dana Rohrabacher said.

“It is not because we are declaringthem that they are our enemy, but be-cause Pakistan declared itself as anenemy of the United States,”Rohrabacher alleged. “No body, but anenemy would take the murderer, a ter-rorist who slaughters 3,000 people and

give him a safe haven and then arrest theman who helped us bring justice to thatmurderer.”

He was referring to detained Pak-istani doctor Shakil Afridi, who hadhelped the US Central IntelligenceAgency (CIA) hunt down former alQaeda leader Osama Bin Laden on May2, 2011.

“It is about time that we realise thatPakistan is the source of many of theproblems that we have there(Afghanistan) rather than being opti-mistic that Pakistan is going to change,”Rohrabacher said.

In response to a question fromRohrabacher, Washington -based think-tank Daniel Markey told lawmakers at aCongressional hearing that Pakistancould be even “worse enemy” of the USthan it currently is, particularly inAfghanistan. “Let’s be careful, what wewish for because they can be even worseenemy than they currently are,” Markey,Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan and

South Asia at the Council on ForeignRelations said.

“I think you are right in a sense. Pak-istan has been incredibly frustrating andat times would be better characterised asan adversary or an enemy particularlywith respect to our differences onAfghanistan,” Markey said in responseto question from Rohrabacher.

Seth G Jones from Rand told law-makers in his remarks that individualsfrom the ISI and Pakistan military con-tinue to provide some support to Afghaninsurgents. “Indeed, Pakistan is runningone of the most successful covert actionprogrammes today against a majorpower – and against the United States noless,” he said.

“The US failure to curb Pakistan’ssanctuary and support is particularlyegregious since the United States wasinvolved in an almost identical pro-gramme 30 years ago – with the ISI –against the Soviets in Afghanistan,”Seth said.

fazl advises PC to

ponder deeply

for decision on

caretaker PM

LAHORE

nni

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chiefMaulana Fazlur Rehman has advised theparliamentary committee to ponderdeeply before making a decision on whowould be the caretaker prime minister.Talking to reporters on Thursday, Fazlsaid if the two largest political parties ofthe country could not agree upon a singlename, why did they introduce constitu-tional amendments for naming the care-taker set-up.He said politicians should make a mutualdecision on caretaker prime minister,adding that the judges were also appar-ently turning into a party. “Financial ex-perts used to be representatives of theIMF, so the interim premiere must be se-lected after a detailed thought process.”Fazl rejected the impression that Nisar AliKhan said something on his own withoutthe approval of his party leadership.The JUI-F chief said his party would re-spond positively if Nawaz consulted it.To a question, the JUI-F chief claimedthat they would hold a larger rally thanImran Khan at Minar-e-Pakistan onMarch 31. He said representatives ofother political parties should have alsobeen included in the parliamentary com-mittee formed for the selection of care-taker prime minister. He added that allpolitical parties should adopt a strategyfor steering the country out of crises,adding it was a testing time for all parties. FAZl gETs ‘ClosE BooK’ BACKAs ElECTion syMBol: The Islam-abad High Court (IHC) on Thursday di-rected the Election Commission ofPakistan (ECP) to allot the symbol of aclosed book to the Jamiat Uleme-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) as its election symbol.Earlier, the ECP had allotted the image ofan open book to the JUI-F.IHC Chief Justice Anwar Khan Kasi andJustice Shoukat Aziz Siddiqui resumedthe hearing into the case. After hearing ar-guments from both sides, the court di-rected the ECP to allot the symbol of aclosed book to the JUI-F. During the lasthearing, the same bench had suspendedthe ECP’s verdict of issuing the symbol ofan open book to the party.In his petition, JUI-F General SecretaryAbdul Ghafoor Haideri had challengedthe ECP’s verdict and had requested thecourt to direct the commission to allot itclosed book as an election emblem.Through his counsel, the JUI-F leaderpleaded that his party had been contestingelections since 1996 with a closed book asan election symbol, but now the ECP hadchanged his party’s election symbol.

NEWS DESK

Nearly a decade after the Pakistani media ini-tially reported his arrest, Qari Abdul Hayee,one of the men allegedly involved in the 2002assassination of Wall Street Journal reporterDaniel Pearl, has been taken into custody byparamilitary forces in the port city of Karachi.Hayee, alias Asadullah, is a senior militant inthe banned Sunni group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi(LJ) and was reportedly arrested in a crack-down on sectarian violence as Pakistan pre-pares for general elections, due in May.

The LJ has claimed responsibility forseveral high-profile attacks on Pakistan’sShia community in the past three months, in-cluding two bombings in Quetta, the provin-cial capital of Balochistan province, andanother in Karachi.

But while the arrest of Hayee, formerpresident of the LJ in Sindh province, is con-sidered a coup against the terrorist group, itis unlikely he will be in jail for very long, ac-cording to The Daily Beast. “It is commonfor terrorists like Hayee to be released withina few months of being arrested,” says inde-pendent analyst Hasan-Askari Rizvi.

“The state is required to collected prose-cutorial evidence and the risks involved usu-ally mean there isn’t enough proof or all thewitnesses just withdraw their statements.” In

addition, militants are often taken into cus-tody by Pakistan’s security agencies—result-ing in “missing persons” or people who havebeen arrested but never charged with anycrimes.

Already, there is confusion over whichagency currently has custody of Hayee.

The Pakistan Rangers claim he wastransferred to the Karachi police on Sunday.However, a police official with the Crime In-vestigation Department told The Daily Beasthe had no knowledge of Hayee’s arrest.

“Everything we know about Hayee’s ar-rest, we have learnt from the press,” he said,on condition of anonymity. “Any agencycould have taken him,” says Rizvi. “The

Rangers don’t keep prisoners for very long,but it isn’t rare for the security agencies tosnap up prominent militants before they aretaken into custody by the police.”

This isn’t the first time Hayee has beentaken into custody before emerging un-scathed. In 1995, Hayee was arrested with LJfounder Riaz Basra, but both men escapedcustody from court premises. Basra waskilled in a police encounter in 2002.

Following their escape, in 1997, Hayeereportedly fled to Afghanistan, where he be-came a key trainer of LJ militants and en-couraged sectarian violence on both sides ofthe porous Pak-Afghan border. Hayee is be-lieved to have used his knowledge of hand-to-hand combat, explosives, and chemicalattacks to facilitate his rise in the organiza-tion. According to police, he also met Talibanchief Mullah Omar at least once during thistime. In Afghanistan, Hayee broke off fromBasra and, following the US invasion ofAfghanistan, set up camp at a madrassa inKarachi. He is alleged to have helped set upthe kidnapping of Pearl through his contactsat the madrassa, and was investigated by po-lice but no charges were brought against him.

In May 2003, Hayee was arrested in apolice raid in Southern Punjab, a hotbed ofmilitant activity and sectarian violence. Ac-cording to investigators, he was planning sui-

cide attacks on police officials who hadcracked down on sectarian violence in the re-gion. Upon his arrest, he was charged withthe deaths of six men who had been killedwhen he attacked a Shia Muslim mosquewith hand grenades in 1994. A month later,H a y e ewas sen-tenced todeath forthe at-tack, butwas ac-quitted ina p p e a ldue tolack ofe v i -dence.

Hayee was been on the Pak-istan government’s watchlistsince and in 2004 was named ina list of “wanted terrorists”against a bounty of 2 million ru-pees (approximately $31,000 atthe then-exchange rate).

It is unlikely, however, that Hayee hasbeen arrested on any of the old chargespending against him. Last month, former in-terior minister Rehman Malik told journal-ists that the LJ was involved in 80 percent of

all terror attacks across Pakistan. As his Pak-istan People’s Party prepares to contest gen-eral elections, their failure to prevent terrorattacks has become a key campaign point.Hayee’s arrest is more likely an attack on LJto show the people that the government is

working to protect them. “It’s pos-sible the government wants toshow that it is bringing Karachi, amajor metropolis, back under itscontrol after so much violence,”says Rizvi. “There is now morepressure on them to act and show

their ef-fective-ness.”

A r -r e s t e dfor hisinvolve-ment inP e a r l ’skidnap-ping orfor hisorgani -

sation’s recent targeting of Shia Muslimsin Pakistan, Hayee’s absence from thestreets is good news. Whether it will trans-late into justice for his numerous victimsremains to be seen.

will Daniel Pearl’s killer ever be convicted?

IT IS COMMON FORTERRORISTS LIKEHAYEE TO BE RELEASEDWITHIN A FEW MONTHSOF BEING ARRESTED

HASAn-ASKARi

deCs say tHey are reCeivingappliCations for voterregistration

‘uS has now an ally inIndia, enemy in Pakistan’

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newS N

09

Friday, 22 March, 2013

No new names added to list

of nominees for caretaker

PM. — Saad Rafiq

CHITRAL: Members of the Ismaili Muslim sect dance to celebrate the Nauroz festival on Thursday. inP

NEWS DESK

BRITISH Foreign Secre-tary William Hague onThursday said Britainwill continue to helpdrive progress towards asustainable political set-

tlement and efforts by the Governments ofAfghanistan and Pakistan to strengthentheir relationship. UK will also support theAfghan-led peace process to facilitate im-proved relations between the Afghan andPakistani Governments, including support-ing further trilateral meetings in the future.

William Hague was speaking in theBritish Parliament to update MPs on theprogress in Afghanistan. He said 440British service personnel lost their lives inAfghanistan since the start of the waragainst terrorism in 2001. The British gov-

ernment and people will never forget thesacrifice they and their families have madeto protect our nation’s security, he said.

He said the government’s objective andstrategy in Afghanistan are unchanged.Britain seeks an Afghanistan that can main-tain its own security and is not a safe havenfor international terrorists. “This requiresus to help the Afghan government to in-crease the capability of its National Secu-rity Forces, to make progress towards asustainable political settlement, and tobuild a viable Afghan state,” he said.

Hague said although formidable chal-lenges remain, there is progress to reportto the House. He said significant progressis being made in building up the capabilityof the Afghan Security Forces. “Over thelast three months insurgent activity inAfghanistan has followed the historiccycle of winter seasons, with a reduced

level of violence nationwide. High profileattacks have been limited over this period.Recent attacks, such as those against theNational Directorate of Security and Traf-fic Police Headquarters, have been largelydealt with by Afghan Forces, without di-rect support form ISAF,” he said.

Hague informed parliamentarians thatAfghan Security Forces are now leading80% of all security operations inAfghanistan, and are due to take lead re-sponsibility for combat operations acrossthe country by this summer, with ISAFtaking an advisory role. More than threequarters of ISAF bases have now beenclosed or transferred to Afghan authori-ties, Hague said.

He said the progress is allowing grad-ual redeployment of UK military forcesand equipment. “The role of UK person-nel is changing from a combat role to

training and advising the Afghan securityforces. In the short term they will continueto support Afghan operations through ca-sualty evacuation, air support and the pro-vision of surveillance capabilities, whileworking to help them develop their ownsuitable capabilities,” he added.

He also said UK will continue tohelp drive progress towards a sustain-able political settlement and effortsby the Governments of Afghanistanand Pakistan to strengthen their rela-tionship. In this regards, he said, inFebruary the prime minister hosted asummit at Chequers with PresidentKarzai of Afghanistan and PresidentZardari of Pakistan. The aim was to assistthe Afghan-led peace and reconcili-ation process, and strengthenjoint Afghan and Pakistaniefforts to address extrem-

ism and advance regional peace and sta-bility.

He said the summit led to an agree-ment on co-operation between militaryand security services, strengthened coor-

dination of Taliban prisoner re-leases from Pakistani

custody, and a publicstatement supporting theopening of a Taliban po-

litical office in Doha.This sends a clearmessage to the Talibanthat now is the time totake part in a peaceful

political dialogue.

Clash between

Hindus and Sikhs

averted in Sindh

NEWS DESK

A clash between Hindus and Sikhs over objec-tionable photos was averted in Sindh aftercommunity leaders helped broker a compro-mise, according to media reports.Despite the understanding reached by the twosides, the Sikhs, who are a smaller minority inthe Shikarpur area of Sindh, felt threatened bylocal Hindus.The trouble began after Sikh students sharedsome photos of a recent mela in Jai SamadhaAshram in Shikarpur.The Ashram, which houses both the Gita andGuru Granth Sahib, is frequented by Hindusand Sikhs.After the photos were circulated on Facebook,the issue created a furore among Sikhs, whocontacted their local leaders.The head of the Pakistan Hindu Council,Ramesh Singh, led a 22-member team toShikarpur to sort out the matter.“Young men were ready to fight and kill eachother if we hadn’t reached in time,” he said.The matter was resolved after the communityleaders spoke to both sides.Tara Singh, head of the Pakistan Sikh Gurd-hwara Prabandhak Committee, said his com-munity wanted peace to prevail between thetwo groups.“We don’t want the situation to get out ofhand. And (we) believe in forgive and forget,”he said.SSP Parvez Ahmed Chandio said an inquiryhas been ordered and a report would be re-ceived in three days.The head of the Delhi Dharam Parchar Com-mittee in India wrote a letter to the PakistanHigh Commission and the head of the Evac-uee Trust Property Board in Islamabad, whichis responsible for managing the shrines of mi-nority communities, to look into the matter.

700,000 citizens face

trouble acquiring

passports islAMABAd: Theacquisition of pass-ports by commonman across thecountry has becomemore difficult thanusual and longqueues in front ofthe passport officesbear witness to thehardships faced bycitizens. Accordingto details, delay in

the issuance of 700,000 passports has givenway to acute difficulties for citizens. Offi-cial sources claimed that the problem wascaused by shortage of lamination papers.Sources are of the view that the delay islikely to affect the Hajj-pilgrims. The fed-eral government has constituted a four-member committee that will do away withthe possible delay in the issuance of pass-ports for pilgrims. The members of thecommittee include one representative eachfrom Religious Affairs Department, Pass-port Department, FBR and one person rep-resenting the government. OnLinE

MONITORING DESK

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz(PML-N) announcement for their choiceof the next chief of army staff haslargely gone unnoticed amidstthe general political dead-lock in the country.

