e-paper pakistantoday 6th june, 2012

Lahore edition Wednesday, 6 June, 2012 Rajab 15, 1433Rs 15.00 Vol ii no 340 22 pages

Elmo thought noone would notice!g US State Department says allegations of fraud and

abuse of aid money against Rafi Peer Puppet Workshop

‘credible’, full investigation underway

LAHOREStaff RepoRt

The US State Department on Tuesday confirmed that fundingfor the Pakistan Sesame Street Program had been terminatedafter allegations of fraud and abuse of aid money against theRafi Peer Puppet Workshop were found to be credible.State Department Deputy spokesperson Mark Tonersaid the Pakistan Sesame Street Program totaled $20million and that $6.7 million has already been spentby the Rafi Peer Theater Workshop.The project was canceled after several calls were madeto an anti-fraud hotline set up by the US Agency forInternational Development (USAID) in Pakistan al-leging misappropriation of funds. The US looked intothe allegations and found them credible. A full investiga-tion is still underway as to how and where the money was spent.“no one is questioning, obviously, the value and positive impactof this kind of programming for children,” said Toner. “But this is aboutallegations of corruption.” The revelation is likely to cause embarrass-ment for the multibillion-dollar US aid programme in Pakistan, whichsome analysts have criticized for lacking focus and not achieving results.Meanwhile, the US-based Sesame Workshop was “dismayed” to find out thatthe program had been halted because of fraud allegations.The project was a co-production between Sesame Workshop and Rafi Peer Puppet Workshop, based in Lahore.

Continued on page 02

PESHAWARShamim Shahid

One of al Qaeda’s top mostfigures, Yahya al-Libi wasreportedly among 16 sus-pected militants killed in aUS drone strike in South

Waziristan on June 4 (Monday). A US drone targeted a compound believed tobe used by militant commanders Mullahnazir and Commander Malang in the WochaDana Beermal area of South Waziristan.

While officials in various intelligenceagencies have confirmed al-Libi’s death, offi-

cials in the United States endorsed that al-Libiwas the target of Monday’s drone strike. Therehas not been any confirmation or rejection ofthe report by al Qaeda yet. According to re-ports, the militants had gathered in thecompound to condole the death ofMalang’s brother who was killed the previ-ous day in a drone attack in the same area.Hailing from Libya, al-Libi’s real name wasMuhammad Hussain. He was a scholar ofIslamic Shariah and had a degree in chem-istry. He was believed to be a close confidantof slain al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

CJP summonsson in ‘millionsof rupees’ scam

NEWS DESK

In what is being claimed as aconspiracy against thejudiciary, the son of ChiefJustice of Pakistan IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry hasbeen accused of receivingmillions of rupees andsponsored foreign trips forreasons yet to be disclosed.Taking notice of the mediareports, Justice Chaudhrylate on Tuesday night issuednotices to his son Dr ArsalanIftikhar, Attorney GeneralIrfan Qadir and a prominentproperty tycoon to appearbefore a three-memberSupreme Court benchheaded by him, today(Wednesday). Seniorjournalist Shaheen Sehbai

Libi eLiminatedg Pakistani security officials confirm death of alQaeda’s number two in US drone strike on Monday

Continued on page 04Continued on page 04

Layout 22 pages LHR_Layout 1 6/6/2012 3:22 AM

02wednesday, 6 June, 2012

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no rest for the cm Bilour accuses army for encroaching on Railways’ land

KARACHIaamiR majeed

President Asif Ali Zardari has withheld the sum-mary of Dr Kaiser Bengali’s appointment as mem-ber of the national economic Council (neC) afterthe military establishment’s intervention, Pak-istan Today has learnt.

Dr Bengali, an economist and former advisorto the Sindh chief minister on planning and de-velopment, was nominated by Prime MinisterYousaf Raza Gilani on May 6 as an neC memberfrom Sindh. However, according to sources privyto the president, Zardari withheld Bengali’s ap-pointment after pressure from the General Head-quarters (GHQ).

Sources said the prime minister had sent the

summary of Bengali’s appointment under Article156 of the constitution. According to Article 156,the president should constitute the neC, consist-ing of the prime minister as the chairman of thecouncil, chief ministers of all provinces and onemember from each province which would benominated by the chief ministers and four othersmembers as the prime minister may nominatefrom time to time.

“The presidency received a summary of DrQaiser Bengali’s appointment from the PrimeMinister’s House on May 7, but the presidentwithheld the summary after the GHQ’s interven-tion,” the source said. “The military establish-ment has raised serious reservations over DrBengali’s appointment as neC member fromSindh after his articles on corruption in the na-

tional Logistic Cell (nLC) run by the army,” hesaid.

In his articles published in some nationalnewspapers, Dr Bengali made corruption allega-tions against Pakistan Army officials in the nLC,besides holding the army responsible for the de-struction of Pakistan Railways to make way forthe nLC.

“Dr Bengali also accused Pakistan Army ofoccupying Railways’ land worth billions of rupeesafter making the Railways dysfunctional,” he said.

“After the GHQ’s intervention of GHQ, thepresident has withheld the summary of the ap-pointment of Dr Kaiser Bengali as member ofneC from Sindh and asked the prime minister tosend an alternate name to fulfil the constitutionalrequirement,” he added.

13 killed, severalhurt as dust stormhits country

PESHAWAR/LAHOREagencieS

Thirteen people were killed and several others injured after aheavy dust storm hit various parts of the country on Tuesdayevening. Heavy dust storm hit Lahore, Peshawar, Faisalabad,Chiniot, Sargodha, Muzaffargarh, Mianwali and surroundingsareas. The storm also hit Dera Ismail Khan, Tank and someareas of Balochistan. Those killed by the massive dust stormincluded five children. In Muridke, three children died when awall fell on them. In Peshawar, the storm, which was recordedat 90 kilometers per hour, uprooted several trees andsignboards. Four people, including two children, were killed inPeshawar while 20 others sustained injuries. Sources said thedust storm created a traffic mess in the city and its suburbs.They said several vehicles met accidents on GT Road andUniversity Road Peshawar due to low visibility, adding thatelectricity was also disconnected following the storm andbusiness activities were also disturbed. The dust strom wasalso followed by light rain that brought the mercury down.According to Met Office, other parts of the country remainedunder a grip of scorching heat as temperature jumped to 50degree Celsius in Dadu.

HeAt wAve contInueS, Mercury juMpS to 50c:Most parts of the country remained under the grip of scorchingheat on Tuesday, as temperature jumped to 50 degrees Celsiusin various areas. Heat wave has confined people to their homesin central and south parts of the country, while roads andmarkets wore a deserted look. In Lahore, dust storms andscattered rains brought some relief to the residents of theprovincial capital; however, the Meteorological Departmentsaid that most parts of the country would remain under the gripof heat during the next 24 hours. The maximum temperaturerecorded in Dadu was 50C, while mercury in other cities wasrecorded as: Larkana and Sibi, 48C; Sargodha, 47C; nawabshahand Sukkur, 46C; Lahore, 44C; Islamabad, 42C; Peshawar, 45C;Karachi, 34C; and Quetta 34C.

elmo thought“Sesame Workshop was surprised and dismayed to learnabout the serious allegations made against Rafi PeerTheatre Workshop. Beyond what we have read in the press,we do not know the specific details of these allegations,”Sesame Workshop said in a statement. “We hope that we’llcontinue our work in Pakistan and anywhere else in theworld. I think we have to go step by step here,” said MyungKang-Huneke, executive vice president and generalcounsel of Sesame Workshop. In its defence, the Rafi PeerPuppet Workshop denied the allegations,saying the US ended its participation dueto a lack of funds. “Rafi Peer is proud ofits association with the project and ofthe quality of children’s educationaltelevision programming created withinPakistan as a result,” the group said in astatement. The program, called SimSim Hamara, or “Our Sim Sim,”launched to much fanfare in December,with plans to run for a full three seasons. Itfeatured elmo and a cast of local Pakistanicharacters, including a young girl in a lead role.Other characters included Munna, a 5-year old boywho played the table drums, Baily, a donkey who lovedto sing, and Haseen O Jameel, a crocodile living in awell. In a country where one third of all young childrendo not attend school, the show was supposed to raiseliteracy, education, and tolerance. now, its future is injeopardy. Rafi Peer claims it is looking for alternatesources of funding, for now leaving the colorful cast ofcharacters with nowhere to play and no songs to sing.

Pakistan conducts another

nuke-capable missile test ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday tested a fifth nuclear-capable missile since India launched a new long-range weaponcapable of hitting China just over six weeks ago. The Hatf VIIcruise missile has a range of 700 kilometres (440 miles) and cancarry conventional warheads and has stealth capabilities, themilitary said. It described the “low flying, terrain hugging missilewith high maneuverability” as having “pinpoint accuracy” and“radar avoidance features”. Tuesday’s test was the country’s fifthof a nuclear-capable missile since April 25. On April 20, Indiasuccessfully test fired the Agni V capable of delivering a one-tonne nuclear warhead anywhere in rival China, marking a majoradvance in its military capabilities. Defence analysts say India’sstrategic priorities are focusing more on China, while Pakistan isstill concerned about its eastern neighbour. According to theISPR, Babur Cruise Missile is a low flying, terrain huggingmissile with high maneuverability, pin point accuracy and radaravoidance features. It can carry both nuclear and conventionalwarheads and has stealth capabilities. It also incorporates themost modern cruise missile technology of Terrain ContourMatching (TeRCOM) and Digital Scene Matching and Area Co-relation (DSMAC), which enhances its precision andeffectiveness manifolds. The missile was launched from a state ofthe art multi tube Missile Launch Vehicle (MLV) whichsignificantly enhances the targeting and employment options ofBabur Weapon System in both the conventional and nuclearmodes. The test was witnessed by Chairman Joint Chiefs of StaffCommittee General Khalid Shameem Wynne, Director GeneralStrategic Plans Division, Lieutenant General (r) Khalid AhmedKidwai, national engineering and Scientific Commission(neSCOM) Chairman Muhammad Irfan Burney, senior officersfrom the armed forces and strategic organizations, scientists andengineers. The successful test has been warmly welcomed by thepresident and prime minister. agencieS

On GHQ’s pressure, Zardari holds

Bengali’s appointment for NEC

Continued fRom page 1



NewsCOMMentguns vs butter

articles on Page 12-13

We test fire another missile.

do what is rightFM Khar tells the US.

dr hasan askari Rizvi says: Of dubious distinction: Our democrats have many.

ali aftab Saeed says:Panj Taara: Five stories from the week.

Khwaja manzar amin says:In a blind, dark alley: President Zardari and his slyness.

FOreiGn newS

Story on Page 16

artS & entertainMent

Story on Page 15

SPOrtS

Story on Page 18

assad may go as part of Syria settlement: Russia nj’s ‘Bermuda triangle’: Water reservoir home to mystery gayle back in Windies one-day squad

WASHINGTONSpecial coRReSpondent

ASKInG Washington to rise above politi-cal expediencies of an election year, For-eign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar hassaid the US should apologize to Pakistanover Salala attacks to revive partnership

with her key South Asian country.In an interview with Foreign Policy magazine,

Khar also reiterated Islamabad’s opposition to thecontinuing American drone attacks on Pakistanitribal areas.

The foreign minister challenged the UnitedStates to live up to its democratic ideals by respectingthe will of Pakistan’s elected legislature. “A represen-tative Parliament of 180 million people has spokenon one subject,” she said in an account of the inter-viewed reported from Doha, where the Brookings In-stitution held a US-Islamic World Forum. “

Khar, who is the youngest Pakistani foreign min-ister and the first woman to hold the office, spoke sixmonths after the november 26, 2011 Salala strikes,in which US warplanes destroyed two Pakistani postsalong the Afghan border, killing 24 soldiers and pro-voking a series of retaliatory measures by Islamabad.

“[This is] something which should have beenforthcoming the day this incident happened, andwhat a partnership not only demands, but requires,”the foreign minister said, stressing the need for anapology.

Khar has contended with a series of crises thatwould overwhelm even the most veteran diplomat.,the magazine reported.

The nov. 26 attacks involved two US Apache hel-icopters, an AC-130 gunship, and two F-15e Strikeeagle fighter jets that opened fire on two Pakistanimilitary check posts.

Pakistan reacted by shuttering the vital nATOground supply routes into Afghanistan — they re-main closed to this day.

Meanwhile, the US and its nATO allies havebeen paying a much higher price by transporting es-

sential supplies into landlocked Afghanistan from thenorth, which involves a far longer route than the Pak-istani roads and must pass through several countriesincluding Russia and Central Asian states.

Pakistan’s parliament also responded in April bypassing a 14-point set of guidelines meant to governthe US-Pakistani relationship, which called on thegovernment to seek an apology for the “condemnableand unprovoked” attack.

According to the magazine, the United States,however, isn’t in the mood to say sorry. The relation-ship with Pakistan has hit its nadir in the past year —and to make matters worse, it’s now hostage to theelection season. With Mitt Romney attacking BarackObama as a president who “go[es] around the worldand apologize[s] for America,” the odds that theWhite House will give Khar what she wants, provid-ing Republicans with political fodder in the process,appear slim.

Khar to US: Want to

revive partnership?

have to say sorry first!g FM asks washington to rise above political expediencies ofelection year

ISLAMABADStaff RepoRt

To register its protest against relentlessCIA drone strikes in the tribal belt, Pak-istan on Tuesday summoned a senior USdiplomat and told him that those attackswere “unlawful” and a violation of itssovereignty.

US charge d’affaires RichardHoagland was called to the Foreign Of-fice to officially convey the government’sserious concern on drone strikes in thePakistani territory, said a Foreign Officestatement. It said the US diplomat wastold that the drone strikes were “unlaw-ful, against international law and a vio-lation of Pakistan’s sovereignty. Thestatement further said that Pakistan hadrepeatedly criticised the drone strikes,calling them counter-productive. It said,“The parliament had emphatically statedthat they were unacceptable. Drone

strikes represented a clear red-line forPakistan,” it said.

The fresh protest from Islamabadcame after a surge in drone attacks overthe last few days. On Monday, a dronestrike was reported to have possiblykilled senior al Qaeda leader Abu Yahyaal-Libi, second top figure in the network.Abu Yahya, a Libyan citizen had a bountyof $1 million on his head. However, theUS officials could not confirm the deathof senior al Qaeda leader in the dronestrike, and restricted themselves to say-ing that he was the intended target. Adiplomatic source seeking anonymitysaid the surge in drone attacks wasmeant to pressurise Pakistan to settle therow between Islamabad and Washingtonover blocked nATO supplies.

Pakistan stalled nATO supplies lastyear in november after US aircraft attackedPakistani border posts and killed 24 sol-diers. Islamabad and Washington are cur-

rently engaged in hectic talks aimed at thereopening nATO supplies but no tangibleprogress could be made so far besides cov-

ering some ground in ironing out their dif-ferences. The issue of nATO supplies anddrone strikes would be discussed by the

country’s top military brass in the CorpsCommanders’ meeting likely to be heldtoday (Wednesday).

wASHInGton: The US State Department has declined to comment on Pakistani Foreign Office’s demand that the drone strikesshould be discontinued forthwith, terming them an “intelligence matter”. “I can’t talk specifically about classified operations,” said MarkToner, deputy spokesperson of the US State Department in a briefing. He, however, hinted between the lines without using the exactwords that drones were part of the American administration’s fight against al Qaeda in Pakistan and there was still no chance that theseoperations would be stopped. “Speaking more broadly as we’ve said many times, we share a common interest with Pakistan when itcomes to going after al Qaeda, and then seeing a stable Pakistan emerge in the region. As we’ve said many times, Pakistan faces a strongcore threat from these extremist groups, and we’re committed to cooperating with them in counter-terrorism”, he stated. He also refusedto confirm reports that senior al Qaeda operative Abu Yahya al-Libi was taken out in a drone strike carried out in north Waziristan.Commenting on the ongoing negotiations for reopening of nATO supply routes in Pakistan, he said there had not been not muchheadway on the issue. He, however, said that the US Deputy Secretary of State Thomas nides in cooperation with the Department ofDefense did speak with Pakistan’s Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh over the weekend on this issue. “He once again made our caseon why we believe it’s in everyone’s interest to reopen these lines of communication, and we’re going to continue to make that at variouslevels, that case,” the deputy spokesman said. He, however, disagreed that the discussion with the Pakistani finance minister was aboutthe financial demands made by the country for reopening routes. agencieS

US envoy summoned to register protest against drone strikesDrone strikes ‘classified operations’: US

CnG stations on strikefrom todayISLAMABAD: All Pakistan CnG Association has announced to close down all CnG stations acrossthe country from Wednesday (today) against the “step-motherly attitude of the government”. AllPakistan CnG Association Ghiyas Paracha told a press conference on Tuesday that the association hadsent four demands to the Ministry of Petroleum and natural Resources but not a single was accepted,forcing them to call for a complete shutdown of 3,300 CnG stations across the country for anindefinite period. He said CnG stations in Punjab were close due to weekly load shedding howeverthey would also remain closed for an indefinite period. Paracha warned that in the next phase, petrolpumps across the country would also be closed. agencieS

LAHORE: Scavengers search for

recycleable items from a garbage

dump on World Environment Day

on Tuesday. afP



News

He appeared in numerousvideos by the militantgroup, along with his formerleader. The United Statesplaces al-Libi as the secondmost important militant ofal Qaeda after its currentchief Ayman al-Zawahiri,however, other security ex-perts describe him as one ofthe top five members of themilitant network.

Al-Libi, reportedly bornin 1963, made repeated ap-pearances on al Qaedavideos and wrote prolifi-cally, becoming one of thegroup’s most prominent

media warriors. He was firstarrested at Karachi in May2002 and later shifted to anAmerican detention centreat Bagram Air Base, north ofKabul. However, he alongwith three other Qaeda mil-itants escaped from theprison in July 2005 afterpicking a lock and dodgingguards. His notorietyswelled after he appeared ina 54-minute video a yearlater, describing his captureby Pakistani forces in 2002and his escape from one ofthe world’s largest militaryprisons.

In Washington, Ameri-

can officials familiar withthe strikes confirmed thatLibi, believed to be in hislate 40s, was the target ofthe attack. But they saidthey did not know whetherhe had survived. Officialsappeared to be wary be-cause, as with some othertop militants sheltering inthe region, Libi has beenfalsely reported dead before– in December 2009 after adrone strike in SouthWaziristan Agency. A Pak-istani official said that au-thorities had intercepted atelephonic conversationabout Libi. “We intercepted

some conversations betweenmilitants. They were talkingabout the death of a‘sheikh’,” one of the Pak-istani intelligence officialssaid, referring to the titlegiven to senior religiousleaders.

“They did not name thisperson but we have checkedwith our sources in the areaand believe they are refer-ring to al-Libi,” the officialtold a British news agency.

A resident of the Mir Aliarea, citing militant sourcesand speaking on the condi-tion of anonymity, said hebelieved that Libi was in the

compound in Hasso Khelwhen the attack occurred.He said Libi had beenmoved there to recuperatefrom light injuries sustainedin a drone strike on May 28.The resident said he couldnot be sure if Libi had beenkilled or injured. A seniorPakistani security source inPeshawar said it “looks likehe has been killed.”

A militant commanderin north Waziristan closelyassociated with foreignfighters however said: “Hehas not been killed. This isnot the first time claimshave been made about his

death. The Americans aresuffering heavy losses inAfghanistan so they have re-sorted to making falseclaims.”

According to reportsfrom north Waziristan,which American govern-ment sources did not con-test, US drones launchedthree attacks along Pak-istan’s border withAfghanistan between Satur-day and Monday. Reportssaid that nearly 30 peoplewere killed during the se-quence of strikes, includingfour suspected militants onSaturday, another 10 on

Sunday, and at least 15 peo-ple on Monday in the strikein which Libi was targeted.

Documents seized frombin Laden’s compound andreleased by the UnitedStates last month suggestLibi was one of the late ter-ror mastermind’s mosttrusted lieutenants. Hesigned a letter dated Decem-ber 3, 2010 and sent to thePakistani Taliban leaderHakimullah Mehsud repri-manding him for making“legal and religious mis-takes” including the masskilling of Muslim civilians insuicide attacks.

Libi eliminatedContinued fRom page 1

has claimed that Dr Arsalanreceived up to Rs 400 mil-lion plus sponsored trips toLondon during 2009, 2010and 2011 with credit cardsto be used abroad by himand his family from theproperty tycoon. Sehbaimade the revelation in aninterview to Dr Manzurejaz, host of a programme‘Washington Beat’. Sehbaitold Dr ejaz that he had re-ceived this informationfrom a “very crediblesource”. “The person who

gave money to the CJP’s sonhas admitted to it. Theyhave documented every-thing. The CJP’s son hasalso accepted receiving themoney in his private gather-ings and is even ready to goto jail,” Sehbai claimed.

However, Sehbai saidthat the detail of the busi-ness for which this hugeamount of money was givento the CJP’s son is still un-known.

“A few years ago, formerpresident Pervez Musharrafhad accused Justice Iftikhar

of misusing his authority toprovide his son a job. Sohow can a job seeker be-come such a successfulbusinessman in just a fewyears that people entrustedhim with millions? There-fore, it is a planned conspir-acy,” Sehbai said.

Sehbai claimed that thetop leadership of the Pak-istan People’s Party includ-ing Aitzaz Ahsan and QamarZaman Kaira and some sen-ior journalists includingnajam Sethi, Kamran Khanand Hamid Mir were aware

of the whole matter but justcould not ‘find courage tobring it up’.

