suNday March 24, 2013 Jamadi-ul-awwal 11, 1434 I Islamabad/rawalpindi I Vol, V, No. 339 I www.thespokesman.pk Pages 12 I Price 10/-

TTOODDAAYY’’SS WWEEAATTHHEERR

showers andthunderstorms

HIGH: 25 LoW: 12

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OUR DREADFULLOVE OF ROADS– IMDAD HUSSAIN

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SNEAK PEEKyouth fed up with lengthyjob hours goes missing

The Shalimar police onSaturday registered anFIR for the kidnapping ofa teenager who wentmissing about a monthago. Muhammad Awais,

aged 14 and resident of Bhara Kahu, was asalesman at a general store in F-10Markaz, police said.

Page 02

President confersawards upon PaF officers

President Asif Ali Zardarion Saturday conferredmilitary awards uponoTcers of the PakistanAir Force. Air ViceMarshal Arshad Quddus

and Air Vice Marshal Sohail Aman havebeen awarded with Hilal-i-Imtiaz(Military).

Page 04

Bombed schoolgets little attention

The GovernmentPrimary School KhaloKaley, Sheikhmal Khel, ofLandi Kotal tehsil is notin a condition to serve thechildren because it lacks

basic facilities, local tribesmencomplained on Saturday.

Page 05

Warne, Lizto marry soon

English model-actorElizabeth Hurley has beensporting a rock on herfinger since 2011. Andnow, her fiance and formerAustralian cricketer Shane

Warne reveals that their much-anticipatedmarriage might take place any day soon.Warnie, as he is fondly called, revealed thisin an exclusive chat with us, during hisrecent visit to Delhi.

Page 10

Pakistan aim to winseries as final odI today

Sunday could well beBenoni's biggest daysince Charlize Theronwon the Oscar.International cricketseldom reaches

Johannesburg's East Rand and when itdoes, it is unlikely to be thismeaningful. For both South Africa andPakistan, its Benoni or bust in their lastouting before the Champions Trophyand they will have a sell-out crowd todo that in front of.

Page 11

Illegal appointments galore in OGDCLSAHTAK BALOCH

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Illegal appointees inthe country’s biggest oil and gasexplorers, Oil and Gas DevelopmentCompany Limited (OGDCL), areholding key positions. Irregularappointments were made from2006 to 2010 on 25 key posts atattractive packages in violation ofrules and regulations. Out of these25 officials, 10 are still working. According to sources, when

General Manager (GM) Commercial,

Salman Amin, was appointed he hadhardly two years experience in therelevant field against the requiredexperience of 20 years. He has beengiven extension for two more yearsand is dealing with multibillionrupees projects.Masood Nabi, who was illegally

appointed as Executive Director(ED) Joint Venture (JV) in 2009 atRs8,00,000 per month, is nowworking as ED Human Resource.Since his appointment as ED HR,hundreds of illegal appointments

have been made. Few months back,MD OGDC appointed Khan Alamas GM Human Resource (HR) whohad no relevant qualification andheld degree in Geology. Sources maintain that commercial

audit confirmed irregularappointments in OGDCL but noaction had been taken so far.Colonel Shafqat Hussain (retd) wasillegally appointed as GMCommunication in Sept 2008.He isstill working in the company. Aftab Ahmad was appointed as

Executive Director (ED) StrategyBusiness Planning (SBP), in 2006without relevant experience, at apackage of Rs7, 80,087 per month.However, PPP government refusedto give him extension in contractand he left the company. Another oTcial, Asif Sindhu, was

appointed in 2009 as ED, Finance, atRs8, 00,000 per month salary, inviolation of rules. Asif Sindhu left thecompany when he was working asacting MD of OGDCL. Tariq Mahmood,who is a simple diploma holder in civil

works, was appointed as ManagerSocial Welfare Implementation in2008. The Board of Directors (BoDs)had approved his sacking but he is beingretained in the company. Qamar Zaman, GM JV was also

illegally appointed and did not meetqualification and experiencecriteria. Auditor general had termedhis appointment as illegal but thecompany did not sack him. Howeverhe himself left the company.Lieutenant Colonel Javaid Iqbal

(Retd) Assistant Manager Security;

Talal Haider Chief Human Resource(HR) OTcer; Babar Iftikhar DeputyChief Engineer Health Safety andMobeen Aftktar Deputy ChiefCorporate Legal were appointed inviolation of rules and regulations.Mehruns Sala was illegally appointed asDeputy Chief but she had beenpromoted as Manager Finance inviolation of rules. Ministry of Petroleumhad also formed a committee led by ajoint secretary to take actions againstillegal appointments but no actionwas taken.

MOHAMMED RIZWAN

LLAAHHOORREE:: Amidst heavy downpour,fluttering PTI-colours, boomingchants of Prime Minister Imran Khanand a trademark PTI music, hundredsof thousands of PTI workers andoTce-bearers from across the countryand abroad, an elated PTI ChairmanImran Khan unveiled the corner-stones of party manifesto atMinar-i-Pakistan on Saturday.The countless bodies formed a

mammoth human wave from Ravi

Bridge to data darbar on the outliningRavi Road with at least 150,000-200,000 people packing the sprawlingIqbal Park – the biggest publicgathering site in Lahore. Apart from themanifesto of the PTI that Imran Khanunveiled in front of some 80,000 oTce-bearers the estimates of body count waswhat every one was interested in. Is itbigger than October 30 2011? Is itbigger than April 10, 1986 or did it liveupto the billing of the biggest ever inLahore. There are no easy answers asthere is no machine that could count

the sea of the people. However, thegovernment agencies, who are alwaysconservative for opposition parties, putthe figure at anything between200,000-300,000.So much for thehead count.

Khan unveiledthe manifesto inform of six pledgeshe set out to make. He said he wouldnever lie to the people and would keephis promises. He vowed not to saysomething that he could notaccomplish. Explaining, he said that he

would never make false promise ofraising the minimum wages as is beingdone by other political parties. Hewould never say to the Americans onething while saying something else to

own people andhe would neverpromise to give acertain wheat

price to the farmers while in reality theykeep getting low prices. He promised toprovide to everyone what he said wasthe most important thing a governmentshould give – the social justice. He said

if elected to oTce he would uproot thetradition of injustice both oTcially andunoTcially from the society and standby the minorities and othermarginalised sections of the society.Third, he promised not to have

property abroad and also vowed neverto quit his countrymen in the face ofadversity. The promise was a clearswipe on his political opponents Sharifsof PML-N. He promised that he or hisfamily would never take advantage ofpublic oTce – another vow to be cleancompared to his political opponents.

Also he promised to the chanting crowdthat tax evaders would have no roleeither in his party or the government.Last he vowed to ‘restore’ the respect

of overseas Pakistanis. He said hisgovernment and party would stand foreach and every overseas Pakistaniworking for his country abroad. Thenbefore the strong windstorm hit thegathering, Khan asked the crowd tomake a vow that they would stand byhim in fulfilling all that he promised toachieve. As per PTI organizers, the rallyachieved all what they expected.

SAEED MINHAS

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Suspense over thenomination of caretaker primeminister continues to growmanifold as Election Commissionof Pakistan (ECP) could notdecide a name on its first day ofdeliberations due to ill-health ofCEC Justice (Retd) FakhuruddinG. Ibrahim, non-attendance ofECP member from SindhRoashan Ehsani. Rumours gripped the federal

capital as it was announced bythe spokesperson of the ECPthat meeting has to bepostponed due to bad health ofthe CEC. It grew out ofproportion throughout the day,especially so because the CECFakhuruddin was heard sayingthat “it will take less than twohours to decide and the matterwill not go the second day,” Theconcerned raised as well when itwas leaked out to the media thatFakhuruddin had to call of themeeting for a break because hewas not finding it appropriate tocommunicate with the onemissing member of ECP RoshanEhsani via Skype link. In an age when corporate

sector is making deals worthbillions of rupees by holdingconference calls through a freesocial media application likeSkype, the reason mentionedjust created a hype that externalfactors are being considered.The chances of the choosing thecaretaker prime minister mighteven ultimately land in theSupreme Cpurt was also onestrong rumour which keptsurfacing every now and thenthroughout the day. The reasonfor such was considered quitelogical because as per the 18thAmendment of the constitution,the road ends at the ECP, if itfails to resolve the issue withinits given two days time frame

and once such an impasse isreached than Supreme Courttakes it as its birth right tosummon the matter in its arenaand decide the fate of the fournominees being consideredthese days. Four names remaining in the

circle have shrunk to two,informed the sources, whichincludes Justice (Retd) NasirAslam Zahid of PML (N) and DrIshrat Hussain of PPP. What ECPhas considered so far is theability, integrity and intent of thegiven two candidates, revealedsources privy to thedevelopments. However, what isnot being considered so far is theadministrative experience of anyof the four candidates, opined asenior official of ECP seekinganonymity. Meanwhile, backdoor

diplomacy between the PeoplesParty and Nawaz Leagueremained intact throughinformal channels to decide thefate of Punjab’s caretaker—whichultimately is linked directly to thefinal choice for the caretakerprime minister, learned theSpokesman through someinsiders. The contact lines arestill open but not in a formal way,that’s why nobody is ready tocome on record, admitted seniorleaders from both the sides. Meeting of the ECP, meanwhile

has been rescheduled for10:00am Sunday, where ECPmember Riaz Kayani believesthat a caretaker prime ministerwould be appointed by 1:00 PMon Sunday. The ECP is taskedwith appointing a caretakerprime minister in two days froma list of candidates provided bythe government and opposition.The candidates officially listedare Justice (retd) Nasir AslamZahid, Justice (retd) Mir HazarKhan Khoso, Dr Ishrat Hussainand Rasool Bakhsh Palijo.

LAHORE: Imran Khan waves to the crowd upon arrival at Minar-e-Pakistan. –STAFF PHOTO ((MMOORREE PPIICCTTUURREESS OONN PPAAGGEESS 33 && 44))

SSHHEEIIKKHHUUPPUURRAA:: At least 25people were killed and over40 others injured Saturdaywhen a bus overturned afterhitting a roadside electricitypylon here.The accident occurred early

morning while the bus wasgoing from Lahore toFaisalabad. Karamat Ali, anoTcial of the state-run rescueservice, said several womenwere among the dead.Ali said a passenger told

rescue workers that the bushit an electricity pole afterthe driver fell asleep at thewheel. Police oTcials saidthe bus was speeding at thetime of the accident. Localresidents and rescue teamstook the injured to a nearbyhospital. The bus wasoverloaded as manypassengers were sitting onroof of the bus, police said.The causalities increasedafter the passengers weretrapped inside the bus. Somebodies could be removedonly after the mangled metalof the bus was cut, rescueoTcials said.The deceased have been

identified as 18 year oldFaisal, Mumtaz BB, ShahzadAhmed, MuhammadArshad, Tuheed Ahmed,Rasheed Ali, MuhammadAshiq and Hamza. Identitiesof other deceased are yet tobe determined. –AGENCIES

OUR STAFF REPORTER

LLOONNDDOONN//KKAARRAACCHHII:: MQM ChiefAltaf Hussain Saturday expressed noconfidence over Election Commission ofPakistan (ECP) and called changes inKarachi constituencies a conspiracy todivide MQM’s vote bank.Addressing meeting of the party’s

Rabita Committee , the MQM Chief saidthe ECP is taking bias decisions againstthe aspirations of the people of Karachi.“Hundreds of thousands of MQMworkers will not let ECP divide vote bankof the party.” Altaf saidnation should thinkabout theunconstitutionaldecisions of theECP prior tothe polls.“How canweexpectfreeandfair

elections from this Election Commissionin this regard,” he asked, adding:“Prejudiced decisions of ruling class havealready divided the country butunfortunately the nation did not learnlesson from the tragedy of 1971.”The MQM chief stressed members of

Rabbta Committee to create awarenessamong the masses about theconspiracies against MQM as mandateof the party has been hijacked.“Coming days would be tough for

workers, the masses and workers shouldprepare themselves mentally andphysically for coming days, he warned.Meanwhile, MQM’s Faisal Sabzwari

said boundaries of severalconstituencies in Karachi were redrawn

overnight, adding that themeasure should beimplemented countrywideand not simply centric to onecity. He said MQM had

alwayswelcomedeverylegitimate callmade by theelection

commission,adding that his

party wouldapproach the courts whenit is time to do so. Alleging

that the recent move had politicalincentives, he said the electioncommission should not be turned into awrestling ground for political parties.

First day of deliberations

ECP delayscaretaker PMfor a day

PTI makes it yadgar in Lahore� Massive rally braves rain � Imran unveils manifesto in form of six pledges � Says he would never lie and would keep his promises

MQM up in armsagainst delimitation

25 dead as bushits pole nearSheikhupura

� Altaf expresses ‘no confidence’ in ECP

� Late arrival of EC member from Sindh,CEC’s health wasted another day � Decisionto be finalised by 1pm today

� Imran wins first of 15 rounds –Page 3

reLaTed sTory

SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2013

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The Election Commission of Pakistan has issued anotification to configure 400 teams to monitor all national andprovincial constituencies, and senior civil judges and assistantcommissioners would lead these teams.In a statement issued from the ECP office said that security, video

cameras and transport would be provided. These committees wouldmonitor violations of code of conduct of the ECP, weapon exhibitionand details of expenses during the election campaign in eachconstituency.The committees would send reports to district offices which will

be responsible to forward these reports to provincial office andfinally the reports will reach to the central office. The chief of themonitoring committees would remain in direct contact with thechief election commissioner and the Election Commission secretaryfor any kind of assistance and administrative help.The committees were given absolute powers so that it can issue

administrative orders any time and will send videos to theElection Commission of Pakistan. �ONLINE

ECP forms 400monitoringteams for polls

SHANEL KHALIQ

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD.. Students of a privateschool on Saturday gathered at thePakistan Monument Museum tocommemorate the historic occasion ofPakistan Day. A colourful event wasorganised by Lok Virsa (NationalInstitute of Folk and TraditionalHeritage) in collaboration with theMinistry of National Heritage andIntegration in which a group of

students from Beacon House SchoolSystem sung national songs alongwith folk artist Javed Niazi. Theirperformances were followed by a cakecutting ceremony. Lok Virsa’s Executive Director

Khalid Javaid said, “This year wespecially invited school children toparticipate in our programs with aview to inculcate awareness amongthem about our rich cultural heritage.”The idea was conceived by Asaf

Ghafoor, Federal Secretary, Ministryof National Heritage and Integration,keeping in mind the educationalpotential of Lok Virsa’s facilities forthe benefit of the younger generation. “Lok Virsa has also launched a fully-

fledged project on establishment ofChildren’s Folklore Society underwhich eight societies have alreadybeen set up in remotest parts of Sindh,Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkwaprovinces,” he added.

Students stage a colourfulevent at Monument Museum

CMYK

CMYK

13 booked; hashish,weapons recovered

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Police have arrested13 outlaws from various areas of thecapital and recovered vehicle,hashish and weapon from theirpossession. Sub-Inspector MunirKhan from Golra Sharif policestation arrested Gull Muhammadand Shabina, the two accused, andrecovered 2.6 grams hashish and 500grams opium from their possession.The police official also arrestedaccused Tajamul Khan and recovereda 30-bore pistol and recoveredcartridges from his possession. Thepolice registered cases against theoffenders and started investigation.Inspector General Bani Amin Khanand SSP Yaseen Farooq appreciatedthe performance of the police anddirected them to curb the activities ofthe anti-social elements. �ONLINE

Out-of-order signals annoy commutersIISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The dysfunctionaltraffic signals are creating enormousproblems for the commuters of thecapital city while traffic wardensdeployed on these signals allow eachside to go according to their own willwithout taking care of time whichcauses traffic jam. Due to theloadshedding, most of the signalsoften remains dysfunctional, whereasat some signals the police warden aredeployed while there are no trafficpoliceman deployed at most of thesignal to control heavy flow of thetraffic. Rehan Abbasi, one of thecommuters, said that the long queueson traffic signals also causinginconvenience for ambulances,because it was not possible forambulance and other emergencyvehicles to rush through the heavytraffic. Ali Ahmad, anothercommuter, said that it was notpossible for one warden to control theheavy flow of traffic and suggestedthat it was necessary to deploy atleast three to four police personnel ateach signal. �ONLINE

Carjackers active in federal capital IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The number of carrobberies in the jurisdiction ofAabpara police station has increaseddramatically and made life diMcult forthe citizens. It is learn that more thanone dozen cars have been stolen fromdiNerent areas situated in the precinctsof Aabpara police station during onemonth. Meanwhile, the citizens havedemanded that the authoritiesconcerned take serious notice towardsthis grave issue. �ONLINE

Retired bureaucrat passes awayIISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Syed Ijlal HaiderZaidi, 84, a retired bureaucrat, diedafter protracted illness on Saturday.Besides holding key positions‚ he alsoserved as the director general of theRadio Pakistan. �ONLINE

HOMER BALOCH

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The deputycommissioner of Islamabad hasapproved a police request forexhumation of the graves of twoBhara Kahu murder victims,Shahzadi Bibi and Sawera Hakim.The exhumation will be conductedwithin two weeks for post-mortemof the two diseased girls, policesources said on Saturday.

The doctors and a magistrate forthe purpose will be nominated nextweek, the police added. When contacted, investigating

officer Assitant Sub-InspectorMansoor Ahmad told TheSpokesman that the approvalprocess will take a week in whichletters from the DeputyCommissioner office will be sentto the district authorities,including district health office to

nominate the doctors and the magistrate for legal andmedical process. He said although the accused

Ibrar Riaz Qazi and Zahra Mehekhas confessed the murder ofShahzadi Bibi and Sawera, the postmortem of the victims is essentialto provide evidences in the court.He said DNA sample of the bodieswill confirm the causes of their death.

It merits mentioning that IbrarRiaz Qazi with the help of his lover,Zahra Mehek, raped five girls andkilled two of them. On February 13, Shahzadi went

missing after leaving for Zahra’splace for tuition. Later her burnt body was found

in the industrial area. Protest byher family led the Supreme Courttake an action, with directives forthe IGP of Islamabad Bani Amin to

solve the case. Ibrar Riaz Qazi,aged 27, was arrested and duringinitial investigations he confessedto have murdered Shahzadi Bibi. Zahra, however, denied the allegations.The case developed more serious

when Ibrar confessed that he andMehek had also killed Mehek’sfriend Sawera Hakim, the daughterof a senior police official, onNovember 4, 2012.

Bodies of two Ibrar victims to be exhumed

People lighting clay lamps and candles at a ceremony in connection with the Earth Hour.�ONLINE

HOMER BALOCH

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The Shalimar police on Saturdayregistered an FIR for the kidnapping of ateenager who went missing about a month ago.Muhammad Awais, aged 14 and resident ofBhara Kahu, was a salesman at a general storein F-10 Markaz, police said. The youth’s mother told the police on Saturday

that he went missing on February 19. Rahat Bibilater told The Spokesman that her younger son,Awais was introduced to the owner of the generalstore by one of her relatives in August 2012. “On February 18, Awais went to work only not

to return. She said the owner of the general storetold her that on February 19 Awais left the shopto buy some medicine and then did not return.She further told this paper that a few days beforehis disappearance Awais had left his job butwithout informing his master but rejoined the

store after staying home for a few days. “His duty was so tough that he could only sleep

for not more than two hours. He was also notgiven any weekly days oN,” his mother furthersaid. Most of the time he stayed back at the storeduring the night, she added. After gettingfrustrated with his job, he left it many times inthe past but every time rejoined it after weconvinced him to,” said a weeping Rahat Bibi. She said that Awais complained to her a couple

of times that one Abbasi, a good friend of theshop owner, often visited the store andmisbehaved with her son. She said that she hascome to the police station after a long wait and inthe hope that Awais will himself return home. “Istarted searching him when he did not return forseveral days”. She said she approached the policeafter not getting any clue of his missing son.On the other hand, Chaudhary Mustafa, the

owner of the general store, said that on February

19, Awais had gone to a medical store in front ofthe shop to buy a cough syrup as he was notfeeling well. “The medical store is on a walkingdistance from our shop, but when Awais did notreturn after some hours, we thought that onceagain he has gone back to home, repeating hispast practice. Two days later we contacted hermother to inquire after him but she showedcomplete ignorance about him,” said Mustafa.“Awais was a good boy. And we did not see himinvolved in any kind of suspicious activity nor hehad a bad company.” Investigating oMcer ASI Murtaza Qamar told

The Spokesman that the reason behind themissing of Awais is that he was neither incontact with his family nor his shop as he didnot have a mobile phone. “However we havestarted our investigation and published theadvertisement of the missing and also displayedat other police stations.”