According to a re-port by TheSpokesman, thePML-N chose theirparty manifesto toannounce that theywould pursue apolicy of seniorityfor the promotionof the army chief inthe future.

The party mani-festo is a collection ofvarious policy state-ments, the most strikingof which being the party’snew policy on thearmy chief.

While PML-N di-rectly did not announcewho they would want to workwith as the army chief, the sen-iority principle narrows down the choicefor the next army chief to a few names.

Assuming that PML-N comes to

power and does not extend the tenure ofthe incumbent army chief, the partywould have a list of army officers for themuch coveted post. Among the emergingnames is General Khalid Shameem

Wynne who stands a chance ashe retires in October 2013.

A possibility also ex-ists that the Air Force andthe Navy may reasserttheir turn for appoint-ment of CJCSC this

time around. Ac-cording to the con-stitution, this postis supposed to ro-tate among the

forces but the Armyhas retained it for

over 10 years now. Otherwise, the sen-

ior most officer is LtGeneral Khalid Nawaz

Khan who retires inAugust 2013. He is

from the 51st PMALong Course and served

his entire tenure as the allimportant X-Corps commander.

He hails from a military family andis from the same region as GeneralKayani. He is also from the same arm,the Baloch regiment, as the chief. The

second in line is General Alam Khattak,Corps Commander Quetta, also from the51st Course, who retires in September2013.

But if the principle is followed instrict accordance, in simple words, theman who stands next in line afterKayani’s retirement is Lt General Ha-roon Alsam. He is from the 52nd PMALong Course and retires in 2014. He hasserved in the crucial Military OperationsDirectorate as a Brigadier (DMO). Healso oversaw the Swat operation as theSSG head besides commanding the Ba-hawalpur Corps. He is now one of thePSOs in GHQ.

The incumbent chief has a powerfulrole to play as well. He could be askedfor advice and suggestions. The decisionabout the army chief is usually taken afew months before the retirement of thepresent chief.

The next in line of seniority is LtGeneral Rashad Mahmood (52 PMA)who retires in 2014. He served as LahoreCorps commander and is now the all im-portant CGS at GHQ.

Another name on the list is Lt Gen-eral Tariq Khan (55 PMA). He wasIGFC in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa duringthe military operations in Bajaur andnow serves as the Mangla Corps Com-mander.

next Sindh CMwill be from MQM: Altaf

LONDON/KARACHI

nni

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)chief Altaf Hussain on Thursday said hisparty would make the government inSindh and the next chief minister (CM)in the province would be from the MQM.Addressing party workers in Karachiover telephone‚ Altaf said his partywould field candidates in all constituen-cies across the country.He also demanded the authorities extendthe deadline for submitting electionforms by seven days, as candidates werefacing difficulty in filling out the newforms.“The MQM will eliminate the word ‘mi-nority’ from the country,” he added.Altaf said the MQM believed in politicsof ballot, not bullet and hoped that theupcoming election would be held in afree and fair manner.He said the MQM would not disappointNabeel Gabol, who recently left the PPPfor the MQM.Altaf also supported the fresh move byRangers and police for de-weaponisationof Karachi and called for spreading thiscampaign to the entire country.

who will be PML-n’s army chief?

HAguE CALLS fOR STREngTHEnIng PAk-AfgHAn TIES

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CoMMenT

CFriday, 22 March, 2013

10Democracy is a device that insures

we shall be governed no better than

we deserve. –George Bernard Shaw

THE caretaker set up whichshould be in place in lessthan a week’s time will nothave smooth sailing. Itneeds to focus on its role

which is to help host fair elections. But inits capacity as a provisional government,the caretaker government will have totake a number of decisions crucial for thesmooth conduct of the elections.

The need for a caretaker set up aroseon account of a lack of trust between thegovernment and the opposition, in additionto doubts about the neutrality of importantinstitutions. In developed democracies, ex-isting governments conduct elections be-cause the integrity of institutionsremains unquestionable. As a cynicalTahirul Qadri quipped a few days backcaretaker setups exist only in Rwanda,Kosovo, Nepal and Poland. Pakistan needscaretakers as the institutions have yet toestablish their impartiality.

The caretaker set up will be requiredto help the Election Commission of Pak-istan (ECP) in the conduct of elections. Itwill have to ensure that the demands ofthe ECP are efficiently fulfilled. To startwith, it will have to ensure that the bu-reaucracy acts neutrally both at the federaland provincial level. Administrativeand police officials supposed to have beenappointed by the previous administrationfor political reasons will have to be re-placed with those considered to be non-partisan. A lot of transfers will thereforehave to be undertaken soon after takeover. Administrative measures of the sortwould be watched keenly by the partiesparticipating in elections. The measurestaken should inspire confidence in the in-tegrity of the caretaker set up.

The caretakers will have to deal withthe law and order issue too. The TTP hasonce again declared the elections to be re-pugnant to the teachings of Islam andwarned the voters that they would be tak-ing part in the exercise at their own risk.The militant network has made it knownthat it would specifically target the electionactivities of the PPP, ANP and MQM. Theleast that the threat would do is to demor-alize many voters. In the worst scenario, itcould cause voting to be postponed in sev-eral constituencies. The threat would haveto be dealt with by the caretakers. The vot-ing in the rest of the country howevershould go on uninterrupted.

Through its offer for talks with the gov-ernment, the TTP in fact wanted to drive awedge between the military and the govern-ment, on one hand, and between the variouspolitical parties, on the other. After the armyleft politicians to take a decision about theoffer on their own, the TTP failed to isolatethe military. The terrorist network howeversucceeded in creating a division amongstpolitical parties as the PML-N, JI and JUI-F refused to condemn the TTP threat. Thiswas an act of gross opportunism.

The new government would bestronger with a mandate supported by aheavy voter turn out. A low turn out how-ever would reduce its prestige. Thiswould be by some as an indicator of a re-duction of enthusiasm for the democraticsystem. This would be used by the terror-ists to claim that most people in the coun-try do not support “western democracy”.

Preserving peace however is primarilythe duty of law enforcement bodies. A lackof zeal on their part would lead many toconclude that the off stage players do notwant a big voter turn out because it wouldstrengthen democracy.

The economy is currently in bad shape.Pakistan has reached a critical situation visa vis the balance of payments situation. ThePPP government has been on a spendingspree for five years. So was the Punjabgovernment under the PML-N. So far, re-mittances from Pakistanis working overseasamounting to about $1bn a month havehelped keep Pakistan afloat though by a thinmargin. Finances are presently in a precar-ious position. While the Governor StateBank believes there is no cause for worry,Asian Development Bank’s country direc-tor Werner Liepach told Reuters in an inter-view early this month that Pakistan would

need up to $9 billion from the IMF to shieldthe economy. Further that the country hasenough hard currency to cover only abouttwo months of imports. In other words, be-fore the elections are over the country mightbe desperately in need of money.

Those who support Dr Ishrat Hussainas caretaker Prime Minister argue that onlyan economist with a vast experience of in-teraction with international monetary or-ganisations can cope with the challengethe pre- election set up is going to face.

What needs to be emphasized is that itis not the job of the caretakers to make anycontract having long term impact on thecountry’s economy unless with the consentof the major parties taking part in elections.

The caretaker set was conceived as anarrangement not having a tilt for any ofthe political contenders. Partisan elementsbeing introduced into the set up as hap-pened in Sindh would make the neutralityof the caretakers questionable. A similar at-tempt made by the party in Balochistan wasfoiled by the timely intervention of theBalochistan High Court.

The caretakers must not take majorlegislative decisions. They have to actas neutral occupants of administrative po-sitions till the voters decide who shouldbest fill them.

One expects the caretakers to shun cer-tain activities. They must not be seen in-dulging in political witch-hunting in anyform. Accountability of the politicians isbeyond their purview. The new set-upmust stay focused on holding elections ina free and fair manner and hand over thepower to the winning party or coalitionwithin the agreed time framework.

There are a number of cases wherejudgments of the Supreme Court are yet tobe implemented. These include the NICLscam, Hajj corruption scandal, PakistanSteel Mills case and re-employment of re-tired officers. One hopes that the SupremeCourt would wait for a few more weekstill the new government takes over insteadof pushing the caretakers. This would en-sure that the caretaker setup concentrateson their work. The interim administrationshould be provided no excuse to extend itstenure. Any attempt to prolong thestay would be detrimental fordemocracy and lead to social unrest.

The writer is a political analyst and aformer academic.

Arif NizamiEditor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36375963-5 Fax: 042-32535230Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9 Fax: 021-35381208

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2287273 Fax: 051-2850505Web:www.pakistantoday.com.pk

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

new factors make first democratic transition of power importantHistory in the making

A heavy cross forthe caretakers

Interfaith harmony

PAKISTAN, though predominantly a Muslim state, has a mixed bag ofreligious identities, including Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis and a fewothers. This creates quite a powder keg of a situation, where one or the other

pretext could be, and often is, used to light up not only sectarian fires but in certaincases a burning tinderbox is shown to this proverbial powder keg by some extremistelements that are hell bent on destroying what little semblance of interfaith harmonythe country has. However, if the deteriorating situation is not held in its steps, itcould prove to be too devastating for the country.

In a conference, held by Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC), a case for promotingtolerance and interfaith harmony was made. The conference which was attendedby almost all the prominent religious parties, sects, leaders from minorityreligions in Pakistan and others, declared that a blasphemer has no religion but theblasphemy law should not be abused. Recent terror incidents, particularly the onewith sectarian tint and the one with targeting minorities, in Karachi, Quetta, andLahore have somehow managed to move the clerics of the country in issuingstatements that condemn these barbaric acts but what they always seem tooverlook is that their statements neither help in controlling the menace ofterrorism nor they are of any value as a guiding principle for the public to follow.The government seems okay, as usual, with the way things are going. Even aftersuch incidents, hatched out of religious intolerance, like Hazara Shia carnage inQuetta, Abbas Town incident in Karachi and Badami Bagh incident in Lahore,neither have the ulema taken any step to calm down the ultra zealous followers ofextremist ideology nor have they come forward to help the government incapturing these misled and misguided few.

A country that has been in the news for not just terrorism, the plain and deadlyone, but also for having the governor of one of its provinces, and a minister fornone other than minorities affairs, assassinated by religious bigots, one could haveassumed that it might have corrected its course and had put behind the days ofintolerance and violence. But that still remains only wishful thinking. What wereally need is that more conferences like the one held the other day must be heldon a more regular basis in order to provide a platform to voice, discuss and beheard on issues related to interfaith harmony and peaceful co-existence. After all,our constitution provides the same rights to minorities as it does to Muslims.

GEAR up for the first democratic transition of power in Pakistan’s 66-yearhistory. With the Pakistan Peoples Party-led coalition at the centre havingmanaged to successfully persuade all provincial governments to dissolve

together, May 11 is set to be the day all of Pakistan gets to vote. And in another firstthe people of the tribal areas will also get to elect their representatives. Another firstis that these are expected to be the first elections where an independent ElectionCommission of Pakistan (ECP) shall conduct a meaningful scrutiny of thenomination papers of candidates. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), State Bankof Pakistan (SBP), National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and National DatabaseRegistration Authority (NADRA) are expected to aid the process.

But if this was to be a time for unprecedented celebrations; it has beendampened by the impasse over selecting a caretaker setup and the short three-week campaign time candidates are expected to get. This does not take away fromthe fact that major political parties have been undertaking their campaigns for atleast six months; with the parties in power doling out last minute developmentschemes and those out of power campaigning on the go.

The current polls will also show the strength of the rise of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf as a serious contender in national politics – and the true strength of the‘youth factor’ it has been banking on and traditional parties trying to woo. Morethan 49.76 million voters, equal to 58 percent of the total voters, are 40 years oldor younger, while 34 percent of total voters are aged less than 31 years old. Thesesuggest that the preferences of younger voters will be key in deciding whethernew faces will emerge or the same faces will don the assemblies after the polls.

The religious minorities vote has also emerged as a wildcard – and is expectedto be the decisive factor in over 96 constituencies. With over 2.77 million non-Muslim voters in the country, winning candidates in 13 districts in Sindh and twodistricts in Punjab are expected to turn on the support of minorities.

The election turnout itself is expected to be better than previous elections. Theexpected interest of the youth in casting their vote and the independence of the ECPmeans that people have more faith that their vote will matter in the grand schemeof things. It is of interest to know that 3,844 senior citizens, over 100 years of age,have also registered themselves to cast votes. Punjab still continues to possess thecountry’s largest vote base, being host to 57.17 percent of the country’s voter base.

On May 11, 2013, 85 million voters shall get a chance to cast a vote to electthe representatives to the national and provincial assemblies. Each vote shall bedecisive.

minorities have the same rights to pakistan as do the muslims

the interim administration should be provided no excuse to extend its tenure

AZiZ-uD-Din AHMAD

A precious genetic

resource of PakistanIn Pakistan, sheep is the main source of income of rural poorespecially in rural areas and has an excellent export potential toearn foreign exchange. At present there are 28.4 million sheepin the country and their population is increasing at the rate of2.63 percent per annum. Sheep provides 43 thousand tonswool, shares 33 percent in mutton production (590,000 tons intotal) and produces tons of skins annually. The distribution ofsheep population across province is quite heterogeneous and donot follow the trend of human population. About 48 percentsheep reside in Balochistan. The share of Punjab, Sind andKPK provinces is 24, 15 and 13 percent respectively. There are28 recognised sheep breeds in Pakistan. In spite of this vastgenetic resource, sheep is the most ignored sector at publiclevel in Pakistan. However, it is the need of time to enhance theoverall production of meat and wool through improving bothits population and potential in the country.