It may be mentionedhere that senior journalistAnsar Abbasi on Mondaywrote an article in the DailyJang unveiling some partsof the scandal, claiming thatit was a conspiracy againstthe independent judiciary.

According to Sehbai,Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf(PTI) Chairman ImranKhan was also among thefew who knew about the‘conspiracy’.

CJP summons sonContinued fRom page 1

Pakistan, eU

Ashton called her talks withHina Khar “excellent” andsaid such engagements wouldprove to be productive tofurther strengthen therelations. To a question, Hinasaid Pakistan had done recordlegislation for the protectionof rights of women andminorities. She said theformation of independenthuman rights commissionand the legislation for theempowerment of women werethe hallmark of the presentgovernment. Asked about theimpact of GSP plus status forPakistan, Hina said it woulddefinitely help earn valuableforeign exchange reserves,but at the same time it wouldopen new opportunities forPakistani businessmen. To aquestion, Ashton admittedthe delay in granting GSPplus status to Pakistan, butsaid it would definitely havea direct impact on theeconomy of the country.

Continued fRom page 28

london: (l-R) prince charles, prince of Wales, Queen elizabeth ii and prince William look up from the balcony of Buckingham

palace as aircraft perform a flyover as they celebrate the Queen's diamond jubilee on tuesday. afP

ISLAMABADapp

PRIMe MinisterYousaf Raza Gilanion Tuesday saidsmooth transition tothe next govern-

ment was his dream whichwould be realized for the firsttime in the country’s historythrough free and fair elections.

In a meeting with euro-pean Union’s High Represen-tative Lady Catherine Ashtonat the PM House, the primeminister reiterated his invita-tion to the eU observers to wit-ness general elections inPakistan which were going tobe truly representative of thepeople’s voice.

He thanked the eU for the

support which it had extendedin ATP (Autonomous TradePreferences) and expressed thehope that the Trilogue wouldmake worthwhile and decisiveprogress in its today’s meetingat Brussels. The prime ministersaid the democratic govern-ment of Pakistan had passedconstitutional amendments,which had restored the origi-nality of the constitution,which was bitterly disfiguredby the successive dictators.

He also referred to the im-portant legislations enacted bythe incumbent parliament em-powering the minorities andwomen and the setting up of anindependent Human RightsCommission in the recent past.

Gilani said the legislativemechanism would make a

qualitative difference in thehuman rights situation in thecountry which was alreadymuch better as compared tothe vast number of other coun-tries around the world.

The prime minister saidPakistan had suffered im-mensely both in terms ofhuman lives and economy inthe war on terror being thefrontline state. He vowed thatthe nation was committed andhad taken the ownership andtherefore, committed to defeatthe forces of extremism andterrorism. He said Pakistansupported the Afghan-led andAfghan-owned solution basedon political reconciliation. Pak-istan wants a stable, prosper-ous and sovereign Afghanistanbecause it is in the best interest

of Pakistan, he added.Lady Ashton said the eU

would continue to supportPakistan in dealing with itseconomic problems and wouldextend cooperation in thefields of education, health, andinfrastructure.

She said the energy sectorwould continue to aim at erad-icating poverty, ignorance anddisease which would greatlyhelp in combating extremismand terrorism tendencies inthe country.

She said the world appre-ciated the sacrifices renderedby Pakistan in the war on ter-ror.

“Pakistan’s successes areour successes and Pakistan’schallenges are our challenges,”she said.

Gilani says smooth transitionthrough fair elections his dream

Gunmen kill 2Punjabis inBalochistan

QUETTAinp

Unknown gunmendisembarked two passengersfrom a bus coming from Iran,and shot them dead, securityofficials said on Tuesday.According to sources in theLevies, armed motorcyclistsstopped a Karachi-boundpassenger bus coming fromIran in the Mand area ofBalochistan and directed thepassengers to come down.The armed assailants, afterchecking everyone’s identities,separated two passengersfrom Punjab and sprayedthem with bullets on the spotand fled from the scene. TheLevies reached the scene andstarted search for the killers,but they had managed toescape.

Un envoy hears civilsociety’s concerns

LAHOREnni

United nations HighCommissioner for HumanRights navi Pillay on Tuesdayheld meetings with themembers of religiousminorities, representatives ofcivil society organisations,lawyers and journalists.A large group of civil societyrepresentatives later joinedher for tea. All thesemeetings took place at theoffice of the Human RightsCommission of Pakistan.

PESHAWARonline

Authorities on Tuesday re-leased three US functionariesafter holding them for illegallycarrying weapons, officialssaid.

Police said the judicialmagistrate at a local account-ability court ordered the“diplomats” to submit securitybonds of Rs 100,000 cash fortheir release. “The US diplo-mats have been released sincediplomats enjoy immunity in

Pakistan,” officials said.As per law, the no Ob-

jection Certificate (nOC)from the Ministry of Interioris mandatory for any for-eigner visiting any area inKhyber Pakhtunkhwa or theadjacent tribal belt. How-ever, the US diplomats didnot abide by the rule.

Peshawar police onMonday detained threeAmerican diplomats in thecity after finding several ri-fles, pistols and ammuni-tion in their vehicles.

WASHINGTONafp

US President Barack Obamaconfronted the ultimate secu-rity nightmare early in his ad-ministration — the possibilitythat the Taliban had acquireda nuclear bomb, according toa new book published Tues-day.

The book, “Confront andConceal” by new York Timeschief Washington correspon-dent David Sanger, saysObama was told in a dramaticOval Office meeting in earlysummer 2009 of “ambiguous”evidence supporting such afear.

Intercepted conversationsbetween members of theTehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan(TTP) led intelligence agen-cies to warn the group couldhave a bomb, and the CIApicked up “chatter” of possibleattacks on US cities, the booksaid.

But Sanger reports thatno one in the intelligencecommunity could be sureabout the authenticity of thethreat.

Some seasoned analystsbelieved that any danger wasmore likely to be posed by nu-clear material combined intoa radiological or “dirty” bomb.

Other officials in US spyagencies believed that therewere serious doubts about theintelligence, but no one waswilling to ignore the fears,amid concern about the secu-rity of Pakistan’s fast growingnuclear arsenal.

Senior Obama adminis-tration officials have previ-ously confided that the fear ofa terrorist or insurgent groupacquiring nuclear materials isthe national security threatmost likely to keep themawake at night.

Obama has made haltingproliferation a signature of hispresidency and was instru-

mental in the debut of a newglobal nuclear security sum-mit, which took place for thesecond time in Seoul inMarch.

“There are still too manybad actors in search of thesedangerous materials andthese dangerous materials arestill vulnerable in too manyplaces,” he said in Seoul,warning that it would take justa small amount “to kill hun-dreds of thousands of inno-cent people.”

According to Sanger’sbook, Obama decided thatwith the 2009 case, he couldnot take any chances and dis-patched a nuclear detect anddisablement team to the re-gion, though not directly toPakistan, in case it wasneeded.

After several days of ten-sion, Sanger wrote, the threatdissipated. Pakistan surveyedits arsenal and reported thatno nuclear components weremissing.

One school of thoughtabout the incident suggestedthat Taliban members hadbeen hoaxed and bought ma-terial from a third party thatwas useless in the manufac-ture of nuclear weapons.

Other officials believedthat the US national SecurityAgency (nSA) had misunder-stood the dialect of Talibanmembers on the intercepts,and been mislead into believ-ing their worst fears, the booksaid. However, Sanger quotedone official as saying that fac-ing a possible nuclear crisis soearly in Obama’s presidency“created a lasting impressionon all of us.”

Since the incident, US of-ficials have held regular meet-ings with members ofPakistan’s nuclear establish-ment in neutral locations likeLondon and Abu Dhabi to dis-cuss nuclear safety, Sangerwrote.

US thought Talibanhad nuclear bombin 2009: new book

US personnel freed after being

detained for carrying weapons



News

QUetta: Relatives of the missing persons sit in a protest camp outside Quetta press club on tuesday. ONLiNE

SC gives June 8

deadline for

asghar to resume

haj corruption probe ISLAMABAD

online

The Supreme Court on Tuesday gaveauthorities a deadline of June 8 to recallHussain Asghar to investigate the Hajcorruption case. A three-member benchcomprising Chief Justice IftikharMohammad Chaudhry, Justice JawwadS Khwaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussainheard the case. Asghar had been taskedto investigate the Haj corruption case,and is currently serving as the inspectorgeneral of police for Gilgit-Baltistan(GB). During the hearing, the court saidthat it would be a violation of its ordersif Asghar was not brought back to theprobe. Attorney General Irfan Qadirtold the court that orders calling forAsghar’s transfer had been issued, butthat he did not want to return. He saidthat GB Chief Minister Mehdi Shah alsodid not want to relieve Asghar. Thecourt expressed its displeasure, sayingthat by not relieving Asghar, Shah wasridiculing the court, and that Asgharmust follow the directives of the primeminister. The court reiterated that itsrulings should be implemented; addingthat, if Asghar does not return for theinvestigation, it would be a violation ofthe court’s order as well as thegovernment’s directives. The federationhas the authority to recall officials fromthe provinces, the court said. A manfrom the forces cannot violate disciplinewithout someone’s backing, the courtsaid, adding that Asghar should havebeen suspended and his salary shouldhave been withheld as a disciplinarymeasure after his refusal to return. Theattorney general asked how Asgharcould be suspended without having beengiven a chance to explain himself. Thechief justice said that as per rules, theopportunity to explain oneself was givenonly once the official concerned wassuspended. The attorney generalrequested the court for more time torecall Asghar on which the court saidthat the official must return to hisprevious position by June 8.

2 more bodiesrecovered in Gayari

SKARDUinp

Two more dead bodies of soldiersburied under a giant avalanche wererecovered on Tuesday in the ongoingsearch operation in Gayari sector ofSiachen. According to details, the twobodies were recognised as soldiersMuhammad Akbar and Muhammad Ali.Six dead bodies have so far beenrecovered, including that of MajorZaka-ul-Haq. On April 7, at least 124soldiers and 11 civilians were trappedbeneath an avalanche in the Gayarisector of Siachen.

WASHINGTONonline

The relationship between Pakistan andUS is currently running a negativecourse which is marked by mutualdistrust, a Congressional report hassaid even as the two countries havebeen holding a series of negotiations toimprove their ties and address theirdifferences.

“US-Pakistan relations are fluid atpresent, but running a clearly negativecourse: still based on several nationalinterests shared by both countries, yetmarked by levels of mutual distrust andresentment that are likely to catalyse anew set of assumptions for future ties,”

the Congress Research Service (CRS)said in its latest report on Pakistan.

“The tenor of interactions has beenincreasingly negative in a slide predatinga series of crises in 2011. These includeda CIA operative shooting dead twoPakistanis in Lahore, bin Laden’s killing,suspension of most bilateral securitycooperation, a spike in Haqqani networkattacks in Afghanistan, and an incidentin which two dozen Pakistani soldierswere inadvertently killed by nATOaircraft,” it said. “The latter calamity ledPakistan to shut down nATO’s roadaccess to Afghanistan and demand anapology that has not been forthcomingin intervening months. Access remainsclosed to date,” the CRS said. The

independent research wing of the USCongress, CRS in its report said vital USinterests are seen to be at stake in itsengagement with Pakistan related toregional and global terrorism; efforts tostabilise neighbouring Afghanistan;nuclear weapons proliferation; linksbetween Pakistan and indigenousAmerican terrorism; Pakistan-Indiatensions and conflict; democratisationand human rights protection; andeconomic development.

As a haven for numerous Islamistextremist and terrorist groups, and asthe world’s most rapid proliferator ofnuclear weapons, Pakistan presents acombination that places it at the top ofmany governments’ international

security agendas, CRS said. “In manypractical respects, the cooperativeaspects of bilateral relations haveremained frozen in 2012, even beforethis most mutual exasperation in May.The two governments and, at a lowerlevel, the diplomatic and securityagencies within them seem atloggerheads after a grueling series ofcrises. Anti-American sentiments andxenophobic conspiracy theories remainrife among ordinary Pakistanis, the CRSreport said. “Opinion surveys find thatthe United States has of late replacedIndia as the nation least favored byPakistanis (a significant development,given the visceral, decades-old Pakistan-India rivalry),” the report said.

US-Pak relations currently fluid: report

KARACHIStaff RepoRt

THe ongoing political fireworksbetween leaders from the rul-ing Pakistan People’s Party

(PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-nawaz (PML-n) are likely to inten-sify as the two parties haveconflicting views on what should bethe basis for forthcoming local gov-ernment elections.

While the PML-n has declaredholding non party-based local bodypolls in Punjab, the PPP, which dom-inates the federal government, wantsthe political process to be partybased.

Talking to reporters at theKarachi Press Club, Federal Informa-tion Minister Qamar Zaman Kairasaid his side would “constitutionally”confront the PML-n on its intentionto hold non party-based local bodypolls in Punjab.

“We won’t allow the local govern-ment elections to be non-party

based,” he maintained.non-party based elections would

weaken political institutions anddemocracy in the dictator-strickencountry, he said.

Kaira said Punjab Chief MinisterShahbaz Sharif, presently leadinganti-Islamabad street protests in La-hore against load shedding, was pit-ting the federating unites against theCenter.

Terming the current political hus-tle and bustle a natural phenomenonof an election year, the PPP leaderwarned Sharif brothers against in-dulging in “cheap acts” and “artificialpolitics”.

Kaira called upon the “emotionalleaders” to show restraint as the localbody polls were fast approaching toreveal their actual strength.

About the energy crises, the min-ister said his government was tryinghard to bridge the gap between sup-ply and demand of electricity in thecountry, which has a 16,000MW in-stalled capacity.

For the purpose, the governmenthad signed energy pacts with Iran,Turkmenistan and Tajikistan evenagainst the will of Pakistan’s interna-tional allies like the United States,Kaira said.

He said the government had in-herited lingering issues like the circu-lar debt. The difference between thecost of production and sale was beingfilled by the government which thisyear too had earmarked Rs 183 bil-lion for the purpose.

He said subsidies were beingworked out for tube wells, whichwould be soon converted to solar en-ergy in rural areas.

The minister said an addition of800MW to the national grid was inprogress through wind power thisyear.

expressing concern over thekilling of journalists in the country,Kaira said a special wing of PeMRAwas finalizing regulatory frameworkfor the electronic media in consulta-tion with the stakeholders.

‘Center, Punjab not onsame page over partybased local body polls’

Bilour accusesarmy for encroaching onRailways’ land

KARACHIonline

Federal Minister for Railways GhulamAhmed Bilour on Tuesday accusedPakistan Army of encroaching uponthousands of acres of Railways’ land.Talking to reporters during his visit to theRailways workshop in Karachi, Bilour saidthat efforts were in progress to recoverthousands of acres of land, which had beenencroached by the Rangers and Army. Hesaid the condition of the Railways couldhave been different, if the Planning andFinance Commission had approved eightprojects in 2008 instead of 2012, addingthat the approval of the projects in 2012would provide benefits to the nextgovernment. He said the Railways’condition would remain unchanged untilnew locomotives are included in its fleet.“The Railways had demanded of theincumbent government to provide asmany as 400 new engines butunfortunately it received nothing while thegovernment had approved Rs 6.1 billon forthe maintenance of the engines. Howeverthe government is yet to pay any amountin this regard,” Bilour said, adding that itwas an uphill task to run the entiremachinery with 150 engines. He said theannual revenue of the railways was Rs 14billion while Rs 27 billion were spent onsalaries and pensions annually, addingthat the deficits could be covered if 25 newcargo trains were run in the country. Hesaid the railways faced the risk of closure ifthe Finance Division does not issue funds.He said that talks were in progress withseveral private companies regarding theprivatisation of some trains. “no singleemployee would be fired, if theprivatisation of the railways is carried out,”he added.


06 wednesday, 6 June, 2012

News

Beijing: president asif ali Zardari being received by chinese vice-foreign minister fu Ying upon his arrival at Beijing international airport on tuesday.

LONDONm SaRWaR

Since new allegations have been levelledby certain British media against Muslimpeer Baroness Sayeed Warsi in context toher trip to Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and herbusiness, Prime Minister David Cameronhas referred her case to his independentadviser on ministerial interests.

Commenting over the unfortunatesaga, the political observers opined thatthe political future of Muslim peer appar-ently looks at stake. It is the first time theprime minister has referred a minister toSir Alex Allan, who rules on whetherpoliticians have broken the MinisterialCode. The move contrasts withCameron’s refusal to ask Sir Alex to in-vestigate Culture Secretary Jeremy Huntover his closeness to the Murdoch mediaempire. Baroness Warsi Monday issuedan apology for failing to disclose hershared business interest with Abid Hus-sain, a relative. Baroness Warsi, the

under-stressed Tory Party co-chairmanapologised for any ‘embarrassment to theGovernment’. In response, the PM said:‘There are clearly some lessons for futurehandling and I have asked Alex Allan, myadviser on ministers’ interests, to con-sider the issues that have been raised.’

Baroness Warsi’s position is precari-ous because some Tory backbenchers,who reportedly want Cameron to appointan MP to the Tory chairmanship to givethe position more authority. DowningStreet, however, is understood to rate theminister and is keen to keep her in theCabinet. One rumour is that she could begiven the job of International Develop-ment Secretary, in charge of Britain’s aidprogramme, in a reshuffle later this yearbut it is too early to say this. However, ifSir Alex rules against her, it could spellthe end for her ministerial career. The re-ferral relates to an undeclared relation-ship with Hussain, who accompanied herto Pakistan in July 2010 and assisted theBritish High Commission with outreach

events there. She said Hussain was herhusband’s second cousin and this factwas ‘widely known’. But she added thatshe did not realise the need to declarethey had ‘a common business interest asminority shareholders in a small foodcompany’. Labour’s Michael Dugher,shadow Cabinet Office Minister, said:‘Baroness Warsi clearly has very seriousquestions to answer. ‘But DavidCameron’s actions in this case draw intosharp relief his refusal to hold a similarinvestigation into Jeremy Hunt, despiteclear evidence that he broke the Ministe-rial Code by misleading the House ofCommons on at least three occasions.’LABour coMpLAIntS: LabourParty has called for a criminal enquiryinto the expenses of Conservative Partyco-chairman Baroness Warsi as the primeminister acknowledged she had questionsto answer. The opposition sought tomaintain pressure on the cabinet minis-ter by requesting police examine whethershe claimed for accommodation while

staying at a friend’s house rent free. MPKarl Turner wrote to City of London Po-lice about the case - which BaronessWarsi has already asked Lords Commis-sioner for Standards Paul Kernaghan to

investigate. The move came amid a slewof fresh newspaper allegations againstthe under-fire politician, including an al-leged failure to declare business interestsand questions over foreign visits.

US bill links aidwith Dr afridi’srelease

WASHINGTONonline

US Senator Rand Paul has introducedlegislation in the Senate which seeks torestrict aid to Pakistan until the convictionof Dr Shakil Afridi is overturned and he isreleased. Paul has submitted another billwhich seeks to grant Afridi US citizenshipfor his efforts in leading the United Statesto Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad. Lastweek, Paul wrote a letter to US PresidentBarack Obama, urging a delay in therelease of foreign military financing to thegovernment of Pakistan, and to hold all aiduntil Dr Afridi, the informant who assistedUS intelligence services in identifying thewhereabouts of Osama bin Laden, isreleased. earlier US State DepartmentSpokesman Mark Toner said that theUnited States was still waiting forclarification from Pakistan regarding DrAfridi’s case. Last week it was revealed thatDr Afridi was sentenced for his ties with abanned organization and not for helpingthe CIA in the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

Zardari sets outon three-dayChina visit

ISLAMABADapp

President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday left forChina on a three-day official visit to attendthe Shanghai Cooperation Organization(SCO) summit. He will hold meetings withpresidents of different countries on thesidelines of the summit. He will alsonegotiate with his Chinese and Afghancounterparts during his visit. His meetingwith the Russian president is also expected.President Zardari will hold bilateral meetingswith top Chinese leadership in which entirespectrum of Sino-Pakistan relations will bereviewed. It is important to note here thatPakistan actively seeks the completemembership of Shanghai Organization.

ISLAMABADagencieS

FeDeRAL Minister Khur-sheed Shah said on Tuesdaythat the current assemblieswould be dissolved onMarch 30, 2013, and the

caretaker government would be installedto hold elections in two months.

Talking to reporters after chairing aparliamentary committee meeting to ap-point a new chief election commissioner(CeC), Shah said that early electionscould only be held if the oppositionchanges its current confrontational atti-tude. He said the federal governmentwas determined to hold local govern-ment elections in September this year.

About the dual nationality case andthe suspension of the memberships ofRehman Malik and Farahnaz Ispahani,Shah said that it was a sensitive matter,and that the election commission hadcommitted a mistake in the matter as it

had not included in the form that thoseholding dual nationality could not be-come members of the parliament.

earlier the committee consideredthe names of Justice (r) Fakhrudin GIbrahim, Justice (r) nasir Aslam Zahid,Justice Shakirullah Jan, Justice (r)Munir A Sheikh and Justice (r) Amir-ul-Mulk Mengal for the vacant post of theCeC. Shah said that consensus could notbe reached over a single name. He saidthe committee could review the namesproposed by the prime minister and theopposition leader in the national As-sembly. During the meeting, Prime Min-ister Yousaf Raza Gilani deplored theattitude of the Pakistan Muslim League-nawaz for its rowdy behavior during thepresentation of fiscal budget and calledit a repeat of history when the treasurybenches had to surround the financeminister and Benazir Bhutto in parlia-ment for their protection.

