Thursday, 23 May, 2013 Rajab 12, 1434Rs 17.00 Vol III No 326 19 Pages Karachi Edition

SC not too enthusiastic abouttaking action against Altaf

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imran Khan discharged from hospital Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday left the hospital two weeks after injuring his back

in a fall at an election rally, a hospital spokesman said. The 60-year-old politician was ordered to remain immobile in

bed after he fractured vertebrae and a rib in a dramatic tumble just days before the May 11 general election. pa g e 0 4

sC suspends all transfers‚ postingsmade by caretaker govt

The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) on

Wednesday suspended all the postings

and transfers made by the caretaker

government, saying personal likes could

not be allowed to deride merit. A three-

member bench of the apex court headed

by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad

Chaudhry heard the case against

postings of 13 high-ranking officials by

the caretaker government. pa g e 0 4

UK soldier beheaded inLondon street by men‘chanting allah akbar’

British Prime Minister David Cameron has

called a meeting of his government’s

emergency Cobra security committee

after the killing of a British soldier in

London. Britain’s government convenes

Cobra meetings only to deal with

incidents that have implications for

national security. Cameron said that there

were “strong indications” that a killing in

London was terror-related. pa g e 0 4

tornado rescue efforts wind down in oklahoma

Rescue workers are near the end of

the search for survivors in the

Oklahoma City suburb where a rare

and powerful tornado claimed 24

lives, injured at least 230 and left

dozens missing. Police said

thunderstorms and lightning slowed

the rescue effort on Tuesday, but 101

people had been pulled from the

debris alive. pa g e 0 7

no peace inafghanistan withoutpakistan: Karzai

Afghan President Hamid Karzai on

Wednesday said no peace deal was

possible in Afghanistan without

Pakistan's involvement because of

its influence over the Taliban.

"Pakistan’s cooperation

is key to a politically successful

peace process and key to the end of

violence in Afghanistan," he told

reporters. pa g e 0 9

sreesanth denieswrongdoing

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ISLAMABADTAyyAb HuSSAIN

PAKISTAN and China onWednesday agreed to jointlywork on furthering an economiccorridor for enhanced connectiv-

ity between both the allies aimed at benefit-ing their people in specific and theSouth-East Asia region in general. PresidentAsif Ali Zardari called for improved con-nectivity to turn the region into a vibranttrade, energy and economic corridor, as heplayed host to Chinese Prime Minister LiKeqiang, who arrived on a two-day visit toPakistan on Wednesday.

Premier Li was accorded a warm wel-come upon his arrival by the State of Pak-istan. In a rare gesture, President AsifZardari and Prime Minister Mir Hazar KhanKhoso welcomed the distinguished guestsat the airport. Joint Chiefs of Staff Commit-tee (CJCSC) Chairman Gen Khalid ShamimWynne, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS)Gen Ashfaq Kayani and Chief of NavalStaff Admiral Muhammad Asif Sandilawere also present.

A contingent of Pakistan armed forcespresented him a guard of honour amidst a21-gun salute. National anthems of the twocountries were played and the Chinese pre-mier was presented a salute. A red carpetwas rolled out and children waving flags ofPakistan and China greeted the dignitary.ZARDARI, KEQIANG TALKS: Thetalks between the two close allies were heldat the Presidency. President Asif Ali Zardari,who also hosted a banquet in honour of theChinese premier, also addressed a jointpress conference along with Chinese Pre-mier Li. He said that the top priority of Pak-istan and China was to further strengtheneconomic linkages.

President Zardari described his talkswith Premier Li as “excellent” and “‘ourdiscussions focused on economic corridorand improving connectivity between Pak-istan and Western regions of China”.

The trade between the two countries hasfor the first time risen over $12 billion. Pre-

mier Li Keqiang said both sides had decidedon a long term programme - a strategic ideafor the peace and stability of the world.

“We hope by pushing forward connec-tivity, economic corridor will become a re-ality for the benefit of the two people,” Lisaid. “No matter how the regional and inter-national situation may evolve, China will re-main committed to consolidating anddeveloping its strategic partnership of coop-eration with Pakistan,” he said.

He said China would continue to firmlysupport Pakistan in its efforts to uphold in-dependence, sovereignty and territorial in-tegrity and achieve national stability anddevelopment. Zardari said both countrieswere determined to achieve the bilateraltrade target of $15 billion and had agreed tospeed up work on projects identified underthe Five-Year Development Programme.

President Zardari said, “We have alsodecided to press ahead with the secondphase of negotiations on China-PakistanFree Trade Agreement and start work on theChina-Pakistan Agriculture DemonstrationZone.” He said the two countries discussedvarious connectivity proposals, includingfibre optics, road and rail links and energyprojects. “We also discussed long-termplans about Pakistan-China economic cor-ridor,” he said and pointed that Pakistangreatly valued its brotherly relations withChina. Zardari warmly welcomed PremierLi to Pakistan, his second home and recalledhis meeting with him in August 2011.

“We are delighted that Li has chosenPakistan among the first countries to visitafter taking over as premier of the StateCouncil,” President Zardari said.

He said friendship with China had al-ways been the cornerstone of Pakistani for-eign policy. “Our friendship with China isrooted in national consensus. This friend-ship is not only between the governmentsbut also between the two people. It is alsotime tested,” the president said.

Zardari said Pakistan believed thatChina was an important factor of peace andstability in the region and added that China’seconomic progress was an example for

many countries. He said Pakistan greatlyvalued China’s economic support and assis-tance. “We are extremely grateful to theChinese government for their continuedsupport to the affected people of AttabadLake and upper Hunza. We need continuedassistance in this regard,” he added.

President Zardari said the two countrieshad signed MoUs and agreements in thefields of economy, science and technology,space and upper atmosphere communica-tion and energy. He said all these and otheragreements were aimed at further strength-ening bilateral relations and improving thewell-being of the two people.

President Zardari said the “two coun-tries believe that terrorism, separatism andextremism pose serious threats to regionalpeace, stability and security”.

“We have reiterated our resolve to con-tinue cooperation in combating these evilforces,” Zardari said. He also pointed thatthe two sides had agreed to further expandpeople-to-people exchanges and said cul-tural centres would be established in eachother’s countries. In this regard he men-tioned that the year 2015 would be cele-brated as the Year of Friendly Exchanges.

He said both Pakistan and China hadalso agreed to maintain the tradition of fre-quent exchanges of visits and meetings atthe leadership level.

Premier Li said his visit after the hold-ing of general election and before the for-mation of a new government showed thatthe Pakistan-China friendship was everlast-ing. He termed Pakistan-China friendship avaluable asset and said it was something notaffected by change of a government andpolitics. He said the purpose his visit to Pak-istan was to cement friendship between thetwo countries that has been nurtured by suc-cessive leaders and the people of the twocountries. Premier Li said regular meetingsbetween the leaders would help deepen andfurther consolidate their ties. He, however,stressed that consolidating the strategic co-operation needed to be backed by concreteactions and mentioned the witnessing ofagreements on economic and cultural coop-eration between the two countries.

President Asif Ali Zardari also con-ferred the country’s highest civil award, Nis-han-e-Pakistan, on Premier Li for hisoutstanding contribution in strengtheningPakistan-China relations. The investiture

ceremony held here at the Aiwan-e-Sadrwas attended by caretaker prime minister,political leaders, services chiefs, ministersand diplomats. Those who attended in-cluded Nawaz Sharif, Bilawal BhuttoZardari, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, SheikhRashid Ahmed, Shujaat Hussain and ShahiSyed. At the ceremony, Zardari stressed on“joining hands and combining strengths” torealise the shared aspiration for the commongood of people of Pakistan and China. Hesaid Pakistan was aware of the rapidlychanging environment and wished to be afull partner in cooperative efforts for re-gional economic development.

Zardari welcomed the Chinese Premierand said the people of Pakistan held him inhigh esteem and were happy to see him intheir midst. He termed the visit of PremierLi another landmark in the growing bilateralrelations. Premier Li said the conferment ofPakistan’s civil award on him was not onlya personal honour, but also reflective ofdeep affiliation between the two countries.

Li said China was committed to consol-idating friendship with Pakistan and deep-ening strategic partnership. He said theSino-Pak friendship had been a valuableasset and was an example for other coun-tries. Zardari said China’s growing eco-nomic power had unleashed positivemomentum to take economic cooperation tonew heights. He mentioned that Pakistan’sgeo-strategic location and its trade and eco-nomic potential offered great opportunities.

He said Chinese business communitycould take advantage of these opportunitiesto develop mutually beneficial partnerships.

The president said the Gwadar projectwas part of the endeavour to improve con-nectivity and held great promise to createa regional economic and trade corridor.Similarly, Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline andTurkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India(TAPI) pipeline were also important to im-prove economic and social conditions ofthis region, he said. Li said after 27 years,he had seen tremendous changes in Pak-istan, adding that people of China rejoicedover the excellent progress. He said Chinawould continue cooperation with Pakistanfor stability and economic developmentand thanked President Asif Ali Zardari,Prime Minister Khoso and people of Pak-istan for the admirable welcome to himand his delegation.

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2 suspected Chechenmilitants arrested innWa, shifted to Peshawar PESHAWAR: Two suspected militants of central Asian origin

apprehended in North Waziristan were shifted to Peshawar

from Miranshah for interrogation purposes. Highly-placed offi-

cial sources told Pakistan Today on Wednesday that during a

search operation, law enforcement agencies arrested several

suspects, who were taken to Miranshah, where two of them

were identified as Central Asian nationals. The sources said

both the suspects introduced themselves as Chechens. The

two were later taken to Peshawar under tight security where

they could be interrogated by teams from various law enforce-

ment and secret agencies. The sources said the purpose of

further interrogation was to net out their accomplices and

links in the region. It is after about a period of six years that

the law enforcement agencies have been succeeded in arrest-

ing two foreign militants from North Waziristan. STAFF REPORT

Friends to build Gwadar-China economic corridor

chinese Premier liarrives, accordednishan-e-Pakistan

Zardari says both countriesdetermined to achievetrade target of $15 billion

Pakistan, Chinaink aCCordson EConomiCCorridorPlan, maritimECooPEration

ISLAMABADSTAFF REPORT

Pakistan and China on Wednesday inkedseveral agreements and memoranda ofunderstanding (MoUs) that mainly in-cluded the long-term Economic CorridorPlan, maritime cooperation and satellitenavigation.President Asif Ali Zardari and ChinesePrime Minister Li Keqiang witnessed thesigning ceremony as the representativesof the two countries inked the docu-ments at a ceremony held at the Aiwan-e-Sadr. The visit of the Chinese premier markedthe signing of important documentsaimed at long-term cooperation betweenthe two countries in multiple areas. The MoU on maritime cooperation be-tween the two governments, an agree-ment on Boundary Management Systembetween China's Xinjiang and Gilgit-Baltistan area, and another agreement onborder ports and their management sys-tem was signed by Chinese Foreign Min-ister Wang Yi and Pakistan's ForeignSecretary Jalil Abbas Jilani.The MoU on cooperation for long-termplan on China-Pakistan Economic Corri-dor was signed by China National De-velopment and Reform CommissionChairman Xu Shao Shi and, Advisor tothe Prime Minister Shahid AmjadChaudhry.China's Minister for Commerce GaoHucheng and Pakistan's Economic Af-fairs Secretary Shahzad Arbab signed theAgreement on Economic and TechnicalCooperation and the handing over cer-tificate of Seismographic Network.The MoU on cooperation in the field ofmarine science and technology betweenthe State Oceanic Administration (SOA)of China and the Ministry of Science andTechnology of Pakistan was signed bySOA Administrator and Ministry of Sci-ence and Technology Secretary AkhlaqAhmad Tarar. The agreement between China SatelliteNavigation Office (CSNO) and PakistanSpace and Upper Atmosphere ResearchCommission for Cooperation (SU-PARCO) was inked by CSNO DirectorRan Chengqi and Major General (r)Ahmed Bilal. The agreement on establishment of Con-fucius Institute at the Karachi Universitywas signed by Xu Lin, head of NationalOffice for Chinese Language andMuhammad Qaiser, Karachi Universityvice chancellor. The other documents that were signed bythe Pakistani and Chinese authorities in-cluded Annual Blister Purchase Contractand Greige Fabric Contract.

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Zardari

and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang

witness the signing of agreements

between Pakistan and China at the

Aiwan-e-Sadr on Wednesday. ONLINE

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Thursday, 23 May, 2013

ISLAMABADKASHIF AbbASI

PAKISTAN Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) PresidentNawaz Sharif is likely to takeoath as prime minister of the

country for a third term on June 5, as thepresident has decided to summon the Na-tional Assembly’s session on May 28,Pakistan Today has learnt.

A source said the decision was takenduring a one-on-one meeting betweenNawaz and Zardari on Wednesday at thePresidency after the luncheon banquethosted for Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

During the meeting, the president ap-prised Nawaz about the oath-taking cere-mony for the new PM.

Both leaders discussed the overall sit-uation in the country and issues relatingto the run-up to transition.

Sources told Pakistan Today that itwas Nawaz’s desire to see the oath-takingof newly elected members of the NationalAssembly on May 28, as this date wasmemorable for him. The then PML-Ngovernment had conducted five nucleartests on May 28, 1998.

The sources said that during the meet-

ing, President Zardari told Nawaz that tohonour his desire, the median session ofthe National Assembly had been sum-moned on May 28.

The president also apprised Nawazthat his oath-taking ceremony would beheld on June 5. The sources said the pres-ident was of the view that by that time(June 5), elections of speakers and deputyspeakers of National Assembly wouldalso be completed.

After the meeting, Zardari told re-porters that the Presidency would cooper-ate fully with the Nawaz-led governmentto pull the country out of existing prob-lems. The president said he already con-sidered the PML-N chief as the primeminister.

To a query on his party voting forNawaz in prime minister’s elections, thepresident said that he had no role to playin party affairs and decision in this regardwould be made by party leader Amin Fa-heem.

Nawaz said everyone would have towork together to resolve problems beingconfronted by the country. The PML-Nchief said the Charter of Democracywould be abided by and fully imple-mented. He said that he had no grudge

against President Zardari.To a query, he said he had made no

demand for Zardari’s resignation, as hewas elected democratically. The would-beprime minister further said, “We have thecountry’s interest in the mind not ourown.” President’s spokesman Farhatullah

Babar said the meeting took place afterthe luncheon banquet hosted for ChinesePremier Li Keqiang.

The president congratulated Nawazfor securing a heavy mandate in the gen-eral elections and gave his best wishes tothe new government.

He said the president thanked Nawazfor accepting the luncheon invitationhosted in honour of the Chinese PM andexpressed confidence that after politicaltransition, the new government wouldsuccessfully address the problems and is-sues facing the country.

You’ll bE thE Pm on 5th, Zardari tElls naWaZWould-be Pm,President holdone-on-one meeting

Zardari summonsmedian session of nationalassembly on 28th

rEConCiliationis thE bEstrEvEnGE

LAHORENADEEM SyED

With details of the Nawaz-Zardari meetingstill sketchy, it appears both leaders areready to make a new beginning and perhapslooking to pick up from where they left be-fore turning paths during the last PakistanPeople’s Party-led government.It was a one-on-one meeting between Presi-dent Zardari and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharifon the sidelines of the reception held in hon-our of the Chinese premier at the Presidencyon Wednesday.As such, little is known on the content of themeeting. However, PML-N sources dis-closed that Sharif assured Zardari he couldfreely continue as president for the remain-ing period of his term. He assured Zardarithat the PML-N government would not in-dulge in tactics to disturb him, sourcesadded.It has been learnt that both leaders, for alarge part of the meeting, exchanged grousesand complaints against each other.“Nawaz had his own litany of complaints to-wards the PPP and vice versa,” sources said.Nawaz Sharif, while sharing his thoughtsafter the meeting, said the PML-N govern-ment in future would honour the Charter ofDemocracy signed between the two parties.He added that he bore no grudge againstPresident Zardari.Political analysts believe it appears the badblood that existed between the two sides,featuring Shahbaz Sharif making personalattacks against Zardari, has subsided for thetime being.PPP leaders on their part also indicated theyhad no plans to take on the new governmenthead-on. PPP leader and former federal in-formation minister Qamar Zaman Kaira,talking to media, said the new governmentshould be given enough time to settle down.There are also indications that the PPPwould not pose any veritable threat to thePML-N government as the main opposition.It is argued that the choice of Khurshid Shahas opposition leader reflected that the PPPwould continue with its politics of reconcili-ation.Chances of Shah becoming a strong opposi-tion leader, mobilising his members to throwthe government on the mat are low, politicalcircles believe.Sources in PML-N said they looked forwardto the PPP as their future opposition morethan Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf(PTI).

ISLAMABADSHAIQ HuSSAIN

China has brushed aside Indian con-cerns about its cooperation with Pak-istan in the field of civilian nuclearenergy and it may agree to buildmore nuclear power reactors on Pak-istani soil to help its neighbour over-come the grave energy crisis that hascrippled the country’s economy.

The Indian leadership expressedits concern to China during the visitof Chinese Premier Li Keqiang toIndia that concluded on Wednesday,diplomatic sources said.

However, they said the Indianauthorities had been told by the Chi-nese leadership that there concernsregarding Pakistan-China civiliannuclear energy cooperation were notvalid, as that cooperation was meantonly for peaceful purposes to help afriendly nation overcome the severeenergy crisis it was confronting.

The Chinese PM reached Islam-abad on Wednesday from India anddiscussed with Pakistani leadershipin detail the problem of prolongedpower shortages along with other is-sues of mutual interest, sources said.

“The Chinese leadership is veryconcerned over Pakistan’s energycrunch and it has assured all possibleassistance to Islamabad to overcome

this crisis that has paralysed thecountry’s economy,” a source saidwhile seeking anonymity.

He said China could also give itsnod to the building of more nuclearpower plants in Pakistan given theserious nature of Islamabad’s energyneeds and requirements.

However, he said he was notaware of any specific talks onWednesday between the ChinesePM and Pakistani leadership on theconstruction of nuclear powerplants. Beijing has already providedIslamabad with two nuclear reactors,each with a capacity of 300MW atChashma near Mianwali. Accordingto some media reports, Pakistan andChina are also planning to build twomore reactors with the same capacityat Chashma.

The reports also speculatedabout the construction of a fifth nu-clear power plant by China in Pak-istan, but the sources said Chineseauthorities had yet to give their nodto any such project.

They said the Chinese weresympathetic and they understood thegravity of the energy situation thatPakistan was facing, but so far they(Chinese leaders) had not made anydecision on the nuclear power plantabout which speculations were beingmade in the media.

India has been opposing cooper-ation with Pakistan in the field ofcivilian nuclear energy cooperationnot only on part of China, but alsothe United States, despite the factthat it has clinched such an accordwith the US itself.

India claims that China’s supplyof nuclear reactors to Pakistan isagainst the guidelines of the NuclearSuppliers Group (NSG), a 46-nationglobal body that prohibits the sale ofnuclear technology to countries thathave not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

New Delhi had to secure theNSG waiver before the conclusionof its civilian nuclear deal with theUS, but it opposes any such relax-ation for Islamabad.

The sources said China’s reac-tion to India’s opposition to the nu-clear energy cooperation withPakistan showed the depth of ties be-tween Islamabad and Beijing.

They said that the visit of Chi-nese PM to Pakistani capital wouldgo a long way in further cementingthe bilateral cooperation in varioussectors including energy, defenceand economy.

“Apart from cooperation in thefield of energy, China may also ex-tend the financial support to Pakistanfor the next budget,” a source added.