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Earth Hour 2013observed in Pakistan by switching oN alllights at 8:30pm for an hour to joinhands with the global campaign to preserve the earth’s atmosphere and climate.The tradition of observing Earth Hour

started back in 2007 in Sydney, Australiaas a voluntary eNort by the local populaceto highlight the importance of protectingearth and its vital resources. Soon this actcaught attention and today it is beingobserved across the globe in manycountries, Pakistan being one of them.It all started when co-founder and

Executive Director of Earth Hour AndyRidley started a lights out campaign thatturned into one of the biggestenvironment protecting campaigns inthe world in the span of a few years. Forhim, the idea is to galvanize people totake action before it is too late and tospread awareness internationally aboutpreserving the environment and climate.Economic growth and the spread of

industrialisation and capitalism acrossthe world have caused tremendousdegeneration of the earth surface andresources are running out fast.Development and infrastructurefacilities are now reaching the remotestcorners of the world; however the costthat the earth has to bear is somethingthat is shared by everyone around theplanet across boundaries.The Earth Hour is therefore an

initiative to raise awareness across theglobe about the degradation of theenvironment and the importance ofvoluntary acts to preserve the planet thatwe all share. �STAFF REPORT

Lights go oNto celebrateEarth Hour

Youth fed up with lengthyjob hours goes missing

Students of Pakistan Sweet Homes at a ceremony to celebrate Republic Day of Pakistan. �ONLINE

Rangers personnel presenting a Guard of Honour at a ceremonyat Pakistan Monument. �ONLINE

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Pakistan National Councilof the Arts, Ministry of National Heritage& Integration, has scheduled a free puppetshow on Monday (tomorrow) at 4pm atthe PNCA Auditorium in F-5/1. The National Puppet Theatre will

showcase the skills of its puppeteersfeaturing vibrant costumed puppets andpresent folk tales, skits, regional dancesand national songs to provide informativeentertainment. The puppet show will bepresented every Monday at the samevenue and time. �ONLINE

Activists of Sunni Students Organisation holda demonstration in support of their demands,outside National Press Club. �ONLINE

Free puppet show atPNCA tomorrow

OUR STAFF REPORT

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: A victim of robbery lodged an FIR againstfour of his relatives including his wife on Thursday.An FIR (103) has been lodged in Sabzi Mandi police

station by Masood Mujahid on March 21 against her wifeand three other relatives by complaining that her wife alongwith her three relatives has stolen jewelry and cash valuingRs 0.6 million from his house.In his statement, Masood mentioned that the woman, Rohi

Naz, to whom he is married, is a member of a gang whichuses girls to deprive the victims of their valuables bymarrying them. According to police sources, Masood has alsomentioned in the FIR that his brother in laws Abdul Sattar,Alam Zaib, his wife Rohi Naz, and her relative Shehzad tookthe cash and jewelry from his house on gun point after whichhe approached to court to get divorce from his wife.The victim also said that her wife and the three other

accused were allegedly involved in a gang in which a femalemember of the gang marries to a man and later deprive thevictim from his valuables. On the other hand, investigatingofficer Muhammad Arif told The Spokesman that the policehave only recorded the statement of the applicant yet andthe real story would emerge after taking the stance of the accused.

Husband lodges FIRagainst wife, 3 others

SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2013

Venom Inc. This should not beheld against me in a court oflaw aˇ I solemnly declare that

these a˘e absolute lies, dirty whispersand wild speculation that I have heard

while crawling in the dark power

corridors of the creepy Capital. Yo˙will believe them aˆ your own riskShh...If you have venom to spill please

don’̂ hesitate to share with ˙ˇ on ourblog at www.thespokesman.pk

POWER ALLEYS|CMYK

SALMAN ABBAS

ISLAMABAD: Superior authori-ties in Capital Development Au-thority (CDA) continues to holdbegging bowl instead of thinkingout of the box to explore more av-enues for generating funds andbalance its books.Current chairman Syed TahirShahbaz is enjoying good reputenowadays after winning a war ofnerves with the prime ministerand his sponsors from BahriaTown but he too seems to be con-servative that hardly any innova-tive way of revenue generation ison the table of the supreme civicbody of the federal capital.“He should be aware is thathonesty alone may not be enoughfor the financial survival of civicbody,” commented a member ofthe board who believes that un-less CDA starts taking smart de-cisions, chances of carry on witharmy of political appointeesmight become hard in the com-ing days.Shahbaz, so far, did not takeany controversial steps for sake ofhis repute but at the same he hasalso not taken any practical stepsfor bringing the CDA out of fi-nancial crunch on permanentbasis which has resulted in astalemate in the federal capital.Banking on the conventionalwisdom of those responsible forpulling a profitable civic agencyinto financial abyss, ChairmanShahbaz continues to follow thesame route of auctioning theplots in commercial and residen-tial areas. “This helps CDA gen-erate enough to keep floating butnot good enough to bring it outof financial mess,” claims anothermember of the board seekinganonymity.Many circle with the organiza-tion is arguing that why thechairman CDA Tahir Shahbazlike his predecessors seems moreinterested in making temporaryarrangements for generatingfunds through auctioning ofplots instead of bringing reformsin utilization of other resources ofthe CDA.A senior CDA oNcial told TheSpokesman that the authoritycan endure all its expensesthrough its directorate of Munic-ipal Administration (DMA) justby improving the process of ad-vertisement, adding that in thewhole world municipal adminis-

tration is the best tool of generat-ing funds but in the federal capi-tal of Pakistan, DMA directoratehas become the den of irregular-ities.Instead, CDA is going to con-tinue its streak of selling the in-cluding a commercial plot insector F-5/1, measuring 3.75acres, four commercial plots,measuring 1333 square yards inBlue area and as many as 20 res-idential plots of 12 marlas in Sec-tor G-10/2, while other plots tobe auctioned are located in sec-tors G-11 and D-12.The oNcial said that the sale ofthese plots would arrange thefunds for cash-starved CDA butit was a great need to shift thefocus from auctioning of plots to-wards bringing reforms in mu-nicipal administration.He said that the CDA has notadopted proper process for leas-ing out the bill boards, addingthat the CDA can generatearound a potential Rs. 3.2 billionfrom the sale of signboards andbillboards. Currently the busi-ness of billboards and hoardingsigns is managed by the DMAwing of the CDA which is underthe scrutiny of Islamabad HighCourt’s (IHC) judicial commis-sion for number of scams specifi-cally for the allotment of kiosksin the city to many blue eyed peo-ple including some known jour-nalists of the city.However, when asked Chair-man CDA Syed Tahir Shahbaztold The Spokesman that theCDA has been formalizing aproper policy to improve the sys-tem of municipal administrationand the authority would gener-ate revenue through all its re-sources.

Why CDA is protectingits corruption marredmunicipal wing?

Im r a nKhan’s rallyin Lahore

has kicked-oOthe electioncampaign in ahighly spiritedway that will bediNcult for hisrivals to match- not just innumbers butalso in vigour.EvenHollywood

would not have been able to createthe ambience – a multitude ofcharged crowd crying hoarse withconstant sloganeering, the thunder,lightning and drizzle. Men, women,the young and the old dancing onthe music beat of popular songs.Imran Khan had such a spell thateverybody stayed despite rain.Good that Khan did not bore thefrenzied crowd with policy mattersthat are the stuO for academics.Most of what he said was rhetoricabout not lying, finishing oOinjustice and all those customaryelection slogans. But he was heardwith rapt attention.This is perhaps that advantagethat Imran Khan has over his rivals.He is untested so people can believehim. Asfi Zardari and Nawaz Sharifhave a huge baggage to defend fromearlier government if they make

similar promises. No matter howrulers think about their days ingovernment, people always have adiOerent memory — something thatMusharraf may also find out today.That Imran Khan has charismamay be the biggest understatement.And he has learnt the art of oratory.Political workers may come to attendthe rallies of Asif Zardari and NawazSharif but they do not come to justsee them or listen to what they see.It always seems as the same oldspeech that they have heard Asif andNawaz made hundred times.Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardarimay roughly be of the same age asImran Khan but somehow do notcome across as the youthful ‘oldie’Khan does. Call it beauty, his hair orcharms, the way he sways crowd,particularly women and the youthnobody among the existing lot ofPakistani politicians can do that.Altaf Bhai would like to thinkhimself a bigger star but nobodyoutside the remote-controlled MQMhierarchy would agree.However, the biggest questionremains how much of this willtranslate into electoral vote. You cangive Imran Khan the credit forputting across the basic equation ofthe election before the public right atthe start: Will the traditional‘electables’ representing biradris,feudal and pressure groups win orthe PTI will be able to sway the

elections towards its mantra of‘change.’ Of course, the PTI also triedthe ‘electables’ model, in the processof winning over the likes of ShahMahmood Qureshi and JavedHashmi. But it’s now reverting backto popular politics - partially becauseit could not gather enough heavyweights. In the given situation, PTI’sbest shot is if it could nudge theelectoral discourse also towards itspopular mode of rhetorical politics.That being the case, the beginningmay not have been bad.The electoral situation in otherprovinces, as we see it, is less hazy.Multiple political parties jostle forpower in their respective powerpockets as it is happening inBalochistan electoral situation. WithMQM dominating Karachi andpartially Hyderabad, the Sindh ruralcontest is largely about how manyseat will the PPP lose to the oddmixture of nationalists, PML-N ledby PML-F. The Khyber

Pashtunkhwa is a total mess as fiveparties strive for local alliances withPTI upsetting the traditionalequation. The Saraiki belt too islargely a contest between PPP andPML -N.However, the buck stops inPunjab, especially in the central beltbetween Attock and Khanewal thatencompasses 107 electoral seats.While the PML-Q stalwarts jumpthe ship, the PPP seems to havegiven up in Punjab. The PTI maygive the PML-N run for their moneyin cities but as things stand today,the PML-N dominates the ruralPunjab heartland. The PTI will needto do something real creative toempower its mostly diminutivecandidates here. This amounts tobringing about a revolution thatmight threaten the very political andsocial structure as it did in the 1970s. This is easier said than done. Butit’s also not the same old NawazLeague-PPP way the electoral cookie

will crumble this time. But the PTI’srally has proved one thing: it’s a longsee-saw of electoral politics fromnow on.The mammoth PTI rally may havealready had some impact. It willhave some edge in having localalliance that particularly matters inthe KP. Those who have alreadycrossed over to other parties maybecome doubtful about theirdecisions again. The indecisivefence-sitters, for instance theLegharis, may rethink again. Moreimportant, it will reinvigorate thePTI cadres.Even if one takes the PTI claimabout having seven million memberswith a pinch of salt, the figure of80,000 oNce-bearers is impressive.This amounts to a massivemachinery that should matter in theelection.But this seems a long haul of atleast 15-round contest for sure. I givethe first round to PTI.

PTI wins first of 15 roundsPolitically

Incorrect

Amir Mateen

The mammoth PTI rally may have already had some impact.

It will have some edge in having local alliance that particularly matters in the KP.Those who have already crossed over to other parties may become doubtful abouttheir decisions again. The indecisive fence-sitters, for instance the Legharis, may rethink again. More important, it will reinvigorate the PTI cadres.

“

”

Spy master lookingafter UAE health

We all knowthat ageneral is

a general nomatter whatdesignation heholds and perhapsno matter howmuch he lovesdemocracy. True.However, a retiredgeneral is worthmillions too if he has been holding rightportfolio at a right time in history.Lt. Gen (retd) Ahmed Shuja Pasha,former spy chief, who has beeninstrumental in planning Swat and SouthWaziristan operations and has beenaccused of ‘patronising’ Kaptan’s party,has landed a plum job with the AbuDhabi government in the UAE. Thedesignation he has been given wouldtantalise your gusts, I swear. He is advisorto UAE government on health. Yes health.During all these years it never crossedanyone’s mind that there could be arelation between spying and health orbetween chasing drone targets and yourcholesterol levels. Being a spy chief in acrazy place like Pakistan can certainlyrequire a sound and healthy mind but it’shard to imagine any connection betweenrunning a spy headquarters and runninghospitals.But what’s there in a designation. Ahefty pack of Dirhams on the first day ofevery month all that matters. Isn’t it.What they say in Urdu: Haathi Mara HuaBhi Sawa Lakh ka Hota Hai

SAEED MINHAS

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardarihas once again performed the role of apost oNce by signing the extension of sixadditional judges of the Lahore Highcourt as proposed by the judicial commis-sion, approved unanimously by parlia-mentary committee and sent by the primeminister.Regardless of the fact that judicial coun-cil has ignored a ruling of the SupremeCourt given during the Hajj Corruptioncase where a Director General of FederalInvestigation Agency (FIA) WaseemAhmed and nine other oNcials were or-dered to be removed because they wereworking on contractual basis, extension inthe services of judges is neither beingquestioned nor being pointed out.The outgoing government is keepingmum even on the fact that judicial com-mission is being boycotted by Bar Coun-cils of Pakistan on reasons that judicialcouncil continues to bulldoze their opin-ion in appointment of new judges. Thesame bar councils which remained instru-mental in restoration of a sacked judiciaryjust four years ago have now resorted tolaunch a countrywide campaign for “In-dependent Judiciary” but not to seek morepowers for existing judiciary but to reignin their unchecked behaviors and bringthem in line with the constitutional lim-its.Therefore, recent extension in serviceshave neither been examined by the parlia-mentary committee nor President hasdared to delay it like he did in the case ofelevation of Islamabad High Court’s sen-ior most judge to the Supreme Court. Ju-dicial Council has established itsunequivocal writ over the rest of the stateinstitutions by telling them that they areneither answerable to anyone nor can bequestioned. Despite the fact that recentnominations by the judicial council wereapproved in the absence of any represen-tatives of the bar council, the nominationswere approved, sent to parliamentarycommittee and finally completed its infor-mal route to get a stamp of approval by thepost oNce of President.But in this entire, process what JudicialCommission seems to be missing is thepoint that it has pitched representativebodies of the lawyers against the higher ju-diciary of the country, besides creating anair of tension between the legislature andthe superior judiciary. How far this bodeswell for the superior judiciary is unclearbut one thing which many jurists andleading figures of the lawyer’s movementagree to is that in the lifetime of the cur-rent vibrancy it may very well sustain butnot afterwards. Even if the rumours of apetition is considered true that ‘someone’

wants to ask the courts that why the cur-rent judicial benches should not be givento make up for the two years they lost dueto suspension saga—during which the ju-diciary continued to enjoy all the privi-leges and perks even during those dayswhen many of them were served with re-straining orders to stay inside their oNcialhouses.Without any doubt, the current judici-ary has become the highest paid publicservice entity, a recent investigation con-ducted by The Spokesman reveals that Ju-dicial Commission seems to have pitchedthe representative bodies of the lawyersagainst the higher judiciary of the coun-try, as the former continue to press uponthe later for ending its dictatorial grip overnomination of new judges. After failing to convince the oNces of

supreme judiciary in this regard, PakistanBar Council and Provincial Bar Councilshave decided not to nominate their mem-ber for judicial commission until PakistanBar councils’ proposed amendment in therules of judicial commission is taken seri-ously and incorporated in the procedureaccordingly. PBC oNce bearers confirmedthis while talking to The Spokesman thatincase their demands are not met.But what remains mystery in the exten-sion of judges scenario is that why thetrendsetters of the superior judiciary havepassed an order asking the legislature toincrease the number of judges posts in allthe provincial high courts and even thesupreme court as per the load of the cases?If superior judiciary can take a stand onthe clauses of 18thamendment concerningthe appointment of judges, why cannot it

take an identical view on asking the sameparliament whom they have proven to beno more than a rubber stamp for the judi-cial commanders the question to pass alegislation for increasing the number ofjudges? Jurists and former judges are alsoat a loss to understand this double stan-drads as they were when asked about dou-ble jeopardy on extension issue. “If Yusfraza Gilani can be asked to remove a DGranked contractual oNcer and nine othersincluding a former military man holdingministry of defense than why the samerule was ignored when extension for Jus-tice Ramday was sought and multiple ex-tensions were given to the Registrar of theSupreme Court and extensions are beingsought for the additional judges,” agreedmany leading lawyers avoiding to benamed in this context.

Interestingly, echoes of this confronta-tion between bench and bar was visibleduring the full court reference in recentweeks, when the chief justice was heard(reported as well) expressing regret overthe absence of bar council representativesfrom the meetings of the judicial commis-sion due to which the Islamabad HighCourt case could not be heard for few daysbut then we saw that he ignored the ab-sence and passed the orders with an ap-parent consensus of the present membersof the JC, thus getting his wish thoughonly after deciding the presidential refer-ence. That was not it because even the at-torney general and provincial and federallaw ministers remained absent thus put-ting its silent weight behind the bars topress for more freedom from the clutchesof JC supremacy.

Justice (r) Syed Qalab E Hasan, ViceChairman of Pakistan Bar Council, con-firmed and regret that we had to take thehard decision of not appointing a memberto the Judicial Commission just to regis-ter a point. But as many other view it thateven this eOort seems to have gone un-no-ticed and JC continues to press hard forgain more ground against a governmentwhich seems highly intimidated for anumber of reasons ranging for corruptioncases like Hajj Scandal, rental power,ephedrine, loan write-oOs, Swiss case,constitutional cracks and so on and soforth. Though the government has tried tobounce back through third parties in caseslike Hussain Haqqani and even ArslanIftikhar case via Bahria Town’s Riaz Malikbut so far the balance of all probabilitiesremain in favour of JC.The ‘terror’ of judicial council is suchthat first the bi-partisan parliamentarycommittee had to lick its ego when theytried to question some of the nominationsmade by the judicial council as they wereasked to have no such authority of ques-tioning. President Asif Zardari wasslapped with the same ruling when triedto ask through a presidential referencethat whether he is just a post oNce or a liv-ing human being with a mind.Therefore, the end result is that an-other bunch of six additional judges ofLahore High Court; Mr. Justice AbdulSami Khan, Mr. Justice Ibad-ur-RehmanLodhi, Mr. Justice Shujaat Ali Khan, Mrs.Justice Ayesha A. Malik, Mr. JusticeShahid Waheed and Mr. Justice AliBaqar Najafi have been given a six monthextension. As per the handout of thePresidential spokesperson, summary sentto the President states that the JudicialCommission of Pakistan had forwardedthese nominations to the ParliamentaryCommittee on Judges Appointment inthe Superior Courts recommending sixmonths extension in their tenure as Ad-ditional Judges of Lahore High Court.The Parliamentary Committee on JudgesAppointment in the Superior Courtsunanimously agreed with the nomina-tions of Judicial Commission and re-quested the Prime Minister to advise thePresident for according his approval. Ac-cordingly, acting upon the advice of thePrime Minister, the President has con-firmed grant of six months extension intenure to the above-mentioned Addi-tional Judges of Lahore High Court. Let’ssee how far this dichotomy of the JudicialCommission will prevail and how roaringpolitical parties will ensure a balance ofpower between various institutions of thestate thus ensuring that everyone re-mains not only entrenched within itsconstitutional domains but respects oth-ers’ domain.

Supremacy of Judicial Councilcontinues to grow

Interim govt to improvelaw & order: AlaviKKAARRAACCHHII:: Sindh Caretaker ChiefMinister Zahid Kurban Alavi onSaturday said that the interimgovernment would attempt to improvethe law and order situation in Karachiby meeting with all stakeholders innear future. Alavi and Governor DrIshratul Ebad visited the mausoleum ofQuaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnahand laid wreathe. Speaking on theoccasion, Dr Ebad said that theenemies of the country could only bedefeated by following the principles ofQuaid-i-Azam. He congratulated theoutgoing government and oppositionon completing five years of democracy. �ONLINE

Inter exams from May 15 in PunjabSSAARRGGOODDHHAA:: All Boards ofIntermediate and Secondary Educationincluding the Sargodha Board havedecided to hold the annual examinationof the intermediate from May 15 inPunjab instead of May 4. All the boardssuggested that the exams be deferreddue to the general election held whichare scheduled to be held on May 11 asteachers would be busy in performingtheir duties during the election. �ONLINE

Security beefed up atAbbasi Shaheed HospitalKKAARRAACCHHII:: The heavy contingents ofpolice and rangers have been deployedaround the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital,one of the busiest institutions of Karachi,in the wake of any possible terror attack.A banned outfit Tehreek Talibanthreatened to blow up the hospital withexplosives after which the security hasbeen tightened on the request of thehospital administration. �ONLINE KKAARRAACCHHII:: Rangers soldiers showing weapons recovered during a search at Manghopir Sultanabad. �ONLINE

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: President Asif Ali Zardari onSaturday conferred military awards uponoKcers of the Pakistan Air Force. Air ViceMarshal Arshad Quddus and Air Vice MarshalSohail Aman have been awarded with Hilal-i-Imtiaz(Military).Air Commodore Khalid Mahmood, Air

Commodore Shahjahan Sattar Khan, AirCommodore Khawar Hussain, Air CommodoreAasim Zaheer, Air Commodore Humayun ViqarZephyr, Air Commodore Noor Abbas, GroupCaptain Muhammad Safdar, Group CaptainMuhammad Afzal, Group Captain ShahzadZafar Dogar, Group Captain Omer Sharif,Group Captain M Arif Burq, Group CaptainSalman Mahboob, Group Captain GoharMajeed Khan, Group Captain MuhammadWaseem, Group Captain Shahid Nadeem andGroup Captain Tahir Mukhtar have beenawarded with Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Military).In recognition of his tremendous eLorts and

support for the JF-17 Thunder programme,Wang Guangya, chairman of the Board andpresident of the Chengdu Aircraft IndustrialGroup Co Ltd of China, has been awardedSitara-i-Imtiaz by the president.Tamgha-i-Imtiaz has been awarded to Group

Captain Syed Ali Zaidi, Group CaptainMuhammad Shafique Siddique, WingCommander Muhammad Ehsan-ul-Haq, WingCommander Gohar-ul-Hassan Syed, WingCommander Aurangzeb Ahmed, WingCommander Salman Masood, Wing

Commander Muhammad Asif Aslam, WingCommander Arif Mahmood, Wing CommanderImran Siddiqui, Wing Commander AdnanQadeer, Wing Commander Tariq Iqbal, WingCommander Muhammad Usman Malik, WingCommander Muhammad Ikram-ul-Haq Noor

and Wing Commander Muhammad NasirJaved. Squadron Leader Bilal Hassan Babri(martyred) has been awarded with Sitara-i-Basalat. Wg Cdr Jehan-Zeb Tahir and Sqn LdrSyed Asif Hussain have been awareded withImtiazi Sanad. �AGENCIES

Awards conferred uponAir Force o�cers

SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2013

KKAARRAACCHHII:: Maulana Allama SyedMuhammad Jawad Hadi, the principal ofMadrassa Ariful Hussaini, in a statementissued to the press on Saturday, emphasisedthe role of parents and teachers duringpuberty. According to Maulana Hadi,“Human beings undergo both physical andpsychological changes when they reach puberty.”“Children experience many new emotions

and physiological changes during puberty.These changes are caused by hormonalfluctuations and are a normal part of growingup. Many times, however, children are not

provided proper knowledge and educationabout these changes, due to which they oftenturn to unreliable sources to seek the desiredinformation. This makes them vulnerable toexploitation and abuse,” the cleric added. Girls hit puberty between ages 10 and 14

while boys reach puberty between 12 and 15years. This sensitive period is associated withsignificant physical changes, such as heightand weight increases, in addition to otherchanges. Boys and girls also experienceemotional changes during that time. Moodswings, energy changes and frustration arecommon indications. Adjusting to this

unsettling period can be difficult for bothadolescents and their parents. It is importantto know that all these changes are temporaryand require a lot of patience and support,Maulana Hadi said. He stressed that teachers must provide

timely guidance to children as advocated byIslam, saying “Islam places greatestemphasis on education. It holds thatchildren are more likely to be exploited andmisled unless they are given the rightknowledge and awareness about thechanges accompanied by puberty.”Knowledge, guidance and support during

puberty is crucial. Parents and teachers haveto play a vital role by equipping children withthe correct information about puberty and itsrelated changes and how to deal with them.Without proper parental guidance, childrencan be led astray and exploited by their peersand other untrustworthy persons. They canfall into bad habits and even be exposed to lifethreatening diseases (such as HIV/AIDS),and dangerous situations. According to a research published by the

Cancer Research (UK), around 207,000children aged 11-15 start smoking every yearin the UK. Pakistan fares no better. �DNA

‘Islam advocates parental guidance during puberty’

OUR STAFF REPORTER

IISSLLAAMMAABBNNAADD:: In connection withPakistan Day celebrations and Jashn-e-Nowruz, Rawalpindi Arts Council onSaturday organised a festival and anexhibition, showcasing photographs ofthe Pakistan Movement.Stalls depicting culture of all

federating unites of Pakistan, includingGilgit-Baltistan, and other countries,including Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan,Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Cyprus,were set up in the lawns of the councilas part of the Nowruz Festival that was

organised with the collaboration of TheDiplomatic Insight.The main objective of the festival was

to exchange culture with nations thatcelebrate Nowruz Festival. Besides alarge number of the people from allwalks, ambassadors and diplomats ofvarious countries also attended thefestival. Folk singer Qurban Niazi andhis companions, and local bands ofRawalpindi and Islamabad alsoperformed on the occasion. Besides cultural stalls of various

countries, stalls of the PunjabTourism Development Corporation,

woodcraft works, calligraphy, truckart, embroidery and others were alsoset up. Naheed Manzoor, flanked bydiplomats from Turkey, Iran,Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistanand Cyprus, and RAC ResidentDirector Waqar Ahmed inauguratedthe festival, while Muhammad AsifNoor, Chief Editor of The DiplomaticInsight and Khalid Zia Saddiquecontributed a lot to make the event success. At Nowruz festival, Naheed

Manzoor said Nowruz Festival marksthe beginning of the spring season,

and Rawalpindi Arts Council hasutilized this opportunity to presentcultures of diLerent nations at oneplace. She said Pakistani culture, andart and crafts have presentedthoroughly for foreign delegates andthe local public. PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan

Abbasi inaugurated the photoexhibition based on the PakistanMovement, which showcased over 75photographs. Speaking on theoccasion, he said the photo exhibitionhas presented a complete history ofPakistan movement.

