e-paper pakistantoday 17th october, 2012

Wednesday, 17 October, 2012 Dhual-Qi’da 29, 1433www.pakistantoday.com.pkRs 15.00 Vol III No 112 19 Pages Karachi Edition

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Only 31 percent ofChinese have positiveview of Pakistan

Imran Khan stressespolitical solution

to militancyPAGE |04

Pakistani response toMalala attack ‘veryappropriate’: Clinton

ISLAMABADTAyyAb HUSSAin

Chief Justice of PakistanIftikhar MuhammadChaudhry on Tuesday saidit would be highlyunfortunate if “thepresidential authority isproven to be involved in theMehran Bank scandal”, asthe posts of the president,army chief and the directorgeneral of Inter-ServicesIntelligence (ISI) are ofgreat importance for thecountry.The CJ was headinga three-judge bench hearingthe decades-old case offormer Air Chief MarshalAsghar Khan regardingalleged distribution ofmoney among a set ofpoliticians by the civil andmilitary authorities to swaythe 1990 elections in IslamiJamhoori Ittehad’s (IJI)favour. The bench alsoissued notice to formerMilitary Intelligence (MI)chief Brigadier (r) HamidSaeed for Wednesday andadjourned the hearing.During the hearing, thechief justice observed thatpolitical alliances like theIJI would not be allowedin the country anymoreand only a democraticsystem would thrive inwhich lay nationalsalvation. Salman AkramRaja, counsel for Asghar

Khan, said of total 140million rupees that weredoled out, Rs 70 millionwere spent while Rs 70million were kept in bankaccounts. He said wrongsof the past would alwaysremain wrong, as held bythe court in its variousjudgements.He said the court had thepower to overseeinvestigation process,especially in financialscams. The bench declineda request by MuhammadAkram Shaikh, counsel forformer chief of army staffMirza Aslam Baig, to makepublic the record of 12-page cross examination ofPPP’s former interiorminister NaseerullahBabar. The chief justicesaid the court through itsvarious judgments hadbeen trying to keep thesystem on track. Hefurther said that throughapex court’s judgement ofNovember 3, 2007, it hadrestrained allunconstitutional steps ofthen president and thearmy chief. The CJtermed such a directive aconscious effort on part ofthe superior judiciaryagainst theunconstitutional steps toderail the democraticsystem.

Malala shooting‘an attack on allPakistani girls’:President Zardari

BAKUAGEnCiES

PRESIDENT Asif Ali Zardarion Tuesday said the shootingof 14-year-old MalalaYousafzai by the Taliban wasan attack on all girls in the

country and on civilisation itself. Insome of his most poignant remarkson the incident to date, Zardarivowed not to let her shooting stopthe nation’s drive to educate girls.“The Taliban attack on the 14-year-old girl, who from the age of 11 wasinvolved in the struggle foreducation for girls, is an attack on allgirls in Pakistan, an attack oneducation, and on all civilisedpeople,” Zardari said at an economicsummit in the Azerbaijani capitalBaku. “The work that she led washigher before God than whatterrorists do in the name of religion.We will continue her shining cause,”he said.Zardari voiced three “clear andpresent dangers” in the region. Thepresident named terrorism, povertyand illiteracy, fundamental peoples’rights as three major dangers thatthreatened the region.“No other region shares as much aswe do, but also no other region isunder as much threat as we are.” Hesaid that regional cooperation is veryimportant, as countries must facetheir challenges with courage andcollective action.Malala was attacked on her schoolbus in the former Taliban strongholdof Swat a week ago as a punishmentfor campaigning for the right to aneducation and free expression.Zardari said such attacks would notdeter Pakistan in its search forbroader social justice. “Terroristsshould not have an impact on ourfuture. We ourselves must determineour future,” he said. The shootinghas been denounced worldwide andby Pakistan, which has said it will doeverything possible to ensure Malalarecovers and will meet all the costsof her treatment. She was flown toBritain for specialist treatment at ahospital in Birmingham on Mondaywhere doctors said she had “achance of making a good recovery”.

4 HAZARAS SHOT DEAD IN QUETTA

President’s involvement in politics would be unfortunate: SC

ISLAMABADOnlinE

The resolution against the attack onMalala Yousafzai and in favour ofan operation in North WaziristanAgency could not be tabled in theNational Assembly on Tuesday dueto opposition from the PakistanMuslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Speaking in the NA, Leader ofOpposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khansaid the government had made par-liament a graveyard of joint resolu-tions and not even a single one ofthem had been implemented. Hesaid the PML-N did not impede thegovernment despite facing taunts ofbeing a friendly opposition.

“The government should stopdisrespecting the parliament. Theinterior minister is befooling thenation by telling lies continuously,”Nisar said. “If the attackers ofMalala are in Afghanistan, whydoes the government have plans tolaunch a military operation inNorth Waziristan Agency?” he said.

He said the tradition of callingpolitical opponents traitors shouldbe stopped.

Ahsan Iqbal of the PML-N saidhis party would provide jobs to theyouth of Sindh by eradicating rob-bers’ rule there. The PPP govern-ment had ruined the peace ofSindh, he added. Khurshid Shah ofthe PPP said the PML-N was tryingto make alliance with anti-federa-tion nationalists in Sindh.

PPP’s Nasir Ali Shah said thereappeared no end to the targetedkillings in the country, adding thatit was strange that PPP workerswere being killed during the party’srule. Saad Rafiq of the PML-N saidPakistan had become more unsafeunder the PPP rule than underMusharraf’s regime.

“The nation has been dividedinto several segments. Now issues

such as carving out provinces onethnic basis are being raised,” hesaid. The PML-N leader said thegovernment had now agreed towrite the letter to Swiss authoritiesafter sending one prime ministerhome. Saad said Gen (r) Ahmed

Shuja Pasha had hinted at federalgovernment’s involvement in therelease of CIA contractor RaymondDavis. He added that no represen-tative of the government metBaloch Sardar Akhtar Mengal whenhe came to Islamabad.

PML-N thwarts govt attempt to bringresolution against Malala attack

WASHINGTON: InteriorMinister Rehman Malik hasannounced $1 millionbounty on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)spokesman EhsanullahEhsan, who claimedresponsibility for the attackon Malala Yousafzai, whiledeclaring to award theteenage education activistwith another gallantryaward, Sitara-e-Shujaat, onTuesday. Malik announcedthe bounty during aninterview with CNN, saying:“This assassination plan wasmade across the border inAfghanistan. Taliban leaderMullah Fazlullah had fled toAfghanistan when we tookaction in Malakand and Swat.” “At that point in time, we did not exactlyknow what their objective was, and what kind of action they were goingto take, until they had hit Malala. Of course, we have identified one otherguy, and a few of his associates have been arrested,” he said, adding thatone of the financers of one of the terrorists had been detained. Theinterior minister announced $1 million bounty on the Taliban leaderwho claimed that the TTP was responsible for her shooting. “On hishead, which is more than, you know, (inaudible) of Pakistani, 100million apiece, because we want to definitely get him and all our lineforces, intelligence agencies are hunting all those who were involved,” hesaid. “Let me assure that the military leadership and of course, the civilleadership will take action at appropriate time. But at the same time, theactions based on intelligence are continuing. But the good thing what Ican tell on behalf of the people of Pakistan, people of Pakistan do notwant Taliban. They do not want extremism,” Malik said. online

Malik confers Sitara-e-Shujaat onMalala, $1m on Taliban leader’s head

QUETTA: Unidentified armed men shot dead four HazaraShias in Kabari Market area on Sirki Road in Quetta onTuesday. Police said the unidentified gunmen riding a bikeopened indiscriminate fire on a vehicle, killing four peopleon the spot. The police moved the bodies to a hospital,where the deceased were identified as Ibrahim, Ghulam Ali,

Awaz Ali and Ali Ataa. Police said it was an apparent act ofsectarian killing. They later cordoned off the area andlaunched a search operation. Meanwhile, an enraged mobstaged demonstration outside the Civil Hospital on JinnahRoad to protest the continued killing of Hazaras across theprovince. Staff RepoRt

QUETTA: Hazara Shias mourn the killing of their relatives at a hospital following an attack by gunmen on Tuesday. afp

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Global outpouring to help Malala yousafzai: report Crocodile escape gives Vietnam school children the day off

Wednesday, 17 October, 2012

Meera says $10,000 stolenfrom handbag

LAHORE: Filmactress Meera onTuesday claimed that$10,000 were stolenfrom her handbagduring a fashion showon Monday. Meerasaid she did not wantto blame anybody forthe theft but would geta case registered soon.She said she hadexchanged Pakistanirupees with dollars forher scheduled visit toIndia. OnlinE

Chairlift cable break drownsseven in Swat riverSWAT: Seven people, including three women and a child, fell intotorrential Swat river on Tuesday after the cable of a chairlift broke. Sourcessaid the seven people were crossing the river in a chairlift in the Bahrainarea of Swat valley. However, the cable broke, sending them all into speedycurrents of Swat river. All the passengers were swept away by the river anddrowned. Rescue workers said they had recovered the body of one woman.Chairlifts are a popular means of crossing rivers in the mountain areas ofPakistan, particularly in places where no nearby bridge is available. OnlinE

India says Pakistan bordershelling kills threeSRINAGAR: Pakistani soldiers allegedly fired heavy weapons into Indian-held Kashmir and killed three civilians on Tuesday, the Indian defenceministry said, in the latest reported skirmish between the rival nations.They opened fire near the village of Churunda, near the Line of Control thatacts as the de facto border in the Kashmir region, according to the Indianstatement. Government officials in Islamabad were not immediatelyavailable for comment. “Pakistani troops... started firing heavy-calibreweapons on the houses of civilians of Churunda village resulting in thedeath of three civilians,” the statement said. Local residents have reportedsporadic small-arms exchanges between Indian and Pakistani troops in thesame sector for the past fortnight. AFP

Doctor kidnapped on his way homeQUETTA: A senior eye specialist Saeed Ahmad Khan working for a charityhospital was kidnapped last night on his way home. Police said the doctorwas returning from his clinic in a private hospital when two armed personson a vehicle stopped him, dragged him out from his vehicle and took himaway to an unknown location. His car was found near Chaki Shawani alongwith two mobile phones. STAFF REPORT

ECP restores membership of 33 MPsISLAMABAD: Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has restoredmembership of 33 parliamentarians including Interior Minister RehmanMalik after they declared their assets. The membership of nine Senate, 12National Assembly, 12 Punjab Assembly and each from Sindh and KhyberPakhtoonkhwa assembly members was restored after they submitted details oftheir assets. These included Rehman Malik, MNA Shakil Awan, KashmalaTariq and others. It may be noted here that ECP had suspended membershipof 154 MPs after they failed to submit details of their assets. APP

PESHAWAROnlinE

Acontempt case instituted inJuly under written instructionsof Justice Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry on Tuesday raised aserious question before the Pe-

shawar High Court about the top judge’sconduct.

A writ petition filed in the PHC byShahid Orakzai questioned the “constantbut concealed involvement” of CJ in matterspending against his son.

The petitioner provided a document ofthe apex court’s administration branchsigned by the chief justice as preliminary ev-idence to the question raised in the petition.The PHC was informed that on June 7, Jus-tice Chaudhry formally rescued himselffrom a full bench hearing a suo motu caseinvolving his son and the ostensible purposeof his withdrawal was to allow the SupremeCourt to do “complete justice” between theparties and “deny his son any undue advan-tage of his relationship with any judge ofcourt”. Petitioner Shahid Orakzai said in re-

sponse to an objection by the attorney gen-eral, the chief justice had a day earlier as-sured that the question of his presence onthe bench would be ruled “in the light of theinjunctions of the Holy Quran and Sunnahas well as precedent case laws on the sub-ject”.

However, much to the contrary, thechief justice instructed the SC registrar onJuly 26 to instantly register a contempt caseagainst an English weekly of the capital forprinting some sensitive evidentiary materialabout the dispute involving his son. Thechief justice insisted that the case shall “befixed today” and before the very “samebench” which was then hearing a review pe-tition of his son. The brief note of the chiefjustice, reproduced in the petition, reflectshis worries: “8. A perusal of note put up bythe office prima facie suggests that the mat-ter requires to be dealt with on judicial sidefor initiating proceedings of contempt ofcourt against all concerned, as such it maybe registered as a Contempt Petition and befixed today before the same Bench”, the CJnoted. The above note is an “irrefutable ev-idence” of his “constant but concealed in-

volvement and understandable interest” inthe matters pending against his son, notedthe petition. By initiating a new criminalcase against the magazine, the chief justice“seems to be indirectly pressurising and pe-nalising all those who may give any evidenceagainst his son. And in this process, twojudges of the Supreme Court are being un-necessarily maligned”, the petitioner said.

Orakzai said action taken by the CJ inhis chamber had exposed his commitmentto “Holy Quran and Sunnah”. The court wastold that the Quran did not insist that ajudge must abstain from deciding any caseinvolving his family members and per theHoly Quran, a judge who withdrew fromsuch a case was even unfit to be a witness,the petitioner asserted.

The petitioner pointed out that whilethe withdrawal of the CJ was based on theprevalent judicial practice or his own viewof the constitution, the constitution did notinsist so. By initiating a contempt caseagainst two people who might hold some ev-idence against his son, the chief justice ofPakistan has negated the oath he made be-fore President General Pervez Musharraf.

CJ’s ‘constant but concealed’involvement questioned in PHCg Petitioner says CJ ordered initiation of case against a magazine thatprovided evidence concerning Arsalan Iftikhar case

BHUBANESWAR: Indian sand artist Sudarsan

Pattnaik gives final touches on a sand sculpture

in honour of teen education activist Malala

Yousufzai at Puri beach on Tuesday. afp


03NewsedItOrIAlMilitants and their apologists:

COmment

Articles on Page 14-15

No way their stance has a chance.

Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi says;Soul searching: Pakistan cannot afford to allow armed groups tofunction with impunity.Syed Hassan belal Zaidi says;Harf-e-aakhir: Your guess is as good as mine, although mine may be just a fractionbetter because I’ve done a little more leg work on it than you have.M K bhadrakumar says;Obama should take the road not taken…: Preoccupation with geopolitics.

ArtS & entertAInment

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buSIneSS

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SPOrtS

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it’s the script, not the genre: Halle berry Uncle Sam wants trade… lots of it Pietersen talks will end England rift: broad


ISLAMABADSTAFF REPORT

PA K I S T A N Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)Chairman Imran Khan on Tuesdaystressed the need to find a politicalsolution to the war against terror-ism.

He condemned the attack on Malala, sayingsuch acts could be justified under no conditionand crticised the president and the prime min-ister for not coming up with a solution to theissue that posed a grave threat to Pakistan.

Speaking on a talk show on Geo TV, he said

the military succeeded in its operations but thepoliticians failed to deliver, citing Swat as an ex-ample. “It was a very successful operation butthe political vacuum remains intact. The currentpolitical situation in Swat is evidence that out-right operations do not work,” said Khan.

He said a political solution should be givenpriority to counter all problems and talks shouldbe held in this regard with those militants whoaccepted the constitution of Pakistan. “The Tal-iban are fighting as numerous factions, each fordifferent goals,” he stressed. Khan said actioncould be taken against those who did not acceptthe constitution but believed that once sidelinedfollowing negotiations with local leaders, theirnumber would automatically decrease.

Khan said it was essential to kill the concep-tion that Pakistan was fighting America’s war,

adding that the Afghans’ jihad against the US intheir own homeland was justified. “Once it be-comes clear that we are fighting for ourselvesand not for the US, the scenario will be differ-ent,” claimed the PTI chief.

Khan said he stood against the ongoing mil-itary operations in Tribal Areas as well as the USdrone strikes.

He said these tactics only helped in produc-ing more terrorists rather than eliminatingthem. “Real success would have been achievedif the areas returned to normalcy immediatelyafter the operations ended,” he added.

The PTI chief stressed that the military op-erations being carried out for the past eightyears had failed and said a military optionshould be retained as part of a bigger politicalprocess instead.


Criticising the PML-N in the National Assemblyon Tuesday, Minister for Religious Affairs Khur-shid Shah said the Nawaz Sharif-led party en-gaged separatist parties in Sindh for politicalmileage, as Leader of the Opposition in NA NisarAli Khan vowed to support the government on is-sues of national interest, urging it to implementparliamentary resolutions.

To PPP’s allegation, PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbalsaid, “Our party has become famous in Sindh. Weare against division of Sindh and when we comeinto power, we will purge the province of politicsof corruption, gun and extortion.”

Nisar said, “We have to shun old politics andbring nationalists in the mainstream.”

He said opponents had termed separatists theenemies of state, adding that such politics shouldend now.

Speaking on a point of order, Nisar ques-tioned the rationale behind seeking the opposi-tion’s support for operation in North Waziristandespite a statement by the interior minister thatMaulana Fazlullah had planned the attack onMalala Yousufzai while sitting in Afghanistan.

He asked what would be the outcome of a

fresh resolution when all resolutions on crucialnational issues were awaiting implementation.

Calling for immediate implementation of aresolution on the revision of petroleum prices,Nisar demanded the government apprise theHouse on why these resolutions had not been en-forced yet. “Please don’t consider this Houseweek, deaf and dumb,” the opposition leader said.

Shah said the accountability bill would be pre-sented in the next session.

Imran Khan stresses politicalsolution to militancyg PtI chief says military operation can be a part of it

TTP labels Malala as ‘an American spy’The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Tuesday defended the attack on MalalaYousafzai, rejecting that she was an innocent girl and labeling her as ‘an American spy’. The centralspokesman of TTP, Ehsanullah Ehsan, in a detailed statement issued to the media said Malala’s dateof birth is July 1997 which makes her 15 years four months old today. “Even if no sign of pubertybecomes noticeable, this age of the girl marks the end of pre-puberty phase.” The statement said: “InIslam and Pashtun traditions there is absolutely no room for an attack on a woman of pure virtues.But in cases where a woman is seen as a clear sinner who stands in defiance of Shariah, such awoman is not only allowed to be attacked but there is an obligatory instruction for such an action.”The TTP spokesman said, Malala Yousafzai was ‘a spy who divulged secrets of Mujahideen andTaliban through BBC and in return received awards and rewards from the Zionists’. “She not onlyspied against Mujahideen but also created propaganda against them. The Gul Makai diary is anembodiment of anti-Taliban views,” he continued. “She has received the punishment for her sin.”The spokesman further said that Malala was brought before the media under a pre-planned strategyso that she could pollute the minds of the youth against the Taliban. nEWS DESK

ISLAMABAD: A delegation of theMuttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) calledon Leader of the Opposition in the NationalAssembly Nisar Ali Khan on Tuesday toexchanged views on the dual nationality bill.Sources said the MQM delegation comprisedDr Farooq Sattar, Babar Ghauri and HaiderAbbas Rizvi. Nisar did not favour or opposeeth dual nationality bill. However, the MQM-leaders looked satisfied after the meeting,the sources added. STAFF REPORT

NA SeSSioN

PPP criticises PML-N for ‘doing politics’with Sindh separatist parties g Opp leader vows to support govt on issues of national interest

MQM, Nisar discussdual nationality bill

LHC bansstatementsagainst judgeson TV shows

LAHOREOnlinE

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesdaybarred television channels andanchorpersons from airing anti-judiciarystatements during talk shows. While hearing a petition on the issue,Justice Nasir Saeed Sheikh ordered thatstatements against honourable judges mustnot be permitted during talk shows, andsummoned the attorney general andadvocate general on November 5 forassistance. Shumail Ahmad, counsel for thepetitioner, pleaded before the court thatstatements against the sitting judges of thesuperior judiciary were being made onvarious TV channels by politicians. “It hasbecome a routine practice that variousanchorpersons invite controversialpersonalities, and conduct an anti-judiciaryshow to enhance their programmes’ratings,” the petitioner argued, adding thatthe practice was a violation of Article 68 ofthe constitution. The court, while admittingthe petition for further hearing, adjournedthe case until November 5.