China rubbishes Indian concernson Pak-China nuclear cooperation

ISLAMABADSTAFF REPORT

The Election Commission of Pakistan onWednesday notified names of 805 successfulcandidates. However, the commission didnot issue notification about the success of 44candidates due to certain reasons. They in-clude 16 MNAs‚ six MPAs from Punjab‚ 12from Sindh‚ two from Khyber Pakhtunkhwaand eight from Balochistan. Interestingly, theelectoral body, which spent billions of rupeeson election process, has not been able to an-nounce official result of NA-269 Khuzdar sofar. The ECP website says the official resultof NA-269 Khuzdar is awaited. Against thetotal 849 seats, the names of 805 winnershave been notified. A spokesman of the ECPsaid that in pursuance of the provisions ofSub-section (3-A) and Sub-section (4) of

Section 42 of the Representation of the Peo-ple Act 1976, the ECP has published thenames of the successful candidates. Mean-while, the ECP rejected PTI candidate HamidKhan’s request for a re-polling in NA-125Lahore. After hearing arguments from bothsides, the commission declared PML-N con-tender Saad Rafiq as winner. According tothe ECP website, PML-N leader KhawajaSaad Rafique won the seat by securing123,416 votes while Hamid Khan bagged84,495 votes. Separately, the ECP changedthe date for re-polling at selective polling sta-tions in NA-46 (Tribal Area-XI) from May25 to June 5. According to a notification,“Re-polling at polling station numbers 25, 26,27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 43, 45,46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51 and 54 of NA-46 shallnow be held on June 5, 2013 instead of May25, 2013 as notified earlier.”

dialogue withtaliban prerogativeof Pakistan: olson ISLAMABAD: US Ambassador to Pakistan

Richard Olson has said holding dialogue with

the Taliban was the prerogative of Pakistani

government. Talking to reporters in Islamabad

on Wednesday, Olson said any dialogue with

Taliban was for the Pakistani government to de-

cide. However‚ he said‚ any reservations regard-

ing these proposed talks would depend on

terms and conditions of the dialogue with Tal-

iban. Terming the recent general elections a big

success of Pakistani nation in which democratic

forces emerged victorious, he said a historic

turnout was witnessed in the elections and re-

flected that the people had confidence in

democracy. He said the elections proved to be a

defeat for those who were against democratic

values and holding of elections. Earlier‚ inaugu-

rating an English language laboratory at SOS

Children's Village in Islamabad ‚ he said the US

was rehabilitating buildings of 800 schools af-

fected by the 2005 earthquake

in Pakistan. He said the US

was also helping launch new

degree programmes in 90

universities and colleges be-

sides giving scholarships to

12,000 students studying in

various institutions in Pakistan.

Olson said Washington was

also providing $15 million

dollars to NGOs to im-

prove socio-economic

condition at com-

munity level. ONLINE

ECP notifies names of winning candidates12 independent Candidatesfrom pUnjab join pmL-n in naLAHORE: Twelve independent candidates from Punjab filed their affidavits

of joining the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the National

Assembly on Wednesday, according to the provincial Election Commission

of Pakistan. The candidates had successfully secured National Assembly

seats in the May 11 elections. They each filed affidavits to the ECP,

Punjab, declaring their alliance to PML-N on Wednesday. Earlier in the

week, six independent candidates from the Federally Administered Tribal

Areas also joined PML-N. The PML-N, the largest party in the National

Assembly, has tried to woo independents, who constitute the third largest

group of candidates who won NA seats in the May 11 general elections.

The independents have swelled the ranks of PML-N, who had won 125

seats, and gave the party simple majority in the assembly. STAFF REPORT

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Zardari

and prime minister-in waiting Nawaz

Sharif meet on the sidelines of the

reception hosted for Chinese Prime

Minister Li Keqiang on Wednesday.

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Thursday, 23 May, 2013

imran dischargedfrom hospital LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)

Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday left

the hospital two weeks after injuring his

back in a fall at an election rally, a hospital

spokesman said. The 60-year-old politician

was ordered to remain immobile in bed

after he fractured vertebrae and a rib in a

dramatic tumble just days before the May

11 general election, where his party made

a major breakthrough. Khwaja Nazir, a

spokesman for the Shaukat Khanum

Memorial Hospital where Khan was being

treated, said that the politician had

returned to his home in the city. “He would

stay in his Lahore home for three days and

then would be shifted to his home in

Islamabad,” Nazir said. “Doctors have

advised him rest, for two more weeks.” On

Tuesday, he was fitted with a specially

designed spinal brace, which enabled him

to stand upright for the first time since his

fall and doctors said that Khan was able to

walk unaided for over 300 meters without

any discomfort or pain. STAFF REPORT

Fbi shoots, kills manlinked to bostonbomb suspectMIAMI: A man being questioned by the FBI

over the Boston Marathon bombings was

killed on Wednesday in an altercation after

becoming violent, the FBI said. US media

outlets said the man knew one of the Boston

bombers and was shot by an FBI agent in

the early morning incident in Orlando,

Florida. The Federal Bureau of Investigation

said the man initiated a “violent

confrontation” during the questioning and

was killed and that an FBI agent suffered

“non-life threatening injuries”. The FBI did

not name the killed man, but the Orlando

Sentinel newspaper identified him as Ibragim

Todashev, 27. AGENCIES

new cabinet to besmaller, severalministries to be mergedISLAMABAD: After taking over as prime

minister, PML-N President Nawaz Sharif will

induct an 18-member cabinet and will also

have three advisers including Mehtab

Abbasi and Liaquat Jatoi, sources said.

Working on the recommendations of former

senior bureaucrats committee, led by

Khawaja Zaheer, the PML-N government

will merge the Petroleum and Water and

Power Ministry and will rename it the

Ministry for Energy. The sources said the

Economic Affairs Ministry will be remerged

with the Finance Ministry while the Ministry

of Communications will be restored to its

original position with the elimination of

separate ministries of Postal Services, and

Ports and Shipping. The Ministry of

Housing and Works which was bifurcated to

please the PML-Q will again be remerged

into one ministry. The CAD Division and

the National Heritage Ministry will be

dissolved and the two departments would

be given to the Cabinet Division, they said,

adding that the Ministry of Industry and

Production will also be merged. The

sources said a formal announcement in

this regard will be made on June 1 but a

decision regarding who would be made

ministers had already been made. The

would-be ministers include Ishaq Dar,

Nisar Ali Khan, Khawaja Asif, Abdul Qadir

Baloch, Abdul Hakeem Baloch, Sardar

Yusuf, Saad Rafiq and Pervez Rashid. INP

husband cuts offnose, ears of wife ABBOTTABAD: A domestic dispute took a

horrific turn on Wednesday as a man cut off

his wife’s nose and ears after a quarrel.

According to the police, the incident

happened in Khola Khayl area of the city.

Sources said that the couple had a history

of fighting over domestic issues. The

woman was admitted to Benazir Shaheed

Hospital where she has been provided

initial treatment. INP

ISLAMABADONLINE

rEFUSING to take actionagainst MuttahidaQuami Movement(MQM) chief Altaf Hus-

sain, the Supreme Court (SC) onWednesday postponed the hear-ing of a case against Altaf’s con-troversial statements and askedthe petitioner to prove the main-tainability of the case in court.

Heading a three-judgebench, Chief Justice IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry said thatit was not the job of the SupremeCourt to take notice of state-ments that would create law andorder crisis in the country as thatwas the job of the law enforce-ment and security agencies.

The petition was filed by theWatan Party. Barrister Zafarullah,who represented the petitioner,read out the excerpts of AltafHussain’s speech published innewspapers. Zafarullah accusedHussain of threatening to dividePakistan. Chastising the peti-tioner, the chief justice said thatAltaf Hussain should have beenmade the respondent in the case if

his speech was objectionable. Thepetitioner replied that MQM’schairman had been named the re-spondent in the petition.

Continuing to grill the peti-tioner, the chief justice told WatanParty’s representative that the

MQM was “probably” headed byFarooq Sattar, not Altaf, accordingto Election Commission of Pak-istan (ECP) documents. When thebench was told that Altaf Hussaindid indeed head the party, JusticeEjaz said that the Supreme Court

could not go after “every partyleader making a speech”. Theapex court adjourned the casehearing for one week.

During his speech inKarachi last week when PTIworkers were holding a

demonstration at Teen Talwararea of Clifton, Hussain madesome remarks that created con-troversy and prompted manyPakistani and British citizensto file complaints at LondonMetropolitan Police.

ISLAMABADSTAFF REPORT

The Supreme Court of Pakistan(SC) on Wednesday suspendedall the postings and transfersmade by the caretaker govern-ment, saying personal likes couldnot be allowed to deride merit.

A three-member bench of theapex court headed by Chief Jus-tice Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry heard the case againstpostings of 13 high-ranking offi-cials by the caretaker government.

The postings included manag-

ing directors of Sui Southern andNorthern Gas Pipelines, NationalHighway Authority chairman, Na-tional Electric Power RegulatoryAuthority (NEPRA) chairman,Pakistan Mineral MD, NationalFertilisers chairman, Oil and GasDevelopment Company (OGDC)MD, Federal InvestigationAgency (FIA) DG and officers ofPakistan Telecommunication Au-thority (PTA). In its orders‚ theapex court declared that the care-taker government had no mandatefor posting and transfers of gov-ernment officials.

“Its only job was to holdgeneral elections besides look-ing into daily affairs of thestate,” the court said. The benchdirected the federal governmentto submit its reply in the case onthe next hearing, the 4th of nextmonth. In an unprecedentedmove, the caretaker governmentof Balochistan announced thecreation of two more districts,Sohbatpur and Lehri, days be-fore its departure. Sources saidthe reason for this was not ad-ministrative, but political. Di-viding the Khosa and Domki

strongholds would allegedlybenefit both the outgoingBalochistan caretaker CM andthe caretaker prime minister.

Caretaker Chief MinisterNawab Ghaus Bakhsh Barozai’sbrother lost the elections in Sibi. Itis, reportedly, after this incident thatthe decision to separate Sibi fromLehri was taken to ensure thatBarozai retained his seat from Sibi.

Hailing from Sohbatpur,caretaker Prime Minister Khosowas also seen supporting a can-didate who eventually lost toMir Zafarullah Jamali from Jaf-

farabad constituency. Khoso,upset at the defeat, reportedlyseparated Sohbatpur from Jaf-farabad district to ensure undi-vided political influence in theregion in the future.

During the hearing, the SCremarked that the caretaker gov-ernment could not make any ap-pointment and posting that mightaffect the policies of the incom-ing government. The CJP said,“The new government shouldknow well that appointments ofchoice and against the norms ofmerit will not be allowed.”

LONDONAGENCIES

British Prime Minister DavidCameron has called a meetingof his government’s emer-gency Cobra security commit-tee after the killing of a Britishsoldier in London. Britain’sgovernment convenes Cobrameetings only to deal with in-cidents that have implicationsfor national security.

Cameron said that therewere “strong indications” thata killing in London was terror-related. “It is the most appallingcrime,” Cameron said, beforecutting short a visit to Paris.“The police are urgently seek-ing the full facts about this casebut there are strong indicationsthat it is a terrorist incident.”

Media reports said the sol-dier was killed in the incidentin the Woolwich district in thesoutheast of the British capital.Two attackers with kniveskilled a man on Wednesday onthe streets of London, wit-nesses said. They described theweapons as machetes or meatcleavers. Onlookers describedthe man as being “beheaded”.

The Express reported that aWhitehall source claimed themen were heard to shout‘Allah Akbar’ as they attackedthe victim in broad daylight.

Police responded, shoot-ing and injuring the two at-tackers in the south-easterndistrict of Woolwich, Metro-politan Police commanderSimon Letchford said. “Theprime minister says the killingin Woolwich is truly shockingand he has asked the homesecretary [internal affairs min-ister] to chair a Cobra meet-ing,” his office told Reuters.

“A number of weapons werereportedly being used in the attack,and this included reports of afirearm,” police said in a state-ment. Security was tightened inthe area immediately after the in-cident. Helicopters hovered aboveand nearby roads were sealed offby the police. Earlier, a teacher ata local school told the BBC hesaw a body on the road and af-terwards heard gunshots. Pho-tographs posted on social mediashowed at least two people onthe ground who appeared to beinjured, but no further detailswere immediately available.

ISLAMABADAGENCIES

The anti-terrorism court in Islam-abad on Wednesday rejected a bailplea filed by former military rulerPervez Musharraf in the judges’detention case.

Earlier, ATC judge Kausar AbbasZaidi had reserved the ruling onMusharraf’s bail application during ahearing of the case. During the hear-ing, public prosecutor Amir NadeemTabish said clause 780-A pertaining

to terrorism had been added to the listof charges against Musharraf, makingthe case against him stronger.

In his arguments, Tabishadded that judges and their familymembers had been detained intheir homes for months, their chil-dren not allowed to appear in ex-aminations and the charges againstthe former army strongman wereof a serious nature, who, therefore,should not be granted bail. He fur-ther said the emergency imposedby Musharraf in the country on

November 3, 2007 was detrimen-tal not only towards the judges butfor the public at large.

However, Musharraf’s counselIlyas Siddiqui claimed that hisclient never gave the order to de-tain judges, adding that there wasno proof against him.MUSHARRAF BAIL: On theother hand, the Rawalpindi Anti-Terrorism Court sent an order tojail authorities for releasingMusharraf on bail in the BenazirBhutto murder case.

sC not too enthusiastic abouttaking action against altaf

aLtaf annoUnCes to begin ‘reformation’ within mQm ranKsKARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf

Hussain on Wednesday announced the instigation of a

‘reformation’ process within the party ranks. Speaking to

members of the party’s Rabita (coordination) Committee via

telephone from London, the MQM chief prohibited collecting any

sort of donations from the general public. He said there is a ban

imposed on funds collection, adding that the basic party

membership of culpable worker/workers will be revoked upon any

such complaints. Hussain said the MQM follows “zero tolerance

policy” when it comes to “China Cutting,” settlements and land-

grabbing. “There is no room in MQM for people involved in these

unlawful activities,” he added. The MQM chief urged any party

activist, involved in land and property grabbing or sale/purchase

of houses, apartments or plots, to voluntarily resign from the

party membership. Otherwise, he added, upon receiving any such

complaint, party membership of the guilty worker will be

terminated. On Tuesday night, Altaf Hussain had also disbanded

his party’s Karachi Tanzeemi (organising) Committee citing

‘hooliganism’ during his speech on Sunday morning. STAFF REPORT

London poLiCe LaUnCh investigationagainst aLtaf hUssainLONDON: The London Metropolitan Police on Wednesday

launched an investigation against Muttahida Qaumi

Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain following complaints by

PTI Chairman Imran Khan. According to the Guardian, the

Metropolitan Police was investigating a controversial speech

made by Altaf from London last week. “The investigation is

in its early stages,” the newspaper claimed. The British

Foreign Office on Saturday said it “strongly condemned” all

acts of violence in Karachi. It added, “We are deeply

saddened by the recent violence in the city, including

violence murderously directed against democratic political

figures.” Following the brutal murder of PTI leader Zahra

Shahid Hussain, Khan tweeted, “I also hold the British Govt

responsible as I had warned them about British citizen Altaf

Hussain after his open threats to kill PTI workers.” Earlier,

Metropolitan Police spokesman Richard Jones also confirmed

that they had started investigations against Altaf on

hundreds of complaints. He said the police were in process

of collecting evidence. INP

sC suspends all transfers‚ postings made by caretaker govt

UK soldier beheaded bymen ‘chanting allah akbar’

judges’ detention case: atCrejects musharraf’s bail plea

ISLAMABADONLINE

Neither parliament nor the Public Ac-counts Committee has any mandateto audit Supreme Court’s accounts orits financial affairs, Justice Jawwad SKhwaja said on Wednesday.

Heading a three-member SCbench that was reviewing the issueof secret funds and outstandingpayments worth of billions of ru-

pees to newspapers, media sources(APNS), Justice Khwaja stressedon the rule that any amount de-manded by the Supreme Court hadto be granted by the government.

“The decision should havebeen taken before March 19, andthe prime minister and chief min-isters should also have resigned,”he said, adding that “the rule oflaw and constitution shall stand”.

“I fail to understand that after

the dissolution of assemblies onMarch 16, how a summary signedby then redundant prime ministerwas released on March 19,” hequeried, asking the APNS legalcounsel, Azhar Siddiqui to justify Rs200 billion owed to media. Siddiquireferred to Article 78 related that re-lates to financial procedures, entail-ing federal consolidated funds andrelated accounts included those re-lated to the Supreme Court finances.

parliament, paC can’t audit sC finances: judge

KHI 23-05-2013_Layout 1 5/23/2013 5:44 AM Page 4

Here comes first ordinance against HIV/AIDs

massive embezzLement in benazir’s hometown(

(

KARACHI

kThursday, 23 May, 2013

05

Low

high

FrIdAy SAtUrdAy SUndAy34°C I 29°C 34°C I 29°C 34°C I 29°C

PRAyER TIMINGS

SUnny

WeAther UpdAteS

340C

Fajr Sunrise Zuhr Asr Maghrib Isha

4:20 5:45 12:29 3:54 7:12 8:38

290C

While purchasing grocery, the consumers should insist that the

shopkeepers display conspicuously the official price lists outside

their shops – Karachi Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui

KARACHIAFTAb CHANNA

WHEREAS thenew electedgovernment isto be set upwithin few daysin the country,

the National Accountability Bureau(NAB), an institution that unmaskedmajor high profile scandals of politiciansand bureaucrats, is likely to probe allegedmassive embezzlement of public moneyby the bigwigs of the former ruling party- the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

The NAB Sindh office, in this regard,had so far received a number ofcomplaints against the leaders of the PPP,including former MNAs and provincialministers that ruled the province for fiveyears. Besides, senior bureaucrats havealso been named in the complaintsreceived by the bureau in the recent past,well-placed sources confided in PakistanToday.

According to the available data,complaints have been received againstformer MNA and sister of President Asif

Zardari, Faryal Talpur, Dr ShafqatSoomro, representative President HouseNaudero, former Sindh law minister AyazSoomro, former deputy commissionersLarkana Abdul Aleem Lashari andAsadullah Abro, former Executive DistrictOfficer Works and Services DepartmentKhaliq Dino Mirani, assistant projectdirector Larkana Development PackageGhulam Qadir Sangi, National HighwaysAuthority Director General Asghar Abbas.

“After the general elections of thenational and provincial assemblies ofPakistan in the year 2008, the PPPgovernment took over the government andinitiated development schemes. One suchscheme titled as ‘Development andBeautification of Larkana City’ waslaunched by the prime minister for whichfunds worth Rs 12 billion were allocated.The package included reconstruction ofthe roads, sewerage/drainage lines, publicstreets and other development work.Consequently, the funds were released asa matching grant by the federalgovernment as well as provincialgovernment on 50 – 50 basis for thedevelopment of infrastructure of LarkanaCity and the rest of old Larkana districts,”

according to a complaint filed by a localcitizen of Larkana with the accountabilitycourt, made exclusively available withPakistan Today.

“It is an open secret by now that thereis no check and balance in the country andthe government funds, which are beingreleased at different intervals of time fordevelopment schemes, are frequentlymisappropriated by the governmentfunctionaries as is evident from the dailyreports of corruption scandals making itsway into the electronic as well as the printmedia. Some high profits scandals casesare pending in the honourable SupremeCourt of Pakistan,” it further said.

Earlier reports had suggested that therewas misappropriation in funds allocatedtowards development and rehabilitation ofLarkana and the scheme was approvedabout three to four years back.

More complaints received by theNAB suggested that the roads wereconstructed with ill planning and thematerial which had been used in the workswas substandard as most money wasgobbled by large scale corruption. It wasalso notified that during the rainy season,rainwater collected on the roads and therewere no arrangements of properflow/disposal of the rainwater.