Gilani said the civil society andmedia did not like the extremely un-par-

liamentary, undemocratic and unethicalbehavior of the opposition party on thebudget day. He maintained that the PPPand PML-Q had decided not to disruptthe budget session of the Punjab Assem-bly where they had a support of about175 members. “The people of Pakistan

want the opposition to behave like ademocratic entity and desist from hooli-ganism, and instead concentrate onpointing out the deficiencies in thebudget and give proposals to the govern-ment for improving the health of theeconomy,” he added.

Cameron refers Warsi’s case to adviser

Early elections possible only ifOpp gives up confrontation: Shahg Gilani complains about opposition’s attitude


wednesday, 6 June, 2012

no rest for the Cm

g Shahbaz says protest will continue till the end of load shedding

LAHOREonline

pUnJAB Chief MinisterShahbaz Sharif vowed tocontinue protestingagainst power outagesuntil the end of load

shedding. The CM was talking to themedia during his visit to Bahawalpurwhere he oversaw the constructionwork on a 400 bed hospital.

Shahbaz said his protest againstload shedding was a demand of the timewhereas his decision of shifting his of-fice to a tent at the Minar-e-Pakistan re-flected the continuation of his pastrecord.

He vowed that he and his cabinetwill continue to work in camps at theMinar-e-Pakistan until the end of thediscrimination that Punjab had experi-enced with regard to the excessivepower outages and gas load shedding.He reiterated he would not rest till all

the provinces were provided an equalshare of electricity. He said he was notscoring political points by working forthe betterment of the people.

He claimed that under the 18thamendment, no province had the pre-rogative of producing electricity andthat the federal government was wrongwhen it said the provinces were allowedto generate their own electricity.

He said the bias of the federal gov-ernment against Punjab had been man-ifested in the worst electricity and gasload shedding in the country’s historythat has made the lives of people miser-able while damaging the economywhich had led the Punjab governmentto loose Rs 400 billion during the pastyear. He said hundreds of thousands ofworkers had become jobless.

He said the reference sent by Presi-dent Zardari to the national Assemblyregarding the provinces of Bahawalpurand Multan was based on hypocrisy andwere a set of lies.

He reiterated that the protestagainst President Zardari will continuedespite his ongoing conspiracies.

He claimed that the federal govern-ment received billions of rupees as kick-backs by selling fertilisers on high rates.

Sharif also challenged his criticisersand challenged them to criticise hisservices during the floods and thedengue outbreak. earlier, provincialMinister Iqbal Chunter and other MPAswelcomed the CM at the BahawalpurAirport, after which the CM directlywent to the construction site.

The CM said delays in the comple-tion of the project will not be toleratedand that he would personally monitorthe standard of work on the hospital.

He informed that the hospital, builtat a cost of Rs 4.25 billion, will be inau-gurated on August 14. However, on thearrival of the chief minister, the localparamedical staff and APCCA employ-ees protested outside the camp office forthe acceptance of their demands.

LAHOREStaff RepoRt

In line with the directions issued by thepresident and the prime minister, pro-viding relief to the masses by minimis-ing the electricity shortfall in thecountry, is the foremost priority of theWater and Power Ministry.

This was stated by federal Waterand Power Minister Chaudhry AhmadMukhtar while presiding over a meetingon Tuesday at the WAPDA House to re-view the electricity situation in thecountry and the progress on the waterand power sector projects.

Addressing the meeting, the federalminister said the situation will improvegradually, as arrangements were beingmade for the optimal utilisation of theexisting power generation capacity byproviding fuel to the powerhouses.

In addition, a target-oriented strat-egy is also being devised to enhance re-coveries, decrease system losses andcurb electricity theft. Improved gover-nance is the key to improving cash flowsof the distribution companies to min-imise load shedding, he added. The min-ister stated that better officials will behired at various tiers of the department.

Referring to the ailing financialhealth of the power sector, Mukhtar di-

rected the power sector managers to putin their concerted efforts to achieve thetargets set for them.

earlier, in a briefing to the ministerabout the water and hydropower sec-tors, WAPDA Chairman Shakil Durranisaid the river flows had started improv-ing, resulting in an increase in hy-dropower generation.

He said the situation will improvefurther as the mercury continued to riseleading to increased melting of ice andconsequently, more water in the catch-

ment areas of the water reservoirs. Di-lating upon the low-cost energy genera-tion plan, the chairman said WAPDAwas implementing 17 large projects togenerate more than 20,000 MW of elec-tricity and store about 11.75 million acrefeet of water.

The hydropower projects with a cu-mulative capacity of 400 MW will be-come operational during the currentyear, he added. The chairman statedthat the WAPDA projects will not onlyhelp meet the water needs of the coun-try but also inject low-cost electricitygenerated from hydropower in the na-tional grid.

expressing satisfaction over thepace of the water sector projects, theFederal Minister said it was encourag-ing to see that hydropower generationwas taking the lead.

In another briefing on the powersector, the federal minister was ap-prised of the demand and generationscenario, the measures being taken toreduce the electricity shortfall and thefinancial issues of the power sector, in-cluding the receivables and payables.

The meeting was also attended byWAPDA member (Power), WAPDA sec-retary, CPPA managing director and theWAPDA and nTDC senior officers con-cerned.

‘Have faith, for I shall rescue’g Mukhtar says power crisis will improve with time, reviews low-cost power generation projects

LAHOREnni

Despite the financial hurdles it faces, thePunjab government is seemingly standing bythe masses’ demand to not impose moretaxes in its upcoming budget.

The Punjab government is set to present

the fiscal budget for 2012-13 in the PunjabAssembly on June 9, (Saturday).

Sources said the Pakistan Muslim Leaguenawaz-led provincial government has taken thedecision to evade incurring the wrath of massesat a time when they were already bearing wide-spread criticism over load shedding from acrossPunjab. The total amount in the budget hasbeen increased to Rs 700 billion against lastyear’s total outlay of Rs 654.75 billion, with nonew taxes imposed this time around.

‘Hell hath no fury likethe public scorned’g Punjab government ‘scared’ into not

imposing more taxes in new budget


low

high

280CthUrSDay FriDay SatUrDay38°C i 29°C 40°C i 29°C 41°C i 29°C

Prayer tiMinGSFajr Sunrise zuhr asr Maghrib isha

03:24 04:59 12:00 15:40 19:00 20:36

City DireCtOry

reSCUe 1122

eDhi COntrOl 115

MOtOrway POliCe 130

POliCe 15

GOVernOr’S hOUSe 99200081-7

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Pia reSerVatiOn 111-786-786

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Lahore

100 GHAZALS OF MAULANA RUMI

hast-o-neest Centre for traditional art & Cultureinvites you to its Monthly Saturday Sitting withJanab ahmed Javed Sahib(Director, iqbal academy Pakistan)on 100 Ghazals of Maulana rumi3:30 to 5:00 pm, last Saturday of every month

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LAHOREStaff RepoRt

yOUnG doctors have unearthed a huge‘scandal’ regarding the electricity billsof the King edward Medical Univer-sity. They said the KeMU’s electricitybill for April, 2012 one crore and 65

lakhs while that of the Mayo Hospital was onecrore and 60 thousands rupees.

The doctors said the KeMU bill is 65 lakhrupees more than that of the Mayo Hospitaland that the students pay for the extra ex-penses in the form of hefty fees.

According to a report issued by the YoungDoctors Association, there are 26 electricity

metres at KeMU, out of which 5 are non-func-tional; however, a bill is being designated tothem every month. The KeMU administrationblock has 30 fans and four air conditioners thatwork from 8 am to 2 pm, has a monthly bill ofRs 2.9 million. The girl’s hostel, whose metrewas stolen two years ago, has an estimated billof Rs 2.4 million. The boy’s hostel has a bill ofRs 4.2 million, while the university campus hasa collective bill of Rs 6.7 million.

YDA office bearers bearers, Dr Rana Sohail,Dr Salman Kazmi, Dr Talha Sherwani, Dr GhulamQasim, Dr Murtaza Bloch, Dr Muhammad KhawarKhan, Dr Shahid Dreshik, Dr Waqas Gondal, DrShehzad, Dr Asim, Dr Shams, Dr MuhammadAzhar and Dr Muhammad Amjad stated that the

university bills are not consistent with the usageof electricity, adding that the institute is beingover-billed. They alleged that the KeMU andLeSCO administrations are involved in the scam,which involves recording more electricity unitsthan were actually used.

The YDA members said the bills were paid outof millions of rupees taken from the public excheq-uer under the university’s head to cover the deficit.

The YDA has submitted an application to theFIA for investigating the charges and has appealedto the FIA DG and LeSCO chairman to constitutea probe committee to investigate into the matterand to take strict action against those involved.

The YDA office bearers said they will not allowanyone to exploit the doctors and students.

Stolen electricity metres continuerecording electricity units g YDa alleges that KEMU and LESCO use fake metre readings from

non-functional and stolen metres to overcharge varsity

LAHORE app

The rising mercury and increased load sheddinghours have left the consumers in the provincialmetropolis at the mercy of UPS battery retailerswho fleece them by charging exorbitant prices.

According to a survey conducted recently, thebattery retailers do not honour their warrantycommitments on one pretext or the other whilethey charge up to Rs 500 extra for getting the bat-ter recharged during the valid warranty period.

With the advent of summer, the increasedload shedding hours have forced the people to relyon the Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) in theirhomes and for their businesses.

People who buy these devices, which come with a

maximum battery life of one year, are forced to eitherreplace the batteries or to get them recharged.

The prolonged load shedding hours cause thebatteries to wear out earlier than usual, especiallyduring the summers. The consumers are foundcomplaining of the shorter life-span of the batter-ies resulting from various manufacturing factors.

Abdul Moeed Khan, a businessman in theUrdu Bazaar, attributed the malfunctioning to theretailers’ practice of storing batteries for morethan a year. He said in order to earn more money,the businessmen bought batteries in bulk and thenstored them, which reduced the life of the battery-cells and failed to give the desired results.

A vice-principal at a local private college, Far-iha Sultana said a battery retailer had refused tochange the battery of her UPS during the warranty

period despite its malfunctioning; claiming thatthe battery was in excellent condition and no claimcould be filed with the manufacturer. Later, theshopkeeper blamed the UPS for the poor workingof the battery and forced her to use the same bat-tery, while charging Rs 400 extra for the rechargeduring the two visits she had to make.

Prof Sultana demanded the government toformulate standard rates to protect the consumersfrom any kind of exploitation at the hands of thebattery retailers.

Farhan Butt, the proprietor of a batter retailstore, said retailers could not replace the batterieson every claim made since the manufacturers setvery hard rules for replacing the batteries. Heavoided giving any cogent reasons for extortingmoney for the recharge.

UPS battery retailers fleece consumers

lahoRe: the city breathed a sigh of relief as it experienced duststorm and a light shower late tuesday afternoon. iNP



Cine Star the aVenGerS 12:30 PMPh: 35157462 rOwDy rathOre 03:00 PM

SnOw white anD the hUntSMan 05:45 PMaVenGerS 08:00 PMrOwDy rathOre 10:30 aM

Cine GOlD the aVenGerS 12:00 aMPh: 35340000 DePartMent 02:30 PM

SnOw white anD the hUntSMan 6:00 PMrOwDy rathOre 12:00 aM, 12 PMDePartMent 09:00 PM

SOzO wOrlD rOwDy rathOre 12:00 PM, 03 PMPh: 36674271 Jannat 2 03:00, 5:30 PM

SnOw white anD the hUntSMan 08:00 PMrOwDy rathOre 08:00 PMSnOw white anD the hUntSMan 12:30 PM, 11 PM

Dha aUDitOriUM SnOw white anD the hUntSMan 12:00 PMPh: 36674271 rOwDy rathOre 04:30 PM

SnOw white anD the hUntSMan 07:30 PMrOwDy rathOre 10:00 PMrOwDy rathOre 01:00 aM

Lahore

LAHOREStaff RepoRt

TWO people were gunneddown on Tuesday in twoseperate incidents. Technicaleducation and VocationalTraining Authority (TeVTA)

Human Resource Department generalmanager was shot dead on Tuesday. Ac-cording to the police, TeVTA GM JavaidIqbal was on his way home after pickingup his wife from the airport on Mondaynight when armed men stopped his carnear Muslim Town and tried to deprivehim of his valuables.

Iqbal resisted the robbery attempt,after which the armed men opened fireon him. He was rushed to the hospital incritical condition where he succumbed to

his injuries early Tuesday morning.A Toyota Motor Company senior employeewas also killed while resisting a robbery at-tempt, a private news channel reported onTuesday. Toyota General Manager JavedIqbal was on his way to home from the air-port along with his family when he was

asked by two gunmen riding a motorcycleto stop his car near the Garden Town Un-derpass. He refused and tried to speedaway on his car. On this, the assailantsopened fire, leaving Iqbal seriouslywounded. He was rushed to a hospital,where he succumbed to his wounds.

Two gunned down forresisting robbery

LAHOREonline

Former Supreme Court Bar Association presidentAsma Jahangir has said although the establish-ment planned to murder her, she will continueher mission to bring the facts to the forefront.Talking to the media, she said she came to knowabout the plans made to murder her through aninsider who advised her to remain cautious andalert. Without disclosing the name of the in-former, she claimed the information she learnedwas reliable. She said she was ready to pay anyprice for the vital interest of the nation and willcontinue her struggle for the rights of the peopleof Pakistan. She said Rangers were deployed ather home on late Monday night and that she wasin contact with the government. She told news-men that she was invited to a lawyers’ seminarand had planned to visit Ireland on Wednesday.However, she cancelled her programme and willstay in Pakistan to give a clear message that shewas not afraid of anyone, she added.

Jahangir alleges establishment plans tomurder her, says she doesn’t scare easy

LAHore: Lawyers and police entered into a brawl asthey attempted for taking over the custody of a man ac-cused of issuing fake cheques, whose interim bail was re-jected by the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday.However, the Kasur police managed to catch hold of theaccused and took him away. According to details, Kasur’sMohammad Asif had taken an interim bail in a fakecheque case, which was rejected during the hearing of thepetition. Following this, the Kasur police station ‘A’ divi-sion wanted to arrest him, but the lawyers of the accusedresisted the move. Later the LHC security facilitated theKasur police in arresting the accused. inp

lawyers-police fight over custodyof man accused of fraud

LAHore: Unidentified armed men snatched the official vehicle of the PunjabPolice Deputy Inspector General (DIG) on Tuesday. According to details, five un-known gunmen stopped vehicle of the DIG in Johar Town. The armed men askedthe gunman and driver of the DIG to get off the vehicle before speeding awaywith it. The DIG was not present in the vehicle at the time of the incident. It wasfeared that the vehicle could be used in any terror activity therefore all the policestations and check posts have been put on red alert. A case has been registeredagainst unknown people at the Johar Town Police Station and a search for themwas underway. Staff RepoRt

and we expect the police to protect us!



Lahore

LAHOREStaff RepoRt

The paramedics’ strike for servicestructure revision and other de-mands entered its 27th day onTuesday. The paramedics in theprovince continued protesting fortheir demands for a revised servicestructure, health professional al-lowance and the regularisation ofcontract employees.

The paramedics closed the out-patient departments (OPDs), in-

doors and other departments of thehospitals to record their protestagainst the lack of interest on thepart of the health department to re-solve the outstanding issues of em-ployees.

Meanwhile, laboratory techni-cians, eCG technicians, x-ray tech-nician and MRI technicians alsoabandoned their work. Only theemergency wards, ICUs and CCUswere operational during this time.

Dozens of the paramedicsdemonstrated against the provin-

cial government at all divisionalheadquarters and chanted slogansin favour of their demands.

In Lahore, the paramedical stafflaunched their protest in front ofthe Ganga Ram Hospital.

The protesters said their de-mands have not been fulfilled sincethe last year even after the assur-ance of the Punjab government.

The angry demonstratorsthreatened to close the emer-gency wards i f their demandswere not met.

LAHOREonline

THe Lahore Chamber of Commerce andIndustry (LCCI) uesday urged the gov-ernment on Tuesday to immediatelyinitiate talks with the CnG Associationand solve their issues as the protests

and strikes had already pushed the country to thewall and its economy was facing multiple internaland external challenges.

LCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh expressedthese views while talking to All Pakistan CnG As-sociation Senior Vice-Chairman Capt ShujahAnwar, CnG Association Lahore Chapter ChairmanSami Udddin, Senior Vice-Chairman Aleem Buttand Punjab General Secretary Khawaja Baber dur-ing his visit to a protest camp.

The LCCI president said the government’s de-cision to impose heavy taxes on CnG will ruin theinvestment of Rs 500 billion made in the sector. Hesaid increasing the CnG prices will also dent thegovernment’s reputation in the eyes of the commonman who is the real user of the cheaper fuel.

Sheikh said the LCCI will continue to supportthe association in this just cause.

The LCCI president said the unjustifieddecision will affect both the local and the for-eign investments in the country as no investorwill dare to make a new investment when the

government was trying to implement suchunilateral anti-business decisions.

The CnG Association office-bearers in-formed the LCCI president that protests anddemonstrations across the country against thehike in CnG price and the imposition of moreCeSS on CnG will continue.

They said the association had rejectedany increase in the CeSS tax on CnG inthe budget therefore al l the CnG stationsacross Pakistan wil l remain closed for anindefinite t ime period.

Strongly rejecting the increase in CnG prices,they termed it a well-cooked conspiracy against theonly profitable industry of the country.

They said the people will not buy CnG atRs 100 per kg as they were already pressed bythe high power prices in the country.

They added that the CnG association willcondemn any government’s decision whichmight ring increase CnG prices.

“An increase in the gas development sur-charge up to 300 percent from the current 147percent is also on cards that will result in a freshsurge in the CnG prices, they said. They allegedthat at times, artificial scarcity of natural gas wascreated in the country and that the CnG industrywas held responsible for it by government, al-though the sector only consumes eight percent ofthe total natural gas produced in the country.

US helps

Pakistani farmers

produce moreLAHORE

Staff RepoRt

A delegation from the American Agri-culture Foreign Agriculture Service(USDA/FAS) Department visited Pun-jab last week as part of a larger visit tothe country to assess the progress ofUSDA’s $49 million worth of agricul-tural development programmes in Pak-istan. The goal of these programmes isto increase agricultural productivity andeconomic development through train-ing, the introduction of disease resistantseeds, and vaccination for Foot andMouth disease. These programmes willimprove the lives of Pakistani farmerswho will see their livelihoods increase asa direct result of the increase in produc-tion these programmes will provide. While in the Punjab, the USDA/FASdelegation visited an agricultural re-search center in Chakwal to assess theongoing water, wheat, and cotton proj-ects. The delegation also traveled justoutside Lahore to review progress on aFoot and Mouth disease vaccinationprogramme at a local dairy colony. TheUSDA/FAS delegation also met with im-plementing partners to discuss progressand how to improve upon the projects.Delegation members said they were im-pressed with the level of Pakistani scien-tific expertise, including the quality oflaboratory work and the diversity of re-search projects being implemented. The delegation members includedUSDA/FAS Administrator Office of Coun-try and Regional Affairs (OCRA) DeputyLloyd Harbert, USDA/FAS AdministratorOffice of Capacity Building DivisionDeputy Assistant Howard Anderson,USDA/FAS Fragile Market economies(FMeD) Office of Country and RegionalAffairs Director Gene Philhower andUSDA/FAS Office of Foreign Service Op-erations Director Susan Phillips.

C2D commemorates

world environment DayLAHORE

pReSS ReleaSe

Center for Culture and Development(C2D) commemorated the World envi-ronment Day on Tuesday in which manyacademics and activists participated tostrengthen the links between cultureand development for an ecologicallysustainable and socially just world. C2Dalso engaged local schools to participatein its ‘Grow More Trees’ campaign. Inthis regard, and with the help of Parksand Horticulture Authority (PHA), C2Dheld a tree plantation activity with theAabroo educational Welfare Organiza-tion (Aabroo). Before the tree plantationactivity, Izzah Khan, executive DirectorC2D, stressed the importance of treeplantation with reference to the worldenvironment. She also emphasized thatsince children were the agents of socialchange, it was expected of them to keeptheir neighborhood clean and shouldalso educate their friends and familiesabout it. To mark WeD, students deliv-ered few speeches and presented a skit“Kaaley Bhoot” (Black ghost) to high-light the hazardous impact of plasticshopping bags on earth and encouragedthe use of cloth bags instead.

Flood resilience seminaranalyses rural reconstruction guidelines

LAHOREStaff RepoRt

A seminar on the ‘Pakistan Flood Resilience Studies Project’was organised by the Provincial Disaster Management Au-thority at the PDMA Command Control and CommunicationCentre. PDMA Punjab Director General Mujahid Sherdilchaired the seminar and nDMA Chairman Dr Zafar IqbalQadir was the chief guest at the occasion. The seminar wasalso attended by nIDM Director General Ahmad Raza Sarwarand DRM Director Zeb-un-nisa. The seminar was organisedto collect feedback from all the relevant stakeholders on theproposed ‘Guidelines for Climate Change Resilient Village Re-construction in Punjab’. The stakeholders included neSPAK,Local Governement and Community Development Depart-ment, HUD and PHe departments, the Punjab Urban Unit,Punjab Chief Architect’s Office, UeT Civil engineering De-partment, Lead Pakistan and CDKn. The proposed guidelineswere prepared by Mott McDonalds and were presented by ateam of foreign experts, including Davey Lorna and Sam Jew-ers. They were accompanied by local experts from Mott Mc-Donalds, Pakistan. All the stakeholders appreciated the effortsof the PDMA for formulating the guidelines with the help offoreign Mott McDonalds consultants. The initiative was alsoappreciated as such rural reconstruction guidelines were non-existent before. However, the stakeholders gave a number ofvaluable comments for improvements and better implementa-tion of the guidelines within the specific socioeconomic andphysical conditions found within the province.