Buchi is an important hot region sheep breed of Pakistanwhich has specific breed characteristics. It can survive 72 hourswithout water and can smell water even from 5-6km away. It ismedium size breed with compact white body, longer legs, smallears, long wool, black head and slightly long tail. The pure bredflock is being raised at Livestock Experiment Station (LES),Jugiatpir, Bahawalpur. However, a large population is availablethroughout Cholistan. The documented population of Buchisheep is about 5 million and stands at fourth position followingKajli, Lohi and Thalli sheep breeds in Punjab. Genetics and

environment can enhance the existing performance level ofsheep. The variations in various performance traits of Buchisheep indicate scope of improvement in traits of economicimportance. A study was thus conducted for documenting bothgenetic and environmental sources which influence growth,wool and reproductive traits. The Statistical Analysis SystemsSAS and ASREML computer software by REML procedurefitting a complete Animal Model was used for this study.

It is concluded that environmental effects on all performancetraits were significant; therefore, through better feeding andmanagement there are ample chances of improvement inperformance traits. Moreover, the performance of growth traitscan be enhanced through genetic selection. Genetic correlationsamong different growth, wool and reproductive traits indicatethat careful selection should be taken to improve any traitbecause selection for improvement for any trait would affectadversely on other trait. However, variation in breeding valueestimates indicates the possibilities of upgrading overallperformance of flock through selective and planned breeding.

In addition, the effect of inbreeding is observed muchmore on reproductive trait than the growth and wool traits andis crossing the threshold level. Therefore, to controlinbreeding, a breeding plan with introduction of new bloodfrom time to time is of utmost importance. It is furthersuggested that a methodical and disciplined recording systemshould be implemented for precise genetic evaluation andformulating effective breeding plans to enhance the overallmeat and wool production status of this precious sheepgenetic resource in Pakistan.

MAQSOOD AKHTARDepartment of Animal Breeding and Genetics,

UVAS, Lahore

Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. Fax: +92-42-32535230 E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusivelyEditor’s mail

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COMIC book superheroes are often pit-ted against one another to see who’dcome out on top in a hypotheticalmatchup. Eons can be consumed

while deliberating over the winner of parallel uni-verse matchups, as respective aficionados relent-lessly dig out evidence to support the case fortheir hero’s triumph. And so in a proposal thatwould whet the appetite of comic book buffs allover the world, we present a scrumptious super-hero matchup, the final verdict of which would ofcourse be left to the reader’s discretion. It’s Mar-vel Comics’ The Incredible Hulk taking on IttefaqComics’ The Incredulous Shahbaz Sharif, in whatcould be dubbed the fight of the century.

It would be intriguing to see the two power-houses exchange blows and flaunt their bestmoves in this epic battle. The Hulk’s infinite phys-ical strength, regeneration, endurance, durabilityand resistance to injury make him a dauntingprospect for most superheroes. Even so, TheShahbaz has his own repertoire of superpowersthat can counter any character from any comicbook series. It is of course, extremely importantthat the strengths of both superheroes are properlygauged before any verdict is announced.

The Hulk has muscle and The Shahbaz hasmaslay. The Hulk is prone to emotional instabil-ity and The Shahbaz is prone toinfrastructural instability.The Hulk’s clap can or-chestrate wind andThe Shahbaz’s clapcan orchestrateRaiwind. Thehigh tensilestrength of TheHulk’s skin pro-tects him fromshells, bullets,shells, rockets, mis-siles and grenades,

while the thickness of The Shahbaz’s skin pro-tects him from arrows, bats, cycles, kites andinkpots. The Hulk can leap across continents orinto lower Earth orbit, while The Shahbaz canleap from Model Town to Gulberg, or into lower-Ichhra from Wahdat Road. The Hulk has reheal-ing powers that heal his wounds in seconds,while The Shahbaz has an iOS application iRe-pel that provides protection against mosquitobites. The Hulk has the potential to summon om-nidirectional bursts of kinetic energy to obliter-ate the planet, while The Shahbaz can do thatwithout any superhuman powers, thanks to Pun-jab Communication and Works Department andLahore City Development Authority.

The Hulk can resist solar temperature, planet-shattering impacts and nuclear explosions, whileThe Shahbaz can resist military quakes and Face-book tsunamis. The more emotional adversity TheHulk faces, the stronger he gets, and the more po-litical adversity The Shahbaz faces, the more fly-overs he makes. Both The Hulk and The Shahbazage slowly, manifest the intelligence of a five-year-old, show resistance to mind-control, are made upof electromagnetic rays (gamma-rays and phajja-rays respectively) and are alter egos (of Dr BruceBanner and an octopus, respectively).

Both superheroes are neck-and-neck in termsof their superhuman arsenal, but realistically onewould have to say that The Hulk would be theunderdog in this fight. There are a lot of secretpowers that The Shahbaz possesses that canoutdo The Hulk. And so, even though The Hulkmight have what it takes to edge out the man ofsteel, we don’t believe he can handle the where-withal of the man of steel mills.

The first power that can give The Shahbaz adecisive lead is his ability to turn things into the‘les miserables’ version of their French counter-parts. And if the Lahore-Paris conversion is any-thing to go by, Le Shahbaz can transform LeHulk into post-French Revolution Louis XVI,post-European debt crisis Nicolas Sarkozy orpost-Marco Materazzi Zinedine Zidane. Anotherknight in The Shahbaz’s shining armour is theMetro Bus – voted the most powerful superheroautomobile ahead of the Batmobile, by comicbook fans living either side of Ferozepur Road.The Metro Bus when coupled with the un-derpasses and flyover construct-ing prowess and the ability tohalt metropolitantraffics at thedrop of ahat, givesT h eShah-

baz the enviable combination of velocity, trans-portation and structural control that can engineerThe Hulk’s downfall.

The ability to assemble Guinness recordbreakers is another deadly power that tilts thebalance in The Shahbaz’s favour. This, whencoupled with the laptop production and distribu-tion ability, helps The Shahbaz assemble a faith-ful army that can stand taller than the mountainthat The Hulk held up in Secret Wars # 4. An-other feature of this army is that it is virtuallyuntraceable through robust detectors like Twitterand Facebook and it takes trackers as vigorousas IRI Gallup poll to unveil the true strength ofthis army. The Shahbaz’s Ujala power is anotherability that might overcome The Hulk’s cosmicpowers and his ability to counter solar energy.

The Hulk should also be wary of The Shah-baz’s magical gift of getting married unexpect-edly. Comic book pundits opine that gettinghitched with The Hulk could be one of the firstmanoeuvres that The Shahbaz might adopt, onethat might catch The Hulk on the wrong foot.However, astrologists have clearly elucidatedthat the summation of The Hulk’s anger andemotional instability and that of a spouse wouldresult in the collapse of the solar system.

The clincher, in any case, for The Shahbazwould be the power of LeJ and SSP. If it could beproved that The Hulk is a Shia – even though hisskin tone suggests inclination towards the Barelvisect – the LeJ and SSP will do the rest. However,The Shahbaz would not want the mortal combatto go that far with May 11 fast approaching.

The Hulk might have eaten Galactus, thrownSuperman into space, smashed an asteroid with asingle punch, supported weight of continents andripped Wolverine in half but it would take some-one more powerful to challenge The Shahbaz.Fans of The Imran believe that their hero has gotwhat it takes. Luckily, we’ll all have a pretty nicepreview of that potential fight, tomorrow.

The writer is a financial journalist and acultural critic. Email:

khulduneshahid@gmail.com,Twitter: @khuldune

CoMMenT CFriday, 22 March, 2013

11Life is what happens while

you are busy making other

plans. –John Lennon

The Hulk vs The Shahbazwho would win in a fight between the incredible Hulk and shahbaz sharif?

KunwAR KHuLDunE SHAHiD

Affirmative action undermines equality

AS the elec-tions drawcloser, thenation con-

tinues to speculate on anumber of issues rangingfrom the democratic fu-ture of the country to themanagement of the en-ergy crisis. I would liketo draw attention to amatter involving thestructure of politics inPakistan, specifically thepolicies governing theappointment of womento the national and provincial assemblies. As per Article 51 of theconstitution, 60 out of the 342 seats in the National Assemblymust be reserved for women. Similarly, 17 percent of the totalnumber of seats in the four provincial assemblies must also be setaside for women, guaranteeing their participation in national pol-itics. The creation of such a quota, known as affirmative action,is a policy instituted by the government/legislative body to ensurethe participation and inclusion of minority groups in society. Af-firmative action policies are preceded by the recognition that thegroup in question is marginalised and discriminated against andthey seek to level the playing field by creating quotas to guaranteeinclusion. While the involvement of women in politics is mostdefinitely a positive thing, one cannot help but wonder whetherthe establishment of a quota is counterproductive and reaffirmsthe subordinate position of women in society, as they needcrutches from the government to access positions of power. In anattempt to promote equality by force, affirmative action under-mines the principles of democratic election and women’s effortsto achieve real equality. The election of women is often cast intodoubt, with people tempted to ask, “Is the woman really outstand-ing or is she riding the coat tails of misguided social policy?”

Any policy that systematically separates one group of peoplefrom another contravenes the principles of equality as it reinforcesdifference—separating ‘women’s seats’ from ‘general seats’ isclaiming that women are indeed the social ‘other’, a subgroup ofthe male public. Instead of focusing on meritocracy and their valid-ity as politicians, people are drawn to their gender and as a ‘minoritygroup’ they are held to a different standard than men. Affirmativeaction sends a negative message to the people it was designed tohelp. The message it sends is: your position is the result of onegroup’s machinations against you; you are not completely respon-sible for your own performance; you are a victim and therefore theassurance of your equality will be provided by a higher power i.e.the government via the constitution. Specifying quotas can be seenas an attempt to create a politically correct parliament as it concealsthe potential bias against women that could surface if a definitenumber of seats were not assigned to them. For example, 72 womenwere members of the national assembly before it was dissolved. Thismeans only 12 women were elected on general seats as opposed to260 men, highlighting the real struggle women are facing. 72 is asomewhat decent number that inspires hope, 12 serves us the bleakreality and reminds us gender equality is an urgent cause.

Getting female bodies into formal political spaces is only a partof what it takes to engender democracy. In this case, the end doesnot justify the means, as the ‘strategy’ through which women areelected has a direct impact on the way they are perceived. In theirpaper “Democratising Democracy: Feminist Perspectives”, AndreaCornwall and Annie Marie Goetz argue that “much of the focus onthe debate of engendering democracy has been on how to insertwomen into existing democratic structures, with an emphasis pri-marily on formal political institutions.” Yet, affirmative action onlyoffers a temporary and superficial solution to women’s alienationfrom the political sphere and it allows the government to be com-fortable with a gender-biased society as it has devised a way forstatistics to appear otherwise. We need to focus on bringing aboutchanges in political and social systems that make them genuinelyinclusive, where 72 women or more can enter the National Assem-bly through general election. The assumption that democracy canbe made more inclusive by creating ‘a reserve of women’ in par-liament tends to advantage sex difference over other factors shapinginterests and political skills. In addition, women’s seats are filledby assigning seats for parties’ own female nominees in proportionto the seats they have won. This is often seen as a tactic for partiesto boost their own majorities and it decentralizes the woman mak-ing her selection an extension of her party’s victory only.

Proponents of affirmative action claim that it is impractical notto maintain a quota for women as they are nowhere near achievingthe equal status that is required for being able to contest in direct

elections. Many argue that the participation of women and byextension, their morale will reach an all time low if reserved

seats are abolished. The truth is that an equal, democraticsociety will never be actualised in a country where womenare treated and labeled as a subgroup of men. Affirmative

action has never proved to be a long term solution—many colleges that practiced it in 70’s to mitigate

racial bias eventually dropped it after students ofcolor protested that they wanted to be acceptedfor their qualifications, not identity politics. We

should strive for a society where women areelected to parliament because they are worthy politi-

cians and not just for the sake of fulfilling a quota.

The writer is a staff member of Pakistan Today and holds a degree from Mount Holyoke College.

nADiA KHAwAJA

is creating quotas for women in parliamentadvancing gender equality?

ISB 22-03-2013_Layout 1 3/22/2013 2:14 AM Page 11

Landed in tokyo to the news of my bro

@duttsanjay we have faith in the law. He

has suffered 20 years isn’t that enuff??

Nicest man I know! — Raj Kundra

ARTS

AFriday, 22 March, 2013

12

Judi Dench takesmemory pills

VETERAN actress Judi Dench

takes pills, which help her

remember scripts. The 78-year-

old actress admits her memory isn’t as

sharp as it used to be, so she relies on

a supplement recommended to her by a

university professor in order to help

boost her recall skills, reports

femalefirst.co.uk. “I don’t know how I

retain it. I take that wonderful thing

called ‘Eye Q’ It helps me. It’s wonderful

and I’ve taken it ever since. It is of

course more difficult to remember, to

retain something, but it’s really a

question of retaining the story,” said

Dench. Eye Q is an over-the-counter

fish oil supplement which contains high

doses of Omega 3 and Omega 6. Last

year, the “ Skyfall” actress revealed she

relied on her daughter Finty to read

scripts to her because she is suffering

from macular degeneration, an age-

related condition which affects the

retinas and can no longer see clearly. “I

can’t read scripts anymore because of

the trouble with my eyes. And so

somebody comes in and reads them to

me, like telling me a story. It’s usually

my daughter or my agent or a friend

and actually, I like that, because I sit

there and imagine the story in my

mind,” she said. nEwS DESK

Daniel Craigsigns up for twomore 007 flicks

DANIEL Craig, whose latest

James Bond film ‘Skyfall’ made

a killing at the box office with

1.1 billion box office earning, has

signed up to do two more films with

the successful franchise. Movie studio

MGM said on Tuesday that it expects to

release the next Bond flick within the

next three years, and is hoping to

announce a new director after Sam

Mendes decided not to helm the new

project, the New York Daily News

reported. In a conference call with

investors, MGM Chairman and Chief

Executive Officer Gary Barber said that

the studio was developing the

screenplay for the 24th Bond movie.