Meanwhile, the petition also stated,“For instance, the rain water alwaysremains on the road situated atSubhanallah Chowk leading towards

Ghinti Phatak (railway crossing) and it isbroken at different places up to Paris Innhotel at the same chowk. The road furtherleads towards the overhead bridge lying ina bad shape since more than a year.

“These are only few instances broughtin the notice of this honorable court,otherwise every newly constructed roadhas got cracks and damages at variousplaces,” the petition added.

Moreover, the petition stated that noneof the roads of Larkana have been improvedor widened. In fact, no significantdevelopment work had been undertaken inthe Larkana town. As a result, theinhabitants of Larkana town have beenfacing problems of traffic jam, air pollution,filth and stagnant sewerage/drainage wateron roads and frequent accidents. The roadswere getting narrower each day as there wasno implementation of municipal laws here,it added.

The complainant had requested theNAB Sindh director general to order forconstitution of a commission based onhonest town planners and other technicalpersonnel/officers of some other district,particularly of the metropolis, and alsoincluding representatives of civil societyto probe into the ill planning,misappropriation/embezzlement of thepublic money of Larkana DevelopmentPackage on large scale by the respondentsby using the name of Shaheed MohtarmaBenazir Bhutto.

nab likElY to ChasEPPP biGWiGs doWn

the authority has received several comPlaints against faryal talPur, ayaZ soomro, shafqat soomro and many others

KARACHIAPP

Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khanon Wednesday promulgated SindhHIV/AIDS Control, Treatment andProtection Ordinance 2013.

Caretaker Sindh Minister for LawMehmood Mandviwala in a consequentannouncement said this was the firstHIV/AIDS law in the region thatequally contains provision to controltransmission of the virus and facilitatetreatment of the people living with thecondition.

The law minister who also holdsthe portfolio of prisons also, said themost important provisions of thisordinance were the protection providedto the people living with HIV againstdiscriminations in all spheres of life

including health-care, employment andeducation. The ordinance alsoincorporates penalties prescribed forany such discrimination andstigmatisation of the HIV/AIDSpatients. Mandviwala said Pakistan wasfacing a concentrated epidemic ofHIV/AIDS and the government, since1987 when the first HIV positive casewas reported in the country, had beenattempting to respond to the situationthrough national and provincial AIDScontrol programmes respectively.

“After 18th amendment and thedevolution of health ministry to theprovinces, HIV/AIDS has now becomea provincial subject and therefore it isimperative that the province of Sindhtakes urgent measures for the control ofvirus and its treatment besidesprotection of people living withHIV/AIDS along with the high risksections of the society,” said the lawminister. “The ordinance provides forthe formation of Sindh AIDSCommission that shall be responsible

for public awareness about HIV/AIDSformulation of relevant policy, rules ofprotocols for counselling, testing, careand support,” he said.

The commission would also beresponsible to advise the governmenton all matters relating to prevention,control, care, support and treatment ofthe disease. Mandviwala said theordinance also provides protectionagainst discrimination on the basis ofsuspected, presumed, alleged or actualHIV status in health-care services,education, employment and otherservices or accommodation.

“It prohibits coercion andrequirement of screening of a personfor any of the above purposes or formarriage,” said the minister.

He said in view of the difficultiesbeing faced by the people living withHIV/AIDS, the Sindh HIV/AIDSControl, Treatment and ProtectionOrdinance 2013 also provides forestablishment of a one-window health-care facility for HIV/AIDS patients.

governor Promulgates hiv/aids control, treatment, Protection ordinance 2013

mehmood mandviwaLaminister for laW

This is the firstHIV/AIDS law in theregion that equally

contains provision tocontrol transmission

of virus and facilitate treatment

of the people

mQm tErminatEshammad siddiQui’sbasiC mEmbErshiP

KARACHISTAFF REPORT

The Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) co-ordination committee has said theaccountability process has started on theinstructions of Altaf Hussain, and the inquiryconducted has led them to the conclusion thatKarachi Tanzeemi Committee (KTC) in-charge has violated the party discipline. In thelight of the information gathered after holdingthe inquiry, the co-ordination committee hasterminated the basic membership of HammadSiddiqui and issued instructions to theMQM workers not to maintain any direct orindirect contact with him. The committeehas warned that disciplinary action wouldbe taken if it was found that someone hadbreached the instructions.

KARACHISTAFF REPORT

Sindh Assembly Speaker Nisar AhmedKhuhro Wednesday said the assemblysecretariat was yet to receive anynotification about the names of thewinning candidates in May 11 polls fromthe Election Commission of Pakistan(ECP).

The speaker said no date had beenfinalised yet for the summoning of SindhAssembly session. Khuhro stated thiswhile talking to reporters at his SindhAssembly office.

He said as per the 18th Amendmentwhen gazette notification of winning

candidates would be issued by the ECP,the Sindh Assembly session could besummoned within 21 days during which aspecial sitting of the provincial legislaturecould be summoned on a notice of two orthree days for the formation ofgovernment.

The speaker said on the first day ofassembly session oath would beadministered to the elected memberswhile the second day would see the filingof nomination papers for the slots ofspeaker and deputy speaker.

On third day, the lawmakers wouldelect the leader of the house.

To a query, Khuhro replied that theparty leadership would decide and

announce the names of would-be chiefminister in Sindh and all should accept thedecision because every one was bound tofollow the party discipline.

He said he would accept the partydecision regarding his new

responsibilities. Khuhro said his partywould keep taking its former coalitionpartners along as it did not believe in soloflight. Replying to a question, he said thePPP would retain the slots of the chiefminister and speaker in next government.

eCP yet to notify winning candidates in sA: Khuhro

KHI 23-05-2013_Layout 1 5/23/2013 5:45 AM Page 5

KARACHIThursday, 23 May, 2013

06

k

Chief Secretary (CS) Ijaz Ch has directedthat appropriate measures be taken to meetany eventuality in the monsoon

KARACHIAPP

PAKISTAN, a country richin biodiversity and hometo more than 1,250 speciesof plants and animals, ob-served International Dayfor Biological Diversity

on Wednesday, amidst serious threats tonatural resources.

Deforestation, soil erosion, salinity andwaterlogging have become major threats tothe biodiversity in the country, whichhoused a sizeable number of the world’srarest animals and plants, but these werenow in danger due to habitat loss and over-use, coupled with rising population. As aresult, this had put immense pressure on thecountry’s natural resource base. Interna-tional Day for Biological Diversity cele-brated on May 22 each year, was aimed athighlighting the need to stop the biodiver-

sity loss if life is to be sustained on Earth.The theme for the year 2013 is Water

and Biodiversity, which had been chosen tocoincide with the United Nations designa-tion of this year as the International Year ofWater Cooperation.

The theme brought to the fore howwater management was vital for the conser-vation of biodiversity.

Providing and sustaining water for theneeds of people around the world was al-ready a major challenge for sustainable de-velopment in both the developed anddeveloping countries. The ecosystems ofour world, particularly forests and wet-lands, ensured that clean water was avail-able to the animal and plant kingdoms.

Wetlands could help to reduce risks offlooding, while restoring soils would re-duce erosion and pollution and help to in-crease water availability for the crops.

Activist Rahat Jabeen talking to APP,said protected areas could assist in provid-

ing water for the cities. “Flow of water in the rivers is essential

to maintain the flora and fauna along thebanks of the rivers and delta,” said IUCNPakistan Marine Coastal Expert TahirQureshi.

He said that in view of this essential re-quirement, IUCN had made a strong rec-ommendation to the government forreleasing a minimum of 35 million acre-feet of water downstream Kotri barrage.

“Since humans are the custodians of theearth, therefore it is their prime responsibil-ity to use the natural resources equitably fora sustainable future,” said the expert.

IUCN Pakistan Country RepresentativeMahmood Akhtar Cheema supplementinghis senior colleague said all species on theearth depended on each other, so by con-serving biodiversity we would be conserv-ing life on earth. Biodiversity Conservationhad been the core priority area for IUCNsince its inception in 1948.

biodivErsitY daY obsErvEd amidthrEats to natural rEsourCEs

HYDERABAD: Activists of Sindhyani Tehreek hold a protest outside the press club against alleged rigging in general elections. ONLINE

Pml-n’s aZiZ abro Joins PPP

KARACHIINP

Senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz(PML-N) office-bearer from Sindh, Aziz Abro,has announced his decision to join PakistanPeoples’ Party (PPP). He made the announce-ment in a press conference along with seniorPPP leader Agha Siraj Durrani on Wednesday.Speaking on this occasion, Durrani said newlocal bodies system would be introduced inSindh with the support of MQM. “We can holdelections under the current local bodies systemin six months. But for this, we will have to re-promulgate the local bodies ordinance.”He said talks were underway with the MQM.To a question, he said the PPP did not sell anySindh island. “Zufliqarabad is for bettermentof the people of Sindh,” he maintained.

10-PartY allianCE ProtEstsElECtion riGGinG KARACHI: A 10-party alliance observed ashutter-down strike against vote rigging acrossSindh on Wednesday. According to the an-nouncement, the political workers and sup-porters held protest demonstration across theprovince, however, in the second phase aprotest would be held in front of the ElectionCommission’s office. The Education BoardMirpurkhas announced postponement of ex-amination of HSC scheduled to be held onMay 22 due to strike call given by 10-party al-liance against alleged rigging in the elections.Meanwhile, Sindh National Party (SNP) ChiefAmeer Bhanbhro opposed the strike call andsaid the alliance was taking revenge of its de-feat from the people of the province. ONLINE

dECision ovEr ‘FakE dEGrEE’ ComEsaFtEr 5 YEars!KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) re-jected the plea filed against the alleged pollrigging and fake degree of Murtaza Jatoi, acandidate from NA-211 in 2008 elections. Anelection tribunal chaired by Justice NisarAhmed Shaikh had reserved the decision onMarch 13 over a petition moved by the Pak-istan People’s Party’s Zulfiqar Behen. ZulfiqarBehen in 2008 accused National PeoplesParty’s (NPP) leader Murtaza Jatoi of possess-ing a fake degree and rigging polling process.The Sindh University and Elections Commis-sion of Pakistan (ECP) scrutinised the ballotpapers and educational record of Jatoi. Thecourt took a long period of five years to makethe decision due to various reasons. ONLINE

KARACHISTAFF REPORT

KMC Administrator Hashim Zaidi has directed the elec-trical and mechanical department to carry out installationwork of solar powered lights and LED lights on all bigroads and corridors of the city on preferential basis so thatnon-stop electricity during load shedding in any area couldbe provided on important roads, corridors and intersec-tions, so that citizens would not have to face any difficultyin night times. He said that LED lights on newly con-structed Jinnah Terminal Flyover were being installed,therefore complete survey of big roads and corridors indifferent areas should be conducted and conditionof street lights should be reviewed. Moreover, outof order street lights should also be repairedand measures taken to light these up withsolar powered and LED lights.

Further, Karachi administrator saidthat the city was a big and internationalcity, therefore along with developing itsroad infrastructure, usage of latest tech-nology was also necessary. Citizens, dueto unavailability of electricity, have toface difficulty in traveling whereas possi-

bilities of street crimes and incidents had also increased.Meanwhile, policy for saving energy and usage of en-

ergy alternate was being adopted in the whole world whichprovided good results, the administrator said, while addingit was the need of the hour to find out sources to deal withenergy crisis like other developed cities of the world inwhich solar powered lights were on top of the priority list.

Zaidi said that usage of solar powered lights in officesand different organisationsshould be enhanced andsolar powered lights alongwith corridors should be in-stalled in parks and play

grounds.He said that the city belonged to

everyone and it was the responsibility ofthe citizens to reinstate its lights. More-

over, he directed officers to review theusage of electricity in KMC offices and if

any wastage of electricity was found then stopit immediately so that energy could be saved.

He also said that meetings to review pace ofworks and lighting up of buildings, play grounds

and parks under KMC should be held because it wasan important and serious issue being faced in the city.

KMC directs installation of solarpowered, LeD lights in streets

aJab sEEksrEsEarCh artiClEs KARACHI: Asian Journal of Agricultureand Biology (AJAB) has invited local re-searchers to get their original work publishedin the journal.Through an invitation, the researchers andscientists were informed that the multidisci-plinary, online, open access, peer reviewedjournal is published quarterly. It publishesoriginal research manuscripts, short commu-nications and review articles on environmen-tal, plant, animal and human sciences.Environmental sciences are said to coverareas of soil-related research, residues andfood quality. Plant sciences focus on plant di-versity, distribution, genetics, bioinformaticsand biotechnology related issues.Animal sciences deal with the health and dis-eases of vertebrate and invertebrate animalsand their treatment-related research. Humansciences relate to different aspects of healthand diseases of humans and various issuesarising in medical sciences. AJAB is indexedin DOAJ and is in queue with Higher Educa-tion Commission (HEC), Scopus and ISI forindexing and will soon be considered for im-pact factor. The journal is read and abstractedinternationally. APP

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07

newsThursday, 23 May, 2013

In politics a capable ruler must be guided

by circumstances, conjectures and

conjunctions. — Catherine the GreatN

britain to oFFEr visas toaFGhan intErPrEtErs LONDON: About 600 Afghan interpreters who served with

British forces fighting the Taliban in southern Afghanistan will

be allowed to stay in the UK, the government has said. Prime

Minister David Cameron initially opposed the decision, but

backed down after a campaign that called for interpreters and

their families to be allowed to settle under a similar package to

one supporting Iraqi interpreters, and a legal challenge in the

UK High Court. A source from Cameron's office in Downing

Street said on Wednesday that he was now preparing to offer

five-year visas to those who served on the front line for a year

or more. Cameron had said earlier that Afghan interpreters,

who said they were under threat of attack from the Taliban in

their homeland because of their work with foreign forces,

should only be allowed to stay in Britain "in extremis". "When

we think of all that we have spent and all the cost in money

and human lives we have put into Afghanistan, we should do

everything we can to encourage talented Afghans to stay in

their country and contribute to it," he said. AGENCIES

TEHRANAGENCIES

Iran's president is to challenge a deci-sion to disqualify his top aide froma vote to elect his successor, butformer president Akbar HashemiRafsanjani has said he has noobjections to his own ban.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejadsaid on Wednesday that theGuardian Council's removal ofEsfandiar Rahim Mashaei fromthe final candidate list was an actof oppression and he would take thecase to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, theSupreme Leader. "He has been a victim of

injustice," he said of his former chief of staff incomments posted on his website.

Ahmadinejad, who is prevented fromrunning in the June 14 ballot owing to

term limits, said that Mashaeiwould be beneficial for the coun-try and he was hopeful that thematter would be resolved.

"In my opinion there willbe no problem with the Leaderand I will take up this issueuntil the last moment with

him," Ahmadinejad said, accord-ing to ISNA news agency.

There had been wide specula-tion that Mashaei would be excluded

from the list but less for Rafsanjani, a two-

term president and present head of the ExpediencyCouncil, a position appointed by Ayatollah AliKhamenei, the Supreme Leader. However, Rafsan-jani's campaign manager Eshagh Jahangiri toldISNA news agency on Wednesday that the he wouldnot object to his disqualification. "Mr Hashemi hasalways been among the pillars of the regime andwill remain so, God willing," Jahangiri said.

The exclusion of Rafsanjani and EsfandiarRahim Mashaei from the presidential ballot hasgiven establishment-friendly candidates a clear pathto succeed Ahmadinejad, who has lost favour withthe ruling clerics after years of power struggles. Itpushes moderate and opposition voices further tothe margins as Iran's leadership faces critical chal-lenges such as international sanctions and talks withworld powers over Tehran's nuclear programme.

ahmadinejad to appeal iran poll-ban on ally

STOCKHOLMAGENCIES

aROUND 200 people hurled rocksat police and set cars ablaze in aStockholm suburb during the sec-ond day of rioting, which wastriggered by the fatal police

shooting of a man wielding a knife.Dozens of windows were smashed, 10

cars and several containers were set on fire,and seven police officers were injured onTuesday. Six people were arrested early inthe day, but two were released after ques-tioning, police spokesman Jorgen Karlssonsaid. Cars and containers were also setablaze in Fittja, another Stockholm suburb,although police said it was not clearwhether the two events were linked.

The unrest began Sunday night in re-sponse to the May 13 shooting, in which po-lice killed a 69-year-old man who had locked

himself in an apartment in Husby, west ofStockholm. Around 80 percent of the roughly11,000 residents of the suburbs are first- orsecond-generation immigrants. Police haverefused to give the nationality of the victim.Many local residents see the shooting as anexample of police brutality, and the violencehas stirred debate in Sweden.TENSE ATMoSPHERE: The country,known for its strong welfare state and egal-itarian society, has had the biggest surge ininequality of any Organisation for Eco-nomic Co-operation and Development(OECD) country over the past 25 years, ac-cording to a recent publication by theglobal economic watchdog.

"This is not OK. We will not give in toviolence," Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldtsaid. "We must all help out to regain calm.The residents of Husby need to get theirneighbourhood back."

Reinfeldt added that Husby has been

going in the right direction during hisseven-year tenure, with employment in-creasing and crime falling.

Al Jazeera's Rory Challands, reportingfrom Husby, said that local authorities aredoing their best to assimilate new immi-grant arrivals. "Husby is not some slumthat the state has abandoned," he said.

The atmosphere was tense on Tuesday,with residents expressing both anger at po-lice and sadness about the destruction. Cityworkers were seen clearing the debris of aburnt-out container and documenting firedamage. Reza Al Bazi, 14, and his friendSebastian Horniak, 15, said they witnessedthe violence throughout the night.

Horniak claimed he witnessed policefiring warning shots in the air and calling awoman a "monkey." "I got upset yesterdaybecause I saw police attack innocent people,they beat a woman with a baton," he said.Horniak's claims of racist remarks were

backed up by the organisation Megafonen,which represents citizens in Stockholm'ssuburbs. Prosecutors have launched an in-ternal probe into the shooting. Police say

they shot the man in self-defence becausehe attacked them with a knife when theybroke down the door to an apartment wherehe had locked himself up with a woman.

sweden riots continue after police shooting

OKLAHOMA CITYAGENCIES

Rescue workers are near the end of the search for sur-vivors in the Oklahoma City suburb where a rare andpowerful tornado claimed 24 lives, injured at least 230and left dozens missing. Police said thunderstorms andlightning slowed the rescue effort on Tuesday, but 101people had been pulled from the debris alive. After nearly24 hours of searching, Moore's fire chief said he was con-fident there were no more bodies or survivors in the rub-ble. The Oklahoma medical examiner's office said onTuesday that nine children were among those confirmeddead. President Barack Obama had promised earlier tomake available all necessary government resources toOklahoma to help in the rescue and recovery effort. "Thepeople of Moore [Oklahoma] should know that theircountry will remain on the ground, beside them, for aslong as it takes," Obama said at the White House. The USpresident called the devastation as "one of the most de-structive tornados in history", even though he said the ex-tent of the damage was still unknown. Obama spoke onTuesday after an Oval Office briefing on the latest devel-opments from his disaster response team and as FederalEmergency Management Agency Director Craig Fugatewas heading to Oklahoma. Moore was strewn with debrisand many residents were without power and water in thestructures left still standing in the most severe of a seriesof savage storms to hit the state on Sunday and Monday.The tornado razed two schools and ripped off the roof ofa medical centre. Scientists concluded the tornado was anEF5 on the enhanced Fujita scale, the most powerful type,capable of lifting reinforced buildings off the ground,hurling cars like missiles and stripping trees completelyfree of bark. The amount of energy released dwarfed thepower of the atomic bomb that levelled Hiroshima.

Dozens of cars have been

set alight during the riots.

LONDON AGENCIES

A bill to legalise gay marriage in Britain haspassed a crucial hurdle in parliament, de-spite efforts by the majority of politiciansfrom Prime Minister David Cameron'sConservative party to wreck the plans.