Paramedics continue protests

Govt and CNG Association need to talk out issues: LCCI

lahoRe: a woman has a ‘wind in the hair’ moment during a duststorm. MURTaZa aLi


Editor’s mail 11wednesday, 6 June, 2012

Crisis upon crisisThe circumstances in Pakistan are

getting more atrocious on daily basis. It’sa fact that political instability ultimatelyleads to economic instability in a society.Unfortunately Pakistan is going throughthis phase.

People seem to be more distractedand infuriated by the economic instabil-ity in Pakistan. The ever-increasingprices of goods, unemployment and loadshedding are making people edgy and in-tolerant. When they can’t make theirends meet, they come out on the streetand start protests which lead to muchloss of private and public property. Theseprotests are of no use as the governmentdoesn’t pay any heed to them.

every political leader is taking fulladvantage of the people’s misery. Insteadof working together to sort out the prob-lems prevailing in the country, they be-have childishly and indulge in blamegames.

If indeed they want to help the peo-ple, they should put aside their petty par-tisan interests and work in unison. Ifthey work together, as is the spirit ofdemocracy, they can maybe bring somestability to the socio-political landscapeof Pakistan.

HUMNA ANWARLahore

Some suggestionsWe all talk of our problems and pitch

big solutions on public forums andthrough public rallies. Let me give a fewimmediate steps with which we can over-come at least half of our problems. Theother half will follow suit.

1. Let the power generation and dis-tribution be given to provinces. Let themdevelop hydro electricity, solar energy,windmill energy or thermal energy to ful-fil the shortage. I am sure all provincescan do it in different format of small gen-eration projects to meet the shortfallwithin 1 year.

2. Let the Auditor General Office bestrengthened properly. Let us recruitnew blood, train them and give themconstitutional immunity to perform notonly financial audit but also performanceaudit. Performance audit is to verify jus-tification of public expenditure. The staffof AG Office must be properly trained,evaluated and upgraded from time totime. no one should have immunitywhether it be the president or a clerk.

3. Let the federal ministries bemerged. There is a lot of overlap in thefunctions of some of the ministries whichcan be eliminated. each minister willhave to attend nA daily and roll call istaken. each ministry will have a ministerof state. These will be selected fromamongst technocrats through a properprocedure of recruitment (that systemmust be devised)

4. All government functionaries willhave an annually allocated budget. TheAG office should be authorised to ensureaccountability, if deviations are found.The perquisites of all functionaries mustbe defined, no matter the office he or sheholds. The AG office should determinethe declared perqs and ghost perqs andhold the functionaries responsible andaccountable through transparent proce-dures.

We can go on miles more to correctthis ailing country. But these measurescan be a start. They are practical and im-plementable, if someone is sincere to thisland.

AMJAD H MIRZALahore

Diagnosing KarachiThe malady of ill-fated or rather ill-

treated city of Karachi, which can betermed as "Karachi-itis", is characterisedby chronic lawlessness and disorder cou-pled with acute episodes of outbreak ofviolence accompanied by indiscriminatetarget killings. Looking at the aetiologyof this disease, we come to know that inthe 1980's, the patient was deliberatelyinflicted with the virus of ethnic preju-dices by the vested political interests ofthe time. As the incubation period for thedisease was short, therefore symptomssoon became apparent in the form of eth-nic discontent and general unrest.

This poor patient has been withoutadequate medical care or any attendantever since. Having been nobody's cup oftea, all the so-called stakeholders or rela-tives to this patient seemed reluctant toshare the responsibility for its treatmentand rehabilitation. now, as the woundhas become highly inflamed, thereforesimple chemotherapy is not going towork at all. An extensive and effectivesurgery by some competent surgeon re-moving all the rogue elements from thecity is highly recommended and advis-able. Paramedics and other quacks willnot help.

All the high talks of across-the-boardsurgery by the successive governmentsseem to have been hollow promises. In-stead of surgery, the patient has beengiven only mild painkillers occasionallybesides being dressed by wrapping thebandages over the wound with the aim ofhiding rather than healing it. now, sincethe haemorrhage is excessive, if the dis-ease is not properly diagnosed andtreated accordingly, there would be utterconfusion and anarchy and the prognosiscould be fatal.

MOHSIN RAZA MALIKLahore

no pension parityI would like to point out the injustice

being done in the past few budgetswhereby the increases in pensions areun-just and discriminative. The 15 per-cent increase to those who retired after2000 and 20 percent to those officerswho retired before 2000 is discrimina-tory. For example those who retired ear-lier taking out a pension of Rs 20,000and got 20% increase amounting to Rs4000 totalling their pension to Rs24000.Whereas those of the same grade who re-tired in 2011 and earning a pension ofsay 50000, got 15 % increase of Rs 7500making them earn Rs 57500. Hence, forthe officers of same grade, the gap inpension so received is ever increasingwhich is unjust for those who retired be-fore 2000 and were granted meagre pen-sions.

The Pay and Pension Commissionshould be realistic in revising the in-crease in pensions so that keeping inview the inflation, standards of livingand purchasing powers of the equalgrades of officers and men, Grades 1- 22 ,are taken into account.

I suggest that in view to maintain theparity within various grades, irrespectiveof date of retirements, (as today, cost ofliving for all retirees is the same) , weshould not discriminate. As a matter offact those who retired earlier have moregrown up kids/grandchildren and there-fore more liabilities. Hence, there is nojustification in paying Rs 24,000 vs Rs57500 to the similar grades.

RASHID MAQSOODLahore

Creating awarenessIn many letters I have been request-

ing the print media to undertake inves-tigative reporting on the important issueof shortage of power and water. Whilespecial correspondents write regularly onother national issues there is no effort inthis direction. I request the nationalnewspapers to allow me to write compre-hensive reports on: The Indus WaterTreaty, The Water Accord, the functionof dams, the importance of reservoirs,the common apprehensions, conserva-tion, sensible use of ower and water etc.A special correspondent should be as-signed to raise questions on the variousissues so that these issues can be fullyaddressed. All above is most essential toeducate public opinion on the vital issueof power and water shortage.

KHURSHID ANWERLahore

On Shakil afridiDr Shakil Afridi is “our man in Pak-

istan”, so says the US through The WallStreet Journal. One fails to understandthat if he really was an American man asthey now claim then why in the first placeUS had to publicly announce Dr Shakil’scomplicity in the secret operation? DidCIA betray him? It sure did and dumpedhim once his services were no longer re-quired.

There is another CIA mole who wasrecently nabbed by Chinese authoritiesfor spying for the US. This Chinese man(name withheld) was working withChina’s top security establishment andused to forward sensitive information toAmericans on Chinese security appara-tus.

What action will the US take in sav-

ing CIA’s Chinese mole hired to serveCIA interests in this case, only time willtell. Since the case of this mole and thatof Dr Afridi are somewhat similar, wewill see which country will set a higherstandard in protecting its national andsovereign values despite unleashing ofrelentless pressures.

The US has punished its nationalsthat worked for foreign intelligence serv-ices of Russia in the past. none of themhas been spared and are languishing inUS jails for life for their crimes againstthe US state. There are many a Hanssenwho worked for foreign intelligence serv-ices. none of them were spared and con-sequently subjected to harshpunishments.

Dr Shakil Afridi has been punished

under FCR regulations for crimes com-mitted by him within the territorial juris-diction of Khyber agency. Those crimesincluded fraternisation with banned mili-tant outfits, using his clinic to treat mili-tants and his relationship with thedreaded militant leader Mangal Bagh. Heused to support militants financially also.For his crime for colluding with a foreignintelligence service CIA against the inter-ests of Pakistan, he is yet to undergo aseparate trial. Robert Fisk, the famousjournalist has cojectured that Dr ShakilAfridi will be spared through appeals andreduced sentences and that he will ap-pear in America one fine day. Can we dis-prove the prevalent impression thatPakistanis cannot withstand US pres-sures?

Incidentally, in one of the social func-tions that I attended a few days back itcame to light that a US commercial at-taché, a lady in Islamabad’s US embassycontacted all the PAeC suppliers and in-vited them to a feast in the commercialconsular’s house during the summer of2009 at Street 1 of sector F-6/3.

even those companies that were notregistered with DGDP but dealt in the re-lated supplies were also invited. Besidespleasantries, visiting cards were also ex-changed on the occasion between the USembassy officials and the suppliers andthe function lasted for over three hours.Does it mean that more Shakil Afridis arein the offing?

JAVED IQBALIslamabad

Lawlessness, violence and target killings reign in Sindhprovince. The seeds of lawlessness, violence and chaoswhich were sown during the past dictatorial regimes inthis once peaceful and harmonious province, Sindh; nowthey have become incurable with the present politicisedstate machinery, in particular, the law enforcementagencies. even though Sindhis are protesting againstlawlessness, the spread of illegal weapons, especially, inthe provincial capital, Karachi, and the state’s inability tocontrol the armed groups and mafias, nothing has beendone about it.

In this dismal scenario of lawlessness, now theloadshedding plagues the districts of upper and lower

Sindh. electricity is supplied to the consumers for hardlytwo to three hours. In this painful situation, openmanholes and gutters have become the breeding groundsfor deadly mosquitoes. These three thing combined –lawlessness, loadshedding and mosquitoes - have made thelives if the people miserable.

Is there anyone to control the lawlessness, minimiseloadshedding and eliminate mosquitoes? The people ofSindh, nay Pakistan, are sick and tired of being sick andtired. Will even one of these problems be solved on theinept watch of the current government?

HASHIM ABROIslamabad

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

the real rumpusSomehow the embarrassment caused

by the rumpus and shouting that marredannouncement of the annual budget pre-sented in nA on 1st June, fades in com-parison to the miseries inflicted by thebad governance of preceding four yearsthat have dealt an economic blow to Pak-istan.

In spite of all our faults and failings,we did not deserve such a bad deal. I wasshocked to hear that a public officeholder could state on television that allthese expensive suits, shoes, ties etc thathe adorns are gifted to him by his wellwishers.

Do these gifts include villas, houseslocated within Pakistan and abroad also?It seems people in power lack any senseof propriety or honour to make such em-barrassing claims, which in any otherdemocratic country could have merited adisqualification.

May I ask the gentleman how manysuch gifts were ever given to him beforehe assumed this high public office? Afterall other than magic or a lottery jack pot,what else can explain the replacement ofold cars in which they roamed in 2007with BMWs, Mercedes, Hummers andRolls Royces in 2009 onwards.

This is a government whose citizensare being killed in target killings, or kid-napped for ransom and extortion, yet itchooses to remain silent, in full know ofthe identity of culprits.

On which authority under our consti-tution did the chief executive derive

unchecked powers of discretion to ap-prove appointments of criminals andsemi literate men and women such asAyaz niazi, Adnan Khawaja, Aijaz Ha-roon etc.

How can this regime justify theircriminal act to ignore production ofcheap hydel electric power generationand defer Thar Coal and instead go forexpensive rip-offs like RPPs just becauseof kickbacks?

The least that is expected of thosewho hold public office is to know and dif-ferentiate between right and wrong, orwhat is immoral or unethical. If fate hasbeen kind to them and unkind to Pak-istan that Shaheed Mohtarma BenazirBhutto was assassinated and they werecatapulted somehow to assume thesehigh public offices, the least that was ex-pected was some degree of decorum touphold the dignity of high office, insteadof acting like the manner that they intheir wisdom, or lack of it, have chosen todo so.

MALIK TARIQ ALILahore

Minister with many lives?This is with reference to the lead

news that the Supreme Court has tem-porarily suspended the interior ministeras a member of parliament for being aBritish national ("British connectionlands suspension" – 05 Jun).

Malik was holding dual nationalitywhen he submitted his papers to contestthe Senate elections and therefore was

ineligible to contest the Upper Housepolls.

The election Commission of Pakistandid not bother to investigate the case.When the apex court took notice of thisgrave constitutional violation, he claimedbefore the apex court that he had re-nounced his British nationality in 2008but actually he has done so May-Jun2012.

After being unseated, he has againbeen appointed an advisor to PM on inte-rior affairs. Is he so indispensable thatpresident/prime minister can find no onecapable to hold the office of the interiorminister? His immediate appointment asan advisor is not in good taste. It is delib-erate and open defiance of the decision ofthe apex court apart from ridiculing thecourt.

This is second time that governmenthas ridiculed the decisions of the court.On 17 May, 2010, Lahore High Court dis-missed the appeal filed by Rehman Malikagainst his conviction by accountabilitycourt and sentenced him to three yearsprison in corruption cases. As soon as hewas awarded the punishment, there wasa presidential pardon announced. Howlong this drama will go on? The govern-ment is setting a very wrong trend be-cause such actions are not acceptable inany civilised society. It is not a questionof saving an individual but the system.But it seems individuals in this haplessrepublic are more important than the col-lective.

MUKHTAR AHMEDKarachi

triple whammy


Comment12wednesday, 6 June, 2012

Arif NizamiEditor

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

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

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

and not what is popular

Do what is right

While hubris strengthened by the election fever stands inthe way of the US to offer an apology for Salala attack,Pakistan’s political leadership which is also facingelections is not willing to settle down on anything less

than an apology and end to drone attacks, if Foreign Minister Khar isto be believed. The US diplomatic staff meanwhile must assert that itdoes not care for Pakistani laws by letting its staffers to roam aboutwith caches of arms and without required permission. The prevailingtension between Pakistan and the US provides a field day toterrorists. On Monday, they attacked Salala checkpost killing fourtroops. The earlier attack here by nato led to a standoff between theUS and Pakistan which has continued for over six months now. HowPakistan army reacts to attack by the TTP remains to be seen. Will itsimply forget it as it did the butchery in north Waziristan in earlyMay?

not willing to be a hostage to Pakistan’s demands, the US andallies have decided to pay six times more for transport routesthrough Central Asian states. This has led those in Pakistan who hadfixed an unrealistic $ 5,000 as the minimum fee per tanker to bringit drastically down to $2,000. The Central Asian routes are howeversecure while those passing through Pakistan are not. Defence ofPakistan Council cobbled together by Hafiz Saeed and allowed tohold rallies in the country has threatened not to allow the natotrucks to pass. The nato might therefore go for a costlier but saferroute unless Islamabad reins in the DPC and takes action againstHafiz Saeed but who will bell the cat? The establishment has createdanother problem for itself by sentencing Shakil Afridi and now Kharwants that the issue should not be blown out of proportion.

Foreign Minister Khar has asked the US to live up to itsprinciples of doing “what we consider to be right rather than what ismore popular.” Fine, but the government and establishment at homealso needs to be given similar advice. Thee has to be an end toplaying to the gallery by all when issues with highly crucialimplications are involved.

the times, they are changing

Guns vs butter

Things are improving. Pakistan recently tested successfullythe Hatf VIII missile. The media didn’t pick this event upand use it as a symbol of the large military budget. Hot onthe heels of the budget, where even the mention of the

CDA’s horticultural budget springs up passionate debates of how themoney should be spent somewhere else, the media reported it andmoved on.

Keeping mum is actually an improvement. In earlier times, suchmissile launches were accompanied by the sort of hysterical fanfarethat would let the Freudian jokes write themselves. Is the naturalprogression, then, moving on towards lampooning the military’slargesse towards themselves every opportunity the media gets?

Maybe. What, exactly, could be the reason?

With the freer airwaves, the propensity of journalists to questionthings increases. Yes, there is much censorship and self-censorshipbut the whole ambit keeps expanding. Slowly at times, faster atothers, there is a ratcheting effect when it comes to criticism of themilitary. For instance, even when the deep state supposedly uses itsleverage with the media houses to tone things down, the quantum ofcriticism even in those relatively muted times is much, much higherthan it was in, say, the ‘80s.

The other reason for this is each successive instances of publicresentment. For instance, with the behaviour of the army andairforce during the Abbottabad strike far from their carefullyfashioned image, and then that of the navy in the Mehran baseattack, over the course of a couple of weeks, all three services gottheir share of flak in public discourse. Spend so much on them andthey still can’t do much and what have you. That all makes it difficultnot to question military spending when the opportunity presentsitself.

The third reason, felt all over the world, is the realisation thatwarfare is changing. In the US, for instance, cold war era opponentsof excessive military spending were silenced with the fear of theSoviet Union. With the asymmetric warfare of today, though muchsurveillance equipment might be needed, there is not as much needfor the intercontinental ballistic missiles, fighter jets and otherheavy, conventional warfare equipment that the military-industrialcomplex loves to make.

For the average Pakistani, who faces the scourge of terror,security spending means beefing up the police and civil armedforces. It means spending on the army as well but in ways that aids ittaking out militant enclaves in the tribal areas. You can’t do that withHatf missiles. You can’t do it with Mirage aircrafts. You can’t do itwith Augusta gunships.

We need to have conventional weapons. But not more than weshould.

Of dubious distinctions

Pakistan is a complex coun-try. Certain developmentsmake people optimisticabout the future but somedevelopments cause pes-

simism and create a strong feelingamong a large number of concernedpeople that Pakistan is drifting to-wards anarchy. It is difficult to sug-gest which way Pakistan is likely togo in the future. Perhaps we can talkof several possible futures for Pak-istan from the worst case scenario toan optimistic view of the future.

Pakistan can now claim manydistinctions to its credit that make ita different country. Some of thesedistinctions suggest much hope fordemocracy. However, other distinc-tions raise strong doubts about thefuture of democracy. Some of thedistinctions include:

1. It is for the first time in Pak-istan’s history that a purely civiliangovernment presented its fifth andfinal budget that is going to be ap-proved by mid-June.

2. Prime Minister Yousaf RazaGilani has become the longest serv-ing civilian prime minister, stayingin office longer than Liaquat AliKhan, the first prime minister ofPakistan. However, Gilani is a morecontroversial prime minister thanLiaquat Ali Khan.

3. There have been moreallegation of corruptionagainst President Asif AliZardari and Prime MinisterGilani and some membersof their families than anyprevious head of state orheard of government inPakistan. The media andthe opposition are focusedso much on this issue thatthere is no talk of how themaking of the economic em-pire of the Sharif brotherscoincides with their years inpower going back to theearly 1980s. Some othercivilians and ex-army topbrass accumulated wealth inthe 1980s and the 1990s.Many factors contributed tothis trends which includedkickback from access to cor-ridors of power during mili-tary or civilian rule,distribution of land/plots bythe government and espe-cially the military to its offi-cers, the Afghan war,government contracts andreal-estate business andmanpower trade to the Mid-dle east.

4. Pakistan’s SupremeCourt is the only highest

court in the present-day world thatwants to put its sitting head of stateon trial in a foreign country. Whenthe federal government did not ini-tiate the proceedings for that pur-pose, it convicted the sitting primeminister of contempt of court. now,the opposition wants the SupremeCourt to disqualify the prime minis-ter from holding his office. Many inPakistan argue that the superior ju-diciary’s over-activism and frequentinterference in the domain of the ex-ecutive is destabilising for the fed-eral government whose performanceis already poor.

5. Pakistan is a unique countryfor another reason. The chief minis-ter of a province, the Punjab, is pub-licly calling upon the people of hisprovince to revolt against the fed-eral government on account ofshortage of electric power. Somesuch rallies have resulted in violenceagainst private and public property.

6. When the budget was pre-sented in the national Assembly onJune 1, the PML(n) attempted todisrupt the session and some of itsactive members engaged in scuffleswith the PPP members. They alsoexchanged punches. Only a smallnumber of members joined directlyin the fight and it did not degenerateto the extent what happened in thenational Assembly in September1958 when the members threw as-sembly furniture on each other. TheDeputy Speaker was seriously in-jured who later died in the hospital.7. The PPP’s governance and eco-nomic management does not showany sign of improvement. The PPPhas demonstrated time and againthat it prefers political convenienceand partisan use of state patronageover professionalism and compe-tence in managing state affairs.

Most of these developments donot augur well for socio-political co-herence and democracy. Politicalpolarisation has intensified to theextent that not many people arewilling to examine the fast growingpolitical and economic drift in a dis-passionate manner. The politicaldiscourse is confrontational andrude; the political adversaries wantto humiliate each other. They oftenengage in shouting matches andheckling so that the rival party’sspokesperson is not able to speak.The senior leaders of political par-ties are very supportive of noisyleaders who are hard-hitting in theirpolitical exchanges with the politicaladversaries. There are well knownnames in all major parties whosepresence in political talk show is asure guarantee that no sensible con-

versation will be possible.The underlying consideration of

the political dialogue is not the ex-ploration of the solutions to theacute socio-economic problems butto hold each other responsible forthe decay and degeneration of Pak-istani economy and politics. There-fore, the rival political leaderscondemn each other and point outwhat they consider the flaws in thepolicies of the rival political party.They never suggest better and cred-ible policy strategies for any prob-lem, i.e. electricity shortages, lack ofinvestment and growing violence.etc.