Shahbaz fileswritten reply ondual nationalityallegation

ISLAMABADOnlinE

Rejecting the allegation levelled against him by RajaRiaz that he holds dual nationality, Punjab ChiefMinister Shahbaz Sharif has filed his written reply inthe Supreme Court. Leader of the Opposition in thePunjab Assembly Raja Riaz had accused Shahbaz ofholding dual nationality. In this connection, the SC haddirected Shahbaz and Riaz to file written replies. In hiswritten reply, Shahbaz said, “I am a Pakistani citizen bybirth and I have no dual citizenship. During the periodof my exile, former president Pervez Musharraf hadrefused to renew the passport. I wanted to fly to the UKfrom Saudi Arabia with regards to my cancer treatmentand an offer for foreign passport was also made to meduring this period but I refused to accept it.” “Raja Riazgave a false statement against me and misguided thecourt. He remained no more truthful and ‘amin’therefore, he should be penalised under Article 62-1/Fof the constitution for levelling false allegation againstme and case be dispensed with against me,” he pleaded.A copy of the affidavit submitted to the ElectionCommission was also enclosed with the written reply.


04


News

GENEVAAFP

POLITICAL upheaval,violence, natural dis-asters and develop-

ment projects have forcedsome 72.4 million people tomigrate from their homesworldwide, the Red Crosssaid Tuesday.

“This figure rises relent-lessly every year, and mostmigrants are either in pro-tracted displacement situa-tions or permanentlydispossessed,” the Interna-tional Federation of RedCross and Red Crescent Soci-eties said in its annual WorldDisasters Report. TheGeneva-based organisationsaid forced migration coststhe international communityaround $8.0 billion (6.2 bil-lion euros) a year.

While the world currentlycounts some 214 millioncross-border migrants and740 million migrants withinthe borders of their own

countries, the IFRC said ithad focused this year’s reporton the 72.4 million people, orone percent of the world pop-ulation, who are forced toleave their homes by eventsbeyond their control. TheIFRC report said conflicts inplaces such as Syria, Mali, theHorn of Africa and Libya hadled to the displacement ofaround 26.4 million peoplewithin their own countries, inaddition to the current 15 mil-lion refugees and one millionasylum seekers tallied by theUnited Nations worldwide.

Some two million peoplefled their homes since thestart of the Arab Spring upris-ings in 2010, the report said,while the UN refugee agencyrecently put the number ofSyrian refugees alone at over300,000. Natural disasterssuch as those in Haiti, Japanand Pakistan had meanwhileforced another 15 millionpeople to flee, the report said,adding that at least another15 million had been pushed

from their homes by develop-ment projects.

Dam projects, majorbuilding projects and slumclearance caused develop-ment-related migration, ac-cording to the report, citingas an example the recentManila metro upgrade, whichalone shifted as many as35,000 families. China’s Xi-aolangdi dam resettlementprogramme, which by 2001had resettled more than185,000 people from 227 vil-lages, was “a relative successstory,” the report said, notingthat 70 percent of the affectedpeople improved their livingstandards after the move.

But more often than not,major development projectsplunge the dispossessed intopoverty, the report said.About 20 million of theworld’s 72.4 million forcedmigrants meanwhile live in“prolonged displacement”and as a result fail to inte-grate with local communities,the report lamented.

WASHINGTONAFP

A new survey by Pew Re-search Centre has found that31 percent of Chinese peoplehad a favourable view of Pak-istan, only slightly better thantheir opinion of Islamabad’srival India.

China has since long pro-vided military and economicsupport Pakistan, whoseleaders often praise the rela-tionship with Beijing as timetested. “Pakistani views ofChina actually tend to bequite positive, but Chineseviews of Pakistan are not the

same,” Richard Wike, associ-ate director of the Pew GlobalAttitudes Project said.

The survey, part of a 21-nation study, included 3,177face-to-face interviews inChina in March and April andhad a margin of error of 4.3percentage points.

Only 23 percent of Chi-nese said they held afavourable view of India, witha sharp rise since 2010 in thepercentage of Chinese whosaw the fellow billion-plusnation as hostile. India andChina fought a war in 1962and tensions have risen in re-cent years over their borders

in two regions. India has fordecades offered refuge to Ti-betans fleeing Chinese rule,including the territory’s spir-itual leader the Dalai Lama.

The Chinese public, onceupbeat about US PresidentBarack Obama, also increas-ingly sees a hostile relation-ship with Washington, butmost Chinese still admireAmerican democracy. Some39 percent of Chinese saidthey believed Beijing’s rela-tionship with the UnitedStates was one of coopera-tion, a sharp drop from 68percent who said so two yearsago, the poll found. Twenty-

six percent of Chinese saidthat US relations were hos-tile, a jump of 18 percentagepoints since 2010, with therest of the public not offeringan alternative assessment.

Only 38 percent of Chinesesaid they had confidence inObama, a fall from a narrowmajority in 2010 but still higherthan George W Bush’s approvalrating in China before he leftthe White House. “We’ve seenattitudes towards the US andtowards President Obama coola little bit in different parts ofthe world since some of the ini-tial enthusiasm that followedhis election,” Wike said.

NEWS DESK

Four Pakistani names areamong the list of 16 authorswhose books have beenlong-listed for the DSC Prizefor South Asian Literaturefor the year 2013.Jamil Ahmad, Musharraf AliFarooqi, Mohammed Hanifand Roopa Farooki joinedother authors from theregion when the list wasannounced on Tuesday.In last year’s nominations,no Pakistani authormanaged to enter the longlist and the prize waseventually won by SriLanka’s ShehanKarunatilaka for his book“Chinaman: The legend ofPradeep Mathew.”Mohammed Hanif’s “OurLady of Alice Bhatti,”Musharraf Ali Farooqi’s

“Between Clay and Dust,”Jamil Ahmad’s “TheWandering Falcon” andRoopa Farooki’s “The FlyingMan” are the Pakistanentries. The list comprisesfour debut novels and twotranslations from Hindi intoEnglish. Other authorsincluded in the list are fromIndia, Australia, UK andBangladesh. The prize is notethnicity driven in terms ofthe author’s origin and isawarded for the best workof fiction based on SouthAsia, published in English,including translations intoEnglish, according to thecommittee. There were 81entries for the US $50,000prize, from which the jury,comprising KSatchidanandan (Chair),Muneeza Shamsie, RickSimonson, Suvani Singh

and Eleanor O’Keeffe, long-listed 16. Commenting onthe long list,Satchidanandan, the jury’schair said, “The values wewere looking for in theworks were many: noveltyof theme, freshness of thenarrative strategies used aswell as the idiom, thecontribution the workmakes to the genre of thenovel in general. And wefound several works whichhad one or all of thesequalities. They werecharmingly diverse in theirtheme and treatment andwell aware of the political,cultural and psychologicaldimensions of life in thesocieties and people theywere dealing with, makingour reading a rich,educative as well asaesthetic experience. All

jury members preparedtheir own long lists, whichhad many works incommon. Where theydiffered, they arrived at aconsensus through mutualconsultation.”The jury will deliberate on thelong list over one month andthe shortlist will be announcedon November 20. The winnerwill be subsequently declaredat the Jaipur LiteratureFestival in January 2013. Thelong-listed entries are: Jamil Ahmad: The WanderingFalcon (Hamish Hamilton/PenguinIndia), Alice Albinia: Leela’s Book(Harvill Secker, London), TahmimaAnam: The Good Muslim (PenguinBooks), Rahul Bhattacharya: The SlyCompany of People Who Care(Picador, London), Roopa Farooki:The Flying Man (Headline Review/Hachette, London, Musharraf AliFarooqi: Between Clay and Dust(Aleph Book Company, India),Amitav Ghosh: River of Smoke(Hamish Hamilton/Penguin India),

Niven Govinden: Black Bread WhiteBeer (Fourth Estate/ Harper CollinsIndia), Sunetra Gupta: So Good inBlack (Clockroot Books,Massachusetts), Mohammed Hanif,Our Lady of Alice Bhatti (RandomHouse India), Jerry Pinto: Em andthe Big Hoom (Aleph BookCompany, India), Uday Prakash: TheWalls of Delhi (Translated by Jason

Grunebaum; UWA Publishing, W.Australia), Anuradha Roy: TheFolded Earth (Hachette India),Saswati Sengupta: The SongSeekers (Zubaan, India), GeetanjaliShree: The Empty Space(Translated by Nivedita Menon;Harper Perennial/ Harper CollinsIndia), Jeet Thayil: Narcopolis (Faber and Faber, London).

WASHINGTONAFP

A US federal court threw outTuesday the conviction ofOsama bin Laden’s formerdriver, once jailed at Guan-tanamo Bay, saying materialsupport for terrorism doesnot constitute a war crime.

While Salim Hamdan hasalready been freed, theYemeni’s appeal in civiliancourt could have ramifica-tions for other suspects be-cause “material support for

terrorism” is a commoncharge against detainees atthe US prison camp in Cuba.

A three-judge bench atthe US Court of Appeals inWashington said that a lawthat listed material supportfor terrorism as a war crime— approved in 2006 in re-sponse to Hamdan’s case —could not apply to himretroactively. US prosecutorsinstead had to rely on inter-national law, which definessome forms of terrorism —such as the intentional tar-

geting of civilians — as warcrimes, the court said. “Butthe issue here is whether‘material support for terror-ism’ is an international-lawwar crime. The answer isno,” wrote Judge Brett Ka-vanaugh.

“International law leavesit to individual nations to pro-scribe material support forterrorism under their domes-tic laws if they so choose.There is no international-lawproscription of material sup-port for terrorism,” he said.

Pakistani response tomalala attack ‘veryappropriate’: Clinton

LIMA: In her remarks to anAmerican news channel during aninterview on Tuesday, USSecretary of State Hillary Clintonsaid the response of Pakistanipublic to condemn the terroristattack on 14-year-old MalalaYousafzai was very appropriate.“The people of Pakistan are sayingwhat needs to be said so eloquentlynow – that children, boys and girls,deserve to go to school; theydeserve to have the chance to makethe best of their God-givenpotential, to make a contributionto their society”, she pointed out.“Any country that doesn’t stand upagainst extremism in order toprotect its children has to reallytake a hard look, and I think that’swhat’s happening in Pakistan. AndI certainly hope so because thereare so many thousands of younggirls who deserve to go to school,who deserve to have an education,and those who are committingthese terrible acts of violence needto be brought to justice,” shestressed. INP

RIYADHAFP

Women lawyers in SaudiArabia will be be allowedto plead cases in court forthe first time from nextmonth, according to ajustice ministry directivepublished on Tuesday byAl-Watan daily.The ruling, which will takeeffect at the beginning ofnext month after the end ofthe four-day Muslim feastof Eid al-Adha in lateOctober, will apply to allwomen who have a lawdegree and who have spentat least three yearsworking in a lawyer’soffice.

“This is a decision we haveawaited for a long time,”recent law graduate MonaBelabid was quoted assaying.“We launched a campaignin 2011 to be able to pleadin court and it is good thatthe campaign has bornefruit.”As far back as February2010, the justice ministryannounced that it waspreparing a rule that wouldallow the practice.The highly conservativekingdom follows a rigorousform of Islam. Women arenot allowed to drive, andthere are also strict rulesgoverning mixing with theopposite sex.

President’s involvement

Akram Shaikh said aconspiracy was being hatchedagainst his client and the noosewas being tightened aroundagainst his neck throughdeliberate allegations. He alsoquestioned the role of AsadDurrani, former ISI head, andsaid through his letter to lateprime minister Benazir Bhutto,he had given his first stanceover the issue as ambassador ofPakistan to Germany. Shaikhsaid everything followed thatstance later. The CJ said theyhad been hearing the case sincelong and it had becomesignificant after pleadings ofthe parties concerned. Thelawyer contended thatNaseerullah Babar’s stance inthe National Assembly overwithdrawal of money by hisclient from Mehran Bank wasincorrect as the said bank neverexisted during 1990s. The chiefjustice told him that they werenot holding trial of anyone butexamining the constitutionalviolations and enforcement offundamental rights. Shaikhargued that his client had beenthe first person who haddemanded that political cell bedisbanded. Earlier, RoedadKhan, a former bureaucrataccused of running the affairsof a political cell in thePresidency during tenure of lateGhulam Ishaq Khan, submitteda reply before the bench anddenied the accusations. He saida reference to existence ofpolitical cell could be found inRafi Raza’s report who servedas special assistant in the primeminister’s house.

SAUDI ARABIA TO ALLOWWOMEN LAWYERS TOPLEAD CASES IN COURT

Red Cross tallies72.4 million forcedmigrants worldwide

4 pakistanis long-listed for DSC prize for South asian literature

only 31 percent of Chinese havepositive view of Pakistan

QUETTA: Relatives of victims of a

targeted killing incident on Sirki

Road stage a demonstration on

Jinnah Road on Tuesday. online

US court throws out binLaden driver conviction

CONtINuED fROm PagE 01


05


News

WASHINGTONOnlinE

When the time came to choose medical treat-ment for Malala Yousafzai, the 14-year-oldschoolgirl who defied the Taliban and thenwas shot by them, her family and doctorsfaced a world of possibilities after a globaloutpouring of advice and offers of assistance,the US media reported on Tuesday.

Whatever they chose, a medical jet fromthe United Arab Emirates was waiting to takeher to hospitals abroad, the New York Timesreported.

Pakistani and American officials hadtalked about arranging treatment for her atthe giant American military hospital inLandstuhl, Germany.

A well-developed offer came from for-mer representative Gabrielle Giffords andher husband, Mark E Kelly, who had gonethrough their own treatment ordeal after shewas shot in the head last year. They had goneas far as to line up a noted neurosurgeon andhad even arranged a transportation option oftheir own to the United States – with a tele-vision celebrity offering to quietly foot thefuel bill. Those were among dozens of offersfrom across the world. But when the timecame to fly the wounded schoolgirl out ofPakistan, in the early hours of Monday, adeal from Britain to accept Malala at a spe-cialised hospital in Birmingham proved hard

to beat, but first, to get her there. Out of worry that the Taliban would ful-

fill their promise to take a second shot at theteenage activist, the dawn run from the mil-itary hospital in Rawalpindi to the airportwas shrouded in secrecy, said Interior Min-ister Rehman Malik.

“I directed the airport staff to remain in-cognito, because there was an alert, threatsfrom the Taliban that they would kill her,” hesaid. “We were very careful.”

When the Emirati jet carrying her and ateam of doctors landed in Birmingham onMonday afternoon, most agreed that the de-

cision made both medical and diplomaticsense. Britain and Pakistan have a long his-tory stretching back to British rule on thesubcontinent; doctors at the hospital, theQueen Elizabeth II Memorial Center, havetreated hundreds of British soldierswounded in fighting against the Taliban insouthern Afghanistan.

“We do, unfortunately, have a consider-able expertise in treating that sort of bulletinjury,” Dr David Rosser, the hospital’s med-ical director, told reporters. Pakistani,British and American officials took pains onMonday to emphasise that the final decision

about Malala’s treatment had been based onmedical grounds above all else. “We neversaw this in a political light,” one senior Amer-ican official said on the condition ofanonymity. “This was a humanitarian story,not a political one.” Yet there was little doubtthat each of the possibilities, especially giventhe diplomatic tensions between Pakistanand America, carried its own political risk.

Initially, Pakistani officials had ap-proached the American embassy for help, of-ficials from both countries said.

Two options were discussed, InteriorMinister Malik said, the possible use of anAmerican military facility in Oman, andevacuation to the Landstuhl Regional Med-ical Center in Germany. “We scrambled likehell,” one American official said. “We werestanding by, ready to do anything.”

There were also private American offers– from Giffords and Kelly, plus at least threeother “serious” parties, the American officialadded. One came from an American busi-nessman with ties to senior figures in thePakistan government; another came from aconstituent of Senator John Kerry, who haslongstanding political ties to the country.

Meanwhile Giffords’s doctor, Dr DongKim, the head of neurosurgery at the Memo-rial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, gotready to travel to Pakistan. Kelly, a formerastronaut, said he had recruited an Americancelebrity, whom he declined to name, to fi-

nance the fuel costs of an emergency planetrip from Peshawar to Houston.

“We were just trying to offer the besthelp available, as we understand it frombeing down this road,” Kelly said. Kelly alsopressed political contacts in the WhiteHouse, State Department and Pakistan tohelp push the offer through. He said thatJohns Hopkins University made a similaroffer.

But over the weekend, Kelly was told bya senior State Department official that “Pak-istan has decided to solve this domestically.”

The British connection, however, had al-ready been well established at that pointthrough two doctors, both experts in traumainjuries and one of whom was of Pakistanidescent, who happened to be visiting Pak-istan at the time of the shooting last week.

The medics were quickly drafted intothe effort to save Malala’s life. They wereflown to Peshawar to help with the initialdiagnosis and then on to the hospital inRawalpindi. They shared in decisions abouthow long to keep the patient in Pakistan,officials from Britain and Pakistan said, de-clining to name the two. Early Mondaymorning, the medics accompanied abrigadier in watching over Malala duringthe flight to Britain. The air ambulance thatferried them had been offered by theUnited Arab Emirates, a country with closepolitical ties to President Asif Ali Zardari.

PESHAWAR: Vendors offload sacrificial animals from a truck on Tuesday. inp

Global outpouring to help Malala Yousafzai: report

BAKU APP

PRESIDENT Asif Ali Zardari andTurkish Prime Minister RecepTayyip Erdogan met on the side-lines of 12th ECO summit onTuesday and held wide-ranging

discussions on bilateral, regional and inter-national issues, peace process inAfghanistan and the situation in MiddleEast particularly Syria.

The president said both Pakistan andTurkey needed to coordinate closely on thedeteriorating situation in Syria as it had se-rious implications for the entire MiddleEastern region.

He said Pakistan had already con-demned the reprehensible act of cross-bor-der shelling in which Turkish citizens losttheir lives and also expressed Pakistan’s fullsupport and solidarity with Turkey on this

grave incident. Zardari said Pakistan’s posi-tion in this regard was based on the princi-ple of respect for sovereignty and territorialintegrity, adding that as stable democraciesboth Pakistan and Turkey were well placedto play a constructive role at this currentcritical juncture.

He said Pakistan appreciated the dem-ocratic transformations in the Middle Eastand the broader Islamic World and believedthat the transformation should be in accor-dance with the aspirations of the people.

Praising Turkey’s constructive role inAfghanistan, the president said both coun-tries needed to intensify their cooperation,both bilaterally as well as under the trilateralmechanism to support an Afghan-led andAfghan-owned process of reconciliation.

He also inquired about President Gul’shealth and prayed for his full recovery.