Members of the House of Commons onTuesday voted by 366 to 161 in favour ofthe same sex marriage bill, which will nowgo to the country's upper house for consid-eration. The bill is likely to face strong op-position when it is debated in the House ofLords next month, especially from the 26bishops holding seats in the assembly.

Cameron was forced to make a dealwith the opposition Labour party to pass thebill as many members of his own party hadlooked to prevent it from passing. Somemore right-wing Tories had proposed anamendment to allow heterosexual couplesto form civil partnerships, which was con-demned by Cameron's office as a "wreckingamendment" that would have delayed theintroduction of the new law.

Although the motion was easily defeatedwith Labour's help, the depth of the Conser-vatives' division was made clear when it wasrevealed that 128 of its MPs had votedagainst the bill, 11 more than voted in favour.The action marks the second revolt of itskind on gay marriage.

Another proposed amendment wouldhave given registrars the right to refuse toperform gay marriage ceremonies if theyobjected. Cameron's failure to unite hisparty over gay marriage and his othermajor policy - renegotiating Britain'smembership of the EU - risks undermin-ing his chances of being re-elected in2015, even as the economy is showingsome signs of returning to growth.

Britain has seen none of the massprotests over gay marriage heldacross the channel in France, whichlast weekend became the fourteenthcountry in the world to legalise it,

but some protesters did gather outside theHouse of Commons while the bill was de-bated on Monday. About 54 percent ofBritons are in favour of allowing same-sexcouples to marry, according to a YouGovpoll for the Sunday Times.

Politicians remain divided, with Con-servative former minister Norman Tebbitstoking a row on Tuesday by claiming gaymarriage could result in a lesbian queengiving birth to an heir by artificial insemi-nation. "When we have a queen who is alesbian and she marries another lady andthen decides she would like to have a childand someone donates sperm and she givesbirth to a child, is that child heir to thethrone?" he told The Big Issue magazine.

Many Conservative supporters fear thatwith a general election two years away,Cameron's backing for gay marriage isdriving traditional Tory voters to the UK In-dependence Party.The anti-immi-gration, anti-EUparty is a fast-rising force inBritish poli-tics andmade stronggains inlocal elec-tions lastmonth.

UK moves closer tolegalising gay marriage

Tornado rescueefforts wind downin Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA: An aerial view of the

destruction caused by a two-mile

wide tornado in Moore, which is

part of the Oklahoma City

metropolitan area. AGENCIES

KHI 23-05-2013_Layout 1 5/23/2013 5:45 AM Page 7

newsNThursday 23 May, 2013

08

PESHAWARAPP

KHYBER Pakhtunkhwachief minister-designate,Pervez Khan Khattak, onWednesday said he was

well aware of the people’s concerns re-garding load shedding in the provinceand would to take up the issue with fed-eral government to formulate a concretenational strategy for tackling the issueon war footing.

"Soon after assuming power, ourfirst priority would be to take up theissue of load shedding with federal gov-ernment to adopt a national strategy, asthat came under the domain of the Cen-tre," he said following a meeting withPESCO authorities.

“Load shedding is one of the majorproblem the country is currently facingand Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf govern-ment will approach the federal govern-

ment to formulate a plan to revive in-dustries and increase output from agri-culture sectors,” Khattak said.

He directed PESCO authorities to

give emergency priority to repair andreplacement of damaged electric trans-formers in areas where consumers wereregularly paying electricity bills.

Khattak said no negligence on partof government officials would be toler-ated in this regard.

He said the government would clearall outstanding dues of closed tubewells to make them operational with anobjective to provide clean drinkingwater to the people in remote and farflung areas, besides rejuvenate agricul-ture sector for benefit of the people ofrural areas.

He said the issue of closed tubewells would be taken up with concerneddepartments soon after formation of PTIgovernment.

He said the government would pro-vide maximum relief to the people inthe budget, adding the budget 2013would be pro-poor and people friendly.

He said his government would take

comprehensive measures for protectionof low laying areas from floods in mon-soon season and focus on constructionof flood protection walls to protect thepeople of Charssada, Nowshera and Pe-shawar from future threats of floods.

Asked about Kabul River floodingand erosion threats to Nowshera, Khat-tak said a master plan had been pre-pared during his tenure as the KPirrigation minister and would be imple-mented with financial assistance ofdonors.

He said the KP government had lim-ited resources and sought the help of in-ternational donors for pavement ofembankments along River Kabul to pro-tect fertile agriculture land and ward offthe possibility of flood threats to thepeople of Nowshera.

He said the PTI would focus ongood governance and have zero toler-ance against corruption and injustice inthe society.

Centre to be contacted for nationalplan on energy crisis, says khattak

ISLAMABADSTAFF REPORT

The Free and Fair Election Network(FAFEN) on Wednesday announced totrigger a nationwide citizen’s cam-paign to bring transparency in ECP fi-nalisation of election results.

FAFEN also demanded that theECP release all polling station andconstituency forms and data.

Addressing a news conferenceFAFEN Director Programmes

Rasheed Chaudhry and ChairpersonZahidul Islam said that FAFEN per-formed its job in the best interest ofthe people to bring transparency inthe polls so that people may come upwith the true leadership as per theirdesires.

While announcing to start a citi-zen campaign, Chaudhry said thecampaign is focused to raise the de-mand for immediate release of pollingstation-wise vote counts and data foreach constituency as a prerequisite to

electoral transparency. Under thecampaign, Chaudhry said, FAFENwould mobilise citizens on their rightto access vital electoral informationthat forms the basis for the consoli-dated constituency-level results.

He also said FAFEN would holdmedia briefings, citizen forums andsignature campaigns across Pakistanwith the primary purpose of request-ing the ECP to publically release theactual polling scheme implementedon Election Day and documents fromall 69,801 polling stations in 268 con-stituencies where elections were held,including Form XIV (Statement of theCount), Form XV (Ballot Paper Ac-

count), Form XVI (ConsolidationStatement of the Results of theCount) and Form XVII (Result of theCount).

FAFEN believes that it is the dutyof state institutions to provide com-plete and timely information on mat-ters of public importance for thebenefit of candidates, political par-ties, media and other stakeholders,Chaudhry added.

He said the need for this cam-paign arose after FAFEN analysedpreliminary evidence received frompolling stations, which indicatedweak enforcement of electoral rulesand procedures on Election Day.

He informed reporters thatFAFEN observers reported irregulari-ties at polling stations, raising thepossibility of rigging and vote fraud,the scale of which can only be ascer-tained by the vital information thatECP is withholding.

FAFEN also shared a 26-page re-port based on the findings and recom-mendations by the network inconnection with recent elections.

FAFen TO LAunCHCITIzen’s CAMPAIgn

official says netWork Will mobilise citiZens ontheir right to access vital electoral information

Former kP lawminister arrested

PESHAWAR: Former law minister of

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Arshad

Abdullah was arrested on Wednesday

from a session court in Charsadda after

the court cancelled his pre-arrest bail

application in a case registered against

him for attacking a police checkpost and

freeing an apprehended associate. The

police had lodged an FIR against

Abdullah and 18 others who were

accused of attacking a police check post

in Charsadda’s Utmanzai area on April 26

and freeing an associate who was

apprehended by the security personnel

at the check post for carrying an

unlicensed weapon. Abdullah and his

accomplice were arrested within the

court premises and were handed over to

the city police station. STAFF REPORT

4 trainee doctors‘disappear’ inlakki marwatPESHAWAR: Four trainee doctors

disappeared in Lakki Marwat’s Tajazai

area late on Tuesday night when they

were on their way to Dera Ismail Khan

from Peshawar. Per details, the four

trainee doctors on Tuesday afternoon left

Peshawar for Dera Ismail Khan where

they had been invited by Gomal Medical

College to a laptop distribution ceremony.

Sources said on way, the four were in

contact with their college administrations

and relatives. However, all contact ended

when they reached Tajazai. When

informed, the administration of Gomal

Medical College contacted civil and police

officers. However, the four could not be

found anywhere. When contacted,

security officials in Lakki Marwat said

efforts to recover the young disappeared

doctors were underway. No one has

claimed responsibility either for

abducting or detaining the disappeared

doctors so far. STAFF REPORT

india test firessupersonicmissile from shipPANNAJI/NEW DELHI: India on

Wednesday successfully test-fired

BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from

the Navy's latest Russian built guided

missile frigate INS Tarkash off the Goa

coast. According to Indian media, the

missile performed the high-level 'C'

manoeuvre in the pre-determined flight

path and successfully hit the target. The

submarine-launched version of the

missile was "successfully" tested near

Visakhapatnam coast, Indian media said.

"The launch was carried out by the navy

as part of Acceptance Test Firing (ATF) of

the ship.” INS Tarkash, an advanced

Talwar Class frigate, was commissioned

on November 9, 2012. The warship,

along with two other frigates of the class

– INS Teg and INS Trikand – have been

built as part of an over Rs 8,000 crore

contract signed between India and

Russia in July 2006. The weapons suite

of INS Tarkash includes surface-to-air

and surface-to-surface missile systems,

100 mm medium-range gun, close-in

weapon system, torpedo tubes and anti-

submarine rockets. All the three ships

will be equipped with eight vertical-

launched BrahMos missile systems as the

prime strike weapon. AGENCIES

QUETTA: A child presents flowers to

former Balochistan advocate general

Salahuddin Mengal following his release

late on Tuesday. Megal was kidnapped

by unidentified men on April 4. INP

KHI 23-05-2013_Layout 1 5/23/2013 5:45 AM Page 8

news N

09

Thursday 23 May, 2013

NEW DELHIONLINE

AFGHAN President HamidKarzai on Wednesday said nopeace deal was possible inAfghanistan without Pak-

istan's involvement because of its influ-ence over the Taliban. "Pakistan’scooperation is key to a politically success-ful peace process and key to the end of vi-olence in Afghanistan," he told reporters.

Karzai said that at a meeting with Pak-istan prime minister-elect Nawaz Shariflast year, the latter had acknowledged thedanger that "terrorism and radicalism"posed to Pakistan. "I hope the new primeminister will be able to deliver what he somuch wishes to achieve," Karzai said.

Karzai said he had given a militaryequipment wish list to India during a visitthis week. This has presented a conundrum

for New Delhi as it weighs whether armingthe Afghan army is in its interests. "We

have a wish list that we have put before thegovernment of India," Karzai said, addingthat it was up to India to decide how muchhelp it was prepared to give Afghanistan.

Karzai would not say what was on thelist, but Indian media reported that it in-cluded 105 mm artillery, medium-lift air-craft, bridge-laying equipment and trucks.The Indian government had no immediatecomments on Karzai's statement. Karzai'sspokesman said both countries had agreednot to discuss the contents of the list.

An Indian government official saidearlier that India had already providedsome military equipment to Afghanistanbut he declined to give details. He said hewas surprised that Afghanistan wasspeaking openly about a weapons request.India is not a major weapons exporter andsuffers chronic shortages of defenseequipment itself, including artillery.Afghanistan's request for military equip-

ment comes as its relations with Pakistan,which have been difficult for decades, areagain at a low.

This month, Pakistan border guardsand Afghan police clashed over a con-tested border area. The Afghan policecomplained they had been out-gunned andsaid they wanted heavy artillery and tanks.Afghan security forces have also made nosecret of their desire for an air force.

The clash over their border, whichAfghanistan has never officially recog-nised, raised new tensions betweenAfghanistan and Pakistan. Afghanistanand its Western allies have for years com-plained that Pakistan had failed to actagainst militants taking refuge in thecountry and launching attacks intoAfghanistan from there. Pakistan denieshelping the Taliban and complains ofmilitants fighting the Pakistani state tak-ing refuge in Afghanistan.

no PEaCE in aFGhanistanWithout Pakistan: karZai

QUETTA: Members of

the Balochistan Teachers

Association stage a

sit-in in protest against

the government’s delay

in implementation of

a relief package

announced for them. INP

LONDON: The British government has re-

vealed that surveys carried out in Pakistan’s

Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) –

which bear the brunt of US drone strikes –

have shown year-on-year increases in oppo-

sition to the covert campaign. Responding to

a parliamentary question, Foreign Minister

Alistair Burt said that according to surveys

supported by the British Foreign Office, the

proportion of respondents who believed

drone strikes were “never justified” rose

from 59 percent in 2010 to 63 percent in

2011. Interestingly, 63 percent was also the

proportion of Americans opposed to the

president being allowed to carry out drone

strikes inside the US targeting fellow citi-

zens, according to a recent poll by Fox

News. This is the first time that the UK govt

has revealed it had carried out opinion re-

search on the CIA drone campaign in Pak-

istan – a programme on which it has re-

fused to comment. Previously, British min-

isters have simply stated that drone strikes

were a matter between the US and Pak-

istan. However, there have been reports

that the British govt is complicit in the pro-

gramme by sharing location intelligence with

US agencies to help them target the strikes.

As a result, British ministers are facing a ju-

dicial review of their intelligence-sharing

policy, brought in the English courts by Noor

Khan, whose father was killed in a March

2011 strike that hit a meeting of civilians.

Khan is being supported by human rights

charity Reprieve. Reprieve Legal Director

Kat Craig said, “The UK should not need to

carry out polling to determine that a cam-

paign of illegal killing is wrong. But what

this does show is that even British govern-

ment surveys find that the drone campaign

is increasingly unpopular. “This is yet more

evidence that the CIA’s campaign of deadly

strikes in Pakistan is deeply counter-produc-

tive – which is hardly surprising, given it has

resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civil-

ians. Ministers must come clean on the role

UK intelligence is playing in supporting

drone strikes, put a stop to it and pressure

the US to end its campaign.” ONLINE

UK admits to unpopularity of dronestrikes, faces accusations of complicity

severe heatwaveto continue for nexttwo days: met office

ISLAMABADAPP

The severe heatwave will continue in mostparts of the country in the next two to threedays. The Met Office on Wednesday reportedthat the seasonal low lay over Balochistan andcentral parts of the country. The severe heat-wave will grip central and southern parts ofPunjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the next24 hours while the severe heat conditions willcontinue to prevail in upper and central Sindhand most parts of Balochistan in the next 24hours. In Kashmir, dry weather is expected inmost parts of Kashmir, however, there arechances of dust-thunderstorm coupled withlight rain in isolated areas of Gilgit-Baltistanduring the next 24 hours. Some of the maxi-mum temperatures were recorded in Jacoba-bad and Nurpur Thal with 49°C and Dadu,Padidan, Shaheed Benazirabad and Moenjo-daro where the temperature was recorded at48°C. In Islamabad the temperature remained41°C, Lahore 46°C, Karachi 36°C, Peshawar42°C, Quetta 35°C, Murree 30°C, Muzaf-farabad 41°C, Gilgit 31°C, Faisalabad 46°Cand Multan 47°C. Rainfall recorded in the last24 hours was 3mm in Gupis and Hunza.

nation defeatedmisguided minority,says kayani

ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff General

Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani on Wednesday said there

were a lot of concerns over the peaceful holding

of the general elections but the nation had

defeated a misguided minority that held such

apprehensions. General Kayani made these

remarks in an informal talk with the reporters at

the Presidency on the eve of a dinner hosted for

the visiting Chinese prime minister, Li Keqiang.

A reporter complimented the army chief, saying

his speech made on Youm-e-Shuhda had helped

remove all doubts about the alleged delay in the

elections. General Kayani nodded and said there

were lots of concerns about the holding of the

elections, but there was no doubt that a

misguided minority had been defeated. He said

the army had provided complete support to the

Election Commission of Pakistan in maintaining

security on the polling day which resulted in a

big voter turnout. STAFF REPORT

KHI 23-05-2013_Layout 1 5/23/2013 5:45 AM Page 9

FROM both the left and theright, three common misper-ceptions have emerged aboutUS foreign policy: First, thatthe Global War on Terror has

become a perpetual state of affairs; sec-ond, that no strategy is available to endthis conflict in the near future; and third,that “the Obama approach to that conflictis just like the Bush approach.” I dis-agree with all three propositions.

First and most important, the over-riding goal should be to end this ForeverWar, not engage in a perpetual “globalwar on terror,” without geographic ortemporal limits.

Second, this is not a conflict withoutend, and there is a strategy to end it, out-lined below. In November, also at theOxford Union, Jeh Johnson, then generalcounsel of the United States Departmentof Defense, argued that in the conflictagainst Al-Qaeda and its affiliates: “therewill come a tipping point – ... at whichso many of the leaders and operatives ofAl-Qaeda and its affiliates have beenkilled or captured, and the group is nolonger able to attempt or launch a strate-gic attack against the United States, suchthat Al-Qaeda as we know it, the organ-ization that our Congress authorised themilitary to pursue in 2001, has been ef-fectively destroyed. At that point, wemust be able to say to ourselves that ourefforts should no longer be considered an“armed conflict” against Al-Qaeda andits associated forces; rather, a countert-errorism effort against individuals whoare the scattered remnants of Al-Qaeda,or are parts of groups unaffiliated withAl-Qaeda….”

The key question going forward willthus be whether the US treats newgroups that rise up to commit acts of ter-ror as “associated forces” of Al-Qaedawith whom it’s already at war. Thisseems unwise, as under both domesticand international law, the United Stateshas ample legal authority to respond tonew groups that would attack withoutdeclaring war forever against anyonehostile to the country. More fundamen-tally, the United States is at war with Al-Qaeda, not with any idea or religion, orwith mere propagandists, journalists orsad individuals, like the recent Bostonbombers, who may become radicalized,inspired by Al-Qaeda’s ideology, butnever joining Al-Qaeda itself.

Third, in regard to this conflict, theObama administration has differed fromits predecessor in three key respects.First, it has acknowledged that theUnited States is strictly bound by domes-tic and international law. Under domesticlaw, the administration has acknowl-edged that its authority derives from Actsof Congress, not just the president’svague constitutional powers. Under in-ternational law, this administration hasexpressly recognized that US actions are

constrained by the laws of war, and it hasworked hard to translate the spirit ofthose laws and apply them.

The Geneva Conventions envisionedtwo types of conflict – internationalarmed conflicts between nation-statesand non-international armed conflicts be-tween states and insurgent groups withina single country, for example, a govern-ment versus a rebel faction locatedwithin that country. But September 11made clear that the term “non-interna-tional armed conflicts” can also includetransnational battles, for example, be-tween a nation-state like the UnitedStates and a transnational non-statearmed group like Al-Qaeda that attacksit. The US Supreme Court has instructedthe US government to translate the exist-ing laws of war to this different type of“non-international” armed conflict.

Second, in conducting this more lim-ited conflict, the administration hasshown an absolute commitment to hu-mane treatment of Al-Qaeda suspects.Third, the Obama administration has de-termined not to address Al-Qaeda andthe Taliban solely through the tools ofwar. Instead, this administration hasstated a longer-term objective – a “smartpower” approach – under which force isused for limited and defined purposeswithin a much broader nonviolent frame,with the over-arching aim being to usediplomacy, development, education andpeople-to-people outreach to challengeAl-Qaeda’s ideology and diminish its ap-peal. Applying this approach, the Obamaadministration has combined a law-of-war approach with law-enforcementmethods to bring all available tools tobear against Al-Qaeda. In a remote partof Afghanistan, a law-of-war approachmight be appropriate, but in London orNew York, a law enforcement approachis surely more fitting. In either case, theUS response to a suspect turns not onwhether we generically label a person an“enemy combatant,” but on whether weassemble the facts to prove that a partic-ular person’s behavior reveals that he ispart of Al-Qaeda.

So how to end the Forever War?President Obama should now diligentlypursue three previously announced aimsof US policy: 1) disengage fromAfghanistan, 2) close Guantanamo and3) discipline drones.