The most unfortunate situationhas developed in the Punjab wherethe chief minister is calling uponthe people to take to streets againstthe failure of the federal govern-ment to provide electricity. He alsowants the president and prime min-ister to quit. On June 3, some news-paper carried a big size colouradvertisement that projected thechief minister’s call for agitationagainst the federal government onthe electricity issue.

If agitation and protest is patro-nised and political confrontation isencouraged by a government or apolitical party as a policy, negativepolitics becomes an integral part ofthe political culture. Agitation,protest marches, road-blocks andattacks on public and private prop-erty become a normal political activ-ity. If people develop the habit ofagitation for anything they do notlike, some groups will always find acause to resort to protest, agitationand violence.

If the culture of intolerance andviolence is not checked neither thebudget nor who rules Pakistan willmean anything. Internal disorderand anarchy will spread so widelythat the writ of the governmentwould mean little outside the federaland provincial capitals. The statewill lose its primacy and it will haveto negotiate with powerful localgroups and armed bands and reli-gious zealots entrenched in differentparts of the country. It will becomeirrelevant which party rules Pak-istan or how Supreme Courts treatsthe prime minister and the federalgovernment. The state institutionsand political leaders should stop at-tacking each other. Pakistan needsto develop positive points of distinc-tion and democratic political cultureif Pakistan is to function as a nation-state.

The writer is an independentpolitical and defence analyst.

our democrats need to be more ‘democratic’

By Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi

The theme for the 40th World environment Day -Green economy: Does it include you? - is aimed atencouraging public participation in the adoption

of a new growth model that is low carbon, resource effi-cient and socially inclusive.

However, while recognizing the importance of indi-vidual responsibility, it should be noted that it is policy-makers around the world who will be held accountablefor the lack of progress in achieving sustainable and eq-uitable development.

With the world economy yet to see any light at theend of tunnel after the onset of the global financial crisis,it is high time policymakers from all countries aggres-sively embraced green growth as the only way to delivera cleaner, greener and more sustainable 21st century.

A global transition to a green economy has been un-derway since the United nations Conference on environ-ment and Development in Brazil in 1992. But there ismounting evidence that the transition to a green econ-omy is not happening fast enough.

Global sustainable development has been seriouslychallenged by rapid population growth, increasing

poverty, unequal north-South development, severe pol-lution, the reduction in biodiversity, desertification andglobal climate change.

There is still no international consensus on globalfood security or on ways to nourish a population of 9 bil-lion by 2050.

Worse, the worst global financial crisis since 1930shas not only dampened global growth prospects, it hasalso pushed policymakers in debt-laden rich countriesto either choose growth-depressing austerity or infla-tion-fueling monetary easing.

The 2012 United nations Conference on SustainableDevelopment, or "Rio+20" is to be held soon, but poli-cymakers in these countries are still shying away fromthe painful, but necessary, structural reforms that willmake the green economy the bedrock of their futureprosperity.

China issued its first national report on sustainabledevelopment last Friday, which underscored the urgencyof transforming its development pattern.

To pursue a sustainable future for all, the interna-tional community should jointly make the World envi-ronment Day a wake-up call for policy changes toimprove people's well-being and social equity while re-ducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities.

Our sustainable futureChina Daily

foreign press


Comment 13wednesday, 6 June, 2012

on current issues and other heart-warming subjects

Panj TaaraWho led us down there?

in a dark, blind alley

Iwould like to say that myarticles are a result ofweeks and weeks of read-

ing and critical thinking, butmy modesty won’t allow meto say so. Also, it won’tstrictly be true if I did. With-out further ado then, let’s gofor the Satranga, Naulakha,etc, format that so frequentlysaves my ass an hour prior tothe submission of the article.I give you a five story piece,and casually mention that 5star hotels are called ‘PanjTaara’ in Urdu/Punjabi; in-creasing the sum total ofyour knowledge, as well asimpressing you with mycommand of the local ver-nacular in one stroke.

1. I have realised thatnone of the big journalistsever fail to give moving lec-tures on ethics wheneverthey get the opportunity, inprint or on TV. I honestly be-lieve that my inability to fol-low suit has been responsiblefor my not making it big. Iguess it’s never too late so I’llstart with an issue of ethicsclose to my heart. We allknow about Bilal Ganj andthe many years of its servicesrendered based on the prin-ciple of trickle-down econ-omy, where stolen cars arebroken up into bits which aresold with solemn assurancesthat the parts are genuine. Ihave realised that it is verydepressing when you gothere and find your numberplate hanging among a lot ofothers outside one of theshops. Hence I appeal to thegovernment to make itmandatory for the shopkeepers there to paint the noplates black before hanging

them. even if they can bereused, they aren’t transfer-able so there is no chance ofsomebody coming to get thesame number plate any way.

2. I would like to congrat-ulate all of you since USAIDis celebrating its 50th an-niversary in Pakistan. Weshould all be thankful to theUSA (and anything USA-re-lated) because despite beinga pain in our patella for thelast 6-8 years (Blackwater,drone strikes, OBL opera-tion, and what not!), it hasoverall been very good to usduring the rest of the 42 oddyears, and that too withoutbreaching our invaluablesovereignty.

3. The number of newsreports that getprinted/broadcast these dayswith exactly the same con-tents is mind boggling. Iguess the news desk people –the efficient bunch that theyare – have all the usual sus-pects ready and just put thesuitable subject – nS or PMor CJ or FM. I don’t eventhink they wait for somebodyto say or do something, orbother to call them to con-firm. This is as true ofcricket, where fill-in-crick-eter’s-name opines that theupcoming or ongoing seriesagainst fill-in-the-team-name will be a tough one, asit is true of reports such as‘Mr. X condemns US droneattacks’. Life for news deskpeople is easy these days.

4. When it comes to thecurious case of ShakeelAfridi, I will start by ac-knowledging it upfront thatnot only do I know next tonothing about law; I don’t in-tend to spend any timestudying it either. now that Ihave cleared the air by thisannouncement, I presumethat if he didn’t know aboutOBL’s existence in the com-pound and he provided in-formation to the USagencies, it does come undertreason. However if he did, itshould not since we are com-mitted to the WoT. Hence hisofficial crime not being help-ing US catch OBL, but in-

stead having ties with abanned terrorist outfit andthat biggest crime againsthumanity conceivable: actingin a way so as to shake peo-ple’s confidence in things likepolio eradication campaigns.Regardless, it is a bigger testcase of the superpower thanwas the Raymond Davis af-fair. I await the response ofthe likes of PDC once he is setfree and given US immigra-tion along with his family.

5. I am unusually anxiousto get ratings and hits for thisarticle because I wasn’t pub-lished last week because PTdidn’t deem my article ‘ap-propriate’ (a slap for thosewho don’t take PT seriously).now I don’t know about theprint medium but on TV,what makes you a star is howoften you appear on screeninstead of how good you are.Well print or TV, hits aregood, and what can ensurehits (of both kinds) morethan a frank talk about BaniGala waali sarkaar! I wastalking to a dear friend YasirPeerzada about the benami(this by the way rhymes withtsunami) transaction issueand he came up with the fol-lowing point: ‘Imran Khanhas said on numerous occa-sions that he purchased theIslamabad property after ob-taining loan from his ex-wife.This loan, according to him,was paid off after selling hisLondon flat. now he haschanged his stance and saysthat the property was in factpurchased by Jemima inKhan’s name. Did IK lie ear-lier or is he lying now? Itwould appear that hechanged his stance becausethe so called loan fromJemima was not obtainedthrough the banking channelso dear to Khan, and there-fore liable to be taxed. Whatcan be said about the credi-bility of a man who talks somuch about credibility andyet flip-flops like this?Somebody should tell Khanthat changing stances likethis doesn’t exactly makehim the agent of change thathe advertises himself to be.

The last two years of Mushar-raf’s rule were a time of in-tense trauma for the people,

for reasons too painful to recounthere but mainly because they havesince been dwarfed by maladiesthat are far more serious. Out ofthe frying pan into an uncontrol-lably raging wildfire. Though thetask seemed lengthy and difficult,the PPP-led coalition has accom-plished it in good time: broughtabout more social and political di-visions, more poverty, more infla-tion, more suffering and moredisillusionment in its four years atthe helm than the impulsive com-mando could manage in hiseleven.

Four further years of aimlessdrift have brought the country to anear breakdown, with the ‘primeminister’ rubbing it in by givingmarching orders to a third of thecountry’s citizens in a Cnn inter-view. These are the taxpayers whofund his luxurious lifestyle and of-ficial tours, all highly successful, itgoes without saying. This remarkreveals the unthinking and callousnature of this leadership.

The PPP’s sudden frenzy for anew province in southern Punjabwas another ill-conceived decisionand such dangerous gaffes are nowits virtual monopoly. This needlessdemand made at a time of deep di-visions within the socio-politicalfabric predictably led to the ‘mys-terious’ rallies for a Mohajirprovince in Sindh. In the end, allthis provided another pretext formore killings and civil strife.

First, a peaceful AwamiTehreek protest against the divi-sion of Sindh was attacked bymasked men leaving eleven killedand over 30 injured. Later on, (os-tensibly) the ‘Sindhu Desh Libera-tion Army’ also jumped into the

fray and shot seven passengers ofa private bus bound from Karachito Kohat. Who should be held re-sponsible for these killing of theinnocents, and also for the anar-chy in Karachi?

It has to be the person whosealleged shrewdness and supposedpolitical acumen have been trum-peted ad nauseum, Mr. Presidenthimself and for two reasons.

The first is his entrepreneurialpolitical alliance with the MQMfor the sole purpose of remainingin power at the centre. In his pur-suit of the requisite numbers, hehas been successfully blackmailedby the MQM (no mean feat) onmore than one occasion and hasallowed it to get its way, right orwrong.

The second is his oft-repeatedthreat of the so-called Sindh card.In practice, this implies he has thecapability of inciting the people toviolence if the corrupt regime isunconstitutionally removed ormenaced by the omniscient thirdforce. The confrontational re-marks made in this context fromtime to time by the head of statewere most improper. They causedmany needless crises within theestablishment, and created muchdoubt about the future of democ-racy. So, playing the Sindh cardhas not exactly turned out to be aplayful pastime. It has had bloodyconsequences. Literally.

The murderous attack on theAwami Tehreek rally and thenawabshah bus killings are butopposite sides of the same coin.They are the ruling party’s chick-ens coming home to roost.

Mr Zardari has not helpedmatters by his often strange ac-tions and eccentric behaviour overthe past four years, beginning withhis totally frivolous remarks to theTea Party celebrity and later USvice-presidential candidate SarahPalin, his Sindhi card (and cap)and his sporadic persecutionmania by ‘political actors’.

Mr Zardari might be a pastmaster in manipulation, on ex-ploiting the weaknesses of men, ofputting an accurate price tag onthem, and in making offers thatthe Aitzaz Ahsans of this worldcannot refuse. But has all thisstreet-smart slyness broughtabout any dividends for the coun-try and the people? It has only

been useful for clinging on topower. Old Abe’s aphorism on theproblem of fooling all of the peopleall of the time comes to mind.

Other than the protesting-too-much MQM, the resident politicalgenius has also roped in anotherstrange bedfellow: to wit, the QLeague, formerly the Qatil League.By extricating the scion of the for-mer Musharraf buddies (who blowwith every wind, their area of spe-cialization being the classic stab inthe back) from a delicate, caughtin the act corruption tangle, hemight have momentarily securedtheir rather suspect support, buthas conveyed the worst possiblesignals regarding his own commit-ment to mainstream democracy.

Only morons can make theircitizens pass through hellish suf-fering and still expect to be votedback to power. Consider the fol-lowing proposition: electricitysupply diminishes daily even asthe heat intensifies, but the powerrates keep going up, repeatedly,even factoring in calculations forlast year, the infamous fuel adjust-ment charges! now they havecome up with another hoax tomask corruption and incompe-tence, the separate charges for dayand night formula. Surely there issomething wrong with this equa-tion, this no-win situation for thecitizens and the country.

At the end, one is left ruing MrZardari’s unfortunate situation,that of missing out on a rare sec-ond chance in life (or is it thethird?) to redeem himself. Adher-ing to the Charter of Democracywas the best option for success onthe political and economic (andother) fronts. Instead, misled bymessianic delusions, egged on bycronies and pygmies, he embarkedon a solo flight and overreachedhimself.

The country is suffering for it.He has led it to a blind alley, and itmay be added, a dark blind alley.

Mr Zardari has now becomehis own worst enemy, an unfortu-nate condition for which there isno known cure. As the Chineseproverb puts it, ‘the fool guardshimself from everything but him-self’. And 180 million souls arepaying for it.

The writer is a freelancecolumnist.

By Khwaja Manzar AminBy Ali Aftab Saeed


LAHORE

K faUjdaaR

In a vast musical landscape

dotted with frequent bursts of

brilliance, especially over the

last two decades, it is truly

difficult to produce something

that hasn’t been done to death al-

ready. Equally challenging is taking

on a genre that isn’t widely listened

to in Pakistan, and usually evokes a

lukewarm response and subsequent

dismissal as ‘noise’.

It is perhaps not unwarranted

that musical taste in our country has

changed so drastically in so little

time. Within two generations, we

have gone from solid classical croon-

ing to bouncy pop and moved on to

gut-wrenching, metallic sounds that

anyone from 15 years ago would be

loath to endure. Perhaps those of us

who grew up in the 2000s didn’t

have the luxury of quiet roads with

occasional cars, little construction

activity and tree-lined streets full of

chirping birds to boot. Our music is

a product of our environment, and

hard rock/heavy metal music is per-

haps the best and most melodic rep-

resentation of the sounds we have

absorbed growing up. A defiant an-

swer to the vast ugliness that sur-

rounds us, if you will.

none of the musicians active in

this country today has epitomised

that answer as well as the Lahore-

based heavy metal band Takatak. In

this early stage of its existence, lim-

ited to some demo recordings and in

the middle of its first professional

studio recording, this band has put

together quite the musical milieu.

The most immediately notice-

able fact about them is the obviously

advanced level of skill every musi-

cian in the band possesses.

When I say advanced, I mean

these kids could play alongside the

likes of Lamb of God and probably

steal a few of its fans by the time

they are done.

The singer’s gruff, intense

growls are nothing to sneeze at ei-

ther. Growling is something that

sounds extremely ugly if not done

right, but becomes a very powerful

mode of expression if executed well.

In this case, it combines with the in-

strumentalists’ skills to convey a

deep, deep sense of foreboding.

While that sounds fairly ominous, it

is not without a distinct feeling of

sorrow that I acknowledge that a

band comprising young men from

Pakistan could hardly express some-

thing other than foreboding at this

point in time. If you have been living

in Pakistan for the last six or seven

years, you probably would not dis-

agree and you most certainly do not

need an explanation.

But I digress. Or maybe not.

Their lyrics definitely address this

amply. It is plain that these are in-

telligent, sensitive individuals

seething with anger and sorrow at

the state of affairs as they currently

stand, and up to their neck in a des-

perate desire to change things.

Artists don’t shoot guns, and

Takatak makes a good case for why

they don’t need to.

Musically, I will refrain from peg-

ging them to one single sub-genre of

heavy metal, and here’s why. Pi-

geonholing isn’t my thing, and in

any case these guys make just as

good an argument for Thrash Metal

with one lick as they do for Speed

Metal with the next. Every so often,

traces of Black Metal and Death

Metal creep in so nonchalantly that

it is frankly unnerving. Unnerving in

a strangely good way, like the music

rudely ripped the control you have

on yourself from your grasp and left

you jerking uncontrollably with

every beat of the snare and every

hit of the guitar. Let’s just say they

probably owe me some money for a

visit to the orthopaedist to fix my

poor neck (see: headbanging).

What is most fitting about this

band is their choice of name, in my

opinion. For music stuffed full of ex-

quisite chops and cuts, Takatak is

probably as good a name as any, and

certainly better than most for one

simple reason: it hasn’t been nicked

from a dusty old Urdu dictionary in

an effort to seem intellectual, as

many bands here are wont to do.

So, I invite you to buy a seatbelt

if you don’t already have one and at-

tach it securely to whatever your

choice of seating is, because if

Takatak is what you plan on listening

to, it is going to be one hell of a ride.

Also highly advised: neck braces.

14 wednesday, 6 June, 2012

Tom Cruise becomes laughingstock at bowling alley

Celine Dion Responds To Kate Winslet’s criticism

1 london: robbie williamsperforms during the queen'sDiamond Jubilee Concert atBuckingham Palace. afP

2 london: Sir Paul McCartneyperforms during the queen'sDiamond Jubilee Concert atBuckingham Palace. afP

3 london: elton John performsduring the queen's DiamondJubilee Concert. afP

4 RotteRdam: US rockband Gunsn' roses singer axl roseperforms during a concert. afP

5 london: Kylie Minogue performson stage during the queen'sDiamond Jubilee Concert atBuckingham Palace. afP

6 loS angeleS: Usher performsas the game Dance Central 3 isintroduced during the MicrosoftXbox press conference at theelectronic entertainment expo. afP

IN LIMELIGHT

Takatak: the quintessence of metal in Pakistan

MaDOnna is getting into the groove of hercontroversial antics yet again. the warhorsediva, who’s done everything from pillageCatholic imagery to previewing her assetsfor all the world to gawk and squawk at,has dipped into her Pandora’s box ofpublicity stunts for her latest headline-grabber. this time, she’ll pulled out aswastika. the pop star raised eyebrows andinfuriated critics when, at a concert in telaviv, a swastika splashed across a screen asshe performed her song ‘nobody KnowsMe’. the symbol, which appeared briefly,was emblazoned across the forehead ofFrench political leader Marine le Pen, whoseright-wing national Front party has beenaccused of anti-Semitism. the montagealso included glimpses of other publicfigures, including Pope Benedict XVi, SarahPalin and Chinese leader hu Jinatao. le Paintook the reins of the national Front partylast year from her controversial father, Jean-Marie, who was found guilty of condoningwar crimes and was fined for making nazi-sympathetic remarks. neWS deSK

Girl gone too wild?Madonna flashesswastika image atconcert in Israel

loS angeleS: if Kate winslet is sick ofhearing ‘My heart Goes On’, then how doesCeline Dion feel? if there’s one person whohas the right to be tired of the epic love ballad,then it’s the ‘titanic’ songstress herself. “‘Myheart will Go On’ gave me the opportunity tobe associated with a classic that will liveforever. if i just count how many times i’vesung it, maybe it’ll get me sick,” said Dion,sympathising with the ‘titanic’ actress. “if shefeels tired just hearing it, and, like, throwingup, i’m glad she was not the one singing it.”Don’t expect winslet to make ‘My heart will

Go On’ her go-to karaoke song anytime soon.in March, the ‘titanic’ starlet told MtV that theiconic song made her queasy. “i do feel likethrowing up. i wish i could say ‘Oh listen,everybody! it’s the Celine Dion song!’ But idon’t. i just have to sit there, you know, kind ofstraight-faced with a massive internal eye roll.”‘My heart will Go On’ is one of the best-sellingsingles of all time, winning the academyaward for Best Song in 1998 and selling morethan 15 million copies worldwide. at the timeof its release in 1998, it was also the best-selling single in the world. agencieS

miami: tom Cruise, who tookhis ‘rock Of ages’ cast matesto a bowling alley in Miami,reportedly made a fool ofhimself as he kept on missingthe pins despite throwing theball ‘harder and faster’. the 49-year-old actor, may be buff forhis age but apparently, he can’teven bowl for toffee, the DailyStar reported. “they were alllaughing at him as he couldn’tknock down any pins. his ballkept rolling down the gutter.he was throwing the ballharder and faster but stillgetting nowhere. it washilarious,” a source told thetabloid. agencieS


15Laptop snaps thief's photo, leading to his arrest

ANN ARBORagencieS

Open an app. See a flash. Getarrested. Police in Michigan say astolen laptop took a picture of thethief and sent it to a security website,leading to his arrest. The computer'sowner, Logan Chadde, installedOrbicule security software before aweekend break-in at his home in AnnArbor. Chadde told AnnArbor.comthat the program captured the thiefusing Facebook and talking withanother person about how he wasgoing to sell the stolen laptop.Chadde sent the information topolice, who arrested a 19-year-oldman. Police Lt Renee Bush saysofficers knew the suspect from anearlier encounter. Chadde says suchcases are frustrating, but "this is oneof the few times the police had a lotof information to go off."

'Vampire' skeletons

unearthed in Bulgaria

SOFIAafp

Archaeologists in Bulgaria haveunearthed two skeletons from theMiddle Ages pierced through thechest with iron rods to keep themfrom turning into vampires, the headof the history museum said. "Thesetwo skeletons stabbed with rodsillustrate a practice which wascommon in some Bulgarian villagesup until the first decade of the 20thcentury," said national historymuseum chief Bozhidar Dimitrovafter the recent find in the Black Seatown of Sozopol. According to paganbeliefs, people who were consideredbad during their lifetimes might turninto vampires after death unlessstabbed in the chest with an iron orwooden rod before being buried.People believed the rod would alsopin them down in their graves toprevent them from leaving atmidnight and terrorising the living,the historian explained. The practicewas common, Dimitrov added,saying some 100 similar burials hadalready been found in Bulgaria.