President Zardari said both Pakistanand Turkey should create facilitative mech-

anism and opportunities for their privatesectors in order to achieve the mutuallyagreed trade target of $2 billion and calledfor fast tracking the conclusion of Pakistan-Turkey Preferential Trade Agreement.

The president said he was glad to knowthat Turkish banks were opening morebranches in Pakistan, adding that it was alsoencouraging that the two countries’ privatesectors were collaborating in the energy,construction, food processing and rubberindustries. During the meeting, he invitedTurkish investment in key sectors such asinfrastructure, housing, engineering, en-ergy, agriculture, telecommunications andmining. Zardari said Pakistan was keenly in-terested in the Gul Train project andthanked the Turkish Prime Minister for hispersonal interest in it and stressed for col-lective work on generating more cargo loadfor this train. Commenting on issues of theMuslim world, the president said these were

defining times for the Muslims as “we arefacing unprecedented challenges fromAfghanistan to North Africa and the entireMiddle East and these unprecedented cir-cumstances demand extraordinary visionand leadership on our part”.

The Turkish prime minister assuredfull support and cooperation to Pakistanin all areas and praised the sacrifices madeby Pakistan in the fight against militancyand terrorism. He also assured assistanceto Pakistan in its efforts in the war againstterrorism. Erdogan said close cooperationat various levels between Pakistan andTurkey would further strengthen bilateralrelations particularly trade and invest-ment ties. The two leaders hoped for earlyimplementation of bilateral agreementssigned during the Turkish prime minis-ter’s recent visit to Pakistan. Foreign Min-ister Hina Rabbani Khar was also presentduring the meeting.

Zardari, Erdogan discuss bilateralmatters, international situationg President says Pakistan and turkey need to coordinate on deteriorating situation in Syria

Pakistan, Iran vowto expedite jointmega projects

BAKUOnlinE

In his meeting with Iranian PresidentMehmoud Ahmedinejad on the sidelinesof the 12th ECO summit on Tuesday,President Asif Ali Zardari emphasised theneed to expedite implementation ofvarious joint mega projects. The twoleaders discussed the multi-billion dollarIran-Pakistan gas pipeline, electricitytransmission lines and rail and roadprojects. Foreign Minister Hina RabbaniKhar, Senator Haji Muhammad Adeel,Pakistan’s ambassador to AzerbaijanInayatullah Kakar, and Alamgir Babarwere also present. President Zardari saidgreater interaction between the leadershipand the people of the two countries wouldnot only strengthen mutual historical,cultural and religious bonds but wouldalso help to benefit from each others’resources and expertise. The presidentsaid there existed a huge potential of tradebetween the two countries and urged foreffective steps which included preferentialtariff and free trade arrangements toreach the bilateral trade target of $10billion. “The agreement on export ofwheat and rice to Iran was a test case forour barter trade and if successful it can bereplicated in other areas,” PresidentZardari said and stressed the need forremoving tariff and non-tariff barriers andidentifying alternative arrangements tofurther enhance the bilateral trade. Thetwo leaders also reviewed progress on themega projects, including the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, the 1000MWTaftan-Quetta power transmission line,the 100MW Gwadar power supply project,construction of Noshki-Dalbandin sectionof Quetta-Taftan Highway and upgradingof the Quetta-Taftan Railway Track andurged for early implementation of theseprojects. President Zardari said Pakistanwas deeply concerned over the fastdeteriorating situation in Syria, “as webelieved that stability in this region wasimportant for peace in the region andbeyond”. He said Pakistan desired animmediate end to the bloodshed in Syriaand would continue to advocate principlesof non-intervention and non-interferencein the internal affairs of states. Zardarialso reiterated Pakistan’s principledstance of supporting an Afghan-led andAfghan-owned reconciliation process. Hesaid control of trans-border movement ofdrugs and human trafficking amongPakistan, Afghanistan and Iran was apriority of the government and stressedthe need to intensify cooperation at thebilateral and trilateral levels.

Sunni Ittehadwants crackdownon terroristsRAWALPINDI: The Sunni Ittehad Council(SIC) on Tuesday demanded the government tocrack down on terrorists challenging the state’swrit, and making the lives of innocent and peace-loving people insecure. Addressing theparticipants of a train march outside RawalpindiRailway Station, SIC Chairman Sahibzada FazalKarim strongly condemned the attack on teenageeducation activist Malala Yousafzai. He termed theattack “un-Islamic” and “a conspiracy againstIslam”. “Islam does not allow anyone to take livesof innocent people by carrying out subversiveactivities,” he said. The train march, which startedfrom Karachi on Sunday evening against US droneattacks and the blasphemous film, reachedRawalpindi Railway Station in the wee hours ofTuesday. Hundreds of SIC supporters and severalprominent clerics received the train march here.Speaking about the anti-Islam film, the SICchairman urged Muslims to unite against suchacts in order to prevent them from happening infuture. He asked the government to call a sessionof the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)on the issue of preserving the Holy Prophet’s(PBUH) sanctity, and ask the United Nations tomake anti-blasphemy legislation. APP



REMEMbRAnCE: navy officers recite verses of the Holy Quran during the 51st death anniversary of Shaheed-e-Millat liaqat Ali Khan. online

KARACHIOnlinE

APakistan People’sParty local leaderwas among sevengunned down inKarachi on Tues-day, officials said.

According to local police, unknownarmed men riding a bike openedfire at Sajjad Balti in North Karachiarea within the remits of Shara-e-Norr Jehan and managed to flee.

Balti sustained five bullets anddied on the spot. His body wastaken to a government-run medicalfacility for autopsy.

However, the officials said thePPP leader was targeted by a 9mmpistol, the arm which is being usedin most of the targeted killings inthe city.

Earlier, four people were re-ported killed in the city violence.Two tortured dead bodies, packedin gunny bags, were found nearCrown Cinema, Mauripur Road.

Another body was found fromBihar Colony last night. Police saidthe victims were kidnapped andlater killed. A man was shot dead inunidentified gunmen’s firing in NewTown.IG DIREcTS SEcURITy fORjOURNALISTS: In view of re-ports of threats to media outletsand journalists, Sindh IG FiazAhmad Laghari has directed the po-lice to take further effective andconcrete security measures for thesafety of journalists.

In view of this, the security hasbeen placed on red alert for all re-porters, cameramen, representativeof all workers of electronic andprint media offices and other localoffices regarding this specific fieldrespectively.

While giving direction to police,the IG said that instead of adoptinga traditional attitude on intelligencereports every action should betaken and security must be beefedup. He directed that targeted oper-ation and snap checking must bedone to ensure the arrest of crimi-nal elements.8 KILLED IN ROAD AccIDENT: At least eight persons includingwomen and children were killedand over 20 others injured in a roadaccident in Moro area here on Tues-day.

According to police sources, aKarachi-bound passenger bus com-ing from Sukkur overturned due toopening of tie-rod. As a result of ac-

cident, eight people, including threewomen and children, were killed onthe spot while over 20 passengerssustained injuries.

The local people rushed to thescene and started rescue operationwhich was later joined by police andrescue personnel. The bodies andinjured were shifted to Moro andShahpur Jhanian hospitals.13 INDIAN fISHERMEN ARRESTED: Some 13 Indian fish-ermen were arrested on Tuesdayafter Pakistan Maritime SecurityAgency (MSA) held 12 fishing boatsfor illegally entering the country’sterritorial waters.

According to the MSA officials,the fishermen were fishing 200kilometers inside the Pakistani wa-ters. The fishermen were handedover to the docks police station forfurther investigation, sources said.

Some 213 Indian fishermenhave been arrested only this year,the sources added.

Pakistan’s first Pm remembered

KARACHIinP

Death anniversary of Pakistan’s first primeminister Khan Liaquat Ali Khan was markedhere on Tuesday.The members and office-bearers of the Quaid-i-Millat Liaquat Ali Khan Memorial Commit-tee visited the mausoleum, participated inQuran Khawani, laid floral wreaths and of-fered Fateha. Seminars and references were held across thecountry where speakers paid rich tributes toKhan Liaquat Ali Khan on his 61st death an-niversary who struggled with Quaid-e-AzamMuhammad Ali Jinnah to get a separatehomeland for the Muslims of sub-continentand later served as first prime minister at crit-ical juncture.It should be mentioned that Khan Liaquat AliKhan was assassinated on October 16, 1951,during a public meeting of the Muslim CityLeague at Company Bagh (later named Li-aquat Bagh after him) in Rawalpindi.Upon his death, he was given the title of “Sha-heed-e-Millat”, or “Martyr of the Nation”. Heis buried at Mazar-e-Quaid compound inKarachi

mQm’s Hashmi electedmnA unopposed

KARACHIinP

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) candi-date Rehan Hashmi was elected member na-tional assembly unopposed from Karachiconstituency NA 245.According to returning officer, two other can-didates of MQM withdrew their nominationpapers after that Rehan Hashmi was electedunopposed.It may be noted here that the seat became va-cant after Farhat Hussain of MQM was de-clared ineligible due to holding dualnationality.

under-trainingASPs meet Sindhchief secretary

KARACHIAPP

Sindh Chief Secretary Raja Muham-mad Abbas asked the officers to per-form their duties with more devotionin order to ensure peace and stabilityin the society while addressing under-training Assistance Superintendentsof Police (ASPs), participants of 39thcommon training programme, on astudy tour to Sindh. The ASPs met with the chief secretaryunder the leadership of Course Com-mandant SSP Tayyeb Hafeez. TheChief Secretary appreciated the roleof police in crucial events of the coun-try and hoped that these officialswould keep the good work up.Abbas noted the Sindh governmentwas endeavouring to ensure solutionsfor the energy issues by adopting al-ternate means of production, addingthat the work for wind power energyprojects worth 100 MW is expected tobe completed by March2013. He also maintained that coal powerplants were being established. Ex-perts from Republic of Czech, Chinaand UK were being consulted regard-ing water hubs in rural areas anderadication of water borne diseases,he said.Chief Secretary stated that Lyari,Malir Kemari and Ibrahim Hyderi,areas with water shortage, were beingupdated with Reverse Osmosis (RO)plant installations. He further said that action against il-legal hydrants was in process with aview to eradicate water theft activi-ties.Sindh Secretary General Administra-tion Mumtaz Ali Shah and SecretaryServices Iqbal Durrani were also pres-ent on the occasion.

PPP leader among7 gunned down

12 suicide bombers enter cityKARAcHI: Twelve suicide bombers have entered different areasof Pakistan’s commercial hub Karachi. According to media reports, thecrisis management cell of the Interior Ministry on Tuesday warnedSindh’s Home Ministry of suicide attacks and terror bids being plannedby a Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) faction. The Crisis ManagementCell warned that a Taliban faction called al-Mansoor group was plan-ning on attacking training camps of law enforcement agencies and sen-sitive installations. The Federal Interior Ministry wrote a letter to theProvincial Government to inform about the danger. Following this,Sindh’s Home Ministry put all concerned departments on high alert, di-recting them to strengthen surveillance. OnlinE


07Karachi


Policy makers urged for improved understandingof maternal, new born and child healthKARAcHI: There is urgency to improve understanding, forthe public as well for policy makers, on meaningful improve-ment in maternal, new born and child health status all ofwhich are largely dependent upon successful family planningand a higher literacy level among women in the country, saidexperts on Tuesday. Senior Child Specialist Prof. Zulfiqar AliBhutta, Senior Gynecologist Dr Sadiqua N Jaffery, Dr FaridMidhet and Public Health Expert Dr Nabila Ali were the keyspeakers at the advocacy workshop on Reproductive, Mater-nal and Child Health (RMNCH) organised by Aga Khan Uni-versity’s Division of Women and Child Health incollaboration with Sindh MNCH Program and USAID.

The deliberations on the occasion, which were also ac-tively supplemented by senior health department officialsfrom Sindh, including Special Secretary for Health Dr SureshKumar, Additional Secretary for Health Kiran Nauman, DG-Health Dr Firoze Memon, Additional Secretary for SindhPopulation Welfare Syed Ashfaq Ali Shah and Sindh ProgramDirector for MNCH Dr Sahab Jan Badar, extensively re-viewed numerous vertical healthcare programs for womenand children in Sindh. Positive and negative aspects of theseprograms were also highlighted with the suggestion to adoptan integrated program so as to make these programs moreeffective, transparent and pragmatic. APP

HyDERAbAD: Students protest against attack on Malala yousfzai. inp

ruet-e-Hilal bodymeets today

KARACHI OnlinE

Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee meet-ing for sighting of the Zilhajj (EidulAzha) moon will be held here onWednesday (today) after Asr prayer atMet Department’s Met Complex, mainuniversity road here. Mufti Muneebur Rehman will chair themeeting. Meetings of zonal/districtruet-e-hilal committees will be held attheir respective places on the samedate and time. Likewise the zonal Ruet-e-Hilal Com-mittee, Islamabad capital territory willbe held in the building of ministry ofreligious affairs, Islamabad.

2 permanent SHCjudges sworn in

KARACHIOnlinE

Two newly-appointed judges of theSindh High Court have taken oath aspermanent judges. According to media reports, the SindhHigh Court chief justice administeredthe oath to Justice Ghulam Sarwar Koraiand Justice Arafat Saadat. Senior judges and lawyers attendedthe oath-taking ceremony in a largenumber. It merits mentioning here that PresidentAsif Ali Zardari had issued orders to reg-ularise the judges.

KARACHIAPP

THE Institute of Business Admin-istration (IBA), Karachi, and theIndian School of Business (ISB),Hyderabad, Tuesday, announcedthe commencement of their first

joint executive education programme in Pak-istan. An IBA Karachi statement issued heresaid that the programme titled `LeadershipSkills for Top Management’ is currently under-way in Karachi.

It said that this initiative is an outcome ofthe MoU signed between IBA Karachi and ISBon April 13, 2012, aimed at bringing world-classexecutive education programmes to Pakistan.

`Leadership Skills for Top Management’(LSTM) is the first among the planned series ofprogrammes aimed at the business leaders inPakistan. It has been specially designed to helpCXOs, business heads and government officialsto hone their leadership skills and drive growththrough exceptional performance in a challeng-ing and ever-evolving global market.

LSTM, the statement added, is amongISB’s most successful executive education pro-grammes in India, having been delivered tomore than 1,000 senior leaders in the last 11years. Commenting on the programme, Dr.

Ishrat Husain, Dean andDirector, IBA said `Pakistan can benefit

immensely from its proximity to India whichhas established world class institutions ofhigher learning.

The collaboration with the Indian Schoolof Business ISB- a magnet for attracting topfaculty from advanced countries – will exposethe Pakistani corporate managers to leadingscholars and practitioners from the world andhelp in acquiring new knowledge and tools.Hopefully, this exposure will equip them toplay a critical leadership role in the future. Welook forward to many such joint ventures inthe coming years’.

Announcing the programme, DeepakChandra, Deputy Dean, ISB, said `We are de-lighted to announce the commencement ofour first executive education programme inPakistan in association with IBA. As Asia risesinto global economic prominence, it is criticalthat countries in the region and the businessleaders seize the opportunity. We are confi-dent that the ISB’s strong international link-ages and understanding of emergingeconomies will help in grooming high-per-forming business leaders and policy makersfrom Pakistan and equip them with globalbest practices that will enable them to lead thecountry in its next phase of growth’.

KARAcHI: Naval Staff Chief AdmiralMuhammad Asif Sandila said that the com-plex geo-strategic situation of the region de-manded a high state of preparedness. He wasspeaking to the 2012 edition of the annualPakistan Maritime Exercise Sea Spark thatconcluded with the debrief session held atPNS Jauhar on Tuesday.

The Chief said that the exercise was wellutilised to validate Pakistan Navy’s (PN) con-cept of security and counter piracy plan, utilisa-tion of ships, submarines, aircrafts and othercomponents, employment of PAF and AEW air-crafts in support of maritime ops and integra-tion of Z9-EC helicopters to PN Fleet.

He said that the effective ground based airdefense and successful firing of surface to airmissiles and radar controlled guns was a sourceof satisfaction.

The Sea Spark Exercise, a permanent fea-

ture of Pakistan Navy’s operational calendar,was conducted with the main objective to assessthe operational readiness and provide an oppor-tunity to the Officers and Men to operate undermulti-threat environment and exercise re-sponses accordingly.

The Exercise planning was based on a man-ifestation of the Chief’s declared strategic prior-ities of “Ops Readiness and Training”. Alloperational ships, submarines, aircrafts,marines, special forces and establishments,which also included supporting units from Pak-istan Army and PAF, participated to cover theentire gamut of Naval Operations. Officer Con-ducting Exercise (OCE) and Deputy Chief of theNaval Staff Operations Rear Admiral HashamBin Siddique presented the analysis of the tac-tical actions followed by each Force and concur-rently gave recommendations to furtherimprove the responses accordingly. OnlinE

leadership skills fortop management

pn ready to defendhomeland: naval chief


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dAte: SePt 26 - OCt 26, 2012 Venue: kunJ Art GAllery

little, If anything, deters the artist meerza Ali from creating the wayhe does. even though he had suffered a serious illness only toorecently, that he didn´t think that he´d survive. Whose solo exhibitionopens kunj on September 26, 2012 at 5:30 pm. And the artist , whowas born in Calcutta, migrated to Pakistan in 1948. Whose fatherhimself, was an artist. Who had never taught meerza Ali, thought. Sothe artist acquired the skills that he needed on his own. Who hasdone especially well with calligraphy and his beautiful figurative work.

gHALiB MADe eASY

dAte: tHurSdAy, 7:00 Pm, Weekly eVent

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"exerCieS iN iMAgiNNg ...

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AnWAr SAeed IS An eStAblISHed ArtISt WHO IS A

fACulty member At ...

dAte: SePt 25 - OCt 04, 2012 Venue: CAnVAS GAllery

Join us at t2f every Wednesday for interactive sessions onmirza Ghalib’s poetry, conducted by author and translator,musharraf Ali farooqi. Ghalib made easy by @micromAfthepoetry of mirza Ghalib (27 december 1797 – 15 february1869) has been considered complex, abstract and difficultto comprehend. even for Ghalib’s contemporaries, hislanguage and imagery presented a challenge.


HyDERAbAD: Cranes frolic in a pond at naseem nager. inp

NEWS DESK

THOSE who sit for long periodshave a two-fold increase in theirrisk of diabetes, heart disease anddeath, according to a study. Im-portantly, associations were inde-

pendent of the amount ofmoderate-to-vigorous physical activity under-taken, suggesting that even if an individualmeets typical physical activity guidelines,their health may still be compromised if theysit for long periods of time throughout theday.

Dr Emma Wilmot, a research fellow in theDiabetes Research Group at the University ofLeicester, led the study, which combined theresults of 18 studies and included a total of794,577 participants.

It was done in collaboration with col-leagues from the newly-established NationalInstitute for Health Research (NIHR) Leices-ter-Loughborough Diet, Lifestyle and PhysicalActivity Biomedical Research Unit.

“The average adult spends 50-70 percentof their time sitting so the findings of thisstudy have far reaching implications. By sim-ply limiting the time that we spend sitting, wemay be able to reduce our risk of diabetes,heart disease and death,” said Dr Wilmot, aClinical Research Fellow in Diabetes and En-docrinology based at the Leicester DiabetesCentre, Leicester General Hospital.

“Our study also showed that the most con-sistent associations were between sitting anddiabetes. This is an important message be-cause people with risk factors for diabetes,such as the obese, those of South Asian ethnicorigin, or those with a family history of dia-betes, may be able to help reduce their futurerisk of diabetes by limiting the time spent sit-ting,” she noted.