Disengaging from Afghanistan isfully underway, but three challengesloom. First, in transferring control of de-tention facilities, the US must ensure thattransfers comply with obligations underinternational law not to return detaineesto persecution or torture, and that futuredetentions comply with fair process andtreatment obligations. Second, the USmust work closely with the Afghans tohelp secure what Secretary of State JohnKerry has called a “credible, safe, secure,all-inclusive, … transparent, and ac-countable presidential election” to suc-ceed Hamid Karzai in 2014. Third, theAfghan government must tackle the con-troversial task of negotiating with theTaliban. In so doing, it’s crucial to buildupon the myriad advances that have ex-panded individual freedom withinAfghan civil society over the last decade.

Closing Guantanamo permanently islong past overdue. The US militaryprison in Cuba has 166 detainees, 76fewer than in 2009. More than 100 of thedetainees are on hunger strike, withmany being force-fed. President Obamahas acknowledged, “Guantanamo is notnecessary to keep America safe. It is ex-

pensive. It is inefficient. It hurts us interms of our international standing.”

Crucially, he does not need a newpolicy to close Guantanamo. He justneeds to put the full weight of his officebehind the sensible policy first an-nounced in 2009: Resume transfer ofthose who are cleared for transfer, try thetriable, grant periodic review of those inlaw of war detention, resist further con-gressional restrictions and appoint ahigh-level White House envoy to imple-ment the foregoing.

The goal of decimating Al-Qaeda’score leads to the final contentious issue,disciplining drones. Critics often ask,“How, as a human rights advocate, couldyou criticize torture, while as a govern-ment lawyer, you defended the legalityof drones?” The answer is sad, but sim-ple: Torture is always unlawful. Butkilling those with whom a country is atwar may be lawful, so long as the lawsof war are strictly followed. It is the dutyof government lawyers to police the linebetween those violent acts that are lawfuland unlawful, and distinguish betweenthose uses of force that do and do not onbalance promote the human rights of in-nocent civilians.

Drones are not per se unlawful. If ac-curately targeted, they could be far morediscriminate and lawful than indiscrimi-nate weapons. The main problem is notdrones, but that the Bush administrationgrossly mismanaged its response to 9/11.Instead of acting surgically against Al-Qaeda when it had the chance, the ad-ministration squandered global goodwillby invading Iraq, committing torture,opening Guantanamo, flouting domesticand international law, and underminingcivilian courts.

Left to pick up the pieces, Obamagot off to a promising start, but that efforthas slowed. Since 2010, the Obama ad-ministration has not done enough to betransparent about legal standards and itsdecision-making process. Small wonderthat the public has lost track of the realissue, which is not drone technology perse, but the need for transparent, agreed-upon domestic and international legalprocess and standards. The Obama ad-ministration should now make publicand transparent its legal standards and in-stitutional processes for targeting anddrone strikes, give facts to show whypast strikes were necessary, and consultwith Congress and allies on principledstandards going forward. Most impor-tant, he should oppose proposed legisla-tion that would grant him unneeded newauthority to strike new shadowy foes.

The real and pressing issue facingthe United States is how to end the For-ever War underway since 2001. If theObama administration cannot persuadeits citizens, Congress and its closest al-lies that its drone program is legal, nec-essary for that task and under control, itwill be hard for President Obama to seethat war to its much-needed conclusionor take the other steps needed to securethe peace.

The writer is a Sterling Professor ofInternational Law and former dean(2004-09), Yale Law School; former legaladviser, US Department of State (2009-13); former assistant secretary of statefor democracy, human rights and labour(1998-2001). This is a condensed and ed-ited version of a speech to the OxfordUnion on May 7, 2013, and reflects hispersonal views, not that of any institutionof which he is or has been affiliated.

disengaging from afghanistan, closing guantanamo, controlling drone use could end the war on terrorCOMMenT

Aziz-ud-Din AhmadEditor

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

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

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

C

in talking to militants, resist urge for quick fixeslook before you leap

the big turn out

THERE is good news and there is bad news to share. The good news is that theoverall voter turnout across Pakistan in the May 11 polls is up, by 9 per centfrom the 2008 elections. Added to the fact that the current elections were held

under the shadow of terror and violence, with both Karachi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwafacing daily calamities, the numbers tell a story that the voter defied the militants. Buthere comes the bad news: the turnout was far worse in Balochistan and the tribal areas.A military operation was launched in the former to ensure a peaceful election butresulted in an election boycott, with voting remaining under 10 per cent in about 10districts. The later, recovering from a decade of being under siege and 65 years underthe FCR laws, is yet to form its trust in the processes of democracy.

Whatever the story may be in Balochistan, it is the 55 per cent turnout in 2013 thatappears to be the dominant story of the current general elections. Up from 44 per centin 2008, when some parties including the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Balochnationalist parties boycotted, the current polls spoke of growing confidence indemocracy to deliver. According to figures released by the Election Commission ofPakistan (ECP), the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) bagged 10.4865million votes; Pakistan Threek-e-Insaf (PTI) secured 7.679 million; Pakistan People’sParty (PPP) 6.55 million and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) got 2.458 millionvotes in the elections. It also disclosed that around 46.2 million people exercised theirright of franchise, with the National Assembly vote count almost equal to theProvincial Assembly turnout.

However, the difference between the lowest turnout, NA-42 in the tribal areas of11.57 per cent, and the highest turnout in NA-191 Bahawalnagar, is alarming. Itsuggests people in some areas trust the electoral system while others do not. Winningthe trust of those disillusioned ones is the task of the next elected governments. Thefactors responsible for such low turnouts must be removed in the next five years.Balochistan and the tribal areas must be wooed while those restricting women fromvoting must be taken to task. But the turnout more positively mandates the new electedgovernment to implement its programmes and set right the inequality in civil-militaryrelations. The Earlier governments could not muster a mandate similar to the one aboutto come into power and it means more pressure to deliver. Spiderman once said: “Withgreat power comes great responsibility.” The dictum applies to the coming governmentfrom whom the public shall expect good governance, promoting democratic cultureand strengthening institutions. And why not? 55 per cent of registered voters can claimthey gave the system and democracy its mandate.

BOTH the PML-N and the PTI are in a haste to initiate talks with the militants.Among other things they are approaching religious parties which enjoy goodrapport with the militants. Pervez Khattak, the PTI’s nominee for the post of

Chief Minister KP, has already met JUI-S chief Samiul Haq to discuss the issue. Thelatter claims he has also been approached by the PML-N leadership. The urgency toresolve the issue is understandable as nearly 50,000 people including about 15,000servicemen have died in the terrorist attacks during the last decade. This has led tohuman suffering of an extraordinary high scale, particularly in cases where the victimshappened to be the sole earning members of their families. The attacks have alsocreated fear and uncertainty, scaring away potential investors, both local and foreign.

While there is a dire need to put an end to militancy at the earliest, the urge forquick fixes has to be resisted. All aspects of the complex issue have to be taken intoconsideration before moving ahead. The TTP is a motley collection of loosely boundgroups. The outfit’s chief has rejected democracy as un-Islamic, advocatedenforcement of Sharia through armed struggle and the establishment of a worldwideKhilafat dispensing with national states with geographical boundaries. The TTPspokesman recently declared that his organization would follow in the footsteps ofOsama bin Laden, which implies turning Pakistan into a launching pad for militantsworking for a worldwide enforcement of the Sharia. The TTP comprises numerousgroups with separate missions, some specialising in attacks on schools, some like LeJtargeting Shias. The PML-N and the PTI have yet to decide which leaders of the TTPthey would meet. Hopefully both the parties realize that there can be no compromiseon the constitution and the law of the land.

The two parties have yet to do a lot of homework. They need to sit together todetermine the line to be taken jointly during any possible talks. There is also a need toget detailed briefing from the army and the security agencies to know why pastagreements brokered with the militants failed to bring peace. They also have tounderstand why the army takes a stand different from that of the two parties. Gen.Kayani has called the fight against extremism and militancy as Pakistan’s own war. Hehas supported the elections maintaining that anti-democratic forces would never beacceptable. On Monday he praised the nation’s commitment to moderation and rule oflaw and congratulated the people for withstanding the threat of terrorism and defyingthe “unfounded dictates of an insignificant and misguided minority” by activelyparticipating in the general elections. As Nawaz Sharif too has suggested there is aneed for all stake holders to thoroughly discuss the various aspects of the issue.

the 55 per cent turnout means greater responsibility

Thursday, 23 May, 2013

10 I know not with what weapons World War III

will be fought, but World War IV will be fought

with sticks and stones. –Albert Einstein

how to end the Forever War

HAROLD HONGju KOH

Funny thingsI hear every politician claiming its voters to be youth. Why

is this so? Youth have only so many votes, as all of us

have, so why crib about and make claims?

It was funny to hear Altaf cry like a baby on his address.

Was he crying for the plight of poor people of Pakistan or

crying over his failures and obnoxious speeches? Nawaz’s

disclosure in Alhamra on 19th May about circular debt at Rs

500 billion and exchequer empty was an indication that loadshedding is not leaving us for next five years.

MQM Rabita Committee has run out of excusesto protect Altaf Hussein.

Asif Ali Zardari has lambasted his party workersfor their dismal performance. But I wonder ifZardari did not know about irregularities andcorruption for five long years.

AMJAD HABIB MIRZALahore

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

KHI 23-05-2013_Layout 1 5/23/2013 5:45 AM Page 10

COMMenT CThursday, 23 May, 2013

11

War is peace.

Freedom is slavery.

Ignorance is strength. –George Orwell

AT the reception of Stephen Hawking’sbook ‘A brief history of time’, one of thereviews in Sunday Times opined that, ‘This

book marries child’s wonder to a genius’s intellect.’This can be attributed as the simplest and most basicdefinition of science, a journey that starts with achild’s wonder and ends at the intellect of a genius.

What started off as a scholarly pursuit has nowbecome the cradle of progress for all the elitistnations of the world, and the only potentialredeemer of the developing nations; but science isan expensive luxury which the modest nations suchas ours can’t afford, or at least that’s what thecommunal belief is. This is the very reason ourscience labs are mostly deserted and the culture ofscience, largely absent. The paucity of science-based activities can inevitably be attributed to thefactors such as scarce funding resources,inadequately furnished labs and lack of expertise.However, besides all these factors, an overridingcause of the crippled state of research in our countryis our ‘attitude’ that has put research on thebackseat. Although, pragmatically, a scientist issupposed to be an innovative and venturesomeindividual who plays around with novel ideas, yetour culture has stereotyped him as a ‘withdrawn’and ‘comatose’ entity, who camps all-day-long inlabs and mass-produces publications in his leisuretime. Not an exciting image at all!

Bearing in mind that science is an ever-evolving craft, where old theories are frequentlydebunked and substituted by the new, moreauthentic ones; the scientists are required to be morecreative, more imaginative and more clued up thanever, to join dots and to elucidate connectionsbetween seemingly unrelated phenomena. This,certainly, isn’t a dull affair provided you are doingit the scientist way.

It’s not only the scientific gear that makes ascientist, scientist, but a thinking, questioning andcurious mind that lays down the groundwork of ascientific life. It was his inquisitive mind thattransformed little ‘Al’ Edison into the world-famousThomas Edison of later years, even without a formaldegree in science. But having ‘an inquisitive mind’is hardly considered an eligibility criterion for anyof the disciplines in our universities. Our existinguniversity culture entails long-drawn-out

commentaries on established theories, fencedperceptions and a spate of assignments that areturned in only on the day before submission of finalresults. The students keep juggling withassignments, quizzes, presentations and projects allthrough the semesters and ta da, one day, they arein their graduation garbs, thinking of switching theirfields and wondering what’s next. Nobody thinks,nobody asks and hence, there are no answers.

The psychology of students expressingreluctance in putting forth their questions has beenwell-established; they hesitate for the fear ofembarrassing themselves in front of their peers andcompetitors. But one more thing missing in theequation of ‘active learning’ is the quotient ofteachers. Students aside, even our teachers flinchwhen it comes to raising questions; they sidestepfrom questioning themselves, their students or eventhe decades-long research studies. This is partlyowing to their chockfull teaching schedules wherethey don’t get time to put their minds to someconstructive thinking and partly because they arenot accustomed to this way of teaching. This boilsdown to the core argument of this article, ourgeneral lack of aptitude for research. One doesn’tsimply become a scientist by earning a doctorate ina science field; it all starts with your curiosity fromthe childhood. We grow up with several knots inour minds, but unlike the common lot, the curiousones hold onto them and struggle to figure outanswers in their own capacity. This is preciselywhat steers one towards an advanced culture ofresearch; a nagging, persistent and inescapablecuriosity.

This kind of approach can be instilled byteachers, through simple exercises, during earlyyears of education. The students must beencouraged to look around in their surroundings andask a simple question regarding the origin orworking of a phenomenon they are most fascinatedwith, and then the teachers must urge them topursue an answer to their questions. For this, theymight have to consult a few books, internet and mayeven have to carry out a simple experiment. Thiswill give them the de rigueur direction and a senseof purpose. A rudimentary exercise such as this willbe incredibly effective in honing the instinctivecuriosity of children, dusting off thick layers ofobliviousness that enshrouds juveniles over timeand in warming them up to the idea of research,right at the beginning of their academic lives. Onceintroduced to the concept of reasoning, it wouldn’tbe too long when the students would take upinductive and deductive reasoning in the course oftheir routine lives, posing a tough competition to thefictional physics genius Sheldon Cooper.

Every year, nationwide universities produceoodles of dissertations. Regrettably, only a few ofthose measure up to the benchmark of first-rate,authentic research studies while the remaining bulkcommunicates a sense of burden with which thedissertations were over and done with, rather hastily,just to obtain a degree. Ideally, the PhD facultymembers must first frame hypotheses concerningcritical national and international issues and then

form research groups, inviting students who may beinterested in working in their area of expertise, towork on conceivable solutions. For instance, havingresearch groups working on affordable andsustainable energy solutions, in the milieu ofPakistan’s catastrophic energy crisis, will not onlyget many minds simultaneously thinking about thepotential solution, but would also open doors tomany possibilities.

With a solid groundwork laid down, funds canbe roped in from HEC or other research-fundingorganisations. In a similar vein, the capable mindsof the country can put their assets of analyticalthinking into developing cost-effective measuringequipments, which are currently highly exorbitantin the market. There are a variety of people inPakistan who, despite having never been to a schoolor university, are pretty well-versed with basicscientific laws. These are the ones who personifyexamples of curiosity-driven (as opposed totextbook) individuals.

With the aim of encouraging research in thecountry, HEC introduced tenure track system,according to which the appointed faculty membersare required to produce a substantial amount ofquality published papers so as to achieve promotionand increments. This, in principle, is a very effectivetool to warrant perpetual, quality researchendeavours throughout the country. However, aswith most of the matters in the country, thisprinciple lacks effective implementation. Teacherscontinue churning out same kind of work, year afteryear; by supervising research students and‘innovative research’ takes a backseat.

Currently, the undergraduate and MS/MPhillevel research studies are designed keeping inperspective the facilities available within thedepartmental laboratories which are mostlydelimiting. Many students have to bear additionalcharges of their research as well as the transport farewithin the city for the acquisition of data andsurveys by themselves. For efficient utilisation ofresources, universities must establish strong, activenetworks of association to facilitate researchers tomake most of the equipments, literature andexpertise that is not available to them in their owninstitutions. Research study of any scale involvesconsiderable amount of time, energy and financialresources of the researcher, the dissertations ofstudents should be tailored to produce valuablecontributions to the research world.

The way forward is not a linear journey. Thegovernment bodies, universities, teachers andstudents all will have to work, side by side, inunison, to bring about the much needed researchrevolution. It is also necessary to keep the charm ofthe science, the adventure of treading the path ofunknown and the thrill of arriving at plausibletheories, intact. Teachers will have to be trained fornew and innovative training methods and additionalfunds, amassed. As for the students; think, ask andpursue, who knows you might be the next IsaacNewton in line.

The writer is an environmental researcher.

the enervation the american politics

umbrellas anddrones

TO observe the Re-publicans, onewould think that

the US military was in-volved in nothing morecontroversial than a Ma-rine holding an umbrellafor President BarackObama while he gave aspeech in the rain. SarahPalin, one of the manydarlings of the rightwing,has stated that most Amer-icans hold their own um-brellas, despite picturesshowing her disembarkinga plane on a rainy day with a lackey holding an umbrella for her. LouDobbs, formerly of Fox News, said it was ‘disrespectful, inconsid-erate, classless,’ although one looks in vain for his similar commentswhen Presidents Ronald Reagan, George Bush and George W Bushhad soldiers holding umbrellas for them. And the conservative blo-gosphere has been awash with condemnation, criticism and greatumbrage about an action the president took, that has been taken bymany presidents before him, including many of their heroes.

Someone awakening after a multi-year sleep and observing thiswould certainly believe that society overall was in very good shape,if the most important things political activists had to complain aboutwas a Marine holding an umbrella for the president. However, sucha person might be deceived. Let us take a quick look at another cur-rent issue that is somewhat less benign than an umbrella, and that noone on the right or the left seems concerned with.

US drones, unmanned aircraft, have for some time been bombingtargets in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and other countries, all inthe sacred name of the U.S. war on terror (whatever that is). In thelast couple of years, over 5,000 people have been killed in US – ini-tiated drone strikes, and the frequency of these bombing is escalatingrapidly. Their purpose, ostensibly, is to rid areas of Al-Qaeda opera-tives, a strategically important goal (we’ll not consider the moralityof it quite yet), as the U.S. prepares to withdraw its forces fromAfghanistan, after twelve years of U.S.-sponsored terrorism againstthe Afghani people.

But what of the human debris left in the wake of these bomb-ings? Ibrahim Mothana, a young Yemeni writer, said this in a NewYork Times op-ed last year: “Drone strikes are causing more andmore Yemenis to hate America and join radical militants; they arenot driven by ideology, but rather by a sense of revenge and despair.”Much as US citizens are told that people throughout the Middle Easthate them because of their freedoms, it might be worth consideringthat the US is hated by many in the Middle East and other areas be-cause the US government keeps killing their loved ones. In movingtestimony on April 24 of this year, another young Yemeni man, Fareaal-Muslimi, who had lived in the US as a high-school student, toldthe Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rightsand Human Rights, that his neighbours had felt positively about theUS, due to his experiences there as a youth. “Now, however, whenthey think of America, they think of the fear they feel at the dronesover their heads,” he said. “What the violent militants had failed toachieve, one drone strike accomplished in an instant.” But are notthese victims just ‘collateral damage’? Are they not just the unfortu-nate cost of keeping the world safe for freedom and democracy? Theanswer to those questions is, of course, simply no. They are innocentvictims of US imperial aggression. As Corporate America, with allits callous greed and complete disregard for human rights, lumbersacross the globe, seeking new economic conquests, it knows thatsuch conquests cannot occur only in the boardroom. Third Worldpeoples, with no interest in corporate profits, who simply want tolive simple lives, raising their families and earning their livings onfarms, must not stand in the way of the almighty dollar, when theirfarms lay atop precious natural resources, coveted by the US. So asthe US moves in, and is resisted, those resisting them are said to be‘insurgents’, terrorists hating the freedoms that US citizens so enjoy.Therefore, they must be removed. Certainly, they are not all terrorists,but the ringleaders must be destroyed, and if, in the process of killingthem, some innocent children are blown to bits in front of their ter-rified parents, well, that is simply war. One might see it as the costof doing business.

And what is the result? Those parents, and others, fill in the ranksof any opposition leaders the US has managed to kill, inflating thenumbers of ‘insurgents’ (read: freedom fighters), causing the US tosend more of its bombs, thus killing more innocent people and fos-tering more hatred of the United States.

