Wednesday, 17 April, 2013 Jamadul Sani 6, 1434Rs 17.00 Vol III No 290 19 Pages Islamabade Edition

Musharraf pulled out fromelection raceFormer president Gen (r) Pervez

Musharraf, who had returned to

Pakistan after years of self-imposed

exile to contest the May 11 polls, has

been thrown out of the election race.

The former military strongman’s

nomination papers were rejected on

Tuesday from NA-32 Chitral, after

him being earlier disqualified from

three other constituencies. PAGE 02

CJP takes suo motunotice of funds doledout by former PMChief Justice of Pakistan Justice

Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry took

suo motu notice of funds doled out

by former PM Raja Pervaiz Ashraf

10 days after having completed his

tenure. The notice was taken on a

note by the SC registrar based on

press clipping containing details

that Ashraf doled out billions of

rupees in form of development

funds after having completed his

mandated tenure. PAGE 02

Massive manhuntlaunched forBoston bombersUS investigators stepped up a massivemanhunt Tuesday for attackers whodevastated the Boston Marathon withtwo bombs that killed three people andwounded more than 140, many leftwith horrific injuries. Boston’s BoylstonStreet, scene of the marathon finishline carnage on Monday, remainedsealed off as investigators soughtleads in the worst bomb attack in theUnited States since the September11, 2001 atrocities. PAGE 07

STORY ON PAGE 03

STORY ON PAGE 02 STORY ON PAGE 03

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NWednesday, 17 April, 2013

02

NEWS

Disqualification of former prime

ministers will not affect Pakistan People’s

Party. — Senator Farooq Naek

CJP takes suoMotu NotiCe offuNds doLed outby forMer PMISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan

Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry took

suo motu notice of funds doled out by

former PM Raja Pervaiz Ashraf 10 days

after having completed his tenure. The

notice was taken on a note by the SC

registrar based on press clipping containing

details that Ashraf doled out billions of

rupees in form of development funds after

having completed his mandated tenure. It

was stated that the beneficiaries included

sons of former prime minister Yousaf Raza

Gilani, namely Ali Musa Gilani and Abdul

Qadir Gilani. Besides, Yousaf Raza Gilani

also got Rs 25 million from Ashraf after

ineligibility from premiership. Per report,

Moonis Elahi received Rs 50 million in form

of development fund, Chaudhry Shujaat

Hussain, Chaudhry Pervez Elahi and

Wajahat Hussain also received Rs one

billion in form of development fund. It was

reported that Sheikh Waqas Akram got Rs

30 million, whereas the Shirazi family of

Sindh received Rs 100 million in funds. The

report claimed that official documents

revealed that around Rs 2.5 billion were

transferred by Ashraf for his own

constituency. The news report mentioned

names of 69 politicians in all who drew

billions of rupees in the form of

development fund. Notices have been

served on the cabinet and finance

secretaries to appear and explain if the

funds belonging to the public exchequer

had been allocated in accordance with

the constitution and law. The matter has

been fixed for hearing today

(Wednesday). STAFF REPORT

biLawaL warNsof surPrisePoLLs’ resuLtsKARACHI:

Pakistan

People’s Party

Chairman

Bilawal

Bhutto

Zardari has

said he

would start

his party

election

campaign from

April 20. In an address

to party workers from Lahore, Multan,

Quetta and Larkana via video link on

Tuesday, Bilawal warned PPP opponents

that the party would give ‘surprising results’

in the upcoming general elections. He said

those who thought the PPP was out of the

election race lived in a fools’ paradise.

Bilawal said the PPP did not do any political

witch hunt during its tenure, adding that

there were no political prisoners during its

rule. He also demanded the caretaker

government provide security to PPP’s

election candidates. ONLINE

QUETTASTAFF REPORT

Amajor earthquake centredon the border area of Pak-istan and Iran killed at least34 people on the Pakistaniside, destroyed hundreds of

houses and shook buildings as far away asIndia and Gulf Arab states on Tuesday.

The US Geological Survey said the 7.8magnitude quake hit at 10:44 GMT at adepth of 15.2 km. The epicentre was insoutheast Iran in an area of mountains anddesert. It was located 201 km southeast ofthe Iranian city of Zahedan and 250 kmnorthwest of Turbat in Pakistan, the USGSsaid.

More than 100 people were injured inthe Panjgur and Mashkeel areas ofBalochistan, while around 50 people sus-tained injuries in Karachi in incidents ofroof collapse. Over 1,000 houses were par-tially damaged in Balochistan.

Three women and two children werealso killed when their mud house collapsedin the Panjgur. “The earthquake has killedat least five people in Panjgur,” said AliImran, an official at the government disas-

ter-response unit in Quetta.Tremors were felt in Karachi, Hyder-

abad, Lahore, Larkana, Jacobabad, Quettaand other cities which created panicamongst people. The earthquake was alsofelt in Rahim Yar Khan, Serai Desert,Faisalabad and Shahdadkot. In areas nearMultan and DI Khan the tremors were feltfor around ten seconds, panicking citizens.

Buildings in Karachi were im-mediately evacuated after thetremors were felt.

“We immediatelyvacated the buildingas soon as ourdesks and otherfurniture beganshaking,” Irfan,a Karachi resi-dent said,adding thatmost people re-fused to go in-side thebuildings antici-pating aftershocks.

According to MetOffice sources, the in-tensity of the earthquake

was 5.4 magni-tude in Balochis-tan, however,some other geolog-

ical sources said thatthe intensity was

recorded at 6.4 magni-tude.

Strong tremors alsoshook buildings in India’s capi-

tal New Delhi.Iran appeared to have emerged rela-

tively unscathed. Experts said the depth wasthe likely reason for the relatively low levelof damage from a 7.8 magnitude quake.

The Iranian city of Saravan, which liesnear the centre of a 7.8 magnitude earth-quake which hit the country on Tuesday, hasnot seen serious damage, the Fars newsagency said.

Quake kills 34, leaveshundreds homeless

The US GeologicalSurvey said the 7.8 magnitude

quake hit at 10:44 GMT at a depthof 15.2 km. The epicentre was in

southeast Iran in an area of mountainsand desert. It was located 201 kmsoutheast of the Iranian city of Za-

hedan and 250 km northwestof Turbat in Pakistan

PESHAWAR/ISLAMABADSTAFF REPORT

Former president Gen (r) PervezMusharraf, who had returned to Pak-istan after years of self-imposed exileto contest the May 11 polls, has beenthrown out of the election race.

The former military strongman’snomination papers were rejected onTuesday from NA-32 Chitral, afterhim being earlier disqualified fromthree other constituencies. Appealsagainst the acceptance of PervezMusharraf’s nomination papers for

NA-32 (Chitral) were approved bythe Election Tribunal in Peshawar.

Musharraf’s lawyer said theywould contest the decision in a highcourt.

Earlier in the day, an election tri-bunal had decided against an appealfiled by Musharraf challenging the re-turning officer’s rejection of his nom-ination papers for NA-48(Islamabad-I).

The returning officer had rejectedMusharraf’s nomination after objec-tions, saying the retired general hadsubverted the constitution as the army

chief and had illegally placed judgesunder house arrest.

Musharraf’s appeal for NA-139(Kasur-II) was also rejected by anelection tribunal in Lahore. The tribu-nal said the former president had ab-rogated the constitution thrice andtherefore, did not qualify to contestthe coming general election.

An election tribunal inRawalpindi also rejected Musharraf’snomination papers on Tuesday.

The nomination papers of PervezMusharraf for NA-250 (Karachi)have already been rejected.

Musharraf pulled outfrom election race

PML-N will changecountry’s destinyafter coming intopower: Nawaz

HAFIZABADNNI

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chiefNawaz Sharif on Monday said that if his partyreturns to power‚ it will put the country on thepath to progress and prosperity and will providejobs to the unemployed youth. Addressing apublic meeting in Hafizabad on Tuesdayafternoon‚ he said prosperity was his party’s goaland he was determined to achieve the goal.Nawaz Sharif said PML-N would change thedestiny of the country after coming into power.He said war would be waged against poverty‚price hike and corruption. Nawaz Sharif said theenthusiasm of the people of Hafizabad, “likealways, is unmatchable”. “Voters will holdaccountability of the plunderers on May11,” hesaid. Nawaz said Pakistan attained prosperityduring the tenure of PML-N government and thePakistan flag enjoyed respect in the world.“Today Pakistan is drowned in darkness due toload shedding and corruption”, he said. He urgedthe masses to support PML-N in order to bringPakistan out of darkness and into light, and torestore Pakistan’s respect in the world. Nawazpromised the youth that they would be providedjobs and opportunities for business. Hecondemned the killing of the son and brother ofPML-N Balochistan President Zahri. He said thepeople will hold all those accountable on May 11who had deprived them of electricity and gas. Hesaid the respect of the country would be restoredin the comity of the nations. Nawaz Sharif saidhis party will steer the country out of theongoing crisis. He said that the problems beingfaced by the people of the area would also beresolved on a priority basis.

KARACHI: Severe tremors forced people to rush out of

their offices after a massive earthquake struck

Balochistan on Tuesday. ONLINE

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NEWS N

03

Wednesday, 17 April, 2013

If disqualification is to be carried out merely on the basis of

allegations then it will not be possible to find a single

candidate to contest the elections. — Qamar Zaman Kaira

QUETTAAPP

The Institute of Social and Policy Sci-ence (ISAP) has revealed that about 0.58million children do not go to school in

Balochistan. Speaking in all parties’ consultation

meeting on condition of education inBalochistan on Monday, Ali Ahmed,ISAP director, said “According to datacollected by the government and non-governmental organizations, about 0.58million children were not enrolled inschools in Balochistan.”

He said that a total number ofschools in Balochistan is 12,293 and ofthem, 8,092 are without boundary wall,846 have no roof, 9,579 have no elec-tricity facility and 8,827 have no toilets.

He regretted that 35 months have

passed after passage of 18th Amendmentand the Education Department has beentransferred to the provinces but theBalochistan government is yet to formits education policy.

Quoting a policy report, he said thatBalochistan province would need 3,208new schools, 6,600 rooms for existingschools and 21,789 new teachers duringnext 15 years.

He lamented that although Rs 22.9billion were allocated for Education sec-tor in financial budget of Balochistan,adding that neither the Balochistan’s Ed-ucation Policy is formed on data basis

nor the Education budget is finalised onpolicy basis.

Journalist Saleem Shahid held polit-ical parties responsible for recruitingtheir political activists against the postsof government teachers.

“A large number of activities of po-litical parties have been recruited asgovernment teachers who still work forthese parties instead imparting educationin schools and even members of centraland provincial executive committees ofseveral political parties working inBalochistan are government teachers,”Shahid said.

PESHAWAR/QUETTASHAMIM SHAHID/SHAHZADA ZULFIQAR

MILITANT attackson aspiring lawmak-ers across the coun-try continued onTuesday, as 20 more

people linked with election activitiesone way or the other lost their lives invarious attacks.

Tuesday’s deadliest attack came inPeshawar, where 16 people were killedand over 40 injured in a suicide bombingtargeted at Awami National Party (ANP)leaders Ghulam Bilour and his nephewHaroon Bilour as they arrived to partici-pate in an election meeting in the Yaka-toot area of the provincial capital. TheTehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan haveclaimed responsibility for the attack.

The dead included Yakatoot PoliceSHO Abidur Rahman, Assistant Sub-In-spector Hussain Shah and two consta-bles. Bilour, a formerfederal minister for rail-ways, was among the in-jured, but his conditionwas stated to be out ofdanger.

Witnesses and police of-

ficials said a suicide bomber blew him-self up near the bulletproof SUV of Ha-roon Bilour, son of the assassinatedANP leader Bashir Bilour, when he ar-rived to attend a public meeting. Thevehicle was badly damaged, but Ha-roon escaped unhurt.

Other people injured, includingchildren and policemen, were rushedto hospitals for medical treatment.

Bomb Disposal Squad AdditionalInspector General Shafqat Malik saidthe attack was carried out by a suicidebomber using five to six kilogrammesof explosives. ANP BLAMES ECP FOR AT-

TACK: Talking to reporters at theLady reading Hospital, Bilour said itwas time for the interim governmentand security establishment to decide onwhose side they were on. “They shoulddecide who will live in KP...us or themilitants. No matter how many timesthe militants attack us, they will not beable to break our resolve,” a resoluteBilour said, adding that the governmenthad taken away their security, makingthem prone to terrorist attacks.

ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khansaid the caretaker government and Elec-tion Commission of Pakistan were re-sponsible for the attacks on his partycompanions, as they had withdrawn se-

curity for ANP leaders who wereregular targets of terrorists.

He demanded the ECP andsenior provincial police officialsbe booked in the FIR for the at-tack, alleging that the intentionof the Khyber Pakhtunkhwacaretaker government was not

clear. “I wrote to the ECP and the care-taker CM regarding security concernsfor our party leaders but they have stillnot responded to me letter,” he said.

“We are ready to make more sacri-

fices but the elections should notbe delayed...the law and ordersituation will worsen if the elec-tions are delayed,” he warned.

ANP’s former informationminister Mian Iftikhar Hussainsaid elections should not be de-layed even for a second, as doingso would mean succumbing tothe tactics of anti-democracy forces.ZEHRI’S CONVOY ATTACKED:

Another four deaths came in Quettawhen a bomb targeted a convoy of Pak-istan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)

Balochistan President SardarSanaullah Zehri, killing his son,brother, nephew and a bodyguard.Several people were reportedly in-jured in the attack as well. The blasttook place in the Anjira area of Zehritehsil of Khuzdar district. However,Zehri remained unharmed in theblast.NAWAZ CONDEMNS: Reactingto the attack on his party’s Balochis-

tan president, PML-N President NawazSharif said: “Now that the process ofelections has been conducted and elec-toral schedule has been announced,such acts seem to be a conspiracy to de-rail the process.”

Nawaz said that anti-state elementsand “those fearing defeat in elections”

are conspiring to derail the process. PPP CANDIDATE TARGETED: An-other attack was reported in the Gulba-har area of Peshawar earlier in the daywhen unidentified militants hurled a

hand grenade at thehouse of PPP candidatefor NA-1, ZulfiqarAfghani.

No casualties werereported as the grenadeexploded on the roof ofthe house.

Police personnel and ZulfiqarAfghani said the bomb exploded on thethird floor of the house, creating panicin the area. No damage to life or prop-erty was reported.

“It’s a cowardly act to sabotage theelections. Earlier, ANP leaders havebeen targeted and now the terroristshave started targeting us,” Afghanisaid.

“I have no enmity and have nevereven carried a weapon in my life, soit’s very clear that whoever is targetingpolitical workers wants to derail thedemocratic process. But we will not beafraid,” he added.CABINET MEETING: MeanwhilePrime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khosohas summoned a meeting of the federalcabinet to take into account the wors-ening law and order situation in thecountry as caretaker Interior MinisterMalik Habib has ordered more securityfor leaders of the ANP.

More deaths as eLeCtioNs Nearat least 20 killed asanp rally, pml-nconvoy bombed inpeshawar, Quetta

THOSE FEARING DEFEAT INELECTIONS ARE CONSPIRINGTO DERAIL THE PROCESS BYSUCH ATTACKS

WE ARE READY TO MAKE MORESACRIFICES BUT THE ELECTIONSSHOULD NOT BE DELAYED...THELAW AND ORDER SITUATIONWILL WORSEN IF THEELECTIONS ARE DELAYED

seNators exPressCoNCerN overCaNdidates’ seCurity

ISLAMABADSTAFF REPORT

The Senate on Tuesday expressed concern thatthe Taliban might attack political parties andkeeping in view the threats, the governmentshould provide foolproof security to candidatesand ensure safety of voters as well. PPPSenator Mian Raza Rabbani said if somebodywanted to postpone election by hurling threats,he was living in a fools’ paradise. He said thesecurity of former ministers had been drawnback, but it was being provided to PervezMusharraf. The government should end suchdouble standards. He said three big politicalparties having liberal thoughts, including thePPP, ANP and MQM, were facing challengesfrom terrorists. “Candidates form these partiesare under fire from terrorists and ECPscrutiny.” Rabbani said the country could notafford a delay in election even for an hour.“The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan is issuingstatements openly but no political partycondemns the group.” Caretaker InteriorMinister Haji Habib said the he would raise theissue in the cabinet meeting and all candidateswould be provided appropriate security andholding of timely election would be ensured.ANP’s Senator Haji Adeel said the country waspassing through a difficult time and peoplewere horrified due to terrorism incidents on adaily basis. He said coming elections would bethe first ever in the history of the country inwhich no political party could hold large publicmeeting. He said the turnout of women inKhyber Pakhtunkhwa remained low, whereasin the prevailing circumstances, they can notcast their votes. Adeel said the condition wasgetting worse in all provinces except Punjab.MQM’s Nasreen Jalil said the role of theRangers in Karachi was not appreciable andthe personnel barged into houses during searchoperations. “The workers of MQM are beingtargeted for the last two years.”Senator Zahid Khan said the ANP was not infavour of pushing any political party to the wall.Over 750 workers and leaders have been killed insabotage activities, he added. JUP’s Haji GhulamAli said the people of KP were facing manyproblems in getting their national identity cardsmade and the issue should be resolved on prioritybasis before elections.

Jatak’s imprisonmentin fake degree caseannulled

QUETTAAPP

TheBalochistanHigh Court(BHC) onTuesdayannulled theprison term offormer Balochistanminister Mir Ali MadadJatak, earlier awarded by the AdditionalSessions Court, in a fake degree case. PPPleader Jattak had filed a petition in theBHC against the trial court verdict. Duringthe proceedings, the court overruled theearlier verdict, declaring the two yearsprison term and Rs 10,000 fine null andvoid allowing the former minister tocontest the general elections.

four soldiers killed,nine injured inclashes with militants

PESHAWARSTAFF REPORT

Four soldiers were killed and nine law enforcementofficials injured in fierce clashes with militants inseparate incidents on Tuesday. According to details, abomb attack on a security forces convoy protecting theFrontier Works Organisations’ (FWO) staff in Saidgaiarea of North Waziristan Agency left at least foursecurity personnel dead and five others injured. Officialsaid that the security forces’ vehicles were targeted nearDorduni area of Saidgai in Ghulam Khan tehsil ofNorth Waziristan Agency with a roadside improvisedexplosive device (IED). “Four soldiers have died. Theexact number of injuries are not confirmed, but thereare injured personnel who are being shifted to thehospital,” said a police official requesting not to benamed. Earlier, sources said that the blast was anintended case of suicide bombing but later militaryofficials confirmed that it was a roadside bombingaimed at the security convoy on guard with the FWO,who are busy in development work in the area.Furthermore, five security personnel were injured inclashes between security forces and militants in theAkka Khel area of Bara in Khyber Agency. Securityforces also defused five improvised explosive devices(IEDs) planted by militants. Official sources said thatmilitants attacked security forces at about 1:30amTuesday which was then repulsed. At least five securitypersonnel were injured during the clashes. TANK ATTACK: Separately in Tank, at least twosuspected militants were killed and four policemeninjured in a clash on Tuesday morning. Tank connectsthe Waziristan tribal belt with Dera Ismail Khan.Police officials said a group of militants attacked apolice party near the office of South Waziristanpolitical administration in Tank. As a result ofindiscriminate firing, four policemen sustainedserious injuries. The officials said security forcesretaliated and shot dead two suspected militants,while the remaining managed to escape. Tank is closeto Waziristan region and has been a frequent target forterrorists in recent past.

No school for 0.58 million Baloch children: ISAP reportJournalist sayspolitical parties recruittheir political activistsin government schools

PESHAWAR: A minor girl injured in a suicide bombing at an ANP rally on Tuesday is being brought

to the hospital by her family.

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NEWSN

04

Wednesday, 17 April, 2013

PML-N announcescandidates for 13Na constituencies LAHORE: The Pakistan Muslim League-

Nawaz (PML-N) on Tuesday announced

candidates for 13 National Assembly

constituencies while the candidates for

provincial assembly seats would be

announced on Wednesday. The candidates

for the National Assembly and their

constituencies are: Malik Riaz for NA-18,

Hamza Shahbaz for NA-119, Nawaz Sharif

for NA-120, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq for NA-122,

Malik Pervaiz for NA-123, Saad Rafique for

NA-125, Ahmad Hasan for NA-126, Afzal

Khokar for NA-128 and Shahbaz Sharif for

NA-129. Decisions on NA-130, NA-127 and

NA-124 are still pending. STAFF REPORT

PML-Q bringsforward candidatesfor 13 Na, 25 Pa seatsLAHORE: The Pakistan Muslim League-

Quaid (PML-Q) on Tuesday announced the

names of final candidates for 13 National

Assembly and 25 provincial assembly

constituencies. According to a press release

issued on Tuesday, PML-Q President Senator

Chaudhary Shujat Hussain announced the

names of party’s final candidates for

another 13 constituencies of the National

Assembly after seat adjustment with the

Peoples Party, while candidates from

remaining NA constituencies will be

named shortly. STAFF REPORT

red Cross chiefcriticises us droneuse in PakistanGENEVA: Red Cross chief Peter Maurer on

Tuesday condemned US drone strikes

outside areas officially engulfed in armed

conflict, warning against a creeping

expansion of the definition of what

constitutes a battlefield. Washington’s

secretive and controversial use of drones

was not a problem in itself, said Maurer,

as in the context of an armed conflict

drones are considered legitimate

weapons. “But if a drone is used in a

country where there is no armed conflict…

there is a problem,” the head of the

International Committee of the Red Cross

told reporters in Geneva, urging the “very

restrained use” of the weapon. AGENCIES

Polio workers

attacked in 2 cities KARACHI/KHANEWAL: Anti-polio

vaccinators on Tuesday faced dual assailant

in two different parts of the country.