Professor Stuart Biddle, of LoughboroughUniversity, and a co-investigator on the study,said: “There are many ways we can reduce oursitting time, such as breaking up long periodsat the computer at work by placing our laptopon a filing cabinet. We can have standing

meetings, we can walk during the lunch break,and we can look to reduce TV viewing in theevenings by seeking out less sedentary behav-

iours.” The results were published in Dia-betologia, the journal of the European Associ-ation of the Study of Diabetes.

Have you been sitting for too long?Sitting for protracted periods doubles death risk


09Foreign News


TRIPOLIAFP

LIBYA took a major step towards democ-racy this year by holding its first free elec-tions but success has been marred by risingextremism, failure to disband militias anddelays in forming state institutions.

And facing tribal conflicts, threats from formerregime backers and high social demands, the new au-thorities seem not sure where to turn next, one yearafter deposed dictator Moamer Gaddafi was capturedand killed in his home town.

“Libya passed the first test of democracy by elect-ing a national assembly after more than 42 years of to-talitarianism,” said Libyan analyst Nasser al-Daessy,referring to the General National Congress elected inJuly. “But the political situation is still shaky in Libyaand we must urgently reach a political consensus to re-build the institutions of the state.”

Overwhelmed by sporadic outbreaks of clashes andmilitant attacks, which last month claimed the life of aUS ambassador, the interim authorities have been hardpressed to rebuild the country after it was ravaged byeight months of conflict.

And they are not lacking in means. The oil sectorwasted no time in getting back on its feet with produc-tion almost reaching pre-conflict levels of 1.6 millionbpd. The North African nation boasted a 2012 budgetof $56 billion, the highest in its history. But Gaddafihas left behind a grim legacy: a country without insti-tutions as well as a weak army and police force, whichhave been eclipsed by militias that looted weapons de-pots during the war. Gaddafi’s diehard supporters re-main a threat, with Tripoli periodically accusingremnants of the former regime of trying to spread

chaos and derail the democratic process.A security source told AFP that “precautions” were

being taken to prevent any attack by pro-Gaddafi ele-ments hoping to mark the one-year anniversary of hisdeath, which falls on Saturday.

No ceremonies are planned that day in Libya,which will celebrate instead the first anniversary sincethe declaration of “liberation” that was announced onOctober 23, 2011 — three days after Gaddafi was killedin Sirte.

Former rebels, who were once hailed as heroes andin some cases joined nascent law enforcement organsin the aftermath of the 2011 conflict, are now facing abacklash from a population angry over the uncheckedpower of armed groups.

Citizens want to see security in the hands of a pro-fessional army and police.

Spurred by massive anti-militia protests in Beng-hazi last month, in which some hardline Islamistgroups were forcibly evicted from their bases by angryresidents, Tripoli has cracked down on armed groupsholed up in strategic facilities.

Mohammed Megaryef, president of the assembly,stressed the need for greater security in an address onMonday to military officers.

“You need to form an army in order to build astate... A strong professional army is vital to guaranteesecurity and protect the sovereignty of the state,” hetold them.

Meanwhile, human rights remain a source of con-cern with watchdog organisations warning against theentrenchment of militias which continue to arrest andtorture with impunity, some of them emboldened bythe state’s recognition.

And the surprise arrest of an International Crimi-nal Court delegation visiting Gaddafi’s son Seif al-Islam

in Zintan, where he has been held by an ex-rebelbrigade since his capture in November, raised seriousconcerns about justice.

Tripoli, however, bent on holding local trials forkey figures of the former regime including Seif, scoredbig points at home by obtaining the extradition of for-mer spy chief Abdullah Senussi and ex-prime ministerAl-Baghdadi al-Mahmudi.

In Benghazi, senior military and police officers,along with judges who served under the former regime,have been targeted in a wave of attacks that are blamedon hardline Islamists previously held in Gaddafi’s jails.

Extremists became an ever greater source of con-cern in the wake of the September 11 attack on the USconsulate in Benghazi that killed four Americans, in-cluding US Ambassador Chris Stevens.

Libyans long for security year after Gaddafi killed

THE HAGUEAFP

Croatian Serb former rebel leaderGoran Hadzic went on trial at theYugoslav war crimes court in TheHague on Tuesday, the last defen-dant to be prosecuted for crimesduring the brutal Balkan wars.

“This is the last opening state-ment of the last trial to be held inthis tribunal,” prosecuting lawyerDouglas Stringer told the court asthe trial opened.

“But the crimes you will hearabout ... were among the very first tobe committed during the long yearsof conflict and despair that wit-nessed the death of a culturally rich,diverse country called Yugoslavia,”he said.

Hadzic, 54, faces 14 counts ofwar crimes and crimes against hu-

manity for his role in the 1991-95war in Croatia, including the mas-sacre of civilians taken from Vuko-var hospital in 1991 in one of theconflict’s darkest episodes.

He is also charged with respon-sibility for the massacre of Croatcivilians who were forced to walkinto a minefield in the Croatiantown of Lovas in October 1991, oneof the first crimes of the long andbloody conflict.

“Fifty prisoners were called outby name and marched out of thetown to a clover field where mineshad recently been placed,” Stringertold the court as Hadzic, wearing adark blue suit, listened impassively.

“When the prisoners reachedthe field, they were directed at gun-point to hold hands and walk across,sweeping their legs side to side inorder to locate and disarm the

mines that were placed there,” hesaid.

“When the first mine explodedseveral Serb soldiers began firing atthe prisoners in the field and whenit was over 21 of the Croat men hadbeen killed. ... The dead were buriedin a mass grave,” Stringer said.

The one-time leader of the self-proclaimed Republic of SerbianKrajina during the early 1990s is thelast of 161 suspects charged by theInternational Criminal Tribunal forthe former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

He was arrested innorthern Serbia’s idyllic FruskaGora mountains in July last yearafter seven years on the run, sometwo months after the court’s mostwanted fugitive, Bosnian Serb armychief Ratko Mladic, was caught inthe same region near the city of NoviSad.

Iran won’t capitulate innuclear talks: KhameneiTEHRAN: Iran will not give in to “bullying” at thenegotiating table with world powers over its disputednuclear programme despite new economic sanctions, itssupreme leader said on Tuesday. The West “keeps sayingpressure against Iran is aimed at forcing the Islamicrepublic to return to the negotiating table” about thenuclear programme, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said inremarks carried on state television. “But when did weleave the table that now we need to return?” he askedduring his visit to the northeastern province of NorthKhorasan. “Their real objective is (forcing) the Iraniannation to surrender to their bullying at the negotiatingtable... (but) you are too weak to bring Iran to its knees,”said Khamenei. His remarks came a day after theEuropean Union toughened sanctions against Tehran,targeting its dealings with Iran’s banks, shipping and gasimports and banning trade in metals. Without directlymentioning the sanctions, Khamenei accused theEuropean leaders of seeking to bully Iran. AFP

Egypt probes Islamistsover Tahrir clashcAIRO: Egypt’s state prosecutor has asked the generalintelligence service and interior ministry to provide possibleevidence in a probe of Islamists over clashes with liberals lastweek, state media said Tuesday. The prosecutor was actingon 53 complaints, some against senior members of PresidentMohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement, oforchestrating Friday’s unrest in which dozens of people wereinjured, Al-Akhbar newspaper reported. Essam al-Erian, theacting head the Brotherhood’s political party, is among thoseaccused of organising the rally that degenerated into theworst clashes between supporters and opponents of Morsisince his election in June. The demonstration was called todenounce the acquittal of former regime members accused ofa deadly attack against protesters during the uprising thatoverthrew president Hosni Mubarak in early 2011. AFP

Syrian jets bomb rebelsdespite UN ceasefire callDAMAScUS: Warplanes unleashed a wave of raids inSyria’s north on Tuesday, bidding to dislodge rebelswhose seizure of a key highway has preventedreinforcements from reaching main battleground cityAleppo. Peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi issued an appealfor a ceasefire during the upcoming Muslim holiday ofEid al-Adha, meanwhile, as he travelled to Cairo tothrash out a possible solution to the conflict. The SyrianObservatory for Human Rights said the morning airraids around Maaret al-Numan were the “most violent”since insurgents captured the strategic town last week.The warplanes targeted a rebel blockade of the highwayto second city Aleppo, theatre of intense fighting for thepast three months, it said, adding that insurgentsresponded with anti-aircraft fire. AFP

Last Yugoslav war crimesfugitive Hadzic in dock

Gunmen kill adviser toYemen defence ministry

SANAAAFP

Unidentified gunmen shot dead a militaryadviser to Yemen’s defence ministry, anIraqi national, in central Sanaa on Tuesday,a security official said. Speaking on conditionof anonymity, the official said the victim,Khaled Hatem al-Hashemi was killed when“two gunmen on a motorbike” fired “twobullets” into his head as they drove past him.The official said the assailants managed toescape. It is believed that many Iraqi militaryofficers who served under Saddam Husseinfled to Yemen after the fall of his regime andtook jobs as military and defence advisers tothe Yemeni government. So far, no one hasclaimed responsibility for the killing but Al-Qaeda has been blamed for a spate of attackson Yemeni security officials, both in thecapital and throughout the country. Yemen’sunity government, created to lead a politicaltransition after the ousting of veteranpresident Ali Abdullah Saleh in February, isstruggling to maintain control in anincreasingly divided country plagued bylawlessness and militancy.

TRIPOLI: A picture taken on September 1, 2011 shows a defaced mural of then Libyan leader Moamer

Gaddafi in Tripoli. Libya took a major step towards democracy this year by holding its first free

elections but success has been marred by rising extremism, failure to disband militias and delays in

forming state institutions, one year after deposed dictator Moamer Gaddafi was captured and killed. afp

WEST bAnK: Palestinian protesters hold up a national flag in front of israeli troops during a demonstration on route 443 near the West bank village of beit

Ur in protest against settler attacks and to demand its opening to local traffic. afp.


Pakistan is in the grip of religiousextremism, terrorism and ethnicand sectarian violence. Religio-cultural divisions and socio-po-litical intolerance have increased

so much that there are competing perspec-tives of what has been happening in andaround Pakistan over the last several years.The followers of competing perspectiveshave become exclusivist because each groupis convinced of one’s righteousness and de-scribes other interpretations as mistakenand misinformed.

Traditional right-wing political groupsand Islamists extend varying degrees of sup-port to the Taliban (Pakistani and Afghan).The Jamaat-i-Islami and the JUI (both fac-tions) and their affiliates and other Islamicgroups sharing their religious and politicalperspectives engage in a passionate defenceof the Taliban and other militant groups. Tothem the fault lies on the side of the Pakistangovernment and the United States. Theywant the Pakistan government to change itspolicies and adopt a friendly attitude to-wards the Taliban. It may however be men-tioned that a number of Islamic groups

subscribing tothe Bralevi andShia doctrinesdo not supportthe Taliban, al-though thesegroups are reli-giously conser-vative andcriticise the USpolicies in theregion. Theyplead for atough actionagainst the Tal-iban and sectar-ian groups.These groupshave now be-come more ac-tive on theseissues than wasthe case in thepast.

It is ironicthat the Jamaat-i-Islami and theJUI work withinthe frameworkof Pakistaniconstitution andlaw and partici-pate in the elec-tions but theysupport the Tal-

iban who neither owe their allegiance to Pak-istan’s constitution and law nor do they ac-cept the primacy of the Pakistan state. TheTaliban want to overwhelm the Pakistanstate to use state power to implement Islamof their choice. They have never issued anyappreciation of Islamic parties but, on theother hand, Pakistan’s Islamic parties havemuch appreciation for the Taliban and de-fend them against all criticism.

The friendly attitude of Islamic partiestowards the Taliban has made the lattermore defiant and violent. They appear moredetermined than ever for using violenceagainst the Pakistani state. They resort tosuicide attacks, armed ambushes, car bombsand other bombings and resort to intimida-tion against those who publicly reject theirworldview. On more than one occasion theybeheaded the captured Pakistani soldiersand dumped their heads and bodies sepa-rately. Similarly, they often execute peoplepublicly for working against their interests.Neither Islam nor any doctrine of humanityjustifies such brutalities.

The attack on Swat’s girl students by aTaliban group has given all of us a chance forsoul searching for how the issue is to be tack-led. Though all parties and societal groups,including the Islamic parties, are condemn-ing the attack, this consensus breaks down aswe try to examine the causes and how to dealwith the situation in the future. Should wecontinue to engage in polemical exchangesbased on partisan party or group interests orturn this into an ideological war amongstvarious political and religious identities?

The Swat incident has produced notice-able impacts on the current discourse on ter-rorism. First, those publicly opposed to theTaliban, viewing them as a threat to the stateand society, have become more vocal in theircriticism and they are demanding that thestate’s civilian and military institution shouldgive up the policy of soft paddling towardsselective militant and hardline groups. Theywant a firm action against those challengingthe primacy of the Pakistani state and usingcoercion to impose their socio-religious per-spectives on others by force.

Second, a large number of fence sittersbetween those wanting a tough actionagainst the Taliban and the Islamists and ex-treme right-wing group that support the Tal-iban are now tilting towards the emergingfirst perspective. A large number of thesepeople feel that some tough action is neededto make sure that these extremist groups donot repeat the Swat incident.

Third, Islamist political parties andgroups are on the defence and they are per-turbed by the growing societal criticism of

the Taliban and other militant groups. Theyare worried that if the current barrage of crit-icism of the Taliban and others continues,many people in the middle of the ideologicaldivide would shift towards the anti-Talibandiscourse. Therefore, they are putting for-ward all kinds of explanations for the Swatincident and raising issues to deflect the cur-rent societal pressure and shift the focusfrom the controversial role of the Taliban.Their often repeated arguments are that theattack is a conspiracy for creating justifica-tion for an attack on North Waziristan or thatthe Swat attack is engineered by the foreignenemies of Pakistan rather than the Taliban.

The issue is straight forward. If Pakistanis to continue functioning as an effective na-tion-state with respect in the comity of na-tion, it cannot allow armed groups tofunction that reject Pakistan’s constitutionand law and want to impose their narrowdogmatic Islamic views on others with thethreat of violence. If such groups proliferateand expand their domain of authority forany reason, Pakistan will gradually fade outas a state. Such a situation has to be dealtwith a policy that combines tough militaryaction against those who continue to useforce, dialogue with those who are preparedto stop violence and talk for a political set-tlement, and economic development for thestrife ridden areas. However, no meaningfuleconomic development can be pursued ifstrife continues unabated.

Pakistan’s Islamic parties should con-vince the Taliban to moderate their behaviourand work within the framework of Pakistan’sconstitution and law. This will be their majorpositive contribution towards promoting so-cietal harmony and stability in Pakistan.

The major political parties of Pakistan,especially the PPP and the PML-N, need tocoordinate their policies for controlling themenace of religious extremism and terror-ism. The PML-N leaders need to recognizethat if they are able to assume power at thefederal level after the next general elections,the Taliban and other extremist groups arenot going to accept the domain of the Pak-istani state. These groups are neither fight-ing against the US nor exclusively againstthe present ruling coalition led by the PPP.They are fighting against the Pakistan stateand their efforts will continue even after thenext general elections. If these two politicalparties develop a broad-based understand-ing on the Taliban and terrorism relatedissue, the prospects of controlling theseproblems will increase.

The writer is an independent politicaland defence analyst.

Comment10

Arif NizamiEditor

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

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

no way their stance has a chance

militants and their apologists

Asenior police officer and two FC officials who wereentrusted with the security of Peshawar suburbs werebeheaded at the orders of the TTP. Gloating over theheinous act TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan, who

operates from Waziristan, accepted the responsibility for theattack and said men had taken away the heads of the victims withthem. Can anyone think of a similar incident in a civilized country?Another report tells us about 25 labourers having been abductedfrom Bannu and taken away to North Waziristan. Coming withindays of the attack on Malala Yousufzai, the incidents show that themilitants’ leadership continues to challenge the authority of thestate from an area it considers to be secure.

Despite these attacks, there are elements in Pakistan whooppose a military operation in North Waziristan. Some of themfear the terrorists while others have leanings towards them.Prominent ulema refusing to support militancy like Dr SarfrazNaeemi and Maulana Hassan Jan have been killed by themilitants. Some of the clerics who have seminaries in the tribalareas are unwilling to annoy the Taliban. Under pressure frompublic opinion they have condemned the attack on Malala, hedgingit with remarks aimed at pacifying those who targeted her. ImranKhan also supports talks with the militants while rejecting militaryaction. It is forgotten that despite talks with the militants leadingto the setting up of Qazi courts in Swat, the militant leadershiprefused to accept the authority of the constitution, Parliament andthe Supreme Court, vowing to continue to fight till a system oftheir choice was established throughout Pakistan through thebarrel of the gun. Those recommending talks with the militantsvirtually advocate a policy of capitulation by the state.

Military operation is not an ideal solution and has to bedeferred till other options have been exhausted. But when an areain the country is turned into a launching pad for terrorist attacksand the militants insist on dictating to the state, delaying theoperation could inflict incalculable losses on the country. The writof the state has to be established at all costs. The dreadful actscommitted by the militants have roused the public opinion againstthem. Lawyers, civil society activists and political workers haveheld protests against the attack on the Malala Yousafzai. SunniIttehad Council Chief Sahabzada Fazal Karim has led a trainmarch from Karachi to Rawalpindi demanding military operationin Waziristan. When the lives of so many people are at stake, thoseentrusted with the task of providing them security from enemyattacks cannot ignore their duty for long.

Soul searchingPakistan cannot afford to allow armed groups to function with impunity

By Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi


Journalism, fortunately, doesnot operate on the principlesof faith. You are not required

to believe in everything you read inthe paper or see in the news. Theaudience is always presented withthree things: facts, opinions andconclusions. While the first is ob-jective, the latter two are necessar-ily subjective and are included tohelp the audience make a decision.In most (if not all) cases, the choiceof which shades of opinion to pres-ent and what kind of a conclusionto draw from the presented factsand opinions ties in directly to achannel/publication’s own slant orleanings. This is not ‘unethical jour-nalism’, it is simply ‘journalism’.

Human beings are peculiarcreatures. They can see causal andlogical linkages where none mayexist. This is because post-hoc ra-tionalization is something we arequite adept at i.e., the ability tomould facts, events and speculationto suit our own point of view issomething that comes as naturallyand involuntarily to us as breathing.Therefore, it is obvious that manyreporters and opinion writers pro-duce pieces that are little better thanJames Joyce’s stream-of-conscious-ness ramblings in Ulysses: they may

look like the best-written words ofthe century, but they’re not.

‘Thick-skinned’ is a term that isused to describe someone who isimpervious to senseless abuse andunconstructive criticism. But thenumber of thick-skinned individu-als in our society has seen a drasticdecline ever since the PakistanTehreek-e-Insaaf reared its head inPakistan’s politicosphere. It wouldbe unfair on my part to say thatevery other party has been far moretolerant of criticism, since once-prime minister famously targetedthe Jang Group and had Mr NajamSethi ‘picked up’, ostensibly for“doing their job”. Similarly, HerrMusharraf imposed a mini-martiallaw on November 3, 2007, becausethe media wouldn’t stop telling himjust how big of an ass he was being.The MQM has often used its ‘clout’with cable operators to pull certainunfriendly content off the air, mostfamously in the case of Amir Khan,whose press conferences (before here-joined the party fold), wereblacked out by allied cable-wallahsacross the city. Even the currentPPP government, which has beenmost unhappy with the Jang Groupof late, violated its commitment tofree press when it ordered that Geo

be taken off the air on repeated oc-casions. And these are just the ex-amples that readily spring to mind.