Barber gave no additional details about

the cast of the film. nEwS DESK

NEWS DESK

Imet ‘Movies’ on Monday night.And was speechless. How do youspeak to ‘Cinema’? How does onehave a dialogue with ‘Motion pic-

tures’? How does one ask ‘Film’ a ques-tion? Unless you are Amitabh Bachchan,I think it is best to be silent when youwatch a movie or its synonym , StevenSpielberg. Yes. I genuinely believe, de-spite being the biggest fan of WoodyAllen, Vittorio de Sica, Majid Majidi,Giuseppe Tornatore, Clint Eastwood, Ang

Lee and a few others, that movies must berechristened Spielbergs. It is possibly thebiggest tribute we can pay to movies.

When teenagers in the ‘80s expressedan interest in movies, pat came the replyfrom their parents, ‘Bloody fellow thinkshe is going to be a Spielberg... Shut up andstudy!’ When producers wanted to put theirdirectors in place they were always told,‘Hello... what do you think you are, StevenSpielberg?’ (Never who. Always what.)When actors wanted to refuse a film theyalways said, ‘Even if Spielberg comes Idon’t have dates for the next one year.’

Everyone spoke of movies like they werean aspiring Spielberg. Note... I say spoke.

Accessible technology, a few path-breaking films from James Cameron,Spielberg’s own quest for infusing cinemawith depth, with a mission to remind us ofthe glorious lessons in history and ofcourse his passion for creating and groom-ing other extraordinary talents through hisDreamWorks and Amblin empires... allhave contributed to a slight downgrading.From an ET, now to just a phenomenon.

On Monday, at the masterclass withSteven Spielberg, Steven was introduced

with a video of shots from his work andsomebody exclaimed... ‘What a body ofwork!’ As if to announce that he was justan extraordinary director. But even bythe mood of the last few years, assum-ing movies have got the chutzpah tothink of themselves as equals to Spiel-berg, I believe we can safely rechristenmovies as Spielbergs without insultingSpielberg, as we may have after IndianaJones Part 1. A lot has been writtenfrom Duel to Tintin. A lot has been feltand spoken. But I believe Spielberg’sbest Spielberg is Lincoln.

MOvIES MuSTBE CALLEDSPIELBERgS:R BALkI

R-PATZ AND K-STEWREUNITE IN LA

RObERT Pattinson and

Kristen Stewart, who have

not been seen together for

over two months, were spotted

together in LA giving smiling

poses for the shutterbugs. The

famously private couple hadn’t

been photographed together for a

long time because some assumed

that they had called it quit again

following the fall-out of Stewart’s

alleged affair last year. A source

told E! Online that the couple was

having lot of fun together and

were spotted enjoying

themselves, while sitting in the

back of the bar in a booth, the

Mirror reported. The couple also

posed with a fan during a night

out, who wedged between

Pattinson and Stewart. nEwS DESK

LOS AngELES: Vanessa Hudgens,

The Spring Breakers star, on The

Tonight Show on Thursday.

ISB 22-03-2013_Layout 1 3/22/2013 2:14 AM Page 12

It’s late in the night. Have an early

morning shoot for policegiri. Good night

and big Jaadu ki jhappi to all my lovely

fans. — Sanjay Dutt’s tweet on March 21

13ArTSFriday, 22 March, 2013

A

AMEESHA PATELFeeling an awful pit in my

stomach at sanjus

judgement..he is a

sweetheart..hope a miracle

happens n saves him

SOPHIE CHOUDRYDevastated. @duttsanjay is

like family to me,has the

biggest heart & always goes

out of his way to help ppl.

This verdict is heart-breaking.

BBC NEWS “I don’t remember any phase

in my life where there have

been no problems” -

Controversial Indian actor

Sanjay Dutt

PRITISH NANDYI am amazed how ranters

obfuscate issues. Sanjay Dutt

goes to jail for possession of

illegal arms. Not for the

Mumbai blasts.

KARAN JOHARI am truly shattered to hear

of Sanju’s sentence...the

nicest guy i have known just

doesnt deserve this...my

heart goes out to him....

NOTABLE TWEETS

SAnJAyDuTT gETS5-yEAR JAIL,SAyS ‘PRAyfOR ME’

NEWS DESK

ACTOR Sanjay Dutt, whohas to undergo three-and-a-half years in jail in the

Mumbai serial blasts case, onThursday said he believed injudiciary and would explorelegal options after going throughthe Supreme Court verdict.“I still believe in judiciary. Myfamily is with me and I am stillstrong,” he said in his firstreaction to the judgementupholding his conviction in the1993 case.53-year-old Dutt, who remainedconfined in his 10th floor flat at‘Imperial Heights’ at Pali Hill insuburban Bandra, said in an SMSto the media he would explorelegal options available aftergoing through the verdict.Earlier, his lawyer Satish

Maneshinde had said he hadaccepted the punishment handed

down by the apex court “as it is”.Maneshinde, who representedDutt at the trial in the blasts casein the TADA court, said he hadspoken to the actor who willhave to undergo three-and-a-halfmore years in jail.“Sanjay Dutt told me I haveaccepted the judgement as it is. Ihave accepted it,” Maneshindesaid quoting the actor.The lawyer said though they willpursue the legal course available,“I am not sure what relief he canclaim”. “But Sanjay Dutt willabide by the apex court’s order ofundergoing the sentence of three-and-a-half years in letter andspirit. Three-and-a-half-years isnot a long period,” he said. “Wehave prepared him (for sentence)from the very beginning. SanjayDutt is a strong man and will fightfor himself,” Maneshinde said.Eminent criminal lawyer Majid

Memon, who defended many of

the accused in the case, saidthere was only a “narrow”window open for actor to seekrelief after the Supreme Courtjudgement.“He has only a narrow window

of approaching a larger benchor file a review petition but inthat case also, I am afraid thatunless stay is granted ontoday’s order, he will have towalk into the prison,” Memontold reporters here.Describing as “unfortunate”

Dutt’s conviction, Memon saidsince the actor had alreadyundergone 18 months’imprisonment, he was expectingthat the apex court, afterexamining evidence against himand taking into account factsand circumstances singularlyapplicable to him, could givehim the “benefit of sentenceundergone”.“But in its wisdom and fairness,

the Supreme Court has felt thathe needs to be sentenced to fiveyears. Consequently, he will haveto go back and suffer theremaining period of his sentence.“The law says once the highestcourt has passed the order, the lawwill take its own course.Proceedings will start unless stayedby the highest court,” he said.As Dutt remained closeted withclose family and friends at hishome, several Bollywoodpersonalties including directorRajkumar Hirani and actorVidya Balan went to him toexpress their solidarity.B-town personalities Apoorva

Lakhia, Milan Luthria, SujoyGhosh, Bunty Walia, RumiJaffery and Congress MLA BabaSiddiqui, a close family friend,also visited him. Security at‘Imperial Heights’ has beentightened with a police van beingstationed inside the premises.

Dutt to explore legal options, says he believes in judiciary

CALLING it a “massive blow”,Bollywood fraternity todayexpressed sadness and shock after

Sanjay Dutt was sentence to five years injail by the Supreme Court for illegalarms possession during the 1993 serialMumbai blasts. The 53-year-old hasalready served 18 months of his termand will now have to spend three and ahalf years in jail. The court has given theactor four weeks time to surrender.The fate of three big budget films isriding on Dutt with ‘Zanjeer’ remake,‘Policegiri’ and Rajkumar Hirani’s‘Peekay’, currently under production.Dutt was also slated to reprise his role ofa lovable goon in Hirani’s thirdMunnabhai film, whose future remainsunclear now. Director-producer KaranJohar, who has signed Dutt in hisupcoming film ‘Ungli’, said, “I am trulyshattered to hear of Sanju’s sentence...the nicest guy I have known just doesn’tdeserve this... My heart goes out tohim.” Director Subhash Kapoor, whowas recently signed on to shoot the third‘Munnabhai film, said he was surprisedby the judgement. “I am in shock andsurprised. I personally expected theSupreme Court to be more lenient tohim. Have no words to express myshock,” Kapoor told. When askedwhether the judgement will affect thefate of the third Munnabhai film,Kapoor said, “It’s too early to commenton this issue. My producers VidhuVinod Chopra is in America now andRaju (Hirani) is busy shooting ‘Peekay’.Once Vidhu gets back, I will speak tohim about this. The film was in a verynascent stage.” Director Kunal Kohlitoo batted for Dutt, saying, “The ‘93

blast case should not be made aboutSanjay Dutt. The Real planners aresitting safely in Pakistan like Osama BinLaden was.” Some filmmakers andactors even took to Twitter to share theirviews on the conviction. Here’s whatthey had to say: Mahesh Bhatt: HeartBroken. Just heard that Sanjay Dutt hasto go to jail for five years. I expectedmercy! Alas, it did not happen. VishalDadlani: I stand with Sanjay Dutt,always will. He’s my brother. He mademistakes, but he’s served more than histime, in terms of mental stress. I am notcontesting or denying the law, but itbreaks my heart that he has to face this.He has done so much, so selflessly forso many! When I barely knew him, Ineeded some personal help in a familymatter. I just asked, and Sanjay wentabove and beyond duty to help. I’m notdenying the law. But am I not allowed tofeel sad for a friend?Shekhar Ravijani: He’s the most lovedperson in the business. One of the nicestpeople I know. Man with a big heart. Mybrother. I am with Sanjay Dutt. AshishChowdhry: There are bad guys, there arenice guys. Sanjay Dutt most definitely isthe latter. By far he’s the kindest andnicest guy I know. I’m really sad. AftabShivdasani: Sad to know the verdict onSanjay Dutt, my heart goes out to himand his family. He was a fighter, is oneand will always be one. Dabboo Ratnani:Shattered to hear about Sanjay Dutt.Love him. He is like my elder brotherand has a pure heart of gold. God givehim strength. Celina Jaitly: I am shockedto hear the verdict on Mr. Dutt. My heartgoes out to the Dutt family. We all loveyou Mr Dutt. nEwS DESK

1993 MUMBAI SERIAL BLASTS:HOW MARCH 12 UNFOLDED

MUMBAI was rocked by 12 powerful bomb blasts 20 years ago,in what were India’s first precisely co-ordinated serialexplosions that claimed more than 260 lives and left the

country stunned. The blasts, which ripped the country’s commercialcapital on March 12, 1993, were a revenge attack for the December1992-Jan 1993 bloody riots in the city. The riots had occurred after theDec 6, 1992 demolition of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya by Hindugroups. Here is a list of the sites targetted in March 1993, the time atwhich the blasts occurred and the number of lives lost at each site.

n Bombay Stock Exchange – Blast 13.30 p.m. – 84 deadn Kalbadevi – Blast 14.15 p.m. – 5 deadn Shiv Sena Bhavan – Blast 14.30 p.m. – 4 deadn Air India Building, Nariman Point – Blast 14.33 p.m. – 20 deadn Fishermen’s Colony, Mahim – Blast 14.45 p.m. – 3 deadn Worli Century Bazar – Blast 14.45 p.m. – 113 deadn Zaveri Bazar – Blast 15.00 p.m. – 17 deadn Hotel Sea Rock, Bandra – Blast 15.10 p.m. – n/An Plaza Cinema, Dadar – Blast 15.15 p.m. – 10 deadn Hotel Juhu Centaur – Blast 15.20 p.m. – 3 hurtn Sahar Airport vicinity – Blast 15.30 p.m. – n/An Hotel Airport Centaur – Blast 15.40 p.m. – 2 dead

NEWS DESK

ACTOR Sanjay Dutt hasbeen sentenced to fiveyears in prison by theSupreme Court which

upheld his conviction forillegally possessing weapons in acase linked to the 1993 serialblasts in Mumbai. Over 250people were killed in the terrorattack. Because he has alreadyserved 18 months in jail, MrDutt will be imprisoned for overthree years. The judges, whoshaved off a year from hisoriginal sentence, ruled out hisrelease on probation describingthe nature his crime as “serious.”They said Mr Dutt, who is 53,must be jailed within four weeks“Whatever is the judgment of

the court I will respect it. I wantall to pray for me. God is great,”was Mr Dutt’s message to hisfans, as shared by a friend whowas with him in Mumbai.The actor had originally beensentenced to serve six years inprison for possessing anautomatic rifle and a pistol thatwere supplied to him by mensubsequently convicted in the

bombings. He then served 18months in jail for acquiring anAK-56 rifle from gangster AbuSalem before he was released onbail in November 2007, pendingan appeal in the SupremeCourt.Mr Dutt had beenacquitted of the more seriouscharges of terrorism andconspiracy. Mr Dutt hasmaintained that he knew nothingabout the bombing plot and thathe asked for the guns to protecthis family after receiving threatsduring the city’s communal riots.His sister, Priya Dutt, who is aCongress MP, broke down incourt after hearing the verdict.(Read) A total of 100 people hadbeen convicted of involvementin the blasts by a TADA court in2006. The Supreme Courtupheld the death sentence givento Yakub Memon, who is abrother of Ibrahim ‘Tiger’Memon, one of the mastermindsof the bombings who is missing.However, death sentences givento 10 other men convicted ofcarrying out the blasts werecommuted to life in prison.Some of the men have been inprison for nearly two decades.

Conversation with the judge after the verdict

Dutt –“Could i call my daughter, trishala?”

Judge –“where is she?”

Dutt – “in new york”

Judge –“be patient”

Dutt – “Can you grant me bail?”