According to details, a polio vaccination

team was beaten up in Kabirwala town of

Khanewal. Sources said that unidentified

men beat up lady workers. They were

identified as Sorayya and Tasleem. An anti-

polio vaccination team was attacked in

Karachi’s Baldia town. According to the

police, the polio team entered Sector 8 of

the Baldia Town when assailants opened

fire on them, adding that no injuries were

reported as polio workers resisted the

attack. SSP Asif Sheikh said that they had

arrested four workers including a woman

involved in the attack. The police also said

that the polio campaign had been

suspended until tomorrow. ONLINE

tauqir sadiqreleased on bailDUBAI: The bail of former OGRA chairman

Tauqir Sadiq was approved on Tuesday and

he was released from the Abu Dhabi prison.

The next hearing of the case will be held on

April 20 and as part of his bail, Sadiq has

submitted his passport to the court and

been barred from leaving the UAE.

According to sources, the family of the

former OGRA chairman has also arrived in

UAE. Tauqir Sadiq is allegedly involved in

the Rs 82 billion corruption case. AGENCIES

KARACHIISMAIL DILAWAR

rEITERATING the interim govern-ment’s commitment to hold trans-parent and timely elections, FederalInformation Minister Arif Nizami

said the caretaker regime was striving to im-prove law and order in Karachi, Balochistanand Khyber Pakhtunkhwa through boostingthe country’s intelligence network.

He said further the government haddecided to increase advertisement quotaof the Press Information Department(PID) from 25 percent to 50 percent.

The minister said this while addressingjournalists at a luncheon he hosted in theirhonour at a hotel. Flanked by APNS Pres-ident Sarmad Ali and Federal InformationSecretary Agha Nadeem, Nizami expressedconcern over the recent terrorist attacks on

the candidates of secular political partiessuch as the PPP, ANP and MQM.

The information minister said his gov-ernment, having entered into 3rd phase ofthe election process, was fully alive to theconcerns of those political parties bravingterrorist attacks during election campaign.

He said all organs of the government,the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)and security agencies were on the samepage in their efforts to improve security sit-uation for elections. The federal ministersaid focus of the government’s securitymeasures was the politicians and the votersalike. “It, however, is not an easy job to do,but a daunting task for the interim govern-ment,” Nizami added. The minister said hewas also engaged with the interior ministerto make hassle-free visa issuance process toforeign journalists who are likely to visitPakistan to cover the upcoming polls.

He also urged the implementation ofECP’s election code of ethics for mediathat had a key role in the May 11 polls.Nizami said in a recent meeting at thePakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA)he had proposed to merge all the codes ofconduct for the print and electronic mediafor further improvement. These codes, theminister clarified, were never aimed at re-straining the freedom of media.

“We are here in this setup only as facil-itators,” he maintained. Referring to ECP’srecent banning of the election candidates towoe the voters in the name of religion, sectand ethnicity, the information ministerstressed upon the journalists, mostly fromprint media, to be mindful of the commis-sion’s order in their publications.

While Nizami vowed to make “revolu-tionary changes” in the distribution patternof government’s advertisements among the

newspapers, Federal Information SecretaryAgha Nadeem said the government and AllPakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) hasagreed to increase the advertisement quotaof the PID to 50 percent. He hoped that thiswould make a difference.

The federal minister said efforts wereunderway to keep only genuine newspapersin the government’s centralized list for ad-vertisements. To a question, Nadeem saidthe 8th Wage Board Award would be imple-mented within next 10 to 15 days as thelegal hitches the journalist-friendly awardwas facing had been removed.

To a question, Nizami said that thegovernment had taken a serious notice ofthe problems being faced by certain news-papers after publishing the news aboutsome banned organisations. “It is a seriousmatter and the government has taken a se-rious note of it,” Nizami said.

LAHORENADEEM SYED

The significance of the monumental forth-coming general elections has increased man-ifold as several sectarian parties are intent ontrying their luck in elections as a large num-ber of their candidates have already cruisedthrough the security phase, and are ready tocontest polls from various national andprovincial assembly constituencies.

As per information gathered from reli-gious parties and sources within the Elec-tion Commission of Pakistan (ECP), asmany as 62 candidates belonging to sectar-ian parties have joined the run-up to thegeneral elections. From among these sec-tarian groups, Ahle Sunnat Wal Jammat,formerly Sipah-e-Sahaba, is so far leadingthe show with utter ease in Punjab province.Experts believe that the party has stole theshow mainly due to the reason that it isbeing patronised by Malik Ishaq and led byMaulana Ahmad Ludhianvis, who himselfwill be contesting the upcoming polls.

It has been reliably learnt by PakistanToday that the above mentioned party hasawarded tickets to exactly 150 candidates be-longing to various constituencies, but on the

other hand, some two dozen candidates be-longing to the party have moon walked theirway out of the scrutiny phase. It is pertinentto mention here that Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaathas also remained in the past the true-blueally of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz(PML-N) on the provincial level, but the for-mer ruling party has publicly denied any in-volvement with the mentioned sectariangroup after such groups picked up heat withthe law enforcing agencies after the rise ofsectarian onslaught in the country. Followingthe Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat on the meander-ing path leading towards the corridors ofpower, are other sectarian parties that havebeen taking keen interest in the fast ap-proaching elections. Some of these partiesare as follows: Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Tehreek-

ul-Mujahidin and Muttahida Deeni Mehazled by Jamiat Ulema Islam-Samiul Haq chiefMaulana Samiul Haq. These sectariangroups are expected to dance towards victoryon some important provincial seats as theyhave pockets of influence in vast areas of thePunjab province, especially southern Punjab,including Faisalabad, Jhang, Dera GhaziKhan, Layyah, Khushab and Muzaffargarh.Historically, all the above mentioned sectar-ian groups have always taken part in elec-tions but they have ever having been able tocreate a presence in the parliament. This timethough the scenario will be very different asthe leaders from these parties think that withanti-US sentiments running high among thegeneral populace they are well placed to stealthe limelight at the hustings.

ttP on bostonbombings: itwasn’t us!

MIRANSHAHAGENCIES

The Pakistani Taliban, which claimed the2010 Times Square bomb plot, onTuesday denied anything to do withexplosions that killed three people andwounded more than 100 in Boston. “Webelieve in attacking US and its allies butwe are not involved in this attack,”Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said. “Wehave no connection to this bombing butwe will continue to target them whereverpossible,” Ehsan added. Monday’sexplosions at the Boston Marathon, oneof America’s top sporting events, forcedcities from New York to Los Angeles togo on high alert and conjured upmemories of the September 11, 2001attacks. An Internet video purportedlyfrom the TTP claimed responsibility fora car bomb attempt in New York’s TimesSquare on May 1, 2010, for whichPakistani-American Faisal Shahzad wasjailed for life. A TTP spokesman laterdenied that the faction had trained orrecruited Shahzad. Shahzad said duringhis trial that he received bomb-makingtraining during a 40-day stay with thePakistani Taliban, but that on his returnto the United States he planned thebombing and acted alone. He was alsoshown in a video embracingHakeemullah Mehsud, commander ofthe TTP, who has vowed to attack majorUS cities. The TTP is based in Pakistan’snorthwestern tribal belt on the Afghanborder and has been blamed for some ofthe deadliest suicide attacks in Pakistan.US President Barack Obama says it isnot yet clear who was behind the blasts.He said the perpetrators would pay. Hedid not utter the word “terror”.

LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Former president Pervez Musharraf’sdictatorial regime and the corrupt PPPgovernment have pushed Pakistan backdecades, former Punjab chief ministerShahbaz Sharif said on Tuesday.

“The extremely difficult times thatPakistan is facing now requires that thePML-N come in power and that too witha majority,” Shahbaz said, adding that in1998, when Nawaz Sharif had won bytwo-thirds majority, the PML-N govern-ment had carried out nuclear explosions.

“Now the party will ensure massivegrowth in Pakistan’s economy to bring

prosperity back to Pakistan.”Addressing PML-N workers at the

party’s secretariat, Shahbaz said the PPPgovernment had destroyed all national in-

stitutions. “Steel Mills, PIA and Railwayare a few examples. Even worse is the factthat NAB and other institutions that holdthese people accountability and checkcorruption, have been transformed intobodies that protect these governments.”

The former Punjab chief minister saidthe PPP was using the tax payers’ moneyit had amassed while in power on extrav-agant election campaign. He assured thepeople that all these efforts will go in vain.

“Had Zardari and Co not shame-lessly looted the national exchequer,Pakistan would not have been facing thedarkness of load shedding. In the comingelections, these unable rulers will have tobe answerable to the people of Pakistan.”

Govt boosting intelligence net toensure peaceful polls: Nizami

‘Musharraf, PPP pushed country decades back’

Sectarian parties in South Punjab all set to tango62 candidates fromvarious sectarian groupsget past the scrutiny toenter the election fray

CHAMAN: An anti-polio workeradministers the vaccine to achild at the Civil Hospital as thegovernment began a three-daypolio campaign in the provinceon Tuesday. INP

The Awami National Party will not seek

a delay in elections. The interim

government should hold the polls on

time. —ANP leader Mian Iftikhar Hussain

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ISLAMABAD

IWednesday, 17 April, 2013

05

Low

high

thUrSdAy FrIdAy SAtUrdAy28C I 15°C 29°C I 17°C 24°C I 16°C

PRAYER TIMINGS

SUnny

WeAther UpdAteS

270C

Fajr Sunrise Zuhr Asr Maghrib Isha

4:11 5:38 12:08 3:46 6:38 8:06

150C

The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority,

or rather of that party, not always the majority, that succeeds,

by force or fraud, in carrying elections. –Lord Acton

ISLAMABADKASHIF AbbASI

Yet in another incident of gang rape in the federalcapital, two sisters were gang-raped with the allegedinvolvement of the family driver.The incident took place in the village of Saidpur. The16-year-old Maryam (not her real name) and heryounger sister Aneela (not the real name) were usuallypicked and dropped at their school by their familydriver Abuzar Ghaffari. Both the girls were foundmissing on April 9 after which their father lodged acomplaint with Kohsar Police Station. When the policewere unable to get any lead in the case, the grievedfather nominated 24-year-old Abuzar on April 11.During police interrogation, Abuzar revealed that he hadabducted both the sisters and he was helped out by threeother men in this crime. The police said Abuzar was aresident of the same village and was known to havecompany with rogue youths. At Abuzar ’s disclosure,the police also arrested the other three accusedShoukat (33), Aftab (21) and Hamza (16) but theydid not reveal the whereabouts of the girls.The other day, the police intercepted a suspected a carat a picket setup in Sector I/10. Seeing the police, thecar occupants threw the two girls on the road and spedaway. The picket police were unable to nab them.According to the police, raids were being carried outin various locations of the city to arrest theabsconders. The police said that the accused weretrying to move the girls to another city when theywere intercepted at the picket.The girls in their statement said that Abuzar hadabducted them on April 9 and took them to aguesthouse where they were raped and kept for fivedays. The police say that medical examination of thegirl had been done and four accused had already beenapprehended who wereinvolved in the crime.Assistant Sub-Inspector AsifMahmood, who isinvestigation officerof the case, said thegirls were trickedinto going to theguesthouse by Abuzarand his cunningaccomplices.“Since investigation is yet

underway, so it will be tooearly to say how things tookplace,” said Mahmood,adding that it wasprobable that Abuzar hadpassed on the girls toother men after rapingthem.

ISLAMABADAPP

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leaderQamar Zaman Kaira has said that

PPP Chairman Bilawal BhuttoZardari was taking part in theelection campaign.

Talking to the local media,Kaira said the PPP leadership had

stood against the challenge ofterrorism. He said Articles 62and 63 of the Constitution of

Pakistan should be implementedin their true spirit however thereturning officers should not putthe candidates to the test whenthey had already submitted inwriting their faith in nominationpapers. He also said that those with

criminal history should pass throughthe process of accountability and

should be brought to justice.Answering a question, Kaira said the

largest gatherings were organised byShaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed

Benazir Bhutto in the past but the time hadchanged now so the party was benefiting fromelectronic means of communication which weremore time efficient and easier to reach people.

ISLAMABADAPP

The students in Federal Directorate ofEducation (FDE) schools are still withouttextbooks, despite their academic year hasalready started on April 11.The officials at FDE blame the delay on theNational Book Foundation (NBF). They saythe NBF authorities did not order thepublishers in time, which has caused thisdelay in publishing and distributingtextbooks. But an official of the NBF statedthat the FDE had not paid the amount of Rs170 million, which was to be disbursed topublishers. “The authority cannot providetextbooks to FDE unless it gets all thepending dues,” the official added.“My daughter is promoted to Class VIII andshe has to appear in the board examinationsthis year but the non-availability of thebooks has dampened her eagerness to getgood grades,” says aggrieved motherShaista Zahid. Another parent, Majid Akbarsaid the careless attitude of the relevantauthorities would make the students sufferand unfortunately it had become a routinepractice for the last several years. “Theauthorities should immediately payattention to this matter and devise a strategyto counter this issue,” he said.The FDE provides free textbooks to all thestudents from Class I to Class X.

TWO SISTERSGANG RAPEDFOR FIVE DAYS

fde-ruNiNstituteswithouttextbooks

Bilawal conductingelection campaign,says Kaira

ISLAMABADANWER AbbAS

SEVERAL internationalhealth organizationshave rejected thegovernment report onthe countrywide measles

vaccination project the ExtendedProgram on Immunization (EPI).

According to sources, fewweeks ago the governmentpresented its report to the WorldHealth Organization (WHO),USAID, United Nations Children’sFund (UNICEF) and Global Fund.

The government in this reportclaimed that between 60 and 70percent children had beenvaccinated against measles in thecountry, especially in theprovince of Sindh.

However, when a joint team– consisting of representatives ofWHO, USAID, UNICEF andGlobal Fund – visited Pakistan itfound the EPI report misguidingas the number of measles cases ison the rise in the country. Theteam later issued a report whichclaimed that only 20 to 30percent of Pakistani children had

been vaccinated against measleswhich is why the disease was onthe rise.

Commenting on the situation,Inter Provincial Coordination(MIPC) Secretary for the MinistryFareedullah Khan Afridi said thathealth had become a responsibilityof provinces under the devolution ofpower through the 18thAmendment.

He said the provinces were yetnot completely ready to conductvaccination campaigns as theylacked necessary facilities.

“This is the reason that a

large number of children weredeprived of necessaryvaccinations,” he added.

Afridi said that incorrect reportsbring disgrace to the country in theinternational sphere.

He said the MICP wassupervising health departments inthe country and it had found thatonly 20 to 30 percent ofvaccinations had been utilized.

After affecting the province ofSindh, measles has now enteredLahore where on Monday at least46 children were found affectedwith this disease.

Govt measles vaccination report drawsire of international health bodies

TOXIC FUMES: Factories in Sector I-10 adding

to the air pollution in the city. SAjjAD ALI

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ISLAMABADI

Wednesday, 17 April, 2013

06 Wars and elections are both too big and too small

to matter in the long run. The daily work - that

goes on, it adds up. –Barbara Kingsolver

ISLAMABADANWER AbbAS

INDEPENDENT candidate ZiaGillani, contesting electionsfrom NA-48, submitted hisobjections against hiscontender Pakistan Muslim

League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidateAnjum Aqeel Khan with theElection Commission of Pakistan(ECP) on Tuesday.

Gillani questioned Aqeel beinga billionaire after starting his job asa teacher on basic pay scale 7. Herequested the ECP to declare Aqeelineligible for the polls on the grounds ofalleged corruption, violence and frauds. Heinformed the ECP that Aqeel had been accusedin the National Police Foundation scam which worth Rs5.8 billion. He stated that Aqeel had admitted his

involvement during the trial in front of the ChiefJustice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad

Chaudhry. He said Aqeel had assured the CJPthat he would return the looted money.

Talking to Pakistan Today, Gillanisaid that it did not matter whether

Aqeel returned the money or not butit really mattered that he hadconfessed his involvement in thescam before the apex court.

Gillani in his objections alsoquestioned the completion ofKhudadad Heights, which was

supposed to be completed by 2006but was still incomplete because of

Aqeel’s involvement in it. He also raised the objection that a

college professor had been beaten by Aqeel.It is pertinent to mention here that PML-N has

two covering candidates – Chaudhry Ashraf Gujar andAdnan Kiyani – in the same constituency.

Na-48 PML-N contestantanjum aqeel faces objections

GhazaNfarhussaiNProMoted toviCe adMiraL

ISLAMABADAPP

Commander Karachi Rear AdmiralKhawaja Ghazanfar Hussain has beenpromoted to the rank of the vice admiral.According to a press release issuedby the Pakistan Navy, Vice AdmiralGhazanfar Hussain joined thePakistan Navy in September 1975and was commissioned in theOperations Branch on July 1, 1978.Hussain did specialization incommunication at the completion ofhis training and then joined the NavalAviation as a rotary wing pilot. Hehas served in various fields and staffappointments. In recognition of hisservices, he has been decorated withHilal-e-Imtiaz (Military).

‘baCk to book-read for Life’ISLAMABAD: The National Book

Foundation (NBF) will hold a three-

day book festival from April 20 to

April 22 to celebrate National Book

Day that falls on April 22. The

celebrations are aimed at reviving

the book reading culture among

students. Eminent writers, poets,

intellectuals, columnists and

representatives of civil society will

grace the book-festival and highlight

the theme: “Back to Book-Read for

Life”. NBF Managing Director Mazhar-

ul-Islam said that book lovers,

youths, teachers, members of civil

society, budding writers and general

public would be the part of the

festival. He said it was for the first

time in Pakistan’s history that

prominent writers and intellectuals

would communicate with their

readers and answer their questions.

Islam said the foundation prides itself

on initiating National Book Day

celebrations in the country. “This is

the fourth consecutive mega-book

event being organized by the NBF at

the national level,” he added.

Intizar Hussain, Mian Raza Rabbani,

Asad Mohammad Khan, Nazir Naji,

Ahmed Aqeel Rubi, Attaul Haq Qasmi,

Mehmood Sham, Amjad Islam

Amjad, Asghar Nadeem Syed and

Asim Butt will participate in the

festival. Renowned artist Talat

Hussain will read from Noon Meem

Rashid. Mustansar Hussain Tarar,

Fahmida Riaz, Zahida Hina, Masood

Ashar, Javed Jabbar and Dr Wahid

Ahmed will also read from their

selected books to inspire the

audience. A question answer session

will be held at the end of each

reading session. APP

PoLiCe arrest

CriMiNaLs, seize

GoLd orNaMeNts aNd

iLLeGaL weaPoNs

ISLAMABADAPP

Islamabad police have arrested 10criminals from various areas of thecity and have recovered a stolen car,gold ornaments, cash, 13 bottles ofliquor, illegal weapons and drugs, apolice spokesman said on Tuesday.According to the police official, Sub-Inspector Nusrat Ali from Golra PoliceStation arrested Junaid for illegallypossessing a 30-bore pistol. ShehzadTown Police Station Sub-InspectorsAness Akbar and Muhammad Ashrafarrested Tanveer and Qamer Zamanand recovered a 12-bore gun and a 30-bore pistol from them, he said. KohsarPolice Station Assistant Sub-Inspector(ASI) Tanveer Ahmed arrested SajidSohail and recovered 10 bottles ofliquor. The police official said thatBhara Kau Police Station Sub-Inspector Ghulam Muhamamd Shahand ASI Muhammad Ghaus arrestedIrfan and Gul Shah for illegallypossessing 220 grams of hashish andthree bottles of liquor respectively.Gorla Police Station ASI Tarbul Hassanarrested Yousaf Khan on account oftheft while Sabzi Mandi Police StationASI Qamer Ejaz recovered a stolen car,numbered Hyderabad A-1272, fromManzoor Hussain. The police officialfurther said that ASI Saeed Akhtar andASI Muhammad Shafi arrestedTahseen, Adnan and Adil Shehzad andrecovered gold ornaments, cash, andtwo 30-bore pistols from them.