Katrina silent on Ranbir-Deepika’s friendship mUmBai: while ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone arepainting Udaipur red, ranbir’s good friend and former girlfriendKatrina Kaif is maintaining a stoic silence about the two’sgrowing fondness for each other. after a major fallout withranbir, (owing to a certain Ms Fakhri) Katrina had gone her wayand concentrated on her work. She even got back on talkingterms with her former beau Salman Khan and went on to signyash raj’s next with Khan. Only last year, at an awards show,ranbir went up to Kat and it seemed that the two were againback to talking terms. Just when the rumours of Kat and ranbirgiving their relationship another shot started floating, ranbir andDeepika’s camaraderie on various award shows and later on thesets of ayan Mukherjee’s ‘yeh Jawani hai Deewani’ kind of hintedat their growing fondness. So much so that it led to Deepika’sbreak-up with her then boyfriend, Sidharth Mallya. So is Katrinainsecure about the new friendship? Sources close to the actressdeny so. “this is typical of ranbir. he tends to get very attachedto his co-stars while shooting. During ‘rockstar’ he was soenamoured with nargis Fakhri that he went around predicting toclose friends that she would sweep all the awards. after thefilm’s release he lost interest in her. During ‘Bachna ae haseeno’he came close to Deepika. But then the inevitable happened,”says Kat’s friend. while some suggest that Katrina is very secureabout her relation with ranbir as of now, some say she hasmoved on and made peace with ranbir’s ways. “Katrina is in avery happy space now. She does not care about the mating anddating game anymore,” defends her friend. agencieS

NEWS DESK

The wedding cake will have to wait for this couple.He said no – so she choked him.

A 24-year-old Florida woman was arrested afterthe police said she scratched and tried to choke herboyfriend for refusing to marry her, according to re-ports. nikoleta Karoly, of east naples, had been try-ing to get her beau of two months to tie the knotbecause she faced the prospect of deportation, thenaples Daily news reported, citing a police report.

Karoly’s visa expired last week — her country oforigin was unclear — and she had become increas-ingly violent in her courtship, sometimes threaten-ing to stab her boyfriend with a kitchen knife, theboyfriend reportedly told police. He also said thatduring his lover’s latest violent episode she hadslapped him so hard he feared that he might lose hishearing, the Daily news reported. Asked about theallegations, Karoly claimed to police that she had hitand scratched her boyfriend, the paper reported.Karoly was booked on a domestic violence charge.

Woman chokes lover for refusing to wed

NEWS DESK

C OnSPIRACY theorists, rejoice!There is no need to travel all theway to the Florida/Bermuda/PuertoRico area to dig into a triangularmystery as we present the new

‘Bermuda Triangle of new Jersey’: a waterreservoir, whose 2,000 acres come stockedwith trout and intrigue. A few dozen peoplehave died there over the past four decades,and six remain missing. It’s those missingbodies, which officials believe are slumberingin the 180-foot depths that have fuelled thelegend, helped along by the fact that askeletal foot was fished from the reservoir in

May. The cases of the missing include twomen who never returned after setting out ina canoe in 1977; a fisherman who, accordingto his rescued buddy, reportedly drowned in1993. A submarine searched the lake in 2006,but turned up no remains. It’s not yet knownif the foot belongs to one of the missing. Buta number of local fishermen pooh-pooh theidea of supernatural wind cycles and the like.According to one, the valley’s bowl shape iswhat churns up winds of up to 40mph, whichmakes setting out in a boat smaller than 14feet dangerous-especially considering theas-cold-as-50-degree water that greets anywho capsize and slows decomposition,keeping bodies closer to the bottom.

NJ’s ‘Bermuda Triangle’:

Water reservoir home to mystery

SUrPriSe number one. in her first Bollywoodfilm ‘Sher’ humaima Malik plays the same roleas Shabana azmi’s national award winning rolein Vinay Shukla’s ‘Godmother’. Surprisenumber two. Contrary to the rumours floatingaround eyewitness on location at the film’s setsay humaima hardly exchanges anything morethan a hello with the deadly Dutt. the ‘Bol’actress is currently in india to shoot themovie. She is all of 22, full of spunk, honestand raring to go. and when cornered withwhat she says are embarrassing rumourslinking her with Sanjay Dutt, she isn’t afraidto hit back. “For God’s sake. not him, please! irespect Sanjay Dutt. the entire world knowsabout wasim akram and me. i am here towork. not get into controversies andscandals. i only say ‘Salaam Sir’ when i seeMr Dutt. that’s about it. i am completely

bewildered by the politics of Bollywood. iwant to stay out of it,” she said. For ‘Sher’she’s shooting in the sweltering heat ofrajasthan and playing the challenging role ofa female gangster forced to take over herhusband’s empire after he’s killed. the film isnarrated in a flashback by humaima after theSanjay Dutt character’s death. Says humaimaexcitedly, “the role is a lot like the one iplayed in ‘Bol’. Shabana azmi also played thesame role in ‘Godmother’.” humaima’s homesare in london and Dubai. her large family of 6brothers and sisters are spread across theworld. as for wasim akram, humaima says,“he and i have come a long way. But wearen’t getting married. i don’t want to beknown by the men i work with. Besides,when i’ve the best guy in the world in my life,why would i need anyone else?” neWS deSK

HumaimaMalik does aShabana Azmi



16 Foreign News

CAIROafp

egyptians in their hundreds begangathering Tuesday in Cairo’s iconicTahrir Square ahead of a massdemonstration to protest againstverdicts handed down in ex-presi-dent Hosni Mubarak’s murder trial.

Hawkers selling tea, cakes orflags took up positions at the squarein downtown Cairo, which wasclosed to traffic for the 1500 GMTdemonstration called by egyptianactivists furious at the verdicts.

Mubarak, 84, and his interiorminister Habib al-Adly were sen-tenced to life in prison on Saturday,but six security chiefs were acquittedover the killings of demonstratorsduring last year’s uprising that leftsome 850 people dead and oustedthe ex-president. The ruling sparked

nationwide outrage, with thousandstaking to the streets to vent theirrage that no one had been found di-rectly guilty of killing the protesters.

Mubarak — the only autocrattoppled in the Arab Spring to be putin the dock — could have been sentto the gallows as demanded by theprosecution but was instead given alife term, angering many. He wasalso cleared of graft charges.

Along with the acquitted policechiefs, Mubarak’s sons Alaa andGamal had corruption chargesagainst them dropped on a techni-cality, but they will remain in prisonover another corruption case.

The protest has been called byyouth movements who revoltedagainst Mubarak last year, includingthe Coalition of Revolution Youth andthe Maspero Youth Union, and will besupported by the powerful Muslim

Brotherhood. The runners-up in thefirst round of the presidential elec-tion, leftist politician Hamdeen Sab-bahi and moderate Islamist AbdelMoneim Abul Fotouh, would leadseparate marches to the centralsquare, they said in statements.

They came third and fourth re-spectively in the May 23-24 electionthat has narrowed to a run-off laterthis month between Ahmed Shafiq— Mubarak’s prime minister duringthe uprising — and the MuslimBrotherhood’s Mohammed Mursi.

“We believe that our revolution isnot over. The military must leavepower and hand it to civilians,” saidMahmud Bahira, a protester from theRevolution Youth movement. Anotherprotester Mohammed Shabik said:“The judgement in the Mubarak caseis not tough enough, there are evenpeople who have been acquitted.”

Tahrir readies for mass demoagainst Mubarak verdicts

DAMASCUSafp

RUSSIA said Tuesday thatPresident Bashar al-Assadcould leave power as partof a settlement to endbloodshed in Syria, as

Damascus agreed to allow relief workersto visit four trouble spots.

“We have never said or insisted thatAssad necessarily had to remain in powerat the end of the political process,” Rus-sia’s Deputy Foreign Minister GennadyGatilov said in Switzerland.

“This issue has to be settled by theSyrians themselves,” ITAR-TASS newsagency quoted him as saying.

Moscow has been facing mountingpressure to back Assad’s departure as afirst step in a settlement that would seehis inner circle assume command in theinterim, based on a US-backed transitionin Yemen earlier this year.

Tuesday’s statement was one of itsmost explicit about Assad’s position sinceRussian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrovrefused to clearly back his rule during avisit to Damascus in February.

It came as Russia and China, whichhave stalled Western-led moves againstDamascus, began talks on ending nearly

15 months of violence that has killedmore than 13,500 people, and cost thelives of another 26 people on Tuesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putinbegan talks with President Hu Jintao, aday ahead of a meeting with Hu’s likelysuccessor Vice President Xi Jinping.

China’s envoy to the United nationssaid on Monday that efforts to end theSyrian bloodshed were at a “crossroads,”and that government and oppositionforces must halt violence.

Both it and Russia, which have twiceused their veto powers to block tougher

action against Assad’s regime at the UnSecurity Council, have come undermounting pressure to change their stancesince last month’s Houla massacre.

China’s ambassador Li Baodong saidthe massacre of at least 108 people, mostof them women and children, had dealt a

huge blow to Un-Arab envoy KofiAnnan’s mediation mission, as Beijingtook over the chair of the Security Coun-cil for June.

Li told reporters, without signallingany easing in China’s opposition to sanc-tions against Assad: “The politicalprocess to solve the Syrian crisis is at acrossroads.”

The Houla massacre “has caused col-lateral damage to Annan’s mediation ef-fort. And also it presents a huge challengeto the international community,” Li said.

Bloodshed has persisted in Syria de-spite a Un-backed peace plan brokeredby Annan that put almost 300 observerson the ground.

— Houla collateral damage —Access has been more restricted for

aid agencies, however, and the Unitednations said on Tuesday that Syria’s gov-ernment has now given them permissionto visit four locations following a meetingon scaling up humanitarian aid.

“We will have a presence in Homs,Idlib, Daraa and Deir ezzor to start with,”said John Ging, director of the coordina-tion and response unit at the Un Officefor the Coordination of Humanitarian Af-fairs. The Un estimates that at least onemillion people are in need of humanitar-ian assistance inside Syria.

Assad may go as part of Syria settlement: Russia

Pilot embarks on first solar-poweredintercontinental flight

MADRIDafp

A Swiss pilot donned a blue oxygen mask as heflew high above Spain and approached Moroccoon Tuesday on the world’s first intercontinentalflight in a solar-powered plane.Bertrand Piccard, a 54-year-old psychiatrist andballoonist, took off before dawn from Madrid inthe Solar Impulse plane, a giant as big as anAirbus A340 but as light as an average family car.After a graceful takeoff at 5:22 am (0322 GMT),he guided the experimental plane southwardfrom Madrid-Barajas airport.“For one hour I had the full moon on my rightand I had the sunrise on my left and that wasabsolutely gorgeous. I had all the colours of therainbow in the sky and also on the ground,”Piccard told AFP in an interview from the cockpitshortly after setting out. After more than 10hours’ flight, Piccard had climbed to more than5,500 metres (18,000 feet) and was about 80kilometres (50 miles) from the southern coast.Flying at some 45 kilometres (28 miles) per hourin the freezing, high altitude, he needed anoxygen mask to breathe. An onboard video camera relayed images of thedistant patchwork of fields and valleys stretchedout below the aircraft, which has 12,000 solarcells in the wings turning four electrical motors.To qualify as an intercontinental flight Piccardhas only to cross the Strait of Gibraltar — 14kilometres (nine miles) at its narrowest point —from europe to Africa. But the crossing is one ofthe most challenging points of the voyagebecause of the need of oxygen and temperaturesthat can dip as low as minus 29 degrees C (minus20 degrees F). He aims to enter Moroccanairspace over Tangiers and land at Rabat-Saleairport sometime after 11:00 pm (2200 GMT).All that, without using a drop of fuel.each of the motors on the carbon-fibre planecharges 400-kilogramme (880-pound) lithiumpolymer batteries during the day, allowing theaircraft to carry on flying after dark.In the bright Spanish sun, the batteries had beenrecharged to full capacity by the afternoon.“The question is not to use solar power fornormal airplanes,” Piccard explained.“The question is more to demonstrate that wecan achieve incredible goals, almost impossiblegoals, with new technologies, without fuel, justwith solar energy, and raise awareness that if wecan do it in the air, of course everybody can do iton the ground.” Organisers say the voyage hasbeen timed to coincide with the launch ofconstruction of the largest-ever solar thermalplant in Morocco’s southern Ouarzazate region.Piccard, who made the world’s first non-stopround-the-world balloon flight in 1999 togetherwith Briton Brian Jones, took over the plane’scontrols from project co-founder AndreBorschberg, a 59-year-old Swiss executive andpilot who flew a first leg from Payerne inSwitzerland, landing in Madrid on May 25.The voyage, 2,500 kilometres (1,550 miles)overall, is also intended as a rehearsal for SolarImpulse’s round-the-world flight planned for 2014.

BeIrut: Syrian troops kept up their offensive against rebelstrongholds on Tuesday, seizing a town in the central provinceof Hama, as at least 10 people were killed nationwide, ahuman rights watchdog said.Government forces carried out a “huge military operation”before dawn in the Kfar Oweid district of Idlib province in thenorthwest, killing four civilians, the Syrian Observatory forHuman Rights said. Troops clashed with rebel fighters inseveral other areas of the province, which borders Turkey andis major focus of operations for the rebel Free Syrian Army,the Britain-based watchdog said.In Hama province, troops and militia backed by tanks enteredthe town of Kfar Zita, after rebel fighters pulled out followinga three-day bombardment, the Observatory said. Militiamenlooted homes and shops after residents fled, it added.Government troops also raided the Souk al-Shajara area ofHama city, killing one rebel fighter.Further south, rebel neighbourhoods of the flashpoint city ofHoms came under renewed artillery bombardment and heavymachinegun fire, the Observatory said.

In Latakia province on the Mediterranean coast, troopsassaulted the town of Al-Hafa, killing three rebel fighters, oneof them a defecting army officer.In the northeastern city of Deir ezzor, gunmen assassinatedan army colonel in front of his home, the Observatory said,while a general was killed by a roadside bomb in theneighbourhood of Barzeh, the Observatory added.The state SAnA news agency said “terrorist groups” killedthree army officers in all. Two were gunned down in Deirezzor and another died when his car was blown up near theBarzeh district of Damascus, it said. At least 38 people werekilled in violence across the country on Monday, including atleast 18 civilians, the Observatory said, adding that hugenight-time protests were held in several provinces.In the main northern city of Aleppo, once a regime bastion,demonstrators chanted: “Revolution of dignity and freedom!”Thousands waved independence flags and sang revolutionarychants, according to amateur video posted on YouTube.In the Damascus suburbs, protesters with covered faceschanted: “God protect the Free Syrian Army!” afp

10 dead as army presses assault on rebel bastions

at least 16 killed in yemenSunni-Shia clashes

SANAAafp

At least 16 gunmen have been killed inthree days of fighting between ShiiteHuthi rebels in north Yemen and SunniSalafist extremists, according to claims byboth sides on Tuesday.“Four of our men were killed and sixothers wounded in confrontations onSaturday with Salafist gunmen in Al-Qobaaf,” east of the Huthi stronghold ofSaada, said Huthi spokesman MohammedAbdulsalam. Sorur al-Wadii, a spokesmanfor the Salafists said 12 Sunni militantswere killed in three days of fighting, butclaimed that his comrades killed 18 Huthifighters.He blamed the Huthis for the clashes,saying the killings on “both sides wereresult of attacks by the Huthis who aretrying to expand (their control) in theprovince of Hajja, Marib and Jawf.”Abdulsalam accused the Sunni gunmen ofreceiving support from neighbouringSaudi Arabia, a bastion of Salafism whichis a puritanical approach to Islam.

heBRon: israeli border police arrest a palestinian woman during a demonstration against the israeli occupation and to mark ‘naksa day’, the 44th anniversary of the 1967

six-day war at the entrance of the old city near the settlement of Beit Romano on tuesday. AFP


Foreign News 17wednesday, 6 June, 2012

LONDONafp

QUeen elizabeth II led agrand carriage proces-sion through London tomark her diamond ju-bilee Tuesday but faced

the crowning moment ofthe festivities without her ill husbandPrince Philip.

Cheering crowds lined themonarch’s route from the Houses ofParliament to Buckingham Palace,waving flags as she passed in a horse-drawn carriage on the last of four daysof celebrations marking her 60th yearon the throne. escorted by militarybands and more than 100 mounted sol-diers in traditional uniform, the queenwaved and smiled at the crowds — buther 90-year-old husband waspoignantly absent from the display ofclassic British pageantry.

After the carriage procession thefamily was to appear on the balcony ofBuckingham Palace for a Royal AirForce flypast before the queen broad-casts a message of thanks at 1700 GMT

across the Commonwealth.Philip, the longest-serving royal

consort in British history, was taken tohospital with a bladder infection hoursbefore Monday’s spectacular jubilee popconcert outside Buckingham Palace.

The outspoken prince will remainin hospital for several days and was“disappointed” to miss the celebra-tions, the palace said.

In Philip’s absence, heir to thethrone Prince Charles joined the 86-year-old queen, who was dressed in amint-green silk coat scattered withcrystals, in the red and gold 1902 statelandau along with his wife Camilla.

Prince Harry joined Prince Williamand his wife Catherine, who wore abeige lace dress by Alexander Mc-Queen, as they smiled and waved fromtheir own carriage. The Mall, the wideavenue leading from BuckinghamPalace to Trafalgar Square, was a sea ofred, white and blue, crammed with tensof thousands of people hoping to catcha glimpse of the royals as they passed.

Jill Davies, a silver-haired execu-tive researcher from Suffolk in easternengland, waved her Union Jack as the

queen went past her at Downing Street,where the prime minister’s official res-idence is located. “Prince Philip ispoorly but he’s done his bit, bless him,”she told AFP. “It was fantastic. I wasoutside Downing Street so I saw it all.The queen was waving to the crowds.”

Charles had earlier taken his fa-ther’s place by the queen’s side at aspecial jubilee service at St Paul’sCathedral attended by political leaders,foreign ambassadors and royals.

Leading the service beneath theimposing dome of the cathedral,Rowan Williams, the Archbishop ofCanterbury and leader of the world’sAnglicans, paid tribute to Philip as wellas the monarch.

“We are marking six decades of liv-ing proof that public service is possibleand that it is a place where happinesscan be found,” said Williams.

“In all her public engagements, thequeen has shown a quality of joy in thehappiness of others,” he added.

“The same, of course, can mani-festly be said of Prince Philip, and ourprayers and thoughts are very muchwith him this morning.”

WASHINGTONafp

Astronomers around the world will traintheir telescopes on the skies Tuesday towatch Venus pass in front of the Sun, aonce-in-a-lifetime event that will not beseen for another 105 years.

The nearly seven-hour passage of theplanet between the earth and the Sunwill be seen as a black dot on the solarsurface, but should only be viewedthrough approved solar filters to avoidthe risk of blindness, experts warn.

On the evening of June 5, northAmerica, Central America and the north-ern part of South America will get to see

the start of the transit — clear skies per-mitting — beginning at around 6 pmeastern (2200 GMT).

All of the transit will be visible ineast Asia and the Western Pacific.

europe, the Middle east and SouthAsia will get to see the end stages of theeclipse as they go into sunrise on June 6.

Most of South America as well as westand southwest Africa will not get a directview. The US space agency nASA haspromised “the best possible views of theevent” through high-resolution imagestaken from its Solar Dynamics Observa-tory (SDO), in orbit around the earth.

“A transit is a wonderful and raresight; when you consider the vastness of

the sky, for a planet to pass the disc of theSun is pretty unusual — and you do haveto wait until 2117 for the next one,” saidSDO co-investigator Richard Harrison.

The european space agency’s Venusexpress is the only spacecraft orbitingthe hot planet at present and will beusing light from the Sun to study Venus’satmosphere. eSA and Japan’s spaceagency also have satellites in low-earthorbit to observe as Venus passes in frontof the Sun. And the nASA Hubble SpaceTelescope, which cannot view the Sun di-rectly, will use the Moon as a mirror tocapture reflected sunlight and learnmore about Venus’s atmosphere.

Many universities and observatories

have also scheduled viewing events forthe public. For the smartphone set,there’s an app for tracking the transit athttp://tov2012.esri.com/, according toAstronomers Without Borders.

Astronomers say that studying thetransit will boost future efforts to iden-tify distant planets and learn more abouttheir atmospheres.

Only six Transits of Venus have everbeen recorded. There have been 53 tran-sits of Venus across the Sun between2000 BC and the last one in 2004.

Further details:A live webcast begins at 2145 GMT

(5:45 pm eastern) at http://venustran-sit.nasa.gov/transitofvenus.

australia probes people-smuggling ring

SYDNEYafp

Australia said Tuesday it may revokethe visas of an alleged people-smuggling kingpin and six of hisassociates after reports they weregranted asylum and continuedarranging boat trips.An investigation by ABC Televisionclaimed an Iraqi-born people-smugglerknown as Captain emad had travelledto Australia from Indonesia on arefugee boat in January 2010 under afalse name and was granted asylum.emad was described as the “head of thesmugglers, the head of the snake” by aninformant who linked him to a powerfulIndonesian ring behind two ill-fatedboats which sank before reachingAustralia, killing almost 150 people.He was sent as part of a plan to expandthe ring’s operations in Australia,along with “at least” another six agentson board his ship who were alsogranted refugee status, according tothe programme which aired onMonday night.