Judge –“if it was a lesser crime i could, but in this

case i don’t have the power to do so”

BOLLYWOOD SAYS SANJU DOESN’T DESERVE IT

ISB 22-03-2013_Layout 1 3/22/2013 2:15 AM Page 13

NEWS DESK

Daisy Morris was just a 5-year-old when she found afossil while walking with her family on a UK beach.That fossil ended up being from a newly discov-ered dinosaur species, and scientists have de-cided to nameit after

Daisy, who's now 9. The little girl has so many fossilsand animal remains in her collection that

an expert says her room "resem-bles a natural history mu-

seum," the Daily Mailreports. She immediately

recognized the remainsas a fossil, and a di-

nosaur expert thefamily took it toknew right awayhe was looking at"something very

special," he says.The family donated

the fossil to a natural his-tory museum, and scien-

tists studied it for five years. Theyeventually concluded the Vec-

tidraco daisymorrisae was a fly-ing pterosaur about the size of acrow. In addition to the naminghonor, Daisy also had a bookwritten about her called Daisy

and the Wight Dragon (the fossil wasfound on the Isle of Wight). Her friends think thewhole thing is "cool," says Daisy, who is fascinatedby studying animals and dinosaurs. She started

hunting for fossils at age three, the BBC adds.

NEWS DESK

SEVEN years ago today the first tweet ap-peared on a then private social networkingwebsite. "Just setting up my twttr," JackDorsey, the co-founder of Twitter,tweeted on March 21, 2006.

Since that day, or really since Twitter'sofficial public launch on July 15,Twitter has exploded, changing theway we interact with people on theInternet and get short bursts of in-formation. O.K., so its not likeyour mom's or your bestfriend's birthday, but thatdoesn't mean you can'tcelebrate in your ownselfish, tweeting way. Infact, we think Twitter'sbirthday is a great excuseto spend the day on Twitter.Here are seven things youcan do today on Twitter.

1. rElivE yoUr BEsT(And worsT) TwEETs.

Some tweets are better thanothers. There are some you will wantto cherish forever and others you will wish youcould erase from your twistory (Yes, Twitter history). Ei-ther way, today is a good day to go through those oldtweets with Twitter's newly introduced archive feature.You see your old tweets by heading to the Settings menuon Twitter.com. On the bottom you will see a button to

"Request your archive." Click on that and Twitter will thenemail you instructions on how to download your archive.The file sent by Twitter can be opened in your webbrowser. It's an offline file but you can still view thosetweets on Twitter and share that link.

2. MAKE sUrE yoUr TwiTTEr ACCoUnT islooKing good.

Over the past year Twitter has introduced a few newlooks to your profile page. One of the biggest changes

was the new header photo. If you haven't added oneto your profile, today's a good time to do it. Pick out

a nice image that you

think really, truly represents you and uploadit. You can add yours by hovering over your

header photo on your profile page. Select the "edit"button and you will see the header photo field.

3. ClEAn Up yoUr Follow lisT.Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and

the other's gold. It's a nice saying, but it doesn't have to applyin the Twitterverse. Sometimes you follow people or organ-izations and you just don't remember why you started. Thisis a good time to clean up your following list; cut the accountsyou don't want to follow anymore and don't look back. Youcan also look for some of your friends who you might not

yet be following with Twitter's "Find Friends" feature.4. plAy AroUnd wiTH soME FUn

TwiTTEr siTEs.There's "When do you sleep?" (sleepingtime.org),

which tells you your approximate sleeping schedule basedon when you are active or not on Twitter. There's favstar(favstar.fm), which tells you your top tweets of all time.There's Twitamore (twitamore.com), which tells you whoyou love the most on Twitter. Visit those sites, input yourusername and have some fun.

5. Add A vidEo To yoUr TwEET wiTH vinE.Vine is Twitter's newest service -- it allows you to

add six-second videos to your Tweets. Get theiPhone app and create a fun video

and tweet it out. Don't knowwhat to make your first Vineabout? We heard it's some-one's birthday.

6. TEACH soMEonEHow To UsE TwiTTEr.

This one might seem a bitselfless, but have you ever tried to teach someone howto use Twitter? It can be hilarious, overwhelming andrewarding all at the same time. You know there is thatperson in your life that's been asking "What's that Twat-ter thing?" for months now. Tell them today what thatthing is. It might be a good idea to follow our teachingtech tips though.

7. TwEET THis ArTiClE!If you're spending the day on Twitter anyway, why not

send a happy birthday tweet along with this article. Hey,you only get the chance to wish Twitter a happy birthdayonce a year. Oh, and don't forget the #twitter7 hashtag.

Discovery docu-special uncovers the secrets of the KKK

new dinosaur named aftergirl who discovered it

grandparents mayrelay autism riskto grandchildrenThe risk of developing autism may be

passed on through - and not just to -

future generations, researchers say.

The international study suggests older

fathers are more likely to have

grandchildren with autism than their

younger counterparts. The

mechanism is unclear but it is

thought they may transmit "silent

mutations" to their grandchildren. But

experts have urged caution, stressing

autism is the result of many different

factors. The study, looking at almost

6,000 people with the condition, is

published in the journal Jama

Psychiatry. According to the National

Autistic Society, more than one in

every 100 people in the UK have the

condition. Previous studies suggested

older fathers may be at greater risk of

having children with autism than

younger dads. But the team of UK,

Swedish and Australian researchers

say this is one of the first pieces of

evidence to show the risk can be

passed on through - rather than just

straight to - future generations. The

"silent mutations" - changes in

genetic material - are likely to have

no obvious impact on older fathers'

own children, but they may build up

through subsequent generations, or

interact with other genes and

environmental factors, to increase the

chance of their grandchildren

developing the condition, the

researchers say. Using national

databases from Sweden they studied

almost 6,000 people diagnosed with

the condition and more than 30,000

without, tracking their parents' and

grandparents' ages. They found men

who had a daughter when aged 50 or

older were 1.79 times more likely to

have a grandchild with autism,

compared to men who fathered

children when aged between

20-24. And those who had

a son when 50 years of

age or older were

1.67 times more

likely to have a

grandchild

with

the

condition. nEwS DESK

INFOTAINMENT

IFriday, 22 March, 2013

14 Earning money minus the freedom to spend it is not empowerment. How about

maids who come and work at our homes? They earn but are they free to spend

what they earn. We certainly can't call them empowered. –Shabana Azmi

Birds evolve shorterwings to survive on roads

Nature, red in wheel and fender. Birds in Nebraska

have evolved shorter wings, which may help them

avoid dying on roads by taking off quickly and

darting away from cars.

Eighty million US birds are killed by traffic each

year. Cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota)

have taken to nesting on road bridges, so may be

especially vulnerable.

Charles Brown of the University of Tulsa in

Oklahoma has been picking up dead swallows for

30 years. Roadkill numbers have steadily declined

since the 1980s, even as the number of roadside

nests has risen. The killed birds have longer wings

than birds caught in mist nets for research, and on

average the caught birds' wings have got shorter.

It makes sense: shorter wings are better for a

quick vertical take-off, and improve

manoeuvrability.

"Everything fits with the idea that it's vehicular

selection," says Ronald Mumme of Allegheny

College in Meadville, Pennsylvania.

However, Brown says that encounters with traffic

may not be the only force at work. After a

particularly cold May in 1996 killed about half the

nesting population through starvation, wing

lengths dropped markedly, perhaps because birds

with shorter wings were better able to capture the

remaining insects still on the wing.

The swallows are the latest case of humans

influencing evolution. Fish are maturing more

quickly because of commercial fishing, and two

formerly diverging populations of Darwin's

Galapagos finches seem to be collapsing back into

one now that food from bird feeders is replacing

their natural diets. nEwS DESK

NEWS DESK

Discovery Channel will air a one-hour special,"KKK: Beneath the Hood," that delves into the truthsand secrets behind one of the largest surviving white-supremacist organizations, the Ku Klux Klan. Thisexclusive clip from the docu-special reveals that theorganization, which was formed on Christmas Eve of1865 (the same year the American Civil War ended),began in an unexpected way: as a sophomoric gag.In his first televised interview, Richard Bondira, aTraditionalist American Knights member, talks aboutthe Klan's surprising origins. According to Bondira,the group began "innocently enough in a law officein Pulaski, Tennessee." Six Confederate Civil Warveterans were deciding how to occupy their time nowthat the war was over, Bondira continued, and theyagreed that forming a mysterious organization similarto college fraternities -- in which they could engagein pranks and hazing -- would be fun. It was during

this time that the name Ku Klux Klan was conceived.At first, the name was not intended to be menacing,Bondira said; "Ku Klux" was a variation of the Greekword "kýklos," which means wheel or band. It wasn'tlong, though, before the organization turned violent

and terroristic. In 1869, the first era of the Klan dis-banded under pressure from the federal government,but factions of the KKK continue to exist to this day.Discovery was able to gain access via acclaimed pho-tojournalist Anthony Karen, who has long docu-mented the secret world of the Klan (as well as WhiteNationalists, the Westboro Baptist Church, the Mari-copa County Jail, and more). In this additional clipfrom tonight's docu-special, more little-known as-pects of Klan members' existence are revealed --specifically that there was an entire pop-culturemovement (movies and music included) exclusive tothe Klan. Bondira shares his collection of KKK arti-facts -- something he's never done with non-Klanmembers. He calls these pop-culture relics "the greatlost mystery" and reads off some titles from theKlan's albums: "The Klansmen and the Rain," "WeBelong to the Ku Klux Klan," and "The GatheringKlan." At the time, these albums were widely avail-able at record and department stores, Bondira says.

7 ways to celebrate Twitter's7th birthday on Twitter

ISB 22-03-2013_Layout 1 3/22/2013 2:15 AM Page 14

SPorTS

SFriday, 22 March, 2013

15After a match, losing a close one like yesterday [Tuesday],

I was really disappointed and upset and wasn't thinking

properly about what I was saying. – Heather Watson

AUCKLAND

AGEnCiES

England captain Alastair Cook was forced todefend the decision to allow top batsmanKevin Pietersen to play the first two testsagainst New Zealand despite being hamperedby a knee injury that forced him out of theseries decider starting on Friday. Pietersenwithdrew late on Wednesday for the third andfinal match at Eden Park after he played thefirst two tests of the series. The 32-year-oldwas experiencing discomfort in a warmupmatch prior to the first test at University Ovaland spent time off the field in Dunedin,where he looked out of sorts while fielding.

He played the second game at the BasinReserve but the England team managementand medical staff decided not to riskaggravating his injury any further inAuckland as Cook's side prepare for back-to-back Ashes series later this year.

"It was done on a game by game basis.Before every game ... you do what you dowith every player and assess them before

every game," Cook told reporters at EdenPark. "Clearly he felt, and we felt, he couldget through those two games and this gamemight be a step too far. "It has gotprogressively worse so we made the decisionthat he would now go home and it will be

looked at." Pietersen will return to Englandlater on Thursday to see a surgeon, Cooksaid, where a full prognosis would be made.Initial assessments had said Pietersen wouldneed up to six weeks off to recover,suggesting he could be available for the

return series against New Zealand beforeCook's side host the Champions Trophy oneday tournament and then play Australia forthe Ashes. While having a player ofPietersen's calibre, presuming he did notrequire surgery, well rested ahead of theirheavy domestic summer workload, Cookwas not over the moon at the prospect of theright hander needing time away from thegame. "At the moment it's not good forEnglish cricket because one of our biggestplayers and better batters has got injuryconcerns heading into the English summer.That's not ideal," he said.

"If the injury is not as bad as we hope andit's just a bit of rest needed and no surgeryneeded then on the plus side he does get sometime off and is ready to go for the Ashes. "Butyou don't really want time off injured." Cook'sside, like the rest of the series, enter the matchat Eden Park as heavy favourites to sealvictory. But with the first two tests badlyeffected by rain, the match has addedsignificance as the decider - somethingPietersen would be sorely missed for.

SYDNEY

AGEnCiES

FORMER captain RickyPonting and Mike Husseyhave ruled out the possibilityof ending their retirements to

bolster Australia's inexperienced battingline-up in the Ashes. Former captainRicky Ponting and Mike Hussey haveruled out the possibility of ending theirretirements to bolster Australia'sinexperienced batting line-up in theAshes. Australia have struggled for runson their troubled tour of India, which theytrail 3-0 heading into the fourth and finalTest in Delhi this week.

Coach Mickey Arthur admitted thisweek his side were missing theexperience of Ponting, the second-leadingrunscorer in Test history, and Husseyafter they both retired during theAustralian summer.

Arthur said the door was still open forHussey to make a return while Pontingcollected the Sheffield Shield Player-of-the-Year award last night after finishingthe domestic season as the leadingrunscorer with 875 runs at an average of87.50. Ponting will be in England whenthe Ashes begin in Nottingham on July 10after agreeing a short-term deal with

Surrey, but denied he might make acomeback when he collected his award.

"I haven't had the phone call yet,"said Ponting, who will line up forTasmania in the Shield final in Hobartthis week.

"International cricket has long passed

me by and I've just been really excitedabout giving back to Tasmanian cricketwhatever I could for this season.

"The decision you make to retire,when you do, is a very big one. I know Iput a lot of time and thought into makingthe decision that I made for all the right

reasons." Hussey also ruled out anythoughts he might return to the BaggyGreen following Arthur's comments.

The 37-year-old shocked Australiancricket when he called time on his careerin January to spend more time with hisfamily. "It's extremely flattering," Husseysaid. "But I've moved on and I really don'twant to be back in that pressure-cookerenvironment, particularly leading into theAshes.

"It's going to be an extremelystressful time for all the boys. I'm reallylooking forward to having a winter athome and just having some time with thefamily and being part of some normallife. "I feel very lucky to have been ableto leave on my own terms and leave whenI wanted to."

Following Australia's six-wicketdefeat in Mohali this week, whichrelinquished the Border-Gavaskar Trophyback to India, Arthur said: "We'd certainlylisten to Mike Hussey if Mike Husseycame knocking at our door.