RAC exhibition showcases pictures of Pakistan Movement

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The Election Commission ofPakistan has constituted District/AgencyElection Security Committee in eachdistrict/agency under the supervision of thedistrict returning oKcer. The following oKcers of each

district/agency as its members: DistrictReturning OKcer coordinator, DeputyCommissioner/DCO/Political Agentmember, District Police OKcer/Commandant in FATA member and DistrictElection Commissioner member. The committee is mandated to look after

matters relating to maintenance of law andorder in the district/agency during theconduct of elections. Besides, the districtpolice oKcer will prepare contingency planfor provision of security at the pollingstations on the day of election and place itbefore the committee for its perusal andapproval before it is implemented. A copy of the contingency plan, after

approval by the committee, shall be sent tothe provincial election commissioner, districtelection commissioner and all the returningoKcers in the district/agency. �ONLINE

ECP constitutesbody to lookafter security

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: President Asif Ail Zardari haspaid glowing tributes to Maadr-i-Jamhooriatthe late Begum Nusrat Bhutto on her 84thbirth anniversary falling on March 23. In hismessage, the president urged the people tomake the ongoing democratic transitionsmooth and transparent to pay tributes to alife spent in the cause of democracy.“Begum Sahiba was a towering woman of

great courage. She endured indescribablepersonal tragedies in pursuit of democraticstruggle and illumined the path for futuregenerations to traverse,” the president said.Combining elegance and grace on the onehand and courage and endurance on theother, she led the struggle from the front in amanner that will inspire generations ofdemocracy loving people and lift them to

higher goals, he said.By standing tall despite heavy odds, the late

leader has bequeathed the nation all theabiding lessons of tolerance and endurance ata time when these virtues seem to bevanishing, the president said. He said thedemocratic transition that the nation waswitnessing and passing through today was, inpart, due to the relentless struggle andsacrifices of the Maadr-i-Jamhooriat.He said it was an irony of fate that while she

endured great personal tragedies in the courseof this epic struggle she was no more aroundto bask in the glory of this great triumph. Thebest way to pay tributes to her memory was tomake the democratic transition smooth,peaceful, free, fair and transparent, thepresident said. AGENCIES

President pays tributesto Maadr-i-Jamhooriat

LLAAHHOORREE:: Activists of Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf take part in public meeting at Minar-e-Pakistan. �ONLINE

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Pakistan is observing WorldTuberculosis Day, falling on March 24, along withthe global community with a view to build publicawareness about the global epidemic oftuberculosis and eLorts to eliminate the disease.As per details, currently tuberculosis causes deathof about 1.7 million people each year, mostly in thedeveloping countries.March 24 actually commemorates the day in

1882 when Dr Robert Koch discovered the TBbacillus Mycobacterium Tuberculosis thatactually causes the disease. The discovery openedthe way toward diagnosing and curingtuberculosis. 'Stop TB in my Lifetime' is theslogan for this year’s World TB Day encompassingthe ambitions of all governments, health care

professionals, civil society organizations andhealth development partners involved in TB care,and points to the ultimate target of Global TBElimination by the year 2050.In a message on the occasion, Dr Ala Alwan

Regional Director of WHO’s EasternMediterranean Region has pointed out that theglobal health community has come a long way inits struggle against tuberculosis, and achievedappreciable progress in meeting global targets toprevent and control tuberculosis during recentyears. Yet in 2011 there were more than 8.7 millionnew cases of tuberculosis and 1.4 million peopledied because of it indicating that the global fightagainst tuberculosis is far from over yet.He emphasised that WHO is at the forefront

of the regional struggle against tuberculosis.WHO teams in regional and country oKces playan instrumental role in building the capacitiesof the national tuberculosis controlprogrammes, developing strategicinterventions, helping secure funds and creatingpartnerships. Dr Ni'ma Saeed Abid, the WHORepresentative in Pakistan ad interim hadhighlighted the fact the Tuberculosis isessentially a disease of poverty and anyinvestment on the control of the disease can leadto overall economic development of the country. Tuberculosis is a major cause of morbidity and

mortality in the country and is among the topthree causes of death for women in their childbearing age. �ONLINE

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: A delegation comprising ofShia clerics headed by Allama Sajid HussainNaqvi on Saturday called on President AsifAli Zardari at Aiwan-e-Sadr. The delegationincluded Shabbir Mesmi, Ramzan Toqeer,Wazarat Hussain Naqvi, Aarif Wahidi andAllama Mazhar Abbas.Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah, Ms. Shehla

Raza and Ms. Mehreen Anwar Raja werealso present during the meeting. President’sspokesman Senator Farhatullah Babar saidthat during the meeting the president whileemphasising upon the need for greatereLorts to promote interfaith harmony saidthat the religious leaders, scholars andUlema have a critical role in promoting

inter-faith dialogue and religious harmony.He said that it was disturbing to see that

the values of tolerance and harmony werefast eroding during the present times. Theextremists, the president said, havedestroyed the peace of society in the nameof religion and added that the extremistmindset was not confined to any onereligion or country. The spokesperson saidthat the President also reaKrmed theresolve of the government to continuefighting against the forces of extremism andreligious bigotry by promoting democraticvalues of reconciliation, tolerance anddialogue and by propagating message ofpeace and harmony. �ONLINE

Clerics told to promote harmony'Stop TB in my Lifetime' campaign starts

SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2013

ABDUR RAZZAQ

PPEESSHHAAWWAARR:: Closure of severalroads because of security threatsand developmental schemes hasresulted in traGc mess in theprovincial metropolis.Talking to The Spokesman,

Ihsanullah, a resident of Gulberg inthe cantonment area, said most of thecity roads were narrow while thenumber of vehicles in the city wasincreasing with each passing day.He said massive migration of the

internally displaced persons (IDPs)from the tribal region to the city hadalso led to increase in the number ofvehicles in the city. “The enormousnumber of the rickshaws andindiHerent attitude of the traGcpolice deployed on various routes isalso one of the reasons of the traGc

mess,” he added.Afzal Khan, belonging to

Hashtnagri locality, said securitycheckpoints on diHerent routes in thecity were also creating traGc jam.Acknowledging the importance of thesecurity barricades set up on variousroads, he demanded of the authoritiesconcerned to reduce the number ofthese check posts.He mentioned that due to traGc

jams, he could not make it to his oGceon time. He said VIP movement onKhyber Road had also becomeheadache for the ordinary commuters.Samiullah, a student of the

University of Peshawar, stuck in atraGc jam on Charsadda Road, saidtraGc jams in the city would betackled by construction of variousroads, adding that the governmentshould reopen Khyber Road for public

transport to overcome traGc mess.“I could not attend my classes due

to the traGc chaos. It’s hardly 15minutes drive but it takes me twohours to reach my classes due totraGc mismanagement anddevelopment work on roads, flyoverand underpasses in Tehkal andJahangirabad on University Road,”he explained.Asma Gul, employee of a private

organisation, said: “The closure ofvarious roads for public use in thename of so-called security andestablishment of check posts anddiversion of traGc to selected roadsare the causes of the traGc mess.”Khalifullah, a taxi driver, said

ongoing developmental projects werealso one of the causes of frequenttraGc jams as the authoritiesconcerned failed to devise strategy to

divert traGc to other link roads tomaintain flow of traGc.He said that due to dilapidated

condition of the Ring Road,transporters did not use the road tomake it to the main bus stand,Hayatabad and other destinations.When asked about the traGc jam andsolution to the problem, SeniorSuperintendent TraGc Police AsifIqbal said the department is devising astrategy to overcome the traGchazard. He said the cops deployed tomanage the traGc were directed tostrictly implement the rules.The SSP said the barricades and

check posts were established onroads to thwart any untowardincidents. He said Khyber Road wasclosed down by the security forcesand they had no authority to reopenthe road for general traGc.

He said dilapidated condition ofthe roads and under-constructionbypasses and underpasses werealso the main reason behind thetraffic mess.“We have requested the provincial

development authority to repair akilometre long portion of the old BaraRoad from Custom Chowk up toTajabad,” he said. He said the renovation of this

portion of the road would help reduce40 per cent traGc burden on theUniversity Road, which would helpreduce the traGc mess in the city.“We will install security cameras on

various roads in Peshawar to keep aneye on those breaking the traGc rulesand causing traGc jam. Theinstallation of the video cameras willalso help improve law and order inthe city,” he added.

Closure of roads causing traGc jams in Peshawar

AHMAD NABI

KKHHYYBBEERR AAGGEENNCCYY:: The GovernmentPrimary School Khalo Kaley, SheikhmalKhel, of Landi Kotal tehsil is not in acondition to serve the children because itlacks basic facilities, local tribesmencomplained on Saturday.Last year on January 24, 2012, the

abovementioned school was razed toground by militants as they bombed thestructure with a planted explosive deviceand since then the Education Departmenthas failed to provide basic necessities tothe school to enhance the educationactivities, the dwellers of the arearegretted. The school had enrolled 200-250 poor local students whose numberdecreased to 75-80 because of dearth offacilities, they added.Samiullah Shinwari, a resident of

Sheikhmal Khel whose three sons arestudying in the school, said it was the onlyschool in the vicinity and they could notsend their little children to far-off areas;therefore, the government shouldconstruct the demolished school on apriority basis, he demanded.Abuzer, a fifth grade student of the

school, said, “The day our school wasbombed, we are sitting on a muddy

ground in open sky while facing harshweather conditions. In summer days, wesearch for shadow of a wall, while ourschool remains closed during rainyseason,” he added.Adnan, another student of grade four

said, “We borrow chalk from privateschools or jointly make fund to buy it frommarket for our teacher to write on a greenboard. A small shade has been erected onself-service basis but it cannot meet ourneeds,” he added.The on-duty teacher (PTC – Primary

Teaching Certificate), Waheed Gul, saidthe Education Department KhyberAgency had granted mates, tents and othernecessary equipment to other destroyededucational institutions but ironically noattention had been given to this school.He added that because of lack of

required items, not only the students’studies had been affected but it alsocaused increase in the number of studentsleaving the school, as their strength wasdecreasing day-by-day.When Assistant Agency Education

OGcer (AAEO) Landi Kotal wascontacted, he reply was that on the eve ofnew educational session, all the requiredstuH would be provided to the school andstudents’ reservations would be addressed.

Bombedschool getslittle attention

OUR STAFF REPORTER

GGHHAALLAANNAAII:: The Pakistan Day wascelebrated with great zeal andenthusiasm in diHerent parts of theMohmand tribal region on Saturdaywith a promise that tribesmen willcontinue their struggle for the peacein the area which have badly aHectedby the ongoing conflict.Special prayers were oHered at Fajr

in all mosques of the agency withprayers for peace, prosperity andsolidarity of the motherland. PoliticalAgent Mohmand Agency Dr AmberAli Khan hoisted the national flag ata formal ceremony at the AgencyHeadquarter Ghalanai. He alsoaddressed a tribal jirga which wasattended by a large number oftribesmen. Ghalanai AssistantPolitical Agent (APA) JamshedKhan, APA Lower MohmandMaqsood Hassan, TehsildarHaleemzai Shamsul Islam and tribalelders were also present at thespecial ceremony.Addressing the jirga, the political

agent said the tribesmen gavevaluable scarifies to make a separatecountry for the Muslims of thesubcontinent. “Joint eHorts willcontinue till restoration of peace inthe area,” he promised. He said that due to the sacrifices

rendered by security forces and tribalelders’ situation had beennormalised in the area. Some other

local personalities also addressed thegathering while students presentednational anthem and songs.Tribesmen assured their fullcooperation to the localadministration and the government.

HHAANNGGUU:: At least threesecurity personals werekilled while five sustainedsevere injuries when athunderbolt struck inOrakzai Agency on Saturday.According to media

reports, three securitypersonals were deployed onduty in Godala. Thethunderstorm resulted inthe death of three securitypersonals while five otherssustained severe injurieswhen a thunderbolt struckthe area. The injured wereshifted to hospital formedical aid. –ONLINE

Pakistan Daycelebrated inMohmand Agency

OUR STAFF REPORTER

GGHHAALLAANNAAII:: Security forces defused animpoverished explosive device (IED)planted on a boardwalk near Main MandiBazaar at Kassi, oGcials said on Saturday.Security forces also conducted search

operation in the adjoining areas of Kassiand arrested three persons which werelater shifted to Ghalanai.

MMIIRRPPUURR ((AAJJKK)):: Like otherparts of the country, the PakistanDay was celebrated in Mirpurdistrict on Saturday with greatenthusiasm, traditional fervourand devotion.The main flag-hoisting

ceremony was held at the MirpurMunicipal Corporation. AJKSenior Minister ChaudhryMuhammad Yasin was the chiefguest on the occasion. LocaloGcials, politicians, notablecitizens and civil society memberswere also present on the occasion.In their brief speeches, the

speakers highlighted theimportance of the day coupledwith reiteration of theKashmiris’ firm resolve tocontinue the freedom struggle tillthe liberation of occupiedJammu Kashmir and translatethe idea of accession of entireJammu Kashmir state to Pakistaninto a reality. –STAFF REPORT

�Number of students leaving Govt Primary SchoolKhalo Kaley increasing because of lack of facilities

Kashmirisreiterate pledge

PPIINNDD DDAADDAANN KKHHAANN:: At least five minor girls died of suHocation in Pind DadanKhan on Saturday.Rescue sources said that the incident took place in Nainwal town in the suburbs of Pind

Dadan Khan when the wife of Allah Ditta, the mother of the dead children, lit a candleand placed it on a plastic washing machine as there was no electricity. Later, the motherwent to neighbours to attend a marriage ceremony. The candle fell on the washingmachine due to which it caught fire. The rescue sources said that the girls aged betweentwo to ten years died due to suHocation when smoke filled a room at a house in the night.The dead girls have been identified as 10-year-old Sobia, eight-year-old Rimsha, six-

year-old Rimza, two-year-old Noor Fatima while another victim has not beenidentified so far. It is worth noting that many deadly incidents have been reportedfrom across the country because of power outages. They involve poor wiring and othercauses including human errors. Lack of basic infrastructure and awareness result inthe latest Pind Dadan Khan-like tragedies, as poor families cannot aHord expensivealternative light system to tackle load-shedding. –AGENCIES

Five girls die of suHocationin Pind Dadan Khan

This school in Landi Kotal is one of the hundereds of educational institutions in FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that havebeen destroyed by Taliban as a part of their anti-education campaign to impose their own brand of Sharia. –STAFF PHOTO

Munawarwants Islamicsystem

Forces defuseIED in Haleemzai

Thunderboltkills threeFC men

SSAARRGGOODDHHAA:: All Boards ofIntermediate and SecondaryEducation, including BISESargodha, have decided tohold the IntermediateAnnual Examination fromMay 15 (Wednesday) inPunjab instead of May 4.All BISE boards had

suggested that the exams bedeferred due to the generalelection held which arescheduled to be held on May11 as teachers would be busyin performing their dutiesduring elections. –ONLINE

Annual interexams fromMay 15

AMJID ALI

SSWWAABBII:: Syed Munawar Hasan, thechief of Jamaat-i-Islami (IJ), onSaturday said the voters should rejectthe American agents and vote for thehonest and devoted leadership in thecoming elections.He was speaking at the two-day

congregation of Jamiat IshaatTauheed-wa-Sunnah (JITS) at Pajpir.Maulana Tayyab Punjpeeri, chief ofJITS, was also present on the occasion,while his followers from across KhyberPakhtunkhwa, tribal belt and Punjabparticipated in the gathering.Addressing the gathering, the

leaders of the two parties declared thatthey shared the same ideas, objectivesand approaches about various internaland external issues, adding that themost important common feature wasthe struggle for establishing an Islamicsystem in the country.They said that the Islamic system

was the only panacea to solve thepresent day challenges and they hadbeen working collectively for a trueIslamic system in the country.They said that the other systems

experimented in Pakistan hadfailed and there was no need of moresimilar practices.Munawar said: “So far, we are in the

American clutches; we cannot makeour dreams of progress and prosperitya reality. We should get rid over theAmerican influence and their unjustand unwanted continued meddling inPakistan’s internal affairs which areaimed to weaken our country throughdifferent tactics. The rulers shouldunderstand that what the US leadersreally desired.” The JI chief added thatthe incumbent rulers had givennothing but obscenity during theirfive-year tenure.He said that the general elections

were a critical opportunity for thenation to reject the American agentsand vote for those who really wantedto take Pakistan out from theprevailing crisis while taking steps andrevolutionary measures to strengthenthe country, especially work for therestoration of peace and stabilizationof the feeble economy.Maulana Tayyab said that they fully

support the Afghan Taliban and theywould be able to establish theirgovernment in war-ravagedAfghanistan soon after the American

withdrawal. He said it was the Talibanheroic struggle against the US-ledNATO forces which compelled thewestern allies to flee fromAfghanistan.“Afghanistan has remained a

graveyard of invaders. The GreatBritain, former Soviet Union and nowthe sole superpower and its Westernallied tested an ignominious defeat onAfghan’s soil. If they stay more theywould suffer more,” he said.

SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2013

THE SPOKESMANChief Editor: Huma Ali

Executive Editor: Atif MateenResident Editor: Saeed Minhas

Consulting Editors: Jalees Hazir Samina Choonara

Achebe and the New Africa

It went from purple to sickly greenBefore it died,Today I see it still—Dry, wire-thin in sun and dust of the

drymonths—Headstone on tiny debris of

passionate courage.—Mango Seedling, by Chinua

Achebe,May 1968

Albert Chinualumogu Achebe, aka,Chinua Achebe, the post-colonialAfrican literary writer died on 22March at the age of 82. Hismostfamous novel, Things Fall Apart(1958), which was initially dismissedby western critics, sold 10millioncopies andwas translated into 50languages, becoming amust-read incolleges. It finally displaced JosephConrad’s Heart of Darkness as themost widely read African narrativeglobally. His other novels includeArrow of God (1964), AMan of thePeople (1966), A Personal History ofthe Biafra (2012), Beware Soul Brother(1971), andHome and Exile (2000), anessay collection.For Achebe, the comical novel,

Mister Johnson (1952), aroused hisfirst deep stirrings of anti-colonialismand a desire to use literature as aweapon against western biases. ‘In theend, I began to understand,’ he wrote,‘there is such a thing as absolute powerover narrative.’ Chinua Achebe thus ledAfrican writers in the 1950s to graspthe powerful narrative about theAfrican countryside and towns withcharacters bewildered by theconflicting pulls of traditional cultureand dominant, invasive western values.Mostly, his inspiration came from the

travails of his ownminority Igbo clanin southeasternNigeria and the racismof British colonists followed by brutalmilitary dictators. Things Fall Apart isabout a nineteenth century villagechieftain andwrestler who rose frompoverty but who commits suicide afterbeing unable to adapt to colonial ruleafter killing a fellowAfrican, a servantof the British administrator.I still remember amemorable line

from the novel frommyAitchison daysin Lahore, ‘Okonkwo feared nothingbut fear itself,’ an allegory of conflict

and power. The novel is strong onIgbo rituals and culture and, like hisother novels, a fascinating journeyinto the colonial and local mind,interpreting codes of behaviour ofmaster versus subject.His second novel, No Longer at Ease

(1960), is about Okonkwo’s grandson,Obi, who ismore adept at finding hisplace within colonial society than histragic ancestor. Raised as a Christianand educated in England, Obimovesfrom Igbo countryside as a civil servantto Lagos, the capital, but he soonsuccumbs to greed and is prosecutedfor corruption. Achebe was brought upinmission schools and attended theUniversity of Abadanwhere he read

traditional English literature.In 2000, Professor KwameAppiah of

PrincetonUniversity described hiswritings as bearing intensemoralenergy that captured the sense ofthreat Africans felt under colonial rulethat disrupted their lives. But Achebe’swritings quickly evolved from a strongcriticism of colonial rule beingresponsible for Africa’s woes to anequal condemnation - alternatelyresigned and exasperated - ofmilitarydictators and public tolerance ofoppression and corruption.This conversion came about as civil

war shattered the author’s romanticismabout a promising post-colonial future.But he always believed that writers andstorytellers ultimately heldmore powerthan generals, contradictingMao’sfamous dictum: ‘power comes from thebarrel of a gun’.As presciently imagined in his AMan

of the People, sectarian violence did

break out inNigeria in 1966 and theIgbo region facedmassmurders and afamine as it separated temporarily asBiafra. Achebe fled to theUSwhere hetaught at Bard inNewYork and then atBrown since 2009.He returned severaltimes toNigeria, in the early 1970s asthe war waned, and in 1990 aftersuWered a crippling accident whichconfined him to a wheelchair.His fifth novel, Anthills of the

Savannah, Achebe chronicled threeformer schoolmates from an imaginaryWest African village. One of thembecomes amilitary dictator, anotherone theminister of information, andthe third, the editor of the leadingnewspaper. In the end, all three are

murdered for diWerent reasons.In 1970, after the BiafraWar ended,

he drifted from fiction toward reviewsand talent hunts. As editor of theBritishHeinemann's AfricanWriterSeries, he edited, published andpromoted early entrants into theAfrica's pantheon of writers: Kenya'sNgugi wa Thiong'o, Ghana's Ayi KweiArmah, Cameroon'sMongo Beti. In2000, theNigerian author told TheAtlantic in theUS hewished to inspirevoiceless peoples to share their ownhistories and create a global "balance ofstories."Importantly, he wrote inHome and

Exile, ‘After a short period of dormancyand a little self-doubt about itserstwhile imperial mission, theWestmay be ready to resume its olddomineeringmonologue in the world.’This still rings true with globalizationand its aftermath post 1989 fall of theBerlinWall, not to forget amodern

Judeo-Crusade post 9/11.Clearly then, Chinua Achebe was a

towering global intellectual figure ofthemid to late twentieth century andmaybe for longer. His observations,stories and viewpoints have always hada prescient relevance to the developingworld, now emergingmarkets, and totheWest, interpreting the colonial andneo-colonial experience. His exampleputs Pakistani writers -mostly westernapologists regurgitating colonialwisdom and devoid of any genuinenew genres or open debate - to shamethey do not feel in their intellectualcoma. FromACase of ExplodingMangoes to The ReluctantFundamentalist, or from progressivewriters likeManto to Qasmi, thePakistani narrative has been unstable,diluted and thus largely ignored, givenits narrow social and political focus.But while Achebe, reconciled with

theWest and courageously evolved hisnarrative from colonial denunciation topublic apathy under nationalism - agift of the colonials who arbitrarilymerged various self-suVcient peoplespossessing local institutions- he wassilent onwho ultimately has deliveredon Africa: not his silent hope of arepentantWest, but China.While there is eWusive talk of

eradicating the colonial past in westerncapitals, the fact is that it was USdomestic farm policy and theimposition of health and social NGOswith their own know-best agendas thatdecimated Africans withHIV andother disease growth,mass starvationand those raging blood-diamondwarsin recent decades. Even today, both theEU and theUS restrict African farmimports. It has been China riding toAfrica’s rescue since 2000. Havinglifted its own 900million souls out ofpoverty since 1978, China’s apoliticaltens of billions of dollars investmentin infrastructure, mining, hospitalsand local jobs, training and educationhave helped blossom Africa intosteady growth frommining andservices. Perhaps this is for the newgeneration of writers Achebe hasmentored to dissect.

THE AUTHOR IS A SILICON VALLEYENTREPRENEUR WITH AN MS AND

MBA FROM COLUMBIA

Block 11, G-6/1, Aabpara, IslamabadTelephone: 051 260 7153-4

Fax: 051 260 7498www.thespokesman.pkce@thespokesman.pk

Importantly, he wrote, ‘After ashort period of dormancy and a littleself-doubt about its erstwhile imperialmission, the West may be ready toresume its old domineering monologuein the world.’ This still rings true withglobalization and its aftermath post1989 fall of the Berlin Wall

Crimes against women

In our society, honour killings andother crimes against women are onthe rise. Most of the killing are theconsequence of family feuds andlove marriages. Women living inthe rural areas are mostly forced

into marriage as their consent isnot deemed necessary andimportant. Other serious crimesagainst the women are acidthrowing, burning alive by pouringpetrol over them and setting dogsto tear them apart.Rape is another one of the mostcommon crimes committed againstthem. It is the most under reportedcrime as women are discouraged toreport it, so that family honourstays intact.Some of these victims are so

young that they do not survive theferocious attack and are robed oftheir playful days and innocencefor life. If the accused is influentialgoes scot free. The women areparaded nude in the streets andthus made to face unimaginablehumiliation.Some women's body parts are

mutilated and scared for the rest oftheir lives.They are mercilessly killed, and

other women face misfortune forrest of their lives with deformedfaces, or with their noses ears, orlips chopped off.Our religion gives them equal

rights, but these rights are eitherusurped or are disregarded by themale relatives.While some of the NGOs provide

assistance to protect the rights ofthese women and are doing goodwork in this field.But there is a need for making

them aware of their various rightsand freedoms, as they are notaware of these rights andprotection given under the variousprovisions of the constitution.They are denied these legitimaterights.The percentage of educated

women has remained quite low andthis is the reason for theirbackwardness. They should standup for their rights, and defy theforces that oppose them. We must

implement laws empowering thewomen. The women must beencouraged to come forward andreport the crimes committedagainst them. They must fight fortheir rights to end the incidence ofcrimes against them.

JAVAID BASHIRISLAMABAD

The real powerbehind Malik RiazMES is Military Engineer Servicesand not Maintenance andEngineering Service Thisdepartment is like P W D of theArmed Forces, including Navy andAir Force as well.

KARAM A SIDDIQUIKARAMSIDDIQUI@YAHOO.COM

Admiring the dedication you putinto your blog and in depthinformation you present. It's goodto come across a blog every once ina while that isn't the same out ofdate rehashed material. Greatread! I've bookmarked your siteand I'm including your RSS feedsto my Google account.

CANDELARIAKILLIAN@YAHOO.COM

Never say die

I think there is no harm in postinga retired general as ambassador ifthey qualify for that post. But as amatter of principle this trendshould be discouraged.We must keep the diplomaticservice clean and only those whohave excelled in internationalaffairs and understand thesubtleties of foreign policy should

be inducted.The appointments to the foreign

service should remain theprerogative of the Civiladministration and no interferenceby the Army Chief. The whims ofthe military brass must be rejected.The national interest shouldremain the guiding principle.

JBATTORNEYATLAQ2@GMAIL.COM

Dog’s life atWagah-Attari

Bloody hilarious! Enjoyed thisthoroughly.

V.SARAVANANVSARA@HOTMAIL.COM

Please email your letters toletters@thespokesman.pk or post themto our address in Islamabad.

Feedback from the web

ATHAR MIAN

Chinua Achebe who passed away recently has left his observations, stories andviewpoints that have a prescient relevance to the developing world and to theWest, interpreting the colonial and neo-colonial experience

The recent stand-off between the Indian and Italiangovernments over the trial of two marines accused of murderingtwo Indian fishermen has finally been averted with the accusedflown back to New Delhi to stand trial. Two marines of theItalian Navy, Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, wereon board an oil tanker when they fired and killed two Indianfishermen Ajesh Binki and Valentine aka Gelastine, just off thecoast of Kerala on 15 February 2012.The marines who were in detention awaiting trial by the

Indian Supreme Court were flown out on the guarantee of theItalian ambassador to India, Daniele Mancini, on the pretextthat they had to cast their votes in the general election. TheSupreme Court granted them a one-month leave to vote in theItalian general election but it was later learnt that votes could becast by mail and the Italian government refused to send themback once they were on home soil.Outraged, the Indian government refused to let the ambassador

leave the country and threatened to review all diplomatic, trade,and defense agreements with Italy. This was a clear breach of theVienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations on the part of theIndian government, according to which diplomats have immunityfrom the laws of the land and although they can be asked to leave,they cannot be detained by the host country. But the Indiansargued that the diplomat had waived his immunity by bearingfalse witness that was an insult to the superior court of law.Politicians and journalists in India were united in making this

an issue of national pride, and Sonia Gandhi, head of the rulingCongress party told reporters ‘No country can, should or will beallowed to take India for granted’. Prime Minister ManmohanSingh was content the marines were returned on 21 March, andthat the law of the land was upheld.The European Union and the United States government were

cautious with their comments on the affair and left it to the twocountries to sort out their differences. But in Italy the mediawas incensed and so were right-wing politicians asking ForeignMinister Terzi if he should consider resigning over the poorhandling of affairs. ‘I don't see a reason to’, he had saiddefending his move as de-escalation in diplomatic tensionbetween the two countries and the guarantee of fair treatment tothe two marines. After hectic consultations, it was decided thatthe marines would not be arrested upon arrival, or be given thedeath penalty if murder was proved against them, and that theywould serve their sentence in Italy.In this, there is a leaf to be taken from the book for countries

like Pakistan where national sovereignty is always beingnegotiated with international lobbies and spies and criminalsare officially escorted out of the country. The gravitas thatIndia was able to establish internationally was also becausethere was a united uproar to uphold national pride by thepoliticians, the jurists, and the media - a feat we have still toachieve in Pakistan.

Italian odyssey

‘Yes - it tells us that you participate in themass cultural delusion that the sun'sapparent position relative to arbitrarilydefined constellations at the time of yourbirth somehow aWects your personality’,Doctor Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory.The above quote, amusement value aside,

quite innocently places conventional wisdomon astrology in its true perspective. It hasalways been mystifying how a dozen starsigns can purport to forecast the future for 7billion people on this planet on a daily basis.Even more amazing is the propensity of aliterate population to believe whatever is notunderstandable.Economics and democracy are two such

dogmas which nobody understands buteverybody, well almost everybody, deferstoo; hence the coining of today’s title. Afterall, if the parts are a puzzle, the whole willremain an enigma.If a democratic government, with all due

respect to Mr. Lincoln, is of the people, bythe people, for the people… how is itdifferent from communism whereeverything also belongs to the people?Another delusionary belief is that democracy

is evolutionary, with change around thecorner. If anything, regional historyconfirms that democracy is dynastic innature, and since predictions are a dime adozen, there is no harm in predicting thatsuch dynastic rule will eventually evolve intoEmpires again, in the near future.Rather than shaking your heads in hostility,

focus on the vagueness of the timeline. In aworld where nothing is predictable, anythingcan happen, in time. And that is the beauty ofmaking obscure predictions, there are norepercussions. Interestingly, while both thepolitical elite and economic gurus havegrasped this simplistic principle of predictingand making promises, the populace continuesto be gluttons for punishment.Considering the track record of economic

theory and predictions, it is worth wonderingwhy the subject has not been banned.Arguably electoral promises are the onlyother contender for the worst position in thecategory of fiction. Perhaps this is the reasonwhy they have evolved hand in hand. It wasin 1971 that USA ended the directconvertibility of the dollar to gold, exactlyaround the time universal suWrage, includingfemales, was being popularised across theglobe. Armed with an illusion which no one

fully understands, paper money unrestrainedby any scarce commodity, politicians, relyingupon the economists to postulate theories onthe how, were able to promise the moon togullible masses.When things obviously went south, which

they had to in any case, the initial strategywas to blame each other, followed by morepromises and predictions, which were againunintelligible. Note that these observationsdo not singularly focus on the domestic scene,this is a global phenomenon.How logical is it to preach consumer

spending to kick start growth? If, facingbankruptcy, an individual will be better offsacrificing wants and inculcating a habit ofsaving, why is it different at the nationallevel? Theory postulates that morespending induces increased productivity,hence employment. Practice proves thatmore spending means more inflation andmore debt. And since the economicindicator for prosperity, the GDP, is in itselfa mystery, practice can always be explainedby more theories.Arbitrarily managing interest rates while

simultaneously enhancing money supply iseven more stupefying. Why aren’t principlesof free markets relevant in this case?

Penalising depositors, while at the same timerewarding borrowers, is a remarkablemethodology for fostering austerity. Theoristsseemingly cannot digest an astuteobservation by a rather intelligent unknownperson; humans don’t generally behave asenvisaged in economic models.Free trade however, is the icing on the cake.

Showcasing, the strategy of borrowing fromother nations and than buying luxuries fromthem, as the elixir for economic excellence, isindeed imaginative and insightful, as far asconspiracies go. Expecting an individual toborrow for a short term luxurious lifefollowed by eternal suWering is irrational. Butpundits insist that is exactly what a nationshould do. Worse, they have even establishedinstitutions to ensure the implementation ofthese directives.The above doctrines in fact negate age-old

family values of living within your means.Unfortunately, the list is not all inclusive.The political and economic gurus have othercards up their sleeves, taxation andprivatisation to count a few.Whatever happened to the philosophy of

honestly working hard, safeguardingpersonal assets, living within your means,contributing to the society and saving for the

future? Articulated in this manner, readersshould question a national strategy whichsuggests continuingly borrowing to finance aluxurious life style, selling national assets tomake ends meet, depreciating currency andspending indiscriminately under falsepretensions of wealth, subjecting the massesto abject poverty, substituting hard workwith handouts and collateralising futuregenerations.Coming to a conclusion, there is this

realization that the right path is never aneasy one and further suffering may not bepalatable for the masses. Unfortunately,the nation will eventually have to pay forthe follies of the past and it would be betterto move in that direction at the earliest. Itis prescient to revisit economic theoriesfrom purely a pragmatic nationalperspective rather than blindly followingdirectives emanating out of quarters withconflicting interest.The first step is always the intent to change.

On the other hand, perhaps Dr. Sheldon canbetter comment upon the hallucinationcoined as “econocracy”!

THE WRITER IS A CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTBASED IN ISLAMABAD

The delusions of astrology, democracy and econocracy

BAKHTIAR KAZMI

Considering the track record of economic theory and predictions, it is worth wondering why the subject has not been banned.Arguably, electoral promises are the only other contender for the worst position in the category of fiction. Perhaps this is the reasonwhy they have evolved hand in hand

SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2013

Many people who seek theeradication of terrorism from thiscountry, quote verses from theHolyQuran to brand such activities un-Islamic, yet those who practice suchbrutality and violence also refer tothe same holy book to validate theiratrocities. So who will decide on thecorrect interpretation?Ignorance of the Arabic language

and its syntax has created quite a fewproblems for the followers of Islamand few people can comprehend thetrue meaning behind divinerevelation. Resultantly, we have torely on the works of Imam JaWarSadiq, ImamAbuHanifa, ImamMalik, Imam Shafi and ImamAhmad Bin Hanbal prominentamongmany others.No one doubts or questions these

scholars’ intellectual integrity,character and loyalty to religion. Allmen are people of high reputation,held in esteemby their followers andin the annals of history. They have totheir credit the foundation of IslamicJurisprudence, but they too diWer witheach other over somematters oftranslation and interpretation.The pages of history are witness to

the fact that discrimination on thebasis of caste and creed has alwaysbeen impossible to overcome. Eventhough prophets held a black or whiteman and an Arab or non-Arab inequal esteem, this prejudicecontinues to this day.In remote areas, clans pass on

enmities from generation togeneration and the reasons behindsuch hostilities remain unintelligiblefor decades. And if such is the grudgeof general peace-loving people, adivision on the basis of religion carriesmuchmore explosive power.Take the example of the Taliban.

Setting girls’ schools ablaze,beheading theirMuslim brethren,publicly lashingwomen and stoningcouples in love to death is done in thename of religion. They swell withpridewhile announcing their desire toimplement Sharia and Sunnah “inletter and spirit”. And, of course, theyconsider themselves the chosen onesto implement divine order.In 2010, I visited Swat and

interviewed people on how theyviewed the Taliban andwhat purposetheywanted to achieve. ‘Theywouldcome in battalions atmidnight, pickpeople upwhom they assumedweregovernment spies.Wewould standaghast at the sight of bodies hangingupside down at town squares. It wastheir lesson to us - don’t dowhat wedon’t want you to do,’ the people said.‘But peace has returned now.

People abhor them since thePashtun don’t want the Talibandoing this in the name of Islam. Wewant to send our daughters toschool,’ many of them said whiledisagreeing with the Taliban’s brandof “Sharia” and “Islam”.Such diWerences in comprehension

are not among communities or peoplebelonging to separate races or lands,but among those living together forcenturies amidst similar cultural andtraditional values. So the question is,how canwe achieve a single

interpretation of theHolyQuran forallMuslims to follow andwhat is tobecome of this ill- andmisconceivedrhetoric of theMuslimUmmah?In today’smodern age, the concept

of theMuslimUmmahhas beenreduced to an academic discussion. InOICmeetings, leaders of 52 states sittogether just because they areMuslimbut discussion are heldmostly oneconomic and industrial issues forstates’ benefits. No formula or policyhas ever been formulated by theparticipants to counter terrorism thatmany of them sponsor across theirborders. InWikileaks revelations, therole of Saudia Arabia and itsanimosity against Iran has beenmorehorrible and devastating than that ofUS role against Iran.We are not one and can never be so.

Human conduct and ideology has asmuch variety as any other thing in theworld. Even one legal lexicon inEnglish jurisprudence and otherman-made laws carry diWerentconnotations and interpretations forjurists. So, how come the entire text oftheHolyQuran has the sameinterpretation for allMuslims andreligious scholars?If not, then let’s have our own

understanding of the holy book byregular reading and reference toscholars. ImamJaWar Sadiq’sfollowers - Shias - and the followers offour other Imams – Sunnis - brandeach other non-Muslim, ignoring onefact that having one and the sameopinion over such a rich text is notpossible.The Imamswho first laid the

foundation of religious understandingcannot reappear to sort out thediWerences that present dayMuslimshave created among themselves andcannot explain in person to theirfollowers what they had actuallypropagated. The basis of Islamicjurisprudence have been laid down, itis final, therefore, anyone doingIjtihad and coming upwith his “owninterpretation” of the holymessagewill neither be tolerated nor accepted.Islam is being practiced by various

sects and its followers as they havebeen told by their religious leaders.Sunnis have been told that Shias areKafir and Shias believe that Sunnishave a problemwith some basics ofIslam and don’t deserve to be calledMuslim. Both claim to have theirideology and belief based on theHolyQuran and Sunnah. The Taliban toodeclare themselves “trueMuslims”.Will there ever be a daywhen allMuslims can sit together with onemind and soul?Will we ever come upwith one interpretation of theHolyQuran?Will we ever be justMuslims?Instead of peace, brotherhood,

tolerance and subservience, we havelearnt nothing from theHolyQuranbut aggression.Muslims are living inone of theworst times to be aMuslim,and exposed to people who arerunning businesses in the name ofreligion. As the ill luckwould have it,themessage of peace has become themessage of violence and brutality. Thereligionwhose namemeans peace hasbecome an oxymoron in themodernworld. It is timewe revived the spacefor diWerent readings and the spirit ofthis great religion. This is not the timeto kill over interpretation. So, let’s savehumans first and religiousinterpretation later.