One could ask if these facts are too complicated for the US’elected representatives. It seems rather basic: kill innocent people,and their loved ones will not necessarily grow fond of you. However,why is any of the relevant, when corporate lobbies contribute vastamounts to elected officials for their reelection campaigns? Whowouldn’t want to keep a job that requires showing up to the officewhenever you feel like it, provides all-expenses paid travel benefits,and pays well? What do integrity, honesty, upholding the law and theConstitution have to do with the bottom line?

The US’s never-deserved but self-proclaimed image as a globalbeacon of peace and freedom began to wear thin during the US in-vasion of Iraq in 2003. While Congress and the president prefer tolook the other way, and view the ‘war on terror’ as defending free-dom and democracy, more and more people throughout the worldsee it for what it is, and until US government officials decided to seereality, hatred toward the US will only continue to grow.

The writer is author of ‘Desertion and the American Soldier:1776 – 2006 and Look not unto the Morrow.

Why we lag behind in research

RObERT FANTINA

SAbA DAR

KHI 23-05-2013_Layout 1 5/23/2013 5:45 AM Page 11

Is salman Khan finallyconsidering marriage?

D REW Barrymore has put her Montecito, California home,

where she got married to husband Will Kopelman, on

the market. The Chester Carjola-designed six bedroom

house, with a de-

tached, two-storey

guest property, has

been listed at 7.5

million dollars,

Contactmusic re-

ported. According

to RealEstalker.com,

the actress pur-

chased the 1937

built estate for 5.7 mil-

lion dollars in 2010.

NEWS DESK

monroE’sPhotosFor PraGuEExhibitionstolEnA publicist for an upcoming Marilyn

Monroe exhibition in Prague says that

photographs of the star have been

stolen. Alice Titzova of the PR agency

2media says the photos, stolen late

Monday, were to be on display starting

May 30 at the Prague Castle. Titzova

says mannequins and display cases

which were part of the exhibition also

disappeared. There was no word

Wednesday whether the exhibition will

be delayed or canceled. The collection

of various items including Monroe's

dresses, shoes, photographs and

diaries was assembled by curators at

the Salvatore Ferragamo museum in

Florence, Italy last year to mark the

50th anniversary of Monroe's death.

After Prague, the exhibition was to be

moved to Tokyo. NEWS DESK

arts

AThursday, 23 May, 2013

12I was gratified to be able toanswer promptly, and I did. I saidI didn't know. –Mark Twain

‘thE rEluCtantFundamEntalist’FinallY CominGto Pakistan LAHORE: Mohsin Hamid fans, this one’s

for you. Having made an impression

worldwide, the much awaited movie

“The Reluctant Fundamentalist” is all

set to premiere in Lahore on the 24th

(tomorrow). Based on Mohsin Hamid’s

novel, it’s a bold piece of storytelling

with a strong lead performance by Riz

Ahmed under Mira Nair’s direction.

The premiere will be held at Cine Star

Lahore and many noted celebrities

such as Ali Zafar, Meesha Shafi, Atif

Aslam and the author himself, Mohsin

Hamid, will be attending the event.

The audience will further be

entertained by a performance by the

talented Meesha Shafi. The movie will

be released on 24th May, 2013 all

over Pakistan. STAFF REPORT

akshaY kumar

survivEstruCk mishaPBollywood actor Akshay Kumar was

briefly admitted to a private hospital on

Wednesday after he met with an

accident while shooting for the remake

of Thuppakki. A truck passed over his

foot while he was filming an action

sequence. Luckily he didn't suffer any

major injuries. "It all happened so

suddenly though Akshay managed to

get himself out of the truck's way.

Unfortunately his foot got caught under

the wheels," informed a source,

"Though Akshay is a tough man, this

was quite painful. He was immediately

rushed to the hospital." NEWS DESK

NEWS DESK

THE actor was taken from south Mum-bai’s high-security Arthur Road CentralJail in a van around midnight to the Yer-awada Central Jail in Pune around 4am,an official said. There were three police

vans that took him to the Pune jail, he added. The shift-ing occurred in the wee hours due to security reasonsand to avoid media glare.

The shifting took place exactly a week after Duttsurrendered before the special Tada court on May 16after his conviction under the Arms Act.

The 53-year-old actor was earlier lodged in the“anda” (egg-shaped) cell of the Arthur Road jail fol-lowing his surrender before the expiry of the SupremeCourt-set deadline to serve his remaining sentence inthe 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.

That cell had 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab as its in-mate before he was hanged earlier this year. Dutt wasshifted to another cell of the Mumbai jail after hepleaded that he was not a terrorist.

However, Dutt is again expected to be lodged inthe “anda” cell at the Pune jail. Half of it is sunk intothe ground and is considered one of the most securecells in the prison.

The actor is no stranger to Yerwada jail. He hasserved time twice here. But unlike the last two times,he is a convict now and not an undertrial. The actorwill hence have to wear jail uniform this time; he willbe allotted a “qaidi” or prisoner number soon, whichwill be prefixed with the letter ‘C’ symbolising that heis a convict.

The last time Dutt was at this jail, he had taken upcarpentry. This time, he is expected to do labour work.He is entitled to get a monthly allowance of Rs. 1,500from his family to buy essentials from the jail canteen.He can meet visitors once a month for only 20 minutes.

The apex court had reduced his sentence by oneyear — from six years to five — in March this year.He has already served one-and-a-half years of his sen-tence earlier. The incarcerated actor is expected toserve the remainder of his 42-month jail term at thePune jail, the state’s biggest in terms of capacity andamong the largest in Asia.

dutt shiFtEd tohiGh sECuritYYErWada Jail

Barrymoreputs weddinghouse on sale

L OOKS like it could well be the time for Salman

Khan to finally settle down. While Salman

Khan is in Goa to shoot his upcoming home

production, apparently he is spending a lot of time

with alleged ladylove Iulia Vantur. Sources close to

the star say Salman is even considering marrying

the Romanian TV anchor. Insiders from Goa say

that while Iulia and Salman are together in Goa,

the actor is serious about their future. One source

said, "Salman is extremely serious about his new

girlfriend and she has been in his life for around two

years but no one had got any wind of it. He is now

being open about his relationship with her and peo-

ple who are close to him are aware of her existence

in his life. In fact, everyone is suggesting to Salman

to get married to her, however, he is being mum

about his plans." Insiders also say it would be no

surprise if Salman finally announces Iulia's pres-

ence in his life to everyone. The actor apparently

met her during one of his trips abroad. NEWS DESK

KHI 23-05-2013_Layout 1 5/23/2013 5:45 AM Page 12

13ARTsThursday, 23 May, 2013

A

If we are not our brother's

keeper, at least let us not be his

executioner. –Marlon Brando

w HEN rockstar Rahul Jaykar jumps to his

death in the climax of 'Aashiqui 2', not many

were sure if a sad ending would work for the

love story. But shattering all myths about sad

endings' fate at the box office, the film became a

runaway hit. A trade source says, "Actually, such

excuses (tragic ending) crop up when a movie sinks

at the box office and the concerned filmmaker looks

for justifications to save face." Shagufta Rafique, the

writer of Aashiqui 2 said, "We did not think of any

other end. The film is about a man who ends his life

so that his lover can live on; we never worried if the

ending will affect BO performance. I won't call it a

risk, it was about being true to the story." But despite

the success of tragic love stories — Ranbir Kapoor's

Rockstar (2011) is another recent example that not

many filmmakers are ready to take the risk. For

example, the original storyline of Rakeysh Omprakash

Mehra's Delhi 6 (2009) had Abhishek Bachchan's

character dying. But after pressure from the studio,

the director changed it. Both endings were shot and

there were reports that the film would be re-released

with its original climax. This trend is not new. Twenty-

five years ago, Mansoor Khan had also shot two

climaxes for Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988). A

trivia on the film states that while the older audience

wanted a happy ending, the younger ones preferred a

sad one. Finally, the director chose tragedy. In fact,

Mughal-E-Azam (1960), the mother of all Bollywood

love stories, ends on a tragic note. Film writer Dilip

Thakur said, "The sad ending of Ek Duje Ke Liye

(1981) became the high point of its BO success,

though there were reports of lovers committing

suicide after watching the film. But there have been

instances of filmmakers changing the end of films.

One example is Rajesh Khanna's Baharon Ke Sapne

(1967). Kajol's Sapnay (1997) also had different

endings in different languages." Filmmaker Mahesh

Bhatt recalls how Arth (1982) didn't have any takers

initially because of its sad ending. He says, "The

know-it-alls of the industry said, an end in which the

woman turns her back on her husband and lover,

would prove disastrous. The film was not sold for a

year. But if it worked eventually, it was due to its so-

called sad end. Even with Aashiqui 2, it is the tragedy

that has contributed to its success." Devdas is

another classic example says a trade source. "It's a

movie that has been attempted several times in

Indian cinema. The film projected the male

protagonist hitting the bottle with a vengeance, but

did that aspect keep the audience away from

theatres?" Interestingly, actors like Rajesh Khanna

and Shah Rukh Khan have benefitted from being

tragic heroes. Thakur says, "After Aradhana (1969),

Khanna wanted to die in every film — be it Khamoshi

(1969), Safar (1970) or Anand (1971). So much so,

Amitabh Bachchan was supposed to die according to

the original script of Namak Haraam (1973). But that

was changed on Khanna's insistence." COuRTESy TOI

happy times for sad endings in Bollywood?

JamEs bond’slost WatChrEsurFaCEs atFlEa markEtJames Bond's wristwatch, which played

a starring role alongside Sean Connery

in the 1965 movie 'Thunderball' but

was apparently lost after the film's

shooting, has finally made a re-

appearance. According to Sky News,

the watch has been found after a

person purchased it at a British

equivalent of a flea market, Radar

Online reported. The unidentified buyer

paid around 38 pounds for it two years

ago, a UK tabloid noted. Now Christie's,

an international auction house, is all set

to put it under the hammer and

expects to bring in up to 91,000

pounds. The Breitling Top Time watch,

used in the film, has a Geiger counter

that allowed the famous fictional spy to

pick up on nuclear radiation. NEWS DESK

bandErasto PlaYsuPEr marioin ‘thE 33’Antonio Banderas will star in 'The 33' as

'Super Mario' Sepulveda, who was the

second miner to be rescued and the

survivors' spokesperson following their

69 days trap in 2010. The movie's

producer Mike Medavoy made the

announcement on Sunday at the

Cannes Film Festival, the New York

Daily News reported. The film, which

will be directed by Patricia Riggen, will

include actors Martin Sheen and

Rodrigo Santoro and its production is

scheduled to begin this fall in Chile. The

screenplay- written by Mikko Alanne

and Jose Rivera- details the gruelling

events of the mine's collapse and the

international rescue efforts that

attracted one billion viewers worldwide.

The 33 courageous miners were

trapped a half-mile beneath the surface

and retrieved more than two months

later. The film's portrayal was developed

in collaboration with the miners, the

rescuers and their families. NEWS DESK

NEWS DESK

LINDSAY Lohan hasbeen sued for 5 mil-lion dollars by a cloth-ing company, DNAM

The erratic behavior of the ac-tress made it difficult to promote

and sell her 6126 leggings line forwhich the company is demanding 5million dollars, Radar Online re-ported. The company's lawsuitstates that Lohan's leggings suf-fered in sales because the buyerswere reluctant to associate them-selves with her drug-addledimage. However Lohan's busi-

ness partner, Kristi Kay-lor, has denied any

such allegationsand said that The

DNAM coun-tersuit against6126 misrep-

resents thefacts. Shefurther saidthat thecompany isaware of thefact that itis in breachof the 6126licensee

agree-ment, andthis suit

is clearlynothing

more than atransparent

defense ma-neuver.

She added thatDNAM is try-

ing to get out ofhonoring its fi-

nancial obliga-tions.

A CTRESS Angelina Jolie will reportedly play her late mother, Marcheline

Bertrand, in a biopic made by her partner Brad Pitt's production

banner Plan B. Bertrand died of cancer in 2007. She was 56. Jolie

recently announced that she opted for a double mastectomy to reduce her

risk of getting breast cancer. If reports are to be believed, the biopic will go

into production in 2014. But a release date is yet to be locked for it. Jolie is

much like her mother when it comes to humanitarian work. Bertrand helped

female Afghan refugees and also launched the Give Love Give Life

organsation in an effort to help fight gynecological cancers. NEWS DESK

lilo suEd For$5 million

JOLIe TO PLAyown mothErIn bIOPIC?

KHI 23-05-2013_Layout 1 5/23/2013 5:46 AM Page 13

infotainment

Ithursday, 23 may, 2013

14 No one understands my ills, nor the terror

that fills my breast, who does not know the

heart of a mother. — Marie Antoinette

What world traveler hasn't declined at least one local "delicacy"? A decadeago in Oaxaca, Mexico, I turned up my nose at chapulines, a steamingplate of toasted grasshoppers. "Tastes like chicken," my waiter said as hesmiled unconvincingly. But overcoming disgust for "edible insects" maybe the easiest way to meet global food needs, according to a fascinating,if occasionally stomach-churning, report from the UN's Food and Agri-cultural Agency (FAO), which is based, of all places, in Rome.

The notion of meeting caloric, especially protein, needs from insects(as well as grubs, worms and other creepy-crawlies) is hardly new. It'ssomething humans and their hominid ancestors have been doing for mil-lions of years. Paleoanthropologists and biologists speculate that our Pa-leolithic ancestors consumed prodigious quantities of insects--a factconveniently omitted by most contempoary aficionados of the " cave mandiet." More recently, 19th century European arrivals to Australia marveledat aboriginal tribes' insatiable appetite for insects and the dramatic impactsuch a diet could have on their health and appearance, as documented ina fascinating ethnography, The Moth Hunters.

What's surprising is how enduring the human taste for Insecta remains.According to the FAO, more than two billion people -- 30 percent of hu-manity --already supplement their diet with insects. And given the numberof insects out there -- 1 million distinct species have already been identi-fied and nearly 2,000 proven edible -- diners have a crunchy smorgasbordto choose from. "The most commonly eaten insect groups," we learn, "arebeetles, caterpillars, bees, wasps, ants, grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, ci-cadas, leaf and planthoppers, scale insects and true bugs, termites, drag-onflies and flies."

Most of today's insect-eaters live in the developing world, in countrieswhere insects are perceived as a perfectly acceptable and convenientsource of energy: readily (or at least seasonably) available, highly portable,and requiring fewer inputs than agriculture or animal husbandry. In terms

of nutrition, insects provide an outstanding advantages, having " high fat,protein, fiber, vitamin, and mineral content," and can be a particularly im-portant diet component for children under the age of five in poor countries.While many in the West may recoil in disgust, the FAO makes a com-pelling case on food security grounds for entomophagy (eating bugs, inscience-speak). Often dismissed as "famine foods," insects may offer atleast part of the answer to the global food crisis. And a crisis is what wehave on our hands. Based on current demographic and dietary trends, as

I've written before, the world needs to double its food production over thenext 40 years -- an effort that will require unprecedented productivity gainswhile risking ecological calamity.

Here's where bugs come in. Insects, it turns out, are far more efficientthan livestock -- perhaps 10 times so -- in transforming feed into ediblemeat. And they largely avoid the huge greenhouse gas emissions, as wellas other environmental pollutants, associated with cows and pigs. Whilemost edible insects continue to be collected in the wild, more organizedforms of insect farming have emerged, including "cricket farming" inLaos, Thailand, and Vietnam. Insects are also being increasingly used asanimal feed, particularly for poultry and acquaculture. By providing em-ployment opportunities, the edible insect sector has a potential role to playin rural development, from Southeast Asia to Central Africa.

To have a real impact on food consumption patterns, however, edibleinsects must go global. Today, the international trade in these commoditiesis neglible, limited to niche markets like fulfilling the dietary desires ofdiaspora populations. Expanding global trade in edible insects will requireexpanding existing national and multilateral health and sanitary regula-tions. This will include updating the Codex Alimentarius, created by FAOand the World Health Organization in 1963 to harmonize internationalfood standards and codes of practice.

The biggest stumbling block to expanding global consumption of in-sects is cultural. The very idea of eating bugs remains taboo in many coun-tries, particularly in the wealthy West, where they tend to be confined to"novelty snacks." NEWS DESK

mICROSOFT faces a backlash from somegamers after it emerged the company maycharge a fee to play pre-owned games on itsnew Xbox One console. It would also meanborrowing a game from a friend will require

a payment to play, possibly the full price.Microsoft has said gamers will be able to trade

their used games online - but refused to give more de-tails. Microsoft's director of programming, Larry Hryb,admitted there had been some "confusion" around thepolicy. An official Xbox support account on Twitter hadinitially told fans that no fee would be needed for usedgames, but a later comment from Mr Hryb sought toclarify the situation. He wrote on his blog: "While therehave been many potential scenarios discussed, today wehave only confirmed that we designed Xbox One to en-able our customers to trade in and resell games at retail."Beyond that, we have not confirmed any specific sce-narios." He added that gamers could bring their gamesto a friends' house to play without paying a fee - but onlyif the game's owner is signed in to the Xbox Live ac-count with which it is registered. If the player wanted tolend the game to that friend, a fee would be required in orderto play the title on a different Xbox Live profile. MASSIvELy PRoFITABLE: Speaking to games newswebsite Kotaku, Microsoft's corporate vice president, PhilHarrison, said the company would soon announce further

plans for pre-owned games. "We will have a solution -we're not talking about it today - for you to be able totrade your previously played games online," he said.

The move will mean Microsoft is able to gain controlof what is a massively profitable market in pre-ownedgames across the world. Possible models for Microsoftcould include allowing gamers to relinquish their owner-ship of a game in order to receive discounts on new titlesbought through the Xbox Live store.

This may prove popular with sports games that haveyearly updates, with fans often trading in the old versionto get money off the latest edition - a process that tradition-ally required a physical retailer that would pocket any prof-its on re-sales. "This is mainly a question of control," saidEd Barton, director of digital media at research firm Strat-

egy Analytics. "The margin on second-hand games is enor-mous, and the games industry has always been a little bitannoyed that it's a few retailers that dominate the marketfor games." The move could have a damaging effect onshops who rely on pre-owned sales not only to turn profitin their own right, but to also spur sales of new titles.

"The retailers could quite fairly say that around 70%of the value of pre-owned games is subsequently spent onnew games," Mr Barton added. "There's a fair point thatthe trade-in business is pretty significant in driving newgames sales. It remains to be seen whether that process willstill continue." One research company said UK retailerswould likely take a hit if pre-owned sales drop. "Pre-ownedgames made up 15% of High Street game sales in the past24 weeks, and if they are totally blocked from the XboxOne we are likely to see High Street game sales revenuedrop by 4% in the long term," said Fiona Breenan fromKantar Worldpanel. SoNy'S MovE: Sony, which will show off the PlaySta-tion 4 at next month's E3 event in Los Angeles, has re-mained fairly tight-lipped on their plans for dealing withpre-owned games. Its worldwide studios president, ShuheiYoshida, told news site Eurogamer used games would notbe "blocked" on the console, but would not specifywhether there would be a fee for using pre-owned titles.Mr Barton said Sony could use the situation to gain a con-siderable competitive advantage over its rival. NEWS DESK

russian space ark returns

animal astronauts to Earth,

some mice and gerbils dieA Russian space capsule

carrying lizards, mice,

gerbils, fish and other

creatures has safely

returned to Earth, but not

all of its animal

passengers survived the

month-long spaceflight,

according to news reports.

The Bion-M1 space capsule launched into space on April 19

atop a Russian-built Soyuz 2 rocket from Baikonur

Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. On Sunday (May 19) the

capsule came back to Earth, guided with the help of a

parachute system to the ground in Russia's Orenburg

region. It is the longest animal astronaut mission of its

kind. The Bion-M1 space capsule, which will carry animals

into space in April 2013, is seen during mission

preparations at its Baikonur Cosmodrome launch site in

Kazakhstan. Space officials reportedly discovered that

more than half of the 45 mice aboard the spacecraft died

during the flight, the AFP reported. All eight Mongolian

gerbils and many of the other critters also did not survive,

but all 15 geckos did survive, the news service reported.