"But that's a hypothetical at themoment. He's retired. We've moved onnow. Yeah we miss him. We miss the auraof Ricky Ponting. "But I'm hoping thatthese younger players will take over thatmantle in time to come. They're nowherenear ready yet."

Journey of lessthan 80 days tocredibility for nZ

AUCKLAND

AGEnCiES

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullummay have felt a little bit like Phileas Foggon Thursday as he pondered the journeyhis side have taken from Cape Town toEden Park. Jules Verne's fictionalcharacter traversed the globe inside 80days, but McCullum's side have trekkedfrom the depths of despair in January,when they were dismissed for 45 againstSouth Africa, to a state of credibilityleading into their final test match againstEngland on Friday. The first two testshave been blighted by poor weather andended in draws. New Zealand had thebetter of the first game at University Ovalin Dunedin, before Alastair Cook's teamtook the points at the Basin Reserve inWellington. The match at Eden Park starts79 days after New Zealand's capitulationat Newlands, and given the way the homeside has played in patches during theseries against England, Verne's novel,"From the Earth to the Moon", may offera more apt metaphor for their turnaround."We were all hurting as much, if not morethan the fans and supporters of the teamafter that South African test series,"McCullum told reporters at Eden Park."Since then the way we've responded inshort version cricket and in this (test)series as well, against an outstandingEnglish team, has been really pleasing."The thing for us is to remain consistentin our performances and continue to trendin the right direction." A battling drawand 0-0 finish to the series would be agood result for eighth-ranked test sideNew Zealand against the second bestteam in the world, but swashbucklingstrokemaker McCullum said the hostswould press for victory at Eden Park.

Ponting, Husseyrule out Ashes return

Pietersen’s knee injury was game by game decision: Cook

ROSEAU

AGEnCiES

Spinner Shane Shillingford took fivewickets to skittle Zimbabwe out for 175on the opening day of the second test inRoseau on Wednesday and West Indiesreached 114 for two in reply at theclose. Chris Gayle played somecharacteristically flamboyant shots aftera cautious start to finish on 61 not outas the hosts finished just 61 runs behindwith eight wickets in hand.

The tall Shillingford delighted hishome crowd in Dominica with his third testfive-wicket haul as spin again proved theundoing of the inexperienced touring side.He took five for 59 as the Zimbabweansfound it difficult to deal with the turn andbounce he extracted from a benign pitch.

Shillingford, man of the match forhis nine-wicket haul in the hosts' first testwin in Barbados, was assisted by part-time bowler Marlon Samuels whoclaimed three wickets with hisoccasional off spin. Samuels, who took

four wickets in the first innings of theopening test, returned figures of three for15. It was another disappointing day forZimbabwe, playing only their second test

in the last 14 months, as only threebatsmen got past 30 Captain BrendanTaylor top-scored on 33, Vusi Sibandamade 32 and debutant Sean Williams 31.

Shillingford puts Zimbabwe in a spin again

PIETERSEN BLOW FORENGLAND AND IPLLOnDOn: Kevin Pietersen has been

ruled out of the final Test against NZ

with a knee injury that could sideline

him for up to eight weeks. The

England and Wales Cricket Board

has revealed Pietersen had suffered

"possible cartilage damage" to his

right knee after complaining of the

problem since the warm-up match

to the Test series in Queenstown.

Pietersen is set to return home for

further tests and is also set to miss

the Indian Premier League, which

begins on April 3. "Kevin Pietersen

has been ruled out of the remaining

Test against NZ commencing

Friday March 22 due to an injury

to his right knee," a statement

from the ECB read. AGEnCiES

wEST inDiES wOn THE TOSSZiMbAbwE FiRST inninGST. Mawoyo b Gabriel 8V. Sibanda c Roach b Gabriel 32H. Masakadza b Shillingford 14b. Taylor b Shillingford 33C. Ervine lbw Samuels 18S. williams c Powell b Samuels 31M. waller c best b Shillingford 9G. Cremer c Powell b Samuels 0P. utseya lbw b Shillingford 9K. Jarvis not out 1T. Chatara lbw b Shillingford 4Extras (b-10, lb-4, w-1, nb-1) 16Total (all out, 60.5 overs) 175Fall: 1-42 2-43 3-64 4-105 5-141 6-158 7-158 8-161 9-171bowling: Roach 7-0-30-0, best 10-0-32-0 (nb-1, w-1), Gabriel8-6-10-2, Sammy 5-1-15-0, Shillingford 21.5-4-59-5, Samuels9-3-15-3wEST inDiES FiRST inninGSG. Gayle not out 61K. Powell b Jarvis 24D. bravo c Taylor b Jarvis 0M. Samuels not out 26Extras (lb-3) 3Total (for two wickets, 27 overs) 114Fall: 1-35 2-35To bat: S. Chanderpaul, D. Ramdin, D. Sammy, S. Gabriel,K.Roach, T. best, S. Shillingford.bowling: Jarvis 7-2-35-2, Chatara 7-2-21-0, Masakadza 4-2-10-0, Cremer 6-0-27-0, utseya 3-0-18-0west indies won first test by nine wickets

SCOREbOARD

ISB 22-03-2013_Layout 1 3/22/2013 2:15 AM Page 16

DURBAN

AGEnCiES

pAKISTAN beat South Africaby three wickets in the fourthOne Day International (ODI)keeping the series alive.

Pakistan and South Africa ODI seriesstand two-all with the final decider to beplayed on March 24. Pakistan was almostexactly in the same situation in thebeginning of the innings, at 34 for 3, asSouth Africa who were at 33 for 3.Mohammad Hafeez became the firstbatsman in international cricket to bedismissed obstructing the field under thenew laws. It was up to Farhat andMisbahul Haq to do what AB de Villiersand Miller did but the Pakistani duo endedup on the winning side. Misbahul Haqnow has the record for making the highestruns by any Pakistani captain againstSouth Africa in an ODI. Towards the end

of the innings, Pakistan’s batsmen tried tosnatch loss from the jaws of victory bylosing four wickets in close succession.

SPorTS S

Friday, 22 March, 2013

16When we had to make a compromise with a third stop because we

could see two wouldn't work, he kept calm, kept going. It was the

hallmark of a world champion. – Toto Wolff believes Lewis Hamilton

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) incollaboration with Faysal Bank is going toorganise the Faysal Bank Twenty20 Super 8here at the Gaddafi Stadium from March 26to 31. The three-year partnership betweenthe PCB and Faysal Bank has set a precedentwhich has gone a long way in uplifting thestandard of domestic cricket in the country.

Addressing at a press conference here ata local hotel on Thursday, PCB DirectorDomestics Zakir Khan said: “Faysal BankTwenty20 Super 8 National Tournament2013 is an important tournament in thedomestic calendar for which the FaysalBank’s support is vital in ensuring highstandards. The PCB is committed tocontinuously improve the standard andcompetitiveness of its Twenty20 cricket, tobring it at par with the other cricketingnations.” He said he was positive that peopleliving in Lahore would enjoy the presenceof the national stars and the razzmatazz ofthe T20 format. “The support of the FaysalBank has been of critical importance inensuring that the event not just maintains butimproves upon the standard displayed in thelast edition, attracting big audiences fillingthe stadium,” he added. Zakir said a totaltotal of eight teams would be participatingin the event which were divided into twogroups. Three matches will be played everyday and in all, 15 matches will be organisedamong the eight participating teams here atthe Gaddafi Stadium.

“The event will be featured by thetopmost cricketing talent in the country and

these matches will be telecasted live by alocal sports channel. The opening match willbe played between Faisalabad Wolves andBahawalpur Stags while the semi-finals willbe held on March 30 and the final on March31. The winning team will receive the cashpurse of Rs 2.5 million while the runners-upwill earn Rs 1 million,” the PCB officialsaid. Head Retail Faysal Bank Aarij Alireiterated the bank’s commitment to cricketand said: “Our Corporate Brand Promise

‘Bank on Ambition’ ties in perfectly with thesponsorship of the domestic cricketplatform. We aim to be here for the longhaul. We want each and every Pakistani toidentify the Ambition within himself. FaysalBank believes in the power of positive selfworth and belief. The talent we get to see onground through this tournament goes on torepresent us to the world so the success ofthis tournament translates into the success ofPakistan on the international platform.”

Group A comprises Lahore Lions,Sialkot Stallions, Multan Tigers andAbbottabad Falcons while Group B consistsof Faisalabad Wolves, Bahawalpur Stags,Rawalpindi Rams and Karachi Dolphins.THE TEAMS ARE:

AbbOTTAbAD FALCOnS: Younas Khan

(capt), Yasir Hameed, Junaid Khan,

Adnan Raees, Yasir Shah, Ahmed Jamal,

Mir Azam, Haroon, Syed Hammad Ali

Shah, Sohail Akhtar, Rameez Ahmed,

Ikramullah, Sajjad Ali, Khalid Usman,

Amjad Waqas, Inaam Khan, Fazal-e-Rabi,

Babar Khan, Abid Zaman Khan (manager)

and Sajjad Akbar (coach).

FAISALAbAD WOLVES: Misbahul Haq

(capt), Asif Ali, Ali Waqas, Khurram

Shahzad, Zahoor Ahmad, Naveed Latif, M

Salman, Waqas Maqsood, Samiullah

Niazi, Asad Ali, Saeed Ajmal, Ehsan Adil,

Hassan Mahmood, Sabir Hussain,

Jehandad, Farrukh Shahzad, Asif Hussain,

Imran Khalid, Tariq Fareed (manager),

Naveed Anjum (coach).

KARACHI DOLPHInS: Shahid Khan

Afridi (capt), Khalid Latif, Khurram

Manzoor, Shahzaib Hassan, Fawad Alam,

Sarfraz Ahmad, M Sami, Asad Shafiq,

Anwar Ali, Atif Maqbool, Azam Hussain,

Fakhar Zaman, Akbarur Rehman, Mir

Hamza, Misbah Khan, Sohail Khan, Abdul

Ameer, Fawad Khan, Visaluddin Ansari

(manager) and Tauseef Ahmad (coach).

RAWALPInDI RAMS: Babar Naeem,

Naveed Malik, Awais Zia, Umar Amin,

Yasim Murtaza, M Nawaz, Hammad Azam,

Sohail Tanvir (captain), Jamal Anwar,

Samiullah, Akhtar Ayub, Umar Waheed,

Zahid Mansoor, Nasir Malik, Shoaib

Ahmad, Saad Altaf, Yasir Arafat, Adil

Gulbahar, Ameer Ahmad Shah (manager)

and Sabih Azhar (coach).

MuLTAn TIgERS: Rahat Ali, M Irfan,

Zulfiqar Babar, Sohaib Maqsood (capt),

Saeed Anwar Jr, Naveed Yasin, Rizwan

Haider, Adeel Hanif, Kashif Naveed,

Rameez Alam, Maqbool Ahmed, Gulraiz

Saddaf, Shahbaz Hussain, Aamir Yamin,

Shahzad Ahmad, Zeeshan Ashraf, Zain

Abbas, Shahab Elahi, Ejaz Ahmad

(manager) and Waseem Haider (coach).

SIALKOT STALLIOnS: Shoaib Malik

(capt), Imran Nazir, Shakeel Ansar,

Shahid Yousaf, Mansoor Amjad, Ayub

Dogar, Faisal Naveed, Adeel Malik, Rana

Naveedul Hassan, Bilawal Bhatti, Umaid

Asif, Abdul Rehman, Raza Hassan,

Naveed Arif, Rizwan Sultan, Majid Ilyas,

Ali Khan, Haris Sohail, Naeem Akhtar

(manager), Ijaz Ahmad Jr (coach).

LAHORE LIOnS: M Hafeez (capt), Nasir

Jamshaid, Ahmad Shahzad, Umar Akmal,

Ali Azmat, Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq,

Wahab Riaz, Ziaul Haq, M Irfan, Imamul

Haq, Tanzeel Altaf, M Waqas Sr, Adnan

Rasool, Sohail Ahmad, Abdul Ghaffar,

Farooq Aslam, M Nasir (manager) and

Mohsin Kamal (coach).

bAHAWALPuR STAgS: Hammad Tariq,

Faisal Mubashir, Zeeshanul Haq,

Moinuddin, Bilal Khilji (capt), Mustansar

Hussain, Noman Akram, Attaullah,

Mudassar Rai, Ansar Javed, Ahmad Raza,

Zeeshan Khalid, Imranullah Aslam, Faisal

Elahi, Kamran Hussain, Waqas Khan,

Rehan Rafiq, Zaka Rasheed, Moin

Khanzada (manager), Shahid Anwar

(coach).

Faysal Bank T20 Super 8 from 26th

2 matches decidedin veteran Cup

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

Another two matches were decided in the15th National Senior Veteran Cricket Cuphere on Thursday. Chaudhary Sports beatTextile Tigers at Ali Garh Cricket Ground.Chaudhary Sports batting first 204/8 after30 overs. Babar Butt 36, Raza Khan 34,Qadeer Shah 32, Abid Sheikh 19,Chaudhary Shafqat Hussain 37 runs not out& Gulzar Ahmad 13 runs not out. AsifQureshi 2/28, Sohail Imran 2/42, TahirIrshad 2/24, Rana Naeem 1/24 & HafizSaeed 1/32 wickets. In reply Textile Tigers186/7 after 30 overs. Ashraf Ali 23,Karamat Ali 22, Asif Qureshi 18, SohailImran 38 runs not out & MuhammadNadeem 26 runs not out. Muhammad Khan2/24, Shahid Ali 2/25, Raza Khan 2/28 &Qadeer Shah 1/25 wickets. Saifullah,Sagheer Ahmad Umpire & Farrakh Rajawas the scorer. In the other macth,Khayaban-e-ameen beat GulbergGymkhana at Racecourse Park CricketGround. Khayaban-e-ameen batting first267/3 after 30 overs. Hafiz Sajjad Akbarbatting well 72, Malik Zahid 34, IjazAhmad 38, Malik Qamar 59 runs not out &Sohail Fazal 40 runs not out. Munir Ahmad1/20, Muhammad Kaleem 1/41 & AzharHussain 1/41 wickets. In reply GulbergGymkhana 224 all out after 28.1 overs.Faisal Pirzada 48, Muhammad Saleem 48,Afzal Munir 40, Asif Mehmood 28 &Manzoor Ilahi 26 runs. Khayaban-e-ameenbowling Malik Kanwar bowling well 4/43,Sajid Anwar 2/46, Hafiz Sajjar Akbar 1/39& Qamar Siddique 1/40 wickets.Muhammad Asif, Liaqat Ali Umpire &Abdul Hameed was the scorer.

gCu festival cricket LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

The Government College University LahoreOld Ravians Union (GCU ORU) is going tohost a traditional festival cricket matchbetween Old Ravians XI and Vice ChancellorXI on Friday, March 22, at 2:00pm in thehistorical Oval Ground. Eminent OldRavians and former cricketers Aamir Sohail,Saleem Malik, Shafqat Rana, Manzoor Elahiand Azhar Khan will be seen once again inaction at the festival match to be witnessedby the Old Ravians and university students.Old Ravian Union President Kamran Lashariwould lead the Old Ravians XI.