THEWRITER IS A JOURNALIST, SOCIALCRITIC AND LAHORE-BASED LAWYER

It had been just about possible to ignore Bono’sTED talk about the imminent eradication ofextreme poverty, delivered in California a fewweeks ago. Ignore it, that is, despite the heavyworldwide media coverage and all the tweetingand retweeting by the likes of Bill andMelindaGates, the Irishman’s chief patrons. But thenhe turned upmaking many of the same pointson Irish national radio, spoiling a perfectlygood (cold, damp) St Patrick’s weekend, in aninterview that was fawning even by theelevated standards to which Bono isaccustomed. Interviewer Aine Lawlor, arespected radio journalist, actually finished thestultifying 16 minutes by saying to Bono,“Thank you, love”.So what on earth is the Beshaded One

talking about this time? Only the TED blurb(almost certainly penned by the man himself)can begin to do justice to Bono’s message:‘Human beings have been campaigning againstinequality and poverty for 3,000 years. But thisjourney is accelerating. Bono “embraces hisinner nerd” and shares inspiring data thatshows the end of poverty is in sight… if we canharness the momentum.’Bono, who is accelerating humanity toward

the end of its long anti-poverty journey,allegedly loves data. He called his first lobbyingorganisation DATA (Debt Aids Trade Africa),and told the appreciative California audiencethat he’s a “factivist” who gets sexually arousedby numbers. But Bono’s “inner nerd” reallyneeds to meet my outer skeptic, because in facthis optimistic message about the trajectory ofpoverty eradication, and the reasons for it, is aflimsy tissue of truths, half-truths andstatistics, conveniently skewed to suggest that

he and hisWestern partners in Africa(governments, corporations, foundations) havebeen doing a great job entirely.About those statistics: most of them are

compiled by theWorld Bank, which canscarcely be regarded as a neutral arbiter of thequestion of how its programme ofneoliberalism has been treating the world’speople. And even assuming the best will in theworld, the stats are, in the words of ProfWilliam Easterly, ‘based on a firm foundationof wet sand’.For the purposes of assessing Bono’s claims,

however, let’s momentarily share hisassumption that theWorld Bank number-crunchers have given us something accurateandmeaningful, that we can say with somecertainty that, for example, the globalpercentage of people in “extreme poverty”,defined as living on less than $1.25 each perday, roughly halved from 1990 to 2010, to about21%. That’s a rate of decline that would get thepercentage down, as all the Bono-inspiredheadlines claimed, to zero by about 2030.But does that claimmake any sense when

you take a closer look? Do the statistics Bonopresented, and others besides, really tell thestory of a millennia-old anti-poverty projectnearing its end, as he tried to lay it out in hisself-congratulatory 12-minute talk? On thecontrary: while some of the news is genuinelygood, and some of the rhetoric superficiallyuplifting, Bono’s message is flawed (to put ittoo politely) on a number of crucial grounds.In a rhetorical tactic of stunning cynicism,

Bono frames his talk by suggesting that whathe’s presenting has something to do with theprinciple of human equality. That idea, he says,began 3,000 years ago in Egypt (‘civilisationjust getting started on the banks of the Nile’)when Jewish slaves told Pharoah that “our holybook” said they were his equal (we awaitchapter and verse on that); and then the ideareturned to Egypt in 2011, he said, via anotherbook (heh-heh), Facebook. Bono, a well-knowninvestor in the social-media website, doesn’texplain how software that counts the numberof your friends, that constantly devises andadjusts algorithms to determine who is moreimportant, and that now charges money to“promote” your posts is a veritable Bible ofEgalitarianism, but there you are.It’s not just Bono’s own unimaginable riches

and his dubious versions of ancient andrecent history that make his “equality” talk sosickeningly misdirected. It’s that, whateverthe precise facts about extreme-povertyreduction, we know for certain that therecent history of the world is a story ofdramatically increasing inequality. Four outof five people live in countries that arebecoming more unequal in terms of income.For Bono, “equality” is just another feel-goodword, a warm set of syllables to be deployedeven to describe its exact opposite.Although he oWers a caveat about

maintaining anti-poverty “momentum”, Bonoclearly suggests that bringing extremepoverty to zero is just a matter of keeping upthe good work to maintain the trend. We’ll

look below at some of the other flaws in thisreasoning, but for a start it is simply a dumb,wishful deployment of statistical trend-reading about something with such complexmanifestations and causes as extremepoverty. In fact, there are indications in thedata that the rate of decrease of extremepoverty may well be slowing - notsurprisingly, given the crises in global financeand food that have shaken so many countriesin recent years. Bono’s 2010 figure is probablyon even wetter sand than the ones thatprecede it: the World Bank itself still onlypresents a full set of data up to 2008, beforethose crises had fully taken hold, and lastyear said its 2010 numbers were“preliminary”, while admitting that ‘the food,fuel and financial crises over the past fouryears had at times sharp negative impacts onvulnerable populations’.Okay, like the Good Lord says, the poor we

have always with us, but does it make any senseto treat a two-decade decline as theculmination of a millennia-long battle againstpoverty? Have we simply been witnessing aperiod of some slightly benign statisticaladjustment after the worst excesses ofimperialism and neoliberalism beggared halfthe world?Were more than 40 percent of theworld’s population “extremely poor” by somesensible measure in the time of the Pharoahs?Of Jesus? Of the conquistadores? TheWorldBank can’t tell us that.Bono’s economic guru, JeWrey Sachs, has

written that ‘a few generations ago, almost

everybody was poor’. But that’s ahistorical, atbest, because the term “poor” there onlymakes sense when set against later standardsof living. Is it really poverty if “almosteverybody” shares it? “Extreme poverty” as aconcept surely exists partly because we canset it against the extreme wealth of the manon a stage in California presenting a high-tech talk about it.Which brings us back to inequality. As

Philippe Diaz’s superb film The End of Poverty?tells us, in 1820, the per capita wealth gapbetween the poorest and richest countries wasthree to one; in 1950 it was 35 to one; in 1997 itwas 74 to one. You don’t have to romanticise thepre-colonial lives of the world’s subsistencemajority to recognise that those two centurieswitnessed amonstrously acceleratedappropriation of their resources, and disruptionof their lives. Today’s aid to the “developing”world represents the tiniest fractional giving-back of what continues to be taken.When Bono trumpets the global fall in

poverty, he declares, ‘we know what works’. Ashe spells it out, it is exactly the program that heand others in theWest have promoted over thelast decade or two, and he lists elements of it:aid, good governance, and foreign directinvestment (he rarely mentions the tradeliberalisation and privatisations that facilitateFDI). No one could possibly mistake Bono’sTED talk for anything other than a claiming ofthe credit for the improvement he cites.

(MORE ON PAGE 8)

For most of human history,pathways have been part of thelandscapes they were chalkedthrough or built on. Interestingly,making pathways was theundertaking of humans and animalssince both use each others’ tracks.People and animals, following theirneeds, would chart a way just bywalking through land. Since thesepathways were made of mud andthey would not be demarcated, theyhad fauna and could be crossed byall humans and animals alike fromboth sides at any place. Whilewalking along these roads, onecould interact with trees, plants andgrass. One interesting feature ofthese pathways was that they werenot roads exclusively in modernterms, meaning they were not placesreserved only for transportation.Instead, they were places of mixedland use meant for joy, play, travel,trade, fairs, and of connections.When the wheel and wheeled

vehicles were invented, carts wouldpass through these pathways exceptin the Inca Empire (1200-1531) inAndes, South America, whichdeveloped and thrived without thewheel, writing, horses, money andmarkets. Everywhere, however, thepathways were characterized byslowness: both human beings andanimals would pass through themslowly. The beautiful aspect of thesepathways was that they were notseparated from the land and thelandscape. Moreover, they did notimpose a separation betweenhuman beings and the land.Even with this profile, these

pathways should not beromanticized as they were used by

the armies obsessed with movingfaster to kill the life of others oftheir own species. The Romans hadevolved a system of roads primarilyto move armies at a fast speed. Theyintroduced a system of roads inEurope and the Europeans imposedthat system on others duringcolonialism. As roads expanded,human beings lost access to landand forests. A 2006 book TheGeography of Transport Systemssays that even in the pre-automobileage, 10 per cent of urban land wasreserved for transport.When the automobile was

invented during the late nineteenthcentury, motorized trams andpeople could use the pathways. Butin a short time, the nature ofpathways started changingdrastically. A new kind of pathways,i.e., the road, came into existence.This new road is different from pre-automobile age mud pathways asthey are made of concrete and servethe single use of vehicular traffic.The new roads have permanentexistence: once constructed, theyare hard to dismantle. As the roadsexpanded, humans and animals -the long time fellows of pathways -were moved to the sides reserved forpedestrian use. As the number ofmotors increased and as motorsbecame speedier, and as humanbeings motorized themselves bywanting to run as fast as motors, orfaster than motors, the speed ofelimination of pathways increased.The new roads developed their

own ethos: they divided land intoroads and non-roads between earlyto the mid twentieth-century, atleast in Europe and North-America.Besides roads, motors neededparking and other infrastructure.

According to The Geography ofTransport Systems, roads take 30per cent while parking takes 20 percent of the land in motorized cities.On average, roads and parkingconsume between 30- 60 per cent ofthe land in North American cities.The motors remain immobile for 98per cent of their life. In today’sAmerica, motors have more spacethan homes.The American love for roads is

being nurtured in Pakistan since the1960s. A 2010 book InstitutionalBarriers to Sustainable UrbanTransport in Pakistan says that roaddensity (km of road per sq. km ofland area) in Pakistan (0.32) is evenhigher than similar figures forChina (0.19), Bangladesh (0.14),Thailand (0.11), and Turkey (0.19).From the 1960s, our policymakershave demonstrated unshakablebelief in roads as a sign of progress.The suburban housing developmentmodel which we borrowed fromAmerica during late 1950s andcontinued expanding until recentlyhad no space for streets but only forroads. Islamabad serves as a sharpexample of our adoption of the styleof American suburbia. Islamabadwas made as a city of large housesand wider roads. In the seventh andeighth five year plans of 1988 and1994, the government of Pakistanallocated 40 per cent and 57.4 percent of the Public SectorDevelopment Programme (PSDP)to the construction of roads. In thePSDPs of 2011-12 and 2012-13, thegovernment allocated Rs. 50 billionand Rs. 57 billion respectively forroad construction. These allocationswere bigger than the federalallocations to education, health andpopulation put together.

The government of Punjab did notwant to stay behind the federalgovernment in displaying its love ofroads. It allocated Rs. 36, 500million for the construction of roadsin the Annual DevelopmentProgramme (ADP) of 2011-12. Someof the allocations under the head ofUrban Development (Rs. 8, 500million) and Transport (Rs. 7, 300million) are also used for roadconstruction. In addition to theseheads, Rs. 1, 200 million wereallocated separately under theSpecial Infrastructure (Lahore RingRoad) project. It is difficult toascertain what other heads are usedfrom which money is siphoned forroad construction in the Punjab. Inthe ADP of 2012-13, allocations toroads remained huge with Rs. 33,045 million for road construction,Rs. 5, 360 million for UrbanDevelopment, Rs. 6, 200 million forTransport, and Rs. 2, 000 millionfor the Ring Road. These sums arelarger than the sums allocated toeducation and health. We know thatsince the past decade, it is only theroads which are being constructedswiftly and efficiently.Huge sums of money are being

spent for construction of roads inthe Punjab at the cost of humanusage and non-motorized means oftransport. Without doubt, roadshave taken over our lives andprivileged motorised vehicles overland use by people. This is shortterm thinking and environmentallyunsustainable which has changedour urban culture by changing thehuman to land connection.

THE WRITER IS ASSISTANTPROFESSOR AT FORMAN CHRISTIAN

COLLEGE, LAHORE

Our dreadful love of roads

Fairytales from Bono

IMDAD HUSSAIN

SHOAIB SALEEM

It’s not just Bono’s own unimaginable riches and his dubious versions of ancient and recent history that make his“equality” talk so sickeninglymisdirected. It’s that, whatever the precise facts about extreme-poverty reduction,we know for certain that the recent history of the world is a story of dramatically increasing inequality

HARRY BROWNE

In the public sector development programme, the allocation for road constructionin Punjab outstrips the sums reserved for health, education, and population puttogether. This is not only unsustainable but has altered urban culture significantly

All in the name of peace

SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2013

Cyprus races to completealternative rescue planNNIICCOOSSIIAA:: Politicians in Cyprus wereracing Saturday to complete analternative plan raising fundsnecessary for the country to qualifyfor an international bailout, with apotential bankruptcy just three daysaway. Finance Minister MichalisSarris said "significant progress" hadbeen made, and that new legislationraising funds could be completed andsubmitted to Parliament as early asSaturday evening, although thetiming was not certain. Cyprus hasbeen told it must raise 5.8 billioneuros ($7.5 billion) in order to secure10 billion euros in rescue loans fromother European countries that use thesingle currency, and from theInternational Monetary Fund. Thecountry's lawmakers soundly rejectedan unpopular initial plan that wouldhave seized up to 10 percent ofpeople's bank accounts, and is nowseeking a way to raise the desperatelyneeded money. –AGENCIES

DR Congo govt foilscoup against presidentKKIINNSSHHAASSAA:: The DemocraticRepublic of Congo (DR Congo)interior minister said on Saturdaythat the government had forestalled acoup against the president after thearrest of two people. Interior MinisterRichard Muyej Mangez said the twowere Kanku Mukandi, a Belgiannational who was the founder of agroup calling itself "Stand up for theCongolese Movement" (MDC) andIsidore Madimba Mongombe whowas an ex-oUcer of the countrie'spolice force. He revealed thatMukandi who is a doctor living atHoeilaart in Belgium, had madeseveral visits to DR Congo with thegoal of overthrowing the gov't by useof force. According to the interiorminister, Mukandi did not deny theaccusations that had been broughtagainst him during questioning. "Heacknowledged having held severalmeetings in Kinshasa with hismilitary and civilian accomplices, bytelling each one of them the role theywould play before executing a plan toattack the town of Kinshasa. –AGENCIES

Afghan police kill46 Taliban militantsKKAABBUULL:: Afghan police backed byarmy, intelligence agency and NATO-led coalition force have killed 46Taliban fighters across the countryover past 24 hours, Interior Ministrysaid in a statement on Saturday. "Inpast 24 hours, Afghan National Policeconducted several joint clearanceoperations with the cooperation of theArmy, the National Directorate forSecurity (NDS) and the CoalitionForce in Kunduz, Badakhshan,Kandahar, Zabul, Maidan Wardak,Ghazni, Khost and Paktiya provinces,as a result 46 armed Taliban rebelswere killed, one wounded and 26others were arrested," the statementsaid. However, the statement did notsay if there were any casualties onsecurity forces. Taliban militants haveyet to make comment. –AGENCIES

Lebanese presidentaccepts govt's resignationBBEEIIRRUUTT:: Lebanese President MichelSuleiman accepted Saturday theresignation of the government ofPrime Minister Najib Miqati, buttasked it with assuming a caretakingrole until a new government isformed. Miqati has submitted awritten resignation to the presidentafter he oVered to quit Friday evening.Miqati's decision was made in light ofthe cabinet's failure to approve thedecisions to form of an authority tooversee the parliamentary electionsand to extend the term of InternalSecurity Forces Director General,Ashraf Rifi. –AGENCIES

Continued from page 7But even the most cursory reading of themain findings from the World Bank’sGlobal Poverty Update last yearcompletely demolishes that claim. It’seast Asia and an utterly Bono-freeapproach that dominates these improvedfigures. Incredibly, China alone accountsfor more than 100% of the decline innumber of the extremely poor. (The World Bank conveniently givesan “excluding China” figure, and it was13 million more people in extremepoverty in 2008 than in 1981.) In fact,how about this for an ugly statisticalcomparison for Bono et al: in 1981,10.5% of the world’s extremely poorlived in sub-Saharan Africa; in 2008,that number was 30%. If you were going to look forevidence that one or anotherapproach to eradicating poverty was“working”, would you look to Bono’sAfrica, or would you look to East Asiaand the Pacific, where the number of

extremely poor fell by almost three-quarters between 1981 and 2008? Orto Latin America and the Caribbean,where the number fell, incredibly, bymore than 40% just between 2002and 2008? Might that, just possibly,have something to do with countriesresisting the Washington/BonoConsensus, rather than going alongwith it? In sub-Saharan Africa, whereBono’s agenda has beenconcentrated, the absolute numbersbelow every poverty threshold haveskyrocked since 1981, with thenumber of extremely poor rising from205 million to 386 million in 2008;at the below-two-dollar-a-daythreshold the sub-Saharan numbershave almost doubled in the sameperiod, to 562.3 million. This is in the context of a largepopulation rise, of course: thepercentages of the population in thesepoverty categories have risen and fallenin the sub-Saharan region - much of

the 1990s and early 2000s seems tohave been particularly catastrophicthere - and those percentages are moreor less to back where they started in1981. So much for “momentum”.Globally, and again assuming accurateand meaningful data, it is true thatthere has been a half-billion-plusdecline in the number of extremelypoor people. But it’s clear that thosepeople have remained very poorindeed. As the World Bankacknowledges: ‘There has been lesslong-run progress in getting over the$2 per day hurdle.’ The number ofpeople in this category remains, afterthree decades, around 2.5 billion. Slide the threshold slowly upwardsand you very quickly embrace themajority of the world’s people - 80%,for example, living on less than $10 aday. And even the slight upwardmovement at the bottom may not tellus very much about how people live,since recent decades have seen

massive population displacementsfrom rural areas into urban slums,where you might be a lot hungrier onthe notional $2 a day than you wereon half that money in thecountryside. You might imaginesomeone from Ireland, where theCeltic Tiger has been well and trulyeviscerated and whose head is nowjust another trophy above themantlepiece of financial capitalism,would be cautious about makinggreat claims based on rapid economicgrowth in a particular set ofcountries. Not Bono. As far as he is concerned, theapparent success of some sub-Saharancountries (the “Pride of Lions”,cherrypicked for their good data froman otherwise disastrous region)represents his vindication. Never mindthat a report just last year from the UNConference on Trade andDevelopment, another body that mightbe expected to try to put the best face

on such matters, declared that “thecurrent pattern of growth is neitherinclusive nor sustainable” - that thegrowth is, in short, unequally sharedand largely fuelled by the extraction ofquickly depleting natural resources. There are all sorts of reasons, positiveand negative, why global povertystatistics have been changing. Rapidgrowth in Asia, increased integration ofthe world’s economy, intensiveenvironmentally unfriendly resourceextraction, urbanisation and thecreation of NGO-led aid-dependenciesin various poor countries are all likelyto have an eVect on the data. So indeedwill a set of Latin Americangovernments that actually are orientedtoward the poor. And lest there be any doubt: there issome good news indeed in Bono’sstatistics, with especially welcomechanges in terms of children’s healthoutcomes, thanks in part to eVective,albeit hugely insuUcient interventions

against malaria and AIDS. There areother good numbers that Bono doesn’tcite. The ones, for example, that show acontinuing slow rise of per capitacalorie intake all over the world - notjust in the increasingly obese West - isthrowing another generation ofMalthusian calculations into the waste-basket (though again the sub-SaharanAfrica numbers have not beenespecially pretty). Despite the Gates/Bono push formore high-tech, foreign-ownedagriculture in Africa, the hungry worldevidently has a distribution problem,not a production problem. Like somuch of his work, Bono’s idea of “goodnews” is a distraction, deliberate orotherwise, from the sort of radicalredistribution of resources that wouldlead us toward a world where equality,justice and the genuine eradication ofpoverty were really imminentpossibilities.

(Counterpunch)

Fairytales from Bono

JAKARTA: Schoolchildren and their parents plant mangrove trees to mark the World Water Day in the Natural Park Angke inJakarta. –WIRE SERVICE

BBEEIIRRUUTT:: Rebels seized an airdefense base near Syria's strategicsouthern international highway onSaturday, activists said, a gain thatcould bolster opposition fighterstrying to secure supply routes to thecapital Damascus.Syria's southern provincesbordering Jordan and Israel havebecome an increasingly significantbattleground as the embattledcapital comes into play, withPresident Bashar al-Assad's forcesand his loyalist militias hitting backhard to prevent rebel advances.The Britain-based SyrianObservatory for Human Rights,which has a network of sourcesamong activists across Syria, saidamong those killed was the basecommander after a two-week battlefor the site in Deraa, a provincebordering Jordan where initiallypeaceful protests against Assad setoV Syria's two-year uprising."Fighters from the Nusra Front,Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade, andother battalions seized control ofthe 38th division air defense base,near the town of Saida on theDamascus-Amman highway, after16 days of fierce clashes," theObservatory said.The Nusra Front is an Islamistmilitant group suspected of links toal Qaeda and blacklisted by theUnited States as a "terrorist group".Its forces, which include foreignfighters, have come to increasingprominence in the revolt.A video uploaded by theObservatory, showed what it saidwas the body of GeneralMahmoud Darwish, commanderat the base, lying in a pool of bloodin a bathroom.