The point is, being reactive tocriticism isn’t a characteristic of acertain group or party: it appliesacross the board on all individuals.When a story or a barb hits too closeto home, everyone and anyoneclams up and becomes hostile. Butit has always been the more level-headed among all parties that haveeventually prevailed; it is alwaysthose with a sense of humour andirony who can best answer pointedquestions. Take spin-doctor extra-ordinaire Qamar Zaman Kaira’sputting-down of Kamran Khan onthe eve of the contempt verdictagainst erstwhile premier Gilani. OrSherry Rehman and HusainHaqqani’s handling of the media fol-lowing the multiple crises that theyhave had to face. Effective mediamanagement and damage control isa skill that is essential to today’s pol-itics. Even the PML-N has its SaadRafiques and Khawaja Asifs topacify the media monster; the ANPhas Shahi Syed and the MQM is atrained jamaat of veritable talkshowpundits. But few others do.

People should remember that afree press means the freedom to do

all sorts of things. It can also be usedto further all sorts of interests andagendas. However, unlike theUnited States, where airtime isopenly purchased by political partiesfor their campaigns, things in Pak-istan are a little more under-the-table. Since media organizations areless straightforward about why theyare representing a certain opinion, itis up to the audience to decidewhether they want to side with thetalking head on screen, or not. Whilethis presupposes the intelligentviewer, it does not liberate the mediafrom ethical limitations: no one isarguing for the abolition of PEMRA,just for the institution of better men-tal checks for readers themselves.

The intelligent reader is not amyth. Habitual newspaper readersand TV viewers become accustomedto a certain style of presentation andbegin to read between the lines oncethey are familiar enough with a cer-tain publication/channel’s style.This is what separates them fromthe masses who treat all they see onTV as harf-e-aakhir, when in fact,there is no such thing.

The lesson we must take fromthis diatribe is this: the fourth estateis part and parcel of the democratic(sic!) setup. There will forever be ac-

cusations of bias, yellow journalism,slander and unfair criticism againstit, but that will never change theway it does business. Like so manyother professionals, media mogulsdon’t particularly like being toldwhat to do and consider it theirsworn duty to tell others just howthey should be running their affairs.It’s not a perfect arrangement, but itdoes work most of the time.

Fellow columnist Nadir Hassanonce remarked, “Imagine what ouropinion pages and TV shows wouldbe like if people were more com-fortable with expressing doubt”.While losing the pulpit of punditrymay compromise the credibility ofmany a two-penny writer, the gen-eral rule is quite consistent. No oneis an expert on everything and noone has any crystal balls. Yourguess is as good as mine, althoughmine may be just a fraction betterbecause I’ve done a little more legwork on it than you have. This iswhat the narrative of the media inPakistan should be like. Any at-tempts to contradict this will onlyamount to severe stupidity.

Follow @mightyobvious onTwitter for more incoherence in140 characters or less

Harf-e-aakhirMighty ObviousBy Syed Hassan Belal Zaidi

your guess is as good as mine, although mine may be just a fraction betterbecause i’ve done a little more leg work on it than you have


Comment 11


keSC’s good stepAs a concerned citizen of Pakistan I am happy to

see that a certain organization in the power sectorcontinues to take their corporate social responsibilityseriously by contributing towards the benefit of theneedy despite current difficulties.

Recently, I came across a positive piece ofinformation about KESC’s Social Investment Plan(SIP) under which KESC will provide free of costelectricity to leading non-profit organisations in thecountry.

To this effect, KESC has signed the firstmemorandum of understanding (MoU) with IndusHospital for bearing 50 percent of their electricitycost, the second with Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre(MALC), the third and fourth with LaytonRahmatulla Benevolent Trust (LRBT) and TCFschools, respectively for covering 100 percent of thecost of electricity used by these institutions everymonth.

More organisations in the country need toreconsider their CORPORATE SOCIALRESPONSIBILITY programmes in a similar fashionand should step forward to help the communitiesaround them.

KESC, which has received the flak, especiallyduring summer months, must be applauded for thisinitiative which would enable the concerned to divertfunds to those who deserve primary healthcare andeducation in economically challenged times. It isdefinitely a ray of hope in an otherwise grimscenario.

SARAH MIANKarachi

A welcome initiativeOne should welcome opening of a debate among

scientists, philosophers and theologians over theorigin of universe. This event is being arranged byCERN, the European Organisation for NuclearResearch, and Switzerland in the wake of HiggsBoson particle discovery. They intend to concentrateon the Big Bang theory to discuss how our universebegan. A number of professors, philosophers,scientists and theologists are participating in thisconference. Debate is expected to be heated one asboth sides will demand the other one toaccommodate its view point.

Though it’s beyond any doubt that they may cometo any conclusion, however, it’s promising to at leasthave the debate. Science is still on a journey todiscover things by imitating the nature; they are faraway from creation. Same is applicable for religionswhich are based on divine scriptures. Apparentlyboth are working in isolation; they need to workhand-in-hand for the future generations’ sake.

MASOOD KHANJubail, Saudi Arabia

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Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively.

Preoccupation with geopolitics

obama should take the road not taken…

The forthcoming visit of theUnited States Deputy Secre-tary of State William Burns to

New Delhi should provide the Indianside an opportunity to have an in-depth discussion on Afghanistan.The point is, President BarackObama is expected to revisit theAfghan strategy soon after the No-vember 8 election in the US.

Delhi needs to structure its talk-ing points regarding Afghanistanwith foresight and wisdom. There isan avalanche of despondency todayvisible in the recent US discoursesregarding Afghanistan.

Most assessments are gloomybut of course the stunning weekendeditorial by The New York Timesoutstrips them all — demanding thecomplete, unconditional, total with-drawal of US troops fromAfghanistan by end-2013 i.e., an yearahead of the anticipated drawdownthrough end-2014.

The NYT even recommends thatthe US should destroy its high-techweapons rather than leave them be-hind in the Hindu Kush for Talibanand the Al-Qaeda to appropriatethem. Are things so hopelessly bad?

The noted Pakistani authorAhmed Rashid has a fine piece onthis big question. His answer? “Notreally, provided…” I go along withRashid’s prognosis. Indeed, there isa striking parallel with the February1989 situation when the Red Armywithdrew. The Soviets, Americansand Pakistan’s Zia-ul-Haq were allagreed that the PDPA regime wouldcollapse without the support of theRed Army.

They were proven wrong. Na-jibullah’s fall, when it came, was pre-cipitated by three factors: Sovietsthrew him to the wolves; Sovietsbegan dealings behind his back withAhmed Shah Massoud; and, Pak-istan’s relentless attempts to over-throw the regime despite Najib’snumerous overtures to Islamabadseeking a modus vivendi.

Rashid is right: Washingtonshould not pre-judge the Kabul gov-ernment’s resilience. The heart of thematter is that Afghanistan has itsown yardsticks and the resilience ofthe Afghan people should not be un-derestimated. It is a nation withacute survival instincts. The mini-

mum that is expected of the US andits allies under the circumstances isto fulfill the aid pledges made for thepost-2014 period.

It is a modest commitment, af-fordable and morally obligatory —$16 billion in economic aid through2015 and $3.8 billion in military aidto 2017.

In sum, give the Afghans thebreathing space to get their act to-gether without the NATO and the“international community” cuttingthem adrift.

Second, it is inevitable that atsome point substantive talks with theTaliban become necessary. But don’tmake it a clandestine intelligence op-eration, as the Soviets did, withoutthe Kabul regime being in the loop.Here, the imperative need is to havegood intentions, which always pro-vides scope for transparency. Thefact is there is today a wide recogni-tion among the world communitythat the Taliban need to be part ofthe solution.

Thus, the challenge should be togive the Taliban the confidence tocome forward. Alas, there has been alot of doublespeak on this score, be-cause ‘T’ continues to be a dirty wordfor the political class in the US, espe-cially on The Hill. Surely, some sin-cere “CBMs” are needed on the partof the US.

Looking back, the Taliban —Haqqanis or whoever is responsible— have scaled up the attacks on theNATO forces only because there is noother sphere of activity available fortheir political agenda to be articu-lated. Obama should not waste fur-ther time by delaying a seriousengagement of the Taliban.

Where I disagree with Rashid isas regards his emphasis on the USshepherding the 2014 presidentialelection in Afghanistan. It didn’twork in 2009 and it won’t work now.In fact, it will only increase the sus-picions about the US’ long term in-tentions.

At any rate, the political dispen-sation in Kabul in the post-2014 pe-riod is critically linked to theoutcome of the US’ efforts to recon-cile the Taliban. Without the recon-ciliation of the Taliban, any regimein Kabul will wear a “transitional”look. On the other hand, with thereconciliation of the Taliban, US’ in-trusive role in Afghan politics and in-ternal affairs will become not onlysuperfluous but counter-productive.

In sum, Obama shouldn’t losesleep over Hamid Karzai’s secretiveapproach toward the 2014 election.What matters at the end of the day isthat HK is a leader of some standingand he is a proven coalition-builder.And, of course, it is his native coun-try. Do not humiliate him. HK is alsoa proud chieftain of an importantPashtun tribe.

Rashid is spot on while suggest-ing that the US has a lot to do to re-pair the regional environment. Here,the priority for the US should be toopen a line of communication to-wards Iran.

The Iraq quagmire, the ap-proaching endgame in Syria — theyshow once again that while Tehrancan be trusted to unfailingly do whatit takes to safeguard its vital interestsand core concerns, it is also capableof rising above pride and prejudice tocontribute to regional stability.

In fact, Iran can be a valuableally for the US in the stabilization ofAfghanistan. The sooner Obama re-alises, the better. This is not going tobe easy since so much of bad bloodexists, but then, both the US andIran are famously pragmatic whenthe crunch time comes.

The silver lining is that if Obamagets re-elected, he is for the first timea liberated politician who is free topursue his Iran policy unfettered bythe elements who doggedly pursuedhim and hindered him though theperiod since his pathbreaking 2009speech at Cairo University promisinga new beginning toward Iran.

Equally, Pakistan is doggedly re-fusing to give up its “strategic assets”in Afghanistan, but it is an entirelydifferent matter as to whether it re-ally believes in its capabilities to en-sure a Taliban takeover inAfghanistan overcoming the heavyresistance by the majority of Afghanpeople that is almost inevitable.

Even if, for argument’s sake,such a takeover by the Talibanthrough military means happens,there comes the infinitely more dan-gerous prospect of a Taliban regimein Kabul across the Duran Line,brimming with a sense of triumphal-ism over having licked yet anothersuperpower.

It is hard to believe that the Pak-istani military leadership is unawareof the groundswell of anti-Pakistanifeelings in the Afghan society; or, theacute limitations of Islamabad tobankroll and Afghan regime; and, of

course, the grave implications of a defacto “Afghan-Pakistan confedera-tion” for Pakistan’s own future as anation state.

Indeed, it is hard to believe thatthe animus against India wouldcloud the minds of the Pakistani gen-erals to such an extent that theythrow overboard their innate cautionand commitment to Pakistan’s long-term security and stability.

That is to say, the US should re-main engaged with Pakistan. True,there has been double-crossing. Butthen, what else did the US expect ina matrix where Pakistan is left withno choice but to safeguard its vitalinterests? In the ultimate analysis, itis not for the US to determine whatshould be in Pakistan’s vital inter-ests.

The trust deficit cannot be un-derestimated, which accumulatedthrough the period since the Ray-mond Davis affair. But there is no al-ternative for Obama but to revisit therelationship with Pakistan, since, asRashid rightly points out, Pakistan isuniquely paced to “ensure a final set-tlement or to sabotage one”.

Finally, Rashid overlooked a keyelement, which I have harped on foryears. The US’s Afghan strategy wasfundamentally flawed since it hasoverloaded this war in the HinduKush with geopolitics. Afghanistan isfar too fragile to have been even con-templated as a pawn on the chess-board of big power politics.

This preoccupation with geopol-itics — specifically, the containmentof Iran, Russia and China — madethe US myopic to an extent not evento accept the repeated Russian offersto lend a hand although the preciouslives of hundreds and thousands ofits young men and women were inserious peril.

Aren’t Iran, Russia and Chinastakeholders in Afghanistan’s stabil-ity? Of course they are.

Arguably, they are even more soinvolved as stakeholders than the USand its western allies ever could be.But look at the dark humor in theRussian writings on the US’ defeat inAfghanistan. Why did things have tocome to such a sorry pass?

The choice is truly the US’.Obama should take the road nottaken — the road leading toAfghanistan’s genuine neutrality.

The writer can be reached [email protected]

By M K Bhadrakumar



12

David Beckham to releasenew underwear line?

FOOTBALLeR David Beckham will reportedly willrelease another underwear collection for thefestive season. high Street retailer h&M are

reportedly planning to bring out more David BeckhamBodywear before Christmas, reports dailystar.co.uk."Who wouldn`t want to get their hands on Becks`kecks this Christmas?" said a source. Beckham, whohas four children with fashion designer wife VictoriaBeckham, has previously spoken of how much heenjoyed working on the range. "The underwear istotally my designs, and are things that i like to wear.Working with a team has always been a key part of mylife and i found that to be the same when developingthis range," he said. nEWS DESK

‘Reboot will differ fromSchwarzenegger`s classic’

FiLMMAKeR Marcus Nispel, who is all set torelease the reboot of `Conan the Barbarian`,said he wanted to give moviegoers a reason

to see the new take on the character ArnoldSchwarzenegger has made iconic in 1982. Americanmodel-actor Jason Momoa will take on the iconic rolein Lionsgate`s update of the 1980s film franchise,which will hit theatres this week, said the hollywoodReporter. "Our collective perception of who Conan isreally changes through the decades and is not justdefined by one thing alone. he needs to be updated,"Nispel said. The new movie will see going into aworld where he survives as a thief, pirate and warriorafter his father is murdered and the village isdestroyed. he then meets the warlord responsible forthe destruction of his tribe. "is this still a generationthat embraces or reveres machoism? Are they stillinto an experience where you get dirt under yournails, and that`s sweaty and grimy and hard-core? ibelieve they will be," he added. nEWS DESK

Rolling Stones’ 50th anniversarytour dates announced

The Rolling Stones have officially announceddates for their highly anticipated 50thanniversary tour. The rock icons will perform

their ‘50 and Counting…The Rolling Stones Live’ tourNovember 25 and 29 at London’s O2 Arena andDecember 13 and 15 at Newark’s Prudential Center,the New York Post reported. Mick Jagger, KeithRichards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood revealedtheir return to live work via video message onYouTube. The Stones haven’t performed in publicsince their ‘Bigger Bang’ tour ended in August 2007.Jagger said in a statement, “everybody loves acelebration, and London and New York are two goodplaces to do it in! Their 50th anniversaryperformances will feature all-new, custom-built setdesign, with a stage based on the band’s celebratedtongue and lips logo. nEWS DESK

BOLLYWOOD star couple Saif Ali Khanand Kareena Kapoor tied the knot in aquiet affair after a five-year courtship.Saif, 42, son of late Nawab of Pataudiand former Indian cricket captain

Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and actress SharmilaTagore, sealed his relationship with Kareena, 32,at his residence in suburban Bandra through aregistered marriage. "It was a registered marriagewith three witnesses -- Kareena's father RandhirKapoor, her mother Babita and Saif's motherSharmila," marriage Registrar Surekha Rameshtold . The couple who starteddating in 2007, married in thepresence of close friends andfamily this afternoon. Thecouple had officially declaredtheir intention to tie the knotin the beginning of 2012 afterthe release of their film'Agent Vinod' in March.Randhir and hiselder daughterKarisma laterwaved to thewaiting fansand mediafrom thebalcony ofthe house.Kareenawore agreensalwar-kurtawith a heavyembellishedred dupattawrappedaround her. Sheteamed it up

with minimal jewelry, red bangles and left her hairopen. Saif, simply dressed in a grey kurta andwhite pajamas, came out with his new wife togreet fans from his balcony. There is a buzz that areception will be held tomorrow at a city hotel.This will be followed by another reception in Delhion October 18 and a ceremony at Saif's ancestralPataudi Palace in Haryana. Although Saif andKareena had maintained silence on their muchawaited wedding, it was Saif's mother Sharmilawho came out with the October wedding date. Saifhas two children - son Ibrahim and daughter Sara- from his previous marriage to actress AmritaSingh. Kareena was in a relationship with ShahidKapoor earlier. Saif and Kareena featured together

for the first time in the 2008movie 'Tashan', followed by

'Kurbaan'. They were lastseen in Khan's homeproduction 'Agent Vinod' inMarch this year. The actorduo, popularly called'Saifeena', have appeared in

several advertisementsalso. Sharmila had

converted to Islamafter her marriageto Mansoor AliKhan Pataudi.Earlier during anevent, whenasked if shewould convertto Islam,Kareena hadsaid, "It is avery personalquestion and Icannot answerit." CoURteSY toi

Saif Ali Khan andKareena Kapoorfinally tie the knot

i knew my dadwould neverrecommend me:Varun DhawanFilmmaker DavidDhawan`s younger sonVarun Dhawan, who isall set to make hisacting debut in KaranJohar`s upcomingrelease ‘Student Of TheYear’, says his fathernever put in a word forhim. The film is aromantic comedy filmand also marks thedebut of producer-director MaheshBhatt`s daughter AliaBhatt and SidharthMalhotra. "My fatherdidn`t even discusswith either me or mybrother Rohit aboutmaking us an actor ordirector respectively.You look at his record,he has made 40 filmsand still hasn`tlaunched a singlenewcomer," Varun toldPTI. "That is the wayhe has always workedand this is the reason why from day one I knew that ifI had to enter the film industry or any other line, Iwould have to make my own path," he added. "Thecredit it to my parents who have always brought thesevalues into us. They come from this school of thoughtthat whatever their children do, it has to be on thebasis of `do it on your own` so that they learn how todeal with adversities," Varun said. The newcomer alsosaid that that he is in a very good position as Johar`s‘Student Of The Year’ is taking him all over the worldand ensuring that the world knows him even beforethe film hits the screens. neWS DeSK

Japan's Kiyoka Hashimoto performing in the ballet "Nutcracker", The Vienna Ballet has namedHashimoto star dancer after her performance. afP



13

My Version of `We foundLove` is better than Rihanna: Leona Lewis

POP star Leona Lewis says it was she whoinitially lent her voice on the dance hit `WeFound Love`. The smash hit, penned by

Calvin harris, was ultimately released with R&B starRihanna`s vocals, reported a website. "i workedwith Calvin and we recorded We Found Love. But hewent touring with Rihanna and she ended upreleasing it. i didn`t commit to it because i wantedTrouble to be my (next) single so i think that wasanother reason they went with Rihanna," Lewissaid. Despite the massive success, Lewis, 27,believes her version is better than Rihanna`s. "itwas the same version and production but mine`sbetter. it was a bit annoying to see how big a hit itwas around the world but if i`d released it maybe itwouldn`t have done as well." nEWS DESK

Dolce & Gabbana want tostyle anil Kapoor?