First trial of senior officialin Gaddafi regime opens

TRIPOLIafp

The first trial of a senior official accusedof killing demonstrators in the 2011uprising against Libyan leader MoamerKadhafi opened on Tuesday. Formerforeign intelligence chief Bouzid Dordais accused of ordering security forces to“kill demonstrators and fire liveammunition at them” during the 2011uprising that ended Kadhafi’s rule.Dorda is the first of the slain dictator’shenchmen to appear in court sinceKadhafi was captured and killed inOctober last year. He is charged withdetaining people without evidence ofany crimes and using or threateningforce to prevent others from enjoyingtheir political rights. Dorda is alsoaccused of organising members of histribe into an armed militia with the aimof sparking a civil war. “I deny theseaccusations which contradict what I didduring the events,” Dorda said inreference to last year’s revolt.

Palestinians stagedemos on Six Daywar anniversary

RAMALLAHafp

Palestinians on Tuesday staged smalldemonstrations to mark the 45thanniversary of the Six Day War in whichIsrael seized the West Bank and GazaStrip. near the West Bank city ofRamallah, around 200 people protestedby the Ofer military prison, with clashesbreaking out as demonstrators threwstones at troops who fired tear gas.Several people were injured lightly andtreated at the scene, medical sources toldAFP. In Hebron, around 200 protesterstook part in a rally, including foreignactivists. An AFP photographer saidclashes also broke out there, with Israelitroops arresting at least two people. InGaza City, between 200 and 300 peoplemarched from the Square of theUnknown Soldier to the United nations’Gaza headquarters in a rally organised bythe ruling Hamas movement.

Breivik verdict expectedon July 20 or august 24

OSLOafp

An Oslo court said Tuesday it expectedto hand down its verdict in the trial ofAnders Behring Breivik, who killed 77people in norway last year, on July 20or August 24.“It is not yet known on what date (the)judgment will be given, but it cannot beexpected sooner than July 20. Anotherpossible date for the judgment is August24,” the court said on its website. Without excluding other dates, courtspokesman Markus Iestra told AFP thatthe court was actively working to ensurethat the verdict would fall on either July20 or August 24.Until now, rumour in the court corridorshad it that the verdict would fall on July20, two days before the one-yearanniversary of Breivik’s twin attacks.The possible delay until August 24 wouldbe due to logistical issues, Iestra said,without providing details on what thisentailed. Breivik’s trial began on April 16and is set to last until June 22.

indian activists demand clean-up of Bhopal waste

BHOPALafp

Victims of India’s 1984 Bhopal gastragedy met with Home Minister P.Chidambaram on Tuesday and called fortoxic waste from the pesticide factorysite to finally be cleared up.Hundreds of residents, includingsurvivors of the world’s worst industrialdisaster, marched through the city ofBhopal during Chidambaram’s visit,which coincided with Worldenvironment Day.The plant leaked toxic gas intoneighbouring slums, killing thousandsinstantly and tens of thousands moreover the following years.The accident was blamed on operatorsUnion Carbide, a US chemical grouplater bought by Dow Chemical.

london: horses ride down the mall during the diamond jubilee carriage procession from Westminster hall to Buckingham palace on tuesday. AFP

Rare Venus transit draws astronomers worldwide

Queen cheered at final jubilee festivities


Wednesday, 6 june, 2012

Page 20

errani into first French Open semi-final

LAHOREStaff RepoRt

PAKISTAn and Sri Lanka willbe aiming for improvementsin their rankings on the Re-liance ICC ODI Champi-onship table when they go

head to head in a five-match serieswhich starts in Pallekele on Thursday.

Fifth-ranked Sri Lanka leads sixth-ranked Pakistan by five ratings points.This reflects that there is very little sep-arating the two Asian sides while theplayers’ comparison indicates that theseries can potentially be a battle be-tween Sri Lanka batsmen and Pakistanspinners.

In the Reliance ICC ODI Champi-onship table, if Sri Lanka wins all fivematches of the series then it will moveahead of england into fourth position on114 ratings points, irrespective of theoutcome of the three-match ODI seriesbetween england and the West Indieswhich starts at The Rose Bowl on 16June.

If Sri Lanka wins 4-1 and englandbeats the West Indies 3-0, then both thesides will be on 113 ratings points butengland will be ranked above Sri Lankaby a fraction of a point.

In sharp contrast, if Pakistan winsthe series 4-1 or better, then it will moveahead of Sri Lanka into fifth position. Incase of Pakistan’s 4-1 series win, bothsides will be on 108 ratings points butPakistan will be ranked above Sri Lankawhen the ratings are calculated beyond

the decimal point.Pakistan can even move to fourth if

it wins all five matches of the seriesagainst Sri Lanka and the West Indieswins its series against england.

In the Reliance ICC Player Rankingsfor ODI batsmen, Sri Lanka has threebatsmen inside the top 20 with KumarSangakkara (fifth), Tillekeratne Dilshan(12th) and Mahela Jayawardena (18th)while batsmen sitting outside the top 20and aiming for upward movements in-

clude Dinesh Chandimal (26th), UpulTharanga (38th) and Angelo Mathews(44th).

On the other side of the coin, Pak-istan has only one batsman in UmarAkmal inside the top 20, in 10th posi-tion, while batsmen sitting outside thetop 20 and inside the top 50 includePakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq (30th),Mohammad Hafeez (40th), ShahidAfridi (41st) and Younus Khan (48th).

In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings

for ODI bowlers, Pakistan boasts threebowlers inside the top 15 – Saeed Ajmalin second, Mohammad Hafeez in fourthand Shahid Afridi in 15th – while LasithMalinga is the home side’s highest-ranked bowler in 22nd position.

Malinga is followed by nuwan Ku-lasekara (30th), Angelo Mathews (48th),Rangana Herath (50th), Thisara Perera(57th) and Dilhara Fernando (85th).

The Championship table and playerrankings will next be updated on 23June, a day after the conclusion of thethree-match ODI series between eng-land and the West Indies.Sri Lanka v Pakistan series scheduleJune 7 - 1st ODI, Palleke (d/n)June 9 – 2nd ODI, Pallekele (d/n)June 13 – 3rd ODI, R.Premadasa,Colombo (d/n)June 16 – 4th ODI, R.Premadasa,Colombo (d/n)June 18 – 5th ODI, R.Premadasa,Colombo (d/n)

rank team rating1 Australia 1232 South Africa 1183 India 1174 england 1115 Sri Lanka 1106 Pakistan 1057 new Zealand 868 West Indies 869 Bangladesh 6710 Zimbabwe 4611 Ireland 3612 netherlands 1513 Kenya 8

Pakistan aim to improve rankingg Sri lanka can move ahead of england

BIRMINGHAMafp

Former captain Chris Gayle has beenrecalled by the West Indies aftermore than a year out of the sidefor the one-day interna-tional series against eng-land later this month.

The 32-year-old, a dy-namic opening batsman, isback in the squad after a14-month dispute with theWest Indies Cricket Board(WICB) for a three-matchseries starting on June 16.

Gayle, who has scoreda West Indies record 19hundreds in 228 ODIs, hasnot played internationalcricket since a defeat by Pak-istan in the quarter-finals ofthe World Cup in March lastyear.

A month later, Gayle criti-cised the WICB and currentcoach Ottis Gibson after beingleft out of a squad for a one-dayseries against Pakistan.

However, several meetings be-tween the WICB and Gayle, bro-kered by senior Caribbeanpoliticians, have ended the stand-off.

Clyde Butts, chairman of selec-tors, said in a statement: "Chris is aplayer of proven quality and we arelooking forward to him adding thisdimension to the side and his con-tributions as a senior member of thesquad."

Darren Sammy, leading the WestIndies in their ongoing Test seriesagainst england, captains a side fea-turing several players who missed theTest campaign because it clashed with

the lucrative Twenty20 Indian PremierLeague.

One of those, Dwayne Bravo, is thevice-captain and he is included in a squad

featuring fellow all-rounders DwayneSmith, Kieron Pollard and Andre

Russell.Spinner Sunil narine, a late

addition to the Test squad afterstarring in the IPL, has alsobeen selected.

Test openers Adrian Barath,who have struggled in the firsttwo Tests of a three-match se-ries, were left out with opener

Lendl Simmons included againfollowing a finger injury that

ruled him out of the home se-ries against Australia inMarch.

Meanwhile, Test wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin returns

in place of Carlton Baugh, whoplayed against Australia.

West Indies are currently 2-0down in their Test series in eng-land. The third and final Test isdue to start at edgbaston onThursday.

West Indies one-day squadDarren Sammy (capt), Dwayne

Bravo, Tino Best, Darren Bravo,Johnson Charles, Fidel edwards,Chris Gayle, Sunil narine, KieronPollard, Denesh Ramdin (wkt),Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell,Marlon Samuels, Lendl Sim-mons, Dwayne Smith

ODI fixtures v englandJune 16: 1st ODI, Southamp-

tonJune 19: 2nd ODI, The OvalJune 22: 3rd ODI, Headin-

gleyTwenty20 v englandJune 24: T20 interna-

tional, Trent Bridge

LEICESTERafp

West Indies batsman Darren Bravo says he is work-ing hard to eliminate some of the mis-steps thathave dogged him and finish the three-Test se-ries against england strongly.

After a typically flamboyant 66 from Bravoagainst Leicestershire on the first day of theWindies' two-day, tour match on Saturday atGrace Road, Bravo took stock and said: "It wasvery important for me to spend some time inthe middle. I was happy with my performance,but disappointed with the way it ended.

"I have been working hard in the nets, try-ing to get my foot closer to the ball more, andI feel I executed it really nicely (in this in-nings) and hopefully I can continue fromhere."

He added: "I think I have gotten used to theconditions more. But it's now a matter of mecapitalising on the starts that I get.

"I got a few starts in the two Tests, but Iwasn't able to carry on. We have one more Testto play, so hopefully I can make use of what-ever start I get and end the series on a high."

Bravo and compatriot Adrian Barath added111 for the third wicket to rescue West Indiesfrom early strife against Leicestershire.

Barath was unbeaten on 53 when bad lightstopped play, and both batsmen looked in finetouch.

Bravo felt it was an encouraging sign thatthe Windies top-order could overcome theirstruggles in the Tests against england, al-though opener Kieran Powell and vice-captainKirk edwards fell cheaply.

"The top of the innings has been giving ussome problems and I thought Barath and Iplayed really well," said Bravo. "We were com-municating really nicely with each other andhelped out each other, which was very impor-tant. It was nice to see Adrian capitalise on agood start and hopefully he could carry on."

He added: "Most of us are not accustomedto these conditions, but it is very important forus to believe in ourselves and our ability.

Hopefully, we can learn from our mistakes andimprove as quickly as possible - and I believewe are learning each and every single day, andI am sure we will come good. "We are a bit in-experienced at the top, but thankfully we havethe likes of Marlon Samuels and ShivnarineChanderpaul to hold things up in the middle,when things don't go according to plan at thetop, so it is just us sticking together as a team,helping each other out, and I am sure we willbenefit from it in the long run."

The tour match is a prelude to the third andfinal Test against england, starting this com-ing Thursday at edgbaston in Birmingham.

Pietersen ODiretirement nosurprise to trott

BIRMINGHAMafp

Jonathan Trott is saddened but far fromshocked at fellow england batsmanKevin Pietersen's decision to retire fromlimited overs international cricket.Pietersen had indicated he wanted to helpengland retain the World Twenty20 titlehe did so much to help them win in theCaribbean two years ago when they de-fend their title in Sri Lanka later thisyear. But with england insisting playersmust make themselves available for both50-over one-day internationals andTwenty20 contests -- in part to ensurethere isn't a mass exodus from the longerformat in an increasingly packed sched-ule -- Pietersen announced his retirementfrom all limited overs contests last week.It means england will be without one oftheir best batsmen in all but Test cricketfrom now on, despite it being just overthree months ago since he scored back-to-back hundreds in england's 4-0 one-day series sweep of Pakistan.But as Trott prepared to play alongsidePietersen at edgbaston, where englandwill try to complete a 3-0 Test series winover the West Indies, he said he had notbeen taken unawares by his fellow SouthAfrica-born batsman's decision. "It wasn't a huge surprise," Trott saidTuesday. "You can understand it in away, but it's a huge disappointment aswell, " added Trott "Kev's his own guyand has to make his own decisions. Theteam fully support his decision. What-ever he decides to do with his cricketingcareer is fine."

Gayle back in Windiesone-day squad

Bravo working hardfor strong finish


Sports 19wednesday, 6 June, 2012

ISLAMABADagencieS

PAKISTAn Cricket Boardchairman Zaka Ashraf ex-pects to revive cricketingties with India this year andis even willing to play

against the arch-rivals at a neutralvenue.

Ashraf says he had a "fruitful" meet-ing with officials from the Board of Con-trol for Cricket in India last week whenhe watched the Indian Premier Leaguefinal at Chennai.

"I think our (cricketing) relationswill be revived very soon and people willhear the good news," Ashraf said.

Cricketing ties between Pakistan andIndia were suspended in 2008 after theterror attacks in Mumbai in which 166people were killed, straining political re-lations between the countries. Ashrafsays he won't mind sending the Pakistanteam to India or to a neutral venue.

Formalities of the bilateral serieswill be finalized during the ICC AnnualConference in Kuala Lumpur later thismonth. "nothing has been finalized asyet because India will come up with aproposal at Kuala Lumpur, but what Ifelt was that the series will be held thisyear," Ashraf said.

BCCI President narainswamy Srini-vasan also met Ashraf in new Delhi andpromised him he will talk with otherBCCI officials before finalizing an agree-

ment with the PCB."He told me `just give us a little

time, we will talk more on this in KualaLumpur after I talk with other BCCI of-ficials,"' Ashraf said.

Last week the BCCI said that it willinvite Pakistan's domestic Twenty20champions Sialkot Stallions to thisyear's Champions League which mightalso open doors for Pakistan cricketersto compete in next year's IPL.

Zaka met with senior politicians inPakistan to discuss the issue.

"They all supported our positive in-tention to build up a relationship and re-vive the cricketing ties with each other,"Ashraf told a press conference in Islam-abad. "What I feel is that we will be ableto play each other this year in any avail-

able slot."Talks of a revival of Pakistan-India

cricketing ties began when Ashraf re-quested Zardari to take up the issue withthe Indian government. A meeting be-tween the head of the states in Delhi inApril provided more impetus to the talkswith indications that the Indian govern-ment had no objections to the resump-tion of cricket between the twocountries.

Ashraf, who had taken over fromIjaz Butt last October with Pakistancricket facing a host of issues, called hisIndia tour a successful one. "Revivingthe relationship with India was thetoughest task but the job is nearly done,"he said. A final decision on a series be-tween the two teams is likely to be taken

in Kuala Lumpur, where the ICC's boardof directors meets later this month.

He however ruled out the perceptionthat only Pakistan was insisting on a bi-lateral series while India had little inter-est in it. "They want to play with us - thatis the point we both agreed and havebeen discussing on the sidelines of ICCmeetings in last many months.

"It's not like we are begging to playand depending on them. It's about therelationship that is eventually linked upwith playing each other. The relation-ship with India is very important at thetop level. Other than that there areminor issues like exchange of juniorlevel teams, women's cricket team andparticipation in the IPL which will all besorted out."

PCB expects Pakistan,India cricket in 2012

LAHOREStaff RepoRt

The Punjab Government will unveil “thefirst-ever Youth policy” with prime em-phasis on youth empowerment and theirparticipation in different developmentprojects and sports events helping themplay their due role in nation building.

“Chief Minister Punjab MohammadShahbaz Sharif will unfold the ambitiouspolicy today (June 6, 2012), Wednesday,at a youth convention and it is going to bea historic moment in country’s history,”said Deputy Speaker Punjab Assembly,Rana Mashhood Ahmad at a press con-ference at the national Hockey Stadiumon Tuesday. Secretary Sports Punjab Ha-roon Ahmed Khan and Director GeneralSports Board Punjab and Youth AffairsUsman Anwar were also present on theoccasion.

Rana Mashhood said through itsyouth policy leaders of tomorrow will beidentified and their talent will be utilizedin various development projects.

Rana Mashhood while highlightingthe salient features of the policy said thatthe Punjab Government is taking the ini-

tiative to assemble the youth on one plat-form with the main focus on youth em-powerment.

“Since the rights to youth affairs weregiven to the provinces after the 18thamendment, the Punjab Government hadbeen working on the formation of a com-prehensive youth policy for which 26provincial departments were identified towork on and around 80 officials weretake onboard for extending support withtechnical assistance coming from annGO, Bargad,” said the deputy speaker.

He said that as part of the youth pol-icy, the Punjab Government initiated thelap-top scheme which would continue tohave its share in every budget of theprovince. “We would be identifying youthicons and there will be 15 youth sportscouncilors with having 10 male and fivefemale councilors as the ambassadors ofthe province,” he added.

He said in the youth policy as manyas 52 youth councils will be developed.“Two extraordinary performers of everydivision will be brought forward whiletwo youth ambassadors, both male andfemale will be identified and two youthadvisors will be appointed.”

He further said that the Chief Minis-ter Punjab is allocating two percent of thebudget for the Youth Development andalso for the Youth Sports Festival whichwill start throughout the province from inAugust.

Rana Mashhood said the CM has alsoallocated endowment funds for the vet-eran sports personalities to look themafter in the time of needs.

“In the youth festival around 40 for40.50 million young people from allwalks of life will be involved, which isgoing to be the biggest-ever event of theworld,” he asserted.

“We have already organized thebiggest Sports Festival and efforts are un-derway for its recognition as the worldlargest sports event,” he said.

Rana Mashhood also said that the

toppers of the Sports Festival will alsoparticipate in the Youth Festival. “Theywill also compete against the players ofaround 22 countries, which have con-firmed their participation in the Interna-tional Youth Sports Festival to be heldlater this year,” he said.

To a number of questions, RanaMashhood said that Punjab Sports Boardwill organise the national Games alongwith the Youth Festival. “The associationswill provide the technical assistance whilesports board will hold the event.”

To another question, he said thatthere are bylaws for construction at thenashtar Park Arena and the PakistanCricket Board or any other organizationis not above these laws.

On the issue of laying blue turf, hesaid that the Sports Board Punjab and in-staller of the turf have signed an agree-ment of laying the new plastic surface,changing of the shock pads and asphalt ofsurface and he (installer) is being askedto fulfill the laid down conditions of thetender document and to ensure the com-pletion of the project timely. “We cannotviolate the agreement till the end of theagreement time,” he added.

CM to announce Youth Policy, Sports festival today

lahOre: Deputy Speaker rana Mashood addresses the press conference while Secretary

Sports Punjab haroon ahmed Khan and Director General Sports Board Punjab and youth

affairs Usman anwar look on. STaff PHOTO

Pakistan to play

test series in

South africaLAHORE

Staff RepoRt

Pakistan will play a Test series inSouth Africa in early 2013 after thenew Zealand team finishes its tour ofthat country.new Zealand visit to South Africa willstart in December through to Januaryand play the Proteas in threeTwenty20 internationals and a three-match One-Day series either side ofTests in Cape Town on Jan 2-6 andPort elizabeth on Jan 11-15.Pakistan will start with three tests inFebruary followed by two T20s andfive ODIs.

LAHOREStaff RepoRt

Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneriahas got some respite in his ongoingbattle to clear his name in spot-fixinginvestigations after an inquiry com-mittee of the Karachi City Cricket As-sociation (KCCA) cleared his name ina probe. The KCCA inquiry committeecleared Kaneria of any further investi-gations in an ongoing probe into amatch of the national Super eightsTwenty20 held this year. Karachi Ze-bras, the Pakistan Super League teamfor which Kaneria played, lost thematch to lowly rated Peshawar Pan-thers in an upset result and were

knocked out of the event with Kaneriabowling just four deliveries before goingoff the field with a fitness problem.

The KCCA, which is one of thebiggest affiliated units of the PakistanCricket Board (PCB), was forced tolaunch an inquiry after the manager ofthe Karachi team, Saeed Jabbar, re-ported that he suspected some playershad spot-fixed the match and deliber-ately under-performed. But afterKaneria appeared before members ofthe inquiry committee, the KCCA saidin a statement that no more investiga-tions were needed. “The KCCA secre-tary, Professor ejaz Farooqi, and asenior member, Qamar Ahmed, thor-oughly interviewed Kaneria and are

convinced his withdrawal from bowl-ing was due to a side strain,” a KCCAstatement said. “Kaneria was inter-viewed and also submitted a medicalcertificate to support his claim. The in-quiry committee also spoke to themanager and convinced him thatKaneria is no longer required in the in-vestigations,” the statement added.