It was not immediately possible toverify the pictures or activist report.The Syrian government has severelyrestricted access to Syria for foreignjournalists and international aidgroups. Clashes have also raged nearthe border with Israel, which isgrowing concerned that Islamistrebels may be emboldened to endthe quiet on the Golan frontmaintained by Assad and his fatherbefore him during their four decaderule of Syria. Israel captured theGolan plateau from Syria in the 1967Middle East war.Rebels last Wednesday overran atleast three towns near the Israeli-Syrian disengagement line butappeared to lose ground aftermilitias loyal to Assad pushed themback in a fierce battle.Rami Abdelrahman, head of theObservatory, said he recorded one ofthe heaviest single death tolls forrebels in the fighting near the Israeliborder. "We have 35 fightersrecorded by name and at least 20more missing, this is a huge numberto be lost in a single battle and showshow hard they (Assad's forces) arefighting for these areas,"Abdelrahman told Reuters.He said the pro-governmentmilitias involved were made up offighters from Syria's Druzeminority, a sect which for sometime had stayed on the sidelines ofthe conflict but now increasinglyappears to be swinging its weightbehind Assad. Their involvementcould increase sectarian bloodshedin Syria, already wracked bytensions between the Sunni Muslimmajority that has led the uprisingand the Alawite minority to whichAssad belongs. –AGENCIES

Rebels seizebase in Syrianprovince

BBEEIIJJIINNGG:: China is trying topunish ally North Korea forits nuclear and missile tests,stepping up inspections ofNorth Korean-bound cargoin a calibrated eVort to senda message of Chinese piquewithout further provoking atesty Pyongyanggovernment.Freight handlers andtrading companies at portsand cities near the NorthKorean border complain ofmore rigorous inspectionsand surprise checks thatare raising the costs todoing business with anoften unpredictable NorthKorea. Machinery, luxurygoods and daily necessitiessuch as rice and cookingoil are among the targetedproducts, the companiessaid, and business issuffering."Some business orders wedon't dare take. We don'tdare do that businessbecause we fear that afterthe orders are taken, we willend up unable to ship them,"said a Mr. Hu, an executivewith Dalian FastInternational Logistics Co.in the northeastern port cityof Dalian, across the YellowSea from the North Koreanport of Nampo. Hu said thecompany's business is oV byas much as 20 percent thisyear.North Korea's economiclifeline, China is showingsigns of getting tough withan impoverished neighbor ithas long supported withtrade, aid and diplomaticprotection for fear of settingoV a collapse. –AGENCIES

WWAASSHHIINNGGTTOONN:: The Senate on Saturdaynarrowly passed its first federal budget infour years, a move that will usher in arelative lull in Washington's fiscal wars untilan anticipated summer showdown overraising the debt ceiling.The budget plan was passed by a 50-49vote in the Democratic-controlled chamber.Four Democratic senators facing tough re-election campaigns in 2014 joined all theSenate Republicans in opposing themeasure, which seeks to raise nearly $1trillion in new tax revenues by closing sometax breaks for the wealthy.The Senate budget, which reflectsDemocratic priorities of boosting near-term job growth and preserving socialsafety net programs, will square oV incoming months against a Republican-focused budget passed by theRepublican-dominated House ofRepresentatives.Neither of the non-binding blueprints hasa chance of passage in the opposingchamber, leaving Congress no closer toresolving deep diVerences over how toshrink US deficits and grow the economy.But they give each party a platform fromwhich to tout their respective fiscal visions.The Democrats' plan from Senate BudgetCommittee Chairman Patty Murray aims toreduce deficits by $1.85 trillion over 10years through an equal mix of tax increasesand spending cuts.The Republican plan from House BudgetCommittee Chairman Paul Ryan seeks $4.6trillion in savings over the same periodwithout raising new taxes. It aims to reacha small surplus by 2023 through deep cutsto health care and social programs that aidthe poor. Murray said after the vote that shewould try to work with Ryan on a pathtoward compromise."While it is clear that the policies, values,and priorities of the Senate budget are verydiVerent than those articulated in theHouse budget, I know the American peopleare expecting us to work together to end the

gridlock and find common ground, and Iplan to continue doing exactly that."Passage of a stop-gap governmentfunding measure on Thursday lowered thetemperature in the budget debate byeliminating the threat of a governmentshutdown next week."We're going to get a breather here.Congress will let things cool oV a bit andthere'll be other issues that come to theforefront in the spring," said Greg Valliere,chief political strategist at PotomacResearch Group, a firm that advisesinstitutional investors on Washingtonpolitics. These issues include legislation ongun control, immigration reform and initialwork on simplifying the tax code, which isparticularly important to Republicans.Joining Republicans in opposing theDemocratic budget were Democraticsenators from conservative-leaningstates: Max Baucus of Montana, MarkBegich of Alaska, Kay Hagan of NorthCarolina and Mark Pryor of Arkansas.Voting for a budget that raises taxrevenues could increase theirvulnerability in congressional electionsnext year and put Democrats' thinmajority at risk. In the lead-up to theSenate vote early on Saturday morning,the body considered more than 100largely symbolic, non-bindingamendments to the budget aimed atscoring political points and staking outpositions. Among notable amendments,the Senate signaled strong support forallowing states more authority to collectsales taxes on Internet purchases[ID:nL1N0CEERE], for approval of thecontroversial Canada-to-Texas KeystoneXL oil pipeline [ID:nL1N0CEE57] andfor repealing a tax on medical devicesimposed by President Barack Obama'shealth care reform law. The Senate alsovoted 99-0 to end policies that subsidizedlarge banks considered "too big to fail"but came out against imposing taxes onindustrial carbon emissions. –AGENCIES

US Senate narrowlypasses first budget

ChinapunishesNorth Korea

MMOOSSCCOOWW:: Chinese President XiJinping warned against foreigninterference in the aVairs of othernations during a speech in Moscowon Saturday, sending a signal to theWest and echoing a message oftenrepeated by Russian PresidentVladimir Putin.Permanent UN Security Councilmembers with veto power, Russia andChina have frequently teamed updiplomatically to blunt the influenceof the United States and its NATOallies and have blocked three draftresolutions on Syria."We must respect the right of eachcountry in the world to independentlychoose its path of development andoppose interference in the internal

aVairs of other countries," Xi toldstudents at an international relationsschool. He spoke a day after meetingPutin on his first foreign trip sincebecoming president, a choice bothsaid underscored a "strategicpartnership" between Russia andChina. In the Kremlin, he told Putin:"you and I are good friends."Xi told Russian students onSaturday: "Strong Chinese-Russianrelations ... not only answer to ourinterests but also serve as animportant, reliable guarantee of aninternational strategic balance andpeace." Putin, who began a six-yearterm last May, has often criticizedforeign interference in sovereignstates. Russia and China have resisted

Western calls to pressure SyrianPresident Bashar al-Assad over thetwo-year-old civil conflict that haskilled more than 70,000 people.They both criticized the NATObombing that helped rebels overthrowLibyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in2011 and stood together in the SecurityCouncil in votes on the Iranian andNorth Korean nuclear programs. BothChina and Russia have bristled at USand European criticism of theirhuman rights records. Putin said in aforeign policy decree issued at the startof his new term that Russia wouldcounter attempts to use human rightsas a pretext for interference, and hisgovernment has cracked down onforeign-funded non-governmental

organizations.Xi told Prime Minister DmitryMedvedev his visit had "surpassed myexpectations" and said he had chosenRussia as his first foreign destinationas president to "show the specialimportance of our relations."Despite the warm words, Moscowis concerned that its far morepopulous, faster-growing neighborcould pose a threat, something thathas not made for easy deals betweenthe world's biggest energy producer,Russia, and its biggest consumer,China. Xi's visit produced anagreement for Russian state giantRosneft to gradually treble oilsupplies to China, but the sides arestill short of a deal on the supply of

pipeline gas to China, thwarted foryears over prices.Viktor Yaskov, a student whoattended Xi's address, said theChinese leader made "a goodimpression", but expressed fearsabout the neighbor. "We'reworried about Chinese economicexpansion," he said. Xi arrived inMoscow with glamorous first ladyPeng Liyuan, promptingspeculation about whether Putin'swife Lyudmila - last seen at a stateevent last May - would make anappearance. That did not happen,and Peng kept a low profile afterher first steps off the airplanecaused an Internet sensation inChina. –AGENCIES

Chinese president warns against meddling

Troops impose uneasy calmon violence-torn Myanmar cityMMEEIIKKHHTTIILLAA:: Hundreds of troops kept an uneasy calm in centralMyanmar on Saturday after martial law was imposed to quell threedays of bloody unrest between Buddhists and Muslims that istesting the country's nascent democracy. The oUcial death toll in theworst-aVected town of Meikhtila stands at 11 dead, although localestimates put it as much as four times higher. Burned corpses stilllay uncollected by the roads on Saturday, said Reuters reporters inthe city 540 km (336 miles) north of the commercial capitalYangonPresidentThein Sein declared a state of emergency in Meikhtila andthree nearby townships on Friday after riot police and a dusk-to-dawn curfew had failed to stem violence triggered by an argumentbetween a Buddhist couple and the Muslim owners of a gold shop."The violence and looting stopped suddenly as soon as the militaryarrived," said a Meikhtila police oUcer, who declined to beidentified. The unleashing of ethnic hatred, suppressed during 49years of military dictatorship that ended in March 2011, ischallenging the reformist government of one of Asia's mostethnically diverse countries. –AGENCIES

Mango export set for Japanese market this summerISLAMABAD : Pakistani Mangocommercial shipments expected toreach in Japan in the coming summersaid CEO Harvest Tradings, AhmadJawad on Saturday. As the Japanesegovernment has already approvedthe quality of Pakistani mangoeswhich are superior in taste and havethe potential of giving a toughcompetition to Indian mangoes whichare already there in that market.Jawad said the VHT plants will beinstalled in Karachi and Multan andare expected to be imported fromJapan by March 2013. With theinvestment of at least Rs 250 million,the concerned authorities here havealready approved procurement of theplant especially for Multan district, thehub of mangoes. These plants willprocess at least 15,000 kilogram or15 tones mango daily. Vapour HeatTreatment System uses hot saturatedwater vapour to heat the fruit slowly,treating possible fruit flies. In thisregard country may export around $4›5 million mangoes to Japan subject toinstallation on time and meet the laiddown requirements. �ONLINE

Pak-China BusinessForum‚ Expo kicks offISLAMABAD : A 4›day Pak›ChinaBusiness Forum and Expo began atPak›China Friendship Centre inIslamabad on Saturday. It is aimed atto promote academia›industrycollaboration in business and theeconomic sector for the benefit of the2 countries. Comsats Institute ofInformation Technology (CIIT) willorganise second Pak›China BusinessForum from March 23›26, a statementsaid on Saturday. CIIT introduced anacademia›driven model of businesscooperation by establishing Pak›ChinaBusiness Forum, it said. The mainobjective of this forum is to promoteacademia›industry collaboration inbusiness and the economic sector formutual benefit of the two countries.The event will comprise projectexhibition, seminars, workshops andindustrial academic exhibition ofvarious products of different sectors.Major Chinese and Pakistanicompanies, small and mediumenterprises, entrepreneurs,universities, and research anddevelopment organizations will attendthe forum, it said. �ONLINE

shares, euro rise on hopeCyprus reaches dealNEW YORK: Global equity marketsand the euro advanced on Friday onhopes Cyprus will avert a financialcollapse, taking succor from anagreement that shielded Greek banksfrom the Cypriot crisis and remarksthat the island nation was hours awayfrom a bailout. U.S. rose and Europeanshares rebounded after Greece’sPiraeus Bank (BOPr.AT) agreed to takeover the Greek branches of Cyprus’stroubled banks in a deal that allowsthe country to shrink its bloatedbanking sector. The deal involved thetransfer of 17 billion euros of loans and14 billion euros of deposits, a sourceclose to the matter said. The deputyleader of the ruling party in Cypruslater said that the country was close toa compromise that would let itsparliament reverse the rejection of arescue package offered by euro zonepartners a week ago. Financeministers of the 17›nation euro zonewill hold talks on Sunday on thebailout crisis in Cyprus, two euro zonesources told Reuters. The euro rose0.74 percent to $1.2992 in its firstweekly gain in seven weeks on hopesCyprus had averted a financialmeltdown. "It seems that investors areexpecting a deal before the Mondaydeadline. So they’re not placing newshorts on the euro going into theweekend. They don’t want to becaught on the wrong side of the bet incase a deal does materialize," saidBrian Kim, currency strategist at RBS

NICOSIA: Protesters shout slogans during an anti›bailout rally by employees of Cyprus Popular Bank outside the parliament.

MOSCOW/BEIJING: A hardballgame on price may leave Russiaempty›handed after 15 years oftalks on a deal to supply Chinawith gas, with Beijing able to shoparound thanks to a wider choiceof suppliers.As China’s new President Xi

Jinping meets Russian PresidentVladimir Putin, prospects are dimfor substantial progress on a dealbetween the world’s largestconventional gas producer andits fastest growing energyconsumer. The failure stands in sharp

contrast to the Russian›Chinesetrade in crude oil, which helpedfinance Moscow’s push to supplyAsia from new East Siberian fields,and is likely to be expanded withnew supply deal during Xi’s visit.The gas deal has been held up

by Russian gas export monopolyGazprom’s determination tomatch the returns it makes onhigh›priced European deliveriesand cover the $38 billion cost ofbringing its untapped EastSiberian gas resources to market.China, for its part, says it cannotafford to pay Gazprom’s askingprice, which analysts and sourcesin the gas industry peg at $300per thousand cubic meters.Instead, sources say China

National Petroleum Corp. has dugin at $250 as the price it can paywithout forcing its energy firmsinto losses or eroding the costadvantage which makes Chineseproducers competitive in theworld. "The price differenceremains considerably apart. Bothsides have practical hurdles toovercome. It’s difficult for Russia

to come significantly off the levelsthey charge Europe," a Chineseenergy industry veteran who hastaken part in gas talks said."The two sides are moving

towards each other," he added, "butit would still take time." Gazpromhas said it is aiming to sign a gasdeal by the end of the year, andanalysts say that is realistic if Russiamoves quickly and shows anewfound willingness tocompromise.With competitors from Africa

and Australia lined up to meetChina’s additional demand, Russianeeds to send a clear signal toAsian markets if it wants to gainmarket share in China before2030, Tatiana Mitrova, head of theoil and gas department of theRussian Academy of SciencesEnergy Research Institute said.

Mitrova estimates that a supplygap begins to emerge in China in2020 and rises to 66 billion cubicmeters of gas per year by 2030.But that market niche could be

filled as China moves quickly totop up existing arrangements withsuppliers such as Myanmar andthe former Soviet republics ofCentral Asia, and moves to securenew contracts for increasedsupplies. Gazprom, which puts up about a

tenth of Russian budget revenuesand subsidizes the domesticeconomy with regulated gasprices, is under orders from Putinto look east as a defense againstweak demand and risingcompetition in Europe. But he hasshown no inclination to forceGazprom’s hand in the talks,which have been a history of

Time running out on Russia›China gas stalemate

ZeeSHAn JAvAid

ISLAMABAD: Overseas Private InvestmentCorporation (OPIC) on Saturday approved$288 million in financing for two Wind PowerProjects poised to deliver much›neededelectricity to Pakistan and Peru.Affirming OPIC�s commitment to support

efforts by Pakistan, OPIC President and CEOElizabeth L. Littlefield said OPIC it would helpdiversify its energy production to includeimportant contributions from renewableenergy sources, says a press releses issuedby AEDB here today.�The wind power projects would enable

both countries to take advantage of theirmassive renewable energy potential to helpmeet unmet demand for electricity,� Ms.Littlefield continued. �We are thrilled topartner with innovative U.S. companies tobring these highly›developmental projects torealization. �The provision of clean andreliable electricity is an essential buildingblock of any economy,� she added.The wind is the single largest sector

attracting record direct investment inPakistan. Alternative Energy DevelopmentBoard (AEDB) is expeditiously carrying outmulti›directional activities to commencewind farm projects at wind potential sites.Private Sector has been triggered to investin Wind Power. Currently, 45 Wind Power

Projects of around 3200 MW capacity areunder process, said the CEO of AEDB ArifAllaudin.Two projects of 49.5 MW and 56 MW (106

MW) belonging to M/s FFC Energy Limitedand M/s Zorlu Enerji Pakistan have alreadybeen completed at Jhampir while anotherthree projects namely Three Gorges FirstWind Farm Pakistan Ltd., Foundation WindEnergy›I Ltd and Foundation Wind Energy �II Pvt. Ltd are under construction.He said that following nine wind projects

(50MW each) with an aggregate capacityof 500MW are expected to achieveFinancial Close during the current year inThatta District alone include Dawood Power(Pvt.) Ltd. Bhambore, Gharo, Sindh; LuckyEnergy (Pvt.) Ltd. Jhampir, Sindh ;TenagaGenerai Ltd. Khuttikun, Gharo, Sindh ;Sapphire Wind Power (Pvt.) Ltd. Jhampir,Sindh ; Metro Wind Power Co Ltd. Jhampir,Sindh ; 50 MW Gul Ahmed Wind Power Ltd.Jhampir, Sindh ; 50 MW Master WindEnergy (Pvt.) Ltd., Jhampir, Sindh ; SachalEngineering Works (Pvt.) Ltd., Jhampir,Sindh and Wind Eagle (Pvt.) Ltd., Jhampir,Sindh.The OPIC credit facility would help build a

50 MW wind power plant in Gharo›KettiBandar Wind Corridor, designed to generate133 Giga Watt hours of emission›freeelectricity annually. Using GE Wind turbines,

the Sapphire Wind Power plant would helpPakistan diversify its power generationbeyond reliance on high›priced fuel oil bytapping vast renewable energy potential,which the Corridor alone possessesgeneration capacity of over 132,000 MW�virtually equal to the world�s entire installedwind capacity for 2010.Established as an agency of the U.S.

Government in 1971, OPIC operates on aself›sustaining basis at no net cost toAmerican taxpayers. OPIC services areavailable for new and expanding businessenterprises in more than 150 countriesworldwide. To date, OPIC has supportedmore than $200 billion of investment in over4,000 projects, generated an estimated $75billion in U.S. exports and supported morethan 277,000 American jobs.Talking about the OPIC financing the CEO

AEDB, Arif Alauddin stated that he has beentrying for opic funding for Pakistan projectsfor some time, and is glad to see it comingnow. OPIC is already funding a SSJDEnergy�s 12 MW Baggass based RenewableEnergy Project in Pakistan. In the WindSector, following Sapphire, Fina Energy ofTurkey is the next project in the OPICpipeline for Pakistan.CEO AEDB also maintained that RE has

already become the sector attracting thelargest investment of any sector in the

Wind Power Projects to deliver electricity to Pakistan and Peru

OPIC approves $288mfor two projects

SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2013

Europe’s reckless raidon Cyprus’s savings

Of all the many steps that the euro area has takento contain its debt crisis, the decision to forceordinary savers in Cyprus to contribute to their

country�s bailout is the worst.We�ll have to wait and see whether this breach of the

principle of deposit insurance triggers a run on the banks ofother endangered economies, such as Greece and Spain.Yet even if no contagion results, Europe�s governmentshave knocked a supporting wall from beneath their financialsystem. As today�s flight to safety in markets shows, theeuro›area crisis is center stage once more. Technically, therescue package for Cyprus doesn�t violate the euro area�sguarantee that all deposits up to 100,000 ($130,000) areinsured. That�s because the proposal for the Cypriotgovernment to take 6.75 percent of all bank deposits lessthan 100,000 euros, and 9.9 percent above that amount, isdefined as a tax. Depositors, however, will see this for whatit is: a raid on their savings. Such an attack on ordinarydepositors is unjust, politically obtuse and economicallydestructive all at the same time. It has rightly fueledpopular outrage. Savers in Cyprus are being asked to giveup 5.8 billion euros so that international creditors willprovide the remaining 10 billion euros required for abailout. Thus will bondholders in London, Frankfurt andNew York be spared a haircut. The euro area does face atough choice with Cyprus. The country, which accountsfor less than 0.2 percent of the currency zone�seconomy, has built up an absurdly oversized bankingsector with assets eight times larger than gross domesticproduct. Now those banks are in trouble, and Cyprusisn�t large enough to rescue them on its own. ThinkIceland inside the euro area. A Greek›style bailout ››which would squeeze taxpayers, pensioners and thepublic sector until the country�s debts were under control›› is easily affordable for the rest of the euro area, at 17billion euros. But it would be no more equitable that anattack on savers. That�s because Cypriot bank depositsinclude huge amounts of Russian money, much of whichis escaping taxation and getting laundered via Cyprus.Germany and other creditor euro nations are thereforereluctant to foot the whole bill for a bailout. A bail›in ofthe banks� bondholders can�t make up the difference,because there aren�t enough of them. It may be that inthe case of Cyprus, the best option is to require high›value depositors to share the costs of a bailout, not leastbecause doing so would enable the euro area to make amore convincing argument as to why this demand ondepositors won�t be repeated elsewhere. Such a penaltycould also be designed to spare longer›term savers withlarge deposits. For those depositors who are tax evadersand money launderers, a loss of even 30 percent of theirassets in Cypriot accounts would be just a cost of doingbusiness. EU finance ministers have made it clear theyare ready to consider any design of the tax Cyprusproposes, as long as it raises the same total sum. Sothere is no reason for the Cypriot government to includesavers with less than 100,000 euros in their accounts.No reason, that is, except the fear of alienating foreigndepositors and destroying Cyprus� offshore bankingbusiness overnight. Yet this is exactly what needs tohappen. When Iceland�s banking bubble burst, thegovernment quickly realized that the country�s economycould no longer be so dependent on finance and allowedthe banks to implode. The euro›area finance ministersappear to have understood this, too ›› they said in theirjoint statement that their goal was for the Cypriot bankingsystem to shrink to the average euro›area size by 2018.

analysis

SAHTAK BALOCH

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan�s petroleum ministry aftera one year delay has now granted its permissionto Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to exportpetroleum products (POL) to the country fromneighboring Afghanistan and Central Asian States.However, oil refineries will not benefit with thefruits of this permission.Following the approval of federal cabinet�s

economic coordination committee (ECC) though thetrade and commerce ministry of Pakistan onFebruary 4, 2012 had issued a notification allowingthe OMCS to import the petroleum products fromAfghanistan and Central Asian States yet the saleof POL products could not be initiated to above saidcountries owing to absence of explanation andpermission of the oil wing of petroleum ministry andthe country had been facing heavy losses onmonthly basis in the shape of reduced revenuecollection.Sources in petroleum ministry informed this

newspaper that ministry of petroleum and naturalresources have now allowed the OMCs to sale thePOL products to Afghanistan and Central AsianStates. They said since farmer Petroleum AdvisorDr Asim Hussain on March 13 had advised theDirector General (DG) Oil Wing Muhammad Azam

to allow the companies to export POL products soOil Wing of Petroleum Ministry has granted itsexplanation and permission to OMCs on SRO 67.Petroleum Ministry has granted its approval onlyto 12 OMCs registered with Oil and GasRegulatory Authority (OGRA) while oil refinerieshave not been granted permission to export POLproducts.Sources in oil sector have told this scribe that

Shell Pakistan, Byco Petroleum, Pakistan States Oil(PSO) and Attok Petroleum are willing to exportPOL products to Afghanistan and even ifproduction of oil refineries increase to a surpluslevel then they would be permitted to sale POLproducts to Afghanistan and Central Asian States.Official sources in petroleum ministry said that

Oil Marketing Companies will pay the petroleumlevy (PL) and other taxes and there will be noexemption to them. The OMCs till 2010 hadenjoyed immunity from paying taxes as theywere given exemption from various levies.Consequently, dumping of petroleum productswas commenced and the companies alsocollected billion of rupees from federal board ofrevenue (FBR) on account of petroleum levy andGeneral Sales Tax (GST). With this governmentinitiative, national exchequer will earn additionalbillion of rupees under head petroleum levy, GST

Ministry allows OMCs toexport petroleum products

SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2013

Miley booty-shaking dance goes viralLONDON: Miley Cyrus new video, where she can be seen performing the newtwerking dance sensation to rapper J. Dash’s track WOP, has gone viral. The20›year›old actress uploaded the video in which she is dressed up like aunicorn and is shaking her bum for the camera in the raunchy routine, the Sunreported. The identity of Cyrus gets revealed only at the end of the video clipwhen she removes a hood from her face. Cyrus, who has denied reports ofsplitting from fiance Liam Hemsworth, kept her engagement ring covered bywearing a glove on her left hand. MCtwerkteam quickly became a Twittertrending topic and a thrilled Cyrus told her millions of followers, "My fans arethe dopest. Mctwerkteam is trending worldwide, my night is complete."Producer Pharrell Williams, rapper French Montana and models Amber Roseand Cara Delevingne showed their support by sharing links to the clip on their