ISLAMABADKASHIF AbbASI/ZAIN-UL-ISLAM

There were at least 60 women whocontested in the 2008 general elections butonly 13 of them could make their way tothe power corridors by defeating theirmale opponents.

The women who managed to win inthe 2008 elections on the general seatsincluded National Assembly SpeakerFahmida Mirza, Foreign Minister HinaRabbani Khar, Tehmina Daultana,Sumaira Malik, Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awanand Samina Khalid Ghurki.

This time again, a large number ofwomen have come out to try their luck onthe general seats in the upcoming May 11polls. Some of them are independentcandidates while others are given tickets

by their parties. In the 2008 elections, 24women independently contested electionsand most of them could not get asignificant number of votes. Only SaimaAkhtar Bharwana could manage out of 24independent female candidates. She wonfrom NA-90 by bagging 64,759 votes.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) gavetickets to 11 women while Pakistan

Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)

gave tickets toseven women ongeneral seats.Only SumairaNaz

and Tehmina Daultana could secureseats on PML-N’s tickets and reach theNational Assembly.

The former speaker NationalAssemblyFehmida Mirza isdefending herseat in NA-225in the upcoming

elections. In

the 2008 elections, she defeated 10 maleopponents and got the highest turn out.Similarly, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q)’s Ghulam BibiBharwana won from NA-87 by getting63,515 votes. On the other hand, PML-Q’s another leader Farkhanda AmjadWarraich managed to reach in NationalAssembly by securing 69,827 votes.Zubaida Jalal Khan contested the 2008elections from NA-272, Kech-cum-Gwadar, as an independent candidate.She got only 33,564 votes and lost toYaqoob Bizenjo of Balochistan AwamiNational Party.

The National Assembly has 60reserved seats for women. In 2008elections the PPP got 23 seats out of 60while PML-N got 17 reserved seats forwomen.

Can female candidates equally win on general seats?

TICKET WOES: Supporters of PML-N protesting at Fawwara Chowk, Rawalpindi against party leadership for awarding ticket to Sardar Naseem. ONLINE

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07

NEWSWednesday, 17 April, 2013

Army deserters may be pardoned, if those still in Syria

hand themselves in within 30 days, and those outside

Syria hand themselves in within 90 days, — Syrian

President Bashar al-Assad issues new amnestyN

BOSTONAGENCIES

uS investigators stepped up a mas-sive manhunt Tuesday for attackerswho devastated the BostonMarathon with two bombs that

killed three people and wounded more than140, many left with horrific injuries.

Boston’s Boylston Street, scene of themarathon finish line carnage on Monday, re-mained sealed off as investigators sought leadsin the worst bomb attack in the United Statessince the September 11, 2001 atrocities.

President Barack Obamavowed that the attackers “willfeel the full weight of justice”,police searched the apartmentof one “person of interest”and a Saudi man remainedunder guard in hospital. Butthere were no convincinganswers for a city in mourn-ing. According to the latesttoll, the two bombs, whichwere 13 seconds and about 100meters (yards) apart, left 17 peoplein critical condition.

The dead and injured were aged be-tween two and 71, hospital authorities said.Nine children were injured. Among the deadwas an eight-year-old local boy, MartinRichard, who had been waiting at the finishfor his father to cross the line. His motherand sister, who lost a leg, also suffered crit-ical injuries. Many of the wounded lostlimbs in the blasts, which sent metal shrap-

nel flying into thecrowd of thousands of

people packing BoylstonStreet, traditionally a venue of

joyful partying at the end of theworld’s oldest international marathon.

Liz Norden tearfully told the BostonGlobe how two of her sons, both in their 30s,lost legs in the blast. Most of the 23,000 run-ners participating in the 26.2 mile (42 kilo-meter) race had finished when the first bombwent off behind a row of national flags.

One 78-year-old runner, Bill Igriff, was

blown to the ground and many bloodiedspectators were pushed by the force of theblast through barriers onto the street. Igriffgot up again and walked away with justscratches. “We saw people with their legsblown off,” Mark Hagopian, owner of theCharlesmark Hotel, told AFP from the base-ment of a restaurant where he had soughtshelter. “A person next to me had his legsblown off at the knee — he was still alive.”

Boston relived the horror in the manyvideo films taken with telephone camerasthat investigators also pored over in the

hunt. Vigils and other ceremonies of re-membrance were to be held in the city.

Armed National Guard troops and po-lice patrolled Boston commuter trains andbuses and authorities warned that tight se-curity would be imposed for several days.

New York, Los Angeles, San Franciscoand several other major US cities also putextra police on the streets. Obama wasbeing kept informed of the investigation. AWhite House official said late Monday thatthe attack was being treated as terrorism.

“There were no intelligence warnings that

we know of,” said Representative Peter King,a member of the House Intelligence Commit-tee who gave details of the huge hunt launchedby US authorities. Federal and state investiga-tors and firefighters searched an apartment inthe Boston suburb of Revere, Massachusetts,and took away bags after a man described as“a person of interest” was stopped. A 20-year-old Saudi man who suffered a leg injury wasunder armed guard in hospital.

But media reports said the man was co-operating and investigators said no suspectwas in detention. Russian President VladimirPutin led a chorus of global condemnation,describing the twin explosions as “barbaric”.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel saidshe was “horrified” and that “nothing justi-fies such a malicious attack on people at-tending a peaceful sporting event”. Iranstrongly condemned the blasts whichbrought back memories of the nearly 3,000people killed in suicide airliner strikes on theUnited States on September 11, 2001. TheNew York Stock Exchange held a minute ofsilence before trading started for the day.Organizers of Sunday’s London Marathonsaid their race would go ahead despite theBoston attack. British government officialsincluding Home Secretary Theresa May metrepresentatives from the security services toreview Sunday’s race through the streets ofthe British capital. “We do have robust se-curity measures in place... but, given eventsin Boston, it’s only prudent for the policeand the organizers of Sunday’s race to re-ex-amine those security arrangements,” saidLondon mayor Boris Johnson.

Massive manhunt launched for boston bombers

RIYADHAGENCIES

Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Al Waleedbin Talal, a nephew of King Abdullah, hasthrown his support behind allowing Saudiwomen to drive, saying it makes economicsense. Women are barred from driving in theArab kingdom - leaving them reliant onmostly foreign drivers.

“(The question of) women driving willresult in dispensing with at least 500,000 for-eign drivers, and that has an economic and so-cial impact for the country,” the prince saidon his Twitter account on Sunday.

He did not spell out the economic bene-fits, but Saudi officials have said they areworried about the amount of money beingsent out of the country by foreign workers.

Many Saudi families would also havemore disposable income if they no longer hadto pay for drivers. Saudi Arabia, home toabout nine million foreign workers, began acrackdown on illegal immigrants this year toboost the proportion of Saudi citizens in pri-vate sector jobs from the current 10 percent.

In the same Twitter message, the princesaid he supported that campaign.

Saudi Arabia is a conservative monarchy,backed by religious scholars. It follows anaustere Salafist form of Sunni Islam and al-lows clerics wide powers in society wherethey dominate the judicial system and runtheir own police squad to enforce religiousmorals. After pro-democracy protests sweptthrough the region in 2011, dozens of Saudiwomen responded to the “Women 2 Drive”campaign, posting pictures and videos of theirdriving on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Some of the women were detained brieflyand two faced charges, including that of “chal-lenging the monarch”. One of them was let goafter signing a pledge not to drive again, whilethe other was sentenced to 10 lashes. Reuterscould not confirm if the lashing sentence wasinflicted, but a Saudi princess tweeted that ithad been revoked. While there is no writtenlegislation banning women from driving,Saudi law requires citizens to use locally is-sued licenses while in the country. Such li-censes are not issued to women, making iteffectively illegal for them to drive.

NEW DELHIAGENCIES

Video footage of a man being ig-nored as he begged for help follow-ing a road accident that killed hiswife and child has led to accusa-tions of “shameful” public apathyin India. Police said Kanhaiya Lal’sappeals were ignored for 40 min-utes on Monday after a speedingtruck rammed his motorcycle onSunday, which was also carryinghis wife Guddi, 26, their 10-month-old daughter and four-year-old son.His wife and daughter died of theirinjuries at the accident scene whilethe man screamed for help with hisson, who was also injured, CCTVfootage aired nationwide on Indiantelevision showed “My son and Iwere shouting for help but no onestopped or came to our rescue.Passersby and several cars did stop

to catch a glance but no oneseemed to be bothered,” Lal said.“Some cars almost touched thebodies as they passed by but no-body offered any help.” He saidthat when an ambulance “whichwas not well equipped” finally ar-rived on the scene, the body of hiswife was tossed into the back ofthe vehicle “like garbage”. Thefootage showed motorists speedingpast the stricken family until a cityworker came forward to help. “It’sthe duty of all people to take suchvictims to hospital because livescould be saved,” Jaipur traffic po-lice chief Lata Manoj said in a tele-vised interview. Prabhu Dayal, anuncle of the dead woman, blamedthe deaths on public indifference.“Her husband cried for help for 40minutes but no-one stopped. It’sshameful that apathy took twolives,” he said.

ACCRAAGENCIES

A mine has collapsed in Ghana’scentral gold-producing region killing atleast 16 people who were working illegallyand had been told to leave by the operator,local police have said.

A total of 16 bodies were recoveredfrom the site of the incident near the townof Kyekyewere on Monday afternoon, ac-cording to area police commander WilliamOtu. The town is about 300km north of thecapital Accra.

The operator had completed its workin the area and had returned only to shutdown the mine and affirm its claim to theland, Otu added, without identifying the

company. Otu said the operator found sev-eral people from the local communitymining illegally, who refused when askedto leave.

Not long after, “the operator got informa-tion that the mine caved in and covered thepeople,” the police commander said.

The west African nation of about 25million people is one of the world’s topgold exporters. Many of the mining oper-ations revolve around unlicensed - andhence illegal - outfits, known locally asgalamsey, which are often funded by for-eign speculators and criminals.

According to an Al Jazeera investigation,some of the operators even employ children,and pay less than six US dollars a day, in“primitive” working conditions.

iraq executes21 in one dayover ‘terror’

BAGHDADAGENCIES

Iraq has put 21 men to death, a senior justiceministry official told AFP, the latest in a se-ries of mass executions that have drawn in-ternational condemnation. All of the menwere Iraqis and had been convicted on anti-terror charges, the official said, speaking oncondition of anonymity. The latest execu-tions brought to 50 the number of timesBaghdad has carried out the death penalty sofar this year, despite widespread calls for amoratorium on the country’s use of capitalpunishment. Justice Minister Hassan al-Shammari insisted last month that Baghdadwould continue to implement the deathpenalty in the face of widespread calls for itto issue a moratorium. Iraq’s executionshave sparked concern from the United Na-tions, as well as from Britain, the EuropeanUnion and rights groups Amnesty Interna-tional and Human Rights Watch.

Anger over public apathyafter India accident

Saudi prince makes economiccase for women drivers

16 workers killed inGhana gold mine collapse

UN AGENCIES CALL FOREND TO SYRIA ‘CARNAGE’ DAMASCUS: Leaders of five UN agencies

have appealed to the international

community to stop the “cruelty and

carnage” in Syria, warning they may

soon be forced to suspend humanitarian

aid to the war-torn country. The UN

leaders said on Monday that their

“capacity to do more was diminishing,

due to security and other practical

limitations within Syria as well as funding

constraints”. “We are precariously close,

perhaps within weeks, to suspending

some humanitarian support,” the UN

leaders said. “We, leaders of UN agencies

charged with dealing with the human

costs of this tragedy, appeal to political

leaders involved to meet their

responsibility to the people of Syria and

to the future of the region. “The

international community needs to find a

political solution to this conflict before the

human carnage grows and grows from a

crisis to what is already becoming a

catastrophe.” AGENCIES

ANY RESPONSIBLEINDIVIDUALS, ANY

RESPONSIBLE GROUPSWILL FEEL THE FULLWEIGHT OF JUSTICE.

BARACK OBAMA

ISB 17-04-2013_Layout 1 4/17/2013 3:58 AM Page 7

NEWSNWednesday 17 April, 2013

08 Provision of security to candidates

is vital for holding peaceful polls.

— PPP Senator Saeed Ghani

ISLAMABADAPP

PR I M E Minister MirHazar Khan Khoso onTuesday approved thelaunch of a scheme forpayment of tuition fee to

students hailing from Balochistan,Gilgit-Baltistan and FATA who in-tended to do Masters, MPhil and PhD.

The scheme called “Prime Minis-ter’s Tuition Fee Payment Scheme”was approved and launched in a high-level meeting in which Minister forProfessional and Technical Education,Science and Technology and IT SaniaNishtar, officials of the PM’s Secre-tariat and the Ministry of Professionaland Technical Education were present.

Sania briefed the prime minister onthe salient features of the scheme. Shetold the prime minister that it was ap-proved by the federal cabinet in June2012 and a sum of Rs 500 billion wasallocated for the purpose in the budget.

The scheme envisages that studentsfrom Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan andFATA will be provided tuition fee bythe federal government so that theycan undertake higher education.

She said the federal governmentwould provide equity to students sothat efforts could be stepped up to im-prove education standard in the coun-try. Sania said the scheme waspre-paid as the entire expenditure dur-ing the degree would be borne by thefederal government.

The scheme further envisages that

federal government will bearall educational expendi-ture of an estimated10,825 students fromthe areas of which9,128 students be-longed toBalochistan.

The primeminister di-rected that gen-der parity mustbe maintainedand the schemeshould be avail-able for the nextfive years.

He approved PhDstudents of Balochistan,Gilgit-Baltistan and FATA

would be eligible for bene-fit from the scheme

even if they got ad-mission in univer-

sities andcolleges outsidetheir cities andregions.

He hasalso approvedthat studentshailing fromFATA wouldbenefit from

the scheme ifthey were ad-

mitted to univer-sities and colleges

in KhyberPakhtunkhwa.

PM launches free educationscheme for baloch, fata students

ISLAMABADONLINE

Justice Ejaz Chaudhry of the Supreme Court(SC) on Tuesday remarked that those who en-joyed power for 20 years were now writingletters to the court for restoring peace inKarachi.

His comments came as a five-memberbench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan(CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry took upthe Karachi law and order case for hearing onTuesday.

At the inception of hearing, Shah Khawaradvocate appeared in court on behalf of gov-ernment of Sindh and presented a report. Itwas said in the report that no-go areas werepartly operating in the jurisdiction of seven

police stations in Karachi. The CJP remarked, “You are admitting

that no go areas have been set up in areasunder seven police stations. The court be in-formed about the names of these police sta-tions.”

Shah Khawar presented the list of the saidpolice stations. Also, the Rangers per court or-ders presented details about 71 accused andjoint investigation reports.

The court was told that a political partywas patronising criminals in Lyari.

The court expressed dissatisfaction overthe report, saying the court’s orders had notbeen implemented. “Five persons were killeda day before. Everyone knows what kind ofbarricades the police put up.”

A letter addressed by MQM Deputy Con-vener Nasreen Jalil to the SC was also readout.

The letter said the Taliban were going totake hold of Karachi and were involved in ex-tortion of money and kidnapping for ransomcases.

Life threats were being received by polit-ical leaders, therefore, the court should takenotice.The court remarked what did the dem-ocratic government do for Karachi during thelast five years.

“Members of the assembly who relishedpower for 20 years are now writing to thecourt. But they did nothing on their own. The

caretaker set up has also been installed withtheir consultation,” the bench said.

Justice Ejaz expressed wonder on the let-ter written by Nasrin and observed, “Theyhave remained allies of the government, whyhave they not done anything?”

Shah Khawar read out an affidavit givenby the SHO over performance of Manghopirpolice. The SHO stated that ethnic riots hadtaken place in Sultan Abad in the past but sucha situation was not existing there anymore.

“No-go areas in Mir Muhammad Gothwill be cleared and peace will be restored inthe affected areas,” the report added.

The CJP said, “You had filed identicalstatements of all SHOs during the last hearing.What was written therein?”

Khawar said the court had laid downclear definition and affidavits were filed inconsonance with this definition.

The CJP said “We had told about the de-tails of these areas in clear orders given by usin 2011.” To this, Khawar said action wasbeing taken per court orders.

“It means we are dictating. Does the IGPnot understand his powers?” the CJP said,adding, “What is the need of officers in policewho do not speak the truth and tell lies. TheIGP and chief secretary should give affidavitsthat no-go areas did not exist.”

The court ordered that an old report bythe Rangers DG be read out wherein it was

said that 35 operations and 136 targeted op-erations were conducted.

The CJP said it meant the police report inrespect of seven police stations was incorrect.

“Perhaps you have not understood Eng-lish well. We had said report be given to usper our orders and protection be provided tothe life and property of the people. Peace berestored in Lyari. We are not concerned withwhat you do. No-go areas should be got elim-inated from every locality. We don’t wantanything more. If there is any mistake in Eng-lish, we can correct it. Directives were givento you in writing. For how long we can leavethe people at your mercy.”

The CJP added, “Former chief secretaryhas also been directed to present a certificate.We have been giving chances for the last twoyears. Where is the Rangers DG? Are thecourts a laughing stock? Whosoever is sum-moned does not come. A job ordered is notdone. A joint certificate duly signed by thechief secretary, IGP and Rangers DG be pre-sented in the court. People are dying and thecourt’s orders are laughed at.”

The court was told by the Sindh Policethat a meeting was convened to review thesteps for eliminating no-go areas.

The CJP remarked, “If your stanceis accepted, then everyone is correct butus. Four people have been killed. Is itmatter of delight?”

Why write to SC for peace after 20 years of rule?

sC classifies

dual nationality

holders in six

categories ISLAMABAD

ONLINE

The Supreme Court on Tuesday classifiedthe applicants in the dual nationality casein six different categories and asked allthe former parliamentarians to furnisharguments according to their respectivecategory.On Tuesday, a two-member bench underthe supervision of Justice Jawad SKhawaja heard the dual nationality casein which the counsels of 20 dualnationality holders appeared before thecourt. Barrister Faroogh Nasim told the courtthat his clients and MQM’sparliamentarians Raza Haroon, HaiderAbbas Rizvi, Syeda Tayyba Hussain,Abdul Hameed Siddiqui and NadimAhsan have been asked to return all theperks and salary, but they are not in aposition to comply with the orders.He said that the tenure of the assemblyhas finished so no action could be takenagainst the former MNAs and MPAs At this, the court said that the benchwould put the applicants in six differentcategories. “Separate hearing would be held for everygroup and each of them would givearguments during their respectiveproceeding,” the court added. The first category comprises all thosepeople who are dual nationals by birth;Doniya Aziz and Arif Aziz Sheikh fall inthis group. Second class would be comprised of thosemember of the parliament who tenderedresignation before the expiry of assemblytenure; Sabeen Rizvi, Irish Kumhar, SadiqMemon and Murad Ali Shah are in thisgroup.The third group consists of all thoseparliamentarians who did not give in theirresignations till the last day of theassemblies. These parliamentarians havebeen asked to return all the pay,allowances and perks back to the nationalexchequer, which they received during thelast five years as MNAs and MPAs.The fourth group will be of those peoplewho could not return their salaries andperks due to weak financial position andthe sixth category comprises thosemembers who gave up their dualnationality.The court postponed hearing till May 2.

135 terrorists,7 civilians killedin 2nd week ofapril: fafeN

ISLAMABADINP

Twenty incidents of political violence left 170people dead and 42 injured between April 6 and12, compared with the preceding week when 53were killed and 65 injured in 26 incidents, saysthe Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).Four incidents of electoral violence claimedthree lives while ANP candidate escaped a bombattack. Terrorists constituted majority of the 212victims – 135 killed and five injured. Civilianfatalities decreased from last week’s 22 to seven.Twenty-eight security personnel were also killedand 10 sustained injuries. FATA was the mostvolatile region where 160 people – mostlyterrorists – were killed and 12 injured, followedby Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (3 killed, 30 injured),Balochistan (6 killed) and Sindh (1 killed). Thisweek, 20 political violence incidents werereported in nine districts and three tribal regions,compared with 10 districts and two tribal regionsin the preceding week. Of the incidents in theweek under review, seven targeted public, sixattacks were aimed at security forces, three eachhit terrorists and state infrastructure and one wasaimed at an anti-polio team.

PESHAWAR: A man looks at the damage caused by a hand grenade following an attack on the residence of Pakistan People’s Party candidate from NA-1

Zulfiqar Afghani in Gulbahar area on Tuesday. INP

sc Questions why didthe mQm not doanything for thepeople despitestaying in power for20 years

ISB 17-04-2013_Layout 1 4/17/2013 3:58 AM Page 8

NEWS N

09

Wednesday 17 April, 2013

The mandate of interim government is to

ensure free and fair polls — Science and

Education Minister Dr Sania Nishtar

PESHAWARSAjjAD ALI

IN order to maximize its gains inthe fast approaching general elec-tions, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl(JUI-F) has awarded majority ofits tickets to wealthy candidates

by conveniently ignoring the fact thatmost of them have joined the party onlya week or even a day back. By so doingthe JUI-F leadership has completelysidelined its deserving cadre which washoping to get its nod.

The JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman, with“Now or never” as his party’s slogan, hasmanaged to attract wealthy and influentialpoliticians from across the province, espe-cially in the constituencies where the partyhas no roots. While the analysts term themove as desperate, the JUI-F leadershipconsiders this as extending its electoralreach in the newfound political territories.

An interesting fact: most of the freshlyinducted JUI-F candidates have previouslynot been affiliated with any political par-ties, but are now intent on taking advantageof their immense wealth – increasingly ahallmark of the present-day politics.

Prominent among those who joined theparty in recent weeks is former MNA fromBuner Istiqbal Khan, former ANP MPAfrom Charsadda-1 Fazal Shakoor, formerMPA from Kohat Shokat Habib, formerPPP MNA Mehboob Ullah Jan from Ko-histan, PML-Q provincial president SyedQasim Shah from Mansehra and Sajjadul-lah Khan from Kohistan.

In addition, former MPAs Zar Gul andZarin Gul from Torghar, Qaumi Watan

Party’s (QWP) Atiqur Rehman, AsrarullahKhan Gandapur from Dera Ismail Khan,former PML-N MPA Munawar Khan Mar-wat, former JI MPA Anwar Hayyat Khanfrom Lakki Marwat, former MNAMunir Orakzai, PML-N’s SajjadKhan Jadoon and Malik RiazBannu have also joined theJUI-F recently.

The whispersaround the KPKprovince suggestthat the majority offormer MPAs andMNAs are joiningthe JUI-F due tothe threats of at-tacks by the TTP tothe PPP and theANP candidates.

Another importantphenomenon: for thefirst time since 1997, theJUI-F is going into an elec-tion without an alliance. Andon that last instance, the party hadmanaged only two provincial seats! In-side sources claim that the JUI-F leader-ship is worried over the fact that itselectoral history without alliances has notbeen satisfactory. That too necessitatedbringing influential people into the party.The word on the ground is that the JUI-Fneeds to win sizable number of seats as itwill be difficult for it to maintain its latentpopularity if it could not.

Meanwhile, the JUI-F has allocated 10provincial and two national assembly tick-ets to such candidates who have beenelected or have contested election on other

party tickets in the past.Those who will contest on the JUI-F

tickets, include Fazal Shakoor fromCharsadda PK17, Ayub Khatak from

PK- 41 Karak-2, AttiqurRehman from PK 42

Hangu 1, Zarin Gulfrom PK 58, Saj-

jadullah Khanfrom PK 61,M u n a w a rKhan Mar-wat fromPK LakkiMarwat 75,A n w a rH a y y a tKhan fromPK-76 Lakki

Marwat, SaidHabib Ali

from PK-81Swat-2, Muham-

mad Yar Khan fromPK-87 Shangla-1.Furthermore, former

MNA Mehboobullah Jan willcontest on NA-23 Kohistan seat and MunirOrakzai on NA-38 tribal area, while SethGohar Saifullah on NA-40 Kohat.

Meanwhile, billionaires Javid Khattakand Mehmmod Bitani are contesting forthe first time on JUI-F tickets for provin-cial assembly seats including PK-40Karak-1 and PK-69 Tank respectively.However, Malik Raiz contesting on PK-73 Bannu-4 seat and Sajjad Khan Jadoonon PK- 36 seat had been affiliated withthe PPP and PML-N in the past, beforejoining the JUI-F.

Moreover, the JUI-F has also madeseat adjustment with former MPASardar Israrullah Khan Gan-dapur in DI Khan on PK-67 DI Khan-4, JavidAkbar PK-68 andwith former minis-ter SamiullahKhan Alizai.

Sources re-vealed that theparty leader-ship’s haphaz-ard decision toinclude wealthycandidates in theparty has createdrifts within theparty. The areaswhere the heat of theconflict is more evidentinclude Tank, Bannu,Karak, Shangla, Lakki Mar-wat, Charsadda, Mansehra andMardan. As a result of this, the disen-chanted JUI-F loyalists are opting to con-test the elections as independents.

A well known casualty for JUI-F isMaulana Gul Naseem, who has opted tocontest on NA-26 Bannu as an independentagainst former KPK chief minister AkramKhan Durrani. Similarly, Ghulam QadarBitani, former JUI-F MPA from PK 69Tank, will be contesting against MaulanaFazl on Tank/DI Khan NA 25 and on PK69 against Mehmood Bitani. Meanwhile,former MPA Malik Qasim will contestpolls as an independent candidate from PK40 Karak-1 against party candidate AyubKhattak, who is a new inductee.

Qadar Bitani and Malik Qasim, whiletalking to Pakistan Today, made

identical statements: the JUI-F leadership is ignoring

ideological workers,and instead pleasing

the rich candidates.They said, theparty had earlierallocated ticketsto them butlater withheldthem.

On theother hand, inCharsadda, Haji

Gul Yousaf andMaulana Musam-

mir Shah will con-test the elections

independently, whileHaji Said Raheem Shah

Bacha has been shortlistedfor party ticket.

Moreover, the district officer bearers ofShangla also opposed the NA-31 ticketgiven to ex-senator Rahat Hussain andhave demanded a review. There are alsosome differences over the ticket toMuhammad Yar for PK-87 Shangla-1.

Though the JUI-F has recently en-joyed popular support by taking an anti-US stance, but it did not aid the party inentering into electoral alliance with anyone and the possibility of seat adjustmentalso seems improbable. However,Maulana Fazl has already made it clearthat the JUI-F is an ANP alternate, therebydiscarding the possibility of electoral al-liance or seat adjustment.

Jui-f’s craving for the wealthy spreads anger in ranks

Thoughthe JUI-F has recently

enjoyed popular support by takingan anti-US stance, but it did not aid the

party in entering into electoral alliance withany one and the possibility of seat adjustmentalso seems improbable. However, MaulanaFazl has already made it clear that the JUI-Fis an ANP alternate, thereby discardingthe possibility of electoral alliance

or seat adjustment

ISLAMABADONLINE

The Election Commission of Pakistan(ECP) has published a list of candidateswho have submitted nomination papersfor contesting polls from National As-sembly constituencies in the elections.

The Free and Fair Election Network(FAFEN) has obtained the data of all as-piring candidates from the ECP websiteand found out that 40 percent male and

42 percent female candidates are with-out National Tax Numbers (NTNs), saysa press release issued on Tuesday.

The ECP data indicates that only4,120 candidates (60.4pc) possess theirNTN certificates, while 2,699 (39.6pc)are not registered taxpayers. Gender-wise, 2,599 of 6,581 male candidates(39.5 pc) and 100 of 238 female candi-dates (42 pc) do not have NTN certifi-cates.

The profile of every candidate con-

tains a form from the Federal Board ofRevenue (FBR), mentioning the NTNand the status of the candidate.

According to the ECP’s data, a totalof 6,819 candidates are eligible to con-test the elections on NA seats in 272constituencies. A total of 3,335 candi-dates (49 pc of the total) have filed theircandidacy from Punjab, followed bySindh (1,643 or 24 pc), KhyberPakhtunkhwa (870 or 13 pc), FederallyAdministered Tribal Areas (400 or 6pc), Balochistan (378 or 6 pc), Islam-abad Capital Territory (ICT) (147 or 2pc) and the Frontier Regions (46 or 1pc).

Out of a total of 6,819 candidates,only 238 (3.5 pc) are women, while theremaining 6,581 (96.5 pc) are male can-didates.

Out of a total of 6,819 candidates,4,120 (60.4 pc) have NTN certificates,while the remaining 2,699 (39.6 pc)have no NTNs.

Region-wise, FATA has the highestpercentage of candidates (259 out of400, or 65 pc) having no NTNs, fol-lowed by Balochistan (196 out of 378,or 52 pc), KP (428 out of 870, or 49 pc),Frontier Regions (20 out of 46, or 44pc), Sindh (653 out of 1,643, or 40 pc),Punjab (1,100 out of 3,335, or 33 pc)and ICT (43 out of 147, or 29 pc).

As many as 3,982 (60.5 pc) malecandidates have got their NTN certifi-cates, while the remaining 2,599 (39.5pc) do not have NTNs.

Out of the 238 female candidates,138 (58 pc) have NTNs, whereas the re-maining 100 (42 pc) have no NTNs.

40 percent male, 42 pc female NA candidates without NTNecp data shows only4,120 candidatespossess ntncertificates

fata has highestpercentage ofcandidates havingno ntn

sherry rehmanrecognised amongworld’s top womenof impact

WASHINGTONAPP

A prominent American organisationdedicated to women’s advancement onTuesday recognised Pakistan’s ambassadorto the United States Sherry Rehman, amongtheir rating of influential women leaders inthe world. Calling her a “master tactictian”, the

Women in the World Foundation said,“Sherry Rehman, Pakistan’s ambassador tothe US, is known for her eloquence,elegance, and diplomatic savvy.” Names of125 top Women of Impact were alsoreleased.“And no one seems better at calming the

stormy relationship between Washington andIslamabad,” the foundation added.Ambassador Rehman has led Pakistan’sdiplomatic outreach in Washington at achallenging time for Pakistan-USrelationship, which has seen improvementfrom an unprecedented low-point in 2011-12. Last month, the president of Pakistanconferred on Ambassador Rehman thehighest civilian honor Nishan-e-Imtiaz forher outstanding services to the country andthe role she played in restoring the Pakistan-US relationship since her appointment inearly 2012.Prior to her appointment as Islamabad’senvoy in Washington, Sherry Rehman servedas a distinguished parliamentarian andfederal minister and has been a longtimechampion of women’s rights and freedom ofthe media. The list of Women of Impact features someof the most prominent women leaders suchas former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,current U.S. Ambassador to the UnitedNations Susan Rice, and the only otherPakistani to be named, Oscar winning filmdirector Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy The Women in the World Foundation is apowerful initiative dedicated to drivingsolutions that advance women and girls andcame into being out of Newsweek and TheDaily Beast’s annual Women in the WorldSummit, launched by the publications’Editor-in-Chief Tina Brown, in March 2010.

QUETTA: Lawyers hold a rally on Tuesday for the recovery of former Balochistan Advocate General Salahuddin Mengal who is missing since last month. INP

ISB 17-04-2013_Layout 1 4/17/2013 3:58 AM Page 9

BALOCHISTAN has 14general seats in the Na-tional Assembly and 51general seats in theProvincial Assembly.

There are additional seats reserved forwomen and non-Muslims. They cancontest for general seats as well. Muchinterest is being shown in the electionsin Balochistan. The caretaker primeminister, who hails from Balochistan,visited Quetta to assure the politicalparties of peaceful and fair general elec-tion with additional security during theelection period. The Army Chief alsovisited Quetta to underline the Army’sinterest in peaceful and orderly election.

The politics in Balochistan is frag-mented because of diversified compet-ing interests. These includeprovince-based political parties andtheir factions, nationwide political par-ties, religious parties and sectariangroups, and powerful tribal chiefs andother influential people. The active roleof the federal government and espe-cially the security and intelligence ap-paratus also influence the politicalprocess in Balochistan.

Three province-based political par-ties had boycotted the February 2008general elections. These were Balochis-tan National Party-Mengal Group(BNP-M) led by Sardar Akhtar Mengal,the National Party (NP) led by DrAbdul Hayee Baloch (it took part in theMarch 2009 Senate elections), and

PakhtunkhwaMilli AwamiParty led byM a h m o o dK h a nAchakzai.

These po-litical partiesare taking partin the May2013 elec-tions. Otherp r o v i n c e -based politicalparties takingpart in theelections areB N P( A w a m i ) ,J a m i a t - e -U l e m a - e -Islam FazlurRahman (JUI-F), and JUI-Ideological .J a m h o o r iWatan Party(JWP) facedinternal riftafter the deathof its leaderAkbar KhanBugti in Au-gust 2006. It is

has gone in three directions: JWP-TalalBugti group (quite active), JWP-AaliBugti (nominally active) and JWP-Baramadagh Bugti. The last of the threeJWP groups functions as a separatistparty from abroad under the title ofBaloch Republican Party.

The nationwide parties active inBalochistan include the Pakistan Peo-ple’s Party (PPP), the Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz Sharif (PML-N), thePakistan Muslim League-Quaid-i-Azam (PML-Q) , the Awami NationalParty (ANP) and Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI). All of them are putting upcandidates and some of them are seek-ing seat adjustments with the politicalparties of their choice. This strategydoes not appear to be working inBalochistan in any significant manner.These parties will be contesting elec-tions against each other. Some inde-pendent candidates are also contesting.

The biggest challenge to electionsin Balochistan is disorder and violencethat has become endemic. The sepa-ratist groups based outside of Pakistanresort to violence from time to time andthey have threatened to disrupt the elec-tions. Their activists are expected to re-sort to armed attacks on the candidatesand leaders of the parties contesting theelection. Religious-sectarian and ethnicviolence also exists in Balochistan. Thepolitical parties, especially the BNP-Mand the NP are raising the issue of themissing persons. A good number ofthem have been traced and returned butstill the issue is not fully resolved.There is a difference on the number ofmissing persons as given by the politi-cal groups and the official circles. Thepolitical circles place the main blameon the state intelligence agencies, espe-cially the ISI, for disappearance of peo-ple. The BNP-M also raises the issue ofdiscovery of dead bodies in variousparts of Balochistan and holds the ISIor what it describes as the gangs oftough people that enjoyed the blessingsof the intelligence establishment.

The official circles deny any in-volvement in kidnapping of people butthis does not change the views of thepolitical circles in Balochistan whocontinue to take a strong exception tothe conduct of security and intelligenceagencies in Balochistan. The echo ofthese sentiments can be heard repeat-edly in the election campaign. The po-litical parties and leaders are alsotalking about socio-economic develop-ment issues in their constituencies, jobs,how to ensure good governance and therelationship between the federal gov-ernment and the province in administra-tive and financial domains. Someparties are also touching on the benefitsof major development projects to thepeople of the province.

Violence or threat thereof is ad-

versely affecting election campaign inKbyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Karachiwhich are experiencing target killingsand terrorist attacks almost on dailybasis. The security agencies are now tak-ing action against criminals and othersengaged in violence in Karachi but theyhave to keep such a pressure on them soas to ensure relatively peaceful elections.

The Tehrik-i-Taliban-i-Pakistan(TTP) has declared the elections to beun-Islamic and threatened to use vio-lence against the PPP, the ANP and theMQM. The defiant posture of the TTPhas an impact on electioneering in theFederally Administered Tribal Areas(FATA) and some districts adjoiningthese areas. Even in the province ofKbyber Pakhtunkhwa, the ANP and thePPP are curtailed in their political activ-ities due to the Taliban threat. The ANPhas lost more activists in terrorist at-tacks than any other political party overthe last two years.

The Qaumi Watan Party of AftabAhmad Khan Sherapo (limited to Khy-ber-Pakhtunkhwa) also faces the threatof the TTP. He survived two attacks inthe past. Asfandyar Wali Khan, the chiefof the ANP, also survived a suicide at-tack in the past. Extra-ordinary cautionis being used for Bilawal Bhutto, theleader of the PPP. His is not expected tomake frequent public appearances.

In the Tribal areas, the candidatesare contesting independently or arelinked with Islamic parties. The Tal-iban policy towards the elections ishelping the JUI-F and the Jamaat-i-Is-lami. Many political activists belong-ing to the ANP and the PPP in somedistricts adjoining North and SouthWaziristan have joined the JUI-F forsecurity reasons. No candidate in thetribal areas can afford to alienate thelocal militants and the TTP.

In Karachi, the ANP is finding it-self under pressure from the TTP. TheMQM candidates face the TTP threatin urban Sindh. The first death of acandidate took place in Hyderabad onApril 11 when an MQM contestantwas killed by the TTP. The exclusivelyelection related violence includedbombing of a candidate’s election of-fice in Miramshah, North Waziristan,a bomb defused outside a JUIF candi-date office in Swabi (KP), two bombattacks on the ANP candidates on April14, injuring one in Charsadda (KP)and killing one in Swat.

The armed groups and criminalswant to disrupt the election process, atleast in some areas. If some major ter-rorist incident takes place or some topleader is assassinated close to the vot-ing date, it will be difficult to holdelections on May 11.

The writer is an independentpolitical and defence analyst.

militants threaten peaceful, orderly hustings

DR HASAN ASKARI RIZvI

COMMENT

Aziz-ud-Din AhmadEditor

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

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

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

C

escalation in tension will only help talibanPak-afghan relations

the horror in boston

THE attack on Boston marathon is a highly condemnable act. The bombing wascarried out on Patriots Day when hundreds of people had gathered to watch theiconic event for the city. Initially there are reports of three people dead

including a 10 year old boy. Over a hundred are injured, including nine children. Manyof the injured are in a critical state, and some with shattered limbs had faceamputation. The possibility of more deaths cannot be ruled out.

The people of Pakistan have gone through tragic events of the sort for years now.Hundreds of families have lost their near and dear ones in terrorist attacks.Unsuspecting people traveling in buses, children attending schools and grownupsoffering prayers in mosques have been mowed down or turned into mincemeat.Similarly many innocent people have died in the US drone attacks which continue ontheir deadly mission unabated. It is therefore not difficult to understand the suffering ofthe affected people and their families in Boston.

What remains to be determined is who is responsible for the act. The FBI andpolice are highly trained and well equipped with the latest gadgetry to investigatecrimes of the sort. Currently fingers are being pointed in two directions. A former FBIcounterterrorism investigator told a British newspaper that the attack was reminiscentof the Madrid commuter train bombings, a coordinated attack using multiple explosivedevices on March 11, 2004 which was attributed to an Al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist cell.The Al-Qaeda has developed the skills needed to launch an attack of the sort while ithas also an international reach. The other possible source of the attack could be the UShomegrown terrorists of various sorts including the white supremacists. Last yearalone a gunman claimed 26 lives including kids and teachers in a firing spree at anelementary school in the Connecticut state, the US Army veteran Wade Michael Pagekilled six in a shooting rampage in Wisconsin, another gunman man killed 12 inColorado while two people were killed and at least eight wounded in a shootingoutside the Empire State Building in New York.

President Obama has assured that whoever is found guilty after investigation willfeel the full weight of justice. There is a need in the US to rethink the whole strategy ofdealing with those responsible for such incidents be they Al-Qaeda related terrorists orhomegrown killers. This is all the more needed because whatever measures have beentaken in the past have failed to achieve the results.

RELATIONS between Afghanistan and Pakistan remain at a tipping point withneedless disputes being the order of the day as the recent slandering matchover Pakistan reconstructing an old border gate being the latest in a range of

verbal disputes between the two neighbours. What both countries appear not torealize is that their relations are crucial as the NATO troops plan to leaveAfghanistan by the end of the year, leaving the Afghan government as the de factoruling authority across the border.

The media hype created in Afghanistan over the reconstruction of an old bordergate in Mohmand Agency by the Pakistani authorities. Kabul dropped its objectionsafter it was told that no new military construction was being carried out by Islamabadalong the shared frontier and the issue was only a renovation of an old gate. But forthat a delegation of Afghan army officials, led by Afghan National Army DirectorGeneral Military Operations (DGMO) Major General Afzal Aman, had to visit theGeneral Headquarters (GHQ), Rawalpindi for talks on border coordination. A militaryspokesman later revealed that “all ongoing cross-border coordination issues includingborder post construction in Mohmand Agency were discussed and amicably resolved.”The important statement was that the two “sides agreed on continuation of suchbilateral interactions to enhance bilateral border coordination and reduce space fordetractors.” a military spokesman said. That an issue of everyday border coordinationbecoming an issue that could ignite the Afghan side to the extent of spurring onstudent protests in Jalalabad does not bode well as a mirror of the degree of mistrustbetween the two countries. The Afghan Defence Ministry Spokesman Gen Zahir Azimiclaimed that the recent construction of a gate and other facilities along the border tookplace without any coordination with Afghanistan and President Karzai was reported tohave ordered his defence and interior ministries to take immediate action to remove anewly constructed gate, checkpoints and other installations recently built by Pakistan.

The point here is that the issue at hand was not important, where a particular gateis created or not, should be an issue of easy resolution between the two neighbourspurported to be fighting a war against the same enemy for over a decade. At thispoint, with the impending withdrawal of the US and NATO troops, the exact reverseis needed. However, the ease with which the issue was resolved eventually reflectsthe petty nature of actual disputes between them. There was no need for unnecessaryhype and irresponsible statements from the Afghan President Karzai. It must berealized that an escalation of tensions from either side would only help the Talibanand other militants waiting for the NATO troop withdrawal to up the stakes in theconflict in the region.

not difficult to empathize with the victims

Wednesday, 17 April, 2013

10You can, you should, and if

you’re brave enough to start,

you will. –Stephen King

election diary – three

Messrs CleanWhen the scrutiny process of election candidates commenced,there was a general impression that soon there would be alist of people labelled as Mr 62, Mr 63, fraud, degree chor,tax chor, defaulter etc. On the contrary, on completion of theprocess, one finds that except for a couple of targeted ones,generally our politicians are Mr Clean. The media is to beblamed for unnecessarily causing aspersions and creatingdoubts in the minds of the people about their popularleaders. Credit goes to the fair and impartial judiciary, whosemembers as ROs and in tribunals ensured that no one wasunnecessarily harmed or any clean image tarnished.