ITALiAN designer duo Domenico Dolce andStefano Gabbana, popularly known as DnG, arereportedly keen to style Bollywood actor Anil

Kapoor. The 52-year-old, who has made a successfulhollywood foray with movies like "SlumdogMillionaire", "Mission: impossible - Ghost Protocol"and US sitcom "24", was noticed by the designers atGQ Mens Awards Sep 30 when they saw his portfoliopicture. "Anil is an extremely good looking and a verystylish person. DnG were really impressed when theysaw his photograph at GQ Mens Awards at an awardceremony and offered to meet him immediately," AtulKasbekar of Bling! entertainment Solutions, whichhandles Anil`s work, said in a statement. Thedesigners reportedly called Anil who was surprisedwhen they told him about their plans nEWS DESK

Keira Knightley feels skinnyjeans are unfriendly

ACTReSS Keira Knightley says she hateswearing skinny jeans and micro-minis asshe feels that they are invented to make

you feel bad about yourself. The 27-year-old,known for her slender frame, says that she wearsthem herself but sometimes don`t find them good,reports a website. Talking about trends from thelast decade she dislikes, she said: "i think skinnyjeans and micro-miniskirts are very unfriendly. i`vebeen known to wear both, but on some days itseems like they were invented to make you feelbad about yourself. nEWS DESK

360 BRIDAL COUTURE WEEKMODELS PRESENTING CREATIONS BY PAKISTANI DESIGNERS ON THE LAST DAY OF THE STYLE 360 BRIDAL COUTURE WEEK FASHION SHOW IN LAHORE

Says Academy Award-winningactor about her choices in filmsAcademy Award-winner HalleBerry is one actor who's knownfor her versatility, when it comesto picking her roles. Fromsuperhero flicks to playing thesexy Bond girl and, of course,nailing her characters inawardwinning emotionaldramas, she's dabbled withmany roles. Next up, she will beseen in two diametricallyopposite films. First up is Cloud Atlas, a scififantasy drama. Talking aboutthis film, based on a novel by thesame name, Halle says,"Everything about the filmexcited me. It was anopportunity to work with Tom

Hanks, Lana Wachowski, AndyWachowski and Tom Tykwer.They are such wonderful people.Besides, in the past, I haven'tdone something that is sochallenging. As an artist, to playdifferent kinds of characters inone movie was a constantchallenge day after day. Everycharacter that I played isdifferent from the other." Little wonder that Halle admits,"It's not the genre that matters,

what matters is the script",justifying her choices in films,admitting she has no favouritegenre. The actor is excited aboutthe coming year for the samereason, as she's experimentedwith something new. "In Movie43, which is scheduled forrelease in 2013, fans will get tosee me play an extremely funnycharacter for the first time," shesays. The trailer of Movie 43,which released worldwiderecently, was an instant hit withfans because of itsunapologetically funny

approach. The film has a stellarensemble cast. "It was a crazyexperience. It was just so muchfun working with all theseimmensely talented actors. Wehad such a good time filming it,"reveals Halle. With the latestJames Bond release around thecorner, Halle also admits thatshe is a Bond fan. "I loved beinga part of the Bond franchise andI loved playing the character ofJinx. She was great fun and itoffered a new challenge for me,"reminisces Halle. The Monster'sBall actor doesn't rule out a visitto India either. "I haven't been toIndia yet and I kind of have anidea of what I am missing. I wantto come there as soon aspossible. I have seen pictures ofthe country and read about it.I'm fascinated by Indian cultureand attire. I'm waiting to visitIndia which is a land of richheritage culture," says Halle,who reveals she's heard ofAishwarya Rai. "She lookedstunning when she was onOprah and also in Pink Panther.But unfortunately, I haven't seenany of her Indian films," ends

Halle. CoURteSY toi

It’s the scrIpt,

not the genre:

halle Berry


14Infotainment


Pizza chain opens up debate

AUS pizza chain has been forced to tweak a“free pizza for life” contest after comingunder fire for daring the crowd at a debate to

ask Barack Obama and Mitt Romney to reveal theirfavorite topping. Pizza Hut hoped for free publicitywhen it promised one large pizza a week for 30 yearsto anyone who asked the presidential rivals, duringTuesday’s televised debate, whether they prefersausage or pepperoni on their pizza. But, followingcriticism it was interfering in the democraticprocess, the firm opened the contest to all users ofthe website of its mock Pizza Party, which willrandomly chose one voter and reward them with alifetime of pizza. “The anticipation and buzz aroundthis question proves that this debate should be takento the people,” said chief marketing officer Kurt Kane.Free pizza is among several promotional stuntsplanned in the run-up to the November 6 elections,the USA Today newspaper has reported. AFP

Crocodile escape gives Vietnamschool children the day off

PRIMARY schoolchildren in part of southernVietnam were given a day off on Mondayafter a number of crocodiles escaped from a

farm and were seen roaming around residentialareas. The reptiles were prowling around densely-populated neighbourhoods after breaking free,according to Thanh Nien newspaper, which saidthe Kim Dong school had closed “to ensure safetyfor teachers and children”. Nearly 60 of theanimals had been rounded up, Le Van Hai, head ofthe Forest Ranger Department of Ca Mau provincetold AFP, but it was unclear how many othersremained at large. “The wall of the crocodile farmcollapsed because of rain erosion, letting themescape,” Hai said of the incident on Friday at DinhBinh town. The Thanh Nien report said the farmhad around 580 reptiles before the wall collapsed.It was not clear how many escaped. AFP

‘Top 10 Ways To Get Away With Rape’ flier found in MU men’s room

MIAMI University is under fire after ahorrendous flier titled “The Top 10 WaysTo Get Away With Rape” was discovered

in a men’s bathroom. The “Get Away with Rape”list includes tasteless suggestions like usingroofies, preying on females walking alone, climbinginto windows and slitting the victim’s throat if therapist is identified, according to the CincinnatiEnquirer,whichpublished aphoto of thelist. MiamiUniversityofficials calleda mandatorymeeting ofmale studentsat the McBrideHall dorm andlaunched aninvestigation.Leaders ofWomenAgainstViolence andSexual Assault (WAVE), an organization that aimsto prevent sexual assault, said the response isinadequate. At least 27 sexual assaults have beenreported at Miami University since 2009,according to USA Today. Miami University reportsthat multiple incidents of forcible sex offences haveoccurred on campus and in residence facilities since2009. No statistics are available for 2012. nEWS DESK

AN international team of amateurand professional astronomers hasdiscovered a planet whose skies arelit up by four suns — the first knowncase of such a phenomenon. The

planet, located about 5,000 light years fromEarth, has been dubbed PH1 in honor ofPlanet Hunters, a programme led by YaleUniversity in the United States, which enlistsvolunteers to look for signs of new planets.PH1 is orbiting two suns, and in turn is or-bited by a second distant pair of stars. Onlysix planets are known to orbit two stars, re-searchers say, and none of those are orbitedby other distant stars.

“Circumbinary planets are the extremesof planet formation,” said Yale’s MegSchwamb, lead author of a paper presentedMonday at the annual meeting of the Divisionfor Planetary Sciences of the American Astro-

nomical Society in Nevada. “The discovery ofthese systems is forcing us to go back to thedrawing board to understand how such plan-ets can assemble and evolve in these dynami-cally challenging environments.” US citizenscientists and Planet Hunters participantsKian Jek and Robert Gagliano were the firstto identify PH1. Their observations were thenconfirmed by a team of US and British re-searchers working in Hawaii.

PH1 is a gas giant with a radius about 6.2times that of Earth, making it slightly largerthan Neptune. It orbits a pair of eclipsing starsthat are 1.5 and 0.41 times the mass of the Sunroughly every 138 days. The two other stars areorbiting the planetary system at a distance thatis roughly 1,000 times the distance betweenEarth and the Sun. The Planethunters.orgwebsite was created in 2010 to encourage am-ateur astronomers to identify planets outside

our solar system, using data from the US spaceagency NASA’s Kepler space telescope. Kepler,launched in March 2009, is NASA’s first mis-sion in search of Earth-like planets orbitingstars similar to our Sun.

The discovery of PH1 was made availableonline Monday at the site arxiv.org and hasbeen submitted to the Astrophysical Journalfor publication. “It still continues to astonishme how we can detect, let alone glean somuch information, about another planetthousands of light-years away just by study-ing the light from its parent star,” Jek said.

Last week scientists reported the discoveryof a “diamond planet” twice the size of earthand orbiting a sun-like star. Up to one-third ofthe planet’s mass and much of its surface is be-lieved to consist of diamonds, implying thatdistant rocky planets can no longer be as-sumed to have the same features as Earth. AFP

Astronomers discover planet with four suns

Daredevil Felix Baumgartner’s record-break-ing jump raises hopes that pilots and even as-tronauts can be saved from accidents in thestratosphere, experts said on Monday. MichelViso, an expert in exobiology at France’s Na-tional Centre of Scientific Research (CNRS),said Baumgartner’s leap from 39,045 metres(128,100 feet) “has operational potential” formanned flight at extreme heights. “In theevent of a problem, people can eject at verygreat altitudes, provided they have a pres-surised suit and self-contained breathing sys-tem and a parachute and provided they have

the appropriate training,” Viso told AFP.Bernard Comet of France’s Institute of SpaceMedicine and Physiology (MEDES) said: “Itproves at the very least that one can eject atextreme altitude, although this is somethingthat hasn’t been done before.” Both Viso andComet stressed that the technical and trainingchallenges were major.

In contrast with Baumgartner, who leaptfrom a balloon, a pilot who ejected would beexposed to an extreme shock from accelera-tion, said Comet. It could in theory be used inthe classic rocket-and-capsule system if a

problem occurs at high altitude during thelaunch phase, he said. But ejecting upon re-entry, when a spacecraft is flying at super-sonic speed and battling atmospheric friction,would be impossible, Viso said. “If you re-enter at seven kilometres per second (15,600miles per hour) in a pressure suit, you willburn up, and so will your suit,” he said.

Baumgartner’s medical director, JonathanClark, lost his wife, Laurel, in the US spaceshuttle Columbia, which tore apart on Febru-ary 1 2003 as it re-entered the atmosphere.

The US space shuttle was fitted with acrew evacuation system after the 1986 Chal-lenger disaster.It could be used during returnphase but not during launch phase. Even so,it could not have helped the Columbia crew.Astronauts could bail out from a side hatchafter donning parachutes, but only providedthe shuttle was on a stable glide at a height of20,000 feet (6,150 metres) or less. AFP

Baumgartner feat boosts hopesfor imperilled astronauts



Page 17

djokovic ‘inspired’ by$10m charity tie-up

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

THE PCB has distanced itself fromthe two Twenty20matches beingplayed between

the World XI and Pak-istan Stars XI over theweekend. Thematches on Satur-day and Sundayare being organ-ised by Sindhsports minister,Dr MohammadAli Shah, with thehelp of a privatesports managementcompany, Extremesports. But while thePCB on Monday said thatit supports the matches, itmade it clear that foolproof security,anti-corruption measures, marketing andbroadcasting of the matches remained the

responsibility of the organisers. The PCBsaid in a statement that at a meeting of itsexecutive coordination committee, it wishedall success to Shah, and noted that the board

had also released players to partici-pate in the matches. "But all

other obligations includingsecurity, anti-corruption,

marketing and broad-casting etc. are directresponsibility of theorganiser and wereto be managed byhim (Shah)," thestatement said.Shah told a news

conference that byholding the two

matches, he hoped tosend out a positive mes-

sage to the cricketingworld that it was safe to play

in Pakistan. "We are makingelaborate arrangements and hope it

will help in the revival of internationalcricket in the country. The response from

the people has been overwhelming," he said.International cricket has remained sus-

pended in the country since March, 2009when militants attacked the Sri Lankanteam bus in Lahore, killing six Pakistani po-

licemen and a van driver while injuring fiveof the visiting players.

No test team has toured Pakistan sincethen while the International Cricket Council(ICC) moved 2011 World Cup matches away

from Pakistan due to security concerns.Shah said that former Sri Lankan cap-

tain, Sanath Jayasuriya, West Indians Ri-cardo Powell, Steven Taylor, JermaineCharles Lawson and Adam Sanford andSouth Africans Justin Kemp, Loots Bosman,Mthandeki Tschabalala, Andre Nel, AndreJohann, Seymore and Nantie Hayward andtwo Afghanistan players have confirmedtheir participation.

Former West Indian batsman AlvinKallicharan will manage the World XI. Shahsaid that around 5,000 policemen will bedeployed to avoid any security lapse and ef-forts are being made to make the foreignplayers feel at home.

Pakistan All Stars will be led by cur-rent all-rounder Shahid Afridi and includeYounis Khan, Nasir Jamshed, Asad Shafiq,Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Umar Gul,Mohammad Sami, Wahab Riaz and ImranNazir.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) wel-comed the move but said in a media re-lease that security would be theresponsibility of the organisers.

PCB distances itself from T20 games with World XI

LONDONAFP

England bowler Stuart Broad believes his internationalteam-mates are ready to end their rift with Kevin Pietersenafter agreeing to peace talks with the controversialbatsman. Pietersen was sent into exile during theTest series against South Africa after sendingprovocative text messages to the oppositionthat contained criticism of then England cap-tain Andrew Strauss. The 32-year-old wasdropped for the final Test and has since beenleft out of the one-day series against SouthAfrica and then World Twenty20 tournamentin Sri Lanka, while Strauss retired from allforms of cricket during the controversy. ButPietersen has now apologised for his behaviourand recently signed a new central con-tract with England after agreeing toenter a "re-integration" process.The next step in bringingPietersen in from the cold willbe a meeting with his Englandteam-mates and Coach AndyFlower. Flower and several ofEngland senior stars were be-lieved to be furious with

Pietersen's actions in recent months, but there has been asoftening of that attitude and Broad is hopeful the talks willaid the Surrey batsman's return in time for the forthcomingtours to India and New Zealand. "It's in the management'shands. Of course (we'd welcome him back). We've had some

amazing success with KP as a team," Broad told the BBCon Tuesday. "I've been in the side six years, we've

won two Ashes series and a Twenty20 World Cup,and we know that KP is a really dangerous playerfor us. "There's not a better man in charge thanAndy Flower to put the situation right and

there's a lot of trust in him at the moment."Whether it's for (the tour of) India or NewZealand, the team will welcome him back. "Wepride ourselves on being an honest changing

room and the only way to move forward isto talk about things. "There will

be a meeting with some ofthe hierarchy and we just

need to lay some thingsout. "I think that will be areally good meeting withmost of the Englandplayers, and hopefullywe can move forwardand draw a line underthe whole experience."

pietersen talks willend england rift: Broad

SYDNEYAFP

Top order batsmen will face a "baptism offire" in South Africa's upcoming tourDown Under as the world's two best paceline-ups face off, Australian coach MickeyArthur said Tuesday.

Australia are hoping to reclaimcricket's world number one ranking overa packed Test schedule in the year ahead,starting with the first of three againsttop-ranked South Africa in Brisbane onNovember 9.

"It's going to be about the batters,"Arthur said of the series.

"It is going to be about which top sixcan adapt better, which top six is going tobe more consistent over the three Test se-ries. I think both top sixes are in for a realbaptism of fire."

Arthur said the ability of the Aus-tralian batsmen to hold off South Africa'sbowling line up, which includes pacemenDale Steyn, Morne Morkel and VernonPhilander, was an opportunity to provethemselves.

On Australia's side, selector John In-verarity said there could be as many asfive pace bowlers in the squad for the first

Test at the Gabba, with James Pattinson,Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus andMitchell Starc all in the mix.

"We're just delighted that we've gotthe pace bowling on tap that we have,"Inverarity said.

The toughest choice for Australianselectors will be that of wicket-keeperand whether to name the more experi-enced Brad Haddin over Matthew Wade.

"We are aware of all the factors; Imean the fact that Matthew is 24 and ris-ing and Brad turns 35 about now," Inver-arity said.

"Obviously Matthew is more for thefuture, but we're very focused on who de-serves and who will be best against SouthAfrica."

Cricket Australia also defended itsdecision to withdraw Shane Watson mid-way through the Twenty20 ChampionsLeague in South Africa to have the all-rounder fresh and rested for the upcom-ing Test campaign at home.

"We need Shane to be best preparedfor that first Test match," Arthur said ofWatson, 31, who has proven himself withbat and ball in all forms of cricket and isa star of the Indian Premier League.

"For us right now his best prepara-

tion is coming back and playing somered-ball cricket."

South-African born Arthur admittedthere was an extra incentive for him to"get one over" the Proteas in the upcom-ing series.

"On a personal level for me, I guess ithas a little bit of extra spice to playagainst the country of your birth, thecountry that I coached for five years," hetold journalists in Sydney.

But he said "first and foremost" theseries was about Australia getting back tothe top position in international cricket.

Australia dominated world cricketfrom 1995 but its fortunes dived afterShane Warne, Glenn McGrath, AdamGilchrist and Matthew Hayden retired,culminating in a 3-1 Ashes defeat at homein the 2010/11 season.

There have been recent signs of a re-vival with a 4-0 whitewash of India lastsummer at home and the emergence of anew generation of rising stars such asPattinson, David Warner and Pat Cum-mins.

"We have a massive opportunity hereto get back to number one in the worldand that's what this series is going to beabout," Arthur said.

tendulkarto be givenAustralia honour

NEW DELHIAFP

India's record-breaking batsman SachinTendulkar is to be conferred with mem-bership of the Order of Australia, visitingPrime Minister Julia Gillard said in NewDelhi on Tuesday.Gillard, currently on a three-day statevisit to India, told reporters that Ten-dulkar deserved the "special honour" be-cause he was a "very special cricketer"."Cricket is of course a great bond be-tween Australia and India. We are bothcricket-mad nations," she said."I am very pleased that we are going toconfer on Sachin Tendulkar the member-ship of the Order of Australia."This is a very special honour very rarelyawarded to someone who is not an Aus-tralian citizen or an Australian national."The award will be conferred on the 39-year-old Tendulkar during Australianminister Simon Crean's upcoming visit toIndia, Gillard said.There was no immediate comment fromTendulkar, who is in South Africa repre-senting the Mumbai Indians team in theTwenty20 Champions League.Tendulkar has scored a world record Test(15,553) and one-day (18,426) runs andhas also compiled an unprecedented 100international centuries.West Indies batting great Brian Lara washonoured with the membership of theOrder of Australia in 2009.Former attorney-general Soli Sorabjee isthe only other Indian to have receivedthe award.

Batsmen face ‘baptism of fire’ in Australia: coach

nz great Crowediagnosedwith cancer

WELLINGTONAFP

Former New Zealand captain MartinCrowe has been diagnosed with cancer,leaving his family "in shock", the battinggreat's manager has revealed. Crowe, 50,was still coming to terms with the news hehad the cancer lymphoma, his managerLouise Henderson said. "The family is stillin shock and obviously dealing with theunderstanding that life as they know it forthe unforeseeable future is different," shesaid in a statement late Monday. Henderson did not provide details of howadvanced Crowe's illness was, saying thefamily had requested privacy.Crowe, a cousin of Hollywood actor Rus-sell Crowe, played 77 Tests for the BlackCaps, averaging 45.36 with the bat. His 17Test centuries is still a New Zealandrecord.He worked as a television commentatorafter retiring from the Black Caps in 1995,with an attempted comeback to first classcricket in Auckland last year cut short byinjury.