Sunny Leone wants to romance SalmanMUMBAI:Indo›Canadian actress Sunny Leone says she wants to romance Bollywoodbiggies Salman Khan and Ranbir Kapoor on›screen and also try her hands at comedy.Sunny first made her appearance in TV reality show ’Bigg Boss 5’ in 2011 and this ledto her entry in Bollywood. She made her debut in Hindi films with Jism 2 and will benext seen in Ragini MMS 2’. "It’s been a year or so (in film industry) and I love beinghere. I am new to this industry, but I am open to doing romantic and comedy films. Iwant to romance both Salman and Ranbir. I want to act with both of them. I likedBodyguard it was fun to watch Salman," she said. The actress was talking to reportershere at a promotional event of Shootout at Wadala last evening. Sunny has done aspecial song, Laila, in the Sanjay Gupta›directed crime drama, which is loosely basedon a police encounter that took place in Mumbai in 1982. ›SHOWBIZ DESK

cmyk

KARACHI: Pakistan�s recordbreaking romantic drama serial�Humsafar� which was aired onHum TV last year in Pakistan, is nowset to be aired on Indian Channel�Rishtey�. �Humsafar� is an awardwinning blockbuster Pakistani dramastarring Fawad Afzal Khan, MahiraKhan and Naveen Waqar in leadroles and many other famous starslike Atiqa Odho, Hina KhawajaBayat, Behroze Sabzwari and SabaFaisal. It was based on Urdu novelby Farhat Ishtiaq of the same nameand was directed by Sarmad SultanKhoosat. The drama received greatviewership and became an all›timefavorite. For its popularity, theIndian channel �Rishtey� thatusually broadcasts dramas of ColorTV, will now show �Humsafar� everySaturday and Sunday at 8:30 PM(Indian Standard Time). We reallyhope that the spell bounding storyline, excellent performances andstrong screenplay of this super hitPakistani drama �Humsafar� willcapture a huge viewership in Indiaas well. ›SHOWBIZ DESK

Blockbusterdrama Humsafarto get on air in India

showbiz desk

LONDON: The controversial Tonyawards›winning musical "TheBook of Mormon" opened inLondon to mixed reviews in itsdebut outside the United States.The musical, by the creators ofthe animated TV comedy "SouthPark", is an expletive›filled satireof two Mormon missionaries fromSalt Lake City sent to Africa towin converts. Writers Trey Parkerand Matt Stone have theMormons confront a thuggishone›eyed warlord terrorizingterminally ill villagers in Ugandain a world where AIDS isdominant and femalecircumcision rife.The show, by Parker and Stone

in collaboration with "Avenue Q"co›creator Robert Lopez, openedon Broadway in March 2011 towide acclaim and won nine Tonyawards, Broadway’s highest

honors. The musical opened inLondon’s West End theatredistrict on Thursday after amonth of previews with a host ofcelebrities in attendance,including "Homeland" actorDamian Lewis and actress KateWinslet with husband NedRocknRoll. Aggressive promotion,with billboards across London,and limited ticket sales helpedcreate a buzz about the show ata time when theatres are usingvarious schemes to fill seats anddraw in new audiences.Tickets to evening

performances are sold out untilJune with a new batch of ticketsreleased on Friday. The show’spromoters are also holding adaily lottery which hands out 20tickets. Figures from the Societyof London Theatre showed theyearned 530 million pounds ($830million) in 2012, a marginal riseon 2011, when attendance

nudged up to 14 million. Musicalsdominated the West End lastyear with attendance of 8million, a fall of 3 percent on2011."The Book of Mormon",

starring American actors GavinCreel and Jared Gertner as thetwo mis›matched missionaries,

received a mixed reception fromLondon critics. Theatre criticHenry Hitchings from London’sEvening Standard newspapersaid some theatergoers werebound to find the show puerileor offensive. "Yet this is anaffectionate portrait of cultureclash and friendship, which

parodies several classicmusicals," he wrote, giving theshow a four out of five›starrating."It manages the unlikely trick

of rolling offensiveness andmorality into a single package.For all its cartoonish devilry, itends up feeling benign, joyousand even cuddly." Telegraphcritic Charles Spencer found ithard to warm to the show, withthe Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter›day Saints whose beliefscenter on the Book of Mormon,an easy target. "The Book ofMormon" strikes me as adecadent and self›indulgentmusical, and its mixture of satireand syrup ultimately provesrepellent," wrote Spencer. "I amthe first to concede however thatthis is likely to be a minorityview." The Guardian called it"mildly amusing" while theIndependent said the songs

Musical ’Book of Mormon’ opens to mixed reviews

showbiz desk

LONDON: English model›actor ElizabethHurley has been sporting a rock on herfinger since 2011. And now, her fiance andformer Australian cricketer Shane Warnereveals that their much›anticipatedmarriage might take place any day soon.Warnie, as he is fondly called, revealedthis in an exclusive chat with us, during hisrecent visit to Delhi. �We�re obviouslyengaged and enjoying our engagement.Hopefully we�ll get married soon,� sharedthe 43›year›old.The king of spin also revealed how the

celeb couple juggles between their packedschedules to make time for each other.

�Well, we have to. We try and doeverything together, as much as we can.The hardest thing that we do in ourrelationship is manage between twocontinents (Australia and Europe) which isphysically two ends of the world. So thereare a lot of frequent flier miles involved.We are always looking for the best dealson the plane,� he says, adding, �Thenthere are four children (three of Shaneand one of Liz with ex›spouses) betweenus so that makes four different schoolschedules; Elizabeth�s work, my work,sponsorship commitments; our charityworks, businesses we are involved in, so,it�s pretty hectic. Even if we have one hour,we are going back to the computer

Warne, Liz to marry s

showbiz desk

MUMBAI: It is going to be allabout fear and lots of laughter!This might sound like a paradox,but Illuminati Films and ErosInternational have decided to pushthe envelope for Indian cinemawith their next film › Go Goa Gonestarring Saif Ali Khan, KunalKhemu, Vir Das, Anand Tiwary andPuja Gupta. The zombie comedy,directed by Raj Nidimoru andKrishna DK, is all set to release onMay 10th, 2013.Go Goa Gone is an unusual

mixture of hilarious comedy,camaraderie, slick action andzombies. Raj says, "A zombie filmin Hindi was unheard of untilthen." DK adds, "But we were surethat this is the film we would liketo make after Shor In The City."Saif, who has acted and

produced the film, play Boris who

is a Russian Mafia Lord. "I lovedBoris from the first time Idiscovered him. He is tough andcool, but also very funny. He has agood heart and is brave. Thedynamics between him and theboys is hysterical. I was veryexcited to play Boris the zombiehunter and even happier toproduce this film," says Saif.Dinesh Vijan, co›founder of

Illuminati Films explains, "Therehasn’t been a character like Borisor a concept like this on Indianscreens. This is exactly what gotus excited to make this film. Thezombies will keep you on the edgeof your seat and the humour willmake you fall of it › making it azombie comedy, a Zom›Com!Hopefully it’ll be a genre definingfilm for us." "We have always likedbeing associated with cinemathat’s a keeper. Go Goa Gone willbe that one film you will find hard

to forget and would want to goback and watch. It is always abouttaking the next step in the moviebusiness and we are glad we are apart of this project," says SunilLulla, Managing Director of Eros

International Media Ltd. Aftersuccessfully making romanticcomedies, the makers are ready tointroduce a new genre of zom›com. Watch out for the trailer,which will be unveiled soon.

Saif Ali Khan as blonde in Go Goa Gone

showzbiz desk

MUMBAI: He is an Oscar winner for SlumdogMillionaire and one of the most respectedcontemporary music composers. So when ARRahman has a word of appreciation for a singer,it means a lot. At arecent awards show, hehad more than acompliment for actor›andsinger Priyanka Chopra.When asked if he wouldgive the actor anopportunity to sing oneof his compositions, hesaid, �Rather, she needsto give me a job.�Priyanka had earlier beencalled on to the stage topresent Rahman with theBest Indie Video awardfor his album, InfiniteLove. She herself wonthe Best Video MusicIcon Of The Year award.At the moment, Rahman is dividing his timebetween his Indian and overseas projects. Heconfirms that work on Shekhar Kapur�s much›delayed film, Paani, is underway. He says hehas started working on the music, though it isat a nascent stage. �I�m doing Paani withShekhar Kapur and the film is finallyhappening,� says Rahman. Kapur�s film hadbeen stuck for over a decade before Yash RajFilms decided to produce it earlier this year.

Priyanka Chopra needs give me a job: AR

NEW DELHI:Sridevi flauntedsaris in her comeback movie "English Vinglish" and lookedpretty. The actress says in reallife too she prefers Indianclothes, especially six yards,and she is not a brandperson. "Well, definitely I lovegood brands, but at the sametime I am not obsessed withthem. I go for anything aslong as it looks good on me. Iam definitely someone whoprefers Indian clothesespecially saris," the 49›year›old said. The actress was inthe capital to inaugurate the third edition of Design One, anexhibition organised by Sahachari Foundation. The two›dayexhibition started at The Lodhi. Dressed up in SabyasachiMukherjee’s anarkali suit, she came in a cab that belongedto Sakha Cabs, taxi service which provides lady drivers.This was not the first time that she opted for Sabyasachidesigns. Talking about her fascination for the designer, shesaid: "I always like him and from ’English Vinglish’ days, Ireally started liking his clothes. ›SHOWBIZ DESK

I am not obsessedwith brands: Sridevi

showbiz desk

LAHORE:To find the viral video of 2013,toothpaste brand Close Up Pakistan hascollaborated with Ali Gul Pir for a newinternet›based reality show, entitled �ViralSaeen 2013�.Ali Gul Pir, who is a talentedstandup comedian from Karachi and gotfame for his first musical video �Saeen toSaeen� on internet, is the brandambassador for �Viral Saeen 2013�. Inthe show �Viral Saeen 2013�, Ali Gul Pir,under the Close Up Pakistan will befinding the viral video of 2013 which ismore like a concept and could be amusical video, sketch, prank, stunt or anytype of motion that anyone can come upwith.

The show is very simple but challengingand creative for which the virality onsocial media or internet will be describedin terms of maximum �LIKES� and�SHARES. Ali Gul Pir and the panel atClose Up Pakistan will judge all thesubmissions. The final concepts will betranslated into Video form and will beadded at Close Up Pakistan FacebookPage; 1 Like = 1 Point and 1 Share = 2Point. If a video gets 100 likes and 2shares; total points will be (100+4)=104. The winner will get Canon EOS �7D and the opportunity to create nextClose up confidence video with Ali Gul Pir.The internet›based reality show, �Viral

Saeen 2013� does not allow Plagiarism, iffound so, it will result in disqualification.

‘Viral Saeen 2013’ realityshow set to start

SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2013

CMYK

CMYK

TTBBIILLIISSII:: Russia's Natalia Vorobeva (L) wrestles with Spain's Maider Unda Gonzalez De Audicana during the Free Style Wrestling 72kg gold medal match atthe Senior Wrestling European Championship on Friday. –AGENCIES

BBEENNOONNII:: Sunday could well beBenoni's biggest day sinceCharlize Theron won the Oscar.International cricket seldomreaches Johannesburg's EastRand and when it does, it isunlikely to be this meaningful.For both South Africa andPakistan, its Benoni or bust intheir last outing before theChampions Trophy and they willhave a sell-out crowd to do that infront of. The series has gotsteadily more competitive as ithas progressed, so the 8,500-oddpeople can expect a fiery aMairespecially because there is morethan just a trophy on the line forboth teams. Reputation tends tomean more than silverware inbilateral ODI series anyway.For South Africa, it is a chance

to give their home fans a formatto cheer them in that is not Testcricket and to prove to them theyhave developed as a limited-oversunit. After winning all five longestform fixtures, South Africa'sTwenty20 and ODI squads didnot follow suit. They are intransition but even a phase ofchange cannot go on withoutsome reward.Sporadically, South Africa

have had it. They blew Pakistanaway in Bloemfontein anddefended stoically at theWanderers. But consistently,they have not. When forced intosituations from which they haveto respond unconventionally,they struggle - an indication thatthe evolution into a completeunit is still, as Gary Kirstenwould put it, in process.For Pakistan, the picture may

not be that big. They are morelikely to be focused on the

immediate goal of leaving thistour with enough to be able to callit a success. Misbah-ul-Haqindicated at the very beginningthat he expected the Test phase tobe diLcult but the limited-overscontests to be the area in whichPakistan could push South Africaand even topple them over.So far, they have. They've

exposed the hosts' obviousweaknesses and demonstratedsome of their own majorstrengths. They will want onemore big eMort to underline thoseand there would be no betterplace to that than in the decider.In the spotlight: Instead of oneplayer, it will be South Africa'scollective mental strength underscrutiny as they find themselvesin a must-win situation.Understandably, it is not a majortournament knockout game andit may have absolutely no bearingon one, but is still a test ofcharacter more than it is one ofskill and if South Africa havelacked in either department, it isthe first. The team will have totake responsibility as a whole andwatching how they work togetherin trying to win the series will bemore important than anyindividual brilliance.Similarly, Pakistan's big match

temperament will be challenged.Twice, they have needed to comeback in the rubber and twice theyhave. Both times, they've got thebit between their teeth early. Ifthat happens again, they are likelyto run away with it. If it doesn't,they will have to be up toclambering their way out oftrouble. Shahid Afridi showedhow to do it at the Wanderers butit may take more than one

firework to light up the contest.Team news: Graeme Smith'sankle injury means that Quintonde Kock will appear for the firsttime in the series in the positionhe prefers. Morne Morkel hasbeen declared fit to play andcould come in place of Dale Steynif Steyn's shoulder is still actingup after he hurt it in the field.Imran Farhat's successful

recall means Nasir Jamshedwill miss out again. The onlybatting place up for debate isYounis Khan's. Pakistan maylook to bring in Asad Shafiq inplace of the underperformingYounis. If Umar Gul isavailable, he may replaceWahab Riaz but the rest of thebowing will remain unchanged.Pitch and conditions: Known tobe as lifeless as the town aroundit can sometimes seem, theBenoni pitch will not be expectedto do anything too special. Itshould be sluggish, a few willkeep low and it will be hard workfor batsmen and bowlers alike. Atypical late summer's day withwarm temperatures is forecastbut there is a chance of anafternoon thundershower.Probable XIs: South Africa:Quinton de Kock, Hashim Amla,Colin Ingram, AB de Villiers(capt, wk), David Miller, FarhaanBehardien, Ryan McLaren,Robin Peterson, DaleSteyn/Morne Morkel, RoryKleinveldt, Lonwabo TsotsobePakistan: Imran Farhat,Mohammad Hafeez, KamranAkmal (wkt), Younis Khan/AsadShafiq, Misbahul Haq (capt),Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi,Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal, JunaidKhan, Mohammed Irfan. –AGENCIES

Pakistan aim towin series as finalODI today

AAUUCCKKLLAANNDD:: Fast bowler Steven Finnequalled his career best Test figures ofsix for 125 as England fought their wayback into the deciding third Testagainst New Zealand at Eden Park onSaturday. At stumps on the second day,England were 50 for two, 393 runs inarrears after dismissing New Zealandfor 443 soon after tea. Finn, who in themorning session claimed the prizedNew Zealand scalp of Peter Fulton for136, ripped out the tail taking the finalfour wickets in the space of 21 balls.England made an uncomfortable

start to their reply when Alastair Cookwas snapped up down the leg side bywicketkeeper BJ Watling oM TrentBoult for four at the start of the thirdover. Jonathan Trott reached 27 beforehe followed Cook back to the pavilionwhen Boult beat him oM the pitch to beleg before wicket and England were twofor 44. Nick Compton (12 not out) andIan Bell (six not out) then took a no riskapproach through to stumps with onlysix runs scored in the final nine overs.While New Zealand had reason to

feel satisfied with their bowling, it wasa disappointing end to the innings afterresuming the day at 250 for one. Theovernight pair of Fulton and KaneWilliamson added a further 10 runsbefore the final nine wickets fell for 183on a placid wicket as Finn equalled hisbest figures of six for 125 set againstAustralia at Brisbane in 2010.Wicketkeeper Matt Prior was the otherstandout performer for England,taking five catches behind the stumps,including a spectacular one-handeddiving eMort to remove Fulton. The 34-year-old Fulton, who posted hismaiden Test century, was in the middlefor nearly eight hours and featured in a181-run stand for the second wicketwith Williamson (91). However, New Zealand will be

disappointed no other batsman wasable to reach a half century. TimSouthee managed 44 in a late cameothat included two sixes and four fours,but his dismissal in the third over aftertea triggered a rapid end to the inningsas the last three wickets fell in four

overs. Finn ended sitting on a hattrickafter removing Watling (21) and Boultin successive balls. England took threewickets in the morning session startingwith the removal of Williamson whowas in sight of his fourth Test centurywhen he edged James Anderson to

Prior. Fulton's marathon innings cameto an end at 136 when he whipped Finndown the leg side only to see theathletic Prior just manage to get a gloveto the ball and make the catch stick.Former New Zealand captain Ross

Taylor produced a quick 19 before he

was caught and bowled to give MontyPanesar his only wicket of the innings.Brendon McCullum's dismissal on thesecond ball he faced was overturned onreview. Replays showed the ball cameoM his pads, negating England's appealfor caught behind, and that the ball

would have gone over middle stump,negating the secondary appeal for lbw.From there McCullum (38) teamed upwith Dean Brownlie (36) to add 68 forthe fifth wicket before both fell beforetea to end the only other New Zealandpartnership of note.–AGENCIES

England fight back in final Test against New Zealandscoreboard

NNEEWW ZZEEAALLAANNDD FFIIRRSSTT IINNNNIINNGGSS (overnight 250-1)P Fulton c Prior b Finn 136H Rutherford c Cook b Finn 37K Williamson c Prior b Anderson 91R Taylor c & b Panesar 19D Brownlie c Compton b Anderson 36B McCullum c Prior b Trott 38B Watling c Prior b Finn 21T Southee c Prior b Finn 44B Martin c Trott b Finn 10N Wagner not out 2T Boult c Compton b Flynn 0EEXXTTRRAASS:: (B 4, LB 4, NB 1) 9TTOOTTAALL:: (10 wkts; 152.3 overs) 443FFAALLLL OOFF WWIICCKKEETTSS:: 1-79, 2-260, 3-289, 4-297, 5-365, 6-373, 7-424, 8-436, 9-443, 10-443.BBOOWWLLIINNGGAnderson 30-8-79-2Broad 30-6-94-0Finn 37.3-8-125-6Panesar 47-17-123-1

Trott 6-3-9-1Root 2-1-5-0EENNGGLLAANNDD FFIIRRSSTT IINNNNIINNGGSSA Cook c Watling b Boult 4N Compton not out not out 12J Trott lbw Boult 27I Bell not out 6To bat: J Bairstow, I Bell, J Root, M Prior, S Broad, SFinn, J Anderson, M Panesar.EEXXTTRRAASS:: (W 1) 1TTOOTTAALL:: (2 wkts; 25 overs) 50FFAALLLL OOFF WWIICCKKEETTSS:: 1-8, 2-44BBOOWWLLIINNGGBoult 10-4-26-2Southee 6-4-12-0Wagner 2-0-6-0Martin 7-4-6-0Toss: England and chose to bowlUmpires: Paul ReiHel (AUS), Rod Tucker (AUS)Third umpire: Steve Davis (AUS)Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (SRI)New Zealand's Tim Southee rolls over after making a run during day two of the Test

between New Zealand and England on Saturday. –AGENCIES

RROOSSEEAAUU:: Spinner Shane Shillingfordclaimed his second 10-wicket haul atWindsor Park in less than a year as the WestIndies cruised to a crushing innings and 65-run victory over Zimbabwe in the secondTest Friday. Facing a huge deficit of 206 runsafter skipper Darren Sammy declared histeam's first innings at the overnight positionof 381 for eight, the visitors were brushedaside for 141 in their second turn at thecrease in less than 43 overs.Shillingford claimed five for 34 to finish

with match figures of 10 for 93 as the homeside wrapped up the game on the afternoonof the third day. He was the unanimouschoice as both man of the match and man ofthe series following on his figures of nine for107 in the first Test in Barbados. By taking19 wickets in the brief series, the oM-spinnershattered the West Indies record for themost wickets in a two-test series, 16, whichwas set by former fast bowler CourtneyWalsh in New Zealand in 1995. He alsobecame only the eighth Caribbean cricketerto capture 10 wickets in a Test match on twoor more occasions.All of those landmarks were celebrated

with gusto by his home fans, even as thehapless Zimbabweans capitulated. "It's awonderful feeling to be enjoying thissuccess and being mentioned amongsome of our former greats," saidShillingford. "There was a bit of pressure

of expectation on me coming into thematch, but once we got on the field all ofthat was put aside and everything fell intoplace for me and the team." West Indiesskipper Darren Sammy was delighted byShillingford's efforts. "Shane'sperformance here has been tremendousbut throughout the games differentpeople have been called upon and theyexecuted properly," said Sammy. –AGENCIES

Shillingford helpsWindies routZimbabwe in 2nd Test IISSTTAANNBBUULL:: The International Olympic