Kaneria, 31, who has taken 261wickets in 61 Tests, has not played forPakistan since his last appearance inengland in August 2010. The PCB hasnot cleared him for national selectionsince he was named in a spot-fixing in-vestigation by the essex police into acounty match between essex andDurham in 2009.

waqar likely to joinCricket australia asbowling coach

MELBOURNEagencieS

Cricket Australia (CA) has interviewedformer Pakistan captain and coachWaqar Younis as Craig McDermott's suc-cessor for the position of Australianbowling coach.Waqar, who is based in Sydney since fin-ishing his two-year term as Pakistancoach last year, according to 'eSPn-cricinfo.com', has spoken to CA's teamperformance manager Pat Howard abouttaking on the role that was left vacant byMcDermott at the conclusion of the Aus-tralian tour of the West Indies.Australia's highly promising battery ofyoung pacemen will surely benefit shouldWaqar is appointed to the post.Known for his mastery over reverseswing, Waqar would help Australianbowlers muster the art, something theteam has struggled to make best use ofdown the years.Under McDermott, the Aussies learnt theimportance of sticking to the basics --bowling full, straight and moving the ballconventionally, and they will look tobuild on those gains if Waqar is ap-pointed.Waqar, who has taken 373 wickets in 87Tests and 416 from 262 ODIs, resignedas Pakistan coach citing personal andhealth reasons.

euro 2012 andtwitter - 'commonsense' prevails

WARSAWafp

With football one of the most talked-about sports, Twitter has become like anextra man to monitor when it comes tobig tournaments like euro 2012.But while teams like reigning championsSpain initially banned their players fromusing the popular micro-blogging siteduring the tournament in Poland andUkraine, for the most part football feder-ations are following the example of Italy."There's no ban," one official said. "It'sjust a question of common sense."What common sense means, though, de-pends on the country.In a recent interview with the weekly DieZeit, Germany coach Joachim Loew indi-cated that he had given "clear rules" tohis squad on how to use social network-ing sites."What goes on in the dressing room,what we talk about as a team, tactics,injuries and the rest of it are taboo, asare the private lives of team-mates orthe management team," he was quotedas saying.

Kaneria cleared of Super eight t20 spot-fixing charges


i will not disappointselectors: ayub

LAHORE Staff RepoRt

Pakistan batsman M Ayub Dogar, who hasbeen selected in the national Test team forPakistan’s tour to Sri Lanka, has said thathe will try his best to perform well for histeam and earn good name for the country.Talking to this scribe in a reception held inhis honour, Ayub Dogar said: “I am thank-ful to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)chairman and selection committee for giv-ing me an opportunity and I will try mybest to perform well and earn a good namefor the country. I will also try my best notto disappoint the selectors.”Giving suggestions to youngsters, Dogarsaid that they must continue struggling andperform well at club and regional level andone day, they would surely be get chance inthe national team. “Pakistan cricket is fullof talent and there are the players whichhas potential to play for national team.These players must not give up hopes andkeep on struggling as one day, their hardworking and continuous efforts will bearfruit and they will be in the national team,”he suggested the youngsters.It is pertinent to mention here that MalikSarwar is an ICC recognised cricketograniser and Apollo Cricket Club patronwho has great services in the field of cricketand its organisation. His club producedgreat players T20 captain M Hafeez, AyubDogar, Imran nazeer, Qaiser Abbas andmany other first class cricketers.The reception in Ayub Dogar’s honour washeld here at Railways Allama Iqbal Insti-tute on Sunday night which was presidedover by Sports Officer Workshops nasirKhalili and attended by Railways AllamaIqbal Institute secretary Rana Abdul Ma-jeed, Pakistan Railways School and CollegeHeadmaster Rehmat Khan, DirectorSports UeT Tanveer Ahmad, Ikram Ullahfrom england, ex first class cricketer Rabbnawaz, PSWA sectary Manzoor Arif andclub members and players.

GC Gujranwala win in PU Super leagueLAHore: Government College Gujran-wala and Punjab University teaching de-partment won their matches of the PUInter-Collegiate Super League CricketChampi onship 2011-12 on Tuesday. Or-ganized by Punjab University, GC Gu-jranwala beat Hailey College by 27 runswhile PUTD beat Murray College by 60runs. GC Gujranwala made 160 runs withZain 29 and Malik Mutahir 29. Hassantwo for 24, Mohsin two for 26. HaileyCollege 133 for all. Bilal 32, Hashami 20.Zain two for 32 and Muthair three for 27.PUTD made 230 for seven and MurrayCollege 170 for all. earlier, Govt. College,Jhang beat Govt. College of Commerce,Gujranwala by 36 runs. Govt. CollegeJhang 120 all out. Muhammad Faisal 34,Muhammad Safdar 27. Zain Butt 3 for 13,Ahmad Hussan 2 for 15 Govt. College ofCommerce, Gujranwala 84 all out in 19overs. Qamar 17, Mutahar 16. Tariq 3 for10, Irfan 2 for 19. Staff RepoRt

Sri lanka dare todream of world Cup

COLOMBOafp

Sri Lanka has launched a major cam-paign to develop rugby on the islandwith the president's eldest son leadingefforts to build a team that can qualifyfor the 2019 World Cup in Japan.Last week more than a dozen foreignplayers participated in a seven-a-sidetournament which was seen as a suc-cessful attempt to expose domestic play-ers to top-class international-standardrugby.Though Sri Lanka is famous for itscricket team, rugby has been on the is-land since 1879, during British colonialtimes, and is still played by nearly50,000 school boys today at 100 clubs."We have given our players an opportu-nity to play alongside internationalstars," namal Rajapakse, the nationalteam's hooker and the son of PresidentMahinda Rajapakse, told AFP duringthe Carlton Super 7s tournament.

Sports20wednesday, 6 June, 2012

LONDONDERRY: The torch bearer is protected

by Olympic security personnel as the torch is

stopped and re-routed due to protestors. AFP

PARISafp

SARA errani continued Italy'sFrench Open love affair byreaching her first Grand Slamsemi-final at Roland Garroson Tuesday with a 6-3, 7-6

(7/2) victory over Germany's AngeliqueKerber. errani, the 21st seed, made sureof Italian representation in the semi-fi-nals for the third year in succession, fol-lowing the trail blazed by compatriotFrancesca Schiavone, the 2010 cham-pion and runner-up last year. The 21stseed's reward is a match-up against Aus-tralian sixth seed Samantha Stosur, de-feated by Schiavone in the 2010 final, fora place in Saturday's title match. errani,a slight figure on tour at just 1.64m, hadnever got beyond the third round of amajor before this year's Australian Openwhen she reached the quarter-finals.

But the 25-year-old from Bologna il-lustrated her dangerwoman status by

winning three claycourt titles in Aca-pulco, Barcelona and Budapest in therun-up to Paris, putting together a 16-match winning streak in the process.

That confidence was translated intoher Roland Garros semi-final run whichsaw her defeat 2008 champion AnaIvanovic and 2009 winner SvetlanaKuznetsova. She was on top of her gamestraight away on Tuesday with a break inthe first game, backed up by another inthe ninth as the opening set was com-fortably secured.

errani and 10th seed Kerber, whoreached a maiden Grand Slam semi-finalat the US Open last year, both struggledfor any fluency in the second set as eightsuccessive breaks of serve showed thatnerves were beginning to show.Kerbersquandered two set points at 6-5, thefirst saved by an exquisite errani dropshot, and was left to regret it as the Ital-ian raced away with the tiebreaker, se-curing victory when the German wentwide with a second service return.

Errani into first French Open semisStosur into last four

pArIS: Australia's Samantha Stosur powered her way into the French Open semi-finals on Tuesday with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia. The USOpen champion had too much firepower and experience for the lightweight 23-year-old from Bratislava and she will now face either Sara errani of Italy or An-gelique Kerber of Germany for a place in the final. "It's never easy to come outhere, with it windy and playing an opponent who was going for it," said the 28-year-old from the Gold Coast. "She runs very fast and has quick legs. "The last fewyears have been good for me in Paris. It doesn't get any better than this." Bothplayers had previously gone deep into the tournament at the French Open withStosur reaching the final in 2010, where she lost to Francesca Schiavone of Italy,and Cibulkova the semi-finals the previous year. With the sunshine back on thePhilippe Chatrier centre court after the gloom of Monday, games went with serveuntil the fifth game when Stosur hit a series of big top-spin forehands thatCibulkova struggled to deal with. The Australian held to lead 4-2 and made it adouble break in the next game with her forehand again proving to be her bestweapon. Cibulkova, the smallest player in the WTA top 100 at 1.61m, hit back im-mediately to break serve for the first time in the match and then moved to 5-4.Shehad three further break points to level at 5-5, but on each occasion Stosur took theinitiative in the rallies to deny her. She then hit two more big, looping forehands topocket the first set. Cibulkova, who knocked out top seed Victoria Azarenka in thefourth round, again squandered three break points in the second game of the sec-ond set and Stosur then turned on the power again to break to 15 in the followinggame. Stosur moved 3-1 ahead and when she broke again to get to 4-1, there wasno way back for an outgunned Cibulkova. afp


Sports 21wednesday, 6 June, 2012

watch it Live

ESPNSportcentre

07:30PM

SYDNEYafp

DeFenDInG Olympictriathlon championemma Snowsill saidTuesday she would ap-peal her omission from

Australia's team for next month's Lon-don Games.

Snowsill missed out on the three-strong women's team after emmaJackson and erin Densham were cho-sen by Triathlon Australia to join earlynomination emma Moffatt in London.

"I will be appealing my non-nomi-nation to the Australian Olympicteam," Snowsill said on her website.

"Please understand that I have nottaken this decision lightly.

"I recognise that my decision af-fects people other than myself and I'msorry for any hurt that my actionsmight cause, but I personally feel it is amatter of importance that I take all av-

enues available to me to achieve mydream of competing at a secondOlympic Games.

"Whatever the outcome, I will at-tempt to take all endeavours to see thatthe process is resolved as quickly aspossible to hopefully serve as small adisruption to the team's preparation."

Snowsill, who won Australia's onlyOlympic triathlon gold medal in Bei-jing in 2008, has been hampered by ill-ness and injury.

She has hardly raced over the pasttwo years but had still looked likely togo to London early this year until Den-sham hit form.

Densham, 27, made strong claimsfor selection by winning theMooloolaba World Cup in Queenslandand Sydney world series races and fin-ishing second in the San Diego roundof the world series.

The appeal is likely to be heard byan independent three-person OlympicAppeals Tribunal later this week.

Olympic champion Snowsill appeals omission

lahore School winannual Sports Gala

LAHore: The Lahore School of eco-nomics teams won the Annual SportsGala, hosted by the Lahore School.Many teams came to participate in theevents, including football, basketball,volleyball, cricket and rugby. Institu-tions from Lahore like BnU, LMDC andFC College battled along with the hometeams to get the title. Students in theSports teams from the Lahore Schoolproudly hoisted the trophy and dis-played their medals in the victory cele-brations. The win went down as anothermilestone for the School. Staff RepoRt

LONDONDERRYafp

The Olympic torch made a brief detouron Monday after dissident republicansstaged a protest during its passage acrossnorthern Ireland, police said.

The demonstration in Londonderry,northern Ireland's second city, overpolicing forced the torch to take an alter-native route before crossing the city'sPeace Bridge.

Londonderry Democratic UnionistParty lawmaker Gregory Campbell calledthe protesters "pathetic".

"The minor inconvenience which itbrought is not the major issue, it is noteven the negative headlines that their ac-tions bring to northern Ireland which isthe overriding concern, but it is the po-tential that their activities bring to thefirst ever UK City of Culture events nextyear," he said.

The bridge is a symbol of cross-com-munity reconciliation and was openedrelatively recently between a disusedarmy barracks in a mainly Protestant partof Derry and its largely Catholic centre.

earlier Monday, the flame was heldaloft at the Giant's Causeway, the spec-tacular coastal rock formation, the high-light of its journey across northernIreland.

The torch is being taken round allparts of the United Kingdom in a 10-week, 8,000-mile (12,875-kilometre)relay ahead of the 2012 London Games,which start on July 27.

northern Irish triathlete Peter Jack,54, carried the flame in broad sunshine atthe Giant's Causeway, which comprisesaround 40,000 interlocking mostlyhexagonal basalt columns formed by vol-canic activity.

Celtic legend has it that the giant

Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn MacCool)built the causeway as stepping stonesacross to Scotland in a challenge to agiant called Benandonner.

The iconic world heritage site attractsmore than half a million tourists eachyear.

The flame was also carried over theCarrick-a-Rede rope bridge, which linksthe mainland to a tiny island.

northern Irish sports minister Caralni Chuilin said: "The all-Ireland torchrelay is a celebration of all we have tooffer.

"The Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge,Giant's Causeway and Dunluce Castle arejust some of this island's jewels."

The torch is on a five-day journeyaround northern Ireland and will crossthe border as a token of closer ties be-tween Britain and the Republic of Irelandfollowing Queen elizabeth II's landmarkvisit there last year.

The trip comes as Britain celebratesthe sovereign's diamond jubilee, markingher 60 years on the throne.

It will visit Dublin on Wednesday,passing some of the capital's main sights.

The highly-charged visit was the firstby a British monarch since her grandfa-ther king George V in 1911, before the re-public won independence in 1922.

In his diamond jubilee personal trib-ute, Prince Charles, the heir to thethrone, said he thought the visit had beenhis mother's "greatest achievement".

Seen as the last piece in the jigsaw ofpeace in northern Ireland, the four-daytrip required the republic's biggest-eversecurity operation.

However, through some highly sym-bolic gestures -- including speaking inIrish -- she melted away enough post-colonial angst to permit an unscheduledpublic walkabout at the end of the visit.

Protest divertsOlympic torch

British greatrobertson retiresLonDon: Britain's nathan Robertson,a former Olympic silver medallist, an-nounced his retirement from badmintonon Tuesday. The 35-year-old, who wonthe mixed doubles silver medal with Gailemms in Athens eight years ago, decidedto hang up his racquet after his failure toqualify for the London Olympics laterthis year. Robertson revealed his retire-ment on Twitter: "So I can now officiallysay. I AM ReTIReD.... Thank you toeveryone who supported and helped methroughout my entire career. afp



22

Published by Arif Nizami at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore. Editor: Arif Nizami

iSlamaBad: foreign minister hina Rabbani Khar shakes hands with eU high Representative for foreign affairs and

Security policy catherine ashton before their meeting on tuesday.

NEW DELHIafp

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta en-couraged India to play a “more activerole” in Afghanistan during talks Tues-day in new Delhi, US officials said.

Washington has previously worriedabout India antagonising its arch-foePakistan and preferred new Delhi retaina modest profile in the Afghan conflict,restricted to troop training and infra-structure development. But officialsbriefing reporters before Panetta arrivedon a two-day visit to new Delhi said USpolicy has evolved as the nATO-led forceprepares to withdraw combat troops bythe end of 2014. “Over the last 10 years,for a variety of reasons, India has notplayed a particularly active role inAfghanistan,” a senior defence official,who spoke on condition of anonymity,told reporters aboard Panetta’s plane.

“We welcome India playing a moreactive role in Afghanistan, a more ac-tive political and economic role,” theofficial said, adding that the US hopedIndia would expand its training ofAfghan security forces. India has“trained army and police before but ona relatively small scale.” Panetta dis-cussed the issue, as well as a new US

strategic tilt towards Asia and expand-ing military ties, when he met PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh and na-tional Security Adviser Shiv ShankarMenon on Tuesday, officials said.

“In both meetings, Secretary Panettadiscussed the US rebalance to the Asia-Pacificregion and the importance the United Statesplaces on India,” his spokesman George Littlesaid in a statement. In October, India andAfghanistan signed a “strategic partnership”deal aiming at deepening their security andeconomic links, with Afghan PresidentHamid Karzai also keen to elevate India’s in-volvement. new Delhi, fearful of the return ofan Islamist regime in Kabul, has ploughedabout $2.0 billion of aid into the country togain influence, but is extremely wary of over-stepping. The US official acknowledged thehostility and distrust between India and Pak-istan, but said both countries had a commoninterest in seeing peace take root inAfghanistan. Apart from the Afghanistanwar, Tuesday’s talks touched on America’smuch-publicised “rebalance” towards Asiaas well as expanding US defence ties be-tween the two countries, officials said.After Panetta’s meeting, officials saidIndia agreed to allow US teams to resumea search for the remains of missing Amer-ican service members at crash sites fromWorld War II in the country’s northeast.

Soldier, 20 militants

killed as Salala

checkpost comes

under fire againPESHAWAR

Staff RepoRt

Repulsing an attack on the Salalacheckpost in Mohmand Agency,security forces on Tuesday killed20 militants, while a soldier alsolost his life in a severe gun battlewith the militants. According toofficials, dozens of militantsattacked the security forcescheckpost at Salala during themidnight between Monday andTuesday. The militants shotdead a soldier of Frontier Corpsand injured three others.However, the security forcesretaliated and inflicted heavylosses on the militants. Theofficial claimed that 20 militantswere killed and several othersinjured during the encounter thatcontinued for an hour. There wasno confirmation of official claimsfrom independent sources. TheSalala checkpost becameinternationally known when itwas attacked by nATO troops onnovember 26, 2011. Twenty-fourpersonnel of the security forceswere killed and in reactionPakistan banned supplies tonATO troops camping across theborder in Afghanistan.

ISLAMABADagencieS

Pakistan and the european Union on Tuesdaylaunched the strategic dialogue to furtherdeepen relations in diverse fields.

Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar ledthe Pakistani side in the dialogue while eU,which was represented by its head of foreignpolicy Catherine Ashton in Islamabad. Duringthe dialogue, both sides agreed to a five yearengagement plan to promote cooperation inthe areas of trade, investment, human rights,governance, energy, education and socio-eco-nomic development.

Addressing a joint news conference withthe eU Foreign Policy Head, Hina Khar saidthe strategic dialogue between the two coun-tries would serve as a component to imple-ment the five-year engagement plan. Theforeign minister said Pakistan considered itsrelations with the eU exceptionally importantas it had always gone an extra mile to supportand strengthen democracy in the country. Shesaid, “We can transform this relationship intoa long term partnership for the mutual benefitof the peoples of both Pakistan and the euro-pean Union. The european Union happens tobe our largest trading partner. Our exports tothe european Union stand at €4.6 billionwhile imports at €3.7 billion.” Hina said underthe three-year development plan, the euro-pean Union was giving Pakistan €225 millionfor socio-economic uplift.

The amount was being spent on develop-

ment projects, especially in KhyberPakhtunkhwa and Punjab. She said the eU al-ways responded to Pakistan’s needs and sup-ported the country in difficult times. Referringto the sacrifices rendered by Pakistan in thewar against terrorism and the havoc played bythe 2010 floods, she said the eU not only cameup with the cash assistance but also respondedby granting the preferential trade access toPakistani products. She said they were close toimplement the preferential trade agreementand Pakistani products would get GSP Plusstatus for eU markets.

This, she said, would open new opportuni-ties for Pakistani businessmen and createthousands of new jobs. Hina said both sidesagreed to institutionalize summit level-talksfor greater engagement and promotion of rela-tions and expressed the confidence that bothsides would also engage in talks for a free tradeagreement. Ashton said the Union recognizedthe challenges and sacrifices made by Pakistan.Considering it as an important country in theregion, she said they want long-term relation-ship with Pakistan to help it meet challenges.She said the strategic dialogue launched todaywould enable both countries to build on theirrelations on political and security issues. Shesaid the eU was the largest humanitariandonor in Pakistan and it would continue to as-sist Pakistan for consolidation of its economyand democracy, besides addressing the chal-lenges of energy and other issues.

g PML-N lawmakers

besiege PM, shout

slogans against Gilani, PPP

ISLAMABADtaYYaB hUSSain

THe budget debate in theLower House of parliamentturned into an anti-Gilaniprotest on Tuesday when Pak-istan Muslim League-nawaz

(PML-n) lawmakers made life miserablefor the prime minister who tried his best to

appear oblivious to the protesting mem-bers and focused on the speeches of his fel-low party men on the budget.

With the arrival of Prime Minister Gi-lani in the House, the n leaguers encircledGilani and raised slogans against him. Theback-benchers of the PML-n were at theforefront of the protest against the PM.

“Qaum Phukhi MartTi, Hai People’sParty. Mukk Gaya Tera Show Gilani, GoGilani Go Gilani” were the main slogansraised by the PML-n members. Gilanikept a defiant smile on his face during thesloganeering.

However, realizing that PML-nmembers were heading towards the

PM’s chair, some PPP MnAs gatheredaround Gilani to shield him from thereach of the demonstrators. However,following the evening prayer break,things turned back to normal when amajority of the PML-n members did notturn up in the session and the few pres-ent remained glued to their seats.

Due to the rumpus and noisy atmos-phere, MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar saidhe would not speak on the budget when theHouse was not in order. However, he didmake a speech later, saying an out-of-the-box solution was needed to redress theeconomic issues of the people.

He said conventional ways of making

the budget would not serve the purpose.“Rather, we have to go for unconventionalways to provide relief to the masses,” heasserted. Sattar said the economic crisiswas posing grave threats to democracy be-cause the bad economic situation wascompelling the people to think whatdemocracy had given them.

Textiles Minister Makhdoom Sha-habuddin came down hard on the opposi-tion by calling their attitude “regrettable”and against parliamentary norms and tra-ditions. He said the conduct of the opposi-tion had lowered the dignity of the House.He hoped that the government would beable to bring inflation rate down to a single

digit and commended the performance ofhis party’s government. BISP ChairpersonFarzana Raja called the federal budget“good” in present circumstances and saidthe PPP had been endeavoring to fulfill allpromise it made with the masses.

She said the Benazir Income SupportProgromme (BISP) was such a successstory that some foreign governments hadapproached Pakistan to introduce the pro-gramme in their countries. Farzana saidthe government was also going to intro-duce another program under which thou-sands of people in north and SouthWaziristan Agencies would be sent to per-form Haj on government expenses.

Noisy N Leaguers turn budget debate ugly

Pakistan, EU launchstrategic dialoguefor stronger ties

US wants ‘more active’ India in Afghanistan

g agree on 5-year engagement to promote trade, energy, investment

Continued on page 04


e-paper pakistantoday 6th june, 2012

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Transcript of e-paper pakistantoday 6th june, 2012