I am, however, reminded of an incident of 2004/05,when the NAB gave a clear chit to someone known forland/housing scam. The foundation published a half pageadvertisement in all important newspapers displaying theNAB certificate in their favour. Since that day, the personhas not looked back — catch me if you can.

HAROON SIKANDAR PASHAIslamabad

Not just electionsWhen you cast your vote in any given election, you are

voting for representatives who will represent your community,district or state. Elected officials are accountable to the voterswho put them into office. Their primary responsibility is tolisten to their constituents and enact legislation that willimprove the lives of the communities they serve.

For this reason, every election is critical. After all, weare electing a parliament and the government to beassigned by this parliament that will make crucial decisionsover a period of five years in a number of fields, includingthe economy, foreign policy, social life and culturaldevelopments. However, the parliamentary elections to beheld next month in Pakistan are far more important thanany other elections for the future of Pakistani democracy.

These elections are not only the elections that willsimply determine the outlook of our future government andparliament any longer but also will determine what sort ofstate we will have as an apparatus that rules and organisesthe affairs of the country. These elections will either makethe nation superior to the state or will result in thecontinuation of the consolidated domination of status quoforces over the political landscape. It will be an electionthat will determine whether the current state will bereplaced by a state apparatus that is based on the rule ofdemocratic principles, equal representation and pluralism.

SARFARAZ SAMADKarachi

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

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COMMENT CWednesday, 17 April, 2013

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AT long last we have an Indian MarieAntoinette. The Bourbon queen be-fore the French Revolution of 1789began to dislocate royal heads from

their shoulders, imperiously asked citizens hun-gry for common bread to eat cake instead. AjitPawar’s recipe for Maharashtra’s farmers suf-fering from the worst drought in decades is notquite as delicious, but it has already earned prideof place in the political thesaurus of memorableinsults. There is nothing like bodily fluids tostoke conversation in a thirsty teashop.

Ajit Pawar is no fool; far from it. Why wouldhe taunt stricken farmers who have loyally votedfor his party with an analogy one would be loathto suggest in the privacy of a drawing room? Noone in his senses tells a public rally, not to men-tion subsequent multitudes on media that he cando little about falling water levels in dams sincepeeing into them won’t help.

This sort of intemperate outburst speaks ofsome deep frustration. What made Ajit Pawarstupid on such an epic scale? As he pointed out,rationally, he could not be blamed for dry skies;he is merely deputy chief minister of Maharash-tra, not deputy chief god of Heaven. The reasonfor this rant lies elsewhere: guilt.

Over the last decade, Ajit Pawar has rippedthrough a cumulative fund of Rs70,000 crore –yes, you read the figure right – meant for irriga-tion projects designed to protect the state’s farm-ers from such vagaries of nature as drought.Much of this money disappeared in the usualdark hole through which cash is siphoned off:project cost escalation. The water saved throughthe dams that were built did not reach farmers.It was diverted to industries.

This manipulation became news when

Pawar’s own Chief Minister Prithviraj Chauhanasked a simple question: what happened? Thosewith fewer constraints than the CM accusedPawar of corruption. Ajit Pawar sulked and re-signed from government. There was a briefmedia and political flurry, which soon evapo-rated. Coalition compulsions, the contemporaryjustification for fiscal appeasement, enabled AjitPawar to return to his old office. Story over.

Or not quite. You never know when anxiety,lurking in some shadow of the subconscious, isgoing to leap up and distort your tongue. Thedeepest wounds in politics are self-inflicted.When Pawar addressed that rally, he must haveseen votes being lost on the face of his audience.Then he lost it.

The pundits of Mumbai are already doinglong division on their calculators to assess thepolitical cost of Ajit Pawar’s urine therapy. Onemeasure of the damage can be gauged from theflurry of apologies. Ajit Pawar did not actuallyhold his ears, put on a dunce cap and stand in thecorner, but he did ruefully admit that this was thebiggest blunder of his career. Contrition rarelycompensates fully for injury; Pawar’s impulsivesnarl was thought, regret was very much an af-terthought. His dilemma is compounded by thefact that the shadow of this drought falls acrossparty strongholds. Almost 75 percent of uncleand patriarch Sharad Pawar’s constituency,Madha, is affected and there is already talk ofdestitution suicides. Insensitivity in times of dis-tress is not easily erased from voter memory.

The conventional analysis was, till recently,that even if Congress suffered because of rising

prices and corruption in the next general election,Sharad Pawar would minimise his own account-ability by some nimble footwork. That certaintyhas been punctured. It is not beyond repair, butPawar will require a very long needle and somestrong yarn to stitch this one back into shape.

Sharad Pawar does not slip easily in Maha-rashtra. He has worked hard in his state andbeen astute in Delhi politics, sliding alongsideBJP when Atal Behari Vajpayee was prime min-ister and standing solidly by Dr ManmohanSingh when fortunes shifted. Parties come andgo; Sharad Pawar stays in power forever, thanksto his fine nose, which can smell the wind fromafar. But when you have been too long in officeyou can miss something far closer, the straw pil-ing up, strand by strand, on the camel’s back.An insult can so easily become the last straw.

The French Revolution, like any historic oc-currence, offers more than one instructive anec-dote. Marie Antoinette’s husband, Louis XVI,who lost his mind long before he lost his headto the guillotine, heard the mobs in July 1789,when Paris stormed the Bastille prison, andasked his courtier Francois Alexander Frederic,duke of Liancourt and grandmaster of thewardrobe, “So what is it? A riot?” The dukereplied, doubtless in silken tones, “No sire, it isa revolution.” But Louis’ diary entry for July 14,the day Paris changed the world, consisted ofjust one word: “Nothing.” The heights of powerare not always the best perch for a cool lookwhen anger is sweeping past your door.

The writer is a senior Indian journalist.

the deepest wounds in politics are self-inflicted

Third EyeM j AKbAR

The biggest adventure you can

ever take is to live the life of

your dreams. –Oprah Winfrey

and it is not anti-muslim animus

americanattitudes toward egypt have soured

AMERICAN publicopinion has souredon Egypt, withone-half of all

American voters now holdingan unfavourable view of thatcountry and its leadership. Thiswas not always the case.

My brother John Zogbyand I have been measuringAmerican attitudes toward theArab World for two decades.For much of that time, Egypthad the highest ratings of anycountry in the region. In fact, inmost years from 1993 until2010 around 60 per cent ofAmericans rated Egypt posi-tively. However, in our most recent poll, conducted in March of 2013,only 36 per cent of Americans report having a favourable rating of Egypt,while 48 per cent have an unfavourable view.

This dramatic shift in US opinion is a function of two main factors:concern about the role being played by the Muslim Brotherhood and theAmerican public’s general lack of awareness about Egypt’s contempo-rary history.

While modern Egypt has been known in the Arab World for its cin-ema, its comedy and music, and its political and intellectual leadership,the image of the country was never established in the United States. Asa result, positive attitudes were “soft” and/or derivative of other factors.Back when Egypt’s ratings were high, in response to the open-endedquestion “what is the first thought that comes to mind when you hearEgypt?” the overwhelming majority of answers recalled the “pyramids”,“the Sphinx”, and the other “glories of ancient Egypt”. There were alsorespondents who mentioned the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadatand the Camp David Accords.

In the early months of the Arab Spring the images of peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators called to mind for many Americans their owncivil rights movement or Eastern Europe’s fall of the “Iron Curtain”.After an initial drop in ratings in early 2011, by mid-2011 Egypt’sfavourable ratings were back up to 60 per cent. That support has sinceevaporated. But in the March 2013 poll when we asked for respondent’s“first thought when they hear Egypt”, “pyramids” was still the most fre-quently mentioned term, now followed closely by “trouble”, “unrest”and the “Muslim Brotherhood”.

In January of 2012, we asked Americans whether or not they werehopeful that the Arab Spring would bring about positive change. By morethan two to one they answered in the affirmative. But in the tumultuousyear and a half that has followed, Americans have lost that hope. Today,the number of American voters who say they are disappointed with “howthe Arab Spring has played out in Egypt” is three times greater than thosewho say they are still hopeful that positive change will come.

As much as “soft” attitudes are to blame, concern with the MuslimBrotherhood is also a factor in the new negative opinion toward Egypt.Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood,is only viewed favourably by 14 per cent of Americans, while over onehalf have an unfavourable view of Morsi. And by almost three to oneAmericans rate former President Hosni Mubarak as having been moreof a friend and ally of the US than Morsi, the current president.

It is important to note that it is not anti-Muslim animus that drivesthese numbers, since strong negative views of the Muslim Brotherhoodand President Morsi exist even among those Americans who hold afavourable view of Muslims.

There are consequences that result from this change in attitudes.Many Americans now question whether or not the US government canwork with a Muslim Brotherhood-led Egypt. They also question whetherthe U.S. should provide military and civilian aid to Egypt. A majority ofAmericans also say they worry about the Muslim Brotherhood takingover in other countries, and say that they support actions by other Arabgovernments to “limit the activity of Muslim Brotherhood branches op-erating in their countries”.

Another by-product of this negative turn and the general disappoint-ment with the trajectory of the “Arab Spring” has been the public’s em-brace of an interesting combination of principles they feel should guideAmerican foreign policy.

For example, when asked whether the US “should support govern-ments, whether they are elected or not, if they work closely with us topromote regional stability and protect our interests” or whether we“should only support democratically elected governments, even if thosegovernments might pursue policies that are hostile to our interests”, bya wide margin of 72 per cent to 17 per cent American voters chose thefirst approach.

And when asked to choose between providing support “for any gov-ernment that is democratically elected, even if it is pursuing policies thatcompromise the rights of minorities in their countries” or “as a conditionfor US support, we should require that any government, whether it hasbeen elected or not, protect the rights of all their citizens”, by an 85 percent to 10 per cent margin voters chose the second approach.

Two years ago, I compared Egypt to Broadway, noting that it didn’tmatter so much how events played out on other stages across the ArabWorld because the world would judge the Arab Spring by how it playedout in Egypt. We are now two and one-half years into the Arab Springand the “blush is off the rose”. American’s are disappointed, attitudes to-ward Egypt have soured, and the public has adopted a less romantic,more “realist” approach to our relations across the Arab World.

The writer is president of Arab American Institute.

Washington WatchDR jAMES j ZOGbY

off with his head? hardly

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ARTS

AWednesday, 17 April, 2013

12

baLdwiN waNtsto be dotiNGfather this tiMe

Actor Alec Baldwin says he couldn’t give

much time and attention to his first

daughter, but now he wants to be a very

doting father. Baldwin had his first child

with ex-wife Kim Basinger. His present

wife Hilaria Thomas is now expecting

their first child. The actor says he will

fulfill his duties, which he could not earlier

because of the divorce with Basinger.

“The only thing that I regret was that I

missed so much of my daughter’s

childhood because of this contentious

situation. And that wasn’t at all what I

wanted. So I find that now I have another

chance,” Hollywood Reporter quoted

Baldwin as saying. The 55-year-old wants

to keep his wife and their child away from

the limelight. “I have my daughter

coming and my wife, and I just want to

get as far away from that (fame) as

possible,” he said. NEWS DESK

Matt daMoN‘CaNNot’ write aLoNeHollywood star Matt Damon, who won

an Academy Award for the ‘Good Will

Hunting’ screenplay he co-wrote with

Ben Affleck, has said that he has to

work with a partner on his writing

projects because he “can’t do it” alone.

The ‘Bourne Identity’ star recently

teamed with ‘The Office’s’ John

Krasinski to pen 2012 drama Promised

Land. Damon told Radar Online that he

needs to team up with a writing

partner on all his projects as he

struggles to concentrate when left to

work on his own, Contactmusic

reported. The 42-year-old actor said

that he was an English major at college

and he hated the solitude of just

staring at the computer screen as it

drove him nuts. NEWS DESK

Life is too short to

be little. —

Benjamin Disraeli

NEWS DESK

GRANTA magazine an-nounced its list ofBritain’s 20 best novelistsunder the age of 40 onMonday. Pakistan’s

Kamila Shamsie is among them. Domi-nated by women (who account for 12 outof 20 honorees), the list also features au-thors of Bangladeshi, Chinese, and Niger-ian origin.

“Just announced on BBC Radio 4program [Front Row] that Kamila is oneof Granta’s Best of Young British Novel-ists under 40,” Kamila’s mother, authorMuneeza Shamsie posted onFacebook. “It’s official,” Kamila tweetedafter the announcement, “I’m about as oldas a writer can be while young.”The list,which is issued once in a decade, has pre-viously included Martin Amis, SalmanRushdie, Alan Hollinghurst, and JeanetteWinterson. This is Granta’s fourth suchlist, the first came out in 1983. The an-nouncement accompanies the publicationof Granta 123: the Best of Young BritishNovelists 4,which features stories fromeach of the 20 novelists on the latestlist. Granta and the British Council arescheduled to take these authors on theroad for readings and talks in 10 coun-tries, including Qatar and India.

The 2013 list was finalized byjudges John Freeman, Ellah All-frey, Romesh Gunesekera,

Stuart Kelly, A. L. Kennedy, Sigrid Raus-ing, and Gaby Wood, who looked at morethan 150 authors and their works. Candi-dates under consideration were requiredto be U.K. citizens, under the age of 40 onApril 15, 2013, and to have published orbeen under contract to publish a book.The deadline for submissions was Sept.15, 2012. Judging concluded on Jan. 7.

Shamsie, who is in the process of ac-quiring British citizenship, was given spe-cial consideration by the judging paneland not excluded for technically not beinga U.K. citizen.

Founded by Cambridge Universitystudents in 1889 and named for the riverthat runs through the town,Granta maga-zine was the first to publish the works ofauthors like Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plathwho went on to literary stardom. Afterfighting bankruptcy, Granta reemerged in1979. Its website says the magazine“does not have a politi-cal or literary mani-festo, but it doeshave a belief inthe power andu r -

gency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability todescribe, illuminate and make real.” In2010, Granta published a special editioncelebrating writing from Pakistan.

kamila shamsie among Granta’sbest british novelists under 40

THE BEST OF YOuNG BRITISH

NOVELISTS 2013:

Naomi Alderman (born 1974), The Liars’

Gospel

Tahmima Anam (1975), author of the

Bengal Trilogy

Ned Beauman (1985), The Teleportation

Accident

Jenni Fagan (1977), The Panopticon

Adam Foulds (1974), The Quickening

Maze

Xiaolu Guo (1973), A Concise Chinese-

English Dictionary for Lovers

Sarah Hall (1974), How to Paint a Dead

Man

Steven Hall (1975), The Raw Shark Texts

Joanna Kavenna (1973), Come to the

Edge

Benjamin Markovits (1973), author of a

trilogy on the life of Lord Byron

Nadifa Mohamed (1981), Black Mamba

Boy

Helen Oyeyemi (1984), White is for

Witching

Ross Raisin (1979), God’s Own Country

Sunjeev Sahota (1981), The Year of the

Runaways

Taiye Selasi (1979), Ghana Must Go

Kamila Shamsie (1973), Burnt Shadows

Zadie Smith (1975), NW (She also made

the 2003 list.)

David Szalay (1974), The Innocent

Adam Thirlwell (1974), Kapow!

Evie Wyld (1980), All the Birds, Singing

kutcher spendsromanticweekendwith kunisAshton Kutcher and Mila Kunis shared a romantic getawayover the weekend as they toured Bruges and Belgium in ahorse-drawn carriage on Sunday. The former ‘That ‘70sShow’ co-stars took in the sights of the cobblestone streetsand ancient bridges.Christine Rohart,sales manager ofthe HotelMontanus, toldPeoplemagazine thatthe pairseemed verymuch in loveduring theirtrip. Rohartadded that thetwo were seenholding hands andthey were givingkisses to each other. Aday prior, the duo,explored the city on foot,stopping into the localmarket and famous chocolateshops just before enjoying ameal at the triple-Michelinstarred Carmelite restaurant.The source said that Kunis, 29,ate a local dish calledHoppescheuten, which shehad never heard of butwanted to try. The sourcesaid that Kutcher, 35, ate aspecial seven course menu,which is a very famousmenu, where the maindish is rabbit with prunesand it costs 210 euros.The insider added that thecouple enjoyed theirmeals so much, that they“came into the chef’skitchen afterwards tothank him.” NEWS DESK

Kate Hudson, who features inMira Nair’s upcoming film ‘TheReluctant Fundamentalist’, hasrevealed that the director used totake utmost care of her on the setof the film. The 33-year-oldactress confessed to almostmissing out on Nair’s mostawaited film due to herpregnancy. Hudson said that shewas actually not going to be ableto do the movie because she gotpregnant and she just had thebaby eight weeks before shestarted shooting, PVR Picturesreported. The ‘Bride Wars’ starsaid that she was breastfeedingevery three hours or so, and Nair

would rub her feet whilethey were changing the set-ups. “It was definitively anemotional experience forme,” she said. The movie,which is shot in five citieson three continents, is atouching and engagingstory of a young manchasing corporate successon Wall Street. The filmalso stars KieferSutherland, LievSchreiber, Riz Ahmed,Shabana Azmi and Om Puri.The movie is slated to releaseon 10 May 2013 in India.NEWS DESK

thanks cops after US stalker attackAustralian actor Hugh Jackman has vowed to “do anything” to protect his family, after US police arrested an

alleged stalker who chased him into a New York gym with an electric razor. The star was outside the gym on

Saturday morning when the 47-year-old woman approached him, a New York Police Department (NYPD)

spokesman said. Media reports said she was screaming “I love you.” The 44-year-old actor told officers that

the woman approached him and “displayed an electric razor,” said NPYD

spokesman James Duffy, adding: “She has approached him before at other

locations.” “This happened in front of the gym. She was trying to start a

conversation with him and trying to get physically close to him. But he fled

into the gym and she followed, and that’s when (gym) security people

stopped her. “There were no injuries. She was escorted out by the gym

security. She fled the scene, leaving the razor behind. We recovered the

razor, and we found her a couple of hours later walking about on the

street,” he told AFP. The woman, identified as Katherine Thurston, has

been charged with stalking, he added. A spokesman for Jackman, Alan

Nierob, told AFP: “Mr Jackman will do anything, under the law, to protect

his family, and appreciates all of the assistance from the DA’s office on this

matter.” Jackman, who made his name on the stage but is best known for his role as

Wolverine in the “X-Men” movie series, was nominated for a best actor Oscar this year for his

role in musical adaptation “Les Miserables.” The Australian star is married with two children. NEWS DESK

Mira Nair would rubmy feet in betweenset-ups: Hudson

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A

The most damning revelation you can make

about yourself is that you do not know what is

interesting and what is not — Kurt Vonnegut

IT has been more than a week

since a member of Priyanka

Chopra’s entourage to Los

Angeles was found dead in his

Beverly Hills hotel room, and

his body is still languishing at the

mortuary. Jiban Patra, 41, was one

of PeeCee’s several assistants

who accompanied her to Los

Angeles and on to Vancouver.

Jiban could not obtain a

Canadian visa and had to stay

back in the LA hotel, where his

body was discovered on April

7. The Los Angeles Police

Department, which is

investigating the case, has

registered a case of unnatural

death and an initial inquest has

pegged the immediate cause of death

as heart attack. Though the police

department has given a clearance for

the body to be brought back to India,

the process is caught in a so-called

logistical muddle. A source from the US

said, “Jiban has two kids and a wife

back in Mumbai and they have been in

constant touch with Priyanka Chopra’s

office to arrange for his body to be

brought back home. But nothing has

worked out so far. The death was

also hush-hush till the Indian

community took it up

strongly and put pressure

on Priyanka to arrange

for Jiban’s passage to

India. It is a tragic case

as he is the only

earning member of the

family and lost his

father to heart attack

last year.” The biggest

hurdle, it seems, is the cost of

transporting the body - pegged at

$15,000. According to sources, no one

is willing to pick up the tab, yet.

While PeeCee remained

unavailable for

comment, a

source close

to her said

that her

manager

has been

in touch

with the

Indian

Embassy

to try

and

work out a solution. “We would like the

crisis to resolve as early as possible,”

said the source. Even as the bereaved

family waits for the Embassy and

PeeCee to arrive at a consensus, the

Oriya community (Jiban is from Orissa)

in the US has initiated a parallel

dialogue with the Embassy and

instituted a fund in his name to

expedite the passage. Online

community pages are also appealing for

help. “...We are requesting Priyanka

Chopra’s team to take the responsibility to

send the body to Orissa. The family at

India was helpless and no one speaks

English/Hindi. We are in contact with PC’s

team and also the LA-Coroner police

department and updating the family. After

Jiban’s death his family is devastated and

will face an immediate financial disaster.