Committee's evaluation commission arrivesin Istanbul on Saturday, with the Turkish cityhoping to win over oLcials and bag the2020 Games after four unsuccessfulprevious attempts. Commission membersbegin their four-day tour of the huge city thatstraddles Asia and Europe on Sunday afterpreviously assessing the rivals bids of Tokyoand Madrid, who are also in the running tohost the event in seven years' time.A decision will be taken at an IOC meeting

in the Argentinean capital Buenos Aires inSeptember but Istanbul organisers say thatthey have their strongest bid to date and thattheir previous failures will be a key elementin the final vote. Rio de Janeiro will be thefirst South American city to host theOlympics at the next edition in 2016. IfIstanbul win the 2020 bid, it takes theGames to a Muslim majority country for thefirst time. "This time we are trulycommitted," said sports minister Suat Kilicthis month, after Turkey's bid clinchedsponsorship from seven giant enterprises,including Koc, Dogus and Sabanciconglomerates, each chipping in 2.5 millioneuros ($3.2 million). "I know it by heart, wewill succeed," said Kilic, adding that workwas in progress for the construction of morethan 700 sports facilities, including Olympicswimming pools and tennis courts, in whathe dubbed Turkey's "sports revolution".The commission will be given a tour of the

city of 15 million people and visit facilities asseveral Turkish ministers will try to convincethem that Istanbul deserves to win. –AGENCIES

scoreboardZZIIMMBBAABBWWEE FFIIRRSSTT IINNNNIINNGGSS 175 (B Taylor 33, V Sibanda 32,Shillingford 5-59, Samuels 3-15)WWEESSTT IINNDDIIEESS FFIIRRSSTT IINNNNIINNGGSS 381-8 dec ()ZZIIMMBBAABBWWEE SSEECCOONNDD IINNNNIINNGGSSV Sibanda lbw Sammy 35H Masakadza c Ramdin b Best 17B Taylor c Powell b Shillingford 7C Ervine c Gayle b Shillingford 8S Williams c Chanderpaul b Shillingford 6M Waller c Sammy b Samuels 20T Mawoyo c Sammy b Shillingford 0G Cremer c Samuels b Shillingford 20P Utseya not out 10K Jarvis c Sammy b Samuels 1T Chatara c Gabriel b Samuels 0EEXXTTRRAASS:: (B 8, LB 9) 17TTOOTTAALL:: (all out; 42.2 overs) 141FFAALLLL OOFF WWIICCKKEETTSS:: 1-37, 2-64, 3-64, 4-73, 5-92, 6-96, 7-114, 8-138, 9-141, 10-141.BBOOWWLLIINNGGBest 7-2-11-1Roach 3-0-12-0Gabriel 3-0-19-0Shillingford 15-4-34-5Sammy 5-1-13-1Samuels 9.2-0-35-3Umpires: R Martinesz (SRI), T. Hill (NZL)Third umpire: B Oxenford (AUS)Match referee: J Crowe (NZL)

NNEEWW DDEELLHHII:: After threeone-sided matches, the fourthand final Test at the FerozShah Kotla threw up the mostengrossing day of the series asAustralia, inspired by NathanLyon, made a total of 262appear a lot more. Lyon, PeterSiddle and James Pattinsonhad extended Australia'sovernight total by 31 in themorning, and with ball inhand each played a role inkeeping India to 266 for 8 atstumps on Saturday.Lyon wheeled away 22 overs

on the trot and enjoyedarguably his most profitable dayas a Test cricketer, getting thewickets of Sachin Tendulkar,Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara,Ajinkya Rahane and RAshwin. His excellent workbegan in the afternoon session,and by tea the tone of the

second session was markedlydifferent than it had beenwhen it began. In the finalsession, he added to India'swoes with an extended spell of22-3-94-4, before striking withthe last ball of the day for histhird five-wicket haul.For India, valuable runs from

Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwinhelped avert a majorembarrassment but on a spitefulpitch, already acting like a fifth-day surface, they will need toextract as much as possible fromthe tail on Sunday.Spin made an appearance

after 19 overs had been bowled,and it was Lyon who snapped acentury opening stand in hisfourth over. Pujara reached hisfifty in 74 balls, but on 52 missedan oMbreak that did not turn asmuch as expected and wasbowled. Lyon added a second

soon after when Kohli playedback to a delivery that turned in,and should have had Tendulkarlbw on 1. Richard Kettleboroughruled in the batsman's favor,

reckoning that the ball wouldmiss its mark; however, replaysshowed it had pitched in lineand would have gone on to hitmiddle stump. –AGENCIES

SSEEPPAANNGG:: Red Bull's FormulaOne world champion SebastianVettel made the most of a well-timed change of tyres in a rainyqualifying session to seize poleposition for the Malaysian GrandPrix on Saturday. Vettel will bejoined on the front row for thesecond round of the season byFerrari's Felipe Massa, with theBrazilian out-qualifying hisSpanish team mate FernandoAlonso for the fourth race insuccession. Alonso, last year'swinner in Malaysia and second inthe Australian season-opener lastweekend, will start in third place.Lewis Hamilton will complete

the second row in his Mercedeswith Red Bull's Mark Webberdisappointed to be fifth aftergetting his timing wrong in thefinal session. "If you start in thefront, you always want to finishthere as well," Vettel toldreporters after his 38th careerpole and second of the season. "Itwill be a long race and it's diLcultto know the true pace. Weconfirmed what we saw inMelbourne. I'm happy with thebalance of the car." Vettel's rawpace in Australia was negated byexcessive tyre wear in the raceand after finishing third there, theGerman adopted a cautiousapproach in the first two roundsof qualifying on Saturday. "It wasone of those qualifying you just

want to survive," said teamprincipal Christian Horner afterthe rain had caught some othersout. "Q1 (the first phase) was a bitclose for comfort."The first drops fell in the second

phase but the Red Bull's speedshone through once the 10 cars inthe final round were all fitted withintermediate tyres as a downpoursoaked half of the Sepang Circuit.Vettel opted to change hisintermediates early in the finalphase and, after lapping morethan a second ahead of earlypacesetter Hamilton, his time wasfar too competitive for the twoFerraris to better as thechequered flag was waved.Tyre change: "We knew that rainwas on the way and we expected

some at the beginning ofqualifying but it didn't come sowe went out on drys (tyres) andhad a diMerent approach to otherpeople," the German added. "Wewere a little on the edge in Q2 sothe rain helped us a little bit,otherwise I think we may havehad to go out again, but we werejust fast enough to get into thefinal round. "In Q3, with thecircuit drying it was clear it wasbetter to change tyres and we didthat pretty early and it was theright thing." Melbourne winnerKimi Raikkonen qualified downin seventh place for Lotus butwas later handed a three-spotpenalty by stewards forimpeding the Mercedes of NicoRosberg (sixth). –AGENCIES

Vettel secures pole at rain-hit SepangMalaysian Grand Prix

Ferrari driver Felipe Massa of Brazil leaves the pits during the qualying sessionof the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix on Saturday. –AGENCIES

Nathan Lyon leaves India in a spinscoreboard

AAUUSSTTRRAALLIIAA FFIIRRSSTT IINNNNIINNGGSS (overnight 231-8)E Cowan b Ashwin 38D Warner c Kohli b Sharma 0P Hughes b Sharma 45S Watson st Dhoni b Jadeja 17S Smith c Rahane b Ashwin 46M Wade c Vijay b Ashwin 2G Maxwell c Sharma b Jadeja 10M Johnson b Ashwin 3P Siddle b Ashwin 51J Pattinson c Kohli b Ojha 30N Lyon not out 8EEXXTTRRAASS:: (B 5, LB 7) 12TTOOTTAALL:: (all out; 112.1 overs) 262FFAALLLL OOFF WWIICCKKEETTSS:: 1-4, 2-71, 3-106, 4-115,5-117, 6-129, 7-136, 8-189, 9-243, 10-262.BBOOWWLLIINNGGKumar 9-1-43-0Sharma 14-3-35-2Ashwin 34-18-57-5Ojha 26.1-6-75-1Jadeja 29-8-40-2IINNDDIIAA FFIIRRSSTT IINNNNIINNGGSSM Vijay c Wade b Siddle 57

C Pujara b Lyon 52V Kohli lbw b Lyon 1S Tendulkar lbw b Lyon 32A Rahane c Smith b Lyon 7MS Dhoni c Watson b Pattinson 24R Jadeja lbw b Maxwell 43R Ashwin lbw b Lyon 12B Kumar not out 10To bat: P Ojha, I SharmaEEXXTTRRAASS:: (B 12, LB 16) 28TTOOTTAALL:: (8 wickets; 68.1 overs) 266FFAALLLL OOFF WWIICCKKEETTSS:: 1-108, 2-114, 3-148, 4-165, 5-180, 6-210, 7-254, 8-266.BBOOWWLLIINNGGJohnson 17-3-44-0Pattinson 14-1-54-1Siddle 12-3-38-1Lyon 22.1-3-94-5Maxwell 3-0-8-1Toss: Australia and chose to batUmpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and RAKettleborough (England)Third umpire: S RaviMatch referee: R Madugalle (Sri Lanka)

Istanbul hopes forfifth time lucky inOlympics 2020 bid

Fakhr Imamjoins PML-NLLAAHHOORREE:: Former Speaker and PPPleader from Khanewal Syed FakhrImam met PML-N chief NawazSharif on Saturday at Raiwind andjoined the party. Though there wasno oTcial word from either Imam orthe PML-N on his joining butpolitical circles are looking at themeeting as a prelude to Syeda AbidaHussain’s joining. Amidst fallingpolitical stock of the PPP, thepolitician couple was already lookingat the options and the PML-N is anattractive one. Abida, a former PML-N leader and ambassador to the USduring Nawaz’s second tenure, isstuck in Shah Jewna-Garh Moreconstituency politics as former PPPstalwart Faisal saleh Hyat is alsoeying a move to the PML-N.However, with the rejection of ShaikhWaqas Akram’s degree, the PML-Nmight be looking at option to fieldAbida from Jhang city constituency.Akram, a PML –Q minister recentlyjoined the PML-N amidst fanfare butjust after two days the HEC declaredhis A Level certificate a fake one. Thedevelopment opened up a venue forAbida who in case of Hyat joining theparty would have to stick to PPP ifshe wanted to contest from ShahJewna. –STAFF REPORTER

Interim BalochistanCM sworn inQQUUEETTTTAA:: Nawab Ghaus BakhshBarozai on Saturday was sworn in ascaretaker chief minister ofBalochistan. In a simple but agraceful ceremony held at Governor’sHouse, Balochistan Governor NawabZulfiqar Ali Magsi administered oathto Nawab Ghaus Bakhsh Barozai.Former Balochistan CM AslamRaisani and other political leadersalso participated in the ceremony. Theevent was attended among others byopposition leader Nawabzada TariqMagsi, ex-ministers, formerlegislators and government oTcials.The formation of the interim cabinetis also expected after the caretakerchief minister takes oath. Barozailater vowed that the interim cabinetwill be formed on merit andannounced soon. He said he wouldstrive to ensure transparent andtimely elections in the provincesbesides making eUorts to maintainlaw and order during this interimsetup. –ONLINE

Ministry seekssecurity for IP pipelineIISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Feeling securitythreat during the construction of781-km Iran-Pakistan (IP) gaspipeline, Ministry of Petroleum &Natural Resources has soughtsecurity personnel in a bid to securefool proof security to avoid anyuntoward incident. Sources inPetroleum Ministry told this scribethat since construction of IP gaspipeline in Pakistan’s side withoutsecurity personnel is impossible sothe ministry through a letter to theInterior Ministry has sought servicesof security personnel. Owing to poorlaw and order situation in securityravaged Balochistan, staUs ofIranian Tadbir Energy and Pakistanicompanies are facing diTculties sodeployment of Frontier Corps (FC)prior to the commencement oflaying gas pipeline in Pakistan’sportion especially on the route of IPgasline have become imperative,sources added. It is also learnt thatMinistry of Interior will ensuresecurity while Iranian Tadbir Energywill bear all expenses of FC forensuring security on the route of IPpipeline. And, construction of Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline will becompleted before the stipulated timeof December 2014. –SAHTAK BALOCH

SUNDAYMARCH 24, 2013THE SPOKESMAN - RAWALPINDI/ISLAMABAD

CMyk

QUETTA: Balochistan Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi administers oath to Caretaker Balochistan CM Ghaus Bux Barozai. –ONLINE

WWAASSHHIINNGGTTOONN:: A meteor hasflown over the Eastern Seaboardwith hundreds of Americanswitnessing a bright fireballstreaking across the heavens. Bright enough to be classified as a

fireball, it lit up the night sky overeastern North America on Friday,providing a spectacle witnessed in atleast 13 states, Washington, D.C.and two Canadian provinces, theAmerican Meteor Society said.Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid

Environmental Office said the flashappears to be 'a single meteor event.'He said it 'looks to be a fireball thatmoved roughly toward thesoutheast, going on visual reports.''Judging from the brightness,

we're dealing with something as

bright as the full moon. The thing isprobably a yard across. We basicallyhave (had) a boulder enter theatmosphere over the northeast.'The society verified more than

300 witness sightings from Ontarioand Quebec down to the southernUS state of North Carolina withmore than 100 reports yet to bereviewed, said Mike Hankey, anobserver for the American MeteorSociety. 'This was most certainly afireball seen over a good portion ofthe eastern states,' said RobertLunsford, the society's fireballcoordinator. The society describes afireball as a meteor brighter thanVenus and Lunsford said they canbe brighter than the Sun, as was thecase with the one that streaked

across the sky and exploded overRussia on February 15. Meteors aresmall particles from the solarsystem that burn from friction whenentering the atmosphere. Several thousand meteors of

fireball magnitude occur each day,most of them unseen over the oceansor hidden by daylight, the societysaid on its website. This one was seenup and down the East Coast and ininland states such as West Virginiaand Ohio, the society said. Thefireball's likely trajectory showed itmoving east from easternPennsylvania and across New Jersey,passing just south of New York Cityand then over the Atlantic Ocean,based on witness reports to thesociety. Many witnesses called it the

brightest meteor they had ever seen.Hundreds over East Coasters flockedto social media to report seeing it. AMassachusetts woman, Eileen ClaUey,lives in Worcester in West Brookfieldand managed to photograph thebright fireball flash overhead. Initially a local TV station in

Delaware claimed that the meteorcould have landed near theMaryland/Delaware line but localofficials in Delaware said theyhadn't received any calls aboutpossible landings. Usually the phone lines will light

up when there is any unusualsightings so they suggested that ifthe meteor had come down andimpacted local residents, they wouldhave received an emergency call.

Meteor streaks over American East Coast

OUR STAFF REPORTER

KKAARRAACCHHII:: At least eight people, includinga girl, were killed in violence in diUerentareas of the city as Rangers personnel carriedout targetted operation in diUerent areas.Police said tortured dead bodies of a boy

and a girl were recovered from Ilyas Goth,Liaqatabad C-1 Area. Both were shot in thehead. Police shifted their bodies to theAbbasi Shaheed Hospital for legalformalities. Another tortured dead body ofa man was found near Nazimabad No 2.Two men were also killed in a firingincident at Usmanabad.In a separate incident of firing, a man

was killed near Rizwia Society policestation. Earlier, two Rangers personnelwere injured in a grenade attack in Lyari,one of the oldest areas of Karachi on lateFriday night. The grenade attack was also

followed by gun shots.OTcial said the attack took place at

Badshahi chowk area of Lyari, injuring twoRangers personnel. Meanwhile, police hasdenied any damage in the attack.The injured were shifted to a local

hospital in Karachi while police andRangers have cordoned of the area.Meanwhile, Rangers detained more

than 100 suspects during targetedoperation in Manghopir area. Rangerssources said the para-military forcelaunched targeted operation inSultanabad area of Manghopir anddetained more than 100 suspects.Rangers DG Rizwan Akhtar ismonitoring the action, in which morethan 1000 personnel including ladyoTcials are participating. Owing tosensitivity of the area, helicopter is beingused for aerial surveillance.

MOHAMMED RIZWAN

LLAAHHOORREE:: As leader of the houseShahbaz Sharif and leader of theopposition Raja Riaz failed to pick aname for the caretaker chief ministerin stipulated time, Speaker RanaIqbal has formed a bi-partisancommittee to deliberate in three daysover the possible caretaker CM.Opposition led by PPP withdrew

the name of former chief secretaryHafeez Akhtar Randhawa’s nameand replaced it with veteranjournalist and talk show host Najam

Sethi. So in the final count the namesof Justice (retd) Amir Raza Khan,Khwaja Zaheer (government) andJustice (retd) Zahid Hussain andNajam Sethi are left in the fray.However, the signs are that the

parliamentary committee, too, willnot be able to resolve the matter asthe positions are entrenched andcaretaker chief minister ShahbazSharif has already expressed hisdisappointment over thepossibility of picking a name at thecommittee stage.The bi-partisan parliamentary

committee comprises law MinisterRana Sanaullah, Excise andTaxation Minister Mian MujtabaShujaur Rehman and IqbalChannar (Government) whileopposition has fielded the names ofleader of PML-Q parliamentaryparty Ch. Zaheer, PPP’s ShaukatBasra and Zulfiqar Gondal.The committee starts its work in

earnest at the Punjab Assemblycommittee room from 11amtomorrow. If in three days thecommittee failed to agree on a namefor caretaker chief minister then the

matter will be decided by provincialelection commissioner who will picka name from these four candidates.However, it’s not clear that whetherSethi would accept the position ornot. Likewise, the earlier namesfielded by the opposition AsmaJehangir and Mian Amir Mehmoodhave already declined to be caretakerchief minister. In case Sethiwithdraws, the opposition would beleft with the name of Justice (retd)Zahid Hussain which will not begood to take any bargaining positionduring the bi-partisan talks.

“They (opposition) have formallyproposed my name for the positionand at this stage I have not takenany decision in this regard. I’ll thinkand decide,” said Sethi. On the otherhand PML-N sources said that it isvery unlikely that PML-N agrees tothe name of Sethi. However, even ifthe PML-N doesn’t agree to Sethi’sname his name has been includedin the list that would go to electioncommissioner for final decisionand if he does not withdraws thename he might well prove to be adark horse.

Committee formed for caretaker Punjab CM

No letup inKarachi violence

DDUUBBAAII:: Former presidentGeneral (retd) Pervez MusharrafSaturday said he would return toPakistan tomorrow “at any cost”.Speaking at a press conference

here, Musharraf said some peoplewere spreading rumors anddoubts about his return but he isreaching Pakistan today (Sunday)which would shut their mouths.He said it was imperative to savePakistan as the ‘terrorists’ wereaiming to destroy it. “I’m comingto rescue the country.”About taking part in elections,

Musharraf said he will make thedecision after organising hisparty. “I was controlling partytthrough remote control. It isimperative for the party’s fururethat I land in Pakistan and seethings on the ground. “Myinterest is not just elections, Iwant to change status quo inPakistan."The former president said the

international community wasaware of the situation in Pakistanwhich had been a source ofhumiliation to the nation. Hesaid he would come back at anycost as he would not be in anydanger upon his return toPakistan and that he was notafraid of extremists.About security threats,

Musharaf said he had spent hiswhole life in threats, therefore hedid not feel any hazard whilegoing back to his country. He saidafter resigning as president, heremained in the country for eightmonths without heavy security.He said he would arrange for his

security himself as he did notwant to depend on thegovernment.The former president said the

situation in Pakistan haddeteriorated greatly since 1999and that it would take two tothree years to improve it. AllPakistan Muslim League(APML) Central InformationSecretary Aasia Ishaq saidpreparations are in full swing toaccord a historic welcome totheir party chief. People ofKarachi will receive the APMLchief in an unprecedentedhistoric manner, saidAasia. –AGENCIES

Mush coming,come what may

MOMO BAIG

WWAASSHHIINNGGTTOONN:: ARepublican Senator withpresidential ambitionsmoved an amendment onthe Senate floor to cut oU allforeign aid to Pakistan untilShakeel Afridi, a keyinformant in the capture andkilling of Osama bin Laden,is released from prison.

“Pakistan’s actions areunacceptable and notsuitable for any countrywishing to receive a singledollar from US taxpayers —especially considering theircountry is one of the largestrecipients,” said SenatorRand Paul, as he movedAmendment 379, to SenateCon Res 8, the BudgetResolution. “Foreign aid toPakistan must be prohibiteduntil Afridi is released fromprison, and his safety isguaranteed,” said Paul.Senator Paul from

Kentucky had won theconservative straw poll forpotential Republicanpresidential candidates for2016. Meanwhile, the United

States has reaTrmed itssupport for timely and freepolls in Pakistan followingthe landmark completion ofthe constitutional term ofthe government. The USState Departmentspokesperson VictoriaNuland at a briefing inWashington said that welook forward to timely‚ free‚and fair elections that aregoing to result in the firstcivilian‚ democratictransition of power inPakistan's history.

Bill in USSenate linksaid to Afridi’srelease

PHC gets 7 additional judgesIISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: President Asif Ali Zardari on the advice of PrimeMinister has approved appointment of seven Additional Judgesof Peshawar High Court on Saturday. The judges: Justices SyedAfsar Shah‚ Lal Jan Khattak‚Ikramullah Khan‚ Abid Latif Khan‚Muhammad Daud Khan‚ Musarrat Hilali and Malik ManzoorHussain. President on the PM advice also confirmed grant ofsix months extension in tenure of six additional judges ofLahore High Court. These additional judges included JusticesAbdul Sami Khan, Ibad-ur-Rehman Lodhi, Shujaat Ali Khan,Ayesha A Malik, Shahid Waheed and Ali Baqar Najafi. TheSummary states that the Judicial Commission of Pakistan hadforwarded these nominations to the Parliamentary Committeeon Judges Appointment in the Superior Courts recommendingsix months extension in their tenure as Additional Judges ofLahore High Court. The Parliamentary Committee on JudgesAppointment in the Superior Courts unanimously agreed withthe nominations of Judicial Commission and requested thePrime Minister to advise the President for according hisapproval. Accordingly, acting upon the advice of the PrimeMinister, the President has confirmed grant of six monthsextension in tenure to the above-mentioned Additional Judgesof Lahore High Court. –AGENCIESISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari conferring award of Nishan-i-Imtiaz upon Sherry Rehman,

Pakistan's Ambassador to USA at an Investiture Ceremony at President House. –ONLINE

� PPP replaces Randhawa with Najam Sethi � Matter likely to land in EC’s court

� Says return imperative for party’sreorganisation � To have his own security

TTP bombersout to kill MushPPEESSHHAAWWAARR:: The PakistaniTaliban have threatened to usesuicide bombers and snipers tokill former president PervezMusharraf when he returnshome from exile. In a videoreleased on Saturday, TTPspokesman Ehsanullah Ehsansaid the group had set upsquads of suicide bombers toassassinate Musharraf.“Suicide bombers are beingtrained and assigned toassassinate” the formerpresident, Ehsan said.“Moreover, Adnan Rasheed,who took part in a previousattempt to assassinateMusharraf, has been given thecharge of these suicidesquads.” –STAFF REPORTER

� Rangers chief monitors op, 100 suspects detained

� Millions of people witness fireball as yard-long rock enters Earth's atmosphere