According to Russian scientists, some losses were to be

expected during the flight, and the mission still promises to

yield valuable data from experiments on how space travel

affects living things. The capsule spent 30 days orbiting

357 miles (575 kilometers) above Earth. Scientists planned

to humanely euthanize the animals after their return to

Earth in order to complete the experiments. NEWS DESK

xbox one pre-owned gamesmay require fee payment

miami manCatChEs Florida'slonGEst EvErburmEsE PYthon

It seems only memorable things are

19-feet long: a stretch Mercedes-Benz

wagon, the longest carrot ever

recorded and now, the largest-ever

Burmese python recorded in Florida.

The 128-pound, 18-foot-8-inch reptile

was caught by a Miami man who

spotted it earlier this month while out

driving, according to the Florida Fish

and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The reptile surpasses the previous

record of 17 feet 7 inches, according to

University of Florida scientists. The

man, Jason Leon, was riding late on the

night of May 11 in a rural area of

Miami-Dade County when he noticed

the reptile extending about three feet

into the road from some brush, said

Carli Segelson, spokeswoman for the

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation

Commission. Leon might have

recognized the species. Before it

became illegal to owen a Burmese

python as a pet in Florida in August

2010, Leon had owned some of the

reptiles, Segelson said. Leon stopped

the car, got out, grabbed the snake by

the head and began dragging it out into

the road, according to a commission

statement. When the snake began to

wrap itself around his leg, Leon killed it

with a knife. The creature is

nonvenomous, according to the

commission. Leon reported the capture

to the commission, which turned the

snake over to its partners at the

University of Florida Research and

Education Center in Fort Lauderdale.

"The FWC is grateful to him both for

safely removing such a large Burmese

python and for reporting its capture,"

Kristen Sommers, head of the Exotic

Species Coordination Section of the

conservation commission, said in a

statement. Leon could not be reached.

In one of two photos posted to the

commission's Facebook page, Leon

appears to be struggling to hold up the

large reptile. NEWS DESK

Can we end hUnger by eating bUgs?

The Allosaurus, cousin to the more well know-and larger-T-Rex, is the kind of dinosaur you might havewanted to have at your table. According to paleontologists from Ohio Sate University,the Allosaurus was a fairly dainty eater for a dinosaur its size. The T-Rex, bycomparison, with its huge frame rending jaws and flesh shredding teeth, wasmore a meat grinder. "People think of it as a smaller, earlier version of a T.rex, but it was successful in a very different way," Eric Snively, an OhioUniversity paleontologist and lead author of a new study on thedinosaur's anatomy reportedly said. "T. rex was like a professionalwrestler with a machete. Allosaurus was like a surgeon with ascalpel." The OU team believes that a T. rex crudely clamped itspowerful mouth around prey, swinging its head from side to side toloosen hunks of flesh-kind of like the modern crocodile. Bycomparison, Allosaurus, ate like a falcon, peeling flesh frombones with careful control. Of course, the question is, howdo we know what these prehistoric titans did duringmealtime when all we have to go on are their bones? OUresearchers used CT scans of dinosaurs and their closestliving relatives to animate 3-D models of dinosaurs'soft-tissue systems, giving researchers a closeapproximation of how these animals would have fedwhen they walked the Earth millions of years ago.One things for certain-the technology is a huge leapforward in the field of paleontology. Researchers nowhave the opportunity to study, with some certainty, softmuscles that disappeared millions of years ago-something skeletons andwires couldn't provide. The National Science Foundation's VisibleInteractive Dinosaur Project provided funding for the study, which waspublished this week in the journal Palaeontologia Electronica. NEWS DESK

scientists recreatedinosaur table manners

KHI 23-05-2013_Layout 1 5/23/2013 5:46 AM Page 14

Pakistan favourite to win series against Ireland

sPORTs

SThursday, 23 May, 2013

15I’m glad common sense has prevailed and anchor putterswill be no more - it will be banned and rightly so. I wish ithad come earlier to be honest. – Colin Montgomerie

CLONTARFAGENCIES

PAKISTAN are keenerthan ever to get back onthe field for the first oftwo one-dayinternationals againstIreland on Thursday

after their second ODI against Scotland onthe weekend was a wash-out. As Irelandare the strongest team outside the FullMembers - they are five places belowsixth ranked Pakistan - it promises to be amore searching examination for the teamas the countdown to the ChampionsTrophy starts in earnest.

Although Scotland caused Misbah ul-Haq’s side early problems in both inningsof the first game, reducing Pakistan to 115for five and then racing away to 50 for onein 12 overs, a captain’s knock doubled thetourists’ score in the last 20 overs and threewickets each from Junaid Khan and SaaedAjmal hurried Scotland to a 96-run defeat.

But as Scotland captain Kyle Coetzeradmitted after the match, from a similarposition Ireland would likely to have goneand won the match and that is thedifference that Pakistan should notice atClontarf on Thursday and Sunday.

Seven of the Ireland team are regularsin their county line-ups and the other four,including Kevin O’Brien, the man whoalmost single-handedly defeated Englandtwo years ago with the fastest ever centuryat the World Cup finals, are likely to havemore than 230 one-day internationalappearances between them.

Indeed, O’Brien is one of fivesurvivors from the game that put Irelandon the world map, their victory overPakistan at Sabina Park, Jamaica. Also

still around and arguably playing betterthan ever are winning captain TrentJohnston, Niall O’Brien, Andrew Whiteand current skipper William Porterfield.

Pakistan still have three players fromthat infamous day six years ago: KamranAkmal, their top scorer and who hasprevious experience of club cricket inIreland, Shoaib Malik and MohammadHafeez. Hafeez disappeared from thePakistan test team after the 2007 WorldCup but after a three-year exile he has not

only returned to the fold but is nowconsidered the captain-elect when Misbahdecides to step down. He is also now theNo 1 allrounder in one-day internationals- the fourth ranked bowler and needingjust three for 100 wickets.

But modestly, Hafeez said: “I alwayssee my responsibility as a batsman. Inever try to do too much with mybowling, I have some limitations and Iknow that, so I always stick to the basics,and it’s been working for me for the lasttwo or three years. “I feel that I’ve foundgood consistency. I try to stay economicalfor my team and pick up the odd wicket.”

After the new ball partnership ofJunaid and the giant Mohammad Irfan, itis Saeed Ajmal, the No 1 ranked bowler,who will cause the teams below the verytop class the most problems as the Scotsfound to their cost.

The batting has been too reliant onMisbah in recent series and it is nocoincidence that the captain has hit halfcenturies in the last three ODIs whichPakistan have won. Conversely, the threegames they lost in South Africa in Marchwas when he didn’t. The low, slow pitchat Clontarf may not be ideal for batsmento express themselves but it time forothers to come to the party.

Pakistan rarinG toGo aGainst irEland

u-19 trials atdiamond Ground,islamabad

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

The Pakistan Cricket Board is holdingtrial matches of U-19 players at DiamondCricket Ground, Islamabad from May 26to June 1 to select the squad for upcomingU-19 events.The national selection committee hasselected 74 players to appear in thesetrial matches based on theirperformance during the various PCBU-19 Tournaments. The selectedplayers have been distributed into 6different teams as per followingschedule:MAy 25-26: trial Matches between team 1 & 2

TEAM 1: Babar Azam, Sami Aslam, Farhan nazir,

Imam ul haq, Ameer hamza, Zia ul haq,

Mohammad Aftab, Muhammad Asif, Awais

Muni (Lahore), Zeeshan Amin, Murtaza Ali, Ali

Israr (Multan)

TEAM 2: hussain talaat, Fahad Usman, Faraz Mir,

Ayaz ur rehman, haider Ali (Lahore), nauman

Butt (Faisalabad), Sikandar Khan, Muhammad

Imran (Multan), Waqas Ali, nauman Anwar, Osama

Mir, Usman Malik (Sialkot)

MAy 27-28: (trial Matches between team 3 & 4)

TEAM 3: Aqib Shah, hassan raza, Mir Waiz, Syed

Abid hassan (rawalpindi), nisar Afridi, Muhammad

hanif, Matiullah, pir Bilal Shah (peshawar),

Farmanullah Khan, Muhammad Umair (Islamabad),

Irfanullah (Abbottabad), Zafar Gohar (Lahore)

TEAM 4: Khalid Kail, Kamran Ghulam, Syed Sami ur

rehman, Muhammad Waqas, Walid

Jalil (Abbottabad), Laeeq Khan, Zameer

Abbasi (Islamabad), taimur Khan, Ali raza, Syed

taufeeq Shah (rawalpindi), Salman

Saeed (peshawar), Shahab ul Khan (Faisalabad)

MAy 29-30: (trial Matches between team 5 & 6)

TEAM 5: rafay Ahmed, Malik Zeeshan Akram,

Waqas Gujjar, tauqeer riasat (Bahawalpur), Saeed

Khan, Zain Ullah (Quetta),Umair Ahmad, Saif Ullah

Khan, Arshad Khan, tabraiz dyer, Sheraz hussain,

Muhammad Waqas (Karachi), Muhammad

Waqas (hyderabad)

team 6:Abdul Sami (hyderabad), tanvir Ali, noor

Wali, Saud Shakil, Kalim Ullah Khan, Moazzam

Malik (Karachi), Usman Ali, nauman

Akram (Bahawalpur), Jamal Khan, hammal Wahab,

nizamuddin, Saghir Ahmed, Ghulam

Muhammad (Quetta)

the final trials will be held on May 31 and June 1 at

the same venue.

S.PERvEz QAISER

Pakistan are favourite to win the two-matches series against Ireland. The firstmatch of the series will be played atClontarf Cricket Club Ground, Dublin onThursday (May 23). This match will startat 14.45 hours (PST).

This will be the fourth one-dayinternational matches between the twosides and third in Ireland. Pakistan havewon two and lost one in three previousone-day internationals against Ireland.

Kevin O’Brien, the Irelandallrounder, has said the upcoming one-day international matches series againstPakistan are a welcome chance for histeam to match skills with a Full Memberside.

Following their famous victoryagainst Pakistan in the 2007 World Cup,Ireland lost their next two encounterswhen Pakistan visited the country in

2011. O’Brien said the he would not beoverawed by having to face Saeed Ajmal,the No. 1 ranked ODI bowler. “We playedagainst him two years ago and we knowthat he’s obviously a tricky customer,” hesaid. “[But] there are no specific plans forhim, just go out and enjoy facing a greatspinner. We’ll have to give him therespect he deserves and try to score off asmany balls as we can.”

Ireland defeated Pakistan by threewickets when two teams met first time in2007 World Cup match at Kingson onMarch 17, 2007.

A magnificent performance fromIreland, and an innings of real class fromtheir wicketkeeper, Niall O’Brien, sentPakistan crashing out of the World Cup.

Chasing 133 on a difficult pitch, withconditions assisting Pakistan’s bowlers,Niall O’Brien led Ireland’s response witha superb fifty which appeared to beeasing his side home until a rain break,

and Duckworth-Lewis, altered therequired total - and his momentum.

Pakistan recorded a seven-wicketvictory over Ireland in the first match ofthe two-match series at Civil ServiceCricket Club, Stormont, Belfast on May28,2011.

Ireland’s first game since their WorldCup heroics proved a disappointment forthe 2000 spectators that turned up to seethe first of the two-match series againstPakistan, who won by seven wickets withmore than eight overs to spare. Atypically steely grey, showery Belfastday, prevented play from commencinguntil 2pm. And with conditions helpful tothe seamers, Junaid Khan ripped theIreland middle order apart with fourwickets in five overs. A 38-over gamewas the original plan - and a 36-over oneafter a short break - but Ireland conspiredto reduce it further when they werebowled out in exactly 20 overs for 96

runs. Pakistan made 97 for three in 27.3overs to win the match.

Two days later, in the second matchof the series, Pakistan defeated hometeam by five wickets. A brilliant,belligerent century by Paul Stirlingwasn’t enough to take Ireland to victoryover Pakistan in the second match. Asolid innings of 64 by Younis Khanensured the visitors were not embarrassedand took the two match Series 2-0.

Paul Stirling played an innings thatalternated between control and rawaggression as he racked up his third centuryin one day internationals and, his firstagainst a Full Member. It helped set Pakistana target of 239, which they achieved witheight balls to spare, but not before their mostexperienced batsmen rescued them from atricky situation as Ireland’s celebratedfielders tightened the screws.

Pakistan made 242 for five in 48.4overs to win the match and series.

JALALABADAGENCIES

Unknown gunmen dragged the father ofAfghanistan’s cricket captain from hiscar on the outskirts of Jalalabad city andhave taken him hostage, officials saidon Wednesday.

Afghan cricketer Mohammad Nabiduring the Twenty20 World Cup matchagainst England at the R. PremadasaStadium in Colombo, on September 21,2012. Unknown gunmen have draggedNabi’s father from his car on theoutskirts of Jalalabad city and havetaken him hostage, officials told AFP.

Mohammad Nabi, who took overthe captaincy of the team in March,confirmed that his father, KhobaiIsakhel, had been kidnapped in theeastern province of Nangarhar onTuesday.

“I have no idea who thekidnappers might be, they have not

contacted me,” Nabi said, declining togive any more details.

Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, spokesmanfor the Nangarhar provincialgovernment, said: “Yesterday at around

10:00 am, unknown armed man seizedhim from his car. No trace of him hasyet been found.”

Kidnapping is rife in Afghanistan’smajor cities, with criminal gangsdemanding large ransoms for therelease of hostages.

Nabi, 28, an all-rounder who tookup the game while living in a refugeecamp in Pakistan, became captain ofAfghanistan in March before theIntercontinental Cup in the UnitedArab Emirates.

Cricket has become one of themost popular sports in Afghanistansince it was introduced by refugeesreturning after the fall of the Talibanregime in 2001.

Afghanistan became an affiliatemember of the International CricketCouncil (ICC) in 2001 and in 2009it attained one-day status. Itsambition now is to qualify for the2015 World Cup.

Father of Afghan cricketcaptain taken hostage

Poa directs officialsnot to take part innational athletics

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

The Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) hasdirected the concerned officials of Army, AirForce, Navy, Wapda, HEC, Railways andPolice Sports Directorates/Boards to not toparticipate in the so-called National AthleticsChampionship, being held from May 24 atIslamabad. In a letter addressed to the abovePOA affiliates, with copy to the secretariesgeneral of the four provincial and FATA, thePOA has reminded them that the AthleticsFederation of Pakistan (AFP) had beensuspended through a unanimous decision ofthe POA’s General Council in its meeting heldon February 12, 2013 “with immediateeffect”. The secretaries of the OlympicAssociation of Balochistan, KPK, Punjab,Sindh and FATA have been asked to directconcerned provincial athletics association todesist from taking part in the said AthleticsChampionship, said a spokesman of POA hereon Wednesday. The POA letter of May 21,2013 states: The suspension was immediatelynotified vide Letter No POA-092 datedFebruary 12, 2013“specifically on account ofthe AFP president and Secretary’s categoricaldenial of the authority of the PakistanOlympic Association and rejection of thedirections of the International OlympicCommittee (IOC)”, and also subsequent“attempts to illegally take over the operationsof the POA in collusion with other individualsand associations.” While directing the aboveorganizations to refrain from participating inan event of a suspended organization that hasbeen in violation of the POA’s constitutionand the IOC Charter, the letter signed by thePOA President, Lt. Gen. (Retd) Syed ArifHasan has also warned the addressees thattaking part in the said championship couldhave its adverse fallout. “It [the participation]would be non compliance of the decision ofGeneral Council of POA” – the supremenational sporting body – and “would betantamount to action as contained in ArticleVI-6 (v) of the POA Constitution”.

KHI 23-05-2013_Layout 1 5/23/2013 5:46 AM Page 16

sPORTs S

Thursday, 23 May, 2013

16I’m not concerned. We know we want Kimi to drive for us next

year, but then we also know Kimi’s character well, which means

you can’t force him to do anything. – Lotus owner Gerard Lopez

NEW DELHI AGENCIES

INDIAN cricketerShanthakumaran Sreesanth hasinsisted he is innocent of anywrongdoing in the ongoingspot-fixing scandal and isconfident of emerging from the

“tough period” with his dignity intact.The 30-year-old bowler was one of

three players, along with 11 bookmakers,arrested last week on suspicion of spot-fixing in the Indian Premier League (IPL)Twenty20 competition, the allegations alsoearning him an immediate suspension fromthe cricket board. “I am innocent and havedone no wrong. I have never indulged inany spot-fixing and I have always playedcricket in the spirit of the game,” thepaceman said in a statement issued late onTuesday through his lawyer.

“As a cricketer, I have learnt to takeknocks along with accolades in my stride.I recognise that I am going through a toughperiod in my life. “I have utmost faith inour judicial process and I am confident thatwith time, I will be proved innocent and myhonour and dignity will be vindicated andrestored,” said the cricketer, who played thelast of his 27 tests against England at TheOval in Aug. 2011.

Sreesanth, who is from the south Indianstate of Kerala and represented IPL’sRajasthan franchise this season, has beenaccused of taking money to concede a fixednumber of runs in one of his overs during aMay 9 match against Kings XI Punjab. Legalsports betting in India is confined to horseracing, while illegal gambling syndicatesthrive in the absence of a law dealingspecifically with such corruption in sport.

Media estimates put the amountgambled on India’s top Twenty20competition at $427 million in 2009.

India’s film industry has also beenpulled into the controversy when MumbaiPolice arrested a Bollywood actor, VinduDara Singh, on Tuesday for alleged links toa bookmaker.

srEEsanth dEniEs WronGdoinG

NEW DELHIAGENCIES

Three Indian cricket players wererefused bail on Tuesday after theyappeared in court on spotfixingcharges as police announced the arrestof a Bollywood actor over the scandal.A court in New Delhi agreed a five-day custody extension for former Testpaceman Shanthakumaran Sreesanthand two teammates from the RajasthanRoyals who are accused ofdeliberately bowling badly inexchange for tens of thousands ofdollars during the ongoing IndianPremier League, a Twenty20competition.“Police said they wanted to interrogatethem further and also conduct raids ontheir houses,” said S.K Rai, one of theprosecuting lawyers who was presentat the hearing, said.Eleven other bookmakers who werearrested at the same time as theRajasthan Royals players were alsorefused bail during the afternoonsitting.Investigators told the court they hadseized two million rupees (around$37,000) stashed in a cricket kit bagand hidden at the home to a relative ofAjit Chandila, one of the threeRajasthan Royals players in custody.Police behind the arrests last week ofSreesanth, Chandila and theirteammate Ankeet Chavan say the triowere acting under orders frominternational crime syndicates, whose

bosses are based in the Gulf.Sreesanth, who is the most famous ofthree having played 27 Tests for India,is alleged to have been paid fourmillion rupees (about $75,000) to giveaway 14 runs in an over in a matchagainst Kings XI Punjab on May 9.His teammates are said to have agreedto similar deals in two other IPLmatches.The Rajasthan Royals on Mondaysuspended the contracts of the threeplayers and promised to cooperatefully with the authorities in theirinvestigation.“The franchise is in daily contact withthe police authorities in Delhi, Jaipurand Mumbai for providing anycooperation or information that theymight require,” it said in a statement.As the hearing was taking place in thecapital, police in Mumbai said theyhad arrested the actor Vindu DaraSingh Randhawa, who is the son of thelate Bollywood star Dara Singh, aspart of the spot-fixing investigation.“He has been arrested today,” Mumbaipolice spokesman SatyanarayanChoudhary said, without givingfurther details.And in a further blow to the IPL, aseven-week competition which isreaching its finale, the struggling PuneWarriors franchise announced it waspulling out of the tournament.The decision is largely symbolic as theteam has already finished theirmatches, finishing second frombottom of the tournament.