BERLIN

AGEnCiES

Uefa President Michel Platini is still considering whether torun for the post of Fifa president in 2015.

“I don't know what I will do. I have been thinking about itfor a long time now since almost everybody asks me about it,”Platini told the German sports magazine Kicker on Thursday.“President (Joseph) Blatter has already announced that he willbe leaving. The post will be vacant - we will see for whom.”

The 77-year-old Blatter has since pulled back a bit on hiswithdrawal announcement from 2011, hinting that he maystand for re-election in two years' time.

When asked if he thought Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge would take over as the Uefa boss, Platinisaid: “Impossible.”

While the Frenchman said Rummenigge had thepersonality to do it, he noted: “It's just not on his career path. I

have worked in Uefa and Fifasince 1998. That's not hisway. I also believe thathe's not interested atall in it.” Platini alsodefended Uefa in theon-going debateabout the plannedreform within Fifasaying: “It's ridiculousto accuse the Europeanfederations of beingconservative.”

Misbah-led Pakistanwin keeps series alive

Platini considers Fifa presidency bidSALEEM Clubmove into semis

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

Saleem Khan F.C moved into semi-final while Lams entered intoquarter-final after defeating theirrespective opponents in the DistrictFootball Championship 2013 at ModelTown Football Ground and Faisal TownFootball Ground. In the quarter-finalSaleem Khan F.C defeated Raiders F.Con penalty shoot-out 4-1 after 0-0 atfull time. Earlier in the last pre-quarterfinal Lums F.C easy win over ShahKamal Striker F.C 6-1. From winnerSermed, Hussain, Umair struck twogoals each in 5 minutes, 40 minutes, 45minutes, 65 minutes 67 and 68 minuteswhile Anwer produced one goal in 66Minutes from loser. Friday fixture:Gulshan-E-Ravi F.C Vs Lums F.C(9:00pm) at Model Town FootballClub, Academy ground Model Town.

uefa president miCHel platiniis still Considering wHetHerto run for tHe post of fifapresident in 2015

SOuTH AFRiCA

HM Amla c †Kamran Akmal b Mohammad irfan 0

GC Smith b Junaid Khan 12

CA ingram b Mohammad irfan 0

Ab de Villiers*† c †Kamran Akmal b Saeed Ajmal 75

F behardien c †Kamran Akmal b Junaid Khan 1

DA Miller lbw b Saeed Ajmal 67

R McLaren c Mohammad irfan b Saeed Ajmal 11

RJ Peterson not out 25

RK Kleinveldt b Mohammad irfan 18

Dw Steyn b Junaid Khan 9

LL Tsotsobe not out 5

EXTRAS (lb 2, w 9) 11

TOTAL 234

FALL OF wiCKETS 1-0 (Amla, 0.1 ov), 2-0 (ingram, 0.2 ov), 3-

34 (Smith, 9.1 ov), 4-38 (behardien, 9.6 ov), 5-153 (Miller, 33.3

ov), 6-170 (de Villiers, 37.3 ov), 7-177 (McLaren, 39.4 ov), 8-207

(Kleinveldt, 46.5 ov), 9-221 (Steyn, 49.1 ov)

bOwLinG

Mohammad irfan 9-0-46-3, Junaid Khan 9-2-45-3, Mohammad

Hafeez 10-0-40-0, wahab Riaz 4-0-16-0, Saeed Ajmal 10-0-

42-3, Shahid Afridi 8-0-43-0

PAKiSTAn

imran Farhat c behardien b Steyn 93

Mohammad Hafeez obstructing the field 0

Kamran Akmal† c Miller b Tsotsobe 11

younis Khan b Kleinveldt 6

Misbah-ul-Haq* c behardien b Peterson 80

Shahid Afridi c †de Villiers b Peterson 4

Shoaib Malik not out 19

wahab Riaz run out (Miller) 0

Saeed Ajmal not out 5

EXTRAS (b 1, lb 4, w 13) 18

TOTAL 236

DiD nOT bAT Junaid Khan, Mohammad irfan

FALL OF wiCKETS 1-2 (Mohammad Hafeez, 1.3 ov), 2-18

(Kamran Akmal, 5.2 ov), 3-33 (younis Khan, 10.6 ov), 4-186

(Misbah-ul-Haq, 41.1 ov), 5-191 (Shahid Afridi, 41.5 ov), 6-226

(imran Farhat, 47.4 ov), 7-227 (wahab Riaz, 48.1 ov)

bOwLinG

Dw Steyn 10-3-26-1, LL Tsotsobe 9.4-1-51-1, RK Kleinveldt 10-

0-51-1, RJ Peterson 10-0-46-2, R McLaren 8-0-40-0, CA ingram

1-0-17-0,

Match details

Toss South Africa, who chose to bat

Series 5-match series level 2-2

Player of the match tba

umpires HDPK Dharmasena (Sri Lanka) and S George

TV umpire bF bowden (new Zealand)

Match referee AJ Pycroft (Zimbabwe)

Reserve umpire M Erasmus

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ISB 22-03-2013_Layout 1 3/22/2013 2:15 AM Page 17

SPorTSS

Friday, 22 March, 2013

17I'm looking forward to playing the tournament again. Delhi Golf Club

is one of my favourite venues and it's a pleasure to play here. By the looks

of it, the course will be in great shape come April. – Digvijay Singh

nBP-nationalInter-DepartBaseball from 26th

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

The NBP-National Inter DepartmentalBaseball Championship 2013 will be heldat the University of Lahore SportsComplex, Lahore from March 26-29.Pakistan WAPDA, Police, HEC and Armyhave been invited for the championship.HEC is appearing in the National eventfor the first time.Earlier the General Council Meeting ofPakistan Federation Baseball will also beheld on March 25, 2013 at PunjabStadium to take various decisions for thepromotion of Baseball.

ZIC PAkISTAnDAy gOLf

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

The 1st Zic Pakistan Day GolfTournament will be contested at theLahore Gymkhana Golf Course over twodays, starting from Friday 22nd March,and over these two days there will beevents for men amateurs, seniors (above55 years of age),veterans(above 70 yearsof age) and ladies.A total of 86 competitors have registeredfor the championship honors and intensecompetition will be witnessed in allevents.In the seniors category, noticeable is thepresence of over ten single handicappersand they might be participants in theseniors category but their ability ofdemonstrating quality golf is immense.The strongest ones are Shafiq Bhatti,Chaudry Naeem and AVM Zakaullah andthey are likely to be challenged by thelikes of Imtiaz Pervez, Col HamayunRashid, Omar Farooq, Zulfiqar Rana, DrKhurram Saadat, Karamatullah Chaudryand Tariq Saigol, besides many others.In the men amateur category the sparks ofexcellence will flow from the hitting ofprominent golfers like Mahad Zafar,Salman Jehangir, Shahid Khan, MuradA.Khan, Dr Zahid Khan, Ahmed Zafarand the ever green Imran Ahmed whoseage is never reflected from the way hecompetes. The inaugural shot will be hitby Shaukat Hassan Of ZIC at 9am today.

Zahid shines foryoung Crescent

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

Young Crescent defeated MuslimGymkhana by four wickets in a friendlymatch here the other day.Batting first Muslim Gymkhana scored277 runs for 40 in overs. Zahid Alam andArslan Butt shared three wickets whileIftikhar got two wickets to contain theMuslim Gymkhana batsmen. In reply, itwas Zahid Alam who with his brilliantcentury (118), made the win easy whileArslan Butt with 82 and Murad Baloch 29not out achieved the remaining score toprovide win to Young Crescent Club.

Alonso not worriedby Lotus pace

MELBOURNE

AGEnCiES

Fernando Alonso believes Ferrari havenothing to fear from Lotus in the wake ofKimi Raikkonen's season-opening victory.Raikkonen took the chequered flag inAustralia on Sunday on the back of a two-stop strategy that worked brilliantly for theEnstone-based team.That was in contrast to his rivals, led byrunner-up Alonso, with the Finn leavingthem all trailing in his wake as the fivedrivers behind him required three tripsinto the pits for new Pirelli tyres.Raikkonen admitted his triumph had beenone of the easiest of his 20 careervictories, with Alonso finishing 12seconds adrift.Despite that, an unconcerned Alonso said:"I think the pace of the Lotus was verygood but nothing we cannot do."They had a very clean race with no trafficand with a very good strategy, but theirpace was nothing out of our reach."

LONDON

AGEnCiES

Liverpool have "no desire" to sellLuis Suarez, according to managingdirector Ian Ayre. Suarez's future atAnfield has made headlines onThursday after it was reported hewould be willing to talk with otherclubs following an interview in hisnative Uruguay. Ayre has, however,played down any notion the strikermay be about to leave the Reds aftersigning a four-year deal last August.

"You can read into the comments- it was given in his native language

so I think maybe it was a bit lost intranslation," Ayre told BBC RadioFive Live. "We've been consistentwith Luis. Last summer he signed anew four-year contract and we haveno desire to sell Luis. He is afantastic player and a greatcontributor to our team. "We've beenvery honest with him and he's beenvery honest with us. "There is alwaysgoing to be instances, particularlyleading up to the summer (transfer)window, when people are quoted orasked these questions."

Suarez was also quoted to havesaid he was "very happy" at Liverpool

and Ayre insisted that while otherclubs may come knocking he expectedthe 26-year-old to remain at Anfield."We are very pleased to have Luis andlong may that continue," he said. "Healso says in the same interview that hefeels he is in an elite team at Liverpool."Every player is going to getapproached by clubs because that isthe nature of the game. "Every playerhas a choice - that's part of the game.He has a four-year contract with us andwe hope he will see that through."Suarez is in his homeland to preparefor Uruguay's World Cup qualifiersagainst Paraguay and Chile in the next

week. He is the leading goalscorer inthe Barclays Premier League thisseason, with 22, to prompt claims heis now on the radar of the biggest clubsin Europe. "I am very happy atLiverpool but you never know infootball," Suarez said. "A player'sambition is always there, the ambitionof wanting to play in elite teams isalways there. "I'm in a world-classteam, an elite team like Liverpool. Wehave to realise we have a new managerwho is imposing a philosophy and away of playing that the players areadapting to as best we can. We hope itwill bear fruit next year.

Liverpool not interested in selling Suarez

BAY HILL

AGEnCiES

For the second year running, Arnold Palmer has expressed hisdisappointment that Rory McIlroy has decided not to play inthe PGA Tour event bearing his name. Twelve months ago,McIlroy had just been deposed as world number one by LukeDonald when the European pair were absent from theprestigious Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.

McIlroy wrote to Palmer asking for a meeting, who saidat the time: "I'm not sure that I know exactly what he wantsme to tell him or what he wants to hear from me, but I lookforward to seeing him and talking to him. "He alsomentioned in the letter that he will be here to play in theyears to come." That has not happened this year and McIlroycould again be knocked off the top of the rankings bydefending champion Tiger Woods, but the 23-year-old hasstuck with his original schedule.

BAY HILL

AGEnCiES

TIGER Woods can regain theworld number one spot fromRory McIlroy by defendinghis Arnold Palmer Invitational

title this week - but he has no plans to stopthere. Woods was number one for 281weeks in succession between June 12,2005 and October 30, 2010, since whenLee Westwood, Martin Kaymer, LukeDonald and McIlroy have held top spot.

And although he admits to being veryproud at recovering from outside the top50 at one point to being on the verge ofnumber one status again, Woods will notbe satisfied with that. "I don't want tobecome as good as I once was, I want tobecome better," the 14-time major winnertold his pre-tournament press conference."We'll see. "It's been a long process. I washurt for a long time and at the same timehad to make swing changes that weredrastically different. I fell to 50 plus for awhile and to gradually work my back is

something I am very proud of."We are still getting better, things are

becoming more efficient. The two winsthis year I have built some nice leads andthings are starting to come around." Thesecond of those wins came in the WGC-Cadillac Championship a fortnight ago -his 17th WGC title - and means a 77thPGA Tour triumph at Bay Hill will lift himabove the absent McIlroy in the rankings.

The 37-year-old has won seven ofhis 15 professional events at the Orlandovenue and never doubted that he wouldbe able to get back to his dominant best,if he could stay fit. "I just needed to gethealthy and once I was able to practiceproperly I could implement the swingchanges and I could get back there,"Woods added. "It happened to be aperfect storm where I was making aswing change and couldn't devote anytime to it. Once i was able to do that Istarted to gain momentum and here weare. "I didn't have the doubt that peoplemight have expected; I just felt I neededto get healthy so things just didn't hurt."

Woods looked close to his best duringhis victory at Doral and certainlyimpressed this week's tournament hostArnold Palmer.