Sydney: michael Clarke poses with SpecialOrder Cricket trunk he designed incollaboration with louis Vuitton. afp


PUNJAB YoUTH FeSTiVAL 2012

CHAMPioNS LeAgUe

Sports 16


LAHORE STAFF REPORT

The Punjab Youth Festival 2012 activ-ity has reached the most toughest andinteresting Provincial Level and as thetop competitors of all the divisions as-semble in Lahore the true passion ofyouth would be witnessed during thenext 10 days.

The Festival rolled into actionfrom August 26 from Neighbourhoodand Village Level and after passingfrom five levels has now reached itsconcluding stage.

The Provincial Level which standssixth in the flow chart of the Festivalwould be contested in 31 sectors of thesociety involving general public in in-dividual, family and team events, edu-cation sector would have elementaryand secondary schools, colleges anduniversities, skill sector gets involvedTevta, electrical, computer, mechani-cal, green energy, business manage-ment, engineering and IT sectors andthe most important of all are theevents set to make the world mark inGuinness World Record.

In all there will be 29 sectors onwhich the entire Provincial Level com-petitions are based and in this entireactivity there would be 256 events ofgeneral sports and non-sports are setto be contested.

Usman Anwar, Director GeneralSports and Youth Affairs Punjab, saidthat Rs 50,000,000 will be distributedamong the winners of all the categoriesof the Punjab Youth Festival.

Highlighting the details of thecoming schedule, he said that theProvincial Level will start formallywith the formation of the largest mo-saic and the biggest human flag on Oc-tober 18 and the next day would bespent rehearsing for the October 20

opening ceremony and for the massparticipation of national anthem andfrom that day onwards the ProvincialLevel will start.

“In this Level there would be 256events to be contested that includenine sports sectors and rest of sectorshas general category sectors whichalso have seven new sectors.

“In sports sector, secondaryschools, colleges, universities, generalpublic and press clubs, bar association,corporate and departments.

“The sports events to be contestedin these sectors includes athletics(eight events, badminton, basketball,hockey, karate (three events) table ten-nis, tug of war, volleyball, billiard,bodybuilding (three categories), chess,cricket, football, gymnastics (five cat-egories), hockey, Kabaddi, karate(three categories), mat and mudwrestling (three categories each),

swimming (five categories) tug of war,table tennis, boxing (three categories),cycling, taekwondo, tent pegging,baseball, powerlifting, marathon,rugby, car racing, heavy bike race,” headded.

He further informed that the othersectors of competitions include all theevents that were contested in the pre-vious five levels, Neighbourhood andVillage, tehsil, union council, districtand divisional levels.

“In the provincial level we havealso included events of embedded sys-tem challenge, speed wiring competi-tion, component de electrical, roboextreme, robo wars, robo navigationcontests in electrical sector. In theother sectors like exhibition and quiz,mechanical, green energy, businessmanagement, engineering, IT andComputer Sciences there are events ofengineering and IT exhibition, build

from waste contest, geek wars contest,industrial project exhibition, medicalquest, general knowledge, 3D cad con-test, aero mania contest, eco-carmarathon, energy efficient buildingdesign, clean energy, social entrepre-neurship, start-up business, battle ofbusiness giants, xtreme coding, gamedevelopment, code the bot, applicationdevelopment challenge, conceptialisenotion (poster design competition),project based learning, typing titancontest etc.

“And on the sideline of the entireactivity there will be individual Guin-ness world record events to be held atexpo centre,” he maintained.

Usman Anwar further informedthat the conclusion of the Provinciallevel will mark the start of the first everPunjab International Sports Festival2012, which will start in the first weekof November.

Provincial Level set to start from 18th

CAPE TOWNCRiCinFO

Ahigh impact all-round per-formance from Azhar Mah-mood, his second of thisChampions League

Twenty20, gave qualifiers AucklandAces their third comprehensive vic-tory in South Africa, and severelydamaged Kolkata Knight Riders'prospects of progress in the tourna-ment. Mahmood's timely wickets andcomposed innings during the chase,which was supported by several top-order cameos, led Auckland to thetarget with 14 balls to spare, a consid-erable boost to their net run rate.

While this was Auckland's firstmatch of the Champions Leagueproper, it was Kolkata's second, anda second defeat left the IPL champi-ons needing to win both their re-maining games, while keeping an eyeon run rate, in order to make thesemi-finals from Group A.

After winning the toss on a coldand windy day in Cape Town, Kolkatalooked like setting a formidable totalon two occasions, and both timesthey were stymied by Mahmood.Gautam Gambhir had fallen early -caught by Martin Guptill diving lowand to his left at point - but despitethe new ball seaming and bouncing,Manvinder Bisla and Brendon Mc-Cullum had begun finding theboundary regularly. They got to 72for 1 in the ninth over when left-armspinner Ronnie Hira made the break-through by having Bisla caught atlong-off, and then it was over to Mah-mood.

In his first over, Mahmood hadJacques Kallis caught at slip and

Manoj Tiwary caught and bowled offsuccessive deliveries, reducingKolkata to 72 for 4. His two-overspell contained a maiden and re-turned figures of 2 for 7. The loss ofthose wickets forced McCullum andShakib Al Hasan to consolidate and

Auckland were able to drag the runrate from 8 down to just above sixand a half per over.

McCullum was Auckland's majorthreat and he began to break freewith a tremendous six against AndreAdams, charging the medium pacer

and smashing him beyond the mid-wicket boundary. Gareth Hopkinsbrought Mahmood back for the nextover - the 15th - and he had McCul-lum edging behind with the thirdball.

Shakib didn't last much longer,toe ending a slash off Kyle Mills todeep cover to be dismissed for 15 off22. He didn't come off with the batand his selection ahead of Brett Leeon a pitch that had seam movementand bounce was questionable.

All-round Mahmoodpushes Kolkata to the brink

Sydney Sixers

annihilate listless

yorkshireCAPE TOWN

CRiCinFO

Newlands wit-nessed its secondconsecutive one-sided game asSydney Sixersneeded just 8.5overs to breezepast Yorkshire's96 and give thecounty side therudest of wel-comes to the maindraw. The Sixersshowed why theyare among thebetter bowlingunits in this com-petition, keepingYorkshire to ascore below 100under sunnyskies. The seam-ers shared all ninewickets to fall,striking with suchregularity that theinnings failed to gather any momentum. It wasas if the teams were batting on different pitches.It was a collective struggle for Yorkshire as sev-eral across-the-line swipes failed to find themiddle of the bat; punches and lofts hit the toeend of the blade and didn't have enough to clearthe fielders. That only two batsmen went pastthe 20s - the highest score was Joe Root's 25 -was indicative of how tough it was. When BradHaddin and Michael Lumb swung and swished,the ball hit the sweet spot more often than notand found the boundary 16 times during theirassociation. Yorkshire managed only 11 bound-aries in all. The Yorkshire captain Andrew Galehimself found it hard to get bat on ball after opt-ing to bat first, and had limped to 8 off 18 ballsbefore he walked across his crease opting to im-provise against Josh Hazlewood, only to see hisleg stump cartwheel. After Phil Jaques fell for abreezy 19, the seamers applied the strangleholdthat stayed through the innings. At one stage,Yorkshire managed only eight runs off fiveovers. Root broke free with a flick to midwicketand a pulled six - the only one of the innings -off Watson. However, the slowness of the pitchconsumed him as well as he swung too earlyagainst Moises Henriques and lost his off stump.The run-rate took a beating as well - it stayedbelow five an over for seven consecutive overs,sneaked above five for a couple of overs beforeslipping again. The pressure piled on with everyquiet over as the middle order ended up swish-ing at thin air as if they were shadow-practisinga sword fight. Yorkshire managed only threeboundaries of those coming in the last ten overs.Mitchell Starc, who leaked 13 off his first over,came back well, landed his yorkers correctly andfinished with 3 for 22. The only consolation inthe field for Yorkshire were the wickets of ShaneWatson and Brad Haddin. Though Watsonlasted just one over, Haddin lasted eight and bythe time he was done, the Sixers were eight awayfrom victory. Haddin and Lumb charged thebowlers and bashed the ball to all corners, pro-pelling the score to 62 for 1 after just five overs.It was over so quickly that the few who showedup in the stands had more time to kill before thesecond game of the evening.

LAHORE: The Pakistan Ju-Jitsu Federa-tion is organising the 8th National Ju-JitsuChampionship 2012 from November 4-5 atSports Gymnasium Nishtar Park Lahore.The Championship will be held in 50kg,56kg, 62kg, 69kg, 77kg, 85kg, 94, +94kg formen and in women category events will becontested in 48kg, 55kg, 62kg, 70kg,+70kg. This event would be treated as theselection criteria for the national team to beplaced in the upcoming Punjab Interna-tional Sports Festival 2012 starting fromNovember 7-11 at Lahore. In Ju-jitsu eventaround 23 countries have confirmed theirparticipation and had already submittedtheir entries and copies of passport. Around 130 players and official under PJJF would be attending this mega eventin Pakistan. Keeping in view of the importance of the event and to give the local players an opportunity to showtheir talent and skill, PJJF decided to host Chief Minister Punjab Ju-Jitsu Championship 03 days prior to the Inter-national tournament in Pakistan. The categories are the same as has been decided in the upcoming National Gamesof Pakistan duly organized by Punjab Olympic Association in the month of December 2012 at Lahore. STAFF REPORT

National Ju-Jitsu to prepare players for festival

CAPe tOWn: Azhar mahmood of the Auckland Aces reacts during a match of the Championsleague t20 between the Auckland Aces and the kkr at the newlands Stadium. afp

yORKSHiRE

AW Gale b Hazlewood 8

PA Jaques c Thornely b Starc 21

JE Root b Henriques 25

A lythc Rohrer b Watson 18

GS balance c †Haddin b Cummins 8

AU Rashid c †Haddin b Cummins 1

DM Hodgson† c Smith b Watson 7

Azeem Rafiq c Hazlewood b Starc 0

RJ Sidebottomnot out 3

SA Patterson b Starc 2

EXTRAS 3

TOTAl 96

FAll OF WiCKETS 1-30 (Gale, 5.5 ov), 2-30 (Jaques, 6.2 ov), 3-62 (Root, 12.4

ov), 4-78 (lyth, 15.5 ov), 5-79 (Rashid, 16.1 ov), 6-88 (Hodgson, 17.5 ov), 7-90

(ballance, 18.4 ov), 8-92 (Azeem Rafiq, 19.2 ov), 9-96 (Patterson, 19.6 ov)

bOWlinG

SnJ O'Keefe 2-0-14-0, MA Starc 4-1-22-3, PJ Cummins4-0-13-2, JR

Hazlewood 4-0-9-1, SR Watson 4-0-27-2, MC Henriques 2-0-10-1

SyDnEy SiXERS

SR Watson c Root b Sidebottom 11

MJ lumb not out 43

bJ Haddin*† c lyth b Azeem Rafiq 41

DJ Thornely not out 1

EXTRAS 2

TOTAl 98

FAll Of Wickets 1-11 (Watson, 1.1 ov), 2-89 (Haddin, 8.1 ov)

bOWlinG: JE Root 1-0-11-0, RJ Sidebottom 2-0-28-1, SA Patterson2-0-15-0,

MA Ashraf 1-0-14-0, Azeem Rafiq 1.5-0-21-1, AU Rashid 1-0-8-0

Toss yorkshire, who chose to bat, Points Sydney Sixers 4, yorkshire 0, Player

of the match bJ Haddin (Sydney Sixers), Umpires Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and

RJ Tucker (Australia), TV umpire HDPK Dharmasena (Sri lanka), Match

referee RS Madugalle (Sri lanka), Reserve umpire S George

SCOREbOARD

KOlKATA KniGHT RiDERS

MS bisla† c Kitchen b Hira 38

G Gambhir* c Guptill b bates 5

bb McCullum c †Hopkins b Azhar Mahmood 40

JH Kallis c Vincent b Azhar Mahmood 0

MK Tiwary c & b Azhar Mahmood 0

Shakib Al Hasan c de Grandhomme b Mills 15

yK Pathan not out 22

R bhatia not out 9

EXTRAS 8

TOTAl 137

FAll OF WiCKETS 1-10 (Gambhir, 1.5 ov), 2-72 (bisla, 8.4

ov), 3-72 (Kallis, 9.2 ov), 4-72 (Tiwary, 9.3 ov), 5-98

(McCullum, 14.3 ov), 6-108 (Shakib Al Hasan, 16.2 ov)

bOWlinG

KD Mills 4-0-23-1, MD bates 4-0-33-1, AR Adams 4-0-31-

0, RM Hira 4-0-30-1, Azhar Mahmood 4-1-16-3

AUCKlAnD

MJ Guptill c narine b balaji 25

l Vincent c Tiwary b narine 30

Azhar Mahmood not out 51

AK Kitchen lbw b narine 24

C de Grandhomme not out 9

EXTRAS 0

TOTAl 139

FAll OF WiCKETS 1-37 (Vincent, 2.6 ov), 2-76 (Guptill,

9.5 ov), 3-117 (Kitchen, 14.4 ov)

bOWlinG

l balaji 4-0-38-1, Shakib Al Hasan 4-0-34-0, SP narine

4-0-24-2, JH Kallis 3-0-17-0, PJ Sangwan 2.4-0-26-0

Match details

Toss Kolkata Knight Riders, who chose to bat

Points Auckland 4, Kolkata Knight Riders 0

Player of the match Azhar Mahmood (Auckland)

Umpires HDPK Dharmasena (Sri lanka) and RJ Tucker

(Australia), TV umpire Aleem Dar (Pakistan), Match

referee DC boon (Australia), Reserve umpire S George

SCOREbOARD


Sports17


djokovic ‘inspired’by $10 mncharity tie-up

TOKYOAFP

Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic, aim-ing to finish the year as the world num-ber-one, said Tuesday he was gettinginspiration from a $10 million charity tieup with a Japanese clothing firm.Cheap-chic giant Uniqlo has put up themoney for the fund, which is beingfronted by Djokovic, fresh from his back-to-back wins at the China Open and theShanghai Masters in the past fortnight."This kind of humanitarian work alwayshelps me play positive," said the 25-year-old world number two, who began a spon-sorship deal with the firm last May.The fund will be split in two $5 millionparts, with one being spent on ideas so-licited online from around the world onthe theme of giving "children a better to-morrow", a Uniqlo statement said.The other half will provide support toprogrammes aimed at improving chil-dren's education that will see the firm'sparent company Fast Retailing workingwith the United Nations Children's Fund(UNICEF). "I find it very inspiring be-cause not so many companies around theworld have such vision and idea. And youhave to embrace it in the best possibleway," Djokovic said.

Sepang to paytribute to marcoSimoncelli

KUALA LUMPURAFP

MotoGP riders will gather at Malaysia'sSepang circuit this week for the installa-tion of a plaque in memory of Italianrider Marco Simoncelli, who died in acrash last October, a top official saidTuesday. Razlan Razali, Sepang Inter-national Circuit (SIC) CEO, told AFPthat riders and team officials wouldgather at turn 11 on Thursday where theyoung racer lost control of his bike. "Abronze plaque will be installed at turn11 in remembrance of Simoncelli," hesaid. The tragic incident occurred soonafter the race began when the 24-year-old Honda rider's bike veered across thetrack and into the path of riders ColinEdwards and Valentino Rossi, who ap-peared to have hit him. Simoncelli, con-sidered an up-and-coming MotoGP star,had his helmet knocked off in the colli-sion. Razlan also said a new "Marco Si-moncelli rookie of the year" trophy inmemory of the flamboyant 2008 Moto2world champion would be unveiled onSaturday. SIC will award the trophy tothe best rookie in the MotoGP class atthe season ending race in Valencia onNovember 11. Any rookie rider with themost number of points wins the trophy.Sepang is to host the Malaysian GrandPrix on Sunday, in round 16 of the 18-part MotoGP Championship.

tOkyO: Serbian tennis player novak djokovic (C) instructs Japanse

children at a tennis school during an event held by Japanese fashion

brand uniqlo. uniqlo announced that it launched a 10 million uSd

fund 'Clothes for Smile' program for kids all over the world in

collaboration with djokovic who is its grobal brand ambassador. afp

VIENNAAFP

Australian Marinko Matosevic produced theshock of the first day of the ATP Austrian Openhere on Monday as he beat Dutch sixth seedRobin Haase 1-6, 6-3, 6-2. Matosevic's worldranking of 55 is the best of his career and the27-year-old Aussie showed he means to holdonto it in his victory featuring five aces and fourbreaks of serve in 97 minutes.

Gilles Muller of Luxembourg staged afightback to overcome Belgium's Steve Darcis6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 6-3 with the winner firing down16 aces but needing almost two and a half hoursto advance. Argentine Juan Martin del Potro,the top seed, is making a re-appearance after amonth out with a left wrist injury, last playingin a Davis Cup semi-final loss to the Czech Re-public in Buenos Aires. The Argentine is fight-ing this week for one of three remaining spots

at the World Tour Finals which wrap up theseason from November 5 in London. Del Potrolost the Vienna final last year to Jo-WilfriedTsonga and will hope to go a step further thisweek to help his cause. The provisional numberseven in the London field is expected to duelwith number nine rival Janko Tipsarevic, alsoin with a chance and seeded two here. Spain'sDavid Ferrer on Monday claimed the fifth placebehind Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, AndyMurray and the injured Rafael Nadal.DEL POTRO BEARING DOWN ONLONDON fINALS PLAcE: Juan Del Potrois optimistic about his chances to qualify for theyear-end World Tour Finals next month as thetop seed prepared on Tuesday to begin his au-tumn indoor campaign at the Austrian Open.

The Argentine stands provisional seventhin a season points chase which has three moreweeks to run before the start of the eight-manevent on November 5 in London. He begins at

the Stadehalle against the winner from a pairof qualifiers, German Daniel Brands or BelgianRuben Bemelmans. Three London spots areopen, but the likely injury absence of RafaelNadal could mean that four more players havea chance to reach the field. Del Potro wants tobe one of them. "I'm very exited about trying toqualify, I need to do well here and at my nextevent (Basle) in order to have a chance though,"the Argentine said as he continued training atthe tournament where he lost the final a yearago to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. "I have to play con-sistently this week, it would be great to win thetitle here for the first time. That would help mychances," said the 24-year-old, who is compet-ing for the first time in a month after dealingwith a left wrist injury. "I followed my rehabprogramme in Buenos Aires and did it well,"said the 2009 US Open winner who thenmissed most of the next season with a rightwrist problem which required surgery.

aussie Matosevic shocks Haase

MILANAFP

Inter Milan striker Antonio Cassano saidhe is still mystified about why he hasbeen left on the sidelines by Italy coachCesare Prandelli. Cassano has played atevery level for Italy and made 35 appear-ances for the senior national side butplayed no part in their World Cup qual-ifying campaign so far.

The 30-year-old, who switched fromAC Milan to Inter at the start of the sea-son, said however he has not given up onwhat would be his first World Cup ap-pearance if Italy qualify. "I don't knowwhy I haven't been selected but I remainhopeful that I'll be considered all theway up to the World Cup," Cassano toldItalian television late Monday. Headded: "I feel a bit annoyed that journal-ists know five days before I did that Iwasn't going to be picked. I hope to go toto the World Cup but if it doesn't happen

it's not a tragedy." Cassano hit the head-lines last year when he underwent heartsurgery after suffering a scare on a re-turn trip to Milan with the Rossoneri.The Inter striker, who lastplayed for Italy in the final ofEuro 2012 -- won 4-0 bySpain -- has so far beensnubbed by Prandelli forgames against Bulgaria,Malta and Armenia.