Players in fixingscandal denied bail

nZ’s WatlinG rulEdout oF sECond tEstHEADINGLEy: New Zealandwicketkeeper BJ Watling has been ruledout of the second test against Englandstarting at Headingley on Friday because ofa knee injury, New Zealand Cricket said onWednesday. “Watling, who injured his leftknee diving for a run out on the third day ofthe first test, trained with the side atHeadingley this morning but was ruled outafter training,” a team statement said.Captain Brendon McCullum will keepwicket in a match the visitors must win tosquare the two-match series after Sunday’s170-run defeat at Lord’s. Martin Guptillwill come into the side and bat at No 6.Former skipper Daniel Vettori, incontention for his first test appearance for10 months, will be have his fitness assessedon Thursday. The veteran of 112 testswould offer New Zealand a spin option inthe absence of Bruce Martin who has beenruled out with a calf injury. AGENCIES

WElEGEdara bloWFor sri lankaCoLoMBo: Sri Lanka left-arm fast bowlerChanaka Welegedara has been ruled out ofthe Champions Trophy starting in Englandand Wales next month with an ankle injury.Welegedara will be replaced by all-rounderDilhara Lokuhettige who has been recalled tothe national team after five years. The 32-year-old Lokuhettige, a hard-hitting,fast-bowling all-rounder, last played for SriLanka in a Twenty20 international againstCanada in 2008 but he has been a consistentperformer in domestic cricket. “The first scandidn’t reveal anything but as Welegedara wasstill in pain we went for a second scan whichshowed a fracture at the back of his rightankle,” Sri Lanka manager Michael de Zoysasaid in a media release. The ChampionsTrophy starts on June 6 and Sri Lanka havetheir first group match three days later,against New Zealand in Cardiff. AGENCIES

SYDNEY AGENCIES

Australia batsman David Warner hasbeen fined A$5,750 ($5,600) for hisTwitter outburst against two journalists,the maximum financial penalty for a firstoffence, Cricket Australia (CA) said onWednesday.

The 26-year-old, who was playing inthe Indian Premier League (IPL) whenhe tweeted the insults, faced adisciplinary hearing on his arrival backin Sydney on Wednesday, charged with“unbecoming behaviour”.

Warner was angered that anewspaper had used a picture of himnext to an article on corruption in the IPLwritten by Robert Craddock. Anotherjournalist, Malcolm Conn, was attackedwhen he entered the conversation insupport of his colleague.

“In hindsight, clearly I let myfrustrations get the better of me andposted some inappropriate tweets lastweekend,” Warner said in a CAstatement.

“While I disagreed with the storyand my image being used alongside thestory, I could have chosen my wordsbetter and I apologise for any offence

that my language may have caused.“I’ll continue to have honest

conversations with all my followers andI will be mindful of the language I use infuture.”

The flamboyant left-hander lookslikely to open the batting for Australia inback-to-back Ashes series againstEngland starting in July.

Earlier on Wednesday, he receivedbacking from Australia captain MichaelClarke, who suggested the incident maynot harm his chances of one day

captaining his country.“He’s apologised and made it very

clear it was unacceptable,” Clarke toldreporters at Sydney airport.

“I think Davey has great potential tobe a leader of the Australian cricketteam. He’s a wonderful guy andwonderful player.

“He’s learned from this ... and if hecontinues to grow as he has over the lastfew years, there’s no reason why hehasn’t got the potential to captainAustralia one day.”

Clarke, who once apologised for not“walking” via Twitter, also said therewere no plans to restrict the use of socialmedia by players, although they neededto recognise there was “a line that cannotbe crossed”.

warner finedfor Twitter rant

australia batsman david Warner has been fined a$5,750 ($5,600) for his tWitteroutburst against tWo journalists

kirstEn Wants to lEavEWith a ‘banG’

CAPE TOWNAGENCIES

Gary Kirsten says he wants to go out ofhis Proteas job with a bang, and there’sonly one way of achieving that lifting theICC Champions Trophy next month.Gary Kirsten says he wants to go out ofhis Proteas job “with a bang”, and there’sonly one way of achieving that – liftingthe ICC Champions Trophy next month.The June 6-23 event in England will beKirsten’s last major tournament as SouthAfrica’s coach and while he was able tokeep them No1 in the Test rankings, heyearns to achieve something in thelimited-overs format.“I hope to go out with a bang,” Kirstensaid in Khayelitsha yesterday, afterspending the day encouraging kids at theIqayiya High School and helping to handover sports apparel and equipmentprovided by the Sports and Recreationdepartment. “We have a good squad goingout there. But in tournaments of thisnature, you need to be playing well at theright time. We’ll also need some luck, Ithink. We hope individuals will comethrough in pressure situations.”South Africa have been pooled in GroupB alongside India, Pakistan and the WestIndies, and making it even more dauntingfor Kirsten to leave the team with awinner’s medal will be the absence ofJacques Kallis and Graeme Smith.But Kirsten has backed his team to deliverwithout the experienced duo. “Kallis andSmith will be sorely missed, no doubt.They are experienced internationalswho’ve faced these situations before, but Ihave confidence in the guys who will takeover. In the last two years we have triedout seven or eight new players for ourODI squad, and I’m encouraged by howthey’ve fared.”

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sPORTsS

Thursday, 23 May, 2013

17When I made the tough decision to walk

away from boxing, I knew it was not

going to be easy. – Audley Harrison

Faisal WinsroYal PalmsummEr matChPlaY GolF

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

The Summer Match Play Singles GolfEvent for 2013 was held and contestedat the Royal Palm Golf Course, withthe competition matches spread overnine weeks and finally coming to aconclusion yesterday. It brought honorsfor Faisal Sayid. Competing golfers vying for honorswere allowed the liberty of schedulingtheir own matches, subject to deadlinesgiven in the championship draws andas and when the match playcompetitions were in progress, theygenerated considerable activity. Underspecial focus were the match playcontests, when the established oneswere made to struggle in their matchesagainst the upcoming talented ones,and everytime a hero fell, the humblewinner was made to feel elevated.In the Summer Match Play Event of2013, the golfer who emerged as theformidable one is Faisal Sayid. Duringthe course of the competition spread,Faisal Sayid never relented in any ofthe five tough matches that he playedon his way to the final.He managed to hold his dominanceover such skilled match play expertslike Kamran Butt,B.J.Nadeem,FareedBajwa,Azfar Hassan and Farid Malik.Reaching the final was an appreciableaccomplishment on the part of FaisalSayid, but his performance in the finalagainst Sharjeel Awan stood out as anextraordinary effort. The tee shots byFaisal were accuracy oriented andextremely decent was his short gameand putting effort and fetched himregular pars which resulted in Sharjeelsundoing. No doubt Sharjeel is a steadyplayer but he was unable to withstandthe onslaught of Faisals consistency,thereby conceding victory to FaisalSayid. Through this victory FaisalSayid earned the title of Royal PalmSummer Match Play Golf Champion.

nationalrankinG boxinGnExt month

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

The National Ranking BoxingTournament will be held from June 20at Hyderabad under the aegis ofPakistan Boxing Federation.“It will be a top national level boxingactivity being held after the elections ofthe present regime of the PBF,” saidSecretary PBF Iqbal Hussain here onWednesday.He said all the affiliated units of PBFincluding four provinces, Islamabad,FATA, Army, Navy, Police, KESC,KPT, Pak Rangers and HEC will fieldtheir best boxers in the five-day activitywhich aims at spotting new talent.The PBF official said the nationalboxing federation has chalked out acomprehensive activity plan for therevival of the game under which thenational senior and junior teams willfeature in international events abroad.Iqbal Hussain said bouts will be held inten body weight categories under theinternational boxing federations rulesduring the championship which willserve as trials for picking up Pak teamto take part in Asian boxingconfederation championship being heldfrom June 29 in Jordan.‘The PBF will also organise talent huntprogrammes across the country to tapenew talent because we want tobroadenthe base of the game by having amplechoice of boxers in each body weightcategory ‘, said Iqbal Hussain.

LOCAL news

LONDONAGENCIES

ANDY Murray will missthe French Open withthe back injury thatflared up at the RomeMasters, the worldnumber two announced

on Tuesday.After meeting with medical

specialists Murray has decided to skipthe second Grand Slam of the year atRoland Garros to ensure he is fully fit forWimbledon.

“It’s a really tough decision and Ilove playing in Paris, but after seekingmedical advice, I am not fit to compete,”the US Open and Olympic champion

explained in a statement to Britain’sPress Association.

“After consultation with his teamand medical specialists, Andy hasreluctantly withdrawn from the FrenchOpen and will instead focus onpreparation for the grass court season,”the statement added. Murray had raisedthe possibility of his absence from theFrench Open after retiring with the backproblem in his second-round matchagainst Spain’s Marcel Granollers at theRome Masters last week.

“I’d be very surprised if I wasplaying in Paris,” a subdued Murray saidthen.

This will be the first Grand Slam hehas missed since Wimbledon in 2007.

The injury was the same one which

required him to take a pain-killinginjection in order to play Roland Garroslast year where he reached the quarter-finals.

Murray will now aim to return forthe start of the grasscourt season atQueens Club on June 10.

“(The back) has not been perfect fora long period, I want it to start feelinggood again. Everyone goes into matcheswith niggles, but this is very frustrating,”added Murray after his Rome retirement.

“I don’t want to go into details, butI’ve got a disc problem, it changes weekto week. It’s been an issue for a while,but I want to make sure it goes away.

“I don’t want to be playing with itlong-term, it’s not enjoyable at all.”

The French Open begins on Sunday.

murray withdrawsfrom French open

Pistorius not‘mEntallY rEadY’to raCE YEt

PRETORIAAGENCIES

Oscar Pistorius is not mentally ready toreturn to competition and will not raceagain this year as he awaits trial formurder. But the South African’s agentPeet van Zyl confirmed to PressAssociation Sport the 26-year-old hadturned down meeting invitations,indicating he remained an attractiveathlete to event organisers. The six-timeParalympic gold medallist was chargedwith the premeditated murder of hisgirlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in February.“There was never any pressure from meor his coach (Ampie Louw) to return tocompetition, it’s his decision and it’s hisdecision not to compete,” Van Zyl said. Itmeans Pistorius will definitely not takepart in the IPC World Championships inLyon in July or the able-bodied WorldChampionships in Moscow the followingmonth. Pistorius, who competed at boththe Olympics and Paralympics at London2012, had his bail conditions relaxed inMarch to allow him to travel abroad forcompetitions. But asked if the sprinterwas mentally ready to race again, VanZyl said: “No, of course not.” CoachLouw was quoted by Eye Witness Newsin South Africa as saying: “He isnowhere close to being in a position totrain. He just does fitness exercises in themorning with his family.”

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LIvERPOOLAGENCIES

Chelsea midfielder FrankLampard believes RafaBenitez did all thatcould be expected ofhim during hisdifficult period incharge of the club. Theformer Liverpool bossreceived a frostyreception from the fanswhen he was appointedinterim manager partwaythrough the season when Roberto di

Matteo left. But the Spaniardconfounded his critics by taking

the Stamford Bridge club toEuropa League glory and

guiding them to thirdplace in the BarclaysPremier League.Lampard, whose formunder Benitez wasrewarded with a one-year contract

extension, told the Sun:“He’s a professional

bloke. He prepared verywell for games. And it was a

difficult situation for him as well. As

interim manager it was always going tobe quite difficult because we all knew itwas only to the end of the season. “Sothere was no planning, no long-termrelationships were going to be built. So,in that respect, he did a good jobbecause we got the end result - success.”Despite that, though, Lampard did notgrow close to Benitez on a personallevel. “There are certain managers youbuild relationships with and feel closerto,” Lampard said. “He’s not that kind ofbloke. “Other managers draw a bit of aline and keep it that way. Rafa’s morelike that. “He was not really the sort ofmanager you could sit and talk with.”

GEO SUPERMum Indians v TBA

07:30 PM

STAR SPORTSAuto Racing - Practice Session

5:25 PM

sPORTs SThursday, 23 May, 2013

18In my view, Arsene Wenger has no interest in

Jovetic, as we haven’t had any contact with

them. – Fiorentina director Daniele Prade

wAtCh It LIve

national athlEtiCsChamPionshiPLAHoRE: The 45th edition of theNational athletics championship will gointo action on Thursday at Islamabad’sJinnah stadium. “Over 500 male andfemale athletes will show case theirtalent in the event,” said a spokesman ofAthletics federation of Pakistan here onWednesday. He said teams from all thefour Provinces, AJ&K, FATA, GilgitBaltistan and affiliated departments andservices will compete in various trackand field events. STAFF REPORT

PHF INTER-ACADEMy ToURNEy

AT ABBoTTABAD: The 3rd Prof SyedFida Hussain Shah PHF Inter-AcademyHockey Championship will be playedfrom June 17 to 29 at Iqbal KhanHockey Stadium Abbottabad.The 13-day event is being organised bythe Pakistan Hockey Federation.Muhamamad Saleem Raza, DistrictOfficer Abbottabad will be theOrganising Secretary. STAFF REPORT

PAK SNooKER To LEAvE FoR

DoHA: A four-member Pakistansnooker team is leaving on Thursday forDoha to take part in the first Asian teamevent and 2nd Red snookerchampionship being played from May24-30. The team comprises Worldchampion, Muhammad Asif,Muhammad Sajjad, Hamza Akbar andMuhammad Majid Ali, said aspokesman of Pakistan Billiard andsnooker association here onwednesday. He said prior toparticipation in the events Pak playerswill undergo training at Qatar snookeracademy in Doha to improve theirskills and to final touches to theirpreparations before launching theircampaign in the events ,he said.Alamgir said during the Asian snookerchampionship which concluded earlierthis month in Karachi President, PBSA,Alamgir A Shaikh requested MubarakAl Khayarin, ACBS General Secretaryand the Chairman of the Qatar SnookerAcademy in Doha, to allow Pakplayers to undergo training at theiracademy under the able guidance oftheir professional coaches. ‘ACBASecretary accepted our request andtheir gesture will go a long way inboosting snooker ties between both thecountries ‘,he added. STAFF REPORT

LOCAL news

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

The First All Pakistan Amar CablesWomen T20 Cricket Championship beganhere at the Model Town Women CricketAcademy ground on Wednesday.

On the opening day, Amar Cables beatSaif Sports SAGA by 92 runs. Formercaptain and manager Pakistan cricket teamIntikhab Alam was the chief guest of theopening ceremony. Before the match he wasintroduced with the players. CEO AmarCables Amer Ilyas Butt and Ahsan AmerButt were also present on the occasion.

Amar Cables batting first 112/8 after20 overs. Marina Iqbal played well 50runs, Sania Khan 20 and Almas Akram13 runs. Sabahat Rasheed 2/17, MariyamButt 2/24, Iram Butt 1/34 and RabiaShahid 1/14 wickets. In reply Saif SportsSaga 20 runs all out after 8.4 overs. SabaNadir 4/0, Mariyam Shafiq 3/6 & AlmasAkram 1/4 wickets. Masood Khan, IrfanDilshad Umpire and Azhar Hussain wasthe scorer. Later, chief guest MissAmmara give away player of the matchaward to Marina Iqbal.

All Pakistan Amar Cables women T20 Cricket begins

Chief Guest Former Captain & Manager Pakistan Cricket Team Intikhab Alam opened the tournament.

Amer Ilyas Butt & Ahsan Amer Butt is also present.

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

DAV Whatmore, thecoach of the Pakistancricket team, feelsthat Umar Akmal isamong the mosttalented batsmen in

world cricket at the moment and urgedthe right-hander to work harder on hisgame at the domestic level to regain hisplace in the national team.

The 22-year-old cricketer camethrough the ranks of junior cricket in thecountry, having represented Pakistan inthe ICC Under-19 World Cup 2008 inMalaysia. Akmal made his internationaldebut a year later and cemented his placein the limited-overs squad.

The stylish right-hander has playeda number of match-winning knocks for

the Green Shirts; however, he has been alittle inconsistent over the years and hasso far failed to justify his potential at theultimate level of the sport. The middle-order batsman has been dropped fromthe ICC Champions Trophy 2013 squad.

Quoted by Pakpassion, the nationalcoach expressed that the young cricketerfrom Lahore does not need to lose heartand should take his omission from thenational team as an opportunity toenhance his skills and temperament. Theformer Australian cricketer made it clearthat the gates of international cricket arestill wide open for the talented stroke-maker.

“My message for Umar is that heneeds to go back and work extremelyhard in domestic cricket and make plentyof runs, because his ability is such that itdeserves to be seen at the highest levelof cricket,” Whatmore believes.“Unfortunately he’s not in theChampions Trophy squad but if heworks hard in domestic cricket, he canmake a comeback.” Whatmore is happywith the Green Shirts’ preparation for themega event but feels that adjusting to theEnglish climate will be the key toPakistan’s success.

“We prepared well in Pakistan forthe Champions Trophy at the camp inAbbottabad before we came over toScotland, but we have to acclimatisehere in the United Kingdom as it’s muchcooler than it was in Pakistan,” he added.

The global event is going to be

played next month, with Misbah-ul-Haqand company placed in group B alongwith South Africa, India and West Indies.

Whatmore wantsumar to work hardat domestic level

FoGnini ClaimsFirst Win NICE: Fabio Fognini broke his Nicehoodoo to set up a second-round clashwith Gael Monfils in the Open de NiceCote d’Azur. Fognini, making hisfourth appearance in Nice, had neverpreviously won here but recoveredfrom a poor opening set to live up tohis sixth seeding with a 1-6 6-1 6-2victory over qualifier MarcoCecchinato. He will now meet wildcard Monfils after the Frenchman alsocame from behind to see offColombian Santiago Giraldo 4-6 6-36-3. Fognini was not the only oneexorcising some demons as Paul-HenriMathieu snapped an eight-matchlosing streak with a 6-4 6-4 victoryover Ryan Harrison, his first win in2013. Sergiy Stakhovsky saw offRogerio Dutra da Silva 6-2 6-3 to set upa meeting with third seed Sam Querrey,while French qualifier Guillame Rufinwas a 6-3 6-1 winner over PaoloLaorenzi to set up a clash with secondseed Gilles Simon. AGENCIES

Lampard deems benitez stint to be a successmEssi: nEYmarsiGninG WouldbE marvEllous

LONDONAGENCIES

Lionel Messi believes that Neymarwould make a ‘marvellous’ addition tothe Barcelona squad.Neymar has been heavily rumoured tohave signed a document that will seehim join Barcelona in the future despitehis previous stance of staying in Braziluntil after the 2014 World Cup.Nevertheless, the Brazilian superstar hasbeen given the backing of Messi tosucceed at the Catalan club.“Only the player knows whether or nothe will sign for the club, no-one elseknows,” said Messi.“He would be a marvellous acquisitionfor us. He is one of those players thatoffers individual solutions that very fewplayers are capable of.”Fellow Brazil international Lucas Mouraalso believes that Neymar will be a hitin Europe.Lucas told ‘Globoesporte’: “It’s apersonal decision, and only he willknow when the time is right for him tocome to Europe, but it’s a fantasticopportunity. “In my case, I wanted to come, I feltlike I was prepared and I took thedecision after talking it over a lot withmy family. It’s a fantastic opportunityon and off the pitch, playing in differenttournaments against the best players inthe world and finding out what citieshere have to offer.”

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Published by Arif Nizami at Plot # 7, Al-Baber Centre, F/8 Markaz, Islamabad.

Thursday, 23 May, 201319

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