There is no one there to help them...”

says the appeal that has been put up on

the website of the Orissa Society of the

Americans. A source from the

US confirmed that all

necessary paperwork

and legal

authorisation has

been done for

the body to

be

transported

to India.

NEWS

DESK

No funds to bring backPriyanka Chopra’sdead assistant

disgusted over BostonMarathon tragedy

wahLberG

Mark Wahlberg was in a somber mood at the New York premiere of his new film,“Pain and Gain”- still grappling with the tragedy that struck his hometown of

Boston. Earlier Monday two bombs went off near the finish line at the BostonMarathon. Three people were killed and at least 140 were injured. “I reallydidn’t even want to come tonight. I hadn’t really heard much - I spoke to mymom, and most of my family seems to be OK. It’s such a big event, there’s somany people there. It’s horrible man. It’s (expletive) disgusting, man. I just -I’m very upset,” Wahlberg said Monday night. “You try to put everything inGod’s hands and whatever happens here is out of our control and there’s abigger picture. But it’s still obviously upsetting,” the 41-year old actor said onthe red carpet before going into the premiere hosted by The Cinema Society.New York rapper 50 Cent was a guest at the premiere and before going inside,he expressed his dismay. “Why is it even happening? But there’s noexplanation. We don’t even know what happened (yet),” 50 Cent said. He

added: “When you see kids involved in it, I can’t write it off. I can’t say maybe(it was) karma that is why the kid was where he was.” An 8-year-old boy was

among those killed in Boston. But the rapper said the tragedy doesn’t make himfeel less safe than usual. “If anyone is feeling that way they have to allowthemselves to accept the reality that we don’t have control of our fate,” he said.Before coming to the premiere, “Nurse Jackie” star Peter Facinelli was runningon his treadmill when he saw the news on television. “My heart goes out to thefamilies and the victims. I don’t know who caused it, just like everyone else, I’min the dark. I’m waiting to get to the bottom of it,” he said at the event. “If it wasterrorism, people are going to need to know there not going to stop us,” headded. “We’re not going to be afraid. So for me, the best thing to do is to nothide inside. Proceed with caution but live your life.” Authorities still don’tknow who is responsible for the attack. Some 23,000 runners took part in therace, which attracts more than 500,000 spectators and finishes up in the heart

of central Boston, near the landmark Prudential Center and the Boston PublicLibrary. It is held on Patriots Day, a Massachusetts state holiday which

commemorates the first battles of the American Revolution in 1775. NEWS DESK

AGENCIES

Ayad Akhtar’s “Disgraced,” a play about asuccessful Pakistani-American lawyerwhose dinner party spins out of controlamid a heated discussion of identity and re-ligion, has won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize fordrama.

“It’s such a huge honor. I’m still inshock, actually,” the playwright said fromLondon, where he’s helping ready a newproduction of “Disgraced” at the Bush The-atre. “I feel very fortunate and very grate-ful.”

“Disgraced” had its world premiere atChicago’s American Theater Company in2012 and then ran at Lincoln Center The-ater’s Claire Tow Theater.

The lead character, Amir Kapoor, a Pak-istani-American corporate lawyer, lives onthe Upper East Side in an apartment de-scribed in the script as “spare and tastefulwith subtle flourishes of the Orient.” Amirloves the New York Knicks and the Mag-nolia Bakery and his elegant $600shirts with their “ridiculous threadcount.”

The dinner party at the heart ofthe play brings together two couplesand several religious and ethnic iden-tities over pork tenderloin and chorizo.When chitchat touches on Is-lamic and Judaic tradition,the Quran and the Tal-mud, racial profilingand Sept. 11 and theTaliban and Mah-moud Ahmadinejadand Benjamin Ne-tanyahu — alongwith the requisitealcohol intake —chaos is achieved.

“I reallywanted to write aplay that was goingto have a legiti-mately tragic di-mension for acontemporarya u d i e n c e , ”

Akhtar said. “I wanted the play to have im-mediacy and aliveness of engagement thatharkened back to a tragic form but a massform, something that would have audiencesgasping.”

The Columbia University’s prize boardon Monday said the 42-year-old play-wright’s work beat out finalists “Rapture,Blister, Burn” by Gina Gionfriddo and“4000 Miles” by Amy Herzog.

Akhtar, a 42-year-old New Yorker, alsowrote the novel “American Dervish” andco-wrote and played the lead in the film“The War Within.” His “Disgraced” got acelebrity gloss in New York when the leadcharacter was played by Aasif Mandvi, thevery funny correspondent on Jon Stewart’s“The Daily Show.”

The drama award, which includes a$10,000 prize, is “for a distinguished playby an American author, preferably originalin its source and dealing with Americanlife,” according to the official guidelines.

The production must have opened during2012 to be eligible for this year’saward.

Last year’s winner was QuiaraAlegria Hudes’s play “Water by theSpoonful,” about an Iraq war vet-

eran struggling to find his place inthe world. Previous playwrights hon-

ored include August Wil-son, Edward Albee,Eugene O’Neill,Arthur Miller and

Tennessee Williams.Akhtar, the child

of Pakistani immi-grants, grew up in

Wisconsin, andstudied atBrown Uni-versity and at

Columbia Uni-versity’s film school. In ad-dition to “Disgraced,” healso wrote the hostagethriller “The InvisibleHand,” which had its worldpremiere at the RepertoryTheatre of St. Louis last year.

AYAD AKHTAR‘shocked’ by Pulitzer Prize win

stewart’sawkwardmomentwithrossActress Kristen Stewartwas reportedly faced withan awkward situationwhen she crossed pathswith model Liberty Rossat a gig recently. Stewartwas caught having afling with Ross’ nowestranged husband RupertSanders in July last year.The affair rocked herrelationship with boyfriend andacttor Robert Pattinson.However, Stewart and Pattinsonrekindled their romance after abrief breakup. “Kristen has triedso hard to put everything fromlast year behind her and she stillfeels incredibly guilty. She andRob had turned a massive cornerin recent months and they wereboth there to enjoy themselves,”thesun.co.uk quoted a source assaying. “The last thing she wantedto do was make Liberty feeluncomfortable, either. She lookedpretty upset in the backstage barlater on that evening,” the sourceadded. NEWS DESK

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NEWS DESK

The world’s leading space agency, NASA, has an ambi-tious new Grand Plan: to “identify, capture and relocate”an asteroid. Outlining the Agency’s $17.7 billion budgetproposal for 2014, NASA administrator Charles Boldensaid the mission would ensure the United States re-mained in the forefront of space exploration and scien-tific discovery for years to come. “This missionrepresents an unprecedented tech-nological feat that will lead tonew scientific discoveries andtechnological capabilities andhelp protect our home planet”.You can watch a video animationof the proposed mission here. Butthe scheme is already attractingcriticism: Republican Congress-man Lamar Smith - who chairsthe House committee that willhave to review NASA’s budgetproposals - dismissed the plan to“lasso” an asteroid as “creative”.NASA’s need to court support - and funding - with eye-catching or inspiring schemes is understandable. Butwith so many on the go at one time there’s mountingconcern that the big showcase missions are diverting at-tention from the Agency’s primary scientific goals. “TheNASA programme is looking quite lop-sided at the mo-ment” according to Professor Andrew Coates, the headof planetary science at UCL’s Mullard Space Science

Laboratory. “They’re doing Mars with Curiosity obvi-ously, but they’re also going back to Mars with CuriosityTwo in 2020. Then there’s the replacement for Hubble,the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which hasbeen very expensive with lots of cost overruns, and nowthis asteroid mission. It sounds fantastic, but they’remissing out on some of the basic science and explorationNASA should be doing.” It’s a view that’s echoed withinthe NASA family. Planetary scientists like Dr Robert

Pappalardo at the Jet PropulsionLaboratory have grown increas-ingly frustrated as proposals toexplore the further reaches of thesolar system have been sidelinedin favour of Mars and the JWST.“For reasons I don’t really under-stand the outer solar system, andthe potential for life there, has notbeen a high priority”. And thingslook set to get worse. While the2014 budget proposals include$100 million in seed money to getNASA’s asteroid mission up and

running (the eventual cost will run to several billiondollars), yet again there’s no money for the EuropaClipper Mission to survey Jupiter’s moon. It’s a deci-sion Bob Pappalardo finds hard to comprehend. If thequestion is life - and that’s one of the most profoundquestions we can ask, he says - the answer is almostcertainly not Mars or an asteroid, but rather the icymoons orbiting distant planets like Saturn and Jupiter.

INFOTAINMENT

IWednesday, 17 April, 2013

14

NEWS DESK

Akidney “grown” in thelaboratory has beentransplanted into animalswhere it started to pro-duce urine, US scientists

say. Similar techniques to make simplebody parts have already been used in pa-tients, but the kidney is one of the mostcomplicated organs made so far.

A study, in the journal Nature Medi-cine, showed the engineered kidneys wereless effective than natural ones.

But regenerative medicine researcherssaid the field had huge promise.

Kidneys filter the blood to removewaste and excess water. They are also themost in-demand organ for transplant, withlong waiting lists. The researchers’ visionis to take an old kidney and strip it of allits old cells to leave a honeycomb-likescaffold. The kidney would then be rebuiltwith cells taken from the patient.

This would have two major advan-tages over current organ transplants.

The tissue would match the patient,so they would not need a lifetime ofdrugs to suppress the immune system toprevent rejection. It would also vastly in-crease the number of organs available fortransplant. Most organs which are of-fered are rejected, but they could be usedas templates for new ones.

SCAFFOLDING

Researchers at Massachusetts GeneralHospital have taken the first steps towardscreating usable engineered kidneys.

They took a rat kidney and used a de-tergent to wash away the old cells.

The remaining web of proteins, orscaffold, looks just like a kidney, includingan intricate network of blood vessels anddrainage pipes. This protein plumbing wasused to pump the right cells to the rightpart of the kidney, where they joined withthe scaffold to rebuild the organ.

It was kept in a special oven to mimic

the conditions in a rat’s body for the next12 days. When the kidneys were tested inthe laboratory, urine production reached23% of natural ones.

The team then tried transplanting anorgan into a rat. Once inside the body, thekidney’s effectiveness fell to 5%.

Yet the lead researcher, Dr Harald Ott,told the BBC that restoring a small fractionof normal function could be enough: “Ifyou’re on haemodialysis then kidney func-tion of 10% to 15% would already makeyou independent of haemodialysis. It’s notthat we have to go all the way.”

He said the potential was huge: “If youthink about the United States alone, there’s100,000 patients currently waiting for kid-ney transplants and there’s only around18,000 transplants done a year. “I think thepotential clinical impact of a successfultreatment would be enormous.”

‘REALLY IMPRESSIVE’

There is a huge amount of further re-search that would be needed before this iseven considered in people. The techniqueneeds to be more efficient so a greater levelof kidney function is restored. Researchersalso need to prove that the kidney will con-tinue to function for a long time. There willalso be challenges with the sheer size of ahuman kidney. It is harder to get the cellsin the right place in a larger organ.

Prof Martin Birchall, a surgeon at Uni-versity College London, has been involvedin windpipe transplants produced fromscaffolds. He said: “It’s extremely interest-ing. It is really impressive.

“They’ve addressed some of the maintechnical barriers to making it possible touse regenerative medicine to address a re-ally important medical need.”

He said that being able to do this forpeople needing an organ transplant couldrevolutionise medicine: “It’s almost thenirvana of regenerative medicine, certainlyfrom a surgical point of view, that youcould meet the biggest need for transplantorgans in the world - the kidney.”

florida invaded byrat-sized snails

No, this is not a 1970s B-movie:

South Florida really is dealing with an

invasion of giant African land snails.

The beastly mollusks can grow as

large as rats (the biggest measure

eight inches long, the Ocala Star-

Banner reports), and can eat their

way through plaster and stucco. More

than 1,000 are already being caught

per week in Miami-Dade County, and

that number is set to swell when the

mollusks end their underground

hibernation. Since September 2011, a

disturbing 117,000 have been caught.

The invasion isn’t just gross, it’s also

problematic, a Florida Department of

Agriculture rep explains, because the

snails eat “over 500 known species of

plants ... pretty much anything that’s

in their path and green.” And that’s

not all: Their shells can blow out

tires; their slime can make sidewalks

slick; and they carry a lungworm that

can give humans meningitis (though

no US cases have been reported).

They’re also tough to eradicate, since

one typically produces about 1,200

eggs per year and can live up to nine

years. The last invasion, in 1966, took

$1 million—and about a decade—to

deal with. Experts from all around the

US held a symposium last week to

discuss solutions. Among them:

stronger bait. NEWS DESK

Google really istrying to be thestar trek computer

the woman with 1 billionclicks, Jenna Marbles

A young woman with magenta-streaked hair

stands in her bathroom, speaking to a webcam. In

a hushed tone, she chews over a thorny problem

of young adulthood: how to apply full evening

makeup when you’re already inebriated from

drinking all day?

She begins her tutorial by wielding that totem of

collegiate binge drinking everywhere: a red plastic

Solo Cup. One jump cut later (after a “Law and

Order: S.V.U.” drinking game), she re-emerges,

thoroughly intoxicated. She misapplies a gob of

glue. It dangles from a false eyelash. She lines her

lips with a black pencil. “It doesn’t matter what

color it is, ’cause you’re gonna blend it,” she slurs,

batting her eye glue. “Don’t let this scare you.”

The video, titled “Drunk Makeup Tutorial,” is

completely awesome to some, bewildering to others

— and above all, classic Jenna Marbles, another

installment from a reigning queen of YouTube. The

episode has been viewed 14.6 million times.

While few people older than 30 probably know who

Jenna Marbles is, her popularity is unquestioned

among teenage girls who live on the Internet. She

has more Facebook fans than Jennifer Lawrence,

more Twitter followers than Fox News and more

Instagram friends than Oprah. Her weekly videos

on topics as quotidian as “What Girls Do in the

Bathroom in the Morning,” “My Favorite Dance

Moves” and “I Hate Being a Grown Up,” place her

in an elite club of more than one billion YouTube

views, with more than eight million subscribers

and growing. “My perspective is to think, ‘I just

have a lot of Internet friends,’ ” said Jenna

Marbles, 26, whose real name is Jenna Mourey

(Marbles is the name of her Chihuahua). She

acknowledges it is an odd kind of celebrity. She is

a D.I.Y. digital entertainer who conceives of, stars

in, shoots, edits and uploads her own videos —

often in a single day. NEWS DESK

scientists make‘laboratory-grown’ kidney

Is NASA looking in thewrong place for life?

Grief is the price

we pay for love.

–Queen Elizabeth II

For years, when Google employees

likened their projects to the Star Trek

computer, Farhad Manjoo dismissed it

as a convenient media metaphor.

“Google is very likely the nerdiest

large company on earth; of course its

employees like Star Trek,” he writes in

Slate. But after many, many

references, he started to wonder if

there was more to it—and, amazingly,

there is. “The Star Trek computer is

not just a metaphor,” search chief Amit

Singhal tells him. “It is the ideal that

we’re aiming to build.” Singhal says

that the team constantly compares its

work to the Enterprise’s chipper, voice-

activated assistant. Captain Kirk didn’t

need a keyboard, so Google’s been

pushing voice recognition. The

computer could sometimes predict

crew members’ needs, hence the

Google Now project. “Stop thinking

about Google as a ‘search engine,’”

Manjoo writes. “That term conjures a

staid image: a small box on a page.”

Google’s ideal is nothing like that—it’s

a machine so smart it can answer

your questions, anticipate your

needs, and answer completely

unanticipated questions. NEWS DESK

For anyone looking for a miracleamidst the gloomy news, the Vaticanprovides: The Denver Post reportsthat Pope Francis has set a 19th-cen-tury German nun on a journey to-ward sainthood after verifying shewas responsible for healing a Col-orado Springs boy in 1999. In thefirst days of his papacy, Francis up-held the miracle, which will allowfor Mother Theresia Bonzel’s No-vember beatification. One more mir-acle is needed for sainthood. As thePost explains, the now-18-year-oldLuke Burgie was struck with a mys-

tery illness on his first day of pre-school, a severe gastrointestinal con-dition that stumped his doctors, whowere unable to ease his suffering.After six months of violent diarrhea,which struck as many as 10 times aday, the illness mysteriously van-

ished—on the final day of a novenatwo members of Bonzel’s order hadprayed, in which they asked Bonzelfor help. A rigorous investigationcarried out by the Vatican and inde-pendent medical experts ensuedover the next 14 years: to verify theBurgie family hadn’t intentionallycaused the disorder via, say, laxa-tives, and to review all availablemedical records. Now Bonzel is onher way, though Luke Burgie, for hispart, isn’t talking about it. Says hismom, “He didn’t like being singledout as the miracle boy.” NEWS DESK

19th-century German nun performed miracle: Vatican

ISB 17-04-2013_Layout 1 4/17/2013 3:59 AM Page 14

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

PAKISTAN’S T20 captain,Muhammad Hafeez hasshowered words of praise onhis Test and one-day captain

Misbah-ul-Haq, describing him as an"honest" person and a "calm andcomposed" leader. While Hafeez replacedMisbah as the national T20 captain lastyear in May, Misbah continued to remainPakistan`s Test and one-day captain.

Recently, a controversy was ignitedby the former Chairman of the PakistanCricket Board, Ijaz Butt who claimedthat Hafeez had formed a nexus withhead coach Dav Whatmore in the teamand they were pressurising Misbah andtrying to oust him from the team. ButHafeez was all praise for Misbah, saying

it had been an honour playing underhim. "He is one of the best captains Ihave played under. We have played mostof our cricket together for years now atthe first class and international level.

And Misbah has shown himself to be ahonest, fair, dedicated, committed andvery composed captain," Hafeez toldreporters in Karachi. The all-rounderscored a match winning half-century to

lead the Sui Northern Gas team into thefinal of the President`s Cup one-daytournament. Hafeez said that no one hadany problems with Misbah as he hadshown himself to be a very honest, fairand committed leader.

"He equally deals well with theseniors and juniors and he is honest andforthright. His best quality is he remainscalm and composed under all situationsand there is respect for him in the team,"Hafeez added. He made it clear that hehad not found anyone as passionate anddedicated for cricket as Misbah.

Hafeez noted that it was a credit toMisbah the way he had adopted a positiveapproach after Pakistan lost the Testseries in South Africa. "He did well in theone-day series in SA and then also bywinning the national T20 super eightstitle for Faisalabad Wolves," he added.

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

Geared up to deliver the goods forPakistan in future, Kamran Akmal, thewicketkeeper/batsman, claims that hedoes not need to prove anything toanyone, having won numerous matchesfor the country in past.

The 31-year-old cricketer camethrough the ranks of junior cricket in thecountry, having represented Pakistan atdifferent age-groups. Even in his earlydays, the cricketer from Lahore wastipped to be one of the candidates toreplace Moin Khan and Rashid Latif inthe national team.

Akmal went on to make his Testdebut in 2002 but cemented his place inthe Pakistan team in 2005. The right-handed batsman has so far scored 11centuries at the highest stage of thesport, including a number of match-winning ones. Thewicketkeeper/batsman’s wonderfulcenturies in Mohali and Karachi againstIndia are considered to be at the top ofthe list. Quoted by Cricinfo, Akmal

expressed that he still cherishes thosewonderful knocks but he wants toperform well for Pakistan in the comingyears as well. The stylish batsman didnot play any big innings during therecently concluded tour of South Africabut he is happy with a couple of cameoswhich were helpful for the team’s cause.

“These were the finest innings of mycareer but I want to win more matchesfor the country. I don't need to proveanything to anyone as I have deliveredon so many occasions,” said thecricketer from Lahore. “Obviously youlearn every day and improve yourself. Ihad a good South Africa series andplaying up the order really helped meregain my confidence.”

Commenting on the role of awicketkeeper in the team, Kamran saidthat two legends of the modern-daysport, Adam Gilchrist and MarkBoucher, have redefined this job andnow a wicketkeeper must be able tocontribute with the bat as well.