"I think right now, looking at him andwatching him play, he looks probably asstrong and as good from a golfperspective as I've ever seen him,"Palmer said today. "I think his swing andhis posture and his attitude is far betterthan it's been in some time." Woods willnot have it all his own way however thisweek, with FedEx Cup champion BrandtSnedeker among a strong field after afive-week lay-off with a rib injury. "I feelcompletely healthy," said Snedeker,whose five tournaments in 2013 haveproduced finishes of third, 23rd, second,second and first. "I'm going to have alittle soreness and that is to be expected,but no concern whatsoever. "This is aninjury you don't want to try to playthrough because it can get worse. TheMasters is something that you don't wantto miss due to an injury. I'm glad I'mback, but the Masters was a concern."

woods aiminghigh at Bay Hill

Palmer disappointed by McIlroy no-show

LAHORE: The students of

Lahore College university

perform during their anual

sports day. MuRTAZA ALi

ISB 22-03-2013_Layout 1 3/22/2013 2:15 AM Page 18

SPorTS SFriday, 22 March, 2013

18You see it when we go a goal down, everyone

thinks, Right we need to step up here

because it's not good enough. – Theo Walcott

wAtCh It LIve

STAR CRICKET4th Test 4: Indiav Australia12:10 PM

ESPNRACING:F1 Championship 07:25 AM

LCwu annualsports day held

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

The annual sports day of Lahore Collegefor Women University (LCWU), Lahorewas held on Thursday, in the universitymain ground. Begum Governor Punjab SumeraMehmood was the chief guest. About3000 students from 40 departments of theUniversity took part different events likeaerobics, hurdle race, chaati race,gymnastic show, relay race, balance raceand tug of war.. The race for universityemployees and musical chair for guestswas also held before the distribution ofshields.The ceremony started with theintermediate students bagged theprestigious trophy of the Best March PastContingent a grand march past, sports dayoath and athletics meet.Dr. Sabiha Mansoor Vice ChancellorLCWU, Registrar Prof Riffat Saqlain, Dr.K.J.Cheema, director admin Ali Rizvi andDirector Sports Shahina watched themarch past. Begum Governor PunjabSumera Mehmood said that sports makestudents better human beings and “its theteaches who encourages the spirit ofcompetitiveness.She further said that LCWU is made oneof the finest sports nurseries for producingand grooming sportsmen for nationalteams, besides it is involving its studentsand faculty members in healthy sportsactivities. 800 meters race was won by studentBisma Afzal. Iqbal Bano came victoriousin 100 metres race. In 200 Meters Race,Iqbal Bno was again the winner whileBisma stood second. Dr. Sabiha MansoorVice Chancellor LCWU gave awayMedals to winners.

Ravi Club securethird place

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

Ravi Club secured the third position in the7th Regional Inter-District Women CricketChampionship (seniors) 2013. Ravi Cricket Club Bakhtawar Iqbal 63runs not out, Ayesha Naz 61 and HafzaAmjad 56. Total 285 for six in 47 over.Zara Hasmi took 3 wickets.Garrison Cricket Club were all out at 51in 27.1 overs. Noshin Akbar 13 runs.Bakhtawar Iqbal 5 and ShumailaFakhruddin 2 wickets. Ravi won by 234runs The final between Lahore collageand Kinnaird will be played on March22, 09:30am at Gymkhana CricketGround Bagh-e-Jinnah. ClosingCeremony and prize Distribution isbeing scheduled at 03:00pm.

Steel Millsclinch Touchballgold Cup

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

Pakistan Steel Mills clinched the 9thNational Highway & Motorway PoliceTouch Ball Gold Cup at Punjab Stadium,Lahore, organized by Pakistan Touch BallFederation. In the following event PakistanSteel Mills defeated Pakistan HighwayMotorway by 3-1 after a very electrifyingand tough competition. From Pak Steel,Abu Bakar scored 2 and Ali Scored 1crucial points for their team and PakistanSteel regained their lost Championship title.Before final match there was twoSemifinals and one Third position matchhave been played. In the first semifinalsPAK STEEL defeated PAK RAILWAY by5-2 scores. From Pak Steel Soud andAbubakar scored 2 points each and Aslamscored one point. In the second semifinalPakistan Highway Motorway defeatedPakistan Police by 6-2 scores. From PakMotorway Mohammad Amjad, MazharFareed and Zubair Shabbir scored 2 pointseach. For the third position match PakPolice defeated PAK RAILWAY by 3-0scores to qualify for the third position in thechampionship. The chief guest for the finalmatch was Mr. Rai Altaf Hussain PresidentPakistan Touch Ball Federation, (AdditionalIG Motorway Police), along with SSP Mr.Mirza Farhan Baig. Who also distributedprize to the Players and the officials.

MIAMI

AGEnCiES

sVETLANA Kuznetsovaprogressed through her openingmatch of the Sony Open inMiami on Wednesday with a

straight-sets victory over LourdesDominguez Lino. Kuznetsova, winner ofthe US and French Open titles, saw off herSpanish opponent 6-3 6-3 in an hour and

10 minutes. Laura Robson beat theelements in the nick of time to get a firstwin since the Australian Open.

The British number two beatCamila Giorgi in three sets, seeing offthe Italian 6-4 4-6 6-3, with match pointcashed in as a thunderstorm started.Simona Halep was also a winner onWednesday but she was pushed to threesets before getting the better of SabineLisicki, the former Wimbledon semi-

finalist, with a 6-2 3-6 7-5 triumph.Also in the women's tournament,Daniela Hantuchova defeated TsvetanaPironkova and there were successes forJamie Hampton, Stefanie Voegele,Romina Oprandi and Melinda Czink. Inthe men's event, Xavier Malisse, theworld number 48, needed three sets todefeat Rajeev Ram, while FrenchmanMichael Llodra was two-set victor overcompatriot Benoit Paire.

kuznetsova beatsDominguez Lino in Miami

MIAMI

AGEnCiES

Lleyton Hewitt survived a late rally fromJoao Sousa to reach the second round of theATP & WTA Sony Open in Miami onWednesday night.

The former world number one twicefailed to serve out the match at 5-4 and 6-5but went on to clinch a 6-1 7-6 (7/3) victoryover his Portuguese opponent on hisseventh match point.

"He played way better every time hewas behind in the match," the 32-year-oldAustralian wild card said. "Whenever he'dget back on serve in the second set, he

actually played worse."When he was behind, he sort of just

went for it a lot more. That was toughbecause he sort of had nothing to lose."

Hewitt will next face 11th seed GillesSimon, who received a first-round bye.

Russia's Nikolay Davydenko suffereda wobble in the second set against PaoloLorenzi but did not drop a game in the firstor third, beating the Italian 6-0 2-6 6-0.World number 53 Xavier Malisse alsoneeded three sets to get past Rajeev Ram,eventually progressing 6-4 6-7 (6/8) 6-4.

Czech Republic's Lukas Rosol got thebetter of Luxembourg's Gilles Muller 7-56-4 to book himself a second-round clash

with world number one and top seed NovakDjokovic, while Russian qualifier DmitryTursunov will take on third seed DavidFerrer after getting past American TimSmyczek 7-6 (7/4) 7/5.

Frenchman Michael Llodra saw offcompatriot Benoit Paire 7-6 (9/7) 6-2, andJames Blake had little trouble overcomingfellow American Ryan Harrison 6-2 6-2.

Austria's Jurgen Melzer was made towork harder for his second-round spot,digging deep to topple Lithuania's RicardasBerankis 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7/1).

Victor Hanescu also went through, asdid Grega Zemlja, Tobias Kamke, DudiSela and Horacio Zeballos.

Hewitt survives Sousa rally to advance in Miami

ISB 22-03-2013_Layout 1 3/22/2013 2:16 AM Page 19

Published by Arif Nizami at Plot # 7, Al-Baber Centre, F/8 Markaz, Islamabad. Editor: Arif NizamiPublished by Arif Nizami at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore. Editor: Arif Nizami

Friday, 22 March, 2013

ASHGABAT

APP

PRESIDENT Asif Ali Zardarion Thursday called for earlyconvening of the fourth Pak-istan-Iran-Afghanistan Trilat-eral Summit and assured

Pakistan was fully supportive of the recon-ciliation process in Afghanistan.

Talking to Iranian President MahmoudAhmadinejad after participating in the In-ternational Nauroz Conference, the presi-dent said as neighbours, Pakistan and Iranhad shared objectives in the region and thetwo countries needed to work together toconfront their challenges.

The three countries have been holdingtrilateral summits since 2009 to expandsocio-economic cooperation. The last sum-mit was held at Islamabad on February 17,2012. The president said there was a needto have greater coordination with

Afghanistan to promote peace and recon-ciliation. He said the seventh trilateralmeeting with Turkey on Afghanistan in De-cember, 2012 was very successful. The twoleaders observed that Nauroz had providedthem a good opportunity to meet again andrecalled their last two meetings in Februaryand March, which they termed historic.

President Zardari had joined his Iran-ian counterpart on the Pak-Iran border onMarch 11 this year for the ground breakingof the 780 km long Pakistani portion of theIran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project thatwill bring 21.5 million cubic meters ofIranian natural gas to Pakistan daily. Iranhas already constructed more than 900 kmof the pipeline on its soil. President Zardarisaid the IP gas pipeline symbolised frater-nal relationship between the two countriesand described it a leap forward in their bi-lateral relations.

The president said the peace pipelinewould serve mutual interests and was not

against any country. He said Pakistan wascommitted to timely completion of the IPgas pipeline. He said a number of othereconomic projects were in the pipeline be-tween Iran and Pakistan, including electric-ity import, wheat export and rail and roadconnectivity. He expressed the hope that

opening of a Pakistani Consulate Generalin Bandar Abbas and a cultural centre inTehran would contribute to promotion oftrade and tourism between the two coun-tries. Discussing militancy and terrorism,Zardari said extremism was a commonenemy and said such a mindset needed to

be defeated for defeating terrorism.rEgionAl sECUriTy: Earlier while ad-dressing the fourth Nauroz conference, Presi-dent Zardari stressed the need for strengtheningsecurity and counter-terrorism cooperation inthe region. The president said Pakistan firmlybelieved that peace and stability were vital foreconomic progress and development of the re-gion. “Pakistan is working to further improveits relations and expand cooperation with theregional countries,” he said.

He said the region had vast natural re-sources and Pakistan could provide a cor-ridor for transit of exports to othercountries. The president further said thatPakistan was willing to facilitate trans-portation of LNG from Central Asia toSouth East Asia and other world markets.He said that the latest seaport of Pakistan atGwadar was the shortest route for CentralAsian States to the Arabian Sea. It also of-fered excellent port facilities for the exportof LNG and other products.

Zardari for early convening of trilateral summit

LAHORE

OnLinE

PML-N President Nawaz Sharif has said thathis party would move the country’s courtsagainst what “has been done through collusionin Sindh and Balochistan to rig the polls”.“Election will not be allowed to be madecontroversial nor will rigging be allowed.What has been done in Balochistan andSindh has emanated from collusion. This allis being done to rig the polls. The ElectionCommission should take notice of it. ThePML-N will approach the courts along withother opposition parties against this state ofaffairs in the two provinces,” he said thiswhile taking to reporters after a consultative

meeting of the party on Thursday. “We haveexercised restraint and patience for five yearsonly for the stability of democracy, not forthe sake of polls being rigged and electionsbecoming controversial,” he noted. He went on to say that assemblies andgovernment were completing their term forthe first time without the umbrella ofmilitary. “It makes no difference if it willtake three or four days more in installationof caretaker set up,” he said, adding that itwould be sheer injustice to compromise onthe name of the best person. To a questionon return of former president PervezMusharraf to Pakistan and his arrest, hesaid the constitution and the courts werepresent in the country.

NEW YORK

APP

The White House is working to shift controlof the US Central Intelligence Agency’s con-troversial drone programme to the militaryamid mounting criticism of the use of armedaerial vehicles for targeted killing of terror-ism suspects.

According to The Wall Street Journal, thenew directive is intended to shift the covertdrone programme to one that is subject to in-ternational laws of war and undertaken withthe consent of host governments. The draftdocument, according to the report, reflects agrowing consensus within the Obama admin-istration that the long-term future of the pro-gramme lies with the military, where USofficials say it will be on firmer legal footingand be more transparent.

The drone programme has drawn firefrom both Democrats and Republicans whosay it is secretive and unpredictable. How-ever, current and former U.S. official sayeven under military control, however, thecampaign is likely to remain relatively secre-tive. The shift remains controversial onCapitol Hill, within the CIA and in some mil-itary circles among people who think the pro-gramme is more effective under the agency’scontrol, the Journal said.

One senior defence official, according tothe newspaper, warned that putting the pro-gramme under military control could imposeoperational limitations. Human rights groupsconsider a shift in authority inadequate andwant it to meet the demands of international

law. The administration shift on drones wasoutlined in recent weeks as a draft presidentialdirective, which provided formal guidance tofederal agencies, the report said. The directive,once finalised, would set out a general frame-work for the shift to the military, providing a“clear marker” of where the drone programmeis heading without setting out hard and fastdeadlines, a senior U.S. official said. Top ad-ministration officials agreed to the change inprinciple, but final approval of the directiveawaits the president’s nod, US officials said.The draft directive still could take years to fullyimplement, the Journal said.

It doesn’t specify a timetable for thephased shift, nor which CIA programs inwhich countries would be first in line to bephased out.

PML-n to move courtagainst rigging plans inSindh, Balochistan: nawaz

US drone programme toshift from CIA to military

FOUR KILLED INNWA DRONE STRIKEFour suspected militants were killed

in a suspected US drone strike in

North Waziristan early on Friday.

According to a private TV channel,

the US drone fired two missiles on a

house in Datta Khel, killing the four

suspected militants. The channel

cited intelligence reports as saying

those killed were suspected

militants. MOniTORinG DESK

19

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