Italy go intoTuesday's matchagainst Denmarkat the San Sirotop of Group Bwith a two-point advan-tage onB u l g a r i aafter threeof their10 quali-fiers.

EGyPT fOOTBALL ASSOcIATIONDELAyS SEASON AGAIN: Egypt'sfootball association has delayed thestart of its season for a second timeafter security refused to authorize thecommencement of games, the associa-

tion saidon itsw e b -s i t e .T h e

popular sportin Egypt is still

reeling from a stadiumriot in February that killed 70 peo-

ple. The association postponed theseason, scheduled to start on Octo-ber 17 after a one month delay, be-cause "the necessary securityauthorization is absent," it said.

Fans of Cairo's Al-Ahly club,whose members died in the vio-lence, had stormed the associa-tion's headquarters last month to

protest a decision to resume the games.The Ultras were furious after the as-

sociation decided to begin the seasonbefore the end of the trial of suspects inthe deadly violence.

The February riot erupted at thefinal whistle when Al-Masry fans in-vaded the pitch after their team beat thevisitors 3-1, throwing rocks, bottles andfireworks at Al-Ahly supporters, caus-ing chaos and panic as players and fansfled in all directions.

The Port Said stadium deathssparked days of violent protests inCairo, in which another 16 people werekilled.

The violence was one of the dead-liest incidents in football history, andcame amid charges from witnesses thatsecurity forces did little to prevent therioting, prompting more deadly clashesin the days that followed.

Nine policemen are among defen-dants in the trial which opened in April.

Cassano can’t fathom italy snub: report

mOSCOW: Andrey kuznetsov of russia returns a ball to Carlos berlocq of Argentinaduring the kremlin Cup tennis tournament match. afp


watch it LivePTV SPORTSAuckland v Titans04:30PMKolkata Knight Ridersv Perth Scorchers08:30PM

Sports 18


bin Hammam makesnew CAS appeal

NICOSIAAFP

Mohamed Bin Hammam, the ex-Asianfootball chief suspended by FIFA, haslodged a fresh appeal with the Court ofArbitration for Sport (CAS), he told AFPon Monday. "My lawyers and myself areappealing to CAS," the 63-year-old Qatariconfirmed. Bin Hammam has been sus-pended from football activities for morethan a year after FIFA's ethics committeefound him guilty of bribery during hiselection campaign to replace the worldbody's president, Sepp Blatter. Thebribery case was seen as shedding a lighton murky practices inside FIFA, andprompted new questions about Qatar'ssuccessful bid to host the 2022 WorldCup, in which bin Hammam played a keyrole. The bid, alongside others, is nowunder investigation. Bin Hammam main-tains he is innocent of the charges. InJuly his lifetime ban from football wasoverturned by CAS on grounds of insuffi-cient evidence with the proviso that thecase could be reopened if fresh evidencecame to light. Bin Hammam officiallylodged his appeal to CAS on October 5.The Qatari multi-millionaire remainsprovisionally suspended by both FIFA

and the Asian FootballConfederation (of

which he waspresident)pending inves-tigations intothe Asianbody's fi-nancialdealings.

britain seeksfresh inquests intoHillsborough disaster

LONDONAFP

Britain's attorney general said Tuesdayhe would apply for fresh inquests intothe deaths of 96 Liverpool supportersduring the 1989 Hillsborough footballstadium disaster.Dominic Grieve said he would ask theHigh Court to have the verdicts of theoriginal inquests into Britain's worstever sporting disaster quashed so thatnew inquests can be held.The application comes a month after adamning report revealed that police hadaltered at least 164 witness statementsin an attempt to divert blame onto Liv-erpool supporters for the stadium crush."I will apply to have every one of those96 inquests quashed," Grieve told par-liament. "I believe that these deaths,arising as they do from a common chainof events, should all be consideredafresh." Britain's police watchdog, theIndependent Police Complaints Com-mission, said on Friday that it wouldlaunch the biggest ever independent in-quiry into potential police wrongdoingover the disaster.

Oosthuizen totake another crackat Singapore

SINGAPOREAFP

Former major champion Louis Oosthuizenis to take another shot at the Barclays Sin-gapore Open next month after missing outon the US$1 million paycheck last year, or-ganizers said Tuesday. The South Africanworld number 12 finished third in the 2011edition of the tournament behind GonzaloFernandez-Castano of Spain and second-placed Juvic Pagunsan of the Philippines.Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open cham-pion and runner-up in this year's US Mas-ters, will join fellow major championsIrishman Padraig Harrington and KiwiMichael Campbell for the event from No-vember 8-11, organizers said. The field inthe $6 million Singapore Open, touted as"Asia's major", will be led by world num-ber one Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland,three-time winner Adam Scott of Australiaand US star Phil Mickelson. Recalling howhe finished third in Singapore last year,Oosthuizen said: "Hopefully, this year willbe different."

massa to stay at

ferrari for 2013PARIS

AFP

Brazilian driver Felipe Massa is to stay atFerrari next season, Ferrari announcedon Tuesday, amid speculation that hecould make way for double Formula Oneworld champion Sebastian Vettel. "Scud-eria Ferrari announces that it has re-newed its contract with the driver FelipeMassa to the end of the 2013 race sea-son," the Italian racing outfit said on itswebsite ferrari.com. "The Scuderia'sdriver line-up for next year is thereforemade up of Fernando Alonso and theaforementioned Felipe Massa." On Mon-day, the president of Ferrari, Luca diMontezemolo, rejected reports that Ger-many's Vettel was on his way to the teamto partner Spaniard Alonso for the 2014season, depening on results next year.Vettel, who currently drives for RedBull, is top of the drivers' championshipahead of Alonso. Massa, who made hisdebut in 2002, is in ninth position.

HARAREAFP

AZimbabwean probe has rec-ommended life bans for 13national footballers and offi-cials implicated in a 2009

match-fixing scam in Asia, according toa report released Tuesday.

Although the probe team did notname the players and officials in the re-port, it further recommended a 10-yearban for seven people, a five-year banfor 37, two-year bans for 25 people andone to two-year bans for 10 playerswhile eight players were exonerated.

"Some officials and players will un-doubtedly have their football futuresruined by these greedy, despicable,ruthless and unfeeling miscreants,"said retired high court judge and inves-tigating team head Ahmed Ebrahimafter the 13 were found guilty. "There

is little doubt that these young playerswere carefully selected due to their in-experience, youth and immaturity."

Former Zimbabwe Football Associ-ation (ZIFA) chief executive HenriettaRushwaya sent the national team toplay unsanctioned friendlies in Thai-land, Syria and Malaysia two years agoand a betting syndicate allegedly fixedthe results.

Rushwaya was later fired in 2010.Ebrahim said the exact details of

how the Zimbabwe teams were in-volved in the match-fixing and bettingsyndicate allegedly organised by a Sin-gapore-based man named Wilson RajPerumal may never be known - but hesaid those behind the scam were drivenby greed.

"I don't subscribe to the view thatthe root cause of it is one of economichardship," the former judge said.

"I believe the motivating factor is

greed and the pursuit of making aquick buck."

ZIFA chief executive JonathanMashingaidze said 80 players were in-volved in the scam. Some of the playersincluding national team players OvidyKaruru and Khama Billiat were clearedduring the course of the probe.

Former national team coach Nor-man Mapeza, who was suspended lastyear, was among the officials impli-cated. Two years ago the football asso-ciation suspended three boardmembers, including a former nationalteam player and a former referee, overthe scandal.

Zimbabwe are also under investi-gation by world football governingbody FIFA. FIFA chief Sepp Blatterwarned during a visit to Harare twoyears ago that players and officialsfound guilty in the ongoing probewould face life bans.

13 face life-ban forZimbabwe match-fixing

WrOClAW: brazil thumped Japan 4-0 in a friendly in Poland on tuesday as the World Cup hosts showed their form just five days afterhitting Iraq for six in Sweden. Star man neymar scored twice after Paulinho opened the floodgates on 12 minutes and neymar thenweighed in with his brace - including one from the spot - before kaka added the fourth. afp

BERLINAFP

Germany striker Miroslav Klose on Tuesday received a fairplay prize from the German Football Federation (DFB) afteradmitting a goal he had scored last month in the Italianleague was a handball. The 34-year-old, who has scored65 times for Germany in 125 appearances, won theaward after informing the referee a goal he hadscored for Lazio against Napoli in Serie A at theend of September had hit his hand first. AfterKlose's confession, the referee cancelled the goal asLazio went on to lose the match 3-0 at Napoli. TheGerman was praised by his opponents on the pitchand later by the Italian media for his honesty."The referee asked me if the ball had hit myhand," said Klose, who will play in Ger-many's World Cup qualifier against Swe-den at Berlin's Olympic Stadium onTuesday. "I admitted it had and, forme, that was the obvious thing to do."There are so many young peoplewho sit in front of the television,that we should set a good example."Klose also won a similar award in2005 when playing for Werder Bre-men in a Bundesliga match againstBielefeld. After Bremen wereawarded a penalty, Klose told the ref-eree that the Bielefeld goalkeeper hadthe ball first before the striker fell in the

area. The referee reversed his penalty decision and also can-celled the yellow card shown to the goalkeeper.INjURED BUffON OUT Of ITALy v DENMARK: Italygoalkeeper and skipper Gianluigi Buffon has been ruled out ofthe Azzurri's World Cup qualifier against Denmark after failinga late fitness test, the Italian football federation (FIGC) an-nounced. Buffon had been hopeful of shaking off an adductor

muscle injury in time for Tuesday's match at the San Siro inMilan but will play no part in the match after tests showedhe had not recovered sufficiently. "Gianluigi Buffon willnot play tonight against Denmark," read a statement bythe FIGC. "The Italy captain has been struggling with a

left adductor muscle strain and did not pass the fitnesstest this morning." Napoli goalkeeper Morgan

De Sanctis is expected to step in for Buffonto make what would be only his sixth ap-

pearance, having been under the Ju-ventus keeper's shadow since making

his debut in 2005. Speculationabout Buffon's role in the match

has been rife since he picked upthe injury in the 3-1 away win

over Armenia on Friday --mainly because of Juven-

tus's upcoming Serie Afixture. The Old Ladyof Turin play host toNapoli on Saturday,

with the chance to goclear at the top of the

table at stake for either side.

Germany’s Klosewins fair play prize



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


THE National Assembly onTuesday finally passed a bill forthe establishment of the DrugRegulatory Authority (DRA) ofPakistan after the opposition

accepted the government’s assurance ofnot appointing a dual-national as the au-thority’s head.

As Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kunditook up the Drug Regulatory Authority ofPakistan Bill 2012 for the final reading,Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s ZahidHamid said the opposition would not press

against the removal of the word ‘only’ froma clause of the bill if the government as-sured that the amendment was just meantto correct a grammatical error.

The question of dual nationality, whichis being hotly debated in several forums inPakistan, hit the NA on Monday when theLower House was midway through votingon the bill’s clauses.

The bill was deferred after the PML-Nbroke the house quorum by having severalof its back-benchers sneak out of thechamber after a lawmaker of the MQM, acoalition partner, refused to withdraw hisamendment seeking deletion of the word‘only’ from a clause that requires the chief

executive officer or a director of the pro-posed authority to be a Pakistani citizen.

The clause had stated, “No person shallbe appointed as the CEO or director of theauthority unless he is a citizen of Pakistanonly.” Opposition lawmakers had insistedthat the removal of the word ‘only’ seemedto be paving the way for the induction ofpeople with dual nationality who couldserve the interests of foreign pharmaceuti-cal companies.

“What would happen to 10 millionoverseas Pakistanis if we put such restric-tions? Dr Abdul Qadir Khan also held dualnationality when he gave nuclear power tothe country,” chief whip Syed Khurshid

Shah said, adding that Article 62 of theconstitution also contained the same ex-pression and that neither the governmentwanted to adopt the amendment nor wasit doing so on anyone’s behest.

However, Minister for National Regu-lations and Services Firdous Ashiq Awanassured the House that the amendmentwas of grammatical nature and had noth-ing to do with the appointment of any dualnational. Minister for Law Farooq H Naikalso said the Article 62 also stopped atword ‘Pakistan’ that dealt with the qualifi-cation of the prime minister and the pres-ident. According to the bill, the DRA wouldbring harmony in inter-provincial trade

and commerce of drugs and therapeuticgoods to regulate, manufacture, import,export, storage, distribution and sale oftherapeutic goods, medical devices anddrugs research.

The DRA would advise the federal gov-ernment on the issues relating to the obli-gations and commitments withinternational organisations related to ther-apeutic goods like drugs and medicine.

Moreover, the authority will also de-velop ethical criteria for drug promotion,marketing, and advertising.

Later, the deputy speaker put forth thebill for passage that was adopted with ma-jority a vote.

ISLAMABADAnWER AbbAS

Expressing strong reservationsagainst continuous absence of minis-ters from Senate proceedings, actingSenate chairman Sabir Baloch onTuesday gave a ruling demandingPrime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraftake action against the ministers re-maining absent from Senate proceed-ings. The PML-N also staged awalkout over the issue, while theMQM staged a walkout over the raisein rates of overseas telephone calls.

Members of the Upper Housemet under the chairmanship of SabirBaloch to resume the proceedings ofthe House. During the question an-swer session, members recordedtheir strong protest over the absenceof ministers from Senate proceed-ings, saying it was useless to tablevarious questions in the House whenno minister was available to answerthem.

Members belonging to bothtreasury and the opposition benchesexpressed their strong concerns oncontinued absence of the ministersconcerned, calling it an insult of the

House, adding that business of theHouse could not be maintained insuch manner. Recording their com-plaints, they urged the acting chair-man to ensure the presence of absentministers and demanded a rulingover the issue. Col (r) Tahir Mash-hadi of the Muttahida Qaumi Move-ment (MQM) pointed out that notonly the ministers were absent, theyalso avoided giving any replacementthat might respond to the questionsof the members, while ANP’s ZahidKhan stressed the acting chairman togive his ruling against the ministers.

Sardar Fateh Mohammad alsodemanded a ruling, as “it has becamea routine for the ministers to stayaway from the House during the pro-ceedings and to not to give the Housedue respect”.

Senator Babar Khan Ghauriasked the chair to find out the lists ofMPs who were disqualified by theElection Commission of Pakistan fornot giving details of their assets. Pak-istan Muslim League-Nawaz sena-tors, including Ishaq Dar, PervaizRasheed and Syed Zafar Ali Shahpointed out that questions raised bythem often remained unanswered,

which was not an ethical practice.They also staged a walkout over

the issue, urging the chair to bringthe issue into the notice of the primeminister. Sabir Baloch said it was un-fortunate and beyond understandingthat what the prime minister and therest of ministers thought about theSenate, adding that a number of re-quests had been forwarded to thePM, asking him to direct the minis-ters to maintain the discipline in theHouse, but in vain.

Senator Mashhadi declared therise in overseas calls a great injusticeto overseas Pakistanis and men-tioned that the government had col-lected extortion money worth Rs 20million in just a week in the name oftaxes on overseas calls. Tahir Hus-sain Mashhadi said, “The ministerconcerned says that he had not or-dered any such raise on the overseascalls, then who raised the calls?” Hesaid it was a move by the ministriesfor interior and telecom.

Demanding the governmentwithdraw the raise in charges ofoverseas calls, the MQM senatorsalso staged a walkout from the Sen-ate to record their protest.

Pakistan readyto import fuelfrom india if ‘price right’

NEW DELHIAFP

Petroleum Minister Asim Hussain onTuesday said the country was willing toimport diesel and jet fuel from rival India ifthe price is “right”. The statement by AsimHussain is the latest sign of warming tiesbetween the nuclear-armed neighbourswho have fought three wars sinceindependence from Britain in 1947. “If theright prices are given, we have no problemsimporting (diesel and jet fuel),” Hussainsaid on the sidelines of a petrochemicalconference in the Indian capital, accordingto the Press Trust of India news agency.India and Pakistan have been channelingtheir peace efforts into “trade diplomacy”in a bid to build enough trust to tacklethornier issues that divide them such as thedisputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir.While Pakistan has removed fuel importsfrom its list of goods that were bannedfrom being imported from India, it allowsimport of diesel and jet fuel only by ship.India, which has refineries across the border,is keen to take the road route to reach fuel-short Pakistan. “I think a way could be found(to import via land) as import of (fuel)products is not banned,” Hussain said,adding that a team from India’s state-runHindustan Petroleum Corp would soon visitPakistan to discuss prices.

Malala makingprogress in UK

BIRMINGHAMAFP

Malala Yousafzai is making progress in aBritish hospital, doctors said Tuesday, aspolice turned away visitors claiming to berelatives. Malala was in a stable conditionon her first full day in Queen ElizabethHospital in Birmingham after being flownto the city in central England on board anair ambulance. The hospital’s medicaldirector David Rosser said she had had a“comfortable night”. “We are very pleasedwith the progress she’s made so far,” hetold reporters. “She is showing every signof being every bit as strong as we’ve beenled to believe. “Malala will needreconstructive surgery and we haveinternational experts in that field.” He saiddoctors at the highly specialised hospital —where British service personnel woundedin Afghanistan are treated — werebeginning to plan for the complexprocedures but they would not be carriedout in the coming days. Malala has beenassessed by clinicians from theneurosurgery, imaging, trauma andtherapy departments, though “veryspecialist teams” who may becomeinvolved further down the line are yet toperform detailed assessments on herinjuries, Rosser added. Malala was shot ona school bus in the former Talibanstronghold of the Swat valley last Tuesdayas a punishment for campaigning for theright to an education, in an attack whichoutraged the world. The teenager had abullet removed from her skull last week.Given that she was targeted forassassination by a Taliban gunman,security measures are in place at thehospital. Rosser said there had been some“irritating incidents” overnight in whichpeople “claiming to be members ofMalala’s family — which we don’t believe tobe true” had turned up. Birmingham has a100,000-strong ethnic Pakistanicommunity — a tenth of the city’spopulation. A West Midlands Policespokesman said two “well-wishers” werequestioned by officers who took theirdetails and turned them away. “No arrestswere made and at no point was there anythreat to Malala,” he said. Rosser added:“We think it’s probably people being over-curious. They didn’t get very far.”

Polio worker killed

on duty in QuettaQUETTA

APP

Unidentified gunmen shot dead a memberof polio vaccination team in the Rind Garharea of the provincial capital on Tuesday,police said. Officials said the polio teammember, identified as Imran, wasadministering vaccination drops tochildren near Labour Colony in SatelliteTown Police precincts. They said that twomen riding a motorcycle arrived and shotat him, leaving him seriously injured.Imran died on way to hospital, officialsadded. Referring to initial investigation,police officials said the killing could be theresult of a personal enmity. They saidfurther investigation was underway.

Drug bill sails through NA despite hiccups

Senate chairman seeks actionagainst ministers’ absence

FRAnKFURT: A carp opens its mouth expecting some food on Tuesday at the Palmengarten public garden in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. afp

g Pml-n, mQm stage walkout over absence of ministers, rise in overseas call ratesg mQm says govt extorted rs 20m in a week in name of taxes on overseas calls

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