“I think the role of a wicketkeeperwas extended with players like [Adam]Gilchrist and [Mark] Boucher, who

have taken the role to a differentheight. Now a wicketkeeper is one of

the most important players in theteam,” he added.

hafeez praises Misbah’sleadership qualities

SPORTS

SWednesday, 17 April, 2013

15When I did not go to Sri Lanka,I could not understand why theypunished me. – Nadeem Ghauri

I want more wins for Pakistan: Kamran

batting coachis the need ofhour, says zaheer

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

Former Pakistan captain Zaheer Abbasbelieves the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)must have hired a batting coach instead ofbringing in former captain Wasim Akram forsupervising a camp for fast bowlers.According to a website, the former captainsaid what miracle it would make to thebowlers in a 10-day camp. "Instead of thisthe PCB should have hired a batting coachfor the team which is the need of the hour,"he said. Commenting on the ChampionsTrophy probable's announced by the PCB, hesaid Shan Masood of Habib Bank Limitedand Raza Hassan should be included in thelist. "All those players who haven'tperformed in the series against South Africashould be dropped," he said. Nasir Jamshed,Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, AhmedShahzad, Wahab Riaz, Kamran Akmal didn'tdo well in the series and have been given toomany chances by the PCB selectors. "Newplayers should have been inducted in theChampions Trophy probable's list," he said.A player who has played a 30, 40 run inningscan do better if the PCB pays attention to theplayers batting instead of focusing onbowling. Talking about Misbah-ul-haq'scaptaincy, Zaheer said until now he sees noother player who can replace him from thecaptaincy. The ICC Champions Trophy willbe played in England from June 6. Theprobable's include Nasir Jamshed,Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, AhmedShahzad, Misbah-ul-Haq, Harris Sohail,Asad Shafiq, Umer Akmal, Shoaib Malik,Umer Amin, Sohail Tanvir, Hammad Azam,Azhar Ali, Shahid Afridi, Asad Ali, AnwerAli, Junaid Khan, M. Irfan, Wahab Riaz,Umer Gul, Rahat Ali, Ehsan Adil, ImranKhan, Aizaz Cheema, Yasir Arafat, SaeedAjmal, Abdul Rehman, Zulfiqar Baber,Kamran Akmal and M. Rizwan.

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

Former Pakistan legspinner Danish Kaneria hopes to re-vive his international career following an appeal of hislife ban before a disciplinary committee of the Englandand Wales CricketBoard next week.Kaneria was banned bythe ECB last year forpressuring former Es-sex teammate MervynWestfield into spot-fix-ing in an Englishcounty one-day gamein 2009. Kaneria lefton Tuesday for Lon-don, where the hearing will be held next Mon-day. "I have high hopes the panel will be inde-pendent and neutral in this hearing," Kaneriawas quoted by a foreign news agency. "Mylivelihood is stuck due to the ECB's ban." Thehearing was deferred last December when theECB was unable to gain Westfield's coopera-tion to appear before the committee. West-field, who pleaded guilty to receiving paymentwhich could bring him or the game into disre-pute, was banned for five years, but allowed to partici-pate in minor club cricket after three years. Westfield'sadmission of guilt and his evidence against Kaneria led

the ECB to reduce a possible suspension of nine years tofive, and allow him to be involved only in club cricketafter three years of his ban. Kaneria expects Westfield totestify in his favour. "I hope things will be seen moreclearly by the disciplinary committee in the presence ofWestfield," he said. He played for Pakistan from 2000 to

2010, when he was suspended by the PakistanCricket Board until the spot-fixing case was re-solved. An integral part of Pakistan's test team,he took 261 wickets in 61 matches. Kaneria'sdetermination to clear his name included an ap-peal to the Sindh High Court in Karachi to try

to overturn his PCBsuspension. But thecourt dismissed hisappeal in 2011, say-ing it was not withinits jurisdiction. Pak-istan cricket has beenhit badly by spot-fix-ing and match-fixingover the last threeyears. Salman Butt,Mohammad Asif andMohammad Amir areserving long bans fortheir involvement in

spot-fixing during a Test against England in 2010, whilelast week the PCB banned umpire Nadeem Ghauri forfour years for corruption.

Kaneria appeals life banbefore disciplinary committee

Ghauri to appealcorruption ban

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

A Pakistani umpire suspended for fouryears on corruption charges plans toappeal against the ban, a decision hedescribed Sunday as “one-sided”.The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) bannedNadeem Ghauri on Saturday for agreeingto “extend undue favours for materialgain” during a sting operation by anIndian television station last year.“It's a one-sided decision and I am nothappy with this decision,” Ghauri said.“They didn't give me a chance, and I thinkthat the PCB did it on some pressure. Icame to know about the decision throughthe media.”Ghauri said he was heard only once by thePCB's inquiry committee and never hadthe chance to appear before the integritycommittee, which imposed the ban.“I will request and appeal to the PCBchairman that I should be given a properopportunity,” he said.Ghauri acknowledged that he spoke overthe internet to the man involved in settingup the sting, saying the contract he wasoffered to work in the Sri Lanka PremierLeague last year was lucrative but notdependent on him helping to rig matches.The contract was worth $4,500 per matchplus $1,000 as a monthly salary, Ghaurisaid. “I was interviewed on Skype after Ireceived the documents of the lucrativecontract,” Ghauri said. “Anyone who seesthe contract would have said yes as it wasvery lucrative.”Ghauri didn't inform the PCB because hewas not under contract with the cricketboard, and said the punishment is harshbecause he didn't take charge of anymatches in the Sri Lanka Premier League.“I have no agreement with the PCB and Iam not under PCB's code of conduct,” hesaid. “When I did not go to Sri Lanka, Icould not understand why they punishedme.”Ghauri said he was introduced to the manby Bangladeshi umpire Nadir Shah, whowas banned for 10 years by his country'scricket board last month on similarcorruption charges.Ghauri officiated in five tests, 43 one-dayinternationals and four Twenty20 matches.A former left-arm spinner, he played onlyone test, under Pakistan great ImranKhan's captaincy against Australia atSydney in 1990. Ghauri also played sixODIs. It's not the first time that Pakistancricket has been hit by corruption chargesin recent years.Pakistan cricketers Mohammad Asif,Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir areserving bans for their involvement in spot-fixing during a test against England in2010.

I HAVE HIGH HOPESTHE PANEL WILL BEINDEPENDENT ANDNEUTRAL IN THIS HEARING

ISB 17-04-2013_Layout 1 4/17/2013 4:00 AM Page 16

PARISAGENCIES

THIS year's French Open singleschampions will receive1.5million Euros (£1.28million)for their efforts - an increase of

20 per cent on 2012. Roland Garros officialsalso announced even greater prize-moneyincreases for losers in the middle rounds,becoming the latest grand Slam tournamentto cede to player demands for a greater sliceof revenue. In total, 22 million Euros(£18.8million) will be in the prize fund - up3million (or 16 per cent) on 2012 levels.

Officials announced the rises onMonday, when they also revealed a further10million Euros would be added the prizefund by 2016. The players who will benefitthe most will be the second, third and fourth-round losers. They will get 25 per cent moremoney this year than last.

That is what the player bodies, the ATPand WTA, have been seeking as they haveargued it is hard for some of the lower-rankedplayers to meet their expenses accrued on

what is a global tour. The announcementcomes just weeks after the US Open deviseda similar plan, increasing their prize moneyto US$33.6 million (£21.9million) for 2013.They have vowed to hit the $50million markby 2017. The Australian Open's total for itsJanuary tournament was Aus$30million(£20.4million). The ball is now in

Wimbledon's court to come up with a similarincrease. The All England Club, which paidout £16.1million in prize money in 2012, isexpected to announce its decision on 2013levels on April 23.MuRRAY MuST MASTER CLAY:

Andy Murray insisted on Sunday that theworld No 1 ranking was “not something I

think about on a daily basis”, but as theScot prepares for his first clay-courttournament of the year at the Monte CarloMasters he knows that the next eight weeksare likely to be vital if he is to replaceNovak Djokovic at the summit.

By his own standards Murray had amoderate clay-court season last year,when he was troubled by a backinjury, while Djokovicreached three finals. Theupside for Murray is thatthe 2013 clay campaigngives him an outstandingchance of making upground in the rankings,particularly as Djokovic hasfitness issues. The world No1 hurt an ankle eight days agowhile playing in the Davis Cupand although he has been practisinghere since Friday, he said it was by nomeans certain that he would be fit to playhis opening match on Wednesday. Headmitted he would not be making suchstrenuous efforts to compete if he did not

live just down the road from the MonteCarlo Country Club. Murray, who willmeet the Dutchman Robin Haase orFrance's Edouard Roger-Vasselin in hisopening match after a first-round bye, hasa tough draw. Although the world No 2 isseeded to meet Djokovic in the final, inorder to get there he might have to beatStanislas Wawrinka, Jo-Wilfried Tsongaand Rafael Nadal, who is seeking to win thetitle for the ninth year in a row.

Nevertheless, Murray goes into the clay-court season in much better shape physicallythan 12 months ago. A back problem, whichhad troubled him since the start of 2012 andforced him to withdraw from the MadridMasters, led to his having eight pain-killinginjections before the French Open, where hesuffered severe back spasms. “I've felt muchbetter the last few days than I did coming

into Monte Carlo last year,” Murraysaid. “I think it's something that

will always be with me. [Ineed to do] the rightexercises, have the righttreatment, the rightamount of rest and not doanything silly or playother sports. I used to

play a lot of football andgolf. I've stopped all of that

now and the back has beenbetter.” Although Murray's

results on clay last year were modestas he struggled with his back, hisperformances in 2011, when he reached thesemi-finals here, in Rome and at RolandGarros, showed what he is capable of on thesurface he finds the most challenging.

SPORTS S

Wednesday, 17 April, 2013

16

Murray insiststhat the world No1 ranking is notsomething he

think about on adaily basis

iNCrease iN freNCh oPeNPrize fuNd aNNouNCed

Kevin Pietersen has been ruled out of the upcoming Test

series against New Zealand as he continues his recovery from

significant bone bruising to his right knee. – ECB statement.

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

North Zone will support the sittingPresident of Lahore City cricketAssociation Khawaja Nadeem Ahmedin the upcoming elections of the bodyto acknowledge his efforts for therevival of cricket in Lahore.“Nadeem’s services for the cause ofcricket at early level during past threeyears are remarkable and we havetaken a collective decision to lendsupport to him for his re-election,”said North Zone president, MianMubeen at a reception in the honour ofKh Nadeem here on Tuesday at a localhotel. Representatives of 30 clubs, outof a total of 35 were present on theoccasion. Javed Zaman Khan,Mubashar Nazar and veteran umpiresRab Nawaz ,Iftikhar Malik were alsopresent. He said North Zone is acommitted supporter of Nadeem andthey believe there is dire need tocontinue his polices for the overalldevelopment of the game in Lahore.“We have seen a record cricket activitywith new cricket leagues taking placeand sponsors coming in and Lahore’s

team showing encouraging results inthe national tournaments. We stronglybelieve that we should go hand in handto support Nadeem for a bettertomorrow of LCCA,” he added.Speaking on the occasion LCCA Chiefexpressed his gratitude to all the clubsof the North Zone for reposing

confidence on him and assured themhis all out support for achieving acollective cause of uplift of clubcricket. “I inherited a crippledstructure of cricket in LCCA at thetime of my election as president threeyears ago and I devoted my energies tostreamline the affairs of cricket in

Lahore and today we have been able toput the cricket at the right track,” headded. He said LCCA would besupporting Masood Anwar as thePresident of North Zone in the zonalelections of the body as sittingPresident Mubeen is not re-contestingthe elections.

North Zone extends support to Kh Nadeemthree sri Lankanumpires facesuspensionMUMBAI: After the suspension of the

Bangladeshi and Pakistani umpires, now

it is the turn of the Sri Lankan umpires.

"The three Sri Lankan umpires violated

the Code of Conduct and the action is

likely to be taken", the well-placed

source from Colombo suggested. "The

fact-finding committee has completed

the investigations and the report is

likely to be discussed by the higher au-

thorities and they maybe suspended

between 2-5 years", the source added.

All the three Sri Lankans, aged 50, -

Gamini Dissanayake, Sagara Gallage

and Maurice Winston - along with now

banned Bangladeshi and Pakistani um-

pires, were caught in India TV sting op-

eration, where they agreed to fix the

matches or sale the inside information

on pitch and toss. Maurice Winston was

alleged to provide information about

teams, conditions and the toss 90 min-

utes before the match (England vs.

Australia, Sept. 17) in return for a bribe

of Rs 50,000, approximately £600.

Galage also offered the same informa-

tion before the warm-up between Pak-

istan and India and also offered to give

a Pakistani batsman not out during a Sri

Lanka Premier League (SLPL) match.

Gamini Dissanayake had agreed on

favouring his country's players in any

format of the game. bIPIN DANI

JOHANNESBURGAGENCIES

Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Monday un-veiled exciting new plans to build a Centreof Cricketing Excellence at the current HighPerformance Centre (HPC) at the Univer-sity of Pretoria’s Sports Complex. Knownas the CSA Centre of Excellence, this R30million project was recently given the goahead and approval by the newly formedCSA Board of Directors.

The project is a joint undertaking be-tween CSA and the University who havemade the land available free of charge on along-term basis and will also be used by theUniversity’s own cricket club. In terms ofthe agreement the Centre of Excellence willalso enjoy the use of the University’s maincricket oval. “The CSA Centre of Excellencewill compare more than favourably with sim-ilar centres around the world at Loughbor-

ough in England, Brisbane in Australia andat the International Cricket Council (ICC)headquarters in Dubai,” commented CSAActing CEO Naasei Appiah. “It will con-tribute to the long-term success of cricket inSouth Africa. The support of theUniversity of Pretoria and theHPC and the passion of CSAfor excellence will ensurethat the CSA Centre ofExcellence will be thebest in the world.“Currently all theleading internationalteams have either anexisting high per-formance facilitywith office space for theirhigh performance staff orare in the process of com-pleting their high perform-ance centres. Their ability

to make use of the facility all year roundand in all conditions as well as their abilityto use the best equipment available puts themin a position of strength. “I would also liketo stress that this new facility will be used

across the board for all our nationalteams – the Proteas Castle Lager

and Blue Label Telecoms squads,the Momentum na-

tional women’steam, the Coca-

Cola national under-19 squad as well as our na-

tional squads for the disabledand differently abled cricket.

This facility will not just cater forthe high performance needs of CSA

but will serve as a base forvarious transformation initia-tives of CSA to address the

imbalances within our owncountry.” CSA General Man-

ager: Cricket, Corrie van Zyl, outlined themajor objectives of the new facility. “Ourhigh performance strategy is based on fourpillars: to provide support to all the nationalteams in terms of facilities, equipment, tech-nological support and tour preparation, par-ticularly for out-of-season tours; to bridgethe gap between domestic and internationalcompetition and to close the historical gapswithin our own communities from the past;to support all the feeder structures; and tobroaden the base of potential future interna-tional players. “Research, which will includea video analysis laboratory, is another veryimportant aspect of the new facilities thatwill be made available.

“Another very important aspect will bethe opportunity to set up an ICC-accreditedtesting facility for illegal bowling actions.This will not only mean that CSA can nowtest its own professional players at a fractionof the price but also test professional crick-

eters from all over the world. “Young crick-eters still in their developmental stage canbe tested for possible illegal actions and re-medial work can then be done immediatelyto avoid disappointment further down theline.” The University of Pretoria also wel-comed the expanded relationship with theCSA that represents an extension and con-solidation of the current nine year partner-ship, for another nine years.

“It contributes to the University’s com-mitment to excellence in its core businessof teaching and learning, and research to allits endeavours, including sport. The Uni-versity’s contribution towards the nation’ssporting success internationally as reflectedin the Olympic success in 2012 of athletesthat formed part of its sports system will beextended with the addition of this new andmuch needed facility for CSA,” explainedthe University of Pretoria’s Vice Chancellor,Professor Cheryl de la Rey.

CSA unveils plans for Centre of Excellence

representativesof 30 clubs givereception to honourlcca president

ISB 17-04-2013_Layout 1 4/17/2013 4:00 AM Page 17

wenger admitsto wilshere error

LONDON: Arsenal manager Arsene

Wenger admits he rushed Jack

Wilshere back too soon - but will take

no more chances with the fitness of

the England midfielder. Wilshere

made his first appearance since the

start of March when he played an

hour of the 3-1 Barclays Premier

League win over Norwich at the

Emirates Stadium on Saturday, but

lacked his usual dynamic drive at the

heartbeat of the team. The 21-year-

old's recovery from any injury lay-off,

the latest a minor ankle problem, is

always carefully monitored given he

spent the whole of the 2011/2012

campaign on the sidelines. Wenger

insists he will not gamble on

Wilshere's fitness again as Arsenal

look to continue their winning streak

at home to Everton on Tuesday night.

"I rushed Jack back a bit. He was not

completely ready," Wenger said on

Arsenal Player. "How careful have I to

be? To listen well to the medical

advice and that is what I have to do,

use him when everything is all right

and listen to him as well, how he

feels. "Jack has been out for six

weeks, so maybe it was a bit too

rushed, what I did. "I will get advice

from the medical department and how

he feels as well and as well use my

experience and the fact I know him

very well. "He practices with me since

he was 16, so I know quite well how

his body responds to things." AGENCIES

ZAREEF MEMORIAL BEATEN

LAHORE: Rising Stars Club outplayed

Zareef Memorial by 5 wickets and

moved to the 3rd round of the 28th M

Yaseen Akhter Memorial Cricket at

Jallo ground the other day.

SCORES: Zareef Memorial 141 all out

in 19.5 overs. Waqas 25, Khuram

Liaqat 23, Umer Butt 26, Yasir 22.

Ghulam Shabir 3/13, Mohsin

Mehmood 2/32, Nasir ullah 2/35,

Amir butt 1/22. Rising Stars 145/5 in

18.3 overs. Naseemullah 11, Abdul

Muqaat 32, Nasir 68(no), Amir Butt

20. Javaid 1/26, Yasir 1/26, Shokat

2/39.

AKHTER CLUB CRUSH QADIR

CLUB

Akhter Abdul Rehman Club has moved

into the 3rd round of 10th M Siddiq

Memorial Cricket Event when they

beat Ghulam Qadir club by 56 runs at

Iqbal PArk ground the other day.

SCORES: Akhtar Abdul Rehman Club

192/7 in 20 overs. Asfand Mehran 77,

Waleed Mubeen 12, Noman Shokat

33, Hafiz Amir (45) no. Zeeshan 2/40,

Murtaza 2/37, Kamran Shokat 1/28.

Ghulam Qadir Memorial Club 136/3 in

20 overs. Adil Khan 24, Mubashar 59

(no), Kamran Shokat 35. Qamar

1/32, Tajamal Ch 2/28.

CROWN CLUB BEAT CHAND

MEMORIAL CLUB

Crown Club moved into the 3rd round

of 28th M Yaseen Akhter Memorial

cricket event when they beat Chand

Memorial club by 8 runs played at

Iqbal PArk ground the other day.

SCORES: Crown Club 145. M Shoaib

20, M Umer 19, Waseem NAeem 10,

Noor ul Ameen 17, Zahid 28 Inayat

ullah 26 (no). Dilawar Bhatti 3/36,

Tanvir 2/20, Ijaz 1/21, Arslan 1/24,

Ahmed 2/18. Chand Memorial club

137/9. Jahanzaib 58, Imran 17,

Rehmat 30. M Shoaib 4/21, Tayaab

3/27.

JALLO GyM IN 3RD ROUND

Jalloo Gym has entered into the 3rd

round of 28th M Yaseen Akhter

Memorial cricket event when they

outplayed Imperial club by 5 runs in

an exciting match played at Jallo

Ground the other day.

SCORES: Jallo Gym 195 all out in

19.3 overs. Amir Usman 33, M Irfan

16, Ashar NAzir 79(no), AsifButt

17(no). Jahanzaib 2/30, Kamal 3/37,

Zulkafil 2/26, Tahir 1/36, HAsan

Mohaudin 1/21. Imperial Club 190/5

in 20 overs. Zulkafil 61, Saqlain

Mohsin 26, M Zahid 53, Nasir Shah

12, Jahanzaib 23. Asif ALi 3/28, Saif

ullah 1/35.

PINDI GyM ADVANCE

Pindi Gym has marched into the 3rd

round of 28th M Yaseen Akhter

Memorial cricket event by 4 wickets

played at Townshship Whites ground

on the other day.

SCORES: Iqbal Town Gym 132/9.

Javaid 16, Faraz 11, Yasir 10, Zahid

20, Abdurehman 28. Asif 3/47,

Farhan 2/32, Abid 3/18. Pindi Gym

136/6. NAdeem Ahmed 27, Imtiaz 16,

Umer 10, Asad Khan 46, Asif 12.

Junaid 2/24, Yasir 1/33, Faraz 2/24,

Abu bakar 1/17. STAFF REPORT

SPORTSS

Wednesday, 17 April, 2013

17It can happen to anyone. Fernando

(Alonso) didn't finish the last race

(in Malaysia). – Lewis Hamilton

PUNEAGENCIES

Aaron Finch’s 45-ball innings of 67proved to be the match-winningcontribution as the Pune Warriors heldoff the Chennai Super Kings by 24 runsin their Pepsi IPL clash at the MAChidambaram Stadium in Chennai onMonday. The Australian’s 10 fours andtwo sixes, along with Steve Smith’sremarkable undefeated 16-ball cameo of39 at the death, catapulted the visitors toa total of 159 for six. Only SouthAfrican Chris Morris starred with theball for Chennai, as he recorded figuresof 4-0-25-2.

The Super Kings reply rarelythreatened and only SubramaniamBadrinath (34) and Ravindra Jadeja’s (27)fourth-wicket partnership of 46

contributed significantly to the eventualtotal of 135 for eight. BhuvneshwarKumar was the shining light with the ball

for the Pune outfit, as he producedimmaculate figures of two for 12 in hisfour overs. Ashok Dinda (4-0-24-2) and

Mitchell Marsh (4-0-35-2) also chipped inwith two wickets apiece. The Warriors'second win of the competition sees themmove up a place into seventh in thestandings, while MS Dhoni’s team sit justone place higher by virtue of theirsuperior net run-rate. With his teamhaving earlier won the toss and elected tobat, Finch wasted little time in showinghis intent as he mauled countryman DirkNannes (4-0-42-0) for three boundaries inthe opening over.CHENNAI SUPER KINGS: S Anirudha,

M Vijay, SK Raina, S Badrinath, DJ

Bravo, MS Dhoni (capt & wk), RA

Jadeja, CH Morris, JA Morkel, R Ashwin,

DP Nannes

PUNE WARRIORS: RV Uthappa (wk),

AJ Finch, MK Pandey, LRPL Taylor (capt),

AM Nayar, SPD Smith, TL Suman, MR

Marsh, B Kumar, R Sharma, AB Dinda

Finch magic steers Pune to victory

LONDONAGENCIES

Manchester United striker WayneRooney appears to have struck a deal tojoin Paris Saint-Germain, according toa source in France. Michel Moulin, whois a former advisor to the Ligue 1leaders, went on French TV anddeclared: "Rooney to PSG is done." "Iannounce from trusted sources, he willbe at PSG next season," he said. Moulinis now the owner of media outlet LeSport 10 and some have viewed hiscomments as a publicity stunt to boostthe profile of his company.

There is genuine interest from PSGregarding Rooney but United manager SirAlex Ferguson has never indicated theclub would be willing to part with theirtalisman. "He will be here next year, youhave my word on that," Ferguson said at apress conference in early March.

The long-serving United managerwas addressing rumours of a bust-upbetween the pair as well as flurry ofreports suggesting the 27-year-old

England striker's future at the club wasuncertain. Ferguson brought on thespeculation himself by droppingRooney to the bench for a crucial UEFAChampions League second leg last-16tie against Real Madrid at Old Trafford.The Scot's decision was "tactical" withUnited opting to use summer signingRobin van Persie as its only recognised

striker in the starting line-up, but it didraise a question mark over Rooney'sstatus in the team. Since the departureof Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid inthe summer of 2009, Rooney had takenon the mantle of United's key player.Events at Old Trafford against Madridlast month, seemed to point that thisrole has now lessened.

Rooney to PSG is done deal

LOCAL CRICKET NEWSLONDON: AKenyan athleteruns on theLondon Marathonroute next to alarge group offans and security.

ISB 17-04-2013_Layout 1 4/17/2013 4:00 AM Page 18

TEN SPORTSGerman Cup:Stuttgart v SC Freiburg11:55 PM

STAR SPORTSBarclays League:Arsenal v Everton12:09 AM

GEO SUPERIPL: Warriors v Sunrisers 03:30 PM Royals v Mum Indians 07:30 PM

wapda, Punjabshare honours inNational CyclingLAHORE: Wapda and Punjab shared

honours on day two of the National Cy-

cling Championship winning two events

each here on Tuesday. Wapda won the

individual road time trial and road

scratch race as Punjab stamped their

supremacy in the road team time trial

and three kilometre team pursuit.

Wapda's Shazia Mubarik led her side to

gold in the individual road time trial in

which MehwishIqbal of HEC took the sil-

ver followed by Romana Liaquat of Pun-

jab. Wapda's riders continue to shine

when Ayesha Amin won the road

scratch race. Shazia Mubarik ofWapda

finished second and Nimra of Punjab got

the third place. Punjab halted Wapdas

further advance by winning the road

team time trial through its team com-

prising Romna, Alvina, Mariyum,Zon-

era, Rimra,Zartash . HEC team of

Sidra, Mehwish, Maria, Asma and Asia

won the silver medal and Wapda Team

having Ayesha, Shahzia, Ghazala got

the bronze medal. Punjabs team fur-

ther frustrated the hopes of Wapda rid-

ers for winning another gold by taking

the 3km team pursuit.Punjab Team

comprised Romna, Alvina, ,Nimra,Nida

HEC Team of Sidra,Mehwish, Maria,

Asma won the silver medal and Wapda

Team of Ayesha, Shahzia, Ghazal-

abagged the bronze medal. On

Wednesday the final day, track events

will be held at cycling velodrome . Pres-

ident, Pakistan Olympic Association, Lt

Gen retd Syed Arif Hasan will be the

chief guest on the occasion. STAFF REPORT

SPORTS SWednesday, 17 April, 2013

18I know Sergio is not satisfied with

his performance at the weekend, nor

should he be. – Martin Whitmarsh

wAtCh It LIve

AUGUSTAAGENCIES

World number one Tiger Woods refused towonder "What if?" after coming up short inhis bid for a fifth Masters title and first majorvictory since 2008 at Augusta. Woods cardeda final round of 70 to finish in a tie for fourth,four shots outside the play-off contested byAdam Scott and Angel Cabrera.

Four shots also happened to be thedifference between a likely birdie on the par-five 15th in his second round and the eighthe eventually ended up with, his approachhitting the pin and bouncing back into thewater and ultimately leading to a two-shotpenalty for taking an incorrect drop.

"We could do that 'what if?' in everytournament we lose," the 37-year-old said.

"We lose more tournaments than we win outhere on tour, so that's just part of the processand I'll go back to it." Asked if he thoughtabout the penalty, Woods added: "No, notwhen I'm playing. Absolutely not. I got tofocus on what I need to do, where I need toplace the golf ball and shoot the lowest scoreI possibly could at that moment.

"I thought 65 would win it outright today[Sunday]. I thought that was going to be thenumber and it looks like it was. If I wouldhave shot my number, it might have been adifferent story. "I had a tough time gettingaccustomed to the speed of the greens, theywere so much slower than yesterday. I leftevery putt short on the first eight holes. "Iplayed well but unfortunately did not makeenough putts and missed a few shots here andthere. I had an opportunity today [Sunday]."

No ‘what if’ for Woods after Masters miss

robertsonconfident overLondon Marathon

LONDONAGENCIES

Sports Minister Hugh Robertson has stressedthe London Marathon should go ahead onSunday and was "absolutely confident" itcould be kept safe. This comes after two ex-plosions brought a tragic end to its Bostonequivalent on Monday. Race organisers onMonday night confirmed the showpiece an-nual event in the capital will take place de-spite three people being killed and manymore injured in Boston. Robertson said onBBC Radio Five: "The best way for us to re-act is to push ahead with the marathon onSunday, to get people on the streets and tocelebrate it as we always do in London - andto send a very clear message that we won't becowered by this sort of behaviour." He toldthe BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "Theseare balance of judgments but we are ab-solutely confident here that we can keep theevent safe and secure. "I think this is one ofthose incidents where the best way to showsolidarity with Boston is to continue and senda very clear message to those responsible."

MONTE CARLOAGENCIES

THE clay-court season beginswith the Monte Carlo Masters,and for one Rafael Nadal, thepath of redemption continues.

Ever since Nadal defied his critics to liftthe BNP Paribas Open title in Indian Wells,tennis fans have been waiting with batedbreath for the start of clay-court season tosee if he can continue his renaissance.

The Spaniard will walk along thehalls of the Monte Carlo Country Clubaware that he is the overwhelmingfavourite in the first of three dress re-hearsals for the French Open (the Madridand Rome Masters being the other two),especially with world number one NovakDjokovic struggling slightly due to anankle injury picked up while serving hiscountry in the Davis Cup. Roger Federerand David Ferrer have chosen to sit thisone out, leaving Djokovic and US Openwinner Andy Murray as the main obsta-cles in Nadal's bid for a ninth MonteCarlo Masters win.HERE WE PREDICT HOW THE TOP

PLAyERS WILL FARE.

FIRST QUARTER

SEEDS: NOVAK DJOKOVIC [1],

JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO [5]

Djokovic is battling to recover from injury in

time for his second round opener against

either Mikhail Youzhny or Daniel Gimeo-

Traver, but the outlook looks good for the

Serbian, who has made it through several

practice sessions with coach Marian Vajda

since arriving in France.

Potential third-round opponent Juan Monaco

will not stand much of chance against

Djokovic once the Australian Open winner

gets going, so Djokovic's first true test will

come in the quarter-final against Del Potro.

With four clay court titles under his belt, Del

Potro knows all about winning on clay and

his impressive performance in Indian Wells

should give him confidence to challenge the

bigger fishes in Monte Carlo.

He won't have it easy though. He's up

against the flashy Alexandr Dogolpolov

before a likely clash with the young

firebomber Milos Raonic in the third round.

That said, I'm still backing the Tower of

Tandil to come through these early tests and

then scalp Djokovic - given the world

number one's injury woes.

SECOND QUARTER

SEEDS: TOMAS BERDYCH [4], RICHARD

GASQUET [7]

Fourth seed Berdych has a decent enough

record on clay, making it all the way to the

Madrid Masters final last year and the French

Open semi-finals in 2010. The Monte Carlo

draw has also been kind to him, as the likes

of Marcel Granollers and Andreas Seppi are

unlikely to be good enough to stop the Czech

from advancing to quarter-finals.

Gasquet might force Berdych to work for a

place in the last four, but the Frenchman will

fall to his higher-ranked opponent.

THIRD QUARTER

SEEDS: RAFAEL NADAL

[3], JANKO TIPSAREVIC [8]

The last time Nadal suffered a defeat in

Monte Carlo, he was a mere teenager of 16.

That alone should be sufficient to illustrate

the task his rivals are faced with if they

intend to snatch the crown from him.

Having chosen to sit out the Miami Masters

to rest his knees, the 26-year old will go into

this tournament refreshed and should see off

compatriot Fernando Verdasco easily in his

opener. Janko Tipseravic or Gilles Simon

await Nadal in the quarter-final after he

beats 16th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber -

opponents the Manacor-born player should

see off easily to set up a semi-final meeting

with Murray.

FOURTH QUARTER

SEEDS: ANDY MURRAY [2],

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA [6]

Going into Monte Carlo hot on the heels of a

win in Miami, Murray has spoken openly

about wanting to do well on the clay court

this year. The dangerous Stanislas Wawrinka

is the Brit's first real challenge after second

round opponent Robin Haase, but Murray

should pull through for a quarter-final

meeting with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

After Tsonga, the world number two will

have to put his money where his mouth is

when he faces Nadal in the semi-finals.

Murray's relatively bare clay court trophy

cabinet is a clear sign of the odds stacked

against him. Expect him to provide some

resistance but ultimately crumble against the

Spaniard.

SEMI-FINALS

DEL POTRO VS BERDYCH

NADAL VS MURRAY

FINAL

DEL POTRO VS NADAL

WINNER

NADAL

AUGUSTAAGENCIES

It may always play second fiddle to theRyder Cup, but Masters champion AdamScott has revealed the pivotal role thePresidents Cup has played in his career.Scott's game was in a rut when he receiveda captain's pick from his idol Greg Normanfor the International Team in 2009, theAustralian having missed the cut in three ofthe year's four majors.

And although the United States won byfive points in San Francisco and Scottclaimed just one win, the 32-year-old

received a major confidence boost fromNorman and team-mate Angel Cabrera - theman he beat in Sunday's play-off at Augusta.SCOTT PAYS TRIBuTE TO

‘INSPIRATIONAL’ NORMAN: AdamScott paid tribute to Australian great GregNorman after breaking his major duck,and that of his nation at the Masters.

Scott saw off Angel Cabrera at thesecond hole of a sudden-death play-off atAugusta to win the 77th Masters and laythe ghost of Lytham last year, when hebogeyed the last four holes of the Open tolose by one stroke to Ernie Els. "I don'tknow how that happens," Scott said of

Sunday's dramatic finale. "It seems a longway away from last July when I was tryingto win another major. "It fell my waytoday [Sunday], there was some luckthere. It was incredible."SCOTT VICTORY REIGNITES

ANCHOR PuTTER DEBATE: AdamScott's Masters victory helped prevent onerules debate re-igniting, but it also broughtanother back to the top of the agenda forgolf's governing bodies. Scott claimed hisfirst major title with a birdie on the secondhole of his play-off with 2009 championAngel Cabrera, ending Australia's 77-yearwait for a winner at Augusta.

Scott grateful for Presidents Cup

Nadal primed to defendMonte Carlo crown

NADAL REFUSES TO TALK ABOUT KNEEMONACO: Rafael Nadal will talk about almost anything except his knee injury

as he bids to win the Monte Carlo Masters for the ninth straight time. The

Spaniard has made an impressive return to the circuit after seven months out

with a left knee injury, reaching the final of the four tournaments he's played in

- winning three - and racing to a career best 17-1 start to the season. “A lot of

talk about the knee for the last year, and I think it's not good to talk about that

anymore. I'm here and competing and so I prefer to focus on the tennis,” the

26-year-old Nadal said Monday. “Talking (about) the knee every day doesn't

help ... (whether) the knee is 50, 90, 80, 100 percent doesn't change the

situation that I am going to be in.” As well as looking to continue his Monte

Carlo winning streak, which stands at 42 matches, Nadal is aiming to extend his

Masters record to 23 titles. Speaking to reporters ahead of his second-round

match on Wednesday, Nadal was keen to turn his attention away from a long

spell on the sidelines which caused him to miss the London Olympics. AGENCIES

FRUSTRATED MCILROY BEMOANS COSTLY ERRORSAUGUSTA: Frustration was the overriding emotion for Rory McIlroy as his bid for a

first Masters title ended on Sunday. The 23-year-old Northern Irishman carded a

closing 69 at Augusta, 10 shots better than his third round, to finish the week two

over par, meaning he has yet to finish better than 15th in

five attempts. "I know I've played good enough golf

here to win, it's just a matter of stringing it all

together," McIlroy said. "I was in a good position and

did not quite have it all yesterday

[Saturday] and that really cost

me. "You have to be right on

your game for 72 holes here, I

played a five-hole stretch in five over and that

was really it. I played nicely again today

[Sunday], if I just limit the mistakes from

yesterday [Saturday] I am right there. AGENCIES

ISB 17-04-2013_Layout 1 4/17/2013 4:01 AM Page 19

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

Wednesday, 17 April, 2013

KARACHIAFTAb CHANNA

wHILE it is being assumed thatthe Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F)-led tenparty grand alliance will give

a tough time to the Pakistan People’sParty (PPP), the situation on the groundis changing, as the alliance is set to cometo its end within a few days, PakistanToday has learnt.

Though millions of people of Sindhwho look towards the Pir Pagara-led PML-F for a real change of faces, insiders opinedthe PML-F was under pressure from na-tionalists and was sidelining its own lead-ers. Interestingly, the Hurs and thoseengaged in provincial politics are beingsidelined by the PML-F leadership and themove would not help the people see Pa-gara’s leadership as a PPP replacement.

This attitude would also likely help theformer rulers to secure majority in the up-coming elections. Nearly all political par-ties, excluding the ruling PPP and MQM,had gathered under the umbrella of PML-Fto form an electoral alliance in Sindh to givea tough time to the PPP-led ruling coalition.

The alliance, which consisted of 10political parties, was to field joint candi-

dates to against the PPP and MQM.The grand alliance included PML-F,

PML-N, JUI-F, JI, Pakistan SunniTehreek, Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP),National People’s Party (NPP), SindhUnited Party (SUP), Sindh Taraqi PasandParty (STPP) and Awami Tehreek (AT).

Interestingly, when Pakistan Todayvisited the Functional House of the PML-F on Wednesday, it was witnessed thatold faces of the PML-F came out withlong faces, as their devotion and sinceritywas sidelined by the PML-F leadership.

Insiders said two meetings were heldat the Functional House that were at-tended by Hussain Mehnati of JI, LiaquatJatoi, Saleem Zia and Nehal Hashmi ofthe PML-N, Syed Jalal Mehmood Shahand Zain Shah of Sindh United Party.

Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah of SUP se-cured support for his seat from Jamshoro,however, he also succeeded in securing an-other seat of PS-27 Sakrand (district Sha-heed Benazirabad), sidelining the PML-Fleader Ghulam Irtaza alias Shahrukh Unar.PML-F sources said SUP leader Syed JalalMehmood Shah wanted to bring his closerelative Syed Zain Shah from PS-27Sakrand due to it being a stronghold ofPML-F. However, PML-F leader GhulamIrtaza alias Shahrukh was the most poten-

tial candidate as he had more than 8,000votes of his tribe and 15,000 votes ofPML-F die-heart supporters.

Interestingly, PML-F President SyedZahid Shah also attended the meeting tosupport Ghulam Irtaza Unar, however, Im-tiaz Shaikh shut him up during the meet-ing, forcing him to leave the meeting. Thesenior leaders, who wished not to benamed, told Pakistan Today that YasirShah, nephew of Pir Pagara, and ImtiazShaikh were also at loggerheads over dis-tribution of party tickets. “This is whyYasir Shah avoided attending the meetingas he was in favour of fielding PML-Fleaders on majority of seats, however, Im-tiaz was trying to please nationalists to getpopularity instead of providing the masseswith replacement of PPP in shape of PirPagara-led leadership,” they said.

It was noticed that the local leader-ship was also against the grand alliancewith nationalist parties, as they fearedthe PML-F would lose its growing pop-ularity. Furthermore, the sources saidPir Pagara had called an emergencymeeting of all heads of the 10-party al-liance today (Wednesday) to knowabout the future of the alliance and itwas expected that the alliance wouldreach its end there.

ISLAMABADTAYYAb HUSSAIN

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which trumpeted the mantra of fair playand judicious distribution of party tickets forthe forthcoming general elections, has left allother political parties far behind in the race ofinjudicious distribution of tickets. The kith andkin of the PML-N leadership have grabbed alion’s share in the distribution of party ticketsfor reserved and general seats.

The Sharif family is leading the race andabout 30 percent of tickets have been awardedto close relatives of the family. The party’s In-formation Secretary Mushahidullah Khan, whois a senator himself, has managed two party tick-ets for his daughters for the reserved seats of theNational and Sindh assemblies respectively.

Another PML-N leader, Saad Rafique, whoalways talks about principles and democracy, hasreportedly fought hard to gain a handsome shareof party tickets for his family. He himself wouldcontest from NA-125, while his younger brotherSalman Rafique would contest for a Punjab As-sembly seat. Another close relative of Saad hasbeen accommodated on reserved seats for women.Saad’s wife Ghazala has also served as an MPA ona reserved seat in the previous term, while Salmanwas adviser to the chief minister on health.

Another Leaguer, Jaffer Iqbal Gujjar, isnot far behind Saad Rafiq, as he has also suc-ceeded in winning four tickets for his family.

His son Umer Jafar, daughter Zeb Jafar, son-in-law Faisal Iqbal and niece Maiza Hameed Gu-

jjar have been awarded tickets for the upcomingelections. PML-N Chairman and Senator Raja Za-farul Haq’s niece was also awarded a ticket. Thenew entrant into the party’s fold, Amir Muqam,was rewarded for parting ways with the PML-Qand has been given two tickets, disappointingmany aspirants who blame a few influentials inthe party for the withdrawal of their names.

Pervaiz Malik is contesting for a NationalAssembly seat from Lahore and his wife hasbeen selected on a reserved seat for the Na-tional Assembly. Marvi Memon, who is con-testing election on the general seat of PS-88from Thatta, is also on the list of reserved seats

Similarly, PML-N provincial leader NehalHashmi’s wife Faryal Rabab Hashmi was neverseen in any activity of the party, but her name isin the priority list for women’s reserved seats.“Despite tall claims of bringing in new faces inthe forthcoming elections, the PML-N kept its oldtradition alive and only a handful of powerful bigguns kept the ideological and loyal party workersat bay by once again winning a lion’s share inaward of tickets for their families in the comingelections,” said Nayyar Sultana, a diehard partyworker. “PML-N’s loyal leaders and workers –who stood beside the Sharif brothers in thick andthin and kept fighting the war for the party’s sur-vival when their leadership left them in the lurchby settling themselves in Saudi Arabia –have beengiven a cold shoulder, and tickets have beenawarded on the basis of nepotism, likes and dis-likes,” she added. Despite repeated attempts,PML-N Information Secretary MushahidullahKhan did not respond to Pakistan Today’s calls.

Pagara-led grand allianceagainst PPP likely to end?

Democracy at its best: Kith and kingrab a lion’s share of PML-N tickets

19

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